Life, Dreams and Reality -- Sohel's Blog

Like the writer David M. Cummings I also found it unbelievable that there is absolutely no defects in Toyota's embedded complex software system. "It is extremely difficult to make such a determination through laboratory tests......Whatever the final outcome of the Toyota saga, this should serve as a wake-up call to all industries that increasingly rely on software for safety. It is probably only a matter of time before a software error results in injury or death, if it has not happened already (there are some who say it has). We need to minimize that possibility by enforcing extremely stringent standards on the development and testing of software in all safety-critical systems, including, but not limited to, automobiles." in reference to: "Whatever the final outcome of the Toyota saga, this should serve as a wake-up call to all industries that increasingly rely on software for safety. It is probably only a matter of time before a software error results in injury or d...

Is this for real? In this millennium of victorious consumerism and comfort feelings arising from accumulating of wealth and power, who in the "right mind" can relinquish all those pounds for pounds of heaps of money to charity? If this story holds true, Australian millionaire Karl Rabeder may prove to be residing in the extreme spectrum of our lost humanity. Here are a few of his memorable quotes: "My idea is to have nothing left. Absolutely nothing,.....Money is counterproductive – it prevents happiness to come.....For a long time I believed that more wealth and luxury automatically meant more happiness,......I come from a very poor family where the rules were to work more to achieve more material things, and I applied this for many years,.....More and more I heard the words: 'Stop what you are doing now – all this luxury and consumerism – and start your real life..........I had the feeling I was working as a slave for things that I did not wish for or need.........

The earthquake news from Haiti is very distressing. I was watching the evening news and it was heartbreaking. My native country Bangladesh is also in a severe earthquake prone zone along with its yearly flood and devastating hurricanes, and many buildings there are not made to withstand large earthquake like this. In front of unpredictable nature, we human beings still remain so much vulnerable. When the terrible news like this resurfaces the memories, so insignificant the life of mine feels, wish I could help more the distressed many around the world. The information on donations that can be sent to Haiti found from the following locations: http://www.google.com/relief/haitiearthquake/#utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-sk&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=haiti%20relief  http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/haiti-disaster-relief-how-to-contribute/ A tearful statement from Governor General of Canada Michaelle Jean on Hati's earthquake is a must see in the follo...

Olive Kitteridge is a great book! The writer Elizabeth Strout's mastery on the language, plots and the sheer artistry displayed through 13 stories linked by a few unforgettable characters, especially Olive and Henry, is highly recommended to devour. Read it slow, each word and each sentence, rewards seem other worldly.

Are the impacts of Climate Change irreversible? Have we crossed the threshold point from which no point of return is possible anymore? For millions and millions of people of our world, Climate Change is not an arbitrary abstract concept that only can be heard occasionally from global pulpit of endless summits or from march of protesters' suppressed slogans around the globe. This is the painful reality for countless many. Where would the displaced millions go? The world should not just wait for the inevitable to happen in just mere years or months away. If we are really the most intelligent species with humanity as the core of our moral norm, a sustainable migration plan and action need to be in place for displaced human being like Mahe Noor and her family. in reference to: Environmental Refugees Unable to Return Home - NYTimes.com ( view on Google Sidewiki )

"...can an old brain learn, and then remember what it learns? Put another way, is this a brain that should be in school? As it happens, yes." Here is the trick: "The trick is finding ways to keep brain connections in good condition and to grow more of them..............for adults, one way to nudge neurons in the right direction is to challenge the very assumptions they have worked so hard to accumulate while young. With a brain already full of well-connected pathways, adult learners should “jiggle their synapses a bit” by confronting thoughts that are contrary to their own," in reference to: "for adults, one way to nudge neurons in the right direction is to challenge the very assumptions they have worked so hard to accumulate while young. With a brain already full of well-connected pathways, adult learners should “jiggle their synapses a bit” by confronting thoughts that are contrary to their own," - Adult Learning - Neuroscience - How to Train the Aging B...

