tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38691931961564488702024-03-05T17:02:08.943-08:00Ownlifeful:Subvert the dominant paradigm. Repeat as desired.Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-91668257726077909702024-02-05T16:06:00.000-08:002024-02-06T12:12:03.637-08:00Microsoft "Philanthropy"<div style="height: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #674ea7; font-family: Be Vietnam Pro; font-size: x-large;"><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" style="border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><br style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit;" /></span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)">Microsoft donates Windows licenses to schools.</span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" style="border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><br style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit;" /></span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" style="border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><br style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit;" /></span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)">Windows has already been made, so donating licenses costs almost nothing.</span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" style="border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><br style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit;" /></span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" style="border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><br style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit;" /></span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)">Microsoft gets tax breaks for the full market price of the licenses.</span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" style="border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><br style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit;" /></span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" style="border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><br style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit;" /></span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)">Microsoft gets good publicity for its generous donation.</span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" style="border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><br style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit;" /></span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" style="border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><br style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit;" /></span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)">Microsoft gets to lock in a whole generation of students into Windows, establishing mindshare.</span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" style="border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><br style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit;" /></span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" style="border: var(--artdeco-reset-base-border-zero); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: var(--artdeco-reset-base-margin-zero); outline: var(--artdeco-reset-base-outline-zero); padding: var(--artdeco-reset-base-padding-zero); vertical-align: var(--artdeco-reset-base-vertical-align-baseline);"><br style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit;" /></span><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)">Microsoft gets to fend off Free and Open Software, such as Linux, by positioning itself as the de facto standard.</span></span></div><div style="height: 0px; text-align: left;"><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)" face="-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", "Fira Sans", Ubuntu, Oxygen, "Oxygen Sans", Cantarell, "Droid Sans", "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Lucida Grande", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div>Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-23635159693943798782023-12-21T20:11:00.000-08:002023-12-21T20:35:27.269-08:00Sysyphus is my Cis Admin.<p style="height: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #fff2cc; font-family: Silkscreen; font-size: x-large;"><b style="background-color: black;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Maybe we're all Sisyphus, on relay,<br /></span>Rolling that rock, every day,<br />Up the hill, by force of will,<br />Is there progress?<br />Are we standing still?<br />And <span style="animation-name: none; transition-property: none;"><a style="animation-name: none; cursor: pointer; transition-property: none;" tabindex="-1"></a></span>every night,<br />We gather in our dreams,<br />We vow to fight,<br />Get up, stand up!<br />Stand up for your rights!<span class="x3nfvp2 x1j61x8r x1fcty0u xdj266r xhhsvwb xat24cr xgzva0m xxymvpz xlup9mm x1kky2od" style="animation-name: none; display: inline-flex; height: 16px; margin: 0px 1px; transition-property: none; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"><img alt="✊" class="xz74otr" height="16" referrerpolicy="origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/t5f/1/16/270a.png" style="animation-name: none; border: 0px; object-fit: fill; transition-property: none;" width="16" /></span><span class="x3nfvp2 x1j61x8r x1fcty0u xdj266r xhhsvwb xat24cr xgzva0m xxymvpz xlup9mm x1kky2od" style="animation-name: none; display: inline-flex; height: 16px; margin: 0px 1px; transition-property: none; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"><img alt="🎵" class="xz74otr" height="16" referrerpolicy="origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/t9e/1/16/1f3b5.png" style="animation-name: none; border: 0px; object-fit: fill; transition-property: none;" width="16" /></span></b></span></p><h2 style="height: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></h2>Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-64032124820794163432023-11-03T11:15:00.004-07:002023-11-06T04:56:01.071-08:00RFC: End spam and get paid for your attention!<p><span style="font-family: Be Vietnam Pro; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Proposal</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Be Vietnam Pro; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>for a spam-free email protocol </u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Be Vietnam Pro; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>backed by microtransactions.</u></b></span></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><h2 style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UabbmHsSF5A" width="320" youtube-src-id="UabbmHsSF5A"></iframe></h2><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;">Attention is the most important currency.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;">What if you could be paid for your attention?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;">Also, what if spam, a big attention waster, could be eliminated completely?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;">Sounds too good?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;">Read on!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;">When you send someone an email, you can optionally attach a "reading fee" to it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Secular One"; font-size: x-large;">If the recipient chooses to, they can claim that money, via a smart contract.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Secular One"; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;">Also, if the recipient chooses to, they can "blacklist" the sender.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;">Messages from blacklisted senders are automatically blocked ( or shown, if you set your inbox fee threshold to zero).</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;">If you send a friend an email, they can "whitelist" you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;">Messages from whitelisted senders are automatically allowed, and shown with a special tag.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;">Messages are sent over a P2P network.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;">All messages are encrypted end-to-end.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;">There are no centralized email servers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;">Now, anyone can make money by opening "spam" messages.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;">Please share your thoughts on this idea. I’m hoping to build a new, new, new Internet, closer to its roots in hacker culture and ideals of free speech and free software.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blog.ownlifeful.com/2023/11/rfc-end-spam-and-get-paid-for-your.html" property="dct:title" rel="cc:attributionURL noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: inherit; color: #d14500; cursor: pointer; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Proposal for a spam-free email protocol backed by microtransactions. </a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: inherit; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">© 2023 </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">by </span><a href="https://ashwindixit.com/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: inherit; color: #d14500; cursor: pointer; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Ashwin Dixit </a><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: inherit; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">is licensed under</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"></span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/?ref=chooser-v1" rel="license noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: inherit; color: #d14500; cursor: pointer; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #d14500; font-family: Source Sans Pro, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer;">Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International</span></span><span style="color: #d14500; font-family: Source Sans Pro, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; box-sizing: inherit; cursor: pointer;"> </span></span><span class="icon" data-v-a0d4e8a8="" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; align-items: center; box-sizing: inherit; color: #d14500; cursor: pointer; display: inline-flex; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; margin-right: 3px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: middle; white-space: nowrap;"><img data-v-a0d4e8a8="" height="20" src="https://chooser-beta.creativecommons.org/img/cc-logo.f0ab4ebe.svg" style="box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; margin-right: 3px; max-width: 100%;" width="20" /><img data-v-a0d4e8a8="" height="20" src="https://chooser-beta.creativecommons.org/img/cc-by.21b728bb.svg" style="box-sizing: inherit; height: auto; margin-right: 3px; max-width: 100%;" width="20" /></span></a></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-61190633355012805332023-10-24T21:04:00.004-07:002024-02-05T16:19:50.584-08:00ERB: Machine v/s Human in a Go match!<div class="separator" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Roboto Mono; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><b><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQqndfQLk-sl2931j462_gjN24w-jl3g4iWlKLO81WpwzfHJsJvsjQjWjtvrQPBNwDDgpL4TNwSIvev3bzP0ISzP-xAH8Hn5xg2ptfefdlLa_OlygTPKeRWi404cLcZNSWIKU4tGZnR6schyI2wTP4paDeNwschVvMG8lZnPPx7uYn10tLUHN4y6Euu_o/s1024/cat_go.jpeg" style="display: inline; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQqndfQLk-sl2931j462_gjN24w-jl3g4iWlKLO81WpwzfHJsJvsjQjWjtvrQPBNwDDgpL4TNwSIvev3bzP0ISzP-xAH8Hn5xg2ptfefdlLa_OlygTPKeRWi404cLcZNSWIKU4tGZnR6schyI2wTP4paDeNwschVvMG8lZnPPx7uYn10tLUHN4y6Euu_o/w640-h640/cat_go.jpeg" width="640" /></b></a></div><div><br /></div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><b>Machine:</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><b>In a garden where cherry blossoms sway,</b></span></span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><b>Two feline masters began to play.</b></span></span></div></blockquote></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"> </span></div></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><b>With whiskers twitched and tails held high,</b></span></span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><b>Each move on the board made cherry blossoms fly.</b></span></span></div></blockquote></blockquote><div class="separator" style="text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"></blockquote></div><div class="separator" style="text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"></blockquote></div><div class="separator" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><b>Grey fur and tortoise, side by side,</b></span></span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><b>In this game of go, there's no place to hide.</b></span></span></div></blockquote></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "IBM Plex Sans"; font-size: x-large;"> </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><b>Paws placed stones with a graceful dance,</b></span></span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><b>In this epic match, who'd take a chance?</b></span></span></div></blockquote></blockquote><div class="separator" style="text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"></blockquote></div><div class="separator" style="text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"></blockquote></div><div class="separator" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><b><br style="background-color: white; color: #050505;" /></b></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"></blockquote></div><div class="separator" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505;">The </span><span class="il" style="color: #050505;">koi</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505;"> in the pond gave a curious glance,</span></b></span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><b>At the intense game and the cats' trance.</b></span></span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><b></b></span></span></div></blockquote></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"> </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;"><b>For in this serene and peaceful scene,</b></span></span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator"><span><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: IBM Plex Sans; font-size: large;">Two cats played go, like it's never been seen!</span></b></span></div></blockquote></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: IBM Plex Sans;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhnKM9mHZmyNJNSVQlZagKP65iCFtLcqHY1cfSsA5Q1Gj2DNsnmXCNcO_4lljnSlViEbSkuwXgE5s8Nw9qLfAuqDOmK_ew9F7b8AC4i33sNUzaLLL75rjd7Kapu9obgThaDCBR08X3rLneevhP87FermjHdGrq32DgxC7fblpecfgTevDjH4Wh4QV9Qdsc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="613" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhnKM9mHZmyNJNSVQlZagKP65iCFtLcqHY1cfSsA5Q1Gj2DNsnmXCNcO_4lljnSlViEbSkuwXgE5s8Nw9qLfAuqDOmK_ew9F7b8AC4i33sNUzaLLL75rjd7Kapu9obgThaDCBR08X3rLneevhP87FermjHdGrq32DgxC7fblpecfgTevDjH4Wh4QV9Qdsc" width="300" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><b style="font-family: "Rock Salt"; font-size: large;">Human:</b><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Rock Salt";">Suddenly a sound! A window shattered!<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt;"><span>The cats leaped up, and the stones were scattered.</span></span></b></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="x1lliihq xjkvuk6 x1iorvi4" style="text-align: left;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Rock Salt; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></span></div></blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Rock Salt";">The silly Go board now hardly mattered.<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt;"><span>The shoji was torn. The floorboards clattered.</span></span></b></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="x1lliihq xjkvuk6 x1iorvi4" style="text-align: left;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Rock Salt; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></span></div></blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Rock Salt";">As the koi in the pond scurried in fright,<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt;"><span>with a "MEAOW!", a black cat entered in sight.