Since I spent the last 2 months roaming around Bangalore, I suppose it becomes obligatory for me to write a blog about it, and anyway, there really ain't that many topics in the blog currently.
Now, I don't want this to be a school-essay about how I spent my summer vacations. However whenever I read any intelligent accounts of people's travels, for example, the "diary" column on the last page of Outlook, they generally talk about little details of everyday life, and/or politics and high fashion in the city concerned. While it is definitely possible to give a similar account of Bangalore, I am really too mundane a person to indulge in that kind of a discourse.
For one, I love to eat. And its not as if I am a connoisseur of good food, its just that I love to fill my stomach to bursting point. Hence my stay in Bangalore is not an account of the minutae of its life, but rather a diary entry of how I gorged food in every corner of the city, or to be more accurate, M.G.Road and its vicinity.
Besides food, Bangalore offers an incredibly large number of bookshops, again in the vicinity of M.G.Road. Plus, Bangalore has a very mild climate. Hence, making allowances for the bad traffic, its really the ideal city (at least for me) to live in.
My first month in Bangalore was not particularly entertaining. My project (oh ya, thats the reason I was in Bangalore) hadn't really taken off, so I spent all my time exploring the campus of the Indian Institute of Science. I shouldn't complain though, since the campus is pretty large, and had some interesting trivia about it, for example, I didn't know that they had an IBM Blue Gene Supercomputer there. A quick wikipedia reference reveals it to be one of the fastest supercomputers in the world, though of course I was never allowed inside the building its housed in.
The campus is always playing host to some conference or the other, and me and my friends enjoyed more than one free lunches, without having to sit through the lectures.
Public transport in Bangalore is the real pain in the arse. The buses are irregular, and the conductors have a very strict aversion to Hindi/English. Though this did come in handy a few times, as when I was blocking the Ladies seat, and the conductor kept shouting at me, and I couldn't get a word of what he was saying.
A rather good thing about Bangalore is the large number of colleges there, as a result of which you will always find quite a few aquaintances to roam the city with. In my case, there were something like 30 people from my college, and another 15, some of whom were pretty close friends. So the first month was pretty much consumed by movies, food, and books.
One rather recurrent accusation levelled at Bangalore is that once you have been to M.G.Road, you have pretty much seen all Bangalore has to offer. I mean, one mall is the same as the other.
However, I would tend to disagree. I admit that I myself most of my time in that vicinity, but the thing is, a new restaurant opens once every at least 3 months. And these are not some ordinary restaurants I'm talking about- these are specialty restaurants, each with its own unique cuisine to offer. 2 months is totally inadequate to explore them fully.
Having talked about the rather banal subject of food, we now turn to books. As it happens, despite going to a very large number of restaurants, my major chunk of spending in Bangalore was not food or even living, but books. I bought around 25-30 books in this period, I bored my friends and my sister (who was in Bangalore) endlessly about the merits of some author or the other. The used bookstores were particularly nice. Of course carrying all those books back home proved to be a back breaking job, but I think it was worth it. Reading all those books is of course another matter.
However, despite everything, you get the distinct feeling that Bangalore has not yet matured into a full time metro. Now I don't know why I'm saying this, maybe because most of the people I met were college kids, or maybe because Bangalore is really not as large as Bombay/Delhi, despite expanding like anything in the past few years, but still, the feeling was there.
As I reached the end of internship, and also the end of my bank balance, I reflected that Bangalore is the ideal place for someone straight out of college in a high paying job. Given the shiny new international airport, and the frenzy of construction, which includes the metro rail, I am pretty sure I would prefer Bangalore over a lot of other cities for working in.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Of Animes...
So lets talk on this subject which was just grazed upon previously. Much to the probable disappointment of my parents, I still remain a hardcore animation freak. The passion, which was pretty much starved due to the lousy programmes on Cartoon Network, and the serious facade required during +2, got a free reign in college as a reward.
I would not be an overstatement to say that personally, I felt like puking on seeing the new shows introduced on CN in 2004-06, the icon being Ed, Edd n Eddy. Even popular shows like Samurai Jack, n Powerpuff Girls did not remotely hold my fancy. Especially since they replaced the greats like Garfield and Friends, Johny Quest, Little Lulu show, and the evergreen Power Zone Centurians. And also, CN decided to cater to the local audience and thus offer its shows in Hindi! So Swat Kats became 'chote mia' and 'bade mia' , 'power Xtreme.... ' became 'Veer Shaktiman....'.
