Crime & Technology

Oh my god, I have been so far away from my blogging in the past months. Again,

apologies for breaking my promise of being a regular. Circumstances, that’s it! No excuses. Now that I'm back, let’s see what we can talk about this time. From the fact that I broke my promise, it sure feels like committing a crime sometimes. Why not talk about use of technology in Crime: Both proliferation and prevention?

I know its again an interesting but sensitive topic but then it is something which affects us all the time. Crime is something which can really alter the way you feel, your well being, your mental state. If you live in a place which is calm, relatively low in crime, you will most likely feel safe, free and secured. On the other hand, if you live in a place where Crime is a daily affair around you, you are not likely to be free, safe or secure.

Enough to ascertain the importance of the topic. Now, lets come back to our friend technology. Technology does play a role in Crime, no doubt about it. The point is whether the technology use in prevention is enough to overplay its role in enabling crime. Good question?? I know, the answer is not simple either, which is the case which all Good Questions, isn't it?

We see or hear things where technology is being used for Crime prevention. All the time you hear about CCTV surveilance, Centralized distress call management [Dial 100, 101 & 102 or 911 services], metal detectors, x ray scanning machines on airports are all examples of use of technology for crime prevention. It is another aspect on how successful they are in different environments.

Many of you who do online shopping in India must have thought about the reasons why you now have to remember and enter one additional one time password for all credit card transaction online. Its an added layer of security. If you credit card is stolen, it could be used online as the Card number, the expiry date & the CVV numbers are all present on the card itself. Thats all you needed to use it online earlier but now this one time password or 3D secure password thing has changed that. Although, a bit late but our financial watchdogs finally thought about it and implemented it.

Look at the darker side of tech use in crime and it will give you shivers for sure. All over the world, terrorist organizations have been using technology like Sat phones, internet for their communication needs. The open nature of the internet as its harms as well. If you go to google today and search for how to assemble a bomb, you'd probably get thousands of entries some of them will surely be useful for terrorists. If you wanna know the extent of this negative use, sometime back I heard that terrorists and extremists are using JPEG images to circulate secret information about their missions via encryption and encoding.

Now, this is another area where technology is struggling to find the balance. The difference is that unlike any other fields like medical and business, this is a domain where the positive use of technology should always be ahead of the negative use. The real deal is ofcourse unknown right now. Maybe in some parts of the world, we may have the Crime Prevention tech ahead of the other side but some parts are way below standards in effective use for prevention whereas the use in proliferation is high. All voer the world, crime prevention agencies are striving to be ahead in this race.

I again would like to leave you with a question. What according to you can we as citizens of developing nations do in order to ensure effective use of crime prevention technology or atleast to enable the agencies to do it? Think about it as its really an important aspects which lies in very trivial things. Hint: How many times have you denied being frisked at a mall entrance stating you are Some One from Some big agency/deptt etc? Got your minds rolling?? Keep thinking and Keep up with technology while I wait your answers.

Cheers

N E O

Finding Solutions with Technology

We kind of had different views as expected on the question whether Life Supports technology of vice versa. Ofcourse, I was expecting them as this is such a topic that not many people can deny the role of technology in supporting life and also at the same time, it is implied that this technology is also created by some intelligent & enterprising instances of the same life that its supporting. Believe me, it really does come to my mind sometimes that we overdo the application of technology in supporting life. In my view, helping people live a healthy life is one thing but making sure they breathe (even forcefully) while their body and vital organs are not functioning is another thing. But as there are many things (read emotions) involved here which do not toe the line of practicality, we still allow this forced support to life when it comes to our near and dear ones.

Let’s look at some other aspects where our technological innovations have helped us. Aah, taking the cue from the political environment around the world these days, we can surely talk about the role technology has played in the political uprisings in many countries. Our very own secondary abodes meaning the Social Networking websites are playing or have played a very vital role in aiding these developments. What happened in one of the African countries a few months ago where people got together to topple the government run someone who’s been doing it for 30 years, is a testimony of the importance of technology in such matters of International concern.

People used their Social sites status updates to gather support for the protests against the establishment. It gave them the easiest way to first vent out how they felt about it and then even go to the extent of inviting masses to join them in their crusade against the allegedly corrupt leadership. And we all know, how well it worked. Even today, we are seeing the results of this application reap tremendous benefits to people and groups very close to where we are.

