Richard Djarbeng's Blog
About Me
I am a Computer Engineer and Machine Learning Enthusiast with a passion for Internet of Things (IoT) and AI applications. I specialize in building data-driven solutions and deploying alternative low-cost Machine Learning technologies. Currently, I am expanding my expertise in Deep Learning and building on AWS. Feel free to reach out via the contact form.
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Why Flight Tickets in Africa Are So Expensive, From First Principles
When you search for a flight between two African cities, the result can look wrong: a neighboring capital costs more than a trip to Europe, the cheapest option connects through...
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PHP2Shell: The Two PHP Bugs That Took Government Websites Offline, and What to Do
On Wednesday 21 October 2026, PHP released emergency fixes for two bugs that let an attacker take over a web server without logging in. PHP runs a large part of...
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What can you do? Testing AI Agents, Gemini Argon and Claude
I have a benchmark prompt that I use to evaluate AI agent capabilities. The GitHub repository for the benchmark prompt is here. Every time a new model or agent drops,...
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Level 4 Autonomous Driving: How Robotaxis and Driverless Buses Work Today
Robotaxis with nobody in the driver's seat now carry paying passengers in several cities, and full-size electric buses run timetabled routes without a driver at the wheel. Both are SAE...
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The Six Levels of Autonomous Driving: From Driver Assist to the Level 3 Handover
When car companies advertise driver-assist software, they often blur the line between convenient driver aids and true driverless autonomy. Marketing terms like "Autopilot," "Full Self-Driving," and "hands-free assist" make it...
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When LLMs Become Scientific Instruments: Groundsource Flash Flood Research Report
A deep dive into Google's 2.6-million-event flood dataset: what the data shows, what claims hold up, and why the methodology matters more than the dataset itself. Resources: Enriched Dataset |...
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Why Flight Tickets in Africa Are So Expensive, From First Principles
When you search for a flight between two African cities, the result can look wrong: a neighboring capital costs more than a trip to Europe, the cheapest option connects through...
PHP2Shell: The Two PHP Bugs That Took Government Websites Offline, and What to Do
On Wednesday 21 October 2026, PHP released emergency fixes for two bugs that let an attacker take over a web server without logging in. PHP runs a large part of...
What can you do? Testing AI Agents, Gemini Argon and Claude
I have a benchmark prompt that I use to evaluate AI agent capabilities. The GitHub repository for the benchmark prompt is here. Every time a new model or agent drops,...
Level 4 Autonomous Driving: How Robotaxis and Driverless Buses Work Today
Robotaxis with nobody in the driver's seat now carry paying passengers in several cities, and full-size electric buses run timetabled routes without a driver at the wheel. Both are SAE...
The Six Levels of Autonomous Driving: From Driver Assist to the Level 3 Handover
When car companies advertise driver-assist software, they often blur the line between convenient driver aids and true driverless autonomy. Marketing terms like "Autopilot," "Full Self-Driving," and "hands-free assist" make it...
When LLMs Become Scientific Instruments: Groundsource Flash Flood Research Report
A deep dive into Google's 2.6-million-event flood dataset: what the data shows, what claims hold up, and why the methodology matters more than the dataset itself. Resources: Enriched Dataset |...
Series
Self-Driving, Explained
How the six SAE levels of driving automation work, where the line between driver assistance and real self-driving sits, and where driverless vehicles already carry passengers today.
Getting Started with Machine Learning
A path into machine learning using free resources: where to start, which courses to take, a first look at how models learn, where to find data, projects and competitions to practise on, and people worth following.
Building This Blog
A build log of rdjarbeng.com: starting on Jekyll and GitHub Pages, adding a CMS, automating uploads with a Telegram bot, and moving to Eleventy.
Featured Posts
What is arXiv?
arXiv (pronounced "archive") is a pioneering open-access repository where researchers can upload preprints of their scientific papers before formal peer review. Launched in 1991, it revolutionized the way academic papers...
