This week as we about some sightseeing in Cairo, we saw these two little kittens!
Came across this wonderful play of words in Tamil, I am unable to find the source of the poet.
அந்த ரங்க நாதனுறை அந்த ரங்கம் நானறிவேன் இந்த ரங்கநாதனவன் அந்தரங்கம் நானறியேன் எந்தரங்கம் சென்றாலும் சொந்தரங்கம் ஆக்குமவன் அந்த ரங்கம் வந்தனால் இந்த அரங்கம் பெற்றானோ
Antha Ranganathan urai antha rangam naan ariven I know that Rangam (holy stage/Srirangam) where That Ranganathan (God) resides. Intha Ranganathan avan antharangam naan ariyen I do not know the Antharangam (inner secrets/heart) of This Ranganathan (the human subject). Entharangam senralum sontharangam aakkumavan Whichever Rangam (stage/place) he goes to, he makes it his Sontharangam (own stage). Antha rangam vanthanaal intha arangam petraano Did he get Intha Arangam (this stage/fame) because he came from Antha Rangam (that holy stage/God’s grace)?
What a heart warming account of perseverance, open data and side project that benefit humanity. Do read about the origins of open source dictionary of Malayalam and Kannada, made possible by by Kailash Nadh
...fascinating that Datuk and V. Krishna, both unknown to each other and worlds apart, were working on mammoth dictionary digitisation projects of two classical Dravidian languages around the same time. Both, driven by passion.
What a phenomenal ad. So right, so heartwarming and so Apple!
Setting Your iPhone to Grayscale Automatically at Sunset
Yesterday in a meeting with some parents at school, the discussion on doomscrolling came about and we were sharing tips on how to avoid it. I shared mine — set the phone to grayscale automatically at sunset and then back to colour at sunrise.
Many did not know how to automate it and I made a quick guide for them. Maybe it would of help to you as well, so here you go—Guide to automatically set your phone to grayscale at sunset.pdf
I’m little ashamed to admit that only today I got to know that Zohran Mamdani is Mira Nair’s son.
Which in a way is good, as I have only followed him for what he is (from his speeches, protests and interviews!) and not focussed on his antecendants!
Zohran Mamdani, as most readers know by now, is the son of a filmmaker, Mira Nair. His parents met while she was working on Mississippi Masala (1992); his father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a professor of international affairs and anthropology who had lived through the events from the 1970s described in the film.https://pghrev.com/what-mamdani-learned-from-his-mothers-films/
📺 The Crown, Netflix ★★★★★
We finally got to finish The Crown. I know many folks dislike it, but for me who had absolutely no idea about the history of the British royal history, it turned out to be the perfect introduction.
I also like that it was a very personal story of the humans in the royal family. Every character was complex, flawed, and relatable. They made mistakes and got things right, just like the rest of us.
It would have been tempting to show the failures and make people mock and derive pleasure in it. But the show runners resisted and I really like how every failure was shown up close and personal, that you can feel the other point of view, even if you do not agree with what happened.
When Claire Foy handed the crown to Olivia Colman, I was skeptical. When Olivia passed it to Imelda Staunton, I doubted again. But each actror was absolutely perfect as Queen Elizabeth at that stage of her life. The same goes for every other character. The casting was spot-on throughout.
The last few episodes felt rushed, but it was all wrapped up in a very poignant note. Farewell Lillibet!
File this under the naive things kids say!
A few days ago, I was telling #OhBoy to go play by himself for a while, since I had a bunch of work to wrap up. He said, “Appa, list all the work you have to do and then delete it. You are done.”
🤣🤣🤣
I just realized that in Safari browser, when you search for a word on a webpage, it also searches for it in the images of the page! 🤯
You can see the text “Spark” highlighted in the image.
As I mentioned in February, I got back to coding thanks to LLMs. I went ahead and subscribed to Claude Pro and at the company we have ChatGPT Plus. I also use Gemini from time to time as we use Google Workspace at work.
One of the side projects is Staff Clock, a quick took to track the times of household staff/helpers. The maids in Egypt work on a per hour basis and one of the month end chores was to calcuate the time they spent. So I built this tool that can help me with tracking time with minimal effort. Give it a try.
