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Reliability, constant work, and a good cup of coffee
Why constant-work patterns make systems more reliable, doing the same predictable work regardless of load to avoid surprising failure modes.
New
The latest blog posts to take off on Hacker News. 8,939 posts.
Life, Learning & Writing
Any year
2552
Money, money, money (and investing) (2015)
A comprehensive introduction to investing in stocks, mutual funds (managed and index), short-selling, and stock options.
2553
Staring into the abyss as a core life skill
thinking about scary things • examples from Wave • examples from elsewhere • finding a buddy • getting the timing right • a list of abyss questions
2554
Programming as Play
I often want to program something just for fun without any expectations. But why? Well, a recent scientific paper investigated this idea of programming as play.
2555
We are drowning in information while starving for wisdom (2021)
The title of this post is a quote from Edward O. Wilson’s book ‘Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge’. For example, if you search for scientific papers about “Entropy” …
2556
Large-format camera movements (2020)
For less than a cup of coffee, a downloadable 29-page reference guide to Large Format Camera Movements, keep it on file or conveniently on your phone
2557
People took some potassium and lost some weight
In November 2021, we finished our series A Chemical Hunger, where we argue that the obesity epidemic is the result of environmental contaminants, and that one of those contaminants might be lithium…
2558
Ubuntu Snap update spoiled my World Cup Final
Goodbye Ubuntu, Goodbye Snaps I missed two goals in the World Cup Finals because of this. It’s not the first time Snap has been a problem, but it’s most definitely the last straw. What happened? I was happily watching the second half of the Fifa World Cup Final, using “ShowMax” – a South African paid … Continue…
2559
I Asked ChatGPT to Explain Some Jokes to Me
Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it better but the frog dies in the process.
2560
Doors of McMurdo
Doors, in a variety of shapes and styles.
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What I do when I feel like giving up (2015)
I am struggling today, and maybe you are too. Don't give up yet, though. Read this article to learn what I remind myself of when I want to give up...
2563
The best things and stuff of 2022
Great things and people that I discovered, learned, read, met, etc. in 2022. No particular ordering is implied. Not everything is new.
2564
Farewell, Building in Public
The end of an era of radical transparency.
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Be wary of imitating high-status people who can afford to countersignal
Pay more attention to people who are just a little bit ahead of you
2567
I started taking English classes at the age of 46
Finding a tutor despite already being fluent.
2568
Building a walking routine
The Curiosity Chronicle has quickly become one of the most popular newsletters for growth-minded individuals in the world. Each week, subscribers receive a deep dive that covers topics ranging from growth and decision-making to business, finance, startups, and technology. In addition, subscribers receive The Friday…
2569
World Cup Daily, Day 25
They just don't care. Qatari World Cup organizers don't even hide their apathy over migrant worker deaths, including the most recent one.
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How to write like Malcolm Gladwell
Prose style and structure in The Tipping Point
2571
Meditations on an inexpensive laundry basket
I’m down to a cost of 20¢ a year and falling.
2572
Ideas that changed my life
You spend years trying to learn new stuff but then look back and realize that maybe like 10 big ideas…
2573
I liberate the ending to Minecraft from Microsoft and give it to you
In which I liberate the ending to Minecraft from Microsoft… and give it to you.
2574
A homework question in someone’s 11th grade statistics class
My son is in 11th grade. Below you’ll find a HW question which was given in my son’s statistics class. How would you answer?
2575
The Peking Duck Exemption
Most food safety regulations say that Peking duck should be illegal. But it's not, so what gives?
2576
If you unscrew your belly button, your bottom will fall off
My Dad died on 5 December 2021. My earliest memory is sitting on his shoulders watching a Guy Fawkes bonfire on one of several visits to the UK as a child. An…
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Adventures in Advent of Code
I’ve been participating regularly in Advent of Code for the past couple of years. It’s one of the highlights of my holiday season. The puzzles are fun, the stories are appropriately ridiculous, and it’s a neat way for me to keep the cobwebs brushed off some of the things I learned years ago that I don’t regularly use…
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Hi, hello, I’m back at it
*peeks hesitantly around the corner* Hey everyone. Tomorrow, after almost 7 months of a sabbatical break, I’m resuming regular publication of kottke.org. (Actua
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Surely you're publishing, Mr. Feynman
The so called publish-or-perish culture in academia is real. Academics, specially at top-tier Research Universities, have a tremendous pressure to continuously produce publishable results, i.e. results that can be published in good journals and/or conferences. In an ideal world, publishable would be synonymous to…
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The last three years of my work will be permanently abandoned
It’s been almost two years since my last update here. A lot has happened. I hope you all are continuing to weather the ongoing multiple global pandemics and other anthropogenic crises. Apolog…