It’s an essay by hasif core titled “Genuine curiosity will always beat performative intellectualism.”

I think one of the strangest things about growing older is realizing that intelligence has its own fashion trends. There are seasons where everyone suddenly reads the same books, repeats the same opinions, quotes the same people, and somehow every conversation starts sounding like it came from one shared script. I used to think this meant everyone was learning together. Now I think many people are just trying to be seen learning

I don’t even mean this in a judgmental way. I catch myself doing little versions of it too. You hear someone mention an author you’ve never read, so you make a mental note to casually bring that name up later. You finish half a podcast and suddenly feel qualified to speak with certainty. You save essays you never actually read, hoping the collection itself says something about you. There is a strange comfort in looking like someone who knows things.

On the other hand, curiosity is different; it feels different.

Curiosity has never cared about appearances. It asks questions that don’t sound impressive. It stays with topics nobody else finds exciting. It spends an hour searching for an answer that never becomes a social media post. It forgets time. It wanders into rabbit holes without wondering whether anyone will clap at the end.

I have always loved people who become completely absorbed by something. Someone explaining why octopuses solve puzzles. Someone talking about old train stations, old buildings. Someone spending twenty minutes telling me why a movie soundtrack or the colours changed the entire story. Their excitement is something else. It isn’t performing. It simply exists, taking up all their spaces.

Those conversations leave me feeling awake.

Then there are conversations where every sentence feels bland and carefully placed, enough to make them look interesting. Every reference lands with perfect timing. Every opinion sounds polished before it is even spoken. You start feeling less like you’re talking to a person and more like you’re attending a presentation. Somewhere beneath all the cleverness, you begin searching for them. The actual person. Sometimes they are there. Sometimes they disappear behind the performance.

I wonder how often people mistake vocabulary for depth.

There is a difference between collecting ideas and living with them. One fills a shelf. The other changes the way you notice the world. Someone can quote ten philosophers and still panic when asked what they actually believe. Someone else might never mention a single famous name and still say one sentence that stays in your head for weeks.

That difference fascinates me.

I think genuine curiosity is comfortable admitting ignorance. It says, “I don’t know,” without feeling embarrassed of not knowing. Performative intellectualism has a harder job. It has to keep proving itself. Every conversation becomes another test. Every disagreement feels personal.

That sounds exhausting.

Maybe that’s why curious people seem so effortlessly cool and calmer. They don’t carry the pressure of always appearing informed. They can laugh at their own mistakes. They can change their minds without treating it like defeat. They don’t build their identity around being the smartest person in the room. They just enjoy finding something they didn’t know yesterday.

I don’t think curiosity makes someone look intelligent all the time. Sometimes it makes you look clueless. You ask basic questions. You interrupt yourself. You admit confusion. You take the risk of sounding uninformed. There is something quietly brave about that. Pride usually wants polished answers. Curiosity wants honest ones.

I notice this whenever I meet someone who genuinely loves learning. They rarely rush toward conclusions. They stay with uncertainty longer than most people do. They keep asking one more question even after everyone else seems satisfied. There is patience in the way they think. Their confidence comes from knowing that every answer opens another door.

People chasing appearances often stop at the first answer that sounds convincing. Curiosity keeps walking.

I think social media has made this difference even easier to miss. Knowledge has become another aesthetic. Books become decorations before they become companions. Quotes travel farther than reflection. Reading lists grow faster than understanding. There is nothing wrong with sharing what you’re learning. I love seeing people excited about ideas. The strange part begins when looking thoughtful becomes more important than actually thinking.

You can almost feel the shift.

Someone recommends a book. Another person buys it immediately. A photo appears online. Weeks pass. The pages remain untouched. The image already served its purpose. Meanwhile another person quietly borrows the same book from a library, fills the margins with notes, disagrees with half of it, and never mentions reading it to anyone. Guess which person actually changed.

One thing I admire is how curious people let themselves be surprised. They aren’t searching for information that confirms what they already think. They enjoy finding out they were wrong. There is freedom in that. Every unexpected answer becomes another invitation instead of another threat.

Performance doesn’t have much room for surprise. It already decided how it wants to be perceived. New information can interrupt the role. Genuine curiosity welcomes the interruption.

I think this also changes friendships. You remember the people who ask questions and actually wait for your answer. They don’t listen for a chance to speak. They listen because your experience is genuinely interesting to them. Those conversations never feel rushed. You leave feeling understood instead of evaluated.

The opposite leaves a different feeling. You walk away remembering facts, references, opinions, and impressive sentences. Somehow you still know almost nothing about the person who said them.

That has always felt strange to me.

I hope I never lose the part of myself that follows random questions for no reason. The part that opens five tabs after hearing one unfamiliar word. The part that spends an evening wondering how something works even if nobody ever hears the answer. Those moments have given me far more than the times I tried to sound clever.

Maybe real learning has always been quieter than we imagine.

