MEME

Teh  !\/! € !\/! € Wrld-

Yeah I have seen them But don’t know what they are called!

September 1982 witnessed a catastrophic change in our internet culture.

Scott Fahlman invented the first ever emoticon/smile “:-)”.This founded the revolution of internet memes.

  

INTERNET MEMES- A concept,cultural idea or a social idea which spreads around the internet.

In laymen terms memes are "things on the internet" - 'in jokes' , ’ in pictures’ or in  'repeated references' that produce a knowing smile from those-in-the-know and a sense of bafflement from those who don't ;)

In further simpler words, just as a virus spreads and infect human life similarly meme is a concept or an idea which spreads around the internet and entertains us. No further simplification is possible if you haven’t seen them J

For the geeks-“Meme" comes from the Greek word "mimema" and pronounced as  “meme” because “meme” rhymes with “gene” according to Richard Dawkins the person who first termed this phrase. People also prefer pronouncing it as meh-meh.

Let’s have a look at some the most common memes going around…

  

1)O RLY   

Short for "Oh, really?" is represented by a Snowy Owl. The phrase "O RLY?" is typically used in a sarcastic or scornful manner, often in response to a statement that the speaker feels is obvious, or brazenly self-contradictory. This meme Originated in 2003, peaked in late 2005 to early 2006 and since then has phased out of trend.

2)Trollface

A troll is someone who posts inflammatory, impertinent,,  off-topic messages or as the  New York Times define “manipulating other people’s emotional equilibrium.”

This black and white drawing of this meme displays a mischievous grin and portrays the expression of trolling. Posting a Trollface into a forum is often used when someone was being fooled or intentionally angered. The face commonly appears in rage comics.

This meme has peaked up since Jan 2009 and currently is one of the highest searched internet meme which has reached the Breakout stage in google insights.

3) What People Think I Do / What I Really Do

This meme is a series of visual charts depicting a range of preconceptions associated with a particular field of occupation or expertise.

This meme compares varying impressions about one’s profession -held by others, self-image and the often mundane reality of the job.

These also describe range of perceptions of a field, occupation or expertise.

This meme originated in 2012 and has been very popular among social networking sites.

4)You don’t say 

This is a rage comic face used as a sarcastic response to an obvious observation or statement.The meme is created from The image of Nicolas Cage that was taken from a scene in the 1988 black comedy film Vampire’s Kiss.

Originated in mid 2011 and is currently one of the highest trending memes.It has reached the breakdown stage on google insights.

5)Bitch please

The drawing is based on a photograph of basketball player Yao Ming at a press conference. 

The image is typically used as a reaction face to convey a dismissive attitude towards someone else’s input.This meme is often used to express a more flippant attitude towards an unworthy remark made by someone else.

6)Fuck Yea

Fuck Yea is a series of four-pane cartoon strips featuring a stick figure looking rather self-complacent and quite frankly, for all the right reasons.These cartoons illustrate all sorts of triumphant moments in our daily lives that make us feel awesome.This meme originated in 2010 and has peaked ever since.

7)Derp

This meme portrays a male or female rage comic characters as less than intelligent or ignorant in a given narrative, although they may represent situations or emotions that readers can easily empathize with.

This meme originated after 2010 and peaked the breakdown stage in 2011.

8)Y U NO

This Guy is a character using SMS shorthands and carefree grammar as a way to bring someone’s attention on a particular subject or issue. 

9)Me Gusta 

A character that is typically used to respond to an awkward or disgusting event with “Me Gusta,” which means “it pleases me” in Spanish (often understood as “I like it” in English). 

Importance-

Internet memes in a way are one of the most effective ways of marketing. Think of viral marketing —passing word on from person to person — but instead of a product, the idea being forwarded is a humorous image, video, or other digital medium that becomes a part of our day-to-day usage and we can easily connect and relate to it.

There are many(non-internet-dwellers) who don’t know what is Pepper Spray Cop. But, millions of internet inhabitants- first found out or became aware about this 'shameful' police abuse because of the silly versions of the image being circulated online or in other terms because of the memes which were circulated around people.

