When I was small, I thought a psychopath was someone who was insane (obviously I confused it with psychotic). I still find many people making the same mistake – referring to someone as a ‘psychopath’ when they mean ‘psychotic’. However, psychopaths are not easy to identify, precisely because they are typically endowed with above average intelligence and they ability to make themselves appear normal.

“The Silence of the Lambs” movie introduced me to the true meaning of the term psychopath. I still get chills down my spine whenever I remember those eyes, those piercing eyes that make me want to run far away and hide. Perhaps, the reason psychopaths scare me more than the insane, is that we know that the insane are, well, insane. They are not thinking straight. However, not only is a psychopath thinking straight, he is quite intelligent too. He is hiding. He is hiding behind a facade of feigned politness and emotions. Where the insane is not thinking straight, the psychopath is cunning and manipulative, pretending to be normal, biding his time.

I still remember my heart skipping a beat and a slow panic build up, when Valerie’s expression changes and she admits she’s a psychopath (in Remorse, an episode of House). The scariest villains are not the raving lunatics, who scream at you, threatening to pull your entrails out and wrap it around your neck. The scariest villains are the ones we don’t even perceive as villains, the ones who manipulate us into thinking they are the good guys, while framing others for their crimes.

Movies/books/shows I need to check out (having read about psychopathy):

• American Psycho
• Se7en
• Dexter
• A Clockwork Orange
• The Kite Runner

Adventure park. One of my favourite places to go, when I was a kid. Though designed more like a training course at a boot camp, the place still fascinated and enthrilled me, my brother and my cousins. Later, it fell into disrepute and ill-use. Yesterday, I visited it again, after almost 15 or 20 years. Glad to see that the place is maintained decently (more or less). Have taken some pics. Posting them below (click on the images for the bigger version).

Trivia: The climax of the movie “Manu Uncle” was shot here.

The entrance to Adventure Park

The skating rink!

The tunnels! We used to have races through these.

The rope wall (or its remains, to be accurate)

The jumper (:P) . There was a rope ladder behind this to climb up and then jump down to each level.

The mangroves that border the park

Sigh.. Adventure Park..

For a change, they are playing a good movie on the bus. Kireedom (‘Crown’ in Malayalam) is one of my favourite movies of all times. Both Mohanlal and Thilakan are scintilating in this movie. Sadly, the sequel was disappointing.

Some of my favourite Malayalam movies are: Nadodikaattu, Manichithrathazhu, Kireedom, Nokketha Doorathu Kannum Nattu. Is it a coincidence that all of them are Lalettan movies?

India has always had a fascination with child prodigies. Child prodigies are “discovered” in India with surprising regularity. Yet, our country is still languishing in the shallow end of the innovation pool. Every time a child prodigy is “found”, the news is spattered all over the media, people rush to recognize and honour him/her, and a week later, life is back to where it always was. Matters have become so bad, that we have some taking advantage of this (the Tathagat Avtar Tulsi – DST affair, though his recent appointment as IIT professor confuses me).

Child prodigies are typically noted for achieving in their childhood, that which others take longer to achieve (we often hear of child prodigies becoming doctors, research fellows, animators, etc.). Everyone rushes to congratulate them, shower them with awards and possibly grants, and then, they are forgotten except by their social circle (or bloggers researching them to write such articles). Why are they not nurtured into true geniuses who can help forge a better tomorrow? Is India incapable of such support? If it is, where are the successful scientists and mathematicians who were discovered as child prodigies?

A quick scan on the net showed ONE child prodigy who has grown up into an adult prodigy, and that too, in the last century. Of course, I am talking about Srinivasa Ramanujan, a child prodigy who had gone beyond what many adults had achieved (discovering theorems when he was still 12) and who went on to contribute significant advancements to mathematics. From what the media proclaims, India has never had a dearth of geniuses. Then, why are we no longer competitive with the rest of the world? Where are the geniuses?

