Naveen Kumar (नवीन कुमार)

A Painting's value

2009-11-05T19:54:38Z

I have never been able to understand how a good painting is evaluated. Is it story, ideas they represent, aesthetics or a combination of others that makes one painting better than the other. So maybe, I will put my naive understanding in a list. These are some of the things which according to my understanding, in combination, define and describe a painting's value:

1. Single Perspective: Single Vanishing point
2. Multiple Perspective: Multiple Vanishing points
3. Multiple Perspective with (controlled) chaos or (controlled) distortions in localised sections
4. Multiple Perspective with localised sections without any perspective and randomised variations
5. Total chaos
6. No Perspective or/and Totally randomised variations or distortions
7. Perspective(s) in distortion
8. (controlled) Distortion of Perspective(s)
9. Localised or global Symmetry of sections and/or objects
10. Color combinations, bright or dull Colors etc.
11. Chaotic pattern of colors with or without any perspective
12. Conventions of the Art community
13. Ecological System(s), if present
14. Aspect, golden ratios, golden rectangle, proportions etc.
15. Storyline...
16. Psyche of the Art lover/critic
17. Painting representing socially relevant ideas...
18. A particular school or style of painting...
19. Paintings subjected to interpretation of Art lover/Critic
20. Paintings relevant to a closed/out of bounds community (It is a greater mystery to me).
21. Maybe something without explanation like Gestalt Psychology
22. Exclusive eyes, i.e. only a few of us can see and appreciate them (like autostereograms)
23. Fine Finish

These would require explanation and that would require me to resign from my professional life and describe these. Sorry, I will do it when I grow old :-P . Please guide me to more...

Firefox passes IE6 in browser share...

2009-11-04T10:12:05Z

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/11/october-2009-browser-stats-firefox-finally-passes-ie6.ars

Happy Birthday Mr. Galois...

2009-11-03T00:06:14Z

October 25 was the birth date of Évariste Galois(October 25, 1811 – May 31, 1832). Who he was? Well! he was Albert Einstein of Algebra. You can easily find people (And I am beginning to realize this) who consider Galois to be one among the greatest geniuses who ever lived (Probably among top 5 in the ranking). His out of the box thinking resulted in a completely new branch of Mathematics. I would not go into much detail here, but to tell you at an abstract level, he used group of permutations to show that any general polynomial equation of degree 5 (In fact Abel proved it only for the case 5) and above cannot be solved by any formula in radicals. What I mean is that you cannot have something of

[-b±√(b²-4ac)]/2a

as the value of roots in a general polynomial equation of degree 2(quadratic equation) for any polynomial of order 5 and above.

Not only this, he was able to determine a necessary and sufficient condition for a polynomial to be solvable by radicals.

Now if you would suppose that reasoning for such a proof will require and consist of only manipulations of coefficients and variable, you are completely mistaken. No sir, he used permutations of putative solutions. This in itself is out of the box thinking and extraordinarily a work of a genius. Who would have thought of such a thing. Many greats before him and Abel tried to find such formulas(in radicals) for degree 5 and above, and failed gloriously.

If you are wondering what a group(Group Theory) really is: it is just a set with a defined operation. The members of this set follow 4 rules with respect of this operation:

1. Closure: The combination of any 2 members by the group operation has to produce another member of the set.

2. Associativity: When three ordered members combine, the result does not depend on which two are combined first.

3. Identity: There exists one such a member, that when it is combined with any other member by the group operation, the operation itself results in second member. This is true even when the order of Association is reversed. This is the only member, with which commutativity is guaranteed to work.

4. Inverse: Every member when combined with its inverse by group operation, the operation itself results in identity member. So there is an inverse member for every member with respect to the group operation.

Group Theory is also something which at an elementary level allows you to understand symmetry at a greater abstraction, and not just mirror symmetry(reflection symmetry). A thing is symmetrical if there is something you do to it and after you have finished doing it, it looks exactly the same as before (This is not an adult talk :-P).

For example an equilateral triangle is symmetric with respect to n(π/3) rotation, where n is an integer.

