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Mindblowing dissertations
We don’t generally see PhD dissertations as an exciting genre to read, and that is wholly our loss. As the…
Topics /
Life, Learning & Writing
The most popular blog posts about life, learning & writing on Hacker News. 588 posts.
482
Zoom fatigue unpacked
Zoom fatigue is a real phenomenon, resulting from prolonged virtual meetings. This post explores its causes, including cognitive overload and lack of movement, and provides practical tips to combat it. Learn how to improve your virtual meeting experience and increase productivity.
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Oil-Canning
Flat sheetmetal is the hardest to fabricate - and keep flat! There is a reason old cars were rounded. When I was a student at GMI, one of o...
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When I have a slower publishing cadence my blog grows faster
When I started writing online, the advice I got was to publish frequently and not overthink any single piece. The logic was this: the outcome for blog posts is a heavy-tailed statistical distribution—most pieces will be read by barely anyone, but a small subset of outliers will do hundreds if not thousands of times…
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My solar-powered blog is now on lithium iron phosphate
In my last blog post I discussed how a small solar project - to power this blog on a Raspberry Pi - escalated into a full-blown off-grid solar setup, large enough to power the computer I use at the moment to write this update 1 . In this update, I want to discuss my battery upgrade.
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Button Pushes You (2022)
From reconfiguring the system to reconfiguring the user.
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The B Lane Swimmer (2009)
A number of years ago, I joined a Master’s swim team. I was doing triathlons at the time, and the swim was my weakest leg. The team I joined divided the pool into four lanes: A (fastest swimmers), B (next fastest), C (next fastest) and D (slowest.) Workouts were organized accordingly; faster swimmers were assigned…
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Trying to become a better developer by learning more about aviation
In the last few months, I started geeking more about aviation-related topics. Mostly by watching A LOT of videos explaining how things…
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Alien Artefacts
The purpose of this blog post is to introduce the concept of alien artefacts 1 , a subcategory of legacy code. I use the term to describe particularly complicated and important pieces of software written by very smart engineers that are no longer working for the company—and thus not available to support it. The…
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The quest for a simple smartwatch
My trusty old smartwatch recently stopped working. It was a Garmin Vivomove HR, a minimal hybrid watch with regular watch hands and a tiny hidden screen that showed notifications and messages. It served me well for quite some time but unfortunately the hidden screen has stopped working and it would cost me as much to…
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Telling your inner critic to chill
Self awareness, mindfulness and affirmations can help calm your inner critic when triggers arise. Check out these tips for more.
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How blogging is different from tweeting
Over the last few years I’ve gradually given up on Twitter. This has been a long term process because of how deeply my professional and intellectual life was embedded into the service. Not on…
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Let me repeat that back to you
Two-phase commit for humans
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Weird things you can buy online
It’s April Cools! It’s like April Fools, except instead of cringe comedy you make genuine content that’s different from your normal stuff.1 For example, last year I talked about owning a microscope. This year I debated doing another hobby but settled on a much dumber topic. Have you ever seen those lists of weird…
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Stratechery Year in Review
The most popular and most important posts on Stratechery in 2023.
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When to Shut Up: A Visual Guide (With Included Algorithm)
Use these rules to avoid boring your audience
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Omega-3s: Are “Brain-Boosting” Effects Scientifically Backed?
No, but they’re probably good for you.
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How I ruined my SEO
In October 2022 traffic to my blog dropped like a stone. What happened?
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Gamification, life, and the pursuit of a gold badge (2021)
Gamification works too well on me. I'll do anything for a high score, to complete a progress bar, or to unlock an achievement.
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Potato Diet Riff Trial: Sign Up Now, Lol
When we finished the Potato Diet Community Trial, we found ourselves in a pickle. The diet worked — people lost 10.6 lbs on average over only four weeks — and we had basically no idea why. No idea …
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You just gotta tell a good story
I’ve been studying storytelling for my whole adult life. Theatre, Film, Writing, Digital.. you name it, I’ve studied it. ( Literally I have…
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Preparing for missions in difficult places
Can I bring my emotional support dog?
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Laniakea Books: Public domain books for everyone
Laniakea Books is a publishing house in London, England, which publishes public domain books only.
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Kathleen Sully, the Vanished Novelist (2022)
‘NOVELIST LECTURER VANISHES’ announced a headline in The Sheffield Telegraph on Wednesday, June 26, 1963. ‘What has happened to Kathleen Sully, the writer who should have arrived in Sheffield yesterday to lecture at the Sheffield Arts Festival?’ the reporter asked. Sully, then at the height of her career, had been…