Any option is a better option than a dead planet

Climate change, Paris agreement, Climate deal, are the buzz words these days with approximately 198 countries approving the Paris deal. 

Looking at things at the grass root level, part of the problem has been that we have been the victims of a campaign of systematic misdirection, consumer culture and capitalist minds over these years, especially after the onset of the industrial revolution. 

An inconvenient truth helped raise consciousness about global warming. Now things are being projected towards the general masses to substitute active personal lifestyle choices for organized political resistance. For example, use of vehicles with even numbered plate on even number dates and vehicles with odd numbered plate on odd number dates, use of LED bulbs, etc. 

If you notice, till now, almost all of the solutions presented has to do with the personal consumption, changing light bulbs, driving half as much, car pool, cutting down water consumption for bath washing and other purposes, and so on, and has very little to do with shifting power away from corporations or stopping the drastic globally growing economy and urbanization that is destroying the planet. 

Kirkpatrick summarized Al Gore's statement well, “Each one of us is a cause of global warming but each of us can make choices to change that, with the things we buy, the electricity we use, the cars we drive, we can make choices to bring our individual carbon emissions to zero”. This way the carbon emissions would fall to only about 20%. Scientific consensus is that carbon emission must be reduced by at least 75% worldwide. 

Individual energy consumption and residential, by private car and so on is never more than about a quarter of all consumption as per stats. The vast majority of consumption is commercial, industrial, corporate, by agribusiness and government. So even if we all took up cycling and wood stoves, it would have a negligible impact on energy use, global warming and atmospheric pollution. 

Often we hear that the world is running out of water, people are dying due to lack of water, rivers are drying. Well no. As per stats more than 90% of the water used by humans is used by agriculture and industries. The rest of the 10% is split between municipalities and actual living and breathing humans. People, flora and fauna are not dying because the world is running out of water but they are dying because the water is being stolen from them through dams, artificial reservoirs, blocking the surface of the earth with constructions which prevent the water from seeping down the earth, pumping out excessive water from the earth for industries, irrigation, etc. 

Considering wastes, land, water and air pollution which greatly contribute to global warming. Municipal waste accounts to only about 10% of total waste, roughly 530 kilograms/capita as per available stats. Inappropriate waste management again impacts the environment through soil and water contamination, air quality, climate, land use and landscape. 

The causes that are responsible for major part of pollution, global warming and ecological imbalances are excessive industrialization, urbanization and economic growth topped up with materialism and capitalistic policies. 

There are many issues that go unnoticed by the general people or many a times them turning a blind eye to it. Inappropriate landfills, again hazardous, release of methane and other toxic gases add to pollution, ozone layer depletion and global warming. It also produces toxins which pollute the water. 

Another issue is, since live stocks are cheap source of nutrition and non-vegetarian diet is consumed vastly, cattle are being reared in huge quantities. Infact it is a huge industry. These cattle need to graze, and huge amount of grass as fodder is required to feed them. To fulfill this need, is to have more grassland. Thus forests are brought down and converted into grassland. So the trees which recycle carbon and toxin in the atmosphere are no more. These giant livestock farms, which can house hundreds of thousands of buffaloes, cows, chickens, goats, pigs, produce vast amounts of manure, often generating the waste equivalent of a small city. A problem of this nature and scale is tough to imagine, and pollution from livestock farms seriously threatens humans, fish and ecosystems. They are again a major source of air, land and water pollution. Ammonia, a toxic form of nitrogen released in gas form during waste disposal, can be carried more than 300 miles through the air before being dumped back onto the ground or into the water, where it causes algal blooms and fish kills. High levels of nitrates pollute the water. And there are many more such issues....the list goes on. 

At this point it should be pretty easy to recognize that every action involving the industrial economy is destructive. And we should not pretend that solar photo votaics, for example, exempt us from this. They still require mining and transportation and infrastructures at every point in the production process. The same can be said for every other so called green technology. 

With the entire world at stake, why are we only told to retreat into these entirely personal “solutions”? These “solutions” are not sufficient. Personal change does not equal social change. So how then, have we come to accept these utterly insufficient responses? I think a part of it is that we are in the double bond. A double bond is when you are given multiple options. But no matter what option you choose, you lose. 

