size doesn't matter

Okay it does, but only to a certain point. Case in point - the miniaturization of mp3 players. Its obviously much nicer to be able to carry tons of music in a small portable mp3 player, but only to the point where its portability is improved. mobiblu has put a 1GB mp3 player in a cubic inch. Now that sounds and looks pretty cool, but does it matter that its a cubic inch? This thing could fall off and you wouldn't know. Besides, how much of an interface can you put on a cubic inch? I'd rather have a slightly bigger player with more memory, and a nicer interface. The ipod shuffle is probably the worst mp3 player around. Especially given that it came out of the same place that makes the ipod. See how funny it gets when the shuffle is taken to an extreme - here's the ipod flea.

Anatomy of Hell

No, I'm not referring to the movie. I'm referring to the world in which terrorism is taking up center stage. A few weeks ago, extremist Briton Muslims bombed subways in London. A year ago trains in Spain were bombed. The US (and most of the western world) has changed dramatically since the September 11 attacks. India has witnessed suicide bombings, whether it was the assassination of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in '91 by the LTTE or the recent car bomb (unfortunately, just one of many such occurrences in the area) in Kashmir. The Palestine conflict has been a cause for several suicide bombing attempts. There are several other places which have experienced the brutality of terrorism. What is it that transforms people into terrorists? It is not hard to see how repression can lead terrorism, but what drives four Briton Muslims towards mass murder? Thomas Friedman in his NYT op-ed piece (from July 15, 2005) describes how a large part of terrorist attacks in recent times has been carried out by young extremist Sunni Muslims. The suggestion that ideologies of certain religions makes people practicing those religions more inclined towards violence, is very disturbing. I have, for a long time, resisted such connections, but statistics seem to point in that direction. The very fact that ideology can drive man towards terrorism is sad. But the suggestion that religion is responsible for some of these ideologies, makes things even more tragic.