Google Summer of Code 2024 - Wrap up thoughts

A Successful GSoC 2024

Google Summer of Code (GSoC) 2024 came to an end this week with me filling the evaluation for the 4th (and final) contributor of our GSoC organization, Alaska. A group of open-source projects related to Alaska and crafted from Alaska. We could have named the organization "University of Alaska." However, we had interested mentors and support from other Alaskan entities, such as the state employees of Alaska and contributors from the AK Dev Alliance. So, "Alaska" is a more fitting name. The four projects' primary mentors this year were based in either Anchorage or Fairbanks, two of the populous (and popular) cities in Alaska. Given the GSoC happens in the summer, we couldn't show our mentees the true wilderness of Alaska in its blizzards and snow storms. But we did give a glimpse of the true north to our contributors. We had a great time as mentors. I am sure our mentees did too. They all did great work. We are very excited for the potential for GSoC 2025 and already polishing up project ideas, getting messages from interested contributors from across the oceans, and discussions of scaling up for more contributors/projects in 2025.

My personal story with GSoC started in 2009 with AbiWord. During those years, there was no limits on how many times one can be a contributor. So I was a contributor (we called that "GSoC students" during those days) four times. Twice (2009 and 2010) when I was an undergraduate in Sri Lanka, once (2014) when I was an MSc student in Portugal, and then the final time (2015) as a student again in Portugal when I was a PhD student. In between my stints as a student, I was also a mentor for AbiWord (2011 - 2013). During this time was my first time participating in the GSoC Mentor Summit 2011 in Googleplex. It was my first time visit to the US too! Since 2016, my role permanently shifted to being a mentor. Since 2019, I have been a mentor and an org admin, onboarding new mentors to the GSoC organizations that I am a part of.

So far my life has gone in 3 seasons: Sri Lanka (1987 - 2012), Portugal (2012 - 2019), and then Alaska. Time in Sri Lanka feels like childhood when I look back, although I was 25 when I left Sri Lanka. 2012 August - 2019 August is my grad school days. I lived in several cities during this period. But my base was Lisboa, Portugal. This was my second "season" and one filled with fun. Then I moved to the US. More specifically, the Lower 48. I moved to Alaska in late 2023. However, I started traveling extensively in Alaska from 2021 summer, and had traveled to Alaska four times before actually moving to Alaska. This makes me feel like I had been in Alaska for much longer. With the dark and vague memories of the COVID-19 days in the Lower 48 (2020 - 2022), my base had shifted to Alaska two years before I moved to Alaska. I moved to Lisboa randomly. But Alaska was a more careful planning. Time changes perspectives. With every move comes goodbyes, and also a new set of people. Except for the family, very few people stayed in my life across the seasons. This is probably true for all immigrants. But I am a serial immigrant, having lived in seven countries and nine cities. Every time I move to a new city, an inevitable question always lingered in my head - what/when is next. This is also probably the academic life. Grad student life as an Erasmus Mundus scholar came with mandatory mobility. I probably overdid it by moving across six countries during my grad school. But then postdoc in the Lower 48. A postdoc position, is by definition, a temporary one. Mine lasted 4 years, although officially I was titled a "Systems Software Engineer, Senior," allowing me to earn a bit more than a postdoc who is officially listed as a postdoc. Now that I am in a tenure-track position, I feel more stable in Anchorage. However, until an academic is tenured, they must be willing to move. I am aware of that. I looked back at my journey. I have evolved from being an introvert to an ambivert to an extrovert over my life journey. Many things changed in my life. A de-aged me would be entirely different from my younger-self, if we go back 20 years, to the first season. In such a dynamic nature of life, only one thing that remained constant - from 2009 to 2024. That is, Google Summer of Code!