In the end-

If you still have no clue what this article is all about, do visit www.knowyourmeme.com coz otherwise whenever you encounter a meme you will have a bewildered expression on your face.

Some of the memes i found worth sharing.

Board of Cricket Corruption In India - BCCI

I enjoyed learning antonyms and synonyms as a child because I got majority of them Correct. But there were some which I never learnt in school life and had to learn it the hard way after years of patience and experience like (Antonyms)- BCCI X Logic , BCCI X Common sense , BCCI X  Responsibility.( Synonyms)-  BCCI – Biased, BCCI – Corrupt or BCCI – Bulllshit. For a long period of time Indian cricket has been managed by some weird tacticians, having horrible logic and lacking appropriate insight required in the current times. I feel it’s not fair to both the fans and the players.


As a diehard Indian and sachin fan, it was a setback when sachin didn’t play in the recent Srilankan series. Moreover With the no of India Srilanka matches in the recent past it would have taken a great miracle to force me to watch it. Don’t know the reason behind nonstop srilakan matches. Neither is it helping test our bench strength, nor is it appealing to the fans and the audience. Also with fitness, fatigue and nonstop cricket an issue for the Indian team, these pointless series should be discarded or should be played by the Indian A team.


The prospect of test series is what gets me excited. But the current TWO test match SERIES against newzeland is quite baffling and puzzling. At one end we regularly play srilanka every other month for 5 match series whereas we are just having a two test match series against newzeland who visits only once every two years.


Agreed Indian Weather Forecasting Department is terribly poor. That doesn’t mean they would predict the entire monsoon season wrong. Late august is considered to be rainy in INDIA. So why can’t simple common sense prevail and Matches be organized when it’s not supposed to rain?!For a cricket fan like myself, and fans that pay up to watch test matches, it’s absolutely not fair if rains delays occur. Also the expected weather at Hyderabad where the first test match is going to be played is considered to be –“OCCASIONAL THUNDERSTORMS”. So for a two test match series having no warm up games, if rain plays its part, it would make a mockery of the organizers.


There is no shortage of amusement when BCCI is concerned. The recent selection does prove my point.

After the recent 8-0 result of then considered “NO 1 ranked Indian team” I expected the selection committee to really step up and take some harsh measures. I thought fitness would be of the prime concern.I thought batsman without proper technique would be discarded. But as always I was wrong. Instead the same old melodrama continues. 


Starting with Ishant Sharma, Who has yet to regain full fitness, who hasn’t submitted a fitness report, who 
hasn’t played competitive cricket since quite a while is selected, on what basis I don’t know. How his ankle would hold up nobody knows. But this selection shows that the fast bowling department is so desperate and so depleted in reserves, that they are willing to take even an half fit Ishant Sharma.


In the last three away test series the fast bowlers we tried were-Zak, Ishant, Praveen, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Sreesanth, Rp Singh, Varun Aaron. The Spinners we tried were-mishra, harbhajan, ashwin, Ojha.


So my question is if we have tried 8 fast bowlers for away tests, we must have selected them on some basis and thinking that they are our future. So what is the need for an half fit ishant, and what is the current status of Indian Fast Bowling Department.


Even more humorous, mind blowing, stupendous, horrendous (what not) selection in the current series was of piyush chawla.Let me get the facts first-Last played test series in 2008(4 years ago).Not part of the recent Indian A squad. An average of 26 in the IPL at an economy of 7.35, and a very poor average of 40 in the Ranjis.So what has he done to merit a place in the squad.And do the selectors feel Chawla would be a part of the spin department in the forthcoming away test series(where the ball hardly turns) in 2013?Highly doubt it and even then where was he in the last three away test series?. And you want another joke-When asked Chawla on his inclusion in the test team he says-“I expected it. I have done well in the recent limited over formats hence my place in the test squad is justified”. HAHA!


