Tag: Technology

A Monk

Who are Monks ?

Why people are becoming Monks?

Is it some kind of religion ?

How a monk lives ?

What kind of God they persuit ?

Want to know more about them , then start some reading .

Introduction

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks . A monk may be a person who decides to dedicate his life to serving all other living beings, or to be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live his or her life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many religions and in philosophy.

In simple words , A monk is a man who devoted part or all of his life to a religion. The word comes from Ancient Greek, and can be translated as solitary. In Greek, the word can apply to women, but in modern English it is mainly used for men. The word nun is usually used for female monastics. Monks practice asceticism. They either live alone, or together with other monks who share the same ideals. Monks can be found in different religions, most often in Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Jainism and Taoism.

There living

Monks usually follow rules and regulations for convenient life. As a monk you must obey these rules .

  1. Poverty: the monk cannot own anything.
  2. Chastity: the monk cannot have sex or a sexual relationship and cannot start a family or get married.
  3. Solitude: the monk should always be alone. Some monks choose to not follow this law.
  4. Silence: the monk shall not speak unless it is necessary.
  5. Generosity: the monk should always help other people.
  6. Stillness: the monk cannot travel far unless it is necessary. Sometimes this means that the monk must be cloistered which means that they must not leave their monastery (especially Warsa period). Sometimes they can be allowed to leave, but must not go very far.
  7. Duty: The monk must do some things every day. For example, the monk must pray or meditate and must do some work.

Indian monks

One of the finest and versatile monk in India was Swami Vivekananda . Swami Vivekananda was greatly inspired by Ramakrishna. For Swami, Ramakrishna was just a plain and simple villager, who was a part of the Kali temple. However, his intense spiritual practices intrigued Swami.

For five years, Swami learnt everything from his master, Ramakrishna. After his master left the world, everyone looked up to Swami. He urged the followers of Ramakrishna to leave the worldly pleasures and look up to God.

“You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself.”

His saying intrigued just not one nation but the whole world .

Life lessons

Being a monk , gives you a pleasure of being yourself . We live in the world where we get pleasure from materialistic things . We become selfish , ruthless, dull, lifeless and worthless. You have to believe in yourself in order to excel in life.

Start learning from lessons.

  • When you start to do meditation you recognize the egotistical mind.
  • Trying until you get it right.
  • The answer to your question is inside of you.
  • Real wisdom in life comes from doing something and failing.
  • We must be both compassionate and resilient.
  • Patience is a virtue.
  • Detach from your ego.
  • Happiness come from within, and also comes from outside.

Link

Visual Culture: How Visual is always contaminated by Non-Visual?

A creator may create an image but that single image can have multiple meanings for different individuals that may or may not go with what the creator was trying to convey. Such is the situation today where “visual” holds massive influence and power on the masses. The meaning of whatever we see around us is very subjective in nature, that is, it depends from person to person. And all the meanings that we derive from seeing something around us depends on our personal experiences and backgrounds we come from. The visuals can be decrypted by many according to their own thoughts.

https://whatzviral.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/19-2.jpg

In the above picture, the creator was trying to convey how over the time we have so much indulged ourselves in technology that we have forgot to give time to ourselves and stopped caring about our health. However different people may interpret the image in different ways using their own understandings and logics like some may think this image shows advancement of technology from heavy computers to light weight laptops, some may think this picture shows the same person who has grown old in these 30 years.

The visual has risen steadily in importance in our culture. The presence of visual images has progressed from the high art of painting through various media such as still photographs, play television, video games etc. The increasing availability of various technologies has led to a massive presence of visuals around us.

Reading an image is about interrogating and playing with the separate elements that compose it to provide some private meaning. If we consider an “image” to be a combination of characteristics, then each one of us reading an image would construct and combine those characteristics attached to it and analyse it in new and unique ways.

The act of reading an image produces myths. It assembles in our minds various characteristics of image, some of which may change on subsequent readings and some of which may be undesirable. When we try to study an image, the image is brought into the world of discourse and meanings are constructed from and through them. . Images can become valuable if they generate powerful connotative meanings or if they are manipulated easily. Images acting as signifiers can evoke different meanings and examination of these images introduce the discourse.

Another example could be:

JapaneseGP: electric mini bike race - YouTube

The above picture is from a mini bike race in Japan, in which the creator wanted to convey the “peculiarness” of the picture, that is, adults on mini bikes. Some may just focus on those mini bikes or some may just see it as a normal bike race or some may see how the one in the far right is going out of the lane or some may see all of the above mentioned and all of this depends upon the interests and thinking capacity of individuals.

Conclusion: Every picture says something and every picture is trying to convey us a message, even though a picture may not look thought provoking, it carries come thought or meaning in some or the other way. Several factors are involved in the evolution or what we can say is “contamination” or pollution of image or visuals. What a creator is trying to convey through a message can be completely different from how the viewer interprets and decrypts it. Every individual can have several different meanings about the same visual that can be positive, negative or both depending on his interests and background.

How Indian Education System is getting infected due to Appraisal of Online Classes

Photo by Julia M Cameron on Pexels.com

All our lives have been paused and shattered due to the arrival of the Covid 19 Virus which has devasted humans Globally and created tough times for every Human being who is striving to survive from this fatal disease.

It is no surprise how this deadly virus has become horrible nightwear for everyone and it provided a gift of Loss in every section of society. Globally it had provided huge losses in all types of professional fields. In these challenging times, one of the major sectors had been at a sea since a massive breakdown in the education sector due to the online classes and pandemic life.

