Vadaami

Super Human Samurai Syber-Squad

vinodh@virtualvinodh.com (Vinodh Rajan) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 01:53:44 +0000

It has been a long time since I wrote anything on the blog about Television. So, let's rewind to 1995 around 18 years back, while I was doing my 4th grade, during the grand old days of Doordarshan. Doordarshan then had two channels DD National & DD Metro. DD National usually had the boring programmes in Hindi while DD Metro broadcasted foreign TV shows and cartoons in English alongside Hindi/Local programming. Seriously, even in those days Doordarshan seems to have had enough senses to broadcast syndicated overseas programmes in India. Somehow, DD got degraded beyond redemption over the time.

So, yeah back to the point. At that time, they used to air this series called "Super Human Samurai Syber-Squad". IIRC it used to air on Thursdays around 4:30 PM. It is one of my all time favourites. Computers were kinda rare in India those days (I got a PC in 1999) and were a bit of an enigma. At that time even in School, I remember we were just allowed to see computer from a distance and not operate. Perhaps, they thought Computers were too much for 4th graders! It was the through the series, I had come across the terms "Digital" & "Cyber" for the first time ever.

The short story is this (for the longer vesion there is always Wikipedia !) - There is this high school guy Sam Collins who along with his friends enters the digital world and fights viruses (who appear as monsters in the digital world). Sam takes the form of a cyber avatar named "Servo", while his three friends operate various armor vehicles in the digital world. Together they form the "Super Human Samurai Syber Squad". Their arch-nemisis is Malcolm, who assits an evil program called Kilokahn to create viruses and wreak havoc in the world. Each time Malcom and Kilokahn unleash a virus, Sam & his team enter the digital world, destroy the virus and save the world . It was the digital fiction of those days. People traveling into computers, lots of gadgedry, computer talk, fighting etc made the show more attractive.

Vishnu in Buddhism

vinodh@virtualvinodh.com (Vinodh Rajan) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 17:47:33 +0000

It’s well-known that Buddha was at a later phase included into the Hindu pantheon as an avatar of Vishnu. This myth is frequently invoked by the modern Hindus to encompass Buddhism as a part of Hinduism. What is not well known is the status of Vishnu as a deity within Buddhism per se. In the previous article, we had seen the status of Shiva in Buddhism, and now we analyze in detail the status of Vishnu vis-à-vis Buddhism.

Compared to Shiva who has relatively more references in the Mahayana Buddhist sutras and the numerous Vajrayana Tantras (where he appears as Rudra, to be always subdued by the wrathful Buddhist deities at the end), references to Vishnu are quite less. This perhaps may be due to the fact that, the later Buddhists were in a position to directly interact more with the Shaivaites than the Vaishnaivites.

Theravada Buddhism

As already referred in the "Shiva in Buddhism" article, Theravada Buddhism is quite orthodox in admitting deities into its fold. Rather than integrating the deities directly into the religion, it tends to keep the deities in the periphery as local deities to be worshipped for favor or as Dharmapālas (Dharma Protectors).

Sri Lanka

In Sri Lankan Theravada, Vishnu is worshipped as "Upulvan" (Pali. Uppala-Vaṇṇa). The equivalent Sanskrit title is "Utpala-Varṇa" (Blue-Lotus-Colored). Vishnu is frequently depicted as blue colored (Blue being a euphemism for the original Black color of the deity). Vishnu as Upulvan is the Kshetra-Pāla (Protector of the Land) of Sri Lanka. Buddha before his parinirvana seems to have seen the island of Sri Lanka as the future place where his shāsana (law) will flourish. Therefore, he orders Indra for its protection. Indra then entrusts the protection of the island to Vishnu (Incidentally, Vishnu originally seems to have been subordinate to Indra in the Vedas. This seems to preserve the early status of Vishnu as a sub-ordinate deity).

Shiva in Buddhism

vinodh@virtualvinodh.com (Vinodh Rajan) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 18:15:17 +0000

During the early days of early days of formation, Buddhism didn't have many deities to deal with. The Predominant deities of those times were Indra and Brahma. In the Tripitaka, all these deties are shown completely subservient to the Buddha. They are potrayed as waiting and attending upon the Buddha, and as receiving many teaching from the Buddha himself. At one instance, it is even said the Maha-Brahma himself had advised a Brahmin who had reached the heavenly Brahma-realm, to clear his doubts with the Buddha instead of him !

As Buddhism evolved over times, it had to face the new Puranic Brahmanism with the influence of the Vishnu, Shiva and other deities rising over time, compared to the other Vedic deities who were now often reduced to a tutelary status. Puranic Brahmanism was highly syncretic assimilating everything that came in its way. Even Buddha himself was assimilated to the Brahmanical Pantheon as one of the Avatar-s of Vishnu. At the same time, Buddhism had also attempted in assimilation of the Brahmanical Deities into its fold. However, this part is not that much widely known.

