3D (Anaglyph) Image With GIMP

What You Need:

1. A mobile/digital camera
2. A PC with GIMP (preferably running GNU/Linux)
3. Glass papers (red, blue and green colors)
4. Carton box (like the one comes with corn flakes, health drinks etc)
5. A pair of scissors
6. Glue

3D - An Introduction:

What ever we see with TWO eyes is 3D. Yes. It needs two eyes to resolve 3 dimensional visual. The same is true for hearing. How this happens? We have two eyes. But they are placed slightly apart on our face. This small distance between the eyes does the trick. Both our eyes send a two dimensional visual to our brain. and our brain merges them to resolve 3 dimensional vision. Closer the object, higher the difference between the images and farther the image lesser the difference between images created by right and left eyes. Using this, our brain creates a 3 dimensional vision.

Clicking The Photo(s!):

As we have seen in the introduction, we need two slightly different images of same object to create a 3D anaglyph. So take a photo with your digital/mobile camera and slightly move the camera few centimetres to left/right and click another image. Extreme care must be taken to avoid change in lighting, shakes and zoom levels. Try your best to keep the change in horizontal plane as much as possible (like our eyes which are horizontally separated). I have clicked first photo of this tiger doll and slightly moved the camera horizontally to left and clicked the second photo.

Right eye view

Left eye view

GIMP Work:

1. First open your right eye view image with GIMP

2. Go to Colors -> Desaturate and choose whatever shade of grey base you like. I have chosen Luminosity.

3. In color picker dialog choose red as foreground color. Make sure the values in Blue and Green fields are 0 and Red field is 255

4. Now go to Layers -> New Layer and choose foreground color. A red layer will be placed on your image! Don't panic!

5. Go to File -> Open as Layer and choose the left eye view image

6. Go to Colors -> Desaturate and choose exactly same shade of grey base as you chose in right eye view image.

7. A quick look in to your layer dialog will be like this!

8. In color picker dialog choose cyan as foreground color. Make sure the values in Blue and Green fields are 255 and Red field is 0

9. Now go to Layers -> New Layer and choose foreground color. A cyan layer will be placed on your image! Again, don't panic!

10. A quick look in to your layer dialog will be like this!

11. Select Cyan layer and choose the mode to "Screen"

12. Click on the eye icon in the layers to toggle visibility. If the eye icon is displayed, the layer is visible. Now make cyan layer and left eye image layer alone visible

13. Now your image will be like this. Go to Image -> Merge Visible Layers...

14. A quick look in to your layer dialog will be like this!

15. Select Red layer and choose the mode to "Screen"

16. Make red layer and right eye image layer alone visible


17. Now your image will be like this. Go to Image -> Merge Visible Layers...

18. A quick look in to your layer dialog will be like this!

19. Make both layers visible and select the cyan layer. Select mode as "Multiply"

20. If done correctly, your image will be like this. Export it as JPEG or PNG as you wish.

21. Fine tune your anaglyph by adjusting the layers while wearing the 3D red-cyan glasses (see below to know how to make it!)

Here is the anaglyph I have made!

The Glasses:

To make the glasses, you need red, blue and green glass papers. Cut two rectangles of red glass paper and one rectangle each of blue and green papers. Cut the frame of the glass from the carton box. Glue the red paper on one eye and blue and green on the other (to create cyan). I have made one within 15 minutes. The glass papers (large sheet) cost Rs. 5 each. You can make at least 10 glasses with a single purchase of glass papers.

Viewing:

Place the cyan side on your right eye and red side on your left eye. If you see ghost image, then move farther from screen or just zoom out the image. Outdoor images with farther backgrounds work better with this trick.

Conclusion:

So we have seen how to create an anaglyph with easy steps using GIMP. Also we have seen how to create 3D glasses at home cheap and easy! So enjoy your weekend with kids. If possible, kindly share your anaglyphs here!

Online Offers or Outright Scams?

Recently I bought some instant pasta and got some gift coupons with it. It said that there is 500/- off on purchases above 1200/- in a popular online store. As my running shoes were wearing off, I thought I can use it to buy a pair of shoes. I checked the price of some shoe models and compared it with another online store's prices. There was almost 600 to 700/- difference. So, they just give 500/- off while pricing things 600/- more. Is this an offer?

Again, one day everyone around me at office were panicking. They said that some online shops are giving unbelievable discounts. But again, when checked against some other online stores, people realized that it is just a publicity stunt and the so called offer prices are higher than other sites.

Some other companies give you "free" talktime offers with purchase of things like noodles and dishwash bars. But that requires you to "register" yourself with some sites. This is the catch. They get your email id, mobile number etc. And as usual we never read the "terms and conditions" but just click "I Agree". So this information can be misused. I am not saying that all such offers are threat to your privacy but you can not trust all such offers. Nothing in the world comes for free from "businesses". They themselves say that they are not charities!

