"The best section of Toastmasters sessions? The one where the winners are announced and felicitated."
— Me, after surviving the Felicitation Chair role.

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A Meeting of Minds​

This wasn’t just another club meeting.

It was a cross-border alliance of wit, wisdom, and wow-moments — a joint meeting of Area A5 clubs, featuring powerhouses from Vellore, Hosur, mind blowing education session speakers and beyond.

And right at the tail end of this prestigious gathering, I was handed a mic and a mission: to felicitate, celebrate, and wrap up sessions like a pro — all in under 45 seconds per role taker.

Here’s what the felicitation ceremony looked like:

• 20 people to be felicitated
• 3 dignitaries on stage
• Me giving light-hearted appreciation
• Person comes on stage, collects the gift
• Photographer gives a thumbs up after the click
• I call the next person

Smooth, right? Almost.

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My Preparation​

The official Toastmasters website had hardly any information on the felicitation role.

Later, in a discussion with my mentee-turned-DTM, I learned that this role is the brainchild of the Conference Chair — someone who truly believes in the “division of labour”... or should I say, division of roles.

Though the plan was to have two people share the felicitation duties, the universe decided that one person — me — was a perfect (and only) fit.

Special shoutout to TM Monica, CA, whose calm, coaching-style leadership helped me manage the logistics and statistics required to perform this role without chaos.

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The Script I Used as Felicitation Chair​

TM-style Opening Hook​

On a Sunday, if I start my bike before 9 AM, it knows exactly where to go — straight to the farmers’ market, where I shop mindfully without worrying about GST.
But today isn’t an ordinary Sunday.
A Toastmasters conference in my sleepy little town, Hosur, with members from District 120 and beyond converging at Advaith School — now that deserves a chapter in history.

For making this happen, everyone in this room deserves to be felicitated.

The felicitation ceremony had two parts:
Part 1 – Role players
Part 2 – Honouring the crust above the rest

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Part 1 – Felicitating the Role Takers​

I invited the following dignitaries to the stage:

• Division A Director TM Pratheepa Sukumar
• Area D5 Director TM Bharat Nandhagopal
• Conference Chair TM Caroline Padankatti

Let the show begin:

• “From gathering registrations on AllEvents to reminding us to carry water bottles, pens, and sharing every crucial detail — welcome on stage, Registration Chair TM Samuel!”

• “The silent force of Hosur Toastmasters, from co-registration to backend updates — welcome, Co-registration Chair TM Saravanan!”

• “From informative posters to nostalgic TV-box reels and timely reminders — welcome, PR Chair TM Vani Ugin!”

• “From backstage coffee to guest care — you were everywhere! Welcome, Hospitality Chair and mighty president of Hosur TM, TM Gary Michael Henderson!”

• “Your voice carried confidence and set the morning tempo — Emcee Morning, TM Abidha Shah!”

• “Professional, composed, and to the point — Timer, TM Priyadharshini!”

• “Post-lunch slump didn’t stand a chance — Emcee Afternoon, TM Nandini!”

• “Solid stage presence and seamless coordination — TM Ramesh!”

• “Every great event runs on time, and every second counts — Timer, TM Saranya!”

• “Delivering precise timing reports — Timer, TM Abinaya Kannan!”

• “She set the venue, ran behind mics, and now she’s at center stage handing over gifts — our SAA, TM Monica!”

• And of course, TM Balaji – myself, multitasking through all of this with a grin.

I did go off-script occasionally to inject humor — the energy in the room had started dipping post-lunch, and quite a few attendees had already vanished for their afternoon nap.

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Part 2 – Felicitating the Bosses of TM​

Next, I invited the District Trio — a term I learned just a week earlier:

• District Director, DTM Parthasarathy
• Club Growth Director, DTM Anirudh
• Program Quality Director, TM Vinoth Kumar

Also invited, in the same sequence:

• Division A Director, TM Pratheepa Sukumar
• Area D5 Director, TM Bharat Nandhagopal – effortlessly cool
• TM Caroline Padankatti – the power behind the stage who stayed composed even during 9 PM Google Meet marathons

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My Self-Evaluation​

I'd rate myself 4 out of 5.

• I came prepared
• I added personal flair
• I adjusted in real time

One thing I would do differently: I should have orchestrated stage movements better, such as having the first set of dignitaries return to their seats before inviting the next batch.

Other than that, the show went smoothly.