Buddhism in its Theravada version was more orthodox, and didn't officially expand beyond the already assimilated Indra, Brahma and other early deities. [Though Sri Lankan Theravada assimilated Vishnu as a Kshetra Pāla - Protector of the Land, but that was outside the Theravada Canon]. However, Mahayana Buddhism was highly assimilative in nature. The framework of Mahayana easily enabled the direct import of deities into its fold. When Mahayana was faced with Shaivism and Vaishnavism, it also had played its part of trying to assimilate Shiva and Vishnu in Mahayana.

Musica Alma Sexo :Ricky’s back with a bang

vinodh@virtualvinodh.com (Vinodh Rajan) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 11:55:51 +0000

Remember Ricky Martin ? The Latin Pop hunk of the 2000’s.

His tracks were huge hits back in 2000’s. The guy was a craze back then. His crossover tunes from Spanish to English with such scintillating Latin rhythms were an instant hit with people. They used to play his tracks as a filler before our school events when I was a kid. Not to mention I learned my Un, Dos, Tres from him :-)

The Cup of Life - FIFA 98’s anthem, Livin’ la Vida Loca and Maria - He is still remembered for these tracks. But the sparkle started soon fading away. His other albums didn’t make an impact as large as his debut tracks.

They guy who made people ’Livin’ la Vida loca’ is back making us all want ‘Mas Mas Mas a la Vida’ . He had recently released his Predominantly Spanish album with just two English tracks - Musica Alma Sexo (Music Soul Sex) : MAS a few weeks back.

The Album completely rocks. Though the lead feel-good single Spanish & English ”Lo Mejor De Mi Vidas Eres Tu” (The Best thing about me is you) sounds kinda 80’s out-of-date and too cheesy, not exactly the she-banging (err.. k..k.. now he-banging :-P ) we would all expect. But is kinda enjoyable after few times. Ricky’s is all now for Equality, feeling happy, blah-blah - after he came out as a Gay last year.

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The Original Language of the Shramanas !

vinodh@virtualvinodh.com (Vinodh Rajan) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 16:27:17 +0000

The Brahmanists have always regarded Sanskrit, as the Mother of Languages. As a matter of fact, this will be echoed in many of the Hindu bunch from Modern India. Latest to join in the Bandwagon, is the Tamil Dravidian nationalists, who claim Tamil to be the progenitor of all langagues. Even Though, no Indian Language or for that matter any other language, can truly claim as being the original Proto-Language of the World.

The existence of such a hypothetical Proto-World Language is itself contested. I prefer to view as Languages originally emerging as independant from each other, later influencing each other as different cultures spread around the cloud.

It is not surprising for the Brahmanists to claim the Vedic language as the Mother of All Languages. For according to Vaidikas, Vedas are Apauruṣeya (Not [authored] by Men). It was heard by the Rishis, who were just instruments for writing the cosmic sound that they heard. Vedas are also considered as Anādi (Without Begninning). So for the everlasting and supreme Vedas to be supramundane, the language in which it is composed of is also deemed to be supramundane and perfect. It was language of the gods.

Now, coming to the Shramanic religions namely Buddhism and Jainism. They started out with the vernacular prakrita languages. They were more inclined to use the language of the masses to spread their teachings. In fact, many of the initial literature in the Indian regional language were produced by the Shramanas. At one instance, the Buddha is said to have explicitly forbidden his teachings to be Versified in Vedic Language (Chandas), but to be taught in the language of the masses. But as irony befalls, the Shramanas themselves fell into the same trap as their Vedic counterparts. They began considering their own version of liturgical Prakrit as the original source language !

Ninja Senshi Tobikage a.k.a Ninja Robots

vinodh@virtualvinodh.com (Vinodh Rajan) — Wed, 05 May 2010 16:09:00 +0000

Aah. One of my most favourite Animes. Makes me feel very nostalgic when I see it again :-/. I was back in 6th grade when they aired in Cartoon Network. Again, it was aired again when I was in 8th Grade. It is the God of All Mechas !

It brings back old memories. For an Absent Minded Professor, I still remember the entire series, episode by episode ! They used to to air it in Cartoon Network around 4 - 5 PM IST. I think they re-telecasts were aired in the Morning around 10 AM.

The Basic Plot is as follows. In the near future, Mars is Colonized. It is ruled by a dictator. Three Teenagers namely Joe (The Protagonist), Reny & Mike live in Mars. An alien ships comes and lands in Mars. A crashed ship with a Alien princess and her crew lands in Mars when followed by attackers. These 3 some how end up in the Ship. In the encounters that follow, Joe & are able to control . The Robots that can be controlled only bt Ninjas. The aliens are actually from another planet which has been invaded. The attackers were the invaders who had followed the Spaceship These 3 help the Alien Princess Romina & the complex plot that follows includes lots of action with Giant Robots !!

One important central character is the Mysterious Cybertron, which appears at crucial moments when Joe & others in the verge of defeat. It fuses with the various Ninja Robots and produces several magnificent hybrid Robots which are several times much more powerful. In the earlier part of the series, Cybertron is Autonomous, but later Joe is able to control Cybertron. How the Sun God (Cybertron) and the Moon God (Mantis) fuse together forms the Climax. The series is left unfinished and does not exactly show how the invaders are defeated.

