pedang_kontot's Xanga

Titik Tumpu Teknologi = Technological Singularity.. Syurga atau Neraka?

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:12:00 GMT

Assalamualaikum everyone..
Yeah, I know.. I really should spend more time updating this blog. I really should show more discipline in this case.. I've got a lot to say, and I know people read this blog of mine.. if only to keep track of my sanity, or if I'm still alive or not!
The less said about work the better.. it's not really anything in particular that gets me pissed off enough to put holes in the wall. Fact is, when I leave the place there'll be things I'll miss.. like working 5 days a week like most everyone else.. or the good pay.. or the fact that despite all the pressure to keep my research while on call to a minimum, I'm learning about windows and office at a rate.. close to what you'd feel if someone taped a hose to your mouth and turned the cold-water tap to "burst your stomach".
Updates on my life so far? No breaking news on our end here.. though the economic crisis, the Perak crisis and Earth's million and other crises does have me worried.

Dengan Nama Allah Yang Maha Pemurah Lagi Maha Mengasihani.

Setakat ini, dari apa yang saya dapat simpulkan dari pemahaman saya mengenai transhumanism dan titik tumpu teknologi (technological singularity), masa depan umat manusia masih lagi tidak dapat diramalkan dengan sepenuhnya.. Sebahagian dari sebab kenapa ini berlaku ialah kerana ahli-ahli fikir transhumanists lebih cenderung berfikir mengenai titik tumpu teknologi dan era selepasnya (post-singularity) dari segi teknikal, tanpa memikirkan semasak-masaknya implikasi penyalahgunaan teknologi terbabit terhadap umat manusia.. dan ingat, kita sekarang berada pasa suatu titik dalam sejarah manusia di mana bahan ciptaan kita sendiri akan mempunyai keupayaan untuk menentukan bagaimana dan sejauh mana mereka sendiri akan diperguna! Konsep ini, yang dikenali sebagai artificial self-determination, merupakan salah satu faktor penentu bagaimana umat manusia akan mengalami zaman yang akan mendatang.

Satu contoh di mana konsep ini akan kita lihat diguna-pakai ialah apabila helper robots (robot pembantu peribadi) akan diguna secara menyeluruh di kalangan masyarakat umum. Konsep robot pembantu peribadi ini, yang mulanya diutarakan oleh mendiang Isaac Asimov dalam rangkaian cerita sains fiksyennya yang terkenal, sekarang dapat dilihat dalam konsep robot ASIMO rekaan syarikat Honda, dan juga dalam filem seperti A.I dan I, Robot. Teknologi robotik pada ketika ini hanya mampu menghasilkan robot yang hanya berfungsi secara terhad (limited-function robotics) tetapi dengan perkembangan dalam bidang2 yang tidak berkaitan seperti sains neurologi, bioteknologi, sains kepintaran tiruan (artificial intelligence sciences), sains mecha-tronics dan sebagainya.. kita cuma menunggu masa sahaja sebelum konsep robot pembantu peribadi dengan kepintaran tiruan setara manusia (artificially intelligent helper robots) akan menjadi kenyataan.

Persoalannya : pada ketika teknologi tersebut akan mula diguna-pakai secara menyeluruh..

1) Apakah sistem kawalan yang perlu kita sebagai umat manusia adakan untuk mengawal penggunaan teknologi tersebut agar kes salahguna (contohnya menggunakan robot sebagai mesin pembunuh yang tak kenal penat, lelah atau cedera, seperti dalam filem Terminator?) dapat dikawal ke tahap minima?
2) Adakah golongan robot2 sepintar manusia akan mempunyai hak asasi menyerupai manusia, atau akan hanya menjadi hamba-abdi murahan abadi (eternal loving slave machines seperti dalam filem Wall.E)? Melalui pengalaman peribadi saya, mungkin ada senario ketiga yang akan berlaku di mana robot akan mempunyai lebih hak dari manusia, sebagaimana yang kita boleh lihat dalam undang2 SPCA Amerika Syarikat yang boleh memberi hukuman lebih berat terhadap seseorang kerana menzalimi binatang, berbanding hukuman menzalimi seseorang yang lain!
3) Bagaimanakah sistem kawalan tersebut, atau dalam erti kata lain undang2 perhubungan manusia-robot, akan dikuatkuasakan? Terutama dalam kes di mana robot2 berkaitan jauh lebih pintar, pantas dan berkuasa berbanding manusia?

Tapi tunggu.. ini hanya merupakan sebahagian kecil persoalan berkaitan hanya satu aspek teknologi transhumanism seperti yang diguna-pakai dalam satu senario dalam dunia post-singularity yang akan datang, di mana umat manusia masih lagi menjadi mahkluk Allah paling berkuasa di bumi ini!! Adakah umat manusia akan boleh elak kepupusan jika senario masa hadapan kita melibatkan perkembangan dan kelahiran suatu sistem tiruan super-pintar (artificial super intelligence) yang telah dibiak dan dipupuk berdasarkan Toeri Darwin? Dan akan melihat setiap manusia, tak kira umur, bangsa dan jantina sebagai binatang purba yang sudah cukup jangka hayat di muka bumi, dan sepatutnya dibiarkan pupus begitu sahaja?

