New Horizons

Note Taking, Writing Better, and Building a Knowledge Base And a review of the book "How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers" by Sönke Ahrens. Context Last year, I read a book called "How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning, and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers" by Sönke Ahrens to improve my writing and notetaking skills. This blog post is meant for anyone who has never heard the word "Zettlekasten" or "Commonplace Notebook", and wants to get better at extracting and maintaining the information they consume.  We need four tools: · Something to write with and something to write on (pen and paper will do) · A reference management system (the best programs are free) · The slip-box (the best program is free) · An editor (whatever works best for you: very good ones are free) — Sönke Ahrens ...

The book is in-line with the modernist version of the Woolfish 'stream of consciousness' style, characteristic of two prominent members of the Bloomsbury group. I haven't embarked on the voyage of a book that 'Ulysees' by Joyce is, but I am aware of his writing style and look forward to it having read most of Virginia Woolf's works. I absolutely loved the beginning of the book — it caught me off guard; it was so unique and unexpected a way to read about a character, and so poetic in its prose that I ended up highlighting most of the passages. Very much like 'Mrs. Dalloway', the story follows the life of the protagonist, George, over the course of a single day. Unlike 'Mrs. Dalloway', however, it isn't elaborate in the backstories of the other characters in the novel, and doesn't focus too heavily on the other themes underlying the main story of a gay professor in '60s America. There is some bit about the Vietnam War and minorities...

Note: I wrote this for the AICVS Blog in 2018. They have since then moved to a different website. Publishing this here incase the old one is deactivated (Weebly site) Old website:  https://aicvscummins.weebly.com/home/a-brief-introduction-to-solid-state-storage

 Just some bad poetry: --- On Covid: eyes burning  and not from crying is this covid help I'm dying --- For my friends: Ghana Is a place Meghana  Has a face --- Shellfish and cakes Michelle fishes And bakes --- An incomplete poem: (I'll treat anyone who comes up with the last two lines to a coffee) My head is filled with stuff Words are all just fluff And they garble in my mouth Yet I repeatedly spit them out They go back into my brain Through my ears and cause a drain Now my mind is full of crap And has thoughts my head can't wrap  So this poem's come about  On my fourth late night out --- Sad I never thought of a day  When you'd be so far away  I thought we connected  So foolishly, I expected  For you to be there  Waiting for me Read more: https://ruchipendse.blogspot.com/2019/10/sad.html

I like to read. I try to diversify the subject matter to fully utilize my time on Earth by reading the good work of my fellow Earthlings, and accruing knowledge to better understand how the world works.  This is a list of the books I highly recommend: Nonfiction - Simply Einstein: Relativity Demystified, Richard Wolfson - The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, Jonathan Haidt - Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, Matthew Walker - The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology is Rewriting our Understanding of Genetics, Disease and Inheritance, Nessa Carey - The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood, James Gleick - What is Real? The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics, Adam Becker - Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman - The Little Book of Talent, Daniel Coyle - The Demon-Haunted World, Ann Druyan and Carl Sagan - Business Adventures, John Brooks - When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi - Gut: The Inside St...

Blogger's support isn't great.  It took me a while to figure out how to create pages (and have them show up). It turns out that 'Pages' isn't the right place to go (☺☺☺).  How to make pages on Blogger and have them show up Don't go to 'Pages' Make a label you'll use to link the posts to the page Copy the link Go to 'Layout' Click on 'Add Gadget' Decide where you want your pages/subsections of the blog to show up Edit the gadget Click on 'Add External Link' Name the page and add the label's link (that you should've copied) Move pages around according to order preference Click on 'Show Pages' -> Save Et voila! You have pages now. 

Blarb (blurb + blab) There comes a time (usually the middle of the year) when a TBR (to-be-read) starts looking dull and uninteresting. To-be-reads or yearly reading lists tend to suffer from the current bias of being chosen for having great publicity, for being trendy due to societal disruptions, or for being a much-awaited addition to a series. Something of the sort happened to me mid-July [yeah, so not exactly the middle of the year, get over it]. Back in March, when I decided to add books to my 2020 reading list concretely , I thought I'd picked a fair assortment of non-fiction and fiction, of politics and climate change, of politics of climate change, of some core science books related to my domain of interest, and what would hopefully make for interesting reads by writers having a very different perspective than I. However, I soon got disenchanted with the fictional tales I'd chosen to read. I got annoyed at non-fiction authors for not coming to the point. I got deep int...

