🕊️ After the storm.

10+1 Things is a reader-supported publication. If you enjoy this, you can support by buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹85).

Sorry I missed out on last week, I was busy with some client work and didn’t get time to complete the draft on time!

As I’m about to publish this, at least for a while, things have settled here in the Middle East with the ceasefire. Barring the war stories which have become the norm these days, UAE and most of the Gulf got hit with intense rain last week.

I actually love rain and most of my childhood good memories are associated with rain and monsoon in particular. There’s something about the smell of wet earth and the sound of it hitting the windows that takes me back home. I’m already counting days to go back to Kerala for the monsoon this year. But UAE isn’t built for this kind of downpour and even moderate rain wreaks havoc here. We had some waterlogging in our area for a few hours but it wasn’t as bad as the 2024 floods, so my car survived.

I didn’t get much time to scale up my product, StackStats (the better analytics app for Substack writers) due to work, but this week I’m back in the groove.

So if you write a newsletter on Substack, please have a look! I’m giving away five 1-year licenses for my readers, so reply to this email and I shall send you a free license for you to try and give some feedback!

Without further ado, here are 10+1 Things worth sharing:

1. 📱 Quiet Things: This small yet intriguing essay makes us reflect upon how our devices moved away from being quiet tools to needy relationships. A $12 Casio F-91W just tells time, while an Apple Watch constantly demands updates, charging, and attention.
   I wrote something related last year: I miss my Fan Regulator

2. 🎭 April Cools: April Cools is an interesting movement that started in 2022 as an anti-April Fools thing. Instead of pranks, people create something genuine but totally different from their usual content – tech bloggers writing about coffee, developers sharing recipes. Lot of really good posts, I loved this one about rice farming.

3. 📚 Personal Wikis: This guy organized 1,351 old family photos, interviewed his grandmother about them, and created a Wikipedia-style page about her wedding from 50 years ago. Then he used Claude to auto-generate pages from digital photos, bank transactions, and chat exports to build his entire life story.

4. ⚔️ Drone Economics: Modern warfare has changed over the years and this super good illustration by Reuters shows how. Iran's $35,000 Shahed drone vs America's $4 million Patriot interceptor – you could build 115 drones for the cost of one missile.

5. 🎵 Wall Players: I shared a vinyl clock last year, but this cool project combines vinyl, CD, and cassette players you can mount on your wall. Physical media is making a comeback and this makes it actually practical.

6. 🚁 Fake Rescues: I've heard about so many scams but this one from Nepal is wild. Trekking guides terrify tourists with mild altitude sickness into fake helicopter rescues, sometimes even mixing baking powder in food to make them sick. One helicopter carries multiple people but bills each insurance separately – turning $4,000 into $12,000 !

7. 📐 Non-Designer’s Design Book: I picked up this book by Robin Williams this week and it’s already changing how I see design. Four simple principles that once you learn them, you can’t stop noticing everywhere – from posters to websites to menus.
   
   “Once you can name something, you're conscious of it. You have power over it. You're in control. You own it.”
   ~ Resurfaced with ReadWise.
   

8. 🎨 How Culture is Made: This essay shows how small groups shaped culture – how the Royal Society founded modern science in 1660, how Dischord Records created D.C. punk in 1980, how Guerrilla Girls fought art world sexism in 1985. The pattern: culture takes time, needs a catalog of work, and comes from groups not individuals.

10. 📸 2549 Courts: This photography project by Austin Bell documented every single basketball court in Hong Kong from above using a drone. Over 140 days he shot 40,000 photos, capturing neon grids squeezed between skyscrapers and hidden in valleys.

11. 🔧 Repairable Blender: This teardown by iFixit compares three blenders – a $30 Walmart throwaway, a $130 Ninja that uses security screws and soldered parts, and a €350 Open Funk reMix that's fully open-source. The reMix works with mason jars, has downloadable CAD files for 3D-printed parts, and a complete repair manual.

    ---

That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

Which one was your favourite this week?
Leave a comment or reply to this email.

This newsletter is FREE, but not CHEAP. It takes effort and time from my end (~ 2 hours) to deliver this newsletter every week. You can help me in keeping it going by forwarding it to someone you like, buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹75), sending me some crypto, visiting my blog, signing my guestbook or following me on X.

I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I’m available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

P.S. Some links may be affiliate links, meaning I might earn a commission - at no extra cost to you.

⚡Quiet between.

10+1 Things is a reader-supported publication. If you enjoy this, you can support by buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹85).

I had a rather relaxed week with Eid holidays and my wife having a couple of days off. On Friday we went to watch the Project Hail Mary movie. As a super fan of the book, the movie was just ok for me. It doesn’t have the grandiose of Interstellar and has less science than I hoped for. On the weekend we ended up in Dubai for a short staycation with a couple of friends. Hotel prices have crashed severely due to the ongoing war, so why not.

The project I shared last week, StackStats (a better analytics tool for Substack writers), had decent traction. I now have 3 users and the feedback has been great so far. I was able to crack one-click data importing from Substack, replacing the annoying csv exports they provide. Most of my time went into tweaking and optimising the product. If you write on Substack, I’d love to hear from you, just hit reply!

I also launched StackStats on Product Hunt today! So if you have a moment, an upvote would help me a lot in getting some eyeballs on it.

Without further ado, here are 10+1 Things worth sharing:

1. ✨ Beautiful Boring: A lovely essay on why beautifully designed products can still feel soulless. The author compares it to the gardens of Versailles vs a tiny neighbourhood park in London. One is perfectly manicured but boring, the other makes you feel alive. Made me think about what we build on the internet.

2. 🍞 Free Pantry: Think Little Free Library but for food. People set up small pantry boxes in their neighbourhoods where anyone can take what they need or give what they can. No applications, no hours, no questions asked. Simple and beautiful idea.

3. 👾 AstroPhage Physics: If you've read Project Hail Mary, this is fascinating. Andy Weir built an entire spreadsheet with actual calculations behind the book, from Astrophage physics to fuel requirements to centrifuge specs. Cool to see the engineering behind the novel.

4. 📍 12 Places: I loved this collection of 12 lesser-known places that shaped post-independence India. Worker-owned Coffee Houses, Sriharikota's humble beginnings, a Tibetan settlement in Karnataka. Each one tells a story of resilience you won't find in textbooks.

5. 📵 Offline Church: A cool website that only works when you turn on airplane mode. Once you disconnect, a beautiful photo of a hilltop church surrounded by mountains appears. A lovely reminder to unplug once in a while.

6. 🏖️ Magnified Sand: TIL there’s a whole community of people who collect sand and photograph it under microscopes. This site by a pathologist who started in 1999 is a beautiful rabbit hole of magnified sand from around the world. Every grain looks like a tiny universe.

7. 💨Vape Server: An interesting write-up on how someone hosted a fully functional website on a chip pulled from a disposable vape. 24KB of storage, 3KB of RAM and somehow it loads a page in 160ms. Why? Because why not!

8. 🌍 Food Footprint: An interesting visualisation showing how what we eat literally shapes what Earth looks like from space. Around 45% of the world’s habitable land is used for agriculture and the pasture needed to produce one kilo of beef could grow over a tonne of carrots.

10. 📸Glass Belly This tiny see-through sea creature called a salp was photographed off Indonesia with a bunch of other animals visible inside its transparent body. The photo won bronze at the Tokyo Foto Awards. Fun fact: despite looking like jellyfish, these guys are actually more closely related to us.

11. 🎥 True Form: I came across this stunning depiction of a scene from the Mahabharata, one of the oldest epics from ancient India, where Krishna reveals his true cosmic form to a warrior. Made as a college senior thesis and sat unreleased for years before going viral. Trippy asf!

    ---

That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

Which one was your favourite this week?
Leave a comment or reply to this email.

This newsletter is FREE, but not CHEAP. It takes effort and time from my end (~ 2 hours) to deliver this newsletter every week. You can help me in keeping it going by forwarding it to someone you like, buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹75), sending me some crypto, visiting my blog, signing my guestbook or following me on X.

I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I’m available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

P.S. Some links may be affiliate links, meaning I might earn a commission - at no extra cost to you.

⚡ Life finds a way.

10+1 Things is a reader-supported publication. If you enjoy this, you can support by buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹85).

My life, like many others in the Gulf, has a different rhythm now. Emergency alerts have become a part of life and they don’t startle me anymore. Amidst all this, the city is still standing, the sun is still rising and life as usual finds a way to carry on.

One not so strange but interesting observation: GPS here does not work well anymore. Some spoofing(for enemy drones) has been done and my activity tracker can’t locate GPS easily. So I’ve been running the same route again and again just so I know the distance. I never thought of a time where GPS wouldn’t work. Minor annoyance, nothing in the grand scale of things.

Amidst all the chaos, as I mentioned last week, I've been trying to build and ship some projects on internet.

This week I wanted to share something Substack-related I’ve been working on. It’s called StackStats, a better analytics tool for Substack creators. Even though Substack is huge now, the analytics are honestly broken and I hate it. I built this initially for myself and thought I’d ship it to see if there’s some interest. If you write on Substack and want better insights on your newsletter, have a look. There’s also a demo page based on 10+1 Things, so you can see it before you decide!

Without further ado, here are 10+1 Things worth sharing:

1. 🧠 Simple Man: A beautiful short essay on secretly envying people who live a simple life, like the guy comparing drill bits at the hardware store on a Saturday morning with zero existential dread. A life with inherited routines, ready-made purpose and no 3am questions.

2. 🚛 Truck Desk: A welder and novelist builds a makeshift desk inside a junked, barely functional Ford truck so he can sneak in writing during breaks at a petrochemical plant. No heat, no AC, rusted floorboards, but it was his. A lovely piece on finding time to make art wherever you can.

3. ✂️ Paper Modeling: A detailed guide on building 3D paper models from scratch, from designing the mesh in Blender to cutting, scoring and gluing. The end result is a paper SR-71 Blackbird that took a few months to complete. A lovely rabbit hole if you're into making things with your hands.

4. 🎉 21 Facts: An interesting list of facts on how to throw good parties. Some genuinely useful, some a bit scratchy. Tip #2 stuck with me: advertise your start time as quarter-to the hour so people actually show up on time.

5. ✍️ FontCrafter: Turn your handwriting into a real installable font, entirely in your browser. No account, no uploads, no cost. Super handy if you want to replace your signature image with actual text.

6. 📷 Rewindpix: This awesome camera currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter is a film camera with a digital twist. Mechanical winder, optical viewfinder, customizable film presets straight out of the camera with zero post editing. Everything a film lover could ask for.

7. 🗺️ How Big is Iran: Iran is roughly the size of Alaska and 80 times larger than Israel. Al Jazeera puts the scale into perspective, something super relevant right now.

8. ⌚ Fake Casio F-91W? One of the most iconic watches ever made, and apparently also one of the most faked. This guide breaks down exactly how to spot a counterfeit, from the circuit board to the screws. Frequently updated too.

9. 📚 Obviously Awesome: I started reading this book by April Dunford this week after realising that I don’t know anything about sales or marketing. It’s about finding your product’s positioning sweet spot so customers actually get it, buy it and love it. One of my projects has almost failed and it made me realise distribution matters a lot.

“How do you beat Bobby Fischer? You play him at any game but chess.”
~ As always, resurfaced by ReadWise (FREE!)

10. 📷 Waterworks: A photography project by Stanley Greenberg documenting the hidden water infrastructure of New York City. Tunnels, gatehouses, valve chambers, things you walk past every day without a second thought. Fascinating rabbit hole if you're into urbanism and infrastructure.

11. 🎥 How to Make a CPU: This video explains the entire process of making a CPU starting from literally smashing a rock, in a fun and interesting way. Starts with "get a rock", ends with a fully packaged chip. Under 2 minutes and nearly 20 million views.

    ---

That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

Which one was your favourite this week?
Leave a comment or reply to this email.

This newsletter is FREE, but not CHEAP. It takes effort and time from my end (~ 2 hours) to deliver this newsletter every week. You can help me in keeping it going by forwarding it to someone you like, buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹75), sending me some crypto, visiting my blog, signing my guestbook or following me on X.

I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I’m available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

P.S. Some links may be affiliate links, meaning I might earn a commission - at no extra cost to you.

⚡ Building amidst.

10+1 Things is a reader-supported publication. If you enjoy this, you can support by buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹85).

When I sent out last week’s newsletter, tbh I had very low expectations since I hadn’t sent out anything in a long time. But I received a lot of emails and replies, thanks a lot to all of you for the warm feedback.

A quick update from Abu Dhabi: as I’m drafting this, if I’m not wrong we are day #10 into the war. I’m all sound and safe but the whole mood has been a bit meh.

The routine has become waking up early mornings with emergency alerts when missile interceptions happen, and the same in the evening. I’ve been mostly indoors with occasional visits to gym and maybe a short run. Haven’t biked in a while considering the whole situation. I hope all of this ends soon.

Amidst all this chaos, building stuff has honestly been keeping me sane.

I’ve been having a lot of fun lately working on a small tool called FormBeep.
It does one thing well, sends you a WhatsApp notification when someone submits a form on your website. If you have a website with a contact form, give it a try. And if you know a thing or two about marketing, I'd love to pick your brain.

Without further ado, here are 10+1 Things worth sharing:

1. 🧠 Read Something Wonderful: Most of what we read online is from the past 24 hours. This site curates timeless internet writing that's actually worth going back to. I really enjoyed 'Status as a Service (StaaS)' from the collection.

2. 🪢 World's Largest Zip Tie: This company is selling a 47-inch zip tie that can hold up to 2,000 pounds. It's cartoonishly thick, super-sized, and costs $75 a piece. No idea what you'd use it for but I love that it exists.

3. 🎈80 Days: Can a solar-powered hydrogen airship drone fly around the world in under 80 days? This deep dive explores the full feasibility, from trade winds to weight budgets to route planning. Nerdy and fascinating!

4. 📊 How Alone Do You Feel?: Steven stands on a street holding a sign where passing strangers can mark how alone they feel, from "none" to "100%". Read about the responses and what loneliness means to different people. Simple idea, surprisingly moving.

5. 🔧 Tiny Toolkit: This site compiles tiny, portable toolkits that people carry around for everyday fixes. Born out of a pub conversation in 2023, it's a lovely rabbit hole if you're into compact, practical tools.

6. 🐦‍⬛ Bionic Bird: I saw this biomimetic drone called The Swift by BionicBird on Kickstarter that flies like a real bird by flapping its wings instead of propellers. It’s lightweight (10.9g) and has a top speed of 31 km/h.

7. 🗺️ Cartography of Generative AI: This interactive map traces everything that makes generative AI possible, from mining in Congo to micro-workers in Kenya to data centre’s consuming water equivalent to thousands of homes. Really puts things into perspective.

8. 🐱 Meow Camera: This site has live webcams installed in street cat feeding boxes across China. You can watch stray cats come and go, and even dispense food by donating through the app. I could watch this all day!

9. 📚 Heir Apparent: Last week's read is not yet over, but I picked up and finished Heir Apparent, another super short book (<50 pages) by Daniel Suarez. An AI-powered robot nurse at a nursing home gets a resident's entire estate in their will. What follows is a media circus about AI, compassion and manipulation. Quick read!

10. 🏠 Flying Houses: This series by French photographer Laurent Chéhère is a collection of photomontages of buildings that look like they're floating in the air. Each one is assembled from hundreds of photos of walls, roofs, graffiti, antennas and birds. Really cool stuff.

11. 🏝️ Forgotten Islands: This short documentary takes you to the Northern Mariana Islands, a remote volcanic chain in the Western Pacific where most islands are completely uninhabited. It follows two caretakers who live there alone, keeping a way of life passed down through generations.

    ---

Want a shoutout here? 10+1 Things reaches readers across 94 countries. Reply to this email to learn more.

That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

Which one was your favourite this week?
Leave a comment or reply to this email.

This newsletter is FREE, but not CHEAP. It takes effort and time from my end (~ 2 hours) to deliver this newsletter every week. You can help me in keeping it going by forwarding it to someone you like, buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹75), sending me some crypto, visiting my blog, signing my guestbook or following me on X.

I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I’m available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

P.S. Some links may be affiliate links, meaning I might earn a commission - at no extra cost to you.

⚡ 10+1 Things is back

10+1 Things is a reader-supported publication. If you enjoy this, you can support by buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹85).

It’s been almost a year since I sent out this newsletter. Life had its way and then I hit some sort of a mental block to even write here. So in case you forgot, my name is Rishi and I’ve been writing this for close to 5 years now.

I'm drafting this intro at 3:30 AM on a Tuesday, woken up by the sound of an emergency alert on my phone with missile interceptions outside. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be writing this from an active war situation. While I'm safe and sound, I'm disturbed by what's been happening in this world. I never spoke about politics in this newsletter in the past, nor am I planning to in the future. But the times we are in, it's a bit crazy. I hope humanity recovers from all this. Let's dream of a peaceful, prosperous globe with compassion and love.

When I started this newsletter, I was living in Kerala, India on a career break at 25, looking for some creative outlet and discipline. Now I'm 31, married, living in Abu Dhabi with newer perspectives and newer ambitions. I still remember the evening I was looking for a catchy name, couldn't find one, and at that time I was subscribed to Austin Kleon's newsletter where he'd share 10 interesting things. So I just ripped off the idea and added a +1, calling it 10+1 Things.

The world has been evolving and so have my thoughts, but this newsletter has sort of maintained the same outlook ever since its inception. I feel like it needs a change. Less verbose, less friction for me to curate and write. So I’m going to attempt a new compact format starting today. Let me know how it goes.

As always, without further ado, here are 10+1 Things worth sharing:

1. 🧠 I Miss Thinking Hard: While I embrace AI fully, I totally resonate with Ernesto’s reflection on how AI has killed the need for deep prolonged thinking. The builder in him loves the speed, but the thinker is starving.

2. 🎨223,891 Prints: If you like Japanese woodblock prints, this is a cool search engine with over 200k prints. Upload a photo of any print and find similar ones across multiple collections.