Fikirkanlah para pembaca budiman.. sehingga di lain kali, wassalam.

Happy Anniversary My Sihaya.. Ride my Starship with me?

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:09:00 GMT

Assalamualaikum everyone.. this is actually a belated entry. But then I feel like taking a trip back in time..

Yes, in case anyone's tracking.. me and the wife (yeah, like I'll ever think of taking any other!) is officially 1 year into our adventure! We've been happily married for 1 year now.. and what a year it's been!

Azatul my sweet one.. I'm sorry I couldn't figure out what to do to celebrate this waypoint in our journey. I'm really not big into advance planning (I don't think I've ever planned a surprise celebration for anyone ever).. I'm more the spontaneous type. And I know that in this 365 days that we have been together, I've been angry at you plenty of times (and vice versa!).. we've always made up.. made out too, so to you kids reading this.. accept it please, it's a fact of life. And I don't carry anything forward, except those moments when the light falls just so over your face and your inner beauty shines forth like a beacon in the dark velvet.. that is the background of this imperfect life.

So, one year down.. Allah knows how many more to go!

The way I see it, I'm on a 50-year journey from point A (when I took my oath.. to accept life with her) from point B (when we face the ultimate divorce.. one mediated by the Angel of Death).. and there's lots to see in between. If I am a starship running at 20% light speed.. (yeah, here we go again!).. Azatul Iryani Umardin would be

1) the fuel going into my fusion engines, energizing me while I chase angels and dreams on my way to that final destination.. and beyond?

2) the electromagnetic field keeping my insides warm, coz interstellar space is only what.. 3 degrees above absolute zero?

3) the navigation package keeping me straight and true.. even when I get confused with all the other pretty lights out there..

Okay, let's begin again. Dengan nama Allah yang Maha Pemurah lagi Maha Mengasihani.

Saya ingin minta maaf kerana lama tidak update blog saya, tapi dengan kerja saya yang memang berkaitan teknologi harian seperti ini, memang amat susah untuk saya mencari masa untuk menerangkan pada anda, para pembaca, mengenai transhumanism ini dan impak falsafah hidup ini kepada kita semua.

Sebelum kita teruskan lembaran ini, ingin saya ketengahkan satu artikel yang saya temui sambil melayari Internet. Saya meminta maaf kepada para pembaca yang susah memahami Bahasa Inggeris, tapi kesimpulannya artikel tersebut menceritakan mengenai satu projek yang telah diusahakan oleh 4 universiti di Amerika Syarikat (yang mempunyai jabatan sains komputer dan sains neurologi yang terkemuka di sana) dan ditaja oleh Tentera Darat Amerika Syarikat untuk mencipta satu sistem telepathi sintetik.

Sistem ini, jika berjaya, akan menghasilkan suatu alat menyerupai topi atau headset yang boleh memeta isyarat gelombang otak dengan mengimbas pertukaran medan magnetik yang terjana setiap kali sel-sel otak seseorang berfungsi, dan menukarkannya menjadi isyarat yang boleh dipancarkan melalui gelombang radio atau laser, yang kemudian boleh diterima oleh orang lain yang menggunakan alat tersebut dalam bentuk "audiovisual langsung", iaitu di mana suara atau mesej teks dari saya.. boleh anda terima sebagai "suara dalam kepala" (atau suara hati, bak kata orang tua) ataupun sebagai corak penglihatan yang terpapar pada mata anda.. walaupun mata anda tertutup atau buta!

Saya akan sambung catatan blog saya dalam beberapa masa lagi. Sehingga kemudian, saya syorkan anda semua membaca artikel tersebut.. kemudian bertafakur seketika mengenai usaha para transhumanists dalam menjalankan niat murni mereka, dan bandingkan dengan apa yang kita semua lakukan dan pentingkan dalam kehidupan kita semua sebagai rakyat Malaysia. Wassalam.. hingga ketemu lagi.

Kiamat ala "Terminator"? Atau kiamat ala "WALL•E"? Tepuk dada tanya selera!

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 03:38:00 GMT

Assalamualaikum and hello everyone..
I've come back in by popular demand (along the lines of: "what's with that half-entry in your blog?") to add some more bits in my case about transhumanity. Well, what's new with me and my life?

1) Work with Datacom is coming on well: the idea is to embrace my role and play it for 8 hours a day, and use the time between calls to catch up on the Internet. I'm covering topics from as old as the various battles of World War 2 and the Confrontation (between Malaysia and Indonesia in 1963) to Orion's Arm, a blog page of short stories and hard science based on a post-human future where mankind expands into a galaxy that has life.

