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Take something you don’t like and try to like it
it offers lessons on your nature
Topics /
Life, Learning & Writing
The most popular blog posts about life, learning & writing on Hacker News. 8,931 posts.
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I should have loved biology too
How I went from hating it to being obsessed, the allure of great writing, and a post-scuba-dive moment of clarity
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Five minutes of exercise a day could lower blood pressure
The research looked at data from more than 14,000 volunteers and shows the importance of activities that raise heart rate for blood pressure control– such as uphill walking or stair-climbing, into your day may help to lower blood pressure.
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A manifesto on shower temperature control
I had a very shower-y shower thought: why does turning my shower handle a tiny bit make such a huge difference in the comfort of the shower? Why are we wasting so much potential control area on water temperatures that no one wants? Who cares about ice...
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Why I left iNaturalist
After almost 18 years, I left iNaturalist, the product and organization I helped create. I left because I don’t believe the current Leadership team is pointing the product in the right direction, and I don’t think they are managing their talented staff in an empathetic or effective way. If you’d like me to continue…
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Forget spaceships; I just want my music
A couple weeks ago, as my kids settled into the car, I asked like I always do, "what songs do you want me to play?" They have a range of favored earworms, from Baby Shark to Babaloo, and usually the songs are tolerable, at least. But a few albums, like Bluey's soundtrack, transcend the children's genre. They're…
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If you need the money, don't take the job
Money: how to get people to give it to you, how much to ask for, and how to be worth what you're asking. Some real talk about the challenges you’ll face as a newly independent worker.
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Don't Post Evergreen Content on Medium
Why you should think twice before publishing your content on Medium.com in 2020 and beyond.
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On Craft
My grandpa -- my Missouri grandpa, who played slide guitar to me when I got homesick on the rare occasions I stayed with them -- grew up on a farm without electricity. He went past eighth grade, which really mattered to him. He loved that I played harp, which he always called "elegant," in an extremely Missouri…
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Why Chinese Is So Damn Hard (1992)
The first question any thoughtful person might ask when reading the title of this essay is, "Hard for whom?" A reasonable question. After all, Chinese people seem to learn it just fine. When little Chinese kids go through the "terrible twos", it's Chinese they use to drive their parents crazy, and in a few years the…
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In praise of blowing up your life
a reminder for the relatively sane
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Outsourcing thinking
Researcher and runner writing about technology, nature, and physical endeavours.
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How I thought I wanted to become a digital nomad
The reasons for this, are quite irrelevant to this article, but in short, the investor backed out and the ongoing development of a product I was mainly involved in, had been suspended.
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Adderall Risks: Much More Than You Wanted to Know
[Previously in series: Antidepressant Pharmacogenomics: Much More Than You Wanted To Know; SSRIs: Much More Than You Wanted To Know, etc. This is all preliminary and you should not take it as a rea…
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Things I learnt doing stand-up comedy
Coming on Stage for my Set. From March to April 2022 I took part in a 6 week stand-up comedy course for beginners at The Comedy St...
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Learn difficult concepts with the ADEPT method (2014)
After a decade of writing explanations, I've simplified the strategy I use to get new concepts to click. Here's how to teach yourself a difficult idea, or…
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A response to “How to never complete anything”
The following is my response to Ewan Valentine’s blog post “How to never complete anything” that I discovered on Hacker News. Once again, I ask for people’s indulgence for posting a reply on my own blog rather than in the Hacker News comments. I find writing on my own blog a bit easier than wading […]
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Learning Feynman's Trick for Integrals
Among a few other integral tricks and techniques, Feynman's trick was a strong reason that made me love evaluating integrals, and although the technique itself goes back to Leibniz being commonly known as the Leibniz integral rule, it was Richard Feynman who popularized it, which is why it is also referred to as…
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Kezurou-Kai #39
Kezurou-kai #39 in Itoigawa, Niigata, a handplaning contest where competitors use Japanese planes to take ultra thin shavings of wood
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I’ve been single all my life
I’m single. I don’t know if this comes as a surprise to you. Of course, you have yet to hear me talking about a wife or a girlfriend. But I also rarely talk about dating and finding someone. The bigger surprise might be that I’m a lifelong single. In other words, I was never in any romantic or sexual relationship…