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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
My car’s OTA update broke Android Auto
Just yesterday morning, my brand-new MINI Countryman auto-installed software update 03/2026.54. How exciting! The release notes promised groundbreaking chang...
Is Wine Bullshit?
How should we understand the robust findings that suggest that the price of wine is not only uncorrelated with how much people enjoy it, but that the different tastes we describe in wine may all be in our heads?
My stupid noise journey (2023)
A tale of bad choices
I love my Bluetooth keyboard
I recently went on a ten day trip to China where I didn’t take my computer. 1 I still wanted the ability to take notes quickly, so I bought a Bluetooth keyboard to use with my phone.
Programmers need to start meditating
For over 20 years, the meditative focus of programming has been one of the best parts of my job. Every week I’d spend countless hours in a flow state, which quiets the default mode network. The DMN is responsible for daydreaming/reflection but also rumination/worrying, so quieting it settles your mind. If I didn’t…
Farewell, Elementary
I’m moving on; here’s to the future!
Strawberry Pop-Tart Blow-Torches (1994)
In addition to the basic materials, a number of safety-related items were needed to conduct this experiment. First, a suitable location for the experiment was required, it being expected that the kitchen was not the appropriate place for blow-torching SPTs. The author's driveway was chosen as a suitable site. Second…
Massive Dosing - the LSD Thumbprint
Honestly, I had no idea that such massive doses of LSD had been used. I came across a thread describing a "thumbprint" of LSD , a dose bas...
Must-read psychology books
Regardless of where you are in the pathway of understanding how the human psyche works, this list of must-read psychology books will upgrade your personal library.
Knuth versus Email (1999)
I have been a happy man ever since January 1, 1990, when I no longer had an email address. I'd used email since about 1975, and it seems to me that 15 years of email is plenty for one lifetime.
Thank you, Ubuntu
Ubuntu 10.10, the Maverick Meerkat, will be released in just a couple of weeks. That got me reflecting on the fact that I have been a happ...
I wish Asciidoc was more popular
I've been using Markdown for a long time, and have grown accustomed to it. It has various quirks, features, and oddities, but what doesn't…
My Second Brain – Zettelkasten
For as long as I have been learning web development () I have been taking notes. Partly notes to help clarify my understanding of something and partly for...
The Anatomy of Determination
September 2009 Like all investors, we spend a lot of time trying to learn how to predict which startups will succeed. We probably spend more time thinking about it than most, because we invest the earliest. Prediction is usually all we have to rely on. We learned quickly that the most important predictor of success is…
This I Believe (1952)
I am not going to talk about religious beliefs but about matters so obvious that it has gone out of style to mention them. I believe in my neighbors. I know their faults, and I know that their virtues far outweigh their faults.
Marbles (2016)
Let us start with an assumption that most of us already suspect to be true: that civilization will not survive more than a few centuries into the future. If that sad assertion be true, then what will the earth look like in the far future? There was a television show some years ago entitled “Life After People”. It did…
Start with pen and paper
Notes on building and operating software
Magic: The Gathering took me from N2 to Japanese fluency
Passing the JLPT N2 is one thing, but actively managing projects in Japanese is another. This is how I used Magic: The Gathering to bridge the gap from academic study to professional confidence in Tokyo.
Letters about Soap (1997)
Our faculty members are world-class researchers and teachers who have attracted funding from federal agencies and industry for not only research, but also teaching, curriculum development and K-12 outreach. Faculty areas of expertise include cybersecurity, high- assurance computing, cyber-physical systems, artificial…
Finding the Bottom Turtle
Some reflections on trusting trust, and how deep the rabbit hole goes.
The language of programming
Coding as a non-English speaker, or what Excel, Illustrator, and functional programming can teach us about names.
None of Us Knows What We're Doing
Feross Aboukhadijeh is a computer security researcher, teacher, web developer, designer, long distance runner, gamer, music lover, and builder of websites that (sometimes) go viral.
Getting into public speaking
Here are ten things I learnt about public speaking.
If Programming Languages Were Futurama Characters
Map your (least) favorite programming language to your favorite Planet Express crew member based on its characteristics.