Nikhil Raghav

Tools I use

Sat, 25 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve seen youtubers add such lists in their description, tools they use for content creation, camera, lens, lights, even the keyboard they use.

I thought it would be fun to write mine and get to know what you use. I’m a Software Engineer by profession, most of the tools I use can be used in any sort of knowledge work.

Productivity & Note taking

Obsidian - For notes or jotting anything under the sun. This is where everything ends up. I’m using it since 2020. I have tried other note taking tools logseq, notion, joplin, simplenote and friends - paid, free and opensource but couldn’t use them as simply I use obsidian.

Book Reviews

Sat, 30 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Books I've read, updated less frequently. Three stars is normal, four stars are very good and five stars exceptional.

Book Title	Review	Rating
Shift	Good sequel to wool, you learn nanotech can be endgame for humanity's progress. Gave me enough closure to not read the third installment.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Wool	Read this because Apple TV show wasn't moving fast.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Death's end	First half is good, second half leaves a lot to desire. You can stop reading after 70%	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Dark Forest	Good story, great scale, bumpy translation	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Three body problem	Great Sci-fi, you'll learn how to stop scientific progress with two protons	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Veronica Decides To Die	I want to read all books by Coelho	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Our trees still grow in Dehra	School homework. Done late	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
14 years with Boss	Read one chapter from it in a random NCERT book. I like learning about movies, so picked up the book.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
By way of deception : Making of a Mossad officer	Read this after watching Munich. Re-read worthy	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Thoughts of a philosophical fighter pilot	I was bored when I read it for the first time. As it is a collection of his talks, material is very redundant.	⭐ ⭐
The Castle - Franz Kafka	Frustrating. Last Kafka book I'll read	⭐ ⭐
The Reluctant Fundamentalist	Ali Sethi sang this Ghazal "Dil lagaane ki baat karte ho" which is in the movie of the same name. I also like Sonya Jehan who is in the same movie. So read the book. It's a good book.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
The Measure	Speculative Sci-fi. Solid promise and progress, meh payoff	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Gunahon Ka Devta	Loved this. Recommended.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Build	Recommended.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Gods Themselves	Gripping. Amazing plot and weird alien sex. I saw those aliens in my dreams the same night.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
What I talk about when I talk about running	If you love Murakami and running	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
40 rules of love	Makes you kinder and want to read Rumi.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Kafka on the shore	I liked it. Magical realism, good character development and animation by Ghibli studios.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
The Metamorphosis	Recommend this to people you hate.	⭐ ⭐
Story of your life and others	Best ones are _Liking what you see_, _Hell is absence of God_, _The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate_ and _Understand_	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Lifecycle of Software Objects	Cool book cover. This can be a Netflix show. Resonates as you might have seen this pattern over and over in your life. A startup pioneers new tech, everything goes well until they run out of time to figure out how to make the business profitable. Now when they pull the plug and shut down the shop, hobbyists, tinkerers and fanboys are left behind. Finding ways to make whatever they're left with work. Forming communities. Things aren't fun anymore.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Designing Distributed Systems	Good primer for cloud native deployment patterns. Outdated code.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Designing Data Intensive Applications	The Book I think Architects keep under their pillow and read first thing in the morning.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Effective Engineer	It has two major ideas - prioritize high leverage tasks, make feedback loops shorter. Rest of the book is examples, techniques and action plans to adopt, practice and exploit these ideas. So reading the book and making notes is half the battle. Must read even if you're not planning to be an engineer for long.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Project Hail Mary	Book you can recommend to someone who wants to get into reading or sci-fi. Andy Weir writes like a blogger. PRO TIP : Read books set in a spaceship during flights. Sound of aeroplane engine and occasional turbulence elevate the reading experience	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Foundation	Read this as it is a popular classic, not planning to read other books in the series. Apple TV show is so good it is unfair.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Beowulf	Took a lot of effort to complete, which wasn't worth it at all. Zemeckis movie is better.	⭐ ⭐
Flowers for Algernon	A novella. Man with an IQ of 68 triples his IQ after treatment. Story is first person account of these changes. So quality of writing waxes and wanes with the IQ. Might also help you be empathetic towards people who have a slower learning pace.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Einstein's Dreams	Short and evoking. 30 thought experiments	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
High Output Management	THE BOOK for MANAGERS but presents clever ideas that can be used by anyone. For example the idea that material becomes more valuable as it moves through the process, can be used to optimize any process you're working with whether it is conveyor belt in a factory or a CI pipeline.	⭐ ⭐
Dune	Boring. Read it because 2021 movie ended prematurely.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Missing Readme	Great book, doesn't matter if you're starting out or not.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Old man and the Sea	I love this. Reminds me of my English teacher.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Pragmatic Thinking	Written well, I couldn't move past one chapter of Pragmatic programmer but reading it was effortless.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Picture of Dorian Grey	Yes please, more stories about Faustian Bargain.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Brave New World	At this point things misinformation, short attention span, constant search for escapism, racism is so normalised that it doesn't ring any bells when you read about it in a ninety year old book. Watch Logan's run	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
I am legend	Zombies screeching outside my house, while I'm trying to fall asleep in a cozy blanket is a fantasy I entertain. Loved this book	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Devdas	Watch DevD. Read this book. Then watch DevD again	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
The Dream Machine: Revolution that made computing personal	Multiverse of Computer Science and Engineering. Cameos from Alan Turing, Alan Kay, Von Neumann or whoever you know	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Vijaydan Detha ki Lokpriya Kahaniyan	I love his stories. Sadly this is the only book that is available easily.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Jagannath	Bizarre short stories. Didn't like it.	⭐ ⭐
Animal Farm	Mandatory read. If you just want to read what you already see around put into words beautifully.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Men without Women	This introduced me to Murakami. Found it better than Hemingway's book with same name. Re-read worthy	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Of mice and men	Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody to be near him	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Karmayog	Great Book. Recommended	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts	I'm a Charlie Munger fanboy	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Fahrenheit 451	Boring. Now I know what inspired hounds in Kingsman and Golden circle.	⭐ ⭐
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy	Read it if you're hearing the word stoic for the first time and want some reference to other stoic philosophy books.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
The War of Art	Writer's block. I read this I'm still in writer's block.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Pirate Cinema		⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Swipe to Unlock	Fluff	⭐
1984	More of a mandatory read. Didn't like it that much. Easy to recommend	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Food rules : An Eater's manual	Don't eat what your grandma won't recognize as food	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us	Blog Post, turned into a book. Read a summary somewhere, save time.	⭐ ⭐
The 22 immutable laws of Marketing - Al ries, Jack trout	Was mentioned in Tim Ferris podcast. Easy to process, actionable wisdom.	⭐ ⭐
The Vault of Vishnu	Started so well, ended like a B-grade bollywood movie.	⭐ ⭐
Irresistible : The Rise of Addictive Technology and Business of Keeping Us Hooked	You can't leave a habit cold turkey, there are parts to it which need to dismantled or just replaced one by one and some caution to be taken to not including the same cues in your environment which'll result in relapse. Good book.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Planet of the Apes	Read the book even if you have watched the movies, just read it.	⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Chitralekha	Exploration of sin, human nature and effectiveness of imposed abstinence. Cat theory	⭐ ⭐

