The man who forced all of us to become social animals on the move has logged out
of life.
Thank you Steve.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
New to the blog world
Attention all Mallu blogreaders out there. Click and read this.
The birthpangs of a blogger
The birthpangs of a blogger
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Congrats again, Sangeetha!
And when she won her first award
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Looking for a groom for his daughter
A 50 something father of two ladies who is a close aquiantance is frantically searching for the right bridgroom for his daughter who is an IT professional. Given the fact that his elder daughter, who is also an IT professional settled in the US of A, the Mecca of all new age professional, has married into a rich family, he has to find an equal match. And other than finding about a possible bridegroom's character, all that matters for him (the father) is whether he is a IT professional settled in the US, a BE from a reputed institute, his salary, whether his parents are professionals.
And the girl too is happy with this arrangement. It hardly matters whether the boy's temperament suits you, or his character.
Will only having lots of money make you happy? Or are you only successful if you are in a professional making lots of money? I often wonder what these parents and kids think of other people around them who are in other fields or are making less money?
Unfortunately, my mother too seems to subscribe to the view that only lots of money can make any one happy!
And the girl too is happy with this arrangement. It hardly matters whether the boy's temperament suits you, or his character.
Will only having lots of money make you happy? Or are you only successful if you are in a professional making lots of money? I often wonder what these parents and kids think of other people around them who are in other fields or are making less money?
Unfortunately, my mother too seems to subscribe to the view that only lots of money can make any one happy!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Timemachine
Well actually it is not a time-machine in the real sense of the term. It is actually the Old Bridge across the Yamuna, the Iron bridge from British Raj.
I have travelled across the bridge many times and it never ceases to amaze me. It is actually two bridges in one. there is the rail bridge and underneath it is the one for all sorts of transport. And it is this fact that gives it a sort of time-machine quality.
The bridge is a marvel of engineering. Nowhere else have I seen such an antiquated bridge. Maybe, only the hanging bridge at Punaloor in Kerala had that effect on me when I was a child. I have not been to UP by train and so have not experienced the bridge by train. Shall do it the next time I am in Delhi
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Big Brother is watching, Indians
Who said going hi-tech means foolproof?
And has nobody told people here that exposing govt stupidity could land you in jail?
Read this then
Over the weekend, the Indian establishment demonstrated how bizarre the mix of political insecurity, intolerance to criticism, and sheer stupidity could be. Mumbai police arrested Hari K. Prasad, chief of Indian research and development firm Netindia, reports IANS.
The reason: Prasad is member of a team of security researchers, including American computer scientist J. Alex Halderman, who have been working to show that India's electronic voting machines (EVMs), like those in the US and elsewhere, are flawed, and can be hacked, altering election results.
In 2009, the Election Commission of India (ECI) publicly challenged Prasad to show that India's voting machines could be compromised. But incredibly, they did not give him access to a machine. Prasad's team managed to acquire an EVM from a source earlier this year, and soon proceeded to expose security flaws.
Prasad was arrested on August 21 for refusing to disclose the identity of the source from whom the EVM was secured for the tests. Halderman wrote in his blog that early Saturday morning, at 5:30 hrs, 10 police officers arrived at Prasad's home in Hyderabad. They questioned him until 8 a.m., then placed him under arrest and drove him to Mumbai, over 14 hours away by road.
Hari K. Prasad, J. Alex Halderman and Rop Gonggrijp have been working on an "independent scientific study of the security of India's EVMs". On the project's website at indiaevm.org, the team reports that the ECI has spoken of India's EVMs as "infallible and perfect".
Yet, similar machines used around the world have been shown to suffer from serious security problems. India's EVMs had never been subjected to credible independent research, says the site. An attacker with brief access to EVMs can tamper with votes and potentially change election outcomes.
This could be done two ways. One, by replacing parts of the machines with look-alike parts without the involvement of any local poll official. Two, by using portable hardware devices to change the vote records stored in the machines. The latter may involve local election officials, but still be undetected by national authorities or the EVM manufacturers.
In one experiment the team added a Bluetooth module, to be able to swing the EVM's votes wirelessly. The EVMs are "sealed by stickers, string, and red wax", which are hardly any barrier to an attacker.
The team also says that the EC-appointed expert committee, which certified the EVMs as secure comprised people with no apparent EVM security credentials, who did a superficial study based on presentations and site visits. Prasad's team worked with a real machine and demonstrated working attacks.
The team notes that real criminals would probably have less difficulty in accessing one or more of India's 1.4 million EVMs than this research team did. And the real criminals would not be working to inform the public about the security problems.
There are two ways to handle the scientific critic, or the messenger of bad news.
In July, in the world's premier security conference Defcon, security researcher Chris Paget demonstrated how easy it was, using $1,500 of equipment, to intercept GSM mobile phone calls. The US government and FCC could have arrested him. They did not. The demo has been taken as a wake-up call for telecom security.
On the other hand, in China, a critic who demonstrates that a government system is flawed will get an early morning visit from the police, and will likely disappear without a trace.
Are we getting dangerously close to the China model?
There is enough evidence from global research now that there are serious concerns about EVM security. The Netherlands, once fully onto EVMs, has switched back fully to paper ballots, and other nations are contemplating following suit.
