workrockin

September 19, 2019September 19, 2019

What are bootloaders?

When the computer is first turned on it has a clear state. Meaning there are no programs in it’s memory and it’s incapable of accessing its components (storage ,I/O devices etc)

So the first step that is required is to enable the computer to gain access to them. For this purpose as soon as the computer starts it runs a bootloader that bootstraps the startup process.

Bootloaders initialize the hardware and pass on the control to the kernel which proceeds to initialize the operating system. That’s all they do.

Since bootloaders sit between hardware and software they give booting choices to users. They can let us

Choose from different operating systems
Boot operating system into safe mode for recovery.
Choose different versions of operating systems.
Or boot directly into a program without starting the operating system first. (This is used for example in many game consoles,if you have a game disc inserted when you start the console.it can take you right into the game rather than a welcome screen)

For PCs the ROM contains BIOS (or EFI) that looks for a bootloader at a certain location and execute it [1]

As you might have guessed there are stages to a bootloader. The bootloader is read from a ROM and executed. At the end of this process I/O components and storage components are ready.

The computer has changed its state from passive just a powered in CPU, to active a device can use different parts. It can now use these components.

The last thing that remains for the first stage bootloader to do is find the second stage bootloader so that the control may be passed on to the operating system.

Now most of the times the second stage bootloader is located on a storage within a device itself. Some place in a hard disk. The first stage bootloader knows about this location and hence finds and executes the second stage loader.

From there on the OS kernel is loaded followed by os itself.

As it often happens at the time of a new purchase a hard disk,there may not actually be a boot record for the bootloader. Therefore the first stage bootloader allows the user to specify boot locations. Most modern bootloaders allow you to boot from

CD/DVD
USB stick
Network disk

In case of storage medium like CD and USB, the devices are formatted so that the first stage bootloader can find the boot record on it.

For network booting a boot image is placed on a known location on a server. This image is downloaded and executed on the machine.

Most of the time the interaction with the bootloader is rather minimal. It’s only when you want to install a new operating system. Or want to diagnose problems with your existing ones/use a different os, is the time when you take the trouble of going to the boot menu.

But understanding the boot process is important if you want to learn how computers work.

All electronic devices are turned on in the same way. Whether it’s your mobile, your laptop, your gaming consoles or your PC. They all boot the same way.

But some devices use the concept of a boot image on a flash. In such devices that kernel and the bootloader is packed into a single file and written onto the flash. This approach is quite common in smart phones like Android and in devices like wifi routers. [2]

Packing the kernel and bootloader into a single image does not change the boot process in anyway however. A bootloader still initializes the hardware and then passes the control to the kernel which will initialize the operating system.

However packing the bootloader with the kernel makes it difficult for the user to make changes to the device the way he wants. ROMs need to be packaged in exactly the same way as the device expects it to. And running multiple OS is more difficult because now there is no separation between the kernel and the bootloader.

Switching an Android operating system for instance is not quite as straightforward as switching the os in PC. And impossible if the bootloader is locked (as it is in many phones)

Still because embedded systems have a lot less room than PCs it makes sense to pack things together.

Types of bootloader and UBOOT

Since there are many types of computer architectures and many operating systems it’s natural that the bootloaders are specific to architecture and operating systems. This means that are many, many bootloaders on the market. Often they are proprietary and incompatible with each other. However open source applications like DAS U Boot are standardizing the process.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_U-Boot

DAS U BOOT works on almost all the system architectures and provides both first stage and second stage bootloading. It can also be packed into an image consisting both the Linux kernel as well as a bootloader in a package.

References

[1]https://askubuntu.com/questions/173248/where-is-the-bootloader-stored-in-rom-ram-or-elsewhere

[2]https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/29706/can-somebody-explain-the-boot-process-of-an-android-device/29738#29738

[3] A presentation on the boot process

https://www.cs.tau.ac.il/telux/lin-club_files/linux-boot/slide0000.htm

workrockin@gmail.com

September 18, 2019

What does the gigahertz band (like 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz) in a WiFi router mean?

It represents the frequency of the carrier wave.

In communication systems a carrier wave is the medium on which the message is transferred.

Wifi and Bluetooth have no wires (unlike Ethernet). So they emit a signal that acts as a communication channel. This channel is shared among all the connecting devices.

2.4Ghz means that the electromagnetic signal oscillates 2.4 billion times per second (giga is billion or 10^9) 5Ghz is an electromagnetic wave oscillating 5 billion times per second.