Indian Students and unfavorable effects of Covid 19 on Education System :

 It is majorly remarked that 1.2 billion children in 186 countries have been affected by school closures due to the epidemic of the Covid Virus. There is no doubt that E-Learning platforms have gained wide recognition in such time and the importance of technology in the world of humans has portrayed that human needs Technology to survive in such tough times.

As per in the field of Education sector it is noticed that India has around 320 Million learners who had shifted to E-Learning since the nation closure. Living in the era where E-Learning has become a prominent part of every student’s life, has also shown how difficult it has become for both students and teachers in India.

Since India is still a developing country, there are several drawbacks that Indians are facing in this Contemporary Epidemic. The situation of the education system is worse than the deadly disease which is slaughtering human communities.

India being the world’s 2nd largest school system, after China, has certain factors which are weakening the academic life of students, among these factors, there are several factors:  

  1. Lack of  Sufficient Network Ability: As looking into the current situation, Internet consumption has been a major necessary element in a pandemic life. Everyone coming from all sorts of backgrounds and fields needs network connectivity for their respective purpose to fulfil.

The youngsters significantly need network broadband for their daily online classes and as a student network has become a mandatory part to get educated in the present condition. But sadly the scenario of Rural Indian households is much worsening as we get to observe that fewer than 15%, have Internet access ( as opposed to 42% of Urban Indian households).

  • Gender Barrier is still a Hindrance: This might be an unreal fact to process for many people, but rural Indian household is still not developed in gender equality and educating there children especially when it comes to the girl child. 8.5% of Females use the Internet in Rural India and suffer from the obstacle of getting education because either due to unavailability of network or due to prioritizing male child teachings. Hence, there has been more number of dropouts of children from the online education system.
  • Online System – A major obstacle for the older generations :

In our education system, not only students are suffering from the inconvenience set by the online classes, but it is also the teacher community that is in a state of perplexing when it comes to the usage of technology.

There are times when technology made our elder generations uncomfortable because it is something new for them to learn. In this instance, many teachers leave their jobs due to the uncomfortable environment set by the online classes.

So we can say that online classes are somewhere a curse for everyone in the education system.

Future Generation striving with the adversity:   

Though the times are tough for everyone, as a human we should have the enduring capacity to work on our weakness.

Prominently, the youngsters, who would be the future minds must keep this as a note that, as millennial generations, we have many opportunities to turn the curse into a blessing and provide inspiration for many people globally.

As students, we can create an environment a comfortable zone for the teachers and our elders by making them aware of technology, and that we will be some minute steps which can make our country a developed country and not developing.

Mental Health

We human beings often tend to pay less attention to our mental health than our physical one, but we all should understand its heavy importance and admit the fact that they can be equally or even more dangerous than the physical issues so one should take immediate help of doctor or councilor in case some abnormalities or issues arises.

Importance of mental health :

Mental and physical health are equally important components of overall health. Mental illness, especially depression, increases the risk for many types of physical health problems, particularly long lasting conditions like stroke, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Similarly, the presence of chronic conditions can increase the risk for mental illness.

Some mental illnesses :

Mental illnesses are among the most common health conditions in the united states.

* More than 50% will be diagnosed with a mental illness or disorder at some point in their lifetime.

* 1 in 5 children,either currently or at some point during their life, have had a seriously debilitating mental illness.

Causes of mental illness :

There is no single cause for mental illness. A number of factors can contribute to risk for mental illness, such as

* Early adverse life experiences such as trauma or a history of abuse.

* Experiences related to other ongoing medical condition, such as cancer or diabetes

* Biological factors, such as genes or chemical imbalances in the brain.

* use of alcohol or recreational drugs.

Types of mental illness :

People can experience different types of mental illnesses or disorder and they can often occur at the same time.Mental illness can occur over a short period of time or be episodic. This means that the mental illness comes and goes with discrete beginnings and ends. Mental illness can also ongoing or long term.

There are more than 200 classified types of mental illness. Some of the main types of mental illness and disorders are listed below; however; this list is not exhaustive.

Anxiety Disorders :

People with anxiety disorders respond to certain objects or situations with fear and dread or terror. Anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, panic disorders and phobias.

Hyperactivity Disorder :

It is one of the most common childhood mental disorders. It can continue through adolescence and adulthood. People diagnosed with ADHD may have trouble paying attention, controlling impulsive behaviors or be overly active.

Disruptive Behavioral Disorders :

It involves a pattern of disruptive behaviors in children that last for atleast 6 months can cause problems in school, at home and in social sitauations.Behavioral symptoms can also continue into adulthood.

Depression and other mood disorders :

While bad moods are common and usually pass in a short period, people suffering from mood disorders live with more constant and severe symptoms. People living with this mental illness find that their mood impacts both mental and psychological well- being, nearly evry day and often for much of the day.

Eating Disorders :

Eating disorders involve obsessive and sometimes distressing thoughts and behaviors including

* Reduction of food intake

* overeating

* Feelings of depression or distress

* concern about weight, body shape, poor self image

Personality Disorders :

People with personality disorders have extreme and inflexible personality traits that cause problems in work, school or social realtionships. Personality disorders include antisocial personality disorder and borederline personality disorder

Substance use Disorders :

Substance use disorders occur when frequent or repeated use of alochol and or drugs causes significant impairment, such as health problems, disability, and failure to meet major responsibilities at work, school, or home. Substance use problems can be fatal to the user or others. Exsmples include drunk driving fatalities and drug overdoses.

