Hasnain says:

“On February 2, 2019, just one day later, Thakur and Gomes shared their anxieties with Nick Fox, a Vice President of Search and Google Assistant, entering a multiple-day-long debate about Google’s sudden lust for growth. The thread is a dark window into the world of growth-focused tech, where Thakur listed the multiple points of disconnection between the ads and search teams, discussing how the search team wasn’t able to finely optimize engagement on Google without “hacking engagement,” a term that means effectively tricking users into spending more time on a site, and that doing so would lead them to “abandon work on efficient journeys.” In one email, Fox adds that there was a “pretty big disconnect between what finance and ads want” and what search was doing.”

Hasnain says:

This weekend another couple of mass graves were discovered at hospitals in Gaza. But that’s out of the news cycle because folks want to condemn people who are protesting against the murder of innocents. Sigh.

So glad the kids are alright though - more power to the students protesting all over the country.

Hasnain says:

“The Netanyahu government has managed to derail even our relations with the United States, as if we have an alternative source for arms and diplomatic backing. The younger generations in the United States, and around the world now see Israel as a racist and violent country that expels millions from their homes, starves entire populations, and kills many thousands of civilians for no better reason than revenge. The results will be felt not only in the coming days and months, but for decades into the future. Even during the worst moments of October 7, Hamas was nowhere near vanquishing Israel. But the ruinous policy of the Netanyahu government following October 7 has placed Israel in existential danger.”

Hasnain says:

“Google workers have the right to peacefully protest about terms and conditions of our labor. These firings were clearly retaliatory.

On the contrary, our bosses called the police on its own workers, the Nimbus Nine, who were arrested and taken into custody last night. “

Hasnain says:

Given past work I’ve done here I can say it sucks that things have gotten to this point

“To ensure that the world can trust WhatsApps claims of privacy and safety, Meta must answer the following questions:

Did Meta provide information (including inputs or training data) used by Lavender, Gospel, or Where's Daddy to the Israeli government?

How will Meta prevent private information being used by governments to kill WhatsApp users and their families?

Does Meta believe that Israel's actions towards civilians in Gaza and with Lavender comply Meta's Human Rights Policy?

If not, why has Meta not revoked all access to the Israeli government that may put civilians at risk?

Why has Meta not released their transparency report for the 2nd half of 2023?

What was the level of knowledge of WhatsApp metadata sharing with the Israeli government, including whether it was to be used for military purposes, among Meta leadership, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and CISO Guy Rosen?

Will Meta immediately rescind access to any WhatsApp information from the Israeli government, army, and law enforcement?

Without answering these questions, it seems impossible to take seriously any claim that WhatsApp is a private messaging application.”

Hasnain says:

Hard agree with most of this article.

“You've heard it before, but let me repeat it — our greatest asset isn't the code we write. It's us. Our health, our minds, our ability to be present and enjoy life outside of the terminal window. Software Engineers and Tech co-founders, like us, are more prone to hitting the lows. Depression doesn't care about your GitHub stars or how scalable you managed to build your Kubernetes Cluster.

I've learned the hard way that not every problem at work is mine to solve. I used to take every customer issue personally, letting my stress levels hit the roof. But I've gotten better at recognizing what's within my control and what's not. Can't help a customer because of a time difference or because it's outside my expertise? That's okay. There's a team for that, and it's not all on me.

I’ve been burnt out and stressed out, and it took a toll on my work, my relationships, everything. Only after I finally started prioritizing my well-being did things change for the better. I won’t say it’s all rainbows and ponies now, but things have changed. I became a better engineer, a better leader, a better friend, and a happier person than I was.”

Hasnain says:

“A few days after the funeral, I walked to the marina to watch that pink-sky sunset. As the sun bled fuchsia through the sky and the Golden Gate Bridge reflected in the tide, I thought about Paul’s body buried in the ground in Northern Ireland while his belongings were just as he had left them in our apartment a few blocks away. I imagined a parallel existence where he had never stepped off the curb that night, where I would come home and find him studying his Russian notes in a kitchen that smelled like chipotle.

Weeks later, I finally summoned the will to clear out Paul’s room. As I carefully packed away the roommate who was gone almost as soon as he arrived, I came across a dresser drawer stuffed with crumpled, recently worn clothes. I pulled out a T-shirt. It read: “All we have is now.””

Hasnain says:

“"We are identical twins in almost every other way — laugh in the same way, cry in the same way, see the day in the same way, love the same way," Sam says. "He should absolutely have that ability to speak. He should have that. And him not having that is so unfair."

So for now, Sam plans to keep using his own words to help say what his brother can't.”

Hasnain says:

"Think back and write down times when you were wrong and real consequences of those. Usually you will realise there has never been a terrible consequence except some embarrassment that lingered for a day or two. (As an experiment I have asked people a few times if they remember that one time when I said something that was wrong - almost always they have no idea what I am talking about - they simply immediately forgot about it)."

Hasnain says:

“In conclusion, I find it quite surprising how naturally and elegantly handles solve many problems I encountered in the past with the traditional ‘pointers to objects on the heap’ model, and how little I miss this model now (and the parts of C++ that are built around it).”