Gandhi wrote to Hitler for the sake of humanity. The letter did not reach Hitler because of intervention of the British government. It's a rare document, and so though of sharing it in the blog.

Children @Cyberspace

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have created a new space in which children can both learn and play. It is a space of both opportunity and threat where they can develop, but where they also may become victims of crime or get entangled in illegal and immoral behaviour. Cyber-crime is an extension of conventional criminal activity, which capitalizes on the virtual operating environment. The fact that cyber-crimes are beginning to evolve is not surprising in light of the ever-increasing Internet usage. ICT makes it possible for the wrongdoers to target children individually or collectively. Possible motives include personal gratification of the offender, often by way of sexual exploitation, making money, or alluring children to gain access to emails or web sites from which viruses may be launched or the security of the child's computer may be compromised. Children are particularly vulnerable to exploitation via ICT because the medium is attractive, and they often use the Internet unsupervised and increasingly have access to portable devices with the capacity for data storage, digital photography and communications such as mobile phones. Electronic communications allow offenders to exploit the curiosity and interests of children for a number of purposes. Sexual exploitation may commence using seemingly innocent facilities such as Internet chat-rooms. Initial contact may be part of 'grooming' the child, whereby the child begins to trust the perpetrator and is desensitized to sexually explicit material including child pornography. Possible motives for grooming a child are: to engage in cyber sex, to distribute pornographic material to the child, or to persuade the child to submit pornographic images of themselves online. In some cases, grooming leads to a physical meeting in which the perpetrator sexually assaults the child. There are many ways that are used to redirect children who are online to pornographic sites. One is to send unsolicited email that contains images or links to images. 'Page-jacking' occurs when a normal search is diverted to a pornographic web site. An offender may deliberately set up web domains using common misspellings of sites popular among children to divert them to pornographic sites. Another method used is to manipulate the metadata associated with a site to allow it to be falsely indexed. Once a suspect site has been entered by a child, they may be subject to trapping where they cannot back out from that site and instead are referred back to the same site or other (usually pornographic) sites. Pop-up advertisements may also appear on screen to encourage traffic to pornographic sites. Peer-to-peer exchanges may also occur, especially in online chat-rooms. ICT can also make criminal exploitation of children possible without the child being directly involved. For example, it may be used to facilitate access, storage, trade or possession of pornography, to support information sharing among pedophile networks, and to assist with the organization of illegal activities such as child prostitution. Such activities can be done in relative secrecy. The issue of crime prevention is vital for the simple reason that holding back the reach of the Internet is futile, particularly in light of technological advancements. In addition, it is well accepted world over that law enforcement agencies or governments through the enactment of legislation cannot fully prevent any type of crime in isolation from the community. Equipping the community with effective crime prevention strategies designed to meet these new challenges is a priority. Filter software can be used to ensure that personal information such as name, contact details and credit card numbers are not released over the Internet. Essentially, filters work with the web-browser to either block selected sites, pages above a predetermined rating, or those containing certain language deemed explicit (referred to as blacklisting, white-listing and neutral labeling). A number of the programs rely on rating systems and therefore, parental setting of parameters is required. Filter software are widely available in the market. Some websites that provide useful crime prevention information for parents include:

• Cyber Patrol (http://www.cyberpatrol.com/)
• Net Nanny (http://www.netnanny.com/)
• Bess (http://www.bess.com/)
• CYBERsitter (http://www.solidoak.com/)
• Internet Watchdog (http://www.charlesriver.com/titles/watchdog.html)
• KinderGuard (http://www.intergo.com/wow/kguard.htm)
• SurfWatch (http://www.surfwatch.com/)
• Time's Up! (http://www.timesup.com/)

Users should examine different filtering programs to determine the most appropriate depending on their needs. There are a number of concerns with filtering software though. For example, the filters may block access to various health-related sites which communicate safe sex information, or alternatively provide details about the latest techniques in detecting breast cancer. In addition, the dynamic nature and the rapid expansion of the Internet preclude any comprehensive filtering of sites. The technical leapfrog, which is played out on a daily basis between law enforcement agencies and the typically more technically superior cyber-criminals, illustrates the difficulties associated with relying on technical solutions. The following simple guidelines can help make the Internet a safer experience for young children with or without any technical policing. • Placing your computer in an open room with the monitor facing out. This allows you to see and control what is occurring on the Internet. • Educating your children about the Internet, both the positives and the potential dangers. • Bookmarking child-friendly web sites. This allows your children to easily get to safe sites that they have used before. • Teaching your children that Internet safety means never giving out personal information over the Internet. • Sharing your Internet child safety experiences, both good and bad, with others. • Teaching your children to refrain from chat rooms. • Never allow your children to meet with someone from an online session unless the parent approves. • Knowing the parents of your children's friends. • Teaching children to never open email from someone they don't know. • Never responding to an ‘unsubscribe option’ in a pornographic email. If you or your child receives a message that is harassing, of a sexual nature, or threatening, forward a copy of the message to your ISP and ask for assistance. Never before has our society experienced a medium which facilitates global communication and information exchange by convergence of telecommunication and computer technology which we refer to as the Internet. The law enforcement agency is faced with a medium which is both a friend and a foe. Traditionally, crimes such as pedophilia have been completely hidden from societal view. However, increased public awareness can provide law enforcement agencies with an opportunity to make inroads into a range of such criminal activities. As we march towards Digital Bangladesh, we must make everyone aware of the pitfalls and dangers to be encountered en route. As a stakeholder of the society, one must acknowledge the risks and take all necessary steps to stay on guard.