2) Some further milestones in my life.. my 6-month anniversary on 26th July 2008. My parents' first grandson's (aka anak buah!) 18-month marker on 13th July 2008 (shout out together now.."Badam, we love you!"). My middle bro's (Ridzuan aka Pakwan) engagement to Dahlia on 18th August 2008, with marriage set to February next year (congrats to you both!). And my wife is officially a quarter of a century old! On 25th August 2008.
Oh yeah, and I met someone from my past life.. Abdul Lateef Abdullah and 2 daughters, formerly Steve Krauss of Persatuan Seni Silat Gayong Amerika. Wonder if I still have what it takes to join and explore that world?

3) Anyone remember "Titanic" in 1998? Well, I found it's equivalent in 2008.. "Wall•E"! I really am a square klutz with the looks of a toaster oven, but my honey.. is just like EVE, even down to her shooting. Makes me wanna learn astro-navigation (as in navigate in space, not navigate the Astro satellite TV Channel!) so I can dance among the stars with her..*sigh*

4) In case you're wondering.. no kids yet. We're working on it though.. we'll keep you posted.

Enough about me.. now on to business. Dengan nama Allah yang Maha Pemurah lagi Maha Mengasihani.

Seperti yang kita maklum sebelum ini, pergerakan "transhumanism" bermula dengan niat suci tokoh-tokoh ilmuwan sejak lewat 1940'an untuk menaik-taraf kehidupan manusia serta membetulkan segala cacat-cela umat manusia secara am dan khusus. Kita perlu mengakui bahawa niat suci mereka ada potensi untuk membuahkan hasil yang positif untuk kita semua; bagaimanapun niat suci sahaja tidak akan menjamin kesudahan yang diingini.
Pada masa sekarang ini, sudah ada projek2 yang menguji konsep2 asas pencantuman manusia dan mesin (man-machine interface) yang. jika berjaya, akan membuahkan hasil yang amat positif bagi mereka yang mengalami kecacatan mental dan fizikal. Tetapi ujikaji sebegini berjalan dalam situasi makmal yang terkawal. Apakah yang akan menghalang penyalahgunaan teknologi sebegini pada ketika ianya diperkenalkan untuk kegunaan umum? Adakah peruntukan untuk menyebarkan penggunaan teknologi sebegini kepada semua lapisan umat manusia, tanpa diskriminasi pada ketika applikasi dan prejudis selepas itu?
Satu senario ngeri melibatkan teknologi man-machine interface (pencantuman manusia dan mesin) adalah dimana applikasi teknologi yang tidak sekata akan membawa pada diskriminasi antara mereka yang telah "naik-taraf" (manusia naik-taraf atau upgraded humans) dan mereka yang tidak dapat atau tidak mahu menjalani proses "naik-taraf"(manusia tulen atau pure humans); tidak mustahil akan timbul sekali lagi satu zaman gelap dimana "manusia tulen" akan menjadi hamba abdi kepada "manusia naik-taraf" pada skala global; dalam erti kata lain, perulangan kembali zaman kolonialisasi dan penjajahan yang dilalui umat manusia yang berakhir tengah abad ke-20 yang lepas.
Satu senario pula melibatkan penggunaan teknologi pencantuman manusia dan mesin di medan perang, yang hendak atau tidak akan berlaku tanpa mengikut batasan Konvensi Geneva (suatu peruntukan undang-undang menghadkan kekejaman dalam peperangan). Bayangkan pencantuman manusia dan mesin yang membenarkan seseorang yang mempunyai personaliti ala Adolf Hitler untuk "menguasai" dan "memukau" minda berjuta-juta manusia lain melalui sambungan minda-Internet (mind-Internet connection), untuk menjadi askar dan pengikut setia!
Tetapi yang paling mengerikan adalah senario2 melibatkan "kepintaran tiruan" (artificial intelligence) dan ketika masa terkabulnya titik tumpuan teknologi (onset of technological singularity). Akan saya sambung mengupas senario2 berkaitannya selepas ini. Wassalam

"Transhumanity" + applikasi tak beretika = kiamat?!

Mon, 19 May 2008 14:35:02 GMT

Assalamualaikum one and all..

Work.. is progressing. My mind travels at the rate of a glacier going uphill as it tries to wrap around my work.. while everyone else's mind appears to be running on warp drive! I'm suddenly reminded of that scene in "The Last Mimzy" where current-day scientist find out that the Mimzy (the raggedy teddy bear) is actually an artificially intelligent machine composed of billions of nano-machines.. each of which has the Intel logo stamped on it (though exactly how you put your stamp on something smaller than an atom is beyond me!)..
Did I just lose you there? Well, that's how I feel lots of the time between answering calls.. watching the rest of the guys go to work. I'm going as fast as I possibly can, but I guess being old does mean I have to work around limitations set onto me.. at least I've had no customer escalations so far.
Anyhow.. working with Microsoft does let me see a few things. Like how prepared this world is for transhumanism (not much) and what else needs be done to get everyone ready (so much I can't even begin to think much less say!)

And now.. dengan nama Allah yang Maha Pemurah lagi Maha Mengasihani.

