Pinnacle of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Until recently, AI has been a neglected subject in the curriculum of most Indian Universities.  As times are changing, thanks to the frenzy of Machine Learning applications popping up everywhere, the interest in AI is gaining momentum.

My work on AI started, way back in 2001, but had to drop them, as there was lack of interest, applications, takers, market, and all...  So, whenever I get an opportunity for an invited talk (the topic would generally be of some jargon prevailing at that point of time - like Mobile Computing, Cloud Computing, Big Data, IoT etc..), I used to add a couple of slides on AI and will play to the gallery (as they say in Cricket Commentary). My objective was to spur interest on the subject.

I pepper the presentation with examples that the students can connect with. I therefore focus on applications of AI, and tell about how Facebook (as every student invariably has an account) uses algorithms such as DeepFace, IBM used Deep Blue, and now Watson - for creating a movie trailer (Morgan) etc...

I also give a brief history of AI, tell them the craze over today's programming languages such as Java - being an OOP language - were derived from Frames and Concepts (Ontologies) in AI.

Then coming back to AI, I also tell about the pinnacle of intellectual ability expected from AI systems, as we keep raising the bar of the required intelligence continuously. I introduce them to Alan Turing's test, (wherein a human tries to distinguish between a human and a machine through conversation) and then go on about the need for "contextual intelligence" that has been missing now, and go on and on and conclude with a still from the popular Tamil movie Enthiran, wherein a Robot tries to distinguish between a man and machine, which is probably the pinnacle of AI.

P.S: I used to wonder whether the story writer (and director) of the movie did this in full realization.

Horse Gram Vs Flax Seeds

Looks can be deceptive - if you don't care about the fine details. This may apply to Horse Gram and Flax Seeds, especially the brown variety. Some time ago, I gave an answer on Quora about the differences between the two, and owing to the popularity, thought of adding it here.

Here's a quick difference between the two:

* Flax seed is a seed, while Horse Gram is a pulse. (To make it clear, pulse is also a seed - edible seed - from the legume family; legume refer to the plants whose fruits are enclosed in a pod - like groundnut, soyabean etc...; There is an argument that Flax seed should also be included in the legume family - but let me not get into it.)

* Nutrient Value of 100 gram of Flax seed is: 50 calories, 20 grams of protein, 41 grams of fat, and 28 grams of fiber.

* Nutrient Value of 100 gram of Horse gram is:  321 calories, 22 grams of protein, 287 mg of Calcium, 311 mg of Phosphorus and 7mg of Iron.

* Flax seeds contain Omega-3 Fatty Acids (Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acid - PUFA) - the richest vegetarian food, containing this essential fat. 

* So, both Horse Gram and Flax seeds are rich in protein, both can help in weight loss.  But if you are looking for Omega-3 and/or Omega-6 fatty acids (Omega 3 and 6 are in the ratio of approx 4:1), then flax seeds should help. 

Source: 

  * Comprehensive Research Article on Horse Gram
  * Nutritive value of Pulses, Seeds and Nuts 
  * Recipes of Flax Seed and Horse Gram
  * Ratio of Omega 3 and Omega 6 in various foods

The Year 2017 for me

2017 turned out to be an interesting year (while looking back), with its share of surprises and unexpected things. The downs that I faced this year, got etched badly in my mind, and I was totally at loss, as I could not comprehend them with rational thinking.

On hindsight, I guess, this made my belief stronger that there are forces beyond us, and they work only for our own good - in a very very long term! - and these perceived bad things are a sort of 'balancing' act by them.

So let me get into it.

• Enjoying the luxury of high-bandwidth Internet in Mobiles through SIM (Cellular connections), Thanks to Jio for 4G LTE 
• Seeing the domain of Crypto applications getting expanded wildly (yes wildly), thanks to applications of Blockchain
• Happy to Conduct Brainstorming Discussions on topics related to Internet
• Joined Professional Societies as a member (IEEE, and ACM)
• Remote Presentation at IEEE ATC Conference
• Wondered (Did some ground work too, may end up as a publication) - how you can prove your financial reputation to some one for obtaining credit. 
• Opportunity to work (research) on DNS 
• Organized an IEEE Conference successfully (understood how much time and efforts are required despite having a team, and funds were not an issue)
• Learnt the value of Backup in a softway (yes soft and not hard :) ) - as I lost data when a pendrive suddenly stopped working, and thankfully I had a backup. 
• Got interested on privacy preserving payments and was exploring them. 
• Promotions - finally happened (after a long wait) in the institution that I am working for. It was almost a miracle on two counts, one it happened after a long hiatus, and then it was ante-dated; and an interesting thing is that it left many unhappy. Unfortunately I too was bitten by it, and the ramblings are there in the beginning of this post.  In this process, also figured out how my seniors rated me in my earlier years (last decade). 
• As usual, taught OOP using Java, Crypto programming, WWW Architecture etc... and gave lectures on Digital Signatures, PKI, Blockchain,  etc... at various prestigious forums. 
• Personal: Watching my kids growing up, Failing health of Mother 
• Places Visited: Guwahati, Delhi, Madurai, Hyderabad, Vijayawada , Bharachukki, Gaganchukki Falls,  Patna