Some of the kinds of symmetry one can expect:

1. Reflection Symmetry: As in Butterfly

2. Rotational Symmetry: The symmetry of an equilateral triangle, when we rotate it by n⨯60° (n[π/3]).

3. Helical Symmetry: Screw movement.

4. Glide Symmetry: reflection in a line or plane combined with a translation along the line in the plane

5. Magnification Symmetry: Scale Symmetric under magnification, as in fractals.

6. Translation Symmetry: Repeating Patterns on a bed sheet or a saree.

One can argue that if modern definitions of Symmetry and Groups were known at the time of Sir Issac Newton, probably we would have needed less of Einstein. The above statement only emphasizes the importance of identifying symmetry in natural phenomenons and operations.

I would not go any further, so please read some books to explore more on this subject. You can start with a book titled "The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved: How Mathematical Genius Discovered the Language of Symmetry" by Mario Livio. This book will definitely set you on the right course, but it is not an exhaustive treatise on the subject. Still it is a great inspiration for Non-Mathematicians like me and inspires us to learn more of pure Mathematics, exhaustively.

Releasing Anumaan...

2009-10-30T06:10:45Z

Announcing the release of alpha-0.1 version of Anumaan, a perspective based, on-screen predictive text entry system for GNOME desktop. Anumaan is an extension of an Input Method (IM) mechanism (on GNOME desktop) in the sense that it extends its (IM) notion by including the power of text prediction. It has support for UTF-8 unicode encoding.

Anumaan allows its user to train it and personalize his writing style into different named domains. Hence it adapts to its user's writing style in some sense. The current version will not have live mode adaptation but still a user can train a domain as many times you like.

Anumaan is designed for a (text) sequence prediction based on a certain Context.The Context can either be a partial word context or a partial sentence context.

Anumaan is designed for people who suffer from different kinds of motor disability by allowing it be customized for different kinds of Input devices (e.g. keyboard, mouse, Joystick or any other pointing device especially built for people suffering from Motor disability). In other words it can be very easily customized to cater to different hand movement capabilities. The current version is only for mouse and keyboard based interactions. But we can easily customize it for different hardware input device requirements.

The current released versions have two flavours:

1. Anumaan-standalone: The base system which runs on Java Swing Interface.

2. AnumaanLinux: The Linux version which uses Anumaan-standalone as base and is ported to utilize the accessibility features of GNOME GAIL library. The current interface is accessible to almost all Gtk+ Editable Text Widgets.

Anumaan URLs:

Anumaan Main Page on CDAC Mumbai Website:
http://www.cdacmumbai.in/index.php/cdacmumbai/research_and_publications/research_groups/open_source_soft_division/projects/anumaan

AnumaanLinux source download:
http://www.cdacmumbai.in/projects/anumaan/downloads/AnumaanLinux-alpha-0.1.tar.gz (released under GNU/GPL 3.0 License)

AnumaanLinux Documentation can be accessed at:
http://www.cdacmumbai.in/projects/anumaan/docs/AnumaanLinuxUserManual/index.html

Anumaan-standalone download:
http://www.cdacmumbai.in/projects/anumaan/downloads/Anumaan-standalone-alpha-0.1.tar.gz

Anumaan-standalone Documentation can be accessed at:
http://www.cdacmumbai.in/projects/anumaan/docs/AnumaanStandaloneUserManual/index.html

Anumaan Default Language Model download:
http://www.cdacmumbai.in/projects/anumaan/downloads/AnumaanDefaultLM.tar.gz

Anumaan Videos:
A session of AnumaanLinux: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSzLt9ZVnOY

A session of Anumaan-standalone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah9w37JY7ec

NB: The Application is still evolving, hence please do give us your feedbacks, bug reports or feature enhancement requests.

Please mail us at mailto:predictanumaan@gmail.com

Linking Sagun's blog post here:
http://blogs.siliconindia.com/abhivyakti/Releasing_Anumaana_predictive_text_entry_system-bid-T72mGb5P79125798.html

A Nobel Prize Winner's humble appeal...