These signals are created by chips inside your router and radiated with the help of an antenna.

Before a carrier wave is generated information is encoded on it with the help of a process known as modulation.

[Modulation is the process of altering some aspect of the carrier that can be reliably detected by the receiver]

At the receiver antenna will “catch” the wave and then extract information from it. This is the reverse of modulation and is called demodulation.

Some Notes

The frequency of information signal is less than the carrier frequency. The reason is simple: if the frequency is greater the carrier won’t be able to carry it. Like, for example, a bag the carries 1L of milk has slightly greater capacity than 1L.
Carrier waves represent the Physical layer in the OSI model. You can think of them as invisible wires. It is in this foundation other layers are built. For internet communication the entire TCP IP stack is built on a wireless router.
Any application that is running on a wireless router can then be accessed by simply connecting to the wifi. This is the foundation for the beacon technology that is promising a physical internet. A world where you can interact with physical devices by simply connecting to WiFi signals.

workrockin@gmail.com

September 17, 2019

How much programming should a normal technology user learn?

A general technology user (most of us these days) will rarely need to program. Once the fundamentals of how a computer works are clear it’s not necessary to dive deeper. A good computer program will abstract away low level details so you can focus on getting the job done rather than tweaking the system endlessly.

However things like shell scripts, basic understanding of computer networks, getting comfortable with command line can greatly enhance the way you interact with the computer. And make you better at using them,allowing you to do more with what you have.

Rather than going for a low level language course it would be way more useful to learn how existing programs work. Like operating systems, databases, version control systems etc. Things that are proven, open source and have been in operation for decades.

Always ask yourself if your requirement can be fulfilled by something that already exists.Minimize the energy you have to spend on the ground work.

Think of learning computers as a process. Not something that’d you’d do once and then leave it. As you hit the limits of your knowledge ask yourself if learning something new can benefit you. If it would go ahead and learn. If not then postpone or focus energy on things that need attention.

It pays to know the details. But only when they help you achieve your goals.

Whatever you do, don’t learn for the sake of learning. Always seek to determine practical benefits in advance before digging deeper.

workrockin@gmail.com

September 16, 2019September 16, 2019

Why is LiFi not being used in place of wifi?

In my view there are a few reasons why LiFi is experiencing slower adoption

People underestimate sheer momentum of an existing technology. All the effort that has been put by wifi into educating the customers, building a supply chain and creating an ecosystem is not easy to change. Definitely not by any technological invention/scientific discovery. It requires more than that. Wifi is used in billions of devices. It has been in operation for decades. No matter how good a replacement is, it will not make things that already work obsolete. If we look past that LiFi also has to overcome the chicken and egg problem. It needs special devices to function for transmitting as well as receiving signals. New investment to deliver the same result?
Rather than disrupting an existing market the goal of a new technology should be to create something new. Something that does not yet exist. LiFi has that potential to do that but it insists on going after existing wifi markets and it runs against difficulties described point #1.
Wifi works everywhere. It does not need any special conditions to be satisfied before it can be set up. LiFi on the other hand can only be successful in places where there is no interference to it’s light signals. These places are hard to discover. Sunlight, tubes, bulbs, flashlights all seem to be working against LIFI. It is true that LiFi signals are modulated (as opposed to natural light) but even then the signals get weaker as they interact with light from other sources. Reducing the distance of communication. Something similar to what happens when wifi signals are within range of electronic appliances like microwave ovens [3]. Use of optical filters can filter out data signal just as easily as it does light noise. LiFi’s carrier signal deals with much higher environmental noise than WiFi’s carrier wave.

Does this mean LiFi has no future?

On the contrary I think that LiFi has very bright future. I don’t think that it’s going to be in consumer grade communication equipment though. I believe that the real application of LiFi would be in photonic computing [1]. More specially in specialized wireless computing chips.

[Data in computers is moved along electrical paths connected by wires. In optical computing it’s not the electrons that move but the photons. Minimizing the heat loss and in reading the data width. And when you talk about microchip level movement why do you need wires at all?]

At the moment (going by expert opinion) most computer chip manufacturers are facing issues with power management.Technology that replaces electronic communication with photonic communication is going to win big time. Right now fiber optic interconnects are being investigated. [2] But LiFi maybe the alternative.

