Brain Freeze

Impressions from the Big Debate - Bill Nye vs Ken Ham

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 23:54:00 +0000

[If you are offended easily, please ignore this post.]

Does no one find it odd that the only person Ken Ham had the guts to go up against is a mechanical engineer who has been away from serious academics for a long time?

If Ken Ham was ever so confident, should not he have done battle with a biologist, a botanist or a zoologist?

Despite his obvious lack of qualification, Bill Nye presented a surprisingly cogent case in favour of evolution. His lack of debating skills were overcome in part due to his familiarity in presenting basic scientific theories on television and talk shows. His peculiar stories though did not do him any favours. Maybe he should have stopped being the decent person in the debate and called out his opponent on his outright lies.

Ken Ham on the other hand was almost boorish by comparison. He simply does not understand how the radiometric dating of minerals is done and hence believes them to be inaccurate. Furthermore, he lacks understanding of the formation of sedimentary rock structures. The Grand Canyon example that he presented clearly displayed his ignorance. Shale layers contain uranium, thorium and potassium and a study of their radioactive decay can quite accurately furnish the age of a rock.

Further, Ken Ham ignores that the modern study of evolution no longer relies on the shape of finch beaks, rather a study of gene sequences. Ken Ham stresses on how all life arose from different 'kinds'. This theory falls flat when presented with the fact that humans and reptiles share certain gene sequences. According to the philosophy of Ken Ham, this should not be so, yet it has been proven without a shadow doubt.

Ken Ham continued his close - minded spiel by saying that genetic mutation of microscopic organisms over a long line of generations did not constitute evolution even when it allowed the microorganism in question to harness a new food source. This was observable evidence that he discounted in the debate without even giving a reason as to why he was doing so. It is simple, he was uncomfortable, and so he chose to ignore it.

Ken Ham also implies that secular world - views are lacking in morality. His casual remark that a secular person would euthanize older generations to make way for younger ones was truly sickening to behold. If I remember correctly, scientific theories never asked a parent for the sacrifice of their children. Ken Ham may not believe that elder people can contribute creatively to the world, but most academics value experience quite a lot.

Last but not least, let us all examine the quality of the evidence. Bill Nye based his case on peer-reviewed material backed up by years of research by thousands of scientists each questioning one another until they arrived at a point where they were confident that all the evidence lined up and pointed to a particular answer being true. Ken Ham on the other hand based his arguments on a self - contradictory document created by a handful of ancient religious figures without any accountability or testing using modern equipment. This same document, which he holds so dear, would have us believe that the world is flat and that the sun rotates around it.

Science is not about faith; it is about the truth. Nothing is admitted as a theory without rigourous testing and continuous refinement. Science simply does not allow for the arrogance that religion has. It does not try to monopolize truth and morality. It simply observes, infers, understands and unravels the mysteries that all religions have guarded with their ignorance to remain in a position of power.

I conclude by saying that Richard Dawkins is right not to debate creationists as it only gives their theories an air of validity that they haven't earned and do not deserve. In the end, all religions must be brushed aside if the human civilization is to survive over the long term. As the popular saying goes, "Don't argue with idiots, they will bring you down to their level and then defeat you with experience". Ken Ham is an extremely experienced person (and Bill Nye learned 'something' from him).

A Very Serious 'Mata'

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 16:37:00 +0000

The one thing that is at the forefront of every Chelsea supporter's mind is "why-oh-why is Juan Mata being sold and that too to rivals?". I've been of the same mind, but with events elsewhere falling into place, things have started to get just a little bit clearer. The answer lies in Switzerland of all places. While many people are holding onto the remote hope that Mata will choose to turn down the transfer, speaking rationally, I can say that the transfer is already done in the minds of all parties involved and there is nothing that will stop it from going through. So, what is the master plan behind all the smoke and mirrors? Has Jose Mourinho, the most cunning manager in the football world finally lost it? Not at all. If all goes well, Chelsea will be stronger than ever before. In order to properly explain the transfer, a bit of background is required.

When Jose Mourinho first arrived at Chelsea, he put Joe Cole through the gauntlet and turned him from a good player to a great player. Before he could do that, he destroyed the player that he used to be. Joe Cole listened to what Jose Mourinho had to say and went on to the best years of his careers. In the second coming of Jose Mourinho to Stamford Bridge, he isolated Juan Mata from his position, instead choosing to play him out on the right wing. Mata was initially bought by Chelsea as a winger and moved in to the centre out of desperation. With those desperate times behind us and a packed group of central attacking midfielders, it made sense to move Juan Mata back out to the wings. However, as Mata had grown into his new position, the transition back to his old one was met with resistance.

Furthermore, while Mata's touch on the ball remains one of the best in the world, he lacks pace. This might invite skepticism from most as Juan Mata is as fast as most premier league players in his movement in attack, however, Chelsea have always had a slightly above average team in terms of sheer speed. With Oscar or Eden Hazard spearheading quick attacks, Juan Mata has been left behind a couple times this season. This was not readily apparent as Mata's ability to set up excellent through balls and play perfect passes kept him very much in the game.

Finally, this brings us to the biggest point of contention. Juan Mata does not pay as much attention as he should to his defensive duties. This is a nagging fact that no Chelsea fan can ignore. I've seen Fernando Torres more involved in defence at times than Juan Mata. Also, with Oscar stepping up his standards this season has done Juan Mata no favours.

So, Jose Mourinho turns to Andre Schhurle, a constant long range goal threat, and the possibility of signing Mohamed Saleh from Basel (here lies the Switzerland connection!) as his new right wingers. With Saleh all set to join Chelsea, we will have an incredibly fast attacking front capable of stunning counter-attacks. Saleh will play on the right wing with Oscar down the centre and Eden Hazard on the left wing. Andre Schhurle will have to content himself with appearances either in cups or in the league as a central midfielder with a lot more defensive duties than what he is used to playing up front. The skill of the front line will also have Willian at its disposal further deepening the attacking options. This team will not only have the good counter-attacking qualities of the Mourinho teams of old, but will also have a lot more skill at playing in tight spaces. This second part is apparent in the signings of Nemanja Matic, the encouragement given to Marco Van Ginkel and the refusal to sell Oriol Romeu. All three central defensive midfielders are as good as the attacking front when it comes to playing against packed midfields. Ramires will remain the constant as far as I can see, though he might be rested a bit more during cup games (such as the F.A cup and the Capital One Cup).

