Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The wait is over. Finally on the morning of 21st July, 2007 about 50 million (maybe lots more...) people from all over the world thronged the bookstores and formed humongous queues to bag a copy of the legendary finale of the greatest story ever told - the book 7 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, written by the now multi-billionaire and deservingly so, J.K.Rowling. When the prodigious writer came out with the 1st edition of the exciting series in 1998, very few people took notice of the magical world that she had spun over a cup of coffee, but 10 years later and after 6 sequels to the brilliant plot the entire world is "stunned"... literally. Its the final confrontation between Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, the “symbol of hope” for both the Wizard and Muggle worlds, and Lord Voldemort also known as Tom Marvolo Riddle, He Who Must Not Be Named who is the nefarious leader of the Death Eaters. Good versus Evil. Love versus Hate. The Seeker versus the Dark Lord.

To start off, let me make it clear that I am not exactly a Harry Potter freak like some of my friends, but I just used to read the books since it offered me a good read and was something different from the ordinary world. But it would be an understatement if I lay the same claim now, after I have read this final epic which has made me a hard core fan of the entire Harry Potter mania. I mean, there couldn't haven been a better ending to this monumental epic story and even most of the superlatives that I use - God level - fails to describe the ultimate climax that just leaves you wondering if this is really the end. Though I was a wee bit disappointed with Dumbledore's death in the 6th edition, but JKR made up for it big time with the Deathly Hallows. This blog is to salute the insane creativity that the woman has and her innocuous talent by which she planned and crafted such a magnificient masterpiece panning the mind boggling world of wizards and witches, magic and wonder!

With each installment, the “Potter” series has grown increasingly dark, and this one is no exception offering the best of Harry Potter - his bravery and courage, which until now were shadowed by his great mentor - Albus Dumbledore and Sirius Black. This time he faces the supreme forces of evil on his own with the help of his best buddies - Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger who make up for the small bits which Harry Potter sometimes lacks, of course, no one is perfect. While the author effortlessly tells the details whether it is Ron’s adolescent sarcasm, Hermoine's unbelievable brains or Harry’s growing solemnity and instincts, from youthful exuberance to more philosophical gravity, “Deathly Hallows” is a book that marks Harry’s final initiation into the complexities and sadnesses of adulthood. Its the first book that made me think more of Harry Potter as a character and less of the story that revolved around him.

The Deathly Hallows marks a transformation in the character of Harry Potter. From his first days at Hogwarts, the green-eyed boy bore the burden of his destiny as a leader, coping with the expectations and duties of his role while suffering from the early loss of his family. Harry often wished to himself he were not the de facto leader of the Resistance movement, shouldering terrifying responsibilities, but wanted to be an ordinary teenage boy — free to romance Ginny Weasley and hang out with his friends. Gone are the days of the contantly bickering Harry Potter frustrated with Dumbledore's choice of not telling him all the facts about his life, this time its war and he takes up the mantle of an ultimate warrior effortlessly with a steely resolve to manage the mischief called as Lord Voldemort.

In this volume, the losses mount with unnerving speed: at least a half-dozen characters we have come to know die in alternate chapters, and many others are wounded or tortured. Voldemort and his followers infiltrate Hogwarts (Professor Snape becomes the Headmaster) and the Ministry of Magic, creating havoc and terror in the Wizard and Muggle worlds alike, and the members of various populations — including elves, goblins and centaurs — are choosing sides. No wonder then, Harry often seems overwhelmed with disillusionment and doubt in the final installment of this seven-volume saga. He continues to struggle to control his temper, and as he, Ron and Hermione search for the missing Horcruxes (7 secret magical objects in which Voldemort has stashed parts of his soul, objects that Harry must destroy if he hopes to kill the evil lord) he literally enters a dark wood, in which he must battle out the Death Eaters and eventually the Dark Lord himself.

