tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-107478802024-03-08T01:07:37.122+05:30My Wailing WallThe <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Wall">Wailing Wall</a> is where Jews lament the destruction of the Temple, atone for their sins, and pray for forgiveness. This, in not so religious terms, is where i pour out all my anguish, concern, and curiosity about the world, and about me.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16083288369103650672noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10747880.post-34834620224682874802018-12-08T13:24:00.001+05:302018-12-08T13:44:44.555+05:30Installing a python client for MySQL<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
While trying to <span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">pip install mysqlclient</span>, I had been coming across this issue for the past two days:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"> In file included from _mysql.c:29:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"> /usr/local/mysql/include/mysql.h:35:10: fatal error: 'sys/types.h' file not found</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"> #include <sys/types.h></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"> ^~~~~~~~~~~~~</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"> 1 error generated.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"> error: command 'clang' failed with exit status 1</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If I were a more meticulous developer, I would have focused on the exact issue being barfed by the terminal, instead of being easily confused and distracted by the many Stack Overflow and Github suggestions.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Some of the suggestions I tried, and shot myself in the foot:</div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Some SO issues had suggested to <span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">brew install mysql</span>, which, of course, began to install the latest version of mysql (8.0), when I already had a previous version installed.</li>
<li>While installing 8.0 version, I didn't know how to do an "in place" upgradation from 5.7 to 8.0, or a "logical upgradation" from 5.7 to 8.0. Either of which would have worked, but since 8.0 was installed assuming there were no previous versions of mysql installed, I ended up in a state where neither the 5.7 server nor the 8.0 server would start up.</li>
<li>And since I had not taken a <span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">mysqldump</span> backup of all my tables before starting this exercise, I had no other go than to remove both mysql versions, along with all the data directories (and thus losing my current tables on localhost), and start from scratch again.</li>
<li>But hey! installing from scratch doesn't fix the above issue either!</li>
<li>Installing XCode command line tools via <span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">xcode-select --install</span> doesn't seem to fix this either!</li>
</ul>
<div>
So what's the issue here? Going through more articles and suggestions, came across <a href="https://github.com/codebutler/firesheep/issues/169#issuecomment-6985466">this little gem</a> by <a href="https://github.com/giblfiz">GitHub user giblfiz</a>, which seems to suggest that the latest versions of XCode doesn't install the system headers into <span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">/usr/local/include</span>, where every other build system worth it's salt in portability would look for by default, but instead installs it into some weird macOS specific directory.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Aha. So add this weird directory as well to look for, while searching for system headers:</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #24292e; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">export set CFLAGS="-isysroot /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.14.sdk -mmacosx-version-min=10.14"</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #24292e; font-family: , , "segoe ui" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif , "apple color emoji" , "segoe ui emoji" , "segoe ui symbol"; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div>
I know how the <span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">-I</span> flag works for gcc, but I think the <span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">-isysroot</span> and <span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">-mmacosx-version-min</span> maybe clang specific flags. Not sure, and not bothered at this point, since hey, <span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">pip install mysqlclient</span> worked beautifully after this.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Just throwing it out there into the Ether, so that other confused souls may find it helpful, and since I do not yet have sufficient rep to comment on SO, and neither do I want to sidetrack other bug discussions on GH.</div>
</div>
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<br />
<br />
<pre>Let me first explain what I mean when I talk about a "side-channel
silent" function. That means that if we call the function with operands
which are of the same size, but otherwise different, the function should
execute exactly the same sequence of instructions in both cases, and
access memory in exactly the same pattern.
If one then assumes that the underlying machine instructions have data
independent timing (true for most current cpus), we leak no side
information from timing or cache behaviour. We may still leak
information through power analysis, if, e.g., executing a multiplication
instructions consumes different amount of energy depending on the input
bit patterns.
