Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

I visited Kolkata to meet my parents in Dec-2024. I planned the trip around my mother’s birthday and the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K. I was seeing them after a year, and it was pleasant weather in Kolkata. Not too hot nor too cold. We went to Shamiana at the Taj City Centre in New Town. The staff were helpful, and they went out of their way to serve us based on our needs. I am vegan so the chef made some dishes that were customized for me which was not on the menu. Grateful for that.

After I got back from India, I got my blood tests done just before Xmas2024. And to my surprise my Triglycerides was high. Now I have been vegan for 5 years now and my triglycerides were never this high. Only two things changed in the last year. The first is that we have a cook now. And the second is that I started taking vegan protein powder regularly after my workouts. So, my focus this year has been on fat reduction using calorie deficit but am not tracking this 100% accurately. I am doing this by reducing my portion sizes, skipping meals, eating dinner early, no snacking in the night, and focusing on getting 8 hours of sleep. I have also cut down my sugar intake but not eliminated it.

My focus last year was to complete a Half Marathon in under 2 hours. This year my focus is to finish an Olympic distance triathlon. I have been regularly running for some time now and cycle occasionally. But swimming is where I struggle. I can do breaststroke comfortably for 2K without stopping. But for triathlon I would need to focus on swimming freestyle to make the cut-off time for each segment. Therefore, I have recently started swimming lessons, with my wife, to learn freestyle. The other challenge is to learn and navigate in open water without the help of a lane marker 😃.

Source - https://triathlonbuzz.com/triathlon-distances/what-are-triathlon-distances/

There are lot of challenges published regularly on Strava. And this year I have decided to focus on a running challenge - 100 kms of running every month in 2025. I have so far run 177.5 kms this year. Let’s see if I can continue this for the rest of the year without getting injured.

Another challenge I have started is a push-ups challenge. A minimum of 30 pushups every day from 01-Feb-2025 to 31-Jan-2026. So far, I haven’t skipped a date. Focus is on quantity rather than quality. I am thinking quality will come as I progress through the year and gain more strength.

I have also increased my protein through better powders. I was earlier taking Optimum Nutrition Plant Protein but recently tried Purition Pea Protein Isolate and BodyMe Naked Vegan Protein. The reason I wanted to try a different protein powder was to remove any added sugar in my powder and just get clean protein powder without any other additives. The BodyMe protein powder ingredient is organic plant protein blend (organic pea protein, organic sprouted brown rice protein, organic hemp seed protein) and I am happy with that and will be continuing to take it.

A friend of ours started a 28-days AI challenge in Jan-2025 and that helped us learn a lot of tools/topics over that period. We covered 25 different tools/topics over the 28 days period. We focussed on tools that we could use in our daily lives outside of work. The work environment is still highly controlled so it’s difficult to use any tool you want. We covered use cases for each tool, examples from our group, and even smart prompting techniques. After this challenge I created AI Nexus. Details below.

Tools/topics for the 28-days AI challenge

The AI challenge was inspired by Coursiv’s 28-day challenge.

Source - https://coursiv.io/

I recently bought new running shoes - Hoka Clifton 9 Wide. I started getting knee pain and shin splints so decided to get a new shoe based on my current mileage. I am currently training for the Prague Half Marathon in April. And these shoes are really comfortable.

Source - https://www.hoka.com/en/gb/men-road/clifton-9/1127895.html?dwvar_1127895_color=DLL

We also bought the Samsung 65” Frame TV for our house as we wanted a bigger TV as well as something that is aesthetically pleasing. We love the design of this TV and are quite pleased with it.

And I have finally applied for UK citizenship. After being eligible since Nov-2020 I have decided to apply for it as we have been travelling a lot recently. I applied for a Schengen visa in Jan-2025 and got it for only 6 months. But I needed it for 7 months minimum, as I have Valencia Half Marathon already booked. So instead of applying for Schengen visa twice in one year I decided to simply apply for UK citizenship.

Table of Contents

• 🏃‍♂ Tata Steel World 25K Kolkata

• 🤖 AI Nexus

• 🌐 Amitsarkar.tech

• ❤️ Things I enjoyed

🏃‍♂ Tata Steel World 25K Kolkata

I took part in the Tata Steel World 25K Kolkata run on my recent visit to India. And it was the first time I was running in an event in India. The crowd in India is amazing and it was good to see many runners out early in the morning.

The event was very well organized with closed roads, fuel/water stations proper timing controls and distance markers. The pre-event activities were great. And the race expo, where we collected the bib from, had lots of fun activities.

At the race expo

Just before the start

The race medal after the finish

If you look at my pacing below, you can see that I went out really fast and therefore struggled in the end. I have now learnt this and now training to ensure I don’t go out too fast at the beginning of a race and go all out only at the end. I also didn’t train a lot before the event so that also affected my pace. But I’m overall really happy with my results and am glad I finished it without any injuries/cramps.

Final results

Met an old friend from my cycling days in Chennai

My only concern with running in India was the pollution. I was worried about the heat initially, but it was never a concern since the run started early morning.

Nevertheless, after this race, I want to now run at other events in India. And there are many exciting events at various locations in India.

🤖 AI Nexus

After the 28-days AI challenge got over I decided to build something from what we learnt. All the tools were organized in Google Sheets, and I thought what if we could ask ChatGPT to create a website from that file. The idea is to curate a list of AI tools that people can find useful and are able to easily share it with others.

So, I exported the Google Sheets to a CSV file and gave that to ChatGPT and asked it to create a website for me. After several iterations, the result was AI Nexus, your one-stop AI directory, categorized for easy access. 

Source - https://ai-nexus.tech/

The website is structured as follows -

Homepage, which consists of

• a hero image,

• a list of categories,

• a testimonial section, and

• a footer section

Category page, which consists of

• a nav bar section that helps you navigate across the site,

• a list of AI tools for that category, and

• a footer section

Footer section, which consists of

• a link for an About Us page,

• a link for a Credits page,

• a link for Exploring various aspects of AI,

• a copyright section, and

• links to my social media profiles.

The website also has a scroll to top button and a responsive look.

Responsive look with scroll to top button

The main logo for the website is an image generated using ChatGPT.

the logo of the website

The website is created entirely using a CSV file that has the AI tool name, the URL, a description, and a category. Then for each website I asked ChatGPT to create a Python script to get a screenshot of their homepage and store it in a location with the file name as the name of the tool.

The images for each category page are from Unsplash. The hero image on the homepage is from Pixabay.

CSV file which is the source for the whole website

folder where the screenshots are stored

But I didn’t want to create the homepage from scratch every time I added a new category. And I didn’t want to create a category page from scratch every time I added a new tool. So, I use a single Python script to generate the homepage, and all the category pages from scratch every time I run the script. Which updates any categories and updates any tools.

The best thing with this approach is that I can publish a new tool to my website in under 60 seconds.

Some pages had to be manually created. The About, Credit, Explore AI (and its sub-pages). So, I needed to figure out a way to update the footer for all pages using a single script. I again asked ChatGPT to create a Python script to help me edit the Footer on all pages using a script. And that worked as well.

the folder structure of the website

The next task was to get the website on Google search results. So, I needed to create a Google Search Console asset for my website.

And finally, you can search it on google.

Google search result

The last thing was to get a preview on Whatsapp.

Whatsapp preview

The whole thing was created using code generated by ChatGPT with lots of tweaking from my end. You need to understand the fundamentals and know what you want. The tool can then help you build on that. Otherwise, you end up wasting a lot of time in understanding what you really want to build.

I hope this can be an inspiration to people who want to build and launch something of their own.

🌐 Amitsarkar.tech

My next task was to completely update my own website and move everything I have on the internet to it. I also wanted to update my CV, and this was a good opportunity for me to get everything updated. After the AI Nexus project this was the next important thing, I worked on.

I had my website for some time now, but I wanted to change the look and feel of it and add some additional elements and pages to it while removing some duplicate stuff.

I modified the following -

• Changed from using w3.css to tailwind.css

• Updated the nav bar and footer on all pages and created a script to update it automatically on all pages.

Nav bar

Footer

• Added a hero image to the homepage

Hero image

• Added a podcast preview on the homepage

Podcast preview

• Added a scroll to top button on all pages

• Transferred all links from linktr.ee to my website.

• Created a Projects, Travel, Events and Sitemap pages.

Sitemap

• Updated the Work page to automatically calculate my years of experience at each company on each page load.

  

  Automatic years of experience calculation

• Updated my CV. I was recently looking at my CV and wanted to use AI to help me trim it down and make it more professional. I used this article, Headhunter shares CV tips to land more interviews, for guiding ChatGPT o1 model to optimize my CV. It trimmed my CV from 4 pages to 2 pages by removing unnecessary things and ensuring the language and tone is consistent.

• Currently I am trying to get a chatbot on my website that answers any questions related to my public profile. The front-end interface is ready, the backend-data is ready. I need to find a way to host a LLM on a server and then use RAG to access my training data every time a user asks a question inside the chat. This is currently working locally on my machine but is not fully accurate in terms of its response.

Running on amitsarkar.tech

Running on my local machine

I can safely say that using ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot has been a game changer for me.

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - Amit Sarkar's journey in QA leadership is an AI avatar video I created using Synthesia.

📝 Article - 1-800-ChatGPT - Calling and Messaging ChatGPT with your phone is an experimental feature that enables wider access to ChatGPT via phone calls or WhatsApp messages.

📱 App - Voicepal, your AI Ghostwriter. It’s a new AI tool from Ali Abdaal and I have used it to talk about various ideas that I normally have and then convert it into a newsletter article or X post. Really useful. I have a pro version of the app. It is also available on iOS.

🎙️ Podcast - Weight Loss Rules episode from the podcast Feel Better Live More by Dr. Rangan Chatterjee. It focuses on four key principles for sustainable weight loss: boosting fibre intake, increasing protein, opting for whole foods, and prioritizing better sleep.

📺 TV show - Severance is an amazing series and both me and my wife are hooked to it. It follows employees at a mysterious company who undergo a procedure to separate their work and personal lives using a brain implant.

🌐 Website - mySociety has four different websites that allow you to do the following things in the UK. I used WriteToThem and did get a response from my MP Peter Fortune of Bromley & Biggin Hill.

• WhatDoTheyKnow - Request information from public bodies

• FixMyStreet - Report neighbourhood problems to the local council

• TheyWorkForYou - Keep an eye on what MPs say and how they vote

• WriteToThem - Write to MPs and other local representatives

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

If you want to follow me around the internet, then please do so here.

Until we meet again next week, stay fit, work hard, pursue your ideas, and love more.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

Me and Rinat recently published two episodes of our podcast Tech Talk with Amit & Rinat. The first episode was on Datacentres and the second episode was on Enterprise Software. Please do listen and share your feedback.

We recently bought a carrom board from Uber Games. It's getting cold now, so it was better to buy a board game that both me and my wife enjoyed. Carrom is something that we both played while growing up in India. And we really wanted to buy a good quality board that we could use to play with our friends. We now have one 🙂.

I also went to the Ben Böhmer concert at Alexandra Palace with few friends. This concert was recommended by a friend of mine and since I've been listening to house music for a while now, I was excited to go and watch this concert in person. It was truly an amazing experience, and since this was my first concert in a very long time, I really enjoyed it. I normally listen to Ben Böhmer’s music, especially during my runs.

Source - https://www.instagram.com/benbohmermusic/p/DCg7XZbgBIv/

I recently went to the Vegan Runners social at The Duke of Cambridge which was hosting the monthly Supper Club organized by Plant Based Kitchens. This was an interesting concept because we just paid per person, but the menu was pre-decided, so we didn't have an option to select. It was a five-course menu with a starter, a main, two shared sides, and a dessert. The food was nice and it's always good to meet like-minded people who enjoy the same food as you do without explaining to them why you're eating this and not meat or something else.

Source - https://www.instagram.com/plant_based_kitchens/p/DC13G6kI7t8/

I also generated a podcast with the help of Google's NotebookLM. This tool is amazing as it summarizes a document or an article for you in the form of a podcast. The podcast is spoken by two AI voices - one male voice and one female voice. In this case I uploaded my CV as an input source, and it created a whole podcast with it. I was quite amazed that it highlighted some of my skills which even I couldn’t highlight myself. There are certain inaccuracies and some repetitions but it’s a fascinating podcast to listen to.

I also started reading a book How to Argue With a Meat Eater by Ed Winters recently. I've been following him on YouTube for a while now and he's one of the vocal vegans out there who tries to argue constructively with people about veganism and why people should go vegan. And I think it's a great book for us, vegans, to put forth our points constructively to people and help them understand our choices.

I also changed my home broadband provider from BT to Community Fibre. I got a good deal from the person who was selling this product at my door. I asked him about the product and the speed, and I was quite impressed with what they were offering (first 12 months free). So, I immediately booked it, and it got installed in a couple of days’ time. It was one of the fastest installations I’ve ever seen. The connection was installed and activated on the same day. Normally in the UK, if you try to get broadband installed, they take some time to activate if they must put a new line first. So, I was pleasantly surprised with this.

Source - https://communityfibre.co.uk/#residential-packages

I also moved my SIM only plan from O2 to giffgaff. I changed my mobile network because O2 kept raising their prices every year and I was not happy with them, so I moved. I got on a £10 monthly rolling plan that offers 20 GB of data with unlimited UK calls and texts with giffgaff.

In this edition

• 🏃 Cardiff Half Marathon

• 🌍 Cape Town, South Africa

• 💼 Portfolio website

• ❤️ Things I enjoyed

🏃 Cardiff Half Marathon

This was my last half marathon of the year and again a sub-2-hour run. Cardiff Half Marathon is part of the SuperHalfs series of which I have now completed three races.

I reached a day before the race and was quite pleased with my stay near the Mermaid Quay shopping centre.

I explored the local area near my AirBnb and walked all the way to the Penarth Pier.

During the run

The day of the race, the weather was quite cloudy but luckily it didn’t rain heavily till after we finished.

The atmosphere was electrifying with so many people out on the streets to cheer everyone.

With my medal

But I went out too fast during in the first half which cost me couple of minutes. Normally it’s better to do a negative split but since I went too fast in the beginning I couldn’t hold on to my pace till the end.

The course was also not very flat as there were few sections with some elevation but overall, it was a fast course.

I was also glad that I bumped into my personal trainer, Steve Caulfield, during the run and almost finished at the same time as him. He had just finished the Berlin Marathon a week before and to come and do a sub-2-hour half marathon was amazing.

With my trainer Steve Caulfield

Overall, I was still happy with my performance and was glad that all went well without any injuries.

Final race results

Doing a half marathon in any city is extremely exciting as you meet so many travellers from across the world coming together to participate in a race.

🌍 Cape Town, South Africa

Recently we visited Cape Town in South Africa, and it was an amazing visit for us.

Our itinerary looked like this. Thanks to ChatGPT for majority of the recommendations and helping us plan our itinerary.

I drove 1,866 kms during our trip with most of the mileage covered along the Garden route. We hired a Toyota Corolla Quest from Enterprise at the Cape Town airport and we got an incredibly good deal on it through Expedia. The car was powerful, comfortable to drive and had amazing mileage.

Places we visited -

• V&A Waterfront - This was our most visited place during our stay in Cape Town since it was the safest part of the city during the night.

• Two Oceans Aquarium - Our son loved seeing all the fishes, sharks, and penguins here.

• Time Out Market Cape Town - We kept coming back to this market to eat the dosa at Kapoochka and ramen at Ramenhead.

• Boulders Penguin Colony - An amazing location to see the South African penguins in the wild

• Robben Island museum - A place filled with stories of the political prisoners kept there, with the most famous being Nelson Mandela.

• Vrede En Lust - Our first wine estate visit in Franschhoek. Beautiful place.

• Babylonstoren - What an exquisite lunch we had here. All food on our vegetarian platter was grown on the estate. Met Fabio Jakobsen here.

• Boschendal - Our last wine estate in Franschhoek and the wines and the location were amazing.

• Tokara - Our first wine estate visit in Stellenbosch. Stunning views and we said hello to a peacock here.

• Delaire Graff - Our best lunch here in the wine region. Absolutely finger-licking food.

• Rust en Vrede - Our last wine estate visit in Stellenbosch. Small but warm feeling.

• Cape Agulhas - Southernmost point of the African continent.

• Bloukrans Bungy - It’s the highest bungy jump on the African continent and the fifth highest in the world at 216 metres.

• Knysna Elephant Park - We walked with the Elephants here. Truly a glorious experience.

• Botlierskop Village Lodge - The best game drives where we saw Cheetahs, Rhinos, wild Buffaloes, Deers, Ostrich, Giraffe, Elephants and many more animals.

• Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden - A visit to the best botanical garden in South Africa to finish off our trip.

Places we ate at -

Cape Town

• Madam Taitou - Great Injera meal

• Rosetta Roastery Cafe (Bree Street) - Best coffee in Cape Town

• Bukhara - Fine dining Indian restaurant

• Truth Coffee Roasting - Another great cafe

• Govinda's Weekend Cafe - Good healthy vegan/vegetarian food

• Vadivelu - A South Indian twist

• Honest Chocolate Cafe - Best vegan chocolate and cakes in Cape Town

• The Deck - Nice restaurant in front of some amazing views

• On the Rocks - A great place to view the sunset and the Tabletop mountain

• The Strangers Club - Another good vibrant breakfast place

Franschhoek

• Col'Cacchio - Lovely Italian restaurant

• Terbodore Café - Their Coconut Curry Qiunoa Chaufa was a dish to die for.

Hermanus

• Platō Coffee - Cozy coffee shop and they took extra care to prepare our coffee

Cape Agulhas

• Zuidste Kaap - Good place to eat after visiting the southernmost point of Africa.

Mossel Bay

• Delfino’s - Something to manage when we wouldn’t find anything open late in the night

• Blue Shed Coffee Roastery - Good coffee with good views

• Carola Ann's - Nice breakfast

Knysna

• Delhi Darbar - The best Indian food in our whole trip

• île de païn - One of the friendliest cafes we went to. The staff were nice.

• Piza ē Vino - Great Italian food with amazing views.

We did the following activities as well

• Knysna parkrun - My wife ran this parkrun, and it had a friendly crowd and the weather was great.

• Sea Point Promenade run - I ran 10K along this promenade soaking in some amazing views and seeing lots of people running.

• Sport Helicopter Rides Cape Town - We went on a 12-minute helicopter ride of Cape Town with our son. A first for us as a family.

• Chapman's Peak drive - A very scenic drive indeed. We did this drive while also stopping at Camps Bay beach, Hout Bay beach, Boulders Penguin colony and Cape Point

• Victoria + Alfred Waterfront Walking Tour - A quite different walking tour covering the history of the waterfront and its significance.

• Best of Cape Town: Free Tour - Covered the history of the city

• Bo-Kaap tour - A good tour covering the colourful houses and the Islamic part of Cape Town.

• Franschhoek Wine Tram - A bit over-rated and lot of planning needed to go on it. But still worth it if you are planning to drink a lot of wine.

The game drives were our most expensive item on things to do but it was worth every penny. The helicopter ride was the second most expensive item and again was worth every penny.

Overall, we packed a lot of stuff and created amazing memories. We met some incredible people and heard remarkable stories. Our AirBnB hosts were extremely good. There was a concern regarding safety in the night, but we managed around it and luckily nothing happened.

💼 Portfolio website

I recently created a complete website using ChatGPT highlighting all the small projects I have created. This website is hosted on Github and built and deployed using Netlify. It uses plain HTML and Tailwind CSS. Website screenshots are taken through a Puppeteer script generated using ChatGPT. The whole website was built and deployed in less than 1 hour. Some of the projects like AI Tool Crawler, Jobs Lever and Investa were also created using ChatGPT.

AI tools are getting really powerful, and I have been exploring them lately. I will keep posting about interesting tools that I have used and played with.

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - ₹16,000 vs ₹10,00,00,000 In India | The Real Game Of Wealth is a very well made about the different classes of wealth in India and how a person in each class lives.

📝 Articles - What's so special about the human brain? and Why the deep learning boom caught almost everyone by surprise are must-read articles. The first article focuses on how the human brain compares with other animals and why we have been so successful. The second article focuses on the story of how Deep Learning evolved into the GenAI boom we are now seeing.

📜 Quote - Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. - Frank Zappa

📱 App - Vanguard UK finally has a mobile app. I use Vanguard to invest in index funds.

🎙️ Podcast - Eric Schmidt in The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett is an eye-opening podcast on the emerging landscape of AI. He talks about AI, start-ups, founders, Google, and many more.

📺 TV show - WeCrashed is the story of WeWork from how it started, how it grew to more than $40 billion in valuation and how it ended with its founder, Adam Neumann, stepping down from his role as CEO of the company.

🌐 Website - GeoGuessr is a game you can play with your friends to figure out who can guess the location based on a single Google StreetView image.

Once again, thank you so much for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

If you want to follow me around the internet, then please do so here.

Until we meet again next week, stay warm, drink lots of warm water/mulled wine, enjoy the Xmas decorations and enjoy time with your family.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

I completed my 100th Parkrun on 24-Aug-2024 at Bromley and it was mixed with many emotions. I am grateful to a lot of people. My wife for always being supportive and for creating this wonderful Parkrun community that we have here. Grateful to my son who always enjoys the runs and never wants me to stop. Grateful to Monty for introducing me to Parkrun in 2017 when we first moved to this area and getting me and my wife hooked to it. I am also grateful to all my friends who run with us regularly at the Parkrun and those friends who join us for coffee afterwards. I am grateful to the Parkrun community for infecting us with such wonderful, positive and vibrant energy with their group of volunteers who work every Saturday without fail, be it rain or snow or sunshine. Finally, grateful to all the participants who show up despite the challenges and struggles in their lives.

