Author Archives: johny

Practical scenario for ML Transcribe on cloud

One of the well-known services in AI/ML stack (artificial intelligence & machine learning) of cloud computing is transcribing (speech to text) the audio and analyzing it.

While cleaning up my phone, I realised, that it has piled up a lot of voice recordings that I did on various conferences & seminars I attended.  Recording the speeches/discussions directly on phone, is a quick way of taking notes, which you can refer later & if you label it & make a transcript, it’s even better for indexing.
Thus, my experiments with Transcription services on the cloud started! (I wonder whether Evernote or OneNote has transcribe feature which converts speech-to-text on-the-go on mobile).

I had to trim a 45 minutes long audio file to 1 min. sample & convert it to mp3 (using VLC Player). To keep things simple there’s only 1 speaker talking in the audio file, although the job is not simple enough for machines, you can listen to sample audio (and try to text it in comment section!)

Google Cloud pleased me as it supports long range of input languages as audio source, so I could choose Indian English, but on the downside, it only supported 1 min audio file for free-demo. (for longer files, you may have to call APIs & write a code). Here’s the result  from Google:

150
the world's most interesting thing and I think you are the advantage of building for 
India and building the world have a domestic economy is big enough for you to grow 
as a starter and global market also I don't need to both the option that I want to 
talk to someone is very difficult to the reason is these words between is true that 
was open find out the world after appoint the world can give the field of India 
can eat Universal pain

But it gives different results if you select US English as source language, much better if selected model is ‘video’ (other options are phone call, search/command, default) Video model is not available for IN-EN.

We are around 250 in India.  to the point that
the world could have come in and they want to be locked up all over the top again, 
but more importantly I think is huge opportunity for startups the third and most 
interesting thing and I think you can speak about the relevant is after the DND 
Festival we spend some time at Israel is India has this unique Vantage of building
 for India and building for the world. We have a domestic economy, which is big 
enough for you to grow as a start-up and it has a and a global market. 
Also, I think we need a bill for both the opportunity that I only focus on one is 
very defensive because the reason is these words between these two that what 
have different kind navigation for the world to start learning after a point 
because India will be the world's and usually right so the because the scene of 
India can be Universal game.

If you check out AWS AI/ML/DL stack, it gives you ready to use tools such as Rekognition, Translate, Polly which can process the input without requiring any coding. What we need in our case is: AWS Transcribe which reads audio files stored in S3 and export the text in json format. The best part is you do not need to write any code for this nor there’s 1 min. restriction for audio. But it understands only US-EN and Spanish, which did not give great results.

Get it. So with that the ones they want. 
So  we have all but one party is huge over to you first. The most impressive thing. 
And i think you could spend some time. Is there? He has a unique case beginning for
the world. You have a domestic big enough to stop it and the opportunity only 
focused on one very defensive because of easiness. These words that was a different
world will start learning after a point because and you two guys with big feet,
you know what?

IBM Watson is a dark horse here, showed relatively fewer errors. But if you choose British English, the result was full of ‘yeah’, which is funny (and stupid!)

We get 150. This. For the one that. The one. The what we love to help all those 
online games at 148 is huge opportunity for stocks the most interesting thing 
and I think you would be more than enough for the effects of the sense of time 
and was there. Is media has unique blockades probability for India and before 
the war. Yeah domestic economy big enough for you to go in the stock and it 
has a. And over the hallways like the need to clear the board the all the Jews 
that only focus on one is very different too because the reason is these lawyers
 or differently from the way the stock offer appointed with nearly the word off 
and you could be like the because of being in the op he or university.

Lastly, Microsoft’s Azure cognitive Services gave me hard time. Unlike other cloud service providers mentioned above, it doesn’t have a quick demo page where I could simply upload a minute long file to test. So I had to sign-up for Azure services using credit card, email, mobile, & OTP verification, only to find that I am not eligible for their 30 day free trial. I somehow got the free trial after contacting the customer support. After much fooling around Azure Cognitive Services API documentation, I realised that API only allows 10 seconds of audio file (certainly not a tool we are looking for, this one is more suited for command/search). Apparently cris.ai, customspeech.ai does a batch transcription, which is again a lot of efforts. After few RestAPI experiments, I ditched! I may be missing something @Azure for such a simple task, (Please add a comment below if you can guide me to right path, or if you know easier way which I missed). But I think they should have made it simple ready-to-use service/demo.

