lunatechian (lunatech-ian) - today

The Governor is Gone

nospam@example.com (Raj Shekhar) — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 16:26:18 +0000

From AI fatigue is real and nobody talks about it

Here's the thing that broke my brain for a while: AI genuinely makes individual tasks faster. That's not a lie. What used to take me 3 hours now takes 45 minutes. Drafting a design doc, scaffolding a new service, writing test cases, researching an unfamiliar API. All faster.

[..]

But my days got harder. Not easier. Harder.

[..]

Before AI, there was a ceiling on how much you could produce in a day. That ceiling was set by typing speed, thinking speed, the time it takes to look things up. It was frustrating sometimes, but it was also a governor. You couldn't work yourself to death because the work itself imposed limits.

AI removed the governor. Now the only limit is your cognitive endurance. And most people don't know their cognitive limits until they've blown past them.

Winter is ending

nospam@example.com (Raj Shekhar) — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 00:09:00 +0000

Steve Woz's interview on his 75th birthday

nospam@example.com (Raj Shekhar) — Sat, 16 Aug 2025 19:51:56 +0000

Slashdot picked up a story about Steve Woz's interview on his 75th birthday.

And Setve Woz dropped by Slashdot to leave this comment

I gave all my Apple wealth away because wealth and power are not what I live for. I have a lot of fun and happiness. I funded a lot of important museums and arts groups in San Jose, the city of my birth, and they named a street after me for being good. I now speak publicly and have risen to the top. I have no idea how much I have but after speaking for 20 years it might be $10M plus a couple of homes. I never look for any type of tax dodge. I earn money from my labor and pay something like 55% combined tax on it. I am the happiest person ever. Life to me was never about accomplishment, but about Happiness, which is Smiles minus Frowns. I developed these philosophies when I was 18-20 years old and I never sold out.

Dinner at Ethiopian cafe

nospam@example.com (Raj Shekhar) — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 20:33:00 +0000

A typical dish consists of injera accompanied by a spicy stew, which frequently includes beef, lamb, vegetables and various types of legumes such as lentils.

Ethiopians eat exclusively with their right hands, using pieces of injera to pick up bites of entrees and side dishes.

The best part for me though is that the meals are eaten from a communal plate.

QOTD

nospam@example.com (Raj Shekhar) — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 03:03:04 +0000

You get what anybody gets - you get a lifetime.

Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 1

Euro-peein'

nospam@example.com (Raj Shekhar) — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 18:43:00 +0000

If you are someone like me, who enjoys both beer and coffee, know that paying to use a public toilet is a European custom. The usual charge is the local equivalent of about 50 cents. Some restaurant have a tip dish by the entry â€” again 50 cents is plenty for this.

Thoughtstream 2013-08-13

nospam@example.com (moblog) — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 14:30:00 +0000

On hipsters

The difference between a hipster and a geek

This is the major difference between a hipster and a geek: When a hipster sees someone else grooving on the thing they love, their reaction is to say “Oh, crap, now the wrong people like the thing I love.” When a geek sees someone else grooving on the thing they love, their reaction is to say “ZOMG YOU LOVE WHAT I LOVE COME WITH ME AND LET US LOVE IT TOGETHER.”

Hipsters On Food Stamps, Part 1 has a line that precisely captures what I think about obsessively posting pictures of food

There's plenty of attention to style, to identity, and regression to our most primitive instinct: eating, fetishized.

On buying

An Interview With Craigslist's Notorious Google Glass Hater

I hate commodity fetishization. I don't mean that in the Marxist sense. I mean the process of deriving of pleasure from the purchase of commercial goods above and beyond the actual value or utility of the product.

seven years at Yahoo!

nospam@example.com (Raj Shekhar) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:24:00 +0000

Today completes my seven years at Yahoo! These seven years have given me an opportunity to work with some great people, given me a chance to clean up mess at a huge scale and taught me new almost every day. Thanks Filo & Jerry for creating this place.

2012-02-28 - thoughtstream

nospam@example.com (Raj Shekhar) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 18:12:00 +0000

Here is a quote (slightly paraphrased) that I have seen people throw around a bit

Let us be like Apple and make our app simple. We will not allow users to change this and this, and obviously, we have no need to expose this setting to them in any way.

As someone who has used Apple products for some time now, I have never found Apple devices to restrict what users could configure or change. Almost every Apple device has a "System Preferance" and you can tweak a lot of settings from there. Of course, most of Apple devices are pretty usable out of the box. I have not used an iPhone for a long time, but my experience with Macbook is that it is extremely customizable. I can say the same about the Apple TV.

I think if an artifact meets either of the following criteria, it can be called art

Something that shakes me out of a rut and see something ordinary with a new perspective
something that can bring joy
something that can inspire

rants by Kapil Sibal, with lolcats

nospam@example.com (Raj Shekhar) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 08:13:32 +0000

Kapil Sibal, India's Telecoms minister has prompted an uproar after it was revealed he met with executives from Google and Facebook to pressure them into screening 'objectionable' content.

A side effect of Kapil Sibal trying to censor the internet is that he has been given a goldmine of comic quotes. And any quote looks adorable with a kitten. I converted his quotes to lolspeak and put them with pictures of cute kittens. The kittens should countereffect the increased blood pressure caused by his idocacy.

Without further ado, here are the cats with Kapil's quotes

U go and delete information on the Internet that might offend the sensibilities of people in India

We have to take care of the sensibilities of our people. Cultural ethos is very important to us.

There is some content on the Internet.. that any normal human being would be offended by

I have seen subject matter which was so offensive that it hurt religious sentiments of large sections of community

I decline to define what, exactly, is offensive content I am not offensive

Image credits

The tragedy of the San Francisco city

nospam@example.com (Raj Shekhar) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 04:45:54 +0000

The tragedy of the San Francisco city is that it is always crowded. And if the weather is even remotely sunny, it gets even more crowded.

My tshirt for today

nospam@example.com (moblog) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 00:23:06 +0000

This tshirt is from a city called Weed, in the state of (where else) California. The town of Weed gets its name from the founder of the local lumber mill, Abner Weed. No sublimal messages have been hidden in the tshirt.

Cheers

My humble beginnings towards my goals

nospam@example.com (moblog) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 00:23:04 +0000

The gardening bug has bitten us and we have planted a few plants in our patio. The plants have survived for a few days and I have high hopes now. These are my humble beginnings as I work towards my long term goal of becoming a farmer.

Overheard

nospam@example.com (moblog) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 07:22:00 +0000

Overheard at Victoria's Secret sale event, near a huge stack of panties, during their underwear sale event - "wow these are huge". The speaker was a woman holding up a pair.

Overhead in a TV serial - "They destroyed my roses. Eat lead, you bastards"

Got my copy

nospam@example.com (Raj Shekhar) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 03:21:09 +0000

Look what I got in my mail today . Bought it second hand at amazon. I am so pleased to see this is a hardcover edition. 6 bucks really well spent.