The real 'secret'

If one were to look at any list of bestselling books of the last ten years, one can see that a good portion of the ones noted are what are known as 'self-help' books. One thing that's common to these books is their purported nature of showing the reader how to make the 'best use' of his/her life and turn out 'successful'.Some of the more recent ones even go as far as saying that it's possible to obtain anything that one wants by merely wishing for it.Another common feature of these books is the usage of pseudo-scientific terms such as 'Quantum consciousness','Collective subconscious' etc and the usage of non-existent phenomena to highlight the author's attempt at explaining what according to him/her is the nature of the working of the world.The blurbs on these books all seem to claim that the ideas espoused by the book in question is mankind's key to understanding the universe.

The authors of all these books want to point out that our lives so far has been empty and meaningless and that they are the ones who will rescue us from the mundaneness that we have created,and turn us into 'highly successful people',who know 'the secret' of being good at everything.

If the books have helped anyone become succesful at what they do,it is the authors themselves,no doubt having got considerably richer with the sales of the books.

It leaves one to wonder if people have become so insecure about themselves,that they need someone else to tell them how to go about their lives.

One just needs to pause and think to know that the world around is beautiful in its own regard. Surely,the stars in the sky are enchanting,even without a 'God' to hold them up.The way nature works is a marvel,even without a 'spirit' to drive it.And it surely is common-sense to know that one can have what one wants/needs,by suitably working at getting it.

Our ability to reason and understand is what drove our species to have considerable mastery over much of the world,and ignoring our voice of reason will not be a good thing at all.

Spelling is important - One letter can make all difference :P

Trasnfarmers :P

Engineer's guide to the seasons

So,who wants to be a superhero?

In real life,a bite from a radioactive animal will only make the person sick.This is for anyone out there who may have wanted to engage in superheroics,at any point of time in their lives.This post gives you an idea for starting up your own super-career.

1.Source of 'Power'

This 'powerful' idea is probably the easiest-All it would require is that a homemade stun gun is made,and fixed on gloves or wherever.A stun gun can be made at home for less than 10 USD,by using a disposable camera's flash,or by using a high capacitance capacitor and a discharge circuit,with open leads.One can find quite a number of websites that teach you how to make your own stun gun.

2.Shielding

Unfortunately,we do not have rapid healing powers that will help us get away from our injuries,unharmed.And so,some kind of protection is needed against both projectiles such as bullets,and against direct physical blows. The best bet would be to have a helmet,not unlike a sports helmet or a biker helmet,and making sure that it covers the entire face. For the upper body and the limbs,a Kevlar vest is needed for sure,for protection against projectiles,and padding with thick rubber/foam or a chain linked suit ( Like a fencing costume).

3.Locomotion

I was initially thinking of a large set of ornithopter wings or helicopter blades,but then ,I realised that it would be impractical to have either of them,as they would be too heavy and too 'non- indiscreet' to carry around.The most practical solution seems to be a motorcycle,with a GPS system as a necessary add-on.

4.Utilities

These utilities will be necessary,for any emergencies :

-> A basic first aid kit.

- > A cellphone/any other communication device.

- > A set of handcuffs(OPTIONAL).

- >A pocket knife for cutting up ropes etc.

- >A flashlight.

- >Extra clothes.

These utilities will be needed to be carried ,at all times and the best way to do that will be in a backpack.

With all of these ,I estimate the cost of starting up one's superhero career ( not Including the cost of the motorcycle or the cellphone connection) to be around 800 USD. Happy superheroing,everyone! If anyone who reads this has a few ideas of their own,do tell me.

Extra-terrestrials and whistleblower websites.

Disclaimer: The following post is a completely hypothetical one,and I do not believe in extra-terrestrials visiting earth regularly and working with governments.I do think it would be really cool if that were the case though 8).

Any day is a fine day for speculative controversy theories and in the spirit of the same,I'm posting about the probable reactions that will be generated if Wikileaks were ever to reveal that they have conclusive evidence about Extra-terrestrial beings being in contact with governments around the world.

The first reaction would probably be denial by the government(s) in question.But,as the news spreads around the world, they will eventually be forced to admit the 'truth'. Immediately after this,the ETs would be introduced to the world at large,and this would provide a lot of fodder for media around the world.Engineers and scientists everywhere would spend much of their time learning the workings of the ET's spacecraft and any gadgets that they have on board,and the biology of the spacemen themselves etc. Manufacturing companies around the world will attempt reverse-engineering anything fancy that the aliens might have with them,and start selling them. Religious leaders will ,yet again,come up with a 'reinterpretation' of their religious texts ,to accommodate the presence of the aliens,and there will be much debate on if the presence of the aliens proves or disproves the presence of a god(s).Magazines and blogs will be inundated with articles about the 'visitors' ,and people around the world will attempt learning about the various aspects of these non-human sentient lifeforms.Also,undoubtedly,there will be all new forms of porn coming up online(Even if it turns out that the aliens do not reproduce the same way that humans do).There will be a number of movies made that reference the aliens either directly or indirectly,and they would all be blockbusters.Governments around the world will add new laws to accommodate non-earthlings,including methods of punishment etc,and form all kinds of treaties with other governments. Economic relations with other planets will be planned,and the marketplace will change in ways one cannot even possibly imagine.

Over time,tourism to the planet/world inhabited by the aliens will start,and life as we know it will change drastically.

Mathematical model for zombie-human population behaviour.

As a result of extreme boredom,I made the following analysis in Matlab:

"Nicholson-Bailey model for studying zombie-human population interaction"

As expected,Zombies were the parasitoids and humans were the hosts.This is the excrept of the m-file:

%Made by Srikumar Krishnamoorthy,TTU

%This model is directly based on the Nicholson Bailey Parasitoid model and

%the assumptions that are made are : 1.A Zombified Human cannot be

%zombified again. 2.A Zombie needs a human's 'life force to 'survive'(or

%whatever it is that zombies do) 3.There are equal number of Male and

%female humans at all times and they all are monogamously 'coupled' 4.No

%weapons can hurt a zombie.

r=1%r=No of offspring by a human that survive till adulthood(I assumed 2 children per couple or 1 chld per human

c=1%c=Searching efficincy or the probability that a zombie will encounter a human in his lifetime(Okay,'undeadtime' :P)

e=1%e=No of infections that a zombie makes on a human that result in the complete zombification of the human

H0=input('input initial population N0 of Humans: ')

Z0=input('input initial population P0 of Zombies: ')

n=input('input time period of run: ')

H=zeros(n+1,1);

A=zeros(n+1,1);

t=zeros(n+1,1);

H(1)=H0;

Z(1)=Z0;

for i=1:n

t(i)=i-1;

H(i+1)=r*H(i)*exp(-c*Z(i));

Z(i+1)=e*H(i)*(1-exp(-c*Z(i)));

end

t(n+1)=n;

plot(t,H,t,H,'o')

title('No of Humans'),pause

plot(t,Z,t,Z,'o')

title('No of Zombies'),pause

These are graphs of a few sample runs:

Conclusion :

Whatever the initial populations of the humans and the zombies may be,humans are doomed.

Social networking for states of matter.