November 2025

headlines

brain rot

Denmark’s government aims to ban access to social media for children under 15
although i support the idea, i haven’t seen a good way to enforce this effectively without infringing on privacy and enforcing government ID verification for everything online and essentially destroying anonymity on the internet, which is a terrible idea. just like the disguised return of EU chat control, a meaningless “right” where all the exceptions eat the rule. but i digress, let’s move on.

A.I. and Social Media Contribute to ‘Brain Rot’
the data showed that children who reported using a low amount of social media (one hour a day) to a high amount (at least three hours a day) scored significantly lower on reading, memory and vocabulary tests than children who reported using no social media.

the only safe conclusion is that every hour a child spends scrolling through the apps takes time away from more enriching activities like reading and sleeping

the key to using A.I. in a healthier way is to try to be more mindful in how we use it, ask a chatbot to answer small questions rather than relying on it to do all the research on a broad topic, such as looking up historical dates.

Study finds memory decline surge in young people
there’s a Rising Cognitive Disability as a Public Health Concern Among US Adults with a total of 4,507,061 responses that were included in the analysis. the data is self-reported, but this still aligns with my experience and observations.

Cognitive and Mental Health Correlates of Short-Form Video Use
with a total of 98,299 participants represented across all studies in this review, the findings consistently indicate that increased short-form video (SFV) use is associated with negative cognitive and mental health outcomes.

SFV use was associated with poorer cognition (attention, inhibitory control, language, memory, and working memory) and most mental health indices except body image and self-esteem.

TikTok and other SFV platforms are unlike any other social media, there’s nothing else like them in terms of actively destroying your brain’s ability to focus. use them enough, and your brain starts to find it irritating to focus on anything for more than a few seconds.

Kids who own smartphones before age 13 have worse mental health outcomes
study shows “early smartphone use was linked to low self-image in girls and boys”, and soon: adults who have smartphones have worse mental health outcomes. whatever the safe level of smartphone usage is, most of us are way above it.

at this point, i’m pretty sure unregulated use of smartphones for children is worse than cigarettes or vapes. even for adults and elderly, excessive smartphone use is detrimental to mental health. i’m not sure how schools have progressed on this front, and even though i didn’t enjoy it back then, i’m glad my school banned phones during school hours.

stories

absolute hidden gem. it’s clear, dare i say obvious, what the plot is going to be about from the get-go. yet, it still captures me completely, and i was hooked from start to finish. sure, there’s a lot of exposition, but i never felt bored or uninterested at any point.

slow month

one of the best ARGs i’ve seen in quite some time. genuinely immersive and gives me the chills, deep down to my bones.

Pseudo Harem
i need more of this slice of life romance comedy in my life.

Predator: Badlands
i didn’t remember watching the Predator movies before, but this one was fun.

Downsizing
clearing up my watchlist, i vaguely remember watching this some time ago.

Uncharted
another one off my watchlist, it was about to leave the streaming service anyway.

ongoing

Gachiakuta
peak trash anime, studio Bones is absolutely killing it with this one.

Tougen Anki
not sure if the adaptation or the source itself is weird, but it has potential.

Ranma ½
weekly dose of laughter.

One Punch Man
just get it over with already…

My Hero Academia
studio Bones is on fire with the final season.

pieces

congratulations, i guess? the Jakarta metropolitan area is home to nearly 42 million people now, overtaking Tokyo as the world’s most populous city. well, it does explain how horrible the traffic is there.

i don’t think Jakarta is the first city that comes to mind when people think about a vacation or going to Indonesia, it’s quite underrated in that sense. the public transportation, although not as good as Tokyo, is still the best in Indonesia. nearly everything is connected through the airport link, the metro, LRT, MRT, and TransJakarta bus system. it has the only legit high speed train in SEA that connects Jakarta and Bandung in around 40 minutes.

honestly, Jakarta’s biggest problem — aside from the glaring fact that it’s sinking — is the lack of marketing and obvious attractions, so not a lot of people even consider Jakarta as a travel destination.

nichijou

Facts About Throwing Good Parties
not that i’m throwing parties anytime soon, but might be useful to keep in mind for the future.

iPhone Pocket
objects have to earn the right to exist, this is not a product that deserves to. see also The Profit Paradox below, i think it’s just in our nature as humans to find ways to consume more.

Maybe you’re not Actually Trying
it’s hard to be aware of our own quirks and biases. imagine how different it would be psychologically if we were able to see ourselves from a third-person perspective.

Are you stuck in movie logic?
the best thing to get what you want is to say and ask for it directly. consider just saying what the problem is, or name the things even before you’re sure what they are.

How to Stay Sane in a World That Rewards Insanity
social media is full of parasocial relationships and echo chambers that reward extreme behavior. it’s easy to get swept into the endless stream of outrage and drama in a short-form content.

LinkedIn is loud, and corporate is hell
i deactivated my account afterward and triggered another round of “spring cleaning”.

research

The brain without sleep
attention lapses due to sleep deprivation coincide with a flushing of fluid from the brain, the original biological garbage collection system.

