Al Harkan's Blog
My Written Thoughts on Media, Technology, and Everything in Between
Business Lessons
Being a generalist can feel like a curse, being mediocre in many fields. The truth is, it is a blessing for an early founder, esp. the lone one. Being a generalist means you can save tons of outsourcing costs & work faster. That's the very least.
Why Your Art Sucks
What nobody tells people who are beginners is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. And your taste is why your work dissappoints you.
Comedian & Dancer
Some people do enjoy anonymity, silence, or being present with themselves. It's okay doing what makes you happy without getting all the fame.
On Career Decision
Being confident with our career of choice also means ignoring the noise of others. In a time when everybody is showing off what they’re doing, it is easy to lose ourselves. This is a reminder to rethink why we’re doing what we’re doing. Just so we can stay true to ourselves.
YouTube Shorts Problems
YouTube is the last major social media to let go of community-led content recommendation (Trending page) and joining TikTok’s short video format party. Like others, its contents now go fully personalized for the users —us.
Covid Positive
I’m a Covid survivor. These are some tweets from the days when I was in quarantine.
Ramadan 2021
“Unexpected, I did tarawih last night and suhoor on board a warship —my final day after 7-days sailing. That will be a story of its own, but I pray for this Ramadan to be a blessed one —where families are happy, and friends are healthy. Really hope this is the last time I read Ramadan & pandemic in the same sentence.”
The Compounding Lesson
Probably that was one of my biggest regrets, understanding this as only a math concept in class, rather than its essence as a worldview. But normalizing to see our progress in life as non-linear, is seeing how the world works as it is.
Unknown Wiseman
Or maybe we need to stop the pressure that everyone needs to exist on social media —to build personal brand, etc. Some people just want to make a living the old school way, in the physical world, outside the internet (and the metaverse, for that matter).
Statistika Bahasa Indonesia
“Indonesia sangat kaya akan keragaman bahasa.” Iya, tapi seberapa kaya? Ini datanya.