(This para was unnecessary, but I felt like throwing it in to vent my frustration developed as I remembered those days)
Whatever. I would like to consider I like more 'deep' shows, which a whole world of itself, logical even tho a bend of reality, and a good character development. Of course, a great story, power conflict, superhuman/godlike fighting go without saying. This was when I discovered the world of animes...
Animes are a Japanese super weapon. Once it strikes you, you become enchanted, ready to view subtitled episodes running into hundreds, spend nights collecting AMV's and wallpapers, checking forums for plot prediction.
(One thing I really liked about Animes in general, is that they arn't shy to kill off somebody if required for plot development)
Here are synapses of the various shows I have watched over the past year, and I recommend all of them in the order. Enlightened would point out that I merely mention the most popular shows, and that may be the case, as I always check out the ratings before starting one, and only those are available on LAN.
1. Rurouni Kenshin
Can't recommend enough. This is the arguably the most different and the most superbly marvelous of all the shows I have ever watched. First of all, no super powers(O__O), just plain a**-kickin sword fighting. The lead character Kenshin Himura, is a legend, a soft-spoken Japanese revolution hero, feared as 'battosai the man-slayer' during the coup. However, he has left the front, and become a marauder, carrying only a reverse blade sword to protect people but never kill. However, it is inevitable that his past would come back again and again to haunt him. A strong scene throughout the series is that no person is literally evil, all have had their circumstances and have their own point of view and sense of justice, which might be a little skewed...but we always have our hero to point out the correct way to them.
There are also 2 OVA's which you would not want to miss if you do decide to watch it, the first 'Love and Betrayal' is a masterpiece, dealing with Kenshin's life during the revolution. The other 'Reminiscence' is in the future, telling us what came to of out characters, and is just sad.
If you want to feel what true patriotism for your country is, watch this.
2. Full Metal Alchemist
This is another great one. It made me take a break from Prison Break, so you can imagine. We are introduced to a world in an alternate reality, where they have alchemists, their replacement for physicists. Alchemy is a science, with its own laws and principles. Our protagonists are two brothers, Edward and Alphonso Elric, alchemists, who lost parts of their body in a disastrous alchemy experiment(which of course was in the forbidden domain) they tried. Now they are on a quest to find a way to regain their limbs and become whole. What they stumble upon turns out much much bigger, with them destined to be at the fulcrum. One of the best storylines ever, with a perfected narration technique which will keep you in expectation.
There are a mere 52 episodes. Plus a movie which is gives the ultimate conclusion to the series.
Highly recommended.
3. Bleach
This is a complete show. With a huge(100+) range of characters, good storyline, lots of powerful fighting and nice humour. Its not really a show, its a lifestyle. You get really close to the characters, heros and villains alike.
Central character, Kurosaki Ichigo, a teenager who can see ghosts for since he can remember. Eventually he comes to know of the afterlife, the soul reapers, the place called Soul Society, and gets intricately involved with its matters.
The serial has over time, developed several stereotypical elements like riatsu(power level - dbz), power ups, and like. Still, its one of the most popular animes currently and running strong. With 160+ episodes, not dubbed but subbed, still with no end in sight, it is a leisurely undertaking, not something for a weekend timepass.
4.Dragonball Z
You ask, why is this so down in the list? Well, though I was seriously crazy about this series for a long time, eventually after watching all episodes dozens of times, I have gotten quite tired of it, and would probably see little of it in the future.
This was I believe, what started the anime industry in the west, and the first series Indian kids were exposed to. (the frustration of a whole generation of Indians shall lie on CN for stopping this series on a pivotal point and then rerunning the series several times stopping at the same point).
I shall not delve on this much, after all its one of the oldest and most loved series of all time. Vanilla Dragonball and Dragonball GT should not go without mention, even though I did not appreciate them much. They deal with the childhood and future of Goku, in that order. Not to forget, there are a dozen or so movies too, which you might want to see if you are feel unsatisfied(after watching a total of 400+ eps). I recommend 'The future of Trunks' and 'Bardock, father of Goku', they provide more insight/backstory to the DBZ universe.
