Key Events of 2022

• Russia-Ukraine War
• Covid-19 Pandemic and Vaccines
• Turmoil in British Politics
• Turmoil in Pakistan Politics
• Iranian Protests
• Global Inflationary Movements
• Energy Prices
• Climate Change Movements Intensify
• US-China Tensions
• Football World Cup
• Overturn of Abortion Rights in USA
• Queen Elizabeth II dies
• Prince Charles becomes King
• Kurdish Protests in France
• Elon Musk takes over Twitter
• UK Gets a First Indian PM
• Record breaking Heatwaves
• Droughts around the World
• Floods in Pakistan
• Cop27

Hypocrisy of Climate Change Activists

Climate change activists alert the world of the effects of having a high carbon footprint. However, one only needs to look at these activists and realize how hypocritical they really are in their own lives. Take for example Greta Thunberg. She talks about climate change and yet uses a plane, lives in a house, consumes electricity, produces waste, celebrates xmas, lights up a tree, receives gifts that use wrapping paper, while complaining on the world stage as how everyone has ruined her childhood. And, all her supporting crew had to be just as hypocritical in building their own carbon footprint just to enable her to travel via a zero-emissions sailboat and jet set around the world, provide for freeze dried meals that use plastic wrapping, the use of train, and the amount of water needed to grow cotton for t-shirts. Most climate change activists can't live without electronics and internet. She even seems to have a social media presence. One generally has to use the internet to be active on social media. According to estimates, all the gadgets, the internet, and systems we use today equate to 3.7% of the global greenhouse emissions. And, when one looks at it in realistic terms, her complete carbon footprint is greater than an average individual on the planet. And, in the time that she has taken center stage, has she provided any quantifiable and qualitative evidence with a set of constructive solutions? During conferences and summits one can see her ranting to the audience but passing on technical questions for other people to answer. Is this an indication of her being totally out of touch with reality? People that posture and rant to others while not practicing what they preach makes them rather hypocritical as they appear to have lived in a very protected environment of self-entitlement and don't seem to understand the complex social constructs and the global dynamics of the world.

How To Identify A Racist Company

• They will reject your CV even if you are appropriate for the job
• They will keep talking about skills shortage even though they keep rejecting good candidate CVs for the job
• They seem to want to give you an interview invite if the name is not disclosed but not when the name is disclosed
• They don't want to shake your hand after an interview
• They isolate you from communications so it prevents you from doing your job
• They block your bonus or pay increments
• You have to work harder than everyone else to prove your worth
• They incessantly talk about your background like you don't belong
• They try to talk to you like you have entered civilization for the first time
• They avoid going to lunch with you
• They look at you differently
• You get stared at work
• When you raise issues of racism with the company HR they deflect the topic or brush it aside
• They block you from contributing to any technical project work
• They try to put you on the spot as a scapegoat for all their politics
• They will try to blame you for all their wrongs and mistakes
• You will likely be the first person they will consider to make redundant
• They will racially profile you in the workplace
• They will talk to you like you don't understand their language
• They will talk to you like you are beneath them
• They will even talk about how they feel about 'your kind' in the workplace and you may have to put up with it as the HR don't want to do anything about it
• They will try to harass and bully you in the workplace so you end up leaving the organization
• They may expect you to put up with their verbal abuse and hostile intimidations
• They may even overly criticise you for your lack of abilities
• You might have to put up with microaggressions
• You might have to put up with your complaints being dismissed
• You might see it in the hiring and interview process
• You might see it in the lack of diversity in both the management as well as in the general workplace
• You might hear the term 'cultural fit' being used a lot by people that are mostly similar to each other
• Your ideas for change and opinions will get dismissed without much thought
• They may even try to take credit for your work
• They will avoid having a desk next to you
• They will constantly complain about you behind your back and keep tabs of your work
• You will be expected to work harder for the same level of work and put in more hours
• They will treat you like someone that doesn't have a voice in the organization
• They will avoid giving you access to things to be able to do your job
• They will overlook you from attending organizational events
• They will not be willing to pay you the same level of compensation but expect to pay you less
• They will put you in the hiring process for diversity but will not consider you for the interview or have any intention of hiring you
• They will go out of their way to keep tabs of your whereabouts and have a heightened sense of distrust for you than is normal - what time you go to lunch, what time you leave office, how much time you spend at the desk, how long you spend time in the restroom, what you are doing on the computer, what time you get into work, checks and balances for everything that you produce
• They will scrutinize your background alot more than is typical for their candidates in an interview process and likely will give you more tests to do
• They will likely consider you an outsider and not part of the team
• During the breakout periods in an organizational induction you will typically see the first signs of racist employees where they openly talk about how they hate a particular group of people, religion, etc
• Their organizational culture, marketing, and advertising campaigns are not considerate towards the protected characteristics
• The managers, co-workers, and colleagues are generally rude, unapproachable, and hostile towards you
• Many times the security will block you from entering the building and likely also do more random searches on you
• The receptionists will generally have a rude and hostile demeanor with which they greet you and how they interact with you 
• They will excessively question and scrutinize your right to work in the country even though you might have been born there, are a citizen of that country, or have already shown proof of id
• The contract will at times display signs of it in the wording and particular sections
• They make bigoted and inappropriate jokes and comments about race, color, nationality, ethnicity and other cultures
• They show favorable preference for people of a specific nationality, race, color, ethnicity, or culture
• They refuse to do business with companies that are run by minorities 
• They play down acts like slavery, human rights, affirmative action, and equality
• They use offensive terms to describe people of certain race, color, nationality, ethnicity, or culture 

