Problem With TrueCaller and Similar Apps

There are lot of so called caller identification apps that will put a name for an unknown number calling your cellphone. But the ugly truth behind this is usually overlooked. People just don't understand that just by installing these stealthy apps, they are breaching privacy of others and also putting themselves and others in risk. Let me explain few of the possible scenarios and a possible solution for handling apps like this.

1. Person A gives his number to Person B so that they can stay in touch (may be for business or personal needs). Person C asks Person B for Person A's mobile number.

In usual case, Person B will politely refuse to share Person A's number. In some cases Person B will call Person A to get his consent to give his number to Person C.

But in TrueCaller's case, the entire contact list of Person B is uploaded to TrueCaller's server WITHOUT getting the consent of anyone in the list.

2. Person A stores some sensitive information like credit card numbers and PIN numbers as contacts. (It is stupid, but people always do that right?)

In usual case, Person A puts his credit card at risk in case someone snatches his phone or hacks in to his phone.

But with TrueCaller, the numbers are uploaded to the third-party server by default. They may claim that their system will filter out numbers that are not phone numbers. But who is going to audit it?

3. Person A stores his brother's/girlfriend's/son's/mom's number with their pet-name.

In usual case, this can be seen only by few (if they are staring in to Person A's phone when their dear one is calling.

With TrueCaller, the contact is uploaded and anyone who receives a call from the number may get the pet/nick name of the person. Similarly, some people store relationships like "Person A's Mom", "Person B's Wife" etc in their phone. With whose consent these sensitive information are shared with anyone on the Internet?

4. A womanizer or a scammer can browse the TrueCaller database with random numbers and get the names. Sometimes information like the company they work for or the college they study are also included with the contact name. With this, they can call the person and start a conversation like "Hey, Rajesh, how are you? I studied MSc with you..."

Above mentioned are not the only problems you can have. There are lot more possibilities that we can never figure out! The main problem with TrueCaller and such apps are this. My (or your) mobile number, name and often, other sensitive information are uploaded to the server of a private third-party's server without my (or your) consent just because some asshole who stored your number in his contact list installed a stupid app to say him who is calling from an unknown number.

To avoid the above mentioned problems and to ensure that everyone's privacy is respected, these apps should first get the consent of the users before they store their data in their servers and make them accessible to the public. If someone who has your contact uploads their entire contact list to these thrid-parties, they should send an SMS or make an automated voice call to get your consent before even storing your data in their servers. Unless this is done, these apps remain as a serious privacy and security threat to the public.

If you want to protect yourselves and your family and friends from these rouge apps, follow the below steps.

1. Uninstall these rouge apps if you have them installed
2. If these rouge apps come pre-installed with your phone, then disable them before you start using the phone.
3. Go to their sites and unlist your numbers.
4. Tell about the dangers to your friends and family and ask them to do the above steps.
5. Give feedback to developers of these unethical apps. Give them poor rating. File complaints against them in appropriate forums.

Java 9 is Coming With Modularity

Few weeks back, due to controversies surrounding modularity, RedHat and IBM voted against the next release of Java (9). But now everything seems to be back on track! Java Specification Request (JSR) 376 has been voted with a overwhelming majority of 24-0. RedHat abstained form voting, but expressed its support for the schedules of future versions of Java.

Major players like the Eclipse Foundation, Twitter and Hazelcast have took a 180 degree turn and voted in support of modularity as they are happy with the progress. Modularity was actually planned for Java 8. But due to the complexity of the project and inability to reach a unanimous opinion on the implementation, it has been postponed to version 9.

Project Jigsaw was started in a view to bring modularity to Java. Though it won't support all OSGi functionalities, this project can go hand in hand with OSGi for better scalability, availability and performance. Already Java is getting enough mistreatment in Oracle's hands. Let us hope this new change gives the platform a good thrust forward.

தேசியத் தொழில்நுட்பத்தால் மேம்படுத்தப்பட்ட கல்வித் திட்டம்

அறிமுகம்:

NPTEL முத்திரை

தேசியத் தொழில்நுட்பத்தால் மேம்படுத்தப்பட்ட கல்வித் திட்டம் (The National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning - NPTEL) இந்திய மத்திய மனிதவள மேம்பாட்டு அமைச்சகத்தால் செயல்படுத்தப்படும் ஒரு திட்டமாகும். இத்திட்டம் இணையத்தின் மூலம் அறிவியல், தொழில்நுட்பம், பொறியியல், மேலாண்மை மற்றும் வாழ்வியல் போன்ற பல்வேறு துறைகள் சார்ந்த பாடங்களை காணொளி மற்றும் மின்-கல்வி வழியாக வழங்கிவருகிறது. இது ஏழு இந்தியத் தொழில்நுட்பக் கழகங்கள் (IITs) மற்றும் இந்திய அறிவியல்க் கழகங்களால் (IIScs) முன்னெடுக்கப்படுகிறது. மேலும் பல முன்னணி கல்வி நிறுவனங்கள் இதில் பங்குபெறுகின்றன. இதில் அகில இந்திய தொழில்நுட்பக் கல்விக் குழுவின் (AICTE) கல்வித்திட்டம் மற்றும் பல முன்னணி பல்கலைக்கழகங்களின் பாடத்திட்டங்கள்  பின்பற்றப்படுகின்றன.

