Monday, October 06, 2025

Silver Dust

Silver Dust plant with intricate, silvery leaves resembling lace, growing densely. The foliage texture contrasts with small hints of green and orange in the background.

Discovered this while walking the other day. It's a silver Dust plant.

Mezze and Moore's Batata Harra is impeccable

Batata Harra may have Lebanese origins but it reminded me of my childhood days in Delhi where you'd get potatoes on a stick. This is just those potatoes but with a mediterranean flair. Comes with a side of Pita.




Location: Mezze and Moore, SF

The notion of Counter Tools

Attended a lecture by my professor Kyle Steinfeld last Friday. And was impressed by his notion of Counter-Tools. I loved the idea that today's tools are not neutral, not unbiased (I'd argue even the tools of the yore aren't that, something as simple as a can-opener can be exclusionary to left-handers); So if they aren't going to be neutral, then they must embody certain qualities so as to augment human creativity and intellect. That premise is ripe for research. What are the principles I want my tools to embody? I want them to be invisible. i.e. not occupy my attention. And that begins with moving away from the notion that only the visual sense must be engaged when using a computer tool.

I am waiting for the video of the lecture to drop. But hopefully I can share sketch notes for it soon.

Dil To Pagal Hai is a great watch!?!

I just saw a movie I first saw when I was 3 (we watched it thrice in theatres, then countless times on TV, it's a comfort watch as you can tell). Saw it after ~4 years now, and it was a surprisingly good watch.

Why is it good? I loved how much of a departure it was from the traditional 90s bollywood. The female leads are given strong characters, facing real challenges (in so far as a romantic movie can provide) with clear agency. The male leads are respectful and sensible. There's a maturity with which conflicts are handled.

The movie also handles the friends to lovers arc respectfully. A friend is a friend, and doesn't have to be more than that. Somehow, Bollywood in the 90s and early 2000s could not grasp this concept. To them male and female friendships always festered into something more. Doesn't have to be in real life, and I am glad to see a mainstream movie in 90s tackle that respectfully.

Yes, the dialogue feel a bit cringe today, and some of the notions around marriage are archaic, but it's a reflection of the time and era we lived in back then. To me, a 28 year old movie that stands the test of time is a great movie. Dil To Pagal Hai is one of those rare ones. Definitely worth a watch.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (Highly recommend)
More about the movie: Dil To Pagal Hai (Letterboxd)

Friday, October 03, 2025

Fake Apps

Something I've discovered recently is that it's really important to prototype things quickly, and one of my favourite ways to prototype is to make fake apps, What are fake apps? They're a fun way to create interactive mock-ups that don't incorporate real data but show only key interactions.

Did this for a project today, but also did it for LooKUp over the summer. Fun process.

Thursday, October 02, 2025

On Apple abandoning Vision Air plans for a "Smart Glass" alternative

Always felt that the Vision Pro's strategy of emulating the real world through cameras was going to be short lived.

It's surprising that Apple ever thought that cameras would be small enough to fit in a sunglasses form factor faster than displays in prescription lenses will gain resolution.


Goes back to the biggest design paradigm of our time. Do we want to build software that emulates the physical world, or do you want to build something that augments it.

Wednesday, October 01, 2025

Raindrops on a Corvette

Love how this pic turned out. In general, red sports cars look cool.