Our small Parkrun community (some people are missing)

I travelled to Prague for my second work trip this year in August and it was quite fruitful. It was a good time spent catching up with colleagues, discussing about the future, and our next steps and hanging out with them after work for food and drinks. I did a 11K run while there and it was a wonderful way to explore the city and all its historical buildings.

I attended the Vegan Runners social at Unity Diner in August 2024 and it was incredible. The conversations with fellow vegan runners are always insightful but the food was delicious as well.

Vegan Runners UK August 2024 social dinner @ Unity Diner

A friend of ours from our local Parkrun group suffers from Crohn’s disease. She decided to do the Run 60 challenge in September 2024 and asked us if we would like to join her. We all said yes and it was a great way to challenge ourselves by running/walking/jogging/hiking 60 miles in a period of 1 month. I completed the challenge on 23-Sep-2024 and felt good participating in this challenge with 9 other friends. It was a fun yet challenging way to get us active for a worthy cause.

Run 60 challenge

A friend of mine invited me to the UK premiere of the movie Fortitude at Regent Street Cinema. The movie covered multiple aspects of the space industry covering interesting use cases that we never think of outside of the big shots like SpaceX and Blue Origin. It’s available on Prime Video and worth watching. Thanks to my friend, who was in the Q&A panel after the film, for recommending the film and arranging free entry for me.

Fortitude UK premiere

We went on an all-inclusive Jet2holidays to the Liberty Fabay resort in Fethiye. The resort itself was clean and had all the amenities one could think of. It had its own private beach and lots of swimming pools. This was our first proper all-inclusive holiday and we really enjoyed it. I got hooked on Afro House music after listening to it in their Patara Beach Snack Bar.

I recently purchased the Mono Winged Edition - Black by LUNA Sandals. I have a bunion on my left foot and am always in pain whenever I wear shoes. So I thought of looking at alternate options and found these. These sandals can be used for both on-road and off-road thanks to the Vibram Morflex sole.

Wearing LUNA Sandals with my bunion visible

Table of Contents

• ⛰️🚶UK National Three Peaks Challenge

  • Peak #1 - Ben Nevis

  • Peak #2 - Scafell Pike

  • Peak #3 - Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon)

• 🔐Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC)

  • What is PQC and why does it matter?

  • What is a Quantum computer?

  • Key concepts in Quantum computing

  • What’s at risk?

  • Current encryption algorithms (used today)

  • Quantum algorithms (potential future threat)

  • PQC algorithms

• ❤️ Things I enjoyed

⛰️🚶UK National Three Peaks Challenge

I completed the Open National Three Peaks Challenge in August along with Gareth, with whom I did the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge as well. I must give him credit though for participating in this challenge just weeks after getting a knee surgery done. Kudos to his effort and determination.

Essentially, the challenge covers hiking to the summit of the highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales which are -

• Ben Nevis, in Scotland (1345m)

• Scafell Pike, in England (978m)

• Snowdon, in Wales (1085m)

Source - https://www.walksnowdonia.co.uk/nationalthreepeaks

We started our journey by taking a flight from London Gatwick to Glasgow. From there we took a bus to Fort William. After checking into our room at Bank Street Lodge, we went out to buy snacks for the hike the next day as well as some dinner. We had our dinner at The Geographer. We got really lucky with our timing as there was a long queue afterwards. And since the restaurant had good vegan options it was easy to choose for me. After dinner, we were quite happy to go to our room and watch the Olympic games and relax and pack for the next day.

Peak #1 - Ben Nevis

We woke up early to get ready for a 07:30 hrs start. The day had to be executed with clockwork precision if we wanted to hit the timeframe of completing the challenge in 24 hours.

The hike started, after a quick ride from the station to the Ben Nevis visitor centre. We had three group leaders with each group consisting of approx. 10 people. We were with group 1, the fastest, and were at the front almost the whole hike.

The Ben Nevis hike can be done easily since it’s got a proper tourist path. But as we scaled up the mountain, the winds became crazier and there was dense fog. Luckily there was no rain and were dry all the way to the top. But it poured heavily for around 10 minutes on our descent where we got drenched to our underwear. The hike to the top took us about 3 hours while the return took about 2 hours with multiple breaks in between to let the rest of the group catch us and for snack/pee/water breaks.

@ summit of Ben Nevis

The hike itself is not very difficult but the elevation gain actually makes it difficult, especially the downhill section. I saw a guy with a twisted ankle on our descent. The leg looked like that from a ghost film. Having hiking poles helps a lot. Both me and Gareth were the first ones to reach the base of the summit.

Overall stats for the hike to the summit of Ben Nevis and back

I was glad we had a guide since it’s easy to get lost when the dry line starts, where there are only rocks and no vegetation, as it’s very difficult to navigate. We also don’t have to worry about the route or the pacing as the guide would decide it. That takes a lot of stress out of the equation when you are running against time.

After a quick change of clothes at the base, and changing from hiking shoes to slippers, we went on our way to the next peak.

Route to the summit of Ben Nevis and back

Peak #2 - Scafell Pike

After a very long drive, we reached the base of the Scafell Pike in the Lake District at Wasdale - Lake Head car park. We had a break for lunch on our way here but that was about it. We managed to get some sleep whatever little we could.

This was going to be the shortest hike of the challenge. But this time we would need headtorches for the descent. We reached the summit in 2 hours and back to the base in 1 hour. But it was after sunset so we all needed to wear head torches. Again we were the fastest group to reach the summit as well as the fastest group in the descent. Again, both me and Gareth reached the base of the summit first.

@ summit of Scafell Pike

Overall stats for the hike to the summit of Scafell Pike and back

The hike itself can be considered easy because the elevation gain and the distance covered are the least among the three peaks. But bear in mind this is after a 5-hour hike to Ben Nevis and a very long drive to this peak. Nutrition and hydration are key to preventing any cramps or dehydration.

We were then off to our third and final peak in the middle of the night.

Route to the summit of Scafell Pike and back

Peak #3 - Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon)

We reached the Pen y Pass car park for the start of our summit just before dawn. After a quick toilet break, we were off to ascend our final summit. We didn’t get much sleep on the bus. The distance between Scafell and Snowdon is also less so the drive was not very long. But it was a beautiful morning to begin our ascent to the final peak.

@ summit of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon)

We followed the Pyg track for the ascent and the Llanberis Path for the descent. This is the only peak where the ascent and the descent use different paths. The path to the summit is pretty intense and rises in some sections very quickly but it’s a short path compared to the descent. The route is quite scenic and we got really lucky with the weather. The summit views were spectacular and really worth it especially since we reached early morning.

Overall stats for the hike to the summit of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and back

The only downside is the hike back to the base which is really dull and boring. Lots of stones and no character all the way to the base. But a lot of people prefer this path since its a long gradual climb so can be easily done. This path also follows the railway track that takes people all the way to the summit who don’t want to hike all the way up.

Route to the summit of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and back

We reached the base of the summit and our bus in just over 24 hours. Basically, because of mandatory driver breaks and other regulations, it’s not possible to do the challenge in 24 hours, especially with a big group like ours. What they do instead is add our hiking time to the total driving time of 11 hours. So we got a final time of 22 hours and 47 minutes. But the elapsed time was more than 24 hours.

Holding the challenge completion certificate with our guide

It is nevertheless a proper challenge and a must-do for people who want to seek more from their hiking and walks.

The guides do have a time limit for each group and if the group is not able to reach the summit on time then they descend without going to the top. So you need a fair bit of fitness to complete the challenge but not a lot.

After completing the challenge, we were dropped at Chester station where we took the train back to London. But before we boarded our train, we had a nice big meal at one of the pubs opposite the Chester station.

🔐Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC)

Post Quantum Cryptography or PQC is focused on developing classical algorithms that are safe from any decryption attempts by quantum algorithms.

What is PQC and why does it matter?

Today, most of our online security, like passwords, bank transactions, and private communications, is protected using cryptography. It’s like a digital lock on our data.

Quantum computers, which are a new kind of super-powerful computers, are being developed. These could eventually break the current "locks" we use for encryption.

PQC is a new type of encryption that is designed to be safe even against quantum computers. Think of it as creating new, unbreakable locks to keep our data safe in the future.

What is a Quantum computer?

A regular computer uses bits, which are like switches that can either be "on" or "off" (1 or 0). A quantum computer uses qubits, which can be both "on" and "off" at the same time, thanks to quantum physics. This allows it to solve certain problems much faster.

Source - https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/cloud-computing-dictionary/what-is-a-qubit

Source - https://compass.rauias.com/current-affairs/quantum-superposition-entanglement/

One of the problems quantum computers could solve is breaking the encryption we currently use to protect sensitive information, like credit card numbers or medical records.

Key concepts in Quantum computing

• Superposition - Think of it like a coin spinning in the air. While it's spinning, it’s not just heads or tails it's both at once. In the same way, qubits can be 0 and 1 simultaneously, allowing quantum computers to perform multiple calculations at the same time.

• Entanglement - When qubits become entangled, their states are linked, meaning the state of one qubit directly affects the state of another, even if they are far apart. This connection allows quantum computers to coordinate their qubits in ways that classical computers cannot.

• Quantum Interference - Quantum computers can use interference to enhance the right answers and cancel out the wrong ones during a computation, increasing their efficiency.

Source - https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21929242-400-quantum-information-the-promise/

What’s at risk?

If quantum computers become powerful enough, they could crack the codes that protect government, business, and personal data. Hackers or malicious organizations could steal or misuse this information.

Quantum computers are still in the experimental phase, but experts believe that in the next 10-20 years, they might be able to break current encryption. We need to prepare now to stay ahead.

Source - https://www.thoughtworks.com/en-gb/insights/blog/emerging-tech/post-quantum-cryptography-illustrated-guide

Current encryption algorithms (used today)

Think of encryption as a system of digital locks that protect sensitive information, like a password or credit card number. The lock can only be opened by someone who has the key. In today’s world, the locks we use are very strong, but they rely on the fact that no one can quickly figure out the key without a lot of time and effort.

Here are some popular "digital locks" we use today:

• RSA - It is like a safe that requires a special number to unlock it. It relies on the fact that it’s incredibly hard to break large numbers down into their smaller parts (called prime numbers). Used in everything from securing websites (when you see HTTPS in your browser) to encrypting emails.

  

  Source - https://www.securew2.com/blog/what-is-rsa-asymmetric-encryption

• Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) - It uses shapes called elliptic curves. Imagine the elliptic curve like a rollercoaster track. The math behind ECC lets you "travel" on this track in very specific ways that only people with the right key can understand. If someone doesn’t have the private key, they can’t figure out how to "ride" the curve correctly to unlock the data. ECC is smaller and faster than RSA, which makes it more efficient for smartphones and modern devices.

  

  Source - https://inevitableeth.com/home/concepts/elliptic-curve-cryptography

  

  Source - https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/elliptical-curve-cryptography

• AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) - It is a block cipher, which means it scrambles data into unrecognizable chunks and can only be unscrambled by someone with the correct key. It’s like taking a letter, cutting it into pieces, and then scrambling the pieces so they don’t make sense. Used for encrypting everything from files on your computer to your Wi-Fi network.

  

  Source - https://www.wallarm.com/what/what-is-aes-advanced-encryption-standard

Quantum algorithms (potential future threat)

Here are some examples of quantum algorithms that could break today's cryptography:

1. Shor’s Algorithm - It can quickly break down large numbers into their prime factors. Remember RSA? It’s based on the difficulty of doing exactly this. With a quantum computer running Shor’s algorithm, the huge, hard-to-break numbers that keep RSA secure could be solved in a flash. If someone had a fully functioning quantum computer, they could use Shor’s algorithm to break RSA and ECC, unlocking much of today’s encrypted data.

2. Grover’s Algorithm - It can search through data much faster than current computers. For example, if you had to guess a password, Grover’s algorithm would reduce the number of guesses needed. While Grover’s algorithm doesn’t break encryption completely, it makes it weaker, meaning today’s encryption systems would need to be strengthened to stay secure.

PQC algorithms

PQC is like building stronger locks that quantum computers can’t easily break. These new locks are being developed now to protect our future information when quantum computers are widely available. They rely on mathematical problems that are hard for both current and quantum computers. Here are some of the leading PQC algorithms:

• Lattice-based Cryptography - Imagine a 3D grid, like a lattice or a fence made of dots. The problem here is trying to find the shortest path between two points on this grid - it’s extremely hard to solve. Quantum computers struggle with this as well.

  

  Source - https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/emerging-tech/post-quantum-cryptography-illustrated-guide

• Code-based Cryptography - This method is based on error-correcting codes, which are used in things like data transmission. The challenge for hackers, even with quantum computers, is to decode the message. It's a bit like receiving a scrambled radio signal and trying to unscramble it without knowing the key.

  

  Source - https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/emerging-tech/post-quantum-cryptography-illustrated-guide

• Hash-based Cryptography - This uses a process called "hashing," which turns data into a fixed-size code. Imagine taking a long piece of text and converting it into a unique fingerprint. Once created, it’s very difficult to reverse-engineer the original data from the fingerprint.

  

  Source - https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/emerging-tech/post-quantum-cryptography-illustrated-guide

The goal of these points is to break down the concepts of PQC and quantum computing into manageable, everyday language while highlighting its relevance to everyone’s future.

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Videos - How they actually calculate the Calories and How do Drone Shows Work? are worth watching to understand how these things work.

📝 Articles - 10 sources of plant-based protein for bone health and AI is confusing - here’s your cheat sheet are really good reads.

📱 App - Our local Parkrun friends used the Challenge Hound app to participate in the virtual Run 60 miles in September Challenge by Crohn's & Colitis UK. A friend of ours suffers from Crohn’s disease and she asked us if we could participate with her for this challenge and everyone jumped in. That is when we found this app to track everyone’s efforts together.

📺 TV show - Emily in Paris Season 4 and Kota Factory Season 3 are two amazing series I have been hooked on since Season 1. Where Emily in Paris is very light-hearted, Kota Factory resonates with me differently as I went through that journey myself but never made it to IIT.

🌐 Website - Your Name in Landsat 🛰️is a website where you can type in your name to see it spelt out in Landsat imagery of Earth!

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

If you want to follow me around the internet, then please do so here.

Until we meet again next week, stay healthy, be kind, eat lots of greens and take care of each other.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

I recently turned 40, and thanks to my wife, who organized three differently-themed birthday parties for my 40th, we met a lot of people and had loads of fun. Thanks to everyone who could make it and celebrate with us. We really appreciate having you in our lives. And for those who couldn’t, please remember you are always there in our hearts.

Me and Rinat published our latest podcast episode on Ransomware which we recorded in March. I hope you enjoy this episode. Rinat added an intro, an outro and some nice background music. The quality of the video is also much superior compared to our old videos. Now you can also listen to or watch our podcast from a single link. Two more episodes have been recorded and are waiting to be published.

I ran the Mizuno Half Marathon, part of the Midnight Sun Marathon (MSM) event, at Tromsø in Norway. This run was inside the Arctic Circle during the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and also a day after my 40th birthday. For more details please read the newsletter below.

I went for a communal sauna in Pust Tromsø and it was an incredible experience where we sat in the hot sauna for some time before jumping into the cold Norwegian sea. I did this around 4 to 5 times during the 1-hour time slot, I had booked.

I took part in the Brands Hatch 10K run, organized on the ex-Formula 1 track to raise money for Heart of Kent Hospice. I finished the 10K run in 55min 15 secs. The run had a rolling terrain, and you could see the iconic red chicane on each turn. Hard on the knee but a very different experience.

Source - https://www.instagram.com/p/C-D4x8HKYso/

Took part in Running Out of Time, a climate relay event. It started in Ben Nevis and finished at Big Ben. It aimed to spread a message about climate change by running across 2436 kms from Scotland to England. I ran Stage 209 and Stage 210.

Source - Vegan Runners

As soon as I turned 40, I booked myself for the NHS Healthcheck. It’s a simple check-up to assess my probability of getting diabetes, dementia or cardiovascular disease in the subsequent years of my life. My risk was pretty low for everything even though my HDL came out to be lower than normal which should have been higher.

Table of Contents

• 🏃 Mizuno Half Marathon

• 🖥️ Building a PC

• ✍️ 40 lessons for my 40s

  • 💪 Physical Health

  • 🌿 Veganism

  • 💰 Personal Finance

  • 😎 Relationships

  • 🗺️ Travel

  • 🧠 Mental Health

  • 👶 Parenting

  • 💻 Technology

• ❤️ Things I enjoyed

🏃 Mizuno Half Marathon

This basically summarizes the run for me -

• Running under the midnight sun ✅

• Running inside the Arctic Circle at Tromsø, Norway ✅

• Running during the Summer Solstice ✅

• Running at 40 ✅

• Running Half Marathon PB ✅

• Running a sub 2-hr Half Marathon ✅

• Running with wife and friends ✅

• Running in amazing weather ✅

The run started at 2100 hours and I finished just before 2300 hours on 22-Jun-2024. When I went to bed, it was 0130 hrs on 23-Jun-2024 and fully bright outside. The sun never sets inside the Arctic Circle, during the Summer, and that’s why it’s called the land of the Midnight Sun.

Sprinting to the finish line

The official results are below -

Official result

What an experience running under the midnight sun.

My life

We stayed at Scandic Grand Tromsø, went on an Arctic Fjord Cruise, went up to Fjellheisen, and visited the Polaria aquarium.

We ate at Indie, Wedeb’s, Elefant Indisk and Asian Healthy Food's restaurants.

Overall, it was a time well spent on one of the most amazing experiences of our lives.

🖥️ Building a PC

I had been using a Dell Latitude E7440 since 2015. And it was high time that I upgraded my daily driver, either by buying a new laptop or a PC. I went with the latter option as it gives me more options for future upgrades and offers significant customisation over a laptop.

The final specs look like this for my PC -

Specs

I used the hard disk from my old laptop and I used my existing monitors, keyboard, mouse and printer.

• ⌨️ Keyboard - Logitech K120 Keyboard

• 🖱️ Mouse - Logitech M185 Wireless Mouse

• 🖥️ Monitor - Dell U2415 24.1" WUXGA IPS LED Monitor

• 🖨️ Printer - HP LaserJet Pro M28W Wireless Mono Printer with Wi-Fi

I ordered most of the stuff from Amazon and the graphics card from Scan. I finished the assembly in one evening but it took me longer than I anticipated as I couldn’t figure out all the cabling. This was also my first time assembling the full PC from scratch since my college days.

The PC requires separate power for the motherboard, the CPU, the graphics card, and all the different hard disks. Once you figure out the fundamentals then it was pretty straightforward. Everything on the motherboard needs power from the Power Supply Unit (PSU) and then every component should be able to talk to each other via the motherboard.

Before assembling

After assembling and setting up my desk

The final setup, including the cost breakdown, can be seen here.

✍️ 40 lessons for my 40s

💪 Physical Health

1. Focussing on fitness is as important as focussing on a career.

2. Taking care of yourself is the biggest gift you can give to your children

3. Getting fit requires discipline not achieving goals.

4. Cardio or HIIT (stamina), Yoga (flexibility & balance), and Weight Training (strength) should be the 3 pillars of your fitness routine.

5. It’s easier to stay fit if your partner is also into it.

🌿 Veganism

1. Continue on this path.

2. Killing animals is not the only way.

3. Something we can do to leave a better world for future generations.

4. The feeling of lightness in your body is exhilarating.

5. Ethical living can be expensive but rewarding.

💰 Personal Finance

1. Understanding your sources of income and outgoing expenses is something everyone should know.

2. Cater to your fixed expenses (mortgage/rent, utilities, insurance, bills, etc.) first before you start spending.

3. Understanding personal income tax, your tax code and how you can optimize taxes, is a useful skill.

4. Investing a small amount regularly is more important than investing a large amount once.

5. Insurance (Life and Critical Illness) and pension are useful even though you don’t use them immediately.

😎 Relationships

1. Relationships require continuous nurturing.

2. Out of sight out of mind is real. So you need to put effort into those who matter.

3. Building relations is harder as you grow older unless you share something in common.

4. Staying curious brings value to a relationship as you are sharing new learnings and experiences.

5. Working on yourself is more helpful than focussing on others.

🗺️ Travel

1. Travelling opens your mind but travel like a local.

2. People all across the world have the same issues and needs as everyone else.

3. You realize that the place you live is not that bad after all.

4. Travelling for an experience is far more fulfilling.

5. Walking or running is the best way to get a vibe of the place.

🧠 Mental Health

1. Focussing on many things is never productive.

2. Screen downtime is much needed.

3. Doing nothing is also equally important.

4. Sleep is the most underrated thing.

5. Walking helps clear your head.

👶 Parenting

1. Makes you appreciate what your parents did for you.

2. Hard but rewarding.

3. Helps you to stay grounded. Simple pleasures don’t cost a lot.

4. Witnessing someone grow is a miracle of life.

5. Always surprised by the unconditional love.

💻 Technology

1. Technology evolves but fundamentals stay.

2. Use technology to make your life simpler and more productive.

3. Help those who don’t understand technology. Make it an enabler instead of a barrier. Digital inequality is real.

4. The most powerful device is in the palm of your hand AKA smartphone.

5. Don’t adopt technology for the sake of it. Adopt it only when it brings value to your life.

Inspired by 30 Lessons for my 30s by Ali Abdaal.

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - With the Olympics on now, The Fastest Man Alive | Bolt caught my attention and what an incredible run he had in the last three Olympics.

📝 Article - Summer solstice - in pictures showcases some amazing photos from around the world.

