Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 210 // Week 7 // 2022

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By Himanshu Sachdeva

Hi Friends!

Greetings from Mumbai!

This past week, I spent good amount of time on learning initiatives. I learned about DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) which talks about shunning the gender inequiality and racism related thought process and breaking out of our biases.

I also delved again into learning mental models and how they change our thought process. I personally follow a mental model (check the first bullet in below list for details on that).

If you want to learn more about my daily learnings, follow me on Twitter.

Here is this week’s Saturday-Pentacle. Enjoy!


Issue 210 // Week 7 // 2022


A mental model I’ve been following

First Principals Thinking – This mental model has been vastly discussed in past and even Elon Musk follows it.

I learned about it few years back and it has changed the way I think now about any problem.

Basically, when you separate assumptions from the underlying ideas, the first principles emerge.

As Aristotle said – “the first basis from which a thing is known.”

If you have a problem then breaking it down to the smallest possible unit and then working up from there.

Here is a twitter thread, I wrote on first principals thinking sometime ago.


A photograph I took in a recent trip — It was dusk time and we were in the middle of the Arabian Sea, away from the world and a bunch of seagulls were lurking around our boat. This one caught my eye which was flying a bit away from us but majestically.


A Tweet thread I loved —

I loved this smart and drunk thread by SahilBloom, so many wisdom nuggets, check it out.


An old poem popularized by the movie Interstellar — I’ve been listening to the Interstellar – Hans Zimmer song Cornfield Chase a lot this past week and from that album I discovered this beautiful poem.

Do not go gentle into that good night

by Dylan Thomas – 1914-1953

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Quote which I found meaningful –

While we are postponing, life speeds by.

— Seneca

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for supporting and reading.

Himanshu


About Author

I’m Himanshu Sachdeva, a technology professional working in Mumbai, India. I spend most of my spare time making Podcasts, YouTube videos and write on Lifestyle Design and sometimes stories.

Every Saturday, I send out an email newsletter called “Saturday Pentacle”, a list of the cool stuff I explored in the past week, including quotes, photos, books, articles, movies, documentaries and so on!

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.


Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 210 // Week 7 // 2022


What to do Next?

If you are not signed up to my email list, go ahead and do it right now so that you don’t miss any new weekly SATURDAY PENTACLE post and more interesting emails on Lifestyle Design, Productivity and Creative Entrepreneurship. (plus new podcast episode announcements).

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Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 205 // Week 2 // 2022

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By Himanshu Sachdeva

Hi Friends!

Greetings from Mumbai!

Second week of the new year, hope you are holding up true to your resolutions.

Here is this week’s Saturday-Pentacle. Enjoy!


Issue 205 // Week 2 // 2022


A book I’m reading

Millionaire on fast lane – The name of the book sounds scammy but it’s filled with insights and advice. Author MJ DeMarco describes the traditional way of earning money and getting rich as Slow Lane.

He shuns a lot of traditional wisdom. i.e. ‘living below your means’, ‘investing in index funds’ and ‘saving for retirement’.

On the other hand, he describes Fast Lane to start a venture which follows the CENTS formula.

If you want you can check out this review of the book by Ali Abdaal.


A podcast episode I loved

Kevin Rose-Darya Rose podcast episode – This episode was fun where Kevin and his wife Darya discussed – New year resolutions or rather reflected on the previous year. Discussing kids, new things Kevin is getting into, all while drinking wine.


A Tweet which I loved —

Friendship of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the 14th Dalai Lama (known as Gyalwa Rinpoche to the Tibetan people).

Beautiful.


A tool for Twitter Growth —

Hypefury – Found this amazing tool for Twitter audience growth. Here are top 5 features it has –

  • Automation of Tweet publishing
  • Engagement builder – Engagement with pro twitter users. You don’t need to go to Twitter to engage with big accounts, cause that takes you to a rabbit hole and you waste so much time. In Hypefury’s engagement builder section you can put in your favorite big accounts and reply to their latest tweets from their itself.
  • Make TweetShot (images) of your favorite Tweet’s and publish them to Instagram directy.
  • Auto Generate quotes for publishing (you can review before queueing them up for publishing)
  • AutoPlug – if one of your tweets is getting popular, then the app can automatically put a new tweet in the thread as a plug to your newsletter or a product or whatever you want to market.

Really loving this and using this extensively since past few weeks. I might love it too. If you want to join in here is a referral link which can get you a free trial period.


Quote which I found meaningful –

There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen.

— Rumi

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for supporting and reading.

Himanshu


About Author

I’m Himanshu Sachdeva, a technology professional working in Mumbai, India. I spend most of my spare time making Podcasts, YouTube videos and write on Lifestyle Design and sometimes stories.

Every Saturday, I send out an email newsletter called “Saturday Pentacle”, a list of the cool stuff I explored in the past week, including quotes, photos, books, articles, movies, documentaries and so on!

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.


Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 205 // Week 2 // 2022


What to do Next?

If you are not signed up to my email list, go ahead and do it right now so that you don’t miss any new weekly SATURDAY PENTACLE post and more interesting emails on Lifestyle Design, Productivity and Creative Entrepreneurship. (plus new podcast episode announcements).

Just enter your email address below and click “Subscribe!”

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Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 204 // Week 1 // 2022

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by Himanshu Sachdeva

Hi friends,

Happy new year 2022 and Greetings from Bombay!

This is issue no. 204 of this newsletter.

Towards the end of 2021 (Nov-Dec months) I started focusing on Twitter. Twitter is a breeding ground for ideas. I love new ideas and love to expand on them and see them come to life.

On Twitter I could find so much knowledge and wisdom shared. But you have to follow thought leaders not just anybody. I must know which niche you want to expand into and then start following the thought leaders in that genre.

As I’m trying to get back to the weekly consistency. You’ll see more of Twitter content and ideas flowing in this newsletter.

Cheers!


Issue 204 // Week 1 // 2022


One of the Twitter account I’ve been loving to follow

Roller – She is a NYC based artist and photographer, who is really active in NFT space. She organizes Twitter space where like minded people join in and discuss Art, NFT and cryptos.

I’ve seen her mint really interesting Art pieces on Foundation app (web3 based) and get massive value from those pieces.

Check out her Art Page on Foundation app here.


A Podcast episode I loved

The unlimited potential of Web3 with Alex Ohanian – This episode of Where it Happens podcast with Alex Ohanian was full of knowledge about Web3 and intesting stories from Alex (founder of Reddit)


A movie I really loved —

Greyhound – I watched this Tom Hanks movie this past weekend. It’s inspired by actual events from the Battle of the Atlantic in WW2.

Tom Hanks stars as a first-time captain who leads a convoy of allied ships carrying thousands of soldiers across the treacherous waters of the “Black Pit” to the front lines of WW2.

This movie has Brilliant cinematography and story telling.

The captain and his convoy must battle the surrounding enemy Nazi U-boats in order to give the allies a chance to win the war.

Great watch, highly recommended if you like war movies and Tom Hanks.


A great tool for creating workflows or business flows —

app.diagrams.net – In my recent high ticket projects where the requirements were changing drastically and I had to be on top of the technical integrations. This tool really helped me make flow diagrams and business flows to build API integrations and solutions with.


Quote which I found meaningful –

“People who write a lot, also listen a lot. They also change their mind a lot. Not necessarily with new data, but sometimes re-analyzing the same data. They also work hard to disconfirm fundamental biases.”

— Jeff Bezos

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for supporting and reading.

Himanshu


About Author

I’m Himanshu Sachdeva, a technology professional working in Mumbai, India. I spend most of my spare time making Podcasts, YouTube videos and write on Lifestyle Design and sometimes stories.

Every Saturday, I send out an email newsletter called “Saturday Pentacle”, a list of the cool stuff I explored in the past week, including quotes, photos, books, articles, movies, documentaries and so on!

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.


Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 204 // Week 1 // 2022


What to do Next?

If you are not signed up to my email list, go ahead and do it right now so that you don’t miss any new weekly SATURDAY PENTACLE post and more interesting emails on Lifestyle Design, Productivity and Creative Entrepreneurship. (plus new podcast episode announcements).

Just enter your email address below and click “Subscribe!”

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Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 203 // Week 28 // 2021

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By Himanshu Sachdeva

Hello!

Hope your week was wonderful.

For me, it was a bit slow week than my usual fast-paced workweek. I enjoyed my work when I was able to delegate some of the work and was able to pick and choose what I actually wanted to work on. That was a first in a very long weeks span time.

I was also able to curate this week’s pentacle items almost every day. I have gotta admit, I have to sift through a lot of content to find some good things to share, but I like the process, as it makes me go through some really good stuff eventually and the process of curating and sharing with you all, make it worth it!

Anyway, time for you to read on the good stuff I found the past week. Enjoy!


Issue 203 // Week 28 // 2021


An Article or a quarantine memoir I found interesting –

Quarantined to Room 903 — Found this quarantine memoir when the author travelled from the US to Singapore at the end of 2020 and was quarantined for 14 days in a hotel room. How she put herself in a bubble and still kept the social interaction and walked 100 miles in 14 days in the same room.

Really interesting stock on her time in that room.


Technology I finding fascinating

AI-Powered Hyper-Realistic Artificial Voice – I found this company from an article last week and it was mind-boggling when I looked deep into it.

Sonantic, a firm that specializes in emotive voices that can laugh and cry or whisper and shout, works with video-game makers and animation studios to supply the voice-overs for their characters. Many of its clients use the synthesized voices only in pre-production and switch to real voice actors for the final production. But Sonantic says a few have started using them throughout the process, perhaps for characters with fewer lines.

