Cricket and the Internet

This year, the web site Cricinfo, the essential online repository of everything cricket, turns 20 years old.

In 1993, the Internet was mostly academia plus a few companies. The web had barely begun and, Mosaic and Netscape were early version browsers. Those of us in the non-cricket playing countries like the US had to rely on other people sending match scores in email, or listen to the BBC on short-wave radio (yes, I still have my Sony short-wave radio in a box somewhere).

Back in the mid/late 80s, when I was an undergrad at USC with no one else around to talk cricket with, I used to go to the Periodicals section of the library just to get the London times, all of about 5-6 months old, just to read about the Test matches that had been done and dusted long ago.

Later, there were the Usenet newsgroups rec.sports.cricket and soc.culture.india where we could find more recent scores.

When Cricinfo site started doing ball-by-ball real-time commentaries, that was phenomenal. Even though I hadn't watched a cricket match in years, I used to follow the commentaries online as much as possible. Sri Lanka being barely out of the status of minnows, I didn't think my team was going to do anything much in the 1996 World Cup. Read this article about how Cricinfo volunteers scrambled around to set up the early equivalents of twitter, live blogging and online-chat in this new thing called on-line ball-by-ball commentaries. You can gloss over the cricket part but I'm sure the early Internet pioneering work, written up as a first person account, will be quite interesting.

Of course, when Sri Lankan team go into the World Cup final, we (the grad/undergrad Sri Lankan student community spread across US and Canada) tried to figure out (a) any place where there was a satellite feed of the final, (b) barring that, how to get the most up-to-date scores to those who were stuck with web browsers at dial-up speeds. We asked the Cricinfo folks if we could snarf the scorecards from their site and repost them on our various web pages. They were quite happy to share, specially since they didn't know if their servers (in various universities in the US and UK) could handle the expected load.

If I remember correctly, Sri Lanka still didn't have an Internet connection back then. What we (again, the academic community in the West) had done was to link SL universities with e-mail. We had machine at Stanford (walawe.stanford.edu) that would accept all e-mail for .lk domain. One of the grad students there would make an international phone call to University of Sri Lanka, Moratuwa campus every night and download the outgoing e-mail, and pick up any waiting e-mail from that side. Yeah, e-mail really was store and forward ... and it took about two days to get any response back from someone.

So, we used walawe.stanford.edu as the hub that snarfed the cricinfo site for new scores and then we'd send them out to our own pages.  I still have those scripts:

-rw-r--r-- 1 pkd pkd  747 Mar 16  1996 header
-rw-r--r-- 1 pkd pkd  521 Mar 16  1996 header.noscores
-rw-r--r-- 1 pkd pkd  615 Mar 16  1996 header.last
-rw-r--r-- 1 pkd pkd  309 Mar 16  1996 tail
-rw-r--r-- 1 pkd pkd  680 Mar 16  1996 README
-rwxr-xr-x 1 pkd pkd 2604 Mar 16  1996 getscores*
-rw-r--r-- 1 pkd pkd    0 Mar 16  1996 getscores.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 pkd pkd  152 Mar 16  1996 scores.new

% cat tail

The information here is brought to you courtesy of
the good folks at &ltA HREF="http://www.cse.oga.edu/cricinfo/" &gt CricInfo &lt/A&gt
This service brought to you by the good folks from  SLNet and LAcNet


% head getscores
#!/usr/local/bin/perl -s
#
# script to download the most current scores from the server on walawe

require 'sys/socket.ph';

$port = 9889 unless $port;
$host = "walawe.stanford.edu" unless $host;
$delay = 60 unless $delay;


I had setup this script on my pkd@isr account and parippu@wam account.

And, the best part ... against all odds, Sri Lanka won the World Cup in 1996.   

