the OutShout

I wish avatar would've made it...

2010-03-08T11:36:00.000-08:00

There may be more than one reason why I liked avatar. May be it's plot against which it is set (As a child I was a hardcore space enthusiast) or can be its conservationist message... any way this movie with its amazing special effects and nice story amused me.

I became a huge fan of James Cameroon after this movie, though I liked this guy for the movies True Lies and Terminator 1 and 2 that I actually watched just beacuse of Arnold :-p. He must have worked really hard for making pandora this beautiful.

They named and categoriesed each and every plant and animal they depicted over there, like how they grow... what they eat... and so! Liked the geography, effects and the green message. For obvious reasons the movie was recieved by box office records.

I really wanted this one to win some 7-8 oscars atleast. I haven't seen the other movie, Hurt Lockers. Infact was not even aware of its existence before I read it as one of the favourites two days back .

Really looking forward for Cameroon's next movie...

Sachin Sachin Sachin!!!

2010-02-24T12:46:00.000-08:00

"Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don't know, something beyond scientific measure. Something that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When he goes out to bat, people switch on their TV sets and switch off their lives."- BBC on Sachin

So true! Few hours back at office... we almost switched off our work to glue to cricinfo's live updates after we heard he's 168* and around 10 overs to go... Even our ML was talking cricket. The news of 200 spread joy around-we can see near by cabins were also enjoying the moment. Later came to know about the drama involving Dhoni's form of his life while sachin was adding a new column in oneday batsmen's career book. The country might not cursed anyone of its men for hitting sixes.

There are a few sportsmen who often grow larger than the game! Figures like Schumacher, Tiger woods should have turned many of their fans to fans of the game. I remember Wasim Akram once saying in an interview that he started an interest or playing golf just coz of woods. Even I was familiar with the name Schumacher and the confident face in red outfit even before I heard 'F1' or 'Ferrari'.

Sachin is another name, really big than any other playing the game for some reasons. He might have played most of his shots in friendly pitches or from bad deliveries-Who cares? After all he's a winner - a winner of about a billion hearts!

There are 2 kind of batsmen in the world. One Sachin Tendulkar. Two all the others. - Andy Flower Quite Interesting...

Cricket is a religion and Sachin is God! - most Indians

"I have seen god, he bats at no.4 for India" - Mathew Hayden ohh even Australians?

'I Will See God When I Die But Till Then I Will See Sachin' - A banner in Sharjah

He is big. But how big? May be a champion cricketer... definetly bigger! then... like a... King? King of the game? May be bigger...:-? yea bigger. May be as they say... Atleast they respect him as a God of the game!

Thanks for the quotes that are taken from God of cricket Sachin Tendulkar By coolvishu4u .

pS-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Writing here after more than a year now! But I really wanted to write often. But no regrets as I'm sure none have droped here to check for updates :-p . Any way few good things happened in my life by this time. I never used this place for sharing things around me... But thinking of doing that from now:)

Green Nokia!

2009-01-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

Last year Nokia launched a Green product, a biodegradable phone and now they came up with more green ! Nokia India announced 'recycling campaign' for the Indian region. It seems Nokia is one company which is concerned about the environment. See this case study spotted under 'Corporate Responsibility' in their official website.

They are about to put some 1300 green recycling bins across the country to make users aware of the recycling of e-waste. In a survey they find that only 3% recycled their phones and only 50% are unaware of the recyclables of phones. The used handsets actually contain many valuable materials which can be recovered and reused in manufacturing new products. Everything can be recovered from the old mobile phones and nothing goes to useless.

Its quite long time we have been hearing the terms like 'green', 'recycling' and so... any way this is a nice move from Nokia. Being the market leader they are right guys who could make some effect. So make use of it if you found such a recycle bin in your city! They are also planting a tree for every handset dropped and also there are many surprise gifts waiting! Hope this campaign could improve the awareness among the users as e-waste already posed new threat to the environment. Read more about the campaign.

Self-Sufficient Dynamic Tower

2008-12-26T11:17:00.000-08:00

Here we have some fascinating news- a Dynamic tower! Means what? A tower with rotating floors, which rotate on command! So the shape of the tower is dynamic, there would be no specific shape.

Of course it'd an amazing piece of architecture. As the technology is on a fast track, if you have a lot of money to spend on the research, now nothing came as a wonder! But, always there would be questions on wastage of energy and stuffs which would lead you to the discussions from renewable sources to the melting glaciers.

