We are aware of the search functionality in the internet and on our local desktops
We can search for specific information in the internet using search engines like Google..
We can search for specific documents, email messages etc in our local desktop
Now what about searching ourselves?
Today morning I had forgotten about where I had placed my bike keys..
So I was wondering how nice it would have been if there was a search which I could perform on my daily activities.. A personal search agent which can search my personal details
But then how will it know where I had kept my keys?
Hmm.. the requirement is that it needs to have a database of my all activities.. and for that the personal search agent (PSA) should be observing all my activities, recording it and understanding it
So how about having it as a tattoo on my body? or in a button of my shirt? or anywhere else one prefers.. a small gadget with adequate memory, camera, display screen, microphone, speaker etc
So that it will be there with me for the whole day.. recording all my activities.. It is almost like having my daily brain memory dump in an electronic gadget..
and when I forget things.. I can simply ask it..
I can ask it where I have kept my key and it will remind me of the exact location..
I can ask it when did I write my last blog .. and what was the subject? India or world related?
What in case somebody else has misplaced my stuff somewhere else??
Say for instance my colleague in the office has taken my pen from my desk without my knowledge, to attend some urgent meeting.. and then I see that my pen is not there in its place.. my PSA insists that IT IS THERE! because even it doesnt know that something else happened which it hasnt recorded
So I can have a list of suspects.. I will ask my colleague about it now even he need not necessarily remember that he has taken my pen.. he can simply ask his PSA as to whether he has taken my pen or not!! And his PSA can tell him where MY pen is, if at all he has taken it !!
In a nutshell, instead of asking other people.. have you seen my pen.. you can ask them, can you please ask your PSA whether it has seen my pen?? and give a description of your pen.. and their PSAs can list out all the pens it has seen matching your description!
Life becomes so simple.. you dont have to remember even things like, I have to give back something to somebody. You can even tune your PSA to remind you to give back things to people from whom you took them!!! Yes, of course these PSA with reminder facility, might cost you a bit more
Suppose I have read a book earlier.. and now I want to open that book again to find some specific topic that I had read in it.. well, my PSA can tell me the exact page and line where that particular topic or sentence is!!
Suppose somebody visited my website once.. read some specific article.. and one day while talking to another friend of theirs they want to mention the name of my blog well, they can simply ask their PSA what the blog URL was!
Note that the PSA can remember even details which your conscious mind had missed out
Suppose you went to a movie with your friends and while coming back on the way, one of your friend says Did you observe that in one of the scenes when the heroin sneezed, the hero turned his face away?.. and you can simply ask your PSA to show that particular scene, so that you can verify what your friend said, in case you haven’t noticed it!
Also, with the presence of your PSA, your friends cannot say that you said or did something which you had actually never said or done!! Your friend for instance, cannot tell you that you promised to get a music CD on monday, when you had actually promised that you will get it only next friday! Simply ask your PSA and it will tell you what you had actually said!!
You can even have knowledge transferred between the PSAs.. suppose your friend had been to a very nice romantic spot about 5 kilometers away from the city with his wife, and even you want to take your wife there.. just ask your friend to transfer the route details to your PSA.. and then your PSA can guide you as you drive to that romantic spot with your wife ;)
So now the PSA has evolved inside my brain into something much more than a simple self-search
All that is fine.. but what about privacy? What if your PSA gets lost and falls in somebody else’s hands? So, we need to have proper secure mechanisms for your PSA so that it operates only with you.. no more passwords please.. probably your finger print or eye scan can be used to identify YOU..
In a nutshell..
The more advanced the technology.. the more better the quality of life !
Yes Divya
What you have said is completely true..
In fact what you said … are the kind of thoughts that keep coming into my mind always.. Are humans headed towards a self created disaster, due to pollution or nuclear war? What about other life forms on this planet then? How to make this earth a better place to live in?? Definitely today it has been converted into one of the worst places…
We humans are for a larger extent MISUSING the power of our brain that nature has provided us…
A lot of technologies that we have invented are utter flop as far as nature and statesmanship are concerned…
The main reason being we are using our brains only to look at immediate gains than towards future impacts.. There has been no statesmanship in inventing technology to use science…
We have polluted the planet left and right…
We have piled up enough nukes to destroy this entire earth hundreds of times..
We have made thousands of species go extinct..
