Autonomous Vehicles: Future Of Personal Transportation

What’s the future of personal transportation? Well, you’ll likely be spending a lot less time behind the wheel, for one. The rise of self-driving cars means that some scenes out of science-fiction flicks (think Total Recall or I, Robot) are now reality—and even more will be available soon

So what exactly are these autonomous vehicles?

An autonomous car (also known as a driver-less car, self-driving car, robotic car) and unmanned ground vehicle is a vehicle that is capable of sensing its environment and navigating without human input.

Cars today already include many semi-autonomous features, like assisted parking and self-braking systems. And completely autonomous vehicles—able to operate without human control—are rapidly becoming more of a reality. You’re probably familiar with Google’s version, which has made headlines with its Google Chauffeur software, which the company hopes to bring to market by 2020.

Why do we need them?

The pros of autonomous cars are many. “The sensors in a self-driving car are always observing, are not affected by the state of the driver (sleepy, angry, etc.), and can scan in multiple directions simultaneously,” says Dr. Dominique Freckmann, an automotive engineering manager at TE Connectivity, a global technology leader providing connectivity and sensor solutions that are essential in today’s increasingly connected world. “Autonomous driving is a key aspect of the industry’s drive toward safer roadways.”

“Recent NHTSA research shows that approximately 94 percent of accidents are caused by human error,” adds Alan Amici, a vice president of automotive engineering at TE. “Cars with advance safety features and eventually, self-driving cars, can significantly reduce the number of collisions. The impact of this innovation can be far-reaching, including reduced demand on emergency response systems and reduced auto insurance and health care costs.”

What technology makes self-driving cars possible? 

It’s really three technologies: sensors, connectivity, and software/control algorithms.

“Most of the sensors required for autonomous driving are available today and are used in advanced safety features such as blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assistance, and forward collision warning,” he says. “Sensors for other features such as radar, ultrasonics, and cameras provide the input necessary to navigate the car safely.”

Connectivity means cars have access to the latest traffic, weather, surface conditions, construction, maps, adjacent cars, and road infrastructure, he says. This data is used to monitor a car’s surrounding operating environment to anticipate braking or avoid hazardous conditions.

Finally, software/control algorithms are needed to reliably capture the data from sensors and connectivity and make decisions on steering, braking, speed, and route guidance.  “By far the most complex part of self-driving cars, the decision-making of the algorithms, must be able to handle a multitude of simple and complex driving situations flawlessly,” Amici says. “The software used to implement these algorithms must be robust and fault-tolerant.”

With so many advantages, why don't we see these cars more often on streets?

While technologies and capabilities continue to evolve toward making autonomous vehicles a reality, there are some hurdles. Right now, autonomous cars are legal only in a few U.S. states, as regulators weigh how to best ensure their safe interaction with standard human-driven vehicles.

“Self-driving capability will add benefits to our whole society, such as providing transportation for people who are otherwise not able to drive because of age or physical impairment,” Freckmann says. “That is both exciting and meaningful.”

Soon, your car will be able to drive itself faster and safer, while you relax in the seat.

What is VR, AR and MR?

Virtual Reality(VR), Augmented Reality(AR) and Mixed Reality(MR) has completely revolutionized the digital world and are seeking to change the way we perceive our reality. But there’s a lot of confusion about what each version of reality is.

So to clear out your confusions below are some of the points that help you distinguish between the three:

VIRTUAL REALITY

All reality-altering technology changes the way we perceive the world in some way, but virtual reality (VR) completely changes the visual environment around us.

VR is an experience that takes users to a purely synthetic environment, which involves nothing of the immediate reality that surrounds them. VR involves rendered graphics that fill your entire vision and is usually complemented by 3D sounds to make the experience more real.

So where is VR used?

For the moment, gaming remains the main use case of VR. However, it is also being used in professional work, such as training athletes, or real estate business.

AUGMENTED REALITY

The crucial difference between VR and AR lies in the way digital content is mixed with reality. Augmented reality (AR) doesn’t block out the world around the user in favor of a new, fabricated one; rather, it places a digital layer between the viewer and reality.

Augmented reality is "an enhanced version of reality created by the use of technology to overlay digital information on an image of something being viewed through a device (as a smartphone camera)."

Augmented reality is the most versatile of the “VR” technologies today. Unlike VR systems that require users to remain tethered to a stationary unity, AR is typically delivered through a visor or portable screen that allows for mobile use.

So where is AR used?

