tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52372802802939982582024-02-19T06:44:05.275-08:00Nine And Three-QuartersNine and three quarters, never 10. I intend to use this space to publish stuffs I consider incomplete which also happen to be the result of nine and three quarters of all my creative pursuits....Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237280280293998258.post-56785427087116240612013-06-22T12:10:00.000-07:002013-07-13T18:08:19.302-07:00The Haze<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Merienda', cursive; font-size: 16px;">A glimpse of the reddish hue stirs,memoirs,</span> </div>
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Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237280280293998258.post-19980021366276776762013-02-11T01:00:00.000-08:002013-02-11T13:53:24.418-08:00A Tribute To Aaron<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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There is a great probability that you landed on this page through a web feed and that you are also unaware that one of the persons who created this amazing technology died exactly one month back. Perhaps I am over-reaching, there definitely were more people involved but the contributions Aaron Swartz made in such a short time justifies it. Aaron's suicide at the age of 26 also indicates how fearful authorities are to the challenge of hacktivists and those seeking to democratize information through web. Internet activists are being hounded,arrested,illegally detained and even threatened simply because they are motivated to do something for the general good and for being also smarter than the rest. Aaron was one such thought leader and one of the earliest martyrs of Open Information Revolution.<br />
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I must confess that when I read the news of Aaron's suicide on 11 January 2013, the only thing I knew about him was that he was one of the leading hacktivists and played a major role in stopping SOPA from being passed. It was only in the aftermath that I learned of his accomplishments.I think it is a cruel joke of fate, we usually learn a lot more about a person after his/her death. He was a child prodigy who co-authored RSS specification at the age of 14 ! Anyone even faintly familiar with web technology knows the key role web feeds play today in making the web what it is today. But that is not his only contribution to web technology, he was also part of the RDF Core working group at W3C the body that maintains the standards for the World Wide Web (in a manner governing the web). Here is what Sir Tim Berners-Lee, father of the World Wide Web had to say in this context, when remembering Aaron.<br />
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"<i> He joined a working group which was doing work on the Semantic Web, the RDF Working Group...... And the RDF Working Group decided to meet. And somebody said to me: “So
this … umm … Aaron Swartz, he’s going to be coming to the meeting, is
he?” And I said: “Yes, I think so.” And they said: “You know, he’s 14.”
“What? he’s 14 years old? Oh … He’s a minor! What? We’ve never had a
minor, we don’t know what we should do – do we have to get a parent to
sign a permission form? We don’t know how to do this!” Here’s this guy
who is looked up to and respected and a major contributor - who is wise
beyond his years. Suddenly so then he’s revealed face-to-face for being
14.</i>" </blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.rememberaaronsw.com/memories/We-have-lost-a-fighter.html">Tim Berners Lee</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.rememberaaronsw.com/memories/We-have-lost-a-fighter.html"></a><a href="http://www.rememberaaronsw.com/memories/We-have-lost-a-fighter.html">18 Jan 2013</a></div>
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But that is not all, Aaron was also the creator of web application framework, web.py and co-founder of social news site Reddit. That's quite a lot of achievements for a teenager but then there have been other teenagers accomplishing astounding feats in computer technology, Aaron's understanding of society, politics, law and ethics sets him apart from the rest of his peers. He was one of the architects of the Creative Commons and an Open Access activist both of which are keys to the future of web.<br />
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<i>The world’s entire scientific … heritage … is increasingly being digitized and locked up by a handful of private corporations.<br />
… The Open Access Movement has fought valiantly to ensure that
scientists do not sign their copyrights away but instead ensure their
work is published on the Internet, under terms that allow anyone to
access it.</i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> [ Read Aaron's <a href="http://the%20world%E2%80%99s%20entire%20scientific%20%E2%80%A6%20heritage%20%E2%80%A6%20is%20increasingly%20being%20digitized%20and%20locked%20up%20by%20a%20handful%20of%20private%20corporations.%20%E2%80%A6%20the%20open%20access%20movement%20has%20fought%20valiantly%20to%20ensure%20that%20scientists%20do%20not%20sign%20their%20copyrights%20away%20but%20instead%20ensure%20their%20work%20is%20published%20on%20the%20internet%2C%20under%20terms%20that%20allow%20anyone%20to%20access%20it/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Guerilla Open Access Manifesto here</a>]</span></blockquote>
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In 2010, he founded online group DemandProgress which was instrumental in stopping SOPA from becoming a law. Perhaps this is what made some people jittery, he was charged with committing computer fraud for downloading a large number of academic journals from JSTOR using MIT's computer network. Although JSTOR released statement saying it would not pursue civil litigation against Aaron, the prosecutor, apparently trying to send a message to other Open Access guerillas pursued with charges that could result in him being imprisoned for 35 years and fined a $1 million. Ironically, less than a week back an American court had convicted Pakistani-American terrorist, David Coleman Headley for his role in the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai and for plotting a failed terror attack on a Danish newspaper. Coleman played a major role in the dastardly Mumbai attack which left 166 people dead, scores injured and more than a billion people shocked.<br />
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Yet, the prosecution accepted a plea bargain and Coleman was sentenced to undergo 35 years in prison while the person he testified against, Tawwahur Hussain Rana was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment. Clearly, the administrations around the world, backed by corporate believe that making locked information public is a greater crime than plotting and collaborating in one of the most heinous terrorist attack in civilized world after the Twin Tower attack on 9/11/2001. The treatment of Bradley Manning, Julian Assange and members of the Anonymous paint an ominous and scary picture.<br />
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Aaron Swartz committed suicide on 11 January 2013<br />
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Sir Tim Berners-Lee tweeted<br />
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Aaron dead.World wanderers, we have lost a wise elder.Hackers for right, we are one down.Parents all, we have lost a child. Let us weep.<br />
— Tim Berners-Lee (@timberners_lee) <a data-datetime="2013-01-12T16:57:29+00:00" href="https://twitter.com/timberners_lee/status/290140454211698689">January 12, 2013</a></blockquote>
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Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237280280293998258.post-515799610493628432012-07-26T03:27:00.000-07:002012-07-30T16:19:27.095-07:00The Last Enemy That Shall Be Destroyed Is Death<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span title="Source: The Tales of Beedle the Bard (real)"><i>"...And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life." -Beedle The Bard, </i></span><i>Tale of the Three Brothers </i>-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. This statement captures <b>an </b>essence of stoic philosopher's concept of choosing suicide over non-virtuous life but another important condition is that s/he must be a wise person.<br />
