The Mamdani scavenger hunt is a great example of why we need fresh young thinking in Democratic Party, and not the old hogs in suits thinking anymore. The average age of Biden cabinet was fucking 63 years old, while Trump 2nd term is at 54 almost 10 years younger. He may be completely senile but he’s elected one of the youngest cabinet. That’s what young people are watching. Mamdani is a fresh face who is bringing that fresh young thinking. So are a couple of others. Embrace them. Give the old guard a boot.
Macro
As of last week it’s been 24 years since I came to this country and made it my home. It feels eons ago that I left India, but my heart still aches for India like no other. I don’t think I will ever love this country as much as I love India even with all its faults.
It’s insane how much ring has devalued the alarm monitoring part of the ecosystem. Even if you just want ring alarm monitoring you now have to signup for at least a standard plan at 99$, and then play another 10-15$ a month on top of it to keep it. It’s just not worth it anymore.
I have been rethinking about the Apple One premier membership. At almost 40$ a month it’s expensive, and I can only see it become more expensive. We definitely use AppleTV+, Music and 2TB storage the most along with little of News. Is this package worth 40 bucks a month anymore I don’t know. At some point I am gonna think about just hosting a local NAS for storage and keeping only Apple Music family. I can subscribe/resubscribe as necessary to other services.
Dealing with an issue at work which shows AI/ML’s limitation. Something that was purpose built for assuming native English speaker is completely failing in non-native English speaking countries using the same thing. Someone wrote a deep dive doc and my first response to them was “How long have you been working with Indians?”.
I have started looking into some lightweight cameras that I can carry around and rely less on my iPhone for photos during trips. It’s crazy how expensive cameras are now. Obviously I know a bit more about photography than an average Joe so I kinda know what I am looking for, but Jesus Christ even overrated cameras like XV100 are like 1600$??! WTF. I need a lightweight zoom camera, preferably with a full frame sensor (but apsc is fine!). I kinda like the Nikon Z5II and Sony a6700 , but put off by the price. Since I have shaky hands, IBIS is going to be important for me. Research continues. I probably should rent a couple of these in next 6-8 months and see which one fits me best.
Just last week we ended up in Target much against my wishes but it was the closest and we needed a back to school item. The store has become a former shadow of itself with zero life and zero charm. I had a Target credit card and we used to frequent the store so much but looking at how empty and depressing it looked, it was clear they were struggling in a location that really should have had them full all the time (which used to be the case!). Well deserved though. They won’t do the ONE thing that could really get back customers – apologize, go back to how they were and embrace DEI/LGBTQ as they did earlier. Today the CEO paid the price for it, and I hope this company goes bankrupt because they refuse to learn and adapt.
Me and a couple of colleagues working in different teams are trying to get together for lunch. Apparently the earliest we can all do a lunch together at work is mid October. How the fuck can people be THAT busy? It’s literally lunch! We sit on different floors in different teams is all. And we need to fucking plan 2 months ahead?
The kid is taking World History + English combination honors class this year. As a part of the class the books they will read through the year are The Odyssey, The Martian, Rocket Boys (On which October Sky was based on) and Fahrenheit 451. I told her I’m going to co-read the books with her as she goes through year. We also made plans to watch the movies too once she finishes the books, ending with the Nolan adaptation of Odyssey next year. I am loving this course more than her right now.
Starting this year all schools in the county have a weapons detection system at entry which basically means every student has to remove everything in their backpack, put it in a tray, and pass through detection system. Every day. This of course is adding to the start time daily. The fact that the society has come to this is shameful.