In this busy world our brain gets a lot stressed and its very important that we should take due care of it, some of the practices which will help us to do better with our mental health are:

  1. Yoga plays a great role in keeping our mind calm and also helps us to focus and concentrate on things. It also helps us deal with tough situations and gives us the strength to stay away from negativity.
  2. Exercising regularly is a key to healthy body and we all know that a healthy body and a healthy mind goes hand in hand, so we must ensure that we exercise daily to keep ourselves fit.
  3. The environment that we stay in also the company with which we spend time also plays a major role we should be extremely aware while selecting our company and in case we are not able to adjust we should walk away.
  4. Food is the fuel and is of immense importance we should ensure that we are not nutrient deficient also we should ensure that we intake enough amount of water daily.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Science and technology play a huge role in our society as well as in our lives. Nowadays we all are surrounded by technology and are dependent on it for everything we do. Especially after this pandemic everything is in virtual mode and is completely based on technology. We live in the technological era where gadgets are of outmost importance to us. A gadget is simply a human made device which is programmed to reduce human effort and does a piece of job easily without any hassle.

In this fast-growing world we human beings are always surrounded by machines and gadgets for every need of ours starting from the time we get up in the morning till we again go to bed we even use gadgets while we are asleep such as air conditioner, insect repellent and many more. Science is a boon for us, but in the other hand as everything has its own merits and demerits there are also people who do use science for a bad cause. Technology is good but it is advisable to keep this technology out of the reach of children as otherwise they will not tend to learn things and will prefer to take the help of science to solve a particular existing problem this may affect their growth.

IMPORTANCE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY :


Technology, science and knowledge are important in modern contemporary society. Essential questions include the following : How does science and technology produce new products, new ways of living and new nutritious? Why is new technology and knowledge so fundamental to us in the ways through which we imagine the future?


Technology, knowledge and science are fundamental in modern contemporary society. The understanding of how social, cultural and material elements influence the production of new practices, new ways of under of contemporary postmodern society. Studies of technology and science provides students with insight into how different processes of knowledge are initiated and progressed, and how innovative technological processes are developed employed and increase in importance.
In this manner, students will be provided with the academic basis for working with detailed analyses of different forms of technologies and process of knowledge within business life or industry and commerce, research work , political development, management of knowledge and innovation.


THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY :


Science , technology and innovation each represent a successively larger category of activities which are highly interdependent but distinct. Science contributes to technology in at least six ways.

  1. New knowledge which serves as a direct source of ideas of new technological possibilities.
  2. Source from tools and techniques for more efficient engineering design and a knowledge based for evaluation of feasibility of designs
  3. Research instrumentation, laboratory techniques and analytical methods used in research that eventually find their way into design or industrial practices, often through intermediate disciplines.
  4. Practice of research as a source for development and assimilation of new human skill and capabilities eventually useful for technology.
  5. Creation of a knowledge base that becomes increasingly important in the assessment of technology in terms of its wider social and environmental impacts
  6. Knowledge base that enables more efficient strategies of applied research, development, and refinement of new technologies.

THe ROLE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


Teaching technological literacy, critical thinking and problem- solving through science education gives students the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in school and beyond.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY USED IN SOCIETY :


Science and technology have had a major impact on society, and their impact is growing. By making life easier, science has given an the chance to pursue societal concerns such as ethics, aesthetics, education and justice to create cultures, and to improve human conditions.

INSPIRATIONAL STORY OF J.K ROWLING

J.K Rowling’s story is one of the most famous insipirational failures to the success story of our time. She had failed in almost everything she attempted to do in her life and at one point she considers herself a major failure.


Most of the people only know her as a woman writer who created Harry Potter, but what people don’t know about the struggle she faces before reaching the stardom.


BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD :


Joanne Rowling was born on 31st July 1965 in yate, Gloucestershire, England to Peter James Rowling and Anne Rowling. Her father was a Rolls- Royce aircraft engineer and mother was a science technician
She had one little sister, Dianne, as a child Rowling loves to write fantasy stories and read them to her younger sister. When she was a teenager she got a chance to read Jessica Mitford ‘s autobiography, from then on Mitford become her heroine and after that, she read all her books.


BOOK INSPIRATION AND MOTHER ‘S DEATH :


After working for Amnesty International as a researcher and bilingual secretary in London, Rowling moved to Manchester with her then- boyfriend where she worked at chamber of commerce. In1990, Rowling first had the idea for Harry Potter, a story of a young boy who attends a school of wizards, while she was on a 4 hour delayed train trip from Manchester to London.
While travelling the idea fully formed in her mind and when she reached her flat she began writing furiously. However, in December 1990 her mother died after 10 years of complications from Mutiplr sclerosis Mother’s death heavily affects Rowling and leave her extremely distraught and upset. Later she channelled her own feelings of her loss by writing about Harry’s feelings in her first book.


MARRIAGE, DIVORCE AND SINGLE MOTHER:


After a few months of her mother’s death, she moved to Portugal to teach the English language. There she met a man, fall in love with him, got married and gave birth to her daughter. In 1993 her marriage ended in Divorce and she with her infant daughter moved to Edinburgh Scotland to be closer to her sister.
This is the most struggling time for Rowling and she saw herself as a complete failure. She was divorced, jobless, no money and a dependent child. Because of all this, she suffered bouts of depression and contemplated suicide. Eventually, she signed for Government-assisted welfare describing her economic status as poor. It was a really difficult time in her life but she kept going on and put all her energy on completing her novel.


HARRY POTTER :


In 1995 Rowling completes her manuscript for Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone on an old manual type writer. She was so poor at that time she could not afford a computer or even the cost of photocopying the novel, so she manually typed each copy and submitted to twelve publishing house in London.
The manuscript was rejected almost dozens time until she was finally given chance with £1,500 advance by a small London publisher, Bloomsbury after the company’s CEO little 8 years old daughter fell in love with it after reading the first chapter of the book.


