MAX THE WORTHINESS CAT

Max the Worthiness Cat
What a Cat is Max! Every patience does he tax,
At the rise of the sun or the setting of the moon,
Time means nothing at all, only comforts one and all!

A miaow at the door, a gentle scratch of his paw,
'Let me in, it's my wish, I've come home for some fish,
Add some milk and I'm done - a long night, I've had fun!'

More miaows and some prancing, tail moving and dancing.
Expectant - 'I'm here! Don't muck about dear!
I'm famished, with thirst. Attend to me FIRST!'

All his needs will be there, he just knows that I care,
Snappy Tom, milk galore, he knows there is more,
And the world's at his feet. What a cat, so discreet!

Now licking his lips as he wriggles those hips,
'Thanks a lot, it was great, now I'm off for a spate
Of the sun and a rest, I deserve just the best!' Yanis Bayada

THE 65TH SQUARE : CHESS AND LIFE

"The passion for playing chess is one of the most unaccountable in the world. It slaps the theory of natural selection in the face. It is the most absorbing of occupations. The least satisfying of desires. A nameless excrescence upon life. It annihilates a man. You have, let us say, a promising politician, a rising artist that you wish to destroy. Dagger or bomb are archaic and unreliable - but teach him, inoculate him with chess."
H.G. Wells, Certain Personal Matters, 1898

Life is a game, and the only game is real life. - Anonymous

Perhaps it is not just plain coincidence that chess is much more than just a game of 64 squares. There is much more than meets the eye. To an ardent chess player, the game is much more than just a matter of passion. I would rather call it a reflection of life. If you try to correlate between a game of well played chess and the life that unfolds around you everyday and every night, you will be mesmerized by the striking similarities between the two. In fact one can tell your attitude towards life from the way you play a game of chess. The rules that you apply in a game of chess holds true for life as well albeit in a modified manner. Lets go a bit deeper into this . In life we get a second chance most of the time. However grave the mistake may be, we always get a chance to redeem it, to correct the wrongs we have done before, to turn the tables around. But sometimes we fail to take the chance and commit a second blunder which costs us much more, sometimes our life even. The situation is exactly the same in chess. Many a times we make a blunder by misinterpreting a situation, loosing some material in the process. It happens very frequently and in almost every game. But the problem arises when we start fretting over the lost piece, thinking about the loss and not concentrating ahead. That's when we make the second mistake when our opponent catches us off-guard. More often it is the second mistake that costs us the game.

In chess there is simply no room for negative emotions. Anger will not help you; frustration will certainly not help you. Being determined to drive your opponent into the dust will not even help you. In fact, such attitudes make things far worse, as they cause you to rush your judgments, underestimate your opponent, and open yourself to irrational decisions with no connection the board. If you adopt the attitude that you “should” be winning — and that whatever is happening is somehow the universe being out to get you — well, on those days my ratings take a sharp dive.

However, this is not to say that chess should be played without feeling. In fact, a fine aesthetic sense can greatly assist you, by allowing your unconscious to express its opinions through showing you that a certain position “feels wrong”. Or feelings of graciousness can lead you to appreciate your opponent's skill — and thus permit your mind to see things from his side, sometimes making his plans much clearer to you.

In short, chess is best played from a standpoint of subtle and joyful calm: not to be rushed; where winning has little emotional value; and where the game itself is worthy of a complete absorption of heart (in the form of caring about the quality of your position) and mind (by pouring through calculations, rather than ranting why things have reached their current state).

In chess there is a move called "Zugzwang" which is a German term for the obligation to move. All legal moves lead to a worsening of the position. The concept is an important weapon in the endgame, and occasionally arises in the middle game. in simple term it means whatever move you give will hurt your position-maybe lead to some material loss, or worse lead to a position leading to checkmate. In life too, sometimes our moves backfire on us. Just think of the economic crisis that rattled the east Asian economy a decade ago. Many businessmen tried to bail themselves out of this crisis by taking loans from foreign banks. But this fiasco spelt doom for them as the currency further devalued. Many of them went broke, others had to sell most of their businesses to repay the debt.