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What is the Felicitation Chair?​

• It's the segment where the audience starts scanning for snacks (pun intended)
• Role takers and dignitaries expect a professional wrap-up, not a duct-tape script
• You’ll have last-minute add-ons whispered to you in front of 50 people while you’re holding a mic and pretending everything’s under control
• You must remain calm, composed, and ready to improvise
• Carrying notes isn't optional — it’s a survival tool
• Yes, you do get felicitated in the same ceremony (just don’t expect a standing ovation)

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Final Words​

If you're ever asked to be the Felicitation Chair at your club or area event — don’t hesitate.

Say yes.
Bring your A-game.
And remember:

Claps fade.
But well-worded praise? That sticks.

React Nexus 2025: React Harder​

Second time at React Nexus. Bigger venue, bigger sponsors, same old dev jokes. Held at Tata Auditorium, IISC – beautiful place if you like trees and long walks to the nearest metro.

What Went Down (Other Than My Battery)​

• Logistics: One sticker. One tee. One meal per day. That’s the deal. Cab-friendly, metro-unfriendly.

• Sponsors: Took the stage like Bollywood villains. Some reruns from 2024. Gemini & Copilot aced the quizzes more than the attendees did.

  

• ImageKit.io: Indie builder CEO handing out stickers = 🫶 Who knew images + GenAI + AWS could be a profitable cocktail?

• GoDaddy: Still selling domains like flash sales. Bought one. Page still says “Hello World.” Now with GenAI, they add the hello page for you. Still pushing Outlook 365 like it’s going out of stock.

• Vonage: Zoom-ish APIs. Most colorful booth. Least understood by crowd. They were hiring.

• WSO2 Asgardeo: Auth-as-a-service. Repeat speaker, repeat stickers. Still no buy-in from bosses.

• Zoho Catalyst: “Run everything with us (on free tier).” Indie energy, real. Good for side projects, enterprise signup after sales men raids. Might convert prompt to SaaS if you squint hard enough.

• Code of Conduct Slide: The usual “don’t harass women” clause. But honestly, dev conferences now look like HR onboarding. 50/50 gender ratio. Welcome change.

• React 19 + NextJS: Headliners. React Actions API opened the show. Time to un-dust the docs.

• Audience Engagement: Peak Bangalore moment: guy hacked, built, and launched a product on New Year’s Eve. 🙌

• React Compiler: Still a mystery box. Used in 3D video gen demo—hit and miss.

• Best Speaker? Wadad Parker. Tackled React Context with stand-up energy. Put Toastmasters to shame.

• GoDaddy Talk on Microfrontends: Enlightening. But no tools, just “vibes.”

• Tech Company vs Software Company vs Vibe-Coded Startup:

  • Tech company = builds tech
  • Software company = builds from packages
  • Vibe-coded = builds vibes, nothing else

• Zoho Catalyst (again): Their domain setup is easier than your weekend plans.

• Lighthouse Talk (again): Same speaker. Same slides. Different year. Look at web.dev if you need filler content, apparently.

• Monitoring & Observability: Not the same. One alerts, one explains. Both are friends now.

• Frontend QA: Smoke tests > Nothing. Playwright > Hope. Monitoring > Late-night debugging.

• Telemetry 101: Metrics, logs, traces... add them to your design system if you want to sound senior.

• AI Tools: Cursor’s @web, @docs, @diff = DevGPT mode unlocked.

• MCP (Magic Component Platform): Figma → Code without tears. Everyone's happy. Until you self-host it online and leak your keys.

• React Dev Joke Moment: “Lazy loading is like buying 10 chips, eating one at a time.” Me: “Bro that’s throttling. Lazy loading = frequent runs to the shop.”

• React Native: Few talks. Fewer fans. Still exists.

• Browser-LLMs: Local LLMs in your browser soon. Because why not.

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Conclusion: React is evolving, audiences are engaging, and conferences are quietly becoming better. React Nexus 2025 felt more like a community summit than a sponsor expo—despite the sponsor overload. Chennai devs showed up in droves. Peaceful vibes. Good chai. No one shipped to production from the venue, which is a win.

P.S. I still haven’t deployed that domain I bought.

After 14 years in tech — including 7 years at my current company — this isn't a celebration post. It's a reflection.

A career this long doesn’t just give you experience. It gives you patterns. You start noticing what stays, what fades, and what was never real to begin with.

This post isn’t about growth charts, anniversaries, or achievements. It’s a reality check. Especially for those who entered the workforce with dreams shaped by college lectures, parental expectations, or HR onboarding decks.

Bookmark it. Revisit it. Especially when the winds change.

