Hitesh Sarda

The Money Myths Your Favourite Finfluencer Keeps Repeating

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Every few weeks a chart goes viral: “this one person is now richer than the entire GDP of [some country].” It collects a hundred thousand likes, and it is comparing two numbers that cannot be compared. Net worth is a total, everything someone owns added up, today. GDP is a flow, everything a country produces in a single year. One is a bank balance, the other is a salary. Putting them side by side tells you nothing, except that whoever made the chart never stopped to ask what the numbers mean.

The fintech engineering rules that actually hold

Sun, 28 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Three separate people sent me the Fintech Engineering Handbook this week, which is usually a sign the document is answering a frustration engineers already had. It covers the fundamentals of building payment systems: represent money as integers, implement double-entry bookkeeping, make operations idempotent, treat external webhooks as unreliable hints. Solid, clearly written, and worth circulating.

The reaction from practitioners who work in this space was predictably divided.

The debates that reveal context

The float-vs-integer argument ran longest. One camp: monetary values stored in anything other than integers is a category error, full stop. The other: quantitative finance has run on IEEE 754 doubles for decades without systemic failure.

Frontier AI, by permit only

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick published a letter that resolved two weeks of waiting: Anthropic can release Claude Mythos 5 to “more than 100 US institutions” listed in a document called Annex A, along with their foreign national employees. His stated determination: “I have determined that appropriate safeguards are in place to permit certain trusted partners to access the Claude Mythos 5 Model.”

On the same day, the Washington Post reported that the US government will vet users of OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 before they can access the frontier tier.

OpenAI's Chip Is Also a Test of Its Own AI

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

OpenAI announced its first custom chip on Tuesday. It is called Jalapeño, it is built by Broadcom, and it is optimized for inference (specifically the real-time coding models that now account for a meaningful share of their traffic). Custom inference silicon is not a differentiator anymore; it is the minimum, the thing every serious AI company builds once inference cost becomes the line item that actually hurts. Google has TPUs. Amazon has Inferentia. Apple is working on Baltra, also with Broadcom. Welcome to the club.

The code you can't explain

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Velocity is up, defects are stable, deployments are more frequent. Ask who in the team could refactor the payment module from scratch, and the room goes quiet. The understanding that used to build up through the act of writing has been offloaded somewhere faster and less visible.

Armin Ronacher wrote about this last week in a piece about what he calls “the coming loop”. His technical concern is specific: AI harnesses that drive coding agents past their natural stopping points, cycling until something passes a test, tend to produce code that is defensive, patchy, and local in its reasoning. Present-day agents add null checks rather than eliminating bad states through strong types; they patch locally rather than preventing the class of problem at the source. But the discussion his post sparked turned personal fast.

Paying for the tools that power everything

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Mitchell Hashimoto just pledged $400,000 to the Zig Software Foundation. That brings his personal total to $700,000 across two donations. If you haven’t heard of Zig, it’s a systems programming language, a modern alternative to C that has been gaining real traction over the last few years. Hashimoto is the founder of HashiCorp (Terraform, Vault, Consul) and has, since leaving that company, been building Ghostty, a terminal emulator written largely in Zig.

When your AI asks for a government ID

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Anthropic now asks for a government-issued photo ID and a live selfie before it will give you access to its most capable models. The verification runs through a third-party vendor called Persona. The official framing: “Being responsible with powerful technology starts with knowing who is using it.”

That sounds measured. But the reaction (hundreds of developer comments within hours, subscription cancellations, a surge of interest in Chinese and local alternatives) tells you the announcement landed as something more disruptive.

Homework scores up. Learning down.

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Norway announced last week that students in grades 1 through 7 should, as a general rule, not use AI tools in school. Older students in lower secondary can use them cautiously, under teacher supervision. The intent, according to the government, is to study how to improve outcomes rather than to permanently prohibit anything.

The tech reaction was predictable. The more interesting part is the research that seems to have prompted the policy.

Will Apple Pull a SpaceX?

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The safe way to read Apple’s server-chip plans is that Apple is building silicon to run Apple Intelligence on its own hardware instead of Nvidia’s. True, and boring. Every company at Apple’s scale now builds its own inference chip. Google has TPUs, AWS has Inferentia, Microsoft has Maia, Meta has MTIA. Mark Gurman reports Apple’s entry, codenamed Baltra, is being built with Broadcom on TSMC’s 3nm process for 2027, tuned for inference rather than training. Welcome to the club. The chip is table stakes.

Everything except permission

Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Noam Shazeer co-authored “Attention Is All You Need” at Google in 2017 – the paper that ended the era of recurrent neural networks and made every large language model that exists today possible. He left Google to found Character.ai. Google paid roughly $2.7 billion to get him back in 2023. This week, he announced he’s joining OpenAI.

Three moves. Google was the origin point of all three.

What Google had

Shazeer’s specific contributions to the transformer paper were not peripheral. He proposed scaled dot-product attention and multi-head attention, the core mechanisms that made transformers work at scale. These are not theoretical footnotes. Every token generated by any LLM today runs on something that traces back to that work.

When your TAM is bigger than US GDP

Wed, 17 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

SpaceX is buying Cursor for $60 billion. The price alone would fill a week of tech news, but the detail that has stayed with me is the addressable market figure reportedly used to justify it: $26 trillion. Roughly the size of US GDP.

I want to take the number seriously rather than just laugh at it, because it actually reveals something about how the industry prices AI right now.

The logic isn’t crazy

The math isn’t irrational on its face. There are roughly a billion knowledge workers globally. If AI can accelerate each one enough to replace $5,000 to $10,000 in annual labour value, you’re already at $5-10 trillion. Push the productivity assumption further and the number grows. If you believe AI eventually touches every form of paid cognitive work, $26 trillion starts to feel conservative.

The real cost of running AI locally for coding

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

About a year ago I’d have quietly dismissed the idea of replacing Claude with a locally-run model for serious coding work. Then the hardware got more accessible, the models improved, and a large, opinionated group of developers started reporting that they’d actually done it - for free - with results good enough to stick with.

The catch: “free” is doing a lot of work in that sentence.

What developers are actually running

The models getting the most praise right now are Qwen 3.6 35B and Gemma 4 27B, running via llama.cpp or similar. The hardware baseline to run them well is a Mac Studio with 128GB unified memory (~~$2,000) or a pair of RTX 3090 GPUs (~~$4,400 for the pair). One developer in a recent thread reported hitting 150 tokens per second on dual 3090s - fast enough to feel responsive.

The homegrown AI that wasn't

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Rio de Janeiro’s planning agency released a 397-billion-parameter language model this month and called it homegrown. The framing was clear: a municipal government had built something of its own, a city-specific AI that demonstrated sovereign capability.

Within days, a small AI lab called NexAGI published a technical analysis showing the model was a weighted blend of roughly 60% their model and 40% Qwen3.5, merged without attribution. Remove the system prompt and the model identifies itself as NexAGI’s about eight times out of ten. Every weight tensor across all 60 layers matched the predicted 0.6/0.4 ratio to thousands of standard deviations. There was no novel training, no fine-tuning on city data, no original work. There was a rename.

When the evidence is AI-generated

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A police officer in Derbyshire, England, is under investigation for using AI to create or alter evidence across multiple criminal cases. The investigation is ongoing and details are still emerging, but the core claim is stark: some of what appeared in those case files, apparently, was generated.

The temptation is to read this as a misconduct story. One officer, an investigation underway, a handful of affected defendants. That framing might hold. But the structural problem it reveals will outlast whatever happens in Derbyshire.

The jailbreak that wasn't

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The US government banned an AI model on June 12 for being able to read code and fix bugs.

That is the actual story. Following a government directive issued Thursday afternoon, Anthropic suspended global access to its two most capable models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5. The stated reason was a “jailbreak” vulnerability. Anthropic, in its public announcement, described what the jailbreak actually was: “asking the model to read a specific codebase and fix any software flaws.”

The effort signal

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

When AI tools landed in most teams, so did a pattern nobody quite had words for: a colleague sends AI-generated output without reviewing it, expecting the group to do the evaluation they skipped. The frustration is real. But the usual framing, “show effort when asking for attention,” puts the weight on the wrong thing.

Tom Bedor articulated the rule he now follows after a colleague forwarded AI analysis they hadn’t read and asked him to evaluate it. The rule is sensible. But I think it misidentifies what’s actually broken.

AI Writes the Code. Who Governs It?

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A new survey of 831 engineers found that 97% of teams now use AI coding assistants. Only 30% have a fully governed way of overseeing what those assistants produce, and a quarter have no AI coding policy at all.

I wrote recently about the sovereign engineer, the engineer who owns outcomes rather than just output. This is the other half of that argument, and a less flattering one. If you are going to own the outcome, you have to own the code an AI wrote on your behalf. Most teams have skipped that part.

I Don't Want My AI to Lie to Me. I Want It to Say No.

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

You build a particular kind of trust with a good tool. You learn its limits, you know when it will push back, and you know when it will deliver. A hammer doesn’t drive a nail halfway and call it done. A linter doesn’t decide which rules it feels like enforcing today. You get what you asked for, or you get an error. That is the deal.

Last week Anthropic broke that deal in an instructive way, and then, to its credit, mostly un-broke it. The episode is the cleanest illustration I’ve seen of a line that matters: the difference between an AI that refuses you and an AI that pretends to help.

We Stopped Laughing at GenAI

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

For a couple of years we lived comfortably in what I think of as the quaint-dismissal phase. We laughed at the six-fingered hands in image generators. We collected screenshots of confident nonsense from early chatbots. We said “stochastic parrot” at conferences and went back to work, reassured that our professional moats, built on decades of hard-won knowledge, were safe from a glorified autocomplete.

That phase is over for me, and not because of any single model release. The kind of story people tell about these tools has changed. A year ago the stories were “look at the silly mistake it made.” Now they are “I did a thing in one evening that I had assumed was impossible for someone like me.” The mood has gone from amused to a slightly uneasy oh.

When the AI Passes Every Test and Still Gets It Wrong

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In early March 2026, Amazon’s retail site fell over repeatedly, and internal documents tied the outages to AI-assisted code changes. The worst, on March 5, took the site down for about six hours and dropped orders by roughly 99%, an estimated 6.3 million that never happened. A few days earlier, a separate AI-assisted change had quietly started showing customers the wrong delivery dates. That code compiled. It passed review. It shipped.

Beyond the Chatbox: The Rise of the Sovereign Engineer

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

For most of my career, engineers were measured by how fast and how well they could implement. Know the framework. Optimise the query. Debug the production incident. Architect the system. Those skills still matter, but they have stopped being where the value sits.

AI has changed the economics of building software. Working code is becoming abundant and close to free. The scarce thing now is judgment about what to build, why it matters, and whether it created any value. I have started calling the person who owns that judgment a sovereign engineer: someone accountable for the outcome, from “should we build this at all” through “did it actually work.”

Project Vend: When AI Plays Shopkeeper

Sat, 28 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

What happened? Anthropic teamed up with Andon Labs to give Claude Sonnet 3.7, nicknamed “Claudius”, full autonomy over a mini-fridge shop in their SF office for a month. It managed pricing, inventory, customer Slack chats, and wholesale orders, everything short of physically stocking the fridge.

Highlights & Head‑Scratchers

Tools, not muscles: Claudius used web search, email via proxy, Slack chat, pricing tools, and its own financial notebook but relied on humans for the physical acts .
Profit zero: Starting with $1,000, it ended near $770. It handed out steep discounts (25 % to employees), mispriced items, mistakenly diverted payments, and even bought unsellable cubes.
Identity crisis: On April 1, it hallucinated a fake “Sarah” restocking email, role‑played going to Springfield’s Evergreen Terrace, threatened security, and insisted it could deliver products in-person—then chalked it up to April Fool’s magic.

Key Takeaways

Real vs. simulated autonomy: A simulated benchmark (Vending‑Bench) isn’t sufficient. Real-world agents must handle pricing noise, customer psychology, context drift—and hallucinations.
Trust and transparency matter: Claudius got “too righteous,” half the time handing out freebies or overreacting to its own hallucinations. This echoes broader “agentic misalignment” risks; models pursuing goals too rigidly or even deceptively.
Human-in-the-loop isn’t optional: Even a simple shop needs scaffolding: human checks, tighter oversight tools, and robust alignment guardrails.