In July 1997 Bloomsbury published first 1000 copies of Harry Potter series out of which 500 copies were distributed to libraries. Just five months later the book won Nestlé smarties Book prize it’s first award . In early 1998 an auction was held in America for the printing rights to publish the novel.
Scholastic INC won the auction for USB 105, 000, later Rowling said in a interview that she nearly died when she heard the news of this amount for printing her novel. Today Harry Potter is a global brand worth an estimated 15 billion dollars.
The last four Harry Potter books have set the records for the fastest selling books in history. The Harry Potter series to talking 4, 195 pages have been translated either in whole or in part into 65 languages. The Harry Potter books series have also gained recognition for creating an interest in reading among the children’s at a time when they were more inclined towards the Internet, computers and television.


FINANCIAL SUCCESS :


In 2001 J.K ROWLING purchased a 19th century killiechassie House, an estate house on the banks of the river tay in Perth. She also owns a £ 4.5 million Georgian house in West London. In 2004 , Forbes named Rowling as the first person to become a us dollar billionaire by only writing books.In 2017, according to Sunday times, Richard list Rowling net worth was approx. £ 650 million.


PERSONAL LIFE :


Rowling and her second husband Neil Murray were married on 26th December 2001. They live in Edinburgh with their 3 children. Rowling was a runner up in 2007. Time’s annual person of the year issue after Russia’s president Vladimir putin.


JK ROWLING’S RULES OF SUCCESS :

  • Failure helps you discovers yourself.
  • Take action on your ideas.
  • You will be criticised
  • Remember where you started
  • Truly Believe in yourself
  • learn from adversity.
    *Visualise to achieve
  • Persevere
  • Dreams can happen.
  • use your creativity.

Nausea! It could be Cybersickness or Motion sickness

Nausea due to watching fast moving digital images becoming common if you are watching computer generated mayhem in the latest action film or scrolling rapidly on your smartphone, you may start to feel a little off. Maybe it is a dull headache or dizziness or creeping nausea. And no, it is not something you ate.

A peculiar side effect of the 21st century is something called digital motion sickness or cybersickness. Increasingly common, according to medical and media experts, it causes a person to feel woozy, as if on a boat in a churning sea, from viewing moving digital content.

“It’s a fundamental problem that’s been kind of been swept under the carpet in the each industry,” said Cyriel Diels, a cognitive psychologist and human factors researcher at Conventry University’s Centre for Mobility and Transport in England. “ It’s a natural response to an unnatural environment.”

Digital motion sickness, known among medical professionals as usually induced motion sickness, stems from a basic mismatch between sensory inputs, said Steven Rauch, medical director of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Balance and Vestibular Centre and professor of otolaryngology at Harvard Medical school. “Your sense of balance is different than other senses in that it has lots of inputs,” he said “ When those inputs don’t agree, that’s when you feel dizziness and nausea.”

In the traditional motion sickness, the mismatch of occurs because you feel moment in your muscles and joints as well as in the intricate coils of your inner ear, but you do not see it. That is why getting up on the deck of a ship and looking at the horizon helps you feel better. But with digital -motion sickness, it is the opposite. You see movement -like the turns and twists shown in a movie or video e game car chase that you do not feel. The result is the same: You may have sensory conflict that can make you feel queasy. It can happen to anyone, even if you are someone who is not prone to motion sickness in cars, boats or air r planes. Various studies indicate it can affect 50% to 80% of people, depend ting on the fidelity of the digital con tent and how it is presented. Studies show that women are, more susceptible than men, as are a those with a history of migraines or concussion.

How do you treat cybersickness?


The moment you feel the onset of symptoms, you should take a break from whatever screen you’re looking at. Crowson says you need to give your brain the visual cues that you’re not moving, ideally by looking at the horizon (which, depending on where you live, might not be possible). Even if you can’t see the horizon, anything outside or not moving around you will do.

How do you prevent cybersickness?


Since it’s not realistic to stop looking at screens (unfortunately), we have to find a way to manage our time with them. “Structured breaks are really important,” says Crowson, who recommends 50 minutes on and 10 minutes off your screen. “Even if you’re feeling good at the end of the 50 minutes, it’s still good to take that 10 minutes off, especially if it’s been a trigger before.”

Since screens aren’t disappearing from our lives anytime soon, your best bet to avoid cybersickness is to keep up with those breaks even if it’s for a walk, to stretch, or to look outside the window. Chances are you need it.

Want to be a CYBORG….?

Cyborg can be defined as an organism that has enhanced ability due to the integrated of some artificial components or technology. The concept of a man-machine mixture was widespread in science fiction before World War II. As early as 1843, Edgar Allan Poe described a man with extensive prostheses in the short story “The Man That Was Used Up”. In 1911, Jean de La Hire introduced the Nyctalope, a science fiction hero who was perhaps the first literary cyborg.

Actual cyborgization attempts :
Yuval Noah Harari, a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said- “ Humans may upgrade themselves to become cyber within the next 200 years merging man and machine to potentially live”. Although many technology companies have announced the plans to fuse machines and humans. The fact is the transformation has already begun. Here are some fascinating example from mankind who are already famous for being part human, part cyborg.

Jens Neumann
He’s the first person to have a completely artificial vision system, Neumann’s electronic eye is connected directly to visual cortex through brain implants enabling him to see lines and shapes. Latest reports say his vision has since then been restored.