[Tutorial] Codecadet XXII

Sat, 25 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

1. Code Cards

Suppose length of $S1$ is $n$. If $S1$ and $S2$ differ at some index $i$, then we can make $S1_i$ and $S2_i$ equal only when one of them is $ and other is one of the letters in the set { c, o, d, e}.

Otherwise, it is impossible to make $S1$ and $S2$ equal.

If it is possible, count number of occurrences where $S1$ and $S2$ differ and print that count.

Minimum changes to make XOR of all segments of a fixed length zero

Sat, 17 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Problem Statement

Given an array $A$ of length $N$ and an integer $K$, find minimum number of elements to change in the array such that xor of all segments of size $K$ becomes zero.

where $1 \leq K \leq N \leq 2000$ and $0 \leq A_i \leq 1024$

As the window of size $K$ moves one step from first $K$ elements it leaves behind the first element and includes $K+1_{th}$ element. More formally

How to set up mpd with blissify

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

MPD is a server-side music player, which can be further improved by using different plugins and libraries to enhance overall music listening experience on all the devices on a network.

As it is a server-side application you’ll also need a client to go along with it, usually MPD can relay its output to different channels at the same time so you can enjoy it on anything that can process a http stream and is on the same network (any device with a web browser).

[Tutorial] I. Magic Potion - Asia Nanjing Regional Contest 2018-19

Fri, 25 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Problem link

CSES Math Problemset Tutorial

Tue, 15 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

NOTE : It is incomplete, If you don’t find what you’re looking for, check back in a week.

So, there are total 31 problems, let’s solve them by the solve count.