Harry’s weird psychic connection with Voldemort (symbolized by the lightning-bolt forehead scar he bears as a result of the Dark Lord’s attack on him as a baby) grows stronger giving him clues to Voldemort’s actions and whereabouts. One of the plot’s significant turning points concerns Harry’s decision on whether to continue looking for the Horcruxes — the mission assigned to him by the late Dumbledore — or to pursue the Deathly Hallows, three magical objects said to make their possessor the master of Death.

Harry’s journey propels him forward to a final showdown with his arch enemy and sends him backward into the past - to the house in Godric’s Hollow where his parents died, to learn about his family history and the equally mysterious history of Dumbledore’s family. At the same time, he is forced to ponder the equation between fraternity and independence, free will and fate, and to come to terms with his own frailties and those of others. Ambiguities proliferate throughout “The Deathly Hallows”: as we are read hitherto unexplored facts about the kindly Dumbledore, sinister Severus Snape and perhaps even the awful Muggle cousin Dudley Dursley, who are more complicated than they seem, that all of them, like Harry, have hidden aspects to their personalities, and that choice — more than talent or predisposition — matters most of all.

I might propose that J. K. Rowling has almost created a world as fully detailed as J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, a world so minutely imagined in terms of its history, rituals and rules that it qualifies as an alternate universe, which may be one reason the “Potter” books have spawned such a passionate following and such fervent exegesis. With this volume, the reader realizes that small incidents in earlier installments (hidden among a huge number of red herrings) create a breadcrumb trail of clues to the plot, that Rowling has fitted together with the jigsaw-puzzle pieces of this complex puzzle with unparalleled brilliance. Objects and spells from earlier books — like the Invisibility cloak, Polyjuice Potion, Dumbledore’s Pensieve and Sirius’s flying motorcycle — play important roles and characters like the house-elf Dobby, Mr. Ollivander- the wandmaker, the barman at Hogsmeade resurface with a greater role to play.

The world of Harry Potter is a place where the mundane and the marvelous, the ordinary and the surreal coexist. It’s a place where cars can fly and owls can deliver the mail, a place where paintings talk and a mirror reflects people’s innermost desires. It’s also a place utterly recognizable to readers, a place where death and the catastrophes of daily life are inevitable, and people’s lives are defined by love and loss and hope — the same way they are in our own mortal world. Harry Potter rocks..... big time and there doesn't seem to be a distant end to the Potter mania as two more film adaptations of this successful story line are in the offering. I meanwhile, will try to recover from the hang over of scary spells like the "Avada Kedavra" and others. All is well.

P.S.: Review based on the article given in the NY Times and personal experience. Please post your comments about the book/article and feel free to point out any mistake that might have slipped out. And yeah, if you were bored reading this or disliked it... for you, "Obliviate" !

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Of Hearts and Heart breaks !

The Crap

Its been a long time since I blogged due to the re-opening of the prestigious college of mine which has eaten away oodles of my even more prestigious time due to the so boring lectures and practicals which seem to be never ending, but in the end its a part and parcel of the fun that I have in VNIT Campus. Coming back to blogging, after finally a long lull or to quote an "about to be" rich and famous person, "to overcome the writers block" or whatever, I am back... though the content is not original but its really useful and everyone must read to lead a long life.

Now the title may seem to be suggesting about heart breaks but believe me it has got nothing to do with emotional affairs associated with the delicate organ nor is it related to anything dealing with the opposite sex. Its a very useful article that was sent to me by my elder sister which I found to be really good to share it with one and all, and my blog seemed to be crying, "Post something", so here it goes...

The useful stuff

If someone tells you that we must stop the practice of drinking cold water with meals so as to avoid heart attacks, the most likely response is, "Stop kidding!". But its true and well the Chinese and the Japanese do drink hot tea with their meals and maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habits along with the fast foods.

For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this "sludge" reacts with the amino acids, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. This will cause it to line with the intestine walls. See the figure shown above. Very soon, this will turn into fats and they go on accumulating like anything, and can have effects as mild as making you look more gross and as worse as leading to Cancer. Hence, it is really best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal so as to avoid this dangerous scenario. Savvy?

