Skip to content
By using Twitter’s services you agree to our Cookies Use. We and our partners operate globally and use cookies, including for analytics, personalisation, and ads.
  • Home Home Home, current page.
  • About

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Language: English
    • Bahasa Indonesia
    • Bahasa Melayu
    • Català
    • Čeština
    • Dansk
    • Deutsch
    • English UK
    • Español
    • Filipino
    • Français
    • Hrvatski
    • Italiano
    • Magyar
    • Nederlands
    • Norsk
    • Polski
    • Português
    • Română
    • Slovenčina
    • Suomi
    • Svenska
    • Tiếng Việt
    • Türkçe
    • Ελληνικά
    • Български език
    • Русский
    • Српски
    • Українська мова
    • עִבְרִית
    • العربية
    • فارسی
    • मराठी
    • हिन्दी
    • বাংলা
    • ગુજરાતી
    • தமிழ்
    • ಕನ್ನಡ
    • ภาษาไทย
    • 한국어
    • 日本語
    • 简体中文
    • 繁體中文
  • Have an account? Log in
    Have an account?
    · Forgot password?

    New to Twitter?
    Sign up
vgr's profile
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
@vgr

Tweets

Venkatesh Rao

@vgr

Conversational account. For work follow @ribbonfarm, @breaking_smart, @artofgig. Tweets are 90% vacuous views, apathetically held. Mediocritopian. IKEA builder.

Los Angeles, CA
venkateshrao.com
Joined August 2007

Tweets

  • © 2020 Twitter
  • About
  • Help Center
  • Terms
  • Privacy policy
  • Imprint
  • Cookies
  • Ads info
Dismiss
Previous
Next

Go to a person's profile

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @

Promote this Tweet

Block

  • Tweet with a location

    You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more

    Your lists

    Create a new list


    Under 100 characters, optional

    Privacy

    Copy link to Tweet

    Embed this Tweet

    Embed this Video

    Add this Tweet to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Add this video to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Hmm, there was a problem reaching the server.

    By embedding Twitter content in your website or app, you are agreeing to the Twitter Developer Agreement and Developer Policy.

    Preview

    Why you're seeing this ad

    Log in to Twitter

    · Forgot password?
    Don't have an account? Sign up »

    Sign up for Twitter

    Not on Twitter? Sign up, tune into the things you care about, and get updates as they happen.

    Sign up
    Have an account? Log in »

    Two-way (sending and receiving) short codes:

    Country Code For customers of
    United States 40404 (any)
    Canada 21212 (any)
    United Kingdom 86444 Vodafone, Orange, 3, O2
    Brazil 40404 Nextel, TIM
    Haiti 40404 Digicel, Voila
    Ireland 51210 Vodafone, O2
    India 53000 Bharti Airtel, Videocon, Reliance
    Indonesia 89887 AXIS, 3, Telkomsel, Indosat, XL Axiata
    Italy 4880804 Wind
    3424486444 Vodafone
    » See SMS short codes for other countries

    Confirmation

     

    Welcome home!

    This timeline is where you’ll spend most of your time, getting instant updates about what matters to you.

    Tweets not working for you?

    Hover over the profile pic and click the Following button to unfollow any account.

    Say a lot with a little

    When you see a Tweet you love, tap the heart — it lets the person who wrote it know you shared the love.

    Spread the word

    The fastest way to share someone else’s Tweet with your followers is with a Retweet. Tap the icon to send it instantly.

    Join the conversation

    Add your thoughts about any Tweet with a Reply. Find a topic you’re passionate about, and jump right in.

    Learn the latest

    Get instant insight into what people are talking about now.

    Get more of what you love

    Follow more accounts to get instant updates about topics you care about.

    Find what's happening

    See the latest conversations about any topic instantly.

    Never miss a Moment

    Catch up instantly on the best stories happening as they unfold.

    1. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 28 Dec 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      I will admit I hate doing handyman shit now. Used to be proud to be able to do basic stuff as a teenager but jeez it’s high effort, low (psychological) reward. I’d get bored to tears if I had to do full time handyman work like minor maintenance and repairs in a building all day.

