Kanchana Ranasinghe

First Day in Cambridge

2018-06-25T22:28:28-07:00

After a long nap on the bus from Heathrow to Cambridge, arrived here at about 1.30. The evening was spent quite enjoyably. Joined a couple of Tamara's friends to watch the UK Panama match: a massacre at 6-1. Afterwards, visited Jesus College, and after one interesting chat at the cafeteria, did a detailed tour around the Campus. We came across a book sale at the library where I bought two great books really cheap. Later on, took a tour around the city, visiting Sidney Sussex College, Corpus Christi College and a couple other places around the city. Ended the evening watching swans on the riverside Anchor pub. Interesting first day at Cambridge.

First Day at FiveAI

2018-06-09T02:10:09-07:00

The building is so cool! And so are all the people. So I begin my first internship at a tech company here in Cambridge working with the computer vision research team. Getting familiar with their code base, and working on a simple issue on my own, I begin a new page in my life. More to be added here.

How I learnt a bit of Machine Learning

2018-01-18T09:00:01-08:00

Machine Learning (ML) is something really hot these days and thousands are learning it. Day by day it’s becoming easier to run implementations using APIs with little knowledge. Learning ML includes three things: understanding the mathematics behind algorithms & optimizations, coding out simple, efficient implementations, and getting familiar with the most common ML libraries and platforms.

I started off following the Machine Learning MOOC by Andrew Ng on Coursera. This gives a good introduction to machine learning (https://www.coursera.org/learn/machine-learning/home/welcome). This doesn’t really require a lot of mathematical knowledge. It is a beginner’s course. It uses MATLAB. I suggest running through this course as fast as you can. Just get an overall understanding about the stuff. Try to apply these in some projects you’re working on.

At the same time, I set up Python with Spyder (my favourite IDE on Windows) along with Tensorflow, Keras, and a few other ML libraries (this can be time-consuming if you’re not familiar). However, I started off running most of the algorithms I learnt using Numpy in Python (so I had to code everything from scratch). This gives a good grasp over the basic concepts. I also looked at a few implementations on this site: http://deeplearning.net/tutorial/. I tried implementing them from scratch (mostly non-deep learning algorithms: the traditional ML ones).

Afterwards I looked at the Deep Learning Specialization on Coursera offered by the same Professor (https://www.coursera.org/specializations/deep-learning). This explores Deep Learning, which is one of the hottest areas in ML these days. It gives you a good understanding of how to implement the work you do in both Numpy, and Tensorflow. This will take some time, and you should definitely begin a project on your own while doing this where you will apply these things.

Also I read up on a bit of Linear Algebra: about Eigen Values, Matrix Decompositions, Subspaces, etc. This helps us get a good understanding of some of the concepts behind these areas.

You will need to decide what you want to work on: pure research or innovating applications. For pure ML research, a strong mathematical understanding of concepts will be essential. Even for applications, this will be useful, but familiarity with implementations and optimizations will be a lot more useful. Also, after you’re familiar with ML, you can spend some time every week reading a few top research papers in the area.

Privilege

2017-07-13T10:11:00-07:00

Early dawn watches one little girl from her cottage flee,
The morning birds chirping with her as she dances in glee,
Flowers every colour to that merry tune dance beside,
Flowers, flowers smiling to her she plucks in every stride.

Little mind of faith unscrupulous,
Embrace all colours so fabulous,
Red and white and purple and blue,
With her flowers to the shrine she flew.

Old flowers forgotten she clears away,
But the old and wise to her they say,
“Only white flowers so noble and pure”,
The rest in her pocket she hides secure.

The little girl in stealth with a smile slowly steps inside,
A flower of each colour beneath the white she does hide,
The other coloured skinned flowers with her she takes outside,
With stretched arms those crushed flowers she lifts up to the skies,
As the winds devour those broken petals a little tear she cries.

Lost in Love

2016-07-29T23:31:00-07:00

A world so bright with colours so vivid,

And winds of scent that never stay placid,
To a world fresh filled with much delight,
A butterfly young begins its graceful flight.

The glorious, majestic, and glamorous sun,
He falls for none but that fierce one,
His wings do feel those scorching rays of hers,
But love is madness, one deceiving curse.

And of course a wade through pools of moonlight,
Amidst the soothing air she brings with night,
Wash away those burns leaving little behind,
Yet unseen is the moon to his lost mind.

The butterfly too begins to roam in despair,
Soon amused by flowers, fleeting yet so fair,
The moon he misses, so soothing and kind,
But she’s no sun, he must leave both behind,
The flowers it is, he makes up his mind,
Drunk on their nectar he lives happy but blind.

Glory of Lies

2016-05-08T17:00:00-07:00

Legend upon legend so courageous, brave and bold,

Adorn those books of history, their names are written in gold,

Henry the Conqueror and the valiant Alexander,

Oh glamorous warriors! Could it get any better?