Years from now, I doubt anyone will remember who sounded the smartest in every conversation. People remember curiosity in different ways. They remember the friend whose eyes lit up while explaining something they loved. They remember the person who wasn’t afraid to ask another question. They remember someone who made learning feel welcoming instead of competitive.

That version of intelligence feels human.

And I think that’s the whole point. Genuine curiosity isn’t trying to win a room. It is trying to understand the world a little better today than it did yesterday. Somehow that keeps making people wiser without them chasing the title. Performance can impress a crowd for an evening. Curiosity keeps shaping a person for a lifetime, even when nobody is watching.

If this essay stayed with you, and you’d like to support the time, thought, and coffee that go into writing pieces like this, you can buy me a coffee below. Every contribution helps me keep this little corner of the internet alive. Thank you for reading.

— Hasif

I’ve always loved going down random rabbit holes. Learning something completely useless simply because I wondered why. And perhaps that’s the kind of learning worth protecting.

👉 Read the original: Genuine curiosity will always beat performative intellectualism — hasif core

Originally published on Substack / Letters from Hasif by hasif core, July 27, 2026.

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All my meetings are either on Zoom or on Google Meet those buttons did nothing on regular macOS. So I decided to fix it one evening.

TLDR: I created an app to remap those keys to my preference

The mute button on my Jabra headset did nothing on my Mac, so I built an app to fix it

Though I don’t like to spend much on meetings as I’m an advocate of async work, however, when I do join calls, they are important ones. Slack huddles, Google Meet, the occasional Zoom. My headset is a Jabra Evolve2 30 SE, and I like it a lot. Comfortable, sounds good, and it has a dedicated mute button right on the right earcup.

There was just one problem. The mute button did nothing.

Press it, and a voice in your ear says “muted”. The little LED turns red. It feels like it worked. But it works only inside in apps like Microsoft Teams. Meanwhile, your Mac keeps listening like nothing happened. Everyone on the Google Meet call can still hear you as the mic won’t work there.

Why the button does nothing

Here’s the thing I learned after digging in. Jabra headsets only send the mute signal to your computer during an active call. Not a “call” as you and I understand it, but a call in the headset’s own protocol. Softphones like Microsoft Teams speaks this protocol. They tell the headset “a call is active”, and only then does the mute button start talking to the computer.

Google Meet runs in a browser tab. Slack huddles too. Neither of them speaks Jabra’s protocol. So the headset thinks you are idle, and the button press never leaves the headset. It mutes the headset’s own mic locally and that’s it. The Mac has no idea.

That felt like something a small app should be able to solve. So I built one.

Meet Jabra Mic Mute

It’s a tiny native macOS menu bar app. Here’s what it does:

• The mute button now mutes your Mac’s microphone at the system level. It works in Google Meet, Slack, FaceTime, Discord, OBS, anywhere.
• An overlay appears on screen every time you toggle, like the volume bezel. Red slashed mic for muted, green mic for on. You always know your state.
• The menu bar icon turns into a red badge while muted.
• The headset’s own LED stays in sync with the real microphone state. When the light is red, you are actually muted. Finally.
• Bonus: the middle multifunction button that previously opened Microsoft Teams, it’s now remappd to Apple Music. Also, it knows when music is playing or not. If not, it simply opens the Apple Music app. and If music is already running, the button doubles as play and pause.

How it works

The trick is simple to describe and was painful to get right. The app tells the headset that a call is always active. It sends the same signal Teams sends. From that point on, every mute press reaches macOS, and the app flips the mute on your default input device through CoreAudio.

The painful part was the handshake. If the headset drops the fake call and you don’t acknowledge it properly, it goes silent and ignores you. Getting that state machine right took a whole evening of staring at HID event logs. The app now handles it, including across sleep and wake.

A fun detail: I built the whole thing with Claude Code. I described what I wanted, we debugged the headset’s quirks together by reading its raw USB events, and the app took shape in one sitting.

What it costs you

Nothing. It’s free and open source under AGPL. The binary is under 1 MB. It’s native Swift, so no Electron, no Jabra Direct, no background junk. It needs macOS 13 or later and runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel.

Setup is quick:

1. Download the zip from the releases page and move the app to Applications.
2. Right-click and choose Open the first time, since it’s not notarized.
3. Grant Input Monitoring when macOS asks. That’s how the app sees the button presses.

Have a different Jabra model?

I tested on the Evolve2 30 SE, but the app matches any Jabra USB device and uses the standard protocol Jabra ships across the lineup. So the Evolve and Evolve2 series, Engage, and the Speak speakerphones should work too. If a button on your model behaves differently, the app has a debug mode that logs every press. Open an issue on GitHub and I’ll try to help.

If you own a Jabra headset and a Mac, give it a try. Muting yourself should be one button, and now it is.

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AI made you faster. But you’re not more productive; you’re outsourcing the slow part to everyone else

You Got Faster. Your Company Didn’t.