Finally, I decided to transcribe it myself as none of the above cloud players are up to the mark.
Human interpretation *(who knows the context.)
I am trying verbatim here. I must confess, this audio was very tough to crack even for someone who was present in that discussion and recorded it. I can imagine more errors if this assigned to a layman.

...Twenty hundred accelerators. And we are around hundred and fifteen. so almost… 
So to the point that, the world’s gonna come in. and we gonna...  
..upper game but more importantly, I think it’s huge opportunity for startups.
The third and most interesting thing and I think you’ll speak about it, 
Amey, after the DLD festival where we spent some time in Israel, is 
India has this unique advantage of building for India and building for world. 
We have a domestic economy big enough for you to grow as a startup and it has a 
and a global market also I think we need to build for both.
The opportunity that I wanna focus is very different because the reason is these
worlds between the what is different for India different for world is start
blurring after a point because India will be the world. And mutually so bigger the 
theme for India is Universal theme.

Surely, above results has some errors as well!
Conclusion: Are we there yet? What do you think?

Clearly, you still need human intervention and cannot rely fully (in this case not at all) on these automate services.  In Translation job these machines at least aid 50-70% but for transcription we still have a lot to cover (& miles to go 🙂 ).

Follow up on resolution

This is a follow-up on my previous post about my resolution in 2018. Today is a good occasion (my birthday) to ponder on what I had decided and how much I reached towards my goal.

Each of my four resolution deserves a detailed blogpost with some insights and learning but here’s glimpse of what’s going on and how far I am.

1. Workout & Stay fit: I did a couple of medium treks without a sweat! So, I am fit & have been fit but I had lost a confidence whether I could run/sprint for more than 30 seconds, whether I still have stamina… This resolution was more about joining some gym and getting a proper work-out routine. & yes, I did that. After checking out with dozens of gyms I finally decided on one and started my gym membership. Once on treadmill, I started building my stamina and done some 3-5 minutes sprints. So, there’s some progress there. I haven’t gone into body-building and weight exercise but I’ll start that soon.

2. Alternative Investment: I have been quite active in trading last couple of quarters and have found some unique investment opportunities. Although this is not how I had planned in Jan-2018 of investing in startups like Angels (angel.co) or building a portfolio etc., this definitely falls in alternative investment. And I indeed became on angle for a startup. On a second thought I can still explorer Angelist, that option is open, but the ROI/money is not quick nor guaranteed.

3. Make something: I don’t remember of making something this year. I finally purchased soldering kit & fixed some bluetooth speakers (along with my father, we did it together!!). I also purchased a hot melt glue-gun, but that product is a rip-off. They should remove the word ‘glue’ or I should dig more to get actually sticky cartridge, which would stick like soldering /welding in case of metal. I guess that’s the closes I have been. As far as the open source project goes I haven’t short-listed any idea yet (You can share one). I need to build a shade for car parking that could be my DIY project this year.
Plastic Recycling
4. Solid Waste management: When I had posted about it in Jan, I had no clue of how things work, how solid waste it treated/processed/recycled if not sent to dumping ground. I know the seriousness it holds and thus started with first step. Earlier this year, I visited Dharavi’s plastic garbage shredding and recycling industry and bit relieved that there’s hope!

To summarise, I have not reached 50% of goal but the resolutions are still alive and I’m getting there. I should post an update in December before the year ends. Meanwhile if you have any comments to share (especially #2 a startup idea/project, #3 DIY/IoT projects for me, #4 how I can contribute on solid waste management) feel free to email me [email protected] or post a comment below.

Resolution 2018

It’s that time of the year when you make yet another new year resolution/s. Mostly it’s the same commitment you make every year and barely mange to complete it. So, do you have anything new this time?
Well, in my case, I’ve thought of something new and I think it’s important for me to put it out here (makes me accountable).  I can then look back next year and write couple of follow up posts on the progress on each of projects. This year I am planning to spend quite a bit of my time and money on some personal as well as public projects.

