Ben Borgers
The Cost of Building an Idea
over a year ago
Anecdotal Evidence
'A Profoundly Bitter Lesson'
My friend
Moshe Vardi is a computer scientist at Rice University, the Karen Ostrum...
a year ago
My friend
Moshe Vardi is a computer scientist at Rice University, the Karen Ostrum George
Distinguished Service Professor in Computational Engineering. He has published
an essay, “A Moral Rot at Rice University”:
“I was well
aware that antisemitism is alive and well in the US,...
Joel Gascoigne
Reflecting on 10 years of building Buffer
Note: this was originally posted on the Buffer blog.
Today marks ten years since I launched the...
over a year ago
Note: this was originally posted on the Buffer blog.
Today marks ten years since I launched the first version of Buffer. What started as a landing page to gauge interest, and then a very basic product that I worked on alone, has become so much more. Buffer is now a
Classical Wisdom
How to Save Democracy
The Importance of the Civic Bargain
a year ago
The Importance of the Civic Bargain
Anecdotal Evidence
'The Highest Kind of Verbal Exercise'
John Updike
published “Kenneths” in the July 5, 1958 issue of The New Yorker and collected it in his...
5 months ago
John Updike
published “Kenneths” in the July 5, 1958 issue of The New Yorker and collected it in his second book of poems, Telephone Poles (1963):
“Rexroth and
Patchen and Fearing—their mothers
Perhaps
could distinguish their sons from the others,
But I am
unable. My inner eye...
Diaries of Note
I no longer love the sun or the flowers
It was only a year after first meeting, in 1895, that Marie and Pierre Curie became husband and...
a year ago
It was only a year after first meeting, in 1895, that Marie and Pierre Curie became husband and wife. Together, they made groundbreaking contributions to science, not least the discovery of two new elements, polonium and radium, and in 1903 they were jointly awarded the Nobel...
symmetry magazine
Rap with an undercurrent of particle physics
UK musician Consensus spins the big ideas of physics into rap and hip-hop tracks.
a year ago
UK musician Consensus spins the big ideas of physics into rap and hip-hop tracks.
TheCollector
What Is the History Behind Hanukkah?
undefined
7 months ago
The Rational Walk
Three Lessons
A few life lessons based on observations over a half century.
a year ago
A few life lessons based on observations over a half century.
Ognjen Regoje •...
When am I "allowed" to quit and not be labeled a quitter?
There’s a type of startup that stays alive but doesn’t achieve meaningful growth. One that keeps...
11 months ago
There’s a type of startup that stays alive but doesn’t achieve meaningful growth. One that keeps raising bridge rounds but whose valuation stagnates.
Anecdotally, their founders belong to two groups:
They’re still convinced that the business will work and are unflappable in their...
alexwlchan
Have a single definition of “now”
I’ve been doing a bunch of datetime debugging recently, and this function has been an amazing...
a year ago
I’ve been doing a bunch of datetime debugging recently, and this function has been an amazing help:
function today(): Date {
return new Date();
}
It’s not very sophisticated – it just returns the current time – but we use it everywhere we need to get the current time. (You...
TheCollector
6 Haunted Historical Sites That Will Scare Your Socks Off
undefined
9 months ago
Paul Graham: Essays
What You'll Wish You'd Known
over a year ago
The Honest Broker
Nine Predictions for the Future of the Music Business
I offer a forecast for 10 years in the future—and it's filled with good news (surprise!)
2 months ago
I offer a forecast for 10 years in the future—and it's filled with good news (surprise!)
David Perell
Intellectual Loneliness
I have a confession to make: I leave most parties early because I’d rather read a book. That’s not...
over a year ago
I have a confession to make: I leave most parties early because I’d rather read a book. That’s not what I tell people though. Usually, I make up an excuse. Something like “Oh, I have early plans in the morning.” I don’t like being deceptive, but there’s no socially acceptable way...
TheCollector
Can Stoicism Improve Personal and Professional Relationships?
undefined
12 months ago
Marcus on AI
An epidemic of weirdly precise AI butt facts
The parade of made-up numbers never stops
a month ago
The parade of made-up numbers never stops
TheCollector
Ludwig Wittgenstein vs. Gottlob Frege: Between Logic and Language
undefined
a year ago
Seth's Blog
A finite ordered set of interesting objects
The alphabet is one. 26 letters, no more. One order, that’s it. The Beatles are another. John, Paul,...
a year ago
The alphabet is one. 26 letters, no more. One order, that’s it. The Beatles are another. John, Paul, George and then Ringo. The Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges, The Supremes. The astrological zodiac gets us to twelve, but I’m having a really difficult time finding a memorable...
The Works in...
Britain’s interwar apartment boom
A decade of Art Deco densification
10 months ago
A decade of Art Deco densification
Marcus on AI
Humanity’s “Oh shit!” AI moment?
Not yet, but it could come sooner than you think. Not because we are close to AGI, but because we...
a week ago
Not yet, but it could come sooner than you think. Not because we are close to AGI, but because we already have machines that can say one thing and do something else altogether.
The Marginalian
Yellow Butterfly: A Moving Wordless Story About War, Hope, and Keeping the Light Alive
In his little-known correspondence with Freud about war and human nature, Einstein observed that...
a year ago
In his little-known correspondence with Freud about war and human nature, Einstein observed that every great moral and spiritual leader in the history of our civilization has shared “the great goal of the internal and external liberation of man* from the evils of war” as Freud...
Rest of World -...
Domestic work in Vietnam: The 5-star butler who naps on the steps
She cooks, cleans, and has a key. But she also naps in stairwells and eats in hallways.
a year ago
She cooks, cleans, and has a key. But she also naps in stairwells and eats in hallways.
Epic Web Dev
Mocking Techniques in Vitest (workshop)
2 months ago
Paul Cudenec
The global mafia's NGO-backed industrial imperialism
Rockefeller Foundation trustee Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli is president/CEO of the ONE Campaign.
2 days ago
Rockefeller Foundation trustee Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli is president/CEO of the ONE Campaign.
Old Structures...
A Different Definition of Speed
I’ve mentioned the “Speedway” a few times in passing. It was a pleasure drive along the Harlem...
2 months ago
I’ve mentioned the “Speedway” a few times in passing. It was a pleasure drive along the Harlem River, meant to provide a place for people with horses and horse carriages – i.e., the upper middle class and the wealthy – to have fun. There was nothing inherently terrible about...
Ognjen Regoje •...
What if I spent exactly two hours on each post
Over the past year, the backlog of things I wanted to write had piled up. But my free time had...
11 months ago
Over the past year, the backlog of things I wanted to write had piled up. But my free time had dwindled.
So, in the interest of being prolific and producing content that I can iterate and learn from, at the start of the year I decided that this year I would not spend more than...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
"Non"-Profit Hospitals | Out-Of-Pocket
"We're investing in ourselves"
a year ago
"We're investing in ourselves"
Daniel Immke's Blog...
2019: Lessons learned
It’s the end of the year — and the decade — as endless listicles remind me every day. I wrote an end...
over a year ago
It’s the end of the year — and the decade — as endless listicles remind me every day. I wrote an end of year blog post last year so I…
Seth's Blog
The catfight and the construction site
We’re quick to stop to see the car wreck, the billionaire having a meltdown, or the professional...
a year ago
We’re quick to stop to see the car wreck, the billionaire having a meltdown, or the professional wrestlers pretending to be political leaders. But it often seems more difficult to take a moment to watch people building something that matters instead. We’ll probably spend billions...
Josh Comeau's blog
Boop!
An in-depth tutorial that teaches how to create one of the most adorable interactions I've ever...
over a year ago
An in-depth tutorial that teaches how to create one of the most adorable interactions I've ever created. We'll learn how to use React components and hooks to abstract behaviours, and see how to design the perfect API. Even if you're not into animations, I think you'll find it...
Steve Blank
The Secret History of Minnesota Part 1: Engineering Research Associates
This post is the latest in the “Secret History Series.” They’ll make much more sense if you watch...
a year ago
This post is the latest in the “Secret History Series.” They’ll make much more sense if you watch the video or read some of the earlier posts for context. See the Secret History bibliography for sources and supplemental reading. Silicon Valley emerged from work in World War II...
nanoscale views
Scientific travel
Particularly in these post-pandemic, climate-change-addled, zoom-enabled times, I appreciate the...
a year ago
Particularly in these post-pandemic, climate-change-addled, zoom-enabled times, I appreciate the argument that it's always worth asking, "Is this trip really necessary?" We are in the age of remote work and zoom seminars that are attended by people from all over the world. Is...
Damn Interesting
Lofty Ambitions
One summer day in 1933, in a brief pocket of time between the two World Wars, a British man named...
over a year ago
One summer day in 1933, in a brief pocket of time between the two World Wars, a British man named Maurice Wilson clutched the stick of his tiny, open air biplane and watched his fuel gauge dwindle. He had only learned to fly two months earlier, but inexperience was not his...
