271
Stealing Is a Skill
I’m slowly developing my own list of advice: have a creative mindset, embrace radical transparency, and write down what makes you happy. I’d like to add one more to the list: stealing is a skill!
Topics /
Life, Learning & Writing
The most popular blog posts about life, learning & writing on Hacker News. 613 posts.
272
I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore
Disability, shame, and the hidden violence of a culture that equates productivity with value
273
Software for One
Robin Sloan wished for a HyperCard that could build a family app in a day. That world showed up.
274
I built my own hair electrolysis machine
Axiom: body hair is cringe. That's how I feel, at least. I decided to build a machine that lets me permanently remove it using electricity.
275
I don't have a smartphone or at least I wish I didn't
I Don’t Have a Smartphone… par Ploum - Lionel Dricot.
276
"Token anxiety", a slot machine by any other name
You're absolutely right!
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278
So long Google, and thanks for all the nudes
The Play Store does not run on my old devices; this led me to accidentally experience some joy while using Android.
279
Netflix Prices Went Up Again – I Bought a DVD Player Instead
As of this month, Netflix prices are going up again.
280
The Joy of Folding Bikes
I was chatting to a friend about my folding bike and I had the urge to write about it - because this falls in the category of “Things I wish I’d had decades ago”. And maybe I can encourage some others to try these wonderful devices. Note: I’m 3 months into a new job so blogging has taken a back seat to drinking from a…
281
Task Paralysis and AI
An article about ADHD, Task Paralysis and AI.
282
Completing a computer science degree on Coursera
A short write-up on my experience completing a Computer Science BSc from my bedroom.
283
Getting arrested in Japan
This is what happens when you get arrested in Japan and where you're sent off to will leave you speechless.
284
Using the internet like it's 1999
A blog, notes, gallery, lifestyle and fully conglomerated posts from Joshua.
285
The intracies of modern camera lens repair (2024)
I stumbled across a broken Sigma 45mm f/2.8 Art lens for a very cool $58.65 USD that I simply could not resist. I've been eyeing an AF lens in the 50mm range for my recent endeavors with L-mount cameras and this looked like the perfect fit. This lens is commonly found as a kit with the very excellent full-frame Sigma…
286
Note-Taking and Personal Knowledge Management
Unattributed is a former IT person, discovering life after work.
287
A Programmer's Loss of Identity
This is the follow-up to last year’s I’m an American software developer and the "broligarchs" don’t speak for me . In that essay, I tried to express why I was so agonized by the leaders in my industry doing a speedrun towards dystopia and how it all felt so divorced from what technology could, and should be…
288
Have Taken Up Farming
ex program, en farm
289
Another Day Has Come
If you agree that Apple itself was It’s hard to imagine a more orderly, confidence-inspiring, exciting-but-not-at-all-surprising, this-feels-right way to do this.
290
I analysed 20 years of my chats
Importing 1.2 million messages from Telegram, VK, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter into a structured Obsidian vault with local LLM inference - to measure how my friendships work with decay curves, vocabulary shifts, directional sentiment, and conflict rates.
291
Reasons I didn't become an EMT, ranked
Here are 21 reasons I delayed getting my EMT licensed, sorted loosely by ridiculousness.
292
Childhood Computing
I recently stumbled upon a nice blog post titled Childhood Computing . It made me think about my own childhood computing experience. I am much older than the author of the aforementioned post, but like them, I too love computers. I have for most of my life.
293
Poor Man's Polaroid
How to build a poor man's Polaroid camera - a DIY instant camera project with parts, assembly and photos.
294
Should you wash your solar panels?
I have a small solar farm and the panels have got visibly dusty. Is cleaning them worthwhile? How much difference does it make? Let's find out.
295
Why can't you tune your guitar? (2019)
Short answer: because math. Longer answer: because prime numbers don’t divide into each other evenly. To understand what follows, you need to know some facts about the physics of vibrating st…
296
Dostoyevsky isn't difficult
Other than the names. The names are difficult.
297
Punch yourself in the face with reality
Who can punch themselves in the face with reality the most? This is who will win in the age of AI.
298
As a Windows user, it's a surreal way to install a program
A blog about software craft and quality
299
What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025
Throughout 2025, I spoke a few times about our home energy solution, including our grid usage, our solar array and our Tesla Powerwall batteries. Now that I have a full year of data, I wanted to take a look at exactly how everything is working out, and, in alignment with
300
He asked AI to count carbs 27000 times. It couldn't give the same answer twice
Ask ChatGPT to estimate the carbs in your lunch. Now ask it again. And again. Five hundred times. You’d expect the same answer each time. It’s the same photo, the same model, the same question. But you won’t get the same answer. Not even close — and the differences are large enough to cause a