I have always had a fascination with tales of people with abilities beyond that of an ordinary human being. Teleportation, tissue regeneration, human flight, invincibility, telekinesis. All these are abilities mankind has always desired, dreamt of, obsessed about. It fascinates me greatly to see how someone, who is more than human, thinks, how they see themselves, how they see others. However, that is not the most important reason why I love tales of magic and superheroes. The tales that stay with you, the well-written ones, are not those which focus on the superhuman, but on the human.  Tales which focus on how these fictional abilities and skills are offset against human nature, offering a brighter and more varied canvas on which to highlight the fact that the triumph of human nature is to overcome our basic instincts and strive for good in the world. This is why some of my favourite characters in many stories, are not the so-called extraordinary people who can fly, jump high, or dodge bullets, but the ones who through courage, dedication and perseverance show us, the best of humanity. This is why I will always remember Samwise Gamgee more than I will remember Aragorn or Gandalf or Frodo. Heroes who are revered not because they are superhuman, but because they are human, the very best of.

P.S: I know Samwise Gamgee is not technically a man (human) but a Hobbit, but the point still stands.

P.P.S: Sam over Frodo! Batman over Superman! Rorschach over Doctor Manhattan! Nathan Petrelli over Peter Petrelli!

The Doctor. The “madman with a box”. I have known and loved Doctor Who stories since I was 12. Here is a brief overview on the Who-niverse, for those not in the know.

The Doctor

The 11 Doctors

The Doctor is a time-travelling, (seemingly) immortal alien. He belongs to a race called the Time Lords, who originated on the planet Gallifrey. The Time Lords were the first race to master Time Travel. However, taking into consideration the moral complexities of travelling through time, they swore to observe only, and never interfere with the natural flow of history. The Doctor is a renegade Time Lord who stole a TARDIS (read below) and ran off to explore time and space, frequently getting involved with and altering the flow of history. Thus, the Doctor is typically seen as a miscreant and a fugitive, though in times of need, the Time Lords have turned to him for help, and he even became the President of the Time Lords once.

The Doctor displays intelligence greater than the average Time Lord, and far greater than most other sentient species. His vast knowledge, his race’s unique perception of the time stream, his Machiavellian intellect, all enable him to out-maneuver his adversaries, and resolve catastrophic incidents, often with relative ease.

Time Lords, when mortally wounded, can regenerate their physical essence into a new body (which affects their personality as well). The Doctor has been mortally wounded 10 times over the long history of the show, and hence, has had 11 different bodies/personas. Each persona is usually referred to by the number, i.e. the fifth Doctor, the eleventh Doctor, etc. However, the person, his memories, his base personality, remains the same.

It should be noted that “Doctor” is not the Doctor’s actual name, but a pseudonym of his own choosing. The Doctor’s real name is a secret he closely guards, and known only to a handful of people. The mystery surrounding the name (which is referred to in the title ‘Doctor Who?’) and the manner in which the Doctor hides it, indicates that there could possibly be some terrible secret behind his name.

TARDIS

TARDIS

TARDIS (or T.A.R.D.I.S – Time And Relative Dimensions In Space) is the primary vehicle of time travel for the Time Lords. TARDIS are not purely mechanical, and are “grown” by the Time Lords, achieving a certain level of sentience. A newly-grown TARDIS must be imprinted with the bio-signature of a Time Lord to become fully functional. The TARDIS can travel in time and space. As a defense mechanism, the TARDIS can alter its external appearance to match the surroundings. Thus, often, its seen as bigger on the inside than on the outside. Additionally, TARDISes employ a “perception filter” which causes people nearby to not pay attention to it (unless they know its a TARDIS and its hiding there).

The Doctor’s TARDIS had its chameleon circuits damaged when in early 20th century England, where police phone boxes were common. Thus, the Doctor’s TARDIS was stuck with the exterior of a police phone box. After several attempts to repair it (over time), the Doctor gives up, claiming he’s grown fond of the exterior.

The Sonic Screwdriver

Sonic Screwdriver

The Sonic Screwdriver is the only tool that the Doctor ever carries, a multi-functional device that can open locks, alter or even disable technology based constructs. More recently, the Eleventh Doctor also uses the new Sonic Screwdriver to detect and measure various objects/media.