As a continuation of the last post ( Newer Horizons Indeed ), this post will serve as a list of resources that are useful to study the basics of Quantum Computing, a few events that I personally enjoy tuning in to, and a general update about the Qiskit Summer School and the Qiskit Advocate Program. Resources for Learning These articles are a cornucopia of wonderful resources (such as  John Preskill's lecture notes ) on how to get started with Quantum Computing, developing a better understanding of Quantum Mechanics, as well as some resources for pre-undergrad (so mainly highschool-level) material for students to follow. Learning Quantum Computing Entry Points for Learning Quantum Computing The following resources are ones that I have used (before I'd come across the aforementioned articles, thanks to my mentor): Quantum Computing for the Very Curious  by Andy Matuschak and Michael Nielsen It's perhaps the most unconventional "textbook" I've ever used. It aims ...

I’ve been reading literature that keeps taking me back to narrow Parisian lanes and Shakespeare and Co.  In ‘The Paris Hours’, I had the pleasure of meeting Proust himself, and walking around a lush green garden that I imagined would be swarming with families and children enjoying a weekend together. In ‘A Moveable Feast’, I spoke to Beach, remembering her kindness in ‘The Paris Hours’. In that other book about artists’ habits, I connected with Gertrude Stein’s obnoxious coffee habits.  And now, in ‘Time was soft…’ I live in the bookstore itself, marveling at cheap Parisian dinners and at interesting conversations with fellow inhabitants.   The iridescent bubble bursts and sputters and I am left ashamed at the liberties I have taken with reality. Good writing may engross you, but you can never leave the physical realities of your being.  As for me, I’m bound to my chair, its cushion and plush backrest giving no comfort to the increasing despondence of my knowledge th...

I decided I'll expand my blog and start writing about my other interests, including quantum computing, information theory, and telecommunications. A bit of context as to why I'm interested in quantum computing in the first place: in the last lap of my first year of undergrad, and for most of the second year of undergrad, I worked under the guidance of my physics professor on (broadly) 'The Problem of Time' (which is basically physicists trying to figure out how to harmonize the concept of time in general and special relativity). We looked at 'time as an emergent phenomenon' which was an experiment carried out by a group in INRIM. Later on, we also checked out David Bohm's interpretation of quantum mechanics and compared a few other schools of thought, which culminated in me reading  "Wholeness and the Implicate Order"  by Bohm. All of this happened because my college was teaching us Quantum Mechanics in the first year of engineering instead of clas...

Our Moon has Blood Clots, by Rahul Pandita If you were shocked to find senior journalists in India justifying a series of assaults on the Kashmiri Pandit community by factoring in economic disparities and cultural differences, and want to read literature that serves both as a horrifying account of violence against the Pandit community, as well as a polemic against crass and insensitive mainstream media, this is the book for you. These first-hand accounts of atrocities against the Kashmiri Pandit community leave you shaken; you grow to further despise and distrust the mainstream jargon about Kashmir that only focuses on brutality by the Indian state and the greatness of the separatist movement.  Pandita is generous with his writing; he starts off with a detailed history of Kashmir and Kashmiri Pandits, going as far back as the fourteenth century. You learn a lot about their customs, their poetry, their tales of Kashmiri life, as well as the multitudes of times the community has been...

I read the synopsis for “Everything I Never Told You” by Celeste Ng during one of my Goodreads scans; I had been looking for something resembling a certain favorite book of mine, “The Wednesday Wars” by Gary D. Schmidt that I’d read as a child, all warm and cozy in my bed. Years later, I re-read the book to comfort me and remind me of nicer times. I wanted that feeling again, but this time, with a whole assortment of higher-reading level books to go to in times of need. True to its name, “Everything I Never Told You” is riddled with things left unsaid, thoughts buried deep in one’s head, emotions hidden neatly under masks of calm, of happiness, of normalcy.  It’s an exhausting read and I mean it in the nicest way possible. Turning each page is like pushing yourself further down a deep well filled with honey; the saccharine taste of despair suffocates you as the brilliance of Ng’s work effortlessly tugs you along through the viscous despondence into the lives of t...