However that’s just my layman opinion. Smarter, more knowledgeable people are working on the technology and I’m sure they’d have already considered and overcome these objections. Maybe we’ll see something unexpected from them. I feel that LiFi is in capable hands. And it will surely make it’s impact.

workrockin@gmail.com

Footnotes

September 14, 2019September 14, 2019

What borderlands is all about?

Borderlands is a game about guns. I guess that would be an accurate and succinct description. Guns are everywhere in this game. Kill enemies and they drop guns. Open up loot boxes and you find more guns. There are vending machines that sell guns. Character quests give you guns as reward. You can find guns hidden in locker rooms, frozen in ice crystals, stashed in fridges and washing machines and I promise that I’m not joking about this when I say that you can find guns in toilet seats. Yes borderlands is a game where you can find guns hidden in toilets.

I’ve never played a game with as many guns as in borderlands. Of all varieties. Thunder pistols, acidic machine guns, poisonous rocket launchers , shotguns that explode when reloaded sniper rifles that can do 200 times damage on every critical hit and high speed smg bullets that explode when they hit the target like tens of grenades going off at once.

As crazy as these things sound they are among the more normal, I’m tempted to say bread butter ,weapons in borderlands. Wait until you encounter crazier designs like “bane”. A gun that screams (no it literally shouts) when you press the trigger doing rapid damage but at the cost of reducing your movement to almost nothing making it useless for normal combat situations but handy when you have to fight while standing still (like while trying to get a second wind,more on that later)

Talking of grenades, borderlands has them as well. And they are just as fun as the guns. If not more. There are bouncing grenades, there are grenades that suck the enemy in a vortex, there are grenades that transform into a fire hose constantly doing fire damage to all enemies in the radius (yes it’s as cool as it sounds). Then there are grenades that break into a number of tiny bombs on detonating destroying enemy shields.

Some enemies have shields but so do you. And you can either choose to buff up your defence or sacrifice some of your shield points to do additional damage on your first shot. There are shields that set the enemy on fire if they come to close, or electrocute them, or self explode taking all other enemies out. In borderlands even shields are offensive.

All these weapons won’t be of much use if there were not many targets you could use them on. Luckily for us borderlands delivers in this respect.

You’ll find all kinds of bad guys to pump your bullets in. Psychos, skags, badasses, convicts with huge spiked shields midgets tied to them! Gunmen that are quick on their feet , rat like thugs that steal all the loot lying around, psychos that move into your cover and explode. In borderlands you’ll have to learn quickly to crowd control.

Changing covers, using your secondary skills effectively and perhaps most importantly using second wind to your advantage. You see when you run out of health in borderlands, the game gives you a chance to “fight for your life” in this mode if you kill any enemy you’re restored with full shield and a portion of your health. By knowing when to go in all guns blazing , confident that even if you’re taken out there are enough enemies on screen that you can get a second wind, is a key tactic of winning in borderlands.

Every opponent requires a different strategy to beat so that when the game throws them together they become quite a challenge. Different enemies have different elemental weaknesses, different attack range and different health points.

Robot types are weak to acid, flesh types to fire. Goliath’s are tanks that go into an enraged mode when they lose their helmets getting more aggressive and even killing other enemies for you! At higher difficulties enemies even respawn health that makes them even harder to take down. Suffice to say here that you’ll be on your toes all the time.

The world in borderlands is presented in a beautiful cartoonish style that suits the overall zany narrative of the game. Nobody takes itself too seriously here. Even the main villains are quite cool. Yes they want to realize their nefarious plans and yes they’ll do anything to stop you. They’re still nasty and mean and bossy. The kind of crooks that you expect, but they are always joking about it. And frankly it’s a bit of a relief from the usual highly moody baddies that you have to deal with in video games. In borderlands when you beat the main boss you miss them in a way. The fact that you’ll no longer be able to hear their utterly ridiculous but totally entertaining monologues is a bit of a let down to be honest.

Thankfully the post game content in borderlands is huge. In that respect the game is like the western version of Monster Hunter. You want to find awesome new guns. You want to fight new enemies and you want to try out new characters or level up your existing build post game. The replayability in borderlands is huge. And that’s not even counting the multiplayer aspect. Yes you can go online and play borderlands with your friends.

It’s little wonder that borderlands 2 sold 22 million copies since its release in 2012.Of course with the release of Borderlands 3 we can say that the game is now officially a franchise. The latest entry promises exploration of new planets.

