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You know you're old when, that new and upcoming superstar that you think is really hot is actually younger than you are. Sigh, yet another sad day to reminisce over missed opportunities. Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas

It's been a long time since I've posted anything here. So, just to get back my "writing" spirit and please the gods of the blog world, here I am with something that many might find mildly funny. Anyone who has used emacs enough would have automatically got into the habbit of typing C-x C-s, to save whatever it is that is in their buffer. But if you have used it as much as I've, then you would have gotten into the habbit of doing this so often, that you do it unconciously, whenever you are near any sort of keyboard. Infact I was totally oblivious to it untill a friend pointed it out. The response is automatic, reflexive and almost uncontrollable, just like Tourette's syndrome just for those who have used emacs - an Emacs Tourette's Syndrome.  

 

Signing Off,

Vishnu Vyas.

If this girl could say "Athu!!!" with the passion those three exclaimation marks imply, she is undeniabily thamizh! Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas.

East or West, home is the best, goes an old saying. Many a time, one would silently smile at such witticisms, but only rarely does one realise the truth behind such sayings. Leaving home, a place which has been so good to me, is more than simply getting on a flight and saying goodbye. Its a weird emotional experience, that brings forth bountiful emotions you never knew you had. India - Its the land of my fathers and forefathers, an eternal connection that I could never sever, it's a part of me which would never depart from me, and to which I hope I never depart from. Its too complicated to put it in words, for some emotions are necessarily beyond words. So, India, my love, my mother, my motherland, I bid you adieu, but donot forget me as I won't ever forget you. Remember well, for this parting is only that of time and space and not that of heart or mind. Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas

My closest friends would know precisely what that means, others would have to wait for some more time :)

With Scott Adams chiming in about atheism and people like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris taking up the pedestal as the public faces of atheism, which have long been empty, atheism seems to be the new 'in-thing' as it was during the times of Nitzsche and Russell. I've been speculating about what motivates the religious to be religious in the first place. And I'm taking Hinduism for analysis. Primarily for three main reasons. One, I'm more familiar with the Hindu scriptures and mythology than with that of other faiths. And secondly all my blood relatives are self-professed Hindus. So, I have had more real experience quizzing them about their faith. Thirdly, and most importantly Hinduism is what one would compare to 'Theological Anarchy'. Having no core dogma (or having multiple dogmas), no organised system of faith, no requirements or for that matter anything else. Many Hindus across the world and even across India get flared up with the same issues that are considered 'sensitive' - things like conversion, defiling Hinduism, Ayodhya etc.. . On a more practical note, I've seen people both in a remote corner of Tamil Nadu and somewhere in the heartland of Gujarat feeling the same thing about those sensitive issues and identifying with one other, even though if they were ever to meet face to face, chances are that it would be highly unlikely that they would even like each other. Why is it that Hindutva politicians like Modi and friends are able to whip up similar emotions in such a diverse cornucopia of people within India? These are what I will be trying to answer, to the best of my ability here. But, at the end, they are nothing more than wild speculations and I wouldn't want to treat them as a final thesis on the question of religion and faith. The most ironic thing about Hinduism, is that most Hindu's apart from being some vague form of theists aren't really concerned about scriptures or Hindu philosophy. Many are even ignorant of the wonderful stories, which certainly counts as great literature that abound in Hindu mythology. Further more, many are even unaware of the Hindu pantheon and the relationships among each other. Most have their favourite deities and a bunch of festivals which are universally celebrated, without any thought to the motivations or even the reasons of why the festivals exist. So, that throws strict theology out of the window. The second thing is that its not about God or Gods. Most often, the issues are not against atheists, (which is there, but never comes to the forefront) but against other fellow theists. Because, if it was just about gods, why would anyone object to accepting god, but in a different way? It isn't about ethnicity either. Then why? My conclusion would be that it appeals to a sense of identity. Humans, being intrinsically social animals, need identities. A group to identify with, a sense of real comfort. A sense of belonging. All you need is to give a name, and you automatically give it a form, for that is the nature of identity. A group as amorphous and ideologically disparate as the Hindus can subscribe to a common identity, only because there is one - of being a Hindu - which in essence is no more than a name. If this thesis is in essence correct and being given thus, then is there any solution to the problems of conflict that are prevalent in our times? What identities should one appeal to, for the sake of promoting the greatest good for all? Questions I desperately wish I had the answers... Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas.

