Arijit's Special Newsletter

Ramblings & essays

Magic

Dear L, In late 2013, an email lit my phone up as I was trying to get my drunk body to bed. My mentor & employer had emailed me in reply to my resignation. A resignation that was preceded by a fight. We had a falling out. The email was simple.…

Science Fiction

Dear L, I think science fiction is one of the most powerful genres ever devised; It’s a medium, particularly poised to ask questions about not only about our place in the universe, but about ourselves as well. As a genre, it provides perfectly suited backdrops for complex, deep discourses…

Language

Dear L, There are these new breed of computer software, called neural networks that can classify images; For example, labelling an image of a dog as “dog”, or a cat photo as “cat”. The natural question to ask would be, “So does the neural network know what a cat or…

Checklist

Dear L, For a long time, I didn't subscribe to the ideas that advocates augmentation of our minds. The idea of designing tools to transform information exchange was never appealing to me. I assumed, every piece of transient information could remain in my mind; Augmenting that process was synonymous to…

Superpower

Dear L, I have been asked many a times, if I had a choice, what superpower I would like to have. It’s a fairly straightforward question. For me the answer was usually simple, flying, time travel, underwater breathing, the regular tropes, inspired by TV shows and Hollywood. After experiencing…