It’s deeper than Ratchet and clanks planetary platforming, but not quite on the level of no man’s sky intergalactic exploration. Still the world we have is richly detailed and there are new things to find on every corner.

Borderlands is a game that proves that an RPG does not have to mean a shoddy action game. With it’s pumping first person shooter gameplay, western Sci Fi themed story and loot that makes other RPGs blush borderlands is a dream game for fans of shooter as well as RPGs. It shows how RPG like customization and collectibles can add depth to a genre that is as populated as FPS. Borderlands manages to stand out from the crowd of shooters. And if you follow the game industry closely you can appreciate how big of a deal that is.

And frankly speaking borderlands is no longer merely a game. It is a benchmark on which other shooters and rpg games will be judged.

If you haven’t played a borderlands game yet, now would be a good time to do so.

workrockin@gmail.com

September 13, 2019September 13, 2019

How does the internet work?

Internet is not a single technology. Instead it’s a stack. A group of technologies working together. These technologies form what is known as internet protocol suite. Which powers computer networks. Many such computer networks work together to form what we know as the global internet.

[ Please note that the explanation below is by no means an exhaustive guide just an overview that’ll quickly help you understand how different networking technologies work together.]

Let’s quickly go through the internet protocol suite (or TCP/IP stack as it’s commonly known)

It consists of 4 layers

The link layer
The internet layer
The transport layer
The application layer

The link layer provides the foundation for communication within a network. This may consist of physical wires like ethernet/fiber optics. Or wireless medium like wifi. Besides providing the physical medium it’s also responsible for giving access to the channel.

This is the layer that is responsible for implementing MAC address required to transmit information between two devices.

—

The internet layer is responsible for providing communication between networks. It is at this layer internet protocol is implemented. The process of moving data between networks is called routing.

Each host on the network is identified by an IP address.
Data packets are sent from source by passing them from one router to another until they reach their destination.

The transmission of data through the internet layer is unreliable. It provides no guarantee that the source packet will reach the destination.

[This is because it is difficult to know beforehand what path data will take as it’s routed to destination. ]

[ It may be said that the Internet protocol is stateless. All of the effort is spent in forwarding if packets. None is spent on verifying whether the individual packet was successfully delivered. And due to this property it’s able to address billions of hosts.

And this type of communication is known as connection less communication. ]

—

The transport layer implements the transmission control protocol (or TCP).

The actual data packets that are transmitted by the internetworking layer over the link layer are generated here. Here they are called segments. Once generated segments are forwarded to internet layer where they are assembled into a packet and stamped with IP address.

TCP layer defines the communication channel using ports. It is at these ports that applications and services are running.

Client devices can connect to these applications using the link layer as defined above. The TCP facilitates communication between the client and the application server over network ports.

TCP is a reliable and connection oriented protocol.

While the internet layer provides routing. TCP layer manages the communication process. Making sure it’s reliable, efficient and standardized.

—-

Application layer is the is the place where the services (that a client uses) are running.

Services like

Domain name system
Dynamic host configuration protocol
Simple mail transfer protocol
HTTP servers

run on application layer.

These protocols are used for process to process communication. A client device having a web browser can access the website using http protocol.

An email client like an Android app can access emails using SMTP protocol.

Data encoded by the application layer is passed on to the transport layer where it’s assembled into segments.

Application layer is the one using which we interact with the internet. It’s also the one with which most people are familiar with. We don’t need to know about any other underlying layers. As far as we’re concerned it may not even exist.

But it does.

And this illustrates the core principle of the internet stack. The abstraction of layers. A layer does not need to concern itself with how the other layers perform or work. It only has to make sure that it’s protocol is fulfilled.

——-

That is the gist of how the network works. If you want more specific details into the protocols involved please check out this Wikipedia index

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_the_Internet

[It’s important to note that the internet is more than just the web. There are many other services running on it that are defined by their own protocols.]

[ Finally TCP/IP and OSI are conceptual models to help understand how things work. In real world layers are not stacked as neatly as the model expects. But it’s much simpler nevertheless]

How it all comes together?

To best understand the internet consider a wireless router in your home connected to the internet via your service provider.

When your router is on and connected to the internet

It gets an IP address by your ISP.
It assigns a local IP address to each one of your connected devices using DHCP
On request of client it establishes a connection with a service provider. Like a web server or an email server.
It then routes the client request using the internet layer to a service provider. The web server processes the request and sends the response to the router.
The router sends the response to the device that requested it using the IP address it assigned.

