Ah, my feed seems so vacant, I figured it was time to do something about it. To clarify, there’s absolutely no external pressure for me to post (wink, wink). Prepare yourselves! A deluge of posts from me is imminent, filling your news feeds until you tire of my musings (I had to look far for this rhyme).
Let’s chat about week five, shall we? Now, where did I put those notes? Ah! Here they are. My notes remind me that the highlight of week 5 was a deep dive; I don’t recall much, but since I’ve penned it down, it must be accurate. I had chosen deep learning, and frankly, at the outset, I was beginning to question my life decisions. The mini lecture barely made sense, despite my pre-existing shallow knowledge of the topic. I felt better once we started learning Python, the programming language, in a hands-on session.
If asked, I’d say Python is my favorite programming language, about 70% of the time. It was the first language I began learning back in high school. It’s what I’ve used to crack numerous enjoyable coding challenges and put to use in previous internships. Beyond intricate problem-solving exercises, the coolest thing I’ve done with it is create a chatbot capable of processing documents and sending emails. At the time, it was a significant achievement for me, although I’m not so sure now. For the 30% who might be curious, my second favorite language is C#. Over the past two years, I’ve been primarily wearing my C# cap.
But back to the deep dive. Eventually, with the aid of extra YouTube videos and some reading, things started making sense. I find that boiling things down to a rudimentary level helps confirm my understanding. My dad often said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” I must admit, I rarely paid full attention to his wise words, especially when he was in lecture mode. Nonetheless, for my week 6 blog, I might just attempt a simplified explanation, fully prepared to be shot down by those with more expertise on the subject.
I initially chose the DL deep dive because I wanted to experiment with Large Language Models (LLMs), hoping to build a cool AI assistant for gamers. I know it’s not the most noble or altruistic of motivations, but it was what I genuinely wanted. However, the timeframe didn’t allow it, so my dream had to be shelved (I swear, I’m not upset). We ended up developing a Convolutional Neural Network to analyze images by detecting patterns.
Initially, my plan was to train a model for object recognition (not in real-time, as it would be too challenging), while the others aimed to train a model on road images. The trained model would then be used in Unity to enable a car to drive autonomously, with parameters like steering integrated for added control. My model would then be incorporated to recognize objects on the road in Unity. Time constraints forced me to abandon this dream as well (I’m really not sad, promise). In the end, I joined the others in developing the model for the car. Oh, and a crucial detail I forgot to mention: we worked on the existing code of Adam, our project mentor, as creating something from scratch in such a short time would’ve been impossible (well, at least for me).
As for our research, we started designing the simulation, primarily focusing on the interactions and creating a storyboard. I now wish I could warn my past self not to over-complicate things, as the present me is wrestling with lines of code. I’m not even certain all this happened in week 5, but for simplicity’s sake, let’s say it did. My focus during that week and the following one was predominantly on the MCA.
That pretty much sums up that week, I believe. We also had some enlightening lunch lectures, as always. Learning from such intelligent people has been a pleasure, and it’s surprising how challenging some of their journeys were. I haven’t found anything personally motivating yet, but I’m hopeful. That’s all from me on this one, four weeks late (laughs). This post’s game recommendation is Stardew Valley.
You get an old, run-down farm from your grandpa and boom! You’re a farmer now. But hey, don’t mistake it for some boring farm work simulator. Everything from mining and fishing to battles against pesky creatures in the caves. And the townsfolk? They’re not just bland NPCs; you can befriend them, date them, and even start a family. This game is all about carving your own path. Wanna focus on crops, go ahead! More into animal farming? No one’s stopping you. And the graphics, they’re old school, pixelated, and absolutely charming. So if you’re up for a chill, laid-back gaming experience with some farming on the side, Stardew Valley could be your jam. Wait that was pretty good, maybe I should do advertising. this post took me more than 1 hour to write don’t blame me for choosing quality over quantity.
