Vol. 44Lights out
நிஷாந்த்
Nishanth means the end of the night.
Sanskrit: niśā, night, plus anta, end. In Tamil, iravin mudivu (இரவின் முடிவு), the bit just before dawn. Which is usually when I'm still up. Hence the irony.
Say it: ni-SHAANTH /n̪iˈʃaːn̪t̪/
Nishanth
A slightly ironic name for someone who has a hard time calling it a day.
I'm a Platform UI Engineer in Bengaluru. I build things for the browser, spend an unreasonable amount of time thinking about how they should feel, and occasionally forget that the browser isn't the entire world. Anyway, welcome.
Ch. 1
The protagonist
Okay, who's this guy?
Hey, I'm Nishanth. I like good design, clean abstractions, interfaces that feel just right, and figuring out how things work under the hood. Outside work, you'll probably find me watching F1, catching up on One Piece, skateboarding, or opening another browser tab that I'll definitely get back to. I enjoy making things. Sometimes that's a useful UI component. Sometimes it's a website that probably didn't need that much CSS.
Interlude
The Grand Line
Started One Piece a while ago. Somehow, I'm still here.
At this point, it's less of an anime and more of a long-term relationship. I'm caught up, still following, and not particularly interested in seeing how it ends anytime soon.
Ch. 2
Five red lights
A Ferrari fan. Unfortunately.
Being a Ferrari fan is a long-term commitment to hope, followed by a very specific kind of disappointment.
Lewis Hamilton joined to win. Every season, I believe it. That's what being a Ferrari fan does to you.
Anyway, lights out. Here we go again.
Photo: Morio, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Liauzh, CC BY-SA 4.0
44, silver then red. Also following 12, Kimi Antonelli.
1:36.015
Hamilton, Singapore 2018 qualifying. My favourite lap. He called it magic.
Favourite circuit: Spa. Eau Rouge, flat out.
Your turn.
Five reds come on one by one. When they go out, hit the button.
Best none yet
Ch. 3
Original soundtrack
A few things playing in my head.
Some songs for late nights, long drives, questionable decisions, and getting absolutely nothing done because I found a new song.
Not a playlist with a theme. Just a lot of songs I kept coming back to, narrowed down to a few favourites.
Selecting a track plays it in a small player at the bottom of the page.
- 01Midnight CityM83For when the city looks better after dark.
- 02Little Dark AgeMGMTA little weird. A little dramatic. Sounds about right.
- 03The ChainFleetwood MacFor the Ferrari heartbreak. Again.
- 04Let It HappenTame ImpalaSeven minutes of letting things get out of hand.
- 05The NightsAviciiA reminder to actually go outside and make some memories.
- 06Where Is My Mind?PixiesSomewhere between a thought and a daydream.
- 07Cornfield ChaseHans ZimmerFor the moments that feel a little bigger than they are.
- 08Dog Days Are OverFlorence + The MachineBecause not everything has to be about staying up late.
The B-sides
Some other things I keep on repeat.
- B1We Are The PeopleEmpire of the SunSounds like remembering a summer that never happened.
- B2Space SongBeach HouseFor staring out of windows dramatically.
- B3Seven Nation ArmyThe White StripesNo explanation needed. Especially if you follow F1.
- B4ExperienceLudovico EinaudiFor when words aren't doing the job.
- B5Get LuckyDaft PunkAn immediate improvement to almost any situation.
- B6Hikaru NaraGoose houseAnime opening supremacy. I'll hear no arguments.
Ch. 4
Can't sleep
One more game. Then I'll sleep.
Sometimes I build things. Sometimes I play Tetris.
There is something satisfying about making everything fit. It also explains why I occasionally spend too long adjusting a layout by two pixels.
← → move, ↑ rotate, Space drop, Esc pause.
Afterword
Behind the panels
Things I've built outside the day job.
- Evara Pet CareA digital experience for a pet care brand.
(opens in a new tab) - Afrah ConstructionA website built to give a construction business a clearer digital presence.
(opens in a new tab) - vite-plugin-knip-uiA little tooling experiment for the frontend ecosystem.
(opens in a new tab) - vue-coexistenceAn experiment in making different Vue setups coexist.(opens in a new tab)
The day job
I build the bits other interfaces depend on.
I'm currently a Platform UI Engineer at CommerceIQ. My work sits around frontend platforms, shared components, developer experience, and making large applications easier to build and maintain.
I also tinker with the tools that make frontend work, not just the components. Like moving a 5K+ file codebase from Vue CLI to Vite, which took builds from 22 minutes to about 5.
I enjoy the parts of frontend engineering where design, architecture, and the details meet. Especially when the result makes life easier for the next person building on top of it.
Occasionally, I write things down. Notes, experiments, things I've learned, and the occasional opinion.