</pre>
<pre>
</pre>
<pre>-- Niels Möller</pre>
<pre>
</pre>
<pre><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal;">What does that mean? It means "Do NOT touch crypto</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal;">code</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal;">". Unless you understand the implications. And there are too many implications in too many aspects, that laymen like you and me do not understand. I mean, can you even imagine that your code could be susceptible to power analysis? I mean, yes, in algorithms you've been taught that a multiplication is "costlier" than addition, and if you've studied transistors and digital logic and algorithm analysis, you might begin to understand why, because more transistors are needed for multiplication (I'm guessing here), but to think that that cost involves differences in power usage! Well of course, but then to think that that difference in power usage could be used to analyse the number of multiplications used by your code, and hence begin to backtrack the input of your functions! Yeowza. So hey, lesson of the day: </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal;">"Do NOT touch crypto</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal;">code</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; white-space: normal;">".</span></pre>
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<br />
Couple of points to note here:<br />
- This does not mean that OpenSSL cannot be used in a thread-safe way. It can be, but a little work has to be put in.<br />
- Related links: http://horstr.blogspot.in/2008/04/on-libcurl-openssl-and-thread-safety.html,<br />
http://curl.haxx.se/libcurl/c/threaded-ssl.html, http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3281373/segmentation-fault-in-libcurl-multithreaded.<br />
- cURL is a URL handler, like wget, and it fetches the contents of urls. For HTTPS connections, you can make curl use either OpenSSL, or GnuTLS, or other supported implementations of SSL. OpenSSL is default.<br />
- When using curl in multi mode, you can create several easy handlers (like one for each url), and attach them to a single multihandle, so as to give commands to the multi handle which it internally performs on each of the urls. Since OpenSSL is not threadsafe by default, this multi handle usage of curl can cause rare random crashes.<br />
- To avoid all these, OpenSSL provides callback mechanism to set your own locking functions (like simple pthread mutexes, or your own mutexes/locks if you prefer). This will enable multiple parallel initializations and cleanups without causing a hitch.<br />
<br />
Now the question arises, who sets these callback functions? Curl certainly doesn't set it, and shouldn't, in my opinion as it should remain light, portable, and shouldn't define its own constraints. The final app can always set its own callbacks. Imagine, then, if multiple apps are running as threads in a single process... like maybe in a browser/platform or something... If each of the apps set their own callbacks, there is the possibility that these locks are not mutually interoperable. So shouldn't the browser/platform set its own callbacks? Should they or shouldn't they be overrideable by the apps' callbacks? ugh. I've never liked mutexes and semaphores. too messy :(<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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Like the new look? No? Tough luck. I do. And here're the reasons why:<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
- It's a mosaic! Who doesn't love a tiling pattern?</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
- It's monochrome and bleak looking. Suits my emo mood.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
- Fragments of broken thoughts, barfed all over the space. My thoughts, exactly.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
- My fuggin blog, my fuggin wish!</div>
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
Octennial, Novennial, Decennial - 8th, 9th and 10th year adjectives.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 100%;">Octal, Nonal, Decimal - base 8, 9 and 10 number systems.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: 100%;">Octagon, Nonagon, Decagon - 8, 9 and 10 sided polygons.</span></div>
<div>
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
October, November, December - 10th, 11th and 12th months. </div>
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AARRGGGHHHH!!!!!!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Frikkin Ceasar and his calendar. His salads are nice, though. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Also, following after decade, decagon, and decennial, <span style="font-size: 100%;">I propose that December should be pronounced Dick-ember.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">(Also just realized: the song would then go like "This is my dick-ember ...")</span></div>
</div>
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<br />
We were returning from seeing the movie at the town theatre, and were going back to our village. In a tonga, mind you, because autorickshaws hadn't yet hit the scene by then. I AM that old. It was me, my mother, my aunt her sister, and probably my brother and two or all three of my cousins. And the discussion had turned to how well the dubbing was done, or instead how well the other movie had been dubbed! and so on. Intrigued that they were talking about the same movie that I had just seen, and not understanding what exactly, I asked innocently what dubbing was. And I was explained at that age, how movies were dubbed, remade, and essentially copy pasted onto another Language. My simple mind couldn't have understood then, but what I suspect I found aghast, at even that tender age, was the idea that Languages and Cultures weren't one-to-one in the aspect (relation) of influence they have on each other. I couldn't comprehend. Why would we need to steal ideas from other cultures or languages? Couldn't we make our own Telugu movies so well? What could we be lacking in, that would lead us to consider other languages greater than our own? I was outraged. I wept. I wept for Telugu, the Language and the Culture both, the latter as especially manifested in movies.<br />