நோக்கம்:

இத்திட்டத்தின் முதன்மை நோக்கம், பொறியியல் கற்கும் மாணாக்கர்களுக்கு எளிய பாடங்கள் மற்றும் காணொளிகள் மூலம் உதவுவதே ஆகும். பொதுவில், இந்திய இளைஞர்களிடம் அறிவியல் மற்றும் பொறியியல் சார்ந்த அறிவுத்திறனைப் பெருக்குவதன் மூலம் உலக அளவில் அவர்களின் தரத்தை உயர்த்தவும் இத்திட்டம் முனைகிறது.

வரலாறு:

பெங்களூரு இந்திய அறிவியல் கழகத்தில் 1999ஆம் ஆண்டு "தொழில்நுட்பத்தால் மேம்படுத்தப்பட்ட கல்வி" குறித்த பட்டறை (Workshop) ஒன்று அமெரிக்காவின் கார்னிகி மெல்லன் பல்கலைக்கழகத்தோடு (Carnegie Mellon University) இணைந்து நடத்தப்பட்டது. அதன் முடிவில், இந்தியாவிலும் இதுபோன்ற ஒரு தொழில்நுட்பத்தால் மேம்படுத்தப்பட்ட கல்விக்கான திட்டத்தின் அவசியம் பரிசீலிக்கப்பட்டு, அதற்கான உட்கட்டமைப்பு வசதிகள் தொடங்கப்பட்டன. ஜூன், 2017 நிலவரப்படி, இதில் 1200க்கும் மேற்பட்ட காணொளிகள் மின்-கல்விப் பாடங்கள் சேர்க்கப்பட்டுள்ளன.

பாடங்கள் பற்றி:

ஒவ்வொரு பாடத்திட்டத்தில் தோராயமாக 40 ஒரு மணி நேரக் காணொளிகள் உள்ளன. இரு மற்றும் முப்பரிமாண அனிமேஷன்கள், பவர் பாய்ண்டு ஸ்லைடுகள், கரும்பலகை மற்றும் இதர கற்பிக்கும் முறைகள் பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளன.

துறைகள்:

வான்வெளிப் பொறியியல், விவசாயம், கட்டடக்கலை, வளிமண்டல அறிவியல், அடிப்படைப் பாடங்கள், கட்டுமானப் பொறியியல், கணினி, மின்னியல், மின்னணு மற்றும் தகவல்தொழில்நுட்பவியல், பொறியியல் வடிவமைத்தல், சுற்றுச்சூழல், பொது, வாழ்வியல் மற்றும் சமூகம், உயிர்த்தொழில்நுட்பம், மேலாண்மை, வேதிப் பொறியியல், வேதியியல் மற்றும் உயிர்-வேதியல், கணிதம், இயந்திரப் பொறியியல், உலோகவியல், சுரங்கப் பொறியியல், கடல் பொறியியல், இயற்பியல் மற்றும் துணிப் பொறியியல் போன்ற பல்வேறு துறைகள் இதில் அடங்கும்.

எழுத்து வடிவில்:

இத்திட்டத்தில் உள்ள எல்லாக் காணொளிகளின் பேச்சுக்களும் எழுத்துவடிவிலும் கிடைக்கிறது. பி.டி.எப்., காணொளி அடியெழுத்துக்கள் மற்றும் காணொளியாற்ற வெறும் பேச்சுக்களாக எம்.பி.3 கோப்புகளாகவும் பதிவிறக்கம் செய்யலாம். இவை அனைத்தும் NPTEL இணையத்தளத்திலேயே உள்ளன. வரும் நாட்களில், காணொளிகளுக்குள் தேடுவது மற்றும் வட்டார மொழிகளில் மொழிபெயர்ப்பு போன்ற வசதிகள் செய்யப்படவுள்ளன.

குறிப்பிடத்தக்க வலைத்தளங்கள்:

1. http://nptel.ac.in  - அதிகாரப்பூர்வ இணையதளம்
2. http://www.youtube.com/iit
3. இணைய இணைப்பு இல்லாதவர்கள் NPTEL.BODHBRIDGE@gmail.com என்ற மின்னஞ்சல் முகவரியைத் தொடர்புகொண்டு இப்படங்களை குறுந்தகடுகளாகவும் குறைந்த கட்டணத்தில் பெறலாம்.

குறுக்கும் நெடுக்கும்

மின்தூக்கிகள் (lift) நம் வாழ்வில் ஆடம்பரங்களில் ஒன்றாக இருந்து தற்போது அத்தியாவசியமாக மாறிக்கொண்டுள்ளன. நகரங்களின் நெரிசல்களைச் சமாளிக்க அடுக்கடுக்காக மாடிகளைக் கட்டிக் கொண்டே போகிறோம். வானளாவிகளின் (skyscrapers) எண்ணிக்கை நாளுக்கு நாள் பெருகிக்கொண்டே போகிறது. ஓரிரண்டு மாடிகள் என்றல் படிகளில் ஏறலாம். பத்துப் பதினைந்து மாடிகள் என்றல்? மேலும் வயது முதிர்ந்தோர், மாற்றுத்திறனாளிகள், கருவுற்ற பெண்கள் என்று படிகளில் எற முடியாதவர்களும் உண்டல்லவா? ஆகவே மின்தூக்கிகள் நமக்கு இன்றியமையாத ஒன்றாகின்றன.

