Hi, I’m Bhuvan.This is my commonplace book.

Trump is monetizing his presidency

From trade wars to military wars, anything the US president says can shift markets, and so teams of traders - as well as a host of automated computer systems - monitor his statements to perform trades within seconds. Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) now wants to charge for such market-moving information put out on its Truth Social platform. It has launched a paid service to give Wall Street firms and institutional…

The violent act of reading

I had a series of long conversations with my wonderful colleagues today. And as I was reflecting on them, what surprised me was the number of times I kept talking about reading: why they should read, why I read, how reading has helped me, and all the endless virtues of reading. I think everybody wants to read. But…

Bullish on global warming

It's all fine! Nothing to see here!

RSS is cool!

I don't know enough about the technology itself—whether it's actively being maintained or where it's heading—and I can't speak to all the historical details, but it seems accurate enough. The plain fact is: RSS is so fucking cool. Even today, I rely heavily on RSS feeds to keep track of posts from all the blogs and…

China’s AI gift to the world

What is this? A rambling, status-post-shaped voice note. How sure am I? Reasonably sure about the broad argument. Much less sure about how the technology, economics and geopolitics will unfold from here. Disclosure: I dictated most of this into ChatGPT and used it heavily to clean up the voice notes, organise the…

The life of a Banchhada girl

Unlike Savitri’s daughters, most girls in the community are born into a system in which their families expect them to enter sex work — a practice passed down over generations. According to several members of the community and NGOs in the region, while many Indians celebrate the birth of a boy over a girl, the Banchhadas welcome a girl with sweets and firecrackers. As girls grow up, they receive better nutrition than boys.…

Solve the right problems

I often think about that story when browsing X. Every day, someone invents a new way of working that promises to change everything. Some probably will. But ultimately what matters most is solving the right problems.