Neil Harbisson
The world’s first ‘eye-borg’ to perceive colour as a sound on a musical scale, has an antenna attach it to his skull that converts light waves into sound waves, making it possible for the otherwise colour-blind cyborg artiste to conduct colour concerts, among other things. Also he co-founded the Cyborg foundation to help humans become cyborgs and different cyborg rights.  

Oscar Pistorius
Often called ‘The blade runner’ Pistorius created history as the first double amputee to compete against able body runner at international level in 2007. Since ‘the fastest man on no legs’ has competed at World Championships in Athletics 2011, which he won; Summer Olympics 2012 for able-bodied and won a gold medal at the Summer Para Olympics 2012.

Kevin Warwick
A cybernetics professor at University of Reading (UK ), he is one of the world’s foremost aspiring cyborgs, famous for experimenting with implants, including installing a microchip in his arm which allows him to operate select electrical gadgets.

Jesse Sullivan & Claudia Mitchell
Sullivan is equipped with bionic arm, which is connected through nerve-muscle grafting. But that’s not the real achievement. Sullivan can control the limb with his mind and experience warmth, coolness and the pressure of his grip. Claudia, the world’s first woman cyborg after getting outfitted with bionic limb.

Animal cyborgs

The US-based company Backyard Brains released what they refer to as the “world’s first commercially available cyborg” called the RoboRoach. The project started as a senior design project for a University of Michigan biomedical engineering student in 2010, and was launched as an available beta product on 25 February 2011.

The RoboRoach was officially released into production via a TED talk at the TED Global Conference; and via the crowdsourcing website Kickstarter in 2013, the kit allows students to use micro stimulation to momentarily control the movements of a walking cockroach (left and right) using a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone as the controller. Several animal welfare organizations including the RSPCA and PETA have expressed concerns about the ethics and welfare of animals in this project. In the late 2010s, scientists created cyborg jellyfish using a microelectronic prosthetic that propels the animal to swim almost three times faster while using just twice the metabolic energy of their unmodified peers. The prosthetics can be removed without harming the jellyfish.

Second-generation holographic displays are being developed by Looking Glass.

Looking Glass, a producer of holographic displays, has announced the development of two variants of their second-generation holographic display. Looking Glass has a video on its website demonstrating the capabilities that consumers may anticipate from the two new devices, the 4K Gen2 and the 8K Gen2, which are both powered by the company’s unique light-field technology.

The term “Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There” is derived from another word for a mirror, which was made popular by Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There.” In reality, they resemble the shoebox dioramas made by elementary school children, albeit the images in the box are computer-generated in this case.

Looking Glass Portrait, the company’s first-generation holographic display, will be updated with the new goods. These were available for as cheap as $249 through a Kickstarter campaign. The second-generation gadgets are significantly more expensive, costing $3,000 for the 4K model and $17,500 for the 8K model.

The second-generation versions are a size and quality increase rather than a technological upgrade. The Portrait’s display is 7.9 inches, while the 4K version is 15.6 inches, and the 8K version is 32 inches. The two new models are both smaller and lighter, with ways for reducing ambient reflections.

All three of the company’s gadgets can transform and display images taken with a smartphone (through the Looking Glass app) into 3D pictures or movies that appear to be taken by a moving camera. The gadget may also be used to make and display 3D items; in the introduction video, they are seen designing and displaying a new shoe. In an animation, the screens may also be utilized to build and show 3D characters. All three devices run the HoloPlay Studio software from Looking Glass.

The devices operate with 3D applications such as Unity, Unreal Engine, and Blender, allowing users to generate a wide range of content. Users can also share their material with other Looking Glass users. The Looking Glass website now sells both of the new second-generation gadgets directly.

The firm sees the Portrait as a type of ambassador for its technology, especially given how difficult it was to get the systems in front of potential consumers last year. I’ve seen a few of Looking Glass’ earlier systems in person, and I can tell you that the impact isn’t quite the same over Zoom. As it strives to meet demand and overcome global supply chain difficulties, Looking Glass claims to have sold 11,000 devices and is delivering “thousands” each month.

“I think of it as their first chance to acquire their holographic display without having to gain consent from their boss,” says CEO Shawn Frayne. “Someone is interested in it, so they order it, and it meets or surpasses their expectations, and they proceed from there. The Portrait has a very high-quality level, and the larger pieces are a larger format variation of that quality.”

The new models will succeed their predecessors, which were essentially development units rather than mass-market goods (though the company will continue to offer support). In addition to being less expensive, the second-generation devices are lighter and have better visual quality than their predecessors, especially at the edges, where holographic displays often have problems.

Religion in India

Being a part of a mixed economy , where politics tend to exploit the peace between different religions and so on …….. .

“India was the motherland of our race, and Sanskrit the mother of Europe’s languages: she was the mother of our philosophy; mother, through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics; mother, through the Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Christianity; mother, through the village community, of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all.”

Will Durant, American historian

And now you want to know why I am being so dramatic over such things . Well , if you want to know than start reading the editorial .

Introduction

Indians say it is important to respect all religions, but major religious groups see little in common and want to live separately

More than 70 years after India became free from colonial rule, Indians generally feel their country has lived up to one of its post-independence ideals: a society where followers of many religions can live and practice freely.

Religion has historically influenced Indian society on a political, cultural and economic level. There is a sense of pride associated with the country’s rich religious history as the traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism all emerged out of India. Moreover, while a majority of people in India identify as Hindu (79.8%), the medley of religions that exist within the country continually impact contemporary society.