      10 replies 2 retweets 68 likes
      Show this thread
    2. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 28 Dec 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      What makes blue collar work different from white collar work is not manual labor vs information work. Both are 70-90% information processing. It’s just the low inductive generalizability of the information work. Blue collar work is human big data work.

      4 replies 1 retweet 25 likes
      Show this thread
    3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 28 Dec 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      The last lightbulb I changed was on a Toyota Corolla. This one was a Volvo S40. Very different. Iirc on the Corolla I had to change both left and right and the procedures were slightly different on the 2 sides because of asymmetries under the hood. Meatspace is all corner cases.

      2 replies 0 retweets 15 likes
      Show this thread
    4. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 28 Dec 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Now I know why I’m also increasingly tired of building and running my own websites even with low/no code Wordpress. It’s digital blue collar work. You spend hundreds of hours on this shit and learn nothing interesting besides how to do the shit.

      2 replies 4 retweets 73 likes
      Show this thread
    5. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 28 Dec 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Any romantic sentimentality I had about hands-on tinkering on such things is long gone. Gimme the turnkey SaaS thing and the Uber/lyft apps. Tinkering is only fun when there’s a good chance of unreasonably leveraged inductive generalization ahas.

      1 reply 1 retweet 27 likes
      Show this thread
    6. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 28 Dec 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      The more mature a tech stack, the lower the chances of breakthrough upsides from tinkering. I’m not going to invent a new spark plug by replacing lightbulbs and wiper blades. I’m not going to invent blogging 2.0 fiddling with theme CSS. Need advanced conceptual knowledge for that

      1 reply 4 retweets 32 likes
      Show this thread
    7. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 28 Dec 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Never trust anyone who waxes eloquent about the poetic spiritual joys of working with your hands. They’re crazy. The goal is not to achieve enlightenment fixing your shit. The goal is to pay the other guy to achieve enlightenment fixing your shit.

      5 replies 6 retweets 32 likes
      Show this thread
    8. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 28 Dec 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Not saying you should be contemptuous of or entirely avoid such work, but you shouldn’t fetishize or romanticize it, or develop a reactionary suspicion of leveraged conceptual-symbolic information work. You should try to minimize and automate it and level up as much as you can.

      3 replies 0 retweets 23 likes
      Show this thread
    9. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 28 Dec 2019
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Try to work at the highest abstraction level you’re capable of without becoming authoriritarian-high-modernist legibilist about lower level stuff. Retaining that connection doesn’t take much. Watching someone changing a lightbulb can be as good as doing it yourself.

      4 replies 5 retweets 38 likes
      Show this thread
    10. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Jan 24
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Another fabulously unsatisfying maintenance chore done. One more left for tomorrow. And backlog for brave new world of dumbass digital maintenance stuff to take care of.

      4 replies 0 retweets 8 likes
      Show this thread
      Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Jan 25
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      List of things I’d have been excited to do as a kid but now just found tedious and annoying and wish had a butler to do: replace car battery 🤬 socket wrenches

      11:35 AM - 25 Jan 2020
      • 5 Likes
      • Stefano Daelli Krampus with Golem Characteristics Francis Jervis तुम्हारा, सागर । Adolf Richter Brill 🐮
      2 replies 0 retweets 5 likes
        1. New conversation
        2. Adolf Richter Brill  🐮‏ @typhoonjim Jan 25
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation
          Replying to @vgr

          stuff involving soldering and components that i was pretty jazzed about as a kid is now like "ah, fuck, gotta break out the fucking soldering iron, lets get this over with"

          2 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
        3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Jan 25
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation
          Replying to @typhoonjim

          The learning tops out really fast and then it’s just a chore

          1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
        4. Show replies
        1. Krampus with Golem Characteristics‏ @DavidRalin Jan 25
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation
          Replying to @vgr

          Call AAA.

          0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
          Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. Undo
          Undo

      Loading seems to be taking a while.

      Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.

        Promoted Tweet

        false

        • © 2020 Twitter
        • About
        • Help Center
        • Terms
        • Privacy policy
        • Imprint
        • Cookies
        • Ads info