Anti-Constitutional Technologies

This evening in the Rajya Sabha, the Leader of the Opposition Mr. Arun Jaitley started a short duration discussion on the politically motivated telephone tapping scandal and the 2G spectrum auction related telephone tapping by the IT department. Other than cornering the government for big-brothering the system, Mr. Jaitley, an eminent lawyer also brought the usual civil liberties angle to the debate. But deviating from the expected 'sanctity of personal privacy' rhetoric, he hinted at an idea that certain technologies could make the constitutional protections irrelevant:

"... And you are now going in for a technology which has a complete mismatch to this entire constitutional scheme and guarantee. And the mismatch is, well I have got a technology which does not respect India's Constitution, which defies the entire constitutional protection that I have, and that technology, when it drives around the country is in a position to bug everybody else's telephone."
- Mr. Arun Jaitley, MP Rajya Sabha

I am sure the lawmakers can legislate on almost any subject, so if a technology gets out of hand they will find a way to limit and prohibit its usage, just as they do with Nuclear Energy. But what if a new technology comes along that can really make it a nightmare for anyone to regulate its usage - a suicide bomber scenario in technology regulation. At that point, the futility of the laws will be clear for all to see.


Now I don't know if Mr. Jaitley has seen The Dark Knight but the "too much power for anyone to have" premise that he alluded to is also seen in that film's climax. The movie version is a fictional cellphone sonar technology that can basically locate anyone in Gotham city. Batman's ally Lucius Fox raises similar apprehensions as Mr. Jaitley does, although for more philosophical and less political reasons. But in the movie as long as the good guy uses it, its all cool. So the question is if we see the Government of India as the good guy.

Links:
Rajya Sabha Proceedings, 29th April 2010 (Read from Pg 12 onwards): http://164.100.47.5/newdebate/219/29042010/16.00pmTo17.00pm.pdf
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article417847.ece?homepage=true
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Lobbyists-phone-tap-revives-2G-scam-row/articleshow/5870446.cms
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2008/07/bat_gadgets

Government's Algebra: A Symbol for the Number

The Nandan Nilekani chaired Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI) on realizing that its name was not very uniquely identifiable had to go in for a makeover. They found a new name "Aadhaar" (meaning either Foundation or Support) and had a competition for a new logo last month - an adult version of the summer painting competition.

Of all the entries, they found a winning design by one Mr. Atul S Pant of Pune and gave him an amount of Rs. 1,00,000 - a fraction of what a professional design firm would charge. Then came the task of explaining their new logo. And here we go:


“It represents a new dawn of equal opportunity for each individual, a dawn which emerges from the unique identity the number guarantees for each individual. The sun symbolizes a promise that shines on all residents equally — the number would enable access to services and resources for everyone, including people who have long been disadvantaged, such as marginal groups, migrants and women and children. The fingerprint within the sun indicated that the promise of AADHAAR stems from its uniqueness.”

Unlike the cattle, they try to convince us to get ourselves branded and numbered.

Update: 29th April 2010, The Mint's take- Left vs Right of UIAI Politics:
http://www.livemint.com/2010/04/29201314/Against-insecurity.html

Links:
http://uidai.gov.in/documents/uid_logo.pdf
http://www.livemint.com/2010/04/27213047/Getting-India-to-sign-up-for-A.html?h=B
http://advice.cio.com/v_k_singh/10186/aadhar_project_of_india_is_unconstitutional

Assured Replies

For those who missed it in The Hindu this morning, the Hyderabad Traffic Authorities are seeking suggestions:

"... the city traffic police are eliciting suggestions of citizens to improve the traffic situation in the capital that has about 20.49 lakh vehicles. Citizens can either call: 90102 03626 or send emails to website: www.htp.gov.in and trafficpolicehyderabad@yahoo.co.in. And the assurance is replies will be given to all queries."

So if you want to go down the activist road then stop grumbling and call them. Honestly though, I think this suggestion business was always there, its just that they publicize it from time to time. Each time they conduct one of these citizen participation drives in reality all they undertake is yet another Public Relations exercise. I suspect that these authorities in reality suppose that the public's suggestions lack feasibility and are mostly either rants or whines but by and large simple minded and naive. But they still have to keep us engaged!