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The other day I was watching the Al Pacino-starrer movie "You Dont Know Jack", which was based on Dr Jack <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Kevorkian </span></span>also called Dr Death for being the most vociferous voice calling for legalizing mercy-killing or euthanasia of terminally ill people and claiming to have euthanised 130 patients. He was later found guilty and sentenced to jail for 33 years. Although I am not very sure if doctor-assisted suicide of terminally ill people should be allowed, since the individual himself/herself may not be in a position to make rational decision but it reminded of an old question , how can a secular state not only deny right to end one's own life but also criminalize it.<br />
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(Check out my earlier post- <a href="http://www.danishahmed.in/2011/03/musings-on-mortality.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Musings On Mortality</a>)<br />
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Although I started this post with reference to Stoic philosophy, it is also the school that most opposes it.<br />
In fact Stoicism does hold suicide as cowardly and wrong. For is not Stoicism the phrase used today to describe the human trait of being able to endure hardship and pain without flinching or complaining ? Yet, if you look into history of Stoic school, nearly ever major philosopher starting from Zeno of Citium, Cleanthes , Chrysippus , Cato the Younger, Lucretius and Dionysius committed suicide while the reason of the death of most Stoic philosophers is not known. ( read somewhere that Epictetus did it too ) . Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius (famous Stoic philosophers) have always held that killing oneself is preferable to living in misery.<br />
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So how can a school of thought that criticizes suicide, have almost all great teachers commit suicide ? Perhaps, not all instances in which a person kills himself should be considered suicide. Jainism doesn't consider the practice of Santhara as suicide but an act of religious piety. It is not random but institutionalized with certain procedures to be followed. The main reason why suicide is always considered wrong is because it is seen as a desperate measure by a hopeless persons too cowardly and weak to face harsh reality or suffering from one or more mental illness from an huge list of mental illnesses.<br />
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Yet the ancient Romans, Samurai (committing hara-kiri), Janissaries and similar classes were seldom diagnosed with any of these illnesses. It is presumed that a long term process indicates the decision is more rational as opposed to impulsive ones. However, in each of these instances, it is emotion that drives the motive, in a manner glorifying death. But the Stoic view seeks to undermine death, the fear which makes us do a lot of things. True disrespect to death can only come when it comes to be seen as any other incident. Of course it requires wisdom,courage and clarity of thought but they need not be planned. After all, Zeno died by holding his breath after he fell and broke his toe, the next greatest Stoic master Chrysippus died in a fit of laughter !<br />
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In fact, in his essay <a href="http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/schopenhauer/arthur/essays/chapter12.html" target="_blank">"On Suicide", Arthur Schopenhauer</a> argues that the Stoics considered suicide as a noble and heroic act and law against it imposed by the clergies since neither the Old Testament nor New Testament forbid it. The basic assumption based on which suicide is considered crime is that it always involves violence, even if against self. This assumption may be correct in many instances,such as when self-killing is carried out a fit of rage or anger. But violence is not always necessary.<br />
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We must not forget that whether consciously or sub-consciously we fight to stay alive every moment. We fight to live for a purpose and to add some value to the human society. For instance, today itself, anti-corruption activists have gone on fast for an indefinite period unless the government takes urgent steps. Pragmatically speaking, there is very little chance of them starving themselves to death, they are after all leaders,but the very concept involves non-violent sacrifice of self for a noble cause. However in individual cases it becomes difficult to identify, but under no circumstance can the two methods be equated, the latter requires determination and resolve. Perhaps this is what JK Rowling mean't when she wrote, ..he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals...<br />
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I began this post with a quote from Harry Potter book, it is only fair that I end it citing another.<br />
"<i>To a well organized mind death is the next great adventure</i>" - Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone. </div>Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237280280293998258.post-9490148390266385812012-04-18T13:28:00.000-07:002014-05-25T14:49:25.089-07:00Tears of Angels<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237280280293998258.post-16057246080422273912011-10-09T16:25:00.000-07:002011-10-10T05:11:46.940-07:00The Lost Symbol : A Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtgcSmJIIBdwrK8TRKRZLGWlaD-RcEDyTAF8n2QGg52ZqroaFYBSvndkV2cNQ5WuQnOaO3XkQrehz6GcbBwlWcfAciU3n1SYU9CaDVqZ1Vemru8GuOEKuCCRmWTjdhP53K1hvTlbjAEDt/s1600/tls9780593054277.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtgcSmJIIBdwrK8TRKRZLGWlaD-RcEDyTAF8n2QGg52ZqroaFYBSvndkV2cNQ5WuQnOaO3XkQrehz6GcbBwlWcfAciU3n1SYU9CaDVqZ1Vemru8GuOEKuCCRmWTjdhP53K1hvTlbjAEDt/s1600/tls9780593054277.jpg" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After Rome and Paris, Robert Langdon faces yet another challenge to unravel ancient secrets, save a friend's life,defeat a formidable foe and avert a global disaster, all in a single day's work. But this time the adventure takes place in Washington which may initially seem surprising,given the fact that was founded roughly 300 years back whereas ancient secrets date back to well.. antiquity. The linkage of course is the well-known Masonic roots of the founding fathers of the USA and Freemason symbols and signature found in everything from the White House to the Presidential Seal and even currency bills, subjects which have provided sustenance to myriads of conspiracy theories floating on the web especially.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The plot is similar to his previous thrillers as are the characters.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Spoiler Alert!</span>] </span> Like in previous books the three main characters besides the protagonist are hardly normal people. An unimaginably rich and immensely powerful patron,a genius, powerhouse of knowledge and a gentleman with a heart of gold is unlikely to come across anywhere other than Dan Brown book. Similarly, an immensely intelligent, single independent woman of science and one of the keys to the plot and a highly motivated, skilled and ruthless villain with an unusually high intellectual level completes the triad around which the story revolves. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[/<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Spoiler Alert!</span>] </span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8pAUL6iuNwNVPKfAi0Vt6tWHGfnJW14RLQEVlJKADeNqbmnEsXa6aNB7iNOKoBU_2Ep_j1UNJd0q9GisUuLg6xYEuBxUYZZTio4Vsw5oEUJ3vBCcSomp1vTqbltGxhZT0wrAsW7feHrqH/s1600/apothesis4992886872_3fb2a44296.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="107" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8pAUL6iuNwNVPKfAi0Vt6tWHGfnJW14RLQEVlJKADeNqbmnEsXa6aNB7iNOKoBU_2Ep_j1UNJd0q9GisUuLg6xYEuBxUYZZTio4Vsw5oEUJ3vBCcSomp1vTqbltGxhZT0wrAsW7feHrqH/s200/apothesis4992886872_3fb2a44296.jpg" width="200" /></a> <br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dan Brown was never really a great writer,but in this one he definitely sounds stale. However, the author probably relies more on his homework,assortment of oddities, rather than literary skill which would explain why about half the lines in his books are usually italicized. Unlike conspiracy theorists', Dan Brown's assertions are usually based on facts, obscure facts,facts which have been hidden beneath tales,stories,customs,rituals or even under physical structures and private artefacts,but more interesting are the secrets hidden in plain view which we look at often, but never see! Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons had loads of them. In The Lost Symbol, the quest that the villain embarks on is to unravel the ancient mysteries and find the path to immortality! Now if that sounds preposterous in the 21st century,just take a look at this picture above, mentioned in The Lost Symbol.</span><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Secrets like these are what compensate for the literary value it lacks. Freemasonry has been mentioned depicted in numerous books and movies but mostly as an ungodly cult, Brown narrates the seemingly grotesque rituals with all their sordid details but then he also explains the underlying philosophy and principles which make these rituals seem justifiable for greater good. Another obscure but very potent branch of science, the Noetic Science, which according to my understanding is the science investigating the intangible relationships of humans with other humans and with the universe. as a whole.</span><br />
