Ramnath

#TIL More than 36% of Russians use a VPN, the highest percentage in the world. (Via The Economist)

😂

“No, just wishing that he should become a great Indian is no good! You must pray that he becomes a great non-resident Indian!”

RK Laxman

😂

“Every time I say you haven’t cleaned your room yet, they say, ‘Well look, you haven’t built a quantum computer yet,’” Nayak said.

https://www.wsj.com/tech/microsoft-quantum-computing-chetan-nayak-84ad1c98?st=cGvf7T

“You think this is the problem and this is the solution. But I think this the solution and this is the problem!”

RK Laxman, like all great observers of society, understood complexity.

I work 25/8 because 24/7 is for amateurs ⏳💼

Wealth creation is my hobby, world domination is my goal 🌎💰

More like this on https://biocringe.com/ 😂

If we think that an endorsement by Nobel Prize winners guarantees credibility, we should remember this:

"And when a nonprofit called EcoHealth Alliance lost a grant because it was planning to conduct risky research into bat viruses with the Wuhan Institute of Virology —

Quiz: Who is the writer talking about?

VS Naipaul and Mario Miranda

Imagine what a fabulous treat it would have been if Mario had illustrated Naipaul’s India books. (Or even A House for Mr Biswas)

Pic from Mario de Miranda (2008)

📚A super useful writing tip from Ashokamitran.

Gnani: What's your measure of a good story?

Ashokamitran: When you read, the story must be engaging. Some people scoff at the word 'engaging.' But engagement is crucial. If there's to be any involvement in a story, it needs a

No idea if this will work. But no harm in reading, no?

The illusion of explanatory depth: "It is thought that the effects of IOED, especially in politics, can be reduced by asking people to explain the topic rather than only asking people to provide reasons for their beliefs. The specific ways in which people are asked to explain

🤩 @ILikeSlander in conversation with @tmkrishna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-Gn_xAFvek

Via https://www.economist.com/asia/2025/03/06/why-new-zealanders-are-emigrating-in-record-numbers

#TIL New Zealand's citizen population decreased by a net 47,000 due to emigration last year.

Looks like everyone wants to go somewhere else!

If I had written this today, I would have probably suggested six or seven graphic novels - and skipped the first part.

Thank God, I didn't write it today.

https://www.foundingfuel.com/article/ff-life-a-beginners-guide-to-graphic-novels/

#TIL there are about 45,000 trees on the IIT Madras campus, compared to ~10,000 in the 1960s.

Our origins are of the earth. And so there is in us a deeply seated response to the natural universe, which is part of our humanity.
~ Rachel Carson

People who wear masks tend to stare at their fellow passengers longer than those who don’t.

#MetroRailObservations

Academics, analysts & journalists try to make sense of the world so they can put it down on paper; their readers try to make sense of the world so they can actually do something about it.

This fundamental tension, I think, is both good and bad.

In the movie version, I think Arvind Swamy can play Zelenskyy. And Kamal will play Trump, of course.

Taleb on one of the devices people use to win arguments

Many things that help us win an argument won’t help us find the truth.

LOL. Some scam DMs

Just last evening, I was wondering if people still used Skype after I saw this sign in Mylapore Kapaleeshwarar temple.

#TIL Microsoft is shutting down Skype: https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/02/28/microsoft-is-retiring-skype-in-may-encouraging-people-to-adopt-teams.html

What happened at the Trump, Vance, Zelenskyy press conference @AskPerplexity

Indian pronunciation is as legit as British or American.

Raja Rao once wrote: “We cannot write like the English. We should not. We cannot write only as Indians. We have grown to look at the large world as part of us.”

Applies to how we speak too.

This image beautifully captures why Steve Jobs is one of the most important philosophers of our times.

Be the art you want to create 😀

A brilliant one by Mario Miranda

Haha

While this idea is amazing, and is especially useful when you travel, there’s a serious design flaw in packaging.

Despite the useful cut at the left side, it’s difficult to open it all the way through because it becomes thicker at the centre. And if you try to pour it anyway