2009-10-16T10:52:18Z

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/A-little-less-nationalistic-hero-worship-please/articleshow/5129529.cms

The part I liked the most:

....The best way to take pleasure in someone’s achievement is to take an interest in their work and feel motivated to learn more about science. I remember reading about Gellman’s work as an undergraduate in Baroda, and, when he won the Nobel prize, rushing upstairs to tell my parents. It did not matter to me whether he was Indian or not. In my case, I am lucky to have had a combination of education, opportunities and a great team of co-workers to have made a contribution to an important problem. I am not personally that important. If I hadn’t existed, this work would still have been done. It is the work that is important, and that should be what excites people...

Xlit Hindi transliteration tool for OpenOffice.org

2009-09-18T11:08:16Z

XlitHindi transliteration tool for OpenOffice.org http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/xlithindi by CDAC Mumbai. 3 Cheers to Xlit team.

Sonic Boom: Breaking the Sound Barrier...

2009-09-06T01:59:53Z

Updates in Xlit...

2009-08-19T09:23:48Z

Linking to Sarvesh's post http://sarvesh-nikumbh.livejournal.com/1501.html

mathwriter-alpha-0.1 release

2009-08-15T17:49:51Z

I am releasing a personal keymap software utility named mathwriter at http://code.google.com/p/mathwriter/. Till now I was using this personally to put mathematical contents using iiimf (Internet Intranet Input Method Framework) Unit Language engine. But I think this may be useful generally if released in public domain. It is by no means complete, but still whatever is there may find its usage with some people and especially university students. I am also releasing a video to explain its usage. A general usage of iiimf can be understood from the following URL: http://202.141.152.41/~aparna/consolidated/x1963.html

The subsequent version of this application will see more improvements and maybe change in the very nature of current utility and interaction mechanism and maybe a full fledged math-editor. At least almost all of the codepoints will be covered in next release.

Video Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzJLeJgid9U

Please send me your feedback at mailto:mathwriter007@gmail.com

An interview of the author of "How religion abuses children's rights".

2009-07-29T05:00:44Z

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4831175.cms
Link to Center for Inquiry: http://www.centerforinquiry.net/

10 most memorable OSes by Indiatimes.

2009-07-23T06:18:48Z

http://infotech.indiatimes.com/quickiearticleshow/4384391.cms

Sadly, it does not list GNU/Linux despite having tux on the opening page image...

Transliteration Service by CDAC ‌Mumbai (currently in development phase)

2009-07-17T10:11:01Z

Linking Sarvesh's post here (http://sarvesh-nikumbh.livejournal.com/1185.html)

The Archimedes Codex: Unlocking The Palimpsest.

2009-06-23T06:46:28Z

An amazing story uncovering an accidental discovery of lost works of 'Archimedes of Syracuse'. This story also uncovers how modern imaging techniques are helping conservationists to retrieve lost works of Archimedes from the Palimpsest.

Archimedes was the most important scientist of Antiquity and it can be argued that he "is the most important scientist who ever lived". Recent discoveries point to the fact that it was Archimedes who can actually be attributed to the discovery of Calculus, almost 2000 years before Sir Issac Newton. In fact Newton might even have been inspired from some of the works of Archimedes. One of the conservationist of Archimedes' Palimpsest once stated "The entire Western Science is nothing but a series of footnotes to Archimedes".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3GIhfyLXwc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdIxX_58C_U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h74tg42rfdY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QW2hMuFbTo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCQ5PPl3eMM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6uR92UA5Ac

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=8211813884612792878&hl=en&fs=true

IIT Whiz-Kids and Designs of The Future (Link)...

2009-06-16T11:20:57Z

http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/jun/16/slide-show-1-iit-bombay-idc.htm

My Native Land

2009-03-30T12:12:42Z

Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd,
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd
From wandering on a foreign strand!
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no Minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonour'd, and unsung.

~Sir Walter Scott~

Richard M Stallman Vs. Linus Torvalds (funny, unauthentic source)...