Engineer’s Codex
A simple software engineering productivity trick: leave work unfinished to reach flow
A breakdown of 4 simple software engineering and coding habits that improved my productivity. These...
a year ago
A breakdown of 4 simple software engineering and coding habits that improved my productivity. These include keyboard shortcuts, learning to say no, reaching flow state faster, and keeping a big book of commands handy.
TheCollector
Homo Erectus: The Most Successful Human?
undefined
a year ago
TheCollector
Thomas Gainsborough vs. Joshua Reynolds: 6 Facts About Their Rivalry
undefined
10 months ago
Common Edge
Why Does America Provide More Space for Storing Cars Than Housing People?
Paved Paradise recounts parking’s pivotal history, exposing its environmental, economic, and social...
a year ago
Paved Paradise recounts parking’s pivotal history, exposing its environmental, economic, and social impacts.
Epic Web Dev
Professional Web Forms (workshop)
The Professional Web Forms Workshop will equip you for building complex, fully accessible forms that...
a year ago
The Professional Web Forms Workshop will equip you for building complex, fully accessible forms that handle validation and file uploads while preventing spam.
TheCollector
Fascists vs. Communists: Spanish Civil War’s Outside Influences
undefined
a year ago
Saturday Morning...
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Pisa
Click here to go see the bonus panel!
Hovertext:
Really, you want an isometric view if you're being...
a year ago
Click here to go see the bonus panel!
Hovertext:
Really, you want an isometric view if you're being honest.
Today's News:
Noahpinion
In defense of science fiction
New technology is usually good, and it's good for sci-fi to inspire it.
12 months ago
New technology is usually good, and it's good for sci-fi to inspire it.
Aaron's Essays
Bad Terms
Every startup fundraising process is influenced by the balance of power between the founder and the...
over a year ago
Every startup fundraising process is influenced by the balance of power between the founder and the investor. When the founder has a company that is doing incredibly well, and is being chased by lots of investors, the founder has more leverage. When the founder is inexperienced,...
Wuthering...
Ovid's Metamorhpses, Canto 6 - the sexual assaults - Because the lewdness of the Gods was so blazed...
Back to Ovid.
First, I have just begun Paul Barolsky’s Ovid and the
Metamorphoses of Modern Art...
10 months ago
Back to Ovid.
First, I have just begun Paul Barolsky’s Ovid and the
Metamorphoses of Modern Art from Boticelli to Picasso (2014), a work of art
history about Ovid written in the spirit of Ovid. The book is of the highest interest, and is a
long way from the catalogue of...
IEEE Spectrum
How Engineers at Digital Equipment Corp. Saved Ethernet
I’ve enjoyed reading magazine articles about Ethernet’s 50th anniversary, including one in the The...
8 months ago
I’ve enjoyed reading magazine articles about Ethernet’s 50th anniversary, including one in the The Institute. Invented by computer scientists Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs, Ethernet has been extraordinarily impactful. Metcalfe, an IEEE Fellow, received the 1996 IEEE Medal of...
Josh Thompson
Deliberate Practice in Programming with Avdi Grimm and the Rake gem
I’ve had the concept of Deliberate Practice stuck in my head for a while.
I want to improve at...
over a year ago
I’ve had the concept of Deliberate Practice stuck in my head for a while.
I want to improve at things (all the things!) in general, but writing and reading code, specifically. Writing and reading code is germane to my primary occupation (software developer) and drives most of my...
The personal website...
Make it 'til you make it
In 2009, back when I was the creative director of a music magazine, I sat on a panel of music...
over a year ago
In 2009, back when I was the creative director of a music magazine, I sat on a panel of music industry professionals. The audience was mostly comprised of bands and curious non-music-industry people, so when it came to the Q&A part of the evening, the questions were predictable....
Passing Time
High-Density Days
Friendship is a function of time.
12 months ago
Friendship is a function of time.
Working Theorys
Unbundling Cash & Equity | Theory No. 15
a heretical take on "total compensation"
a year ago
a heretical take on "total compensation"
Classical Wisdom
Who’s in the Tomb?
A Macedonian Mystery: The Tombs of Aigai
7 months ago
A Macedonian Mystery: The Tombs of Aigai
Diaries of Note
The Jewish police have been ordered to erect the gallows
Avraham Tory (born Avraham Golub in 1909) was a Lithuanian Jew who played a significant role during...
a year ago
Avraham Tory (born Avraham Golub in 1909) was a Lithuanian Jew who played a significant role during one of history’s most harrowing periods. As the secretary of the Jewish Council of Elders in the Kovno Ghetto during World War II, he was privy to the inner workings of the...
Raptitude.com
In Favor of Reading Aloud
When I read Jane Eyre, I stalled for a full year between the opening part at the boarding school and...
3 months ago
When I read Jane Eyre, I stalled for a full year between the opening part at the boarding school and the rest of the book. I tend to dislike boarding-school openings in books, but the real problem was I found myself having to reread too many of Charlotte Brontë’s winding,...
Noahpinion
The New 1970s
The U.S. is a confused, unsettled nation. But green shoots are quietly sprouting.
a year ago
The U.S. is a confused, unsettled nation. But green shoots are quietly sprouting.
HTMHell
#5 button-like-link
Bad code
<a href="#form" role="button" aria-haspopup="true"> Register ...
over a year ago
Bad code
<a href="#form" role="button" aria-haspopup="true"> Register </a>
Issues and how to fix them
It’s a link to a form at the same page that looks like a button.
By adding role="button" to a link, you’re telling that it’s a button, though it acts like...
The Roots of...
What does it mean to “trust science”?
And this, my children, is why we do not say things like “I believe in science”. I mean, don’t get me...
a year ago
And this, my children, is why we do not say things like “I believe in science”. I mean, don’t get me wrong, science definitely exists—I’ve seen it. But not everything that calls itself science is science, and even good science sometimes gets wrong results. –Megan McArdle
Should...
Marco.org
Ten years after we lost Steve Jobs
Losing Steve affected me more than it probably should have, given that I never met him or had any...
over a year ago
Losing Steve affected me more than it probably should have, given that I never met him or had any correspondence with him.
But losing him was devastating — not just to my world, but the world.
He was a sort of virtual father figure: I was always hoping that maybe Steve would...
macwright.com
Recently
Writing in from Washington, DC, my once-hometown and
the birthplace of Mapbox.
This one will be...
a year ago
Writing in from Washington, DC, my once-hometown and
the birthplace of Mapbox.
This one will be quick because I’m between one thing
and another!
Listening
Dry Daniel by Buke and Gase
Buke and Gase released some music they recorded a while ago,
and there are some hits in it. I...
Julia Evans
Importing a frontend Javascript library without a build system
I like writing Javascript without a build system
and for the millionth time yesterday I ran into a...
a month ago
I like writing Javascript without a build system
and for the millionth time yesterday I ran into a problem where I needed to
figure out how to import a Javascript library in my code without using a build
system, and it took FOREVER to figure out how to import it because...
cdixon.org RSS Feed
Allocation investing and the social premium
The rational way to invest in something – a startup, public company, venture capital firm, real...
over a year ago
The rational way to invest in something – a startup, public company, venture capital firm, real estate project, etc. – is to base your…
Anecdotal Evidence
'The Top Thing of the World'
John Keats’
meditation on a reader’s paradise:
“I had an
idea that a Man might pass a very pleasant...
2 months ago
John Keats’
meditation on a reader’s paradise:
“I had an
idea that a Man might pass a very pleasant life in this manner. Let him on a
certain day read a certain Page of full Poesy or distilled Prose, and let him
wander with it, and muse upon it and reflect from it, and dream...
Build In Public...
Build In Public: Spotlight Edition (Andrew Barry)
Hey everyone 👋 Hope you had a great week. In today’s edition, I wanted to feature Andrew Barry....
over a year ago
Hey everyone 👋 Hope you had a great week. In today’s edition, I wanted to feature Andrew Barry. Andrew’s a friend/creator/former colleague that you may already be familiar with on Twitter. I’ve admired his work from afar and always enjoy conversing with him on topics of...
A Smart Bear
When being “first” is not a competitive advantage
Is it good to be “first?” It seems so – what’s the point of building a new startup that does nothing...
over a year ago
Is it good to be “first?” It seems so – what’s the point of building a new startup that does nothing new? On the surface being “first” sounds impressive, implying innovation and leadership. But reality is different.
Londonist
Things To Do In London Over The Bank Holiday Weekend
Ways to fill a long weekend in the capital.
9 months ago
Ways to fill a long weekend in the capital.
Common Edge
On the Value of Miniatures and Scale Models
Thinking small can help us answer the challenges of our time.
a week ago
Thinking small can help us answer the challenges of our time.
Anecdotal Evidence
'Larkin Was a Larrikin'
At age ten
or so I had a pen pal, a girl from New South Wales, Australia. We both wrote in
pencil on...