5. Death Note
This was a surprise. I just randomly started watching it and it turned out pretty good. In fact, I read its become something of a phenomenon in Japan.
This is a series with no violence, at least not in the traditional sense. It tells of a super-student and genius Yagami Light, who finds a notebook with a unique property. Whomsoever's name thy shall write in it, with the mode and time of death, shall die so exactly. He starts using this to kill all the criminals and cleanse the society. The police ask their top detective, L, to take the case. Thus a battle of mind begins between the two as who discovers the other's identity first.
A short series, finishes in just 34 eps. Although the stating episodes were highly promising, the series kind of turned downwards after 17 or so episodes, the last ones felt extremely crammed with not enough explanation.
Still, definitely worth a watch.
-------------------
Avatar, deserves a special mention. Its not exactly an anime(no japanese roots) , although definitely inspired from it. As from Rahul's opinion, I would recommend Avatar, but if you are or have a 12 year old kid with you. It is pretty childish and innocent, some jokes are repeated beyond repair, and the characters are not too deep. Ok, its not that bad, many of my friends watch it, but not exactly my taste.
I would not be an overstatement to say that personally, I felt like puking on seeing the new shows introduced on CN in 2004-06, the icon being Ed, Edd n Eddy. Even popular shows like Samurai Jack, n Powerpuff Girls did not remotely hold my fancy. Especially since they replaced the greats like Garfield and Friends, Johny Quest, Little Lulu show, and the evergreen Power Zone Centurians. And also, CN decided to cater to the local audience and thus offer its shows in Hindi! So Swat Kats became 'chote mia' and 'bade mia' , 'power Xtreme.... ' became 'Veer Shaktiman....'.
(This para was unnecessary, but I felt like throwing it in to vent my frustration developed as I remembered those days)
Whatever. I would like to consider I like more 'deep' shows, which a whole world of itself, logical even tho a bend of reality, and a good character development. Of course, a great story, power conflict, superhuman/godlike fighting go without saying. This was when I discovered the world of animes...
Animes are a Japanese super weapon. Once it strikes you, you become enchanted, ready to view subtitled episodes running into hundreds, spend nights collecting AMV's and wallpapers, checking forums for plot prediction.
(One thing I really liked about Animes in general, is that they arn't shy to kill off somebody if required for plot development)
Here are synapses of the various shows I have watched over the past year, and I recommend all of them in the order. Enlightened would point out that I merely mention the most popular shows, and that may be the case, as I always check out the ratings before starting one, and only those are available on LAN.
1. Rurouni Kenshin
Can't recommend enough. This is the arguably the most different and the most superbly marvelous of all the shows I have ever watched. First of all, no super powers(O__O), just plain a**-kickin sword fighting. The lead character Kenshin Himura, is a legend, a soft-spoken Japanese revolution hero, feared as 'battosai the man-slayer' during the coup. However, he has left the front, and become a marauder, carrying only a reverse blade sword to protect people but never kill. However, it is inevitable that his past would come back again and again to haunt him. A strong scene throughout the series is that no person is literally evil, all have had their circumstances and have their own point of view and sense of justice, which might be a little skewed...but we always have our hero to point out the correct way to them.
There are also 2 OVA's which you would not want to miss if you do decide to watch it, the first 'Love and Betrayal' is a masterpiece, dealing with Kenshin's life during the revolution. The other 'Reminiscence' is in the future, telling us what came to of out characters, and is just sad.
If you want to feel what true patriotism for your country is, watch this.
2. Full Metal Alchemist
This is another great one. It made me take a break from Prison Break, so you can imagine. We are introduced to a world in an alternate reality, where they have alchemists, their replacement for physicists. Alchemy is a science, with its own laws and principles. Our protagonists are two brothers, Edward and Alphonso Elric, alchemists, who lost parts of their body in a disastrous alchemy experiment(which of course was in the forbidden domain) they tried. Now they are on a quest to find a way to regain their limbs and become whole. What they stumble upon turns out much much bigger, with them destined to be at the fulcrum. One of the best storylines ever, with a perfected narration technique which will keep you in expectation.
There are a mere 52 episodes. Plus a movie which is gives the ultimate conclusion to the series.
Highly recommended.
3. Bleach
This is a complete show. With a huge(100+) range of characters, good storyline, lots of powerful fighting and nice humour. Its not really a show, its a lifestyle. You get really close to the characters, heros and villains alike.
