Category: Uncategorized

Published on by Nayar

Emotion for Dummies (Machines)

Imagine one morning your car just refuses to start because it is feeling depressed. Or it performs badly on the road not exceeding 60 km/h. You would most probably be like “B*tch please. What The F*ck is wrong with you. Get the f*ck moving!!!”

Emotions are sometimes considered as a negative thing especially for heart broke people. Brilliant students fail their exams. Neways, let’s make a hypothesis if machines would be more performant with “emotions”.

Source: hccanet.org
Source: hccanet.org

The “Sad” Car
Same thing applies for a car. If you just press the accelerator down most of the time, you’re definitely wearing down the parts if you don’t do proper maintenance with it. If the car knew that it’s owner doesn’t “love” him, it would have not ran fast. It would go on an average speed like 60-80km/h max.

Advantages:-
1. Car wear is reduced. Hence heavy maintenance cost is reduced. $$$
2. A driver who goes fast on a probably worn on car is a serious security risk both for the car and driver.

When the car “cares” about itself, the driver also travels safer.

The “Happy” Car
If car is a happy, it knows it can push it’s limit to the maximum. It has a “trust” relationship with its owner. IF you let your wife drive, the it would be great if the car would go into “scared” state behave accordingly. I think you got the point 😛

Modelling Emotions using Fuzzy Logic
I’m supposed to learn Fuzzy Logic for my Final Year Project. I’ll try to make a tiny demo. For non-techical people, you might just skip to The Evil Playboys section.

Let’s make a tiny simulation of such a car. We will have 2 input variables namely “care” which will be between 0 – 10. Accelerator will be between 0 – 1. Speed will be between 0 – 150. Did that in Fuzzy Logic Toolbox in 30 mins. Not that good but quite usable.

The rules:-

snapshot30

Case 1: No love 🙁
No Care, No Acceleration

Case 2: Trying to push the car
snapshot24

Case 3: Moderate care, moderate accelaration.
snapshot26

Case 4: Increasing care, same acceleration
snapshot27

Case 5: Pushing own accelerator fully
snapshot28

Case 6: Perfect car with full accelerator pressed
snapshot29

The Evil Playboys

Ofcourse. Some people might use it for their own benefits and “play with emotions” of others. Giving the machines false “pats” and turning off their sensors or hacking into the system to make the “happy” value higher would surely increase the productivity on the short term. But at the end, it always results in broken hardwares and <3. What do you think?

Published on by Nayar

Setting Git server on VPS

Previously, I had set up a git server on my laptop. My friends would access it using my always changing IP. Furthermore, my laptop has to remain online.

Setting up a vps as git server
First create a git user
$sudo adduser git

A user and a group git would be created

Create accounts for your collaborators too using the same commands
$ sudo adduser rambo
$ sudo adduser rofler

Creating a group for the peeps working on a specific project.
$ sudo addgroup kuyon

Adding the collaborators to the group kuyon
$ sudo adduser rambo kuyon
$ sudo adduser rofler kuyon

Create a directory for each project you are working. By convention, it should end with .git

$ sudo mkdir /git/meraproject.git
$ sudo git init --bare
$ sudo chown -r git:kuyon /git/meraproject.git
$ sudo chmod -r 070 /git/meraproject.git

The above permission means that no one except those found in the group kuyon would have read, write and execute permission.

Now your collaborators can push an existing git project using this command

$ git remote add origin rambo@example.com:/git/meraproject.git
$ git push -u origin master

Roffler can clone the repository using rofler@example.com:/git/meraproject.git

Then the normal git workflow continues and life continues…

Note: the commands were written on Ubuntu Server 13.04

Published on by Nayar

Printers for Dummies

Some History

Source: Wikipedia.com
Source: Wikipedia.com

Before the printer existed, people used to write with pens. Then came the era of type-writers. It kinda revolutionized office work. I’ve read somewhere that Russian top secret officials usually use type-writers because it would be possible to know the authenticity of the document due to the different character had striking the paper at different angles and force. Each type writer has like its own identity. Well, let’s move on now.

The Printer

The printer came along computers. It allowed people to preview their documents on their screens before “materializing” it. Mistakes can be removed at an early stage 😛

Categories of Printers
The most popular ones are ink-jet and laser printers. These can be either color or monochrome.

Ink-jets project ink particle on the paper as it prints. The print head passes over the paper printing line by line.

Laser Printer
Source: zinetic.co.uk

Laser printers are much faster than ink-jets. Electrons are fired on a drum hence ionizing it. The ink liquid are charged positively. The ink particles would be attracted to the drum. The drum is then rolled on paper resulting in a print off. lol 🙂

Connectivity

Back in the days printers were connected using parallel ports. Nowadays, the USB meaning Universal Serial Port is used in almost all models.

On top of that, wireless printing is also possible. Bluetooth enabled printers would allow one with a Bluetooth phone or camera to print directly. This forms part of PAN.

Source: printerhacks.com
Source: printerhacks.com

LAN printing involves connecting your printer to your router. An IP address is assigned to your printer. This could be either wired using RJ45 or using Wifi.

Controversies involving Printers
Printers require paper. Paper is made from trees. Cutting down trees just worsens the global warming effect.

I hope this little expose de-mystified printers a bit.

Do print only if you really need to and plant more trees than you’re killing 😉

Published on by Nayar

O motherland! You’re not ours anymore

Public beaches would soon be extinct just like the Dodo. Local Mauritians would be able to see the beach only in photos.

The beaches are being sold or given away for free. Mauritians no longer feel at ease on existing beaches. I <3 Tamarin beach. But Hotels have been built there. There is no shade at all now on the other side of the river.

Tamarin Beach

While making the beach available to tourist is a good thing. It increases revenue. But living is not only about breathing. The beaches should have been for us sharing with tourists. Not the inverse.

Now, our limited beaches are still being distributed away. A pundit has been given permission to build a restaurant in Trou-Aux-Biches. Read more.

Mauritius has been sold off completely. I don’t think Mauritius can be called as “ours” anymore.

Next time you sing the national anthem. You’ll think twice when you’ll sing

“Motherland, O motherland of mine“

Published on by Nayar

Mera Final Year Project

So we got our dissertation title:-

Fuzzy In-Vessel Composting Model

Area: Sustainable development and AI

Problem Definition: Mauritius being a Small Island Development State faces new environmental challenges such as preserving its fragile ecosystem. One scourge that is actually hindering our environment is the amount of waste that is being generated and ultimately landfilled. Much of the waste generated is organic and can therefore be biodegraded into compost, a natural fertilizer which can substitute chemical fertilizers. Moreover, compost has the pontential to enrich the soil content. in-Vessel composting is one whereby organic waste is filled into a large vessel with special mechanism to control the oxygen and moisture content and other factors that will help in the production of the compost.

Project Aim and Objectives: this project will deal with the simulation of an In-Vessel Composting system using Fuzzy Logic. Making compost is not a straight forward science. understanding the different processes that take place during composting can help in monitoring the different factors that influence the production of quality compost.

Project Output: investigate into the composting system, understand the use of fuzzy logic in uncertain variables, critical analysis of existing system, design and develop a system with a decent user interface that will allow for monitoring the composting process.

Software/Hardware Requirements: to develop a simulation software that will mimic the In-Vessel composting process and eventually providing a monitoring system to predict type of compost.

Fuzzy Logic Toolbox, Python or C++ or C Sharp or matlab

Lecturer: Mr Somveer Kishnah

Me and my friend Nawsheen would be working together on this. Hope we manage to get an A+ in it 😀