A serious note about heart attacks - you should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting. Be aware of the intense pain in the jaw line. You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms. 60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we have to survive. The original author of this stub who must be a good cardiologist said if everyone who reads this stuff tells it to at least 10 people, can make sure that we'll save at least one life. Read this and tell other friends of yours to read it and it will be even more better if you refer it on my blog ! Its all about saving one more life... !

You may thank me for adding some more years to your life by commenting on the post and add anything more that I may have missed. Cheerio !

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The best google hack ever !

Google Rocks!

Many of the web searchers around the world use google as a superb search tool to satisfy all sorts of needs. But most of us are unaware about the advanced search options that Google has. Not many people know that Google lets you many key options to optimize your search results by the help of thousands of parameters like - phrase modifications, language, file format, domains and there are tons of search operators that 99% of the world is unaware of.

If you want to see the true potential of Google search , just see the video given below. I am sure it will be of great help to everyone by certain modifications to the commands shown in the video.



Video URL : http://www.youtube.com/v/sRv953XZX6Y
Via: Video Blog

When you are through with this stunning video, and after you bow your heads to Google and the amazing Jimmy Ruska, please don't feel shy to post your comments or queries.

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Time of your Life - Best of Green Day

I am not much of a music fan as such, but I do listen to some of the popular hits that go on around me - by the medium of TV, friends, internet radios etc. Let me present you the lyrics of the song that has inspired the title of this blog of mine...

The song is a really good one with some soothing background music with a fantastic guitar playing that will put most of the self acclaimed guitarists to shame. The lyrics too are really amazing and I keep listening to this song many times. Hope you like it too !

The time of your life - By Green Day.

Another turning point;
a fork stuck in the road.

Time grabs you by the wrist;
directs you where to go.

So make the best of this test
and don't ask why.

It's not a question
but a lesson learned in time.

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs
and still frames in your mind.

Hang it on a shelf
In good health and good time.

Tattoos of memories
and dead skin on trial.

For what it's worth,
it was worth all the while.

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

(music break... the best in the world)

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

You can download this amazing song by clicking here.

Tell me about your favorite songs, so that I may increase my collection of great songs

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Finally in final year of Engineering !

Once upon a time...

This dream story began about 5 years ago, when I decided to opt for Engineering as a viable career option for my future life, since it was the best graduation degree that I could get, so as to satisfy the childhood dream - "Software Engineer". There is no such thing though... Technically speaking its more like Computer Science Engineering... Started preparing for IIT-JEE, known to be the toughest of them all, and it must be so, because it caters only to the best of the minds. Sadly, I couldn't make the cut - the blame lies on me entirely - you have to study too hard for that... But then there is no dearth of Engineering colleges in this country (the figure runs in many thousands! ). The next in ladder were the NIT's - National Institute of Technologies and fortunately I didn't screw much in the AIEEE (another entrance exam...) But the Computer Science Engineering dream remained a dream since I somehow got into Metallurgical and Materials Engineering. (please don't say YUK... some of our courses will fetch anyone career options that will be the envy of any engineer from any institute... more of that later...) So here I was, after 2 yrs of HSSC and Engg entrance prep, in VNIT - Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur itself, in my hometown. After a lot of dilemma over choosing over the discipline in engineering and the engineering college, I finally decided to go with the institute. And I can say proudly that its been a great decision so far !!!

VNIT - 1st year - The "FAST" year

Almost everyone, when they are to think about the first year engineering, the first word that comes to his/her mind is ragging ! Yeah... its just like that, but here in VNIT, I found an entirely new dimension of it. The word is "Interaction" - yup... thats the basic purpose of all the leg pulling that went around when we first years, all clad in that boring dress code gathered in the Aarohi Room where lots of thirsty seniors were vying for fresh blood... I loved it all and seriously got grooved in all the fun that went along with the seniors, even on the Cricket Ground. The way they showed us around in all the walks of life of campus and imparting the off-classroom education, I am really grateful to one and all to make me gel in the complicated webs of VNIT. The first year subjects were something that I found really great - whether it was drawing sheets in ED or solving fundoo problems in EM, it was something that fueled my liking for engineering to the fullest. I don't even remember how the first year drifted by as I explored the various 'hideouts' - the canteen, the library, the hostels, the computer center amongst the many others. This was the year when we start at the bottom rung of organizing many events - Aarohi - the cultural festival, Axis - the technical festival, Krikmania - the cricket tournament... it was just amazing. And the day we got freshers was just so memorable as we began flaunting our status as undergraduates to the whole world with unabashed pride smacked on our faces.

