#shriteq

Issue I of ‘Teq Talk’, the very first ShriTeq Newsletter.

This year was the first time we held ShriTeq. Two months of organization, meetings, cold calling and emailing schools, and making numerous lists finally culminated in the two-day event.

Organizing the event can be classified both as a nightmare and as one of the most intense and fun experiences of my life. Everyone in the core team, consisting of Jyoti Ma’am and Rachel Ma’am from the teachers, and Kushagra Srivastava, Aadi Sharma, Kanishk Vashisht, Angad Mishra, Vedant Chandra, Kunal Dhanda, and myself from the students, put countless hours into preparing for the event. We all picked up some lessons which will definitely last us a lifetime:

If you want timely replies do not, under any circumstances, expect them from school administrations–the majority of invites we sent out simply never reached the students, leading us to resort to reaching out to council members at other schools over Facebook just so that we could meet the required number of teams.

Some schools really, really don’t want post–you’d think that if you were running an educational institute of over a thousand children in one of the majorly populated hubs of the country, you wouldn’t be averse to receiving post. As it turns out, some schools hate it so much that they put incomplete addresses on their websites, ensuring no one can ever mail them a hard copy of anything. Luckily for us, none of them reached the final round; we haven’t exactly figured out how to email mobile phones yet.

It is apparently possible to host a website without hosting it on the same server as the URL. In a deep revelation by our IT department, it was discovered that you can buy the name for a website from a completely different source than the server where the actual content is hosted–something every website has been doing since the inception of the Internet.

We actually do have Wi-Fi. Our school actually does have Wi-Fi. It just moves around a lot. Every day started with a manhunt for the new location of the router, as we chased it from the seminar hall to the junior computer lab to the admin office to the auditorium.

It is possible to hire cameras at absurd hours–Aashish Sir somehow not only managed to get our live stream working, but also found someone who would let him hire and pick up DSLRs at 1 am. I’ve heard of people with unusual business hours, but this seems a little Shady.

These are but five of the things we came across while organizing the event. There are many, many more stories ranging from school at 2:30 AM to convincing people that Kim Jong-un had acquired Google in a surprising manoeuvre, and that Sony actually started as an Abacus manufacturer 800 years ago.

As a last word, I would like to thank the entire organizing team. Without them and their dedication to the event, none of this would have been possible.

Raghav Sood

XII-S

Mr. Anshu Mor heads the gaming division at Microsoft India and was at school to address the students during ShriTeq. He agreed to answer a few questions put to him by the Editorial Board.

  People are increasingly choosing PC gaming over consoles. Why do you feel this is happening?

I think there are two reasons for this. One, there are more PCs in households as they have many uses. Earlier, PCs used to be the first stop for gaming. Secondly, hardware costs for PCs are high, but the return rate makes up for it. PC games are cheaper than console games.

  Looking at the popularity of PC games, are there any plans to have console exclusives like Halo on Windows 8 and 10?

The thing with consoles and PC games is that they both have different technologies behind them.  Games like FIFA are on both platforms, but not all games are like this. Some games are also exclusive due to business reasons. However, operating systems are becoming more uniform. With one like Windows 10, the code is similar on console, phone, and computer, making porting games easier.

  Do you feel that Windows can keep up with Apple and Android devices?

Absolutely. Around two years ago, Windows Phones were almost unheard of. However, recently with Windows 8 and the Nokia Lumia series, the brand has really grown. If you look at other platforms–which I won’t name–they all have a similar UI. Windows Phones are more personalised, and our UI is quite unique.

  Do you play any games in your free time?

I play them all the time. That said, some of the fun has actually gone out of playing because I also need to look at them from a sales point of view. Some of my favourite games are FIFA, Halo, and Call of Duty.

  How could someone reach a position like yours?

