Entertainment (R)evolution

Entertainment is a way of amusement, a means by which to forget the worries of life and immerse oneself in a fantasy world- be it through a play, a book, or a movie, or, more recently- through a game.

The entertainment industry is keeping pace with technological innovations. They are cashing in on the broadband penetration, animation and multimedia advancement, easy availability of high resolution video capturing devices, etc. There has been a sea-change in such a short period that I think we can call them (the current entertainment media) New Age Media.

The new age media has displaced the conventional ones- namely, the print media. Today, people are more interested in movies and games than in books. One of the oldest and most revered forms of entertainment is slowly fading away into insignificance, much to the chagrin of the literary folks. Parents too are aware that time spent by their kids reading is slowly being replaced by movies and games. Many look askance at this trend. However, before coming down heavily on the new age media, let us first examine the evolution of entertainment.

For the sake of argument, assume that the earliest form of entertainment was verbal- talks given by wise people, visual- dance and art, and abstract- music. Along came a means of recording spoken conversation. This was great! The wise men could now supplement their discourses with text, saving themselves time and energy and also improving their reach. Some looked askance and condemned this because they were afraid this invention would make them obsolete. Nevertheless, this invention revolutionized entertainment, and still exists in the form of books.

The next major revolution in the field of entertainment was the invention of still photography, followed by motion picture technology. Images could now be captured and replayed. Opera lovers condemned this form of recorded entertainment. They believed that theirs was the only ‘cultured’ way of entertainment. The pictures were for the ignorant and foolish masses. However, motion pictures had a lot of scope, and film-making boomed. Today, we even have film schools- an educational institute dedicated to the study of an entertainment media!

Even today, movies are criticized for showing violence and nudity, but they have mass appeal and some (documentaries) are even educational. Man has adapted the available media to suit his needs.

The next big thing was AI. Computers, programming, high level languages and creativity contributed to the next big concept- Artificial Intelligence. AI brought with it a new form of entertainment- gaming. It has dazzled people of all ages, spawns across many genres, and has created an entire industry based on it. Heck, it continues to thrive even during the global recession.

Many people were (still are) against games because they are so addictive. But now, they are waking up to the fact that it is here to stay. This just goes to show that the gaming industry is evolving just like the film industry did. The whole concept of entertainment is changing. Unlike movies or books, games are not passive. They are aggressive sports, which trigger a lot of different parts of the brain. This means that gaming is definitely not a form of relaxation (not to be confused with recreation).

The point to be noted here is that what’s acceptable today was disputed earlier. We have grown used to certain things over time. Likewise, I’m sure gaming will soon become an acceptable activity. If there is one thing history can teach us, it is that we live in a dynamic society where change is the only constant. It is better to flow with the tide than to resist it. So, let us all usher in the New Age Entertainment Media with a smile:)

Girls need to realize...

I've copy pasted a lot lately; maybe it's because I feel some things are definitely worth sharing and publicizing. I read this in a forum I was browsing through.

WRITTEN BY A GUY

We don’t care if you’re friends with other guys, but when you’re sitting next to us, and some random guy walks into the room and you jump up and tackle him, without even introducing us, yeah, it pisses us off. It doesn’t help if you sit there and talk to him for ten minutes without even acknowledging the fact that we’re still there.

We don’t care if a guy calls OR TEXTS you, but at 2 in the morning we do get a little concerned. Nothing is that important at 2 a.m. that it can’t wait till the morning.

Also, when we tell you you’re pretty/ beautiful/ gorgeous/cute/ stunning, we freaking mean it. Don’t tell us we’re wrong. We’ll stop trying to convince you. The sexiest thing about a girl is confidence.

Don’t be mad when we hold the door open. Take advantage of the mood am in.
Let us pay for you!
Don’t “feel bad”
We enjoy doing it.
It’s expected.
Smile and say “Thank You.”

