Gestapo Publishing

I just read on the garam masala packet that the packet was published by the “Gestapo Publishing Company, Jaipur”. The owner must be a great Hitler fan :-).

Transhumanism

Transhumanism is supposed to immortalize us. It involves uploading all memories and motions into computers so that we can live as human machines. This is fascinating as well as scary. Living forever is a nice ability, as long as it is in your hand to shut your system down whenever you feel like. Or you should be able to go into hibernation, self-programmed to wake up after a certain period, or when there is an emergency.

But this can also give rise to a species of super-humans that cannot be easily destroyed, that don’t tire, and that can change bodies in case some real damage occurs. In the beginning this technology will only be available to a selected few and this where the danger begins. What if a few rich people decide that only they can use the technology, and the rest of the people are turned into slaves? Humans have this tendency to enslave weaker, less privileged human beings whenever they get a chance, whether there is a valid need or not. They enslave merely to feel powerful and I’m sure no matter how much science and technology advance the basic attitude is going to remain the same.

But I am not against the idea as some people are. Lots of opportunities will be there for humans if the factor of death is removed from the same. Take for instance scientific discoveries and space exploration. If we don’t die we can continue our work for, let us say, hundreds of years. Imagine what could have been achieved if Newton, Ramanujam and Einstein could work together? What if Aryabhatta could use the latest space technology to study planets and other heavenly bodies? What mathematical fetes could Descartes have achieved with new computer software?

Of course with given scientific knowledge Transhhumanism is just a concept but it can some day really change the way we live and die, if dying doesn’t become obsolete by that time. Above all there will remain no such thing as disability, as long as we’re not talking about mental disability (but these days it is very difficult to make out who is mentally challenged and who is not). Another benefit of this technology will manifest when we totally mess up the environment. Since we won’t have biological bodies, we won’t need oxygen, and may be not even food. We’ll be able to live on man-made satellites in the sky or under water, where there is still lots of space. People who are not much inclined towards moving around will be able to share a mainframe with millions of other brains and this means millions of people will be able to live in a single room.

Sounds quite gloomy, but if you can create your own virtual reality (I assume by then technology will be able to give us lots of disk space and processing power within a single room) then it won’t be that boring.

Similarity between Kishore Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan

This thought came to me when I was listening to Darde dil, darde jigar, dil mai jagaya aapne – a Rafi song from the film Karz that became a hit in the  mid-70s. This song explains why Mohammad Rafi’s career had begun to recede while Kishore Kumar was still doing great. Rafi not at all sounds good in this song. Listen to the song:

He sounds bland especially in the lower notes (not to sound boastful I can sing this song better). Compared to that listen to this Kishore Kumar song from Mr. India:

Kishore Kumar must have sung Kaate nahi kat-te almost after 15 years Rafi sang Darde dil and still, he sounds sizzling, just like Roop tera mastana from Aradhna. Kishore Kumar knew how to adapt and still sound classy. Although I’m a die-hard Rafi fan I think after a certain period his singing lost relevance and he was still trapped in the golden age of Man tarpat hari darshan ko aaj and Kuhu-kuhu bole koyaliya – renditions that only Rafi could deliver, of course. Savor both the songs:

Rafi was no doubt the playback god of Indian cinema but his singing style couldn’t adapt to the changing times. Kishore Kumar did this with great ease and was a successful singer till his last breath. He even sang exceptionally well for those cheap Jitendra flicks produced by south Indian producers.

This is exactly what Amitabh Bachchan does when all his contemporaries have vanished into the oblivion. In the 70s and 80s he hit the right cord and became a mega star. Even these days his roles are as contemporary as it gets. So what’s common between Kishore Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan? The ability to adapt.

Adaptability can help you in any sphere of life. When you can easily and quickly adapt, you can survive under any condition.

The world is wonderful all of a sudden

According to this version of GoogleNews.

Obscenely Creative

This video was sent to me by my sister through Facebook. Really neat!

This is what nature wants to say to us

Arjun Singh blames the entire Sikh community for Indira Gandhi’s Murder

Arjun Singh has really gone bonkers. After the recent gaffe in which he claimed that the Congress party was freer during the days of emergency, he has been desperate to placate the miffed chairperson by claiming his loyalty in ridiculous proportions. And during the function organized to commemorate the 17th death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, he said:

Rajiv Gandhi itne mahan vyakti the ki unhone apni ma ke hatyaron ko bhi rashtra ki mukhya dhaara mein shamil karne ka prayas kiya (Rajiv Gandhi was such a great man that he even tried to bring the killers of his mother into the mainstream). Link.