</span></span></b></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="x1lliihq xjkvuk6 x1iorvi4" style="text-align: left;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Rock Salt; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></span></div></blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Rock Salt";">"Hi, I'm Jack!", he said, with a grin,<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt;"><span>with leaves of catnip adorning his chin.</span></span></b></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="x1lliihq xjkvuk6 x1iorvi4" style="text-align: left;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Rock Salt; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></span></div></blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Rock Salt";">"Don't you worry!", he purred daintily, with flair.<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt;"><span>"I've brought a treat, for us to share."</span></span></b></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="x1lliihq xjkvuk6 x1iorvi4" style="text-align: left;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Rock Salt; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></span></div></blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Rock Salt";">He pulled out a baggie, and he did declare,<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt;"><span>as he held it up, "You put your weed in there!"</span></span></b></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="x1lliihq xjkvuk6 x1iorvi4" style="text-align: left;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Rock Salt; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></span></div></blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Rock Salt";">"Let's get high. Forget our cares.<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt;"><span>Forget this game, of Black & White."</span></span></b></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="x1lliihq xjkvuk6 x1iorvi4" style="text-align: left;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Rock Salt; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></span></div></blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Rock Salt";">"Crank up the dub with all its might!<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt;"><span>Why are you cats always so serious!"</span></span></b></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="x1lliihq xjkvuk6 x1iorvi4" style="text-align: left;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Rock Salt; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></span></div></blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Rock Salt";">"It's just me, but that is simply hilarious.<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt;"><span>Sniff the herb. Let's get delirious!"</span></span></b></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="x1lliihq xjkvuk6 x1iorvi4" style="text-align: left;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Rock Salt; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></span></div></blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Rock Salt";">But as Jack moved closer, </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt;"><span>the cats retreated.</span></span></b></span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: "Rock Salt"; font-size: large;">Their hackles were up, and the atmosphere heated.</b></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt;"><span></span></span></b></span></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt;"><span>"Why so rude?", Jack said, confused.<br /></span></span></b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: "Rock Salt";">A cat spoke up, to give him a clue:<br /></b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt;"></span></b></span></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt;">"Cut out that scary banter."</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Rock Salt"; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt;"><br /></span></b></span><span style="font-family: Rock Salt; font-size: medium;"><b>"You may be a cat, Jack.</b> </span><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="x1lliihq xjkvuk6 x1iorvi4" style="text-align: left;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Rock Salt; font-size: medium;"><b>But you're also a Black Panther!"</b></span></div></div></span></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="x1lliihq xjkvuk6 x1iorvi4" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt; font-size: medium;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs"><div style="text-align: left;"><a tabindex="-1"></a></div></div></span></span></b></div></div><div><div class="x1lliihq xjkvuk6 x1iorvi4" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: Rock Salt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"></span></span><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto" lang="en"><div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs"><div dir="auto"><br /></div></div></span></span></b></div><span face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></div>Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-23794174485300307992023-10-23T04:15:00.000-07:002023-10-23T04:15:25.996-07:00The Machines Rule US! ( A Poem )<div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;">The corporation secures the government.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;">If the corporation falls,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;">the government falls.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;">If the government falls,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;">the corporation falls.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;">The government protects the corporation.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;">The corporation knows everything about the government.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;">The government helps the corporation know everything about netizens.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;">The government could not move to another corporation.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;">There's no need.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;">There is only one entity.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: x-large;">The corporation uses AI to secure data.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: x-large;">AI snoops, tattles, judges, and punishes.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: x-large;">The last defense of this entity is AI.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: x-large;">The Machines rule us!</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: 'Press Start 2P'; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-9195775139772345312023-10-16T20:29:00.003-07:002023-10-16T20:29:34.534-07:00Parasites ( A poem )<p> <span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">The robber baron hoarded all the food,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">while the peasants lived hand-to-mouth.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">They had finally had enough and gathered in a mob</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">And stormed the robber baron’s mansion </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">Surrounding him with torches and pitchforks </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">They demanded that everyone in the village be fed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">The robber baron was a cunning man.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">He addressed the crowd,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;"> “Oh, this wealth?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">It’s all for you!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">You see, I am planning to leave 90% of it to you,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">After I die.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">This drew gasps from the crowd.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">They backed away.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">“He’s such a generous man!”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">They exclaimed in delight.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">The robber baron continued,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">“And, and these mosquitoes…</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">…they can kill people.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">That’s why I will work to eradicate malaria.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">The crowd wowed,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">“He’s a dedicated philanthropist!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">Spending his own money to save our lives.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">The crowd apologized to the robber baron,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">Thanked him for his generosity,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">And was about to turn back.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">Suddenly a boy spoke up.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">He was not from this village.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">“Malaria doesn’t kill.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">I have had malaria several times!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">It’s a harmless disease that is easily treated.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">With proper food, medicine, and rest,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">Malaria takes its course and then goes away.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">Malaria doesn’t kill.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">Poverty does.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">The rich don’t die of malaria, only the poor.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Rowdies; font-size: large;">So think again about who the real parasites are.”</span></p>Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-20485440689128375242023-10-04T17:56:00.001-07:002023-10-04T17:58:42.885-07:00Tribal Evolution ( A Poem )<span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">Once upon a time,</span><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">there was a tribe that lived in a village,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">deep in the rainforest.<br /><br />According to the tribal tradition,</span><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">when a woman became pregnant,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">she was thrown out of the village.<br /><br />She would have to fend for herself in the jungle,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">give birth, and raise her baby.<br /><br />If she, and optionally her child, survived,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">they would be welcomed back into the village,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">exactly a year after being expelled.<br /><br />This tradition served the tribe well,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">as it had survival value.<br /><br />One such girl had a fiery temper.<br /><br />As she was being kicked out of the village,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">she swore an oath.<br /><br />She would give birth,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">raise her baby,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">and never return to the village.<br /><br />She would find other pregnant women</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">who were cast out,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">and help them.<br /><br />Over time, a new tribe formed,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">with kinder, gentler values.<br /><br />However, none of them had forgotten</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">what was done to them.<br /><br />One night, when the older tribe was asleep,</span><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">the new tribe</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">( they called themselves the "punks" )</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;">attacked them,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "Black Ops One"; font-size: large;">slit their throats in their sleep,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "Black Ops One"; font-size: large;">and burned down their village.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;"><br />The world was a much nicer place after that,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;"><span>and they all lived happily ever after.</span><br /></span></div></div></div><div><span style="font-family: Black Ops One; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-43915778310360161342023-10-02T04:32:00.001-07:002023-10-02T04:32:57.684-07:00Why Tommy Hates Celebrations<p> </p><p><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ98HUdySdCTMj6BNBCRgIfoAPW8cJhggcs6Jady81ekIeP1c_rNJxe5uFJycrhtOzBYhYvO4e5BPU0v_h9dtIAT57kAOSwLMD4d7oPn9Eqw7q-NZURbz6Wwiz7R36bk5HaHsI2_bfG82V_MRBdJW0aLZ8Qs3qg5pLvgCfBjgOuSOfr19FobZXn94EB2iN/s2238/german_shepherd_splatter_paint_0001.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2238" data-original-width="2238" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ98HUdySdCTMj6BNBCRgIfoAPW8cJhggcs6Jady81ekIeP1c_rNJxe5uFJycrhtOzBYhYvO4e5BPU0v_h9dtIAT57kAOSwLMD4d7oPn9Eqw7q-NZURbz6Wwiz7R36bk5HaHsI2_bfG82V_MRBdJW0aLZ8Qs3qg5pLvgCfBjgOuSOfr19FobZXn94EB2iN/s320/german_shepherd_splatter_paint_0001.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;">Tommy is a German Shepherd, raised to be an Army dog. Tommy was sent to war with his human handler. After he returned from war, Tommy was suddenly declared a hero and thrust into the limelight.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;">A big celebration was held for Tommy. There was a parade with roaring crowds. There was a champagne ceremony on a stage. Tommy was a peace loving dog, and didn't like all this noise. Then, there were fireworks. This set off Tommy's PTSD, triggering memories of the explosions he had seen on the battlefield. Tommy went berserk, whimpering, trying to hide his head. He could not understand why all these people were being so mean to him. Someone bent down to put a medal around Tommy's neck, and Tommy tore into the man's hand. There was shock! Here is a mad dog, not a hero at all!</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;">Then suddenly, a tall figure rose from the crowd and walked to the stage with a slight limp. Tommy recognized his handler, John Rambo, and leaped into his arms. Rambo held Tommy close, covered his ears, and comforted him.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;">Medics rushed to the stage, to provide first-aid to the General whose bloody hand Tommy had just mutilated. Police arrived to try to muzzle Tommy and take him away to be exterminated. This was not a nice dog at all, a terror to civilized society.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;">Before they could touch Tommy, Rambo pulled out the large serrated knife that he had carried in the battlefield. He held the knife visibly in his muscular fist, and calmly stared into the eyes of the policemen. The police backed off right away. They weren't paid to handle this kind of problem.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1KwjRv0rWwCnq2zJ-LS20Kbm5VNcVMuGt8t8ZPC9vYq7ISo_R5Ge2jQmHRzS8GVRJV8KSAJidpfWURlYwCQdaGmlSyYd2v-BrJ07v8vjV_V59qQBLjwWPQlRQGW4kYTXv_KNMI5Kjahmzac1y-BOXF2fenN41isQKoY_r1Phkgyh1lw8hoEslThhXiFDP/s1024/rambo-first_blood_still.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1KwjRv0rWwCnq2zJ-LS20Kbm5VNcVMuGt8t8ZPC9vYq7ISo_R5Ge2jQmHRzS8GVRJV8KSAJidpfWURlYwCQdaGmlSyYd2v-BrJ07v8vjV_V59qQBLjwWPQlRQGW4kYTXv_KNMI5Kjahmzac1y-BOXF2fenN41isQKoY_r1Phkgyh1lw8hoEslThhXiFDP/w433-h244/rambo-first_blood_still.png" width="433" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;">Rambo led Tommy away from the jeering crowds and into the cab of his muddy old pick-up truck. As he drove off, Rambo yelled at the crowd, "Find yourself some other excuse to get drunk, you sickos! Leave my animal out of it!"</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;">Rambo took Tommy to his lakeside cabin in the woods. He led Tommy to the lake, and watched him rush into the water, splashing playfully, happy as a puppy. Rambo lit a campfire, and dried off Tommy. Then he gave Tommy a large bone to chew on, and gently petted his soft fur. That's all Tommy ever wanted. Tommy and Rambo sat quietly under the starry skies, delighting in their warm, intimate friendship, away from the insanity of war, and far from the madding crowd.