iPod vs. the Cassette

A highly scientific comparison of the Apple iPod and the classic Cassette:

http://homepage.mac.com/danielturek/PhotoAlbum50.html

20

Just turned 20! 2 decades of life passed by. Looking back, I haven't done much. No Olympic medals; no vast empires at my disposal; no revolutionary inventions, scientific theories, music, paintings or books. I have watched a lot of t.v. though. Yea, done lots of that.

So, the next 20 years:

1- Watch less t.v.
2- Become next Da Vinci


I think that should cover it.

Internet Explorer Just Died

Wierd thing happened. The IE on my desktop computer just died. It refuses to open any link. DNS errors. So, i thought it was the usual rogers-cutting-our-service-due-to-excessive-downloading-of-movies: BUT Mozilla was working fine. The problem wasn't with our internet connection. IE just refused to open anything. In fact, this is just a blessing in disguise. I use Firefox for my laptop, but my family was still using old IE. But now, I can migrate them all to Firefox; a much better browser. I think the IE on our desktop just commited a heroic sacrifice (i.e. suicide) to prevent us from any future problems; realizing its own flaws.

Ofcourse, I don't blame IE for its vulnerability and so called security loopholes. When you have the biggest, richest and most dominant company with a product; hackers won't waste their time trying to hack 5-10% of the market, but the 90% of the world that uses IE. Regardless of this genuine excuse for Microsofts constant security updates, they do have shoddy products that at times are lacking any common sensical design. They made a decent effort with XP, but considering they have been working in the OS industry for...um..like ever...they should know from decades of user testing that they have some annoying and unintuitive interface elements.

If I took the 88 or so students in my Systems Design class, and we all had to make an OS with just interaction design elements; then we could come up with a world class product with all the best elements of OS X or XP or Linux. The only limitation would be that most of us do not have the level of skills to make an OS and some know basic C++ (and have forgetten since 1A); but as far as creating an interactive and intuitive system, there's no question it would surpass the XP.

Yea, i'm done my rant for now.

Favorite Words

My two bestest words are: Microcosm and Oversimplification. I love using these words when I'm debating with my friends. They can make any argument sound well thought out, even if your just improvising, which I usually am.

Microcosm: Many concepts can be taken as a microcosm of another concept, and hence using that word shows that your thinking of the bigger picture, even though your just buying time to think of something smarter to say.

Oversimplification: Almost everything is oversimplified, and if you figure someone is using a point without thinking of all the issues, just say the magic word and you can make their point seem childish; and then present a few points that un-simplify the argument (in your favor of course)

Article: Will hydrogen soon kill Middle East crude?

World oil prices continue to soar - driven by the continuing power struggle in Iraq, by fears for the solvency of the Russian oil giant Yukos, and by surging demand for oil in Asia, notably in China. Even President Hugo Chavez's convincing victory in Venezuela on Aug. 15 - and his pledge to continue supplying the United States with 1.5 million barrels a day in spite of his political differences with Washington - has not checked the upward trend.

Some observers predict that oil prices could soon break through the $50 a barrel ceiling. But, they add, there is no need to panic. In real terms, oil prices are still only about half the level reached in 1979. High oil prices, however, have some immediate consequences. They check the rate of growth of industrial economies, and might even trigger a recession; they stimulate the search for alternative sources of energy; and they pump money into Arab pockets.

The Economist magazine has estimated that "With oil prices at their highest level in two decades, revenues of $600 million a day are gushing into the Gulf, double the volume during the 1990s. The monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council are alone likely to earn $35 billion more from oil exports this year than last ..." - and that excludes big producers such as Algeria, Libya and Iraq.

Arabs should beware. The bonanza will not last forever. Instead of frittering away their oil wealth on conspicuous consumption, on real estate extravaganzas and uncertain overseas investments, the Arabs should devote every surplus dollar to preparing their societies for a post-oil economy. As most Arabs are today under 30 years of age, a radical change could occur in their lifetime, and it could be painful. Urgent measures need to be taken to prepare for the day when the world economy will no longer be dependent on Arab oil.

Instead of deregulating their economies, eliminating corruption, privatizing their inefficient state-owned industries and stimulating growth in non-oil sectors, high Arab oil revenues have created a sense of complacency and retarded the introduction of much-needed reforms. Most Arab economies have stagnated over the past two decades with the result that 80 million Arabs out of a total of 290 million still live below the poverty line.

It is almost certain that within three, four or, at the latest, five decades from now, the petrol pump will have been left behind and replaced by some other form of energy-provider. At present, internal-combustion gasoline engines drive the world's 500 million cars. By 2030, the number of cars is forecast to increase to more than 2 billion, largely due to growth in Asia. What new technology will drive them? Might many of them be all-electric vehicles? Or might they be powered by hydrogen fuel cells - hydrogen being, after all, the most abundant element in the universe?

