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Do you fear AI?
I don’t. This comes from a core engineering value I’ve long embraced — technological progress isn’t an issue, but how we wield it. Nuclear energy, aircraft, chips, and software algorithms have delivered incredible benefits for humanity. They have all been misused. But blunders in using technology are more from psychological, anthropological, sociological, and political factors.…
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Python’s StringIO module
If you have primarily used Python for web backend development (Django/Flask, etc.), there are some aspects of Python you might not have needed, but are useful when working with data. One such is the StringIO class: StringIO creates an in-memory file-like object that you can read from and write to, just like you would with…
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Using Python for Web Backends and Data/AI
I am super happy to see the growth in Python, fueled by AI and Data Engineering. I came to Python through Django — moving on from systems programming in C++. Django clicked instantly, I think I always enjoyed making applications more that the nitty gritty of core systems. But I also love Python/Django for their…
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Chip Fabrication in India: Tata Electronics’ $14 Billion Investment
After years of unsuccessful attempts by various players to establish semiconductor fabrication in India, it seems the tide is finally turning: Tata Electronics Private Limited (est. 2020) has started investments in four manufacturing facilities spread across India. There’s also the China + 1 strategy at play here, where countries are trying to reduce dependence on…
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Why is Kubernetes also called k8s
“K8s” has 8 characters between k and n. K8s is simply a (cool!) way to shorten it’s length. There are other places where you might have noticed this style of abbreviation as well: I saw it first in “i18n” for “internationalization” (from where it seems to have started). There’s also l10n for “localization”. – n7n
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Air Conditioner (AC) Buying Checklist
I was looking for a new AC for home recently and most online articles, which I checked, mentioned things like, “measure your room size”, “Decide Window vs Split AC”, “check energy star rating” etc. These are the things which I knew already; I needed other advanced parameters on which to base my decision. So here’s…
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Getting Started with WordPress
Last Updated: Feb 2025 WordPress is a great choice for building websites if you are semi-technical. Its standout feature is that the content can be added and edited on a WordPress (WP) site very easily, and the site layout can be updated fairly easily as well (Hence the moniker Content Management System (CMS)). WordPress is…
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PostgreSQL or Postgres?
I usually use “Postgres” when speaking to other developers and PostgreSQL in documents when I can use the capitalised “SQL” for emphasis. Here’s how the PostgreSQL name came up: PostgreSQL evolved from the Ingres project at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1982, the leader of the Ingres team, Michael Stonebraker, left Berkeley to make a proprietary version…
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Signal App’s awkward copy-paste gesture
The “Copy message” button in the Signal App on iPhone doesn’t show up when you long press the text (on the pop-up ribbon like other messaging apps). The copy icon is placed in the bottom Tab Bar. That seems like an awkward UX error for such a mature app! Or is it just me wondering…