• As long as Caste exists, reservation must exist. Even after reservations, big institutes have institutionalized caste-based discrimination; we have seen many cases of that. The rot is deep. So if you think caste-based reservation has to go, then you work on the root cause. Annihilation of Caste is the only way.
• I have five or six Indian UNCLES (Some are five years younger than me and others are at least ten years older than me) on Twitter. They are very sweet and agreeable when you meet or talk to them. But full of venom on Twitter, once in a while I check their Twitter posts to see what troubles them. Gen Z seems to be troubling them a lot these days.
• I wrote a blog post about my ride to Gandikota and the struggles. I am yet to test ride (long, like 100+KM) a KTM AdvX.
• I continued with P.T, and no games. I had to skip today’s P.T because of an emergency. I have restarted running. This week I ran thrice. I ran today because I skipped P.T. Otherwise it would have been only twice. But the plan is to run three times a week if possible. I capture the path using GPSLogger and send it to my CouchDB. I am also logging it to Strava to find community, especially as I want to run a 10K in October. Hopefully I will be ready. I got myself a pair of Nike Stride Aero Fit. Usually all shorts give me chafing. But this one has been great. I do own Puma ForeverRun NITRO; it’s a good pair of running shoes that I have not used much. Sometimes you buy things in enthusiasm but never use them. This was one such buy. Just after that buy, I had neck issues, and I couldn’t jump or run much. Now at least they will get used. Also my 12 year old jersey from 2014 Tata 10K still works and looks great.
• I have been using Impakto Barefoot Shoes to walk around and also use them inside the gym. Impacto has been a surprise; they have been very comfortable. They are affordable and very lightweight to carry. I will have to write a detailed review about them.
• I registered myself at the Independent Director’s Databank. I am yet to go through their online course, but if you are looking for one, you can find me there.
• I really like this CheapFoodMap. We have enough data for IDVC to build something similar. I used Claude to build it. It’s hosted with the data, and it’s live. Let me know what you think. You can contribute data to IDVC using a simple form. I review and approve it before it goes live. I love Pocket Bird. It’s a small bird that lives inside your browser that you can interact with. You can set it up on your site for your users to play, or you can install the add-on so you can play on any site.

Like many others, I had become pessimistic about this country’s future. I thought that once my responsibilities here were over, I would simply leave. But now, my optimism is slowly returning. I believe we can still change. I believe the people of this country are capable of thinking rationally, getting involved, and shaping a better future together.

– A young friend of mine, who has worked with me for couple of years.

• rode to Gandikota today with Manju. It’s a simple two-day ride. And Gandikota is about 285 km from Bangalore. The idea was also to test ride the KTM Adventure X (2025). I felt that just a 5 km ride was not good enough to test it, so I planned a 500+ km ride. But unfortunately, Royal Brothers couldn’t give me an acceptable bike yesterday. So I had to settle for V-Strom SX (250cc) instead of canceling the whole ride. This also means I will have to plan another ride soon. I will write more once I am back in Bangalore.
• Friend gifted me an HMT Gandaberunda ಗಂಡಬೇರುಂಡ. It’s one of the best gifts that I have received in recent times. You know who you are, Thank you.
• I continued with two sessions of PT. I couldn’t run or play this week.
• Sometimes I use JavaScript/TypeScript. I try to run them without using Deno. I just realized that I can now install and manage Deno from Python. Nocturne is a Linux GUI client for your music on Jellyfin, OpenSubsonic, and Bandcamp. It can connect to an existing Navidrome or manage one for you. It’s FOSS. I use it with my existing Navidrome server. AI Potluck is a tracker for the progress of all the FOSS components of the ecosystem. There is also AI as a public infrastructure project.