Along with gaming, AR is has wide applications in fields like Education, Art, Marketing, Military(Fighter Jet Visors), The media and Business

MIXED REALITY

Mixed Reality is the newest and probably the most exciting of the terms. Even though Augmented Reality could be considered a form of Mixed Reality, true mixed reality is much greater. True Mixed Reality takes the augmented, virtually displayed information and adds it to the real world. These virtual additions can do more than simply augment what you are seeing or doing. Rather, they seem to become a part of the real world.

So where is MR used?

It’s still early for MR with most solutions being too imprecise, costly or complex to used at commercial scale. But stay tuned, over the next few years initiatives like Google’s Project Tango, Apple’s AR Kit, and Microsoft’s Hololens are going to continue to push MR towards the mainstream.

So now you know about all the three technologies, you can choose which suits you best and probably even master them to push your limits or just have fun!

WHEN WE ARE DOWN

What was the last time you were really unhappy? Probably a few minutes ago, probably right now. Sure thing is, you know very well what 'being down' feels like. World is a strange place. You cannot say for certain if a person, any person is happy or not, but one thing you can be sure of. He has been sad at least once in his life. Sadness in life, like death, is inevitable, while happiness might not necessarily be so.

Students anywhere in the world have a lot of reasons to be unhappy from time to time. And  since I am a student(aren't we all?), I know these pretty well. Low marks in exam, bullying, parental pressure, inability to understand concepts, and the list goes on and on.....

But just think about it for a second. Whether you are a student or not, problems and unhappiness surely form a large portion of your life. Did you do anything about it? Did you do anything to cheer yourself up every time you feel low? Did you actively try to improve your mood? Do you even know what might cheer you up?

This is mainly what this post is about. Its about people, like me, who frequently get upset and want to relieve their sadness in effective ways immediately. So, if you are utterly content with your life and have absolutely nothing to fear, or, feel discomfort about, this post will probably not benefit you. Others, read on...... 

1)Songs: This might seem really simplistic and silly, but I am serious. Whenever you are happy, listen to songs. Whenever you are sad, listen to the same songs again. You will be blown away by how 'un'sad and happy you would feel after listening to the songs. You can try it right now. Just google some songs you used to hear when you were a toddler, or heard a long time ago during a joyous festival,like Dussehra, or Diwali, in your childhood, or even, say, a year ago. Listen to these now, and try to gauge exactly how you feel. You would feel like you felt when you first heard it. And since, I was talking about songs you heard during festivals, or those you used to listen while being a child, the associated feelings with those songs would be that of happiness. You cannot help but smile while these songs are playing.

After you have got the general idea of what I am trying to say here, I would like you to take it further. Create a playlist of new songs you never heard before, and listen to them once. Then mentally select some, and play them in moments of triumph in order to associate them with that feeling. Keep associating songs with a flurry of feelings so that you can listen and feel those emotions later, whenever you want. Trust me, this method works, and it works well. Have fun with your songs.

2)Helping others: I might sound like a preacher while saying this, but you must help others if you want to attain bliss. And this help might be anything. See a fellow student struggling with a problem? offer to help him. See a delivery man trip and scatter all his deliveries on the street? Be the first to pick them up.See a person fall from his bike in a comical way? Go help him while others are busy laughing at him. Its always useful to laugh with people and not at them. This makes all the difference in the world. Selfless people are most often happier than selfish ones. That is because they have a clear conscience and know that they have given back something to the society. Trust me on this. Giving back feels good. So much so, that I almost wish someone were in trouble whenever I am around, just so I can help them and get the awesome feeling of fulfillment of helping others.

3)Know thyself: Try your best and know that you have done so. Before an exam, a project submission or presentation, or even after the results are out,try to fish out the fundamentals of why you did what you did. If you did well, why? Could you do better? 

And if you did not do well, ask yourself, did you really give your 100%? If not, stop worrying and try to give in as much effort as you can later. And if you did give your 100%, then be proud of yourself for doing so. If you truly know yourself, you would be able to gauge if you excel at a particular thing, or suck at it. And knowing that, is half the battle won.

4)Enjoy the small things: I know that this point sounds cliched(it is), but there is no way I will not mention it. To stay happy, one must notice the small things and take pleasure in them. Things like, a bird made a nest today, the neighbour's new TV came, etc. Just keep searching for things that make you happy and be so.