Withdrawal is not an option. And, I am not saying that we shouldn’t try and live simple, we should, but we shouldn’t pretend to not buying much, or not driving much or not having kids. 

Any option is a better option than a dead planet. The good news is that there are still options to what can be done to actually stop the murder of the planet? Let’s throw out the concept of ‘Take, make, consume and dispose’ and work on the concept of ‘caring and sharing’.

For those of us who can understand all this, it is very necessary for us to talk and create awareness about it amongst the rest of the masses who are unaware of it or have shut their eyes to it so that they may also develop sense of responsibility and concern and respond to the situation and act accordingly. 

I should surely have much hopes from this Paris Convention. Nevertheless we can always follow the examples of brave activists to bring about a change at our own level. They actively opposed the injustices that surrounded them. We can follow the example of those, who remembered that the role of an activist is not to navigate systems of oppressive powers without much personal integrity as possible but rather to confront and take down those systems.

Virtual Reality....Use your Illusion to overcome Delusion....

Most of us who are even a bit tech savvy are enthralled and amused by simple video games like subway surfer, temple run, NFS, pool, Farmville, strategy games and the like, and I believe, at one point of time or other, must have tried out our hands at it. I guess the revolution all began with Mario. Now its Xbox and all that stuff, all of them based on Virtual Reality (VR). So we can see that VR has always fascinated us and caught our attention in some way or the other. Some may be aware of the fact, some may not be.

Ever since the birth of the concept of Virtual Reality or computer simulated life, it has always been a subject of great fascination to many, right from the IT guys, engineers, animators and designers, to writers, and to even the musicians. Each one of these people tried to explore, express, develop and present the concept in their own way. Inspired by VR one of the famous musicians, Jamiroquai made a song “Virtual Insanity” the video of which, gained a lot of popularity. Based on it, now a video game has been developed. So many novels have been written and even movies have been made on this subject. It is also noticeable that many of us really look forward to going to movies which are released in 3-D, since, in such movies we get the feeling of being present inside that environment and watching everything around that is happening, from that perspective. It gives us a somewhat In Real Life (IRL) experience. Cinema halls (like 9-D) are being designed to give a complete IRL experience, where the viewers get to feel that they are in that world as part of it, experiencing stereoscopic visuals, three-dimensional sound, physical and sensory stimulation.

Virtual Reality is also referred to as immersive multimedia, virtual environment (VE), cyberspace (a word invented by science fiction author William Gibson), also this phenomenon has been defined by several other terms. The concept of VR has been in use since 1970 and the term can be traced back to 1938 in the book ‘The Theatre and Its Double’, written by the French playwright, poet, actor, and director Antonin Artaud.

What is Virtual Reality?

VR is an artificial environment created using computer technology. It is a simulated, three-dimensional world and a user experiences immersion, the feeling of being inside and a part of that world. He can also manipulate and explore the artificially created environment. Scientists, engineers, animators, film makers, software developers, and the computer freaks have designed great number of such environments, devices and applications, and are at it for even better results to replicate the In Real Life phenomenon and better experience.

VR includes three-dimensional images (stereoscopic display) plus additional sensory information (surround sound, motion effect, taste and smell), appearing to be life-sized from the user perspective. The technology has the ability to track a user's motions, particularly his head and eye movements, and likewise adjusts the images on the user's display to reflect the corresponding change in perspective. The user is also able to interact with his environment in meaningful ways.

The combination of a sense of immersion and interactivity is called telepresence. An effective VR experience causes you to become unaware of your real surroundings and focus on your existence inside the virtual environment.

The Virtual Reality Environment

The various attributes that are taken into consideration are Visuals, Touch (Haptic), Sound, Smell and Taste.

The sensory output from the virtual environment system should be synchronized in real time as a user explores the environment. If the environment incorporates 3-D sound, the user must be convinced that the sound’s orientation shifts in a natural way as he manoeuvres through the environment.

Sensory stimulation must be consistent if a user is to feel immersed and one within a virtual environment. If the virtual environment shows a perfectly still scene, then you can expect to feel a gentle breeze or detect the scent of flowers. Likewise, if the virtual environment puts you in the middle of a hurricane, you should expect to feel gale force winds. True immersive experience makes the user forget his real surroundings, effectively causing the computer to become a non entity.

