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It's that squirrel staring at you through the window because you're late with the peanuts. Today, Ali Ward back with an extremely digital episode. We have a full length version if you have more time. That's length in the show notes. But this is an episode of Smologies, which means it's shorter, it's safe for classrooms, it's safe for work, no swear words, and a little bit more compact of a digest of an episode. So if you want the full length, it's
in the show notes. If you're hear for smologies, stick around. You're in the right place. Okay, Ali, you say down word. We love snail funerals and coyote ghosts. But let's bump this into the age of the World Wide Web, shall we? So we are today, I get my head out of the annals of dusty natural history books, into the ones, into the zeros, and into the head of a genius programmer and designer and entrepreneur. Buckle up to hear your old dad out of her comfort zone and into the
matrix so architectural technology. I know you are definitely thinking that this is an episode about how arches are built or glass buildings with solar panel windows. I know, but watch out, that is not it at all at all. So archie means having or conceived of is having a single, unified overall design and texture comes from the Greek for chief weaver or builder, and then technology is also from
the Greek meaning art or craft, coming from weave. So the tech in architect and technology are the same tech. So archetechnology. You'll hear more on that now. Okay, I don't know beans about programming, and when things start to get over the average or in my case, below average person's head, I'm going to stop and just clue us all in for a second, just to get up to speed so no one's left behind. Now, this ologist is just about to become your new hero for the week.
Leading up to this interview, I just had notts in my stomach about how cool he was and how little I understood about programming and just want to ask him.
But he is as patient and as gracious as a genius could possibly be, and we chatted all about the value of hands on tinkering and different programming languages and what they do and how to start coding at any age, advice he gives kiddos and grown ups, and being part of technological movements, how he's worked with everyone from Kanye to Rihana and more, what the future will look like, and why being flexible and collecting varied life experiences is
the key to excellence. So cozy up and get ready for your mind to be blown and your heart to be warmed. By architectural technologist Idris Sandus Bold algy knowlogy, Okay, let's get right into it. And how would you define an architectural technologist or someone who doesn't know?
Yeah, so architectural technologists or more like you know important like digital architect is really this like term that I coined around applying the concepts, the ideations and the design thinking that goes into you know, architecture and applying those two digital systems. Right, So it's about understanding like data rams ten principles of designs.
Side note the ten principles of design by Data Rams, which I will list very quickly for context for this episode. Good design is innovative. Good design makes a product useful. Good design is aesthetic. Good design makes a product understandable. Good design is unobtrusive. Good design is honest. Good design is long lasting. Good design is throw down to the
last detail. Good design is environmentally friendly, and good design is as little design as possible, so less is more something to consider before adding a bunch of glittering clip art and comic sans headers to your web patress. Clutter be gone? And when did you become so curious? Oh?
I think I have always been a curious kid, you know. I remember being six seven eight, you know, growing up, we were, you know, financially deprived, and my mom would always have to buy new controllers because I would always break them. And you know, just look at oh, okay, cool, these are what transistors are. And I would look at a PCB board PS.
PCB is a printed circuit board and no, I have never taken one apart myself. And yes, I just had to look up what a PCB was. I'm not a shaped.
I would look at it and reroute everything and connect this to the USB and then take the USB to this and then I remember this one time I created a I took a remote and then I basically re routed and reprogrammed in Java the abnity for me to point that at our ceiling fan and I could change the speed of the fad right and so like I had always been curious.
Well, when did you go from you know, hardware and taking apart controllers and changing their frequency and into coding and into kind of software, Like when did you make that jump?
I started learning how to code in fact, at the age of eleven and went to a library for almost two years straight, only missed three days and learned everything. And I saw the differences. When I was in Compton, I was reading legacy programming languages.
Okay, I wasn't sure if legacy was the actual name of a programming language, so I had to look it up and wow, okay, No, So a legacy language as opposed to a modern one is older and usually not the base for today's coding. But it's really important to know because new technology sometimes has to interact with a
legacy language that may be the base for other programs. Also, please pardon this aside up top, but I just want to get some programming basics just out of the way for context so no one feels lost, and also full disclosure because I needed to look it up to understand it. Also, I'm going to go quick, So first off, machine language is chattering via binary code, so ones and zeros, and those are expressed via tens of thousands of transistors that
flip on and off to relay those ones and zeros. Now, a programming language is a way for us to tell those ones and zeros how to behave and what to accomplish for us. So just remember the task of a thousand steps begins with a single beat boop. Life is just a series of tiny beat boops that can change the world. Now, some of the first programming trivia alert was around the year eight hundred in modern day Baghdad and involved an automata, which was a programmable steam flute.