Blue Moon By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) 2010-01-01 Once in a blue moon Wind howls through chilling freeze Stopping growling hyenas on tracks Of murderous sneeze Once in a blue moon Eagles soar above fogs and clouds And treacherous fox hides Behind displayed shrouds By gone year and memories Real and embedded Sparkle flashes of neurons Synaptic threaded Sweeping away the chill and frill of night The renewed sunlight bristles snowy trees and awn Obliterating the shimmering blue moon With shining rays of fulsome dawn

We born. We die. That's the nature of this mortal existence. Some deaths stir emotions as did Kim Peek's death. The 'Rain Man' movie was loosely based on this extraordinary man's life. "When Kim was 9 months old, a doctor said that he was so severely retarded that he would never walk or talk and that he should be institutionalized. When Kim was 6, another doctor recommended a lobotomy. By then, however, Kim had read and memorized the first eight volumes of a set of family encyclopedias, his father said. He received part-time tutoring from the age of 7 and completed a high school curriculum by 14. He spent great swaths of time absorbing volumes in the Salt Lake City Public Library." When asked "Kim, are you happy?", Kim Peek answered, "I'm happy just to look at you." The 'Rain Man' dies. The 'Rain Man' dies. But the memory and the inspiration live on. in reference to: Kim Peek, Inspiration for ‘Rain Man,’ Di...

What to eat then? Killing animal is murder. And the plants have sophisticated system in place, like talking through chemical signals, "Their roots ride the underground “rhizosphere” and engage in cross-cultural and microbial trade." Here is an interesting extract from Natalie Angier's article in The New York Times, "Just because we humans can’t hear them doesn’t mean plants don’t howl. Some of the compounds that plants generate in response to insect mastication — their feedback, you might say — are volatile chemicals that serve as cries for help. Such airborne alarm calls have been shown to attract both large predatory insects like dragon flies, which delight in caterpillar meat, and tiny parasitic insects, which can infect a caterpillar and destroy it from within." Plant the trickster, the survivor, "Plants are the ethical autotrophs here, the ones that wrest their meals from the sun. Don’t expect them to boast: they’re too busy fighting to survive....

Naive? – A Poem By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) November 9, 2009 Hear me out Oh beauty and truth! May I stand as cool Or utterly uncouth Hear me out Oh deceived! Oh dishevelled brute! Your bullets and bombs Blast bones, cut veins And arteries Open like flowing river Of blood Splattered on the wall Of concrete or straws Where trail of hands Smear the last thread Of yearn Hear me out Oh fantastic! Oh clever prick! Staged killings Even shed real blood Snuff out life of real Someone’s brother, husband Son and daughter Rest in the coffin, in open graves Or strapped in hospital bed In the name of piety Or is it flagging false Of dying dread? God, Allah, Adonai, Bhagwan, Jesus Christ and eternal Buddha Hear me out! Oh the all mighty! Lord of the universe The creator of animals and serpents In abundance, in treachery Bring down your wrath Bring down Monster pollute Stop staging The very real death Hear me out Oh naive idiot! Begging you Don’t shoot!...

For a relatively novice player like me, the following chess moves looked really wonderful. Look at the board setting above. 1.....d5 The above moves by black piece was done so that black bishop in f8 has clear access to a3 in later move that shows an example of thinking a few moves ahead. The above seemingly careless move by black entices white to take the un-protected pawn in d5 by its bishop in c4. 2. Bc4xd5 Now look at the next move by black. 2......Qf6xc3 3. bxc3 3.  ......Ba3 and check mate! In the above, white King does not have any move because it cannot move in c2, b1 or b2 as these were all covered by black bishops, and nor there any other white pieces that can protect the king. I find these few steps shows an excellent example of planning a few move ahead in chess. The above technique was first applied by Samuel Standidge Boden in 1853 in a game against Schulder, though there was a variation of it played in Horwitzh-Popert game in 1844. Wiki h...

Another song by Buffy Sainte-Marie.

A song written many years ago but rings true to these days. 

This a heart breaking story of a boy who believed that he could do anything. Link: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/04/greene.wyatt.sunflower/index.html

"...we are part of a superorganism, a hivelike network that shapes our decisions. “A smoker may have as much control over quitting as a bird has to stop a flock from flying in a particular direction...." Here is one more excerpt: "How does network contagion work?.....Partly, it’s a kind of peer pressure, or norming, effect, in which certain behaviors, or the social acceptance of certain behaviors, get transmitted across a network of acquaintances."  And there is explanation using evolution, "During the early stages of human evolution, selective advantage was probably conferred on those individuals who lived in social networks and could share information about food or predators. The primatologist Robin Dunbar has argued that the human brain evolved to its present size to keep track of a network of 150 people..........As among primates, those humans who are best able to manipulate social networks to their advantage thrive, and that ability may be genetically...