5)Enjoy fiction: Watch a TV series, or read novels, at least for some time weekly. It  would do three things. It would make you happy and would bust stress, it would open you up to new ideas and facts as you would comprehend and absorb the mentality and thinking process of the creators of the fiction along the way, and lastly, it would connect you to a vast network of communities that watch or read the same works of fiction. Interacting with such a community is really exhilerating and educating. Plus, it would also help you connect to people easily and give you topics of conversation. In this regard, I would recommend 'HOUSE MD'. The show has great dialogues and one  can learn a lot. Here is a dialogue from it if you are interested.

6)Learn something new: Why do you, or anybody else like facebook so much? Because it gives our brains what it needs the most. Information. Large, free, easily digestible information. But those informations are often not as useful as this video here:

https://www.facebook.com/levartravels/videos/1553404431392975/

So, its advisable, that instead of excessive facebook, you feed you mind to useful information. Did you know how to solve a Rubik's cube? Did you know what facts connected the Kennedy and Lincoln assassinations? Did you know that Albert Einstein's brains are still preserved? Did you know that some parts of the universe are moving away from us faster than the speed of life although nothing can travel faster than light? 

You probably get my point. You could search and learn random things, and it is really a mood booster, and makes you forget what all problems and sorrows you might have.

7)Meditate: meditate at least for some time a day. It really improves your mentality and develops compassion and makes you strong. I meditate every day, and so should everybody. It also is a great stress buster.

8)Exercise: This might seem like hypocrisy, but you must exercise to rest and relax. Google 'runner's high' and you would get what I mean. Avid Gym goers would say that exercising is like being high on drugs, without the drugs. Its because, while exercising, the mind releases endorphins to ease the pain, and it contributes to a feeling of overall well being. And trust me when I say this, it really happens. So go out there and exercise. You will not regret the amazing feeling. Plus, you would also stay healthy.

9)Create something: Draw, innovate, write, or simply try to sing. Whenever the world is giving you lemons, you have to make lemonade. Just start with creating, and it will come automatically. I will give you an example. You could imagine a new form of governing a town.First, determine the names of its offices.'Prainage security', 'Pest control', 'Homeland friendship department' might be some of the names. Then you could start with the names and characters of people who run it. You could write, "Mr. Pomer of  Drainage Dep looks fat and has greasy skin. He probably did well in school, judging from his eccentric manner, but what he really has is amazing passion for cleanliness and a penchant for religion. Nobody could really explain why his skin always remains greasy...." and so on. Do this for every memeber of every office. After you have finished, you would have your very own 'universe' and you would be its God. You can make people famous, or kill them off in a story as you see fit. Or you could write about a chain of happenings in your town as stories. Do ypou really think you would still be able to remain stressed after doing all that?

That's it for today, guys. Hope you like what i wrote, and i hope that I was able to help you. Have a good day and be happy.

Artificial Intelligence- A Highlight

Last month I attended a Seminar on Artificial Intelligence conducted by The Climber under Indian Youth Conclave held in Chennai. So here are some highlights and minutes of the seminar.

So to start with let's define the topic first.

Artificial intelligence (AI, also machine intelligence, MI) is apparently intelligent behaviour by machines, rather than the natural intelligence (NI) of humans and other animals. In computer science, AI research is defined as the study of "intelligent agents": any device that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of success at some goal. Colloquially, the term "artificial intelligence" is applied when a machine mimics "cognitive" functions that humans associate with other human minds, such as "learning" and "problem-solving".

In Simpler words, AI is nothing but a machine with common reasoning capabilities.

Things to keep in mind:

1. The growth in technology is exponential.

2. Computation power doubles every 18 months.(Moore's Law)

Scenario before AI:

• Navigation was done with the help of compass and maps.
• Translations were done with the help of a dictionary.
• Email folders were overloaded with spams.

What is AI?

• Recreating something which can make a machine do human tasks.
• Computers doing work which requires human intelligence.

Some Raw Applications:

• NLP - Natural Language Processing
• understanding human language as it is naturally spoken i.e. understanding instructions in English or any other Human understandable language.

• Speech Processing -
• Speech Recognition - Speech to text
• Speech Synthesis - Text to Speech

• Computer Vision -
• image processing
• face recognition
• giving the computer an ability to see

• Knowledge Representation -
• possession of knowledge
• making knowledge useful for humans
• a good demonstration could be Wikidata - Wikidata is a free and open knowledge base that can be read and edited by both humans and machines. 

• Machine Learning -
• making a machine learn something through a process of trial and error.
• learning through experiences and dataset synthesis.