(That's more than I can say about our current team that has been second best in the last two World Cups and the last two T20 World Cups. {sigh})

Time

imagine a backyard full of junk

a forrest a tornado has passed through

a front yard overgrown with weeds

a teenager's room with strewn books and cloths

now take a mighty long string

drop it all over the debris here and there

anyway you like it, you string it up

you string it down and over

each point of that string

has a tension this way and that

each point is tied

to the previous point and the next

now imagine time is like that string

each moment depends on two points

the previous and the next

the present hangs on the future and the past

we think that we have freewill

but we act upon the past events

we anticipate the future outcomes

we tie the past and the future with the present

the freewill is overrated

the past is done and over with

the future is determined

by t, t plus one and t minus one

You can move that t

anywhere along the timeline

from here to eternity

or to the beginning of time

the future is like the front yard

overgrown with weed

or, the backyard

full of junk

Life and Death

Dr. Jack Kevorkian's death on Friday, June 3rd was reported by NPR as: "Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the assisted suicide advocate, died Friday at 83. Supporters say he was a compassionate caregiver who paid a steep price for helping chronically and terminally ill patients end their suffering. Critics, however, say Kevorkian's zealotry clouded his ability to behave like a responsible physician." more.

I must admit that I didn't pay as much attention to Dr. Kevorkian's activism as I should have back then. During the 90's when he was in the news for actively seeking publicity, and more importantly forcing the society to have a frank conversation about end of life situations (he failed in that respect, IMHO), I was young and foolish so I thought why would you want this Dr. Death's assistance to kill yourself. I also took it for granted that if you wanted to take your own life, there aren't any barriers the society can put in front of you. I guess, I didn't realize that when you do want to take your own life for medical reasons, it is too late to make any provisions to do so due to the same medical reasons.

In this report on NBC Nightly News Dr. Nancy Snyderman quite eloquently places the Kevorkian conundrum in front of the viewers. Kevorkian's antics made it a bit too much to take the message seriously. At the same time, had he not done all he could to bring it in front of the TV cameras, we wouldn't have had any conversations about it. (And, if I remember correctly, a couple of states now have laws on books allowing for assisted suicides, due in part to his early efforts to get people talking about it.) Then again, I think, we haven not had this conversation as a society and that's why some political hack can slap the "death panels" label on anything and scare the hell out of half the population. As Dr. Snyderman said, we care for our suffering pets better than we do for our fellow humans. That's a sad state of affairs.

That's brings up several questions. First, let's say you are suffering from a terminal illness and you have decided to call it a day. Unfortunately, you live in a state where it is difficult to find a physician who is willing to assist you. There really isn't a whole lot you can do. Other than going via methods with spectacularly messy outcomes, you can't purchase the required, ahem, ingredients for the drug cocktail that will bring about the end. For a country that prides itself in having best individual rights and focuses a bit too much on "me, myself and I," this important right seems to have fallen by the way side.

That brings to my second question. Who decides what is meant by "suffering"? And, does it have to be a medically diagnosed, terminal condition before we can seek "assistance"? Says who? Don't we generally take the individual rights over and above that of the society (when they don't clash)? If I'm not infringing the right of the others to pursue their right to life, liberty, etc the shouldn't I be free to seek assisted suicide regardless of the medical condition? Is mental agony a sufficient condition? What if your current life situations don't give you any other options; is that sufficient? What if you are just tired of it all?

Like Dr. Kevorkian has said, this is about the necessity of physician's ability to assist.

Help! I'm trapped in the Matrix

I've been listening to the RadioLab podcast The (Multi) Universe(s) over and over again on my mp3 player. In it, Brian Greene, professor of Physics and Mathematics at the Columbia University, talks about what math and physics tell us about universes.

These are the key items I picked up from his talk: (a) given there is a finite set of particles in our universe and provided that the universe is infinite (really infinite, ie: there's no limit to our universe), then the particular arrangement of particles that make up our little area of the universe must be repeated (simply a probabilistic argument) again and again, rarely, yet many times. That means, there's, at least, another one of my typing this same blog somewhere else, and there's another one of you reading this same blog. And we are not so unique as we think we are. (b) Einstein's theory of relativity accounts for repulsive gravity and where that changes to zero is where energy turns into particles and so various universes pop up. That means, in theory, there are an infinite number of universes, inside each of which, the previous (a) is also true. (c) Then there is this whole Matrix thing. That means, given the above two sets of infinite possibilities, there could be a sufficiently advanced civilization where they are able to simulate an entire universe, or at the very least, an entire world. Okay, it is quite rate in a random area of a random universe for a life form to evolve into a civilization like ours. But if a technologically advanced civilization were to figure out how to simulate an entire universe, then it is quite possible that they could roll out a great multitude of such simulations. So, the probability is in the favor of us being a Matrix-like simulation than a real one.

