Pinguy Linux
The latest version of Pinguy Linux is SUPER and the team has done an excellent job.
The Mini version has no utilities (1.5 GiB) but the standard version with 2.0 GiB has latest Libre Office, Calibre and very useful utilities.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Sunday, May 4, 2014
How to make Tablets Successful and Popular
How
to make Tablets Successful and Popular
This
is a follow up to my blog piece “Why I think Tablets going to be a
failure (in the long run)”.
My analysis was based on what is currently
available and presented to an average customer with basic security in
mind.
If one tries to do too many things from a
little gadget (Camera, Phone and a PC) it is bound to become a
failure when other professional options are available to do the same
jobs.
Suddenly the creativity takes backseat and low priority
when one is obsessed with promoting the new gadget which has hit the
market but trying to vie with already established professional
standards.
I always believe there is many ways making a
tablet popular and successful.
This is just a glimpse of my thinking.
My comments were not negative but based on
pragmatic reasoning.
If things are dicey the hardware manufacturers
are not willing to manufacture little gadget in large numbers.
So I try to think of new ways of making the
hardware manufacturers aware and looking at its market force, is for
the tablet to be flexible and adaptable to the emerging market
especially with school kids in mind.
I thought the tablet is going to be in every
kids hand when it emerged first but companies trying to make a
capital out of tablets took narrow and selfish approach and killed
the universal use of a tablet.
Just like the OLP (one laptop for kids) it died
a natural death.
Let me say how we can tackle this problem.
I believe there are many ways like ASUS
transformer but I will state what I believe will turn the tables
upside down.
How to overcome the problem?
1. Just make the tablet a “Game Console” to
play with many sizes.
I really mean a Game Console with many options.
2. This game console should not have a
proprietary operating system.
That is an essential necessity.
3. On top of the game console one should build
the functionality like a Linux Samba Server.
The ability to link to one's personal computer
or laptop if one desires.
This is the crux point.
It is an accessory to what one already has.
No body is going to throw away one's
functioning PC or the Laptop since the new kid or the tablet has come
home.
The new kid has its own role and it adds to the
family needs.
It should not be a duplicate.
If one thinks, the Tablet as an Accessory, the
driving force is already there.
It is like a remote control if one uses the
WiFi to link to the PC or the Laptop or another Tablet.
I prefer the wired or USB connection with
security in mind.
4. How is link maintained?
Either Hardwired or WiFi.
5. Lot of guys and girls would want to carry a
portable hard disk or pen for mobility or current work.
So if one makes the tablet the portable
companion another low key job can be accomplished without a hassle.
Like the Raspberry Pi one can keep on adding
more and more functions.
With the three I mentioned, Game Console, Link
Console and Work Console, the tablet can be in every body's hand
including school kids.
So my Tablet which is going to have mass scale
production and mass appeal has following features.
1. No operating system.
2. Lot of games with USB port for the Game Kit.
3. Stand to keep it erect when playing games or
working.
4. 64 SSD hard disk, more is not unnecessary
since it is linked to the home computer or the cloud.
5. Silky browser to read the email.
6. BIOS not possessed by a big company.
One is
free to dual boot with one's favorite Linux or proprietary operating
system.
7. Lot of USB, MicroUSB, HDMI and other
hardware links.
8. Good battery life.
9. Hardwired and WiFi connection.
10. Affordability like Raspberry Pi.
11. No connection to a particular company with
dependency on cookies.
I think it is going to be the way forward for
the tablets, an accessory everybody needs, like a remote control.
It can actually be a better “Remote Control”
that will open one's garage door or light up the house when one
enters the house.
Possibilities are countless when one gets out of
the “Closed Box” thinking, which is actually the function of a
laptop or a personal PC.
Postscript;
I missed the points that Tablets can be go between the Phone or Camera with suitable Hardware and Software (WiFi) access. but it is a minor point.
12. Security Gateway:
It can be better utilized as a Security Gateway to Internet.
That is futuristic.
Passwords are becoming not reliable due to governments and hackers using them in eavesdropping.
