My superpower is wondering “what happens if I do this” and then somehow causing epic drama.
Bangalore, India
- Tweets 85,260
- Following 2,840
- Followers 20,454
- Likes 10,081
By age 35 you should have a shelf full of books you can't read because they're not ebooks, but can't throw away either because you intend to read them.
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Tomorrow we vote this clown out of office.
Our generation was blessed to witness the majestic Surya Tilak on Bhagwan Shri Ram at Ayodhya on Ram Navami.
A wait for almost 500 years & a wish of crores of Bharatiyas was fulfilled by PM Shri @narendramodi Ji.
For Bharatiyata to survive, vote for BJP!
#DakshinakkeSurya
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Brilliant idea. The Chinese must also run a certification program for all Chinese food in India.
Most of the "Indian restaurants" in foreign countries are run by Pakistani and Bangladeshis. Their food is substandard, service sucks, and they are profiting of the 'Indian food' brand name as not many will eat if it is called Pakistani or Bangla food. They are also eating into business and profits of Indians.
It is my suggestion to the MEA that a certification program called "Authentic Indian" be launched. Indian & Indian origin owned restaurants in foreign countries can apply for it in their local embassies and consulates. After verification, the local Indian embassy shall issue this certificate, logo, and branding that can be displayed at these restaurants.
At the same time, MEA, tourism ministry, or some other GoI organization can launch a world wide campaign to promote "Authentic Indian" brand while bringing awareness on these fake "Indian restaurants" run by Pakistani and Bangladeshis. Use social media too to build negative branding about these fake Indian restaurants.
There are other things that can be done too. For example, use the "Authentic Indian" restaurants to promote tourism to India with marketing and information kiosks. Award 1-5 star ratings to these "Authentic Indian" restaurants based on food taste, quality, cleanliness (very important).
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When I was due to turn 30, I worried I was getting too old. I’ll be 40 next year and am looking forward to it.
The 20s are for discovering how the world works, 30s for figuring out your place in it, and 40s for really getting into the groove.
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So Modi, who's never fielded an unscripted question, finally got one on air and lost his cool for it? Genius move, Kejriwal. newslaundry.com/2021/04/23/t…
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We don't have vaccines, so we're going to indulge in the national timepass of making apps because we don't know what else to do.
With regard to administering vaccine for 18-44 years age group, a new app needs to be developed & this will be interfaced with Cowin App & later the vaccination schedule will be prepared taking into account the availability of vaccines: Karnataka Deputy CM CN Ashwath Narayan
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The MobiKwik leak is real. Here is what the dump had for me. One of those credit cards was valid until a couple weeks ago, and I don't recall authorising MobiKwik to save it. Companies that lie like 👇 ought to be taken to the cleaners.
A media-crazed so-called security researcher has repeatedly over the last week presented concocted files wasting precious time of our organization while desperately trying to grab media attention.We thoroughly investigated his allegations and did not find any security lapses. 1/n
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Visiting NRI cousin is frustrated at not being able to pay for anything anywhere. Nobody accepts Visa and MasterCard despite having the logos because his cards are not Indian. “Walled Garden,” he said.
May I offer a desi term instead? “Gated Society.” All of India is one.
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The sad thing about living in a police state is the sheer number of people who sincerely believe this is what freedom looks like.
For instance, with yesterday's Cubbon Reads incident: “they should have taken permission.” It’s a public park! That term has to mean something!
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Sir we want vaccine not SMS.
Pleased to note our world-class Co-WIN platform ensured smooth rollout of beneficiary registration for Phase 3 of world’s #LargestVaccineDrive
In just first 3 hours:
🔸80L+ people registered
🔹1.45 cr SMS successfully delivered
🔸38.3 cr API hits recorded
@PMOIndia @MoHFW_INDIA
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⚠️ Aarogya Setu is not open source. We got a press release and some random code to keep the public distracted. The released code is not for the app that everyone is using. ⚠️
Merge history of @SetuAarogya in last 3 days. Is the app dead? Or is this a toy / fake repo like @asdofindia claims? Also, note that the developers have not responded to multiple CVE reports on issues. #AarogyaSetuApp - Dumping code on @github alone isn't OSS.
#MissingDevelopers
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Major, major story on Aadhaar data breach. So big that your eyes will glaze over and you'll struggle to grasp the significance and will want to move on, treating this as irrelevant. Don't. This is important. huffingtonpost.in/2018/09/11…
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The only thing more disturbing than videos of police brutality is the number of people cheering for them. We are a culture with a deep longing for violence on the other.