Daleks

Dalek

The Daleks are the arch-enemies of the Time Lords. Daleks were mutated descendants of the Kaled race of humanoids, created by the chief Kaled scientist, Davros. Little more than cerebral globs with tentacles, Daleks are encased in a technologically advanced battle armor (which resembles a salt/pepper shaker ) which has a high power forcefield as well as offensive weaponry.

Daleks, apart from Time Lords, were the only major civilization to have full-fledged time travel. This brought them into conflict with the Time Lords, who though normally pacifistic, were no less advanced in technology or weaponry. Daleks have a strong, hierarchy-based society with little individualism. Daleks display extreme prejudice to all other forms of life, and will immediately attempt to “exterminate” other life forms. This, coupled with their time travel, often brought them into conflict with the Time Lords, especially the Doctor, who also actively travels through time, fighting Daleks and other villains.

Despite  their seemigly brutish and military nature, Daleks are extremely intelligent and rely on logic rather than emotion. Their intelligence and inventive genius is the reason they were able to match the technological prowess of the Time Lords, whose race have been around since the birth of the Universe.

The Doctor has been, on multiple occasions, successful in thwarting the plans of Dalek conquests, usually opposing them alone, without the might of the Time Lord empire behind him. This has led the Daleks to fear the Doctor, so far as to bestow on him the monikers of ‘The Oncoming Storm’ and the ‘Destroyer of Worlds’.

Cybermen

Cybus Cyberman

The Cybermen are a race of cyborgs, originating from the planet Mondas, who implanted themselves with more and more technology, thus ending up as a cyborg race. Like the Daleks, they valued logic over emotion, and went so far as to purge all emotions (through inhibitor circuits). Cybermen, being biologically similar to humans, also assimilated humans and convert them into Cybermen.

In the new series, Cybermen are created on a parallel version of earth, and manage to enter the mainstream version through a rift in time and space. Similar to the original Cybermen, the new Cybermen are referred to as Cybus Cybermen (by the community) due to them being created by Cybus Corporation.

The Cybermen have a long standing rivalry with Daleks, having encountered them several times. In the new series, when the Cybus Cybermen meet the Daleks, a hilarious stand-off ensues, which I can’t help quoting here.

Dalek: Identify yourself!

Cybermen: You will identify first!

Dalek: State you designation!

Cybermen: You will identify first!

Dalek: IDENTIFY!

(Mickey Smith: It’s like Stephen Hawking meets the speaking clock.)

Cybermen: That is illogical. You will modify.

Dalek: Daleks do not take orders.

Cybermen: You have been identified as Daleks.

Dalek: Outline resembles the inferior species known as Cybermen!

Cyberman: Our technology is compatiable; although your design is less elegant.

Dalek: Daleks have no concept of elegance!

Cyberman: This is obvious.

…..

Cyberman: Daleks and cybermen; together we can upgrade the universe.

Dalek: You propose an alliance?

Cyberman: That is correct.

Dalek: Request denied!

Cyberman: Hostile elements will be deleted.

[The cybermen fire; but their weapons have no effect]

Dalek: EXTERMINATE!

[The dalek returns fire; killing the cybermen]

Cyber Leader: Daleks, be warned. You have declared war upon the Cybermen.

Dalek Leader: This is not war – this is pest control!

Cyber Leader: We have five million Cybermen. How many are you?

Dalek Leader: Four.

Cyber Leader: You would destroy the Cybermen with four Daleks?

Dalek Leader: We would destroy the Cybermen with one Dalek! You’re superior in only one respect.

Cyber Leader: What is that?

Dalek Leader: You are better at dying. Raise communications barrier!