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I had two video files sitting on my desktop — Part1.mp4 and Part2.mp4, 73 MB combined. I needed to merge them and shrink them. Ten minutes, tops.

An hour later I was still in the terminal, consulting ffmpeg man pages, copy-pasting filter-complex strings from Stack Overflow, trying to figure out why concat refused to stitch two clips with slightly different frame rates. 57/1 and 56/1. Close enough, right?

ffmpeg disagreed.

I got there in the end. One long one-liner, a lanczos scale, a pad filter for the letterbox, H.265 at CRF 20. Thirty megabytes out. Looked great.

But I closed the terminal and thought: this should have taken thirty seconds, not an hour.

Why Every Existing Tool Disappointed Me

Video compression on Mac should be a solved problem. Somehow it isn’t.

• FFmpeg is a black-belt’s tool. You need it, but you shouldn’t need it for “please make this video smaller.”
• HandBrake opens with forty-seven settings. Forty-seven. Before it’ll touch a file.
• Online compressors want you to upload a 500 MB video to a server. No.
• Compresto / ShrinkIt / Permute are fine, but still ask you to pick a preset. And charge for it.

What I actually wanted was: drop a video, get a smaller one. That’s the whole app.

So one Saturday I decided to build it.

The Thesis: Zero Decisions

macOS already knows how to encode HEVC really well. Apple Silicon has dedicated media-engine silicon built specifically for this. The video files people actually compress are a remarkably predictable distribution — iPhone clips, Zoom recordings, screen captures, AirDropped reels. A well-designed app could inspect any of those, derive a sensible encode plan, and execute without asking the human anything.

No sliders. No presets. No modal settings screen.

And if the output would be bigger than the input — as happens more often than you’d think — don’t even write it.

I named it ByeBye Bytes. Stupid-obvious name. My partner laughed the first time I said it out loud, which was the only focus group I needed.

Architecture first, code later

Instead of bashing code end-to-end, I split the problem into independent modules with explicit contracts.

• Core — media inspection (AVAsset → SourceProfile), a settings resolver that maps SourceProfile → EncodeRecipe, a tiny user-settings model
• Encoders — three of them:
• RemuxEncoder — stream-copy for sources already HEVC at a sensible bitrate
• SingleFileEncoder — full HEVC re-encode via AVAssetReader → AVAssetWriter
• MergeEncoder — a fast AVMutableComposition path + a slow CoreImage letterbox path for mixed-resolution inputs
• Queue — a @MainActor ObservableObject with an actor-gated concurrency cap and throttled progress reporting
• UI — SwiftUI throughout, with an ADHD-friendly layout rule: one focal point per state

Each module exposed a small public surface. Shared types lived in Core/Types.swift. Then I parallelised implementation — four modules in flight simultaneously, each with clean file ownership to avoid merge conflicts.

When the pieces came together, only two interface mismatches surfaced (one caller assumed enqueue(urls:kind:), another built submit(urls:)). Both fixed in seconds.

The pattern I keep coming back to: define the contracts first, parallelise the implementation, resolve integration by hand.

Making It Feel Good

Technical correctness is table stakes. The harder part was making the app feel calm to use.

Most compression apps are hostile to my attention. Multiple progress indicators, indeterminate spinners, settings modals that interrupt whatever I was about to do. By the time a 30-second encode finishes, I’ve already opened a new tab and forgotten why I was there.

So I wrote rules for myself:

• One focal point per state. Drop zone or queue, never both mixed together.
• No modals, no settings panel. Zero decision load during normal use.
• Determinate progress only. Indeterminate spinners trigger restlessness. A determinate bar with an ETA is calming.
• State is obvious at a glance. Colour + icon + motion together — never colour alone.
• Completion feels good. Soft “Saved 42 MB” callout, gentle green check. Dopamine without being loud.
• Escape hatches visible. Every running job has a Cancel ✕ — no menu hunting.
• Respect reduced motion. Every animation checks the accessibility env.

When macOS 26 Tahoe shipped with its new Liquid Glass design language, I rewrote every surface to use the new .glassEffect modifier — gated with #available(macOS 26.0, *) so the app still degrades cleanly to .ultraThinMaterial on Sonoma and Sequoia.

My first pass at the “done” row had a full green wash — looked nice in theory, awful in practice. Oversaturated background, poor text contrast on the status line. I scrapped it and replaced the treatment with a neutral glass panel plus a thin colored accent stripe on the leading edge. The state signal lives in the stripe + the icon colour — the rest stays readable.

Sometimes the 10x UI improvement is removing ninety percent of what you put in.

The Icon Was Its Own Project

I wanted the icon to speak Liquid Glass fluently — the new layered format that derives dark / tinted / clear variants automatically from foreground layers on transparent backgrounds.

Squeezing the M-Chip

Once the app was working end-to-end, I turned to performance — the kind of work users never see directly, but feel every time they use the app.

