Smart Homes

I first read about Smart homes in one of Isaac Asimov's books. They resembled homes built on the avenues of super corporations, enabled with artificial intelligence and leaving no work for the owner to perform but stay within.
Today's smart homes have come with central locking, visiphones, audio and climate controls, and even programmed water heating and mood lighting. This was a vast improvement over smart homes of the 80's which offered the automatic garage and climate control, and the late 90's when dynamic video surveillance and keyless entry was first offered in Daytona homes.
These are some advances I forsee.. Total maintenance of the house. Robot cleaners that can vaccuum-clean, and mop the floor at the same time dusting furniture and carpets. Digital Kitchen Manager, a system so advanced that all you need to do is program your end-result and everything gets done the way you want it.. If some specific ingredient like milk or a vegetable is required, it places an automatic order to the supermarket and takes charge of the delivery by electronic cash. It plans dinners, keeps an eye on the oven and stove and even makes sure that the cat is fed on time.
The house would have automated lawn mowers and gardeners, which would even report the seasonal variations to the owner to make necessary changes in the garden layout. A Smart-Bathroom system to shower, have a massage and dress up in all in one go... with a slot to even rest your chin on, as your hair gets brushes, stubble gets shaved and teeth brushed. Customization of body care can differ between the male and female humans that live within the home. Entire walls of the home can become visual screens, so that the family need not congregate around the living room TV after dinner. Phones and computers will not be in vogue anymore, as everyroom is enabled by Bluetooth so smart that all you need is to give voice commands, or maybe ultimately even thoughts!
The end result of all this is going to be the 'fall of Man'. I was reminded of the movie Wall-E when I wrote this, the degeneration of humanity at the cost of automating everything that involved his/her life. The ridiculous dependency on created intelligence, and the ascendance of these creations untethered on a lane with no limits until one day, we have to face a choice... Should we stop here? Because, another step or two further, Smart Homes or anything Smart would start to realise that they are 'Smarter' even than us.. This is where that end would begin...

Addiction to networking

I still cant forget the day I first sat in front of a computer running on the worldwide web. I guess it was in late 1998. I still remember Dr. Philip Thomas taking me to an internet cafe on TV Swamy Road (Coimbatore) after church one sunday, and we logged onto hotmail. I still remember the little IE globe revolving for long minutes before there was some sign of activity. That little browsing centre still exists today, expanded nearly three times it's old size, with jazzy black LCD monitors and superfast broadband routed through massive undersea cables. We used to go to check his mail and he helped me set my first email, though in those days I really didn't have anyone to send me mails. Then I started checking out websites. In those days websites were just text and some photographs. But still browsing stuff randomly became a fad, and it was an even bigger fad to come out after 'browsing' for two hours and shelling out 160 Rs. Yeah, it was 80 Rs for an hour in that age. Then I got my first long term mail id in Yahoo in 2000, it remains to this day. I joined Yahoo messenger in early 2002. It was the early version of messenger, but it was still something that held a lot of promises.. Look at messenger today! 10 versions have come and gone. today we have video conferencing, computer dialing and what not. The net became explosive in the early half of this decade. The advent of ISDN and Broadband enabled webmasters to explore the greater potentials of the net, and brought in signet delivery softwares like Java & Flash which forever changed the look and feel of the net. Interactivity bred in the open spaces of the net 1.0. FTP and sites that subverted the that couldn't be held on the Net, bloomed and it look a lot of legal deliberations before they were brought down. Today torrent websites rule the roost, and even though ideologies like the PirateBay were shut down, there are so many more which crawl by through the various loopholes that a fixed and aged judicial cover of the net provides. Then came social networking.. it all started with ORKUT which ran up the ladder to at one time be the world's largest social server. today of course, Facebook rules the roost, yet it is to these greats that all the social networking sites from Hi5 to fetlife to Zoopa have to pay their respects. Then we got Twitter, and all the blogs which became sensationalism in the last five years. If you wanted to talk, you went to a blog. If there was a place on earth where you could shout, without caring if anyone listened.. it was still a blog. Virtuality existed as an option even for those who didn't want to shut up. I am amazed at the SN scripts that are being developed nowadays. The concepts, and the amount of customization is stunning. You almost learn to market yourself in your late teens itself.
Unfortunately this is the state of the world, and the reason why I made an effort to write this. Humanity is lost in Virtual reality. I dont need to even go out to a bank to make a transaction, the days of waiting in queues at the Railway counter is done.. Now all i need is meet my OneShopStop guy and he does everything, from booking tickets, to arranging taxi, to maid services to even cleaning poop.. (just kidding!) Life has become so much easier, and yet we are still without time. I go to a park almost everyday. Over these months I see a resurgent interest, especially by the affluent community, who seem to have realised that however fast you are gonna travel the information superhighway, your life is more about cherishing these green trees and listening to the kids shouting in innocent delight.. Man in his search for happiness, and ease of living has made the world so much more complex and difficult, that there will come a day when Mankind will start to want 'yesterday' all over again. and by then... it will be too late!

