Excursions avatar

Excursions

Substack wants to be Buttondown. Substack wants to be Medium. Now, Substack wants to be Twitter. And it wants to do all of that in a single app. All those experiences do not align.

The reason AI is making such a difference in password cracking is that instead of having to run manual password analysis on leaked password databases, PassGAN is able to “autonomously learn the distribution of real passwords from actual password leaks.”

That’s scary. I knew the day was close when even our strong passwords were no longer were safe. I didn’t know it was this close.

It is the phase when I reevaluate my use of all the services I am subscribed to. Of course, my email client is one of the key ones on the list. I was an early Gmail account holder and have been an ardent user since then. But when Gmail got old, I never loved email. It got boring and tiring.

Recently, I realised that I love sending and receiving emails. But I wouldn’t say I like Gmail.

iCloud was handling my custom email domain. But as I am not all in on the Apple ecosystem – with my Android and Linux – the experience with iCloud Mail is terrible. In short, I had to find a new solution for my personal and custom email domains.

I started with a trial of Fastmail, and I was unimpressed. No doubt, the email service is brilliant. It’s no-nonsense and has everything that an email power user would want. Nothing more and just the way an email service should work. I, however, am not a power user. Nor do I love the experience that the typical email services provide. I needed something different to rekindle my love for email.

That’s when I was reminded of HEY. The last time I tried it, I loved the service but didn’t need it. Here’s what I wrote while ending the trial.

All in all, HEY is a brilliant service with a fresh perspective towards the way we use our emails. It can potentially enliven the email offerings from all the players, just the away Gmail did back in 2004. But I don’t face the problem it is trying to solve; I have no use for all its groundbreaking features.

Why do I think I need it now? Well, to be frank. I still don’t. But I am falling in love with email again, and HEY’s unique take on how email should be done should help me stay en route. So, here’s to a new start for emails.

I enjoyed Tetris movie (funny I need to call it out - wish it was named better). I didn’t know the game had such a fascinating origin story. And I also didn’t know license negotiations can be made so intense. And fun. I was giggling at so many moments.

It’s a brilliant story wonderfully told.

I have finally setup my Trakt profile with history from all the shows that I could remember. Thought the list is not complete yet, but it’s a start at least.

A Moment of Nothingness

I enjoy my evening walks with Snoopy. This guy continues to get all the attention from folks I have never met. I often hear someone call out his name, run to him, play with him and walk away with a smile. Completely ignoring my presence. As if I don’t exist. Such is the charm of cuteness, I believe.

He has also made new friends. He knows where he will find them. He walks to the place and waits for them to come to him. These are the regulars.

There’s a corner towards the end of our walk that both of us adore. It’s usually quiet. A cold breeze always flows through. It’s neither too light to expose us nor too dark to hide us. I make sure we halt there and sit next to each other. Nothing in my hand. Nothing on my mind. Nothingness. A bare moment of a void. Amidst the bustling #life.

And I like to believe Snoopy feels the same. Unperturbed. Many people walk by, but no one disturbs us. Maybe they acknowledge the tranquillity we feel.

Today’s walk was no different. And yet was slightly different. After sitting through the quiet moments, I realized it was a full moon in the sky. Pink moon. It looked big, majestic. My hand went to my pocket to pull my smartphone out as it often does. I wanted to take a picture of the magnificence I was looking at. I wanted to capture the moment.

How futile was the thought? The day there exists a technology that can capture such moments of calmness, their significance will dwindle. Such moments are rare; they need to be lived and felt. And in that feeling, in that rarity, lies their essence.

Wonder how people use Drafts. I keep hearing about the app without knowing how to use it. Is there some guide? Has someone written about it? Shall I ask ChatGPT?