Anything Everything

Today, Panchayat Elections are being held in 7 districts, including mine, in Kerala. Though this is actually the second time, I went to the polling booths, it's technically another first vote. Not only because it's my first Panchayat Election vote, but it's the first time I cast my vote in a ballot paper. The conventional voting method is still followed in panchayats. Well... it was a nice experience.

Gone With The Wind, a beautiful novel by Margaret Mitchell showcases the horrors of war in a touching, empathising manner. Though, primarily a romantic novel, this epic also decsribes the American Civil War. After reading this novel, I pondered over the various wars fought by mankind.

Of course, the two World Wars were the most prominent ones. Among these, the second World War was the most cruellest one. There are a lot of people suffering from the after effects of the war.

In the course of a war, many people get killed, many get wounded to various degrees, many get captured (and tortured). All these are done by some people to some others, whom they've never met in life before. They do this, because, they believe it's their duty. They believe that they serve their country by doing so. Of course they are serving their nation & protecting it's people. At the soldier level, a war is a patriotic & protective act. But what is war to those who plan it?

For them, war means money. They are only interested in the financial aspects of war. To conquer a land means gaining control over the resources of that land. That in turn will be money. Some wars are fought for political ambitions too. The stronger ones can force a weaker nation to comply to it's policies. (which ultimately will earn more revenue to the stronger one)

Terrorism is one such warfare. It has 3 levels- political, financial, & religious. What we hear about in news most of the time is the religious aspect. People are motivated in the name of religion to destroy a nation & a civilization. This is only the tip of the ice-berg. There are a group of people who control these killers. They form the financial aspect. They get money for doing such barbaric acts. They pocket a huge amount & motivate groups of youth into taking arms against innocent and unknown people. But, the real villains are those who give money to those intermediates. They have political ambitions of destroying a nation. They will do anything, spend any amount to see the downfall of a nation. They may let their own people starve, to see the thousands in the other nation dead.

They suck the life blood out of people to gain nothing. They want more land, more money. There's nothing that will satisfy their blood thirst. They are vampires. They will stop at nothing. They have changed the history in the past through violent methods. They are doing it now. But, we shouldn't let them write a future with the blood of people. It's high time we should stop them, put a dead lock to their money thirsty mouth. We have so far been victimised by them. They have hunted us so far. It's time, the people, who want to live, who have dreams, who have families, to hunt down the vampires. To have a future generation who can live in peace, we must do it now.

For the past few days, I've been thinking about, what I should write. But, the more I try, the harder it is to get a topic to write about. If so, why can't I just leave it as such & use my time for some other purpose. It's because, I don't want to miss a month in my blog roll. So, here I am, writing about why I can't write.

Do I have any idea about which I wanna blabber about in my blog? Yeah! I do. But I can't converge all the particulars for a specific topic into an article. All ideas are scattered in my mind, tangled up in a messy manner. It's a hell of a job to untangle all these and to weave a fabric using these threads. Is this some sort of writer's block? Or, is my mind pre-occupied with something else?

May be, that's the reason. So, I'll have to investigate into the true reasons for this. Then I've to remedy it (if possible). Then, I'll write.

Maybe, it is just my stupidity. But after watching the following movies, I became greatly concerned about the growth of today's artificial intelligence development.

1. I, Robot

2. Artificial Intelligence – A.I

3. The Matrix

In addition to all these, came the news about a new robot having some basics of emotions, developed by some scientists. They adapt themselves with their masters such that, if two robots of the same make are brought by two very different individuals, they will soon differ in their behavior.

From basic robots that does monotonic works in industries, we have developed robots that have emotions. This pace of technology is somewhat alarming. So far, we've considered robots as machines that are programmed to do tasks that are either difficult for humans to perform, or to ease our work load. But now, the scenario has changed a bit. Now, robots are more and more human, both in structure & behavior.

Swarm intelligence is a developing area in robotic development. It is the collective intelligence of a group of robots. Robots team up together to do various chores in a collective way. This is no science fiction. Many prototypes are in the early stages of development. Of course, it has a lot of advantages. But, it is like a double edged sword. It can harm those who handle it.

