what is DEATH and what happens aftermath ?? - a scientific vantage point...

At times i keep wondering myself about death. What is death? What happens when we die? Do we enter a different world aftermath ?

There are many theories that tell there is nothing after death..... Maybe death is just a machine fails to run and all the organs just stops..... all the memories and feelings lies no further.... But the fact still remains that these are just assumptions without any proof .

But what about those whose tell about NDE's (Near Death Experience). Are they just fake or some kind of illusion ceated by Human brain What exactly happens after death. What happens to our memories? Is it similar to destroying the hard disk of a computer?

One of my friend said hey none of them can say after death wat happens??? as much as science is concern but according to religion they have diff beliefs and if sum one who belives in god can belive in these things and their r many books which co relate wat happens after death but most of them i had read r with out proof .

And then i somehow reasoned to myself Or may be life is just a form of energy present in this universe and when someone dies, this energy beomes a part of the net energy of the universe because what ever that is present in the universe is in the form of Mass-Energy. Mass occupied by that person is somehow converted into energy and then it becomes a part of this universe.

Maybe yes when we are eaten by worms and our mass is utilized as energy by worms and then it travels the whole universe by changing from one form to another.

Having said that, dont think of afterlife stories and heaven n hell it's ofcourse not you who is travelling, face it man! you are dead! which means DEAD. No, dont think of stories to reconcile you of a beautiful heaven, with 72 Virgins waiting for you.

Here I am talking about energy not about myself. There is no life after deathits all an illusion of mind for example an Englishman will see a Satan speaking english in his dreams while an indian (hindu to be more precise) will see a yamraj speakin hindi or sanskrit its all a trick of mind... get well oh man...

Reminsing ....

Not sure if I spelled that word correctly but whatever. I found myself thinking a lot about my childhood today. Friends I made, and in turn friends I lost. Over the years people have moved on and become just a memory. The thing is I still remember those faces, names. I remember vividly toys I played with, and people I hung out with. I even remember something of the politics of the era.I think found myself thinking about the last few years that I've been in school.

Again, I vividly remember people I hung out with, things we did, faces I saw. Granted this is a little more recent than my childhood, but still I vividly remember these things. I remember the good with the bad. As much as I try to shove things down, something happens to bring those painful memories up again and break that wound wide open.I discovered today that life is made up of hellos and goodbyes. Everyday you meet new people, make new friends. Every day you have an impact on everyone you see. Think about that. Just try to wrap your puny little brain around that conept. How many people a day do you some how come into contact with them? Fifty, a hundred? Every one of those people you've impacted in some way. If for only a brief moment. Somtimes it is those brief moments that can have the biggest impact on a life.

I still remember things that were said to me by people I have long since lost contact. I remember in detail things that were said to me a yea and a half ago when I was trying hard to screw my life up. I remember a lot of things people have said to me, for better or worse. The thing is people, our time on this earth is short, very short. We only have a few moments to impact a life to our God. Things we say, do, thinks will have an impact for years to come.

Life isn't just about that, it's also about letting go. We have to learn to let go of those people that we have impacted. Place them in God's hands, they are no longer in our control, nor were they ever. People can be stupid yes, but just because we have a God who is in control of the earth taking care of people doesn't mean we just leave people to their own devices. It is imperative that we get in our family's face when they screw up. No matter how many times they screw up. Do not write off your friends simply because they screwed up. God has them on a program, you can help. You can impact your friends for God by simply getting in their face.

Now I'm not saying it's a good idea to do this to the general public, but sometimes a smile, touch of the hand, a quick prayer, simple things can make all the difference in the world. So as this year comes to a close think about how many people you've come into contact with, and how many negative and postive impacts you've made on the lives of those people.

The First Brain-Computer Interface for Mainstream Consumers [Neural Interface]

Have you ever wanted to control your computer with your mind? I have. And come next December maybe we will. It has been long since i've been talking about Emotiv Systems . Last February 19th they came out of the cave at the GDC’08 conference with a brand new bone, the latest version of their consumer based brain-computer interface that is quite frankly geeking me out. The headset will be marketed for the game industry and is expected to go for $299. Read on for what to expect. The features are, well, pretty unbelievable.