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For the occasional reader looking for a gripping storyline, a proper thriller, The Lost Symbol might just not satisfy. As for those like me , given to oddities and mysteries, it certainly deserves a place on the shelf.<br />
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</div></div>Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237280280293998258.post-45802270228485699692011-03-19T13:41:00.001-07:002014-08-29T17:26:52.222-07:00Musings On Mortality<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Ancient philosophers as well as medieval ones often kept human skull on their writing desk, as a reminder of their own mortality. I read this long back and assumed that it is widely known but in the early years the idea appeared to me, as it would appear to most people - a freaky habit !<br />
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<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Allisvanity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Allisvanity.jpg" height="200" width="131" /></a>If at all a skull on your writing desk doesn't startle you to death when you doze off with your chin on the table and wake up to find two hollow sockets staring at you, it should at least obsess you with the idea of your own death! And people obsessed with their own deaths, (euphemistically called fatalists or nihilists) would definitely screw up their present lives as well as the lives of people close to them. So it must be one of those freaky things the ancients practiced because they had lots of free time and loads of silly ideas propagated by their wisest men who probably wouldn't be able to intellectually compete with some of the biggest dumb-asses of our time.<br />
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Well, those were my thoughts in the early years, but the idea of having a hourly reminder of your impending death no longer appears to me as obsession with one's own death. If at all it means anything, it reminds one of the greater truth than death - Life. It can also be seen as mirror to our souls, to remind if we have committed our deeds virtuously that very day. Of course, all religions, spiritual groups,intellectual groups have rules, principles to aid us in finding the best way to live but in this post, I am talking about a Stoic strain of thought, which neither suggests an alternative to religious codes nor contradicts them. It is one of the mysteries that the ancients bequeathed to us but we seldom recognize them for what they are. For me too,it remains a concept that I find difficult to explain but I will not be so ungrateful as to say it doesn't make sense to me either. I don't have a skull on my desk, as a matter of fact I no longer have a desk. I can find all I would look for on my desk, on my lap now !<br />
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But I would no longer underestimate the wisdom of the ancients. Perhaps, the skull acted as a measurement device, much like the thermometer we use for measuring temperature or the device to test the sugar level in our blood, except that in their case it wasn't body temperature or blood sugar they were trying to check but their spiritual and/or intellectual levels.<br />
Faith frees one of the fear of the unknown.<br />
Death is unknown.<br />
The time of one's death is unknown.<br />
What happens after death is unknown<br />
The very concept of death is unknown.<br />
Whether we acknowledge it to even ourselves or not, most of our actions are related to our fear of death or harm. There is no harm in that, life's purpose is to keep death at bay as long as it can,after all death is unknown.<br />
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Faith says death is not the end, life continues and that you will be accounted for all your deeds- good and bad karma . Faith is the key to life, it demystifies death , but the latter continues to menace us all the time. Faith is the key, but as a concept it is very difficult to be understood without taking religion or spiritualism into account. Religious laws and principles are meant to help develop that faith.A person with a life-time of good deeds and belief in after-life is likely to be calm when staring into the face of death, but for someone with neither fear of death is natural.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Apology-Phaedo-Socrates-Classic-Reprint/dp/1440093121?ie=UTF8&tag=p00a2-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Apology, Crito and Phaedo of Socrates (Classic Reprint)" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1440093121&tag=p00a2-20" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=p00a2-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1440093121" height="1" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />Perhaps for our ancient philosophers, the symbol of death on desk was not a reminder of the inevitability of death but a reminder of how to live every day. That having no fear nor regret as death comes knocking at the door anytime implies a certain level of spiritual maturity. As for that matter, even a half-finished blog post shouldn't be a cause of regret but I am not Socrates (my all time favorite philosopher ) whose last words were "<i>Crito, we owe a rooster to Asclepius. Please, don't forget to pay the debt</i>" Now, those words may have deeper meaning; they are in fact the essence of this post but you will have to find out the hidden meaning ;) Nor can I be like the great Stoic philosopher Zeno of Citium, who after tripping and falling, struck the ground with his fist,saying <br />
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<dl><dd>"<i>I come, I come, why dost thou call for me?</i>"</dd></dl>
</dd><dd>and died on the spot through holding his breath.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Diogenes_La.C3.ABrtius.2C_vii._28_2-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno_of_Citium#cite_note-Diogenes_La.C3.ABrtius.2C_vii._28-2">[3]</a></sup></dd></dl>
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Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237280280293998258.post-82489508898735997022011-03-11T14:40:00.000-08:002011-03-11T16:32:55.362-08:00March 11: Japan's Early Warning System<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhct9QWVRl0R8OZs8yHKXbwkZEi_v2zKF3LN6jV0cLsWOOU9tudElM4NYWw-Za0KMTc6LMyT7ZLrZDubjfIWfdPVD3a1SWzlte-xLRjDdKxpuqd2FHq66hHh5X9Ta7a_W62LfpZFn5ojwjx/s1600/japantsunami.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhct9QWVRl0R8OZs8yHKXbwkZEi_v2zKF3LN6jV0cLsWOOU9tudElM4NYWw-Za0KMTc6LMyT7ZLrZDubjfIWfdPVD3a1SWzlte-xLRjDdKxpuqd2FHq66hHh5X9Ta7a_W62LfpZFn5ojwjx/s200/japantsunami.jpg" width="200" /></a>When I first heard about a powerful earthquake, the obvious feeling was one of alarm but when told that the target was Japan, my stress had considerably decreased. Of course, the magnitude (8.9 Richter) did sound far bigger than any other earthquake I had heard or read about, but still I expected loss of lives on a much lesser scale than had it hit any other country. Just a couple of days back I was going through the report covering <a href="http://www.istc.ru/istc/istc.nsf/va_WebPages/Science_cafe_UK-RussiaEng">Russia-UK collaboration to launch new generation satellites</a> for real times monitoring of seismic activities and eventually build tools for prediction.<br />
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It is difficult to not think of Japan when dwelling on seismic activities, after all it is the most disaster prone area even in a region called "ring of fire" and experiences about a 100,000 earthquakes every year! Even our school text-books haves taught us how the Japanese building are made to and at the same time the Japanese are some of the most resilient, innovative and technologically advanced peoples in the world. True enough, while the US, UK,Russia and others are trying to come up with a earthquake prediction mechanism, Japan is one step ahead of them, in October 2007, it launched an <a href="http://www.blogger.com/">automated earthquake warning system</a> which could issue warnings seconds before the impact.[ more http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/en/Activities/eew1.html]<br />
