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Everybody is the main character People are motivated and engaged with the work only if they feel in charge of their own destiny....
4th Apr 2023
27

Everybody is the main character

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Apr 2023
People are motivated and engaged with the work only if they feel in charge of their own destiny. Make it clear to them that they are!
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The One Hundred Milliseconds Between the World and You: Oliver Sacks on Perception “If the doors of perception were cleansed,” William Blake wrote, “everything would appear to man as...
2nd Jun 2025
30

The One Hundred Milliseconds Between the World and You: Oliver Sacks on Perception

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Jun 2025
“If the doors of perception were cleansed,” William Blake wrote, “everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.” But we are finite creatures, in time and in space, and there is a limit to how much reality we can bear — evolution gave us consciousness so that we may sieve the...
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Idea Labs! An open thread for collaborative worldbuilding Let's brainstorm the future together.
22nd Mar 2024
58

Idea Labs! An open thread for collaborative worldbuilding

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

22nd Mar 2024
Let's brainstorm the future together.
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New Martian Writing If you've enjoyed my writing about space over the years, I invite you to subscribe to my new...
26th Mar 2026
1

New Martian Writing

from Idle Words [alt+shift+b] in literature

26th Mar 2026
If you've enjoyed my writing about space over the years, I invite you to subscribe to my new substack newsletter, titled 'Mars for the Rest of Us', where I've been posting weekly essays on topics around Mars exploration. Here are two recent free posts: Musk on Mars: a...
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Wrapping my head around local politics 001 Warning: Buzzwords ahead about millennials.* As a millennial, I want to “get involved” in my “local...
24th Aug 2016
22

Wrapping my head around local politics 001

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

24th Aug 2016
Warning: Buzzwords ahead about millennials.* As a millennial, I want to “get involved” in my “local community”, and don’t know the best way to “mobilize my resources”. vomit. I hate admitting that. But I still want to figure out if it is possible for me (little old me) to do...
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The world reveals itself to those who travel by foot Nothing was as scary as we thought, and everything was weirder and more friendly.
6th May 2026
1

The world reveals itself to those who travel by foot

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

6th May 2026
Nothing was as scary as we thought, and everything was weirder and more friendly.
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Don’t try on thoughts
2 weeks ago
1

Don’t try on thoughts

from Ben Borgers [alt+shift+b] in literature

2 weeks ago
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Making My SQL Skills Obsolete Quick Update: I updated my domain to ben-mini.com! All old URLs and the RSS feed under...
22nd Dec 2024
98

Making My SQL Skills Obsolete

from ben-mini [alt+shift+b] in literature

22nd Dec 2024
Quick Update: I updated my domain to ben-mini.com! All old URLs and the RSS feed under ben-mini.github.io will automatically redirect, so no changes are needed on your end. By far, the most useful LLM app I’ve made is the Kibu Schema God: I try not to make my posts too...
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How can we rejuvenate the social fabric? ask_another_guest
8th Jul 2026
1

How can we rejuvenate the social fabric?

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

8th Jul 2026
ask_another_guest
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States of Possession: Erich Neumann on Creativity, the Unconscious, and the Psychology of... There are things in life that come over you sudden as a flash flood, total as an eclipse — the great...
2nd May 2025
43

States of Possession: Erich Neumann on Creativity, the Unconscious, and the Psychology of Transformation

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd May 2025
There are things in life that come over you sudden as a flash flood, total as an eclipse — the great loves, the great creative passions, the great urges to conquer a mountain or a theorem. They can feel like an alien invasion, like the immense hand of some imperative has seized...
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Days are enormous + personal update and reading recommendations
1st Apr 2026
1

Days are enormous

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Apr 2026
+ personal update and reading recommendations
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Bangalore Meetup Report Did a ribbonfarm meetup in Bangalore last night, the first ever in India. Thanks to Abhishek Agarwal...
6th Jun 2024
27

Bangalore Meetup Report

from ribbonfarm [alt+shift+b] in literature

6th Jun 2024
Did a ribbonfarm meetup in Bangalore last night, the first ever in India. Thanks to Abhishek Agarwal for organizing. I think this is the first meetup I’ve done since the last Refactor Camp in 2019. It was kinda last minute, which is why I only posted on Substack rather than here...
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Storytelling — Just Add Dinosaurs In a previous part, I covered the storytelling model of Matthew Dicks, who specializes in live,...
14th Mar 2024
28

Storytelling — Just Add Dinosaurs

from ribbonfarm [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Mar 2024
In a previous part, I covered the storytelling model of Matthew Dicks, who specializes in live, spoken-word competitive storytelling from real life. He has a theory of stories I found deeply unsatisfying: That the essence of a story is a moment of character change where the...
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✏️ Liquid Gold Hi, this is Weightshifting, a newsletter by Naz Hamid and Jen Schuetz, primarily about vehicular...
10th Sep 2023
17

