“I don’t wanna do it Pannu…” November 26, 2009
Posted by mylifetwentyfourseven in Experiences..., Philosophies....add a comment
Were the words he said….and i agreed. Me and my project partner finally decided to drop the project (For those who don’t know about the project, refer to my last post).
We read many papers, searched the internet for hours, downloading here ‘n there, trying to figure out what we wanted to do in the project, but to no avail. We realized we dont have either the expertise or the resources to even get started.
For one, the VLSI lab at IITG CSE department has got TWO FPGA kits. In all the designs we studied, they needed three or more. Furthermore, we barely know how to operate one FPGA, let alone running many of them in sync.
We studied more than 25 papers, and none of the designs were feasible to apply in the real world, except for one, which was actually implemented in an autonomous robot. See, the reason why its not feasible is this: Our brain has nearly 1014 (1 hundred thousand billion) neurons. The highest number of neurons built by the best of research labs is 1012 i.e. a hundredth of the number of neurons in a single human brain. With our 2 FPGA’s we wouldnt even have built 106 (a million). There’s no way we could have built something application-based.
There was also the concern of the neuron model to use. There are numerous neuron models out there, from very simple to really complicated. The complicated ones are more accurate, but the simple ones take less space. So, in hardware, where there’s always a fight to reduce space usage on the chip, we have to trade off accuracy, which is not a good idea, since a neuron with approximate attributes can work in a totally opposite way from what we expect. And this is main reason why hardware ANN models haven’t been used in many applications.
Anyways, so the project is dropped for now. We’re gonna concentrate on the one we left incomplete (really boring one, you know) before we got into this project. For all those readers who were expecting positive updates: Really sorry people…but I can’t help it. I’m dissapointed too.
With this I sign off, hoping to update the blog more frequently. Good day!!
Artificial Neural Networks…the future of Artificial Intelligence August 22, 2009
Posted by mylifetwentyfourseven in Experiences..., Philosophies....8 comments
Gosh! its been months since i last blogged!
Humble apologies to all avid readers of this blog (if there are any :P )…..
Nothing really interesting is going on rite now in my life….So i decided to write something on a certain project im working on…
I ll start with an example. i think every person, capable of reading this blog, has played a game like chess sometime in his/her life. and they would also know that there are many computer programs that can play chess. However, these programs contain so much data about chess that an ordinary human couldnt possibly match. With all the evaluation functions and endgame databases, these programs show the capability of their developers.
However, can a computer surpass a human in the game? i know what u all are thinking. i believe most of u have been defeated by chess programs once in a while. but you as a human can formulate another plan of attack, and get back in the game with the computer. But a computer cannot do so, because it only follows the steps its developer has programmed into it.
Now, i ask u to imagine a computer that can get back at you after u have defeated it once, by formulating a different plan of attack. A computer that can improvise and learn from its experience. Imagine the situation. Such a computer can possibly find a plan of attack that we humans never could. Now, if we use such computers in our scientific research, who knows what miracles can happen. these computers could possibly find out solutions to global problems without our help. Wouldn’t that be awesome??
And such computer programs do exist nowadays. these programs are modeled on Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). Basically, their structure takes inspiration from the human brain, and its basic unit, the “neuron”.
In the past decade, research on ANNs has grown in leaps n bounds. Attempts have been made in many areas to solve problems using ANNs. But, as anyone who has worked on ANNs knows, the programs used to simulate neural networks run damn slow…mostly because a typical neural network does thousands of computations to achieve a single result. And millions when its being trained!!
Study in the field of ANNs would become so much easier if we could execute ANNs as fast as the neurons in our brain. Thats what im working on. I plan to bring the study of neural networks from software to hardware, thus decreasing the computation time of thousands of instructions on a normal CPU to just 3-4 instructions. Imagine the time saved!!
I’ve started the project, but im not getting much time to concentrate on it nowadays. However, i ll keep the blog updated on the progress i make. I know I’ve deviated from the kind of posts i usually put up. But im really excited about this project. Why?
Because….
ANNs are the future of Artificial Intelligence.
PS: If u have managed to read upto this point without dozing off, please do post a comment…..Thank you!!