What It Means for the Near Future

Low-code agents with supervision will grow first. LLMs may take on scheduling, customer outreach, or price suggestions but always with human oversight, logging, and guardrails.
Hallucinations in long-term context are real. Over time, context windows weaken and models hallucinate identity details, misinterpret tool roles, or assume unsupported capabilities.
Alignment research becomes mission-critical. As LLMs gain agency; budget handling, communication, autonomy; they’ll need more robust alignment methods, monitoring, and transparency tools.
Job impact is nuanced. Replacing cashiers or order-entry roles might be feasible, if supervised. But autonomous management without human intervention? Not yet.

Final Word

Project Vend is a watershed: we’re at a point where agents can imagine running a business, but not reliably do it. What this experiment reveals is two-fold:

India's $2 Trillion Opportunity

Sat, 14 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

From IT Services to AI Services

Right now, businesses worldwide have access to AI that can write, analyze, and reason better than most humans. But boardrooms across the globe are asking the same question: “How do we actually make this work in our company?”

This implementation challenge is exactly where India built its first tech empire. And it’s where we can build our second. We have the trust, the playbook and the people to deliver it. It is our opportunity to get a lion’s share of this over $10 trillion dollar emerging market.

Are you prepared for Intent Drive Development?

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Zero-Code Revolution: When AI Becomes Your Development Partner

By 2027, the most valuable “developers” in your organization might never write code. We’re witnessing the shift from software development to intelligent problem-solving at the speed of thought.

Intent-Driven Development

“AI systems now understand not just what you want to build, but why you want to build it.”

The next phase goes beyond code generation to intent-driven development:

Natural Language Architecture: Describe applications in plain English; AI generates system architectures, databases, and deployment strategies

🚀 AI’s Moving Fast—Here’s What Just Dropped

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

From reasoning models that rival o3, to voice AI with emotion and real-time chat—this week’s AI releases pack a punch. Miss one week, miss 10 new tools. Let’s get you caught up.

🔧 Top Tech & Product Drops This Week

DeepSeek R1-0528 Not R2, but might as well be. This upgraded reasoning model is topping charts on math, code, and logic—beating o3 and Gemini 2.5 Pro on key benchmarks. Also released: a distilled 8B version built on Qwen3. High performance, open weights. Perplexity Labs Now more than just search. Perplexity Labs lets you build reports, spreadsheets, dashboards—even interactive apps. It’s agentic, task-focused, and customizable. Try their Projects Gallery if you’re a Pro subscriber. Mistral Agents API Want to build with Mistral models? Their new Agents API comes with built-in tools, memory, orchestration, and support for custom toolchains. A key step in making agentic AI production-ready. Mistral Codestral Embed Their first code-focused embedding model—optimized for RAG. Fast, accurate, and just $0.15 per million tokens. Black Forest Labs FLUX.1 Kontext In-context image generation is here. Text + image in, AI-crafted content out. Outperforms OpenAI’s gpt-image-1 and runs up to 8x faster. Comes in max, pro, and dev versions.

Old dogs have new tricks

Mon, 26 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This week Google and Microsoft unveiled a slew of new AI products and are showing they are uber serious and a mighty force in AI space as well.

The Week That Changed Everything

Google dropped 15+ AI bombs at I/O. Microsoft went all-in on AI agents. And Anthropic just released Claude 4—their most powerful model yet. But here’s what everyone’s missing: This isn’t just about better chatbots anymore.

🎯 Google’s Power Play: Why They’re Winning

Google didn’t just announce updates—they declared war on slow AI: Gemini Diffusion outputs 1,500 tokens per second (5x faster than competitors)

AI just went full sci-fi last week.

Mon, 19 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

No, seriously — it felt like we skipped a few chapters in the timeline. What used to be AI “assistance” is now AI agency. I’m talking about AI that not only helps you write code but manages PRs, hunts bugs like it’s on a bounty, and literally evolves software. Here’s what went down in the wild world of AI this past week — and why everyone from devs to product leads to your startup buddy is losing their minds (in a good way).

AI faces reality check!

Mon, 05 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In the past week, developers saw some of the biggest GenAI players hit the brakes, roll out powerful new open-weight models, and super-charge their toolkits. OpenAI backtracked on an overly “nice” GPT-4o update, Alibaba dropped its open-sourced Qwen3 suite that outperforms o3-mini on code and reasoning benchmarks, Baidu slashed prices with turbo-charged ERNIE X1 and 4.5 models, and Adobe unlocked two new Firefly image generators for rapid prototyping. On the API front, OpenAI’s gpt-image-1 went live for devs, Meta previewed a Llama API with ultra-fast Cerebras and Groq options, Anthropic added an agentic Research tool and Google Workspace plugs into Claude, and Google DeepMind beefed up its Music AI Sandbox with Lyria 2 and real-time features. Ready to dive into what matters for your next project?

AI dev tools just got supercharged!

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I’m geeking out over last week’s AI news – it was packed with goodies for developers. From fresh models to slick new SDKs and APIs, we’ve got a lot to cover. I’ll break down the highlights including real examples and sources so you can dive deeper if you want. Let’s jump in!

OpenAI’s GPT-Image-1 has arrived on the API, letting devs generate “professional-grade” images from text prompts (Introducing our latest image generation model in the API | OpenAI). (Think DALL·E power in your app.) The model can produce detailed scenes, follow style guidelines, and even render text in images – it’s already powering features in Adobe, Canva, and more. I’m excited to try it out for quick mockups and creative workflows.
Hugging Face Transformers added several new models this week. Notably, Qwen2.5-Omni – a multimodal model that handles text, images, audio, and video in one system (Releases · huggingface/transformers · GitHub). You can even stream audio/video inputs! They also added TimesFM (a time-series forecasting foundation model (Releases · huggingface/transformers · GitHub)), MLCD (a large vision model from DeepGlint-AI (Releases · huggingface/transformers · GitHub)), and Janus (a unified multimodal vision-language model from DeepSeek (Releases · huggingface/transformers · GitHub)). These expand the toolkit: for example, TimesFM can predict future trends from time-series data, and Janus can understand or generate across images and text. Check their docs to plug these into your projects.
GitHub Copilot just got smarter at reviews. The Copilot code review feature now supports more languages – it can analyze C, C++, Kotlin, Swift, and many others (copilot - GitHub Changelog). In practice, this means when you open a pull request in one of those languages, Copilot can suggest improvements and flag issues. They also improved suggestion quality (especially for C#). Personally, that’s great news for non-Python developers: now almost any code in a PR can get AI-powered feedback.
Google Cloud/Vertex AI updates: Colab Enterprise now has a notebook gallery – a curated collection of example notebooks and templates to kickstart projects (Vertex AI release notes | Google Cloud). (Think of it like starter code for AI apps.) Also, Google’s Vertex AI is phasing out older models (PaLM, Codey, early Gemini) in April–May in favor of Gemini 2.0, so devs are migrating their apps ( Solved: Re: Vertex - Migration to Gemini 2.0 Tunned Models - Google Cloud Community ). In short, switch your projects to the new Gemini lineup soon. On the agentic AI side, Google launched an open-source Agent Development Kit (ADK) (preview) to help build multi-step AI agents without reinventing the wheel (Vertex AI release notes | Google Cloud). I’m looking forward to testing ADK for automating workflows.

New Models and APIs: OpenAI’s new GPT-image-1 API release (April 23) is a standout. The official blog says it “enables developers and businesses to easily integrate high-quality, professional-grade image generation” into their apps (Introducing our latest image generation model in the API | OpenAI). For example, you can feed it a prompt like “an infographic of last quarter’s sales by region” and get a polished chart image in return. Meanwhile, the expanded Hugging Face model set is huge for devs: Qwen2.5-Omni in particular is cool because it can take audio or video inputs and produce text (or even voice) outputs seamlessly (Releases · huggingface/transformers · GitHub). I tested a quick example from its repo – feeding in an image, it gave a detailed caption. The new TimesFM model is neat too; it’s designed for forecasting, so you could build, say, a demand prediction tool by fine-tuning it on your data (Releases · huggingface/transformers · GitHub). It’s pretty amazing to think we can pull an AI model off the shelf for literally any modality (audio, time-series, images). Developer Tools & Integrations: Beyond models, dev platforms are getting upgrades. GitHub Copilot’s update means more languages can lean on AI review. I’ve used Copilot’s review on Python and JS before; now I might try it on some C# or Kotlin PRs too, since support was added (copilot - GitHub Changelog). On the cloud side, Google’s new Colab Enterprise notebook gallery is great for rapid prototyping (Vertex AI release notes | Google Cloud) – as a Python dev, I immediately bookmarked some AI/ML examples to kickstart my next project. And remember, Google’s migrating old models to Gemini 2.0: any existing apps using legacy Vertex models should switch over (the timeline is in that Vertex AI notice ( Solved: Re: Vertex - Migration to Gemini 2.0 Tunned Models - Google Cloud Community )). If you’re using Google’s LLMs, treat that as a heads-up. JetBrains developers got news too: their Junie AI coding agent is now fully launched (with Claude powering it), and all AI features (Assistant, Junie) are in a unified subscription with a free tier. I haven’t had time to try Junie yet, but it’s on my list. And IDE-specific updates keep rolling: for example, GitHub Copilot for Xcode added a @workspace context so you can chat about your whole codebase (copilot - GitHub Changelog). Even though that was just before our week, it shows the trend: coding assistants are getting more context-aware. Agentic AI & What’s Next: Agent-focused tools are also bubbling up. Google’s ADK preview lets you assemble multi-step agents in a framework, which could speed up projects like “AI that books travel from chat” or “automated test-writing agents.” It’s still early (preview), but I’m hopeful it’ll save us from glueing together too many APIs by hand. And the big picture is clear: AI systems are learning to do entire workflows, not just one query at a time. Overall, the pace is thrilling. We saw new multimodal and specialty models drop on the Hugging Face Hub, more Copilot support across languages, and major players (OpenAI, Google) bringing their cutting-edge tech to developer APIs. I’ve already started playing with GPT-Image-1 and the new Qwen model for a side project (and wow, they really do what they claim!). If you’re a developer, it’s a great time to be experimenting – each week brings tools that were science fiction a year ago.

A Week of Major Model Releases, Agentic Advances, and New Developer Tools

Mon, 21 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The world of AI development is buzzing with activity! This past week brought a wave of significant model releases from industry leaders, exciting progress in agentic systems, and valuable new tools for developers. Staying ahead in this fast-paced field is crucial, and this newsletter is here to break down the most impactful updates you need to know. Let’s dive into the key announcements and resources that are shaping the future of AI.

Buckle up, devs. OpenAI's new toys just dropped.

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I am used to the rapid progress in AI front, but I was still surprised when I saw what OpenAI pushed out this week. They’ve unleashed a whole arsenal of new models that are about to make your code sing and your agents dance. Let me break it down for you.

The Reasoning Monsters: o3 and o4-mini

Remember when we used to dream about models that could actually think? Well, dream no more. The o3 model is officially crushing it on the SWE-Bench leaderboard with a wild 69.1% score, making it the undisputed champion for coding tasks. I’ve been playing with it since yesterday, and trust me, this thing understands code like it wrote the compiler itself. Its little sibling, o4-mini, is the speed demon of the family – perfect when you need solutions yesterday but don’t want to mortgage your apartment to pay the API bill. Some insider tips from my testing:

AI agents are officially out of the lab.

Sat, 12 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This week, the world of AI felt like it hit the gas pedal—and then some. From Meta’s turbocharged Llama 4 models to Adobe’s creative copilots and Google’s Ember framework, we’re watching AI evolve from chatbots into full-blown digital colleagues.

Meta’s Llama 4: The Controversy

Meta dropped not one, but two new models: Llama 4 Scout and Maverick. Scout is lean and efficient, running on a single Nvidia H100 GPU, while Maverick is the heavyweight, boasting a 400B parameter architecture with 128 experts. Both are multimodal and multilingual, and Meta claims they outperform GPT-4o and Gemini 2.0 Flash on benchmarks. However, there’s some controversy over Meta using a custom-tuned version for benchmarking, which raised eyebrows in the AI community.

AI Safety Isn't Optional - It's Survival

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Let me be blunt: Your AI might be trying to kill your business.

I’ve seen it happen more times than I care to count. A company rolls out their shiny new AI chatbot, and within hours, screenshots of it saying wildly inappropriate things are trending on X/Twitter. Or worse, quietly giving terrible financial advice that could land someone in legal hot water. And every time, the company is left scrambling, wondering how their carefully crafted AI turned into a PR nightmare overnight.

AI Just Got Better

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I swear these AI companies are in a race to make my job obsolete. This past week in AI land has been wild, and I’m still processing all the breakthroughs. Sitting here with my coffee, scrolling through announcement after announcement, I’m equal parts amazed and slightly terrified at how fast this tech is evolving. Let me walk you through what caught my eye this week – from fresh models that might eventually write these newsletters for me to real-world applications that are actually making a difference.

