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Life, Learning & Writing
The most popular blog posts about life, learning & writing on Hacker News. 715 posts.
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Be critical or be corrupted
I recently rewatched "The Wire". The show's central theme is about counter-productive metrics and their corrupting influence on institutions. I've noticed hints of this pattern in software engineering, too
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Librem 5: First Impressions
The Librem 5 does not run Android or iOS, it runs a proper Linux operating system ( PureOS , derived from Debian). There are hardware kill switches for the baseband modem, the camera and microphone, and WiFi and bluetooth. The phone's main selling point is that it doesn't spy on you.
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A Square Meal – Foods of the ‘20s and ‘30s
[Content warning: Food, culture shock, milk] They say that the past is a foreign country, and nowhere is this more true than with food. The book is A Square Meal: A Culinary History of the Gr…
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No-one knows what they are doing
When I was a child I assumed that all the adults running the world knew what they were doing. Now that I am an adult, I am under no such illusions. Just look at the current British government. They…
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Being on call sucks
Disclaimer: this post represents my own views and it is not endorsed by my employer.
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I need to stop being boring
This week, I felt pretty depressed and lost my motivation and focus. After launching Space4 , I got some signups from HackerNews , but no one was really using the app. Including myself.
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Build your career on dirty work
The Dirty Work Theory: The lamentable work that many people avoid are great places to look for high impact, low hanging fruit.
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On leaving Mapbox after 12 years
It’s been about nine months since I left Mapbox and the circumstances of my exit didn’t offer much opportunity for closure. I feel a combination of gratitude and resentment that I’m still sorting out. Last week was the one year anniversary of the Mapbox Worker’s Union going public, the event that lead to my departure…
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A requiem for amateur chemistry
Bidding farewell to classic experiments.
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The Wisdom in Kung Fu Panda
Laughing All The Way To Peace, Harmony, and Focus
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Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering
From the highly eclectic blog of Mark Dominus
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John Locke’s recipe for Pancakes (2021)
A collection of philosopher John Locke’s papers at the Bodleian Library includes letters, accounts, poetry, notes on medicine and books, and recipes. When David Armitage posted this recipe fo…
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How to stop being “terminally online”
determine why you're "terminally online" to accomplish the tasks detailed further in the list, you have to do some soul-searching. this starts with acknow...
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Construction is life
When I was growing up in the suburbs, I was bothered by all the construction going on in the big city nearby (New York). Whenever I visited, there were detours, cranes, cement trucks blocking the streets, never-ceasing jackhammers, sidewalks closed, … Continue reading →
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Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become
The title of this blog is a quote from James Clear’s Atomic Habits book. The tl;dr of this book is a set of strategies to get 1% “better” each day.
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Writing better by answering why, what, how
Three documents I write (one-pager, design doc, after-action review) and how I structure them.
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/r/antiwork: A tragedy of sanewashing and social gentrification
The moment /r/antiwork died was tailor-made for infamy. Head moderator Doreen Ford went on with Fox host Jesse Watters for an interview…
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My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman
A fun, small, affordable, and beautifully-crafted media player that’s easy to transfer files to, and sounds excellent.
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Master’s Degree in Computer Science
I’m currently applying for a master’s degree in computer science (MSCS). I thought I might share my experience here for other people in the same boat as me. My boat is that I’m a …
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An ode to that “coffee friend”
I love when a friend is into something like coffee. We all know someone like that— they grind their own beans, brew their own fancy coffees, and have their o...
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Steelmanning: Discover the truth by helping your opponent
Tackle the steelmanning challenge, a three-step method to win arguments by helping your opponent. Its only downside: Nobody will ever take it.
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Algorithms to Live By – The Computer Science of Human Decisions
What does the math tell us about how many job applicants we should look at before hiring one? While onboarding our new employees, how can ideas from the TCP networking protocol help us to identify the optimal workload for them? Why would giving employees unlimited vacation days most likely lead to less vacation being…