Now

This is a /now page.

Last Updated: January 2026.

🌐 Moved domain and MX providers:

Initially bought this domain from Google Domains
That got shut down and all domains got transferred to Squarespace
Wanted custom email address at the time, so signed up for Google Workspace
Google Workspace is expensive if all one wants is a custom email address and not the other bells and whistles such as domain-private Meet, Drive, Docs, et c.
Searched for other options, settled on Spacemail.
Thought it would be easier to consolidate domain management with the provider of mail services too, so moved to Spaceship.
Spacemail is cheap and offers more mailboxes (custom email addresses on same domain) but its Android app does not have instant email notifications like GMail does
"Instant email notifications" needs Firebase. Spacemail only has IMAP IDLE, which is a kind of polling mechanism
Installed betterbird on my Arch laptop and Thunderbird on my Android phone to handle mail.
Setting IMAP Idle and mail frequency to fast values is working for me.

🦬 Started using emacs Org Mode at work to track my To-Do lists

Second time giving Org Mode a go and it has been amazing to make sense of the chaos
Love the status-change, auto-sort, hiding, tagging features that work out of the box, and the keybindings too
Helpful to log work done weekly at the end of the week.
Haven't started using the other features of emacs though.
Also I use evil mode, so that's not really the true emacs experience, but this works well for me.

🐧 Looking to get back into Linux kernel upstream work

I miss the thrill of posting patches upstream and receiving feedback from maintainers and getting patches accepted
Feel like an outsider now that it's been a couple of years since I posted last
Want to start looking at avenues I can contribute given that I have experience with many new subsystems thanks to work

🏠 Bought a house, yay!

⌨️ Touch typing is a neat hack to actually improve productivity and the feeling of being productive:

Using the little finger to hit : is a game changer (used ring finger until now)
Want to learn it properly now - I still don't use it to hit P

🤖 Started a Perplexity Pro subscription

Their alternative to Google Assistant is great.
Tried Comet browser too but it does not have password import yet
Their reduced-features-browser that opens links without opening a new browser instance needs improvement - does not open links within the opened link. Maybe I'm holding it wrong.

🚀 Claude Code is awesome.

A new era dawns. Getting the distinct feeling that a paradigm shift has taken place in software development.
I feel that hand-coding by reading docs, manuals and figuring stuff out sans AI will eventually become a superpower of the past, much like how programming in assembly has become a yesteryear superpower.
The image of Paul Atreides seeking to ride the sandworm comes to mind.

💪🏽 The OODA loop

Observe
Orient
Decide
Act
I tend to get stuck in analysis-paralysis loops and this decision-making tool is helpful.
Setting a tight loop forces me to take a best-efforts decision and move on to the next task.