Point Element

For a long time I had Sony SRS-D9 as the desktop speaker. Bought it for 5500 Rs in 2012 and it was used sparingly. Primary reason being I never had a proper setup for that. And second reason was it was very much bass heavy. Also the bass being boomy did not help a lot. Finally after 14 years we sold it and I decided to get something much better. Turns out now a days there are many options. The studio monitors are quite affordable now. In fact for about 20-25k there are excellent choices like Kali Audio LP6-v2. It was slightly out of budget and having availability issues. So I looked around and finalized Presonus Eris Studio 5. This one is a proper monitor with a 5” main driver and a separate tweeter. It’s rated at 80W and supports RCA, TRS and XLR balanced inputs. I was able to find some space on my desk and this cost me about 16000 INR. Came with a nice power cord. Thankfully I had ordered a 2.5mm to RCA cable. And also looked up how to set output to mono on windows as I right n...

Got this scanner for the car and scooter for 900rs. Good investment. Now I should be able to reset the yellow engine light on the scooter. As well as scan the car for exact fault codes. The stupid Tata service center does not seem to do a great job. Anyway that’s it for now. Cheers. 

It's actually Desktop 3.0 - 1.0 being a Pentium Dual Core with 2GB RAM on an Intel motherboard - don't even remember the model. But it had an AGP port and I remember adding a NVidia MX4000 GPU to that. And it was a decent machine. After few years it got donated to nearby school. So good EoL. Desktop 2.0 is not sitting in a corner - waiting for memory prices to come down so that I can finally return it's old 2666MHz 16GB sticks and maybe return the old-ass Zebronics SSD too. It would probably go for 12-15K, and then maybe if I manage to get a nice high-end GPU, then I would combine this junk with the RTX 3050 and sell it for 40k. Would work out. Or just sell the parts one by one. Whatever. Anyway back to the Desktop 3.0, the desktop is quite good at 2-tasking as long as those tasks are consuming different storage media. The CPU runs well, memory is slow-ass being 2666MHz. And yes I did pay 7k for a 8GB 3000MHz module but it does not matter since dual-channel is st...

Finally I have decided to upgrade the desktop. I have booked a Ryzen 5 5600 with a B550M motherboard. I would have liked to put in another 16GB RAM to make total 32GB but since I'm not changing the graphics card, it makes sense to stick with 16GB. I'm also going to get a better cabinet and that will make this another PC. Then I can use whatever parts from the old system and when next year I upgrade the new system further with a new graphics card if things become cheaper, I'll sell the old system as a basic gaming CPU with a RTX 3050 which should fetch decent price for it. So overall I would have spent 45000 + 25000 = 70000 on this system. And I think the performance is worth it. Cheers!!

I was getting bored with work so decided to fiddle with wsl Ubuntu and AI. I decided to go big and downloaded a 14B model in ollama. The office laptop has 32GB of ram. It’s waste because coding takes hardly 10-12GB. Anyway there was a proxy issue with wsl which I solved by importing certificates from windows. Then got ollama installed. Then got a 1.3B model installed for autocomplete. And then got the 9GB 13B parameters model.  Running the 13B model on CPU was a pain. But the integration with continue worked decently. I ran into some code applying issues but nothing crazy. Only issue was slowness.  Next I asked copilot how it can be better. It asked me a bunch of questions to figure out if the GPU is accessible in Linux. Turns out not. After a bunch of tries I reached a point where intels openVINO runtime was able to detect the Gpu. Then I asked the actual question that how much this gpu will help and the answer was 50% which is not really much. So I stopped. But it was r...

This tablet had kind of died few months back. I tried to revive it using the Raspberry Pi 5V 2.5A power adapter but it did not work. Today after few more months I decided to use AI to see if it can be resuscitated. I used the power station this time and saw it's taking 2W charge for some time and later it went to 6W. And then voilla!! It powered on and showed battery image on the screen with battery in red. I was completely floored. Anyway I queried chatgpt and it said the tablet is recovering. And it asked me to let it charge for about 45 minutes and then start it. I did that and after 45 minutest the tablet did start up. But then I ran into next roadblock. The first problem is old google account. So added a new account and removed the old - probably dead - account. Next hurdle - no updates for apps. Did even more research and found out it's version 6 of android is outdated and apps need at least version 8 or 10. By this logic my realme 3 will also go dodo in next couple of ye...

fdupes is a program that can help.  fdupes -r . -d -N Above command will recursively scan current folder & subfolders, and keep first instance and remove following duplicate instances.  