So am I against all online purchases? Definitely not! I myself purchase lot of things online. But what I am saying is, clever marketing gimmicks and enticing offers should not mislead us to waste our money on something that is not worth. Now let me list out how these online stores are serving us better as well as how they are spoiling us!

The Good Side:

1. They don't need to rent a large showroom, air-condition it, pay hefty electricity and water bills and employ staffs. All they need is a website and a warehouse. That's why they can offer cheaper prices.

2. They offer more choices. For example, they provide option to buy phones and laptops of brands that are seldom available in conventional market.

3. They allow you to shop at your convenience. More payment choices and offers.

4. There are some tax differences between states. As these products are shipped from various locations across India, you can get a cheaper deal in that way too!

The Bad Side:

1. Things like shoes, dress etc can have mismatch against your expectations.

2. Purchasing lesser known brands may look like steal deals. But in some cases, there can be poor after sales service that will make you regret the purchase!

3. Delay in shipments are possible. Also some damaged products may need lengthy follow-ups to get rectified or refunded. Some times that even won't happen.

4. Unlike in case of conventional shopping which happens once in a while, people can constantly waste their time by looking in to online stores. Some tempting offers and targeted ads create an unwanted urges to spend on things that people seldom need.

So, to summarize, online stores are inevitable effect of the IT revolution. There is no point in protesting against it. Resistance is futile! These stores provide us more options and choices. But be careful! Don't purchase anything in a hurry. Compare price in other online stores and conventional shops. (Recently I bought a helmet of same brand/model/size for a much lesser price than in any online store from a conventional shop!) Before buying anything ask yourself if you really need it and will use it for sure and it is worth the money you are going to spend on it. Once again! Beware of online offers. Be extra cautious before buying anything (not only online but also in normal shops).

Top 5 Bon Jovi Songs

There are lot of top 5 or top 10 of everything, and I think there is no harm in adding one more to the list. This is a list of my favorite Bon Jovi songs! Enjoy and post your favorite songs too!

5. Dead or Alive

This song is kind of iconic! I talks about Bon Jovi's life and his stardom. If you are a guitarist and a biker, then you will feel the lyrics touching some unexplored areas in your heart. I used to hear this song while riding my "steel horse".


4. Thank You for Loving Me

What else we can say to the person who means everything in our life? Can anything compensate the unconditional love? I sometimes wonder whether this song also talks about the divine love too! Over all a rock tribute to timeless love.

3. Always

This song also talks about love. But a bit twitchy love. Love that is too hard to hold on but too good to lose, and the after thoughts about the missed chances. Over all a very long but fulfilling musical treat spiced with great guitar riffs, drums and keyboards. A true rock ballad!


2. Two Story Town

Nothing to do with "The Tale of Two Cities". This song is all about the good and bad faces of each of us. We live our life hiding our dark desires inside and pretending that we are yet another face in the crowd (which is no one!). The lyrics seems to be a casual sub-urban rock, but if you give it a thought, you know it is about you!



1. Bed of Roses

This is bit the reverse of "Thank You for Loving Me". This song talks about the love of self to the other person. Even if it goes unnoticed, ignored or insulted, love remains. When you take all the blame to make the other person feel comfortable, this song will heal your wounds.

Ubuntu 14.10 - Utopic Unicorn Review

If you have 14.04 LTS installed and upgrading to 14.10, there is not much to notice except the performance and power management improvements which are under the hood. Ubuntu 14.10's blueprint has only 35 items while 14.04's blueprint had 117 items. It seems Ubuntu didn't want to leave a bad taste in the minds of users on its 10th birthday. It has become a new norm in GNU/Linux community to militantly oppose any major change.

Things that are new include, improved support for hardware, power management, SSD optimization using TRIM, better Btrfs support, all of which are due to the Linux kernel update to version 3.16. 

Now let us see what Ubuntu 14.10 - Utopic Unicorn can deliver to end users against other OSes.

Ubuntu is a trusted name among GNU/Linux users. It is well known for its ease of use, good support and stability. Also even after 10 years, the release cycles of Ubuntu went like clock works and the users are provided with latest and greatest software!

Compared with proprietary operating systems, Ubuntu stands top in addressing security issues. It supports most of the latest hardware components like sound card, USB devices, laptop hot keys etc. Most of the proprietary OSes require you to install drives separately.

The centralized software management (which is common to all GNU/Linux platforms) is also a key in maintaining the system. Everything from your core operating system to browser will be updated in one shot!

So this is not a compelling update for 14.10 LTS users. But if you think there can be any thing new in 15.04 or 15.10 or even 16.04, you need to upgrade to 14.10 now. Else you have to wait till 16.10 to get any thing new that may come in between like GNOME 3.14 or Unity 8 or Mir.