It was never my plan while at school to work in this field. My advice is this–if you are interested in technology, don’t just enjoy it, try to understand it. Take a step back and look at the big picture. For example, we used to have three-year plans in Microsoft. Now, we have one-year plans with a clear vision for six months, because the world keeps changing at such a fast pace. Also, take chances. I started this job in hardcore sales, but one day I realised that my interests lay elsewhere. Contrary to what people think, I don’t spend my time in the office playing games.

  If you found yourself in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, what would you do?

I would pick up my controller, and press A and B.

Mr. Kunal Savarkar is a quizmaster who once worked at Kaun Banega Crorepati. He was in school to conduct three rounds of Shri Teq when the Editorial Board got the chance to ask him a few questions.

  When you worked at KBC, how did you decide which questions to ask and when to ask them?

The key was to ask questions which appeal to a TV audience but are also challenging enough for those who get past the difficult qualifying rounds.

  We believe you were an architect by profession–what made you change careers?

Well, as they say, “Man proposes, God disposes” so when circumstances permitted, my wife suggested I take up being a quizmaster professionally. Up until that point, I had been doing a quiz every few months and now I do five quizzes a week.

  What does it take to be a quizmaster?

For me, it's about realising that everyone knows about something and asking questions that include diverse areas of interest. For instance, someone who might appear to be not very smart may know everything about mobile phones or cars. It's about asking the right questions.

  What do you think a quizzer’s greatest asset is?

Quizzers are sharp. They can get themselves out of trouble in any aspect of life. They can apply the knowledge they have gained while quizzing to the most disparate fields and I think that is a quizzer’s greatest asset.

  What's the strangest quiz question you've ever asked?

(laughs)That's for the audience to decide, but personally I never ask strange questions.

  Lastly, do you have any tips for budding quizzers?

Yes, three, in fact. Firstly, read, read, and read. It doesn't matter what, but you must read. Secondly, participate in every competition. Practice isn't enough, you've got to test yourself and you learn the most by challenging yourself. I think this is true for anything, from swimming to quizzing. Lastly, you've got to be smart and intuitive, since quizzing is about strategy to some extent.

Mr. Saket Modi, ethical hacker and consultant to the Indian Government for cyber security, came to interact with the students at ShriTeq. The Editorial Board interviewed him and received some interesting answers.

What made you get into ethical hacking?

I’ve been a nerd throughout my school life. Although I flunked multiple times in Chemistry, the one subject that I always did well in was Computers. So I’ve been into computers throughout. And since being in cyber-security allows you to be in multiple verticals of Computers and also allows you to work across all technological platforms, I chose to pursue my passion through ethical hacking and cyber-security.

We heard there’s a very interesting story about you hacking into your chemistry teacher’s computer. Could you tell us more about that?

Yes, that did happen. I was very bad at chemistry... I had this Pre-board exam, and I held a track record of flunking chemistry continuously for an entire year in eleventh and then in twelfth. So my Principal told me, ‘You better pass this time or I won’t allow you to sit for your board exams.’ I had to do something. Even after I hacked into the computer, I still got a 55 on 100. Come on, who’s going to mug up all those questions? She had such a long question list. (laughs)

What is the toughest hack that you’ve ever done?

Well, I’ve been interviewed by a lot of reporters, and I must say that no one has ever asked me this interesting question before. (laughs) I can tell you that the most interesting hack that I’ve ever done is, without naming it, one of the world’s biggest video game boxes. We reverse-engineered the games and bypassed the paid subscription to play games for free.

Where does India stand today in terms of cyber security?

Sadly, India doesn’t stand anywhere in terms of cyber security. For India, the whole view towards cyber security is still very immature. The entire digital-ecosystem that is coming up will require security. When everything becomes digitally active, security will be the number one worry for the world. But India is still very new to this growing ecosystem, as compared to Western countries. So the problem is that there is huge scope for a breach. That’s why there is tremendous opportunity in the field of cyber-security for India in the near future.

How does it feel to have become so successful at such a young age?