நான் சிலகாலம் முன் ஒரு பெரிய தொழில்நுட்பப் பூங்காவிற்குச் சென்றேன். அங்கு மின்தூக்கிகள் இருந்தன. ஆனால் மின்தூக்கி நம்மை இறங்கிவிடும் இடத்தில் இருந்து நாம் வேண்டிய இடத்திற்கு வெகுதூரம் நடக்க வேண்டியிருந்தது. காரணம், உயரத்தில் மட்டுமல்ல, அகலத்திலும் அந்தக் கட்டடம் பெரிது. இதுபோன்ற சூழல்களில் மின்தூக்கி மட்டும் போதாதாதல்லவா? மேல்/கீழ் நோக்கி மட்டும் செல்லும் மின்தூக்கியாக இல்லாமல் பக்கவாட்டிலும் செல்லும் "மின்நகர்த்தி"யாக இருந்தால் எப்படி இருக்கும்? ஜெர்மன் நாட்டைச் சேர்ந்த தைசன்க்ரப் (ThyssenKrupp) என்ற நிறுவனம் அப்படி ஒரு மின்நகர்த்தியை வடிவமைத்துள்ளது. அதற்க்கு "மல்டி" (The Multi) என்று பெயரும் சூட்டப்பட்டுள்ளது.

பொதுவாக மின்தூக்கிகள் கம்பியின் (cable) மூலமே மேலும் கீழும் இழுக்கப் படும். ஆனால் "மல்டி"யில் எந்தக் கம்பியும் கிடையாது! பின்பு எப்படி அது நகரும் என்று யோசிக்கிறீர்களா? ஜப்பானில் ஓடும் காந்தமிதவுந்தில் (Maglev Train) பயன்படுத்தப்படும் காந்தமிதவுத் (Magnetic Levitation) தொழில்நுட்பம் இதிலும் பயன்படுத்தப்படுகிறது. காந்தப்புலத்தின் உந்தலால் மின்நகர்த்தி அந்தரத்தில் மிதக்கிறது. பின்பு மின்-காந்தப்புலத்தில் செய்யப்படும் மாற்றத்தால் அது குறிப்பிட்ட திசை நோக்கி நகர்கிறது. இதனால் கம்பிகள் பளு தாங்காமல் அறுந்து போவது, உராய்வு மற்றும் தேய்மானம் போன்ற தொல்லைகள் தவிர்க்கப்படுகின்றன. மேலும் மின்தூக்கிகள் போல் மேலும்/கீழுமாக மட்டும் அல்லாமல் இவ்வகை காந்தமிதவு மின்நகர்த்திகள் பக்கவாட்டிலும், குறுக்குவாட்டிலும்கூடப் பயணிக்கக்கூடியவை. இதனால் நேரம் மிச்சமாவதோடு முதியோர் மற்றும் மாற்றுத்திறனாளிகளுக்கு ஏற்படும் இன்னல்களும் பெருமளவு குறையும்.

இதுகுறித்து தைசன்க்ரப்பின் முதன்மை செயல் அலுவலர் (CEO) ஆன்ட்ரியாஸ் ஸ்கைரென்பெக் (Andreas Schierenbeck) கூறுகையில் "500 டன் எடைகொண்ட தொடர்வண்டியை 500 மணிக்கு கி.மீ. வேகத்தில் இயக்க முடியும் என்றால், 500 அல்லது 1000 கி.கி. எடைகொண்ட பெட்டியை நொடிக்கு 5 மீட்டர் நகர்த்த முடியாத என்ன!" என்றார். இவ்வகை காந்தமிதவு மின்நகர்த்திகள் தற்போது பயன்பாட்டில் உள்ள மின்தூக்கிகள் போல 3 முதல் 5 மடங்கு வரை விலை கொண்டதாக இருக்கும் என்று கணிக்கப்படுகிறது. தற்போதுள்ள மின்தூக்கிகள் கம்பிகளின் பளுதாங்கும் திறன் காரணமாக குறிப்பிட்ட உயரத்திற்குமேல் பயன்படுத்த முடியாது. ஆனால், காந்தமிதவு மின்நகர்த்திகள் அதிஉயரக் கட்டடங்களில்கூடப் பயன்படுத்தலாம்.

என் கோள்! என் முடிவு!

எதோ சீயக்காய் விளம்பரம் என்று உங்கள் உலாவியை மூடிவிடாதீர்கள்! சில நாட்களுக்கு முன், "நானே கப்பல்! நானே மாலுமி!" என்ற பதிவில் தானியங்கிக் கப்பல்கள் குறித்து நடந்துவரும் முன்னேற்றங்கள் பற்றிப் பார்த்தோம். தற்போது வந்துள்ள செய்திகளின் படி, நாசா (NASA) அனுப்பிய க்யூரியாசிட்டி ஆளில்லா ஆய்வுக்கலம் (Curiosity Rover) தனாகவே முடுவுகள் எடுத்து ஆய்வுகளை மேற்கொள்ள ஆரம்பித்துள்ளது. 2012ஆம் ஆண்டு அமெரிக்க ஐக்கிய நாட்டின் நாசா அனுப்பிய க்யூரியாசிட்டி ஆய்வுக்கலம் செவ்வாய் கோளில் உயிர்கள் வாழ்ந்தனவா, வாழ்ந்து கொண்டிருக்கின்றனவா அல்லது வாழும் வாய்ப்பு உள்ளதா போன்ற கேள்விகளுக்கு விடை காணும் பொருட்டு பல ஆராய்ச்சிகளை மேற்கொண்டுள்ளது.