We shouldn't discard these films as wild imaginations. They are more of a prophesy. We shouldn't let them happen. The 3 laws of robotics guarantee a safe future for us. But, what if the robots get more cunning than we expected and rebel against us? Will we be any match for them? Does intelligent man + un-intelligent machines be equal to intelligent machines?

In the pretext of making our lives more comfortable, we are making everything around us intelligent. And the alarming fact is that, they are also able to communicate, but now, with a server machine. What if the control system goes awry? Machines communicating among themselves. We can't hear them plotting against us. We can't eavesdrop, because, here too we need the help of machines. This sounds like total chaos. We are stranded, helpless in the midst of our own creations, looking for a way out.

Some thing is surely weird. Is it the technical brilliance that may suffocate us in the near future with it's sheer intelligence, or is it my random, but foolish thoughts about a coming face of technology that will brighten up our lives. Are my fears un-necessary? Or, did I just over react to the innovative ideas of some film makers? I don't know the answer now. But, soon we all will know!!

Most of the people around us, believe in luck. They hope they get lucky when they face problems. There are some people, who just believe in luck and does nothing to save themselves. On the other hand, there are people who don't believe in luck at all. They think that believing in luck is a superstition. But, is it really? Let's ponder over a bit.

This planet is inhabited by billions of human beings like us, not to mention the trillions of members of other species. We have to interact with both our fellow human beings and other beings, everyday. The course of our life is very much dependent on the behavior of others around us. A lot of people, directly or indirectly affect our lives. In a way, the life of every human being is dependent on all other human beings. This may sound exaggerated, but is true. This is where luck has got a role to play.

Consider a billiards table. If a single ball is allowed to roll through the table, we can predict the exact position and velocity of the ball, if other factors like initial velocity, frictional resistance, etc are known, with the aid of certain equations. But, if we roll 10 balls simultaneously through the table, it will be practically very difficult to pinpoint the activities of a particular ball, if not impossible. What will be the case of 100 balls? It's impossible. Can we predict the movement of a football, in a football with 22 players in the field? Not at all. Why?

As the number of people or objects involved in a situation increases, it is difficult to predict the state and activities of a particular one. The position, velocity and other features that helps us to identify an object is dependent on all other objects. In case of inanimate objects like a set of balls rolling on a billiards table, it can be found out with some difficulty, because they won't change their position or velocity on their own. They need the influence of some external agencies to do so. But, in the case where men are involved as in the case of a football described above, we can't say anything for sure. The activities of each player is determined by himself. He will decide whether to move after the ball, or to pass it to Player A or to Player B. It is the mind of the people that decides his action.

So, in situations where many people are involved, the final outcome is dependent on the mindsets and hence the action of all those who are involved. So, in real life where we meet many, many people, of them, many being strangers, we can't say luck is a superstition. Of course, luck is a coincidence, but there is a certain hidden story behind it.

As I've said earlier, our activities depend on the activities of many others. In some situations, a total stranger may help us out of a situation. He may be present there with his own pre-occupation. But, if he wasn't there, our entire life would have changed. This coincidence is what we call 'luck'.

The chances of us being lucky and being unlucky is in the hands of a thousand other people, many of whom may be strangers to us. As a matter of fact we are all lucky, to live this moment. But remember, we owe our lives to a million other people in this world, and a million others are alive because of you.

Most parents in India, especially in Kerala prefer to restrict the career preferences of their children to two options – Engineer or Doctor. These two are the most widely preferred career options now. Though, they both are considered equally respectable, a doctor gets more consideration from the general public and is treated with reverence. But, an engineer is just an engineer! This is partly due to the fact that, engineers outnumber doctors. Also, a doctor can save a valuable human life, while an engineer is incapable of doing so.

But, what bothers me is the attitude of the general public, who treats a mechanic as God, and God as a mechanic!

What does a doctor do? He helps people sustain life in their bodies by repairing their bodies, that are damaged by various internal or external factors.

What does an engineer do? He designs and develops new systems that are capable of doing improved tasks or improves the existing systems to cope with the current situations.