2009-03-06T11:30:24Z

http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Richard_M_Stallman_Vs._Linus_Torvalds (sorry for only the link again...:-P).

Maithili localisation initiative...

2009-02-04T04:51:27Z

http://maithili.sourceforge.net/

Rigours of decription...

2009-02-02T09:30:16Z

Every description of nature, world, god or any other natural phenomenon is a complete nonsense if it does not stand the rigours of description. And that is the way of science. Anything else just exists in the minds of a conscious/sentient being, either getting ready to be described rigorously, or (getting) ready to be given the status of cult or religion by those who just cannot handle uncertain knowledge in any way (anytime). We need science and research to understand our complicated nature and universe and remove ignorance and imaginary hypothesis'. Science never claims to know it all as opposed to cult and religion. Those who believe in scientific ways are even ready to embrace a cult or some form of god if it is shown with absolute rigour that it stands the most/or a more accurate description (than science) of nature, universe, god and our origins. But unfortunately they do not have such notion. Their's is a very elementary description which is probably not true. And they all play mind games which can very easily be equated with madness. Even a madman feels something. The question is how do you distinguish between madness and reality.

Further their description stands like; white light across a tunnel, state of no mind,revelations, feel good, peace of mind etc etc... some/most of which even a mind gone awry will experience. Only difference is that we send them to mental asylum. And just look at the number of lives we have lost for just these imprecise descriptions of god.

A more precise way is to learn about nature through rigours of mathematics and science. Learn mathematics, do the form of meditation(described by your religion) if necessary, describe it(rigorously). Only then it can be put to any argument. Otherwise there will be no objective description and consequently the arguments will not stand any rigours of description. We invented Language and science to describe our world in an objective way, to better ourselves than any other sentient being on this planet. Otherwise there is no difference between a society of dogs and humans. Probably (or not) even they feel about god the same way some of our fellow humans do (or they don't). The great difference is that we have the power of science and mathematics to prove and disapprove the validity of any such claims. There is no other way. Otherwise propose one...:)

Old Man River Mississippi...Ganga Behati ho kyon...

2008-11-01T06:44:39Z

Lyrics:
http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/showboat/olmanriver.htm

Some excerpts from परशुराम की प्रतीक्षा by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar

2008-10-29T09:23:13Z

गरदन पर किसका पाप वीर ! ढोते हो ?
शोणित से तुम किसका कलंक धोते हो ?

उनका, जिनमें कारुण्य असीम तरल था,
तारुण्य-ताप था नहीं, न रंच गरल था;
सस्ती सुकीर्ति पा कर जो फूल गये थे,
निर्वीर्य कल्पनाओं में भूल गये थे;

गीता में जो त्रिपिटक-निकाय पढ़ते हैं,
तलवार गला कर जो तकली गढ़ते हैं;
शीतल करते हैं अनल प्रबुद्ध प्रजा का,
शेरों को सिखलाते हैं धर्म अजा का;

सारी वसुन्धरा में गुरु-पद पाने को,
प्यासी धरती के लिए अमृत लाने को
जो सन्त लोग सीधे पाताल चले थे,
(अच्छे हैं अबः; पहले भी बहुत भले थे।)

हम उसी धर्म की लाश यहाँ ढोते हैं,
शोणित से सन्तों का कलंक धोते हैं।

हे वीर बन्धु ! दायी है कौन विपद का ?
हम दोषी किसको कहें तुम्हारे वध का ?

यह गहन प्रश्न; कैसे रहस्य समझायें ?
दस-बीस अधिक हों तो हम नाम गिनायें।
पर, कदम-कदम पर यहाँ खड़ा पातक है,
हर तरफ लगाये घात खड़ा घातक है।

घातक है, जो देवता-सदृश दिखता है,
लेकिन, कमरे में गलत हुक्म लिखता है,
जिस पापी को गुण नहीं; गोत्र प्यारा है,
समझो, उसने ही हमें यहाँ मारा है।

जो सत्य जान कर भी न सत्य कहता है,
या किसी लोभ के विवश मूक रहता है,
उस कुटिल राजतन्त्री कदर्य को धिक् है,
यह मूक सत्यहन्ता कम नहीं वधिक है।