The "Second Coming" year and The "Third Grade" year

The activities remained quite the same except for the studies, which saw a new low. The "level" of fun and frolic increased with the feeling that someone below can bear the brunt of our misgivings! All the communities and organizations had the opportunity to be blessed with our skilled managerial tactics and were uplifted from their drudgery. Considering the academic viewpoint of my engineering life, I totally neglected the meta stuff (and that wasn't a good decision, in hindsight) and went on to learn new stuff about CSE (and that was indeed a better decision, in foresight). Went on to do some mini projects, an internship at an upcoming SW company and also went to an industrial excursion to a Steel Plant. Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, IIT Roorkee, Pune and New Delhi - all happened, for all sorts of reasons and suddenly I had travelled a lot during these two years with family, with friends all alike. It was just a glimpse of the great country of mine and I am sure I have not quite have had enough of it. Life took many turns and suddenly I was living on a freeway full of sheer crazyness - bunking college, lots of movies and sitcoms on the PC, orkuting, surfing and going on to new hang outs with buddies. Campus placements gave me a job at TCS - one of the best IT companies in the world and VNIT says that I still have one more shot at it. Started preparing to bell the CAT and get to IIM's, but right now its a distant dream. And then even before I could blink my eyes... It happened... I was suddenly in the Final year of Engineering... gulp !

At the end of the world...

Standing on the altar of 7th semester in this battle to achieve a piece of paper which will have "B.Tech" stamped on it (just kidding, it means a lot more to me), I am feeling really nostalgic right now. VNIT, formerly VRCE, was the place from where my father completed his graduation in Electrical Engineering and there are quite a few ties with VNIT. I hope that I have made them all proud, though, looking back I know that I have been more than a disappointment to everyone's expectations by not doing the required hard work at the right time. But Hey... thats the way I am, always living the moment rather than fretting about the future. And now the Institute seems a lot different to me. More responsibilities, more respect to the ever hard working professors, more yearning for "interaction" with juniors, more studies and more fun. I intend to spend this last year with a new outlook to life. To explore the hitherto unknown dimensions and to find more about the meaning of life... the purpose of existence - thats crazy, I know... But I am far from becoming a hermit right now ! Anyways... I think I owe a lot to VNIT. It has taught me many things which are just indescribable since they are all abstract nouns. When I finally complete it, I hope that it doesn't make my eyes wet. The joke goes around that I shed tears during senti movies, but the only thing that shook my rigid soul was "Swades". I have had the time of my life in this college and can go on continuously. Looking forward to another couple of great semesters where I can continue to extrapolate my stay in this magnificient campus.

Fellow VNITians, please post your comments if I have missed out something worthy of mention. Other blog readers, no one is stopping you to post your feedback and views !

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Engineers -> Get ready to get crazy

Crazy Engineers

Some time ago, I stumbled upon this great online conglomeration of engineers from all over the world and when I registered and gave a shot at the forum, I knew that I was hooked on to something really cool, for life.

Crazy Engineers forum is an assortment of all the crazy activities the engineering community is involved in... Be it the highly technical geek-speak or something as useless as pure chit-chatting about nothing. Catering to all the engineering disciplines, one is sure to find common interests on this ever growing community. Forums like CE-Labs, CE-Ideas/Knowledge sharing/Articles , CE-Finance are really a treat to read. You can set your grey cells running in the debates section and if you are a budding engineer who is craving for more, the Higher Education section is just for you...

Besides all this, what you get is to know fellow techies from all over the world making it a really cool experience to be there. Believe me, the phrase time just flies away is really apt to describe this ultimate forum.

I am already a proud CEan ! What about you?