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Holy cow! The CEO of UIDAI under oath in the Supreme Court declared that ALL Aadhaar data breach reports are false. Every single incident report, from @digitaldutta’s to @rachnakhaira’s to @fs0c131y’s to @squeal’s. All bogus? The audacity!
ABP says software is secure and there hasn't been one data leak till date. Tells court to not believe media reports. Denies recent report of breach by ZDnet
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The striking thing about trying to work during a trip outside India is:
1. How expensive mobile data is, and
2. How slow Internet connections are (both WiFi and mobile)
Internet in India is dirt cheap and *fast*. Remarkable how this has changed from only a few years ago.
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This clown is in charge of the Aadhaar database? Wow! You have to watch this unbelievable interview. #AadhaarFail pscp.tv/w/bR0ZdzFlZGpuWVhHcX…
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Dear @OfficeOfRG, yes your party has been insulted, but so has been every single citizen of this country with Aadhaar coercion. Pick the cause that really matters to India. Discuss Aadhaar in Parliament tomorrow. Don’t disrupt it. #SpeakForMe
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Gather around kids, for there's a tale to tell. When I was 21, I let my hair grow long, because it was the ultimate act of rebellion for a 21 year old. This is how it looked at its longest 👇 but this tale isn't about the hair.
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People arguing that online commerce will accelerate to replace physical commerce as a result of Covid-19: what are you smoking? Amazon and Flipkart are basically dead. The only things you can buy are from physical stores now. This virus has hit the undo switch on e-commerce.
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Please shut this down. Missed call campaigns (pro or anti) are essentially useless, and people who are calling do not understand that their number is being saved into a database that they have no control over. Please do not encourage people to put themselves at risk.
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I grew up caste blind, knowing little more than what was taught in school. I've made amends, but one of the big mysteries is how the mechanism of caste blindness works. How do so many of us manage to grow up barely noticing? (Making my 2021 reading list. Help?)
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The most powerful picture I've seen from the Hong Kong protests yet. I'm in awe of the people of Hong Kong. Source: buff.ly/2zrg71z
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2021 is ending and there hasn't been a peep about the census. First time it's been skipped in the history of the Indian census. Total silence about this all around. इतना सन्नाटा क्यों है भाई?
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Me: “Mama is coming home.”
5 y.o.: “I want to see the map.”
Swiggy has raised the bar for parenting. 😅
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Out of an abundance of caution, I have changed my phone number at three banks where I have accounts. This has utterly broken UPI for me. The UPI ecosystem treats phone number as primary identity. A new number means you're a new person. The situation is tragi-comic.
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Fed up of being coerced into Aadhaar? Tell your Member of Parliament to #SpeakForMe. We’ve made it easy. speakforme.in/
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And no FIR filed, because friends don't file FIRs on friends. Also, please don't mention Jio's data leak again. #Aadhaar
UIDAI restores Airtel's authorisation for Aadhaar-based eKYC
bit.ly/2J3oAvw
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Shame on you, @Wipro. Cancel your contracts. You cannot be the enabler of such bigotry. You cannot take refuge in a claim that you only provide the technology and your client does the persecuting. Wear your conscience on your sleeve.
Wipro, which provided tech for Assam NRC would have surely known if a nationwide NRC was in the works or not. wipro.com/public-sector/digi…
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The hospital can mark you as vaccinated, with no burden of proof. Where are all the Aadhaar enthusiasts proclaiming that it will solve corruption by preventing id theft and double dipping? This exact loophole has always been in Aadhaar: no burden of proof of service delivery.
I DID NOT GET ANY VACCINE AT THE CENTER! I AM NOT VACCINATED!
I went to 3 centers, including the one where I got the appointment. Still did not get any vaccine. BUT I was still sent a CERTIFICATE for vaccination! And now I can't reschedule or book for my first dose #CowinApp
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Aarogya Setu should be classified as placebo tech. So much faith in it with zero evidence that it works at all. Placebo tech is an excellent diversion for anyone who needs to do something for the sake of appearances. Case in point Zomato.
Today, we’ve started mandating each of our delivery partners to install and use @SetuAarogya. The idea is to keep individuals as well as the authorities informed in case they have crossed paths with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus – to prevent further spread.[6/n]
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In case it isn't obvious yet, the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizens, National Population Register and Aadhaar are all facets of a common larger project. If you had a hand in Aadhaar, congratulations. Be proud of what you enabled. This is your achievement.