Or take the move called "En Passant" for example. It is a French word which means in passing. This move has special relevance in this fast-paced world that we see today. We don't have anytime to stay back and think. Trying to get first everywhere makes us more vulnerable as we try to overlook the dangers that await us at some dark corners. En passant is the move by which you can take the enemy pawn when it moves two squares forward at the beginning of its journey. The pawn overlooked the imminent threat and thus got engulfed by the enemy pawn that devoured it at the first opportunity. In real life too, you got to be careful or all of a sudden you will find yourself out of the game.

Benjamin Franklin said this almost 200 years ago....

"The Game of chess is not merely an idle amusement. Several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired and strengthened by it, so as to become habits ready on all occasions; for life is a kind of chess, in which we have points to gain, and competition or adversaries to contend with, and in which there is a vast variety of good and ill events, that are, in some degree, the effect of prudence, or want of it.
By playing at chess then, we may learn:
First, foresight...Second, circumspection...Third, caution...
And lastly, we learn by chess the habit of not being discouraged by present bad appearances in the state of our affairs; the habit of hoping for a favorable chance, and that of persevering in the secrets of resources."
- Benjamin Franklin

Playing & studying the game has definitely had a big impact on how I live my life and pursue my goals. Chess has taught me not to live in a reactionary way, allowing circumstances to dictate decisions I make. Many people, perhaps most people, allow life to force them into a position they never desired to be in. Just like a good chess player can overwhelm a novice, forcing him to react to threats, to make moves he doesn't want to. Many people allow life to do that to them.

It might be a career they settled for, or some other situation they feel they are powerless to get out of. I was struggling in a job where I wasn't really happy, with a company that didn't have a clear picture of where they wanted to go. And it was during my chess studies that I decided I needed to apply the principles of the game to my life. I needed to make some clear decisions about where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do with my life - and make deliberate decisions about getting there. So I did. Now, a few years later, we're living where we want to be living, and pursuing the goals we set out for ourselves.

Of course we can't control everything, chess has something to say on that note as well. You are only allowed to make every other move on the board. Only 50% of what happens is in your direct control... your opponent has his opportunities. A certain amount of unpredictability enters in. But the game teaches you that even with this uncertainty, the stronger you plan, the better the chances are that you will be successful. It may not work out exactly the way you intended, but invariably good things happen. In fact, I've found that as I pursue the general idea of my plan, certain unforseen opportunities often present themselves. True for chess, true for life.

TOTAL RECALL

TNT FOR THE BRAIN

Tired of the repetitive, pointless, run-of-the-mill New Year’s Resolutions like quitting smoking, losing weight and getting fit? These are the most resolved and least achieved resolutions, made in the heat of New Year celebrations. Achieving anything requires you to put your mind to the task - but what if your mind’s simply not up to it? What if your brain has been subjected to years of abuse ? Parental influence. Bandwagon-hopping. Too much FOX News. It’s time to think for yourself.

Here’s a set of New Year’s Resolutions for your Brain. The aim is to develop critical thinking skills and the love of lifelong learning. These things do not come naturally - they need practise. But what they will do is make your life a whole lot more enjoyable and clarify your whole reason for existence. Nobody can clarify this for you, but you.

1. Empathize
There are two sides to every story. Just because one person or one website says something against another, it doesn’t mean it’s right. People fight. More importantly, people have their reasons for fighting. We have to ask “why?” and we have to search for the answers. This powerful Phil Collins lyric demands that people start to empathize if they want to truly work out how to heal:

White man turns the corner, finds himself within a different world
Ghetto kid grabs his shoulder, throws him up against the wall
He says “would you respect me if I didn’t have this gun?”
“‘Cos without it, I don’t get it, and that’s why I carry one.”