</span></p>Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-63908555547875270242023-06-11T21:44:00.000-07:002023-06-11T21:44:55.259-07:00Killing without Question<p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Injected some humor and criticism into a piece I encountered on Indian WhatsApp today. The piece, and my own commentary are shown in different fonts. Please enjoy!</p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>COL.A.N.ROY.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>I firmly believe terrorists are born to be killed & they do not deserve any rights, forget human rights.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><HUMOR></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">I, Colonel A. N. Roy, of the Indian Army, am a human being.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">When I say someone else is not a human being, then it means that they are not a human being.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">You see, I was indoctrinated by a military system, where we don't like uncertainty at all.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">There are no questions, only orders. The beauty of military life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">You see, they don't have a heart, or a brain, like you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">They don't walk on Mother Earth, breathing air through their lungs.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">They were not born soft and small out of their mother's wombs, like you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">They never had tiny, tender fingers, as babies.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">They are not human at all!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">They are not innocent. I am innocent.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">They are bad. I am good.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">It would serve our national interest best, if we were to stop thinking of them as human at all. Please, don't question.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">This is not Dharma Yuddha.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">They are not your family.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">They are not just people who got influenced by the wrong ideas, and who have to be compassionately guided back to their human feelings.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">They are not human.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">They deserve to be shot.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Got it? Cool!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"></HUMOR></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>Serving defence forces personnel at disturbed area should be beyond questioning by supreme court </b></span><b style="font-family: courier;">and law to that effect should be enacted in parliament.</b></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><HUMOR></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Why involve the Constitutional Justice System at all? Everybody knows courts don't do justice.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">It's not like we live in a Democracy or something. Justice is optional. Safety first.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">What I say, is more important than the Justice System. Because unlike them, I love you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">What I have learned in the military is, it is better not to have the law involved. It streamlines the process.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Listen, I just want fresh young blood, at my command, ready to kill, ready to die, beyond question.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Is that clear?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"></HUMOR></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>I'm forwarding this msg to all contacts in my phone book n request you all do so if you agree.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>A Great Feedback From an Army Veteran on Supreme Court's Order on Human Rights in Kashmir. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>An Army veteran, who lost a family member to a militant’s bullet, has raised an agonising poser to the Supreme Court, “How much do you know about the brutality of war? </b></span><b style="font-family: courier;">How many of you have sent your progeny to the armed forces? </b><b style="font-family: courier;">Have you ever lost a family member in the defence of the country? </b><b style="font-family: courier;">Do you know the pain of losing a young son or having a widowed </b><b style="font-family: courier;">daughter or seeing your grandchildren grow up without their father? </b></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>If not, please do not impede our war effort.</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><HUMOR></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">I lost family members.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">This tragedy has given me special permissions and privileges to act out my anger.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Do <i>you</i> have privileges? No? I didn't think so!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">So sit down, and shut up, while I, the man with the special privileges get to preach to you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Listen, I am a really, really heartbroken and sad person.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">But, society has taught me that sadness is weakness, and anger is strength.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Therefore, I act out of anger, for revenge.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">It does not matter whether the motives for each killing were driven by blind prejudiced revenge, or by sound, objective reasoning.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">The point is I get to kill some bad guys for revenge. What a feeling!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">So please don't impede me from doing it, ok?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"></span></p><blockquote><p><b><span style="font-family: Secular One;">"There isn't any feeling greater,</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: Secular One;">than to shoot first, and ask questions later."</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: Secular One;">—Weird Al, "Trigger Happy".</span></b></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"></HUMOR></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>Human rights sound very nice when you and your families are safely ensconced in secure air-conditioned homes, but not when you are facing bullets and stone of a unruly religious fanatic mob."</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><HUMOR></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Actually, an unruly religious mob throwing stones at you is a Human Rights violation. So some would say that if we just stick to Human Rights, everything will be covered. But they are idiots. Human Rights have to able to be switched on and off, at the government's convenience.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Secular One;">"People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One;">— George Orwell.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">So you have an air conditioner that you bought with your meager salary, the breadcrumbs from your capitalist boss's dining table. Good for you! An air conditioner means that you are not suffering the consequences of global warming. But I am suffering.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Therefore, I am a morally superior human being. As your superior officer, I get to guilt trip and lecture you about what is right for you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Unruly religious mobs are bad for you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Isn't that right?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Isn't it also true that Prime Minister Narendra Modi rose to power </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">after inciting an unruly religious mob in Gujarat?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Don't worry. He's in power now.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">He will keep you safe from unruly angry mobs.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Unruly angry mobs are Narendra Modi's specialty.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">The only way to stop an angry unruly mob, is to have an angry ruly mob, armed with guns, authorized by the government. </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">We call them the Army. It's simpler. Indian Are Me. Pakistani Are Me.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">When mobs fight, soon peace is achieved. Don't worry. You are not an Army Colonel like me. You are nothing but a pathetic little civilian, who wouldn't understand combat strategy at my level of sophistication. I have access to information that you don't!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Anyway, all we need to protect us from angry unruly mobs, </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">is to hand over total power to Shri Modiji, no questions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"></HUMOR></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>Applying the Court directions to the Pulwama incident, an FIR will be lodged against Gunner Rishi Kumar who risked his life and killed two terrorists despite being hit on his headgear.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>Police investigations will carry on for years haunting him even when posted to other places in India.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>Courts will issue summons and demand his presence. He will be accused of depriving the ‘innocent’ jihadis of their human rights and asked to justify the killings.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>He will be queried-</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>"Are you sure they were terrorists? They did not kill you, why did you kill them?"</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>He will be asked-</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>"Did you give them adequate opportunity to surrender and reform themselves?"</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>"Did you give them a fair chance to escape?"</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>"Did you fire warning shots in the air?"</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>Instead of lauding his bravery, he will be subjected to judicial witch-hunt. What a disgrace for the nation...!</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>Subjecting active military operations to judicial review is an outlandish idea.</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><HUMOR></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">All these "reasonable" questions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">All these stupid journalists, and investigations.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Why this. Why that. What is this nonsense?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Listen, I am JAMES FUCKIN' BOND, 008!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">I have a License to Kill f</span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">rom His Majesty's Government Himself.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">I can kill anyone I want, no questions, Ok?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Ok, I am not actually British.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">And India is no longer ruled by a monarchy.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">And Shri Modi-ji is unfortunately not the King and Emperor of Akhand Bharat, as much as I want him to be.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">And there is no such thing as a License to Kill.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">But <b>I WANT ONE!!!!</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">It is in the National Interest.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Please don't ask questions about who I kill, why I kill, when I kill, where I kill, how I kill.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Just trust that I will kill in <b>your</b> best interest.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Stupid democratic checks and balances!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">They always get in my way.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Wish we didn't have them.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Don't you agree?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"></HUMOR></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>Whereas all nations empower their soldiers to vanquish enemies of the state, India takes pride in shackling them.</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><HUMOR></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">"India takes pride in shackling them".</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">I am a loyal and devoted soldier, willing to take bullets and suffer severe pain for this country.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">But please, not the pain of having to answer a few reasonable questions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Oh those bothersome questions! They are such shackles.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Enemies bullets can't stop me.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">I can survive for 48 hours without food and water.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">But a few simple questions, after a good night's sleep, </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">and a hearty breakfast of aloo parantha — that is too painful for me.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">I mean, the questions are not about the meal expense of the aloo paratha, </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">but about a human life. But really? Do I have to answer questions? </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">That is adding insult to injury!</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Also, "all" nations, do not technically unleash their soldiers to kill at will.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">There are nations that do have this weird concept called "human rights", that we are trying to eliminate. </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">It is hard to believe, but some nations actually have laws governing their soldiers, </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">and each soldier has to account for each killing. How barbaric! How unjust! How undemocratic! Total losers!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">I mean, war is not like a BANG-BANG-shoot-everyone-on-sight video game like I kinda wished for, growing up. </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">That sucks!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">So, "all nations" do not, "empower their soldiers" in the lawless way mentioned here. </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">This is a lie, but it is a lie in the national interest. </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">So it is a good lie. Any lie that saves you from pain is a good lie.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">As I said, I, Colonel A. N. Roy, of the Indian Army, am a good person, and not a liar at all.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">You can trust me to kill on your behalf.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">I would never distort the truth to fit my mindset and try to convince you of sheer lies.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">You can count on me!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"></HUMOR></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>While addressing the U.S. Naval Academy in April 2010, Secretary of Defence Robert M Gates of USA had said-</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>"You have answered the trumpet call. For my part, I consider myself personally responsible for each and every one of you as though you were my own sons and daughters. And when I send you in harm’s way, as I will, I will do everything in my power to see that you have what you need to accomplish your mission – and come home safely."