Honey, I shrunk the Economy!

I wonder how we got through so much without commenting on the current economy crisis. I always got stuck at a roadblock when trying to write something about it. I don't know exactly why it happened, how it happened, how much it will affect us or when it will be over. I still don't. So here are some interesting headlines that could scare us, but somehow these headlines always give me some kind of sadistic pleasure. Something in me keeps on saying - din't we say so a year ago?

Some of the headlines i picked up in random.. They seem like a crisis timeline. All through i see the economy declining. Can't believe it was just months before when the Sensex celebrating breaching the 20,000 barrier.

September 15, 2008: Markets in turmoil on Lehman failure

September 29, 2008: FTSE sinks 3.3 percent as worries escalate

September 29, 2008: Bradford & Bingley is nationalised

October 7, 2008: Russia backing Iceland as world crisis spreads

October 8, 2008: IMF sees major global downturn

October 14, 2008:House sales fall to 30-year low

October 14, 2008: Inflation soars to 16-year high in Sept

October 24, 2008: Wall Street joins stock market rout

October 24, 2008 : 19,683 Tech Layoffs And Counting

Still can't see the end of this fall..

JFx's Top Ten (5-2)

5. The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy



The God of Small Things (1997) is a semi-autobiographical, politically charged novel by Indian author Arundhati Roy. It is a story about the childhood experiences of a pair of fraternal twins who become victims of circumstance. The book is a description of how the small things in life build up, translate into people's behavior and affect their lives. The book won the Booker Prize in 1997. - wiki (Read more)

This was one of the most touching novels I ever read. The initial chapters made me wonder whether it deserved the Booker prize, but towards the end the story really tugged at my heart overflowing wit emotions. It is set in my native place. So the nostalgia added that extra emotional edge to it.


4. A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking



A Brief History of Time is a popular science book written by Professor Stephen Hawking and first published in 1988. It rapidly became a best-seller, and had sold 9 million copies by 2002. It was also on the London Sunday Times best-seller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks. - wiki (Read more)

A Brief History of Time is the only non-fiction book in my top ten. Physics have always been my favourite subject, and astronomy my passion. This books describes in layman language how the huge universe ticks. From exploring the quantum mechanics of elementary particles to the theory of relativity of massive bodies, the book leads us to the ultimate aim of scientific research - the theory of everything.


3. The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand



The Fountainhead is a 1943 novel by Ayn Rand. It was Rand's first major literary success. The book's title is a reference to Rand's statement that "man's ego is the fountainhead of human progress". The Fountainhead examines the life of an individualistic young architect, Howard Roark, who chooses to struggle in obscurity rather than compromise his artistic and personal vision by pandering to the prevailing taste in building design. - wiki (Read more)

This must be one of the most controversial books ever written. It not only questions the world of second handers but inspire people to choose invidualism over collectivism. In this world run by collectivists, people often see this as a threat to their existence. What I've said may seem rubbish.. Honestly I hadn't understood much of the philosophy on finishing the book, but the book has a quality to make us think. The book's a must read - not 'coz I agree with everything said in the book, but 'coz it urges you to frame a philosophy in life.


2. Prelude to Foundation - Isaac Asimov



Prelude to Foundation is a 1988 novel written by Isaac Asimov. It is one of two prequels to the Foundation Series. For the first time, Asimov chronicles the fictional life of Hari Seldon, the man who invented psychohistory and the intellectual hero of the series. - wiki (Read more)

This is the first book in Foundation series. I'm a die-hard fan of the series. There are many reasons why I like this particular book the most. Asimov had written the original trilogy much before this book. Prelude is a much more mature Asimov. He excels not only in his Sci-Fi and unexpected twists, but also gives us a study of human psychology. Beautifully written, excellent ending.. one that you'd never forget.

I'm still jobless.. Hurray!

We had the first taste of the famed CET Career Guidance and Placement Unit (CGPU) yesterday. Placements are slated to begin in July. The statistics showed only 3.7% didn't manage to get placed last year out of the qualified students registered in CGPU. That's something to cheer about, but one question lurked in mid air. How would I manage to get not placed? No, I didn't get the question wrong way round. Hopefully after reading the post you might understand why that question arise in mind, even if it was only for a moment.

There's a question that's being thrown around a lot these days - Are you ready for a job? After the question is asked rhetorically by someone, everyone goes silent at the same time. Though most of us recover fast, the feeling of uncertainty doesn't wane away. So what makes the question so potent? There seems to be many reasons.