Central character, Kurosaki Ichigo, a teenager who can see ghosts for since he can remember. Eventually he comes to know of the afterlife, the soul reapers, the place called Soul Society, and gets intricately involved with its matters.
The serial has over time, developed several stereotypical elements like riatsu(power level - dbz), power ups, and like. Still, its one of the most popular animes currently and running strong. With 160+ episodes, not dubbed but subbed, still with no end in sight, it is a leisurely undertaking, not something for a weekend timepass.
4.Dragonball Z
You ask, why is this so down in the list? Well, though I was seriously crazy about this series for a long time, eventually after watching all episodes dozens of times, I have gotten quite tired of it, and would probably see little of it in the future.
This was I believe, what started the anime industry in the west, and the first series Indian kids were exposed to. (the frustration of a whole generation of Indians shall lie on CN for stopping this series on a pivotal point and then rerunning the series several times stopping at the same point).
I shall not delve on this much, after all its one of the oldest and most loved series of all time. Vanilla Dragonball and Dragonball GT should not go without mention, even though I did not appreciate them much. They deal with the childhood and future of Goku, in that order. Not to forget, there are a dozen or so movies too, which you might want to see if you are feel unsatisfied(after watching a total of 400+ eps). I recommend 'The future of Trunks' and 'Bardock, father of Goku', they provide more insight/backstory to the DBZ universe.
5. Death Note
This was a surprise. I just randomly started watching it and it turned out pretty good. In fact, I read its become something of a phenomenon in Japan.
This is a series with no violence, at least not in the traditional sense. It tells of a super-student and genius Yagami Light, who finds a notebook with a unique property. Whomsoever's name thy shall write in it, with the mode and time of death, shall die so exactly. He starts using this to kill all the criminals and cleanse the society. The police ask their top detective, L, to take the case. Thus a battle of mind begins between the two as who discovers the other's identity first.
A short series, finishes in just 34 eps. Although the stating episodes were highly promising, the series kind of turned downwards after 17 or so episodes, the last ones felt extremely crammed with not enough explanation.
Still, definitely worth a watch.
-------------------
Avatar, deserves a special mention. Its not exactly an anime(no japanese roots) , although definitely inspired from it. As from Rahul's opinion, I would recommend Avatar, but if you are or have a 12 year old kid with you. It is pretty childish and innocent, some jokes are repeated beyond repair, and the characters are not too deep. Ok, its not that bad, many of my friends watch it, but not exactly my taste.
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Thursday, April 17, 2008
Of Soaps...
After coming to college, I believe that after sleeping, watching soaps has probably consumed the maximum amount of my time, given that I am not much into computer games.
Thanks to the 24 hrs net provided by the Indian government, we always have some soap or the other which remains to be seen, and here I'm not just talking about arbitrary soaps which just happen to be on the lan, but good, watchable soaps which are a source of addiction and endless discussions.
The strike by the Writers' Guild was thus a very inconvenient break...and we have spent long hours discussing the futility of their demands.
It would be hard, and moreover pointless to think about which my favourite soap is. Of late, I have become rather disillusioned with Friends...however I believe that is the fault of too much repetition on my part rather than some flaw inherent in the show itself. Still, I have found I cannot tolerate a single more episode of Friends.
This semester, I had this phase where I was watching all the sci-fi available, or rather which I could fit into my schedule without competely leaving college. During this period, I finished off Heroes, Kyle XY and 4400.
4400 and Kyle XY proved to be so revolting that I had to discard that entire genre altogether, without watching the highly recommended Lost.
Then there was the Avatar stint, which still continues. I don't believe Avatar belongs to the class of Animes, but I'm not an expert on the subject. I highly recommend Avatar.
If the reader is a soap enthsiast, I am reasonably certain they must be aware of the phenomenon called South Park. Now, though I am an ardent admirer of South Park, I do not like all its episodes...some are really meaningless...put together just for the sake of I dunno what. However, some of its episodes are products of pure genius. I especially recommend the ones on Paris Hilton and Chef Aid.
