Submit your Website to the SPIDER Top Five
- Pakistan Punch
www.pakistanpunch.com.pk
Satire is the spice of life. Despite the possibilities, homegrown political satire is largely confined to the print medium and jokes forwarded on e-mail. Enter Pakistan Punch to provide much needed relief about the idiosyncrasies of the government, parliamentarians and politicians whose amusing anecdotes dot the headlines. Expect anything while tripping around the personal rants of the author - an irate observer of what politicians say and do in the Land of the Pure. While Chowk.com still attracts a fair share of amateur and professional satire writers, this is a first such independent attempt SPIDER has come across. Despite a simplistic design, we felt the content was worth a punch, grabbing our number one spot this month.
Other then headline spin-offs, you can find a humor section in Urdu and a very tongue-in-cheek Speech Generator by our helpful webmaster. By inviting visitor's input, Pakistan Punch has created a public service for Parliamentarians who are constantly running short of GOOD words during critical assembly sessions. Put in your two cents for the cause and help e-mail the right speech at the right time. Should you happen to be a victim of the Punch's wrath, make sure you sign the Guest Book and enlighten visitors of your point of view.
Submitted by: Ali Hassan
Content: 4 | Design: 3 | Links: 2 | Overall: 4
- Dream Team Selector
www.dreamteamselector.com
As the World Cup approached, there were a number of just-in time Cricket promotional launches. Dream Team Selector came hot on the heels of the Tournament's launch. This is a good place for cricket fans who have few hopes from the Pakistani team and would rather play their own Cup. Like any other Dream Team competition, the Selector allows you to choose your own eleven favorites online and players scoring the highest at the end of the Tournament can win you points and prizes. The procedure for doing so is explained clearly and you can investigate your way around the site easily. Registration is a two-step affair; simply fill in your details and pick your team. Prizes include electronic goods such as computers, music systems and cell phones (Visit the website for details).
If you get bored of tracking how far your team has come online, there are always news updates and virtual scorecards to check out. To be fair, one expects a cricket site dedicated to the World Cup to include more then just news updates, images and a virtual game. If a newcomer is interested in putting together a team for the sake of the prizes, they would wish to view player profiles in details, which can be composed easily with the help of content on international cricket websites. One would also expect the DreamTeamSelector to offer SMS and e-mail alerts to let users know when one of their players scores or how their virtual team performs online. Also, fan paraphernalia is limited to a few wallpapers alone. However, the photo gallery including snapshots from the opening ceremony and ensuing matches is something to write home about (creators claim this page is updated daily).
Submitted by: Zeeshan Khan
Content: 2 | Design: 3 | Links: 1 | Overall: 3
- Khwarzimic Science Society
www.khwarzimic.org
Punjab University's Khwarzimic Science Society (KSS) is a good source for science buffs looking for a local affiliation. Boasting close to a hundred members, the KSS offers members the chance to connect with like minds from a diverse range of interests including computing, bio-technology, and medicine. Programmers and amateur scientists alike will find something suitable to read or discuss with members.
The KSS website might seem bare on first look but there is plenty of reading matter hidden on the Publications and Activities pages. The Publications page offers PDF versions of recently printed articles related to the field of Science in the press. Papers prepared by members of KSS can be found on the Activities section. If you are interested in becoming a member, you can sign-up online and send a check (in Rs. for Pakistan and USD and GBP for Overseas members) for an annual subscription to the addresses listed on the site. Overall, we found the site covered the bare necessities such as offering information about the organization, featuring a complete physical address, a search facility, and interesting content but the KSS can now consider including interactive options such as a message board, offering external links to similar societies or science sites in Pakistan (since so few come to our notice). And if you're wondering what (or who) inspired that Arabic title, there's even an answer for that on the About KSS page.
Submitted by: Saadat
Content: 3 | Design: 3 | Links: 1 | Overall: 3
- Fly With IT
www.flywithit.net
There is a serious dearth of websites devoted to education and career guidance. Despite a savvy generation of professionals and students taking to the Web, the case remains the same for IT education and career. Fly With IT can easily fill this vacuum however the lack of relevant content landed it a fair 5 out 10 on our ranking scale.
What would any student or professional seek in a site that aims to offer a one-stop solution for IT education? A news section which updates periodically, if not regularly. A directory of educational institutes and services. And a careers section. You will find a news section at Fly With IT but obviously the target audience is not very well defined by the admin - there's a mix of press releases about IT education and IT companies. More effort has gone in preparing a directory which you can browse alphabetically and category-wise. An important addition would be categorizing these universities and colleges city-wise and offering descriptions underneath each name. The rest of the site consists of complimentary additions such as an e-mail sign up, an under construction downloads section and a little about Islamabad, where the site admin are based.
The site combines old school web design rules with a dash of new. A top menu offers content visitors can expect including, news, downloads, directory services, e-mail alerts. Additional content links such as Government, IT matters, commerce and law are cleverly linked to an image which you can find when you scroll down.
The overall look and feel of the website is neat. The detailed breakdown of the help menu is noteworthy for amateur designers. This shows a webmaster is concerned about details and content authenticity and not merely working on a one-time exercise. As the site develops, instead of inviting feedback from three different forms, a compact option can be created to 'Report Website Faults'. Standard Copyright and Policy notices at the end of the page leave a good impression on visitors however a more convincing idea would be to add a physical address and phone number to add leverage to Fly With IT's web presence.
Submitted by: Azhar
Content: 2 | Design: 4 | Links: 4 | Overall: 3
- Lahori Chaska
www.lahorifood.8k.com
Its tough to decide whether Lahore is more famous for its historical wonders, its shopping or the festivals that sweep the city once in a while. But when it comes to food, Lahore is the undisputed King of the Court. Lahori Chaska is one website you can count on for information to all the eatries, posh and the not-so posh, littering the streets of Lahore. Don't let the design scare you away for the webmaster has taken considerable pains to compile his food-hangout directory under several categories. From halwa puri to Pan wallas, Lahori Chaska has something for every khanay peenay walla. Clicking on each restaurant description offers restaurant's location and costs per head (very useful!). If browsing through the categories seems restricting, you can select from the A-Z of restaurants in the left-hand frame. The next step for Lahori Chaska is to ehance the restaurant descriptions, include ratings for service, offer information on food specialties and recommendations. Visitor interaction is always a plus point and inviting visitors to rate a restaurant can always work wonders for this amateur effort.
Submitted by: Nasir
Content: 2 | Design: 1 | Links: 4 | Overall: 2
- Zunaira Durrani
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