The bowling selection for the current series makes me wonder are we totally depleted of our bowling reserves. And is there a possibility of a time coming in the future, where there would be 11 batsmen playing with a mindset that “if we can’t get their 11 batsman’s out then what’s the point of playing a bowler. Instead 11 batsmen might boost our statistics and reduce the chances of 4-0 whitewashes”. A definite possibility. 


Last time I knew Rohit Sharma was on the verge of making a test debut, having warmed enough benches In Australia. And Raina was declared as a batsman unsuitable in the away conditions because of his familiar weakness against the rising ball. But looks like the recent Srilankan series has changed many fortunes. Agreed Sharma looked totally out of sorts and raina was in a decent form. But these are subcontinent pitches. Hence excluding the recent series what technical changes occurred in both the batsman, such that the deserving was dropped and the batsman having a prominent weakness against the rising ball was selected. For the away matches Raina(we know)at no 6/7 is a definite waste. And lastly if Sharma lost his place in the test side due to the recent events, How on earth did he get a place in the T-20s where the world cup is just 
round the corner? Beats me.


Similar is the case of Sehwagh. For the subcontinent matches his place in the 11 doesn’t require justification. But for the away series sehwagh as an opener is many times a liability.Looking at Sehwagh’s record in the 
away test series as an opener makes you always wonder would he will perform or not. When he does perform the team always tends to do well. But when he doesn’t(The recent cases and the majority of times)it leaves the team in a huge spot of bother .Moreover the cushion of Rahul Dravid is lost now and that means for the likes of Tendulkar’s and laxmans the ball won’t have lost its shine. Instead it would be a hard new, shining, seaming cherry which could make them vulnerable early on.


Also there is the inclusion of Yuvraj Singh-Is it an emotional one? Could be. Is it based on past form. Definately. From world cup man of the series to the post cancer recovery his inclusion justifies many bases. But my only concern is-“Isn’t a bit early? And is he fit enough to bear the burden of an emotional, comeback, international test match”. Time will tell.


It was weird when kohli replaced gambhir as the vice-captain of the T-20 side.The funny part now is not, that gambhir is again the vice-captain now, having replaced the man in golden form but the fact that a 20 over game need a vice captain but the test match doesn’t require one.


Anyways enough criticism. Looking at the current picture if things go on as it always does, then I predict an easy test series for the home team. No vettori,and half the attack lost by the visitors. If rains don’t play spoilsports then India(I hope they do, so selectors gain some common sense) would definitely win the series, with a winning margin of maybe 1-0.The players I look forward to are Kohli(obviously),Pujara(replacing Dravid) and Yuvi(How does he react after such an emotional turmoil).

Moreover i want to see whether The Absence of A highly underated "Rahul Dravid" is felt and whether his importance is now understood.


Also this was Mr. Shrikanths last selection. Whether he is reelected and sustains I don’t tknow.But I hope the future selection committee would at least have an ounce of common sense. And we will have a logical and efficient selections in the future. Very tough to ask isn’t it?!

Independent INDIA???!!!Hehehe.

68 years have passed since we got “Independence”(or is it 66 you decide). I quote this word because we believe we have been independent ever since Britishers left India in 1947.15th august every year everyone enjoys one amazing night of sleep knowing tomorrow would be a holiday. This one day everybody would stay at home (Doing nothing in particular Save for enjoying the wonderful weather and Eating).Mostly everyone would take a break from their daily schedules and would try to relax and chill out. I guess everyone would agree, 15th august is a happy day. For some due to the fact that we got independence, for some it’s because India has transformed tremendously and for the others (The majority like me) it’s due to a public holiday. 

As a child I never understood the meaning/importance of Independence Day. For me the word independent means-“Not Dependent”. And I am sure I am not independent in the literal sense. I never understood - What’s the point in remembering we were oppressed by the Britishers for so many years and hence celebrating?  What’s the point in doing all the ceremonies, parades and the other rituals? What was the point in waking up early on a public holiday (as a child) and going to school for some silly flag hoisting? Where the flag is seen just once every year and is kind of silly once hoisted(Always drooping down).What was the point in singing and listening to patriotic songs just a for a day and criticizing the country for the rest of the year? And mainly being a common man how does Independence Day differ from a normal Sunday (Except for the market and shops being closed).