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Jobs Are Forever — The Myth We Bought​

We were told a job is a destination. Land one, and you’re safe. Study hard, get placed, follow the system, and one day retire in peace. That illusion didn’t survive its first encounter with real-world volatility. For many of us, it collapsed not in our first job, but in the uncertainty of the second or third, where layoffs weren’t just newspaper headlines — they were personal. I vividly remember 2012 — hearing the word layoff not in a company-wide announcement, but in hushed conversations. Someone had run a SQL script to revoke access for 2,000 employees. That one line of code unraveled years of effort in milliseconds.

Like Abhimanyu in the Mahabharata’s chakra vyuha — we were trained to enter the maze, but never taught how to exit with dignity or direction.

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Trainings Will Save You — Another False Promise​

Every new tool promises salvation. There's always a 10-hour video, a certification badge, or a learning week calendar invite. But knowledge ≠ transformation. You can’t train your way out of stagnation if you never practice. I’ve seen folks with "12 years of experience" who’ve actually repeated the same year twelve times.

Meanwhile, younger teammates with fewer years and sharper instincts bulldoze ahead because they build, break, and ship things. That edge doesn’t come from upskilling videos — it comes from showing up, making calls, failing fast, and bouncing back faster.

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Hold Virtual Ownership — But Don’t Drown in It​

"Take ownership" is on every job description and manager’s checklist. But what does it actually mean in a workplace where ownership is distributed so thinly that no one has true decision power? We all know how “too many cooks” ends. At some point, everyone owns everything and yet nothing gets done. Developer productivity becomes a metric sport, while the product itself has no paying users. Market validation? Not my department. We just sprint. It feels like a rush-hour metro ride — packed, sweaty, and no one is willing to adjust for the person next to them. Everyone's pushing, no one knows where the train is heading.

Virtual ownership without real influence breeds burnout. Masked as initiative, rewarded with more tasks. And if your work isn’t directly influencing product adoption or revenue? Better believe someone’s already rewriting your goodbye message.

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Your Worth = A Number​

Whether you’re a fresher or a VP, you are a number in a dashboard:

• CGPA
• Leetcode percentile
• Story points delivered
• Uptime maintained
• Revenue influenced
• Cost avoided

If your work can’t be quantified, it’s sidelined. Worse — you start internalizing the idea that you’re not contributing enough, even if you’re the glue holding teams together. I learned this late: Emotional intelligence, long-term thinking, culture-building — these don’t show up in slides. But the system demands that even these be justified with metrics. If not, you risk being seen as "nice to have" when it's time to downsize.

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Layoffs Are Normalised — And That’s Not Going Away​

Layoffs are no longer the stuff of boardroom whispers. They're livestream events. Scripted, staged, and delivered over Zoom.

From Big Tech to startups, workforce cuts are no longer a reaction — they're a strategy.

• It’s not personal.
• It’s not fair.
• It’s just business.

At the time of writing this post, TCS a prestigious Indian company where several employees stayed loyal to Tata Group where put on the line called "first ever 2% workforce reduction". Illustrating the fact, no company is layoff proof. You are only as secure as the revenue forecast or funding runway. You could be the highest performer and still be asked to go because your role didn’t “align with priorities.”

Every job now feels like a stock pick. You invest time, hope, and weekends into a bet that may or may not pay off. You rise and fall with the market mood.

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AI: The Elephant in Every Meeting Room​

AI is the most discussed guest in the room — invited to every conversation, understood by very few.

In meetings, “Let’s bring in AI” is thrown around like a magical fix. But when asked what exactly it should do, silence follows. Truth is, AI is today what cloud was in 2012 — full of promise, stuck in pitch decks. By 2030, AI will face its own audit. The novelty will wear off. Leaders will stop using it for press releases and start using it for results. And developers will stop fearing AI — not because it’s weak, but because they'll finally understand what it can and can't do.

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Mental Health Is a Joke​

It’s easy to preach balance when you’re a spiritual leader with a lake-view campus and loyal donors. But when you’re an employee living month-to-month, “balance” sounds like a luxury. When townhall invites trigger dread. When one reorg wipes out months of planning. When even good work ends with a “however” in the appraisal form. No wellness app will fix the anxiety of seeing colleagues disappear from Slack and payroll overnight.

Today, every employee has at least two AI tools watching their work, recording patterns, nudging suggestions — training to replace them more than to support them. It’s no longer fiction to imagine a future where brain-implanted AI boosts “efficiency.” Because hey, it’s more important to track keyboard strokes than to turn off the energy-guzzling TVs still looping yesterday’s metrics in an empty office bay.

