Categories
Life

33

All the threes. Knocking knees. Two little fleas. (yeah, I love Tambola!)

I turned 33 last weekend. I remember I was just 19 when I landed in this city. For some reason, it doesn’t feel so long. It’s been an awesome ride and I have the memories fresh on my mind — of the good, bad, and ugly.

I stumbled on this fantastic piece by Justin. If you’re into something that makes you feel out of place, or if you’re thinking of starting up, you must read it. It feels so serendipitous!

This article reminds me of the fact that most people do better when they do something that they love. Here’s how I’d picture it in a line;

Nothing is certain, but doing what you love gives you better stakes.

I’ve always believed that it’s not just about giving your 100%. It’s also about what is it that you’re giving it to. Unless you’re doing something you really enjoy doing, it’s quite likely that you won’t be able to give your best. Sometimes, it takes a while to figure that out. Back in 2008, when I was taking a plunge to start something of my own, I knew just one thing — this is where I belong. No, I didn’t know where exactly it would take me (who knows that anyway?) but I knew I would enjoy doing this. And I did it all through the years, until after I stopped loving it.

But it was completely worth it. I made some amazing friends, learned how businesses work, and carved out the first steps of a career path for myself that was based on what I love doing, not on my credentials. What else do you want from life, early on?

I want to take a moment and thank everyone who’s helped me come this far. It wouldn’t have been possible without my parents, friends, and dear ones. Thank you, one and all.

Until next time.

 

Categories
Life

Happy Diwali!

90s

I miss the 90s.

Not for the dial-up connection that took minutes just to log me in, but for the overall pace at which things moved back then. Following an online trend, responding to a tweet, or commenting on Facebook posts — none of these were possible. It was even OK to not reply to an email the same day (though email was the ZMOT for many of us!) Did I say no mobile phones?

But I could hang out with friends and loved ones for as long I was not done. Without interruptions. Without notifications.

Fast forward to 2016 – here I am, in my hyperconnected avatar, with a pair of ANC earphones plugged-in to cancel out the near-zero noise around me, with technology that’s competing to outbid itself, every year. (Have you upgraded to the iPhone 7, yet?) With 57 tabs on my browser, on my lighter than the Macbook Air laptop, I have 12 “spaces” – 6 on each of the two screens. Yes, the setup screams productivity. Or so we think.

There’s only one thing right now that takes me back to the 90s. This playlist I am hooked on to, this week. OK, I’ll be honest – there are two of them. 🙂

The 90s remind me of Kumar Sanu’s voice and Raveena Tandon running around the trees with someone. (And yes, Twinkle Khanna in Barsaat). Back then, the only sources of Bollywood music were the audio cassettes and sometimes, VHS tapes. I grew up in a town that didn’t have a movie theater. It still doesn’t have one. Imagine!

But, if I could go back, all I’d ask for is to be able to slow down and get some fresh air. I miss both. Oh and hours of sweating on the Tennis court — without checking notifications on my phone from people and groups I couldn’t care less about. But that’s evolution, right?

It’s Diwali today. Just like one of the many I’ve witnessed in the last decade. Honestly, what excites me more is the long weekend — good music, lying on the couch, sipping coffee, reading stuff … you get the picture. I wish I could tell you a different story, but for that, I should have stuck to the thought of spending this one in the hills and not here. :/

Have a good one, you all!

Until next time.

Photo credit

Categories
Tech

Your Mac is probably eating your Internet bandwidth (and you don’t know about it!)

Last week, my monthly quota with my ISP got exhausted much before the cycle got over. Yes, I was FUP’ed.

60 GB isn’t a lot when you have a 20 Mbps hose, but I seldom hit that mark at home considering I travel a lot, and home broadband is one of the many internet connections that I use to stay connected / work.

Driven by curiosity, I logged on to my account and noticed that I had used over 6 GB of data the day before. That came in as a surprise because I had barely used the internet that day — no big downloads and minimal music streaming — even though my computer was on for several hours.

I almost freaked out, thinking that someone else is latching on to my home WiFi network. Little did I know, it was Apple, not Pandey ji.

The next day at work, we were chatting about how the new Mac OS X El Capitan is a 6 GB download, and I offered my colleagues a USB drive that had the installable on it.

The conversation went on and our Rocket Singh mentioned about this creature called nsurlsessiond that he found is always on and keeps sucking the bandwidth. I looked up at the Activity Monitor (under the network tab) and boom! This little daemon was eating up a big share of my quota, and it didn’t seem to stop, no matter what! Here’s how it looks,

nsurlsessiond

A quick search and I found various hacks to stop this. The good news is, you don’t need any of those, nor do you have to read through the entire thread. Just check your spotlight preference and turn off Spotlight Suggestions and Bing Web Searches, that’s it. Don’t forget to click on the “?” at the bottom right corner of the Spotlight Preferences window.

Thank me later. 🙂