I think that success is a very relative term. It is defined by the standards that one sets for oneself. If you ask me, I’d say that I’ve been very lucky. That luck, coupled with a lot of hard work, honesty, and the help of an absolutely brilliant team, has given me some sort of success. I’m nothing, as of now, in front of Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, but at the age of 24, I’ve managed to achieve much more than my batchmates. So success is very relative and depends on how you define yourself. But luck also has a role to play in this. There’s a saying, ‘chance favours the prepared’. I feel I’m lucky to be in a field that is ever-growing. We see new breaches all the time, which keep us at our jobs. Power and responsibility have always been given with age. However, cyber security is very different. The entire pyramid is inverted. One gets a lot of power at a very young age, when it comes to cyber security. So yes, I’m in the process of becoming somewhat successful, but I would say that I am not very successful as of now.

Which site or system would you love to hack, given the choice? It can be ethical or unethical.

Well, I would love to hack my own website. (laughs) Being ethical or unethical is a different story. When you say that which would you like to hack, remember that I’m a geek at the end of the day; I’m a nerd. See, what’s the difference between a policeman and a robber? In the sense, is there any difference between the skills of a robber and a policeman? There’s no difference. If you want to catch a thief, you need to think like one. In a very big way, there is no difference technically between hacking and ethical hacking. But the only difference between the police and the thief is that you wear the vardhi. Vardhi is what makes all the difference. You’re actually a better thief if you’re the police. To catch a thief, you need to be a better thief. That’s the difference between hacking and ethical hacking–the vardhi.

What are your future plans for your company?

To take over the world. (laughs) It’s very exciting when you look at the future in terms of digital, and I feel that’s the most interesting part of the entire thing. It would be wrong if I tell you that I know exactly where I or my organisation will be five years down the line. It’s that dynamic. And that’s the fun.

If you could give one piece of advice to us students, what would it be?

As human beings, we’ve been in existence for a few of thousand years. Believe me when I say this–it has never been more exciting in the history of mankind, to be where you are today. The internet connects one-third of the planet. There are two billion people on the internet right now. One out of every three persons is connected on the internet, and the distance between two people on the planet today is separation of twenty milliseconds, because that’s the time it takes to send an email. It has never happened before. I compare this with the revolution of the wheel. Today we take it for granted of course, it’s obvious–wheel toh hota hi hai. But imagine a world without the wheel. Then, the world was only ten or twenty kilometres, because that’s the highest limit you can walk with your legs. The moment the wheel was invented, the world became a smaller place. You could suddenly travel miles and miles; you could explore so many more things. At that time, from a few kilometres you could travel hundreds of kilometres by the wheel; today that distance has shrunk to twenty milliseconds.

The amount of data that we’re making–it’s crazy. In the words of Eric Schmidt, ‘We make every two days, the same amount of data that humans made from the beginning of human civilization till 2003’. Why are your parents wiser than you? Because they’ve seen more of the world. How have they seen more of the world? They’ve processed more data which is transformed to information which is actually the knowledge base that they’ve got. And so they can take wiser decisions. Today, it is so easy to produce data, and we’re producing so much of it that there is a massive explosion of data happening. This data is being transformed, is giving rise to something called artificial intelligence. And that will be a new dimension of computing.

Today you have 8 billion devices on the planet. CISCO says there’ll be 212 billion devices by 2020–out of which 30 billion will be connected to each other. The one piece of advice that I want to give you is that this next five-year transformation that is going to happen, the human race has never seen before. And if you’re a youngster, and you can embark on that–there’s always a first-movers advantage. Everything’s available on the internet; there are online educational resources that you can use. It’s not difficult, for a person sitting in a gaon of India also today, to learn if he really wants to. So understand where you are right now. Stop wasting time. Start working on it from today. There is so much to learn; there is a tremendous amount of information that you need to absorb, in this world of information-technology, so that you can come out as the most ‘enlightened’ and the most digitally-awake and the most fun-loving person. Because once you know technology, you can tweak, you can break; you can do whatever you want to. 