Kiss us when no one’s watching.
If you kiss us when you know somebody’s looking, we’ll be more impressed.
You don’t have to get dressed up for us.
If we’re going out with you in the first place, you don’t have to feel the need to wear the shortest skirt you have or put on every kind of makeup you own.
We like you for who you are and not what you are.
Honestly, I think a girl looks more beautiful when she’s just in her pj’s. or my shirt and boxers, not all dolled up.

Don’t take everything we say seriously.
Sarcasm is a beautiful thing. See the beauty in it.
Don’t get angry easily.
Stop using magazines/media as your bible.

“Don’t talk about how hot Chris Brown, Brad Pitt, or Jesse McCartney is in front of us”. It’s boring, and we don’t care. You have friends for that.
Whatever happened to the word “handsome”/”beautiful”?
I’d be utterly stunned by a girl who greeted me with “Hey handsome!” instead of “Hey baby/ stud/ cutie/ sexy” or whatever else you can think of. On the other hand I’m not saying I wouldn’t like it either.

Girls, I cannot stress this enough: if you aren’t being treated right by a guy, don’t wait for him to change. Ditch this sad freak- he’s an utter disgrace to the male population- and find someone who will treat you with respect.

Someone who will honor your morals.
Someone who will make you smile when you’re at your lowest.
Someone who will care for you even when you make mistakes.
Someone who will love you, no matter how bad you make them feel.
Someone who will stop what they’re doing just to look you in the eyes….and say “i love you” ..And actually mean it.

Give the nice guys a chance.
Guys repost this if you agree.
Girls repost this if you think it’s cute.
Every Guy who isn’t a jerk will agree with this, so we hope that all the girls that read this will repost this.

*Holding Hands
Girls : If you want to hold his hand, gently bump into it a couple of times.
Guys : Grab it if it happens more than once.

*Cuddling
Girls : When you want to cuddle with him, tell him you’re cold.
Guys : Automatically move closer to her.

*Movies
Girls : During a movie, if he puts his arm around you, tilt your head on his shoulder.
Guys : Lift her chin up and kiss her.

*Loving each other
Guys : When she tells you she loves you, look deep into her eyes, give her a peck on the lips, and tell her you love her too… And mean it.

*Laying below the stars
Girls : When you’re both laying under the stars, put your head on his chest and close your eyes as you listen to his steady heart beat.
Guys : Whisper in her ear and link your hands with hers.

Knowledge, Experience and Creativity

Every action performed by a person can be classified under knowledge, experience and creativity; some, under more than one heading. Knowledge is defined as the result of learning, perception and reasoning. Experience results from the accumulation and application of acquired knowledge. Creativity is the ability to use the acquired knowledge and experience to create new experiences. The result of these experiences may create new knowledge.

On a scale of 100, try ranking their relative importance.

My ranking would be:
Knowledge-> 30
Experience-> 30
Creativity-> 40

I emphasize on creativity a lot, mainly because while knowledge can be easily acquired and experiences are a part of life, unless you decide to be creative, you can lead your entire life without being so.

That said, creativity is the resultant of knowledge and experience. Suppose you know two facts which appear to be inter-related. You get curious and want to try combining them, to see what you get. That's a creative process. To be able to spot the places where you can be creative, you need experience with the said facts.

A simple example. Physicists identified the wave and particle nature of light. One brilliant physicist tried to relate both, in the form of a mathematical equation. This physicist was Louis de Broglie, and his creative work is the de broglie equation. This brought about a better understanding of the dual nature of matter and radiation.

To be creative, one does not need academic brilliance or years of experience. Creativity only requires a threshold level of knowledge and experience. Despite this, creativity is the most difficult of the 3 to obtain. Reason for that being a majority of the schooling focusses only on learning (acquiring knowledge) and lab work (first hand experience). Hence the witticism "I was brilliant. Education ruined me." That's creativity at work again.

How to become creative?

