WELCOME TO AHMEDV.COM

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Application planning, building, implementation and execution. Resource and budget management.

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Marketing, Advertising, Logo and Graphic Design. Brand Identify and awareness.

ESL INSTRUCTION

I'm ESL/EFL certified with 3 years experience and also a TOEFL Administrator.

 

TECHNOLOGIES

Experience in PC, Mac, Unix and exposure Android and iOS. Open source development technologies, PHP, mySQL, Java.

BUSINESS ANALYSIS

Business consulting, process mapping and design, SDLC, application development and quality control.

HELLO, I AM AHMED VARACHIA


WELCOME TO MY LITTLE SPACE ON THE WWW ...

My name is Ahmed Varachia. I was born on March the 17th 1982 in Johannesburg, South Africa. My Motto - Dream > Direction > Dedication > Determination > Destination ...

  • RÉSUMÉ

    ALL ABOUT ME

    As you’ve probably noticed, I’m an IT geek. I have a BSc in Computer Science (IT). I’ve also completed a diploma in TEFL. Check-out my online CV here or download my latest creative CV here and my timeline here.

  • TECHNOLOGY

    WHAT I LIKE WORKING ON

    I’ve worked on a range of technologies, from Lotus Notes, Mainframe, Oracle to PHP (Web development). My vast exposure to different technologies has empowered me to adapt and evolve quickly. Currently I enjoy working on cloud and mobile application development.

  • TEACHING

    ESL

    I love teaching – its a new found passion for me since 2010. It’s an amazing profession and one of the most rewarding I’ve ever experienced. I’ve been teaching full-time/part-time since 2010 at Berlitz Al Ahsa. I’ve taught English to kids from ages 6 to an adult in his 60s – truly an amazing journey that has really defined my character.

  • HOBBIES

    DIY / PHOTOGRAPHY / CRAFTS

    As a human, I like to question everything. I like to understand how things work, why they are how they are, and how it affects what I do. I love working with my hands and converting my crazy ideas into art. From wooden art, painting, and general DIY around the home/office I love to play. Still a very junior photographer with a Nikon 3100 I’ve recently been clicking galore.

Skills // Senior Business Analyst with a passion for technology. With over 15 years experience in IT, and 4 years instructional experience (ESL). I have a creative mind comfortable with working with graphics and web technologies and the ability to adapt and learn quickly are my strengths.

  • 19 on Cochrane

  • Accenture

  • African Feather

  • AIA Vitality

  • Ambushed

  • AMC-Projects

  • Art on Grant

  • Autostyle

  • bakeityourself.co.za

  • Berlitz Al Ahsa

  • Charlie Electric

  • Chompalot

  • Dar al-Khibra

  • Discovery (Vitality)

  • Diyo Consulting

  • Edcon

  • EFL

  • Eqos Sourcing

  • Generali Vitality

  • Get Paid Ent

  • Goodes & Seedat Inc. Attorneys

  • Headquarters

  • Idarah Dawatul Haq

  • Ihsan Centre

  • KKM

  • KM-Motivation

  • KnowledgeTree (myKT)

  • Learn Deen

  • Legend Safaris

  • Limesurvey

  • Logo Design

  • Mainframe

  • Marketing

  • Muzayr

  • Online Testing – myQuiz

  • Oracle Financial

  • PhD Research Assistance

  • Process Management

  • Proper Tea Tymz

  • Rahmaniyyah

  • Refrimate

  • RIMAL – KSA

  • Scheduling Management System

  • Shaik’s Foods

  • SmartBoard

  • Social Booking Calendar

  • Social Media

  • Social Media

  • Speechperfect

  • Sumitomo Vitality

  • Team Building

  • Theba Realtors

  • Ticketing Support System

  • Vabro

  • Varachia Family

About this Blog // Welcome to my Blog - read about my interests and what's on my mind etc. I hope you find my educational bits helpful and useful. If you need any help post a comment or send me a message

  • 8 TOUGH BRAIN TEASER INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

    AUTHOR: // CATEGORY: Careers

    No Comments

    Facebook Brain Teaser Interview Questions and Answers:

    Question 1:

    A Russian gangster kidnaps you. He puts two bullets in consecutive order in an empty six-round revolver, spins it, points it at your head and shoots. *click* You’re still alive. He then asks you, “do you want me to spin it again and fire or pull the trigger again right away?” For each option, what is the probability that you’ll be shot?