11 months ago
At age ten
or so I had a pen pal, a girl from New South Wales, Australia. We both wrote in
pencil on lined paper, and we met through our respective newspapers in
Cleveland and Sydney. The correspondence lasted for a year or so and I don’t
remember what either of us ever said to...
Seth's Blog
In search of chatoyancy
A cat’s eye is smooth but doesn’t seem to be… there’s a mystery of depth. That illusion is called...
a year ago
A cat’s eye is smooth but doesn’t seem to be… there’s a mystery of depth. That illusion is called chatoyancy. The same is true for some sorts of woods (cedar is an exception). The digital age makes it more and more likely we’re experiencing things through a flat screen, and as a...
CONTEMPORIST
A Dramatic Upward-Sloping Roof Covers This Rural Home
Prentiss + Balance + Wickline Architects has shared photos of a contemporary home they have designed...
7 months ago
Prentiss + Balance + Wickline Architects has shared photos of a contemporary home they have designed in Winthrop, Washington, perched atop a steep river bank. The home’s design includes an upward-sloping roof form that motions toward the river and shelters an outdoor room....
cdixon.org RSS Feed
The importance of institutional redundancy
Every system built by a single institution has points of failure that can bring the entire system...
over a year ago
Every system built by a single institution has points of failure that can bring the entire system down. Even in organizations that have…
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Too much money in digital health? | Out-Of-Pocket
trying a new format out
a year ago
The Works in...
Fermenting revolution
The Victorian fight against bad bread and its role in women’s liberation
a year ago
The Victorian fight against bad bread and its role in women’s liberation
David Heinemeier...
Hating Apple goes mainstream
This isn't just about one awful ad. I mean, yes, the ad truly is awful. It symbolizes everything...
7 months ago
This isn't just about one awful ad. I mean, yes, the ad truly is awful. It symbolizes everything everyone has ever hated about digitization. It celebrates a lossy, creative compression for the most flimsy reason: An iPad shedding an irrelevant millimeter or two. It's destruction...
TheCollector
What Five Philosophers Have to Say About Physical Exercise
undefined
8 months ago
Code Of Honor
Credit where credit is due
I feel fortunate to have been part of Blizzard Entertainment when it started, now over thirty years...
2 months ago
I feel fortunate to have been part of Blizzard Entertainment when it started, now over thirty years ago. I got to work with amazing people; make games players loved; and learn a lot about design, programming, and business along the way. Some of those lessons were hard-earned, as...
Cognitive...
Running Dolphin Locally with Ollama
Wanna chat with Dolphin locally? (no internet connection needed)
Here is the easy way -...
a year ago
Wanna chat with Dolphin locally? (no internet connection needed)
Here is the easy way - Ollama.
install ollama. after you finsh you should be able to run ollama from the command line. Also you will see the ollama icon up top like this:
Iff you are curious - anytime you see that...
Retail Design Blog
Hayat Restaurant by Ivy Studio
Located on De La Commune Street in Montreal, Hayat offers a luxurious and truly authentic dining...
2 days ago
Located on De La Commune Street in Montreal, Hayat offers a luxurious and truly authentic dining experience directly across from...
Ruud van Asseldonk
A type system for RCL: Implementing a typechecker in Rust
5 months ago
diamond geezer
Opening up the Thames Path
I'm indebted to Ian Visits for alerting me that a new stretch of the Thames Path has just opened up....
3 months ago
I'm indebted to Ian Visits for alerting me that a new stretch of the Thames Path has just opened up. It's alongside Craven Cottage, the home of Fulham FC, where previously you had to divert inland around three sides of the stadium. That's no longer necessary because a new...
Saturday Morning...
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Ants
Click here to go see the bonus panel!
Hovertext:
You're in pillar of salt territory here,...
5 months ago
Click here to go see the bonus panel!
Hovertext:
You're in pillar of salt territory here, bro.
Today's News:
NeuroLogica Blog
Superconducting Kagome Metals
Superconductivity is an extremely interesting, and potentially extremely useful, physical...
4 months ago
Superconductivity is an extremely interesting, and potentially extremely useful, physical phenomenon. It refers to a state in which current flows through a material without resistance, and therefore without any loss of energy or waste heat. As our civilization is increasingly run...
ntietz.com blog
A few weird ways of displaying git hashes
I was reading "Real-World Cryptography" and ran across an thought-provoking statement.
While talking...
a year ago
I was reading "Real-World Cryptography" and ran across an thought-provoking statement.
While talking about why hashes are often represented in hexademical, the author states (emphasis mine):
There are other ways to encode binary data for human consumption, but the two most widely...
PostHog's RSS Feed
Raising money is less stressful than bootstrapping
Since PostHog raised Venture Capital (VC), we've had far less stress, and far more fun. There are...
over a year ago
Since PostHog raised Venture Capital (VC), we've had far less stress, and far more fun. There are lots of myths around what it's like run a business…
CONTEMPORIST
A Modern Landscape Was Designed For This Californian Backyard
SUBU Design Architecture has shared photos of a landscape design they completed for a home in...
a year ago
SUBU Design Architecture has shared photos of a landscape design they completed for a home in California. The client asked the designers to create a kitchen garden and an outdoor gathering space for her large family to celebrate birthdays and holidays. One area of the yard was...
Paolo Amoroso's...
Exploring Lisp programs as hypertexts with NoteCards
<![CDATA[I'm examining in depth NoteCards, the hypermedia environment of Medley Interlisp well...
3 months ago
<![CDATA[I'm examining in depth NoteCards, the hypermedia environment of Medley Interlisp well described in the 1987 paper NoteCards in a Nutshell.
To experiment with the NoteCards API I set out to explore the space of possible answers to the question: what if Lisp programs were...
Escaping Flatland
Seeing people clearly
Head of people operations for the entire friend group
a year ago
Head of people operations for the entire friend group
TheCollector
How Did People React to Hitler’s Death & Germany’s Surrender?
undefined
10 months ago
Arduino Blog
A gamified approach to therapy and motor skills testing
For children who experience certain developmental delays, specific types of physical therapies are...
6 months ago
For children who experience certain developmental delays, specific types of physical therapies are often employed to assist them in improving their balance and motor skills/coordination. Ivan Hernandez, Juan Diego Zambrano, and Abdelrahman Farag were looking for a way to quantify...
This Space
The end of literature, part three
On the evening of December 12th, 2019 a numbed grief descended over the land, and has lain there...
over a year ago
On the evening of December 12th, 2019 a numbed grief descended over the land, and has lain there ever since. At that time a mild alternative to barbarism was being put to death. Back in 2015 when, against all odds, a lifelong socialist and campaigner against racism and...
Old Structures...
A Striking Row
I was in the Upper East Side a couple of weeks ago, and the row of houses on the left caught my eye....
11 months ago
I was in the Upper East Side a couple of weeks ago, and the row of houses on the left caught my eye. That’s 690 to 700 Madison Avenue, just north of 62nd Street. While there’s an obvious alteration – the facade of the first two floors of each house was replaced at some point […]
History Today Feed
Fighting the Home Front’s ‘Enemy Within’
Fighting the Home Front’s ‘Enemy Within’
JamesHoare
Fri, 11/22/2024 - 08:57
a month ago
Fighting the Home Front’s ‘Enemy Within’
JamesHoare
Fri, 11/22/2024 - 08:57
Seth's Blog
Ice sculpture
There are very few activities that are fully reversible. Ice sculpture might be one of them. Once...
a month ago
There are very few activities that are fully reversible. Ice sculpture might be one of them. Once the ice melts, all the effort and information is lost, and refreezing lets you begin again with a new, fresh block of ice. Of course, it’s not completely gone. The thing you made...
Mark Manson
The Point Is to Stop
Years ago, I wrote an article that claimed the best way to judge the usefulness of self-help advice...
over a year ago
Years ago, I wrote an article that claimed the best way to judge the usefulness of self-help advice is by how many people eventually leave it behind. In it, I boldly claimed that if self-help advice actually worked, the industry would quickly go out of business. After all, if the...
Londonist
West End Tickets From £15 - London Theatre Week Has Launched
Slashed price seats available till 3 March.
10 months ago
Slashed price seats available till 3 March.
Open Culture
14 Self-Portraits by Pablo Picasso Show the Evolution of His Style: See Self-Portraits Moving from...
15 years old (1896) It’s possible to look at Pablo Picasso’s many formal experiments and periodic...
a month ago
15 years old (1896) It’s possible to look at Pablo Picasso’s many formal experiments and periodic shifts of style as a kind of self-portraiture, an exercise in shifting consciousness and trying on of new aesthetic identities. The Spanish modernist made a career of sweeping...
Maggie Appleton
A Short History of Bi-Directional Links
over a year ago
AI Snake Oil
One year update: book submitted; TIME 100; Sep 21 online workshop
It's been an eventful year
a year ago
It's been an eventful year
Blog - Practical...
Endeavour's Wild Journey Through the Streets of Los Angeles
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
In May of 1992, the Space...
over a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.]