Jonathan Steuer proposed two main components of immersion: depth of information and breadth of information. Depth of information refers to the amount and quality of data in the signals a user receives when interacting in a virtual environment like display’s resolution, the complexity of the environment’s graphics, the sophistication of the system’s audio output, etc. And breadth of information, the number of sensory dimensions simultaneously present. A virtual environment experience will be said to have a wide breadth of information, if it stimulates all your senses.

VR can be integrated into day to day activities too, and can have various significant uses like in explaining archaeology, history and heritage, education, fine arts, entertainment, training, demonstrations, therapy, etc. In fact VR simulators are already in use for training purposes in the defense, aeronautics, engineering and several other sectors. In addition VR can also influence human behavior like interpersonal communication and cognition. With the advent of computer and drastic development of the virtual space, we can notice that things are migrating to this platform, which may bring about a significant change in the perspective of economics, worldview and global culture too.

We all know that huge amount of information is being uploaded on the Internet every moment across the world, in the form of images, videos, audio and what not. Is it likely that with the advancement of technology and the development of virtual reality and artificial intelligence (AI), we will be able to transfer all our memory and consciousness through devices and software, digitized, into the Internet system before we die and then we start living into that digital space, developing and evolving ourselves through AI, and customizing and tailoring our environment from time to time as per our wish using VR inside the system, and live in this cyber world for ever, become immortals?

It is heard that MagicLeap is a mysterious and secretive start-up, Google invested in.

Check out one of their videos....

Music and the Brain

Every human brain is influenced by music or rather call it sound, be it the form of chants, hymns, jarring sounds, sounds of nature to music that we listen to. Sound can also be seen to have an influence on its surrounding matter.

Nature of sound and it's influence (also on the brain) - this topic has always fascinated me. Sound/music now a days is even being used to the extent for its therapeutic value, in curing certain ailments.

Sound as we all know is a form of energy, created by any vibrating object. The vibrating body creates resonance and a frequency is generated. Out of the frequency spectrum a certain bandwidth is captured by our ears, some low frequencies absorbed by the bones and high frequencies felt by the skin. This creates chemical changes in the brain, which results in different states of emotional trigger, as per the combination of the sounds/tones produced (either together or in succession).

Resonance from a vibrating body influences other particles and objects around it which tends to vibrate in a similar fashion (dance to its tune) and they also try to produce similar tones/overtones as per their substance properties. The old example, of a violinist playing on the bridge which makes the bridge crack, explains it very well. Also, an example can be sighted in history, that, 'people wailed and trumpets sounded and mighty wall came crumbling down'.

Vibration (resonance) is a phenomenon embedded even in the smallest existing particle in the universe, i.e. it can even be seen in the electrons. That is how the creation has defined things. The resonance of a particle depends on its energy level (enthalpy).

What a mind boggling reality! Then, as per this theory, it should imply that everything in the universe is governed around/by these frequencies....the whole creation, as a matter of fact. And hence, it can be concluded, the phenomenon of vibration, occurring in every particle existing in this universe, is the COSMIC DANCE. I guess this phenomenon can even be considered a method for explaining The Theory of Everything.

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration” – Nikola Tesla

Likewise there are the combination of frequencies (tones) which are in harmony and then there are the ones which are not in harmony (agreement and disagreement), and so the concept of consonance and dissonance and the various degrees in-between come to play.

Is this the reason why there has always been so much buzz about the power of positive thinking, law of attraction, the secret, parapsychology and all that stuff? Probably answer begins from here only....we can give it a thought!

Now, how music works...why it makes us feel the way it does?

Our brain interprets sound vibrations and frequencies, and chemical changes takes place in the brain, which produces a response to the stimuli, this is quite apparent by the emotional triggers that we feel after listening to a piece of music....this is the nature of divinity!

Music is the permutation and combination of tones produced in patterns which results in chemical changes in the brain when heard, triggering different emotions. These emotional triggers are perceived very similarly by all human brains.

Music is definitely a very intense form of nonverbal communication. To a lot of extent the interpretation of it by every human brain is quite universal, except at times, there are a few influences which act on the interpretations of the emotional trigger (feelings), which is as per the individuals’ experiences in life and other physical factors of the vicinity. But the basic emotion remains the same.

