The Price of Onions

This one deserves two accolades. One for being succinct. And the other for its aimless exploration. And yes, the latter isn't necessarily bad inspite of the negative connotations that it may strike.

A brief bio and some excellent articles on some issues, regulations and policies in India by Ashok V Desai (best known for his columns in Business Standard) can be seen here.

The book touches upon several fundamental questions around India's economy , like :

1. Is the Rationing System in India working the way it was aimed for ?
2. Why is the sugar price almost constant in countries like Britain, Germany etc. where u can buy it for the same price from the supermarket, whereas it fluctuates so much in India ?
3. How can subsidy be a recipe for corruption / black market ?
4. What are the ways to disperse this "web of deceit" so widespread in India's civil services and the government ?
5. How to enable the financial institutions to make decisions in favor of the economy and not the government ?

Economics is intricate and more than often a plaited interplay of various forces in context. The book gives some answers to these questions without the rigmarole of convoluted economics jargon. I have come to realize that the widespread corruption and red-tapism in India *partly* holds its roots to the subsidies / Government imposed restrictions in order to ensure equality and more just distribution of resources (food, shelter, employment) amongst its populace (and hence, defying their very purpose).

The social problem of corruption will take a long time to be resolved, if at all; But the book makes you think. Policies can make or mar a country's destiny and affect its people in a great way. To add to that, effective policy-making is hard -- often could be termed as a NP-hard problem. And isn't Governance incomplete if it does not include a futuristic policy-making ? Given all this, isn't it obvious that there needs to be a "minimum expertise level" obligatory to be an elected representative involved in policy-making for a nation of billions ?

" I knew a man who could not bear to look at a mountain range; it reminded him of a price chart and the fortune he had lost in speculation on stock prices".

Finance & Economics can be intimidating, but this one was a great read overall. Totally recommend to read it and enjoy the strewn witty remarks.

Green Number, Climate-Change Conscious Consumerism

Recently, the political leaders meeting at the UN Climate Talks just finalized on the Copenhagen Accord. There is undoubtedly a clear understanding among both the developed and developing nations about the precedence of a global consensus regarding the environmental policies, and strategic negotiations to be adopted in the coming years. Experts argue that the accord is not seemingly as far-fetched, given the gravity of climate change.

The driving force however still focuses on "internationally accepted binding deals" across nations which percolates mostly to the industrial sector and/or the infrastructure within a country. A widely implemented model is called the Emission Allowance Trading (e.g. in EU) applicable to carbon (Carbon Trading), which allows companies (e.g., steel plants, power plants and cement makers) to freely trade carbon points much like the financial trade market. It follows a cap-and-trade model whereby the government of the participating countries set a threshold on the allowed emissions per industry and allow selling/buying of carbon credits between them via trading. Facts indicate that the carbon trading market is expected to grow fast and just as inherent with trading, with rather unaffordable flaws/risks [download and listen to the BizDaily telecast here].

However, the awareness about climate-change and the urgency of action must be shaped appropriately to actualize environment-friendly policies at not only international levels, but also at state and local levels down till the granularity of the surviving citizens on this planet. I especially like the way some countries (and enterprises) are opting for a more moral and ethical choice by promoting greener technologies without imposing on the others.

Schemes to tap "Climate-Change Conscious Consumerism" can be effective at the grass-root level. In the era of globalization, the cultivated global citizens, who are the end-consumers, can also make immense contribution by making simple choices ensuring sustainable human-development, and living a greener life by adopting a Climate-Change Conscious Consumerism. The choices that can be clubbed into the latter are beyond reducing the usage of utilities and conserving energy.

For example, a model could be derived upon whereby every commercial entity has an objective way to calculate how "green" it is - lets call it the Green Number. The bottom-line is to let the consumer decide on the trade-offs between green and costly product (there may not exist a trade-off btw : just as a costly product is not necessary green, a greener product may not be expensive). What I am hinting at is basically a more pervaded and aggressive form of, say, Energy-Labelling that is already in place in the EU. The green number should be seen on all packaged food items of a particular brand - much like the nutrition breakdown. It should be available for all commercial entities ranging from shops, supermarkets, restaurants to insurance companies, banks, and internet hosted services. The underlying principle is much like a democracy, which unlike the capitalist ways of tackling the climate-change via carbon trading like models, lays more emphasis on the "choice" by people.

The business aspect of implementing a Green Number model fits gracefully by itself - An enterprise needs to be more green in order to have more costumers and hence, just like carbon trading ensures financial incentives for greener enterprises. However, the emphasis is actually on "being greener" - which I argue is the direct and explicit approach towards acting now for climate-change (rather than carbon-trading which in a way defers and may not provide the desired outcomes). As a parallel process, trade duties and tax systems could also be revisited to allow easy operation and usage of greener businesses.