  1. Workout & stay fit: Yeah, the usual one! I know it’s a bit obvious, but this one’s new for me. Crossed 35 and still never been to a gym, never followed a diet or done real physical training. So this is going to be my personal challenge.
  2. Alternative investments: Although, I’ve had worked on startups, and mentored/invested in a few; I never did this professionally. Hence, this year I am planning to do this professionally, a venture capital fund (comes under alternative investment in the fund’s portfolio). This is going to be my professional challenge. To raise funds and build a portfolio of bankable businesses.
  3. Make something: I just love maker‘s community and how they inspire each other to build something new. You can earn millions of dollars in stock trading but nothing gives you more satisfaction than fixing things and creating stuff. This year I am going to make something – a smart automation hardware for me/my house, which others can use. It’ll be an open-source project so others can benefit and improve. This is going to be my community project.
  4. Solid waste management: Last and not the least, the most challenging project I am going to take up is “disposing off garbage”. Yes, and you guessed it right, this one’s my public project. Things that you don’t want, go to the trash bin; but what happens to it next? The rate at which we are consuming materials is way higher than it can be decomposed or recycled. Soon we will end up on acres of land filled with trash. Dumping ground cannot be a permanent solution and I’ve come to realize that this is a grave issue which needs to be taken care on priority. If not, the next generation would have to face the aftermath of our actions, and by then it will be too late.

You know, what grinds my gears?

Do you know, what really grinds my gears?
Mosquitoes!
Yes, those little suckers are deadly. In fact they are the most lethal species, deadlier than shark, lions, or any other animal for that matter. In fact all animals combined would not match the harm that mosquitoes make.

Check this video /infographic /or should I call it videographics? (ah, new term!!). The video lists most lethal animals who are responsible for human deaths. I was waiting for the twist & the surprise; and I got one. I thought, humans kill most humans (murders and accidents), obviously. And I thought, they would miss including the humans in the list of animals. But I was stunned at the end.

Mosquitoes are dangerous; and I want to get rid of those. Ah! who doesn’t want to get rid of them? All of us, right? Except you might not know what mosquitoes are if you are living in colder regions of developed countries.

I hope you all remember, Mr. Bill Gates opening the jar of mosquitoes in TED talks.  Well, that did the trick, I think. Many labs are working on mosquito borne diseases such as Malaria, Dengue, Chikunguniya.

There are experiments that could prevent mosquitoes to reproduce, but what are the consequences of eradicating the entire species is unknown and dangerous.

Here we go (& will not come)

Here Maps will no longer be available on Windows 10 mobile phones. Starting from 30 June 2016 the mapping & navigation software from Nokia will be discontinued on Windows 10 mobile devices. If you happen to have updated here maps app on windowsphone 8.1 you would receive this message.
Thank me, hopefully it wont affect as I would still have WP8.1 since earlier Lumia Phones are not eligible for Windows 10 upgrade.

Sliders don’t convert

Sliders, image rotator, slideshow, carasoule (spell check: carousel 😉 ) or whatever you’re calling it, all look cool & make some fancy magic using JavaScript but sadly don’t convert.
Yes, sad but true. It’s bit tough to absorb but you can a/b test to draw your own conclusions; I’m sure numbers would convince you better. Or take a look at reliable source. Microsoft, Windows, Abode and many large/popular websites used to keep sliders on front page. Now they don’t.
Not only it’s bad for SEO, it’s not good for UX as well. Adds extra js files for ‘animation/lively effects’. Sliders are big distraction. Takes 75% of front page real estate. Confuses users as to where to go next (to choose user flow).
Now I know that our front page (of the business site amrute.me ) has a slider; and that is why I’m writing this post. I’m in process of building new site for biz http://aon.works & it was tough decision to discard sliders, but yes, most likely I’m not going to have it for new site.

The last straw #Facebook

Facebook feed algorithm is driving people to extremism. It’s making their beliefs even stronger, cementing it further by watching likeable content repetitively. While Facebook notoriously, has been working on some or the other secret social experiments at large scale, this is the last straw. I have been tempted to stop using Facebook since many years but had hold back the thought because of the business clients on social media.
I don’t know how Mahesh Murthy manages to take a stand and use fb the same time… something to learn?
But I think they are not prepared for the negative consequences, the negative sentiments and extremism causing on the society at large. This may look bit vague, but this is a very serious concern.
This should be the movement, to stop Facebook from manipulating peoples mind. I think a mentor would help! Do you feel the same? Are you game for this? RT below tweet, or better yet, comment below (using your facebook credentials 😐 )
 