I am putting it out there for anyone who has a similar need. Give it a try! If you have suggestions or ideas on how to make it better, drop a comment or email.
I built this with Claude Code and Codex, without writing a line of code. I went back and forth on what I needed and giving feedback on the code that was generated.
It was a lot of fun. Now I am on to next side project :)
UPI (Unified Payments Interface) is one of the best innovations to come out of India. And to see it pair with ChatGPT, which is slowly becoming the entry point for the web, and others like Gemini and Claude is going to the interesting.
The beautiful lights in the markets of Khan el-Khalili
#OhBoy made this as part of the Peace Week celebrations at this school. He had recently picked up a book on Gandhi in the Little People, Big Dream series, and the thoughts in it had made him think like this!
Got to love the community of makers, tinkerers and hackers who look at something and figure out to make something else out of it. Here is Bogdan Ionescu making a web server out of a vaping device.
Apart from all the cool technical details, the one that I had most fun reading was this line as he was referring to vapes
...these fancier pacifiers for adults...
Anil Dash puts it so very well in this piece, on what Apple fans expected from the leadership and what they actually got!
...led by a CEO who has already bent the knee, and by a board that collectively has no spine. There's no point in having fuck-you money in the bank if you never say "fuck you"!
In short, instead of meekly capitulating to pathetic bullies, this is a moment when Apple needed go on the attack. Instead of curling up in a defensive ball on the floor and crying while you hand out gold bricks to fascist predators, this is a time when a company full of smart and talented people should stand its ground. Because down the path of acquiescence lies only pain and a long, slow pathetic spiral to irrelevance.
After Kilimanjaro, I found myself caught up in a whirlwind of travels. Even after we returned, Cairo’s relentless summer heat – even those early morning hours that used to feel refreshing were now scorching hot by 7 AM. The thought of trekking to our usual Wadi Degla hiking spot felt overwhelming, so I kept postponing those weekend adventures.
Then last weekend UltraIbex, a trail running group here, organized an event starting from the opposite end of the valley – a side I’d never explored before. That was all the motivation I needed to lace up my hiking boots again.
What a revelation this turned out to be! The landscape maintained that same mesmerizing beauty. This route offered something completely different. Instead of the usual climb up from the valley floor, you start from the top and gradually make your way down. There’s something almost meditative about descending into the valley, watching the rock formations rise around you as you go deeper into this natural wonder.
Here are some pictures from that memorable walk and run that got me back on the trail.
Where did my little listener go?
Over the summer, #OhBoy started reading Roald Dahl independently. Today, as I wrapped up work, he approached me: “Can I read you a story?”
Of course I said yes. We spent the next half hour with him reading “The Magic Motor Car” by Enid Blyton to me.
Where did the little boy I used to read stories to go? When did he become the storyteller?
They grow up so fast, don’t they?
#Parenting
A week ago the Embassy of India in Cairo, #Egypt, organized a cultural evening called Kathak Sandhya. It was held in the Ewart Memorial Hall at AUC Tahrir Square campus.
Here are some pictures from that evening.
#OhBoy recently turned 6 and he got his long awaited bicycle.
We started with training wheels. But the Internet and Claude mentioned that it was not the best way.
So we removed the training wheels and pedals, and used the bike as a balancing bike for a couple of days. And soon he was riding all by himself. New achievement unlocked.
Quitting programming as a career right now because of LLMs would be like quitting carpentry as a career thanks to the invention of the table saw.
A quiet lament on the Death of a Fantastic Machine (aka the camera).
Successfully summited the Kilimanjaro last week!
Successfully summited the Kilimanjaro last week!
Today I made a simple mid-morning snack for #OhBoy — toasted bread slathered with honey. He devoured it with such enthusiasm that he looked up at me and said, “Appa, can we start a shop selling these? I think people would love them!”
Ah, this beautiful innocence. I hope it lasts just a little longer.
Do you remember those moments when your kids saw magic in the simplest things? When a piece of honey toast could spark dreams of entrepreneurship?
From the first glimpses of Tanzania, both from the plane and the ride to hotel, is that it is sooooo green! Damn I am so going to miss this when I am back in Cairo next week!