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Final Thought​

Work is no longer a straight line. It’s a loop.
Learn → Build → Make money → Exit → Repeat

14 years in tech. 7 years in one company. This milestone isn’t a victory lap. It’s a checkpoint. A reminder to stay adaptable, humble, and detached. Because in this industry, one truth reigns above all:

Impermanence isn’t a bug — it’s the default setting.

Quick Recap​

We took our first swing at digital hygiene: NextDNS configured on a non-ISP router, mobile Private DNS set, the whole house subtly steering away from distractions. Our battle star? The never-ending chase to block YouTube.com for good.

But as always, the story gets more interesting.

The Parental Control Problem — ISP Routers Just Don’t Cut It​

The so-called “parental controls” on most ISP-supplied hardware are a masquerade. The DNS fields are locked down; your hands are tied. For real filtering, the only way out is to move to your own hardware so I picked up a TP-Link mesh router supporting true mesh networking.

Mesh brings coverage, flexibility, and—crucially—three distinct SSIDs:

• Default
• Guest
• Smart Devices

Now, with NextDNS set at the router level, everything in the house bows to centralized rules.

NextDNS Profiles: Access Levels Like IAM for Humans​

One genius detail about NextDNS is its profile-based filtering, think of it like authorization groups in IAM. Here’s how my rules stack up:

• Default: YouTube is blocked everywhere, the good citizens’ network.
• Elders: YouTube allowed (but only when the baby’s not around).
• Dev Mode: Everything permitted—for me, when it’s time to break things or fix them.

Side effect: some analytics break, and anyone with the Tor app can waltz past the controls. It’s not bulletproof, but it’s pretty resilient.

SaaS Fatigue and the DIY Fix​

Here’s the catch: NextDNS’s free plan caps at 30,000 DNS requests/month. That’s enough for one or two users, but add a full house and you’ll hit the wall. The fear: getting locked into yet another SaaS subscription for every single filter.

• Temporary solution: Careful rationing, multiple profiles, and possibly automating some extra DNS protection. Still, I have DIY plans brewing to avoid lifelong lock-in.

The Result: Under Control… For Now​

With distinct SSIDs, granular DNS filtering, and profile-based controls, the home network feels far more intentional and secure. The only wildcard? Human factors, will elders and guests play along or look for loopholes?

I personally save nearly 2 hours a day with no youtube, thats 30 days saved per year.

But for now, digital discipline is stronger than ever. Parenthood is chaos; your network doesn’t have to be.

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To fellow parents: tweaking your network takes patience, but the peace of mind is worth it. On to the next frontier…

[1] https://dhbalaji.dev/blog/2025/preparing-home-network-before-first-child

It began as most heartbreaks do, not with a warning, but with a moment. Eight years of companionship, memories etched into plastic keys and flickering screens. This was not just a laptop; it was a cherished confidant, a silent witness to late-night hustles, travels, and the fragile trust between creator and machine.

But even strong bonds can snap. On a monsoon-drenched evening, fate delivered a blow. The Dell service center greeted me somberly, where a sticker cheerily warned about “monsoon laptop care”—advice, in my case, a little too late. The diagnosis: my beloved Dell Inspiron, dead on arrival. There were no heroic rescues, just a silent mourning and the slow ache that follows a familiar loss.

The fallout was immediate. Backlogs grew like weeds. Blogs languished in drafts as an interim Dell Vostro—salvaged from the garage and coaxed to life with Debian—struggled beneath the weight of creative ambition. The void left by the Inspiron haunted every click. Sooner or later, I knew: it was time to let go and move on.

The Pursuit of Power And Value​

I dreamt, briefly, of a desktop—a machine built on ChatGPT-powered advice, futuristic and mighty. But reality grinned: a 3–5 lakh rupee price tag. It felt absurd, the cost outweighing the gains, with the grey cloud of warranty uncertainty looming. Dell’s tower PCs were impossible to “add to cart” without wading through conversations with bots; the tempting A51 desktop was a crush at first sight, quickly doomed by its price—well above ₹5 lakhs.

The configurations under Dell’s “Workstation” banner cost more than a new Ather Pro scooter. Disheartened, I wandered into the wilds of OLX, mentorless but hopeful.

On OLX, the market teemed with budget laptops—plentiful at 25k, but the beasts I needed lurked rarely, cloaked behind search filters: “Dell i7”, “50k and above”. And yet, despite Apple’s siren song and options aplenty, my heart stayed loyal to Dell—perhaps from habit, perhaps nostalgia.