Setakat ini kita telah mengupas sedikit sebanyak mengenai "transhumanism" dan faedah yang termaktub dalam wawasan mereka untuk umat manusia dalam jangka masa terdekat. Sesungguhnya, tidak salah jika kita katakan di sini bahawa masa depan manusia di era "transhumanity" tidak dapat kita bayangkan. Contoh terbaik yang saya boleh fikirkan ialah arwah datuk saya Haji Muhamad yang pernah berkata, 'Tak pernah atok bayangkan manusia terbang naik roket sampai bulan. Sedangkan atuk pergi haji dulu naik kapal sampai 3 bulan.. sekarang naik kapalterbang berapa jam ajer dah sampai!"
Contoh yang saya berikan di atas tadi adalah untuk mengutarakan satu konsep baru, iaitu "singularity" (titik tumpu). Pada asalnya, "singularity" ialah titik tumpuan terakhir jisim sebuah lohong hitam (or in English: final mass concentration point of a black hole); tapi dalam "transhumanism" ianya diertikan sebagai suatu ketika masa di mana perkembangan teknologi (terutama teknologi pemprosesan maklumat serta "kepintaran tiruan") akan mencapai satu tahap menyerupai infiniti.
Dengan mengambil contoh di atas, jika kita lukis satu carta antara masa dan kelajuan perjalanan seseorang, kita akan dapat carta lebih kurang di bawah: saya menambah annotasi yang sepatutnya supaya lebih mudah difahami (so your brain don't hurt so much, yes?). Pada asasnya, tahap teknologi yang ada dalam jangkauan umum meningkat jika diukur dari segi masa. Jika pada awal Zaman Revolusi Industri seseorang hanya boleh bergerak selaju seekor kuda berlari (lebih kurang 40km/j buat beberapa minit), 50 tahun kemudian seseorang boleh menaiki keretapi yang lajunya mencecah 100km/j selama beberapa jam. 50 tahun selepas itu pula, teknologi penerbangan membolehkan seseorang menaiki kapalterbang berhalaju 400 km/j selama beberapa jam, dan di zaman sekarang rakyat Malaysia kita boleh terbang dengan harga murah pada kelajuan 700 km/j sehingga mengelilingi hampis separuh dunia.

Perkembangan teknologi pada umumnya meningkat pada tahap yang semakin cepat jika dibanding dengan masa.
Tema matematik yang sering kita dengar dalam kes sebegini dipanggil lengkungan eksponensial (exponential curve); pada penguhujung kanan carta, kita dapati bahawa perkembangan teknologi akan meningkat pada tahap mendadak pada masa singkat (titik tumpu teknologi : "technological singularity")
Salah satu dilema yang dihadapi ahli fikir dan falsafah "transhumanism" ialah apa yang akan berlaku pada titik tumpu teknologi dan seterusnya ke zaman "post-humanity"; banyak senario yang telah difikirkan. Ada yang memberi gambaran syurga di dunia berasaskan teknologi yang membebaskan umat manusia dari belenggu2 faktor pengekang perkembangan umat manusia (limiting factors in developing the human potential), yang saya telah sentuh sedikit-sebanyak dalam tulisan blog saya sebelum ini.
Ikuti saya dalam mengupas senario impian ngeri "transhumanist" seterusnya. Wassalam

"Transhumanity" nie.. sedap makan dengan sambal tempoyak ker?

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 13:17:10 GMT

Assalamualaikum one and all..

Would you believe it.. I've just uploaded Google Earth and have been playing around with it, and I believe I've gotten hooked! So much so that I've forgotten to update this blog for one and all!

Other than that.. my wife's away to visit her parents and I can't come with because of this new job. I'm only complaining because being the Sagittarean that I am, I can't really sit still in one place. She'll be coming home tonight though, so I get to sleep warm tonight. Alhamdulillah to that..

Alright, let's get this party started. In Allah's Name.. The Most Beneficient, The Most Merciful.

Seperti yang kita sudah sedia maklum, pergerakan "transhumanism" ini memang ada kebaikannya. Memetik contoh yang saya utarakan sebelum ini.. seorang budak Tingkatan Lima tidak perlu lagi menelaah buku hingga ke 3 pagi, ataupun menghafal formula sehingga separuh gila untuk bersedia menghadapi peperiksaan SPM. Dia mungkin cuma perlu memuat-turun modul pelajaran Matematik Tambahan serta modul2 latih-tubi (untuk tujuan pemantauan pihak Kementerian Pendidikan) melalui sambungan wireless Streamyx dalam masa menunggu siapnya Maggi supnya. Senario ini sememangnya menjadi contoh terutama pihak "transhumanist" dalam mendakyahkan pergerakan mereka.