📱 App - Timer Plus - Workouts Timer is a nice little workout app to plan your reps, sets, warm-up and cool-down time. Android and iOS apps are both available.

🎙️ Podcast - The Complete History & Strategy of Starbucks covers the most iconic beverage company in the world, Starbucks. Never knew all the details about how Starbucks became so popular across the world.

📺 TV show - Star Trek Discovery Season 3 is highly recommended. A highly imaginative series based in the future about a spacefaring human civilisation.

🌐 Website - Artificial Analysis - Independent analysis of AI language models and API providers.

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

If you want to follow me around the internet, then please do so here.

Until we meet again next time, stay active, read more, save more, stay disciplined and love more.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

Me and Rinat published our latest podcast episode on Bitcoin Halving which we recorded in March. Hope you enjoy this episode. Rinat used Descript to edit the video, add background music, and a lot more with just one single tool. We also used Squadcast to record our podcasts on the cloud. Really good experience and after interviewing loads of people for producing our podcast we found this tool to be the best bang for our buck.

I also ran the Berlin Half Marathon in my new Hoka shoes and it was one of the best running experiences of my life. For more details please read the newsletter below.

I completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge in 10 hrs 28 mins with a friend. And we have now registered to do the UK National Three Peaks Challenge in August 2024.

I am also taking part in the Mizuno Half Marathon, part of the Midnight Sun Marathon (MSM) event, at Tromsø in Norway. I’m excited about this run as it’s inside the Arctic Circle during the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and also a day after my 40th birthday.

Rinat and I also went to the F1 Arcade experience in London and racing each other in a simulator was fun. It had different levels of driver assists available right from full assist to zero assist and boy it was hard. Following the racing line and controlling your speed at the same time is very challenging.

I tried Taekwondo with Aquila Taekwondo as I want to learn some form of martial arts this year. And I already knew their instructors, Master Kuzey and Georgina, from our local Parkrun so it was easy to start with. But unfortunately, I can’t find the time in my current schedule to fit it. Hopefully, I can join them sometime in the future. Loved all the kicking.

I swam 40 laps of breaststroke at the London Aquatics Centre, the most technologically advanced and stunning swimming facility in the world. It was also the official venue for all swimming events of the London Olympics in 2012. I wanted to swim 40 laps in one go to celebrate turning 40 this year.

I ran at the Bushy Parkrun where the 1st ever Parkrun event occurred 20 years ago on 2 October 2004. This was like a pilgrimage for me and for many people who run at Parkrun events. The event worked precisely by the clock, with the run starting on time and the results being published before 10:30 AM for 1590 finishers.

Also, I breached the 1200 rating on LiChess in the 10-minute Rapid-style chess.

And we are, as a family, riding in the Ford RideLondon FreeCycle event on the 26 May 2024. This is the ultimate ride for cyclists of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. Set on a traffic-free 10 km route, the event is a unique opportunity to explore central London by bike and it's completely free to take part!

In this edition

• 🏃🏻 Generali Berlin Half Marathon 2024

  • DAY 1

  • DAY 2

  • DAY 3

• 🚶 Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge 2024

  • DAY 1

  • DAY 2

  • DAY 3

• 🏋🏼 Fat Free at 43

  • TRACK

  • TRAIN

  • TRANSFORM

• ❤️ Things I enjoyed

🏃🏻 Generali Berlin Half Marathon 2024

My 2nd Half Marathon was one amazing event. The crowd, the atmosphere, and the route were all amazing. Cherry on top was the presence of my family which felt amazing. Sharing such moments with your family is the best feeling.

We went there for the weekend and did lots of sightseeing and ate lots of vegan/vegetarian food and of course, the best part was the Generali Berlin Half Marathon. With over 30,000 participants it is one of the best organized events in the world.

DAY 1

We arrived in Berlin on 05-Apr-2024 and checked into our hotel about:Berlin after taking public transport which was very efficient and convenient. The most unusual thing we noticed in Berlin was that there were no entry or exit gates at any of the stations. This meant that sometimes we forgot to buy tickets as you can walk straight to the train without a single gate to stop you.

Our first agenda was to meet my wife’s cousin for brunch at Avocado Club followed by coffee at Ben Rahim. He is working in Germany and came to visit us.

After coffee, we walked around a bit before joining a guided walk. This was Welcome to Berlin! by Walkative!. It was quite a pleasant walk with lots to see around central Berlin covering history, politics, geography and World War. My most favourite site was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. It is a must-visit site in Berlin.

Source - Google Maps

We then went to pick up my racing pack from the Tempelhof airport. It’s a massive place which used to be an airport but now hosts different events.

We retired for the night after a dosa special dinner at Saravanaa Bhavan.

DAY 2

My wife and her cousin woke up early to run the Hasenheide parkrun while me and my son enjoyed breakfast at The Visit Coffee & Eatery. We went for lunch at Miss Pho after my wife and her cousin returned and got fresh.

They then headed out for another guided walk while me and my son had some rest in the hotel. I wanted to rest my legs before the big event the next day. We met them later in the evening just as they finished their walk.

The highlight of the evening was the East Side Gallery which is street art drawn over a part of the Berlin Wall. We saw some thought-provoking art. And the other highlight was the dinner at Dervish a restaurant serving vegan food from Central Asia. We sat on cushions on the floor and ate traditionally.

DAY 3

My wife’s cousin had to leave early morning as it was a long journey back to his place before he started work the next day. So after bidding him goodbye, we started getting ready for the race.

My strategy was the same as the last run at Lisbon -

• take 4 gels during the run,

• try to cover at least 11 kms in the first hour,

• and finish the Half Marathon in under 2 hours.

I think my strategy was good but my pace was affected by the heat. It was 19°C when the race started and by the time I finished, it was 22°C. The water stations every 5 kms also didn’t help as I frequently got thirsty after the first 5 km. In Lisbon, the water stations were there every 2.5 kms after the 10th km which helped a lot in the heat.

My running splits for the whole race

My pace dropped as I progressed through the race but I aimed to finish before the 2 hr pacer crossed the finish line which I did by just 22 seconds.

My overall result and final position

I think after the run I was relieved and eagerly wanted to hug my wife and son. It was a while before I managed to find them since the mobile network in the area was very choppy.

Walking to the start

Start of the race

Just before the finish after crossing the famous Brandenburg gate

At the finish

With the medal

With my family

After the run, we went back to Miss Pho for lunch. Got fresh, checked out of the hotel, and my wife paid a €60 fine on the train for not having a ticket, a direct consequence of us forgetting to buy a ticket because there were no gates at the station. I had free travel because of participating in the race but my wife, unfortunately, didn’t have such luck. We finished our day by having dinner at Amrit before we headed to the airport.

🚶 Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge 2024

The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge is a 24-mile (38.6km) round trip route and includes 1585m (5200ft) of ascent.

It takes on the peaks of Ingleborough (723 metres), Pen-y-Ghent (694 metres) and Whernside (736 metres) in under 12 hours.

These hills form part of the Pennine range, and encircle the head of the valley of the River Ribble, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

I always wanted to do this challenge ever since I heard about it and finally got an opportunity to do it this year with another friend from our Parkrun.

DAY 1

We drove in my car for close to 7 hours, including two breaks, to reach YHA Ingleton, our stay for the event.

The check-in was smooth and we headed out for dinner at Peaks & Troughs after shopping at Morrisons for some groceries.

Our dorm room

Preparing sandwiches for the event. Hummus and sundried tomatoes on sourdough bread

After dinner, we prepared our kit and sandwiches and showered to prepare for the long day ahead.

DAY 2

It was an early morning start and we needed to reach the starting point by 0530 hrs to start before 0600 hrs. We got ready and had a quick breakfast before heading out in the freezing 1°C.

Early morning drive to the start

The start was before 0600 hrs and it was a beautiful day to do the challenge.

At the start in very cold conditions.

We finished the first two peaks in 4.5 hrs.

Summit of Ingleborough

The base of Pen-y-Ghent

But the walk to the third summit took 5 hrs. I felt the challenge was less about the summits and more about walking the distance between each summit. There were two water stops, one of which was also a lunch break. But apart from that it was constant walking which felt very tiring. Overall, the weather was good, the company was great, our guide was excellent and we finished the challenge in well under 12 hours.

Ribblehead Viaduct

Summit of Whernside

Completed the challenge in 10 hrs and 28 mins.

Without the support and our guide, this would have been quite a difficult challenge to do on your own. I drank close to 5 litres of water, plus protein bars, gels, sandwiches and a lot more. The toughest part would be to carry all the water with you.

DAY 3

After having a good breakfast, dropping our keys and filling the fuel in our car, we drove back to London and this time it was quite fast. I think we reached in around 4.5 hours.

Overall, it is a great challenge to do on a sunny day but not on a cold wet day 😀.

🏋🏼 Fat Free at 43

I have followed Ankur Warikoo since 2022 now and have been a fan of what he talks about personal finance. But recently he released a video where he showed how he transformed himself at 43. This was an amazing transformation to watch.

He calls it the 3T (Track, Train and Transform) framework to lose weight.

TRACK

You can’t improve till you know where you are. So measuring everything is very important.

It doesn’t matter what diet you follow or what food you eat. Losing weight is all based on simple mathematics. Consume less food to burn more fat.

Maintenance calories - These are the calories needed to maintain your existing weight. If you eat more calories than this, then you will gain weight. If you eat less calories than this, then you will lose weight. Once you reach your target weight, eat the amount of calories needed to maintain that weight.

My maintenance calorie is 2623 kcal/day at 74.7 kgs (current weight) compared to 2516 kcal/day at 68 kgs (target weight). One needs to burn around 7000 to 7500 kcal to lose 1 kg of body weight. So if I go into a calorie deficit and reach my target weight of 68 kgs, then my new maintenance calorie would be 2516 kcal/day.

Counting calories - Using apps like MyFitnessPal, he was keeping track of all the calories he was consuming.

Calorie deficit - By spending more calories and consuming fewer calories one can go into a calorie deficit. A 500-calorie deficit every day would result in around 1 kg of weight loss every two weeks. He controlled this by doing intermittent fasting, reducing his meal portions and consuming more healthy foods than junk foods.

Increasing protein intake - He recommends the following diet composition to shred fat and gain muscles. This is important to help replace the fat by building muscles. Your body weight is composed of

1. Bone weight

2. Muscles mass

3. Fat mass

4. Water mass

We want to increase muscle mass while keeping fat mass low.

TRAIN

Building muscles comes by lifting weights (and increasing protein intake) so that you don’t become skinny while you are losing fat.

Ankur Warikoo also did cardio in the form of playing tennis. But one can do anything to increase their overall cardiovascular health (how fit are your heart and lungs?). Cardio exercises help in losing weight. But if you eat excess calories then it won’t matter. In the end, it’s all about counting calories. No wonder getting a ripped body in six months to a year has now been narrowed down to an exact science.

Napping, sleeping, and meditation were three things he mentioned to help with our mental well-being as well. Sleeping helps in faster recovery and faster weight loss.

In a separate video, he outlines all the exercises one can do at home to increase one’s fitness. These exercises target shoulders, chest, biceps, triceps, legs, core, back and calf muscles.

I designed a simple workout that can be done in 15 mins max.

1. 10 x Pushups on fist

2. 10 x Squats

3. 10 x Bicep curls | 10kg DB* /hand

4. 10 x Tricep bench dip

5. 30 secs Plank

6. 20 x Leg flutter kicks

7. 30 secs Static hold - 20kg KB*

8. 20 x Calf raises

9. 20 x Toe curls

10. 10 x Overhead press - 10kg DB*/hand

*DB - Dumb Bell, KB - Kettle Bell

TRANSFORM

Tracking daily measurements like body measurements, taking photos, and measuring weight is important to see the progress one is making. He gives us this sheet to track our progress and see our transformation.

Note - The image on the second video seems to be AI-generated with his face swapped to it.

Remember there is no good food or bad food and humans are incredible at consuming almost anything. It’s all about the calories in the end.

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - Photos I took in the midnight sun 😵‍💫 is a video to remind me how beautiful Tromsø would be in June. Simply mesmerizing.

📝 Article - The Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps is an interesting list of all the latest consumer apps used across various categories.

📱 App - Termius is an SSH client and terminal you can use to connect with one click from any mobile.

🎙️ Podcast - The Complete History & Strategy of Microsoft is the best podcast I have heard in a long time summarising the journey of Microsoft and how pivotal its role has been in shaping the computer industry.

🎞️ Movie - I watched two thought-provoking films recently - Civil War and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. The first film focussed on the civil war in the USA and what it meant for the whole country. The second film focussed on humanity’s effort to regain the position of the most dominant species on Earth.

🌐 Website - #ShowYourStripes is an amazing site illustrating the rise in average temperatures in London and all global locations around the world.

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

If you want to follow me around the internet, then please do so here.

Until we meet again next week, be positive, train more, be cardio-fit and lift weights.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

Me and Rinat published the two podcast episodes we recorded in Feb. The first one was on Social Media Addiction, and the second one was on the Impact of AI on Jobs. Hope you enjoy these episodes. We have recently recorded another podcast episode which we will publish hopefully in April 2024.

I also completed my first-ever half marathon in Lisbon. It was a great experience as this was my first big running event since Vitality London 10,000. Read more below about my whole experience.

After my half marathon and running over 650 kms in my New Balance shoes, I decided to get a new pair and went to do a gait analysis at the Run & Become store and bought myself Hoka Clifton 9 Wide shoes. I can’t wait to run my next half marathon in Berlin on 07-Apr-2024 in my new shoes.

Since my last newsletter, I have watched Dune 2 and went to a social dinner event organized by Vegan Runners London at Wulf & Lamb, Marylebone. Loved the soundtrack of Dune 2 and the dinner at Wulf & Lamb was exquisite. It’s incredible to see plant-based restaurants doing well in London.

I also took part in the application process for the Machine Learning Institute’s Deep Learning System Design Bootcamp but unfortunately couldn’t join their cohort starting in March 2024, even though I did get selected. However, the whole journey was quite enlightening and helped me get introduced to a lot of machine learning concepts. Hopefully, I will be able to join their 8-week cohort in the later part of this year.

I have also registered for the Open Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge in April 2024 and this has been on my list for a long time. The total walking distance is 39.2 kms and the three peaks include Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough. Let’s hope the weather is good that day.

I also enjoyed playing Squid Game Virtuals at Sandbox VR with a few of my friends. This was an exhilarating experience with VR headsets and motion capture. The experience felt very real and I would highly recommend this as a group activity. We were drenched in sweat by the end of it.

It was Holi last weekend and we celebrated it with a few local friends and participated in an event organized by my wife’s dance school in Wembley.

In this edition

• 🏃🏻 EDP Lisbon Half Marathon 2024

• 💬 Chat with LLMs

• 🧮 Step Count

• ❤️ Things I enjoyed

🏃🏻 EDP Lisbon Half Marathon 2024

I recently took part in the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon 2024. This was my first-ever official Half Marathon and I aimed to finish the run in under 2 hours.

I arrived in Lisbon on 15-Mar-2024 with the race scheduled for 17-Mar-2024. I collected my race bib from the event expo on 16-Mar-2024 and relaxed for the rest of the day. Preparing for the run meant figuring out what the weather would be like and what would I need for the run. I also got my kit ready the night before to ensure I could leave on time for the run. I also needed to check out before I left for the run, so I needed to plan and pack the night before.

I had planned on taking 4 Maurten Gel 100 for the whole run - 1 just before the run started and 3 during the run itself. I already stored music on my Garmin fēnix 6X Pro watch for offline listening using my Shokz OpenRun headphones. This kept my mobile phone free for use and saved its battery as I didn’t need to use Bluetooth or any mobile data for listening to music.

The places I ate in Lisbon served vegan food which was quite good -

1. Organi Chiado - All items on the menu were vegan which was such a relief.

2. Jardim das Cerejas - Chiado - This restaurant serves vegan buffet lunch and dinner with a varying menu.

3. KOPPU RAMEN - This was a nice place to have some good ramen before the run.

I also stayed at the Living Lounge Hostel in Lisbon. It is centrally located and has good transport connectivity. The rooms and bathrooms were very clean. And breakfast is included in the price. The staff also was very helpful and I would highly recommend this place if you are travelling solo.

Public transport was free for all the runners on the day and it felt incredible to see so many runners out there.

The run started from a very long bridge and the views were amazing. There were a lot of people at the start line warming up, chatting away, or queuing up for the toilet.

This run is also part of the SuperHalfs series. It’s a series of 6 Half Marathons across 6 major cities in Europe. I am doing three of them this year (highlighted in bold).

1. Lisbon

2. Prague

3. Berlin

4. Copenhagen

5. Cardiff

6. Valencia

This was my official time with the official splits.

Source - https://results.sporthive.com/events/7142907578304137472/races/487965/bib/12366

I performed better than the average field in the second half of the race when it became very hot. This was due to the gels I had been taking and also the water and energy drinks I drank at all the aid stations during the run. I used the water to hydrate myself and also poured a bit to cool myself down. There was a sprinkler in the run as well which showered water on us as we ran underneath it.

Source - https://results.sporthive.com/events/7142907578304137472/races/487965/bib/12366

By the time I finished the run, it was 22° Celsius. It’s very hot for a run. I managed to get boils in my toes and also my right toe-nail turned a bit black thanks to my tight shoes and the toe-nail hitting the front of the shoe throughout the run. I saw at least two people collapsed on the side of the road due to the heat. It was a fast run but if people didn’t fuel or hydrate themselves then they would pay a price by the last part of the run with their speed and endurance.

But overall it was a great run. Nice and flat with just a small hill and a long downhill. Amazing views, a good crowd and incredible hospitality. People in Lisbon are very warm.

I took a hot/cold shower back in the hostel after the run. They were kind enough to keep my luggage and allow me to shower even though I had already checked out. All in all, it was a good event.

💬 Chat with LLMs

Recently Large Language Models (LLMs) have been quite popular in the media and for good reason. I have used a lot of them and wanted to list out the ones I know that people can use.

1. OpenAI ChatGPT 3.5 - https://chat.openai.com/

2. Google Gemini - https://gemini.google.com/app

3. Anthropic Claude 3 - https://claude.ai/chats

4. Meta Llama 2 - https://www.llama2.ai/

5. HuggingChat - https://huggingface.co/chat/

6. Perplexity - https://www.perplexity.ai/

7. xAI Grok - https://grok.x.ai/

8. Mistral AI - https://chat.mistral.ai/

9. Large Model Systems Organization (LMSYS Org) - https://chat.lmsys.org/

10. Cohere Coral - https://coral.cohere.com/

11. WolframAlpha - https://www.wolframalpha.com/

This list is not comprehensive but it covers the most popular ones which I know. Feel free to try them and see which ones are more suitable for your needs. For most, you would need a login.

Some prompt engineering guides offered by a few of them are listed here -

1. Anthropic’s Prompt library

2. Google’s Introduction to Prompt Design

3. OpenAI’s Prompt Engineering

4. Cohere’s Prompt Engineering

5. Wolfram Prompt Repository

Happy prompting.

🧮 Step Count

Martin Lewis from Money Saving Expert publishes his yearly step count every year since 2015. And it’s incredible to see how much he does in a year. Some stats from last year can be seen below -

Source - https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2024/01/-martin-lewis--in-2023-i-averaged-25-142-steps---burning-3-917-c/

I have recently started enjoying my walks but the Half Marathon preparation meant I have had to taper down a bit for my body to rest and recover from all the training. After my Berlin Half Marathon, I intend to resume all my walks and training to my full potential.

The reason I wanted to share this article is because step counts are highly underrated. Moving around throughout the day helps our body and mind a lot. Ever since I started walking regularly I have noticed that my back pain has reduced considerably, if not gone completely. I get better sleep and I feel better. My mind is more open to new ideas and thoughts and I become less anxious throughout the day.

His big rule is that if he is talking then he is walking, especially for taking calls. And I tend to do the same if I don’t need a video for a call.

He also burnt close to 4000 calories per day as a result of his step count. Which is honestly a lot considering he is just walking.

Hopefully, this would encourage a lot of you to embrace walking in your local parks or on a treadmill. Getting out every day even for a bit is such a good thing for our mind and body.

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - World's Fastest Camera Drone Vs F1 Car (ft. Max Verstappen) and World's Best FPV Drone Shot? (extreme mountain biking) are adrenaline-fueled videos that I highly enjoyed watching.

📝 Article - Generative AI exists because of the transformer by the Financial Times explains how tools like ChatGPT work.

📱 App - I have recently started using Splitwise, based on my wife’s recommendation to manage our joint expenses. It's looking good so far.

🎙️ Podcast - Nvidia Part III: The Dawn of the AI Era (2022-2023) is an absolute eye-opener podcast about Nvidia, OpenAI and many things that culminated in the current AI boom.

📺 TV show - 3 Body Problem based on Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem book is a sci-fi crisis faced by humanity when they are about to be invaded by aliens. It is currently available to watch on Netflix.

🌐 Website - Calculatio - The best way to calculate things.

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you enjoy what I am sharing.

If you want to follow me around the internet, then please do so here.

Until we meet again next week, stay healthy, walk more, eat good food and be grateful.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

Since the publishing of the last newsletter, I have walked a total of 39.89 kms as part of a new morning routine. I have done 4 strength training sessions, 2 Parkruns, 3 long runs totalling 41.12 kms and 1 yoga session. I have been trying to incorporate 2 runs, 2 strength training sessions, 2 long walks, and 1 yoga session per week. I aim to increase my strength while also maintaining decent levels of cardio fitness with flexibility and strength. Let’s see if I can keep up with my routine.