No One By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) September 27, 2009 He built the largest building Pyramid of concrete and granite Middle of envious kryptonite No limit and no holding She traveled the world in eighty days And nights like Jules Verne’s story Getting love, endless glory Her passion weathers rebuke, dismays The group of four astronauts Gone and returned from landing moon Walking the vast empty space swoon Conspicuously bail outs Lifted their souls from purgatory Of economic depression Right into wilful oppression Hell fire in Friedmanite gory No one was spared from judgement Of threshing laughter and jeer Economics voodoo’s clear Acceptance, sheer fraudulent No one spared! No one dared To croak words Of sanguine flare Market goes up Market goes down The gloomiest clown Drowned in speculative burp

This article published in the New Scientist this week is engaging. I have not read any of the writings by Kim Stanley Robinson before. The Guardian writes that "Kim Stanley Robinson, one of the greatest science fiction authors writing today", therefore giving the writer's name a respectable meaning to me. Robinson attached the Booker Prize juries for not selecting any science fiction novels, and especially this year, when five short listed novels are all historical fiction. Here is a snippet of Robinson's argument from this article, "This is important, because you need the literature of your time. You can't get the meaning of our life in 2009 from historical fiction, nor from science alone. Novels serve us, and are treasured, because we want meaning, and fiction is where meaning is created. Scientifically minded people could perhaps conceptualise novels as case studies or thought experiments, both finer grained and wider ranging in their approach to meaning...

Reflection on Harmonium – a Prose Poem By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) September 12, 2009 Once it used to be the lifeblood of a musical lore. Once it used to lighten up the room with impeccable tune playing the auditory dance with a classical voice of a singer. Pumping the below in one hand, and the other to play the plastic covered black and white keys, harmonium player raced the musical field like a man in a battle. Striking the keys with force, pulling and pushing the below with vigour, matching the tabla player’s fierce tempo in bayan while leading the singer’s vocal to crescendo perfecto. Now as it lies abandoned, replaced by glittery synthesizers and digital gizmo, harmonium’s last breath extends: not giving up! Not giving up! Unlike its brethren accordion, you don’t have to strap it on your chest. Unlike the cousin violin, you don’t have to place it on your shoulder. No bow is needed. No feet pump is required. Harmonium, the maestro, sits in a forgotten corner of locked up clos...

Classroom By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) September 12, 2009 A rainy and cold morning Of waning summer. Boys and girls Wearing the blue sky uniforms Reading the poetry of Tagore. The classroom looks serene. In the blackboard Imprint of white chalks Measuring the rhymes and similes Dissected stanza’s rustic glamour. The teacher with neatly parted receding hair And large spectacle hanging from nose Is pacing from one corner to another Reciting the pleasing poem in soothing voice. The boys and girls are following the teacher Each word, each pause and tribulation Bouncing off the rhythmic lyric Shouting and murmuring the opening words: “It’s the morning! Open the Door!” (Bhor Holo! Dor Kholo!) A rainy and cold morning Of waning summer. Boys and girls Wearing the blue sky uniforms Reading the poetry of Tagore. Dedicated to the Bangla and English literature teachers of University Laboratory School at Dhaka. Inspired by poem Memory...

Slippery, Silvery Fish By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) September 11, 2009 I had no sense of dying I had no sense of the God divine Or the screechy scream of a slaughtered Negated swine Water was filling up my lungs Was I wheezing? Coughing? Can one cough while drowning? Silvery fish were swimming by, But the river, down there Cold and shady Impish bungs A boy of year two Even death seemed an escapade My flailing fingers grasping thru Water charade The swarming fish Slippery as they were Sinking as I was In the depth of that murky swish Of waves looked jovial While water filling up my lungs Twirled tongue, not trivial I looked up Splintered rays from heaven Slicing the shadow of a dingy boat No stethoscope, no white coat Someone grabbed my shoulder The right one, Trembled, deaden And pulled me up There I was On the boat In cradle of patriarch Beside sobbing matriarch Coughing and wheezing All the rive...