Your Mac has a dedicated chip specifically for video. iPhone uses the same kind of thing to shoot 4K without melting. Most apps don’t fully lean on it. A handful of small changes made a real difference:

Never settles for the slow path.
macOS has a fast way to compress videos (using that dedicated chip) and a slow way (using the regular CPU). The slow way is 5–10× slower. Most apps let the system pick; ByeBye Bytes insists on the fast way, every time. If for some reason the hardware isn’t available, the app tells you instead of silently grinding.

Stops wasting work behind the scenes.
The old merge logic was quietly doing two expensive conversions per frame — taking video data, translating it to a format CoreImage preferred, then translating it back for the encoder. Frames travel through thousands of those per video. Skipping the round-trip shaved an estimated 20–40% off merge time on bigger videos. The result: you spend less time staring at a progress bar.

The first encode feels like the tenth.
Graphics pipelines “warm up” the first time you use them — think of it like a cold engine. The old code was re-warming for every single video. Now the app warms up once and reuses that warmth for the rest of your session. First drop of the day feels as snappy as the twentieth.

Runs smart on your specific Mac.
Different Apple Silicon chips have different numbers of video engines — a base M1 has one, an M1 Pro has two. The app now counts what’s available and runs exactly the right number of encodes in parallel. Don’t over-schedule a base model (it just slows down), don’t under-utilize a higher-end one. Whatever Mac you’re on, it makes full use.

Keeps your photo details.
macOS’s built-in video tools quietly strip metadata — the “taken on June 14th at the beach” info, GPS, camera make and model — every time they re-encode. For iPhone videos, that means your compressed memories lose the data that makes them findable in Photos. ByeBye Bytes copies all of that forward. Your compressed trip.mp4 still shows up on the right day, in the right place, taken on the right phone.

Skip-If-no-gain (My Favourite Feature)

The feature I’m proudest of is almost invisible.

Some files simply can’t be compressed meaningfully. Low-bitrate screen recordings. Ultra-short clips. Already-HEVC videos at a tight bitrate. A naive compressor encodes them anyway, writes a slightly-larger-or-equal file, and calls it a day.

ByeBye Bytes doesn’t do that. After every single-source encode, it compares output size to input. If the saving is below 2%, it deletes the output entirely and marks the job “Already optimized – kept original” with a calm neutral row. Your original file is untouched. No clutter in the output folder.

This is the kind of feature that’s almost invisible in normal use. But the first time it skips for you, you think: oh, thank you.

Shipping in 2026

Distribution has two cheap wins in 2026:

GitHub Releases. ditto-zipped .app with SHA-256 in the notes. One tag, one asset, done.

A personal Homebrew tap.

brew install --cask saiftheboss7/byebye-bytes/byebye-bytes
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/ByeBye Bytes.app"

(The xattr line clears macOS’s quarantine attribute – unavoidable for ad-hoc-signed apps until I spring for a Developer ID and notarization. On the list.)

Try It

Install:

brew install --cask saiftheboss7/byebye-bytes/byebye-bytes
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/ByeBye Bytes.app"

Or download the .app straight from Releases.

macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Apple Silicon recommended. MIT licensed.

If something breaks, open an issue. If it saves you an hour, star the repo. And if you have a feature you’d want to see next, tell me – I’m listening.

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I just felt that before the show ends after years of anticipation and countless rewatches, I needed to write something about it.

This show, these characters, and the cast have had a deep influence on my life, and honestly, all of it has been positive. I had been re-watching the show every time I felt stressed, wanted to see something comforting and be amazed.

Every time a new tease dropped, I’d get excited, rush to r/strangerthings subreddit, or binge YouTube breakdowns. I know what I’m saying is something most of fans have done, but I still wanted to acknowledge it anyway.

In a few hours, the show would be over, I won’t lie that I am nervous. But it had to end someday, and that day is finally here.

One of the reasons I relate with Stranger Things because it came out at a time when I was very stressed (University stuff) and it provided me with sheer comfort.

Growing up, I absolutely loved Tin Goyenda and was and still am an avid fan. Naturally, when Stranger Things came in 2016, with its 80s theme, the Spielberg inspired color grade, the meta references from the 80s – I became an instant fan.

And something clicked immediately.

The bikes.
The synths.
The suburban quiet hiding something terrifying.
The color grading that felt like a memory I never lived but somehow remembered.

It felt like finding a lost Tin Goyenda book, published decades late, but written exactly for me. I didn’t just watch the show. I moved into it.

I’ve watched every season more times than I can count. And every time, I fall in love all over again. I’ve fallen in love with Dustin, Steve, Will, Mike, Eleven each time. But more than the characters, I fell in love with the feeling again.

At its core, it’s the same thing Tin Goyenda gave me years ago. A sense that the world is mysterious.

That problems are meant to be explored, not avoided. And that the best adventures always begin with a group of people who trust each other completely.

Some people grew up in the 80s. I never got to live in that era, but I grew up loving every bit of it.