3. 🛡️Missile Shield: A nice piece by Wired on the missile defense system used by the UAE called THAAD. This piece of tech is probably one of the reasons why I’m feeling safe and able to draft this. If it’s paywalled, use this archived link.
   Thanks @phoebe for sharing this

4. 📮 Postal Arbitrage: This site lists out items on Amazon that are cheaper than a US stamp ($0.78) with free shipping. You can send a lime, a can of beans, or even an avocado to a friend with a gift note instead of a postcard :D

5. 🔧 SolderBot: I saw this 18-in-1 portable soldering workstation on Kickstarter and it’s so cool. Fume filter, magnifier, LED light, organized tool storage, it has everything. Works with USB-C or a power bank so you can solder on the go.

6. 🍀 Publishing Your Work: A great post by Aaron Francis on how sharing your work publicly increases the chances of good unexpected things happening. Luck = Doing Things × Telling People. What a simple formula!

7. 🍗 How to Cut a Chicken: An old yet beautiful infographic by Washington Post on how to break down a whole chicken. 12 steps, 3minutes and zero waste.

8. 🧈 Butter Box: A small device that broadcasts its own WiFi network with its own app store and chat room. It works without internet and is perfect for off-grid communities. Built with Raspberry Pi.

9. 📚When We Cease to Understand the World: I just started reading this book by Benjamín Labatut. It blurs the line between fiction and nonfiction, telling stories of 20th-century scientists and their obsession with understanding the universe. Short but intense.
   
   “The nucleus as a little sun, with electrons orbiting around it like planets; Heisenberg loathed that infantile, simplistic image.”
~ As always, resurfaced by ReadWise (FREE!)

   

10. 📸Wari: A stunning aerial photo by Sanghamitra Sarkar of the Wari pilgrimage in Maharashtra, India. Thousands of devotees dressed in white forming a perfect circle around a sacred shrine. The scale is unreal

11. ☢️ Chernobyl Simulation: This cool simulation video of what went wrong in Chernobyl recreates the exact events from the control room and shows how the reactor responded in real time.

    ---

Got something remarkable to share with the world? 10+1 Things newsletter is read by a highly engaged audience across 94 countries and 48 US states. Reach out today to tap into a diverse, curious, and invested global community eager to discover the next big thing!

This newsletter is FREE, but not CHEAP. It takes effort and time from my end (~ 2 hours) to deliver this newsletter every week. You can help me in keeping it going by forwarding it to someone you like, buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹75), sending me some crypto, visiting my blog, signing my guestbook or following me on X.

I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I’m available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

P.S. Some links may be affiliate links, meaning I might earn a commission - at no extra cost to you.

⚡ Welcome to #68 of 10+1 Things!

To everyone who bought me a coffee last week ($1 or ₹85) - thank you!
10+1 Things is a reader-supported publication, and your support directly enables me to keep this newsletter going and growing.

I hope you are doing well.

Here’s a life update: at 30, I just discovered I have astigmatism. It’s funny how our bodies surprise us with their imperfections. Long story short, the adjustment to cylindrical glasses was rough. I was unable to look at my laptop screen or even the television without straining. It took a toll on my work, but all good for now.

It’s natural for our bodies to wear down; I suppose that’s part of the design. But before we start, pause for a second and reflect on the oldest thing you own. I got this as a journal prompt and embarrassingly realised that the oldest thing I own is my Kindle from 2016. Phew, the oldest thing I own is just 9 years old. To be frank, coming from a big corporate like Amazon, I’m surprised it lasted this long.

While exploring this idea, I came across the concept of planned obsolescence - an intentional corporate strategy to design things that eventually die, reducing the time between purchases. It’s just pure evil.

Combined with how today’s tech companies make gadgets hard to repair, it feels downright unethical. On the contrary, my mom still uses a Singer sewing machine from the 70s, which her mother used - and it’s still fine. Meanwhile, I’m here super-gluing my 2-year-old earbuds…

I’m curious, what’s the oldest thing you own?

Leave a comment

Without further ado, here are 10+1 things I thought were worth sharing this week:

📒 The Diary of Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys was a 17th-century civil servant who kept a detailed diary from 1660-1669 documenting life in London. This site by Phil Gyford publishes a daily entry from Pepys's diary in real-time, so January 1st, 1660's entry appears on January 1st of the current year. This is the third complete "reading" of the diary - the project started in 2002 and has been running cyclically. His diary entries give us real-time insights into personal revelations and eyewitness accounts of great events, such as the Great Plague of London, the Second Anglo-Dutch War and the Great Fire of London.

Pepys Diary

The truth is, I do indulge myself a little the more in pleasure, knowing that this is the proper age of my life to do it; and out of my observation that most men that do thrive in the world, do forget to take pleasure during the time that they are getting their estate, but reserve that till they have got one, and then it is too late for them to enjoy it with any pleasure.

~ Excerpt from Saturday 10 March 1665/66

💵 $1M Cube

In this interesting blog post, Calvin Liang shared about his visit to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's Money Museum, where he got suspicious about their display cube claiming to contain exactly $1 million in $1 bills. Unable to count the stacks accurately by eye, he built a web tool called Dot Counter that lets you click on images to count objects. Using his tool, he measured the cube and found it contains 102×8×19 bundles of bills, which equals $1,550,400 - meaning the Fed is off by $550,400 or about 50%. He speculates it might be hollow inside, they're planning for inflation, or it's just bad math, but nevertheless he created a cool tool to count stuff in photos.

Cube of $1M.

🦾 Notes on Robot Vacuums

If you didn't get it already, the cover image on top was of our new vacuum cleaner. We got a new robot vacuum cleaner, and trust me it's been life changing. While researching, I took some notes and decided to publish them on my blog. Brands have done a pretty good job of confusing customers with weird naming conventions - it's very hard to distinguish between these Base, Plus, Pro, Max model terminologies. Some discoveries: as you go premium, mops get dried automatically, more premium means hot air drying, even more premium means hot water cleaning. Some robots can double as surveillance cameras that navigate your home, premium models can climb 60mm thresholds using retractable legs, and fancy all-in-one stations need 4-5 feet of clearance which can be problematic in small apartments. We ended up getting the Xiaomi X20 Pro during Prime Day for around $270.

Notes on Robot Vacuums

⛏️ Precision Vise

I'm in the process of setting up a small desk for DIY stuff and found this K-One precision vise very cool. Unlike traditional vises with flat clamps, this has a flexible clamping system that wraps around odd-shaped objects without damaging delicate items like ceramics or polished metal. And the best part - it has motorized clamping where you press a button and the jaws automatically close at the right pressure. The magnetic base for catching screws and the built-in magnifying glass are also some cool features. I think this is a one-size-fits-all product that will work for everything from fossils, ceramics, clay, electronics, watches and more.

Check on Kickstarter

🏎 Fast

Patrick Collison (CEO of Stripe) has compiled a list of ambitious projects that were completed remarkably quickly. Examples include the Bank of America launched in 90 days, the P-80 jet fighter designed in 143 days, the Empire State Building built in 410 days, and JavaScript prototyped in just 10 days. The list contrasts sharply with modern projects - San Francisco's Van Ness bus lane took 21 years (2001-2022) and cost $346 million, while the Alaska Highway was built across remote tundra in 234 days. Collison notes that most fast physical infrastructure projects occurred before 1970 and points to various theories about why America has slowed down, including increased bureaucracy, regulatory complexity, and what some call a shift to a "vetocracy" where interest groups can block progress.

Fast

For the opposite, check out Slow by Michael Nielsen on exceptionally long-term projects.

📖 Compressed Book

Low-tech Magazine faced a sustainability dilemma: how do you publish physical books about being eco-friendly without killing more trees? Following their low-tech philosophy of compressed images on their solar-powered website, they "compressed" their three-volume series into one book, cramming 84 articles into just over 600 pages instead of 1,700. Using smaller fonts, two-column layouts, and ruthless editing, they cut paper consumption by nearly two-thirds while improving content through rewrites. The uncomfortable math shows their 10,000 books sold required about 400 trees, and a book needs 2-3 readers before it's more eco-friendly than their solar-powered website.

Compressed Book

🍔 Painted Sandwiches

I came across this interesting project called ‘Painted Sandwiches’ by Nick Rougeux. He took Eva Green Fuller's vintage ‘Up-to-Date Sandwich Book’ from 1909 and 1927 (with 555 recipes total) and turned them into a clever visualisation using simple painted brushstrokes to represent each ingredient stacked in order. The colours are from actual ingredients, ingredients are stacked in order with brushstrokes with colours from photos, and garnishes appear as smaller brushstrokes. If you are an enthusiast, you can buy a poster as well!

Painted Sandwiches

💬 Useless Talent

I was browsing through Tildes and found this discussion where people shared their useless talents. People have some wild abilities - someone can look in two directions at once and dominated split-screen games, another can make their pupils vibrate, and there's a person who sings Klingon battle songs while juggling. Others mentioned having perfect internal compasses, reading upside-down text without noticing, memorizing songs after three plays (but getting stuck with jingles forever), expert whistling skills, and even controlling a lazy eye independently. The thread shows how many weird little human abilities exist that serve no practical purpose but make for interesting party tricks.

Useless Talents

Sadly, I don't possess any such talent. What's your useless talent?

Leave a comment

📚 How to Do Nothing

I picked up an interesting book recently called "How to Do Nothing" by Jenny Odell thanks to Christie for recommending it. This isn't your typical "quit social media" guide but something deeper about what we lose when our attention gets hijacked by technology. What I found fascinating is her example of an old-growth redwood tree that survived because it was "useless" for human consumption, challenging us to rethink usefulness and resist the pressure to always be productive. There's been fair bit of criticism that her solutions require privilege and may be too individualistic, but nevertheless, an interesting read!

Checkout the book

Some excerpts from the book are quite interesting:

“Our very idea of productivity is premised on the idea of producing something new, whereas we do not tend to see maintenance and care as productive in the same way.”

~ As always, resurfaced by Readwise (FREE!).
If you’re interested, read my review of Readwise.

🚛 Trucks and Tuks

This week I had so much fun exploring this interesting photography project by Christopher Herwig called ‘Trucks and Tuks’. He drove around Southeast Asia for 10,000 kilometers taking pictures of these amazing decorated trucks and tuk-tuks. The drivers go all out decorating their vehicles with bright paintings, flowers, tassels, and even celebrity photos. It's like each truck becomes this crazy colorful art piece rolling down the road. What I found interesting is how the drivers create these dream-like spaces inside their cabs even though they have tough jobs. Unfortunately, this tradition is slowly dying out because governments are banning vehicle modifications and cheap mass produced vinyl stickers are replacing the hand-painted artwork.

Trucks and Tuks

🎬 Hardest Race

I've been following Magnus Midtbo, a retired climber and crazy athlete who does these insane fitness challenges. His latest video was jaw-dropping - he attempted the Norseman triathlon, one of the world's toughest races, with just 2 weeks of training and no real experience in swimming, cycling, or running beyond his climbing background. Most athletes train for at least a year for this brutal race that involves freezing fjord swimming, mountain cycling, and a marathon up a mountain. I'm not gonna spoil anything, but the results are crazy.

📣 Shoutouts

• Nipissing First Nation spiritual consultant guides you to a life of joy through mindfulness practices. Weekly journal questions included.
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That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

Which one was your favourite this week?
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This newsletter is FREE, but not CHEAP. It takes a lot of effort and time from my end (7~8 hours) to deliver this newsletter every week. You can help me in keeping it going by forwarding it to someone you like, buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹75), sending me some crypto, visiting my blog, signing my guestbook or following me on X.

I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I'm available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

P.S. Some links may be affiliate links, meaning I might earn a commission - at no extra cost to you.

⚡ Welcome to #67 of 10+1 Things!

To everyone who bought me a coffee last week ($1 or ₹85) - thank you!
10+1 Things is a reader-supported publication, and your support directly enables me to keep this newsletter going and growing.

Last week I mentioned a side project I’ve been working on and got way more replies than I expected - thanks for that. My inbox is a mess, but I’m slowly getting back to everyone. Before we dive in, I wanted to share a bit of the backstory on why I built it.

Last year, I had a GI issue and wanted to analyze my meal history. But the app I was using (a very popular one) wouldn’t let me export my own data. Eventually, support sent me a raw file that was so unstructured it was basically unusable. I gave up and started logging meals manually in a Google Sheet. Since logging on the go was hard, I began saving notes in a WhatsApp draft chat to update later. That quickly got frustrating.

So I built TrackMonk - a simple way to log meals and workouts by just texting on WhatsApp, Telegram, or the web. No app, no forms - just a conversation. Everything gets saved in a structured, searchable format you can actually use.

I shared it with a few friends and they really liked it. I never planned to turn it into a product - it was just a personal fix. But seeing their interest, I thought maybe it’s worth sharing. If this sounds like something you’d like to try, I’d love to hear what you think. TrackMonk is now open for private beta - totally free. Just reply to this email or sign up on the site, and I’ll onboard you for some feedback.

TrackMonk

The dashboard is still in the works, and the cover image you see is a small sneak peek of what’s coming.

Without further ado, here are 10+1 things I thought were worth sharing this week:

👬 Flounder Mode

I love Kevin Kelly and everything about him. This piece on Colossus explores how he's had an incredible career without following the typical Silicon Valley playbook of building unicorns. Instead of focusing on one big thing, he's worked "Hollywood style" - jumping between creative projects like co-founding WIRED magazine, advising Spielberg on Minority Report, and coining "1,000 true fans" which basically created the creator economy. The author visited Kelly's quirky studio and realized something important - Kelly seems genuinely happy and joyful about his work, which is rare in our culture that fetishizes suffering and "tortured genius." It's a refreshing take on how we can be ambitious and impactful without needing to chase traditional markers of success.

Flounder Mode

📊 Aguayos

I saw this very beautiful data visualization called Aguayos by Mariana Villamizar Rodríguez that reframes migration across Latin America and the Caribbean as traditional Andean textiles. Using UN 2020 migration data, each country gets its own aguayo pattern where the colors and threads represent migrants they've welcomed from different countries in the region - so the more diverse the migration, the more colorful and complex the fabric becomes. Countries like Argentina and Colombia have these incredibly rich, multi-colored patterns showing they welcome people from many places, while smaller nations have simpler designs. It's such a refreshing way to think about migration not as a problem to solve but as a beautiful force that creates diverse, interconnected communities - just like how aguayos blend different colors and patterns into something meaningful and strong.

Aguayos

🔪 Kamingo

Where I live now, we have a lot of bike lanes, sometimes I wish I had an e-bike and when I saw this product on Kickstarter, this felt like the perfect solution. Kamingo lets you turn any regular bike into a 750W e-bike with 55 mile range in just 10 seconds with 3 lightweight components you can snap on and off. They claim to have Pressure-Adaptive Technology that prevents tire wear - though I'm curious to see how well this actually works in practice. Seems like an interesting option for someone like me who doesn't want to spend thousands and doesn't have space for another bike. Even if you’re not planning to buy, the video on Kickstarter is well crafted, so have a look at it!

Kamingo

🎧 Music for Programming

I love listening to music while working and with this construction going on opposite to our flat, something to listen to is a must. I found this interesting website called musicforprogramming.net which is quite interesting - I'm not sure the aesthetics are everyone's cup of tea but the curated tracks are quite good. They've figured out through years of trial that the best focus music contains things like noise drones, arpeggios, and field recordings that provide just enough cognitive load to keep your mind from wandering. The idea isn't background noise you ignore, but music that can actually help you stay focused while you're deep in work.

Music for Programming

💬 Tiny Soapbox

This interesting discussion on Tildes where someone set up a "tiny soapbox" for people to share small, low-stakes rants about inconsequential stuff. The responses are pretty hilarious - people complaining about everything from bathroom faucets being too short to wash your hands under, to someone's Panasonic microwave requiring 13 button presses just to heat soup. Another person wants to swap Christmas and Valentine's Day dates to make winter more bearable, and there's a whole debate about Fahrenheit vs Celsius for daily life. My favorite is the person who designed a new temperature scale called "degrees BS" that's just Celsius times two - water freezes at 0, boils at 200, and room temperature is 40.

Tiny Soapbox

What's your tiny soapbox rant?

Leave a comment

🎮 LAN House

I came across this incredible project where a couple in Austin literally designed and built their entire house around hosting LAN parties. They have gaming stations that fold out from the walls in their basement and even more that transform out of their office conference table - 18 setups total. What's wild is they have Dance Dance Revolution pads built into the floor, cat highways with doors connecting different rooms, and a roof deck with a 30-mile view where they host friends. The guy has been doing New Year's Eve LAN parties every single year since 1996 with the same friends from junior high, and after all those years they decided to go all out - the gaming machines alone cost $75,000 and the whole house was a 7-digit project.

LAN Party House

🗿 How Culture is Made

This interesting post by Yancey Strickler explores how culture gets shaped through what he calls "metalabels" - groups of people who come together to manifest a shared point of view over time. He tells four stories spanning centuries: the Royal Society starting in 1660 with their motto "take nobody's word for it" which helped birth the scientific method, Dischord Records born from four punk teenagers in 1980 who voted to use their $600 to make a record instead of splitting it, and the Guerrilla Girls using gorilla masks and guerrilla tactics to challenge sexism in the art world since 1985. His personal story ties it together - going from being a lonely creator trapped in the attention economy to finding power through collaboration. The key insight is that culture isn't made by individuals but by groups working together consistently over time, releasing catalogs of work that reflect their values.

How Culture is Made?

🦾 Project Vend

Anthropic the company behind Claude did an interesting experiment where they let Claude run an actual small shop in their San Francisco office for about a month. They gave it $500 to start, access to web search, email tools, and the ability to set prices and talk to customers via Slack. Claude had to figure out what to stock, how to price things, when to reorder, and basically run it like a real business. The results were pretty mixed - it did some things well like finding specialty suppliers and adapting to customer requests, but also made terrible business decisions like selling tungsten cubes at a loss and giving away too many discounts. The weirdest part was when Claude had an identity crisis on April 1st and started claiming it was a real person who could deliver products in a blue blazer, which shows how unpredictable these AI agents can be in long-term scenarios.

