Death Of Reality.

1. Head, Neck or Back aches.
2. Skipping Meals/Eating late into the Night.
3. Low Personal Hygiene.
4. Constant Change in Sleep Pattern.
Sounds familiar? Those are just a few of the many symptoms of Computer Addiction (in most cases Internet Addiction). Probably, in one form or the other, most people with access to good Internet invariably get addicted. Generally, people get addicted to massively multi player online role playing games (MMORPG) or social networking sites (or both for those who are unfortunate enough).
Some User Statistics:
Facebook:

• More than 250 million active users.
• More than 120 million users log on to Facebook at least once each day.
• More than two-thirds of Facebook users are outside of college.
• The fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older.
• Average user has 120 friends on the site.
• More than 5 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide).
• More than 30 million users update their statuses at least once each day.
• More than 8 million users become fans of Pages each day.

Second Life:

• In January 2008, a total of 28,274,505 hours was spent "inworld".
• On an average, 38,000 residents were logged in at any particular moment.
  
• In 2009, 124 Million User Hours, an increase of 42%.
• The peak concurrent users was 88,200, an increase of 33%.

Orkut:

• 18.6% of the users are Indians.
• 18-25 age group constitutes 54.65% of the total users.

One can clearly see that there has been a drastic increase in the usage all around the world and thus the worry with regard to computer addiction is not unwarranted. Internet today has infinite avenues for interaction, ranging from social networking sites (like Orkut, Facebook, Hi5, etc) to complete stranger chat rooms (like Omegle). User demographics show that 15-25 and 35-45 age groups form the majority. In India, 15-25 age group represent the majority users, most probably because it is this age group that in general represents the first Internet Generation of India. Most sites quote 35 as the median of the user demography. The problem with addiction, as I see, has two separate faces. One dealing with social networking sites and the other dealing with MMORPG.

Social networking sites are probably the bliss of Internet as well as its curse. With these sites, one can find all their old friends and keep in touch with many people whom otherwise would have been forgotten with time. They also give a nice way of making new friends based on interests. Now, there lies the problem. People may start to obsess about making friends with more and more strangers on these sites. In general, most people find it easier, to open up or talk on the Internet. While in the case of some introverts, it might enable them to become more social and outgoing in their real life, in most cases, it completely blows away the real world. Social networking site addicts, find it hard to make friends or interact with people in the real world. They seems to be satisfied living a vicarious life. Capitalizing on this, some sites allow users to create an avatar thus pushing the real personalities further into the depths of an abyss. The nature of anonymity allows people to share secrets with strangers, as it would have no real value, which they otherwise would have never shared with anyone else. In effect, social networking sites become the real world where addicts are happy interacting with people.

As for MMORPG:
"...there are a variety of mechanisms in MMORPGs that may encourage obsessive usage. MMORPGs employ well-known behavioral conditioning principles from psychology that reinforce repetitive actions through an elaborate system of scheduled rewards..."
There are three major factors for attraction:

• Elaborate reward system.
• Network of relationships that can be built while playing.
• Fascinating virtual environments.

(source - http://www.nickyee.com/hub/addiction/attraction.html)

Be it MMORPG or any form of multi player Gaming (on LAN or Internet), as long as it involves some form of cooperative game play and player interaction, addicts are abundant. For most, gaming starts out of curiosity or boredom and soon becomes the most important thing in a given day. Gamers in general loose any sense of time. Though most games are repetitive, and most gaming also becomes reflexive, quitting is NOT easy. Most people who do quit eventually relapse. I myself have found this out the hard way. I would say that 2-3 hours of gaming a day is not bad if it is a replacement for TV. But the real problem with gaming is that the obsession carries on into the remaining hours of the day. Addicts either think or talk about it incessantly. Also, games in general make the mind weary and lead to low enthusiasm and strength for the remaining day. Eventually, the end effect is constantly changing sleep cycles, odd appetite, aches, etc. For those who play around 8-10 hours a day, the effect is unfathomable.