Words (lyrics) are added to musical compositions to make it more literal and easy to understand. The other way round is, poetry or words are given a tune while being recited, to make it sound interesting, catchy and for ease of remembering. I would say, this reduces the load on the brain in terms of exercising the intellect, creative and imaginative faculties of the brain in context to nonverbal communication.

Neuropsychology explains how music can transform our cognition, our behavior and our very selves.

Musicians are very sensitive and know the technique of creating phenomenons using the vibrations of sound (tones, overtones) to convey and trigger emotions....this is called, 'making music'. It is remarkable that humans are truly musical species.

A short animation, 'How playing an instrument benefits your brain' from TED-Ed, written by Anita Collins and animated by Sharon Colman Graham, explains, the benefit of playing music on the brain more than any other activity, how it impacts executive function and memory, and what it reveals about the role of the same neural structure.

It says, "Playing music is the brain’s equivalent of a full-body workout… Playing an instrument engages practically every area of the brain at once - especially the visual, auditory, and motor cortices. And, as in any other workout, disciplined, structured practice in playing music strengthens those brain functions, allowing us to apply that strength to other activities… Playing music has been found to increase the volume and activity in the brain’s corpus callosum - the bridge between the two hemispheres - allowing messages to get across the brain faster and through more diverse routes. This may allow musicians to solve problems more effectively and creatively, in both academic and social settings.

Because making music also involves crafting and understanding its emotional content and message, musicians also have higher levels of executive function - a category of interlinked tasks that includes planning, strategizing, and attention to detail, and requires simultaneous analysis of both cognitive and emotional aspects.

This ability also has an impact on how our memory systems work. And, indeed, musicians exhibit enhanced memory functions - creating, storing, and retrieving memories more quickly and efficiently. Studies have found that musicians appear to use their highly connected brains to give each memory multiple tags, such as a conceptual tag, an emotional tag, an audio tag, and a contextual tag - like a good internet search engine."

Studies reveal that the effect of music can also be seen in living organisms other than the human beings, this includes both flora and fauna. The power of music can't be denied. A test conducted on students revealed that the students exposed to music, showed better results in academics. Their listening, retention, reasoning and creative powers also enhanced greatly. It has also been found that many top engineers and scientists are also partly musicians.

It is said that Napoleon understood the power of music and he commented, "give me control over he who shapes the music of a nation, and I care not who makes the law.

The intuitive, intangible magical powers of music is a complex mix of elements right from key technical constructs like scale, tone and timbre to compelling cross-disciplinary reflections spanning neurobiology, philosophy, cognitive psychology, memory theory, behavioural science, Gestalt psychology and more.

Music triggers emotion, emotion leads to cognition....where your brain ends, your soul begins....and it all starts with a vibration!

Enjoy this video....

Influence of IoT on etiquette of language and redefinition of colloquialism

The journey of language has paved its way from sign language to more and more structured language and so on..... and now with the onset of Internet of Things (IoT), the jargons used on it have further changed our etiquette of language and redefined colloquialism.

We can say that social networks drastically brought change to our English vocabulary and also gave new definition to the meaning of certain terms. The jargons used in them have immensely influenced the colloquial vocabulary and changed the connotations of certain words. These words/terms and short forms/abbreviations have come into regular use in our day-to-day verbal language and also reflect to an extent in our behavioral pattern. It has influenced both our sociological and psychological orientation. We have started thinking and behaving as per this new paradigm.

Facebook, as we all know, is almost as old as a decade now, many have grown with it and the rest, adopted it. It introduced words and phrases into the vernacular, whose various slang terms have crossed digital borders and found their way into our every day life. Then there was Orkut and the like...., then WAYN (Where Are You Now) and so on. The arrival of Internet in the smartphones lead to the use of several apps, further contributed to this new wave of jargon flow. They have been impressing, fascinating and influencing masses and evolved a new lingo, specially amongst the millennials, which I am sure, did not spare any Internet user from its enticing spell.

