<p>My name is Sufyaan. My passion lies in computing and design. In fact, I regularly work for 4-7 hours on end tinkering applications, brainstorming new software ideas and practising brand design. <strong>My end goal is to impact the lives of as many people as possible through software and programming.</strong></p>
<p>I am currently open for brand design projects for technology companies.</p>
<p>My software philosophy and design philosophy go hand-in-hand. I love minimal and simple work. Simpler code makes debugging easier and simpler design makes a piece of work look less crowded. In general terms, this is referred to as the KISS philosophy (Keep It Simple, Stupid). In terms of programming, however, it is sometimes referred to as the <ahref="../definitions/unix-philosophy/"style="color:#50fa7b">UNIX philosophy</a>. I release all my code under the <ahref="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html">GPLv3 licence</a> to contribute to the world.</p>
<p>I use purely free, libre and open-source software with some rare exceptions. When it comes to design, one exception is the Adobe Creative Cloud suite. I use Photoshop, Premiere Pro and even After Effects as I find that they are what I am used to and I need many of their unique features.</p>
<p>I use Linux-based <ahref="../definitions/operating-system"style="color:#50fa7b">operating systems</a>. I have been doing so since 2021. As of 2023, I use <ahref="../definitions/arch-linux"style="color:#50fa7b">Arch Linux</a> as I love its lightweight and do-it-yourself nature. The AUR is also incredibly useful. For my text editor, I use <ahref="https://neovim.io/">Neovim</a> because I love the plugins that can be used along with it.</p>
<p>In terms of programming languages, I know Python really well but I am branching off to learning C and shell scripting due to the advantages of each one. C is much faster and teaches you more about how a computer thinks as compared to the easy-going nature of Python. <astyle="color:#bd93f9"href="../blog/ta">I also use terminal applications</a> which means that I use the terminal a lot. My preferred terminal emulator of choice is <ahref="https://alacritty.org/">Alacritty</a>. This means that a lot of the manual work that I do in the terminal can easily be automated using shell scripting.</p>
<p>I use Librewolf with two profiles (<astyle="color:#bd93f9"href="../blog/bs/">more details here</a>). One of the profiles is optimised for browsing only and has strong tracking protection and runs in permanent private browsing mode. The other profile is used for accounts and has less tracking protection to prevent site breakage when logging in.</p>
<p>Just like other people in my field, I tend to use my computer more than my phone. This is because work can be done much more easily on a computer than a mobile device. I use my phone to message close friends and family on XMPP, Session, Signal or WhatsApp (if required). I do not have any productivity apps on my phone except a calendar and a tasks app. I use CalDAV and CardDAV to sync my contacts, calendar and tasks to my phone through the DAVx5 application.</p>
<p>I use the <ahref="https://us.nothing.tech/pages/phone-1">Nothing Phone (1)</a>. It is a fantastic phone from an amazing company. Its performance is fast enough for me and the battery life used to be low but has almost tripled for me in the past few months due to the company constantly releasing updates to improve the phone. I use the personal profile on my phone for all open-source applications and use the work profile for all close-source applications. This is because I can better compartmentalise the tracking done by close-source applications such as WhatsApp and Google Maps.</p>
<p>I prefer to use products that are not from big corporations like Apple, Google, Microsoft or Meta. This is because of the invasive tracking, data collection and also because of centralization. If I have my email, pictures, videos, documents, notes and calendar on a Google account which gets banned or deleted, I will lose everything. Also, Google has full control over all of the aforementioned things even though they are technically mine. Don't get me wrong, I still use some of their products for specific things. However, I do not have complete dependence on them.</p>
<p>To chat with people, I use many apps. As mentioned before, I use XMPP, Session, Signal and WhatsApp. I also use email and will talk regularly with people as long as they use encryption with their emails.</p>
<p>If you would like to connect with me, please keep reading.</p>
<h2>Email</h2>
<p>My preferred way of communication is email. However, it is incredibly insecure. Therefore, I request you to <ahref="../blog/email-encrypt">encrypt your emails</a> with me.</p>
<p>My email is <code><astyle="color:#ffb86c"href="mailto:sufyaan@counterhawks.com">sufyaan@counterhawks.com</a><ahref="files/sufyaan.gpg">[public key]</a>.</code></p>
<p>Please note that <strong>all emails (both encrypted & plaintext)</strong> from me will be signed with my public key.</p>
<h2>Websites</h2>
<p>I am not active on most social media platforms. Please read <ahref="../blog/social-media">this post</a> to find out why. Below are the only social media platforms I am on:</p>