The tablet can be used to monitor biometrics (Full Hand instead of Thumb imprint or Retinal Image) along with other dimensions of security (password) to sign in.
This is something the present dimensions of phone cannot deal with unless one uses, an image (Retina or hand held in front) in front of the phone face.
This has commercial use.
Postscript;
I missed the points that Tablets can be go between the Phone or Camera with suitable Hardware and Software (WiFi) access. but it is a minor point.
12. Security Gateway:
It can be better utilized as a Security Gateway to Internet.
That is futuristic.
Passwords are becoming not reliable due to governments and hackers using them in eavesdropping.
The tablet can be used to monitor biometrics (Full Hand instead of Thumb imprint or Retinal Image) along with other dimensions of security (password) to sign in.
This is something the present dimensions of phone cannot deal with unless one uses, an image (Retina or hand held in front) in front of the phone face.
This has commercial use.
Your comments are welcome.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Why I think Tablets going to be a failure (in the long run)
Why
I think Tablets going to be a failure (in the long run)
I was
very excited when tablets started hitting the market.
I
thought it is going to be the “digital slate” that will be in
every child's school back.
I for
one want it to be my digital reader cum writer.
I
thought it is the best thing that is going to happen in my twilight
years away from the PC.
But in
three years I have to revise my opinion and scale down my excitement.
I have
few reason for not buying one till now.
I will
list them later but jot down in point form, why I think tablets are
going to be a failure.
Not
the best thing that happened in the IT world.
Number
1
It is not going to replace the functions of a simple desktop.
The old IBM (I have several but discarding one by one, and sticking
to my wok horse) did donkey work for me and still going on batting
for me.
The keyboard, the mouse and the screen are designed for human needs
and not for a robot.
Small screen and even touch screen capability is not design for
androids (human hand).
If used in regular basis by children will have hand eye coordination
problems.
Hand eye coordination are essential for a vascular or heart, plastic
surgeon.
Future surgeons might have to use a robot for surgery and I won't go
under one of them (I would be gone by then anyway).
Number
2
Tablet won't replace a good mobile phone in usage.
For communication and text messages to begin with.
Number
3
Tablet will never replace a good SLR camera or a video camera.
In other words, the PC, the phone, and the camera were dedicated
gadgets.
What tablet did was to integrate the three with some increase in
bulk.
It did not replace any one of the professionally designed gadgets,
for example good quality PC for gaming or simulation of flying.
Now let me come to the more important topics.
Number
4-Security
Mark Shuttleworth of Ubuntu (According to Linux Magazine) calls for
declarative firmware.
He claims most of the manufacturers put out low quality closed source
firmware, which can become paradise for hackers.
Whether we like it or not dominance of the device configurations and
firmware will remain with the parent company.
In this scenario even Apple is not safe.
The tablets will come with poor firmware and will be hacked in no
time.
I think they will have a shelf life of two years if carelessly used.
That is my major concern.
They do not have USB ports to prevent using root kits to hack the
firmware but the hacker can reach it from the Internet when the
tablet is connected.
The manufacturer will put the fault on the user instead of owning his
lack of responsibility.
Android has lot of holes even though it is based on Linux
derivatives.
Kernel is not as good as a standard PC Linux kernel.
Let
me dish out my own reasons.
Number 5
I won't buy a tablet without a USB port.
I do not want to use Apple or Samsung software.
I prefer my own Linux software and if possible use a root kit
(ideally both commercial and my own) to install my own Linux Kernel
out of the hundred available in the free software foundation.
Rest are academic not related to tablets alone.
Number 6.
Battery life.
Durability.
Customer support etc.
Number 7
It is not yet ready for school use.
I want tablets to be universally available both for rich and the poor.
My Gut Feeling
In this scenario, ASUS Transformer wins the game for a long time to
come.
I hope the price of the tablet and transformer with the battery and
keyboard will come down.
This is what I wrote few years ago.
It has long battery life, the human keyboard and the portability.
