Peep into future

Open any tech news site these days and invariably there are stories about privacy concerns being raised due to some government legislation or the other. Most of these relate to data being gathered and analyzed for people. Its ubiquitous, you travel abroad and you'll find your face, fingerprints, retinas being scanned and stored. You buy online, your credit card history being stored. Google itself tracking and correlating your mails, blogs, communities.
The amount of data being generated and tagged for each individual is immense. We have already seen big corporations or corporate like entities often getting access to such data, to think that governments not having access and using such data would be naive.
History shows that while authorities assure a lot in beginning about how the data collected will not be used for xyz purpose in future, the future end up authorizing exactly those xyz. So we do not really see the frightening uses of such personal history available to people who you have never even seen or talked to.
Lets face it, knowledge is power. It makes me think- what happens when say a government (analogy holds for corporates too) has complete data on me, my family, my friends, my friends' friends... They know what I bought, looked at, talked about all my life. In short a complete record of my life and ideas (right or wrong) about my thought process. To what use could such information be put to? To deny me opportunities (maybe a coveted career opening)? The scope of power over me in the hands of someone who I cannot confront is frightening.
We do seem to be moving towards such a society. A case in point maybe the file sharing lawsuits in US. A non government agency often got access (some by rights given to them by laws made for the purpose) to search personal computing freedom. And a lawyer may make smart analogies with what (s)he finds by such search in order to destroy the defendant. After all, isn't this a technique in debate? If you can't think of something, why not question the topic itself? And a trial is basically a debate. So if I am fighting an individual and decide that while I do not have a strong case, if I have information about the person that may potentially cause people to look down upon the person, it can be valuable.
Currently this is just a the beginning of the information age and we have not yet seen the ramifications of such data mining. In future agencies can have immense amount of power over individual due to this.
All this leads me to conclude that in long term future (a few 100 years maybe), the structure of the governments may itself change. Democracy is good because the assumption is that the people know the best. But what when some people know while most don't? Will the model work? What if the current government know the best and the electorate doesn't? Should then the electorate be allowed to replace those who know by those who don't? Technology will ensure that a small group of those in know will wield disproportionate power. And this group will typically be that which traditionally found itself more in authority over a period of time and start leveraging the power of information over others such authority permits. Slowly the institution will start pulling levers in order to protect itself from loosing any influence - a classic case of elite rule.
If you look at most SF movies, the future is always a fight between forces, typically under an emperor or a league. If we take SF writers as visionaries (and many might be, as Jules Verne indicates), is this really the future. Will 3000 see Earth and its colonies under an emperor appointed by a league?

Oh no the Tower of Babel!

While on these trips abroad to client sites, lack of a common language is often a boon. It allows you to converse with your own folks about things you may not want the others to understand for whatever reasons - confidentiality, privacy etc.
Alas mere scientists are not so sensitive to social situations. So here we are. It seems these pesky computers are now creating the Tower of Babel. What it does is that it hears a word, figures out the language somehow and then translate it into another language. While UN jaw-jaws can do with it, business love it during interviews, the poor developer with a geographically sundered sweetheart on phone and pesky client on next table cannot but shudder with horror!
Thats the problem with technology. It makes life better and takes the charm away.

Life Saving Tips

I'm again in God mode so here are some tips that may keep you alive in those rare situations. Like all good gospels I take give no guarantee that if you preach to a lion it shall not devour you in the process and thank me so these are just tips no assurances
Hmmm now the valuable information that my trolling human knowledge has bestowed on me
1. If marooned in sea in a dinghy but no food or water, you catch a fish do not try to eat it. Raw fish is hard to digest and will make you thirsty. You can live maybe a month without food but not a week without water. instead suck its eyeballs to get some water and spew the rest out. Note to fish: if you see a dinghy with folks swim away for your life.
2. If buried in snow in Alps and the rompy Bernard comes with brandy around neck, chuck the hooch and hug the pooch, its warmer. brandy shall make the blood go to the skin and loose more heat. You may keep the brandy for later log fire story session though.
3. If a she asks you "do I look too fat" pretend to choke on air and practice temporary loss of voice. while doing this keep shaking your head in "no" kind of way.

