My life in the ether

The whole controversy over Snowden and US Government's acts of 'spying' center around metadata. "Data about data" is what they are looking at, along with associated patterns they may uncover. This may sound ok to many - after all, they are not really "reading" my mail, are they? So in what way are they violating my privacy?

Unfortunately what we do not realize is that with an increasing proliferation of devices that we use in our day to day life, we are putting more and more of ourselves out there. Our cellphone records show where we were physically present every moment of our lives; our interactions with other people through any electronic medium over a period of time forms patterns that we are not aware of; our card statements can be used to draw up a map of our buying behaviour, and through that, an analysis of other aspects of our lives, and so on with every piece of data we leave out there with every interaction we have with the world.  

The MIT project (links given below) "immersion" shows what is possible by someone merely accessing your gmail metadata (only the from,to and cc fields, not the mails themselves). The resultant output is pretty scary. I can imagine submitting this request (I have not actually done it, since I delete most of my mails in any case, and I have a great mistrust of these things) and then staring at the resultant output. It will probably feel like taking leave of your own body and staring at yourself from somewhere up there, like they describe in those out-of-the-body experiences. I will probably come to know more about myself than I wanted to know in the first place; I will be forced to confront the real me (in a very virtual sense of course), or, to be more accurate, the real me as looked at through a particular lens, with patterns and conclusions that I never really recognized before. And what is unnerving is that other people will have access to this data, like people working for big governments. Not only to this data, but to all data about me, wherever I have left traces of myself in the digital ether. I think of this, and an involuntary shudder goes through my body. It is quite eerie to think that there is someone or some people out there who know more about me than I do myself, and who have a complete psycho-profile of me. 

Some people are afraid of their own shadows, but the shadow is always one step behind you. Here are people who are like my shadows, but who are two steps ahead of me.  It spooks me out no end. 

So how do we escape this?  I can think of a few suggestions:

1) Do not carry a cellphone

2) Do not use credit or debit cards - use cash

3) Do not use email

4) Do not use facebook, linked-in, instagram, etc. and do not allow your friends to upload your photos or tag you on them - Sadashiv Mankekar (if you have not heard of him, google) is famous for this.

In short, the way to escape this is to go live in the jungles of Denkali with Guran for company. Not a particularly relishing thought, even if Diana agrees to be around.

Or, give up all our pet notions of privacy. Like, with facebook, people have dropped their old notions of privacy, and Zuckerberg and Co. are pushing us more and more into a world where we will want to let it all hang out out there for the public to see. The youngsters are not bothered about the conventional notions of privacy that the older people seem to have. Rather than fight a battle that we cannot win, perhaps we should reconcile ourselves to this new reality. Photograph every moment of our lives and "share" it instantly, use what's app for communicating with others, have all interactions through email only, carry our mobiles with us wherever we go, and stop being worried about ghosts in the dark, like some government computer keeping track of our movements, desires and motivations. 

To hell with it all. Maybe very soon God himself will request the US government for data on us. St Peter could use it for deciding what fate awaits us!

Links to the new MIT project "Immersion" (links courtesy my IIMA87 mailing group) : 

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/mit-i-ask-wheres-my-metadata/article4910538.ece

An MIT Project That Lets You Spy On Yourself 

More at:

https://immersion.media.mit.edu/

Musings on "safety and security"

There is an increasing paranoia about "safety and security" nowadays. As people become more and more urbanized, more and more affluent, and more and more insulated (which I think is a consequence of the other two factors!), there is more and more worry about "safety and security".  This worry manifests itself in many ways. People are unwilling to let their children step out alone or even exit the "complex" where they stay even to go to a grocery shop a few hundred meters away; teenage daughters are advised not to travel anywhere unless in company; and whole communities cocoon themselves inside the claustrophobic confines of a gated community. There is an increasing reluctance to meet the "other" world that lies outside the comfortable confines of what we are accustomed to; our houses are insulated, our cars are a refuge from the world; and our offices are an escape from even knowing what the weather is outside.  I am sure a lifestyle like this that insulates us on a daily basis from everyday reality contributes in a big way to our paranoia on "safety and security".

