CSS clamp() function

2025-10-12T20:19:05.071+00:00

CSS has a clamp function that takes a min value, "preferred" value and a max value.</p>

If the preferred value is between min and max, then the preferred value is returned, otherwise the output is clamped based on min and max.</p>

I used this recently on the astro rewrite of this blog while setting margin for my "See all posts" CTA so that it's dependent on viewport size such that it never goes out of the viewport and smoothly goes inside the viewport as we resize.</p>

margin-right</span>: clamp(-25.5px,calc((900px - 100vw) / 2 - 10px),0px);
</span></code></pre>
Ref: clamp() - CSS | MDN</a></p>



vim "+norm Go" "+startinsert" $filename
2025-10-07T17:21:17.403+00:00
Use the command</p>
vim "+norm Go" "+startinsert" $filename
</span></code></pre>
to automatically move at the end of the file and start editing.</p>
This is useful when you are invoking vim from another script i.e. when you
don't want this to be the default behaviour but want it in a special case.</p>
For me this was useful for my journal</code> script which appends the current time
at the end of a file and opens the file and (now) automatically moves to the end
and goes to insert mode.</p>


We can run queries across a range in google sheets
2025-10-06T14:44:34.992+00:00
Query Language Reference (Version 0.7)  |  Charts  |  Google for Developers</a></p>
QUERY function - Google Docs Editors Help</a></p>
Google Sheets supports a QUERY function using which we can run queries on a range of data.</p>
The Google Visualization API Query Language has a SQL-like syntax and exposes a variety of functions to work
on the selected range.</p>
For example,

The following query groups by date summing the values in column B. The query runs on the range A:B</code></p>
=QUERY(A:B, "SELECT todate(A), SUM(B) GROUP BY todate(A)")
</span></code></pre>


The empty object `{}` isn't accepted by Pydantic with type `dict[str, Any]`
2025-10-02T08:17:29.957+00:00
Why :< just why</p>


Cool things in Swift
2025-08-17T07:53:35.279+00:00
I recently picked up Swift</a>.
This article is about some of the things in Swift that I thought were cool.
I will probably update this as I come upon more cool stuff, which is bound to
happen as I'm still starting out.</p>


On Emotions
2025-04-19T15:14:01.285+00:00
It's been a while since I've started feeling. I'm not sure when it 
started. Probably around when I was 1-3 years old? Who knows! </p>
Anyway, with my experience of about 27 years, I present to you my
thoughts on some emotions I've experienced while living and feeling
as a person sorted in no particular order.</p>
Feel free to tell me about your own experience with emotions. I love
being human and understanding how others experience this world.</p>


Making LLMs do what you want
2025-03-29T19:34:35.193+00:00
Tired of spending hours convincing an LLM to just do that one thing?
You have tried lots of different ways to no satisfaction  and yet it
eludes you why it isn't able to just do this really simple task? Look
no further! You've reached the place  you'll learn the dark arts of 
making any LLM head over heels for you. I have worked with LLMs since 
about two years now and this guide is about what I learnt and how we
can ensure the best prompts while also modifying prompts to accomodate
evolving requirements.</p>


Book notes: The Psychology of Money
2025-01-28T15:36:16.342+00:00
My notes for the book "The Psychology of Money" by Morgan Housel.</p>


Iterate over Tuple Type in TypeScript without recursion
2024-12-14T17:09:01.448+00:00
A simple trick to iterate over a tuple in TypeScript without resorting to recursion.</p>


Sri lanka trip 2024
2024-11-17T10:58:09+00:00
I went to Sri Lanka on 6th November, 2024 and returned on 12th November, 2024.
This article describes my experiences on this trip.</p>


Thoughts on Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
2024-03-02T17:40:00+00:00
This article contains my raw thoughts on the book "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir.</p>


Unlearning habits and saying bleh to intrusive thoughts
2023-12-17T08:44:54.507+00:00
Being a human, you gotta do what humans do. You walk, you eat, you communicate. Human stuff.

You're walking down a street and notice a dog, it's cute. You want to say hi to it, and so you move towards it. It moves towards you. You're both moving towards each other but wait.

why is the dog barking? why does it look angry? what did I do wrong?