• Supervised Learning -
• learning through algorithms which are capable of upgrading
• closest path and most efficient algorithm
• Answers and variables are already given, the computer just needs to work on the methods to devise questions.

• Unsupervised Learning - 
• When final answers are not given.
• the data is clustered into groups so that some conclusion from the data could be drawn.
• For ex- Recommendations from Amazon is unsupervised learning.

• Deep Learning -
• Working on some specific feature by the use of available counterparts
• It's exactly same as human brain's functioning.
• It consists of breaking information into smaller pieces layer by layer on neural network.

 

The scenario with AI:

• gmail now filters up to 99% of spam emails.
• Each and every gadget is AI factory.
• Siri, Google Assitant, Alexa, Cortana all are AI based internet deduction applications.
• Google Translate made it really easy to translate text just by typing or clicking a pic too.
• Amazon Recommendations are based on AI grouping.
• Chess, Go, Othello, Backgammon, etc. are now based on an AI-powered engine developed by Google DeepMind

.

AI vs Jobs:

• depending upon different fields influence of AI on jobs can be felt.
• Will Robots Take My Job?- This website predicts the job security based on recent trends in AI influencing your job.
• Some recent AI takeovers:
• Robotic warehouses allow Amazon to offer super-fast shipping.
• Multiple companies are using drones for delivery.
• Robot authors novel in Japanese Novel Writing Competition.
• Sunspring- A short movie entirely scripted by AI.
• Robotic Lawyers overturned 160000 parking tickets already in opposition to Equifacts SSN security breach.
• Self-driving cars.
• More than 50% trade in the US is done by AI. So it is not wrong to say that the Economy of the world is powered by AI.
• MAR/IO
• Mar/Io is AI played version of the classic Mario. It is entirely based on predictions by an AI
• Here is the Video.

Future Scenario with AI:

We are at the Edge of change comparable to the rise of Human Life on Earth

       1. The Law of Acceleration Returns:

• A revolution like the Industrial revolution is coming back.
•  The Law states Business Insider

       2. Death level of Progress:

• It's basically the limit of human sustenance at sight of technological advancement.
• For ex - If a person from Industrial Revolution will see today's Technology he/she would be so amused that they would die of shock whereas if any person from early 1960s will see today's technology he/she won't die out of amusement.
• It is basically a time period in which people will die out of amusement due to technology.
• Next 20 years are very crucial. 
• It is estimated that the Death Level would come down to few weeks.

       3. Some future Advancements in developing stages:

• 2D to 3D conversions.
• Image Captioning (See this)
• Face Hallucination (See this)
• Image Style Transfer - Applications like Prisma and others for enhancing photographs using AI. (See this) 
• Image Colorization - colouring black and white photos using a neural network and deep learning. (Try it)
• Computer Programming.

       4. AI Caliber

• Artificial Narrow Intelligence
• Not much Machine and Deep learning involved. (See this)
• Artificial General Intelligence 
• Includes hardcore Deep Learning specific to the field (See this)
• Artificial Super Intelligence
• High-end algorithm processing tendency (See this)
• Neuralink
• An Elon Musk company targeting controlling computers just with brainwaves by inserting a bionic chip inside the brain. (Neuralink)

Some Fun facts regarding AI:

• We consider AI as not even intelligent than chimp but in reality, AI has surpassed even Einstein.
• AI will either cause Human extinction or make humans immortal.

Some unattainable AI responses yet:

• Emotional stability.
• Imparting knowledge about good and bad.
• Surety for human welfare.
• Self-improving AI at large scale.
• Rogue AI rectification.

At last, I would like to leave you all with some unanswered question...

1. Can AI be a Darwinian Error?
2. Will AI never overpower humans in spite of being superior to humans?
3. Can we tackle rogue AI?
4. Is AI threatening justified?

The dot of the empty place

Bakshali manuscript extract

Recent carbon dating of the Bakhshali manuscript revealed that parts of it were written as early as third or fourth century, which predates the results of previous study, done with the parameters like style of writing, the literary and mathematical content and other factors, which showed they originated sometime between 8^th and 12^th century. It also revealed that samples were written in different centuries like some of them in 224-383 AD, another in 680-779 AD and another in 885-993 AD.

The scientists were not half as perplexed as how parts from different centuries came to be packaged as one, as they were excited from the discovery that this manuscript is now the most ancient known record of the symbol zero as we know it today. Although in these manuscript, zero is not depicted as a number but as a placeholder in number system. For example in the number “502”, “0” indicates no tens, and helps us differentiate it from “52”; here “0” works as a placeholder. It’s not worth anything on its own but it changes the value of other digits.

