Why is Big Data Different than earlier innovations/trends?

The very definition of big data- Volume, Variety, Velocity and Veracity- make it different from previous business innovations and trends. The tremendous spurt in technology and rise of app based smartphones along with rising speeds of internet connectivity, and an increase in sensors and associated technologies has brought data deluge. Now there is more data being generated every year than what was generated in the previous century. Plus the world is more interconnected now. 

The rise of social web is another phenomenon. People have started sharing a part of their lives-likes and dislikes, vacations, their thought patterns etc, publicly. They have also started being producers of content in many cases- giving rise to the term Prosumers. This is an entirely new phenomenon.

Earlier the product life cycle was long, now the rapid pace of innovation makes a product obsolete the moment it is launched. Consumers can make or break a product (in some cases atleast), sitting on their chairs in their homes. 

The current times have given consumers voice- and they can use it to influence other potential consumers. The current technologies can allow an organisation to crowdsource an idea in return for certain rewards. They can ask other people to come up with potential solutions to the organisation's problem at a fraction of cost. Tata Docomo, a mobile operator in India, experimented with crowdsourcing the advertisements it ran on television. And it was quite successful in this effort. Government of India is pooling ideas in various fields-by asking citizens to come up with their solutions to the problems the government has identified. The scale has grown bigger, much bigger, than what was possible before.

NYSE generates about 1TB data everyday. Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, YouTube, Whatsapp, etc. generate tremendous amounts of data everyday. None of these was foreseen before. We cannot even put a limit to the amount of data that will be generated 2 years from now. It's in a flux. As more and more devices connect to the internet- they will generate more data.

One example of the rapid changes in the data realm can be had from Indian Railways- Earlier even knowing about the status of booking, or trains running status, or booking a ticket was a nightmare. Now one can do it with a few keyboard clicks. The running status of a train can be found out in minutes. We can look at historical data to find out the average running period of a train. One can book a lunch hundreds of km away even before boarding a train. And now the railways are running trains that have variable fare depending on the rush (No doubt airlines have been doing it for decades!). All this is made possible by today's technology. Yet Indian railways has just scratched the surface. Imagine if they could overlay social data on top of the data they already have. They could better anticipate the demands, make changes in addressing consumer grievances, and overall optimise their operational efficiency. They can turn profitable instead of making losses.

Now we are living in a world which is dynamic, and people are looking for quick solutions to their problems. Businesses will need to look out for accelerated response to the changing environment and consumer preference. The Bill Gates prediction of "Business@ Speed of Thought" will turn into reality soon enough. It is here that the Big Data holds tremendous potential.

Big Data revolution is win/win for both the businesses as well as consumer. It makes a two way communication possible between the stakeholders. It can make a business more ready for disruption, and anticipate the changes in consumer taste, and respond to that pre-emptively. The near real time nature of analytics that is possible by using Big Data is what makes it different than the earlier innovations/trends.

The Mobile Device

It's surprising to see the evolution of mobile phones and the corresponding usage pattern of users. Right when it was on the anvil who could have foreseen the force with which it would upend everything. The need for communication and comraderie was always present in human beings, but so was the need to put a name or face behind it. The world was small afterall, an oyster, for most of the normal human beings. But the pace of technological change and the advent of globalisation created a powerful new economy as well as age, that was to seriously challange the old way of life. Add the current social media into the mix and one has a fundamentally new way of life.

Right when Motorola came out with Iridium phones and had to bear the brunt, or when nokia came out with hugely successful models, to when the call rates dropped and brought a new means (always on, always connected) of communication to the masses, to the age of data services,  when data is becoming more important day by day; no one has been able to clearly predict the pace of happenings.

Feature phones have taken a back seat now, with new touch screen smartphones the new currency in the scheme of things. The new 24*7 culture has the perfect tool in telecommunications revolution. Add to it the GPS, by which you are never lost, and never out of place, and the online translation/discovery services, with seamless travel arrangements,  and suddenly the world seems a smaller place. So much information is at hand, that it requires an extraordinary mind to cull the right information in a timely fashion.

Who would have thought that large screen phones would come into being, that phablets and tablets would become a new screen, and the most important at that. That information would be the new currency. When ownership would be immaterial, timely usage would be what everyone would be paying for. Things would come in sachets. True you don't need a powerplant for enjoying electricity and the gift it brings, but the concept would boil over to other areas, atleast that has been a revelation.

What would the future of mobile devices be? Cloud is where a major part of our online lives are stored..How pervasive is it going to be? How would we interact with the future devices? Is there life after data?
Will the future be wearable devices? Or will we be with an implanted supercomputer in our brain, always online, always connected to the master supercomputer that is the internet now? A tantalising future indeed. How's it gonna be?

How to enable Windows Defender in Windows 8

Windows defender is an anti virus/spyware program that has been built into win8. However it is generally disabled as various other third party AV softwares are bundled along. For activating it one will have to uninstall the other AV s/w present. The steps for activating:

Method 1:

To make the “Windows defender Service” startup type to “Automatic”.

