Sunday, January 24, 2010

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

An antacid tablet reacts with water in space

Sunday, January 03, 2010

Inferences...

Social networks have become prevalent - there is one for every purpose, career, travel, books etc. People are spending a lot of time on it, sharing minute details of their lives on it. So I had a question : Can the information that is shared by a person on social networking sites be used to infer that person's personality. Specifically, can the photographs that a person shares on such sites be used. The profile pic is probably the first one anyone intending to do such an analysis could look at. Follow that up with the photos one posts, looking for specifics like : how many have people in it, how many are of family, how many have that person itself, what is the mood of that person in the photograph, what activity does it show the person doing?

Can one draw an inference like : X's photos always have X. So, X is a very gregarious person. But X's photos do not have family. So X guards his/her privacy when it comes to friends and relatives.

Maybe something else like: Y's photographs do not show him/her, therefore "place some inference about Y".

Or something rather obvious: Z's photos show Z in lots of outdoor activity. Z likes adventure.

I bet such a study has already been done or is in progress in some psychology/sociology department in some university. The question is how could such information about us be used for/against us. The most obvious being targeted ads. But as a revenue model, that is so passe. Something's gotta give and something is definitely in store for us. Sooner rather than later.

Saturday, January 02, 2010

3 idiots

Managed to watch the movie in its entireity. I guess that statement sums up my 'review' of the movie that has been the subject of many positive reviews, topical discussions and resounding financial success. The movie is an adaptation of 5 Point Someone. I've seen the theatrical performance by Evam, which was wonderfully done.

The movie definitely makes its point against the Indian undergrad education system. But as a cinematic experience, it was a letdown, especially after what Rajkumar Hirani has given us in the past - the well made Munnabhai movies. One can understand some amount of drama added to the script to cater to popular taste, but a cast that has two 40+ year old men playing the part of 20 year olds is difficult to digest. The ridiculous wig and accent that Boman Irani's character had were probably not necessary. Not to mention many recycled jokes - which we shall forgive. The last straw was the newborn baby coming 'back to life' (?) when it hears 'All is Well'.

Chetan Bhagat is alleging that he wasn't given due credit. If I were him, I would actually not bother about credits and actually try to distance myself from the movie.

Simply put: "Movie देखके मज़ा नहीं आया".

If I have to see '3 Idiots', I'll look at myself in the mirror; thrice over. That's sufficient.