I’ll start off by noting that there was not one, but two companies demoing brain-computer interfaces at GDC this year. Emotiv Systems & the EPOC neuroheadset, which we’ll be focusing on here, and NeuroSky. The latter is planning on selling their sensors and technologies to partners and will not be developing a specific headset on their own (they had a demo unit at GDC just to show the functionality of their systems).

What Are Brain-Computer Interfaces and the EPOC Neuroheadset?

If you’ve read Think Artificial before, you’re probably somewhat familiar with BCIs. Brain-computer interfaces. Devices that allow us to control machines using only our minds.
The key technology is called electroencephalography (EEG). A device monitors your brain’s electrical activity via sensors on your scalp. It’s been used for medical purposes for years — and the futuristic image on the side here depicts setup for a musical brainwave performance at the Deconism Gallery in 2003, for example. The audience of a concert hooked up to the EEG devices to affect music and lighting.

However, monitoring the waves is different from detecting their patterns and using them reliable “triggers”, like Emotiv Systems’ EPOC device and software does. For this to work, two things are essentially required: The user has to practice producing a repeating, recognizable pattern. But there’s always noise (because it takes practice to be able to visualize the same image, or sequence), so the second thing is that the software deciphering the electrical activity must learn to recognize trigger waves.

Naturally, EPOC is not an invasive kind of — you won’t need a drill and pliers to use it. But you’ll still have to shave your head (just kidding).

The Emotiv EPOC Neuroheadset uses a set of sensors to tune into electric signals naturally produced by the brain to detect player thoughts, feelings and expression. It connects wirelessly with all game platforms from consoles to PCs. The Emotiv neuroheadset now makes it possible for games to be controlled and influenced by the player’s mind. [link]

Emotiv Systems have been working 4 years on R&D, and have come up with their commercially viable BCI — and at a remarkably low price considering its capabilities and that this is the first time such technology hits the market for general consumers. Which brings us to its features.

What Emotiv’s Epoc Neuroheadset Can Do

Let’s start off with an easy-digest list of features expected to be bundled in the first release of EPOC:

Wireless headset - 12 hour battery-life (playing time)
Demo Game - Makes use of- and demonstrates the headset’s features
Emortal - Access to an online hub that allows users to interact with photos and music using Epoc
The EPOC system is comprised of three main software components, each of which detects different kinds of brainwave activity.

The Affectiv suite can reportedly measure the emotional states of the user. Anger, fear, frustration. Emotiv puts forth the example that this could be used to have games increase or decrease the difficulty level depending on the player’s state of mind. The Cognitiv Suite is the control mechanism that allows players to control objects, and the Expressiv suite which measures and interpretes facial expressions of the user. The descriptions and demos are vivid, for example: You smile and thus your avatar smiles.

One of my earliest questions regarding EPOC was: can the system discern many patterns at the same time with any knowledge beforehand on what you’re trying to accomplish?

Most of what I’ve seen from their demos is task-and-turn based, where the player is moved between “phases”, each of which requires him to use one and only one specific action at a time. The Stonehenge Demo, for example, moves the player from stone to stone — but the player only applies one action to each stone (e.g. “rotate” or “lift”; not both).

Let’s elaborate. A user is inside Second Life and has created a plain box. My question is: Can the system handle rotating the box while the user is smiling/making the avatar smile? Or rotating the box, moving it a bit forward, then up — perhaps even rotating and lifting the box at the same time? Is all of this possible? Because if this were possible I’d be geeked out.

Keymap Your Brainwaves
I got mail yesterday. And I geeked out. The letter was from Emotiv reporting, amongst other things, more information on EmoKey — their software for mapping mental intention to keyboards (yes, meaning the Epoc headset will be connectable to virtually any application).
The descriptions almost sound surreal:

EmoKey Software - Use the Emotiv EPOC with your existing software

In our efforts to enabled our users, Emotiv has developed the EmoKey software application in conjunction with the Emotiv EPOC. EmoKey allows you to associate any of the Emotiv EPOC detections with keystrokes on your PC. EmoKey enables all of your existing PC software to be Emotiv EPOC compatible right out of the box! In practice, this means that you can link a “smile” detection to type the “smiley emoticon” in your chat application or link a thought, such as “rotate clockwise” to a series of keystrokes such as “a-w-d-s-a-w-d-s” to rotate your magic wand!

