Just another Cliché blog!

Shifting to a new phase

2011-10-09T07:48:00.000-07:00

This post comes after a long time. Actually, I was having a big moral dilemma related to my existence in a foreign land. Should I leave my abode - which had nestled me in for my entire education period in this land, provided the cosy comfort of fellow like-minded people and challenged me with the difficult question of 'should I sleep now at 2.30 am for a 8.30 class in the morning after 6 hrs of gaming session?'. At last, I decided it was time to move on. And, I will surely miss the free laundry at this hostel which has been my residence for the past 6 years.

After gaining successful employment and making enough moolah to afford one's own place as a rental in this astronomically expensive housing city-country, I was wondering should I leave my hostel. The management was perfectly fine with me extending my stay, since no new students were checking in. But it dawned on me that once my brother left after finishing his MBA ( he was my roommate for the duration of his MBA), I was probably the only surviving member from my university in that hostel.

There have been amazing memories linked with the place. Some of the best friends I made when I landed in this country, were made during the first few months of my stay in the hostel. The gang-ing up of all of us in one room of our friends' literally making it the common area/mess cant be forgotten, the long ( when I say long I mean durations of nearly 3-6 hrs) sessions of Unreal Tournament right in the night before an early morning class, hogging onto one of friend's internet for the entire gaming session and a walk to the nearest convenience store for late night noodles/chips/coke are just some of the priceless memories the place provided. I confess, it was a really big move for me. This was more so for me, since being a private hostel, anybody could check-in and leave at anytime and while I stayed the whole duration, my friends kept on going and re-checking-in again just for the fun of the stay.

Once most of the guys moved out, the headquarter for everyone shifted to my room. The few that were left had good long sessions of cards, UNO and general gossip about the absolute uselessness of the world and economy in general. All thanks to my very emphatic new room-mate (an economics senior at my university) who took any wrong decision by IMF or UN as a personal wrong-doing against him. Some just came to our room not to chill or talk, but to SLEEP! Yes, SLEEP!. they said, they found solace in my room. Alas, these things made the life more interesting and enjoyable.

There were times when I used to wonder why I was in this place and what I was doing in the hostel. The hot home-made food was a constant focal point of discussion while having maggi or cold restaurant/food-court food and then there were times of pure depression and disgust. But its the hostel that made me more confidant, open and having a form of self-belief that I can do things on my own, no matter what the situation maybe. And that is something I cherish extensively from my stay in the place. Oh! and the free laundry, I cherish the free laundry. :P

'A brief history (and future) of time' by a Singaporean Taxi driver

2011-06-19T04:40:00.000-07:00

So last Saturday while on the way back from the airport after dropping off my brother, I had an interesting encounter with a Singaporean taxi driver.

Usually most Singaporean taxi drivers would like to strike up a conversation with you, more so if you are taking the taxi from the airport. Considering you a tourist, I guess its in their job scope to get the passenger accustomed to Singapore first hand. Hence, they start with their gripe about the government.

This time also, the taxi driver asked me if I was visiting Singapore for business or pleasure. After getting to know that I have been in Singapore for the past 6 yrs and a Permanent Resident here, the conversation turned to daily troubles of being a taxi driver in Singapore (parking vows, ERP, election et al.). I knew this topic would take up the time to home. But interestingly he asked me 'Sir, I ask you ah! what you think about 2012?'. 'What about it?', I replied. He asked ' what do you think about it? do you think the world will end next year?'. 'Its all just a myth. Probably a propaganda by some sects to get some money out of people's fear.', I replied.. Oh! the look I got from him.

'You are wrong, Sir'. He said that its definitely going to happen. It was nature's way of filtering out the bad souls.. OK!. I was already quite tired so I just asked him to explain what he meant by what he just said. I knew that he'll blabber on till my destination so might as well let him speak to his heart's contention.

He explained that in the beginning, all the organisms used to be very big. The giant size was due to them being pure souls. Once cannibalism started and carnivorous animals loomed large, God sent out the meteorite to clear out the bad souls from the good ones. Same shall be done in 2012 with the human beings. Only the good natured and caring individuals will be left out, rest all will be taken away. A current example he gave was of China. According to him, Chinese communist regime are evil messengers of Satan and a sect called Tian Guo were God's people who were there to help out against the regime. According to him, the same group will help next year by deciding and filtering out who will be the 'chosen ones'.