So, let's take a sneak-peak into some of the contributions made to our ever-growing lexicon:

Friend - To add another Facebook user as a friend; to digitally befriend

Like - To show your appreciation with a thumbs up on Facebook

Relationship - The connection or the linkage between users

Post - The name for dissemination of original content into a network of users

Share - Used to describe sharing another's post through the same network

Response - A user's reaction or feedback on a post

Poke - To alert another user that you exist by sending them a notification

Pro Pic/Display Pics (DP) - The photo that represents you on your public profile and when you leave comments

Stalk - To look too deeply into another's Facebook posts and pictures, regardless of familiarity with that person

Tag - To add a link to another user's profile through a photo, status or comment

Unfriend - To remove someone as a Facebook connection

Unlike - To redact a formerly liked post by pressing the like button again

Wall - The public face of your profile, where your posts and others' posts to you appear

Connections - The online version of network, made up of the people you decide to “connect” with. When you’re a “connection”, you can view their “full,” profile instead of their “limited,” one and send them private messages and updates

Circles - These are the community groups users put together

Feed - The news feed or feed of information that is given to a person in real-time to display news and updates from other users that the person follows on a variety of social media platforms

Handle - Contrary to a door handle, a handle will refer to a person’s username on Twitter

Viral - This describes any topic or post that is organically rapidly shared across a wide network through the Internet through social media, email, and video sharing websites

Rewards - The way in which the user is rewarded for engaging with the network

Trending - A Hashtag that has become popular across a certain region or country that will be highlighted often on the left or right side of a person’s feed

Tag - A keyword or phrase assigned to a piece of information, such as a blog, bookmark, or digital image. It helps describe the item or topic and enables it to be found again through a browse or search

Popularity - Method to determine popularity of a 'post' within the network

Pinning - This is how you show you like content on Pinterest. Once content is pinned, it appears on your own Pinboard

Archive - An organized index page that collects a website’s posts from the past

Tweets, Retweets - Tweets are posts on Twitter, limited to 140 characters. When a user tweets another’s tweet, it’s called a retweet. Credit still goes to the original user and the tweet appears as RT in the timelines of all the retweeter’s followers

Keywords - Descriptive words that describe a piece of media. A good use of keywords makes it easier for a website, article or video to be found on search engines

Meme - It rhymes with "dream", "seem" - short for "mimicked theme". Memes are ideas that catch on, in the simplest terms as an idea that spreads

Hashtag - Indicated by the # symbol followed by a word or string of words with no spaces. On Twitter, and Facebook, this creates a hyperlink that when clicked on, performs a search for that word or phrase on the social network

Geotagging - This is adding a geographic ID to let others know your location

Social Graph - A visual that shows all the connections an individual has within a social network

Widget - This is a mini application that performs a specific function connecting a user to the Internet

Private Note/Private Message (PM) - Direct and confidential user-to-user communication within a network

Descriptors - The in-network methodology for labeling and categorizing a post

Organisation - Term used to describe how users can organize posts with the network

Troll - A troll is someone who posts irrelevant, off topic and inflammatory content on a social site. A troll's main objective is to startle others and disrupt normal discussion and igniting a negative string of conversation from other users and potentially a response from the person/brand itself

Community Manager - Previously used to describe the manager of a condominium or homeowners association, digital community managers are responsible for managing a brand’s digital presence

Then there are some of these slangs (short forms/abbreviations) that prove very useful in daily (sms, whatsapp, FB, other social media and colloquial) conversation:

TBH - To Be Honest

SMH - Shaking My Head

IDK - I Don’t Know

FTW - For The Win

HBD - Happy BirthDay

BRB - Be Right Back

TTYL - Talk To You Later

TLDR - Too Long Didn’t Read

SO - Significant Other

DAM - Don't Ask Me

DBD - Don't Be Dumb

CIHY - Can I Help You

DBJ - Don't Be Jealous

DBL - Don't Be Late

WWY - Where Were You

DBM - Don't Bother Me

DBS - Don't Be Stupid

DFLI - Don't Feel Like It

IDC - I Don't Care

IRL - In Real Life

AMA - Ask Me Anything

TBT - Throwback Thursday (Throwback Thursday is an Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook phenomenon that often refers to sharing a photo that recalls something from the past)

MCM - Man Crush Monday

WCW - Woman Crush Wednesday

DFTS - Don't Forget to Smile

TISA - That/This Is So Awesome

And there are also the slang symbols like:

?u@ - Where are you?

^5 - High Five

>,< - Angry

*4u - Kiss for you

24/7 - Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week

224 - Today, tomorrow, forever

4649 - Pleased to meet you

0noe - Oh No

TX - Thanks

381 - I Love You (3 words, 8 letters, 1 meaning)

39 - Thank You

LOL (Laugh Out Loud)....This colloquialism has been so openly embraced from this form of (new) media, new users to social media sites are continuously presented with a myriad of unfamiliar phrases or baffled by a series of recognizable words that have been repurposed and redefined.