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<a href="https://www.ntt-review.jp/archive_html/200812/images/sf2_fig01.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="127" src="https://www.ntt-review.jp/archive_html/200812/images/sf2_fig01.gif" width="320" /></a>Now, unlike weather forecast systems, the earthquake warning system is not really forecasting or prediction system. During an earthquake, the primary waves are fast but too weak to cause disturbance, its the slower secondary waves that cause the devastation. However, seismograph can pick up the primary waves and raise alert, but a single instrument may not be that effective since the time gap is only of few seconds. The automated system links 1000 seismographs across Japan with a fast network that can together be used to calculate the strength and location of the quake and issue a warning system. Later,major cellular phone carriers of Japan had already implemented a mechanism to automatically route government warning to their phone users. <br />
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This is the first time that the automated warning system was triggered and it is quite likely that it was successful. Although, the extent of loss in terms of human lives is not yet clear, news agencies report that the automated warning sent through cell phones, TV and radio ( Twitter ?) had reached people in Tokyo before the shock-waves did. Of course, Tokyo is not exactly close to the epicenter, those nearer to epicenter had very little warning, neither of the earthquake nor the tsunami which caused maximum damage. Yet, if it did manage to save a few lives, the Japanese people have once again proved their mettle. It might sound insensitive but an earthquake of this magnitude in South Asia or South East Asia would have ended with hundreds of thousands of human lives. In case of India, our administrators are so immersed in corruption and gluttony, one wouldn't be surprised even if entire generations had been wiped out. <br />
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<u>Update</u><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8377506/Japan-earthquake-nuclear-disaster-fears-as-reactor-overheats.html%20">According to Telegraph</a>, the warning was issued 1 minute before the earthquake</li>
<li> In other news, Japan has admitted that its 2 nuclear reactors have been affected and has <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/12/us-japan-quake-reactor-idUSTRE72A2NR20110312">warned of radiation leak</a></li>
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[ The warning system is maintained by <a href="http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/en/Activities/eew1.html">Japanese Meteorological Agency</a> ] </div>Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237280280293998258.post-40892708005916643282011-01-31T06:28:00.000-08:002011-02-25T03:53:42.674-08:00Egypt: Kefaya As A Doctrine<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Anonymous has joined the fray in #Egypt protests <a href="http://anonops.webs.com/ANONYMOUS-PRESS-RELEASE_26-01-2011.jpg">declaring </a>that it will not s<i>tand idly as people are denied their basic rights and human dignity</i> thus raising the possibility of Egyptian government sites becoming their new target. The online hacktivist group had earlier come out in support of Tunisian protesters and taken down<a href="http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/01/anonymous_threa.php"> Tunisian government websites</a>. However, what interest me more are the parallels in the structure of both the organizations (for lack of a better word). Both are leaderless movements by like-minded individuals participating voluntarily to achieve a simple objective. Further, as radically decentralized networks with no hierarchy nor structure,they expose no identifiable target that the government could coerce/corrupt into submission.<br />
{Update 24/02/11: Came across an Al-Jazeera Op-Ed : <a href="http://www.blogger.com/">Anonymous and the global correction</a>)<br />
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It is also interesting to see the role that the Internet has played, social networking tools have had catalyzing effect in Egyptian as well as Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution. Activists were able to share information with others, easily through Blogs, Facebook, Twitter and similar services. Mubarak regime reacted by attempting to shut down access to the Internet services but it was not able to block information completely. Despite his attempts, the protesters and journalists were able to circumvent the blocking mechanism and present updated news to the people off Egypt as well as the world. The crackdown on activists/bloggers, journalists etc by the regime turned out counter-productive as more and more people around the globe began to see the real face of the Egyptian dictatorship and overwhelmingly supported the protesters.<br />
. Once that part was done, the action was going to take place in physical world and in Tahrir Square. It very much resembles the Open Source Software development methodology,defense analyst <a href="http://twitter.com/johnrobb">John Robb</a> calls it <a href="http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2011/01/egypt-how-to-lead-and-open-source-protest.html">Open Source Protest</a> <br />
The Egypt protesters currently are a loose coalition of groups with diverse ideological leanings, varying motivating factors and different agendas united by a single thread which is the demand for the removal of Hosni Mubarak from power and bringing in a democratic setup. After 30 years of Mubarak's despotic rule the people of Egypt appear too weary to tolerate this ruthless dictatorship any more. Hence the word Kefaya which translates to "enough" (those familiar with Urdu/Hindi should find similarity with the word "Kaafi" ) has evolved into a political doctrine implying grass-root level coalition and activism with basic aim of transforming the state and the polity. It sounds similar to the concept of passive resistance or civil disobedience as propounded by Mahatma Gandhi but there are differences, most important of which is the fact that the movement in Egypt is leaderless.<br />
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And unlike the British, the incumbent regime of Egypt tried every trick in book (and invented a couple) to break the will of the people. When the movement began the notorious police force first clashed with public and then disappeared only to return in plain clothes to commit looting and arson,mimicking chaos which Mubarak could then use as an excuse to stay in power. The police then abandoned posts and jails leaving hardened criminals on the streets, with none to protect, the citizens themselves created vigilante groups to protect their homes from robbers as others participated in rallies in Tahrir Square and other places.The bluff was called after a number of looters were caught by vigilante groups were found with police identity card on their bodies. <br />
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The latest tactics wars to hire modern day mercenaries, disguised as pro-Mubarak protesters who came armed on horses and camels attacking unarmed demonstrates. Even this did not wok out well, there were clashes and the pro-Mubarak protesters were outnumbered and injured. It is ironic that people working for the government should attempt to vandalize the Egyptian Museum and a human chain by the local Muslims and Christians guarded the Museum from vandals. <br />
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This indeed explains the courage and steadfastness people of Egypt have shown recently, it is also a precedence and and a doctrine that might soon get currency,even outside the region. </div>Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237280280293998258.post-13237395334006790362010-03-23T07:02:00.000-07:002010-12-15T10:47:48.961-08:00Finally Google Shuns EvilGoogle it now seems has finally decided to take the bull (do dragons have horns ? :P ) by its horns and is now offering uncensored data and services but through its Hong Kong servers <a href="http://google.com.hk/">Google.com.hk </a>. The users visiting Google.cn will now be redirected to .hk where they are offering uncensored mainland China specific search. Google is aware of the various measures the Chinese authorities might take to block its services, so it plans to continue monitoring the accessibilities issues on a regular basis and enlist active services on this <a href="http://www.google.com/prc/report.html#hl=en">webpage.</a><br />
