I Still Remember
I still remember the sound of the smooth river stones rubbing against each other as my feet pressed against the ground. I still remember the yellow and white jasmine flowers falling effortlessly to the ground as the wind rushed past the leaves and branches of the trees. I remember the feeling of the smooth yet worn marble floors on the soles of my feet as I walked between the colonnades. I remember the piercing sound of the crows wailing at each other. It was a reminder of the discord the existed in the outside world. The archways and the corinthian columns became a physical representation of the peace and solace my mind had from those thoughts here. As my eyes became fixed on the city I noticed the how cars on Carmel Avenue rushed past each other, as if they were numb to the beauty of the mountain. The cargo ships, enormous in size, were comparable to tiny stokes of paint on the ocean and sky’s shared canvas. As my gaze went past the sky I felt a sense of singularity, as if of all the places on the entire planet, of all the moments in time, I was supposed to be standing here. One step at a time I approach the white metal doors, my hand skimming across the coarse stone walls as I slowly paced. The rough brown stone and the smooth white metal provided a stark yet delightful contrast just as the city itself and the surrounding gardens provided that same contrast. The smell of rose water radiated out of the door, as if the molecules themselves infused with a special happiness, a happiness which I also shared.
I still remember the weight and sound of the door, as I slowly pulled it closed.
Why I'm a Nerd
If we’re lucky, there are moments in life where the things we do just sing. A doctor who is passionate about helping patients might find hints of music in the acts of diagnosing an illness and then being in the position of treating said illness. A sushi chef who goes to bed dreaming of the types of Sushi he’ll make the next day finds that the process of putting together the perfect roll sings to him. An actress who spends hours rehearsing a scene surely finds that the emotions she’s able to evoke in others also evoke a sort of song in herself. Feeling the metaphoric music around you while you work can be incredibly rare yet staggeringly beautiful. For me, I feel this music when I use and help others use technology.
Can BeReal’s Pure Intensions Make it Profitable?
Audio Narrations of each article found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your Podcasts
I was wrong about BeReal. In late 2022 I predicted that the social network BeReal would have the same fate as other social apps like Vine and House Party. Apps that were fun and new for a time, but then faded into oblivion. After using BeReal for a year now, I understand why BeReal has a bit of a cult following and why it could have the legs to stick around; if it can find a way to be profitable that is.
Writing my Will and Testament and The Perils of Encryption
Audio Narrations of each article found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your Podcasts
I wrote my Will and Testament and you should too. Besides being a generally smart thing to do, having some sort of will can be mandatory in some countries and even a law in certain religions like my religion The Baha’i Faith. Regardless if you’re mandated to have one, I’m here to tell you that writing a will and testament isn’t that bad and can actually be kind of relaxing and cathartic. I had written my first will and testament the weekend of my grandmother’s funeral. Despite everything about her funeral going smoothly thanks to my dad and my uncle, upon reflection, I wondered how an untimely death such as my own could affect those around me, especially if I didn’t write down my final wishes. As I typed out my will on a locked note in the notes app, I contemplated the purpose of such a document. Obviously, there was the aspect of the allocation of my material possessions but that hadn’t compelled me to write my will since at the time my material possessions were pretty minimal. I was much more focused on the lasting impact and assistance my will could provide in my absence. There was something oddly reassuring making sure that my will, for all intents and purposes my last official act in this world, was there to help my loved ones in my absence.
Beyond Profit: Examining OpenAI's Vision-Centric Corporate Structure
Audio Narrations of each article found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your Podcasts
OpenAI’s Corporate Structure is a Feature Not a Bug. While the rest of the tech industry was shocked by the sudden ousting of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, CEO Sam Altman, I was more fascinated by the unique corporate structure of this “capped” for-profit company. Despite all the chaos at OpenAI being rooted in this unusual organizational set-up, I fundamentally believe that more companies structured in this way would be a net positive for the world.