Creativity is inherent in all. It has merely been dulled by the constant influx of knowledge and experience. If you let your mind wander, creativity speaks to you. You'll start questioning things which you once thought of as logical, asking yourself new questions, and answering them too. That's creativity at work. It will not happen when you are busy with some task. Since most people keep themselves occupied all the time, they never give their creativity any time to surface, burying it completely in the long run.

For a start, give some time for your mind to wander. However, if you are under the grip of a strong emotion during this time, you'll harp on whatever is affecting you only.

Next, try out the ideas obtained. Create an experience and make note of the resulting knowledge. Guide your mind into thinking about these results. Creativity will strike again!

10 Signs You're In Love

10. You've forgotten your ex
More often than not, a breakup is followed by a significant amount of time spent thinking about your ex and wondering whether or not you made the right decision in going your separate ways. Depending on how long the two of you were together, these doubts can resurface again and again.

Ever since you met this new one, however, the thought of getting back together with your ex is the furthest thing from your mind. Come to think of it, you barely recall what you found so great about her in the first place.


9. You can't stop thinking about her/him
Instead, you are consumed by thoughts of her/him. S/he just pops into your head for no apparent reason, and you wonder if s/he thinks of you half as much as you think of her/him. You wonder what s/he's up to and even consider calling her/him (but refrain from doing so for fear of looking overeager).

But it gets worse. You're out with your friends and you see something in a shop window and think about how much s/he would like that particular item, or you notice a poster for a show that s/he would love, but normally wouldn't even have looked twice at it.

If s/he's the last thing on your mind before you go to sleep and the first thing on your mind when you wake up — and you've even dreamed of her/him on a couple of occasions — then you don't really even need to read on to know if you're in love (but should anyway, just to be sure).


8. You care about her
There is a reason why you don't really want to know too much about the chick/guy you had a one-night stand with: You don't love her/him. When you're in love with a wo/man, you want to know all about her/him: who s/he is, what s/he thinks, what makes her/him laugh. You truly care about her/him and her/his feelings.

If you truly love a wo/man, you feel bad if s/he had a bad day or is upset about something. You don't try to cheer her/him up because you have to, but because you can't help it.


7. You find her quirks charming
The fact that s/he carries her/his passport with her/him everywhere s/he goes — just in case — and that, when s/he's eating, s/he can't help but construct every forkful so that it's the perfect blend of ingredients fills you with an inexplicable feeling of happiness. S/he does and says things that make her/him different, and you like it. You can't quite put your finger on why, but it doesn't even matter. You like her/him just the way s/he is.


6. You have great chemistry
You can't be in love with someone that you have no chemistry with. If you seem to always be on the same wavelength, and think in similar ways, that's a great sign. If you also generate enough heat to set off a five-alarm fire bell, then s/he is probably someone that you could fall in love with, if you aren't there already.


5. You don't notice other women as much
Did you see that gorgeous blonde that just walked by?

What do you mean, "no"?!? Although you can't help noticing a beautiful wo/man when one walks by, when you're in love, some of them tend to slip under the radar, while others just pale in comparison to her/him. Furthermore, you don't seem to be flirting half as much as you used to.

You are slowly realizing that s/he's often the only wo/man in the room that matters, and for some reason that suits you just fine.


4. You love spending time with her/him
This one is pretty obvious but important nonetheless. You look forward to seeing her/him and don't care much about what the two of you will be doing. Lately, just going for a walk with her/him sounds like the best way you could possibly spend an evening.

Furthermore, when you're not together, you miss her/him and wish you were spending time together.


3. You don't mind compromising sometimes
There was a time when it was your way or the highway, but with her/him it's different. Not that s/he asks you to, but you don't mind missing a night out with the guys/girls to be with her/him. And you find yourself trying to incorporate her/him into your plans or altering them to accommodate her/him.

You also find yourself not putting up a fight when s/he wants to go to Shakespeare in the Park. Although your friends find this very amusing, you know that deep down, they wish that they had found a love like yours.


2. Other priorities take a back seat
You used to train religiously, but lately, if s/he's free for dinner, you don't mind missing a workout. Not only that, but your workaholic tendency of bringing home your work on weekends to get ahead seems a bit excessive to you as of late.

