Al Harkan's Blog
My Written Thoughts on Media, Technology, and Everything in Between
Contact (1997)
“If we are alone in the universe, it sure seems like an awful waste of space.”
Ramadan 2020
Feeling uncertain of many things. The outbreak shows no sign of slowing down. Economic catastrophe. People are losing trust in government. Activists are being silenced. It’s the month of prayers, and I’m desperately praying for all of these bad things to end.
Hozhoni
When I was 9 years old, I stumbled upon a book of my father’s. The title read Samudra Al-Fatihah. The cover was worn out, and I don’t quite remember what made me spent hours reading a chapter from that book. But I remember what I read, because that was my oldest memory, the first time my mind being blown away learning about the grandeur of the universe.
When Breath Becomes Air (2016)
“I don’t believe in the wisdom of children, nor in the wisdom of the old. There is a moment – a cusp, when the sum of gathered experience is worn down by the details of living.”
A Writer’s Block
A writer’s block is “the condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing.” -Oxford Dictionary
The Great Hack (2019)
“You set out to connect people and you are refusing to acknowledge that this same technology is now driving us apart.” This quote just summed how social media has transformed from a technology to connect people into a weapon to divide society. And this movie telling the story behind it quite well.
Eulogy
It came to me lately this uneasy feeling that I’m not quite able to explain, even to myself.It’s not necessarily haunting, but it does follow me everywhere. It’s been weeks, if not months, that this feeling has been around: the thought of time when I die.
Social Inertia
It seems that everybody nowadays wants to change something. We can tell that by looking at growing number of startups founded, ‘innovative’ products launched, or initiatives -well, initiated. It’s like literally every day in news we hear new startups being reported, new gadgets being promoted, and new social projects being campaigned -not to mention how many new policies being passed. Personally, I think that is confusing, if not noisy, how thousands of people try to place their effort to change our society at the same time, every day.
Paradox of Learning
The whole point of this writing is to talk about my experience when I was learning extensively about subjects I’m passionate at, while ignoring the conventional, obligatory campus’ credit system. I’m a social student, yes, but that doesn’t stop me to study computer programming, design, film theory, and variety of other subjects like astrophysics, economy, politics, or even a little about engineering. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily make me an expert in those fields, but that’s enough to make me keep wondering of how vast the mystery this universe has, how amazing life and exciting people are, and keep me feel alive (?)
Dunkerque (2017)
So, this is the movie I had been waiting for more than a year, and in my case, I think that’s the first time I was impatiently waiting for months for something to come.