Language Immersion

Posted on 10 May, 2012 by Mayitzin

In my daily struggling trying to learn the German language I use to try new tools and techniques to improve my skills and be more understandable, but of course many times it doesn’t work just because “Deutsch ist eine verkackte Sprache” as my flatmate says.

But well, I love the goddamn language and I will always learn it. So I decided to install an extension for Chrome called “Language Immersion”, which is an experimental extension that changes randomly the words in the text of the websites that you are visualizing, so it mixes the normal text of your language with some words in the language you wanna learn. You can manage how deep you wanna be into the language ranging from Novice to Fluent (5 different levels)

Simple but an effective idea, isn’t it? Let me post the video that explains how this works:

I’ve tried it and after 5 minutes I stopped it. I think it was going worse than it should. Wasn’t helping at all. Now, I don’t consider myself an expert in German or that I express myself perfectly (nor in English) but I certainly find the translations really shitty. I can say it by now for German, which is a complex language that depends so much in the context and every word in a sentence makes sense when you know the other words too. If you have a sight of what Dativ, Akkusativ and other related things are, then you can get my point. The translation in Google Translate is not optimal and when the context is cut, it falls instantly like a drunk bitch with heels. I don’t wanna imagine it with Hungarian!

Is good that they are using the translation tool from Google, it is pretty massive. They even have Swahili and Yiddish available… but not Japanese! I know is another alphabet, but come on! They have Chinese!

Only 5 levels of immersion don’t give too much to play with. I was in the 4th and around 20 or 25% of the words were translated. Changed to the 5 and then all of them were translated.

A good thing is the possibility to highlight the translated words and when you don’t know the meaning you just click on the highlighted word or expression and it shows it back in the original language. But even better, if you wanna know how is it pronounced, you just hold the pointer over and it says it automatically. Of course you can disable all these features and even the extension itself whenever you want.

But yeah… is a shit and it actually could confuse more than it helps. A good idea with bad translations, few options to choose and a lack of intuition; but as I stated, it’s still experimental, the creators said. I hope gets better soon. By the moment I’ll kick it out of my Chrome.

The infinite monkey cage

Posted on 2 May, 2012 by Mayitzin

Science and Comedy have been always connected everywhere because for radical and revolutionary ideas, it is needed a bit of humor and consideration. Both are groundbreaking and quite entertaining if you are in the proper mood.

However only few have had the balls to mix them, play around with them and success with it. One of them is the case of The infinite monkey cage, a comedy series produced by the BBC, where physicist Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince discuss about the relevant topics in Science, such as the origin of life, Probability, Sound, Chemistry, etc.

Before the only science and rational debates mixed with comedy that worth watch were the ones of Bill Maher in his show, where in a round table he discusses different topics of the daily American lifestyle with many personalities. And it was good, politics, religion, science and other disciplines were part of this round table. However, the truly scientific point of view was some times missing due to… well… Bill Maher, although a really good and critical personality, has no scientific background.

This time TIMC offers us Profr. Brian Cox, a guy with an awesome personality and a complete understanding of “the stuff called Science”, and Robin Ince, the acid debater that pulls the attention of the public.

You can check them in the Apple Store if you wanna download their Podcasts, I highly recommend them to those who wanna embrace Knowledge and Reason in a funny way. Otherwise, you can also visit their channel in the BBC podcast website.

Long life TIMC!

My first day in Computer Vision

Posted on 24 April, 2012 by Mayitzin

A new semester in the Uni has begun and in this second week I am already feeling the first pressured tasks. No probs, this time planning and hard work will be a constant besides a good health caring and exercise. Perhaps less ~~Internet~~ Facebook is what I need.

This semester I will struggle a bit with two very interesting courses: 3D Computer Vision and Image Understanding in English and German, respectively. Before I had “Machine Learning Method for Computer Vision Applications” in the same responsible chair but it was so few application and had other courses to attend that required more attention, so I couldn’t experience more in it. That’s gonna change in this semester.

Both courses are held by two very experienced professors. 3D CV is taught by Nassir Navab, whose experience in research is impressive, winning international awards and being a top recognized researcher in the world. He is going to be my lecturer in this Semester. He already began giving some introductory class showing the great advantages of 3D Computer Vision and, most of all, its applications. I was hypnotized, it was great and that’s why now I’m willing to share everything I learn and find in Internet about this matter. It’s really cool and exciting for me.