63 Shaivaite Nayanamars & Jaina Salakapurushas

vinodh@virtualvinodh.com (Vinodh Rajan) — Tue, 04 May 2010 06:48:30 +0000

The śramanic Traditions namely Buddhism & Jainism had a great following in Tamil Nadu until the Early centuries of the Common Era. The early rivalry was chiefly between Buddhism and Jainism. However, the dominance of Buddhism gradually declined [Due to various reasons which needs to be discussed seperately] and Jainism gained a upper hand in Tamil Nadu. Jainism dominated the religious scene until 7-8th Century CE, with its main rival being the Vedic Shaivaite religion. As a dominant religion of that time Jainism had a great influence on Tamil Shaivism.

In Tamil Shaivaite world, 63 nāyaṉmārs, are a set of 63 Legendary saints who are widely venerated. The 63 Nayanmars supposedly lived in a Time where the Shramanic Jaina religion was very popular. Traditionally the Nayanmars are said to be one of the reason for the downfall of the Jaina Religion and popularizing the Vedic Shaivism among the public.

The Tamil Epic "Periya Purāṇam" is a work which describes the legends of the 63 Tamil Shaivaite saints. The Epic was written by Sekkizhar around 12th Century CE. The Background story for the composition of this Epic is interesting. The Chola King Kulōttuṅka was very fond of the Jaina Epic called "Sivaka-chintamani (Sanskrit: Jīvaka Cintāmaṇi)". It describes the legend of the Jaina king Jivaka and explains the Jaina philosophy along with the narration.

Refutation of God being the creator of the world

vinodh@virtualvinodh.com (Vinodh Rajan) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 13:43:12 +0000

Refutation of the view of God being the creator of the world and of the view of Visnu being the sole creator of the whole world

Īśvarakartṛtva-nirākṛtiḥ-viṣṇoḥ-ekakartṛtva-nirākaraṇa

(Attributed to the Philosopher Nagarjuna)

[It is claimed by some that] there exists a God, who is the creator [of the world]. Let he be critically examined [by us also].

The creator is one who creates. One who performs a [certain] action is called the creator [in relation to that action].

In this regard, we argue [as follows].

He can create something which we know as existent (siddha) or which we know to be non-existent (asiddha).

First, it may be remarked here that He cannot be the creator of something which we know as existent, because the concept of the creator cannot be applicable to such an object. For example, we know that man exists. Creating him further cannot be an act of creation; because his existence is already established [i.e. before this alleged
creation by God].But it may be argued that God creates something which is [already] known to us as non-existent. [To this we answer as follows]; Let it be that He also Creates those objects: oil [crushed] out of sand, which is known to us as nonexistent; wool on a tortoise, which is known to us as non-existent. [Let God create all these also]. But He does not have the power of creating these objects. Why? Because these are known to us as non-existent,And He [God] is also similar [i.e. God also is non-existent].

Headers Already Sent !

vinodh@virtualvinodh.com (Vinodh Rajan) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:17:59 +0000

Many people working with PHP would have encountered this very annoying "headers already sent" error, when working with Cookies or Sessions. This error appears, when some HTML output is sent, before the session/cookie handling begins.

Most of the Time, an Extra character before the PHP Tag is the reason. Even an Extra space before the PHP starting Tag, will Trigger is annoying error. Now, It may appear that even if there are no additional characters before the Tag, the error still appears ! Sounds, Fishy right ?

This may happen due to the Text editor that is used to Edit the php file. Probably, the Text editor inserted some additional character, which generated this error. Ah, that last one was the one I had to face.

I finally figured out the the Encoding of the file was the main reason. I had save the file as UTF-8 encodiung in the editor. The editor added extra information (BOM) at the beginning of the file, to identify the encoding as UTF-8.

There was noway, that I could the file as plain Text, I worked with Multi-Lingual Text. Everything would become appear as question marks if I had to force plain text. Luckily, Editors like Notepad++ provide the option to save the file in UTF-9 without BOM. Presto ! problem solved :-). So, if you are working with multilingual PHP files, always save in UTF-8 without BOM.

[Another instant and dirty work-around is to save the entire body portion of the PHP as a separate PHP file with UTF encoding, and include it in the main file :-) ]

So, if any of you guys any such issues try the above, probably it wold clear the issue.

Wapache for Desktop PHP applications

vinodh@virtualvinodh.com (Vinodh Rajan) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:42:23 +0000

At some point of time, some of us would have had the necessity run the Web Application we have developed in desktop, offline. Also Everyone would definitely like their App to run on desktop too.

To do this, there is a tedious process of installing a local copy of WAMP, and then using localhost to run the App in the web browser. An average user cannot be expected to go through all this hassle to run the App.

Instead of going through all this, there is a package called "Wapache" to create Desktop Applications from the existing code without any modifications, instantly.