Selling Juan Mata to Manchester United just might be the boldest thing "The Special One" has ever done in his illustrious career. There are many theories circulating as to why a transfer to a rival has been sanctioned. The one that seems to make the most sense is that as Chelsea will not play against Manchester United again this season, Juan Mata will not be able to harm their bid for the title. Instead, he will be able to harm Arsenal's march on the title as Manchester United will play Arsenal a little down the road. This just may be the only way Chelsea can clinch the title this season. This reasoning is however flawed as it is incredibly short - sighted as Jose Mourinho is here to stay and will definitely be thinking about the next season even now. So, other than winning the league, what other reason might Chelsea have for selling Juan Mata? One thing that comes to mind are the Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. With Manchester United panicking, Chelsea have the luxury of selling Juan Mata at the highest possible price. As a Chelsea fan, I personally cannot think of any sum great enough to consider selling Juan Mata, however, Jose Mourinho is not a Chelsea fan, he's the manager. Going into the next season without violating the FFP rules will give Chelsea more room to dictate other teams to follow the same rules and keep it in good standing with UEFA. Barcelona (for signing Neymar) and Bayern Munich (for signing a number of Borussia Dortmund players) have been spending wantonly on a plethora of players, but their team - strengthening might yet be their downfall as the FFP rules just might disqualify them from the Champions League. This leaves Chelsea as the prime title contender among other smaller, albeit highly skilled teams.

Considering that the Chelsea official website has already announced the signing of Mohamed Salah (pending personal terms and a medical), it's safe to say the Juan Mata is as good as gone. We shall remember him for the joy he brought to all of us Chelsea fans throughout his years at the bridge, but from here on out, he will be the single Manchester United player I will not denigrate given the opportunity.

I wish him good luck and sincerely hope he gets to the finals of the World Cup 2014!

[P.S : The Germans will crush the Spanish in what should be one amazing match!]

Tingling Tastebuds

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 10:21:00 +0000

Taste, the timeless temptress,
Tantalizing recipes born of a tempestuous mind,
Created on this very earth
And yet so utterly divine.

Every great chef is first a born epicure, however, every epicure is not necessarily born a great chef. And that is where my problem begins. Unfortunately, as you may have guessed, I fall into the latter rather than the former and I stare with wide - eyed jealousy at all those with 'the touch' who effortlessly create mouth-watering pieces of culinary art. Despite my obvious shortcomings in this field and blatant lack of experience, I decided to test the very limit of my cooking proficiency.

It was a wednesday like any other. The stale stench of despair hung heavy in the air as the week was far from done, yet everyone was tired from the exertions already undergone. In this sordid atmosphere I took up my shopping list and set out on a quest to track down everything that I needed. While mentally repeating Tolkien's "The Road goes ever on and on, Down from the door where it began....." I journeyed through aisle after aisle of food stocked high. In the narrow moria-esque cavernous tunnels of the supermarket Fred Meyers, I gathered all that would be required to create an epic feast which would be forever remembered as Legen-wait for it-dary!

The kitchen was crowded as it often is when 8 storeys worth of people come to a single place seeking sustenance but I refused to be denied. I would play the waiting game and wait I would till most of the people had cleared out before setting my plan in motion. So, setting my purchases within the communal fridge, I retired to my room biding my time. At the stroke of midnight, (actually it was 10 p.m in Alaska but that doesn't sound nearly as dramatic; I'm sure it was midnight somewhere else in the world though) I made my way down to kitchen and began what would culminate in the pinnacle of my cooking achievements. Never before had I cooked three things simultaneously (and after this experience, probably never again) but I made it look effortfull because effortlessness comes only to great chefs. In any case, at the end of the night I had before me enough rice to feed a hundred hundredths of me, Rajma (kidney beans) cooked in an onion rich gravy and Fish (Cod fillet) cooked in a light tomato gravy. Thankfully, this veritable feast went unnoticed by my Indian compatriots otherwise I am sure I would have tasted none of it! After gorging on it myself, I am now ready to share my culinary creations with all those who wish to consume it.

I may have a long way to go, but I'm definitely on the right track when it comes to cooking up a storm!

Mastering a Science

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:29:00 +0000

It's been a while. A long time in time and much longer as far as life - changing events are concerned.

Around four months ago, I was in the thick of things in the management entrance exam scene and even managed a decent score (93.8 percentile is something I find acceptable at least), preparing for interviews when suddenly all that was turned on its head! I finally got a call accepting me into the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) in their "Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering" graduate degree programme. At long last, a school I could afford to attend and I was only to happy to accept.

My perceptions of Alaska at that time was a wintery wasteland blanketed perennially in snow quite like the planet 'Hoth' from Star Wars. Truth be told, when I first stepped out of the Fairbanks airport, there was nothing in view to dispel that notion. The next few days only served to reinforce it. The sudden change from 40 degrees centigrade above zero to 40 degrees below combined with extreme jet lag meant that I was unavoidably sick. However, work was at hand and a ton of paperwork awaited me. Thankfully, modern medicine can work wonders. That along with Japanese thermal clothing technology gave me the edge to survive.

Bit by bit, my negative image of Alaska started to thaw as I came in contact with the people of the university. Unfailingly polite and abundantly cheerful, it was easier than I thought to adjust to the new environment. Course work piled on, work loads waxed and waned and exams rolled by.

It's been an odd few months. I went from being desperate to get into the right graduate degree programme to having multiple universities calling on me. I went from extreme heat to extreme cold and more importantly, I got used to it. But what stands out over everything else is the huge amounts left for me to learn in Petroleum Engineering. Learning new things, relearning and updating the old. It's a long journey on this road to mastering a science.

Slaying Demons

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 18:57:00 +0000

"So, how do we kill the monsters that plague our lives?