By celebrating Independence Day and by performing the parades and stuff we try to prove India has developed. By hoisting flags we try to show that people still have the feeling of patriotism. By organizing the ceremonies and parade at Delhi we want to honor all those who have struggled and fought for independence. And by keeping it a holiday we want to show that on This day Indian history took a big change. This is expected and takes place in the Ideal word.

In the real world For Majority of the people, Independence Day is celebrated by sleeping. Flags don’t connect with the public and are honored only to show the younger generation its importance. The events held at Delhi are considered a true waste of money.Patroit is just a word that’s found only in dictionaries…

So what I wonder is, why all these drama behind this day. If it’s just to honor/value the past then agreed its importance is not something to be questioned by those (like me who are bad at history) who have not been a part of the struggle and are clueless about the past. But when we say- “India is an independent country showing tremendous development and progress over the years” or “we should be proud, to be an Indian citizen of Independent India” that’s where I have some of my doubts.

Starting with Are we really independent or is it that, it has been a mere replacement from Britishers to Corruption. If we are truly independent- Why is India not at peace with Pakistan? Why are there castes, and discrimination on the basis of caste? Why does untouchability still exist? Why is politics considered as “POLITICS”? Why are scams still surfacing? Why whenever I read a newspaper I find more bad news (suicides, murders, rapes, thefts, scams, ugly politics, bomb blasts, terrorists) compared to good news like (development and progress). Why is black money held in Swiss banks? Why is the overall sex ratio so less? Why is racial and gender discrimination still so prominent? Why is reservation system present everywhere? Why are there so many slums? And I can go on…A list of unanswered Questions. A LIST, every Indian is familiar with yet happily says Independent India or Happy Independence Day.

So naïve saying we gained independence in 1947, because Britishers left India. This can be easily compared 
to - “Considering, a small child who just learnt to utter a few syllables a great orator or a public speaker”. When we say Indian has shown great progress and development over the years I would like to say-Agreed. India has progressed. But isn’t that what eventually happens over time. Within few years a child learns to walk. A small seed originates into a sapling. That doesn’t mean anything. It’s just the beginning. The child has ages to go before his muscles develop and would support him to sprint.The sapling has ages to go before it would bear fruits. One should be happy for the growth and nothing more than that But until then we should not forget, in the present it’s just a small kid or a sapling in its infancy.

We all know our current education system in the country. Dont you think we are enslaved by this stupid system and its in fact an hindrance to our and the country’s development? Everybody knows everything about it and is pointless discussing that. It’s been criticized a lot.  Compare our education system with any developed country’s and I prove my point.

We all have seen the recent Anna hazare movements, the baba ramdev movements. Agreed it is a good initiative to eradicate corruption. But so far what has happened in concrete, on paper? So many people (like me) who followed it with great enthusiasm at the beginning now feel these are another injured, aged sparrows (with time not on their side) trying to soar the skies with the eagles (young and smart). I seriously doubt whether they would be able to treat their injured wings, let alone sore the skies before they depart.

Look at the current economy. Not just in India but around the globe. Many countries are facing an economic turmoil. Now the thing to look out for is what the steps are, followed by other countries and followed by our county. As far as I know I hear more about –“Rahul Gandhi/Narendra Modi  the next PM.”,”Manmohan singh a puppet”, “President wasting millions of rupees on voyages” , “Mayawati sending airplanes to pick up her footwear” , “Sensex reaching all time low”, “Rupee slides furthur ”, “unemployment increased in xyz sector”, “Government official caught in abc scam”. I for sure haven’t heard in India stuff like “Obama wants all companies in America to start insourcing”, “Long term tax-cut plans “or “Relief fund for all harshly affected in current crisis“.