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Solutionz.inc has been launched

Hello everyone...

I present before you - Solutionz.inc - which is soon going to become a one stop solution for everyone who is seeking some concise and brief information about various topics ranging from engineering to social causes, politics to sports , entertainment to science and technology and what not.

Please do have a look at this small endeavor which may save your time and efforts of web searching.

Introduction

We might be engineers, we might be doctors or we might be sportspersons. But one thing we never forget to say is "Proud to be an Indian". Very true-our country is indeed a beautiful place to live in. Optimism about the country's wonderful economic growth is in the air since our Business Maharajas have declared a war against the companies of the so called developed countries. We make them our ideals and dream to follow their path, but isn't our world too small to live these big dreams. Aren't engineers today only engineers and nothing else, same with the doctors, sportspersons and other proud Indians. So why not learn something beyond what is expected of us? Here at Solutionz we explore a similar opportunity. For those who never get tired of asking "Why?"-we present a wonderful collection of articles on all topics under the sun. Calling all those information hungry to learn and contribute...let us make our nation proud of ourselves.

About Solutionz

The age has come to be known as the “Information Age”-and no other term could have explained better, the vast amount of information available at the click of a button. With internet trying to find its place among the Seven Wonders of the World, the users are facing a new problem-Information Clutter.

So what do we do when we have hundreds of search engines, returning millions and millions of results on every topic. Does it sound logical to search the first 100 sites and filter the data as we need it. We have a solution-why not go to the specialist? A specialist who will search the internet and send you a comprehensive paper on the topic of your choice…and that too absolutely free.

All you have to do is mail the topic with a basic idea of your requirement (depth of information, specific subheads, urgency of need etc.) and we will send you the paper within 24 hours. The required information can be anything under the sun-from current issues to commerce, form engineering to economics, from social issues to science. Our e-mail is solutionz.inc@gmail.com. Do let us know about your comments and suggestions. You can blog us at http://www.solutionz-inc.blogspot.com.

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Complications involved in Time Travel

Pre Script- It would be better if you read my previous post about "time travel" before going through this article, just for the sake of better understanding and getting the feeling of being more involved in it. You can read it by clicking here

I hope that the reader is acquainted with the nuances involved with time travels, I thought that its imperative to show what troubles we might face in this yet to be accomplished but mighty dream of ours. If we are ever able to develop a workable theory for time travel and invent some sort of time machine, we would open up the ability to create very complicated problems called paradoxes. A paradox is defined as something that contradicts itself. Here are some common examples that I could think of.

I Let's say, for the sake of argument, that you could travel back to a time before you were born. You will say, whats the big deal in that? Isn't that one of the purposes of the time machine? To see the unknown... But the mere fact that you could exist in a time before you were born creates a paradox. If you were born in 1986, how could you exist in 1947 to see Jawaharlal Nehru unfurling the flag of India's independence?

II Possibly the most famous paradox is the grandfather paradox. What would happen if a time traveler went back and killed one of his or her ancestors/blood relatives (say father or mother... not that one would actually do that... but its just for the sake o example) before the traveler was born? If the person killed his or her grandfather, then how could that person be born some years later and then go back and kill his or her grandfather? Mind-blowing stuff, one would say but its just a part of infinite intricacies involved. Movie buffs like me would relate this with the famous John Connor from the Terminator trilogy (the 4th part is yet to be released, at the time of writing). If we could change the past, it would create an infinite number of paradoxes.

III And the most baffling one would be if you go just some hours ago in time, at the same space where you existed... Consider seeing a duplicate of oneself for some moments but there are many theories that don't allow such things. Space-time continuum laws, though hypothetical are surely not a piece of cake to understand.

IV Another theory regarding time travel brings up the idea of parallel universes, or alternative histories. Remember the awesome movie Butterfly Effect and its sequel !!! (If you still haven't done that, then be sure to do that the first thing after reading this blog... you are missing something really vital.) Let's say that you do travel back to meet your father when he was a boy. In the theory of parallel universes, you may have traveled to another universe, one that is similar to ours, but has a different succession of events. For instance, if you were to travel back in time and change something in order to alter the future, you've only done the "change" in that one universe, and sadly its no longer the universe that you exist in. And if you then try to travel back to your own time, you may end up in another parallel universe and never be able to get back to the universe you started in the first time.