Rats filmed snatching bats from air for first time
what on earth… bats would be one of the last things i’d expect rats to prey on.

Universe’s expansion ‘is now slowing, not speeding up’
if true, this would be a massive scientific breakthrough.

If You’re Not Active, You’re Sick — You Just Don’t Know It Yet
the sad part is that most people don’t realize this until it’s too late, or that they know it but choose to ignore it. no matter how hard we try to convince our closest ones to be more active, the change has to come from within.

Childhood Friends, Not Moms, Shape Attachment Styles Most
this makes a lot of sense to me. the easiest way to confirm this is to look at families with multiple children, the siblings tend to have different attachment styles even though they share the same parents.

We Induced Smells With Ultrasound
the only thing i can think about is SAO. are full-dive VR experiences finally within reach?

Exercise May Protect Less When Air Pollution Is High
here’s where i wish i could move to a less polluted area. living in a big city has its perks, but the air quality is definitely not one of them.

technical

FFmpeg to Google: Fund Us or Stop Sending Bugs
if Google can pay someone to find bugs, they can pay someone to fix them.

Collaboration sucks
it seems like the real problem is “decision making” rather than “collaboration” itself. getting feedback is different from making the final decision.

You will own nothing and be (un)happy
subscriptions make companies lazy and degrades the product. i remember when software used to be sold as a one-time purchase, or even through physical media like CDs or DVDs.

Lawmakers want to ban VPNs
how am i not surprised, it’s always the same story.

Researchers discover security vulnerability in WhatsApp
no matter how many security concerns and vulnerabilities are found in WhatsApp, the average user will still use it because “everyone else is there”, including myself.

Personal blogs are back, should niche blogs be next?
bring back the old web. a personal blog is a great way to learn and grow as a person, it’s a valuable resource for your future self, and it’s a really fun technical project.

Don’t Download Apps
switch to web apps whenever possible. the unintended consequence is that i also end up using them a lot less, which makes me use my phone less in general. the level of tracking has gotten to absurd levels.

The Math of Why You Can’t Focus at Work
one idea that came to me is that those who don’t recognize the downsides of interruptions often struggle to think deeply and consistently about difficult problems. this kind of person, lacking sustained focus, is considerably more common than they used to be, largely as a consequence of smartphones and social media.

food for thought

Don’t Die of Heart Disease

Moss in space: spores survive nine-month ride on outside of ISS
safe to assume in a couple of decades we’ll have moss farms in space.

Meta buried ‘causal’ evidence of social media harm
Court Filings Allege Meta Downplayed Risks to Children and Misled the Public
i know it’s getting old at this point and we all know that Meta is a terrible company that has done terrible things, but i don’t see this changing anytime soon as there’s nothing being done to hold them accountable. they’re not going to stop.

Confessions of a Software Developer: No More Self-Censorship
well written article full of humility and vulnerability. the author might be too hard on themselves for not knowing things, but it does feel harder to say things online rather than in person, speaking from experience.

tracks

here before 1K views, truly a mythical pull. the lyrics are long and the vocabulary is not sparse at all. yet, i love that the title is just “Ha Ha Ha”, straightforward and can be interpreted in many ways. remember to always turn on subtitles for vocaloid songs!

jpop

do i need to say more? i guess just one thing, which is a minor spoiler warning for the Chainsaw Man Reze Arc movie. and along with the movie that it was made for, this is an absolute masterpiece.

i miss her voice so much. Minami is one of my favorite artists with such a unique voice and style, and this one is no different. her songs always have this thing that seems to touch my soul deeply.

it’s wild to see Mori Calliope coming from a VTuber background to casually pumping out bangers and producing the OP for Gachiakuta second cour anime. the production quality for this one is especially top-notch.

vocaloid

Satsuki never ceases to amaze me with how they’re able to deliver such a good “story” within a 2~3 minute song. the lyrics always impress me with their depth and complexity, and this one is no different.

Kagamine Len and Rin are such a great duo, their voices are growing on me more and more each time i hear them.

pjsk

the song that made me finally try out PJSK after having it on my phone for months. an original song made for the game, and it’s fantastic. quite underappreciated, if you ask me. the vocaloid part also contains songs i encountered through PJSK, i put this one here specifically because it’s the one that got me into the game and also an original song made for it.

these are original and covers of vocaloid songs done by PJSK’s in-game characters. i never would’ve expected to like the covers more than the originals, and the originals are such bangers too. how have i missed these for so long!

clips

i too am in this episode. failure is such an understated part of life.

happening

good to know

the human anatomy

therapy session

cinematic documentaries

you know the video is gonna be fire when it starts with ‘the first single celled organisms on earth’

entertaining

music videos

reflections

the Meta lawsuits and controversies are seriously getting tiring. i will try my best to ignore them from the Harvest onwards. i’ve already deactivated my Facebook and Instagram accounts anyway, i should just move on.

yeah, this piece came a bit late. many unexpected things happened between the end of November and the start of December, but that’s life.