We kissed. She melted. Mop please!

Wired runs this positively brilliant story about "very short stories". Short stories are a rather tough genre to dabble in. What these guys did was to invite some authors to compose short stories of 6 words each. The whole idea seemed interesting enough and so here we are gentlemen and dear ladies, the fruits of an experiment available for sampling. You can read it here.

The title of the post is one of these (by James Patrick Kelly) , another one I liked is
"Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
- Margaret Atwood" (this could be about me!!!)

And some which remind me of HHKG
"Epitaph: Foolish humans, never escaped Earth.
- Vernor Vinge

We went solar; sun went nova.
- Ken MacLeod"

Happy reading

Those who couldn't run away And one who did

Now normally having life's great plans gone awry usually makes for painful reading but ever once a while comes some specimen of God's own image to make even these chuckle-able.
While going through some old clips, came across these jams.
There was this dude in Devon who broke into an occupied house, collected booty and ran off with it in a ... give a guess... another try?.. a Wheelbarrow!. The owner alerted by a neighbour called in police who were too busy elsewhere to come quickly. The owner and his kids after waiting for 2 hours for police decided to chase the thief in their car and caught up with the gentleman still tootling along with the booty bearing barrow. I tell ya some men will always overestimate their sprinting speed

In other news, a German, punches in for directions to the nearest loo in his car satnav. The ever dutiful technoslave did what it does best and gave the directions. The rather hassled driver took the directions dutifully and drove the car right as per directions running over the portaloo! I'm impressed buddy by your satnav service, amazing accuracy.

There was this other one, sorry could find the link, where this gentleman from America ( :) ) called in cops to report some contraband stolen from his house! The cops came, took info and managed to even zero in the thief - a dealer this dope once went to get his dope!. Both were last reported to be in the cooler.

In others - This granny got a thief in such a grip the bugger was glad to see a police car come in!

This dude tried to rob a CCTV store`while the cameras were whirring away!!

Wonder how it feels to have a mugger return stuff to you because its too cheap for him to mug?

Once a while though the thieves do do better. In this case they just walked away with the entire surveillance system!

I think I'll start making a series of such chucklethons, the site can do with some extra traffic :)

Abbot and Monk- In conversation II

Monk: Master, a law has been broken
Abbot: What my child
M:They tell me that SWIFT broke privacy rules
Abbot: I pray for those who suffered anguish
M: Master I am sad, what happened to the trust?
A: Its a harsh world we live in child
M: Master I wonder if the righteous thing to do is to hit back at injustice
A: what would you like to do child?
M: Sue them master. We can get money that we can use Master.
A: You need to have big money to have an account with them first child
M: There always is a catch nah master?

Life of a tea

Sipping a hot cuppa \ I wonder
What might the tea have said to me
-----------------------------------------
Too young to remember when I was asunder
from my mother tree
They took me out, planted in black ground
and then on I was called tea

I sipped on nature, fresh dew and soil
and grew up green and lush
tender fingers than caressed me about
and as I danced they plucked me out

cut and dried I was left in ferment
....
-------------------------
at this point I reach my limits of poetic inspiration so will leave it for you to finish.

I was really there

Given my near absolute abstinence from carrying a camera around, some friends doubt if its not just me hiding away from all telling them- "Ah I'm away someplace for work, sorry la can't meet". They say eyes don't lie so here you are.