Follow-up: 27th April 2010

"Dial a Cop" - In the gossip columns of the Times of India:
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIH/2010/04/27&PageLabel=2&EntityId=Ar00201&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

Links:
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/26/stories/2010042657990100.htm
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Shop-owners-to-be-booked-for-parking-rule-violation-/articleshow/5857535.cms

The Eyes Have It

Today the only remaining form of visual art that is truly accessible to the general public is the movie poster. They are everywhere, in the cities they occupy all vertical surfaces within eyeshot, in the more rural areas they are seen up on those kaccha walls. Within the limits of a few square feet of space the poster has to convey an idea to the viewer that should tickle him into spending time and money on the movie - the job of designing these posters is as much a challenge as making the actual movies.

A recent poster that caught my eye was of Mahesh Manjerekar's City of Gold. The intended emotion of dispossessed anger that the filmmaker wants to convey comes through clearly in the posters.


The subject matter of the film is about the shutting down of the textile mills of Bombay in the 80s to make way for real estate developers to erect structures that form the current skyline of the city thus resulting in the destitution of mill workers. Incidentally the producers of the movie, DAR Motion Pictures are themselves into real estate development.

Links:
http://www.marchingants.net/home.htm
http://www.impawards.com/designers/marching_ants.html

The 3-Way Shake

One thing that no leader can do without in forging an alliance is the actual physical handshake. But hands are normally shook a pair at a time and that can be a problem in situations where there are multiple parties involved. To combat the challenge of maintaining parity in the special case of a three way alliance, especially in international relations where appearance is everything, leaders have successful come up with the 3-way shake.

Getting it done:

- The 3 leaders start by forming a rough triangle while making sure that none of their backs are turned to the cameras. Note: Cameramen must necessarily be arranged as a single short line and not be allowed to encircle the leaders.

- Now all 3 leader grabs each other's hands while maintaining a lefthand to lefthand & righthand to righthand pairing between them. At this point its a good idea to check for any loose hands. Observing schoolgirls play their games will help here.

- After all the 6 hands form 3 neat pairs of simultaneously shaking hand, the leaders have to again adjust themselves to face the cameras while not seeming ungainly.

- An important last check at this point is conducted by making sure that each leader has both his hands crossed across his torso to perform the 3-way shake. This eliminates the possibility to shaking one's own hand.

How it isn't done:

In this picture from 2007, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, Former South African President Thabo Mbeki and the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attempt a 3-way shake with disastrous results. Although the South African and Brazilian Presidents perform their part of the maneuver commendably, the Indian Prime Minister clearly breaks the 4th rule and the 2nd rule of the 3-way shake and is seen here possibly trying to shake his own hand. Bravely though the three leaders try to hush up the glaring faux pas which had thankfully gone unnoticed until now.

True Worth

The grotesqueness of an eyeball fueled money hunt that is IPL is too much for some to handle. As Gordon Gekko said "Greed.. is Good". But it shouldn't show.

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/455783.html

In an unassuming manner, Mr. Ashok Malik here brings out some of the factors at play when a player really starts to appraise his skills for every conceivable Rupee that can be squeezed.

Nodding Along

About a year ago I read a tiny book called 'A Very Short Introduction: Machiavelli' by Quentin Skinner. The subject of the book is famous for his unique take on politics and statecraft. Even if they didn't read Machiavelli, every politician does what he wrote about. The section of the book that interested me was the opening section that covered the reasons which led to Machiavelli writing his most famous work - 'The Prince'.

It revealed that while writing this definitive textbook on the cut-throat world of state intrigue and power-grabbing, Machiavelli was simply trying to prove his credentials. Thus for such a monumental work, all that motivated Machiavelli was the idea of impressing one of his readers - the ruler of Florence, to such an extent so as to secure employment for himself. Did he really then believe in all he wrote? Who's to say.

This is the way most creative projects function, without a patron there are no artists, musician or writers. And a patron could be any person who supports or appreciates the endeavor. So most times the works that are regarded as masterpieces are considered so because the viewer (or consumer) perceive them to be great, this view may not necessarily be shared by the creator of the piece.

Since the tastes of the viewer and the creator may differ, today the prior endorsement of the consumers is procured in all the big ticket creative fields. Movies are screened to a test audience before release and books are professionally vetted by the publishers to ensure that the patrons like the 'product'. So creative pieces should not be uncomfortable in being classified as products, because that's what they are - they are in fact the only products that human beings can claim complete ownership of. Therefore if the product needs to be okayed by the consumer, then it is the job of the artist to make sure they get that approval. Otherwise we all would be artists of note.

Take a look at this Bruno interview where he satirically tears apart a fashion designer's work and presents a sorry image of what can be dressed up to be creativity. Sadly though this is the case with most people making a living on being creative, they are just out there to please.



Links:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071018/REVIEWS/710180306
http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/453685.html