Silicon and 'silly cones'

A few days back, in the newspapers, I read about a new technological invention by the Japanese (Japanese, of course...who else does invention these days). This technology enables you to transfer data with just a physical contact between two persons (physical contact can be a handshake also...you pervert). Before you ask me if I am drunk...let me clearly tell you. yes...I am. But, that doesn't mean I am making up stories like my friend Satya, who can tell you endless stories about ghosts with white saris and Old women (ghosts) who can run as fast as your car.

This technological invention that I am talking about passes binary data through a low voltage electric pulse through your body and to the body of the person in contact with you. Both the persons have individual devices in contact with their skin which sends and receives data using the human body as a medium. This piece of news got me thinking how fast the world (Japanese…to be specific) is moving and the awesome technological progress I am going to see in the next few years.

Another thought that hit me was that, there were so many things that I used to see on TV, which were quite imaginative in those times, but now a definite reality. For example, me and my friends in a small town in the interiors of Karnataka, use to make 'communication devices' by attaching two matchboxes with a rubber band and pretend to 'speak' to each other using those 'devices'. In those times cell phones weren't invented, and these devices we had were inspired by hi-tech 'Ajit'(sara shahar mujhe loin ke naam se janta hai) movies where Ajit would be in a 'control room' surrounded by many blinking red lights and 'Ajit ka aadmi' would be on a dock or seashore speaking on his cellphone-like-device. The conversation would go like this

Ajit ka aadmi : 'Hello...Hello..control room....come in..control room. This is alpha beta 777'

Control room : 'come in alpha beta 777'

Ajit ka aadmi: 'boss...police ne hamara maal pakad liya hai...America se joh daimonds ka consignment aaya tha...woh pura pakda gaya hai"

control room : 'bewakoof...tum pakde kaise gaye????...hamare dhande mein galti ki saza kya hoti hai...jaante ho?'

Ajit ka aadmi : 'sorry boss..agli bar aisa nahi hoga...please mujhe police se chuda lo...'

Control room : (wicked laugh)'hahahaha....woh to tum chuut hi jaaoge'

Ajit ka aadmi: 'thank you..boss...thank you very much'

(long silence)

ajit ka aadmi : 'boss???'

ajit ka aadmi : 'hello..boss..hello...hello..control room...hello..hello..control room'

Ajit : (disconnecting the device) "Raaabert...isse pehle ki woh police ko kuch bataye..use hamesha ki neend sula do"

Raaaabert : 'yes boss'

well, these were very 'sophisticated' equipment we were seeing on TV and were naturally impressed. And a few years after we stopped playing those games, came the cellphone in all its splendor. Now, thanks to the Ambani brothers and their 'Pitaji ka sapna', cellphones are a very common gadget used by everybody and their mother.

Another concept I always used to imagine about was...being invisible. Then, it seemed an impossible feat to achieve and hence so interesting to us kids. But the Japanese (who else??) have again done the impossible (actually, a few years ago). They created a suit which had thousands of tiny cameras in the back and as many 'tiny displays' in the front. Whatever image those cameras captured in the back were displayed in the front, effectively, enabling you to see whatever was behind the man in the suit. This made all the body parts covered by the suit... invisible!!!!. Simple...isn't it???. Trust the Japanese to come up with something like this.

Computers and the internet, which I think are the best things to happen to man in this century(after Smirnoff Vodka and Pamela Anderson), have also revolutionized the world and the way it works. kids, these days use computers to do their homework and the internet to check out porn when their parents are not at home. It's a far cry from those days, when, my grandfather thought Silicon was another brand of ice cream. You know...'Crazy Vanilla cups' and 'Silly cones'. Now, I can't imagine my life without computers and the internet.

I consider myself and the people of my generation very lucky to be born in this period of time where we are seeing technological development and progress like never before. God knows what else is going to be invented by the time we are old hags with grandchildren. The thought itself sends shivers down my spine.

Another thought in my mind: 'Do things we see in the movies today (like The Matrix), someday be for real?'. Can we be quicker than bullets shot from a gun and evade them? Can we be attached to computers and actually enter a simulated environment in our minds and fight with somebody. I guess we can...considering the fact that whatever we had seen in movies 10-15 years ago is quite possible today.

But I think I should check it with the Japanese to be sure.