The other thing I have been obsessed about lately is the “use it or lose it“ concept. We all lose muscles, bones, and tissues (including brain tissue) as we age. And after being injured multiple times, I can safely say that our bodies are highly adaptable. The only caveat is we need to use it properly and regularly. We need to stay physically and mentally fit if we need to enjoy our old age. And to aid this we need to regularly exercise, have a proper diet and get good quality sleep. Three things I am now focussing on.

I also joined Vegan Runners UK. It’s the biggest club in Parkrun in the UK. I wanted to be associated with some club which represents my current lifestyle as well as my current passion. Hoping it brings more positive changes in my life.

Me and Rinat also recorded 2 podcasts and we are hoping to get those episodes out as soon as possible. Stay tuned.

I am also training for my first-ever Half Marathon event in Lisbon in March. The focus is on building running endurance, muscle strength, cardiovascular fitness and fueling strategy. I have completed 100 kms of running already this year. And hoping to complete another 50 kms or more before the event.

In this edition

1. Large Language Models (LLMs)

2. Lies You've Been Told

3. 🎙️ The Vegan Dr

4. ❤️ Things I enjoyed

🤖 Large Language Models (LLMs)

I recently attended a meetup where we discussed a paper on converting words into vectors. It was an unknown subject for me but the more I spent the evening reading the paper, the more curious I became. Everything we know about LLMs is a black box to most people.

During the meetup, a person recommended me to read a newsletter issue about LLMs

Large language models, explained with a minimum of math and jargon

Want to really understand how large language models work? Here’s a gentle primer.

seantrott.substack.com/p/large-language-models-explained

Some key points from the article are listed below. Please do read the whole article for better insight into the inner workings of LLMs.

Word vectors

Word meaning depends on context

Transforming word vectors into word predictions

Can I have your attention please

The feed-forward step

How language models are trained

Traditionally, a major challenge for building language models was figuring out the most useful way of representing different words—especially because the meanings of many words depend heavily on context. The next-word prediction approach allows researchers to sidestep this thorny theoretical puzzle by turning it into an empirical problem. It turns out that if we provide enough data and computing power, language models end up learning a lot about how human language works simply by figuring out how to best predict the next word. The downside is that we wind up with systems whose inner workings we don’t fully understand.

🤥 Lies You've Been Told

I regularly read Sahil Bloom’s newsletter and in one of his newsletters from last year, he mentioned all the lies we have ever been told. Be careful, as these are his opinions from his own experience. And what I have come to realize is that everyone has a different opinion of the same things. So feel free to absorb what connects with you the most.

Lies You've Been Told About the World | The Curiosity Chronicle

The Curiosity Chronicle has quickly become one of the most popular newsletters for growth-minded individuals in the world. Each week, subscribers receive a deep dive that covers topics ranging from growth and decision-making to business, finance, startups, and technology. In addition, subscribers receive The Friday Five, a weekly newsletter with five ideas curated to spark curiosity headed into the weekend.

www.sahilbloom.com/newsletter/lies-youve-been-told-about-the-world

These are the 23 lies discussed in the above article.

Money is the only type of wealth. - In reality, there are 5 types of wealth:

• Financial (money)

• Social (relationships)

• Physical (health)

• Mental (health, knowledge, faith)

• Time (freedom)

The blind pursuit of financial wealth can rob you of the others. Never let that happen. Use incremental financial wealth as a tool to increase your other types of wealth.

Money can buy happiness. - Money is very directly correlated with happiness up to a baseline level of needs (food, shelter, etc.). Beyond that level, there are clear diminishing returns to the happiness derived from each incremental dollar.

There are timelines to achieve things in life. - The timelines we create for ourselves are mostly just arbitrary nonsense.

You don’t have to work hard. - What you work on is more important than how hard you work, but if you're striving for great things, you have to work hard.

You need to have formal mentors. - Instead of focusing on finding a formal mentor, build a Personal Board of Advisors. The key features of a Personal Board of Advisors:

• Group of 5-10 individuals. The members don't need to know each other or that they are on your board. Informality is a feature, not a bug.

• Unbiased (not family).

• Diverse experiences.

• Willing to provide raw, candid feedback.

You need to have the perfect idea in order to build something meaningful. - There’s no shortage of great ideas, just a shortage of people willing to put in the effort to capitalize on them.

You should say no to most opportunities. - As a general rule of thumb:

• Early on, say yes - it puts you into growth-conducive situations. Saying yes allows you to expand your luck surface area.

• Once you're established, say no - to focus and build leverage. Saying no allows you to focus on the 10x+ opportunities.

Free time is bad. - When you have free time, you have the headspace and bandwidth to pursue new ideas. Free time creates alpha.

Very few people have anything of value to offer. - Life gets so much better when you realize you can learn from anyone. No one is too old, young, rich, or poor to teach you something valuable.

Big changes will just happen on their own. - Nothing just happens - that’s for the movies, not real life. You have to kick down the door and blast through to the other side.

Your friends will always be there for you. - Your real friends are there when it is none of those things. They are there when you have nothing to offer in return.

You have to wait for luck to strike. - It’s hard to get lucky watching TV at home. It’s easy to get lucky when you’re engaging and learning - physically or digitally.

The world is a zero-sum game. - Celebrate everyone’s wins and you’ll start winning more. A rising tide lifts all boats.

Your GPA and test scores will define your future. - To be successful, you either need to learn how to build or you need to learn how to sell. People who know how to build AND sell are unbeatable.

The world is run by remarkable people. - Most of the people you admire are unremarkable.

Take all the advice that you can get. - Winners learn to filter and selectively implement advice - take the signal, skip the noise.

You have to be interesting to get ahead in life. - Interesting people sound impressive, but the reality is that being INTERESTED is more important than being INTERESTING.

You’re “too late". - This fallacy is driven by the fact that humans are terrible at comprehending exponential growth.

You can learn everything you need to know by reading books. - You can read every business and self-help book in the world, but ultimately the only way to learn is by f***ing it up.

There are shortcuts to achieve success in life. - The only “hack” is relentless consistency. It’s not glamorous and it's not fun but it works.

The smartest people always have the best answers. - The most intelligent people don't have the best answers - they ask the best questions.

You have to become an expert at something. - Many experts succeed because of the range of pursuits that preceded their main endeavor.

Most people are bad. - There are a few bad people out there, but most people are fundamentally good. They just want to be able to provide for their family and live well.

🎙️ The Vegan Dr 🌱

Dr. Neal Barnard was recently featured on an episode of the podcast, The Diary of a CEO by Steven Bartlett titled The Truth About The Vegan Diet, “Eggs Are Making You Fat”, “Stop Eating Cheese!”

🔑 Key Takeaways

1. Westernized diets, influenced by fast food chains, have led to increased rates of diseases like breast cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease in countries like Japan and China. Dr Neal Barnard aims to promote plant-based diets to prevent these health issues.

2. By prioritizing fibre-rich foods and a plant-based diet, weight loss can be achieved without calorie restriction or intense exercise, leading to a boosted metabolism and improved digestion.

3. Increasing fibre intake through a plant-based diet rich in fibre can naturally aid weight loss by carrying unabsorbed calories out of the body, while also providing overall health benefits.

4. A plant-based diet has been proven to effectively treat diabetes, challenging the notion of it being a lifelong, incurable condition. Understanding insulin and glucose metabolism is vital in harnessing the benefits of this diet.

5. Adopting a plant-based diet low in oils and animal fat can reverse insulin resistance and diabetes by dissipating fat inside cells and allowing the insulin key to function properly.

6. Supplementation of vitamin B12 is necessary for those following a plant-based diet. Taking a B12 supplement is crucial, and following a predominantly plant-based diet has significant physical benefits. Transitioning gradually to a plant-based diet can lead to noticeable changes in weight, taste preferences, and overall well-being.

7. Adopting a plant-based diet not only improves health but also saves money. By focusing on plant-based foods and eliminating meat and cheese, individuals can save about $500 per year and reduce the need for medications and doctor visits.

8. Adding anthocyanin-rich foods like blueberries to your diet may lower abdominal fat, aid in weight loss, improve memory, and enhance cognitive function, especially in older adults. However, further research is needed for conclusive evidence.

9. Being aware of our biases is essential for making informed choices and evaluating information accurately.

10. The dairy industry's practices can have negative impacts on both animals and humans, including emotional distress for cows, weight gain and hormone imbalances for consumers, and contributing to the overconsumption of high-calorie cheese.

11. A balanced plate with a variety of plant-based foods and moderate protein is essential for optimal health.

12. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cabbage are high in fibre and low in calories, making them effective for weight loss. They also have cancer-prevention properties and support overall health.

13. Our food choices play a significant role in our overall health. Opting for a diet rich in nutrient-rich foods and avoiding high-cholesterol foods like eggs can have a positive impact on weight loss and hormone levels.

14. Making dietary choices such as reducing fat intake, increasing fibre, and following a plant-based diet with low oil intake may lower estrogen levels, reduce the risk of breast cancer, alleviate menstrual cramps, improve menopausal symptoms, and optimize reproductive health.

15. Maintaining a healthy BMI and avoiding excess body fat, along with reducing dairy intake, can help optimize fertility by regulating estrogen levels and promoting a healthy reproductive system.

16. A properly functioning thyroid gland is essential for overall well-being. Iodine deficiency and antibodies attacking the thyroid gland are common causes of thyroid problems. A plant-based diet may help reverse hypothyroidism and reduce the risk of hyperthyroidism. Further research is needed for conclusive evidence.

17. Making healthier dietary choices, such as opting for blueberries over chips and avoiding saturated fats, can contribute to weight loss, reduce the risk of Alzheimer's, and protect cognitive abilities.

18. Prioritizing brain health through sleep, a healthy diet, exercise, and being mindful of medications can greatly impact memory and emotional control, regardless of age. Start now for long-term benefits.

19. Taking care of our health from a young age can prevent future health issues and promote overall well-being, including protecting against atherosclerosis and maintaining brain health.

20. Regular exercise, a healthy diet, and adequate sleep can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Including vegetables in your diet and being mindful of metal intake are also important factors in maintaining a healthy brain.

21. Being aware of the presence of aluminium in our daily lives and making conscious choices to minimize exposure can have a positive impact on our health.

22. By actively listening, conducting personal research, and focusing on progress rather than perfection, individuals can implement impactful ideas into their lives and create positive change.

All the above points have been taken from the podcast summary available at Podcast Disclosed. Please do listen to the podcast even if you are sceptical of the vegan diet.

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - THE A.I.//И.И. (Lazy Square & 1inch Collaboration III) is a funny animation about what would happen if we didn’t work with AI.

📝 Article - 20 of the coolest travel adventures for 2024 and Where to travel in 2024, without crowds highlight 2024 trends related to travelling.

📱 App - Download Microsoft Copilot on Android or iOS devices to start using GPT-4 without a paid subscription to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

💬 Quote -

🎙️ Podcast - Harvard Professor: They’re Lying To You About Running, Breathing & Sitting! - Daniel Lieberman is an interesting episode from the podcast, The Diary of a CEO. It takes a completely different spin on our notion of exercise, the purpose of life, cancer, etc. The podcast summary is available here.

🎵 Song - Divya Drishti (दिव्य-दृष्टि) | DeeVoy Singh is an excellent song with some very intense lyrics.

🌐 Website - This web page is a simple printable calendar with the full year on a single page

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

If you want to follow me around the internet, then please do so here.

Until we meet again next week, walk more, listen more, be more interested and be more grateful for the things you have.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

Since my last newsletter, I have been incredibly active. Below is a screenshot from my Strava.

I have started bouldering at Rhino Boulder. I started going for a walk once a week. I ran 57 kms and started lifting weights twice a week. My Parkrun PB for 2024 so far is 22 min 52 sec. I have aimed to add 5 days of activity per week.

I am also reducing my weight slowly. All the extra weight I put on during my India holiday is taking a lot of time to shed.

We also had to get a new boiler fixed at our rental property. But we got a good deal using BOXT and would highly recommend their service. They provide the boiler, the spare parts and the gas engineer. It’s a one-stop shop. Please let me know if anyone needs a referral discount.

💔 Coronary heart disease (CHD)

CHD is the leading cause of death in the world.

1. Source 1 - https://ourworldindata.org/causes-of-death

2. Source 2 - https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death

What is CHD?

The illustration below shows a blocked artery.

Source - https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/coronary-artery-disease-health-education-infographic_10139045.htm

What does a heart do?

What causes CHD?

The article below highlights the various treatments available.

Coronary heart disease - Treatment

Read about the treatments for coronary heart disease (CHD). Although it cannot be cured, treatment can help manage the symptoms and reduce the risk of further problems.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronary-heart-disease/treatment

But a blocked artery cannot be unblocked and it’s a progressive disease. So please ensure you take significant measures in your life to prevent/delay this disease.

🎞️ Society of the Snow / 🌿 Veganism

What does it mean to be a vegan? Would I be vegan under any circumstances? Why am I vegan? And what does being vegan have to do with a film I watched on Netflix about people who survive by consuming the dead?

Society of the Snow is a powerful film about a real-life incident about the survivors of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, chartered to fly a rugby team to Chile in 1972. The flight crashes on a glacier in the Andes and the few passengers who survive the crash find themselves in one of the world's toughest environments.

Society of the Snow (2023) ⭐ 7.9 | Adventure, Drama, History

2h 24m | R

www.imdb.com/title/tt16277242

The survivors have a very tough time initially figuring out how to survive the cold and eventually, as a group, decide that if they need to survive the cold they would need to start consuming the dead. Till rescue arrives.

That forced me to think. Would I have stayed vegan in that situation if it was a question of my survival? Whether I live or die depends on that question. I thought maybe not. Maybe I am vegan because I can be since it is no longer a question of my survival where I live currently. It is more of a lifestyle choice. I am not driven by the question of my survival.

So under what conditions would I not be vegan? Maybe if I am in an extreme environment. But even then I can carry food with me that is vegan and I would still be alright. So maybe it’s not the location. It could be the situation. Maybe I’m deficient in some nutrients or I am in an extremely remote location that I have run out of all food options.

I thought about these questions and ended up with a final answer. I am vegan because I choose to be vegan. If a question of my survival arises, maybe I would assess my options then. But till then I would choose to be vegan.

But why do I choose to be vegan? When I was a meat eater I used to eat anything that could be cooked. I became vegetarian because I was eating a lot of meat and wanted to control my consumption. I ended up staying vegetarian for almost 5 years. I decided to be vegan after watching The Game Changers. I simply decided to give up all animal products. From eating everything and anything to eating nothing. I thought it was the most logical choice. Why have bias when you are eating something, I thought.

I have always been comfortable with my choice. But friends and families have struggled. They didn’t understand my choice initially and sometimes we had a conflict of interest. But more or less people have now settled with me being vegan.

My arguments for being vegan

1. It’s a healthy lifestyle with a lot of vegetables and fruits in my diet. I feel much lighter and more energetic. My bowel motions are regular. I don’t feel constipated. I can eat a lot and still recover quickly. I don’t fall sick very often and I don’t get a lot of stomach upsets.

2. We don’t NEED to eat any animal products for our survival. We don’t NEED to kill/torture/exploit any animal to feed ourselves. If we WANT to we can eat animal products but we don’t NEED to.

3. Being vegetarian is as bad as being a meat eater. A cow is injected with semen multiple times to make it pregnant so it can produce milk for human consumption. A chicken is exploited to deliver eggs constantly for human consumption. Once they stop giving milk/eggs they are either left to die or slaughtered for human consumption. It isn’t very economical to feed animals to keep them alive, that is not giving any added value to their owners. Source - Maa Ka Doodh

4. We are selective when it comes to killing certain animals. Essentially, animals are categorized as follows -

   • Wild animals - Lion, Elephant, etc.

   • Farm animals - Cow, Goat, Pig, Chicken, etc.

   • Working animals - Horse, Camel, Donkey, etc.

   • Companion animals - Dogs, Cats, etc.

   • Sea/River animals - Shark, Whale, Dolphin, Salmon, Cod, fishes etc.

   We are trying to protect wild animals from becoming extinct. We have replaced most working animals with machinery. We need companion animals for our entertainment or to give us company. So why do farm animals or sea/river animals get a bad deal? And why are we OK with killing/exploiting only them?

5. Time and again the data shows that a vegan diet is far more beneficial for the environment. Simply because it produces fewer carbon emissions. Source - Vegans, vegetarians, fish-eaters and meat-eaters in the UK show discrepant environmental impacts

6. 77% of agricultural land is used for feeding farm animals which accounts for only 18% of all calorie supply and only 37% of all protein supply. The remainder of our calorie supply (82%) and protein supply (63%) comes from plant sources using only 23% of the agricultural land. So majority of agricultural land is used to feed animals and not humans. Source - Land Use

7. It is not a new thing or a fad. The oldest vegan organization in the world, The Vegan Society, was started in 1944. It has become more popular in recent times because of the increasing environmental and health impact of other diets. Source - The Vegan Society History

8. My risk factors for inflammation, obesity, diabetes, cancer, stroke, dementia and even heart disease have reduced after shifting to a vegan diet. It’s not fully eliminated but a reduction is far better than nothing.

9. Overfishing has deprived our oceans of biodiversity. Source - Fish and Overfishing

The only benefit I have seen so far of eating food from animal sources seen so far is faster muscle growth (provided one does strength training). Being vegan means slow growth of muscles. That’s all. For every other aspect veganism triumphs.

But I could also be influenced by marketing and choosing to live a life that may not be suitable for my overall health and well-being.

So I have taken some actions. I eat a fairly balanced diet, or at least try to. I get a blood test done every year. I take Vit. D and B12 supplements. I also take vegan protein powder as I do regular strength training. My majority source of protein comes from tofu, lentils, peas, edamame, nuts, and various seeds.

I have been vegan since Dec-2019 and it has only enhanced my life. Society of Snow simply questioned my choices and I think I have tried to answer them reasonably. It is all about the choices we make based on the information we have. Some choices are based on our needs while others are based on our wants. In the end, there is no right choice. Simply a better or worse choice.

This sounds like vegan propaganda right!!! 🤣🤣🤣

⚡ Monthly energy consumption

In the UK the energy bills are highly standardized and based on usage you are charged a certain amount based on the unit rate and a standing charge for each month. We pay using Direct Debit, which means we pay the same amount every month irrespective of how much energy we consume every month.

This means we are in credit during the summer and by the end of winter we are in debt.

I have shown below our energy consumption in terms of monthly units and monthly cost from Nov-2021 till Jan-2024. We moved into our current house in Aug-2020.

Our gas consumption is lowest from May till October (6-month period) and highest from November till April (6-month period). This can fluctuate depending on how severe the winter is. Gas is used for central heating and cooking. And heating uses the most gas.

In terms of cost, our gas charges are highest during the winter and very low during the summer. Recently due to gas price hikes across the world, our energy bills have gone up significantly. Our gas charges for Jan-2024 have been the highest ever, even though our energy consumption has not been more than what we consumed in either Dec-2022 or Feb-2023.

Our electricity consumption is fairly constant and always around 200 units per month. Our electricity consumption is significantly lower for a similarly sized house with a similarly sized family. I can safely say this because when we had our house assessed for installing solar panels, the salesperson mentioned the same.

The energy price hike impacted the electricity charges the most. We had lower fixed energy rates (unit rate + standing charge) till Sep-2023. From Oct-2023 our energy rates went up significantly which can be seen in the electricity charges from Oct-2023.

I hope this has been useful. Please feel free to reach out to me to discuss further on this.

Based on the above analysis (consumption + cost) I concluded that it would take me more than 10 years to recoup any money I invest in the solar panels. So for now I’m OK without using any solar energy. When the solar panels become much more affordable I will look into it.

🚦 Moody’s shell company indicator

To tackle the rising complexity of fraud, sanctions, and criminal money laundering networks, Moody’s Shell Company Indicator analyzes data of registered corporations and individuals to flag seven key behaviours that are commonly associated with shell companies.

What are the seven shell company flags?

Source - https://www.moodys.com/web/en/us/about/insights/data-stories/kyc-innovation-shell-company-indicator.html

Some interesting examples are mentioned below of the various flags.

Source - https://www.moodys.com/web/en/us/about/insights/data-stories/kyc-innovation-shell-company-indicator.html

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - THE STREIF - Fabio Wibmer is an epic video of downhill mountain biking on a ski slope. Simply incredible with all the drone shots.

📝 Article - Tensor Art: Beginner’s Guide to AI Image Generation is a detailed article on how to create an AI creation using a text prompt.

🎙️ Podcast - Heard Championing Veganism in British Politics on The Plant Based News Podcast with guest Zack Polanski, deputy leader of Green Party. It was a very interesting take on veganism through the eyes of policymakers.

📺 TV show - You Are What You Eat on Netflix was an interesting show comparing a well-balanced omnivore diet with a vegan diet. I think it was quite a sensible show.

🌐 Website - Emoji Kitchen is a wonderful experiment of mixing different emojis and coming up with something very unique. However, the emojis generated can’t be used like regular emojis with normal text.

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

If you want to follow me around the internet, then please do so here.

Until we meet again next week, read more about veganism, watch a few films on veganism and think for yourself about what diet you want to choose for yourself.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

Wishing all my subscribers a very Happy New Year. 2023 has been an amazing year and am looking forward to 2024 even more. This is the year I turn 40. A major milestone. And hopefully, I will do some exciting things.

I started the year by applying for an EU Schengen visa. I got an emergency appointment after emailing the Consulate General of Portugal in London and my visa is already stamped. Now I need to wait for my passport and find out how many days/months did I get on my visa. Fingers crossed 🤞🏽.