What does a mechanic do? He repairs the existing machinery, so that it can be used again without abandoning it as scrap.

And, God is the master designer, who designed and created the universe and all the living and non-living things in it.

From these above statements, we can be deduce the similarities between the doings of God and an engineer. Also, we can see how similar are the works of a doctor and a mechanic. But still, nobody accepts this. Repairing a living body of a man is not the work of a mechanic, it is that of God. Designing and creating new non-living technologies is the work of a mechanic, and not of God. Why?

Life is very, very important. That's the reason. That's the only reason. A machinery like a computer is quite similar to human brain in some aspects. If the processor is damaged due to a sudden voltage surge, the whole computer is dead. But, replacing the damaged one with a new one solves the problem and breathes new life into the machine. But a sudden surge in blood pressure can lead to hemorrhage in the brain which results in the death of a man. But, the dead man can't be brought to life by replacing the brain. That's the speciality of biological life. Once, there occurs a break in it's flow, then we can't do anything to resume it!

A burnt out fuse and a damaged kidney are not identical. Engineers do create new things, while doctors just repair existing stuff. But, the common man doesn't need the inside stories and the difficulties faced by an engineer while he develops a new technology. They just see a brilliant doctor rescuing a man in critical situation, with his skills and experience. For them, the stethoscope is a magic wand, that can make anything possible.

Developing a new system requires many sleepless nights and tons of brilliance put together. A designer must think of every possible situation the new system may face and must include all necessary safety features in it. And there lies the biggest difference. An engineer knows all about the system he has developed. He knows how it will react in a particular situation. Even if there arises a problem that he couldn't predict, he can identify it's cause and fix that bug.

But, no one knows everything about human body and mind. A doctor can't say for sure, if a surgery will correct a problem. He says there is a chance for failure. He knows, human body is unpredictable. He can't state a thing with 100% certainty.

There are flaws and accidents in the systems developed by man, that is known to him. But, engineers have two cases for everything he develops – an ideal case and a practical case. We know 100% about the ideal case, but we know only 99.99% of the practical case. This small percentage of ignorance can attribute to all those unfortunate incidents.

Ideally, 99.99% knowledge is not complete knowledge. But practically, it is complete knowledge.

The 24 hours that makes a day is divided into day and night, two contrasting characters, but are very much like the two sides of the same coin. The day is bright and clear, while the night is dark and mysterious. We are usually comfortable during the day. It is a common trend to be under the shelter of a roof before the night falls. Before the dawn of the Internet, night times were used for sleeping and some used a portion of it to complete the daytime works or for reading.

Unlike the day, the night has got a beauty and charm of it's own. As the last rays of sun disappear, a darkened sky is partly lit up by the moon and thousands of stars. That by itself is a spectacular sight. The numerous stars form many different constellations of varied shapes. They are beautiful and mysterious at the same time. They not only light up the night sky, but also fires the imagination of romanticists, scientists etc. As a matter of fact, it's the night sky that is more beautiful. It's the dark veil that the night puts on the sky that brings about her real beauty. Or, may be it's the other way round. The day puts on a bright veil and covers up the true beauty of the sky. I feel it like that.

The night usually instills fear in our minds. We are always afraid of the unknown. In the darkness of the night, almost everything is unknown. This may be the reason why many are afraid of the dark.

Like the sky, the jungle too is different at the night. Many animals find solace in their shelters, while the nocturnal hunters come out of their shelters to hunt.

Another characteristic of the night is the silence. Usually the night is silent, though the cities never sleeps. The silence and the coldness of the night usually sends a chill down the spine, if you are lonely. Even then, that silence has more meaning than all the sounds that are produced during the day. This silence can be soothing to many, and eerie to some others. The night is a set of contrasting characters.

Though day and night are siblings, they are like opponents. During the dawn, day wins and at dusk, night regains her reign. But, they have a little sister – twilight. She is the youngest and the most beautiful of the three. She is loved by both of them. She is nothing but beauty. She has the dark beauty of night and unlike the night is quite cheerful and lively, like the day. It's the time when birds return to their nests, for a good night's rest. Twilight paints the sky with bright and beautiful colors. Though she lasts only for a small time, she literally steals the show from her sisters.