चोरों के हैं जो हितू, ठगों के बल हैं,
जिनके प्रताप से पलते पाप सकल हैं,
जो छल-प्रपंच, सब को प्रश्रय देते हैं,
या चाटुकार जन से सेवा लेते हैं;

यह पाप उन्हीं का हमको मार गया है,
भारत अपने घर में ही हार गया है।

है कौन यहाँ, कारण जो नहीं विपद् का ?
किस पर जिम्मा है नहीं हमारे वध का ?
जो चरम पाप है, हमें उसी की लत है,
दैहिक बल को रहता यह देश ग़लत है।

नेता निमग्न दिन-रात शान्ति-चिन्तन में,
कवि-कलाकार ऊपर उड़ रहे गगन में।
यज्ञाग्नि हिन्द में समिध नहीं पाती है,
पौरुष की ज्वाला रोज बुझी जाती है।

ओ बदनसीब अन्धो ! कमजोर अभागो ?
अब भी तो खोलो नयन, नींद से जागो।
वह अघी, बाहुबल का जो अपलापी है,
जिसकी ज्वाला बुझ गयी, वही पापी है।

जब तक प्रसन्न यह अनल, सुगुण हँसते है;

है जहाँ खड्ग, सब पुण्य वहीं बसते हैं।

वीरता जहाँ पर नहीं, पुण्य का क्षय है,
वीरता जहाँ पर नहीं, स्वार्थ की जय है।

तलवार पुण्य की सखी, धर्मपालक है,
लालच पर अंकुश कठिन, लोभ-सालक है।
असि छोड़, भीरु बन जहाँ धर्म सोता है,
पातक प्रचण्डतम वहीं प्रकट होता है।

तलवारें सोतीं जहाँ बन्द म्यानों में,
किस्मतें वहाँ सड़ती है तहखानों में।
बलिवेदी पर बालियाँ-नथें चढ़ती हैं,
सोने की ईंटें, मगर, नहीं कढ़ती हैं।

पूछो कुबेर से, कब सुवर्ण वे देंगे ?
यदि आज नहीं तो सुयश और कब लेंगे ?
तूफान उठेगा, प्रलय-वाण छूटेगा,
है जहाँ स्वर्ण, बम वहीं, स्यात्, फूटेगा।

जो करें, किन्तु, कंचन यह नहीं बचेगा,
शायद, सुवर्ण पर ही संहार मचेगा।
हम पर अपने पापों का बोझ न डालें,
कह दो सब से, अपना दायित्व सँभालें।

कह दो प्रपंचकारी, कपटी, जाली से,
आलसी, अकर्मठ, काहिल, हड़ताली से,
सी लें जबान, चुपचाप काम पर जायें,
हम यहाँ रक्त, वे घर में स्वेद बहायें।

हम दें उस को विजय, हमें तुम बल दो,
दो शस्त्र और अपना संकल्प अटल दो।
हों खड़े लोग कटिबद्ध वहाँ यदि घर में,
है कौन हमें जीते जो यहाँ समर में ?

हो जहाँ कहीं भी अनय, उसे रोको रे !
जो करें पाप शशि-सूर्य, उन्हें टोको रे !

जा कहो, पुण्य यदि बढ़ा नहीं शासन में,
या आग सुलगती रही प्रजा के मन में;
तामस बढ़ता यदि गया ढकेल प्रभा को,
निर्बन्ध पन्थ यदि मिला नहीं प्रतिभा को,

रिपु नहीं, यही अन्याय हमें मारेगा,
अपने घर में ही फिर स्वदेश हारेगा।

किरिचों पर कोई नया स्वप्न ढोते हो ?
किस नयी फसल के बीज वीर ! बोते हो ?