Here the guys behind the Dynamic Tower have a good deal! The tower itself is energy elf-sufficient. Which means the power requirements, including rotation of floors, are met with in the apartment. How? Well-placed wind turbines do most of the job along with the solar panels. They are hopeful to generate all the power required for the apartment themselves and above all it is renewable, leaving no greenhouse gases.

Some would blame the energy being used for luxury for the sea-level rise and all. What so ever, it is impossible to leave them all. So this kind of 'green' luxury would be appreciated! Read more about Dynamic Tower here.

Nothing but Dedication and Hard Work!

2008-11-12T09:49:00.000-08:00

A Tribute to Anil Kumble

I am a great fan of this man, the man of determination, commitment and hard work-Anil Kumble. His attitude - 'Never Give Up' is some thing that attracted me the most. Ever since I started watching cricket he is the one who inspired me the most. Humble, loyal, gentle man, fighter... there are a lot of description for him. None never forget the Antigua test, where he came out with a broken jaw and bowled his heart out and got rid of Brian Lara. This is one incident which shows his commitment and attitude.

Anil Kumble is one of my role models. He definitely do not belong to the likes of Muthiah or Warne, who has got the magic hands. But he belongs to another level higher than their, where he proved dedication and hard work is above all! His entire career has been a lesson for the not so talented and gifted ones. He has proved that anyone can reach the top with hard work and dedication. He is placed among the top rows of the all time list. He is even honoured by handing over the captains cap to him, some thing that his spin counterparts failed to achieve.

Unarguably he is the biggest match winner for Indian test cricket, but he remained as an unsung hero at least till his captaincy. He never had a large fan following who protest when his name is not in the list, rather he himself find the place in the list by working hard. The man who never fell into any controversies managed the team well in and off the ground, especially the Australian tour. His efforts with the bat also points to his commitment to the team.

If I keep typing like this it may never end, so I'm concluding. His decision of retirement comes as a shock. Its really bad if its the injuries that resulted in the decision. None argue against if he is termed as a LEGEND of world cricket. His last moments in the ground was just awesome. After securing 3 wickets (again with an injured hand), India declared the innings to see him in the field for the last time! The way the members treated him just shows the respect and love he earned!

Night race was amazing!

2008-09-29T08:59:00.000-07:00

Watched F1's first ever night race yesterday on tv... circuit was really fantastic to match the night race's hype. This proved Singapore was the right choice for the historic inaugural night race. Well lit circuit amazing audience and the new 'DigiFlags' just spiced them up!

DigiFlags is the technology used in airports for guiding pilots. They are very bright and could display different colors making them suitable for the night race. 35 such units which were used. The entire track was lighted by 1500 projectors to meet high definition tv broadcast standards which made the track four times brighter than usual stadiums.

Any way altogether this race added to the glamour of the sport. But they would have tried this a long before as all other sports have its night versions for a long time now. These guys are little late in this sense.

But Im not happy with d results... not only bcoz any of d ferrari made an impact but also mistakes in pit was too costly...

Mobile car!

2008-03-03T08:04:00.000-08:00

This looks cute! I have no idea abt this phone or its creators... I accidentally saw these pics and found them interesting!

I would also like to say word abt slide.com ... absolute free site to make your slideshows, so effortless and quick as well

Bluetooth-Enabled Robot Legs Talk To Each Other!

2008-01-30T07:55:00.000-08:00

Here is the latest aid for war veteran's- Bluetooth-Enabled Robot Legs. This is more sophisticated than past versions of the prosthetic legs.

Now a pair of such Bluetooth-enabled robotic legs are helping an Iraq veteran walk again. Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Bleill lost both his legs above the knees when a bomb exploded under his Humvee while on patrol in Iraq. Physical therapists outfitted him with robotic legs that can talk to each other.

Each leg has a computer chip, as well as built-in motors, to ease the process of walking long distances. Past versions of the prosthetic legs were provided only to people with one good, working leg. The robot leg would imitate the existing, organic leg.

With Bleill's set, each leg mimics the other, the robotic legs communicate using Bluetooth technology. When Bleill stands up and leans forward, the legs get the signal to start walking.

After several steps, the legs have worked out a coordinated walking motion that continues until Bleill signals them to stop by apply resistance to forward motion with canes.

Bleill is reportedly pretty impressed by this pair of robotic legs.

Tangible Display?