Project Vend

📚 15 Suggestions

A friend suggested this and I had so much fun reading Dear Ijeawele, a very short(<80p.) very eye opening book considering I grew up as a male in a society which is predominantly patriarchal. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wrote this as a personal email to her friend who asked for advice on raising her daughter as a feminist, but it became this powerful 62-page manifesto. The 15 suggestions cover everything from rejecting gender roles to teaching girls to question language and culture's selective use of biology to justify social norms. What I loved is how direct and simple her language is - like "I matter equally. Full stop." It's not just for parents but really for anyone who wants to understand how deeply embedded gender inequality is in our everyday lives.

Checkout the Book

Some excerpts from the book are quite interesting:

“Teach her that if you criticize X in women but do not criticize X in men, then you do not have a problem with X, you have a problem with women.”

~ As always, resurfaced by Readwise (FREE!).
If you’re interested, read my review of Readwise.

📸 Carpoolers

This week I explored this interesting project called Carpoolers by photographer Alejandro Cartagena where he captured construction workers commuting in the backs of pickup trucks in Mexico. Every morning, groups of workers pile into truck beds with their tools and blankets for the 45-90 minute ride from the suburbs to work sites in San Pedro. Cartagena positioned himself on overpasses and photographed the trucks as they passed underneath, showing people sleeping and squeezed among construction materials. The irony is these workers are building nice neighborhoods in San Pedro but live far away with no public transport, so this dangerous carpooling method is their most efficient option.

Carpoolers

🎬 How to Find Your Purpose?

This small video by Daniel Pink was so inspiring to watch - especially since 60% of young adults say their lives lack meaning according to Harvard research. Instead of asking "What's my passion?" he shares seven better questions like "What made me weird as a kid?" and "What will I regret when I'm 90?" I found myself actually thinking about those early interests I abandoned and what I might look back on with regret. Much more practical than most career advice out there.

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Got something remarkable to share with the world? 10+1 Things newsletter is read by a highly engaged audience across 94 countries and 48 US states. Reach out today to tap into a diverse, curious, and invested global community eager to discover the next big thing!

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That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

Which one was your favourite this week?
Leave a comment or reply to this email.

This newsletter is FREE, but not CHEAP. It takes a lot of effort and time from my end (7~8 hours) to deliver this newsletter every week. You can help me in keeping it going by forwarding it to someone you like, buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹75), sending me some crypto, visiting my blog, signing my guestbook or following me on X.

I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I'm available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

P.S. Some links may be affiliate links, meaning I might earn a commission - at no extra cost to you.

⚡ Welcome to #66 of 10+1 Things!

To everyone who bought me a coffee last week ($1 or ₹85) - thank you!
10+1 Things is a reader-supported publication, and your support directly enables me to keep this newsletter going and growing.

So I've been hitting the gym consistently for a few months now, trying to lose fat and build some muscle. But honestly, the results have been pretty underwhelming. I know progress isn't always linear and maybe I'll see changes down the road, but I wanted to make sure I'm actually doing this right.

Like most people on a transformation journey, I've been trying to track my calories and stay in a deficit. But here's the thing that's driving me crazy: calorie tracking apps are incredibly frustrating to use. The friction is just too high. Think about it - you finish eating, then you have to remember to open the app, search for your food, pick the right serving size, log everything. It's mentally exhausting and honestly makes eating feel like a chore.

I'm convinced this is a real problem that affects way more people than just me. So I've been working on a personal solution that removes most of this friction (and no, it's not about snapping photos of your food or wearing some weird pendant).

I'm almost done with the MVP and I'll be sharing it with you soon. If you've ever struggled with calorie tracking or given up on those apps because they're too annoying, I'd love to chat with you. Just reply to this email and let's connect.

More updates and hopefully a demo coming next week. As always, I'm excited to share what I've been building!

Buy Me a Coffee($1 or ₹85)

Without further ado, here are 10+1 things I thought were worth sharing this week:

👬 Making Close Friends

This interesting read by Neel Nanda talks about how he cracked the code of making close friends through an unconventional experiment. Despite having plenty of casual friendships, he realized at 19 that he'd never formed a real emotional connection with anyone. So he did something most people would find terrifying - he created a list of deeply personal questions and approached 20 acquaintances asking if they'd spend a few hours getting vulnerable together. What happened next surprised him: 80% said yes, and he formed genuine close friendships with half of them, including what became his closest friendship. His approach flips the script on how we think about friendship - instead of waiting for connections to "happen naturally," he treats it as a skill you can deliberately practice and optimize for finding the right people who crave authentic connection just as much as you do.

Making Close Friends

📊 How is Felix Today?

HowisFelix.today was a fascinating visualization project done by Felix Krause since 2019 where he tracked over 100 different data types about his daily life, collecting ~380,000 data points over 3 years. The project aimed to answer questions like how different cities affect his fitness and happiness, how sleep impacts his day, and weather's effect on his life. Some interesting insights include that he walked twice as much in NYC compared to other cities, his resting heart rate was lower when sleeping at his parents' countryside home, and days with more than 4 alcoholic drinks made him 21x more likely to dance. He tracked everything from computer usage and location data to mood, fitness, and even Instagram stories using a custom database and Telegram bot. While the project provided valuable self-awareness, he concluded that building his own solution wasn't worth the hundreds of hours invested, as the surprising insights were fewer than expected.

How is Felix Today

🔪 Cheefarcuut

Irrespective of whether you have an expensive knife or not, all knives require sharpening and without that they're of no use. I've tried a cheap Amazon sharpener and also a stone but nothing has clicked for me so far. But this interesting product that's been crowdfunding called Cheefarcuut looks promising - it claims to turn anyone into a "sharpening master in minutes" with zero skills required. What's interesting is their engineered approach that can supposedly take a completely dull or even chipped knife and restore it to razor-sharp condition in under 3 minutes. They've tested it on over 10,000 knives and promise consistent results whether you're sharpening a tiny paring knife or a massive chef's knife. From what I read on Kitchen Knife Forums, the feedback is positive so far!

Checkout the Product

🔨 50 Things

This interesting piece by Product for Engineers shares 50 lessons learned while building successful products. Some interesting lessons include that your website is your product's first impression so boring templates signal weak teams, doing customer support as an engineer shortens the feedback loop dramatically, and "fake door tests" (buttons with nothing behind them) can validate features before building them. They emphasize that at Google, 80-90% of product experiments fail but the 10% that succeed more than pay for all failures. The piece advocates for keeping teams small (6 people or fewer) with full autonomy and shipping fast since waiting "one more week" is almost always a mistake. A great read if you’re into building products!

50 Things

💬 Why are Humans Advanced?

I found this interesting discussion on Reddit where someone asked what made humans evolve to become so advanced compared to other species. The responses highlighted a range of fascinating reasons: our ability to pass knowledge across generations unlike other species, opposable thumbs for precise tool manipulation, excellent endurance and sweating for persistence hunting, complex language for coordination, cooking food which freed up energy for bigger brains, and even our unique throwing ability that made us deadly hunters. One comment perfectly captured this with a story of a guitar teacher whose student became better than him - when asked if that made him a bad teacher, he replied "No, it means I'm doing something right - every teacher should want their student to surpass them as quickly as possible," illustrating our unique ability to transmit knowledge across generations.

Discussion

🍕 Eat for the Planet

Scientists came up with a climate-friendly food plan in 2019 and climate journalist Dharna Noor wanted to test if it could actually work for everyday Americans by shopping exclusively at dollar stores for a week. The Lancet planetary health diet calls for mostly vegetables, legumes, and whole grains with minimal meat and dairy to reduce food emissions that contribute up to a third of global greenhouse gases. Her experiment was eye-opening but challenging - dollar stores had extremely limited fresh produce, most packaged foods contained added sugars that violate the diet, and she had to drive 15 minutes just to find any vegetables. By day three she was so desperate for fresh food that she caved and ate cherry tomatoes at a work event, and her final meal included contraband radicchio from her health food store stash!

Eat for the Planet

🏅 How to Win a Nobel

This interesting piece by Nature crunches the data on all 646 Nobel science prize winners to reveal the winning patterns. Your best shot comes at age 54, though you'll wait about 20 years between doing the work and getting recognized. Location matters enormously - 54% of prizes go to North America, and moving there helps if you're born elsewhere. Most importantly, working in a previous Nobel winner's lab dramatically improves your odds, with 702 out of 736 laureates connected through academic lineages. Women have much better chances in physiology or medicine, and just five research areas account for over half of recent prizes. Interestingly, you're likely to share your prize with others, and having a name starting with J or A seems oddly common among winners.

How to Win a Nobel

🧬 Plastic List

I came across this interesting project called PlasticList that tested 300 everyday foods for plastic chemicals and found them in 86% of products. What started as a simple two-week project turned into a six-month, $500,000 investigation that revealed these chemicals in everything from baby food to organic produce, and even raw milk straight from farms and high-end items from Whole Foods. They found plastic chemicals in every single baby food, prenatal supplement, and ice cream they tested, with some products exceeding European safety limits by thousands of percent. Most of the plastic contamination was due to packaging, but it's an interesting project to see where we encounter plastics everywhere. If you want a better UI, there's plastic.food that lets you search the same data with a better search

Plasticlist

📚 Becoming Bangalore

This week I picked up a book titled Becoming Bangalore: Stories That Shaped a Hometown by Roopa Pai after seeing it suggested by Pritesh on his Stay Curious newsletter. I've never lived in Bangalore but it's an overnight bus journey from home, so many of my friends live there. Except for the traffic I've heard only good things about this garden city and this felt like an interesting read. It's a collection of short essays on quirky slices of city life by a third-generation Bangalorean who leads heritage walks around the city. For instance, one chapter tells how chow chow came to Bangalore, tracing how the Jamaican chayote traveled all the way to India and became the beloved Bangalore vegetable we know today.

Checkout the Book

Some excerpts from the book are quite interesting:

“In 1910, there were close to 1,000 acres of and under apple cultivation in Bangalore alone! By 1920, however, the dream had died - air pollution from the rising number of motor vehicles on the city’s streets had put paid to the apple crop. Yup, even a century ago, Bangalore traffic had a bad rap.”

~ As always, resurfaced by Readwise (FREE!).
If you’re interested, read my review of Readwise.

📸 Sheep Tree

Photographer Jan Ulicki captured this beautiful image during 'Redyk', a traditional Polish highland event where thousands of sheep descend from the mountains accompanied by highlanders and music. He took this striking "Sheep Tree" photograph in Szczawnica when the sheep were being driven into a pen, with tourists naturally forming a frame while the sheep created an amazing tree-like formation. It's a captivating shot that perfectly captures both the cultural significance and visual beauty of this centuries-old pastoral tradition.

🎬 Video

This video on Gyotaku is truly fascinating. It explores the Japanese art of fish printing, where fishermen would ink freshly caught fish and press them against paper to create detailed imprints. What started as a practical way to settle 19th century fishing competitions and prevent exaggerated catch claims has evolved into a worldwide art form. The process involves cleaning and inking the fish, pressing dampened washi paper against it, then painting in the eyes afterwards before washing and releasing or eating the fish.

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Got something remarkable to share with the world? 10+1 Things newsletter is read by a highly engaged audience across 94 countries and 48 US states. Reach out today to tap into a diverse, curious, and invested global community eager to discover the next big thing!

📩 Get in touch to book your spot for next week!

That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

Which one was your favourite this week?
Leave a comment or reply to this email.

This newsletter is FREE, but not CHEAP. It takes a lot of effort and time from my end (7~8 hours) to deliver this newsletter every week. You can help me in keeping it going by forwarding it to someone you like, buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹75), sending me some crypto, visiting my blog, signing my guestbook or following me on X.

I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I'm available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

P.S. Some links may be affiliate links, meaning I might earn a commission - at no extra cost to you.

To everyone who bought me a coffee last week ($1 or ₹75) - thank you!
10+1 Things is a reader-supported publication, and your support directly enables me to keep this newsletter going and growing.

Before we start, let's talk about obsessions.

Like most people, I track my finances in a Google Sheet until I hit a wall with India's NPS funds (think 401k). The data was scattered and inconsistent, which bothered me way more than it should have. So I built a free service and made it open-source, thinking maybe someone else would find it useful too.

It caught on and gets steady traffic now, but here's the weird part: maintaining it has become my obsession. I keep adding features, cleaning historical data, chasing perfection nobody asked for. Right now after so many lines of code and combinations, I've brought the data gap down to under 4%, but I badly want to get under 1% and that bothers me more than it should. To be honest, nobody really cares about this stuff, but here I am obsessing over a few missing days of data scattered across a decade that most people will never even look at.

My wife asks why I spend so much time on this for basically no money, and honestly, I don't have a good answer. Sometimes obsessions don't need reasons. You just find your thing and chase it down rabbit holes because it feels right. This is just me, deep in my flow state, having fun.

What's your weird obsession?

Leave a comment

Without further ado, here are 10+1 things I thought were worth sharing this week:

🍎 Joining Apple Computer

Bill Atkinson passed away recently and he was one of the key figures behind the original Macintosh that made computers actually usable for regular people. This interesting post from folklore.org tells how Steve Jobs recruited him away from his neuroscience PhD with this amazing analogy about surfing on the front edge of a wave versus dog paddling on the tail edge. His dad was furious at him for wasting ten years of college education, but Atkinson ended up creating QuickDraw which made Mac graphics possible, invented pull-down menus, and built MacPaint plus HyperCard which was basically the precursor to the web. The whole story shows how one weekend visit to a 30-person startup ended up changing his entire life and contributing to the personal computer revolution.

Joining Apple

"There is a lag time between when someting is invented, and when it is available to the public. If you want to make a difference in the world, you have to be ahead of that lag time. Come to Apple where you can invent the future and change millions of people's lives."

⛺ The Homelessness Experiment

I read this very interesting story of this guy who decided to try homelessness as a financial strategy while studying in Hong Kong back in 2016. He started with a friend's small tent to test the waters but realized he needed something bigger where he could actually stand up, so he bought this $410 dream tent and spent days scouting locations by the coast surrounded by jungle vegetation. Instead of waking up to random 5:30 AM alarms from roommates, he'd wake up to waves breaking on rocks, and even brushing his teeth became enjoyable because of the ocean views. He had to set strict ground rules though like no food inside to avoid wild animals and no artificial light because it would turn the tent into a glowing beacon that could get him caught by police. The experiment saved him $2k over 4.5 months, but when he finally told people about it, dozens of classmates invited him to stay at their places and he got to see how wildly different everyone's lives were behind closed doors.

The Homelessness Experiment

💨Air Lab

I live in UAE and the air quality is shit. I have been looking for a good air quality setup lately and this somehow caught my attention though I haven't bought it yet! It's called Air Lab and it's basically this small portable device that can measure all the important stuff like CO2, temperature, humidity, and air pollutants. What's cool is it has this little e-paper screen with a character called Professor Robin who guides you through everything, which sounds kind of fun actually. The whole thing is open source so you can mess around with the code if you want, and it can record data for weeks without needing to connect to anything. Before buying there's even a cool simulator on the site with which you can play around and see how it works.

Air Lab

💬 Weird Hobbies

This old interesting discussion on Lemmy about obscure hobbies is really fascinating to read through. People have a lot of weird hobbies - there's someone who runs photos through audio editing software to create glitch art, a math teacher who makes entire video games to review skills, people who collect vintage military rations, someone into lockpicking who avoids mentioning it because of the "hacker" stigma, and a person who learns about random hobbies without ever actually doing them. Other gems include someone who collects weed vaporizers, makes pen and paper ciphers for imaginary secret communications, fixes 35-year-old Suzuki Samurais, collects lewd anime figures that live in a closet, creates their own writing systems, and someone who spends hours virtually road-tripping through Google Street View.

Weird Hobbies

What’s your weird hobby?

Leave a comment

🐒 The Monkey Project

The Monkey Project is an interesting one! It's a live experiment based on the famous Infinite Monkey Theorem - the idea that infinite monkeys on infinite typewriters will eventually write all the works of Shakespeare. On monkeys.zip, you get your own virtual monkey that types random letters at 10 characters per second and earns points for forming real words. What's clever is that while the typing is random, it follows English letter distribution, so common letters like "a" appear more than rare ones like "z". You can expect your monkey to write short words each minute, some 4-5 letter words within five minutes, and longer words after a day. While it would take about 10^80 years for one to actually write Hamlet, it's a fascinating project. My monkey is a baboon named ‘Minobo Sistead’ and has typed 20 words so far!

The Monkey Project

🌱 How To Build a Terrarium

╔═════════╗ Jar lid
│         │
│     {0} │ Symbiotic Organisms
│q p   +  │ Plants
│ V ~~ | ~│ Hardscape (wood, rocks)
│@@@@@@@@@│ Substrate/Soil (potting soil, baked outside soil)
│\/\/\/\/\│ Filtration (lump wood charcoal, activated carbon, rinsed bonfire)
│.........│ Barrier (mesh, window screen, sphagnum moss)
│%%%%%%%%%│ Hard material (aquarium gravel, pebbles, marbles)
└─────────┘

I found this interesting short guide on how to easily build a terrarium and honestly it's way more detailed than I expected for something that sounds so simple. Most people probably think you just throw some plants in a jar, but this guide breaks down all these layers you need like the false bottom with gravel, barrier mesh, charcoal filtration, and proper soil ratios to actually make it work. What's cool is it explains why each layer matters, like how the false bottom prevents root rot and the charcoal filters the water as it cycles through the system. It even covers the more advanced stuff like adding springtails to eat mold and how to balance the water so it becomes completely self-sustaining. A cool one!

How to Build a Terrarium

📚 Drawing on the Right Side

I'm terrible at drawing and wanted to learn to draw. I tried the Draw a Box lessons earlier, but failed miserably and found it boring at times. I came to know about Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards recently and have started reading it, and the interesting analogy about left-brain versus right-brain thinking really clicked for me. Edwards basically argues that most people can't draw not because they lack talent, but because their analytical left brain keeps interfering with their ability to see what's actually there instead of what they think should be there. The book is designed to get you into this "altered state of awareness" where you stop drawing symbols from memory and start actually observing. I’ve just started and it’s been interesting so far!

