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Becoming the person who does the thing
Bad news: your internal identity dictates everything you do. Good news: you can change it
New
The latest blog posts to take off on Hacker News. 7,740 posts.
Life, Learning & Writing
Any year
812
You’re a slow thinker. Now what?
Figuring out how to lean in to my thinking style
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The Socratic Journal Method: A Simple Journaling Method That Works
Journaling doesn’t need to be a chore. In this post, I share The Socratic Journal Method, my simple twist on journaling that turns blank pages into meaningful conversations. It’s a method designed to help you reflect, stay consistent, and actually enjoy the process.
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Tarsnap is cozy
I have been aware of tarsnap for a long time, but only recently did I actually get around to using it for anything, as a result of my big personal digital resiliency audit for 2025. For those of you not in the know, tarsnap is “online backups for the truly paranoid”, and tarsnap the command-line program is the…
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The value of bringing a telephoto lens
Learn darktable step-by-step and dive deep into…2025122 points131 commentsLife, Learning & Writing details
They usually aren't light, and they certainly aren't small, but the unique perspective a telephoto lens brings makes it an indispensable part of your kit, even when traveling. Let's review some shots taken with a telephoto to see how we can justify its size and weight.
817
We all dodged a bullet
That NPM attack could have been so much worse.
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I don't like curved displays
where my words occasionally escape /dev/null
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YouTube views are down (don't panic)
September 15 update: @YouTubeInsider confirmed that the issue is related to viewers who have adblockers enabled—YouTube's been in an arms race with ad blocking tools, and the fallout is a substantial cut in counted views for creators who have a large audience watching from desktop. Many YouTube content creators…
820
De-Clouding: Music
I’m going through a phase of figuring out what I can get out of the cloud and “own”. Particularly with regard to streaming services. I’ve never paid for Spotify. But I’ve had iTunes Match so that I can take all of the weird, not-on-streaming music that I have (I wrote about this back in 2013!!!!), […]
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I am giving up on Intel and have bought an AMD Ryzen 9950X3D
The Intel 285K CPU in my high-end 2025 Linux PC died again! 😡 Notably, this was the replacement CPU for the original 285K that died in March, and after reading through the reviews of Intel CPUs on my electronics store of choice, many of which (!) mention CPU replacements, I am getting the impression that Intel’s…
822
Knowledge and memory
The what is connected to the when.
823
Being good isn't enough
Giving good career advice is hard. Maybe it’s because careers can look more alike than they really are. Two people can have the same title but what helps one...
824
I kissed comment culture goodbye
It started out harmlessly, a comment on hacker news roughly 16 years ago.
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I bought the cheapest EV, a used Nissan Leaf
I bought a used 2023 Nissan Leaf in 2025, my first 'new' car in 15 years. The above photo was taken by the dealership; apparently their social media team likes to post photos of all purchasers. I test drove a Tesla in 2012, and quickly realized my mistake. No gasoline-powered car (outside of supercars, maybe? Never…
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I ditched Spotify and set up my own music stack
{/ truncate /}
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Almost anything you give sustained attention to will begin to loop on itself
When people talk about the value of paying attention and slowing down, they often make it sound prudish and monk-like. But we shouldn’t forget how interesting and overpoweringly pleasurable sustained attention can be.
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I want to be left alone (2024)
Seriously. Please just leave me alone.
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This blog is running on a recycled Google Pixel 5 (2024)
An absolute mammoth post about how I am running this blog site from a Google Pixel 5 Android phone using only Termux. It includes what inspired me, what I'm using for the setup, and my longform notes on the entire project.
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Static sites enable a good time travel experience
A static site with version control history enables me to travel into any point in the project’s past and serve the site as it was back in the day.
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Take something you don’t like and try to like it
it offers lessons on your nature
833
I miss using em dashes
I really miss using em dashes in my writing. Ever since content creators started using ChatGPT to help (or supplement) their writing, em dashes have become indicators of AI use. Students are routinely caught with their pants down as professors flag an essay as AI-generated based on the presence of lists…
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Notes on Managing ADHD
Strategies and tactics for staying productive.
837
My phone is an ereader now
I got a Kobo in 2016 after borrowing my mom's old one for a year before that. It probably is responsible for getting me reading again after high school. I used to be an avid reader, the sort of kid who would have to be told to put down the book and go to sleep, and who would then creep slowly to the bookshelf to pick…
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You Have to Feel It
You see a series of checkboxes checked. Schedules met. Requirements satisfied. Demos delivered. It's a good day. Good job, you, good job! A promotion is in sight.
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A blog does not need “analytics”
Analytics are a military and financial tool. Your blog is not and you shouldn’t surveil you readers.
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Will AI Replace Human Thinking? The Case for Writing and Coding Manually
Learning to Think Again, and the Cost of AI Dependency.