A Grain of Salt

Hi, there! My name is Teddy Aryono. I am currently based in Melbourne, Australia. Let me talk about what this website is all about, before then I will talk about myself later on this page.

Why is “A Grain of Salt”?

This website — A Grain of Salt — is my personal blog, where I randomly put everything that crosses my mind. Most of the time, they are the intersection of technology and humanity, but sometimes they are also completely random. They are a compilation of my lifelong learning; the journey of my learning.

Articles in this blog are rarely written with gruelling research. They are all my personal opinions. So, please take everything that I put in this website with a grain of salt, hence the name of the blog.

Some posts in this blog are written with AI as a thinking partner to help me structure ideas, refine arguments, or explore concepts.

This is so important, and I think worth iterating: this blog is my personal blog. I speak for myself in this blog, NOT my employer. This blog does not represent any organisations, companies, or other people. Let alone, my employer.

Why do I write and maintain a blog?

I mainly write for myself. We all should learn continuously to stay relevant, right? Whether you are an engineer, a doctor, a pilot, or…really, almost any jobs, honestly.

I keep learning to stay relevant, too. But, when I learn, I need a media to express what I learn. In that context, this blog is my rubber duck, if you will. Talking to myself, and writing what I learn as blog posts, help me to commit what I learned to my memory.

Here is another reason why I love writing: they make me a better communicator.

I learn on the job. I learn by reading books. I learn from anything, anywhere, anytime. All of them are data, information, and insights that I have to process. They are all sitting in my brain in such a way, but sometimes, I need to communicate back what I learn to other people. Writing helps me to structure and organise them better in my memory, and help me to re-articulate what I learned better.

Somehow, by writing I feel like turning system 2 to system 1 when I am in a situation where I have to communicate ideas.

Now, that is about the blog. Who am I, though?

As I mentioned, my name is Teddy. I am a software engineer, who is currently working as a solutions architect @aws. Solutions architect is a unique role, which combined a capability of software engineering (eg. system design, coding, architecting), and a capability of being a trusted advisor. Solutions architecture are also about being thought leaders in making critical technical decisions in an organisation.

Outside work, I really love reading, cooking, and running. I partially list what I read here, and here (yes, partially - I bought random books every now and then from self-published writers as well).

Another thing about me (that is probably less important) is, I am a bit of a coffee snob. I used to brew manually with V60, moka pot, aeropress, and a few other highly-effort coffee brewing methods. I am too lazy now, so I switch to automatic brewer. I use moccamaster for filter brewing, and a Breville Barista Pro for espresso.

Another thing that used to interest me (and this is probably even less important) is mechanical keyboard. I used to build my own keyboard. This is a pair of KBDFans DZ60RGB-ANSI V2 - one for home-office use, and another one stays in the office.

Both are no longer mine (sold), and now I just keep this tiny one with me. This is Planck EZ (discontinued), a 40% ortholinear¹ keyboard from ZSA, with this keycaps set. I use Gazzew Boba U4T switches for all of my keyboards.

How to reach me?

The best way is probably via email at [email protected]. I rarely open my socials, but I open my linkedin every now and then - so, you can try to send me a message there as well. I speak English and Bahasa Indonesia; you can write in either of them.