Big Bang Theory

Theme Song of one of my Favourite Shows: The Big Bang Theory

Our whole universe was in a hot dense state,
Then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started. Wait...
The Earth began to cool,
The autotrophs began to drool,
Neanderthals developed tools,
We built a wall (we built the pyramids),
Math, science, history, unraveling the mysteries,
That all started with the big bang!

"Since the dawn of man" is really not that long,
As every galaxy was formed in less time than it takes to sing this song.
A fraction of a second and the elements were made.
The bipeds stood up straight,
The dinosaurs all met their fate,
They tried to leap but they were late
And they all died (they froze their asses off)
The oceans and pangea
See ya wouldn't wanna be ya
Set in motion by the same big bang!

It all started with the big BANG!

It's expanding ever outward but one day
It will cause the stars to go the other way,
Collapsing ever inward, we won't be here, it wont be hurt
Our best and brightest figure that it'll make an even bigger bang!

Australopithecus would really have been sick of us
Debating out while here they're catching deer (we're catching viruses)
Religion or astronomy, Encarta, Deuteronomy
It all started with the big bang!

Music and mythology, Einstein and astrology
It all started with the big bang!
It all started with the big BANG!

Man v/s Machines

Compassion, fear, hope, anger, frustration, loneliness, sorrow, happiness,surprise, envy, misery, gratitude...
These are some amongst the multitude of emotions that an individual experiences in one's lifetime. We can "feel" these wide ranging emotions, but machines? Not yet...

All these can be clearly observed in human beings or the Homo sapiens...other species can do so too but to a certain extent. These emotions can be considered as the various psychological states of an individual's mind. They originate in the limbic system of the human brain which comprises the thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus.

I wouldn't go into the anatomy part of it for I am not a neurosurgeon!!! But, these complex emotions change the very fact that machines which despite tremendous technological advances aren't able to experience these making our species a class apart from them(May be in the future, machines may out do man). It's fascinating to watch science fiction movies like Terminator, Star trek, I,Robot or read books like 3001: The Final Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke. Researchers have been working on such possibilities since ages and this has led to a field of Strong Artificial Intelligence which aims to develop machines which can mimic man in all aspects and probably exceed human capabilities. Advances in the field of AI has led to applications such as neural networks, data mining and computer pattern recognition.

 For instance, IBM's Watson defeated humans on the quiz show Jeopardy in the human versus machine match. It's astonishing to hear about these breakthroughs. What people fail to realise is that it was man who came up with the complex algorithms and software in such computer systems. I salute thee, O Creator. This ultimately brings us to the conclusion that unless scientists come up with software which can learn all by itself, it's the human brain which is responsible for all the scientific establishments.

NASA's robot

This makes me wonder about the tremendous hidden potential this 1.5 kilogram mass of cells can do if challenged! More to look out for in the future!!!

How about this?

I was wondering the other day how would the several shows on Star World or Zee Cafe turn out if all the characters were neighbours!!!

I considered the possibility of only a few shows...You are free to imagine any other random show with all your favourite characters together!

Hard to imagine? Well...try it when you are bored! An idle mind's a devil's workshop says an old proverb...I say - An idle mind's an innovator's workshop!

Bones and Lie to Me

Let me get to the point...How easy it would be for the CBI to catch criminals like Neal Caffrey and Dexter Morgan if Dr.Cal Lightman was just a door away? Well...for those of you who didn't get what I'm saying, Neal Caffrey is a character from the famed show White Collar, Dexter Morgan from the show Dexter and Lightman from Lie to Me. More info? Just google them!

Here's the link: www.google.com 

It's so easy to say google it! Imagine the world without google!!! It seems impossible in this digital age!

Yeah, so Lightman can easily figure out from his famed micro-expressions analysis what convicts are upto. I wonder if he could capture Dexter, blood spatter analyst for he shows no emotions. Castle and his mysterious novel coincidences or Bones helping out Booth or even NYPD!!! I know it's FBI in the show Bones but what if the characters of the shows Castle and Bones are mixed up? Hilarious!!!

There might be someone out there who would have thought of mixing them all up. I wonder how it'll turn out if it really does!! I'd call it F.R.I.E.N.D.S!!! 

I didn't mean to say anything about the official show F.R.I.E.N.D.S but a possibility of the protagonists of Dexter, Castle, Bones, White Collar and Lie to Me being friends!!!

IT ALL ENDS!!!

A saga that captured the world

Well...I know this post should have come out earlier but never mind...
I had a lot of expectations from Harry Potter for it was going to be the last one in the series.