Your ever-important "to do" list seems quite stagnant these days, as being with her/him always manages to render your other plans and obligations obsolete. What was it that you absolutely had to do by four o'clock again?


1. You start thinking about the future and s/he's in it
It used to be that the future with a wo/man meant your date on Saturday night, but with this wo/man, the future seems infinite. Not only do you plan to see her/him this weekend, but you want to see her/him a year from now as well.

When planning your next vacation, you know you want to spend it with her/him, and not a random beach bunny you happen to meet while you're there. And when you get an invitation to a wedding that takes place three months from now, you ask her/him to be your date without thinking that it's too far away to tell if you'll still be together.

She's the one
If you are currently dating a wo/man that makes you act in any of the ways mentioned above, then you, my friend, are seriously falling for her/him. It's time to put away the little black book for a while and enjoy the ride.

Amazing story

At the 1994 annual awards dinner given for Forensic Science, AAFS President Dr Don Harper Mills astounded his audience with the legal complications of a bizarre death.

Here is the story.

On March 23, 1994 the medical examiner viewed the body of Ronald Opus and concluded that he died from a shotgun wound to the head. Mr. Opus had jumped from the top of a ten-story building intending to commit suicide. He left a note to the effect indicating his despondency.

As he fell past the ninth floor his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast passing through a window, which killed him instantly. Neither the shooter nor the deceased was aware that a safety net had been installed just below the eighth floor level to protect some building workers and that Ronald Opus would not have been able to complete his suicide the way he had planned.

"Ordinarily," Dr Mills continued, "A person, who sets out to commit suicide and ultimately succeeds, even though the mechanism might not be what he intended, is still defined as committing suicide."

That Mr. Opus was shot on the way to certain death, but probably would not have been successful because of the safety net, caused the medical examiner to feel that he had a homicide on his hands.

In the room on the ninth floor, where the shotgun blast emanated, was occupied by an elderly man and his wife. They were arguing vigorously and he was threatening her with a shotgun. The man was so upset that when he pulled the trigger he completely missed his wife and the pellets went through the window striking Mr. Opus. When one intends to kill subject "A" but kills subject "B" in the attempt, one is guilty of the murder of subject "B."

When confronted with the murder charge the old man and his wife were both adamant and both said that they thought the shotgun was unloaded. The old man said it was a long-standing habit to threaten his wife with the unloaded shotgun. He had no intention to murder her.

Therefore the killing of Mr. Opus appeared to be an accident; that is, if the gun had been accidentally loaded. The continuing investigation turned up a witness who saw the old couple's son loading the shotgun about six weeks prior to the fatal accident.

It transpired that the old lady had cut off her son's financial support and the son, knowing the propensity of his father to use the shotgun threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that his father would shoot his mother.

Since the loader of the gun was aware of this, he was guilty of the murder even though he didn't actually pull the trigger. The case now becomes one of murder on the part of the son for the death of Ronald Opus.

Now comes the exquisite twist. Further investigation revealed that the son was, in fact, Ronald Opus. He had become increasingly despondent over the failure of his attempt to engineer his mother's murder. This led him to jump off the ten storey building on March 23rd, only to be killed by a shotgun blast passing through the ninth storey window. The son had actually murdered himself, so the medical examiner closed the case as a suicide.

(A true story from Associated Press, Reported by Kurt Westervelt)

The Reply

Dear Kash,

The questions you put forward, many people ask themselves the same questions. First off, acknowledge that everything that happens is a result of free will- mine, yours and others. Your actions, your feelings, your emotions, they are all your own. Take responsibility for them. Your self-confidence is what matters for you to get ahead in life. Nurture that, and temper it with compassion.

You asked me why I throw the same challenge at you over and over again. I throw it at you till you have completely mastered that challenge. The first time you surmount that challenge, you feel contended for having done it. The second time you face it, you fare even better, and your self-confidence grows. I do this till you no longer see it as a challenge. By repeating one test over and over again, it transcends from being formidable to piffling.

