3211
Many African families spend fortunes burying their dead
Why the poorest people in the world spend fortunes burying their dead
Top posts
Every blog post that took off on Hacker News, ranked by the votes of its best submission. 7,743 posts.
Life, Learning & Writing
Any year
3212
The Most Common Errors in Undergraduate Mathematics (2009)
This page describes the errors that I have seen most frequently in undergraduate mathematics, the likely causes of those errors, and their remedies.
3213
Join the Engineering Leisure Class
Engineers earn more money than we need, and the world is full of interesting problems that don’t promise a financial return. Why are the…
3214
My Software North Star
Loris Cro's Blog
3215
After 20 years I turned off Google Adsense for my websites (2025)
Soon after I launched this blog in February 2005, I signed up for Google AdSense. My goal was to make a little money and learn about the industry from the inside. In particular, if I was going to cover the...
3216
Consistency is Consistently Undervalued
Transactions are mundane and commonplace. Have we forgotten why they're useful?
3217
The only skin care that works? science video response (2020)
Recently ASAP Science released a video called "The ONLY face cream that works! – according to science". A lot of people asked me to do a response, so here it is on YouTube (keep scrolling for the text…
3218
3219
Have you ever seen a goth downtown?
Creativity after AI
3220
Thomas Cochrane
in lowercase bullet points
3221
No need to email me about Cisco AnyConnect
My name and email address can be found in the VPN client application made by Cisco called AnyConnect. They are present there as part of the curl license, because this product - like thousands of others - uses libcurl. My name appears in many products. Apparently, people often have problems finding an appropriate…
3222
Lazy Expert Syndrome
We all eventually suffer from "lazy expert syndrome." The best way to snap out of it and grow is to mentor someone new to your field.
3223
Announcing the Second Edition of “Refactoring”
I'm finishing a new edition of my Refactoring book. Here's details and periodic memos about my work.
3224
3225
The world is run by people no smarter than you
This post was written as a reflection at the first Dev Writers Retreat. It's been really weird doing this in the PermaParty city while the world seemingly falls apart outside.…
3226
Beyond introvert vs. extrovert
This 100-year-old binary classification of human interaction holds us back. It's time to move past it.
3227
A love letter to bicycle maintenance and repair
It was the 28th of June, 2020; the perfect summer day. I remember it distinctly because of two important events that took place on that day. The first was the unfortunate discovery that I am highly sensitive to the venomous hairs of the Oak processionary caterpillar. If you’ve never wished you could use a cheese…
3228
3229
3230
Spaced repetition for study and learning
Efficient memorization using the spacing effect: literature review of widespread applicability, tips on use & what it’s good for.
3231
Five Kinds of Friends (2022)
The word “friends” has at least five different meanings: Allies Backstage intimates Fun friends Mutual interests friends Soc...
3232
Curl is just the hobby
Jan Gampe took things to the next level by actually making this cross-stitch out of the pattern I previously posted online. The flowers really gave it an extra level of charm I think. As a cross-stitch As a pillow This quote is from a comment by an upset user on my blog, replying to one … Continue reading curl is just…
3233
3234
My sourdough starter has twins
A couple of years ago, I participated in a study of the HealthFerm Citizen Science group in …
3235
Incredible Secret Money Machine
When I first started to get serious about making money I ran into this book written in 1978 by a hippy-hacker living in Arizona. His advice was aimed at “craft and technical” types who wanted to create a small business “doing their thing” whether that was creating ceramic pots, designing outdoor gear, or writing…
3236
Engage your audience: get to the point, use story structure, force specificity
I came across this recent video from Vicky Zhao last week and loved her brief summary of how she grew in her ability to clearly articulate ideas on the spot by getting to the point, using story str…
3237
Cancer Progress: Much More Than You Wanted To Know (2018)
Official statistics say we are winning the War on Cancer. Cancer incidence rates, mortality rates, and five-year-survival rates have generally been moving in the right direction over the past few d…
3238
The Pragmatic Programmer: 20th Anniversary Edition (2023)
A review of the 20th anniversary edition of The Pragmatic Programmer, updated for modern software development.
3239
Anxiety as an algorithm
Founder, Investor, Author
3240