• I had a DEXA scan done at Vital Insights. Overall, it shows improvement from last year. My BFP is 28 now, three percent lower than last year’s 31. My total body weight has decreased by 2 Kgs, but what’s important is that my fat mass has decreased by 3 Kgs and my lean mass has increased by 1 Kg, which I think is good progress. My next goal is to reduce the BFP to < 25% within a year. Also, run 5K in 30 Min. Both are not big goals.
• I played on Saturday. Singles are quite tiring. I played four games, won two, and lost two. Not bad. I continued with my two days of P.T.
• Added Madhavan Park PO, Denkanikottai PO, and Gummalapuram SPO to the OpenPostboxIndia project. Also updated IDVC with new samples from 2026.
• I have been adding GPS coordinates as text overlaid on the image. I know how it sounds, but it’s not that bad. I have also been exploring adding some metadata as a QR code on top of the image. That way, my metadata always remains with the image, regardless of how it’s transmitted or which operating system it runs on. I documented the tools and process this week.
• I am planning a Friday/Saturday ride to Gandikota in AP with a friend. It’s a short ride; ping me if you like to join.
• SIR in Karnataka continues to be a mess. Apparently, if you were added to the voter list as part of the 2002 ‘supplementary rolls’, your name may not appear in the 2002 SIR list. And I am not the only one facing this issue; many are. Also, many have differently formatted names and are forced to do it offline. I can’t understand the mindset of a country that can’t even officially announce and pay respect to the folks who died for it. Sonam Wangchuk has been fasting for the past 16 days. The government previously arrested him for no real reason and released him before the courts granted him bail, thereby avoiding the courts setting a precedent and, of course, public shame. Now they are shamelessly supporting a minister who has caused enormous harm to the education system. You know the kind of leaders who are not even ready to talk, even when they are on the wrong side. Climate.us is the public archive of previous climate.gov run by volunteers. I use OpenCode for new development and Aider for small additions or fixes. I am sure there are many new tools. But for now, these two seem to be working well for me. Pada Sanchaya is a good aggregator of Kannada dictionaries online.
• Pelican’s have been sighted at Halasuru (Ulsoor) Lake. I embedding videos sent by a friend.

I write work notes every day, so I add a couple of lines about personal things. I usually edit and share my work notes with the team on Friday evenings (sometimes on Monday mornings). As part of the same process, I publish my personal weekly notes on my blog.
I don’t try to make either set of notes perfect. The goal is to capture the gist of the week, not every detail. That’s also why my week starts on Saturday and ends on Friday evening. As if the tech world didn’t already have enough date/time problems.

• Uma was bored on Sunday, so we went for a short ride, then a walk around Halasuru (Ulsoor) Lake. The lake looked unusually beautiful; there were more people than I expected, but they were very friendly and cordial, so it was fun.
• I completed my SIR enumeration online. The experience was not great.
• Installed CopyParty on my NAS devices; it’s pointing to a specific public folder on my home network. It makes it easy to share certain things on the home network. At some point, I might have a public internet version at some point. It’s very easy to deploy and use. That reminds me I need to add a 4th disk to my NAS.
• Finally, I got the correct battery model (WN-27/2026) and replaced it easily. But when I started it, it went into BitLocker lock mode because it couldn’t find the TPM for some reason. I didn’t realize the TPM was the issue, so I went into recovery mode. I thought BitLocker recovery would be an admin password, but apparently not. It’s a key associated with your Microsoft account. So you need to log in to your Microsoft account and get it. It worked, then later I enabled TPM too. Enabling TPM stopped it from asking me for the recovery key on every boot. But what is the point of full disk encryption if a company has the recovery key? How does it work in the Apple world? I also dislike the user accounts on devices attached to online accounts. I know it’s almost a standard on mobile devices; I still hate it.
• I could do two P.T sessions this week. The second one was today. We have been progressively overloading. Today’s specials were Bulgarian split squats with 24 kg weights using 12 kg kettlebells. I feel good and fit. I have not had that feeling since 2016/17 when I used to CrossFit regularly. My recent InBody BIA scan shows improvement in body fat percentage. My coach thinks I have done well, from pain to no pain to strength building. I will get the Dexa scan next week. It’s more accurate than InBody. Hopefully it will also reflect the same. I also ran a bit in the middle of the week at night. I was a bit scared of traffic. I need to figure out thirty minute time slots for two runs per week. I couldn’t play this week either, but I am scheduled to play tomorrow.
• Got a good looking replacement for the petrol tank cap for the bike.
• Team members are like plants in a garden. They can at most take care of themselves, but not their surroundings. However good they are individually, I don’t think they can work together without someone looking after them like a gardener.
• I have two ringtones on my phone. One is from the StreetHawk theme track, and the other is from KnightRider. Both are 1980s TV series that I saw in the 90s. Looking back, they probably had a bigger influence on my love for motor vehicles. BTW, here is StreetHawk in Strudel.
• If you are into map data and maps, then you will love GeoLibre app. Umar Khalid’s jail reading list if you read books.