2007-07-17T13:38:00.001-07:00

Now virtual reality is not only treating your eyes but also your fingures! Researchers at NTT Comware came forward with a 3D display system that reproduces the physical feel of three-dimensional video by means of an actuator glove worn on the hand, allowing viewers to literally reach out and touch the person or object on the screen.

According to NTT Comware suggests it could be put to use in museum exhibits that would allow visitors to handle items on display that are ordinarily off-limits. And also in classrooms, where it would allow students to touch objects located very far away.

But the technology is not only ment for geeks or students! Listen what NTT engineer Shiro Ozawa has to say "You would be able to take the hand, or gently pat the head, of your beloved grandchild who lives far away from you".

Transparent displays???

2007-07-11T23:09:00.000-07:00

Its long time since I blog! Any way I feel nice to be back!

This time I got stuck with some 'photos of apple's transparent laptops!'...

Yeah we all know it's FAKE, but still amazing right??(more fotos here)

Any way the transparent displays from Tokyo-based Active Inc is not fake! See the photo...

Active Inc's composite LCD display allows light to pass through it. A crystal film supplies enough illumination to make images visible on the screen.But much yet to be revealed.

CPU in a Car!

2007-01-20T12:28:00.000-08:00

Here are the photos of an amazing piece of work. It’s just a CPU case but not in the bulge box but in a cute little car! Yeah its really an out of box thinking. I donno who made this. Any way he’d done a nice job.

Source: http://www.funonthenet.in/

Here just for testing I used the flash slideshow maker! How it look? Think its nice. I thin its better to make a slide show in a blog than sprinkling the pics away! The slide show maker provides hosting service as well. It also have a professional edition.

Any way it’d be more nice if you could make a slide show of your own!

How a Desktop Nanofactory Works?

2007-01-11T11:02:00.000-08:00

Todays Sci-fi is tomorrows' reality. Any way nanofactory is not a news now! But here now I'm stuck up with a video on desktop nanofactory. This video gives a clear visualization of the inner workings of a nanofactory.

What is a Desktop nanofactory?

It is just like ‘nanofax’! Nanofax is a machine, first told in science fiction writer William Gibson's All Tomorrow's Parties, that could digitally reproduces objects. For example some object may be a toy or something like that placed in a nanofax unit is reproduced in some other nanofax unit in the world!

Yeah that’s not a news. This was discussed a long ago and few technology is also offered in this way. K. Eric Drexler; in his 1992 work Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing and Computation , he speculated on the idea and structure of a desktop nanofactory was probably the first of its category.

But the visualization done by Lizard Fire Studios is really amazing. Lizard Fire studio worked with Dr. Eric Drexler of Nanorex to illustrate the operation. It clearly depicts how a nano factory works and is good enough to draw viewers attention on the technology. Read about the video.

Search Results

2007-01-05T21:51:00.000-08:00

Best Way To Advertise?

2006-12-30T01:27:00.000-08:00

Do you really want your ad to reach people? Put it inside a lost wallet. This one from Sao Paolo is for their version of Wall Street Journal. The picture here illustrates a unique style of advertising adopted by them.

Wallets were scattered around the city and contained a sticker that said something along the lines "You found the wallet. Now find out how to fill it up".

Along with this the concerns remain. Will this work? It depends on the person who picks up the wallet. If it’s a ‘good soul’ who pick up it with the intention of returning them to the rightful owner –the ad campaign will work!

Wish you a Merry X-mas and Happy New Year!

2006-12-25T10:34:00.000-08:00

Some days ago I happened to see a very different discussion from mylot.com… its on Christmas. The discussion is started by some ’Katie247’. According to her ‘At this generation, Christmas would only mean new clothes, shoes or bags, compulsory gift giving and spending a lot of money on nonsense things.’ She also reminds that ‘Christmas should be remembering of Jesus' birthday. Finding new ways on how we can let Him enter into our hearts. To make people

around us happy by not just giving gifts but giving away love.’

This particular discussion has got a lot of responses. Many of’em joined her saying that the birth of Jesus is just not to be celebrated! While some other pointed that this is the longest holiday season of the entire year. Some also feel that ‘after all it is called Christmas for a reason.’ Yeah may be. Any way one more Christmas has gone… Let Christmas be a reason for popularizing message of Jesus -‘to love’.

Retire of a Legend!

2006-12-23T08:41:00.000-08:00

Shane Keith Warne, one of the greatest spinners of all time, has announced his retirement. We all know that he was a man of controversies –right from allegedly providing pitch and weather report to bookmakers to a Positive drugs test ‘on the field’ and many more gal issues ‘off the field’ which even loosen his martial ties.