The idea here is that every action causes the creation of a new universe, and that there are an infinite number of universes that exist. When you killed your ancestor, you created a new universe, a universe that was identical to your own up until the time you changed the original succession of events.

V Predestination Paradox and Ontological Paradox

Consider the following examples...

A man travels back in time to discover the cause of a famous fire. While in the building where the fire started, he accidentally knocks over a kerosene lantern and causes a fire, the same fire that would inspire him, years later, to travel back in time.

On his 30th birthday, a man who wishes to build a time machine is visited by a future version of himself. This future self explains to him that he should not worry about designing the time machine, as he has done it in the future. The man receives the schematics from his future self and starts building the time machine. Time passes until he finally completes the time machine. He then uses it to travel back in time to his 30th birthday, where he gives the schematics to his past self, closing the loop.

A professor travels forward in time, and reads in a physics journal about a new equation that was recently derived. He travels back to his own time, and relates it to one of his students who writes it up, and the article is published in the same journal which the professor reads in the future.

Confused yet? Welcome to the amazing world of time travel. Makes you think a lot. Just imagine how complicated the ticket prices will be. Anyone up for grabs?

Please post your comments and views with free will...

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My take on Time Travel

Pre-Script: A bit lengthy but interesting read...

There is no other concept that captures the imagination more than the idea of time travel -- the ability to travel to any point in the past or future. What could be more cool? You could jump into your time machine to go back and see major events in history and talk to the people who were there! Who or what would you travel back to see? Mahatma Gandhi? The construction of some ancient wonder? the life of your grand-grandparents? You could go back and meet yourself at an earlier age, go forward and see how you look in the future...regardless of the many complications involved and the paradoxes which may arise. (The most famous paradox is Grandfathers paradox) It's these possibilities that have made time travel the subject of so many science fiction books and movies. The fascination to alter the future or to have a glimpse of what lies ahead has always tempted man to bend the laws of nature, technically speaking, the space-time continuum.

I have been inspired by the following sources while writing this article on time travel

• The time machine - H.G.Wells
• A brief history of time - Stephen Hawking
  
• Terminator movies trilogy
• Butterfly effect - awesome movie !
  
• TV series like Heroes
• and there are many more.....

It is a fact that we are all time travelers. As you read this article, doing nothing more than scrolling your mouse, time is traveling around you. The future is constantly being transformed into the past with the present only lasting for a "fleeting moment". Everything that you are doing right now is quickly moving into the past, which means we continue to move through time.

Ideas of time travel have existed for centuries, but when the great Albert Einstein released his theory of special relativity, he laid the foundation for the theoretical possibility of time travel. As we all know, no one has successfully demonstrated time travel, but no one has been able to rule it out either.

Time has been defined as being the fourth dimension of our universe. The other three dimensions are of space. Time cannot exist without space and space cannot exist without time. This interconnected relationship of time and space is called the space-time continuum, which means that any event that occurs in the universe has to involve both space and time.

How to time travel?

While writers have produced some great ideas for time machines over the years, a real-life time machine has yet to be built. Most theories of time travel don't rely on machines at all. Instead, time travel will likely be done by way of natural phenomena that will transport us instantly from one point in time to another. These space phenomena, which I am not even sure exist, include:

1. Wormholes
2. Cosmic Strings

1) According to me the best bet for time travel would be - "Wormholes", if they do exist. Wormholes are considered possible based on Einstein's theory of relativity, which states that any mass curves space-time. To understand this lets think about two people holding a bed sheet up and stretching that sheet tight. If one person were to place a baseball on the bed sheet, the weight of the baseball would roll to the middle of the sheet and cause the sheet to curve at that point. Now, if a marble were placed on the edge of the same bed sheet it would travel toward the baseball because of the curve.