On OLX, two sellers emerged: individuals hoping for a fair price, and seasoned shopkeepers flipping out-of-warranty stock. Caution prevailed; I chose the latter. Stranger meets in unknown places—money flashing on UPI—felt like a recipe for disaster. I wanted reliability, not adventure.

The Resurrection: Enter Dell 7620​

RG Computer, Belandur was unassuming—a small shop, a friendly shopkeeper, and an attentive assistant. There, among reclaimed silicon, sat my contender: the Dell 7560. (Specs to come.) The inspection ritual began:

• Checked the Dell service tag, verified the model’s lineage.
• Scanned for scars—deep or faint—from previous lives.
• BIOS revealed battery health and year of manufacture (both scrutinized).
• Booted and rebooted, measuring patience.
• Ran HW Info, checked SSD specs—ensuring no deceit hid beneath the surface.

The shopkeeper walked me through their refurbishing process—old NVMe swapped for a fresh NVMe, a subtle upsell attempt gracefully declined. After two hours, I still forgot to check every key, but luck favored me; all were functional.

Armed with a bill and three months of shop-backed warranty, I walked out—lighter in heart, heavier in hand. The workstation is, in a word, solid. I do not recommend carrying it around on your back, its indeed heavy. I use my Dell Vostro for light work on the move.

Meet the Beast: Dell 7620​

• Intel i7, 11th Gen, 8 cores @2.50GHz
• 32GB DDR4 RAM
• 512GB healthy NVMe storage
• Nvidia 6GB graphics
• Windows 11 Pro

Things I Don’t Understand Yet

• The 180W charger—why such a power-hungry beast for this machine?
• The air vents, reminiscent of a car radiator, puzzling me with their design and purpose.
• The CPU core temperatures, often hovering at 50°C and above—stable or stealth warning?

Red Flags? Of course:

• Out of Dell warranty, over four years old
• Noticeable signs of prior use
• Fingerprint sensor, more gimmick than guardian

But for ₹55k? In my urgency, the deal felt fair. Back at the desk, it stood firm—two USB-Cs, two USBs, HDMI, and a DP port. It powers two monitors, a cooling pad, and more. The webcam is decent (bonus: a privacy slider).

Epilogue: Grief, Growth, Gratitude​

Three weeks in, I’m surprised by the stability. I’m building again—products, content, momentum. The wound from the monsoon disaster remains, but it’s fading, replaced by a story of resilience and renewal.

Overall rating: 4.5/5. For a refurbished warrior and a rekindled creator’s journey.

Expecting a baby? You’ve probably baby-proofed your furniture, but what about your Wi-Fi and devices? In today’s world, computer networks are as important as cribs and car seats. Here’s how I—a nerdy new dad—secured my digital den for my family’s safety and sanity.

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Step 1: Understand Your Home Network Like a Responsible Adult​

Most homes today have more than one way to get online, even if you don’t realize it. Computer networks are everywhere—broadband, mobile data, and hotspots.

Count the Networks​

Total Networks at home = 1 broadband + each phone with an active mobile data plan

That means your child’s screen time could sneak in through any of these entry points. First step: identify and isolate them.

Basic Network Topology (Before Changes)​

Internet → ISP Router (Wi-Fi & LAN) → All Devices → your child

This gives the ISP’s router full control over DNS, firewall rules, and device access. Not ideal for a security-conscious parent.

Smart phones + data packs → your child

Data packs by carrier don’t give any parental control tools.

We need to target the network-level filtering, which is generally good enough to block ads, parked domains, and time wasters.

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Step 2: Fix the Manhole — Lock Down Your Broadband​

Why ISP Routers Are a Problem​

• Most ISP routers are locked down—DNS settings greyed out
• Firmware is often outdated and insecure
• Limited or no parental control features
• No custom firewall or VLAN options

What I Did Instead​

1. Disabled Wi-Fi on the ISP router
   Let it act as a basic modem or Layer 2 switch.
2. Introduced My Own Router (Netgear)
   Plugged into the ISP box via Ethernet (LAN to WAN). This separates my internal LAN from the ISP’s network.
3. Enabled NAT, DHCP, and DNS on My Router
   Configured to issue private IPs (e.g., 192.168.1.x) and point all DNS queries to OpenDNS servers:
   • 208.67.222.222
   • 208.67.220.220
4. Registered with OpenDNS
   Created a free account, added my dynamic IP, and enabled category-level filtering. You can block:
   • Social networks
   • Video sharing
   • Adult content
   • Gaming, shopping, forums—up to you
5. Tested the Setup
   Verified DNS override by visiting:
   https://welcome.opendns.com

Updated Network Topology​

All devices now talk to the internet via my firewall + DNS filters, not the ISP’s.