2. Analyze
Your parents taught you what they wanted to teach you. Is it safe to expect everything that they taught you to be the truth or to be right? Culture and custom are great for defining a society or even a nation, but we know the ideologies of some nations and religions are questionable. But then again, they probably know your nation and/or religion are questionable. So who’s right? Don’t blindly accept the hand you’re dealt, because life is not a game of Poker. You are permitted to make up your own mind. But to do that, we need to develop the skill of recognizing the underlying details of important facts or patterns that are not always readily visible. Break the cycle. Investigate. Research. Then…

3. Rationalize
Learn the difference between critical and non-critical information. Many irrational concepts will always appear in the mix - that’s the human influence. It is important to be able to identify and filter out baseless contradiction and to give appropriate weight to emotional argument. Based on all of the evidence found, employ logic and reason as the process of drawing to a conclusion. It’s better to be rational than irrational.

4. Realize
It’s one thing to know, it’s another thing to understand. Realization is coming to understand something clearly and distinctly. Understanding is however one of the more complex concepts we face in humanity and it is the lack of understanding that brings about confusion and alternative hypotheses. Man desires answers, but where they are unobtainable, Man readily plays the supernatural card. History has shown us that among humans, this card trumps all others - even when plausible answers are discovered. Always strive to understand, but if you don’t, there’s nothing wrong with saying, “I don’t understand that…yet.”

5. Criticize
If you know something is wrong and you know why it it is wrong, stick your head up and say or do something about it. But criticism is only of value if you can show why that criticism is justified. Criticism is not contradiction. Criticism is making a judgment as to the merit, effectiveness, utility or correctness of the object in question. It involves discussing both sides of the argument. It involves helping the one being criticized to realize their mistake. If we don’t criticize, we allow false definitions and concepts to propagate. If you’ve worked through resolutions 1 through 4, you’ve earned the right to 5.

6. Exercise
The human brain contains more than 100 billion neurons, which are electrically active brain cells that process information. Each neuron is linked to as many as 10,000 others. These links, or synapses, are crucial to the biological computations that underlie perception and thought. Just as muscles can be developed then can lose tone and strength without ongoing excercise, neural links are formed throughout schooling and can be lost without ongoing brain exercises. Give yourself the time to say once a month work on some puzzles. By practising solving puzzles, you are obviously improving your thought-processes of retrieving, storing and arranging information in an optimal fashion; finding or originating a set of optional hypotheses which can make sense of data; reducing the options by elimination until the correct or best answer or answers have been isolated; and the communication of that answer. A mind enhanced by a little interesting and enjoyable training helps open your eyes to the solution of everyday problems - of life and the desire for success. Buy a puzzle book or try my Enigma Challenge.

7. Synthesize
Don’t try this one until you’ve achieved the first five resolutions. Synthesis is where you show everyone your well-rounded cranial abilities by combining new information with existing knowledge to form and express an original idea or interpretation. It’s the pulling together of concepts and information to develop a common framework for understanding or to create and share a new idea. If you cannot empathize, analyze, rationalize, realize and criticize, then you’ll probably synthesize some pretty stupid ideas - and we’ve all seen them before…

If you decide to make these resolutions and work toward achieving them in 2007, I guarantee you will have a better life. It’s all in your mind. Have a Thoughtful New Year!

TERRORISM : A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

this is an interesting piece of article written by Galal Amin who happens to be the professor of economics at the American University in Cairo.
Read the article here

THE QUICK AND THE DEAD: THE FALLUJAH MASSACRE

the fallujah massacre:
the words break as i try to utter them-
the tears dry up in searing heat,
the alive huddle with the dead
as guns are raised to celebrate this feet.
the mothers cling to their dead son,
and watch their daughters writhe in pain-
and we only watch this over the net
and think we might go insane!
-saptarshi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwrsNRoyblE
and to get an ccount of the atrophy read the articles published on the net'
http://www.vialls.com/subliminalsuggestion/fallujah.html
incinearating iraqis:the napalm cover up
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9307.htmkilling without conscience: iraq the hidden war
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13420.htm