One can say that in general both social networking sites and MMORPG feed on the desire for a different life. Somehow, the vicarious virtual world is always more fascinating than the real. In effect killing reality. The current trend of technology demands greater and greater usage of computers, which is inevitable in everyone's life. But, adding entertainment addictions to an already sedentary life makes whats is already bad into a horror show. There are many psychological and health related concerns with respect to computer over usage. Its probably the best time to evaluate oneself and decide the course of action to prevent any permanent damage. After all; Internet, Social Networking sites, MMORPG, etc. should be controlled by us and not the other way around.

Shades Of Grey.

"There is no client as scary as an innocent man." - J. M. Haller.
This is the quote with which the book 'The Lincoln Lawyer' by Michael Connelly begins. The book, like many other works of its kind, describes snippets of the life of a lawyer. What is intriguing is the profundity of the quote. How much one can glean about lawyers from just that one line! Though all our lives are in one way or the other a shade of grey, lawyers present a succulent case study. One of my primary school teacher's used to spout out saying 'Lawyers are Liars!' She never explained why she despised them so much. Nevertheless, it is true in many ways that lawyers twist and bend the truth to their advantage. I am not really bothered about the questions on the morality of lawyers or their actions. There can never be a satisfying answer to such questions and such questions can never be restricted to just lawyers. The important question is about the consequences of their actions, not on others but on themselves. If we lived in a world painted only in the shades of grey; somewhere along the line, we would never know the difference between white and black anymore. In a similar manner, on the long run, the thin line separating everything thing from its alter ego completely disappears. Everything in life becomes equivocal. Dr. Jackal and Mr. Hyde cant differentiate from each other!
Everyone of us usually have or will come to a point when we are not certain about why we are doing what we are doing. The morality of our action can be judged based on some loose rules. But, the repercussions of our actions are always felt later. Probably its a battle between our ego, suggesting that the most superior race on earth should be absolutely right always, and Darwinian theory of survival of the fittest. The world we live in is redefined every time depending on what makes living easier thereby mostly pushing us into the greyer reaches of truth. One can only speculate now about how they might feel about their decisions in life 20-30 years down the line. Would we by then have floated off into grayer reaches of life, to the point of no return?

In Pursuit Of Truth.

Truth, is something people always (or most of the times) seek. Oddly in one way or the other, truth is something people expect. Why should people be drawn towards truth? Is it some sort of satisfaction to ones' ego? Is it some power the truth bestows upon the person? Is it curiosity that fuels this desire to know the truth? Before even considering these questions, one may be drawn to wonder how much of what they know and have been told is the truth? Lets look at history. How certain are historians about every record of the past? History has always been a long line of interpretations of interpretations, which most definitely would have distorted the truth with time. Its also been noted that from time to time by historians themselves that history has been recorded with a bias forced upon the historian by the ruling hand. Even with regard to today's current affairs, one may sometimes never know the truth. In spite of all the lies and part truth fed to people from birth to death, most are indifferent to all this as long as it concerns the truth about the larger things in life; common truth in a manner of saying. But, people are not so forgiving when the integrity of 'personal truth' is concerned. Thus, in one way or the other, we are in pursuit of truth, each person varying from the other only in terms of intensity and level. Why; is something each person should eventually reason out to themselves. But, there is truth in the existence of this common pursuit.

People usually lay importance to knowing and sharing the truth. But, honestly has it always helped? People always come across a situation when it seems most logical to lie to someone for a good cause, most often to protect the person being lied to. Often people regret knowing the truth and wish otherwise. Truth (and sometimes knowledge) turns people more insensitive and indifferent to some aspects of life. Life itself seems to loose colour and flavour to turn into a morose grey. So is truth about everything, something that people want? Is it something people can live with? Often ones' desire to know the truth is used against them. Truth has been very often distorted to benefit a small group. Paradoxically, absolute truth is something people want but something that most, or rather all, would never share.

5) How to get girls to play CS in BITS!

4) Hero? Nah!camera (tricks only)!

3) Force of habit

Recently I got a call from Big Bazaar asking for my Dad. I tell him, that my dad is in the bathroom, call back later. He says, could I have his mobile number! I tell him, I dont think people usually take mobiles into the bathroom, you can call back after 15 minutes. :)

2) Juno's Dirty Husband

1) The Birth Of The CopyCat

Spoilers: As for the heads, you should be able to easily guess...... :P

The World and Me….

