From IP to HoIP

What is IP (Internet Protocol)?

- It is the protocol used to create the internet. In conjunction with TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) it forms the logical basis for the internet. This blog post is not about IP or its details. If your interested in IP check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Protocol

Networking is defined by the famous OSI 7 layer stack.

IP is defined in the Network Layer (3rd layer). The entire stack uses a different set of protocols at each level. All the protocols taken together form the 'protocol stack' which defines how applications running on your PC communicate through the protocol stack over the network. Kind of like how the CEO of a company reveals long term strategy to senior managers who in turn assign specific goals to middle managers so that the goals can be attained. In turn middle managers break down goals into specific sub-tasks and assign them to different teams.

So when you click that send button in your chat window a whole series of activities occour up and down the protocol stack in micro-seconds before your message is sent across the network.

IP is quite old (late 1970s). It was used as the foundation for richer applications like HTTP - for web-pages and FTP - for file transfer. But all this also quite old (around mid 1990s).

Following up on this was the concept of transmitting voice over IP (VoIP). This allows for efficient transmission of voice over traditional network systems (all this by creating stacks of protocols). VoIP has come into its own since 2002 and more and more data traffic on the worlds network is VoIP related.

So if we look at a time scale it is something like this -

-30 years (approx) - Internet Protocol - low level usage.

-10 years (approx) - Applications over IP (AoIP) such as mail/web/file-transfer.

-3 years till current (2007) - Voice over IP (VoIP) - integration of voice communication with packet based networking technology as compared to traditional circuit based implementations of communication systems.

I was reading "The world is flat" by Thomas L. Friedman. He predicts that the next big thing is going to be Services over IP (SoIP). SoIP is about delivering services like TV, Radio, Telephony etc. over a single connection. Treating everything like a packet of data - be it TV signals or voice signals. Where the money is charged for the services being used and not the duration of their usage.

I agree with him, IPTV is already making waves. Streaming movies and video content are already popular (e.g. YouTube). The hardware is available along with the storage to run the mutlti-media content servers.

So over the next few years we would see a growth in SoIP. But what next? What is the next thing afrer SoIP?

I think after SoIP it is going to be HoIP.

Human over IP (HoIP)

Where two people will be connected through IP directly. As computers come closer to the human, the day of embedded computers talking to each other through IP is not far. Computer based interfaces are going to form a separate sense for humans and IP is going to be the foundation to achieve the interconnect at that level.

That would mean I can talk to ANYONE or SEE ANYONE on the Earth AT ANYTIME! Usually one can just talk to the people around you (through voice). For people further away one needs to use a phone. But what if human senses were converted to IP?

So if I wanted to SEE you, you could convert your image into a live video stream and send it directly to the computer interface for my eye and it would be shown within my eye. Same thing can happen with voice, touch, smell!

Digitization of voice is already possible. With a wi-fi connection I can talk to anyone in the world (through Skype)! Down the line the other senses will get digitized and all humans will be connected.

You're never going to keep me down!

I get knocked down.

But I get up again.

You're never going to keep me down!

- From the song I get knocked down by Chumbawamba

The above lines are really inspiring. We all get knocked down at-least once in our lives. By knocked down I mean we feel as if life couldn't get any worse. Whenever you feel that way remember those above lines. Realise that those who turn failure into success are the biggest winners.

Say to yourself:

'I will smash through all barriers that stand between me and what I want to achieve, like a tank through a brick wall.'

Give yourself a confidence boost. You KNOW you can do it!

Be a tank. Let nothing stand in your way. Make your path clear through the problems that surround you. Grind your problems into dust.

The Price of Dreams

The other day I was thinking about fulfiling our dreams and the price we pay to fulfil them.



Most dreams have a clear price that you can pay to fulfil them. For example a car enthusiast might dream about owning a particular car which will most certainly, have a clearly defined price.

