DEV Community: Its-just-my-mind!!

How to get a Research Internship, a tier-3 perspective.

Its-just-my-mind!! — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 17:52:13 +0000

Internship, A gig that students prioritize more than a job during their college years. After all, an internship leads a student to better job opportunities. It is certainly not an easy task to land an internship, especially when it is a Research Internship. However, Research is not the most popular thing for Computer Science students now. For Example, In my bachelor's program. The student ratio who wants to pursue Research is 1 to 51. Thus, in this blog, I will highlight some suggestions on how to land a Research Internship or assistance profile.

How do I start with Research?

Well, there are many Research areas one can explore. But the principal skill of all is sticking to the basics or fundamentals of Computer Science. Once you have enough knowledge of foundations, then you can start trying out different Research areas. You can refer to one of my previous writing, "Research in Computer Science". You can take a topic and try it out for two weeks each. For example, reading papers, watching lectures on the Research area etc. Later on, you can decide what area is most intriguing and try to stick with it. Gain some knowledge in it, and the time will come when you will be ready to apply for internships.

NOTE: This is the way I would have done it if I could go back in time now. I ignored the foundations and then spent a lot of time mastering the basics.

Cold Mailing, a must-have skill.

Writing e-mails might seem a tedious task. However, it is the supreme skill that a student or an individual can learn.
Landing a Research position itself requires a lot of Research. Let's take it to step by step.

Make a list of professors whose research areas concur with yours.
Visit the University website and search for "CS faculty". There you can access professors' e-mails along with their Research areas. But that might not necessarily be the area professors might be working on.
Therefore, visit the Google Scholar profile of the professor and find out about current projects from recent publications.
Now, after reading some work of the professor, you can write an e-mail to the professor.

How can a student from a tier-3 College or University convince professors to accept them?
It does not matter. Nobody cares where you are coming from as long as you prove yourself and add value to the lab.

Have a will of stone!

Therefore, the question arises.

How to stand out among all the candidates?

I would like to quote Mr Naval Ravikant here and further explain it.

The only way to stand out is through Authenticity

It's quite simple to understand though. It depends on your will and motivation to learn. The professor does not care what extra-curricular you have done till now. Professors just care about what you are putting on the table. Writing that email is more like selling yourself and the technical skills required by the professor.

The best decision is to learn a lot about the professor's research and find insights into it. Then mail the report along with your ideas in it.

I believe that is all up to my knowledge. Good luck with your next or first Research internship.

Research in Computer Science

Its-just-my-mind!! — Mon, 09 May 2022 21:15:25 +0000

Practicing Research is the most salient reason by which we as humans came out so far. Research, as defined by the word, is to meticulously examine any interesting topic and modify it for further usage or even invent new products for a problem. If we are not able to modify it, just write your work so someone else can be helped later. As a Computer Science Student, I will be explaining trends and topics of Research in Computer Science in the following paragraphs. I will also be explaining how I got into it and why I want to pursue research as a graduate student.

What are different types of Research present in Computer Science?

I would like to categorize it into two parts :

Traditional Research
Modern Research

Traditional research consists of Hardware, which means working on electronic circuits designing and implementing circuits, developing Integrated Circuits. Software, it includes system design and development of that system into an actual application later. It consists of Operating system, Compiler Design etc. Theory, it consists of Mathematics and Algorithms. Theory literally gives insights to what we need to do or build. All of these fields play a significant role in Traditional Research.

Modern research is quite substantial, as it comprises many topics like IOT, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Parallel Computing etc.
IOT(Internet of things) : The applications of IOT today are mostly based on monitoring(especially in health care), the goal is to build devices and program those devices efficiently as the memory is scarce due to the lack of servers in the network. IOT devices connects through a peer to peer network, and we can only place servers to have a data collection points.
Real time Data Collection and Processing itself creates challenges to the field of Data Science. For example, if a Machine learning model give its output after an hour of receiving data. They might be high possibility that it would not be useful. Using Networking in IOT also creates challenges to the field of Information Security. For example, if a hacker penetrates into the network and gains access to medical devices of a patient. He/She can commit a cyber murder just by tip of their computers.

Increasing the processor's speed is not possible for us right now. As we know that increasing frequency of clock is directly proportional to power. The processor can literally get burned. To overcome the needs of more computing power. We made multiprocessing and multicore systems powered by parallel computing to control threads and tasks. For example, We can use 4 processors to perform a single task. It gives rise to challenges of programming efficient system and over the problems of Synchronization and Concurrency.
In fact, there are just a few people in Computer Science who can actually do well in System Research. There are less than 1 % percent of people who can actually get into kernel and come up with modifications. The reason being that Research in Systems is quite complicated and demands years of practice working with Systems.