So, in the words of Robert Krulwich, we could be the 5th grade science project of some kid in planet Zantar. Actually, I think it is a little bit more subtle than that. The 5th grader's project is probably something like Mars or Mercury. The middle schoolers probably have done the gas giants as a class project. That explains the many moons of Jupiter. Some exceptionally bright kid in 7th grade probably did the rings for Saturn. Making the water planet and placing it in the habitable zone for the possibility of life is probably a high-school level project. Setting the course for the evolution, that's gotta be the undergrads of Zantar. And, the human civilization, their idiosyncrasies and its impact on the planet ... that's gotta be a PhD thesis project.

I don't know about you, but I've had many moments in my life when things have happened quite unexpectedly. Then there have been other moments where at the time seemed quite insignificant but later turned out to be pivotal. And, some of both types have been crucial events to make drastic changes in my life. Looking back, I know, that had I picked a different choice at each of those moments, the life would have gone on a different direction. So, that means, the Zandar kids aren't just initiating the simulation and doing a "set it and forget it" thing. I think, they are poking things here and there and changing the parameters in the simulation at various times to see what happens as a consequence. It is sort of like me not being in control or not having the free will (of which I've written previously under this blog, and Brian Greene in this podcast also says as an illusion.)

So, I want the red pill. I want to see how far down this rabbit hole goes. I want to see the PIC (People in Charge).

Fate

There is a 1974 documentary about the Vietnam war, called Hearts and Minds. This is a must see movie, specially in today's circumstances under which the so called "war on terror" is being waged. At one point during the movie, it is revealed (at least it was a revelation to me) that Ho Chi Ming actually wrote quite a few letters to the then US President Harry Truman asking for the US' support in Vietnam's struggle to gain independence from the colonial French rule. It is quite ironic that while Ho Chi Ming quoted the US Declaration of Independence in referencing his own people's rights, the United States decided to stick with its friend in Europe, the colonial France.

What would have happened had the US decided to support the freedom seeking Vietnam? Is that a fair question to ask? I mean, after all, that decision by the US had enormous implications to the US and the whole world. Are we just engaging in mindless fantasy by asking such hypothetical questions? Actually, various Multi-Universe (Multiverse) theories implicate that all possible outcomes of any given event have happened. That means, there's another universe where this whole Vietnam war never happened. Imagine what it all means for the past 50+ years of the US history. Imagine what the implications of not having had that disastrous war on the subsequent US foreign policy! ... And, the implications of those decisions!!

Why stop there ... take all the important events in the history ... the various events that led to the WWI, the WWII, etc. But, why stop at thinking about just wars? What about the major discoveries, inventions, creations, writings, paintings .... There's a universe somewhere with any number of these things missing. That means, there's at least one universe where all the outcomes have come out the way I would have wanted. That would be slightly different from yet another universe where all the outcomes have come out the way you would have wanted. And, so on.

Now, let's bring that same thought process to present day. Are the outcomes in this universe similarly decided ... even for the future? Is that what they mean when they say, we can't change our fate? So, that means, no matter how hard we try, we can't change the quantum physics? If we wanted a different outcome for any given event, that would happen, just not in this universe?

{sigh}

Memories

People often say that memories are forever. Are they, really? As time goes on, we seem to struggle to remember things we want to remember, have a hard time forgetting things we don't want to remember, lose the details of what we do remember, and so on. And, forever is a long time. I don't think any of our memories will has that long.

This story about Memory and Forgetting from the WNYC's RadioLab argues that we keep making new memories whenever we remember a past event. In that story, the most interesting part is that they have figured out how to erase a particular memory. When I first saw the movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" I thought it was just crazy-talk. But then, this RadioLab podcast made me rent that movie again. Knowing that erasing memories, at least in theory in mice, is possible gave a whole new perspective to the movie. Knowing that it is possible to selectively erase memories, you wonder if there's something you'd want to erase ... and, if there are other people who'd want to erase any and all memories of you! Interesting thought experiments, those two are.