Statistics is Pointless in AI

One can blame all of complexity in AI to statistics. The main reason why AI is going no where is because of statistics. Machines have no understanding of what they are learning in a statistical model. There is no formal method of testing statistical models that work in a blackbox. So, why bother working through something that can't be fixed? To explain the model, one will have to build an explainability model - uncertainty to explain the uncertainty. One is going from complexity to another form of complexity. As the old adage goes - 'keep things simple, stupid'. Even the machine needs an interpretation device to work out the statistical model which may be provided in form of a codified language. When one codifies a model they are right back to using logics and an instruction set that a machine can then understand and process. So, why not reduce the process to logical set of representations and let the machine figure out the rest of the statistical invariance through axiomatizations? After all, even when one builds a statistical model, it will eventually reduce to logic anyway. 

Brat Annotation Tool

Brat Annotation Tool

Resting Bitch Face

An interesting area to tackle with deep learning for computer vision is in psychology to discover human state of emotions. One such area is RBF - Resting Bitch Face. This facial expression is often characterised with commonality between males and females where they appear unintentionally to display feelings of anger, despair, grumpiness, annoyance, or irritability. However, the state of the individual is likely confused for relaxation or resting. There are often more underlining psychological aspects at play here both from the on looker standpoint as well as from the one projecting such a state of emotion. The phenomenon seems to be fairly a common condition. It often also gets used in fashion and lifestyle photography. Such applications can use methods of stable diffusion either to enhance the condition or further to distort such an appearance. Furthermore, one could develop an emotion model for psychology to study the various facial expressions to understand the mental state of an individual.

The plumber

theplumber

Dreambooth

Dreambooth

Avoid Pig In The Diet

Pigs are widely consumed as meat. However, there are several reasons why one must avoid the consumption of pig meat altogether in their daily diet.

• The meat contains high concentrations of saturated fats and trans fats causing the greatest risk to health
• Pigs are one of the few animals in our diets that will eat human remains
• It is dangerous when it is undercooked
• It is prone to contamination
• Susceptible to pathogens
• As the saying goes "you are what you eat"
• It porks you up with cholesterol
• Factory farming
• The meat has high levels of toxins that can make it difficult to digest
• Cheaper meat does not equate to better quality
• Make a conscious choice in what you consume
• Pigs are prone to eating their own feces, dead carcasses, and scraps
• They are prone to incest, unless consciously kept separated

Xmas Is The Festival Of Hypocrisy

Energy prices are skyrocketing. And, yet we see people putting up xmas lights everywhere. Who will be paying for the energy bill for this? There has also been much mention of climate change. And, yet we see people putting up trees inside their homes when they should be outside. And, shockingly many still decorate real trees rather than the fake ones in their houses and gardens. Even the celebration of Santa Claus is odd because in the old days he was considered to be a demon. The holiday period is the hallmark of teaching kids the value of materialism. And, all of a sudden people can be seen interested in buying turkey and drinking egg nog when they wouldn't even dare touch it at any other time of the year. We also see mulled wine only at this time of the year. We also see everyone putting up smelly socks next to fireplaces and silly wreaths on the doors. People sit around overindulging in food and drink till their bellies explode, another attribute of gluttony embraced during the festive period. We see people taking out loans to pay for gifts. One can even see vegans on holiday this festive season and embracing the dead corpse of a turkey on the table. Treehuggers and climate change alarmists are all on holiday. And, as the xmas passes on we can see trees next to rubbish bins. A temporary short run on economic growth through consumer spending. Capitalism in all its glory!

Awesome Quant

Awesome Quant

How To Identify A Racist

Racism occurs in all forms of society. Anyone can be a racist. It is a false notion to assume that only a white person can be a racist. In fact, most secular societies display the most prevalence of racism. And, societies that have caste systems and class hierarchies also display similar forms of racism. Racism helps maintain the status quo within the hierarchical class structures in societies. The following are typical aspects to identify a racist.