செவ்வாயில் க்யூரியாசிட்டி எடுத்துக்கொண்ட செல்ஃபீ !
நன்றி: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

இதுவரை புவியில் இருந்து கட்டுப்படுத்தப்பட்டு வந்த அக்கலம், தற்போது தன்னிச்சையாகச் (Autonomous) செயல்படத் தொடங்கியுள்ளது. ஒரு இயந்திரக்கலத்தின் ஒவ்வொரு செயல்பாட்டையும் வேறு ஒரு கோளில் இருந்துகொண்டு கட்டுப்படுத்துவது மிகவும் கடினம். இங்கிருந்து அனுப்பப்படும் ஆணைகள் செவ்வாயில் உள்ள கலத்தை அடைய பல மணிநேரங்கள் ஆகலாம்! தூரம், இடையில் உள்ள தகவல்த்தொடர்பு செயற்கைக்கோள்களின் நிலை (position) போன்றவற்றால் இந்த வகையில் கலத்தைக் கட்டுப்படுத்துவது மிகவும் நேரம் மற்றும் உழைப்பை வீணாக்கும் ஒன்றாக இருந்துவந்தது.

அதனால் ஏற்கனவே திட்டமிட்ட படி செயற்கை அறிவுத்திறன் (Artificial Intelligence) மூலம் இந்தக்காலம் இயங்கத்தொடங்கியுள்ளது. எதேச்சையாக வெவ்வேறு இடங்களை லேசர் ஒளி கொண்டு உணர்ந்து அதில் செயற்கை அறிவுத்திறன் மூலம் ஆய்வுக்குச் சிறந்த இடம் எது என்று அடையாளம் கண்டு அந்த இடத்தை ஆராய்கிறது. இந்த செயற்கை அறிவுத்திறனுக்கு "அதிக அறிவியல் சேகரிப்புக்கான தன்னிச்சையான தேடல்" (Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science -AEGIS) என்று பெயரிட்டுள்ளனர். இந்த "ஏஜிஸ்" கருவி, 94% நேரங்களில் சரியான இலக்குகளை ஆராய்ந்து அனைவரையும் வியப்பில் ஆழ்த்தி வருகிறது!

நானே கப்பல்! நானே மாலுமி!

ஜப்பான் நாட்டைச் சேர்ந்த சில கப்பல் நிறுவனங்கள் தானியங்கிக் கப்பல்களைத் தயாரிக்கும் முயற்சியில் ஈடுபட்டுள்ளன. 2025ஆம் ஆண்டையொட்டி இவ்வகைக் கப்பல்கள் பயன்பாட்டிற்கு வரலாம் என்று நம்பப்படுகிறது. மிட்ஸு ஓ.எஸ்.கே. லைன்ஸ் (Mitsu OSK Lines) மற்றும் நிப்பான் யூஸென் (Nippon Yusen) ஆகிய நிறுவனங்கள் இதில் முன்னணியில் உள்ளன.

செயற்கை அறிவுத்திறன் (Artificial Intelligence - AI) மூலம் கப்பல் செல்ல மிகவும் பாதுகாப்பான, குறைந்த தூரம், நேரம் மற்றும் எரிபொருள் செலவு ஆகும் வழித்தடத்தை தானே கண்டறிந்து பயணிக்கும் வகையில் இக்கப்பல்கள் வடிவமைக்கப் படவுள்ளன. முதல் கட்டமாக ஒரு சிறு ஊழியர்குழு கப்பலுடன் பயணிக்கும். பின்பு நாளாடைவில் முற்றிலும் தன்னிச்சையாக இயங்கும் கப்பல்கள் பயன்பாட்டிற்கு வந்து விடும் என்று துறைசார் நிபுணர்கள் கூறுகின்றனர்.

2020ஆம் ஆண்டுக்குள்ளாகவே தொலைதூரத்தில் இருந்து இயக்கப்படும் (remote controlled) கப்பல்கள் பயன்பாட்டிற்கு வந்துவிடும் என்று ரோல்ஸ் ராய்ஸ் நிறுவனத்தின் கப்பல்த் துறை ஆய்வாளர் ஆஸ்கர் லெவாண்டர் தெரிவித்துள்ளார். என்னதான் தானாகவே இயங்கும் திறன் இருந்தாலும் சில இன்றியமையாத சூழ்நிலைகளில் மனித மாலுமி ஒருவரின் முடிவுகள் தேவைப்படும். அந்நேரங்களில், கரையில் இருந்தே கண்கணிக்கும் ஒரு மாலுமி, வேண்டிய கட்டளைகளை கப்பலுக்கு அனுப்ப முடியும்.

இன்னும் எதிர்காலத்தில் என்னென்ன விந்தைகள் நமக்காகக் காத்திருக்கின்றனவோ!

India Ranks 89 in Average Internet Connection Speed

According to the latest Akami State of The Internet Report, India ranks 89 globally in average connection speed. The report observes that the average connection speed in India is around 6.5 Mbps. This makes India 14th of the 15 countries surveyed in the Asia Pacific region. It is worth noting that Asia Pacific region contains the global leader South Korea.

In terms of peak speed, India is in 15th position in Asia Pacific region and  the global rank is an abysmal 97. Despite the high penetration of 4G networks like Jio and Airtel and higher smartphone adaptation, the country remains far behind both globally and in the neighborhood in terms of connectivity speed.

Further on the distribution of broadband speeds, 42% of Indians have 4 Mbps lines, 19% have 10 Mbps lines and only 10% have 15 Mbps lines. On an interesting side note, USA ranks 28th in terms of Wireless Connectivity speeds!