Across various roles (contributor, mentor, and org-admin), I associated myself with different organizations. I presented GSoC to different audiences in Sri Lanka, Portugal, and the US (both Lower 48 and Alaska). I attended two more GSoC mentor summits. 2019 Munich was my favorite among the three. It was a new environment, first time outside the US. But it also felt nice to be back in person to the familiar settings of California for the GSoC in 2023, after the pandemic-induced virtual GSoC mentor summits in 2020 - 2022. In a way, 2023 felt like a trip in nostalgia to return to the Mentor Summit in California. The chocolate table has a story of its own. Then the unconference. Now I am prepared for the Oct 4 - Oct 7 Mentor Summit trip, likely the last professional trip of the year. This is also the 20th Anniversary of GSoC. As someone who was associated with GSoC for several years (2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024), most of my summers are filled with a GSoC memory - as a contributor (AbiWord, OMII-UK, and Emory BMI) or a mentor/org-admin (AbiWord, Emory BMI, caMicroscope, and Alaska). I love this constant in the otherwise ever-changing settings and people of my life.

I am very much looking forward to meeting familiar and new faces at my 4th GSoC Mentor Summit in less than 3 weeks. Cheers and long live GSoC.

That Feeling

A neighborhood cafe

I like this cafe. It is within walking distance of my home. It is nothing too special for someone who is not me. But it is unique in that it sells not just coffee but also plants. The name feels special too. That Feeling. Sometimes, you do not have a name for that feeling. I ended the previous blog post with a sad feeling, a feeling with no name. Feelings are like cocktails. Sometimes, you can point fingers at the ingredients. Many times, you cannot. Most languages do not have adequate words to describe the shades of love, friendships, and other relationships in the world. We have friends. Good friends. Best friend? I dislike that phrase. It assumes there is one best friend. You must break up with your previous best friend because you found another one. 

The interiors of That Feeling

Often we assign biological roles to friendships. In many countries across Asia, we call our older friends "elder brother" or "elder sister" and younger friends "younger brother" or "younger sister." We don't mean anything with that, as it is more of a matter of respect for the age rather than an actual sibling-like feeling. Then, I also intentionally declared certain friends to be brothers and sisters. But do we need close friends to be siblings, children, parents, or uncles/aunts? Languages lack words to describe feelings and relationships. We are using something that probably is close enough as a loose replacement. Maybe those brothers and sisters you made in friends are not siblings, after all. They are more than just a friend. You do not have a label on them. We don't care about words that much. 

 

Memories define us

Literature has words. But I look for words we use in everyday practice. Love, 爱, and ආදර are used more generally (for example, love my country/ආදර මගේ රට.) காதல் is used more specifically for love between romantic partners, although some people use it as in "love your country" too. There are other words, too. We have பாசம்/நேசம்/விருப்பம்/அன்பு/කැමතියි/desire/lust/... But we still don't have enough words in daily use (not poetic literature) to explain all the shades of love and friendships. I look for words like the 12 levels of friendships in Arabic. Nibras taught me a few Arabic words on Twitter. Hubb (love in general), Ishq (deep, passionate love, soulmates), Mawaddah (mutual fondness between friends), Rahmah (compassionate or merciful love), Gharam (romantic infatuated love, passion), and Hawa (romantic sentimental love). He also shared some similar words from Urdu: Mohabbat (love/affection), Ishq (passionate, intense love), Pyaar (casual term for love), Dosti (friendship), Izzat (respect/honor in a relationship), Khuloos (sincerity / pure love), Jazbaat (emotions/feelings), and Dil ki Baat (matters of the heart). I am sure we are losing something in translation here. Not everything is easy to translate. We need more such words for common use across all languages. For you and me. Not just for elites.

Random walks

But sometimes, we do not need words. Most of my beautiful friendships/relationships are with people who do not speak my mother tongue. I recall one of my favorite songs: உள்ளங்கள் பேசும் மொழி அறிந்தால், உன் ஜீவன் துடிக்கத் தேவையில்லை. இரு கண்கள் பேசும் வார்த்தைகளை, இரு நூறு மொழிகள் சொல்வதில்லை. This loosely translates to: "If you understand the language of the hearts, you don't need to beat your soul. Two hundred languages will not express the words spoken by two eyes."