Tools vs Instruments: My Journey Building a Mechanical Keyboard
Originally Published on December 5th, 2023
Listen to this Article (including a typing test at the end): Apple Podcasts | Spotify
On the Eve of Reality
An AI generated image I created of a Apple’s rumored “Reality Pro” VR/AR headset
Tomorrow, June 6th, 2023 Apple is widely expected to announce a completely new product category with a brand new product. This product is expected to be a type of Virtual Reality goggles/headset to ‘Augment’ the world around the user and provide an ‘immersive’ experience. Will this be a product like the iPhone or AirPods that completely sets the world on fire with the next must-have gadget? Not necessarily, and the following article is a last-minute attempt to explain why. Love them or hate them, Apple has been at the forefront of new product revolutions for the past 40 years, specifically in the past 2 decades. Apple has released revolutionary hardware and software that forced the rest of the industry to pivot and chase them. Given this history, it’s only natural to assume that lightning would strike again with this new Apple Headset (Rumored to be called ‘Apple Reality Pro’). Instead, it will be a fascinating hardware and software experience that will appeal mostly to the early adopters and the complete wackos (myself included) rather than the mass market. Apple Reality Pro will apear confusing and messy, yet clearly on the path towards a future revolutionary product. Let’s think back to when personal computers just came out, they were costly, niche, and honestly clunky devices compared to what we have today. The Original Macintosh from 1984 sold for $2,495 (approximately $7,284.80 accounting for inflation). That computer as revolutionary as it was, didn’t provide a use case for everyone, instead, it focused on a few tasks it could do miles better than others and then slowly over time it expanded its use cases and brought the price lower and lower. That’s what Apple Reality Pro is going to do. It will look odd, it won’t have a feature that everyone will be dying to have immediately. But it’s the start of that slow march towards a future where augmented reality devices become commonplace.
I Still Remember
I still remember the sound of the smooth river stones rubbing against each other as my feet pressed against the ground. I still remember the yellow and white jasmine flowers falling effortlessly to the ground as the wind rushed past the leaves and branches of the trees. I remember the feeling of the smooth yet worn marble floors on the soles of my feet as I walked between the colonnades. I remember the piercing sound of the crows wailing at each other. It was a reminder of the discord the existed in the outside world. The archways and the corinthian columns became a physical representation of the peace and solace my mind had from those thoughts here. As my eyes became fixed on the city I noticed the how cars on Carmel Avenue rushed past each other, as if they were numb to the beauty of the mountain. The cargo ships, enormous in size, were comparable to tiny stokes of paint on the ocean and sky’s shared canvas. As my gaze went past the sky I felt a sense of singularity, as if of all the places on the entire planet, of all the moments in time, I was supposed to be standing here. One step at a time I approach the white metal doors, my hand skimming across the coarse stone walls as I slowly paced. The rough brown stone and the smooth white metal provided a stark yet delightful contrast just as the city itself and the surrounding gardens provided that same contrast. The smell of rose water radiated out of the door, as if the molecules themselves infused with a special happiness, a happiness which I also shared.
I still remember the weight and sound of the door, as I slowly pulled it closed.
Humanity After Corona: 16 ways COVID-19 may change our future
My Predictions for a world after this Pandemic “However difficult matters are at present, and however close to the limits of their endurance some sections of societies are brought, Humanity will ultimately pass through this ordeal, and it will emerge on the other side with greater insight and with a deeper appreciation of its inherent oneness and interdependence.” -The Universal House of Justice (Supreme Governing Body of the Baha’i Faith) 19 March 2020
Due to this pandemic, Humanity’s resolve, collective unity, and its institutions are being heavily tested. I do believe, however, that each test and tribulation that Humanity is currently enduring will bring us all a step closer to what in my eyes in inevitable: World Peace. Given my firm belief of Humanity’s end destination, what kind of changes is humanity moving towards due to this pandemic? Below are some of my predictions:
A Universal Charging Language?