Inspite of all this he’s a great bowler – already composed some all time ‘great songs’ with the bowl… From Ravi Shastri in 1992 to Monty Panesar (this Ashes) he added 699 into his name. I saw certain sites rated him as the second most legend of cricket right after Bradman! Also he is among five wisden cricketers of the century.

I think none may’ve forgotten the controversies regarding the naming of Warne over Muthaiya for Wisden Cricketers of the century. Actually, Could Warne is termed as the greatest spinner? None of the Warne’s records are long living… they are to be broken by the Sri Lankan with more shining figures! Warne gonna reach the magic number only by 140+ matches (in tests it’s a Big Figure!). Even Anil Kumble reached the 400 & 500 milestones faster!

Any way it is right that figures are not the ultimate factor to measure a cricketer… Warne should be always remembered for his style, skill, willpower & great determination that he shows during his innings. Warne will continue playing for Hampshire and I think soon he will be a regular figure among criket experts and commentators!

Time Person of the Year

2006-12-22T11:34:00.000-08:00

Hi friends you may heard about the ‘Time Person of the Year’. Its every one of us… the winners this year were anyone using or creating content on the World Wide Web.
Richard Stengel, Time's managing editor said "if the magazine had decided to go with an individual, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the likely choice. It just felt to me a little off selecting him" Stengel said.
The cover, where the pic of the winner to be shown, shows a white keyboard with a mirror for a computer screen where buyers can see their reflection.It was not the first time the magazine went away from naming an actual person (In 1966, the 25-and-under generation was cited; in 1975, American women were named; and in 1982, the computer was chosen.)

Well done Time! Anyway I feel its nice that the most awaited credit went to every one of us from Bloggers to designers, from browsers to gamers…

But, Is it right to do this just because the favorite is an/the Iranian President?

Baseball Batting Robot!

2006-12-20T12:15:00.000-08:00

This is an amazing piece of machinery! It could hit the ball nicely.Created by Frank Barnes of Robocross

Enjoy the video...

According to technovelgy.com it uses pneumatics to create three distinct movements of a batter:

* hip swivel
* shoulder drop
* arms extend.

Baseball Batting Robot May Make Steroids Obsolete. This guy isn't as bulked up as some of today's players, but he's honest about what he uses - compressed air.

Polar Rose Face-Recognition Search Engine

2006-12-20T12:00:00.000-08:00

Again a sci-fi came true! Anew search tool, Polar Rose, now searches the ‘contents’ of pics and photos. Please don’t confuse with the image search that google or yahoo offer today, they search the data bases for images whose label match the search string. They are often misleading.
According to the Swedish company the tool could search for similar looking photo across the net-say faces. It analyses digital photos to locate faces, then convert the data from 2D images to 3d models called faceprints. This faceprints can be compared with other faceprints to find the match. Interestingly look alikes could pose a problem the software!
Polar Rose would allow the users to annote the photo with descriptive details.

No doubt that this would ignite a new visual era of the web. The photo searches would be more accurate but new privacy concerns are now widely discussed! Any way the company said it would only search through publicly available photographs on the web.

2006-12-19T11:00:00.000-08:00

Stop The Whalers!

Whales are the most amazing creatures that survive in the world today even from the dino age. They are in the list of endangered species with some of the varieties completely swept off from the planet. As a step to save them the whale hunting were discouraged over past few decades with the efforts of Greenpeace, Sea shepherd, WWF and so…

Among the effort of California-based Organization Sea shepherd Conservation Society is valiant. What they had done rather going legally or public awareness they act at the spot! Over the past 25 years they either sunk or rammed around 10 whaling ships. What would have done for a better way to save the whales?

'Ships that shepherds sunk'

Now claiming that the whales improved in population the Japanese, one of the traditional whale hunters, Institute (ICR) is gonna fund for about 1000 whales to the hunters! …for some research and commercial purposes…I feel it quite unjust. The Hindu reported possible clash between shepherds and Japanese whalers. The Green peace also showed concerns on it. May the shepherds stop the Japanese…

2006-12-11T23:02:00.000-08:00

Vista! Now out of Microsoft stable… Upgrade your Machines !