Follow these steps:
a. Press “Windows key + R” from keyboard.
b. Type “services.msc” without quotes in the “Run” Window and hit enter.
c. Search for “Windows Defender Service”.
d. Make “Startup Type” to “Automatic”.
e. Restart the computer and then check how it works.

Method 2:

Perform System File Check (SFC), and then check if this fixes the issue.

Follow the steps:
a. Press “Windows Key + Q” to open Charms Bar.
b. Type “cmd” without quotes in the search box.
c. On the left pane, right click on the “cmd” option and select “Run as Administrator”.
d. Type ‘sfc /scannow’ without quotes and hit enter.

However if methods 1 & 2 don't work then there is a simple fix:

You can enable Windows Defender simply by typing in the command line: sc start WinDefend Enable

Had to search for hours in order to get this fix. It should work.

[Source Internet discussion boards]

Next: what to do incase you forget your admin password for Win8

Two Years...

It's been two years since i wrote last. I guess i should have a lot more to write now for the two year sabbatical should do one good. Yet I find no ideas to write about- It's as if life has gone through a vacuum where the fate has just changed the dates with no change in the character. Haven't you gone through such feeling where time flies by but you have no major recollection, no memories? 

Life has been kind, with many happy moments inter-spread in between not so happy ones. The period has seen a change in my living city- I have moved from Mumbai to Delhi. Each city has its own unique soul, its own language, weather, people and ways. I had thought that Delhi would be easy after living in Mumbai... Yet it is a different experience. For one I am happy that I can manage to stay in an independent house with nice gated community (unlike a flat in Mumbai). And I am sad that I can't take the 24 hr electricity or life guaranteed ( NCR). 

I do hope that I get into groove and start writing again- for it is the only occasion when one gets to sit alone with himself and have internal dialogue. The rest of the time is spent chasing one thing or the other.

 

Believe in yourself

Believe in your heart that
something wonderful is about to happen.
Love your life.
Believe in your own powers,
and your own potential,
and in your own innate goodness.
Wake every morning
with the awe of just being alive.
Discover each day the magnificent,
awesome beauty in the world.
Explore and embrace life in yourself
and in everyone you see each day.
Reach within to find your own specialness.
Amaze yourself and rouse those around you
to the potential of each new day.
Don't be afraid to admit
that you are less than perfect;
this is the essence of your humanity.
Let those who love you help you.
Trust enough to be able to take.
Look with hope to the horizon of today,
for today is all we truly have.
Live this day well.
Let a little sun out as well as in.
Create your own rainbows.
Be open to all your possibilities;
all possibilities and Miracles.

The Song of the Free

The wounded snake its hood unfurls,
The flame stirred up doth blaze,
The desert air resounds the calls
Of heart-struck lion's rage.

The cloud puts forth it deluge strength
When lightning cleaves its breast,
When the soul is stirred to its in most depth
Great ones unfold their best.

Let eyes grow dim and heart grow faint,
And friendship fail and love betray,
Let Fate its hundred horrors send,
And clotted darkness block the way.

All nature wear one angry frown,
To crush you out - still know, my soul,
You are Divine.  March on and on,
Nor right nor left but to the goal.

Nor angel I, nor man, nor brute,
Nor body, mind, nor he nor she,
The books do stop in wonder mute
To tell my nature; I am He.

Before the sun, the moon, the earth,
Before the stars or comets free,
Before e'en time has had its birth,
I was, I am, and I will be.

The beauteous earth, the glorious sun,
The calm sweet moon, the spangled sky,
Causation's law do make them run;
They live in bonds, in bonds they die.

And mind its mantle dreamy net
Cast o'er them all and holds them fast.
In warp and woof of thought are set,
Earth, hells, and heavens, or worst or best.

Know these are but the outer crust -
All space and time, all effect, cause.
I am beyond all sense, all thoughts,
The witness of the universe.

Not two nor many, 'tis but one,
And thus in me all me's I have;
I cannot hate, I cannot shun
Myself from me, I can but love.

From dreams awake, from bonds be free,
Be not afraid.  This mystery,
My shadow, cannot frighten me,
Know once for all that I am He.

— Swami Vivekananda

This poem is an excerpt from a letter written by Swami Vivekananda from New York to Mary Hale on 15th February 1895.
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Volume 8, pg 162, An Interesting Correspondence.

The Debt Conundrum : Biggest Debtor Nations

"May you live in interesting times", as ancient chinese would often say to their enemies. The first decade of twenty first century would definitely give any other decade a run for it's money. We indeed are living in interesting times if the recent news events and financial debacles are anything to go by. The housing bubble of US disintegrated into a rotten corpse of financial greed and misdeeds and left a turmoil in its wake. Just as there was some semblance of calm returning another storm can be seen brewing on the horizon- the storm of sovereign debt. It started with Greece ( Spain, Hungry, Italy in line) and is in the process of undermining the very essence of European Union. A large number of EU banks are exposed to this debacle, and the fact that only Germany is currently in good position economically, obviously undermine the confidence in Euro. The sad fact is that even dollar is not doing too good. And UK is also caught up in it's own problem.

