Media of today

We all know how drastic is the effect of media on the masses.In the earlier days when media was in its adolescence its news used to be transparent,to the point and that which appealed the masses.In the modern era with great advent in the communication and the reach of media,the quality of news has diminished to a great extent.A new era has begun where emphasis is on "POPULAR NEWS" or the news which the masses would like to read.Whether it be TOI,The Hindustan Times or The Indian Express;all have been hit badly by this phenomenon.The contents of the newspapers now contain full bla-bla about film stars;their latest affairs,their attire and every other detail which would make them popular.Take for example the marriage of Abhishek bacchan and Aishwarya Rai;First page photographs and news about their attire and the function was all to be seen.I am not against such kind of news;I just want to say that there are many more important matters to be told to the people like the booming Indian economy,the rapid growth in the software sector etc.

Another drawback of today's media is its pessimistic attitude.The news of corruption of Indian society is shown on the first page using flashy titles whereas the success of the India's space endeavors are shown in the middle of the newspaper in a small column.As a result,this attitude is reflected in the people also.

Then comes the issue of aping western culture.Indian society is always compared to the western world.Little do they realize that Indian culture and society is contemporary in itself.
The quantity of news has also decreased thanks to the full page advertisements and promotions.It seems as if you are paying to read the advertisements and not the news.

The television media's effects are even more adverse.They not only show live coverage of the marriage of Abhi-Aish,they also call astrologers live to their studio to ask questions about the future of their marriage.This not only intrudes their personal lives but also shows how media is lost and is unable to find news in this ever changing world.
On a closing note I just want to say that the news agencies need to be more optimistic in their news and stop wasting time on politicians,movie actors and show us the real India,the common man.

Microsoft's monopoly and Windows Vista

With another newer version of windows coming up, its just another way of Microsoft telling the world "We are going low on sales,so we have launched a new product".These newer versions of OS's are a threat to the third world countries.I will justify this statement on the basis of a simple argument.Newer versions means better features,better GUI,which means nothing but more load on the hardware thereby slowing down your PC's performance.For example, I own a Pentium III processor with 64 MB ram, 20 GB hard drive,windows 98 and I bought this in 1999.For 2 years it worked fantastically well,then gradually the performance declined and now its almost dead.If you are a tech. freak then you will say that I work on an outdated PC and must change it immediately.But why?I just use the computer to access the internet to check mail and stuff that a computer of this level can easily provide.It ain't dead because of outdated software,but its dead because of unavailability of updated outdated software.This might be a little complicated to understand.I visit microsoft's website now and then but it says it wont provide me with updated version of windows 98(coz its outdated),I dont get the latest drivers either because of the same reason.This vicious circle goes a little more circular.I can't update to a newer version of OS coz i don't have enough RAM.The new OS asks for pentium 4 which costs a lot.Its not only the problem of the OS.I wanted some simple MP3 playback software;even winamp wanted my computer to have a windows XP.So you see I was in a mess.Now even though I dont need a pentium 4,i dont need better graphics,dont need performance,I am forced to buy all the latest hardware and then software.
My case is just one in a billion in this country.In offices,where a computer is required just for managing accounts and even a MS-Dos will do;are trapped in this vicious circle.Techies will obviously be against me and will say that technology is improving,so should you.I am not against Microsoft on releasing the latest software.I just want them to keep the updates for outdated softwares also.This way you can reach the masses and technology can really help the needy.Another way of terrorizing people is the enormous price of the software.The price of just one OS is Rs.5000 which is just not affordable.And then they say that we use pirated software.In short what I am trying to convey here is that with technological advancement and globalization, the poorer sections or even the middle class is affected to a great extent.The solution to this problem is bringing the 'Free Software' concept to every software(even to drivers) so that each person can have a computer that suits his needs and thus the real motive of technology i.e. to serve the people is fulfilled.

Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits

Here I am again with another stereotypical post.This is being written when I am in world's most boring place also known as RCI in a city called Hyderabad.On one fine morning I was woken up by my dad who was annoyed by my extended sleeping hours during the summer holidays.According to him it was high time that I did something purposeful during the holidays.He wanted me to do a project which was related to my godly subject i.e. Electronics.He was already vexed by my ideas for the holidays like learning guitar,linux.So here I am in GAETEC (Gallium Arsenide Enabling Technology Centre),Hyderabad to pursue a project on MMICs(Monothic Microwave Integrated circuits).The name itself scares the hell out of me,but then I came to a conclusion that nothing could be done about it.The first day at work just involved gaining knowledge about what was being done in this facility.The office,the labs looked like some sci-fi movie;the people wearing suits like those of astronauts, working with intricate instruments and most importantly chit-chatting about something that sounded like alien invasion.I had seen nothing like this before,the thought that I had to work here for a month itself scared me.

The next step was choosing a project for myself,there was not much of a choice though and my guide said "We will design a 3-bit Phase Shifter",and I thought "Hooha, nice name,will be fancy among friends".As I had no idea about the subject,I was given a 300 pages book and was told to complete in a day.For this I prayed "Oh God,Please make me a small wonder" but no help came.I followed my thumb rule which said "Read the book like a novel and leave the rest to the guide" and completed the book in one day.To my luck the guide believed in me and didn't cross-question.
Finally I started the second step and the most crucial one,designing of the circuit.This involved a software known as Microwave Office.Things got similar with time and with the great help of my guide i progressed a lot in it.But it was all like something that was boring and stuff that people had already done.I was just playing with some numbers,graphs and equations to make the figures look better.

But it was not the project that bugged me entirely,some part of it can be contributed to where I stay,The Guest House.Though I lived with my dad;there was no living creature to be seen for kilometers of area,seemed like Rama's ashram during his Vana vaasa.I could resort to only the idiot box or the internet for entertainment which I couldn't stand for more than an hour.Then I resorted to the best time pass that is dozing off.Sometimes people would visit the guest house to meet my father and I was obviously introduced in such meetings.These meetings were also boring talks related to the office and more importantly a compound known as GaAs(known as the most useful compound for the electronics or in general the semiconductor industry).

I don't know how much more of this project I can stand but great people say that this gives a golden glow to your resume and job opportunities(Yawnn!!!).