How I Revamped my old MacBook

(No, this story doesn’t involve Linux!)

I use a MacBook Air from 2017. While it was ahead of its time at release, it is what one would call a modest computer in today’s terms.

Its Intel i5 1.8 GHz Dual-Core chip isn’t exactly pulling locomotives and the 8GB DDR3 RAM isn’t helping either. And the battery? Mac stopped bothering about the cycle count and instead displays a “Service Recommended” message.

On an average day, here’s my experience with this fossil:

• The average CPU temperature hovers between 92°C and 103°C (198 F to 217 F)!
• Memory (RAM) is perennially full and SWAP at ~3 GB.
• CPU throttled and the fans spin out of control
• Battery life is ~40 mins.
• App opens take ~1 minute
• Taking a screenshot requires some 7 seconds of wait time

Yes, but it comes with the radioactive Apple logo!

After a bit of panic sleuthing and researching, I made the following changes:

The last change made the biggest difference, and forced me to do more with less. Raycast left big shoes to fill. (R.I.P)

Now, the average CPU temp hovers around 55 C (131 F), apps are responsive, and am forced to single-task, which is hard, but I like it. Bonus: I can’t even hear the fan sound!

The ultimate satisfying story would have of course been me getting frustrated with the Mac and nuking it with Linux. Not today, though!

What are you without ChatGPT?

We depend on AI for a lot more than we need to.

Need to buy a birthday present for a present? Ask AI for recs.
Need to write a bloody text? Ask AI to write it.
Can’t read a 100-word article? Ask AI to summarise it.

Yes, it’s convenient as hell.
When the internet & smartphones became a thing, you had the knowledge of the world in the tips of your fingers. With AI, you have that power increased manifold.

What happens when you get so used to it? And what happens when you’re without it?

We are losing basic skills like reading comprehension, written communication, and independent thinking.

Cognitive offloading is real!

Today at work, this line from the Spider-Man movie dawned on me, where Iron Man says to Spider-Man,

If you’re nothing without this suit, then you shouldn’t have it.

If you find yourself constantly reaching out to these AI apps out of habit, especially at work, ask yourself these questions:

• What am I without AI?
• At what do I excel, and how long can I persist without it?
• How can I survive and thrive without AI?

If that results ain’t nice, you need to make changes right now.

I hate virality.

I've been online since 1998, and the first decade or so was great, so peaceful. Of course, even back then, occasionally some douchebags would comment on my posts, wondering why I liked electronic music when the guitar is the most beautiful instrument in the world. This was back when I was a little kid. But there was little to no toxicity like on today's internet.

I've gained followers and influence while posting a lot during the social media era. After 2015 or so, posts started getting visibility because of the algorithms that continued to "improve". And that changed everything. I became more and more anxious because my posts started popping up everywhere, and followers started accumulating. When I left Twitter, I was nearing 10k followers without doing much. My regular posts got constantly shit flies around them, judging and reviewing things I post about.

Meta, Reddit, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, all commercial platforms, suffer from this algorithmic brain rot. Your regular posts and the things you're proud of might suddenly go viral, and all kinds of assholes come to bring you down to make themselves feel better. Without recommendation algorithms, those lifeless losers would never get the chance. Without algorithms, we would have a fair game, without singling out or targeting specific individuals.

I need to be present in the Fediverse more often and cut the time I spend in other places. But there's no easy solution. I'm learning this the hard way over and over again.

I often wish it was the early 2000s again, no algorithms, no shit flies.

#SocialMedia #Algorithm #Reddit #Threads

My Latest Bollywood Earworm

There is a 2004 Hindi film called Swades, which means Homeland in the language. It was a smash hit during release, and, even today is well loved.

The story revolves around Mohan, played by Shahrukh Khan, an Indian-origin project manager at NASA, who, after settling down in the US, returns to India, his homeland.

He goes for a mini tour of India, reacquainting himself with the various peoples and cultures.

Won’t spoil it for you, but all I can say is that it evokes feelings of optimism and love for country. I meant in an incredibly positive manner, beyond and political gimmicks or extremism. Totally deserving of its IMDB rating of 8.2.

I’d say, despite the brilliant portrayals of the actors, and the compelling story, the protagonist was the Music.

This song in particular, “Yeh Tara Woh Tara,” sung by Udit Narayan, composed by AR Rahman, with the lyrics being written by Udit Narayan.

This song, a whole 7 minutes, and 13 seconds long, pearls of wisdom in it. This line:

Boond boond milne se, banta ek dariya hai.

It means: “Drop by drop, a river is formed.”

The idea is that many small efforts, small acts, or small people together create something large and powerful. In Swades, it points to unity and collective change.

Importantly, YOUR LITTLE BIT MATTERS!

Another line:

Samjho sabse pehele toh, rang hote akele toh
Indranush banta hi nahin

It means: “if each colour existed alone, a rainbow would never be formed.”

It reinforces the idea that there is beauty in diversity.

The melodies fuse perfectly with the lyrics and the great voice of the legendary Udit Narayan.

You can listen to it here:

https://youtu.be/3Kzd0eeLi0o

Credits: T-Series, and AR Rahman

In the music video, Mohan tries to unite the people by singing this song while demonstrating the stars, moon, and the night sky using a telescope to the assembled villagers. (Of course, NASA!)

What do you think of this song?

Fucking Work

My work schedule oscillates between having no work and spending my office hours researching or ending up having to pull off 12 hours days for the entire week + a bonus round over the weekend.

While I appreciate the free time, I abhor the uncertainty of work and the effect it has on my health.

This week is one of those weeks. It usually happens when there’s a client deliverable.

I wish I could say it’s worth exerting yourself, but it’s not. I come home tired and dread waking up.

This one’s a negative, but I promise the next one will be cheerful. 🙂

 Microsoft Warns of WhatsApp Attachments spreading Backdoor on Windows PCs.

👾The scam arrives as a simple message on WhatsApp, but it carries a hidden danger designed to take over personal computers.👾

According to Microsoft researchers, the trouble starts when a user receives a message containing a Visual Basic Script [VBS] file. For your information, this is a type of computer code that can run various tasks on Windows. If a person clicks on this file, it starts a chain reaction that allows hackers to control the computer from a distance.

⁉️“The campaign relies on a combination of social engineering and living-off-the-land techniques. By combining trusted platforms with legitimate tools, the threat actor reduces visibility and increases the likelihood of successful execution,” researchers wrote in Microsoft’s blog post.⁉️

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2026/03/31/whatsapp-malware-campaign-delivers-vbs-payloads-msi-backdoors/

#whatsapp #windows #security #privacy #media #infosec #tech #news