The other factor is of course, the media. Anything dramatic and full of human interest is what it wants to play up on, and rapes and assaults are as dramatic as they get. Reading such reports being hyped up in the media induces in us a state of mind of being constantly under assault, and we go around fearing for our lives as a consequence. If there were no newspapers and TV, would we not be feeling safer about the world? News, especially the way it is served up nowadays, more often than not fuels needless anxiety.

In general, I feel it is generally very safe anywhere in India. All you need to do is drop your defences, be genuine, and soak in the companionship of the people around you, wherever you are, and there is no need to feel unsafe.

This whole thing about safety and security is a bit over-hyped. I have never felt unsafe in my life - I think it is more a state of mind than a state of actual physical reality. If you have nothing worth stealing on you or in your home, if most of your assets are either immovable or locked up in a vault somewhere, or even better, securely dematted (meaning, it doesn't even exist :-) ), there is nothing to fear from the robbery angle. In fact, I sometimes forget to lock my main door at night, and during the day, when the whole family is out, we leave it merely shut, not locked; for the hassle of everyone carrying keys is a bit too much. We have full-time live-in maids for the last twenty years; their average tenure is two to three years, and never once have we carried out a police verification or any kind of verification before hiring them. Since there is nothing to rob at home, what is there to worry?

As to physical safety, that danger is always there, isn't it? That you will be accosted somewhere and beaten over the head, or maybe sexually assaulted or "eve teased' in case of women. The probability of getting hit by a car when you are crossing the road is far far higher than that. Does that stop you from crossing roads?  Can't stop living life fearing the extreme consequences of a low-probability event.

Paradoxically, I feel that the more you fear such an event, the more the chances are of something like that happening to you. Trust the world, step out, and nothing is going to happen. By not doing that, may be we are missing out on so many other experiences, that it is not worth holding back. May be what I say works only for India and not for some parts of the world; may be some people here may disagree with what I say even with reference to India; may be I am being dumb by not recognising the "dangers" out there.  But I have lived by this philosophy of not ever worrying about safety or security, and have generally been happier for it.

I will make an exception for Delhi of course. I would not advise any  woman to travel alone in Delhi after dusk!  :-)

dinesh

What they say and what they mean - Conference Calls Part 2

Continuing on the subject of conference calls, it is wonderful to observe how a person's entire vocabulary undergoes a change when he/she enters into one. It is expected that one should be extremely polite on the calls, beyond the bounds of normal civility. Everyone is saying a lot of things, but often, they are not really saying anything. You have to go through quite a few of these before you learn to interpret what the other person means when she tells you...

What they say	What they mean
Thank you everyone for coming into the call	I know you would not have if you had the choice
That is a good question	I don't know the answer
That is a very good question	I don't know the answer – I wish you had not asked the question
That is an excellent question	I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER!
Let's take that offline	I don't know the answer / the other idiots on the call can't be expected to understand / Let's forget about it
If your boss is on the call and tells you "let's take that offline"	I'll talk to you tomorrow morning about this
Can you please repeat the question	I was not listening
Yes	I confirm / I was not listening
That's a good point	I'm just letting you know that I'm still here though I was not listening
That's an excellent suggestion	I agree
That's an excellent suggestion	I don't agree
That's an excellent suggestion, but…	I think you have gone nuts
I don't agree	I have gone nuts
This is a very important initiative	I don't know who wants it and why it's required
It's a project driving towards our strategic objectives	I don't know what this project is all about
We are in agreement with you	Not agreeing will involve ten more calls – agreeing is far easier
We would like everyone to come on the same page	One more call spent in discussing context – I am quite willing to do that for the rest of my life – so long as there are no action points
Sorry about that	Just to underline that I am very polite
What you are saying is correct	People who live in glass houses don't throw stones

The truths of conference calls

No one who has worked in big corporates would have escaped the tyranny of conference calls. Initially, I was all enthusiastic. It seemed like a brilliant way to connect, and the company provides all kinds of numbers to call in to, passcodes and stuff as well, making me feel very important. It is a well established ritual that the moment a project is announced, the leader immediately forms a team that is cross-functional, multi-locational, multi-dimensional, anti-solutional, and includes everybody who is anybody and many people who have no relation to the project, on the team. Seldom is an invitation to join a project team rejected - it is, after all, with its multi-locational and multi-functional advantages, something that is expected to advance your career.  Everyone approaches his first conference call with great enthusiasm.