Then there are dreams which do not have a fixed price. There is no upper limit to the price that one might have to pay to achieve those dreams. Dreams of fame and fortune, for example, have traditionally compelled people to pay a very heavy price.

One might have many dreams to go after but limited resources to use in their pursuit. Therefore in the end it is down to a kind of cost benefit analysis to select the dreams to pursue.

All the analysis cannot answer the one moral question that has plagued mankind since the beginning: What is the price you should be willing to pay for your dreams?

Is there anything like an 'excessive' price?

What are the moral implications of chasing your dreams?

Will the paying of the price and achievment of the dream benefit a single person or a large number of people?

These are some of the questions hidden behind the one moral question, which one must think about.

Things people have said about me...

You should be banned from sending emails to OFFICIAL EMAIL IDs (SK)

A thousand devils would have died before you were born (DU)

Ek sapna to pura karo (SS)

a tight slap for you! (VG)

SHUT UP OH PLEASE FOR GODS SAKE, SHUT UP! (TK) <-This was implied and never actually spoken!

ho gaye tumhari non-tareeke ki baten shuru? (AC)

God Is Love!

The Bible says God is Love!

Thinking about Love, I wonder if the readers know that the ONLY major religion not to have caused any bloodshed in its name is Buddhism!

Maybe we should give the teachings of Buddha a little more thought.

Peace and Love.. what else do you need in life?

And India HAVE DONE IT!

A bright and young Indian team, under the dynamic leadership of Dhoni have done it! The team for once did not have anything to loose and everything to gain! I am, like the rest of India, looking forward to the coming few months of cricket. India - Australia then India - Pakistan followed by India touring Australia.
Exciting winter of Cricket ahead!

INDIA IS IN THE FINALS OF THE 20/20 WORLD CUP!

Here are the highlights of the Australian Innings!
See the wickets fall. See the sexy fast bowling from the Indian Bowlers!

I LOVE it when our bowlers clean bowl the opposition batsmen. The ball is released, it swings through the air, in-between the bat and the pad, CLEAN BOWLED!
The MIDDLE STUMP TAKES A WALK! :D
Thats what happened to Gilchrist! That was a classic delivery.
It nearly gave me an erection (being an ex-student and fan of physics!).
Because of that one delivery I will forgive Shreesanth his (sometimes) idiotic behavior and (occassional) lack of control (both over the ball and his temper).

Hayden, lost his wicket to a wild slog shot (trying to intimidate Sreesanth) and that made me want to run naked through the streets of Bristol (Thank God I can't do anything like that now!)

The Pathan Delivery (the one that got us the match) to get rid of Symonds. Intelligent bowling. Tempt Symonds with the width and yet not throw it all that wide (so that it doesn't miss the stumps!). Great stuff from the experienced bowler. He needs to be back in the team now!

Then the Bhajji yorker, right in the block-hole with a bit of flight! SWEET! UMMMMMM

The icing on the cake was the on-the-sweetspot yorker from Sharma making the Leg Stump take a walk!

I heard a familiar song during the game, being played on the ground. It was being played during the Australian Onslaught. It is a song by Men At Work - The Land Down Under. But it should be used for India after their performance yesterday!

Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover!

:D

Land Down Under Lyrics
» Men At Work
Traveling in a fried-out combie
On a hippie trail, head full of zombie
I met a strange lady, she made me nervous
She took me in and gave me breakfast
And she said,

"Do you come from a land down under?
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover."

Buying bread from a man in Brussels
He was six foot four and full of muscles
I said, "Do you speak-a my language?"
He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich
And he said,

"I come from a land down under
Where beer does flow and men chunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover."

Lying in a den in Bombay
With a slack jaw, and not much to say
I said to the man, "Are you trying to tempt me
Because I come from the land of plenty?"
And he said,

"Oh! Do you come from a land down under? (oh yeah yeah)
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover."

