They know you more than you

Privacy is one of the most talked about topics of the information age. With more and more information generated it's bound to aggravate. As I see it privacy is two fold in our usage. One is the derived form (non-voluntary). The other is more straightforward where we submit our information to another party (voluntary). Many people are knowledgeable on what they submit to the World Wide Web or at least intrinsically think twice before doing so. If not, at least a bit of commonsense would do. This is of course assuming that you're really bothered about your personal information and hence privacy. But what about the other form, where someone else derives certain information on you based on various data? Additionally, you may think on the lines of a personality test. The first (and the last) time I sat for one, I scored pretty well. But a web based company could be in a better position of judging you with the amount of information gathered throughout the years. I intend of giving you some goose bumps largely based on these.

When we upload photos to Facebook, or post crazy status updates we are well aware of who could see them and the fact that Facebook stores it on their servers. Furthermore these sites have their own 'Terms of Use' & 'Privacy Policy' posted publicly although more often than not people really don't care reading them. As per internet statistics, the most popular, used and visited websites are Google, Facebook, Youtube, Yahoo, Live, etc. and are run by US based companies. This eventually creates a certain web centricity towards a certain geopolitical location as well. This blog is no exception either. Privacy when coupled with politics can be a tricky issue, where it's sometimes even referred to as intelligence. But the gravity of infiltration, harnessing and action taken upon depends on the country's laws and regulations.

Just imagine the amount of information your Gmail or Yahoo mailbox contains. From passwords & bank/credit card account information to communication with crushes, your fetishes and even porn are only a few to mention. Not excluding religious and political stuff as well. And it's not only free web mail services, but chat software such as Gtalk, Yahoo, MSN, etc might record your chat history although you may have opted to go-off the record. If you think that's all, just consider the amount of searching you'd done throughout the years using all those popular search engines. What's the assurance that these companies wouldn't store your search queries or for that matter any personally identifiable information including location data. Google even has a function that allows you to delete/manage your search history termed 'Google Web History'. So if you're still the kind of person who thinks that Google doesn't know anything about your multiple accounts, I say wakeup! that's such an insignificant thing.

Data mining technologies are the most used in deriving information or patterns from this data. In fact, our search & browsing patterns, Facebook likes, email contents and anything similar is sufficient of determining our personality and interests. This helps in creating a somewhat virtual personality of you. The integration or interconnection of social and other major web platforms have only helped it.

Then there are the types who say, "So what? I don't care what any web company or country knows about me, I feel totally OK with it". Actually I myself belong in that category. The purpose of this post was to enlighten the extra-cautious individuals who aren't very comfortable with this issue and not to drive you off the web. Who knows, someday we might just have to admit that's how it is. After all, wouldn't it be nice to see Google predict what you'd be up to this coming weekend? ☺

Now why do I hear someone mutter "creepy…".

Few tips on how to save your internet quota

Is your workplace one of those places where restrictions on internet browsing has been imposed? And, is there a restriction on the amount of bandwidth you consume per day or week? Then better get yourself accustomed to using it [bandwidth] thriftily and wisely. Apart from that, it could be very useful for people with limited broadband packages. This article gives a few tips that would help your cause.

Look out for:

'Heavy' sites! Websites with loads of graphics, flash animations, streaming video/audio are the ones to lookout for. Sites classified as entertainment, news, gossip, etc often fit into this category. Occasionally, web sites with pages that refresh automatically every few seconds, such as Cricinfo could consume a lot of data although not necessarily identified as 'heavy'. Richly developed/designed web sites like Facebook too transmit more information between the user and the web server although unnoticed, in order to provide the user with a better browsing experience.

When browsing:

At times, our ignorance itself could be a reason. One such example is the Google Image Search. If you search for a certain term which yields hundreds of results and scroll down to the end of the result page, this will end up loading all the images in the result. But, if you were to scroll down page by page, images below are loaded only upon scrolling. Another instance is clicking on audio/video links which are linked or hosted on an external site, although embedded in a not-so-heavy web page which you are viewing. Streaming audio & video relatively consume much more data irrelevant of where it's played; in a flash player window or a popped-up media player. People who use web based free email services – Yahoo, Gmail, etc – tend to download large attachments in their emails without further thinking. But be aware that this could gobble up your quota, as any download of this nature is done over HTTP. A cheeky little solution is given below ;)

Exemptions:

Of course, intranet web applications and your company's / organisation's website and web based email will be excluded from quota usage if hosted internally.