I still miss the late 90s and early 2000s when we made connections and never lost touch. And in a strange way, I still live in that era.

Hope The Duffer Brothers would do justice to the series finale.

1 LAST EPISODE. THE FINALE of Stranger Things streams today in a few hours

One last time. ❤️

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That feels strange to say. Not because I feel old, but because 30 always sounded like something other people reached first —people who I thought were actually “older guys.” Guys who don’t play cricket, football, or badminton anymore, and while meeting on the streets, they just try to reminisce looking at teens saying “Give me a few overs to bat,” “Can I play 10 minutes with you?” and more

My twenties passed fast. Long nights. Random plans. Chilling out and hanging out with friends. Work that shaped. Somewhere along the way, I stopped rushing to figure everything out, got married, became a father, met many online friends, attended a few new WordCamps, spoke at a few of them, and along the way, made a few new friends both locally and around the globe.

I don’t have a list of 30 things I’ve done or want to do. I became a lot more faithful and became more religious, trying to be a practicing Muslim in the last decade. I feel grateful. For the people who stayed. For the lessons that hurt but helped. For the small choices that made me better. For all the moments shared with my friends, colleagues, and well-wishers.

If I could tell my younger self one thing, it would be simple. “Live, smile, stay happy, who knows what tomorrow may bring.”

Here’s to being 30. Still learning. Still curious. Still here.

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

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Suddenly, everything feels a little bit different, a bit chaotic even; there seems to be a change in the air. The streets become almost empty before breaking the fast because everyone is hurrying towards home to break fasting together and share food together. It’s as if the city itself pauses, holding its breath for that sacred moment when families gather to break their fast together with the sound of Adhan.

I feel privileged each year that I get to spend Ramadan and do Iftar and Suhoor with my family at home. I once spent a few days of Ramadan outside the country, and it was painful—not knowing anyone, not hearing adhan, and not being able to break fast at the same table with my family. 

Sitting around the table with loved ones, making the final Dua before Iftar, the hue and cry during Iftar preparation, and finally breaking fast with the family while BTV plays the Adhan—a scenario so many can relate —these are the moments that root me, that remind me what home truly means.

Many take the job of “Chief Sharbat Maker” of our job during this month, and it’s a great fun responsibility! That first sip of Sharbat after a day of fasting is something else! Every bite of those familiar dishes passed down through generations tastes as good as you can imagine. It’s more than a meal; it’s a warm hug from the inside out, a reminder that I’m where I belong.

With each passing year, there may be some changes to the table as well. For example, I still miss my father during these Iftar meals. There may be missing seats in each family, awaiting to be filled. Sadly, some chairs will never be filled again, and you have to make peace with it.

Spending Ramadan with my family at home is an absolute privilege. It’s one of the best feelings ever. Shukur Alhamdulillah. May Allah allow us to make the best use of Ramadan. Ramadan Kareem, everyone. 🌙

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Bikes have been a necessity for Dhaka roads for a while. I only bought my first motor vehicle last year, as mentioned in the Year in Review. I have zero ideas about true motorbikes and haven’t had a proper motorcycle until today. In fact, I only learned how to ride a motorcycle after I placed the prebooking. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Royal Enfield has always been a special part of my heart. I remember Shah Rukh Khan riding that iconic olive Royal Enfield in Jab Tak Hai Jaan back in 2012. I posted about the Bangla version of the opening credit back in the day. It was such an iconic moment!

During my trip to Darjeeling in 2019, there was an undeniable spark of excitement in the air, and I just had to have one of these!

Growing up, I couldn’t help but notice how Royal Enfield seemed to dominate the big screen in both Hollywood and Bollywood, cementing its status as a cultural icon. In Hollywood, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, where Brad Pitt’s character rode a Royal Enfield Bullet, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara symbolized the spirit of friendships. And who can forget the opening credit of Jab Tak Hai Jaan? Shahrukh Khan, gliding through the serene landscape of Ladakh on an olive Royal Enfield Classic, ensured the cinematic legacy continues.

These on-screen moments weren’t just about the bike; they ignited a deep emotional connection to the Royal Enfield brand.

When Royal Enfield launched a couple of months ago, I was skeptical at first. However, I took a deep breath, trying to overcome my fear of motorbikes, and completed the pre-order. Shukur Alhamdulillah, received this majestic beauty today.

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As the year draws to a close, it’s a valuable time to pause and reflect on the milestones, lessons, and memories that shaped the journey. Reflection helps us appreciate our growth, recalibrate our priorities, and help us to look forward to the future. Last year, I started drafting my 2023 Year in Review but couldn’t complete and publish it due to other priorities. In fact, the last time I published Year in Review, was in 2021. This time, I made it a point to finish what I started, and I’m excited to share this recap of 2024.

[You may notice some sections have short details, but I felt it’s better to publish now and enhance and add details later, rather than not publishing at all]

The format of this post is to cover month by month, and later I added other significant events/details that happened to me in 2024.