The trumpets blow in all majesty and galore,

Handsome men in red march straight to the fore,

Poet and bard alike weave history from their homes,

Ah glamorous war! Who really began these norms?

Brother murdering brother and guns slaughtering hundreds,

Even those warriors with swords slayed their own kindreds,

The names of glorious warriors were writ not in shining gold,

Those letters were drawn from blood of men who passed untold.

Time to admire the glamour of war many great men had found,

Of glorious slaughter houses though no one spoke out aloud,

The killing fields see men being murdered in worse a way,

But what of all that glory? Alas! There never was such a day.

Cruel, callous and evil is all there is to war,

Innocent men dying for others’ problems is all the world saw,

Someone’s petty greed or hatred always begins it all,

And nothing good that came of war does anyone ever recall.

The Birdling

2016-01-15T14:12:00-08:00

Winds of morn ruffle all leaves around,
The nest awakes by that shuffling sound,
Spears of sunlight tear apart the green,
Endless skies around so much they mean.

Within that nest a struggle spans weeks,
The strength of flight a tiny birdling seeks,
Explore and wander all around in delight,
All to gain that mighty freedom of flight.

The world beyond and yonder it adores,
Again its little wings the birdling moves,
Always wondering of beyond the green,
Finally it flies to that wondrous realm.

Skies of freedom slowly begin to reveal,
Of fierce winds and dangers the clouds conceal,
It sees the lands that always drag one down,
The birdling makes one tiny little frown.

Rough winds and times both pass by,
A nest it builds up and high,
The wings no more amuse its mind,
The facade of freedom it leaves behind.

Another morn comes by so fresh and bright,
Brushing through the straw the rays of light,
Awake another birdling ready to begin its own fight,
Perched above the older bird smiles down at that familiar sight.

Chasing the Light

2015-02-17T07:46:00-08:00

Walking down one empty lonely lane,
Smiling up at that desolate lovely dame,
Who in all her pride and glamour,
Glimmers from above oh magical stunner,
Alone yet queen of heavens above,
Make mine the moon forever I vow.

But in that dark and lonely lane,
Lies just misery and none to gain,
The glimmer above sometimes adds light,
Helps relieve and keep up that weary fight,
Or so I think as I walk in the dark,
Always that lane as gloomy do I mark.

Through shadows of trees the fireflies' glint,
Blinking at me but alas they are so faint,
I smile at one ah the gorgeous creature,
Flies to me but seems too miniature,
Yet those giant trees sway in delight,
Adorned in jewels those fireflies' light.

The chill of night the strong winds bring,
The leaves around a happy tune they sing,
The lissom fields of paddy all dance along,
Puppets of wind they swing to its song,
Amused by all I begin to ponder in the darkness of night,
Is it only the paddy that swings with the wind's might.

New Year

2015-01-01T20:42:00-08:00

Another year is gone with many a merry,
Days and nights embedded deep in memory,
Colourful days with many an amazing friend,
All good things must come to an end,
Yet what's gone's not to fret and cry,
But to learn your faults to stand up high.

Another year is gone but another comes ahead,
Filled with mystery and days unknown instead,
May be joy may be pains the coming year,
Be made of, but it's not for us to fear,
All one needs is friends in life to love and cheer,
Let me wish you and all have a happy new year!

Acta est Fabula, Plaudite!

2014-12-09T07:50:00-08:00

Even the glamour of gold with time begins to fade away,

Its splendour and gleam diminishes sadly day by day,

The golden treasure of opulence and majesty that we define,

As College, the heart of our lives that is to us so divine,

Has the worst of all adversities on it reclining,

Like all other, College too in many ways is declining.

Standing against an eternal truth: this descent inevitable,

Lies almost outside the realms that we know as possible,

Yet there is one unique force striving to accomplish,

The noble task of preserving College; that coveted wish,

The Council of esteem that guards with care this glory and pride,

Day and night to achieve this worthy goal takes many a stride.

An year of striving to give life to the traditions that may have been,

Lost if not for the onerous efforts, commitment, dedication so keen,

That they portrayed in all their work to the highest vertex,

Sacrifices they made in the name of College pile up to an apex,

A strenuous but worthwhile year of panache and flamboyance,

Has come to an end revealing Royal spirit’s true essence.

Wonders and magic have been performed within one year,

The success is evident in each magnificent endeavour,

Uplifting the honour of college in every single avenue,

The dying lore from bygone times they knew to renew;

And even for the plain student the pillar of strength stood still,

Sheltering from every problem, the pupils with joy they did fill.

All good times must meet their ends someday and so must all of this,

Ends now an year of wondrous memories that to College was indeed bliss,

The Council with all their lives the legacy of College secured undiminished,

The heart of College for us to guard and protect they have relinquished,

Gratitude for the fame and glory they brought in our hearts are indelibly written,

The debts they repaid and the honour they rebuild shall never be forgotten.

Farewell to them, the great men who led this legacy for yet another year,

The treasure bestowed on us shall be guarded with life and blood, do not fear.