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“Democracy is not practiced by the state, it is practiced by the people.” —Usha Ramanathan
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I wrote a 4500 word rant on Aadhaar. Ask me anything, but read it first. 18 minutes of your time. medium.com/@jackerhack/a-ran…
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India has no data protection law, so our minister enthusiastically claims compliance with European law, which of course has no jurisdiction here. Lawmakers are now openly making a mockery of the law.
Very exciting to see #DigiYatra national digital traveler system beginning to take shape at @BLRAirport Your face will become your boarding pass and it will be rolled out across India soon @AAI_Official @DelhiAirport Privacy protection is built in through GDPR compliance
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It is remarkable how easily some people confuse a citizen with a consumer. Billionaires will not save the poor by offering them services. Human rights are not a consumer experience. You cannot wish away the role of the state in upholding rights. #Aadhaar
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Power to you, @Shehla_Rashid. The government's scared of you.
A Delhi court directs police to issue 10 day pre-arrest notice to Shehla Rashid if the need arises to arrest her in the alleged case of defaming Indian Army on social media, while disposing of her anticipatory bail application.
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I went to the Bangalore General Post Office today to enquire about a parcel that's been stuck in transit since July. It's somewhere in there. One customs official was valiantly opening everything to determine the tax on all the $1 and $2 trinkets people order from AliExpress.
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I habe acquired a laser distance measure, because why not? Now I know that Indiranagar's 80 feet road is 80 feet from wall to wall. The road itself is only 40 feet, but after recent renovation has expanded to 45 feet (+kerb parking).
Now accepting requests for other measurements
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What's this? Have we caught an Aadhaar troll? Can someone try this and confirm? #AadhaarTrollMafia
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Amazing that a property search is taken so casually. "Blank phone" is an accusation?
Prosecutor: inke mobile se saari applications deleted thi.
Ye blank phone lekar aaye the.
Grover: I was in a different case. This is a different case. In each i am given a protection. Please substantiate when you're making such serious allegations.
#MohammedZubair #AltNews
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Aren't we about due for the customary pre-election national security incident? Am I the only one jittery it hasn't happened yet?
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Install and setup these apps before your internet is shutdown. Chances are someone around you will also have the app and will stay connected to you. Be prepared.
1. Firechat
2. Briar
3. Bridgefy
#CAAProtest #CAA_NRC
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Hold your ground, everyone. Aadhaar is not an invincible monster. We, the citizens of India shall prevail.
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Amazon Pay has steadily eroded all utility for Paytm, taking over 100% of its use cases. Now Paytm has engaged harakiri mode, dictating what I may or may not do with my phone. That uninstall prompt leads to you, Paytm. Bye.
ALT Paytm app prompting user to uninstall TeamViewer as a condition for using Paytm
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Fact check: this is an outcome of the 2015 people's demand to #SaveTheInternet resulting in the 2016 #NetNeutrality regulation that derailed dreams of walled gardens in favour of the open internet. The mobile data boom came after this.
We the people of India did this.
#WATCH | Delhi: Rajan Anandan, MD Peak XV Partners says, "Post the reforms of 2014, the number of active mobile phone data users in India has become more than 800 million, which is more than in the US & China combined. So that's an extraordinary transformation of a digital ecosystem. We have without question the most vibrant in terms of broad-based innovation ecosystem when it comes to Digital India... But the thing that I am most excited about is De-regulation in specific, strategic sectors. The De-regulation and opening of strategic sectors like Space, Defence, etc. have spurred innovation. Because of the ecosystem provided by the government in the last 10 years, India has become the top innovator in cutting-edge sectors like aerospace, space and defence, which was unthinkable in the past!"
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Here's the full story on #AadhaarTrollMafia. Read till the end. It's far more sinister than one rogue agent trolling medium.com/@jackerhack/insid…
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Justice Chandrachud's dissent on Aadhaar will circle the globe before returning to India. In time, our Supreme Court will wake up too. livelaw.in/top-stories/jamai…
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Aadhaar was always meant to be an instrument of exclusion. Everything in its design is about finding a reason to exclude someone, from "deduplication" to "seeding" to "authentication". Another entry into the case file.
My Nani 83 years is denied vaccine in Mira Bhayandar bcz has a aadhar card from Malad. Centre asking to bring noc from society as a proof she stys with us. @MumbaiPolice @ThaneCityPolice can you help please?
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Someone in Oxigen's customer care department has no idea what this democracy thing is, or how it's related to this Aadhaar thing. nitter.app/OxigenCare/status/1003…
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The only people who make phone calls to me anymore:
1. Swiggy delivery executives standing outside the door.
2. Concerned persons asking if I invest in the stock market.
3. "Some kid will die if you don't give money."
