404 /404.html 404 Page does not exist!Please use the search bar at the top or visit our homepage! Welcome! /about Hi, I'm Shirish Pokharel! I go by 'Shirish' which is pronounced Si-Reash. My last name is pronounced Pokharel -- Poe-Kh-Rael. As of March 2024 I work Categories /categories Shirish Pokharel Failed Ideas blog /failed-projects This 'blog' will be about all of the projects I've work on that have failed. I've already written them, just needs proper formatting and uploading, an best posts /favorite If you don't know where to start, this is where you should be!These are posts I like myself, and have enjoyed writing. Shirish Pokharel's Fermentland blog /fermentland This page will go to my Adventures in Fermentland blog which has already been written, needs to be properly formatted and uploaded. The uploading pr Steal these ideas! /ideas Here's a list of proposals, ready to be worked on! These are the ideas I believe will change the way people live and interact with their social and ph Home / What am I up to thismoment? /now This part of the website will be all updates from my professional and personal hobbies that doesn't go in the 'socials' section. I'm working on upload /robots.txt User-agent: *Disallow: Sitemap: https://www.shirish.me/sitemap.xml Shirish Pokharel social media /socials This bit is from the old website, I'll be putting in new content here soon, this will be my well-updated social media page. Until then, here's the cha Home /page2/ Home /page3/ Home /page4/ Proposal for Encouraging and Enabling Electric Tuk/ideas/tuktuk-kathmandu Kathmandu faces crucial challenges with air quality, noise pollution, and reliance on fossil fuels. Public transport systems contribute signific Reducing Littering in Nepal's National Parks Throu/ideas/clean-trash-national-park This proposal outlines a project designed to significantly reduce littering in Nepals national parks, such as Shivapuri and Nagarjuna National park. Proposal to consolidate Kathmandu's school bus sys/ideas/bus-consolidation This proposal outlines a plan to consolidate Kathmandus school bus system, leveraging its potential to reduce traffic, optimize resources, and ultima BNKS Social Innovation Lab: Leveraging Unique Asse/ideas/BNKS-social-innovation This proposal outlines an innovative roadmap for BNKS, leveraging its unique assets to empower students, create positive societal impact, and solidify BSFL for municipal household waste management in K/ideas/bsfl-muni-trash-mgmt The thesis of this proposal is to solve municipal waste management using BSFL (black soldier fly larvae) in Kathmandu. BSFL is profit on all sides: th Caps of Nepal: A Commercial Celebration of Nepales/ideas/caps-of-nepal Caps of Nepal is an innovative business venture aiming to celebrate this cultural diversity by offering curated collections of traditional headwear Modernized production, marketing and sales of Chhy/ideas/chhyang-modern Imagine the intoxicating aroma of fermenting rice filling your kitchen, the warm glow of community spirit around you, and the satisfaction of preservi Empowering Nepali Migrant Workers: A Skills Upskil/ideas/empowered-migrants This proposal presents a transformative solution for the low-skilled Nepali migrant problem: a comprehensive skills upskilling program designed to emp Revitalizing Kathmandu and Lalitpur's Cultural Hea/ideas/heritage-reconstruction This proposal presents a unique and sustainable approach to preserving and revitalizing the traditional houses in the core cultural areas of Kathmandu Exploring the Wonders of Nepali Marcha /ideas/marcha-marketization Marcha, the enigmatic yeast and mold colony at the heart of Nepals beloved chhyang, remains largely undocumented, its diverse recipes passed down thr Preserving and Expanding Nepali Woodcarving Tradit/ideas/modern-woodcarving Nepal boasts a rich cultural heritage evident in its intricate woodcarving artistry, adorning temples, houses, and public spaces for centuries. Howeve Strengthening Local Government Accountability in N/ideas/municipal-data-transparency This proposal outlines the establishment of a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting transparency and accountability among local governments i Proposal for Establishing Research Labs in Kathman/ideas/research This proposal outlines the establishment of research labs in Kathmandu, capitalizing on the success stories of existing organizations like Phutung Lab Riverfront Renewal Proposal: Aligned Interests, Sh/ideas/riverfront-renewal By drawing inspiration from successful models, aligning diverse interests, and fostering a spirit of shared prosperity, riverfront rejuvenation in Kat Proposal: Reviving Rural Nepal Through Long-Term R/ideas/rural-residential-tourism Nepal possesses breathtaking landscapes and rich cultural heritage, attracting tourists worldwide. However, many remote villages suffer from out-migra Improving Public Hygiene in Kathmandu and Lalitpur/ideas/student-clean-project Kathmandu and Lalitpur, the vibrant heart of Nepal, face a critical challenge: inadequate public hygiene. Littering, improper waste disposal, and a la Upscaling Nepali Tourism: A Blueprint for Attrac/ideas/upscaling-nepali-tourism By upscaling the current tourism offerings, focusing on luxury experiences and attracting premium tourists, both the government and local communities Strengthening the Spirit of Kathmandu and Lalitpur/ideas/ward-level-festivals This proposal presents a solution:ward-level festivals designed to strengthen local spirit, cultivate a sense of community ownership, and encourage ci On Burnout /burnout 2024/03/09 - I spent so much time and effort working on this blog that I forgot that consistency mattered more than immediate output. There was some b What a 1,300-year-old temple can teach us about sohttps://shirish.me/japanese-shrine 2024/03/03 - Don�t entomb your applications, make them flexible, ready to make a change here and there. That way, they won�t need an overhaul from scr Diverse hobbies for igniting engineering innovatiohttps://shirish.me/diverse-hobbies 2024/02/17 - My journey with juggling multiple unrelated hobbies suggests that engineers with a diverse interest are assets