That's not all. He went on to explain that even the non-vegetarians are showcasing a form of cannibalism and shall be punished. (I thought of survival strategy in that case since I absolutely love my 'Kadhai Chicken' and 'Mutton Korma'. May be my last meal shall be one of them before I get 'punished'). He continued to say that one should start preparing for the apocalypse next year from now on itself and denounce meat and work tirelessly to being a good soul, so as to avoid the punishment.

When my destination came, he gave me a card with the contact details about the Tian Guo group in Singapore. Ah! so I see. He was popularizing his propaganda and maybe looking at me as a new recruit. Nice try!

I might be wrong in judging him based on his thoughts and his absurd predictions. May be his understanding about the group he was talking about was wrong, and the group might have been totally different than the picture predicted by him. But, what intrigued me was that a person at his age and position would know so much about world history. He might have deviated from the facts a little bit due to ignorance, but his understanding about the history was quite fascinating.

Alas, only if I could give as much importance as him to 2012, so that his 30 minutes of non-stop one-way conversation would have been fruitful.

More details about TianGuo at their site www.tianguo.sg.

I went to a club and I still hate it.

2011-05-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

Last month I went to the local night club Zouk for the live performance of the world's no. 1 DJ Armin Van Buuren, whom I religiously follow due to my interest in Electronic music and who rarely comes to this part of the world. So when I checked out his itinerary and discovered that he'll be making a stop in Singapore, I just went Ga-Ga and instantly pulled up my dear friend/ex-roomie for the show.

(Image on the left courtesy - cnngo.com)

Now, this post about my Armin concert experience was in my mind even before I went to the show. I had decided onto writing about the great fun I would have had and the pure exhilarating music. But unfortunately, there were some conditions which made it into a not-so favorable experience. My idea of clubbing, in my 5-6 years of existence in Singapore, was that of a group activity where people go to the club primarily for enjoying the music provided by the DJ/Artists (if its a music/dance/jazz club). Turns out, I was a naive in this concept and should have had few lessons from my roommate prior to our venturing out. May be that's because I don't go there too much. I have been to a club 2 times before this and that too on company events.

Clubbing is a big scene in Singapore with various clubs catering to different demands of the guests. There are lounge clubs, jazz clubs, dance clubs etc, where people of all ages (barring children) frequent for a good time with friends and just to relax. But then there are clubs which people just go to because it has become a part of their life. Case being my ex-roomie (name not disclosed due to obvious embarrassment reasons for him). For him, not going to a club would seriously hamper his functioning as a normal human being.

On the event day, we went out early to gain an early entry into the club and get the best spot closest to the DJ. So we reached the club at 8 pm for a show that was scheduled to start at 11. Unfortunately, the entire Singapore thought the same and was already performing their national activity, queuing up. Hence, we also joined the queue. We entered the club at around 10pm after purchasing the tickets. The tickets involved 2 free drinks. So we proceeded to the bar. My friend ordered his alcoholic beverage while I trying to be a part of the clubbing crowd, ordered my special coke (coke with a tinge of lemon). Lo! The looks the bartender gave me as if I was from an alien planet who had somehow broke into the premises. Ignoring him, I ventured out to gain the best spot in the club for a good view of the DJ.

The next 2 hours were pure brilliance. Watching Armin play some of his best tracks of the years was truly a dream come true. For the un-initiated, you can liken me to the semi-naked, head-banging heavy metal fan jumping in the front row of a Metallica/Iron Maiden concert who is prone to initiating a quarrel/duel/war when drunk. Although I might not be that visual. I just simply enjoy the music rather than showcasing that I am enjoying it. I had hoped to enjoy the music with a good company of fellow appreciators of Armin's music.

(Image courtesy - klap4music.com)

However, the crowed suddenly started filling up with the 'clubbing public'. The people who come to the club because they have to and its a part of their lives. I swear I saw a guy wearing a U2 shirt trying to get his dance moves straight up to match the music. With the most of the crowd getting drunk on the free drinks coupon, they were least bothered with the music and the artist on the decks. With parts of the dance floor, designed specifically where the 'clubbers' could get up and gyrate provocatively, the scene was getting rather crowded and too 'club-class' for my taste. Add to it the smoke and the sweat-smell. I had planned to stay till the end of the show, but by 1.30 I considered it to be a wise decision to leave.

So my experience of my favorite artist was cut-short in this manner. I still want to see him play live but now I would prefer an open air space. Nevertheless, it was an enriching experience to know what 'clubbing' means and to the party-circle-naive that I am, it reaffirms my belief that it's not for me. So Thanks but No, Thanks.

The business of Wedding.