IMPROVE ON YOUR STRENGTHS NOT WEAKNESSES

Well, how many times have you been punished for doing badly in your exams or screwing up some assignments ? How many times have your parents and/or teachers reproached you for your below par performance in a particular subject that you hate to learn, admonishing you of stern steps if you failed to come up with sterling performances in future? How many times have you received a cold stare from your parents after the results were out and you became the victim of that classic "I wish I could die" syndrome? Well at least i have received a lot of them till recent past- that is till the point where my parent lost all hopes of redemption and they literally gave up on me deciding that i am beyond all the hope- another classic example of the "incorrigible fool" - one who knows not, listens not and rectifies not.
Now here is some piece of good news for those unfortunate souls like me. The psychologists have started saying(i don't know the exact time when the people come up with this beautiful notion ) that forget your weaknesses , rather improve on your strengths. As the Chinese saying goes " A diamond with a flaw is better than a common stone that is perfect"(oh i love this one..the Chinese are really good people- no wonder they are doing so well in the world market) . the point here is that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder-its up to them whether they regard you as a dazzling diamond or a petty pebble.

"A person who is not recognized for his or her strengths or good deeds will likely have low self esteem. Either that or he will become a bully or an arrogant boor, though these are in the minority compared to the people with low self esteem.But surely there are few diamonds among us, given that by definition the diamond is rare. Wrong again. Each person is a potential diamond, but only if the observer is looking for diamonds, not common stones.Taken on their own, the strengths that each person has are treasures that most of us don't have. Each person has at least one strength or talent that most people they know would envy if they were aware of it. Of course that wouldn't happen if a person has not worked hard enough to develop that skill or talent.We don't need to consider the weaknesses of a person in order to be able to appreciate that person's strengths or talents. Unless their weaknesses impinge on us badly, we should not consider them of great value (in a negative sense). Consider the strengths and the weaknesses will pale in comparison in most people."

I had a lot of talents you know! From the day i investigated the insides of a radio with the help of a single hammer (though my father insists that i destroyed it completely beyond the point of repair, i like to think of it differently..more along the lines of knowing the intricacies of the circuit world and i was only two and a half then), i knew i was going to be a techie. that being said, it is quite natural to fathom that i will be goofing up in subjects like history,geography and languages. But my parents never realized the potential i had in me! They always scolded me when i failed to deliver during those exams- quite simply because i could not remember the dates when some bloody warmonger decided to attack his neighbour one fine morning or the exact location of the Nilgiri range. but i had other plans in mind. i proved at the tender age of 8 that if a short circuit exists in a circuit all the current will flow through that path- how? simple i inserted both ends of a wire in a socket- i was destined to be a genius!!!

But lets not stray. The point that i want to raise is that we have two options - either we can improve the sides we are weak at to the point of mediocrity and be a jack of all trades guy; or we can improve on our strengths , honing our skills , trying to reach the point of perfection. If you are good at something-maths for example, then if you work on it you have the opportunity to become better and there are chances that in due time you may become the best - but tell me if you don't like English language for example , if you cant tell the difference between a Shakespearean sonnet and a Petrarchan sonnet or between romanticism and rhyme royal, then chances are small that you will be able to write good poetry yourself even if you pursue the language meticulously. you might argue that people should at least have the passing knowledge ion different subjects , what is the point of it? is it necessary for us to be knowledgeable at everything ? Does anybody go up and ask Amartya Sen to pinpoint the location of Doddabeta on a blank map? (although personally i believe that man might just be able to do that too...that man is dangerous you know). Its is lot easier for you to improve on the thing you are already good at than embarking on a quest to cross the insurmountable . its a lot less likely that you will be making the thing you hate to be the means of your earning livelihood(that they will not select you at the interview is another thing) so what is the point of pursuing futility?

Till recently the people appearing for CAT and other management exams got a taste of this futility. God knows what the English section with all its vocabs and passages and things like that tried to prove. the people who write CAT every year aspire to become managers one day not English professors. You want to test English skills ? is it necessary to ask the meaning of jaw breaking English words or set those esoteric passages which i can bet the writer himself doesn't understand? or you mat take the case of GRE - all those hapless souls mugging up Barron's in the middle of the night - all this for what? are you trying to become an english professor?