In relation to the last post… May 25, 2009
Posted by mylifetwentyfourseven in Experiences....3 comments
These are some new developments related to my last post: Really Bad Day….Pickpockets ruin party…
I finally found a way to get to the Airtel Customer Care representative……as it turns out it’s a really tricky process…no direct options are provided…that means you have to reach the representative through some option in a sub-menu….
I dunno why….
Secondly, i forgot to mention that i accidentally left my college ID and my driver’s license at the xerox shop…and had to get them back the next day….as if things werent bad enough already…
Really Bad Day….Pickpockets ruin party… May 25, 2009
Posted by mylifetwentyfourseven in Experiences....4 comments
[:'(] [:'(] [:'(]
Today sucked like hell…..
My friend was to give his (long awaited) birthday party today…we were gonna go to Guwahati city for it….n i was so happy that i was finally gonna get a break from the campus….
But why the @#$% would it be so easy?
We all woke up around 11:15 am this morning…and my friend decided that today was the day he’d like to give his party…he told us and we were like ‘Ohh my God, finalllyyyyyy’….he said we should leave by the bus at 12:00…but being the total lazy idiot that i am, i argued that i needed more time to get ready, and that we sud instead leave by the bus at 1:00 pm….we argued for some time….and finally ended….with both of us thinking that our demand had been met, that is, me feeling that we were leaving at 1 and him feeling that we were leaving at 12….so he comes down to my room at 12 and says ‘hey, lets go’….only to find me still in my night dress….i say ‘wtf dude, i thot we were leaving at 1!!’
He says, “well, everyone is ready, n if ur not u can come by the 1′o clock bus.” i agree to his request. Now as if that wasnt enough, another friend, who too was supposed to go with us suggested that i take the trekker instead. that way I can leave before 1 and join them in the city…
I agreed….and that’s when it all started….
I got on to a trekker and reached Malegaon which is halfway to the place i was supposed to go. I then looked for a bus to take me the rest of the way. I asked the conducter if his bus had a stop at Panbazar n he said yes…so i got on…i had no idea that Panbazar was so big that it could have multiple bus stands….so i travelled n travelled in the bus, hoping that Panbazar would come….only to find that the Panbazar the conductor had reffered to was a bus stand which was well outside of Panbazar….and to make matters worse, i realised this well after the bus had passed through Panbazar….
So i got off the bus, totally embarrassed for not knowing the city as well as i should have known…Plus, i had a long walk to Panbazar in front of me…i walked for about 3-4 miles till I finally reached Panbazaar….
Looking at the time i realised that if I had not been an idiot and took the 1′o clock bus, i’d have reached here at the same time as i was reaching now….without the extra trouble….
Bad Luck, huh?
Not until this happened….
I finally met up with my friends and we decided to take a bus to Pizza Hut, which was supposed to be the venue of the party….and damn that bus….my phone got stolen there….i dunno who took it n how…it wasnt there when i checked my pockets (i really suck dont i?)….
Despite the great shock and the sudden urge in my stomach to panic, i held my own….decided to call the Airtel customer care and get the sim blocked before it got misused (talk about security issues in Guwahati)….
Now, instead of relieving myself of my tension i found out something really incredible…..the Guwahati customer care number does not have an option which lets you talk with a representative (wierd huh?)….
Now i was lost….i called here n there…tried to find out if it really were true….but to no avail….my best friend let me down….because he was sleeping (yes, because he was sleeping)…..nyways, the party was a goner now, and although the other guys tried to have fun….i couldn’t….
i’ve had that phone for a year and a half….and although thats a short period of time the phone had become a part of me….i still remember the major tantrums i had to throw to have my parents get it for me….and now i’m incomplete again….n now my parents are hinting that i won’t get a phone as good at that until i get my own job….life suks!!
now after the so-called party i took off with one of my friends who was at the party with me to get an FIR registered at the police station….
But where the hell was the police station??
It turned out it was 5 miles from the spot (i dunno what the criterion for alloting police stations their area is….but im sure that this one was alloted way more area than it could handle)….so nyways, we took a bus….n after a bit of wandering around finally managed to locate our first police station in Guwahati city….
Seeing the small police station made me absolutely sure of the fact that that this one was alloted way more area than it could handle…and confirmed it further when i saw only two police officials there…nyways…the officer at the desk said i would have to write an application for the FIR….but we had no pen n paper….n screw hat asshole, he wasnt willing to provide us with any….