செவ்வாய் தேசம்

தலைப்பை "செவ்வாய் தோஷம்" என்று வாசித்திருந்தாலோ, "செவ்வாய் தோஷம்" என்பதைப் பிழையாக "தேசம்" என்று எழுதிவிட்டேன் என்று நீங்கள் நினைத்திருந்தாலோ இந்தப் பதிவு உங்களுக்கானதல்ல. செவ்வாயும் சூரியனைச் சுற்றும் ஒரு சாதாரண கோள். அது பூமியில் மனிதன் உயிர்கள் தோன்றுவதற்கு முன்பிருந்தே இவ்வாறு சுற்றி வருகிறது. பூமியின் உயிர்கள் எதிர்காலத்தில் அழிந்து போனாலும், அதன் பின்னும் அது சுற்றும். அகா இந்தக் கோளுக்கும், உங்கள் வாழ்க்கைக்கும் (நீங்கள் விண்வெளி ஆராய்ச்சி/பயணம் தொடர்பான வேளைகளில் இல்லாத பட்சத்தில்) எந்தத் தொடர்புமில்லை. சரி, செய்திக்கு வருவோம்.

செவ்வாயின் மணல் மேடு

நாஸா (NASA) 2005-ஆம் ஆண்டு முதல் அதன் ஹைரைஸ் (HiRISE) நிழற்படவி (கேமரா) கொண்டு எடுத்த ஆயிரக்கணக்கான படங்களை வெளியிட்டுள்ளது. அதிதுல்லியமான இப்படங்கள் செவ்வாயின் பள்ளங்கள், மணல் மேடுகள், பனி முகடுகள் போன்ற பல அழகிய அம்சங்களை வெளிக்கொணர்ந்துள்ளன. இதை கீழ்காணும் இணைப்பில் காணலாம்.

http://www.uahirise.org/katalogos.php

26 மாதங்களுக்கு ஒருமுறை சூரியனும் செவ்வாயும் பூமியின் எதிர்-எதிர் பக்கங்களில் சில வாரங்கள் இருக்கும். அப்படி இருக்கும் போது சூரியக் கதிர்வீச்சின் பாதிப்பு இல்லாததால் செவ்வாயில் உள்ள "செவ்வாய் கண்காணிப்புச் செயற்கைக்கோள்" (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) பூமியில் உள்ள கட்டுப்பாட்டு நிலையத்துடன் தெளிவான தகவல் தொடர்பை ஏற்படுத்த முடியும். அதன் மூலம் மிக அதிக தகவல்களை அனுப்பவும் முடியும்.

வறண்ட நீர்ப் படுகை?

அது போன்ற ஒரு வாய்ப்பு கடந்த மே மாதம் கிடைத்தது. இதில் சிறப்பு என்னவென்றால், இந்த மே மாதம் சூரியன் செவ்வாயின் மத்தியக்கோட்டின் (equator) மீது செங்குத்தாக இருந்தது. இதனால் செவ்வாயின் வாட முனை (துருவம்) முதல் தென் முனை வரை வெளிச்சம் கிடைத்தது. இப்படங்கள் எதிர்காலத்தில் அனுப்பப்படும் செயற்கைக்கோள்கள் தரையிறங்கத் தகுதியான இடங்களைத் தேர்வு செய்யவும் பயன்படும்.

அனைவரும் குடும்பத்துடன் பார்த்து மகிழுங்கள்!!!

நன்றி:

NASA

https://science.slashdot.org/story/16/08/10/016204/nasa-publishes-a-thousand-photos-of-mars

https://www.engadget.com/2016/08/09/nasa-hirise-photos-mars/

http://www.uahirise.org/katalogos.php

Why Patenting Genes Is Wrong?

When we talk about "gene patents" there are two broad categories. 1. Patents granted for naturally occurring genes. For example, patents can be obtained for gene sequence of virus, bacteria, certain gene mutation in human or other genes. Once patented, anyone who does research or uses the gene sequence containing organism in their product have to pay royalties to the patent holder. 2. Patents granted for artificially modified genes. Here it can be genetically modified cattle, crops or any other organism or even human genome. It is usually done to tone down unfavorable traits and to enhance or introduce favorable traits. Again, once patented, the company is granted an intellectual monopoly over the gene. Let us see how both cases are absurd and stupid. Only ruthless cut-throat capitalists can favor such unethical and immoral system at the cost of millions of lives.

First let me clear my opinion on genetic engineering. We need genetic engineering to survive as a species in this world.  Let me list out few of the critically important advancements in this field.

1. Human population is growing. To meet the growing demand for food, we cannot go on increasing land usage for agriculture. Land usage for agriculture is the major cause of deforestation and species extinction. Agriculture destroys entire ecosystems for growing food or other crops for us humans alone! So it is high time that we reduce and reverse land utilization. How can we do that? Genetically modified crops with better yield can help us. We can feed the growing population with lesser land if we rightly hit the genes that result in high yields.

2. Water is also a very scarce resource today. With GMO, we can have drought resistant crops which consume less water and hence better usage of water.

3. Reduction of pesticide is also a benefit of GMO crops. Crops designed to resist insects or infections need lesser pesticides and chemicals to grow and hence more eco-friendly.

4. Drug resistance of existing bacterial diseases and new infectious disease like Ebola, Zika are causing lot of deaths and disabilities around the world. Genetic Engineering can provide us with new anti-biotics and vaccines that can cure or prevent these diseases.

