# Mandalivia > Tabrez's personal site: essays, garden seeds on Obsidian and AI, projects, and demos. Written by [Tabrez Syed](https://www.mandalivia.com/tabrez-syed/). Technology entrepreneur on my fifth startup. I write weekly about AI through lenses borrowed from history. I build at mandalivia.com/tabrez-syed. ## Obsidian Garden - [Markdown Slide Decks in Obsidian with Marp and Claude Code](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/marp-obsidian-markdown-slide-decks-with-claude-code.md): Build slide decks inside your Obsidian vault with Marp and Claude Code. Markdown in, PDF out, assembled from notes you already wrote. - [Using Things 3 as an MCP Server with Claude Code](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/using-things-3-as-an-mcp-server-with-claude-code.md): How to set up Things 3 as an MCP server in Claude Code. Process your GTD inbox, run weekly reviews, and capture tasks — all through conversation. - [Meeting Prep That Actually Knows Who You're Talking To](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/meeting-prep-that-actually-knows-who-you-re-talking-to.md): A Claude Code skill that pulls CRM history from your Obsidian vault, LinkedIn activity, and email threads — and delivers a brief, not a script. - [Replying to Email Without Leaving the Terminal](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/replying-to-email-without-leaving-the-terminal.md): A Claude Code workflow that pulls CRM context from your Obsidian vault, checks your calendar, drafts replies in your voice, and saves them as Gmail drafts. - [Adding Voice Mode to Claude Code with a Stop Hook](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/adding-voice-mode-to-claude-code-with-a-stop-hook.md): Toggleable voice mode for Claude Code via Stop hook. macOS say, Kokoro local TTS, and OpenAI cloud TTS — latency, cost, and where I landed. - [Personal Finance in Obsidian with hledger and Claude Code: Complete Setup Guide](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/hledger-obsidian-personal-finance-with-claude-code.md): Agent-driven plain-text accounting in your Obsidian vault — a setup guide for hledger, tagging, and weekly reports with Claude Code. - [Gmail to Vault to Calendar: One Conversation with Claude Code](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/gmail-to-vault-to-calendar-one-conversation-with-claude-code.md): Pull info from Gmail, summarize it into your vault, and create a calendar event — one Claude Code conversation using a custom Google Workspace skill. - [Add Books to Your Vault with Google Books and Claude](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/add-books-to-your-vault-with-google-books-and-claude.md): A Claude Code skill that searches Google Books, fetches metadata with bash+jq, and creates structured book notes — no browser, no copy-paste. - [Auto-Logging Accomplishments from Claude Code Sessions](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/auto-logging-accomplishments-from-claude-code-sessions.md): Capture session work in your daily note with a CLAUDE.md instruction — and why the automated SessionEnd hook didn't survive real use. - [Tracking Obsidian Vault Changes with Local-Only Git](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/tracking-obsidian-vault-changes-with-local-only-git.md): Version history for your vault without pushing to GitHub. Git stays local, iCloud handles backup. Daily auto-commits, tight .gitignore, and iCloud coexistence. - [Nightly Toggl Summary in Your Obsidian Daily Note](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/nightly-toggl-summary-in-your-obsidian-daily-note.md): A script that pulls yesterday's Toggl entries into your daily note — chronological log, life area rollups, and automatic wikilinks to people in your vault. - [Scrape Your Browser Into Your Second Brain](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/scrape-your-browser-into-your-second-brain.md): Use Chrome DevTools MCP to pull structured data from web apps you're logged into — no credentials shared, no copy-paste. Skip the DOM, read the network tab. - [Travel Planning in Obsidian with Claude Code and a Shared Calendar](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/travel-planning-in-obsidian-with-claude-code-and-a-shared-calendar.md): Manage family trips in one Obsidian project file — bookings, itineraries, transit logistics. Claude pushes events to your shared iCloud calendar automatically. - [Weekly Project Review with Claude Code and Obsidian CLI](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/weekly-project-review-with-claude-code-and-obsidian-cli.md): Scan all open Obsidian projects, flag stale ones, and triage each — keep, hold, drop, or done. A Claude Code skill built on tag-based GTD. - [Your Obsidian Vault Is Already an Agent Memory System](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/your-obsidian-vault-is-already-an-agent-memory-system.md): Letta, Zep, and Mem0 build memory from scratch. An Obsidian vault already has recall and archival — add a thin context layer and a /sleep loop to close the gap. - [Voice-Driven Time