I give you time to rest, and you promptly take up a new challenge. You just don’t want to rest. You thrive on challenges. The only time you feel at peace with yourself is when you are pursuing a goal. You are an achiever. You just don’t want to sit back and enjoy life, and you know that. Happiness is accompanied by guilt; guilt that you are wasting time being happy rather than doing something useful.

The more you suffer, the more your emotional strength. When you are even denied what you justly deserve, that’s when you push yourself even harder, until you find your limits. The more you feel pain, the more immune you become to it. So, as you progress in life, the lesser pains don’t affect you. You are able to concentrate all your energy towards what needs to be done. That’s a very useful thing to be able to do.

It is stupidity to expect things from others. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you- sadly, this applies only to you, not others. It is only when they realize the impact of their actions will they change. In this hectic pace of life, where people look neither around nor back, but only forward, like a horse with tunnel vision, it is not reasonable to wish for that. De-sensitize yourself. Be realistic. Before expecting anything, see what’s in it for them. If they are not feeling rewarded, they won’t do it just for you. And people rarely make amends; they’d rather move on.

No one can handle what they once did. Your past self had a frame of mind to handle certain things. Your present self has the frame of mind to handle different things. Just as you cannot undo what’s already been done, you can’t redo it either. There are no second chances. Live with it. Be at peace with that. Newer challenges will always come your way. The difficulty level of a challenge does not depend on the amount of pain it causes. Each is unique in itself.

You rejoice or cry alone because you do not want to let someone else into your world. This is precisely the reason why you don’t even want a girlfriend. I admit you’ve tried to be more open and been betrayed; so much so that you’ve lost hope. Yet, you will have to let your faith in humanity endure. Let me tell you a story:

A sage gave his disciple an empty sack and a basket of potatoes. He told him to think of all those who had deeply offended him, carve each of their names on a potato, and to carry them around in a sack. The disciple carried the sack, at first, without any difficulty. Soon it started to hamper his movements and the potatoes started rotting, emitting a foul odor.

When you are unable to forgive others, you carry negative feelings with you everywhere. That negativity becomes a burden and festers. So forgive others. People will keep hurting you. The only way to fully avoid this negativity is to relinquish the sack itself. This is the Tao of forgiveness.

Your fate has been handed to you. You cannot do anything about it. It is not up to you to question your fate, but rather, to think of how to handle it now that it has come your way. You cannot change that which has happened. What you can do is extricate yourself from it and fight for what you want. Fight or flight. You are a fighter. You will fight.

If you know what your future holds in store for you, you will become complacent- if the future looks good, or resigned- if it looks bad. You can live in the present only if you don’t know what the future holds. You have an ambition, you work towards it, and step by step you will achieve it. If you have faith in yourself, the future is nothing to worry about.

Love, trust and teamwork are indeed important in today’s world. If you seek them, you will get them. Your rewards depend on the time and effort you put into it.

If you have an inferiority complex, you will strive to quell it. You will work harder to improve yourself, till you no longer feel inferior. It is a driving force, a motivator. Your ideals cause you pain, definitely, but they do not cause you to crumble. Even if you do crumble, you will grow stronger when you rebuild. You destroy something you love, so that you create a better version of it when you re-create it.

Follow your dreams, believe in Karma, forgive yourself and others, have confidence in yourself, be ambitious, fill your heart with love, open your soul to the spiritual world, take success and failure in your stride- you will get to where you want to be. You are what you are and what you are is good.

A Letter to God

Dear God,

I thank you for taking good care of me. I thank you for the chances you gave me to experience your will. I call myself an agnostic. However, I do acknowledge that there are certain things beyond the control of any living being; I’ve experienced those forces, the ones which you alone can invoke and control.