Bukan itu sahaja, satu lagi contoh yang sering mereka gunakan ialah faedah percantuman manusia dan mesin (man-machine interface) dalam menangani dan mengatasi masalah kecacatan fizikal atau mental seseorang. Bayangkan, jika seorang tokoh ilmu fiziks seperti Stephen Hawkings boleh berfungsi pada tahap setara dengan Albert Einstein, dengan hanya dapat menggerakkan bibir, lidah serta 3 batang jarinya.. apakah yang mampu dicapai beliau jika diberi tubuh robotik (cyborg body) ala Robocop atau Terminator? Ataupun, lebih menarik lagi.. jika minda beliau dapat "dimuat-naik" terus ke dalam Internet? Dan jika teknologi sebegini dapat dikembangkan ke serata umat manusia, dapatkah anda bayangkan kehidupan berjuta-juta manusia yang ketika ini merana akibat hilang anggota badan (tak kira dari lahir atau akibat kemalangan atau menjadi mangsa peperangan) berubah menjadi gembira kerana akhirnya dapat menjadi sempurna dan tak perlu lagi menghadapi rungutan dan cemuhan dari mereka yang tidak bersyukur?

Ada juga antara "transhumanists" ini yang berazam untuk mencipta artificial super-intelligence ataupun "sistem tiruan super-pintar". Mereka percaya bahawa dengan "lahirnya" sistem sebegini (yang berkemungkinan amat besar akan berasaskan komputer), umat manusia akan akhirnya dapat dibebaskan dari belenggu2 yang sekian lama mengekangnya.. contohnya, tenaga yang hampir tak berkesudahan daripada pelakuran atom terkawal (controlled atomic fusion), kemampuan untuk "hidup selamanya" (di mana minda seseorang akan dimuat-naik ke dalam Internet ataupun cyborg body sebaik sesudah jasadnya mati), serta penakhlukan angkasa lepas secara mutlak, melalui penggunaan minda artificial super-intelligence ataupun manusia sebagai "alat kawalan pintar" untuk kapal angkasa yang mampu terbang mencecah kelajuan cahaya selama beratus atau beribu tahun untuk mencapai sistem cakerawala yang mengelilingi bintang2 lain.

Jika anda rasa terkilan apabila habis membaca perenggan di atas, ingatlah.. saya hanya menulis apa yang saya lihat. Saya bukan ingin menyebar ajaran sesat ataupun kuffar. Ini adalah sebahagian dari rancangan ("niat suci") mereka. Dan jika anda bersabar, teruskan membaca blog ini... kerana selepas ini saya akan kupas secara mendalam buruk padahnya rancangan mereka ini bagi manusia sejagat. Sekian.. wassalam.

Kebendanyer "transhumanity" nie?

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 14:51:20 GMT

Assalamualaikum everyone..

In case you're wondering, I've been spending about a year now going around the Internet. Yeah, I've gotten into looking things up and thinking on them.. kinda like what I did in the days of reformasi. And yeah, from the conclusions I am drawing, I might end up doing exactly what I did back in the day (i.e. piss people off by saying my piece).

So let me go on record by saying this. I am NOT here to be sensational nor am I here to piss you off. Please remember that line. Rather, I am here saying this as a reminder to everyone, as is the duty of every civil-minded person to everyone else out there. And here's the other thing.. since transhumanity is covered almost to death in English, I feel it better that my pieces be in Malay, with some English sprinkled in to keep you others interested. This is of course to help others here in Malaysia see what I've seen, and probably understand what all this fuss is about.

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.. dengan nama Allah yang Maha Pemurah dan Maha Mengasihani.

Apakah pendapat anda semua jika di satu hari nanti, anda akan membaca dalam suratkhabar atau melihat dalam berita televisyen berita sebegini?

Teknologi "muat turun minda" diperkenalkan di sekolah rendah

"Internet Explorer 10.0 with MindJack Tech" dilancarkan

3,000 masuk hospital akibat "MindVIRUS 12.3b"

Adakah anda akan tertanya, "Apa yang kamu melalut nie?" Sebenarnya, walaupun berita seperti yang diatas hanyalah merupakan fantasi pada kebanyakan umat manusia sekarang ini, ianya sebenarnya boleh menjadi realiti di masa terdekat. Jika anda pergi melayari Internet dan mencari risalah dengan kata kunci "transhumanism", inilah sebahagian yang mereka ingin capai dan akibatnya jika impian mereka tercapai untuk kita semua dalam masa terdekat ini.

Jadi apakah itu "transhumanity"? Definasi yang saya berikan ini adalah dari apa yang saya fahami dan rumuskan dari pembacaan saya; ianya (transhumanity) merupakan satu pergerakan dan fahaman yang bertujuan untuk mengubah sifat dan sikap manusia dengan menggunakan sains dan teknologi, serta mencari jalan untuk mengurangkan faktor2 yang boleh mencacat-celakan kualiti hidup umat manusia. Dalam erti kata lain, mereka ingin "memperbetulkan" dan "menaik-taraf" apa yang mereka rasa adalah "kesilapan" dalam setiap manusia.

Seperti contoh berita hangat yang saya berikan di atas, satu aspek yang mereka rasa boleh "dipulihkan" adalah konsep pembelajaran. Secara asasnya, umat manusia sejak sekian lama belajar melalui pengalaman sendiri, lisan, amali serta membaca.. tidak lama lagi, anda boleh menambah konsep "pembelajaran secara terus" kepada senarai ini.