5. Diseases like diabetes, obesity, cancer, birth defects and lot more can be caused due to gene mutations. By identifying the specific genetic causes and working on a cure can save lot of lives.

These are few uses I can think now. But the list can be never ending. Organic farming or herbal remedies are no match to these advancements of science and hence we should support scientific advancements instead of pseudoscience mumbo-jumbos. Now let us see how patent system spoils this field with its unrealistic powers!

1. Patents on Naturally Occurring Genes

Did Isaac Newton invent gravity? Did Galileo invent heliocentricity? Did Robert Hooke invent cells? What about Vasco da Gama? Did he invent India? No! They all discovered. Discovery is finding or observing something already in existence. And nobody can claim a patent for a discovery. Genes of naturally occurring virus, bacteria and mutation that cause cancer or other diseases are not invented in any sense. They are just observed, may be for the first time. But how can people claim patents for things like SARS virus genome or mutation that causes breast cancer? Capitalist bots just repeat the same old blabber that "the company has invested money and effort to "find" the gene and anyone else who "uses" should pay them. Else without monetary benefits the system won't work!". Even Newton spent lot of time, effort and money to discover theory of gravity. Can he own a patent? Without any monetary benefit protected by patent system how people like Einstein worked further on Newtonian equations to arrive at more complicated theories like relativity? Things like getting soil from moon or catching a species from deep ocean require lot of money too. If none of them can be patented how can a naturally existing gene can be patented? We can't patent the pattern of seeds in a fruit. We can't patent the sequence of event in embryo development. Similarly no one should be allowed to patent a sequence of genetic material just because they have observed it first or filed for a patent first!

These type of patents cripple research and invention of drugs or solutions to common problems like eradication of mosquito, conservation of endangered species etc. A rich person can setup an R&D lab and mine for genomes of disease causing microbes and mutation, file for patents and act like a patent troll suing everyone who attempts to research on any of them. It is already happening today. We should not let this stay this way until a major epidemic like Ebola becomes pandemic and a corporate holding patent for the gene keeps the entire humanity for ransom!

2. Patents on Modified Genes

Genes are just sequence of organic molecules arranged in a particular pattern, just like an essay is a sequence of letter and a piece of music is a sequence of notes. So even if anyone "creates" a gene, it should not be allowed to be patented but it may be copyrighted (still it is wrong, I will come to that shortly). So if somebody claims that they have "created" a gene "from the scratch" then they can ONLY claim copyright not patent.

Now let us see why copyrighting is also not valid in case of GMOs. All the GMOs in the market today are not original works but derivative works. So, the existing genes are just like songs or literature in public domain. Anyone can create a derivative work over it. But cannot restrict others from doing a similar derivative work. When Monsanto say that they created a particular type of corn, they have worked on existing corn. The corn which Native Americans already genetically modified through selective breeding. Without Native Americans shaping the genes of corn with the chisel of selective breeding, corn, in its current form, will not be here! The wild corn would be of no use for us. Not only corn. All food crops and cattle are product of genetic engineering through selective breeding and co-evolution. Lot of money, time and effort of people for generations are involved in genetically modifying these organisms. Monsanto or any other company cannot just take these organisms and edit a gene here and there to claim that it is their own "intellectual property". What percentage of original genes have been modified, how original is the modification? Is the work is mere compilation of two existing genes? Does it involve only a trivial change like removing a bad mutation? These are some of the questions need to be answered. Also if someone can build on the collective work of people for centuries, then why not others can do the same?

These type of patents prevent high yielding, drought resistant, pest resistant and more nutritious variants of crops from reaching everyone. Even if someone tries to arrive at organisms with similar traits they are threatened with lawsuits. This also applies to researches on new anti-biotics, gene therapies and vaccines.

Not Only Genes!

As we have seen, there is no logic in granting patent to genes. The US government refused to offer patents on gene for a long time. But due to corporate lobbies and coercion, US government surrendered to their demands. But later, US Supreme Court declared that naturally occurring genes cannot be patented. But Europe allows patenting naturally occurring genes, provided they are isolated! All capitalist-run governments accept patent on modified genes (irrespective of the size, nature, triviality of the modification). Now the same is forced on smaller nations through treaties and agreements and in some cases, even through war!

Patents are awarded even for chemicals and molecules. Patent as a system itself favors monopoly. Monopoly always result in accumulation of wealth in the hands of few at the cost of hardship of many. It is high time that governments stop helping these cut-throat corporates and stop appeasing them with unethical patent laws. Instead governments can fund universities, state sponsored labs and organizations to take up the research. Just by spending less on war and weapons, each nation can contribute towards a collective research fund and required technologies can be prioritized based on impact and outcome. By this we can also have some sanity in prioritizing researches. For example, in a capitalistic free market economy, a gel used in cosmetic surgery will be "voted up with wallet" than a search for new anti-biotic. So some level of state planning and state regulation is needed. We cannot allow blind and uncontrolled competition to decide things for us. Let us stand against patent and pseudoscience as both result in crippling of intellectual progress!

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).

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 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.

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!

Must Have Tools for All "Free" Musicians!

In an earlier post, I have mentioned that practicing with a metronome can do improve your skills. But there are some downsides with the metronome. It can produce one or two type of tones. It needs battery (in case of mechanical metronomes, they need proper maintenance). And it costs you money.