So think twice before buying a tablet.
If you have a laptop keep it in running condition and use the tablet
as an accessory and not the work horse.
In my case I will have my old computer running till it packs up,
(even if I decide to buy a tablet) or me pack up for good due to old
age.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Feeding Pet Fish is not Easy
Feeding
Pet Fish is not Easy
I have made a hash of it recently.
Let me tell all the mistakes I made later but antecedents worth a
brief mention.
It is extremely hot and my guppy fish started dying simply because of
the heat and the algae menace.
I keep fish to avoid mosquitoes.
My main interest is propagating water plants and due to the
extremely hot weather, I have to top up one to two inches of water
almost every day and it is making me tired, at the end of the tether,
so to speak.
My outdoor fish tank's front glass broke due to shear heat to add to
my problems.
I foresaw this and divided the tank into two portions one in front
with glass front and back with only cement.
That saved the day and all the fish were quickly transferred to the
backup, back portion of the fish tank.
Some plants are wilting away and the algae are dominating the
eco-sysyem.
With all these misadventures, I decided to make a mini garden, so
that I could propagate few of my exotic water plants indoors.
These exotic plants won't last a week outdoors.
Mind you, I have given up keeping fish indoors, anyway.
So all my problems started a week after, I have decorated my mini
water garden with plants (in a mini tank).
Within a few days the plants were showing poor health.
I thought of lack of CO2 and Nitrogen.
Added few Guppy fish and gradually the numbers swelled to over 30 since out in the wild I had a variegated collection of male fish with beautiful colours.
I am fascinated by their genetic variation and exotic array of colour display.
One cannot find two fishes looking alike.
One cannot find two fishes looking alike.
That is the reason for exceeding the number (which should have been
twenty the most, for the mini tank).
Then with my home folks coming to to advocate design qualities,
reluctantly I had to had few Neon tetras to the family of guppy fish.
This is where my problem started.
At about the same time guppy fish started breeding.
When they are under stress they breed, sometimes prematurely and very often the mother fish
dies leaving a school of tiny guppy fish.
The Neon tetras are fastidious in habit, both feeding and in their
behavior, heavily domesticated and they would not live in peaceful
co-existence with fully independent and almost neurotic guppy fish.
Guppy fish are very active and they cannot stay still.
Their random movement add colour to the static picture of the mini
plants.
Neon tetras prefer to stay in a shoal.
They do not feed with big pellets.
They prefer the fish food in dust form.
Guppy fish in a second finish the food and there is nothing left for
the Neons.
I had no option other than to overfeed with tiny guppy fish numbering
over 40 needing ample supply of food.
Th hell broke in a week.
In a week there was more than the desirable algae in an indoor tank.
One morning when I was about to feed I noticed that all guppy fish
were docile.
Water was more turbid.
One fish showing definite signs of ill health.
This was an emergency (they were lucky I was on a long holiday).
If I delayed another day neon would be gone, even though they did not show any signs of ill health.
In actual fact they were having a fair share of food with guppy fish
being very sluggish.
Overfeeding leads to toxicity specially due to nitrogen and within 24
hours the fish would be dead, including the adaptable and resistant
guppy.
Remedy.
1. Fed the fish.
2. Transferred all the guppy fish except ten to my big tank already
repaired.
3. After half an hour, I quickly removed half the water (there were
two dead guppy fish at the bottom).
4. Did not fill with fresh water till evening.
5. Next day no feeding, they can live up to 10 days without food
except the very young.
No problem there was enough algae in the system.
6. Removed half the water.
7. Refilled in the evening.
8. Added two algae eaters.
9. Estimated the amount of food for a day.
In three days the fish are adapting and coming back to normal “status
quo”.
1. How to feed?
2. When to feed?
3. How often to feed?
4. Type of food?
The answer to all three is very simple.
Do not go by books, hearsay or gut feeling.
It has to be “tailor made”.
Your tank is unique so you have to observe every day and make a
mental note.
Any sign of turbidity of water (overfeeding or algae) is an impending
disaster.