✏️ Liquid Gold

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

10th Sep 2023
Hi, this is Weightshifting, a newsletter by Naz Hamid and Jen Schuetz, primarily about vehicular travel and exploring the American West. This is season 2, en route from San Francisco to St. Louis. Our primary reason is to visit Jen’s family and attend a wedding. Our secondary...
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Everything that turned out well in my life followed the same design process The context is smarter than you.
5th Aug 2024
110

Everything that turned out well in my life followed the same design process

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Aug 2024
The context is smarter than you.
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[RIDGELINE] A Few London Strolls Ridgeline subscribers — For the last ten days I’ve been walking around London. Mostly in a little...
2 weeks ago
2

[RIDGELINE] A Few London Strolls

from Craig Mod — Writer + Photographer [alt+shift+b] in literature

2 weeks ago
Ridgeline subscribers — For the last ten days I’ve been walking around London. Mostly in a little corner of it in the northeast part of the city. But can you even call a part a “corner” when the city extends in every direction without stopping? Whatever you call it, I’ve been in...
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Incentives as selection effects When you apply a new incentive, you select for a new population that prefers the incentive.
11th Jun 2024
24

Incentives as selection effects

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

11th Jun 2024
When you apply a new incentive, you select for a new population that prefers the incentive.
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[RIDGELINE] Happy New Year With a Side of Fries Ridgeline subscribers — Hello from Denny’s. Happy new year. You can tell it’s January first, because...
1st Jan 2026
1

[RIDGELINE] Happy New Year With a Side of Fries

from Craig Mod — Writer + Photographer [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jan 2026
Ridgeline subscribers — Hello from Denny’s. Happy new year. You can tell it’s January first, because I’m at Denny’s. I woke up and made a nice coffee and did some accounting (as one does) and went to my local shrine in Tokyo and bowbowclapclapbow’d and then I was off! Tramping...
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Big Fish The post Big Fish appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
3rd Jul 2026
1

Big Fish

from The Perry Bible Fellowship [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Jul 2026
The post Big Fish appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
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2017 In Review & Thoughts on 2018 Note: this “annual review” covers three topics. Click on one to skip to it: Looking back on...
1st Jan 2018
21

2017 In Review & Thoughts on 2018

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jan 2018
Note: this “annual review” covers three topics. Click on one to skip to it: Looking back on 2017 thoughts on going into 2018 book recommendations from the 79 books I read last year I’ve got mixed feelings on annual reviews. I steadfastly refuse to set New Years’ resolutions, and...
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Sara Huddleston on the Latino Vote in Iowa Last week I spoke with Sara Huddleston, candidate for Iowa state house in district 11 (Storm Lake)....
8th Aug 2020
18

Sara Huddleston on the Latino Vote in Iowa

from Idle Words [alt+shift+b] in literature

8th Aug 2020
Last week I spoke with Sara Huddleston, candidate for Iowa state house in district 11 (Storm Lake). A longtime community organizer and three-term city council member, she was the first Latina elected to a city council in the state of Iowa, and would be the first Latina to serve...
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Different Think I don't write about Apple. I had to this time. It started with a magazine ad. A musician I admired...
5th Aug 2025
1

Different Think

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Aug 2025
I don't write about Apple. I had to this time. It started with a magazine ad. A musician I admired was pictured: Henry Rollins, looking as he does, in black, shorts, tattoos visible and holding a computer. An Apple Powerbook. He appears with Terry Ellis from Imago Records,...
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What I Read in May 2026 – “These stories appeal to my sense of humor as well as my taste for formal... NOT SHAKESPEARE Poems and a Defence of Ryme (1592-1605), Samuel Daniel – Author of the “Delia”...
4th Jun 2026
1

What I Read in May 2026 – “These stories appeal to my sense of humor as well as my taste for formal constraints.”

from Wuthering Expectations [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Jun 2026
NOT SHAKESPEARE Poems and a Defence of Ryme (1592-1605), Samuel Daniel – Author of the “Delia” sequence of fifty sonnets, a genuine sequence, with for example lines ending one poem and beginning the next.  For some reason Thomas Campion, a writer of the most beautiful songs,...
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Publishing my Fall 2022 class notes
5th Jan 2023
1

Publishing my Fall 2022 class notes

from Ben Borgers [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Jan 2023
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A Runbook for Upgrading Your Parent's Junky Old Laptop to a Chromebook tl;dr: I’m creating a runbook for a very specific, delicate, and potentially time-consuming and...
20th Jul 2020
24

A Runbook for Upgrading Your Parent's Junky Old Laptop to a Chromebook

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

20th Jul 2020
tl;dr: I’m creating a runbook for a very specific, delicate, and potentially time-consuming and emotionally-charged operation to replace my 70-year-old newly-widowed mother-in-law's ancient desktop computer with a easy-for-me-to-manage Chromebook Update: I posted to r/ChromeOS...
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✏️ The Amasa 25K, My First Trail Race Two years ago, I broke my elbow. A year ago, I put cycling on hold due to discomfort on the bike and...
29th May 2024
22