Application

Practically speaking the logical components TCP/IP model are coded into the operating system. Like Debian. So if you buy an appropriate hardware like PC with a network card and some Ethernet cables you can create your own data center.

There is a huge demand for local services that the internet is not able to satisfy. Applications that don’t need global internet to work. That can run offline so to speak.

These services are critical to digitization of processes. Both business and administrative. They don’t require to be available anywhere. But are context sensitive.

Wireless data centers running in colleges, and public places can fulfill this demand. Localized social networks, e-commerce, document management systems that are only needed where they are. Eg in a hospital or a court. To reduce the administrative burden. To improve the information flow.

Such portable data centers present a new opportunity to entrepreneurs, researchers and individuals to create rich and efficient local networks.

workrockin@gmail.com

References

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_the_Internet

OSI and TCP video explanation

https://youtu.be/3b_TAYtzuho

September 10, 2019

Can we send electricity through wifi?

In one word, the answer is yes. If you want to understand how please keep reading. The concepts and principles that make Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) work are extremely simple.

Theory

As the name suggests WPT is the transfer of power without the use of wires. It works on the principle of electromagnetic induction. Oscillating electromagnetic fields generate current when received in a conductor. They can travel through free space without any need for a medium like a wave. Sunlight is the most common electromagnetic wave that we experience everyday.

WPT has two forms

Near field
Far field

Near field power transfer uses magnetic/electrical coupling to transfer power. It works at distances that are very small compared to the wavelength.

You have most probably encountered near field power transfer in induction cookers and more recently in phone chargers.

Near field devices use mostly use magnetic coupling. Power is transmitted via magnetic field over very small distances. If the conductor is not within this distance no power is transmitted.

[At small distances of near field, magnetic and electrical components of the wave can be considered separate. In other words, the electromagnetic wave is not yet radiating ]

Far field devices uses radiating electromagnetic waves to transmit power. Focussed beams tend to behave like light rays. And they can be collected just like we can collect rays of the sun using a mirror on a focal point. High gain point to point antennas can deliver power several KMs apart. Enough to charge batteries.

While far field power transfer is used heavily in communication it’s use in energy transfer is limited.

[Some folks want to send a satellite into space and beam solar energy to earth from space. Due to the distance involved I’m not a big fan of the approach. But often crazy ideas seem to work so who knows?]

A huge business opportunity exists to couple radio wave’s power transmission with alternative sources of energy generation for WPT on ground.

About WiFI in particular

Wifi is an electromagnetic wave. And like all EM waves it carries electrical and magnetic energy. A receiver like a phone connected to WiFi router converts this power into current that is then filtered by the chip to get useful data. This process is called demodulation.

To transmit power over wifi all we need to do is skip the demodulation and store the current from the antenna directly into the battery.

Although any radio wave can be used as a medium for WPT, wifi offers advantages that are hard to beat or even match. They are:-

Open spectrum. Wifi does not need any additional licenses from regulatory bodies. Being a part of the ISM band it’s free to use by any one. This makes it friendly towards entrepreneurs and small business owners who would want to start a business in the field of energy. Or maybe researchers/college students who want to experiment in WPT systems to improve efficiency.
Ease of learning and operation. Since it’s so easy to get into more people can understand and work with the technology. Making skill acquisition as well as the professional support needed to get the infrastructure working easy. If someone starts a business it won’t be too difficult to find or train staff.
Availability. Billions of devices are available to create wifi signals. No investment is needed to create new equipment. Standard off the shelf products are more than competent to do the job. Which is to take an input power source and create a wifi signal to be beamed into free space by a directional antenna.
Frequency spectrum. Among all the other alternatives wifi is the best way to transmit long distance power. The frequency is not high enough to suffer from atmospheric attenuation (scientific jargon for power loss), but also not small enough that it needs huge antennas (antenna length is related to frequency/wavelength of the signal) to be of any use.

Difference between home wifi devices and ones used for power transmission

It all comes down to antennas. Home devices use omnidirectional dipoles that scatter the waves. While this is good for communication it’s not efficient for energy transmission.

High gain parabolic antennas improve efficiency significantly for the same devices.

[And before you ask yes these are readily available in the market]

Inside every big problem there’s a small problem trying to get out.

While the objective of WPT seems to be reducing the dependence on wires and batteries, a much more lucrative opportunity exists in integration as well as augmentation of existing systems.

