tldraw is canvas software that runs on your browser (like MS Paint, excalidraw etc). This project caught my attention when I saw demos of fun AI experiments with the canvas interface*. Even the plain canvas software without the experimental AI frills is delightful to use—it's become the default thing I reach for when I want to create diagrams, sketch out an idea or make a presentation.
They recently released their most compelling experiment, tldraw computer. I think this thirty second video gives a good taste of what this is.
I also started using twttr again in 2024 after a couple of years out. I never used it because I considered twitter problematic.
Somehow I figured out the algorithm this time around. My feed is fairly good.
The one weird trick is to aggressively mute anyone on my feed who says anything overtly negative or in a way that blocks—regardless of whether I agree with or know the person.
I also mute people who repeatedly give off a negative energy through their posts.
This discipline paid off, and I now tend to find more quality discussion.
I can't say I've managed to make the most of twttr though. I'm still more consumer than producer and I'd like to change that.
It is a city that will keep you on your toes by throwing curveballs at you—thus, forcing you to pay attention to how fractally interesting it is.
It is also a city that will floor you with the prettiest skyscrapers while simultaneously giving you the largest, ugliest rats you can think of — and lots of them.
I got off after a fifteen-something hour long flight from a different side of the globe. After clarifying with an immigration officer that yes I'm a Tourist in your country and even though I may come as a suspiciously single-unit youthful foreigner I intend not to overstay my welcome illegally. I walked out into the departures section to see my brother who was huddled in a corner talking business to his laptop, before I realised he is plugged in through his glasses which have earphones, mic and the like.
I waited there and took in the sights of the new country I found myself in for the first time. This is America, I thought incorrectly, as I were to learn later that New York City is not America by any stretch.
After having spent over a decade in Marathahalli, I decided I wanted to live in Bangalore1. So I found myself a 3BHK flat in central Bangalore2 a couple of months ago. Of my two flatmates, one of them got a new job that required them to move cities. This meant that two months into my stay, we had to find a new flatmate to replace him.
This was an interesting situation because I happened to be on both sides of the hunt in a short period. I will thus split this into two parts. The first is my experience in finding a new flat with flatmates and the next is finding a flatmate when you have your own flat already3.
A lot of people don't attend to “the internal lever” enough when dealing with life. This lever exists in you and not out in the world. It's easier to alter your inner world than it is to manipulate the world out there (even if neither are easy).
A friend recently pointed out that I have a discernable vocal fry. I had to look it up—a short description immediately made me understand that I had it.
Vocal fry is the lowest register (tone) of your voice characterized by its deep, creaky, breathy sound.
It's the casual, rolling and mildly gritty register that my voice takes on at the end of my sentences.
This mundane discovery was astonishing. I can't pinpoint where I picked up this habit. I couldn't help but catch myself frying up my vocals, reliably pulling me out of my conversational daze to the brightness of the present moment. These days, I find myself mentally noting how fried everyone's voice is.
“No one can define or measure justice, democracy, security, freedom, truth, or love. No one can define or measure any value. But if no one speaks up for them, if systems aren’t designed to produce them, if we don’t speak about them and point toward their presence or absence, they will cease to exist.”
— Donella Meadows, Thinking In Systems: A Primer
I recently bought this book which is a graphic explainer in the style of a zine. It explains how the interplay between the state, market and society affects all of us and how we, the Indian citizens can play a part in it.
