Notices by Ashwin Nanjappa 🐘 (codeyarns@mastodon.social)

Eminent Indian astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar passed away recently. His name sounded familiar, so I digged a little and lo behold he was actually the author of one of my favorite childhood science books "A Journey through the Universe". With superb funny cartoons by Sudhir Dar, this book covered a huge swathe of science and was crucial in stoking my interest in the wonders of this world. This book made me!

#bookstodon #JayantNarlikar

"Why Legal Immigration to the US Is Nearly Impossible" is a detailed paper that covers all the methods of immigration/visas to the US and the insane amount of process, paperwork and time required to get through any of them. Filled with insightful graphs and hundreds of references. This is a link that must be bookmarked for future reference to consult on the minutiae of US immigration types, jargon or stats.

https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/why-legal-immigration-nearly-impossible

#Immigration #H1B #GreenCard

Premium Rush is an adrenaline-pumping bike chase in Manhattan from the very start to the finish. Some of the graphics are easily fake and the plot gets weaker with time, but the thrill is non-stop.

My rating: ★★★★☆

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premium_Rush

#movies #PremiumRush #biking

Death and Life in Silicon Valley: retirement talk by Erik Lindholm, one of the pioneering graphics hardware engineers at SGI/NVIDIA. Covers his childhood, work at SGI/NVIDIA, his contributions to T&L, programmable shader HW, unified shader HW and creation of CUDA.

One of the best engineering talks I've seen in quite a while. 5/5 highly recommended.

https://ubc.ca.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=880a1d92-30d7-4683-80e7-b1e000f501d3

#ErikLindholm #NVIDIA

"Applying for Europe’s Schengen visa can be a humbling experience. “I feel stripped bare each time I apply,” says an applicant from Mumbai. The bureaucratic grind can wear down even the most seasoned traveler. Heaps of paperwork must be submitted - forms, bank statements, pay slips & tax returns. After all that, successful applicants are granted visas that cover only the length of their trip. For those needing to return, the whole ordeal begins anew."

https://www.economist.com/asia/2024/11/21/why-is-it-so-hard-for-indians-to-get-a-visa

#TheEconomist

I personally faced these onerous RFE/denials for my work visa during Trump's tenure. The company's immigration firm clearly told us that it was his administration that was doing this.

"In his 2016 campaign Mr Trump promised to create a “big beautiful door” for legal immigration. But in fact, his administration quietly ground sand in the gears of the machine that issues visas and work permits. Denial rates for H1B and “requests for evidence” rose."

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/11/18/what-will-donald-trump-do-about-legal-immigration

#TheEconomist #H1B

@nitin That is what ALL the online docs/videos show for this exact Samsung model. But, it just isn't working on this damn phone. It keeps booting back to the Android lock screen and just can't get to the Android bootup recovery screen.

#SamsungGalaxy #Android

This is why people find technology frustrating: I have forgotten the passcode to my old Samsung Galaxy A51 smartphone. None of the online instructions/video that show how to factory reset such a "locked" phone are working on this one! Banging my head all evening. 🤦

#SamsungGalaxy #Android

Fountain Pen Companion is a neat website which helps you maintain a list of your pens and inks. ✒️

Created by @ujh

#FountainPen

https://www.fountainpencompanion.com/

"Costco's gross margins are 12%, compared with Walmart’s 24%. The company makes up the shortfall through its membership fees: customers pay $60 or more a year to shop at its stores. In 2023 fees from its 129m members netted $4.6bn, more than half of Costco’s operating profits."

https://www.economist.com/business/2024/02/15/why-costco-is-so-loved

#TheEconomist #Costco

Trying a retractable fountain pen was one of the best decisions ever. ✒️

Since I mostly use pens to jot short notes or annotate, uncapping and capping a regular fountain pen is just too much effort. Clicking on a retractable is so low effort that I transitioned over almost completely from gel pens at home.

#RetractableFountainPen #FountainPen