The Spirit of Ekushey

I am not sure how many of us have sincerely thought about what Ekushey February really means. Everybody knows it stands for our right to speak in Bangla. Had it not for this day, had Salam, Barkat, Rafiq, Jabbar, et al did not bring out the procession defying the Section-144 on this day in '52, we might have been speaking in Urdu in our daily lives today and probably have been writing Bangla in Urdu scriptures. We protected our mother tongue by sacrificing blood on this day, and so we commemorate the 21st February by placing wreaths on the Shahid Minar. But it is high time that we should ask ourselves whether we truly understand the spirit of the great sacrifice. Was it only to protect the Bangla language, or was it to protect the mother tongue? Many of us often tend to equate them both. But when thought carefully, we realize the difference.

Or, do we? Do we realize that there are thousands of Bangladeshis whose mother tongue is not Bangla. No, I am not talking about the dwellers of Geneva Camp in Dhaka who only recently got Bangladeshi citizenship. I am referring to all the indigenous people living in backward areas in CHT and in the North. Backward? Yes, of course! They have remained 'backward' even after all these years of our nationhood! But why? Is it because the people there are not one of us? Their mother tongue is not Bangla? It is disturbing to learn that these Bangladeshis cannot use their own mother tongue in their daily lives. They have to write their languages in Bangla scripts instead of their own. There's is no press, let alone software, to keep these languages alive. These fellow citizens are forced to learn and use Bangla and its scripts to earn their livelihood. Does this sound familiar? Is this not what we fought against in 1952? Or, was Ekushey a selfish revolt? Selfish in the sense, only for the Bangla speaking countrymen.

We all know, Ekushey February infuses a lot more within us. It was not just for protecting Bangla, but rather for establishing the right to speak in Bangla, that is, our mother tongue in our daily lives. The ruling Bangalis must honour that cause by ensuring the Arakanese, Bishnupriya, Chak, Chakma, Garo, Ho, Kokborok, Kurukh, Khyang, Bawm, Falam, Khasi, Rajbanshi, Sadri, Santali, War etc. speaking citizens their rights to use their mother tongue, or risk being branded as hypocrites. And if not, do not get surprised if there is another Ekushey in the future in these 'backward' regions of Bangladesh.

Outsourced World

Outsourcing is when a company contracts with another company to provide services that might otherwise be performed by in-house employees. It is cost-effective and at many times is really a time-saver. Wikipedia says, almost any conceivable business practice can be outsourced for any number of reasons. A friend of mine casually suggests how about extending this practice outside the world of business. Why not make a contract with another person to do your chores? ...Brilliant, why not! But aren’t we doing that already? Aren’t we hiring household helps to perform our everyday tasks? Employing peons to run our errands? Keeping chauffeurs to drive our cars? As a matter of fact, we are so much used to these that we take this lifestyle for granted, especially in this part of the world. Outsourcing our daily duties are not only very common, they have become the second nature.

But what if we extend its periphery further? Outsource our studies? Make a deal with someone to go to school for us, take the exams, but earn the degrees in our name like Rancho in 3 Idiots? Outsource our work-outs? Pay someone to run on that trade-mill on our behalf while you put your feet on the ottoman and drink coffee? Or, bribe someone to go shopping with our wives for the entire day while you chill out with your buddies? Life would be so enjoyable if we could outsource everything unpleasant and boring! And, why not!

Is it possible to outsource our sorrows? Can we strike a deal with someone who can shed tears on our behalf? Interestingly yes, in rural India the professional lamenters (rudali) will come to your house and mourn for you, cry for your miseries! How about outsourcing child-birth? Surrogate mothers have been there for ages. Probably one of the earliest outsourcing we can think of is hiring wet-nurses who would breastfeed your baby when you cannot or do not want to do the same.

So outsourcing have been everywhere! From surrogate birth to sharing your tiffin with your schoolmate to do your homework, from back-office processing to your arrangement with the wedding-planner, from the nurse for taking care of you to the funeral home to make you look good after you die. Long live outsourcing!