[Fsf-friends] this may be off topic but ..

Kush be_a_sport@[EMAIL-PROTECTED]
Wed Jun 28 22:52:23 IST 2006


Pramode C.E. wrote:
> How many `pioneers' do we have? 
>
> Makes me think of India's greatest contribution to the
> world of mathematics ;-)
>
>
>   

I was thinking that maybe a beginning needs to be made by searching thru 
patents etc and networking information. We may have a lot of hidden 
talent that OUR MEDIA has not even unearthed (as compared to the hours 
and hours of painstaking research that western media does about its own 
scientists and experts in various fields). Once the beginning is made, 
we may unearth facts which are unknown till now.

A few years ago I had read about a young Indian who went to a conference 
in Singapore to be acknowledged there for a paper on computer security 
techniques that he had discovered  (without a formal background in 
computers or mathematical sciences) just by reading very advanced books 
that he had access to, thru his father who was a research scientist.

Then there was an article in rediff.com about a pioneer and entrepreneur 
(from chennai) who launched a company in Singapore which was listed on 
the Australian stock exchange. This person discovered a new way to 
compress image data and was using the new algorithm to make a medical 
radiology product. The new algorithm was far more efficient than the jpg 
algorithm( i think atleast 20 times more efficient and it was claimed to 
be lossless too) (but there is no independent verification of such 
astonishing stories from a team of acknowledged Indian experts or 
academy of science etc --so such possibly great stories are not put in 
the limelight and do not last long enough in the public memory). One 
reason is that all academies of science in India are basically govt 
owned - -so there is no independent and prestigious grouping of 
scientists who command outstanding respect and authority(unlike the 
situation in the west).

Was just reading an old edition of "india today" (feb 6 2006 edition) 
which has the google story on its front cover and on page 36 we have a 
small clipping/writeup on key Indians who have helped put google on the 
map. But there needs to be more information of this sort put on a 
permanent or almost permanent place (on the lines of goodnewsindia.com) 
with more details dug up about the algorithms used or the lives of the 
people in the writeup. Basically give the story a human touch and make 
it more interesting such as the struggles and the ups and downs these 
people had before they were successful.

That would really help making Indian role models, establish pride in 
hacking or do it yourself culture. A few things we lack terribly are --
1 how to work in teams
2 how to resolve conflicts  and understand why and how they happen
3 present or communicate properly/intelligibly
4 not sharing information --phenomena of extreme competitiveness (crab 
mentality)
5 readily acknowledging our peers
and
6 making a welcoming environment for newbies or laymen

Kush



More information about the Fsf-friends mailing list