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The unreasonable effectiveness of just showing up everyday
Six years, no deadlines, and one rule: write some code every day. That slow, stubborn routine turned a side project into a sustainable search company.
Topics /
Life, Learning & Writing
The most popular blog posts about life, learning & writing on Hacker News. 640 posts.
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Willingness to look stupid
People frequently 1 think that I'm very stupid. I don't find this surprising, since I don't mind if other people think I'm stupid, which means that I don't adjust my behavior to avoid seeming stupid, which results in people thinking that I'm stupid. Although there are some downsides to people thinking that I'm stupid…
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It Can Happen to You
A few days ago, a fascinating article about Grand Theft Auto Online made the rounds of the tech news ecosystem.
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I started a paper website business
I started a business that lets you build websites using pen and paper. In the process I went viral on Twitter, made $1,000 in two days, and blew $720 on 100 paper notebooks from Alibaba.
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100 years of whatever this will be
What if all these weird tech trends actually add up to something? Last time, we explored why various bits of trendy technology are, in my o...
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A teenager's guide to avoiding actual work
How in 1982, the author successfully hacked his way out of having to fill in potholes.
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The 'Fuck You' Pattern
In the software industry, there is a term for intentional designs which coerce the user into doing something, be it consciously or subconsciously - a ‘dark pattern’. These patterns are employed by social media networks, e-commerce, video games, and many more places. I’m coining a new term called the ‘Fuck You’ pattern…
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Embrace the Grind
Sometimes, programming feels like magic: you chant some arcane incantation and a fleet of robots do your bidding. But sometimes, magic is mundane. If you’re willing to embrace the grind, you can pull off the impossible.
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Thank you, GitHub
This morning, I sent the following post to the GitHub team. TL;DR: I’m moving on to my next adventure, and Thomas Dohmke (currently Chief Product Officer) will be GitHub’s next CEO.
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I Still Use RSS
Usable Security, Human-Computer Interaction & AI, from a UNIX perspective.
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Getting better at Linux with mini-projects
The first thing I wanted to learn more about was UNIX since Linux is a UNIX-like operating system. I also never really felt that I fully understood what exactly UNIX was, besides being a family of fairly similar operating systems.
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Apple broke up with me
Do not get too attached to your Apple account; it belongs to Apple, NOT YOU!
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Underrated Reasons to Be Thankful
30 underrated reasons to be thankful, starting with the fact that atomic bombs don’t ignite the atmosphere
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Burning out and quitting
I'm burnt out. If you're reading this, there's a strong chance you're burnt out too. We're about to have, uh, a moment, so brace yourself.
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Who Owns My Name?
Does my name belong to me? Does my face? What about my life? My story? Why is my name used to refer to events I had no hand in? I return to…
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Still alive
You just keep on trying till you run out of cake
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Overkill objects for everyday life
I routinely make a fool of myself when I tell friends I want a Martin Baker ejection seat as a chair in my living room. Of course, with the pyrotechnic charge removed. Seriously, I would totally buy it if it weren't $5,000 on eBay and I've got
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Plans you're not supposed to talk about
When does talking about a plan ruin it? Marriage, CO2, religion, self-promotion, edgelords, and Chinese medicine.
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Overly analytical guide to escorting
The Overly Analytical Guide to Escorting
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Don't End the Week with Nothing (2014)
A bit of inspiration (and some hopefully actionable advice) for folks who are still working at day jobs.
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Fuckin' user interface design, I swear
From the highly eclectic blog of Mark Dominus
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RSS is wonderful
Inspired by Web Rings from the 90s, I created a tool for serendipitous discovery of blogs called RSS Discovery Engine. Similar to how web rings work, I make the assumption that interesting blogs will tend to link to other related blogs, and therefore, linked blogs are likely to also be interesting.
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Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89
Physics is the most fundamental of sciences. It provides a foundation for ideas critical to other scientific fields and the underpinnings for modern technologies.