It wasn't a disappointing movie. Since I loved the books, the movie didn't appeal to the reader in me to a great extent but the 3D effects were mind blowing...The amazing experience of flying on Firebolts, the feeling of you being a dementor and flying like the ghosts of Hogwarts...Wow...breath taking!!!

Harry breaking the Elder Wand...Really? That part should have been like in the book itself! But,on the whole, the movie was good. This highest grossing Non-Cameron film worldwide surely deserves an applause.

Cartoons!!!

There was a time when there was only one cartoon channel that existed. I remember those days when I eagerly waited for this channel TNT which would air cartoons late night till early mornings. Then came the classic cartoon network!

Those were amazing times!!! The cartoons were absolutely great...These animated counterparts attracted viewers of all ages and made sure they were glued to their idiot boxes! Tom and Jerry, The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls brings nostalgic memories.

Yabba Dabba doo...

The Jetsons...It was one of the best shows ever! Later came several other cartoon channels and thousands of other shows.

I don't know if you are familiar with Warner Bros. Pinky and the Brain....Here's a sneak peak!


Much later, in 2002, Nickelodeon aired a science fiction animated series, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius...

Other good ones were Scooby Doo, Captain Planet, The Addams Family, Looney Tunes and many more! Not to forget The Simpsons which is on even to this day with the 22nd season being aired!

 Well...There have been hundreds of other cartoons which have captivated people since ages but these are the only ones I could recollect!

Nostalgic times indeed!!!

Learning is a continuous process

Yup...you heard it right!

There is so much in this world that we do not know and learning is a life long process. Be it ourselves or even our surroundings. One has to have the inquisitive nature about the intriguing enigma of life and mankind. By this I don't merely stress upon you shooting questions at any individual you meet but the ability to ponder about deep thoughts and engage in discussions with the like minded individuals.

There is so much in this world that it is impossible to learn everything. In fact, it's fascinating to learn about how we ourselves function. Giving it a slight thought, this provokes my thinking further about how we are wired to think in the first place. Man has made tremendous contributions to the world till date with some of his creations in the same lines as himself. Consider the new age robots which are being created in the laboratories with artificial intelligence instilled in their chips. Man is so much like these machines with bones and flesh instead of wires and processors. But there is still something much beyond that which makes mankind a class apart from the rest, machines or even other species, as of now. There's still a probability of existence of a superior species else where in the mystic universe which stretches beyond our imagination.

Thoughts such as these are mysteries by themselves. Indeed, learning is a continuous process.


These are some of the interesting quotes I came across ---

Know thyself.

- Socrates

As for me, all I know is that I know nothing.

-Socrates

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.

-Henry Ford

You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.

-William Blake

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.

-Albert Einstein

You cannot open a book without learning something.

-Confucius

Learning never exhausts the mind.

-Leonardo da Vinci

Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.

-Bill Gates

Note: The above quotes are taken from this website : http://www.idealquote.com

Through the ages...

Years before the technology bug captured the world, the world was a different place altogether. I often wonder how tedious a process my search for an article would have been back in the initial 1990s.

All this has been simplified thanks to Google and not to mention other search engines. Well, there is no doubt the word Google has become synonymous with the verb 'Search'. It has just been a matter of a couple of years since Google went public (to be exact 2004) but it has changed our perspective of 'Search'.

Have you ever wondered how the world would have been without the internet or the search engines? Looking into those voluminous encyclopedias in libraries for a small project that you are to submit in your college...Unthinkable!

Well...may be we would have adapted to change but think! Would it have been possible to meet the deadlines if the project was given on short notice? The internet has changed this scenario. Infact ebooks are making their way into the academic world gradually affecting the age old libraries.

Well, this has both pros and cons. Considering the pros, you could own thousands of books in the digital format which would hardly take up any space in your living or study room. These books aren't worn out even with periodic usuage and can be saved in multiple locations...be it your laptop, smartphone or your desktop. Also it is eco - friendly! (Atleast you are reducing the number of trees cut down for publishing your favourite book)

Now, for the cons. Not everyone would welcome change. The ancient libraries still have a certain amount of appeal - Myriad number of racks with books and manuscripts much older than you lying there. Not to forget the cost of these devices which is way too much compared to the traditional books.

Imagine all the books to be replaced by their digital counterparts. In case of a public library which would have millions of books and thousands of users, estimate the number of digital ebook readers that the library has to invest on! In this case, the library has to come up with other alternatives such as online access with the books uploaded on the web. This would result in an entire new definition of lending books! Well...technically the users can have a copy themselves!!!
 
So we can conclude the evolution of print media over the ages as...

The ancient stone tablet

The ancient papyrus manuscript

Modern age books

Accessing ebooks using an ebook reader