The Weeping Angels

A Weeping Angel

The Weeping Angels are one of the most terrifying new-Who villains. The Weeping Angels are an ancient race of winged humanoids, rumoured to have originated from the beginning of the Universe. The Weeping Angels are described as creatures of the abstract, having the ability to send victims back in time with a touch, which enabled them to consume the potential energy that the victim has lost. The Weeping Angels have a quantum lock defense mechanism, which means that in the sight of any living thing, they literally turn to stone, and stone can’t be killed. However, if the victim looks away, even for an instance, or blinks, they can move with unbelievable speed and kill the victim. It is to avoid looking at each other and getting turned to stone, that they cover their eyes, hence giving the impression of weeping.

A strange thought came to me this evening. Two things I dislike, one in the literary world, and one in the technology world, seem to have a lot of parallels between them.

One is a phone, all nice and sparkly, the best looking one. A phone which called itself a smartphone and the whole world took its word for granted, despite the fact that it didn’t possess any of the characteristics of a proper smartphone (running 3rd party applications, multitasking, copy-paste, MMS, etc. etc.).

The other is about a guy, all nice and sparkly, the best looking one. A guy who called himself a vampire and the whole world took his word for granted, despite the fact that he didn’t possess any of the characteristics of a proper vampire (drinking blood, no reflection or shadow, vulnerable to sunshine, garlic, silver, etc. etc.).

Just a thought.

P.S: I don’t really dislike the iPhone. Just how the company (and its CEO) behaves. However, I do dislike the fact that people are ok with it being feature-deficient as long as it looks pretty and smooth.

P.P.S: I haven’t really read Twilight. The synopsis gave me a headache and scared me off from reading the book.

P.P.P.S: I really hate Twilight.

P.P.P.P.S: Really, really…

A lot of changes have happened in the Symbian eco-system since the OS was open-sourced. Here are a few reasons why I think the tech community should give Symbian a second glance, in a world obsessed with apples and droids.

Featured

Without a doubt, Symbian is the most feature-rich operating system available today. Features that competitors are highlighting as major innovations (FaceTime, I’m looking at you!) have been part of the Symbian OS for years now. This includes video calling, true multitasking, support for varied hardware, tethering, voice dialling and comprehensive bluetooth support. Additionally, Symbian^3 now has features that are yet to be seen in the competitors’ offerings. Some of these include – Bluetooth 3.0 support, USB-To-Go (USB Host), ability to stream HD video with Dolby 5-channel audio over HDMI (with HDCP), PictBridge support, ability to map remote drives, near-complete POSIX C/C++ API compatibility, support for hardware-acceleration of encryption/decryption, and many many more. In fact, a glance at the following pages can show the plethora of features that were added in the past 2 releases (not counting the thousands of features already present in Symbian OS) :

Symbian^2: http://developer.symbian.org/wiki/index.php/Symbian^2

Symbian^3: http://developer.symbian.org/wiki/index.php/Symbian^3

Open source

Symbian OS, and Maemo/MeeGo are the only 2 operating systems which are fully open-sourced, from the kernel, to the applications. Additionally, Symbian OS even provides open-source drivers for reference platforms (Beagle Board and the emulator). All of Symbian’s code is licensed under EPL 1.0, and has been available so, since February 2010. Already, the community, as well as big corporations, have jumped into developing the Symbian OS. Check the links below for some examples of the collaborative work happening in the Symbian OSS space.

Link to Beagle Board drivers (for those interested): http://developer.symbian.org/xref/oss/xref//Symbian3/sf/adaptation/beagleboard/omap3530/beagle_drivers/

Attempt to build a hobbyist platform: http://developer.symbian.org/wiki/index.php/Wild_ducks_project

Accenture to spearhead development of the emulator: http://blog.symbian.org/2010/05/10/accenture-takes-a-community-leadership-role-to-deliver-the-next-generation-of-symbian-emulation/