Climate-Change Conscious Consumerism based models can be additionally bootstrapped apart from other international and state level efforts, and with sufficient awareness and education among the citizens can potentially lead to fabulous outcomes. Recent research has suggested that as more and more people are becoming aware of the climate change hazards, they are also ready to contribute their bit - provided its easy. More models like the Green Number model around "Climate-Change Conscious Consumerism" may allow a fairer and more effective solution to the problem at hand.

Dream a Dream

I recently read APJ Abdul Kalam's Ignited Minds. It had been lying since a long time on the "Wishlist" of my bookshelf. After reading the book, I was overpowered by deep respect for Kalam, for his commitment and vision for the nation as a whole. The book has lot of words of wisdom embedded all along.

I scribbled few lines inspired by APJ Kalam's Ignited Minds and my die-hard admiration for children. I believe children have more healing powers than any divine saint, their touch is more miraculous than of God Himself, and their love the most selfless and unconditional.

Photo courtesy - Animesh. I sincerely adore the expression on the face of this kid !

With smiles from your heart, and with touch so pure

Embrace this world and heal with your love.

Dream of just a world-full of amity and empathy,
And mold that dream into reality.

Transcend the superficial divisions,
Dream of a white dove with an olive branch,
And fly with the dove on the road to peace.
Dream of freedom and responsible liberty,
And sing that dream into reality.

Where the cord of equality and intellectual knowledge,

Are the drive band,

Dream of that rolling wheel of progress and positive change,

And steer that dream into reality.

Nothing is impossible.
Believe in self, and listen to your heart
Then just wish upon the brightest star,

Bunch all your wishes into sweet little dreams,

And liven all those dreams into reality.

Remember all dreams can come true;

There are no walls, and there are no hurdles.

There is just this world, and you are the mastermind.

Dream of a better world for all life,

And pilot all those dreams into reality.
'Ignite your minds and dream big'.

Sunset At Ibiza

Like a rainbow of infinite bands
The shades in the sky so beautifully unite.
I stand awestruck at the shore
As the twilight repaints all the creations at its free will.

Lively orange with a golden yellow,
Blend in to mellow
All life for one last time in the day.
And then the furious red with a mysterious blue,
Concording to perfection into a placid purple hue.

Hiding behind the clouds
The bright star was coquettish at times
All so playful before the final submerge.
And then it showed up again smiling
Lucidly marking the confluence with a sliver lining;
The confluence of the furious ocean with the horizon

The sturdy star caved in willingly
Into the wide-armed ocean.
Abiding meekly to let Nature have the last word:
Nothing shall last forever,
But sure it will be a new beginning tomorrow.
Only thy deeds and words shall decease but never.

Are we evolving?

I have had this wondering since a long time now. I asked the same question from my science teacher when I was in my ninth grade in school. The answer, if I remember correct was - Yes, definitely we are. But you know, kid, its a very slow process. We, the homo sapiens sapiens, are the ongoing product of the continual process of variation, reproduction and natural selection which started millions of years ago.

We may be evolving; non-biologically?!
However, I continue to meditate if we really are evolving. Biologically, evolution is defined as "change in the gene pool of a population from generation to generation by such processes as mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift". On this front, I take an equivocal stand; We may not be evolving biologically. On an orthogonal note, we may actually be devolving as we see an upsurge of genetically-prone diseases like diabetes, cancer; the deadly HIV etc. Increase in life expectancy has been exponential; no denials. But do you think its because of a "biological evolution" per se? I, however, do believe that what is really evolving is the environment around is. And technology is the principal vehicle on which we are barging ferociously into the future, may be faster than we should. Ray Kurzweil's statement here would appropriately summarise my stand. We as intelligent beings are making intelligence more intelligent. And I contend that this process is largely non-biological.

Technology is the principal vehicle.
Technology is powerful. Period. We create technology. We also have the ability to enable technology create (evolve) us. A thought-provoking one hour I witnessed today as I heard Kevin Warwick's story of being the First Cyborg (Cybernetic Organism; part human part machine) in the world - "Robots with Biological Brains and Humans with Part Machine Brains". According to his take on technology and evolution, exciting times are nearing us as we ready ourselves for being cyborgs. His research has introduced us to human implants of RFIDs; using technology as a capability-enhancer for blindness, alzheimer's disease etc. Most adrenalizing is the concept of technology to upgrade human capabilities. We are the evolved product of a process which continued (and still does?) for millions of years, but we are still stuck with a not-so-efficient nervous system (!), mortal biological cells (!!) and limited senses in terms of their number and quality of service (!!!).