At least for me, feelings are usually mutual. If I like someone, usually they like me too. Sometimes, I feel like I do not like someone, and I imagine that feeling is mutual, too. "I think I dislike you for reasons unknown to me. Do you dislike me too?" That would be borderline weird in a bad way. But that is rare. I like people more than I dislike them. But that is where the word "like" fails me. I like people in general. But I like-like a few specifically. I love them. The word "love" is loaded with layers of romance and patriotism. And morning coffee. I love my coffee with coconut cream.

Hello, fellow traveler...

Memories shape my perception of a place. Sometimes, we are all travelers. Other times, one of us is a local. Mahas taught me an Urdu word on Twitter. Humsafar. It literally means fellow traveler. While it is used romantically to refer to a soulmate, it could also refer to others. I like that. This reminds me of the sweet people I encounter on my journey. In a way, I treat new countries and new friends similarly. I personify the land. I fell in love with Portugal and Alaska almost instantly. Then, a few places took their time to impress me. Some cities did not even try. Maybe they did not want to be friends with me, and that is okay. The feeling is mutual. Probably. I often travel in Alaska during mid-winter. I got stuck twice in blizzard conditions. I had to stay two more nights in Fairbanks and three more nights in the Adak Island, beyond what I initially planned. Lands have a soul. Sometimes, they do not want you to leave.

People are like lands, too. You meet someone. They become friends with you. You learn about their culture. A little bit of their language. Their philosophy. And their mannerisms. There is a little bit of their country in them. If they are an immigrant, there are probably two or more countries. People you meet along the way influence you the same way the lands influence you. Fellow travelers, after all. Our universes collided at that little point in time-space. Will the place still be the same when we return, if not for the people? We met by chance once when we were strangers. Now that we know each other, will we meet again by choice?

Desire for change vs. pattern

I used to blog often. But then I slowed down. Maybe because I already write a lot professionally (#AcademicLife!) and post a lot on Twitter. Writing more is not something I really need at this phase of my life. Tweeting is easy. Those are random unpolished thoughts while I am on the move. But with Elon Musk purchasing Twitter and using it as his personal toy, I often think it is time to move back to blogging. This reminds me of the time when I made the decision to quit Facebook at a time when I was using it regularly and had around 5000 friends there. I also have this GitHub-based personal site where I could blog. I am uncertain how long blogger will last as a platform for blogging, given Google's history of killing its least used platforms. For now, I will keep using blogger.

Walk to work!

 

I like change. I have lived in several cities. But I also like the little patterns in life. I often see the same persons in the building, walking in the opposite direction. They also have the pattern. We have synchronized! I arrive early to work, when it is still dark and buildings are empty. Except when it is summer, sun rises early and others become active too. Then, everyone is out early in the streets. Patterns save time. As a researcher, what we do constantly evolves. The topic I researched in 2014 isn't something I am not working on anymore. Forget 2014. Even the material from last year, once published, we moved on to the next one - maybe the next research topic in the pipeline, or an extension of the topic. It is of drastic change to how many other jobs are. Now I also teach. I see the patterns. While I review the slides, the content do not change drastically. That is pattern. That gives me some time. And space. Space to breathe and do some research.

My life goes up and down. I am random. Well. Nothing too drastic. More like, eventful-slightly boring-eventful-slightly boring-eventful-slightly boring-... Regardless of how I perceive a year, I always try to see some moments of fun, 30 things to be precise, each year, since 2010 (when I turned 23! Adulting, I think?). 2010 was fun. 2011 was slightly boring. But then 2012 and 2013 were fun. 2014 got a bit into the pattern. 2015 was fun. 2016 was a sad year. Then 2017 came. It was a crazy year. Crazy in a good way. To date, it is the year I visited the most amount of countries (16), including 9 new countries. I also lived in several cities/countries that year (Lisboa in Portugal, Louvain la Neuve and Brussels in Belgium, and Thuwal in Saudi Arabia). 2018 was boring, although it had its changes and migrations. I love migrations. It is like pumping new blood into your veins! We throw away old stuff as we leave a city and get shiny new things. 2019 was a year of celebrations. It easily became my favorite year of times. Then, came the pandemic and eternal darkness. It is easy to see how I was obsessed with 2019 for long! 2019 was also the year I left Portugal, Belgium, and Europe for good. I defended my PhD thesis, twice! Thanks, Erasmus Mundus for making my MSc and PhD journeys exciting and unique by design. 