Whatever the answer, tomorrow's cars are most unlikely to be the gas-guzzlers we see on the roads today, pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and contributing fatally to global warming and climate change.

Writing this month in the Financial Times, Wolfgang Reitzle, chief executive of a leading international energy company, announced, "the US, Japan, China and the European Union have focused on hydrogen technology as the most likely mainstay of continued economic development." Industry, he said, is putting its long-term money on the hydrogen fuel cell. Fuel-cell-powered aircraft, trains, boats and trucks are in development. The Chinese are ahead of the pack: Fuel cell bus services are due to begin in Beijing next year.

A recent 500-page report by America's National Academy of Science concluded that "hydrogen has the potential for replacing essentially all gasoline and eliminating almost all CO2 from vehicular emissions over the next 50 years."

Energy is one of the major planks in John Kerry's campaign to unseat George W Bush in the US presidential election. The Democratic challenger blames the Bush administration's Middle East policies - notably the war in Iraq - for adding $8-15 a barrel to the price of oil. He wants the US to reduce its dependence on Arab oil and to adopt a policy of "energy independence." Kerry has pledged that, if he becomes president, he will spend $30 billion to encourage Americans to buy cleaner cars and to subsidize carmakers to convert to cleaner technologies. Above all, he wants to promote a shift to fuel cell technology and has urged US industry to develop renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar power.


"Energy independence" sounds good but will not be easy to achieve: The United States consumes a quarter of the world's oil but sits on only 3 percent of its proven reserves. In spite of the difficulties, however, no one should underestimate the innovative powers of American industry, nor its ability to divert enormous resources to developing a new technology if it looks like being a winner.

Whatever the politicians may say, America's overthrow of Saddam Hussein - and its ambition to install a pro-American regime in Baghdad - were driven in large part by the looming world oil shortage. World oil supplies are expected to peak between 2010 and 2020, and would then be unable to meet the exploding world demand for oil. The major powers, with the US in the lead, are engaged in a scramble for remaining oil stocks - to fill the supply gap before an alternative energy source becomes widely available, probably in the second half of this century. According to Reitzle, hydrogen is the most viable replacement. "Every dollar spent on hydrogen," he says, "will save us many more when the final rush for oil begins."

But hydrogen - which as a constituent of water is all around us - is not easy to harness. In theory, switching from fossil fuels to hydrogen is extremely tempting: It would end dependence on oil, reduce air pollution in cities and check the build-up of greenhouse gases that are already being held responsible for severe climate change. But, despite billions of dollars now being spent on research, no one has yet found a simple, safe and cheap way to produce hydrogen.

Hydrogen atoms are bound to other elements in molecules, such as water. To work in fuel cells, hydrogen atoms must be split off from these molecules. At present, this is a costly process. Storing hydrogen on board a car is also a problem, which has not yet been solved satisfactorily. The hydrogen would need to be compressed or liquefied, but this in turn would require it to be chilled to just a few degrees above zero, a process consuming large amounts of energy. Since hydrogen gas is highly flammable, safety is another concern for which no adequate solution has yet been found.

For the cars of the future to be powered by hydrogen fuel cells would require the creation of a massive new hydrogen infrastructure. Mass-market hydrogen cars would need the new fuel to be available at filling stations. Where is to be produced? In centralized plants and then trucked or piped to filling stations? Or could it be produced on site? Experts say that huge problems will need to be resolved in producing and storing hydrogen, in converting it to electricity, in supplying it to consumers and in overcoming safety concerns.

Nevertheless, car and energy companies are pumping billions of dollars into building prototypes of vehicles and filling stations, while governments are pursuing hydrogen as a potential replacement for car fuel. Change is coming and the higher the oil price the faster it will come.


Patrick Seale, a veteran Middle East analyst, wrote this commentary for THE DAILY STAR

Into White - Cat Stevens

I built my house from barley rice
Green pepper walls and water ice
Tables of paper wood, windows of light
And everything emptying into white.

A simple garden, with acres of sky
A Brown-haired dogmouse
If one dropped by
Yellow Delanie would sleep well at night
With everything emptying into white.

A sad Blue eyed drummer rehearses outside
A Black spider dancing on top of his eye
Red legged chicken stands ready to strike
And everything emptying into white.

I built my house from barley rice
Green pepper walls and water ice
And everything emptying into white

Adobe Illustrator Doodling

Just some doodling for the first time on Adobe Illustrator 10. Try to find some symbolism in it if you can. There's always symbolism in psychotic randomness.

