Category: Status Updates

  • Web Travel

    I was reading this Walknotes piece.

    The Richard Siken book is prose poetry. I know nothing about poetry, to me it reads as prose, which I don’t think matters? Anyway, the point is, I bought it on recommendation from Azeem in Exponential View, of all places.

    The link to Exponential View above led me to their Substack. That led me to this piece that gave me one more reason to consider moving away from the Google ecosystem.

    Who is Azeem? The Substack about page led me to his X page. This led me to the about page on his website.

    And I still didn't know much about who Azeem was.

    Fortunately, he has a Wikipedia page, that does a much better job at telling me who he is.

    I found an interesting Fellowship opportunity that he had written about on Substack. I posted about it on X, BlueSky, Mastodon and on a couple of WhatsApp groups I am a member of.

    I was directed first to Exponential Views primarily because of a book he suggested. So, I began looking for the recommendation. I found it. Unfortunately, it's behind a paywall.

  • I am writing this post using WordLand. It was made by Dave Winer who writes Scripting News. I usually visit Scripting News on the browser because it makes more sense on the web than as a feed.

    I have been reading a few posts about the refactoring Frontier project today. I found it via a link on the News tab on Scripting News.

  • Elizabeth Tai, a technical writer (similar to me), has written two blog posts that I have enjoyed reading:

    1. My honest take about life as a techwriter in the AI age

    She gives nice tips about how to think about life as a technical writer in the AI age. She is a software technical writer unlike me who is a mechanical and electronics technical writer.

    2. Substack writers, you need a website!

    She writes about the IndieWeb here.

  • David Epstein on Constraints 

    Brett McKay does a good interview that gives you a clear idea of you want to decide if you want to buy a book or not. 

    David Epstein was on The Art of Manliness Podcast on the 1117th episode of the podcast.

    He talks of the power of constraints by contrasting two companies – General Magic Company, where there were no constraints and Pixar, where there were many.

  • WordLand again?

    WordLand has improved a lot since I posted here earlier.

    I am on vacation in Kerala and that is the reason for my pin-drop silence here. 

    I hope WordLand helps me post again.

  • I think IDFC First Bank has done well with AI related search engine optimization. All chat-based AI tools suggested IDFC First Bank and its banking products during my various interactions with AI.

  • I wanted to share this Instagram post from the_blueboat. This is about a 3 hour journey between the districts of Kottayam an Alapuzha through the Vembanad Lake.

    The first service is at 6:45 am, that the_blueboat recommends for a comfortable ride through hidden villages not usually covered by houseboats and shikaras. The service is run by the Kerala Government’s State Water Transport Department.

  • Helical stepwell of Walur, near Parbhani. Quite a wonder of geometry and constructional precision. Designed in the shape of a spiral galaxy (possibly by observing Andromeda?). Perhaps even a perennial source of water and weather study.

  • An Instagram post on the transformation of Muthoot group headquarters at MG Road, Kochi.

    I hope more companies consider the move from Aluminium Composite Panels (ACP) to Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC). I had to look up the acronym GFRC because they never explained that in the video.

  • YouTube – Life Explained in 15 minutes

    There are many such videos online which mainly remix online gyan using AI. This may also have been scripted using one. But, I found the order in which it was said and its tone useful to me. Hence, sharing.

    I think this video has collected the 20% I find necessary to live the 80% of my life.