We also spent New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day with friends in Central London. It has been very cold lately but we are managing it. Our son has also joined back at his nursery and he has been doing well with settling in after a gap of one month.

Every year I change the copyright on the two websites I manage - Amitsarkar.tech and Charlotte Charles Beauty. That happened smoothly as well. I also bought a new domain AishaKalpana.com for the AI Influencer I have created.

Our boiler, at the house we have given on rent, again had issues which we had to get fixed. This has been two issues in two years and we are thinking of finally getting it replaced with a new one as we have already paid more for the repairs than it would have cost us to get a new one.

Enjoy my first newsletter for 2024.

🧾 2023 accountability

Let's see how I did on all the things I said I would do in my 2023 newsletter Issue #27.

🔴 Not achieved | 🔵 Partially achieved | 🟢 Achieved

• 🔴 Create a course on Udemy - This is still pending since 2022.

• 🔴 Read 30 mins every day - This didn’t happen at all. I have realized that I am more of a video person than a book person. Maybe I need to try harder. Get less distracted.

• 🔵 Reduce fat % to 15% and maintain it - I reduced it to 15% ( and even lower) and did maintain it for some time but I ended the year at 16.4% body fat. I measure that using my Withings scale. The aim is to build more muscles and reduce fat. The graph for 2023 is below -

Source - Withings scale

• 🔵 Travel to 4 new countries - I managed to visit 3 new countries - Japan, USA and Turkey. I did visit India but it’s not a new country for me.

• 🟢 Run a 5K Parkrun in <23 mins - My Personal Best (PB) was 23 mins 38 secs and I ran three times under 23 mins in 2023. My new PB is 22 mins 37 secs, a minute faster than my previous PB set in 2020.

Source - https://www.parkrun.org.uk/parkrunner/2838200/all/

• 🔴 Present at a software testing conference - A very tough year for my company which didn’t motivate me to pursue this further. A lot of organizational changes happened throughout the year due to the economic slowdown.

• 🔴 Start generating passive income - I have tried so many things since the beginning of the pandemic all towards establishing my online presence. And this year I wanted to start generating a passive income by leveraging that or building something on the side and charging for it. It hasn’t happened yet. But I will keep trying.

  • 2020 - Built my website. Presented at 3 online meetups. Started my podcast. Created Charlotte Charles Beauty website for an ex-colleague.

  • 2021 - Started foodGully with friends, to help home caterers.

  • 2022 - Started my newsletter to improve my writing skills and articulate my thoughts

  • 2023 - The new project I wanted to start didn’t materialize so I started something else just before Christmas which I wrote about in my last issue. India’s 1st AI Influencer Aisha Kalpana.

⚽ 2024 goals

Based on my experience from the last two years, I want to achieve the following things in 2024 -

🧑 Personal

• Be more grateful - Being grateful for what I have. It’s very easy to forget what you have and remember only things you don’t have. This year the focus would be to constantly remind myself of things I am grateful for - family, friends, health, career, and house.

• Travel to 4 new countries - I want to travel to 4 new countries this year as well, with my wife and son.

• Continue being a vegan - Dec 2024 would be special for me. I would have been vegan for 5 years by then. It has been a crazy journey but I love being a vegan and how it affects my health, mood, sleep, stamina, energy and motions. I have more muscle mass, more stamina and more strength than ever before.

• Volunteer at a local running event - Running has been life-changing for me since I started Parkrun in 2017. I want to give back now and volunteer and cheer for others. Starting with volunteering at one local running event.

• Be a pacer for someone to help them achieve a PB - It could be my wife, a friend or anyone. I want to help someone achieve their PB in a 5K or 10K run.

• Start Rate ⏬ & Complete Rate ⏫ - Start few things and make sure I complete more things. I am always buzzing with ideas so I want to focus this year on completing them rather than just keep thinking about them.

💼 Professional

• Learn more - I have started a Machine Learning Specialization on Coursera and I want to make sure I complete the specialization and move on to doing other courses. Technology is changing rapidly and if I want to continue working in this space then I need to keep myself up-to-date.

🏃 Health

• Exercise 5 days a week - Currently I run twice a week, go for Yoga once a week and train with my trainer once a week as well. I want to add one more day of activity which I can continue every week for the rest of the year.

• Run a 5K Parkrun in <22 mins - My Personal Best (PB) is 22 mins 37 secs.

• Run my 100th Parkrun - It is Parkrun’s 20th anniversary this year (02-Oct-2024) and it would be amazing to reach this milestone of 100 Parkruns. I ran 36 Parkruns in 2023. So hopefully I should be able to reach this goal easily. I am currently at 76 Parkruns.

• Run a half marathon in under 2 hours - I have registered for four half marathons this year (Lisbon, Berlin, Tromsø and Cardiff). I want to finish at least one of these runs in under 2 hours.

• Maintain fat % at <15% - The aim is to build more muscles and reduce fat.

💰 Financial

• Start generating passive income - I have tried so many things since the beginning of the pandemic all towards establishing my online presence. And this year I wanted to start generating a passive income by leveraging that or building something on the side and charging for it. It hasn’t happened yet. But I will keep trying.

  • 2020 - Built my website. Started a podcast. Created Charlotte Charles Beauty website for an ex-colleague.

  • 2021 - Started foodGully with friends, to help home caterers.

  • 2022 - Started my newsletter to improve my writing skills and articulate my thoughts

  • 2023 - Started India’s 1st AI Influencer Aisha Kalpana.

  • 2024 - Publish a book on Amazon using Kindle Direct Publishing.

• Clear existing debts - I want to finish my existing debts so I can focus on savings and plan for the future.

📡 Cost of streaming services

We all subscribe to various streaming services - video and audio. And we normally don’t see a comparison between each one of them as there are so many services on offer.

So I have tried to summarize the major service offerings in the UK for a new customer (excluding any new year or new joiner discounts). I have excluded any bundle offerings as well.

If we buy these services on a monthly plan basis then the below table shows the yearly cost for each of these services (sorted by low to high yearly cost).

The following services have only annual plans and no monthly plans but I have included them in the table above.

1. BBC iPlayer | TV Licence

2. Qobuz | Sublime | Solo

3. Qobuz | Sublime | Duo

4. Qobuz | Sublime | Family

If we buy these streaming services on an annual plan basis then the below table shows the yearly cost for each of these services including the savings we would make over the monthly plan (sorted by low to high yearly cost). Please bear in mind that only some streaming services offer an annual plan.

All costs are up-to-date till 08-Jan-2024.

Some observations I have made are

• Family plans are expensive.

• Student plans are cheap.

• Plans with adverts are cheaper than plans without any adverts.

• Netflix is more expensive than Disney+, Apple TV+ and Prime Video. But it is cheaper than BBC iPlayer and YouTube Premium.

The idea behind this exercise is to -

• educate people on where their money is going when they buy these services

• show how much people pay for these services on an annual basis

• show how many services are there today and what are their different plans

• show how much money people can save if they move from a monthly plan to an annual plan

• do a comparative analysis and show which services offer more value for money

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - Left and Right Wing Political Ideologies and Introduction of Indian Philosophy from Vedas to Osho by Dr. Vikas Divyakirti are very informative and provide a very deep insight into the subject matter.

📝 Article - If you are an avid traveller like me then you would enjoy these articles - The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2024 and The biggest travel trends for 2024

📱 App - Microsoft has launched Copilot for Android and iOS devices. You can now use GPT-4 without a ChatGPT Plus subscription.

📝 Article - 2024 Predictions by Scott Galloway is an exciting prediction for 2024. Let’s see how many he gets right this year.

🌐 Website - Gobble Bot is an all-in-1 scraper designed to convert all different kinds of content into one text file. Quite helpful if you want to quickly scrape text from websites, YouTube transcripts, files and other sources.

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

If you want to follow me around the internet, then please do so here.

Until we meet again next week, read more, learn more, adopt AI, stay healthy and stay warm.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

This time it’s been very long since I last published my newsletter. The reason is I recently came back from our holiday to India. It was my wife’s cousin’s wedding and we planned our trip around it. It was great to meet both sides of our families and create new memories. The best part was the delicious food and escaping the UK cold.

On the other hand, the India trip resulted in a weight gain of 2 kilos and an increase in fat %. But the muscle mass stayed the same which is good since I did train with weights twice in Kolkata. But my running was affected and my heart rate and timings have all been affected because I didn’t run for 3 weeks. Time to train again and get back into shape.

Me and Rinat went on a journey to find a Podcast producer for our show on Upwork. But we realised that we can’t afford anyone yet since we are not making any money from our podcast. It would have cost a minimum of $100 to produce each episode which would have included all aspects of releasing an episode after it is recorded.

One of the new things I have discovered is Ben Böhmer’s music thanks to my friend Monty. I have been listening to him constantly these last couple of days. Some really nice music if you are into the House genre.

And I bought myself an OpenRun headset from Shokz. These headsets generate sounds that reach our ears through bone conduction technology. That means our ear canals are completely open. I got a really good deal over the Black Friday period so couldn’t resist buying these.

📝 Personal Will

Recently I have been talking to a solicitor to get our Wills drafted. It is Will Aid month every November when many solicitors provide a free will writing service to people living in the UK and all they ask is for people to donate to charities.

As part of my discussion with the solicitor, I learnt a lot. There are three main reasons I want to write my Will -

1. The first reason is because we have a son, I need to make sure that if anything happens to me then my wife and son get all our assets and have full control over it.

2. The second reason is that in case me and my wife both passed away at the same time, then our son should not be put in the UK foster care system. As part of the Will guardians will be assigned who can take care of our estate and son till he reaches the age of 18 and goes to university.

3. The third reason is that I want to ensure our estate doesn’t get unduly taxed on my death.

Writing a Will enables you to define your estate which includes any property you own, any savings/investments you have, any insurance policy in your name and any pension funds where you save money. The estate will also pay out any outstanding debt such as loans or credit card debts before it is finally settled.

Each individual has their own Will but if your circumstances are the same then your wife can have a mirror copy of your own Will. Also, Wills can be modified as many times as you want whenever your circumstances change in life to reflect the most up-to-date state of your assets.

The last part of writing a Will is How to prepare your digital life for when you die. This is crucial since we want to make sure our email accounts, social media accounts and any other accounts we regularly use are properly taken care of after we die.

The MoneySavingExpert has a detailed Death Plan on how to plan for your death before you die.

🤖 AI Influencer

I have been thinking of creating my own AI Influencer ever since I heard about the below two famous AI models -

1. Shudu created by Diigitals touted as the world’s first digital supermodel

2. Aitana Lopez created by The Clueless

I also checked the Top 13 AI Influencers on Instagram in 2023 to understand which profiles have the most followers and what are they doing to gain these followers.

Talking about these AI models with Rinat resulted in him sharing a YouTube video with me that showed how to create such models.

I then went on a journey and created India’s first AI Influencer Aisha Kalpana. Aisha is your girl next door who is out exploring the world. I have modelled her to represent strong women in my life who are go-getters and achievers.

I have played with 100s of image prompts to see what these tools can do and what they can’t and how I can overcome some of their shortcomings. There is still a lot to learn.

Screenshot of Aisha Kalpana’s Instagram page

There are also other AI models in India -

1. Kyra - India's first virtual influencer created by FUTR Studios

2. Naina - India’s first virtual superstar! created by Avtr Meta Labs

3. Tia Sharma - India's first AI-powered virtual influencer created by Mouni Roy and Suraj Nambiar

The tools I have used to create Aisha are as follows -

• Tensor Art - Used for text-to-image generation

• Juggernaut Aftermath - Model used for generating the images

• Pallyy - Used for image caption generation

• InsightFace - Used as a Discord bot for swapping faces on AI-generated images.

• Fooocus - Used in a Google Colab file for swapping faces.

• ChatGPT - Used for generating the name for my AI Influencer.

• Instagram - Used for posting the images for gaining followers

All of the images and models are based on Stability AI’s open-source Stable Diffusion image generation model.

I will create a video soon to describe the whole process of creating Aisha.

The current aim of creating Aisha is to gain some followers and see if this thing takes off big. If it does, then I will explore options which the current AI Influencers are already using for their growth.

I am also thinking of training a Stable Diffusion model on Rinat’s computer. That way we can have more specific images generated which are similar/closer to Aisha's facial profile.

While creating Aisha I realized that not all the followers on Instagram are real people. There are a lot of bots on Instagram unlike X. Elon Musk created good policies to remove bots from its platform but Instagram hasn’t. Some links are mentioned below to show just how many bots are followers as a % of the top celebrity profiles on Instagram.

• Celebrities and Influencers with the most fake followers on Instagram - To check whether the majority of followers on Instagram are real.

• The biggest fake influencers on social media - To check whether the majority of followers on Instagram are real.

💰 Laws of getting rich

Recently, I read this wonderful article about a few laws for getting rich.

A few laws of getting rich

There are 13 divorces among the 10 richest men in the world. Correlation isn’t causation, and the sample size is tiny.

collabfund.com/blog/a-few-laws-of-getting-rich

1. Most of what makes you happy in life has nothing to do with money, and realizing that once you have money can be a painful admission.

2. What you think is admiration of your success may actually be envy.

3. The richer you become, the less likely people around you are to tell you when you’re wrong, crazy, mean, or oblivious.

4. Sometimes what made you successful was worry and anxiety, and you can’t let go of that when you’re rich.

5. There is no easy way to manage wealth and kids.

6. Quick wealth is fragile wealth.

7. Reputations have momentum in both directions because people want to associate with winners and avoid losers.

8. Expectations can rise faster than income, so a higher income sends expectations spiralling out of control.

9. No one is going to remember you in 100 years.

Most of the points made a lot of sense and I could connect with them. Please read the whole article to understand the nuance of each point.

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - Great Ball Contraption (GBC) at Japan Brickfest 2023 is a wild video on Lego contraptions. The imagination used to build these with Lego is insane. Must watch for all builders.

📝 Article - Where Is the World's Most Dangerous Drinking Water? shows which countries have the safest and the most dangerous drinking tap water. It’s surprising to see some countries from the EU and even the USA getting a Water Quality EPI (Environmental Performance Index) score of less than 100.

📱 App - I have been using Tensor Art for the last couple of days and it’s been a brilliant app to generate images from text. Echoing my quote in Issue #39, I can confidently say that AI has democratized content creation.

🎙️ Podcast - Life Begins At 40: How To Escape The 'Rat Race' & Take Back Control Of Your Life | Adam Grant is a brilliant podcast hosted by Dr Rangan Chatterjee. I would urge everyone to listen to it. Some very important life skills are discussed.

📺 TV shows - The Billion Dollar Code and How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast) are both German shows available on Netflix and I would highly recommend you guys to watch these. Both are based on true stories. The first show is based on Google Earth’s predecessor and the second show is based on The true story of Shiny_Flakes.

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

If you want to follow me around the internet, then please do so here.

Until we meet again next week, try a new AI tool, play often, eat healthy, be more social and stay safe from COVID.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

A lot has happened since the last newsletter. And life has been very busy.

There were the festivals of Navratri and Diwali. Which meant there was a lot of dance, music, food and sweets. We were invited to multiple places and it was really fun to catch up with many people over the course of multiple weekends.

We also travelled to Istanbul, Turkey to celebrate our son’s second birthday. More details about our trip are in the newsletter below.

We also recorded two podcasts with a few guests. The first one was with the co-founders of Bubble. The second one was with the co-founders of Orkes. The first episode has been published here. The second one will be out shortly. Both conversations were insightful and we learnt a lot in the process.

Me and Rinat also recorded an episode on building our website together. Watch it here. This website is hosted on Hostinger.

I also ran my fastest 5K ever in 22 mins 02 secs since my last newsletter was published. This was during an afternoon run. I have now been consistently running 5K in under 24 mins. And my VO2 max has also gone up to 51 ml/kg/min. This is also a side effect of running greater than 15 kms every week at Zone 2/3 pace.

📷 Smartphone cameras

Our smartphone cameras are really amazing. To pack so much technology in such a small factor is incredible. And most smartphones now have really good cameras that cover the basics. And the majority of them are now augmented with computational photography. It’s basically enhancing the photos we click with software.

Mrwhosetheboss talks about why we have 2 or more cameras. How does the software handle changing between different lenses? What are the basic camera technologies? And many more things are discussed in this video. Must watch for everyone who wants to better utilize their smartphone cameras.

✈️ Istanbul trip

I recently went to Istanbul, Turkey with my family to celebrate our son’s second birthday. Of course, he won’t remember much but we still managed to get a lot of new experiences for him.

Food - Turkey is famous for its Doner kebabs, Turkish coffee and tea. Turkish breakfast is also quite famous. We tried the Turkish delight and the Baklava as well which are very famous and you can find them everywhere.

Sightseeing - Over the period of 1 week, we did three walking tours and one cruise over the Bosphorus Strait.

• The tour of ISTANBUL Old City - This tour covered the famous Obelisks in Sultanahmet Square, the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, Gulhane Park, the Egyptian Bazaar, and the Hodjapasha local food market.

• Free Tour of Alternative Istanbul - This tour covered the Book Bazaar, the University of Istanbul, Sulemaniye mosque and insights into the local life of a citizen. The guide talked about politics, religion, employment, economy and many more things.

• Explore the Asian side with a local tour guide - This covered the Üsküdar area, Kuzguncuk Bostanı, and Kadikoy area. We tried Taş kadayif from Tarihi Medine Tatlıcısı shop. The most delicious sweet I tasted in Istanbul as a vegan.

• Afternoon Bosphorus Cruise with Stopover On The Asian Side - This tour was on a yacht with free snacks, water and Turkish tea. This covered all the famous spots along the Bosphorus Strait on both the European and the Asian sides.

• We also explored the areas of Galata, Karaköy, Istiklal Street, Taksim, Besiktas, and Kabataş.

• In the Sultanahmet area, we visited the Basilica Cistern, the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. These are really worth a visit. We skipped visiting the Topkapi Palace and the Dolmabahçe Palace as it would have taken a lot of time.

Source - https://www.bosphorustour.com/afternoon-bosphorus-sightseeing-cruise.html

Cost - We found the Asian side to be much cheaper be it food, alcohol, coffee or any shopping items.

Public transport - Istanbul's public transport is quite good. We used the taxi, metro, tram and ferry. My favourite transport medium was the ferry. The views were fantastic on it and it was very comfortable. The best part was that it covered most of the tourist bits if you travelled on multiple routes.

Running - I ran 14.7 kms along the Bosphorus Strait and took a ferry back on the return. I ran from the Fındıklı-Mımar Sınan Ünıversıtesı tram stop all the way to the İstinye ferry terminal. The return ferry was an amazing ride. Loved the early morning views of the European side of Istanbul.

Smoking - Turkish people smoke a lot. Like a lot. Like really a lot. And they smoke everywhere - indoors, outdoors, in parks, restaurants, bazaars, outside mosques, on ferries, in taxis, etc. Literally, you can’t escape from it. But we got quickly used to it.

Animals - Istanbul has a lot of stray cats and dogs. But they are very well looked after so these animals never bother anyone. And it was such a delight to see our son look at the cats and get excited. The dogs are massive in size and almost like a bear.

Stay - We stayed in an Airbnb close to the Fındıklı-Mımar Sınan Ünıversıtesı tram stop. It was very comfortable and we had grocery stores and restaurants nearby which was quite handy. The city itself is very hilly on both the European and Asian side so be prepared to hike a lot up and down throughout the day.

Coffee/Tea - The best thing about Turkish people is that they love their coffee and tea. We hardly found any drunk people on the streets even late in the night. Which made the streets a bit safer, especially with a toddler. They do drink alcohol but coffee/tea is served till late in the night which my wife absolutely loved.

Overall, I preferred it over Marrakesh in Morocco. The Bosphorus Strait won my heart.

⌚ Garmin technology

When it comes to watches that one can use for fitness, Garmin rules over them all. The kinds of data that your Gramin watch can track are unbelievable. The list is long but you can refer to the Garmin technology page to get a gist of the most important things. I have highlighted them below for reference. Click each of the below parameters to know more about how Garmin tracks them through your watch.

Source - https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/garmin-technology/health-science/

Source - https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/garmin-technology/running-science/physiological-measurements/

Source - https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/garmin-technology/running-science/running-dynamics/

Source - https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/garmin-technology/wearable-maps/

I personally own a Garmin fēnix 6X Pro since July 2021. And have been using it to track all my workouts which include running, cycling, rowing, hiking, walking, yoga, strength training and any cardio (like gardening).

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - Crushing Huge Lithium Ion Batteries with Hydraulic Press shows how dangerous Lithium-Ion batteries are and how careful we must all be while using them.

📝 Article - How many animals get slaughtered every day? is a very enlightening article about the number of animals killed every day for human consumption.

📱 App - been is a useful app to track all the places you have visited. I am currently using it to track all the countries I have ever visited. My current count stands at 24 UN Member States.

📺 TV show - Eat the Rich: The GameStop Saga is a show about Robinhood and the GameStop stock. It explains a lot of financial concepts in a very easy-to-understand language.

🌐 Website - The online Home Fire Safety Check is a useful website to spot fire risks in your home.

🎙️ Podcast - How to Think Like a CTO is a great podcast about what one must know and do if one becomes a CTO.

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

If you want to follow me around the internet, then please do so here.

Until we meet again next week, eat, sleep, exercise, repeat 😁.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

So after a lot of hiatus, i am back again with an action-packed newsletter.

One of the things I have been focussing on is running to prepare for a Half-Marathon next year. I have been running about 16 kms at a stretch to slowly ramp up to the distance of 21.1 kms by next year. It is all at a steady state heart rate training to ensure I have the endurance. My Parkruns are still at a faster pace to focus on VO2 max training.

