Understanding Leadership

A leader has to lead the people, have vision, motivate the members.
Leader can empower people and nurture them to become future leaders.
I like to cite a simple example from one of the recent books I am reading. The author mentions about his child in which he saw the leadership qualities. The child went to school and one day his teacher asked the class "Who wants to be a leader". No one came out. One kid said he don't want to be a leader when asked. So his child raised his hand and said that he want to be a leader. On seeing this, another kid raised his hand too and said that he want to be a leader too, then another and another.

There is interesting video from the Ted Talks. Take a look at it.

It is the bold move from first person with such courage. Seeing this, that person starts gathering followers around and that is a chain reaction triggered.

It is nice to understand how people are motivated by themselves to come up with crazy ideas and convince people to follow their path.

Learning Japanese with my Wife (日本語の勉強、妻と一緒！）

It was just a casual talk with a friend on a Social Language Learning App which turned out to be so nice that I will be marrying her soon.

It all started with Japanese learning.
So I would like to share my journey of teaching Japanese to my beautiful wife.

The very first beginning step of learning Japanese is Hiragana, the basic alphabets of the Japanese system.


Here are the main learning points associated with learning hiragana characters.
- words associated with the character
- sound of the character
- stroke order


This site is quite good one to check for strokes.
https://www.yosida.com/en/hiragana.html

Reference :
https://ja.wiktionary.org/wiki

CoreML Simple Linear Regressor

Introduction

I started learning basic Machine Learning from last 6 months from Udemy Course.

Machine Learning A-Z™: Hands-On Python & R In Data Science

I am a friend of mine, started to do MLTokyo study session every Saturday. I remember we were so obsessed with it that once we were working for 3 continuous days in Silver Week holidays from morning 10AM to almost 7PM.

I could grasp the fundamentals of Machine Learning algorithms but I still wanted to connect it to my job.
It was just that last year Apple announced the CoreML Framework in WWDC2017 talks.
So it was the perfect timing to apply the studied machine learning.

CoreML is a great Framework.
For those who are new, here's a quick explanation, the image which I have in mind about CoreML.

• Traditionally, we train ML models on the server side. We need to have good specification server, keeping in mind the time, processing power, and data size required to train the model.
• Once we are finished with the training, we want to use it from the mobile app. To achieve this, we generally build a wrapper API around the model.
• The app captures the data and sends it to the API for processing. The model processes the data and returns the results via API back to the app.

So generally a Machine Learning App is built around this architecture.

The problem with above process is that the app constantly needs to be connected to the Internet to be able to process the data.
Also, there's huge network overhead involved with it.

CoreML to the rescue:

CoreML improves this process to a quite extent.

• The same already trained model can now be exported to a file format (.mlmodel) which can be easily imported into Xcode Project. This integrates the model into your app directly removing the need for overhead API and also making your ML App offline workable.
• According to the documentation of CoreML, it does supports following Caffe, Keras, scikit-learn, XGBoost, LIBSVM. 

So I thought why not to convert the models trained in the Udemy Course one by one.

My first CoreML integration.

Udemy Course:
- Part 2 - Regression
 - Section 4 - Simple Linear Regression
   Github source code

Xcode Model

APP Preview in Simulator

Since it was a simple Linear regressor, it was quite simple to integrate.
But as I proceeded to integrate Polynomial Regression, I started facing problems of data preprocessing.
I am still stuck on translating PolynomialFeatures into swift code.
It seems like all the data preprocessing has to be re-written in the app code to be able to provide inputs to the trained model.

Although it looks all promising and interesting to integrate CoreML, there are some things which should be taken care of.

1. App Size will increase depending on the size of the trained model. CNN model trained with 4000 images each for 2 classes yields a 15MB .mlmodel file. This model gets packed with almost same size as .mlmodelc file inside the IPA.
2. As far as my understanding of the topic is that it is not possible to train the model on the device. So the only prediction can be done from the model. I think there is a provision to update the model from in background of the app, but have not yet explored it.

If you like this post and have any comments please let me know.

Happy Machine Learning,
Happy iOS

MakersFaireTechWorld

MakersFaireTechWorld

Today I went to the Maker Faire Tokyo 2017.
It was an awesome event. Many robots and innovative ideas.
One day is just not enough to see all the exhibits.