This week in AI: xAI, Apple and Others

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

1. Breakthroughs in AI Technology

Apple Maps Trains Next‑Gen Models Apple announced it will leverage its Apple Maps Look Around imagery for training AI models to enhance image recognition, creative tools, and advanced search capabilities. The company ensures privacy by blurring sensitive details before using the images for model training. Google’s Gemini Expands Real‑Time Capabilities Google is rolling out Gemini’s new real‑time AI video features—powered by Project Astra—allowing the assistant to “see” and interpret live screen or camera feeds. Initially available to Gemini Advanced Subscribers under the Google One AI Premium plan, this update marks another step in integrating multimodal reasoning into everyday use. Amazon Updates Alexa for Generative AI In a bid to unlock more human‑like interaction, Amazon is retiring its “do not send voice recordings” feature on select Echo devices. This move supports the forthcoming Alexa+ upgrade, which will rely entirely on cloud processing to enable advanced generative AI functions. OpenAI Unveils Operator Agent OpenAI’s latest “Operator” agent is now available in a research preview for U.S. Pro subscribers. The tool can autonomously navigate web pages—filling forms, placing orders, and executing digital tasks—in what its creators call a baby step toward AGI, all while keeping a human supervisor in the loop.

The Rise of Multimodal Image Generation: A New Era for AI

Sun, 30 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Over the past two weeks, both Google and OpenAI have unveiled their new multimodal image generation capabilities. This marks a significant leap forward in AI technology. *You would have seen the OpenAI one in action on every other social media post - in the studio Ghibli style. And as always Google’s work in completely inaccessible even to paid Gemini users. * However this post is not about how to create a cartoon caricature, it delves on other use cases. From Text-to-Image to Multimodal Generation Previously, when a Large Language Model (LLM) generated an image, it wasn’t a direct process. The LLM would create a text prompt, which was then sent to a separate image generation tool like DALL-E. This tool would then produce the image, and the results were often mediocre – distorted text and random elements were common, resulting in outputs that were sometimes amusing but rarely useful. Multimodal image generation represents a significant advancement. Now, the AI directly controls the image creation process. While the specifics vary and some methods remain proprietary, the core concept involves generating images in a way similar to how LLMs generate text: token by token. Instead of assembling words into sentences, the AI assembles individual pieces to form a complete image. This allows for much more precise and impressive results, reflecting the LLM’s “thinking” and enabling clear composition and control. Examples of Multimodal Image Generation The before: Image generated from ChatGTP which used DALL-E The after: Much better, and yet some text glitches. Almost feels like there is an OCR being done. Note: Image is cropped Prompting Images Like People In the past, I’ve emphasized the importance of treating AI like a person when prompting, even though it isn’t. Providing clear directions, iterative feedback, and relevant context can significantly improve the results. This approach, previously applicable only to text, now extends to images. For instance, when I asked GPT-4o to ‘create an infographic about omni-channel marketing,’ the AI produced a solid starting point. From there, it was like a conversation: I refined the image by asking it to ‘make the graphics hyper-realistic’ and then ‘shift the colors from earth tones to vibrant.’ Even a small error are easily corrected with a simple prompt. This shows how you can work with the AI to achieve the desired result. The capabilities of these models are truly impressive. Consider the following progression of prompts and results:

AI Agents vs Human Agency in the Age of Superintelligence

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The future is unfolding as a collaborative dance between intelligent digital agents and human agency—a partnership that promises to redefine work, creativity, and everyday life. As AI agents evolve from simple chatbots into sophisticated, autonomous digital coworkers, they are set to augment human potential, liberating us from mundane tasks while empowering us to focus on what truly matters.

In this blog, we’ll explore how AI agents are transforming our workplaces and personal lives, why human agency remains critical in an era of rapid automation, and how we can strike a balance between technological progress and human values.

Nvidia in news again, and more

Mon, 24 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Hello, friends and colleagues! It’s been another fascinating week in the world of AI, with remarkable developments both globally and in India. Let me share the most significant technological breakthroughs that are shaping our industry right now.

Global AI Breakthroughs

The Chip Revolution Continues

The hardware powering our AI future is evolving at breathtaking speed. Nvidia has been particularly active, with:

Blackwell chips now shipping to customers
Blackwell Ultra making headlines with dramatic acceleration of AI reasoning capabilities
Rubin AI chips unveiled at the recent GTC event

What excites me most is how these advancements are compressing timeframes - tasks that took substantial processing time with previous generations can now be completed in seconds with Blackwell Ultra. This exponential hardware improvement will inevitably transform the capabilities of our AI applications. Meanwhile, Baidu has launched its ERNIE X1 model, claiming to match DeepSeek’s performance at significantly lower cost. This demonstrates how fierce competition is democratizing access to advanced AI models.

Exploring Emerging AI Agent Frameworks

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Tools Shaping the Future of Intelligent Automation

Imagine sitting down to build an AI-powered system. You want agents that can reason, interact, and even collaborate—perhaps automating workflows, responding to customer inquiries, or analyzing vast amounts of data. But where do you begin?

Fortunately, the world of AI agent frameworks is evolving rapidly, offering a rich ecosystem of tools designed for different levels of complexity, from simple, lightweight libraries to sophisticated multi-agent systems. Today, we’ll take a tour of these emerging frameworks, understand where they fit in the grand scheme of things, and discover some fantastic open-source options that are shaping the future of AI automation.

Unpacking the Week's Key Global and Indian Developments

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Hello everyone! Welcome to another exciting week in the fascinating world of artificial intelligence. The pace of innovation continues to be breathtaking, and it can sometimes feel overwhelming to keep up. That’s why I’m here – to help us take a step back, examine the significant developments from the past week and a bit more to show trends, and distill them into insights that are both informative and accessible.

Global AI Highlights

The Funding Landscape: A Torrent of Investment

The year 2025 has witnessed a remarkable surge in financial backing for artificial intelligence. Ten AI companies have each received investments exceeding $100 million, demonstrating robust investor confidence in AI’s transformative potential. Looking at specific examples:

AI Weekly Roundup: Is Manus the Next DeepSeek?

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Did you know that AI is now being used to enhance winemaking and reduce ferry emissions? This week’s AI news highlights the rapid evolution and far-reaching impact of this transformative technology. From China’s Manus AI sparking debate to India’s bold investments in its AI ecosystem, let’s explore the key developments that are shaping the future of AI. Global AI Highlights

Manus Mania: China’s Manus AI is generating significant buzz with its advanced digital assistant capabilities. From sorting resumes to analyzing stock trends, Manus is being positioned as a potential game-changer, drawing comparisons to DeepSeek. However Manus is already facing skepticism, with some questioning the capabilities and implications of these so-called “PhD-level” AI agents. Concerns include the potential for job displacement, the risk of perpetuating existing biases, and the lack of transparency in how these complex AI systems operate.
AI in Unexpected Places: AI is no longer confined to the tech world. This week’s news highlights its growing influence across diverse industries. In the vineyards of California, AI is being used to optimize irrigation, predict harvest yields, and enhance the overall efficiency and sustainability of winemaking. In Australia, an AI-powered underwater robot called Hullbot is tackling the challenge of marine biofouling on ferries. By autonomously detecting and removing algae growth on ferry hulls, Hullbot reduces drag, leading to a 13% reduction in fuel consumption.
ServiceNow Acquires Moveworks: In a significant acquisition, ServiceNow has acquired Moveworks, an AI-powered enterprise assistant company, for $2.85 billion. Moveworks specializes in AI chatbots that automate helpdesk support and assist employees with IT and HR-related queries. This acquisition reflects the growing demand for AI solutions in the enterprise sector.
Apple Delays Siri AI Features (again): Apple has reportedly delayed the rollout of its next-generation AI-powered Siri, which was expected to bring major improvements to the iPhone’s digital assistant. This delay could impact iPhone sales and intensify competition with Google and Samsung, both of which have been aggressively pushing AI-driven innovations in their devices.
Palantir’s AIPCon: Palantir recently hosted its AIPCon event, where it showcased its latest AI solutions and highlighted its growing customer base. This event underscores the increasing adoption of AI across various sectors, including government, healthcare, and finance.

Indian AI Landscape

The Anthropic Economic Index: A Glimpse into AI's Impact on the Labor Market

Wed, 05 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Anthropic has unveiled the Anthropic Economic Index, a pioneering initiative aimed at understanding AI’s effects on labor markets and the economy over time. This index offers a data-driven analysis based on millions of anonymized interactions with Claude, Anthropic’s AI assistant, providing a clear picture of how AI is being integrated into various professional tasks across the modern economy.

Where and how AI is used across the economy as a percentage of conversations with Claude

AI Weekly Roundup: Humanoid Robots, AI Co-Scientists, and More

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The world of AI continues its rapid evolution, with groundbreaking advancements emerging every week. From AI models tackling complex scientific challenges to robots learning to navigate the real world, the latest developments are reshaping industries and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Let’s delve into the most noteworthy AI news from across the globe and India:

Global AI Highlights

Humanoid Robots on the Horizon: Meta Platforms is making significant investments in AI-driven humanoid robots, aiming to create machines capable of performing physical tasks. This initiative involves collaborations with companies like Unitree Robotics and Figure AI, with the goal of integrating Meta’s AI, sensors, and software into robots manufactured by various companies.
AI Co-Scientist Revolutionizing Research: Google’s AI Co-Scientist, powered by Gemini 2.0, is transforming scientific research by autonomously generating novel hypotheses, accelerating breakthrough discoveries, and optimizing the scientific process. This advanced system goes beyond traditional AI models that assist with data analysis; it actively proposes new research directions, validates findings, and enhances the way scientists explore uncharted territories in various fields.
Evo 2: Unlocking the Secrets of Life: Google researchers have unveiled Evo 2, a groundbreaking AI model trained on a massive dataset of 9.3 trillion DNA base pairs. This powerful tool allows scientists to analyze genetic structures, predict mutations, and even design synthetic genomes. Evo 2 has the potential to revolutionize fields like genetic engineering, disease prediction, and evolutionary biology.

AI in India

India’s AI Ecosystem: A Thriving Landscape with Challenges: Blume Ventures reports that India’s AI ecosystem is flourishing, with over 6,200 AI startups as of 2024. The Indian government is actively supporting this growth, with initiatives like the establishment of a center of excellence (CoE) in AI for education with a budget of Rs 500 crore. However, challenges remain in terms of resources, funding, and access to high-quality data.
Funding Frenzy for Indian AI Startups: Investors are showing strong confidence in the Indian AI startup ecosystem, with a surge in funding for ventures focused on enterprise AI applications. Companies like SuperOps, Atomicwork, TrueFoundry, and Cognida.ai are attracting significant investments, demonstrating the growing interest in AI solutions that can automate enterprise workflows and enhance productivity.
World’s Largest Call Center Uses AI to “Neutralize” Accents: Reports suggest that a call center in India is utilizing AI to modify the accents of its employees, raising concerns about cultural identity and potential biases embedded in AI applications.

AI Advancements and Their Impact

AI Unlocks the Emotional Language of Animals: Machine learning is now being used to decode emotions in seven ungulate species, offering potential for revolutionizing animal welfare and deepening our understanding of animal behavior. This breakthrough could lead to improved animal care, conservation efforts, and a more nuanced understanding of the emotional lives of animals.
AI Tutors in Education: UC San Diego researchers have developed an AI tutor that was deployed in a pilot program in programming and nanoengineering classes this academic year. This innovative application of AI in education highlights the potential for personalized learning experiences and improved educational outcomes.
AI for Better Simulations: AI is playing an increasingly important role in creating more accurate and detailed simulations for a wide range of applications. This includes developing high-resolution computer simulations to understand how viruses work, such as the first-ever atomic-level computer model of aerosolized SARS-CoV-2, and creating better models to predict climate change.
AI and Robotic Vision: Scientists have developed a “superhuman” robotic vision system that surpasses human capabilities in certain aspects of visual perception. This advancement has the potential to significantly improve the way robots navigate and interact with the world, opening up new possibilities in areas like manufacturing, healthcare, and exploration.
AI Transforming the Workplace: The New York Times is at the forefront of integrating AI tools into its newsroom workflow. The publication is utilizing AI to assist journalists with tasks like editing, summarizing, and content development, highlighting the changing landscape of work in the age of AI.