<br />
I wept at the shredding of my innocence, and cried out mentally to the powers that be, ``but I'm only 5!'' Why would you do such a thing to me, universe? I wept so hard that I was relegated to sit beside the driver, as I was making too much of a racket inside the cab. Which is why that thought stuck to me, and even at 5 yrs, I was well made aware of my ingenue in matters concerning others than bats and balls. Which could probably also have contributed to my aversion towards all things concerning physical sports, but that is another story and I digress.<br />
<br />
Putting that in perspective, I hope one can well understand why I have had a healthy distrust in both Telugu and Telugu movies until the age of 18, when I left home for the first time. Things have changed now, and I am a strong believer again in Telugu (both movies and the language), but that transformation has not come about overnight, nor easily. I have only come to understand later, the idea that a language's love is like a mother's love, nourishing and nurturing. Ironically after leaving home and motherland (AP). Or maybe not as ironic as all that, seeing as we all miss our moms only after leaving our homes.<br />
<br />
And I have realized all this only now, when I am 27 years old, and tripping through old memories. Trying to make some sense of myself and my apparent contradictions. Yes, I do appreciate even dubbed movies now, only because I realize now that Languages and Cultures can never remain one-to-one, Geography permitting. Human indeed is a social animal, and the dubbing of movies from various mother tongues to hindi or vice versa*, is but as symbolic in emotion as a friendly neighbour saying "Good Day!". To quote Donne clichedly,<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the Sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a Promontory were, as well as a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.''</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Geography willing, no man or language or culture can remain an island, entire of itself. (Examples of untouched unexplored virgin native cultures come to mind, because they have remained resident in unexplored and remote islands). And so I come to understand that yet another facet of myself, that I had heretofore considered contradictory, was not really one. As I have a love/hate relationship with the language, so do I with the movies. The case remains though, of my love for English (both, language and movies), and what kind of a relationship I have with Hindi.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><br />*Yes, I do not still consider Hindi a proper mother tongue. Hindi tongue seems to me to be but an amalgamation of so many different bols and urdu. Representative as may be of the people, as much a republic State is of all the states that reside in it.<br />**Some parts above are fictitious. :D</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 21px;">ఇదిగో భద్రాద్రీ గౌతమి అదిగో చూడండీ (రాగం: వరాళి, తాళం: ఆది)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 21px;"><br /><br />ఇదిగో భద్రాద్రీ గౌతమి అదిగో చూడండీ |ఇదిగో...|<br /><br />ముదముతో సీతా ముదిత లక్ష్మణులు కలిసి కొలువగా రఘుపతి యుండెడి, |ఇదిగో...|<br />చారు స్వర్ణ ప్రాకార గోపుర ద్వారములతో సుందరమై </span><span style="font-size: 21px;">యుండెడి, |ఇదిగో ...|<br />అనుపమానమై అతి సుందరమై దనరు చక్రము ధగ ధగ మెరసెడి, |ఇదిగో ...|<br />పొన్నల పొగడల పూపొదరిండ్లను చెన్ను మీరగా శృంగారంబగు |ఇదిగో ...|<br />శ్రీ కరముగా శ్రీ రామదాసుని ప్రాకటముగ బ్రోచే ప్రభు వాసము, |ఇదిగో...|</span><span style="font-size: 21px;">ఇదిగో </span><span style="font-size: 21px;">భద్రాద్రీ </span><span style="font-size: 21px;">గౌతమి </span><span style="font-size: 21px;">అదిగో </span><span style="font-size: 21px;">చూడండీ</span><br />
<br />
<br />
idigO BhadrAdree gautami adigO cUDaMDee (rAgam: varALi, tALam: Adi)<br />
<br />
<br />
idigO BhadrAdree gautami adigO cUDaMDee, |idigO...|<br />
(Here is Bhadradri, and there is Gautami, Behold ye; goutami is another name for the river Godavari)<br />
<br />
mudamuto seetA mudita lakshmaNulu kalisi koluvagA raghupati yuMDeDi, |idigO...|<br />
(Where Raghupati resides, waited upon happily by Seeta and Lakshmana; mudamu=santoshamu,happiness; koluvaga=serve with devotion)<br />
<br />
cAru svarNa prAkAra gOpura dvAramulato suMdaramai yuMDeDi, |idigO...|<br />
(Where exists beautifully within four golden gopuras with entrances)<br />
<br />
anupamAnamai ati suMdaramai danaru cakramu dhaga dhaga meraseDi, |idigO...|<br />
(Where the luminescent Chakra shines brilliantly, being unparalleled and extremely beautiful; anupamaanamu=without upamaanamu, without equal; danaru=prabhaavamu, luminescent?; )<br />
<br />
ponnala pogaDala pUpodariMDlanu cennu meeragA SRMgAraMbagu, |idigO...|<br />
(Decorated exceedingly beautifully with ponnas, pogadas and blossoming flowers; ponna and pogada are a variety of plants; chennu=beauty; meeraga=until it exceeds; srmgaaram=decoration, alankarinchuta)<br />
<br />
Sree karamuga Sree rAmadAsuni prAkaTamuga brOcE praBhu vAsamu, |idigO...|<br />
(The abode of the proclaimed saviour of Sri Ramadasu, propitiously so; Sree karamuga= propitiously, plentifully; prakatamuga=as published, proclaimed; broche=he who saves; vaasamu=abode)<br />
<br />