The dog comes at you faster giving you lesser time to process. The dog knows batman is invincible with prep time, so it removes the prep time.</p>


The exit
2023-12-10T09:53:28.608+00:00
It was orange, green, red, and brown. Walking down a path with my girlfriend, arm around her shoulder, we chatted about the most random things. </p>
It was a good day. It started when I got out of my bunk bed and jumped into the brown world. A mountain of stress crept in as the reality sunk in. I was stuck in my room. The noise outside terrified me and my roommates, soaked by water leaking through somewhere I had no idea.</p>


Avoiding assertions in TypeScript
2023-12-03T15:37:02.169+00:00
Often, when working with Typescript, people tend to go for type assertions to suppress errors. Though that does suppress the immediate error, it is often the case that you're causing yourself a pain by not fixing the underlying issue, and exposing yourself to bugs at runtime. The main advantage of Typescript is the types we define, the more accurate they are to reality the less often you'll encounter type related bugs in production.The rest of this article is about type assertion, non null assertion, and how to avoid it.</p>


Random thoughts (2?)
2023-11-02T20:55:00+00:00
Years ago, maybe in 2018 or 19, on a random afternoon outside the college canteen, a friend posed me a simple question that has been on my mind a lot these years.
The question was, what if you give it your all, invest unwavering effort, and after all this what if you still fall short of achieving your dream?</p>


Chasing Stars and Chatbots: The Shifting Landscape of Relationships
2023-10-30T15:08:22+00:00
Before the internet, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, human connections were all about good old-fashioned face-to-face encounters. No, not Zoom meetings, but actual in-person gatherings. People built relationships by attending social events where they’d chat, laugh, and occasionally break into spontaneous dance-offs in their well-lit caves and colorful gardens. Friendships were like a well-cooked biryani, simmering over shared experiences, heartfelt conversations, and the occasional handwritten letter or two. Communities were cozy and tight-knit, with neighbors who didn’t need a ‘Follow’ button to show they cared.</p>


Making your first game
2020-05-29T14:01:00.169+00:00
So, you've learnt programming? You've made some easy programs? Maybe even made a few bigger projects? It's about time for you guys to start making games. If you don't know programming, I encourage you to use google to look for programming tutorials to learn a beginner friendly language like Python. After you're done with that, come here again. </p>
This tutorial is aimed at people who are `okay` at programming in C and are interested in making games. It's also aimed at people who are bored of their life and want to just read something random which involves an awesome</span> orange demon.</p>


Social distancing and The Naked Sun
2020-04-04T10:58:09+00:00
Social distancing is a new and perhaps uncomfortable concept for many of those practicing it due to the pandemic this world is going through today. We are all in different places now; most probably where we didn't expect ourselves to be at this point. We are forced to stay isolated from others in our own hole, yet we are connected to everyone through this fantastic invention of mankind: the internet. In my opinion, being isolated has its own perks and even staying off the internet during this time might do you good but that's not really the topic of discussion right now; maybe some other time.</p>


Rivals
2018-08-29T18:05:00.169+00:00

Dear John,</em>

It's me. I hope you're doing okay. I need you to know that I love you. Things get difficult sometimes, but you need to push through it and win. Look up, my soldier. I'm not there with you right now. No one's there with you. It's your fight. Only your fight. You have to win.</em>

You have some goals. Look at them again and prioritize the things in your life accordingly. Let go of the things that bring you down. Accept that you can't control everything. Focus on the things that you can control. Develop your skills and increase your circle of influence. You have the potential to destroy whole planets. I've witnessed your power.</em>

I'm sorry that I'm not the best version of you right now and I forgive you if you feel the same way about yourself. I just want you to know and to remember that you aren't as powerless as you feel. You just have to focus on you. I love you. Please take care of yourself.</em>

Take care of Tyler. Stop worrying about Danish. Trust Emilia to take care of him. Someday you'll have to tell Tyler about them. You can't call Emilia again. It's over now. Focus on yourself. Focus on Tyler. He's just two years old now. Make sure he doesn't become like you even if it means he'll hate you. It's all going to be okay. Tyler is going to have the best life. He doesn't deserve the punishments for my sins and neither do you. You can change. I trust you.</em>

It would be good for your health if you quit smoking. I know you don't care about living. I don't care either. I don't know why I told you to quit smoking. Forget that. Do what you feel. Everyday the world will drag you by the hand, yelling, "Do this. This is good! Don't do this. This is bad! This is important! And this is important! You need to worry about this! And this! And this!" And each day, it's up to you to yank your hand back, put it on your heart and say, "No. This is what's important."</em></p>
Your friend,</em>