We don't, we fight them every day and keep fighting them and hope never to lose."

I once saw a movie with that dialogue worked into it and I cannot help but discover the relations that can be drawn between the idea behind the movie and the experience of giving management entrance tests. Of course, the movie had a much deeper concept of fighting the ill tendencies that crop up in our minds and behaving like decent, civilized human beings while really wanting to kill most of the people we meet every day, but it also rings a bell when describing how MBA entrance tests never seem to stop. The workload itself is pretty low. Close to 8 hours a day and you're good, considering the B.Tech. degree to my belt, that's peanuts, but what really gets you is the way it is dragged out from one month to the next. CMAT in one month, CAT in the next, IIFT and NMAT in another month altogether not to mention SNAP and XAT with their own unique schedules. At this rate, I'd rather have another go at the GRE. Now there was an exam. Easy in, get it over with and get out! If you have to retake the exam, the syllabus and the preparation remains the same, but in the case of management entrance exams, some exams have GK sections, some have more time, most have negative marking though not all. As a result, each tests demands not just a different strategy, but a completely different mindset or approach to prepare for them.

Well, now that my complaining is done, I'm off to slay demons once again.

The Big Cat !

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:02:00 +0000

Lions, Tigers, Jaguars, Panthers, Pumas, Cheetas, Lynxes and all the other creatures from the 'Big Cat' family pale in comparison to the one I'll be going up against day after tomorrow. At this point, a jaunt through the den of any one of the aforementioned beasts seems much more favourable.

The cat I'm talking about is The CAT, the "Common Admission Test". The natural habitat of course is not the African Savannah, the CAT preys on unwary students in air conditioned halls full of computers.

In every horror movie there is a moment when someone is being stalked by some malignant entity (take your pick, though Jaws and Freddie Kruger would be good choices) and there is a sort of 'predator' music going on in the background. Well, I guess if my life is ever to be put into celluloid, this would probably the time for all the creepy background tracks you can think of.

Well, wish me luck ! :)

P.S : Cinema fanatics, I am well aware of the digital videography revolution and that no one uses celluloid anymore. Don't give me grief over it as I used it merely as an expression.

The True Opressed Classes of India

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 20:50:00 +0000

I am a member of the most oppressed caste in India - The 'General' Category !

Dr. Ambedakar, the foremost champion of protection of the backward classes, decreed that reservations would be required for a maximum of ten years to bring about balance in the Indian society. Maybe his calculations were right, but his assumptions were most definitely at fault. He expected the national administrators to be upstanding citizens of impeccable character and erudition. Instead, our country has bred a generation of vote - bank politicians. It is with increasing alarm that I note how rapidly we are moving away from forming a Meritocracy. There are reservations for admissions into colleges, discounts in prices for competitive exams, reservations for placements and now reservation for promotion. So, all you 99%ilers can keep your resumes in your bag, because it lacks the single most important element to succeed in India and that is the Scheduled Caste/Tribe tag !

The reservation system is now trying not only to make sure that less deserving candidates get ahead but also that they stay ahead.Many people from scheduled castes and tribes instantly cry foul whenever they see someone from the general category move into a position ahead of them. The first thought that goes through their minds is "they were born privileged, I deserve just as much as them", what they fail to think is "they're better than me". It doesn't matter where you were born, those who deserve to get ahead, should be promoted.

Reservations are creating a rot right from the bottom to the top of the Indian social strata. This decay is harming not only the general category, but also the categories with reservations. Now, if you were to meet a genuinely talented person who belongs to one of the reserved classes, all one can think is that they are where they are not because of their own abilities, but due to the advantages (i.e. reservations) that they got.

Not only is the amount of reservations going up (just check reserved seats in government colleges), but the number of classes eligible for reservation is also increasing. If the oppressed are truly to be aided, there can be subsidies made for the poor, but nothing else. If we are to improve as a nation, the strongest MUST survive and the weakest MUST die out. It is the only way we can move forward. The very Theory of Evolution demands it.

Unfortunately, I am but one general category, male engineer trying his best to make some headway in Management Entrance Tests, and as far as the IIMs are concerned, I'm at the bottom of the pecking order (damn the diversity requirements !).......

Spain vs Argentina

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 05 May 2012 14:08:00 +0000

This sounds like one of the best football matches possible. Lionel Messi against the entire spanish midfield, however, that is not what will be discussed here.

The company is called YPF. It started out as an Argentinian PSU (much like India's ONGC) but later on when crude prices hit rock bottom the Argentinian government disinvested its holdings as it did not want to continue subsidizing crude for the public. The majority stake of the company was bought by Repsol, a Spanish company with the minority stake remaining with the Argentinian government. Now with crude prices soaring and their economy in the doldrums, Argentina wants the company back. So what does it do ? It passes a bill which basically says, we own YPF. The problem is, Repsol was responsible for the great YPF growth in recent years and had invested a lot in the company. It gets nothing of that investment back. That is why an epic, national-economy-crunching legal battle is in the offing.

Maybe they should just play a football match to see who gets to keep the company. At the very least, we'll get to see some excellent ball play!

WTI Crude falls below 100 USD / Barrel

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 05 May 2012 14:00:00 +0000

The end is near, It's time to despair, Crude oil is becoming cheaper, And it isn't fair.

While most of the world is complaining about rising oil prices, it is weird to find someone complaining about falling oil prices, but here I am, an out - of - work petroleum engineer. True, I'm still completing my bachelor's degree, but we can poke logic shaped holes in my arguments later.

When crude prices fall, oil companies make less profit and when they make less profit, they hire less students to work for them (see, it makes sense now, doesn't it!). There are three main reasons for the falling of crude prices right now:-

1. Spain files bankruptcy. They may have won the world cup (football that is for all my countrymen scratching their heads), but they have no money left to celebrate their triumph. Oh well, should have just let Germany have it after all.