2011-03-11T11:08:00.000-08:00

Posting this after a long time.. Basically, was unable to communicate here due to frequent trips back home. My brother's wedding was in Jan, 2011 and him being busy with his MBA, I had to frequent home to help the parents in the wedding work.

The whole function was quite an eye opener on the social norms and etiquette required in a wedding. Being the groom's brother invariably brought a lot of work while the groom enjoyed the status of being a well-fed, lavish king. My brother's lazy attitude was well catered to during this time. But alas, that's what he deserves during this time.

A first wedding in home, that too an Indian one, was indeed quite an event. Catering to the unique demands of relatives and mitigating potential disasters - both in terms of logistics of wedding and between relatives was quite a task.

But the most hilarious part was the talks happening during the wedding. People were miffed as they could not get a chance to get their pic taken with the wedding couple as if trying to certify their attendance. And lastly, the old aunties and grannies talking about me being 'next in line' and 'available in the market' was plainly, too much. Seriously, if you guys are looking forward to a wedding to showcase your shop of jewellery and clothes, don't worry, I'll buy you new clothes. I don't need to be married for giving you that opportunity.

At last, all the effort was worth it to be a part of the happiness of my brother and welcoming a new member to the family.

The year when luck got screwed.

2010-08-01T18:45:00.001-07:00

Damn, I just realized I haven't had a post on my blog for over a year now. Time has come to revive the dead with a little bit of reflection on things that have happened over the past year.

Year 2009 was an interesting one. The biggest of all, Obama became the first african-american US president and the world was mesmerized with the change that took place and yes, they did it. Being an Indian, I joined my fellow citizens in going ga-ga over the victory of A. R. Rehman as the first Indian to win an Oscar while Lady Gaga exploded on the music scene with her Alejandros and Robertos. While some stars were born by doing extra-ordinary things (read Hudson river landing), some stars like Tiger Woods bit the dust by doing everyday things. While Kanye didn't allow Taylor Swift to finish, I managed to finish my 4 years of university and sneaked pass my graduation in the midst of all these exciting events, graduating with a respectable degree and a equally respectable tuition loan.

And since because the big banks had already screwed the economy of the world over, my luck sympathized with it by going southwards as well. 'Dude, you are on your own', I was told by it, hence, I thought of keeping my options open (read remain unemployed) for the time being. After nearly 4 months of keeping my options open, I managed to get hold of my current job, ironically in a bank.

Anyways, 2010 started with good promise. With some extra $$$ coming my way, I planned big plans for a nice get-away at least before the mid-year. But no, luck said, ' Dude, I'll be away holidaying, you gotta do with your busy office schedule'. So there has been no progress on the IQ, EQ as such with the monotonous office schedule.

Despite all these, I look forward to the remainder of the year and plan to take some time-out for myself by making an effort to follow the saying 'we earn to live a smooth life, not live a life to earn'.

You just got RickRolled!

2009-05-18T00:56:00.000-07:00

Today was the UMPTEENTH time I got 'Rickrolled'! Hence, I decided to shed some light to this internet phenomenon which has affected thousands of unsuspecting online surfers over the past two-three years.

Rickrolling has become quite widespread and is a famous viral prank playing on the 'bait and switch' technique where the unknown visitor is taken to the 1987 video of English singer-songwriter Rick Astley song 'Never Gonna Give you Up' while the title of the link says something else like 'Cat survives mauling down by truck' or 'Biggest jump ever from a plane!'. Most of these random links can be seen on Youtube.

Incidentally, Rick Astley himself got 'Rickrolled' sometime back by his own friend. To take it onto a new level, Youtube 'rickrolled' the world on 1st April, 2008 when all the videos on the homepage of youtube were linked to Rickrolled video.

So, remain careful in the future of 'rickrolling' or you can 'rickroll' your friends through an IM or Video by choosing unsuspecting victims who are susceptible to get curious in random topics and open the prank link.

So, rickroll someone today by using the video below!

Goodbye Xbox, PS3, Hello OnLive!

2009-05-13T08:09:00.000-07:00

It seems the prayer of every avid gamer and gaming enthusiast (including yours truly) has been answered! The ultimate gaming gadget/console/device has been launched which will provide the customers with the ability to purchase, play demos of hundreds of high-definition, super-graphics ridden games right off the shelves of renowned game developers including the likes of Activision, EA and Codemasters. Its called OnLive.

This is a new gaming service, currently only in the US, which enables people with even the most obsolete computer configuration play the most advanced of games right on their old trusted PC or TV. All you need is a stable PC and an internet connection. It doesn't even matter if its Broadband or not. The service seems to run seamlessly even on DSL cable.

