A JVM Lover

Making PCB at home using the toner transfer method is a well known art. Finally, when my project required a simple EEG amplifier circuit, I decided to give the technique a try myself. And surely it did work. However, I also learned certain quirks and potential limitations. Sharing some of these findings here. I will also be really happy to hear from the experiences of others who have done DIY PCBs. My primary reference was a Youtube video due to Pareekshith P . (TODO: add images) * In my experience, 16mil (0.016 inch) of trach thickness might be Ok. However, I think its safe to use 24mil. * When using the iron box, take special care to ensure that edges of the pattern are also properly transferred. * The etching process is largely trouble free. If it seems very slow add enough Ferric Chloride. I think 15min is typical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc9h0L5RkDA http://blackboard.serverpool.org/?page_id=30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGjBUdhMhg4 http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL72C36006AD9CED5C http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zafB2GkMBk&list=PL72C36006AD9CED5C

Today during dinner time, I met Varun and he was wearing a T-shirt that said - "International Earth Sciences Olympiad". I inquired and this is what he told me ... The olympiad is organised in India by the Geological Society of India who train students selected through a screening test for the international competition. Varun gave the exam in his XIth standard and he prepared for it by referring to the Geology text books of CBSE and his state board. The smart chap won a bronze for the country in the competition held at Argentina. Geology is an interesting example of applied physics/chemistry and Varun might pursue the subject in his further studies. He is now enrolled in the Engineering Physics programme.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/print/2011/06/how-i-failed-failed-and-finally-succeeded-at-learning-how-to-code/239855/ There are two things that make programming special - * Its addictive (not all addictions harm). Because, there is instant gratification * Code is text. Text is easier to share and plug-into

Programming a Sport ? I didn't know that until today !! I was amazed to look around and find that so many initiatives abound on the internet that aim at popularizing programming. I got started at codechef.com , then watched an amazing inspirational video http://www.codechef.com/school The getting started page launched me into a web of great resources - http://www.codechef.com/getting-started Check every link ! I met two great heros of the sport in that great journey - 'tourist' and 'petr' The latter is elder to me while the former is just 19 now. petr works for Google but is still a great force in the sport. The ACM ICPC is like the olympics of programming where teams participate. Codechef's envision's the Indian team winning some day and the Go-for-Gold section is particularly geared towards that. Codechef also has a school section. Mathewkuttan, Maxwell - what do you think ?

After my recent post ( http://electrokavalam.blogspot.in/2013/05/converting-samsung-s-note-snb-file-to.html ) about the difficulty in converting a Samsung S-Note .snb file to video I got some encouraging comments which made me realize that the problem is indeed relevant to some people at least. I am happy to announce the prototype solution that I have put together. This solution can convert the snb to a flash movie that can be easily viewed using a web browser with flash player installed. So, here are the steps: Step 1: Get the "drawingdata_1" file The (x,y,time) coordinates of the pen are available in text format within the .snb archive. Rename .snb to .zip and extract the archive. Navigate to <extracted-folder>\snote\media directory. You will find "drawingdata_1" file there. This is a simple text file (in XML format) that we are interested in. Step 2: Create flash movie using snb2swf From a command prompt run snb2swf.exe (which may be downloade...

I had an existing installation of python2.3 But I wanted to work with the Python Graph library NetworkX  which however works only with Python2.6 and above. Unfortunately, I didn't have sudo privileges and hence could install python only within my local directory. The following stack overflow link turned out to be of great help in installing a newer python version and further to install NetworkX within it. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/622744/unable-to-install-python-without-sudo-access

UPDATE: A potential solution to the problem described here may be found at http://electrokavalam.blogspot.in/2013/06/converting-samsung-s-note-snb-file-to.html As a coding enthusiast, I feel very excited about this opportunity - there doesn't seem to be a direct solution to convert the .snb file to video. The .snb file I am talking about is the native file format used by the very useful S-Note application of the Samsung Galaxy Note series of devices (and possibly other models). What makes the S-Note app very appealing to me is its ability to record what you draw as you are drawing it. Compound this with the ability to record audio and the S-Note gives all the abilities of a tablet. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, the recording can be played out only inside the S-Note app itself. (Please correct me if this is not true, I will only be happy) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ABY8hKJlWw this video seems to support this. So, what I am thinking about is a script to...

Like most kids of my age, the first computer I was introduced to ran the Windows operating system. Then, by the time I entered college, I got to know of Linux. Specifically, Ubuntu - one of the many Linux "distributions".  While this introduced me to a whole new world of fancy names and commands,  I have increasingly felt that whatever I do it Linux can also be done in Windows, and also just as easily. That is for me Linux has been just another operating system. So I wonder - Why the buzz about it ? Agreed that, unlike Windows, I can legally use it without paying a penny. More than that, is there any "technical" difference ? My plan is to explore this along with my friend - Arun - this summer. I want to get a clearer picture of what Linux and Windows is all about !! I realize that there are many who are confused like me. Quite frankly, the confusion is partly because there is so much of diversity in the open source world as opposed to Windows. To give a flavour,...

Its two years since my grandpa passed away. With his fond memories in mind I embark on an adventure - "An Algorithm a Day" - a venture to deepen my understanding of problem solving using computers. Focus areas - Well known problems of computer science, popular algorithms, algorithm design approaches and also hardware based approaches - systolic arrays etc.   Wish me all the best !!