2. The New French President. Ok, this one I don't understand. France is getting a new president, not only because of their rule of only 2 consecutive terms, but also because everyone becoming fed up of Mr. Sarkozy's flamboyant expenditure. With the new French president likely to be Mr. Francois Hollande, it is uncertain what policies he will follow. Even though he is part of the socialist party, he is opposed to the current trend of austerity gripping Europe. The uncertainty coupled with his opposition to the sound principle of austerity in the face of bankruptcy is probably the reason why no one wants to bank on French petroleum further devaluing brent crude.

3. U.S Job Scenario. The U.S rate of job creation has been far short as compared to predictions leading to destabilizing their economy. Being an oil economy, it is draining the value of American crude (WTI and NYMEX being affected here).

As crude oil invariably varies from one well to another, some standards have been set up in order to facilitate crude oil trading in mercantile exchanges.

Brent Crude -> European standard derived from the North Sea. Light crude, not too sour.
WTI -> 'West Texas Intermediate'. Average of many sampled wells of Texas. Very light, not at all sour.
NYMEX -> New York MErcantile EXchange. A synthetic standard created for trading (as the name makes it obviously clear) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Very light, not at all sour.

There are many other standards besides. For example, OPEC countries have their own for internal trade, but as a whole when it comes to international deals, these three are the ones most commonly referred to.

I do believe, it is time

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 01 May 2012 18:02:00 +0000

Yes, I do believe it is time, time to return and post once more!

Now that we've done away with the overly - dramatic intro, let's get down to it. No, I have not been able to find a way to compress the video enough to display here. So, let's just all assume it was a nice short video full of lightning and lightsabers.

That being said, let me tell you that successfully submitting a B.Tech. project dissertation relieves more pressure from a person than a relief well does to an unruly formation.

This short post is just to shake off the cobwebs really. I'll start posting more regularly in the coming days.

Reaching for the Stars

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:20:00 +0000

George Lucas created something that has touched the lives of every human being who loves watching movies with great special effects. Yes, I'm talking about Star Wars. It is a much debated movie with many debates and sub - cultures surrounding it. I myself am a fan. So, why am I talking about it ?

Simple,I recently made a Star - Wars theme based movie for an Advert making competition. After doing so I can tell you that I have a new found respect for the guys who did the special effects. Though my work is nowhere near as stellar as that achieved by the guys working in Lucasfilms Ltd., I hope I will be able to share it with you a soon as I figure out how to compress it enough to upload it.

Until next time, MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU !!!

Up for Debate : India's 'much vaunted' Culture

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:18:00 +0000

I hear people singing praise of our nation and declaring that it is the best in the world. I cannot but stop and wonder like a few before me, "is it?"

Here is my view.

India has an undignified superiority complex. It mistakes history for culture. Yes, we have great ancestors, we have great architecture and we have all together too many traditions to speak of among other things, but does this really give us a cultural identity in this world ? What edge do these unique properties give us over other nations other than the ability to hold our noses to the sky and blindly proclaim that "We are the Best, forget the Rest !"

Truth be told, most of the people who make such proclamations have never taken the time to study or visit foreign lands to get a feel of their practices. Most people complain that India is becoming too "westernized" and we are forgetting where we came from. We hear that "megacities" are evil and India is losing its culture to their rapid growth. Might I remind everyone that India was one the first to show the world what a megacity truly is. Lets talk history. The Indus valley civilization may have been built after Babylon, but it was far greater by virtue of its meticulous planning and design and trust me, Mohen-jo-daro was most definitely a mega city.

Modern day cultural pandits fling vitriol at the adoption of foreign practices as our own while it is the oldest tradition of India to accept all foreign practices and make them part of a larger whole. I cannot for the world figure out how the same people can declare India 'The Melting Pot of the World' and in the same breath despise international cultural homogenization. The exchange of traditions and customs across borders and time is as old as the human civilization is.

The Taj Mahal, a national icon that shouts its Mughal beauty over every square centimetre of its marble clad being, is probably considered the world over as 'Indian' as it gets, but this form of architecture was once completely foreign to India.

Too often when the common man is asked to give an example of Indian culture, they will answer with some tale of some ancient deed. It is high time that we stopped being impressed by events long gone in favour of building a better future. We as Indians should not even take credit for those things we had no hand in doing. Harrold Hill once said that "You pile up enough tomorrow, and you'll find you've collected a lot of empty yesterdays".

Yes, our ancestors invented the number zero, get over it ! The Chinese used to come to Nalanda to learn, now they have more Ph.D scholars every year than India. All the best Indian students are looking overseas. We've already lost the race as no one has even cared to realize when the race began. India is stagnating and quickly becoming a spoilt child of generations now laid to rest. I'm not saying that significant progress has not been made at all, I'm saying that enough of it has not been made, at least not to the potential that we possess.

It's high time we got our heads out of the dirt, shook the sand from our ears and took a good look at the world around us. There is still hope, if only people read less history and actually understand the little that they do read.

Broadband as a Basic Human Right

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:35:00 +0000

As the month of November comes to a close, I'd like to review something that happened near the time November had just arrived. Towards the beginning of this month, the United Nations declared broadband to be a basic human right. That's right, broadband. Not just the slow old dial - up that many people are still used to, but the high - speed connections currently available only in first world countries. The muscle behind this decision was Dr. Hamadoun Touré, the head of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Dr. Touré compared the social media of today as the printing press of half a century ago. He underlined this statement by pointing out "Facebook" T-shirts being sold in the heart of Tahrir Square, Cairo. According to him, any place without broadband connections, is a place without ink or paper. To him, the freedom of speech should be bundled with the ability to broadcast it at high speed. Dr. Touré went on to say that broadband will keep unsavory regimes in check. When asked to explain how the so called unsavory regimes would be held back, he explained that twitter is not allowed in China. This is quite an odd thing to say considering that China is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council which can only mean that according to him the United Nations indiscriminately allows oppressive regimes to be at the heart of their operations. Dr. Touré also said that “Communication is a very powerful tool in the hands of the people and when you take it out of their hands, it’s a bomb waiting to explode.” What he forgets is that communication is an even more powerful at the hands of the wrong people. The very concept that telecommunication companies don't check who they give broadband connections to as long as they pay their bills is alien to him.