How a New Research Technique Becomes Standard: The 7 Stages of Published Papers
If you follow research in one field for a while, you notice a pattern in what gets published. A new technique appears in one paper, a few groups test it,...
Is the Davis Solar Radiation Sensor Overpriced?
When it comes to measuring solar radiation for agricultural, meteorological, or environmental projects, precision is key. The Davis Solar Radiation Sensor is a popular choice among professionals, but a common...
Open Meteo archive free historical weather data
Have you ever wondered what the weather was exactly like on the day you were born? Or maybe you're building an app that needs to know how much it rained...
Decoding the Open Letter for the Singapore FinTech Festival's 10th Edition
Today, I want to share something interesting that landed in my inbox – an email from Sopnendu Mohanty, the Group CEO of the Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN). The...
From the Norrsken Hub in Kigali, A Look at the Deals Shaping Africa's Future
Africa’s technology ecosystem is moving forward in 2025, as startups secure big investments and join forces to make a bigger impact. From mobile apps for money transfers to solar power...
How AI Could Empower Any Business - Andrew Ng
In this TED talk by Andrew Ng, co-founder of Google Brain and deeplearning.ai, he believes that artificial intelligence (AI) systems should be more widely available and accessible, so that even...
Lex Fridman and Andrew Ng on Deep learning - Lex Podcast
Join Lex Fridman and Andrew Ng as they delve into the exciting world of deep learning in this podcast episode. These AI legends share valuable insights on not just deep...
Guest Authors
Posts contributed by guest authors
Africa Has the ML Talent But Missing the GPUs.
One challenge I have noticed throughout my academic journey and as a TA is that access to computing resources, especially GPUs, has become a major bottleneck for many students especially...
Why Your Monthly AI Bill Might Soon Rival Your Headcount Costs From A Personal Experience
The $280 Overnight Surprise A friend pinged me last week, half-laughing, half-panicking 😅 . He'd been running a couple of AI coding agents overnight, just background refactoring and test generation....
How To Invest On The Ghana Stock Exchange
The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) represents a unique opportunity for Ghanaian investors to participate in the growth of the country's economy. As Ghana's primary stock market, the GSE provides access...
Personal Posts
The Viral Tweet That Put a Nigerian Pencil Artist on MrBeast's Wall
Meet Ifure Usen, a talented Nigerian pencil artist whose incredible journey to fame began with a single tweet. On September 3, 2025 , Ifure replied to a MrBeast post on...
Finding Chinese Noodles In Kigali
Finding Chinese noodles in Kigali isn't something you'd expect, but here we are. I picked up a packet of Lao Tan Sauerkraut Beef Noodles (117g + toppings) from the Chinese...
Pittsburgh's Stunning Skyline Reveal
Picture this it's Your first visit to Pittsburgh and you were picked up from the Pittsburgh International Airport after your long journey. On the drive from the airport you mostly...
Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda Ban Cash Bouquets
As Valentine's Day approaches, lovers across East Africa will have to rethink their gift ideas as Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda have all taken a firm stance against the popular trend...
Hilarious Spam Email from Elon Musk Allegedly
Usually I delete spam/phishing emails, but this one was so blatantly fake and hilarious that I had to make a post about it. Here is the full unedited email I...
Half Of A Yellow Sun By Author Chimamanda Ngozi First Look
I finally picked up a copy of Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The blurb at the back doesn't give away too many spoilers, but I am...
📚 Project Enlighten
Curated, legal, and free tech books onlineA hand-picked collection of genuinely great books on machine learning, deep learning, Python, and computer vision that authors and publishers have made permanently free to read online.
Automate the Boring Stuff with Python
Practical Python for absolute beginners - automate spreadsheets, files, web scraping, emails and other tedious tasks.
Confessions of an IT Manager
Anarchic humour wrapped around hard-won wisdom about software projects, hiring, firing and surviving life in IT. Free...
Crafting Interpreters
Build two complete interpreters from scratch and finally understand how programming languages actually work. Beautifu...