Chef Aid was the episode in which the writers coined the term "Chewbacca Defense", a reference to the famous bailout of football star O.J.Simpson in his indictment over his wife's murder. The term became popular enough to find its way into Wikipedia, and subsequently, into mass media, and is now used for any kind of a defensive statement where the speaker seeks to confuse his/her audience by talking nonsense (you can find a speech by George Bush on Iraq on youtube by the same name).
The last great discovery has been Seinfeld. Notwithstanding my earlier comments, while I was watching Friends, I had no doubts that it would remain my favourite soap of all time, especially after I had sampled a few other comedies. However Seinfeld has proved to be better- while Friends had just one witty character- Chandler, all of Seinfeld's characters are very urbane and subtle. Besides Chandler, Friends' humour was at best slapstick, and Seinfeld's standups are simply too good. I don't believe a parallel to it exists.
It is 2.00 a.m. and I seem to recall I have quiz in about 7 hours (man, that sounds like a lot of time!)...so I guess I should finish off here.
Thanks to the 24 hrs net provided by the Indian government, we always have some soap or the other which remains to be seen, and here I'm not just talking about arbitrary soaps which just happen to be on the lan, but good, watchable soaps which are a source of addiction and endless discussions.
The strike by the Writers' Guild was thus a very inconvenient break...and we have spent long hours discussing the futility of their demands.
It would be hard, and moreover pointless to think about which my favourite soap is. Of late, I have become rather disillusioned with Friends...however I believe that is the fault of too much repetition on my part rather than some flaw inherent in the show itself. Still, I have found I cannot tolerate a single more episode of Friends.
This semester, I had this phase where I was watching all the sci-fi available, or rather which I could fit into my schedule without competely leaving college. During this period, I finished off Heroes, Kyle XY and 4400.
4400 and Kyle XY proved to be so revolting that I had to discard that entire genre altogether, without watching the highly recommended Lost.
Then there was the Avatar stint, which still continues. I don't believe Avatar belongs to the class of Animes, but I'm not an expert on the subject. I highly recommend Avatar.
If the reader is a soap enthsiast, I am reasonably certain they must be aware of the phenomenon called South Park. Now, though I am an ardent admirer of South Park, I do not like all its episodes...some are really meaningless...put together just for the sake of I dunno what. However, some of its episodes are products of pure genius. I especially recommend the ones on Paris Hilton and Chef Aid.
Chef Aid was the episode in which the writers coined the term "Chewbacca Defense", a reference to the famous bailout of football star O.J.Simpson in his indictment over his wife's murder. The term became popular enough to find its way into Wikipedia, and subsequently, into mass media, and is now used for any kind of a defensive statement where the speaker seeks to confuse his/her audience by talking nonsense (you can find a speech by George Bush on Iraq on youtube by the same name).
The last great discovery has been Seinfeld. Notwithstanding my earlier comments, while I was watching Friends, I had no doubts that it would remain my favourite soap of all time, especially after I had sampled a few other comedies. However Seinfeld has proved to be better- while Friends had just one witty character- Chandler, all of Seinfeld's characters are very urbane and subtle. Besides Chandler, Friends' humour was at best slapstick, and Seinfeld's standups are simply too good. I don't believe a parallel to it exists.
It is 2.00 a.m. and I seem to recall I have quiz in about 7 hours (man, that sounds like a lot of time!)...so I guess I should finish off here.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
The good ol' end sems and other stories
Its time for the endsems again. As generally happens(in my case), this brings on a particularlt virulent attack of procastination. Over the last 2 days, I have seen 5 movies, none of them worth watching, and tht too by staying up all night. This would have been a cause for worry, but it seems I have reached an elevated consciousness where these mundane things cease to have relevance.
Of course, it is not as if I am completely jobless, or I might have posted once or twice over this rather extended blogging-free period. Right now, I am engaged in a debate with my parents over what should be my future course of action. They want me to do an MBA, which would be the sensible course of action, given that my academice are not particularly healthy.
However, I had earlier resolved to pursue an MS from the States, and then forgotten all about it. It doesn't seem to be a very bright prospect now....unless I start working towards a Masters in some other field altogether...and I mean a field other than engineering.....
So you see, given my delirious state of mind, I am pretty much certain about the outcome of these endsems.....
Having thus reflected extensively on myself, I come to more general issues.
If the reader is familiar with the trend of college placements currently, then they might be aware of a company called schlumberger, which gives fabulous salaries and equally gruesome postings.