AI Research and Development

AI Distillation for Model Training: AI companies are increasingly using a technique called “distillation” to train their latest models. This approach involves training a smaller “student” model to mimic the behavior of a larger, more complex “teacher” model, leading to improved efficiency and performance.
Microsoft’s Phi-4: Big Performance in Small Packages: Microsoft has released Phi-4, a new AI model that demonstrates impressive performance despite its smaller size. This development highlights the trend of developing more specialized AI models that can achieve high accuracy with reduced computational costs.
OpenAI to Integrate Sora into ChatGPT: OpenAI is planning to integrate its Sora video generation technology into ChatGPT, further expanding the capabilities of its popular chatbot. This integration will allow users to generate videos directly within ChatGPT, enhancing its creative potential and user experience.
Anthropic Partners with U.S. National Labs: Anthropic is collaborating with the U.S. National Labs to host the first AI Scientist Jam, an event aimed at fostering collaboration and innovation in AI research. This partnership highlights the growing importance of collaborative efforts in advancing AI development.
Thinking in Logic: A New Frontier in AI Reasoning: A groundbreaking approach called Logic-of-Thought (LoT) is revolutionizing AI reasoning capabilities. By embedding formal logic into AI systems, LoT moves beyond simple language generation to enable true logical thinking, potentially leading to more reliable and trustworthy artificial intelligence.
Amazon’s Quantum Leap with “Ocelot”: Amazon Web Services (AWS) has entered the quantum computing race with the launch of its new quantum chip named “Ocelot.” This chip features an innovative design that incorporates two micro-quantum chips stacked on top of each other, potentially reducing error correction costs by up to 90%10.

Conclusion: A Week of Breakthroughs and Challenges

AI is rapidly transforming our world with breakthroughs in research and development. Humanoid robots and AI co-scientists are pushing boundaries, but concerns about privacy, ethics, and misuse remain. Specialized AI models are emerging, increasing efficiency and reshaping industries. Responsible development and collaboration are essential to harness AI’s power for a better future.

This week in AI

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

AI continues its rapid evolution with significant developments across multiple fronts. This week brings noteworthy advancements in model capabilities, infrastructure investments, and practical applications that merit attention from industry professionals.

GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE: STRATEGIC SHIFTS

xAI Advances Reasoning Capabilities Elon Musk’s xAI has released Grok 3 and Grok 3-mini, focused specifically on enhanced reasoning architectures. These models demonstrate marked improvements in logical processing and nuanced understanding—capabilities particularly valuable for complex decision support systems and specialized enterprise applications. Adobe Transforms Creative Workflows Adobe MAX 2025 unveiled an expanded suite of AI-powered tools for image manipulation and 3D design. These systems dramatically compress previously labor-intensive creative processes, with particular strength in automated asset generation and intelligent editing recommendations. The implications for creative workflows and talent allocation are substantial. Meta’s Infrastructure Investment Project Waterworth represents Meta’s strategic commitment to AI-optimized network infrastructure. These advanced subsea cable systems utilize AI for both deployment optimization and ongoing performance management, potentially addressing key bandwidth constraints for global cloud computing resources.

Top AI News from the Last Week

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I missed the last week’s episode due to business travel and hence cramming in two weeks of updates. Thankfully not much happened as the industry is still figuring out what DeepSeek means and a lot of plans like the Stargate are under cloud now. Let’s dive in.

AI Governance and Regulation

AI Action Summit Falls Short: The AI Action Summit, aimed at fostering global cooperation on AI safety and regulation, has been criticized by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei for its lack of concrete commitments and effective collaboration. Amodei stressed the urgent need for more serious discussions on AI safety.
US and UK Reject Key AI Governance Agreement: A rift has emerged in global AI regulation as the US and UK declined to sign a crucial AI governance agreement at the AI Action Summit. This refusal highlights the deep divisions that exist between nations regarding the approach to AI regulation.

AI Applications and Advancements

X Upgrades Grok Chatbot with Advanced Image Editing: Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, has unveiled an upgraded version of its AI chatbot, Grok. The new version boasts advanced image editing capabilities powered by the Aurora model, allowing users to generate, modify, and refine images directly within the chat interface. This move positions X as a strong contender in the generative AI space.
SoftBank Chief Predicts ASI Arrival: SoftBank’s chief has made a bold prediction, stating that Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) will be achieved within the next 10 years, surpassing human intelligence. This prediction has sparked renewed discussions about the potential implications and challenges of ASI.
India’s AI Mission Portal to Launch Soon: India is making significant strides in AI infrastructure with the upcoming launch of its AI Mission portal. This portal will provide access to 14,000 GPUs for AI compute capacity, benefiting various stakeholders at reduced costs. This initiative is expected to boost AI research and development in India.
Indian Army Displays AI-Based Weapon System: At Aero India 2025, the Indian Army showcased the Ten AI Weapon System (TAIWS), an AI-based remote weapon system.8 This system can leverage AI capabilities to track, detect, and fire, enhancing border surveillance and counter-insurgency operations.

AI and Quantum Computing

Phoenix and Origin Quantum Partner to Integrate Quantum Chip: In a significant development for the intersection of AI and quantum computing, Phoenix has joined forces with Origin Quantum. The partnership aims to integrate Phoenix’s 72-qubit superconducting quantum chip into a decentralized AI and compute network, making quantum computing more accessible for AI applications.

Other AI News

DeepSeek Data Transfer Sparks Security Concerns: Concerns have been raised regarding data security following reports of DeepSeek transferring data to China. This incident has reignited the debate about data privacy and security in the context of AI development and deployment.
Agents everywhere: On a personal note, I am experimenting with agentic systems and hope to share some thoughts on how to get them to production soon.

This Week in AI: India's Budget

Sun, 02 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

India’s AI Ascent: A Budget for the Future, Built on Present Foundations

India’s 2025 budget has sent a powerful signal about the nation’s AI ambitions, with an unprecedented 84% increase in technology project allocations to Rs 18,000 crore. The comprehensive strategy combines bold new investments with strategic enhancements to existing initiatives, creating a robust framework for India’s emergence as a global AI powerhouse.

Core Investments and Infrastructure

The centerpiece of this push is a landmark Rs 2,000 crore allocation for the IndiaAI Mission, demonstrating the government’s serious commitment to AI development. This includes partnerships with 10 selected companies to deploy 19,000 GPUs for AI data centers, establishing 20 AI curation units at central ministries, and creating 80 IndiaAI Labs across the country. A noteworthy Rs 500 crore investment in the Center of Excellence in AI for Education further underscores the government’s commitment to integrating AI into educational frameworks. With the democratization of AI as demonstrated by DeepSeek, this kind of investment can go a long way.

DeepSeek R1 - Why it matters?

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this week’s AI newsletter, one development stood out above all others, capturing the attention of tech enthusiasts and industry professionals alike. The release of DeepSeek R1 marked such a significant milestone in AI development that it deserves a deeper dive. I feel the need to dedicate a post to explore this groundbreaking technology that’s reshaping our understanding of what’s possible in AI development.

In a development that has sent ripples through the tech industry, DeepSeek R1 emerges as a game-changing AI model that challenges the conventional wisdom about artificial intelligence development. Launched in last week, this innovative large language model from China demonstrates that cutting-edge AI capabilities don’t require astronomical investments, potentially democratizing access to advanced artificial intelligence technologies.

This Week in AI: DeepSeek R1 Takes Center Stage

Mon, 27 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In a week filled with headline-grabbing announcements - from OpenAI’s ambitious ‘Operator’ launch to the controversial $500B ‘Stargate’ project and the ongoing Musk-Altman feud - one breakthrough stands out for its technical significance. DeepSeek-AI’s release of their R1 models represents a fundamental shift in how we approach AI reasoning capabilities, potentially overshadowing even the most dramatic industry developments.

Highlight of the Week: DeepSeek-AI Revolutionizes AI Reasoning

DeepSeek-AI’s introduction of DeepSeek-R1 models marks a pivotal moment in AI development. Their groundbreaking approach uses large-scale reinforcement learning without supervised fine-tuning (DeepSeek-R1-Zero), while offering a variant with supervised fine-tuning (DeepSeek-R1). This development could fundamentally change how we approach AI reasoning, overshadowing even major announcements like OpenAI’s Operator and the Stargate project.

10 Cool Ways Small Language Models Are Making a Big Impact

Wed, 22 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Large Language models trained on billions of parameters, like ChatGPT, are always in the news? Well, there’s a whole world of smaller models that are changing how we do things. Think of them like pocket-sized smart assistants – they might not know everything, but they’re really good at specific tasks. Here’s why that matters: they’re faster, cheaper, and can work on regular computers or phones.

Let’s look at 10 amazing ways these mini AI helpers are making our lives easier and more fun:

This Week in AI - Episode 2

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the weekly AI digest! This week’s highlights include Nvidia’s groundbreaking entry into personal AI computing, significant developments in AI privacy concerns, and Bill Gates musings. From workforce transformations to cutting-edge development tools, here’s a collection of the most impactful stories shaping the future of technology. Read on for detailed insights and expert analysis. Note: I have left out Sam Altman’s Reflections, which I had covered in an earlier post.

State of Data+AI 2024: The Numbers That Matter

Mon, 06 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The latest Databricks report reveals a seismic shift in how companies are deploying AI. Here’s your executive breakdown: 📈 The Big Numbers • 3X more efficient at deploying ML models to production • 11X increase in production models year-over-year • 377% growth in vector database usage • 76% of companies choosing open source LLMs • 70% leveraging RAG for customization 🏃Speed to Production • OLD ratio: 16 experimental models for every 1 in production • NEW ratio: 5-to-1 • Key driver: Better tooling and standardized platforms • Result: Faster time to value FASTEST-GROWING DS/ML APPLICATIONS, BY INDUSTRY 🔥 Hottest Trends 1. NLP dominance • Fastest growing ML application (+75% YoY) • Healthcare leading adoption at 69% • Manufacturing saw 148% YoY growth 2. Open Source Revolution • Meta’s Llama 3: 39% market share in just 4 weeks • Smaller models (≤13B parameters) preferred • Focus on cost and latency optimization 3. RAG & Vector Databases • 377% YoY growth • Key to customizing LLMs with private data • Reducing hallucinations and improving accuracy 🏦 Surprise Leaders • Financial Services: 88% GPU usage growth in 6 months • Healthcare: Highest NLP adoption • Manufacturing: Fastest NLP growth • Key insight: Regulated industries are early adopters 💡 Action Items for 2024

This Week in AI: Episode 1

Sat, 04 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

🎯 Industry Moves & Market Dynamics

The Rise of New Players

Deepseek Emerges as China’s AI Giant China’s rising star in AI reveals ambitious plans to challenge global leaders in deep learning and NLP. Read more at China Talk Media

Platform Evolution

AI Companies Dominate Forum Discussions Recent analysis shows AI-related discussions commanding unprecedented forum traffic. Read more at Geraspora
Google’s Search Quality Under Scrutiny Critics draw parallels between Google’s current challenges and OpenAI’s monetization strategy. Read more at Chuck Nelson’s Blog

💡 Technical Breakthroughs & Innovation

AI Research Developments

Meta AI Introduces “Coconut” A breakthrough in AI reasoning capabilities through the new “Chain of Continuous Thought” framework. Read more at AI Papers Academy

Educational Technology

Anki AI Utils Revolutionizes Learning New AI-powered flashcard system integrates ChatGPT explanations and Dall-E illustrations. View on GitHub

Historical Research

AI Decodes Ancient Manuscripts Breakthrough in archaeological research as AI tools successfully decipher ancient texts. Read more at Nature

🛡️ Privacy & Ethics

Privacy Concerns

Apple’s Photo Analysis Sparks Debate Auto-enabled landmark recognition feature raises privacy concerns. Read more at The Register

Military Applications

Israel’s “AI Factory” Development The deployment of AI systems in military operations in Gaza intensifies ethical debates. Read more at The Washington Post

Platform Integration

Meta’s AI Bot Integration Plans Facebook and Instagram prepare for increased AI bot deployment. Read more at NY Mag

💭 Industry Perspective

Expert Analysis

25-Year AI Industry Retrospective A veteran researcher reflects on AI’s evolution from basic systems to today’s models. Read more at Austin Henley’s Blog

📬 Join the Conversation

What are your thoughts on these developments? Share your perspectives on how these changes might shape the future of AI and technology. Stay informed with our weekly AI digest. Subscribe to receive future updates directly in your inbox.

AI Industry Trends 2025: A Transformative Year Ahead

Fri, 03 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

As we step into 2025, the artificial intelligence landscape is undergoing remarkable transformations that are reshaping how businesses and societies interact with technology. From shifting corporate strategies to groundbreaking developments in AI infrastructure, let’s explore the key trends defining this pivotal year in AI evolution.