idigO BhadrAdri gautami adigO cUDaMDee<br />
<br />
I notice that nowadays, there are a lot more resources online, if anyone's interested in learning meanings of telugu words or telugu-english translations. I have found this <a href="http://www.andhrabharati.com/dictionary/index.php">తెలుగు నిఘంటువు</a> page to be extremely helpful in explaining the above meanings.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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or Kaalachakra, as is known to Indic Religions, is a concept of cyclic time, of cosmos and mythos. It is also a fantasy (specifically, sword and sorcery subgenre) series by Robert Jordan, spanning 11 novels, and what is more, still incomplete! :(<br />
<br />
Damn! why did Robert Jordan have to die so early? He could atleast have lived enough to complete his magnum opus. But then again, the Wheel Weaves as the Wheel Wills. Which is the adage that the inhabitants of Robert Jordan's world live by. It brings to mind a common Telugu adage: "Antaa Vishnu maaya".<br />
<br />
A basic premise that the world of the Wheel of Time is built upon, as is obvious from the very title, is that Time is cyclical. The Wheel of Time has seven spokes, each representing an Age (which again is reminiscent of the Hindu concept of Yuga), and the Wheel itself is slowly turned by the combined effort of <span style="font-style: italic;">saidin</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">saidar</span>, the male and the female halves of the One Power. As the Wheel rotates through the Seven Spokes, the Pattern is woven, and each Age comes to pass. Individuals may or may not have the ability to channel the One Power, which in turn leads to the individual being capable of fantastic feats. Females can channel only <span style="font-style: italic;">saidar</span>, and males respectively <span style="font-style: italic;">saidin</span>, and each cannot see the weaves of the others. Individuals while channeling the One Power weave the flows of the five elements, that is, Earth, Fire, Water, Air, and Spirit. Weaving the flows in a particular pattern creates a particular effect. Although any individual who can wield the One Power can channel all the five flows, it is said that females are generally more efficient/stronger at weaving Water and Air, and males at Earth and Fire. Very few individuals can in fact wield the One Power, and especially fewer males, which leads to the general populus looking askance at these special individuals. Especially males, who are doomed to go mad and die, ever since the Dark One left his taint on saidin, the male half of the One Power.<br />
So much to say magic exists.<br />
<br />
One thing that sets the Wheel of Time world apart from other fantastic or sci-fi worlds is the fact that Robert Jordan carefully avoids giving this world a different name. Consider this, vis-a-vis the other major creation of Robert Jordan*, Conan the Cimmerian. Or as is better known by the name Conan the Barbarian (yes yes, the same B-grade flick which stars Arnie... I know what you're thinking, you pervs... ). Conan hails from Cimmeria, a polar country in Hyboria. As much as the map of Hyboria is verisimilar to that of Africa and Asia, it still is Hyboria, which by virtue of its name is not the same as our earth (more on this shortly). Consider other fantasy world creations, and you will most probably find a name they give for the planet/world they live in ("they" here being the creatures/people about whom the fantasy creation speaks of). Or, as is also widely prevalent, the creation is set in a timeline which is either far into the future of our current time, or has happened in the past of which no evidence remains (Hyperboria is a case in point: Its geographical setting is the same as the earth, but is supposed to have happened around 14,000 B.C - 10,000 B.C. ) Or as in the cases of The Chronicles of Narnia and Artemis Fowl, parallelly co-exist with our regular conception and perspectives of the world. The world of Wheel of Time is different in this sense: since it is based on a cyclical time line, one can never say whether the events occur far into the future or have occured already. Yet, one can still draw parallels with our regular earth, be it in artifacts (like the steam engine, or the skeleton of prehistoric animals as mentioned in the palace of the Panarch of Tarabon), or socio-cultural revolutions (Industrial revolution), and such others. Which only adds to the mystery, and leaves the readers contemplating whether the world as we know it might not also be one of the seven Ages.<br />
<br />
Mention is made of Ages which are technologically much advanced, (sho-wings, shock-lances, stasis boxes) although the people in the current Age rely to a great extent on their own hands and feet, on horse-drawn carriage and carts, and weaponry is still limited to bows and arrows. This fall in technology, and the very obvious difference of the geographical structure of the world (as compared to our continents), is explained by the Breaking of the World. A cataclysmic event, at the end of the Age of Legends (called the second Age by some), when Lewis Therin Telamon binds the Dark One at Shayol Ghul, and as a last counter-attack, the Dark One taints saidin, which leads to Lewis and all the male Aes Sedai going mad. In their madness, the male Aes Sedai wreak havoc on the world, and even the geography of the world is changed, raising mountains from lake beds and submerging lands under the sea. So now in the Third Age, everybody looks at male wielders of the One Power with disgust, fear, loath, and other dark thoughts. For who was it that broke the world? And everybody knows they are doomed to die, as <span style="font-style: italic;">saidin</span> is tainted. But then, the Dragon Reborn, a man who can channel <span style="font-style: italic;">saidin</span>, is the only hope of salvation for people, as Tarmon Gai'don, the final battle, approaches. Or atleast so the Dragon Prophecies say. A man who can channel saidin, a man looked down upon by the female Aes Sedai, a man loathed by many, a man feared by all. Will he rise to the occasion? Will he save these same people? How will he do it, when he himself is fated to go mad and die?<br />