The pandemic came. It was a weird and dark period. Loneliness. I started my life as an introvert, but I kept heading towards becoming an extrovert throughout my life. I used to describe myself as an ambivert by the time I joined my undergraduate program (2006). I tried to sit with different students/groups of students every day during my early days, making friends with students from all 25 districts. Portugal had turned me into a full extrovert. Party never ends. I was forced to be home and alone in a boring vanilla city in the Lower 48. For 2.5 years. Circumstances. I extensively blogged my pandemic survival in my COVID-19 blog series and on Twitter.

This was also the time I was thinking of what is next? I had moved from the eventful Europe, that is Lisboa, to a boring Lower 48 city. The work-from-home did not help much. I started traveling locally. I was looking for where to move next. After 4 trips to Alaska, I found myself aligned in Anchorage. In many ways, I felt Alaska represents who I am. Alaska is huge. Alaska is wild. Alaska is also quiet and calm, when it wants to be. It also transforms itself magically with brutal blizzards without notice. Alaska feels fragile and frightening - both at once to those who are unfamiliar. Alaska has space for everyone (despite its housing crisis). It is diverse. Anchorage is the most diverse city in the US, after all! After 4 years, we were back in a city where we belonged, when we moved to Anchorage in fall 2023. That was a long wait. But with the pandemic fading away in the distance (into an endemic or whatever, depending on who you ask), 2023 brought back the life which was on hold since the 2020 February. Moving to Alaska made me feel like myself again. That is huge, after gray years (2020 - 2022) in a boring Lower 48 city.

It is nice to feel home. Alaska gave me the feeling of home, which I previously had felt in Portugal. I have not visited Portugal since 2019. My first home abroad and where I spent most of my 2010s.

My beautiful bookshelf

I like traveling. I did not travel long distances since the pandemic kicked in. My last long trip was to Singapore and Bali, right before the pandemic hit the world full swing. Now, after 4.5 years, August 2024 brought me the most eventful trip of the 2020s. Anchorage ➤ Toronto ➤ Melbourne ➤ Abu Dhabi ➤ Toronto ➤ Anchorage. I made some friends. At this point, I am probably at the extreme end at the spectrum, as a true extrovert. I like meeting people. Alaska does not have many people. But it also lets you see the same people again and again. It is funny I now even remember the faces of some Anchorage airport staff. I don't know whether they remember my face though.

August started with this 15-day mega-conference trip. Together with my students, totally we had 5 papers presented! I also met many interesting people. Family, friends, new friends, and online friends. Meeting people is easy. Goodbyes are difficult. I even made friends with introverts. That feels special when an introvert becomes a friend, from being a stranger. This is in stark contrast to my recent extrovert friendships where we both burst into a tall glass of cocktail and beers with a loud "cheers, bro!" I remember the advice some of my friends gave me when I went for faculty job interviews. "Don't drink in front of the interviewers during the dinner, even if they drink. It may not affect you. But it will never be a positive thing to drink at your job interview-dinner." I don't remember the exact words. They said something along those lines. But you guessed it. I don't say no to a good drink. A beer feels good with colleagues. And that includes future colleagues, especially when it is in a fancy restaurant. "Cheers!" I said loud, clinging my beer glass with everyone else's.

