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I sold 640 copies of my book in one year
A breakdown of selling 640 copies of my first product Deployment from Scratch.
Topics /
Life, Learning & Writing
The most popular blog posts about life, learning & writing on Hacker News. 816 posts.
182
Being swamped is normal and not impressive
Being swamped — overwhelmed by stuff to do — is the default state of being within a startup. There's always more to do than time to do it, and the list keeps growing. Everyone else working at every other startup feels this too. Even if it doesn't look that way
183
If you unscrew your belly button, your bottom will fall off
My Dad died on 5 December 2021. My earliest memory is sitting on his shoulders watching a Guy Fawkes bonfire on one of several visits to the UK as a child. An…
184
What game are you playing?
Brad, a top footballer, sits in the bleachers watching the game. He cannot believe his eyes. He has come to watch his friend Edgar play, and Edgar is the worst football player he has ever seen. He stands around, chewing gum. When he runs at all, he runs like a
185
Phone is still the best way to order pizza
Apps create more friction for ordering pizza
186
I need to find an apartment
Long story short: I’ve taken a new position in Luxembourg and I have tofind an apartment, in a different country, in a reasonably short time.
187
You're Not Losing Fat Because You're Eating Too Damn Much (2016)
The environmental and cognitive factors at play that have people eating more without realising.
188
Thoughts on the potato diet
Nine observations about what happens when you eat only potatoes
189
Why aren't smart people happier?
A new way to think about brainpower.
190
How I went about learning Rust
Rust has been on my radar for a long time now , and about a year ago I finally began allocating some time every week to learning it.
191
Never hose out a Honda Element
This is a rumor, it may have rubber floors, but that water will be trapped under the floor and rust your Honda Element from the inside out.
192
Creativity requires solitude
Perhaps it will turn out that you were called to be an artist. If that is your fate, then accept it and deal with it, the highs and the lows, the burden and the greatness, without ever worrying about external rewards.
193
Wait vs. Interrupt Culture
At this past weekend's CFAR Workshop (about which, by the way, I plan to have another post soon with less whining and more serious discussion), someone mentioned that they were uncomfortable with pauses in conversation, and that got me thinking about different conversational styles.
194
My next Mac might be the last
Why keep investing in a platform that's been disappointing me for a while?
195
No one cared about my spreadsheets
The most painful part of writing The Case Against Education was calculating the return to education. I spent fifteen months working on the spreadsheets. I came up with the baseline case, did scores of “variations on a theme,” noticed a small mistake or blind alley, then started over. Several programmer friends advised…
196
5 Years of Pop _OS
Five years. Can you believe it? To celebrate, we’re looking back at where Pop!_OS started, how it’s grown, and where it’s going next. Thanks for joining us on this journey!
197
Things I've noticed while visiting the ICU
Update: this post was written in November, 2022.
198
Travel is no cure for the mind (2018)
Who you are in a venue matters far more than the venue itself.
199
I’m going to miss you, but I am taking a sabbatical
Hello, everyone. I’m going to be taking an extended break from kottke.org, starting today. I’ve been writing here for more than 24 years, nearly half my life —
200
Betting on things that never change (2017)
Amazon launched 22 years ago this week.
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Unbundling Tools for Thought
Disparate thoughts on personal information management after traversing the hype cycle.
203
The 5% Rule
...I learned a lot from that period, but one of the things I learned that I did not expect was what I now call my '5% rule.' No matter how kind, warm, thoughtful, amazing, cheerful, consistent, and perfect I treated people roughly 5% of them would just be terrible (yes, I have the numbers to back this)...
204
Famous HNers and their sites
Update: Here’s the link to the HN discussion about this post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32291993
205
Why software engineers like woodworking
The smell of fresh pine sawdust filled the air, with more floating up as I sanded the last rough corner of the stool. My toddler was happily sanding her own block off to the side.
206
Cognitive loads in programming
This long post presents programming in a different light than what is commonly considered. We will look at cognitive aspects of interacting with code.
207
What to blog about
You should start a blog. Having your own little corner of the internet is good for the soul! But what should you write about? It’s easy to get hung up …
208
Choose your status game wisely
On status games and how to outsmart them.
209
Toxic Productivity
Create forms and surveys, take payments, automate workflows and send documents for signing, all from one easy, doc‑style form builder FOR FREE
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