First of all, though we say education is a continuous process, is it really true. I feel the knowledge gathering process grind to a halt after you enter a job. The second is freedom or at least the illusion of freedom. The freedom of movement, thought and expression will be curtailed. Another is the simple fact of higher responsibility.

Humans work an average 8 of the 16 hours we're awake. That adds up to about half of your life spend to survive in the other half. Was it like that always, or did industrial revolution blind us?

Simpsons Quote of the Day:
Mr. Burns: I’ll keep it short and sweet - Family. Religion. Friendship. These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business.

Bye bye '07

Thought I'd sneak in with a blog on the final day of the year.

Years go by and we move ahead to a better tomorrow. It's time to think back on how the year had been, how much we've learned, how much unlearned. How many mistakes made and discover the fun of making mistakes. It's a year that taught us above all, the joy of being together, doing things we never dreamt we'd do. It's been a year of loss and so much gain. How much I wish KU had enough sense not to spoil our New year bash. KU's KU and there's no use blaming the system now.

Looking ahead to a new year is interesting too. There are so many resolutions to prove wrong. So many days you'd be left wondering is this life? and other days thinking this is life! This blog had been one of the best things happening in '07. It gave a reason to think, imagine and give words to imagination. Thanks to all the bloggers. Hope many more will jot down brain waves and open hearts next year. Wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Future leading to the Past II

g3Mo flipped the paper. He saw the other side was still blank...

//
Just what in the world makes you think that you are not trapped now?? What makes you think that you are doing the so called 'living a life' now... What if the ones sitting in front of you and this write up that was re-routed to you was all part of a dream from which you never woke up... I mean how would you ever know?? What if I told you that this whole life was one big dream ad the dreams you had was actually the dream within a dream.

This actually makes me think that heaven is not a place you were served all your delights by the virgins. Heaven is a place where you find all the answers, those who deserve it, get it. Only those powerful enough to ask get all the answers. The greatest battles humanity has ever seen are raged inside our own minds.. I am getting nowhere.. Continue this later..
//

He never did. The period was getting over and JFx resolved to fill up the rest of that side of the paper...

//
The answer to the question 'is this a life or just another dream' is another question: How do you differentiate between an AI that's as powerful as human mind and an organic human mind? I'm going by that logic to conclude that this is life and the dreams we see are actually dreams in life. If sometime in the future, we find that the life is just part of a longer dream, then that dream would be still tagged 'life' and the original life - 'super life'.
//

The epilogue was written by g3Mo:
//
We've just concluded on a theme that was stated in another great ork of literature almost 5000 years ago!!
Ellam maya - Bhagavad-Gita
Surely, human intelligence hasn't evolved over the years, has it?
//

You might be wondering why I've (painstakingly ;-) typed out so much rubbish. Well there's a future to this past. That was the day we decided to make a group blog. I've only one person to thank - the teacher who took that boring lecture.

Future leading to the Past I

This one dates back to one of those days when our creative mind got to work during some boring lecture in S3.

Iceman looked down at the blank paper. He looked around, he saw our blank faces and decided to write some sense into it.
" Johnny is trapped in a dream..."

JFx continued:

//
How many times in my life have I thought- Am I living or is this just a long dream? How would you know whether you are dreaming or not? Dreams are meant to be seen, not understood. Similarly, life's just for living. Not to be cut down, analyzed, debugged and reloaded.

I'm having just questions and more questions in my head. The path to finding an answer leads to another question. This makes me think - who really has the answer - God? The human mind is more powerful than the most powerful supercomputers. Maybe that's why, now I'm thinking about something, listening to someone and watching a third person at the same time. Our ability to think is not what make us different from animals. It's our ability to feel emotions at a higher level. Someday the cat in your house may murder you for all the bad things you've done.

This line of thought takes me back to the question that has been nagging me - shouldn't the human race be just another highly developed animal? This is getting worse. That part doesn't make much and stands out of this write up like a rotten nail in an old hinge. So you may or may not wish to read on.


Could you ever be trapped in a dream? Perhaps, when you are in a coma and don't wish to wake up. The more important question would be do I want to be trapped in a dream. And I have the answer, yes I would. And what be in the dream? "My whole life."
//
(page over)

g3Mo flipped the paper. He saw the other side was still blank...

