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Top posts
Every blog post that took off on Hacker News, ranked by the votes of its best submission. 7,746 posts.
Life, Learning & Writing
Any year
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Ethnographic research on Dynamicland
The “Dynamic Medium Group” led by Bret Victor which is developing “Dynamicland” is much admired and closely watched in the interaction design community. Yet the information about their work is closely-guarded and usually only available in a highly moderated form. The work of ethnographer Götz Bachmann, who spent much…
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How to Draw An Owl
One interpretation of the image and caption is that it reinforces how some folks perceive the progression from novice to expert: Stage 1: You suck. Stage 2: You're an expert. In fact, masterin…
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David Kahn has died
David Kahn has died. His groundbreaking book, The Codebreakers, was the first serious book I read about codebreaking, and one of the primary reasons I entered this field. He will be missed. EDITED TO ADD (2/4): Funeral website. EDITED TO ADD (2/10): New York Times obituary.
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The era of exploration
This post explores the idea that the next breakthroughs in AI may hinge more on how we collect experience through exploration, and less on how many parameters and data points we have.
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How to Write a Programming Book
If you read Programming books, then your goal is to learn. If you write Programming books then your goal is to teach. When I wrote my book…
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We Need to Die
There's this genuine repulsion I feel when people talk about a future where death by old age is no longer a thing. Something very deep within me just says "no, absolutely not", and I've been trying to figure out why.
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This white powder will kill me one day
There are lots of bad things that you can insert into your system through various ways that all seem to be represented in physical form as white powder. Heroin, Cocaine, various other chemicals that people will consume in order to alter their state of consciousness. I hate drugs, with a passion. I’ve seen up close in…
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Where to wait for an elevator (2010)
Where do you stand in order to minimize the expected distance to walk to catch the first elevator that arrives? Maybe not where you think.
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Walking the World: Seoul
Consumption, brutality, and the cute
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“Out of the Crisis” Podcast
Over the past few weeks, I have recorded a series of conversations with people leading the way out of this mess. They range from prominent ...
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Using Wikipedia in the classroom: a cautionary tale
(Third and final update: If you read this post, please also read this follow up post, which includes summaries of ways to try to reduce the likelihood of running into the same problem.) Last fall, …
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A peek into Japan's convenience stores
Editor’s note: Due to the sheer amount of interesting material here we decided to break this into a two-part article. All across Japan, one sight remains ubiquitous – the convenience store. A far, far cry from their American cousins, convenience stores in Japan are without exception, spotless, well-stocked,
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Taking back control of my digital life
Timo Zimmermann talking about software engineering, leading teams, consulting and start ups.
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How many pieces can a puzzle have?
Patrick Honner tweeted a few days ago: My 7 yo pointed out that our 300 piece puzzle actually contains 18 x 18 = 324 pieces and I just don’t know what to believe anymore. — Patrick Honner (@M…
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Luck Surface Area: How to Get Lucky In Life
You can't force luck. But you can increase your chances (by a lot) to get lucky. Here's how to do it with luck surface area.
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We've lost our respect for complexity
I was talking recently to a friend about a video essayist I like, (Dan Olson of Folding Ideas) and when asked why I thought he was any good I pondered it for a moment and said “he has a lot of respect for complexity”. On reflection, I think that is one of the virtues I […]
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My new obsession: A horse-racing board game of pure luck
Someone recently introduced me a weird and wonderful little board game that has become my latest obsession. It's a game for 2-12 players where horses race...
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The Apprentice Programmer (2013)
I dropped out of school when I was 16 years old. School was not for me. To me, computers were so much more interesting. Right or wrong, I felt like I wasted my time there and my real education was starting when I came home. I lost respect for the institution and of course this meant that I no longer bothered to put any
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Don’t bite the shit sandwich
The “startup” world is bursting with bullshit (or, if you prefer, ‘unicorn dust’). There are bullshit peddlers on every blog-corner. They don’t want