The second lecturer is Carsten Steger, who’s in charge of the class “Bildverstehen” (Image Understanding) that, as you may suppose, is in German. He is another experienced guy but his field is not in the Universities, it is the industry. He gives solution to real-life problems and that experience is shared in his class. My first impression of him is really good, he’s an open guy with a relaxed style and a very good idea of what he is talking about, besides he can truly explain himself.

Both good professors, both great courses, and an excellent semester to start experimenting with the sources of the student life. From now on you will probably see more often some posts related to Computer Vision, my new bitch (and vice versa).

But we will start with Computer Vision Online, the largest website about CV out there, I think. They offer the newest stuff about CV and its applications, besides some other curiosities and interesting sources, where you can find books, software and even you might find a suitable job for you if you are really into Computer Vision. There are tons of positions in many Universities and Labs. I recommend you to check it out!

And finally I share this video from the chair of Computer Aided Medical Procedures & Augmented Reality (CAMPAR) in the TUM, where the researchers just adapted a Kinect sensor and started to track a guy’s body to virtually visualize it as in a magic mirror. Watch it!

¡Ahí se ven!

Metal for cyber-babes

Posted on 12 April, 2012 by Mayitzin

It sounds maybe stupid but well, I was growing up in the 90’s when the hairy metal became massive and commercial (with bands like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, etc.) but actually it started way before and I dare to say that it was already commercial in the middle 80’s when I was born.

Anyways, Metal has been seen as a style played only by the toughest and most violent guys in the Earth. From this we can extracted way more styles that we can all appreciate as a good Metal, such as Speed, Gore, Thrash, Hair, Glam, Black, Industrial, Doom, Nü, Grunge, Neo-Classical and even a fucking Christian Metal. But still, there is a common in all this bands: Testosterone.

However, Metal has been spreading slow but strongly into many societies and levels. Where are the girls? Well, there are girls but no so known yet, unfortunately. Female metal singers have been showing up lately and are now an important part of gigantic bands like Arch Enemy, Therion, Detente. In the same line we can find even bands formed by girls only, like the Iron Maidens, Kittie, Tijuana Sweetheart, and many others.

But this post is not for the girls with albums and defined musical careers, this post is for the girls that play what they want and become the heart breakers of thousands in the net. This post is for the metal girls that rock our screens and speakers, the rock chicks, the heavy metal babes… Continue reading →

Sweet Home Alabama (Electric Version)

Posted on 4 April, 2012 by Mayitzin

All of us know this song, all of us like it, all of us recognize it when we hear it (always played in Oktoberfest), but never in my life I would think to play it as in the following video. The creators Eric Goodchild and Steven Caton built two gigantic tesla coils to generate different sounds with the sparkles and stuff… well, the result is very impressive and absolutely fun:

According to the description of the video:

The primary drive system for the coils consists of high power semiconductors arranged into an H-Bridge switching configuration. During a spark event, the coil is pulsed on for a few hundred millionths of a second. During this short time, thousands of amps circulate within the primary tank circuit and the energy is coupled into the secondary resonator through magnetism.

So what appears to be a continuous burst of sparks is actually a specific number of sparks generated per second. By modulating the number of sparks that emit from the coil each second, different tones can be produced by the coils.

Have a look to their videos, they’re not only playing that song, but also have many other different hits such as In the Hall of the Mountain King, Pirates of the Caribbean, House of the rising sun, Dueling Banjos, etc. Check also their channel, they have cool shit with lasers and stuff.

Science fucking rocks!

Assassin’s Creed for Kinect

Posted on 3 April, 2012 by Mayitzin

This is actually one of the April’s Fool creations, however it is still a good idea. As commented by the creators, they shot the entire product in one day supported by friends with the corresponding post-production that made a great impression. Remember, is just a prank, but it remained as a possible solution, that can be implemented in a nearly future on a big titled game such as Assassin’s Creed.

Do we want it? Of course! But it’s not because we are lovers of the Kinect in action games, but because we need to try all kind of technologies in products like these. Some might like to control their games with the body, some not, but in the end those are merely different styles and likes. I would try it.

Google Maps 8 bits

Posted on 1 April, 2012 by Mayitzin

It’s April’s fools and all companies are giving some Easter eggs away. Our god Google can not be an exception and, from the many pranks developed by the company, this has been my favorite.

