The Internet Apparition

Peter Delevett reports on Mercury News: In an IPO certain to further turbo-charge the social networking industry, LinkedIn on Thursday notched the most jaw-dropping Wall Street debut for an Internet company since Google. The glorious rise of it’s share-price from $32 at it’s debut to $120 certainly sweep the silicon valley with frenzied optimism.

Outside the glares of the stock markets, Social Media, apparently also hijacked the pivotal heights of our socio-political breathing. Nicholas Kristof of New York Times remarked on the 2009 Protests in Iran:The quintessential 21^st century conflict…on one side are government thugs firing bullets…on the other side are young protesters firing ‘tweets’.

Almost half a billion people worldwide were watching live Internet streams of Kate and William’s wedding with 400 million viewers tuning into Youtube alone.

It’s very symbolic that the only significant speech on ‘freedom’ coming from Barack Obama’s administration was Hillary Clinton’s speech on the freedom of the Internet in January 2010!

However, before we let ourselves washed out by the torrents of globalization spill, we must take a pause to realize that like that of globalization, the impact of Social Media too is often blown out of proportion, perhaps unknowingly, by Cyber-Utopians.

Journalist and social commentator Evgeny Morozov writes in his avant garde book The Net Delusion: The cyber-utopians belief that the Internet would turn us into uber-tolerant citizens of the world, all too eager to put our vile prejudices on hold and open up our minds to what we see on our monitors, has proved to be unfounded. In most cases, the only people who still believe in the ideal of an electronic global village are those who would have become tolerant cosmopolitans even without the Internet: the globe-trotting intellectual elite. The regular folk don’t read sites like Global Voices, an aggregator of the most interesting blog posts from all over the world; instead, they are much more likely to use the Internet to rediscover their own culture—and, dare we say it, their own national bigotry.

The truth about the Green Revolution in Iran is that the revolutionaries who could be identified on social-networking sites were put behind the bars by the Ahmadinejad regime and the despotic government took virulent measures to curb cyber freedom. They also went a step further to use technology in their favor to promote Islamic fundamentalism.

Another truth is: As per The Economist, only 3% of people live outside their country of birth.

Ananda Utsav, Pasadena, USA

Linking the past with the present...

I could bury my legs till my knees in the fall leaves then. The leaves had so many colors. Some golden, some brown, some deep green. They would settle on one another to form a deep leafy bed covering the whole of  hill trough. When night settled, the rustle of the leaves would keep me awake. In the morning, the wet, musky smell would tickle my nostrils, my mind absorbing the earthen rot. I could tell who's coming by the sound of the footsteps they made on the leaves. The tribal cook at his regular visits with tea, breakfast, cigarettes. His dog in search of the remnants. Sharp at 8, my father's surveyor would come and wait in front of our tent; All decked up in his field boots, hat and with the sandpaper colored bag on his back. My dad will immediately pick up two of his treasured possessions: the hammer and the torch and off they'll go to delve into the bottom of the earth. To look into the cracks an crevices, faults and mineral beds, walking endlessly through the virgin forests.

Sometimes he would take me along, mostly I was left behind. The moment I'll see their jeep disappearing around the corner, I'll jump into the wild terrain, starting my own geological excavations. I'll dig out a piece of glistening mica or find a perfectly round shaped basalt. Once I found a beautiful piece of rock all engraved in golden stripes which later I found out were copper striations. They all went to my collection. The stones- all shapes and sizes, the pine cones, the rustic leaves and the most exquisite of all, the wild flowers.

As night would descend, the sounds start reverberating with great elan. The tiny living beings which were hiding most of the day, comes out in open. A lone mammal would heave a big sigh, some other a lingering shriek that would mess up with the monotony of the jungle. Every forest has its sounds. The constant humming that keeps it alive, murmuring of the cricket, stems tweaking, winds hushing the just awakened inhabitants.

The sounds, the smells, the feel of its vast entity, the calm of the moonlit night serenading the ancient Eucalyptus trees, the not knowing and discovering - there's so much to a forest and living in it. Kuchai, in the lap of Chhotanagpur plateau called me time and again. But I could never go back. I had to go pursue another way of life while some other people started inhabiting there in ways that are considered un-social by many now.

That was 18 years back. I could relive my childhood memories, however. Just last week. After all these years and crossing all those miles, I felt the same calling, the smell of earth, the sound of dropping leaves in another piece of untamed nature. Awakening to another wishful wood. Or was it the same? We change but the forest don't.

