That time when Sports Illustrated decided to dabble into wearable tech after watching one to many episodes of Get Smart

The real world

I’ve developed a deep appreciation towards Basquiat’s works, Maybe because his art resonates with words or maybe it’s just the depth of the meaning and his emotions open bare. His pieces are raw and intense. I love his collaboration pieces with Andy Warhol, I think he thought of Andy as a father figure he never had. I wonder what it must have been like to live in NY in the 80s, to have had such profound expressionism, surrealism at the corner of your street, hip hop on a rise, metal rock and punk. Basquiat also dated Madonna. I love the artistic depth of “Like a Prayer”. That and her openness to a mixed race relation when it was looked down upon at that time (and still is today in many places). She released the video a year after Basquiat’s death. It’s easy to see why Basquit’s art stood out. He started with graffiti - and the power of graffiti - when I was a kid, we grew up in a gang area and the walls were covered with band names and powerful lyrics, and that’s when I first learnt about Metallica, GnR, 2Pac, Nirvana and more. It was a rebellious act against a suppressive government. The power of art - it transcends across borders so strongly that even some 3rd world country's poor neighborhoods felt it. And I think that’s what Basquit’s art did to many - it affected them so profoundly especially in the Western world, where he fought for the rights of Black people through his artistic expressions. His graffiti made magazine covers and his canvas pieces were shown in galleries worldwide, making him one of the youngest and most impactful surrealist artists. A few years back, one of his artworks sold for over a hundred million dollars. I only wish Basquiat had lived long enough to see how impactful his pieces remain, even 30 years later. Sadly, he died too young, at 27, in 1988.

There’s something about people with magnitude and direction, with that triboelectric effect

“what will people say?” This sentence has killed more dreams than anything else in the world

Everyone here has that one thing that hits us and true, that it keeps us going, keeps pushing for change - for wanting a better life for ourselves and for everyone else. We may not do it the same way, but our goal remains the same ♥️

Anthony Bourdain's return after 10 years felt like an emotional journey as he had a deep connection to the indigenous people and culture of Borneo. The Ibans were head hunters (not the kind that calls you for an available job but the kind that chops off your head). There is also a movie by Jessica Alba on the Ibans of Sarawak, called The Sleeping Dictionary. Its a fictional fantasy and romance in the 50's , but based on actual cultural practices of Ibans during the British occupation. In this video, Anthony Bourdain seemed like he was tracing back his steps to all the places he has been to, and the people he has met. Maybe it was his way of saying goodbye

Sometimes when you start over with a Tabula Rasa mindframe, and imagine based on the present and future, the build becomes different. It gets easier to achieve your Occum’s Razor

Separate state and money

René Magritte is perhaps one of my favorite surrealist artists. I first encountered his work, "The Son of Man," that was re-enacted in the movie "The Thomas Crown Affair" (Pierce Brosnan / Rene Russo). As I explored his work further, I love how he thinks differently and gets people questioning everything. It's rare to find people who expand your perspectives so profoundly. Many of his paintings manipulate space and perspective: an apple too big for its box, a train emerging from a wall. He was also interested in the boundary between rationality and irrationality, such as a house closed up at night against a bright blue daytime sky. Magritte's work has touches of Dadaism (the avant-garde movement preceding surrealism) and some explorations of cubism (Picasso). He loved poetry and Edgar Allan Poe and often explored the limitations of the meaning of words and their visual representation. In his famous piece "The Treachery of Images" he wrote "This is not a pipe" below a picture of a pipe, to show that it is just an image, not the object itself. In real life, Magritte was happily married to his wife for 45 years. In his paintings though, he conveyed a sense of conflict in romance, for example in "The Lovers II," two people are passionately kissing but their faces are covered with cloth. Interpretations of this piece often vary - blinded by love, forbidden passion. This painting lingered in my mind for days, which made me look into Magritte's work further Something Rene did not follow suit of the Surrelism culture is their need for psycho-analysing everything as he wanted to paint abstractly to provoke questions rather than provide answers. But many wondered if his distance from any type of Freudian psycho-analysing theories had to do with his troubled childhood, with his mother's suicide by drowning, her body found with her dress covering her face—a motif that appears in some of his works. Ironically, Magritte didn't enjoy the act of painting but loved the process of imagination and idea creation. He also wasn't fond of museums or art galleries. He also disliked the surrealist culture of drinking and partying, and preferred a secluded life with his wife and occasionally meeting other surrealists like Dalí. Magritte was comfortable being different and not conforming to the definitions set by society or his peers, and I love that about him and just about anyone who has this courage. Magritte was poor and relatively unknown for most of his life. To pay the bills, he took up advertising and had traits of advertisement images in his painting. Only in his later years did he gain recognition and hit fame. Andy Warhol is said to have followed in his footsteps, adapting elements from advertising into his art. Some of my favorite works by René Magritte include: The Son of Man (French: Le Fils de l'homme) – 1964 The Lovers II – 1928 Evening Dress – 1954 The Mystery of the Ordinary – 1938 The Kiss – 1951 Clear Ideas - 1958 The Blank Signature - 1965