I’m a self-dependent man. I have confidence in myself. Sometimes, I feel like I can fly solo without your guiding hand. I feel like I can handle all of my problems alone and unaided. At these times, you let me try. I meet with varying degrees of success and failures. Soon, I begin to grow more confident and think I can manage alone, come what may.

At these times, you arrange for fate to test my will. The first test is too hard for me. You have to guide me through. You keep testing me. You don’t give up on me. I feel proud that I have passed one of your tests. It takes a lot out of me, but I feel contended to have done it. What I don’t understand is, why do I have to keep repeating them over and over again? It is so painful to endure. Have I not worked hard enough to deserve a rest?

And why am I so unlucky when it comes to having a social life. Why don’t I have a girlfriend? It’s so common to see youngsters my age who are committed. And I’ve lost so many friends, friends whom I valued. I know, I have a huge ego. I do swallow it to make amends when I am wrong. Why don’t they do the same? Am I so unimportant in their life that they just discard me like an old shoe? These questions haunt me at nights. I can’t face them. I run away. Why did you let this all happen? Why, God?

There are times when I feel proud to have come so far, to have handled so much, times when I have looked at my past with pride, and admired myself for the way I handled things. At these times, I also feel a little cowardice; I don’t want to go through those experiences again, I don’t want to battle anymore. I just want to be contended and happy. At the same time, I feel guilt. Guilt that I have grown far too soft now, guilt that I can no longer handle the things that I once handled. I want newer, easier challenges. I’m so confused.

I’m now safely ensconced in my parent’s home. But, my time here is running out. In less than 2 years from now, I have to fend for myself. I’ll have to face the world alone. I’ll need to find a job. I don’t even have any skills to market. What will I do? The current recession will make it all the more hard for me.

The more I think, the more I acknowledge the help that I’ve got in this difficult journey called life. The big breaks, the golden opportunities, all those compliments that I’ve received, all those lives that I’ve touched; I feel good about myself for all that. Contrast those to my feeling of insufficiency, all the times I’ve rejoiced or cried alone, been avoided or ignored by the ones whom I thought of as friends, the stinging bites of my closest allies, the times of strife, the nagging feeling that I was taken advantage of, the subtle undercurrents telling me that I’m not wanted, harsh words telling me that if I were to die the next day, no one would miss me.

Is this what I want? Why should I let my faith in humanity endure? Give me the life of a recluse, I say. Since I don’t get that, I keep fighting. It just isn’t in me to back down or give up, even in an impossible challenge. Will I suddenly be totally overcome and lose big, not able to fight anymore, battle scarred for life. Or will I emerge a victor. I don’t know. Meanwhile, I just keep fighting, hoping and praying for a better tomorrow. When will this tomorrow come?

“No man is an island”- I tried to prove that wrong. I was succeeding, and then came all those great minds to infuse in me the importance of love, trust and teamwork. Without these, they said I couldn’t get ahead in work or in personal life. They were right, so I sought all three. And that’s left me an embittered man. Why do I alone have to face so many challenges? Why can’t fate do a re-distribution? The path mapped out for me is not an easy one.

My passion- writing- is a lonely occupation. It pays no dividends now. The better I become at it, the more time I spend at it, which leaves me feeling alone, hollow and empty, with no one to care for me. Why is my passion not linked to teamwork, that mantra which you hear is the key to success in today’s world.

I have an inferiority complex and a superiority complex combined. The former gnaws me from the inside; the latter is a mere façade which I present to the world. I see so many people who are more realistic and comfortable, and I feel a twinge of envy. I set great store to a set of ideals, which is actually causing me to crumble.

I am not just writing this to tell you I have something to gripe about. I accept whatever fate chances to throw my way. All I want are answers. Why? Why me? You have answered me before when I had similar questions to ask. Merely asking you these questions have made me feel a whole lot better. I no longer need to ponder over these issues. You will provide me the reason. All I have to do is act on them, which is definitely do-able. I know I can depend on you to do the right thing for me. I thank you again for all that you have done for me, for taking the time to listen to me. Thank you, God.

Yours,
Kashyap