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The most popular blog posts about life, learning & writing on Hacker News. 602 posts.
I’ll start at the end, because that’s the most important part. Later this month, I’m obtaining medical aid in dying AKA death with dignity. Barring unforeseen circumstances or unexpected changes, my last day on earth will be June 13th, 2025. Realize that I’m just over 46 years old. So how the hell did we get here?…
If you're in your early thirties or older, you remember the breakneck pace at which computers were improving in the 90s and 2000s. If you brought home a shiny new 400MHz Pentium 2 system in 1998, it was literally outdated and replaced by a faster model with higher clock speed and more RAM/bigger harddrive by the time…
You Could Just Choose Optimism There’s something strange and a little awe-inspiring about hearing someone ask for champagne on a two-hour domestic flight....
I've long had a fraught relationship with ToDo lists, because they're very much a double edged sword, but I'm convinced that much of the problem is t ...
Deciding not to solve a problem, or solving a different one, can also be a viable solution.
Efficient memorization using the spacing effect: literature review of widespread applicability, tips on use & what it’s good for.
Overconsumption is a spiritual problem, not a money problem. Lessons about desire from "Spirited Away".
In 1939, Simon & Schuster revolutionized the American publishing industry with the launch of Pocket Books, a line of diminutive volumes (measuring 4 by 6 ... Read more
We cannot create a better world if we cannot imagine it.
How using AI as a bridge when doctors aren't available can improve patient-to-doctor communications in real time emergencies
I really miss using em dashes in my writing. Ever since content creators started using ChatGPT to help (or supplement) their writing, em dashes have become indicators of AI use. Students are routinely caught with their pants down as professors flag an essay as AI-generated based on the presence of lists…
Frupidity is stupid frugality that wrecks engineering teams. Misguided cost-cutting kills productivity, morale, and innovation. You can fight it.
Porting a venerable library on vibes. What started as a quick WebPerl success spiraled into weeks of failed attempts, mangled ASCII diagrams, and a hard lesson about respecting the craft embedded in battle-tested code.
We can make our work exciting by chasing the every day tension.
Benjamin Button Reviews macOS | exotext
An in-depth look at the currently trending Arch Linux configuration that is Omarchy.
I have been aware of tarsnap for a long time, but only recently did I actually get around to using it for anything, as a result of my big personal digital resiliency audit for 2025. For those of you not in the know, tarsnap is “online backups for the truly paranoid”, and tarsnap the command-line program is the…
My experience working across timezones for Americans
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to do away with my Netflix subscription. I simply was barely using it, and whenever I did it was more ou...
A first-time visitor from Hamburg reflects on Munich's royal roots, museums, and surprising contrasts between two of Germany's most iconic cities.
Note there is a RP2040 version of this now available Das Blinkenlights (mit RP2040!)
There’s a bushy tree in my backyard with these dark red fruit — the kind that makes some primal instinct scream at you across millennia, but you can’t tell if it wants you to eat them or not.
It all started with a sarcastic jab in a chat: “You shouldn’t be more Catholic than the Pope. You go to order a coffee, and the guy’s like, ‘From Kenyan farms or Brazil?’ It’s l...
“Welcome to math class, boys and girls! Today we’ll be drawing a picture that gestures beyond the limits of mortal comprehension.”
This is a blog post based on a transcript of a talk by Devine on November 26th 2022. Watch the video version on (YouTube). The slideshow presentation was made using Adelie .
Part 3 of my 12-year journey—what my first rocky job taught me about boundaries and value.
Kids were not meant to be brought up in the digital world that exists today as it is incompatible with human neurological development.