January: A Special Start

2024 started on a special note for me, as my wife was in her third trimester. It was a time of anticipation, joy, and preparation. Regular medical checkups, ensuring her diet supported the baby’s development, and spending quality time together were the highlights of those early months.

Also, at the end of 2023, I bought a scooter bike, which I didn’t have much time to ride last year. This year, I began taking short trips on my scooter, which turned out to be a game-changer for saving time and enjoying quick escapes from the hustle of daily life.

This year, I spent almost 4,000 KM on the bike, which was a pleasant experience overall. However, I had one minor accident, some light tears, and pain that recovered in a couple of weeks. Previously, I was over-reliant on Uber and CNGs, which took a lot of spending. I can confidently say buying the bike has saved me a large sum. On average, it takes 600TK to go somewhere around the city and return to my home. An average of 3 outings each week means I have saved around ~60-70K BDT with the bike. (not excluding the oil cost)

I recommend it to anyone who wants to zoom through the busy streets of Dhaka as it can add a lot of convenience to your regular lifestyle.

February: weFamily Day, Shifting towards a healthier lifestyle

In February, I attended the annual weFamily Day event, a cherished tradition that beautifully bridges the gap between professional and personal life. It’s not just about reconnecting with colleagues but also introducing my family to the people and culture I’m proud to be part of. The event fosters a sense of community and belonging, and it’s heartwarming to see families bonding over shared experiences.

I wrote a detailed blog post about weFamily Day, exploring why I hold it in such high regard and why it’s essential for families to understand their loved ones’ workplace environments.

This month also marked a shift in my lifestyle. I joined a gym and started swimming after work hours (More about It at the end)

March: The Spirit of Ramadan

Like every year, Ramadan was a time for reflection, gratitude, and giving. This year, I continued our tradition of distributing iftar meals to those in need, including the underprivileged, daily wage workers, and disadvantaged individuals in our community. At the start of Ramadan, I invited others around me to join this initiative, whether by helping prepare meals, packaging, or contributing funds. Many, including those from abroad, responded generously.

Every day, we prepared home-cooked meals for about 50 people. Each meal was thoughtfully planned, ranging from Polao, Chicken Roast, Egg Korma, Beef Tehari and other delicious items. Over the month, we distributed more than 1,215 iftar meals and extended our efforts by providing Eid gifts to over 50 families, bringing joy to many households.

This initiative, which began during the early days of the pandemic, has grown into something I deeply value. It was even featured on a YouTube channel, highlighting its impact on the community.

I am incredibly proud of this achievement and remain committed to continuing it in the years to come.

May: A New Chapter

May was monumental. I joined WordCamp Sylhet and delivered a talk on “Product Management vs. Project Management,” which was a fantastic experience. I wrote in detail about my experience at WordCamp Sylhet in a separate blog post

But the highlight of my year—and perhaps my life—was becoming a father. We welcomed our baby girl, Inayah, into the world. Words cannot capture the overwhelming emotions of holding her for the first time. It was a moment of gratitude and awe—a reminder of the miracle of life. I wrote about my experience in a separate Bangla article where I shared my journey to fatherhood

This experience deepened my respect for my parents. Until then, I only understood parenthood from a distance, but becoming a father transformed how I viewed their sacrifices and unconditional love.

June: Bringing Inayah Home And Celebrating Eid Al-Adha

Much of June was spent adjusting to the arrival of our beautiful baby girl, Inayah. The whirlwind of emotions has been nothing short of transformative, from the excitement of welcoming a new life into our home to the physical exhaustion of late-night feedings and diaper changes.

I remember the day we brought her home—an overwhelming mix of joy, responsibility, and nervousness. There’s no handbook for fatherhood, and nothing prepares you for the constant change of pace that a newborn brings.

We celebrated Eid Al-Adha with friends and family. Alongside the traditional Qurbani, I distributed extra meat to the less fortunate. Sharing joy and blessings during such occasions is something I hold dear.

July-August: A Revolution Unfolds

The mid-year was intense. Bangladesh witnessed a significant revolution, with thousands sacrificing their lives to topple an autocrat. It was a time of chaos and thrill. I contributed by helping injured students and providing medical relief. This period disrupted my routine; I spent sleepless nights tracking news and updates. It’s an experience that will stay with me forever. Here’s an article that summarized why Bangladesh prime minister resigns, flees to India

September: A Spiritual Journey

In September, I had the incredible privilege of performing Umrah, and it was an experience that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. The spiritual journey to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah was more than just a trip; it was a transformative pilgrimage that brought me closer to Allah and allowed me to recharge spiritually and emotionally.

One of my biggest lessons from this experience was becoming a more practical Muslim. I became more consistent with the smaller stuff—praying on time, being kind, showing gratitude, being more helpful and empathetic to others, and staying true to our faith amidst our busy lives.