Using technology to carry out anti establishment activities is one thing and going to the root causes of the anti – anything feeling and trying to apply technological innovation and scientific thinking processes to find solutions to those is another. I’m not averse to the former but believe that the latter might give better results even considering that it’s a much tedious thing to do. Really can’t find the links between my thoughts and my words…I thought so. Let me try and make it simpler. The most disturbing issue developing countries are facing is corruption which is also the root of current issues closer home.

Corruption, ofcourse, cannot be solved by anything technology can offer. But it can surely aid a conscious effort to eradicate or reduce corruption. While the systems developed to have a unique identification for citizens can help in tracking the financial transactions by each individual and entities, this entire framework can be helped by technology. Technological environment needed to allow such monitoring can be made free of glitches if there is a will to do that.

Now, in a system where giving or taking bribes to get work done is as normal as breathing, there can be a mechanism parallel to this system which counters the bribery aspect while eating the culture from outside. What I mean is that if you have to get your passport renewed and the validating authority from your local police station etc asks for a bribe explicitly. You give the bribe and at the same time log an incident into this parallel mechanism with proof. Let the investigation for this incident be then aided by various technological means. But mind you, its not a one sided sword, if there is something where you offer the bribe to a public servant in order to get out of a mess you’ve created or to get things done for you without following the process, then the public servant can also log an incident against you while still accepting the bribe from you.

All this ofcourse is not which can work alone. There’s going to be a need to review the entire framework of processes, way of working in different segments of the workforce. For instance, some process might just be in place so that people can extort bribes from public in order to get around them. These processes should be thrown out for sure. I would even go to the extent of looking at some sections where you can legalize a bribe (better call it commission or something else) so that some additional benefits can get to the individuals and then since it’s a legal income, it will go into the records and govt gets taxes on this amount too. Not so easy though but I guess we can give it a thought.

While I’m not saying every bribe could be legalized as there will be rare examples where additional compensation to anyone would deemed justified. I leave you all with these thoughts and asking you again to rattle your mind guns and send feedback my way. Tell me what you think might be the use of technology while we implement something closer to what I mentioned above. Till that time, Happy Reading and Keep Up with Technology!

Cheers

N E O

Life Vs Technology: Who is Supporting?

How is the technology space behaving in these times? Ofcourse the technological breakthroughs keep coming every day. Even as I write some one must be having his/her eureka moment right now. But then, how many of those breakthroughs are worth it. My gauge to see their worth is not how cool they might sound or how well I can impress others if I have access to those technologies. It starts from the basic utility of the technology developed and maybe ends at how viable is it to produce and make it reach the masses (ofcourse at a one up affordable price). I do not say affordable as that wouldn’t be practical. Come on, how many new technologies do you see having a price tag which doesn’t pinch your pockets?

Anyways, what I gathered from the last post’s feedback was that all of you are aware of many such technologies which are used for the benefit of mankind and some others which aren’t. Then there were moral arguments about many technologies used in healthcare domain – whether they should be used or not. The example is, the Life Support System or commonly called the Ventilator. I’m sure almost everyone must have heard about it and it sure does keep a person alive medically even though the most vital organs might have stopped functioning. Majority of arguments about this technology or its use comes as it is being abused by the healthcare industry to get more money out of the patients’ kin. Many argue that keeping a patient alive with this system is not a solution when the person’s body is not in a situation to bounce back to normalcy.

It is also worth noting that the use of this technology may turn out to be a ray of hope or in some cases a life saver. Many people who would oppose the use of this technology might have gone through this phase for their near or dear ones and at that time vouched for using this as well. Forgive me for saying but not many would have the resolve to be practical and not at all emotional at such times and ask the medicos to remove the Life Support and let the patient die his/her own death. Again, that’s all I wanted to say about this as it is a topic which does not involve only technology. I always believe that technology is good but People are better as they have many such technologies inside them which cannot be emulated by any tech gadget in today’s world.

Let’s look at other possible positive applications of technology in medical sciences. I’m going to touch a turf which is very ambitious. So, fasten your seat belts and keep your mind open till the end. Imagine a world where you could order a new liver from the nearby hospital when your existing one is not working properly. How is that possible? Well, it isn’t something directly from a Sci Fi flick but using today’s technology, medical scientists have been able to regenerate a brand new liver in lab. I will talk about this technology in a bit but before that think about a scenario when this can be applied to every vital organ of human body from the liver to the kidneys and the heart or for that matter their auxiliary parts (like the valves for the heart etc). Amazing it would be isn’t it?