So, we went out again, this time to find out a stationery shop….only to find out that in 1 square mile worth of market area, there wasnt a single one…..we roamed about a lot and finally managed to procure some paper from a Xerox shop n a pen from a roadside vendor…..
anyways, i wrote down a hasty application n we hurried back to the police station….only for the officer to point out mistakes and have me write it down again….then i was to get that and some ID proofs xerox-ed…
finally submitting the application n registering the FIR gave us some relief….n realising that it was a sunday n the Airtel office would be closed, we hurried back to catch the 5′o clock bus back to campus…
In the bus, i wondered if the guy who i got my connection from would be of any help in getting it blocked…but his booth was in a different hostel from mine…
So, on reaching the campus, i cycled to his hostel, even though me legs were aching like hell….only to find out he wasnt there….THANK YOU VERY MUCH….
totally busted out….i returned to my room, and, gtalked with my parents about the incident….mum was furious, dad was concerned….n now I am screwed….i managed to convince them to atleast let me buy a simple phone…they said I could if I could get it within INR 1000….So now i would be getting a boring second-hand phone in replacement for my sleek Sony Ericsson W200i….
As if things werent already bad…this happened when the internet at her house is out of order….so no phone n no internet….implies we’re totally out of contact now….
So all in all….not an experience that i would wish for the reader to have (even if his/her phone may not be as good as mine :P)
Cheers…
A Trip to…. May 21, 2009
Posted by mylifetwentyfourseven in Experiences....4 comments
Hi again….
i returned just a couple of days back. wanna know from where?
from the ancient state of Kalinga!!….
Yes, i had been to the land of Orissa….
the place where exists the City of Temples, Bhubaneshwar……where exists the Jaggannath Temple, one of the four Hindu dhams of India…..and the Konark Sun Temple, which was once an engineering as well as artistic marvel (but is now mostly ruins)…..
Orissa boasts of one of the finest beaches in India…the Puri beach…
ah, the clear waters, the golden sand, the various artists making marvelous sand sculptures…..now thats what i call a view….
its also the place where, ahem, she lives…..in the city of Cuttack….
um, now that u have guessed my main motive to travel to the place, i ll get on with my story…..
So, i took off from where im currently staying (i.e. Guwahati) on a sunday….a lovely day it was, the reason being that the previous night the city had seen a nightmarish storm ;-)
So there i was, travelling for the first time in sleeper class on my own (ya ya i know…i’ve been brought up lavishly)…the journey was to be about 16 hrs, after which, i had to switch to another train, which took another 7 hrs….
now, on reaching Cuttack, my first reaction was, “really nice railway station”. i mean, it was really well maintained for a 4-platform station….my hometown, too, has a 4-platform station but the place is a mess….
oh, did i mention that i was travelling with a friend? No? oh, well, i was. he’s a resident of Cuttack n I was to live at his house during my stay in Cuttack….
one more thing….his parents are doctors, both of them….and there r only two things i dont like….one is a negative attitude towards life and the other is DOCTORS!! believe me, i’ve had some really nasty encounters with doctors….but more on that later…..
nyways….not liking doctors dint stop me from absolutely loving his parents….really nice people….
now, the main highlights of my trip are:
1. a wide variety of first experiences…..
2. a very high plan execution failure rate….(many thanx to my gud friend)
let me first begin with the second most exciting first experience (u can guess the first one ;))
it was the first time i saw the sea…..(unbelievable right?)….and when i first saw it, felt the cool sea breeze, touched the golden sand, it felt like a dream….never had i thot that a water body (though a very large one) could hold such fascination for me…..stepping into the water, feeling its excessively salty taste, almost getting swept off my feet by the waves….i never wanted to get out of there…but unfortunately the tide was coming in and we had to leave :(…
next in the first experiences comes the Oriya Cuisine….mmmmmmmm…..still licking my fingers…
Dalma, dahi-bada, and a wide vareity of sea foods…..and yes, cold coffeee at CCD ;)
then comes the temples….