Why cant we be proud of what we have rather than fretting over what we don't? why cant people judge us on the basis of our strengths and not on the basis of our weaknesses? why cant they respect are for what we are than disparaging for what we are not? what do they want - that we become a prototype like them? those who set the paradigms of mediocrity can go to hell- we are breaking all the rules and setting our own.
" the line it is drawn
the curse it is cast
the slow one now
will later be fast
and the present now
will later be past
the order is
rapidly fadin'
and the first one now
will later be last
for the times they are a changin' "

IND1A : GAMING MOGHULS TRUNING HERE?

India is fast emerging as a key one-stop destination for game development with research firm AC Nielsen estimating the Indian gaming market to hit $50 million in 2005.

Game development today is a $10 billion industry in US. Estimates suggest that by 2006, 529 million people across the world will play mobile, interactive TV and online games.

India has more than a finger in this lucrative pie. It has emerged as a key one-stop destination for game development. According to research firm AC Nielsen, the Indian gaming market is expected to be worth $ 50 million by 2005, with console and PC gaming break up of $ 35 million and $15 million respectively. Most Indian developers have the global wireless gaming market - worth a staggering $550million - in their sights. All of the big Indian development companies have distribution and marketing partners abroad and 75 to 80% of their turnover comes in from the international market.

Why India?

A typical game title today takes around 24 months to make and will have a production budget of $ 4 -10 million. The game industry is under increasing pressure to reduce development time and the cost of production. Reason enough for major publishers and studios to look at outsourcing development.

This is where the Indian game developers with their world-class quality and game development experience step in. India has excellent programmers and the rapid growth of the market is adding to the allure.

The Indian market has 4 to 6 large game development companies with 50 seats and more, while there are another 100 odd small game developers with 5 to 10 seats, which are dedicated to developing for the wireless.Leading Indian game companies like Indiagames, Dhruva Interactive, Paradox and Mobile2Win develop for a range of platforms such as PC, console, wireless and online.

Key Segments

Outsourcing to India in this sector can be divided into three broad segments:

1. Computer games that are delivered on disks or CD- ROMs and played on a PC.
2. Video games that use dedicated consoles to play the game.
3. Wireless games market that is dominated primarily by games played on mobile phones.

Indian companies are aggressively developing games in all these three segments. India has carved a niche for itself even in the console market dominated by giants like Sony's Playstation 2, Nintendo's Game Cube and Microsoft's Xbox.

Another overlapping segment has opened up with the advent of online functionality in the computer and video games market. Nearly 1.5 million people in the United States played games online using their Playstation 2 or Xbox console in 2003, with that number expected to rise to 5.4 million in 2007. With online connectivity, data can be updated constantly by downloading content, making the game fresh and relevant through out the season. The console and PC based online gaming are separate non-competitive markets although Indian companies produce games for both worlds. Console games are more action oriented and graphics heavy while PC based games tend to focus on role-playing and first person viewpoints.

Indian companies cater to online only game sites as well, with titles delivered via download or streaming technologies rather than on a disk. Big names such as AOL, MSN and Yahoo are joining the likes of Shockwave and RealNetworks to offer online gaming communities. Online only games tend to be simple, often based on puzzles, board games and quizzes. Another small sector is that of Advergames, where companies look at enhancing their brand image by employing games to hook the user to a particular brand. These games are not restricted to the Net and can be deployed offline, on media like kiosks.

How Does It Work?

The distribution pipeline that extends from IP owner to the consumer includes, the IP owner, Publisher, Content developer, Carrier and the consumer. There are also Portals and aggregators that could be part of the distribution.

Usually game publishers identify properties around which they can have successful games. They then approach the owners of the desired IP and purchase the license. Next they assign a developer the task of developing a game around their content. Once the game is ready, the developer is paid his development fees and the publisher then releases the game to its partners, which are carriers and portals. The carriers and portals then offer the game to the consumer via downloads, portals or consoles. The carrier and the publisher then share the revenues generated from consumers. A lot of developers are moving up the value chain by becoming publishers.

