Newsletter | letter.kau.sh - Kaushik Gopal's Website

letter.kau.sh – 2024 Mar

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 08:00:00 GMT

Welcome to the third installment of my newsletter. Your support as always means everything to me.

Let’s dive in.

What I’m watching, listening, reading #

[video] You’re Not Forgetful: My System for Memorizing Everything ###

Most people think they have a terrible memory. I know I did. This video by a YouTuber doctor challenged me to rethink that. I haven’t noticed a change in my memory’s capacity, but I’ve learned how to remember more.

[video] Apple TV+ Masters of the Air ###

Exceptionally shot. Solid 3.5 rating and worth the watch. Apple TV+ has been killing it.

[music video] Sample Breakdown: Daft Punk - Discovery ###

Sampling is the art of reusing a portion of a sound recording in another recording. It’s had a complicated history, especially with music licensing concerns and whatnot. Young Guru (Jay-Z’s tour D.J) has a good video explaining this.

But to fully appreciate sampling as an art, it’s not enough to hear the music; you have to visually “see” it. See watch Daft Punk do their magic now.

[audio book] Leadership Strategy and Tactics ###

I’ve been looking for good reads on leadership and this book by an ex-Navy seal came recommended. I have qualms with the narrator’s voice but I must say this was a good book with apt analogies.

Tips #

🚫 Apple Music ##

I use bluetooth headphones with my Mac and it drives me 🦇 💩 🍌 😡 every time I hit the play/pause button and see this window:

I don’t use Apple Music. I don’t want it to open every time. I’d love to disable it. Heck, I’d love to uninstall it altogether. Sadly, Apple doesn’t allow you to do this. No worries, noTunes has got your back:

brew install --cask notunes

A minor yet significant annoyance, zapped away.

New font - CommitMono ##

Readers of my blog know I’m obsessed with monospaced fonts. For my daily programming, I used a custom version of IBM Plex Mono and now more often San Francisco Mono ¹. I’m weary of using SF Mono though because of Apple’s restrictive licensing.

Imagine my happiness finding a new worthy contender - CommitMono. I admire the Danish creator’s philosophy around it:

There are better ways to design than putting a big effort into making something look special. Special is generally less useful than normal, and less rewarding in the long term. Special things demand attention for the wrong reasons, interrupting potentially good atmosphere with their awkward presence.

— Jasper Morrison, Super Normal Manifesto

There’s an option to customize it and you bet I did…

I do wish there was an alternative version of “r” with the extender at the baseline. That would make it 🧑‍🍳 💋.

Signing off #

This was a tough month. A few of my colleagues and friends who I deeply admire were let go. Turbulent times in tech :/.

Thank you once again for your support and readership. Your feedback is always welcome.

Until the next one.

which comes baked in with the Mac ↩︎

letter.kau.sh – 2024 Feb

Thu, 01 Feb 2024 20:00:00 GMT

Welcome to the second installment of my newsletter. Your support means the world to me.

I’ve been told the key to building an audience is consistency. I’m committing to this idea by releasing my letter on the first day of each month. This way, you’ll always know when to look out for a new letter.

Let’s dive in.

What I’m watching, listening, reading #

[podcast] What Now? – Trevor Noah’s standup is good but he’s an even better interview host. His “Between the Scenes” segments are some of my favorite. His new podcast is really good so far.
[tv] Slow Horses – Just finished Season 1 and I’m giddy that there are two additional seasons waiting for me. The best feeling.
[tv] Blue Eye Samurai – I’ve swooned about this show before but I’ll promote it again any chance I get. It’s the best thing I watched in 2023.
[video] Where are U Now | Diary of a Song – Yes, it’s the one you’re thinking of, and yes it’s Beiber, but this video is specifically around how Diplo & Skrillex collaborated to make the song. I’ve got a bunch of these to share, so stay tuned.

Tech Tips #

Making use of the `/tmp` directory ##

Courtesy: Alex Xu via Twitter

Are you aware that Unix-based systems, like macOS, offer a “hidden” /tmp directory that clears out every time you reboot?

I set it as my default download location for files that are momentarily needed like downloads, screenshots, or installation packages. There’s no need for a manual cleanup of these files as your next reboot will just wipe them clean.