Open platform

Symbian OS has, and always will be, an open platform. By this, I mean that there were and never will be any restrictions to what can be done on the platform. Don’t like the theme? Change it! Don’t like the font? Change it! Symbian C++ not your cup of coffee? Here’s some Java. Prefer Python? Go for it! Feel left out cos’ you’re a web developer? Don’t worry! Symbian WRT (web-runtime) lets you write applications for Symbian using technologies you are already familiar with. Hate Python and lurve Ruby? You can  help contribute to bringing it up to speed with Python on Symbian. There are no restrictions to the tools that can be used to develop for Symbian, the features that can be implemented, the boundaries that can be crossed. I know that this would set off alarms in most people’s heads. Is Symbian a lawless dystopia? Is it overrun with malware that could hijack your phone and abuse your phone connection? Take a deep breath, and calm down. Symbian features one of the most effective security mechanisms ever implemented in an operating system (without really restricting developer freedom). Platform Security (or PlatSec) ensures that only those authorized would have access to various phone features. Writing an app to modify the address book, or access the entire file system? You will need to submit your application to Symbian Signed for verification and signing, a way of ensuring that your application works as expected, accesses what is signed-for and no more. This ensures that as long as your intentions are honorable (and your pockets are deep, since signing ain’t free for advanced features), there is nothing stopping you from modifying anything in the phone. Some examples that I would like to highlight:

Joikuspot (turns your phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot) : http://www.joiku.com/?action=products&mode=productdetails&product_id=310

List of applications and games written in Python: http://www.symbian-freak.com/downloads/freeware/cat_s60_3rd/python.htm

Don’t like the Symbian^2 UI? Replace it!!: http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com/symbian-software/mobileshell/

Developing using WRT: http://developer.symbian.org/wiki/index.php/Web_Runtime_(WRT)_Quick_Start

Developing using Flash: http://developer.symbian.org/wiki/index.php/Flash_Lite_Quick_Start

Developing using .NET: http://developer.symbian.org/wiki/index.php/.NET_Technical_Overview

P.S: Signing is free for open-source applications. Isn’t that nice?

Hobbyist friendly

Though this was briefly mentioned above, I believe it deserves a spot on the list, since hobbyists make the (tech) world go around. The Symbian community is hard at work, to develop a (low-cost) hardware platform which would allow those interested to build an entire phone from (open) source. Currently it comprises of various components wired together, sprawled across a table. However, the dream is to formulate a reference hardware platform, and convince a hardware manufacturer to build it into a form factor. Just imagine! A fully free and open phone. This could be spiritual successor to the OpenMoko hardware (which, sadly, were discontinued and thus remain “legacy platforms”), enabling OSS enthusiasts to build and experiment with a fully open-source phone, where anything and everything, from the drivers, to the applications, can be modified and tuned to your needs and likes.

Current state of the Wild Ducks project: http://www.scribd.com/doc/32103793/Towel-Day-2010-Wild-Ducks

Solid Roadmap

“It’s all part of the plan!”.

The Symbian Foundation has laid out a solid roadmap for the development of the OS. Currently, one of the major drawbacks of the Symbian OS is its last-generation UI, which doesn’t really play nice with touch. Symbian^4 will focus on bringing a written-from-scratch, fresh UI,  build from the ground up, to be touch-enabled. Though there are some early screenshots on the Symbian^4 page on the Symbian Foundation site, I think its better if we all wait for the final look and feel to be polished up, before we pass judgement, since S^4 is still months away from completion (and the screenshots aren’t exactly recent). However, there is nothing stopping you from checking out the code and trying it out yourself (in the simulator) and if you don’t like what you see, you can always propose and contribute changes to it! That’s the power of being open! Open source! Open platform!

Symbian^4 screenshots: http://developer.symbian.org/wiki/index.php/Symbian^4

Roadmap: http://developer.symbian.org/wiki/index.php/Roadmap_for_the_Symbian_Platform

The future looks good!

There is a lot of hype on the upcoming launches of both Symbian^3 as well as the 4th edition of the OS from Cupertino. Considering that both are major upgrades, I have decided to document my thoughts on the various aspects of both operating systems, briefly comparing and contrasting the two on said aspects. This post was inspired by a post on iPhone OS 4.0 by a friend.

N.B: Most of the information were obtained from various online blogs and other sites, so their accuracy isn’t guaranteed.