What it actually means to be a successful Researcher or an Engineer?
Everything in Computer Science is cross-layered. What it mean is that if an architecture consists of a hierarchy of 4-5 layers. An individual working on it is required to have knowledge of the entire stack. For Example, if we are working on sensors for some architecture. It might look like the following:
Mathematical Modelling of Circuit.
Designing of Circuit.
Hardware development.
Applications of hardware.
If an individual has knowledge of the entire stack. He/She might get the insights of other potential improvements in specific parts of architecture, which can be a new research topic to work upon. After the completion of a theoretical model, the author must check if the model is implementable and cost-effective. If it takes billions of Dollars to implement. That hard work can go to waste.

One should know the language of Computer Science in order to tackle any kind of difficulty, and that is Discrete Mathematics. Discrete Mathematics is the origin of logics and nearly every solution to problems developed by Computer Science. I would like to say Computer Science is just Discrete Mathematics with more rules or constrained.

What I have learned till now and How I encountered research?
I landed my first Research Internship in November 2020. I was applying for roles in security and Blockchain. Furthermore, I worked there and learned Ethics to Research, Approaches and how actually to conduct your research with the least supervision. It was not my first encounter with research. In February 2020, I went for an internship where my mentor persuaded me to read a research paper on technology we were supposed to build. I read 2-3 papers and for the first time I was thinking about purpose to code something at first place. I started thinking, why am I even doing mindless web development without any purpose but just for the sake of landing a job or an internship. Afterwards, In June 2020, I left development and starting doing Math, reading paper for learning Blockchain and how it works. By doing this, I realized in a month that I don't know any basics or what we say the language of Computer. I am partially understanding these papers.
That was the turning point when I decided to get indulged in Mathematics and Computer Science for doing work that actually gives me any purpose or fascinates me. My Research journey till now is just a monologue. I want to get into graduate school now, so I can learn more about Computer Science and gain more research experience as I enjoy the process, the flavor of Research.

An Introduction to Me.

Its-just-my-mind!! — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 12:21:11 +0000

I am Ishant Chahar, A final year IT(CSE) Undergrad Student at NSUT West (Formerly known as CBPGEC), Delhi, India. Welcome to my introductory blog, Where you can dive deep into my life, updates or my ideas. By reading this blog you can expect to know me better as a person or a nerd who gets fascinated just after knowing some small concepts. The blogs I write here would be proceeding in form of a questionnaire, I will write a question and I will answer it in a paragraph.

Where I grew up and why I want to leave this place.

I grew up in Najafgarh in a joint family with my cousins. It is a town on the outskirts of Delhi(Not a good place to live, quickly get out of here). Najafgarh has an image of being a gangster town and I have heard many times that people hide in villages near this town to get rid of arrests. My parents always tell me that if I do nothing here then I am safe or Am I? Alright, So it was August 15, 2018. I was about to get stabbed and robbed but somehow I managed to escape. On that day, I decided I will leave this place as soon as possible.
Conclusion: You are never safe here or anywhere I don't know about it but better try to change the place.

What do I like to do and Why?

I have always been good at academics, and arcade gaming. But I never actually found out what part of academia I like till high school. I was good at Mathematics, Physics, Computers etc. But because of my schooling and atmosphere, we were never actually asked these questions. What do I want to do? What do I actually like doing? Which career decision should I make? Everybody thought of getting a degree(do not know which one), getting a job and you are done.
We were taught C/C++ Programming language in high school. I was doing quite well in that, So I chose the path of Computer Science. At that time, I was not introduced to the wonders of Mathematics and how it is the root of Computer Science. I choose the track of Research because it creates a purpose of why am I even doing this and later the motivation to improve upon what I developed. I do not want my profession to feel like a burden on me. I do not have a good relationship with sports, I am still trying to find which sports I like(It could be tennis, IDK). Lately, I developed an interest in economics too.

Who will read these blogs?

You can be someone who wants to know about me and what I write. You can be an employer who reached here through my CV, Portfolio or my GitHub Profile. In the end, I am writing it for myself, to improve my writing skills and vocabulary.

Favourite Stuff

Here are some things apart from academics
Favourite Games: Chess, Pokemon Unite, Brawl Stars, NFS.
Favourite Colors: Black, Pink, Teal.
Movies: Call me by your Name, Spirited Away.
Shows: Rick and Morty, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, Silicon Valley, JOJO.
Travel Destination: Ladakh.
Books: Ikigai, DO Epic Shit, Harry Potter and the cursed child, The Alchemist.

There are a lot of foods, and I can't count here.

My Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths: I am pretty good at adapting to new environments and challenges. I am hardworking, I always give my best even if the task is easy.
Weaknesses: I am too competitive. I lose the track of being grateful often. I think I am never satisfied with things I have or with the things I achieved.

How did College help me become a better person?

Before Covid, I went to College for around 21 months. It gave me a company of students and professors with different perspectives, backgrounds and ambitions. I had the freedom to do or learn anything I want, and there would be someone supporting me. We were guided and taught by our seniors which helped me in exploring as much as I can during College. College helped in become less judgemental and less pretentious. I learned that no profession is purely satisfactory, Every Profession has its pros and cons. Better advice is to find something which truly makes happy.

That is all for an introduction in my life. I will update this article monthly to add or edit my life updates.

Understanding the DeFi: The DeFi Pulse.

Its-just-my-mind!! — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 19:03:37 +0000

Observing the home page of DeFi pulse. Majorly, we can see the following categories:

LENDING
DEXES and PAYMENTS
DERIVATIVES
ASSETS

To get a better understanding of this classification. We will cover some basic keywords and examples of organizations with it.

LENDING

Lending is quite self-explanatory. You can take advantage of services like borrowing and lending in the form of coins that are backed with some cryptocurrency. The factor which differentiates it from the traditional bank system is the reduced time and decentralization. You can get a loan within minutes or even seconds. The owner of the money you get is directly contacted with you, not any trusted third party(bank) is included.

But there is a problem with lending:

Suppose if you acquired a loan in some form but in that meantime after getting a loan the rate of that cryptocurrency increased. Now, It would seem unfair and anybody will not like to more for the loan they received.

The solution to these uncertainties is stablecoins.
Stablecoins are specially developed to remain stable. Stablecoins have an exchange rate of 1 unit per coin fiat. Stable can also be further categorized.

Decentralized fiat-collateralized stablecoins are backed with 1:1 by fiat in bank account. This reduces the risk factor included in generating coins as there is a trusted entity.

Decentralized crypto-collateralized stablecoins are permissionless. It means they do not have a consolidated operator or authority. These are not backed directly with back accounts else certain amount of these coins are backed with the exact amount of cryptocurrency. For example, 10$ of coins are backed with 10$ of cryptocurrency.

MAKER, the leading brand in lending space. The maker platform is built on top of Ethereum blockchain and produces a stalecoin named DAI.

Dai is a stable, decentralized currency that does not discriminate. Any individual or business can realize the advantages of digital money.
Each DAI is pegged at 1.00 USD. While using maker services. Anyone can use this my simply locking up some crypto as collateral and taking loan in form of DAI. The collateral provided needs to greater than the amount of loan.

DEXES

DEXES are usually known as Decentralized Exchanges. It is a non-custodial service, which means ownership of underlying asset is never cancelled. Most of the Exchanges don't require any login or signups. Therefore, no counterparty risks.
All the transactions here are pseudonymous. That means more privacy.

UNISWAP is the leading DAO in exchanges, which recently launched its version 2.0. Other following DAOs are BANCOR and KYBER

The reason behind Defi payments is, to create an open finance ecosystem to facilitate institutions and provide secured transactions powered by smart contracts.

All the platforms are DAOs(Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) which means they require no intermediaries as it definitely satisfies the core principles of Blockchain.

DERIVATIVES

Derivative can be understood as a financial contract between various parties that derives its value from the performance of an underlying entity. This entity can be an asset, interest rate, as well as bonds, commodities, etc.

Derivatives in DeFi offers massive flexibility across multiple assets. Smart contracts can issue tokenized derivative contracts which are executed automatically and are permissionless. It can be used for various purposes but here are some major:

To get protection from price fluctuation in the future by signing a contract to buy an asset for a fixed price
Predicting how the price of that entity is going to change in the future

These are further divided into 4 categories-

Option: A space in which a buyer has the right to purchase or sell the underlying asset at a specific price, but certainly not required to.
Swap: These contracts allow two parties to exchange one type of cash flow for another. This swap is between interest rates and crypto coins.
Future: A buyer must purchase an asset at an agreed rate and on a fixed date in the future. Which are traded on exchanges.
Forward: Future and Forward are alike but Forward is more customizable to suit both parties.

SYNTHETIX is the leading brand in derivate space.
It allows infinite liquidity, peer to peer trading and distributed collateral pool as mentioned on running website.
The Dapps are:

EXCHANGE for trading.
MINTR for staking.
DASHBOARD for analysis.

ASSETS

Defi has created a new suite of assets within the larger cryptocurrency ecosystem. Virtually all these assets are trustless with no underlying wage on a popular Defi protocol.

Token flavours: Native tokens which are created by supplying assets to Defi Protocol. There price is largely influenced by dynamic gates and length of time held.