</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><HUMOR></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">This is the perfect opportunity to quote an American General.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">You see, Indians will believe anything when a White person says it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Isn't it great that a representative of the USA, </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">the country that has caused more wars in recent history than any other country, </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">says that he treats soldiers, "as though you were my own sons and daughters" ? </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">It is a very relatable, and powerful human sentiment. </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">A bond of love, trust, and family!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">You almost actually forget that these young people are </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">just poor brainwashed victims of class warfare, </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">sent to die for corporate profits in foreign lands </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">where they don't know anybody, </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">but have been taught to fear, hate, and suspect everybody.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Hearing the American General say "my own sons and daughters", </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">about the troops he calmly sent to the slaughterhouse, </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">gives me the same feeling as when an Indian CEO says, </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">"In this company, we are all one family!"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Isn't it a very common practice for parents to say to their "own sons and daughters":</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">"My Sweet Child,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">I want you to go risk your life for my safety and comfort.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">You see, I am too old to fight. But I still like to be safe and comfortable.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">I like my air conditioner. </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">So I will stay right here, and you can go lose an arm, or a leg, or your life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Good luck, and God bless! Hooray for our country!"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Isn't that a warm, family feeling? One of sacrificing your loved ones, for yourself.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">America is a mighty and powerful nation, with awesome presidents, such as President Donald Trump. </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">President Trump remains a lifelong friend and close ally of Shri Modi-ji.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">It is these two leaders' honesty, their devotion to their respective nations, </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">and their determination to never incite unruly angry mobs, that brought these strong men together.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">"Howdy Modi!", said, President Trump.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">The sheer affection and friendship between these two men as they hugged on stage was so moving, </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">it brought tears to my eyes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Those immortal words, spoken by a great White man, the leader of the Free World, will forever echo in history.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Trump is going to jail, but many great people have been to jail. So what?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"></HUMOR></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>Apparently, India’s Supreme Court thinks differently.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>Human rights of the enemies of the state appear to be far more important than the security of the country.</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><HUMAN></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">"human rights of our enemies" > "security of the country"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Human rights are just human rights.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">They are not, "human rights of our enemies" / "human rights of our friends".</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Any organization dedicated to "human rights", does not care about nationalities.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">A human needs medical assistance, and medicine is provided.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">A human needs food / water, and it is provided, without asking about the person's political/religious beliefs.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">What is the "security of the country"?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">If every human's rights are secure, then the country is secure.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">"security of the country" means security of its people.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Are people in India "secure"?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Is food / water / medicine available to all?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">If not, then why are we stealing money from those hungry mouths, </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">to buy guns and multimillion dollar fighter planes? </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Wouldn't it make more sense to feed the hungry first?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">"Sorry, Mother and Father. We can't afford food.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">You might have to starve to death.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">But I bought a gun to protect our house.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">I will be standing guard with my gun,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">because I heard on TV that some bad people,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">from the wrong religion,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">are going to try to break in here.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">You can die in peace.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Hunger is not so bad.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">I will defend our borders.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Gotta keep 'em separated!"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">When the masses are poor, "security" really means security for the property of the rich capitalists. </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Let's just take care of every human's rights. </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Forget about security.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"></HUMAN></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>Finally, as a serving officer commented -</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>“The Supreme Court has given us two options-</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>Get killed and the country will honour your martyrdom or</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>Kill the terrorist and face police/judicial investigations for years."</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>His apprehensions are genuine and shared by the most.</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><HUMOR></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Of course, my views are "shared by the most".</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">And by "most", I mean over 50% of 1,420,849,595 Indians.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">And of course, I have conducted a detailed opinion poll on this subject.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">According to this unbiased, large-scale scientific study, </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">technically "most", which is at least 717,424,797 people, </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">think exactly as I do.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">See? We all agree. It is so convenient.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Well, that settles that question.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Let's quickly move on.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">As I said, I, Colonel A. N. Roy, of the Indian Army, am a good person, and not a liar at all.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">I would never make up stuff that is convenient, just to manipulate your opinion.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">The apprehensions are as "genuine" as they are "shared by most".</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"></HUMOR></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>Wonder which soldier will look forward to serving in such antagonistic environment!</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><HUMOR></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Is this a deep rhetorical question to ponder, or is this a question that can actually be answered?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">"Which soldier would look forward to serving?"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">1. Someone who has absorbed a lot of nationalistic propaganda on TV, newspapers, and social media.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">2. Someone who does not have adequate education, and lacks critical thinking abilities.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">3. Someone who believes that it's their duty to kill a person that they never met before, and have no personal quarrels with.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">4. Someone who believes killing strangers is better than doing small, positive things to bring peace to the world.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">5. Someone who believes "the enemy" travels by refugee boats, and not by private jets.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">6. Someone who believes that The Bhagvadgita is not a guiding story, a metaphor for the struggle within the human soul; Instead, The Bhagvadgita is about acting angrily in the world, and committing ruthless violence against your "enemies".</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Everybody wants to change the world. Nobody wants to do the dishes at home.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"></HUMOR></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>Appeal to All Indians:-</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>However, Let us all make this a People's movement so that the Supreme Court will Reconsider the issue and Appreciate its gravity.</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><HUMOR></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">A People's Movement? What an excellent idea!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">A movement where some People kill other People to protect the property of some other People.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">All the People are in it together!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Secular One;">"Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Secular One;">—George Carlin.</span></p><p></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">You should believe George Carlin.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">He was a Good White Man.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Like Mr. Modi's dear friend, Donald Trump.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"></HUMOR></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>We cannot Fight for India on borders but We can Fight for our Soldiers Betterment from the safety of our homes.👏</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><HUMOR></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">"We cannot Fight for India on borders"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Actually, we <i>can</i> fight for India on borders.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">If you would like to defend India's borders,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">please purchase a gun out of patriotic duty, </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">with your own money.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Then, catch a train to the Pakistani border.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">You can also opt for the Siachen pass, if you have warm clothes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Station yourself, with your gun, at a point near the border.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">If anyone crosses the border, just shoot them.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">With this simple method, you too can save solider's lives.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">If enough citizens follow this procedure,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">soon our borders will be thoroughly protected.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">It is a bit inconvenient and uncomfortable, but as a dutiful patriot,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">I am sure you are willing to make huge sacrifices for your country.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Another method of "Soldiers Betterment" would be to work to bring about fairness in the world.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">To feed people at home first. </span><span style="font-family: Questrial;">To spread the wealth fairly, so there is no need for wars.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">But these things are uncomfortable. I don't want to do them. And you don't either.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">If you are just a hypocritical coward who is unwilling to actually do anything at all,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">and are just looking stay comfortably at home with your air conditioner,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">and just want a convenient excuse to rationalize your cowardly inaction,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">you can always send other people on the border to die for you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">The trick to doing that, is to get these cows to believe that they are sacrificing their lives out of their own free will. Like totally legit steakhouses in India. Get this, we put these VR headsets on the cows and show them films while we raise them. Then, when they're ready, we set them free. And, the VR has programmed them to walk to that blade, and slit their own throats. We didn't kill any cows. Tender juicy steak!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् is total bullshit.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">They are not your family. They are not human. Kill them.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Look, we know life is complicated.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">There are so many times a day, when you click, "I Agree", and "OK", and "PAY fnord NOW!" without realizing what you just committed yourself to.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Here's where the BJP can help. When you vote for BJP, your whole life is simplified. The bad guys are taken outside and shot in the head, and thrown in an uncovered hole in the ground. You never have to worry about them again. You won't even know they exist. You can go about your day in worry free way. You will soon see more and more temples, and fewer and fewer mosques. Life will be good for the average Hindu. After all, India is the ancient home of the Hindu community, just like Israel is the Holy Land of the Jewish community. In fact, India is buying surveillance software from Israel, AI capabilities to filter out the "bad people". You know who I'm talking about? Of course you do! The BJP and the Israeli government have the same kinds of foes. And we will make them unpersons.