This could be an extension of today’s technology called Stem Cell Therapy. In a simple language, stem cells are the simplest form of cells in our body which can be nowadays extracted from various means and stored in cryogenic (very low temperature) facilities. These stem cells have the inherent nature of repairing cells. They are being used to repair various parts of human body by injecting them to the affected area. Ofcourse, the treatment and preservation is costly today but that can be worked out later if its use increases.

Let’s think about adding to this tech a bit. What if we were able to merge the 2 fields of microprocessor controlled devices with the stem cell technology using biotechnology. As a result of this, we could control the behavior of the injected stem cells via microcontrollers and direct them to do (repair/rebuild) exactly as we want them to. I’m sure you are asking how would we control stem cells via microcontrollers. By embedding or amalgamating these microcontrollers within the stem cells. Ofcourse, then these would be called nanocontrollers and it might sound a coincidence to you all that nanotechnology is also an existing field of study and application today.

Sounds exciting, foolish or far fetched ??? Exciting it is for me but not impossible. History is witness that imagination has always been at the root of affairs while any big discoveries or inventions were happening. Take it from a classic tale by Isaac Asimov called The Fantastic Voyage where a team of doctors and engineers are made to board a submarine which is shrunk to a size such that it can be injected into the body of a patient who has a clot in his brain. Watch a movie made on this with the same name and you’ll see how wild any imagination can be. There might be regulations, laws needed to govern the access to these technologies for sure but imagine not losing your near and dear ones to these organ failures. There’s also going to be argument whether this is not intervening with the natural process of a life or in simple words – the GOD’s will. No comments on that for now J

I urge you to think about these things in the next few days and put in your thoughts to word on the comments section of this post. I will leave you with a question whether Life supports Technology or does Technology supports Life. Till we meet again, Happy reading and Keep Up With Technology!

Cheers,

N E O

Good Tech Bad Tech - No Clouds

Well, I see that the cute cloud is no more in demand. Ofcourse, it’s my fault as I gave in too much too soon on the cloud. So, let’s rest the clouds for now and move ahead with a promise to revisit them soon. We can talk about technological applications in various fields of daily life. Not that I want to become an advocate of anything technology brings about but its just that every tech has its core field of application and sometimes if we get carried away and start applying it into other areas, it may not turn out to be good. A classic example was shown in a Hollywood flick called Small Soldiers. The war between the Gorgonites and the Commando Elite takes an ugly turn when the toy company starts using Defense developed technology in toys.

That was Hollywood! Imagine if something like this happens in real life. It will be fun to see toys talking to each other though but then it can take an ugly turn anytime. So, where do we draw the line for technology? I personally am not a conformist to the new age education technologies. I see schools advertising that they now smart classrooms where digital aids are being used to teach children. I admit this would have a different impact on the kids while they see and touch things while learning about them. Graphical representation is always more effective. But the flipside is, we have this tendency of giving in to technology when it comes to assist us in our daily lives.

What does that mean?????? Is that the question? What I mean is that the moment a school teacher gets his/her hands on to technology, they would forget about the things he/she still needs to do as tech cannot replace the human element. A technology cannot teach any child how to respect each other or elders. It needs the warmth of a human guide to carry these things into the basic fabric of a child's psyche. Can you expect a digital interactive screen being able show the importance of love and compassion to kids? Naah, I can’t see that happening. One example of a humane aspect where we should leave out the tech and do stuff the old fashioned way.

So, again it all depends on how we use technology that comes our way. We visited our epics in the last post where Arjuna might have used some tech of their time to augment the capabilities of his weapons. Also, as one of the readers of this post added that Sanjay narrating the entire war episode to Dhritarashtra while not being present at the warfront - Sounds like Cisco Telepresence. Isn’t it? Looking at those things of past and what technology is bringing us now, it sure looks like there was a huge knowledge and tech in those times which was lost and now we are reinventing all of that. Maybe it would be a good idea to read the documentation of those old times. Isn’t it? Ofcourse all the techies dread reading the documents and insist of starting from scratch.

Now, this discussion is not exciting enough until I ask you all to pour in your views on the above ideas. So, I would like you to tell me via your comments that what is that one technology you have seen which is being used in the correct place and one which is being used in a not too appropriate place. Free Your Mind of the clutter and think whether all the tech you use today is doing you any good or does it belong to the place for where it was initiated in the first place.

Meanwhile, I will gather more stuff for you and let’s attach our views together to get to some conclusion, maybe. Till that time, share your feedback and as always Keep Up With Technology!