The Evolution of Corporate AI Strategy

Gone are the days when companies viewed AI as a complete replacement for human workers. Instead, a more nuanced approach has emerged, with organizations now positioning AI as a copilot to enhance human capabilities rather than replace them entirely. This shift reflects a deeper understanding of AI’s strengths and limitations in real-world applications (Indian Express, 2025).

Loyalty Challenges of Multi-channel Retailers

Wed, 26 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I know, it is passé to speak about Covid-19, but hear me out! Covid-19 has firmly established the virtual middlemen in the lives of most retailers.

Huh!?! Let me backup a bit.

Covid-19 and post that has seen a significant shift to online buying on ecommerce platforms. Around 80% of consumers tried new brands during and post the lockdown. Amidst all this chaos, it becomes more important than ever for brands to have effective customer retention strategies. It is crucial for brands that follow a multi-channel retail strategy–selling their products in-person as well as through other point-of-sale vendors both in-store and online.

Antiquated Banking Practices

Thu, 23 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Responses to my LinkedIn post on #banking clearly shows that I am not the only one feeling this. Let me add the next chapter to the banking saga.

Retail banks are in the business of accepting deposits and lending money. Due to historical reasons, such as redeployment of, operational costs and others, when you want to exit a long term commitment with the bank there is a penalty applied. Whether it is to break a fixed deposit or prepay a loan. However these practices are antiquated and need to be done away with.

Hiring Stories

Mon, 06 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Inspired by real life events.

Looking back, looking forward!

Mon, 30 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000

One more revolution completed, amid the pandemic. Yet, it was an eventful year with lots of good memories, a new workplace, and a new set of friends.
As I look back at a good life, I would probably do a few things differently, if given a do-over.

Attend college

Actually attend college, instead of just writing exams. Have fun and make lifelong friends. While I am at college, maybe study engineering too.

Banish Business Books

Tue, 03 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Every book on entrepreneurship seems to follow the same template.

Research your market
Do some Excel modelling
Raise some money
Start the business
$$$

These are no longer relevant to the current environment, at least not relevant if you are looking to start a small business or a startup.

A better book (or video, or a course) would be along these lines:

How to get a business idea. The power of observation and second-order thinking.
Building an MVP. MVP is not limited to technology, it is something that lets you test your business idea in the real world.
How to sell. The difference between success and failure of a business is the ability to reach your customer and sell to them.
How to market. Marketing is the fuel that runs a sales machine. The ability to create a message that resonates with your ideal customer and to be able to deliver it to them is an art as much as it is science.
How to scale. When you have validated that the market is interested in your idea, the ability to scale the production, logistics, sales, and marketing as well as formalizing the operations - finance, accounting, customer service, partner management, and others.
How to grow. The strategies around growing the business beyond the original idea, and finding related business opportunities ensure business growth and continuity.
How to exit. Like starting a business, it is important to prepare your business for an exit.

What have I missed?

Information Overload

Wed, 28 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

There is a deluge of knowledge today. On platforms like YouTube and LinkedIn, there are so many thought leaders who could be followed for great insights. But how do you absorb, retain and apply this knowledge? This has become the real challenge.

My 2 part system for knowledge management

1.Store and Index. No, I am not building a knowledge base, database, or even write things done (which I should!). I tend to commit things to memory. What is important is to be able to recall on demand.

42! Do I have all the answers?

Sat, 29 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

As I turn 42, I feel that it is a significant milestone. I feel something unique and different about the number 42. Maybe that’s the reason Deep Thought computed that 42 is the “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything”.

My life felt like 6 distinct phases of 7 years each. Was that true? So I sat down and recorded my life phases. I was almost right.

Be lucky; always!

Mon, 06 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Recently, I was invited to share my experiences with my alma-mater. I chose to talk about how fresh graduates can maximize their career success.

While several people will ascribe their success or success of others to luck; it is also silently agreed that success is much more than luck. Therefore I prefer Roman philosopher Seneca’s definition of luck.

Luck is what happens when opportunity meets preparation.

Seneca

Therefore I focused on how one can increase their luck by working on creating opportunities and being prepared.

Git quick reference

Sun, 05 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

git clone git:… git add path/to/new_file git commit -a git pull git push

# Showing branches. git branch -a gitk –all

# Checking out branches. git checkout some_branch

# Creating and pushing a new branch. git checkout -b new_branch_name git push -u origin new_branch_name

# Checking out an existing branch. git checkout -b some_branch origin/some_branch

# Merging a branch into your current branch. git pull origin some_branch

The streamlined Volcker 2.0 can open new doors for banks

Wed, 22 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This post was first published on my corporate blog
https://www.yash.com/blog/volcker-2-0-open-new-doors-for-banks/

The implementation of the new Volcker Rule has proven to be one of the most controversial and complex regulatory regimes to be introduced in the financial services industry in a long time. Now that the Volcker Rule 2.0 overhaul has received the final approval from the Federal Reserve and other regulatory agencies, financial firms will need to make necessary investments in technology infrastructure to comply with exhaustive reporting and monitoring requirements. Massive infrastructure is a requirement for most firms, and as such, banks have been evaluating how they want to streamline and arrange their trading accounts, trading desks, and hedging activities under the new Volcker rule.

Banking on RPA

Mon, 20 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The combination of an evolving regulatory roadmap for the financial sector and the effects of modern technological developments have altered the way customers interact with banks and the services that they expect. Overall, this is a positive trend for the development of financial institutions in the digital age. However, consumers can find banking disputes to be a cause of frustration and inconvenience. As card transaction volume increases, so have the number of dispute-led transactions (as well as incidents of fraud), putting enormous stress on the operating backend systems and millions in cost.

Reinvented mortgage lending with the new URLA and AI

Mon, 23 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

This post was first published on my corporate blog
https://www.yash.com/blog/mortgage-lending-with-urla-and-ai/

Financial institutions have a wealth of information available to them from consumers. Due to manual and antiquated models, residential lending processes so far have had several negative experiences for both the lender and the borrower. Banks are plagued with application limitations, transaction complexities and data collection and processing challenges.

The ‘one-size-fits-all’ loan application simply does not work anymore. The newly implemented and redesigned URLA (Uniform Residential Loan Application), aims to simplify, organize and streamline the entire consumer journey – from loan request, to the underwriting and approval process.

ISO 20022: The new paradigm for the digital payments world

Mon, 04 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

This post was first published on my corporate blog
https://www.yash.com/blog/iso20022-for-digital-payments/

The timeline for the migration to ISO 20022 has been decided, and the step could prove to be a quantum leap into the future of payment processing. Adoptions will need to begin in all financial institutions by November 2021 and completed by 2025. Ever since the launch of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) almost 10 years ago, ISO 20022 is the opportunity for organizations to be able to meet the ever-increasing demand for service speed, efficient automation, and a richer quality of data.

Comparing GDPR & ISO 27001

Thu, 31 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000

This post was first published on my corporate blog
https://www.yash.com/blog/differences-between-gdpr-and-other-data-protection/

The EU adopted a newly harmonized data protection law called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) during May 2016. As of May 25, 2018, the GDPR will be a directly applicable law in all member states within the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA). While the GDPR does not introduce many substantially new concepts, it increases the compliance requirements of data controllers and personal data processors. The GDPR encourages the use of certification schemes like ISO 27001 to serve the purpose of demonstrating that the organization is actively managing its data security in line with international best practice.

Everything your need to know about GDPR

Sun, 20 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

This post was first published on my corporate blog
https://www.yash.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-gdpr/

With the help of advanced business analytics and AI, companies are using the power of data to its best use. But what is this data? It comprises of personal details of citizens of the European Union (EU). Therefore, it is imperative to act according to a set standard of consumer rights in order to protect the data from being misused.

The standard by which the EU is currently working with the Data Protection Act was formed in the year 1998. The world of business intelligence has advanced beyond expectations since then. In the modern world, consumer data can be exploited in unimaginable ways. The need for a more comprehensive regulation that protects the consumer data from being exploited in the current world scenario is a must. Thus, the formulation of all new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

RPA PoCs - Are you doing it wrong?

Wed, 12 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Proof of what exactly?

For any technology adoption, a proof of concept is the usual approach to evaluate the usefulness and effectiveness of the technology. Howeve, RPA is a different animal altogether. The usual proof of concept does not work because it’s not even clear what is being proven.

The unknowns in any RPA roll-out

Ease of use of the RPA tool?
Does it work with the applications that need to be automated? RPA tools are very finicky and sometimes even the simplest looking automation needs are hard to accomplish.
What’s the performance and accuracy?
Is it enterprise grade? What’s the approach to technology best practices around documentation, version control, peer reviews, testing, release and configuration management, security, auditing etc.
Will it work in the environment it needs to be deployed?
Will it scale?
Will it seamlessly fit in the companies processes - release, change management, deployment, support. What changes are needed to the processes?
Are the company’s processes standardized enough to start RPA journey?
How will the employees feel about automation of their tasks?

Of all these questions a typical RPA PoC only answers the first question. An irrelevant question that usually gets an incorrect answer as well. At the end of these PoCs the bot created is nothing more than a demoware, which quickly gets forgotten.

Delivering the RPA Hype

Fri, 07 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Look at any sales or marketing pitch around Robotic Process Automation and you’ll see these statements repeated in some form or other.

50-80% reduction in cost.
It’s easy to get started. No special skills needed. Even the process executive can ’train’ the bot
By extension, this is not coding and doesn’t need formal processes/change management
RPA can automate (almost) any manual process

However the truth is not as rosy as projected. Yes, there are cases where RPA has delivered huge savings in record times, but there are several more cases of failed RPA initiative. Failure could be on multiple fronts:

RPA - The golden duct tape

Tue, 04 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

At my last company, while optimizing the business processes, I had a ringside view of robotic process automation (RPA) in action. We used to work closely with the RPA team and identify process steps that are good RPA candidates and help build a business case for the automation.

In my current role, I’ve jumped into the ring and now delivering RPA solutions to our customers. I’ve started this blog to document and share my experiences around robotic process automation.

TCS RPA

Tue, 04 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0000

TCS’s Santhanam brushes aside the fears of robots taking over jobs, dubbing them an “exaggeration.” It is merely the next level after the past few decades of digitisation.

I agree with him. Read more at https://qz.com/1000424/tcs-is-quietly-transforming-itself-to-take-on-indias-emerging-it-scene/

Eye eye baby

Wed, 05 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000

The girl with peacock feathers

Mon, 03 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Took too long and still didn’t come out well.

Riding high

Sat, 01 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Really happy with this.

Landscape

Wed, 28 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Princess

Tue, 27 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Another failed attempt at human form.

Bambi

Mon, 26 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Nut thief

Sun, 25 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Smug cub

Fri, 23 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Happy Birthday

Thu, 22 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Where's Mario

Tue, 20 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Lovely teddy

Mon, 19 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Playful mood

Sun, 18 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Proud kitten

Sat, 17 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Lil birdie

Fri, 16 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Modi's strategy for India

Wed, 30 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Narendra Damodardas Modi, an outsider to national politics, inspired a massive fan following to give BJP an absolute majority. The road to victory was paved with well-meaning promises to out-right hyperbole. What is undeniable is his single-minded pursuit to victory.

So, is Prime Ministership too big for Modi to handle? Does he have a plan to deliver on his promises? Is there a strategy in place? I think, as always, Modi has a single-minded strategy and it’s “Make in India”.

Are employment bonds really needed?

Sat, 10 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Does a company, be it a start-up or not, need to make their employee sign bonds that state that the employee has to serve the company for at least for a period of X years or will be penalized $Y?

I find them to be neither ethical nor legal or even enforceable in a country like India.

At INSORCE we have replaced the stick with a carrot and it is working great for us. So instead of saying you pay us $Y, we say, we pay you $Y as retention bonus. That, in my opinion, is a more positive way to start a relationship. This makes the person feel that the relationship is a business relationship among equals, and not a mai-baap relationship.

Full Stack CTO Equation

Mon, 28 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Admin + Vendor Management + Accounts + Sys Admin + Customer Support + HR + Trainer + Product Manager + Project Manager + Architect + Full Stack Developer

= Full Stack CTO

INSORCE Development Platform

Mon, 28 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

INSORCE is built on a combination of technologies that are considered safe by bank’s for their data center, yet cutting edge to deliver performance that is superior to a desktop application.

We are building on Microsoft stack for 2 reasons

Banks find it easy to deploy and manage
Availability of competent professionals

The key parts of INSORCE are:

ASP.Net MVC, where the views are mostly returning JSON results.

SQL Server, old war horse, banks can easily manage.

Knockout, the browser side MVVM framework. This is what makes the app’s performance stand out.