Multi-tasking

Multi-tasking is the “big ticket” feature on iPhone OS 4.0, the most awaited feature on it, since copy-paste. Being a systems software engineer, I find this “version” of multi-tasking a little… unpalatable. I do admit its a good solution to the power conundrum on the iPhone/iPod platforms, but taken out of context and comparing it to true multi-tasking, it feels like a poor attempt indeed. For those not in the know, the multi-tasking in iPhone OS 4.0 consists of providing 7 system services which will run in the background, and when an application is sent to the background, any session with the system services are persisted by the services themselves. When the user switches back to the application, the application is brought back from its hibernated state, and the sessions with the background services are restored.

For me, the most striking point in the announcement of this feature was that the older generations of the iPhone (pre-3GS) will not support multi-tasking, due to unmet hardware requirements. In my opinion, this further highlights the level of power consumption by the iPhone OS, since Symbian has been able to provide (at least) comparable batter life numbers despite having supported true multi-tasking for years, and this is not just a theoretical number measured when not multi-tasking. My Nokia phones last an entire day on a full charge, this considering that I have at least 3 background applications running at all times, and listening to music for 2-3 hours, playing the odd YouTube video or two (in-browser, no less), and finally, phone conversations that aggregate to over 2-3 hours. On days that I don’t use the phone as much, the battery charge lasts me for more than 2 days (with the background applications still running). Thus, I don’t buy into “this is the best we can do keeping  power consumption in mind” approach for iPhone OS’s multitasking. There is a better way and Symbian has been doing it for years now.

HD

Another major feature on the new versions of both OSes, is the support for playback and recording of media with high-definition video and surround sound. Both Symbian^3 and iPhone OS 4.0 will feature the ability to playback video with 720p video and surround sound, as well as the ability to record 720p video.  As always, iPhone OS 4.0 will support H.264 and MPEG-4 video, with AAC-LC audio in .m4v, .mp4 or .mov containers. Symbian^3, like S60 5.0 before it, will support a slightly larger set (check this link for more info).

Data protection

iPhone OS 4.0 will allow encryption of e-mails and attachments using the device passcode, as well as expose API to enable other 3rd party applications to do the same. This is definitely an important feature, one which will endear the iPhone to enterprise users. To the best of my knowledge, Symbian^3 doesn’t provide this feature yet.

Mobile Device Management

Again, another win for iPhone OS 4.0. iPhone OS 4.0 provides Mobile Device Management API which will allow wireless configuration and updation of settings for 3rd party applications, enabling enterprises to monitor compliance with corporate policies, and remotely lock or even wipe the device clean.

HDMI

A huge win for Symbian^3, in my opinion. If your phone can playback HD movies, and  can capture HD movies, is it not logical that it should be able to stream said HD content to an HD TV? Keeping in the spirit of openess, and standard compliance, Symbian^3 will support HDMI-out with HDCP.

Qt 4.6

True cross-platform development capability. Symbian^3 remains un-touched here. Write an application in Qt 4.6 (in C++) and trivially port it to Symbian, Maemo/MeeGo, Windows, Linux, MacOS and just about any other major operating system out there. It can’t get any more cross-platform than that (since iPhone development locks you into Objective-C and Android locks you into Java). Do note that Qt is not a runtime, but a native library, which ensures that  your applications don’t suffer a performance hit.

Other thoughts

Needless to say, there are countless enhancements to either OS, of which, the features of Symbian^3 are available publicly here. Still, much about both OSes is yet to be seen. We will need to wait till the respective flagship devices are launched (Nokia N8 for Symbian^3 and iPhone HD for iPhone OS 4.0) to re-evaluate how these smartphone operating systems stand up to each other.

Violet

The waning dusk turns the lake you are standing in into a picture of the deepest purple.  Light reflecting off the lake turns all the colors around you into progressive shades of the same color, including the grapevines in the distance.  A table is set up on the shore, draped in a violet tablecloth.

Exits: west up down.

A violet crystal glass of exquisite wine stands here.

A purple cloud becomes a beautiful shape before you, filling you with love.

The sky flashes, and the ground trembles with thunder.