We have set a lot of imbalance in the nature…
Forests have been destroyed..
Space, Air, water and land has been polluted..
Earth has been drilled everywhere in the name of mining and petroleum resources…
Hills have been blown out to make roads and mine rocks..
We have killed and wiped out races of our own species…
instead of first inventing polluting technologies and then having to start a greenpeace.. wasnt the human species matured enough to invent a non polluting technology right in the beginning??
Even today there are many non polluting technologies that have been maintained in low profile, only to ensure the multinationals that own these polluting technologies continue to benefit.. the same case with drug industries.. food industries.. etc
Why on earth do we need genetically modified food??
Genetically modified food should be banned from being used.. Nature is not as simple as you change a gene and be sure that nothing else gets affected… See my article
http://hitxp.wordpress.com/2007/07/02/genetically-modified-no-thanks/
Genetically modified food items should never be considered for herbal/food health treatments like ayurveda..
for instance ancient medical systems recommend grape juice for healthy heart.. the reason being, the seeds in the grape fruits contain oligomeric proanthocyanidins which are very good for heart..
now if people start preparing grape juice using genetically modified grapes.. well, these GM grapes are seedless grapes!! So what is the use of such grapes in heart medication?? For those who know the difference, fine.. what about those who dont know??
These are the kind of mess we are getting into…
In mexico generically modified corn seeds have mixed with natural corn giving a headache to the corn farmers there.. because these genetically modified corn was meant to produce ethanol to be used as a biofuel.. not to be consumed!!! Imagine people eating corn that was meant to run your car!!
Can we get any more stupid?? How on earth will the bees that pollinate food crops know which one is genetically modified and which one is not!!
Science, i.e. knowing things is definitely good.. because it is pure truth.. the way nature works, etc
What matters is technology, the way we practically implement our scientific knowledge.. and this is where humans are going wrong.. it is very much required that we set right this path and have a change in direction, so that technology is beneficial to all, to humans, to other life on earth, to nature…
As said in the vedas, Vasudaiva Kutumbakam.. not just the humans, but the entire earth is a family that includes all life forms and nature as well…
Let us hope that sense prevails… and also work in that direction..
A well contrived thought , “”Necessity is the mother of all inventions””..With the growth of technology, grows our needs for comfort ..All of us look to how technology can take the burden off..I have 2 points to make
*** I agree with u when u say we can use the time we take off from automating things productive rather than laze arnd..but productive to build another technology?? ;-)
***On the other side, i wouldnt say technology might beat us..naah that wont happen..man will keep inventing and benefiting ..but how much of these so called technology is Natural?? Somewhere we fail to see that they are shaking our base..freedom to live in our natural form..to go back live on fruits and veggies/meat instead of “”Ready To Eat””/Fast food chains captions “”watch your Calories””, Weight reduction- Slim down in 20 Days !!!.. didn we find them for ourselves.. Be aware of Radiation/ Microwave cookin unhealthy..Co2 emission on the race..oh my god i can go on..(I think of any good technology,can also think of demerit to environment and man kind)
Every Invention we have made(Except our first fews) has been leading us envt destruction in a subtle manner.. to prevent one we need another invention..
Where are we heading to ?? (Sometimes i really wanna feel/experience to live in era sans technolgy.. have u gone thru this feel, after a very tiring day @ work..after chasing all the bugs in ur system..when u r all alone gaping to the city to live …you see the bright lights and all people in a hussle bussle moving on in a hurried manner..when you move out of the world slighlty and look..i have wondered for what and who/why are we doing all these..??To sip a coffee, and jus stare into the night sky as the city is busy at a distance..its a good feel…)oops its getting longer…
Jayatheertjan
Yes even I first thought about RFID.. but then if we use this self search agent.. then RFID is not required at all…
But again as of now RFID technology has seen practical implementations.. where as the technology I thought about is yet to evolve :)
anony
Well, thats how human evolution has been, a species with the largest brain compared to body size :)
Its upto us to ensure that we use the time we gain by automating things to do something even more productive…
Hi Guru,
A good thought!!
RFID is one such technology that could help you track your belongings. perhaps an integration of RFID / GPS and search engine would solve your problem !
– Jayatheerthan
“”The more advanced the technology.. the more better the quality of life !””
and we tend to become more lazier