What you could do:

Most content on a web page is not needed especially if you're reading an article. The flashy graphics and irritating advertisements are not the kind you'd often like viewing. So, you could stop the web page loading further once the content needed has been loaded. To do this, simply hit the 'Esc' key or click on the button next to the address bar. Later if there's an image you need to see, right click on the empty image box and click 'Show Image / Show Picture'. You might find this operation to be much quicker in Firefox than Internet Explorer. Disabling the loading of images on a web page will save a heap of quota, but you could view only the textual content of a web page. To disable image loading in Firefox, go to Tools -> Options -> Content and uncheck "Load images automatically". In Internet Explorer 8, go to Tools -> Internet Options -> Advanced and uncheck "Show pictures" under "Multimedia". The paths and/or option names will slightly differ and vary depending on the browser versions.

If you're the type of person who checks the latest news and events happening around, visiting the relevant website(s) periodically might not be the best idea. Instead, you could subscribe to the relevant web site's RSS feed and manage it as a bookmark in your browser. These RSS feeds will display summarised lists of content (such as the titles of news stories) and you may view the entire article by clicking on the link to the related web page. View images below.

Bookmarks in Firefox







Feeds in IE

Remember me mentioning about rich websites consuming more data? Well, a neat but not so user friendly alternative is to use the mobile versions of such sites if available. Most of the frequently accessed websites on the net have their mobile versions. Some examples are Gmail, Yahoo, Cricinfo, Facebook & Twitter. These versions are designed for use on mobile devices and hence are very light-weight although with lesser functionality.

And the 'cheeky' solution for downloading big attachments; forward your email to your office email account if it’s hosted internally and save the attachment to your PC from there. This will cost you nothing except for the bandwidth consumed during the usage of the web mail service. Staying in the topic of web mail, in case you need to check your Gmail or Yahoo mail accounts frequently, better install the relevant toolbar. This way (given that you're logged in), you could get notified of any new mails along with the subjects.

Gmail notifications in Google toolbar

Obviously this is not everything and there are many more workarounds and practices you could adopt. While some might find this an added burden to their [internet] surfing behaviours, once got used, it will be negligible. Same as turning off the light before you go to sleep. After all it's your choice.

Who are the 'Isurumuni Lovers'?

According to folklore Namalpura near Vijithapura during 455 - 473 A.D. (the reign of King Dhatusena) was ruled by a commander named Namal. This commander was executed by King Kashyapa due to his allegiance towards King Dhatusena and his elder son Mugalan. Commander Namal's only son, who was also known as Namal, was spared by Kashyapa. Young Namal's mother too passed away grieving over her husband's death. Hence, the young prince lost both his parents.

Prince Namal was a charming, talented and strong young man. His life was majorly devoted towards agriculture and religious activities.

One Vesak full moon poya day, this prince was attending religious activities at the Vijithapura monastery. Suddenly he couldn't believe his eyes with what he saw. She was the most beautiful damsel he had seen and he would ever see. He couldn't take his eyes of her, and so was she. They both grew close and talked with each other. While this conversation was going on the prince realized that the girl had heard about him and was longing to meet him. She was Chithra, a granddaughter of King Dhatusena. King Dhatusena had a brother named Kumarasena. Kumarasena had a son named Guptasena. Chithra was his daughter. She had a brother named Bandusena, who was a commander of King Kashyapa. Prince Namal knew Guptasena quite well.

Because of this friendship Prince Namal was invited the next day to Chithra's palace in the vicinity of 'Kala Wewa'. Chithra's parents gave Namal a warm welcome and their marriage was confirmed. The wedding had to be delayed since Chithra's brother Bandusena was abroad at that time. He was spying on Mugalan who escaped to India, according to the orders given by King Kashyapa. So it was decided that the wedding would be held once he returns back home.

During this time Namal and Chithra used to meet every evening and go for a walk. It was a well known fact to everyone in the area that the couple was engaged.

Meanwhile commander Bandusena returned back home from duty with a friend of his, named Mahanaga. Mahanaga was a deputy of Bandusena. Seeing Chithra, he told his friend Bandusena of his intentions of marrying her. Replying to him Bandusena said he may marry Chithra with her consent. Though this wasn't the time for Mahanaga to ask Chithra, he had high hopes that he'll be married to her.

