223,891 Prints, Butter Box, How to Cut a Chicken & Solder Bot

#69 of 10+1 Things | Abu Dhabi

A Sky Full of Stars

⚡ 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!)

   

   Credits: Sanghamitra Sarkar

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.

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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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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

“On the Internet the opposite of ‘open’ is not ‘closed’ – the opposite of ‘open’ is ‘broken’”
- John Wilbanks

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