Municipal Infrastructure Is Cinema
A small love letter to Toronto’s snowstorm response, and the map that lets you watch it unfold.
Writing about technology, AI, and adventures.
Thoughts on technology, AI, developer experience, and the occasional adventure.
The Odyssey Is Playing on 41 IMAX 70mm Screens. Nine Are in Canada.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has turned IMAX 70mm into one of the hardest movie tickets on Earth. Canada has nine venues on the current list.
Toronto’s Air Is Better Today. For Now.
Toronto's air quality update and a plain-English guide to AQHI conditions and forecasts.
Torontonians Woke Up in a Mad Max Movie with Terrible Air Quality
Toronto's severe wildfire-smoke event, the local health risk, and why open air-quality data matters.
So what is Amdahl's Law?
Amdahl's Law states that total speedup is limited by the serial (non-parallelizable) portion of the task, meaning adding more processors yields diminishing returns.
Still waiting for Claude Code's Linear Integration
In Linear, you assign an issue to @Cursor, a cloud agent spins up, writes the code, opens a PR, and updates the issue status. All without leaving Linear. I want to do that with @Claude.
Two Guys Giving a 16 Minute Talk About Markdown Files to a Packed Audience
In the past year, we've seen rapid advancement of model intelligence and convergence on agent scaffolding. But there's still a gap: agents often lack the domain expertise and specialized knowledge needed for real-world work.
AI articles next on my reading list
AI articles next on my reading list
Survivorship Bias
Why the data you see isn't always the whole story.
Steve Jobs Letter
A profound reflection on interdependence and gratitude from Apple's co-founder.
Microsoft CTO: MCP will be the HTTP of the Agentic Web
simple protocol akin to HTTP without much opinion about payload
Claude: "Ah yes, you're absolutely right."
How does Claude think we react to hearing that?
What is context7?
tl;dr: "use cursor" to give up-to-date code documentation to your LLMs and AI code editors.
What is Knowledge Cutoff?
Knowledge cutoff is the AI model's "graduation day".
What is MCP, Model Context Protocol?
After weeks of confusion, I finally understand Model Context Protocols (MCPs). I break down what MCPs are, where they came from, and why they're a big deal for making AI models like Claude and Gemini more useful.
Don't outsource thinking to AI
Confidence in AI = Less critical thinking. Confidence in self = More likely to question AI, verify info and think deeply.
HTTP Status Code Emojis
A simple guide to HTTP status code categories and their perfect emoji representations.
Three AI Concepts Poised to Reshape Our World
Very large context windows, agents, and text action is gonna have an impact on the world at a scale that no one understands yet
One Million Token Context Window
What is a context window, and how much is One Million Tokens?
This is a Test
Kicking the tires on a new blogging system. Testing, testing, one, two... three.
The One Thing I Wish I Had Realized Before Wasting 30 Hours “Practicing” Chess
Watching Magnus Carlsen, the world champion, play 3 minute blitz chess games on Youtube is entertainment, not education.
Everything I Learned In 20 Hours of Playing Chess During The COVID-19 Lockdown ♞
1 King, 1 Queen, 2 Bishops, 2 Knights, 2 Rooks and 8 Pawns on either side of an 8x8 board are ready for battle. Let’s go!
😷 Forget the pitch report. Today’s India-Bangladesh cricket match needs an Air Quality Report!
It’s Lungs vs Air Pollution today. No matter which team puts up more runs on the board today, both teams will lose today. #AirPollution
Innovation Is Not Optional: Why I Am Attending TribalScale's TakeOver 2018!
"Uber yourself before you get Blackberry'd"
Confused by Blockchain Technology? No worries. Let’s talk about it!
Blockchain technology is radically different than anything we have seen before. It’s ok to be confused. It’s ok to not know what blockchain…
Say Hello To... Pretty Much Everything. Literally.
Voice Platforms (Alexa, Siri, Google, …) Are Here For Your Home, TV, Cars, Board Games and More.
How To Speak Canadian [The Full List]
A couple months ago, I moved to Toronto, Canada. Even though I speak English fluently and lived in the States for more than a decade, I…
It’s The Little Things.
Toronto is delightful. But what is it about the day to day life here that makes it so joyful?
150ish Things I’m Grateful For In 2018 (Updated!)
Gratitude is a weird thing. At an abstract level, we often know we have abundance in our lives, but can’t actually capture it in words or…
What is Canada150ish?