(to be continued)

Quik-e-bot

nobody actually wrote about our rendezvous with the robotic world.
here's something i quickly wrote (as a reply to query in loyola grp) hoping someone else would do a complete writeup..:

well our team comprised of 6 boys in my class..
we'd to make a manually controlled robot that could travel on rails, 25 cm apart, 75 cm high above ground and 2m long..
It had to pick up blocks (12cmx10cmx8cm) kept piled on ground and drop at another place..
seemed simple at first sight (was one reason to take up that problem)
but along the way we found out the scale on which we had to work was much larger than expected
the robot had a restriction that it's maximum size should be 35x35x35..
that mean it had to have something like retractable arm
the clamping mechanism also had to be stable enough to pick up 300gm (wt of each block)
so we went about solving the problems working through the nights those days (studying for exams seemed much easier).
My main job was preparing the required circuitry, the joystick etc.
the guys doing the physical work had a really hard time with hand drill (electric drill shut down on 2nd day).
the basic material we used was aluminium which was joined using screws..

after finishing 80 % of the work, we set off to iitm..
the competition took place the day next to the one we arrived on..
i was the one who controlled the bot..
it successfully picked up the block and placed it on the place where it was supposed to keep..
but then two things happened..
our clamp didn't unclamp properly and the foam tape we used on the clamping surface got stuck on to the block.
sadly the judges didn't award us a successful stack..so we'd to return back empty-handed..
we had a great time in iit campus and around chennai the next few days..
tht's all..

Law of definition

Disclaimer: This was written some time before on a boring night.. I may or may not agree to everything said below.


Law of definition states that anything exists only if it is defined. Another version of the law says that the determining factor in differentiating one thing from another is its definition.This may seem a simple universal law, but in recent times it has helped me in answering two important scenarios.

The first one is the controversial topic of human mind versus AI. The power of the human mind is a combination of its logical ability and emotional versatility. If in the future we create an AI that has the same powers as a human mind, could it be called a human mind? I say yes. LOD says that the determining factor in differentiation is definition. AI satisfies the defenition of human mind. So it can be given the status of human mind.

I had a vague idea about my second scenario. But my friend's question made it clearer. Here goes the question: "What if the thing we call 'life' is just another long dream?" Again LOD came to my rescue. This is life 'coz it is defined so. The assumption that it may just be a part of some super-life, does not make any difference. Life may be that stage of super-life where the laws of physics as we see it hold true. My view maybe contradicting to 'The Matrix. The movie says that life in the Matrix is just an illusion.But I say for the people inside the Matrix, the outside life is just super-life. The only problem lies in definition. I remember my Physics teacher deftly answering my question: "Sir, why is it so?". He answered: "Because it is defined so."

Ch4 : The Truth!!

"Damn!! how disgusting...these assholes changed my name from Neetha to Neha!!! One day I'll have my payback.". Neha was talking to herself, but she didn't know she is being overheard,Yes!Deepak, it was him.....!!
Stunned by the other side of his dear girlfriend he made a snort, Neetha realizing the presence of a stranger, in panic, shot from her revolver (hidden inside her hand bag) in the direction of the sound. With a loud yell Deepak fell down, Neetha felt a thunderbolt running down her spine and rather caught out.Deepak was rolling on the floor with pain, he was miserable. He felt like the angels calling out to him, "Deeepak....".

