This is sort of my public-facing journal, which I will keep on updating as my itch to write something becomes unbearable.
It all started with one video I saw recently, and I now find myself researching alternative editors to VS Code. For context, I have been using Vim since as far as I can remember, and Vim bindings make me feel home, whichever editor I’m using. I switched to VS Code when it made sense to use an editor which had all the features I need built-in, with no time spent on customization.
Read moreThis may not be very revelatory to some, but to me it felt like a new awareness. You don’t have to be productive day in and day out. Learn to have fun, doing interesting things, and productivity will naturally follow. There will be days when you lounge around and do nothing, and that’s fine! In other words, take a f-ing breath. Remember that fun is not always productive. DON’T TRY THIS AT WORK!
Read moreI intend this to be a continuously updated journal of my journey/struggles with relocation to a completely different country with an alien language. There is no need to keep the country secret, it’s Germany. Berlin, to be precise. I am writing this 8 months after I first landed here, and it’s been a roller-coaster ride so far. To begin with, Why? As always, there are a lot of reasons. Here are the main ones:
Read moreMy friend told me once that he really loves the atmosphere of airports. Especially those big airports with lots of empty seats and a multitude of shops around. I’m sitting in one of the airports he was talking about, and I don’t share his admiration. Who likes airports? Who does not? To start with, at least for Indian airports, only the international terminals are going to fit this category. That too, probably the airports in major cities.
Read moreThis is a letter to the people who hold me dear, if faced with my death. I am writing this in November, 2021. I don’t know when I will die. Hopefully, it may not be too soon. What if I do end up dying soon? That is what I am trying to address here. A protocol for my own death. tldr: I am dead. Move on as fast as you can.
Read moreHow to send encrypted mail to a known recipient Let’s first address the elephant in the room: Gmail. Almost everybody you know uses Gmail as their primary mail address. Gmail offers various “services” like smart-reply, which can be rephrased to say that Gmail reads your damn email. It has processed billions of emails to come up with a model which outputs near-perfect replies. Impressive tech, but as always, convenience at the cost of privacy.
Read moreThe Beginning Over the past two years, I have been on a quest to reclaim my digital privacy (as much as possible). So how did this journey start? I think it all started with Linux, or GNU/Linux. My search for what GNU is led me to beginnings of the Free Software movement, Richard Stallman, and the four essential freedoms. All this led me to the question, “How much control do I have over my digital life?
Read moreThis is a commencement speech delivered by David Foster Wallace to the graduates of a liberal arts course. The essence of this talk is the value of education, which is about “simple awareness – awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, that we have to keep reminding ourselves over and over: This is water.” The phrase “This is water” refers to the story he mentions at the beginning of the speech, which I quote here:
Read moreThe Appalachian Trail is one of the longest hiking trails in the world, extending about 3,500 km across 14 states in the United States. This book follows Bill Bryson’s experiences as he hikes the trail with his friend. I have currently read the first part of this book, with Bill and his friend realizing that they will never be able to hike the entire trail, but still deciding to hike as much as they can by skipping certain parts of the stretch.
Read more