But for users of other proprietary OSes, this is a compelling release. People are waiting for a newer version of windows just for a start menu button lately! But with Ubuntu you have various choices of desktop environments which can meet our taste. Also you don't have any attached guilt of pirating the OS or wasting your money on a disk of 0s and 1s :)

Ubuntu 14.10 – Steps to Upgrade

As discussed earlier in a previous blog post, Ubuntu 14.10 is out! Finally the wait is over. Before you are going to upgrade your OS, keep in mind that 14.10 is a regular release and 14.04 is a Long Term Support release (meaning you will get security/critical updates for 5 years). So if you want the LTS to stay, don't bother updating your PC/laptop until 16.04, the next LTS version, which will be release around April, 2016. With that said, for those who always want the stability of Debian with cutting edge packages, can proceed with upgrading their OS.

Steps to Upgrade:

First update your machine. Open terminal, type the following command

sudo apt-get update

This laptop was bit outdated!

Type in the password. After completion, run

sudo apt-get upgrade

Depending upon the number of packages you have and the interval of update it can take few minutes to update your OS to latest available packages.

After this, go to “Software & Updates” click on the “Updates” tab and check the “Notify me of a new Ubuntu version:” option at the bottom. It should be set to “For any new version”.

Search for "update"

Check the last option in the "update" tab

Now go to “Software Updater” and it will notify you that a newer version of Ubuntu is available.

Search for "updater"

Wow! The wait is over!

 Click “Upgrade” and you will be presented with the release notes. Click “Upgrade” here too!

It will download the “release upgrade tool” which will take care of the remaining upgrade process.

The upgrade tool will do preliminary preparations for the upgrade and calculates the packages to update as well as size of download and approximate time to download. Ensure that you have enough time and stable Internet connection. If yours is a laptop, then don't forget to connect the charger! (But sadly, there was a power cut during my upgrade process and my modem went off. But thankfully the download started from where it was left in between!)

Click “Start Upgrade” and the packages will be downloaded. After that the required packages will be installed/upgraded and obsolete packages will be removed.

After everything is over, the upgrade tool will prompt you to restart your machine.

And after that!!!

The wallpaper looks awesome!

DIY Cap Gun

The fireworks season is on! Diwali followed by Karthigai followed by Christmas followed by New Year, followed by Pongal! WOW! For next three months, there will be lot of dazzling colors and sounds (and also smoke and bit of paper!). What to do if the kids are demanding for lot of crackers and sparklers? How to divert them to do something useful and at the same time less polluting and cheap? This Do It Yourself (DIY) cap gun is one. When I was a kid, during a Diwali time, one of my friend introduced this in our street. Soon, everyone of us were bugging our parents/brothers/friends to help us in making our own cap guns and we almost lost our interest in everything else (sweets are exceptions as usual!). Let us see how to make it!

What you need?

Things you need

1. A hollow stick (I don't know the name of that plant we used, but any hollow stick that is strong and not so thick is suitable)

2. A large nail (4 or 4.5 or 5 inch nail according to the size of stick or availability)

3. A small nail (1 inch nail)

4. A bicycle wheel spoke with the nipple (screw like part that connects the spoke to the rim)

5. A rubber band

6. A knife to cut the stick

If you are below 15 years old, you also need an adult supervisor (preferably parent/elder sibling).

Steps:

Don't forget to get adult(s) help in case you are younger than 15!

1. Cut a 2 to 2.5 inch wide rectangle in the middle of the length of the stick up to half of the thickness (refer image).

2. Insert the large nail in the stick through the slit which we have cut. The head of the nail should be facing the opening of the slit (refer image). You may need some bits of paper or card to hold it tightly in place. You can use any suitable thing like large screws, flat head pins etc, preferably made of metal, in this place if you don't find a suitable nail.

3. Drive the small nail on the stick so that it is in the opposite side of the large nail (refer image).

Nipple end should be straight...

4. Bend the bicycle spoke as shown in the image.

5. Insert the bicycle spoke in to the stick, with the nipple facing the large nail and put the rubber band over the small nail and bent end of the spoke.

6. Drag the spoke and insert a spot cap or a single bit of torn roll cap in the space between the nail and spoke's nipple. Release the spoke, “Tzzaap!”

You can try with different shape of sticks. Also you can paint your gun or stick some color papers to improve its look. I once tied an empty soap box to the bottom and pasted black paper to give it a better look!

Advantages:

This gun will soon break or may need frequent tinkering. So this will keep the kids engaged in taking care of their home made guns and improving the same instead of demanding  you to buy another 1000-wala. Also it will make them proud that it is the gun they themselves have made and hence their happiness is much more compared to those who own costly cap guns and crackers. As the parts are fully bio degradable and caps cause relatively miniscule pollution, this is Eco-friendly too! You can think of lot many improvements and other such DIY toys. If you have any ideas, you can also share it with others! So have a creative, safe and responsible festival season ahead! Enjoy!

Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic Unicorn

Only two days to go, Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic Unicorn is planned to be released on 23rd October 2014. If you expect either Utopia or a Unicorn, you will be disappointed for sure. But if you expect a stable and user-friendly operating system, you will never get disappointed with Ubuntu.

Ubuntu 14.10 is a normal release (supported for 9 months), unlike 14.04, which is an LTS (Long Term Support, supported for 5 years). So, if you are running Ubuntu 14.04 and not interested in upgrading your OS for next one and half years, without losing security updates, they you should ignore these versions till Ubuntu 16.04 comes to your rescue!

A laptop running Ubuntu

Ubuntu 14.10 will pack Linux Kernel 3.16 (I am already running 3.17 through openSuse Tumbleweed!) which is well tested up to Debian standards. So you get a latest kernel without compromising stability. Linux 3.16 packs better support for Btrfs filesystem, improved performance in ARM platforms (mainly for smartphones and tablets). This will aid Ubuntu to get a better ground in mobile arena.

Sadly on UI front, neither Unity 8 nor GNOME 3.14 is coming with this version. Also the uncertainty surrounding the new Mir display server also prevails. So, if you are looking for anything new in UI/graphic area, then you have to wait a bit (or even much more) longer.

But against all odds, Ubuntu is a trusted name among PC and laptop users. Its user friendly nature and bundled software make it default choice of people who want an OS that just works! This "just works!" mantra is what Apple uses to sell their products for sky rocketing prices. But Ubuntu gives you everything for free.

Rain Rain Go Away?

It is rainy season again. A good rain is what farmers need to grow crops, forests need to sustain the flora and fauna, people in cities need to replenish the ground water, power-plants need to supply us with electricity and the list never ends... The purest natural source of water, "The Elixir of Life" as told by Sir C V Raman, is rain. Nature itself distils the water! Removing salts, killing germs and leaving behind sediments, Sun works as a huge boiler that provides us with pure water. Whenever scientists look for life in other planets/moons they look for liquid water. As Valluvar said, "The world can't sustain without water!". But what our people think about rains? Some people like the "Little Johnny" want their life to go on as usual and feel rain as a spoiler! But for a "regular" life 365 days, we have to happily receive rain for at least 15 days!

Bad Roads?

A subway, completely submerged in water.

We should not be angry with the rain for bad roads. We should raise our voices in proper forums to repair the roads regularly before the winter begins. Also the sewer system should be prepared to handle rainwater and waste water efficiently. Rainwater falling on highways and other places like bus stands and railway stations can be harvested easily. Already government has started some initiatives like that, but due to bad maintenance, these systems are barely working. So stop accusing rains for bad roads!

Mosquitoes?!

Mosquito repellents are secondary!

Rains are not the "cause" of increased mosquitoes and mosquito borne diseases. It is human inefficiency to keep the surroundings clean of stagnant water which creates suitable breeding havens for mosquitoes. And one more thing, mosquitoes that cause diseases mostly breed in fresh water. They don't breed in drainage or murky waters usually. Also the water on roads usually dries in few days, hence mosquito larvae can't grow to mosquitoes in road side puddles. But on the other hand, water stored in tanks, pots, vessels are where these mosquitoes find fresh water to breed. Also places like AC machine cases, discarded tyres, broken plastic/glass articles can hold clean water for many days providing suitable space and duration for mosquitoes to breed.

Fever and Diseases

Maintain cleanliness!

With rain, we get more fever and diseases. It is not the rain water itself that causes the diseases. It is the germs which utilize the moisture in air and on surfaces to survive for longer periods and easily spread from person to person. Sunlight, which kills many germs in sunny days of summers is also scarce. So what can we do? By maintaining clean habits, one can protect himself and others from catching infections. Frequent hand washing, avoiding touching face/eyes/mouth/food without washing hands, sneezing in to kerchiefs, wearing shoes, avoiding urination and defecation in open etc can prevent lot of infections. Taking brooms in hand is not the only way to create a "Clean India"! Every person maintaining a good personal hygiene is a soldier in this fight against diseases.

Conclusion

Some believe that if people are upset due to rains, there will be lesser rainfall! I am not one of them. We can neither summon rain through rituals nor we can send rain away by wishful thinking. But what I mean by this article is, if we take proper steps and remain well prepared, rainy seasons are enjoyable. It is a chance to thank the Almighty for the divine providence. Next time when it starts raining when you are half way to office, just find a teashop, have a hot tea/coffe and enjoy the love of nature poured upon us!

Learning from Children, the Way They Learn from Us

Most of us have seen children growing up. Their first word, their first kiss, the first picture they draw and so on. Especially parents and elder siblings know better about how children learn from us. It is pretty simple, yet overlooked fact. They imitate! That is one of the most beautiful gifts mother nature has given us apart from the basic animal instincts. A child doesn't learn crying or smiling or sleeping or sucking milk by imitation. So does a kitten learns climbing walls or a fish learns to swim. These things come naturally. But the complex human wisdom and progress relies upon the knowledge passed down to the next generation through imitation. Without imitation, we will be just a bunch of apes hunting and stealing food, breeding and killing others or getting killed by others.

