Philosophy
How I think about work, technology, and building tools that help people connect.
Human-Centered Tech, Connection, Biology, Systems
Technology Should Connect — Work Philosophy
A lot of why I went into computer engineering is here. I am fascinated by systems that help people find each other, understand each other, and spend less time fighting tools. I want to build technology that reduces friction, makes knowledge easier to reach, and turns screens back into something more human.
connection, knowledge access, human-centered systems, better social tools
Build Around The Human — Biology & Design
Good tools should respect how people actually live: attention, energy, sleep, movement, food, motivation, and habit. The point is not to escape being human. It is to design systems that make healthier choices easier and make daily life feel less hostile to the body.
attention, energy, sleep, fitness, behavior design
How I Work — Engineering Style
I like first-principles thinking, clear feedback loops, and systems that can be tested, debugged, and improved. Whether it is software, AI, maps, hardware, or personal tools, I care about making ideas practical enough to help real people.
first principles, feedback loops, debugging, practical systems
Nyx
My small chaotic night creature. Docile, dramatic, yet somehow in charge.
Cat, Chaos, Night, Boss
Why I Named Her Nyx — Origin
Nyx is the primordial Greek deity of night, daughter of Chaos. The name felt right immediately: small, dark, mysterious, and full of contained cosmic disorder. She is docile most of the time, but the night-creature energy is real.
Gallery — The boss in pictures
Belly-out lounging, long dramatic stretches, constant eating, green-eyed stares, tongue-out bleps, full loaf mode, and sudden suspicion if she smells another cat. The whole Nyx experience.
chaos, blep, loaf, bite, kitten
Films & Shows
Stories that make me think, feel, and stare at the wall after.
Film, Letterboxd, Watching, Reviews
Letterboxd · @madirewolf — Watch diary
Where I log what I am working through: ratings, reviews, lists, rewatches, and whatever recently caught me off guard. This diary is far from complete!.
https://letterboxd.com/madirewolf/
Favourite Directors — Whose work I keep coming back to
I find tracking directors delivers very consistently! Directors I keep returning to because their films feel built from a worldview, not just a plot. Nolan for structure and moral pressure, Villeneuve for scale and dread, Anderson for constructed tenderness, Tarkovsky for spiritual time, Tarantino for style and tension.
Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, Wes Anderson, Andrei Tarkovsky, Quentin Tarantino
The Classics — Films that stuck
The films that stay with me usually have a scene where the floor drops out: Fight Club, Incendies, Memento, Prisoners, A Beautiful Mind, Shutter Island. I like twists when they are not cheap shock, but a new way of understanding the whole story. The best scenes feel like two people, or two versions of one person, acting out a much deeper philosophy, the White Lotus is a show that illustrates that really well!
Fight Club, Whiplash, Memento, The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar, Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2049, Prisoners, Incendies, Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds, The Lighthouse, Manchester by the Sea, Nocturnal Animals, Catch Me If You Can, Gladiator, Paprika, Coraline, Fantastic Mr Fox, Matilda, The Imitation Game, A Beautiful Mind, Shutter Island
TV & Limited Series — fav shows
Different formats hold different parts of me. I loved Game of Thrones for how unpredictable it was (till the last two seasons), as well as its beautiful dialogue, and explorations of morality. Daredevil for the raw dark feel. Adventure Time and Gumball were the cartoon worlds that shaped my younger brain. Tokyo Ghoul for the intense darkness. Sherlock and Chernobyl for proof that a limited series can hit with the force of film.
Sherlock (BBC miniseries), Chernobyl (HBO), Game of Thrones, Adventure Time, Daredevil, Tokyo Ghoul, Gumball
What film means to me — Personal note
Film, like music, is communication. I love moral dilemmas, gray areas, multidisciplinary stories, science that becomes philosophy, and art that makes me feel something before I can explain it. Arrival stayed with me because it treats language as a force that shapes reality, empathy, and even moral imagination. Samsara feels like a meditation. Prisoners asks what morality becomes under pressure. Incendies leaves you in shock. I like work with depth: make me think, make me feel, then make me reconsider what I thought I understood.
communication, Samsara · meditation, Lynch · trippy, Interstellar · what you take for granted, Memento / Shutter Island · mental state, Prisoners · morality, Incendies · shock, Arrival · language, movies that move
Nature
Vastness, survival, ruins. Moments that make my feel fully present.
Stargazing, Ruins, Desert, Wilderness
A Sky Full of Stars — Jordan
Past midnight in Wadi Rum, I was lying on the red sand with my family, looking at stars I did not know a naked eye could see. It looked like something only a professional long-exposure camera could capture, but it was just there above us. Falling stars kept cutting across the sky every few seconds or minutes. I felt blissful, euphoric, and completely mind-blown by how much had always been there, hidden by light. I realized our technological impact on our environment was quite literally impeding our vision.
Civilizations of Old — Petra, Romans, Dead Sea, Bosphorus
I love archaeology and ruins because they make me feel small inside history. They are beauty, mystery, proof that everything ends, and a way to touch the past. Every carved stone and old city feels like a reminder that entire worlds can vanish and still leave a shape behind. I have been lucky to see some of the most stunning ruins in the world: Petra, Roman Theaters, the Bosphorus, the beautiful mosques of Istanbul, the Hagia Sophia, the Levant olive fields, the Dead Sea, and many more.
Home — Kuwait
Kuwait nature is harsh, melancholic, but still beautiful. I grew up a few minutes from the Persian Gulf, with the beach always close. The desert was my favourite part though. It becomes so beautiful in the winter: BBQs, infinite sand, ATVing, and telescope nights looking for Jupiter and Saturn with friends and family. It also carries a story for me. Feeling the same sun Ghassan Kanafani speaks of in his book Men Under the Sun makes me reflect on my grandfather arriving to this land. As disapora I always felt so lost in this world till I found my people, but that is a constant reminder to my privilege and the fact that I am still indebted to the actions of those that came before me.
Canada: Backcountry, Canoes, Cottages — Canada
Canada gave me a whole other version of nature! My first backcountry camping trip in Muskoka with friends is still one of the most magical experiences of my life. Canoeing through Canadian nature near Quebec, hiking through forests near cottages, and lying on docks while getting absolutely rained on all gave me that same feeling: nothing between me and the world. Just completely engulfed in the vastness and beauty of it all.
What nature means to me — Personal note
Genuinely nothing makes me feel as alive. The stars in Wadi Rum, the ruins in Petra, the Kuwaiti desert at night, ATVing the dunes, canoeing through Canadian wilderness, hiking in the middle of the forest, or lying on a dock in the rain all point to the same thing. Nature forces meditation. Nature forces presentness. Nature forces humility. It is the ultimate vastness, the ultimate unknown, and the ultimate reminder that we are small and temporary. It is also the ultimate beauty, the ultimate connection to something bigger than ourselves, and the ultimate reminder that there is still wonder in the world.