Desire to Be

Desire to be|Enveloped in Silence

Dark feelings|Bring despair

My Awakening|Rises to Nowhere

Mocking lowly|Lies the Separation

How Eternal|Must mind be

Delaying my Thoughts|Bring Compassion

Denying the Words|Where is Realization?

China and India

This seems to be the hot topic, not only amongst economist and politicians these days, but also designers. This article from core77 is about The Top 10 Myths & Truths about Design in China. With the world's biggest population emerging as a player in the global market, with a 8-9% growth in GDP, everyone needs to know how they should adapt. With society becoming more and more integrated into a global mela, if you don't adapt to the dynamics of the new world market, then you are surely to be left behind. Does this mean everyone should learn Mandarin and how to cook noodles? YES! Ok, maybe or maybe not. Maybe you should all learn Hindi/Urdu, cause they are also kool yaar. India is behind China in its growth and its effect on the whole world, but it is filled with just as many smart and innovative people, and isn't far behind. Unfortunately, I don't see Pakistan anywhere near. We are too busy eating mangoes.

The point is that this can become a double edged sword for people in the so called developed world. 2 Billion+ people (India and China) will begin to merge significantly into the mainstream world economy in the next 20 years. This means more demand and innovation, but also more competition and outsourcing. Add to that the growing integration of the internet into businesses, and we have a rapidly changing world. There's a need to understand how people in different countries and cultures and sub-cultures will use/react/accept/reject a product or service. So you have to see how you can take advantage of this situation as opposed to the people who will get run over. You want to be the person pointing at them and laughing! Muahahahahahahah. Just learning their languages might not be enough or even necessary; but understanding how to target your ideas, your business or service towards these markets is whats essential.

Also, since these two countries are facing an economic boom, and will continue to rise over the next decades (obviously with a few slumps here and there due to instability), that shall put and increasing pressure on the price of oil (which is already at a ridiculous level) and its importance. And who has oil and who wants to get control of it? Well, we all know the answer to that. ;)

Last One

Finally, exams will be over in ...3.5 hours! I've been up since 2am studying for this Human Systems exam. And last night from 7-10pm I had a macro-econ exam as well. So as you can see, thats only 4 hours of sleep. My brain was cramping up after all the cramming that has been going on in the last 14 days. Ah, I will enjoy deleting all these useless braincells after i'm done!

Epiphany of Exam Studying

The more I study for an exam, the more I realize how much I don't know and the less time I have to do anything about it.

If it could only be the other way around:

The less I study for an exam, the more I realize how much I do know and the more time I have to do nothing about it.

[TIME magazine is going to quote me on this after I die]

Weird Dreams

I'm one of these people that usually never have dreams. I sleep and I dream of a staring at a black canvas and then get up (usually after several tries of turning off my alarm). Then once in while, for some odd reason, I have a dream. And usually its not just your average normal dream, but some really weird and whacked out ones. I'm wondering what stimulates these dreams to occur in me on rare occasions, and why I lack the ability to have regular dreams. Or maybe I do dream and instantly forget them the second before I get up. Hmmm.

So, tonites dream went something like this.

I have a pet cockroach. It has a labeled sticker that I made on it, that personalizes it so that people know it belongs to me. The cockroach had some function with the t.v. or something. I know that because I lost the cockroach and I got the feeling that my mom was upset with me with concerns to the t.v. (you know how you can just "feel" things in dreams). Anywho, I'm searching for my cockroach and then I find it come out under the t.v. and see the label that I had on it for the first time (this is when I realized that I had labeled it). Anywho, I look at it and am scared of picking it up (I don't like cockroaches or insects or vegetables btw) because it looked different. I felt as if it had changed. So now, something or the other happens and I'm now in a lecture hall of some sort. This is like a futuristic yet very shitty university (as far as design goes). Professor Burn's from Human Systems is teaching here, and various people from my class are there as well. Anywho, I don't remember what was being taught, but I do remember going up the escalator. That was a pain. For some reason, gravity was acting horrendously weird, so we had to grab hold of these rails while moving up the escalator or else we'd fall down. To get off the escalator, you had to jump and grab onto the side rails and swing yourself from rail to rail and eventually jump onto the stairs and get onto your regular hallway. Oh it gets weirder.