Some people confuse copying and imitating and end up saying imitation is wrong, at least in some areas. For example, a child doing exactly what its mother or brother is doing is considered perfectly normal and encouraged, while a student writing(copying by looking in to his paper) exactly what the person sitting next to him is morally evil. So, imitating is allowed and good in one area and morally evil and bad in another. Their argument goes like this. A person can use language, established tools like wheel, fire, knife etc without worrying about patents, but when it is something new, that should be patent protected and only the "owner" of the "idea" should be able to use it (at least for some period of time, may be in years or decades). But they conveniently forget that without all other "existing" ideas, the new idea couldn't be there in the first place!

This is where they get things completely wrong. Most of the people concerned about freedom of knowledge are not against copyrights or trade secrets or trademarks (there are some who oppose copyrights too, and it is out of scope here). We oppose patents alone. Let us see how the student copying from the person next to him is different from a child imitating to learn. First, it is not a process of learning which the student is imitating the other one doing. He is just copying the exact text of his answer sheet. This is to falsely make it appear that he too had studied or memorized the same things as the other student. In legal terms these are forgeries and copyright violations. But consider this, a student finds and uses a method to quickly balance a chemical equation while in the class. His friend asks him how but he turns down to reveal him the trick. So the friend, tries hard and comes up with his own method to balance chemical equations faster. It may or may not be the same method. Does anyone have a problem here?

Now imagine, that the first student goes to his teacher and complains that the other student has "stolen" his "idea" and asks the teacher to look in to it. The teacher forces the other student to reveal his method and finds some similarities between the two methods. Finally, the teacher tells that nobody should use the shortcut methods except the first student in next 5 examinations and only the first student is allowed to skip certain steps in conventional way of balancing the equation, while all others should write every step. Is this fair? Who is at wrong here? This is exactly what is happening in the fields of science and technology as well as manufacturing and service industries.

By these patents, they are not protecting a certain unique order or pattern of procedures or words or sounds or pixels of creative works. The above mentioned things come under copyrights and trade secrets, which if invented/discovered/guessed independently, is not liable to legal threats as in case of patents. But patents lock ideas. For example, it may be acceptable to keep secret how a vaccine is manufactured (though anyone who has slightest moral responsibility won't lock down an important development like vaccines), but it is totally unacceptable to patent the idea of making a vaccine itself. It will take someone to put the vaccine under analysis and figure out a similar or different way to arrive at an idea to produce the vaccine. Nobody can just "copy" a vaccine sold on market. Also, if it is all about quality and standards, it need not be necessary that the first to make it is the best. These aspects of the vaccine can be regulated by government organizations like FDA.

Let me give you another imaginary case. Dr. Anand is working on an HIV vaccine. He finds that nano-capsules can hold deactivated HIV RNA and can give protection against HIV without any ill effects. He applies for a patent, not for the HIV vaccine but for the "idea" of "making a drugs by injecting genetic materials in nano-particles" (Yes, this is how patent names sound). Later Dr. Abdul who is working on cure for cancer finds that healthy DNA from normal cells contained in nano-crystals can trigger apoptosis (cell-death) in cancerous cells. But due to existing patents, this new drug couldn't be produced or distributed, unless Dr. Abdul enters in to an agreement with Dr. Anand to share profits or pay royalties or to sell his "idea" or even Dr. Anand can deny him permission without options. Else it will result in a lawsuit in patent courts taking years to prove that nano-capsules are different from nano-crystals or both are same and Dr. Abdul should pay huge sum of money in damages. As a last resort, Dr. Abdul can wait till the patents of Dr. Anand expire. In all cases, Dr. Abdul didn't get the due credit for his research efforts. Dr. Anand who never had anything to do with Dr. Abdul can possibly get a good share of his profits. The progress in field of nano-medicine by other researchers is delayed. Millions of people will suffer and die during these lengthy processes.

One relief, if you consider this blog worthy and if at all in future someone patents a nano-particle based vaccine or medicine, you can possibly quote this as a "prior-art" to evade that patent.I know for sure that this line of thought could have already come to millions of people around the world from school children to scientists. And I am sure that once nano-particles are common, it will not be long to have nano-medicines on the shelves. And this line of argument can be extended to any of the so called patents. Before anyone filed a particular patent, it could have come in the mind of at least one another person before. It should involve one or more existing ideas. It is all about mixing or improving ideas. Nothing exists on its own and no idea is Ex Nihilo! If that is the for ideas, there are patents on genetic materials, plants and chemicals. I really wonder how materials can be patented! And that is totally another area to dig in, I think.