What about having a drum machine? They cost even more than metronome. What to do? Here comes two good Free Software (free as in freedom) tools that can help you improve your timing skills without any of the before said limitations and for free of cost!

GNU GTick

GNU GTick is for people who like the conventional metronome. It is fully configurable metronome with a neat and simple GUI. You can configure the tempo (speed or beats per minute) or you can pick it from the preset values. It comes with a visual tick. You can also select the beats in which the accent beat should sound. It is such a small tool that you don't need anyone to teach you how to use!

GNU GTick in action

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is also a Free Software. It is a full blown drum machine. It comes with a default set of drum samples. You can also download more samples and include your own. You can compose individual patterns and club them together to create a song. Each and every aspect like velocity, pitch, volume, pan etc are controllable and you will feel that you are practicing with a real drummer by your side!

Hydrogen in action

Conclusion:

With right set of tools and good practice, anyone can improve their music skills. Surely GNU GTick and Hydrogen are must have in those right set of tools! As a "Free" Musician (Free as in Freedom) let us make sure we use free software, codecs and licenses for all our works. Also we should say no to restrictive technologies like DRM. May the power be with us!

May 1st

Everybody know that today is world labor day. And if you want to know the history and geography about this day, you can head to the Wikipedia article on the same by clicking here. But I am here with a different message. Especially to the younger generation of so called "professionals" working for corporates.

Who is a worker? Anyone who is not the owner of a business is a worker. Even owners of smaller business like salon shops, iron (laundry) shops etc are workers in proper sense. In that aspect, we are all workers. We are all labors. Don't let your 5 digit salary make you feel that you are different from those who collect garbage or lay down the roads in scorching sun. You are still a labor.

Most of the IT professionals, while interacting with a plumber or carpenter, don't think they are one of their own kind. They isolate themselves thinking they are uneducated, low class while themselves educated, high/upper-middle class. This is a very dangerous mindset. Your salaries won't define who you are. Your nature of work defines who you are.

Let us take a typical day...

You wake up from your bed made by carpenters.

Your bedsheets by textile mill workers.

You go to bathroom constructed by construction workers and plumbers.

You eat food produced by farmers.

You wear shoes made by cobblers.

You lock your door with locks made by blacksmiths.

You drive a car or take a bus manufactured by mechanics.

You travel on the road laid by labors.

Your office is maintained by housekeeping people.

Your office is guarded by security people.

Your network cables are laid by labors.

Electricity and air-condition maintained by electricians.

Your PC manufactured by technicians.

Your .NET code can't build this water tank!

Without all these, you can't work. You can't even live! And remember, you are not the owner of any of the above mentioned services. You are just getting benefited by the services.

You too are one of the labors making the world better.

You are the one who make people's life easy with ATMs.

Your applications make it easy for people to apply for exams.

Your work makes exam/election results readily available.

You create options to book tickets and pay bills from home.

You save nature by reducing paper works to mouse clicks.

You make it possible for people to connect with each other.

You work to trace cyber-criminals.

And the list goes on.

So be proud that you are also part of the work force like everyone around you. But you also need to learn from valuable lessons from the same people whom you despise.

1. Unity

You should stay united. When salaries are not paid properly for some new joinees, don't take it easy as market trend. Remember, the mill workers fighting for the benefits of temporary workers. When someone is fired for no good reason, don't console yourself saying "Thank God! It is not me!" Instead, stand united for his cause. Who knows, when your turn of getting fired will come? Learn these lessons from the workers around you. Nobody can mess with them and walk safely. Their fellow workers will gather like swarms of bees to make them repent and apologize. The same spirit should come to us. That will make us stronger. Corporate CEOs and HRs should know that we are not second to anybody when it comes to our rights.

2. Modesty

Don't allow your high salaries decide how you live. You should be the one who decide how your money is spent. Don't become dependent on too many luxuries of life. Imagine, if we all use public transport and stop using ACs and invertors, how much fuel and electricity can be saved! Invertors consume more power. While the rich are watching IPL with invertor, poor children are struggling with candles to study. Your cozy apartments, luxury cars, LCD TV etc won't bring you happiness. You are just a recession away from those people living modest life. For them it is the normal life. But when you fall, you can't tolerate the ground reality. So it is better to stay at ground than to fly like a plastic bag carried by wind.

3. Humility

Treat people not according to their economic status or educational qualification. Treat them according to what their character is. Treating a human with dignity and respect, we need to learn from them. For example, a construction worker respects teacher of his son more than us. A taxi-driver respects a doctor more than us. You may be an onsite return. You may have more degrees. You earn more money. But your behavior is not like that. Don't put yourself above everyone in everything.

So, this May 1st stuff is not for "them". It is for "us". We as workers, are the force that builds and sustains this world. So let us leave behind corporate fed "elite" mindset and embrace our fellow workers, united in thoughts and deeds.

My Experience with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

I installed Ubuntu 12.04 LTS in my new laptop due to laziness. (Yes, that was to top most reason as I was not in a mood to download a new distro. My USB drive had Ubuntu 12.04 as I used it lastly to install the same in my friend's laptop.) The laptop originally came with Windows 8. But I am happy only after wiping all the traces (installation, hidden rescue partition, drivers partition and even the Windows sticker) of it from my laptop. Now let me share my experience in upgrading and using 14.04 LTS.