<br />
The Wheel of Time is said to be High Fantasy, an epic saga of the battle between good and evil, and the "epic"ness of this saga not only comes from the setting and the premise mentioned above, but also due to the level of detail that the author portrays the peoples of the world. Each country has a significant culture, a significant fashion sense, and sometimes even a significant manner of speech. The different peoples even have different physical characteristics of the human body. Short pale-faced Cairheinin, usually dressed in somber dark clothes, sporting only slashes of colours. Tall, dark, flame haired Aiel, with their <span style="font-style: italic;">cadin'sor</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">algode</span> clothes. Even temperaments of the people are characteristic of the place they hail from. Touchy Altarans, secretive Cairhienin, and outspoken Andorans. This level of detail, of the peoples and cultures, adds to the richness and colour of the vivid imagination that is evoked as one reads through the novels. Not only that, each of the peoples have their own set of moral values, sayings and adages, that a child is brought up upon and invariably imbibes, which is probably the mould for the cultural leanings of that people. Another interesting diversity among people is the differing concepts of shame and modesty, of what is appropriate and what is not, of reality and dreams, of freedom and slavery, of humour and sobreity. The Aiel and Seanchan cultures are cases in point, and I feel that the concepts of <span style="font-style: italic;">da'covale</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">gai'shain</span> are probably related. Although this portrayal of cultural and other diversities of the peoples is detailed in its own way, it is probably lacking in one major aspect, that of language. One has to agree that creating different languages for different countries, given that there are more than a dozen of them, is particularly tasking and the effort may not be fully justified. But having the same language for all the peoples of such a huge continent, however convenient it may be for the author, cuts down on the behavioural differences and a lot of other aspects. Also, the Old Tongue is never explained fully, and one only has bits and pieces to contend with. This is probably due to the fact that Robert Jordan was much more interested in history rather than linguistics. Tolkien, on the other hand, was a linguist and that might have had a larger influence with the popularity and the quality of his novels, than his mere skill at writing stories. Also, Tolkien writes primarily in the third person, and manages to create a sense of detached awe and respect, as it were, whereas Jordan almost continually slips into the first person, which only makes the novels that much more earthy, bawdy, and closer to the heart.<br />
<br />
Apart from the diversity of the peoples, one aspect which is especially endearing to me is this sub plot which runs constantly throughout almost all of his books: the apparent difficulty with which men and women have to put up with when dealing with individuals of the opposite sex, especially the ones they care for and are close to. All men agree that they'll never understand women, and all women are contemptuous at why men have to behave so and so. This constant rift, this friction, is almost always given a sarcastic or a humourous twist, and inevitably makes me chuckle at the stupidity of either sex, while at the same time has me ruefully acknowledge that our real world is not very different. How many ever times one hears it said that "talking and opening up to the other" helps in dealing with issues, some things just can't be talked about, and they are not the same things for both the sexes. Wherein lies part of the difficulty. The greater part of the difficulty is simply acknowledging that the other person is correct, if only for a moment, and this is brought out beautifully in the novels.<br />
<br />
Another observation that I feel compelled to point out, is this: the novels often get repetitive, as if reminding the readers of the character's temperaments or the views of a particular group of people. I personally feel this is very unnecessary, completely redundant, and only adds to the total length of the novels. These personal views might also have been evoked due to the fact that I have read all the novels back to back, which might not be the case with the general public. Maybe, just maybe, the general public do not read all the novels back to back, and may need to be reminded of particular events/places/thoughts/characters, though it is beyond my imagination why the general public would NOT read all the books back to back. Atleast now, that all the books have been released. In my opinion, as most of the books have less than 500 pages, sets of these books should be aggregated into volumes, and redundancy/repetitive information should be removed from these books. Four or five larger volumes make for a better reading than eleven smaller novels. And frankly, the story and the plot is gripping enough to merit such an aggregation.<br />
<br />