Give two colours and ask people to mix, then they will end up with millions of shades. Yet no one owns any right over any particular shade. And they all have imitated the "idea" of mixing colours! The same goes with ideas. They are countless and not bound by any laws that explain how they should be mixed. Ideas are free. They can't be assigned to someone. The mere assignment of an idea to someone through patent won't make one its owner. Others still can imagine or improve the idea in their minds. Ideas can start and end in minds or can be communicated to others. You can't claim that you own an idea or you are the first to have it only because you are the first to communicate it to patent office or a corporate. If you want to lock down an idea, don't tell anyone and let it die in your mind. The moment you tell it or make it tangible in any other form, you can't lock it anymore. Ideas are same like sun. You don't burn sun faster by absorbing its heat using a solar panel or you can't save sun by reflecting back its lights using mirror.

Some may ask "Where is the advantage of being the first? What is the benefit for all the research and development involved in the process of arriving at the idea?" Here it is. Monthly salary or research grants, fame and sense of achievement and satisfaction are the rewards one gets for an idea. Apart from that nobody deserve anything. It is not like "invent once and live rich rest of your life" through royalties by patenting it. As long as we wants money we need to do actual work and work involved arriving at an idea is completed once the idea is reached. Nobody deserves a paycheck for the work done last year right? And also remember any "new idea" comes from the constant evolution of the existing ones back from the dawn of human beings or from the dawn of life or from the big bang itself! Even though your genome is unique, it can be traced back to the first life, so is your idea.

So, there is no harm in imitating anything. That is how we learned everything. That is how we teach everything. That is how we survive as a race of sentient beings. That is how even our cells multiply. If someone wants to restrict that, that is the utmost restriction against progress of knowledge. That is the most severe form of crime. That is the genocide of all our ancestors and their minds. That is the worst human right violation. People can go without food for weeks, water for days, air for minutes. But you can't force anyone from stop thinking. As Descartes put it "We think! Therefore we are!" As we have received the accumulated human wisdom of millennia with little or no cost, we are obliged to give back to humanity in the same note as we have to take care of our parents.


Freely you have received; freely give. -Matthew 10:8 (The Bible)

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. -Ecclesiastes 1:9 (The Bible)

Control over the use of one's ideas really constitutes control over other people's lives; and it is usually used to make their lives more difficult. -Dr. Richard Stallman, Father of Free Software Movement
 

iPhone Six or iPhone Sucks?

Every time a new iPhone or shiny iCrap is released, some or other Crapple fanboys will come to me saying now they are the best in the world and everyone else will copy them. When I reply that it is not so great and everything they claim new are age old features in other phones, they will say as the phone is selling well, there need not to be any argument and continue arguing anyway! At last, they will say, with the next version, I will buy an iPhone!

There may be any number of future iPhones. They may change in shape, size and features. But one thing will never change. My opposition to iPhone and other iBads unless and until they repent and make everything free as in freedom. Cost is the last problem I have with iProducts(still they are over priced and I think a phone or audio player or workstation doesn't worth your monthly or yearly income). But their lack of respect for user freedom is what bothers me the most.

Even in this version, they have copied features already available in many phones for years and are claiming that they are the first and best. But yes, what they claim is partly true. They are the first to implement these features with flaws and unacceptable restrictions. When we have Bluetooth in our phones, it is a feature. But Crapple users can't send or receive files, yet they too claim it as security "feature"! Similarly, they claim lack of USB charging as a "feature" and boast that they have bought a new genuine charger to replace the broken one for the same money I would spend on a new phone.

The problem is two fold. They lack knowledge about technologies and they don't want to accept the fact that they have lost lot of money for nothing. Most of the Crapple users, even though they are rich and elites, lack basic knowledge in technology. All the "facts" they "know" are from their rich ass counterparts or through advertisements and media hypes. Ask them a bit more about anything technical, they just resort to say, "I am an average user. Apple products just works!" and the next moment they again start boasting about technical details they got from review sites or word of mouth. It is kind of a social disease, you know, they can't stop talking about Crapple.

Next thing, people usually get excited when they buy new phones/PCs or other gadgets. That is quiet normal. But when they get maniac about each and every upgrade and couldn't control spending a huge sum of money for same thing you can get for less than half of the money, it means only one thing. They think the product is great as the cost is so high. Yes, there are some exclusive and limited products that costs so high because of their quality or rarity. But Crapple products are manufactured in Chinese sweatshops like any other cheap phone yet these people are believing that they are superior only because they cost more.

I remember an incident from my childhood. When I was around 12 years, my friend came to me showing a new electronic watch he just bought. It was a simple one with plain time display. He said it was 100 rupees. He got it from a carnival happening in nearby town. As the shops in carnivals sell over priced goods and his uncle who just returned from Dubai didn't mind the price, he got the 60 rupees worth watch for 100 rupees. I showed him mine which my dad bought me for 80 rupees from a local shop. Two things made him upset. My watch had light and it had some cartoon printed on the strap. That's it. He ran to his home and cried to his parents. They said something to pacify him. He came back that evening claiming that his watch is made in Japan and its light (which is not there) will work only during night, the battery will last for 15 years and so on. Also he had tried to draw some pictures on the strap with sketch pen as the marks said. I felt pity form him.