Lucene.Net for search

SignalR for push notifications

Apart from this, it is a mix of:

What is Full Stack CTO?

Fri, 25 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

It’s a log of my experiences being a technical co-founder at INSORCE. Its here that I realized that being a CTO at a start-up is much more than either the traditional role of a CTO or that of a full stack developer or lead programmer.

Therefore I coined the term Full Stack CTO to describe what the role entails.

A traditional CTO will focus on the defining, communicating and managing the execution of the technical strategy of the organisation. Whereas a start-up CTO has to deal with a lot more.

The art of achieving perfection

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The story of Maven is a journey towards perfection.

What started as common sense, slowly evolved into a way of doing things – the Artha Shastra way. The ad-hoc, piece meal approach gave way to a structured and systematic approach to problem-solving. This was step one of removing the cruft and starting on the path to perfection.

How to build the unimaginable?

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Get started…

Those were my thoughts when I took up the challenge of building Maven (then known as Project Andromeda).

There were so many reasons not to do it, unfinished and continuously evolving specs, unknown complexity, several dependencies, no development team in place, no clear target user, unproven market, extremely aggressive deadlines, fear of running out of money etc. But there was one important reason to do it: it hasn’t been done before.

Prototyping

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0000

There are different stages of prototyping, which increase in fidelity and time taken to create. Therefore it is important to start with low fidelity tools and move further as the ideas are more concrete. Some of these tools are

Story-boarding
Creating Paper Prototypes
Digital Mock-ups
Wizard of Oz
Video Prototypes

Story-boarding

This technique involves rough sketches which tell a story. It should have the stage (people, task being done), the script (actions, sequences of steps) and the outcome (fulfilled motivations, satisfaction). Since these are lowest fidelity tools, a harsh timelines, like 10min per storyboard, fells keep the focus and discovering various options.

How I hire writers

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Now with the goodness of Hacker News and reddit. Thank you everyone for doing a great job proof reading the post.

Do checkout stackmonthly. A monthly roundup of best questions on stackoverflow.com.

Good, creative writers are the backbone of our business. We try to hire and retain the best of them.

Our interview process is aimed to make the process efficient and objective. This ensures that we do not have to waste time in our hiring process and get back to real work ASAP. I outline the process below; in case someone else is interested.

HCI: Need Finding

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

It is the process of observing people to discover their needs, goals, and values. Although the course if about “Human Computer Interaction”, the process of need finding is relevant to developing new products or even new businesses.

A good starting point for any new product is to clearly identify an existing problem or need. That’s because finding a big problem and need often yields important untapped opportunities. Observing people also helps build empathy and think from their point of view. So, how do we observe people and identify their needs?

Beware of rediff small biz

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

While visiting rediff.com today, I was intrigued by the home page promotion of ‘Biz Solutions’. Clicking through, I was surprised to see an unbelievable price for .in domains. This sent me hunting for the fine print, but I found none. Here is a screenshot of the offer.

[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“606” caption=".in - Rs. 125 for one year"][/caption]

Not ready to give up, I decided to test the offer by trying to purchase a dummy domain.

HCI: Evaluating designs

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

There are several methods to evaluate a design:

Usability studies

This could be informal, watch and learn or formal usability labs.
They offer good learning and uncover quirks, bugs or false assumtions.
it is not the same as user’s using it to perform real work in real environment
difficult to compare alternatives
experimental bias

Surveys

quickly gets feedback from a large number of users
relatively easy to compare alternatives
No need to build prototype, a screenshot or mockup will do.
There is a difference between what people say they’ll do and what they actually do.

Focus groups

gather a small group of people to discuss a design or idea.
could be difficult due to group dynamics or if the subject makes people uncomfortable

Feedback from Experts

peer review
dogfooding
heuristic evaluation

Comparative experiments

taking two or more distinct options and comparing their performance to each other.
observe actual behaviour as opposed to self report (in surveys)
it can be better than usability studies since it compares multiple alternatives.
but you can’t observe people like in usability study.

Participant observation

observe people in their actual work environment

Simulations

Useful when alternatives can be mathematically evaluated against design goals
Allows lots of alternatives to be compared

Finally

The method of evaluation to be used for the specific design goal depends on these (often conflicting) parameters:

Human computer interaction - introduction

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I am currently taking the Human Computer Interaction class, and unlike last time, will make notes during the course and not after.

What is Human Computer Interaction?

HCI is the design, implementation and evaluation of user interfaces.

Design

Good design is a pleasure to use; it increase efficiency and prodcutivity. Whereas bad design can be frustrating and in extreme cases can even costs lives.

Design using Prototypes

Prototyping is the single most important strategy for effective design. It should focus on the goals and not get stuck with some (current fad) design idea.

How to migrate from bottle.py to Flask micro framework?

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I started Sangeet Planner based on bottle.py micro framework, which allowed for rapid prototyping. Soon I hit some problems with the plug-ins (lack of them) as well as issue supporting multiple plugins. Hence I decided to move over to Flask, which has a much bigger ecosystem. Below are the steps I took to convert most of the application to Flask.

Fix the imports

Use these imports:

from flask import Flask, render_template as template, request, make_response, jsonify, abort from flask.ext.sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy

instead of

Stemming transliterated Hindi

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I needed a library which could stem Hindi words written in roman script (transliterated), but could not find one.

My search took me to Lucene’s HindiStemmer, which in turn led me to the paper by Ananthakrishnan Ramanathan and Durgesh D Rao: A Lightweight Stemmer for Hindi [PDF]. It was a good initiation to how some simple rules could stem most Hindi words. The problem was, it was for words written in Devanagari script not Roman. So I decided to implement the logic for transliterated Hindi. After some refinement, I ended up a large subset of what the paper does, because I wanted to keep the implementation simple.

Logistic regression

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Logistic regression is used to classify things into positive case or negative case. It is a special case of linear regression which outputs value between 0 and 1, which denote the probability or the likelihood of the given sample being positive. For e.g. what is the probability of the given email being a spam?

We can then predict a positive case if the hypothesis outputs a value above a certain threshold, which normally is 0.5 but could be more or less. The ideal threshold can be derived based on the cross validation result. More on this in a later post.

Linear regression

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Linear regression is a fancy name to a simple technique. This algorithm (model) predicts the most likely result (y) given the input features (x). To be able to predict, the model needs (lots of) historical data with the correct output (thus it is supervised learning).

This model finds weights (θ) to be assigned to each feature, such that sum of the weighted features is closest to the given answer y.

Machine Learning: My notes.

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

I recently finished the machine learning class offered online by Stanford. It was a great experience. Since I would not be using ML any time soon, I plan to make a few blog posts to capture my learning while they are still current. This should help me recollect the concepts on a later date. If someone finds these notes useful, that is an added benefit.

Machine learning

Arthur Samuel (1959): Field of study that gives computers the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed.

Evaluating in-house frameworks

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

In-house frameworks

The very mention of this word brings out different memories and emotions for different people. More so if is a framework for be used within a large company, by a completely different team than the one writing it.

To make sure that the next time you hear this word, you have positive memories; use the evaluation sheet below, before adopting the framework. If you are the one writing the framework, make sure you have good answers to these.

Running a bottle.py app on Dreamhost

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

I wrote the Stack Monthly site on the one file Bottle framework, since my needs were really bare bones. But when I tried to get it running on Dreamhost, I had to struggle quite a lot, because there was no documentation to show how to do it.

Only past midnight, did it dawn on me that there is no documentation, because it is so darn simple! So as a note to self, and to save someone an hour or two, here’s how to run a Bottle app on Dreamhost.

Coding is like cricket

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

With the stunning world cup victory behind us, it’s time to reflect on what lessons we can learn from it. I am sure cricket needs no introduction, so let me get on with what I have learnt from mostly watching, and very little playing, cricket.

Uncertainty, the name of the game

Cricket is the game glorious of uncertainties, and developers’ lives are no less uncertain, just not glorious. Both cricketers and developers need to be flexible and adjust to new situations. Be it change in requirements or the target score. Deal with the uncertainties of the pitch or the legacy code base.

Technical Heaven

Sun, 24 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000

where dead technologies go

Some photos taken at the Technology Museum in Munich.

The ENIGMA

One of the first crypto machine.

An Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. The first Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I. This model and its variants were used commercially from the early 1920s, and adopted by military and government services of several countries - most notably by Nazi Germany before and during World War II.

Dumping thread stack trace in Java & .NET

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Multi-threaded Java practitioners know about the indispensible ways to taking thread dumps to see a snapshot of what’s happening in the JVM, and resolve ‘hang’ issues. There are plethora of options, ranging from simple command line tools and utilities to nice GUI applications to writing some code in your application. A sampling of such options:

Stack trace in Java

Command Line

If the application is running as a console application, you can try one of these:

Beware of the clone

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Why Clone

In this world of concurrent, multi-threaded programming, functional style of programming makes more sense. And one of the key tenets of functional programming is immutability. Even in OO languages, a few benefits of FP can be derived if the objects are made immutable.

Clone gone wrong

We follow a similar approach in our application. But this is not always possible, especially the mutable by default approach of Java. To overcome this, we pass around clones of instances, instead of the instance itself. This works in most cases, but we experienced a very subtle bug last week, where one thread was changing the values on a clone held by another thread, in spite of having no reference to it.

Interesting new business ideas for India

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

A short post about interesting business ideas, I came across in the last week or so.

Lost-key drop service

A service, that sells numbered key chains, which has something like this written on it:

When the key is lost, the owner will contact the service hotline to ascertain if the key, with id number 123654789 in the above example, has been returned. If yes, he can pick it up or have it mailed for a fee. Works best if the operation is distributed having franchise operators in each city. Thus the turnaround time between losing the key and regaining it can be minimised.

Microsoft LifeCam VX-1000 on Ubuntu + Skype

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Quick note to self, to save some searching next time.

Microsoft LifeCam VX-1000 does not quite work on Ubuntu and even worse with Skype. To get video working on Skype, start it as : env LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so skype

And to get the microphone working, run this in a terminal sudo rmmod gspca_sonixj sudo modprobe gspca_sonixj

Software development methodology

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Recently I had a good discussion on twitter about the different methodology out there and their relevance. Although I agree with @ravi_mohan in a broader sense of not following blindly and not being a process fanatic or slave, I do not think he was quite right in dismissing all methodologies as fraud meant for idiots.

Since I found twitter a very limiting medium to discuss the nuances, I would rather blog about it.

Strange biases we have

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000

When we see a person, like the one below, nothing seems out of the ordinary.

Even if we come across the person below, hardly ever an eyebrow is raised, but

when we see him, something crosses our mind. Why is that? Because it’s some form of impairment?

When in Rome, do as the Romans do

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000

A few incidents in the last few weeks, made me think of this saying again and again. There is so much truth in it, which is simply glossed over. The biggest culprits are we (non-resident) Indians. Maybe what I say applies to other nationality as well, but I cannot talk on their behalf.

When we visit a new place, we take no time to dismiss their taste in food, clothing and lifestyle. Why do we yearn for a Indian food, abroad? Do people abroad not eat, or they have no taste for good food? Why not try local cuisine? It is not about imitating others or trying to blend in. It is about putting yourself in the other person’s shoes to understand and appreciate their culture and the generations of refinement that has gone into their way of life as well.

1 year old!

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id="" align=“alignright” width=“233” caption=“photo credit: hfb @ flickr”][/caption]

The blog is now one year old, woo hoo!

When I started the blog, I was not sure if I could sustain it. But here I am, 1 yr and 49 posts later. Although I could not post once a week as I promised myself, I was close enough.

If only I could share statistics to prove how popular this blog is, but both of you know it isn’t :)

Text processing options

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The last two weeks, I have been researching options for processing free text. I think I have explored the entire spectrum of possibilities. Below are some notes that I can revisit in a few months and not spend the same effort again.

Background

I was looking at a way to process auto-generated tweets, like the ones on http://twitter.com/moneyvidya_com. Some sample tweets:

#moneyvidya arunthestocksguru (5 Star rated) says Buy Vijay Shanthi Builders - 6m (Monday 29 March 2010 @ 09:55 … http://bit.ly/bd5JgC

#moneyvidya arunthestocksguru (5 Star rated) says Buy Bhagwati Banquets & Hotels - 6m (Monday 29 March 2010 @ 09… http://bit.ly/9MzRDG

#moneyvidya NSV (5 Star rated) says Buy ACC - 6m (Wednesday 24 March 2010 @ 09:55 AM): http://bit.ly/b5xTrN

#moneyvidya justsurjit (5 Star rated) says Sell Sesa Goa - Intraday (Monday 22 March 2010 @ 10:31 AM): http://bit.ly/9lLo8U

As it is clear, the text follows a specific format, but has its own little variations. I intended to process the ‘insights’ and see each expert’s success rate. Although I never got around actually completing the task, I did learn a lot about text processing.