DrupalCon Asia here I come

DrupalCon is happening in Asia for the first time. Lucky for me it’s happening in India, Mumbai near I live (at IIT Bombay to be precise). I’ve been following Drupal Events and news since the launch of D8; and thinking of attending the conference. Today is the last day to pay for the tickets and register for the event. I delayed my decision to max and paid more than double the super-early bird price. ₹ 8,000 is still considered an costly conference in India even if you bill it as business expense. I know it’ll payback. Drupal is a whole new level, compared to other obvious choices for website development (read WordPress & Joomla). I was blown away by the built-in features & the possibilities with Drupal 8. D8 took forever to launch since the last version (released in 2011) and it changed everything. I hope the wait is well worth, especially now, when I’ve decided to work on the project using Drupal platform. Currently I’m building it on D7 due to lack of mature modules. But, eventually more mods will be available to D8. Sooner the better. Better even before the launch of our app. My plan is to start working on Drupal 8 as soon as I am satisfied with MVP (minimum viable product/ prototype) on D7, and built it on HHVM instead of currently available version of PHP.  HHVM, the hacked PHP by Facebook team, is surely faster than PHP.
DrupalCon is multi-track (parallel lectures) event with loads of informative sessions and non-stop flow of the tips, lessons & knowledge. They have very unique session (or should I call it un-session?) called BoF.

Birds of a Feather sessions (or BOFs) are informal gatherings of like-minded individuals who wish to discuss a certain topic without a pre-planned agenda. BOFs allow groups to meet and discuss issues relating to regular conference sessions and talk out common problems facing the community.

Isn’t it cool? A space for like minded people with informal settings and no-agenda. I’m really excited to attend this conference. I never attended DrupalCamps (the smaller version) nor DrupalCons before. And I’m sure there’s going to be loads of take-away. I’ll write post-event blog about my experience.
If you happened to be coming to DrupalCon Asia next week feel free to ping me on twitter.

On your marks. Get set Go!

Vir Das, the comedian, actor in Bollywood has more active and less popular facet that you might not know. Perhaps he’s one of very few people in the film industry who are real, well versed & make sense.
He’s pretty active on social media, so go, follow him!


I’m bit late posting his YouTube video on anxiety about the exam results but I think it’s timeless, so here you go!

Tumblr doesn’t showcase SrBachchan blog

So the other day I thought to play around with Tumblr to learn about its services post acquisition. I signed up (from an Indian IP address), to create a new blog and found the place to be lonely. Tumblr offered me some blogs to follow, which I presume are popular. (Something very similar to twitter).

But, I didnt get what was the obvious. The Amitabh Bachchan’s blog is not featured in Tumblr’s suggestion engine. It should have been featured, not only because of his super-stardom celebrity status, but because he’s got a very popular blog. Amitabh Bachchan is one of the most active blogger in India and the world. He’s been blogging regularly, everyday, posted more than 3000 articles for more than 6 years. On the next screen, upon deliberately searching for his blog by typing his name (yes, with spelling mistake, which most of us misspell Bacchan) I found no results. Surprisingly “NO RESULT” for ‘Amitabh Bacchan’. Shame on you, Tumblr!
Amitabh Bachchan, aka SrBachchan had to move from BiggAdda when it discontinued the blogging service. Tumblr ‘won’ Blog of Amitabh Bacchan and migrated old posts & images, when BiggAdda stopped its blogging service.


Tumblr should be grateful that Sr. Bachchan uses its platform for blogging, which otherwise is non-existent in India compared to prominent blogging platform, BlogSpot (& WordPress). Not only this gives free publicity and advertising to the Tumblr but also gives a strong message of recommendation as SrBachchan is using this blogging platform.
Recently, Mr. Bachchan clarified on blog about the 65 crore ‘gold-plated thali’ controversy. & I had a good laugh on how India.com manipulates the stories to create a buzz.

Ramayan wars [iPhone games review]

I wanted to write a review (and I have) about the unique game called “Ramayan Wars- the ocean leap” on iTunes app store despite I posted it successfully, it disappears in air! How? So I’m posting it here where I control what to publish.
Ramayan Wars is a premium game with 3rd person 3D perspective and HD graphics available for Android and iOS devices (and works great on tablets)


First of all, this is not just a game like League of Legends. It’s more of telling a story and experiencing the ‘Ramayana’ and being part of it. After finishing the boss, when you enter into Lanka, you feel like you’re there with Hanuman. Great cinematography, HD graphics, and overall a good experience.
Although ‘the game’ is tough to finish but it’s well worth the time & efforts. It’s a 3rd person, 3D game where you play as Hanuman, Maruti and starts your journey from India the take the ocean’s leap to land of Lanka. The game has variety of levels and environments right from esophagus and intestine/abdomen of the demon to the beaches of India and Lanka. The difficulty level increases as you come closer to finishing the game and just like any other game this one has a technique to play which if you master, you’ll be able to kill the boss. Although the game lacks puzzles but as I said earlier it’s not just a game. If you want pure gaming, go buy other games for $8.
It’s a must buy game for anyone who wants to learn /tell the story of Ramayan. It’s good starting point for the Indian parents (especially NRIs) who want to introduce Ramayan to their kids that are sitting in strollers from baby-stroller reviews. The game is set on SunderKand, when Hanuman realises his true enormous power, takes big leap across the Indian Ocean to land in the Lanka to deliver the Ram’s message to Sita. Oh! What a wonderful story of Ramayan I get goosebumps even while typing this. You can relate to it if you read the Ramayana. If you’ve not, here’s the good reference point to get you started .

