Prafull

My X fam - please make this video reach @elonmusk - youtu.be/SfmGKEmGcqQ सीपियों में छिपे ज्ञान के मोती = Pearls of wisdom hidden in shells This video features a deep and insightful conversation between Javed Akhtar and Himanshu Bajpai at the Kitab Utsav event, where they discuss the nuances of literature, language, and life. Key highlights of their discussion include: The Universality of Dohe: Javed Akhtar explains that dohe (couplets) are universal because they capture the fundamental emotions and "rhythm" of human life—such as love, hatred, ambition, and failure—that remain constant regardless of societal or technological changes (0:00 - 4:00). Ghazal vs. Doha: The duo discusses the technical differences between these poetic forms. While a ghazal is described as an "assorted box of biscuits" held together by meter and radeef, a doha is a self-contained, complete unit of thought that doesn't require context from preceding or succeeding lines (4:14 - 6:37). The Power of Words: A significant portion of the conversation focuses on the importance of language. Akhtar reflects on Kabir's famous doha regarding speech, emphasizing that words can act as both medicine (aushadh) and a wound (ghav). He stresses that a harsh word can cause a lasting impact that cannot be undone, even with material success (6:51 - 16:04). Navigating Life's Dilemmas: They explore the practical wisdom in dohe for navigating moral dilemmas. Akhtar shares his perspective on the necessity of maintaining personal integrity while pragmatically managing relationships, noting that one cannot always be purely rigid (16:52 - 25:03). Sense of Humor: Akhtar highlights that a sense of humor is not meant for "smooth roads" but acts as a "shock absorber" during the difficult, bumpy phases of life (31:08 - 32:38). Language Purity: In response to a question about "pure" vs. "impure" language, Akhtar dismisses the obsession with linguistic purity, pointing out that language naturally evolves by borrowing words from various origins (Persian, Arabic, Portuguese, etc.) and that what matters is the quality of communication (35:59 - 39:55). Reflections on Time: The conversation concludes with a philosophical reflection on the nature of time, with Akhtar pondering whether we are truly moving or if time itself is static (47:16 - 49:45).

youtube.com/watch?v=7aKewWHX… In the summer of 2003, two NASA rovers began their journeys to Mars at a time when the Red Planet and Earth were the nearest they had been to each other in 60,000 years. To capitalize on this alignment, the rovers had been built at breakneck speed by teams at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The mission came amid further pressures, from mounting international competition to increasing public scrutiny following the loss of the space shuttle Columbia and its crew of seven. NASA was in great need of a success. “Landing on Mars” is the story of Opportunity and Spirit surviving a massive solar flare during cruise, the now well-known “six minutes of terror,” and what came close to being a mission-ending software error for the first rover once it was on the ground.

In SF lingo - Diwalimaxxing!!

Join me in this cohort! Used monthly payment plan from Amazon Pay. Thank you @mattpocockuk for providing that option. Software Factories for Real Engineers aihero.dev/cohorts/software-…

🤖 Grok → Bot 🎭 Claude → Duet 🟢 OpenAI → Dot 🪞 Meta → Muse (sounds like metamucil. Doesn't it? Is the branding team at Meta trolling us?)

Claude keeps going. It's really good at looooooong running tasks.

Could @Starlink be the ultimate cheat code for strip mall businesses? 🛰️☕ Think about places like Bellagio Village mall in Temecula, CA. Massive, unobstructed rooftop space—perfect for satellite receivers. Local boba tea, coffee & bagel shops could easily offer blistering fast, reliable WiFi without dealing with traditional ISP headaches. Small business owners, would you make the switch? Whaddya think?

Just a small sample of a16z Jobs this week 🚀 Early stage • Founding PM @ Svix (SF) — $230K + equity • Dir Finance & Biz Ops @ Infinite Machine (NYC) • Founding Product Eng (iOS/Mac), IT Ops & AI Agent Eng, Growth Lead @ Ambi Growth stage • Platform Eng Leader @ Eve (SF/San Mateo) — $400K • Head of Product Eng @ Reducto (SF) — $350K • Forward Deployed Eng @ Tenex (NYC) — $394K • Comms Lead @ Slingshot AI (NYC) — $180K • Special Projects Associate @ Ethos (London, 6-mo contract) • Product Lead, Platform @ Midstream Health (SF) • Electronics Design Eng @ Heron Power (Scotts Valley) — $130K • Lead AI/ML Staff Eng @ Dream Technologies (SF) Later stage • MTS, Grok Product @ SpaceXAI (Palo Alto) — $440K • Assoc Dir Data Eng @ Formation Bio (NYC/Boston) — $267K • Lead Counsel, Strategic Alliances @ Databricks — $377K • Full-Stack Eng, ElevenCreative @ ElevenLabs • Head of Mission Ops, Intel Systems @ Anduril (Reston) — $243K • AE, Enterprise (NA) @ Deel (Canada) — $270K+

Curious to hear perspectives on this dynamic: In the US, UK, and EU, the mainstream sentiment around AI leans heavily toward caution—regulatory pushback, protests against data center energy/water use, and deep anxiety around labor disruption, despite established safety nets. Yet across Asia and Africa, the dominant tone is optimism, adoption, and acceleration. Is this simply the classic "leapfrog effect" (like mobile payments skipping traditional retail banking), or is something fundamentally different happening culturally?

The best $170 spent this week: Lexington Themes (thanks @RayFernando1337 for the pointer). The tedious part? Getting 150+ individual GitHub repository invites. The fix? Hooked up Claude Code via the hey CLI (thanks @37signals & @flaviocopes) and let the agent handle the entire queue via gh cli. Small automations like this make the agentic toolchain actually feel real. What repetitive task have you offloaded to an agent lately?

I have a feeling... it's gonna be a good good night @manufact happy hour!!

Tokenomics Foundation? Tokenomicon?? Can't believe this is real. We really are exploiting the interest, but dividing the attention now... Are the folks working at these foundations donating their time and skills? tokenomicon.com/

Did the sound system on my 2024 @Tesla Model3 just got an upgrade? It sounds so much crisp and fun!! What is this sorcery??