The ending of Inception is one of the most famous and iconic scenes in movie history. The totem keeps spinning, leaving the viewer on the edge of an astonishingly dramatic precipice.

It was a good movie, but soon after, people slowly left the world of science fiction and dreams and   come back to reality. But the idea doesn’t go away. An idea, as Di Caprio claims, is the most resilient entity.

And the fact is, the more ridiculous and ambitious an idea is, the more resilient it is. Humans tend to remember unusual and out-of-place occurrences more so than routine ones. And what is more is crazier than alternate reality.

The concept of alternate reality has been the Klondike of science fiction thrillers. But is it basis enough to enter the realm of science fact? True enough, dreams are the only real events which can be labelled as parallel realities. But, maybe it’s shouldn’t be just a concept anymore.

In this day and age, where technology can seemingly solve almost all problems, the assumption that alternate reality can be a possibility shouldn’t be that far fetched.

Many major-league tech-companies like Google, Samsung, etc. are working hard to make alternate reality a reality. Of course what they’re working on is better termed as augmented reality that is, extending your reality by creating goggle-like virtual reality devices.

True alternate reality would mean that the subject would only be aware of that particular reality and not his actual world of physical existence – just like dreams.

The primary hurdle is data collection. If we want to create an alternate reality, it is not just about how it looks but also about how it feels to the subject. The alternate reality has to ‘behave’ just like his own reality does. Once that data is aggregated, the next challenge is to create complex and ‘intelligent’ systems that can process that data  into information that will be completely suitable to be the yarn to the fabric of an alternate reality.

The final step would be to create a delivery mechanism – a visual and cognitive system that feeds information to the neural input lines of our brain so that we feel like we are finally there.

The applications of a mouthwatering piece of technology like alternate reality are numerous. Imagine living the life you always wanted to live, or visiting places or doing things you could never do in real life. Creating simulations of real life would also be a viable method to do something economists and data analyzers are trying so hard to do – predict the future.

Of course, the concept has a long way to go realistically speaking, but fantasizing about such ideas and working towards them are the only way they’ll ever come true. Or maybe, they already have.

As the age group of the television audience ages the programmes tend to become more ‘real’ set in what is essentially the real world although still a fictional story. Is this the media’s way of trying to prepare us for life? For example programmes such as the queen’s nose and Bernard’s watch are set in the world of a real child, but they have a fantastical element to make the program interesting to watch. Watching a boy with a bog standard pocket watch walk around on a normal day isn’t exactly good entertainment. Magic and fantasy are intriguing. And the world of fantasy and imagination is a very real one. It is where our arts come from and I am completely fascinated by it. Books, films, dreams, theatre, music, poetry, art, gaming, all forms of creative expression in some way create their own little world. They are all little forms of escape you might say. This carries forward the idea that we seek comfort in imagination and imaginary things, just as it makes us comfortable and secure as children. As we progress into late childhood and our teen years we delve more and more into these arts. As we are encouraged to read and explore literature we delve more into the imaginations of others.

We are curious creatures and we don’t think that we will ever stop yearning to explore the realms of what our imaginations can achieve and sharing these wonderful thoughts and feelings with others. The world of the imaginary, like anything else in life can be abused, but the majority indulge in fantasy in a healthy way.

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Why do we tend to live in a misconception that our data is protected? Why do we tend to believe that sharing your phone numbers and e-Mails won’t affect much? Why is there a problem in using the Whatsapp messenger and Yahoo email IDs? It’s time to learn and avoid these mistakes  made each day.

1. What happens if your mobile number is public? Should one save forwarded media on messaging apps?

One can easily makes calls and send messages from your mobile numbers without you getting to know about it. It is advised not to save forwarded messages and videos as they could have encrypted code which one won’t be able to see and won’t even get to know about it, as it would silently send your cached email IDs and passwords to the one who encrypted the code in it. Therefore, do not save media received from your contacts.

