Howdy, I’m Yoshi.

For much of history, humans have sought to define the purpose of life. Early views were often centred around survival, reproduction, and protection of those we care for. As our understanding deepened, life came to be seen as part of a broader, interconnected system — a web of organisms and exchange of energy. Life, in this expanded view, is not merely about individual existence but about sustaining and participating in the path to equilibrium....

As a software engineer and startup founder, I often ask: what makes software valuable? Code has no intrinsic value - its worth is entirely contextual. For instance, x = a + b isn’t inherently more valuable than x = a * b. However, we can measure its extrinsic value: how often the software runs. Or, put more formally: Number of times the software is run per unit time By this measure, Windows is far more valuable than macOS....

I rely on my MacBook Pro for both life and work. As such, I have a wide range of apps installed for business administration, software development, design, photography, and everything in between. Here’s a list of the apps I use heavily, regardless of the project I’m working on at the moment. Alfred 5 Alfred 5 is a powerful Spotlight replacement for Mac. It offers file search, shortcuts, dictionary, and recently, AI integration....

As part of our ongoing hiring effort, we have received numerous applications from individuals who lack prior experience with remote work. In this article, I’m hoping to provide extra context around our decision to become an office-less organisation. Joyz Inc. has implemented an office-less management system that embraces the distributed/work-from-home style of work company-wide. The 2020 pandemic started it all For Joyz, like many other companies, the direct impetus for moving to office-less management was the outbreak of the COVID-19....

Recent departures at our company led to a lack of technical leadership, especially in the infra/backend. We had two choices. One is to scramble to hire a tech lead. Two is for me to assume the role temporarily while simultaneously functioning as the CEO. We went for the second option. This may seem like a red flag to some people. It is not ideal. Equally, I wasn’t ready to throw someone into a job where they faced technical obstacles while understanding the users, the team, and the codebase....

USB-C. It’s about time, but for models with A16, it’s still running USB 2.0. Probably due to the lack of USB 3.0 controller in the chipset. Not that anyone would be troubled by the sub-GB/s bandwidth in this wireless age, but for an industry flagship product to have technology THIS old is kind of comical. With the weaker Yen, the new iPhone 15 Pro base model costs about the same as a month’s rent for my house....

I’ve been with it for over a month now. This is easily the best computer I’ve ever owned. I don’t have to go over the performance and battery life offered by Apple Silicon, as its superiority is apparent in spec sheets and rave reviews. Still, this thing handles pretty much everything I throw at it. As a technical startup CEO, I split my time between People, Capital, Product and Administration. MacBook Pro will keep up with it for an entire day....

I have been using an app called Motion for a good while now and it has completely changed the way I think about my work and productivity. At the same time, I always thought their marketing and the founder’s sale pitch were a bit bizarre (sorry), potentially putting off some users who would otherwise be a great fit. So, I’m taking a shot at explaining what’s revolutionary about the product. I’m in no way affiliated with the company....

For institutional EdTech businesses to scale, business development must revolve around proving efficacy as a large-scale intervention. The key here is that any government-led regional instalment of EdTech products will be a policy decision and not a purely pedagogical one. One reason pedagogy seems very fragmented and teaching methods differ greatly from teacher to teacher is in academia’s pursuit of novelty — particularly in learning/teaching methodology. When your goal is inventing a new method that is more effective than the baseline method, your research project will need to ensure that the methodology is strictly enforced....

As a CEO of an EdTech company and a father of two toddlers, I’ve put a lot of thought into what makes people learn new things and develop to be the person they aspire to be. This isn’t limited to learning that typically happens in schools. Personal growth and development are fundamental requirements for a thriving organisation. I’ve come to observe in my professional career that the amount of learning one makes out of a particular experience differs greatly by person....