    Answer…

    The key hint here is that the bullets were loaded adjacent to each other.

    There are 4 ways to arrange the revolver with consecutive bullets so that the first shot is blank. These are the possible scenarios:

    1. (xBBxxx)
    2. (xxBBxx)
    3. (xxxBBx)
    4. (xxxxBB)

    The other two scenarios would have meant you got shot on the first attempt. (BBxxxx) or (BxxxxB)

    Now look at the second slot in those 4 possible scenarios above. Your odds of getting shot are 1/4 or 25%. (Only #1 would get you shot)

    But if you respin… there are 2 bullets remaining and 6 total slots. 2/6 or 33%.

    Question 2:

    You’re about to get on a plane to Seattle. You want to know if it’s raining. You call 3 random friends who live there and ask each if it’s raining. Each friend has a 2/3 chance of telling you the truth and a 1/3 chance of messing with you by lying. All 3 friends tell you that “Yes” it is raining. What is the probability that it’s actually raining in Seattle? 

    Answer…

    You only need 1 of your friends to be telling the truth for it to be raining in Seattle.

    It’s fastest just to calculate the odds that all 3 are lying, and it’s not raining.

    Each friend has a 1/3 chance of lying. Multiply the odds together… you get 1/27 (1/3 * 1/3 * 1/3).

    We’re not done yet though… 1/27 is the probability that all 3 friends lied at the same time.

    The probability that at least 1 told you the truth? 26/27 or around a 96% that it’s raining in Seattle.

    Google Brain Teaser Interview Questions and Answers:

    Question 3:

    You have a 3 gallon jug and 5 gallon jug, how do you measure out exactly 4 gallons? 

    Answer…

    We know we can’t get the final result in the 3 gallon jug. It’ll overflow. We need to end up with 4 gallons in the 5 gallon jug.

    First fill the 3 gallon jug.

    Then pour the 3 gallons into the 5 gallon jug.

    Now the 3 gallon jug is empty, and the 5 gallon jug has 3 gallons in it.

    Fill the 3 gallon jug again. Slowly pour into the 5 gallon jug. Only 2 gallons will fit because it already has 3. Now it’s full.

    Exactly 1 gallon is left in the 3 gallon jug.

    Dump out the 5 gallon jug.

    Pour your 1 gallon into the 5 gallon jug.

    Fill up the 3 gallon jug one more time and pour it into the 5 gallon jug! You have exactly 4 gallons (and possibly a job at Google)

    Question 4:

    Why are manhole covers round?

    Answer…

    Good news: If you’re tired of math questions this one will give you a break.

    Manhole covers are round because it’s the only shape that cannot fall through itself. The cover can never accidentally fall down the hole.

    Microsoft has been known to ask this question and according to Glassdoor.com, Google is asking this too now.

    Apple Brain Teaser Interview Questions and Answers:

    Question 5: 

    There are three boxes, one contains only apples, one contains only oranges, and one contains both apples and oranges. The boxes have been incorrectly labeled such that no label identifies the actual contents of its box. Opening just one box, and without looking in the box, you take out one piece of fruit. By looking at the fruit, how can you immediately label all of the boxes correctly? 

    Answer…

    So, you know all 3 boxes are incorrectly labeled.

    Go to the box labeled “Apples + Oranges.” Since the label is wrong, it must have one or the other.

    This is the box to take one piece of fruit from. Whichever comes out is what that box contains. If you took out an apple, the box has only apples. If you took out an orange, vice versa.

    Here’s where it gets tricky a bit tricky. But we’re almost done…

    Let’s say you grabbed an apple. Move the “Apples” label over to that box. Now it’s correctly labeled.

    You know the “Oranges” box is still labeled wrong (because all 3 were labeled wrong to start and you haven’t touched it). And you know it’s not “Apples”.

    So it has to be “Apples + Oranges”.

    The last box is “Oranges”.

    The same process above would work if you had pulled out an orange at the start.

    Question 6: 

    You have a 100 coins laying flat on a table, each with a head side and a tail side. 10 of them are heads up, 90 are tails up. You can’t feel, see or in any other way find out which 10 are heads up. Your goal: split the coins into two piles so there are the same number of heads-up coins in each pile. 