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Step 3: Taming the Phones—Especially the Ones With Data Packs​

Broadband is fixed, but what about mobile data on phones? These are the real backdoors in your computer networks.

Simple But Effective Plan​

• Recharge only when needed (no monthly auto-renewal of data-heavy packs)
• Use mobile data only for OTPs, emergency maps, and short bursts

The Engineer’s Setup​

I needed something robust and centrally managed.

1. For Broadband Devices – I use OpenDNS via the router.
2. For Mobile Data (4G/5G) Devices – I use NextDNS via Android/iPhone’s Private DNS feature.

Why NextDNS?​

• Supports DNS-over-TLS (DoT) and DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH)
• Per-device logs, analytics, and block rules
• Works even over mobile data, friends’ hotspot
• One profile can be shared across multiple devices
• For entire family, basic plan is worth it. Free plan is limited.

How to Set It Up on Android​

• Go to: Settings > Network & Internet > Private DNS
• Choose: Private DNS provider hostname
• Enter: your-profile-id.dns.nextdns.io (from nextdns.io dashboard)
• Save and test at: https://test.nextdns.io

Now even on 4G, your DNS traffic is encrypted and filtered.

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The Bigger Motive: Family-Wide Digital Discipline​

This isn’t just about protecting a newborn. It’s about reprogramming how we use computer networks and the internet—so that the baby doesn’t see everyone glued to screens 24/7.

What We’re Trying to Do​

• Remove addictive triggers from devices
• Encourage meaningful use of tech
• Create consistency across screens
• Lead by example

This is not a one-man battle. It’s a full-stack family-level architecture decision.

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Problems Faced​

Technical​

• Changing DNS is straightforward if you’re used to router admin pages.
• Most modern routers support this out of the box.

Psychological​

• Asking aging parents to give up binge-watching YouTube is like asking them to skip tea.
• You’ll hear:
  • “What’s wrong with watching one or two reels?”
  • “It’s just a recipe video...?”
• Prepare for mini mutinies, emotional blackmail, and silent resistance.

Financial​

• Another subscription added, hopefully Netflix & Prime go away

But if you stick to it, it gets easier.

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Advanced Nerd Notes​

• DNS Leak Protection: Use firewall rules to block outbound port 53 and redirect to OpenDNS.
• Split VLANs: For homes with smart TVs and IoT devices, separate them into guest VLANs.
• Device MAC Tracking: Some routers let you assign policies per MAC address (for kids vs adults).
• Dynamic DNS: If your IP changes often, configure DDNS and bind it to OpenDNS/NextDNS updates.
• Logs & Analytics: Use Pi-hole or Netflow on a Raspberry Pi to monitor domain requests for forensic insights.

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Disclaimer​

I’m not selling any tool here. This blog is about the mindset shift required to raise children in the age of digital dopamine.

Use any tool you prefer. The idea is to build a secure, distraction-minimal environment where children grow up watching their parents being intentional—not just entertained.

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Final Words from a Nerdy New Dad​

Failing to plan is planning to fail. We’ve baby-proofed our furniture. Now let’s baby-proof our Wi-Fi and computer networks.

Because the real "parental control" isn’t in a router setting—it’s the decision to take control in the first place. What are your strategies? Did you deny lending your phone? Share your tips below!

Sometimes you just need to break the writer’s slump, and what better way than to air some tech community laundry/gossips. Here are 3 classic struggles that keep popping up, no matter how fast the AI world moves.

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1. Senior vs. Junior Conundrum – The Banyan Tree Effect​

Juniors often feel like they’re growing in the shadow of their seniors – those strong, wide-spread banyan trees that block opportunities and stunt their growth. This isn’t just a theory – data shows that nearly 30% of techies with less than 3 years of experience switch jobs, looking for more sunlight and fresh air.

For juniors, the challenge isn’t just the learning curve but finding their voice in a team where the seniors have already taken the best seats. It’s like trying to grow a startup in a market dominated by FAANG.

While seniors are busy debating the best design pattern for a microservice, juniors are trying to get their first pull request merged without being roasted on the code review thread. It’s a constant game of "How many comments will this PR get before it’s finally approved?", "Will anyone mentor me honestly about all corners of the long career ahead?", etc.