And then, realization slowly dawns... 

It is not all that it's touted to be,

It is one more way to just keep busy.

Normal meetings pale in comparison,

the virtual ones are truly truly scary!

In my long career I have had many occasions to participate in conference calls, and provide below some insights from my experiences.

I would love to receive some of your own insights as well...

 

The truths of conference calls

 

The number of people attending bears no relation to the importance of the subject.

 

The number of possible interactions increases exponentially with the number of people.  Not a real risk, since the inclination to pay attention and contribute too drops exponentially.

 

There is a lot of time spent on crossing the "i's" and dotting the "t's"

 

Everyone has to pause after every half an hour to come on to the same page - it takes half an hour each time.

 

It's like playing musical chairs with the number of chairs being one more than the number of players. The game never ends.

 

Each participant marches to the beat of a different drummer.  The group thus marches towards a solution.

 

Repeating the question is an acceptable answer.

 

Repeating the answer leads to a new question.

 

Both questions and answers are repeated in the next call.

 

Forming a committee to set up a task force which can think about how to set up a timetable to frame the scope is a good action item for the first call.

 

You are excused if you suspect that not everyone is speaking English.

 

One meets to call - One calls to meet.

 

A process by which one starts with a clear solution and ends with a confusing problem.

 

A computer would need an infinite iterative loop to program this.

 

A forum where everyone competes to show his lack of understanding.

 

One-tenth of the work expands to fill ten times the time allotted.

 

Every employee's chance to star in a soap opera.

 

Extensive use of technology for intensive debilitation of the mind.

 

Everyone thanks everyone else, all the time.

 

Clarity of objective is not the objective.

 

 

 

The difficulty of being Subbarao

Recent article in the Times of India (also reproduced at the end of this mail) about the rupee hitting an all-time low, with some quotes from the chief economic advisor to the government. The quotes are highlighted in yellow, my views follow:

The article: http://bit.ly/1bYkHj2

Some quotes from the article:

The government's chief economic adviser said the finance ministry, RBI and the SEBI are watching the markets.

We will be alert to the development, we do not like volatility and take actions when necessary, Rajan said. 

Rajan said rupee is not in a shambles and cautioned against being overtly pessimistic. 

My take on it: 

One can almost imagine the scene...

Duvvuri Subbarao put down the phone after his daily morning conversation with Chidambaram. "Coffee, get me some coffee" he bellowed. These conversations always put him in a stressful state, a very bad way to start the morning. 'Reduce the interest rates, he says, does he understand anything about macro economics?, I don't want to fuel growth when there is so much inflation', 'the markets are a self-fulfilling prophesy, he says, if you think they will go up, and you talk about it going up, it will go up, he says - he must be thinking about something else - only that goes up just thinking about it'. 

His assistant handed the coffee and immediately withdrew. The whole of RBI knew not to mess around with Subbarao after his daily morning talk with Chidambaram. He continued mumbling as he sipped his coffee. 'And that new economic advisor of his, I thought he would talk some sense - he predicted the 2008 collapse after all, and here he is out-optimisting the optimistic Chidambaram.  We have all the tools, and will use them when required, he says - what tools do we have?  He thinks economics is so simple, like having a set of hammers, tongs and pliers, that all you have to do is go pull out the painful tooth? And what does he mean, we do not like volatility? The markets have tanked fifteen percent in a matter of weeks, is that not volatility enough? Or maybe he thinks it is volatility only when it swings like a yo-yo. And yes, I would certainly like to see his tools - he keeps talking about them - I am very curious to know what they are...'