    Answer…

    By pure coincidence… this is a trick my friend Mike showed me last summer. It blew my mind back then but hopefully it’ll make sense as I write it out.

    You want equal number of heads in each pile. There are currently 10 of them. You don’t know which but it doesn’t matter. All you have to do… take any 10 coins out of the 100, put them into a separate pile, and flip those 10 over.

    That’s pile #1.

    Pile #2 is the remaining 90 coins, unflipped. Just leave them.

    You’re done. Seriously.

    You can do this with any number of coins. If you had 20 coins, and 18 were heads, you’d need to take 18 of them (it doesn’t matter which) into a separate pile and flip those 18. That’s pile #1.

    If you had 10 coins and 3 were heads, you’d take 3 random coins into a new pile and flip those 3 for your first pile, and the rest are your second pile.

    Crazy right?

    If you don’t believe me just grab some pennies and try it.

    There are no exceptions and it doesn’t need to be an even amount of “heads” to begin with either. It can also be zero. Or all.

    LinkedIn Brain Teaser Interview Questions and Answers:

    Question 7: 

    You’re in a room with three light switches, each of which controls one of three light bulbs in the next room. You need to determine which switch controls which bulb. All lights are off to begin, and you can’t see into one room from the other. You can inspect the other room only once. How can you find out which switches are connected to which bulbs? 

    Answer…

    Let’s call the switches 1, 2, and 3.

    Leave switch 1 off.

    Turn switch 2 on for ten minutes.

    Now turn it off and quickly turn on switch 3.

    Go into the room and inspect…

    The bulb that is still warm but not lit up is controlled by switch 2. The one that’s currently lit up is switch 3. The last one is switch 1.

    Question 8: 

    How many golf balls would fit into a Boeing 747?

    Answer…

    This last one is tough, but they don’t expect you to get an accurate answer. If you get a question like this (and there are a ton of variations- basketballs in a room, cellphones in Manhattan, etc.) they want to see your thought process.

    The hiring manager is going to look at how you work your way through it and attempt to figure it out.

    If you can break a problem down into smaller pieces, stay calm, and get an answer that’s not perfect but reasonably close, you’ve done great.

    They might not even know the answer. They just want to see how you approach something that’s very difficult.

    Question 8 above highlights a pretty good point to remember in your interviews…

    There are a lot of questions in an interview where the hiring manager values your thought process. Sometimes more than a correct answer.

    If you’re stumped, talk out loud a bit and explain what you’re thinking. Ask a question if you need to. Try to break it down into smaller pieces.

    Specific knowledge can be taught but they can’t teach you problem-solving. Show them this and you have a great shot at getting hired!

     

    The hiring manager liked my approach to breaking down a problem that I didn’t immediately know how to solve. That’s why being transparent and showing your thought process is one of the tips for interviews that you’ll see me say over and over.

    You can learn to do the same and get far more job offers.

    The big takeaway: Don’t panic when you get a question you don’t know… use it as an opportunity to show exactly how you work through things. Be confident with it, relax, smile. Remember… you’re giving the hiring manager what they want!

    Credits:

    http://careersidekick.com/brain-teaser-job-interview-questions-facebook-google-apple/ 

     

  • HOW TO DISABLE DIRECTORY BROWSING IN WORDPRESS

    AUTHOR: // CATEGORY: Development, Wordpress

    No Comments

    By default when your web server does not find an index file (i.e. a file like index.php or index.html), it automatically displays an index page showing the contents of the directory. This could make your site vulnerable to hack attacks by revealing important information needed to exploit a vulnerability in a WordPress plugin, theme, or your server in general. In this article, we will show you how to disable directory browsing in WordPress.

    An example of directory index browsing in WordPress

    Why You Need to Disable Directory Browsing in WordPress

    Directory browsing can be used by hackers to find out if you have any files with known vulnerabilities, so they can take advantage of these files to gain access. For the comprehensive security of our sites, we use Sucuri for WordPress security. They have a simple dashboard which allows us to do this and perform many other WordPress security strengthening steps with in few clicks.

    Directory browsing can also be used by other people to look into your files, copy images, find out your directory structure, and other information. This is why it is highly recommended that you turn off directory indexing and browsing.

    Video Tutorial

    If you don’t like the video or need more instructions, then continue reading.