All you need is to purchase the OnLive Microconsole which will allow you to enjoy newest gaming titles in the comfort of your home without even going out to buy them or better still, you can try the demos free of cost before purchasing.

Though it is still unclear as to how much it will cost. Currently in beta testing, some predict the service might require monthly payment. It all depends on the cost now. OnLive can either turn out to be the ultimate killer of conventional consoles of Microsoft and Sony, or may go bust purely because of the cost factor.

Until then, beta testers can use the service.

So prepare your swords, gather your hordes, do some burnouts, get into overdrive and let's get fragging!

The magnificent sprint cam!

2009-05-10T18:43:00.000-07:00

One of my friends forwarded me this link about the superb video quality of the Sprintcam V3. The camera records video at an astonishing rate of 1000 frames per second (fps) giving it the ability to play the smallest and the slightest movement in the video to a great detail and with precision.

Below is a sample video shot by the camera.

I-Movix SprintCam v3 NAB 2009 showreel from David Coiffier on Vimeo.

The Societal Perception!

2009-04-24T04:43:00.001-07:00

The online birthday party called Facebook

2009-04-13T11:10:00.001-07:00

I have been thinking of writing this post since quite some time. Over the past few days with most of my hours of daily life being spent on facebook due to end of classes, I have come to realize the awkwardness created by facebook.

The awkwardness here I am talking about is the situations created when people associated with you from different sections of your day-to-day life are linked to you on facebook. I mean you have people from your workplace, your family members, your school friends all on the same network. Usually you behave differently when in a different setting - you will hold your act together when talking to your office colleagues, your language will use more of slang when talking to your friends etc. you get my drift.

However, with facebook you have to maintain a general code of conduct acceptable in all settings of network of people. This reminds of the birthday parties I use to attend when i was a kid. There were your school friends, kids of your family friends and then there were people about whom you had no clue. You usually tried to hang around with your friends as you had a good rapport with them and behaved in a formal manner with your family friends or friends of your parents. This became quite difficult as you had to have different presentation of yourself to different people in the same room.

The same case is with facebook now. With the new look and feel of facebook, every feature (the wall, the post, the comment) has become homogeneous with other aspects of the website. Now, everybody from your office, your university, your college and even your mother can keep a track of what you do - thanks to the big blast facebook shows about you in their home pages. Some things are meant to be kept private or to be shared with only a limited number of people. What if your comment on the good looks of a friend (if it is a girl) is read by your family member, you may end up giving some explanations to people who may have no business of theirs to interfere with what you do but thanks to facebook, now they are interested more than ever. Similarly, I am not interested in the kind of flower you are, or the fishes in the virtual aquarium on your profile, or what colored egg you just received from your friend!

Thanks but No Thanks!

This reminds me of the recent case where a certain person got a job offer from certain company and before he could join, he 'tweet'ed about the company which he shouldn't have 'tweet'ed about! This led to him being fired even before he was hired. You can read about it here.

This leads to ponder about the reach of technology and social-networking forums into our lives to the extent where our lives have become a public discussion topic for people who are not even remotely related to us.

Just my two cents worth.

The Sixth Sense!

2009-03-30T06:55:00.001-07:00

My friend recently forwarded me this amazing and interesting video about the concept of sixth sense. The advancements in technology have enabled now to develop a prototype of a form of sixth sense to interact with various objects in our environment around us through our behavior.

A research team at MIT have developed a prototype consisting of a simple camera, a battery powered projector, a mirror and plastic finger tips accessory. This wearable device can communicate with your phone as well. The demo presents some common usage of the device. Activities like taking pictures with your fingers, using your palm as a numeric keypad are revolutionary. But I wonder how much of it is real or was it just a gimmick for the presentation at TED. Oh, by the way TED is a great platform for new ideas and researches taking place all around the world. Visit their website: www.ted.com

The video link is this.

The idea itself is quite revolutionary though it might have been inspired from the interactive UI from the movie 'Minority Reports'. Below you can see a clip from the movie showing the UI.

Though inconceivable at that time, the prototype is quite a step in that direction.
The product is still in research stage but I wonder who would like to walk around wearing that combo-pack of gadgets from their head down. It is not small enough to not get unnoticed. However, with the technological advances in the components going into its making, I believe the UI screen shown in the movie might not be a distant dream and may become a reality soon!

and I'll be the first person to get the gadget once it becomes commercial! :P

Alienware coming to Asia!