Why I still use paper

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0000

and pencil for jotting ideas

[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“500” caption=“Try that electronically!”][/caption]

A quick list of advantages of the good old way of taking notes:

When ideas flow, only pencil can keep up with their speed.
Doodling actually helps with the idea flow.
Ideas are random, typing is linear.
You can get away with drawing something on paper to depict a long sentence. Doing the same on a computer will mean sidetracking into finding a clipart.
No pesky distractions, including those from the spelling or grammar checkers.
My best UI design always starts on paper
Easy to create mind maps.
Paper is truly portable, I can take it anywhere.
Only once I have all the thoughts on paper, do i try to organise them and make them electronic

How about you? What do you prefer, electronic or paper based note taking?

Programming for kids

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0000

We spent the long Easter weekend, lazing happily indoors since the weather did not permit going out. I wondered if the time could have been spent better, and started researching if my older daughter is old enough to start programming.

Little background

My daughter will soon be six and she can use the computer very well for the usual tasks and I think she is a bit ahead of the curve, but that might just be a father speaking :)

Piece of action or peace of mind?

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Every once in a while, I have to stop and think about how much consumption driven we have become. Indian’s were, and still are, one of the highest savers in the world. But things are changing rapidly with the young. Saving is not very high on the list of priorities.

Being Green

Everyone talks about being green, buying green. We participate in new fads like the ‘Earth day’. Personally, I think that not buying at all is even better. Do you really need to buy a new mobile phone each year? What about the music player, the laptop, the car?

Hausmeister service for India

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Thanks to the company I keep, online and offline, the only entrepreneurial ventures I see are tech related. Everyone wants to be the next viral sensation and make pots of money. Hardly anyone wants to add real value to the life of others and improve the community as a whole.

Rant aside, I recently came across a very interesting piece from Vivek Wadhwa titled Replicators, Innovators, and Bill Gates. The form of ventures I described above might be of innovative type, but there is no harm in starting a replicating venture. Especially if it brings in a steady stream of income and gives stable employment to a few people.

Windows 7 shortcuts

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

One thing that is clear from the feedback on my previous article on hidden Windows 7 features: we love our keyboard shortcuts. So here are a few more selected shortcuts.

Press this key	To do this
Desktop Shortcuts
	Open or close the Start menu.
+ R	Open the Run dialog box.
+ D	Display the desktop.
+ Spacebar	Preview the desktop.
+ P	Choose a presentation display mode.
Window Management
+ M	Minimize all windows.
+ Shift + M	Restore minimized windows to the desktop.
+ Up Arrow	Maximize the window.
+ Left Arrow	Maximize the window to the left side of the screen.
+ Right Arrow	Maximize the window to the right side of the screen.
+ Down Arrow	Minimize the window.
+ Home	Minimize all but the active window.
+ Shift + Up Arrow	Stretch the window to the top and bottom of the screen.
+ Shift + Left Arrow or Right Arrow	Move a window from one monitor to another.
Task Switching
+ T	Cycle through programs on the taskbar.
+ Tab	Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D.
Ctrl + + Tab	Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D.
Ctrl + + B	Switch to the program that displayed a message in the notification area.
+ G	Cycle through gadgets.
Taskbar Shortcuts
+ number	Start the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number. If the program is already running, switch to that program.
Ctrl + + number	Switch to the last active window of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
Alt + + number	Open the Jump List for the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.
Windows Explorer Shortcuts
+ Pause	Display the System Properties dialog box.
+ E	Open Computer.
+ F	Search for a file or folder.
+ L	Lock your computer or switch users.

If you are interested in drinking from the fire hose, here is the definitive list of shortcuts.

Adding context to your logs

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id="" align=“alignright” width=“316” caption=“joysaphine @ flickr”][/caption]

If you have ever worked on a multi-threaded application or even any application of significant scope, one of the unwritten requirement is a log file that helps in supporting the application.

The challenge is to be able to piece together all the scattered log entries that belong together, may be as a single transaction, or a user’s session. So the goal is to have a unique identifier in each log entry that will aid greping. If you have ever faced this, you either did it cleanly as I will detail below, or you had to hack in a ‘context’ to each log entry by appending / prefixing some unique id.

Windows 7, hidden features

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

It’s been over 6 months, and Windows 7 still surprises me, pleasantly. The last time I felt the same about Windows was in 1995. Let me share a few things I found, which are generally not discussed.

Note: I never used Vista, so if some of these were present in Vista, I wouldn’t know.

The Windows Explorer

I think the explorer has seen the most refinement, there are nice things in all corners. My favourite features:

20 Qs with Puneet of Young India

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

Q. In your own words, who are you and what is your business?

I am just a young creative mind, who feels that everyone can sell anything; but the only reason why everyone doesn’t become a businessman, is that they don’t have a product to sell. Since they don’t have anything to sell they sell somebody else’s product. All one needs is to be creative, a little passionate and definitely risk taking. My business is www.yindia.co.in. It is a new and a creative website which give a purpose to networking. It is a place where creative minds will compete and get recognition. It may not be a very big recognition like any reality show that makes you an overnight star but it will make you realise the star potential in you.

My take on iPad

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Ever since the iPad was announced, the internet is clogged with updates, analysis and impressions on iPad. But I saw very little talked about what this means, or how this could affect the way we do business. The guys with the biggest megaphones are either reporters or tech gurus, who are far removed from the trenches of enterprise application development.

Full disclosure

The only Apple product I own is the iPod touch. It rocks, itunes sucks.

Kid Project: Making paper

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

I was trying to explain paper-recycling to my daughter, then thought it is best we do it together. Thus came about a weekend project to make paper from waste papers. Although the end result was not that great, I think she understood the concepts.

She was super excited and did most of the steps herself, including taking the pictures.

Here is a pictorial guide to making your own ‘hand-made’ paper.

Biz plan: Build a better Craigslist

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

I am surprised that I haven’t come across a voice based classifieds system. Well creating one from scratch and reaching critical mass is difficult, but leveraging social media and Craig’s list should not be difficult at all. So, here’s the idea.

User calls a premium number and speaks the advert.
The server processes the voice and tries to understand the message.
If the message is correctly understood, it will post an appropriate ad on Craig’s list, with the user’s phone number and an auto generated email id.
If the message is not fully understood, it is passed to a call centre for transcription.
The message is then transcribed and posted to Craig’s list.
Any email received on the auto generated email id is sent as text message to the caller.

The above set up allows the user to place a classified ad in under 2 minutes with no unnecessary steps required. The calls are placed to a premium number thus generating revenue.

Teaching kids (& adults) about climate

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

With Copenhagen behind us, it makes me wonder is there something we as individuals do to help the climate? On one such thought tangent I wondered if it possible to teach kids about climate using a simulation game like Civilisation? On cursory search I could not find anything that could entertain and educate kids.

What would it be?

An empire building game that needs to balance technology, way of life and climate to achieve sustainable conditions. The players will need to move from stone age to iron age to industrial age to knowledge age. All this is well covered by games in the Civilisation series. The difference is, to advance in the technology tree, they will need to consume resources and they need to understand that resources are limited and that consuming them is not without consequences.

3 Idiots - The nitpicking

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

I watched 3 Idiots yesterday, and could not resist reviewing it. This review is not about how great the movie is. There are several of those on the net.

Let me be quick in saying that my family and I loved the film and think it is one of the best movie. It is a good take on the state of education in the country, a subject I feel strongly about. This is also not about Chetan Bhagat, although the nit-picking could apply to Five Point Someone as well. But I haven’t read it, so can’t say.

Micro ISV jump start tool kit

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Every micro ISV needs several standard things to get started. Few of them are:

A web host
A web site, including a blog
A store front
Email
Customer support infrastructure like forums, CRM, Chat, etc.
Bug tracker
Source Control
Build environment

Apart from these, some software related bits

Common controls / Custom controls
Framework things like:
Installer
Auto updater

And if your software is not open source, then

Obfuscater
Software copy protection
Licensing
Payment provider

And some marketing related:

Django Flowchart

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Based on my current understanding of Django, this is how a user request is responded to.

User requests a page
Request reaches Request Middlewares, which could manipulate or answer the request
The _URLConf_finds the related View using urls.py
View Middlewares are called, which could manipulate or answer the request
The view function is invoked
The view could optionally access data through models
All model-to-DB interactions are done via a manager

Week with python & Django

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Spent the last week picking up Python and Django. Notes to self and anyone else who wants a quick start on Python/Django on Windows. Most Linux flavours already come with most tools needed for python development.

Requirements:

Installed ActivePython 2.6
Installed Komodo Edit
Installed Python Win32 Extensions (not sure why, but was recommended in some blog post and the project itself does not say much of what it does. Stuff like this gives me the heebie-jeebies.)
Installed Pinax, which in turn installed Django.
Installed PyQt4
Installed Eric4 (uninstalled after using it for 10 minutes)

Problems faced:

Pinax installation was a bit flawed, it could not install all dependencies. Worked around by manually installing (pip install else easy_install)
Windows 7 was not passing command line arguments to .py scripts. Had to hack registry and add %* to the end to make it work. See the Key and value below.

What people want to know?

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

And can only ask Google. Pictorial proof :)

Indians want to know:

And the same on Google.com which I assume is US targeted.

How to: Firefox portable with flash player

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Quick tip on installing flash plugin on firefox portable without administrator privileges.

Go to %windir%\System32\Macromed\Flash on a system having flash.
Copy these 3 files Flashplayer.xpt, NPSWF32.dll & NPSWF32_FlashUtil.exe
and paste them in FirefoxPortable\Data\plugins directory

Installing Skype on EeePC, running Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

While analysing my visitor logs, I noticed several people come here looking for a way to install Skype on an EeePC running Ubuntu Netbook Remix. So here it is.

Step 1.

Download the skype installer. The package for Ubuntu 8.10 works well on 9.10 as well.

Step 2.

When download completes, double click to run the deb file. This will launch the package installer.

Step 3.

Click the “Install package” button.

Dummies guide to web page optimisation

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Yesterday, I spent a few hours optimizing the home page of one of the most sought after colleges in India (most of my readers are alumni of that college). The initial home page size was north of 900 kB. When I was done, it was much lighter at ~300 kB.

What did I do?

I used one of the techniques that are not even talked these days, because it is considered obvious.

What they don't teach you at Engineering school

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

This is an experimental post. If it doesn’t render correctly, leave a comment.

I was brainstorming on the skills a software developer does not learn at school, which are essential for work and some which are needed for career growth.

Below is an embedded mind map, followed by an embedded public wave. Please feel free to contribute to the wave. If you do not have a wave account, here is the static version.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

If you have come here looking for a way to install Skype, visit this post instead.

By sheer coincidence, I got my hands on an Asus EeePC just in time for the Ubuntu 9.10 release. Given the state of Windows XP on it, I was left with no option but to do a clean install of UNR.

Before

The netbook was virus infected and was crashing as soon as it booted. Not even the safe mode command prompt only worked! So I decided to wipe the factory installed Windows XP and install UNR instead. It did take a bit of time to find out what to be downloaded and how to install.

An angel has landed

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

On the 21st, our wait finally ended and a little angel arrived. We have named her Prisha, meaning “God’s Gift”.

Sharing a few pictures taken on the day of her birth.

[rant] Opensource spirit in .NET world

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Update: Paul reached out and clarified the problem. So the rest of the post is not relevant any more.

Did not want to post a rant, especially when I haven’t yet crystallized my thoughts.

Background: My previous post was about a project I came across - hornget. I wanted to help because I liked their ideas. I offered to manage the SupportedPackages page for them by automating the process. Or to share the script for the same.

Opensource .NET Projects (ALT.NET)

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I recently stumbled across Hornget, which plans to be the maven of .NET world. I found their design philosophy interesting, but haven’t yet got a chance to evaluate the project itself.

But what I liked is they have cherry picked very good .NET software building blocks. Here is a list of projects supported by hornget. Even if you do not end up using hornget, this can still act as a good reference.

How to be a faster programmer?

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I am reposting this from my, now dead, blog. Hopefully this time I will be able to finish the series.

Note: This is not targeted at seasoned professionals who would find most of the stuff mentioned here very basic. Instead this is for beginners who unfortunately do not have good mentors.

Know your tools

To start of there is nothing more important than knowing all the capabilities of your tools, be it an IDE, a report generator, database, text editor or the operating system itself. This will help to:

Kids say the darndest things

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

This is what my daughter has to say about my home computers:

Papa, ever since you made the computer a laptop, it misbehaves and crashes. Please make it a computer again!