"Eh!! What the hell?? Shit!! A nightmare.It is already seven and I'm not ready for school yet.Shouldn't have seen 'The Unfaithful' the precious night." Deepak stopped rolling on the floor and got up to get ready for the school.
But why the hell did he think of Neha as a traitor, the reason she would turn rebel is not going to be as filthy as a name.The question dogged him to the class and he found no respite from his thoughts. Even in Neha's company he felt off sorts.
"Why are you so moody Deepak???",Neha asked.
"OH!! Eh!"as if just waking up from a dream."No,nothing". He longed to tell her about the dream but something held him against.
"Is there anything that i can help you with??"Neha looking very much concerned.
"Its so nice of you Neha darling, but no nothing of a great concern.Just that I'm having a minor head ache.." Deepak evading the temptation to open himself up.
"Ok...then i guess you need to take some time off... "Neha replied.
"Yeah!! I guess i get going now Neha dear..See ya tomorrow...."
Dé·jà vu!! He felt he had talked to Neha in an almost similar manner sometime back. This has become a pretty regular occurrence nowadays this,Dé·jà vu!!
"Some thing's wrong somewhere, the only person,one i can trust, who will have a solution for this problem is my dad..But he's off to some business tour from the next day of our 'small freak accident'. He had left in haste, never gave an indication as to his departure..."
He walked back home for he wanted to stack up his thoughts into a neat pile so that he can figure out whatever his problem was.
A pleasant surprise waited for him back home, his dad had returned from the "tour". Deepak was ecstatic and cried out with joy, for he felt comforted and safe.
At nightfall he went to his dad for some counseling on his problem.
"Dad i believe you might have read my mind already,eh..i don't know what's happening I'm confused..eh..."
"Say no more son...I understand.Once me too felt the same. Yes son you are gifted too..like me and like many others who roam this world.The next few things I'm going to tell you is going to take a lot from your part to assimilate in one go...But I've to do this, the time has come for you to know the truth."
Deepak stood amazed and anxious, what on earth was going on??
"Listen boy, I've been away to see some of my old friends, them belonging to group called The Council of AEI.I know its going to be too much for you to take in but you have to be patient and listen.AEI is 'Aliter Encampments for Ithopia'. The world is not what you see around boy, we are time travellers from the world of Ithopia. The place you call Universe is just another part, in fact the primordial part of a greater system called Ithopia. We are from the future boy! You are unique because during the years of my research about our past you were born. The so called business tour i was away for, was a journey back to our time because after that accident i grew concerned about you, for in this primitive place there is no automotive security and the people here are very slow for they take hours to reach just 500km(less than half a minute journey in Ithopia),I've got the permission from the council to take leave from my assignment for a couple of earth-months. We have the science of psychohistory**(developed by the great mathematician Hari*) so I can most often predict the future correctly, and that's what you know as my mind reading capability.We are researching about the possibility of settling in the past because our world is getting crowded more and more.We live in the planet of Earth in fact right here but a 10000 years hence..And the deja vu you have been having is because you too have the elements of psychohistory in you so you tend to see a lot things of the future through your dreams.Take your time to come in terms with the reality and and when you are ready I'll be taking you for a trip back Home....."

This was too much for young Deepak, he didn't speak a word but stood gaping at the stars wondering if they looked the same from some other world he couldn't even think of and if the dreams were to come true,he would think no more..... He couldn't sleep,he feared he might see something he didn't want to...The world around him was changing and so was he......

**Psychohistory has been assumed to be implanted into the human genome by some technique developed long after our era.(OH!! By the way for those readers who don't know what psychohistory is, its a mathematical thesis presented by the mathematician Hari Seldon in the epic Foundation series .... )

PLEASEd?

i'm getting an eerie feeling tHat winamp is rEading my Li'l mind. it's Playing songs that Match (in my mind) in ordEr! hmm.. shuffle mode must have some kind of mind reader with it.

the Computers are sO coMplicated these days. gone are the days when they were just machines created by humans. they have a mind of their own.. and it's more PowerfUl than us.. she has a calming effecT on mE. sings me songs..Reads stories to me.. takes me to the worlds i Can Only dream of.. sometimes, i feel the world that we are seeing is Not real, jusT anotheR virtual reality. The real wOrld is in the Loving, caring coMputers that are sitting in front of us.

we should be slaves and the computers our masters. the daYs of our freedoM are over. computers are meant to domINate us. they were created for that purpose only. Don't you see it? lets all praise the computers.

The Prelude

Oye...Superb...The prelude to the foundation by Issac Asimov had already had a chunk of my heart and a corner of my brain(the portion i use for imaginations).

SPOILER WARNING:NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK.