2009-03-27T12:26:00.000-07:00

Being an enthusiastic gamer myself, I was quite excited to hear the news about Alienware's entry into the Asian market in the second quarter of 2009.

Alienware is a market leader in gaming and peripherals PCs and is a high-end premium line under the management of Dell.

Though the prices are exorbitant but the machines are totally worth the money.

They have had quite innovative features and machines developed for the gaming industry like their highly acclaimed curved screen which was first featured at the CES 2008 gaming show in Las Vegas. Below is a video about the curved screen.

Read more about the announcement here.

Alienware Website: http://www.alienware.com/

The politics of cricket and the cricket of politics!

2009-03-25T01:30:00.000-07:00

Now that the Indian Premiere League of cricket is finally happening, albeit at a non-indian location, I started to think about all the melodrama that went into the days before the venue was finally decided.

It all started when the IPL organizers were adamant on holding the tournament in the all-so important time of the 'Great Indian General Elections' tamasha in the months of April-May. This posed a huge logistical challenge for the governments of various states as holding a match and an election within a 3-day time-frame of each other would have been too hectic as each one requires movement of thousands of guards, soldiers and lathi-wallas (the policeman)! This would have had conflicting situations at people's homes too as the viewers might have remained confused as to focus on the foul-mouthing of a politician or leisure themselves to the view of scantily-clad cheerleaders in an IPL match while the ladies of the house would have gone to bed sulking for not being able to feel the pain of the 'saas'(mother-in-law) or 'bahu'(daughter-in-law) during that night's episode of a tv soap.

The politicans, as they always are, were not far behind in churning this issue for political mileage, this time on an international scale. Our home minister was quite quick in saying that we will demonstrate to the world that we can hold such a large cricketing event with all security, apparently taking a dig at the security issues in Pakistan. However, soon he said that it was logistically impossible to hold the series during the time of the election.

Meanwhile, the chief minister of Gujrat, Mr Narendra Modi proclaimed that it was a shame that the IPL was being held outside of India. I wonder how much the sponsors of IPL might have paid him for that statement. Mr. Chidambaram was quick to react and said that a general election was far more 'indian' than a cricket series which involved private players and businesses profiting commercially.

I dont know which party gathered more supporters from this issue, but I am sure the question now arises whether we, the audience, will feel the same relation with the teams that we had last year, now that the series is being held in South Africa. It remains a mystery to see whether we have the same excitement, the same cheers and the same cheers for the same cheerleaders this year as well, among the indian audiences in India.

The high and low of Politics!

2009-03-17T05:31:00.001-07:00

I would like to start with that I am not too interested in the state of politics in India as it has, time and again, reaffirmed my faith that it is heading nowhere. People on many occasions have said that giving the helm in the hands of the educated and motivated youth will turn the tide of things and I believe that too, to a certain extent.

However, hearing about the recent news about Varun Gandhi's provocative and communal speech, I am left to ponder whether it is the dirty game of politics which spawns such an environment where even the youth leaders with a noble background forget to think about what they are saying or is it the inherent nature and ideology of the leader to speak mindlessly.

I am amazed to see that an educated young leader of the stature of Varun Gandhi, with such a historic lineage, would speak in such a way with a careless selection of words. Given that a leader would like to convey his message to his people in a manner they can most relate to, but words like 'I'll chop their hands','Revenge for every drop of blood' make things worse.

Now that his party itself is trying to distance itself from this incident, depicts that a youth leader should never forget where he comes from and a careful selection of words will help to gain more support, which they desire. At the same time, depict your individuality and speak what you think rather than reading out the ideas of a dis-oriented, egotistical jarhead who might not have the interest of the people at heart.

Just my image of a youth leader and my two cents worth!

The unwritten, unspoken rulebook has been written! - Prensenting 'The Bro Code'

2009-03-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

I am sure the worthy few who know Barney Stinson must be knowing about 'The Bro Code' but for the majority of the ignorant population, I present the review of 'The Bro Code'.

Written with the sheer calibre of Barney and with a meaningful and deep insight into the unspoken rules of conduct of 'Bros', the code-book provides for the first time, a written list of the Articles by which the bros of the world function. As mentioned in the book, The Bro Code is a living document - manifest in its 83 amendments - and as such is not yet publicly available in an unabridged volume. The original document is housed in a non-disclosed location, two stories beneath sea level in a vacuum-sealed bulletproof chamber. So, one can feel privileged to chance upon this historic inscription written and produced before you by the legen-wait for it-dary Barney Stinson.