Census

The 2011 Indian census indicated that 79.8% of Indians identified as Hindu, 14.2% identified as Muslim and 2.3% identified as Christian. A further 1.7% of the population identified as Sikh, 0.7% identified as Buddhist and 0.37% identified as Jain. Due to the massive population size of India, religious minorities still represent a significant number of people. For example, although only 0.37% of India may identify with Jainism, that still equates to over 4 million people. While not all religions in India can be discussed in detail, the following provides an overview of the major religions in the country as well as sizable religions that originated in India.

Social beliefs

“India has two million gods and worships them all. In religion all other countries are paupers; India is the only millionaire.”

Mark Twain

Karma, Acceptance and Personal Choice . Many Indians tend to have a sense of acceptance towards one’s life position or a belief that, due to actions in one’s past life, good or bad personal circumstances are deserved. This attitude partly stems from religious ideas such as ‘karma’ (the idea that one’s actions will affect their current or future life) and ‘samsara’ (the cycle of rebirth).

The interplay of these social, cultural and religious factors allows people to be accepting of life events and trajectories. However, this is not to be interpreted as Indians being unwilling to take responsibility for life circumstances. Many often contemplate how their actions may impact their future and make decisions accordingly. Some of India’s youth are challenging a fatalistic perspective by asserting their free will to choose their vocation, spouse and other life factors. Indeed, as social mobility becomes more common, there is a growing belief that one can change their circumstances.

It’s Role

Religion plays a major role in the Indian way of life. Rituals, worship, and other religious activities are very prominent in an individual’s daily life; it is also a principal organizer of social life. The degree of religiosity varies amongst individuals; in recent decades, religious orthodoxy and observances have become less common in Indian society, particularly amongst young urban-dwellers. As of the politics , they play with religion , people’s belief and with their trust .

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Top 5 world’s most valuable company.

There are many top companies in the world. But we will look at the top 5 companies in the world by there revenue. In this blog we are going see the companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Samsung etc. Here are the top 5 companies based on the market capitalization, brand value and sales values.

  1. Apple

Undoubtedly Apple, is the number one company in the world with $2.17 Trillion market capitalization. Apple is the American Multinational technology company that specializes in consumer electronics. Apple is the only company with over $2 trillion market capitalization in this world. It has the sales value $267.7 billion USD. It was founded on 1st April 1976 by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne, and Steve Wozniak. Apple headquarter is located at cupertino, California USA. The apple’s Iphone is the most sold phone in the world. Apple products such Iphone, Macintosh, Apple TV are most famous and well known for its brand. Tim cook is the current CEO of Apple. It has currently 137,000 employees in it.

2. Amazon

Amazon comes second in our list with $1.67 Trillion market capitalization. Amazon is a american multinational technology company which focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and digital streaming. Jeff Bezos founded amazon in 1994.The sales value of amazon is $296.6 Billion. Amazon headquarter is located at Seattle, Washington DC, USA. Andy jassy is the current CEO of amazon. The brand value of amazon is $254.1 Billion. It currently have 780,000 employees in it.

3. Google

Google comes third in top 10 companies with $1.59 Trillion market capitalization. Google LLC is a American Multinational technology company that specializes in internet related service like search engine, cloud computing and online advertising. Larry page and Sergey Brin founded google in 1996.The brand value of Google is $191.22 Billion. The headquarters of Google is located at Mountain view, California, USA. Sunder Pichai is the current CEO of Google. It currently have 140,000 employees in it.

4. Microsoft

Microsoft comes fourth in list with $1.9 Trillion market capitalization. Microsoft is a American Multinational technology company which produces computer software and personal computers. Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975. The brand value of Microsoft is $140.6 Billion and sales value is $138.6 Billion. The headquarters of Microsoft is located at Redmond, Washington, USA. Satya Nadella is the current CEO of Microsoft. It currently has 144,000 employees in it. It has its office in more than 100 countries.

5. Samsung

Samsung comes fifth in our list with $278.8 Billion market capitalization. Samsung is a South Korean Multinational Electronic company. Lee Byung-chul is the founder of Samsung company. Samsung phone is one of the most popular phone in the world. The brand value of Samsung is $102.46 Billion and the sales value is $197.6 Billion. The headquarters of Samsung is located at Seoul, South Korea. Samsung has three CEO’s they are Ki Nam Kim, Hyun Suk Kim, and Dong Jin Koh. It currently has 105,000 employees in it. It has its office in more than 70 countries.

These are the top 5 most valuable companies in the world. That’ll from my side. I hope you like it. Thank you.

How artificial intelligence is replacing humans?

Artificial intelligence, this is not a new name. This is the most trending subject in this 21st century. Examples of artificial intelligence Alexa, google assistant, Siri etc. In this blog, we are going to see what is artificial intelligence? Type of artificial intelligence, Can machines think? How artificial intelligence is replacing humans? Advantages and disadvantages of AI?

WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ?

Artificial Intelligence commonly known as AI is the intelligence represented by machines, as opposed to natural intelligence display by humans. AI is an interdisciplinary science with multiple approaches. Based on capabilities AI can be classified into weak AI, strong AI, and super AI. Weak AI can focus on only one task and it cannot go beyond its limitations. Strong AI can understand and learn that much of a human. Super AI suppresses human intelligence and can perform task better and beyond human intelligence.

TYPES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

There are four types of artificial intelligence, they are Reactive machines, Limited memory, Theory of mind, Self awareness.

  1. Reactive machines

This is the simplest level of Artificial Intelligence. Reactive machines performs basic operations. No learning occurs in this type. This is the first stage of artificial intelligence system. It doesn’t have past memory and cannot use past memory for future actions. Examples of reactive memory are Static machine learning models, and IBM chess program.