2. Does anyone has a Yahoo Email ID? Kindly forward it to me.

Yahoo Email IDs have low security compared to Gmail, Outlook etc. Yahoo Email IDs can be hacked in less than 30mins using various softwares. Otherwise for all Email IDs, one can bomb your ID with so many mails that it takes forever to open, forcing you to close that Email ID. Therefore, think twice before sharing your Email ID.

3. Your WiFi password please?

WEP security(5 character passwords) for a WiFi can be found out in a matter of 10-15mins whereas WPA/PSK, WPA2/PSK level of WiFi passwords takes about 7-8 hours to be cracked. While cracking a WiFi’s password, the WiFi stops working; therefore it is advised that one should switch off their WiFi when it is not in use as the hacker would not be able to access the WiFi connection.

4. My pen drive is not working. Can i check it on your PC/laptop/mobile?

Some have created a “autorun.exe” file which copies and saves all your Email ID and password combinations which is saved by your browser to the pendrive in less than a minute. Therefore, while accessing sites like Facebook, Gmail etc. , do not click on the option ‘Remember password’.
Our data is not private and is present forever online. We have to be smart enough to choose which data needs to be sent and received. BE SAFE. BE PROTECTED.

Make yourself aware by learning the basics of cyber security.

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Smart phones play an important role in daily life, whether it is to check your heartbeat or to shop online. The term ‘m-Commerce’ was coined by Kevin Duffey in 1997. m-Commerce includes

• Mobile money transfer
• Mobile ATM
• Mobile ticket
• Mobile vouchers, coupons and loyalty cards
• Content purchase and delivery
• location-based services
• Information services
• Mobile banking
• Auction
• Mobile browsing
• Mobile purchase
• In-app mobile phone payments and
• Mobile marketing and advertising

The availability of Internet-accessible mobile phones is slowly creating a community of mobile commerce users. It is expected that this community might exceed the PC community. With technology such as WAP or 3G, it is believed that electronic commerce information and/or interactive content will be adapted to the mobile commerce environment.

While the majority of mobile commerce opportunities and purchases are business-to-consumer, the possibility of business-to-business still stands. It is predicted that business users and their requirements will be fulfilled by the 3G services. A report by Accenture in 2001 ‘Future of Wireless’, has suggested that most business activities are easily accommodated for m-commerce.

With the rapid spread of mobile commerce, mobile phone manufacturers such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and Motorola had began to develop WAP-enabled smart phones to exploit on the market potential. Interestingly, it was the introduction of Apple’s iPhone mobile commerce based systems like FanGo that the platform started to move into actual applications instead of SMS systems.

The key advantage of m-commerce services is the mobility of conveniences. Mobile commerce allows users the ability to execute transactions regardless of the location and time. With such uniqueness, mobile commerce has experienced relatively greater success in markets like Japan in regards to individual adoption rate. In comparison, this novelty technology has yet to achieve widespread popularity in other markets like USA, Australia and Singapore.

Mobile commerce actualize the possibility of accessing information at anywhere and anytime. It provides users the chance to access the Internet regardless of location (subject to the network coverage of mobile internet operators), the ability to identify a single mobile device’s location (Global Positioning System) and to retrieve and/or update information whenever needed. The features of mobile commerce can be categorized into the following:

Ubiquity: The most distinct advantage of mobile commerce is its ubiquity. With internet-enabled mobile devices, users can obtain any information required. Also, the emerging mobile commerce applications allow users to engage in activities such as instant messaging, linking to social networking websites, conducting financial transactions or looking up for weather news.

Dissemination: The wireless infrastructure that support instantaneous delivery of data to mobile devices allows an efficient distribution of information to a population.

Personalization: With the massive amount of information available on the Internet, it is important that the users receive is relevant. Mobile commerce companies can create applications that allow customizable information and services applicable to users.

Localization: Another significant feature will be the ability to identify user’s physical location with prompted the creation of location-based applications. The Sekai Camera created by Tonchidot is one example of how far such applications can go.

Myntra is the perfect example of an m-commerce company as the mobile is serving as a platform for its business.

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