It is past time for India to open up EVM security to serious scientific scrutiny, on an urgent basis. In the process, the ECI should apologise to Hari K. Prasad and his team, and appoint them as consultants in beefing us security for electronic voting.
If it does not do this, I have to suspect the ulterior motives of the Election Commission of India, which has been working so hard to suppress information about security flaws in its EVMs, rather than find out how to fix them. IANS
And has nobody told people here that exposing govt stupidity could land you in jail?
Read this then
Over the weekend, the Indian establishment demonstrated how bizarre the mix of political insecurity, intolerance to criticism, and sheer stupidity could be. Mumbai police arrested Hari K. Prasad, chief of Indian research and development firm Netindia, reports IANS.
The reason: Prasad is member of a team of security researchers, including American computer scientist J. Alex Halderman, who have been working to show that India's electronic voting machines (EVMs), like those in the US and elsewhere, are flawed, and can be hacked, altering election results.
In 2009, the Election Commission of India (ECI) publicly challenged Prasad to show that India's voting machines could be compromised. But incredibly, they did not give him access to a machine. Prasad's team managed to acquire an EVM from a source earlier this year, and soon proceeded to expose security flaws.
Prasad was arrested on August 21 for refusing to disclose the identity of the source from whom the EVM was secured for the tests. Halderman wrote in his blog that early Saturday morning, at 5:30 hrs, 10 police officers arrived at Prasad's home in Hyderabad. They questioned him until 8 a.m., then placed him under arrest and drove him to Mumbai, over 14 hours away by road.
Hari K. Prasad, J. Alex Halderman and Rop Gonggrijp have been working on an "independent scientific study of the security of India's EVMs". On the project's website at indiaevm.org, the team reports that the ECI has spoken of India's EVMs as "infallible and perfect".
Yet, similar machines used around the world have been shown to suffer from serious security problems. India's EVMs had never been subjected to credible independent research, says the site. An attacker with brief access to EVMs can tamper with votes and potentially change election outcomes.
This could be done two ways. One, by replacing parts of the machines with look-alike parts without the involvement of any local poll official. Two, by using portable hardware devices to change the vote records stored in the machines. The latter may involve local election officials, but still be undetected by national authorities or the EVM manufacturers.
In one experiment the team added a Bluetooth module, to be able to swing the EVM's votes wirelessly. The EVMs are "sealed by stickers, string, and red wax", which are hardly any barrier to an attacker.
The team also says that the EC-appointed expert committee, which certified the EVMs as secure comprised people with no apparent EVM security credentials, who did a superficial study based on presentations and site visits. Prasad's team worked with a real machine and demonstrated working attacks.
The team notes that real criminals would probably have less difficulty in accessing one or more of India's 1.4 million EVMs than this research team did. And the real criminals would not be working to inform the public about the security problems.
There are two ways to handle the scientific critic, or the messenger of bad news.
In July, in the world's premier security conference Defcon, security researcher Chris Paget demonstrated how easy it was, using $1,500 of equipment, to intercept GSM mobile phone calls. The US government and FCC could have arrested him. They did not. The demo has been taken as a wake-up call for telecom security.
On the other hand, in China, a critic who demonstrates that a government system is flawed will get an early morning visit from the police, and will likely disappear without a trace.
Are we getting dangerously close to the China model?
There is enough evidence from global research now that there are serious concerns about EVM security. The Netherlands, once fully onto EVMs, has switched back fully to paper ballots, and other nations are contemplating following suit.
It is past time for India to open up EVM security to serious scientific scrutiny, on an urgent basis. In the process, the ECI should apologise to Hari K. Prasad and his team, and appoint them as consultants in beefing us security for electronic voting.
If it does not do this, I have to suspect the ulterior motives of the Election Commission of India, which has been working so hard to suppress information about security flaws in its EVMs, rather than find out how to fix them. IANS
Sunday, July 18, 2010
It can happen only in India!
What start with dogs barking at some boys ended in two deaths, including that of a physically challenged girl.
In India's hierarchical society even an unsuspecting dog must have a caste. So it seemed when in Mirchpur village of Haryana, some dogs of low caste dwellings dared to bark at Jat boys. There was an angry backlash by the Jat boys and counter protests by the Dalit owners of the dogs.
To demonstrate their physical and social might, the Jats rallied around and attacked the Dalit dwellings, resulting in the death of two people, including one physically challenged girl.
The incident strained the sensibilities of Justice G S Singhvi of the Supreme Court who pointedly asked how "a dog of a Balmiki basti barking at a child become a cause of violence and murder of a physically challenged girl". "A dog could not have been killed on this ground. If that was the case then all the dogs would have been killed".
In India's hierarchical society even an unsuspecting dog must have a caste. So it seemed when in Mirchpur village of Haryana, some dogs of low caste dwellings dared to bark at Jat boys. There was an angry backlash by the Jat boys and counter protests by the Dalit owners of the dogs.
To demonstrate their physical and social might, the Jats rallied around and attacked the Dalit dwellings, resulting in the death of two people, including one physically challenged girl.
The incident strained the sensibilities of Justice G S Singhvi of the Supreme Court who pointedly asked how "a dog of a Balmiki basti barking at a child become a cause of violence and murder of a physically challenged girl". "A dog could not have been killed on this ground. If that was the case then all the dogs would have been killed".
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