Though the idealistic view adopted by Dr. Touré charming as it is holds some merit, I can't help but notice the childish thinking that has been put into his decision. When opposing ideas clash, they make an impact that affects everything around it. Add to that the power of broadband internet, you have the means to start wars from your very own keyboard. Instead of wasting time naively declaring broadband internet as a basic human need, the United Nations would be of much more use if it actually did it's own job. Increasingly it is seen that instead of "preserving the peace", United Nations so called peace - keeping troops are bombing nations all over the world. Maybe the only reason they are called peace - keeping troops is because they keep the peace all to themselves by ensuring that the rest of the world is constantly in conflict. You see, nations in conflict are weak enough not to be a threat to the nations who use the U.N as their puppet.

Another point that ought to be considered behind this decision to elevate the position of broadband to a basic human need is that it is backed by the current richest man on earth Carlos Slim Helu, a man who just happened to make his billions from telecommunications (yes, that includes broadband). The stench that you all smell is corruption, plain and simple.

The 14 Day Week

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:20:00 +0000

There was a time long ago when 5 day weeks were a reality. As ambitions soared, 7 day weeks started becoming increasingly common. Now we live in an age where change is the only constant and the world around us is constantly in motion. Like the second hand of a clock, we keep plodding down our path inexorably towards what we perceive as destinations but are only points of origin for the next journey. However, in the middle of all this, multi - Tasking is the call of the hour. As each seconds of our lives are split between a large number of work to be addressed, the grim reality gripping this world is that we are all working 14 day weeks.

Tired eyes thinly veil the anger and resentment we hold within ourselves for being victims of circumstance. As frustration gives way to depression, disillusioned souls seek new outlets. However, even displays of pure emotion are frowned upon by the 'civilized' society where everyone is expected to conduct themselves in a fashion befitting the general concept of propriety held by the dominant generation.

And so, countless souls remain trapped in a rut, stuck in a pit of their own design. Everyone is ready to blame 'the system' for their own misery, but they forget that they are as much governors as they are the governed as far as deciding societal ethical codes are concerned. It is as much the individual as it is the masses that is responsible to decide the very definition of morality.

We forget that every time we try to push people away to make way for ourselves, we force others to push back with equal force if not more. The unnecessary aggression eating away at the narrow core of humanity left in this world is the cause and we are the creators. It is us who are the parents to the birth of the 14 day week.

However, let me be clear so as not to be misconstrued, my message is not to drive the general populace into a state of lassitude and lethargy, rather, it is the adoption of equity. I say, finish your own work and let others have theirs. Take time to enjoy the wonders you build and climb out of the pit you've dug ever so deep. It's never too late to try!

Dark Knights Rises !

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 17:03:00 +0000

The PDPU chess team (sometimes referred to as the "Dark Knights") has done it !
They are the returning conquerors after being crowned champions in DA-IICT's sports tournament where they dominated the chess event. Current and former members of the chess team hail this as a landmark achievement as after getting a flurry of silver medals, we have finally clinched the gold !

A big congrats to all who made PDPU chess what it is today ! Let's hope this winning streak continues for many tournaments to come.

Future Computers

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 06:45:00 +0000

-> Graphite Computers

A researcher in the University of Newcastle has found that elecctrons travel a thousand times faster over the surface of a single molecule thick layer of graphite than it does on pure silicon which is the standard for current day motherboards. This will essentially allow all data to flow and be processed at a speed a thousand times faster than it is in most computers today.
Anyone can extract a single molecule thick layer of graphite buy wrapping sticky tape over a pencil tip and
then unwrapping it. Also, as silicon though it is abundant in supply but difficult and expensive to purify, a shift to graphite as the raw material, prices for computers whould drop phenomenally. So, next time you shell out to buy a 2400GHZ processor, it will come at a price lower than most 2.4GHz processors today.

-> Salt Hard Drives

Current day hard drives have hit the maximum capacity at 1TB per platter. This is because data storage relies on unevenly distributed cluster nanoscopic magnetic grains each about seven nanometers wide. Dr. Joel Yang of the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) has discovered that by integrating
common table salt (NaCl) into the platters, a single bit of data can be stores on a single 10 nanometer grain of salt thereby increasing potential storage to 3.3TB/square inch bringing the total platter capacity upto 18TB. Dr. Yang's research aims at improving upon the current achievements and increasing platter capacities first up to 6TB/square inch and then finally 10TB/square inch bringing the individual total platter capacity upto 54TB!

-> Quantam Computing

Every time we hear the word "quantam" our ears perk up. Chances are "quantam"-anything is related either to extremely complex science which we will all struggle to understand (except a few superhuman intellects out there) or, it's related to some extremely awesome science fiction. In my opinion, good science fiction is the second best thing to good science.
Quantam computer however, is definitely a science and a highly complex one at that. In this, direct use is made of quantum mechanical phenomena, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform operations on data. Quantum computers are different from traditional computers based on transistors. The basic principle behind quantum computation is that quantum properties can be used to represent data and perform operations on these data.The field of quantum computing was first introduced by Richard Feynman in 1982.

Although quantum computing is still in its infancy, experiments have been carried out in which quantum computational operations were executed on a very small number of qubits (quantum bits). Both practical and theoretical research continues, and many national government and military funding agencies support quantum computing research to develop quantum computers for both civilian and national security purposes, such as cryptanalysis.

Large-scale quantum computers could be able to solve certain problems much faster than any classical computer by using the best currently known algorithms, like integer factorization using Shor's algorithm or the simulation of quantum many-body systems. There exist quantum algorithms, such as Simon's algorithm, which run faster than any possible probabilistic classical algorithm. Given unlimited resources, a classical computer can simulate an arbitrary quantum algorithm so quantum computation does not violate the Church–Turing thesis. However, in practice infinite resources are never available and the computational basis of 500 qubits, for example, would already be too large to be represented on a classical computer because it would require 2500 complex values to be stored. Nielsen and Chuang point out that "Trying to store all these complex numbers would not be possible on any conceivable classical computer."