P.S: M. Night Shyamalan is one of my favorite directors.

By the word 'race', I don't mean the breed of human beings. I refer to the real race, the race of a lifetime. Many have said that, life is a race. We have to move on, leaving the past behind. But, from when did this race start? The moment we were born? No. It began much earlier. It started even before that life was born.

The first race for survival starts with the race between the seeds of life to win 'her'. Millions of spermatozoans compete among themselves to reach the oozyte. There only one will win her. A winner and a million losers! That's how, the first race in human life ends. Then starts the race to be a human being. A cell multiplies a billion times to form an organism - a baby. The next race is the race to earth. A baby struggles his way out to the world. His first cry – his first breath. From the very next moment starts the race that will last for a life time.

The life of a human being is literally a race. He has to run throughout his life for opportunities. Unlike animals that looks for food, shelter and partner, man has a complex social life that demands much more. Even the life of animals is a race. They have to search for food and shelter, avoid enemies etc. If even the basics of the needs demand a race for survival, what would be the case of complex lives of us human beings? Throughout his life, a man has to run for survival.

After decades of race, he will wear out & have to start another race – the race against death. Like a determined murderer, death will pursue its victim till he succumbs to death. The whole life of a man is a race – a never ending race, right from the instant he was born till his death.

The latest edition of the world's popular Linux distribution, Ubuntu was released on 29 April 2010. Codenamed Lucid Lynx, Ubuntu 10.04 is a long term service edition, unlike its predecessor. Desktop editions will get services and security updates for 3 years. Join the free software community by switching to Ubuntu 10.04. If you are not familiar with Linux, atleast give it a try. You'll surely love it. Visit the ubuntu site for more details

Download Ubuntu

Ubuntu 10.04 features

Have you ever been to a school or college for a year? Then you surely would have written at least one examination. After a year (or semester) full of lectures and manipulations at the lab, you will face an examination, that will evaluate your academic brilliance. But does it?

Examinations are not just student evaluation tools. They are meant to be the turning points in our lives, that can dramatically affect our lives. Examinations have overpowered the true spirit of learning and it is evident from the phrase “Examination point of view”. Usually most students and teachers love to study/teach for the exams. But does this make them a good person? Mostly it succeeds in churning out professionals with high marks and good levels of practical knowledge. In a this is what we are trying to achieve. A rapid search through the previous year question papers will make us 'exam ready'. Just identify the pattern of repeating questions and study them. Simple!!

Right now, in the midst of exams I've all these weird ideas in my mind. Should I learn my subjects or study for the exams? The idealistic me advocates for the former. But I prefer to choose the later, because, that's necessary for my survival.

We all live in a technologically advanced world. The world is advancing at a very rapid pace. Technology, the youngest son of science is taking us forward. Every sunrise brings about new technologies, that may or may not have the potential to change the human race. The past decade saw technology influencing our lives in tremendous ways.

The most significant advances occured in information technology. The I.T boom was like a second industrial revolution. An electronic device that has the potential to do almost anything. The computer changed almost all walks of life. From household office works to corporate business works, a computer eased the effort of man. If a single computer can do so many things, then what will be the case, if a group of computers are connected together. This led to the world wide network of computers, alias, INTERNET. From static web pages at the beginning, to the interactive social networking sites today, internet's growth was simply marvellous. Now, it is used for banking, chatting, acquiring knowledge, shopping and a variety of other purposes. The world is getting more and more closer.

The internet has become an integral part of our lives today. We rely on it. This led to various innovations centred around the internet. Software and hardware developers across the world are developing systems that are based on the internet. More and more applications are being developed to bring almost every real worldly thing to the internet's virtual world. A new branch of technology, bio-informatics is trying to converge biology and information technology. Put simply, they are on the way of bringing life to the internet. We are being more and ore web-centric. Technologies, aimed at reducing the gap between real and virtual worlds are in their beta, or alpha states. They aim at integrating human beings into the web.