Since the dawn of the technology age we have used countless different types of cables to plug into countless types of ports on computers, phones, etc. But it’s 2019 now, do we really need to worry about what kind of port our computer has? Imagine a world where the same cable that charges your laptop, charges your phone, where the shape of the port doesn’t matter because they’re all the same port. That’s what technology should be and that’s what USB-C is. Above is a Picture of a few connectors found in the average household. Right now if you wanted to plug your phone into your TV you would need an adapter. USB-C has the potential to eliminate this headache. In theory you could use the same cable you charge your phone or laptop with to plug into your tv without any adapters. USB-C This means that in theory any of the cables with weird looking ports you have could be merged into USB-C.
Where things get really interesting is that USB-C also can charge anything with 100 Watts of Power, meaning that most things in your house could be plugged in via USB-C. Imagine your TV, technically it too could be powered by USB-C, meaning that in theory the same charger you power your phone with could power an entire TV. Certain lights and other appliances could even be powered by USB-C (probably not your washer and dryer though). Steven Yang the CEO of charging accessory company Anker made this observation in an interview. He goes on to state that in a world where almost everything uses USB-C we wouldn’t need the plug part of our charger anymore. Wall Sockets could be replaced with USB-C ports (similar to in airports only better). That means that in the future all those weird plugs you see when traveling could cease to exist. You could be at a hotel in Singapore and plug into the wall with the same cable as you do in your home country, the same cable you use to display your computer to the tv. Also think about all the waste that happens because we get shipped the same charger in our phone box. According to Yang the entire world produces 4 Billion charging plugs a year. If we just plugged our USB-C Cable straight into the wall we could save significantly on this E-waste. Imagine the entire world united in using the same plug the thought of this excites both the Baha’i and the nerd part of me.
What Technology Should Be
I was recently reflecting on how technology would work in an ideal world and it got me thinking about what technology should be at a fundamental level. Those of us who are really into technology look at the specs of certain products and make arbitrary comparisons based on out of context numbers. To me this is not what technology is about, in fact, it’s the opposite. When I think of what technology should be this quote from Halt and Catch Fire comes to mind “Computers aren’t the thing, they’re the thing that gets us to the thing.” That’s what technology should be. All these specs and labels are just veils to what technology should be about. We shouldn’t have to worry about our CPU’s processing power when trying to video call a friend across the globe, it should just work. When trying to compute various data sets it’s the data that matters not the name of the computer you’re using. When plugging a cable in you shouldn’t have to think of the shape of the connector, they all should be the same shape and just work. It shouldn’t matter what file format your files are in, or where they are being stored, you should always have access to them without even having to contemplate these complexities. Technology should just fade away and allow us to get to our thing, whatever that may be.
The Future of Private Messaging is Unity
“The well-being of mankind, its peace and security are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.” - Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings Page 186
In my lifetime having access to the internet went from a luxury to a necessity. Virtually every aspect of our lives somehow relies on the internet. To oversimplify the internet is a group of servers that allow others to access or transmit the information that’s on them. In other words, if you want to send a message, your message goes from your phone through a server (via a cell tower) and then your message goes from that server to the person you sent it to. But what if there was a way to send a message directly to the person you want without the internet. That’s what FireChat is.