The above incident is the same that happens with Crapple users. They even attempt  to imitate others by jailbreaking, installing apps etc like my friend attempted to draw on his watch strap. But the difference is he was an innocent child who deserves sympathy but Crapple users are cunning selfish idiots who don't deserve sympathy.

You may think I am another guy who couldn't afford to buy an iPhone and just venting my anger on everyone who can buy one. But In reality, if I have that much money I will invest it on something worthwhile like books or music instruments and settle with a sub 10K phone. If you are a person who got infected by Crapple users and not yet able to take a decision, then just open your eyes and think twice before you act. For Crapple users, my advice is "Baahhh.... Meeehh..." Forget it... They are just a herd of sheep!

Unethical Behaviours of Some Apps

There are many stupid apps. But there are some apps that do more than just being stupid. They are totally unethical and evil. In this post, I will share few of such cases and provide some tips to avoid such apps.

1. They steal your data

There are some apps that snoop in to your data. They read what you type, they find where you are and lot other activities you do. Some apps (at least in theory) can even turn your microphone without your notice and send the sounds to their servers.

To prevent such apps from infringing your privacy, you need to double check the permissions of the app. If they have unjustified permissions, then NEVER install them. Nobody is born with a smartphone and surely everyone can live without a stupid app, especially when it does more harm than good.

2. They violate others' privacy

One (or more) of my stupid friend(s)/relative(s) had an app called "True caller". The evil privacy violators behind that app shamelessly steal the phone numbers in the user's contact book along with names. I was shocked to find my name and some of my friends' name in their servers. Some people claim that it only uploads after asking the users' permission. But to make MY phone number with MY name available to public, they need to get MY permission and it is not enough to get their stupid user's permission. Recently the morons at "True Caller" allowed their system to be hacked and exposed millions of user data!

The worst part is, if someone saves our number with pet names, then that too is visible to public. One day, when I was travelling in train, two college students were chatting about girls. What they said shocked me! One of the boy told his friend that he just randomly search numbers and collect numbers that have female names. Then he will make calls, calling them by name and other details. He said, some names also have the name of office/college of the person and hence he can easily trick them believing that he is their friend.

There are many such apps (WhatsApp is one) that not only endangers you but people in your contact list. Also there are lot of people who save credit/debit card numbers, PIN numbers etc in contacts. Everything is going to the app's server! Beware! To avoid such apps, my advice is to check the permission. Also report such apps to Google. If they are not listening, then take it up to other proper forums. If you have such apps, then it is time to remove them right now!

3. Fake Apps

These are apps that pose like genuine apps with all the logo, name and description, but a fake app. The following incident too happened just 3 weeks ago. One person who was sitting near me in a bus was talking through phone to his friend. He was telling that their company's (I guess it may be 4 to 5 person strong) business model is to create fake apps and post them in Google Play Store. He was telling he had created a fake app for a popular Tamil website and getting around 300 to 400 rupees per day (through ads).

To avoid this problem, check the developer of the app. If you are in doubt, check the email id of the developer too. If you find the app suspicious, report it immediately. Also write it clearly in the review too.

4. Stolen Apps

Some apps just lift the code of open source apps, rename it, change the logo and re-release them as closed source. This is violation of some free software licenses like GPL.

To avoid such apps, first check if there is a free software alternate for the app you want in F-Droid repo and if available, use it! If you strongly suspect code theft in any apps, inform the original developer about the same.

5. Bloatwares

Some phone manufactures bundle some apps with their phone itself. These apps range from mostly harmless to full fledged spywares. There is no way to uninstall them unless you flash your phone with a different ROM. Some of these apps are hardwired so that some phones need them to work properly.

To mute such apps, go to settings and try to disable them. If you are worried about disabling the app preventing other functionalities, check before buying. Also write feedbacks to the manufacturer that you have opted not to buy their phone due to bundled bloatware!

The Green Pet

Most of us love to have pets. But in this fast moving world, we find no time to keep one and maintain properly. Also today's small families can't handle responsibilities like bathing the pets, feeding them, taking them for walking, mating etc. Even fish demand changing water and proper feeding and maintenance. And for most people, the toughest part is going on vacation. It is impossible to take the pets along and it is equally impossible to convince a neighbor or relative to take care of the pet during vacations. So what can we do?

Here is a perfect solution for all of us. We keep wide varieties of green pets according to our space and economic constraints. Yes. I am talking about plants/trees. These are the pets you can keep without sparing much time and money. You can leave for vacations up to a week. And usually it is easier for you to convince your neighbor or relative to water the plant/tree once in a while rather than taking your doberman a walk.