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<a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-approach-to-china-update.html">Official Google Blog: A new approach to China: an update</a><br />
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Now, Google says that its decision was made after the large-scale cyber attack that the company and 20 other companies face months back. There are enough implications that they suspect involvement of Chinese government officials in this cyber attack. Obama officials may have expressed disappointed by the Google- China split but earlier Obama administration has been very supportive of the move to ensure freedom of information on the Internet. Google's decision may not be part of a larger political strategy but this should open the road to more companies exiting states which insist on maintaining vice-like grip over the information that reaches the people. <br />
<a href="http://www.google.com/prc/report.html#hl=en"> </a><br />
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<a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-approach-to-china-update.html"></a>Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237280280293998258.post-11463324484636771662009-11-21T15:25:00.000-08:002010-12-15T10:47:08.583-08:00Rightists Never Represent Legitmate GrievancesChetan Bhagat's op-ed, <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/To-Maharashtra-With-Love/articleshow/5252093.cms">To Maharashtra With Love</a>, reflects the attitude of passive approval without which parties like MNS cannot possibly thrive. <br />
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The argument that the MNS has, in a manner, come to represent legitimate grievances of a section of Maharashtrian population doesn't really hold much water. For one, Maharashtra does house a large number of poor but then one should not forget that India as a whole houses a third of the world's poor. <br />
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As a state Maharashtra is much better off than most other states of the Indian Union. Orissa,Jharkhand,Chattisgarh and North-Eastern states have a much larger ratio of poor as well as a history of central government's apathy. True,this is the reason why these regions are witnessing armed insurgency,especially the Naxalite movement which has substantial presence in the most backward regions of Maharashtra. The fact that people from North-India are migrating to Maharashtra only confirms that the latter is much better off in terms of economic opportunity and growth. Ironically, Mr. Bhagat cites statistics on poverty and farmer suicides in Maharashtra to explain the support base of the MNS but what he completely forgets is that most (but not all) of the victims hail from backward regions like Vidarbha which the ruling Cong-NCP has swept in the recent assembly polls. <br />
What the MNS represents is what all of us have known all along! Regional chauvinism, parochialism. <br />
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May be Raj is a wee bit more aggressive than his uncle but the line of thought is identical. Rightist ideologies by definition are based on primary loyalty to supremacist thought and controversial personalities rather than grievances at the grass-root level. Historically,right wingers have been able to gain popularity by exploiting people's grievances in the form of emotive rhetoric,chauvinistic sloganeering and whipping up passion in general . Electoral success of these groups should not be seen as endorsement of the ideologies by the masses,rather they are response to an artificial environment of fear and victimization created by these groups. Let us not forget that even Adolf Hitler and Mussolini had massive support in the initial phase but within a relatively short periods they not only lost support but were also passed into annals of history as two of the greatest villains in history of humanity. <br />
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It is a fate that the Thackerays are bound to meet sooner or later.Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237280280293998258.post-70046723152150226352009-11-06T06:49:00.000-08:002010-12-15T12:41:28.525-08:00Salaam-Namaste...And Moving OnIs Vande Mataram un-Islamic ? When @bdutt tweeted asking for inputs on the controversy i knew my reply had to be much beyond 140 characters, so here it goes...<br />
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Yes,technically it is un-Islamic,worshiping any entity other than GOD is un-Islamic as even the most deviant Muslim will tell you. And its not just the Muslims,every monotheistic creed would have problem accepting it. The SGPC for instance has taken a stand against it.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vande_Mataram#Sikh_institutions_and_Vande_Mataram"><sup>1</sup></a> and so have many Christian groups.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vande_Mataram#Christian_institutions_and_Vande_Mataram"><sup>2</sup></a> In fact, almost all non-Hindus would have a problem with it if they are true to their creed, after all, as Rabindranath Tagore said in his letter to Netaji - <br />
<blockquote><i>"Of course Bankimchandra does show <b>Durga to be inseparably united with Bengal in the end</b>,</i>(emphasis mine)<i> but no Mussulman [Muslim], christians and Arya Samajis can be expected patriotically to worship the ten-handed deity as 'Swadesh' [the nation]. This year many of the special [Durga] Puja numbers of our magazines have quoted verses from Vande Mataram - proof that the editors take the song to be a hymn to Durga".<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vande_Mataram#Rabindranath_Tagore_on_Vande_Mataram">3</a></i></blockquote><br />
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If that leaves any doubt, let us not forget that reinvention of this controversy is always politically motivated. Vande Mataram was part of the book Anandamatha which, as everybody knows, is a cornerstone of aggressive Hindu nationalism. It contains fierce anti-Muslim remarks more than anti-British remarks, in fact, in the final chapter the British are described as friends and the mission successful as the "Muslim power is destroyed"<sup>4</sup>. When the Sangh Parivar's insists that the Muslims sing Vande Mataram, it becomes a weapon for imposing communal ego, a national song should bind the population, not divide them!<br />
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Yet, i do not think AR Rahman composed one of the most popular rendition of Vande Mataram under coercion, neither have i been forced to hum it, which i have done countless times anyway! What most people do not understand (including the saffronites) is that the world has changed in the last 100 years and so has the Indian's sense of identity and the definition of words and concepts. It is interesting to note that AR Rehman seems to equate the words Vande Mataram with Maa Tujhe Salaam. Semantically, these two terms stand quite opposed! While the word Vande has been translated as "obeisance" or "bow", the Arabic word "salam" essentially means "peace". There is no way you can worship an entity and send blessing to it too.<br />
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But AR Rahman cannot be considered absolutely wrong, as of, now the meanings of the words have undergone drastic changes. For instance, the movie title "Salam-Namaste" seems to make the same *mistake*, wishing peace is never the same as bowing down but the fact the connotation of certain words have changed drastically through use and disuse. "Salaam" is now understood to mean "paying respect" while i have come across a very few people say "namaste" and actually bow down to show the same gesture that the word connotes. The word "namaste" is today used more as gesture of sending good wishes rather than prostrating. <br />