So, our future will be a virtual one. But, is it necessary? Or, is it what we really need? My answer is an emphatic NO. The reason is that, those who are developing such technologies are only interested in the advantages of the system. They cunningly try to cover up the problems associated with it. These technologies usually have a fun or fiction factor. They were the fantasies of which we once dreamed about. So, when we first see this technology, we will be instantly attracted to it. We will praise it. But, the problem is that, as technology grew bigger, so did the criminals. From crimes like theft or murder, criminals have migrated to cyber thefts, hacking, cyber-terrorism etc. The real shocking fact about such cyber crimes is that, the criminals are just teenagers, with a sharp digital brain. The new technologies are instantly analysed by them to exploit it's weaknesses to make profit out of it. They will resort to any method for their benefit.

Technology is supposed to be the friend of man, a true friend. He should not harm us in any way. It is the responsibility of the future engineers to develop technologies that benefit mankind. It should be for our benefit only. It should not in any case pose a threat to us. While developing newer technologies, some basic ethics should be kept in mind. Man is more important than machine. Develop technologies from a humanitarian point of view. It is not the entertainment or commercial value of technology, that is important. Be more human centric. Think of all possible pros and cons of the technology, while it is just an idea in your mind. It is rather good to kill an idea, than to kill the entire human race. For the future to be bright and shining, we must filter out all the evils in our technology. That's the only way out of this never-ending web of evil.

Revenge is the favourite theme of many movie buffs and film makers. With a simple variation in the circumstances and characters, one can create any number of revenge thrillers. I, myself loves revenge thrillers. They are exciting. Usually, with a feeble plot revolving around an individual, who had been wronged by one or a group of villains, these stories provide enough excitement to keep the reader or viewer glued to the seats till the very last. With an added twist at the end, the story becomes a thriller, literally.

I'm not reviewing the revenge category of movies or books. I'm talking about revenge, it's origin, what it does, and what are the aftermaths. Like in the movies, the starting point of revenge is an individual, who had been wronged, either by a person, or a group of persons. These people, usually (for their own benefit) does all sorts of cruelties, against anyone who crosses or blocks their path. So, it is quite natural for an upright person to be their foe. They will make his life miserable, worth-less. The villains will then think that the chapter is over and will leave him to fate (if they didn't kill him). This is where revenge will sow it's seeds. If the victim's mind is fertile for revenge, it will produce great yield.

The victim lost everything fighting for justice. He is left all alone in life. He has two options left- to end life, or to start a new life. If he is brave enough to start a new life, the past will haunt him. Sweet memories of the past will become bitter ones in the present. He will think of the present of his predators. They are living luxuriously and are still crushing lives that comes beneath their feet. This lights up the revenge in his mind. He decides to take revenge. That becomes his sole aim. He slowly plans his revenge. He polishes it to perfection.

The next phase is the implementation of revenge. Unlike, in a movie, the victim will not win always in life. After an initial attack, the villains may finish him off. But, if everything goes as planned, he will destroy them all, according to his plan. If his plan is a water tight one, he can escape the law. After this, in a movie, it's a “happily everafter”. But, in life it may not always be.

Consider the case where the victim takes revenge on the villain by destroying his life or empire. Suppose the villain has a small son, who saw his father's fall. Here starts another revenge story. In this case, the former victim becomes the villain and a new victim is born. His too is a rightful revenge. A man killed his father. He wants to take revenge. This is the cumulative effect of revenge. A revenge can lead to another and it can go on for several generations till the two families are finished forever. Like a ball set to motion hitting other ones along the way, changing the ways of both, revenge too will change the lives of all those who are involved in it. A rightful revenge can lead to another. After each complete cycle of revenge, the ferocity of revenge increases. The damages will be more severe as time progresses.

Thus, revenge may look like a rightful thing at first. But, on a detailed examination, it can be seen that it is really a crime, a menace to the society. The law may fail to punish all the criminals. This is because of the corrupt, or inefficient officials who govern the land. They allow the criminals to escape, for their benefit. But to punish them by one's own means is not fair. I'm not saying that “God will punish them”. The criminals should be punished. There is a law to punish them. Make it your weapon to destroy them. Convince the law of their cruelties. Force the law to punish them. Allow no loopholes. That's the true revenge....