    To disable directory browsing in WordPress all you need to do is add a single line of code in your WordPress site’s .htaccess file located in the root directory of your website. To edit the .htaccess file you need to connect to your website using an FTP client.

    Once connected to your website, you will find a .htaccess file in your site’s root directory. .htaccess is a hidden file, and if you can not find it on your server, you need to make sure that you have enabled your FTP client to show hidden files.

    You can edit your .htaccess file by downloading it to your desktop and opening it in a text editor like Notepad. Now at the end of your WordPress generated code in the .htaccess file simply add this line at the bottom:

    1 Options -Indexes

    Now save your .htaccess file and upload it back to your server using your FTP client. That’s all you need to do. Directory browsing is now disabled on your WordPress site and people trying to locate a directory index on your website will be redirected to WordPress 404 page.

    Credits:
    http://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/disable-directory-browsing-wordpress/

  • HOW TO FORCE DOWNLOAD FILES

    AUTHOR: // CATEGORY: Development, Wordpress

    No Comments

    How to Force Download of Mp3 Files Instead of Streaming

    For example, you’re running a mp3 site on wordpress and hosting audio files on your own server. By default when an user click on a mp3 file link, it automatically play the audio instead of downloading. This could make your site user annoying as he have to right click on the file and choose Save As to download it. In this article, we will show you how to Force Download of Mp3 files instead of Streaming without plugins.

    You can disable this streaming feature in WordPress by add some lines of code in your WordPress site’s .htaccess file located in the root directory of your wordpress install. To edit the .htaccess file you need to login into your hosting and navigate to File Manager.

    Once navigated to your file manager, you will find a .htaccess file in your site’s root directory. .htaccess is a hidden file by default, so if you can’t find it on your server, you need to make sure that you have enabled your file manager to show hidden files.

    You can edit your .htaccess file by downloading it to your pc or code edit feature on your server. After open it at the end of your WordPress generated code in the .htaccess file simply add these lines at the bottom as shown in the image below:

    force download mp3 instead of play wordpress

    You can change or add any other file type based on your need (example: pdf, mp4, doc)

    Now save your .htaccess file. That’s all you need to do. Streaming feature is now disabled on your WordPress site and people can download mp3 files hosting on your blog by just click on it.

    We hope this article will help you to learn How to force download after a click on the mp3 file link. For questions and feedback you can leave a comment below or join us on our forum.

    Credits:
    http://wpcage.com/force-download-mp3-files-instead-of-streaming/

  • OVERRIDE LINK COLOUR

    AUTHOR: // CATEGORY: Development

    No Comments

    So you want a single link to be in a different colour and if CSS is being stubborn then try this:

    <a href=“http://www.ahmedv.com” style=“background-color: white; color: orange;”>your link text here</a>

    Credits:
    https://www.sitepoint.com/community/t/override-link-color-for-one-link/1141

  • RESET FORGOTTEN ADMIN PASSWORD OSX 10.11 EL CAPITAN

    AUTHOR: // CATEGORY: Mac OS X

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    Reset Forgotten Admin Password OSX 10.11 El Capitan

    The passwords for all accounts on OSX 10.11 El Capitan, OSX 10.10 Yosemite, OSX 10.9 Mavericks and OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion including admin and standard user accounts can be reset and changed when booted from theRecovery Partition on OSX.

    Boot into Recovery Partition

    Reboot into the Recovery Drive by choosing the ‘Apple‘ menu > Restart, hold down the ‘command’ + ‘r’ keys on the keyboard during the start up process when you see the start up screen you can let go. When the machine boots eventually you will see the OS X Utilities screen.

    osx-boot-recovery-partition

    Go to the Utilites menu and select Terminal

     

    osx-reset-password-terminal

    At the prompt type ‘resetpassword’ (hit enter)

     

     

    reset-password-osx

    This launches the Reset Password screen, select the Volume Hard Drive in the top part of the window pane, then for the user that you need to reset select the user account in the lower part then add and confirm the new password and click save, you get a confirmation screen and details about the keychain account.

    Go to the Apple Menu and click Restart to boot back to the normal hard drive and the new password will take effect immediately.

    Credits:

    https://coolestguidesontheplanet.com/reset-forgotten-admin-password-mac-osx/

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