This event was held on Saturday/Sunday 5th and 6th August 2017 respectively.

It attracted quite a lot of people.
The exhibits varied from school robotics projects to professional big industry products.
The event audience also varied correspondingly. Small kids could play with robots and maneuver them in the grid. People could also try VR and experience the mind blowing simulations and games.

Here is a quick conclusion of my day

Things I learned
- The trend to have a personal robot assistant with you all the time is increasing. People need small cute robots to talk with them, interface with them.
- Daily activity robots are gaining popularity like the cleaning robot.
- DeepLearning/AI combined with robotics is gaining an edge over traditional robotics methodology. Robotic arm with build in camera on its tip is simple to estimate the world.
- Image processing has proven to be an efficient substitute for hardware devices like distance measurement, angle measurement, position coordinates.
- Smart IoT homes are becoming popular with IoT devices connected to the internet, there is so much potential for data collection. Cheaper data collection methods are available now as compared to surveys or access logs.

- With the digital age, the analog devices become obsolete, but there was a team which showed how analog devices can be still used in making interesting games or small devices. These guys used the tape recorder magnets to generate sound, the CRT TV as the drums collecting the noise and producing sound.
- One team even showed the application of high voltage sparks in creating music or beautiful arts.

By checking these things, I am quite motivated to join the next year's faire and have an exhibit.

I have shared some pics on my Instagram  or MyPage : roboganism
Please check if you are interested.

Regards,
Yuvi

Snow Wall of Nagano

Day 1 of 7 

Time Log:

- D1

21st Sunday

05:14 Minatocho -> 05:17 Keikyu Kawasaki 

05:34 JR Kawasaki -> Tokyo (05:52)

06:16 Tokyo -> Nagano (07:38) Kagayaki 1501

20:35 Toyama -> Kanazawa 20:55

1) Kawasaki -> Nagano

We started off with the first train from Minatocho Line (place where I live).

Getting around Nagano-station was not that difficult. My family (3 members) had a JR rail pass of 7 days. Before using the rail pass, we just need to get it checked from the station master. Every time you pass the JR station, you need to show the pass to the station master and then checkin / checkout. 

I didn't had the 90days short visa, so I had to buy tickets.

We reached Nagano around 07:38 AM.

I had thought I will buy the Option ticket (http://www.jrtateyama.com/e/) from Nagano station, but the Midori Madonokuchi (ticket office of JR) opens at 10:00 and I arrived at Nagano before that.

I should have bought the ticket beforehand from Tokyo.

2) Nagano -> Ogizawa

Instead of wasting time waiting for the Midori Madonokuchi to open up, I proceeded with my plan of traveling the one way route by paying for individual tickets, but to my surprise there were other companies which were also providing tickets for some sections of the Alpine Route.

http://www.jrtateyama.com/e/img/img_routemap.png

So we took Alpico Bus from Nagano -> Ogizawa. it cost around 2,600 yen.  From Ogizawa-station, the one way ticket from other company was available, so we took that one. It cost around 9,500 yen. 

3) Ogizawa -> Kurobe Dam

You take a Kanden trolley bus to go to Kurobe Dam. This is a nice trolley bus which goes through the tunnel in straight manner. It is electric bus and gets power from the two connecting rods to the overhead power cables (similar to train). I was amazed that they maintained this old technology still  till date and are using it for tourism.

I suppose this trolley was used to transport all the construction material to Kurobe dam.

After reaching Kurobe Dam, there are two places to visit.

1. Go to top walking 222 stairs to get good view of the dam. (there is a spot from which you can see the rainbow when the water is opened out of dam)
2. Go to bottom directly on the edge of the dam. (one side you can see the deep dam side and other side the flat lake Kurobeko )

At regular intervals you will find fresh stream water to quench your thirst

    

On the end of the dam, you will find the Kurobeko station located like inside the Tunnel.

4) Kurobeko -> Kurobedaira -> Daikanbo

From Kurobedaira you need to take an almost vertical cable car. It is quite tilted (I think the angle must be around 29 degrees). It takes you to the intermediate top of Mt Tateyama.

From here you have to ride the ropeway to reach to the top Daikanbo station. 

While riding the ropeway, you can see over the the snow blanket of the mountain. I could see some skaters coming from the top. It was a spectacular view.

