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Many African families spend fortunes burying their dead
Why the poorest people in the world spend fortunes burying their dead
Topics /
Life, Learning & Writing
The most popular blog posts about life, learning & writing on Hacker News. 7,743 posts.
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The Most Common Errors in Undergraduate Mathematics (2009)
This page describes the errors that I have seen most frequently in undergraduate mathematics, the likely causes of those errors, and their remedies.
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Join the Engineering Leisure Class
Engineers earn more money than we need, and the world is full of interesting problems that don’t promise a financial return. Why are the…
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After 20 years I turned off Google Adsense for my websites (2025)
Soon after I launched this blog in February 2005, I signed up for Google AdSense. My goal was to make a little money and learn about the industry from the inside. In particular, if I was going to cover the...
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Consistency is Consistently Undervalued
Transactions are mundane and commonplace. Have we forgotten why they're useful?
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The only skin care that works? science video response (2020)
Recently ASAP Science released a video called "The ONLY face cream that works! – according to science". A lot of people asked me to do a response, so here it is on YouTube (keep scrolling for the text…
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No need to email me about Cisco AnyConnect
My name and email address can be found in the VPN client application made by Cisco called AnyConnect. They are present there as part of the curl license, because this product - like thousands of others - uses libcurl. My name appears in many products. Apparently, people often have problems finding an appropriate…
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Lazy Expert Syndrome
We all eventually suffer from "lazy expert syndrome." The best way to snap out of it and grow is to mentor someone new to your field.
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Announcing the Second Edition of “Refactoring”
I'm finishing a new edition of my Refactoring book. Here's details and periodic memos about my work.
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The world is run by people no smarter than you
This post was written as a reflection at the first Dev Writers Retreat. It's been really weird doing this in the PermaParty city while the world seemingly falls apart outside.…
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Beyond introvert vs. extrovert
This 100-year-old binary classification of human interaction holds us back. It's time to move past it.
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A love letter to bicycle maintenance and repair
It was the 28th of June, 2020; the perfect summer day. I remember it distinctly because of two important events that took place on that day. The first was the unfortunate discovery that I am highly sensitive to the venomous hairs of the Oak processionary caterpillar. If you’ve never wished you could use a cheese…
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Spaced repetition for study and learning
Efficient memorization using the spacing effect: literature review of widespread applicability, tips on use & what it’s good for.
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Five Kinds of Friends (2022)
The word “friends” has at least five different meanings: Allies Backstage intimates Fun friends Mutual interests friends Soc...
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Curl is just the hobby
Jan Gampe took things to the next level by actually making this cross-stitch out of the pattern I previously posted online. The flowers really gave it an extra level of charm I think. As a cross-stitch As a pillow This quote is from a comment by an upset user on my blog, replying to one … Continue reading curl is just…
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My sourdough starter has twins
A couple of years ago, I participated in a study of the HealthFerm Citizen Science group in …
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Incredible Secret Money Machine
When I first started to get serious about making money I ran into this book written in 1978 by a hippy-hacker living in Arizona. His advice was aimed at “craft and technical” types who wanted to create a small business “doing their thing” whether that was creating ceramic pots, designing outdoor gear, or writing…
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Engage your audience: get to the point, use story structure, force specificity
I came across this recent video from Vicky Zhao last week and loved her brief summary of how she grew in her ability to clearly articulate ideas on the spot by getting to the point, using story str…
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Cancer Progress: Much More Than You Wanted To Know (2018)
Official statistics say we are winning the War on Cancer. Cancer incidence rates, mortality rates, and five-year-survival rates have generally been moving in the right direction over the past few d…
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The Pragmatic Programmer: 20th Anniversary Edition (2023)
A review of the 20th anniversary edition of The Pragmatic Programmer, updated for modern software development.
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Anxiety as an algorithm
Founder, Investor, Author
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