Wednesday 11 December 2013

Oranges in Spain -VI

There were times during the train journey that my mind was wandering, the thing that was strangely obvious was that this trip was going to be another belter, I had come out of my reverie with Anjali talking about the configuration that her computer should have, hardware configurations always got my head in the right place.  Hardware configurations were a matter of personal preference and that being a matter of interest to a person more than the community.

So an I5 would look pretty similar to the following :

Pentium I5 processor with expandability options
Minimum 4 GB of RAM
1MB L2 cache
DVD R/W


This was the bare minimum that would be required to make a creative person make full use of her talent.  On the whole there was barely anything to it, if there was a part of the computer that was under utilised.  So, under normally circumstances there wasn't anything that could be said about how to buy computer except walking into a showroom and picking up the configuration that was planned for and then paying for the bill and walking out of the showroom with the buy.

Then it happened, a flash of lightening in my head as it often happened, buying as always was a pleasurable activity especially the kind that leads to taking the load of the head, so I visualised myself walking into a showroom filled with computers, the Tata Croma showroom was the ideal place for such an activity, it was a largish showroom with a ramp that took you down to the lower mezzanine where all the equipment was stacked.  It was like a 3 D walk through that was running through my head, technology had this thing that moved me, it had a calming effect on me, like food for the brain, human beings were more focused on the mind then they were on the heart, if the mind was calm then all was generally well.

This was akin to a computer, all parts, some moving some semi conductor driven, requiring just electricity to drive them, if all was going well, these parts seldom thought of anything else, they just mechanised with each other and worked on a full scale.  The heart of the matter was important aspect of the technology, easily forgotten amidst all the humdrum of daily life.

Like magic the attendant appeared again, "do you want some more tea," he asked and we both acquiesced.
"How is the dinosaur in your garden doing ?" I asked her.
"What do you mean."
"I mean that new guy you are seeing, all well with him ?"
"Ah, him, he is fine, I haven't spoken too much to him lately, there is no time."
"We have nothing if time," I said casually.
"Yeah, but he is too much time at work."
"And so are you," I retorted back. Relationships weren't like machines, they required very good caring and loving, it was the heart of the matter that was important, "Do you love him ?"
"I don't think I love anything in this world."
"You love your Channa Bhatura," I said, referring to the Indian snack she so enjoyed, "Should I order some for you ?"
"I'd love that," she was right back in the mood, for a moment I thought she was going into a negative frame of thought, but then we were right there now.  I pointed to the item to the attendant and he understood immediately what we wanted.

Machines could have heart too, I think that is what Artificial Intelligence, also called AI is trying to develop in machines, R2 from Star Trek had more heart than most human beings, he was so attached to Luke Skywalker that there wasn't anything more he wanted than to be with his master.  The term "master" was probably derived from Asimov's definition of a "Slave" and "Master" methodology that computers worked on, till they invented the peer to peer protocols that allowed machines to see each other as equals rather than a server driven methodology.

The Channa Bhatura arrived, it tasted like heaven, she ate every single morsel and even licked her fingers like a kid, it was fun seeing her eat, almost like a cat that had had its cake and the cream too.  Sated, she decided to go through the art magazine that I had got back from our co-passengers and she starting leafing through it, I had made notes on the magazine and she eyed them quietly, that was the thing about her, she loved reading my notes because it opened her eyes to my thought.
"Beauty Is Where The Heart Is"

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