These guys fool around on TV. You wont take’em seriously until you read their bio!

HOMP fame duo, Rocky and Mayur, the host of NDTV Goodtimes’ TV show “Highway on my Plate (aka HOMP)” have been running food and travel series and covered all corners of India. These guys fool around on TV, try some poor poetry, make fun and pull each others’ leg while traveling and eating at thela, dhaba, college canteens, and restaurants across the nation. Unlike other TV show anchors/models whose only skill is ‘looking good in front of camera’, the HOMP duo are smart and full of talent. You know this for sure when you see them on one of the TED (TEDx) videos.

And you wont take them seriously until you read their brief bio (below):

Introducing the Highwaymen

Mayur Sharma believes that life is about finding your special gift and sharing it with the world. He loves red wine, paneer, ice-cream, and gaajar halwa all of which taste best when shared with someone. An avid bookworm, wildlife enthusiast, passionate rock climber, and mountain trekker, Mayur is always ready to dive into anything for a laugh.

Mayur Sharma (left) and Rocky Singh

Mayur is based out of Delhi and the ‘out of Delhi’ is so true. He is an outdoor experiential educator and works with children and corporate clients in developing interpersonal relationships and productive group dynamics. An avid traveller Mayur has lived, worked, played, backpacked his way across over 65 countries in the past decade before returning home to the best food in the world. A keen sportsman he plays squash and enjoys rock climbing and high altitude trekking. Mayur has climbed Kilimanjaro and survived an unexpected swim in the Tsunami of 2004 but finds the adventures on the highways of India just as exciting.
Rocky Singh is 38 years old and married with two kids. After running a restaurant, gas distributorship, working with British Airways and finally heading a multinational as the CEO, Rocky retired in 2005. He is now an internationally certified consultant in HR and business process fields and works as the GM for a corporate training organisation. Rocky is a wild life enthusiast and an ornithologist (bird-man), scuba dive master, single handicap golfer and traveler. His passion is food and traveling. His mantra “The difference between a wise man and a fool is that a wise man will learn, even from the fool.”
‘Make food not war’ is the mantra that drives Rocky Singh. His passion for Indian street food has taken him across the country and the world. He spent five years travelling through India’s amazing foodscape for pleasure and another four for Highway on my plate”. A junior national hokey player, state level boxer, and footballer, he now scubadives across the globe and indulges in his passion for street food and travel. He lives in Delhi with his wife , daughter, and son. He believes that life, like food is best when it’s shared. So pass around some and love and joy! He always comes back for seconds. 🙂

Idea to Prototype In50Hrs

In50Hrs is a hackathon (sort of) sponsored by 10,000Start-ups, and a brainchild of @VijayAnands. it’s full weekend programme (2 days & 1 evening) where in fifty hours:

  1. You propose your idea to the audience;
  2. Form a team;
  3. Fine-tune & Brainstorm;
  4. Work on building prototype
  5. Present at the end of the show.

Unique & interesting indeed! I used to follow such entrepreneurship, startup, VC funding events/ news/ seminars before I started my web hosting/ web marketing agency. It’s been more than 5 years and these guys are as active as they were before.

In above interview Vijay talks about entrepreneurship journey and when to seek funding. He insists that you should not get funds for your first startup, (because you don’t have the skill-sets or you’re over-leveraging yourself). Interestingly, I’ve been through a similar journey, as I made lil-bit of money to float here and now I’m on verge of building my 3rd startup (and eventually raising the funds …did not seek angel/VC funding for the first two). It’s a well thought plan and I may look for funding for this project. Before you reach that stage, In50hrs seems to be the perfect programme to validate your idea and try/test the prototype under the supervision of experts and get the feedback.
Do you have the ‘great idea’ that is lying around for months and years in your mind? And you’re not working on it because you don’t get time or a good co-founder? Well enough excuses! If truly that’s the case, you should consider participating in in50hrs now!