Blog - sertalp b. çay

The devil made me do it.

Math / Programming
17 Nov, 2014
0

Me: why(22.4367)
MATLAB: The devil made me do it.

Years ago, when I was taking my first programming course on MATLAB, I learned a cool function in MATLAB: why This tiny function basically gives you some random statements. Try typing “why” and enter. It gives you outputs like this:

>> why
The rich rich and tall and good system manager suggested it.
>> why
He wanted it that way.
>> why
The programmer suggested it.

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>> why

The rich rich and tall and good system manager suggested it.

>> why

He wanted it that way.

>> why

The programmer suggested it.

Since it is a random sentence generator, you can also give a seed number to it (like why(100)) and...

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INFORMS News

Daily Life / University
11 Nov, 2014
0

I finally presented my research at INFORMS Annual Meeting. My presentation was mainly about application of disjunctive cylindrical cuts for quantitative asset allocation (portfolio optimization) problem. I was quite nervous before the track but when I start presenting, I suddenly felt very confident and everything went well. To my luck, it was a crowded session. I am quite happy and...

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oppa! – Optimization Performance Profiler Appliance

Programming / Projects
29 Sep, 2014
0

Often I need to compare algorithms or software. This comparison often involves solution time and/or number of nodes in the branch and bound tree. In their 2002 article Elizabeth D., and Jorge J. Moré proposed a performance profile to be used to compare optimization software. This is a particularly nice way to compare systems, that tells more than other similar methods. Generating...

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Modulo of Multiplication of Big Numbers in C

Math / Programming
5 Aug, 2014
0

Recently I had some difficulties to generate pseudo-random numbers in C by using Lehmer’s method. Lehmer random number generator is an easy-to-implement algorithm that provides random number stream. Basically you have a multiplier (a) and modulus (m) which you use in a basic arithmetic to get next number. Let we have the initial seed $$s$$, than the following numbers can...

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5 reasons to go one of the nation’s largest free music festival: Musikfest

Places
24 Jul, 2014
1

Well, I normally write about academic stuff or my life but I decided to make an exception for today’s topic. Every year, Bethlehem, PA hosts one of the nation’s largest free music festival, Musikfest. The term ‘musik’ shouldn’t surprise you, giving the German roots of the town! Musikfest is the focus of interest in the Lehigh Valley since 1984. It...

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How to really clean the Putty terminal?

Programming
22 Jul, 2014
2

Almost for two years, I was suffering from using clear command in Putty terminal screen. If you have used it before, you could recall that this command is not cleaning the terminal. It’s just shifting your code. So whenever I scroll up, I was welcomed by my ugly code. Damn! It is especially annoying when I’m running make command to compile my...

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30 Days of ‘Futbol’

Daily Life / Opinion
13 Jul, 2014
0

Final match between Germany and Argentina in FIFA World Cup 2014 was an epic match to remember. It was a great ending to our 30 days of ‘futbol’ for sure. I was rooting for Germany so I am delighted to see that Germany claimed the victory in the so called spiritual home of football. But besides that, this tournament was much...

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May

Daily Life
9 May, 2014
0

That was a super fast semester for me. Finally I completed all my coursework and final exams. I have a poster presentation tomorrow and then I will be relaxed after four months of busy schedule. Note that I don’t have too much time for myself; I will start my internship on June 2nd. That was also a long winter. We...

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Grumble Analysis

University
16 Apr, 2014
0

Convex Analysis is one of the most unusual classes I have taken. It is very beneficial but you need to punch your stomach to prevent grumble. You feel great after understanding every slide though, so it’s worth it. Prof. Curtis is a terrific teacher indeed.

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Tsuba

Interim
4 Apr, 2014
0

“Tsuba” is the hand guard of a katana (japanese sword). If every katana has a soul, then I believe tsuba is the heart of it. Even the sharpest katana has a tsuba that defines its user. I have a small tsuba collection of 4, but I want to expand it.

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