Cheers

N E O

Epics and the Future - A cloud without wires

Hello, I'm back into the grind after being inactive for weeks. I wouldn’t like to bore you with all the stuff which prevented me from blogging all this while. I guess we can just take this as “things came up”. Although, I promise I will overcome these hurdles and be a regular blogger from now on.

Now that we had started a good debate over the technology beast and its pros and cons, let’s look at other aspects of our association with it and how these can help. Before that, I would like to share an idea which is somewhat weird but I find it appealing. The idea is that maybe our mythological stories or tales already had the concept of a cloud envisioned. Anyone who has seen or heard about The Ramayana & The Mahabharata, could recall that many of the fantasy stuff shown in those epics could well be implemented in the future using cloud services. Going crazy over this idea already??? Read on...

Think about a wireless extension of a country wide or a Global network which hosts all those cloud services which we have talked about earlier and more. Look at all the business services related to finance, people, facilities, infrastructure management and they could all be available in future over the cloud. Now, look back at those epics.

Everytime, you saw Arjuna closing his eyes before firing up his weapon, he might have been requesting some services to be attached to his weapon from the cloud. Does it sound absurd? I'm not sure but it was something which came up and I thought I could share it. It’s not advisable to have a dose of insanity with technology but I took the risk.

Anyways, the purpose of sharing this wild idea was to take the cloud to the next level. Till now whatever things we are expecting the cloud to do for us are based on the fact that there is a service provider which is hosting these services for us and we need a computer/PC to use these services. What if we have a scenario that you really do not need to have a PC to use these services? Why can't your cellphone do this for you? We have started on 3G now; 4G would not be far away too. So if we have a network which hosts all of these services, we would use them wirelessly from our phones or other small gadgets.

Imagine going to a store where you buy some stuff and then at the payment counter, all you have do is let the cashier take your retina scan which can be embedded in your digital certificate. This digital certificate can zip across to your bank for authentication and instantly, you have an app popping up on your phone asking you to approve or reject the transaction. You approve and payment is done. No need to carry cash or cards, it’s as secure as it can be as no one can trick your retina scan without taking out your eye.

Now, for you as a consumer it is very convenient but for a bank who is also hosting its business on the cloud service provider's network, it needs a lot of work, lot of concerns about security etc. But I'm sure it all can be worked out. The real challenge will not be technology, as always. It will be the people and laws/regulations which need to be changed by none other than People. Also, for a consumer to have confidence in these kinds of services, it will take a lot of effort and money from the service providers of any of those services. Even then, it would come down to how much of your people are willing to commit to such services which is far away from the traditional way they have been using it, for instance, banking.

I know the ideas presented in this post are not easy to digest but being a technology enthusiast, I really can't adhere to any boundaries when it comes to thinking about what this friend can do for us. We will talk about many more aspects of technology (not all as wild as the ones above) which can help us make our lives better and of course we will talk more about the debate on whether technology is bad for us or vice versa. Till that time, keep your suggestions and feedback coming in. Happy Reading and Always Keep Up With Technology!

Cheers

N E O

We Want Everything but Can we give some too???

There you go. Lots of responses - views, feedback, contradictory views and they all made my day. As I was talking about how the cute cloud could help us make our lives easier, I unknowingly forgot about one important aspect - a feeling lot of us have about technology - that it is BAD for us and has made our lives robotic.  We'll come to that eventually but let’s first talk about all the things people expect from the cute cloud. This has of course come from the feedback everyone gave me.

1. The Refrigerator - Well, I think the refrigerator idea has been tested as a part of the networked home concept a few years ago. Only thing is, we didn’t see it coming out of those labs at all. But yes, the cute cloud could make this transformation from lab to our homes easier.

-> Doable

2. True Plug n play - I want it too! Every device either has or can have its unique identification which can be mapped with an online db for a matching driver which can be downloaded and installed automatically before you start using it. But there's a catch, a lot would need to be done on the trusted hardware and software lists, blacklisted IDs have to be tracked so that you don’t end up crashing your PC/Lappy just because of the automatic driver download feature.

-> Doable

2. SaaS applications - Well, Security as a Service (SaaS) is already one of the marked offerings that the Cloud providers are looking forward to. If successful, this will generate a lot of revenues for the providers and lot of savings for the subscribers. Why "If successful"? Because it is about Security, of information, resources etc - Isn’t that tricky enough to be given into the hands of a provider unless you trust it like you trust your mother????