Audacity could not handle it properly so chatGPT produced below ffmpeg command to split it. ffmpeg -i input.wav -map 0:a -c copy -f segment -segment_time 3600 out_%02d.wav We can still use audacity to see the waveforms and targeted playback.

I recorded an audio of 34 hours as a test. Wanted to go through that hour by hour and figure out a good way to do that. ChatGPT suggested Audacity. I ended up with version 3.7.7. The installer worked fine on windows. But the instructions chatGPT provided, did not work exactly but I was able to find the menus and split the file into hour chunks by using labels. It although detected only 14 hours of audio. The split chunks played fine, so seemed like some kind of issue with either data or the audio-file. In the recording software I checked the size and playback and it was fine and the file size reported of ~10GB was also fine. Then further R&D on chatGPT told me it could be erroneous header. It provided a command using ffmpeg to fix that so that Audocity sees full 34 hours of file. Below is the command ffmpeg -err_detect ignore_err -i input.wav -c copy fixed.wav But first I had to install ffmped. That involved downloading a latest build, then creating c:/ffmpeg. And then edit path so...

Well its about a month and half since I got the desktop. Since I have put a bunch of AI models on the desktop in both windows and Linux. On windows I am mostly gaming. On Linux I'm doing mostly college-projects and I'm also doing AI things. But one thing I have found out is local AI models are just not up to the mark. And with 4-5 free providers we have enough free AI that we are not limited to local AI. Another problem is I could not get the VS code Continue extension to really do great. It was kind of average and it was not really smart. So we are not really doing vibe coding. Looks like vibe coding is an expensive hobby. Anyway I do plan to put in some efforts to run some visual models and learn more in coming months. Right now though I'm in survival mode. So I have put everything on hold for next six months. So was it a good value? Very much so. Blowing 50-60k on PS5 would not have given me this much value. Also I could spend another 50K and upgrade this to a serious sy...

Color grading JPG photos from a Canon 200D requires a slightly more delicate touch than RAW files because JPGs have less "dynamic range" (the amount of detail stored in highlights and shadows). In GIMP 3 , you have access to powerful non-destructive-like workflows and high-bit depth processing that make this easier. Here is a professional workflow tailored for your Canon 200D JPGs. 1. Preparation: The "Do No Harm" Setup Before you touch the colors, you need to protect your original image data. Duplicate Layer: Press Ctrl + Shift + D . Always work on a duplicate so you can compare with the original. Check Precision: Go to Image > Precision . Even though your JPG is 8-bit, GIMP 3 works best if you set this to 32-bit float and Perceptual gamma (sRGB) . This prevents "banding" (ugly stripes in gradients like skies) while you edit. 2. Color Correction (The Foundation) You must "fix" the photo before you "grade" it. Canon JPGs tend to...

📸 Mastering the Canon 200D in GIMP 3: The Color Grading Guide If you are shooting with a Canon 200D (SL2), you know that the "Canon Colors" are beautiful but the JPGs can sometimes feel a bit "heavy" or overly warm. This guide walks you through a professional-grade workflow to transform your photos using the power of GIMP 3 . Phase 1: The "Digital Negative" Setup Before you touch the colors, you must maximize the data available in your 8-bit JPG to prevent the image from "breaking. " Create a Safety Layer: Press Ctrl + Shift + D to duplicate your image. Enable High Precision: Go to Image > Precision and select 32-bit float and Perceptual gamma (sRGB) . This prevents "banding" (ugly stripes) in your gradients. Recover the Shadows: Go to Colors > Shadows-Highlights . Set Shadows to 12 to lift the dark areas without making the photo look flat. Phase 2: Technical Correction Fix the "foundation" of the photo b...

Add below code block to .bashrc and then you have these shortcuts available to make life easy. # === CMake Shortcuts === alias cmkconf='cmake -S . -B build' # Configure alias cmkbuild='cmake --build build --parallel 8' # Build with 8 threads alias cmkinstall='sudo cmake --install build' # Install to system alias cmktest='ctest --test-dir build -V' # Run tests

I found that my laptop was lacking when it came to AI related stuff. So now the thing is I could buy a new desktop but the prices were quite crazy and it did not seem like a good value. So I did a bunch of R&D and finalized that I should be buying a refurbished desktop and then upgrade it in limited capacity. So I looked around and bought an Acer corporate refurbished desktop for 19500. Then I added a beefier PSU and a graphics card to that by spending 24000 and some change for some fans and sata cables etc. So now finally I have below config: Intel core i5 8500T 2.1GHz Acer H310ch5-M19 mainboard Zebronics 256GB SSD 500GB HDD The desktop came with a 200W generic PSU. I replaced that with a CoolerMaster 550W 80 Bronze PSU. Added a Zotac RTX 3050 8GB graphics card. I had an extra WD Green 240GB SSD here with me, so ordered couple of SATA cables and plugged it in. That took total storage to almost 1TB and it also gave me a separate drive to install Linux on. So have...