Then, shoot back to some place outside, and I'm worried about my cockroach. My brother and sister come to help me, and then we suddenly see him. OH, but forget the fact that the cockroach is now a kid! He's a brown little bugger...um...kid, whose walking in front of me, but not running. Anyways, so my brother is pushing me to catch him, but since I'm so physically disinclined, I walk even slower now. But we have to catch the kid cause ..I dunno..I guess he belongs to us. So I see my friend Taneem there on the sides, probably waiting for a bus. In a flash of brilliance, I realize how fast Taneem runs (...racing at 1 a.m...) and call out to him. "Taneem, catch that kid"! And he blazes in front of me, in an act of gregarious friendship. My brother says "he runs fast". So Taneem catches the little kid and brings him to me. Now apparently this kid is like our servant but he doesn't want to be or something. So I tell him that he could've just talked to me instead of running away.

Cut. Next scene.

Apparently some fancy dress thing or some wedding was happening during the night. I don't recall this part to much, but I remember seeing some familiar faces, like Michael Allison there (classmate).

Cut. Next scene.

So I am back in class. Obviously my dreams don't like to follow one story line, but its more of a t.v. show. A bad one. Now, the class hasn't started yet, and after going through does crazy elevators, I open the lecture hall door and see just a few people sitting there. However, there's this horrendously annoying sound coming from God knows where. Its these stupid crows! Imagine a bunch of crows having a shouting match! Apparently, a bunch of baby birds where left in our lecture hall by a mother crow. So we find them, and they look like little chicklet birds but with the voice of crows. Horrible. I also find three of them dead, not near the nest but near where the desks where. Afraid that he mother crow will come back and we'll have a Alfred Hitchcock scene, I take the three deceased and toss them behind in some yard.

Now this yard. Its like this magical place. For some reason, I go into. There some houses around, but right here is like a garden filled with life. Again, gravity is extremely weird, and me with my great physical abilities, keep on falling down. So I'm on the ground and looking up at the most beautiful fall tree that I have ever seen. Suddenly, my fear of insects come back, because there are schools of them waltzing on the ground (nothing scary or anything). So I do my matrix moves by balancing myself on my hands and letting these insects walk underneath me and not onto me. Then, I see the weirdest thing. Its like a huge walking bird, made up of little birds. Just imagine this! A bird around 5 feet high, which is not a bird, but merely a collection of little birds that are standing on top of each other and making up the form of this bird. And this Bird is running around the garden with others of its kind. I so wish that I had a camera! Oh, but there's this Chinese girl there (i'm sure no one I know) and she has a video camera. I keep on pointing to those birds so that she can take the video and she does, all the while im on balancing on my hands.

Fin.

Ok, so that was it. Any budding Freudians out there want to explain this to me? A side note, when I got up, those stupid annoying crows were sitting right on the trees outside my rez room, and my windows were open. Its surreal how real life impulses can effect/invade your dream.

Oh, and I went back to sleep after and then had another dream, where me and my brother managed to drive both of our cars (a dodge caravan and an intrepid) over the dock into a lake. We both survive, but we try to lift the cars out of the water, unsuccessfully no doubt. So we try to get people to help us, yadda yadda. Anyways, the story never finished so I don't know what happened.

Procrasti-nation

Why do people in this human race procrastinate? What's our reason to do so? Everything is based on surviving for a better position in life, for a better future, yet we willing shoot ourselves in the foot at times. As you can see, I've just had a few exams, and almost every other person is saying what I'm saying: why didn't we work harder? We could have easily done so much better? Is it that the payoff for doing better and being more psychologically at ease before an exam less than the comfort received by doing absolutely nothing for four months yet getting insane mind crunches within two weeks and risking the money/degree? And yet, after all this procrastination, many of us get by (sometimes with better than expected results relative to amount of effort) and make the solemn and serious promise of changing our paths: "next year I'll study an hour every day for each class", "next year I'll be the top in the class".

Until we truly feel that our position is threatened, we won't get up from watching another episode of Family Guy or playing that seriously addictive flash game (....damn....u....bubbles)

No, I think its something deeper within our consciousness. We know as a group, that if everyone started to be productive, that if everyone was working at maximum productivity, then that would raise the bar so high that the entire group of people would need to work at ridiculous levels to manage and keep up...and then eventually break down. Even if there is no break down, we simply don't find the need to be productive, as productivity in one area will cause an imbalance in another aspect of life. The aspect of Pointless Feedback Systems. These are represented by the systems that generate seemingly meaningless inputs for the human mind. Like staring at a microwave. Its quite fun, especially if you have an exam the next day, to see your little food spin around and being zapped by these really hot waves that they name micro.

People would not have enough time to sit back and enjoy life. We should not run away from our procrastinative (spell check says i made this word up) habits but embrace them. It is the only thing that allows us to slow down our already hectic life. That is why we procrastinate simultaneously, when belonging to a class, although at times separately. Adults of the industrial world should learn from us, and do something pointless and meaningless today.

After all, you wouldn't be reading this blog if you had anything important to do.