28 Hours, Biocubes, How to Like, & Word Watch
#57 of 10+1 Things | Abu Dhabi
⚡ Welcome to #57 of 10+1 Things!
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.
⌚️ 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!
📝 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.
⏳️ 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!
🌀 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.
🪀 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!
💬 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!
On a different note, what is a good affordable robo vacuum cleaner (other than Roborock)? Any recommendations?
📚 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!
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!
💪 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.
🎬 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
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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
“Self employment, for me at least, is a never-ending contest between the world’s worst manager and the world’s laziest employee.”
—Daniel Akst