Gooseberries grow well in Tamil Nadu climate!

I know most of the people living in concrete jungles (metros) can't afford space for trees. But still, they can easily find place for small pots growing table rose or sun rose. These small pots. If you are lucky to have a backyard (even with concrete flooring), you can grow small plants like tomato, bitter melon, rose, curry leaves etc. If you have even bigger space, with soil, then you can go for larger plants like hibiscus, jasmine etc and small trees like gooseberries, papaya etc. Seriously I am no expert in gardening. But with a small strip of land (4 x 30 feet), I managed to grow many of vegetables and trees (not at the same time though!)

If you are lucky, you will be visited by surprise guests!

These plants provide you a calm and polite company. They won't demand you to for biscuits or walking yet, they will be there quietly standing for you at the energetic early morning or after a tiring day's work. Their aroma, their colors, their shades and the gentle filtered air... Those are priceless compared to smelly dog poops or allergic cat hairs (no offense dog and cat lovers!). By growing these plants or trees, you will be surprised by pleasant visits of honey bees, sparrows, squirrels, butterflies and of course some unwanted insects and reptiles. But hey! That is not that big thing to address. In my entire 15+ years experience, I have encountered few centipedes and lizards apart from harmless insects like ants, grasshoppers and spiders (non-poisonous).

Are you feeling guilty about eating your pet's fetus? ;-)

My tips for a small backyard garden:

Spend few minutes daily to water the plants/trees.

Every weekend spend an hour to address the soil and cleaning.

Don't use pesticides and fertilizers. As you are growing them as pets, don't worry much about their yield.

Change the type of plants often. Experiment with different varieties of flowers, veggies and fruits.

Don't attach too much emotions. Plant's don't understand much and you should not be crying if that papaya tree is infected with some pest!

Conclusion:

By growing plants, you are doing more good than harm to the nature. Most of the pets are really not that good in terms of nature. They are also not an economic choice too. But plants on the other hand are both eco-friendly and economic. So enjoy the fruits of nature and cherish its beauty!

Animal Farm - Book Review

Do you want to know why Russia and West are fighting over Ukraine? Do you think communism can save the world? Do you like children's fantasy? If you answer 'yes' to any of the above questions, then ”Animal Farm” by George Orwell is a good choice for you. Counting just less than 100 pages, the book tells the story of a farm in England. But wait! Are you wondering how a farm in England can explain current political mayhem surrounding Ukraine? Written in early1940s, the book is much of a prophecy that can even belittle blabbering of Nostradamus.

Most of us would have read or at least heard about ”Gulliver's Travel”. The story about Lilliput's! You got it? But many of us are not aware that Jonathan Swift wrote the story not only as children's fantasy, but also as a political and philosophical satire. Swift ridiculed the Imperial French and British as well as the struggle between fading archaism and emerging modernity in Gulliver's Travel. Orwell on the other hand encapsulates the raise, progress and fall of USSR (Soviet Russia) inside children's fantasy, with clever parodies. The wow factor is, Orwell wrote about events happening today 70 years before.

The story opens with a farm run by one Mr. Jones in England. The animals of the farm, fed up with the mistreatment at the hands of human masters, plot and execute a rebellion successfully and take over the farm after expelling Jones. Soon, they create certain rules and orders for themselves and start running the farm all by themselves. But as time passes, the power at the hands of pigs start to corrupt them. Soon the farm is attacked by neighboring humans but the attack is successfully thwarted but with great losses too. But the pigs start changing the laws to suit their desires and gradually collaborate with humans and start imitating them in everything. They go so far that even the animals can't identify pigs from humans. At last all other animals go back to the state which they were when humans ran the farm.

The story narrates how power corrupts people who rule(pigs), how religion is used to keep people under ignorance(raven), how army and police forces are used to suppress free thought and speech(dogs), how media is used to promote personality cult(Minimus and the black cockerel) and at the same time brainwash people and spread false news(Squealer), how even after all these things some people blindly support ruling class(sheep) and finally how bad the sufferings of people can go unchanged whatever way they choose(other animals, especially horses and hens)!

In the last chapter, there is a scene when the pigs fight with humans. But this time, it is not about the ownership of the farm or welfare of animals but about the card game they are playing. This is what happening now between West and Russia. As Orwell predicted 47 years before fall of USSR, they even renamed the nation! Communism in theory is good. It can be practical in short run too. But sooner or later power will corrupt the rulers and thing will end no better or even worse than before. George Orwell, came to this conclusion long back. I still admire USSR, their rational culture and their radically new political and economic structure, their raise from a poor nation of peasants to first nation to put a man in space within few decades, their books, their bold stance against capitalist West etc. But alas... It all fell apart for just one reason. It too was run by humans.

So read the book, not only as a fantasy. The power is all yours to corrupt your mind with truth :-)