Maksud saya? Tidak lama lagi, anda akan dibekalkan dengan satu pil yang anda akan telan bersama air yang dibekalkan oleh klinik berdekatan dengan anda pada suatu usia muda (contohnya pada umur 4 tahun, apabila otak manusia sudahpun 80% sempurna pembentukan dari segi neural). Pil ini, yang mengandungi berbilion robot berdasarkan nanoteknologi akan menggunakan kandungan dalam air yang anda telan (yang mengandungi unsur2 logam tertentu) untuk menyulam satu "jaringan neural" di sekeliling otak anda yang bukan sahaja boleh membaca gelombang otak dan corak pengaktifan sel2 neuron otak, malahan boleh merangsangkan sel2 tersebut dengan signal dari luaran (dengan cara yang sama seperti bagaimana otak anda dirangsang dengan cahaya yang diterima oleh mata anda, seterusnya diproses menjadi imej dunia luar yang anda alami). "Jaringan neural" ini akan kemudiannya disambung kepada satu cip sebesar 10 titik noktah yang "direka-cipta" oleh robot2 nano yang anda telan tadi dan akan terletak di ruang antara tengkorak dan leher anda. Kemudian, apabila proses tersebut selesai dan ujian keberkesanan interaksi "jaringan neural" itu dengan otak anda berjaya, anda akan dibedah dan dibekalkan dengan satu alat pemancar/penerima yang akan tersembul sedikit dari belakang leher anda. Apabila anda sembuh, satu lagi ujian akan dijalankan dan anda akan disahkan berjaya dan sembuh sepenuhnya.. bila anda dapat melayari Internet, "log on" di www.yahoo.com dan membaca email tahniah dan manual pengguna dari pihak Kementerian Kesihatan dan Kementerian Pelajaran Cibernetik, dengan hanya menggunakan alatan yang telah "ditanam" dalam kepala anda. Dan seterusnya dapat "memuat-turun" segala syllabus pelajaran Matematik Tambahan Tingkatan 5 terus dari Internet dalam masa 0.05 saat sahaja dengan menggunakan sambungan wireless 512 Tbs (terabit sesaat, yang beratus-ribu kali lebih laju dari Streamyx sekarang).

Jadi, apakah pandangan anda? Senario ini hanyalah khayalan yang saya utarakan untuk tatapan dan santapan fikiran anda, tapi percayalah cakap saya apabila saya katakan ada kelompok manusia yang inginkan itu semua untuk masa depan mereka. Seterusnya.. faedah dan padah! Apa yang baik, ada buruknya jika tidak diguna tanpa usul-periksa dan pemikiran semasak-masaknya!

Insya-Allah saya akan sambung dalam masa terdekat.. tiba masa saya tidur dan siap-sedia untuk kerja pagi esok. Wassalam dan selamat malam pada semua.

Part 3: The end.. and a new beginning.

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:55:50 GMT

Assalamualaikum one and all..

Well, I certainly took my time updating.. it seems that I've gathered a fan base of sorts now. I don't know whether that's good or not, what with my obsession being a nobody in the background. Anyhoo, to those looking in at this.. here's a few updates.

1) I am happily married to.. Azatul Iryani Umardin on 26th January 2008 (17th Muharram 1429 if you keep tabs in Hijrah years). Everything went well.. even stammered her name during the ijab kabul (solemnization vow). It's because I've gotten used to calling her 'honey' and it damn near came out in front of the qadi.. I did it in a single breath though, and I am beholden to that oath ("Aku terima nikahnya hon.. Azatul Iryani Umardin dengan maskahwin seratus satu Ringgit tunai") for as long as I hold breath in my body. She's cooking right now, and as soon as she's done, I'm gonna take her.. just to show how much my heart swells when I see her in the same house I'm in..

2) I begin a new job at Datacom Inc. in a few days.. Watson's is officially a part of my past life. And what have I learned? I have got to start my on business! Why should I work my head off for literally one percent of what my store makes minus cost.. when I can stick my name on that store and make all that money mine?

3) The trip to Thailand basically ends at my last blog entry.. but not because we took off for home that night. We basically packed things up (and try doing that while hiding a few items illegal by Malaysian Law! But then when you're about to be married to diplomatic immunity..) and returned by Air Asia the afternoon after. Conclusion? Thailand.. good place to shop, good place to experience a culture way different than Malaysia's, good place populated by nice people with their own unique heritage and culture.. and my wife's heading back there soon!

4) Watch this space soon.. I promised you people a piece on transhumanity and Islam, and I'm close to delivering a verdict. It'll be.. entertaining at least. See you around and wassalam.

Part 2.. hotties, massages.. and shops galore!

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:25:22 GMT

Assalamualaikum and hello all..

Yes, I know.. I'm supposed to not take too long to update this blog. But a thousand things popped up between then and now. But enough excuses..

The morning of the second day, we decided to take a leisurely breakfast (thanks again to our gracious hosts), then decided to get our bodies tuned-up.. Thai massage style! But as with things in my life, why take the direct approach when you can take a detour?