Priorities got to get those flute jams in. Now. In the seventeen hundreds, we had punch cards that helped operate jackhard textile looms. Some of the first computers in NASA's history were women crunching numbers behind the scenes to figure out flight paths and fuel needs and programming the first electronic general purpose digital computer for the US Army in the nineteen forties. Fast forwarding to the last couple of decades, let's have a very brief simplification of what a programming
language is. It essentially means how plain text or what's called source code is formatted and written to tell the machine how to flip those transistors making all those ones and zeros to get stuff done. So anyway, thank you for bearing with that history and context. Idris was at the library at the age of eleven, feeding his hungry brain with legacy programming languages, as one does.
I just started going to library and read and read and read to the universe. In God's grace. I would end up meeting a Google engineer that happened to be there that day and saw me reading my books, and that was really the start for me in this space.
I know you were in the library, you're studying code, you were what maybe thirteen at the time, and you started entering for Google.
Yes, various points in my life I was being allowed to be in spaces that I normally wouldn't have been in. Right, So me being a thirteen year old kid with somebody that you know, believed in me so much and saw what I was doing to let me have an opportunity to see how things actually worked, and being able to go into the Google building and go in and see
how ideas. Then went to the drawing board, and the drawing board then went on the interface designers, and then from there it going to like the programmers and the programmers working with the marketing team, and the marketing team distributing the app that was built. I just got to see so much and I was like, oh wow. It was like being a Willy Wonkers factory. And I was like, Wow, this is how it works. I want to create this. How did you like the Chocolate Factor, Charlie.
I think it's the most wonderful place in the whole world.
And that would basically shape my whole life around ownership. And one thing that I practiced a lo is vertical integration. Right now, Vertical integration is a form of business in which a business owner or entity controls the whole product life cycle of their creation. Right That's what Apple does. Right So, Apple as a company has a multitude of different devices right now, for every one of those devices that they have, there's an integrated operating system that they
created for each of those products. Right So, if you have an Apple Watch, it runs what watch os. If you have an iPhone it runs iOS. If you which they own these two which they own. If you have a Mac computer, you're running mac os, which they also own, and if you have a TV, it runs what Apple at exactly aos? Right, Okay, cool. That's why everything always
came down to me. So when you ask you, I have to give that preference before answering your question in regards to how does that light bulb moment go to an actual product? You know? For like me, I divide things I do into two states. Right, there's I came
up with this term called aspirational necessitation. Now, aspirational necessitation just simply means if you look around you, you would notice that the products that are aspirational, the stuff you do not need, are the most highly priced and are in fact the most beautiful design things that you can lay your eyes on. Whereas the products that are a necessity and to you roadblock street sides, pedestrian buttons, parking meters, all of these things are designed very very poorly and
with very little design thing. And in fact, the moment that these systems are installed, they're already depreciating in value. Whereas on your phone, if you really think about it, it appreciates in value. Why because there's software updates. So why haven't we designed city infrastructure and things that are
a necessity around us with the same thing. Could you imagine all these tech companies making new cars all the time, making a car be smaller, faster, more fit, but no one is thinking about the road on which the car is drive to. Yeah, that hasn't been change. How about we just make efficient more roads.
Right, so aspirational necessitation, making the things that we all use as nice as the things only five percent of people can afford. Can you imagine that world of just beautiful efficiency? Something that is really striking about you as you are so obviously like focused and passionate about what you do, and you're also so good at having an opportunity and taking full advantage of it, you know, of
showing up when the opportunity kind of knocks. And are you ever called to give advice to people who you know are have less confidence or aren't sure that they could accomplish anything near what you have? Asking for myself because I will shamelessly take any and all advice this dude has to offer, but also for you know, the youth.
Yeah, I mean I think even now, Like I was just reading a Wall Street Journal article earlier about how like the coronavirus is going to literally shift the paradigm for an unfinished generation social skills gen C. Like these kids that are now eight and nine, ten or even like five or six, they're going to grow up in a completely different world now because of coronavirus, you know, And so what it means to be social is going
to be different. What it means to interact facetiming or video calling or even volumetric like you know, certain things have to happen for us to go into new ages of time, right, scientists have to try and get us to the moon, and you know, create a new technology and mistakenly create microwave, and now we all have microwaves
in our house. That scene in Star Wars and New Hope where you have Princess Leiah, you know R two D two projecting her hologram and her to obi Wan can help obi Wan Kanumbi, You're our only hope for us to get to that level, for us to get to the shift, certain things needed to take place in the world. And so ultimately, like I'm a huge spiritualist
and stuff. So what I tell like people around me, whether it's now in terms of advice or whatever, or in the past, is like there's always a blessing behind every single thing that happens. And when we talk about what's going on in the world, what's happening right now is going to force that to happen now because we're going to have to rethink media. When you know, I asked me, like, what advice do I give to people?
