travel on S Anand

Watching videos with a plastic cover

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 12:00:11 +0800

On the Indigo 1026 from Singapore to Chennai, I saw a passenger two seats in front of me watch videos in an interesting way.

She had wrapped her phone in a plastic cover, wedged it behind the tray table so that it would appear at a comfortable viewing position, and watched an Asian movie (presumably with bluetooth headphones).

At first, I wondered if she travels with a plastic wrapper for this purpose. Then I realized it was from the Indigo safety instructions kit.

Now, that’s either a very experienced flyer (who knows about the wrapper) or a very innovative person (likely both).

I was curious, so I asked her:

Have you done this before? ANS: Yes, many times.
Did you know that Indigo carries these wrappers you could use? ANS: No but flights usually carry a Ziploc bag.
Is it easy to control through the wrapper? ANS: I don’t touch it much while watching. (I was able to control it but fingerprint unlock didn’t work)

It’s fascinating to discover such innovations in the wild!

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 14:33:22 +0000

I’m off for a 10-day Vipassana meditation program.

WHAT? A 10-day residential meditation. No phone, laptop, or speaking. https://www.dhamma.org/
WHEN? From today until next Sunday (13 July)
WHERE? Near Chennai. https://maps.app.goo.gl/PnGkLoZ8U6aG2RKk8
WHY? I’ve heard good things and am curious.
SURE? I’ve never been away from tech for this long. Let’s see!

I’ve scheduled LinkedIn posts, so you’ll still see stuff. But I won’t be replying.

LLM escapades in a toilet

Sat, 05 Oct 2024 02:22:15 +0000

I was in Seoul for KHF 2024, a healthcare event, staying at Hotel in 9. The hotel was great. The toilet was hi-tech.

Perhaps a bit too high-tech for me. I couldn’t figure out how to let the water through on the sink.

After 15 minutes of a hard struggle, I finally asked ChatGPT “How do I open the thing that’s closing the sink to allow the water to go down?”

Here’s the thing with “maturity” (aka age, wisdom, experience, grey hair). It took me 15 minutes to realize I could use an LLM to solve this problem. Despite me supposedly being an “LLM psychologist.” I suspect the school children of today won’t waste even a minute before checking ChatGPT.

On the other hand, if you DO know the answer to my question (without asking an LLM – since ChatGPT gave me the perfect answer at a glance), I bow down to your wisdom and experience!

To open the sink drain in your image, you might have a pop-up drain stopper, which operates by pressing down on the stopper itself to toggle it between open and closed positions. Try pressing directly down on the stopper; it should click and either pop up or pop down, allowing water to drain. If this method does not work, there may be a lever or knob elsewhere on or near the faucet that controls the stopper’s position.

Next, I accidentally pressed the emergency button in the toilet.

I was smarter this time, unlike earlier.

I asked ChatGPT which (unhelpfully) told me:

The panel in the image with the label “EMERGENCY” appears to be an emergency call button in a bathroom, likely designed to alert someone in case of a medical or other urgent situation. Typically, these buttons cannot be turned off as they are meant to be always available for safety purposes.

If the emergency system has been triggered accidentally or is malfunctioning, it is advisable to contact the maintenance team or property management to handle the issue. If it’s a false alarm, they can reset the system and ensure it’s functioning correctly for actual emergencies.

I called the reception who couldn’t understand a word of what I said. “Do you want water?” they asked when I told them “I pressed the emergency button in the bathroom.”

So, I went to ChatGPT’s advanced voice mode (I’m so grateful it was enabled last week) and said, “Translate everything I say into Korean.”

Then I said, “I accidentally pressed the emergency button in the bathroom. I just wanted to let you know that there is no emergency.”

It very happily spoke out, in bold, loud Korean, “화장실에서 응급버튼을 실수로 눌렀습니다. 비상상황이 아니라는 점 알려려 드립니다.”

The receptionist laughed, said, “Ah, OK, no problem.”

The joys of AI!

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 11:02:13 +0000

After 15 minutes of a hard struggle, I finally asked #ChatGPT “How do I open the thing that’s closing the sink to allow the water to go down?”