Oh and a final note:

The FIRST ICC MINI WORLD CUP was held in SA/Zimbabwe and India reached the Final after defeating both Australia AND South-Africa. Their Final match was against New Zealand which they lost.

This time for the FIRST ICC 20/20 WORLD CUP (again held in SA), India has reached the Final after defeating both Australia AND South-Africa. Their Final match WOULD have been against New Zealand but they lost to Pakistan.

Thus for the ICC 20/20 WC for the FIRST TIME, INDIA AND PAKISTAN are going to face off in the Finals of a MAJOR INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT.

The Triumph of Death

Bruegel, Pieter

The Triumph of Death

c. 1562

Oil on panel117 x 162 cm

Museo del Prado, Madrid

Keane - Bedshaped

Keane - Bedshaped



Many's the time I ran with you down

The rainy roads of our old town

Many the lives we lived in each day

And buried all together

Don't laugh at me

Don't look away



You'll follow me back (YOU ARE FOLLOWING ME BACK)

With the sun in your eyes

And on your own

Bedshaped and legs of stone

You'll knock on my door

And up we'll go

In white lightI don't think so

But what do I know?

What do I know?



I knowI know you think I'm holding you down

And I've fallen by the wayside now

And I don't understand the same things as you

But I do



Don't laugh at me

Don't look away



You'll follow me back

With the sun in your eyes

And on your own

Bedshaped, two legs of stone

You'll knock on my door

And up we'll go

In white lightI don't think so

But what do I know?

What do I know?

I know



ahahaa ahahaa ahahaa ahahaa(Choir)



ooooohhhhhhhh

And up we'll goIn white light

I don't think so

But what do I know?

What do I know?

I know



This is a VERY SPECIAL song for me. The video is what got me hooked to this song a long long time ago. Check it out. The video is just amazing!

This song is dedicated to a Very special friend in my life. The one who ended the night and bought a new dawn!

What do I know?
I know

:)

KC

A.

The Bible and its Prophecies...

Recently I was reading about the so called 'prophecies of the Bible'. The text talked about how the Bible predicts things. Some of which have come true and some are yet to come true.

It got me thinking about how we use religious texts. We use them mostly to push our own ideas. We interpret them in our own way and use them as a basis for spreading our own idealogy and proving or disproving theories. From justification of violence to creating false hope.

I think all religious texts tell us how to live. They are good for the here and now… they were good when they were written, they are good now, and shall remain so in the future.

The main reason for this is: these texts were written by humans for humans. The essential human nature has not changed. We still do many of the same things that we did back then. The method might have changed but the act hasn’t.

We still get up, go to work, come back home, sleep, eat, make love, produce babies and so on.
Our core emotions are still the same. We still love, hate, get embarrassed, get jealous etc.

What made us human back in the days of the Bible (or any other religious text) makes us human even today (and hopefully shall continue to make us human in the future!)

Therefore one should accept the Bible and OTHER religious texts not because they help us in prediction but because they help us understand ourselves.

The interpretive analysis of the Bible and connecting it with prophecies can be done with any religious text. But we should remember this, when we interpret something as complex as the Bible (or for that matter The Gita, The Ramayana, The Quran, The Torah etc.), we do end up putting our own knowledge and beliefs in the interpretation. No interpretation can be purely objective.

Therefore just accept the religious texts as a window into your soul and nature. Not as a guide to what is going to happen tomorrow.

Why?

Because your tomorrow, is largely in your hands!

Flowers of the Arctic

Posting some old pics I came across from my Yellowknife, Canada trip, thanks to a friend!
These pictures were taken using my Sony camera.

Nokia 6110 Navigator

NOKIA 6110 NAVIGATOR

The phone with the slider open.

The 6110 Navigator is the latest phone from Nokia. It is a slider phone as you can see above. The slider mechanism is quite solid and feels reliable. The screen is a 2.2inch QVGA high resolution one (just like the E65).

