Mar 4 2014
5 things on my wishlist
These are things I really want but don’t see myself building — thus, a wishlist.
A cheap (sub $20) app to collect snapshots of web pages: Sort of like LittleSnapper or Ember (which I think is way more expensive than it should be). It should have a colour eyedropper and should let you take full-page snapshots of web pages. It would really aid my design inspiration workflow. If it can add background layer graphics such as an iMac/iPhone/Android to the snapshots (to help visualization or making portfolios), that would be the cherry on top.Feb 10 2014
Once upon a Twitter Retreat
Exactly two months ago, I embarked on a retreat from Twitter. The decision was a result of a belief that the 140-character essays had changed the way I consume information, for the worse — it had killed my attention span for long-form. I just couldn’t focus on reading lengthy articles any more. I’d find myself rapidly skimming through them. I just wanted to get to the next one — rather, the next tweet.Apr 17 2013
Redesigning an online newspaper
Background Life as a kid Growing up in New Delhi, I always enjoyed reading the newspapers. Not just the page 3 stuff, but everything - the main stories, special columns, international news, you name it. On weekdays, I wouldn’t be able to read in the morning since school started at 7:30am but I would come home around 2pm and it was the first thing I always did - read The Times of India (TOI) and The Economic Times (ET).Nov 1 2012
On Staying Hungry and Foolish
This is entirely spontaneous and impulsive, but I’ve made an observation. That curiosity decreases with age. As you get older, your willingness to learn new things decreases. Instead, you start to rely on things you already know, and avoid learning new things. Why does this happen?
It probably emerges from a feeling that since you’ve reached a certain age you’re expected to be knowledgeable about things. However, when you’re pretty young you know that no one expects you to know much about anything.Mar 4 2012
Wabi-sabi
Perfect things suck. Imperfection is where it’s at.
Imperfect things are real. There is no absolute perfect anyway. It’s all a matter of perspective. You can’t please everybody. You can’t even please yourself if you’re always in pursuit of perfection.
Work hard to achieve great things in life. But always appreciate imperfect things. I’m talking about imperfect people, imperfect friendships, imperfect experiences, imperfect achievements, imperfect products and most importantly, the imperfect self.Nov 1 2011
7 billion
If you aren’t aware that the world’s population hit 7 billion people on October 31 2011, I don’t know what you’ve been doing or where you’ve been for the last few days. But chances are you’ve heard about it unless you’re stranded in a desert or lonely island somewhere and only have access to this blog. And if that’s the case, then I just told you that it has hit 7 billion people and you should believe me.Sep 15 2011
Facebook Fatigue
So, I look at my newsfeed. Status update from a “friend” I haven’t hung out with once, a company page trying to sell its product, a distant acquaintance becoming friends with people I don’t know, more updates from more companies, a string of wall to wall posts between two people I barely know but met a few months back …and I’ve had enough so I log out hoping that the next time I log in, someone I’m actually interested in knowing about posts a photo or an update.Jan 9 2011
Execution > ideas
If you have a lot of new radical ideas, you may be really cool and smart but that doesn’t necessary mean you’ll be successful. Ideas are overrated. All that matters in the end is how you execute your ideas. That familiar feeling of having a million (or billion)-dollar idea and getting super psyched about it, and envisioning all sorts of things for your product is almost always deceiving. I’m not saying there aren’t exceptions to the rule.Jun 8 2009
Emptiness
my world’s awake. but i’m half-asleep.
or are they really half-asleep, but i’m awake? all i know is that i’m swimming in an ocean all alone.Apr 14 2009
Do you really need to be a big company?
I read a lot of magazines that profile entrepreneurs. I often notice something along the lines of “We are planning to be a very big company”. And it’s sad. Of course, folks at startups are very intrinsically driven, zealous to start a revolution, and become the next big thing. But what turns me off is when they assume being big means hiring people by the hundreds, having an enormous office, and being physically big.