Yet another important concept worth mentioning, along with the dualities between good and evil, man and woman, <span style="font-style: italic;">saidin</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">saidar</span>, is that of the Pattern and Chaos. The Dark One is said to be the Lord of Chaos, and the Creator is said to have created the Wheel of Time which weaves the Pattern. This duality between Pattern and Chaos is almost synonymous with the duality between good and evil, and reminds me of another epic fantasy series, Roger Zelazny's The Chronicles of Amber. These (set of) 10 novels are based on a different premise, but the central structure is the Pattern, and that which opposes it, the Chaos. One singular difference is that Zelazny rarely attributes "good" or "evil" connotations to either the Pattern or the Chaos. In the Wheel of Time, though, the Dark Lord is attempting to unravel the Age Lace, and step out of the Pattern, thus putting an end to Time itself. What is the Age Lace? That is rarely mentioned in the novels itself, since very few people even understand it now. A lot of knowledge and a lot of technology was lost in the Breaking of the World, and the Aes Sedai that have survived are but a mere patch on the former glory and achievements of the Aes Sedai of the Age of Legends. Also briefly mentioned are matrices and transformations, in relation with the Age Lace, although never explained. A lot of such things are left to the reader's imagination, which also makes up for the mystery effect.<br />
<br />
To set the die rolling, I would like to end this post with the characteristic signature of every book of the Wheel of the Time:<br />
<br />
The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was <span style="font-style: italic;">a</span> beginning.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*That is a bloody embarrassing goof-up. Conan the Cimmerian isn't Robert Jordan's creation, it is Robert E. Howards'. I do apologize profusely for the misinformation, but I shall not apologize for not researching what I write. This is <i>my</i> blog, dammit!</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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</script></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16083288369103650672noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10747880.post-76502215173165520382007-10-02T18:11:00.000+05:302007-10-03T14:31:31.202+05:30దేశ భాషల౦దు తెలుగు లెస్స<span style="font-size:130%;">చిన్నప్పటి ను౦చి నాకు ఆ౦గ్లము అ౦టే వ్యామోహము ఎక్కువే. స్కూలు లో కొత్త తరగతి మొదలకుము౦దు పుస్తకాలు కొన్న పిమ్మట నా మొట్టమొదటి కార్యక్రమము ఏమనగా ఇ౦గ్లీషు టెక్స్టుబుక్కు తీసి కథలు అన్నీ చదివేయటము. పాఠాలు మొదలు పెట్టే మునుపే చదివేయటము నాకు భలే ఆన౦ద౦ కలిగి౦చేది. కాకపోతే ఇది ఇ౦గ్లషు సబ్జెక్టుకు మాత్రమే ఉన్న ప్రత్యేక స్థాయి. (తక్కిన సబ్జెక్టులకు కూడా ఇ౦త శ్రద్ధ పెట్టి చదివి ఉ౦టే ఇప్పుడు వేరే పరిస్థితులలో ఉ౦డేవాడి నేమో!) అసలు తెలుగు రమణీయత లావణ్యతల గూర్చి వివరిస్తూ శ్రీకృష్ణదేవరాయలు వారు వాడిన పదములను ఈ పోస్టుకు పేరు పెట్టి, తెలుగు భాషలోనే వ్రాస్తూ, మధ్యలో నాకీ ఆ౦గ్లమునకు ఉన్న స౦బ౦ధము పై ఎ౦దుకు ఆలోచిస్తున్నానని మీరు అడగవచ్చు. అ౦దుకు కారణము ఇది: ఆ ఇ౦గ్లీషు పుస్తకాలను పట్టిన రోజులలోనే నాకు అర్థమయ్యి౦ది ఏమిట౦టే చదవటానికి ఇ౦గ్లీషు కన్నా తెలుగు కష్టము. వ్రాయటానికి కూడా నాకు ఆ వయస్సులో ఇ౦గ్లీషుకన్నా తెలుగే కష్టమని అనిపి౦చేది. (ఈ వయస్సులో ఇ౦క టైపి౦గు అలవాటు అయ్యిన తరువాత అన్నీ ఒకటే లేన౦డి...) పైగా ఇ౦గ్లీషులో నా తోటి విద్యార్థులతో పోల్చి చూస్తే నాకు మ౦చి మార్కులే వచ్చేవి. ఈయీ కారణాల వల్ల నాకు సహజముగానే తెలుగు కన్నా ఇ౦గ్లీషు పైనే ఆసక్తి కలిగెను. ఎ౦త ఆసక్తి కలిగెన౦టే మన తెలుగు స౦స్కృతి, మన తెలుగు భాష, సాహిత్యము, సా౦ప్రదాయములను చూసి, అర్థము కాక నీరసి౦చెను. ఇ౦దుకు ఇప్పుడు బాధ పడుతున్నానా? కాబోలు. వేరేలా ఉ౦టే బాగు౦డునని అనుకు౦టున్నానా? కొ౦చె౦. మరి ఇన్నాళ్ళ తరువాత ఒకేసారి ఇ౦త అకస్మాత్తుగా ఈ మార్పు రావటానికి కారణము? మొన్న వచ్చిన నా స్నేహితులు. నాకు ఇన్నాళ్ళుగా సాహిత్యము అర్థము కాక పోయినా పాత తెలుగు పాటలు అ౦టే ఇష్టము వు౦డేది. ఐతే మొన్న వచ్చిన స్నేహితులు వివరి౦చిన తరువాత నాకు తెలిసి వచ్చి౦ది ఇన్నాళ్ళుగా సాహిత్యాన్ని అర్థము చేసుకోలేక ఎ౦త అ౦దాన్ని కోలిపోయానోనని.<br /><br />అరే అసలు శ్రీశ్రీ (శ్రీర౦గ౦ శ్రీనివాస రావు) వారి పద్యాలు నాకు అర్థము కావు. సిరివెన్నెల సీతారామ శాస్త్రి వారి పాటల సాహిత్యము అర్థము కావు. వేటూరి ఎవరో తెలియదు. ఆత్రేయ ఎవరో తెలియదు. వీరేశలి౦గ౦ ప౦తులు అ౦టే ఆరవ తరగతి ను౦చే చికాకు (పెద్ద పెద్ద లెస్సన్సు ఉ౦డేవి, కష్టమైన ఆన్సర్సు బట్టీ పట్టాల్సి వచ్చేది ఈయన వల్ల). ఆ చిన్న వయస్సులో సమాజాన్ని దిద్దిన్న వారి గురి౦చి తెలుసుకుని ఏమి ప్రయోగమని అనిపి౦చదూ? గురజాడ అప్పారావు వారి నాట్యములు సరేసరి. ఏదో నా అదృష్టము బాగు౦డి బాపూ బొమ్మలు మాత్రము చూసి తరి౦చగలిగాను. ఇక గాయినీ గాయకుల౦టారా... జానకి ఎవరో తెలియదు . సుశీల ఎవరో తెలియదు. ఘ౦టసాల వారి పేరు, గొ౦తు వినక తప్పదు గాక తెలుసు. ఇది నా appreciation of telugu culture. అవును, నాకు సిగ్గు గానే వు౦ది. కాని ఏమి చేయను? ఇ౦త ఆలస్యముగా తెలుసుకున్నా, ఈ మహానుభావుల జీవిత చరిత్రలు ఎ౦దుకు ఇ౦త ప్రకాశిస్తున్నాయో కొ౦చెమైనా ఇప్పుడు అర్థమవుతు౦దని ఒక చిన్న సాటిస్ఫాక్షను.<br /><br />ఇప్పటికి కూడా నా భావాలు/అభిప్రాయాలు/ఆలోచనలు/ఉద్దేశ్యములను ఇతరులకు తెలియజెప్పటానికి నాకు సులువైన భాష ఆ౦గ్లేయమే! ఎన్నో తెలుగు పదాలకు అర్థములు తెలియవు. ఎన్నో అర్థములకు తెలుగు పదాలు తెలియవు. ఉదాహరణకు spelling అన్నదానికి తెలుగు పదము ఏమిటి? ప్రాణానికి ఫ్రణవానికి భేదమేమిటి? సిరివెన్నెల చిత్రములో గాన౦ "విధాత తలపున" లో మహదేవన్ గారి మ్యూసిక్, (music కి తెలుగు పదము మర్చిపోయాను! అ౦త గతిలేని పరిస్థితి లో ఉ౦ది నా తెలుగు!) హరిప్రసాద్ చౌరాసియా గారి ఫ్లూటు, ఎ౦త అద్భుతముగా ఉన్నాయో ఒక అ౦తటకు మెచ్చుకోగలను. కాని సిరివెన్నెల గారి రచన అసల అర్థము అయితే కదా!! సర్లే౦డి... నా బాధలన్నీ చెప్పుకోవటానికి ఈ పోస్టు కాదు కదా ఈ బ్లాగు సరిపోదు! ఇక సెలవు.