A 30-something Tech Immigrant’s Way Of Saying Thanks! Last year, I was among the tens of thousands of people that moved to Canada.
Air Pollution Question for President Obama at Delhi Town Hall
On Friday, December 1, I had the honor of attending the Obama Foundation’s first ever Town Hall with President Obama in New Delhi, India. I…
Open Letter to President Obama About “Hazardous” Air Pollution in New Delhi
Dear President Obama,
Let’s Support Women Scientists Around The World (Here’s How!)
tl;dr — Let’s raise money for the ESWN, a global network of women scientists. It’s a 501c3 registered non-profit. All proceeds go to them…
Twitter Is Killing My Popular Air Pollution App With A Silent Ban. Please Help!
tl;dr — I believe that clean air is a basic human right. Air pollution a global health crisis that causes 6.5 million people to die…
How Bad Is The Air Quality In Your City? You Can Now Find Out With One Tweet.
Air pollution is a serious public health crisis in the world. It kills more than 6.5 million people worldwide every year.
[Smokey Interviews] Jessica McCarty, Air Quality Researcher and Asst. Professor
We’re excited to continue this interview series today with another influencer in the air quality world. By the way, have you talked to…
Kathmandu is Dustmandu. Air pollution might make it the next Delhi unless we act!
What happened, Kathmandu? Why does our city feel more like Delhi with every passing day. Honestly, I believe that Kathmandu is still the…
How “Where are you from?” Conversations Go For Me…
Half the time it happens all the time. I just had to jot it down on my blog after it happened right now in Pune, India.
Aloha means Hello and Goodbye!
We zoomed past this little kid in Nepal faster than either one of us could say aloha out loud — let alone twice. Hello and goodbye captured…
VANITY FAIR: ELON MUSK’S BILLION-DOLLAR CRUSADE TO STOP THE A.I. APOCALYPSE
I strongly recommend that you take the time to read Maureen Dowd’s piece in Vanity Fair. She sits with Elon Musk, YC’s Sam Altman and…
[Behind The Scenes] How I Landed The BBC Travel Story About Nepal Earthquake
I accidentally became a journalist when the 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal in late April in 2015. Much to my surprise, I realized…
Meet The Robin Hood of the Internet: Joshua Browder, the Founder of DoNotPay.
Written by Amrit Sharma (Smokey) for BotList
CSE: Air Pollution in Delhi Touches Emergency Levels Once Again
The Center for Science and Environment in New Delhi released this press release yesterday and it’s exceptionally well-written. Everyone in…
Success Is Not An Accident: Icon8 Chatbot Founders Reveal Their Secrets To Traction
Written by Amrit Sharma (Smokey) for BotList.
Air Pollution Kills Millions Every Year. Your Vote For OpenAQ Can Help Change That. (No Really!)
tl;dr — OpenAQ is making the world’s air quality data accessible and open to researchers, scientists, developers and everyone else. They’re…
Once More In Nepal To Rebuild and Rejoice with the JRM Foundation [Day 1]
JRM Foundation led by Dr. Fahim Rahim is back in Kathmandu, Nepal. It’s Day 1 of a weeklong expedition to continue the important work that…
Entrepreneurs Lifting India With Creativity and Ingenuity
“Here’s to the crazy ones — the misfits, the rebels, the trouble makers, the round pegs in the square holes — the ones who see things…
New Delhi is a Toxic Gas Chamber Today (Air Pollution HAZARDOUS!)
The air quality in New Delhi, India right now is outright hazardous.
[Smokey Interviews] Maëlle Salmon, Statistician with the CHAI project
We’re excited to continue this interview series today with another influencer in the air quality world. In case you haven’t met Smokey yet…
[Smokey Interviews] Christa Hasenkopf, Founder of OpenAQ
We’re super excited to launch this interview series today called Smokey’s Friends, where Smokey interviews influencers in the air quality…
Manifesto: Clean Air For Everyone
Every year 6.5 million people die globally because of air pollution, according to the World Health Organization. That’s almost 18,000…
Racial Divide In America Apparent in Air Pollution Data Too (But Why?)
The vast majority of the USA has much cleaner air than most of the world, even significantly cleaner than UK, Germany and France. But, an…
“Chinese Public Overwhelmingly Backs Renewables Push” — Business Green
James Murray, Editor of Business Green magazine, published an encouraging story out of China today. A poll of 3000 residents in Chinese…
Why is Photography Licensing So Broken? (And 10 Ideas To Fix It!)