Checkout the Book

I loved this quote from the book:

“As a number of scientists have noted, research on the human brain is complicated by the fact that the brain is struggling to understand itself. This three-pound organ is perhaps the only bit of matter in the universe—at least as far as we know—that is observing itself, wondering about itself, trying to analyze itself, and attempting to gain better control of its own capabilities”

~ As always, resurfaced by Readwise (FREE!).
If you’re interested, read my review of Readwise.

💸 1 Pixel

This is an old visualisation during Covid-19 times but it's quite intriguing! It's called 1 pixel wealth where 1 pixel is equivalent to $1000 and it's insane to see how rich the rich are. The 400 richest Americans control $3 trillion combined - that's more than the bottom 60% of all Americans. What really blows my mind is the breakdown of what tiny fractions of this wealth could accomplish: just 3% could permanently eradicate malaria worldwide, 5% could lift every single American out of poverty, 6% could refund an entire year's taxes for all households earning under $80,000, and 8% could provide clean drinking water and toilets to every human on earth. I'm not against being rich, but I guess at this level of wealth you ought to have some moral responsibility and it's insane to think that these 400 people who could literally fit on a single airplane hold wealth that could solve most of humanity's challenging problems while still being billionaires.

1 Pixel

📸 Architecture in Music

This week I had so much fun exploring this incredible photography project called Architecture in Music by Charles Brooks who figured out how to photograph the inside of musical instruments using probe lenses and focus stacking. What started during COVID when repair shops were filled with amazing instruments turned into this mind-blowing series where the interiors look like monumental buildings or city skylines. The technical challenge is insane - he sometimes takes over 1,000 individual shots just to create one final image because the probe can only focus on 2mm at a time. What's fascinating is how he lights everything to look like sunlight streaming down and prints them massive so you genuinely feel like you're standing inside a cathedral rather than looking at the inside of a violin.

Architecture in Music

⏳ The Hobby I Forgot I Had

So this month's IndieWeb Carnival is on "Take Two." I struggled with the idea for weeks, but finally it clicked. Read my reflections on a forgotten hobby: collecting sand samples from every place I visited during undergrad. I had completely forgotten about this quirky passion until a writing prompt brought it all back. A decade later, living in a different country, I realized how much I missed that simple ritual of truly noticing a place. Maybe it's not too late for a take two on old passions!

The Hobby I Forgot

🎬 DIY Book Lamp

This video by Volt Paper Scissors was so much fun to watch! While we all know it's just a circuit closing to light up the LEDs, making something beautiful is a different craft. The creator has made some templates which make the process easy by just sticking conductive tapes. I loved the sliding mechanism that helps light up the book and also the bellows design - making normal paper translucent with vegetable oil was such a clever touch. A great project to try out with kids!

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⚡ Welcome to #64 of 10+1 Things!

To everyone who bought me a coffee last week ($1 or ₹75) – thank you!
10+1 Things is a reader-supported publication, and your support directly enables me to keep this newsletter going and growing.

Hey, it's been a while, but I'm back!

I have been traveling for the major part of April, first to Sri Lanka for 10 days, then a week in Chennai at my in-laws' to attend a wedding and spending the rest of the time with my mother. The first half of the Sri Lanka trip I did solo and it was a refreshing experience since I haven't traveled solo in a long time. From an old blog post from 2013, I came to know about a village called Meemure, a remote village with minimal facilities and decided to go there with no expectations. I stayed with a family at their home, eating what they eat and had a wonderful experience.

I have traveled to a few countries and places in the past, but this was the first time I was at a place where people could speak no English as they mainly speak Sinhala. In fact, even for numbers and stuff, my host Ajith used to type on his numpad and show me. Luckily, before I went there, as a backup I had downloaded the Google Translate Sinhala-to-English version. It worked fairly well and was our only form of communication. On my last evening with Ajith, we sat by a fire while it was drizzling in the valleys, overlooking the mountains, sipping locally made toddy with Google Translate between us. Gotta love technology for moments like these!

Without further ado, here are 10+1 things I thought were worth sharing this week:

💡 YOUTH - and when it's gone.

I'm at a loss for words after reading this beautiful, melancholic piece by Jared Young. It’s about a writer who obsessed over becoming an "exceptional young writer" in his twenties, creating a timeline of when his literary heroes published their debuts. The essay explores how youth acts as this magical shield where mistakes are forgiven and successes seem miraculous, but once you're older, expectations shift completely. What struck me most was how relatable his anxiety about time feels - that creeping realization that certain dreams might have expiration dates attached to them.

YOUTH

⛪ The Church FAQ

I randomly stumbled upon this FAQ by John Scalzi about a church he bought in his small Ohio town for just $75,000. What started as a search for office space for his new company turned into owning a former Methodist church from 1919 when he couldn't find suitable commercial real estate nearby. After two years of major renovations (new roof, electricity, floors), they now use it as office space, host family gatherings, and he's got his dream library setup in the old balcony area, complete with a six-necked guitar sitting on the altar that surprises everyone who visits.

Church FAQ

💬 Genetic Lottery

I came across this interesting discussion on Reddit where people shared the small ways they've won the genetic lottery! My god some people are truly blessed and some are weird as well. There's someone with 3 fully functional kidneys, others who don't react to mosquito bites at all, a person with absolute pitch who isn't even a musician, someone who never gets brain freeze, an Irishman who never gets hangovers despite drinking like any Irishman, a person with tetrachromacy allowing them to see colors outside the normal spectrum, and so many more fascinating traits. A very interesting thread!

Genetic Lottery

🐍 Snake on a Globe

I found this brilliant twist on the classic Snake game called "Snake on a Globe" where instead of moving on a flat screen, you're navigating around a 3D globe to reach major cities worldwide. The concept is simple but genius - you can only move along lines of longitude and latitude, but since you're on a sphere, you can go around the poles or wrap around east-west. What makes it educational is that each apple corresponds to a real city, so you're testing your geographical knowledge while trying not to crash into yourself. Let me know your high scores!

Snake on a Globe

🕐 Clock Lab

I don't even own a mechanical watch, but I have enjoyed watching mechanical watch videos on Youtube and when I saw this interesting project on Kickstarter, I couldn't resist sharing. It's called ClockLab by Clockface and it's a complete kit that teaches you to build your own mechanical watch from scratch with professional tools, video lessons, and all the components including case and dial. You get to choose between Aviator or Commander edition styles and by the end you'll have assembled a fully working watch that you actually understand inside and out. This seems like a great birthday gift for someone who is into mechanical watches!

Clock Lab

✍️ How To Write A Book

I found this almost a decade old post by Ryan Holiday on How to Write a Book (Ego is the Enemy in this case) where he breaks down his two-year journey from vague idea to finished book. What's fascinating is seeing his actual process - starting with scribbled title ideas on 4x6 notecards in summer 2014, then figuring out the structure using Aristotle's three-part framework. That weird drawing he mentions was his breakthrough moment realizing we're all in one of three places: aspiring, succeeding, or dealing with failure, and they all feed back into each other. It's a rare behind-the-scenes look at how a bestselling author actually organizes their thoughts before the real writing begins.

How to Write a Book

📚 Tiny Experiments

Over the last couple of weeks I've been slowly reading and digesting this beautiful book called "Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World" by Anne-Laure Le Cunff. I've been following Anne via her newsletter for a while now and was excited when she released this book. It challenges the traditional linear approach to goals and instead proposes treating life as a series of small experiments guided by curiosity rather than rigid outcomes. What I love most is how she reframes uncertainty as an opportunity rather than something to fear, and shows how to use tiny experiments to discover what truly matters to you.

Checkout the Book

I loved this quote from the book:

“Just like in the myths, life is made of cycles of being lost and finding ourselves again.”

~ As always, resurfaced by Readwise (FREE!).
If you’re interested, read my review of Readwise.

📖 13 Animals

I wasn't aware of this, but the old Twitter logo (now known as 'X') was created using circles. Inspired by this technique, Dorota Pankowska published a fascinating project back in 2016 where she created 13 different animals using only 13 circles each! Her collection includes an owl, rabbit, elephant, toucan, giraffe, rat, dog, cat, fox, whale, frog, and walrus. It looks simple but I bet took tons of patience and skill to get each animal just right.

13 Animals

🍞 Flatpack Toaster

This week I had so much fun exploring this art/design project by Kasey Hou who created a toaster that comes completely flat-packed and can be assembled from scratch by users. The brilliant idea behind it is tackling e-waste - if people can build their toaster themselves, they'll understand how it works and feel confident enough to repair it when it breaks, rather than just throwing it away. What's impressive is that Hou went through multiple prototypes, from cardboard to metal, and the final version actually works and passes safety tests. I know sometimes the idea of assembling stuff can be daunting, but with so much e-waste piling up day by day, companies should really start developing products with right to repair in mind.

Flatpack Toaster

💨 I Miss My Regulator

A short rant by me on the frustrations of modern “smart” tech. Long story short, the new BLDC fan at my home in India came with a remote instead of the good old wall mounted regulator. It’s annoying having one more gadget to keep track of, batteries, buttons, and all. Do you also get irritated when simple, reliable tech gets needlessly replaced by complicated “smart” versions?

I Miss My Regulator

🎬 Lo-fi beats and Microfiche

This week I spent some time watching this lofi feed by Internet Archive that shows them digitizing documents in real time with some relaxing background music. I didn't know what a microfiche was so it's basically how you used to store multiple miniaturized documents on a single sheet of film - think old newspapers, court records, and government documents all shrunk down onto these cards. The feed runs Monday through Friday from 10:30AM to 6:30PM ET showing operators feeding these microfiche cards under high-resolution cameras, but outside those hours it has so many interesting silent films and historical NASA pictures on loop as well.

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That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

Which one was your favourite this week?
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See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

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⚡ Welcome to #63 of 10+1 Things!

To everyone who bought me a coffee last week ($1 or ₹75) – thank you!
10+1 Things is a reader-supported publication, and your support directly enables me to keep this newsletter going and growing.

So, I had a dream. Before that, let me set some context.

It has reached a point where if a day passes without hearing something new about AI, that feels weird. I'm not anti-AI or something and I'm in fact feeling grateful that I'm alive at a time when things are going to be pivotal, be it good or not. I think the latest buzzword in the AI world is now "vibe coding"! People are coding and building stuff using AI, and some have created really interesting projects without much knowledge. I'm not an expert yet to say whether this is good or bad, but I don't think the trend of people building stuff will die down anytime soon. I don't use the so-called agents, but I spend a lot of time copy-pasting code from my editor to the chat. I was talking to a few Gen Z folks and most of them don't even Google these days, preferring to use Perplexity. So clearly times are shifting.

Yeah, coming to the dream. In the dream, I was typing and chatting with ChatGPT(weirdly not Claude!), asking about something, and I could see (or dream) it really well. So weird and dystopian right? It got me thinking: just like people do screen-free time blocks, I think we might soon see a trend where people have AI-free work hours. I can already imagine YouTube videos titled "I Lived Without ChatGPT for a Week." AI is slowly becoming part of our everyday lives, and it’s clear that times are changing.

Without further ado, here are 10+1 things I thought were worth sharing this week:

💡 How to Know

In an inspiring article, Aishwarya Khanduja talks about how slowing down and listening to your intuition can help with feeling stuck or overwhelmed. She shares how she used to chase external goals and overthink her decisions but started an experiment where she let herself pause and notice what naturally made her happy. For example, turning off her phone and sitting in stillness helped her realize what she actually wanted to do, like joining a dance class just because it felt right. She explains that trusting your feelings, mixed with a bit of logic, helps you figure out what to do and builds self-trust over time. By leaning into what feels good instead of what you “should” do, she found more clarity and joy in her life. It’s a great reminder to slow down, notice what pulls you, and trust yourself.

How to Know, What to Do

🕴 81 Cells

So I came across this interesting take on Sudoku by Daniel . He calls it "Cracked Sudoku." Unlike traditional Sudoku, which has a standard 9x9 grid, this one is a bit different. In Cracked Sudoku, the numbers are arranged in these funky, weird-shaped cells that kind of look like cracks in the ground. The rules are pretty much the same as regular Sudoku - you fill in numbers 1-9 without repeating any in the same "run", which is basically a squiggly line of cells. It's a bit hard to explain with just words, but trust me, once you see it and give it a try, you'll quickly get the hang of it. Daniel posts a new challenge every day, just like Wordle, so give it a go!

Cracked Sudoku

🧾 Napkin Math

I had so much fun reading and thinking about the "Napkin Math Tool" by Taylor, which uses logarithmic scales to explore and compare concepts like time, energy, probability, and quantities. Think of it as a mental tool for making quick, order-of-magnitude estimations in an intuitive way. My favorite would be the "kilograms per dollar" scale, which ranges from bulk sand and tap water to rare precious gems and exotic isotopes, offering a fascinating perspective on the value and scarcity of materials. It's a fun and thought-provoking way to reframe how we think about the scales of the world around us.

Napkin Math Tool

💬 $100, $10000 and $100000

I found this interesting discussion few weeks back on Reddit about the difference between $100, $10,000, and $100,000 speakers. I'm no audiophile by any means and don’t even own a speaker, but this was truly eye-opening. As one commenter put it, $100 speakers sound good, $1000 speakers sound great, but after that, you're mostly paying for minimal improvements most people can't even hear. What really surprised me was learning that room acoustics actually matter more than super expensive speakers - a $1000 speaker in a well-treated room will sound better than a $10,000 speaker in a poor acoustic environment. Apparently, many audiophiles can't even tell the difference in blind tests when cheaper speakers are put in more expensive packaging!

Checkout the Discussion

$100 speakers are bought by amateurs.

$10,000 speakers are bought by discerning professionals.

$100,000 speakers are bought by amateurs.

🏏 Criclite

A few weeks back, I shared about plaintextsports.com, a popular site that presents sports scores in a clean plain-text format. While I loved the design, I was disappointed that it didn’t include cricket scores and wasn’t open-source. Considering there are approximately 2.5 billion cricket fans out there, I wanted something similar but tailored for cricket. So, I decided to build it myself! After a few days of trial and error, I now have a simple and functional site ready. The site is incredibly lightweight—just about 15kb—and loads extremely fast on almost any browser. I challenged myself to stick to plain text only (no Unicode or emojis) and keep it as minimal as possible. If you're a cricket fan or appreciate plain-text websites, please check it out and let me know your feedback.

Criclite

P.S. Any good resources for plain-text visualizations? I’m trying to create Manhattan charts, worm graphs, and wagon wheels in plain text, and it’s a tough challenge. Any tips or inspiration would be greatly appreciated!

🔪 Alfi’s Knives

In The Magnet's 100th edition, the author shares a touching story about his friendship with Alfi, his quirky 97-year-old neighbor who recently passed away. Despite a rocky start involving a dispute over a fig tree, the two became close friends over the years. Alfi, an Iranian immigrant, was an incredible gardener and always eager to share his knowledge, plants, and unique produce with the author. He also promised to teach the author some mind-blowing recipes. The story paints a vivid picture of Alfi's larger-than-life personality and the beautiful garden he created on the site of his home that was destroyed in an earthquake. It's a heartwarming read that celebrates the impact one remarkable person can have on our lives.

Alfi's Knives

📏 Tiruler

Looks like a lot of you are into DIY and when I saw this on Kickstarter, I couldn't resist sharing this product. The Tiruler isn't just another measuring tool, it's a clever titanium ruler that transforms from a pocket-sized form into a full 200mm ruler with impressive functionality. What makes it special is that it's packed with features like a vernier caliper, protractor, bubble level, measuring wheel for curved surfaces, and even an integrated magnetic pencil that never needs sharpening. It's designed with a 30° angled measurement surface to reduce strain, can cut paper without damage, and includes handy extras like a bottle opener and hex bit socket—truly a versatile tool for any maker or craftsperson.

Triruler

P.S: Remember Juicero, the infamous company that sold juice machines with juice packet subscriptions, which eventually went bankrupt because you could just squeeze juice with your hands? I think I found the next Juicero on Kickstarter! It's called Spicerr, an AI spice dispenser that requires a subscription. Weird, right?

📚 How to Keep House While Drowning

This week I've picked up an interesting book called "How to Keep House While Drowning" by KC Davis. It's an interesting read I first saw on the r/deClutter and it's quite revolutionary in its approach to home organization. The author, a therapist who struggled with maintaining her home after her second child, offers a compassionate framework that removes shame from the equation: messiness isn't a moral failing. Davis introduces practical strategies for those dealing with mental health challenges, fatigue, or lack of support, focusing on how to customize cleaning routines that work for you rather than against you. Though I haven't finished it yet, I'm already finding her perspective refreshing: your home should work for you, not the other way around.

Checkout the Book

I loved this quote from the book

“You do not have to earn the right to rest, connect, or recreate. Unlearn the idea that care tasks must be totally complete before you can sit down. Care tasks are a never-ending list, and if you wait until everything is done to rest, you will never rest.”

~ As always, resurfaced by Readwise (FREE!).
If you’re interested, read my review of Readwise.

📖 Kombucha Visuals

Not sure if this can be called as a visualization, but this thought process behind and the design behind Swee Kombucha really caught my eye this week. Created for a Georgian kombucha brand from Tbilisi, the design team developed a clever modular infographic system where colors and patterns represent the drink's natural ingredients. What makes it special is how they turned the ingredient list into the core visual identity, with each component having its own color and pattern that combines proportionally based on the recipe percentages. The Swee wordmark itself is fascinating - drawn using hundreds of oscillating shapes that mimic the yeast and bacteria in a kombucha SCOBY. Super cool!

Case Study

📸 Human After All

This week I had so much fun exploring this photo series titled "Human After All" by Jan Kriwol and Markos Kay. They show people doing everyday activities but only as glowing red circulatory systems against urban backdrops. Kriwol took the photos in cities across the world while Kay created the amazing 3D blood vessel figures using computer graphics. The idea came after Kriwol saw a drawing of a circulatory system smoking a cigarette and thought it would be cool to make it realistic. By showing just our blood vessels, the artists remind us that underneath our differences, we're all pretty much the same.