• I have been using the motorcycle more and more. Especially in and around the neighborhood for day-to-day things. The above picture was taken at Hive Club, Thanisandra.
• Watched Balan (Malayalam, 2026). I loved it, though these days I can’t digest movies where children or animals go through difficulty. I want to watch Graamaayana (Kannada, 2026). It’s in theaters from today. Hopefully, I will get some time during the week to watch it in theaters.
• We tried KOREYAKI, a Korean Street Food place in Kalyan Nagar. I didn’t have much expectation. I had a Sweet and Spicy Ramen Bowl. It was good. It was also affordable.
• I spoke to a friend’s friend about adoption. Mostly about our experiences, and also answered some questions. Overall, good conversation. I should probably convert that into a blog post. There were very few personal things that I can easily exclude.
• I have not found a good Kannada Embedding Model, so what started as a simple experiment has become a serious project – kasturi-kannada-embeddings. Let’s see how far it goes.
• I have been building and simulating circuits in SimulIDE like crazy, spending hours together (today it was on 555 timers). This is the first time I am building circuits in a software simulator; I have mostly done so using hardware previously. I have used software only to design so I can publish, but this is the first time I am simulating, debugging, etc. Simulators have their own set of issues, but they are so much easier than building first on a breadboard.
• We have run our Roomba for ~300 hours, mostly on weekends. I replaced the brushes, filter, etc this week. It’s back to work. Anju’s laptop needed a battery replacement. The battery was ordered, but I hadn’t had time to replace it. Today, when I finally tried to, I realized I had ordered the wrong part. So now I have a spare F3YGT battery, which fits the Dell Latitude 7380 series. Let me know if you want it. What we have is a Dell Inspiron 7380, which needs the F62G0, so I’ve ordered that now.
• If you use Flatpak, then you will love Flatseal. It is a graphical utility for reviewing and modifying permissions for any Flatpak applications on your computer.
• IndieWebClub Bangalore is meeting tomorrow, 4th July. I might stay there for a while.
• I have realized that some people don’t like you for reasons you don’t know, and they will never reveal that to you. There is no point in trying to understand it. And it’s okay.

• The motorcycle fell during my ride to TVC. Thankfully, nothing happened, but I was worried about the paint job. I really like the paint work, and the motorcycle looks very pretty. It will be very sad to have scratches on it. So I went to the 3M car care center in Hennur and had it covered in PPF and the non-painted areas in ceramic.
• I met some college friends over the weekend after a really long time. It shouldn’t take this long.
• I continued with twice a week P.T. I am trying to add a third day of workouts, but it’s been difficult. I have not played this week. Hopefully, I get to play tomorrow. I am also asking around to see if I can find partners to play on a regular basis.
• My week, at least as per my Weekly Notes, starts on Saturday and ends on Friday, as if the tech world didn’t have enough date/time problems.
• IITM’s School Connect program is a great way to explore emerging fields, interact with the best folks in the area, and make informed decisions. It’s targeted at high school students. It is also very affordable (for example, it is Rs. 500 per student). If you know a school kid, please send them there; if their school is not on the list, bring it up in the PTM. It’s very easy to join.
• If you work with GeoJSON a lot, you probably know about GeoJSON.io, but there is also MapDraw. It has a ton of features and is FOSS. Now, I would like to watch this movie called Artificial when it gets released. Explicit Harms of Non-Explicit Images is a research report on how image-based abuse happens in Pakistan. It’s not different from the rest of the subcontinent. All FreeCodeCamp course YouTube videos are indexed and presented on a single page for your binge watching. It’s easy to find and watch them. If you like maps and art, take a look at one man’s lifetime effort to paint a map of an imaginary city, including 4000 individual panels measuring 8 by 10 inches, called Jerry’s map. What is more impressive is his process.
• Om is no more. He is one of those OG bloggers whose work I followed wherever it was published. He was just 60 and too young to die. But life is unpredictable. I have never met him or talked to him. He did link (during GigaOM days) to a couple of my blog posts. In my view, he played a major role in making blogs mainstream and always had interesting things to say about tech, unlike mainstream media. You will be missed, Om.
• At least half of the songs in this weeks playlist are Uma’s favorites.