In May of 1992, the Space Shuttle Endeavour launched to low earth orbit on its very first flight. That first mission was a big one: the crew captured a wayward communications satellite stuck in the wrong orbit,...
Rest of World -...
Venezuelan migrants helped build Colombia’s tech scene. Now the country is kicking them out
New rules make getting a visa more difficult, even as Colombia struggles to find enough tech...
a year ago
New rules make getting a visa more difficult, even as Colombia struggles to find enough tech workers.
ntietz.com blog
Too much of a good thing: the trade-off we make with tests
I've worked places where we aspired to (but did not reach) 100% code coverage.
We used tools like a...
10 months ago
I've worked places where we aspired to (but did not reach) 100% code coverage.
We used tools like a code coverage ratchet to ensure that the test coverage always went up and never down.
This had a few effects.
One of them was the intended effect: we wrote more tests.
Another was...
diamond geezer
Splitting lines
Now that the Overground lines are being separately named, some people are asking whether other TfL...
10 months ago
Now that the Overground lines are being separately named, some people are asking whether other TfL services should follow suit.
n.b. The answer to this question is 'No', but stay with me as we go through the motions.
n.b. These days the Circle line shadows the Hammersmith &...
Flashbak
Denim: The Fabric That Built America
Denim was G.I. in wartime America. Originally used as heavy industry, utility workwear, these images...
3 weeks ago
Denim was G.I. in wartime America. Originally used as heavy industry, utility workwear, these images mostly from the 1940s, show how the fabric became synonymous with American grit and productivity. The look was born in 18th Century Europe. Bleu de Gênes was the rough fabric...
The Roots of...
What I’ve been reading, April 2023
A monthly feature. Note that I generally don’t include very recent writing here, such as the latest...
a year ago
A monthly feature. Note that I generally don’t include very recent writing here, such as the latest blog posts (for those, see my Twitter digests); this is for my deeper research.
AI
First, various historical perspectives on AI, many of which were quite prescient:
Alan Turing,...
Classical Wisdom
Why Read Modern Books?
Now Available: Night Drew Her Sable Cloak
a year ago
Now Available: Night Drew Her Sable Cloak
Tinloof - Blog
How we boosted the performance of a Gatsby website by 80%
Sbaï Dentaire is the number 1 user-rated dental practice in Casablanca (Morocco) by Google...
over a year ago
Sbaï Dentaire is the number 1 user-rated dental practice in Casablanca (Morocco) by Google users:
Many patients book appointments through the website on the go from their mobile, therefore page speed is critical to avoid a high bounce rate.
This article explains how we improved...
Weighty Thoughts
Why did the Prior Generations of AI Fail?
Diving into the History—Which is Kind of a Circle
3 months ago
Diving into the History—Which is Kind of a Circle
The Berkeley...
FIGS: Attaining XGBoost-level performance with the interpretability and speed of CART
FIGS (Fast Interpretable Greedy-tree Sums): A method for building interpretable models by...
over a year ago
FIGS (Fast Interpretable Greedy-tree Sums): A method for building interpretable models by simultaneously growing an ensemble of decision trees in competition with one another.
Recent machine-learning advances have led to increasingly complex predictive models, often at the cost...
Diaries of Note
To Nobody, then, will I write my Journal!
Born in Norfolk in 1752, Frances Burney was fifteen when she began to keep a journal, and this...
a year ago
Born in Norfolk in 1752, Frances Burney was fifteen when she began to keep a journal, and this entry, in which she identifies her audience, was the first she ever wrote. For 72 years she continued, by which time she was a famous novelist—most notably as the author of Evelina, or...
The Honest Broker
A Tribute to Tony Bennett (1926-2023)
I've been a fan since childhood—and it feels like I've lost a part of my extended family
a year ago
I've been a fan since childhood—and it feels like I've lost a part of my extended family
Artificial Ignorance
AI Roundup 079: Don't call it an acquisition
August 9, 2024.
4 months ago
Londonist
Wish You Were (Still) Here: Piccadilly's Egyptian Hall
London's most beautiful pastiche?
9 months ago
London's most beautiful pastiche?
TheCollector
Hitler’s Inner Circle: The 7 Most Powerful Figures in the Third Reich
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6 months ago
TheCollector
The Second Battle of El Alamein: How Was Rommel Defeated?
undefined
8 months ago
DYNOMIGHT
Against dystopian views of high-speed audiobook listening
There was recently a thread on r/slatestarcodex about “What life hacks are actually life changing”....
2 months ago
There was recently a thread on r/slatestarcodex about “What life hacks are actually life changing”. One of the examples given was:
Buy audiobooks to read much more books, listen at 1.5-2x speed
This led to the following thread (later removed):
Aaa: A midwit in making
Bbb: Audio...
diamond geezer
The 47th President
Two months ago I asked you the following question.
Who do you think will be the next American...
a month ago
Two months ago I asked you the following question.
Who do you think will be the next American President? (poll closed)
Kamala
HARRIS
comments (71)
Donald
TRUMP
comments (29)
And now here we are the morning after the election. A red dawn is rising.
10 comments from readers...
Daniel Miessler
News & Analysis | NO. 349
over a year ago
Rest of World -...
Cricket, influencers, layoffs: Alibaba’s risky bet in Pakistan
Since its acquisition by the Chinese giant, e-commerce site Daraz has been experimenting to reach...
a year ago
Since its acquisition by the Chinese giant, e-commerce site Daraz has been experimenting to reach new buyers amid an economic crisis.
Steve Klabnik
I'm deleting my Facebook tonight
over a year ago
The Elysian
Am I a Democrat or a Republican?
The case for going label-less.
5 days ago
The case for going label-less.
Benny Kuriakose
Light, Ventilation, and Design Features in School Design
An institutional space requires maximum optimization of light and ventilation. Schools require open,...
a year ago
An institutional space requires maximum optimization of light and ventilation. Schools require open, bright places and the best design...
Londonist
Hammersmith Bridge Is Reopening To Cyclists... But Only For 10 Weeks
And it's got something to do with West Ham fans.
10 months ago
And it's got something to do with West Ham fans.
Old Vintage...
With PowerPC, Windows CE and the WiiN-PAD slate, everyone's a WiiN-er (except Data General)
Telemedicine (and mobile health generally) accumulated a hunk of public mindshare during the...
7 months ago
Telemedicine (and mobile health generally) accumulated a hunk of public mindshare during the pandemic emergency, but speaking as someone with a day job in public health for almost two decades, it's always been a buzzword in certain corners of IT with enough money sloshing around...
Uncharted...
Wind and Solar, a Perfect Match
Also, why solar will beat wind, why they are so complementary, the nuclear renaissance, the poor...
a month ago
Also, why solar will beat wind, why they are so complementary, the nuclear renaissance, the poor state of German energy, and more.
The Honest Broker
How I Write
I tell everything in an in-depth video interview
6 months ago
I tell everything in an in-depth video interview
Open Culture
Watch The Insects’ Christmas from 1913: A Stop Motion Film Starring a Cast of Dead Bugs
Kind Reader, Will you do us the honor of accepting our holiday invitation? Carve five minutes from...
a week ago
Kind Reader, Will you do us the honor of accepting our holiday invitation? Carve five minutes from your holiday schedule to spend time celebrating The Insects’ Christmas, above. In addition to offering brief respite from the chaos of consumerism and modern expectations, this...
The Rational Walk
The Digest #204
Buffett buys more Occidental, Daily Journal annual meeting notes, Experts vs. Imitators, Slowing...
6 months ago
Buffett buys more Occidental, Daily Journal annual meeting notes, Experts vs. Imitators, Slowing down time, Return of meme stocks, The U.S. Constitution, Gouverneur Morris, Cleopatra
PostHog's RSS Feed
Content marketing strategy for devtool companies - How we do it at PostHog
Why you need content Dev tool marketing is tough. Developers are a selective bunch when it comes to...
over a year ago
Why you need content Dev tool marketing is tough. Developers are a selective bunch when it comes to what type of content they consume, and clickbait…
TheCollector
Influential Pop Artist: Who Was David Bowie?
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11 months ago
Posts on Made of...
Property-Based Testing Is Fuzzing
“Property-based testing” refers to the idea of writing statements that should be true of your code...
over a year ago
“Property-based testing” refers to the idea of writing statements that should be true of your code (“properties”), and then using automated tooling to generate test inputs (typically, randomly-generated inputs of an appropriate type), and observe whether the properties hold for...
The Honest Broker
An Executive Briefing Paper on the Creative Economy
Here's my latest culture and arts survey
a year ago
Here's my latest culture and arts survey
Seth's Blog
Ideas shared are exponential
If everyone visits a factory and takes a sample, it goes out of business. But if everyone in the...
a year ago
If everyone visits a factory and takes a sample, it goes out of business. But if everyone in the community takes an idea, that idea goes up in value. The best marketing advice I have for someone writing a book is simple: Write a book that people want to share with others. And...
General Robots
So You Want To Do Robots, Part 2: What do you need to invent?