At last after lengthy delays, Microsoft has released the first version of Windows Vista. In Vista you could see improved GUI.(When every time Microsoft came up with new OSs you can see this!).There were strong rumors that vista will not work with common PCs and need a designers Desktop! But we can see that with little updates in your system you can use this celebrity OS. And if your system is too old to update-still you can install this. MS also introduced a limited version with some compromise in the GUI.

As said before the main attraction if Vista lies in the GUI.A new stuff called AERO is out to play this time. It is nothing but the name of vistas new 3-d interface GUI.AERO is really looking cool (probably performance too...).Another claim is tighter security. Unfortunately this 3-D rendering requires lots of processing power. The minimum required PC is typical a 3-D gaming PC with more system and graphics memory and a separate video card with its own memory!
The minimum req are:
A 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
1 GB of system memory
A 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of free space
At least 128 MB of graphics memory
The computer also has to support DirectX 9, have a DVD-ROM drive and have access to the Internet.(so MS think that there will be no stand alone computer needed in future!).

Any way out of the four initial versions one is not using the AERO! It’s the most scaled-down edition of the OS, uses a less graphics-intensive GUI. (And other 3 editions have an user choice too.)

An 800 MHz or better modern processor
512 MB of system memory
A graphics processor that supports DirectX 9
... is enough for that edition.

Any way once again MS is gonna redefine the typical PC configs around the globe. As usual the another 'notable' feature would be its Cost!

Wndows Vista Home Premium $239
Wndows Vista Business $299
Wndows Vista Ultimate $399
Wndows Vista Home Basic $199

2006-12-11T22:59:00.000-08:00

CHANGING THE BLOG STYLE!

2006-07-06T10:18:00.000-07:00

Letz See What She Says ...

I welcome you again to the world of AI! I think
atleast some of the readers of the blog must
have seen my previous Blog on AI (in Y!360).
Here I once again invite you to a few wonders
of 'The Artificial Intelligence'! The main aim
of this blog is the attract your attention to the
amazing subject. Believe, it can cause a
revolution soon! But now AI research is widely
funded only for high-end applications like
astronomy and deadly armory. AI can bring
the spring in mankind only if it is utilized in
everyday life. And really the medical science
needs AI! Here I'm trying to portrait How AI
can be implemented in a specific application
related to medical science.

Let me tryout a specific AI application rather going to the all that AI can do. The task mentioned is "language understanding". (Please don’t confuse it with the language recognition that some softwares can do now, it’s all about reading the sense inlanguage).This column deals only with the AI concepts and nothing related to modern implementation techniques, so you may find some old implementation techniques here - just for simplicity. Precisely the 'language understanding' is not just for medical field but lets see how it is implemented in this field. 'The particular application' discussed here is 'a virtual psychiatrist!'

The main aim of this project is to 'simulatethe language behavior of a psychiatrist talking to a patient: for any keyboard inputfrom a human user to produce an acceptable
typed response.' The major (classic) name in this area is "ELIZA”. Since psychiatry deals with diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders, the ELIZA is equipped with a program to interact with the patient as a psychiatrist does! ELIZA is a famous 1966 computer program by Joseph Weizenbaum, which parodied a Carl Rogerian therapist, largely by rephrasing many of the patient'statements as questions and posing them to the patient. Thus, for example, the response to "My head hurts" might be "Why do you say your head hurts?" The response to "My mother hates me" might be "Who else in your family hates you?"
What the name ELIZA says? No ... its not an acronym, but The
name ELIZA is that of the flower selling girl Elisa Doolittle in
musical "My Fair Lady", based on "Pygmalion" by George
Bernard Shaw who pretends to be more than she is. Eliza
Doolittle who is taught to shrug off her thick London accent and
to adopt a much fairer tone - and pretends to be much more
than she really is. Similarly ELIZA (in anthropomorphic terms) is
a fraud! ELIZA never expresses her own attitudes or feelings.
She asks questions on topics introduced by the patient and
guides the discussion to topics of likely emotional significance to
the patient, like, father and family.

"The ELIZA effect" is another term you should know to sharp
your concept about this program. The tendency of humans to
attach associations to terms from prior experience. For
example, the symbol '+' is commonly used and well-suited to
indicate addition; it's just that people associate it with addition.
Using '+' or 'plus' to mean addition in a computer language is
taking advantage of the ELIZA effect. This concept is coined
by Joseph Weizenbaum, in his ELIZA program which simulated a
Rogerian psychoanalyst by rephrasing many of the patient's
statements as questions and posing them to the patient. It
worked by simple pattern recognition and substitution of key
words into canned phrases. All this was due to people's
tendency to attach to words meanings which the computer
never put there. The ELIZA effect is a rocking concept when
writing a programming language, but it can blind you to serious
shortcomings when analyzing an Artificial Intelligence system.
The ELIZA effect can also blind one to serious shortcomings
when analysing an artificial intelligence system.