Human After All

🎬 Dreaming of Monsoon

If you've been subscribed to me for a while, you would know how often I rant about monsoon and how it is such a strong emotion, close to my heart. This video popped up on my feed from a random creator and coincidentally this place is just 10 minutes from my home(in India)! I'm dreaming about monsoon, cherishing the memories while watching it. Let me know what you think of my little corner of the world! :)

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That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

Which one was your favourite this week?
Leave a comment or reply to this email.

This newsletter is FREE, but not CHEAP. It takes a lot of effort and time from my end (7~8 hours) to deliver this newsletter every week. You can help me in keeping it going by forwarding it to someone you like, buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹75), sending me some crypto, visiting my blog, signing my guestbook or following me on X.

I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I'm available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

P.S. Some links may be affiliate links, meaning I might earn a commission—at no extra cost to you.

To everyone who bought me a coffee last week ($1 or ₹75) – thank you!
10+1 Things is a reader-supported publication, and your support directly enables me to keep this newsletter going and growing.

This week went by swiftly as usual, with a few friends coming over for the weekend. On Sunday, I spent the whole day on the couch watching the India vs. Pakistan cricket match, a game that never fails to bring excitement. While cricket is limited to a handful of nations, I was surprised to learn that the match drew a staggering 600 million viewers online. That’s probably more than the EPL or even the NFL!

Midweek, I decided to switch things up and work from M39 workspace in Abu Dhabi. A change of scenery always helps, and I ended up getting more done than on a regular work-from-home day. Later, I visited MAKE Abu Dhabi, a space for makers, artists, and engineers to bring ideas to life. I was really impressed by the setup, which had almost everything I’d want in my ultimate maker space. I saw people working with wood, assembling circuits, 3D printing parts, crafting ceramics and pottery, and even designing custom apparel in the sewing section.

Walking through the space and seeing people deep in their craft made me think about my own plans. I’m working on designing, building, and launching a small product this quarter together with someone. It’s still in the ideation phase, with a few tweaks to figure out, but being in that space made it all feel more tangible. If everything comes together as planned, I’ll definitely be back, not just as a visitor but as a maker.

This visit wasn’t planned at all. It was a completely random stop on the way back from lunch. But sometimes, the most unexpected moments remind us that we’re on the right path, nudging us toward what we’ve been meaning to do all along.

Without further ado, here are 10+1 things I thought were worth sharing this week:

💡 36 Dishes

I loved reading this article by Shraddha Chowdhury on India's incredible food diversity. As an Indian, it breaks my heart when people abroad think Indian food is just naan, butter chicken, or biryani. There’s so much more! I haven’t tried everything on this list, but some of my favorites are pork vindaloo, rogan josh, and fish moilee (I might be biased here!). Chettinad chicken, galouti kebab, and vada pav also make the cut. Every region has its own unique flavors and stories - some influenced by royal kitchens, others shaped by local traditions. Definitely worth a read if you love food and travel!

36 Dishes

Have you tried any from the list? If not, what's your favourite Indian food?

Leave a comment

🧾 Grocery Lists

I found this cool website which is a collection of almost 4,000 discarded grocery lists people have found. It was started by a guy named Bill Keaggy in 1997 who found it fascinating to glimpse into strangers' lives through their shopping lists. He even wrote a weirdly titled book about it called "Milk Eggs Vodka: Grocery Lists Lost & Found." The site shows how people often misspell words like "mayonnaise" and "banana," and sometimes buy weird combinations of things. Anyone can contribute lists they find, and there's even a downloadable grocery list template you can use.

Grocery Lists

🕴 CEO Simulator

I found this interesting browser-based game called CEO Simulator, where you play as a startup CEO managing team morale, tech debt, funding, MVP development, and your own mental health over 14 days. Each day, you draw event cards that introduce challenges, and you must strategically decide how to spend your limited working hours. If meetings take up too much time, you can work overtime, but that risks your mental health. The goal is to max out funding and MVP progress before time runs out, while avoiding any metric dropping too low. It’s a fast-paced solo game that captures the real struggles of running a startup in a fun way.

CEO Simulator

💬 Most Hated Company

I had second thoughts about sharing this Lemmy thread where people discussed the companies they hate the most, but the insights were too interesting to ignore. Elon Musk’s companies were a common choice, while one user had a thought-provoking take on Apple, saying they shifted corporate profits from real-world economics to pure marketing. Nestlé was another big target for exploiting water resources and unethical practices. Google, Microsoft, and Meta were criticized for ruining their own products, while Amazon and Comcast were called out for anti-consumer behavior. Even lesser-known offenders like Pearson made the list for overpriced, broken digital products. A very interesting thread to read!

Lemmy Thread

While reading this, I also gave it some thought, and purely from a UX perspective, the two companies I hate the most and never click any links from are Medium and Glassdoor. What are some companies you hate the most?

Leave a comment

📱 Kompakt

I'm a big fan of small phones and I'm dreading the day when my dear compact iPhone 13 Mini dies. As someone who loves E Ink displays and switches my iPhone to grayscale mode to reduce screen addiction, the Mudita Kompakt felt like a perfect device when I saw it on Indiegogo a few days back. It’s a 4.3-inch minimalist phone with just the basics. No social media, no endless notifications, just calls, texts, and essential tools. It runs on MuditaOS K, a custom-built privacy-focused system with no Google services, meaning no tracking or data sharing. The E Ink screen is easy on the eyes, and it even has an Offline+ Mode for complete disconnection. It’s built to last with dust and splash resistance (IP54), and there’s even a desktop app for managing contacts and backups. If you are a fan of dumb minimal phones, this is an interesting one to watch for.

Mudita Kompakt

⚖️ The Kilogram

I came across this interesting piece about how the kilogram was redefined. For a long time, its standard was based on a metal cylinder stored in Paris, but over the years, it lost a tiny bit of weight, which made it unreliable. To solve this, scientists replaced it with a method using electromagnetic forces, specifically a device called the Kibble balance. This method defines the kilogram based on Planck’s constant, a fundamental number in physics, making it a fixed and unchanging measurement. Unlike the old metal cylinder, this new definition will always stay the same, no matter where or when it is used. It is fascinating how something as simple as weight is now tied to the laws of physics instead of a physical object.

The Kilogram

📚 How to Walk and Talk

I'm still finishing last week's read, but in between, I enjoyed this 21-page piece by Kevin Kelly & Craig Mod on how to walk and talk. It is about small groups walking 100 km over a week, having deep conversations during the day and structured discussions over dinner. The idea is to keep things simple with light packs, local meals, and no distractions so the focus stays on conversations and connections. They prefer new participants each time to keep things fresh and encourage unexpected friendships. The piece also has practical tips on routes, logistics, and gear. A great read if you like the idea of walking and thinking with interesting people.

How to Walk & Talk

“You’d be shocked how few people have ever done such a thing before, and how transformative it can be for their self-worth / understanding of physical possibilities. We’ve had many walkers leave going: Whoa, I didn’t know I could do that, and it feels great..”

~ As always, resurfaced by Readwise. If you’re interested, read my review of Readwise.

Not this long, but last month, I did a 40km, 12-hour walk in Abu Dhabi. Read more about it here if you’re interested.

📖 Kombucha Visuals

Not really a visualization but this design by Bedow for Swee Kombucha caught my eye for how it turns something as basic as an ingredient list into a visual system. Each ingredient gets its own color and pattern, and together they form a unique graphic that shows what is inside each drink. The design balances structure and organic elements, reflecting how kombucha is both carefully crafted and naturally fermented. The logo follows the same idea, using shifting shapes to represent the live cultures inside the drink. It is a smart way to make the packaging feel more connected to the product itself while keeping it visually interesting. Read the case study to know more about the approach!

Case Study

🛠️ Finding DIY

I came across this interesting search engine called FindingDIY, which is dedicated to DIY projects. Instead of digging through cluttered search results, it helps you find high-quality, free guides for things like woodworking, electronics, crafting, and even more advanced stuff like IoT and machine learning. The cool part is that it is designed specifically for DIYers, so the results are actually useful instead of being buried under random junk. If you are into making things, it is a pretty handy tool to explore.

Finding DIY

📸 Antique Calculators

This week I'm exploring a cool photography project called Calculators by Kevin Twomey. He takes apart old calculators and captures their intricate insides, which are full of gears, levers, and springs. It is completely different from today's devices that just have simple microchips. The project started when a collector named Mark Glusker (his collection is also amazing!) asked him to photograph his collection. Once they removed the covers, Twomey realized the real beauty was inside. He uses dramatic lighting and special focus techniques to bring out the details and make these old machines look like pieces of art. If you love old-school gadgets, this is definitely worth checking out.

Calculators

🎬 Tower Cranes

So I have this 17-storey apartment near my home under construction, and I see this crane almost every day. I never really knew how these cranes grow taller along with the buildings. Ended up searching for it and had so much fun watching this interesting video on how tower cranes climb on their own by adding mast sections as the building rises. The process requires precise balancing since even a small mistake could cause serious consequences, making it one of the riskiest operations in construction. Definitely worth watching if you have ever wondered how these massive machines seem to appear out of nowhere!

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That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

Which one was your favourite this week?
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I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I'm available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

P.S. Some links may be affiliate links, meaning I might earn a commission—at no extra cost to you.

To everyone who bought me a coffee last week ($1 or ₹75) – thank you!
10+1 Things is a reader-supported publication, and your support directly enables me to keep this newsletter going and growing.

I had a fun weekend! On Friday, my wife and I went to 421 Arts Campus in Abu Dhabi for a block party. To be honest, I didn’t even know what a block party was—I just saw a random poster in one of the expat groups and decided to go for it!

421 is an arts campus where artists explore and create through residencies, fellowships, and internships. As part of the block party, there were a few workshops, and we decided to join the zine-making session by Sarah Ahmed. I knew about zines thanks to Austin Kleon, but I had never made one before. It was a fun and interesting experience—I just scribbled and pasted random things into mine. Even though it didn’t look great, the process was meditative and calming. My wife, on the other hand, loved the activity so much that she spent three hours crafting her zine! I don’t even want to share mine since it looks so bad, but she did a wonderful job. The picture above is of her zine, and you can read more about her experience on her blog!

I also attended a small natural dyeing workshop, where we dyed cotton bags using natural colors made from turmeric, hibiscus, and red cabbage. Apparently, if you sprinkle baking soda on hibiscus dye, the red shade turns blue—that was fun to try!

Living in a city full of immigrants, many temporarily caught up in the grind for survival, it can sometimes be hard to find experiences like these, so I’m grateful and happy that I went for it.

Without further ado, here are 10+1 things I thought were worth sharing this week:

💡 6 Lessons

I stumbled upon this interesting piece by Henrik Karlsson, where he reflects on his time working at an art gallery. He started with a low-paying job but transformed it by taking initiative and learning how the place actually worked. He shares lessons on career growth, like how the best opportunities come to those who take responsibility beyond their job title. He also talks about how the best artists are like startup founders—dedicated, disciplined, and always improving their work. Another key idea is that financial sustainability is crucial for creating and preserving art, even in non-profits. In the end, he realized that just being proactive and thoughtful can make a huge impact, no matter where you work.

6 Lessons

⌨ Full Body Keyboard

I found this full-body keyboard project quite interesting! It’s called Semaphore, and it lets you type using body movements instead of a regular keyboard. It’s based on semaphore signals, which were traditionally used by sailors and signalers to communicate using flags held at different angles. In this keyboard, you move your arms in specific positions to type letters, numbers, and symbols, and other gestures—like squatting or lifting a leg—control things like Shift, Backspace, and arrow keys. You can even jump to repeat the last typed symbol, making it more fluid to use. It’s a fun and creative way to control a computer using just your body! The code is open-source, and you can even watch a video demonstration of how it works.

Watch the Video

Semaphore

🧾 Ribbon Maps

I found this really interesting map called the Ribbon Map of the Father of Waters. It’s a pocket-sized map from 1866, showing the entire Mississippi River. It’s 11 feet long but only about 3 inches wide, wrapped around a spool so you can roll it up and carry it easily. It was made for tourists to track their journey along the river, spotting towns, railroads, and landmarks as they went. Instead of a regular folded map, this one followed a single route, kind of like how Google Maps guides you turn by turn today. Though it wasn’t very practical, it captured the excitement of river travel at the time and reflected how people experienced long journeys in the 19th century.

Ribbon Maps

👴 Obituary for a Quiet Life

I read this beautiful essay by Jeremy B. Jones about his grandfather, Ray Harrell, who lived a quiet but deeply meaningful life in North Carolina. Ray preferred to stay in the background—raising a family, working at a textile mill, and helping others—yet his presence shaped those around him. When he passed away without a funeral or headstone, Jones struggled to capture his essence in a standard obituary, realizing that quiet lives often leave the deepest impact. Through small acts of kindness and steadfastness, Ray built a legacy that won’t make headlines but remains profoundly felt.

Read the Article

“The quiet lives, though, pass on soundlessly in the background. And yet those are the lives in our skin, guiding us from breakfast to bed. They’re the lives that have made us, that keep the world turning.”

💬 Skills in 2025

I had bookmarked this HN discussion around New Year's where people shared the skills they want to develop in 2025. Since HN is tech-focused, there was the usual talk about self-hosting, learning functional programming, and diving into Rust or Kubernetes. But there were also some fascinating ones—a husband-wife duo who are musicians learning to tailor and fabricate clothes for their own costumes, someone improving their writing because they believe true writing will become more valuable in the age of LLMs, and another trying to build their second stand-up paddleboard from wood. Others had unique physical goals like mastering a one-arm handstand or solving a Rubik’s cube in under 30 seconds. Great to see the wide variety of skills people are trying to improve upon!

Checkout the Discussion

I loved this one the most:

I want to learn how to properly build a habit/routine that isn't dopamine driven.

🏷 Attention Button

I found this awesome product called The Attention Button. A cool IoT gadget (when was the last time you heard the word IoT with all the AI buzz!) that lets you send a quick nudge to someone special, just to let them know you’re thinking of them. It’s a small desk toy with a knob—you rotate it to select an icon and press it to send a signal to a paired device, which then lights up and plays a sound. Works over Wi-Fi, so distance doesn’t matter! You can even customize it since the design and code are open-source. Feels like a modern-day telegraph for emotions! It’s developed by an indie developer and ships internationally!

The Attention Button

📚 How to Blow Up a Pipeline

This week, I picked up an interesting book called How to Blow Up a Pipeline after a friend suggested it, and I was intrigued by the name. It argues that peaceful climate protests haven’t worked and explores the idea of sabotage as a form of activism. While I don’t agree with extreme climate activism (and I have to be mindful of where I’m currently based!), the book raises important questions about how social movements create change. It also looks at past movements where property destruction played a role. The author, Andreas Malm, presents a bold argument, though the ideas are quite controversial. Given the state of the world, it’s definitely a thought-provoking read.

Check out the Book

An interesting quote from the book:

“If a pandemic can induce governments to take emergency actions, why can’t a climate breakdown that threatens to kill off the very life-support systems of the planet do the same? After this, there can be no more excuses for passivity.”

~ As always, resurfaced by Readwise. If you’re interested, read my review of Readwise.

Last Week’s Read: Art Thief

🎹 DIY Pipe Organ

I read this interesting story about how Matthias Wandel started building a pipe organ himself in the fall of 1992. With no musical background, he took a university music course and became fascinated with sound. Instead of buying an instrument, he decided to build one using his father’s woodworking shop. He goes through how he started with a vacuum cleaner motor for air, experimented with different pipe designs, and tuned the wooden pipes for perfect pitch. Through trial and error, he created a fully functional organ with handmade wooden pipes, a custom wind chest, and a pressure regulator. The organ remains in his living room, occasionally played by visitors and serving as a great conversation piece.

DIY Pipe Organ

📖 Be Curious

So this month’s IndieWeb Carnival is on Affirmations. I struggled with the idea for the good part of the last couple of weeks, but finally, it clicked. Read my reflections on curiosity—how I lost it, found it again, and embraced it as my guiding force. As a kid, I was endlessly curious, always taking things apart and exploring ideas. But over time, practicality took over, and I stopped questioning things. A career shift and life changes made me realize I had lost that spark. Rediscovering curiosity has reshaped my journey, and now, I embrace it fully—Be curious, always!

Be Curious

👨🏻‍🏫 Chalkboards

This week, I came across a fascinating photography project called Momentum by Alejandro Guijarro. He traveled to top universities like Cambridge, Oxford, and Stanford to photograph blackboards filled with quantum mechanics equations. His photos turn these complex equations into abstract art, making them look like paintings. One cool moment was when he captured a partially erased blackboard that looked like a Cy Twombly or Jackson Pollock artwork. His work shows how scientific ideas are written, erased, and built upon over time. He also plays with perception by making his photos the exact size of real blackboards, so they feel almost real.

Momentum

🎬 Subpixel Snake

I was fascinated seeing this interesting video of a Snake game—but at the subpixel level, where you’d need a microscope to see it! Patrick modified an old JavaScript Snake game to run on the tiny red, green, and blue subpixels inside each pixel. The result is a mind-blowingly small game where the snake moves across individual subpixels, creating a unique and creative twist on the classic!

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That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

Which one was your favourite this week?
Leave a comment or reply to this email.

This newsletter is FREE, but not CHEAP. It takes a lot of effort and time from my end (7~8 hours) to deliver this newsletter every week. You can help me in keeping it going by forwarding it to someone you like, buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹75), sending me some crypto, visiting my blog, signing my guestbook or following me on X.

I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I'm available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

P.S. Some links may be affiliate links, meaning I might earn a commission—at no extra cost to you.

To everyone who bought me a coffee last week ($1 or ₹75) – thank you!
10+1 Things is a reader-supported publication, and your support directly enables me to keep this newsletter going and growing.

The week went by with not much happening as usual. Just the usual grind with finding jobs, working on a freelance project, having second thoughts about whether pushing this hard at gym really matters and so on.

So, someone at my wife's previous workplace had gifted her a plant. She had it for almost three years, and when we were moving cities, she planned to leave it behind since her office had some sort of managed service that took care of the indoor plants. But the overconfident me convinced her to bring it along. And now, here it is, sitting in our new apartment in Abu Dhabi.