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If some people with vested interests did not keep reigniting the controversy, we might have never noticed when we adopted and have taken to singing it. The Jamait moving the resolution was very uncalled for. This organization has in recent past done commendable jobs especially against terrorism but by igniting the controversary it has shot itself in the foot. P Chidambram's presence further raises question; is the Congress trying to get back its Muslim votebank ? Currently, the Muslim vote is too fragmented, the main opposition, the BJP seems to be on a downward spiral,but not down enough not protest rather aggressively which might actually lead to a consolidation of Muslim votes and given the state of affairs,leaders like parties like BSP and SP would have little to offer to the Muslims.Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237280280293998258.post-37996813676702241312009-11-04T14:27:00.000-08:002010-12-15T12:40:21.678-08:00AshamedThis post is in response to my twitter-friend <a href="http://twitter.com/@Sanjana_S">@Sanjana_S</a>'s blog post "<a href="http://scarletsunshine.blogspot.com/2009/11/shame-on-you.html">Shame on you</a>" -a very strongly opinionated piece on what she thought of the most hienous crime- rape. While commenting on her blog i had the idea of adding a new post here and add the link as comment on here blog. I absolutely refuse to categorize rape as a mere sexual crime, it is something far more heinous than that, the ultimate brutalization and subjugation of the victim as well as her kins. Ever wondered why invading armies, rioters and marauders would do that? Wouldn't it be very difficult to derive sexual pleasure during the mayhem? Definitely, it has to be sumthing other than sex. <br />
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Primitive warrior tribes considered women the most prized possession, a symbol of masculinity. If you observe the habits of primates and gorillas,the strongest, meanest and most brutish male of the tribe gets to keep the best of women and largest share of food. The female is the symbol of the alpha male's domination, a reminder to less stronger tribe-members of who is in charge (aan baan shan :p) <br />
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Thus a forced sexual intercourse is an attack on the psyche of the victim and her kins, it becomes twice heinous and unfortunate because both sides view the woman not as a person but as an object of honor and supremacy and most importantly as a possession. Of course, no pain can be greater than that of the victim who is violated and goes through immense and mental agony without any fault of hers. And in cases where she has been violated by kin for the very same reason i.e. domination, it assumes a very grotesque form. <br />
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Things havent changed significantly in modern times as much as we may want to believe. Beneath our "cultured" demeanor we are still the same warrior tribe that consider woman a trophy. This animal instinct continues to manifests in harassment, molestations and in worst case, rape (mind u there are other categories too, like pedophiles etc ) but in a less overt manner. But then we are no longer military society, there are no invasions, raids etc, at least not in urban centres, not in Delhi which is becoming notorious for sexual crimes. So does that mean that the underlying motives have changed but the behaviour persists ?<br />
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Not really. The machismo gene is too deeply ingrained in the collective psyche to remain suppressed by garb of civility. In the final decades of the last century, the movement for empowerment of women had become far too strong to be opposed in any manner, even the most machismo- oriented groups joined the brigade without really accepting them. Worse, they now had women leading the charge. Remember, the infamous <a href="http://xpensieve.blogspot.com/2009/02/now-goons-come-out-in-support-of-ncw.html">Mangalore pub assault episode and the NCW member heading the probe sympathizing with the goons</a> ? The fact remains that empowerment of women in India has not been accepted whole-heartedly by all sections of the Indian society, the molestations and sexual harrasment of every kind are a reflection of this. The unwillingness of the male to accept woman as an equal in all walks of life manifests itself in ways other than groping, feeling up and bottom-pinching, sexual harrasment at workplace are all parts of it. <br />
We are heading towards a more insecure future for women. On one hand we jump into globalization band wagon,talk of female empowerment,thus encouraging women to take active and equal role in everything and on the other hand we let misogynists go unchecked. If rape is the culmination of this primitive brutality,we come across the early signs of this sickness in lot of people everyday in our lives. We regret, lament and blame our law and order mechanism but we forget that these beasts are amongst us. There is no law or no magical incantation that would change things in a second (or even eons), the only way to check these cimes is it step up the vigil- citizen vigil. Every time i come across news of a sexual crime i find myself wishing i could do something! But lately, i ask myself a couple of questions-<br />
When was the last time you stopped people from referring to a woman as an object of sexual gratification. When was the last time you acted while a female was being harassed ?Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237280280293998258.post-24419472546116895322009-10-12T05:19:00.000-07:002010-12-15T10:23:07.110-08:00Revisiting the History of the Internet In Realtime through Usenet ArchivesEver wanted to see how the Web evolved or are you nostalgic about Usenet ? i am ! More so because, when i found them i had very little to contribute and the older geeks were not polite, not at all! A single stupid statement would lead to flaming that could demotivate you for weeks.<br />
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But i loved it still, it was geek culture where you couldn't survive without knowledge, intellect and an ardent love for learning. It was here that the future map of the Web was laid but ironically as the Web evolved, its popularity decreased and after Google bought off two Usenet archive, it gave way to Google Groups . The next generation of users hardly knew of their existence. Google never indexed the largest and most valuable user-generated content but now it says it is fixing a bug that would make it more searchable. <br />
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This is good news indeed but what excited me to come up with this post is the<span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.google.com/googlegroups/archive_announce_20.html">20 Year Usenet Timeline</a> that Google has put up. If you want to relive old times or are an enthusiast who would like to travel back in time to witness evolution of the Internet, to read <a href="http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=1991Oct5.054106.4647%40klaava.Helsinki.FI">Linus Trovald's post on his project</a>, which led to the Linux revolution or <a href="http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=6487%40cernvax.cern.ch">Tim-Berners Lee's announcement of the Web</a> or the <a href="http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=8803110405.AA12872%40castor.cs.rochester.edu">first mention of the term "search engine"</a> check out the page.<br />
</span>Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237280280293998258.post-85067989973292656092009-05-17T13:23:00.000-07:002010-12-15T10:21:51.518-08:00Masala Movies And Pluralistic Indian Society<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzAMVoCWUqLmMyTFQxZhamj3ZrMeoVX3DYQI-8ri3Ik11Uh6Thc-Hi-nAQ27rQkbxWSg9lfV3CNQVFPbzuTYyFkSVtcopsQt53G7dXeEZRMoZ10It1kAMA4sOg9AAXUbDeJNhvDmsiw5G/s1600-h/pmehra.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337525347753108194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzAMVoCWUqLmMyTFQxZhamj3ZrMeoVX3DYQI-8ri3Ik11Uh6Thc-Hi-nAQ27rQkbxWSg9lfV3CNQVFPbzuTYyFkSVtcopsQt53G7dXeEZRMoZ10It1kAMA4sOg9AAXUbDeJNhvDmsiw5G/s320/pmehra.jpg" style="float: left; height: 96px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 96px;" /></a>This afternoon I was watching <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">RDB</span> on Star and the just deceased <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prakash_Mehra"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Prakash</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Mehra</span></a>'s <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Khoon</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Pasina</span> on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Sab</span>. Its a common knowledge that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">RDB</span> spawned entire generation of conscientious citizens who were unwilling to take injustice lying down. Candle-light vigils, protests and participation did influence the outcome of the high profile Jessica <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Lall</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Priyadarshini</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Matoo</span> murder cases. <br />