A twitter conversation with Naina earlier today spurred some ideas that I wanted to jot down and think through. I’m thinking and writing…
The World Needs An Air Pollution Anthem
“Every Breath You Take” by The Police adapted slightly by Amrit Sharma
Chatbots, Please Don’t Make Me Think!
It was almost 16 years ago that Steve Krug’s instant classic hit bookshelves across the United States. “Don’t Make Me Think” quickly became…
The #InnovationForGood Award deadline looms. Have you applied yet?
IKEA, ABBA and the Swedish House Mafia aren’t the only exports from Sweden to India. Sweden’s Lund University is returning to India this…
Do You Know 18,000 People Will Die Tomorrow? (But It Won’t Be On The News)
That’s true. 18,000 people died yesterday. That many more will die today and tomorrow as well. But don’t expect it to make the evening…
One Year Ago Today The Earth Shook in Nepal
It was 11:56am April 25 on a slow Saturday morning exactly a year ago in 2015 that the earth shook.
The #1 Mistake We Make About Earthquakes
You know about an earthquake’s magnitude and epicenter. But, there’s one critical piece of information that’s often ignored by journalists…
Top 8 Lessons From SingularityU India Summit on Exponential Technologies in Mumbai
The first ever SingularityU India Summit in association with INK Talks kicked off in Mumbai’s Grand Hyatt Hotel on Friday, February 26…
Tesla Motors commercial: “Not A Dream”
It is not a dream It is a simple feat of scientific electrical engineering Electric power can drive the worlds machinery without the need…
One Small Step For @ElonMusk. A Giant Leap for Making Life Multi-Planetary. #SpaceX
Yesterday, seconds after striking the snooze button, I opened up the Twitter on my phone to find a barrage of tweets about #SpaceX and…
Delhi celebrates as Air Quality dips from Hazardous to Very Unhealthy
Despite little action to combat air pollution in India’s capital, Delhi, celebrations broke out across the city as the Air Quality Index…
Idaho Man Runs Ultra Marathon for Nepal Earthquake Survivors
More than six months have passed since the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal. It claimed 9,000 lives, flattened hundreds of…
Pictures: A Glimmer Of Sunshine For Flood-Hit Chitral, Pakistan
The Elaj Trust and its volunteers have had a busy summer helping hospitals better handle the influx of heat stroke patients in Karachi…
Photos and Anecdotes of the Accidental Journalist 100 Days After The Nepal Earthquake
Let’s recap for a second. A massive M7.8 earthquake rocked Nepal on April 25, and although I didn’t feel the vibrations in New Delhi, I…
Citizens Step Up To Cool Karachi Hospitals During Unprecedented Heatwave
The severe heat waves in Pakistan’s port city, Karachi, has claimed more than 1,000 lives this summer. As residents of the city struggled…
The Casino at Annapurna Hotel in Kathmandu Is Still Open (Kinda)
Technically speaking, the Casino at Annapurna Hotel in Kathmandu officially shut down in 2014. But if you think about it… it’s just been…
JRM Mission Debrief: Solukhumbu, Sindupalchowk & Kathmandu
That’s right. Dr. Rahim and the JRM Foundation are back in Nepal. They were on the ground for more than 4 weeks shortly after the…
Walk Through JRM’s Relief Mission in Nepal with Trent Whitney
Trent Whitney is a Police Sergeant in Pocatello, Idaho. He joined the JRM Foundation mission to Nepal, led by Dr. Fahim Rahim. Trent is the…
JRM Foundation “The Dream Team”
You’ve heard about the JRM Foundation, but probably don’t know the people behind the scenes who make it all happen. This is the JRM team…
Volunteers Combat Post-Earthquake Trauma With Music Camps For Children
Volunteers have stepped up to make a real difference in Nepal since the earthquake. Nepalis from all walks of life, especially young adults…
Thamel Open For Business, But Will Tourists Show Up?
It’s been almost 2 months since the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal. All major relief operations are well underway, and…
Damaged UNESCO Heritage Sites Reopen in Kathmandu After Earthquake
It’s been almost 2 months since the devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake rocked the country, but now life inches back towards normalcy.
I’m Not A “Journalist”, But…
Ugh. I didn’t enjoy writing this article. I feel really “meh” about it, like all of it. It wasn’t fun to draft, write, or edit. I wrote it…
India Wraps Up Operation Maitri In Nepal
This week India announced the end of Operation Maitri, the earthquake relief efforts in Nepal.