I know it’s naïve to write on this subject but the thing is we never have been a strong economic force to understand our current situation. We never had been a country free from corruption. We never had the mentality or the mindset like other developed countries. And hence in times like these, independence is just a word with various meanings in the dictionary. A word that nobody relates to or cares about.

What more can I say in the end except for “WELL HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY TO ALL OF YOU :( ! Enjoy the holiday ;) ”

Soaps in Indian Operas

112 million households in INDIA have television sets. I wanted to exploit the world of the IDIOT BOX (what many people refer TV as).Using simple Google statistics I found more then 60% of these Indians watch Soap operas. So I decided that I would also make a soap opera and make myself “PROUD”.

Once I decided what I wanted to do, I started researching on the no of Soap operas in India. To my astonishment I found out, over 500 TV Channels and almost 4000 no of TV serials exist…How to compete against such a vast empire was the first jolt I faced. But since I had already made my mind I decided to carry on. I started researching, how this empire began and how does it function. 

I began by interviewing the script writer of a very popular soap opera. What the scriptwriter said –

To write a script for a soap opera is not at all a tough task. All you need to do is fundamentally set a mother in law as a cruel heartless bitch, Set a daughter in law as a sophisticated, vulnerable, loyal, trustful type of a lady and set a husband as a joker in the between. Once this is set you can create infinite no of characters surrounding them. Just keep in mind after every 4 good (nonessential, useless) character one bad character has to be introduced to maintain the balance. This was his golden formula. Also when asked on how they manage to run it efficiently for so many years he replied-It is in fact quite simple. You will learn it when you meet the cameramen’s. But if you must know I recall a quote-

“A circle has no ending. Hence Create a circle.”

Impressed by the writer I moved on towards the cameramen. This is what the cameramen said-

The first thing you should know is Indian audience don’t have a good, fast and efficient thinking, mindset. They don’t react quickly. So the soap operas must move as slow as possible (at the pace of turtles).For example if the scene is- An empty glass falling on the floor. What as a camera man you should do is make the glass fall at normal speed once? Then make it fall again twice maybe at varying speed and at different angles (Because our Indian public don’t have fast thinking and mindset)with different sound effects. Then once you show the same stupid scene at least three times, Move your cameras to all those people standing/sitting in the living room(Doing nothing in particular…Just waiting for the glass to fall).Start with the first character. Blink! Try some of the creative effects available. First bring his face from the left, Then from the right. Then try zooming in and out. And slowly try your creativity on all the remain characters present in the living room. When asked how they manage to engross the audience, he said you will come to know when you visit the director. But if you must know I recall a quote-

“Time waits for none in the ideal world. In the world of Indian soap operas time varies its pace”

Quite confused I approached the Director. This Is what the Director said-

You must know the golden saying- Time waits for none in the ideal world. In the world of Indian soap operas time varies its pace”. And one should always honor that. Moreover you should know, Indian public has enormous patience (are Jobless if you want to be precise).To exploit this what you should do is-You should first learn the importance of the word RECAP. This is an extraordinary word that drives the Indian SOAP opera forward! Once you understand that-Always at the beginning put a recap. In India recap should not be a small recap.IT should show the entire previous episode. This ensures that the Indian public which do not have a great mindset (stupid if you must say) would be able to link up to the current episode. 

Then I went to the behind the scenes makeup artists.

To engross the Indian public only love sagas are required. To entertain them we work very hard. We “decorate” theses women’s with varying kgs of gold. We dress them up in various beautiful sarees.Each day a new one. We import makeups in cartons and follow a golden formula of 1kg of makeup per character per day. Since you are a guy you won’t understand the details about dark eye lashes , and nail polishes and what not so just to tell you in brief-“We have the skills and products to display a boy as a girl, to transform a sachin Tendulkar to Amitabh bachhan, or to convert ice crystals into gold.

Totally feeling out of place I went to the men’s section. There they said –“Men’s makeup is quite simple. Just dress him up in formals, apply bucket full of hair gel and always make him wear shiny, polished shoes and an expensive watch irrespective of whether he is at home, at work, is sleeping or is eating. Also make sure he is well groomed and our part is done.”