Apparently, it is also quite easy to make yourself remember things the way you want to remember. Hmm ... makes you wonder if all the things you remember are real or made-up. I guess, this is why they say that "Nostalgia isn't what it used to be." Yeah, yeah, that's the title of a book by some old-time Frensh actress (or something like that) but I remember that quote from the 80's futuristic TV show Max Headroom which was way ahead of its time. It had a great plot-line and tackled issues ahead of its time and had Amanda Pays with that great English accent. Hmm... memories. At least, that's how I remember it.

But, I'm sure when I watch the DVD releases, I'll be disappointed thinking that the show isn't half as good as I remember it. That's always how it is. Whenever I go back to Los Angeles, I always tell myself that I remember LA as a much better place back in the 80s. Proving, I guess, that you remember things the way you want to remember. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

Hospice Care

The longest day of this year, the Summer Solstice, was on the June 21st. That was also the day my mother passed away. No, it wasn't unexpected. She'd been sick and wheelchair-bound for over a year. She expected it; she knew what was coming and we knew it too. But still, when the death of a loved one happens, it is a sad event.

This blog entry isn't about my feelings. That's private and I'll keep it that way. Mostly. But, while she was alive, she went through a lot of doctors' offices and hospital doors. I want to write a little note about the trials and tribulations of how they dispense health-care in this country.

About three years ago, she had a fall. Since she complained about a pain in the hip, they took her to the emergency room. She walked to the ambulance. But when she got to the hospital, they kept her entirely in bed; thereafter, she was afraid to walk, thinking that she might fall again. Rather than treating the whole patient, they just gave various medications for different symptoms. There's no one person taking charge of the patient and looking at the whole picture. When we wanted to move her from the ER to a nursing home type of hospital for her to get better before going home, the discharge nurse was more interested in just filling out the paperwork (ie: how many steps in her house's front entrance, can she wear something by herself, etc ... check-boxes on the form) than to make sure her care-givers (us) got any meaningful medical advise. She was getting quite a lot of pills. Some of those had pretty nasty side effects like hallucinations. But, none of the nurses or doctors told us any of that. So, we were left trying to figure out what's going on with her head. My sisters had to camp out at her bedside in order to catch a few minutes with an attending physician in order to find out "what do the doctors think of her situation." I guess, the doctors are being pushed to provide medical care in an assembly-line fashion, they don't have much time to just talk to the patient or the patient's relatives. They don't seem to understand that talking is as much of the medical-care process as prescribing medicines. Even at the nursing home, the doctor who did the rounds was doing that as a side job (after he's done with his normal practice elsewhere in town). So, that meant he came around and spent two minutes in the room at either in the middle of the night or really early in the morning. The moral of the story is that if you are being treated at a hospital, ask questions, more questions and even more questions. You have to be your own advocate and tell them to treat you as a whole and not just treat individual symptoms in order to get you out the door. Their primary focus is to get you out as soon as possible. Curing you, unfortunately, seems to be a distant second goal.

It turned out, we later learned, that she had had a series of minor strokes that left her weak in various motor functions. And, eventually, her neck muscles stopped working and so she couldn't eat or drink, forcing her back to the ER one more time (three years later). At the ER, when it became apparent that this is the end, my father gave the directive not to artificially extend her life by hooking her up to various machines. While I understand that that was the right decision, I'm glad I or my siblings didn't have to make that call. Even after that decision had been taken, and even after the doctors had assured us that that was the correct thing to do, it was extremely difficult to sit there and not do anything. You tend to double guess yourself and ask if you are doing the right thing. This is why knowing, ahead of time, what the patient wants done at such a situation is very important.

This New Yorker article about Letting Go spells out the need to have this conversation about end of life care. And, why that conversation must take place at a time when all involved are capable of talking about it.

I'm glad I was there before she passed on. I think, she recognized me several times. At least, I'd like to think that she did.