-> Faster RAM

Everybody likes having as much RAM as possible and for good reason too. However, having more is not much good, if it is not fast enough. For example, 8 gigs of 133MHz RAM will be beaten into the dust by 4GB DDR3 RAM at 1333MHz. If recent reports are to be believed, then by this time next year, we'll al be looking at RAM working at 2333MHz or higher which is way faster than the fastest commercially availale RAM today.

-> Artificial Neural Networking

Ever wonder why our brains work faster than supercomputers. For example, if I take an average gaming rig and my brain and observe them, the computer can run a 3.5GHz processor and my brain still beats it working at a paltry 100MHz. The gaming rig can have 4TB of internal memory while my brain has only about 3TB (approximate), so why is it that my brain can achieve much greater things than a deaf and dumb computer? Well, in the case of the brain each and every memory element is also a processing element and each element is interconnected allowing data to be accessed, passed and processed at phenomenal speeds. On the other hand, computers have to send data all over the place to get stuff done. They have internal memory and RAM, processors, motherboards and what not allowing bottlenecks to be created quite easily. Also, only a limited number of paths for the passing of data exist, whereas in the average human brain (and I assure you, my brains is VERY average), there exists millions of paths for the passing of data.
The solution lies in artificial neural networks. This is a paradigm which attempts to replicate biological neural networks. First created in Holland in 1975, currently much work is being done in the software application of artificial neural networks. Things such as data mining, pattern recognition, density function analysis, calculation of Gaussian functions, etc. is bringing forth programs with capabillities such as voice, handwriting and fingerprint recognition (e.g Apple Siri) and more complex ones which take on nearly AI (Artificial Intelligence) capabilities.

I hope you all enjoyed this article.

These are some of the innovations that embody the near future of computers world-wide.

A Reservoir of Humour : Santa Claus and the Great Hydrocarbon Conspiracy

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 18:13:00 +0000

[Humour is a pre-requisite to health. If you're not happy, you're not healthy. To ensure that me and my readers live a long and healthy life, here is a piece that I hope will tickle your funny bone.]

[Disclaimer : I am an X-Files fan. Always have been. So weird conspiracies are like music to my ears! Long live Mulder and Scully!]

From time unknown the tradition of the celebration of Christmas is marked by the presence of a strange yet highly jolly old man. Yes, I'm talking about Santa Claus. In most western superpowers, children are taught to love, respect and trust this figure from a very tender age. No matter which way the economy turns, Santa Claus remains a constant in the lives and hearts of people world-wide. However, what no one suspects is that Santa Claus is at the centre of a diabolical scheme to premanently shift the focus of the power balance in the favour of a select few. There is after all, a very good reason why he is jolly. Today (or tonight, depending on your time zone), I will reveal to you the machinations behind this arctic megalomaniac.

Over the years, the biggest, most powerful companies in the world have always been energy companies. In older times, it was the coal companies and now it is the oil companies. These companies have always had the need to deal with people of disrepute to ensure that their position at the top of the power ladder remain a constant while still appearing to be legitimate businessmen. The man who makes it all possible, Santa Claus. What is the modus oeperandi of this criminal mastermind you ask? Read on, and all will be revealed......

Santa Claus begins to scout out all the bad children from early on. Every Christmas, he sends them coal to make them associate themselves with the hydrocarbon industry. So, through this yearly conditioning, he has a group of people who know themselves to be 'bad' entering the petroleum industry every year. After all, the petroleum industry does have a lot of dirty work to be done. Also, it might be noted that Santa Claus preys on religious association. As he could not be associated to any religion in communist Russia, Santa Claus takes on the state - approved avatar of "Father Frost" in Russia. He extended his operations there sometime after large deposits of natural gas was found there which turned out to be largest deposit of natural gas in the entire world! By keeping himself out of the religions thriving in the middle east, he ensures that he does not have to send their children any coal. So, every 26th December, the middle east nations wake up to find that their coal reserves have been significantly depleted and this coal has already been laundered all the way to European and American energy superpowers. Now, the children who have no actual use for the coal they receive, readily sell them at low rates to hydrocarbon companies. Every winter, like clockwork, these nations which usually have extremely cold winters suddenly have a surplus of fuel to burn allowing them to make large profits from combined cycle power plant operation. The companies not only make a huge profit, but also get around all the energy trade embargoes. This entire smuggling operation is remotely controlled from Santa Claus's communications nerve - centre hidden somewhere near the Arctic reaches of the North Pole. This is because the electrical disturbance from the Aurora Borealis will foil any attempt to trace his command - centre.

So, where does all this profit go? Well, the money to buy presents for all the good kids in the world has to come from somewhere, right ? These good kids grow up unaware of the oil industry and become upstanding members of society. After all, everyone can't be 'in' on how things work. Santa Claus's 'sleigh' large enough to carry enough presents for every good child in the world indicates the presence of one or more massive oil tankers directly under his operation which are guided along ocean routes by ten tug-boats. The tug - boats are present so that the tanker itself can switch off its massive turbines if required and fool sonar.

The full extent of Santa Claus's diabolical plans are unknown to one and all including me unfortunately. However, I think I can make a good guess. With the rapidly increasing American debt to foreign economies, America will soon have to dig into their strategic oil reserves to pay off the debt with the accrued interest. However, if the gulf countries are still flooding the market with high quality crude at that time, America will get only a fraction of the price for its crude as compared to if the OPEC (Oil and Petroleum Exporting Countries) stopped supplying the global oil market. So, in an effort to decrease the reserves of OPEC and simultaneously increase the American big oil companies reserves, Santa Claus smuggles oil from one country to another. Santa Claus may not have any vested interest in saving the American economy in particular, however, if the American economy goes down, a number of multinational oil companies go down with it. These very companies are the lifelines on which Santa Claus bases his entire operations. He cannot risk them suffering such a fatal blow.

So, at the end of the day, Santa Claus is happy because he's making huge profits, the oil companies are happy because they are making huge profits, the Gulf is happy because.......come to think of it, I don't know why they're happy. Maybe its because they still have most of the oil in the world and with it a huge load of money. Or, maybe they're in the process of cutting a back - door deal with Santa Claus in which he will defect over to their side. Who knows? The truth is out there!