Recently I was doing some research on various hardware available in all segments. I did not expect below results. The surprising thing was the amount of options available and the various price points for that. Anybody looking into AI will definitely find this helpful. Global MSRP (approx.) Converted to Indian Rupees (₹) using a neutral rate: $1 = ₹85 Computing ₹ per TOPS so you can instantly see value-for-money. ⚠️ Prices vary, but this gives clear comparative value. ________________________________ 🔥 PRICE PER TOPS (₹ per TOPS) Sorted from BEST value → WORST value ________________________________ 🟩 1. Desktop GPUs (Best Value in the Consumer Market) Hardware TOPS Approx Price ₹ Price ₹ per TOPS RTX 4090 1500 $1599 ₹1,36,000 ₹90 per TOPS RTX 4080 Super 780 $999 ₹85,000 ₹109 per TOPS RTX 4070 Ti Super 450 $799 ₹68,000 ₹151 per TOPS RTX 4060 Ti 353 $399 ₹34,000 ₹96 per TOPS AMD RX 7900 XTX 300 $999 ₹85,000 ₹283 per TOPS ➡ Winner: RTX 4090 ...

I have started using copilot AI more and more for work. It seems that if you have a general idea of the work, it can generate the code pretty much at about 70%. It's not perfect - for example it almost always messes up lambda functions but that 30% of problematic work one can fix. Meanwhile using other AIs also provide different different outcomes. So turns out the training data and usage matters a lot. Anyway I think human intuition and other hard won skills still matter and when AI screws anything then knowing the nitty-gritty of things really comes handy. But yeah it's going to mess with people's learning habits and probably going to make more scatter-brained people. Learning is a hard process and the inception of knowledge is a difficult thing. Looking around we already find so many idiots with dirt for brains, I think for disciplines like engineering where really complex knowledge needs to be ingested, AI is going to probably tip over people into un-lear...

So apparently this is a thing with Lenovo T14 laptops. The fan starts making high pitched whiny noise and becomes useless. https://www.reddit.com/r/Lenovo/comments/1lnbmir/my_lenovo_thinkpad_t14_gen_1_fan_started_making/ Going to have to go to office and get it fixed.

I owned a Maruti Celerio VXI AGS MY2020 for almost 5 years. And recently switched to a Tata Nexon Creative S+AMT. This post will talk about the difference in engines on both these cars and the effect it has on driving dynamics and mileage. First of all Maruti has 1L NA engine which is tuned frugally and returns very good mileage. I have seen it return 15kmpl in city with AC ON. And on highways it can hit 18-19kmpl fully loaded and with AC ON. Although this car is an economy hatchback and is not really tuned to cruising. That's why at 80-90kmph, engine is around 2800-3000 RPM and good mileage is observed around 80kmpl, and after that it drops. Plus the 1L 3-Cyl engine means not enough torque and so jerky driving in low speeds and ghats. Still for the low price even with AMT gearbox, very good value for money. Moving on to Nexon, the engine is 1.2L turbo-petrol. The turbo really spins at around 2000RPM and provides max boost. Although the engine maps provided are such that there'...

Bought a 1TB Samsung T7 SSD to replace the western digital one. Cost was 9000 INR. Quite costly but I'm hoping it pays off. It's specs as below: Samsung T7 1TB Up to 1,050MB/s USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps, Type-C) External Solid State Drive (Portable SSD) Grey(MU-PC1T0T) Performance of up to 1,050 MB/s, up to 9.5x faster than external HDD Interface: USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Up to 10Gbps). Backwards compatible. The host device and connection cable must support USB 3.2 Gen 2 to reach the maximum speed. Durable: Shock resistant internal frame lets the T7 withstand falls from up to 2 meters Security: Optional password protection and AES 256 bit hardware encryption Windows 7 and higher, Mac OS X 10.10 and higher, or Android 5.1 (Lollipop) and higher. Includes USB Type C to C and USB Type C to A cables Going to sync all the data to this one. I'm not moving the data right away. But I'm going to slowly move all of it to here while keeping other copies. If there's no ...