Tracking with Toggl and Claude](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/voice-driven-time-tracking-with-toggl-and-claude.md): Log Toggl time entries by speaking naturally to Claude. It parses your words, maps to projects and tags, and syncs a summary back to your Obsidian daily note. - [Semantic Search for Your Obsidian Vault — What I Tried and What Worked](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/semantic-search-for-your-obsidian-vault-what-i-tried-and-what-worked.md): Grep, OmniSearch, and QMD benchmarked on a 2,400-note Obsidian vault — real timing, token costs, and a complete setup recipe with multi-collection strategy. - [Syncing Completed Things 3 Tasks into Obsidian Daily Notes](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/syncing-completed-things-3-tasks-into-obsidian-daily-notes.md): A Node script and launchd agent that copies yesterday's completed Things tasks into your Obsidian daily note automatically. Idempotent, safe, dry-run supported. - [Beware What Sounds Insightful](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/beware-what-sounds-insightful.md): Novel terminology for familiar truths creates dopamine hits that feel like learning. Why knowing what 'tool-shaped objects' means doesn't help you avoid them. - [Collecting Is Not the Same as Knowing](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/collecting-is-not-the-same-as-knowing.md): Knowing a bird's name doesn't mean understanding the bird. Why note accumulation without reflection is just filing, not genuine learning or understanding. - [Using Compass Questions to Connect New Notes](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/using-compass-questions-to-connect-new-notes.md): Ask North (origin), South (implications), West (similar), East (opposite) to create linked atomic notes that reveal patterns instead of isolated facts. - [Fix Obsidian List Spacing After Pasting from AI or HTML](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/fix-obsidian-list-spacing-after-ai-paste.md): A quick Obsidian workflow to clean extra list spacing after AI or HTML paste using Linter custom regex and a keyboard shortcut. - [Habit Tracker for Obsidian Daily Notes](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/habit-tracker-for-obsidian-daily-notes.md): Two DataviewJS queries that read habits from your daily notes using file.content — with a progress bar, completion percentage, and 7-day streak view. - [Add Today's Weather to Obsidian with Templater (Free API)](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/obsidian-weather-today-with-templater.md): A Templater script that pulls current conditions and high/low from wttr.in into your daily note — free API, no plugin required. - [How to Use Obsidian as a CMS with Astro.js: Complete Setup Guide](https://www.mandalivia.com/obsidian/obsidian-with-astro-for-personal-site.md): Step-by-step guide for using Obsidian as a CMS for Astro with symlinks, plugins, templates, and publishing workflow. ## AI Garden - [What WebMCP Actually Changes](https://www.mandalivia.com/ai/what-webmcp-actually-changes.md): WebMCP shifts agents from screen-scraping to calling tools directly — shared canvases, context portability, and designing for a human-agent pair instead of one. ## Talks - [Honoring the Spark: Spiceworks Employee Number 1](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/honoring-the-spark.md): Spiceworks' 20th-anniversary podcast opens its series with the company's first hire — the garage phase, the bet on community-driven IT, and twenty years of the Spiceworks Community. - [Navigating the AI Wave: Innovations, Hurdles, and Prospects](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/billd-ai-week.md): A primer on generative AI given at Billd AI Week — where large language models came from, where they break, and how to start using them. - [Navigating the AI Wave: Innovations, Hurdles, and Prospects](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/round-rock-chamber.md): The AI wave primer, given to the Round Rock Chamber — origins of large language models, practical tips, and a roadmap for organizations. - [Generative AI Workshop](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/generative-ai-workshop.md): A two-session hands-on workshop on large language models — from rule-based algorithms to neural networks, and how to fold the tools into a business. - [pharosIQ: How AI is Changing the Marketing Game](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/forrester-b2b-summit-ai-marketing.md): A case-study panel at Forrester B2B Summit North America 2024 in Austin on AI in marketing, with speakers from pharosIQ, Convertr, and Sudozi. - [Understanding the Benefits and Drawbacks of ChatGPT and AI](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/silicon-hills-chatgpt.md): A seminar on what large language models are good for and where they fail — origins, practical tips, and the limits worth knowing before you rely on one. - [Navigating the AI Wave: Innovations, Hurdles, and Prospects](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/business-owners-council.md): The