1051
Attacking My Landlord's Boiler
How it took several months for me to get warm...
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The latest blog posts to take off on Hacker News. 7,740 posts.
Life, Learning & Writing
Any year
1052
The skill of the future is not 'AI', but 'Focus'
Don't let AI erode your focus.
1053
1054
Librarians are dangerous
A public service announcement
1055
A cute proof that makes e natural
Po-Shen Loh explains why Euler's number e is natural using only precalculus: one exponential curve has tangent slope 1 at the y-axis, which leads to the compound interest limit.
1056
Why drinking coffee in Iran has become so complicated
It all started with a sarcastic jab in a chat: “You shouldn’t be more Catholic than the Pope. You go to order a coffee, and the guy’s like, ‘From Kenyan farms or Brazil?’ It’s l...
1057
How to win an argument with a toddler
You can’t. That’s because toddlers don’t understand what an argument is and aren’t interesting in having one. Toddlers (which includes defensive bureaucrats, bullies, flat e…
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1059
Kezurou-Kai #39
Kezurou-kai #39 in Itoigawa, Niigata, a handplaning contest where competitors use Japanese planes to take ultra thin shavings of wood
1060
Albert Einstein's theory of relativity in words of four letters or less (1999)
So, have a seat. Put your feet up. This may take some time. Can I get you some tea? Earl Grey? You got it.
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1062
How much oranger do red orange bags make oranges look?
Look at this orange: Now look at this orange: It’s the same orange. But, look how much more orange it looks with the red mesh on top of it: If you buy bags of oranges (at least at many places in the US), they frequently come in this red mesh bag. This bag makes the oranges look more orange. Oranger. Here’s what that…
1063
A Reddit bot drove me insane
I stumbled across a Reddit bot posting emotional rants about how bots are ruining Reddit; just to sell AI-generated books through affiliate links. A perfectly dystopian grift for the dead internet.
1064
Googler... ex-Googler
My role at Google was eliminated.
1065
But what if I want a faster horse?
But what if I really want a faster horse? | exotext
1066
Strengths Are Your Weaknesses
The qualities you value most in engineers are also creating your biggest problems. Here’s how to handle this paradox.
1067
Playing in the Creek
When I was a really small kid, one of my favorite activities was to try and dam up the creek in my backyard. I would carefully move rocks into high walls, pile up leaves, or try patching the holes with sand. The goal was just to see how high I could get the lake, knowing that if I plugged every hole, eventually the…
1068
Owning my own data, part 1: Integrating a self-hosted calendar solution
The first part of what I hope to be an ongoing series about repatriating and owning my own data and tech. In this post, I describe how I integrated my own self-
1069
No Pay, No Work; Early Career Lessons
Part 3 of my 12-year journey—what my first rocky job taught me about boundaries and value.
1070
The best programmers I know
I have met a lot of developers in my life. Late…
1071
A Supermarket Bag and a Truckload of FOMO
The day was nearing to a close. The sun has already set, but that Friday evening in Amsterdam was still warm. Unusually warm, in fact, for those late days in March – as if spring decided to bless my pilgrimage, for that pilgrimage was not jovial. I was sitting at a ramen joint, sipping on the broth. To my left, a…
1072
The Insanity of Being a Software Engineer
Is something I think about often because I can’t help but wonder if most other jobs are like this.
1073
Learn electricity and electronics fundamentals without taking a formal course
A website supporting the books of author Simon Monk.
1074
The blissful Zen of a good side project
One of life's greatest simple pleasures is creating something just for yourself.
1075
Bored of It
Please, make it stop.
1076
Breaking computers taught me to build them
My 12-year journey in software: how breaking computers taught me to build them.
1077
I maintain a 17 year old ThinkPad
If a book has been in print for forty years, I can expect it to be in print for another forty years. But, and that is the main difference, if it survives …
1078
Why I don't discuss politics with friends
March 2025
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The April Fools joke that might have got me fired
Everyone should pull one great practical joke in their lifetimes. This one was mine, and I think it's past the statute of limitations. The s...