I’ve been working on general purpose robots with Everyday Robots for 8 years, and was the...
a year ago
I’ve been working on general purpose robots with Everyday Robots for 8 years, and was the engineering lead of the product/applications group until me and my team was impacted by the recent Alphabet layoffs. This series is an attempt to share almost a decade of lessons learned so...
Spoon & Tamago
Japan’s Stationery Award Offers a Return to the Primitive
Early civilizations had it all figured out. At least according to the Kokuyo Design Awards, arguably...
8 months ago
Early civilizations had it all figured out. At least according to the Kokuyo Design Awards, arguably Japan’s most-influential stationery design award, which this year asked designers to look to the past. “If we return to the idea of ‘primitive’ in order to create the future,”...
Both Are True
you don't need everyone to like your work (2018)
revisiting something i wrote years ago
8 months ago
revisiting something i wrote years ago
Londonist
Punk Bands In 1970s London: Rescued And Never-Before-Seen-Photos
Free exhibition only on for a month.
a year ago
Free exhibition only on for a month.
Alex MacCaw
Common logical fallacies surrounding capitalism
We live in an age of extreme abundance compared to our ancestors. This fact isn’t often reflected in...
5 months ago
We live in an age of extreme abundance compared to our ancestors. This fact isn’t often reflected in Western media or online discourse. Indeed, there is a growing sentiment that ‘the system isn’t working’, ‘the system is rigged’, and that ‘
A Smart Bear
When you have nothing: How to find potential customers to interview
How do you find potential customers to interview before you have a product, a website, or even a...
3 days ago
How do you find potential customers to interview before you have a product, a website, or even a name?
Commoncog
The Amazon Weekly Business Review
Everything you need to know about the Amazon Weekly Business Review: how it works, why it works, and...
5 months ago
Everything you need to know about the Amazon Weekly Business Review: how it works, why it works, and how it helps Amazon win.
Kevin Chen
Why we still can’t stop plagiarism in undergraduate computer science
Imagine that you’re hired to work at your local public library. As an eagle-eyed
checkout clerk, you...
over a year ago
Imagine that you’re hired to work at your local public library. As an eagle-eyed
checkout clerk, you soon realize that half the patrons leave without actually
checking out their books! This leaves everyone else scratching their heads when
the catalog doesn’t match the shelves....
Old Structures...
An Unfortunate Comparison
I’m not a big fan of mid-twentieth-century modernism, and I still agree that Bertrand Goldberg’s...
6 months ago
I’m not a big fan of mid-twentieth-century modernism, and I still agree that Bertrand Goldberg’s Marina City is remarkable architecture. From the north: From the south: There’s just one little detail that got stuck in my head that partially ruins looking at it for me. Every...
TheCollector
The Rise & Fall of Pre-Columbian Empires & Their Cultures
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10 months ago
TheCollector
Sybil Ludington: The Girl Who Rode Twice As Far As Paul Revere?
undefined
7 months ago
Handprinted - Blog
Batik on Paper
Batik is a fun, dynamic way of creating bold and beautiful designs on cloth but did you know batik...
5 months ago
Batik is a fun, dynamic way of creating bold and beautiful designs on cloth but did you know batik can be made on paper too? We used some Tej Prakrtika paper (as well as testing some others) to create a colourful, abstract batik.
You'll find lots more batik projects here.
Begin...
CONTEMPORIST
A Monochrome Interior Design For This Home In Singapore
Studio Metanoia has shared photos of a modern home interior they recently completed in Singapore,...
a year ago
Studio Metanoia has shared photos of a modern home interior they recently completed in Singapore, that has a very strong monochromatic aesthetic. The interior strikes a balance of light and dark, which is evident throughout, like in the living room, where a white couch with a...
99% Invisible
Meet Me at Riis
There’s a particular slice of beach along the New York City shoreline, that, for the past 80 years,...
a month ago
There’s a particular slice of beach along the New York City shoreline, that, for the past 80 years, has been a pivotal site for queer liberation. It’s called the People’s Beach at Jacob Riis Park, also known, simply, as Riis. This history is deeply connected to an abandoned,...
mtlynch.io
End-to-End Testing Web Apps: The Painless Way
Okay, I know you’re skeptical. Other guides have promised you painless web app tests only to reveal...
over a year ago
Okay, I know you’re skeptical. Other guides have promised you painless web app tests only to reveal that their solution requires some hyper-specific tech stack or a paid third-party service. I won’t do that to you.
This guide provides a straightforward and flexible template for...
Society's Backend
Backend Biweekly #2: 112 Total Updates and Resources
Details on Metas training clusters, analysis of ML competitions in 2023, AI's impact on water...
9 months ago
Details on Metas training clusters, analysis of ML competitions in 2023, AI's impact on water resources, and more
Rest of World -...
What India can tell us about Netflix’s future
Disney, Ambani, and the Netflix niche.
8 months ago
Disney, Ambani, and the Netflix niche.
Founder's blog
The state of modern Front End
Let's talk about front-end. There'll be a lot of swearing, I'm sorry.
About once every six...
a year ago
Let's talk about front-end. There'll be a lot of swearing, I'm sorry.
About once every six months another blogger bursts into HackerNews/Twitter trends, saying - hey, enough of that JavaScript bloat, let's all use modern HTML controls!
There's <dialog> for modal dialogs,...
The Works in...
Links in Progress: What are children for?
And how the UN’s birth rate forecasts keep getting it wrong
a month ago
And how the UN’s birth rate forecasts keep getting it wrong
Archinect - Features
Six Views on the Future of Architectural Licensure
Throughout the Archinect In-Depth: Licensure series, our explorations into U.S. architectural...
3 months ago
Throughout the Archinect In-Depth: Licensure series, our explorations into U.S. architectural licensure have included a variety of views beyond our editorial team, including ten views on licensure from Archinect readers shared at the midpoint of our series.
Beyond reader...
Both Are True
i still refuse to talk to you w those stupid ass ski goggles on your face
take them off not like up on your forehead all the way off throw them on the ground and let's stomp...
11 months ago
take them off not like up on your forehead all the way off throw them on the ground and let's stomp on them and then, then!, we can chit chat
Home on Erik...
Recurrent Neural Networks for Collaborative Filtering
I’ve been spending quite some time lately playing around with RNN’s for collaborative filtering....
over a year ago
I’ve been spending quite some time lately playing around with RNN’s for collaborative filtering. RNN’s are models that predict a sequence of something. The beauty is that this something can be anything really – as long as you can design an output gate with a proper loss function,...
Louwrentius
Lion's FileVault does not support Bootcamp and external boot disks
Read the comments as they may provide useful information for your particular situation
I boot my...
over a year ago
Read the comments as they may provide useful information for your particular situation
I boot my iMac from an external FW800 SSD. I found out that it is impossible to
encrypt this disk using the new FileVault as part of Lion.
Furthermore, I also found out that if you have a disk...
Maggie Appleton
A Digital Anthropology Reading List
over a year ago
NeuroLogica Blog
T-rex Had Lips
One of the challenges of paleontology is that we are trying to infer and entire animal just from the...
a year ago
One of the challenges of paleontology is that we are trying to infer and entire animal just from the hard parts that fossilize, mostly bones and teeth (and sometimes just teeth). But if we look at animals today there are a lot of details we could not guess from their bones alone...
bunnie's blog
Winner, Name that Wäre July 2023
The Ware for July 2023 is a “KUP 10” by aditec. Also, thanks to FETguy, we now have a schematic of...
a year ago
The Ware for July 2023 is a “KUP 10” by aditec. Also, thanks to FETguy, we now have a schematic of the ware: The spirit of Name that Ware is about demystifying electronics and encouraging people to learn by taking things apart. Drawing a schematic from an image of a circuit board...
swyx's site RSS Feed
How To Google Your Errors
---
over a year ago
Computer Ads from...
Plus Post: Objects, Inc's Layout
Build Programs Without Programming
10 months ago
Build Programs Without Programming
Liz Denys
Starlit sky coffee pitcher, 2024
Starlit sky on a clear night / the milky way / eternity / clarity / raindrops sticking to window...
8 months ago
Starlit sky on a clear night / the milky way / eternity / clarity / raindrops sticking to window glass
Old Structures...
Amusing Until It’s Not
This story turns ugly rather quickly. From the New York Public Library scrapbook, The Hippotheatron...
4 months ago
This story turns ugly rather quickly. From the New York Public Library scrapbook, The Hippotheatron and New York Cirque: That’s 14th Street between Irving Place and Third Avenue, with an out-chapel of Grace Church next door. As the name suggests, that weird building was a theater...
Home on Erik...
How to hire smarter than the market: a toy model
Let's consider a toy model where you're hiring for two things and that those are equally valuable....
over a year ago
Let's consider a toy model where you're hiring for two things and that those are equally valuable. It's not very important what those are, so let's just call them “thing A” and “thing B” for now.
Londonist
Free And Cheap Things To Do This Week In London: 28 August-3 September 2023
Things to do for under a fiver.
a year ago
Things to do for under a fiver.