One of my seniors was thus celebrating hiis 25 lakhs job, when we found out that he was being sent to Sudan.
For those unfamiliar with the country, Sudan is in Northern Africa. It is under military rule, and has witnessed 3 civil wars since 1989...the last is still on. It is also the site of one of the worst genocides in the 20th century, with nearly 400,000 people having been killed in the current civil war.
Given these statistics, such a job offer would not seem to be so attractive after all, at least for me. However, some people argue that it still offers possibilities of adventure and a very different lifestyle, as opposed to a job in a normal metropolitan city......
Now, such a prospect is definitely appealing, but maybe not the sensible thing to do....
Still, for those who lament the banality of normal jobs, this might be the thing.
Of course, it is not as if I am completely jobless, or I might have posted once or twice over this rather extended blogging-free period. Right now, I am engaged in a debate with my parents over what should be my future course of action. They want me to do an MBA, which would be the sensible course of action, given that my academice are not particularly healthy.
However, I had earlier resolved to pursue an MS from the States, and then forgotten all about it. It doesn't seem to be a very bright prospect now....unless I start working towards a Masters in some other field altogether...and I mean a field other than engineering.....
So you see, given my delirious state of mind, I am pretty much certain about the outcome of these endsems.....
Having thus reflected extensively on myself, I come to more general issues.
If the reader is familiar with the trend of college placements currently, then they might be aware of a company called schlumberger, which gives fabulous salaries and equally gruesome postings.
One of my seniors was thus celebrating hiis 25 lakhs job, when we found out that he was being sent to Sudan.
For those unfamiliar with the country, Sudan is in Northern Africa. It is under military rule, and has witnessed 3 civil wars since 1989...the last is still on. It is also the site of one of the worst genocides in the 20th century, with nearly 400,000 people having been killed in the current civil war.
Given these statistics, such a job offer would not seem to be so attractive after all, at least for me. However, some people argue that it still offers possibilities of adventure and a very different lifestyle, as opposed to a job in a normal metropolitan city......
Now, such a prospect is definitely appealing, but maybe not the sensible thing to do....
Still, for those who lament the banality of normal jobs, this might be the thing.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Coming out of the window and grabbing Tux
Its all about weighing
the options. After having linux installed on my comp for over a
semester, I finally made a move for migration. But such a drastic
step must not be taken blindly so I jotted down the pros n cons –
CONS
Inertia...after having used windows for about 10 years..its down in the bones.
why fix what aint broken(too much)?
much less user-friendly i would say no matter what
have to figure out everything by my self.
many totally unexpected problems arise...tho solutions are almost always available on net....
not a very nice net connection(to say the least) of our almighty hostel.
compatibility problems....everyone else is using windows unless u make them switch..
GAMES dont run
well,
in the end...it takes a turning point...for it it was brought upon by
the even increasing no of viruses on my comp, turning the brute into a
wimp. Also, the especially annoying property of windows that you hardly
know whats wrong when somethings wrong. And after all, for every
student studying to be an engineer, tux should be a pal if he is to be
worth his salt.
the options. After having linux installed on my comp for over a
semester, I finally made a move for migration. But such a drastic
step must not be taken blindly so I jotted down the pros n cons –
Pros
Stop being a software
pirate.
no more windows surprises.
dont have to restart after every little change.
learn more...i guess
NO VIRUSES
no hundreds of services n settings u will never need and not the one you want.
excellent awesome community and repository of how-tos, help and tutorials.
no annoying popups every now and then.
several freeware options in linus are i believe better and more precise than windows commercial versions.
supposed to be an excellent programming platform[:D]
geek factor.
faster than windows..and a specially designed 64 bit version...which fits nicely
CONS
Inertia...after having used windows for about 10 years..its down in the bones.
why fix what aint broken(too much)?
much less user-friendly i would say no matter what
have to figure out everything by my self.
many totally unexpected problems arise...tho solutions are almost always available on net....
not a very nice net connection(to say the least) of our almighty hostel.
compatibility problems....everyone else is using windows unless u make them switch..
GAMES dont run
well,
in the end...it takes a turning point...for it it was brought upon by
the even increasing no of viruses on my comp, turning the brute into a
wimp. Also, the especially annoying property of windows that you hardly
know whats wrong when somethings wrong. And after all, for every
student studying to be an engineer, tux should be a pal if he is to be
worth his salt.