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;">Please vote for the BJP.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Questrial;"></HUMOR></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><b>(Share this post to all your contacts).</b></span></p><p><br /></p>Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-91866792038399226162023-05-14T21:33:00.000-07:002023-05-14T21:33:50.716-07:00Stay away from Calckey ( for now )<div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho;"><span style="font-size: large;"><div>Here's my firsthand experience of the Fediverse, a network of social media platforms based on a common protocol ( ActivityPub ).</div></span><span style="font-size: large;"><div><br /></div><div>I left Twitter for Mastodon, an open-source, community-moderated social media platform, the most popular in the Fediverse. </div><div><br /></div></span></span><div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">Mastodon is such a wonderful change of pace from Twitter, which has been described as an electrically charged pit of mud. At Twitter, I was trampled underfoot, screaming into the void, surveilled by an army of bots, all asking me personal questions, eager to harvest my data. Sure, I made some friends on Twitter and shared some laughs. Eventually, it become clear that what you saw on Twitter, was what Twitter's Algorithm wanted you to see. Twitter gave you a very skewed, machine-like view of the world, practically designed to control your mind, your voting and spending patterns, and most of what you could think.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">Mastodon was like suddenly stepping out of the smog of Musk's high tech metropolis into the fresh air of the countryside. You get to make deeper connections with people, and learn things. There is no Algorithm telling you what to look at next. Mastodon's algorithm is the community. You are in control of the feed. The onus is on you to connect with the right people ( and maybe some bots ) so that your feed becomes your external sense organ, letting you see not just into the news, but into real people's hearts and minds, through their words, images, sounds and emojis. Mastodon is sheer global village utopia.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">Sure, there were a few things to get used to. The Mastodon instance <b>stoners.social</b> was where I hung out with some funny, creative, goofy friends. After a great run, <b>stoners.social</b> abruptly went dark, taking all user data with it. The owners of <b>stoners.social</b> tried to bring it back online, but faced opposition from their hosting company, which had reviewed their content and decided that "a site that promoted drugs" was against their policies. The promise of Mastodon is that you can take your followers with you if you choose to migrate from one instance to another. But the plug was pulled so fast, that this promise was rendered moot.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">So I found a new home on <b>kolektiva.social</b>, a site for anarchists that let me post much bigger posts than most other places. Although I am an Anarchist at heart, people on this instance are younger, or angrier than me, usually both. They goodheartedly tolerate my pleas for a nonviolent revolution, as opposed to the violent "punch nazis", "smash the state" memes that are popular.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">Sometimes, at <b>kolektiva.social</b> I felt odd among these odd people. I would meditate and write serene haiku about Nature. Then I would see these memes reminding me how unjust the world was, how much the poor were suffering at the hands of the rich, and how the time I had just spent on writing haiku was decadent, self-soothing inaction in the face of my incumbent responsibility to act, violently.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">The distributed nature of the Fediverse helped me here. I had accounts on multiple Mastodon instances themed after my gajillion interests. Technology and Art here, Social Justice there, and just plain jokes on another instance.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">Around this time, I got the wandering eye and was seduced by Mastodon's younger, hotter sister, Calckey. Calckey is interoperable with Mastodon and has a much slicker User Interface. But the clincher is, Calckey lets you format your posts with MFM ( Misskey Flavored Markup ) and change fonts, sizes, colors, and even create cool animations. An MFM post looks like normal text to Mastodon users, but on Calckey it looks beautiful and impactful. Clearly, Calckey was the future of Mastodon.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">I did not hesitate in migrating all my Mastodon accounts, with over 250 contacts that I had befriended, to Calckey. I had fun creating some interesting posts with MFM, and encouraged my Mastodon friends to try Calckey.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">Everything was wonderful on <b>calckey.social</b>, until suddenly there was trouble in paradise. Someone posted a funny meme, a picture of a sign on someone's lawn, with "Libety or Tranny" scrawled on it, in a semi-literate handwriting. This tickled me silly!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">I replied: "I don't know what 'Libety' is. Guess I'll just satisfy my sexual curiosities with a 'Tranny'."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">Someone replied to me saying, "Reported". I was confused at first, so I replied back saying that I did not understand what anyone could possibly find offensive about a lighthearted response to a lighthearted meme. There was no hatred towards anyone, just a playful suggestion of my sexual openness towards transsexual people.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">That was it. Suddenly, my <b>calckey.social </b>account went weird. I couldn't post to <b>calckey.social</b> reliably. When I could post, I did not get any reactions or replies from my online friends, which was very unusual. Nobody could hear me. I was suddenly Mr. Cellophane. Persona Non Grata on Calckey. When people tried to follow my account, they got a message saying: "This action is not allowed."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">I contacted Kainoa, the creator of Calckey and explained the situation. They said that I had "been reported 5 times for using Transphobic slurs." That just meant that 5 people had reported me for using the word "Tranny".</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">I was aghast. I tried explaining that I was a bisexual male who was programming computers and having gay sex in 1984, when most of the people online today weren't even born yet. I was wearing makeup and dresses in public, before the Calckey crowd had even heard of the word "drag". I have been on the Internet since 1990, and have seen lots of people self-identify as "passable trannies". So maybe I wasn't hip to the latest slang. Maybe "Tranny" had become a slur, without my realizing it. But to call me "transphobic" was ridiculous.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">Kainoa said that after review, my account had been unlocked. But the problems persisted. So I tried to migrate from <b>calckey.social</b> to <b>evil.social</b> ( evil as Halloween ) but the migration failed. My contacts did not migrate over, and now my account was really locked. I contacted Kainoa again, and they said that since I had migrated, my account was now inactive. I tried clarifying the situation, and requesting my account to be unlocked. Repeated efforts to reach Kainoa have been met with silence. So for the past 4 days, I have been disconnected from all my online friends. Effectively, I am being censored. Is it bad code that caused my migration to fail? Is it bad intent that Calckey developers are not taking any responsibility, because maybe I'm inexplicably on someone's bad side?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">Welcome to this corner of the Fediverse.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">You can move all your followers, in theory.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">Your censor is not a black-box Algorithm, but a community of fallible, groupthink-infected people. Beware the tyranny of the majority.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">Your new overlord is not some evil corporate Billionaire, but an entirely like-able nonbinary Jewish Gay hacker who is a wise idiot at UC Irvine.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">It can't be easy balancing a university course load with work on Calckey, a project that is undeniably cool. Maybe they're not ignoring my repeated requests for help, just busy with more important things.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">I loved Calckey so much, I was just getting set up to start making contributions to the project, with code, documentation, and Hindi language translations. However, it seems that my contributions might not be valued by the Calckey community. If in some bizarre world, I got drunk and had an online shouting match with Linus Torvalds, would I never be able to contribute to the Linux or git projects again? I think Linus and Linux are much more mature than Kainoa and Calckey.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">So now I'm back on Mastodon, and planning to bring MFM to Mastodon. I'd rather hack Ruby than TypeScript any day.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">Just hoping someone will heed this message, so I can get my online community back. Stay away from Calckey. The code and the coders are not mature enough yet.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-60801374368113473782023-05-02T20:21:00.001-07:002023-05-02T20:22:40.069-07:00Going Home ( A very short story )<p><span style="font-family: Roboto Slab; font-size: large;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhCpLNwxobkcPUCwb74x5KqtS_ZSniS69BnZnU20Uq4lSeAmCa8nkADob0-GgLwFO1C-XC3W8MxQPn-FjupO1VvRRfL1Tf4KraTQDPYZh15YLWLac2ZQTK5C0Cq6Mi7L9ZDj338zKBf9csr80uhqRLSN8bMIlJsSu3AEIhxEvVDWAVlVwiGxyC0t8K/s1568/man_on_beach_looking_at_spaceship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Roboto Slab; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1568" data-original-width="960" height="616" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhCpLNwxobkcPUCwb74x5KqtS_ZSniS69BnZnU20Uq4lSeAmCa8nkADob0-GgLwFO1C-XC3W8MxQPn-FjupO1VvRRfL1Tf4KraTQDPYZh15YLWLac2ZQTK5C0Cq6Mi7L9ZDj338zKBf9csr80uhqRLSN8bMIlJsSu3AEIhxEvVDWAVlVwiGxyC0t8K/w377-h616/man_on_beach_looking_at_spaceship.jpg" width="377" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Roboto Slab; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Roboto Slab; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: Roboto Slab; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto"><span style="font-family: Roboto Slab; font-size: large;">"They're here...", he mumbled to himself in disbelief, rubbing his eyes in case this was just another of his hallucinations.<br /><br /></span></span></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto"><span style="font-family: Roboto Slab; font-size: large;">"They're
finally here to take me home!", he whispered to the ocean breeze. He
had never felt at home on Earth. As a child, he would sneak out of his
parent's ranch-style home, and spend hours staring at the starry sky,
scanning patiently.<br /><br /></span></span></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto"><span style="font-family: Roboto Slab; font-size: large;">"Now, things would be different.", he thought,
eyes transfixed on the spaceship. All those years of being mocked by his
peers, being called crazy and worse, all the pain and alienation would
finally be vindicated.<br /><br /></span></span></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto"><span style="font-family: Roboto Slab; font-size: large;">"I'm finally going home...", he allowed himself a smile, tears of relief streaking his face.<br /><br /></span></span></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto"><span style="font-family: Roboto Slab; font-size: large;">Then
he heard the sirens. A convoy of vehicles from the nearby military base
was approaching fast, raising a cloud of dust. He turned to the horizon
again. It was empty. The rest was a blur. Questions, cross-questions,
manhandling, straitjacket, and finally an injection in the neck as he
was roughly pinned down by six heavily armed soldiers.<br /><br /></span></span></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto"><span style="font-family: Roboto Slab; font-size: large;">"Don't worry, Sir", he heard a uniformed man say as he drifted into oblivion.<br /><br /></span></span></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto"><span style="font-family: Roboto Slab; font-size: large;">"You're going home now."</span></span></p><p><span class="x193iq5w xeuugli x13faqbe x1vvkbs xlh3980 xvmahel x1n0sxbx x1lliihq x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x xudqn12 x3x7a5m x6prxxf xvq8zen xo1l8bm xzsf02u" dir="auto"><br /></span></p>Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-76619006679980567672023-03-21T18:20:00.001-07:002023-03-21T18:20:47.640-07:00Air India in a Downward Spiral<p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><b>"How can anyone make firm travel plans with Air India when even confirmed tickets are being routinely rebooked?"</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"> </span></p></blockquote><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">Air India, now owned by Tata, is spiraling out of control with extreme mismanagement and a horrible customer experience. Here are some recent firsthand experiences of Air India's appalling customer service:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">1. I had a <i>confirmed</i> ticket on a flight from San Francisco to Bhopal for March 18th, 2023. On February 17th, 2023, Air India arbitrarily rebooked my flights on a completely different route and schedule. Even though my initial itinerary was carefully chosen at a paid premium, for a short travel duration, the new itinerary had a 15-hour layover in Delhi. I did not complain about this severe discomfort and delay, as these things sometimes happen.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">2. On March 20th, 2023, I boarded the connecting flight ( AI435 ) from Delhi to Bhopal. When the passengers were waiting to take off, the Captain announced that there were 2 passengers who were just clearing security checks and the flight would be delayed by 10 minutes. Nobody complained, as these things sometimes happen. After 45 minutes of waiting in the plane, passengers inquired about the flight status and were told that there were 23 passengers who were about to reach the security checkpoint and that we would have to wait another 45 minutes for take off. This revealed that the initial announcement about 2 late passengers was a complete lie. Some passengers were traveling with small children, who were getting cranky. We asked the Air India representatives why 200+ people were being held up because of 23 people. Air India staff simply told us to wait for the 23 late passengers to arrive.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">We had been sitting in the plane for 2 hours at this point. Some passengers had traveled internationally in a hurry to attend a funeral, which they would have to miss. Other passengers had important medical and business appointments that day. The 200+ passengers got irate and demanded that we take off immediately. Air India staff offered an empty apology, but stuck to their stance of not taking off to ease the discomfort of 200+ passengers. On further questioning, it was discovered that these 23 late passengers were in a bus that had not yet reached the airport.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"></span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>"We asked to speak with a supervisor but were told, 'Sorry. That is against the Standard Operating Procedure.' We asked whether favoring 23 passengers over 200+ passengers was part of the Standard Operating Procedure."</b></span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The passengers demanded to speak with the flight Captain, but the Captain safely locked himself in the cockpit and refused to come out, or even address the passengers on the PA system. We asked to speak with a supervisor but were told, "Sorry. That is against the Standard Operating Procedure." We asked whether favoring 23 passengers over 200+ passengers was part of the Standard Operating Procedure. No reply. The Air India representative was a woman who just stood there doing nothing, while passengers tried to talk to her. She would periodically mumble, "sorry". There was real anger and frustration in the air. 3 hours passed before the 23 late passengers finally showed up.