TheCollector
Medieval Ethiopia: The Origins of the Solomonic Dynasty
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a month ago
Rest of World -...
Nigeria’s dating app for people who want to stop dating and get hitched already
What started out as a matchmaking WhatsApp group has turned into a popular dating app with over 2.1...
a year ago
What started out as a matchmaking WhatsApp group has turned into a popular dating app with over 2.1 million recorded matches and 44 marriages.
Math Is Still...
The Year in Math
Landmark results in geometry and number theory marked an exciting year for mathematics, at a time...
a week ago
Landmark results in geometry and number theory marked an exciting year for mathematics, at a time when advances in artificial intelligence are starting to transform the subject’s future.
The post The Year in Math first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Seth's Blog
Freedom of attitude
There are two franchised pack-and-ship shops about equidistant from my home. One has a 4.5 rating...
a year ago
There are two franchised pack-and-ship shops about equidistant from my home. One has a 4.5 rating and is reliably busy. The other has an astonishingly low 1.5 out of 5 rating. The physical plant is virtually identical, and the marketing and promo are the same. The only difference...
TheCollector
What Happened to the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World?
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a year ago
Jim Nielsen’s Blog
Novels as Prototypes of the Future
Via Robin Rendle’s blog, I found this quote from Jack Cheng (emphasis mine):
A novel…is a prototype...
6 months ago
Via Robin Rendle’s blog, I found this quote from Jack Cheng (emphasis mine):
A novel…is a prototype of the future. And if the ideas that the tech industry is pursuing feel stagnant…maybe it points to a shortage of compelling fictions for what the world could be.
I love that...
The DESK Magazine
Is the folder dead?
Think about a real folder made of paper.
Back in the day...
We invented paper folders because we...
over a year ago
Think about a real folder made of paper.
Back in the day...
We invented paper folders because we had limited space in the physical world to organize ourselves. We needed a way to group and sort our letters, documents and papers. If we had stacked up our files anywhere on
Londonist
Best Of Londonist: 21-27 August 2023
EVERY brewery taproom, a view higher than the Shard, and NFL in London.
a year ago
EVERY brewery taproom, a view higher than the Shard, and NFL in London.
Jim Nielsen’s Blog
The Gist That Keeps On Giving
I’m working with git and make a big boo-boo.
Now I’m facing a situation where I’ve deleted a local...
7 months ago
I’m working with git and make a big boo-boo.
Now I’m facing a situation where I’ve deleted a local branch with all my work and there’s no backup on GitHub.
“This is git. There has got to be a version of this things still on my computer somewhere, right? RIGHT?!”
So I start...
Liz Denys
New Loose Leaf Security series: Safely surfing the web
Three more episodes of Loose Leaf Security are out, a series about safely browsing the web:
The...
over a year ago
Three more episodes of Loose Leaf Security are out, a series about safely browsing the web:
The history of the Web and an introduction to browser security
The web can be a scary place - but once you get to know it a little better, it doesn't feel as scary. Liz and Geoffrey go...
Ryan Mulligan
Penguin!
My partner and I finally finished our epic three-part claymation saga. It's our first attempt at...
7 months ago
My partner and I finally finished our epic three-part claymation saga. It's our first attempt at creating stop-motion videos with clay and it truly is a lot of work for such a short result. That claymation episode of Parks and Recreation is a little too real. I won't compare our...
TheCollector
Attritional Warfare: Stalemate on the Western Front During WWI
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5 months ago
Construction Physics
How Washington DC Got Its Metro
There have been two main periods of subway (or “metro”) building in the US. The first was during the...
a year ago
There have been two main periods of subway (or “metro”) building in the US. The first was during the late 19th century and early 20th century, when Boston, New York, and Philadelphia all built subway systems
Saturday Morning...
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Stress
Click here to go see the bonus panel!
Hovertext:
Froth is evidence that you're still breathing! It's...
a year ago
Click here to go see the bonus panel!
Hovertext:
Froth is evidence that you're still breathing! It's a sign of health!
Today's News:
ToughSF
Nuclear Conversion for Starship
There has been much discussion about converting the SpaceX Starship to use nuclear propulsion. It...
over a year ago
There has been much discussion about converting the SpaceX Starship to use nuclear propulsion. It would allow for a great increase in specific impulse and a massive extension of mission capabilities.
But is it actually worthwhile?
The image above is modified from...
Saturday Morning...
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Sleep
Click here to go see the bonus panel!
Hovertext:
Thanks to many readers for telling me the story I...
a year ago
Click here to go see the bonus panel!
Hovertext:
Thanks to many readers for telling me the story I was thinking for yesterday's comic, which was a myth about Narada and Krishna. Still can't remember where I heard it first, but thanks!
Today's News:
Artificial Ignorance
AI Roundup 040: GPTs
November 10, 2023.
a year ago
99% Invisible
Side Projects [EPISODE]
This week we’re highlighting a couple of series that live inside the 99pi production tent. We’ve got...
4 months ago
This week we’re highlighting a couple of series that live inside the 99pi production tent. We’ve got a preview of a new miniseries for you called Not Built for This, created and hosted by Emmett FitzGerald. It’s a show about climate change, but not in the way you might think....
CONTEMPORIST
This House Was Built Around A 100-Year-Old Oak Tree
Architecture Studio AtelierM has shared photos of a home they completed in Martinez, Argentina, that...
6 months ago
Architecture Studio AtelierM has shared photos of a home they completed in Martinez, Argentina, that wraps around an imposing hundred-year-old oak tree. The homeowners wanted to maximize privacy, protect the old tree that was central to the lot, and take advantage of natural...
Jim Nielsen’s Blog
“That’s Another Podcast”
I’ve long been a fan of the Rich Ziade / Paul Ford podcast duo. They did Track Changes then The...
a year ago
I’ve long been a fan of the Rich Ziade / Paul Ford podcast duo. They did Track Changes then The Postlight Podcast then The Aboard Podcast then Ziade+Ford, and now (again?) The Aboard Podcast.
Through all my listening, one thing I’ve noticed is that they often make comedic...
Trying to Understand...
In the Shallows Of The Deep State.
But is there anything there?
a week ago
But is there anything there?
Open Culture
When the Grateful Dead Played at the Egyptian Pyramids, in the Shadow of the Sphinx (1978)
In September of 1978, the Grateful Dead traveled to Egypt and played three shows at the Great...
5 months ago
In September of 1978, the Grateful Dead traveled to Egypt and played three shows at the Great Pyramid of Giza, with the Great Sphinx looking over their shoulders. It wasn’t the first time a rock band played in an ancient setting. Pink Floyd performed songs in the middle of the...
History Today Feed
‘Deterring Armageddon’ by Peter Apps and ‘NATO’ by Sten Rynning review
‘Deterring Armageddon’ by Peter Apps and ‘NATO’ by Sten Rynning review
JamesHoare
Tue, 03/26/2024 -...
9 months ago
‘Deterring Armageddon’ by Peter Apps and ‘NATO’ by Sten Rynning review
JamesHoare
Tue, 03/26/2024 - 09:54
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Healthcare in India | Out-Of-Pocket
From the eyes of someone on the ground
a year ago
From the eyes of someone on the ground
Old Structures...
An APT Webinar
I’m giving a webinar on February 27 for the Association for Preservation Technology on our analysis...
10 months ago
I’m giving a webinar on February 27 for the Association for Preservation Technology on our analysis of a somewhat weird building with concrete and masonry structure, and the implications for investigation and analysis of buildings with old concrete structure. More information...
PostHog's RSS Feed
VC is a tool, not a religion
We raised over $27,000,000 then realized we should be growing out of our own revenue instead. Day 1...
a year ago
We raised over $27,000,000 then realized we should be growing out of our own revenue instead. Day 1 – We started bootstrapping, then changed our minds…
Calculated Risk
Q3 Update: Delinquencies, Foreclosures and REO
Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Q3 Update: Delinquencies, Foreclosures and...
a week ago
Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Q3 Update: Delinquencies, Foreclosures and REO
A brief excerpt:
We will NOT see a surge in foreclosures that would significantly impact house prices (as happened following the housing bubble) for two key reasons: 1) mortgage...
Londonist
Free And Cheap Things To Do This Week In London: 5-11 February 2024
Do cool stuff for under a fiver.
10 months ago
Do cool stuff for under a fiver.
Flashbak
London Markets In The 1960s an 1970s
“As long as I am alive, I will be a photographer. I will never retire” – Dorothy Bohm Dorothy Bohm...
9 months ago
“As long as I am alive, I will be a photographer. I will never retire” – Dorothy Bohm Dorothy Bohm (22 June 1924 – 15 March 2023) was born Dorothea Israelit in June 1924 in Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia), to a Jewish German-speaking family. In 1939 she was...
Seth's Blog
Sharp tools
Professional woodworkers rarely have to be reminded to sharpen their tools. Of course they know...