A computer in any form – desktop or laptop or netbook, needs an operating system to function. That is what makes all the difference. So many kinds of operating systems are available. Some are popular, some are gaining popularity and some are losing it. The following is an actual event.

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Scene 1 (A Computer Shop)

A man walks inside the shop. The sales executive smiles heartily.

Executive: Good Morning Sir. Please be seated.

Customer sits in a chair opposite him.

Customer: Thank you. Hmmm, I came to enquire about laptops.

Executive: Well, how much is your budget sir?

Customer: Around Rs.30,000

Executive searches his desk and produces a printed estimate.

Executive: Sir, this is the price list of laptops

Customer reads the list. He ponders for a minute. He then pushes the list to the executive and points to a particular brand.

Customer: How about this one?

Executive: Nice one sir. Total costs around Rs.29,000. Has got nice features. But, they don't provide O.S with it. But, we will install 'the popular O.S' for you.

Customer: No, no. I don't need it. Do you have linux? Ubuntu?

Executive: (slightly confused) I think we have it. What's the latest version?

Customer: 9.10

Executive: No, we don't have that. But we have 9.0

Customer: 9.04?

Executive: Yes, that one.

Customer: O.k, that's enough. I need it this weekend.

Executive: No problem sir.

Customer: O.k. Then I will buy it this weekend

Executive: Thank you

Scene 2 (Same Computer Shop, 3 days later)

Customer walks in. A warm smile wraps the lips of the executive. He politely asks the customer to sit, and goes inside. Customer sits an looks around. A moment later, the executive comes back with a new laptop. Customer examines it and nods.

Executive: We will install O.S in it. And you want Linux. Yes?

Customer: Yes, Linux.... only.

The Executive's expression changes from astonishment to horror. He looks at the customer as if asking 'how are you going to use this laptop?'. A computer operator comes and takes the laptop inside. Customer follows. He turns it on and slides a c.d inside and begins the installation process.

Operator: Not many people ask for linux here. Some have it installed along with 'the popular O.S', to avoid virus problems.

Customer: I use it at home. I loved it. No problem till now. I could get every need of mine from it's software library.

Operator: I've used Ubuntu while I was at Bangalore. It's a nice one. Easy to use too

Customer: No copyright problems and all.

Operator: No one has asked for linux here in a new system. Every one wants the 7^th instalment of 'the popular O.S'.

Customer: May be because, most people don't know other types of O.S exist. They are far more advantageous than what they use now.

Operator: Popular trend. For most people, 'the popular O.S' is synonymous to computers.

Customer: It has got it's own drawbacks.

Operator: Sure. Many school kids take new systems to play games and surf and load the system with viruses a week after they buy a new system. Every day, we've got atleast 2 systems to format. They don't understand.

Customer: Why don't you try to popularise Linux? Ask people to give it a try.

Operator: Most are still under the impression that Linux is still a command line O.S. They haven't cared to enquire about it.

Customer: Even computer engg. students are reluctant to embrace Linux. Let alone common people.

Operator: I haven't used Ubuntu much. Will it support integrated camera and bluetooth in this lap?

Customer: Sure, there are some softwares available. It will work. Just have to download it. Every application is available.

Operator: Oh! that's great.

As the conversation went on, the installation progressed. In about 25 minutes the laptop had Ubuntu installed in it. Customer examines the system. Feeling satisfied, he pays for it and leaves the shop.

Scene 3 (Customer's home, same day)

Customer installs the necessary libraries to compile C/C++ programs, a camera software, plugins to open music and video files. These new programs, installed with ease, plus the pre-installed photo editor, browser, office package, instant messenger, bluetooth, disc burning softwares makes the customer smile heartily.

***********

A computer installed with only open source softwares is like an unpoisoned coffee. You can trust it fully. You can use it. No side effects. But the proprietary softwares are taking advantage of it's customers by giving them drugged coffee. Once you drink it, you may become an addict and there will be no return.