Underfeed
instead of over feed.
If the tank has healthy plants one can feed even every other
day.
That is how I am going to manage.
They never complain but adapt.
I
prefer the flakes but not the pellets for tiny fish.
It
is better to stick to one formula or type of food.
Do
not mix food like I do for my big tank.
To the big tank I add all three (pellets, flakes and chunks).
That is for surface feeders, bottom feeders and the middle of the
tank feeders.
There is a big scavenger fish to eat the dead fish and he is the
biggest and the most docile in the big tank.
Keeping an indoor tank in healthy state can be easy but may led to catastrophe.
Better avoid it if you have no time.
But
it is a very healthy pastime and good for your heart.
I will end up with few more observations.
Neon tetras are no longer in a shoal.
They are adopting guppy habits.
Few of them are actually fighting and chasing their fellow beings.
They are becoming more independent and self assured.
After two days of starving they now eat even flakes.
I can wean off the food in dust form soon, when the tiny guppy tots
are big enough.
Algae eaters are busy cleaning the glass.
My water plants leaves are cleared of the dark algae on their
surface.
Mind you they eat only algae.
Adequate light is mandatory for plant life.
Make sure to turn off the light in the evening.
Plants needs continuous dark spells for their “Health” in
addition to adequate sunlight or artificial light.
Bottom line is guppy is the most versatile, beautiful and easy to
breed fish.
They grow in numbers and nothing else one can do other than
increasing the size or number of tanks in your possession.
One inside and another in the garden to dispense the increasing numbers, is my solution.
I used to release them back to the wild in good old days but with
streams and paddy fields are polluted to the extremes with toxic
pesticides (including arsenic) and waste, it is a death wish for my
guppy fish now.
We are a miracle country NOW.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Storm in a Tea Cup
Storm in a Tea Cup
Cup or Straw?
I have one big reservation about "Tea Drinking off a Straw".
When one drink any beverage through a straw it bypasses the, tip of the tongue, lips and anterior of the mouth where there are abundance of various taste buds.
The distribution of the taste buds are varied and different and one loses the meaning of taste when one drinks from a straw.
It stimulates the back of the throat where the distribution of taste buds are less in number and in diminishing intensity to detect.
I often pour the contents of the cartoon into a cup and sip the tea which gives me a chance to better appreciate the quality of the TEA.
So use a CUP instead of a STRAW.
This is something "Heladive TEA" should investigate.
That is why I give the "Essence of Heladive Tea" as a GIFT, to my friends who come from abroad rather than the Tea in a Cartoon.
Cup or Straw?
I have one big reservation about "Tea Drinking off a Straw".
When one drink any beverage through a straw it bypasses the, tip of the tongue, lips and anterior of the mouth where there are abundance of various taste buds.
The distribution of the taste buds are varied and different and one loses the meaning of taste when one drinks from a straw.
It stimulates the back of the throat where the distribution of taste buds are less in number and in diminishing intensity to detect.
I often pour the contents of the cartoon into a cup and sip the tea which gives me a chance to better appreciate the quality of the TEA.
So use a CUP instead of a STRAW.
This is something "Heladive TEA" should investigate.
That is why I give the "Essence of Heladive Tea" as a GIFT, to my friends who come from abroad rather than the Tea in a Cartoon.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Tea and Cancer.
Tea and Cancer.
I am a Tea Addict!
Green Tea is more effective in cancer prevention.
Countries (China Included) in whom people drink Green Tea has low prevalence of cancer.
Black tea is also a candidate (one has to consume more of black Tea) but one has to drink more.
I promote "Heladive Tea" and I have no connection with them.
It has Green Tea and Peach Flavored (I love its taste) Tea in cartoons but the price has gone from Rs.45 to 60, recently.
I want this product to beat Coca Cola and become the Number one drink in the World.
Media has a big role!
Tea also has lot of other benefits.
Postscript;
I have one big reservation about "Tea Drinking off a Straw".