While this cultural language has helped to build the inner community of social media enthusiasts, I guess so will the corporates and businesses also be obligated to support this lingo.

As each channel of communication emerges, so do new slang words, new etiquette and redefinitions of space.

Just embrace the millennial lingo....

And DFTBA (Don't Forget To Be Awesome) !!

AI....are we approaching the age of the Matrix?

When I saw the movie series the Matrix, I was really so fascinated by the idea of this Artificial Intelligence (AI) thing. I wondered whether it could actually be true, and of late I am actually coming across a lot of information on it which suggests, YES, it could be true....fiction turning into reality!

Robots and computer programs (bots) are being made and further developed, which function on its own intelligence and adapt to situations and memorise situations and derive solutions for the same, without being fed with any information on how it should respond to situations. It's a big milieu in science but it may have its disadvantages too. It is said, now AI is being dreaded more than the nukes.

I must say, boy! it's one hell of a crazy innovation.

What is intelligence?

Well, time and again, in the entire universe the two greatest scientific mysteries have been the origin of the universe and the origin of intelligence. And intelligence....it lies in the brain.

To understand Artificial Intelligence, let's first see how the human brain works, so it will correlate.

Talking about the brain in a nutshell. Our brain is said to consume about 20-30 watts of power and it performs super calculations. So it’s quite a mystery - How is the brain wired up? How do we enhance our mental capabilities? Etc, etc....

Based on such studies, later on, the development of microprocessors and microchips started; that is, "Logic" based electronic devices. We all have read about basic Logic in our school course.

The brain has three parts, the back of the brain, which is so-called the reptilian brain. It is the most ancient primitive part of the brain that governs balance, territoriality and mating. The very back of the brain is also the kind of brain that you find in reptiles.

Then, we have the center part of the brain, which is so-called the monkey brain or the mammalian brain. The brain of emotions. The brain of social hierarchies.

And the front of the brain which is the human brain, especially the prefrontal cortex. This is where rational thinking takes place. So when you ask yourself, where am I? The answer is right behind your forehead. That is where you actually are.

Researchers, scientists and engineers further carried forward their progress in computer science and programming, and based on the idea of the human brain functionality, tried to create something similar, and called it Artificial Intelligence. These science guys....they always try to create a replica.

Attached to the concept of intelligence is the concept of consciousness too. Our brain is a prediction machine. And so, when we look at the evolution from the reptilian brain to the mammalian brain to the prefrontal cortex, we realize, that intelligence and consciousness put together, is the process of understanding our position in space with respect to others - that is emotions (in India it is very well defined by NAVARASA) - and finally running simulations into the future.

Thus, based on the attributes of the brain, the concept of Artificial Intelligence evolved. To understand AI, how it works - it is intelligence and consciousness together, which leads to learning then prediction/anticipation then response to an upcoming situation and smart adaptability and capability to modify and change....just like the human brain. But human brains tend to make mistakes, whereas these bots and borgs don't.

In the present times, with the Internet of Things (IoT), in the sensors, devices, data and cloud infrastructure that connects the numerous smart devices around us, increasingly smart interconnected world, are unprecedented and inevitable.

Billions of devices around the world are becoming interlinked and beginning to talk to each other for helping us to network, communicate, understand, control and manage our day to day lives, our homes, health, factories, cities, everything....even, now there are these automatic self driving cars, metro trains without drivers, aircrafts which run on auto pilot and so on.... Artificial Intelligence is being used and implanted into every man made device/thing for our convenience.

What if there is a malfunction and these bots and borgs go crazy? Give it a thought....

So now what say?

The tech world had drastically advanced. And so, here we are....approaching into the age of the Matrix - should I put it as? Can such a phenomenon actually happen....human race taken over by bots and borgs? We better be careful!

Albert Einstein - The all rounder

A theoretical physicist, philosopher, musician, supporter of civil rights and what not, Albert Einstein was among the most profound thinkers of the 20th century.

He developed the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics amongst others, which led to his explanations of particle theory and the motion of molecules.