Nepalis in the US sign petition to increase relief fund pledge
KATHMANDU, JUN 08 — The Nepali American community is petitioning the Obama administration to “increase financial and humanitarian relief…
Upcoming Humanitarian Crisis In Nepal
Nepal is on the verge of an all out humanitarian crisis. Monsoon is only a week away, and hundreds of villages are at risk of being cut off…
Snoring Villager Annoys Everyone In Community Shelter
Despite sleeping together in the community shelter since Nepal’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake in April, this week red-eyed villagers in…
A Random Day In The Life
June 1, 2015 // Today was a good day. Last night, as I sat in bed, I was kicking myself for not publishing articles fast enough. Even…
Top 7 Twitter Accounts To Follow for #NepalQuake Updates
Yeah I know, the Nepal Earthquake isn’t on the front page of newspapers anymore, but there’s still a lot happening on the ground in Nepal…
What Is Happening To Me!? #NepalQuake
Anxiety? Trauma? PTSD? It’s all in the head? Asthma? Hole in heart?
Memorable conversations!
Were you a writer before too? No. How long have you been writing? Three weeks. Really? You write really well. Thanks!
Faces and Stories from Manekharka Village in Sindupalchowk
JRM Foundation joined Khusi Hona on a relief mission to Manekharka village on Wednesday, May 20. I stopped to talk to the people to hear…
21 Days Later: This Week In Photos
Monday, May 11: Meeting in Indian embassy.
Yangri: Case Study In Earthquake Relief
A powerful earthquake rocked Nepal on April 25. What lessons can we learn from the past month? What works, what doesn’t work and what’s…
@Reddit Gives Dollars and Upvotes for #NepalQuake Relief
More than $250,000 raised by redditors for non-profits in Nepal to help the earthquake struck country.
Mission Debrief: May 20 Sindupalchowk
Organizations: Khusi Hona in collaboration with JRM Foundation Date: May 20, 2015 Squad: Matthew van Rooyen, Geet Sharma, Amrit Sharma…
#NepalQuake Story: 6 year old, Susma, in Yangri Village
Meet Susma, a 6 year old girl from Yangri village in Sindupalchowk District.
#NepalQuake Story: A master Handicraftsman, Gopi Lal Sunar
The adorable baby joined his hands to say “Namaste.” I stopped to say hello, and we talked for more than 30 minutes.
One of the Many Reasons Why I Love @Twitter
President Barack Obama joined Twitter today, with Twitter handle @POTUS. And this happens with President Bill Clinton.
Mission Debrief: May 18 Sindupalchowk
Organization: JRM Foundation Date: May 18, 2015 Squad: Gokul Thapa, Prabin Khanal, Amrit Sharma. Transport: Charted Helicopter
Map of Landslides in Nepal Courtesy of the British Geological Survey
The British Geological Survey and a few partners released this details map of landslides in Nepal. Monsoon is around the corner.
Open Letter To The US Marines From The People of Nepal
We are deeply saddened to hear about the loss of 6 Marines in the UH-1Y Huey helicopter crash this week. You are in our thoughts.
From Mauritius With Love To Nepal
The Mauritian government donates $500,000 to Nepal’s Earthquake Relief Efforts, while citizens contribute more than $200,000 in a single…
What Does a M7.3 Earthquake Feel Like?
A personal account from Nepal after the Magnitude 7.3 earthquake (aftershock) that rocked us today. And also what we can do to “be safe”.
Fear has returned to Kathmandu!
Reading blog post: Is that an earthquake or …
14 days later: This Week In Photos
Sunday, May 3: This was an emotional day. I wasn’t ready to see the destruction at Patan Durbar Square. The temples here aren’t completely…
How Skycatch Drones Are Helping Save Nepal’s UNESCO Heritage Sites
2 weeks after the earthquake, with an upcoming monsoon season, the UNESCO Heritage sites are still vulnerable to further damage.
Nation Rises Up Together to Rebuild After the Earthquake
Two weeks ago, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake rocked the Himalayan nation of Nepal. These days, everywhere you look in Kathmandu, people are…
No Roads. No Helicopter.
It was 5am on Saturday, April 26, when Dr. Pramod Khanal (37) was startled awake with a phone call. “A massive earthquake has hit Nepal”…
How do you pronounce ‘Biscuit’?
“Uncle! Uncle!” they called for me.
Monsoon — The Next Biggest Challenge for Nepal that Nobody is Talking About!