It is a 3.5G phone (supports HSDPA) and has a front facing camera for video calls. Just above the camera is the light sensor which modifies the brightness and keypad lights based on ambient light. This is quite useful and saves the battery life. So for example when you are in a well lit area the keypad buttons don't light up. But as soon as the lights go down (say when your in a movie theatre) the keypad lights come on.

This phone has 7 main interface buttons and a 5-way navigation/click key in the centre.

Two buttons below the screen (blue light) are for selecting the screen options. The green/red keys are for connecting/disconnecting calls with the red key doubling up as the power on/off key. There is the traditional 'Menu' key and a cancel 'C' key. The final key (in between the 'C' and Menu keys) activates the GPS application (yes the 6110 Navigator has in-build GPS!).

On the left side there is a programmable 'My Own Key' which you can set to any application you like for one click access. On the right there is a +/- key used for the camera and volume control along with the shutter key.

The 6110 compared with Sony Ericsson P990i.

Volume: 89 cc
Weight: 125 g with battery
Dimensions: 101 x 49 x 20 mm

As you can see the phone is not all that small (especially when you compare it to some of the Samsung sliders) but then again it has TONS of useful features. The metallic finish ensures that keys feel sturdy.

Top view, from L to R: Power connector, cradle connector, 2.5mm headphone jack.

The phone has quite a few different connectors all over the place. The top part of the phone contains the power, cradle and 2.5mm headphone jack (which makes it really easy to use your normal headphones with it!). On the left side it has a small-formfactor USB port which means you don't need a special data cable to connect it with your PC and a Memory Card slot (microSD - 512mb card comes free with the 6110 in UK).

The main screen with the Light Trails theme.

The interface is very well designed and the software really quick (especially when compared with some of the Sony Ericsson phones). The phone comes with Real Player, MP3Player and it also has built in FM-Radio. It comes with QuickOffice and PDFReader application and of course special GPS applications, maps and navigation software. Games are bit boring (just Snake and Marble).

The back view with the slider and camera shutter open, note the GPS antenna.

The main camera on the phone is a 2.0 Megapixel one with flash. It is protected with a shutter. In the above picture the stereo speakers can also be seen below the camera housing. These stereo speakers provide 3-D affect and allow the use of '3-D ringtones'. How useful that feature is, well that is up to you! With the slider open the GPS antenna can also be seen.

The Nokia Navigator map application, note the Navteq and Route 66 logo.

The mapping application uses Route66 software. The GPS is really powerful and was able to do a cold start within 2 minutes. Hot-fix is established equally quickely. The software application is surprisingly powerful for a small phone like this. 2-D/3-D views, landmarks, places of interest, pedestrian option, digital compass and many other features packed into the software. If your operator supports it, you can pass your location on to them and they will dynamically update 'places of interest' within the software, based on your location!

The top-view map with the GPS running.

It is a fairly feature packed phone. I think the phone would have been successful even without the GPS. But the GPS adds that extra punch to the list of features. With a large number of supported countries (with maps) this is the kind of phone which you would WANT to carry with you all over the world!

Without the GPS, the 6110 would have been just another 3.5G smartphone. But with the GPS it becomes much more than a phone.

The Negatives

Well I did not have many complaints with the phone. A minor complaint was a lack of good application software and the fact that a 3.2 megapixel camera would have really hit the spot. Perhaps, also, Nokia could have been a bit less lazy and made a slightly larger screen (rather than re-using the screen from E65!).

The Final Word

If you were looking out for a GPS receiver, you should instead go for this phone. Just think of it as a GPS receiver with a smartphone and camera built into it rather than a smartphone with GPS.

The Road - Thoughts of a Traveller.. through music!

The wide open road has lured many people. Some people take the road in search of fame, fortune or even a simple two square meals. Some take the road for adventure and the infinite possibilities it offers. Some take it because they are forced to use it on their way to work.