I am also planning to get a Vitality health check through my insurance provider and using Will Aid to get a simple Will created in November 2023. This, creating a Trust and having a Power of Attorney has been on my list for a very long time.

We are also planning to go to India in December 2023 to meet our families. I will be seeing them after more than a year so am quite excited.

I have also been using the AI tools regularly now. I have used it for this newsletter as well to help me with content creation. It’s been very helpful. I would urge people to start using some of these tools like ChatGPT, Bard and Claude.

Both Durga Puja and Navaratri are also starting next week. So we have a lot of festive celebrations planned around that to attend.

🤖 How chatbots and LLMs work

I recently saw this video that summarizes how LLMs work. It’s a great starting place to understand this emerging and disruptive technology.

In the video

• Mira Murati, CTO at OpenAI

• Cristóbal Valenzuela, CEO and co-founder of Runway

Large Language Models (LLMs)

• LLMs like ChatGPT are based on large-scale training, not specific tasks.

• Trained on vast internet data.

• Generate new content, essays, poems, code, and more.

The working principle

• LLMs use probabilities to predict text based on previous training data.

• Probability tables are created to determine the likelihood of the next letter or word.

• Neural networks improve the prediction process by considering longer sequences of text.

• The context of the entire sequence enhances prediction accuracy.

ChatGPT's approach

• Trains on a wide range of Internet data.

• Considers tokens (words, word parts, code) instead of just letters.

• Requires human tuning to ensure reasonable and ethical results.

Limitations and Intelligence Debate

• Large language models are probabilistic and can make mistakes.

• Philosophical debates exist about whether they exhibit true intelligence.

• Regardless, large language models have diverse applications in fields like app development, entertainment, and drug discovery.

AI’s impact on society

• AI's rapid advancement is transforming society.

• Understanding AI technology is crucial for everyone.

• AI presents opportunities for creativity and innovation.

Conclusion

• Emphasis on exploring AI's potential and its role in shaping the future.

📷 UK Speed cameras

12 common types of speed cameras in the UK

Speed cameras have been used in the UK since 1992. Their effectiveness in reducing accidents has been well documented but, even so, that heart-stopping flash as you inadvertently drive past one a few mph over the limit is never pleasant, while the same goes for the resultant penalty.

www.carwow.co.uk/blog/types-of-speed-cameras

There are various types of speed cameras used in the UK. Here's a summary of each type:

Digital Gatso Speed Cameras

• Most commonly used speed camera in the UK.

• Uses radar technology and digital cameras to capture speeding violations.

• Typically positioned at high-accident hotspots.

Truvelo Combi Speed Cameras

• Forward-facing speed cameras.

• Take images of the front of vehicles to identify drivers.

• Use infrared flash and white lines on the road to measure speed.

• Common in Hampshire and Northamptonshire.

Truvelo D-Cam Speed Cameras

• Can be installed in a forward or rear-facing configuration.

• Detecting speeding drivers using sensors on the road or lasers shown on the road.

• No visible flash.

• Found in West Yorkshire, Norfolk, and other locations.

SPECS Average Speed Cameras

• Measure speed over a set distance.

• Use infrared sensors and multiple cameras.

• Common on motorways and dual carriageways.

VECTOR Average Speed Cameras

• Similar to SPECS cameras.

• Enforce various traffic regulations, including speed limits.

• Found across the country.

Siemens SafeZone Average Speed Camera

• Small and unobtrusive average speed camera.

• Measures speed across fixed points.

• Seen in London and other places.

SpeedSpike

• Another type of average-speed camera.

• Measures speed over fixed points and can be linked with multiple cameras.

• Found in locations like Hampshire and Bedfordshire.

SpeedCurb Speed Cameras

• Captures speeding violations in specific locations.

• Uses sensors embedded in the road.

• Found on poles above the road.

REDFLEX Speed Cameras

• Versatile cameras for single location speed checks and average speed measurement.

• Detect speeding and traffic violations.

• Used at intersections (REDFLEXred) and on motorways (REDFLEXspeed).

HADECS3 Speed Cameras

• Fixed cameras on motorways and major A roads.

• Uses radar to detect speed.

• Known for their small size and high-up positioning.

Peek Speed Cameras

• Fixed, rear-facing speed cameras.

• Flash when they detect speeding motorists.

• Found in London, Berkshire, and built-up areas.

Mobile Speed Cameras

• Can be moved to different locations.

• Use radar or laser technology to measure speed.

• Deployed in various areas, including motorways and high-risk locations.

These cameras serve different purposes and are used to enforce speed limits and other traffic regulations across the UK.

This is quite a useful article for all drivers in the UK especially if they want to be aware of the various types of speed cameras.

The below article highlights some of the tolerances allowed by the UK police forces based on a survey.

UK speed camera tolerances revealed

Police forces confirm speed cameras have a tolerance before they start going after speeders, but drivers who take advantage risk being hit with a fine.

www.confused.com/car-insurance/guides/speed-camera-tolerances

🎙️ Centenarian Decathlon

Recently I heard a podcast in which Peter Attia and Dr. Rangan Chatterjee discuss strategies for improving longevity and healthspan. Thanks to my wife for recommending this one. We keep recommending podcasts we like to each other 😃.

Peter explains a concept that he calls the Centenarian Decathlon – a novel, but specific way of thinking about the various forms of movement we might require IF we want to be strong, fit and active in our later years.

Like all decathletes, he explains, you need to be a good generalist. That means having high peak cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2 max), a wide aerobic base (Zone 2 cardio), functional strength (7 basic movements) and good levels of stability/balance. He explains in detail why each of those metrics is important and how exactly we can start improving them.

They discussed the decline in VO2 max that occurs with aging, and how you need high fitness when young to have buffer room later. They gave the example of a 30-minute 5K pace declining to barely being able to walk up a hill by age 75.

Source - VO2 Max graph from Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Dr Peter Attia

The centenarian decathlon: a set of specific events or activities that individuals train for to ensure a remarkable marginal decade in their life

The marginal decade: the last decade of a person’s life, characterized by a decline in physical and cognitive health and a potential withdrawal from active participation in life

Peter’s personal list of events for the “Centenarian Decathlon” -

• Pick up a 30-pound child from a squatted position or a crib

• Get up off the floor with one point of support

• Place a 30-pound suitcase overhead

• Dead hang for 30 seconds

• Farmer’s walk for one minute with 25% of body weight in each hand

• Pull or push a weighted sled 100 feet

• Walk up and down stairs with feet pointed perfectly forward

• Single-leg stand with eyes open for 30 seconds, with eyes closed for 15 seconds

• Get up without support from a seated position

• Hex bar deadlift body weight for five reps

• Dumbbell lunge in perfect form with 15% of body weight in each hand for 10 reps

• Cover three miles in one hour by foot

• Carry 20 pounds up four flights of stairs

• Achieve a VO2 max above 30 milliliters per minute per kilogram

• Tread water for 10 minutes

• Scale a ledge at shoulder height or pull oneself out of a pool onto a deck 12 inches above the water surface

• Perform single-leg glute bridge for 15 reps without loading the lumbar spine

• Hold a plank in perfect form with scapular retracted and no hip sag for one minute

Emotional health is not included in the centenarian decathlon as it is the one aspect of health that can actually improve with age.

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - Created my first video using Runway’s Text to Video Gen-2 model.

📝 Article - 13 Pieces of Strava Art That Made Us... Wow shows how people draw things on the map using a GPS device by running, cycling, walking, hiking, etc.

📱 App - I have recently been using Relive to create nice videos using my running and cycling GPS data drawing movements on maps.

💬 Quote - I really think that we could be entering a third epoch of computing. The microchip brought the marginal cost of compute to 0. The internet brought the marginal cost of distribution to 0. These large models actually bring the marginal cost of creation to 0. - Martin Casado, a16z

📺 TV show - Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones is a fascinating series about longevity and why there are certain places in the world that have an above-average number of centenarians.

🌐 Website - Inch Calculator is one of the largest and most trusted sites for calculations in math & science education, construction planning, electrical engineering, health & fitness, finance, automotive, and several other fields.

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

If you want to follow me around the internet, then please do so here.

Until we meet again next week, create content, learn about AI, run a few kms and watch some amazing movies.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

My recent trip to the USA was amazing and I’ve written more about it below.

I recently got a hearing test done and my high-frequency hearing loss is still stable. I had checked this in 2018 before we went travelling to South America. I recently got another test done to check if the hearing loss has progressed or if it’s still the same. And the good news is that it’s not progressed. Book your free hearing test with Boots today.

I also attended The QA Financial Forum London 2023 testing conference. The agenda was quite diverse and learnt a lot about emerging trends in the world of QA from the perspective of what the financial organizations are thinking and where the tool vendors are thinking. This was my second year in a row at this conference. Topics like chaos testing, green testing, service virtualisation, visual testing, data testing, shape-up method, etc. were discussed.

And I ran my fastest 15 kms in a time of 1hr 21mins and 43secs. I was trying to push hard for an under 1hr 20mins time but the hills around my house beat me to it. Will try to see if I can get a better time on a flatter course.

Something I also learned recently was that the .ai and .tv domains belong to Anguilla and Tuvalu countries respectively. It’s incredible to think that these domain names don’t belong to technologies that we think they would belong to.

Finally, the 18th G20 Summit in New Delhi was a huge event for India and it launched two books on this occasion. One was called Bharat - the Mother of Democracy. The other was Elections in India. Both books highlight different things and it’s definitely worth reading.

🦠 Skin cancer

This is an article about why skin cancer is on the rise among the over-55s. It discusses the increase in skin cancer rates among this population group and the possible causes. Some of the important points are that older adults are less likely to use sun protection and that many people in this age group accumulated significant sun damage in their early years. The article also provides information on the signs and symptoms of skin cancer and how to prevent it.

Why is skin cancer on the rise among the over-55s?

More holidays abroad and a greater awareness of the disease are contributing to an increasing number of cases.

patient.info/news-and-features/why-is-skin-cancer-on-the-rise-among-the-over-55s

Signs and symptoms of skin cancer include changes to the size, shape, or colour of moles, as well as new or unusual growths on the skin

Source - https://patient.info/news-and-features/why-is-skin-cancer-on-the-rise-among-the-over-55s

When we buy sunscreen, it’s important to pay attention to the SPF rating and what kind of UV protection are we getting.

There are 2 types of UV rays -

• UVA rays: These rays penetrate deep into the skin and can cause premature skin ageing and wrinkles. They are also thought to play a role in the development of skin cancer.

• UVB rays: These rays are responsible for sunburn and skin cancer. They do not penetrate as deeply into the skin as UVA rays, but they can still cause damage.

To protect yourself from UVA and UVB rays, you should:

• Wear sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher, even on cloudy days.

• Wear protective clothing, such as a hat and sunglasses.

• Avoid the sun during the middle of the day, when the rays are strongest.

Here are some additional tips for protecting yourself from the sun:

• Seek shade whenever possible.

• Apply sunscreen liberally to all exposed skin, including your face, neck, ears, and hands.

• Reapply sunscreen every two hours, or more often if you are sweating or swimming.

• Avoid tanning beds.

⛵ World trade routes

If we ever want to understand history, then we need to understand it with geography. What is around us influences how we do things. And the video below shows how the world evolved with the different trade routes.

Check the important trade routes based on the timestamp from the video -

00:00 - The Incense Route

One of the earliest trade routes linked the Indian subcontinent and the southern Arabian Peninsula, facilitating the exchange of valuable goods like spices and incense. This route included maritime navigation along coasts, followed by desert caravans to Petra, a key trade hub. Alexander the Great's establishment of Alexandria in 331 BC further boosted this route, connecting India and Europe through merchant ships and making Alexandria a major trade center.

01:03 - The Silk Road

The Silk Road, a 1,500-year-old trade route, connected China to the Middle East, facilitating the exchange of silk, spices, porcelain, and jade. It originated in East Turkestan with jade trading for tea and was further developed following Zhang Qian's diplomatic mission to counter the Xiongnu nomads. His report led the Chinese emperor to permit silk exports, expanding the Silk Road into the Middle East, and shaping global trade history.

02:19 - The Roman Empire

After Cleopatra's death, Egypt became part of the expanding Roman Empire. Rome sought valuable goods from the Arabian Peninsula like pearls, spices, and incense, leading to exploration of the Nile route and connections with the Kingdom of Aksum. This exploration established a new trade route to India, reducing the importance of Arabian Peninsula cities. Romans also engaged in the silk trade with China via the Parthians, extending the Silk Road across their empire. Even with the rise of the Sassanids, trade continued, and the Roman Empire eventually moved its capital to Constantinople, emerging as a critical East-West commerce centre.

03:46 - Arabs

The 7th-century Arab conquests reshaped trade routes, disrupting the India-Constantinople connection. The pivotal Battle of Talas in 751 granted Arabs access to Chinese manufacturing secrets, shifting China to safer sea routes. This enabled Arabs to become central figures in a vast network, producing carpets, cobalt blue, and importing items like porcelain and spices. They traded gold, slaves, ivory, and more, fostering Arab city expansion and spreading Islam and culture globally, leading to economic prosperity in the Arab world.

05:21 - Italian Merchants

In the 11th century, Pope Urban II initiated a crusade to Jerusalem due to threats from nomadic Turkic tribes and persecution of Christian pilgrims. Italian republics offered supplies to crusaders in exchange for trade privileges in conquered cities. In 1204, Venice redirected the 4th Crusade to Constantinople, leading to its siege and the Byzantine Empire's collapse. Italian republics then dominated Mediterranean trade. In northern Europe, trading cities collaborated to establish a Baltic-North Sea route, exporting furs, grain, herring, and fostering textile production in Flanders and England.

06:36 - Sea-Route to India

In 1453, Constantinople's fall disrupted Asia-Europe trade, spurring Portugal's ocean exploration with Caravel ships. They established trading posts, dominated slave and gold trades, and aimed to reach the Indies by bypassing Africa. Simultaneously, Spain sought the Indies via westward exploration, finding America. Portugal's success in Calicut led to Indian Ocean trade route control, enriching Europe and diminishing overland routes. This pivotal discovery shaped history, leading to Middle Eastern trade route decline, European colonialism in Asia, and the Renaissance's cultural and economic impact.

07:51 - The Manila Galleons

The Manila Galleons, Spanish ships operating from the 16th to the 19th centuries, connected the Philippines and Mexico, transporting Mexican silver to exchange for Chinese goods like spices, tea, silk, and porcelain, before returning to Acapulco, Mexico. This trade fueled the Spanish Empire, introduced new ideas and goods to Europe, and shaped the development of the Philippines and Mexico. However, by the 19th century, factors like European competition, the decline of the Spanish Empire, and the Mexican War of Independence led to the trade's decline.

09:47 - Triangular Trade

The Triangular Trade, spanning the 16th to 19th centuries, connected Europe, Africa, and the Americas through a complex exchange of goods. European ships traded items like crockery, weapons, and tools in Africa for enslaved individuals, who were then transported to the Americas for labor in industries like sugar cane and mining. These ships returned to Europe laden with sugar, tobacco, rum, and precious stones. While profitable for Europeans, this trade caused immense suffering in Africa and the Americas, with millions enduring slavery and harsh conditions, and detrimental effects on their economies and societies. Despite its abolition in the 19th century, the legacy of the Triangular Trade continues to shape the world, underscoring the importance of understanding and learning from this history.

11:02 - The Industrial Revolution

The late 18th-century Industrial Revolution in Great Britain led to rapid technological and economic changes, with mechanization and steam power at its core. This revolution brought about new industries like textiles and iron and steel, urbanization, an emerging working class, increased trade, and the expansion of European colonialism. Innovations in transportation, such as railroads and steamships, further fueled global economic growth and trade, with the Industrial Revolution's lasting impact continuing to shape the modern world, fostering demand for global goods, establishing new trade routes, and improving transportation technologies.

12:18 - Canals

In 1854, France gained permission to build the Suez Canal, which opened in 1869, revolutionizing travel to India by reducing the need for lengthy voyages around Africa. Simultaneously, European powers convened to regulate African colonization, leading to resource exploitation and large plantations for goods like coffee and cocoa. In 1904, the U.S. acquired the Panama Canal, shortening the Pacific-Atlantic maritime route, cementing American control, and marking a pivotal moment in global trade and influence.

13:59 - Globalization

Globalization post-World War I, driven by oil-powered technology and the growth of the automobile and aviation industries, initially relied on sources like the United States, Mexico, and the Caspian Sea for oil. However, the discovery of abundant and affordable oil in the Middle East and America post-World War II boosted global trade. Aviation played a crucial role in facilitating international trade, but instability in the Middle East and Africa, like the Six-Day War and 1970s oil price shocks, disrupted global energy dynamics. Countries explored alternative energy sources, including nuclear power. In the 1970s and 1980s, significant growth in electronics and computers in the United States, followed by Japan and other Far East nations, led to technological advancements in various industries. China's dominance in rare earth metals, vital for electronics, became strategic. This era marked a transformative phase in the global economy, driven by technological innovation and shifting resources.

16:18 - New Silk Road

In 2001, China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) attracted foreign companies due to its low-cost labor force and favorable incentives, resulting in a flood of "Made in China" products and making it the world's manufacturing hub. In 2013, China launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to secure raw materials and expand exports through extensive global infrastructure investments. The BRI, involving around 140 countries and set to conclude by 2049, represents a massive global development project with significant economic and geopolitical implications.

17:54 - Current Situation

In today's global trade, arms and drugs, controlled mainly by criminal networks, constitute major sectors with an annual turnover nearing $500 billion. Opium poppies, cannabis resin, and cocaine are sourced from specific regions and transported to Europe and the United States. The primary maritime trade route encompasses key straits and channels across the globe. Climate change-driven ice melting at the North Pole may create shorter, more efficient routes, potentially benefiting Russia and Canada. Global powers closely watch this development, with the United States and the European Union advocating for open navigation, while China seeks to establish a Polar Silk Road, highlighting geopolitical competition and strategic interests in these emerging trade routes.

🚗 USA trip

I recently went to the USA to meet a few college friends. It was my first time in the country and a real eye-opener.

Fast food - In the USA, people are extremely busy and hence, fast food is a popular thing. My favorite fast food chain was Chipotle as I’m vegan and they had really good options.

Sight-seeing - Over the period of 1 week, I visited

• Massachusetts - In Boston we cycled on the Blue Bikes along the Charles River, went on a Boston Duck tour, visited the Harvard University and MIT campuses, went to Boston Children’s Hospital (where my friend works) and also went to the Long Wharf.

• New Hampshire - Mt. Washington, Cannon Mountain aerial tramway, and stayed at a cabin in Jackson (which had a hot tub).

• New York - I walked on the Brooklyn Bridge, saw the Charging Bull on Wall Street, took a cruise to see the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island and also went to Ellis Island (where all the migrants were screened), 9/11 Memorial, and Times Square.

Shopping - We went to the Merrimack outlet on our way back to Boston from New Hampshire and bought some stuff for our families. There is no state tax in New Hampshire. And in some stores, they give discounts on top of the outlet price. So it was a great deal for us.

Tipping culture - Well, this was something new to me coming from the UK where we are used to paying a 12.5% service charge as part of our bill. In the USA, it’s different. They first add the total, then they add the state tax and then they add a tip. This tip could be anywhere from 18% to 28%. Which was much higher than what we are used to in the UK. But this tip is only when you go to a proper restaurant. In fast food chains, you can avoid those tips.

Running - I ran the Jamaica Pond parkrun in Boston and a 10K route in Central Park, New York. And it was amazing to see so many runners in both the cities.

Driving - The USA is built for cars. They have interstate highways that connect every state to each other so driving is very easy. We drove 1073 miles in 5 days. Our car was a Chevrolet Malibu.

Gun culture - Guns are very popular in the USA and you can find shops where you can buy guns if you have a proper license. Cops are also carrying guns very casually. This is quite different from what we see in the UK. Another interesting fact I learned while I was there, was that of Castle Doctrine. The Castle Doctrine in the USA is a legal principle that pertains to the use of deadly force in self-defense situations within one's home or "castle." It generally allows individuals to use force, including lethal force, to protect themselves, their family, and their property from intruders or attackers without a duty to retreat first.

Diversity - I was surprised to see so many Spanish-speaking people and even in the train stations there were instructions written both in English and Spanish. Airports had staff who could speak both English and Spanish. This indicates that the USA is much more than what we see on TV and in films. It has a huge migrant population that has integrated really well into the country.

👨‍🚀 A million miles away

Recently I saw this film based on the true story of José M Hernández, the first migrant farmworker to go to space.

A Million Miles Away (2023) ⭐ 7.5 | Drama

2h 1m | PG

www.imdb.com/title/tt21940010

The film comes up with 5 ingredients for success outlined below -

1. Find your goal.

2. Know how far you are.

3. Draw a roadmap.

4. If you don't know how, learn.

5. When you think you've made it you probably have to work harder.

José applied to the NASA Astronaut program 11 times before finally getting selected on his 12th attempt. It was a wonderful film highlighting the fact that perseverance and support from loved ones can help you achieve any impossible dream.

Aiming higher and working towards it consistently will pay you the reward. Be it any goal.

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - SPEED COMPARISON 3D | Fastest Man Made Objects is an incredible comparison of speed between different man-made objects.

📱 App - Trading 212 to buy shares, index funds and invest in ISAs. Do you want to get free shares worth up to £100? Join Trading 212 Invest with my link, and we will both get free shares. I have been using it for over a year now and would highly recommend it.

