I’m no bots, believe me!

RAMESH KUMAR

“Can you help me decipher this stupid word?” called out my spouse from the living room. For the past hour or so she has been busy logging into her mutual fund online accounts. A few days ago, both of us visited the offices of all asset management companies wherein we had bought units over the past several years for ‘rainy days’. Until now, we were receiving all communication from them regarding allotment of fresh units, dividend announcement and other statements through physical mail. Many times they were lost in transit and we had to mount a major battle to receive copies of the original. Now, we decided to go online and the unit selling companies have accepted our request and sent the “how-to-do” documents.

This is where the challenge arose. The “stupid words” – actually, they were a jumble of letters and numerals - my spouse hollering about was “captcha”. You know, “captcha”? Don’t know? Okay. Captcha is an acronym or short form for "Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart". Pretty long, I agree. That’s why they came out with a short form: Captcha. They are designed to prevent automated account registration, blog spam, log-in brute-force, password recovery etc. Simply to stop machines masquerading as human beings. That’s it. The obfuscated-text-in-an-image variety is the one most commonly used. There is an audio version as well for the visually impaired. Just about everyone who has gone on-line has seen one typed in one of these by now, even if they didn't know exactly what it was for.

How effective are these artificial intelligence tools in stemming bots’ intrusion where they are unwelcome? Jeremiah Grossman says, “Not all Captcha systems are created equally. Some are superior to others, but it’s difficult to tell exactly why.” According to him, captcha test should be administered where the human and the server are remote over the network. It should be simple for humans to pass wherein they should fail less than 0.1% on the first attempt.

Significantly, he adds that the test should be solvable by humans in less than a several seconds and be solvable by the human to which it was presented. The chance of bots guessing the right answer should be less than 1 in 1,000,000, even after 24-hours of analysis. Besides, knowledge of previous test questions, answers, results, or combination thereof should not impact the predictability of following tests. To cap it, Grossman emphasizes that test should not possess a geographic, cultural, or language bias. In spite of all these challenges, if bots were to outbeat, hats off to them!

Luis von Ahn, Manuel Blum, Nicholas Hopper and John Langford of Carnegie Mellon University who coined the term in 2000 might not have anticipated the popularity of this terminology. The need for captchas was felt following a 1999 online poll. The www.slashdot.org conducted an online poll asking surfers which was the best graduate school in computer science. Despite precautions taken to prevent multiple voting from single IP address, students of Masachussetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University managed to stuff vote boxes and manipulated results in their favour by a huge margin with the use of computer programming to generate multiple logins. Look at the results: MIT finished with 21,156 votes, Carnegie Mellon with 21,032 and every other school with less than 1,000. That was in the pre-captcha era.

Interestingly, captcha signifies a war between computers and human beings. The present day computing technology cannot solve captchas. It’s beyond their ken! Their inability to decode text or image confirms the superiority of human race and the advancement in artificial intelligence. On the other hand, if bots can solve captchas, then again it is a victory for mankind for making computers to think like them. It is a win-win situation, sort of. Or an “Aha-moment”. For whom: men or machine? Right now, men have an upper hand. Don’t know, how long.


This appeared in OMAN TRIBUNE, April 1, 2010

On old English trail

RAMESH KUMAR

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of present day English usage and longing for a change. That’s when my nephew – another book aficionado like me - dropped in with a copy of The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes, the old Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic and left the 1,000-page paperback for me to browse. Before he could ignite his car on the driveway, I was on a different journey. Needless to say, it was a pleasant one.

“Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore, it is upon the logic rather than upon the crime you should dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of lectures into a series of tales,” tells the ace detective to his inseparable friend, Watson in The Adventures of Copper Beeches. Very simple construction and interesting insight into the human psyche. Though the collection I am browsing through is written in late 19th century and early 20th century, I am still able to relate and rejoice. Simple pleasure of reading simple English. Not the convoluted versions.

I longingly look at my compact bookshelves: there is Homer’s The Iliad; also Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment; Ben Johnson’s Three Comedies; Ernst Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea; Irving Wallace’s The Sunday Gentleman; several others including the complete works of my all-time favourite Frederick Forsythe (1970s), John Grisham (1990s), Dan Brown (2000s) and of course John G Ballard’s science fiction and the one and only Arthur C Clarke.