Few days later Bandusena and Mahanaga were coming back from the palace when Mahanaga couldn't believe what he saw. It was prince Namal and princess Chithra seated on the bank of 'Kala Wewa' chatting with each other in a world of their own. Mahanaga couldn't bear it and his jealousy ended up in verbal abuse towards prince Namal. Being the calm character he is Namal wasn't intimidated. In fact he explained to Mahanaga and Bandusena about his relationship with Chithra and that he got her parents approval.

According to Bandusena's response it seemed as if he was totally unaware about the whole situation, because he was on a busy schedule since returning from India. But Mahanaga didn't want to give in, and it was decided that both of them resolute this matter with a 'Duel' (sword fight) between them. This was much to the comfort of Bandusena who didn't seem to have a solution. Though Mahanaga was in no position of denying the challenge, he insisted that someone like Namal was no match for him. Anyway according to the guidance of Bandusena, a venue and time was scheduled for the fight.

As expected the fight began amidst a huge gathering. Facing the first swing of sword from Namal, Mahanaga quickly learned that he had underestimated his opponent. It took another couple of swings for Namal to disarm Mahanaga. The third not only disarmed him but also ended his life. Namal emerged victorious!

Hearing about prince Namal's feat, King Kashyapa appointed him as a commander in chief. Prince Namal and Princess Chithra were married amidst celebrations. But their marriage wasn't to be a long lasting one.

A few months after their wedding came the rainy season. 'Kala wewa' was overflowing due to the heavy rains. And many people gathered towards the lake to watch this scenery. Among them were Namal and Chithra as well. When Chithra was approaching the left canal of 'Kala Wewa', in came a gust of wind and she was thrown in to the gushing water. Namal who jumped in to the water was able to save her life initially but the currents were too strong even for him, and they both were washed away and drowned. Their bodies were found lately and the funeral was held with state honour.

By this time, King Kashyapa had commenced renovation work at 'Isurumuniya'. It was done under the supervision of Kashyapa's elder daughter, princess Bodhi. She was also an expert architect. It is said and believed that the carving of the 'Isurumuni Lovers' was done by herself in remembrance of prince Namal and princess Chithra.

* This is a translation of an original Sinhala article published in the 'Divaina' newspaper of 04-09-2005. Its online version can be reached at: http://www.divaina.com/2005/09/04/scholast01.html

e-Literate or illiterate?

Definitions for literacy are many. The ability to read and write is the conventional definition. Most countries measure their literacy levels based on this aspect. But, with the advent of an electronic era, the convergence of new media, etc, contemporary and somewhat multifaceted meanings prevail. This is not to debate over the traditional and modern contexts but to assess where we are or for that matter our future generation could be heading vis-à-vis literacy.

I still remember how I was denied of using a calculator by my parents when I was very young, although I knew all the multiplication tables (up to 15) by heart, and there were a couple available at home. This somehow improved my mind maths skills and I’m still good at it (not bragging). We weren’t even provided with pens until grade four or five unless our writing had minimal erasures. In a way it may seem ineffective given the number of times I had to type and delete words of this article, but it certainly had its say on the score of my essays during school and university examinations. Nowadays kids do insist on using calculators and pens at a very early stage and if you’d deprive them, they still know where to get it. After all every computer OS has its calculator! Wait, I’m not being conservative but am concerned of the consequences. Just ask a random kid in his/her early teens (except the bright ones) what is 12*11+7 and you’ll figure out what I’m trying to say.

Another mind related diminution is caused by e-organisers. You get them everywhere; on the web, as PC apps and even in your mobile phone. Every little piece of work to do could be saved in them, which eventually eliminates the need to remember any, but also effects long-term memory, ultimately ending up with a short-term version. Our hectic lifestyles will always welcome these electronic solutions, but if the gravity of use is frequent and the level of use extends to the minute then there is an issue in the lurking to be addressed. Remember, the law of evolution advocates depreciation of idle organs!