I moved on towards the Producer and the Finance team. This is what they said-

Soap opera is basically a money making industry(and making a mockery of the Indian public).There are plenty of sponsors out there who are willing to pay handsomely even if you manage to tie hundreds of people, captivate them into looking at their products. But since we are good people we don’t  bind or captivate people. Rather we show them our episodes our creativity. What we basically do is before the serial starts we show them a list of sponsors. Then every 5 minutes we take a break and show them individual advertisements of all our sponsors for at least another 5 minutes. And again we show 5 minutes of our serial and take a break(To understand it the other way think of a busy crowded Indian road. Imagine you are travelling in a 4 wheeler. Then breaks are equivalent to the brake. Crap episodes equal to the clutch. And good creativity equals to the 4th or 5th gear).

Lastly I went to the creative head. This is what he said-

A creative heads post is quite a valuable one. I have loads of stuff to do. For example whenever an evil bitch comes I have to find an appropriate vulture soundtrack. Whenever we don’t have a decent script I have to manage to link the current episode to the past ones and try to finish up the day. I have to make sure whether 1kg of makeup is applied every day or not. I have to make sure The TRPS remain strong. I have to invent new ideas and concepts like loves circles(Nth order integration of love triangles),or reincarnation of people from death, Or if some cast member has to be replaced then I have to stage an accident, Change his face using plastic surgery and then replace him with some new guy. Also I have to visit my astrologer for my favorite alphabet “K” and I have to think of creative or pathetic names starting with K so that my TRPS do not fall and my shows remain successful.SO overall I have loads of work to manage and to make sure Indian public don’t realize what pathetic losers they are by watching soap operas.

There after I stopped for a while. Trying to make sense of what just happened. And I realized soap operas are effective medium in fooling the masses. Without even having a good script, good actors, proper camera crew I could make pathetic ,lame ,pointless ,silly ,”RADDI” TV serial  And even then my serial would be lapped up by public. Followed in masses twice a day, and discussed everywhere.

And this was how the beginning of my successful soap opera “Kkkabhi Shakespeare bhi kabhi blogger tha” began!

LIVING an irrevocable condition.

There are many things which drive students in collage life. Ranging from The IPhones and The galaxy’s, Computers and gaming, crushes and “Friends” which are girls!, movies and hangouts and so on and forth.

Initially life sounds good and one adapts or adjusts to the surroundings. One starts watching all new and dumb Bollywood/Hollywood movies, Start playing fifa day in day out, Gathers at night (12 - 3 AM) eats at canteen or enjoys a cutting!(of tea). Starts talking / gossiping / suggesting/ complaining all night long- how stupid and funny college, professor, life, destiny, blah blah blah (philosophy to politics to sports to gfs… everything) are. All these stuff and time goes by.

After first week Facebook status changes from “excited about new things” to “all set” and once this happens and your life gets routinized bad things slowly creep up.

It all begins with The same old story. You stay awake at night and can’t finish your below par sleep quota of 5 hours. The lectures don’t pitch up and bounce well and above your capacity. It feels like professor have started teaching in some foreign language probably mandarin or Chinese and feels like professors are wasting their time on absent minded students. Teaching/Studding becomes boring. Then Journals turn up and submissions start ringing and nagging like an alarm clock at 5 in the morning. You are suddenly clueless about what’s going on. You definitely don’t have a clue as in what date is. Then there is the mess that always makes a mockery of your judgment, fools you by continuously lowering the quality of food beyond your least expectations. One day you sit for lunch, find a white circular “hard as a rock” piece of ****(roti!) and you realize that your body refuses to swallow it down! Also there is this yellow, ugly potato in various (SEVERAL) incarnations that tries to ruin all happy memories of potatoes that you had in your childhood like chips,fries,wafers,crackers…. Suddenly Eating like studies isn’t any more about enjoyment it’s a mere formality to survive to exist.