What killers was he talking about? Because if he was talking about Beant Singh and Satwant Singh (the bodyguards who assassinated Indira Gandhi) they were both hanged for the crime a long time back, and even the other conspirators were not spared. If he is not talking about them, does he mean that the entire Sikh community was to blame, and despite that Rajiv Gandhi helped the entire "murderous" community to come into the mainstream? Were the Sikhs an insolated, marginalized community before the blessing of RG fell upon it like a bolt?

Interestingly, the views of both Rajiv Gandhi and Arjun Singh cannot be disputed and if his recent statement repulses you you run the risk if negating the dastardly pogrom the party unleashed upon the community. Of course Rajiv Gandhi was so "mahan" (great) that he thought the entire community was blamable and that’s why the Congress party organized the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in which thousands of Sikhs were massacred by the Congress-instigated goons. Of course nobody was punished for the riots and in fact the ministers who actively instigated the crowds are occupying high posts in the current cabinet as a reward for their "loyalty" to the family (it sounds like the Godfather family).

Arjun’s attitude towards the Sikh community only gets re-affirmed with this statement. When I say he has gone bonkers I don’t mean he is going mad because he is making such statements, he is going mad because he is spilling the beans, he has given us a glimpse of the evil side of the party, he is showing the true nature of the party and if he is not expelled from the party for this gaffe, he really must have some strong hold over something in the party.

It’s stupid to wonder how the PM thinks of this thing.

Technorati Tags: 84 riots, anti sikh riots

Thin line between bad and illegal

A man named Rahul Krishnakumar Vaid has been arrested for posting vulgar tirades at an Orkut group called "I hate Sonia" against Sonia Gandhi, who is the Congress chairperson. The man was arrested with Google’s assistance, as the police needed to know his IP address etc.

As Michael Arrington of TechCrunch notes, what’s perfectly legal in America or Europe might be out and out illegal in other countries and since people on their own assume (without reading policies and terms and conditions etc.) that their data is safe with the social networking websites, they post whatever they feel like.

Now, I’m not comparing this to murderers and pedophiles, and I’m not even supporting posting vulgar messages against all and sundry, but I think information like "we will reveal your identity if the law of the land requires us to do so" should be boldly displayed on the home page.

Anonymity is bad and it is good too. For instance there are many blogs on the Internet run by anonymous writers who have plenty to say against the government. What if tomorrow the government begins a crackdown on these bloggers and starts tracking them with open support from blogging companies and server space providers? Such policies should be revealed, in bold, when one is about to sign up.

Since Rahul Krishnakumar Vaid was arrested at the behest of a political activist and since there is a very thin line that differentiates criminals and politicians, some human rights watch group must keep track of what happens with him.

More information:

• Google Defends Helping Police Nab Defamer

Some humor in the midst of tragedy

A 14-year-old girl named Arushi was murdered day-before-yesterday and yesterday’s newspapers screamed that the Nepali servant, who had been employed 8 months ago  by the family (both the parents are doctors), had murdered the girl.

A team of policemen was quickly dispatched to Nepal to locate the "absconding" servant.

Then a neighbor, a formal cop, who had come to pay his condolences, spotted blood stains going to the roof, and found the partially decomposed body of the servant, murdered in the same manner as the girl.

When the news reporters asked the senior police officer present at the scene of the crime why they didn’t check the roof even when the blood stains were so apparently visible on the stairs, he very innocently replied, "The door to the roof was locked and we didn’t have the keys."

The problem with Congress (I) is

most of its members are "loyal" to the Gandhi family and not to the party, or the country. Yesterday I was watching Arjun Singh’s (he is the HRD minister in the current cabinet) statement on TV where he said that back in 1960 or something he had pledged his loyalty to Jawaharlal Nehru and his family, the scion of the current Congress party, and the illustrious architect of most the economic woes India faces today.

What’s this business of being "loyal to the family"? Does he mean even if some Nehru-Gandhi family-member turns out to be a traitor, or joins the underworld, he will remain loyal to that person? If this is the psychology of an average congressman, then we can easily deduct what sort of people rule the country and formulate policies that define our lives.

For congressmen, it seems India is still ruled by a dynasty, and not by a democracy.