It's still the same. The dull, wet morning, smeared in the smell of earth, the moisture in the air caressing all, the leaves, the brick red walls, the dusty cushions of the patio chairs, the contours of my mind. I sit, waiting, warming my hands at the painted tea cup while the steam and the aroma of its content awaken my senses. I try to fathom the fading darkness through the huge glass door that separates me from the world. It acts as the perfect guardian, shielding me, protecting me from the turbulence outside. Yet, it never ceases to get me intrigued by the stuff out there. The motion. The commotion. Colors and clouds.

Somewhere out there you would be going to sleep now. Nestled in the comfy of your home, with the people who define your life today. Maybe you would brush your unruly curls, or pick on your teeth. Perhaps you'll quickly turn the pages of a journal or just sit there, calm and composed with the Buddha smile. For you always had an air of calmness in times of utmost chaos. Times, when you'd drive me mad with your calmness. While the lava inside me would come exploding in torrents, you would keep looking at me with wistful glum. Deep sensitivity in your eyes that would just see, not speak. Not heal. But only linger to read the visible and the underlying.

Yet what remained with me still, is the feel of the steaming tea in earthen cups at the dingy tea stall near the winding university road...the blissful moments of sipping it, and gulping the lures of life.

Wiki Leaks, Net Neutrality and the future of the Internet

Yesterday, I was having this conversation about whether any discussion can really be called an ‘objective’ one, as our opinions are based on our personal perception and experiences. So much so, that there is always a shade of biasness (overt or covert) when we analyze something. The media, being the extension of human voices and creativity also subscribes to the same principles. Result? We see a Republican loudspeaker in Fox TV, a Democratic middleman in MSNBC, a worshipper of the ruling party in NDTV. Some publications do it in the guise of honest retrospective reporting to cover-up messy operations carried on by the government. For instance, one of the TIME July issues has a horrid cover picture of an Afghan girl with her ears and nose chopped by the Taliban. It says that if it’d be appropriate for the US troops to leave Afghan women to such atrocities? Now you decide whether it’s a true concern or a propaganda mechanism to defend US military presence in Afghanistan amidst fiscal drainage and massive criticism of the Obama government.

The partial, selective highlight of the truth often clouds the genuine message in its entirety.

When it came to what to believe and what not to, the Internet with its uninhibited platform, however flooded us with choices. We no longer had to depend on that colored news at 9 or to listen to the rants and coaxing of the ever popular news anchor. The Internet though much global in its reach and scope, is also that niche for personification. You and I, we all could have our corners to voice our perspective. And for free. It’s simple, economically viable approach epitomized individual triumph in the sheen of collectivism. It got the world to your doorstep and also took your little ideas across the globe. Wiki Leaks founder Julian Assange, however, took it to the next level. He claims to have founded a system that tackles press censorship. You get the story just like it is. Uncensored. An ex-hacker, he stunned the world by some gory revelations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. How he decoded the secret anecdotes, nobody knows, but he did come up with some investigative journalism that we don’t get to see on print and TV these days.

Not anymore, it seems.

With the surprise deal between Google and Verizon on net neutrality, that specifies Google’s certain privileges on Verizon network, one can’t help but wonder what would be the fate of individual Internet users when the big network corporations hijack search engines and other popular portals under their wraps. Will there be a price tag for every click? Is the common man going to get penalized for connectivity, effectively and figuratively? The Internet which served as a level playing ground for people of all nations and credibility might just be the next caste system of the virtual world.

Let’s see what happens!