Ok, now enough of mind boggling stuff (no pun). Let’s get into things which are further aligned towards the topic. Once I remember reading an article in a daily newspaper, which stated how a report disclosed that the quality of writing at the O/L exams had deteriorated. Many teachers had revealed that the handwriting was below satisfactory and hard to read while grammar plus spelling mistakes were on the rise. Now this situation cannot solely be attributed towards typing and texting alone which explains youngster’s preference for keys over pens, but the SMS & chatting lexis has a serious role to play in erroneous spellings (especially english as singlish is not considered or taught as a language). Imagine a student writing a sentence in a formal letter for an exam paper in the following manner: “... I hv noticed the situ, and there4 am fwding this 4 ur perusal ...”. This could very well happen more frequently and cause many a problem in the future unless of course it’s not considered an issue if authorities decide to absorb the said defiled lexicon into the prevailing one! Please note that how a language evolves is a separate topic of discussion for those who might want to spring up an argument in favour of the hypothesis I mentioned at the end of the previous sentence.

As stated earlier, reading is the other main component of the customary definition of literacy. Reading (hardcopies) too has lessened to some extent although you may read more on the World Wide Web. However the experience is very different. Apart from physical constraints added by when reading a softcopy, it always fails to deliver the character and essence a physical book may offer. And because of these issues, extensive reading of an electronic edition is a definite discourager. Hence, there are now books that offer you the audio to listen. Instead of reading the book you could sit down and listen to the entire thing! All these mean that the skill of reading is possibly on its way to extinction.

On a final note, I must emphasise that the purpose of this article is not to condemn or discredit anything contemporary or electronic as I myself use them to great effect, but to make you think of something hitherto unthought-of, that is whether we are on a path of hampering literacy or improving it, in this modern era.

The need to recreate

Wake up, morning chores, go to work, come back home, evening chores, dine and sleep seems to be the customary routine for many individuals these days. One could settle for this, given that we are machines and not ‘Homo sapiens’. But our origins have a great effect that guides our physical and mental intuitiveness although suppressed by the aforesaid lifestyle.

The consequences are not so lovely. From stress to Gastritis, Cholesterol to Diabetes, failed marriages to suicides, etc., a very lengthy list can be compiled. So what’s the solution? Back to the Stone Age? Or is there a compromise? In fact, there’s more than a compromise if one thinks of it as a necessity. We need to find a way to balance our way of life with these hectic routines. This is how the concept of recreation has come about.

As the term implies, it’s all about re-creating a ‘demolished’ or ‘damaged’ person. Recreation is mainly two-fold; physical and mental. But the trend and usage is more towards the physical aspect. This although shouldn’t be misinterpreted, because one’s physical vigour effects his/her state of mind and vice-versa. The physical approach is more popular and easily cultivated as it has always been throughout the history of mankind. For example, a layperson will often prefer listening to a meditative melody instead of actually meditating; even though the latter’s result is direct and much rewarding.

Recreational activities are multi-pronged which includes sports (individuals/teams), gym workouts, jogging, indoor/outdoor activities, and even less considered areas such as aesthetics, yoga, massage therapy, etc. The list is diverse and extensive. If you are into sports it could either be individualistic such as swimming or a team sport or both. While the former improves self-confidence greatly, the latter will enhance team skills. Moreover, some sports could be played indoors or outdoors as well (i.e. Carom, Table Tennis). Your choice of sport can be chosen depending on your schedule, available partners, access to equipment and facilities etc. For the loner who prefers minimalism a daily jogging session is ideal, if not he/she could always opt for a gym.

Another form of recreation is the outdoor activities such as travelling, hiking/mountaineering, boat riding, etc. These are extremely popular among westerners too. Some even go for extreme adventure such as bungee jumping or white-water rafting. Travelling in general is a hugely appreciated way of seeking the much looked-for difference in our everyday life, but should be combined with another since of its less frequency and the time needed. Currently, more and more people are in search of spiritual techniques for the easing and healing of conditions such as stress and anxiety. The popularity of Yoga is a result of this. It has the ability of affecting one’s physique and mental well-being.

There are numerous other ways of engaging yourself in recreational activity other than what’s stated here. An important thing that needs mentioning is, if you are new to any of this or planning to start on any, make sure to learn, train, or be accompanied by trained and experienced individuals since otherwise you could end up in a great mess.

The inevitable question most of us have is, ‘Ok, I see & know the importance. BUT how am I going to find time for this?’ I have a question as the answer for this. Do you want to live a healthy and satisfactory life? If the answer is yes, I’m sure you’ll find the time. It takes only a bit of will and skilful time management.