Caveat: since this directory is world-writable, other user profiles on your device can access these files.

Hiding your macOS dock ##

The Dock is one of those macOS features that I never use and strangely, it can’t be disabled. Nicholas shared a workaround that effectively hides it:

defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -int 60 && killall Dock

It’s been working like a charm.

From my blog #

Get to Inbox 0 with Gmail ###

I wrote this post excited to share my tips on taming an email inbox. I shared it with the author of the plugin mentioned. He was kind and gracious but told me that my post was vapid (without using those words). He’s right. I rushed that post in an excitement to get it out. I oversold with that title.

This is why I love the internet and am willing to look foolish. It means I’m learning. I’ve since been thinking about re-editing that post. The title should have just been - how I use Gmail.

Replace git-number with git aliases ###

I wanted to go on more about my simplify series and how pumped I am about a queue of posts I have in mind for this topic. But reason and restraint found me and I figured folks will find their way to it, in time.

But if you’re curious… dear newsletter reader (❤️) the ones I’m thinking of: “How I Obsidian”, “iTerm → Terminal & sane dotfiles”, “Fish → Zsh”, “VSCode + NeoVim → Jetbrains”, “KeyboardMaestro + Alfred + Pastebot + WorldClock widget + … → Raycast”

If there’s one that you’re eager to read, let me know.

Musings #

Programming for good ##

As a programmer, I’m always looking for opportunities to apply my skills to benefit society and perform my civic duty. The opportunities are there…

The San Francisco subway system still runs on 5 1/4-inch floppies.

By way of Jason Kotke

SF has the best software engineers in the world and they’re riding the very Munis that run on 5¼ floppies, all around San Francisco. Yet, there isn’t an obvious way to volunteer time to help improve these systems. 💡

Free stuff getting better over time ##

If you’re reading this letter on a browser, you’ll notice I’ve spruced the website up a lot. I’m going to write more about the numerous subtle features a casual reader might miss.

But every time I start to work on it, there’s this guilt of sinking time into the effort. But I’m writing this to remind future me: it’s ok. Working on Henry is meditative for me - low stakes programming that makes atleast one person happy (me).

There’s also something fulfilling about the idea of improving the work you give out for free, over time. How often can you say that about other free things in life? 🧘🏽

Resolutions & Goals #

[Tolerance in thinking] Platformer leaves Substack ##

Casey Newton on leaving substack. I thought this was a measured response and he went about it the right way. I was especially curious how he’d handle the usual questions around freedom of speech & tolerance in thinking. His FAQ at the end does a good job.

[Self care] Back to Weightlifting ##

My transformation from a 100kg (220 lbs) teenager to a 70kg (154 lbs) fit young adult was anything but easy. It wasn’t inspiration but severe back pain that drove me. An elderly chiropractor candidly remarked “you’re the youngest non-injured patient I’ve ever had in my career”. That scared the shit out of me cause that dude was old. I learnt then that the only activity I was consistent with is weightlifting (thankfully).

I’m aiming to regain my former fitness by starting simple. For now, I’m alternating between two full-body workouts that I found on this slapstick YouTube channel.

Next month, I’ll switch it up with a different set.

Signing off #

Thank you genuinely for subscribing or reading my letters. I’d love to always hear more from you.

What would you like to see more or less of — tech insights, programming chatter, personal stories?

I’m finding my way. I’d appreciate all the help.

Until the next one.

letter.kau.sh – 2024 Jan

Wed, 03 Jan 2024 18:48:58 GMT

Why start a newsletter when I have a blog? I love writing and I want to write more. But I want a more casual format, where I can share without the burden of permanence or meticulousness that a “blog post” demands.

While I continue to use social media, like others I remain skeptical of its future as a reliable destination for this sort of writing.

What to expect ##

Think of this truly, as letters from me to you. I intend to share quick tips and tricks; helpful software I’ve installed and am using; hardware that I’m trying out and recommend; books, blog posts or other newsletters that I’m reading; thoughts on what’s going on in my personal life; lessons and learnings.

I want to be brave with ideas and opinions that are still baking in my head… but could also turn out wrong.

What is the format ##

I don’t know if I want to keep these posts short but I promise to keep them as easy reads. The newsletters I love, share this quality.