Seniors, on the other hand, see juniors as a potential threat – the fresh minds who come in armed with JavaScript, Python, and React and casually throw around terms like LLMs, prompt engineering, hackathons and vector databases. Meanwhile, the seniors are still perfecting the art of Spring Boot and JPA, occasionally grumbling about how Java 8 was the last “real” upgrade.

It’s not just about skills – it’s about mindset. The seniors have survived production outages at 3 AM, managed political office battles, and honestly mentored a generation of developers who now run startups.

Juniors, on the other hand, are still fresh, living out of PG rooms, debugging their code on 15-inch laptops, and pushing code on a 5G hotspot while dodging their roommate’s PUBG screams. They may lack experience, but they have the raw hustle, curiosity, and caffeine tolerance that seniors often lose along the way.

And if you want a real generational gap, just bring up Agile vs. Waterfall in a meeting. The seniors will reminisce about the days when project plans were thicker than the SRS document, while the juniors wonder if they should include Agile Scrum in their LinkedIn profile.

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2. Employee vs. Management – The Cost-Cutting Showdown​

When it comes to cutting costs, management often takes the path of least resistance – reduce headcount. Performance, age, location, experience – all fair game when trimming the payroll. This is the "high-impact, low-cost" strategy that features in every MBA case study.

From the management perspective, it’s all about "optimizing the org chart" and "maximizing shareholder value" – fancy phrases that essentially mean fewer people, more profit. The logic is simple: cutting the bottom 10% might save the company millions without the PR disaster of reducing executive perks.

But employees see it differently. To them, the real savings lie in cutting the fat at the top. After all, the CEO earning 100x the average developer’s salary, VPs flying business class, and middle managers enjoying plush perks attending meetings.

And then there’s the perks debate. Employees argue that cutting free food, and fancy offices in favor of WFH (Work From Home) could save millions. After all, those ping-pong tables and bean bags aren’t exactly mission-critical. And let’s be real – the only people who truly use the office gym are the same ones who have the time for marathon LinkedIn posts.

This is especially stark in India, where C-level executives at top tech firms earn crores per annum, while a fresh developer might make 7-15 LPA. The disparity is not just in the paychecks but also in the power to decide the fate of others.

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3. The Outsourcing Squeeze – A Tale of Two Realities​

Outsourcing is a simple idea – move work to a cheaper location and save big. India, with its massive pool of highly skilled engineers, is a top destination for this. In 2024 alone, India’s IT exports were estimated at over $250 billion, with GCCs (Global Capability Centers) in Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai leading the charge.

But this efficiency comes with a human cost. For every American worker laid off, there’s likely a replacement in Bangalore, Manila, or Chengdu doing the same work at a fraction of the cost. It’s the "rob Peter to pay Paul" strategy of the corporate world.

But it’s not a bed of roses for the outsourcers either. They’re often stuck in corporate jungles – the GCCs of India – doing the same work for 3x-5x less pay than their Western counterparts, with fewer perks, less vacation, and the constant contract renewal threats.

And to add to their woes, the entry-level salaries at these GCCs have barely moved in the past 15 years, despite inflation and the rising cost of living. It’s like getting a static variable in a dynamic world.

Plus, they have to sync up at 11 PM for calls with PST time zone clients who think that IST stands for "I’ll Slack Tomorrow."

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This post is a simple rant for the slump – not to be taken seriously. There are many more battles in tech, like open source vs. closed source, cloud vs. on-prem, and Windows vs. Mac. I’ll tackle those when the next writer’s block hits. 😉

Why this post? As frontend engineers, we often focus narrowly on frameworks and tooling—primarily JavaScript, React, and UI libraries. But many of us hit a career plateau because we lack exposure to core software engineering principles.

This post is part of a growing genre I call “Bridge Posts”—connecting frontend development to foundational software architecture concepts. The goal is to help frontend engineers think like system designers, not just component builders.

Today, we explore the CAP Theorem, a classic principle in distributed systems, and map it to familiar frontend scenarios—such as Git workflows, real-time collaborative UIs, and offline-friendly apps.

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Understanding the CAP Theorem​

In distributed systems, the CAP Theorem states that during a network partition (i.e., some parts of the system can’t communicate), you can only guarantee two of the following three:

• Consistency (C): All nodes see the same data at the same time.
• Availability (A): Every request receives a response—regardless of the freshness of the data.
• Partition Tolerance (P): The system continues to operate even when parts of it can’t communicate.