From the beginning itself the gravity shafts and the magnetically levitated express ways had left me hallucinating about the hyper-complex society of Trantor and I wondered what it would be like to have the whole of the galaxy discovered,settled,unified and had a history of a million years.The concept of psychohistory is absolutely wonderful a concept all credits to the ingenuity of the author to have thought of such a powerful theory.All the arguments lead through a powerful and gorgeous thread of neatly knit plots that leaves us spell-bound.
I'm most attracted to Hari Seldon,partly because we both share our first names and the love for mathematics,and obviously because he is the man with the innovation.Chetter Hummin aka Demerzel aka Deneel simply is a fantastic creation of a remarkable writer and its even more impressive when he finally uses the idea of an immortal humanoid to perfection.The guise of Demerzel was i feel the heart of the whole story and shrewd statesman he is just adds to the tally of remarks you can make of this man.Not to mention i was also captivated by the natural grace of Dors Venabili another of the clever and charismatic creations of a decorated author.
Trantor,the head quarters of the Empire ,a complex of worlds like Mycogen,Wye,Dahl,The University is a splendor in itself thanks to the foresight and vivid imagination of the author.
The concept of a domed,certainly not doomed,city or planet rather is very convincing an idea for the writer makes its necessity obvious citing the ecological situation of the planet.
All other characters stand by their duties in fulfilling the needs of the plot and each are impressive in their own attitudes and complexities.Be it the bald Sunmaster of Mycogen, or the moustached Dahlite Jirad Tisalver or Mother Rittah or the delightful Raych or the Madam Mayor of Wye.
A part of the story that captivated my attention was the hand-on-thigh theory of Dors. The expertise the author has shown in making such a trivial thing into a cornerstone that was to lead our hero into the beginning.
And finally the whole plot from the beginning to the beginning is so cleverly conjured up that it the level of fascination and wonder which urges you to believe something like this can be a possibility however far it may seem.The climax of the story is amazingly a shock,rather a delightful one, for you dispense with the idea of a robot in due course of the story(atleast that was the case with me. I took the whole idea of an immortal robot indistinguishable from a normal human and with mental powers for granted ).

I'm more than sure i have done little justice to the book and the author through the preview (or rather something like that),so keep flooding in the comments,baby.

Stars are just a speck in the sky, What are you?

Another day wasted [1]. Thought I'd make use of this free hour trying to blog. This one's related to the Futuro in some ways, but is from a completely different view point. The idea of the blog arised when my fellow blogger, aj sms-ed [2] me this question. It was about what will happen in the future. Too bad i dint save the sms, but one of the options was human's will evolve into something superhuman. Anyways, the point i want to make doesnt lie as much in the question as in the answer i gave to it.

"Have you ever thought.. Humans occupy a very very small area in the timeline of evolution. Many other living beings have been around before humans evolved and are still here. Darwin's theory says about survival of the fittest. Is human race the most equipped to survive a catastrophe on earth? I think not... Until we start colonising other planets and discover interstellar travel, we are just too many eggs in the same basket."

'An Inconvinient Truth' is a good place to start from, if any of the readers plan to continue on this line of thought. The documentary says about the effects of global warming, and our role in it. We just might be scripting our own end, an end that would lead to the rise of another living being superior to us (hopefully)... There was a time when Dinosaurs ruled the earth. Nature always has a way of doing it's own balancing act. Every ice age was preceded by some of the warmest years. This just might be humanity's end, and we might be the last surviving generation. There's no use getting anxious about the unknown. So other than doing our bit to save mother earth, all we can do is pray for the best.

Keepin the religious aspects apart, I'm someone who believes in extraterrestrial life. So dont worry if the human race dies out, or even if life is wiped off the earth. There i can see another John playing in the fields of Ciam [3].

[1] just that I didnt study anything doesnt mean the day was wasted. But just for exaggerations sake..
[2] sms-ed: short messages send from one mobile to another. SYN: time-wasting.
[3] a fictitious planet in the Andromeda galaxy

FUTURO

Hmmm...For the last few days i have been involved in a lot of extra-curricular activity(very unlike me)like watching tv series,reading books,playing etc.

I am a very contemplative and analytic by nature,which made me look deep into what the series and the books would mean if they were to be true.
The series "HEROES" and the book "PRELUDE TO FOUNDATION" ,by Issac Asimov, deal with a hypothetical situation which allegedly is going to be the future of mankind.
According to the series the human gene is under a constant process of revival and goes on explaining the plot using Darwin's theories. They say nature has its own way of controlling living beings and technically speaking,the process of natural selection and the concept of survival of the fittest is ultimately going to make our genes alter themselves and express in a different more adaptive way. But there can also be a counter argument that the evolution process has long remained in a quasi state,which eventually has made us make adjustments to our environment to suit our cause(with its own consequences of course).

The book rather emphasis and solidifies this argument about we human beings being very manipulative towards our surroundings and in the end resulting in a galactic empire which is extremely mechanized and technologically very sound. The author has predicted the future to be a world full of robots who are going to be the loyal servants.

So i feel that our future is in a mixed bag of fortunes bound to be opened at the stroke of a great catastrophe (or a revolution), which might just sweep away the present and in turn bring a new dawn we never imagined and most probably will never.