Technology - A drug

I read a post from one of my friend's blog and thought I would add to it.
Remember the movie I, Robot? Even now I don't understand why the movie flopped. Heard of 6th Day starring our Calif Gov.? That bombed too.
People are plain stupid!
When Will Smith says robots are to be suspected upon, the CEO of the robot company remarks "Do you want to ban the internet to keep the libraries alive?". That was lost after Will Smith sneezes and remarks "I am allergic to b*lls*it !".
Arnie on the other hand confronts yet another CEO, now of a cloning company, involved in illegal cloning of humans. When the villain remarks "Imagine who we could bring back if we could legalize cloning! Gandhi, Stalin...". Arnie retorts back "And who decides who should die and who should live? How about letting God decide?"
Again these words are lost after Arnie pumps a few bullets and flexes his muscles!
In both cases I took a For and Against stand.
For:
I would love to have a robot serving me everyday, helping me out with some complex problem I have, I just have to connect it to it's server and it will download files for me and teach me. Or how about if I needed some Italian delicacy, it could just connect to it's server somewhere and cook the exact dish that would otherwise cost me a plane ticket to get.
Tell him to guard and he will guard your house day and night without a blink, tell him to take care of a new born and he/she/it wont be deterred by the wailing. It will be as patient as ever.

If I were to lose my eyes or my finger in Wendy's I could always replace it at the nearby CLONECO. They have CLONECO. cards that I can receive discounts from! Or if I feel I am becoming old I just allow myself to be 'killed' and one of my cells be impregnated into a clone of mine much younger than I am!
With cloning we would never lose our near and dear again!


Against:
Robots can never be as sexy as Natalie Portman or Milla Jovovich. They will perform logical calculations(in the case when the robot decides that Will Smith has a 45% chance vs. the girl's (11%) during an accident).
Emotions for a robot is a catch-22. If we allow robots to be emotional they will be nice to us and cry with us etc. but when their emotional juice or electrons or whatever becomes critical they cannot be stopped.
As for cloning I would hate to see half a dozen Hitlers and a couple of dozens of Saddams hanging out in my neighborhood.
And the single most important detrimental effect of cloning is, if it becomes affordable, no one would hesitate to take their gun and fight with another gun handling group. Because the one thing - fear of decapacitation or death is gone forever! With fear disappearing, faith in god disappears!


Technology is definitely addictive, but with the way things are going, it is only a matter of time before you get a video game as my PS-2 and XBOX addicted friend told me, that will interact with your brain and when you are walking through a hot zone will tell your body to feel the heat, and when you walk through piercing cold, will make you tremble or if you are amidst monsters, make you shake with fear!

Well imagine what would happen if someone shot at you in the game!.....or even worse your system were running on Windows :P

USA in 2050

If you expected me to write a Sci-Fi movie with Will Smith kicking alien butt then sorry this is not the place. My context is entirely different here.
The thought occured to me when I saw one of my friends, whoz an Indian hanging out with an American girl. Looks like they might get married! That is awesome!
Indians and Chinese are the most successful immigrant people in the US. They have very good lifestyles and are Americanizing too. Every year an increasing number of Asians descend upon the American soil to firmly establish their foothold here.
It then became rampant and now an ubiquity. Go to Dallas and you will find several Indians around. Go to New Jersey, you will see them flocking around. Go to Houston, there is a street that looks just like Bombay!
*Gulp*
It's an invasion!
Sooner or later Indians are going to marry Americans, Hispanic and Black people. You will find a new breed of Indians who will replace the so called ABCDs and put them in oblivion.
They will know India as an Irish decendant in the US knows that his great grandfather was from Ireland. They won't look or sound one bit Indian. They might detest spices, might live on pizza and coke.
Just as Hip-Hop is famous now, a new genre of music will spawn, more like heavy metal Karnatic music or even worse.
Their names might sound vaguely familiar say something like Rammamootoo or Sheevanson.
I can't imagine USA filled with a dwindling white and black population making way for a new breed of Indians who won't know Gandhi, wont know what the Indians in India are going through.....but as long as they are not BORN CONFUSED, I am fine !

Cellphone 2.0

My wife is a versatile writer, she puts so much diversity in her writing. When she writes about a topic there is something in it for the professional writer and the simple guy like me. She wrote a story about a girl with split personality and the climax kept haunting me for a long time.

This is one such article that is on he website, she chooses to call these scribblings as she could write them at any time.

On Cell Phones

I agree that the ubiquitous cell phone is the most useful gadget today that lets you keep in touch with your near and dears, while you go about your work. As I walk around campus, I see every other person on a cell phone, yakking away. I always wondered if they permanently attach their phones to their ears so it's easier to talk. But I pose this question now - Are we all becoming little islands who can communicate only with the latest gadget that technology has given us? What about talking to people who are near and around us? I saw this picture on the back cover of a magazine titled "dinner for two" , where the dinner table at a restaurant was set for a romantic dinner , and the man and the woman were both talking over their cell phones , ignoring each other , while the food grew cold . Looks like there was no point in them going out to celebrate a "romantic" evening out, when all they did was talk over their cell phones! And this is what happens even during a party these days. People get together to have a good time with their friends. Before long, someone's cell phone starts ringing, and this goes on until everyone is talking - to their cell phones and then the party has ended before you know it! I don't know how many people out there would agree with me that cell phones are useful but we must know where to draw the line between usage and addiction. I think we should spend time getting to know people around us better, before we start chatting away to glory on our cell phones.