I don’t consider myself a true gamer (I prefer to go out than stay in front of a computer or a console) but I really enjoyed my 8-bit life with the Nintendo. I even had Atari, Family and Super (among other consoles), but this kind of practical joke really surprised me.

For the lovers of Machine Learning, like me, you can easily notice how they developed such 8-bit Nintendo-like platform so quick and fun. Yes, you know how.

But stop chatting and go to Google Maps and you’ll see the normal interface, except for a small area in the top right corner of the map. Click on “Quest” (“Mission” in the German version) and your map will turn 8-bit. Done, you are ready to play with Goggle Maps as in the Nintendo. If you don’t believe me try it yourself and I’ll put here the video and a picture of my town and surroundings in Google Maps Nintendo.

Be nostalgic, Google gives you the tools.

Drunken Stick

Posted on 1 April, 2012 by Mayitzin

I think this kind of animation has been spread in Internet since a long time ago, but never is to late to share the wisdom. This animation in particular is made by Hyun and appears to be the parody of Jackie Chan’s “Drunken Master”.

These cartoons are really simple but they remind me the times where toons and video games didn’t need to have a realistic image to give us lots of entertainment, when the leading roles were simple pixels on a screen and we had great times giving them life through our imagination.

I might be old, but I gladly can say that I really enjoyed those first animations.

Also please check the animation “League of Legends: Stick Figure Spotlight”. It’s pretty cool:

FX guy of the day: Rick Baker

Posted on 26 November, 2011 by Mayitzin

Anyone in the film business can tell who this guy is. He’s just a living legend and a freaking mastermind of our times. He has already 40 years in the FX industry and his achievements are almost as impressive as his creations. He was first known for the low-budget film “Schlock”, where he was in charge of an amateur costume… which turned out to be very realistic and of high-quality. This gave him the opportunity to work in “The Exorcist”, and it started his fast rising.

He has been 7 times Awarded with the Oscar for “Best Make-up”, and gave his inspiration and work for productions such as “King Kong”, “Star Wars”, “An American Werewolf in London”, “Harry and the Hendersons”, “Men in Black”, “Planet of Apes”, “Hellboy” and even “Thriller” from Michael Jackson.

He is one of the few, who see the beauty of horror, the beauty in a scary face, the beauty in a disgusting creature from the worst Nightmares. He is an expert in arts, design, paint, sculpture and (my favorite) Animatronics. All that without CGI. His work along these years was one of the reasons I study Robotics. He is THE MAN.

Truly a living legend and the inspirations of millions around the world, including me. Do you remember those real life Heroes you wanna meet when you’re a kid? He’s one of mine.

dotSUB

Posted on 15 October, 2011 by Mayitzin

En un rato de relax de la clase de Inteligencia Artificial de Stanford, me puse a curiosear cómo es que llevan a cabo la transmisión de la clase por internet y me di cuenta que andan en busca de traductores para poner el contenido de la clase en varios idiomas y así poder compartir más eficazmente el material.

¿Pero cómo traducirlo? De eso me di cuenta cuando en un comentario, el encargado de la clase menciona que usan la tecnología de dotSUB ¿De dot… qué?

Pues resulta que existe una herramienta en internet que nos permite traducir de forma conjunta nuestros videos favoritos. ¿Haz visto la opción CC que tiene youtube en la parte inferior de la ventana de los videos? Ajá esa herramienta que sirve para transcribir el audio y en algunos casos traducirlo a otros idiomas. Bueno, pues esa herramienta en youtube usa algoritmos para identificar el audio y transcribirlo. Bueno, pues al ser algoritmos de aprendizaje parcialmente supervisado, están llenos de errores y hay más videos en youtube subiéndose que gente supervisándolos, así que todavía un buen rato para tener un sistema de traducción bien organizado.

Sin embargo, existe una herramienta que nos ayuda con eso: dotSUB, una página en donde podemos acceder a videos en diferentes idiomas, para así ayudar a traducirlos a nuestro propio idioma. Si eres de las personas que dominan dos o más idiomas, facilmente puedes crear tu cuenta, acceder a los videos y sencillamente transcribirlos a tu idioma. Si no sabes ningún idioma, puedes disfrutar del trabajo de los otros.

Lo mejor de este proyecto es que se trata de un trabajo en equipo, en el que varias personas pueden estar editando la transcripción y subtítulos de los videos. Como muestra está el siguiente video.

Ya saben, morros. Ayuden a la banda y transcriban.