The library was closed

I am very verbal. Or verbose? I am direct. And very direct. I know what I feel. And I am never shy to share what I feel. But sometimes, it is also difficult to spot a feeling. Human mind is complex. One Portuguese word I love, which is how I connect with Portugal itself. Saudade. This has been a great month. I have a recency bias. I even say this is my best month ever. Now, this great month is coming to an end. Months and years are arbitrary borders in time. Nothing really changes between August 31st and September 1st. Anyway, I felt sad for no reason. Usually, I can connect a feeling to a source. I am very self-aware of my feelings. I can explain why I feel something: sad, happy, excited, angry, lonely, or whatever. But I couldn't figure out this morning. It was 9:10 am. I decided to walk to the library. The library usually cheers me up. The library sells some overhead books for 0.50 $. I have rescued several interesting books and collected a diverse set of books in my office bookshelf.

The library was closed until 10 am. Yes, weekends - not many people come to the library. But I have a meeting to attend by 9:30 am. So I returned empty handed. Now I am sad, and I know why I am sad. It was the disappointment of a long walk where I couldn't even enter the library. I will likely return in the afternoon to fetch some books. So, that feeling will disappear. The previous unknown sadness might linger around though.

Anchorage is beautiful. The summer is coming to an end. The skies are cloudy. Days are becoming shorter. It rains. The new semester is in full swing. It is like you are standing on the footboard of a fast-running bus. An analogy that is probably unfamiliar to those outside South Asia. You hold on as the strong breeze soothes you until you reach the next stop. It is funny when people ask, "how did a Sri Lankan end up in Alaska?" I usually have to start with a "that is a long story."

A few things that made my 2023 interesting..

A neighborhood park in Anchorage

2023 is my best year so far, followed by 2019, 2017, 2015, and 2013. This post lists 30 things that made my 2023 interesting.

1. Joining University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) as a tenure-track assistant professor.

It is nice to wear the faculty hat.

2. Successful Goals

My goals for 2023 as of 2022 December were: moving to Alaska and a tenure-track faculty position. This makes my 2023 professionally successful.

3. A week in the Adak Island, AK.

Canceled flights made us stay longer - throughout the Christmas vacation. This land of 37 residents has a soul and a heart.

4. Train to Fairbanks, AK.

The ride was my most remarkable train ride ever, with views of Denali Mountain.

Snow meets the waves in the Bering Sea

5. Being a student again.

I did two undergraduate courses from Alaska Native Studies (AKNS) at the UAA. I got "A" for both!

6. The feeling of moving and starting from zero once more!

Moving to another city after 5 years brought back memories of my migrations of Erasmus Mundus days (2012 - 2019).

7. Learning a language after a long time.

It is nice to learn some elementary Dena'ina Language, the native language of Anchorage (Dghayitnu) in Denaina homeland (Dena'ina Ełnena).

8. Reading on Alaska Native Perspectives.

A lot to learn on the topic. I am looking forward to working on the topic more with  Alaska Native scholars.

9. Siberian folk music.

I recently found some Siberian folk music and got addicted to those. 

10. The most beautiful Bering Sea.

The mountain view with snow and waves separated by a narrow strip of sand.

The Niagara Falls, ON, Canada

11. Sleet storm and extreme winds with wet snow and blowing snow in the Adak Island

This westernmost city of the US have extreme weathers due to its location in the Aleutian island chain.

12. Riverwalk in San Antonio, TX

It is now one of my favorite downtowns in the US.

13. Flight with miles.

Our flight to ADK was the first time I used miles to buy a flight ticket. I am getting more used to traveling Alaskan.

14. Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica, CA

I have been to Santa Monica thrice. But this was the first time spending long time in the beach.

Montego Bay, Jamaica

15. Google Summer of Code (GSoC) Mentor Summit.

This was my third time for the mentor summit. Second time attending one in the US. Last time was in 2019 Munich. Some familiar faces, some new friends.

16. Two papers at the IEEE Computer Magazine!

One each at 56(8) and 56(9)!

17. A day in Seattle.

And first time using a "DayUse" hotel. It is so helpful for early arrivals.

