RIP Arthur C. Clarke

One of my favorite science fiction authors, Arthur C. Clarke passed away yesterday. Back in my school days, his book 2001: A Space Odyssey (the book, not the movie) was probably the first book which had a major impact on me, challenging my preconceived notions about the universe, god, religion etc. It also got me hooked on science fiction books: the smart ones (Clarke, Asimov, Niven etc.), not the Star Wars/Star Trek types. I believe good science fiction is probably the only genre which lets you 'stretch your imagination' beyond what you thought was possible.

I leave you with a video he broadcasted on his 90th birthday, just 3 months ago, in which he talks about the past, present and especially the future. Great stuff.

The Ring, meet Youtube

Another one from xkcd. Click to expand:

I am not running for vice-president

I hate politicians and their doublespeak and false promises. Unfortunately, they are a necessary evil in today's world. I couldn't help posting this brilliant reply by Barack Obama to some cheap tactics Hillary Clinton employed to get one-up with the voters.



First seen here

Gamesmanship... or cheating?

In today's ultra-competitive world of pro-sports, gamesmanship is becoming a bigger and bigger factor in the outcome of games. Here are some things which tread the fine line between gamesmanship and cheating:

1. Sledging (or trash talking) is rampant in cricket. The motive is most often to disturb the concentration of the batsman.
2. In tennis, players grunt loudly when hitting the ball, wear squeaky shoes or annoy the opponent by varying the number of times they bounce the ball before serving.
3. In NFL and college football, coaches routinely take a time-out just a split second before the opposing kicker is going to kick a game winning field goal, thus making him kick again.
4. In basketball, fouls are an integral part of the game plan, especially during the closing seconds.
5. In soccer, players fake or amplify injuries, to pressure the referee to penalize the opposing player.

I'm sure there are many other such instances in other sports too.

So, whats the solution? On one hand, we could have stricter rules to prevent these things from happening. Or we could adhere to the principle: If you can't take it, you don't deserve to be there. I think there is no simple solution to this problem. Making rules stricter would take the fun and emotions (and ultimately spectators) away from sports, while keeping them unchanged would lead to more and more players finding inventive ways of gamesmanship.

The African question

Here is a TED talk by Andrew Mwenda, about how the well-intentioned aid to African countries, in the long run, is actually hurting the people it is supposed to help. The solution, he proposes is to enable measures to boost entrepreneurship, rather than simply provide people with food and medicines. A thought-provoking talk, which at first might sound counterintuitive to many.



P.S.: For some reason the video does not show up in a feed reader, so view the post to view the video.

Sydney test

All hail Mr. Jonny Fairplay, Ricky Ponting :) :



The Sydney cricket test between India and Australia had some really shoddy umpiring. 7 decisions went against India, and one against Australia. Why does this happen to every touring team in Australia? Isn't it time for cricket to come out of its stone age 'gentleman's game' era and embrace the fiercely competitive world that professional cricket is?

Expanding Circles

One of the stories making headlines in the past couple of days is about a tiger escaping from a zoo and killing a person.

I think the question screaming at us here is: Is it ethical keeping animals caged in zoos, away from their natural environment, just for our mere pleasure? I realize that many people think of hunting/caging animals as no big deal. But to put in perspective, 200 years ago, hunting/caging/enslaving people of races supposedly "inferior" to your own was no big deal either. Case in point, check out this instance which seems utterly horrifying today: In 1906, an African man from the Belgian Congo was caged with an orangutan at Bronx Zoo.

Thankfully, things are improving in the long run. Check out Amit Varma's column on "Expanding Circles", a concept first introduced by WEH Lecky in 1869: .

Lecky wrote that the number of people we consider worthy of our moral consideration has expanded through history like a circle. “At one time,” he explained, “the benevolent affections embrace merely the family, soon the circle expanding includes first a class, then a nation, then a coalition of nations, then all humanity and finally, its influence is felt in the dealings of man with the animal world.”

I'm glad that we have come a long way since 1906. And I'm sure with the global boundaries falling fast, we will continue on this path for a long time to come. We just need to be aware of the bigger picture and do our bit to keep the circles of sympathy and benevolence "expanding".