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</div><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9VOTXmn0WnQbivWXNwchXeBEGGSkdwcR1EJghazqgCcMVHoxXQkLPdgZSPkCdTeS4ZaP6X88HyVYI6DAdCAblOr1uA-hz3N0HL-tFthDHvzUr6op7tsOvhqJhKvID8KUNKmmU2DezQ4s/s1600-h/Rangde_Basanti-xpnsv.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337527634981740338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9VOTXmn0WnQbivWXNwchXeBEGGSkdwcR1EJghazqgCcMVHoxXQkLPdgZSPkCdTeS4ZaP6X88HyVYI6DAdCAblOr1uA-hz3N0HL-tFthDHvzUr6op7tsOvhqJhKvID8KUNKmmU2DezQ4s/s320/Rangde_Basanti-xpnsv.jpg" style="float: left; height: 180px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 247px;" /></a></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9VOTXmn0WnQbivWXNwchXeBEGGSkdwcR1EJghazqgCcMVHoxXQkLPdgZSPkCdTeS4ZaP6X88HyVYI6DAdCAblOr1uA-hz3N0HL-tFthDHvzUr6op7tsOvhqJhKvID8KUNKmmU2DezQ4s/s1600-h/Rangde_Basanti-xpnsv.jpg"></a></div><div></div><div></div><div>However, what has not been acknowledged much is the role <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Bollywood</span> movies have played in shaping the cultural paradigm of post-Independence Indian society. For more than 6 decades Indian film-makers have held the twin concepts of socialism and secularism on a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">sacrosanct</span> level, which has in fact influenced Indian mindset considerably. Pick up a successful film from any period, from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Mughal</span>-E-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Azam</span> to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Jodha</span>-Akbar, you would find the concept of "<b><i>unity in diversity</i></b>" very clearly <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">portrayed</span>. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Now back to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Khoon</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Pasina</span> which was so unlike <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Mughal</span>-E-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Azam</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Jodha</span>-Akbar or even Rang De <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Basanti</span>. This <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Amitabh</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Bachchan-</span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">starrer</span> was a typical commercial thriller of the angry-young-<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjvUd7IKpUiHZMmTesnh6zKO0CzxTZ_E6itNrjLe1QmAyYRLcStbivs_S3mmnTu79BmIjQ6MreVGtXznvPWforU24VbO8LQpe5g7tXSLLLMyXEjVV8UEH1DuWcVovlWW28N3huJROPTGRR/s1600-h/khoonpasina1977.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337527214744230610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjvUd7IKpUiHZMmTesnh6zKO0CzxTZ_E6itNrjLe1QmAyYRLcStbivs_S3mmnTu79BmIjQ6MreVGtXznvPWforU24VbO8LQpe5g7tXSLLLMyXEjVV8UEH1DuWcVovlWW28N3huJROPTGRR/s320/khoonpasina1977.jpg" style="float: left; height: 323px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 236px;" /></a>man genre of movies with liberal doses of violence (mostly fist/knife fights), <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">impromptu</span> singing and dancing and larger-than-life hero (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Amitabh</span> mauls a tiger in this flick!). However, even in the midst of these thrilling and sometimes <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">ridiculous</span> plots and scenes the theme remains <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">fiercely</span> socialistic as well as secular. Critics may find many flaws in the movie, right from unrealistic <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">portrayal</span> of characters, stereotyping of certain communities such as Muslims and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">Thakurs</span> and glorification of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">repressively</span> chivalrous mindset but the fact remains that at that point of time, such <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">portrayal</span> was most palatable for the non-elite classes and in its own way it added value to India's tolerant and pluralistic cultural values. </div><br />
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Other than <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">Prakash</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">Mehra</span>, film directors such <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">Yash</span> Chopra, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">Ramesh</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">Sippy</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">Subhas</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">Ghai</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">Manmohan</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">Desai</span> and scores of directors including those involved in regional languages film industries have been and continue to make movies which critics and mature audience may reject without a second thought but there still exists an audience that is influenced majorly by them and in reinforcing nationalistic, socialistic and secular mindsets they are doing a good job.<br />
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The motive of the directors of these genre of movies may have been to reach out to all sections but the fallout was anything but negative. In many ways these movies are like the fabled Indian spices [<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">isn't</span> the word "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">masala</span>" used in reference to this genre of movies ?;)], hot and not-so-good for health but Indian delicacies would lose their identity without them and they certainly add to nutritional values of the food!<br />
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Rang De <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">Basanti</span> may have been the first movie to make such a profound and positive impact on the minds of average Indians but movies like Mother India, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_45">Sholay</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_46">Amar</span> Akbar Anthony have had their role in shaping India's modern culture and social values and also help develop up inclusive national identity.Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237280280293998258.post-18862958869599306122008-11-13T06:30:00.000-08:002010-12-15T10:21:24.060-08:00Human being as a cell<div>We live in depressing times, global meltdown is no longer a speculation, it has become a reality. i wonder if every one of us is equally aware of the irony that fate has in store for us through this double entendre.The phrase "global meltdown" as used lately in the media refers to the current global financial crisis but it should not be <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">forgotten</span> that the phrase is equally potent when used in the context of global warming. Yet another irony of the situations involves the role of fuel,especially fossil fuel, a rise in price of which accelerates inflation and lower prices, more consumption, further damage the environment. Anyway, uncommon times call for uncommon initiations.Cost cutting measures are being implemented by most corporate as well as private citizens but there are always some people who can look beyond the mundane and bring out something of value from things which the rest of us won't bother to think about.</div><br />
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<div><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/11/07/green.revolution/index.html"> Here is a news item i came across on CNN a couple of days back. </a></div><div>Jay <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Whelan</span>, CEO of the Connecticut-based firm, the Green Revolution Inc has come up with a device which can convert the energy spent in a work out session in the gym to generate electricity for general use. This device can be fitted to the wheel of a bicycle and with the help of wires to the energy generated is fed to a electrical control cabinet. An average human being, during the course of a work out session produces 500 <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">BTU</span> which when converted to electricity would mean 150 watts electricity. It is estimated that a group of around 20 bikes used throughout a year has the potential to create 3,600 kilowatt hours of electricity which can be fed to 72 homes for a month !Well, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">that's</span> not all, this device also helps you save between two to six ounces of CO2 during a single workout! </div><br />