Phone calls > /dev/null
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Am I the only one who gets anxiety from scheduling appointments?
1️⃣ I can't sleep the night before a trip.
2️⃣ I can't focus in the hours leading to a scheduled two minute phone call.
3️⃣ Asking for an appointment is the surest way to ruin my day.
My best work gets done at night.
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I went to the Airtel store last evening and after sleeping over it, I will now dispense LinkedIn-style gyaan on how Airtel lost its way.
I have a KYC horror story today. It started last week when @baudless alerted me to this note about KYC for mobile numbers bleeding into digital certificates. Page 6 here: certificate.digital/reposito…
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Every month or so someone calls me and announces that they are my new bank account manager and the previous person is gone and I should save their number. Then they ask if I have any requirements.
Hello? Who are you? How do I verify you? What distinguishes you from a scammer?
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Against the Grain is easily the best book I've read in many years. It helped me make peace with the understanding that the atrocities of various states from India to Israel are inherent to civilization; that resistance and reform are worthwhile efforts.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agains…
ALT Book cover for Against the Grain by James C Scott
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It never got worse for me because the creeping out was bi-directional — and that was my male privilege. Not everyone has it that easy. Women experience the male gaze ALL THE TIME, to the point it's institutionalized into cultural norms. Learn more here: #INeverAskForIt
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All this while it was an exclusionary system that required English, phones and internet, and we didn't mind because we were not excluded.
But now an additional condition is added – techie – and all hell breaks loose. Suddenly everyone understands exclusion.
It didn't start here
If you want to blame anyone for co-win, blame Nilekani and RS Sharma. Two people who proposed Aadhaar based centralized platform for vaccination and forcing it on the population.
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Deeply disappointed at @rssharma3 for his engagement around this tweet, defending himself on the basis of the privilege he holds, instead of considering the plight of the vulnerable.
My Aadhaar number is 7621 7768 2740
Now I give this challenge to you: Show me one concrete example where you can do any harm to me!
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Aadhaar authentication does not work. Here is data showing only 59% success rate in 13,300,000 transactions. This is not anecdotal. This is data.
Given the SC Case on probabilistic biometrics, here is the full biometric authentication Log from Andhra available publicly for anyone to run their own analytics.
Link: gitlab.com/mostlyuid/andhra-…
The data is 1.68 GB big and has 1.33 Crore records.
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UIDAI has no idea how many different places the ecosystem is leaking data from. Aadhaar endangers national security, and the government needs to act fast. My column in the Mint today. livemint.com/Opinion/iUYT70C…
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We moved home last month. Two years of pandemic WFH were soul crushing. The view from the window shrunk to a handheld six inches. We yearned for space and light in a nice neighbourhood. It took six months to find the place, and another three to move in.
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Aadhaar is designed to protect the state from citizen fraud. Nothing in Aadhaar's design protects the citizen from state fraud. User beware.
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Govt & @UIDAI: "@cis_india is anti-national and hacked Aadhaar"
Supreme Court: "CIS's work on privacy is a reference for our judgement"
💪
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Aadhaar identity fraud primer. Three concepts: identity, authentication and authorisation. Repeat after me:
1. Identity is not authentication.
2. Authentication is not authorisation.
1/n
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When Manu Joseph decides it's time to take a shit on you, you know you're doing the right thing AND making an impact. Cheers to everyone who spoke up. ✌️
It was inevitable that when ArogyaSetu emerged there would be privacy hysteria, a form of megalomania. People overrating the banal data of their lives. Only the humble can see: anonymised private information of a society is a public resource.
My latest:
bit.ly/2Zku9Ae
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Similar story. @zainabbawa and I married in the registrar's office by signing paperwork, and hosted reception the same evening. Budget 40k. It will be ten years tomorrow.
Guys shaadi season hai so here's my wedding story in a thread so you guys know that having apni marzi ki shaadi is possible.
My guest list had 25 names: friends and parents. The venue was my terrace. The menu was chicken tikka, seekh kabab, pathooray chanay halwa strawberries.
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I changed the number associated with my bank accounts four years ago out of a worry for how porous the UPI system was. Now I get most of my daily spam calls on this secret number that only my banks are supposed to know. How is this happening? Who leaked this number to spammers?
Out of an abundance of caution, I have changed my phone number at three banks where I have accounts. This has utterly broken UPI for me. The UPI ecosystem treats phone number as primary identity. A new number means you're a new person. The situation is tragi-comic.