Reading abt Dior and Armani bringing in workers from China and paying them $2-3 per hour and they sleep in the factory as they continuously work. Normally you hear these problems by fast fashion instead of luxury brands. A Dior bag at cost price is $57 and sold for $2800. An Armani bag at cost price is $99 and sold for $1900. Typically cost to retail is about 4x as you have shipment, tax, transportation, warehouse, agent fees, distributor fees, discount allowance, marketing allocation etc. so the estimated retail price is about $57 x 4 - and a net profit is ~ 6% to 10%. Anything more than that retail price buffs up net - which is why luxury brand attracts investors. Online sales removes distribution cost but the cost ends up almost the same considering online marketing expense in discovering users, shipment to consumers and returns (which can be very expensive if international as its 2x logistics cost). Ideally if can be sold online and without marketing, that would be the cheapest alternatives but this requires reputation of brands, owners etc for it to materialize. Fashion is an interesting business, but of late the industry lacks passion, progressiveness and tact.

TIL Monet painted The Water Lilies, 12 gigantic canvases at a time, based on the movement of the sun and its ray of lights, all while suffering from blurred vision, color blindness, and cataracts that began at the age of 73. There are a total of 250 canvases in the series. He began painting this vision in his sixties based on what he saw in his garden in Giverny, and continued working on it for several decades until his death at the age of 86. Now that’s a whole different level of multitasking under extreme challenges and patience. The Musée de l'Orangerie was designed to showcase the Water Lilies series in an oval-shaped room with natural light (sunrise to sunset), to immerse viewers in his artistic vision. Some consider it the first art installation ever. But while he was alive, Monet was reluctant to part with his art, and even after the museum was completed, he felt he wasn't finished with it. In fact, there remains a small unfinished patch in the series. After his death in 1926, his paintings were initially displayed but didn’t receive the attention hoped for and were largely forgotten. However, they were rediscovered in the 1950s and gained popularity for the emotional and artistic impact they left on viewers. I’ve never been to the Orangerie, but maybe someday.

MacGyver (the old one) is a nice inspiration of making the most out of everything you've got (That and he has nice hair, and an even nicer smile).

that excitement when your gadgets arrive! While stocking up for myself, i decided to get an arduino uno and a smart car chassis and its assemblies for my nephews, and they are super excited (or maybe I am). This will be their first encounter of electronics / programing project that's fun. But first, I've got to set up a proper discharge process, how do you'll normally remove static ? metal to metal or one of those anti static bracelets ? i've been kinda lazy about it so i just use a coin and touch a metal bracket

so much to do, so little time

Who sees the human face correctly : the photographer, the mirror, or the painter? – Pablo Picasso

I have long been fascinated by the Renaissance movement (14th - 17th century) with Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo. When I was a little girl, I grew up seeing pictures of the Renaissance art, with my big brother telling me stories about it. During a backpacking trip to Italy many years ago, I fell in love with Florence, and walking through the Chapel in Vatican City and just looking up, felt surreal. Another movement I love is Impressionism of the late 19th century, particularly the works of Monet and Renoir, with their loose brushwork, vibrant colors, and play of light. This always felt safe, romantic, dreamy and just nice. This week, though, I thought I would shake it up a little and explore the Surrealism movement (1920s up to post-WW2). The first I looked into was the works of Salvador Dalí. And whoa, I was amazed by how he experimented with everything he felt - he captured his surreal visions so succinctly. His most famous painting, "The Persistence of Memory," with melting watches, became his iconic trademark (and I only recently noticed the ants!) . Dali had an interesting life journey, from his fascination with Freudian theories to becoming a Hollywood celebrity. That, and his method of boosting creativity: he would hold a spoon while napping in a chair. As he drifted off, he would drop the object, and the sound would wake him, allowing him to capture the bizarre dreams from his light sleep. This technique led him to explore the depths of his imagination and unveil hidden meanings. There's so much more to Dali and his paintings than I can possibly write here. Another interesting figure in Surrealism is Lee Miller. She went from being a Vogue cover model to becoming a famous photographer and war photojournalist during WW2, with that infamous picture of her captured in Hitler’s bathtub. Miller's journey is nothing short of a relentless pursuit of excellence, of wanting to be the best of the best. When she decided to become a photographer, she took a flight to meet Man Ray, a super famous surrealist photographer, and told him she wanted to apprentice under him. When he said no, that he didn't take an apprentice, she boldly said “ you now do”, and became his apprentice and assistant for 3 years. (As I was looking through Man Ray's works, I noticed his iconic "Violon d’Ingres" violin symbol looked similar to @jack's ink - not sure if its an intended resemblance). Miller wanted new adventures, so after her apprenticeship ended, she went to New York, moved to Cairo then to Europe. During WW2, she took numerous war photographs that were published in women's magazines, leading to her role as a war photojournalist. Coincidentally, on the day she took the infamous photograph in Hitler’s bathtub, Hitler shot himself, and the war ended soon after. Upon returning home, Miller suffered from PTSD due to the horrors she witnessed in concentration camps. Despite her many accomplishments, including becoming a renowned cook in her later life, the war images haunted her, and she kept the films hidden in her attic. It was only after her death that her son found these photographs, which cemented her legacy as one of the greatest surrealist photographers of our time. There’s definitely a lot of interesting things that went through this era with the art movements. I think understanding the art movement in parallel to history is incredibly fascinating, but this is something that comes as light bulb moments over time, at least for me. If there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s to let thoughts and imaginations flow. It takes you to the next step and the next…

