November 19, 2014

Paris in 3D with QGIS and three.js

Some time ago, I saw this article about using the Qgis2threejs plugin to export a QGIS map as a 3D visualisation in the browser, thanks to three.js and WebGL. When I recently tried to follow the post to reproduce the results, I had some problem sourcing the data (related to Vienna, Austria) so instead I searched for data related to Paris to create a similar scene. Here is the result corresponding to the screenshot above and another one with aerial photos, both showing the Montmartre area of Paris.

February 1, 2014

Tokyo Ramen Map on the Android app store

I released a free app called Tokyo Ramen Map a few weeks ago on the Play Store. It is a simple map application showing all the ramen restaurants in central Tokyo, along with ratings. I built it for my needs so it is quite bare bones. The main point was to make it work offline since I don’t have a data connection outside my apartment.

December 10, 2013

iBeacon on Nexus 10 with Android 4.4

Android has added support for Bluetooth Low Energy (aka Bluetooth Smart) and thus iBeacon (a profile of BLE) in version 4.3. However, on my Google Nexus 10 (2012 edition, now running Android 4.4 aka KitKat), support is disabled in the official version provided by Google, even though the hardware supports it. Since I want to try out (and maybe develop) apps that use iBeacons, that makes me very sad… Thankfully, there is a way to enable it, by replacing the original Bluetooth-related libraries on the device with patched libraries that add support for Bluetooth Low Energy.

October 3, 2013

Apple iBeacon

Recently, I have been researching techniques for indoor positioning, where GPS does not work. Although it is not widely deployed yet, one technology that looks quite interesting is called “iBeacon”, an Apple-designed (and currently unofficially documented) profile of Bluetooth Low Energy.

September 22, 2013

QGIS 2.0

Version 2.0 of QGIS (formerly known as Quantum GIS) has just been released! The codename for this version is Dufour.

July 26, 2013

Rhex the parkour robot

July 5, 2013

Chasm of the Apocalypse

Using Paulstretch Mono algorithm as a starting point, I used the Chuck programming language to generate the track.

I am aware it is indeed quite a boring / droning track but as my first foray into audio synthesis, it will do for now.

May 16, 2013

Quantum Artificial Intelligence

It was announced earlier today that Google and NASA have formed a joint lab called “Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab” to research machine learning applications of quantum computers provided by D-Wave. From the press release:

Researchers at Google, NASA and USRA expect to use the D-Wave system to develop applications for a broad range of complex problems such as machine learning, web search, speech recognition, planning and scheduling, search for exoplanets, and support operations in mission control centers.

Although Lockheed Martin recently decided to upgrade their D-Wave system (after testing an earlier version for 2 years), there is still some skepticism from Quantum Computing experts (for example, claims that the D-Wave implementation does not provide actual speedup compared to classical computing). In any case, exciting stuff…

March 15, 2013

GAMA (GIS & Agent-based Modelling Architecture)

The “GIS and Agent-Based Modeling” blog reports on GAMA, an open source GIS-ABM tool that looks quite interesting:

GAMA is a simulation platform, which aims at providing field experts, modelers, and computer scientists with a complete modeling and simulation development environment for building spatially explicit agent-based simulations. It is being developed by several French and Vietnamese research teams under the umbrella of the IRD/UPMC International Research Unit UMMISCO since 2007.

January 3, 2013

Batch convert .mobi ebooks to .epub using Calibre

I got a Kobo Glo eBook reader some time ago. I find it quite awesome: With numerous public libraries in Paris and this device (together with sources of free books like FeedBooks, Baen Free Library or less authoritative sources), it is hard to think I will ever buy another physical book again.