Just after lunch, what you see behind is Two IFC - the tallest tower in HK and where I spent the day drinking tea - or meeting clients if you insist on the boring version



View from the terrace of my apartment

The adventure sport

"Writing can be a dangerous activity" thus spake a headline in The Hindu. Well our dear lady- Ms Kiran Desai has the Man Booker and all is well with the world. I had read speculations that she will win it one day after her first novel came out and she has done it in very good time.
To those who scoff at this profound truth- of writing being an adventure sport, I merely say "Ha!". They apparently have never attended one of my impromptu poetry sessions I sometimes subject my worst enemies to. There is an almost divine sense of happiness on watching someone face contort with literary anguish when that someone is your arch non friend.
The latest Monkism is- You are either with me or you Will listen to me(Period) And there are plenty of masters around. Many of my top bosses are very fond of cracking humorous things in their often made speeches. Nothing quite as interesting as to see someone on stage mike in hand, crack a joke, look around with a telling pause while the audience decides the most appropriate response to the as yet unclear -is it a joke or something else- statement. Then some start crying, some laughing, some sombre; each as per own interpretation of the intent. When all dies down, I start laughing at the whole thing. Whack! come the immediate boss's feedback restoring peace.
And they say writing is an arm chair hobby *rubbing head*!

IgNobles

The 2006 Ig Noble are announced. These are among my favorites, Good clean fun year after year. Most of the academic life is so drab, always done with a stiff collar, that almost anything that can chuckle at academic research needs to be applauded.
There is no political angle to it, no slap stick, its fun poking at its best. Ig Nobles along with Stella awards are keenly awaited every year. In this super racing, serious world, these epitomizes the spirit of pausing and laughing it all off. There is also this predictable absurd guy who is good unclean fun ;)
Come to think of it there don't seem to be too many humorists around anymore. PG Wodehouse gone long time back, Douglas Adams is gone too, so is Harishankar Parsai, one of my favorite modern Hindi humorist. In such gloom, there are very few true works of humor emerging. I can think of the TV show- Whose line is it anyway, that was perhaps the best comedy show without being slapstick. Yes I know there is Friends and a few others which are also laugh riots but then their humor is more of very typical kind- political satire or Innuendo.
Maybe its all because of the social flux. Suddenly technology has transformed the world and maybe we are all too busy coming to terms with it all to really think of funny things. So the only creative fun around is what happens to others in courtrooms or science labs. Mercifully some nice souls have captured it all and by instituting an yearly prize, brought a smile on our lips.
Thankie dear fellas

Happiness?

Recently read some distressing news about another school shooting in US. I've always wondered why is it that so many such incidents happen in US. While school shootings are mercifully less in other affluent countries but they have their own set of behaviour problems.
Now while many will be quick to blame western decandance and lack of moral values etc, I consider that pure drivel. US/Europe is as moral as India or anywhere else. Its just that morality is a very societal concept and definition must vary.
Poor countries have their own problems of violence in life but what got me wondering was why should rich countries with all their investments in education, personal attention to each individuals, social security and all, should have so many senseless crimes?
Now basically I am a restless guy jumping from 1 thing to another. Another chain of thought was how does social security improves one quality of life and society in general. For one, it allows one to follow the heart and do things that makes one happy rather than do what will ensure a steady trickle of silver. This has obvious benefits. When people do what they enjoy doing, they tend to do it well. And this may explain why so much of western art and social thoughts are path breaking.
One the other hand, I think it also gets in the way of evolution. In jungle if a tiger decides to loll all day in green grass smoking pipes and thinking of what ills has the society inflicted on it, it will starve and the deers shall all be happier for it. So maybe by removing the fear of starving, it allows the social misfits to become a drag on society.
So these folks will happy live of the social security and not bother with any productive work.
I am not saying that social security is bad, what I Am saying though, is that a system that allows a person not to try and do any productive work and yet live a decent life will be abused. Remember the general human trait is that if there is a potential for abuse, people will start abusing it.
So you have this case of someone living in car, having handguns and all, I assume not working- still managing to afford all these, having wild fancies on some kind, walking into people and killing. In a poor society, such a guy would either have starved and thus removed the danger to society or else would have been too busy scraping togather a living to do any real harm. There is a certain misnotion in most of the western world that we humans have some God given inherent right to have a good life. Why should human have a good life which is not earned by them?

Arriviste

White flourescent lights
Cold steel tables
People in white coats
Being treated for lifestyle diseases
I have arrived!