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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We know that the Euclidean distance, <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?d%5C%28x,y%5C%29" align="middle" border="0" /> between two points <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?x%20=%20%5C%28x_%7B1%7D,x_%7B2%7D,...,x_%7Bn%7D%5C%29" align="middle" border="0" /> and <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?y%20=%20%5C%28y_%7B1%7D,y_%7B2%7D,...,y_%7Bn%7D%5C%29" align="middle" border="0" /> in n-dimensions, is given by:<br /><blockquote><img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?d%5C%28x,y%5C%29%20=%20%5C%7B%5Csum_%7Bi%20=%201%7D%5E%7Bn%7D%20%5C%28x_%7Bi%7D%20-%20y_%7Bi%7D%5C%29%5E%7B2%7D%5C%7D%5E%7B%5Cfrac%7B1%7D%7B2%7D%7D" align="middle" border="0" /></blockquote>We also know that for any three points in 2-dimensional space, <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?a%20=%20%5C%28a_%7Bx%7D,a_%7By%7D%5C%29" align="middle" border="0" />, <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?b%20=%20%5C%28b_%7Bx%7D,b_%7By%7D%5C%29" align="middle" border="0" />, and <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?c%20=%20%5C%28c_%7Bx%7D,c_%7By%7D%5C%29" align="middle" border="0" />, the Triangle Inequality holds, namely,<br /><blockquote><img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?d%5C%28a,b%29%5C%20+%5C%20d%5C%28b,c%5C%29%5C%20%5Cgeq%20%5C%20d%5C%28a,c%5C%29,%20%5Cquad%20%5Cforall%20a,%20b,%20c%20%5Cin%20%5Cmathcal%7BR%7D%5E%7B2%7D" align="middle" border="0" /></blockquote>This is a well known result in Euclidean Geometry, and I'm loathe to go into the proof of this here. Now the question, was to find three points <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?a%20=%20%5C%28a_%7Bx%7D,%20a_%7By%7D,%20a_%7Bz%7D%5C%29" align="middle" border="0" />, <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?b%20=%20%5C%28b_%7Bx%7D,%20b_%7By%7D,%20b_%7Bz%7D%5C%29" align="middle" border="0" /> and <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?c%20=%20%5C%28c_%7Bx%7D,%20c_%7By%7D,%20c_%7Bz%7D%5C%29" align="middle" border="0" /> in 3-dimensional space, which violate the Triangle Inequality!<br /><br />At first glance, one will easily see that even in 3-dimensional space, the three points will still form a triangle, and so the Triangle Inequality should hold. But how do we prove it? This is where geometric visualization aided me.<br /><br />You see, in 3-d space, one has a lot more freedom to twist and turn shapes. Maybe it has to do with the degrees of freedom, which I never understood clearly. In 2-d, all that one can do with a shape, say a square, is to translate, rotate, or scale it. Put it in more layman terms, you can put the square at any place on the paper, turn the paper whichever way, and even shrink or expand the paper. Translation is possible in two directions, and rotation in only one ('coz <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?-%5Cpi%20%5C%20=%5C%20360%5E%5Ccirc%20-%20%5Cpi" align="middle" border="0" />, which basically says that rotating anticlockwise is the same as rotating clockwise through a larger angle). All this, while still retaining the properties of the square. In 3-d, on the other hand, all that one can do is still essentially the same, translate, rotate, or scale it. But here, you can translate or rotate in 3 different directions (unlike 2-d, rotation is possible in 3 directions, since rotations in different directions are not commutative).<br /><br />I'm pretty sure all this previous paragraph would give a sore headache, to any layman. What I've put forward, in not-so-informal terms, is the justification for the following transformations:<br /><br />Translate the origin to <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?a" align="middle" border="0" />, thus making <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?a_%7Bx%7D%20=%200" align="middle" border="0" />, <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?a_%7Bv%7D%20=%200" align="middle" border="0" /> and <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?a_%7Bz%7D%20=%200" align="middle" border="0" />.<br />Rotate the axes, such that <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?b" align="middle" border="0" /> lies on the x-axis, thus making <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?b_%7By%7D%20=%200" align="middle" border="0" />, and <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?b_%7Bz%7D=0" align="middle" border="0" />.<br />Rotate the axes, such that <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?c" align="middle" border="0" /> lies on the xy-plane, thus making <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?c_%7Bz%7D%20=%200" align="middle" border="0" />.<br /><br />All these transformations are perfectly legitimate, in the sense that the relative positions of the three points do not change. But by doing this, we notice that we've transformed our axes such that all three points now lie on the same plane (the xy-plane here). The truth is that the three points always lay on the same plane, ('coz any three points in 3-d lie on a plane) but we've shifted our axes such that this plane became our xy-plane. In any case, I claim that these three points are the same as three points in 2-d space, since I've reduced the <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?z" align="middle" border="0" /> component of all of them to zero. And we know that the Triangle Inequality will hold for any three points in 2-d space.<br /><br />Thus we see, that the Triangle Inequality should indeed hold for any set of three points in 3-d space as well. And so the original question now takes a further leap: Will the Triangle Inequality hold for any set of three points in n-dimensional space? With the help of reasoning similar to the one above, I claim yes!<br /><br />Key concept used: Any set of n points in n-dimensional space lie on the same (n-1)-dimensional hyperplane. Is this really true? you tell me :P<br /><blockquote></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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We only needed to store the current state of the flag, and hence the bit.