Some Problems I Have Been Trying To Solve

Since a long time, I have been trying to solve a problem. A problem that I have been facing since the time I have started using basic computer applications. Automation.

Every time I am browsing through the web, I want to save a page or save a select part of the page. There are applications like the Evernote app for chrome. The app allows users to select and save parts of the web page in Evernote. But what if I don’t like Evernote? Which I absolutely don’t. I don’t even like its alternatives like Onenote.

I often need to browse through news and information from major news sites and other websites. There are applications that automatically deliver RSS feeds to the inbox. But every one of those sites provide a thousand articles every day. How could I find time to browse through all of them to find the topics relevant ones for me? I want something to automatically deliver relevant articles depending on my choice. Of course there are some apps that do so but they work on the basis of delivering only top articles to my feed. What is that of use to me? Media hypes and unnecessary news piles up in my inbox regardless of how carefully I select the topics. I want something better. Something that suites my taste.

I code and I browse through thousands of websites that have necessary code and graphics necessary for my applications. It’s necessary for me to learn through examples. But every time I want a solution to a problem, no matter how simple the problem may be, I end up wasting hours searching for the right examples and documentation for my needs. I need a better solution. I can’t waste my time browsing through thousands of code pages just to realize that a simple twist in my code or a function call could have done the job.

Collaboration is extremely essential for nearly everyone. I often need to share stuff with people but end up searching for a proper medium to share the content. I need something that could easily allow me to share anything with anyone with the least possible steps.

I need information. Information about nearly everything. Trending news, information about people in my circle, work availability and numerous others. I need something that could provide me with necessary information in a classified manner so that I can focus on what is really important while skimming through unnecessary stuff.

I am careless about my finances. I need something to control the way I spend. Provide necessary ways to maximize my savings and minimize my spending.

Next I need something to provide keep me alert of upcoming events and people I would be meeting. I need all possible relevant information about everyone in my circle. Ranging from their private conversations to their personal lives. I need information about whatever happens in their life. This would allow me to control the decisions that they make about me or my proposals.

I now rely on last pass for managing my passwords across sites and apps. I don’t want to. I need something even more private. I hate the idea of giving all my personal information to one organization.

I get hundreds of emails every day. I use all features made available by Google to organize, classify and access only the relevant emails. But while doing so, I tend to miss numerous important emails that could have saved my day. I need an intelligent program that provides necessary information right in my inbox. Marks what is important and what is informative. Marks what I have to focus on and reads all necessary embedded information in my emails to automatically schedule my activities.

Scheduling is integral to productivity. I have been trying to schedule my workflow in numerous ways. I tried making to do lists. It failed. I tried sticking to timelines. I can’t. I need something that adapts to my work. Something that automatically understand what I have already done, what remains to be done and what stuff I can focus on with the remaining time I have. Milestones that I need to cross so that I can learn something I have been trying to learn since months but not able to find enough time for the same.

Lastly I need something to visualize the workflow of my activities and information and everything that goes on in my personal and digital life. I need to be able to see visually where I missed and where I could have did better. The brain application provides a good enough interface for the same. But unlike its name it is a dumb application that only returns back what is inputted into it.

Here is a list of applications that up to some extent help me get through my day.

1.       Note Taking: Evernote, Keep, Onenote, Trello

2.       Password management: Lastpass

3.       Email: Mailbox

4.       Workflow Visualization: Casual

5.       Time, Project and Task management with Collaboration: Asana, EasilyDo, Timeful, Quip

6.       Calendar: Sunrise

7.       User Information: Refresh, TrueCaller

8.       Social Media and Relationship Management: Hootsuite, Contactually

9.       Finances: Mint

10.   Viewing, Sharing and modification of content: Skitch, Clearly, Quip, Pocket

11.   Automation: IFTTT

I need all of these in one application. I don’t have the necessary time or patience to browse each of these applications and update them one by one. I need a unified app that could do more than what these are able to do. This app would make life easy. This app would be the next big software. Complete automation regardless of person or circumstance

The More I Needed The better I Felt

The less I needed, the better I felt - Charles Bukowski
I came through this quote on my Facebook timeline today. I went scrolling down but my mind remained fixed at it. It felt like as if there was something very wrong about it. I felt like lukin at a spalin mestak. Yeah, that unbeatable urge to correct it. I couldn't help myself and scrolled up to the post and there it was.

It was all wrong. Because I have never felt like that. 
I have always felt like: The More I Needed The Better I Felt.
And when I thought about my version of the quote, it seemed ambitious. But it perfectly described my feelings. This is how I feel. Everyday. Every Moment  It was may be because I have always wanted much more than what my life offered me. May be because wanting more and getting more than what I wanted, always made me feel good. But still I have never been satisfied. I am still in search of that precious feeling. And the worst part is: I don’t know when, where, who or what will make me feel satisfied. But I know…the moment I get satisfied with my life….is the moment I stop growing, learning and most importantly being what I actually am. I know it won't be good. That will be the end of me.
Yeah I know.
Satisfaction will be my end. Not Death. 