If such times if there are no big changes/events then- THE IPhones and the galaxy’s suddenly seem just another piece of junk in the bag pack(books being the other).Computer games seem boring. Movies suddenly turn out to be waste of time and money. Late night outs don’t take place due to the workload and fatigue. Friends also reach the same saturation point as you are and the hangout places seem just like any other shitty places.

And so by the end of few weeks there are these four magical letters which are sole driving reason for existence. Nope that’s not love. Nor is it FIFA.

H O M E

SWEET HOME

Your mind starts a mental countdown on how many more weeks left. The exact no of days before you will meet your parents, friends and family. It makes you fantasize about food where roti would never be white and rice would never be hard. Potato would be a “good word” used for fries and chips. Sleeping like eating won’t just be a formality and Average sleeping quota of 10 hrs. would be achieved.

You recall those happy times. Meeting “old” (like gold!) friends. At night walking/prancing/siting around the lake. Getting totally engrossed and loosing track of time. Chatting and talking about the past the current lifestyle teasing each other- and the entire time absent mindedly filling that void that was supposed to be part of your life.

And then I realized -

To exist, any place and environment is sufficient

But to LIVE only HOME can suffice 

Home is not just a place or a shelter, It’s a place where I would always be welcomed.Even at 3AM in the morning I know there is one place I can always knock on.One place where I can peacefully survive and exist.Where I know I will always get good food an any point of time.Where there would be many people who care about you, who enjoy your presence. Moreover Friends would always be there for you. Spending time with them would definitely dissolve many problems. No matter where I go and how I change Home would always be the same, waiting for me.

And living begins/ends with home.At last i recall a superb quote by J.Baldwin-

Perhaps home is not a place but simply

An Irrevocable Condition  

-Antrikshah

The world ruled by POTATOES

Whenever life throws lemons at you try to make a lemonade-This is a general saying.

But what to do when life always throw potatoes at you?!This is a general dilemma faced by the students at their messes all around the “nadiad”. Nobody has taught us how to make potatoade. Huh! So you can agree when the students who say potatoes are an integral part of their life without which the existence and survival is not possible.

The most stupendous thing is that as a child, potatoes always reminded you of fries and wafers or chips and crackers…And the word potato always took you to a magical world of love and happiness(THEN)…But now thanks to either pranav mukharjee for the current prices of potatoes or the farmers for growing so many potatoes or Lalu Prasad yadav for improving railways through which potatoes are easily transported and his love for ”aalu” or let’s face the facts- the true love between the cook and potato that the most magical memory of fries and wafers or chips and crackers is now replaced with a pale...yellow…sickeningly disgusting food sometimes even surrounded by lush brown tomatoes(The “sabji” as “They” say).

Anyways since times has flown from eternity and beyond, the students are now so much used to the torture of potatoes, that during a recent annual food meet which is held every 5 years, the students when asked how they would feel if potatoes are removed from their daily die-t ,they were all shell shocked. Nobody was able to speak up as they had never experienced a world without potatoes. It was like a child experiencing 220V DC supply….Naturally the students were taken to the doctor and were immediately supplied medication – Duh! Yeah of course ,potato was the chief ingredient. Since then even though time has flown for another eternity and beyond the annual food meet which was once held every 5 years is now lost somewhere along with dead body of the inventor of potatoes :(

Moving on from the burial of annual food meet which “was” held every 5 years, there is some highly confidential information which we have managed to extract from some inside sources. They have claimed that during the recent board meet the general discussion revolved on the extreme planning, hard work and devotion shown by the students towards the legal means to pass the exams(according to the students) or the illegal means to pass the exams(According to them), everybody came up to the common conclusion that the students should be punished but the means of punishment were not finalized upon. One member suggested Detaining the student while the other suggested Never allowing the student to pass out. Some suggested increasing the no of sessional exams to 1 per day while some suggested abolishing the sessional exams-(The general idea being student would be so stunned like the 220V DC supply that he won’t be able to cope up. And potatoes being the remedy after that).But after some heavy thinking or eating if you will, everybody agreed on one suggestion-The student will have to sit for 15 extra minutes during the sessional exams in which he/she would have to eat at least 5 kgs of potato items. The reason for the punishment was it would help remove poverty and obesity, and would increase the prices of potatoes hence ending the world economic crisis…

I know you don’t get it…Neither do I!