AI wave primer, given to the Business Owners Council — how large language models work, and the questions that surface an organization's own roadmap. - [GenAI Journey: Past Insights, Present Challenges, and Future Opportunities](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/women-presidents-organization.md): How we got from traditional software to large language models, the problems that came with them, and where the workflows go next. Given to the Women Presidents Organization. - [The Myth of User Rationality](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/slideux-myth-of-user-rationality.md): A written interview in Slide UX's For Humans' Sake series — why users don't live in a rational world, and why asking the right question matters more than hunting the answer. - [Being Employee Number One — the Daily Blob](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/daily-blob-spiceworks.md): An interview on Eli the Computer Guy's Daily Blob show about joining Spiceworks as employee number one and the focus on the Spiceworks Community. - [Future of "Freemium": Driving Business or Out of Business?](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/futurem-future-of-freemium.md): A FutureM 2013 panel on what sustains producers when customers expect the product to be free. The full session survives on video. - [SpiceWorld](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/spiceworld.md): An annual run of sessions at Spiceworks' user conference — product showcases, roadmaps, and community talks across Austin and London, 2009 to 2016. - [Social Business: Collaboration & Communication](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/cebit-social-business.md): A CeBIT 2012 Global Conferences panel with Dell, Yammer, and SugarCRM on social networks in the workplace, moderated by Forbes' Eric Savitz. - [What Do Startups Have That You Do Not? The Collaboration Genome](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/gigaom-network-collaboration-genome.md): A panel at GigaOM Net:Work 2011 in San Francisco on why startups collaborate better than enterprises. GigaOM covered it the same day. - [Let Your Community Build You — 1.5 Million and Counting](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/enterprise-2-0-community.md): A solo session at Enterprise 2.0 Boston 2011 on how Spiceworks built its 1.5-million-member IT community. InformationWeek covered it three weeks later. - [Straight Talk: Making Social Work from 9-to-5](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/sxsw-straight-talk.md): A SXSW Interactive 2011 panel on how businesses were being remade by social technology, sponsored by Spiceworks. - [Spiceworks 4.0 with Tabrez Syed](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/redmonk-spiceworks-4.md): A RedMonk sit-down on Spiceworks 4.0 and the hybrid role behind it — traditional product management crossed with the then-new practice of community management. - [Managing Cloud Services in a Hybrid Computing World](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/cloud-expo-hybrid-computing.md): A session at Cloud Expo 2010 in Santa Clara, co-presented with Spiceworks co-founder Jay Hallberg. - [Spiceworks and Workflow Management](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/amd-spiceworks-workflow.md): An AMD video interview on Spiceworks' push to build integrated workflow tools into its IT dashboards. - [Building and Marketing Cloud Services to Reach 5 Million SMB IT Pros](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/gigaom-structure-workshop.md): A workshop at GigaOM Structure 2010 in San Francisco, presented with Spiceworks co-founder Jay Hallberg and Rackspace. - [Social Media: From Strategy to Execution](https://www.mandalivia.com/talks/siia-netgain-social-media.md): A panel at SIIA NetGain 2010 in San Francisco on putting social media to work, with panelists from BurrellesLuce and LexisNexis. ## Pages - [AI Company](https://www.mandalivia.com/ai-native-company.md): Learn more about the person behind the website and embark on a journey of inspiration and shared experiences. - [Page Title](https://www.mandalivia.com/ai-native-company/jules.md) - [Page Title](https://www.mandalivia.com/ai-native-company/meeting-estaff.md) - [OKR 1](https://www.mandalivia.com/ai-native-company/okr-1-launch-the-site.md) - [Milestones](https://www.mandalivia.com/ai-native-company/scratchpad.md): Learn more about the person behind the website and embark on a journey of inspiration and shared experiences. - [Ticket: Sitemap Integration](https://www.mandalivia.com/ai-native-company/tickets/ticket-sitemap.md) - [Ticket: SLP Outreach & Feedback Request](https://www.mandalivia.com/ai-native-company/tickets/ticket-slp-contact.md) - [Weekly Log - May 16, 2025](https://www.mandalivia.com/ai-native-company/weekly-logs/may-16-2025.md) - [Page Title](https://www.mandalivia.com/ai-native-company/weekly-logs/may-23-2025.md) - [Tabrez Syed](https://www.mandalivia.com/tabrez-syed.md): Technology entrepreneur on my fifth startup, now in AI. I write weekly about AI through lenses borrowed from history.