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What about OnePlus2? It's been less than two years since that model was released. If you can't keep a 2yr update window, how can I trust OP?
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It is March 31 and I don't have an Aadhaar to link with PAN. Aadhaar's propagandists have spent a decade insisting it is optional and meant to be an instrument of inclusion. Today I stand threatened of having my life destroyed for testing this claim. Your move, Aadhaar mafia.
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I've applied for two large loans in the past month. Surprise observation: bank officials asking for documents far in excess of need, to be sent over WhatsApp and Gmail addresses. It's like the underground data markets are anchored within the banks themselves.
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Holy shit! The Aadhaar leaks are far, far worse than anticipated. Every single enrolment operator had access to the full database, and they didn’t even need to know Aadhaar numbers. Today’s exposé by @iam_anandv in Kārana. medium.com/karana/the-relati…
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Walking through Domlur, found this cow eating what appears to be optic fibre cable. There goes someone's internet.
ALT Cow eating fibre optic cable
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Ooh, interesting movie. Where can I watch it?
Netflix? ❎
Amazon Prime Video? ❎
Disney+ Hotstar? ❎
The Pirate Bay? ✅
Long live TPB.
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Walked from Koregaon Park to Pune Airport. For some reason, this makes me very happy. Hurrah for pedestrian friendly cities!
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Received on WhatsApp:
Guys, if you know any of the strong anti-Aadhaar tech experts personally, give them a heads up that the govt is planning a big push against them next week. Building on Nilekani's statement yesterday that things were being orchestrated, (1/2)
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This is hilarious, and shit scary. It's the digital equivalent of officials reading words off a teleprompter without paying any attention whatsoever to what they are saying. Why does anyone need advanced deepfake technology when it is this easy to put words in officials' mouths?
How do you get a Union Minister to tweet what you want? Well, you go and edit the trending document made by BJP IT cell, and then you control what they tweet. Thread.
Here's the video of this morning when their trending document got automagically updated :-)
1/n
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We went to Karnataka High Court regarding the Aadhaar PAN linking matter. CBDT asked for more time to respond, so the judge ordered a freeze until then ("directed to not precipitate"). Deadline postponed.
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“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” —Upton Sinclair
Nikhil Kumar is smarter than he appears here. Don't be fooled.
Summary of the anti-aadhaar arguments:
On one hand they are arguing that biometric verification is so bad it's excluding people & then later same guys argue that biometric identification - which is probably 10K times more difficult - is so good that it'll be used for surveillance
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Internet shopping. By inventory:
AliExpress: hero
Amazon: also-ran
Flipkart: zero
Amazon US: window shopping only
By delivery:
AliExpress: gifts to future self
Amazon: hero
Flipkart: also-ran
Amazon US: money grows on tree in your backyard
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The Kunal Kamra–Arnab Goswami incident is so fence-shaking. On the one hand I want to cheer Kunal for doing what all of us dreamt of doing. On the other hand, there's the slippery slope. Should we really be adopting the tactics of those we detest? So conflicting.
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It's magical how pat-down physical security at malls has become completely unnecessary since the pandemic.
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The GST system penalizes buyers when sellers don't file taxes. This creates a perverse incentive for buyers (e.g. my co.) to not clear payments in full until the seller files taxes. Filing has changed from monthly to quarterly, so that's up to 3 months suspense for both parties.
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In which @wadhwa trots out the same tired argument. Facebook is not a sovereign. Facebook can't cancel your phone number, seize your bank account, or starve you to death. Government does all that with Aadhaar. ecoti.in/yxfu_b
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Raw Pressery is selling maple syrup packaged as almond milk. Notice the primary ingredient. Maple syrup is sugar that comes from a tree, so you'll be drinking sugar water with 5% almonds in it.
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It can. It's possible to read an OTP and submit it to the website. How do you think techies test their own websites? This kind of automation is an essential skill for any good techie.
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Google: Privacy should not be a luxury good.
Facebook: We fucked up.
Aadhaar Mafia: Privacy is not a fundamental right. [Oops!] What is privacy anyway? Is there even a word for it in local languages? Nationalise all data! Look, we're even passing bills to legalise this seizure!
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“Sir, we’d like your feedback on a 1–10 scale. 1–8 is considered poor and 9 and 10 are good.”
“I’ll give you an 8.”
“Why sir? 8 is poor.”
Net Promoter Score is a scam.
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Oh dear. @Zomato appears to have missed a history lesson on the origin of the croissant. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croiss…
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