Experimenting Life

Hi, I'm Ashutosh. A wannabe tech blogger and a thinker(daydreamer) and a die-hard geek!! A Computer Science engineer by degree and an avid learner!

[ashudave]

Try Swift in Your Browser

Want to try your hands on Swift, the new programming language from Apple? But it's only available to Mac users with Xcode 6 or above.

But hey, don't be sad. You can try Swift in your own browser. Actually any browser on any platform with these two sites:

RunSwift - It is a very simple site by Julius Parshy which allows you to try Apple's Swift programming language from within the browser. While you cannot import abitrary modules, a small subset of Foundation is included. What I really like about this site is that is very simple, you just write some code and click compile and you get the output on the right. It also has some interactive Swift lessons. The only disadvantage is that you cannot download the code as playground file. But don't worry, there is an alternate website that does that too.

SwiftStub - This one is a Swift REPL. You just write code and wait for 3 seconds and you get the output on the right. It is made by Skip Wilson who also has a some Swift tutorials. The best thing about this site is that it allows you to save code and it generates a URL which you can share on twitter easily. Also it allows you download the playground file to run in Xcode. It also gives you the real-time collaboration option using TogetherJS. Ain't that awesome? 

Head over to the above mentioned sites and try out Swift in your browser.

[ashudave]

Upgraded to windows 7

Finally, I upgraded to Windows 7 ultimate edition from Vista(thanks to ROMS). I know I'm a bit too late to use Windows 7 when Windows 10 is already making its way, but I have an old laptop which might not support Windows 8. Anyways, Windows 7 is much better than Vista. I am still exploring but here is the list of 10 softwares that I installed as soon as I finished installing Windows 7:

Google Chrome - the best browser yet

foobar - highly customizable light weight music player 

Firefox - another best browser

Last.fm scrobbler

VLC player

Google Picasa

Google Drive

7 zip

Visual Studio 2013

Github for Windows

In the end, I am proud of using non pirated OS and I'm looking forward to new experiments.

[ashudave]

Getting Started

The year 2014 has already started. People make resolutions to start the New Year. But how many people stick to these resolutions? The reason resolutions don't work is people never take the first step. The hardest part is getting started.

Getting started is the toughest part! And I know it very well. For example I wanted to write a blog post about "Getting Started" from past few days. I though I will write on 30th Dec, then I postponed it to 31st, then on the New Year and so on. I wanted to start this post on 2nd anyhow. But still it took me a whole day to just get started. Why? Because we humans are designed to procrastinate.

Most of the time I know that I am procrastination and I like it. I like it because it gives me short term happiness. But at the same time, the thing which I really should be doing echos in my mind. It screams and makes me feel uncomfortable at the end of the day. The fact that I did nothing productive makes me feel cringed. Sometimes I can't even sleep even if I am very tired. And that is really bad for my health.

Why do we procrastinate is explained brilliantly by Oliver Emberton. 

Is there even a solution to this problem of procrastinating? Yes, indeed. The solution is getting started and it is the toughest one. Taking the first step is very difficult. We need to overcome our urge to procrastinate. We need to persuade our brain to concentrate on that one thing which you always wanted to start. Sometimes this will make us tired and thus we fail. We might fail for some more time but if we keep on trying, we can take the first steps. And we have a very simple and successful “2-Minute Rule” to stop procrastinating by James Clear. And that is what matter. Getting started is everything. Once you start, you shouldn't stop. Keep doing it daily. Make it a habit and enjoy the process.

As Buddha said -

"There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth…not going all the way, and not starting.’"

I have a taken a resolution of starting everything that I always wanted to and I will keep taking baby steps to complete my goals. The secret of getting ahead is getting started and getting started is more important than succeeding.

I took the first step by writing this blog post. What about you?

[yeonhoyoon]

Following are emails between a high school student in Jeju, Korea and Steve Wozniak. I could only find the korean version of the student’s email, which I’ve translated into English.

