deviousways

So billionaire tech investor/entrepreneur Vinod Khosla is in the news, again. But for not the right reasons--as the father of a child who has had her privacy violated. His daughter's ex has apparently threatened to make her nude photos public. That's not the whole story of course, but how terrible this must be. As a parent myself, I cannot imagine how traumatic this must be for the family. But you know, I kept thinking, how could this obviously super intelligent young woman (she and the alleged extortionist ex met as students at Stanford University) do something so dumb? Share nude pictures of herself with her then boyfriend? Granted, they were in a relationship and all that. But this is a young woman who must know and who grew up knowing just how powerful technology can be, how all-reaching it is. How invasive, how intrusive it is. Yet, she shared her intimate pictures and is now being blackmailed over those very pictures. Why would she do something so dumb? Actually, the ...

There's a couple I see sometimes, on my walks around Richard's Park. They are both physically challenged and both use crutches. They come there on his specially modified two-wheeler. And then they sit together for hours, on one of the park ledges. I notice them because they are always oblivious to the rest of the world. Curious onlookers do watch--because, well, as a people, we are often not sensitive in such matters. And the couple obviously do attract attention, because, well, they look different, with their crutches placed neatly next to them, and because they always sit embracing each other. To be honest, I feel I am violating their privacy if I even look at them. And yet and yet, I find them immensely inspiring too. For one thing, they are so comfortable with each other. I've seen them sit there for about an hour or so, till twilight darkens into night, talking to each other, laughing, and just being together. They seem to share a connection that the rest of us abl...