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Sunday, September 9, 2007
Object-Oriented Evolution?
There’s a distinct similarity, or should I call pattern, between the attitude of human beings and the paradigms of computer programming.
(Weird thoughts spontaneously develop whenever exams approach. Tomorrow is my CS paper and hence it is not really that astonishing that I am writing this)
Lets see, humans have till now always looked what options he has at the particular instant and chooses the one most lucrative one with quick returns. This is true at both the individual and collective level. And this is the cause of all the environmental mess we are in and all the battles history books are filled up with. Talking of individual, how many of us think for the betterment of the human race and life as such instead of personal instantaneous gain/comfort? (I am not accusing or preaching anything here, just penning down my thoughts) In programming, this is what we would call the ‘greedy’ algorithm, wherein we take the best choice available without future considerations, vis-à-vis what we were talking about. In fact, I read a bio book once ‘survival strategies’ where it said that all the evolution we see around us has been a result of no great egoless individuals of species but the collective spite of greedy lunatics (everyone is one it seems). And it seemed to have been mightily successful till now I would have to agree, seeing that the result has been a person capable of writing all this here, if not anything else.
But I guess greedy has run its course. For one, the resulting change is too slow and for another, there’s finally a life form sufficiently advanced to influence and regulate its own destiny, to change it, for better or for worse. Now, I would say it is time to switch to the ‘dynamic programming’ algorithm, where each generation build up upon the foundation of the previous one. This is imperative, for this is in our potential to do, and not doing so, though would not obstruct development, would make it at snail pace. Hence, living life just for the sake/fun of it makes you dispensable and inconsequential. To make a comparison, we must decide if with advancement, we become a wasteland like Tatooine(refer Star Wars) or a utopia like Terminus(refer Foundation, Isaac Asimov).
(Weird thoughts spontaneously develop whenever exams approach. Tomorrow is my CS paper and hence it is not really that astonishing that I am writing this)
Lets see, humans have till now always looked what options he has at the particular instant and chooses the one most lucrative one with quick returns. This is true at both the individual and collective level. And this is the cause of all the environmental mess we are in and all the battles history books are filled up with. Talking of individual, how many of us think for the betterment of the human race and life as such instead of personal instantaneous gain/comfort? (I am not accusing or preaching anything here, just penning down my thoughts) In programming, this is what we would call the ‘greedy’ algorithm, wherein we take the best choice available without future considerations, vis-à-vis what we were talking about. In fact, I read a bio book once ‘survival strategies’ where it said that all the evolution we see around us has been a result of no great egoless individuals of species but the collective spite of greedy lunatics (everyone is one it seems). And it seemed to have been mightily successful till now I would have to agree, seeing that the result has been a person capable of writing all this here, if not anything else.
But I guess greedy has run its course. For one, the resulting change is too slow and for another, there’s finally a life form sufficiently advanced to influence and regulate its own destiny, to change it, for better or for worse. Now, I would say it is time to switch to the ‘dynamic programming’ algorithm, where each generation build up upon the foundation of the previous one. This is imperative, for this is in our potential to do, and not doing so, though would not obstruct development, would make it at snail pace. Hence, living life just for the sake/fun of it makes you dispensable and inconsequential. To make a comparison, we must decide if with advancement, we become a wasteland like Tatooine(refer Star Wars) or a utopia like Terminus(refer Foundation, Isaac Asimov).
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Brave New World
The familiar routine of college life has just started to set in again. As I entered my second year of college life, I resolved to get some good reading done. My first adventure in that direction was reading this post-modernist novel, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley. To the uninitiated, this name may not mean anything, but this man was a highly controversial figure of the 1930s-1950s era. He endorsed the use of cocaine, earning him the honour of appearing on the cover of the album, Lucy in the Sky, by the Beatles- an ode to the drug culture of the 70s.
Anyway, that’s enough about the author. The book itself is about this post modern society, where the world is controlled by a group of scientists. Now, these guys have created a society where the only way to create babies is through test tubes. Women no longer have to go through labour. Not only that, the babies are mass produced in laboratories.
Now, you must remember that this book was written in an era where we were still unaware of DNA, and genetics was still mostly about messing around with pea plants.