See what I am saying, there is anger, power and a message in it, not to mention the warning, that I better give her undivided attention during a dinner outing.

Oops, hang on, I am getting a call on my cellphone, never mind it’s a friend I want to ignore anyway. He’s probably calling me (for the third time this week) to give him some money. Not a big amount but he’s been kind of persistent. I finally decide not to give it to him, even though it is I who actually owe him ;).

People look at mobile phones as means a means to establish relationships and communication. Myself being a wannabe-unique- guy, think that they are invisible walls to human interaction. Many of my friends I know do not pick up a call from unknown numbers. They wait until they get the voice mail and then decide on calling back. Wall, indeed!

Many people who communicate flawlessly over their mobile phones to the person on the other side fail miserably when they meet face to face. I myself have been in those awkward situations where I would be the epitome of confidence of the phone only to shy away and stammer when meeting in person.

I think we’re becoming what my wife aptly said, “islands”.

In the future say a couple of decades from now, a person will be unable to meet a stranger and start a conversation with ease. They might smile at each other exchange numbers and call up each other to talk. This could be an interesting premise for a Spielberg movie!

Alright, I have to call up a couple of friends on my mobile now, how else would I justify my free weekend minutes!

Sunday 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm....

.....makes me nostalgic. When I moved from UAE back to India, my dad had a Herculean task of getting me into a school, that would not have Tamil compulsory and would if possible have Hindi optional, would not be too competitive etc. etc.
Finally I got into St. John's Matriculation Higher secondary school. It was rapid transition to say the least, from having a class strength of 2-5, and a school strength 60, I moved to a class with a total strength of 75. The very first day I saw a classmate beaten on his back by a teacher, later a teacher hitting another boy with a wooden scale. It was too much for me to take. Anyway the seemingly endless week came to an end. I was glad.....Saturday flew by.
Before I knew Sunday came up which meant it was Oil bath day. My mom was good at that, she would mix a blend of herbs and stuff with the oil to make it healthy for my hair. Usually after taking an oil bath I instantly fell asleep. Before I realized it was evening.
Then my spine chilled up. I had knots in my stomach at the thought of going to school tomorrow, teachers, wooden scales and above all, Hindi!!
In those times the Metro channel(yup, we were one of those few families who didn't' have cable) had a movie during which everyone in the family would have been superglued to the TV. Dinner is then served to regenerate all the lost energy. Nam Kudumbam starts and again the whole family roars in laughter at S. Ve. Shekar's jokes which is better defined as reading out a jokes book like "Why is it of no use to advertise for a lost dog - because dogs cant read".
Then starts the program that indicates to me that I have less than an hour to sleep - Superhit Muqabla. I still remember Tamilization of all programs, and this was no exception. So when Pritviraj calls out the No. 1 song, I know I have less than 10 minutes and usually try to make the most of it, try to be as relaxed as possible.
Then when the previous year number 1 shows up everyone goes to different places in the house and you feel very awkward sitting there.
After a few minutes of aimless wandering I get to bed, still uneasy about Monday.
I hate to sleep, because to me and I'd bet to everyone it is usually closing one's eyes and opening it again. Weird! Who says we cannot time travel?

Then I go to school, submit homework, go through the routine stuff, eat lunch, watch out for predators from pouncing on the chapatthis that my mom makes for me and listen to all the new stuff the teachers gotta say. Have you ever wondered it is usually the predators that are the strongest, cleverest and energetic of all. They eat the curd rice from the Iyer boy's house, then some dosai from the girl who likes to share her food, then some potato from the guy who tried hard to hide it but his expression gave in. Finally after collecting their quota they go back and relish and eat it.

Before I realize it is 4:15. Then again, it isn't 4:30 yet. I have found it impossible not to point out the fact that the last 15 minutes of anyday is painfully slow.(Unless ofcourse it is a free period and I am talking to a pretty girl).

Students rush out as if prisoners escape a prison just hit by an earthquake. I ride back home, to drink that tea my mom makes, to vent out all my frustration at my patient mom who advises me that the guy who bullied me will learn a lesson from god, and the girl who I think I divinely love is not worth my time.

Today is Sunday, and the time is 9:00 PM. I still feel the same...