-> Doable

3. Medical Science or Services (amazing suggestion I must say) - A cloud based medical facilitation could revolutionalize the entire way we get or give medical services to people. Recently, we heard about a top of the market Video Conferencing product being used for medical consultation or even remotely guided surgeries. Now look at what all do we need for this kind of technology to reach rural areas of any developing nation. We need network connectivity and bandwidth; we need the hardware, the software for enabling the service subscription and management. Of course we would need people to manage it but people are not technology.

-> Doable from technology point of view.

If we look at the technology part, it is nothing impossible in today's world. Service providers can provide ample bandwidth anywhere in the country if they want to. It is only a matter about money and will. Both will come from people. So, in fact, the bottleneck in bringing the best of medical services to the rural areas or small towns is not technology. It is the People - WE.

Start from the Govt whose people may not have the vision or will to do this. Then, look at the Service providers who may not extend an inch of their network until they see exponential profits. Then the techies like us. Would we be ready to take a job in rural areas to setup and maintain this service for the people there? I doubt it. Another solution, we can go and set it up, train local people to manage it and come back. This way you also generate some local jobs. And after all, you would still be wired via the cloud isn’t it?

This has become intense I must say. Can't help it. Its just the feedback I received. Now, there have been some questions about whether these claims about cloud based services are really going to take off. All I can say is - it ain't an easy pitch but you can score here if you keep batting and not loose your wicket. Lots needed, high bandwidths, software licensing paradigm change, Quality of networks needs to be 6 sigma level atleast and so on and so forth.

There was a comment about human aspects of this machine world but it looks like it is again pointing at technology. I mean, when did a television prevent you from sitting on the dinning table with your family. It may be only your addiction of the soaps or reality shows which is preventing you to dine with the family. Peace and Happiness. Lets take one at a time.

Peace in today's context can be best achieved by communication and think about all the ways technology has helped you to communicate. Happiness - Well one way I get happy is whenever I buy any new gadget. But thats just me. Think about all those parents whose kids live abroad and when technologies like internet based video chat enables them to see their grand children online, face to face. Imagine the happiness that shows in their smiles. I'm not saying that technology can give you Peace and Happiness whenever you want but it sure does contribute whenever we want it too. Technology can take the role of anything you want. You cannot apply your ethics and morals to technology. You need to apply them on yourselves not your mobile phone or your computer. Think about it :-).

I could go on forever but lets keep some of this for future posts. Meanwhile please share your comments, views on the blog. Till we meet again, Happy Reading and Keep Up With Technology!

Cheers

N E O

From Gadgets to Cloud

There's only one thing I want to start my second blog post with. A note of thanks to all the people who read my first attempt at blogging and gave their valuable feedback. This will be the drive which will keep me going in the future and push me to put in some content which:

1 - is not a test of your brain's computing power.

2 - lets you take something with you.

3 - touches the non-machine parts of our body.

Coming back to talking about the technology beast and how it has been performing in the last few decades or maybe a century. The evolution, I must say (and everyone would agree), has been tremendous. Even if we take the friendly neighborhood washing machine or the so called Idiot Box, the way these gadgets have transformed our lives is remarkable. Ah, I think you probably do not think of a washing machine or Television as a gadget. Well, they sure are gadgets of their time even though these have been a given for some of us.

So, the point is that today's gadgets may or may not become tomorrow's necessities. Why did I say may not? Well, ever heard of a thing called Soda Maker. I know this poor thing was a rage when it came in the market but now no one even wants to acknowledge that they had one at any point of time. With all due respect to the people who made it, it has failed miserably in becoming a necessity.

After all this chit chat about gadgets and a bit of their lifecycle, let me take you to an altogether different realm. Assume that if you want to play a game, you really do not need to buy a gaming console. You can order this as a service on the internet and play online. It is like you rented a gaming console online for an hour and after you are through, someone else can rent it. Of course, you have requirements at your side of the computing device too but they are really nothing as compared to the requirement of having a gaming console with you.

Does this sound exciting, boring, foolish or anything else? Well, however it may sound it is happening Now. This has started its course mainly from the businesses where any organization would be able to buy processing power online on the fly to - lets say, do some word processing, use MS Excel like software on web, be able to manage workflows or even host their intranets on such secure platforms on the web.

Where would all this come from? How would such services be available to me? Does this mean I really shouldn't buy a gaming console? Aaaah, too many questions but all can be answered by one word - CLOUD. Some of you may have started thinking of me as someone needing psychiatric help by now. How in the world can a cloud in the sky be able to give me MS excel or word proc software? And then, this means when there are no clouds, I get no service??? All I can say is - Rest your brain; the answers are coming.