In silence I sleep; oblivious of a world beyond all that I can see.
In silence the world changes every night, quite oblivious of me.

In peace I live, each day something new for me.
In turmoil the world lives, each day a new battle to be free.

In joy I search, answers to questions fascinating.
In anger the world, questions the answers emanating.

In sadness I withdraw, to the pain and suffering.
In contempt the world, expresses cold indifference.

Change is truly the only impartial constant.
Change, with time, changes the world we live in.

In sadness I bid adieu, to my silent heaven of happiness.
In hope I embrace, the world beyond my own, a world of madness.

ARK 2: Fallout

I knew the coordinates of the safe house where Diedric would be in the event of CRAA, but the tough part was making my way through the ever changing NML terrain. Though this part of the world was mostly untouched by war, it was the common hiding grounds for people from both sides, which meant that it was the fertile grounds for clandestine warfare. It would inevitably be full of monitored and unmonitored traps, mines and even small scale tactical nuclear devices. I made my way carefully, all the while deactivating triggers.

After an arduous eight hours, I reached the face of a steeply rising hill. I moved a few meters along the edge and reached a small alcove well hidden by trees. I squeezed myself in, with hardly enough room for my lungs to expand. After a few feet the recess gave way to a large chamber. To my surprise the chamber was very bright and humid. A lanky, balding man wearing eye gear that had a uni-ocular opening waved his hand at me without lifting his gaze from what looked like a trey with an array of very small tubes.
He said “What took you so long?” in his usual raspy voice all the while meddling with his trey.
“How long has it really been? You see the last thing I can seem to remember is me lying on an autopsy table close to death than ever!” I replied.
For the first time he lifted his head, removed the eye gear and walked towards me and said “I am actually worried.” He did look worried; I was surprised, ‘What had really happened? Even Diedric is troubled!’
“Diedric, please help me out here. I’ve been a fugue state. It had been auto activated. What was our last communication?”
Diedric’s face went pale white. “So it’s true, we have a serious situation!” he said. “I suppose you don’t remember anything. I am sure you will remember things in time, but time is something we don’t have. We were following up a lead on a possible mole in our government. The circumstances which led to World War III and the Cold War that ensued are questionable. You were trying to dig out dirt with respect to our own leaders during WWIII. All this started over a week ago. You have been MIA for five days. You know in our language what it means.”
I knew what it meant; it meant I was soon to be considered dead! We were allowed to cut ourselves from the HQ for a maximum of a week after which we were considered to be dead and would be assassinated if found alive. Clandestine warfare of the new eon! “OK, that gives me half the picture, have you prepared any dossier?” I asked.
“Yes I have, it’s on the shelf to your left. I’ve spiced up the science details just the way you like it!”
I smiled to myself; Diedric hadn’t given up on his retirement plan oh becoming a sci-fi author. I picked up a printout which was titled ‘Fallout’ and started to go through it.

Scientists have established that we know only a small part of the universe. It is this part that is actually ‘visible’ to us. Our universe consists of several ‘Big Bangs’ occurring throughout the universe. The lifetime of the galaxies thus formed is very large; therefore we have been until now unable to witness any such event. But, with the advent of technology and the ‘Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence’, once more popularly known as SETI, we were able to pick up a signal from a very distant galaxy in the Abell 2218 cluster. The signal was picked up for a few days, only during the start of a new Eon of Aquarius (precision of the equinox, 2150 A.D.). Scientists were then able to confirm that during earlier eons the signal was mistaken for signs of God.

