Cycling: Hobby Revisited

After a gap of 15 years, googling to find some cyclists, I came across this wonderful website, which left me overwhelmed. It was a networking site exclusively meant for cyclists in India. I was overjoyed to find loads of people like me who were interested in cycling and searching for information.

In the foray, I met some cyclists who proved highly helpful to provide me all the information alongwith the contact numbers of the cyclists in my vicinity. Losing no time, I contacted them and sensing willingness of beginners like me, Vikram and Sunny organised a cycling event on Saturday from Borivali to Aksa beach.

Being new and with no bicycle, I went to a nearby cycle shop. To my dismay, the shop didn't had cycle fit for me, but the guy was tizzy enough to help and arrange a cycle for a day.

I had my bicycle and thereafter there was no looking back. Up in the morning at 6 am we met at Don Bosco school and my passion for cylcing kept me going. On the way I had opportunity to ride various other bikes like, Raleigh elevation MTB 2.0, Hero Nuage, L.A. MTB with disc brakes and all alloy Hero Thunder racer. While returning we had a quick breakfast from the local cycle sold idliwala.

On the way back I could feel the pain in my legs. Sun and pollution multipled the hardship to reach home. Nevertheless, satisfied and having revisited my old pastime made me forgo the pain. However, I had to relax for rest of the weekend.

Sixth Sense

Yes, that’s true. In my previous post you read about the advent of Microsoft Surface with a huge price tag for commercial use. But, if Pranav Mistry has his way, the technology will soon become available for masses for the price no more than a mobile phone.

Pranav from the MIT Media Lab has developed a wearable internet-connected computer that can turn virtually any physical surface (like the wall, your hand or even a book in your hand) into a Microsoft Surface like table computer allowing you to interact with that surface using simple freehand gestures. Called Sixth Sense, a prototype of the device was recently demoed at the TED Conference by Pattie Maes (Pranav’s advisor) and it left the audience completely awestruck.

For instance, you could pick up any book from the store and the device will display ratings from Amazon.com on the book itself. Or you could project Google Maps on the wall and zoom & pan using fingers.

The video also show how you can display a pile of photographs on the wall of your room and arrange them using natural hand gesture similar to Microsoft Surface. Or do graffiti on the wall by moving your fingers in the air without touching real paint.

A newspaper can show live video news projected from the video camera of the "Sixth Sense" computer. Pranav says in an interview that any application, now on your computer or mobile phone, can be used inside Sixth Sense.

The device costs less than $350 to build but the price will obviously model "if" it goes commercial and reaches the "mass production" stage.

Microsoft Surface

I hope most of you may have heard of Microsoft Surface. It’s a computer without a keyboard and mouse. It allows you to do almost anything at the sway of your finger tips, providing a very easy to use table computer with a magic of touch. Sway your fingers and there you are maneuvering the objects on the surface.

It’s also called Touch and Gesture computing. The line between the physical world and virtual world is thinning. For instance, Surface allows cellphones to introduce themselves to the buyers. Place the cellphone on the Surface and it displays all the details about that model. Place another model and it displays the comparison with the earlier model.

Plan your holiday with the maps visible on the Surface or juggle the photos clicked, zoom them or even edit them. As visible from the videos available on Microsoft Surface’s website, the screen does not follow a fixed or disciplined width or format. You can easily rotate the applications upside down or full 360 degrees.

This piece of technology is available in US for $16,000 and is strictly for commercial purchase only. On 19th March 2009 Microsoft UK team launched the device in UK with a price tag of ₤ 11,000.

Surely, it wouldn’t be that difficult next time, when you have to teach computers to your grandparents.

Soap business: Change in Indian Television

I am not referring to the detergent business or, nor do I have plans to start one. Here I am referring to the soaps shown on Indian Television on almost most of the entertainment channels. All, with almost same set of story line involving some kind of disputes between family members. It could be between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law or two sister-in-laws fuelling their husbands to take up a fight or husband and wife.

How this era entered Indian Television when detective or comedy serials were prevalent? It all started with the advent of a soap called “'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'” (Mother-in-law was someday a daughter-in-law) by Ekta Kapoor. Most Indian women as a general nature are inclined in gossiping internal matters of a neighbour or some near relative. This tendency was well captured by Ekta Kapoor who cleverly portrayed the gossips in this soap.

TRPs for the channel (Star Plus) rose sharply breaking all records, prompting other TV channels to follow. It brought a drastic change in the way Indian audience viewed television. However, this also had ill effects as it corrupted minds of youth, especially the women folks.

Action of the women vampires in these serials are being taken seriously and some women audience even go to the extent of practicing them in reality. The dramatization and overreaction to the smallest of the issue in the house as shown in these serials started getting replicated in reality. This has lead to bigger disputes and issues in the house, and finally break-ups. To prolong the episodes, producers and directors add more disputes and drama to make it more interesting and spicy. Some audiences are so engrossed that every comment or issue in the house are compared to the similar event in these serials and are followed up, the way they were in those teleserials. In reality, this has allowed stretching up of issues without giving any second thought to the results.

Audiences need to get more intelligent in terms of solving family disputes and not take support from such serials, which are just doing their business. Serials are not there to leverage solutions to the disputes, but are only a form of entertainment which should be forgotten with the end of episode.

If at all I am given a choice to watch any soap, I would prefer watching some comedy. They are the perfect form of entertainment that makes you laugh and forget all kinds of stress and woes encountered in a day.

The Road Ahead

It’s been a long time that I wrote a post. Few of the hurdles in life kept me away from writing. At times, there are situations where we are forced to take some tough stand, without any of our fault.

On the road of life we come across some people whom we expect to enhance our journey, but not always. We are given a choice to either rely on them and help us, or not rely and continue with the journey. If good enough they will help you to achieve the target, but if not they can bring a major accident(disruption). Again it depends from situation to situation and person to person. There is no correct answer for it. It’s all about how your resiliency helps in coming over such events.

It’s very important to have a goal in mind. One cannot achieve much without a strong determination to achieve a target. Without goal, he/she will get distracted by the people around, and in the end will stand to have achieved nothing. Over and above he /she will find himself having lost good time and lagging behind today’s competitive world.

Your goal will determine the decision you make at such critical junctures of life. It’s good to face the hurdle, then turning away from the road of life. This will atleast keep you on the road and allow you to achieve the target. Positively, such events will make you more tough and strong, helping you to face bigger impediments with ease, and come out successfully.