Rather than thinking of WPT as a technology that replaces /disrupts old things it’s much more beneficial to think of it as something that creates new things.

Things like efficient energy transport for alternative sources of energy. Today it does not exist. Energy is everywhere. Wind, sun, tides and hot springs. But it’s not always easy to transport this energy. WPT can provide a solution.

Local energy generated can be transmitted using highly focussed antennas. On the receiver these beams can be collected to generate current that can be stored in batteries.

By the way, this does not mean that wifi can’t transfer traditional energy. It certainly can especially when there’s a surplus that might go to waste. But for traditional sources it can be a bit more expensive.

The thing about renewable energy sources is that they’re always creating power. Sun never stops. Nor does the wind or the waves. They keep on giving energy. More than we can ever use. We just need a way to transmit the power to where it’s needed. As opposed to keeping it where it’s generated.

Microwaves like wifi travel at the speed of light. They may not deliver the same amount of power as wires but they drive energy very fast. Consistently. It adds up.

workrockin@gmail.com

September 9, 2019September 9, 2019

How is NVRAM used in a router?

NV RAM stands for non volatile random access memory. As the name suggests it’s used to store data that can be retrieved later. Unlike RAM the data is not lost after the device is powered off.

Flash is the most popular type of NV RAM. It’s used in USBs and also in “system on chips” to store firmware data. Because flash is significantly slower as compared to RAM the firmware is first loaded into the RAM before execution starts. To make it faster.

Since flash has limited write/delete cycles the on chip version is generally used for reading. Only at the time of firmware upgrades is the data written. This greatly increases the longevity of the chip. Otherwise a bad flash might render the whole thing obsolete.

[Although in some cases configuration parameters may also be stored on it]

[By the way flash is used not just in routers but also in many other devices like PCI cards, hard disks etc. Anywhere you need a boot process for a device, flash comes in handy for storing the firmware that “turns on” the device and make it ready for operation. Just like your computer needs to power on it’s components need to do the same]

How is bootloader used in a router?

The flash storage contains the bootloader that is executed every time the machine is powered on. There are many types of bootloaders both open source and proprietary and it’s execution is device specific. But all bootloader’s do three things

Initialize the hardware
Find the location of the kernel
Execute the kernel and handover the control to it.

Once #3 is done the bootloader is no longer needed.

Because bootloader is executed before the kernel there are some special features that can be used especially in an embedded environment like a router that has no visible interface for handling errors(No monitor etc)

Supporting additional boot devices. Like booting from USB or over the network.[ Networking booting is one of the most popular ways to boot embedded devices. ]
Upgrading firmware “over the air”.
Verifying the authenticity of the firmware.

But of course since bootloader controls the kernel execution, oftentimes manufacturers impose limitations on users ability to change it giving the excuse of security.

It’s quite common to see in Android phones in which the owner can’t change the operating system just because the bootloader is locked. Making it yet another way to control the usage after the device has been sold.

workrockin@gmail.com

September 8, 2019

How can people from different industries successfully transition into tech careers?

It’s highly likely that the skills that you have acquired in your education/career are transferable in technology Industry. Let me explain.

Business as a whole is quite different from the technology that makes it up. People from different disciplines are needed to make it work. Take example of any business you know and you’ll find people working in the following departments

Sales
Marketing
Accounts
Support

None of these departments rely on core technical skills. And in fact technologists who are working on the core product need feedback from other departments as they are directly in touch with the customer. Without their input the product development works in the dark and things go bad.

On the other hand it definitely helps if you understand technology well. Especially if you’re in sales and marketing. If you want to work for a company selling 5G equipment for example you need to know about 5G and how your products work.

Acquiring domain specific knowledge is becoming easier due to the internet. Today you can find so many blogs, videos and Wikipedia articles that explain any topic in depth. There really is no excuse not to learn at least the fundamentals.

Companies are eager to find talented individuals who can learn new things. So don’t feel that you’re not fit for a job in a technology company. You have the skills. Now you need to go for what you want.

workrockin@gmail.com

September 8, 2019

How to get better at monster hunter?

With the release of Iceborne a new monster hunter is upon us. Back in the day expansions in monster hunter meant the ‘G rank”. An ultra hard level that added new monsters, made them harder to defeat but also rewarded the player with better gear if they managed to take them down.

For old timers monster hunter expansion meant 100s of hours of gameplay. However the tougher levels tend to drive away new players. Which is a bit unfortunate because more people.should be experiencing this game.