2. Limited memory

Limited memory of AI has the ability to store past memory and predictions and use the data to make future predictions. With limited memory, machine learning architecture become more complex. The examples of limited memory are self-driving cars are the best example. There are three types of limited memory –

i) Reinforcement learning

ii) Long short term memory(LSTM)

iii) Evolutionary Generative Adversarial Networks(EGAN)

3. Theory of Mind

This is the advanced type of artificial intelligence. Theory of mind refers to the ability of human mind to attribute mental states or others is a key component of human cognition.

4. Self awareness

Self awareness is more advanced type of artificial intelligence. It is the final step of AI development to build systems that can form representation of themselves.

CAN MACHINES THINK?

The biggest question in our mind is can machines think like humans? machines do not have feeling, emotions and consciousness. Therefore the artificial intelligence cannot think like us. The artificial intelligence is in the beginning stage in this world right now. But in future when artificial intelligence is in the advanced stage, scientist suggests that there may be a possibility. AI is programmed by humans into every machine to perform a certain task. Therefore AI cannot think and take decisions on its own. Therefore AI cannot think.

HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS REPLACING HUMANS?

In earlier day, people used to work in the factories but now machines are working in place of humans. Now the question comes Can artificial intelligence is replace humans? the answer is yes, we have seen robots replacing human works in a organization. As we known that AI is in the beginning stage of development. Experts suggest that AI can replace human work in the future. A study suggests that AI will replace 30 percent of human labor in 2030.

ADVANTAGES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

  1. AI takes only certain time to perform a task.
  2. AI can do the complex tasks in seconds.
  3. AI is available for 24×7 by a day.
  4. AI can reduce error and increase accuracy.

DISADVANTAGES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

  1. Creating a machine that could simulate human intelligence requires a lot of time and lot of money.
  2. AI cannot think beyond its box. There is no creativity for AI.
  3. AI will increase the unemployment rate, as it will replace human labor.

Steam Deck: Nintendo Switch’s newest competitor

Steam is a digital marketplace and is owned by Valve Corporation. Valve Corporation has published numerous games but in recent years they have been trying to enter the space of hardware. On November 10, 2015 Valve launched its first game controller for connecting to PCs and their own Steam machines (A prebuilt PC developed by Valve which was designed to operate Valve’s Linux-based SteamOS via the Steam client). The Steam controller was discontinued in 2019 and with modest sales.

Steam deck is Valve’s foray into the handheld console space. The Handheld space is currently dominated by Nintendo Switch. With 84.59 million of units sold since its launch in 2017, Switch has been one of the most successful consoles in the current gaming generation.  The most unique thing about Switch is that it can be switched from a handheld design to a home console with the help of a dock accessory.

Steam deck is essentially a PC on the go with very impressive hardware specifications. The handheld is equipped with a 7-inch diagonal display with 1200x800 pixels and 60 Hz refresh rate. It has an AMD APU (Processor) with Zen 2 architectures and 4 cores/8 threads. With 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and storage options ranging from 64GB eMMC($399) , 256GB SSD($ 529) and 512GB SSD($ 649).

Since the late 80s, Nintendo has been the reigning king in the portable gaming space. After the success of Switch, Nintendo revealed the new switch pro which has an OLED display upgrade. This will surely enhance the experience in the console but many were disappointed with no hardware upgrade. Nintendo Switch is still running an Nvidia Tegra custom chip which is severely underpowered and the console struggles to even play Nintendo’s core games with 30 FPS. This means that compromises have to be made to make a game run of the system. Another aspect is that the failure of Sony’s PS Vita (Sony’s portable handheld) failed against the Nintendo 3DS of the previous generation. Sony did not attempt to compete against Nintendo. This meant that there were no major competitors against Nintendo and the company has become somewhat complacent. The launch of Steam Deck also means that there is another competitor against the Switch and this will lead to healthy competition and ultimately it’s a win for the consumers. With 1.6 TFLOPS of GPU power its significantly more powerful than the Switch. Another point to be noted is the versatility that the Steam ex provides. The Deck essentially is a PC and this means that it runs on Valve’s version of Linux OS and by connecting it to a dock via a USB C and it also has full Bluetooth 5.0. This means that you can use it to hook the device up to a full-sized monitor and work on any productivity applications as well. Due to its open nature, even Windows can be installed on the deck. This means that it will be much more flexible than any of its competitors. There have been many recent smaller projects that have attempted a similar portable gaming PC, but Valve (Steam’s parent company) has a much deeper pocket and experience in its hands. The console will be shipped by the end of December 2021. There is no guarantee that this system will be a success but it surely will make the handheld space more exciting.    

A LETTER TO THE MOTHERLAND

Hello motherland, I hope you are fine, I can only hope this because your children living here are not completely loyal to you.

Since long time you have been through many things and faced a lots of challenges. You have seen people changing, their changing lifestyles and even their behaviour towards you. During ancient times people used to discover things from you, they only used natural things like branches of trees to cook food, stones to setup fire and made tools from them. People at that time were totally dependent on you for everything from eating to wearing to shelter. As the time passes, in the medieval time people were more developed and found ways to rule over you. Different communities were made and people got divided according to their power and started making policies and planning to rule over a large piece of land this way you got divided into several religion and genders. Coming to the Modern Times now no one is afraid of you, everyone is seeking their benefit and doing whatever they wish to do without taking any precautions. Use of plastic bags, burning of crackers on festivals, wastage of water, deforestation etc all are leading to the serious conditions of the health of the motherland. Today’s society is always busy on technology and this too is creating a lot of junk on land and in people’s mind. They are harming the land as well as their health conditions. Due to huge amount of pollution, Ozone Layer has got a black hole in it and still people are not aware that it can cause serious skin problem like skin cancer.

