Dass

It's presumptive of me to call them the greatest writers, but to me they are and very likely to many others too. Quite frankly they are my favourite writer but the greatest... oh well everybody has their list. But mine has not changed for the last 40 years. P G Wodehouse is classically the best of the humourous writers ever. His Jeeves is a synonym for butlers, Intelligent butlers. And there is Wooster and Lord Emsworth. Oh, the characters are finely etched and each one leaves behind an impression. Be it Psmith or  Cutbert in his short stories. I guffaw loudly every time I remember his characters and scenes. Sometimes it is just a smile - as I write this, I am smiling. He is the ultimate in humourous English writing. And he put it himself very devilishly in one of his short stories where a visiting Russian writer names another Russian author and P G Wodehouse as the best.  Then there is Joseph Heller. Catch 22 made little sense but then I had to read it many more times before ...

If one is truly great, one will love all humankind! If one is truly great, one will love all humankind! One will love the good and bad amongst all humanity. The good will be loved with pride, admiration and joy. The bad will be loved with pity and sorry, for one will know - if truly great -  that both good and bad qualities of people are often but the results of circumstances over which they have, because of their ignorance, little control.  To be truly great, one will be compassionate, sympathetic and tolerant. When compelled to pass judgement upon others, one will temper justice with tender mercy, throwing oneself always on the side of the weak, the uninformed and the poverty-stricken. Thus one will not only go the extra mile in a true spirit of fellowship, but will also go willingly and graciously. And if the second mile be not enough, one must go the third and the fourth, and as many additional miles as may be necessary. - Napoleon Hill (Master Key to Riches) I picked this...

No, I am not referring to the Merchant-Ivory film starring Shashi Kapoor which released in 1963.  We This one refers to all of us. The householder with umpteen things to worry about... Filial relations, money, job, clients, bosses,et al, the list is long. Who has the time to worry about Philosophy and Science. Who cares how we came about or where the world will be in a 1000 years!!! We are worried about today. The 21st century and this decade will do fine for worrying. Welcome to the householder.  When did the world ever belong to a particular time? When did we ever take a break from time? Never matter, while a few scientists and academicians wring out the mysteries of nature  the rest of us nearly 8 billion of us- we are content, or discontent,  with life in general. Because we are householders.

What is Singularity? It is a hypothesised future era or event when exponential improvements in computer intelligence and advances in technology will result in an acute change in human society and evolution.

What comes after trillion? I ask this question because we are reaching the zenith, over the use of trillion. There are no trillionaires in the world today but by next decade we should see one.  A million has six zeroes A billion is one followed by nine zeroes. A trillion has 12 zeroes 1,000,000 1,000,000,000 1,000,000,000,000 In the Indian context, it is 10 lakh that makes a million. (for those who unaware, one lakh is a hundred thousand!) I always thought that after trillion one would have a frillion.  But no! That's not even a proper word. Sad, but true.  The real word is  quadrillion. Now you know. Other words that follow are as follows: Quintillion : 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 Nonillion : 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Decillion: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Googol: 1 followed by 100 zeros (Yep, now you know what google really means!)   As you can see these numbers are formed with 3 has the power.   The number stands for ...

I reflect on the past and am sad. I think of the future and I am happy because I will be wiser... Really time travel is impossible. If I were given the opportunity to go back to my youth, I wouldn't. Because even with my present wisdom,as a youth, I would still be the old me. And the younger me would not listen to the older me. No matter how hard I try! No, don't give me the past with its predictability. Give me the future with its wisdom and unpredictability, Anytime. I look at youth today and envy them but I look towards the future and am happy to move into old age with wisdom..   

"I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics." Richard Feynman   Just because you see it here does not mean I understand it. In general, it is all balderdash! (I mean gibberish!). But I am interested because it relates to life. And it explains (!) to some extent, why or how things work. Because we are told, we believe. We are taught to  believe and there comes a time when we accept it as the Bible. (Pun Intended!) For the uninitiated, quantum (Quanta) is from Latin and means "how much or how great." Basically it mean mechanics at micro level of electron levels or simply put - at very small measures. (Electronics by the way  uses this majorly and the use of electricity is a matter of chance.) Quantum Mechanics is about light (photons) waves, or particles. (all matter too has  similar properties - wave and particle. Go figure!)  Einstein is one of the founders and was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery. He is more renowned for hid the...