🎬 Video - Why Coconut Farmers Risk Their Lives To Feed The World's Superfood Obsession is an important video highlighting how a simple food becomes a superfood.

📝 Article - Elon Musk’s Shadow Rule highlights Elon Musk’s impact on the world which is not without controversy. Some people have criticized him for his business practices and his personal behavior. However, there is no doubt that he is one of the most influential people in the world today.

📺 TV show - Extrapolations on Apple TV Plus is a show that discusses how climate change will affect people’s lives in the future. It can be quite depressing at times but nevertheless, it tries to imagine a future where climate crisis is inevitable and how humans cope with it.

🌐 Website - Animates knots by Grog is the web’s #1 site for learning how to tie knots.

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

If you want to follow me around the internet, then please do so here.

Until we meet again next week, stay warm, be kind, explore more, stay curious, love more and be happy.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

We have been going on a lot of play dates recently for our son to meet friends from his daycare class. And it’s such a delight to see all the kids, play and learn together.

I finally watched the Oppenheimer film and I was a bit underwhelmed. For starters, the explosion didn’t feel as massive as it was made to believe from the trailers. Then the movie itself was too long and felt stretched. And finally, the part I liked the most had nothing to do with the actual creation of the bomb but the interrogation that followed. It’s a good film but could have been so much better.

The personal training with my trainer Steve is going really well. I have been lifting weights regularly now and made lots of progress since the beginning of this year. My max. lift with a barbell and dumbbell are really high now and I feel that strength training is helping with my running, cycling and injury prevention. I have also increased my protein intake but without supplements so far. Also, my blood tests have come out normal, except I am slightly anaemic for which I need to take regular iron tablets now. I’m really happy with the progress I have made despite turning vegan. I mean, I have never been stronger or faster than now.

Also, we have booked tickets for our son’s 2nd birthday in Istanbul. It will be his 5th country and I keep joking with my wife that he has travelled to more countries before he has turned 2 than me before I turned 30. Such a life right!!!

My USA trip is coming up shortly and I am excited to meet my college friends whom I have known since 2002. It’s a short trip but hoping to have a good time. Hope the weather stays nice.

Also, my Parkrun tourist streak is now complete. I have now run a different Parkrun for my last 6 runs. And I’m planning to do so for the time being. It feels great to explore the different parks and areas of London around me.

☀️ Solar power

Recently MKBHD did a review of the Tesla Solar Roof with the Tesla Powerwall and it was a really well-documented effort to highlight how solar power works and how much it costs. He has broken down the usage per season and then covered his overall costs. MKBHD, based on his current annual usage, would recover the cost he spent on his installation in roughly 10 years’ time.

Now I really want to install solar panels in our house but the cost of installation and the return on investment doesn’t justify the up-front spending yet. Plus we normally don’t use a lot of electricity. Our gas consumption is higher than our electricity consumption as we use it for heating our house in winter.

So here is my calculation to justify my reasoning for not getting a solar panel, for now.

Currently, our electricity tariff is

Source - My E.ON Next energy account

Based on our estimated annual usage, the electricity bill comes to

• Usage cost → 2390.4 kWh x 19.791 p/kWh = £473.08

• Standing charge → 365 days x 18.700 p/day = £68.26

• Total cost → £473.08 + £68.26 = £541.34

In Sep-2023, we are moving to the below tariff

Source - My E.ON Next energy account

Based on our estimated annual usage, the electricity bill would now come to

• Usage cost → 2390.4 kWh x 29.61 p/kWh = £707.80

• Standing charge → 365 days x 47.21 p/day = £172.32

• Total cost → £707.80 + £172.32 = £880.12

Our electricity bill would go up by £338.78 annually.

The most recent quote I got earlier this year for a solar panel installation with a battery and an inverter was around £15,000. This is based on a 4.8 kW solar panel system with a 6.5 kWh battery.

So, based on our annual usage, our return on investment will be in

• £15,000 / £880.12/year = 17 years.

If our electricity bill went up to £1,300/year, then our return on investment will be in

• £15,000 / £1,300/year = 11.5 years.

If our electricity bill went up to £2,000/year, then our return on investment will be in

• £15,000 / £2,000/year = 7.5 years.

But let us do another calculation. Let’s say the cost of installation falls down to £8,000.

With an electricity bill based on our annual usage, our return on investment will be in

• £8,000 / £880.12/year = 9.1 years.

With an electricity bill of £1,300/year, our return on investment will be in

• £8,000 / £1,300/year = 6.2 years.

With an electricity bill of £2,000/year, our return on investment will be in

• £8,000 / £2,000/year = 4 years.

So solar panels only make sense if our electricity consumption is very high or the cost of installation is low.

🛂 Travel authorization

Let’s say you have a passport that is visa-exempt for many countries. For example, you have a UK passport. Now you don’t need a visa to go to the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or any country in the EU. But you still need a travel authorisation document.

European Union

USA

UK

Canada

Australia

New Zealand

The reason for this analysis is that even for visa-exempt passports, the above countries have still figured out a way to earn money. People don’t have to deal with the hassle of applying for a visa but they still need to shell out money. And over a 10-year period, a person would pay $105 on ESTA and $185 on a B2 visa for the USA, at current prices. The difference is not a lot but I hope you can see what I’m trying to say.

💰 How to Get Rich

We recently saw this series on Netflix and loved some of the ideas shared in it by Ramit Sethi.

How to Get Rich (TV Series 2023– ) ⭐ 6.3 | Documentary

35m | TV-14

www.imdb.com/title/tt27206017

The title is a bit cheesy but the ideas and the psychology behind it are very relevant.

One of the ideas I loved from the show was around the Conscious Spending Plan instead of budgeting.

For example, when we receive our salaries, we divide them into the following categories

1. Fixed costs - Mortgage, utility bills, insurance, groceries, etc.

2. Investments - Pension, ISAs, Index funds, etc.

3. Savings - Emergency fund, holiday fund, wedding, etc.

4. Guilt-free spending - dining out, movies, drinks, shopping, etc.

The idea is to allocate, roughly, the below percentage from your monthly take-home income

• 50% for needs (e.g. rent, groceries),

• 20% for savings and investments (e.g. pension, savings goals),

• 30% for wants (the stuff you feel guilty about spending money on)

The other idea was around designing our rich life. What do you want and by when do you want it? That will enable you to make decisions towards your goals.

My rich life would look like this -

1. Eat nutritious food to optimize my health. This would enable me to not stress too much about my protein, carbs or macros. And it would also help me have a life full of energy and less worry. I would love to have a cook, with the help of a nutritionist, who can do this for our family every day. Good food means good overall physical and mental health.

2. Do regular exercise/workouts to stay strong, flexible and with lots of stamina. As my son grows, I will be growing older. So I need to stay at a certain fitness level to enjoy many things with him. Personal training and yoga have been really helpful and I would love to invest more into these.

3. Enjoy nature yet enjoy the perks of city life. I love our current house, as it’s close to the countryside and yet not very far from the city. This enables me to go running, cycling, hiking, etc. while also enjoying watching movies/plays, eating out, drinking, etc.

4. Travel to a new country every 3 to 6 months and explore the culture, food and people. Our 5 months of backpacking trip to South America completely changed my mindset about travelling and exploration. Of course, I don’t want to stay in cheap hostels anymore but rather stay in a comfortable hotel which offers the best amenities for my family.

5. Have richer experiences with my family. It could be going out on a holiday or trying a new experience locally. It could be signing up for a challenge or building something together. It could be eating something new or learning a new skill/language. It could be overcoming a fear or starting a new business.

6. Spend more time with our parents. As they grow older I realize that we will have less and less time with them each passing year.

7. Spend more on others than on ourselves. I have been really lucky with my wife who is a very generous person and I want to be more like her and pay it forward. We are who we are because of the people in our lives. So it’s a way of saying thank you to them while also showing we value their presence in our lives. Be it family or friends or even strangers.

8. Stay mentally sharp - Exercising regularly does help to stay mentally fit but I would love to do something else to keep it sharp. Learning a new skill or language does help and I would love to do that regularly. At least 1-2 new things every year.

So the idea now is to plan my life around these major expenses. Things like a career will only help you earn more but what gives it meaning are the things you do with that money.

This show really helped open my mind around my own psychology towards money and how differently I see it compared to my wife.

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

📝 Article - The little search engine that couldn’t talks about how difficult it is to build a search engine from scratch and replace Google. Some amazing insights into how Google Search dominates the web search industry.

📱 App - what3words divided the world into 3-metre squares and gave each square a unique combination of three words. It’s the easiest way to find and share exact locations. It’s such a powerful idea and is already being adopted widely.

📝 Article - It’s Not a Computer, It’s a Companion! is a wonderful article about how AI is trying to replace human companions, be it coworkers, friends, family members, or even lovers. It’s going to be a crazy future where people will feel more comfortable talking to a voice chatbot than actual human beings. We recently did a podcast on this topic.

📺 TV show - Foundation has both me and my wife hooked on it. We are into its second season and it’s a roller coaster. The dialogues are engaging, the vision is mind-blowing, and the scale is astounding.

🌐 Website - BaiRBIE is an amazing web app that will take a picture and convert it into your favourite doll from the Barbie world. I absolutely had a ball playing with it.

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

If you want to follow me around the internet, then please do so here.

Until we meet again next week, invest your money, eat healthily, rest well, and be bold.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

So I finally got my US tourist visa this week. The visa got approved by the next day and I was able to collect my passport shortly after that. One more new country visa is now added to my passport.

Also, my wife started a new 10-week fitness challenge with Fitbanker. It focuses on meal plans, training plans and mindset coaching. Her aim is to be the best version of herself by starting on this journey.

Tour De France got over and what an exciting event it was. Jonas Vingegaard won the Tour in spectacular fashion beating Tadej Pogačar. The greatest cycling event on the planet comes to an end. Time for me to go cycling and climb some local hills 😄.

And I have been loving the Morning Brew newsletter. Would encourage people to subscribe to it. It has got more news from the USA. But it still covers a lot from a global standpoint.

🥩 Fat loss

Have you ever wondered what happens to all the calories we burn during our exercise? Where does the fat go? Where do the carbohydrates go? Where does all the protein go? Where does all the fibre in our food go?

There are two things to consider here. Calories (kJ) relate to energy which has a different unit to the mass (kg) of the food that we eat. So how does food get converted to energy? And how does the food we eat go out of our body?

I also stumbled upon this great video that talks about how weight disappears from our bodies.

In essence, the video summarizes the fat loss as follows. The energy that we see in the equation below is not be confused with fat loss as the units are different.

Source - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIlsN32WaE

Our body loses fat as 84% Carbon Dioxide and 16% water.

Source - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIlsN32WaE

So fat loss simply requires eating less, moving more and breathing regularly. Simple stoichiometry.

🧭 Henley Passport Index

Having an Indian passport has its challenges and I have learnt to live and work around it while travelling to various countries.

Henley’s global passport ranking is the most comprehensive and useful guide to show which country has the most visa-free access to other countries.

Applying for visas is a big chore. But people from developed nations never realize how painful it is for people from developing nations to travel. This index shows the passport divide faced by a large number of people.

💥 Largest nuclear explosions

Even before I was born the world had been testing a large number of nuclear bombs, the first one being the Trinity test conducted in the USA, which has been recently featured in the film Oppenheimer. This was a landmark moment for mankind and paved the path for humanity’s race to gain control of the most powerful weapon on our planet.

The below article shows the largest explosions to date. Such is the power of the weapons that we have created, that it really is something we must all know.

The Top 10 Largest Nuclear Explosions, Visualized

Just how powerful are nuclear bombs? Here's a look at the top 10 largest nuclear explosions.

www.visualcapitalist.com/largest-nuclear-explosions

The most powerful bomb that ever exploded on our planet was the Tsar Bomba. Crazy crazy crazy!!!

All nuclear explosions look something similar to the image below. A mushroom cloud.

Source - https://www.visualcapitalist.com/largest-nuclear-explosions/

These explosions show how careful we all must be since any insane person could use these weapons to destroy the world instantaneously.

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - Why Oppenheimer Deserves His Own Movie is something everyone can watch who is planning to or has already seen the Oppenheimer film.

📝 Article - 9 OUT-OF-THE-BOX ACTIVITIES TO TRY mentions some cool ideas. I am personally keen on trying Everesting. Time to find a mountain near my house 😄.

📱 App - ChatGPT now has its own Android & iOS app and I have been using the Android app lately. It makes accessing ChatGPT so much easier and also gives quick responses while you are on the go.

🎬 Video - OPPENHEIMER 70MM IMAX film print assembly at Science Museum, London shows the huge film print being assembled before it is shown to the audience. An interesting insight into the world of projectionists.

📺 TV show - Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire is a sci-fi anthology series presenting futuristic visions from Africa. Just finished watching episode 1 and will watch the rest soon.

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

If you want to follow me around the internet, then please do so here.

Until we meet again next week, hydrate, exercise, eat nutritious food and read some amazing books.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

Last week I recorded a podcast with my college friend, Porush Jain, to discuss his journey at Sportskeeda. It was a very interesting discussion with him and Rinat about scaling up a sports blogging website to a sports news website. Hoping to get the edited version out soon for everyone to listen to.

I also ran at a new park, Peckham Rye parkrun. With this, I have now run at 8 different locations across the UK and Japan as part of my 55 parkruns. And my plan is to run at a new park every week for as long as I can.

I have also been closely following the Tour De France (TdF’23) cycling race and the stages are becoming tougher and the battle for the Yellow jersey is intense. The leader of the race leads the runner-up by 10 seconds after 15 stages and over 2606 kms of cycling. With 6 more stages left to ride, the event can’t get more exciting than this.

And this week I finally have my appointment for the US tourist visa. Hopefully, I will get it. Also while checking my passport recently, I noticed it has 8 visas stamped on it. With the US visa, it would be number 9. So far I have been to 23 countries. 2 in Asia, 1 in Africa, 12 in Europe, 1 in North America and 7 in South America. The US visa itself can unlock a few more countries for me.

🔑 Multi-factor authentication (MFA)

These are the following types of authentication -

• Single-factor Authentication (SFA): Requires users to provide one verifiable credential to access online resources.

Source - https://www.pingidentity.com/en/resources/identity-fundamentals/authentication/single-factor-two-factor-multi-factor-authentication.html

• Two-factor Authentication (2FA): Requires users to provide two verifiable credentials to access online resources.

Source - https://www.pingidentity.com/en/resources/identity-fundamentals/authentication/single-factor-two-factor-multi-factor-authentication.html

• Multi-factor authentication (MFA): Requires users to provide at least two verifiable credentials to access online resources.

Source - https://www.pingidentity.com/en/resources/identity-fundamentals/authentication/single-factor-two-factor-multi-factor-authentication.html

The above factors can normally be categorized into the following -

1. Something you know. For example - Passwords, PINs and security questions.

2. Something you have. For example - Hardware or software tokens, mobile phones, security keys, and smart cards

3. Something you are. For example - Fingerprints, facial recognition, iris scans, handprint scans and DNA.

4. Your location. For example - Source IP ranges and geolocation

5. Time of the day. For example - Access to the account only between 08:00 hrs to 18:00 hrs.

To check if any of the applications you use have MFA support please check the following directory.

Some popular authenticator apps are mentioned below -

1. Google Authenticator

2. Microsoft Authenticator

3. Twilio Authy

4. 2FAS

5. TOTP Authenticator

6. Zoho OneAuth

I personally use Google Authenticator for all my personal/work accounts.

Also, some physical keys that you can use are mentioned below -

1. Yubico YubiKey

2. Google Titan Security Key

3. Kensington VeriMark

4. SoloKeys

5. Thetis

6. OnlyKey

7. uQontrol Qkey

8. Hypersecu

9. FEITIAN

I personally own a YubiKey NEO key.

⚓ The Mexican Fisherman

The Mexican Fisherman story (sometimes told as The Brazilian Fisherman) is an adaptation of a short parable originally told by Heinrich Theodor Böll, a prominent German author in the mid-1950s. This version, which was adapted for the American reader, tells of a chance encounter between a Mexican fisherman and a successful businessman.

This story has stayed with me for a very long time and is one of my favourites.

I will leave it to you to decide the moral of this story as it is subject to interpretation.

🥊 Boxing 101

I have been watching a few videos on boxing lately thanks to the below video.

So I searched for the coach that trained Michelle Khare and found Tony Jeffries video on Boxing 101.

Below is a high-level summary of all the things mentioned in the above video.

• Boxing stance

  • Orthodox - stand with left foot forward

  • Southpaw - stand with right foot forward

• Switching stance - Not recommended unless you want to move back or confuse the opponent

• Basic movements

  • Move forward - front foot first then back foot

  • Move backward - back foot first then front foot

  • Move left - left foot first then right

  • Move right - right foot first then left

  • Always land on your toes while moving

• Punches

  • Jab - Leading hand forward

  • Cross - Back hand forward

  • Hook

  • Combination - one hand after another

  • Counter - defend a punch from an opponent with your own punch

• Harder & faster punches

  • Stay relaxed

  • Transferring your weight

  • Stepping into the punch

  • Thinking about speed

  • Put arms a bit forward to punch faster

• Defense

  • Parry - block the front hand of an opponent with your back hand

  • Lean back - lean back from straight punches from an opponent

  • Block - Both hands on your head to block punches from an opponent

  • Blocking body punches is better than head bunches

  • Roll - transferring weight from front foot to back foot

  • Slip - take your head off the centre line

  • Step back - back foot first and then front foot

• Pivot - spin back foot around with pivot on front foot

• Breathing

  • Exhale with every punch

  • Take control of your breathing - Inhale, hold your breath for 3 counts, then exhale.

• Head movement - moving head before and after every punch

• Feinting punches

  • Making the opponent do what you want them to do

  • Acting as if you are about to punch but not punching

  • Acting as if you are about to move but not moving

• Hand wrapping - take care of your hands

Now when you watch any boxing match, you will understand a lot more about what each boxer is doing.

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - The bio-inspired 'transformer' that crawls, rolls and flies is about a Multi-Modal Mobility Morphobot (M4) developed at Caltech. This robot can do all the things that are described in the title of the video and it’s incredible to see human ingenuity being applied to solving a problem like this where a single robot can navigate through multiple terrain conditions. A whole paper has been published on this robot in Nature.

📝 Article - How do we know how smart AI systems are? is a wonderful read. It talks about three problems with AI systems. They are data contamination, robustness and flawed benchmarks. To scientifically evaluate claims of humanlike and even superhuman machine intelligence, we need more transparency on the ways these models are trained, and better experimental methods and benchmarks.

📱 App - KeePassDroid is my most used app to manage all my passwords. I keep a copy of my KeePass database on OneDrive for desktop/laptop use and update the same to Google Drive for smartphone use.

📰 Newsletters - Some newsletters I have subscribed to but am not yet sure if I will keep following are Tech Brew, ByteByteGo, Contrarian Thinking, Tom Scott and Morning Brew.

🎞️ Movie - I recently saw Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One and absolutely loved it. The villain this time is an AI and the second part is yet to release. The first part sets up the stage for the villain, the hero and the premise. The second part should hopefully resolve all the problems faced by the hero. One interesting thing I picked up from the film was that the AI that can potentially destroy humanity will come mostly when it’s trained on military data. Data on the internet won’t pose much threat except for misinformation and impersonation. But AI systems trained on military data and warfare will pose a real threat to humanity.

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

If you want to follow me around the internet, then please do so here.

Until we meet again next week, learn to control your breathing, stretch more, eat more protein and go outdoors.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

This week has been a bit quieter than usual as I seem to have caught a cold and it’s not letting me sleep properly. Hopefully, I will feel better soon.

Also, my wife ran the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge, the world’s largest corporate running event, at Battersea Park. I went there after picking up our son from the nursery to watch his mum run the 5.6K route with other people from her organization. There were in total 21,230 finishers from 729 different companies with an average finish time of 32 mins 27 secs.

This week both the Tour De France (TdF’23) cycling race and the Wimbledon tennis championship started. But I have been following TdF’23 more closely than Wimbledon, thanks to the series I have mentioned below.

One newsletter that I have subscribed to and look forward to is MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email. This single email, on a weekly basis, influences a lot of my financial decisions. It offers a complete overview of the UK financial products including support from the UK government and tips and tricks.

🚴‍♂️ Tour De France: Unchained

Recently watched this series on Netflix and absolutely loved it. I have been cycling regularly ever since my motorbike accident in Dec-2009. Cycling was a way for me to gain muscle strength in my right knee.

This series gives us an insight into what it takes to compete in the most challenging cycling event in the world, Tour De France. The series focuses on riders from many teams and shows us how cycling is more a team sport than an individual sport.

There is a certain skill needed to descend downhill at a very fast pace (approx. 90 to 100 km/hr). And there is a certain body type that does well on climbing hills (lighter riders) which is different from sprinting (power riders) at over 60 km/hr.

There are so many aspects to cycling professionally that this series shows us beautifully. We were able to see the mindset of a GC rider compared to the one who is focused on winning a stage. With around 21 stages and cycling around 3400 kms, a rider needs to be able to perform very well on all days and then recover quickly for the next day’s ride.

You can watch Tour De France 2023 edition for free on ITVX in the UK.

Tour de France: Unchained (TV Series 2023– ) - IMDb

Tour de France: Unchained: With Christian Prudhomme, Steve Chainel, Patrick Lefevere, Julian Alaphilippe. Documentary on the journey of eight teams taking part in the world's most challenging Tour de France bike race.

www.imdb.com/title/tt19296314

🥫 Ultra-processed foods

In my quest to find vegan items, in the supermarket, that have the least amount of ingredients, I have learnt a lot over the last 3.5 years. The below video highlights many things that we can be careful about while purchasing stuff we think is food.