This appears to indicate that you can basically do any action, at any time, anywhere. Right? Well, almost. It’s not clear whether you can only “press” one button at a time (”a then w then d then s….”), or if you can press many buttons at the same time. It could even be a third case where you can press 3 buttons at a time — one from each detection suite (unlikely).

However, I can venture the guess that a feature of the EmoKey is to define a “virtual button” (if not, please spread the idea to Emotiv!). This could allow you to compose a series of virtual buttons. A specific thought could then be assigned to a series of them “ctrl+a, ctrl+w, …” instead of single physical buttons, thereby enabling you to press two buttons at the same time. Like enabling rotation of a something while smiling. This brings up the question of how many mappings there can be?

Goodbye Internet, Your Successor Is Here

The next-generation mode of communication will make the Internet obsolete as it will be
around 10,000 times faster.

Monday, April 07, 2008: Using a 2Mbps connection and thinking you are at the edge? Think again. The most loved Internet may soon look like the floppy drives of early 90s compared to the Blue-ray disc. The inventor of the Web, CERN, a Swiss organisation, is laying bricks for the next-age communication with the Grid. The Grid is supposed to be 10,000 times faster than the current connections. On the lines of the Web, the Grid will first connect leading research and academic institutions. But eventually, it will reach homes as well.

And that will be a revolution. Imagine downloading full-length movies in a matter of seconds, even before you blink your eyes. In a scenario like that online applications will definitely take over the desktop-based applications, thus leading to the online OS -- regarding which experts have had doubts hitherto. But the first ultra-high speed fibre optic cables are already being laid. So hold on to your mouse and get ready for a super-fast journey through the Web...

The emergence of the Grid will change the entire perception the way people interact with each other online. The data transfer rate will be so fast that live chats or webcams will appear to be ancient technologies -- you will actually be able to chat with each other in a 3-D manner. The two dimensional websites will come to an end, especially for online shopping and a lot more things; you will actually be able to 'wear' a dress on sites like e-Bay and see how you look in that dress in a 3-D image.

This will definitely affect the mobile communication as well, thus leading to popularity of MIDs or mobile Internet devices married with mobile phones. For gamers, it would be like a heaven where they could actually play with the hologram of other players.

The possibilities that the Grid will offer are so vast that the imagination will have to take a back seat and wait for the Grid

Distinctive Profile of India 2020

Distinctive Profile of India 2020

A nice article by APJ in his website...

I visualize the following distinctive profile of India by the year 2020.
1. A Nation where the rural and urban divide has reduced to a thin line.
2. A Nation where there is an equitable distribution and adequate access to energy and quality water.
3. A Nation where agriculture, industry and service sector work together in symphony.
4. A Nation where education with value system is not denied to any meritorious candidates because of societal or economic discrimination.
5. A Nation which is the best destination for the most talented scholars, scientists, and investors.
6. A Nation where the best of health care is available to all.
7. A Nation where the governance is responsive, transparent and corruption free.
8. A Nation where poverty has been totally eradicated, illiteracy removed and crimes against women and children are absent and none in the society feels alienated.
9. A Nation that is prosperous, healthy, secure, devoid of terrorism, peaceful and happy and continues with a sustainable growth path.
10. A Nation that is one of the best places to live in and is proud of its leadership through creative and effective leadership in Parliament, State Assemblies and other institutions of the State.

courtesy: http://www.abdulkalam.com/

Bhutia says no to torch relay

This is the time for all those who feel for the Tibet cause to stand tall against the injustice Tibetians have been subjected to over the years. The dream of living in a free country is noT a crime under any law, but the Chinese Oppression is ceratinly the most heinous crime. China must respect the integrity and sovereignty of TIBET & TAIWAN and respect their culture and traditions.