“How old are you?” the old man asked the bird. “Is this your first trip?” The bird looked at him when he spoke. He was too tired even to examine the line and he teered on it as his delicate feet gripped it fast.” This is a small piece of text that had been underlined sometime in 1982 when I had read this book. For whatever, this text has appealed to me and hence the underscoring. I tried to recollect why I did what I had done, but I could not. Maybe the dialogue between the old man and the unspeakable bird appeared funny to me. Perhaps his genuine concern for the weary bird did appeal to me. Whatever, the fact of the matter is that I liked it.
Incidentally, when I re-read this passage, I tried to visualize the scene in my mindscreen and see the fat old man and the bird seated nearby. Writers those days made the reader to live in a dream world. A lot was left to the imagination of the reader. Yes, there were no distractions in the form of television sets, multiplexes or the all-intrusive smart phones. Want to fantasize? Grab a book and reach for a corner. That’s what my grandfather used to tell me.

Even today my skeptical daughter asks me sweetly: “Are you sure you read all these books in the bookshelf? The emphasis is on the word “all”. She simply could not digest the fact that someone can spare time to “read” such lengthy novels. For the Gen Y, even the mobile texts or Short Message Services (SMSes) are too long. Nonetheless she had presented a set of classics from Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy bought out of her pocket money when she was in high school a couple of years ago.

Then the trouble started. She began to pester me daily with the inevitable question of when I would finish her presents. I was compelled to push aside those compelling ones to accommodate her wishes. Except one. Johnson’s Three Comedies became untouchable. I simply could not gather courage or strength to go beyond the twentieth line of Act One. Why? “With adoration, thee, and every relic of sacred treasure in this blessed room. Well did wise poets by the glorious name title that age which they would have the best…” were the last Johnson lines I had read in my life. I was taught in school that he was the closest rival to Shakespeare. No way. The point is that there were dull writers even in those days.



This appeared in OMAN TRIBUNE, March 26, 2010

Banned, but booming!

RAMESH KUMAR

Strange, but true. Chinese authorities are in a quandary. While the Land of Dragon has gone multinational truly, the hunger for land to build 600 odd golf courses – most of them with 18 holes – is the bone of contention. The government banned the construction of golf courses six years ago and stopped issuing the mandatory permit. Still 400 plus new courses were thrown open or under construction. Golf courses are the rage to hawk million dollar residential palaces around the course to the growing expat population. Banned, but booming.

Comedian Robin Williams must be laughing at what is happening to golf in China of late. What has Robbie got to do with golf, you wonder? Recall his memorable dialogue in the 2002 “Live on Broadway” drama. Don’t? Here it is:

“I knock a ball in a gopher hole. Not with a straight stick, but with a little different shaped one. The ball goes in a gopher hole hundreds of yards away. There are obstacles in the way like trees and bushes and high grass. So you can lose the ball. Go whacking away with an iron. Each time you miss, you feel like you'll have a stroke. And you’re going to die. Right near the end, I'll put a little flat piece with a little flag to give you hope. But then I'll put a little pool and a sand box to deceive with your ball again. You don’t do this one time, but 18 times.” Audience roared in laughed day in and day out. Particularly at Robbie’s Chinese accented dialogue. More so for bashing up most-loved American sport viz., golf.

It is no secret that all land in China belongs to the government. The recent crackdown on Anji King Valley Country Club near Shanghai, readying for a Ladies European Tour event in October by the Beijing Golf Police – a crack team – has come as a surprise. Only in 1984, China lifted the ban on golf, because until it was considered as the “rich man’s game” which costs $160 per round on weekend for the million plus avid golfers in a nation of billion plus.

Government data claims that it has less than eight per cent of its arable land to feed one fifth of world’s population. Since 1996, it has lost close to 30,000 square miles of arable land to the feverish construction activity. Honestly, their data is sketchy because their estimate is based on satellite imagery. When the government declared that there were just 10 golf courses, actually there were 176 known courses on ground in finished or unfinished form.

The Anji facility will not be turned back into farmland again. Even the Beijing Golf Police’s demolition kept away from areas surrounding well maintained fairways. It is a popular golfing centre even among the bureaucrats. This should at least save this course from closure. The Handnice Group, owning Anji facility, have paid penalty to local government for illegal use of land in the recent past – twice at least.

Olympics 2016 will have golf as one of the disciplines. China has of late begun to host a lot of pro games and boasting that it wants to raise not one, but more Tiger Woods. These will be just empty words unless facilities on ground are there. Despite all this hullabaloo Hainan Club, nicknamed Project 791, may become the world’s largest golf course with 22 courses, occupying an area equivalent to one and half times the size of Manhattan. Come 2020, the golfing landscape in China may have altered dramatically. China would go whole hog to be the world leader at any cost. Don’t be surprised to see Chinese golfers among the top 10 over the next decade or so. Because everything is possible.