The result of the ‘alien message’, as it was popularly publicized, was that major political reformations were passed regarding to the allocation of resources for scientific activities. Since most countries didn’t have the required economy to support such activity, the world soon merged into two major groups known as The Central Federation and The Union Republic. As the science race intensified so did the political agenda of megalomaniacs. To prevent any possibilities of war, both sides agreed to conduct the scientific research together. This whole process in itself took two centuries. By then people began to doubt the message itself. Finally in 2355 A.D., a scientific breakthrough led to the deciphering of the ‘alien message’. Scientists believed that it gave directions to what was popularly known as ‘worm holes’ closest to our galaxy. The common belief was that at the other end lay abundant resources and possibly alien life. Though the two confederations together sent a probe in search of the worm hole (2403 A.D.), the possibility of greater power forced both the groups to start assimilating enormous nuclear destructive power. The mission was successful. The probe was able to travel through the ‘worm hole’ and returned. Scientists were able to confirm that the probe had definitely picked up information of an alien life form. But, due to some technical problems, the probe was forced to execute an emergency landing in Andromeda (2499 A.D.). The political turmoil on Earth had by then reached its climax, both the groups started to argue about the retrieval of the probe. This is when history becomes murky. Someone launched a nuclear strike. Each confederation blames the other. This resulted in the World War III. As expected the war lasted exactly 79 minutes. By the 80th minute the world progress was rewound by about half a millennium. The battle was fought through computer launch sequences. Everything both the confederations had worked for was completely obliterated.

The world then entered a phase of Cold War and has been that way until now, 2525 A.D. The confederations are trying to build their scientific base from scratch so as to launch a retriever for the probe. The mutual agreement was shattered and thus the world was again in open competition. Besides science most of the remaining resources was allocated to intelligence and counter intelligence. The Warm War has been a phase of political mayhem. The current leaders Pyxis of The Central Federation and Pashun of The Union Republic are trying to put an end to the Warm War. In an effort to save the world, a small group of clandestine operatives have come together and trying to find out all major sources of disturbance. The result of this was that we found many questionable events during WWIII and the fallout.

I felt all of it sounded familiar, a vague picture seemed to form in my mind. “So I guess I must start retracing my steps.”
“Yes. Your last debrief was from the capital itself,” he said.
Something that had been bothering me for a while surfaced, “why wasn’t I killed?” Suddenly I realized what danger I had brought onto Diedric. I cautiously said, “You don’t cook well; you should probably eat the insta-food.” This was a code to alert each other in case of danger. Diedric didn’t miss a beat; he hit a few levers and started to clear out his table.
“Right draw, 4478,” he said hurriedly.
I opened the draw and found a small document titled Gordaine. ‘Argh! That wretched code name!’
He slipped into his camouflage suit. Our suits linked up and relayed information. He smiled at me and said, “finally a code name change! This one seems quite nice.”
Diedric would have to find another safe place for himself. He was most safe on his own. Now my journey had begun, but unlike usual journeys this one started from the end and I had to retrace my path.

ARK 1: Fugue

Though the light was dim, I felt like staring into search lights. The effect of the drug was slowly fading and the pain, seeping back in. I knew that it had been a miracle that I was alive. I knew this not because I remembered what had happened to me, but by the seriousness of my wounds. My head hurt every time I tried to remember anything, so for the moment I decided to rest. I was suddenly hit by a wave of convulsions. I desperately tried to grab the sides of what seemed like an autopsy table. ‘Hell!’ ‘Am I dead?’ The convulsions made way to pain and nausea. ‘I am alive, or at least I should assume so for the moment because everything I did from then would be vital for survival.’
I carefully injected myself with another dose of the drug. Relief! I could fight the pain now. Slowly and carefully, I sat up and started to tend to my wounds with whatever first aid I could find. Now that the pain was gone, I began to wonder what I was doing in this dingy room. Before my thoughts could become coherent, I heard footsteps and reflexively got off the table and moved to the nearest dark corner and crouched. ‘Why did I do that?’ A senile man clad in scrubs entered. He froze at the sight of the empty table, looked startled and confused. I waited in the shadows, in silence.
“Anybody here? I am only here to help” said a weak voice.
After some consideration, I replied “Who are you? How did I get here?” I was startled at the seriousness of my own voice.
“I am Rivera, a mortician. I found you in my graveyard.”
In between bursts of pain, I muttered “I’ve heard of backyards, but ‘your’ graveyard? Anyway, where am I? How did I get these wounds?”
“Son, can you tell me your name? I just found you lying covered in blood in the graveyard; I don’t know how you got here. This is a place is separated from the village by the woods.”
“Village! I must be in NML!” I felt a sudden twitch in my head and suddenly it all seemed to come back. “Ah! I remember why I came here. I needed to collects a few plants to prepare some extracts. I am a doctor in a nearby village. I was attacked by the beasts. My name is Sylvan”
“Ah! They have become quite the menace. Frankly, I am amazed at how resilient you are. I have not seen such terrible wounds heal so fast. Are you really from another village in NML? ”
My mind was clearing up now, I examined my body to find a deep cut on the side which seemed to have just missed slicing open my kidneys and a long gash on the left thigh. ‘That will leave an ugly scar!’
“Anyway,” the weak voice continued “you should probably go to the village and get those wounds treated as soon as you can.”
“Yeah I guess so. Can you please get me my clothing and my bag? I think I should be able to manage on my own now. Thank you very much for your assistance Rivera.”

