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So, what really is the Internet? Huh?

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  Like billions of people around the world, I have been working from home for the past year and a half, unable to go to work because of the pandemic-wrought citywide restrictions. While the pandemic itself has been scary, working from home has been a pleasant experience. No commute, no need to wake up too early, being able to have a relaxed morning coffee, and other such conveniences. One of the best perks has been working at my desk surrounded by my three dogs. A neighbor’s kid, no more than 8–9, sees me standing outside my house in the morning, having a relaxed after-breakfast smoke. He is also stuck at home as schools are shut. Yesterday, he finally got curious enough to ask me why I wasn’t going to work. I didn’t go to school, I went to work, so surely I didn’t have a time-off. I explained to him that I wasn’t going to work because of the same reason he wasn’t going to school — the pandemic and the restrictions. He then asked me if I wasn’t working, was I getting pa
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Return to innocence

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  The fundamental and general nature of knowledge and knowing is ‘abstract’. And that’s the beauty of it, isn’t it? When we know for a reason, we are policy-makers, politicians, businessmen, or activists. But it’s fun to know just to know. There isn’t a specific reason to know the poetry of Ghalib or Goethe. Yet we know it. Intellectualism is a very real pursuit unto itself. Now, high technology, on the other hand, is making everything concrete, tangible, explicit, and crystallized. Personally, too much technology has started putting me off. I think it’s dumbing us down. Return to a world of imagination, ideas, and intellectualism. Put your phone down and read more, write more. Appreciate art, music, and culture. Do it not for a reason, do it because it’s human nature to love the abstract.
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The truly Wild Wild Web 3.0

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  Remember the thrill of discovering Web 2.0 — basically platforms that facilitated content, communication, and communities? So you had Blogspot, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google — and others such that allowed you to connect with literally the whole world. Web 2.0 democratized content creation and communication and has enjoyed a solid run of nearly 20 years. But now there are concerns around free speech! These platforms are now hyper-careful about what people publish and censorship is not a new thing. Enter Web 3.0 — the truly wild, wild web. Web 3.0 is based on blockchain technology. Blockchain, in essence, is a decentralized and distributed database that can store any data of value. In this case, it can store your web pages, your profile, and a link to pay you in cryptocurrency (the digital currency based on Blockchain). The decentralized thing is key. No one hosts your content — you host it yourself with a private key on something called the I
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I am too old to hustle in the bustle

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India is the world's fastest-growing major economy. The growth comes primarily from manufacturing and agriculture - which simply means people are buying more stuff and eating more stuff. 20- and 30- somethings, armed with higher disposable incomes, are upgrading their cars, buying fancy gadgets, dressing per latest fashions, sending their kids to expensive private schools, eating out more, and by and large, upgrading their quality of life. Dreams are being lived! Me? I am 42 and I am positively too lazy for this dreams sh*t. Or maybe I've been there and done that. Hey, I am okay. I drive a Honda, I use a Samsung phone, and I wear comfortable stuff from a handful of brands. I simply do not hanker for more. I do not care that I cannot afford a Rolex. I am happy with my Casio chronographs. Even if I did have enough money to throw away on a Rolex, I would probably just put it away in a bank deposit. Honest! The hustle and the bustle seem surreal to me - as I see people rus
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