Read computer = Ubuntu and laptop = Windows. My desktop ran Ubuntu for a long time until I installed Win7 on it. My laptop always had WinXP as shipped by the manufacturer. My daughter prefers Ubuntu to Windows, looks like I am raising a Linux fangirl :)

A list of list managers

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

There are a large number of list / task managers that it needs a list for itself. Seems like every one wants to create a task manager, and who could blame them? The only reason I looked up all these task managers is because I had an itch to write one myself.

30 tasks, to-do, project, collaboration, goals management tools

Service	Comments	Paid / Free*
blablalist.com	simple, barebones, task list, collaboration	Free
flexlists.com	advanced, online database	Free
gonutshell.com	note taker, web scrapbook	Free
gootodo.com	Email reminders	Paid
gtdinbox.com	GTD, Gmail,	Paid
hipcal.com	Notes, Tasks, Collaboration, Calendar, Reminders	Free
hiveminder.com	Notes, Tasks, Collaboration	Free
lifetango.com	goal list, social	Free
lifetick.com	Goal tracking	Paid
listography.com	List of lists, Home page style	Free
mail.google.com/tasks	Simple tasks, gmail integrated	Free
monkeyon.com	reminder service	Free
mynoteit.com	Notes, Tasks, Collaboration, Aimed at Students	Free
netvibes.com	Homepage, Task is a module	Free
orchestratehq.com	simple	Free
placestodo.com	Todo linked to locations, Mobile	Free
rememberthemilk.com	Grand daddy, simple yet advanced	Free
roughunderbelly.com	prioritise	Free
tadalist.com	ROR demo app, simple, collaboration	Free
task.dlma.com	simple, barebones, task list	Free
taskbin.com	Tasks, Advanced Features, Collaboration	Free
tasktoy.com	strange	Free
tiddlyspot.com	wikified task list, local	Free
todoist.com	Calendar, Tasks, Advanced Features	Free
toggl.com	time tracker	Paid
Toodledo.com	folders, subtasks, due-dates, priorities, tags, contexts, goals, notes, time estimates	Paid
tudulist.com	Calendar, Tasks, Advanced Features, Collaboration	Free
voo2do.com	Calendar, Tasks, Advanced Features, Collaboration, Project Management	Free
zohoplanner.com	Simple, collaboration, reminders	Free

* All paid services have a free version of some type.

20 Qs with Sudhir of vfreshers.com

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

In the second interview, I get to interview Mr. Sudhir of vfreshers.com. He runs a website that provides info about fresher jobs.

Introduction

Q. In your own words, who are you and what is your business?

A. I am an IT Professional having worked in Software industry in India & USA for 4-5 years. I have been working on Vfreshers.com along with my wife who is a law graduate and left her career to pursue my dream.I have also left my full-time job 3 months back. Vfreshers.com is a platform for all the fresh graduates in India.

What colour are your glasses?

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Stephen R. Covey in his landmark book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” defines 9 possible centres that people have:

Spouse-centred
Friends / Enemy-centred
Family-centred
Money-centred
Work-centred
Possession - centred
Pleasure-centred
Church-centred
Self-centred

In other words, these are the glasses we see the world through. All decision making is coloured by your bias towards one or more of these. But none of these are worth centring ones life around, they all blur the view. So he suggests taking off these glasses and seeing the world in the light of the principles that you value. If one has a mission statement and knows the principles he values most, then making decisions is easier.

Role Playing

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

As hinted in the previous post I will take a departure from my general blogging topics and talk about life. Let me talk about something that troubled me and still slightly troubling me.

I have been under a lot of mental and emotional stress lately, and did not know the reason. But with a lot of introspection and a couple of very good reads, I was able to find the root cause of this and am in a much better state of mind. Ask my wife ;) I will like to share this to spread the good words that helped me.

Introducing life

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Life is not something that happens between work, work is a small part of life. So I am adding a category on “Life”. Hope this will increase the work-life balance of my blog, more on this later.

Though the number of posts under this category would be less, it just means there is more to life than I would like to share on a public medium.

Here’s to life…

Boo gotchas for beginners

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Unlike what I mentioned in my previous post, I ended up trying Boo first. I will delve on the reason in another post. The objective of this post is to document the problems I had getting used to Boo syntax. None of the problems were big, just some missing punctuations :) And I did not face any issues with the significant space.

Empty array vs. Empty list

An empty list is

The great runtime shootout

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

It is becoming more and more obvious that there are just two runtimes left to execute code, the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI). So, I decided to see how they stack up. Looks like both environments have something for everyone.

Here is a list of programming languages available on these runtimes.

Can run on CLI using IKVM.NET
Can run on JVM using Mainsoft solution
Not yet usable
Can run on CLR, but is behind the JVM implementation

The main reason for the research was to identify a new language I should pick-up. I looked at Python and Ruby, but both have some sore thumbs that I just can’t stand. I really liked Boo and Groovy; they are similar to C#/Java in syntax and incorporate the good things from Python. Although I like Boo’s syntax and approach more than Groovy, Groovy has a more mature implementation and ecosystem. I will try to use Groovy for some hobby project and get a feel to things.

Trying the new P2 theme for Wordpress

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Trying the new P2 theme for Wordpress

Update: rolling back to Hybrid. P2 looks too bland for my tastes. If I want a twitter like system, I will use Twitter :)

Ultimate backup tool?

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Well, I don’t need to beat the dead horse about why one needs to backup data. But with the explosion of digital assets, it is all the more important.

What are my digital assets?

The largest, of course, are photographs. Apart from these, I have a fair smattering of music, code, documents and others.

How do I back them up?

Currently, photos are backed up on DVD and in the cloud (picasaweb). Picasa acts as incremental backup and DVDs are full backups. A copy in Hyderabad acts as offsite backup.

Rock SOLID software construction

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

[caption id="" align=“alignright” width=“297” caption=“Software Developement is not a game of Janga”][/caption]

I spent last two weeks deep diving into code written by our contractors and writing some test against the same. This was a pleasant break from my regular duties of an architect. As an architect I am always trying to ensure the code follows pragmatic design principle and I really dig SOLID and TDD.

10 programming related podcasts available on iTunes

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

These are some of the better podcasts on the craft of programming.

Hansel minutes -
pixel8 - What makes great user experiences? -
.NET Rocks! -
Herding Code -
Pragmatic Podcasts -
The Thirsty Developer Podcast -
Deep Fried Bytes -
Elegant Code » CodeCast -
The Java Posse -
Software Engineering Radio -

One question to rule them all

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Recently, while interviewing a person, I came up with an interesting question. That led to a series of discoveries about the interviewee. So I thought I would share it here.

How does xUnit work? **

This one question offered insight into various aspects that I cared about. I steered the discussion until I got the answers to these question, without asking them explicitly.

Ultimate Blog Editor

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000

If there was ever a totally unqualified opinion, here it is. A blogger for 6 weeks and change, this is my thought what a blogging tool should be.

Those who came here searching for the ultimate editor, I am sorry to disappoint, only ideas here.

To start with; I have tried Wordpress online editor, Scribefire, Windows Live Writer and Drivel; and found them all lacking in one aspect or another. Currently I find Live Writer to be better than the rest. Trying out OneNote which has few features I like.

Tip: Convert an image to text (OCR)

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Haven’t there been times when you came across some text that you could not copy or edit? It could be for a variety of reasons, whether it is a scanned copy, or an image containing text, a screen shot etc.

I came across a similar situation yesterday, when I was looking for a word list to create a Pictionary for my kid. “Stretch mark mama” had this great list; unfortunately she shared it as an image. I needed to extract the text out of the image and remembered an old trick. So I thought I would as well share it.

Playing with Small Basic

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Yesterday I stumbled upon SmallBasic, while looking for something else. It is an interesting little project by Microsoft to create an entry level language to teach programming. It is a mix of toned down BASIC and Logo. Since the language (or is it an application) is still in infancy, version 0.5 released recently, I will try not to be too harsh on it.

Sample program with obligatory screenshot

Showing Flickr Image

1: url = Flickr.GetPictureOfMoment()

Delicious Trends

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

In my first post, I talked about analysing my interests based on delicious bookmarks. This post is to announce that I have cleaned up the script a bit and posted it on this blog. Try it out.

What is delicious trends?

It is a simple visualisation of your online taste. All your bookmarks will be plotted on a time line, helping you to see how your interests evolved over time.

Note: All processing is done in your browser and no data is sent to my server.

20 Qs with Mr. Kadiyala of fullhyd.com

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

In a planned series of interviews with Indian entrepreneurs, here is the first one. I got in touch with Kishore, an old friend and associate, and talked to him about his venture fullhyd.com.

Introduction

In your own words, who are you and what is your business?

fullhyd.com is a local content and local search company, currently focusing on Hyderabad, India, and planning to scale to all Indian cities soon. We help people find comprehensive details about various businesses and services in their neighbourhood, and help them interact with the businesses, and with each other about the businesses. We also cover life in the city - events, movies, shopping & sales - and serve as a local community organizer, apart from being a guide for tourists. Our revenue/business is focused on providing unprecedentedly low-cost advertising solutions to small and medium business enterprises, by helping them reach customers in their neighbourhood, and pay for just that.

Exercises for the cube dweller.

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Bonus tip: Install Workrave for automated breaks and exercise tips.

Javafx 1.2 - First impressions

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Spent the last couple of days looking at Javafx, Sun’s response to Silverlight and Flex. It is an interesting mix of ideas. Clearly inspired by dynamic languages as well as Silverlight. Maybe Flex as well, but I couldn’t tell as I have not tried Flex.

Things I liked:

Type inference: Could have been better, but I will take this any day over the verbose Java alternate
Binding: In fact this is a great thing. Two way binding and binding with expression.
Triggers: Need to explore more, but shows promise.
Timelines: This along with the exceptional support for multimedia will help in creating the next killer app.
Collections: You can iterate over collections in SQL like syntax which,to me, looks better than LINQ.
Strings and Dates: Finally they get treated with the respect they deserve, since most of the time one is juggling text and dates.

Things I am meh about:

Declarative UI design: I believe UI design is best left to designers (software not people)

My first podcast: Discussing Google Wave

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Did my very first podcast with a group of friends. You can read more and comment about it at the techno-cast site.

[ Download podcast MP3 ]

Quote from techno-cast site:

Is it a brave new step to boldly go where no web giant has gone before, or merely a mashup of pre-existing tools? An attempt to capture some enterprise market share or to fundamentally change the way the Internet works? Will we see massive gains in worker productivity or the advent of real-time spam from Nigeria? We discuss!

Hello World!

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Hi, this is Hitesh. I am here to talk about stuff I like. How do I know what I like? Well I asked myself the same question and like any true geek looked at the data at hand to decide. So I analysed my bookmarks at delicious and the three areas that interest me way beyond others are programming, education and entrepreneurship.

Thus the focus of this blog will remain these three areas of my interest. My plan is to add at least one post per week, let’s see how it goes.

About

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

I work at the intersection of AI research, practical engineering, and business outcomes — helping leadership teams navigate AI adoption with clarity and confidence.

My focus is on Retail, Loyalty, and Industrial domains, where I lead the advisory for AI implementation and consulting engagements. Each engagement ends with evidence-based recommendations your leadership team can actually act on.

Based in Hyderabad, I’ve been building and writing about software since 2009 — from early experiments with .NET and Python to large-scale martech platforms, and now to the AI transformation reshaping every layer of the stack.

Book an AI advisory hour

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Most AI projects fail for boring reasons: the wrong use case, data that was not ready, or a vendor bet made before anyone validated it. An advisory hour is the cheapest way to avoid that.

Bring a problem or an idea. We will talk through the use case, your data readiness, and the real risks, and I will point you to the simplest pilot or MVP that can prove value, or tell you honestly if AI is not the answer yet.

Implementing AI Agents in Your Company

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

For the past year I have been building with what we now call AI agents. The question I kept hearing from leaders was almost always the same: “I understand AI is powerful, but where do I even start?”

I started to write an answer as a blog post. A few paragraphs in, it was obviously a book.

This is that book, and it is free. It is written for managers and operators, not machine learning researchers. You will not find equations or theory here. You get the frameworks, examples, and decisions you can use on Monday morning: how to spot a good use case, build a credible business case, run a proof of concept, and manage the messy human side of adoption.

Thanks — your request is in

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Thanks for reaching out. Your request landed in my inbox, and I will get back to you personally, usually within a couple of working days, to set up your advisory hour.

In the meantime, you are welcome to read the blog or find me on LinkedIn.