As it stands monster hunter is already quite a difficult game. I won’t deny it. It is hard. But it’s fair. It will test your patience. However, if you persist you will have months of fun. Here are some of my tips to improve your skills and have more fun with the game.

Understand the Movement

Monster Hunter’s gameplay is all about the movement. Monsters have detailed attack patterns and rich animations that bring those attacks to life.

A tigrex for example stands tall just before he’s about to star spin or roar. A diablos shakes his head a couple of times before howling. Kirin’s attacks are hinted by the tilt of it’s head.

As a first timer these patterns will go unnoticed. Your timing will be spotty,you’ll miss most of your chances and get hit instead. And there’s no easy way to learn these patterns.

It’s best to go into a quest with the purpose of only dodging enemy attacks. For the first few times don’t try to hit at all. Go into the fight and learn to dodge. Quit the quest before time runs out so that you don’t lose your money.

Training guild can be helpful but nothing beats seeing the enemy fight in its natural surroundings. Which brings us to …

Know the environment

In monster hunter the environment plays a big factor in the outcome of your battle. In harsh weathers you need to take appropriate items on your quests. Cool drinks for hot climates and hot drinks for the icy areas.

Fetch quests can be a great way to learn about the environment. As they have you roam through the different parts of the area to gather materials and to collect items.

After you’ve done a few of those you’d have a good idea of what to expect. As you progress through the game more areas will be available and you’ll have to understand them as they are discovered. The learning time reduces greatly. As the game opens up you become a better hunter too.

Besides, you also need to be aware of the specific locations in which you’ll be fighting. Is it an open area with plenty of room for dodging. Or is it a constricted space in which you can get easily hit if you ‘re not quick? If you followed step 1, observed your target and tried to dodge it then you’d already have gotten used to it. If not,do that!

Get comfortable with your weapon

There is a huge variety of weapons in monster hunter and they all play differently.

Dual swords, hammers, bowgun, arrows, switch axe, Lance, long sword hunting horn etc. It’s difficult to master them all. Pick one that suits your style best.

In the beginning it won’t be easy to decide. Watching YouTube videos of end level gear would help you visualize the kind of hunter you want to be.

It would be even better if you’d just try the entry level gear before going down a weapon path.

Once you’ve decided, try to stick with your choice. At least for the toughest fights. You don’t want to use a weapon in which you’re inexperienced for hard battles.

As important as it is to draw the weapon it’s even more important to quickly sheath it. A drawn weapon makes your movement slower as compared to the sheathed one. Some weapons like hammers , dual swords and hunting horns are designed to be played so that your movements are always in tune with them. Especially with the charge and release attack of hammers. Others like switch axes and long swords are better suited to hit and then sheath tactic.

Remember to experiment. If you know the moves of your opponent well you can always dodge the attacks even if you’re not scoring that many hits. Try new weapons. Or new moves with existing ones on monsters you know well.

Prepare for the fight

Quests in monster hunter require solid preparation at the base. In fact it’s the other half of the game. Make sure your weapons and armor sets are upgraded as best they can be.

Check if you can forge more powerful gear before taking in this quest. Maybe it’s better to postpone taking on a new dragon until you’ve gotten a better gear?

Pack in potions and items to create more supplies. All the effort that you put into this stage will help make your fight more smoother and easier. If you go in unprepared even if you fight well you can lose. So take time to have things in order.

Don’t get greedy

Never ever try to score more hits than possible. Monster hunter is not like other RPGs where your stats can overwhelm the enemy. Even a low ranking monster can make short work of you, if you don’t respect the movements. When they attack dodge and position yourself to land a strike.

After striking move again to find openings for your next attack. A fight in monster hunter is more like an intense dance sequence. You can’t stop the opponent from participating. Instead play along. Move to the tune. Learn the rhythm. Know when you strike and when to move away.

Well that’s all the tips I have for you today.

Back in the days of PSP monster hunter became the reason for owning the handheld. It was the most loved PSP game. And for good reason too. Monster hunter is a game that encourages exploration and understanding of the environment. It’s ecology. Whether you’re in a jungle or a desert. In the mountains or inside a volcano.The game is all about exploring the world you’re in. And it has not lost it’s spirit even after a decade. No other game has managed to capture this feeling in the same way.

For old and new hunters hours of adventure awaits. Have fun with Iceborne.

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