It's that advice is simply just be dynamic. Even when I have like kids come up to me like what programming languages? I feel that if I tell children, if I tell young kids what programming languages they should they shouldn't force Especially when those kids coming out to me are like minorities, I feel like I'm not giving them the right information, the right information for me to say that those kids would be learn how to be dyna because one programming language is not going to be it.
You know, new programming language will be created, but you know what won't be new, Your ability to dynamically think, train that muscle in your brain to be able to be adaptable. Information of the current is by default already information of the past. As we're communicating right now, the things we're saying, things we're talking about right now even involves to mention a new technology that has a six week shelf life. A year from now, we got on
new iPhones and then we're talking about something else. My advice to any kid or anyone, really I feel like we're all kids.
I says that we must all accept that we are children and keep learning and asking questions, which you know I love. Now, speaking of asking questions, we're about to ask questions submitted by folks on patreon dot com slash ologies. But before we do, each episode, we donate to a charity or a cause of the ologists choosing, and that donation was made possible by sponsors of the podcast, who you may hear about. Now, do you know.
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Okay, n your questions. Can I ask you a few questions from listeners who knew that you were coming on? Yes, of course, please, yes, I'll run through like lightning around. Michelle Jacobs wants to know if you have a favorite programming language and why.
Yeah, I mean personally, I mean I started off with Java, and Java is one of the most you know, it's not only just one of the oldest programming languages that we I still currently use today, but more importantly, it's a programming language that is like the grandfather of all other programming languages. Right, there's different forms of programming languages. There's different languages, and then there's different like broken versions
of those languages. Right, So you think of like English, and then there's like the British English, then there's the American English. Then there's like Patois, you know, and then there's like Broke Pichon English. Right. And in programming, there's a very wide array for a different application of what you're doing. There are like array languages, they're like assembly. There's just so many there's compiled languages.
Okay, I looked it up in Wikipedia lists over fifty types of programming languages. How exciting. Why are there so many?
It depends on what you're doing. But personally, my one of my favorite programming languages is not Java. Actually that's just a language I started with. I really love c I love c sharp, And the reason why I love c sharp is obviously it has way more memory advantages and speed improvements over Java. But the thing I love about c more most important is because it's really widely accepted.
I can compile that on my map computer running like Bootcamp or running parallel desktop, side by side with the computer and platforms that I in the past that I've used a lot of Unity, which is a game engine. For a lot of visualizations we've created in the past, we've built them in Unity using c sharp. So I love, love, love c sharp. C sharp is one of my favorite languages. But there's a new programming language that Google created called Flutter that I love so much because I've been using
a lot of Facebook React Native. So the Facebook has two major programming languages. One is called React and one is called React Native. And by the way, before people grow me, because I know this is going to happen. Let me just reiterate and say, I know that Facebook React is not a programming language, and it's a library, but it's pretty much a programming language. We can agree
to disagree. It's pretty much a language. It's a JavaScript library, but it is a programming language and as it's currently used.
Okay, from what I gather. Boot camp side note is that helps install Windows OS on Macintosh computers, which, like other types of boot Camp, sounds like a sweaty endeavor. And a library is a bunch of reusable programming routines that a coder can grab so they don't have to physically type all of that source code out like they know what it does and what to use, so you know, you can copy and paste the basics to avoid needing like bionic risks to peck out all those ding dank
backslashes and such. So these shortcuts are valuable given that experienced programmers can make upward of one hundred bucks an hour. In case you're interested in learning to code.
There's never been a more exciting time to get into programming like there is now. You know, I'm twenty two, but I remember being eleven years old having to go to a library and read books there. And now there's
so many free courses online. There's platforms like you to Me, there's con Academy, there's Treehouse that teach you Java from start to finish, that teach you Swift, which is Apple's official programming language that I think a lot of people should start learning the reality of being a programmer is you're always learning, just like the English language. You're learning new words all day and I'm learning a lot. I even sometimes google things or go on YouTube.
Heads up this question and answer killed me dead. And last list question Mad's Clement wants to know what's the silliest thing that you've ever coded, Like a ridiculous website, just something that you just really wanted to make.
