General

How to kill a great platform

There are few things in life more disappointing than watching a beautifully crafted, socially responsible, disruptive technology platform self-destruct from the inside out. With the launch of the so-called “web-extensions” versions of Mozilla Firefox – which now extends to the once reliable ESR (Extended Support Releases) branch – Mozilla has destroyed much of the appeal… Continue reading How to kill a great platform

Research

EVONET18 – Tensor Networks for One and All

So one month ago there was this wonderful workshop on “Optimising, Renormalising, Evolving and Quantising Tensor Networks” – or EVONET18 – organized by the Max Planck Institute for Complex Systems (MPIPKS) in Dresden, Germany. I was fortunate enough to be selected for a poster presentation and had the great privilege of mingling and discussing physics… Continue reading EVONET18 – Tensor Networks for One and All

Politics

Competitive Nationalism and (the myth of) Islamic Homogeneity

Recently the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Mr. Siddharamaiah, made the following observation on twitter regarding the recent communally motivated murders in the Dakshin Kannada (South Karnataka) district. Expressing grief as the deaths of both victims from different communities, he described the tragic incidents as the results of “competitive fanaticism” between extremists on either side This… Continue reading Competitive Nationalism and (the myth of) Islamic Homogeneity

General

Herniated Disc Exercises

Found a really nice set of five simple exercises for treating herniated or bulging discs. The exercises are: Cat-cow Bird-dog Lying prone face down with elbows tucked in under your sides Superman – with your arms either by your side, or folded behind your head, or stretched out in front Cobra or Mackenzie press-ups.

Research

Fluctuation Dissipation in Quantum Gravity

In statistical mechanics we are mostly concerned with the statistical averages of various physical quantities when the system is in equilibrium. Fluctuation is a common phenomenon in nature. Fluctuation means how much a quantity deviates from its average value. The average value of the thermodynamic observables and the size of their fluctuation about their equilibrium… Continue reading Fluctuation Dissipation in Quantum Gravity