   

5) Daikanbo -> Murodo 

The trolley bus takes you from one side of the Mt Tateyama to other side (Murodo).

This is the main place were you can see the Yuki No Otani (Snow Wall) 

The wall is around 3 floors high and it is better to check weather before going there.

We thought it would be quite cold up there, so we tool big jackets, but they were of no use. it was not freezing cold. even a normal jacket / sweater would have been fine.

6) Murodo -> Bijodaira -> Tateyama

We directly caught the bus to Bijodaira since we all were tired. There are not much things to see while coming down. There were some parks but we were least interested in them.

Then you take a cable car from Bijodaira to Tateyama

7) Tateyama -> Toyama 

There is a beautiful old train from Tateyama to Toyama which goes slowly and you can take good pics from this train.

 

We had booked Airbnb at Kanazawa. Entire room for 4 people.

https://www.airbnb.com/z/q/327520618

It was a great experience.

Just had to go into hot bath for relaxing.

Kanazawa is very quite and beautiful place. Maybe next time I would like to visit just Kanazawa. This time it was just the stay.

綺麗にご飯食べましょう

ごはん
世界でどのぐらいの人が尊敬してるんだろう
「食器返却口」そのベルトに流れてるお皿、ご飯、サラダ、パスタなどなど残ってるのお皿
見て何もできない、毎日のその残りご飯見てこのブログでその気持ち伝えようかなと思いました
毎日の食物摂取が足りないってかそもそも取れない子供達いっぱいいる
綺麗なご飯も食べられない、パンも足りないから、二人で半分半分分けて食べる
ケンタきのチキンは夢にも思わない！
その人たちに何できれば良いのでしょうか
「食生活」の簡単な一つ、残せずに全部食べる、むしろ、食べれないと思ったらそもそもその食べ物取れない！
何で食べれないとわかってるのにお皿に取れっちゃうのは全く理解できません
特にチキンとか肉とか無駄にして残っちゃうと。。。最低。。
誰かが私たちのご飯のために死んでるって気持ちも思えなくそのまま焼いた肉をゴミ箱に入れた人はどのだけ酷いだな
肉好きだけで何もならない、肉好きだったら、ちゃんと最後まで食べるってことが何より大事
ご飯を尊敬してる人はどんどん減ってきてると思います。
それの理由は多分どこでもご飯すぐコンビニかベンディングマシーンで買えるからかな、
その一つ一つの米の大切さはどうやって復旧できるかな、みんなで考えて見ましょう！

Sushiro in japan (スシロー)

Sushiro is a famous sushi restaurant chain in japan.
Today I went to nearby sushiro restaurant. When we entered the restaurant, there was a long queue. I quickly too the booking number and we waited in the queue.

They have this cool booking system connected to the net. They have their separate iphone and android app.
iPhone : https://itunes.apple.com/jp/app/sushiro/id551682016?mt=8
Android : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.akindo_sushiro.sushiroapp&hl=en

We can download this app pre-hand and quickly search the nearest store and get the booking number before we reach the place. This is quite convenient feature. Also don't worry if you didn't booked it from smartphone. You can take the booking number from the place itself and register that number in your phone's sushiro app. That would be helpful if you plan to do some nearby shopping until your number arrives. The app will give you notification when your number is about to be called. It will also calculate approx how much time will it take to have the seat.

Once your number gets called, then you are in, to eat plates and plates of sushis.
There's roller belt through which all the sushi orders are served in form of plates.
From the menu ordering system, you can check and order variety of dishes. There's limit of 5 dishes per order, so I will recommend to order 1st snacks quickly and then decide later the main dishes.

The sushi rolling belt brings your orders. Once the dish on the rolling belt reaches your place, the system gives notification that you order has arrived and you need to take off the dish from the rolling belt. If this is your first time to go to sushi restaurant, then you might end up taking other person's dish :P (which i did today !! really embarrassing)

There's a trend that the more you eat sushis the more you can stack plates one on top of the other. You can always check the number of stacks on other table so that you don't fall out of competition !!!
People come with families to this place. On an average one person can eat 10 dishes.
We ate 15 different dishes. I hope so different fishes don't start fighting inside my stomach. hahah

When you are finished with stuffing as much as you can, then you just call the person to record the number of dishes so that he can bill it. Pay the bill at the counter and go home happily with the great satisfaction.