We took a walk into an alley.. smack into a morning market! Centered on a stupa (with a no-kidding jinn sitting there all fat and pretty from the offerings and incense smoke! ) and consisting of a few streets' worth of wet and dry stalls, it reminded me of the old Chow Kit hawker complex that got cleaned up in the mid-1980's.. we bought some mangoes and sweet sticky rice (pulut daa!) for breakfast..

One thing I've heard about Thai massages.. they're really thorough, covering every square inch of skin and as many cubic inches of flesh as can be squeezed or pinched by fingers (and I'll bet that they'd go deeper if they could stick their hands inside!). And yes, there are lots of places there where you can ask for the extra service . Of course, I didn't dream of asking for that (and not just because I had Azatul and Auntie Faridah close by either!) but I did get everything else.. basically it's a trip from pain to pleasure starting back to front, top to bottom to top again (and yes they did touch that area, and no they only adjusted the ligaments and nerve channels down there. Honest!)

Result : a renewed me! Not only did I regain 5 years' worth of flexibility, I also got my blood flow going again.. fast and hard! The massage is definitely on my list for next time I swing back!

Early evening saw us over at Yao Rat.. Bangkok's Chinatown. You gotta have one of those to put your city on the world map, and this place was no exception. What was exceptional though was the profusion of wares you could buy, starting from baby stuff (yes, I got some more for Adam Daniel) to wedding door gifts (hey, I can't just feed you guys for free.. I gotta give you something to remember the occasion by!) to Thai silks (ooh honey, remind me to marry you in those..) to guns?! Lucky them those stores are closed.. else I'll be in there going oooh and aaahh over weaponry that's illegal to stare at in Malaysia! And yes.. go watery-eyed over the memory of a certain .30-06 rifle and Leupold scope..

Then, after a short trip to dump the merchandise, we went to eat at this Pakistani shop. Weird it is to say, but the food.. was delicious! We gorged up to our gills then waded through the crowd (they were mostly Arabs watching soccer on big screens and ogling the locals).. through brass work stores showing off their wares, including these hot, life-size busts of naked women (it's not so much the nakedness that got to me, but the "skin" tone.. I'll bet any hot-blooded guy would go gaga over skin like that, and no surprise that Azatul - honey that she is - tried to blind me while I was drooling over them!

Patpong Street.. is nothing like I've ever seen anywhere in my travels so far. Imagine two miles of explicit sex acts and wares, mixed in with about 10,000 stalls' worth of every item you could possibly want to buy (and quiet a few you wish you could if you'd only keep your mate in the hotel room!) My eyes went , my mouth went , and for a second I thought "I'm in heaven", with the doors to every bar thrown wide-open, and the bouncers and door-guards letting you stare past them for about 10 seconds (to someone like me, that's an eternity of bouncing body parts and gyrations on sticky poles accompanied to raunchy music). But only a second.. all that explicit sex jars you into thinking, "What a Hell this place must be.." The side streets reeked with piss and beer, the crowds were oppressive and so horny even Azatul got a few stares, and the wares so numbingly abundant I kept my wallet closed.. glad to see Watson's of Patpong Street were going on full blast though.

Part 3 is next. I'll skip the conclusions, and go straight to a topic no one's ever heard of.. the future (read: technological and societal singularity, trans- and post-humanism) and Islam.. and how this all fits. Wassalam..

From nothing to write.. to a windfall of words!

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 04:43:51 GMT

Assalamualaikum and good day..

Yeah, and here I thought I was going to slow down on this blogging thing.. and be the passive observer I love to be, watching my siblings and relatives get their heads around the idea of putting their lives on a screen.

Truth be told though, I write this time around as an observer of life.. I've been infected with wanderlust ever since reading about Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta (yeah, and don't ask me how far back that was!), and I've been given a chance to do some observing of life in..

Thailand.. Land of Elephants and Hotties!

Heheh, I officially put my tally of countries I've visited at eight, not counting transit countries back in the day when I used to spread wing and spend days just flying around..

And what has country #8 shown me? Well, that Malaysia is still the best place to live (and I'm not saying this because I have MIMOS and Secret Branch looking at my blog either!), but that as much as we hoist ourselves (and here I mean specifically us Malays) on our own petard.. truth is, we still have lots to learn from others!

Lemme start from the top.. Azatul gently reminded me the other day of the promise I made to go see my future-in-laws and catch up on knowing them better. And so poor old me gets to tromp over to the Immigrations Office for a passport and my honey gets to hook me up to a cheap Air Asia ticket coupled to a HUGE airport tax fee (thanks for nothing MAB! And to Farrah Nazeema.. if your dad works with MAB still, I HOPE Y'ALL CHOKE ON MY MONEY! MUAHAHAHAHAHHA!)

Cost so far.. RM600. And I'm not even off the ground yet!

The days slowly creep on, and I do mean creep! I mean how would you feel if before your 4-day holiday, you had to cut it short by half a day (yeah yeah, meeting schmeeting.. when will Watson's ever learn of this thing called a memo? Or teleconferencing? Or maybe just use 3G?) and work 2 full days beforehand (and to you Saiful I assign the same fate as to Farrah's! BWAHAHAHAHHAHA!)..