Why I want to but at the same time don’t want to be a part of the present social web……

It’s been nearly 20-30 years since the computers became a part of our daily lives. And within such a short span of time we have achieved wonders. Perhaps the last 30 years have witnessed the fastest growth period in the history of humanity. Today technology touches the lives of nearly 70% of the world population. And soon within 2-3 decades every single human on the planet would be connected to everyone else in the world. Connectivity has never been better and the collective intelligence of people is constantly producing new and innovative solutions for the various challenges faced by our societies on a daily basis.  There is hardly any doubt that if the present trend and the level of growth continues, humanity would reach unparalled heights by the next century itself.

So let’s come back to the present scenario. Today we are connected primarily with the help of the internet. The internet is dominated by some giants like Google, Facebook, twitter, yahoo, Microsoft, etc. They help us remain connected with our loved ones and also help us express ourselves. It has become a perfect example of free speech. This freedom of expression and speech has huge benefits and it also has some unavoidable problems. A simple example is the rumors and memes on the web. There are also scenarios where the opinion of a single person expressed through these social platforms has threatened Individuals, Industries and Societies. Today, some of the most dangerous threats and the explanations are conveyed through the social media. The 2014 Lok Sabha elections in India were the perfect example of deploying social platforms to gain political benefit. This article by CNN-ibn provides a vague summary into the whole workings. This trend has continued even after the election. Such is the power of connectivity through social platforms, and they grow hand in hand every single moment. Every new internet user is an addition to the power of the web.

Soon there would be a time when every single person in every corner of the world would be connected to the web in one way or the other. The whole web would be much more organized than it is now and information flow would be streamlined depending on user demand. People would be using the web more carefully and everyone would be expressing their opinion on everything they want to. As the saying goes “The more open a society, the more targets it presents”. All it takes is the right person with the right words and he/she could end our civilization. Although it seems highly impractical, it is possible.

Now imagine, what if this huge power is controlled and diverted according to a single person wish? What if the tweet that can topple a government or start a war is controlled by one man or one organization? Yes, I am right. Today Facebook is fully aware what is going on in our private lives. Google knows nearly everything about what we want (though what we are searching). And twitter knows everything we stand for (what we believe in). Thus the total information collected by these 3 organizations can easily provide us a rough idea about a socially active individual’s personality, wants, opinions, etc. Thus it can be easily predicted that in the future at-least 90% of the people’s behavior and actions would be with some or the other organizations.

Now imagine all the different organizations coming under one umbrella to analyze and develop behavioral analytics. As Artificial intelligence and behavioral analytics advance, organizations can easily predict people’s thoughts and actions. Thus eventually it would be the organizations that would be running our lives, and not us. We would be shown what they want us to see in order to get a specific effect on a particular society. We can also predict that such AI along with behavioral patterns could easily manipulate mass behavior depending on requirement. Now Imagine This Power On Sale.

Everyone wants to be on the web and remain connected. Even I do too…….. But What if the above Predictions Becomes Reality??? Who would ever want to be part of such a huge social experiment to destroy our own civilization? It's true, The Weapon of the Future Is Not Nuclear. Its Social Media.

Our Responsibility Towards The Valley

I just went through this question on Quora about the situation in Kashmir. A must read for every Indian. The best answer by Sharika Amin was also the most up voted and it revealed so much about the treacherous conditions in which the Kashmiris live in. Her words, "My mom said there is no law here and dragged me to the attic, and told me to shut up". What else could be worse than this? We are the largest democracy and one of our most important states has faced turmoil since our Independence, Still the government has found no ways to improve its living conditions. Nearly half the state on its north has been occupied by neighboring countries (Pakistan and China). Well there are a hundred more problems I could point out but the point is, “What is the country doing for its state when clearly the state has faced nearly everything it can for the betterment of its country?”

The biggest tragedy is that the Kashmiri people themselves don’t want to be a part of India. And why would they? When their own country has betrayed them since the dawn of Independence and now they are tortured by the forces who were appointed there for their protection, why would they want to be a part of such a country? As Sharika Amin described, “I am not denying that the Indian government has not helped at all. THEY HAVE. But, it is not enough, an average Kashmiri still doesn't feel close to India, and mind you we don't hate Indians, WE DON'T. It's the Indian government who is absolutely unaware of the ground reality, we hate their callousness.”

Several questions arise in such a scenario,

“Is the New Government going to do something about it?”

“Are we as responsible citizens going to do something about it?”

“Where is the Indian Media and when is it going to be Impartial?”

Each of the three pillars of our society: The Government, The Media and We the People of India are responsible for everything that happens in the valley. We are the answer to the above questions.