3 months ago
Professional woodworkers rarely have to be reminded to sharpen their tools. Of course they know this. The rest of us, on the other hand, regularly use digital tools we don’t understand, don’t maintain and haven’t optimized. Sometimes, our lack of care in the choice and use of...
Paul Graham: Essays
Six Principles for Making New Things
over a year ago
TheCollector
Who Is the Father of the Beat Generation?
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3 months ago
Neil Panchal
Neofetch – Server Administration System
I ssh into a lot of machines. Dozens of times a day. I need a quick way to see the health of the...
over a year ago
I ssh into a lot of machines. Dozens of times a day. I need a quick way to see the health of the system as soon as I log in and with zero friction. I am obliged to use the one and only tool: neofetch. Neofetch is a pillar of
TheCollector
Leonora Carrington Painting Set to Quadruple Auction Record
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8 months ago
Londonist
Where To Eat And Drink In Canary Wharf: The Best Restaurants, Cafes, Bars And Pubs
Scran among the 'scrapers.
a year ago
Scran among the 'scrapers.
The American Scholar
The Redoubtable Bull Shark
Reflecting on one of nature’s most dangerous predators
The post The Redoubtable Bull Shark appeared...
7 months ago
Reflecting on one of nature’s most dangerous predators
The post The Redoubtable Bull Shark appeared first on The American Scholar.
ntietz.com blog
Instead of "auth", we should say "permissions" and "login"
Most computer systems we interact with have an auth system of some kind.
The problem is, that...
7 months ago
Most computer systems we interact with have an auth system of some kind.
The problem is, that sentence is at best unclear and at worst nonsense.
"Auth" can mean at least two things: authentication or authorization1.
Which do we mean for an "auth system"?
It's never perfectly...
Society's Backend
Mastering the Art of Documentation
Documentation is really just glorified dog sitting
a year ago
Documentation is really just glorified dog sitting
Retail Design Blog
DITA store
It’s on P.C. Hooftstraat, Amsterdam‘s golden mile of luxury shopping, where high-end eyewear brand...
5 months ago
It’s on P.C. Hooftstraat, Amsterdam‘s golden mile of luxury shopping, where high-end eyewear brand DITA has opened its largest store...
bt RSS Feed
Blogging for 7 Years
Blogging for 7 Years
2023-06-24
My first public article was posted on June 28th 2016. That was seven...
a year ago
Blogging for 7 Years
2023-06-24
My first public article was posted on June 28th 2016. That was seven years ago.
In that time, quite a lot has changed in my life both personally and professionally. So, I figured it would be interesting to reflect on these years and document it for...
Old Structures...
Old Adventures In Photo-Bombing
Someone occasionally notices that most of Manhattan has little open space to create picturesque...
10 months ago
Someone occasionally notices that most of Manhattan has little open space to create picturesque vistas. Or to put it another way, it’s difficult to get decent pictures of a lot of buildings here because there’s so much stuff in the way. There’s also stuff in the background, which...
Commoncog
The Secret at the Heart of Continuous Improvement
Continuous Improvement sounds simple, even obvious. And yet there's a profound secret at its heart...
8 months ago
Continuous Improvement sounds simple, even obvious. And yet there's a profound secret at its heart that doesn't seem to get talked about.
Anecdotal Evidence
'The Fragility of Happiness'
Christopher Carduff, books editor at the Wall Street Journal, asked me to review
a new translation...
a year ago
Christopher Carduff, books editor at the Wall Street Journal, asked me to review
a new translation of a Russian novel due for publication in November. The proofs arrived on Thursday and I sent Chris an email letting him know I was
already reading the book. The email bounced back...
Londonist
Best Of Londonist: 1-7 April 2024
Our top stories from the last seven days.
8 months ago
Our top stories from the last seven days.
ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ Herman's...
The creative agency of small projects
Since I moved out of the startup world I've exclusively worked on small projects. Niche, simple...
a year ago
Since I moved out of the startup world I've exclusively worked on small projects. Niche, simple tools packed with love and attention to detail. I've written about my approach to building, and how it impacts my life and outlook.
Today, however, I want to write about a less-obvious...
TheCollector
10 Must-Visit Historic Towns in New York
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3 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Dayton, Ohio Part 7 (Hodgepodge)
The Dayton trip came to an end but I still had a bunch of stuff to talk about that didn’t fit into...
7 months ago
The Dayton trip came to an end but I still had a bunch of stuff to talk about that didn’t fit into any of the earlier articles. Naturally I’ve collected them all together within this final compilation to serve as a wrap-up. Then we can call this one done and move onto the next...
Vitalik Buterin's...
Updating my blog: a quick GPT chatbot coding experiment
over a year ago
The Honest Broker
Where Do Music Genres Come From?
A new section from my online book 'Music to Raise the Dead'
3 months ago
A new section from my online book 'Music to Raise the Dead'
Applied Cartography
Globals in Histoire
Histoire, like so many other tools in the Vue ecosystem, is a bit of a neglected younger sibling to...
9 months ago
Histoire, like so many other tools in the Vue ecosystem, is a bit of a neglected younger sibling to Storybook — a little bit uglier, with worse documentation and a couple rough edges, but much more tightly integrated with Vue and Vite. [1]
One thing that was not particularly...
bt RSS Feed
Using User-Select
Using User-Select
2019-06-04
Highlighting text in order to copy, cut or paste content is a staple...
over a year ago
Using User-Select
2019-06-04
Highlighting text in order to copy, cut or paste content is a staple action across the web. Now, what if I told you the ability to control what a user can select is configurable with a single CSS property?
Introducing the CSS property
Simply put, the...
Commoncog
Marvel Studios’s Origin Story
The creation of Marvel Studios was contingent on some very creative financial dealmaking. A story of...
a year ago
The creation of Marvel Studios was contingent on some very creative financial dealmaking. A story of superb capital expertise in action.
Musings on Markets
Country Risk: A July 2023 Update!
I have looked at country risk, in all its dimensions, towards the middle of each year, for the last...
a year ago
I have looked at country risk, in all its dimensions, towards the middle of each year, for the last decade, for many reasons. One is curiosity, as political and economic crises roll through regions of the world, roiling long-held beliefs about safe and risky countries. The other...
HTMHell
Improving User Experience for Multilingual Web Browsing
by Anastasiia Batarei
Today, I’d like to talk about the experience of browsing websites where...
a week ago
by Anastasiia Batarei
Today, I’d like to talk about the experience of browsing websites where content is fully or partially in a language different from the user’s native one. This situation is common for users navigating government portals or local service providers in a country...
Retail Design Blog
Milpa whiskey by Monograf
Milpa is a distinctive Mexican 100% corn-based whiskey crafted in the highlands of Oaxaca, embodying...
7 months ago
Milpa is a distinctive Mexican 100% corn-based whiskey crafted in the highlands of Oaxaca, embodying a unique process rooted in...
The Marginalian
Joy as a Force of Resistance and a Halo of Loss, with a Nick Cave Song and a Lisel Mueller Poem
In this world heavy with robust reasons for despair, joy is a stubborn courage we must not...
3 months ago
In this world heavy with robust reasons for despair, joy is a stubborn courage we must not surrender, a fulcrum of personal power we must not yield to cynicism, blame, or any other costume of helplessness. “Experience of conflict and a load of suffering has taught me that what...
Odds and Ends of...
Book now! Where we're going, we need roads (and trains)
My next in-person event/meet-up, with transport policy expert Michael Dnes!
3 weeks ago
My next in-person event/meet-up, with transport policy expert Michael Dnes!
The Changelog
Live Migrating from Raspberry Pi OS bullseye to Debian bookworm
I’ve been getting annoyed with Raspberry Pi OS (Raspbian) for years now. It’s a fork of Debian, but...
11 months ago
I’ve been getting annoyed with Raspberry Pi OS (Raspbian) for years now. It’s a fork of Debian, but manages to omit some of the most useful things. So I’ve decided to migrate all of my Pis to run pure Debian. These are my reasons: Raspberry Pi OS has, for years now, specified...
Stephen Diehl
A Sticky Stringy Quandary
over a year ago
A Smart Bear
When being “first” is not a competitive advantage
Is it good to be “first?” It seems so – what’s the point of building a product that does nothing...
over a year ago
Is it good to be “first?” It seems so – what’s the point of building a product that does nothing new? On the surface being “first” sounds impressive, implying innovation and leadership. But reality is different.
The Rational Walk
The Digest #212
Berkshire Hathaway at $1 Trillion, Warren Buffett's Canvas, Dollar General, Mr Market Miscalculates,...
3 months ago
Berkshire Hathaway at $1 Trillion, Warren Buffett's Canvas, Dollar General, Mr Market Miscalculates, Competing in Search, The American Dream, Li Lu, Deep Dive into AI, The Impact of Debt, and more ...
Wait But Why
It’s 2020 and you’re in the future
Some people are young, just not you.
The post It’s 2020 and you’re in the future appeared first on...
over a year ago
Some people are young, just not you.