It's the durian season. If you have not tried them, you have no idea what you are missing out on.

I think one of the most important use cases needed to improve and accelerate Bitcoin adoption is its flexibility in quick multi-currency transactions. If we look at it from 2 perspective : 1. De-dollarisation and Geopolitical Shifts Saudi refusing to renew the 1974 petrodollar deal in recent weeks, and further strengthening its partnership with BRICS is a symbolic movement towards de-dollarisation. The weakening of the US currency will reduce global trade dependency, undermine sanctions, expose vulnerabilities, and amplify FOMO towards BRICS (many countries are already quietly and rapidly joining this bloc). This can create global currency war. Bitcoin could serve as a "peacekeeper" by being a neutral medium that reduces dependency on politically influenced currencies. But more importantly, with the ease of currency exchanges, countries globally will no longer need to depend on USD or BRICS. Any two countries can interact with each other using Bitcoin or their own currencies via Bitcoin seamlessly. 2. On small business payments for global trade Small businesses often represent 80% - 90% of a country's business but struggle in competition with hegemony trades that have advanced payment systems, manufacturing and logistics. Current payment gateways often lack the ability to handle small business needs effectively, and manual wire transfers are cumbersome and expensive. Overcoming currency exchanges would improve Bitcoin’s ease of transfer and simplify cross-border transactions, making it an attractive option for SMEs. Both these scenarios got me thinking of how Bitcoin can come into play, for quick multi-currency transactions. There are possible options out there for now : 1. Collaboration with stable coins - Pros is stability in value and ease of integration with existing financial systems. Cons is that it is tied to specific currencies, corporate control, and potential centralization issues. 2. Token-based Solutions With tokens like Cashu, pros is that it is programmable to represent different currencies in real-time. Cons is that it lacks risk assessment, real-world usage, and challenges with ownership concentration. With tokens like the sidechain that Fiatjaf once shared, the pros is that it can enhance the scalability and functionality of Bitcoin without altering the main chain. But the cons is that there is potential centralization if tokens are controlled by individuals or specific entities. 3. Web5 financial layer - I’m not sure how the financial layer works, but I recall Jack mentioning Block and TBD will be releasing more info soon. The potential lies in integrating decentralized identity and financial systems more seamlessly. 4. Nostr zaps - any global trade or B2B focused client (or other stuff) can be created. Pros is that it could enable flexible currency display, conversion, and quick calculations for businesses. Cons is that it is still figuring out user adoption use cases and challenges. Also limitation of amount spent? 5. Wallets with multi-currency features for KYC and non-KYC - i reckon this follows many pros and cons of the above. I don’t know if the above list is accurate / inaccurate but all innovations have pros and cons and specific use cases. Continuous feedback from users in different use cases will help improve these technologies. But we definitely do need more innovations and brainstorming in this area. If the adoption of Bitcoin increases among businesses and individuals, then it will further drive innovation and refinement of Bitcoin's role in global finance.

Nice to see people winning this week - with chat privacy maintained in Europe - and oh man, Julian Assange walking free! Never ever stop believing. People wonder what democracy is - if its left right, white black, AA merits, city rural, race, religion etc etc . Nope, that's not democracy. That's what your leaders fool you into thinking and try you box you in. People get so engrossed choosing sides that even when the leaders are mentally incapable, they will defend to the end. Don't fall for that mind game. This, what we experience this week, this is democracy. Where people come together collectively and voice out what they want fervently, passionately and relentlessly, that it cannot be ignored, and leaders of many nations have to listen. Assange's fight is not over, and a shame he had to plead guilty to make his 5 year imprisonment justifiable which only goes to show he was imprisoned for no reason to begin with. But if they try to catch him again, people all over the world will flip out like hell. I can't wait for someday when Snowden gets to go back to the US and be welcomed a hero that he truly is. But for now, compared to all that's been happening, its been a damn good week. The people are winning. Don't stop believing.