by the meltingpot: May 2009

Now Reading!

Indeed, what is at work in the recent return of realism is the revenge of geography in the most old-fashioned sense. In the 18th and 19th centuries, before the arrival of political science as an academic specialty, geography was an honored, if not always formalized, discipline in which politics, culture, and economics were often conceived of in reference to the relief map. Thus, in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, mountains and the men who grow out of them were the first order of reality; ideas, however uplifting, were only the second.
And yet, to embrace geography is not to accept it as an implacable force against which humankind is powerless. Rather, it serves to qualify human freedom and choice with a modest acceptance of fate. This is all the more important today, because rather than eliminating the relevance of geography, globalization is reinforcing it. Mass communications and economic integration are weakening many states, exposing a Hobbesian world of small, fractious regions. Within them, local, ethnic, and religious sources of identity are reasserting themselves, and because they are anchored to specific terrains, they are best explained by reference to geography. Like the faults that determine earthquakes, the political future will be defined by conflict and instability with a similar geographic logic. The upheaval spawned by the ongoing economic crisis is increasing the relevance of geography even further, by weakening social orders and other creations of humankind, leaving the natural frontiers of the globe as the only restraint.
So we, too, need to return to the map, and particularly to what I call the “shatter zones” of Eurasia. We need to reclaim those thinkers who knew the landscape best. And we need to update their theories for the revenge of geography in our time.
Here is the link for the whole write up.

Now at 2nd place

My view is that relations between countries in the coming decades are most likely to reflect their cultural commitments, their cultural ties and antagonism with other countries rather than other factors. Quite obviously, power will continue to play a central role in global politics, as it always does. But usually there is something else behind conflicts. In the 18th century in Europe, the issues to a large extent involved questions of monarchy versus the emerging republican movements, first in America and then in France. In the 19th century, it involved states identifying themselves through nationalism. In the 20th century, ideology came to the fore, largely, but not exclusively, as a result of the Russian Revolution. We had fascism, communism and liberal democracy competing with each other. Well, that’s pretty much over. Liberal democracy has come to be accepted, in theory at least, around the world, if not always in practice. So the question really is what will be the central focus of global politics in the coming decades? My argument remains that cultural identities, antagonisms and affiliations will not only play a role, but play a major role in relations between states. The full interview is here.

This is the 3rd

Every citizen in the City of Richardson will be able to access 756 Kbps of internet connectivity for free, from anywhere in the city. They will be able to access the internet from their homes, schools, restaurants and parks using standard wi-fi connections which are now installed on almost every notebook computer. That is almost as fast as many so-called high speed broadband connections that one pays dearly for today, and several times faster than the various hotspots at your local coffee shops. And I should note that the tax-payers of the City of Richardson are not paying one penny for this, and in fact are going to see additional revenues as a benefit. ... At the beginning of this letter, I suggested that this would be one of the fastest worldwide rollouts of a technology ever seen. It was just 20 years ago that the first cellular systems were being built. The rollout for mesh wireless systems is going to make that look slow. There are several reasons I make this assertion. But they all center on the facts that installing mesh systems will be cheaper and easier than any previous system and the economics in both the developed and especially the developing world will be so radically compelling. Throw in the fact the any astute politician will want to be at the front of this parade (They will all want to say, "I was the man who helped bring free internet to everyone!") and the groundwork is laid for rapid deployment. In Richardson and elsewhere, MeshLinx is offering the basic infrastructure for free. This avoids all the time consuming, political budget battles in the cities. When a service is offered for free, much of the mandated competitive process is eliminated. Next is the low cost of installation of the system. As noted above, Richardson is a city of roughly 100,000 people living in 27.4 square miles. It will "only" cost about $2,000,000 today to lay the wireless blanket I mentioned above. It will cost a great deal less in the future, as MeshLinx is building the pods at a pace of 100 a month today. The maximum output of the US pilot assembly line is 500 a month. When the demand exceeds this (and it will in a very short time) discussions have been held to move volume production to China. Of course, the world will need tens of millions of pods. The cost for a pod will be a fraction of today's cost, with that installation number for a city like Richardson soon being half (or less) the cost of today. What does that $1 or 2 million get you? The infrastructure to be an internet connection, telephone, security, entertainment provider and a whole lot more company. As noted, it will get cheaper as the number of pods being made each month rises, thus lowering their costs dramatically. This technology does have scale. The cost of physically putting up a pod is not a large part of the equation, as you simply need to run a power line, attach a few bolts to a mount on the side of a building or light pole and then off to the next point. Think about the 40,000 homes and businesses in Richardson. If and (hopefully) over time when 10% decide to pay $50 a month for 10-20 Mbps high speed internet access you could see a revenue of $2.5 million a year just from internet access. Now add in all the other income possibilities (phone, entertainment, security and don't forget advertising revenue on the free service!). Think about your town or country. What would service like this be worth? If you are a small city that does not have high speed connections available, how many businesses that could bring jobs do not come your way because they need reliable communications for their work and their employees? If you are in a developing country, where internet access is difficult and expensive, it will open whole new vistas. Couple that with the various programs which want to give cheap laptops to kids in poor countries, and you could see significant social progress in a generation. Here is the link.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Problem with my computer

