1 February 2014

Slow Run

Went out for a run near my neighborhood. Ran slowly for 5 miles. Need to stretch now desperately.

Was listening to songs all the while running on the left edge of the road. Suddenly, as a song ended, I thought I heard footsteps alongside me. Turned around and sure enough, there was a dog following me. Not sure how long it had been running with me. It would not bark, it would not go away – it just kept going with me. Thought of trying a trick and turned around and retraced my path. The dog kept running back with me and then suddenly stopped in front of a property. I am quite sure that is the right house for the dog and also am guessing the owner is a runner and takes the dog for a run… Wish had my phone with me to take a picture….

Category: Running | 1 Comment on Slow Run
30 January 2014

Puzzle time: False positives

This week’s trip is over. Time to leave Florida and start skidding on icy Atlanta roads. Also time for a puzzle.

Many of you are aware that my current job involves catching fraud in online transactions. We of course focus on building systems that can catch maximum amount of fraudulent transactions. However, what you may not know is that an equal challenge in building these systems is making sure that we do not flag the good transactions as fraudulent (and irritate the good customers). This is always a tough balance. This is also called the “false positive” problem. (The test showed “positive” but that is a false result).

Here is a false positive puzzle. A village has only one lab that can perform a particular test for a particular disease. The test, however, is only 98% accurate. So, a patient who does not have the disease will get “you do not have the disease” report 98% time. 2% of the time, it will say (erroneously) say “you have the disease”. Similarly, a patient who indeed is suffering from the disease, will get a “you have a problem” report 98% of the time. The rest 2% time he or she will get a clean chit erroneously.

You also know that 0.5% of the village population has been indeed afflicted by the disease.

Your friend from the village just received a report that he has the disease.

How concerned should he be? What is the real probability that he has the disease?

Category: Puzzles | 12 Comments on Puzzle time: False positives
25 January 2014

Interesting antonyms !

After the Tech fair competition, on our way back, Nikita and I stopped at a Starbucks. The entrance to the Starbucks was a little convoluted. On our way out, we got stuck. After pulling out of the parking spot, I could not move forward since there was a car there waiting to move who was waiting for the car in front to move who could not take a right turn because another car was blocking the way trying to come in. And that car could not move either since there was a car in front of it who wanted to get into my parking spot. But it could not do that till I cleared out!!

So, I explained to Nikita that in computer science, this is what is called a “deadlock”. Nobody could move since we had a circular dependency. Eventually, all the drivers realized that we have an unsolvable problem. It was solved when the car wanting to take a left turn, decided instead to go forward into the Drive Thru lane.

As I finally pulled forward, Nikita asked, “So, are we Liveopen now?”.

I am like – “What? Oh!!!!” 🙂

Category: Humor | LEAVE A COMMENT
21 January 2014

Puzzle: 16 coins

I found this puzzle today. I have not tried it myself. But I think you will know when you get the right answer. Further, unlike other times, I am writing this to you on my way out of Atlanta as I commence my business trip, not on my return trip. Which means, I may not be able to check answers till the end of day or in flights…
Do send personal messages only and not comments.

Arrange 16 coins in a simple square of 4 coins by 4 coins. Now, remove 6 coins in a way that every row and every column still has even number of coins left.

Category: Puzzles | 3 Comments on Puzzle: 16 coins
20 January 2014

Evening Run

After a long time, ran in the evening. I am usually a morning person. Went running in the hills. There were a lot of kids horseback riding. I was half afraid that I might have appeared as a traffic cone to the horses 🙂
Nice 63 degrees. It falls to 18 in about 24 hours!!

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Category: Running | 12 Comments on Evening Run
18 January 2014

One more of those hilarious conversations with mom…

I was having my daily call with mom this morning. We were just chatting about how the day went for her when she suddenly asked “Badambhaja kachchis?” (“Are you having roasted peanuts?” – this, by the way, is a very common snack for Bengalis). Completely taken aback (after all, I was just having my first cup of coffee in the the morning that time), I replied “Na. Keno bolo to?”. (“Nope. Why?”). To which she responded “Naah. Hotat badambhajar gondho pelam monay holo”. (“Oh! I thought I just smelt some roasted peanuts”).

And I am like “What? I am talking to you on the phone” 🙂 🙂

A similar incident had happened a long time back. I was talking to her from my mobile phone near my cubicle in office. I was talking a little softly (unlike other days where I would have stepped out of the office and called her). She asked me if I was sick. (BTW, my mom  jumps straight to the conclusion that I am sick if I do anything different from what I did the previous day 🙂 ). I, of course, said No and asked her why. She said that my voice was very muffled. So, I explained to her that there were other people around me who did not understand Bengali and I was trying not to be rude – so I was speaking softly. She immediately hushed her voice and said “Oh! that is a good point”.

And I am like “Why are YOU hushing your voice?” 🙂 🙂

We still talk about that incident once in a while….

Category: Humor, My Family | 7 Comments on One more of those hilarious conversations with mom…
17 January 2014

The girls always stick together…

Last night after coming back home, I was teasing Sharmila about something. She was putting up a spirited fight but clearly was not winning the battle of wits. (That is my story and I am sticking to it 🙂 ). So the two girls immediately jumped in to bolster support for mom. But, I think what Niki did next bordered on the extreme 🙂

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Category: Humor, My Family | LEAVE A COMMENT