Update: A similar incident.
As an aside, the article is pretty poorly written, which is surprising coming from the BBC. "The dog was destroyed....."?? And how about "The death follows the unlawful killing of five-year-old Ellie Lawrenson who was killed by her uncle's dog......". Unlawful killing by a dog?? You gotta be kidding me.

On Evolution

I often hear people asking the question: Do you believe in Evolution? Well, for starters, Evolution happens. It is a fact, not something you believe or not believe in.

Evolution is one of the topics not taught in schools in India. As a result, many people I speak to have an incorrect notion of evolution. Back in high school, I remember learning about botany and zoology and the difference between classes of animal kingdom, but nothing about how this variation came about. We learn the answer to the 'What' question, totally sidetracking the more fundamental 'How' and 'Why' questions.

In reality the process of natural selection (via which evolution occurs) is a simple and fascinating concept. Unfortunately most of the literature on the net, like this Wikipedia article, is rife with scientific terminology, making it too intimidating for a layman to understand.

Here is an amazing clip from Carl Sagan's Cosmos series where he explains natural and artificial selection using the Heikegani crabs as an example in a very clear and lucid manner. Check it out...



Carl Sagan is one of my favorite authors and the entire Cosmos series is worth watching. Or if you prefer the book, it is equally good. Definitely something worth checking out.

Quiz questions

A few questions from a quiz I set a few days ago. Try and answer them without using help from the net.

1. Olórin, Mithrandir, Stormcrow, The White Rider, Incánus, Tharkûn. These are the other names of which character?

2. This 6 time pro-bowler running-back was the first NFL player to rush for 2000 yards in a season. He was inducted in the pro-football hall of fame in 1985. He later turned to acting and was considered for the title role in The Terminator, but producers feared he was "too nice" to be taken seriously as a cold-blooded killer. Nowadays he is famous for completely different reasons. Who?

3. Connect

a. Napoleon
b. Pink Floyd
c. Four legs good, two legs bad.
d. Eric Arthur Blair

4. Many novice guitarists try to learn this song, and most end up messing it up. In the movie Wayne's World, it is banned in the guitar shop where Wayne starts playing it. In the movie, Wayne clearly plays the first few notes before being scolded, but due to legal issues, the video version was changed so Wayne plays something incomprehensible. On an episode of South Park, the character Towelie tries to play this in a talent show and screws it up. Which very famous classic rock song?

5. X is credited with leading the fight for independence in what are now the countries of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bolivia, using sometimes-brutal guerrilla warfare tactics as outlined in his "Decree of war to the death". He is revered as a hero in these countries and throughout much of the rest of Hispanic America. Who's X? (Hint: He has a South American country named after him.)

6. X is a platform game developed by Jordan Mechner in 1989 and was widely seen as a great leap forward in the quality of animation seen in computer games. Mechner used a process called rotoscoping, in which he studied many hours of film of his younger brother David running and jumping in white clothes, to ensure that all the movements looked just right. Mechner has said that when he started programming, the first ten minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark had been one of the main inspirations for the character's acrobatic responses in a dangerous environment. X=?

7. up, down, charm, _____, top, and bottom

8. The element Uranium (atomic number 92) has the highest atomic weight of the naturally occurring elements. What are the elements with atomic numbers 93 and 94?

9. Complete the series. Canas, Canas, Nadal, Volandri, Nadal, ________

10. Daughter of Echidna and Typhoeus, she is best known as the riddle-loving monster that terrorised Thebes until Oedipus came along and answered her question correctly. Who is she?

11. Complete the series: Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, ______

12. X was born as John in 2511 and spent the first part of his childhood on the human colony planet Eridanus 2, where he lived with his family. He was large for his age at the time, approximately a foot above his school peers. In his 27-year career, X has been involved in over 200 engagements, and has been awarded all of the UNSC's major Decorations except for the Prisoner of War Medallion. Incidentally, in another world, X was the first of his kind to become a Madame Tussuad's waxwork. Who's X? (Think recent events)

13. This famous sitcom utterance is typically represented in the show's script as "(annoyed grunt)", and is referred to similarly in the official titles of numerous episodes. Which sitcom and what utterance?

Ellen Says No

Here's a homemade video from a local Alternative Rock band that I listened to live a couple of times and took a liking to: Ellen Says No.
Neat stuff!!!