Flickr, a mature online photo-sharing product from yahoo with clean looks, nice features and a decent enough free-version. Now comapre that to zooomr, something which has a prediliction for being in beta for a long time, has a more cluttered user interface and misses some important features of flickr. Then why do I like zooomr better than flickr? Is it a geek thing or is it just me? (A more meaningful and useful comparision of the two later). Shameless plug : Here is my flickr page and my zooomr page.  If thats not enough, I torture myself in coming up with small photo-essays here (link). Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas.

In this alarming article in MSNBC, Mike Ratiff answers the question in the affirmative. Even though this applies only to American institutions of higher education, I'm sure the situation is only slightly different here in India. I've blogged about my feelings regarding this issue before. But one thing that sure did catch my eye was this about negative learning.

We were startled by the extent of what we call “negative learning.” When courses are not offered or required, the students forget what they knew when they entered as freshmen

I've seen this phenomena happen right before my eyes. Many of my friends in college who even though were genuinely smart, let their skills atrophy and were dumbfounded when tackling problems that inevitably required those skills. What was the most alarming part of all that was their sheer callousness in their attitude. Even when I pointed out that they were things that they had learnt in high school, they behaved as if it was entirely natural to forget the important skills and basic knowledge that was supposed to be the foundation on which higher education was built. Though their attitude is partly culpable, I for one, put the blame squarely on the staff and faculty who have pretty much the same attitude. Its a sad state of affairs here and unless something drastic happens the future seems pretty bleak to me. Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas.

While I was at CAIR (Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics) I was amazed at the irreverance towards hardware. There were computers, mini-towers, powersupplies, office copiers almost everywhere and they were using it for all sorts of purposes. From quick paper-stands to the kitchen sink. But when ever you see a nice spick and span datacenters, with airconditioned looks on prime realestate, You wonder what they are housing there - a utility or endangered animal species. Computers and primarily datacenters are utilities and they should be treated with the same kind of irreverance that you treat your diesel generator or air-conditioning condensor with. Put them in some hidden corner, devoid of human intervention. There were netware systems that could do this for years, to think modern systems couldn't is foolishness. And finally sun has realised this and is trying to create a market niche in precisely this segment with their blackbox servers. They are built out of a standardised shipping container. It already reeks of "Made In China". This is a step in the right direction, lets see where this takes Sun. (Link). Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas.

I am now officially the owner of a member of the family cichlidae. Just that I'm still not very sure of the species yet. Its either a frontosa (as reported by me dealer) or its a more fiesty bugger, the Aulonocara Jacobfreibergi, which it is more likely to be based on its markings and morphology. Its a juvenile and hence difficult to tell what it exactly is. I've got a small twelve gallon tank (20"x10"x15") with this fish about 4.5" in length and already showing signs of colorations (and probably sexing too). I'm looking for a bigger tank and some tank mates to keep him company. Any and all suggestions welcome.. Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas.

Reading through some old articles in slate I came across one piece by Christopher Hitchens about the terrorists (should I say revolutionaries) of the yester year. Many of whom were fighting for a better tomorrow. To them some of these acts were an ideological statement and din't intend to kill or harm anybody. The most amusing of those is this guy - Hermnio da Palma Inacio.

Herminio da Palma Inácio, the Portuguese revolutionary, was perhaps the first hijacker in Europe. He borrowed a Portuguese plane from Morocco during the Salazar dictatorship, made it fly over Lisbon and drop leaflets calling for a free election, took it back to Morocco, presented all the ladies on-board with a rose, apologized for the inconvenience, and deftly disappeared.

Man, what chutzpah! Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas.

There has been a growing sense of despondency in my mind these few years. I am being terrified at what is happening in this world. No, its not Islamic terrorism or radical Christians denying evolution. Its the growing partisanships that seem to have clouded our mind, denying the most basic fact - we are all human. Every problem is painted as black and white, right vs left, everyone has chosen a side. Divisions growing wider in what could have been an answer to nature's cold and cruel war that creates new species. Humanity is getting sacrificed over imagined gods, differences in wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation reflected off your skin, differences in ideologies. In confirming our identities and our allegiances, we have failed to embrace our most universal identity - as humans and our most fundamental allegiance - to humanity. It is sad that, in the 4 billion year history of life, its the dominant species that has been at the receiving end when nature gave the finger. This time, as things go, we needn't wait for nature. The only time nature could really be trumped, is when there is the ability to think critically and apply reason and rational thought. But now, rationality and common sense has gone into a deep slumber, and given way to fundamentalism of all kinds. The you are wrong , I'm right kind of battles. The worst ones. There are impending threats to humanity, both from within and from the outside. A small random mutation on an isolated strand of genetic material on a virus could turn into our worst nightmare. A radical meme rampaging the common consciousness could destroy our civilisation. A few degrees rise in global temperature could devastate humanity. Human race has been vulnerable before, and yet trumped nature every time. Beating the odds, playing its cards perfectly, by applying critical thought and moving from a simple gene propagating machine to a society that could take care of itself. That's how we beat the genes. But in all those times, the danger wasn't as clear or as present as it is now. And now is when we need to wake up. We have to move from the simple meme propagating machines we have become to true creatures of reason, objectivity and rationality. The final war is yet to come. The war to end all wars is yet to come and it will be brought upon humanity by itself. The warriors could be nebulous, unknown, unexpected. For all I know, it could already be upon us. And in this war, as in all wars, there is only one winner. And in this war, as in all other wars, there is only one winning strategy - Reason. Signing off, Vishnu Vyas