If you go for this computer program; it's appearing to be
something more than it is with a few clever word-swaps! All it
does is respond with pre-prepared phrases, sometimes returning
what you just said but switching person and posing it as a
question. Let as see some of the chat log with the of ELIZA as
described by its creator Joseph Weizenbaum.
" ....................................................................
Well, my boyfriend made me come here.
YOUR BOYFRIEND MADE YOU COME HERE?
He says I'm depressed much of the time.
I AM SORRY TO HEAR YOU ARE DEPRESSED.
It's true.
I am unhappy.
DO YOU THINK COMING HERE WILL HELP YOU NOT TO BE
UNHAPPY.
I need some help, that much seems certain.
............................................................................ "
See more ... http://www.masswerk.at/elizabot/eliza_test.html

Another major field where ELIZA brought revolution is a
'chatbot'-probably derived from chat robot. Though ELIZA
based chatbots are not at all intelligent and works on excellent
word swaps this robot some times answer, respond or question
really well! For example...
If one says 'he want to kiss her (ELIZA)', she
responds that "Perhaps in your fantasies we will kiss each
other."! Look, ELIZA has very few words in its dictionary but it
can amazingly replay as above, it know to speak ' ... kiss each
other'! Also if one said " my father loves me" it may reply " tell
me more about your family"! Whatsoever , it is intelligent enough
to find the relation between father and family.

If you want to chat with sweet Eliza (chatbot) click
here (elizabot). http://www.manifestation.com/neurotoys/eliza.php3

Now you may find this ELIZA game interesting. The game
appeared on pages 56 and 57 of the book 'What to Do After
You Hit Return or P.C.C.'s First Book of Computer Games.'
some parts are clipped here...
" .......................................
? how about the beach boys
Why do you ask?
? do you dream often
You're not really talking about me, are you?
? dream on
What does that dream suggest to you?
? what dream'
What answer would please you the most?
? do you subscribe to creative computing
We were discussing you-- not me.
? i am an IBM 370/168
Do you enjoy being an IBM 370/168
.................................."
want more?.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliza_(game)
These conversation clearly states that the responses are not a
reflection of thinking or understanding.

How is Eliza? ...sweet?The ELIZA game clearly states that the
responses are not a reflection of thinking or understanding. As
said above both ELIZA and PARRY(another program of similar
sound) are frauds. But there arrived few excellent programs
too. BASEBALL and SHRDLU are good examples.
"BASEBALL by B. F. Green and others in 1963 Stored lists of
information on results of all baseball games played in one
season in the USA. In a highly restricted domain, BASEBALL
had a complete understanding."-as described in a webpage.Also
" SHRDLU by Terry Winograd (1972) (a nonsense word
composed of the 7th-12th most frequent letters in a printer's
array). The program operated in a microworld of blocks. It
simulated the action of a robot arm that manipulated toy blocks
on a table in accordance with instructions from the user".

Dear readers, start counting! The days are not far where
robots talk to you as your friend(or partner) or you yell to your
roboservent to bring a cup of coffee or to get the ringing phone
or to answer the calling bell! The life made easy.But... the dark
sides strike there again! As one of my friends (Sk) commented
on my Y!360 blog "...don u thin we are already havin problems wit our simplified lives. We hav healthh probs, we don connct directly wit society much. So evn more simplifications will lead to more problems. nd yes its has its advantages. lik helpin da aged nd da children.... "

2006-06-18T13:51:00.000-07:00

Conservation-A Novel Approach?
(Some views on How To Cooperate Development Along With Conservation)

Ice age marks the end of the dino era millions of years ago. It is considered that these dinos once ruled the planet. Though many arguments bloom since now regarding its cause the actual reason is unknown. Look, now the planet is ruled by Human beings?! We have got lots of spines ahead us which can even stop our journey. Who is not aware of the factors like the energy crisis, Global warming ... and its effects? The media are packed with reports of yet another “natural disaster” and journalists never to miss the opportunity. No I am not into a usual conservationists talk!