I remember this one time I was developing an app for a client and then I put an Easter egg in the right corner, so you would have to, like I think you would long press it, tap or twice again, and then long press it again. And it was just like this Kanye meme that would pop up and He'll be like, it was just so funny to me. But yeah, I mean, I think what I love about programming is like, no matter what language, you're using the ability to like comment in line. That's what I feel like I'm here
to do. I'm here to show people that, like I'm a jack of so many different trades, I am a jack of many trades and confined by none. You know, I don't desire to be a master of any, but I neither decide to be confined by none. So, like, you know, I feel like I've been put on this earth to show people like, yes, I'm an architect that can design like an experience for Kanye and do stage designs and build Snoop Dogg store. But I can collaborate with Fency and Prada and IBM on other projects and
make it okay, make that the new norm. I know I'm not. Then there's people that might be listening to this and be like, he's not a conventional programmer or you know, whatever they might like say about this, But one thing that they can't say is wow, he's so multi crafted and multifaceted. He is, you know, part of the new renaissance of being you know, multifaceted. And I should be too, right. Let we can talk about music, but go to tech and then from tech go to art.
That should be a norm right, artists, music artist, fashion designer should be working with programmers. In fact, for the last twenty years, what I've personally like seen, you know, like that being twenty two and so in terms of just history is that the people that are making the most impact are the people that started off doing something and did something completely different. Tak Her hat Field designed pretty much every popular Jordan's shoe that ever came out.
He has an architecture background. Virgil Oblow, Yeah, Virgil Ablo has an architecture background, you know, just to be a renaissance like.
It's okay, that's such good advice.
I mean, I'm very My science teacher in high school, she would she always to tell me that the brain was not meant to multitask. According to what she said, you know, it's like we're only good at efficiently doing
things one time. And the truth to that is realizing that sometimes we just be trying to do so much and then we forget to focus on one thing and complete and go on to the next, not because we were confining ourselves and because we're not capable of processing all that information, but because when we get to focus and then create something, our brain is operating within its
highest peak. So yeah, I mean for me, it's understanding, Like, you know, I have a lot of time in this world, like to do a lot of things, you know, So yeah, like I would rather work hard now so later I
don't have to you know, I'm twenty two now. In eight years, I want to retire, just go around the world building more schools, like what we're working on in Ghana right now, and you know, building shelters and changing how cities are built from an infrastructural level, using and leveraging AI, you know, in agriculture to be able to you know, let farmers know what seeds or what crop should be in rotation using AI metrics. You know, these are things that I want to do later in life.
So I'm working my butt off now so I don't have to like later.
Oh my gosh, that's amazing. And this is always my last question, but it's going to be hard for you to answer. Thing, But what is your favorite thing about what you do? Like, what do you love the most about your career and your job and your.
Yeah, the connection to God and the universe to me is really important and really how every single thing that I'm doing in my life is for the next person, because I know that's why I'm here.
You're doing so much just amazing stuff. You're such an inspiration. I mean. I also, here's where I confess that I was petrified to interview him because I know nothing about programming, and in terms of cool factor, he might be the coolest person literally on planet Earth, just objectively scientifically speaking. He's so smart, he's so accomplished. I don't even know what to ask.
So thank you for min I'm so gracious, thank you, and thank you. I really appreciate these moments too, because it humanizes technology.
So ask smart people just the stupidest questions because that is the only way we learn. And also, look, they're so kind and so patient. So get more Idress in your life. You can follow him on Instagram at Idris Sandhu or Twitter at idress underscore Sandu. You can check out his ted x talk and you can gock over some of his work at spatial Labs dot io. We are at ologies on Twitter and Instagram. I'm Ali Ward with one L on both and there will be links to the sponsors and more on Idress's work up at
aliward dot com. Slash Ologies slash architectural technology. Also linked is Aliward dot com slash Asmologies, which has dozens more Kids Safe and shorter episodes you can blaze through and thank you Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio and shared Sleeper of mindgam Media for editing those, as well as Zeke Rodriguez Thomas and says we like to keep things small
around here. The rest of the credits are in the show notes And if you stick around to the end of the episode, I give you a piece of advice for free. And this piece of advice comes courtesy of my husband's mom. And once my husband said when he was a kid that he was sad that none of his friends had reached out to hang out with him. And his mom said, well, have you reached out to them? And he said, well, shoot, that's great advice. So if you're lonely and you haven't heard from a friend, reach
out to them. They might be sitting around lonely too, thinking no one's reached out to them. So don't be afraid to make the first move. It might be exactly what someone else needs. Okay, have a good one. Good bye. Algylogy Knowledgies