This is really exciting to see! Because I can even think of the use of these AI voices in e-learning videos very easily. I think the future is already here!

Check out the below video to see it in action!


A Song I loved —

Song – Somebody Else – Found this song from an Insta Story shared by one of my friends and instantly loved the song.


A Podcast episode I loved —

Malcolm Gladwell and Ryan Holiday – I love when two of my favourite interests collide. That’s what happened in this podcast. Malcolm Gladwell one of my favourite writers of all time sat and chat with Ryan Holiday (another favourite author and podcast host) about running, writing and storytelling.

This was an amazing and interesting conversation I listened to in a long-form podcast after a long time (personally).

If you wanna check it out here it is –


Quote which I found meaningful –

A Candle never Loses any of its Light while Lighting up another candle.

— Rumi

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for supporting and reading.

Himanshu


About Author

I’m Himanshu Sachdeva, a technology professional working in Mumbai, India. I spend most of my spare time making Podcasts, YouTube videos and write on Lifestyle Design and sometimes stories.

Every Saturday, I send out an email newsletter called “Saturday Pentacle”, a list of the cool stuff I explored in the past week, including quotes, photos, books, articles, movies, documentaries and so on!

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.


Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 203 // Week 28 // 2021


What to do Next?

If you are not signed up to my email list, go ahead and do it right now so that you don’t miss any new weekly SATURDAY PENTACLE post and more interesting emails on Lifestyle Design, Productivity and Creative Entrepreneurship. (plus new podcast episode announcements).

Just enter your email address below and click “Subscribe!”

Continue Reading

Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 202 // Week 27 // 2021

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By Himanshu Sachdeva

Hello!

Another issue of Saturday Pentacle is here!

This week I wanted to record the next part of Decluttering Digital Life series but it’s still in progress (blame it on other works). But hopefully, it will see the (YouTube) light on Sunday (tomorrow)

This week it was a bit easier to turn my online rendezvous into this nifty little newsletter, as I’m trying to find my process back again. I think the hard part is – when you are in the moment of consumption of a piece of content, which you find captivating, to write it down and save it so that documenting or reflecting on that piece of content is easier. So I’m trying to find my groove back again.

Notion definitely helps me keep my content bank full as my weekly resonance calendar.

This past week was more intense for me at work, but I’m realizing more and more that if you are putting your full intensity and draining yourself out in the projects where others have not made the plans well and are not competitive enough while working along, it makes everything difficult. There is an invisible line which you shouldn’t let anyone cross in that perspective. If they do, you know it’s time to let go.

Running was it was a less than average week, I did just a couple of runs. Jun month has been the greatest from the running point of view this year. I hope July is better. But Mumbai rains, they make it difficult. Even though I like running in the rain but not daily. Sometimes you don’t want to feel all drenched up. Maybe the last week was one of those times.

Anyway, time for you to read on the good stuff I found the past week. Enjoy!


Issue 202 // Week 27 // 2021


Book I’m reading

Don Quixote – I got the weird reference of this book from a sci-fi series The Expanse somewhere in the last season (5) start when James Holden (the protagonist) visits earth to meet her mother.

Now coming to the book, here is the praise for this classic as quoted from the audible page –

The most influential work of the entire Spanish literary canon and a founding work of modern Western literature, Don Quixote is also one of the greatest works ever written. Hugely entertaining but also moving at times, this episodic novel is built on the fantasy life of one Alonso Quixano, who lives with his niece and housekeeper in La Mancha. Quixano, obsessed by tales of knight errantry, renames himself “Don Quixote” and, with his faithful servant Sancho Panza, goes on a series of quests. Many of these adventures, including tilting at windmills, are established in European literary consciousness. Originally published in two volumes a decade apart (in 1605 and 1615).

I’ve just started listening to the audiobook last week and I can say it takes you away from the current world and I’m excited to listen to it daily.


An interesting (or fearsome) fact I learned

What’s the scariest thing? – We all have fear of something, but what is something that we all fear from? In this amazing video of VSauce, we discover that.

I just can’t imagine how he makes videos like this (just see the production value, damn!)



A Tweet thread about procrastination i liked (click the Twitter embed and read the entire thread) —


Music or Artist I’ve been listening to —

Sam Smith – Even though I’ve been listening in rounds to songs like Dancing with a stranger (ft. Normani) and How do you sleep etc. earlier. But after seeing an Apple Documentary this past week on Sam Smith – “On The Record: Sam Smith—The Thrill Of It All” (It came out when the album with the same name came out a few years back) on Apple Music (Not able to share the full docu link because it’s exclusively on Apple Music). I discovered Sam’s whole music-making process, his band and support group and I discovered songs like – No peace, Pray, Burning and with the mix of Gospel music fusing with other genres. It felt like I opened up to a complete line of music genres. Just mind-blowing.

Here is the song Burning


Quote which I found meaningful –

My definition of being properly educated is being right when the professor is wrong.

— Charlie Munger

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for supporting and reading.