First I did a normal update and made sure that all things are up to date. Then I opened update-manager through terminal and it showed that 14.04 is available. I chose to upgrade. It downloaded some 2300+ packages (around 1 GB) and took nearly 2 hours to get completed. Occasionally it asked few things like which display manager to use (as I have installed 4 desktop environments) and there was a change in only one conf file. So everything went fine.

After the reboot, I was taken aback by the speed. But on the other hand, the brightness control stopped to work. All other hardware drivers like bluetooth, Wi-Fi, touchscreen, volume keys, suspend/resume were working fine. So I did these simple changes to get things working! Overall the UI and the system are optimized and they run faster than earlier version. Also the UI is polished to work well with touch devices. So it is a great deal for people having touch laptops.

It packs lot of goodies and everything you need from media player to office applications are readily available. With Ubuntu LTS, you also get enterprise quality, robust and secure OS, which will be supported for another 5 years. Hope my laptop will live longer than that!

Boot speed has greatly improved.I logged in to the default Unity interface for the first time. I was greeted with a screen detailing how to use Unity. Fine. The UI is smooth and as a Gnome user, I like Unity too. Only thing is that, whatever you search in Unity will be sent to internet for searching other service providers, especially Amazon. You can easily disable it though! Just type privacy in the search box and turn off Internet search. You can also remove Amazon extension from software center or through command line.

Now my favorite, Gnome 3! It too was awesome. Clean and responsive. But due to my low end processor and lesser RAM, there were some occasional lags. But still it is usable.

 
Gnome Classic modes are also available in the login screen itself. Both Metacity and Compiz options to play with! It too is polished and less resource savy. I usually choose this session, if I am going to kill time with games and media.

LXDE desktop offers a old style but lightning fast experience. The LXDE needs some touch-ups to make things like screenshots and brightness control to work. But thankfully, they are all easily configurable!

XFCE experience is also smooth. I prefer this for most of the times as it is bit heavier than LXDE but lot lighter than Gnome or Unity, perfect for my laptop configuration!

Lenovo S210T - Brightness Control Keys Under Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

With the default Ubuntu 14.04 installation brightness control keys won't work. To fix this follow the steps below:

1. Open terminal (press Win key and type "terminal" and choose terminal)

2. Type the below code (you may be prompted to enter password)

gksudo gedit /etc/default/grub

3. In the grub file, edit the following line

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

to

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi_backlight=vendor"

4. Make sure you have not done any other change by mistake as it will mess up your booting. Save and close the file.

5. Then execute below command

sudo update-grub

6. Edit blacklist configuration file for modprobe

gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

7. Add the following lines to it

# Added to make brightness control work
blacklist ideapad_laptop

8. Restart your PC

Brightness control working in Gnome session

For LXDE and XFCE, the keyboard keys won't work. But alternatively you can use the xbacklight command. Follow the below steps after doing above changes.

1. To install xbacklight

sudo apt-get install xbacklight

2. To decrease brightness

xbacklight -dec 5

3. and to increase brightness

xbacklight -inc 7

The numbers can be anything But be extra careful as it may fully reduce brightness if you give large numbers.

Any other comments/feedbacks/improvements are welcome! Thanks for reading.

What GnuTLS and OpenSSL Teach Us?

Recently there are lot of news about security issues in the Open Source software. GnuTLS was the first to come in light followed by OpenSSL (so called "Heartbleed" bug). Some people are completely unaware while some others (corporate slaves) use this to attack the free software movement itself, saying open source is insecure.

First, being  an open source project won't make the code superior or free of bugs automatically. Only with repeated review and testing along with highly skilled programmers, quality software can be written. So, who is going to review? Who is going to code? Most of the free software are developed by comparatively good developers and frequently reviewed by maintainers and communities. Most of them have an active base of beta testers too. So the free software are, most of the times, superior in quality compared to proprietary software.

BUT, there are many projects where the maintainers accidentally overlook a programming error, which may or may not be intentional. In such cases, there is a chance for the bug to get in to the released version. It will stay there for longer time after this phase as mostly the review will happen for new code. So, unless a biting issue shows up or someone by chance catch the bug during reviews, the bug will stay.

This is what happened with GnuTLS and OpenSSL. But there is a solution for this problem. As we discussed earlier, college students and hobby programmers can be encouraged to review, test and write code for free software projects. That will surely improve a lot. The next is, the corporates who use the free software should show some social responsibility by providing software engineers to test, review and bug fix the products they are using. OpenSSL bug was uncovered by Google's review thankfully. I know, there are smaller companies who can't do that. They can contribute by donating whatever amount of money or time or resource they have for the projects they rely upon.

Quality and safety won't come for free. Especially, in a community, it is everyone's responsibilities. But what people expect is much like, "I am a user and they are the developers". That mindset is the worst problem here. Everyone should think we are part of the free software community and whatever we create or use should benefit all of us.

By the by, for those corporate slaves, Free Software developers are resisting government pressure to create backdoors for the security agencies. But corporates gladly open doors for some money. With closed source tools, who knows how many such bugs exists? Don't think that as the source is closed, nobody can exploit it. Malicious hackers will use disassembler to do the job for them. So unavailability of source and rigid licensing will only delay or prevent identifying and fixing the issues while won't impact those who exploit the issue.

When there is a bug in the free software or open source software, it becomes news because they are rare. But millions of proprietary software bugs are exploited day in and day out without much noise because they are usual thing and even serious issues are covered up by corporate lobbies.

If you still feel that free software are inferior in quality, then it is time to do something to change it instead of sitting and complaining.

Talk is cheap. Show me the code. -Linus Torvalds