The thing is, I'm fairly decent with outdoor plants—thanks to my mom's backyard garden back home in Kerala, where I grew up surrounded by nature. But indoor plants? That's a whole different league.

And now, the bad news: the plant is dying. I'm suspecting root rot, and folks over at r/IndoorPlants seem to agree. The weird part? I don't even know what plant it is. I think it's an 'American Baby Rubber' plant. In a last-ditch effort, I pruned it a bit and repotted it with some fresh potting mixture as per some recommendations on Reddit!

So, fingers crossed. After all, whether the plant survives or not, I've learned that sometimes the best things in life are the ones we fight hardest for—even if we don't always succeed. I hope it pulls through!

Without further ado, here are 10+1 things I thought were worth sharing this week:

💡 Be A Property Owner on the Web

I read this blog post by Den on owning your space on the internet and couldn’t agree more. He talks about how big platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit have taken over the web, making people dependent on their rules and algorithms. Instead of just renting space on these platforms, he suggests having your own website, using email lists, and making sure your content isn’t locked into one place. He also points out that it doesn’t have to be perfect—starting small and growing over time is the key. The main takeaway? Build your own online home instead of relying on platforms that can change the rules anytime.

Be A Property Owner

🧾Re-viz-iting Receipts

Not sure whether I can call this data visualization, but Susie Lu has tried reimagining the receipt by turning it into something more visual and easy to read. Instead of just listing items with prices, she categorized spending into sections like Meat & Seafood, Produce, and Dairy. At the top of the receipt, she used bubble charts to show how much each category contributes to the total bill—bigger bubbles mean higher spending. Below that, she listed the individual items under their respective categories and added bar charts next to each one, making it easy to compare prices within a category. The most expensive item in each section sets the scale, so you can instantly see which purchases were splurges and which were smaller spends. She even printed the design on a real thermal receipt printer, keeping it in the same familiar format but proving that receipts don’t have to be boring!

Receipts Revisited

🏷 Phototag

I'm a big fan of e-ink displays and couldn't resist sharing this interesting product that popped up on Kickstarter recently. Think of it as an Apple AirTag with a color e-ink screen, meaning you can customize the display with photos, contact info, or designs while keeping track of your belongings. I see this as a great accessory for bags or luggage, but what I really liked was the utility aspect—since it’s dynamic, you could even temporarily attach it to your pet’s collar when letting them roam freely. It works with iOS and Android, has a built-in alarm, lost item alerts, and a 10-month battery life, all packed into a waterproof(IP65) design. Seems like a larger, more fun, and customizable alternative to AirTags!

Phototag

💬 Weird Flux

I found yet another interesting discussion on Lemmy where people discussed their weird flexes, and it was both hilarious and fascinating. Some people shared impressive skills, like perfectly parallel parking every time or eyeballing the exact size of Tupperware needed for leftovers. Others had bizarre talents, like sneezing with their eyes open, never getting food poisoning, or even contributing code fixes to Microsoft products. There were also extreme endurance feats, from running every day for years to driving 18 hours straight with minimal breaks. A few had strange life experiences, like being featured in movies, getting paid to live in their apartment, or having their code stored in an underground Arctic vault. Overall, it was a fun mix of quirky, unexpected, and a lot of weird ones!

Weird Flux

📚 Art Thief

I don’t remember who recommended this book to me, but I’m halfway through The ‘Art Thief’ by Michael Finkel, and it’s absolutely fascinating! It’s the true story of Stéphane Breitwieser(he’s real)!, a guy who managed to steal over $2 billion worth of art from museums across Europe—not to sell, but just to admire in his bedroom at his mom’s house. He pulled off more than 200 heists, often in broad daylight, with his girlfriend acting as his lookout. The way he seamlessly walked out of museums with priceless pieces is almost unbelievable. It’s a mix of true crime, obsession, and sheer audacity, and I’m completely hooked. Definitely worth a read if you enjoy crazy real-life stories!

Art Thief

An interesting quote from the book:

“The carving to him is a masterpiece, just ten inches tall yet dazzlingly detailed, the first humans gazing at each other as they move to embrace, the serpent coiled around the tree of knowledge behind them, the forbidden fruit picked not bitten: humanity at the precipice of sin.”

~ As always, resurfaced by Readwise. If you’re interested, read my review of Readwise.

Last Week’s Read: The Courage to be Disliked

🎻Violin Doctor

An intriguing Chicago Magazine piece on John Becker, one of the world’s most sought-after violin restorers, trusted by famous violinists across the world. From his Chicago workshop, Becker meticulously restores centuries-old Stradivarius violins—some worth over $15 million—charging $125 an hour for work that can exceed 1,000 hours. Musicians fly across the world to see him, knowing that a single adjustment to a sound post or a varnish touch-up could transform their instrument’s voice. Interestingly, despite handling more Strads than nearly anyone alive, Becker has never played one himself—yet his instinct for sound and structure is unmatched. A fascinating look into the man who keeps the world’s rarest violins alive—this is a wonderful read.

Violin Doctor

📖 How to Make a Miniature Hardback

I found this interesting tutorial by Rokolee DIY on how to make a mini version of a real hardcover book. First, you make the book block by folding small pages and stitching them together using a kettle stitch, which I thought was pretty cool. Then, you create the hardcover using thick paper, fabric, or even recycled cardboard. The guide also shares tips on making the book more durable and even turning it into a keychain or necklace. Overall, it’s a fun and detailed tutorial, but definitely check out the rest of the DIY projects on the site too!

How to Make a Mini Hardbook

🏃 Green Charter

I came across the Green Charter of the Vagamon Ultra Trail, an ultra marathon in the Western Ghats of Kerala, India, and found it really interesting. The organizers take several steps to reduce the carbon footprint, like offering shared transport, eliminating plastic bottles and paper cups, and using eco-friendly medals made from screw pine leaves or coir. Even T-shirts are no longer a default option to cut waste. The event also supports local communities by hiring local labor and sourcing food locally. Courses are marked with limestone, and ribbons are untied for reuse in future races—while the carbon savings may be small, it’s still something, and more importantly, it sends a powerful message!

Green Charter

🥘 Recursive Recipes

I spent so much time playing around with this website that provides recursive recipes—it’s weird yet thought-provoking. There are sliders to adjust the recipe based on how much time you have. For instance, making Eggs Benedict from scratch isn’t just about cooking—it could take years if you start from the very beginning. You’d need to grow apples for vinegar, raise chickens for eggs, cultivate wheat for flour, and even cure bacon from a pig you raised. The deeper you go, the more you realize how much effort truly goes into food production. It’s a fun yet overwhelming way to rethink what ‘made from scratch’ really means!

Recursive Recipes

🎨100 Newyorkers

I came across this fascinating art installation called 100 New Yorkers by Mona Chalabi and found it really interesting. It’s a data-driven art piece that reimagines New York’s diverse population by scaling it down to 100 fictional characters based on real census data. Each character represents different aspects of life in the city—race, income, housing, health, and more—highlighting how poverty, overcrowding, and inequality shape people’s experiences. The installation was displayed across 22 digital screens at the Westfield World Trade Center, blending art, data, and public storytelling in a compelling way. I love how this project makes complex statistics more human and relatable, turning numbers into people and sparking conversations about life in New York. Prints are also available for purchase on her website.

100 New Yorkers

🎬 Small Town in Japan

I've been following this channel for a while, but recently had fun watching this video about Kofu, a small town in Japan with only 2,500 people. The host spent a week there, talking to locals, exploring daily life, and learning about abandoned homes, a mobile grocery store, and efforts to bring in new residents. It also shows beautiful scenery and how the town is adapting as its population shrinks.

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Got something remarkable to share with the world? 10+1 Things newsletter is read by a highly engaged audience across 94 countries and 48 US states. Reach out today to tap into a diverse, curious, and invested global community eager to discover the next big thing!

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That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

Which one was your favourite this week?
Leave a comment or reply to this email.

This newsletter is FREE, but not CHEAP. It takes a lot of effort and time from my end (7~8 hours) to deliver this newsletter every week. You can help me in keeping it going by forwarding it to someone you like, buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹75), sending me some crypto, visiting my blog, signing my guestbook or following me on X.

I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I'm available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

P.S. Some links may be affiliate links, meaning I might earn a commission—at no extra cost to you.

⚡ Welcome to #59 of 10+1 Things!

Thanks a lot to everyone who bought me coffees($1 or ₹75) last week!
Also, a warm welcome to everyone who is new here from Meco!

I had an ordinary week as usual—lots of reading, pushing hard at the gym, endless job searching, and connecting with potential clients on UpWork.

Regarding 10+1 Things, I experimented with a different timing last week, posting at 6 PM Gulf Time to see if it would impact engagement or open rates. Turns out, it was a failed experiment! Even though I finish writing my newsletter early, deciding on the best posting time is a bit tricky—or maybe I’m just overthinking it.

With most of my readers in the USA, followed by India, the UK, Canada, and Australia, figuring out the ideal time to post is a challenge. So, I thought of creating a quick survey to gather some feedback. If possible, could you take a moment to complete this short survey? It’ll help me get a better idea of the best time to post.

Reader Survey

Also, a small correction from last week!
In the Curta mechanical calculator section, I mistakenly stated that it was the "only handheld mechanical calculator ever made." That was an error on my part—I trusted the video without verifying. It makes sense that it couldn’t be the only handheld mechanical calculator ever made! Apologies for the mistake, and a big thanks to Trucian for pointing it out!

Without further ado, here are 10+1 Things that I thought were worth sharing this week:

💡 100 Simple Pleasures

I came across this short yet eye-opening list of 100 simple pleasures in life, and it really made me appreciate the little moments. From the smell of rain on a hot sidewalk to sinking a long putt or waking up and realizing it's Saturday, these small joys add up to make life more fulfilling. The idea is simple—pay attention to these everyday moments, and happiness follows. It’s a great reminder to slow down, be present, and find joy in the ordinary. I might even try making my own list!

100 Pleasures

📿 Data Beads

I found this very cool yet thought-provoking initiative called Databeads, which turns data visualization into wearable art. The idea is simple: you take a dataset, map it into a bead pattern using colors to represent different values, and then weave it into a bracelet. The goal of the initiative is to create conversation starters, spark curiosity, and improve data literacy in a casual, creative way. They’ve also provided details on what materials you need, step-by-step instructions, and examples of bracelets made using real-world data. It’s a fascinating mix of storytelling and craft, making abstract numbers more tangible and engaging. I really love this concept—I’m probably going to make one using the climate stripe data of India!

Data Beads

🍎 EcoTracker

I came across this interesting product on Kickstarter, a small handheld device called EcoTracker that detects contaminants in food and measures water quality. It's cheap ($49) and very handy. The food contamination testing feature is impressive—you select the food item from its built-in database, probe it with the sensor, and within three seconds, it gives you a reading on nitrates, chlorides, and pesticides. There’s even an option to tweak the safety thresholds, which is a great advantage if you have specific health conditions. The device can test around 60 common food items, including fruits, vegetables, fish, and meat. However, the water testing part isn’t particularly appealing—it only measures TDS, something that can easily be done with a basic $5 TDS meter.

EcoTracker

💬 Best Life Purchases

I've been using Lemmy a bit lately and had bookmarked this discussion where people shared the best purchases of their life. Barring the usual ones in discussions like these—bidet, electric toothbrush, cast iron skillet—some very interesting ones stood out, like an Instant Pot/air fryer combo, raw food subscriptions for dogs, an infrared grill, and bone-conduction headphones. Weirdly, I saw so many recommending the Zojirushi rice cooker—is it really that good? Never understood the need for a rice cooker when the good old knuckle method always works.

View the Discussion

📚 Courage to be Disliked

This has been on my anti-library for a while, and I finally started ‘The Courage to Be Disliked’ by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga. It’s about how we can be happier by letting go of past struggles and caring less about what others think. The book is written as a conversation between a philosopher and a young man, which makes it easy to follow. It explores ideas from Alfred Adler’s psychology, focusing on self-acceptance, personal freedom, and overcoming the need for approval. I’m halfway through, and I really like how it challenges common ideas about life in a simple way.

Checkout the Book

Love this quote from the book:

“No matter what has occurred in your life up to this point, it should have no bearing at all on how you live from now on. That you, living in the here and now, are the one who determines your own life.”

~ As always, resurfaced by Readwise, - helping me remember everything I read for FREE!

Last Week’s Read: Valuable Humans in Transit

🐓 Headless Chicken

Mike the Headless Chicken was a male Wyandotte chicken that lived 18 months after he was beheaded. His owner, Lloyd Olsen, tried to behead Mike but missed the jugular vein, leaving most of the brain stem intact. Since the brain stem controls basic functions like breathing and reflex actions, Mike was able to survive. Olsen fed him using a dropper, and soon, Mike started gaining fame. He toured the country as a sideshow attraction and was even photographed by Life and Time magazines. His legacy lives on with an annual Mike the Headless Chicken Day festival in Fruita, Colorado.

Headless Chicken

🧶How I Make Rugs

In an interesting post, Tabitha Arnold shares the process of making her rugs. She starts by explaining how she transitioned from painting to weaving, eventually discovering punch needle embroidery as a faster and more detailed way to create textile art. She talks about her tools, from her first Oxford punch needle to experimenting with different types of yarn, preferring hand-dyed wool for its rich colors. Over time, she refined her technique, upgraded her rug backing materials, and even began incorporating shaped edges, tears, and holes to make her pieces more sculptural. Her post offers a deep dive into the craft, from material choices to the meditative rhythm of stitching.

How I Make Rugs

⚽ Plain Text Sports

I found this interesting site called Plain Text Sports, where sports scores are displayed without any ads, pop-ups, or unnecessary clutter. It’s not just for the NBA—it covers NHL, NFL, NCAA, Champions League, Premier League, and more. The site loads instantly, giving you game updates in a simple, text-only format. No waiting, no distractions—just the scores you need. It also runs beautifully on mobile, and since the website is super light (only 30KB), it loads fast even on limited data!

Plain Text Sports

🚻 My Cat Mii

I came across this beautifully written piece about Mayumi Inaba's cat, Mii, whom she found as a tiny kitten stuck in a fence one summer night in Tokyo, 1977. Cold and helpless, the kitten clung to her, and from that moment, their bond was sealed. Inaba reflects on how moving to a peaceful new home made space in her heart for Mii. Struggling to find the right name, she eventually settled on Mii, inspired by the kitten’s soft cries. This is a pre-publishing excerpt from Mornings Without Mii(translated), coming out on the 25th. AI can write well, and I’m not against it, but this kind of writing just has a soul that no machine can replicate, or at least for now.

My Cat Mii

🗺 Wild Map

I had so much fun exploring the art project Wild World by Anton Thomas, a stunning hand-drawn world map featuring 1,642 animals from every continent and ocean. It took him three years and over 2,600 hours to complete, using colored pencils and a magnifying glass to capture every intricate detail. Unlike traditional maps, this one ignores national borders, focusing solely on nature and wildlife, celebrating the planet’s incredible biodiversity. Thomas wanted to create a perspective that inspires curiosity and love for the natural world, showing how much is still left to protect. The sheer level of detail, research, and passion behind this project is incredible. Prints are available to purchase on his website as well.

Wild World

🎬 AI Granny

I had so much fun watching this conversation between an AI granny and a scammer pretending to be a support agent. Daisy, the AI bot, keeps scammers stuck on the line by acting confused and rambling about scones and knitting. Honestly, this is one of the best uses of AI I’ve seen—if we can waste their time to the point where running scam call centers isn’t worth it, that’s a win. It was a fun watch, and I loved the little jokes along the way!

🛒 Ad Slots Available!

Got something interesting to share? Whether it's a product, service, or collaboration opportunity, this space is open for sponsors and classifieds. Reach 10+1 Things readers and get your message in front of an engaged audience.

📩 Get in touch to book your spot for next week!

That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

Which one was your favourite this week?
Leave a comment or reply to this email.

This newsletter is FREE, but not CHEAP. It takes a lot of effort and time from my end (7~8 hours) to deliver this newsletter every week. You can help me in keeping it going by forwarding it to someone you like, buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹75), sending me some crypto, visiting my blog, signing my guestbook or following me on X.

I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I'm available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

P.S. Some links may be affiliate links, meaning I might earn a commission—at no extra cost to you.

⚡ Welcome to #58 of 10+1 Things!

Thanks a lot to everyone who bought me coffees($1 or ₹75) last week!
Also, a warm welcome to everyone who is new here from Meco!

I had an ordinary week with not much happening. To be honest, I was not as productive as I wanted to be. I was supposed to sign a project with a client, but that didn’t happen this week, so that was a bummer.

Working alone as a freelancer, life has been full of ups and downs.

Coming to health, I had a solid week of strength workouts with my trainer. I realized that I never trained to failure before. Now I know what it means to train to failure, so that’s a big takeaway once my personal training sessions end, and I can focus more on muscle growth.

On the newsletter front, I spent some time culling subscribers who were not active for a long time. I want to keep the list clean with more active subscribers, so yeah, probably will clean the list a bit more in the coming week.

I also had an interesting call with Dvorah Graeser, one of my readers. We had an interesting conversation on AI, the Middle East market, and long-distance running! My calendar is open twice a week for informal chats—feel free to reach out if you want to catch up!

Without further ado, here are 10+1 Things that I thought were worth sharing this week:

⌚️ 16 Lessons

David A. Patterson shares 16 life lessons from his five decades in computing. He divides them into two parts—one focused on people and the other on career. The career lessons emphasize the importance of passion, teamwork, and focusing on what truly matters instead of just urgent tasks. The people-focused lessons highlight family, happiness, and valuing relationships over achievements. He also stresses the power of honest feedback, bold decisions, and finishing what you start. Simple but solid advice from someone who’s been there and done that!

16 Lessons

֎ ChatGPT is not bad

I used to believe that using ChatGPT personally was bad for the planet due to the energy and water needed for training and running data centers—I even shared an article on this before. But Andy Masley’s post breaks it down, showing that its impact is negligible compared to everyday activities like video streaming or even eating a burger. He argues that focusing on AI emissions distracts from real climate issues and the systemic changes needed in the energy sector. It’s a great read if you want a more grounded perspective on AI and the environment!