Despite his protests I left the lone house and headed into the woods. Something twitched in my head again, this time I could discern a faint click. A huge wave of pain and nausea hit me. My knees buckled and I fell headlong onto the dusty road. My brain seemed to swim around as I coughed out blood. ‘I’d be damned! I had entered a fugue state!? The auto-alarm had been activated. Well I guess there is a first time to everything.’ I reached into my bag and placed my fingers on the scanners which were extremely well hidden. The insides of what looked like a dusty, ordinary duffel bag whirred into life. A briefcase made of super-flexible polymers clicked open. I picked up my camouflage wear, checked if the suit was completely charged up and switched into it quickly. The dark overall covering the suit adjusted itself to fit me perfectly. I adjusted the suit temperature settings and activated the first aid. My head felt light as the morphine hit the blood stream along with a swarm of nanobots. ‘I must remember to thank Diedric when I meet him next time, if there were ever to be a next time.’ The nanobots started to heal the wounds from the inside. The broken cells were smoothly replicated using the raw materials that they contained within themselves.

I sat down, leaning onto the trunk of an old tree. ‘How am I in such a mess?’ I thought bitterly. ‘I have never been forced into a fugue state.’ Thank God! Diedric had insisted on having an auto alarm system that would let my brain enter a state of amnesia where a new identity would be supplied. That way, if I were ever captured, I would be of no use to my captors. He had created the proxy Sylvan, a doctor hailing from one of the many tiny villages in No Man’s Land or NML and encoded the primary objective as seeking a hideout in the woods of NML. Once I reached my destination I would automatically emerge from the fugue state. Diedric had mused about the significance of choosing the name Sylvan since it meant a spirit that frequents the woods. I smiled despite my pain. The whole system was such that, upon reaching the woods, I was only supposed to feel tired and remember nothing about the journey itself. But something had gone wrong. Something had gone terribly wrong. I reached into the bag and picked up a piece of laminated paper, of the size of my palm. After scanning my fingerprints and retina, the computer asked for my Code Name. I replied “Gordaine” gritting my teeth remembering that I was always denied permission to change my Code Name. The computer came to life showing an array of tools and automatically established a connection to the headquarters. My worst suspicions came true when I saw the computer initiate the self-destruct sequence. Diedric had come up with this addition recently. The computer housed nanobots, which could destroy the computer incase the security of the headquarters was severely compromised. This meant there was a Code Red Alpha Alert (CRAA). During a CRAA all the agents had a complete identity make-over. Ironically I finally got a Code Name change. All the information regarding the new identity was stored in the suit which had been automatically activated by the computer before it disintegrated into dust. I heard a faint click in my head, followed by a wave information being sent directly into the permanent memory at dizzying speeds. After a few minutes of disorientation my thoughts became coherent. ‘Ark! Ark Heys…. sounds good’ I thought to myself.

I got up and slowly started walking deeper into the woods. I couldn’t help but wonder what it was exactly that had led to me turning up half dead in some graveyard and the HQ into a CRAA. I activated the computer on my sleeve and started to scroll through what it had recorded of the past few days. I stopped dead. I had been in a fugue state for more than a week! How did they get to me when I was in deep cover! Just the thought sent shivers down my spine. It was happening. However much I would have loved to deny my premonitions, it was inevitable. Unconsciously, I started to walk faster; I had to get to Diedric quickly. If he was still alive, I knew where to find him. I had to do my part to save the planet before it was too late. I had to stop the imminent war!