These writings were found in 1881 by a farmer in a field in Bakhshali near Peshawar, now in Pakistan. The texts of the script, written on birch bark in Sanskrit appeared to be the trading manuals of merchant traders doing business across Silk Road. In these manuals they have solved problems involving arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and mensuration covering topics like simple equations, simultaneous linear equations, quadratic equations and indeterminate equations of second degree.

These writings were found in 1881 by a farmer in a field in Bakhshali near Peshawar, now in Pakistan. The texts of the script, written on birch bark in Sanskrit appeared to be the trading manuals of merchant traders doing business across Silk Road. In these manuals they have solved problems involving arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and mensuration covering topics like simple equations, simultaneous linear equations, quadratic equations and indeterminate equations of second degree.

Although, there have been many ancient cultures which have used their own placeholder symbols. The Babylonians adopted a double wedge to symbolize nothingness around 5000 years ago; the Mayans used a shell to represent absence in their calendar system. By 1770 BC, the Egyptians used the symbol nfr  to depict “0” in accounting texts and to mark the base level in drawings of tombs and pyramids, so that distances were to be measured from that base level. By 130 AD Ptolemy used ‘a small circle with a long overbar’ as a symbol for zero.

Before the findings on Bakhshali manuscript, Lokvibhaga, a Jain cosmological text, dated around 458 AD, was considered to be the oldest known mention of numeral “0”.

“That is exciting to recognize, that culture is important in making big mathematical breakthroughs. The Europeans, even when it was introduced to them, were like ‘Why would we need a number for nothing?’ It’s a very abstract leap.” said Marcus du Sautoy, professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford.

These developments of zero in the field of mathematics later expanded the range of further work in different fields of study like the idea of infinity, the modern explanation of vacuum in quantum physics, and even the most profound questions like how our universe came into existence and how it might vanish from existence in the future.

E-commerce or Traditional commerce

        E-commerce or Traditional commerce

Gone are the days when the commercial activities like the exchange of goods and services for money, between parties, takes place only in the traditional mode, i.e. the customer have to go to the market, look at the variety of products, choose the required stuff and the purchasing them by paying the specified amount. But with the advent of e-Commerce, people can buy goods, pay bills, or transfer money in just one click. Many people, still prefer traditional commerce over e-Commerce, due to their dogma that the latter is not safe, however, this is just a myth. Both modes have their pros and cons, so we have simplified you the difference between traditional commerce and e-Commerce.

Traditional commerce

Traditional commerce is a branch of business which focuses on the exchange of products and services, and includes all those activities which encourages exchange, in some way or the other.Traditional Commerce or Commerce is a part of business, which encompasses all those activities that facilitate exchange. Two kinds of activities are included in commerce, i.e. trade and auxiliaries to trade. The term trade refers to the buying and selling of goods and services for cash or kind and auxiliaries to trade, implies all those activities like banking, insurance, transportation, advertisement, insurance, packaging, and so on, that helps in the successful completion of exchange between parties.

E-commerce

E-Commerce or electronic commerce refers to the exchange of goods and services, funds or information, between businesses and consumers using the electronic network, i.e. internet or online social network. e-Commerce means trading and providing assistance to trading activities, through the use of the electronic medium, i.e. all the activities like purchasing, selling, ordering and paying are performed over the internet. 

Now the main question is which one of these two is better?

Time factor 

The traditional commerce usually takes much more time to complete a transaction successfully. However, both the business and consumers can save a lot of their time through e-Commerce as the transaction can be completed within a few minutes via the internet.

Working Hours

In traditional commerce, the trading of goods and services can take place, only during specific working hours. In contrast, in e-commerce, the selling and buying of goods take place round the clock.

Delivery of goods

In traditional commerce,the delivery of goods occurs immediately.But in the case of e-commerce, the goods get delivered right at the customer’s place usually within 7-8 days after placing the order.

Promotions of new product

In traditional commerce, the promotion of new products requires both money and time. Even costly pilot surveys are also carried out to analyze the customers’ response about the product. In e-commerce, it is easy to advertise a product on the internet to get the immediate feedback of the customers. Based on that, the products are usually modified to be launched successfully.

Business profit

E-commerce helps the organization to appreciate greater profits by streamlining operating processes, increasing sales, and cutting down extra expenses, whereas, in traditional commerce, profit is pulled down a bit due to the interference of middleman and limited sales.