Himanshu


About Author

I’m Himanshu Sachdeva, a technology professional working in Mumbai, India. I spend most of my spare time making Podcasts, YouTube videos and write on Lifestyle Design and sometimes stories.

Every Saturday, I send out an email newsletter called “Saturday Pentacle”, a list of the cool stuff I explored in the past week, including quotes, photos, books, articles, movies, documentaries and so on!

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.


Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 202 // Week 27 // 2021


What to do Next?

If you are not signed up to my email list, go ahead and do it right now so that you don’t miss any new weekly SATURDAY PENTACLE post and more interesting emails on Lifestyle Design, Productivity and Creative Entrepreneurship. (plus new podcast episode announcements).

Just enter your email address below and click “Subscribe!”

Continue Reading

Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 201 // Week 26 // 2021

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By Himanshu Sachdeva

Hello!

I’m back after almost 9 months break from this newsletter. (Life happens, so it’s ok to take breaks, but No! It was not a paterity break! 😅 )

This is issue no. 201 of this newsletter. I’m excited to be able to start this newsletter again.

Last week I published first part of a series I’m doing on “Decluttering Digital Life”, check it out (I’m excited about this series and working more on my YouTube Channel, psss SUBSCRIBE if you haven’t yet) –

Feels a bit rusty while writing the blog again but I’ll try to put a breathe of fresh perspective! Hope you find it interesting. So without further adieu, please enjoy the 201st edition of Saturday-Pentacle.


Issue 201 // Week 26 // 2021


Book I read

Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey – [How to Work Less and Achieve More] – This book with a cheesy productivity title was indeed good that I finished it in 3 sittings (or runs as i listened to it in audio version).

This book talks about two different coins of focus and attention – Hyperfocus and Scattered Focus. Even though I knew a lot of things and have felt them already in my life, but now I got a name for those things. I also found a lot of important cues from the books which I didn’t know, how to effectively use meditation for finding solution to problems or surface ideas or surfacing and connecting dots to sift through tasks.

I would give 4.5 Stars to this book on the scale of effectiveness. Highly recommended if you are on the journey of self improvement and productivity.


An Interesting biochemistry hormore I learned about from a Wiki Newsletter

Ghrelin (biochemistry) – A peptide hormone, secreted in the stomach when empty, that increases appetite and secretion of growth hormone from the pituitary gland.

After researching it further I found some more interesting facts about how it correlates with hunger in our body –

It is termed the ‘hunger hormone’ because it stimulates appetite, increases food intake and promotes fat storage. When administered to humans, ghrelin increases food intake by up to 30%; it circulates in the bloodstream and acts at the hypothalamus, an area of the brain crucial in the control of appetite.

Citation – Yourhormones.info

A Tweet I found interesting –

A historical Photo with 2 Giant Guards This was taken while James Recalton (American Photographer) visited Delhi Durbar, India in 1903.


A Song (and video) I loved –

Adore You by Harry Styles – Loved this song from Harry. It was on repeat mode in the few lone moments I could gather last week. It kind put me in the zone. Specially the part where on the cliff he’s re-listening to his own song on a turntable record.

Check it out –


Quote which I found meaningful –

Perhaps the feelings that we experience when we are in love represent a normal state. Being in love shows a person who they should be.

— Anton Chekhov

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for supporting and reading.

Himanshu


About Author

I’m Himanshu Sachdeva, a technology professional working in Mumbai, India. I spend most of my spare time making Podcasts, YouTube videos and write on Lifestyle Design and sometimes stories.

Every Saturday, I send out an email newsletter called “Saturday Pentacle”, a list of the cool stuff I explored in the past week, including quotes, photos, books, articles, movies, documentaries and so on!

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.


Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 201 // Week 26 // 2021


What to do Next?

If you are not signed up to my email list, go ahead and do it right now so that you don’t miss any new weekly SATURDAY PENTACLE post and more interesting emails on Lifestyle Design, Productivity and Creative Entrepreneurship. (plus new podcast episode announcements).

Just enter your email address below and click “Subscribe!”

Continue Reading

Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 200 // Week 36 // 2020

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By Himanshu Sachdeva

Hello!

Welcome to another edition of Saturday Pentacle.

Well, this is a special one! It’s the 200th Edition of this newsletter. 🎉

Yes! That’s true. I can’t believe that the experiment which started couple of years back with just my own curiousity to document interesting things has come this far.

With this newsletter i’m taking sometime off now to step back and think about other things as well.

As they say when you are in the flow, the time fades away. So I think it’s about time to get out of the flow for a while, take a break, observe more things in the world and then come back with a fresh perspective.

So this is not a good bye! This newsletter will be back soon! So keep tuned in.

P.S.: I’m not stopping all my creative works, i may not be publishing them for a while though. Thanks for understanding the need for a creative break. 🙏🏻

So without further adieu, please enjoy the 200th edition of Saturday-Pentacle.