He outlines key steps to identify ultra-processed foods -

1. Read the ingredients - That’s how you tell whether the food is ultra-processed. A long list of ingredients definitely indicates that the food is ultra-processed.

2. Keep on eating ultra-processed foods - Consuming something harmful while you learn about it will make you quit eating it more easily.

3. Don’t worry about fats, salt and sugar - Eating pizzas, and cakes which are made from natural ingredients is perfectly healthy. These are not bad for you. Just the ones which are ultra-processed, frozen, etc.

4. Learn how the additives affect your health - Especially emulsifiers that can clean your gut of healthy bacteria.

5. What can you do about it? - Make healthy choices and replace all ultra-processed food with items that have very less ingredients. Try to cook your own food.

I have been wrestling with the idea of giving up veganism for a more sustainable way of living by being vegetarian (embracing dairy and eggs) for a while now. But still, I am striving to read the ingredients of all items I buy from the grocery store to make sure it’s not ultra-processed.

🛹 Skateboarding

I recently watched the following video and thought - “Gosh!!! I need to learn how to skateboard.” So I started looking at sites on where to buy a good skateboard. Luckily my yoga teacher offered her skateboard and my journey of skateboarding started.

Even though I wanted to skateboard what I really wanted to do was longboarding. Below is a really great image explaining the different types of skateboards.

Source - https://fireballsupply.co/blogs/news/different-types-of-skateboards

So the journey began to practise at my local skatepark with my wife’s nephew and learn how to steer and drive a longboard downhill.

The truck allows you to steer the longboard using the pressure from your legs. The longer deck of a longboard allows a comfortable ride position. The longboard wheels are also normally bigger in diameter than a shortboard and allow faster rolling speeds and a smoother ride.

Source - https://fireballsupply.co/blogs/news/different-types-of-skateboards

I am currently looking to get a lesson in skateboarding so I can ride more freely without fear. The best thing about living in London is that there are a lot of skateparks which are totally free to use and where you can ride and practice.

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎙️ Podcast - Lex Fridman’s podcast on the Future of the Internet, Technology, and AI with Marc Andreessen. Marc is a very insightful guy and he has been working with a lot of tech companies for a very long time as a VC. In this podcast, he debunks some of the myths surrounding AI and predicts the future of the internet.

📝 Article - Maps Distort How We See the World is an article I have been waiting for. It shows how skewed our maps are and how they represent an incorrect picture of our world. Misrepresenting facts and marginalizing poor nations. Europe is so small compared to the rest of the world while Africa is way way bigger than so many other continents.

📱 Apps - I have been using Clearscore and Credit Karma Android apps for many years now to check my credit score. Both show your credit scores in the UK for free. Clearscore uses Equifax (a score out of 1000) and Credit Karma uses TransUnion (a score out of 710).

🎞️ Movie - Stan Lee follows the life of the comic book writer who created characters like Fantastic Four, Spiderman, X-Men, Iron Man, Thor and many more. It was a beauty to watch the inspiration behind all these comic characters that we have grown to love through the Marvel Studios films.

📝 Article - The evolving as-a-service models in the Space Industry: Explained by my friend Gaurav Bajaj, who is currently co-founder and CTO at Little Place Labs, is a very interesting article about all the ways in which the space tech industry is evolving into. Must-read for any space enthusiast.

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

If you want to follow me around the internet, then please do so here.

Until we meet again next week, stay active, nourish yourself, become more productive and be more kind.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

The newsletter publishing took a long pause after our trip to Japan. And there was a huge backlog for my podcasts as well, that needed publishing. But now that things are in order and I’m mentally much freer, I have decided to resume writing my newsletter.

Lots of things have happened since our trip.

First of all, I completed 50 Parkruns and earned myself a milestone t-shirt. I must thank my wife for her support and for getting a running stroller for our son. I have now used that for 7 Parkruns with my son and I have been able to run on the same day as my wife. Previously, it was either of us that ran while the other took care of our son. That’s no longer the case. Also, I have been consistently running every week since January which resulted in a PB time of 22:37 at the Parkrun. With that, I have completed one of my yearly goals. I have actually managed to run 5K under 23 mins twice now. So the first time was not a fluke.

With all the running I have also reduced weight which means my body fat % is well below 15 and steady. Another yearly goal is complete. Though I need to be consistent with my training.

We also had my wife’s family visit us in May. That meant we did a lot of stuff together. Highlights from their visit include -

• visiting an animal farm,

• jumping in a trampoline park,

• skateboarding near my place,

• riding a jeep for an animal safari,

• cycling through the closed streets of Central London,

• swimming at the Olympic pool, and

• doing a treetop challenge.

July is going to be really exciting as I have a few plans. One of them is to do the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge (weather dependent of course) with a good friend. The other is to do a duathlon - ride on my cycle to Shoreham through the night and then run the Lancing Beach Green Parkrun. Of course, this is also weather dependent. I am also applying for a USA Tourist visa for which I got an appointment in July. Hopefully, that comes through and I can travel to the USA in August or September.

✈️ Japan - Itinerary

A lot of people have asked about our itinerary for Japan. So here it is -

🍜☕ Japan - Places we ate and had coffee

These are the following places we tried during our stay in Japan. This includes a list of cafes (my wife loves coffee), ramen places and Indian places. Being vegetarian/vegan can be tricky in Japan so Indian restaurants were a saviour.

Tokyo

• Venu's Dining Kinshicho

• Cloud Coffee Roasters

• Sasaya Cafe

• Macchinesti Coffee

• Fuglen Asakusa

• Kielo Coffee

• T's Tantan Ecute Ueno

• Afuri Shinjuku Lumine

• wired bonbon Shinjuku

• Indian Restaurant Masala Dining

• Noa Cafe Harajuku

• Sarutahiko Coffee The Bridge

• Shimbu Sakiya Ramen

• Saza Coffee KITTE Marunouchi

• Vegan Ramen UZU Tokyo

• ANNAM Indian Restaurant Ginza

• Blue Bottle Coffee Ginza Cafe

• Milan Nataraj

Hiroshima

• Jirokichi

• Kissa Saeki

• Obscura Coffee Roasters

• Roopali Indian Restaurant

• Miyajima Coffee - In Miyajima

Kyoto

• % ARABICA Kyoto Arashiyama

• Tenryuji Temple Shigetsu

• Kyoto Engine Ramen

• Weekenders Coffee Roastery

• mumokuteki cafe&foods Kyoto

• Yak & Yeti

• Vegetarian Cafe Ren Ginkakuji

• Tokkyu Ramen

• cafebar mokumoku

• % ARABICA Kyoto Higashiyama

• Kurasu Kyoto Stand

• COYOTE the ordinary shop

• Kerala Indian Restaurant

• Blue Bottle Coffee Kyoto Kiyamachi Cafe

• Micasadeco & Cafe Kyoto

• Green Terrace

• KAEru coffee

Osaka

• Paprika shokudo Vegan

• LiLo Coffee Roasters

🥾⛩️ Japan - Things we did

Below is a list of the things we did during our trip to Japan. We couldn’t do many things initially due to the jet lag but we made the most of our time there. Our son also started walking during this trip. So it’ll always be memorable for us.

Tokyo

• Kaminari-mon Gate and Sensō-ji shrine

• Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center - The 8th floor has a nice viewing deck to see Sensō-ji for free

• View the Tokyo Skytree from our Tobu Hotel Levant Tokyo

• Free walking tour - Akihabara/Ueno - Ueno Park is very pretty and we saw the first bloom of cherry blossoms here.

• Walk/Run around the Tokyo Imperial Palace - Me and my wife walked this route and then she went back again and ran the same route in the middle of the night. I would recommend doing this run in the day to better enjoy the views.

• Free walking tour - Shinjuku (night) - This is a party place and lots of bars and restaurants here. The tour was worth it.

• Visit Meiji Jingu shrine and then walk from Harajuku to Shibuya

• See cherry blossoms along Meguro River starting from Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo - one of the best places to see Cherry blossoms in Tokyo.

• Free walking tour - Shibuya (night) - We did this tour with the founder of Japan Localized, which is part of the Free Tour Community

• Visit The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation

• Walk around Ginza - This is Tokyo’s top shopping district.

• Use the Yurikamome line - This is a really scenic route and definitely worth it. The whole train runs automatically (without a driver).

• Use the Tokyo Monorail 🚝 - We used this to get to Haneda airport. You realize how careful they have thought about everything while designing this train, especially for people with big baggage.

• Apart from that we used the JR (JR Yamanote line is the line to go for in Tokyo), Tokyo Metro and Shinkansen (🚅 bullet train) lines.

• Japan Rail Pass - This pass works for most Shinkansen lines and JR lines for the regions you have booked. We bought this online and picked up the tickets from Tokyo Central station. When we purchased the tickets we reserved our seats as well which was helpful.

Hiroshima

• Visit Atomic Bomb Dome and Peace Memorial Park

• Walk along Peace Boulevard

• Visit Hiroshima Castle

• Visit Miyajima island for O-Torii gate and Itsukushima Shrine - This is a mixture of 🚆train and ⛴️ferry rides from Hiroshima and can be done during the day before lunch.

• Visit Hiroshima Hondori Shopping Street - This is the place to be in Hiroshima if you are looking to shop, eat or drink.

We couldn’t do the free walking tour in Hiroshima but it’s definitely worth checking out.

Kyoto

• Visit Otsu and walk along Lake Biwa (Japan’s largest lake). We did this so my wife could familiarise herself with the route for Parkrun.

• Free walking tour - Kyoto (day)

• Free walking tour - Kyoto (night)

• Visit Laundromat on the corner - It was a rainy day so we got our clothes washed and dried using coin laundry.

• Visit Fushimi Inari Taisha - Go as early as possible in the morning to get some really good pictures of the gates.

• Visit Tenryu-ji Temple

• Visit Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

• Visit Arashiyama Arhat to see stone carvings

• Walk along the Kamo River and see cherry blossoms.

• Walk along Kiyamachi-Dori road to see cherry blossoms.

• Cross the Kamogawa Delta using the Stepping Stones

• Visit Compasso Teramachi

• Visit the Gion district - We visited the same places as the Kyoto free walking tour (day)

• Visit Kyoto Imperial Palace

• Walk Philosopher's Path to see some amazing cherry blossoms.

• Have an Onsen bathing experience at Ogoto Onsen Biwako Ryokusuitei. We also slept on tatami mats wearing kimonos 👘🥋. A very nice traditional experience with modern amenities.

Osaka

• Free walking tour - Osaka

🏃‍♂️ Japan - Running

While we were in Japan, both me and my wife ran in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hiroshima. It was a really safe experience running and exploring the cities. My wife ran the Sunshine Beach Parkrun near Kyoto and I ran the Urayasushi sogo koen Parkrun in Tokyo.

Running 5 to 10 kms in a city is a really good way to explore and feel its vibe. I ran at 02:00 hrs on one day simply because I couldn’t sleep after a long flight to Tokyo and on other days I ran either after dinner or before breakfast. Japan felt like a really safe and clean country to run without worrying.

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - Summiting the Matterhorn with an FPV Drone 5K is an insanely cool video. The visuals are stunning and make me want to go there immediately.

🌐 Website - Prompt Engineering Guide is an excellent website if you want to learn how to ask ChatGPT-like tools with effective outputs.

📱 App - I have been using 5K parkrunner Results ever since my wife told me about it after her Parkrun in Japan. It’s for people who want to track how many Parkrun they have completed and also follow their friends.

📝 Article - Why AI Will Save the World by Marc Andreessen is an excellent article debunking some of the myths surrounding AI. I really like the way Marc thinks. He brings sense to a world filled with fear around AI.

📺 TV show - Silo Season 1 is an exciting new sci-fi series on Apple TV+. It feels like an Orwellian-type show where no one can question authority. Can’t wait for season 2 now.

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

Until we meet again next week, exercise regularly, eat healthily, rest well, and binge-watch some nice TV series.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

And a belated Happy International Women’s Day to all my subscribers.

This week has been an interesting one. We have been busy preparing for Japan even though that preparation has been limited to only a few days of the week.

My blood test results are out and everything is normal except my haemoglobin count. I am borderline anaemic and the doctor said it could be because of my vegan diet as non-heme sources of iron may not be enough. Interestingly my iron levels have gone up since 2020. So doctors suggest it’s because of the diet. Let’s see. I will get another test done in 3 months’ time.

We also did a tour of Bickley Park School near our home. Our son is growing and we need to start looking for options. Our daycare has been really good so far but we want some more structure to his routine and to help him better prepare for his future. Bickley Park School is a private school and this was our first-ever school tour in the UK. We want to view other schools as well near our home and then decide what’s best for our son. Deciding between public and private schools is also important for us financially.

My wife also got a chance to be interviewed at the Women in Tech Forum on International Women's Day 2023. Waiting for the full interview even though I already got a sneak preview.

♾️ Limitless

We watched this series recently on Disney+ and absolutely loved it. It’s about Chris’s journey over a year to help him understand how to increase his lifespan and improve the quality of his life and health.

Limitless (TV Series 2022– ) - IMDb

Limitless: Created by Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel. With Chris Hemsworth, Peter Attia, Elsa Pataky, Luke Zocchi. A different way we can live better for longer: regenerating damage, maximizing strength, building resilience, shocking the body, supercharging memory and confronting mortality.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11714334/

Each episode talks about a very unique thing -

1. Stress - How do we brace ourselves to work efficiently under stress or when we are afraid? That is what this episode is about. People like firefighters and navy seals have to take sound decisions under extremely stressful environments. Stress builds up over time within the body and comes out in very negative forms.

2. Extreme temperatures - How do we improve blood flow and increase the body’s healing process? This episode talks about cold showers and saunas. Something that can help everyone.

3. Fasting - Intermittent fasting has been rising lately but this episode focuses on what happens to our bodies when we fast longer than a day.

4. Strength - Strength is important but building strength in every single part of your body is important. Rather than doing isolating exercises focus on full-body workouts.

5. Memory - Why should we focus on using our mind and memories to navigate the world around us and how does it help increase our lifespan?

6. Acceptance - Accepting that we are ageing and will one day die is a very important factor in helping us live longer. It helps us to be less anxious and be present in the moment.

👁️ Eye-sight

I recently watched this video and was simply amazed. Makes me want to care for my eyes a bit more.

Over the past few decades, children around the world have been diagnosed with nearsightedness at increasingly high rates. Nearsightedness, or myopia, can stabilize over time, but it doesn’t get better — meaning that myopes will rely on glasses, contact lenses, or corrective surgery to see for their entire lives.

The blurriness associated with myopia is caused by eyeballs that have grown too long; in a stretched-out shape, eyes aren’t able to properly focus images onto the retina. Researchers believe that two culprits are to blame: the lack of outdoor play, and prolonged time doing up-close activities like using digital devices.

Source - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAkFtka3UFw

In essence, the following factors are responsible for reduced vision in the population -

1. Increased Screen Time - With the widespread use of computers, smartphones, and other digital devices, people are spending more time looking at screens than ever before. This extended screen time can cause eye strain and other vision problems, leading to the need for glasses.

2. Ageing - As the population ages, the prevalence of age-related vision problems increases.

3. Genetics - Some people are genetically predisposed to certain vision problems, such as nearsightedness or astigmatism, which can require the use of glasses or contact lenses.

4. Environmental Factors - Exposure to pollution, UV rays, and other environmental factors can damage the eyes and contribute to the need for corrective lenses.

5. Lifestyle Factors - Poor nutrition, lack of exercise, and other lifestyle factors can also contribute to the development of vision problems that require glasses.

Source - ChatGPT

🛠️ Prompt Engineering

I also posted my latest podcast on Prompt Engineering with Rinat Malik. In this episode, we talk about a new role arising from the field of Generative AI that has taken the world by storm since the introduction of ChatGPT.

Prompt engineering involves crafting the input text that a language model receives in order to achieve the desired output.

Language models like OpenAI's GPT-3 can generate text in response to a given prompt or input statement, but the quality and relevance of the generated text can vary depending on the quality and specificity of the prompt. Prompt engineering seeks to optimize this process by designing prompts that are clear, specific, and tailored to the task at hand.

Prompt engineering involves various techniques, such as modifying the prompt to include more context, adding constraints or requirements to the prompt, and using different types of formatting or syntax. The goal is to provide the language model with as much information as possible to generate high-quality outputs that are relevant to the prompt.

Source - ChatGPT

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - GrammarlyGO is launching. Watch this video to learn more.

🌐 Website - Create a slide using the power of AI at SlidesGPT. By far the coolest use of the recently popular tool.

📱 App - I have been using Sumatra PDF for many years and it’s hands down the fastest open-source PDF reader in the world. Plus it supports multiple formats like .epub, .mobi, .cbr and many more. It can’t edit PDFs though.

👢 Model - Meet the world’s first digital supermodel Shudu. She is part of the world’s first all-digital modelling agency called Diigitals. Is this the future of the modelling industry?

📰 News - I have been a Google One subscriber for a few years now and the most recent news meant that even though I don’t own a Google Pixel device, I can still get all its features related to Photos. How cool is that! And I did try using the Magic Eraser on one of the photos I clicked using my OnePlus 9 Pro.

📝Article - How 16 Companies are Dominating the World’s Google Search Results (2023 Edition). The title speaks for itself. What an incredibly detailed article and how this handful of companies dominate and influence us.

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

Until we meet again next week, go outdoors, reduce screen time, take care of your eyes, and eat well.

Welcome to another edition of my newsletter.

I had a blood test done last week. This is a regular check-up every year since I turned vegan in Dec-2019. I get my Vit D and Vit B12 checked along with my bone profile and full blood count. This helps me gauge whether my vegan diet is working or not. Being on this diet can sometimes mean I restrict myself to very specific items only. So I need to make sure I am nutritionally not compromised.

The Mandalorian Season 3 is also out and what an amazing start to a great series. Episode 1 is out so far and can’t wait for the next episodes.

I also ran another sub 24mins 5K at my local Parkrun. It means all my regular runs are now slowly paying off. I am trying to do two runs per week plus some strength training to help increase power in the legs.

At work, things are finally picking up momentum and I am encouraging my team to start using ChatGPT for their daily work. I'm already seeing the benefit of it and I've given a demo to the team so let's see what happens.

🍄 Cordyceps fungus

I recently started watching the TV series The Last of Us and absolutely fell in love with it. It’s not your typical zombie series where there is no real science behind the zombies. In this series, though they actually discuss the science behind the zombie.

The TV series itself has been inspired by the hit video game of the same name.

In the series, they talk about a future where humans get infected by a fungus that normally infects animals, and are turned into zombies. There is a possibility that this can happen.

But to understand the science behind it and decide for ourselves is the best way forward.

I am really amazed by the number of media outlets that have tried to cover the science behind this fungus and discuss the possibilities of a fungal outbreak in humans.

Cordyceps is a real fungus—but is it dangerous?

The zombie-creating fungus in The Last of Us is real, but there are many other fungi to fear. Of the 5 million fungal species in the world, a few hundred are dangerous to people.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/parasitic-fungus-evolve-to-control-humans

💾 Software creation

I have been reading a lot about ChatGPT lately and how it’s going to change some of the jobs I am closely in touch with. One is software development and the other is software testing.

There are a lot of predictions about programming in the future and what it really means. The article below summarises it really well.

Coding Won’t Exist In 5 Years. This Is Why

Those who won’t adapt would cease to exist.

https://javascript.plainenglish.io/coding-wont-exist-in-5-years-this-is-why-6da748ba676c

The next topic I want to discuss is software testing. There have been countless articles about tools replacing humans when it comes to testing. But so far no tool has been able to do that successfully.

But what tools like ChatGPT and other automation tools can do is enhance our productivity and help us focus on more cognitive tasks.

The below article summarises some of the ways in which testers can leverage the tool to their advantage.

Revolutionizing Test Engineering with ChatGPT: Exploring the Possibilities of AI in Testing

Attention Test Engineers! Are you looking for a new and innovative way to approach testing? Look no further than ChatGPT.

https://www.awesome-testing.com/2023/02/revolutionizing-test-engineering-with.html

🎤 Voice typing

I recently thought I would write an article about improving my typing speed but then I thought typing is so old-fashioned. The new way to type is by using your voice. So for this particular section of my newsletter, I'm actually using my voice to type and the article mentioned below in the link is going to show you how to do that.

Technology has come a long way and we should figure out ways to use it so that we can become more productive. And I think this is one of the fastest ways to do that.

❤️ Things I enjoyed

This section has been inspired by Ali Abdaal’s wonderful newsletter.

🎬 Video - 7 Kinetic Sculptures in Lego is an amazing video from an amazing Lego channel I follow on YouTube. The guy builds some amazing stuff using only Lego.

📝 Article - Simple tips to prevent running injuries is a very important article for me since I have been running a lot lately and trying to prevent any sort of injury is a must. 131.2 km already done this year.

📱 App - I have been using Maps.me ever since me and my wife went travelling to South America in 2018. This app was actually recommended to us by another traveller we met during our trip to Portugal. It’s perfect for offline navigation both for driving as well as hiking.

📝 Article - Tech’s hottest new job: AI whisperer. No coding required. Prompt engineers are becoming the most sought-after role recently, especially with the boom in AI.

📺 TV show - Fleishman is in Trouble another series we finished recently. It is about a divorced couple and how they end up in that situation. Also, we see the story from both sides of the couple.

Thank you so much once again for reading my newsletter this week. Please feel free to Buy me a coffee if you are enjoying what I am sharing.

Until we meet again next week, get productive, be sustainable, laugh often and enjoy nature.