Appeared in OMAN TRIBUNE, March 19, 2010

At the Crossroads

The stars of Anwar Ibrahim, the former Deputy Premier of Malaysia and the leader of three-party conservative Islamic PAS party, are on the ascendancy. A decade after leaving the political stage, he is re-emerging as a strong political force to reckon with. Soon after winning the November election with spectacular results - one third of Parliament seats and five out of 13 states - thus paving way for his re-entry into active politics, the Opposition alliance has dealt a several blow to the ruling alliance led by United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) by winning a crucial by-election from the coastal seat of Kuala Terengganu this week.

The Terengganu defeat is a personal blow for Deputy Premier Najib Razak, who incidentally led the ruling alliance both in November general elections and the recent by-election. Come March, he would be elevated to the Premier's seat replacing Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as agreed upon by UMNO, which has been at the helm of affairs for over half a century. The 27-million Malaysia, populated with Muslims, Chinese and Indian minorities, is facing trouble on several fronts. Though UMNO has the backing of majority Malays, the party is losing grip on the natives on account of mismanagement. Simultaneously it has been gradually losing the support of the ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities through its pro-Malay policy orientation.

Astute and shrewd Ibrahim has, rightly, cashed in on the growing disenchantment of these groups and staging a cool comeback. Though the next general elections are not due before 2013, a regime change is a possibility if Ibrahim could convince 30 odd law-makers to defect to his rainbow coalition that could disturb the political equilibrium in the 222-seat Parliament. The Opposition is wooing the ethnic minorities with the promise of removing the 38-year old policy which stipulates that non-Malays have to pay more for homes and enjoy access to jobs and contracts only after Malays' allocation has been fully met. Ibrahim is not to be taken lightly if the poll performance is any indication. Notwithstanding the fact that he could not realize the dream of toppling the government before September last year, the former powerhorse has not abandoned his main objective: get back to power. Surprisingly, the electorate has ignored the apprehensions that his alliance is not a workable proposition and voted for his alliance. This definitely is a big boost for Ibrahim.

Opinion is divided as to how seriously the Kuala Terengganu poll verdict would affect Najib's future. Until now, he remains unopposed for the Premier's post. But anything can happen between now and the D-day. UMNO, or for that matter Najib, has to focus on addressing a few key issues on a war footing: regain the confidence of the majority Malays through the promise of good governance and simultaneously win over the ethnic minorities that UMNO is an inclusive party which will work for the best interests all people irrespective of their caste, creed and religion. Indeed, it will be tough call, but a party that has been in power for more than half a century knows the power dynamics. The Kuala Terengganu verdict should serve as a warning bell for the ruling elite. Those who ignore people's wishes in a democratic set up have a heavy price to pay. Is Najib ready to sit in the Opposition for the first time in the Malaysian Parliament and create history of different sorts? We don't think so.

THIS EDITORIAL appeared in OMAN TRIBUNE, 20 January 2009

Pyongyang Mystery

WHO will succeed the ailing North Korean leader Kim Jong II has gained currency of late. Speculation is rife that Jong II, last seen on January 16 this year in an undated news agency photo wearing glasses while on a visit to a silk factory in Pyongyang, has named the youngest of his three sons – Kim Jong Un – to succeed him. Un is the son born through the ailing North Korea supreme leader's late wife Ko Yong Hi and educated in Switzerland. Pyongyang watchers greenlight Un's nomination – unofficial though to the outside world thus far – on the grounds that he is of leadership material and a "desire to grab power".

Reports emanating from Tokyo, Washington and everywhere else – except Pyongyang – indicate uncertainty over the ruler's successor. The name of Kim's eldest son Kim Jong Nam is also doing the rounds as a possible nominal head of state. What triggered his preference for the youngest, twentyish Un over the 38-year old Nam is the latter's act of bravado by entering Japan on a fake passport in 2001 and responding with a bland and incredible explanation that he was on a visit to Tokyo Disneyland. For quite a long time, Nam was considered to be the favourite of the incumbent though. Kim Jong Chol, the middle son, is already out of the reckoning. Interesting rationale, no doubt. However, anything is possible in an opaque society such as North Korea's.

