Tech Tips, Tricks & Trivia

Amazon is the quintessential, textbook example of the "blitzscaling" model, where massive user growth is prioritized over profits for years. The term was popularized by Reid Hoffman (the co-founder of LinkedIn), and when he wrote the definitive book on the subject ( Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies ), he explicitly pointed to Jeff Bezos and Amazon as the pioneers of this exact strategy. Here is why Amazon fits the definition perfectly: The 3 Core Rules of Blitzscaling To be considered a "blitzscaler," a company must check three specific boxes, all of which Amazon did aggressively: Prioritize Speed Over Efficiency : In a normal business, you try to grow carefully to minimize mistakes and stay profitable. In blitzscaling, you grow as fast as humanly possible, even if it means wasting millions of dollars fixing bugs, over-hiring, or building inefficient warehouses. The goal is to capture the market before anyone else can re...

The Data Formulator tool from Microsoft Research blends natural language and visual interfaces to help analysts explore and visualize data with AI agents. With AI agents recommending exploration ideas, transforming data and presenting results in interactive visual interfaces, users can deep dive into data in control without coding expertise.  The research prototype is open source  and there’s a demo available to explore its features.  It currently supports generation of the following chart types -

I create AI-generated cartoons to capture ideas, observations, and memorable moments from my reading and daily life. Sometimes it's simply a word or phrase that catches my attention and feels worth preserving, much like a selfie captures a moment in time. I've long admired the lyricists who adapt A. R. Rahman's songs into different Indian languages. Their task is not just translation. They must match the actors' lip movements while crafting lyrics that remain meaningful and hummable. When I create cartoons, I often reshape a scenario to fit an idea or joke. It reminds me of the same creative challenge: working within constraints while trying to produce something that feels natural. In that sense, my cartoons are a form of improv. Since the ideas are sometimes forced into shape rather than discovered organically, the result doesn't always work as intended. They don't always land as jokes for readers. Sometimes they end up feeling more like puzzles that need to be...