While a majority of the 100 odd small sized game development studios in the country are service oriented and offer a low cost solution to the international client, the big studios are bullish on quality and do not use low cost as their plank while pitching.

Two Success Stories

In a very short span of time, two Indian studios have hit the ground running in the gaming sector.

Indiagames has developed games around 'The Day After Tomorrow', Bruce Lee, 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and Spiderman. The company has built up a successful model in which it acquires licenses for popular icons and properties and develops games around them. While Buffy and Spiderman appeal to a huge cross section of the demographic, games around Bruce Lee are targeted at markets like China and the ASEAN countries.

Dhruva Interactive released Pat Cash Tennis in UK at the time of Wimbledon. Vodafone gave it the Game of the Week position during the final's week and there were goodies like Pat Cash signed Tennis racquets, T-shirts and bandanas. The icing on the cake: the grand winner gets to play with Pat Cash. Dhruva's strategy is not to restrict itself to the hardcore gamer but to appeal to the more broad based audience. Recently, Dhruva released two games that were highly successful in the international market. These are Geoff Grammond's Grand Prix 4 (PC) and TOCA Pro Race Driver.

The Development Cycle

The development cycle for a game includes game concepts, scripting, programming, character design, animation, level making and testing. The cycle is divided into 3 parts, Pre Production, Production and testing.

Pre-Production involves concept art, game design and game dynamics. Production is final concept arts, modeling, animation and programming. Testing is a big task for game developers. There is a wide range of formats, platforms, carriers and handsets that the games have to be tested for. Typically there are separate teams for porting and testing; some companies prefer to outsource this activity to specialized units.

The Indian game developers take their games seriously and spare no cost or efforts to enhance the entertainment value that their games offer. Their credo is not trying to save money in production, but making a product that is a hit.

Skillsets and Software

Indian game creators are rungs ahead of the competition when it comes to skill sets and software. Game development requires specialized skill sets that are not easily available. A good game can be created by the right combination of design, programming and creative effort.

Key skill sets for game development on various media available in India:

PC: Shockwave, Flash, Visual Basic, Java, visual C++, DirectX, Open GL, Graphics software like Adobe Photoshop, animation software like Maya, 3D Studio Max, Lightwave etc.

Console: the respective software development kit, Visual C++, Dire ctx, open GL, Graphics software like Adobe Photoshop, animation software like Maya, 3D Studio Max, Lightwave etc.

Pocket PC: Flash, Embedded Visual C++, Embedded Visual Basic, Personal Java, graphics software like Macromedia Fireworks, Freehand, Adobe Photoshop, animation software like Maya, 3D Studio Max, Lightwave etc.

Mobile phone: Visual C++ for native application development, J2ME, VB, WAP, ASP, JSP, graphics software like Macromedia Fireworks, Freehand, Adobe Photoshop, animation software like Maya, 3D Studio Max, Lightwave etc.

Future

The future for India's game development community looks bright. Take for example the case of mobile gaming. It is the rising star in India's fast growing mobile business. Gaming is the key element in operator's and content developer's strategies to develop new, high value revenue streams, beyond basic voice services and simple text messaging. The growth of this sector has attracted publishers, developers, animators and content providers and is also stimulating the development of innovative business models.

Across Asia and especially in China and India, the growth in cellular subscriptions is blazing. China alone has 330 million mobile phone users. A lot of developers from across the world have been attracted to this market owing to the sheer numbers. India too is a large market and currently has 40 million users. The number of Indian users is expected to touch 80 million by Dec 2005. There are around a million GPRS consumers and 1.4 million java enabled handsets. The number of paid downloads for GSM handsets in India is around 600,000 a month, while there are another 15 million free game downloads in the CDMA space. In-stat/MDR expects that the Indian mobile gaming market will generate US $ 26 million in revenue in 2004, and will increase to $ 336 million in annual revenue by 2009. A huge new market is waiting to be tapped.

computer Gaming & India:Potential Unlimited(Click on the link)