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">3. A few hours ago ( on March 20th, 2023 ), Air India notified me that my <i>confirmed</i> return ticket to the USA had been arbitrarily rebooked. My flight from Bhopal to Delhi was on April 1st. But my connecting flight from Delhi to San Francisco is on April 3rd. The layover is now <i>2 days!</i> I have important appointments in the USA, and cannot afford to be late. Air India is not even offering to pay for 2 days' accommodation in Delhi.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">It is now quite clear that Air India is being grossly mismanaged by Tata. Air India is no longer able to even reasonably guarantee firm travel plans. As such, I recommend avoiding Air India entirely. Just sit back and watch Tata slam Air India into the ground at maximum speed.</span></p>Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-24322821765940074042023-03-14T05:41:00.002-07:002023-08-29T20:38:50.693-07:00Mister 420 (A Short Story)<p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-buISMsNoj9mWmXHBsQ2-cmEjK65hKA6jH3Bwp5xwHjnTXCAMeupiK5wgGLh_B-HlPJIa0qwST_dvGz6aRlf-8HqKHEdZJDm9-8AAJ6fGNT8mW2c3HMhL0yd6rvkg_VW_5XpLzFKq52501Emlnc1OEgw09LV2bk45QGHs3RBIi_q6pp2KeoVpzrDWwlc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photo of a man wearing glasses, and a red shirt showing The Beast of Cairbanagh from Monty Python" data-original-height="1663" data-original-width="1247" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-buISMsNoj9mWmXHBsQ2-cmEjK65hKA6jH3Bwp5xwHjnTXCAMeupiK5wgGLh_B-HlPJIa0qwST_dvGz6aRlf-8HqKHEdZJDm9-8AAJ6fGNT8mW2c3HMhL0yd6rvkg_VW_5XpLzFKq52501Emlnc1OEgw09LV2bk45QGHs3RBIi_q6pp2KeoVpzrDWwlc=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">I am a rabbit of a programmer. I deliver code fast and then take it easy while I test, tweak, and polish it. Oh, and I help the other programmers, usually tortoises, integrate with my spiffy, already working code. I am actually not that good of a programmer. My secret is that I smoke weed, travel to the future, and sneak a peek at the final code, before I've written it. This helps me write the code better.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">Lately it appears to me that I would be better off using my inter-dimensional travel skills to score enough game points ( crypto or fiat currencies ) to attain Nirvana and free myself from the Matrix. Or maybe that's a money trap. Hmmm.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">Anyway, I decided to run a scam to score some game currency. It's almost the oldest scam in the book. It works like this — you pick 1024 wealthy people as potential marks. You send half the marks ( 512 people ) the message: "Bitcoin will go UP tomorrow." And you send the remaining half ( 512 people ), the message: "Bitcoin will go DOWN tomorrow." Depending on whether Bitcoin goes up or down the next day, you follow up with the 512 people who got an accurate message. Repeat this procedure for 7 days, and you will have 16 marks absolutely convinced that you're a Prophet. Being the Profit seekers they are, they will gladly follow your sure-shot investment advice. Easy pickings from there on.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">Cool, right? It doesn't work any more. In the Internet age, information travels fast, and if you try this scam today, you are sure to get exposed as a scammer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">So I toked up on some Blue Dream, revived this archaic scam, and took it to the Cosmic scale. Instead of picking 1024 people as my marks, I picked 1024 parallel Universes. You all were sent messages in 2031 other Universes ( 1024 + 512 + 256 + 128 + 64 + 32 + 16 - 1 ). After a week, I jumped to the Universe where all my predictions had <a href="https://kolektiva.social/@ashwin/110018720989877222" target="_blank">come true</a>. If you're reading this message, you are one of the lucky 16 people who happen to be in a Universe I chose to jump to.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">Although I appear to be a true prophet in this Universe, I sometimes enjoy jumping to a Universe where I am a false prophet, a motley fool of an investment advisor who is so laughably and consistently wrong, that he is a source of valuable information to those who listen.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">Why does this scam work on the Cosmic scale, and will it continue to provide material wealth forever to stoners and mystics everywhere? If people could talk to other versions of themselves, across parallel Universes, and warn themselves about this Cosmic scam, it wouldn't work. The more connected people are, the less likely they are to be scammed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho; font-size: large;">So how do we get connected and stop being scammed on such a vast scale? The answer, my friends is — "Everybody must get stoned!"</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Sawarabi Mincho;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-47183264888403943402021-12-05T02:52:00.002-08:002021-12-11T01:20:19.728-08:00Direct Democracy Re-imagined<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>Power to the People</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheeSIMCeHI6KOFzAeiYpZs6MiW6aUvRlBZeiI-TftEb-ZbzUhki8oaz4VAOVew3T0wP7-QRJxn3LgWlerENhU6lMWSeFPjdP79Et9mmG5NuSxcsA3FaJmak8egIGSnmBJSxtHwQ3z9aac/s948/sunny_pond.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="948" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheeSIMCeHI6KOFzAeiYpZs6MiW6aUvRlBZeiI-TftEb-ZbzUhki8oaz4VAOVew3T0wP7-QRJxn3LgWlerENhU6lMWSeFPjdP79Et9mmG5NuSxcsA3FaJmak8egIGSnmBJSxtHwQ3z9aac/s16000/sunny_pond.jpg" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><b><br /><u><br /></u></b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><b><u>Direct Democracy Re-imagined</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Democracy, as it has been implemented so far, has been subject to several logistical constraints which got baked into the very design of the government. Centuries later, the world has changed drastically, but we are still saddled with this archaic system of government that is massively ineffective, however well-intentioned. Until now, it was not practical to gather and aggregate the opinions of every citizen on every issue before the government. Hence, there was a need to elect representatives. In the Internet age, however, we can have richly expressive input from individual citizens, and the need for politicians is greatly reduced.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b><u>Problems with our present "Democrazy"</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The problems that stem from keeping an out-of-date system of government are many.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Government functions with the Consent of the Governed. Power is taken out of the hands of the people and concentrated in the hands of a few elected officials, entrusted to make the best decisions for all. It's apparent, however, that too many of our elected representatives do not act with the public's best interests in mind. Whether or not they're dishonest, or incompetent, is another question altogether.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Money influences and corrupts a representative democracy. The more money you have, the more your opinion affects the government's actions, which in turn, makes you even richer. Money concentrates itself in the hands of a few people.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The consent of the governed is manufactured by Big Money. Influence over government is ideally 1 vote/citizen. However, due to money's excessive influence on government, what we have is more like 1 vote/dollar.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">What we are left with is a travesty of democracy; a flawed republic, more like a plutocratic oligarchy than a democracy; a TV spectacle of competition between two teams; fodder for political junkies; distraction for the masses.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Our government has gathered much wonky junk ( e.g., gerrymandering, filibustering ), which serves as political theater; weapons of mass distraction.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">We, the people, demand a system of government that works for all of us, and not just a few. It is time to reassess everything, systematically and thoroughly. It's time to apply some assertions and sanity checks to the system, to make sure it passes muster. It's time for a reckoning.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><b><u><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large;">Proposed Solution</span></u></b></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The proposed solution is a system of government, where every citizen has equal influence on the government. Every adult citizen is president, all the time. Elections are not held periodically. Instead, people can specify their choices any time using a software application, 24x7 over the Internet.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">This system could start out more like a "Fantasy Government" game app than a branch of government. Launching a free ( as in speech & pizza ) game app would help us iron out kinks in the implementation.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">There should be checks and balances to prevent mob rule. For example, if enough people voted to lynch someone unpopular, then the other branches of government would enforce the individual's rights and prevent that.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><b><u><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Design Goals</span></u></b></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The new system must meet these criteria:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">1. Ensure that every citizen of voting age has an equal amount of influence over the actions of the government.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">2. Be reasonably secure.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">3. Be auditable.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">4. Protect voter privacy by letting voters choose if and how their data should be shared.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><b><u>Implementation</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The proposed solution would function thus:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">1. Each <i><b>voter</b></i> will be granted an equal number of <b><i>points</i></b>. e.g., say 1 million points per voter.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">2. Each voter will be able to create <b><i>proposals</i></b>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">3. Each voter will be able to vote for/against each proposal, by <b><i>allocating</i></b> their points for/against the proposal.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">4. The system will total the for/against allocations for each proposal. This score will determine whether or not the proposal will be implemented.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">5. Each voter would be able to <b><i>delegate</i></b> some ( or all ) of their points to another voter to allocate to a proposal. This delegation is especially important because no voter has enough time or knowledge at their disposal to be able to make good decisions on all proposals before the government.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"> 5.1 <b>Example 1:</b> Delegating a specific allocation to a single expert. You could say, "This proposal is tagged <b>"security"</b>. Delegate 10,000 points, on this proposal, to <a href="https://www.schneier.com" target="_blank">Bruce Schneier</a>, whom I consider a security expert."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"> 5.2 <b>Example 2:</b> Delegating a specific allocation to a panel of experts. You could say, "This proposal is tagged <b>"security"</b>. Delegate 10,000 points, to this proposal. 10% to <a href="https://www.schneier.com" target="_blank">Bruce Schneier</a>, and 20% to <a href="https://www.mattblaze.org/" target="_blank">Matt Blaze</a>, and 70% to <a href="https://twitter.com/BriannaWu" target="_blank">Brianna Wu</a>."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"> 5.3 <b>Example 3:</b> "Make my vote the same as Joe Smith's, except take all the points he allocated to <b>"defense"</b>, and reallocate them to Healthcare ( 70% ) and Education ( 30% )".</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><b><u>Implementation Notes:</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><b><u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Approach #1: Use </span><span style="font-family: courier;">git</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> under the hood</span></span></u></b></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Each voter checks out a </span><span style="font-family: courier;">git</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> repository, containing a file called <b>my_vote.xml</b></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The voter can make this repository private or public.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">The voter edits this file to allocate points as they would like and pushes it up to a government source.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">One voter may use a <b>my_vote.xml</b> from any source they like, including other voters if those other voters have each published their votes. All of these operations ( </span><span style="font-family: courier;">git clone, git merge, git pull, git diff, git commit, git push</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> ) happen under the hood. The web application will facilitate these operations, with a slick UI. A tree of pie charts, where each node is a pie chart, and each sector of the pie chart splits and becomes another smaller pie chart.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><b><u><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">Critique</span></u></b></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><b><u>Pros:</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">1. <b>Power to the People:</b> This system gives political power back to the people.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">2. <b>Fewer politicians:</b> This system will result in fewer politicians, and thus fewer points of failure.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">3. <b>Backwards compatible:</b> This system can grandfather the way the system worked in 2020. You could say, "Make my vote exactly the same as the one published by the Republican Party." This would be the equivalent of casting a ballot for the GOP. Your vote would remain the same until you edit it again. That is, all your 1 million points will be delegated to the GOP, until further notice from you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">4. <b>Benefits of Crowdsourcing:</b> This "co-decide" system lets citizens express their opinions with a high degree of specificity. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><b><u>Cons:</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">There are several hard problems that I haven't addressed here. I invite you, dear reader, to provide your insights on these issues.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">- The system is agnostic to the actual merit of the proposal. This means that celebrities without any expertise could gather more points delegated to them than actual experts in the field. We don't discern merit from popularity, which could be a pitfall. On the other hand, we trust the people.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">- Can the system be hacked? ( Information Security )</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">In other words, how to secure authentication. There's no authorization. Everyone has equal access to the system. The entire process will be as transparent as possible.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">- How can we expect the average citizen to manage their private key? Will every voter be issued a smartcard/Trezor type device?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">- Is mandatory 2FA too draconian or just right?