to foster innovation and c Duct-Tape and Strings vs. Building to Spec in Sofhttps://shirish.me/tape-and-strings 2024/02/16 - The �duct-tape and strings� approach to building systems prioritizes functionality and rapid iteration over achieving architectural perfe Srini Pillay's Tinker Dabble Try: The Power of an https://shirish.me/review-tinkle-dabble-pillay 2024/02/16 - Planned �unfocused� activities can enhance your cognitive toolkit. In �Tinker Dabble Doodle Try: The Power of an Unfocused Mind,� Dr. Sri Introduction to Large Language Models (LLMs) and Rhttps://shirish.me/ollama-mac 2024/02/16 - This essay will provide an introduction to Large Language Models (LLMs) and explore the process of running them locally on a Mac using OL A Kubernetes Odyssey in setting up the NVIDIA GPU https://shirish.me/kubernetes-time-slice 2024/02/16 - This essay chronicles an unexpected adventure in implementing GPU time slicing on our EKS cluster. What began as a seemingly straightforw The Innovation Trap: Aligning Technology with Busihttps://shirish.me/innovation-trap 2024/02/16 - Don�t be seduced by the latest �innovation� fads; instead, focus on aligning innovation with your core business goals and customer needs. A intro workshop for interns and new engineers on https://shirish.me/infrastructure-training-material 2024/02/16 - This is the syllabus I originally designed to train Hack. diversity fellows for a 8-week workship (1 hour weekly classes, 2 hours of expe The Symphony of Trust: Building High-Performing Enhttps://shirish.me/high-trust-engineering 2024/02/16 - A strong engineering team with high degree of trust between indiviudal contributors, and between leadership and the rest of the team can How to evaluate the right choice of technology forhttps://shirish.me/evaluating-tech 2024/02/16 - Choosing the right tool and framework for software engineering projects can feel like navigating a minefield. This essay will offer a pra How my Fermentation Hobby Helps Me as a Software Ehttps://shirish.me/engineering-and-fermentation 2024/02/16 - While technical expertise is crucial, I�ve discovered an unexpected wellspring of professional growth: fermentation. This seemingly unrel LLM's will be the next spellcheck assistant, not thttps://shirish.me/collaborative-ai 2024/02/16 - This essay proposes a nuanced perspective on the LLM revolution, one that views AI as a collaborator, not a competitor. AI, particularly Book review of Children of Ruin and Chlidren of Tihttps://shirish.me/children-of-time-ruin 2024/02/16 - Adrian Tchaikovsky�s captivating science fiction books, Children of Time and Children of Ruin, transcend genre boundaries to offer a prof The Checklist Manifesto: A Guide to Better Softwarhttps://shirish.me/checklist-manifesto 2024/02/16 - A review of Atul Gawande�s seminal book ~ The Checklist Manifesto ~ and the lessons it holds for engineers and engineering leaders. Intro A blogger's plea (and a proposal) to Google: bringhttps://shirish.me/bringing-back-blogger 2024/02/16 - This essay proposes a strategic revitalization of Blogger through a premium subscription model, enhanced features powered by Google�s AI What's next for AI? My predictions for the next 10https://shirish.me/ai-future-frontiers 2024/02/16 - Explainable AI, optical AI, analog AI, and meta-learning. I predict the culmination of optimizing massive generative models will result g The risk of production, customer-facing LLM's let https://shirish.me/llms-and-risk 2024/02/15 - Remember the recent case where a Canadian passenger, Jake Moffatt, sued Air Canada after its online chatbot misinformed him about bereave Their IP mountain was drilled away by AI 'mining' https://shirish.me/ai-data 2024/02/15 - Data ownership in the context of large language models is a thorny, complex and contentious issue. AI companies have unlocked huge produc Book review of David Epstein�s Range: Why Generalihttps://shirish.me/david-epstein-range 2024/01/15 - Epstein�s central thesis in �Range� is bold and potentially disruptive to our ingrained beliefs about success. He argues that individuals The tasks LLM's are good at, and the tasks they'rehttps://shirish.me/LLMs-threats-and-opportunities 2024/01/15 - Here�s the story of how I became an LLM convert. LLM�s can be good at some tasks, and awful at others, and being able to create a c Book Review: Learning to Learn and the Navigation https://shirish.me/learning-to-learn 2024/01/02 - In her book Learning to Learn psychologist and researcher Gloria Flores argues that the key to a mindset open, receptive to learning is t Understanding what kind of leader you are: a new lhttps://shirish.me/leadership-styles 2024/01/01 - Here�s a novel way to help engineering leaders understand themselves, and evaluate the best way to leverage their skillsets. Introduction How our squad integrated data scientists and softwhttps://shirish.me/data-engineering-team 2023/12/12 - We learned valuable lessons in integrating data scientists and software engineers into the same team as we tested various team structures A tale of the treacherous task of Kubernetes upgrahttps://shirish.me/kubernetes-upgrade 2023/07/07 - A tale of unmitigated blast radius, in this essay I discuss how I broke one of our developer environments and our recovery attempts. Intr Infrastructure management: from chaos to Cloudformhttps://shirish.me/cdk-vs-terraform 2023/05/03 - Our team decided to use Amazon�s infrastructure-management tooling versus other available tooling a while back. We are now reconsidering Don't hoard your star performers, let them out in https://shirish.me/hoarding-engineer 2022/08/12 - Even well-run organizations can fall into the trap of �hoarding� their star performers, keeping them �on the bench�, unwilling to put the Idea for training volunteer in Kathmandu https://shirish.me/training-volunteers 2017/12/08 - This is an old post from a now-deprecated website. I�m keeping it around only for historical preservation reasons. Not much of it is rele Making this blog https://shirish.me/how-i-created-this 2017/10/16 - This is an old post from a now-deprecated website. I�m keeping it around only for historical preservation reasons. Not much of it is rele