Mr. Wozniak! I’m a high school student in Korea. I am in second year of Se-Hwa high school in Jeju. My...

[ashudave]

Experimenting Glitch

Yesterday, I watched a video called "The Art of Glitch" on PBS Off Book, a web series from PBS that explores cutting edge art, internet culture, and the people that create it. The video was about how glitches have evolved into an art.

What is a Glitch?

According to Wikipedia,a Glitch is a short-lived fault in a system. It is often used to describe a transient fault that corrects itself, and is therefore difficult to troubleshoot. It is also called data-bending.

My first encounter with Glitch

My first encounter with Glitch was at a very early age while playing video games. At that time, the video games used to have what we called game cartridges. Whenever the cartridge was not inserted properly, there would be random colorful lines on the display(T.V). I didn't know at that time that it was called a glitch. Also, no one would have never imagined that glitch would evolve as an art. This is what is know as video game glitch. This glitches were due to some technical fault.

Glitches also occurred on television when the broadcast signal is corrupted due to reasons like damaged cables or weather. These kind of glitch are technical faults. But now a days, many artists and programmers, have embraced these crisis moments and discovered beauty in the glitch. By hacking familiar systems, they intentionally cause glitches, and manipulate them to create art.

Below is the video from Off Book about the Art of Glitches:

After watching the video, I decided to created a glitch out of a JPG image. Making glitches out of a JPG is easy. But before starting, make sure you have created several copies of your image file cause glitching an image will permanently damage them. Also, never ever glitch your original images! 

First step is to open the JPG file in the hex-editor of your choice. I used the freeware hex editor XVI32 (for windows only). Your screen should look like this:

Now, its time to bash some random text into the hex codes (on the left hand side) or into the right hand side that has some garbage looking text. Now just save the file (Ctrl + S) and open the image file. The result will be the glitched image. It might not look practically beautiful, but that's the way to created glitch images.

Below are some of the glitched I created using the above method:

Glitch 1:

Glich 2:

Glitch 3:

Glitch 4:

Note: You may find it difficult to upload glitch images on sites like tumblr, flickr etc. I too had difficulty uploading glitch on tumblr. But as you can see, I have uploaded glitch images. So the trick is to open the JPG image in any photo editing software like Photoshop, Paint.NET or even MS paint, and resave image as JPG. That's it! Your glitch file is ready for upload.

idoe

[ashudave]

How to think like Sherlock Holmes

It was again 2-3 days ago that I found an interview of the author Maria Konnikova by Om on GagaOm. Yesterday I watched the complete interview and it was just amazing. Here is the video of interview:

In this interview the author shows a nice perspective of the mind of Sherlock Holmes. You may buy the book from Amazon, Fancy or Luvocracy.

You can follow Maria Konnikova on twitter or her website.

If you want to read read articles by Maria Konnikova, head over to Big Think and The Atlantic.

[ashudave]

Trying out Emacs

I installed GNU Emacs(24.2) for windows yesterday for SML. GNU Emacs is an extensible, customizable text editor—and more. At its core is an interpreter for Emacs Lisp, a dialect of the Lisp programming language with extensions to support text editing. For more info: http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/

Its easy to install, looks outdated but still great at various things that I ought to find out in couple of days.

I am listing some Emacs tutorials that I found useful:

Xah Emacs Tutorials - http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/emacs.html

Emacs Beginner's HOWTO - http://jeremy.zawodny.com/emacs/emacs.html

Currently I am using it for SML. But will surely share my experiments and experiences with Emacs.

[ashudave]

Learning Git

What is Git?

Wait a minute, why am I writing about Git? And the answer is I have just finished learning Git!!

Yes, I learned Git so that I can use Github effectively. Also I will be able able to make new repos and contribute to open projects.

According to me, every programmer must know how to use Git. It is especially useful while working large projects and many individuals are contributing to it.