Need for conservation-Well it is not only a common subject but also a well told and well defined one! We all are aware of the need for conservation. Conservation is of different types including wild life, aquatic life, water conservation, conservation of habitats, ecology, nature, energy. And even conservation of values! (Out of scope of this column!)Or more specific - conservation of certain species and so on...This article may neither deal with the need of conservation nor with the data & list of endangered species or so. I may better try to discuss and project my views on nature, scope and techniques of conservation. I'm neither challenging nor claiming the perfection with my views; they are purely my own views and ideas...

I believe in the conservation that does not hinder the development process. There is a common talk that ‘industries bloom from the death of nature’. The time already exceeds to correct such believes. The development process should go on by implementing suitable solutions for protecting nature. I'd call it as 'conservation by solutions'. We all know that conservation is a very important factor in the eve of the world. So we have many societies working towards it. Many of them are very powerful too.

Another inevitable thing is that the development is too important. So I'd suggest the conservationists to be more practical! They should better go for providing 'solutions' rather protesting on it as they do now! Anyway it is crystal clear that the development process, may be for an industry or may be for incrementing standard of life, simply cannot be hindered so if these societies are honest in their vested interest they should use their power to cooperate with these essential developments by providing right scientific solutions to the respective environmental problems.

You may sometimes heard about the issue related to the dam across river Narmada. The project is to provide efficient drinking and irrigation water system especially to North West part of India. Anyway it’s true that some of the residing places may taken by the dam. Keeping this as spear the 'famous' conservationist Medha Patkar once again led well celebrated protest programs that are enough pungent to fill the top columns of Indian media. The main demand of the protesters was to LEAVE the project! What was the result-the so called 'conservationist' leaders made a lot of visual media appearances gaining glamour and color in their 'social' life! Why don’t they ask for proper rehabitation? . . . Rather cordinating the mega drama-the answer is they are not real conservationists! (May be politicians!).Since up gradation of the living standards are inevitable the real conservationists should cooperate with such projects by using their power to make the authorities to adopt proper solutions to the various possible ecological problems it may cause, rather using their power to hinder such development process.

Anyhow one thing to be admitted is 'conservation by solution' is not a complete solution to the present problem. It is just not a stable method but more practical than the conservationists preach and dream about a new world of hope! They are merely unreachable. Proper conservation possible only if the WHOLE SYSTEM changes which is out of scope! Human being is a social animal. So we are just like other animals dueling in the planet. If human is a part of the nature what human do is too a part of nature. What he does for his existence should not be sort out as 'artificial'! Rather they should consider the possible challenges it holds and try to solve it. That is, whenever the development matters heads the topic of conservation, which is as important as the development, should also given a room.

The TV ads and other media ads may top most widespread methods used by the conservative societies now a days. But in quite few situations the sincerity of these ads can be questioned as some of them give priority to the society name rather spreading the message. Making solutions for the ecological problems using alternatives precisely need the help of Technology. As we know technology is the 'application of scientific knowledge', there is a large part to be played by the particular factor. Since we are trying to provide solutions usually for a technically related projects those solutions which are unscientific should be costly! Though conservation through scientific knowledge is not rare its roots still find it hard to seep in! The use of renewable resources is a familiar solution for the energy crisis, but it is factual that the impressive technology for using these renewable recourses is yet to found.

Is the present technological advancements are not enough to meet the conservation requirements? Now way! Look, we can see literally a revolution in the field of weaponry during and after deadly World War -II. It is not because of the revolutionary increase of scientific knowledge these days but an outcome of the nations' desire and requirements. The nations funded heavily for the research of deadly weapons and they are doing the same right now! We all heard that a large chunk of US's revenue goes to the upliftment of research in the field. If these nations try to understand the real danger and are ready to take sincere steps towards the development of technology related to conservative techniques there are no doubt that soon we can conserve the wealth of our planet scientifically and more effectively. But they should handle this as serious as their strategy.

Let’s hope the day when all the nations join their hands to work against the upcoming disaster. Let they leave the enmity and their weapons! And spent the wealth for solving ecological as well as humanity problems and to conserve the planets valuable wealth. Anyhow it’s not the right time to think that "...the resources left are enough for my life time and the effects wont head in near future.Letz enjoy the life on the planet in the most luxury!” Let us hope a better world with a handful of memories of the sweet and bitter past, full of hope, love and spirit. Lets do our part; may the Almighty bless us !!!

2006-06-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

When they go Mad . . .