 Conclusion

Nowadays, the fast-paced world, in order to stay ahead in contention, to save time, and thrive in the business through the world of internet, it is very essential to break-through the conventional or traditional rules and adapt theinformation technology for doing better business not only with one country or location but in throughout the global locations at any time. Therefore, although e-Commerce is a bit risky mode of business like the threats of facing fraud transaction, unsuitable for selling perishable goods, and not ability to inspect goods physically by the customers, but according to match with the evolving technologies e-Commerce is better and convenient than traditional commerce in today’s world.

The Yardstick

 How are things quantified? How do we know the value of a kilogram of sugar? How do we arrive upon the conclusion as to whether the distance to be travelled is too far or not? It done by the virtue of yardsticks. The Americans measure distance in miles while we do so in kilometers. However, in the end, both parties are able to effectively arrive at a conclusion based on the quantity measured. The effective distance or the mass of the object isn't going to change regardless of whether it is measured in miles or kilometers or pounds or kilograms. Now, this isn't some introductory note to some class on Physics. This is just a clarification that the characteristic feature of an object doesn't change based on the yardstick we use to measure it.

Now we move on to the realm of beings whose origin story itself is highly conflicted. Whether, these beings evolved from monkeys or whether they were crafted by the “All-Knowing One Above” is something that is still debated upon. Now we are different from objects mentioned earlier. We are made of organic entities called cells. As you’re reading this, millions of bio-chemical connections are being formed in your brain which the average human terms as “thoughts”. Our characteristics won’t remain same with the changing yardstick of measurement.

Being societal beings, we are constantly under the pressure to do a lot of things. We were never given a chance to contemplate upon the reasons for doing many of these things. We walk around clothed. None of us came into the world with the notion that covering one’s nudity was a necessity. But somehow, we ended up being clothed. Now, please don’t blame Eve for that. Similarly, we were never given a proper reason behind attending school. Everyone was doing it. So we just followed the same suit.

As the years passed by, I began to question the very essence of schooling. The existence of an institution which measures its students with the yardstick of marks (mere numbers) seemed too minimalistic to be plausible. If that was the case, then the topper must have had life easy in front of him and the supposed “dunce” must be destined for failure. But, upon close probing, that wasn’t the case. The revered topper, who was believed to be at the pinnacle of success, then tumbles down to get caught up in a rat race. The dropouts, often free from the bondages of being reduced to a mere rank or number often go around creating ripples in the society which may be in the form of a start-up that our topper friends probably dream of getting into. Now, as I mentioned earlier, the “dunce” isn’t an actual dunce. He just couldn't cope up with a system that merely reduced him to marks. He had a brain capable of generating ideas that could possibly change the world as we know it. Similarly, we get to see that the topper was actually an entity accustomed to the system.

When subjected to the real life where intelligence isn’t measured by the yardstick of marks, the topper fumbled. It was only then, it dawned upon him that intelligence, in fact, was a spectrum that was a mix of academic, experiences and most of all, the ability of being street smart and in tune with the happenings around him. The topper can’t be blamed for his obliviousness towards the system. After all, he was just a kid stepping into real life. So now we move on to the question as to who is to be blamed. The institution of course, and its idea that its yardstick of measurement was accurate when it was not even close.

I am often fascinated by the things my parents are capable of doing. They are not even close when compared based on marks. But the amount of skills they’ve accumulated over the years is something that never ceases to amaze me. It’s not that my parents are special in any manner. They were subjected to a different education system that didn’t consider marks of utmost importance. They were taught to value experience along with the various modules on their subject. As I just began with my college life, wherein you are responsible for everything starting from your nutrition to your academics, I realized how faulty our yardsticks were. Being the fairly academic student didn’t give me an edge when it came to money management. Being the fairly academic student didn’t give me an upper edge when it came to finding good places to eat or washing my clothes properly.

Hence, it is high time we changed the yardsticks of measurement. As the Internet claims that Albert Einstein said, “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” 

"I Love You!"- A slang?

Disclaimer

The content written here is purely my personal opinion. This is not intended to hurt any person's feelings or invoke any conflicts. At last, even if someone got offended I am really sorry for that too...


How many days we have been together?-asked the girl. To which boy promptly replied," Technically it's been a week we started chatting! but I feel like we have known each other for millenniums, It seems you are the only one for whom my heart longed for... Shall I say you those Golden Words?"--- Seriously? I mean seriously how can someone be so cheezy just after a week? How come someone says so much caramelised sentences? Isn't this weird?

