Hello | ሰላም

A Quick Introduction

Hello and ሰላም (pronounced “sä-lam”, meaning peace). In Ethiopia and Eritrea, ሰላም is the go-to greeting—a way of wishing peace upon whoever you meet.

I’m Kidus. I’m a Computing Science undergraduate at the University of Alberta, just a few months shy of graduation. Professionally, I work as a Founding Engineer at Scam AI, where my research focuses on AI detection—deepfakes, generated images, document fraud. You name it, I’ve probably experimented on it.

That’s the résumé version.

This is the other version.

I built this website because I wanted a home on the internet to express myself beyond my professional pursuits. Not a LinkedIn profile, not a GitHub page, but something I built from scratch that looks the way I want and says what I actually want to say. The portfolio section handles the “straightforward” side: my work, my research, and how to reach me.

This blog is different. I’ve called it The Buna Print for now(more on this below), and I started it because I wanted a place to write that isn’t constrained by my “day job.” I think a lot about things that don’t fit neatly into a research paper or a pull request—ideas I’m turning over, books I’m reading, observations worth sharing, or even progress updates on new skills (I’m currently learning Arabic—more on that soon!).

I wanted a space to think out loud without the pressure of being polished, authoritative, or even “useful” to anyone in particular.

So, this is the first step. Launching the site this way feels right—not just putting up a static portfolio, but starting something meant to grow, provoke thought (in myself and others), and connect in a way that feels increasingly rare online.

There’s a lot I want to write about. I’ll get to it.

The Frame | እይታ

An aspect I want to explore in my writing is the value of moments, and how one frame(or እይታ, pronounced “i-yi-ta”), can say things no essay can. There is no medium, to me, that does this better than an image. As a hobbyist film photographer, the greatest lesson photography has taught me is to be present in each moment, in each frame. The same way a regular coffee mug on a table in a cafe can look like the center of the universe when viewed through a camera lens, bringing one frame here is my way of slowing down the world. It’s about choosing one perspective—one እይታ—and staying there for a while.

So, an idea I want to test is to have one image per blog which I share that means something to me, and I tell you what I see when I’m viewing this image. Not to tell you what this picture is, but what this picture evokes in me.

Here’s the first of many, I hope.

The Image | ስዕሉ

Two hands meet over a ሲኒ

Here we have a ሲኒ (pronounced “si-ni”), the traditional cup of Ethiopia and Eritrea used to drink ቡና (pronounced “bu-na”), meaning coffee.

Photo: Native Agazin Pinterest Post.

What I see | እይታዬ

I’ve always loved the ሲኒ. More than just a vessel, it is an integral part of Habesha culture—a witness to shared secrets and intimate conversations. It is the physical embodiment of those fleeting moments of quiet found only while sipping from this cup amidst the bustle of Addis Ababa. As a symbol of our daily ritual, the ሲኒ ties our community together through the ቡና ceremony, silently offering the ultimate Habesha promise: “You are welcome here.”

Kidus | ቅዱስ