Here’s the thing with “maturity” (aka age, wisdom, experience, grey hair). It took me 15 minutes to realize I could use an #LLM to solve this problem. Despite me supposedly being an “LLM psychologist.” I suspect the school children of today won’t waste even a minute before checking ChatGPT.

On the other hand, if you DO know the answer to my question (without asking an LLM – since ChatGPT gave me the perfect answer at a glance), I bow down to your wisdom and experience!

From Laptops to Chatbots: Coding at 30,000 ft

Sat, 30 Mar 2024 08:23:58 +0000

Until recently, I could code on flights. This year, I lost that ability. Again.

It’s happened before. In each case, technology has solved the problem for me. Here’s the history.

I need a laptop. Since 2001, I’ve never been without one on a flight.

I need power. Since 2005, I use dark mode and every low power feature available. (I also became good at finding hidden power outlets.)

I need documentation. Since 2007, I use offline documentation. Windows .CHMs gave way to devdocs.io.

I need my notes. Since 2010, all my notes (Markdown files) are synced via Dropbox automatically.

I need CDNs. Since 2014, I’ve replaced CDNs with local node modules. Note to self: Get a local caching proxy instead.

I need GitHub. Since 2023, I have two laptops. So, I git pull manually before flights. Note to self: Find an automated solution.

I need ChatGPT. Since 2024, I stopped coding without ChatGPT. Now I’ve forgotten how to code. Today, I couldn’t figure out the SQL syntax to group by duration == 0 vs duration != 0. Note to self: Get lightweight local code LLMs.

It’s amazing how the coding technology stack has grown. Also amazing how technology fills the gaps in the scaffolding.

Guy Kawasaki on Mumbai

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 12:00:00 +0000

Guy Kawasaki on Mumbai via Kaps @ DesiPundit

Tea at the Ritz

Tue, 03 Jan 2006 12:00:00 +0000

Had tea at the Ritz today. Initially, after reading that “Gentlemen are politely requested to keep their jackets and ties on during tea”, my reaction was rather like Calvin’s.

But the tea (Earl Grey) was outstanding. So were the scones, sandwiches and desserts. Although most people were ladies above 60, the younger ones were among the most beautiful I’ve seen in London.

Paris by night

Tue, 20 Dec 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Paris by night. A panorama of Paris.

GMT

Sat, 16 Jul 2005 12:00:00 +0000

I cross the prime meridien almost every day. I live 0 degrees 5 minutes east of the prime meridien. I travel to Liverpool Street usually, which is 0 degrees 5 minutes west of the prime meridien. The station closest to the meridien, on my route, is Stratford, which stretches from 7 seconds to 17 seconds west of the meridien.

Of course, crossing the prime meridien has no time-zone related significance like the international date line. But it does mean that I travel to the western hemisphere and back every day.

There is a place near Stratford station called Meridien Square. Should visit it some time.

Comments

Shiva 19 Jul 2005 4:48 pm: Hey after a radar search i found this link http://www.bibliomania.com has a quite a large collection of Classic Fiction, Drama, Poetry, Short Stories and Contemporary Articles and Interviews. Quite an interesting site to bookmark

Salaam alekum

Fri, 24 Jun 2005 12:00:00 +0000

King’s Cross station. 6:20pm. I’m rushing along to catch the next train to Liverpool Street, when a jacket and suitcase step in front of me.

“Salaam alekum.”

This has happened to me before. 5 years ago. My response hasn’t changed.

“Huh?

“Salaam alekum?”

“Huh?

“SALAAM ALEKUM?”

“Huh?

“Aap Pakistani ho?”

“No, India actually.” (smile)

“I just lost my wallet, and I don’t have a ticket. Could you please help me?”

I had all of 5 pounds in my pocket. And I needed that.

“I don’t have cash on me, just a card.” (I meant my travel card. I didn’t have a credit card then.) “Have you tried the Information desk, there? They could help you out, perhaps.”