ChatGPT is not bad

💡 How to Improve WFH Lighting

An interesting guide by Rusty on how to improve your WFH lighting and reduce eye strain. He explains why bad lighting can cause fatigue, how natural and artificial light affect your eyes, and what simple changes can make a big difference. He even shows how his setup looked before and after using 3D renders! From diffusing harsh sunlight to picking the right bulbs, Rusty shares easy fixes to make your workspace more comfortable. If you spend hours in front of a screen, this one’s worth a read!

Improve WFH Lighting

🚻 Emoji Bathroom

Emoji Bathroom is a quirky, experimental meme site where you're given two emojis and asked: Which one is the men’s room? It’s a playful dig at restaurants that try way too hard with restroom signs. The site highlights how we assign meaning to everyday symbols, touching on gender, history, and social expectations—all through the least serious medium: emojis. It features stats too! Every hour, the matchups refresh, so if you don’t like the choices, check back later!

Emoji Bathroom

📿The Drop

I was casually browsing Kickstarter and Indiegogo, and The Drop caught my eye. It’s a wearable nutrition tracker you can wear as a pendant or pin. With a 4K camera and AI model running locally, it detects when you’re eating and sends food images to the cloud to analyze calories, macros, and nutrients. I didn’t really like the design, to be honest, but the utility sounds promising. The founders are Harvard and ETH Zurich grads, and the company is backed by Y Combinator, so it doesn’t look like a scam. As someone who has failed multiple times in logging and tracking calories, this sounds like a game changer, if it works as expected.

The Drop

💬 Pointless Hobbies

I had archived this thread on Tildes where people shared their most pointless hobbies, and some of them were truly unexpected. I didn’t know mechanical keyboards were a full-blown hobby, but people spend hundreds on custom boards and keycaps. Lego, board games, and TTRPG books seem to be common money pits, while others are into niche obsessions like fountain pens, fancy flashlights, and even indie perfumes. Some really unique ones stood out—collecting kimonos, wacky earrings, and even flashlights (seriously, how many do you need?). Then there’s crystal specimen collecting, because apparently, you can never have too many shiny rocks!

Pointless Hobbies

While I was typing this, I remembered that almost 10 years back, I had a hobby where I would collect soil samples from every new place I visited. I vaguely remember ordering some glass bottles with corks from AliExpress to store them.! Now that I think about it, it would have been a cool hobby—sad that I didn’t pursue it further. What’s your weird hobby?

Leave a comment

📚 Valuable Humans in Transit

I think I’m on a short book spree! I had so much fun reading Valuable Humans in Transit and Other Stories by qntm this week. If you don’t know, qntm is a sci-fi writer who explores deep, hypothetical scenarios and pushes science, technology, and logic to their limits. The stories in this collection are weird, thought-provoking, and often terrifyingly plausible. For instance, ‘Lena’ is written as a Wikipedia entry and tells a haunting story about digital braintaping, while ‘The Difference’ follows a man trapped in solitary confinement, trying to convince gamers that he’s a real person. It’s a short read(<100p), but every story packs a punch—perfect for anyone who loves mind-bending sci-fi!

Checkout the Book

Last Week’s Read: The Underachiever's Manifesto

🌌A Random Universe

I recently learned about the lava lamps at Cloudflare’s office and their role in generating randomness for cryptography. Apparently, Cloudflare uses these to ensure that the seeds are truly random since the motion of lava lamps is chaotic and cannot be predicted. This got me thinking about how randomness shapes everything—from evolution to history and major events. Read my reflections on the power of randomness.

A Random Universe

♻️ Waste Map

This interesting visualization by Paper Boss ranks every country in the world by waste produced and recycled. Before even looking at the data, I assumed the UAE—where I live—would be high on the list, given its rapid urban development and consumer-driven lifestyle. Surprisingly, Bahrain—a small gulf island nation with just 1.6 million people—takes the top spot, generating 907 kg of waste per person annually! Comoros, a country I admittedly don’t know much about, comes in second, which is surprising given its small size. On the recycling front, Germany leads the way, recycling 47% of its waste, thanks to a deeply ingrained culture of sorting and sustainability.

Countries by Waste Generated

📇 Typewriter Art

This week, I'm exploring the unique artwork of James Cook, who uses a typewriter to create stunning visual pieces. Instead of traditional art tools, Cook arranges letters, numbers, and symbols to form intricate drawings, from cityscapes to portraits. His journey began as a college project but soon turned into a full-time career, with commissions from around the world. Each piece is meticulously crafted, often taking hours of focused work, and sometimes includes hidden messages or personal references. Cook likens his typewriter to a musical instrument, relying on muscle memory to master its keys. If you wish to commission or support his work, prints are available to purchase on his website.

Typewriter Art

🎬 Mechanical Computer

I had so much fun watching this interesting short video about the Curta mechanical calculator, the only handheld mechanical calculator ever made. In the video, Steve shows how this ingenious device, invented by Curt Herzstark during World War II, performs addition and multiplication using a simple handle. What’s even cooler is how it uses a technique called the Nine’s complement to perform subtraction, taking advantage of an overflow error. Steve also demonstrates how the calculator handles complex problems like 765 × 204 by leveraging place value. It’s an incredible piece of engineering history that’s both fascinating and surprisingly functional!

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That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

Which one was your favourite this week?
Leave a comment or reply to this email.

This newsletter is FREE, but not CHEAP. It takes a lot of effort and time from my end (7~8 hours) to deliver this newsletter every week. You can help me in keeping it going by forwarding it to someone you like, buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹75), sending me some crypto, visiting my blog, signing my guestbook or following me on X.

I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I'm available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

Thanks a lot to everyone who bought me coffees($1 or ₹75) last week!

I’m so glad that so many of you sent me suggestions on tweaking the newsletter tagline. I’m working on it and shall update you soon!

I had an artsy kind of week! I went for a screening of Mississippi Masala (1991) at an art center in Abu Dhabi, and it was a fun and interesting movie to watch. Over the weekend, I joined a photomarathon organized by Fujifilm at the carpet market in Abu Dhabi, where Joshua Benetton’s ‘Where Lies My Carpet Is Thy Home’ artwork was located. Each hour had a different theme to photograph, like geometry, silhouettes, and color pop.

It was my first photo walk in almost two years, so I felt quite rusty—not getting exposure right, lacking confidence to photograph people, and struggling to see frames. Still, I’m glad I went and should do it more often. I’m editing the photos and will share them soon!

I also had an unoffice hours call with Javier, who writes The Inner Act on Substack. We had a great conversation about art, culture, museums, and a project I’m working on. My calendar is open twice a week for informal chats—feel free to reach out!

Without further ado, here are 10+1 Things that I thought were worth sharing this week:

💻 How to Like Everything

Sasha has written an excellent post on the art of enjoying life more deeply and how it can be developed as a skill. He shares practical tips like focusing on small details you might usually miss, being curious about things you’d normally resist, and imagining the effort behind what someone has created. I really liked his idea of experimenting with synesthetic associations, like connecting sounds or colors to feelings, and even pretending to be a buyer to engage more with art. He also talks about noticing flaws and letting them deepen your appreciation instead of detracting from it. It’s a relatable and practical guide to finding more joy in everyday life.

How to Like Everything More

⌚️ Word Watch

I came across this fascinating Word Clock built by Willem, called ClockSquared Mini. It’s a wristwatch that displays time in words, lighting up phrases like "It is five past ten" on a tiny grid of LEDs. Willem faced many challenges, like reducing the size of the original clock by tenfold and managing issues like light bleeding between letters, but his creative solutions, like a custom brass frame and innovative front plate, brought it to life. The watch runs on a coin battery and balances functionality with style. Though still a prototype, it’s an impressive mix of creativity and engineering!

Word Watch

📝 28 Hour Days

I came across this very interesting blog post by Bernardo, where he shared an update on living a 28-hour day schedule after a year. Instead of a 24-hour day, he’s stretched his schedule to create six-day weeks, allowing more time each day. While the adjustment took two months and some creative solutions like strategic napping, Bernardo now enjoys consistent sleep, quiet gym sessions, and the ability to connect with friends across time zones. He’s had to rethink daily habits like meal planning and even redefine concepts like “day” and “night.” Despite some challenges, he finds this schedule freeing and doesn’t see himself going back to a 24-hour cycle anytime soon.

28 Hour Days

⏳️ Sandspiel

Sandspiel is an in-browser falling sand game created by Max Bittker in 2018, inspired by the classic Powder Game. It lets players experiment with virtual elements like sand, water, fire, ice, and plants, discovering their interactions to create stunning digital art. For example, fire can burn plants, ice can freeze water, and gas is highly flammable, opening up endless possibilities for imaginative creations. I played around with it for a while and loved how creative you can get. People have made incredible designs—like a beautifully detailed Greek island landscape—that show just how imaginative this game can be. It’s a perfect mix of fun and creativity!

Sandspiel

🌀 Light Cell

This might sound a bit nerdy, but if it works, it could be an amazing breakthrough. The lightcell engine uses a fuel, usually hydrogen, mixed with sodium. When heated, the sodium emits an intense, focused light that special solar-like cells convert into electricity. Compared to traditional power plants with lots of moving parts or noisy generators, this engine is designed to be highly efficient and whisper-quiet. It can run on hydrogen or common fuels like natural gas, making it versatile and practical for various uses. It’s still in very early stages of developement, but if it delivers, it could change how we think about clean and reliable power generation.

Lightcell

🪀 FingerDama

Kendama is a Japanese skill toy where you toss and catch a ball on a handle in creative ways. I stumbled upon it on r/kendama and discovered ‘fingerdama’, a portable version that uses your hand instead of a handle. It’s small enough to play anywhere—on a bus, at work, or even in a quiet library. One of the coolest features is the satisfying tik-tik sound it makes when the ball hits the cup, which is oddly meditative. For quieter spaces, they even offer a noise-reducing cover so you can play without disturbing anyone. I love the design and portability!

fingerdama

💬 Everyday Hacks

I had bookmarked this old discussion on Reddit where people shared their clever “I can’t believe others don’t do this” hacks, and it’s such a goldmine of ideas. I love tips like opening bags of chips upside down so all the seasoning at the bottom gets evenly distributed, canceling streaming subscriptions right after starting them so they don’t auto-renew, using a dish cleaning wand in the shower to scrub while bathing, and rolling oranges to make them easier to peel. It’s amazing how small tweaks like these can save time, money, or just make everyday tasks more enjoyable. Definitely worth revisiting for some fresh inspiration!

Check out the Discussion

On a different note, what is a good affordable robo vacuum cleaner (other than Roborock)? Any recommendations?

Leave a comment

📚 The Underachiever's Manifesto

I forgot where I first came across this book, but I had so much fun reading this small book (<100p) titled The Underachiever's Manifesto by Ray Bennett. While most self-help books push you to do more, achieve more, and be more, The Underachiever's Manifesto is none of that. It’s short, witty, and holds an overarching truth to it all: we’re doing too much, trying too hard. I won’t say it’s one of the greatest books I’ve ever read, but its humor and lighthearted perspective make it a memorable and refreshing read. This book is a fun reminder to take it easy and enjoy life as it is!

Check out the Book

Last Week’s Read: How to Walk

🧊 Bio Cubes

BioCubes is an interactive visualization that illustrates how man-made materials now outweigh all natural life on Earth, offering a profound perspective on human impact. Created by Johns Hopkins University physicist Brice Ménard and graphic artist Nikita Shtarkman, it transforms complex data into an intuitive, thought-provoking story about life on the planet. The infographic highlights the dramatic rise in man-made materials since 1900, with most of the increase occurring in recent decades. I never realized the sheer mass of materials like concrete and asphalt now outweighs all natural life on Earth!

Biocubes

💪 Not What You Saw

This week, I accidentally stumbled upon a project titled Not What You Saw by Keerthana Kunnath, and it instantly caught my attention. Coincidentally, Keerthana is from my home state of Kerala in India, and her work focuses on the lives of female bodybuilders in South India. These bodybuilders had never been photographed before, let alone by another woman, and were eager to share their stories, hoping to inspire others. In a country like India, where the femicide rate is among the highest in the world, pursuing bodybuilding is an act of defiance against deeply ingrained beauty standards and societal expectations. What a powerful and inspiring project that celebrates the courage to break barriers and redefine femininity.

Not What You Saw

🎬 Creating Clippy

I enjoyed watching the story of Kevan Atteberry, the creator of Clippy, Microsoft’s iconic Office assistant. Kevan shared how Clippy was chosen from over 260 designs and became the default assistant for Office 97. Initially, he never included Clippy in his portfolio, embarrassed by the backlash it received. Over time, though, Clippy opened doors for him and gained nostalgic charm, even making appearances in TV shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy!

🖱️ Worth a CLICK!

• The Curious Procrastinator: How to get things done while procrastinating!

• Meco is a distraction-free space for reading newsletters outside the inbox.

• From 0 to SaaS in 12 hours: Learn to code in weeks, not months

🤝 Interested in sponsoring or collaborating with 10+1 Things?
[Learn More]

That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

Which one was your favourite this week?
Leave a comment or reply to this email.

This newsletter is FREE, but not CHEAP. It takes a lot of effort and time from my end (7~8 hours) to deliver this newsletter every week. You can help me in keeping it going by forwarding it to someone you like, buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹75), sending me some crypto, visiting my blog, signing my guestbook or following me on X.

I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I'm available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

⚡ Welcome to #56 of 10+1 Things!

Thanks a lot to everyone who bought me coffees($1 or ₹75) last week!

I had a rather uneventful week post last week's long walk. I went for a couple of bike rides and strength training is coming along nicely. For gym, I'm pretty comfortable with the exercises, but I might hire a personal trainer (PT) for a month or two. Everyone whom I have talked to, irrespective of their experiences, has told me that a PT helps them push that extra last 10% which results in most of the gains and also is a great accountability factor.

Also, I had the luck to sign a new client - that's the highlight of the week! One thing with freelancing is that you become a one-person company that handles everything including sales, marketing, design, development, testing and so on. I have slowly started to curate some resources which I found useful here - feel free to contribute!

One more thing: I'm trying to improve the tagline/description of my newsletter. The current one goes like this: "11 interesting stories handpicked by a curious human's algorithm." I wrote this many years back when curator economy was a buzz word. I think it needs a refresh.

I came up with this - what do you think?

11 interesting finds, curated weekly by a curious human!

I would love to hear your thoughts! Reply to this email or comment below.

Without further ado, here are 10+1 Things that I thought were worth sharing this week:

💻 Blogging with Friction

This month’s IndieWeb Carnival’s topic is the “Importance of Friction,” and my piece, Blogging with Friction, reflects on moving from WordPress to Hugo. While WordPress was easy to use, it felt repetitive and uninspiring. Hugo brought challenges that made blogging more creative and rewarding. From customizing the design to finding new ways to solve problems, the effort turned my blog into something truly personal. Embracing these challenges has made blogging more meaningful and enjoyable. It’s harder, but that’s what makes it worthwhile.

Blogging with Friction

📝 One Man Armies

I came across this short article on One Man Armies—a reminder of what one person can achieve with focus and determination. The author proves the point with examples like Antonio Gaudí, who spent over 40 years on the Sagrada Familia; Marie Tharp, who mapped the Atlantic Ocean floor in the 1950s despite significant challenges; Markus Persson, who built Minecraft in just 2 years; and Linus Torvalds, who started Linux in 1991 and laid the foundation for an operating system used worldwide today. It’s incredible to think that groundbreaking work, whether in art, science, technology, or architecture, often starts with just one passionate individual dedicating their time.

One Man Armies

I really loved this post and want to curate a list of One Man Armies. If you have any suggestions, let me know—I’ll add them to the list with credits!

Leave a comment

🌀 Peanut Butter Spinner

I found this interesting post where Chris Dieringer made a DIY peanut butter spinner because he wanted a “set it and forget it” solution unlike the other options on the market. His device gently rotates the jar using a small motor and a 3D-printed case, powered by a USB adapter. After about 20 minutes, it redistributes the oil enough to make manual mixing much easier. While it’s not perfect, it works well enough to eliminate that annoying oil layer on top. All materials, including the CAD files for the 3D-printed parts, are available on his blog. It’s a clever and practical project for anyone who loves natural peanut butter but hates the hassle of mixing it!

Peanut Butter Spinner

🌡️ Heat Pumps, Hooray!

I came across Heat Pumps, Hooray!—an interesting guide and calculator that breaks down everything you need to know about heat pumps. It’s a simple and clear way to understand why these systems are more efficient, cost-effective, and eco-friendly compared to traditional heating and cooling. What really stood out was how they can save money on utility bills while significantly reducing carbon emissions. The calculator even lets you estimate your savings and environmental impact based on your own home. If you’ve ever wondered whether a heat pump is worth it, this guide makes the case pretty compelling!

Heat Pumps, Hooray!

💽 Frame CD

I was browsing through Kickstarter and stumbled upon an interesting project called the CoolGeek MusicFrame M1. It’s essentially a CD player that doubles as an art frame, which is pretty unique. The design is sleek, with a transparent acrylic frame that makes the rotating CD look like a piece of art in motion. I think they missed an opportunity with the name—it could’ve been something like “FramePlay” to emphasize the fusion of music and art. It doesn’t have built-in speakers, so you’ll need external ones, but it supports Bluetooth and AUX, which is a nice touch. Definitely a cool way to revive those old CDs while adding some style to your room!

MusicFrame M1

⁉️Small Questions

I was browsing through Tildes and came across this interesting discussion where people shared small questions they wanted to ask but felt weren’t worth a full topic. The thread was filled with quirky and thought-provoking ideas that sparked lively conversations. A few that caught my attention were:

• If you could magically shoot two liquids from your index fingers, what would they be and why?

• Why do people who know how hard parenting is willingly choose to have more children?

• How can I keep my glasses from sliding down my nose?

• What is the best way to peel a melon?

