Cool Sorting animation..

If you have ever taken an Algorithms/Data Structures class, you must have came across sorting algorithms. Today I stumbled upon this cool animation. I am sure you will much better appreciate the difference between O(n^2) and O(nlgn) after watching it.

What is Unix, after all?

Came across this amazing link, on Dennis Ritchie's home page. It's a collection of Unix ads dating from 1981. Just take a look, and you will realize that Unix (and computing) have come a long way. It boasts of 2000 Unix installations, and today we have millions of GNU/Linux installations, not even counting *BSD and proprietary Unix systems. It talks about supporting 48 programmers simultaneously, today's Unix derivatives support hundreds (and maybe thousands) of simultaneous users. It also warns that Unix comes 'as-is and with no technical support'. But this has spawned an entire industry of commercial support for Unix like systems and many a people have made quite a fortune in that niche (And you will also notice that there is no email address in contact information, no sonny, these are old days). Also notice the ad for 'Microsoft Xenix'. The love affair seems to have ended (if you doubt this, search for 'Halloween Documents'), but now after the M$-Novell deal, we may again see something of this sort.

But Unix has transcended the computing world, (ok at least the Unix name), just take a look at this. A bunch of disparate 'things', somehow named Unix. So you have Unix nails, Unix TV antennas and even Unix trash cans.

But you will notice this kind of variety in the Unix computing world as well. So we have Unix like systems that run on watches and Unix like systems running Supercomputers. No other operating system can boast of such a colorful history, and no other operating system has stood the test of time so well.

Consider all this and I am reminded of Neal Stephenson's words,

"Unix is not so much an operating system as an oral history."

The man who knew infinity

Just finished reading 'The man who knew infinity', a biography of the Indian mathematical genius 'S. Ramanujan'. Born in a poor south Indian family, with access only to a little preliminary (and outdated) mathematical literature, Ramanujan discovered theorems that have baffled the best minds of mathematics ever since. Comparable in originality to the likes of Euler and Jacobi and cut off from the latest mathematical research, he rediscovered much of the mathematics of the past century for himself and made profoundly original contributions in the areas of infinite series, partition theory and highly composite numbers. His notebooks are still being studied to discover hidden nuggets. So startling were his contributions that Hardy once remarked, "These theorems must be true, as nobody could have imagined them".

While in India, owing to his single minded obsession with mathematics, Ramanujan was unable to pass the degree exam and get a job. He mailed some of his work to British mathematicians (one of whom was Hardy). Hardy recognized the brilliance of his work and brought Ramanujan to Cambridge. And so began one of the most fruitful collaborations in mathematics. But after just a few years, Ramanujan had to return back because of his ill health and died at the age of just thirty-two. But in such a small lifetime, Ramanujan managed to do so much that one can't keep but wonder what if had he lived a decade or two more?

But apart from mathematics, what he (IMHO more importantly) did was, give confidence to the youth (and in particular Indian Youth), that you can make it against all odds. And you don't have to barter your Indian-ness for success. Generations of mathematicians and scientists all over the world took inspiration from him, which include such luminaries as Freeman Dyson and Nobel laureate S. Chandrashekhar. Where Indians were once looked upon as too backward to achieve anything, he set a shining example.

But his life is also a word of warning, had Hardy ignored him just like almost everybody else, how much would that have cost us? His work in the realm of pure mathematics, that might seem (to some), useless in 'real life', has found applications in diverse fields ranging from crystallography to cryptology. But what about todays Ramanujans? How many are being pushed in obscurity by mindless bureaucracy? That one question is sure to bother us all.

A weekend (well???) spent..

Last weekend slipped through my fingers like sand, had a lot of things to take care of, but managed to get some longtime pending work done (which is unusual for me on a weekend).

So here is what happened..
Fri 7:45 PM

I am just back from work and thinking of taking a nap. But I have a party to attend. I am not very excited at the prospect of getting out of the bed, but hey, its a chance to meet old friends.

Sat 10:15 AM

Ohh S*it, we have to move to a new place today and we haven't even yet packed our .., err stuff. Wake up everybody, miles to go before we sleep (again).

Sat 11:43 AM

It seems like eternity since I am packing these books. But on a positive side, I became pretty good at tying 4-5 books together in a bundle using a thin rope. Then I realize why Henry Ford was so successful with the concept of Assembly line. People really get good (but also bored) by doing the same thing again and again.

Sat 1:03 PM

Where is the tape? (In case you have forgotten, duct tape is a very important part of life. It holds everything from broken toilet windows to wires in your hand-assembled-positronic-time-machine together (maybe it also holds the universe together, who knows). To know about many other important things in life (like towel) read h2g2)

Sat 3:17 PM

Finally at the new place. A quiet, residential neighbourhood. And BIG rooms. But the kitchen tubelight does not work. Gotta talk to landlord.

Sat 6:42 PM

Since time immemorial I am postponing the purchase of a new hard disk. Today is the day to do it.

Sat 11:37 PM

Sabayon managed to f*** up the partition table, time to reinstall..

Sun 12:00 AM
Happy Birthday Anna.

Sun 2:23 AM

What has happened to linux distributions? My debian DVD won't work, and fedora is unable to start X-server after full installation.

Sun 01:12 PM

Unable to sleep, I am at Crosswords. Found 'The man who knew infinity', a biography of the great Indian mathematician, S.Ramanujan. I will be busy for a few days now, my friends.

Sun 03:40 PM

At home, I am very tired, need some sleep. The reinstallation did allow me very little sleep last night.

Sun 4:00 PM

Here comes the electrician and there goes my sleep. But no choice. Let the drilling begin..

Time Unknown

What is this trr, trr. And (to my horror) I realize its my alarm clock. It shows the day as Monday (but to appreciate the horror you must be an IT engineer). But I have very little choice now. Gotta get ready for work. Hope next weekend will arrive sooner.

Disclaimer:

The timings mentioned above are entirely made up and present only for the effect.