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<div>Does this sound something like "having your cake and eating it too" ? </div><br />
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<div>I will end this post with a quote from Arthur Schopenhauer"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see." </div>Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237280280293998258.post-57689216944676737882008-10-25T14:00:00.000-07:002010-12-15T10:20:46.676-08:00New Gmail addon to avoid those e-mail nightmaresEmails have been a great way to be in touch with loved ones and maintain relationships better but there is a dark side to it as is found in every other medium. When mobile phones became widely used most relationship were further cemented but in some instances an sms, call records, missed calls and even wrong number triggered breakdown of long term relationships. Emails too can have negative impact on your personal as well as professional life. How many times have you found yourself wishing you could somehow stop the email that you have just sent to your boss mistakenly? Depending on the content of the mail the consequence could range from mild embarrassment to a professional jeopardy.<br />
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This <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/10/20/lw.recovering.email.mistakes/index.html">CNN report</a> quoting <a href="http://www.deathbyemail.com/2008/10/cnn-covers-deat.html">Death by Email</a> attributes the cause of most of these erring e-mail to carelessness on the part of the sender, especially when the sender is not typing the e-mail addresses. And its not just the misdirected e-mails either, sending mails to the intended recipient but at the wrong time can be equally dangerous. Mails sent to a former lover, current love interest, immediate boss or anyone who matters, late in the night, and especially during the weekend often result in regretful Monday mornings. Those mails you sent while under intoxication may cause greater damage than being booked for DuI. Its not just intoxicants that influence you into sending those self-damning mails, depression at times can be equally if not more dangerous than substance induced stupor.<br />
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Google Labs has implemented a new feature called Mail Goggles to check if you are sober enough to be sending the mail. The mechanism is pretty simple, when you click "send", it asks you to solve some simple math problems to determine if you are drunk or not. By default this feature is active only late in the night on the weekend but you can change the schedule from the settings. Well, it may work for Jon Perlow, the Google engineer who designed this Gmail add-on, i am not sure if it would be the same for me or not. But im going to find out soon, getting drunk would be the first step :D<br />
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Read more on this <a href="http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-in-labs-stop-sending-mail-you-later.html">here</a>Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5237280280293998258.post-77071510986228537002008-08-01T14:32:00.003-07:002012-04-17T14:37:03.935-07:00Introducing Delphi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
My earliest exposure to the world of programming came accidentally while I was toying with what I assumed was a desktop publishing package like Pagemaker. I knew a little about programming which was limited to drawing Mandelbrot sets in GWBASIC or copying files in DOS.Before I could realize that what I was working on was not a graphic management tool but a programming platform, I had already compiled at least 1 small program by just dropping components on form. When I look back in time now, I am amazed at what even the first version of Delphi allowed the programmer to do without writing tedious lines of code and in a time when even Microsoft Visual Basic was an infant.<br />
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Borland Delphi is a component-based RAD tool and an object-oriented programming language which was earlier known as Object Pascal, its Pascal base makes it a high-level and a strongly typed language that compiles code into native x8086 code unlike most popular languages.what this means is that, with Delphi, it is possible to create a simple program that can be run on any Windows machine without requiring the user to install any "virtual machine", "run-time engine","framework" or even dlls. The robustness in the IDE is added by the VCL (Visual Class Library), the object-oriented class library consisting of a huge number of visual and non-visual classes that can be used by the developers to create objects descending from the superclass TObject. Apart from the VCL there is a large number of third-party libraries available for use. For more low level programming Delphi allows use of inline Assembly code and compiles them into native executable code.<br />
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Delphi is also one of the best platforms for database development. Delphi's Database Connection and Data-Aware components make creation of client application in a client/server application, a child's play. In fact, the brand name itself suggests the role database development has played in evolution of the IDE. Oracle, the most popular database of the time, had been named such after the famous Oracles of ancient Greece which were supposed to foretell the visitor's future. The most famous of the Grecian Oracles was the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. Since database connectivity was one of the primary goals of the RAD that the guys at Borland had been working on, the term they decided on was "Delphi", as it is said, "If you want to talk to [the] Oracle, go to Delphi". However, Delphi is much more than a tool for designing a database front end, it can be used in almost all scenarios. Every now and then one comes across rumors which would have us believe that "Delphi is dead", but if we were to take these rumors as the truth, Delphi should have just vanished almost 10 years back. The folks at Borland (and now CodeGear) deserve a pat on their back for not only coming up with a great development platform but also for keeping it alive and kicking. Unlike Microsoft, which abandoned Visual Basic in favor of dot.NET, Borland continued to support Delphi by incorporating the latest technologies in the IDE instead of launching a completely different product. The recent versions of Delphi have inbuilt support for popular programming languages like C++ and C#. Delphi for .NET feature added in 2005 version was successful and the later versions contain an entire personality called Delphi for .NET. CodeGear has also released a product called Delphi for PHP which aims to combine the ease and power of Delphi with the flexibility of PHP providing the developer with a real powerful tool for web development. Another major and innovative functionality that Delphi now boasts of is the Enterprise Core Object technology. ECO is a modeling tool that allows developers to create class diagrams and define relationships between classes visually. It is one of the first RAD tools to integrate a UML editor and functionality for developers.<br />
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If I go on about the advantages Delphi provides over other RAD tools I wouldn't know where to end :p But if Delphi were really that cool how come it is so less popular ? This is a question that even I would want to pose to the marketing guys in Borland/ Codegear. It widely accepted among Delphi enthusiasts that Borland has never been able to market its products well , in fact there are instances when one wonders if these guys really don't want their product to be sold. However, no matter what its makers and competitors do there always is a group of Delphi lovers who would remain loyal to it forever. For nearly 2 years I have been using other technologies and I am pretty pressed for time too, but even that doesn't stop me from going back to Delphi every once in a while. I finished installing RAD Studio 2007 yesterday and have just about started exploring it. More on this later....<br />
</div>Danishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01636779341430888553noreply@blogger.com0