To which the girl replied,"Are you sure you want to do this? I mean it is only a week, why don't we take time to say those words? You seem to be in a hurry boy... take it easy or else you will fall on your face."--- The girl seemed to be enjoying his company. She is being diplomatic as well as moved by the boy's guts and excitement.


Okay, okay!!! This was an old-school modern story now allow me to take command and elaborate something relevant to my topic...After spending few more days together both proposed each other by exchanging those so-called "Magical, Heavenly, Holy Words", I Love you!"

Now let the story unfold... As every Millenial story twist arrives as expected, both faced "compatibility issues!", claimed that their partner's behaviour is not same as before, "Lack of Interest!", etc,etc... "I think we don't Love each other anymore!!!"...

According to a survey, Almost every second Millineal faces such problems. It seems like we are lacking interest in each other, there are no strong feelings, no strong bonding, no strings attached...
Personally, What I feel is The Expression of Love have evolved merely into a Word! The old principles catering to fundamentals of Love no longer proves to be valid. All those years long heritage seems to be irrelevant to us fast lovers. Seriously, living in a high-speed world we people expect everything to be high-speed! Isn't it wrong? Come on accept it! I know most of us will agree with the fact but then also will try to ignore the scenario and consequences too.

So as to speak we are SOCIAL but there is no SOCIALITY left in us. We make up everything as either a MEME or SARCASM! Even people are taking Love as slangs...You may not be amused to know that a person who said" I Love You" yesterday, was someone you would never meet again or maybe that person could be hanging out with another individual.

It is very depressing as well as humiliating to face this bitter truth of our generation... We people are so-called advanced, enthusiast, technocrats but in reality, we are coward... Fearing to commit, fearing to live rest of the life with a particular individual... What I think is that we have advanced technology just in developing Slangs and memes, and not any feelings or commitments.

The life forward would be biting and steep if recent trend is not changed. Love should again be nurtured with its true feelings and motive... "It is very easy to break something but the real person is the one who mends things!"... In the end, I would like to leave you with a question  "Is I Love you! A slang in today's context?" or "Is Love being materialised justified by recent technological advancements?" 

Content Writing - A Career?

Imagine yourself sitting on a beanbag or on a crouch without much of pressure and writing all that comes to your mind... Playing with words, making new sentences, enjoying vocabulary along with a cup of hot tea or coffee, and in addition being paid for the job. Isn't it fascinating?
Yes, this is the job of a content writer. Just enjoying writing and getting paid off. Who said you cannot be paid off just for your passions? Content Writing is one such field in which one can earn in his/her leisure time. More and people have started taking this as a primary job than just a part-time job.





Let's understand what is Content Writing all about and what are the pre-requisites for this field and other challenges....


What is content writing?

• As the name suggests content writing is nothing alien, it's just writing about something specific and relevant, targeting some specific audiences.
• Sometimes it can be writing about any topic catering to a wider audience also.
• Content writing is the art of needling through the words and structuring them in such a way that they appeal to the masses.
• SEO and Content writing go hand in hand. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation, will refer to it back later in the post.

Often Confused terms:

1. Content Writing
2. Copy Writing
3. Technical Writing
4. Creative Writing

lets us walk through the basic differences amongst the above four, basically contrasting in between themselves...

Content Writing vs Copywriting:

• A shorter version of content writing, up to the mark.
• Concise and appropriate for advertisements.
• It's a shorter way of storytelling.
• Mostly it is translating or summarizing content writing.
• Mainly done for marketing purposes.

Content Writing vs Technical writing:

• It's is a specialised type of content writing which involves using excellent technical aptitude regarding the specific technical domain.
• Involves simplifying complex technical terminology into simpler words so that common person can easily understand.
• Content writing may or may not be topic specific but Technical Writing needs to be specific technology related.

Content Writing vs Technical writing:

• Creative writing mainly consists of writing for recreational purposes.
• It is stepping stone for broadening imagination.
• Consists writing posts for practice purpose or for a personal blog.
• There is no bondage about the topic, one can write about anything.

A Buzz Word: SEO

• Stands for Search Engine Optimisation.
• It is a process of optimizing a website so that people can easily find it via search engines like Google.
• Making your content highly visible so that the Search Engines could easily grab them and display in results.
• It goes hand in hand with Content Writing as SEO is one such thing with takes the content towards the audience.