• They will question your background based on your skin color
• They will insult your intelligence and talk to you differently based on your skin color
• They will talk to you like you were some illiterate
• They will often use terms like "you speak english well" eventhough english might be your first language and probably speak and write better than they do
• They will often ask you to go back to your country, eventhough where you reside is your home
• They will talk to you like you have experienced civilization for the first time
• They will assume that you have never experienced things before like games, electronics, certain cuisines, travel, music, etc 
• They will treat you differently because of your skin color
• They will use stereotypical assumptions about you rather than get to know you first
• They will talk to you like you are beneath their level
• They will block you from certain aspects of society such as specific clubs, restaurants, jobs, events, sitting areas, etc
• They will try to racially profile you
• They will cut you off and dismiss whatever you say as wrong even before you have had a chance to fully communicate
• They will attempt to insult your background or use it as a form of jokes
• They will discriminate you and hold biases against you
• They will consider you an outsider and question your identity
• They will never consider you an equal member of society or in the theory of assimilation
• They will stare at you in a creepy sort of way in workplace, restaurant, supermarkets, and in every aspect of your life
• They will avoid communicating with you
• They will try to avoid serving you or providing you any customer service
• They will use terms like "you won't be able to afford this" and ask you to leave
• They will reject your job application without even bothering to read it as some names according to them are associated with a certain background
• Furthermore, medical institutions have staff often treating patients differently based on their skin color that dictates the quality of care they receive
• In places like india, untouchables are excluded from almost all aspects of society
• Investment opportunities are also forms of discrimination based on ones background
• The credit reference agencies also play their own part in racial profiling individuals
• Often the notion of cultural fit is in itself a form of bias, discrimination, and racism
• They will try to play down your concerns about racism or your experience of it
• Police brutality is another aspect of racial profiling
• They will be less friendly towards you compared to their interactions with people of other backgrounds
• They will have an extreme dislike and distrust for everything that you say or do
• They will have a threatening and rude demeanor, likely scrutinize you even more than is necessary
• They will block you from renting or even buying a property in a particular neighborhood
• They will often question you whether you know what racism is

Text2SQL

Text2SQL

ChatGPT

ChatGPT OpenAI

Heartland

Heartland is one of the most hypocritical shows. The show is based on a ranch with the center story revolving around a self-centered and cheating horse whisperer. On one hand the show displays how disturbed horses are treated while on the other end we are shown animal cruelty at the hands of cowboy and cowgirls in rodeo for which the horse whisperer is only more than willing to take part in ranging from broncos, roping calves, wrestling steers, bull riding, and other activities. We even are shown some characters that are vegans and yet willing to take part in the rodeo. It is even questionable how well the horse whisperer can communicate with horses. This is a family show that showcases the whole idea of being selectively heartless with double standards. It also has the re-runs of the same dramatic storylines of misunderstandings between characters. But, this might just be an indication of poor scriptwriting. Eventhough, life of a cowboy or cowgirl cannot be easy, one cannot but shrug in dismay at the mistreatment of animals in such communities. However, at one point it does provide an angle towards family life. But, loses its appeal by an anti-climax of killing off a crucial character. With such a long running show, it is understandable how actors would want to leave to move on to other opportunities and perhaps even encounter creative differences as their acting experiences evolve through time. This is a show that perhaps started with some good intentions and then meandered into the gravy train of greed as popularity grew through the seasons. However, one has to ask when is the right time to end the show that has been going on for so long and has lost the plot? When is the right time to end the life of a character? Or, is it a case of drawing the line as life moves on and letting the characters live on while the show reaches its end. This is a typical example of a show that has gone past its sell-by date.

Second-Hand Marketplaces

Often second-hand marketplaces sell goods that should never be made available for re-sell. In fact, most consumer items depreciate in value considerably faster. Only items whose re-sell value appreciates as time goes on should be considered. Second-Hand consumer items that are associated with cooking tend to have a health risk associated to them. Again, clothing items are similarly of health risk. Invariably, the intention of use often dictates such second-hand purchases and their long-term value.

Consumer items that should never be purchased second-hand. These items tend to lose value after each new release or after use:

• books
• electronics
• mobile phones
• clothes
• tableware
• kitchenware
• cooking utensils 
• shoes
• furniture
• toys

Consumer items that could be considered for purchase second-hand:

• Property (flat, house, office space, shop, etc - only after they have been thoroughly checked)
• Automobiles (only after they have been thoroughly checked and only if they are good as new, for some brands they can be bought directly from the manufacturer)
• Antiques (only after a valuation has been made)
• Old books (one of a kind books only after a valuation has been made)
• Paintings (only after it has been checked for authenticity)
• Autographed memorabilia (only after a valuation has been made)
• Watches and Clocks (only after a valuation has been made)
• Collection items (stamps, etc - only after a valuation has been made)
• Clothings (reuse materials to create new designer wear)
• Furniture (reuse materials to create new furniture)
• Shoes (reuse materials to create new shoes)
• Phones (reuse materials to create new phones)
• Electronics (reuse materials to create new electronic items)
• Books (reuse materials to create new books)