As human beings have troubled you so much, the day will come when you will trouble us and I think the day has arrived, that is why in many parts of the world people are facing floods and even drought, heavy rainfall and even areas with graphic heat. You have suffered a lot and now that one day is very close when everybody will suffer and realise that what you have gone through.

Nowadays oxygen is free of cost and is God gifted but that day is very near when people will have pay for it. Everyone on the streets would walk by carrying oxygen cylinders on their back and masks on their face due to pollution and harmful waves. The harmful rays or pollution are not only affecting the life of people but also affecting the biodiversity. India, which is famous for its Bengal tiger is now found very rarely, butterflies which were in large quantities are now decreasing rapidly. Many of the birds and animals have been extinct because of unnecessary hunting in past and present by various kings and famous personalities in order to outshine others. Due to the overuse of the resources the time will come when the rivers will dry up and nothing will be left for the future, due to the present scenario it seems that the only thing we can leave for future generations are the photographs and paintings of the wildlife resources.

Human beings are not respecting their God then how can you expect that they will give you that respect which you deserve. It can be concluded by example of Ganesh Visarjan when tons of Ganesh idols are been sank in the rivers and later these were all collected by cleaners to take them to the safer place. The idols seems half dissolved in water and some even didn’t desolved because they are usually made of Plaster of Paris (POP). Government had insisted the public to buy idols made of mud instead of POP but for the beauty of the home they are destroying the beauty of nature.

There are very few helping hands which are not enough to protect you or conserve you. But we need more human efforts to protect you from big natural calamities.

To prevent the motherland from being old and unhealthy everyone should stop using plastic and start using alternative methods like paper bags, cloth bags, bamboo bottles, etc. Use of less pollutants should be encouraged and bicycle should be used for smaller distances to prevent the atmosphere from harmful chemicals. Candles and earthen lamps should be lighten up on festivals instead of firing crackers. These little steps by everyone can bring greater changes and will improve your health. If we talk about last year then due to covid-19 when the whole world was locked and everyone stayed at their homes, the ozone layer healed itself and pollution started to decrease.

I hope that my letter to motherland will somehow influence and aware people and hope that they will gain some more respect towards our motherland and I thank you to all those citizens who are engaged directly or indirectly in conserving it and contributing their bit for the world.

This is Ifrah Javed signing off.

Doping – How is it Affecting Sports?

“Science has learned recently that contempt and indignation are addictive mental states. I mean physically and chemically addictive. Literally! People who are self-righteous a lot are apparently doping themselves rhythmically with auto-secreted surges of dopamine, endorphins and enkephalins. Didn’t you ever ask yourself why indignation feels so good?”

~ David Brin

Introduction

Doping in sport is a widespread problem not just among elite athletes, but even more so in recreational sports. In scientific literature, major emphasis is placed on doping detection, whereas detrimental effects of doping agents on athletes’ health are seldom discussed. Human growth hormone also increases muscle mass, although the majority of that is an increase in extracellular fluid and not the functional muscle mass.

The term doping is widely used by organizations that regulate sporting competitions. The use of drugs to enhance performance is considered unethical, and therefore prohibited, by most international sports organizations, including the International Olympic Committee.

History

According to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the term “doping” probably comes from the Dutch word “dop,” an alcoholic beverage made of grape skins that was used by Zulu warriors to make them stronger in battle.

Ancient Greek athletes used special diets and stimulating potions to improve performance, and 19th century endurance athletes indulged in strychnine, caffeine, cocaine and alcohol.

The American specialist in doping, Max M. Novich, wrote: “Trainers of the old school who supplied treatments which had cocaine as their base declared with assurance that a rider tired by a six-day race would get his second breath after absorbing these mixtures.”[8] John Hoberman, a professor at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, said six-day races were “de facto experiments investigating the physiology of stress as well as the substances that might alleviate exhaustion.”

Effects of doping in sports

It builds muscle but causes abnormal growth, heart disease, diabetes, thyroid problems, hypertension, blood cancers and arthritis. Other adverse effects include joint pain, muscle weakness, visual disturbances, enlarged heart and diabetes.

Other side effects include:

  • Heart palpitations.Heart rhythm abnormalities.
  • Weight loss.
  • Tremors.
  • Mild high blood pressure (hypertension)
  • Hallucinations.
  • Stroke.
  • Heart attack and other circulatory problems.
  • Constipation.Skin rash or dermatitis.
  • Diarrhea.
  • Dizziness.
  • Drowsiness.
  • Dry mouth.
  • Headache.
  • Insomnia.

UFC ( Ultimate Fighting Championship ).

In December 2013, the UFC began a campaign to drug test their entire roster randomly all year-round. Random testing, however, became problematic for the promotion as it began to affect revenue, as fighters who had tested positive would need to be taken out of fights, which adversely affected fight cards, and therefore pay-per-view sales.

According to Steven Marrocco of MMAjunkie.com, about 31% of UFC fighters subjected to random testing since the program first started have failed due to using performance-enhancing drugs. That is approximately five failed tests for every sixteen random screenings.

From July 2015, the UFC has advocated to all commissions that every fighter be tested in competition for every card. Lorenzo Feritta, who at the time was one of the presidents of the UFC, said, “We want 100 percent of the fighters tested the night they compete”. Also, in addition to the drug testing protocols in place for competitors on fight night, the UFC conducts additional testing for main event fighters or any fighters that are due to compete in championship matches.

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