The universe consists of millions of galaxies of varied sizes and shapes. Every galaxy consists of millions of star systems, like our own Solar System. Our Sun is just an average star. One among billions of billions. But, one thing is sure. Sun is no ordinary star. It has 'The Earth' revolving around it, which has Life.

The Earth is the home of a myriad of creatures. But, the only life-form that has the potential to change the face of this planet is the human beings – Homo sapiens . Highly evolved, highly intelligent species ever to walk on this planet. We are indeed special – very, very special! I won't go into the controversial topic of origin of mankind or the cruelties done by man to nature and to his own siblings. This is an ode to human beings.

Oh! Brain, thou maketh Man. Man is intelligent. Kudos to brain. Weighing about 1400 grams, this highly entangled mass of neurons is the control station of ALL of our activities. Hunger, thirst, muscular action, senses, thought, imagination,memory are all the products of the various neural networks. Artificial neural networks are one of the engineering fields that simulates the connections inside the brain to produce efficient computing systems.

Thumb – Fingerprint on History. The major milestone in the development of human civilization is the opposable thumb of man. We have, and ONLY WE have opposable thumb. This superior property enabled us to make tools and weapons, grab them, and use them with ease. This is the start of civilization, without which we still would have been jumping off tree tops.

Eyes – Uncovering the Truth. Our eyes are far, far better than the most modern cameras. Our eye itself is a digital camera. It converts light into electrical pulses and send it to the brain. But, the sensitivity of our eyes in dim light, our ability to see a range of colours from violet to red in the spectrum is a very rare ability. Not all life-forms can see, only a few can. Amongst those who have eyes, only a handful can see a wide range of colours. We are part of that elite group. Our binocular vision enables us to have depth effect. It enables us to have a 3-dimensional portrayal of the things we see. It also enhances clarity of vision.

Bipedal – Walking tall. Look around yourself. How many other beings can walk tall on two legs? Only man can, no one else has that peculiarity. Of course, some forms of chimpanzees can walk in two legs. This is considered as a milestone in the evolution of mankind. That is the reason why Homo erectus , the first ancestor of man to walk on two legs, is considered an important link in our developmental history. Walk with pride!

Mind – Key to all Mysteries. The human mind is the key to all the mysteries around us, while still remaining the greatest of all mysteries itself. The darkest of man's questions and it's answers are present in the mind. Human mind has immense potential that is yet to be understood fully. This mind is the seat of wisdom, imagination, love, empathy, good and evil. Unleash the good and lash the evil inside.

Imagination, thou hath changeth the world. This article would be incomplete without the mention of the imagination of humans. We have been bestowed with a highly intelligent brain. This brain enables us to imagine a multitude of ideas on every other topic on this universe. Without this power of imagination, we would never have made any of the modern amenities for increasing our comfort. All the gadgets around us, all the technologies we depend upon were once wild imaginations. Every scientific hypothesis is the imagination of a genius. A theory is a proven imagination. All works of fiction are the offspring of an imaginative mind. Imagination sows the seed in the fertile mind of a writer. The idea is conceived in the womb of mind. The product is finally delivered after a period of creative maturity.

Sure, Man is beautiful (and so is woman!)

All these are not just the features of human beings. They are the gifts with which we are blessed. In the past, we used them to change ourselves, and the world around us. We have more and severe challenges in front of us. Break free our imaginations from the trammels of conventions. Let them choose their destination. They will bring you the honour of being remembered by the coming generations.

What makes man different from other species on Earth? It's of course our intelligence and imagination. Man had invented many different things to live in ease. One such invention is “MONEY”. Money is an important invention of man. Now a days, every action of a grown up individual has got some financial aspect in it. It has become the backbone of human civilisation.

Go back to the old barter system of finance. The exchange was not just every time, because there is no measure of value for a particular product. Then came money. Money evaluated everything. We have to pay that value in cash or equivalent to buy that item. The paper notes that we use now a days have simplified economics. No need to carry heavy coins in large numbers. The latest plastic money concept has revolutionised economics. No need to touch money. Money become virtual.