Why I don’t own a Laptop and Only Use an iPad Pro
I love my iPad Pro and although it has certain shortcomings I have turned it into a complete replacement for my MacBook. Using a MacBook was great but I realized that most productivity tasks I use my MacBook for I could just use an iPad. One of the things I find so refreshing about using an iPad is how amazingly simple it is. The iPad, in its simplest form, is just a screen, which means that the iPad itself becomes whatever you’re working on. When reading the New York Times the iPad becomes the newspaper. When I’m taking notes on Notability the iPad becomes my notebook. When drawing, the iPad becomes my canvas. This is different than on a traditional computer where a document or webpage exists confined in a window. On an iPad, the app takes up the entire screen, and since you use your fingers to interact with the app it feels so much more natural. When reading the news it really feels like I’m holding a newspaper in my hand, tapping on each story just feels right in comparison to using a mouse pointer to click on an article. The iPad being just a screen removes all the complexities of a traditional computer. When I don’t need the keyboard, it’s not there. If I’m editing a document, I can turn the iPad into portrait orientation so it feels more like a piece of paper. When I’m doing research, I can use picture in picture mode to have a floating video to reference while I’m working. If I want to read a book I literally have a seemingly infinite amount of books at my disposal. When I take notes with Notability using an Apple Pencil I have an infinite notebook that not only lets me annotate PowerPoints or PDF documents, but more than that I don’t have to worry about where to save my files because they save automatically to iCloud. The complexities of ‘Save As’ or ‘which folder is my document in’ are over. Since all my notes are in Notability I don’t have to worry about forgetting a certain notebook at home because it’s all on my iPad; I can even use my iPad to search my own handwriting. With my iPad I’ve replaced so many physical objects, I don’t have to carry: 5 different notebooks, a daily planner, several textbooks, a drawing canvas, a personal journal, countless physical books, and a laptop. My iPad does all of this while being thinner than a pencil and weighing less than a pound.
One of the most common reactions that I hear from people when I tell them how many things I’ve replaced by just using my iPad is “that sounds cool, but I couldn’t do that because I prefer using physical notebooks, journals, etc.” The thing is I feel the same, using a traditional computer to accomplish these tasks makes me want to use a actual notebook, but an iPad isn’t a traditional computer. Sure an iPad can’t perfectly match the feeling of pen and paper but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel physical. We are all accustomed to writing on paper, with the iPad and Apple Pencil it really does feel like paper, there’s virtually no lag. It feels right because even though it isn’t exactly like what we’re used to, it’s close enough that the benefits of writing digitally can outweigh the drawbacks of missing something we’re used to. With Notability (an app that acts as an infinite notebook) you can search your handwriting and refer back to what you wrote. Notability along with every other app also lets you sync to your iPhone via iCloud meaning that everything is up to date in the background without you having to worry about it. If your iPad is in your backpack you can use your iPhone to quickly refer to something you have done on your iPad. When trying to share notes, instead of taking poorly lit photos of your paper you can just send the document right from your iPad via iMessage or email. Best of all even if your iPad is stolen you still have access to all these digital notes, the same can’t be said for a paper notebook.
How Online Learning will change Education for Everyone
“The primary, the most urgent requirement is the promotion of education. It is inconceivable that any nation should achieve prosperity and success unless this paramount, this fundamental concern is carried forward.” -The Secret to a Divine Civilization
To me, this quote from The Secret to a Divine Civilization is a reminder of how necessary and important education is to the functioning of not only an individual but of an entire society. Education is imperative to our progress as humans. We should all have access to not only primary school learning (provided to us through the public school system) but also access to quality higher education. Access to Higher Education shouldn’t be a luxury, it should be a right. In our society, we have allowed the name of our university to define us rather than the education itself. Like it or not, where you choose to attend university has affected your image at some point. Growing up, community college was taboo. When people failed exams they would often jokingly reference how they would end up going to our local community college. There was a sort of social currency that was based on which universities you got into and ultimately decided to attend. It was as if your entire worth was based on whether you checked a certain number of seemingly arbitrary and often unknowable boxes. This prestige society places on where Higher Education is cynically underscored by the amount of money spent on a degree, which at the end of the day just represents a golden ticket that allows you to apply to higher paying jobs. Education at its core is about what you learn, not about the name of the institution that facilitates this learning. What’s even worse is that for people that come from low to middle-income families, obtaining this institutional golden ticket can prove much more difficult than it is for families that had the money for SAT Prep, and tutors among other things. The socioeconomic status of a student has a significant impact on their choice of higher education and thus their ability to make money in the future. This current educational system is placing a lock on low to middle-income families that seriously restricts their ability to succeed.