Einstein worked on many key aspects of the theory of relativity, such as wormholes, the possibility of time travel, the existence of black holes and the creation of the universe. 

He is not just only known for his great mind or scientific accomplishments, but he was also wise beyond his years, even in older age, and was insightful, philosophical and witty at the same time. 

At an early age, Einstein developed an appreciation for music and so he studied music. He taught himself to play the violin without "ever practicing systematically", he said, deciding that "love is a better teacher than a sense of duty".

At one instance he said, "If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music....I get most joy in life out of music".

Albert Einstein described the fact that he believed in 'God', yet, he did not define that God as a personal God who actually existed as a separate being. He used the concept to describe everything that exists. 

In response to a young girl who had asked him whether he believed in God, he wrote: “everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe - a Spirit vastly superior to that of man”. 

On the relationship between religion and science, Einstein declared, “the situation may be expressed by an image: science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind”. 

But his interpretation of religion was pretty much different from what the general people perceive religion as. That is, the general people are more into the rituals, superstitions and fanatic ideas which they misinterpret of the religions without understanding the basic essence of it. One of religions' main function has also been to maintain social order. It is quoted that "It appeared as though Einstein would have agreed with Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harrises and Richard Dawkins of the world in holding that religious belief belongs to the childhood of the human race". 

Einstein composed a kind of creed entitled “What I Believe”, at the conclusion of which he wrote: “To sense that behind everything that can be experienced, there is something that our minds cannot grasp, whose beauty and sublimity reaches us only indirectly: this is religiousness. In this sense...I am a devoutly religious man”.

Einstein was remarkably an all rounder and his brilliance has left its mark.

I am ever so fascinated and inspired by him.... ALWAYS....

Here are some of his quotes.

Enjoy!!

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution”

“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly” 

“Human knowledge and skills alone cannot lead humanity to a happy and dignified life. Humanity has every reason to place the proclaimers of high moral standards and values above the discoverers of objective truth” 

“Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions” 

“I, at any rate, am convinced that He (God) does not throw dice” 

“The important thing is not to stop questioning; curiosity has its own reason for existing” 

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind” 

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe” 

“Falling in love is not at all the most stupid thing that people do— but gravitation cannot be held responsible for it” 

“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science” 

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new” 

“Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value” 

“The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources” 

“The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits” 

“Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character” 

“Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas” 

“Nature shows us only the tail of the lion. But I do not doubt that the lion belongs to it even though he cannot at once reveal himself because of his enormous size” 

“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile” 

“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer” 

“My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind” 

“Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding” 

“I never think of the future. It comes soon enough” 

“Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics, I can assure you that mine are all greater” 

“In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep” 

“The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible” 

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one” 

“Truth is what stands the test of experience” 

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving” 

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” 

“Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down by the mind before you reach eighteen” 

Einstein is clearly solidified as one of the most influential persons ever....

Mobile Phones - Undoubtedly the First Screen

Mobile is the FIRST screen undoubtedly -- soak it in -- because this new reality should influence EVERYTHING we do.

Today for anything to everything we first look into the mobile screens, be it google searches, maps, chats, calls, news, entertainment, the choices we make, our influncers, our heros.... you name it and you are right there, straight, looking into the screen. It has become an extremely intimate and interactive medium (can even be referred to as your soul mate). I can't imagine even a moment without my phone -- my whole world lies in there. Can you....?

Looking into the changing TV/video watching habits, which is part of major entertainment, source of information and education for people, this is what I found.

Since, people today, specially the new generation - call them the Millennials, are most of the time mobile, TV viewing habits are thus also changing. They can't afford to sit for long hours infront of the TV sets during specified hours....they do not have that kind of time and patience. They want customised, tailor made, specific to their choice and interest programs and video content, on the go.

Here are some of the latest "must read" stats from Deloitte:

(1) Millennials now watch more TV shows (not just YouTube videos!) on mobile devices than on the traditional TV box -- 57% of their viewing behaviour is on the small screen -- their first screen;

(2) 25% of these Millennials outright cancelled their pay-TV services in the past 12 months or haven't had one for over one year (that's why Cablevision's CEO, in a remarkable watershed announcement just last week, expressly marketed new "cord cutter" and "cord never" packages and told the Street that it considers itself to be a "connectivity" company rather than a content/programming company);

(3) 72% of these Millennials indicated that streaming video is the most important way for them to view video (including television programming).