The concept of money is simply superb. It changed the world, due to it's purchasing ability. It can be used to buy anything ranging from paper clip to sophisticated, modern, luxury cars. It is not only material goods that money can buy, it can buy pleasure or comfort. Money used to buy music is an example. In a way, everything that money buys is used by us to derive some pleasure. We use it to alleviate our lives.

Money is multi-faceted. It has become the source of almost all crimes in the world. The quest for money, through the dark corners, will lead to hurting fellow humans, physically or mentally. Money plays very important role in our society today. Money is used to evaluate not only consumables, but also human beings. Money dominates thought. It is used to influence people to do all sorts of filthy things. Money mixed with religion or politics is like a deadly poison. It will take lives of those who consume it (and not of those who had made it!).

Money is a necessity now a days. But it's a good practice not to evaluate emotions and relations in monetary terms.

The Internet is one of the most stunning and useful inventions of man. We use it to gather information about the world around us, the people around us, and the world beyond us. Now a days, it has become the primary source of information to mankind. It's not an exaggeration if I say, “we all live in a cyber world”. This cyber world almost make disappear the boundary between the real and virtual worlds. Though it is primarily a virtual world, we consider it almost as the real world. We spend our consciousness wandering about the cyber space. We are slowly transforming into cyber organisms.

Social networking sites were the miracles of the Internet, like e-mail, instant messenger etc. They help us keep in touch with almost every acquaintance and broadened our relationships. They helped us acquire new friends, retrieve lost ones etc. But, are we addicted to these sites? Sort of. Recently, social networking and micro blogging sites have made many controversies. Some sccuse them of stealing valuable time of professionals, while some are concerned of our negligence towards the real world, while we are immersed in the cyber space. They are making us more and more social. But, only virtually. They are actually mutilating the physical social relationships. We are being trapped in a virtual world, as in the film “The Matrix”. But are there sentinel programs running inside this world? Yes!

Almost everyone across the globe have realised the potential of the Internet. From school kids to professionals to governments to senior citizen, nearly every one depends on the Internet for something or the other. And that is exactly what they wanted. They are the sentinel programs. They are cyber terrorists. They are not cyber criminals. They don't hack into systems to steal money, they do cyber warfare. They target nations, not individuals. They are backed by extremist groups both financially and politically. They trick computing talents to hack into the vital functions of a country like power ,defence, telecommunications, railways etc. They manipulate them to create chaos and havoc inside the country to achieve their political motto – destabilise the government. They use the information highway to demolish a nation, it's people.

But, what does this have to do with social networking sites? They use them as a cover. They befriend the gullible to pave way for their ruthless activities. They use religious faith to motivate people. The proliferation of religious communities in such sites is a major concern. People fall in such pits without even knowing about it. These pits are so dark and so deep that, there is no return, once you fall. The impact of such a fall in our lives is very, very devastating. We will be left with nothing but memories – sweet memories of the good days, and bitter ones of those dark days. So, it's a good measure to watch each of your step in the cyber space.

I will brief the things in a nutshell. The cyber space is just a virtual world. Don't mistake it for, or mess with the real world. Being social is good, because man is a social being. But, we should live socially in the real world too. Be more realistic. If you see a man in distress, don't tweet about it to let the world know, but help him if you can. Sharing your thoughts is good. It relieves our pain, doubles up happiness. But, draw a line between what to share and what not to. Cyber space is not secret-proof. Eavesdropping is more intense there. Every thing you do is being recorded by some one. Keep it in mind! Be aware of the pitfalls and man-hunters, lurking at the dark corners of the web. Always be accompanied by light. It's the only preventive measure. Look at the bright sides of web, stick to these safe zones, and don't poke your nose into the dark.

The Internet is good. It helps us do a lot, ease our jobs, widens our horizons, etc. But don't rely it. No, no... you can rely on it. Don't lean on it too much. Stand on your own foot. Don't get the web control you. Don't be a cyber being.

P.S: For those of you who don't believe in evolution, here's the proof. There's an almost abrupt evolution of a new species of man, in the last 10 years. Homo sapiens have evolved to form Homo cyberus , who are slowly dominating the world!