Non-Biological Evolution is a choice.
One of the most exciting experiments of Kevin Warwick was putting his nervous system online on the internet, and controlling a robotic arm at a physically different place. This was achieved by a neural implant (fotograph of the chip implanted appears in the top left corner of this post) which communicates the biological nerve signals to provide input online to the robotic arm. Even communication between two biological beings (himself and his wife Irena) was successfully accompalished. A small arm movement by himself stimulated a similar movement in his wife's and vice versa. I was able to look further for a moment as he commented that times may be near when you might have the capability of having multiple personalities!

And further these times may be inevitable, for who would want to remain a mere sub-species by being just a "human".

"Humanity can change itself but hopefully it will be an individual choice. Those who want to stay human can and those who want to evolve into something much more powerful with greater capabilities can. There is no way I want to stay a mere human." - Kevin Warwick

Are we prepared to evolve?
There are already concerns about the possible misuse of technology as a capability-upgrader, ethical issues around the same, and the rather dire consequences of mixing-mistake-with-driving whilst heading towards future. If you have read (or heard) Ray Kurzweil, you will understand how this research is a baby step towards the hypothesis - the singularity.

"And ultimately these computers will be in our bodies and brains...so it really is one civilization. I object to the word 'Transhumanism' because—or 'Posthumanism'—because it implies we’re going beyond humanity. I think this is the human—maybe 'Postbiological' ultimately—but it's a part of the human civilization. --Ray Kurzweil's response to a question regarding future competition between human- and artificial intelligence. Early 2005 Harvard conference [Source - Ray Kurzweil]

What striked me was Kevin's response to one of the audience question - "How do these sensations feel like?". The answer - 'it was a new sensation.It did not simulate itself in the form of a new smell or sight, rather the brain evolved over time to recognise it as a new sensation.' This implies that the response and training of a biological being to these new implants is highly personalised. As I collect myself and my thoughts about this exciting yet bloodcurdling possibility of future (and the response to the aforementioned question), I do want to pose a question to the researchers in cybernetics -

How much then is the reliability of such new implants? If the response (and well the stimulus too) is going to be so personalized, how then can we be sure that the enhanced capability is actually the enhanced capability that was desirable? If the probability of achieving something but the desired effects is non-zero, should we not re-think before its too late? It is important to think now as what is at stake is the "human"kind. How magnified (dire) will the error rates (if any) be?

I waited further to meet REEM-B, the first humanoid developed in Barcelona. REEM-B has accredited to itself some pretty sophisticated features. Here I made a video of the small presentation introducing REEM-B to the Barcelonites. This fella has been programmed to evolve (learn) over time. That's (baby) technology for you - useful, neat and smart.

Now is the winter of my discontent

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages."

And Life is a one man show definitely. All your joys, all your sorrows, all your belongings, all your desires, all your acts are your very own. Yours alone. Period. No one can ever take them away from you. The more you fancy that your friends, or your dear ones will share your griefs, the harder is slap in the face when reality strikes. Sometimes some fellow performers can make it a little smoother for you, but the fact stands irrefutable - you have got to act and duly bow even on the rainy day.

Life is lesson hard to learn. It teaches in its antipathetic ways how to smile when you are totally disheveled. Survive in sheer awe of the miseries life can inflict, living through moments of discomforting impotence, keeping hopes alight through shattering expectations. It tests your patience when you have totally run out of it. And to make it more backbreaking, you are escorted with phonies.

Why is life such a puzzle anyway? What the heck is so well about life when it never ends well? Death is a hideous end to life. Have you ever seen it living in someone's eyes - through your eyes, by the touch of those hands on yours...Its a creepy feeling.

Its such a funny thing. Life is a bitch as I always say but still we want to live. Sometimes I wonder what is the bright side of life, if at all there is?

Life is a paradox. And death is not a prophecy. Though the winter of my discontent is now, the unhappiness shall never be past.

Of Web Feeders and Readers

Technology freaks would know what I am talking about here. Web Feeds and Aggregators(Readers). Using Web Feeds offers the users a convenient non-intrusive access to an aggregated update of the on-goings or updates of your website. At the same time, it also offers you an opportunity to integrate various elements to your website, automatically. Subscribe to blogs, news, website updates, offers; its all made so easy with feeds and readers. Come to think of it, you can theoretically play with it to render a complete web page that only offers "web-content" customized online based on the user-behavior. Its more than the Google ad-sense marketing that I trying to suggest here. Its your behavior that makes the web page render to you meaningful updates and/or content from the other side of the humongous internet repository.

There exist two main standards as far as feeds are concerned - RSS and Atom. Various options exist for burning feeds for your website or blog, but one of the most popular ones is FeedBurner, now acquired by Google. And for readers, of course, there are many players in the market, but Google Reader is one good option.

BTW, now you can subscribe to my blog - either use Google Reader (or some other aggregator) on your machine, else subscribe via email. Its simple. Its safe. Every time I post an entry, you will be notified. And if your are a web-publishing entity, its also a good way to ensure regular and guaranteed traffic to your website ;)