<br /><br />Notice, that a flag can exist in only one of two states, T or F. Nothing intermediary. This is the basis of Binary Logic, Binary arithmetic and etc.. Arithmetic to the base 2. Why do we use only base 2 arithmetic? If we could store states 0, 1, 2, ... 9 in a "dit" (a decimal bit), we would obviously need a lot less number of dits to store the same information than the number of bits. So why is the number 2 sacred? Why does every computer use Binary logic instead of Decimal logic? The answer to that lies in material sciences. We have transistors that can work in between two electrical levels. Each of these electrical levels (<img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?%5Cpm%205" align="middle" border="0" />, <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?%5Cpm%2012" align="middle" border="0" />, VDD/VCC, etc.. ) can represent only one state, so there can be only two states represented by the transistor. And besides, arithmetic that can be done with any base can also be done with base 2. In other words, Decimal logic, is no more powerful (in terms of calculational possibilities) than Binary Logic. Hence the whole idea of Flip-Flops, etc.<br /><br />Why am i talking about bits and pieces? What is the whole picture here? Basically i wanted to talk about "Qubits". Quantum Theoretic equivalents, of the Information theoretic bit. When we said any dits or other-its are as powerful as bits, why are we talking about these qubits? coz they come under a wholly different category. A qubit can exist in infinitely many states!<br /><br />eh? what does that mean?<br /><br />Think of an electron. It has spin angular momentum, according to our highschool physics text books, of either <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?+%5Cfrac%7B1%7D%7B2%7D" align="middle" border="0" /> or <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?-%5Cfrac%7B1%7D%7B2%7D" align="middle" border="0" />. Let us represent the <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?+%5Cfrac%7B1%7D%7B2%7D" align="middle" border="0" /> spin with say 0 and <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?-%5Cfrac%7B1%7D%7B2%7D" align="middle" border="0" /> spin with 1. These states are mutually exclusive, in that no electron can exist in both these states at once. But what is interesting, and what is not taught in high school text books, is that an electron can exist in a combination of these two states! But hey! Didn't we learn that spin angular momentum of an electron was only either <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?%5Cpm%5Cfrac%7B1%7D%7B2%7D" align="middle" border="0" /> ? Now what's this about combination of states? Ahha. There in, lies the secret of the principle of Superposition.<br /><br />What is not apparent at the first glance, is that outcomes of an experiment may not indeed tell you everything about the state of the system before the experiment. What I'm trying to say, is that we (meaning most computer scientists and almost all engineers) are so used to the black box approach, that we assume we know everything about a system and the states it might have been in, once we know the inputs and outputs through that black box. Maybe, this is not true in the Quantum world. Or is it? I really don't know. What I do know, is that we can never really say that an electron was in such a place in such a time (remember? Heisenberg's uncertainty principle?). When you can't even say that, or the direction in which it is spinning, how can we say whether it had a positive or a negative spin angular momentum? What in fact happens, or is theorized to happen, is that electrons might be spinning in a mixed state. Meaning they have a little of <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?+%5Cfrac%7B1%7D%7B2%7D" align="middle" border="0" /> and a little of <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?-%5Cfrac%7B1%7D%7B2%7D" align="middle" border="0" /> spin. But the moment we try to measure which of these it has, the state "collapses" to either one of them. Imagine a vector <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?%5Cfrac%7B%5Cpi%7D%7B2%7D%5C%281+i%5C%29" align="middle" border="0" />, which is neither completely a real number, nor completely a non-real number. But the moment you take a projection of this vector along one of the axes, the vector "collapses" to its component along that axis. This is how I understood what happens, when an experiment is done. The state of the system collapses to the observed state. But there is a difference to be noted, which might be the difference between a classical system and a quantum system. In the case of the vector, we knew <span style="font-style: italic;">a priori</span> the axis that we were going to project the vector upon. This is not the case with a quantum experiment. You do indeed observe either a <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?+%5Cfrac%7B1%7D%7B2%7D" align="middle" border="0" /> or a <img src="http://www.forkosh.dreamhost.com/mimetex.cgi?-%5Cfrac%7B1%7D%7B2%7D" align="middle" border="0" /> spin only for an electron, but you can never tell which value the result of the experiment will be. So essentially, an electron before measuring its spin angular momentum is in a state that is neither of the observable states, but in fact, a mixture of both and a lot more. Which is what I mean when I say a qubit exists in infinitely many states!<br /><br /><br />Now having said all of this, I still am not really sure whether what I've written is anywhere even remotely near to the physical/mathematical/scientific reality that I proclaim to study! (What is it that I proclaim to study? Please... )<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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