Mr. Rajiv Makhni, perhaps best known for his show Gadget Guru, acted as quizmaster for the interschool Shri Teq Quiz. He sat down for a few minutes with the Editorial Board to answer some questions.

  If not a journalist, what else? (No–TV anchor, TV show host, model, author, clothes-line owner, quizmaster at TSRS, celebrity, and restaurant owner are not valid answers!) An astronaut, perhaps?

Everyone said I should have been a film star. But no one signed me! On a serious note, I believe that you don’t need to not do something in order to do something else. You don’t need to have just one career in your lifetime. As for me, I want to give back, maybe get into education, go back to the IITs. Instead of keeping my knowledge to myself, I want to share it. Nowadays all parents want to send their kids abroad, to become doctors or engineers, or focus on just one particular career path. You don’t need to limit yourself to one career; you have one lifetime – why not make it five! We need to remove this mindset of being able to do only one thing, instead we should want to do this and this and this and this.

  We read that you’re working on a book. Could you tell us about it?

(laughs) Oh! I’m not allowed to talk about that! My publisher will sue me. There’s going to be a big launch. But I can’t tell you what it’s about.

  Is it fiction or non-fiction?

The one thing I can tell you is that it’s not about tech. If I reveal anything more, my publisher will actually sue me!

  India has many social inequalities. Do you believe that technology can be used to bridge the gap, or does technology only widen it?

The conventional answer would be that yes, technology does, in fact, break barriers. But to be very honest, I think that it amplifies these inequalities. So, all technology comes with a price, it’s not free. You have to pay to acquire a mobile phone or a tablet or a laptop. The people who can afford this technology are continually moving forward and leaving those not privileged enough behind. Once, language used to be a barrier–people who spoke English well got better jobs. Today, technology is a similar barrier. People who can operate computers are connected with social networking and can use software will get more opportunities.

  Would you like to be a kid now or–

Yes! Absolutely! I don’t just want to be a kid; I want to be born tomorrow. I want to be a digital native. Right now is the greatest time to be alive. You will see more magic in the next one year, than you have seen in the past ten. And I call it magic because there is so much left to be invented in the world of technology.

  In fifty years’ time, would you like to witness the technologies of the future?

Definitely! Like I said, I want to be a digital native. I’ve seen both those old dial-up telephones, as well as today’s smartphones. And I would love to see how it will evolve.

  So you wouldn’t like to leave it to your imagination?

Not at all! I can’t wait to experience it. I wouldn’t even want to be your age right now. I want to be a toddler.

  What do you think is essential for the success of a gadget?

It’s a tough time for companies right now to differentiate their gadgets from those of other competing companies. I think it’s very important to remember that no one buys ugly devices. All that matters is the look of the gadget. People want to buy stuff that looks spectacular. What’s important is the differentiator, a gimmick. And it’s supposed to be more spectacular than the gadget itself.

  Stephen Hawking recently said that artificial intelligence could be the greatest event in human history, but it could also be the last. What do you think?

I agree. We see it in books and movies, but the truth is that with artificial intelligence we are hurtling towards the unknown. Let me ask you something–what makes us, us human beings, different from machines?

  A sense of consciousness, perhaps? Of being?

Exactly. Self awareness. You know that you exist. You identify with being you. When you give that sense to a machine, why would it not feel threatened by your existence? You’re creating a destructive force. And then why would you need human beings? Humans will be redundant… Yes, I think it could be the greatest achievement, but also the last.

  Now the most important question–what is your dream gadget?

Oh, that’s easy! Something that folds. What I mean is that today all our screens do pretty much the same thing. Our phones, our tablets, our TVs. What would be very interesting to see would be a gadget with a foldable screen. A 3.5 inch phone could unfold into a 9 inch tablet. I think I see this happening within the next six years!