दुर्दान्त दस्यु को सेल हूलते हैं हम;
यम की दंष्ट्रा से खेल झूलते हैं हम।
वैसे तो कोई बात नहीं कहने को,
हम टूट रहे केवल स्वतंत्र रहने को।

सामने देश माता का भव्य चरण है,
जिह्वा पर जलता हुआ एक, बस प्रण है,
काटेंगे अरि का मुण्ड कि स्वयं कटेंगे,
पीछे, परन्तु, सीमा से नहीं हटेंगे।

फूटेंगी खर निर्झरी तप्त कुण्डों से,
भर जायेगा नागराज रुण्ड-मुण्डों से।
माँगेगी जो रणचण्डी भेंट, चढ़ेगी।
लाशों पर चढ़ कर आगे फौज बढ़ेगी।

पहली आहुति है अभी, यज्ञ चलने दो,
दो हवा, देश की आज जरा जलने दो।
जब हृदय-हृदय पावक से भर जायेगा,
भारत का पूरा पाप उतर जायेगा;

देखोगे, कैसा प्रलय चण्ड होता है !

असिवन्त हिन्द कितना प्रचण्ड होता है !

बाँहों से हम अम्बुधि अगाध थाहेंगे,
धँस जायेगी यह धरा, अगर चाहेंगे।
तूफान हमारे इंगित पर ठहरेंगे,
हम जहाँ कहेंगे, मेघ वहीं घहरेंगे।

जो असुर, हमें सुर समझ, आज हँसते हैं,
वंचक श्रृगाल भूँकते, साँप डँसते हैं,
कल यही कृपा के लिए हाथ जोडेंगे,
भृकुटी विलोक दुष्टता-द्वन्द्व छोड़ेंगे।

गरजो, अम्बर की भरो रणोच्चारों से,
क्रोधान्ध रोर, हाँकों से, हुंकारों से।
यह आग मात्र सीमा की नहीं लपट है,
मूढ़ो ! स्वतंत्रता पर ही यह संकट है।

जातीय गर्व पर क्रूर प्रहार हुआ है,
माँ के किरीट पर ही यह वार हुआ है।
अब जो सिर पर आ पड़े, नहीं डरना है,
जनमे हैं तो दो बार नहीं मरना है।

कुत्सित कलंक का बोध नहीं छोड़ेंगे,
हम बिना लिये प्रतिशोध नहीं छोड़ेंगे,
अरि का विरोध-अवरोध नहीं छोड़ेंगे,
जब तक जीवित है, क्रोध नहीं छोड़ेंगे।
......................................................................
......................................................................

~रामधारी सिंह 'दिनकर'~

Poem about my City Patna, by My friend Nitin Chandra....

2008-10-11T11:08:52Z

एक उदास शहर - पटना

शहर उदास है...कब से.
कहां गये लोग, पूछ्ता है सबसे...

जवाब देगा भी तो कौन
शान्त है दिशाये, रस्ते है मौन....

कभी देखते थे सपने ईन गलियों मे हम
अब ये रस्ते भी पूछ्ने लगे हैं की कौन हो तुम...

खिडकी से शायद कोइ झांकता है हमे...
कोइ और नही वक्त की होगी परछाई

कब तक मुह मोडे रक्खोगे यार
कौन जोडेगा टुटे शीशे और टुटती दिवार

बुढे होते माँ-बाप रह गये है कितने अकेले,
हमारे बिन वक्त की मार कबतक और कैसे झेले

लौटे नही तो हो जाएगा ये शहर जल-जल के खाक
हांथ मे पाओगे, सिर्फ उडती हुई राख...

सिर्फ उडती हुई राख...
सिर्फ उडती हुई राख...

- नितिन

Anger management, any idea how?...

2008-10-10T20:10:12Z

I am finding it difficult to control anger within me. Must lie low for sometime. Must focus on task at hand.

Bathroom Singers...

2008-10-10T11:30:12Z

Origami: Combination of Science and Art...by Dr. Robert J. Lang

2008-10-08T06:31:19Z

Need Sony PRS 505

2008-10-04T07:38:58Z

I am looking for a device: Sony PRS 505 (ebook reader ), but cannot find it anywhere in Mumbai. I would have called 10s of shops, but most of the guys don't have any clue about it. Really exasperated now. Can anyone help me out with this.