PicoBlog

Happy 2022 everyone! I’m kicking off this year’s newsletter with a deep-dive on pineapple tarts, a treat which is incredibly beloved and equally embraced by all communities in Singapore. This week, you’ll receive newsletters as a three-part series: in this first newsletter, we will uncover the differences between Taiwanese pineapple cakes and Southeast Asian pineapple tarts. The second and third newsletters to come will explore the intricacies of the pineapple tart-making process.

Baseball is back! And it seems to me that everyone on social media commemorated Opening Day with this GIF: That is, of course, Hamilton “Ham” Porter from the iconic movie “The Sandlot.” Ham is the author of one of the best phrases the English language has ever created: “You’re killing me, Smalls.” (Mylate father-in-law loved that line.) Thinking about Ham and “The Sandlot” and Opening Day and my father-in-law led me to this: What is the single best baseball movie ever?

Yesterday, I received word that the state of Israel—aided and abetted by American weaponry, funding, and endorsement—murdered Mai Ubeid alongside her entire family. Mai was a member of Gaza Sky Geeks (GSG), the community center and tech hub where I worked for five years in Gaza.  Mai was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and lost her ability to walk at the age of 12, making her wheelchair bound for the rest of her life.

It was 1.45pm. I cracked my knuckles and logged into my Ticketmaster account. I was 15 minutes early. Everything seemed normal. In front of me were two Ticketmaster pre-sale pages: one for SZA’s show at Spark Arena on April 15, and another for the following night, on April 16. In case you missed Wednesday’s drama, SZA is returning to Aotearoa for two shows… ncG1vNJzZmian565pr7RqKamZqOqr7TAwJyiZ5ufonyxe8Bmm56roJq%2FosDEZqeaoZ6bwq150p6Yq5uYYrOwvoytrqg%3D

In the realm of physical penetration testing, having the right tools at your disposal is imperative for uncovering vulnerabilities within security systems. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology, used extensively for access control, is one such area ripe for scrutiny. The market offers a variety of RFID cloning gadgets, each with its unique set of features, advantages, and drawbacks. This post takes a magnified look at four prominent RFID cloning tools: Flipper Zero, I-copy XS, Chameleon Ultra, and Proxmark, shedding light on their capabilities, ease of use, and cost-effectiveness.

It’s no surprise to anyone who reads me that I’m team TayTay. But, also, like the basic workaday human I am who has been trained to sit on my couch and be skeptical of those who are more insanely wealthy, talented, and attractive than I am, sometimes I get where the criticism is coming from. Maybe I even buy in a little at times. ncG1vNJzZmismJq1trrGnqlnq6WXwLWtwqRlnKedZL1wrYydnK%2Bhn6rAbq%2FOq6eoqpGpsm6%2BwKeqqKVdm7yzedOasKWnog%3D%3D

The best conversations unravel new threads with every turn of phrase. You’re left with a tapestry, not of answers but of new possibilities. I had a feeling that a dialogue with Josh Schrei might weave that kind of tapestry, and I wasn’t disappointed. If you haven’t heard of his podcast The Emerald, I’d highly recommend it. It’s gained a dedicated following over the last few years, and is as much an endeavour in ‘mythic sensemaking’ as it is an artistic expression.

People who boast about their IQ are losers. -Stephen Hawking For those who don’t know, MENSA is an organization where the requirement for membership is scoring in the top 2% in an IQ test. The number of eligible people worldwide would therefore be around 160 million. MENSA has around 150,000 members. This means that only about 1 in a thousand people eligible to MENSA actually join up. In this youtube clip, David Mitchell points out that people already think he’s smart, so why would he try to join MENSA?

If you are a paid subscriber, go to the bottom of this post for the meeting details for the AMA call for tomorrow at 12PM EST I'm thrilled to share some exciting news. I had the privilege of being part of an extraordinary documentary, 'The Hidden Power of Purpose.' This film takes you on a journey through the lives of four remarkable individuals, each discovering a unique path to a life brimming with meaning.