A Reservoir of Humour

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:23:00 +0000

[Written and presented by Jyotishka Misra in Soul Pepper's "Proscenium 2011" under the category of 'Stand-Up Comedy'.]
[Disclaimer : The author will not be held responsible, read at your own risk as this piece may contain views and present ideas in a manner that IS NOT savory to some people. To those people, you have my utmost apologies but you are way too much fun not to make jokes out of. Embrace it and learn to live with it.]

Good evening everyone, I am a Bengali. Many people believe that the renaming of West Bengal as Poshchim Bongo makes it more Indian somehow. However, I resent this change because it essentially turns me into an African drum. I am now a Bongo!

The world is going crazy. The best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy and the tallest NBA player is Chinese. Let me tell you, there is a little bit of insanity in all of us. I’m Schizophrenic, and so am I! Truth is, we don’t exactly suffer from insanity, we enjoy every minute of it. Recently, we even went to the National Schizophrenic’s Convention, anybody who was everybody was there. There were some cases where the different personalities of the same person were all following different religions and that’s when things really start getting messed up. Thank god I’m an atheist.

Do you want to know what’s really insane ? Vegetarianism. I think that the human race is going backward. We did not fight our way up the food chain just to eat the stuff at the bottom. If you really like animals so much, eat them. It gives them a quick merciful death. Instead, you guys are starving them slowly by eating up their food !

Anyway, other than being a dedicated non-vegetarian, I’m a petroleum engineer. One of the most important parts of petroleum engineering is geology. Now, I’ve met quite a number of geologists in my time and the most important thing that I learnt is; whatever you do, never, ever lend a geologist money. He may say that he’ll return it after a short time, but remember, a geologist thinks in the geological time scale. A few millions years is nothing to him. Some people keep on mixing up geologists and archaeologists. A Geologist has the safest job in the world. If he’s wrong, it’ll take a couple million years of tectonic movements to prove it. On the other hand, an archaeologists, well his career always lies in ruins.

Scientists never stop thinking scientifically. If you go up to a physicist and ask him “Hey, what’s new?” he’ll probably say “New is one of the Greek alphabet and is used as symbol of mechanical efficiency”. No matter what, you can never isolate the science from a scientist. Even if a scientist is reading a Harry Potter book, they’ll be thinking about corrosion chemistry because both are about sacrificial protection. The worst thing possible is a drunk scientist. You should never drink and derive. It’ll end up as a summation of disaster.

I believe that the greatest engineering achievement till date is the computer. One of the things which fascinates me is artificial intelligences working on the human genome project. They are essentially robots designing new and improved human beings. Pretty soon, we’ll have Human version 2.0 and then Apple will release their own i-man. Many people believe that if artificial intelligences became any more human – like, they would try to take over the world. I just think that they would get lazy just like us and refuse to live up to their true potential. What we do by procrastination, they will do through processor latencies.

Some people prefer windows, some Linux and yet some others go for a Mac. They may all have great GUI support, but my favourite “Point-and-Click” device will always remain an AK-47 !

Thank you and Good night.

Demise of a Legend

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:26:00 +0000

All those who know me will automatically tell you that I am NOT an Apple-maniac. Quite the opposite really, I have always held this modern day computer elitist oligarchy at an arm's length and looked upon their products with unfeigned disdain. I never have and never will own an Apple product as I have always found them to be lacking in power. Yes, sure they look good, but being the staunch supporter I am of the open - source revolution, I can never bring myself to align with the Apple overlords. Yet, now that Steve Jobs has left the earthly plane and many open - source fanatics the world over are celebrating his demise, I can't help but acknowledge that he was a great man who brought about a revolution worth noting. A digital toast if you will to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak who forever changed the modern - day computer bringing to us the first personal computers and the first GUI based computers mice and all.

May rest in the peace he so desperately sought while still attached to the mortal coil.

He truly was a legend both in life and now in death who championed the need for aesthetically pleasing clutter - free electronics with an easy to use interface, which at some point of time far in the past also held cutting edge technology backed up with an OS to be proud of.

A Word from my Sponsors.....

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 16:18:00 +0000

Brilliant or Blunder ?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 12:49:00 +0000

In a recent speech to the U.N, our very own Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said "We must address the issue of the deficit in global governance. We need a stronger and more effective United Nations that is sensitive to the aspirations of everyone -- rich or poor, big or small. For this, the United Nations and its principal organs, the General Assembly and the Security Council, must be revitalised and reformed. The reform and expansion of the Security Council are essential if it is to reflect contemporary reality. Such an outcome will enhance the Council's credibility and effectiveness in dealing with global issues. Early reform of the Security Council must be pursued with renewed vigour and urgently enacted,"........

In this speech he plunged head-first into addressing global problems and spoke for the world as a whole. All in all, this much was a master stroke worthy of applause, however, in this same speech, he went on to emphasize the ills of globalization which not all believe in. While this does not adversely impact India's bid to join the U.N Security Council as a permanent member, Dr. Manmohan Singh also spoke directly against Western powers "forcing" democracy on countries who do not want it. Whether or not he was morally right, this statement will not go down well with the majority of the U.N Security Council permanent members, and of the only two who do not favor democracy, one has a border with India which is currently engaged as an active war zone under a ceasefire order. This gaffe certainly does us no favors.

At the end of the day, we can only hope for the best, expect the worst and ask ourselves, was this speech brilliant ? Or was it a blunder ?

A World Class "Energy" University

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 14:27:00 +0000

PDPU, namely Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, is at least the most - advertised of universities. So, one may ask, what exactly do they advertise themselves to be ? Well, PDPU masquerades itself as an energy university with no parallel, but this very same university was devoid of any and all electric power for more than half a day this 24th September, 2011.

One must wonder how a university with its own solar energy farm AND its own wind turbine can manage to lose power for so long a time. Could it be that we have sullied the term 'educational institute' so badly that the sun is now embarrassed to shine on us thereby disabling the solar panels ?

One thing is for sure, we may not have the best engineering departments in the country, but the School of Petroleum Management must have a bunch of student experts on advertising....