Here, space is shown as a two-dimensional plane rather than the four dimensions that actually make up space-time. Now imagine that this sheet is folded, leaving a space between the top and bottom. Placing the baseball on the top side will cause a curvature to form. If an equal mass is placed on the bottom part of the sheet at a point that corresponds with the location of the baseball on the top, the second mass would eventually meet with the baseball. This is one of the ways how wormholes may form, really fascinating, isnt it?

In space, masses that place pressure on different parts of the universe could eventually come together to form a tunnel -- this is a wormhole. We could then travel from Earth to another galaxy and back relatively quickly (within a lifetime). I am saying a bit quickly because hypothetically speaking, we are traveling for a shorter distance at much high speed. Why we need to travel through the worm holes at the speed of light is something that I cant put here in this blog. If wormholes could be discovered, it might allow us to travel to the past as well as the future, though there are infinite complications and intricacies involved in this mind blowing journey.

2) Another way to time travel is by using the concept of cosmic strings -which are string-like objects that some scientists believe were formed in the early universe. These strings may line the entire length of the universe and are under immense pressure -- millions upon millions of tons. These cosmic strings, which are thinner than an atom, can generate an enormous amount of gravitational pull on any objects that pass near them, just like the black holes. Objects attached to a cosmic string could travel at incredible speeds, and because their gravitational force distorts space-time, they could be used for time travel. By pulling two cosmic strings close together, or one string close to a black hole, it might be possible to warp space-time enough to create closed time-like curves.

A spacecraft could be turned into a time machine by using the gravity produced by the two cosmic strings, or the string and black hole, to propel itself into the past. To do this, it would loop around the cosmic strings. However, I read somewhere that in order to travel back in time even one year, it would take a loop of string that contained half the mass-energy of an entire galaxy. Also it has been speculated that one cant go back farther than the point at which the time machine itself was created.

Epilogue

Even if you do decide to choose any one of the way stated above for your time travel dream, be sure that it is still a distant dream. Because I feel that we should not mess up with the beautiful universe that has been created for us. Let the things go as they are. No doubt, the quest for knowledge must continue, we must understand the physics behind everything after all its the basic characteristics that separate us from other living beings on this planet. But then we must not forget that after a point, things are beyond recognition and every mathematical law breaks down, say before the singularity (just before the big bang)

And if all this has been heavy for you, let me propose another mode of time travel devised by me... yes myself ! It may sound ridiculous but then not more than the stuff above. Considering the universally accepted laws of thermodynamics, it has been proved that entropy of a system "always" increases with time. Does that mean that if we manage to decrease the entropy of a finite part of space-time, it will be teleport back to past?? Some food for thought... isn't it?

Comments, views and criticisms are welcome.

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Evolution of the Gaming World

What is gaming?

Gaming has always been a topic of ridicule amongst the learned people who have considered it as a time pass and nothing more, considering it as the best enemy a student can have to spoil his academic career. Before we begin this discussion about gaming which has been neglected as a "small children" activity by "experienced" people who claim that they have seen more than us, please bug off if you aren't interested. And if anyone does want to change his view consider the following facts :

• The average age of gamers today is approximately 27 ! (call them kids !)
• The gaming industry is on the rise, in spite of the high levels of piracy involved in the same, with big hotshots like EA Games earning revenues in billions of dollars !
• There are about 153 gaming platforms in the world, for details click here and you thought that PS-3 is the end of the world !
• and many more...

Gaming , as a definition , today is beyond the scope of this blog - but according to a customized definition , it can be stated as an umbrella term which involves lots of subcategories and is a special type of activity/hobby for entertainment and to relax from stress. Another polpular facet of gaming is gambling, but on this page gaming involves everything except gambling - yup... here gaming implies "games" - be it the ones played on your computer, playstation or any other platform. For knowing more about gaming, you can always do a google or wikipedia search, but I dont think it requires any introduction as such.