Exponentiation

Problem Statement

Monday Links #3

Mon, 22 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Asciinema Purely text-based approach to recording terminal sessions. I saw something of this kind on scrimba where you can pause the video and start editing the code on the screen. Asciinema is a better way to post command line sessions or tutorials than writing down zillion commands for copy pasting or a gif without any video controls where someone has to wait for the loop to complete so that they can pickup from where they left.

Solving A XOR operation - Hackerearth

Mon, 08 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

For context, link to the problem being discussed.

Solution that passes

Let’s say $X = e_1\oplus e_2\oplus\cdots \oplus e_n$ i.e. XOR of all elements of $S$. If it satisfies the condition of being $k$ then it is the answer, otherwise no answer exists.

Why is it so?

One thing is for sure that every element will be mapped to some other element in the set.
If the answer is $k$ then $a_i$ will be mapped to $a_i\oplus k$. So what we can do is we can check to which element, first element of the set will be mapped, i.e. try every possible pair with first element and check if so formed $k$ is the answer. Mind that $k$ will always be positive as there is no repetition in a set.

Monday Links #2

Tue, 02 Feb 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Could’ve padded this with some other post but neither had time nor inspiration to write one. Now we have back to back monday links :).

Why is Vim awesome
Andy Matuschak’s notes Loved the way this website (or I should call it a webpage) is organised, great flow which helps in revisiting whatever you’ve recorded without opening zillion tabs and aids in breadth-first-searching the notes instead of falling down into a rabbit hole of information.

Monday Links #1

Sun, 17 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

This post is a right step in the direction of making this blog a link farm. Many blogs I follow post such kind of links frequently. I thought it is an interesting way to share links and creating new posts without much hardwork other than wandering aimlessly on hackernews and lobsters.

Introduction to Competitive Programming

Sun, 10 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Slide Deck

NOTE : This page is to act as a supplement to the content I covered in the stream. There are some points here which are very concise but are explained well in the stream because video format has its own benefits as you can’t write as fast as you speak or think.

Codeforces Round #690 (Div. 3)

Thu, 17 Dec 2020 00:00:00 +0000

It was the first round in which I managed to solve 6 problems out of 7, submitting the last one in last 3 seconds. Following are some thoughts I had while solving those problems and some mistakes I made. I make it a point to refer the notebook I use for writing observations and calculations during contest for writing these blogs. So that even if I delay the post by a day or two I don’t miss much on the content. So let’s start with the first problem.

Codechef October Lunchtime 2020 Division 1

Sun, 01 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Made 3 full successful submissions and 1 partial scored 325 points with lot of wrong submissions and ended up at 230th place. Here are the notes on some problems I solved during and after the contest and the thought process I had while solving them. I write these posts so that I can document any new problem solving techniques, observation or method of thinking about the problem I encounter during a contest. It also doubles up as an upsolving journal and lets me review my own thought process and outlook during the contest.

Self updating readme on github

Sun, 25 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Recently created a readme for my profile on github, found out all kinds of things you can automate using github actions and reflect them on your readme, like followers, stars, self updating profile links or a feed from your blog.

First of all those who don’t know about it, if you create a repo with the same name as your username on github, it will act as a README for your profile. So if you haven’t created one yet, go create it. It is like instagram bio on steroids.

Codeforces Round #676 (Div. 2)

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Had to perform better than last round to increase the rating again but started thinking in wrong direction for problem D, but solved it afterwards without editorials and easy to come up with solution. So I had to get this analysis out of the way before tonight’s Div.3 round. Contest was easy enough till D. I’m still not able to understand how I will approach problem E, it will be a blog in itself when I understand that.

Codeforces Raif Round 1 [Div.1 + Div.2]

Sun, 18 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Most recent round I participated in after a break of about 2 weeks. This is a new exercise that I’ve started to note down my thoughts and performance history in these blogs. So that I don’t repeat same mistakes more often and have some more clarity about what I go through when I’m participating and it will also double up as notes for some techniques and styles I come across while solving or upsolving that contest. Let’s start already.

Big Browser is watching

Sat, 10 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

UPD : These views are really old, I still use firefox, you can stop updating firefox by making changes to about:policies or can use icecat or librewolf. But firefox is by far the most advanced and private browser.

I love minimal software and always try to minimize bloat on whatever system I use. I also like to read too many blogs on internet but you don’t need a power hungry and feature rich browser to “just read blogs”. So recently, I came across this video introducing BadWolf, which is a minimal WebKitGTK+ based browser that has two very accessible buttons to toggle javascript and images on a webpage and one simple download manager. I know there is much more going on behind the scenes, but this is what that meets the eye first.