The Online Battlefield

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:35:00 +0000

Throughout the ages, the periods of greatest technological advancement has been periods of turmoil, most specifically war, barring only the renaissance. History has seen us go from clubs to swords to automatic guns. The first world war gave us tanks and the second gave us jet aircrafts. With advanced times come advanced weaponry, refined and sophisticated in its capabilities, and what more potent a weapon than the all-pervasive internet. In this information age, there is no deadlier weapon than information.

While various armament companies such as Heckler and Koch, Barrett, Smith and Wesson, Kruger and Glock to name a few keep on researching smart bombs, pinpoint accuracy rifles and what not, the great arsenals of the world have begun to consider a paradigm shift to augment their ever-burgeoning stash of modern day weaponry. In this age of the atom and the electron, the face of warfare has changed. While in the past there was no secrecy in marching an army into enemy territory, the wars today are all about covert operations and misinformation. The other new addition is the birth of the cyber-warriors. They are the ultimate when it comes gaining sensitive information without getting caught.

This new unconventional addition relies on the capability of crackers (black-hat hackers) to collect sensitive data, disrupt normal functioning and otherwise inconvenience in every possible way, the target country as a whole at all levels. The most convenient thing about this form of warfare is the complete lack of bloodshed in it. No, this is not a humanitarian gimmick, what I really mean is that if you don't die, you can keep on fighting! Also, the host government who initiates the attack maintains complete deniability.

Not convinced ? Do you still think that this is some outlandish conspiracy theory ?

Well, the truth is that this form of warfare is hardly anything new. For example, Russia is known to have initiated cyber attacks against Estonia in 2007 in retaliation for an Estonian decision to relocate a Soviet war memorial. Russian hackers are some of the smartest and scariest in the world. They are more than capable of accomplishing a lot more. Another example that deserves mentioning is the attack of a private company. Mitsibushi Heavy Electronics (MHI) have been on the receiving end of this form of attack for quite some time now. MHI was attacked on multiple occasions due to their line of products which include all the Japanese Naval submarines and even F-15 construction for Lockheed Martin. Those F-15s arm not just the U.S Air Force but a number of other countries as well. Rumours have been flying thick and fast that these attacks have been undertaken at the behest of the PLA (People's Liberation Army) cyber warfare unit known as the Blue Army. In case you are not aware, the PLA is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China.

How long will it take for the Chinese to divert their attention from the Japanese and focus it on India instead? Who knows, given our poor cyber security record, they have already penetrated Indian cyber networks and are operating inside our country but outside our knowledge. What is to stop them from stealing research from the top-notch academies and research organizations we have or even taking over our nuclear arsenal?

In future, cyber attacks should be dealt with as seriously as other more conventional modes of warfare as it is no less than infringing the territorial integrity of the nation being attacked. If cyber criminals can harm people over the internet, organized groups with the same skill set can bring a country to its knees. While many of you might be thinking of Bruce Willis in Die Hard 4.0, it will probably take more than one senior detective to stop a military effort of that level, even if that detective be John McClane.

[P.S : Forgive me Bruce Willis, don't get me wrong, I am a die hard "Die Hard" fan. Yipee Kay Yay, <censored expletive / colourful profanity>....]

Google+ and the Modern World of Social Networking

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 17:22:00 +0000

In a post-orkut, facebook dominated world, google+ is still struggling to find it's own identity. While twitter has dug deep into its fortified niche, google+ is slowly being relegated to the ranks occupied by myspace, etc. In this story of death before birth, one must wonder, is google really the future of the internet ?

If google+ really wants to take the offensive in the battle of the social networks, it must define itself first as formal (such as LinkedIn) or informal before moving on to the intricate details that will funnel traffic into it.

With an increasing number of apps accessing the internet and retrieving data for the user and google's all-too-intrusive collection of user data to "refine" searches, people are turning to other avenues of using the internet. While google strives to perfect android and ChromeOS, they have failed to notice the shift of users away from google. After all, people flock to a free service and leave even faster !

If google wishes to truly dominate the computing world, they will need to make a move to capture it now and monopolize it through consolidated effort much like microsoft did so many years ago.

[Before you ask, yes this post did start out with a focus on social networking and ended in the mad scientist type rambling about world domination ! :)]

Torres is not Chelsea material

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 17:14:00 +0000

Time and again, Fernando Torres as furnished us all with irrefutable evidence that he does not have what it takes to be a Chelsea footballer. His perennial out-of-form nature now begs the question, was he really ever out-of-form to begin with or is this pathetic display of footballing skill the true extent of his capabilities ?

Sunday, 18th September, 2011. It is Chelsea vs Man. U, easily the most important match the English Premier League has to offer. Chelsea despite being the quite obvious superior team was surprisingly down by 3-1 in the 95th minute. At this time, Torres was presented by a perfect through ball. The Man. U. goalkeeper De Gea being the rookie that he is was out of position by a simple bit of dribbling by Torres leaving the goal completely open. The defense was miles behind and the target seemed almost impossible to miss. "Almost" being the operative term used here. Personally, I was tempted to say it was impossible to miss, but once again, Mr. Torres always trying to prove that he can do what no one else can missed this golden goal-scoring opportunity. No other player, whether they be a goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, striker, an amateur footballer or even a person kicking the ball for the first time would have missed but Torres once again displayed his fine talent for finding the wrong side of the net.

In case no one has told you Mr. Torres, here's the secret........you're meant to get the ball to go INSIDE the net ! Not around, not under it and definitely not over it !

I say, just give him a couple million or two and tell him to stay at home for the rest of the season. He'll be doing the rest of the team a big favour. Spain may have won the world cup, but that does not make all spaniards world - cup material.

Also, I know Andre Villas-Boas is new and all and deserves more of a chance to prove himself capable, but what was he thinking ? Benching Anelka was Dumb with a capital D, plain and simple. We all hope Drogba a speedy recovery so that he may replace the inept Spaniard Torres. Though Sturridge is proving himself an asset to the team, I'd still pick Anelka over him for just the sheer experience and greater finesse in his play. Sturridge makes for a great substitute.