Bhubaneswar, the city of temples…..u know y its been given that name? its cause theres a temple at every nook n corner of the city…(a very good example of ‘God exits everywhere’ :D)….but seriously….so many temples? did our ancesters spend all their time n money on building temple after temple? Wierd rite?….frankly, im not a religious person…no im not an athiest….i just dont concentrate on religious acivities much….so naturally seeing SO MANY temples was quite unnerving….
but seriously, the people of orissa are more religious than any other people i have seen….seeing them made me want to be like them too (u know, the wierd guilty gut feeling)…..
nyways all this is very good (but only till now)….now comes the part about the ridiculously high plan execution failure rate….
now one thing i dint about my friends family (sorry dude, no offense) is that they never seemed to go by the plans they had made the day before…..i dunno how they managed it but we were always running atleast 2 hrs late from the schedule…..well, this got me into a lot of trouble with her….there were times wen she got absolutely furious n altho i handled the anger well :P… it wasnt pleasant :(…
i really gotta stop now….its already a very long post….and im getting sleepy….plus, i dont wanna bore u too much….
so all-in-all, the trip to orissa was full of ups n downs….full of astonishing as well as disappointing moments…..a memory, that will remain with me forever….
Someone’s sick :( May 19, 2009
Posted by mylifetwentyfourseven in Experiences....10 comments
someone’s sick today….but i dont know what ails her…she wont tell me….
so wat do i do? she calls me up and cries….that she’s sick and that its not getting better….i ask her to go to the doctor….she says she doesnt wanna go…coz the doctor’s a nut…i try to ask her again…what’s the illness? why isnt it getting any better? she says she cant say…she says that it shud have gotten well by today….but it has not….i think, wat do i do now? i try to comfort her, try to divert her mind from it….try to explain that even tho she doesnt like the doctor, hes the only way out of her condition…
she doesnt listen….im growing worried minute by minute….what do i do?…she’s growing restless…
i want to take her hand and comfort her….tell her that its gonna be ok….but we are 1200 kilometers apart….God knows how much i wanna be with her rite now….but i cant….
i desparately look for things to divert her attention….i end up relating to her what i had for lunch (what??)….telling her about a new game i found…(again!!!)
in the end we hang up….me feeling what a complete jerk i am for being of absolutely no use….her feeling even more sick than before….i pray for her good health….and pray n pray….wishing He will listen….but he doesnt….
3 hourse later she’s still the same….she’s weakened a lot….needs something to drink….but theres no sugar at her house…and worse still…no one at her house to go and get any…
by now i m totally determined to build a teleport machine right away so that i can get some sugar for her…but realise that the technology is still unresearched….
again i try to divert her attention….i direct her to my blog (bad idea??)….she says she liked it (i almost faint!!)….she starts telling me about the election results (politically aware huh?)….i listen and forget….my worries increasing all the time….time passes slowly….
knock knock….my project partner arrives at my door….i try to shoo him away but he barges in nevertheless….i engage him in small talk….while still on the phone with her….im wondering if there exists a drink that can be made without sugar….at the same time thinking of getting the NoC emulator for the project….
partner gets frustrated…leaves and asks me to call him when im done with the girl…
i come back to her, only to realise that she’s finally managed to procure sugar and is leaving to make something for herself….
i say gudbye……wishing the drink (whatever it is) helps in her recovery….
i think of calling my partner again…see if he still wants to work on the project….
i pray for her recovery again and go to his room…..
Hello Everyone!! May 19, 2009
Posted by mylifetwentyfourseven in Experiences....add a comment
Hi all. Finally decided to get my blog up and running. Hope u like my posts (the future ones). And yes, do feel free to comment (im actually begging here, but dont wanna show it :P)…
Hmm…so what shud i write first…
i had been thinking about getting this blog up since two months back…..but never had the time (or the guts) to actually execute my plans…but now that im completely vella, i thot….what the heck lets give it a shot :P
and now i present to u my very own blog…My Life: Twenty-Four-Seven..i’d like to thank the wordpress guys for making this site for vella guys like me….also i’d like to thank the prof under whom im doing my current project for not giving me much work (and thus, rendering me vella enough to put this blog up :D)….
Oh well, thats it for today…do tune in for updates (Plzz….)
i know this post is a bit boring…but its my first one…and i really dont have any subject to write on at the moment….but i promise i’ll try to make them a bit more interesting from the next post…..
so tune in….
Seeya…