John Smith</em></p>
</span>
John read the letter he had written to himself seventeen years ago. Tears streamed down his face dropping down on his shirt from his cheeks. He was sitting on the floor with papers and torn books scattered around him. His cigarette had burnt a hole in one of the fat ones. His hands trembled as he put down the letter and held the knife in his right hand against his wrist.</p>
Except for the mess in the corner near the drawers where John sat, the room was quite neat and well lit. The air around him was rank with the smell of cigarettes and dust. The rain outside failed to calm John down. It reminded him of all the things he did wrong and all the people he had the power to mess up. It also reminded him of the times he was happy and how he had hurt the people who made him happy. He was alone. He sat in the house where he had dreamed his family would be, where his friends would hang out, and they all would have fun spending time with each other. It was the house he had hoped to call a home. He was alone and he hated being alone. It wasn't something he thought about consciously but deep inside he knew that everything that had happened was inevitable. He looked around the room. He looked around himself at the scattered papers and books and photo albums. It was everything that he loved and regretted. Accepting this as his final resting place, he decided for the fourth time to end it all.</p>
He clenched his teeth, held back his tears and lightly sliced his already wounded wrist. Drops of blood oozed out of that wrist as he bit his lower lip and tightly closed his eyes. His heart throbbed wildly protesting against the act.</p>
"No." He said to no one.</p>
"No. I have to live."</p>
He dropped the knife and tried to get up with the support of the desk but fainted before he got on his feet. The clang of the fallen knife stayed on his mind. He let go of the cigarette he had in the hand whose wrist he just cut.</p>
The sound of the cigarette falling down was inaudible to human ears. It burned itself slowly and put a brown stain on the paper below it. It's smoke drifted up to the ceiling, then spread around in the room. Some of it escaped outside in the lawn and killed a few organisms. It kept floating away and up towards the dark sky.</p>
Kilometers away, a man with a hood stood over a corpse observing it keenly. He found the noise of the rain hitting against his raincoat annoying as it was hampering his listening ability. Though it was difficult, he tried to be alert and made sure to hear any quick footsteps around him.</p>
Tyler looked down at the bloated corpse they had pulled out from the river. It was a girl, about eighteen years of age. Her eyelids were open and the eyes had been rolled back. She looked beautiful in a way. After watching her for a few more seconds, Tyler moved back towards the two police officers enjoying their tea in the shed while a few other cops inspected the place.

Since a week ago, Tyler had been trailing a guy he suspected to be part of a human trafficking gang. He had estimated that he'd have the whole gang captured within two months. That would help him win Officer Pratter's trust as well.

Tyler always made detailed plans and made sure to consider as many outcomes as he possibly can. The worst decision he had made paled in comparison to the one he was about to make in a few minutes. He had expected a murder around this area. More accurately, he had planned a murder around this area. Tyler had influenced events so as to force the human trafficking gang to murder a man Tyler had hired. As demanded by Tyler, Officer Colsen had called him immediately when they had discovered the body here.

"Tyler! My boy!" Colsen shouted. "You got it right again!"</p>
Tyler went near them and smiled at Colsen.</p>
"It's almost as if you are the one who murdered him." Pratter said with a half-smile.</p>
Tyler ignored the remark and said, "these are dark times, Officer Colsen. I don't have enough evidence but I believe that there's a serial killer around. Please notify me of any more murders."</p>
Tyler walked away from the shed and went out in the rain . A small hill stood behind the shed. Tyler went around it and sat on a wet stone after making sure no one had followed him there. He took out a wet mobile phone from his pocket. He had stolen it from right under their noses. Gracefully, he opened the phone, removed the battery and took out the SIM card which he put in his own phone and then copied all the contacts and the SIM card's number from it. There were just three contacts: Mom, Dad, and Mr. Phantom.</p>
He went back to the shed and swiftly returned the mobile phone with the SIM card back inside it. Officer Pratter was busy shouting at someone on the phone while Officer Colsen was engaged in a conversation with one of the other police officers.</p>
Tyler was curious as to who this Mr. Phantom was. He was sure that the phone he had stolen belonged to the corpse. The girl was clearly strangled to death. He surmised that the girl was thrown into the river in an attempt to hide the body and clear the evidence. He wasn't really interested in the case; it was too easy for him. Crimes of passion were usually the least tricky ones. The murderer almost never plans a good way to hide the evidence. Tyler wanted to confirm his assumptions so he decided to quickly clear this matter and shift his focus back on catching the traffickers. Little did he know that this one would last for much longer.</p>
And so he closed his eyes for a moment and just relaxed for a while.</p>
His heart throbbed as he waited for Mr. Phantom to pick up the phone. He wanted to do it right. Tyler spoofed the caller ID so it'd appear that the girl's phone was used to make the call. After about thirty seconds, Mr. Phantom picked up the phone.</p>
Neither said anything.</p>
"Jane?" Mr. Phantom started, his voice full of melancholy. Tyler also heard a slurping noise.</p>
"Where are you, Jane?" he continued.</p>
"Who is this?" Tyler said, " The owner of the phone has been involved in an accident. Can you say your name and how you're related to the owner?"</p>
"Danish. Danish Grace. I'm her boyfriend." Mr. Phantom frantically said. "Where is she? What happened?"</p>
That was too easy</em>, Tyler thought and doubted whether his first guess: Mr. Phantom was really the killer. He'd have to contact her Mom</em> and Dad</em> as well.</p>
"It's you, Danish. You killed her. What happened? She cheated on you?" Tyler calmly asked hoping to provoke him.</p>
"What are you talking about? Who the hell are you? Where's Jane?" Danish shouted, then took a sip of his coffee.</p>
"By the river you dumped that whore in. Pulichter road. I'm Tyler Smith. Don't worry, I don't care about scum like you so I don't care what you do. The police will find you eventually." Tyler felt something wrong with this one. He expected Danish to be more stressed out than he seemed. He wondered if this one's got a mental disability.</p>
"Tyler Smith" Danish said coldly. "I'll find you. It's Danish Grace. Remember the name." Danish laughed. "I'll kill you all."</p>
Tyler froze. A shiver went down his spine as Danish cackled on the phone. His voice was immediately cut off leaving Tyler alone with his own thoughts.</p>
I like this guy</em>, Tyler thought and smiled to himself.</p>
/* Thanks for reading! :) This story is a part of the series: The smile that was sad</a>.  */</p>