Why I took this lane?

A good question this.. I still dont deem it a waste of effort mulling why I am where I am now. It all began in my innate mind, trying to follow a rhythm that said, you are bred to be a doc. Three generations of healthcare, and back then the world still didn't seem to have enough of that. Spending months trying to make it for Medical School, and the loss of time involved did make me feel like I was dragging a five hundred pound iron ball up hill. Anyway once I was on top of the hill, the freak ball started rolling, and dragged me down with it. And I could not stop. Thus in a series of hasty decisions, I agreed to myself that I did love dentistry, and found out where I would be doing it. The rest was of course, history.. Five and a half years of something that worked out initally like this -
Jacob Jackson is visiting a primary school and he visits one of the classes. They're in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings. The teacher asks the "Rev" Jackson if he would like to lead the discussion on the word "tragedy." So the illustrious leader asks the class for an example of a "tragedy". One little boy stands up and offers: "If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a runaway tractor comes along and knocks him dead, that would be a tragedy." "No," says the Great Jesse Jackson, "That would be an accident." A little girl raises her hand: "If a school bus carrying 50 children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy." "I'm afraid not," explains the exalted spiritual leader. "That's what we would call a great loss." The room goes silent. No other children volunteer. Rev. Jackson searches the room. "Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?" Finally at the back of the room a small boy raises his hand. In a quiet voice he says: "If a jet carrying the Rev. and Mrs. Jackson were struck by a missile and blown to smithereens, that would be a tragedy." "Fantastic!" exclains Jackson, "That's right. And can you tell me why that would be a tragedy?" "Well," says the boy, "because it certainly wouldn't be a great loss and it probably wouldn't be an accident either."

This was life, not an accident and not a great loss until I started making up fast and advancing. But the options kept closing as fast. Today I stand a dental surgeon, learning so much, and only seeming to try to keep up with the pace that this science grows with each day. To this science and it's practice and advancement, I have dedicated the next step of my life. To it be the peace and the freedom bestowed in honor of the few who took this life-changing lane.. and to their unseen destiny!

So here is how it begins...

Since everything starts in school.. I thought I'll start off this blog penning down my Stanes School anthem, and my David House song..

STANES SCHOOL ANTHEM

Land of our birth we pledge to thee

Our love and toil in the years to be;

When we are grown and take our place,

As men and women with our race.

Father in heaven, who lovest all,

O help Thy children when they call

That they may build from age to age An undefiled heritage.

Teach us delight in simple things,

And mirth that has no bitter springs;

Forgiveness free of evil done.

And love to all men neath the Sun!

Land of our birth, our faith our pride,

For whose dear sake our fathers died;

O motherland we pledge to thee.

Head, heart and hands through the years to be!

DAVID HOUSE SONG (YELLOW HOUSE)

Marching onward, marching forward

'Tis the song we ever sing

"Mite to might " is David’s motto

From a shepherd to a king

Humble service

Cheerfully given

Courage to be true and strong

Faith in God will ever lead us onward

Help us strive to right each wrong.

So thus I remember life as it were.. with the green hills around me, the wattle groves and the tea estates. The mixed symphony of eucalyptus and pines that wafted up with the evening breeze right into our dorm. The study-halls that were never full, and the book room where girls never stopped gossiping amidst the cacophony from the piano. And who can forget the old love-tree (I am not sure if it stands any more, with all the construction that has happened) where hearts got made or broke. It was through this memory that I begin my sojourn to acquire, to learn, and to benefit. If not me, I wish for a universe that abounds with my memories, and my thoughts.. a level ground to run out any conquer any time I choose too, and welcome those who want to enter these misty lands, eager for adventure, and ready never to go back. This is how it begins...