Some tips to advance in the field:

• Decent command over the Language.
• Punctuations and grammar should be sound.
• Must have the adequate reading habits.
• Must be calm and composed under pressure, i.e., must know how to manage deadlines.
• Handsome sentence formation, catchy phrases usage.
• Ability to bind the audience just by wordplay.
• The person should be Mozart in the field.(just joking).
• Be original and relevant.
• Know the audience.
• If the person is handy with SEO, WordPress and link building then chances are brighter.

Some difficulties in choosing this as a career:

• Not that much respect for content writers in the Indian society.
• Mostly Freelancing jobs are available at the moment.
• Salary and perks are also not too high.
• One needs to be exceptional in the field to move ahead.
• Lack of good readers and interests.
• Lack of originality and boxed imagination.
• No specific office hours, the irregular schedule can disturb sleep cycle and messes up health.

Some Advantages:

• Learning is never in vain.
• Enhances vocabulary and writing-typing skills.
• One can take it as a secondary source of income too.
• Highly skilled professionals are paid handsomely.
• In long run it helps is gathering some respect and name in the Society.

Some recent opportunities:

• More and more companies are hiring freelancers for this particular job.
• Internships and training are also organised for the interested people to compete and gain exposure.
• Companies are also immerging which supply content writers to different companies.
• Site monetization using Adsense is trending. One just needs his/her own website which must be hosted on some hosting service.One just needs to put on some advertisements and wait for the people to click on them and earn a respectable amount of money...

Conclusion:

• Content Writing is one of the most trending and pleasing freelancing job available right now.
• Lots of employment opportunity.
• If someone wants to earn money just by writing and expressing then this is the right platform.
• Good command over language and some knowledge of SEO is enough for making a career in this field.
• One should surely give this a try if one is passionate about writing.

Hope, I was able to provide some of the necessary information about the topic in brief as possible... Please feel free to comment below if you want to interact or suggest some improvements.

 Keep writing!

 Keep reading!

-Utkarsh Sharma

. 

Suicide! Not an option for me!

This is my small step towards making the world Suicide free... As we can see every now and then news flashes of someone committing a serious crime(YES a crime!  taking life is a crime be it of self)...I have a simple citation to escape this 

"If you cannot give life to yourself, then how can you take your life?" 

This is a conversation between some friends from the so-called suicide capital of India "Kota" on the eve of World Suicide Prevention Day...(10th of September).

Vishal: You know what today is 10 September.

Vishu: Yes! So what’s so special about it?

Vishal: Don’t say you don’t know…. (scrolling his news feed)

Vishu: Oh! yes! Today is the day when Osama must have made the final adjustments for executing 9/11…

Neelu: You morons! Today is World Suicide Prevention Day …

Vishu and Vishal: Oh! What’s this day?  Never came across such day before….

Neelu: (Glancing at Wikipedia) World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) is an awareness day observed on 10 September every year, in order to provide worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides, with various activities around the world since 2003. The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), collaborates with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Federation for Mental Health, to host World Suicide Prevention Day. In 2011 an estimated 40 countries held awareness events to mark the occasion.The United Nations issued ‘National Policy for Suicide Prevention’ in the 1990s which some countries use as a basis for their suicide policies.

Vishu: The stats are too threatening… I am afraid of all these.

Vishal: How could one be so coward to give away his/her life so easily. One must consider all the aspects before taking such steps…

Neelu: As we all know, we all are interdependent on each other, it creates lots of problems even if one of us is missing!!!

Vishal: How would parents feel to lose their child at such a tender age just because of stress due to exams? It’s really depressing !!!

Vishu: Yes! you guys are right one should not give away his/her life just because of problems… I mean who doesn’t have problems in their life? No one is perfect… All suffer from problems!

Vishal: No must need to get over all these problems. I cannot imagine leaving my family and friends alone and giving away my life just to be free…

Neelu: Friend on this auspicious occasion let us sign a pact? What you suggest?

Vishu and Vishal: Pact? About what?

Neelu: The pact goes like this …(speak with me)

"Whatsoever is the situation,
 We won’t ever consider Suicide as an option.
 We will try harder and won’t be coward,
 We live once and will enjoy it till death!!!"

(All of them and other people on that day pledged to be suicide free… Till now the plan is working fine.. let’s hope for the best in future too…)

Nicolas Sparks

P.S.: I want all of you to take the same oath in the comment section below and join hands against Suicides... I wish none of my you take this kind of step… Please feel free to talk to me or any other person if suffering from depression… I am sure that it will help you and will decrease suicidal tendency… Wishing a safe life ahead to all  


-Utkarsh Sharma