“Oh, I asked them. But they said I needed a ticket. Even if you have a credit card, that’s fine.” Hmm, that’s being pretty leading…

“Well, if you go over to the Information desk, they can direct you to the nearby police station. And I’m sure the police will find you a way to get home.”

No response.

“OK, let me take you to the Information desk. We’ll ask for the police station.”

“No, no, no. That’s OK. I’ll find my way. Thanks. Bye!”

Vanishes.

Not only am I becoming more socially astute, I’m even beginning to become smart.

Hotel lift

Mon, 13 Jun 2005 12:00:00 +0000

We were staying at the Croydon Park Hotel, on the second floor. There were two elevators, and one of them was down for maintenance. I was walking into the other elevator as the maintenance man stepped in as well. He started pressing the elevator buttons: one, two…

“Oh, sorry sir. I was doing some maintenance on the other lift. I didn’t want this lift to come down for some time. You go right ahead.”

He stepped out, with the first and second floors lit up. I thought I’d help him a bit. Pressed 3, 4, 5, … every button there was in the lift

I got out at the second floor. A tall, well-dressed man got in to the elevator. Turned around. Looked at me.

“Is this going down?”

Before I could answer, the doors shut.

Hope he enjoyed the view of every floor in the hotel.

Expensive phone

Tue, 31 May 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Time: early in the morning, waiting for office to open.
Location: public phone booth.
Situation: calling a mobile number in London.

Insert coin
20p goes in. Press button to push coin in.
Credit: 20p
10p goes in. Press button again.
Credit 30p
Call mobile number...
07xxxxxxx
"Hi Malu, this is Shobana."
Credit remaining: 20p
"We..."
Credit remaining: 19p
"...just..."
Credit remaining: 18p
"...got..."
Credit remaining: 17p
"...here..."
Credit remaining: 16p
"...last..."
Credit remaining: 15p
"...night..."
Credit remaining: 14p
"...and..."
Credit remaining: 13p
"...are..."
Credit remaining: 12p
"...staying..."
Credit remaining: 11p
"...at..."
Credit remaining: 10p
"...a..."
Credit remaining: 9p
"...hotel."
Credit remaining: 8p
"OK..."
Credit remaining: 7p
"...I..."
Credit remaining: 6p
"...will..."
Credit remaining: 5p
"...call..."
Credit remaining: 4p
"...you..."
Credit remaining: 3p
"...back..."
Credit remaining: 2p
"...later..."
Credit remaining: 1p
"...bye."
Credit remaining: 0p

Internet on flights

Mon, 09 Dec 2002 12:00:00 +0000

Insight from a NY Times article on how the Internet can be accessed from flights: the reason you shouldn’t use a laptop on a flight during take-off and landing is not because of electrical interference; it is that the laptop could be a dangerous loose flying object in case of turbulence. Now, that makes more sense.

Which side of the road

Thu, 07 Feb 2002 12:00:00 +0000

All you ever wanted to know about which side of the road to drive on.

I am at Bangkok

Sun, 24 Jun 2001 12:00:00 +0000

I’m in Bangkok. Not planning to update this site for a week. Incidentally, it’s almost time for my site’s first anniversary – a year since 28 July 2000, when I started updating it regularly.

Squeezing more time out of life

Sun, 29 Oct 2000 12:00:00 +0000

Sheer laziness kept me in bed till 9:30AM. Then I got dressed, and logged on to the computer, only to be greeted with “I’ve set the clock an hour behind, because it’s Daylight Saving Time. Check if it’s OK.” or something like that. Neat! I truly got an extra hour. I mean, I actually did something useful. So I told Ashwin (an exchange student from UCLA) that I’d gained an hour of life.

Ashwin: “But then, you’ll lose it when the time changes back…”

Me: “No, because I’ll be in India by then.”

Ashwin: “Hmm…. something wrong there.”

Me: “And I can do this for ever – just spending winters in London!”

Took us a while to figure out that we’d be losing time when we were on the flight. But neither of us seemed to mind.

There’s a gale warning. Now, the weather’s cold enough as it is. Wonder what a gale’s going to do to it.