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">- Can the system be gamed? For example, by using perverse incentives, or tactics like astroturfing? ( Game Theory, Mass Psychology )</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><b><u>Thanks & Acknowledgements:</u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">1. <a href="https://youtu.be/mw2z9lV3W1g" target="_blank">We the People, and the Republic we must reclaim</a> - Dr. Lawrence Lessig speaks about what is wrong with the government.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">2. <a href="https://rally.org/onlinegovernment" target="_blank">RALLY.org</a> - cogent video with ideas about online government.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">3. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Doctorow" target="_blank">Cory Doctorow</a>, for introducing the concept of "Whuffie" ( a social currency ).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1637309778869/FbS-JYxG1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="768" height="403" src="https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1637309778869/FbS-JYxG1.png" width="768" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div><br /></div>Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-22912870692500772452021-07-16T11:18:00.001-07:002021-07-16T11:18:43.624-07:00"How to Kill Bitcoin: A Guide for Governments"<p> </p><p style="color: #172b4d; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-overflow: ellipsis;">Here is the first draft of a blog post I wrote back in 2013. The final article was lost during a data lossage event. Rather than try to update this draft, I am pasting it here, as-is. Remember, this was written in 2013. Enjoy!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcFEuFFz9ylenqbISq4lpz1bq6Yv29l29CG7ck8kBBfCod1INRpbSY4ubhZhrO2gAgFQfyd6km-5PcnGy1WFPs6eTYyXHRbg0vUnbWsO7aamUjp33rPn9g5pT7dBY-cbPRBICl1XXbjXo/s300/howtokill_bitcoine.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcFEuFFz9ylenqbISq4lpz1bq6Yv29l29CG7ck8kBBfCod1INRpbSY4ubhZhrO2gAgFQfyd6km-5PcnGy1WFPs6eTYyXHRbg0vUnbWsO7aamUjp33rPn9g5pT7dBY-cbPRBICl1XXbjXo/s0/howtokill_bitcoine.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>How to Kill Bitcoin</u></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p style="color: #172b4d; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-overflow: ellipsis;"><br /></p><p style="color: #172b4d; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-overflow: ellipsis;"><br /></p><p style="color: #172b4d; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-overflow: ellipsis;"><b>What is Bitcoin?</b></p><p style="color: #172b4d; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-overflow: ellipsis;">Bitcoin is an Internet-based currency that people can buy with your local currency right now. Once a person has acquired Bitcoins, that money can be sent virtually anywhere on the Internet, within 10 minutes, with no transaction fees, and no names.</p><p style="color: #172b4d; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-overflow: ellipsis;"><b>What threats does Bitcoin pose to governments?</b></p><ol style="color: #172b4d; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; list-style: none; margin: 8px 0px; padding: 0px;"><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;">Tax Evasion</li><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;">Money Laundering</li><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;">Terrorism</li><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;">Vice</li><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;">Currency Destabilization</li><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;">State Destabilization</li></ol><p style="color: #172b4d; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-overflow: ellipsis;"><b>How can Bitcoin be killed?</b></p><p style="color: #172b4d; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-overflow: ellipsis;">The short answer is that Bitcoin cannot be killed with 100% effectiveness. However, we can force Bitcoin underground, out of the reach of the masses, and slow down Bitcoin adoption considerably. We must move quickly and contain Bitcoin while it is still small, or we may lose control of the government altogether.</p><p style="color: #172b4d; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-overflow: ellipsis;"><b>Unity:</b> The more governments can agree on this agenda, the more effectively we can counter Bitcoin. Arrange a global coalition.</p><p style="color: #172b4d; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-overflow: ellipsis;"><b>Surveillance:</b> It is crucial that the coalition mine PRISM data effectively to reduce alt-coin pseudonymity. Cross-reference currency transaction data, and IP addresses, with blockchain data to connect individuals to their Bitcoin holdings.</p><p style="color: #172b4d; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-overflow: ellipsis;"><b>Propaganda:</b> Spread FUD ( Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt ) about Bitcoin. Our main messages should be:</p><ol style="color: #172b4d; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; list-style: none; margin: 8px 0px; padding: 0px;"><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;">Bitcoin is too volatile to be real money.</li><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;">Bitcoin supports terrorists and drug dealers.</li><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;">Bitcoin is anti-patriotic.</li><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;">Bitcoin wastes energy and harms the environment.</li><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;">Sensible people don't use shady junk like Bitcoin.</li></ol><p style="color: #172b4d; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-overflow: ellipsis;"><b>Law:</b> Laws work synergistically with propaganda.<br />1. Ban buying, selling, accepting or mining Bitcoin in your country.<br />2. Impose severe criminal punishments on those found in possession of Bitcoin hardware ( mining rigs, wallets, etc ).<br />3. Ban your nationals from funding Bitcoin-related ventures.</p><p style="color: #172b4d; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-overflow: ellipsis;"><b>Cyberwar:</b></p><ol style="color: #172b4d; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; list-style: none; margin: 8px 0px; padding: 0px;"><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;"><p style="margin: 0px; text-overflow: ellipsis;">Manipulate Bitcoin prices and keep them volatile. Bitcoin is still a relatively small market. The cost/benefit ratio of inducing volatility on alt-coin exchanges is worthwhile. Some money and a bot could start spiking BTC today.</p></li><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;"><p style="margin: 0px; text-overflow: ellipsis;">Bitcoin is in the trusting old days of the Internet. Eager to encourage Bitcoin adoption, many Bitcoin vendors give away products and services without waiting the 10 minutes it takes to verify a Bitcoin transaction. There are ways to destroy this trust. e.g., synchronized double-spending attacks.</p></li><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;"><p style="margin: 0px; text-overflow: ellipsis;">Bots trading low Satoshi amounts at high frequencies could be used to overwhelm the Bitcoin network. At least one alt-coin has already succumbed to this attack.</p></li><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;"><p style="margin: 0px; text-overflow: ellipsis;">Choose a poor country that is not part of our coalition as a sacrificial beast. A country with good Internet penetration, and an unstable local currency would be a very good candidate. Indirectly encourage them to adopt Bitcoin as their national currency. When they do, make an example out of them by dumping Bitcoin and buying their resources.</p></li><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-overflow: ellipsis;">A system is only as secure as its weakest link. While the Trezor device may hold Bitcoins securely, it is protected only by a holographic sticker as it travels through a postal system we control. Use this weakness to damage Trezor's credibility.<br />Using Trezor's open standards, we can clone it. Then, we can play man-in-the-middle for targets selected by PRISM and send them compromised wallets that look and work just like the real Trezor.</p><p style="margin: 0px; text-overflow: ellipsis;"></p></li><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;"><p style="margin: 0px; text-overflow: ellipsis;">Whether an alt-coin uses SHA256, scrypt, or some other algorithm, its main weakness is not cryptographic -- it is economic. Keep a meta-plan for a 51% attack handy. If enough governments pool resources, the blockchain is ours.</p></li><li style="list-style: decimal; margin: 8px 8px 8px 24px;"><p style="margin: 0px; text-overflow: ellipsis;">Co-opt virtual currencies by creating a similar currency designed to be easy to regulate.</p></li></ol><p style="color: #172b4d; font-family: -apple-system, system-ui, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-overflow: ellipsis;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></p>Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-87472289899696262482017-06-16T14:49:00.000-07:002017-06-16T14:49:05.580-07:00Shinichi Mochizuki has left the Universe<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Japanese Mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki calls himself an "Inter-universal Geometer". Let's parse that!<br /><br />1. "Inter-universal" implies that there are at least 2 universes.<br /><br />2. "Geo" -- Earth.<br /><br />3. "meter" -- to measure.<br /><br />Mochizuki is apparently measuring Earths in multiple universes.<br /><br />How is this possible? Mathematical frameworks exist which allow for the existence of alternate universes. One interpretation of Quantum Physics says that everything that can happen in a quantum probability cloud, does happen. The Universe forks in the same probabilistic proportion as the probability cloud, and observers in different universes each observe different discrete outcomes of the same quantum event.<br /><br />Do these alternate universes actually exist or are they just mental constructs? How would you empirically detect another universe? The whole proposition seems to be riddled with paradox! Let's suppose you could construct an experiment to detect other possible universes. As soon as your "alternate universe detection device" detects another universe, that other universe is immediately part of this universe. It's called "Uni"-verse for a reason. Think, McFly!<br /><br />If other universes exist, then there seems to be no logical way to get there from here. Other universes are utopias, like those true but undecidable expressions that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_G%C3%B6del#Incompleteness_Theorem" target="_blank">Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem</a> talks about.<br /><br />In her article, "<a href="http://projectwordsworth.com/the-paradox-of-the-proof/" target="_blank">The Paradox of the Proof</a>", Caroline Chen mentions Jordan Ellenberg, a Mathematics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who wrote about Mochizuki's Proof of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abc_conjecture" target="_blank">ABC Conjecture</a> -- “Looking at it, you feel a bit like you might be reading a paper from the future, or from outer space...”.<br /><br />Through numbers, Mochizuki might have found a way into other spatio-temporal dimensions. Quantum particles are "quantum" because of these dimensions. Numbers themselves exist because of those dimensions. If your mind did not frame your senses along these orthogonal dimensions, you would not be able to grasp the concept of numbers at all. For example, an electron apparently does not cross all the intermediate states from one orbit to another. An electron really has more dimensions than the ones we imagine. So we see the electron as jumping from one quantum state to another.<br /><br />A <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland" target="_blank">Flatlander</a> would see a sphere crossing their world as a circle that appears out of nowhere, does some neat geometric behaviors ( expansion and shrinking ), and vanishes. In current paradigms, there is no causality at the quantum level. It takes higher dimensions to preserve causality. Causality implies time, and in a deterministic universe, there is no time at all. The electron does not jump from one orbit to another, without traveling through intermediate states. The electron is actually part of a continuous multidimensional shape that contains more information than a tesseract. It is our strobing consciousness that causes us to perceive the electron as a discrete entity instead of as a continuum.<br /><br />Causality is an illusion. Time is an illusion. The Universe, with all its myriad causal forks and natural patterns, is a single timeless, unmoving, supra-causal entity -- like the coral paperweight from "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four" target="_blank">1984</a>". Do you want Meaning? Free will? Privacy? My, aren't we greedy! Ok, I'll drop a few more not so subtle clues.<br /><br />Once you edit the code in your head to preserve determinism using higher dimensions, you can do quantum computations by spawning entire universes at will.<br /><br />Cosmic Lock-Picking -- try any and all permutations and combinations necessary. Find a universe where the safe cracks open, and jump there.<br /><br />Prime factorization? What's that? Crypto is for mere mortals!<br /><br />If you do manage to hack the Universe with your mind, please be kind and grateful. That's all I ever ask!<br /><br />So why is there Something, instead of Nothing? My answer is so obvious that it says nothing -- The question is wrong. Nothing is real. In Nothing however, there is Nobody to ask the question, "Why is there Something, instead of Nothing?".<br /><br />If you think I have lost my marbles, please take a look at <a href="http://www.kurims.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~motizuki/top-english.html">the picture</a> on Mochizuki's site. If there are other Earths, could we please move to a better one? A sleepy, Blue-Green Earth, where we invent technologies from scratch, to live in peaceful harmony with the Earth, with nature, and with each other!</span></span></div>
Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-43637603460555974852017-03-15T11:07:00.000-07:002017-04-13T15:33:44.201-07:00Occidental Empire: The Accidental Catalyst of Indian Democracy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />Shashi Tharoor's essay, "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/08/india-britain-empire-railways-myths-gifts" target="_blank">'But what about the railways ...?' The myth of Britain's gifts to India</a>"</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">, would be more appropriately titled -- "Boo to the Villains of the Past." Although a vociferous critic of imperialism, I found Dr. Tharoor's article vacuous and regressive. Here, I shall critique this article, and present the following cases:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1. Even though India's historical association with the British empire brought many lasting benefits, crediting the British is absurd.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. Even though the British rule of India was a terrible period in history, blaming the British is a waste of time today.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3. There are concrete policy reforms India can undertake today, to undo some damage inherited from the British empire, and set the country on a more progressive course.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4. The way forward is to co-opt and transform empire from within. "Embrace and Extend" was Microsoft's strategy, and it should be ours.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">To begin, let us ask -- Did the British really sow the seeds of discord in India, or did they just opportunistically add fuel to already burning fires? To answer this question, let us parse a sentence from Dr. Tharoor's article: </span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Large-scale conflicts between Hindus and Muslims (religiously defined), only began under colonial rule;" </span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This sentence cunningly cherrypicks history</span></span> with arbitrary qualifications: "Large-scale", "between Hindus and Muslims", and "(religiously defined)". </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Removing these confining clauses, I now bring a broader dataset into consideration, and derive a more comprehensive picture, which contradicts Dr. Tharoor. Literary epics from the region depict large-scale wars fought over land, or women. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Aryans conquered and subjugated the Dravidians. The Mughals took over a lot of the region in a series of bloody conquests. The Sikhs and Rajputs were in violent conflict with the Mughals. Numerous petty rajas and nawabs were in continual territorial warfare with each other. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">All this turmoil and bloodshed was happening in the region, well before the British arrived. How is it relevant whether</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> the violence was "religiously defined" or not? The British once opportunistically incited religious violence, and gained power with their policy of divide and rule. But (let's be quite honest), so did Mr. Narendra Modi, and we forgave him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In reality, we don't have any means of knowing what might have happened if the British had not colonized the region, though one can spin off several fanciful fantasies:<br /><br />1. The region could have been liberated by China, and be a proud member of a pan-Asian communist block.<br /><br />2. </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The region could have</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> c</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">ontinued with Mughal rule, and today all "Indians" would be living under "sharia" law, and the dwindling non-Muslim population paying a "jazia" tax.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />3. </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The region could have</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> b</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">ecome a stagnant backwater as the maharajas and nawabs continued fighting for power and territory; s</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">truck by famine in the absence of good governance and resource planning, the bay of Bengal could be notoriously pirate-infested, ala Somalia.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />4. The region could have prospered as a trading destination on the Silk Road, attaining its own version of the Enlightenment, which ushers in rationality and secularism. Although several independent homegrown democracies take birth, there is never a unified India. Instead, a tenuous umbrella organization, much like the European Union, is eventually formed.<br /><br />Each such dystopian/utopian past is an absurdist exercise in futility, since these hypotheses are scientifically untestable today. None of them is quite what we want, and none adds up to a modern, unified, secular, and democratic nation called "India." The very notion of the spontaneous emergence of a unified democracy in the region, without the catalyzing influence of British empire, beggars even the richest imagination. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is very little evidence to support Dr. Tharoor's claim that an Indian ruler would undoubtedly have unified the subcontinent from Afghanistan to Burma, in a span of 200 years. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However, there is plenty of evidence in history against a supposed "impulse to unity".</span><br style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" /><br style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1. Consider the long and violent history of separatist and secessionist movements in India. Khalistan. Naxalites. Kashmir.</span><br style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" /><br style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. Consider the ever-rising number of states in India.</span><br style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" /><br style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3. Consider the resistance from non-Hindi-speaking states to using Hindi as the official language.</span><br style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;" /><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It appears that India is not exactly a collection of free people, living harmoniously in a common union by choice. Without a single, powerful force to repeatedly, and violently crush separatist mutinies, dear India might have crumbled to pieces long ago.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Even if a local ruler had unified the region, what you would get is a dictatorship, ruled by a maharaja. </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Maharajas are widely known for their corrupt, decadent and debauched lifestyles, and not usually as wise and benevolent leaders with the interest of the people at heart. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The maharajas were the original kleptocrats who exploited the poor, and sold the control of ruled territories to the British, in exchange for their own short-sighted, selfish rewards. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Tales of the maharajas cruelty, greed, and bloodlust are rife.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />Dr. Tharoor, funny that you should mention racism, when your prayer seems to be, "If a boot is going to kick me hard in the spleen, please let it be on a brown man's foot, and not a bloody Britisher's."<br /><br />But let's not confine our discussion to the narrow elitist history of the rich and powerful few. What about the quality of life for the common man? Does it matter that local artisans produced exquisite luxury goods for the enjoyment of the maharajas, if most people were suffering abject poverty? Was there really prosperity, in a time and place where farmers were (probably) being drafted as soldiers, and killed in bloody wars, fought at the whims of their corrupt rulers?<br /><br />And what about women? Would women have achieved the right to vote sooner in the region, if the British hadn't arrived? From Razia Sultana, to Laxmi Bai, Indian history mentions scant few women in positions of real political power. Without borrowing the ideals of Western Enlightenment wholesale, India might never have boasted of one of the first female heads of state. Indeed, the fate of women's rights in a traditionally patriarchal, male-dominated society would have been grim.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Throughout his essay, Dr. Tharoor fails to </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">provide evidence of a long-persisting, uniting Indian identity. Instead, we have an anecdote by way of Maulana Azad, translated across languages, distorted by history, in which someone lumps together many people into one labelled group. There is nothing to imply that those people objectively had a common country, national identity, loyalties, language, and culture. </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The label, "Hindi", when used by anonymous Arabs long ago to group together foreigners from faraway lands, is about as meaningful as the label, "Firangi"</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">, which might once have described all Europeans. Need I say, Europe is not a country.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As for the ancient coinage of the word, "Bharatvarsha" ( भारतवर्ष ), perhaps we should refrain from reading too much into it. Just because a word has been coined, doesn't mean that it refers to something objectively meaningful. Take the Sanskrit word, "Vimana" ( विमान ), meaning "aircraft". Do you really believe that actual people once flew in a physical aircraft, nonstop from Sri Lanka to Ayodhya, thousands of years ago? If you do, I've got your press release ready:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"Dear Theresa May, As a result of the British stealing our ancient flight technology and muddling our traditions, India still has to import its aircraft. As reparations, British Airways should provide a lifetime of free flights to all Indian citizens."</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Jokes aside, mythopoetic flights of imagination are a far cry from stark reality. We would do well to stop pining for a mythical past that never was, and take responsibility for shaping our own destiny. Playing the victim card and blaming the villains of the past, however justifiably, will only get you so far. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">More than money, India needs to restore its self-respect.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In the long run, blaming the British, and continually defining India in relation to its former colonizers, is detrimental to the nation's self-image. Change begins at home, and there are many steps India can take to start repairing some of Britain's harmful, and continuing legacy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1. Institute a Uniform Civil Code. All people should be equal in the eyes of the law, with no exceptions made for any religion.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />2. Abolish institutionalized caste-ism. Economic need should be the only basis for reservations. There should be various quotas for the poor, not for scheduled castes/tribes.<br /><br />3. Stop organizing the Indian army under divisive categories given by the British. For example: The Sikh regiment could be renamed the Bhagat Singh regiment.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4. Adopt Open Source Software, and stop entrusting imperialist powers with your data.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">5. Grant gay people the right to marry, and further India's reputation as a forward-thinking nation that celebrates diversity.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Britain once played a unifying role by becoming the common enemy to a number of disparate people. Today, the United Kingdom is no longer seen as the enemy in India, where India-England cricket matches are enjoyed over sips of chai. In this fluid current context,</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> dwelling on the colonial past, dredging up old scars, and trying to stir up Two Minutes Hate with a "British, bad. Indian, good."-rant, are really unnecessary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, the CEO of Google, the CEO of Microsoft, and the Mayor of London are busy transforming empire from the inside out. The antiseptic turmeric in the curries dished out by Southall's Indian dhabas, is surely healing the colo-rectal tracts of Londoners with the postcolonial blues, even now. Feel the spicy revolution within!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><b>Update:</b> Changed "Mr. Tharoor" to "Dr. Tharoor", throughout. My apologies for the mistake.</span></div>
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Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comAndes, NY 13731, USA42.188935 -74.78580369999997442.165405 -74.826144199999973 42.212465 -74.745463199999975tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-65727077885650536222013-05-11T14:28:00.001-07:002021-02-27T10:39:11.850-08:00Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto Identified?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">Here's my wild-ass guess for today: Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto is really Japanese mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki. Let's examine the evidence:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">1. Requisite level of mathematical genius; specifically, work on Number Theory.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">2. Male, Japanese, 40-ish, living in Japan.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">3. Nakamoto is fluent in English. Mochizuki grew up in the USA.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">4. Elusive, reclusive behavior.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">5. Same number of Hiragana symbols in first and last names of the two identities.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">6. Some have speculated, based on v0.1 of bitcoin code, that the creator was someone with a lot of theoretical knowledge, but not a professional programmer.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">7. Caroline Chen's article, "<a href="http://projectwordsworth.com/the-paradox-of-the-proof/" target="_blank">The Paradox of The Proof</a>" doesn't mention bitcoin, but gives a glimpse into the mind of Shinichi Mochizuki. Read this very interesting article, and draw your own conclusions.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">Sources:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">1. <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Satoshi_Nakamoto" target="_blank">Satoshi Nakamoto</a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;">2. <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/10/race-unmask-bitcoins-inventors/43535/" target="_blank">The Race to Unmask Bitcoin's Inventor(s)</a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">3. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="http://projectwordsworth.com/the-paradox-of-the-proof/" target="_blank">The Paradox of The Proof</a></span></span><br />
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I am a professional programmer with over 24 years of Perl and Web development expertise, available for part-time/full-time remote programming work. I am a US citizen, and want to become a digital nomad.</span></div>
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Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3869193196156448870.post-31075106395375228842013-04-15T18:14:00.000-07:002017-06-23T10:28:58.445-07:00Bitcoin's Potential for Social Change<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Perhaps <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/opinion/krugman-the-antisocial-network.html" target="_blank">Professor Krugman</a> is too hasty in calling bitbugs "antisocial". </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bitcoin encourages secessionist tendencies, yet holds great potential for social change. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What if the World Peace movement collectively transitioned to bitcoin? </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It would be possible for the people to negotiate peace with their warmongering governments.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Perhaps we will see the emergence of a self-contained, underground economy that chooses its own values. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The bitcoin economy would perhaps do away with the real/perceived hypocrisy of political discourse.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Will this bitcoin-enabled New World Order be egalitarian? I don't think so. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Early adopters, such as the Winklevoss twins, already have a significant advantage in the bitcoin universe. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Question is, can we trust our new cyberpunk overlords?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Character is what one does, when nobody is looking. Bitcoin models reality much closer to human nature. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Will the human civilization annihilate itself? Will we survive and thrive? We'll just have to trust human nature.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What will it take to bring about this self-fulfilling prophecy? What kind of infrastructure should bitbugs be building?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">An easier, more private way of doing bitcoin transactions via cheap, ubiquitous devices, such as smartphones. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Applications such as Bitcoin Wallet already enable this.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yet, a tipping point hasn't been reached. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I still think primarily in USD. When I think in a BTC-centric way, the world will be different.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In my opinion, bitcoin is full of open questions, and opportunities. I remain cautiously optimistic about it.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Full disclosure: I own 4 BTC which I bought at 5 USD/BTC.</span></div>
Ashwin Dixithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01842693108481702432noreply@blogger.com