Issue 200 // Week 36 // 2020


The Black Panther Tribute

Chadwick Boseman – The Black Panther is gone. Chadwick left us on 28 August 2020. As per online reports he learned about the colon cancer in 2016. But it was almost not public about his ailment. He fought it bravely that nobody knew all this time.

He was an amazing actor. Check out his role in movie 42 as baseball player Jackie Robinson, he just blew it out of the park in that role. He has a lot of depth as a person and he put a lot of hard work in the roles he played.

So here is a tribute (Video by Marvel) to the Boseman! The Black Panther!

Also enjoy this commencement speech he gave in 2018 at Howard University.


An investment approach

Global Investments through India – Earlier it was not very easy for individual investors from India to invest in Global stocks like – Apple, Facebook, Testla, Google etc. But now with a few companies have designed there business on this idea. One of them is Vested. Vested has partnered with Axis Securities Limited for making Indians able to easily invest in Global stocks.

If you are interested in investing skyrocketing stocks like Tesla. If you invested $1,000 in Tesla in 2010, it would be worth more than $36,000 as of Feb. 4, 2020 (reference).

If that gives you goosebumps, you can check Vested here.


A movie I re-watched —

While we were here – There are movies which touch you at a level deeper, this is one of those movies. It’s a mix of a love story, a breaking off from a toxic relationship and following her own passion.

When the protagonist listens to her grandmother’s audio recordings describing the world war era from a normal human being’s perspective. Wow! That took it to another level. I made me believe further in power of audio.

Here is the trailer of that movie –


A song I loved —

Road Trip Playlist – As we have been locked down since the past 6 months or so, I’ve been craving a lot for travels. But as it’s a bit longer till we are allowed to travel. One can still satiate their cravings with at least some travel music.

This Road Trip Playlist is definitely worth listening –


Quote which I found meaningful –

Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life’s books each day. The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time.

— Seneca

Until Next some future Saturday! (When I start this newsletter back after a break!)

Thanks for supporting and reading.

Himanshu


About Author

I’m Himanshu Sachdeva, a technology professional working in Mumbai, India. I spend most of my spare time making Podcasts, YouTube videos and write on Lifestyle Design and sometimes stories.

Every Saturday, I send out an email newsletter called “Saturday Pentacle”, a list of the cool stuff I explored in the past week, including quotes, photos, books, articles, movies, documentaries and so on!

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.


Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 200 // Week 36 // 2020


What to do Next?

If you are not signed up to my email list, go ahead and do it right now so that you don’t miss any new weekly SATURDAY PENTACLE post and more interesting emails on Lifestyle Design, Productivity and Creative Entrepreneurship. (plus new podcast episode announcements).

Just enter your email address below and click “Subscribe!”

Continue Reading

Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 199 // Week 35 // 2020

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By Himanshu Sachdeva

Hello!

Welcome to another edition of Saturday Pentacle.

Hope you are starting the weekend relaxed and on a good note.

The past week I struggled to get any walks or runs in. So it was quite literally (only) working from the home week.

I’m excited for this weekend as there is an audio/microphones webinar I’m attending to learn more about improving audio quality (for my podcast/youtube videos), where an expert from Shure will be sharing his ideas, techniques and different types of equipment.

This week I listened to an audiobook for 2-3 days consistently (The Ride of a Lifetime). Listening to the experiences of people who have reached the highest level of their expertise is just awesome!

Moving forward to the newsletter, here is my weekly creative progress –

  1. My Language learning is going consistent at the moment. Learning 15-20 minutes every day. I think when I’m able to understand movies and literature, then I’ll announce here which language I’m learning.
  2. My book reading progress – (added another interesting book to reading list this week – 3rd one)
    1. The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons in Creative Leadership from the CEO of the Walt Disney Company – Progress 40% (Audible)
    2. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes – Progress 20% (Audible) – no much progress on this one last week.
    3. The Descent of Man by Grayson Perry – Progress 20% (Audible)
    4. World War Z by Max Brooks – Progress 15% (Audible)

That’s it for personal and creative updates.

Without further adieu, please enjoy this week’s Saturday-Pentacle.


Issue 199 // Week 35 // 2020


A tribute to an Indian Cinema Legend

AK Hangal – इतना सन्नाटा क्यों है भाई.. (Why it is so silent, brother…)

This line is famous in Indian Cinema because of AK Hangal. On 26th Aug 2020, it was his 8th Death Anniversary.

He has worked with all the legendary actors in Indian Cinema. He has played each and every character role there is. He had this soothing elderly presence in most of the movies in the 80s and the 90s.

He lived for 98 years and died on 26th Aug 2012. May he rest in peace.


A product or rather a tribe I’m finding myself attracted to

Mechanical Keyboards – They have been like an underground movement of sorts from a long time. With different layouts (60%, 40% etc), custom keycaps, led lights and a whole plethora of customization options, the Mechanical Keyboards have come a long way.