Where have all the leaders gone?-- A leader's guide to better America

“Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It’s easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else’s kids off to war when you have never seen a battlefield yourself. It’s another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.”—these are the wise words of Lee Iacocca—the dynamic ex-CEO of Chrysler who converted this car company from rags to riches. He is the man behind the Iacocca Foundation that’s making huge success in the field of Diabetes-cure. He is also the Chairman and inspiration to the compatriots of Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Centennial Commission. “I think we need to be reminded every once in a while of who we are, and what kind of nation we’ve promised to be.” Says Iacocca. “Not a nation that builds walls, but a nation that lifts a lamp to light the way.” At 83, Iacocca talks his heart-out in his latest book, “Where have all the leaders gone” and hopes to make a difference.
Pity, this book came rather late. Most of his opinions or criticism on Trade, Commerce and Economics of USA and its allies is already been covered by journalists and research scholars across the globe. His views on foreign policy, particularly those about Middle-East and Japan are also prototypical. However, Iacocca lives up to the expectation of being candid and out-spoken. With anti-Bush slogans and a bitter criticism of the Capitol Hill, he intends to provide direction to the upcoming US Presidential election in this book.
The “Nine Cs of Leadership” as compiled by the author provides an acid-test for the future leaders. It is a practical method to judge the desired qualities of an aspiring leader-be it in the political scenario, social platform or an industrial backdrop. Along with the dynamics of Nine Cs, Iacocca portrays genuine case-studies, mapping his life-long achievements and mistakes to current scenarios. Although, the book talks mostly about American situations, his guiding principles have a universal appeal.
The author points out, “When advertising slogans are better known than the Ten Commandments or the Bill of Rights, when shopping malls are our places of worship, when bad behavior is justified as long as it leads to profit, when debt is justified as long as it leads to a plasma TV, and when the measure of a person is the kind of car he drives, maybe it’s time to ask whether we’ve corrupted the very notion of capitalism.”
It says a lot about the intensity and profanity of morals in the midst of economic-globalization. Besides, the fiscal angle as highlighted by the author, exemplifies the alarming ‘debt’ burdens of the government and commoners alike in the USA. Along with criticizing the spending-spree of average Americans, Iacocca presents a gloomy picture where every household is entitled to a debt burden of $115,000, courtesy the latest National Debt records of the US government. That is the magnitude of US ‘borrowing’ in the world market. He demanded a “National Borrowing Freeze”.
His perspective on pros and cons of merger and acquisitions in today’s business world throws light on some of the conniving issues related to corporate ‘take-over’s. He advises current corporate executives to analyze the various dimensions of a merger-acquisition prospect. The potential of an amalgamated entity may increase or decrease as per circumstances. He emphasizes on the “synergy” factor. Moreover, he demonstrates how team-dynamics, existing and prospective customer base adds up to the complexity of the situation. “Merge because of your hopes, not your fears” says Iacocca.
Other than the business aspect, this book passes judgment on the existing legal idiosyncrasies in America. The terror of lawsuits involving punitive damages, vaccinations, insurances et al have demotivated the American professionals from all works of life. It has made them “too safety conscious” and as per the author innovativeness is directly proportional to risk-taking ability.
Like in his earlier work “Iacocca: An Autobiography” and “Talking Straight”, Iacocca’s sense of humor adds on to his rational thought-process. His expressions on national level disasters or his analysis on today’s “over-eating, pill-popping, TV-watching, iPod-wired, shopaholic, attention-deficit-disordered” current generation are marked with acute satirical gestures. His simplistic, honest, straight forward writing, though marred by unparliamentary language stands out in the myriad of hypocritical narratives. He is a self-proclaimed rebel amongst the retired, golf-playing club goers and a dedicated campaigner to bring back ‘leadership’.
No wonder, at 83, Lee Iacocca, the capitalist entrepreneur turned political and social messiah, who once smoked cigars with Fidel Castro, still doesn’t cease to intrigue and rock the world.

I am participating in the WeBlog's Sleepy Sunday contest! You may read other participating posts HERE

Stripped Down

What is the first thing you do in the morning?

a) Check my cell phone
b) Check my emails
c) Check my Face book
d) All the above

Do you subscribe to any of these options? The answer most likely is ‘yes’! No worries, you are not the only one. Josh-the high school student next door sends 7000 texts on an average every month. His girlfriend Nora has like 1000 plus friends on her FB account and Vishu, across the street is almost always available on gmail. Why? To stay connected of course! Yes, we are all very hyper active social butterflies who have to know and more importantly tell everything every minute about our not-so-important lives. We happen to be so much engulfed in this virtual maze that our real lives retrograde to detached caldrons, way too reluctant to even venture proper conversations for real. Scary, right?

But there are chances of redemption before we sacrifice our minds and lives totally to high-tech dominance. Life Organizational Expert Peter Walsh advised “stripped down”. To strip down everything that comes between you and your best life. If that means to get rid of technology for the moment, then do so! One needs to de-clutter and reorganize ones personal space every now and then to live a healthy baggage free life that ushers new promises while maintaining the harmony of existing surrounding.

Life still celebrates the little moments of emotional stirrings. Maybe its time to take our eyes off the blue screen and smile that refreshing smile that no one has seen in a while. You sure can do it still, no?