Duvvuri Subbarao continued muttering under his breath, his mood today was very dark indeed. 'Madam will keep announcing her harebrained schemes, doling out money like it's free - God knows how much trouble I take to create that money. But no, who is to explain macro-economics to them? they think all I have to do is run the printing press, and the money machine will throw out wads of cash for some new-fangled "Rajiv Gandhi Gramin/ Sadak /Parivartan /Vikas/ Shikshan /Garibi/ Hatao/ Khana/ Poshak /Niranthar/ Nischit/ Suraksha/ Pratibhuti /Hak /Suchna" or some such scheme designed to line their pockets and get them votes.  They keep doling out money on one side and they go after Gold on the other - they don't want Indians to buy gold. All of those politicians who talk like this, I would like to know, what do they give as dowry at their daughters' weddings? How much gold do they have in their storehouses themselves? Imposing that duty is only going to increase smuggling, and for every kilogram of gold coming in, other things will be smuggled out, may be drugs.. do they even know the consequences of what they are doing?'

Subbarao  came to the end of his coffee, when the phone rang - Raghuram Rajan on the line sir, said his assistant and put him on. 'Hi Subbarao, why did you not reduce the interest rates, that's what our boss wants. And Madam had a suggestion, the next time we reduce the rates, may be we can call it 'Rajiv Gandhi Byaaj Ghataav Yojana' - it is election time and we need to announce new schemes - boss has asked you to make a presentation on this for Madam.' Raghu did not wait for him to respond, he just continued 'And, by the way, boss is very concerned. We have just made a statement to the press that we are watching the markets. The stock exchange building is visible from your office, right?' 'Um right', replied Subbarao, he did not know where this was going. 'Right then, we are coming over tomorrow, call Sinha also. We are all going to watch the markets from your office window.  And we need to discuss how to boost growth and talk up the markets. Elections are round the corner and Madam wants the markets to go up. I am confident you will be able to present some concrete proposals in this regard.' Raghu hung up without giving Subbarao a chance to respond.

"Whiskey' shouted Subbarao. I need a stiff peg - go and get me one." His assistant ran to comply. 

Nursing his whiskey, he sat staring out of the window, pondering over what proposals he needed to present to Chidambaram, Raghu, and Sinha when they would come to his office on the morrow. The view outside seemed dark and gloomy indeed...

Dinesh Gopalan

mob: 9845257313; blog: http://www.dineshgopalan.com

Rupee hits all-time low of 60; will act when necessary, govt says

 

PTI | Jun 20, 2013, 11.52AM IST

 

MUMBAI: The rupee trimmed its early losses but was still quoted lower by 83 paise to 59.53 per dollar after hitting 60-level on strong demand for the American currency from banks and importers amidst sharp fall in equity market.


We are not short of actions or instruments as and when the need arises, said govt's chief economic advisor Raghuram Rajan on rupee dipping to an all-time low.

We will be alert to the development, we do not like volatility and take actions when necessary, Rajan said.

Rajan said rupee is not in a shambles and cautioned against being overtly pessimistic.

The government's chief economic adviser said the finance ministry, RBI and the SEBI are watching the markets.

The rupee resumed lower at 59.50 per dollar against the last closing level of 58.70 per dollar at Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market and dropped further to an all-time low of 60.00 per dollar before quoting at 59.53 per dollar at 10.40am.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE sensex fell below the 19,000 level due to all-round selling pressure as the rupee hit record low.

The sensex resumed lower at 19,069.20 and dropped further to a low of 18,822.65 before quoting at 18,885.63 at 10.30am, showing a net loss of 360.07 points, or 1.87 per cent from its last close.

The NSE 50-share Nifty also dropped sharply by 124.45 points, or 2.09 per cent, to 5,700.80 at 10.30am.

Stocks fell across Asia after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said after a two-day policy meeting that the central bank may reduce bond purchases later this year should the US economy strengthen.

Concerns about the health of the Chinese economy also weighed on sentiment after a survey showed further slowdown in China's manufacturing sector.

Persistent capital outflows from foreign funds also affected the market sentiment. Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth a net Rs 544.97 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

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