Top posts
Every blog post that took off on Hacker News, ranked by the votes of its best submission. 7,740 posts.
Life, Learning & Writing
Any year
Lead-Free Solder Is Better for You
I spent the morning reading material Safety Data Sheets, because someone on the internet was wrong!
The Church of Interruption
A conversation with a Wizard
Read less HN
< Random thoughts of John Murray
2025 Letter
Corgis, compute, Cold War; Ecclesiastes; ties; Stendhal; humor; Pascal's Wager; deep infrastructure; Germanic obedience; Texas State Fair
I walked across Luxembourg
A hike from the west to the east of the Grand Duchy
The Joy of Small Projects
When was the last time you completed a project? When was the last time you started a project? Have you every felt that you were trapped working on something that you don’t enjoy anymore? Size is something that I’m sure most developers with the drive to do side projects have felt. Recently I have been completing more…
There are six internet links on my office on wheels—seven when Starlink arrives
If you are going to work remotely anywhere in Australia from a van, you need damn good internet. Here's how I put together a vehicle with the best internet connectivity in Australia.
The Moat of Low Status
It hurts, but less than you think
Second-Order Thinking: What Smart People Use to Outperform (2016)
Second-order thinking is a mental model that smart people like Warren Buffett & Howard Marks use to avoid problems. Read this article to learn how it works.
Damn fine tiny cafe
I love them miniatures. It started off with Rolife series, where the first hit had come from a [[https://sandyuraz.com/blogs/mini-libra...
iPhones and action discoverability
Discoverability I spend a lot of my time thinking about UX and design, and I try to consciously think about it in the wild when I can. One of the things that always catches my eyes is the idea of discoverability, or how a user is able to discover that action X does some thing Y. A basic way to do so is to rely on…
A Love Letter to People Who Believe in People
Tina on the transformative power of enthusiasm When I was eight, I made a big, hand-drawn poster that said, “Do you want to join my fan club?” and put it up in the small Swiss town where I grew up.…
Practical Facts about the Human Brain
I don’t think it’d have been possible for me to connect with the topic of emotional resilience without a really solid amount of scientific evidence and brain facts supporting it. As a self-identified left-brained male, I need a lot of safety signals from the world of science to really allow myself to go deeper into […]
How big a solar battery do I need to store all my home's electricity?
I have a modest set of solar panels on an entirely ordinary house in suburban London. On average they generate about 3,800kWh per year. We also use about 3,800kWh of electricity each year. Obviously, we can't use all the power produced over summer and we need to buy power in winter. So here's my question: How big a…
I wrote a book called “Crap Towns”. It seemed funny at the time
In 2003, I wrote a book called Crap Towns. It seemed funny at the time. But plenty of people say it would not be possible to publish it today. Is that a problem?
I've used all the notebooks
I jot, doodle, scribe, and scribble in several notebooks every day—it’s how I do my thinking.
What if you didn't need money or attention?
Derek Sivers official site. Thoughts on philosophy, culture, self-improvement. Author of Useful Not True, How to Live, Hell Yeah or No, Anything You Want.
Vitamin D, part 1: back to basics
Vitamin D is a big deal. Recent studies have shown that patients with low Vitamin D levels are more likely to die from Covid-19 than their Vitamin D-rich counterparts,(1) and deficiency in the…
Thank You, Robert Voit, Creator of Paint Shop Pro
Robert — In the early to mid-90s my hobby was making video games of various sorts with my friend Jesse. Our tools were Recreational Software Designs Game-Maker 2.0 and your creation JASC Paint Shop…
Only the Lonely
There isn’t any point in denying that the outburst of sympathy and support that followed my confession to an attempt at self-slaughter last year (Richard Herring podcast) has touched me very deeply.
The untold impact of cancellation
Warning: towards the end of this post are references to suicide, which may be distressing to some readers. Discretion is advised.
Why I hate the weekends (2017)
Why we work too much filling up our weekends leading to no breaks ever.
When flat rate movers won't answer your calls
Back in 2023 I went through an inter-state move with Flat Rate Movers, LTD. , a.k.a. Flat Rate Moving, US DOT 488466, MC 254356. They bungled the job, damaged my stuff and my house, and then refused to talk to me or their own insurance company. I placed dozens of calls, wrote letters, emails, nothing worked. I finally…