In the last week, I had not attended to my email inbox, so I did. And also marked really old emails are read. I like inbox zero. Thanks to the folks who re-emailed. Sorry about the delay.

• Uma’s school has started. So we are having an early dinner and going to bed early. I like this routine.
• I continued with two P.T sessions. I am doing more and more strength training now. I am also tracking the progress. I have not played in a while. I hope to play next week.
• I am scheduled to teach a course called World of Computing at APU starting in August. The content looks great.
• E20 has been a problem with my old bike. I see some rust and some rubber being eaten away. Currently, I have a full tank of E20. After this, I plan to switch to Indian Oil’s XP100. It seems like XP100 (IOCL) and Power100 (HPCL) are the only petrol fuels that are ethanol free. They are not cheap at Rs. ₹160/L to 188.04/L, but it seems it’s better to spend on fuel than on vehicle maintenance. When I was a child adulterated petrol was crime and now its a policy :(
• I didn’t know about Breadtime Stories, and it’s in my neighborhood. While I was there, I added some details. Added another posbox picture to the collection. I took it on the way to Chennai last week.
• Lots and lots of AI-generated spam comments seem to be coming my way. It’s not easy to flag them as spam by reading the comment text, but they all end up liking a shady website. That’s the easy clue. Anthropic was forced to takedown Fabel 5. I have been using Grammarly since 2020 as a desktop writing tool to fix grammar and spelling. Seems like it’s going the opposite way, forcing AI generation on users instead of helping them to write. I have been using their Classic document format in recent months. I am not sure how long I will pay for the subscription. I am sure they will sunset the classic format soon. Maybe that’s the day.
• Kage looks like a good CLI tool for downloading any website for offline browsing. It stores content in the Zim file format, an open standard. If you didn’t know, it’s the format Kiwix uses to provide Wikipedia offline. Now, of course, Kiwix has grown and provides more than just Wikipedia. Anyway, since the content is in Zim format, you can use the Kiwix Android app to browse and read it. A good way to carry web content on Android for offline usage. VizChitra/2026 is on the July 4th weekend. I am still not sure about my July plans, so I have not bought a ticket. But if you love data and visualizations, you might like it. Worst case, I might just see all the exhibitions. If you are interested in building your own tileset based on a geojson, then this val by Peter is useful.

• I explored a new Food Embedding Model called Epicure. What I like about it is the methodology used for building it. It is easy to understand and replicate. It can also work as a method for most heterogeneous networks. I blocked a bunch of domains at home so my TV or other devices can’t be used in mass AI Scraping setups.
• From next week, I will plan to publish the weekly playlists. It could be either songs I have just discovered, the most listened-to songs, or a mix. I wrote a small Marimo script to list my most listened-to songs of the week from my ListenBrainz listens. It doesn’t need an API key. Anyone can use it.
• I couldn’t play this week. I need to find more playmates. I continued with my regular 2 P.T sessions. This week, we added dead hangs to my routine. Also did my personal best sets: 70 KG lat pulls and 50 KG seated cable rows. My body weight is 60 KG.
• I would love to meet more folks. Also, I have learned to ask and take pictures during such meetings. I love that we have pictures. I plan to take quite a few pictures this coming week. I hope to post some.
• You can set up your own tiny satellite ground station to receive packets from the CubeSats. Maybe one day.