Earlier only the gaming community seemed more attracted to these kinds of custom keyboards. But now these keyboards have started getting the attention of the mainstream creatives as well.

But it still remains an expensive hobby, in India, I remember the TVS Gold Bharat Keyboard since my childhood, which has been the choice of professionals who have to type a lot. But now as the Internet is bringing the world closer and making it smaller. A whole new world of possibilities in Mechanical Keyboards area is opening up.

I couldn’t imagine someone will have a YouTube channel just dedicated to Mechanical Keyboards, reviewing them, making us listen to the ASMR sounds of keyboards. That’s next level shi*. But here is a channel which does exactly this – Taeha Types

If this got you interested and excited, you can check out below video to learn more about Mechanical Keyboards –


An article and upcoming tech I’m fascinated by —

All about Neuralink by waitbutwhy – Neuralink is a new interface on which Elon Musk (the founder of Tesla and SpaceX) is working since past couple of years. He thinks that the current way of interacting with computers (by keyboard, mouse or a digital pencil etc.) limits our bandwidth while talking to computers. So in the Neuralink project, he’s trying to make a direct interface between the human brain and the computer. I think they are almost there with this interface. Neuralink just did a demo where a pig was implanted with Neuralink implant and they showed how they get the information of neurons firing in the brain as the pig touched different things.

I know it sounds scary that you can just think and the note will be written on the computer or a file will be saved or more. It is scary but at the same time, it’s exciting too. But will this make us cyborgs? I don’t know, maybe we are already cyborgs. Computer and Mobile phones are our second brain nowadays. Without them, we are like almost stripped away from power. So instead of getting scared from what’s coming, we should learn about it in detail.

To learn everything about Neuralink, check out the article (title link or click here). It’s a long article as are most of them on this blog waitbutwhy. But it’s worth spending that time to learn about how humans evolved till here and what is Neuralink and where we might be heading.

Here is the demo video –


A song I loved —

May Be by half•alive – Stumbled upon this beautiful groovy rich song by half•alive from Now, Not Yet album on Spotify.

Definately lifted my Mood, check it out –


Quote which I found meaningful –

Someone who thinks the world is always cheating them is right. They are missing that wonderful feeling of trust in someone or something.

— Eric Hoffer

Before saying “see you next week”

I’m really excited to share the new Lifestyle Architecture Lab interactive community on Vibely app! 💙

Join today with this special invite link to the group.

Why vibely? Basically it’s a place where we want to make the group and our content interactive. There are daily interesting challenges like –

  • Reading for 1 hour everyday and posting your progress
  • Doing one act of kindness every day
  • Journaling prompts for you
  • Travel writing for 500 words

and more such creative challenges.

It’s a really fun place to be. You’ll get gamified rewards and recognitions for completing the challenges. We are trying to make it a safe place for all the like-minded people to join in the self-growth journey. If you are already working on your passion projects then you’ll get all the support you can and no bashing or judgement for being who you want to be.💡

Join today with this special invite link to the group.

P.S.: Our Facebook group is not going anywhere, we are just adding an interactive branch to it.

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for reading.

Himanshu


About Author

I’m Himanshu Sachdeva, a technology professional working in Mumbai, India. I spend most of my spare time making Podcasts, YouTube videos and write on Lifestyle Design and sometimes stories.

Every Saturday, I send out an email newsletter called “Saturday Pentacle”, a list of the cool stuff I explored in the past week, including quotes, photos, books, articles, movies, documentaries and so on!

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.


Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 199 // Week 35 // 2020


What to do Next?

If you are not signed up to my email list, go ahead and do it right now so that you don’t miss any new weekly SATURDAY PENTACLE post and more interesting emails on Lifestyle Design, Productivity and Creative Entrepreneurship. (plus new podcast episode announcements).

Just enter your email address below and click “Subscribe!”

Continue Reading

Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 198 // Week 34 // 2020

Saturday Pentacle Weekly Newsletter - Banner
By Himanshu Sachdeva

Hello!

Welcome to another edition of Saturday Pentacle.

As I’ve been learning more about habit-forming and consistency, I’m also learning about the other side of things, entropy and related things.

EntropyA measure of disorder is not just one state, it indeed is the default state of the universe. If we want to bring some order, you have to apply force to reduce entropy and increase order. Entropy is universal, but it is also personal.

We are struggling every day to bring order in our lives, make everything better. But Entropy is like a time’s arrow, it will always be there. You like it or not. You handle this situation, that situation will come. You may have one moment of peace and the next moment you find that entropy pushed that domino and everything is a mess.

That’s where things like being consistent and building habits, help. We can’t predict everything, but what we can do is – reduce the mess or recover fast from the entropy moments.

I’m constantly finding myself fighting against entropy. That’s why I’m constantly doing more to better on my habits and being consistent. James Clear’s book “Atomic Habit” which I finished last month was a good help.