Pyongyang's disinclination to officially confirm that a succession plan is in place is to obfuscate that Kim Jong II is not seriously ill and create an impression that he is still in control of the country on a daily basis. The world refuses to believe the undated photographs released by the North Korean news agencies because of the secrecy surrounding the staunchest rival of the United States in the Far East region; the lack of access to the outside media freely to report from the North Korean soil adds to the incredulity theory.

All said and done, North Korean economy is not in a good shape. There are several crises looming large on the horizon, including an acute food shortage. Primarily, it is still locked in a global standoff over its nuclear programme. Realizing its inability to tame the boiler-suited North Koeran ruler on its own, the US quietly accepted the six-party talks involving China, South Korea, Japan and Russia to put an end to Pyongyang's nuclear build-up capabilities. While the world's super power has dropped North Korea's name from the list of terror-sponsoring countries in a placatory attempt, Kong Jong II torpedoed the talks by claiming that his verbal commitments on verification of its nuclear programme by outside parties are just that – verbal. Nothing more, nothing less. Indeed, a smart diplomatic manoeuvre on the part of the supposedly ailing Machiavellian from Pyongyang.

Under the new Barrack Obama dispensation, the Washington-Pyongyang relations are unlikely to change drastically. The new Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton has vowed to pursue the present incumbent Condelleeza Rice's six-party formula. This is where Kim Jong's successor plans come into the picture. Who is the ruler counts a great deal in sensing the direction in which the relations would be moving in the days to come and chalk out a suitable strategy. To whom Kim Jong II will bequeath his legacy – Un or Nam - is still anybody's guess.

THIS EDITORIAL appeared in OMAN TRIBUNE, 17 January 2009

Play fair, Mr Putin!

ENERGY is the lifeline for nations. Hence the current imbroglio over the disruption of Russian gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine over the past two weeks is a serious issue – particularly at a time when the entire Europe is in the midst of severe winter. Russia, one of the world’s largest gas producer, and Ukraine – an erstwhile satellite state of the now-dissolved USSR – are at loggerheads over payment and alleged gas siphoning off by Ukraine through whose territory the gigantic gas pipeline network runs. Europe’s dismay over its citizens and industry being put to unwarranted hardships for no fault of theirs is eminently understandable in view of the fact that they have already coughed up the requisite money towards gas.

Two weeks is too long a period to find a solution to this stalemate. The European Union imports a fifth of its gas from Russia via Ukraine and it is a genuine attempt on its part to wholeheartedly go in for environmental-friendly gas fuel route and thus assist climate control initiatives. But no country would like to be held hostage over energy supply by outsiders because such a step is counterproductive for suppliers as well as consumers. Besides the vicarious or sadistic pleasure of making others suffer, Russia has nothing to gain. On the contrary, its reputation as a reliable gas supplier would suffer which in the long run would affect its business. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s remarks in Berlin this week that the non-cooperation on the part of both Russia and Ukraine to find an amicable truce over the gas dispute would ultimately lead to a loss of credibility in Russia as a reliable business partner.

The EU-brokered peace plan between the disputing parties has not yielded the desired results so far. Eighteen countries in the EU conglomerate are losing out with factory closure due to lack of gas supply and probable social unrest owing to lack of communal heating. Russia’s belligerence to cow down Ukraine for whatever reasons is a different issue altogether. The call to allow gas to flow to Europe while they settle their payment dispute has fallen on deaf eyes.

Therefore, Russian President Vladimir Putin accusing Ukraine of taking Europe “hostage” sounds hollow. He cannot complain if German Chancellor were to speak up her mind during her meeting with him this week in Berlin. Meanwhile, the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev proposal for a summit on the gas crisis in Moscow has not gone down well with the EU leaders. Why Moscow and why not some place in Europe? is doing the rounds now. The location of the summit, if it is to be held, should not become a bugbear. Wherever they meet, the outcome is of paramount importance.

How far the fear in European capitals that Russia is trying to divide the EU bloc using the proposed summit is valid, nobody knows. But one thing is clear: Russia is testing everyone’s patience and such needling would not be in its own interest in the long run. The Russian suggestion for the takeover of Ukrainian pipeline network by international partners for smooth operations may not go down well with Ukraine. Resume gas supply to Europe without any further delay and sit across the table with Ukraine to sort out differences. This is the only solution that will satisfy all parties. Don’t prevaricate. Play fair, Mr Putin!

THIS EDITORIAL appeared in OMAN TRIBUNE, 16 January 2009