Eric Scherer, Director of Future Media at French broadcaster France Televisions gave a speech sometime back. 

Here are some quotes from his speech:

"The TV industry will have to work on a mobile-first strategy. Not a digital-first strategy, but a mobile-first strategy, because mobile is now the first screen, and it's taking time away from the TV."

"They (the millennials) are always mobile, they are always social, they are always interactive....and it is more and more live....".

"The young people will not come back to the TV screen -- at least the major TV screen that we knew for the last 40 years."

In commenting about multi-channel networks (MCNs) -- most of whom increasingly consider themselves to be multi-platform networks (MPNs) -- Scherer said, "These are the kids now ruling the entertainment, and it's just the beginning of it. Again, new grammar, new syntax, new vocabulary."

So there we are in the age of millennials and no matter what, mobile phones ARE the first screen....this is the reality....likewise we must adapt.

Resource intensive apps for our cities

Apps like "Periscope" and "Meerkat" could be useful and resource intensive for our cities, specially after seeing the Nepal crisis, since the increasing penetration of smartphones, the number of mobile Internet users in India is expected to reach 213 million by June 2015 according to the Mobile Internet in India report.

"While there are many ways to discover events and places, we realized there is no better way to experience a place right now than through live video."

Periscope and Meerkat are quite similar apps for live-stream video tweet to everyone who follows you on Twitter. These apps have the unique ability to provide information quickly, seamlessly, personally, and without reliance on traditional mediums like TV news or radio.

Telling people what they need to know, NOW! These apps can hold real value in city departments, citizen journalism and mass communication.

If there is mass adoption, cities and states could really benefit from using the tool to communicate with their constituents.

Heat wave, earthquake, flood, fire, etc, it’s critical that information is communicated as quickly as possible.

As Periscope argues, their platform could be the perfect means of letting the public know what’s happening right now.

Here are some ways Periscope/Meerkat can be useful:

1.) FOR THE MEDIA & PR: Periscope could be the new media briefing tool.

Press conferences from particularly large cities have been known to be live-streamed and widely available to the public for anyone with an Internet connection. But setting up live streams and live conferences takes time, money and resources. How can these apps mitigate costs associated with traditional press relations and be used to facilitate overall communications with the media? By being a better press conference tool, of course.

Say a city is launching a program and it needs the attention of media. One could hold a traditional live press conference, but there’s greater coordination of people and resources when going that route. Instead, why not start holding a media briefing using Periscope or Meerkat? Simply put, a media briefing on such apps allows the media to get all the relevant information they will need that one would have provided in a press conference without ever having to leave their desk. And bonus: Just in case they are away from their desk, media are never away from their phones. Being mobile, apps like Periscope and Meerkat provide much needed accessibility for media members to ALWAYS be present at a press conference– thus simpler for the media to ‘attend’ the conference, no matter where they are. 

2.) IN EMERGENCY: In an emergency, these apps could be the fastest way to get your constituents critical information.

What does it actually do? They could provide the quickest and most efficient means of getting information to the widest number of people. Set up time is less than traditional media relations, while the editing process of Twitter and Facebook updates is essentially removed since it’s live.

Can it be used should the public be in imminent danger via natural disaster? Yes. It obviously can be more efficient than other social mediums, it doesn't rely on TV or radio to get a message out. The push notifications immediately creates a sense of urgency anytime someones sees such a notification.

Periscope and Meerkat can be the best means to letting people know what they need to know when they need to know it.

3.) FOR WIDE OUTREACH: Periscope can be used to reach the greatest number of non-English speaking population groups too.

In an emergency, Public Information Officer and emergency management teams can use it in order to create a strategy that effectively communicates all critical information to every resident.

If there are large populations of local language speakers, city and state leaders can set up both Twitter handles and Periscope/Meerkat accounts specific to prominent languages spoken in the area/region – and can subsequently get translators, media professionals or trained communicators, who can effectively communicate pertinent information to these specific demographic groups. Sure, this is resource intensive for our cities – and could be a crucial tool to keeping communities safe and secure during a crisis.

Apps like Periscope and Meerkat can also be cost-effective means of extending messages to a large and diverse population. These apps also should act as good tools to promote citizen journalism.