How Can YOU learn Git?

There are many resources for learning git. Here I will list down some of the resources that were helpful for me while learning Git.

So where do you start?

I started learning Git from Github's help page. The bootcamp section was really helpful. Github also provides training for using Git and Github. They have also outlined some of the resources for using Git or Github. That's where I found browser-based interactive Git tutorial called Try Git which is also available on Code School for free. This is a must for a beginner.

If you liked Try Git, you may also want to try out the more advanced tutorial from Code School called Git Real (that's what I did). And I assure you that you will not be disappointed. It was a real fun learning Git on Code School as it was in a fun game format. You are definitely going to learn some good advanced stuff there.

After that, I am currently looking on to some more online resources like:

the Official Git Site

instructional videos at the Official site

also there is an open source book for getting deeper Git knowledge

some more online Git tutorials include GitRef whic provides a quick reference to Git's syntax and Git Immersion which provides a full length Git tutorial

also there is a simple Git guide which is very simple and helpful

Visual Git guide which gives brief, visual reference for the most common commands in git

also checkout Think like a Git a really nice and helpful site

Git from bottom up ebooks is also helpful

git ready for learning git one commit at a time

Hmm..that is a lot!! And believe learning Git is really fun!!

Now I am gonna try out Git Immersion and Think like a Git. And then will definitely read the Pro Git open source book to become Git expert ;).

That's it for now. Good bye!! And happy Git learning!

Update:- Just found out a new free Git Branching learning resource. Its called learnGitBranching. It is free and interactive.

[theverge]

Canon discontinues 5D Mark II, the DSLR that changed video

Today we bid a fond farewell to one of the most influential DSLRs ever made — the Canon 5D Mark II. CanonRumors points out that the camera has been moved to the “old products” page on Canon’s Japanese site, and the body is no longer available to purchase from the company’s US store.

[ashudave]

Noooooo!!! I was really thinking of buying Canon 5dMk2 in next 3-4 months and I just got the news that it has been discontinued! I don't whay the heck did they discontinued one of the best DSLR while it was still in demand!! Now what? I really wish that I'll find a 5dmk2 and I just want it. I now it would be a bad choice for novice like me but still this is my only choice. I really liked it from the day it was launched. I guess I would now have to settle on some other Canon but yes it will be only Canon.

[ashudave]

I love Goodreads Giveaways!

I joined Goodreads in November 2009, but never used it. I wan not an avid reader back then. But still I liked reading since childhood and I read everything I find around me. For e.g. I liked reading English newspaper, magazines and then I learned Gujarati (Gujarati is my mother tongue but I didn't know how read and write till I was 13). I still read a lot but now-a-days most reading happens on web mostly using my laptop. But still I find time reading Gujarati magazine esp. Chitralekha and Gujarati newspaper.

It was February, 2012 that I came to know that Goodreads.com conducts giveaways. It was just too simple to take part on Goodreads and win. So I started using Goodreads and took part in some giveaways And then I won my first book. It was "Open The Windows" by Sukant Ratnakar. It was a good book. I liked and completed reading it. Today I received my third book and I am damn excited. Apart from other features of Goodreads, the giveaways are my favorite and the only reason I like Goodreads so much!!

[ashudave]

Wow!!! 135 shots that will restore your faith in cinema..

Truly artistic and amazing!!!

[ashudave]

R.I.P. wakoopa

Wakoopa Social also popularly know as "Last.fm for software" is going down forever. One of my favorite tracking tool and one of its kind social network is closing. The team of Wakoopa are closing their most popular product Wakoopa Social and will now continue their focus entirely on the corporate research community.

I joined wakoopa on 13 May 2010 and till now I have used 754 different applications. Most used software being Firefox, VLC and Facebook. This is really sad for me because there's no alternative to wakoopa. This is and was one of the best software tracking application that logs the usage of a software.

I just wish they bring back wakoopa later in time.