The post It’s 2020 and you’re in the future appeared first on Wait But Why.
UX Collective
Lamenting about good design
Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.
a month ago
Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.
ntietz.com blog
A systematic approach to debugging
I've got a reputation at work as being a skilled debugger.
It's a frequent occurrence that the weird...
a year ago
I've got a reputation at work as being a skilled debugger.
It's a frequent occurrence that the weird stuff lands on my desk1 after it goes through another skilled engineer or two.
To say my job is substantially "debug the weird shit" would not be an understatement and I'm here...
Making software...
Schools Should Be Using Open Source Software
Schools Should Be Using Open Source Software
2022-05-30
I firmly believe that proprietary software...
over a year ago
Schools Should Be Using Open Source Software
2022-05-30
I firmly believe that proprietary software has no business in any school environment. Educational institutions lean heavily on Windows systems in the name of "security" or "easier platform management". This approach forces...
The Rational Walk
The Digest #202
George Washington on debt, Superinvestors of micro-caps, BYD, OXY/BHE joint venture, Imposter...
6 months ago
George Washington on debt, Superinvestors of micro-caps, BYD, OXY/BHE joint venture, Imposter syndrome, Decline of higher education, Howard Schultz, Cathie Wood, Robert Hagstrom
Diaries of Note
Today is Mother’s Day
Born in the Brazilian town of Sacramento in 1914, Carolina Maria de Jesus was unemployed and...
a year ago
Born in the Brazilian town of Sacramento in 1914, Carolina Maria de Jesus was unemployed and pregnant when she moved to the favela of Canindé, São Paulo in 1947. There, living with her children in a wooden shack and working as a scrap collector, she faced seemingly insurmountable...
TheCollector
10 Ghost Towns in California You Need to Explore
undefined
2 months ago
Londonist
There Are So Many Swan Lakes Coming To London This Summer
The Year of the Swan.
8 months ago
Old Structures...
Sort-Of Round
This is the 3333rd blog post published on the Old Structures web site. People are attracted to round...
6 months ago
This is the 3333rd blog post published on the Old Structures web site. People are attracted to round numbers, and I could just as easily have waited for the 4000th post to say something, but I like the “third of ten-thousand” aspect of the current number. Some housekeeping: some...
Classical Wisdom
The First Philosopher?
And the Boundless Universe
6 months ago
And the Boundless Universe
TheCollector
Horse Archers: The Feared Unit of Ancient and Medieval Warfare
undefined
a year ago
Passing Time
Mourning a Dam to Love a River
Hurricane Michael's Destruction of Kapps Mill Dam
3 months ago
Hurricane Michael's Destruction of Kapps Mill Dam
Mazdak
Meta's AI & Reuters: A New Era of News?
Meta's AI is changing how we consume news. The tech giant has partnered with Reuters, a leading...
a month ago
Meta's AI is changing how we consume news. The tech giant has partnered with Reuters, a leading global news provider, to bring real-time news updates directly to users through Meta's AI chatbot.
Krzysztof Kowalczyk...
Trade offs in designing versatile log format
This article shows that when designing software even seemingly simple things are complicated and...
over a year ago
This article shows that when designing software even seemingly simple things are complicated and trade offs abound.
I wanted to log events to a file. I had several requirements for my design:
it should be simple and therefore easy to implement
it should be human-readable
it...
Liz Denys
Dresses, 'dressing up', and the software industry
A few days ago, Lea Coligado, a junior at Stanford, wrote about some of the sexism she's experienced...
over a year ago
A few days ago, Lea Coligado, a junior at Stanford, wrote about some of the sexism she's experienced in computer science. One of the things she mentioned was how wearing dresses caused her to be treated differently. I, too, prefer dresses because I find them much more comfortable...
Math Is Still...
Quanta Relaunches Hyperjumps Math Game
Explore a universe of numbers and arithmetic in our new and improved interactive math game,...
10 months ago
Explore a universe of numbers and arithmetic in our new and improved interactive math game, Hyperjumps!
The post Quanta Relaunches Hyperjumps Math Game first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Val Sopi
What it's like to make and launch a product, for me.
<p>I've been making Saas products since 2013. My very first product was a project management tool...
over a year ago
<p>I've been making Saas products since 2013. My very first product was a project management tool that included invoicing, time-tracking, and a plethora of other functions.</p>
<p>The idea was to be better than others at cheaper prices. Whatever "better" and "cheaper"...
Trying to Understand...
Books To Help Us Understand The World?
Well, a few, anyway. And a bit.
a year ago
Well, a few, anyway. And a bit.
CONTEMPORIST
Curved Green Roofs Cover This Creekside Cabin
MAP Architecture has shared photos of a contemporary cabin they completed in Suffolk, England,...
a year ago
MAP Architecture has shared photos of a contemporary cabin they completed in Suffolk, England, that’s located adjacent to the creek and reedbeds within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The ‘Creek Cabin’, with early...
African History...
a brief note on Madagascar's position in African history
plus, early industrialization in the Merina kingdom.
a year ago
plus, early industrialization in the Merina kingdom.
Mark Manson
My Response to Will Smith Slapping Chris Rock
Last weekend, Will Smith walked on stage at the Oscars and slapped Chris Rock for making a joke...
over a year ago
Last weekend, Will Smith walked on stage at the Oscars and slapped Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife. Since that moment, my phone and inbox have been inundated non-stop with people (friends, family, readers, journalists) wanting my “take” on the situation. After all, I...
Common Edge
As Brooklyn Nets’ Value Booms, a Missed Opportunity With the Arena
A $688 million Koch family (!) investment shows the enormous upside for NBA team owners.
6 months ago
A $688 million Koch family (!) investment shows the enormous upside for NBA team owners.
Saturday Morning...
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Tongue
Click here to go see the bonus panel!
Hovertext:
Hope this isn't confusing to the Swedish people who...
4 months ago
Click here to go see the bonus panel!
Hovertext:
Hope this isn't confusing to the Swedish people who can already translate that bubble.
Today's News:
Artificial Ignorance
AI Roundup 081: Creative differences
August 23, 2024.
4 months ago
Jim Nielsen’s Blog
Notes From “You Are Not A Gadget”
Jaron Lanier’s book You Are Not a Gadget was written in 2010, but its preface is a prescient banger...
6 months ago
Jaron Lanier’s book You Are Not a Gadget was written in 2010, but its preface is a prescient banger for 2024, the year of our AI overlord:
It's early in the 21st century, and that means that these words will mostly be read by nonpersons...[they] will be minced...within industrial...
cdixon.org RSS Feed
The importance of investor signaling in venture pricing
Suppose there is a pre-profitable company that is raising venture financing. Simple, classical...
over a year ago
Suppose there is a pre-profitable company that is raising venture financing. Simple, classical economic models would predict that although…
TheCollector
How Did Norse Rune Magic Work?
undefined
6 months ago
The Pragmatic...
I'm shutting down my job tech jobs board after two-and-a-half years
I started The Pragmatic Engineer Job Board in October 2021. 2.5 years later, I am shutting it down...
8 months ago
I started The Pragmatic Engineer Job Board in October 2021. 2.5 years later, I am shutting it down permanently, despite a reasonable success in traction. The shutdown was triggered by my vendor – Pallet – discontinuing their job board and talent collective approach. However, I ...
Dominik Sobe's...
The journey of launching StorePreviewer PRO
over a year ago
Computer Things
Some notes on for loops
New Blogpost
Don't let Alloy facts make your specs a fiction, about formal methods practices (and a...
8 months ago
New Blogpost
Don't let Alloy facts make your specs a fiction, about formal methods practices (and a lot of Alloy). Patreon link here.
Some notes on for loops
I sometimes like to sharpen the axe by looking at a basic programming concept and seeing what I can pull out. In this...
Rest of World -...
WhatsApp vigilantes in India are converting Christians by force
How far-right Hindu nationalists use WhatsApp to target Christian families when they’re most...
2 months ago
How far-right Hindu nationalists use WhatsApp to target Christian families when they’re most vulnerable — by preventing them from burying their dead.
Dr Alun Withey
Beard Fashions and Class
Over the past few centuries, fashions in facial hair have changed substantially. In the mid...
over a year ago
Over the past few centuries, fashions in facial hair have changed substantially. In the mid seventeenth century many men wore the ‘Van Dyke’ style of a small, pointy beard and moustaches. By the end of the 1600s, beards were in decline, leaving many men with just moustaches. The...
Paul Graham: Essays
Coronavirus and Credibility
over a year ago
PostHog's RSS Feed
The most popular PostHog alternatives, compared
As an all-in-one platform, PostHog replaces a lot of legacy tools. PostHog is great if you: Need...
a year ago
As an all-in-one platform, PostHog replaces a lot of legacy tools. PostHog is great if you: Need quantitative and qualitative insights into user…
Steve Klabnik
The Little Coder's Predicament
over a year ago
Paolo Amoroso's...
Overriding card editing with a no-op in WebCard
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