As I returned from Umrah, I felt spiritually renewed. It was an experience that reminded me of the importance of continuing to strive for self-improvement, both in my worship and in my everyday life. This time, I am trying to continue my Salah 5 times daily and have been able to continue so far. This has been a great achievement, and I plan to continue improving more from here. The lessons learned during those sacred days continue to guide me, reminding me to keep my faith strong, to live with intention, and to stay close to Allah in all that I do.

Since returning, I’ve prioritized Salah (I used to miss some prayers) but am now more disciplined. I am embracing Islamic values more integrally in everything I do and in my lifestyle. If possible, I encourage everyone to undertake this journey; it can profoundly impact your perspective.

November: Community and Growth

November was packed with events. Started with the weDevs Annual Trip to Cox’s Bazar, which was a blast. Here’s a short video that tries to summarize the whole tour.

I also went to WordCamp Malaysia on a sudden notice in November. At FlyWP and weDevs, we’ve always believed in the power of community. WordCamps offers the perfect platform to connect, learn, and grow within the WordPress ecosystem. This year, we were thrilled to participate as a silver sponsor in WordCamp Malaysia 2024.

The event was a memorable experience that strengthened our commitment to the vibrant WordPress community. I wrote a separate blog post covering our journey of WordCamp Malaysia 2024

December

December was all about reconnecting, looking back and making plans for 2025. I met one of my closest friends after he returned from Canada after almost 3 years, and we had a great time together exploring, connecting, and discussing. Some of my friends got Married in December, and we attended the wedding. Amidst the weddings, I re-connected with some old friends as well. It was pretty unbelievable when we discussed how we left school more than a decade ago and how fast we had grown up in the last few years. It felt that the times went on the brink.

At the end of the year, one of my close friends, Nabil’s father, had a minor stroke, complexities with electrolytes, and diabetes. We had to take him to the hospital. He’s been doing better in the last few days, and I hope he gets well soon.

Missing my Dad

As I mentioned in a separate post, navigating life without my father has been challenging for all of us. It meant we all had to take on more responsibilities. Still, I miss him every day, and guidance and moral education guide me each day.

Losing my father five years ago feels like a void that time hasn’t been able to fill. Not a day goes by when I don’t think about him—his laughter, unwavering support, and the countless lessons he taught me, often without saying a word. Life has continued, but his absence is a constant echo in everything I do. I wrote how I felt when he left the world, and every bit of it still is true. Whether making decisions, celebrating birthdays, or handling complex situations, I often yearn for his guidance,

Navigating life without him has been challenging, but his memory inspires me to push forward. I miss him deeply — not just in the grand moments of life but also in the small, everyday instances. I wish I could ask for his advice every now and then, or just say Hello. I’d have loved it, if he was here to see his grandkid, but yeah — that’s life. The love and values he left still guide me every day; the pain of missing him remains.

Being more health conscious

Early this year, I joined swimming because I knew I could not continue going to the gym for the long term. Swimming has always been something I’ve loved, so it felt like a natural choice to incorporate it into my life.

I have loved the way I have been since I was a kid, despite being overweight. However, this year, I felt I could do more after work hours. The gym doesn’t attract me as I quickly get bored with it. Over six months, I lost over 13 KGs with healthy eating, some light gym, and swimming — which felt like a significant achievement. However, as our priorities shifted with the baby’s arrival, it became increasingly difficult to continue, especially as my wife couldn’t prepare my meals consistently, and we welcomed Inayah into our lives.

Looking ahead to 2025, I’m determined to focus on my health again and aim to shed some more weight.

Professional Growth and Skill Development

This year, I managed over eight products at weDevs. One of them is FlyWP, on which we increased our focus. FlyWP stands out as a product that gained immense traction, earning over 100 five-star customer reviews with a community of more than 600 enthusiastic members. We consistently innovated, pushed new features and enhancements, listened to customers, and improved our support. I loved how we grew as a team. Launching FlyWP on AppSumo was also a milestone.

Other than that, we consistently pushed enhancements, fixes, and new features across our entire product portfolio. The overwhelmingly positive feedback from users was deeply fulfilling. For example, FlyWP has 96% customer satisfaction at this moment. This achievement reaffirms the importance of customer-centric innovation in product development. Hearing customers’ delight fuels my passion as a Product Manager, and their happiness remains the cornerstone of everything I strive for.

This year, I also focused on enhancing and improving my managerial skills. I enrolled in a managerial course at Dhaka University for IT management professionals. Unfortunately, I had to drop the course after a couple of months as the mid-exam collided with my WordCamp Malaysia trip. I plan to retake the course soon as I’ve found it beneficial.

Besides, I tried to use at least 2-3 new apps every week, keeping up with the rapid advancements in AI and technology. Next year, I aim to continue more time on my understanding of AI-related products, explore more ways how AI can integrate into my life/user’s life. I’d also dive deep into how to create more valuable and human-friendly experiences in the new age of AI.

