Ba***ds of Bollywood is so much fun!

Will probably write a proper review at some point, but Ba***ds of bollywood is just so much fun! I think Aryan Khan's hit it out of the park with the show. Clever dialogue, well etched out characters and a star-cast (not just the cameos) that shines through and through. Watch out for Anya Singh, and Raghav Juyal; along with Arshad Warsi's delightful cameo.

This is excellent comedy that's well done. I binged watched it in two sittings, that's how good the show is.

Throwback: Me making Pasta

One of the things I had more time to make is Pasta. It's one of the trickier dishes to make, but it's just as fun as baking Pizza.

Productivity Crash

I have been extremely productive for the last 3 weeks. Getting a lot done really quickly. But somehow my productivity just crashed Wednesday evening. And hasn't been back up since. I don't want to work for a while, I can. Being productive is weird. Somedays I am deeply motivated, others I just want to sit and watch movies.

What is AR useful for

Your's truly 8 years ago. I think it's infuriating that I don't get to work on Emerging Technologies, even though I have been diligently researching everything for the last 10 years. It's just well and truly sad.

Notes from Alan Kay's Notion Chat

These are my sketch notes from the talk. I was a bit disappointed to not see him in flesh and blood, but through a video call, but it nonetheless good to hear from the person. What stuck with me was two things: First how we as ourselves are a combination of things we're born with and the culture around us. The cultural part is intangible harder to capture. And second that we no longer have anything like Xerox PARC or DARPA, so all the trash gets exhibited in the open, in the name of "startups", my big take-away is none of the "AI Computers" should be shipping right now; that's a space for exploration, not shipping, as of 2025.

What Meta and other tech-companies don't understand about the future of computing

I can say with a fair amount of confidence that I and the majority people around me, neither want or need a new way to send text-messages, play music, or ask Chat-GPT random questions. That's one part about why I don't find the Meta Glasses to be impressive.

The other part is the assumptions. The assumption that people are dying to get a new form factor to move on from the touch-screen phone. People are either don't think twice about using their phone, or are sick and tired of technology invading every part of their lives.

The former doesn't care about a new way to message friends, the latter would puke at the thought of smartphones strapped to my eyes, so that they can see what I am seeing and act on it; that to by Meta.

So why is it a foregone conclusion that AR glasses would ever be a thing. IMHO the next computing revolution would be one that helps us use less of technology; not one that shoves it into our face.

Finally had good Paneer Tikka SF

Friend visited me in SF the other day, and I finally had the chance to try the Paneer Tikka at this Indian Restaurant in Mission that goes by the name of Apna Chulha. The place is good their food is very authentic but for me what stole the show was their Paneer Tikka, it was really well done. Don't get me wrong, it's still not perfect, for e.g. the Paneer felt a little underroasted for a Paneer Tikka, but it tasted really good, so I am not complaining.

How would you illustrate the word "Design"

Was writing anothe blog post, and I was struggling to find the right glyph for design. We all know design is not just how it looks but also how it works, and how it feels. But ultimately if you're visually showing design, the representation for the graphics are a bit restricted.

Take these two examples here. One is more direct, but too restrictive. It boxes design into visual design, and frankly its offensive to me as a designer, who hardly ever wants to a "paint job" on the designs. The other one on the other hand is a bit too abstract, and doesn't clearly show design; which is ironic.

Just two explorations, wonder how else design can be represented, visually.

Missed posts: What have I been upto this week

So why am I missing so many posts. What's up, why is the blog post momentum suddenly slowing down. Well, I have been working on updating my app for iOS 26. And I started a redesign project at that. So the whole process has decidedly taken way too long and too much time. for me, which is why the blog posts have become a formality for the last two weeks.

That said, the update is live now and I'll be back with more fun stuff.

Blogger doesn’t have an app!?!

This is gonna be a short meta (not the company) post, but I just discovered that Blogger doesnt have an iOS app anymore. That's a shame. A well built blogging app can make it easy to publish content on the web. What we have right now in the name of a web app is too janky.

A new coat of paint always does wonder.

Was redeisgning certain parts of my app that I barely had the time to touch. Gave them a new set of gradients. And now they look straight outta 2026! :D

Some more thoughts on the iPhone Air

I think it's pretty insane that they packed the entire iPhone in a camera bump, and then proceeded to put battery in the rest of the unit.

I think this will be remembered as one of the best iPhones to come out, especially in terms of industrial design. It's right up their with the likes of iPhone X, iPhone 6s, iPhone 5, and iPhone 4. It's a stunning design with some insane forward looking electronics.

This is the first iPhone to get me excited about iPhones in a while.

Crunch Time for LookUp Updates

Been working for the last 12 hours. Crunch time here for LookUp updates. I did a crazy redesign with a crazier strategy. The result is that Betas are lagging far behind the actual progress. This has been the most insane update cycle, with practically no beta. Not gonna do this again.

Customary Apple Keynote Post

Back to watching these live. Last couple of years with classes, I don't think I saw any of the videos live apart from WWDC. But then again, there's something to be said about the fact that this is the 19th iPhone introduction keynote. I don't know about others, but I am a bit bored. I can't watch feign interest for an event that's been happening like clockwork.