This is how I wanted to talk about Cloud Computing. Theoretically, cloud computing refers to the possibility of having on the fly availability of computing resources, using competent networks, which removes the need to have all the computational resources on a user's computer and moves the complex part to a entity which has a cute name -  the cloud.

Now, this cute thing is actually a mammoth for the service providers who host it for you or your business. But who cares, it is their baby. I only need my gaming

experience ready when I order it or my address book and calendar managed with SMS alerts on my phone whenever I have an urgent meeting or need to take my

kids to the Zoo (you see, we are touching on humane things. Cloud should enable you to do that as well if it can have that cute a name. isn’t it?)

When we say who cares, it might sound rude but that is the way it is supposed to be now friends. Now lets look at the things which this cute cloud can deliver. You must have had a situation when your phone (another gadget) crashed and you loose your contacts. Phew, what to do now? ask people to send their numbers to you over every possible online or mobile medium. But still not sure how much of the phonebook you can get back by this method. What’s the next best thing we can do, backup our phone. That's correct. But who cares to back it up at a regular interval. I get reminded to take my phone's backup whenever I see someone begging his/her friends to mail their contact numbers on a Social Networking site. Well, that’s another way but it is not a foolproof one for sure.

So, the cute cloud should be able to track these phone backups and even get them completed on scheduled time without you even knowing about it (don’t worry, it will tell you if you choose to know). You can easily expect it to provide you with a simple horoscope or Sudoku software on demand as well as look for complex software and network services like single point communication medium or a security framework and service (UCaaS, SaaS - yeah these are the buzzwords used by business people).

Now, we can talk about more stuff to expect from the cute cloud but I would like to know from you. Yes, please feel free to pour in your imagination and tell me about what all would you like the cloud to be able to deliver. So, these things can make your life easier or your business easier. Note that when your business becomes streamlined, your life becomes easier and you will have more time to do what??? The Humane things we talked about. So, please choose your medium for providing me these thoughts. I would then do a post receipt analysis of your needs and try to categorize them as "Doable/Not Doable/Can be looked at" by the cute cloud.

I think we will have more things about the cloud for the next post (I'm counting on your inputs). So, we continue the cloud talk in the next post. Meanwhile, keep the suggestions, bouquets and brickbats pouring in as comments.

Happy Reading and Keep Up With Technology

Cheers

N E O

Technology is our F R I E ND

What’s all the buzz about technology? Why is that we hear or see new things coming out of this technology beast almost every day (maybe more)? Technology was always meant to make our lives easier so that we could give time and effort to other humane things we are supposed to do. We won't talk about these humane things at depth but to give you an idea, I'm talking about stuff like giving quality time to our family, being able to do good deeds in life (this does not include charity for tax saving..), add value to our life or help others do it. Alrite, that’s enough for the humane stuff.

Now the question arises, has technology really made our lives easier or is it making it complex. I mean, sometimes I do think that it is the other way round. When I was a kid, my choices were simple enough on what I should do or can do after school. It was broadly about studying or playing. In both the activities, gadgets, PCs etc did not have any role. Playing was synonymous with going out instead of staying indoors even if that was during the hot Indian summers. I remember playing cricket in hot summer afternoons and football in the rain. Both were enjoyed equally. Coming back to technology again, you talk to any teenager today. In fact, not even teenager, every school going kid and you'd find they know more about their parents' smart phones than the parents themselves. They would be more worried about posting an update on their Facebook page than meeting their friends. So, really would you call it simple or complicated? That’s an individual choice of course.

But let’s look at it this way. Is it really the technology which is at fault for this? I really do not think so. I have always been happy in saying that "Technology is our Friend". It is up to us how we want to use it. How much control we can have on our use of it? Do you still remember your close friends' phone numbers? I know the answer would be 'No' from most of us (including me..) as we are now depending upon our smart gadgets endless memory for storing it. I sometimes cannot even recall my wife's cell number. Its risky, I know but....

Let me tell you that since this is my first blog, I would not like to go into the tech stuff which is really my turf. I just wanted to have this first post as a disclaimer for all the tech-dreams and tech-reality stuff I would be talking about in my future posts. So, be assured that this blog will not be talking about whether technology is good or bad forever. In fact, the basic fabric of this blog is going to be based on the fact stated above - "Technology is our Friend".

I will leave it with these thoughts and we'll talk about some clouds which do not turn into rain when I return. Meanwhile, your feedback for this post would be vital in improving the next one and the ones after that.So, pour your feelings on this one. Happy reading and keep up with technology.

Cheers
N E O