In practice, partition tolerance is non-negotiable in any distributed system. Therefore, systems must choose between consistency and availability when partitions occur.

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Git Analogy: You Already Use CAP​

Let’s start with Git—a tool every developer knows.

• When you commit locally on a plane, you’re in a partitioned state.
• You can continue working (Availability), even though your code may diverge from your teammate’s (Consistency is compromised).
• Once reconnected, you merge changes to restore consistency.

Git is an AP (Available + Partition-Tolerant) system. It tolerates partitions and lets you work offline but eventually requires reconciliation.

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React Use Case: Real-Time Collaborative Forms​

Now imagine you’re building a collaborative form in React. Multiple users edit the same form in real-time. Updates are synchronized via WebSockets or polling.

How does CAP play out here?

1. CP – Consistent & Partition-Tolerant​

• If a user loses network connectivity, editing is disabled.
• This ensures everyone always sees the latest state.
• However, the application becomes unavailable for offline or disconnected users.

Use cases: Healthcare apps, finance platforms—where data integrity is paramount.

2. AP – Available & Partition-Tolerant​

• Users can continue editing offline.
• Changes are stored locally and synced later.
• This may lead to conflicting edits, requiring merge strategies.

Use cases: Note-taking apps, chat applications—where user flow matters more than perfect sync.

3. CA – Consistent & Available (No Partition Tolerance)​

• Works as expected under perfect network conditions.
• Any partition causes the system to fail or block.
• While theoretically ideal, this model is impractical in real-world distributed systems.

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🌐 Designing for Partition Tolerance​

A network partition occurs when different components of a distributed system—clients, services, or databases—cannot communicate due to a temporary network failure. Each component may still be operational, but they're isolated like islands without bridges.

In frontend development, this is surprisingly common:

• A user loses internet connectivity mid-session.
• A mobile app hits a dead spot with no signal.
• The frontend can reach a CDN or cache but not the main API server.

Designing for Partition Tolerance means your app should continue functioning as gracefully as possible, even during such disconnects.

As a React developer, this involves:​

• Storing user actions locally (memory, localStorage, IndexedDB).
• Queuing mutations and syncing later (e.g., Service Workers, Apollo cache, Redux middleware).
• Providing clear UI cues: “You’re offline, changes will sync later.”
• Implementing conflict resolution logic, if needed.

Real-world examples:

• Figma continues rendering and recording user edits during disconnects.
• Notion lets you type offline and syncs the block tree later.
• Gmail stores draft emails offline and sends them once reconnected.

These applications opt for Partition Tolerance, ensuring the app remains usable—even if consistency is delayed or temporarily broken.

Designing for Partition Tolerance doesn’t mean ignoring consistency—it means accepting that consistency might be eventual, not immediate.

In distributed systems, network failures are not rare edge cases—they're expected events. As frontend engineers, acknowledging and designing for them elevates your thinking from component trees to system-level resilience.

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Mapping CAP to Frontend Patterns​

Frontend Pattern	CAP Tradeoff	Notes
React Query (stale-while-revalidate)	AP	Shows stale cache first, fetches fresh data.
Optimistic UI (e.g., message send)	AP	Assumes success and syncs with the server later.
Disabling forms on lost connection	CP	Prevents stale writes by enforcing consistency.
Service Workers / Offline-First PWA	AP	Operates offline and reconciles post-reconnect.
Live collaboration (e.g., Figma, Google Docs)	AP + conflict resolution	Resolves sync issues with operational transforms.

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What This Means for Frontend Developers​

You don’t have to be building a distributed database to care about CAP. If your application:

• Caches remote data
• Lets users work offline
• Supports multi-user collaboration
• Relies on eventual consistency

…then you’re actively navigating CAP trade-offs.

Ask yourself:

• Can users work with stale data? → Choose Availability.
• Must every write be accurate and conflict-free? → Prioritize Consistency.
• Should the app always respond—even during outages? → Design for Partition Tolerance.

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Closing Thoughts: Frontend as a Distributed System​

“CAP isn’t just a backend concern—it manifests in every interactive, networked UI you build.”

Whether you’re building a rich client with React Query, crafting optimistic updates, or designing for offline-first usage, you’re constantly making trade-offs. Understanding CAP helps you make them consciously.

This post was part of a broader mission to elevate frontend engineers into system thinkers—developers who don’t just build buttons, but design resilient user experiences.

Let’s not be cookie-cutter React developers. Let’s bridge the gap.

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