Don't get me wrong, I still like the new iPhones, the Air looks ridiculously good (barring the camera bump), but the fact remains that these videos are winnning no one over. People will buy a new iPhone when their old one is no longer good. Everyone has their own cadence. Some buy every 3 years, some every 5, but at the end of the day, if you're an iPhone person you pretty much know it, and if you aren't you know that too. Nothing that Apple introduces is likely going to convert an Android user who was holding out for one killer feature that the iPhones didn't have.

So yea, that's my two cents on this.

Photo of the Day: Coffee with Newspaper

Was catching a break between grueling work sessions, accidentally captured a cool shot.

Missed Post: Next Level Burger in SF is pretty Next Level

Next Level Burger in SF is a great little place for burgers. They're all vegan, and have a good selection of options, not just Beyond Meat options. Love their Bean Burger. I feel like there aren't enough vegan burger places in US, which is a shame, since this is a fun occasional treat. Something I miss from India.

Fun is a valid reason.

Normalise saying “because it’s fun”, “because I like it” “because it’s so cool” as valid reasons for the “why” behind design choices.

Much better than using highfalutin and obscure language that doesn’t tell anyone anything because it’s meaningless fluff.

Not saying design decisions shouldn't be more than just aesthetics, they absolutely should.

But I don't get why that translates into the need to give everything meaning, when clearly some decisions are purely aesthetic.

Some thoughts on the way smartphone addiction is presented and portrayed

Got sent a video recently on how we need to get away from our phones. And got reminded of the frequent patterns that come up with the attention economy critique. These almost-PSAs are problematic for one major reason. Instead of telling people why the smartphone attention economy is designed the way it is, and what makes it addictive and what are its consequences (much like what the anti-nicotine ads have done); these videos focus on targeting the person using it. All the blame is put on the user. It's their fault that they're on the phones. It's their fault they're being driven to slot machines.

This is unfair. Most consumer Smartphone apps are "designed" to keep people hooked on to the app. Using deceptive patterns and habit loops to carrot and stick the user into staying hooked to the apps is somehow not a problem worth addressing but somehow people falling for it, is. It's a classic case of victim blaming.

Most screen time software is also designed on the same pattern of negative enforcement. Punishing the user with screen time limits vs actually encouraging healthier habits. There are three ways to solve an addiction. Take away what someone is addicted to; replace it with a less harmful addiction; encourage healthier habits and strive for long term lifestyle changes. Somehow design solutions for smartphone addiction are restricted to the former two, and not on the latter part of encouraging healthier habits which is shame, because it's the only type of solution genuinely treating people with respect rather than deriding them for their choices or habits.

Why do I care? I wrote an entire thesis trying to solve the problem using the "encourage healthier habits for long term lifestyle changes".

A London Memory

At a recent dinner, we were all going in rounds sharing their one london memory. When the question passed on to me, I was a little perplexed, since most of my London memories were unremarkable. But then I remembered how much I enjoyed walking across the city, it was the first time I was really enjoying walking.

So, that's that. My London memory is the walks I had there.

Replicating the real world vs the real world

For as long as computers have existed, technologists, designers and engineers have been trying to replicate the real world in a screen. Be it paper, the look of a calculator, the texture of leather, the motion of objects, entire life-like 3D worlds, you name it. The goal has been to have the computer blend into our surroundings.

But one of the interesting side effects of that "replicating the real world" has become a field of its own. Selling the illusion of reality has become more valuable than actually augmenting our reality.

When I see the future of computing, I believe the next computing revolution will be when we stop emulating the world around us, and start augmenting it, i.e. making our every day lives better with or without technological interventions. Does that mean AR glasses? No. Not at all, AR Glasses are merely a single way to augment reality. There are a million other-ways we can do that, without having to have privacy invasive computers. And something also tells me, the next computing revolution will also be around dedicated tools for dedicated tasks; not one general purpose tool for all tasks.

Beginnings of a new blog post.

Macro Photography?

Is this macro-photography? Stumbled upon this rather cool pattern at a restaurant recently.

P.S. Crunch season with app stuff, so posts are gonna be slim for the next few days.

Pinsa Rossa in SF is a top tier Pinseria

Pinsa Rossa in SF is excellent. Their Pinsa's are perfectly baked with the right amount of hydration, perfect fermentation, and a process that seems to put craft over looks. The result is a light weight, digestable Pinsa that stays true to the Pinsa romana legacy. 10/10 would recommend.

P.S. Love how their Burrata came "injected" with Olive Oil. Fun touch.

Drowning in a sea of work

In what's a very odd turn of events, I find myself, over-worked, and exhausted from trying to find a proper job; all at the same time. I have so much to do, so little time and everything seems to be top priority right now. Tense few weeks.

Gas powered ovens are criminally underrated

Baked Pizza in a gas powered oven after 1.5 years yesterday and was blown away by the jump in quality from the Ooni Volt (the industry leader in electric ovens); the amount of moisture loss in an electric oven is insane. I've been putting peaches on the Pizza recently, and I put them yesterday too. Except the difference was day and night, because the oven was partially open, the pizza went in and came out in like 90 seconds, the Pizza was quality was so much better! The peaches actually tasted fresh, they felt they were part of the Pizza rather than something completely dried out. The same was true for every other topping in yesterday's pizzas.

We often mention about the heat in a gas powered oven, but it's also the fact that it doesn't significantly reduce moisture content that makes the Pizzas so much better.