My tryst with gaming

When I was a kid, 8-12 years, I played the video games and the sega games. I loved them.
When I grew up, 12-16 years, I played the playstation 1 and got introduced to PC games. I loved them even more.
When I grew up even more, I almost got addicted to gaming with Xbox 360 and PS3, but the sheer charm of playing the advanced games on PC remained the best bet for entertainment. I fell for them hook, line and sinker. I knew that this was something I am going to make a future in. I loved gaming even more.

It was because of gaming that my interest in the world of computers was sparked off. I remember advancing from the world of "Mario" and "Battlecity" to the world of "Allan Border Cricket" on DOS. I still cant forget the euphoria that me and a friend of mine had when we completed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, playing 5 hours on a stretch. It takes sheer patience to play strategy games like Age of Mythology without cheatcodes. Games like Need for Speed take you to an entirely new altitude when you race in those thunderbolt cars. Sports like Fifa , Cricket bring you on parallels with the legends you admire and lets you have a shot at the records they created. Multiplayer role playing games and online fiascos brought a new meaning to e-entertainment catapulting the gaming industry to blinding heights. And with the ongoing rivalry between Sony and Microsoft to capture the market with their popular gaming devices, its only more joy for gamers like me. The gaming bug advanced to cell phones too, as Nokia went on to create a special gaming device - N-gage , which I own with pride. (Its another thing that the device was a flop in India, thanks to the unpopularity of gaming at that time, but it sure went on to make record sales everywhere.) People were shell shocked when N-gage production was brought to a halt, but Nokia gave a pleasant relief when it announced that the N-gage hardware is soon going to be implemented in all Nokia models !!!

Gaming has always been a great activity in my friend circle as we exchanged a lots of them among us, and usually had LAN gaming contests of Counter strike and its siblings. Finally I felt that though I couldnt make it as a gaming programmer, I will make it up by keeping loyal with the industry which I have a lot to thank to. Games when played not in excess, can be one of the best stress busters ever and some of them give you lots of food for thought along with some upheaval of creativity and IQ. (Its impossible to prove, but then who cares!)

Future of Gaming Industry

I am ready to predict that it won't be very long before online gaming becomes a spectator sport. Someday in the not-too-distant future, I believe we'll sit around watching online gamers do battle with one another, first on the Internet, and then on something like ESPN. The point being that I think online gaming is going mainstream, joining TV, music, movies, and the Net in the center of our country's entertainment industry. This may sound outlandish, but no more so than ten exceedingly tall people running around in their underwear bouncing an orange ball. Believe me, stranger successes have been made. Console games are already outseling their PC counterparts 10:1 and thats incredible... Over the next 36 months, game consoles and other home Internet hardware, such PCs and wireless access points, will become less and less distinguishable. Put another way, a future Xbox might also be your home's Internet gateway and home entertainment server. Mobile games--meaning games you download into wireless devices like cellular telephones--will generate decent revenue for wireless carriers and expand the video game market to people who don't consider themselves gamers. This will become an interesting diversion for people who have a lot of waiting to do--like in airports. But working against this is the relatively low number of people who play games on their Palms and Pocket PCs. The bottom line is that gaming is likely to only become more important as it reaches out to really embrace the Internet. It will provide more families with a reason to go broadband. That, in turn, will help push a variety of other information and entertainment services into the home. And I dont even need to talk about arcade gaming, though I am not quite into it, I believe that a significant population on earth is.

As more 18- to 34-year-olds check out of network television and check into gaming, marketers will go after that valuable consumer demographic. Product placement may become so abundant in games that NASCAR will look like NPR in comparison. Play a driving game and you'll see familiar landmarks: the Shell gas station on the corner, the McDonald's on Main Street, the Budweiser billboards near highway exits. And thats become a reality in many games already.

Of course there is a downside to excessive gaming too. Its very harmful, if you have an overdose, but then what thing isnt bad when in excess. It may happen that gaming becomes a greater evil than the idiot box. It will be upto us how we embrace this wonderful activity in our life.

Some will be genius. Others will be reprehensible. The key to the future of gaming will be for parents to understand and appreciate those distinctions and to not champion games based on one educational tour-de-force or condemn games entirely based on a violent first-person shooter.

Whatever anyones says, Gaming here is to stay !

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