I thought it was a monitor problem.

But it may be a problem with my computer. Is my computer dying?

For posting this, I got the monitor showing the stuffs on the third try.

I've already visited different forums. The most probable cause might be a faulty pci card or the memory card itself. This is general viewpoint in all the forums.

I'm also come around to suspect that my lan card or one of the memory card might be culprit.

But,first, I will check the video cord. Then, try cleaning the memory cards. Finally, I would unplug the lan card.

If all these steps don't work, I've got no option but to visit a computer store yet again.

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Good job, Mr Government!

Election came and went,at least in this part of the country.

But electricity stays back--I mean, the regular supply of electricity.

I thought that regular supply of electricity was something to do with the election--may be, as a means of making a good ompression on the voters on the election eve.

But, even today, we are getting almost uniterrupted power supply. I must hasten to add that it's what's happening at least at my locality. I have no idea what's the position of elctricity supply in other parts of Imphal.

I think it's a good job by the present government.

Monday, May 04, 2009

Grow up, Romi!

When I saw the huge billboard being being put up at Keisampat junction, my first reaction was--'When he did he begin to foray into music/song/concert?'.

I'm talking about the Romi Meitei concert named 'Thoibi'.

Then, another billboard came up at Nityapat Chuthek. Still, I was little confused. Romi is a well known film director. What form it would take to be billed as 'Romi Meitei Concert'?

Then, it came up in the announcement section of Epao.net. There I got the details. It's going to feature top singers rendering the lyrics of Romi into live songs. Apparently, he is also going to honour several film personalities.

Going further down the announcement page, it transpired that the announcement was sent to the site by Romi himself--not by his sponsors.

That realization set me thinking and asking questions.

Is the coming consert a public announcement that Romi is going to start clinging to his past glories?

As I see it, Manipuri,at the moment,is beginning to shed off its innocence and is in the throes of the inevitable and painful growing up process.

As a very active and creative actor in the film scene, Romi himself position himself as one of the many change leaders and take Manipuri cinema upto the next higher level.

In case, Romi refuses to grow up and, instead, starts to cling to his past glories, it would be sad day for Manipuri cinema.

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Software is the differentiator

What do I like?

Somethng small and pocketable which will always be with me performing several functions for me, like keeping me always connected and, like enabling me to connect back to the rest of the world etc.

I now think that iPhone is inching towards becoming that ultimate device.

But some of the devices which have larger screens like the 4.8" Viliv claim to be backpocketable ie, they can be easily fitted into the back pockets of even a tight jean. In Korea,where the device is manufatured, there is even phone function built into it. Then, why such larger screened devices pose a challenge to iPhone?

Recently, I read a review of 4.8" Viliv. The reviewer said everything is fine with the device except in one area--the touch experience. It's way far behind the touch experience of an iPod touch or an iPhone.

So, the competition boils down to one crucial area--the operating system.

Can anybody give a semblance of competition to Apple's OS X?

Saturday, May 02, 2009

I'm sold!

I'm absolutely sold if they come out with a good video capturing contraption in the coming version of iPhone.

I said 'contraption' because there is a handheld device (about the size of iPhone?) called 'The Flip'which is really smoothsailing in capturing capturing videos.

If we add the functionality of 'The Flip'to the famed ease of web browsing and of playing songs to the new iPhone, I think it would be a very versatile device.

Everybody is talking of video capturing and editing in HD mode! Can they do it in such small pocketable device?

If they can pull it off, I think iPhone is inching towards the much-talked about ultimate mobile device.

by the meltingpot

Now Reading!

Now at 2nd place

This is the 3rd