When one drink any beverage through a straw it bypasses the, tip of the tongue, lips and anterior of the mouth where there are abundance of various taste buds.
The distribution of the taste buds are varied and different and one loses the meaning of taste when one drinks from a straw.
It stimulates the back of the throat where the distribution of taste buds are less and in diminishing intensity.
I often pour the contents of the cartoon into a cup and sip the tea which gives me a chance to better appreciate of the quality of the TEA.
So use a CUP instead of a STRAW.
This is something "Heladive TEA" should investigate.
That is why I give the "Essence of Heladive Tea" as a GIFT, to my friends who come from abroad rather than the Tea in a Cartoon.
I am a Tea Addict!
Green Tea is more effective in cancer prevention.
Countries (China Included) in whom people drink Green Tea has low prevalence of cancer.
Black tea is also a candidate (one has to consume more of black Tea) but one has to drink more.
I promote "Heladive Tea" and I have no connection with them.
It has Green Tea and Peach Flavored (I love its taste) Tea in cartoons but the price has gone from Rs.45 to 60, recently.
I want this product to beat Coca Cola and become the Number one drink in the World.
Media has a big role!
Tea also has lot of other benefits.
Postscript;
I have one big reservation about "Tea Drinking off a Straw".
When one drink any beverage through a straw it bypasses the, tip of the tongue, lips and anterior of the mouth where there are abundance of various taste buds.
The distribution of the taste buds are varied and different and one loses the meaning of taste when one drinks from a straw.
It stimulates the back of the throat where the distribution of taste buds are less and in diminishing intensity.
I often pour the contents of the cartoon into a cup and sip the tea which gives me a chance to better appreciate of the quality of the TEA.
So use a CUP instead of a STRAW.
This is something "Heladive TEA" should investigate.
That is why I give the "Essence of Heladive Tea" as a GIFT, to my friends who come from abroad rather than the Tea in a Cartoon.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Ukraine, Crimea and Lessons from Sri-Lanka
Ukraine, Crimea and Lessons from Sri-Lanka
Below is an extract to show how deeply divided the people of Ukraine are.
Orange Revolution-From WikipediaBy the time of the presidential election of 2010, Yushchenko and Tymoshenko — allies during the Orange Revolution — had become bitter enemies.
Tymoshenko ran for president against both Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych, creating a three-way race.
Yushchenko, whose popularity had plummeted, refused to close ranks and support Tymoshenko, thus dividing the anti-Yanukovych vote.
Many pro-Orange voters stayed home.
Yanukovych received 48% of the vote and Yushchenko less than 6%, an amount which, if thrown to Tymoshenko, who received 45%, would have prevented Yanukovych from gaining the presidency; since no candidate obtained an absolute majority in the first round of voting the two highest polling candidates contested in a run-off second ballot which Yanukovych won.
I do not think there is Unity in this country, which the interimm government is trying to portray.
So America, EU and Russia are trying to fish in troubled waters.
That is why I am inclined to state and think there are sane guys and girls in world politics.
They only want POWER and delivers very little after coming to power.
Ukraine, Crimea and Lessons from Sri-Lanka
Orange Revolution-From WikipediaBy the time of the presidential election of 2010, Yushchenko and Tymoshenko — allies during the Orange Revolution — had become bitter enemies.
Tymoshenko ran for president against both Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych, creating a three-way race.
Yushchenko, whose popularity had plummeted, refused to close ranks and support Tymoshenko, thus dividing the anti-Yanukovych vote.
Many pro-Orange voters stayed home.
Yanukovych received 48% of the vote and Yushchenko less than 6%, an amount which, if thrown to Tymoshenko, who received 45%, would have prevented Yanukovych from gaining the presidency; since no candidate obtained an absolute majority in the first round of voting the two highest polling candidates contested in a run-off second ballot which Yanukovych won.
I do not think there is Unity in this country, which the interimm government is trying to portray.
So America, EU and Russia are trying to fish in troubled waters.
That is why I am inclined to state and think there are sane guys and girls in world politics.
They only want POWER and delivers very little after coming to power.