Matrix in Tamil

Cast:
Mr Anderson/ Neo(Silambarasan) Mr Alageson/ Saneo
Trinity(Trisha) - Thangamari
Agent Smith (Yet to be finalized - Satyaraj in talks but he wants to do only college roles) Agent Sudalainath
Morpheus(Sarath Kumar) - Mooparasu
Cipher(Madan Bob) - Chokkappar
Direction: Bharathiraja
Music: Deva
Introduction:

Alageson lives in Arupukottai and works at a local Phone/ Internet center that runs primarily on dialup. During day time he runs the internet center and takes care his mother. In the night, he is Saneo, Madras University's Sani, who hacks into their mainframe regularly to change grades.
He is not sure if he is dreaming or awake. That time in one of his dreams he meets Thangamari who tells him that while he has spent most of his time helping others he forgot to clear his arrears.
Then there is a song, in Deva's voice "Excuse me Ms. Thangamari, I am really very sorry, romba sorry" in the place of Dragule by Rob Zombie
He wakes up and goes to work late as usual. The owner of the internet center tells him he better come sooner.
He soon hears the phone ring and picks it up to hear Mooparasu's voice, "Yelee Alegesa, enna le nee, unna pudika Sudalium avanoda naigalum varanga le, odu le odu"( Hey Mr Alageson, run, Sudalai is coming to get you)
So Alageson runs out but falls into an open manhole.
Agent Sudalai walks into the interrogation room saying "Ennama kannu sowkyama?"
Saneo ignores him.
Agent Sudalai says "Well Mr Alageson, you have two lives, one is Mr Alageson, you work in an internet center, download porn movies, over-charge all customers for your miserable dialup connection and take care of your mother. In your other life you are Saneo, the Sani for Madras University, you hack into our already vulnerable system and pass students who otherwise get single digit marks, by which you are allowing for more useless Engineering graduates to come out and degrade the quality of Indian education and increase unemployment....blah blah"
But Saneo does not give in and is finally beaten up and thrown into the ditch only to be picked up by Mooparasu.
Mooparasu then introduces him to Thangamari who was by his bed day and night.
A romantic song "Nee oru mp3 paatu, unnai download sengi athai keetu...." - Sung by Hari haran with Trisha shaking it!

Moooparasu then takes Saneo to Madras where he shows the plight of Engineering graduates who pass but cannot find jobs, and parents who want their sons/ daughters to become doctors or engineers and nothing else!
Saneo is then trained in all forms of martial arts, learns to drive the car, the bus, the aeroplane, the bullacart and donkey.
A song while he is trained "Nee thaane superstar, adutha chief minister, appuram prime minister....."

Mooparasu is then captured by Agent Sudalainath when Chokkappar turns him in for a bottle of illicit liquior.
Similar to the fight in the corridor Saneo fights with one 6 bullet pistol while a 100 rowdies shoot at him with machine guns. Saneo stops bullets with his hands and throws it back at the villians and kill them.
Saneo and Thangamari ride on a tractor and crash into the hut to save Mooparasu.
Now Saneo and Sudalai have the climax fight, before which Mooparasu applies the thilak of his blood.
Saneo shows all his martial arts skills and kills Agent Sudalainath.
In the end Saneo talks on the phone to an Engineering students with arrears "Thambi, nee arrear vangu , anaal athaye unnoda career akidathe"

A dialogue from the movie Collateral

Not exact but something like...
In this endless universe, with millions of galaxies, our galaxy is one speck of dust, and within it is earth and on it you, me and him( a guy Tom cruise kills earlier)

Which got me thinking....no one in China cares if I stamped on an ant in Dallas. Likewise would God care if a tsunami hit and killed 300,000 people, when he has a whole universe to manage?
Where does he have time(here I assume time is constant throughout the universe considering God can teleport himself to any part of it instantly) to save an innocent rape victim or that ant I am about to stamp?
The answer is he doesn't!
Probably that is why prayers are said during the day and crimes are committed during the night.

Dozing off with Dope

I started of listening to Mercebow, a band so poor they could not buy their own instruments, but ended up making random noises using rusted iron, shattered glass and nail scratching on different surfaces(Should have made your eyes shrink with pain now...)
They were ok.... but I was still searching for a lullaby to sleep.
I had grown up listening to Indian classic movie songs and Karnatic songs....to me this was the limit. Until I listened Rob Zombie's Dragula.
Things changed completely. I wanted to go further. Started to randomly hit out at different genres, jazz, punk, rock, blues...none of it would help.
Then came the movie Queen of the Damned
I see hell in your eyes.........
Born with no soul, lack of control........
Forsaken...
You think you're smart, you're not.......

I found symmetry in this seemingly so called random noise.
Then came Slipknot's My Plague and I am Hated. Also Static-x' Wisconsin Death Trip, Mephisto Odyssey and Machine, Dope's Die MF Die and Jenny's Cryin.
Papa Roach, Linkin Park, POD all followed. I had entered a new world - the world of Heavy Metal and Death Metal.
I could not stand Cannibal Corpse or Lamb of God type of music. I could never tell the difference.
If Slipknot or Static-X performs in Dallas, I will probably go and loose myself....to the randomness and noise

Pattern

Sometimes I stand at the coffee room in my office or at the balcony and watch others in the building. In the mornings it's all of them dressed up neat, with tired eyes, holding a cup of coffee and walking in to the office, each step with a moment of hesitance, as if enjoying those extra few microseconds delay.
Lunch time....everyone gangs up, talk about mortgage, rent, wives, sex and gossips.
Evenings everyone double up to their cars.
Interesting how everything has a pattern.