Bhardwaj Rish

Ever wondered why you haven't been able to find good music on YouTube of late? Or how you're repeatedly suggested music you've already heard oh-so-many times on Youtube? I saw a feedback section on the website today. And this is what I sent them. -- YouTube puts me into this bubble that classifies things I've discovered so far, and the things I haven't. Your recommendation system, I feel, is limiting me from exploring new things. Almost as if you don't want me to see new things unless I explicitly search for it; and only then does my bubble grow. Let's take music for example. I have been listening to a lot of 21 pilots of late. And surprisingly out of the 15 odd recommended videos list on the right, apart from 1 or 2 fresh videos of a completely different genre (a different category altogether), Youtube repeatedly suggests me 4-5 of 21 pilots' songs that I've listened to several times already, and the rest are other songs that I discovered in ...

Junior Year Summers.  Summer Sixteen. I had such high hopes for these 3 months (starting May '16). My last true summer vacation before we graduate and become clothed monkeys in this big world. Some will end up here, there, some doing what they want, some not doing anything at all. I've been lucky to have done productive and meaningful work during my freshman and sophomore summers. I'm going to write about the work I've done so far (excluding personal projects), and the work I wish to be doing this summer. Freshman Summer. (May '14) I interned at a university startup that aimed at making books more accessible amongst students within the university. A stroke of luck, and I kick started my journey into Android dev. I learnt how to design, develop and publish Android based applications. I was given a choice on what platform I'd like to work on, and I chose Android thinking I'd be given a phone to test my applications on. I had a Windows phone then, and ab...

Given a short 10 minute video by your favorite YouTube channel (or say your favorite director) or a 5 page article written by the best author (or again, your favorite author) on the same topic, which medium would you prefer? A blog is in my opinion, not read by as many people as a series of videos on the same topic.   People are inherently lazy . Unless you're an avid reader, you are most probable to watch the video rather than reading the same thing. Or maybe it's context dependent. I would rather prefer reading Oliver Twist than watching it. But I'd rather watch a video on my univ cryptography course than read a chapter from the prescribed book. Last year I spent over 4 hours on my train journey from college to home, writing about every project I've ever worked on. Do go through my  /portfolio section here . Chances are, if you opened the link above, you would have just skimmed through the titles, maybe read a couple that interested you. Analytics on the websi...

A friend suggested me to listen to the song Happy Together by The Turtles about a year ago. I've been crazy about the song since. No matter how they toss the dice, it had to be.  I love the lyrics. Have a look at the video, the trumpet player has absolutely no role in the song, and yet he's all over the place fooling around with every band member. This was their thing. These funny hairdoed people (the singer's sideburns are worth noticing), dancing about, playing and feeling the music. The next song that YouTube suggests you to listen to is I'm a Believer by The Monkees.   The drummer is the singer. Not common anymore. They also have a tambourine player. Another uncommon instrument in today's music. One of the comments read " Wow that tambourine player is really feeling the music ". I couldn't stop laughing after I started observing him. He really is into it! :D  If you want to hear a more modern version of the song, do listen to the remake of ...

I've been freelancing, making Android applications for about a year now (started out in '14). I made several applications, for various clients, both individuals and companies, one of which was an Italian mobile commerce company for which I developed three utility Android applications. When you find clients over Fiverr , or similar websites, you are generally sure you will get your money for the work you do, and the website will resolve disputes, if any. The problem arises when you communicate with your client over gmail, where he can thug you if he's a cheat. The solution? This is the ideal way to go ahead with the transaction. 1. [Negotiate Price] Communication between client and freelancer. 2. [Finish the app dev] Freelancer notifies the client the application is made. 3. [Send across developed APK] Freelancer sends apk to client. 4. [Payment] Client pays freelancer over Paypal, or predecided gateway. 5. [Code shared] If t...

There was this episode in Friends where everyone's thoughts are narrated out loud. The six of them are in their cafe and Ross is talking about one of his many dinosaur stories, and the others are sitting there listening to him. Or at least they pretend to. Now that their thoughts are being narrated out loud, here's what they're all actually doing. Rachel : *squints eyes* I love how he cares so much about stuff. If I squint, I can pretend he's Alan Alda. Monica : * Giving him the Pan Am Smile *  Oh good, another dinosaur story. When are those gonna become extinct? Chandler : *nods his head as if he was understanding every bit of it*  If I was a superhero, who could fly and be invisible, that would be the best! Gunther : *serves coffee* What does Rachel see in this guy? I love Rachel. I wish she was my wife. Joey : Hums a song in his mind. Taa da taaa ta duu. Phoebe : Hey, who's singing? The 6 of them are all sitting within a 10 meter radius, ...

Java Interviews are Farji Farji ; Hindi for bogus. Not the exact word I'm looking for, but here's an example. I took up a Human Computer Interaction course during my 5th semester. The professor took lectures just for the sake of completing 42 hours of teaching time, and we memorized Fitt's law and 18 other such obvious laws, word for word, just for an A grade. Farji. Coming to the Java interview I gave recently. I applied for a scholarship in a nanodegree program in Android, taken by Udacity. The initial test was an easy Java based inheritance question. The question stated if it takes you more than 15 minutes to complete it, reconsider not applying for the program. Haha, I quite liked that. The next round was just a super, super long form questioning everything I've ever done. I'm almost sure they would've selected me purely on the basis of how I managed to fill every optional textbox. Especially the one that asked me about my experience in "Disrupt...

We were asked to list down ideas of projects we would like to do for our Software Engineering course today. This course is one of the most important courses of all the ones we take in the 4 years that we are here. The basic idea behind the course is to give students a real life experience of making a software from scratch, working in groups (10ish per group), and developing a product that will be used in the real world. Sadly, of all 30 projects developed by the 300 students every year, I have not heard of any one actually being implemented and used. They're made and forgotten, and the course doesnt hold the value it should. Also, there is no website/page listing all projects batchwise, developed till date. I do not want to make another flipkart/food delivery/car rental app, that the previous batches have been making for years. I want to make a software people will actually use. The ideas listed may seem simple from the outside, but the devil is always in the details. Plus,...

Link to Github Link to Google Play First things first! Thank you for trying to contribute! This really will go a long way :D I talked to the guys from Zimbra about the app over the winter, and they were really excited about the app. Though the app has gone for a toss now. Doesn't work anymore, because of the upgradation.  <If you are able to use an API, do try implementing that!> Though I could probably sit for a day or two and set it up again, I really want the spirit of open source to hit off at DA. So, this is the project I worked on for months, and really is the reason I know Android dev. And now its as naked as we came. Setting up the Project This is probably the hardest part of everything we do. Setting up the project. The main app is located at (all the Java, layout, res files). dawebmail/app/src/main Please use Android Studio. Eclipse will be a nightmare. I've compiled it using compileSdkVersion 22 .  Libraries used compile 'com.android.suppo...

I wrote this as an email to my father right after winter break (Dec '15) started. I started receiving a lot of emails from several startups during that period, many of which were listed on angel.co , willing to hire me as an Android intern. I have to say this, I love startups, and am sure to work for one after graduating. But there is a difference between the ones I have worked for so far, and those that I chose not to work with. And that is what this article is about.  I hold no grudges against app-only startups, but my interest lies in making something tangible. --- Isn't it just so cool to designate yourself as the Founder of Banana Corp? To send out professional emails, signing interns for your  startup ? Telling your friends you're busy meeting investors. That you're flying down to Bangalore on business trips. Hunting for incubators to give you a place to work out of. Startups . Ha. The ideology with which most people  startup  is bull...