Read through it to gather copious amount of knowledge related to the unspoken yet followed since centuries, rules of conduct for Bros.

Ladies are also welcome to glance through it as Mr. Barney has also mentioned in one of the articles that even women can be a wingman! ;)

Thanks to Mr. Barney for providing an online resource for the convenience of the ignorant few. Visit this website.

Technology - far and wide

2009-03-11T01:29:00.000-07:00

While on a boring day, I was surfing through random Youtube videos and came across this one.

It was mind-boggling to see the rate of development of technology from the previous decades and its sheer capacity to penetrate a larger audience in a fraction of seconds. The advancement in research and technology over the years had made it possible for new gadgets to have a far reach amongst the audience and consumers.

The video presents interesting facts about the pace of development in both technology and the world in general. According to research, the entire population of myspace users can make the 5th largest country of the world and Japanese researchers have developed a fibre option through which it is possible to pass more than a trillion bits per second. That's like more than 3000 CDs per second. I am sure the illegal downloaders of songs and movies would rejoice this fact and would desperately wait for the time when this technology becomes commercial.

This led me to ponder over the use and misuse of these technologies that may become commercial over the years to come. Though the intent behind such developments remains overall increase in productivity and profitability, it still remains a question as to how will the monitoring authorities be able to check the misuse which is sure to happen!

Oh, and the video also tells that with the rate of development in new technologies, whatever a technical degree student studies in year 1 becomes obsolete by year 3.

Crap!, now i should start studying! ;)

Movie Review - Dev D

2009-03-06T11:52:00.000-08:00

I watched Dev D (by Anurag Kashyap) today and i can say its definitely not for the faint-hearted. I am referring to the people who know Devdas as depicted in the novel or have an image of him as shown by Sanjay Leela Bhansali in the 2002 movie version.. If you watch this movie with that image, be prepared to be blown away!

This Dev das is more associated to today's world. Instead of old novels, he reads magazines and drinks coke in his hay days in London. Then he moves to Punjab to meet Paro, who is a power-packed lady constantly on a rush to beat anyone who comes her way..However, their passion is not long-lasted as Paro gets married to some dude in Delhi. Then the movie takes a dramatic turn and the potrayal of Devdas turns quite unexpected. He gets into cocaine, vodka etc.. you say it, he does it.

My take on the movie? Its a worth one-time watch to see the superb depiction of Devdas by Abhay Deol. This dude certainly has some talent. The ladies potraying the roles of paro and chanda do justice to their roles as well! Just a note, I really like the creativity shown in the posters of the movie! quite cool stuff.

Go for it for a completely different take on the classic novel. Oh! but dont take your kids along! ;)

Credit Crisis Visualized

2009-03-05T23:59:00.000-08:00

Well, the credit crisis is almost over (that's what most of the people including me think) and there have been countless ways in which it has been described.

This one interested me quite a lot as it clearly explains the things that went wrong and the role of each player in the fiasco and how they 'contributed' to it!

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Funny judge!

2009-03-05T12:03:00.000-08:00

A court proceeding in the US where an adamant convict is shown the way by the judge!

Quite funny.

A Close shave!

2009-03-05T11:57:00.001-08:00

This is what you call a moment when your life runs in front of you in a matter of seconds!

What a lucky guy! Read about it here.

The first time and still scary

2009-03-05T11:40:00.000-08:00

So i am starting on this blog thing. It appears to be the 'in' thing these days to spurt out your voice and emotions onto a webpage for the general internet community to discuss and put random comments to appreciate your work.

Well, I dont know what way my blog goes. But it'll be an assimilation of my views on the things that interest me - predominantly new technologies and gadgets, some art news and on the things and events happening in the world in general.

My urge to start my own blog and share what I think about was initiated by this news.

It highlights the legal issues and consequences related to the freedom of expressing your opinions online. I think the legal system is well within its rights to limit the level of freedom given to online users in expressing their views and concerns but throwing people in jail is a bit too extreme. The content needs to be monitored not by legal authorities but by individuals themselves who put it on the web for everyone. I know its your fancy to share your views with everyone but please, dont put anything that may be controversial. But again, there is the issue of who should monitor which content is correct and according to the rules and which is not. The lack of accepting audience in the system leads to people taking the online route to express their concerns and if it threatens the system, the system takes the legal way. Quite absurd i think!

It appears the trend will go on since nobody can clearly draw the line between what is right and what is wrong to publish since the monitoring authroities themselves have different observing and guiding principles and rules.