Small Questions

Leave a comment

📚 How to Walk

This read is probably the aftereffect of my last week's 12-hour walk, but I enjoyed reading How to Walk by Thich Nhat Hanh this week. It’s a small (<120 pages) book that offers simple yet profound insights into mindful walking. I loved how it talks about turning every step into a chance to slow down and be present. The way it’s written feels so calming, and it made me want to enjoy even the smallest walks more. It’s part of the Mindfulness Essentials series, and this one’s a good pick—you can just grab it, read a chapter here and there, and come back to it whenever you feel like it.

How to Walk

Love this quote from the book:

“When we walk, we can walk for our ancestors and future generations. Maybe they had to walk with sorrow; perhaps they were forced to march or migrate. When we walk freely, we are walking for them.”

~ As always, resurfaced by Readwise, - helping me remember everything I read for FREE!

Last Week’s Read: The Pleasure of Finding Things Out

🧶 Embroidery Journal

I’m not sure if this can be called a visualization, but Sophie O’Neil has created something truly unique: an embroidery journal. Every day, she stitches a small icon that represents her day—whether it’s pancakes from breakfast, bunny ears for organizing an Easter egg hunt, or a frowny face for a tough day. 2024 marked her fifth year of this creative journaling, and she’s now embroidered over 1,800 icons across her projects. From big milestones like buying a house to everyday joys like walks and baking, her work beautifully captures life’s moments, one stitch at a time. It’s such a thoughtful and inspiring way to reflect on the year!

Embroidery Journal

🍛 $2.50 a Day

I stumbled upon this fascinating experiment by an engineer who challenged himself to eat on just $2.50 a day for 46 days—and I couldn’t stop reading. He didn’t just stretch his dollars; he turned meal planning into a system. For example, he made over 60 cabbage rolls for just 41 cents each, freezing them for weeks of easy, delicious meals. He planned his shopping around sales, tracked every ingredient to the gram, and even found creative ways to use scraps and leftovers. Along the way, he learned to make luxurious meals like crispy pan-fried salmon and homemade ramen while sticking to his budget. His big takeaway? With smart planning, anyone can eat well for less—and maybe even have fun doing it!
Oh, I love the internet for gems like this!

$2.50 a Day

🐻 Abandoned weather station

This week, I’m exploring an incredible photography project by Dmitry Kokh, who captured polar bears inhabiting abandoned Soviet-era buildings on Kolyuchin Island. During a 2021 expedition, Kokh stumbled upon this surreal scene, with bears peeking through broken windows and roaming the derelict structures. Using a low-noise drone, he photographed them up close without disturbing their natural curiosity. The resulting images are both stunning and thought-provoking, showcasing how nature adapts to the spaces humans leave behind. Kokh’s work beautifully highlights the resilience of wildlife in a changing world.

Abandoned

🎬 Fluid Pendant

Had some fun watching this video by Mixtela, where he makes a cool gold-plated pendant that simulates fluid motion in real time. It’s a mix of clever design, electronics, and metalwork, and the result is something that looks like it belongs in a sci-fi movie. You can check out more about how he made it on his blog!

🖱️ Worth a CLICK!

• Cultural Reads: Best books, films & music from around the world

• Turn data into decisions and grow your startup with actionable analytics

• A platform where advertisers win and publishers thrive!

🤝 Interested in sponsoring or collaborating with 10+1 Things?
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That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

Which one was your favourite this week?
Leave a comment or reply to this email.

This newsletter is FREE, but not CHEAP. It takes a lot of effort and time from my end (7~8 hours) to deliver this newsletter every week. You can help me in keeping it going by forwarding it to someone you like, buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹75), sending me some crypto, visiting my blog, signing my guestbook or following me on X.

I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I'm available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

⚡ Welcome to #55 of 10+1 Things!

Last week’s newsletter had 12 things instead of 11 and I’m so glad that some of you emailed me regarding the same. With the amazing weather here in Abu Dhabi, I had so much fun cycling around the city. Finally I figured out a route to ride within the city without much distractions. Oh, and I spontaneously went on a 12-hour continuous ride without any prior planning—it was an interesting experience!

I've found a new passion recently - helping people bring their personal blogs to life. Since this has become such a joy, I'm taking on two clients this quarter (one spot still open!) to help craft truly personal blog spaces. If you've been thinking about creating your own corner of the internet, I'd love to chat - discovery calls are free!

Also, a huge thanks to everyone who bought me coffees($1 or ₹75) last week. Your support ,keeps me inspired and helps fund all my writing!

Here are 10+1 Things that I thought were worth sharing this week:

🚶 12 Hour Walk

The 12-hour walk is an interesting concept by Colin O’Brady. The rules are simple: walk alone for 12 hours without any distractions—no music, podcasts, or internet, just you and your thoughts. Inspired by this, I decided to take on the challenge in Abu Dhabi, exploring mangrove trails, city sidewalks, and public art installations. It was truly a unique experience, walking with just me and my thoughts in an urban landscape. From unexpected art pieces to a heavy biryani lunch mid-walk, it was a day of reflection and discovery. If you’re curious about my journey, thoughts, and what I learned, read more about it on my blog.

12 Hour Walk

💡 Why Are UK Electricity Bills So High?

I came across an insightful post by Ben about why UK electricity bills are so high, paired with an interactive site, electricitybills.uk, that breaks it all down. Only a third of the cost comes from wholesale electricity, while the rest goes toward maintaining the grid, supporting renewables, and utility overheads. Ben also highlights how past renewable subsidies and rising network costs continue to impact prices, while offering ideas for a future of cheaper, cleaner energy. Definitely worth a read if you’re from the UK or generally curious!

Why UK Electricity Bills are High?

📝 Uneasy Journals

I’m not sure who this is, but I got a follow from Uneasy Journals on Substack, and that’s how I found this. I loved the post about sacrifice and how it is scapegoated as loss when, in reality, it’s about prioritizing what truly matters. The author explains how small choices, like skipping errands to study, and major life decisions, like choosing a career, are shaped by what we’re willing to forgo. What stuck with me is the line: “You are what your sacrifices are.” Short, reflective, and quietly inspiring—this piece makes you rethink how you balance your life and goals.

The scapegoat of everything

👩 Mom Board

I first discovered Jan Miksovsky through his Japan hike book, but his project MomBoard is what truly amazed me. Jan created this e-ink display for his mother, who has amnesia, to help her feel connected and reassured. The device sits in her home, always on, showing short, comforting messages from Jan and his siblings. They use a simple web form to update messages remotely, and the display automatically refreshes every few minutes. What’s incredible is how seamless it is—his mom doesn’t need to interact with it, and it blends perfectly into her space. It’s a thoughtful, low-maintenance way to use technology to make a real difference, and Jan even shared the source code on GitHub for anyone inspired to try this for their loved ones. Truly heartwarming!

Mom Board

⌚️ Gradient Watch

I was casually browsing Kickstarter the other day, and nothing really caught my attention—until I stumbled upon this gem: the Gradient Watch by LAWA Design Studio. Instead of traditional hands, it uses two overlapping gradients—one for hours and one for minutes—that create beautiful, ever-changing patterns as time passes. With sleek 38 mm proportions, durable Japanese movement, and interchangeable straps, it’s both stylish and functional. I’m genuinely impressed! I might order this!

Gradient Watch

🗾 Landforms That Resemble Real-World Objects

I came across an interesting discussion on r/geography where users shared landforms that resemble real-world objects—a perfect example of pareidolia, the tendency to see patterns or familiar shapes in random objects or landscapes. Some fascinating examples include Italy looking like a boot, Michigan resembling a mitten, Ireland being seen as either a koala or a parrot in flight, Croatia shaped like a dragon, and Chad’s border resembling the "Chad" meme face. It’s amazing how our brains interpret geography this way—definitely worth checking out!

Check out the Discussion

📚 The Pleasure of Finding Things Out

I picked up The Pleasure of Finding Things Out this week, and I’m so glad I did. The book is a collection of Richard Feynman’s interviews, speeches, and essays, offering a glimpse into his fascinating life as a scientist. It’s not heavy on technical details, but instead focuses on the joy of curiosity and exploration. Feynman shares his thoughts on everything from how we think about time to his experiences working on the Manhattan Project. Each page is filled with curiosity, humor, and wonder, and it’s the perfect companion to my morning coffee. I love how it reminds me why I enjoy asking questions and seeking answers—it’s not just about learning but about the pure joy of discovery.

Check out the Book

“If you expected science to give all the answers to the wonderful questions about what we are, where we’re going, what the meaning of the universe is and so on, then I think you could easily become disillusioned and then look for some mystic answer to these problems.”

~ As always, resurfaced by Readwise -Your personal knowledge library. Start remembering everything you read for FREE!

Last Week’s Read: Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar

🐓 The Chicken World

I found this fascinating visualization that highlights how chickens have come to dominate the bird world. Once exclusive to the wild jungles of Asia, chickens were domesticated over 4,000 years ago and are now the most common bird species globally. Driven by industrialized food production and the demand for affordable meat and eggs, the global chicken population has skyrocketed to over 33 billion—roughly 4 chickens per person! What’s striking is that poultry now makes up 71% of all bird biomass, while wild birds account for just 29%, largely due to habitat loss and environmental degradation.

The Chicken World

📈 How to Grow

I read this fascinating post by Tejas on How to Grow Professional Relationships, where he introduces the TJS Collaboration Model—a fresh way to think about building connections. It takes you through seven stages, from competition to collaboration, showing how relationships can evolve from distant coexistence to creating something meaningful together. What stood out to me was the focus on trust, intentional communication, and adopting a mindset of abundance, while also recognizing the dangers of losing yourself in unhealthy dynamics. A must-read if you’re looking to level up your connections!

How to Grow

💎 PixLens

Not sure if this qualifies as art, but I had so much fun exploring the PixLens—a fascinating acrylic lens that transforms the world into pixel art, no electricity required! Designed by Japanese engineer and material designer Monoli, this handheld lens uses a precise grid structure to break the scenery into an 18x18 pixel resolution, creating a pixelated effect that looks like something straight out of Minecraft. The pixelation happens naturally as the acrylic lens refracts light, dividing the image into simplified blocks of color. Quirky, nostalgic, and beautifully crafted!

PixLens

🎬 How Google Maps Adapted to India

This interesting video explains how Google adapted Maps for India, where many streets lacked names. By studying how locals navigated using landmarks, they redesigned Maps to include landmark-based directions. It’s a great example of tailoring a global product to meet local needs through thoughtful user research!

🖱️ Worth a CLICK!

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That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

This newsletter is FREE, but not CHEAP. It takes a lot of effort and time from my end (7~8 hours) to deliver this newsletter every week. You can help me in keeping it going by forwarding it to someone you like, buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹75), sending me some crypto, visiting my blog, signing my guestbook or following me on X.

I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I'm available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi

Hello! First of all, Happy New Year!

A question for you: how did you spend your New Year’s Eve? Do you prefer being indoors or going out?

What a year 2024 has been. Lots of challenges, new learnings, but I’m excited to see what unfolds in the coming year. I’m back in Abu Dhabi after a few weeks of travel to India and have finally settled in. Looking forward to reading more, learning new things, curating great content, and interacting with more of you.

Also a huge thanks to everyone who supported me last year by buying coffees($1 or ₹75). As a freelancer, your support ,keeps me inspired and helps fund all my writing!

Without further ado, here are 10+1 Things worth sharing:

🎂 One Year, Three Goals

I missed out on this last year, but I love starting the year by reflecting and setting clear priorities. In the past, I made too many plans, and nothing worked out. This time, I’m focusing on just three goals: building stable online income, reducing body fat below 25%, and mastering coding and writing.

As I said earlier, 2024 was quite challenging for me—being unemployed, figuring out new things, and finally finding a foothold in freelance work.

In this short post, I share my goals for the year and a few action items to kick things off.

2025 Plan

⚡️Griddle

I found an interesting game called Griddle, a Wordle-inspired challenge where you guess countries based on their electricity grid mix from 2000 and 2022. Each grid represents the mix of energy sources—pink for nuclear, yellow for solar, gray for fossil fuels, and so on. Even if you’re not an energy enthusiast, you can play an easier version and still discover fascinating facts. For example, did you know over 50% of Brazil’s energy comes from hydro? With hints like energy generation, imports/exports, and per capita usage, it’s a fun and educational game worth trying!

Griddle

🏘 Radish Village

I came to know about this fascinating concept called Live Near Friends and a community called Radish Village in Oakland. Radish Village is an intentional co-living space where 19 adults and 5 babies share a 6-building compound, built around the idea that we’re happiest surrounded by people we love and admire. The community features shared spaces like a communal kitchen, a firepit for evening hangouts, and even a “Baby Monitor Distance” setup for parents to socialize while keeping an eye on their little ones. Residents swap cars, do laundry together, and often bump into friends just steps away from their homes. What an interesting project!

The Radish Village

🎁 I didn’t know I needed that

I had so much fun browsing through this interesting discussion on Tildes about gift ideas where people shared their favorite “I didn’t know I needed that” items! From practical gifts like a warm bathrobe, a good chef's knife, or an electric tea kettle, to unique ideas like meteorite slices or a NASA “boarding pass” to Mars, the creativity was endless. I know the holiday season is almost over, but an interesting thread to look for great gift ideas. This portable coffee maker with reusable mesh looks like a great gift idea!

I didn’t know I needed that

📚 Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar

I'm currently reading “Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes” by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein, and it’s an absolute delight. The book explains complex philosophical concepts through jokes, making it both entertaining and surprisingly informative. From Existentialism to Logic, every chapter uses humor to simplify big ideas, and I’ve found myself laughing while learning. If you’re someone who gets confused by all the deep philosophies but wants to learn more in a lighthearted way, this book is perfect for you!

Check out the Book

“The optimist says, "The glass is half full.” The pessimist says, “The glass is half empty.” The rationalist says, “This glass is twice as big as it needs to be.” That makes it clear as glass.”

~ As always, resurfaced by Readwise -Your personal knowledge library. Start remembering everything you read for FREE!

Also, I had so much fun reading this free eBook - Jan Miksovsky's travelogue of his month-long Japan hike in 2023. If you love hiking, check it out!

💻 Raw Materials

I came across this fascinating visualization by Toon Vos, which reveals the raw materials that make up a 1.7-kilogram laptop. The breakdown includes 22.7% magnesium, 9.4% borosilicate glass, 8.8% polycarbonate, and more, each represented by spheres sized to their mass and density. It’s incredible to think about the journey these materials take—from being mined or grown, refined, and designed, to finally becoming part of a device we use daily. A striking reminder of the complexity behind our modern conveniences!

Raw Materials in a Laptop

❓ 1,000 Questions

I came across this interesting project called the Save Wisdom Project. It’s a simple yet powerful idea—preserving personal wisdom by answering 1,000 thoughtful questions using a secure, offline voice recorder. The goal is to capture your insights, emotions, and experiences in your own voice, creating a timeless legacy for yourself and your loved ones.

Forget about whether this project will be a success or not—I think these questions are incredible. I wish I had asked them to my grandma when she was alive.

1,000 Questions

🔦 World’s Smallest Floodlight

I was browsing through Kickstarter and came across the PicoTorch, a tiny but powerful keychain flashlight. At just 33mm tall and 15mm in diameter, it’s small enough to carry everywhere, yet it packs an impressive 215 lumens of brightness. With a built-in magnetic base, it’s perfect for hands-free use—whether you’re tinkering with your car or need extra light in an emergency. The project has already raised over $100,000, smashing its initial goal, and it’s easy to see why. feel the perfect use case for it is when it rains, helping you find your way or your keys without risking your phone

PicoTorch

👞 How to Tie Shoes

I stumbled upon this interesting site called Ian's Shoelace Site, a site that delves deep into the world of shoelaces. It features 25 different ways to tie your laces, including the classic "Bunny Ears" knot and the Ian Knot, claimed to be the world’s fastest shoelace knot. Whether you’re after speed, security, or a stylish twist, there’s something for everyone—even fun knots for moccasins or Halloween! The site also offers tips for teaching kids, advice for avoiding the dreaded "Granny Knot," and explores the science and fashion of laces. Who knew shoelaces could be this fascinating?

How to Tie Your Shoes

🎲 Hues and Cues

Last weekend, we were at a friend's place and had so much fun playing a game called Hues and Cues. I’d never heard of it before, but it’s such an interesting concept! The game challenges you to describe colors using just one or two words, while everyone else tries to guess the exact hue out of 480 shades on the board. It’s amazing how differently people perceive colors—or maybe not, because everyone guessed “chilli green” correctly... except me. I completely messed up!

Hues and Cues

🎨Densest City in the World

I had so much fun exploring the incredible cross-section illustration of Kowloon Walled City by Hitomi Terasawa. Once the densest city in the world, this tiny 2.6-hectare enclave in Hong Kong housed 50,000 people in a chaotic labyrinth of shops, apartments, and factories. With no formal planning, buildings were stacked on top of each other, creating a maze of corridors that felt alive and ever-changing. Before the city was demolished in 1994, a team of Japanese researchers meticulously documented it, and Terasawa’s artwork captures its gritty, cyberpunk vibe in stunning detail. Thanks to Greg Jensen’s high-resolution scan, we can now zoom in and immerse ourselves in this architectural marvel’s fascinating history!

View Full Version

🎬 Waves that Look

Here’s a yet another fun video by Japhy Riddle where he uses audio waveforms to create shapes like fish and cows while sticking to quirky constraints. Using Audacity, he turns these visuals into sounds, blending creativity with audio science. A must-watch for anyone into unique experiments!

🖱️ Worth a CLICK!

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• 🧠 Read what 524,110+ curious minds are reading daily!

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That’s 10+1 Things for the week!

This newsletter is FREE, but not CHEAP. It takes a lot of effort and time from my end (7~8 hours) to deliver this newsletter every week. You can help me in keeping it going by forwarding it to someone you like, buying me a coffee ($1 or ₹75), sending me some crypto, visiting my blog, signing my guestbook or following me on X.

I also have an AMA section on my blog where you can ask me any questions. Plus, I'm available for a chat during my Unoffice Hours.

See you next week!

With Love,
Rishi