Defi Tokens: Native tokens which fuel an underlying product or service. The price of those tokens are largely tied to the project success.

WBTC is leading token here and followers are: DForce and Melon.

So, This was the complete eco-system of defi pulse.

Further, We will discuss about future possibilities and events when Defi actually got noticed.

Understanding the DeFi. Introduction

Its-just-my-mind!! — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 20:26:43 +0000

Defi typically known as Decentralized Finance or Open Finance aims to take all financial services and putting them in a Blockchain. It provides services like lending, trading, insurance, and more.

BUT WHY?

Taking example of the current situation of the centralized banking system, suppose you deposite some amount of money to receive interest. The Bank will take your money and will lend it to someone else and will receive a higher amount of interest.

It breaks the transparency as you don't know what is happening to your money. You trust banks as a third party which increases privacy concerns.

Now, Think of a way by which you can use all the services provided by a bank without a bank as an intermediary. You always know how your money is used. The solution is Defi which does the same but in a more sophisticated manner and build even more complex financial system.

Understanding the Ecosystem 🧐🧐

Defi can be better understood by features.

Permissionless

This means it is open to everyone and anybody can participate with any specific permission.

Decentralized

The Code of entire Dapps built using principles of Defi is open-source and accessible to everyone. It is distributed and creates the proper peer to peer environment for everyone to use.

Transparent

As soon as you lend some crypto to anyone. You will be able to keep an eye for what your money is used for. It may invade privacy but all the transactions are pseudonymous. Hence, no personal details are broadcasted to Blockchain.

Programmable

It is one of the fundamental things by which Defi is even made possible to us. Dapps are programmed on Ethereum Blockchain as it is flexible and scalable.

Taking a look at the dashboard of DeFi Pulse.

We can observe the amount of money locked in Defi Dapps. Also observe the different types of Applications like based on a particular purpose like lending, derivatives, assets, and more.

What are these categories?🤔🤔

NOTE:

This will be a series for understanding everything about Defi. So, follow along to see what
revolutionary impact it can bring to current Digital Banking services.

Ethereum Name Service(ENS), what is it?

Its-just-my-mind!! — Tue, 26 May 2020 11:22:42 +0000

ENS(Ethereum Name Service) is a project under the Ethereum community which goals to make a decentralized domain name registry.
It is not just a naming service for Ethereum. It is built on top of the Ethereum platform which can be used by anyone. (basically providing domain service)
ENS is just a lookup system that links information to a name.

Brief Explanation

In the initial phase of the web, when a person wanted to access a website. That person needs to type the IP address(a string of numbers that was difficult to remember 132.434.244.5) of that website. DNS was introduced to solve this problem which provided a readable name to websites.

The above image shows how DNS works and what the actual fields are.

But there are some limitations with DNS like Spoofing and Denial of Service (DOS) attacks.

ENS serves the same purpose as DNS but with Ethereum addresses and no vulnerabilities at all. It was first started on the Ropsten Test network and claimed on Main-net in May 2017. It always ends with .eth suffix. It means one can send ether or ERC Tokens to abc.eth rather that "8f843738f9....."(address).

What makes ENS different?

ENS maps hashes of domains name to address not the actual domain itself.
Prevents spamming while registering a new domain as long as the hash is visible in the contract.
Hash has constant space no matter the length of a domain name which optimizes storage.
It prevents domain squatting. The Traditional technique of buying a domain name and selling them at high prices.

How it works?🧐

The ENS registry Smart Contract is the backbone of this service which maps the representation of Domain name to ENS resolver.
ENS is made up of two contracts:
ENS registry records all the domains and subdomains, as well the owner’s detail and the link to the Resolver, which is another smart contract that handles the translations from names to addresses or other types of resources.

One can buy ENS domains by participating in an auction. It is a 5 days auction basically where participants bid as the maximum amount of ether they want to buy that particular domain. Results are announced after 3 days and the winner just pays the amount of second-highest bid. Then all the participants are needed to reveal their bid in the next 2 days for getting their refund back. Whoever misses this is not refunded.
The winner is not paying to buy. That person just locks that amount as long as they are the domain name. Once the time is completed they can claim ether back or just renew the domain name again.

Further Possibilities

ENS is not limited to .eth. ENS has plans to integrate the whole of the DNS namespace–that is more than 1,500 top-level-domains, so that owners of a DNS site can claim the use of that name on ENS. Not as .eth but also as .org. So, abc.org can be linked to abc.eth, and visitors can view content and send money to the same place. The future, it seems, looks a lot like the past.

One can also get domains by emoji symbols(😃😃😃.eth) from ethmojis.com.