Moving forward to the newsletter, here is my weekly creative progress –

  1. I’m crossed my 50th (consecutive) streak of a new language learning class (on Duolingo), next target is to reach 100 days of learning.
  2. My book reading progress – (added another interesting book to reading list this week – 3rd one)
    1. The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons in Creative Leadership from the CEO of the Walt Disney Company – Progress 35% (Audible)
    2. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes – Progress 20% (Audible)
    3. The Descent of Man by Grayson Perry – Progress 15% (Audible)
    4. World War Z by Max Brooks – Progress 10% (Audible)

That’s it for personal and creative updates.

Without further adieu, please enjoy this week’s Saturday-Pentacle.


Issue 198 // Week 34 // 2020


A product which got me excited

fanttik Electric Screwdriver-Power Meets Precision – For my DIY projects I was looking for an electronic drill which can do “jack of all” kinda work. I found this amazing product on IndiGoGo. It has those little things which makes distinguish the product from good to best –

  1. One Hand easy drill bit pull-off.
  2. Precision for very delicate drilling and high power for drilling a wall.
  3. Digital Display (this is the first time a drill has a digital display)
  4. Ergonomics! (I think this is one of the key selling points)

If you are a DIYer, you might love this product as well. It’s shipping soon, so book while you can.


A (unix) nerd fact I discovered —

Apple replaces bash with zsh as the default shell in macOS Catalina – Last year (Jun 2019) Apple replaced the main shell from bash to zsh (called may be zeesh or zish?). Well, this point may only be relevant to you if you are a developer using a mac or may be you are a nerd. If not, then you can move on to the next point.

With zsh basically, you’ll have to link your z profile to your main bash profile (.profile) to be able to access to your normal shortcuts and aliases. Plus there is much more difference in zsh and bash. Here is a link for further reading between zsh vs bash comparison.

Here is why you should move from bash to zsh, if you haven’t yet.


A newsletter I’m loving

Indiepod Bulletin by Sonologue – If you are a podcaster or aspiring to be one or maybe you love audio (audio engineer? producer?). This is one newsletter you should subscribe to.

My dear friend Chhavi who is a podcasting coach and producer herself started publishing her newsletter few moons back. (BTW she’s been in my podcast too!)

Here is the third issue of her newsletter. Check it out!

You can subscribe to it here.


A song I loved —

You & the Cockroach – This song by Hobo Johnson stole the show last week, Amazing lyrics and a very alternative style for a song. Storytelling, sarcasm, politics, comedy and what not! All in one song.

Check it out.

https://open.spotify.com/track/1DytbGZoEsEMV5UeMr9Vtv?si=tLiKspcsSEKP8s7TG7uJ0A

Quote which I found meaningful –

Plant a bitter crop and guess what you get when it’s the harvest time, it’s Karma Bitch!

— Unknown

Before saying “see you next week”

I’m really excited to share the new Lifestyle Architecture Lab interactive community on Vibely app! 💙

Join today with this special invite link to the group.

Why vibely? Basically it’s a place where we want to make the group and our content interactive. There are daily interesting challenges like –

  • Reading for 1 hour everyday and posting your progress
  • Doing one act of kindness every day
  • Journaling prompts for you
  • Travel writing for 500 words

and more such creative challenges.

It’s a really fun place to be. You’ll get gamified rewards and recognitions for completing the challenges. We are trying to make it a safe place for all the like-minded people to join in the self-growth journey. If you are already working on your passion projects then you’ll get all the support you can and no bashing or judgement for being who you want to be.💡

Join today with this special invite link to the group.

P.S.: Our Facebook group is not going anywhere, we are just adding an interactive branch to it.

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for reading.

Himanshu


About Author

I’m Himanshu Sachdeva, a technology professional working in Mumbai, India. I spend most of my spare time making Podcasts, YouTube videos and write on Lifestyle Design and sometimes stories.

Every Saturday, I send out an email newsletter called “Saturday Pentacle”, a list of the cool stuff I explored in the past week, including quotes, photos, books, articles, movies, documentaries and so on!

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.


Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 198 // Week 34 // 2020


What to do Next?

If you are not signed up to my email list, go ahead and do it right now so that you don’t miss any new weekly SATURDAY PENTACLE post and more interesting emails on Lifestyle Design, Productivity and Creative Entrepreneurship. (plus new podcast episode announcements).

Just enter your email address below and click “Subscribe!”

Continue Reading

Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 197 // Week 33 // 2020

Saturday Pentacle Weekly Newsletter - Banner
By Himanshu Sachdeva

Hello!

Welcome to another edition of Saturday Pentacle.

First of all Happy 74th Indian 🇮🇳 Independence Day!

It’s been 74 long years since Indian-freedom from British empire and India has progressed and grown like an old Banyan tree with its branches coming out from various directions. Many branches (people) are still suppressed and some are thriving in exponential ways but the majority part which is the main stem of this thick tree (the Indian middle class) is growing ever so slowly.

