Explainer: Evolutionary Algorithms

Whenever you undertake an activity that seeks to minimise or maximise a well-defined quantity such as distance or the vague notion of the right amount of sleep, you are optimising.

Like I have mentioned elsewhere, I like to introduce complex (and not so complex) concepts in a popular science fashion – for consumption by even the high-school kid. Hence, when I was contacted by Bella from The Conversation, I was excited to write about Evolutionary Algorithms and optimization and what we as a group work on.

The article is now live here. Hope you enjoy the read. Many thanks to the team at The Conversation for the final touches on the article.

Snowy, your support in various ways is always appreciated.

Link: http://theconversation.edu.au/explainer-evolutionary-algorithms-3580

Article: Getting Started with Inotify

Update: The PDF is now available.

It’s always fun to peek into one of the umpteen features of Linux. In the April, 2011 issue of Linux For You I take a hands-on look at Inotify.

The source code for this article is available at https://bitbucket.org/amitksaha/articles_code/

 

New Article: Getting Started with Clojure

Update: A PDF of the print article is now available.

I take a beginner’s look at Clojure, as the title suggests in this article which is published by Linux For You in the March, 2011 issue.

If you happen to be one of the readers of this article, I would love to hear from you!

I have been away from the Java landscape for a while, but looks like I am getting into it again, in multiple ways. Clojure, being just one of the beginnings. I kinda liked leiningen — so super simple!

Random scribbles: E-reading

So, the world E-reads these days from devices which have e-ink. I wasn’t sure if I would really like reading on 6/7″ screens. To mitigate the possible waste of $, I took a relatively less risky option — go for the funny sounding Android tablet, Pendo Pad. I installed the Kindle app for Android, and I have been really enjoying e-reading. The Amazon Kindle might just be something to spend on!

New Article: Serve Up Your Music with Zeya

A couple of the things I really like about Zeya is its “no – Flash” requirement (non-requirement?) and the simplicity of the design. As a user, I would like more features, hopefully those will come in time.

Please note that Zeya is a work in-process and some minor details might change by the time you read this. If you encounter bugs or desire features, report them on the Zeya mailing list.

My article  on Zeya is now up at the Linux Journal’s website. This incidentally is my first article in Linux Journal. I am excited to connect with an elite band of readers. Thanks LJ.

A primer on Ext4

Now that almost all distributions offer ext4 as the default file system, it’s high time we looked at the most compelling feature set of the file system and understood how to migrate from its predecessor. Now that almost all distributionsoffer ext4 as the default file system,it’s high time we looked at the most compelling feature set of the filesystem and understood how to migrate from its predecessor.

The January 2010 issue of Linux For You has published my article on Ext4 which, as the name suggests is a primer on Ext4 focusing on the geek user. If you happen to have a copy lying by, let me know how you find it!

Article series: Getting started with GNU Octave

With the December, 2009 issue of Linux For You I have started an article series on GNU Octave.  This article marks my foray into writing about scientific computing tools and also a article series.

(The PDFs given here are pre-print PDFs and have been uploaded here with prior permission from the Linux For You team; if you are interested in republishing it in any form, please contact me)

Table of Contents:

1. Getting Started with GNU Octave, Part -1 : December, 2009 issue of Linux For You (PDF)
2. Getting Started with GNU Octave, Part -2: January, 2010 issue of Linux For You (PDF)
3. Getting Started with GNU Octave, Part -3: February, 2010 issue of Linux For You (PDF)
4. Getting Started with GNU Octave, Part -4: April, 2010 issue of Linux For You (PDF coming up)
5. Getting Started with GNU Octave, Part -5: May, 2010 issue of Linux For You (PDF coming up)
6. Getting Started with GNU Octave, Part -6: June, 2010 issue of Linux For You (PDF coming up)

‘Typesetting’ Presentations with Beamer

Do you use LaTeX for your document processing requirements? Then why switch to any other application when you need to create presentations? Try Beamer instead.

My article on Beamer is out in the November, 2009 issue of Linux For You. By next month, the article will be available at http://www.linuxforu.com. If you want to take a look at it, email me and I might be able to share a personal copy.