A Clever Bangalore Algorithm to Snatch Your Mobile Phones ( and Other Belongings )

I have seen it happening at least three times in last six months. I always guard myself and despite the caution , I fell victim to their operation.

In Volvo buses of Bangalore , a group of people will get into the bus by taking the daily pass. These strange "commuters" are unlike others who uses this facility. They make sure that they only board
buses which are having some standing passengers.

They will cluster around their target and create a stampede like situation, when the bus has reached a stop. By the time , "hungama" is over , they would have got out of the bus with your mobile phones.

Another group , they target is people who get into the bus. They will cross path with you and create obstructions and in the ensuing confusion , lift the phone and escape out of the bus.

Yesterday ,  around 8.30 pm at Jayadeva Circle , I was boarding a Volvo bus. When , I boarded the bus as the last passenger in the queue , I saw a group of men clustering around me. I realized the danger and were trying to protect my wallet. Then, suddenly a men from behind came in front of me and triggered a scuffle and I was holding on to my wallet.  After they went out , I was relieved that they were not able to snatch my wallet. But, only after couple of minutes , I realized that they have achieved their objective of snatching my mobile, during the scuffle.


Be Careful , regarding this. 

Cognitive Zoo - a new meme

I have noticed a curious pattern over the years when you interact with people. Every one is forced to be in some kind of Silo ( In Some cases , radius seems to be big . That is all ) because of the path they are constrained into.

Every man is the product of his environment and the daily routine he is subjected into, by the fate. Moreover, If one is supposed to excel there , he should be focused and has to gloss over a lot of
stuff to stay focused. This is the reason for the relative cognitive gap of the people.

You talk to a intelligent man , average street smart fellow or a outright moron , as the discussion drifts , you can infer a pattern where every one is speaking the same "tongue".

After Introspection , I found that I am also suffering from the same problem and found out that no one is immune to this.

Thus , I name group of people having interest in intellectual matters as members of a "Cognitive Zoo". A Zoo is a place we visit to see different genres of animals and likewise , Cognitive Zoo is where you can see different set of humans with varying intellect,whims and fancies.

Some remarkable Books in BarCamp Kerala @ IIM-K

Last Sunday , at the fag end of the day , I took a session called Some remarkable books. I had not prepare for it and I just told books which I happen to think at that point of time.

Here are some of them

1. Godel , Escher , Bach - Douglas Hofstadter
2. Fooled By Randomness - Taleb
3. Black Swan - Taleb
4.Impossibility , the Science of Limits & Limits of the Science - John D Barrow
5. Empror's new Mind - Roger Penrose
6. Shadows of the Mind - Roger Penrose
7. Algorithmics , the spirit of computing - David Harel
8. Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs - MIT press

Between SriDevi and Madhuri , there was Meenakshi

Yesterday, while commuting to the office, for a change, I happen to hear Hindi Songs. Usually , they play Kannada Songs (in Red Bus ) and I have become a fan of Kannada filmi  Songs.

Any Song which you do not understand the Lyrics will always be beautiful - I have spoken this
countless times.

Yesterday , happened to be Meenakshi Sheshadri's birth day and there was option to request songs from her movies. They played a song from Ghayal ( Sunny Deol , Meenakshi, Raj Babbar , Mousumi Chatterjee and Of course, Amrish Puri ) and Dhamini ( Rishi Kapoor , Meenakshi and Sushma Seth ).
Unfortunately , I reached my destination.


My thoughts went back to my teen days !

Now reading a book which can be considered as Biography of George Price

I happen to hear about George Price because of a idiom in game theory called Evolutionarily Stable Strategy ( ESS ). The famous Hawk vs Dove embodies the concepts of ESS.

I am reading a book by the following title.

The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness 

 

 

 

Lost my Handset and Had a peaceful two days

Friday , I misplaced my handset in a Restaurant in Bangalore. The person who got the handset removed both the sims and might have started using the handset.

This enhanced my privacy and I am now left with my company provided Blackberry. Let me see , If some one is interested in contacting me. If , I am of interest , they can contact me @ praseedp@yahoo.com or praseedp@gmail.com

IITs & IIMs - Are they (still) Socially Relevant ? ( @ Barcamp Kerala 11 )

Given below is the synopsis of my talk at the BarCamp Kerala which is going to be organized at the IIM-Kozhikode Campus ,on the 21st of November , 2011.

IITs and IIMs are regarded as crowning jewels of Indian Educational System. To clear the entrance exam and the follow-up GD ( in the case of IIMs ) requires some stuff between the ears. In the world of Distributed Education and CrowdSourcing , other than the purpose of fundamental scientific research , do we need centrs of excellence like IIMs and IITs ? Has IIMs and IITs benifitted the tax payer ? Since Most of the graduates never work in India , why should we spend for them ? Those instituitions creates a new kind of Intellectual caste system. Those kind of educational elitism , creates snobbery and mutual animosities among the peopele.

The details of the events can be retrieved from http://barcampkerala.org/


List of sessions are available at http://www.barcampkerala.org/blog/sessions/