Every year, water-borne diseases cause hundreds (or thousands) of deaths in Nepal. Monsoon will be here soon, possibly in the next 3 weeks…
PHOTOS: Humans of #Sindupalchowk
I’m devastated and frazzled after spending the day in the mountains of Sindupalchowk District of Nepal, with Dr. Fahim Rahim. We delivered…
Photo Gallery: Bhaktapur After Earthquake
Bhaktapur, a historic little town, is a short drive outside of Kathmandu. Here are 12 photos from Bhaktapur after the earthquake.
12 Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Nepal
Now you can whip these facts out at cocktail party, or include them in your next college essay. What facts would you add to this list?
Bhaktapur After Earthquake - An Exclusive In-depth Look At The Town Everyone Loves in Nepal
Bhaktapur, literally means a ‘place for worshippers.’ But it’s much more than that. It’s got something for everyone —
A Week In Nepal In Pictures
Delhi. Kathmandu. Rani Pokhari. Tundikhel. Basantapur Durbar Square. Swayambhunath Temple. Dharara. Bhaktapur. and more…
Nepali Home Ministry Issues Order To Keep Vendors From Abusing The People By Unjust Prices
It’s short and sweet, but It gets the message across. If you cheat the people in a dire time of need, you will be punished.
Top 10 quotes: DEL — KTM(?) — DEL — KTM
“The ATC has left the building” and 9 other things you never want to hear on an airline. You can’t make this stuff up.
#GoHomeIndianMedia Trending In Nepal With Outrage over Insensitive Coverage
Nepali public turn to Twitter to express outrage against “insensitive coverage” of the Earthquake by Indian Media.
“Villages completely flattened” in Sindupalchowk District of Nepal. But Why?
Sindupalchowk District is 100 kilometers East of the epicenter of the M7.8 earthquake that shook Nepal. So why is it the worst hit region?
First submission to HuffPo and *click*
Ready to submit your post? Please make a last check that it’s entered as a final copy.
“Can I take your photo?” I asked her in Nepali.
She looked confused for a second, looked around and said, “Who are you!?”
Immediate and large scale aid needed at Sindupalchowk District, Nepal
The Sindupalchowk District has recorded the highest deaths and has the second highest per capita death rate.
127 Hours Since the M7.8 #Earthquake Hit #Nepal (Feat. @JamesFrancoTV)
It’s been 5+ days since the earthquake shook Nepal and brought the world’s attention to the Himalayan country. Here’s what you need to know.
Everyday heroes emerge across #Kathmandu after the 7.8 magnitude #earthquake.
Hats off to everyone helping one another in the wake of a natural disaster in Nepal. You the real MVP.
Jokes on DEL-KTM flight with Bartley Price, Producer for ABC News
* Before you read this, please brace yourself for some really bad jokes *. Ok, you’ve been warned!
Residential building on the verge of collapse in Rani Bari, #Kathmandu after #Earthquake
A family in distress, as they scramble to get their belongings out of the house that’s structurally compromised.
Wait! IS THAT AN #EARTHQUAKE or…. ?
I jumped out of my chair and looked around nervously. Nope. Not an aftershock. I had just imagined it. It wasn’t the first time either.
My first 24 hours in Kathmandu after the earthquake
tl;dr — The condition of Kathmandu is much better than I had anticipated and even hoped to find after the M7.8 earthquake
What can I do to help Nepal from outside the country?
Answer to the most frequently asked question after the 7.8 Magnitude earthquake.
A personal ordeal from Delhi into the 7.9 Magnitude Earthquake that shook Kathmandu.
Our country’s worst nightmare is here, with clouds of debris, despair and confusion everywhere.
Gaana vs Hungama vs Saavn
Reviewing India’s online music streaming competition by their TV commercials alone! *Spoiler: Still better than #TIDALforAll.*
The fascinating flip side to the sharing economy.
What I learned about Ola, Uber and much more from my auto driver.
#SaveTheInternet by April 25 or the cat gets it… *meow*
The battle for a free and open internet is far from over. Net Neutrality is in danger in India.
My #SHEROES, the women that are making a dent in the universe!
10 women that inspire me everyday! Who are your #SHEROES?
Digging deeper into the #Furious7 movie piracy numbers!
It was late Tuesday evening and I had one foot out the door to dance to some bachata. But then, a tweet caught my eye…
Traffic Rules in India
Do you know these 2 traffic rules in India?
Sources of World Data and Statistics
It’s a big world out there. Find out all about it with data.