Ukraine, Crimea and Lessons from Sri-Lanka
It is sad to see what is happening in Ukraine.
There are lot of similarities to what happened in Sri-Lanka (over the
past three decades) to what is emerging in Ukraine.
I hope it will not sink into that level of what we sank in the not so
distant future.
1.We obtained independence from England in 1948 without any violence
or freedom struggle and from that point onwards we embarked on a
rapid downhill course.
Ukraine obtained its freedom, probably due to falling and failing
Soviet Union.
There was no freedom struggle and people born after 1994 did not
underestimated its true value and its own free choice.
2. We had to struggle to live soon after independence (British
destroyed our base Rice agriculture for Tea and Coffee) due to food
shortages.
USA stopped aid (never trust USA) and only poor CHINA helped us with
Rubber-Rice agreement in 1954.
3. We trusted India in our foreign policy and in return they trained
terrorist on their soil and still harboring them in parts of India.
They had the “big brother big bully” mentality.
Our nation had to suffer for over 35 years.
They send their foot soldiers in the name of PEACE to Sri-Lanka and
in return the “Pavens” raped our women.
The achieved nothing in the process.
That was the reason for taking the life of the young Prime Minister
by a suicide bomber.
In actual fact the plotters of PM assassination were released or
pardoned due to political reason, recently.
That is to show how fragile the present day politics in India.
Due to its involvement in neighboring countries India lost its
credibility and the status it had in the region.
It is happening now in Ukraine and “big brother big bully”
mentality is reenacted there by Russia.
4. It was an uphill task to get them out of the country.
It was a comparatively easy and political task for Sri-Lanka but in
Ukraine Russia is going to dig in deeply.
How they can solve this is open to question and USA and European
Union will not be able to help Ukraine.
Russia knows this very well and that is why they waited till Ukraine
politicians made blunder after blunder with European inciting.
5. We had to build a massive army to overcome our problem created by
India and Terrorists.
Ukraine did the biggest blunder by de-commissioning nuclear
capability.
Unfortunately, Ukraine forces cannot match “eye to eye” in an arm
conflict.
UNO peace keepers that are sent to Africa from the time of CONGO
Crisis is impotent and useless.
6. Banki Moon who comes to Sri-Lanka with the drop of a hat to help
the “terrorist rump” but he is totally impotent in his capacity
in Ukraine.
UNO is a wasteful organization.
All the odds are against Ukraine in spite of it signing pacts with
Russia.
7. We had few friends in the religion, China, Pakistan and Russia and
our cricketing connections were stronger than the foreign relations.
Ukraine has nobody, except perhaps Poland.
8. In spite of the war we got our economy running and food items were
cheap and people did not over reacted to the ground situation like in
Ukraine.
That was the biggest mistake Ukraine did, those who were born free
after 1994 took to streets in a very disorganized street protest just
like in Thailand.
Discipline and resolve are necessary ingredients and our people had
it in the last decade of the war.
Unfortunately, current politicians are ruining our economy and food
prices are going up faster than a rocket after the war.
Corruption, nepotism and lack of law and order are evident 5 years
after the war and is rising in Sri-Lanka.
Unfortunately, that is the way the modern world behaves.
Why this is, I do not know but I think human race is SELFISH when in
power.
Out of power they are disorganized.
That was probably what happened in the last 20 years in Ukraine.
We have not evolved a full proof political system and in my
understanding there is no country in the “Free World” which is
not corrupt or that will resist corrupt practices.
It is only in books and never in real practice.
In Ukraine they were exposing the corrupt leader and fast forwarded
the remedy or ousting of him, and did not allow the natural forces
and patience of the nation to bring the status core of the system to
a new equilibrium.
That is my analysis of the politicians and politics in Kiev.
We are eagerly watching you and want to learn from your experience.
Tactics and Strategy are important and unfortunately our land do not
have any at the moment to offer you.
Both Sri-Lanka and Ukraine need a good friend to guide us through
this difficult period but there is nobody in the whole of the UNO, as
at present.