There are so many things I want to write, so many unwritten, unsaid thoughts that swim haphazardly in my mind. One would hope the ritual of putting pen to paper, the mesmerizing effect of seeing wet ink glisten momentarily on a cream-write sheet and sink into it, bonding with the fibers that exist solely to capture the sighs of minds around the world as they are relieved of the burden of thoughts strung together by one idea, one experience-- one would hope that that legacy would invoke some sense of talent or creativity and stitch some words together, embroider that fabric with musical, poetic phrases and thoughts dug up from the mercurial sheen that exists, glowing seductively, at the back of one’s mind. One could say, one hopes too much. I wonder if I shall ever write anything great -- a novel or a verse of poetry. To read something well-thought-out, something well described, something expressed so entirely in essence that it leaves one wanting more, craving that inference into deepe...

Veering to the dingiest, darkest corner of the cafe, I look around at the scattered patrons. All of them seem to be thoroughly engrossed in their conversations or their past, these couples: leaning forward, sometimes holding hands, sometimes playing footsie, a pair of feet dancing quietly under the table. There are only couples here, only couples come here, they only have couples here I notice. It's cute, the slightly awkward shift they do as they decide whether they want to sit side by side or across from each other. It's unmistakable, the smiles that touch the corners of their mouths as they drink from their straws; what they have in mind isn't known to just them, it's known to me too, as I sip my (non-alcoholic) Irish coffee. I keep thinking to myself about how college was supposed to be a transformative experience, how it was supposed to alter my minor self to a fleshed-out adult character, as if in a coming of age novel, as if through a smooth montage of ...

I never thought of a day  When you'd be so far away  I thought we connected  So foolishly, I expected  For you to be there  Waiting for me No new notifications did I see So I went along with it, silly me But cuz I thought we'd connected  And as I so foolishly expected I enquired no more  For you were still here, I was sure But then came in Michael  And broke this hopeless cycle For you weren't here, no you were TAKEN  And that's left me all shaken  My router was stolen.

Fill me with your words and dreams Tell me the secrets you want to scream Write in me about what you'd like to  know Draw me those places you'd want to go Let's traverse your mind, you and I Pen those scary thoughts; as I bleed and you cry Turn the page and forget them still Those memories you've buried under the mill Of your head where such thoughts are ground Into mere ink on paper browned Come later and see the story unfold A great story indeed, this story untold

Earlier this year I found my YouTube feed filled with songs of a peculiar sounding movie titled "Call me by your name". Wondering why on earth I'd ever do that, I gave the song a try. It would take me just half a minute to realize that this song, this particular song, I would cherish as a favorite forever. And hence began the fangirling. I watched all the trailers. I read the Wikipedia article. I watched interviews of the author. I stalked Armie Hammer on Instagram. I told everyone I met about the book, the movie and especially, the songs. And of course, I listened to "Mystery of love" on repeat till my ears throbbed in pain and my head was filled with confabulations of warm sunny days and sepia-tinted skies. My imagination of the summers of northern Italy was  prefaced by the opening scenes of the movie, the characters complementing the green of the orchard, basking in the white light of the yellow sun, in their billowy pastel colored clothes. It reminded me o...

Hedonic adaptation will ruin me. It may have been useful for an evolutionary purpose but I believe the whole concept of aligning oneself to a state of happiness leads to a state of contentment leading to stagnation, lack of motivation to do additional work and hence, to reduction in efficiency of work done. Simply said, the happier you become with any given scenario-- regardless of your initial emotional response to being in it-- the lesser you try to change it. It is indeed wonderful for people who have traveled far and wide to reach heaven on land, but for someone who has plummeted down to the fiery depths of hell, growing accustomed to, and then liking the surroundings is being in one bad state indeed. The hell guy would then stop trying to claw his way out of the inferno, as now due to the great Hedonic, he is totally okay with being baked to death.Not only that, but hedonic adaptation also ensures that people sink back to their normal, baseline happiness. This ensures that rega...

I begin my days groggy and sleep-deprived, my mornings a private hell brought on by late nights and long work hours. Coffee runs at 10 after practicals keep me awake during class. I jot down notes, attend meetings and work, only to end past midnight to do it all again. I don’t mind working; on the contrary I am one who loves a busy schedule. Time is of the essence and prioritizing should be one's greatest strength. We worry so much about making it. About making things right, about making things work, about making it in life. We worry incessantly about plans and projects--we laugh a little, we rest a little but we worry a lot. We worry if we're right; we worry if we're not. We worry of what is to be, what has been and what's happening. We worry without acknowledging it; we worry about the little things and as soon as we've solved the problem, we move on to worry a little more. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind worrying. I like a little doubt to keep me in ch...