The concept of the road leading to my front door has always fascinated me. How if we start following it, who knows where we end up!

Tolkien reminds us:

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

Similarly Robert Frost tells us:

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Frost also reminds us how important it is to decide which road to take. Tolkien on the other hand stresses on the need to explore and the eager spirit of the true traveller who travels not to reach a destination, but travels to keep follow the road as it bounds ahead of his feet.

As always the poet William Barnes shows us that we ALWAYS have a choice, in his poem Linden Lea:

I be free to go abroad,

Or take again the homeward road.

In the true spirit of the explorer I always used to be fascinated about how as you move away from your house things become less and less familiar.

How among a familiar road unfamiliar sites can be seen. A new secret discovered. A view seen from a different angle. The world changing depending on which road you were on. Different approaches to an intersection of roads.

As a child I used to travel around the highways of North India with my father in our car. I always used to sit in the front. I always used to be fascinated about how subtle the change was as the roads split and met. How first you left the colony, then the area and then finally the city.

The open highway with its small villages through which you would zip at 70-80 kmph, barely registering in your mind. Your attention always on the road ahead.

The slow change in the air, the weather, the smells and that noises. From the quite of the house to the mad rush and pollution of the city and then the wide open spaces of North India! To imagine all this at my doorstep! I just have to follow the road!

But the open road is not always a happy place. It is also a very lonely place. The Beatles have expressed this quite accurately through their song 'The Long and Winding Road':

The long and winding road

That leads to your door

Will never disappear

Ive seen that road before

It always leads me here

Lead me to your door

The wild and windy night

That the rain washed away

Has left a pool of tears

Crying for the day

Why leave me standing here

Let me know the way

The long open road can be a very lonely place. When you are travelling alone or when you loose your travelling companions. Or when the road ahead and behind is lost. When the road leading to your loved one is long behind you. When there is just you and the road.

The beautiful imagery of rain on an open road with a lonely traveller represents the pain of loneliness and a life without love. Where no one is there to show you the way home or to offer you shelter. Where you are alone.

:)

The Road Goes Ever On and On by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.


This poem is given in the Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring).

It talks about how all roads start from our door. The moment we step out of our door the road is open and free. The road that ends at our door (or begins for that matter!) connects us with a world of infinite possibilities!

Each time we open our front door and start on that road what we don't realise is that the journey might be few minutes long, or it could be a journey for life!

The road keeps meeting other roads and so on.

You could step out of your house and travel anywhere in the world! That is the freedom offered by the humble road that leads to your door!

Linden Lea

LINDEN LEA - “Translated”

Music by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Words by William Barnes

Within the woodlands, flowery gladed,
By the oak tree's mossy moot,
The shining grass-blades, timber-shaded,
Now do quiver under foot;
And birds do whistle overhead,
And water's bubbling in its bed,
And there for me the apple tree
Do lean down low in Linden Lea.

When leaves that lately were a-springing
Now do fade within the copse,
And painted birds do hush their singing
Up upon the timber tops;
And brown-leaved fruit's a-turning red,
In cloudless sunshine, overhead,
With fruit for me, the apple tree
Do lean down low in Linden Lea.

Let other folk make money faster
In the air of dark-roomed towns,
I don't dread a peevish master;
Though no man do heed my frowns,
I be free to go abroad,
Or take again my homeward road
To where, for me, the apple tree
Do lean down low in Linden Lea.


This English Folk Song has been one of my favourites since way back in 1996-97 when I heard it for the first time.

It reminds me of the simple life where you don't need an ipod to enjoy the music of birds or a digital camera to appreciate the beauty of nature. A time when even going to the next town down the road was a big thing. A time when it was easier to amuse ourselves.

The lines which I have highlighted have special significance to me. I like them a lot.

Simple Guide to Maintain Relationships

Each successful relation, be it girlfriend-boyfriend or a simple friendship or a family relation, can only be sustained if it has:

Movement

Stability

Any successful relation is all about maintaining movement and stability.

