Viswanathan K's Thoughts

Paul Graham writes of a common lament among adults long after they graduate: “In theory, tests are merely what their name implies: tests of what you've learned in the class. In theory you shouldn't have to prepare for a test in a class any more than you have to prepare for a blood test.” And: “In practice… things are so different that hearing this explanation of how classes and tests are meant to work is like hearing the etymology of a word whose meaning has changed completely.” No surprise then that this is how we go through school and college: “For me, as for most students, the measurement of what I was learning completely dominated actual learning in college.” But isn’t this just a cost of doing business, a way to get a job? No, says Graham: “The most damaging thing you learned in school wasn't something you learned in any specific class. It was learning to get good grades.” Huh? How can learning to get good grades be a damaging thing?! Lamentable a...

The Internet is like the Wild Wild West. The rules of the game aren’t (can’t be?) defined upfront. Rather, we evolve them as we go along because it’s impossible to know what opportunities, situations and loopholes may come up on this frontier. There’s this site called Ashley Madison whose by-line is “Life is short. Have an affair.” The site facilitates exactly that: “Have an Affair today on Ashley Madison. Thousands of cheating wives and cheating husbands signup everyday looking for an affair…. With Our affair guarantee package we guarantee you will find the perfect affair partner.” No, this isn’t a joke. It’s for real! The site has 40 million registered users. And then the site got hacked. The hackers, who call themselves the Impact Team, demanded that the site be taken down. Or else? “We will release all customer records, including profiles with all the customers’ secret sexual fantasies and matching credit card transactions, real names and addresses, and employee do...