We have to search and train them in our own lands and importing any
from outside will lead us to a “Blind Ally”.
That is what America, Russia and European Union are waiting for.
Freedom Revisited (my book on Evolution of Sri-Lankan Freedom) is something Ukrainian should read.
We have have abused our freedom to the core and now we have Poli-Tricks instead of real politics.
Unfortunately, the entire world is lacking visionary politicians and most of the guys and girls (including) in foreign services are mediocre.
That is why individuals like Navi Pillai (all these guys and girls are interested in pay pack and the fringe benefits that go with it and has no idea in how to "shape world politics" at a time when information superhighway is open for all and not to a few powerful selected nations) thinks she is like "a big bully" and has no diplomatic ways and means to end a crisis.
They create crisis after crisis for their own survival of the rein in the post they hold onto like gold.
The Indian diplomat abusing a domestic aid (in fact 21st century slavery) is a case in point how poor their obligations and training.
I believe nobody should go beyond three years in the same post including post of secretary of U.N.O.
They should be recycled into less important posts, if they do not show their mettle and clinical acumen in solving a given problem or problems.
I think they need lot of training and in depth understanding of history and geopolitics.
Below is a little glimpse of my latest book "Freedom Revisited".
Do not read it if you are a tech kid, enjoy the tech now and read it later when Kindle is available in this blessed land, which is very unlikely, with so much hype against all America, American / Americans.
Incidentally, all citizens want the dual citizenship, which is paradoxical paradox!
Glimpse of Freedom Revisited.
Who might emerge as a celebrity in this period is anybody's guess.
I think it would be advisable to live in space in my retirement while having a global view instead of a myopic view of the real cost of living of Sri-Lanka.
Once in you are in, there is no way out.
This period will produce artists who hide behind the technology.
It is the period of belt tightening and trying to float in a sinking economy.
Tech kids will almost take over the non tech kids carrying cellphones and tablets.
There will be few professional media men / women taken over by the mediocre personalities.
There will be very few media men / women who will be engaged in investigative journalism.
Freedom Revisited (my book on Evolution of Sri-Lankan Freedom) is something Ukrainian should read.
We have have abused our freedom to the core and now we have Poli-Tricks instead of real politics.
Unfortunately, the entire world is lacking visionary politicians and most of the guys and girls (including) in foreign services are mediocre.
That is why individuals like Navi Pillai (all these guys and girls are interested in pay pack and the fringe benefits that go with it and has no idea in how to "shape world politics" at a time when information superhighway is open for all and not to a few powerful selected nations) thinks she is like "a big bully" and has no diplomatic ways and means to end a crisis.
They create crisis after crisis for their own survival of the rein in the post they hold onto like gold.
The Indian diplomat abusing a domestic aid (in fact 21st century slavery) is a case in point how poor their obligations and training.
I believe nobody should go beyond three years in the same post including post of secretary of U.N.O.
They should be recycled into less important posts, if they do not show their mettle and clinical acumen in solving a given problem or problems.
I think they need lot of training and in depth understanding of history and geopolitics.
Below is a little glimpse of my latest book "Freedom Revisited".
Do not read it if you are a tech kid, enjoy the tech now and read it later when Kindle is available in this blessed land, which is very unlikely, with so much hype against all America, American / Americans.
Incidentally, all citizens want the dual citizenship, which is paradoxical paradox!
Glimpse of Freedom Revisited.
The Future Unpredictable
Unfortunately we have not reached this stage since
there are enough legal barriers like 2/3rd
(two third) majority etc;
We have to go behind a Bo Tree and Pray for Divine Intervention.
Unfortunately foreigners including Indians and Westerners can do
sweet nothing since we are a Sovereign State and one has to leave
sovereign bars (Gold) in front of the altar of Demo=Crazy.
Social media will make it a mockery of any personality becoming
established since one incident like throwing eggs (in this country
throwing rotten eggs is a pastime) at a neighbor after a few sniff of
pot of grass, causing minimal damage to a neighbor's residence might
flare up massive Internet instances that would effectively stop the
Internet impotent in mid air, like an aircraft without fuel having a
nose-dive.
