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Life, Learning & Writing
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Technical Writing: Learning from Kernighan
I have in front of me two books that immediately struck me with their similarity: The c Programming Language 1 1 The c Programming Language ; Kernighan & Ritchie; Prentice Hall; 1988. and The awk Programming Language 2 2 The awk Programming Language ; Aho, Kernighan & Weinberger; Addison-Wesley; 1988. Available…
How to become a part-time programmer
For some people, a 40-hour workweek is something to aspire to; for others, it’s still too much time taken up by a job. If you fall into that second category, if you want more time for hobbies, family and friends, or working on your own software projects, you too might dream of working less than full time. But how do…
Mental Models: The Best Way to Make Intelligent Decisions (113 Models Explained)
The smartest people in the world use mental models to make intelligent decisions, avoid stupidity, and increase productivity. Let's take a look at how ...
Spend analysis of 6 years, 686 rides, and $12k spent on Uber (2017)
What I learned from my Uber data I save $703/month using Uber versus owning 2 cars (🚙🏎). I’ve spent $12,041 on 686 Ubers over 6 years. By comparison, car ownership cost $11,783 per year, most of it depreciation. What could $703/month buy you? Well, four years of $703/month and you’ll save enough to climb Mount…
Why read old philosophy?
I’m going to try to explain a mystery that puzzled me for years. This answer finally dawned on me in the middle of one of those occasional conversations in which non-perplexed friends patiently try…
Interviews vs. auditions
In every off-season teams in every sport begin a strange ritual. Prospective coaches are flown in to meet with management about open positions — sometimes they convene at the stadium, in nondescript conference rooms, or the cabin of the owner’s plane. Whatever the locale, the scene is usually thus: The ambitious coach…
Varieties of Argumentative Experience
In 2008, Paul Graham wrote How To Disagree Better, ranking arguments on a scale from name-calling to explicitly refuting the other person’s central point. And that’s why, ever since 200…
The Construction of a Yurt (1995)
[ed note: this article is also available in pdf and postscript and as a Microsoft Word document . ]
Taskwarrior, where have you been all my life?
I’ve been thinking a lot about task management lately. I’ve actually been thinking about it for years. I’ve always been searching for the optimal way to sort through the bajillion things I have to do and remain productive.
How I Fail – Ian Goodfellow
Ian Goodfellow is a staff research scientist on the Google Brain team, where he leads a team of researchers studying adversarial techniques in AI. He was included in MIT Technology Review’s “35 und…
My name is Wil Wheaton. I live with chronic Depression, and I am not ashamed
I’m about to go speak to NAMI Ohio’s statewide conference, Fulfilling the Promise. These are the remarks I prepared for my speech. Before I begin, I want to warn you that this talk touc…
Judge the value of what you have by what you had to give up to get it
Written for and first published in the Financial Times on 6 April 2018. I’m not one to collect inspirational slogans, but here’s one I like: “Judge the value of what you have by what you had to giv…
Hi, I’d Like to Add Myself to the New Yorker (2016)
Personal site of designer Frank Chimero
What's in those mysterious cabinets?
From the highly eclectic blog of Mark Dominus
I switched from iPhone to the Pixel 2: One-week report
…the bottom line is, the experience is simultaneously high-end luxury yet while staying informed and in control of the device.
A Layman’s Intro to Western Classical Music
‘Puisque ces mystères me dépassent, feignons d’en être l’organisateur.’ –Jean Cocteau. Click to read Quariety, by anas sabbar, a Substack publication. Launched 6 years ago.
A more privacy-friendly blog
Over the years, I have implemented some changes to this blog to make it more privacy-friendly.
Dumber phone
Less is exponentially more – Rob Pike Smart phones are useful, but they are also incredibly addictive, and that addiction is at the epicenter of Silicon Valley’s effort to grab an ever-increasing percentage of our minds. If a substance or behavior controls us, it becomes our master, and that just won’t do. For the…
The Unhealthy Desire for Prestige
There is an unhealthy desire for prestige and money that is ruining people's lives. At the end of all the striving, you might end up feeling empty inside. The desire for prestige and money is why we: 1) spend an outrageous sum of money on education despite it being free, 2) kill ourselves at jobs we