aziz gilani

"My single favorite thing was having someone challenge one of my dearly held beliefs and persuading me to change my mind." -Perry Friedman 1968-2024 #obituperry

@mpetricone Eid Mubarak!

Wishing everyone celebrating a joyful Eid Mubarak 🌙

It's wild how Tesla drivers don't know that most new cars can self drive on the highway. Tesla was definitely the first, but they're not even in the lead anymore (MB Drive Pilot is the only SAE Level 3 system in the U.S). Some other great options:

@ATXJetsetter @LoewyLawFirm @SouthwestAir Legacy carriers definitely sell storage by class. First class seats overheads are reserved, as are economy plus

@LoewyLawFirm @SouthwestAir You and I both know that no airline sells the storage above the seat. It’s a problem on legacy carriers too.

Finally flew @SouthwestAir and it sucks What’s incredible is they sell reserved seats but not the storage above said seat. So people just use the storage the minute they get in. Don’t recall this happening before.

@FBugenhagen_ I've tried living in Austin three times and always end up coming back

the way my aura is fully restored the second my foot hits the ground in Houston, Texas 😭 I love my home 😭

@BayouBikeyBoi @evan7257 I mean, The Woodlands are many things, but they're not Houston.

But… but… I was assured Houston couldn’t have a subway because of the soil

Your regular reminder that Texas doesn't do anything like this. Ever.

"Nobody feels the joy of the Eid as much as children, and when we were children, we could hardly contain our excitement while waiting for it: pocket money, new outfits, new shoes. We would put on these valuable garments and go out to show them off to the other children of the neighbourhood." - literature laureate Naguib Mahfouz Eid Mubarak! عيد مبارك Wishing a happy Eid to everyone that celebrates. In 1988 the literature prize was awarded to Naguib Mahfouz who, through works rich in nuance - now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous - has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind. Read excerpts from "Naguib Mahfouzat Sidi Gaber - Reflections of a Nobel Laureate, 1994-2001": bit.ly/3R4TFmS

To everyone around the world marking the end of Ramadan, wishing you a blessed Eid al-Fitr with friends and family. Eid Mubarak!

@smokefatsalt @NashTalksTexas The reason why bbq became more expensive is because higher cuts of meat became relatively cheaper while the cost of labor exploded. Labor intensive cooking is the new luxury now.

The saddest part about BBQ is it used to be poor people food. Used cheap cuts and slow smoked them till tender. Today it is more expensive than a typical steakhouse, charging $36/lb for brisket. Worst thing to happen to BBQ ever is it became popular. Now get off my lawn

Eid Mubarak, New York.

@clawrence @douglewinenergy Paid for by the Inflation Reduction Act!

Battery storage in ERCOT is now routinely providing 10%-20% of power required by the Texas grid during times of peak demand. Five years ago, we had no batteries in ERCOT. The next 5 years are going to be nuts.

A truly dumb decision that Houstonians will regret for generations 😔 Harris County commissioners vote 4-0 to condemn Hermann Park land for Med Center expansion share.google/t1ziJl83xJq38w…

In 2015 during the Shale revolution, Obama legalized the export of Oil from the US. Under the terms of the law, Trump can unilaterally reinstate the ban at any time. Reinstating the ban would immediately cause US energy prices to collapse. pillsburylaw.com/en/news-and-in…

@pitdesi On a nominal basis, the biggest beneficiaries of affirmative action programs are Whites at the expense of Asian students. Everything else is a rounding error. I ran an analysis based on UC Berkeley admission data before and after the removal of affirmative action.

It is harder for Asians to get into top colleges than other races, but it is much harder for South Asians than East Asians.

@grossdm Brought to you by the Inflation Reduction Act because without these key battery periods the system doesn't work.

Pretty astonishing. In Texas, between 10:00 am and 4:00 p.m., 80-90% of electricity comes from carbon free sources. And storage is already a significant contributor in the early morning and evening

@StephStradley @SouthwestAir I mean, they stranded 2 million passengers. This isn't a story about bean counters maximizing profits at a successful airline with obscure KPIs. The airline failed and was hemorrhaging cash.

@TexasVC @SouthwestAir Yeah I get they needed to modernize, just am tired of cold KPIs making it unnecessarily hard on customers and employees, killing things that used to be cool and friendlier. The modern practice of upselling by making it crappy for broke people sucks.

I think the hardest part about @SouthwestAir is the people who loved them deep, loved its Texas friendly heart. Last airline that didn’t make you feel like a broke person even if you were broke broke. Nobody likes a bidness that makes them feel broke even if they are doing ok. Was easy doing business from city to city. I feel bad for the SWA customer service people because they get a bunch of mess said to them online, and they have no control over the changes. They didn’t choose to force people to sit together when there’s open seats, make it harder for the employees of SWA to do their jobs. Like I promised to get a SWA credit card if they make the airline more easy and fast again. Like fast easy to buy tix, planes load and take off fast. Less bad friction, more fun. Airlines are credit card companies now, make that good. Right now, their credit card reminds me of past sweeter days of taking a bag and a golf bag, treated like the Texas Kings and Queens that we are. Not a nickel and a dime. I need SWA to work for all of us but specifically Texas. I can’t have you making Texans sad because they remember when you were more friendly. Like when a Texas bidness becomes less friendly, it hurts extra. @TravelingTexans need all of the modes of transportation to work better for us. We big, we are global, we need to fly free about the country, world, and to the moon. Anyhow, you know all this, not interested in a debate or more mean words. Just sharing words online, please impress me. Best way to impress me about anything is to make it Actually Good for everybody. Easy and hard to do. 😎🙌♥️🙏🏻

@NoahMF She did lead the ban on smoking indoors though, which was a good thing

@TexasVC With good politics. Steve Le, on the city council from 2016 to 2019, was also a MD with shit politics

I like several of the candidates running in the special election for District C but am recommending a vote for @AudreyForHOU (Audrey Nath). I want a candidate willing to stand up to Whitmire. I also am inspired by the idea of a “good doctor” on council.

@NoahMF Dr Shelly Sekula Gibbs Rodriguez was previously on the city council, but got elected by changing her last name right before the election, so probably a terrible example. chron.com/news/houston-t…

I need to do a bit more research to confirm but if elected Dr Nath might be the first physician with good politics to hold office in Houston since Dr Leonard Robbins, elected to the HISD Board in 1969 on a platform of integration.

@aaraynsh Per capita income is $3K per year vs $76K in the US, so yeah, price points have to be radically rethought

Hard Rock Cafe shutting down in many Indian cities is sad news. But it also shows something interesting about how global brands sometimes misunderstand India. Many international brands enter India thinking the same idea that worked in the West will work here as well. Most of the time, it doesn’t. In US or Europe, places like Hard Rock Cafe work because people go there for the experience. Music, memorabilia, global brand vibe. Food is usually not the main reason. In India, things work differently. People may visit once out of curiosity. Maybe a second time. After that, the question becomes: Is the food good? Is it worth the price? Would I come back again? If the answer is no, people stop coming. Dunkin' entered India with donuts and coffee as its main identity. But donuts were never a daily habit for most Indians. Eventually, they had to change strategy and push burgers and savory food later. Taco Bell also struggled in the beginning. Mexican food was new for many people, so they had to change the menu and pricing to fit Indian tastes. Subway expanded fast in India, but many stores struggled because the prices were high compared to local food options. India is a unique market. Brand name alone is not enough. Food has to be good. Prices have to make sense. And the brand must adapt to local habits to survive. KFC had to introduce a veg menu in India to survive. McDonald's runs fully vegetarian outlets in some locations.