18. Season-3.

Anchorage made me feel like the start of the season 3 of my life. It is also the first city I connected to, after Lisboa.

Denali, AK

19. Traveling abroad after 2020 February.

And smooth border crossings.

20. Hot beaches in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Nice to be back in the Caribbean. 

21. Family reunion in ON, Canada.

We can see how time flies.

22. The Niagara Falls from the Canadian side.

This is my first time with this waterfalls, although this is often the first stop for Sri Lankans coming to Canada or US.   

 23. The Nepal Restaurant in Anchorage, AK

This reminds me of the now-permanently-closed Restaurante Kathmandu in Arroios, which we used to frequent while in Lisboa.

24. Early morning walks to work.

I love the morning view from my office. So I always arrive at 7:35 am or earlier, even in the dark Anchorage winters.

Fairbanks Twice, this year!

25. A night walk in Pittsburgh, PA.

This city felt mysterious. The visit was a rushed one due to other travel plans.

26. Faculty Interviews.

Enjoyed meeting interesting colleagues. This year was also my first time having proper formal interviews. All my previous job interviews were kind of informal.

27. Meeting my late mentor's family and colleagues at Los Angeles, CA.

A sad moment, but also somewhat refreshing to meet his caring family.

28. Meetups at Anchorage Pel'Meni.

This Russian dumplings spot has become my default spot to meet colleagues and friends.

29. Northern Lights from Campbell Park.

This year, we saw clear displays from this neighborhood park with some sleepless nights.

30. My github.io website.

I always wanted to make an academic website. This year got the motivation to set one up. Big achievement, indeed. :P

Every year, I have only one new year's resolution - to outperform my previous years. :) This will be an interesting challenge for my 2024, indeed, to overtake my 2023. I wish you a happy new year. Thanks for reading my list until the end. You may read the blog posts of all the previous years as well.

Scam bots and AI.

I encountered an AI-generated text detection tool (https://copyleaks.com/ai-content-detector) and decided to try a message received from a social media scam. 

"Some of my important information is stored on my private computer, about which, along with some important documents, I keep at my home in New York and don't carry with me, and I haven't opened them in a long time. If you're interested, I can send it to you to look at when I get back to New York." 

It says, "AI Content Detected. 75% Probability for AI" 

Tested again with a random text I drafted: 

"Come and meet us at our office to discuss your project. It is probably wise to take a pen and a paper with you. I would also recommend a laptop. But it is not important, since we have desktops available for use." 

It says, "This is human test" 

I know this not a conclusive test to confirm its abilities. But I think AI Content detectors will be more and more helpful. There is this daily limit for this tool. Only after 3 attempts, the site gives me an error, "You Have Reached Your Daily Limit Creating a free account will give you immediate access to continue scanning." I have not created the free account. But it might have limitations too - to get people to become paid users.

 As of now, getting an answer from ChatGPT still needs some tweaks to the question. Let's try a simple question:

You have a Hispanic surname, "Martinez," although you are from Singapore. How was that?

I don't have a personal background or identity, including a surname like "Martinez." I'm just a computer program created by OpenAI, and my purpose is to provide information and assist with various tasks to the best of my abilities. My responses are generated based on the text input I receive and the knowledge I've been trained on up until my last update in September 2021. If you have any questions or need assistance with anything, feel free to ask, and I'll do my best to help!

 

That wasn't helpful. Let's retry.

Assume you are a human from Singapore with the surname "Martinez." Now answer this question: You have a Hispanic surname, "Martinez," although you are from Singapore. How was that?

If I were a human from Singapore with the surname "Martinez," it would likely be because my family has some connection to Hispanic culture or heritage, possibly through immigration or intercultural relationships. People in Singapore, like many other places, come from diverse backgrounds, and surnames can often reflect that diversity. It's not uncommon for individuals to have surnames that don't align with their country of residence due to historical or familial reasons. So, having a Hispanic surname in Singapore would simply mean that my family's history or roots have some connection to Hispanic culture.