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astropy@GSoC Blog Post #1

Hey there, How are you? Chances are that you are coming across me for the first time. Nice meeting you too! 😄 Since this is an introductory astropy@GSoC Blog Post, I would keep things brief.                        As you probably already know, my name is Suyog and I am a participant for Google Summer of Code (GSoC) 2021. Over the course of the next 10 weeks or so, I will be working on the Astropy project under the umbrella organisation OpenAstronomy. During this while, I aim to add a CDS format writer to the Astropy library with the help of my affable mentors Aarya and Moritz.    I had actually also applied for GSoC last summer, however I had failed to pass one of the eligibility criteria, and so wasn't selected. This astropy@GSoC project, therefore, is quite an awesome opportunity for me. I am looking forward to making the most of it and enjoying the time all the same. There are two preli...

Review: Homo Deus by Yunal Noah Harari

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari My rating: 5 of 5 stars It took me a long time to finish reading Homo Deus . And I think the long duration was well worth it. Homo Deus is not the ordinary everyday stale non-fiction that one comes across. It is a masterpiece in its own right. But for the Sapiens , I don't recall having read any other book that stimulated thinking to the degree Homo Deus does. The book starts off almost right away from where its predecessor, Sapiens , ended. A New Human Agenda , that of seeking eternal youth , bliss and divinity , is put forward for the 21st Century. Since the dawn of Humankind, the persistent goal of any population has been to have sufficient food to quench hunger, to have health measures to fight infections and diseases and to be at peace with neighbouring kingdoms. With the advent of the modern technology and the unprecedented progress it has made over the last few decades, the goals have changed now. Rest of the...

Review: The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo

The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo My rating: 5 of 5 stars Well, this is my first of both translated Japanese mysteries and in particular, Seishi Yokomizo-san. I was vaguely familiar with the author's name from it being mentioned in some Detective Conan episodes. What I didn't know was how famous this author is in Japan, which googling the book afterwards amply told me. The Honjin Murders is the first book in a series of 77 novels featuring the scruffy looking young detective Kosuke Kindaichi that Seishi-san wrote in his lifetime. Only two of the series have been translated to English till date. The story of The Honjin Murders starts with a cheery narrator, fascinated by a crime committed ten years ago in the remote village of Yamanaza, visiting the location in order to get the material for his book on the same. Soon the reader learns about the Ichiyanagi family, their honjin lineage, the events before the fateful night and the greasome crime. The bride and the groom ...

More reliance on technology means lesser human thinking ability!?

To a great extent I disagree with the statement that more reliance on technology will surely deteriorate human thinking ability. I find this idea to be faulty and based on some short term focus on human behavior. In my opinion the time period talked of is increased and a broader outlook is taken, technology will more probably become an integral part of our lives. In contrast to declining the human intellect, technological aides like hearing machines and seeing glasses will complement our abilities to interact with nature and greatly enhance our experiences.  Image © The New York Times Company Further, the statement appears dubious when one considers even our own present day experiences. For instance, the other day I saw a live telecast of the graduation ceremony of IIT Bombay on the internet. Owning to the COVID-19 condition, this year's batch had to rely upon tele-conferencing technologies ...

A new life

I saw a new life the other day Born under the pandemic sky A teeny-tiny brimming soul Oblivious to world raving high She smiled her jubilant ignorance Her feeble hands trying to grasp Those teeming eyes hardly open The world not yet in her clasp I wonder thus observing The spectacle of nature A gift of life put forth For us to honestly cater What world awaits her? Twenty years down the line This same judging jungle Or the utopia we all pine?

Why I write?

Initially I wanted to title this post,  On writing Diaries , however this thought-provoking question is far better. Although it may take me a long time to be an author per se, more or less, I have been a continuous writer since my seventh grade. What started with jotting down non-sense farce on daily routines during the middle school years, has now grown into some fierce rhetoric on vast ranging topics important to me in general. So, what is it about writing that I like so much? Unlike most of my friends, what has made me go on for so long now? Why do I write? And why do I plan to write more vigorously, more persuasively and more indiscriminately than ever in the coming future? Well, there isn't any plain simple answer to these. I write because I like to write. I write because it gives reality to all of these thoughts inside my head which couldn't find an route through the tongue. I write because it often makes me feel good. I write because I find this the best way to convey my...

On Women

So, on Women eh? Well, I would be frank with you reader, I like women in general. I like them a lot. They are incredibly courageous, brave, strong, intelligent, caring and wise, how can I not like them! This is speaking in general of course, there are certainly some people whom we would all better do without, but on the whole I find, all the women I have met, beautiful and awesome, both on their physical form and on the metaphysical one. How many a role a woman plays over the course of her life. For some they are a Sister, to some other they are a Mother, and yet to others they are a partner and a friend. And how efficiently they play out all the roles. Like some heavenly presence. All the while going through all that discrimination, mistreatment, disrespect, violence and what not that a woman has to go through almost everywhere. At most places in the world, even if it only a short walk to the nei...