Who might emerge as a celebrity in this period is anybody's guess.
Ending of the
war towards the end of the decade was the highlight and many volumes
would be written about it and me writing something on it, would be
rejected like a resume that I may forward to the foreign office of
ours, after retiring from the academic activities for re-entry into
worthwhile service again.
The foreign office is filled up with
ex-servicemen and edging any one of them will be near impossibility,
once this book is published, anyway.
I think it
would be easy for me to enter the off-gravity space on a space walk
with a Chinese astronaut, in a Chinese built spacecraft, since my
knowledge and skill in English would be useful for them to broadcast
the event live, of a Sri-Lankan in space.
I think it would be advisable to live in space in my retirement while having a global view instead of a myopic view of the real cost of living of Sri-Lanka.
Most
significant trend is money laundering, it looks like there is a
parallel black currency.
How this operates I have not got a slightest
of a hint or an idea.
My gut feeling is it is prevalent, each one
scratches the back of another and nothing comes out of the closed
system.
It is a mafia
type of operation well oiled and well guarded without any guns.
I have reason
to believe even the paper and electronic media are involved.
Once in you are in, there is no way out.
This period will produce artists who hide behind the technology.
A
male singer would sing like a woman behind the tech-microphone
(masking the real analogue voice) or a woman like a man.
This
ambivalence will continue until youths of this decade decide to move
away from the high tech industry (which is highly unlikely) and
discover their true identity in a time scale on par with the
technological hype.
What way the dress will change is also difficult
to predict and rising cost will determine the outcome.
Youth will be
hard pressed due to technology eating up the job market and also due
to artificial adjustments made (reshaping of it indexes) to the
stock market in action or once it is in a suspended state of collapse
due to heavy borrowing.
It is the period of belt tightening and trying to float in a sinking economy.
Loss of identity of the work force is the inevitable result.
Tech kids will almost take over the non tech kids carrying cellphones and tablets.
Sports will
try to catch up with the youth and focus its attention on dwindling
interest on sports and sports personalities.
Olympics,
football and baseball will be tech-events barring few exceptional
sports personalities.
Media will lose
its catchment base to social media.
There will be few professional media men / women taken over by the mediocre personalities.
All is
not honky dory but media will have less and less impact.
There will be very few media men / women who will be engaged in investigative journalism.
The whole digital world will come to an almost incredible
stalemate with news running faster than the actual events.
Newspapers and TV will have less and less impact to the emerging
youth, carrying tablets and cellphones.
The easy accessibility of too much data on the web will kill interest
in deciphering fact from fiction.
Science and mathematical skills may die a natural death and
universities will function like a link to mass server dishing out
enormous amount of data without proper filtering.
Everybody who is somebody will have a degree of some sort without job
opportunity.
Experience and maturity will count less and less and people will
expect the computer to find solution for even a simple problem.
Something like
finding. how many fingers or digits one has, one may have to look in
the web server, instead of looking at the real hands using the
typeface.
Dependence on computers will make the human brain (more
likely) to function, less and less, in a practical or analytical
way, which automatically and easily will become bored by the routine
and the video images.
There will be
lot of video clips in the You Tube and the film industry will die a
natural death, unless of course they embark on special effects like 3
D and simulations (earth quake, flying an air craft, space walk).
I am
suggesting ideas for them to work on.
There is no
real politics but there is ample poli-tricks.
I won't be
surprised if even a referendum of some sort might come out.
Read this again, even Mr.Putin has read this piece.
Certainly, it is not going to be consensus but deep polarization.
Conservative
religion will die a natural death but extreme elements will hold
sway.
There will be no
environment for the biodiversity to be maintained, if the temperature
goes above 40 degrees centigrade.
The bees will be the first to go
with that the pollination (this is already happening).
The Australian
open tennis tournament is showing us a preview of this scenario, with
global leaders of today looking, the other way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)