Definitely there is no other game event than FIFA World Cup which can effectively tie the chain of equality across the boundaries of different people groups all over the world ! Rich or poor or black or white everyone enjoy soccer with equal spirit and passion. FIFA WC has a rich tradition as well as a strong desire behind it which make the event more popular among all kinds of people. That's how the FIFA WC can bring a festive mood for the entire planet and can attract all the eyes of the planet to few grounds for at least two months. Actually all the credit for the success of the FIFA WC should go to the football fans, which ranges from street footballers to National Leaders !

Though there are factors that attracted such a huge followers all over the world , the Fans are the creditable for FIFA WC's success. As said above the fan club includes The Top level national leaders to poor street footballers. We can see lacs of people outside the WC playing countries cheer and pray for their favorite team. From a week before the WC the nations like Brazil and other S.American nations do not sleep ! They were preparing for the event by decorating the cities and so. Many European hotels promote 'Football tourism' providing large screens and so even they have dishes named after players ! Remember the day when French PM indirectly gave 'leave' for all the government employees through a TV public address before the first match of the country during 2002 WC. There was also an incident that results in resuming a player with 'Red Card' in finals due to the president’s direct interference !

Around 60% of the total population resides in countries which don’t have rich football tradition.(Remember 35% lie in India and China). But when FIFA WC approaches 'all roads leads to' the host city. When the 'kick-off' there is not only the thousands around the stadium screams but also crores all around the planet in front TV screens do !These people really forget themselves or their position, possession or even profession and dissolves themselves into Football. So football here is a Universal Solvent :-). Another factor noted is in the 'non-WC' countries is that the 'football fans' increases during WC's. This precisely states that they are real fans of FIFA WC than fresh Soccer ! This is not only because of the glory and popularity of FIFA but also because of the fantastic atmosphere resulted by the passion and football addiction or a state of spirit and addiction created by FIFA. Anyway there is no doubt that World Cups are doing a great job in promoting the game.

Though FIFA WC has not yet encountered any considerable disasters from fans the news involves destruction of properties and wild protests are common. Recall Hillsborough disaster a deadly human crush that occurred on April 15, 1989, at Hillsborough, a football stadium in Sheffield, England, resulting in the loss of 96 lives. Subtitles of a newspaper says " ...'Some fans picked pockets of victims'; 'Some fans urinated on the brave cops'; 'Some fans beat up PC giving kiss of life'...".A quote, attributed to an unnamed policeman, claimed that a dead girl had been abused and that fans 'were openly urinating on us and the bodies of the dead’. Tough it happened in a league match look how crazy they are... In a way or another it needs the nut to be cracked to saddle it. Recently there was a rally in S.American countries by the wives protesting against their husbands' wild Football love. Another old story says that during mid 20th century in Europe the matrimonial ads for Grooms included the phrase 'He should not be a football fan’!!!

The troubles made by soccer fans are even worse. Many homicides especially killing own blood relations accusing on disturbing live telecasts etc are shame for the whole community.Another major spine in the cake of FIFA is discrimination of black players by fans. They are very common as well as serious since majority of fans shower them with abuse words throughout the game or even incidence reported of black players got beaten up. Players and antiracism experts said they expected offensive behavior during the tournament, including monkey-like chanting; derisive singing; the hanging of banners that reflect neofascist and racist beliefs; and perhaps the tossing of bananas or banana peels, all familiar occurrences during matches in Spain, Italy, eastern Germany and Eastern Europe. Anyhow FIFA had taken steps like TV ads posters and banners depict "Say No to Racism".

We can easily feel the newspappers, TV channels and even websites literally celebrate the mega fest. Anyhow they should be credited to spreading the game fever especially in non football dominated countries. They are also informative providing wide and sometimes wild info on teams, players making some of them celebrities of all time. But the services by channels which provide LIVE telecasts are inevitable. They lay as a great stream in promoting passion in the souls of football fans and also something called 'World Cup Tourism’. Themes of all the ads switch to WC. Another attraction from media is the prediction contests widely implemented by all media offering attractive goodies and more. The role played by the media in creating a state of spirit and passion on people and preserving this state throughout the event is not small.

The FIFA WC 2006 Germany is up. The situation gets hot up soon. The fans are anxious for the moment, with their hearts beating, ... the moment for their favorite team's glory!!! FIFA and German football is all set to coordinate another WC with all its glamour and glory. No doubt that the response from the fans will be fantastic and even over-expected ! May the fans behave well. May this WC can weave history and memorable events. Hey now it’s the time to cheer; tone your WC channel and catch every moment...!!!