My life seems like a bundle of contradictions to me. I've been everywhere and yet, nowhere at all. It seems strange that clarity could be so elusive. If only we could know everything at the behest of ones will. I am at an important juncture at my life and I need to make a decision. Sadly, I cannot. The more I think about it, the more confused I get. Oh! Choice, what a cruel master you are. You could have given me the devil or the deep sea and I could have picked at random. My fate would have been same either way. Instead, you ask me to choose between heavenly mead and sweet sweet nectar. I have to chose between two things I've always wanted to do. Between being a research scientist at a lab in India and a MS degree from a university in America. I've been at mighty crossroads before, and only rarely has clarity come before the choice was made. Mostly, it has been correct, but not always. I've regretted a few intransigences of my past, but all that was well before I could legally vote. When you are a kid, its always someone else's fault. Now, it could very well be mine. Signing off (confused), Vishnu Vyas.

Famed crocodile hunter Steve Irwin has died. A tragic loss - especially to his family and his fans. I only knew him through his shows on television and I always liked the charismatic crocodile hunter. For a geeky kid, growing up with animal planet and discovery channel was all that was there in terms of TV.I still remember the days while I would issue diktats to my parents to switch channels, just because I needed to watch him go "Cirkey ..." or wrestle crocodiles and list out the top 10 venomous creatures of Australia. In-fact I always harboured a secret love for snakes, which was fulfilled only on television. I still remember the nights as a kid where I would imagine myself handling venomous snakes. And within the realm of my imagination I could be him, and yet wake up the next morning without being mortally wounded and with all my limbs intact. To me, he was a hero. He was an icon in exposing the wonders of the natural world that most of us would be comfortable ignoring. He was a champion of animal causes. Its is only tragic that he had to go, the way he did. The world has lost a great advocate for conservation and animal welfare. He might be quirky and might have challenged the odds, but still its a loss that we shall come to mourn. Signing off, Vishnu Vyas

The modern day web is very much like an eccentric library. You could be surfing along and could step on something weird yet utterly delightful such as this.

The Microbe - by Hilaire Belloc

The Microbe is so very small You cannot make him out at all, But many sanguine people hope To see him through a microscope. His jointed tongue that lies beneath A hundred curious rows of teeth; His seven tufted tails with lots Of lovely pink and purple spots, On each of which a pattern stands, Composed of forty separate bands; His eyebrows of a tender green; All these have never yet been seen— But Scientists, who ought to know, Assure us that they must be so…. Oh! let us never, never doubt What nobody is sure about!

A poem that is about a microbe and yet also about the uncertain bases of certainity. In this day and age of faith-based warfare and terrorism I am sure this could be something that should go in our textbooks. To imagine this was written as early as 1896! Signing off, Vishnu Vyas

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose would smell as sweet" - William Shakespeare

That was William Shakespeare writing over 400 years ago, and if he had e-mail and had known that people across the atlantic would be sending him mail, He would have definitely refrained from letting his imagination get the better off him.

Why all this "quoting dead poets" business you ask? Well, It all started with a random mail I got the other day about how I am utterly incapable of understanding "liberalism" and that I shouldn't be so presumptous to go about calling myself a liberal. See, I can take criticism as well as the next person, but this is something that I was totally confused over. A little help from wikipedia quickly got me to the root of the problem.

It turns out what the rest of the world calls socialists and lefty lunatics are called as "liberals" in america and what the rest of the worlds calls as liberalism is actually "Libertarianism". It turns out that the shakespearean rose can stink like a pigsty.

I can understand different spellings and in some cases I think there was a point to loose the u in colour or write metre as meter. But why do people across the atlantic have this need to keep inventing new words for old concepts? An Identity crisis perhaps?

So, for the convenience of readers across the atlantic, I am a libertarian on many acounts and for the rest of the english speaking world, I am a liberal.

Signing Off, Vishnu Vyas.