Author Archives: Alireza Hayati

About Alireza Hayati

Hacker, cypherpunk, and user freedom activist.

The past is gone

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You can return to the past, but the past is empty. Your old school is still operating, but your friends and classmates are no longer there. Your childhood home is still standing, but your family is gone, and when you walk down the alley, your neighbors and childhood playmates are no longer around.

The cafe you used to love still exists, but your favorite barista, who knew your order, has moved on. The streets remain the same, but the faces do not. The buildings are still the same, but the energy and feeling you once got from them have changed.

The past is a place, but the present is where life flows. It’s sad but you got to move on. I try to think about the past with a smile. I try to remember my memories and enjoy the good feeling I got in that second, instead of feeling down for not being able to enjoy that exact moment.

Happy birthday Janis Joplin

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Janis Joplin is one of my favorite singers. She would’ve been 82 years old today. The first song I’ve ever heard from her was her famous 1969’s Kozmic Blues. She was introduced to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. Rolling Stone ranked her number 46 on its 2004 list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” and number 28 on its 2008 list of the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time”.

Janis Joplin in 1970 with long, wavy hair reaching past her shoulders. She is smiling gently, looking directly at the camera. She is wearing a patterned blouse with flared, ruffled sleeves. Her hands rest on her hips, and she wears long necklaces that drape over her top. The background is plain and unobtrusive, putting focus on the subject.
Janis Joplin in 1970.

Rest in peace, she passed away in 1970, years before I was even born. I would’ve loved to attend one of her concerts watching the beautiful lady singing. I may not be able to see her live in concert, but I still can enjoy her musics.

Happy birthday Janis Joplin and thanks for sharing your art.

Growing up

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There’s a paragraph on my web site, on all my personal web sites that I ever have published, that I truly believe in.

One of the benefits of having an open mind is that one’s thoughts and opinions will eventually change. There is no shame at all in changing personal views and beliefs over newly presented evidence.

I really believe in that and I experience this on a daily basis. There’s not a single day that passes and I don’t think about how I’ve been growing up and changing my ideas, belief, and my way of thinking. Every day, I think to myself about how silly I was just a year ago.

I used to think I’m a communist/anarchist. I believed in that system and I promoted it. There’s no doubt that communism is pretty in theory and I loved that theory but I grew up to realize how dangerous it is. How practically it creates dictatorships. It’s been long since I admired a communist.

I remember how in my teen years I used to love Che Guevara. Who wouldn’t love that lovely man on poster? Now I resent that racist, bigoted, mass murderer.

I used to love BMWs, now, as an adult, I love Benz.

I came to realization that growing up has a real impact on you. Age is not just a number, it really matters sometimes. It shows off your experiences and maturity. It shows you how much you’ve changed over time and how much you’re more understanding and thoughtful. I’m pretty sure in some years, I’m totally different from now as I grow up and gain more experiences and become more mature. And it has no shame in it.

Christmas holiday season

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I’m very excited for the holiday season in West. Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. Now I have only experienced it through movies and books and news, but it still makes me feel good. The videos and imagery of snow-covered streets combined with twinkling lights and families holding hands going shopping and stopping to take a picture with Santa make me excited.

The songs, movies, and everything we see on Internet and elsewhere are so good. It make me feel a sense of warmth comfort. I watched “Red One (2024)” few days ago, starring Chris Evans and Dwayne Johnson. Not my type of favorite movie but still made me laugh and feel joy.

We have so much good Persian traditions which I adore but they can’t stop me from wanting to experience the traditions of Western cultures. Everything I see sparks my curiosity. Many of the traditions aren’t even specific to Western cultures, such as exchanging gifts and visiting family members, they are some of the most-respected values we have in Persian culture, yet they seem somehow different in West.

The portrayal of these celebrations in Western media has painted a picture of unrealistic happiness in my brain which I know may be a lot different in real life yet I can’t control my desire to experience them.

Winter is my favorite season so you can understand how a holiday in the winter, which is always shown to me with specific pictures of snow-covered houses and decorations, can make me this much excited.

But the celebrations and festivities aren’t all I’m excited for. As a Middle Easterner, you surely can understand how the feelings of unity, happiness, goodwill, and celebration are carved in our DNA so I want them as well. It’s not just about the cold weather and good decoration, it’s about embracing deep feelings too.

Perhaps one day I find the opportunity to participate in these celebrations, to create memories and blend in with people who truly appreciate these traditions. Until then, I’ll continue enjoying movies and videos, pictures on Internet, reading good news about it, and talking to my friends. I can enjoy the season imagining I’m part of it as well.

Back to normal

Aside

It’s been a while since I’ve written on this blog. If you haven’t noticed, it was shut down for a while. I was doing some digital detoxing, trying to remove whatever I don’t use and lessen my online presence as much as I can. The blog just felt too much at that moment so I took it down.

It’s back online now and everything is available to read and share again. I did some detoxing and much-needed cleaning. Everything’s back to normal now.

Andrew Tate

Quote

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I think John Mulaney made the observation: “Trump is a poor person’s idea of what a rich person looks like. Yeah, I’ve got gold taps.” And I think so Andrew Tate is like a 14 year old boy’s idea of what masculinity might look like.

Jimmy Carr on The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett Podcast

Friendship circles

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I think the way Google+ worked was the nicest between social networks. Remember the circles? We would add every friend or person in a circle and we could choose what to share with each circle.

Sometimes some people were included in various circles and we could choose to share stuff with various people based on what information or material we wanted to share. That was nice. It was a replica of what we actually have in real life regarding our friendships.

I think social networks and microblogging services often try hard to give us a real-life experience and Google+ was the nearest we had ever.

But it was a social network after all and it was operating under Google so it was a nightmare regarding privacy and user rights, I still wouldn’t use it but the concept was very nice. If I had to use a social network, and there was a Google+-ish option, I would definitely choose it.

Is it necessary?

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I’m only one step away from deleting this blog and it’s so easy for me. I have no attachment to it. I no longer see any purpose to sharing what I think about stuff and I’m certain absolutely nobody cares what I think or experience.

Not that it’s bad. I don’t mean nobody cares so it’s bad, I mean nobody cares as nobody shouldn’t care. Why someone would care at all if I experience some inconveniences or liked something or have some comments on a post someone wrote? If I deleted this blog now, nothing in world would change.

And again, I’m not saying this out of sadness or anything, it’s just a fact. Nothing is special about this blog, I’m just a little human in an infinite universe writing words some other humans can understand. Is it necessary to have a blog or write about stuff or share your ideas? Absolutely not.

However, this blog has something special for me that prevents me from deleting it. That one step away from deleting it is that it made me some amazing friends along the way that I probably couldn’t enjoy their friendship if I wasn’t publishing it. I have the pleasure of talking and communicating with some awesome people because of this blog.

We usually comment on each other posts via email (and other messaging tools) and share our ideas about various topics. I realized I have so much in common with my friends and it’s so satisfactory. I could delete this blog right now. It’s few click away from a static empty page and nobody would get hurt. I would even save time and energy by deleting it but I’m still tempted to make more friends, have more conversations about topics me and my friends are interested in, and have the courtesy of experiencing these joyous human relationships I have.

So again, is it necessary to have a blog or write about various matters? No. Does anyone need it? No. Do I want it? Heck yeah.