Private search engine in 5 minutes

Mon, 21 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Every non privacy respecting search engine out there logs your search history to profile you and target you with more personalised ads, sometimes that also leads to a self created filter bubble.

Searx is a metasearch engine available under GPL 3, which compiles search results from more than 70 search engines. Fun fact is you can deploy it locally and enjoy searching from your customised search engine. I’ll walk you through the deployment.

Basic ffmpeg reference

Sat, 19 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

1. Converting to some format

ffmpeg -i input.mp3 output.m4a

2. Merging audio and video

Can change final container (mkv is most versatile), ffmpeg automatically decides the decoders for the job.

ffmpeg -i audio.mp3 -i video.mp4 -c copy merged_video.mkv

3. Keeping Output quality same as Input quality (-sameq)

ffmpeg -i input.avi -sameq output.mkv

4. Convert only first 30 seconds (-t)

ffmpeg -i aadat.mp3 -t 30 aadatintro.mp3

-t also supports hh:mm:ss as time format
Variation of this can be used to cut a part of the video, -ss flag sets the start time. So set the start time with -ss and duration with -t

ffmpeg -i aadat.mp3 -ss 1:12 -t 1:00 solo.mp3

5. Strip audio or video

-an removes audio and -vn strips video

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vn audio.mp3

6. Bitrate

-ab sets the audio bitrate and -b sets the video bitrate explicitly

ffmpeg -i audio.mp3 -ab 128k audiocompressed.mp3

Notes

default bitrate for video is 200kbps and 64 kbps for audio
ffmpeg options are always applied to next file in argument list, can be input or ouput file.
RTFM for more

Counting with hashmaps

Tue, 15 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

It is a recurring and really useful idea to count some property in O(n) in an array if the relation is some kind of equation where right hand side and left hand side only differs in their indexes. For example counting number of subarrays with sum X.

1. Subarrays with sum X

Let’s say we are given an array A of length N and we have to count how many subarrays of A sum up to a given number X. First of all to support subarray sum query in O(1) time we need to calculate prefix sum for A. After that we have two options:

About Me

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hi, I’m Nikhil. Welcome to my website.

I like singing, reading, photography and staying fit.

I love art in every form, movies, album cover, grafitti on top of a matchbox or jingle in a toothpaste ad.

I’m happiest when I’m solving complex problems with people who are kind, thoughtful and love to learn from each other. Working as an engineer at Uber, before that I worked at Flipkart.

I’m a solid type A-person.

Links

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Some blogs, people, youtube channels, subreddits and other pages on internet worth checking out.

Blogs

Super Memory
Dynomight
Venam’s blog - Well researched articles about UNIX, philosophy and more
Farnam Street Blog - Great blog on improving reading, decisions and mental models
Drew DeVault’s Blog - founder of SourceHut, writes about state of FOSS, opinions on different tech, some rants, personal experiences and HOW-Tos
Paul Graham - Classic
Arnon Shimoni - Product management and design stories and sometimes writes on databases

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

I share a lot of links to things I find interesting. Started a newsletter to do this meticulously.

Trying to improve as an engineer, competitive programmer and finding new ways and insights to improve how I work. I read a lot too. Subscribe to my newsletter to receive weekly/fortnightly links to articles, resources, books and websites which might help you.

Won’t spam and you can read previous versions here.

In case you don’t like subscribing via email, here is full content RSS Feed for the newsletter

Today I learned

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nikhil Raghav

Tools I use

Productivity & Note taking

Book Reviews

[Tutorial] Codecadet XXII

1. Code Cards

Minimum changes to make XOR of all segments of a fixed length zero

Problem Statement

How to set up mpd with blissify

[Tutorial] I. Magic Potion - Asia Nanjing Regional Contest 2018-19

CSES Math Problemset Tutorial

Exponentiation

Monday Links #3

Solving A XOR operation - Hackerearth

Solution that passes

Why is it so?

Monday Links #2

Monday Links #1

Introduction to Competitive Programming

Codeforces Round #690 (Div. 3)

Codechef October Lunchtime 2020 Division 1

Self updating readme on github

Codeforces Round #676 (Div. 2)

Codeforces Raif Round 1 [Div.1 + Div.2]

Big Browser is watching

Private search engine in 5 minutes

Basic ffmpeg reference

1. Converting to some format

2. Merging audio and video

3. Keeping Output quality same as Input quality (-sameq)

4. Convert only first 30 seconds (-t)

5. Strip audio or video

6. Bitrate

Notes

Counting with hashmaps

1. Subarrays with sum X

About Me

Archive

Links

Blogs

Newsletter

Today I learned