Top posts
Every blog post that took off on Hacker News, ranked by the votes of its best submission. 8,940 posts.
Life, Learning & Writing
Any year
Poisoning the Day
The fatalist's guide to productivity, or how to get through the day before it gets to you.
I launched a paid community in one month
How I launched a paid community in one month and my plans to grow with generated content for SEO & side project marketing.
The value of doing a little
Often, doing a little is better than doing a lot.
Energy-Harvesting Electronic Holiday Card 2024
We're delighted to share our electronic creation with you this holiday season, six long years after the previous one. The theme this time around is "powered by the holiday spirit", and it's an exercise in energy harvesting.
The Simple Math Behind Early Retirement
This is the blog post that shows you how to be wealthy enough to retire in ten years. Here at Mr. Money Mustache, we talk about all sorts of fancy stuff like investment fundamentals, lifestyle chan…
De-googling, so far
Over the past few years, I have tried to gradually reduce or eliminate my use of Google products and services. It has been difficult to ditch Google’s products in some categories, and in some others, it has been nigh impossible. Here, I list the services I have tried to find alternatives for, discuss the ease (or lack…
Having your insulin pump die while you're on vacation
I'm about to tell you a story about the major disaster which affected much of my decisionmaking on my week-long vacation to Santa Fe. I just got home to LA, ...
It's My Monitor
This is the first in (maybe) a series of “Tales From Tech Support”, which are true stories from my point of view. I’ll probably only post these on a Friday. In the 1990s, I worked as a contractor for a large, well-established accounting firm. We’d often buy new equipment and unpack it at the helpdesk, throw away all…
We should be more tired than the model
Adding deliberate friction back into development
Smartphones Are Toys First, Tools Second
If you time-traveled to the 1960s, or even the 1980s, and tried to describe smartphones to the people you met, they wouldn’t believe you.
I Regret Quitting Astrophysics
In 2013 I decided to quit my career in astrophysics, move back “home” and become a data scientist. The blog post I wrote about my decision was probably my best read publication as a professional astronomer and it was moving to read all the reactions from people who were struggling with similar decisions. I meant every…
It is perfectly OK to only code at work, you can have a life too
There is often pressure inside Software development for Software developers to code outside of work hours. Whether you are a Python, Ruby, Java, or any other developer... There is absolutely no need to code outside of work if you don't want too. Coding is considered a passion for some, but others they don't think this…
Ship Something Every Day
Edit : A better title would've been " commit every day that you work ". I don't mean you should work on weekends or not take time off, and whatever you work on doesn't need to "ship to prod".
Love after life: Richard Feynman's letter to his departed wife (2017)
Where the hard edge of physics meets the vulnerable metaphysics of the human heart.
Blogs rot. Wikis wait
blogs rot. wikis wait. 2025-01-01 wiki is my abyss is my wiki is my abyss is my wiki is my abyss is my wiki is my abyss is my wiki is my abyss is my wiki is my abyss is my wiki is my abyss is my wiki is my abyss is my wiki is my abyss is my wiki is my abyss is my wiki is my abyss is my wiki is my abyss is my wiki is…
A year of vibes
A personal recap of 2025 and a year of a new style of engineering.
Positive news from 2023
Many bad things happened in 2023. You already know them. Many tragic events were so terrible we will never forget them and we shouldn’t. You can easily find them all over the news. But the good things that happened are much harder to encounter, and it is easy to get the impression nothing good happened at all. In…
You Don't Need a Mentor–Find a Nemesis Instead
In which the author expostulates on his odd notions about sports, music, and life
How 30 days without social media changed my life
30 days ago, I made the decision to give up social media for a month. Well, here I am, reporting that I’m still alive and that the past month has been life changing- the most successful month of my existence.
How To Become Uber Productive While Working For Yourself
Note: I was introduced to this idea somewhere on Hacker News a few weeks back, though I haven't been able to find the exact discussion again [1]. I adapted the original concept to fit my own style, and it's changed the way I approach my work. Uber Productivity - How To…
Brain, Bytes, Back, Buns - The Programmer's Priorities
I recently said something that ended up making the rounds on Twitter: 'If ...
The new reading stack
A world beyond Amazon
The Focus to Say No (2011)
To realize your potential you have to focus on the things that matter. You have to say no to good opportunities so you can pursue great ones.
Study Tips from Richard Feynman
“Study hard what interests you the most.”