I’m aiming for a monthly cadence and will nest these under /letter but it should also show up in the general feed. You’re under no obligation to read these btw if all you want are the regular posts. Since I use my own theme for this site¹ there’s ∞ flexibility. You can choose a customized feed based on your liking:

/feed.xml — all the stuff I write
/blog/feed.xml - “blog posts” only
/letter/feed.xml - “newsletter” only

Slap /feed.xml (or /feed.json) at the end of most urls here, and you’ll get a feed for that topic (e.g. my posts on programming are at /tags/programming/feed.xml)

If you’re an email gal/guy on the other hand, open this page in a browser and all the way at the bottom is a way to add your email to a list. You’ll get these letters in your inbox, as soon as I post them.

Let’s kick this off! #

Happy 2024 🥳! If you haven’t noticed, I’m big on new-year posts and resolutions. Here are my resolutions for 2024:

Brevity in writing ##

I want to get better and sharper with my writing.

Two books that are classics that I should dust off and read again: Elements of Style & On Writing Well. I follow the social media account tech emails. In addition to the 🍿 I’m impressed by the brevity with how the top executives correspond and write. No superfluous adverbs or flowery adjectives. I remember an online discussion² where people questioned, “Why do these leaders write like this? Feels bizarrely direct and grammatically lacking or incomplete”. An interesting response went something like this: “these people cannot afford to be misunderstood, so are as direct as possible. They dispense with flowery & verbose language, and even with grammar at times, if it gets the point across better”. Not saying I want to emulate this but I’d like to improve my own writing for clarity.

Tolerance in thinking ##

I want to have healthy discussions with people having differing opinions.

We live in a polarized time where if someone holds a differing ideology, everything that comes out of their mouth must be wrong or opposed. Over the 2023 Xmas holidays, I was watching The West Wing since it’s one of those shows that’s recommended highly. It reminded me of Sorkin’s The Newsroom which came out later and is one of my favorites. I love how this idea is pushed in both shows. Why can friends not hold opposing ideologies today? How can we be more graceful in debate?

Focus on self care ##

I will carve out time and be conscious about my self-care practice.

I was actually inspired by one of my colleagues on this one. Self care is about making sure you’re spending time to do things that inspire and invigorate you. Self care can be fitness, it can be watching that TV show that only you seem to like in your family, it can be eating healthier, it can be taking the time to talk to a therapist or a friend more equipped to listen. What it shouldn’t be… is an after thought.

New ventures in tech ##

I have two new ideas³ in this space that I’d like to make a reality.

Fragmented — the podcast I started with Donn is on a hiatus⁴ of sorts. But I’ve been cooking something else in the background, so stay tuned. I’m not ready to share more just yet but I’ve been thinking about these for sometime now and am excited to see them materialize in 2024.

Thank you genuinely for subscribing or reading my newsletter. I’d love to hear more from you too. What are your resolutions for 2024?

that I’ve open sourced btw ↩︎
can’t to find it now. ↩︎
details to come in the future 😉 ↩︎
more on that soon too. ↩︎

Newsletter | letter.kau.sh - Kaushik Gopal's Website

letter.kau.sh – 2024 Mar

What I’m watching, listening, reading #

[video] You’re Not Forgetful: My System for Memorizing Everything ###

[video] Apple TV+ Masters of the Air ###

[music video] Sample Breakdown: Daft Punk - Discovery ###

[audio book] Leadership Strategy and Tactics ###

Tips #

🚫 Apple Music ##

New font - CommitMono ##

Signing off #

letter.kau.sh – 2024 Feb

What I’m watching, listening, reading #

Tech Tips #

Making use of the /tmp directory ##

Hiding your macOS dock ##

From my blog #

Get to Inbox 0 with Gmail ###

Replace git-number with git aliases ###

Musings #

Programming for good ##

Free stuff getting better over time ##

Resolutions & Goals #

[Tolerance in thinking] Platformer leaves Substack ##

[Self care] Back to Weightlifting ##

Signing off #

letter.kau.sh – 2024 Jan

Welcome to my newsletter! #

What to expect ##

What is the format ##

Let’s kick this off! #

Brevity in writing ##

Tolerance in thinking ##

Focus on self care ##

New ventures in tech ##

Making use of the `/tmp` directory ##