The babies are then subjected to conditioning- both physical and mental. The entire process rests on the mental conditioning. People are tailored right from birth for some job or the other- so that there are castes in society- but unlike our own caste system, this system derives stability from the artificial conditioning they receive right at birth, so that people will feel happy only if they are working in their own specialized environment. So labourers never have any inclination to get educated and get rich.
Now comes the controversial part: since babies are mass produced, there is absolutely no concept of family. No mother, no father. In fact, people are conditioned to believe that these, and particularly mothers, are bad things- not to be mentioned in polite society. Monogamy is strictly frowned upon- so no marriage. So you must have relationships, preferably physical, with maany people at once. Children, right from ages 7-8, are encouraged to indulge in erotic play, so that they reach maturity faster and start contributing to the society sooner. There is no concept of an individual- the society is supreme.
This entire set-up is based on one fundamental premise- that the aim of human life is the attainment of happiness. So no radical books or poetry is allowed to disturb the public consciousness.
On the face of it, this society is perfect. There is no crime, no want, no sorrow-even if someone dies, for you are never attached to anyone.
Huxley then introduces a man who is like us into this society. He, of course, cudnt manage to adjust, and eventually commits suicide.
The beauty of the book is in how Huxley draws parallels between the modern world and that society. I saw this interview in which Huxley says that the current trend in which we are becoming more and more enslaved to technology is leading us towards a similar society, where we can be controlled by our material desires completely.
I think this is probably the most compelling argument against technology that I know of.
Huxley also talks a lot about mental conditioning. I got interested enough to check it out on wikipedia. Here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_conditioning.
The precursors to this process are the conditioning experiments on dogs carried out by the Russian scientist, Pavlov. It's an extremely potent process- affecting your entire belief system. It leads you to wonder if there is actually any existence of an individual at all. And since all our beliefs are anyway shaped by other forces, what is actually real? Buddhism has a nice answer: the human mind is incapable of grasping true reality.
So there it is. No clear answer at all.
Anyway, that’s enough about the author. The book itself is about this post modern society, where the world is controlled by a group of scientists. Now, these guys have created a society where the only way to create babies is through test tubes. Women no longer have to go through labour. Not only that, the babies are mass produced in laboratories.
Now, you must remember that this book was written in an era where we were still unaware of DNA, and genetics was still mostly about messing around with pea plants.
The babies are then subjected to conditioning- both physical and mental. The entire process rests on the mental conditioning. People are tailored right from birth for some job or the other- so that there are castes in society- but unlike our own caste system, this system derives stability from the artificial conditioning they receive right at birth, so that people will feel happy only if they are working in their own specialized environment. So labourers never have any inclination to get educated and get rich.
Now comes the controversial part: since babies are mass produced, there is absolutely no concept of family. No mother, no father. In fact, people are conditioned to believe that these, and particularly mothers, are bad things- not to be mentioned in polite society. Monogamy is strictly frowned upon- so no marriage. So you must have relationships, preferably physical, with maany people at once. Children, right from ages 7-8, are encouraged to indulge in erotic play, so that they reach maturity faster and start contributing to the society sooner. There is no concept of an individual- the society is supreme.
This entire set-up is based on one fundamental premise- that the aim of human life is the attainment of happiness. So no radical books or poetry is allowed to disturb the public consciousness.
On the face of it, this society is perfect. There is no crime, no want, no sorrow-even if someone dies, for you are never attached to anyone.
Huxley then introduces a man who is like us into this society. He, of course, cudnt manage to adjust, and eventually commits suicide.
The beauty of the book is in how Huxley draws parallels between the modern world and that society. I saw this interview in which Huxley says that the current trend in which we are becoming more and more enslaved to technology is leading us towards a similar society, where we can be controlled by our material desires completely.
I think this is probably the most compelling argument against technology that I know of.
Huxley also talks a lot about mental conditioning. I got interested enough to check it out on wikipedia. Here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_conditioning.
The precursors to this process are the conditioning experiments on dogs carried out by the Russian scientist, Pavlov. It's an extremely potent process- affecting your entire belief system. It leads you to wonder if there is actually any existence of an individual at all. And since all our beliefs are anyway shaped by other forces, what is actually real? Buddhism has a nice answer: the human mind is incapable of grasping true reality.
So there it is. No clear answer at all.
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