Viswanathan K's Thoughts

This Blondie strip would apply to almost every guy: after all, it articulates a guy’s idea of a day off perfectly: I am sure no wife or mother would disagree with the above. You’d think a guy like Claude Shannon who invented information theory would be different (today that theory is behind the entire PC/laptop/cellphone/tablet revolution). Surely a guy that good would not be like Dagwood Bumstead, right? Wrong. Shannon also invented what he called the “ultimate machine”. Sounds very grand. Coming from the founder of information theory, you’d expect it to do something just short of being a perpetual motion machine. Well, prepare to be disappointed. And surprised. And amused. Here is Arthur C. Clarke’s description of Shannon’s “ultimate machine”: “It is merely a small wooden casket, the size and shape of a cigar box, with a single switch on one face. When you throw the switch, there is an angry, purposeful buzzing. The lid slowly rises, and from beneath emerges a hand...

Do you curse our politicians for not having the will to frame laws to prevent and handle rape cases? Call me cynical, but at least that can be understood: our politicians know it’s a slippery slope. Make the system work against rape, and who knows? Maybe the system will start working against corruption next. Why risk all that? But that can’t be why the UK government is huffing and puffing against Google, Starbucks and Amazon. The Brits feel that those companies pay very little tax in the UK even though they make a considerable sum there. The best part? None of this is illegal; these companies just use (perfectly legal) ways to minimize taxes. And so the Brit government has gone crazy: they are demanding that such corporations pay more taxes than they are legally obligated to! Because that would be the “moral” thing to do! That is dumb at so many levels: -          Firstly, taxes are legal obligations (on all of us, not just corporati...