The flame of protests seems to be raging mightier than the Olympic flame itself with protestors from over the world doing their bit to highlight the Tibetian point of view. In a shock for all, India football captain Baichung Bhutia refused to run with the flame when it reaches New Delhi on April 17.

The decision to not carry the flame was informed to the Indian Olympic Association on Monday through a fax after he had been bestowed with the honour of carrying the Olympic torch on the India leg of its journey.

Talking to a leading newspaper, Bhutia, a gifted athlete and a devout a Buddhist, said, ‘‘I sympathize with the Tibetan cause. I have many friends in Sikkim who follow Buddhism. This is my way of standing by the people of Tibet and their struggle. I abhor violence in any form.’’

The star footballer emphasized that he had not been requested by any group to pull out of the torch run. ‘‘This is an absolutely personal decision. I feel what’s happening in Tibet is not right and in my small way I should show my solidarity.’’

Bhutia is among a growing list of celebrities who have refused to carry the Olympic flame as a mark of protest against the violence done against Tibetians.

In February, Hollywood director Steven Spielberg withdrew as an artistic adviser to the Olympics over China’s support to the Sudanese government at a time when the regime had been charged with massacres in the country’s Darfur region.

Last week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he did not rule out France boycotting the games if the situation in Tibet worsened.

Suresh Kalmadi, president of the IOA, had apparently not received any intimation of Bhutia’s plans. ‘‘The fax has not reached me as yet since I’m not in my office,’’ he said. Kalmadi added that there were a plethora of top athletes like PT Usha, Milkha Singh and Gurbachan Singh Randhawa have been invited for the event.

Although Bhutia is known for not having strong political views, he has made up his mind to side with Tibet for their cause. Perhaps this stems out from the fact that even the most gentle of souls can be stirred beyond the point of being submissive when their core ethics are challenged.

Knowledge equation - An article by APJ in his Billion Beats.

This is the article written by him in his february edition of Billion Beats, for those who haven't read any plz visit his website...

~~~~~~~~~~

I would like to share an inspirational call from Hazrat Mohammad Sahib's Hadeeth (peace be upon him).

"When you speak, speak thetruth.
Perform what you promise.
Discharge your trust.
Withhold your hand from striking and taking,
That which is unlawful and bad."
Let us follow this path
and lead a noble life.

I would like to recall a great clarion call of indomitable spirit, which was given by Sir C. V. Raman, at the age of 82. The message is still reverberating in my mind:

"I would like to tell the young men and women before me not to lose hope and courage. Success can only come to you by courageous devotion to the task lying in front of you. "I can assert without fear of contradiction that the quality of the Indian mind is equal to the quality of any Teutonic, Nordic or Anglo-Saxon mind. What we lack is perhaps courage, what we lack is perhaps driving force, which takes one anywhere. "We have, I think, developed an inferiority complex. I think what is needed in India today is the destruction of that defeatist spirit. We need a spirit of victory, a spirit that will carry us to our rightful place under the sun, a spirit, which will recognize that we, as inheritors of a proud civilization, are entitled to a rightful place on this planet. If that indomitable spirit were to arise, nothing can hold us from achieving our rightful destiny." Hence friends, knowledge is equal to the equation: Knowledge = creativity + righteousness + courage + indomitable spirit.

The combination of these characteristics can generate enlightened citizens.

DREAM !!!!

Dreams - Why do we Dream ???

Why do we dream? Why is it that we ( and by we, of course, I mean I) clamber upon these perches and look carefully into the distance separating the reality from the magically unattainable and then proceed to nurture them?

Why the need to ask for more than is possible? Why do we dare to see what we may not voice, for fear of being ridiculed, for shame at such wild fantasies or for silence in return for luck.

Why do we dream? Why do we look beyond the boundaries upto which we push ourselves and then no more. Why do we ask for that which we do not see? Is it the hope that sustains us or the promise of fulfillment?

Do we dream for a better state of affairs or do we dream of actual fulfillment?

And why do we dream?

And why do I dream? If, as stated above, in the mornings, I can never recall what the fuss was all about. And if, every morning, reality beckons.