David Cameron, the British PM,  told an audience that the "overall scale of the problem is even worse than we thought" and that "The decisions we make will affect every single person in our country. And the effects of those decisions will stay with us for years, perhaps decades, to come,". Not a too optimistic outlook.  “[Y]ou can’t smell the sulfur in the air right now and not think we might be on the threshold of an age of rage,” observed British historian Simon Schama recently . The developed world is currently facing a “tinderbox moment,” he added further. Some European countries have seen the incidence of riots over the financial tightening approach adopted by the governments.  


Interesting times indeed! And to add to it the sinking of S Korean ship by DPRK, and an armed attack on relief flotilla by Israel. But I am wandering.... 


Here is the list of top 20 debtor countries. It is just compiled by me from the CNBC page (http://www.cnbc.com/id/30308959/The_World_s_Biggest_Debtor_Nations?slide=1)   :

20. US -  External debt (as % of GDP): 96.5%
Gross external debt: $13.77 trillion (2009 Q3)
2009 GDP (est): $14.26 trillion


19. Hungary - External debt (as % of GDP): 121.9%
Gross external debt: $225.56 billion (2009 Q2)
2009 GDP (est): $184.9 billion

18. Australia - External debt (as % of GDP): 124.3%
Gross external debt: $1.025 trillion (2009 Q2)
2009 GDP (est): $824.3 billion

17. Italy - External debt (as % of GDP): 147.4%
Gross external debt: $2.594 trillion (2009 Q3)
2009 GDP (est): $1.76 trillion

16. Greece - External debt (as % of GDP): 170.5%
Gross external debt: $581.68 billion
2009 GDP (est): $341 billion

15. Germany - External debt (as % of GDP): 182.5%
Gross external debt: $5.13 trillion
2009 GDP (est): $2.81 trillion

14. Spain - External debt (as % of GDP): 186.1%
Gross external debt: $2.55 trillion (2009 Q3)
2009 GDP (est): $1.37 trillion

13. Norway - External debt (as % of GDP): 202.6%
Gross external debt: $553.4 billion
2009 GDP (est): $273.1 billion

12. Finland - External debt (as % of GDP): 220.2%
Gross external debt: $402.24 billion
2009 GDP (est): $182.6 billion

11. Hong Kong - External debt (as % of GDP): 223.1%
Gross external debt: $672.9 billion
2009 GDP (est): $301.6 billion

10. Portugal - External debt (as % of GDP): 235.9%
Gross external debt: $548.45 billion
2009 GDP (est): $232.4 billion

9. France - External debt (as % of GDP): 248%
Gross external debt: $5.23 trillion (2009 Q3)
2009 GDP (est): $2.11 trillion

8. Austria - External debt (as % of GDP): 256.2%
Gross external debt: $827.9 billion
2009 GDP (est): $323.1 billion

7. Sweden -  External debt (as % of GDP): 264.3%
Gross external debt: $881.5 billion
2009 GDP (est): $333.5 billion

6. Denmark - External debt (as % of GDP): 316%
Gross external debt: $627.6 billion
2009 GDP (est): $198.6 billion

5. Belgium - External debt (as % of GDP): 328.7%
Gross external debt: $1.25 trillion
2009 GDP (est): $381 billion

4. Netherlands - External debt (as % of GDP): 376.6%
Gross external debt: $2.46 trillion (2009 Q3)
2009 GDP (est): $654.9 billion

3. Switzerland - External debt (as % of GDP): 382.2%
Gross external debt: $1.21 trillion (2009 Q3)
2009 GDP (est): $317 billion

2. United Kingdom - External debt (as % of GDP): 425.9%
Gross external debt: $9.15 trillion
2009 GDP (est): $2.15 trillion

1. Ireland - External debt (as % of GDP): 1,312%
Gross external debt: $2.32 trillion
2009 GDP (est): $176.9 billion

It's time for fiscal prudence by these countries. Any tightening in government spending would see a slower recovery. And no tightening would see debt's ballooning further which would undermine the countries means to raise resources. So in my view the global uncertainty isn't easing anytime sooner. Nor are the developed countries likely to recover from the slowdown anytime soon. It looks like the day for the developing countries to become growth engines of the world has arrived. It truly is a chaotic period to live in. But it is full of hope too - hope that the old corrupted financial systems would give way to new ones, hope that the world would become more equitable, hope that the chasms between have and have nots will fill some more...But till it comes to fruition  it is at best, well a hope.

Looking forward to the future...as and when it plays out!