Technology, Finance and Banking all have been the main pillars of the progress of our nation but still the most important of all is the people who are the main pillar and they will always be (maybe until an Artificial Intelligence or a machine takes its place).

I’m glad I was born in this country and have been part of this progress. But there is a long road still which we are yet to travel and I think while we are on this road trip, might as well enjoy!

Moving forward to the newsletter, here is my weekly creative progress –

  1. I’m approaching 50th (consecutive) streak of a new language learning class (on Duolingo).
  2. Podcast Episode 24 is ready for publishing and launching in a couple of days and finally, another long-pending Episode 25th (have been following up with this guest for 9 months) recording very soon.
  3. My book reading progress – (added another interesting book to reading list this week – 3rd one)
    1. The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons in Creative Leadership from the CEO of the Walt Disney Company – Progress 25% (Audible)
    2. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes – Progress 15% (Audible)
    3. The Descent of Man by Grayson Perry – Progress 10% (Audible)

That’s it for personal and creative updates.

Without further adieu, please enjoy this week’s Saturday-Pentacle.


Issue 197 // Week 33 // 2020


An essential oil I’m curious to try

Neroli oil – An essential oil distilled from the blossoms of the bitter orange or Seville orange (Citrus × aurantiumsubsp. amara) and is used to make perfumes.

Neroli oil blends well with other oils such as Jasmine oil, Lavender oil, Rosemary oil and all citrus oils.

This Pale-yellow neroli oil emits a sweet, full-bodied citrus aroma with a slightly spicy, slightly bitter undertone.

If you are an essential oil connoisseur. You might like this one.

Here is the amazon link for buying if you are interested.


An article I found interesting —

Pandemics Come in Predictable Cycles. If I’m the Smartest Guy in the Room, We’re in Big TroubleMax Brooks who is the author of the books – zombie fiction World War Z and the latest Bigfoot fiction – Devolution etc, shares a lot of insights in this conversation – how science fiction turned him into a disaster expert and how many things he has written in his books have come true (a pandemic though not zombie one and how people are forced to be inside homes – as mentioned in his book Devolution).

The most admirable thing I found while reading Brooks books is how thorough his research is. He even mentions in this article that for one hour of writing there is almost 100 hours of research done by him.

Really enjoyed reading about Max Brooks’ life in this written interview. A good read.


An interesting but scary model graph I found out

This mathematical model helps estimate the riskiness of different activities based on one potential route of coronavirus spread: itty-bitty particles known as aerosols.

Source – NatGeo

Recollection of Historic fact from 15 Aug (may be as this newsletter is Independence day special)

Surrender of Japan – The surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945, brought the hostilities of World War II to a close. Together with the British Empire and China, the United States called for the unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces in the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945. Japan’sleaders privately made entreaties to the publicly neutral Soviet Union to mediate more favourable peace terms.

On August 6, the United States detonated an atomic bomb over Hiroshima. On August 8, the Soviet Union invaded the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Hours later, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb, on Nagasaki. Emperor Hirohito intervened and ordered that the Allies’ terms for ending the war be accepted. Hirohito gave a recorded radio address transmitted across the empire on August 15, announcing the surrender of Japan. The surrender ceremony was held aboard the battleship USS Missouri, at which officials from the Japanese government signed the Japanese Instrument of surrender (pictured below).

Japanese foreign affairs minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signs the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri as General Richard K. Sutherland watches, September 2, 1945

Quote which I found meaningful –

People are in pursuit of many things in life, for external reasons not internal. Maybe they are doing things they are not even motivated to do, but because other people expect these things from them. Very few people speak to themselves and their innermost desires and really let reflect themselves. Everything happened to you since you were a baby and has shaped you, when you reflect on that, when you evaluate yourself as a human being, you’ll make decisions that will make you happier.

— Chidanand Hiremath (From Podcast episode #23 of LALP with Himanshu)

Before saying “see you next week”

I cordially invite you to join the Lifestyle Architecture Lab interactive community on Vibely app! 💙

We do creative challenges, habit creation and related stuff on the group. Here is your special invite link to the group.

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for reading.

Himanshu


About Author

I’m Himanshu Sachdeva, a technology professional working in Mumbai, India. I spend most of my spare time making Podcasts, YouTube videos and write on Lifestyle Design and sometimes stories.

Every Saturday, I send out an email newsletter called “Saturday Pentacle”, a list of the cool stuff I explored in the past week, including quotes, photos, books, articles, movies, documentaries and so on!

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.


Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 197 // Week 33 // 2020


What to do Next?

If you are not signed up to my email list, go ahead and do it right now so that you don’t miss any new weekly SATURDAY PENTACLE post and more interesting emails on Lifestyle Design, Productivity and Creative Entrepreneurship. (plus new podcast episode announcements).

Just enter your email address below and click “Subscribe!”

Continue Reading