Personal Growth, Lifestyle, Gadgets, Movies and Other Stuff

2024 also marked a period of mindfulness. I reduced social media usage and joined meaningful Reddit communities that align with my interests. On the home front, I renovated my room, adding cabinets to make space for Inayah’s belongings.

I treated myself to two gadgets I highly recommend: an Apple TV 4K, which transformed our home entertainment, and an electric toothbrush. I thought Apple TV wasn’t something I’d enjoy, but it impressed me a lot. I was frustrated with Samsung’s Tizen-based OS on my TV, which limited its performance. Using Apple TV gave it wings it never had.

If you’re struggling with TVs’ slow loading and stuffed operating systems, I recommend using an Apple TV. It’s wicked fast, plays anything you throw at it, is great with other Apple products, and is completely ad-free.

The electric toothbrush has been a game-changer for dental care, reducing my previous complexities with dental-related stuff. The bust of the year for me was the Basesus keyboards. Avoid Basesus keyboards and mice.

Simple Joys of Life

This year, I watched fewer movies and skipped starting any new series. I re-watched many F.R.I.E.N.D.S episode instead. Friends is a comfort series that never fails to lighten up my mood.

But the true joy came from late-night gatherings at a local tea stall with my neighborhood friends and juniors.

Throughout the year, almost every week, I’ve found myself drawn to the local tea stall late at night—a cozy spot where my friends and I gather 3-5 times a week. These 30-minute to hour-long catch-ups are more than just casual chats; they’ve become a much-needed pause in my busy life. Over a warm cup of tea, we share stories, laugh, and talk about things that make life feel lighter and less stressful. These simple moments help me clear my mind, let go of the day’s worries, and recharge for the next day. It’s a reminder that sometimes all you need to recharge is a cup of tea, good friends, and a little slice of time carved out just for connection. 

I wrote about one particular outing in a few words in this blog.

Similar to what Marc Randolph (Netflix Founder) shared about Tuesday nights, these gatherings with my friends was incredibly helpful.

Closing Thoughts

2024 was a year of milestones, challenges, and growth. From becoming a father to contributing to my community and deepening my faith, every moment shaped me. I’m grateful for the blessings, the lessons, and the people who made this year unforgettable.

All-ḥamdu l-illāhi rabbi l-ʿālamīn. Subhanallah walhamdulillah wala ilaha illallah wallahu akbar

Here’s to carrying forward the love, faith, and determination into 2025.

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I recently purchased the Baseus mouse and keyboard combo, and I regret to say that it has been an extremely disappointing experience. Despite its attractive price, even with a 30% discount, this product fails to deliver on almost every front. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the issues I encountered:

Wireless Quality

The wireless connection quality is abysmal. Both the mouse and keyboard frequently lose connection, making them highly unreliable. The constant connection drops disrupt workflow, causing significant frustration. This issue alone makes the product nearly unusable. Also, the initial setting up is not as smooth as I would have expected.

Slow Response Time

The keyboard is painfully slow. Keys often take a long time to register on the screen, which is particularly problematic for fast typists or gamers. Moreover, the keyboard frequently repeats keys, adding to the frustration. This lag in response time severely hampers productivity and makes simple tasks laborious.

USB Dongle Requirement

One of the major selling points of a mouse and keyboard combo is the convenience of using a single USB dongle. However, this product disappointingly requires separate USB 2.4GHz dongles for the mouse and keyboard. This is a major inconvenience, especially for users with limited USB ports. It negates the benefit of buying a combo and adds unnecessary complexity.

Poor Build Quality

Despite looking sleek and modern in photos, the actual build quality is very poor. The materials used are cheap and flimsy, giving the product a very low-quality feel. The plastic feels brittle and lacks the durability expected from a brand like Baseus. This cheap construction undermines any initial positive impressions.

Additional Issues

• Battery: No batteries are included with the purchase. I had expected high quality batteries with the purchase. The battery life is also below average. Both the mouse and keyboard drain batteries quickly, leading to frequent replacements.
• Ergonomics: The ergonomic design is subpar. The keyboard feels uncomfortable for extended typing sessions, causing strain over time. The rounded keys may look nice but not really comfortable to type
• Aesthetics vs. Reality: While the product looks good in photos, the reality is far from the advertised appearance. The cheap materials and flimsy construction quickly become apparent upon handling.

Save your money, don’t buy Baseus PC accessories

In conclusion, the Baseus mouse and keyboard combo is not worth the investment. The poor wireless quality, slow response time, requirement for separate USB dongles, and low build quality make this product a total waste of money. Even at a discounted price, it fails to meet basic expectations for a reliable and functional input device. I strongly recommend avoiding this product and looking for a more reputable and reliable alternative.

I’d recommend using a wired Logitech keyboard and mouse set if you want to keep things in budget while not sacrificing anything in the name of “updated tech.”

Overall Rating: 2/10
Save yourself the hassle and disappointment – do not buy the Baseus mouse and keyboard combo.

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