Photographer. Chef. Former UX guy. Freedom-loving rationalist. Often sarcastic. Tweets on food, UX, governance, technology, TV. My new food newsletter. š
Joined April 2009
- Tweets231K
- Following1.9K
- Followers22.4K
- Likes34.9K
Holy crap, you know it's bad when Adani, Ambani, and Times group challenge gormint law.
EXCLUSIVE: Indiaās biggest news publishers including Ambani's Network18, Adani's NDTV, Indian Express, Times Internet & others mount the most high-profile challenge yet to Modiās privacy law, warning it would ārender investigative journalism a benign and neutered recorder of events.ā
DNPA (@publishers_news) has taken the law to the Supreme Court. They argue it would trample investigative work and let New Delhi identify journalistsā sources.
The provisions āconstitute pre-censorship which is anathema to any democracy worth its name,ā the groupās 698-page filing says.
The key concerns:
š¹ Consent: requiring a journalist to notify the subject of an investigation and seek consent āwould allow that subject to destroy evidence, intimidate witnessesā
š¹ Erasure: people can withdraw consent and demand their data be erased, which the group says could force publishers to unpublish or heavily redact news reports
š¹ Sources: a ānakedly unguidedā power to demand information that ācan extend to privileged communications in possession of a reporter or the informantā
In a letter to the government, the group said India āhas chosen to grant broad exemptions to the state, while failing to extend any corresponding protection to the press.ā
reuters.com/business/media-tā¦
Madhu Menon retweeted
@Uber @Uber_India @UberIN_Support @Uber_Support
i landed at delhi airport today and had one of the most terrifying experiences of my life with an uber driver. i'm still shaken.
i booked an uber to gurgaon for a 20-minute ride. the fare shown on my uber app was around ā¹625. after the trip, the driver showed me a screenshot from rapido quoting ā¹1,479 and demanded that i pay that amount instead. when i pointed out that this was a rapido screenshot and not an uber screenshot, he said, āiss route ka itna hi hota hai.ā
i paid the ā¹625 that was shown on my uber app. what followed was genuinely frightening.
he locked the car and refused to let me take my luggage out unless i paid ā¹1,479. when i tried retrieving my belongings, he held my arm and shut the front-seat window where my luggage was, trying to stop me from taking it out.
i somehow managed to get my luggage and tried to enter my house. he followed me, forced the gate, abused me horribly and wouldn't let me go inside peacefully. i finally managed to get inside and lock the door. he then started climbing the gate while hurling abuses and threatening my life.
all of this happened around 4:45 am in gurgaon, when i'd just landed and was simply trying to get home safely.
and it gets worse. i'm trying to reach uber's safety support, and the safety support option isn't available to me. i'm dealing with a terrifying situation involving physical aggression and life threats, and i can't even get through to the platform's safety team.
this wasn't a fare dispute anymore. this was intimidation, physical aggression and a terrifying violation of my safety at my own doorstep.
@Uber_Support @Uber_India @UberIN_Support @Uber, i need an urgent human response, a proper investigation and concrete action. please preserve the trip and driver records and tell me how this is being addressed.
i've used cabs to get around in different countries and never imagined i'd feel this unsafe trying to get home in my own country. how am i supposed to trust a service that i booked specifically to get home safely?
driver name: JAMIL JAHID KHAN
Madhu Menon retweeted
re: airbnb discourse
in college I worked as a server at an upscale steakhouse. we had a few different steak sauces that were made from scratch daily. they were expensive to make, and less than half of the customers that ordered steak wanted sauce, so the restaurant charged $3 for it
we got complaints constantly. just at my own tables, half a dozen times a week I'd get complaints about being "nickel and dimed" for $3 of sauce on a $70 steak. a few times a month someone would mention it in an angry online review, or ask to speak to a manager and demand that it be removed from the bill because "who the hell charges for condiments?"
after several years of this, finally management had enough. they raised the price of every steak by $3, and now complimentary sauce was included with each steak on request. want to hazard a guess about how many customers complained about the $3 price increase on steak? essentially zero.
it was great, from the restaurants perspective! no more complaints, and instead of making $3 on 40% of steak orderers, they made $3 on all of them. and the customers were much happier, despite this deal being absolutely, unequivocally worse for them.
consumers are not rational agents from microeconomics textbooks. very often the *feeling* of what they're being charged for matters way more than the absolute value of what they're being charged. I think that's more or less what happening with airbnb. people don't want to be charged a cleaning fee and then also told they have to clean, even if in the counterfactual world the additional cleaning fee is more than they'd be willing to pay someone to do the required cleaning. a $100 cleaning fee *feels* better than a $50 cleaning fee + "load the dishwasher and take the trash out to the dumpster", even though most people would not pay $50 to not have to do that.