The smile that was sad
2018-08-01T00:00:00.169+00:00
It started when you read some of my stories. I wrote fiction. Close to my heart. About a hero. A murderer, actually. The guy who killed for fun and called it justice. The guy who was fake to all and everyone loved him. You said you liked the weird sense of humour he had. I told you I am kinda like that. You smiled. I saw through it. I knew you were sad. I was worried. I didn't want you to be sad. I told you that
I care for you, darling, don't push me away. This is not a fairy tale. You and me are meant to be. I'm just trying so hard to make sure you're okay. This world is cruel like me. Just tell me if anyone's hurt you in any way. I'll burn them without mercy. I promise, my baby, this is not a fairy tale but for you I'll make sure it feels that way.
What's up? What's down? I have lost the sense of direction. It's a pity I got you that teddy bear. We were so close to perfection. I asked you out that day. You said fine. I was happy. Perhaps that was my mistake. My shitty writing made you feel good. Though the thing I should have told you was that I am not my writing. I'm me. You're you. We're fast paced. Messed up. We were looking at each other. I did fall for that smile. I regret it.
It rained. It rained a lot. We started out real neat. It was simple and so clean. And you had quit smoking. It was fun. Relaxing. With you life felt so comfy. Oh I love your smile. And the way you look in my eyes. I love the way your hands touched mine. And once when you were scared you said you were forever mine. On my birthday, you got me a cake. On yours, I gave you a kiss. You said you prefer cake. It was bliss. Not the cake, the kiss. The cake was okay. We made each other happy I guess.
Yet I felt restricted. In writing I expressed it. A long text message it was. Then the thumbs we moved so fast for trying to keep what won't last. A whole week passed. Never said a word. Another week passed. I thought of a plethora of adjectives, but 'I am sad' I texted. You read it. And did you smile? Did you feel like saying 'I was right'? Did you squint your eyes trying not to cry? I was there waiting for your reply. I waited for an hour. Then another. Then three more. I put down my phone. Looked at the moon, it was so alone. It did have stars around it. But doesn't a natural satellite prefer company of a natural satellite. The stars were shiny, sure, but what if shiny isn't what the moon liked? My phone beeped. 'Me too' I read. Maybe I should have continued looking at the moon. But I replied. 
Things got back to how they were before. Though I wasn't really happy. And maybe neither were you. And then another long text message. This time I made you cry. And I wondered if our love was a lie. But me pondering stuff didn't matter. The next day we were back together. I promised to never make you cry. I promised that in me you'll see a better man. I told you I keep my promises. You smiled. I saw through it. In the end, I realize I am what I write.
As I squeezed your throat, you looked in my eyes. Goosebumps. I squeezed harder. I love you so much. You made a funny face. Don't know why it reminded me of your birthday. That whiteforest was good, though. I lit a cigarette and went out. Yes I'm fine. No I'm not crying. I wiped my tears. Yes I was lying. I miss you already. It had to be done. Atleast  you aren't sad now, right?
The moon looked so bright. I fell in love with the natural satellite. It reminds me of your smile.
I'm looking at our photos. Even the ones when we first met. There's something I just realized. It wasn't you, it's always been me who looked sad.</p>