But then the day arrives! And with about 10 hours of sleep in 3 days, I trundle over to LCC and meet my love.. and her ex-workmates, the AIR ASIA HOTTIES!! Adik and Faizal arrived in time while Mazanie and Zmiey took their time (korang ingat naik kapalterbang cam naik bas ker? Nasib baik tayar tak cukup angin, kalau tak berjalan lerr korang ke Bangkok! ). The flight was alrite, and it was past midnight when we arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport.. it's this new complex outside Bangkok that's huge as all outdoors, still so brand-spanking new and so darn busy even at that time of night (yeah, and how often do you see flights from Vladivostok via Incheon arrive at KLIA?).

Mad love and props to Abe Din.. terima kasih dan kap pung kap pasal abe sanggup bawak kami merata-rata dan layan kerenah kitorang, dan bila abe turun tengok KL kitorang gerenti layanan tahap Raja Siam nyer.. heheh!

Saturday morning was spent pontificating on this city called Bangkok from the 25th floor residence of Mr. Umardin and Mrs. Faridah (my future-in-laws u doinks!). Wonderfully powerful view.. like what you'd see if the Klang Valley had dimensions measured in hundreds of kilometers. Skyscrapers abound scattered all over the skyline (though nothing spectacularly tall like the Petronas Twins), with lots of green lung areas.. and the area southeast of the Chao Phraya River looks untouched! Never did find out if they set that aside as royal family reserve.. or just left it for later.

Then it's off to shopping and way more shopping! And surprise.. I check my accounts and I have 17500.. baht of course! Watson's HR and Accounts pull through at last.. and I do my share of enriching the capitalist economy at Cha Tu Chak.. a square mile full of stalls, hawkers and cheap cheap stuff! Clothes for Daniel.. Levi's jeans (I'm a size 34!? Oh Allah, am I doomed to diet?) and a slingshot (for the cicak problem at my store), a BIG velvet rose for Azatul (ahh, I didn't know that 300 baht could melt a woman's heart.. and cause jealousy in her mom and 2 other couples! Heheh!!). Then off to MBK Mall (their clone of KLCC or One Utama, but way cheaper!) for a copy of Advent Children on DVD (hmph, and to think I had to pay six times as much for a copy at Low Yat Plaza!?) and some pictures of me and my beloved in a photo booth with a difference (and see how much more jealous everyone else became! )

There's a part two.. and conclusions to boot! Stay tuned.. wassalam and good day.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 12:39:04 GMT

Assalamualaikum and good day all..

Yeah yeah I know.. it's been ages since I've updated, but truth be told I don't have much to say most times.. except that I am feeling every bit of my 30 years. I'm thinking I'm too old to blog regularly, especially when I find out that my middle brother and little sister (that would be Pakwan and Syida) have their own blogs.. and my life is an un-ending grind, as I told another store manager the other day. "Imagine HQ giving you a spoon and telling you to move that mountain there.. to over there. Now imagine the spoon is bent, rusty and the HQ people are flaying your back open and screaming at you to go faster."

News on my front? Well, I'll soon become assistant store manager for Watson's Store M186.. Stadium Selayang! What this means is I get some pay (finally, though it's not as much as I want!) for about the same responsibility (when you're in charge of a RM800 thousand store, does your title matter?), the same headaches, the same old problems (no security, not enough warm bodies to work the store, no time for breaks or holidays.. etc etc etc). Damn, I wish it was Stadium Kelana Jaya (better, richer crowd!).. or Old Trafford! (Man United Rules!!)

What else? New addition to my family..

Ladies and gents.. introducing Muhammad Adam Daniel bin Muhammad Azri. Born 13th January 2007, weighs 2.75kg (6.05 pounds to you Yanks), and is 43cm tall. And the first sight of him had me calling my fiancee in the middle of her class asking her for three of him! By Allah, I'm an uncle.. and I'm proud of it!!

Right now, all of us (meaning this little guy's uncles, aunt, mom and grandparents) are into deep discussion (though if you heard us, you'd think we're arguing or imitating the Taiwanese Parliament) into a thousand little things.. like what to call him! My dad's got the idea of calling him MADMA from his acronym, all of us are calling him Daniel (good idea that, naming a kid after three prophets of Allah.. should I give him my lifetime PAS membership now?), my mom and his mom is settling for Adam.. gives me a headache just writing this! And think.. would all that mouthful fit onto his school name badge? Or into his SPM (high school exam) application form?

As to what he'll be? Well, his youngest uncle (Imie, how's it feel like to be one at 15?) is aiming to turn him into a hacker/DOTA champion, Pakwan wants to get him a paintball gun at 3 and training to turn him into a world-class assassin at 10 (little realizing that it will lead to a future where he'll be handed his head at age 36.. by a young fella a third his age!) and this uncle.. prays that he'll be whoever he wants to be, especially a servant to Allah and His Cause.

Azatul my love.. ingat yer, I want three of him! Daughters I want too.. as many as you want. Peace out and wassalam..