-Antrikshah

Near Field Communication (NFC)

NFC LOGO

Wikipedia defines it as-“Near field communication (NFC) is a set of standards for smartphones and similar devices to establish radio communication with each other by bringing them into close proximity.”

In simpler words it is a technology which makes life easier and more convenient for us by making transactions, exchange of digital content, and connection of electronic devices much simpler and efficient.

Importance –

NFC appears to have the potential to significantly change how we view and use our mobile/cellular phones. In INDIA NFC and m-payments have great potential due to the relationship between a mobile subscriber and their handset, where the mobile device is often with the end-user for most of their waking time? With mobile penetration is reaching 100 per cent in the masses, the mobile phone will soon be in virtually every ones pocket. NFC Payments, banking and cashless shopping are currently major areas of growth in the Indian mobile world and these are set to become even more specialized than they are at the moment.

Let’s have a detailed look of this revolutionary concept and why According to Gartner

 NFC is among the -"Top 10 strategic technologies for 2012"-

1. Contact less Payment

NFC has a short range of about 1.5 inches. This makes it a good choice for secure transactions, such as contact less credit card payments. MasterCard and Visa are both members of the NFC Forum, and both companies have been involved in pilot programs that use NFC-enabled phones as a flash payment option. In fact Visa recently announced a €100 Million annual investment in Europe to enable m-commerce.

BRTS SMART CARD

2. Transportation

NFC works with most contactless smart cards and readers, meaning it could easily be integrated into the public transit payment systems in cities that already use a smart card swipe. So for people using Indian railways regularly it could mean a hassle free option of not purchasing ticket by placing your mobile phone near the NFC counter.

Indian Brts smart card is a step towards the appication of NFC in day  to day life.

3. Ease of Use

If NFC-enabled phones, you’ll be able to initiate a two-player game within seconds by just touching your phones together. You’ll be able to link a headset to your phone or print a photo just by touching your device to a printer.NFC drastically reduces the time consumed to establish secured connection.

4. Smart Objects

NFC can read NFC-tag information’s. An NFC tag often contains information like a phone number or URL.For example Students could get their individual daily schedule, announcements, and information about homework by waving their phones past the installed tags. Also they can be used as a substitute for keys (unlock your hotel room door with NFC) or to quickly Access a network.

5. NFC Power Saver

We all know that stand-by appliances such as your TV, chargers and laptops consume significant amounts of power when they are plugged in even when they are not in use. The NFC Power Saver could cut the power off when you go out or when you leave the room just by tapping a card or your phone to an NFC console. Another tap and power goes back on.

Current Status-

There are over 50 phones available in the market having NFC and over 100 phones which will launch in 2012 having NFC.

Microsoft's- Windows Phone operating system has startedl NFC in mobile phones from 2012.

Nokia- has confirmed that all its future Symbian smartphones will support NFC from 2012.

Google/Android- All upcoming Android devices would include support for NFC.

HTC, LG, Motorola, RIM, Samsung and Sony Ericsson have announced that they will all be implementing Isis' NFC and technology standards.

PayPal has unveiled a service that allows Android users to transfer funds between NFC-enabled mobile devices, simply by tapping them together.

ISIS, a joint mobile payment venture between AT&T , Verizon  and T-Mobile, just announced partnerships with three new credit card companies: Visa , MasterCard  and American Express .

Conclusion-

Near Field Communication represents an extremely interesting technology and the ramifications of this technology are astounding – to the end-user, intermediaries, merchants, banking, service providers and the like. There is a lot of wind behind the NFC sails and this boat is sailing fast…the question is-“how fast will the boat reach us and how quickly would we jump in it?”

-Antrikshah