Relation requires stability to weather the storms which can threaten the bond.

Relation requires movement to prevent stagnation and to carry the bond through problems and issues.

The responsibility lies on the people involved in the relation to take care of the above.

How to provide stability and maintain the movement. That is the key to maintaining a relation.

If you feel that your relation with someone is not going as well as it should be, try and figure out what is lacking. Whether it is the stability or the movement.

Many times you may be involved in a relation which is lacking one of the above. It may be that the two people are not compatible or a relation may not be feasible if the two people involved in it, taken together cannot provide movement and stability. This can happen if say two people involved are only capable of providing stability or movement but not both.

This doesn't mean you break the relation. It may just mean that you should have realistic expectations from it.

The Animal Instinct in me

Suddenly something has happened to me
As I was having my cup of tea
Suddenly I was feeling depressed
I was utterly and totally stressed
Do you know you made me cry
Do you know you made me die

And the thing that gets to me
Is youll never really see
And the thing that freaks me out
Is Ill always be in doubt
It is a lovely thing that we have
It is a lovely thing that we
It is a lovely thing, the animal
The animal instinct

These are a few lines from my favourite song - Animal Instinct by the Cranberries.

A Flower Blooms

As the night ends and the first light of dawn breaks the sky. A flower blooms.

Power of the humble Flower!

The humble flower. So many varieties, shapes, sizes, smells, colours!
Being able to say so many different things.
'Say it with flowers!' That's the power of the humble flower. So delicate, so weak. Yet something that humans cannot do without. Everyone likes flowers (except those who don't like them!).

Flowers can be gifted, bought, eaten, smelled (among other things!).

Flowers give you that boost when you feel like crap. Flowers can give you that comfort when you feel sad. Flowers can give you that enthusiasm when you feel that life is dull.

Flowers have the power of stirring things up!

Send your good friend some flowers! See the reaction! See the surprise!

These days all you need is a credit card and good taste to surprise the special people in your life.

So go ahead! Send someone some flowers! Make their day special and bright! :)

And of course you never know, some flowers might be headed your way right now! ;)

What does it mean to be an Adult?

So what does it mean to be an adult?
Does it mean earning money and surviving on your own, without help from parents?
Does it mean cooking your own food and cleaning your own clothes?
Does it mean taking your own decisions?

I think becoming an adult means shielding your parents from stress, pain and worry. That is what being an adult is about.

Remember when you were a child, your Mom would get up before you, no matter whatever time she slept at night, prepare your breakfast and lunch, then wake you up and send you off to school. She made sure you were comfortable and happy.

Your Dad would be awake before you as well. Getting ready for the day ahead, the toil and labour so that you could have your needs fulfilled. Coming home late in the evening much after you. Tired and exhausted yet happy to see you playing with your toys or watching TV or doing your homework (in case you were an ideal child!).

They were like pillars holding the roof over your head, protecting you from a tough existence.

They had issues many times. They fell ill, they had problems at work, stress, emotional issues. But all the time they never told you how they felt. They never shared all their problems with you. Many issues you were not even aware of. Being a kid you probably didn't even realise that issues existed. You were too happy in your own little storybook world.

That is what being an adult means. When you are able to shield the people you love from your problems. When you are able to take all the stress and show them nothing but a smile. That's what your parents did for you.

One day you will start doing it for them. As they enter the end of their working life and it is time for them to enjoy the fruits of their labour you will start keeping your issues from them. In the beginning it will be small issues like minor illnesses and daily stress which will increase to major issues. You will take their issues as your own. You will make sure they are kept happy and are disturbed as little as possible with problems. You will of course inform them when things go seriously wrong, that is when you do need their support. Hiding problems doesn't mean alienating them. They will always be there to provide support.

When you start treating parental support as a God given privilege rather than a necessity, that is when you can start calling yourself an adult.