You learn something new everyday...

Thursday, October 25, 2007

You learn something new everyday...
Lets set some stuff on the ground first, shall we?

Fact Number 1: This is the 21st century.

Fact Number 2: Our generation is one where pretty much everyone is born with a Razer mouse in his or her hand. Technology is second nature to us.

Fact Number 3: In today's knowledge driven economy, knowing how to operate technology is essential for one to survive with any form of comfort. (Being a road sweeper won’t exactly get you enough cash to enjoy the comforts in life, now would it?)

Fact Number 4: Our generation is arguably the best equipped to face any and all form of challenges that the world can throw at us, what with our innate familiarity with the little nuances of technology.

Anyway, what got me writing this post? Nothing much, really – its just your typical rant from someone with too much free time. But it does point an important aspect of society. You would think that everyone below the age of 30 would be comfortable working with computers. After all, there are 10 year olds out there who can script HTML better than I can. It’s the age of Internet networking. Using Friendster, Facebook, blogs and other networking sites of its ilk is the craze today. Even the Queen has a Friendster account. Networking sites has become a social phenomenon that has integrated itself into the very fabrics of our culture.

Now, to be able to use networking site and others like it to any level of competency requires one to have a certain profiency at computers. The computer ability required is not high – in fact, just the mere act of randomly touching your computer (or any computer, anywhere, for any length of time) would more or less ensure that you would have the necessary skills needed to carry out basic operations on the computer. And if that is not enough, schools these days are offering their students computer courses to equip them with the technological skills they need to make their name in society. In fact, we are exposed to various forms of computer usage so much (in the form of movies, TV dramas, books, computers themselves, etc) that it is likely that some people are able to use a computer without themselves owning one.

But still, we have remnants from the Stone Age walking here among us. While the rest of society have moved on to the Space Age, they have remained behind, content with the security of their crudely made stone axes. Their little bonfires warm up their caves better than what furnaces can do for an entire block.

When faced with a PSP and an iso file still zipped up, the Neanderthal man places the “insert_game_name_here.iso.rar” into the PSP’s memory stick, then wonders why nothing works. When told that he needs to unpack (or unzip, whichever you prefer) the rar file, everything becomes clear. He nods, growls his understanding of the matter and proceeds on his way…Only to return asking how does one do it.

“WinRAR? What that?”

The Enlightened Ones try present what they have come to do on a daily basis to the club wielding Homo Sapien Neanderthal.

“Just go google it. And download winRAR, and you are set.”

“Me knew that. Me forget it….Me hungry.”

But, as any sufficiently advanced technology would seem like magic to a primitive race, the Neanderthal would, without doubt, return to rouse the Enlightened Ones from their pondering of the cosmos.

“WinRAR…Need money. Me not want use money.”

“Look, for the love of [Insert deity of choice here], just download the trail version. Its freeware!”

“Me downloading…Download take long time.”

“Good [Insert deity of choice here]…Where have you been the last 17 years? WinRAR is supposed to be as familiar to you as the back of your hand. Everyone knows about it.”

“Me forgot. Me not happy with way you talking. Me not know me hand from me face. Me hit you with club.”

The above was inspired by a true event. Of course, I put my own twist into it. The original is quite fun to read as well. But that’s not all. The Neanderthal would return again after a few days as he attempts to warp his mind around a recent Internet phenomenon, one that has revolutionized the P2P scene…That’s right – we are talking about Bittorrent here.

Now, Bittorrent is an amazingly simple yet powerful tool. Instead of hosting files on a server (which would require money, and lots of it), why not spread the file out among millions of people and let them host it. That way, every computer would be a little server in itself, every box requesting and sending the file pieces that they need. A most innovative program that has its uses both in the professional arena and in other areas as well.

So, coming back to the Neanderthal man…

“…And that’s it about Bittorrent. Now that I have taught you the basics, go out there and experiment with it. Remember to first download a Bittorrent client, else you would not be able to do anything. I would recommend using uTorrent.” So says the Enlightened One.

“Where find?”

“Just Google it.”

“Where find goggle (misspelling intended)?”

“Good [Insert deity of choice here]…” *Slaps hand to forehead*, and proceeds to blast the Neanderthal man with a Star Trek phaser.

After some time….

“Me not underst4nd. N0t down10ad me fi1e.”

“Allow me to take a look.” *The Enlightened One glances at the Neanderthal man’s screen* “You currently have 0 peers and seeders…”

“Me underst4nd no.”

“Just where do you expect to get your file from? The mysterious file dimension? Hammer space? Of course you won’t be downloading anything with no leechers or seeders.”

[Hammer Space, of course, refers to that strange place where Amy from Sonic the Hedgehog draws her unlimited supply of hammers. For more information, just wiki hammer space]

“Me n0 C 1eecher5.”

“Peers are leechers. They mean the same thing.”

“Peers=peers. Leechers=leechers. Peers =/= Leechers. Me 5marter than j00.”

“…give me grace…”

“4nd BT 5ux. Me think me need to install everytime me want to downlo4d thing. J00 are stupod.”

*Phasers firing, and the smell of roast human flesh fills the air.*

~End~

And oh, everything up there is true as well. This guy seriously asked if he needs to reinstall BT every time he wished to Bittorrent something. Like, how the hell can someone forget winRAR. Its like one of those things that stay in your head…As V so nicely put it, “can u forget the music to mario in gameboy!? can u forget tetris theme? noooooo it sticks itself there~”.

Obviously, the guy was bluffing to save himself face. >.<

Know what I think? Guys like this, who process no technological skills whatsoever, should be ousted from society and banished to the Forgotten Realms and be forced to live in limbo together with the other idiots of history, W. Bush Junior being one of them. No idiot collection would be complete without dear old Bush in there.

Or perhaps not. We could keep Bush around solely for entertainment value.

[This is a rant by someone with too much free time. And I have just wasted about 10 minutes of yours. Cheers]