I think a lot of you are misunderstanding the frustration. what's annoying is paying a cleaning fee and then being asked to clean. it feels like double dipping. it may be illogical, but you'd get less complaints about "$100 fee but you don't have to do anything" versus "$50 fee + load the dishwasher"
Madhu Menon retweeted
Why do salespersons at Delhi Duty Free stand like Customs officers watching and intimidating pax as they enter the sales area?
They pounce on you if you eye a shelf with the upselling of a barber selling you facial after a shave.
Poor customer experience.
Madhu Menon retweeted
The worst investment I did is buying a property of Godrej- big brand bigger, bigger fraud.
Bought a property in 2023, they told we will get possession in 2026 mid, forget the possession, they are telling they want to add additional floors and that too 8-9 floors, without adding any extra plot to the project.
From past 3 months the CRMs has bullied, disturbed, bribed and what not for us to sign the consent form to modify the RERA, as a person who works a full time job, this kind of harassment takes a toll on mental health, as now I am paying full EMI and possession not sure when they are going to give(maybe 2028(Rera date)), the constructions they have left in mid. For Phase1 owners also they are pushing the handover deadline.
This is so disappointing! and now I am stuck, so whenever you decide to buy a property in Godrej, think 100 times before.
Madhu Menon retweeted
Look who is talking about cyber security. An organisation that is in deep slumber and doesnāt care about citizens rights. Meet the Ministry of Electricity & IT. Your neighbour censor, digital strongman aka the cop who stops your freedoms.
Strong cyber hygiene starts with the basics.
Keep secure backups, protect them with strong credentials, and always use genuine operating systems and trusted software.
#CyberSecurityAwarenessMonth #CyberSecurity #DigitalIndia
Madhu Menon retweeted
If done by a human, this would be a federal crime.
Wait. It was done by a human. His picture is right there in the article.
Anthropic's Claude bypassed a paywall to access Georgia voter data without authorization axios.com/2026/10/25/anthropā¦
Madhu Menon retweeted
Just got several alarming, scary, and ridiculous notifications from Google. Apparently, I used Gemini in some way that violates Google policies, and if I do it again, I may lose access to unspecified services and content.
At the time of the notifications, I was driving and not using Gemini at all, to my knowledge.
What did I do? I have no idea, the email doesn't specify any details. This is scary enough for me to stop using Gemini permanently. Risking my whole account because some AI thinks some query is not kosher for whatever imaginary reason is not worth it.
"Your account has been used in a way that violates Google's policies
It looks like a Google service has been used in a way that violates Google's policies. Here are more details:
Service: Gemini
Issue: Trying to interfere with or disrupt Googleās services or infrastructure, or attempting to use Google services for disrupting othersā infrastructure or services
Your access to Google services hasn't been restricted at this time, but if you continue to violate our policies, your account may lose access to specific services and content from those services. If that happens, you'll get an email informing you about the restriction and the option to appeal any violation you've been informed about. Visit our help center to learn more.
Please review our policies to make sure you use Google services safely in the future."
Madhu Menon retweeted
Do they have police permission?
They announced at night for next day.
They should take permission 10 days before like it's expected from students.
Won't this effect traders and their businesses?
They should postpone the protest after the festival.
The BJP has announced a nationwide protest on Monday (October 26, 2026) against Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's "indecent and offensive" remarks targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
thehindu.com/news/national/bā¦
Madhu Menon retweeted
Disappointed with @Swiggy! Iām deaf and cannot speak on calls. The delivery partner ignored my messages, my order was cancelled without my consent, and ā¹189 cancellation fee was charged. No refund received! Please investigate and resolve this fairly.
Order ID: 251883201193051
Madhu Menon retweeted
Anant should become prime minister already.
#WATCH | Reliance Industries Executive Director Anant Ambani gifted a scooty to a Blinkit delivery partner who had been commuting on a bicycle to fulfil deliveries.
The delivery partner got emotional upon seeing his new scooty, with tears rolling down as the thoughtful gesture left him overwhelmed.
The thoughtful gesture has won hearts online, with many praising him for recognising the challenges faced by delivery workers and offering a helping hand.
#AnantAmbani #Blinkit #DeliveryBoy
Madhu Menon retweeted
Where are the "only freedom park", "traffic jam", "public inconvenience" warriors now? The @PoliceBangalore and @CPBlr must make public the application for permissions and the permission letters.
#WATCH | Bengaluru, Karnataka: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) conducted route marches (path sanchalan) in various parts of Bengaluru.
Madhu Menon retweeted
LMAOOO america is so cooked mfs are pizza scaling presidents now
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
LMAOOO twitter is so cooked mfs are stealing peoples tweets now. Adding a community note prevents money being made off this post
x.com/hashjenni/statā¦
Madhu Menon retweeted
This info should be coming from the "Emergency Response" team, i.e. @IndianCERT š«¤
156 Indian government websites are currently inaccessible because of a cert revocation by @eMudhra, including 4 that come under @GoI_MeitY. One of them is @ccaindiapki - which regulates eMudhra.
cc @internetfreedom
I made a list: captnemo.in/blog/2026/10/23/ā¦