✏️ The Amasa 25K, My First Trail Race

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

29th May 2024
Two years ago, I broke my elbow. A year ago, I put cycling on hold due to discomfort on the bike and soon after started running as a cardio and endurance-based complement to my longstanding passion for rock climbing. Trail running and ultras have captured my attention in recent...
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the dark frisson of knowledge on the Wikipedian sublime
12th Jul 2025
1

the dark frisson of knowledge

from the late review [alt+shift+b] in literature

12th Jul 2025
on the Wikipedian sublime
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'Influential Works That Are Almost Never Read' John Ruskin would have a difficult time of it in what passes for literary culture today. First, he...
20th Jan 2025
27

'Influential Works That Are Almost Never Read'

from Anecdotal Evidence [alt+shift+b] in literature

20th Jan 2025
John Ruskin would have a difficult time of it in what passes for literary culture today. First, he was phenomenally prolific, even by Victorian standards, and how many people would read all five volumes of Modern Painters or the idea-rich sprawl of Fors Clavigera? Second, Ruskin...
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Make sure your university events are actually interesting
1st Mar 2025
1

Make sure your university events are actually interesting

from Ben Borgers [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Mar 2025
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How to: friction logs Friction logs are a technique to improve your own products and understand others. You use the...
12th Dec 2023
30

How to: friction logs

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

12th Dec 2023
Friction logs are a technique to improve your own products and understand others. You use the produdct the way a real user would and write down every single moment you experience some form of negative emotion.
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A Retrospective on Seven Months at Turing Collection of thoughts on Turing It’s the last week of Turing. I went through the backend software...
8th Aug 2017
19

A Retrospective on Seven Months at Turing

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

8th Aug 2017
Collection of thoughts on Turing It’s the last week of Turing. I went through the backend software engineering program, and it’s been a journey. In no particular order, I’m throwing down thoughts in three general categories: What went well What didn’t go well What I might have...
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Risk-takers decide faster Unsurprising connection between risk and speed.
5th Nov 2024
44

Risk-takers decide faster

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Nov 2024
Unsurprising connection between risk and speed.
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[RIDGELINE] A (Very) Short Walk With Rich Roll Ridgeline subscribers — For years, Kevin Kelly and I have been inviting (to no avail) Rich Roll on...
4th Jun 2025
1

[RIDGELINE] A (Very) Short Walk With Rich Roll

from Craig Mod — Writer + Photographer [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Jun 2025
Ridgeline subscribers — For years, Kevin Kelly and I have been inviting (to no avail) Rich Roll on Walk and Talks. So it was with great delight that about a month ago, I (Craig Mod, author of this newsletter, Ridgeline; thanks for subscribing) flew out to LA to go on the Rich...
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First pass with Elixir/Phoenix I’m digging into Elixir and Phoenix. I’m working through this tutorial to cloning Slack. The...
27th Oct 2017
21

First pass with Elixir/Phoenix

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

27th Oct 2017
I’m digging into Elixir and Phoenix. I’m working through this tutorial to cloning Slack. The tutorial author says At the time of writing, I have ~1 week experience with Phoenix. Similar to Rubber Ducky Debugging, I am writing this blog post to force myself to think differently...
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wagner's ring: believing in the stakes or: how to get ring cycle pilled
20th Nov 2024
1

wagner's ring: believing in the stakes

from the late review [alt+shift+b] in literature

20th Nov 2024
or: how to get ring cycle pilled
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AI and Internet Hygiene we are going to have to re-learn how to use the computer
1st Oct 2024
1

AI and Internet Hygiene

from the late review [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Oct 2024
we are going to have to re-learn how to use the computer
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Almost everyone I’ve met would be well-served thinking more about what to focus on Including me
3rd Jan 2024
42

Almost everyone I’ve met would be well-served thinking more about what to focus on

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Jan 2024
Including me
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Fox and Bear: A Tender Modern Fable About Reversing the Anthropocene, Illustrated in Cut-Cardboard... An antidote to the civilizational compulsions that rob human nature of nature.
1st Jul 2023
55

Fox and Bear: A Tender Modern Fable About Reversing the Anthropocene, Illustrated in Cut-Cardboard Dioramas

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jul 2023
An antidote to the civilizational compulsions that rob human nature of nature.
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October 2016 Goals In the last year, I’ve fluctuated between writing every day for 30 days and not posting once in...
19th Oct 2016
20

October 2016 Goals

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

19th Oct 2016
In the last year, I’ve fluctuated between writing every day for 30 days and not posting once in two months. Frankly, neither of those is good for me. I like writing because it clarifies my own thoughts. Sometimes it seems useful to others. I like to be useful (“utility” can...
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What is JumboCode?
3rd May 2023
1

What is JumboCode?

from Ben Borgers [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd May 2023
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Why Not Mars For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot...
1st Jan 2023
33

Why Not Mars

from Idle Words [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jan 2023
For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled. — Richard Feynman Entrance to underground cavern on Pavonis Mons. HiRISE, 2011 The goal of this essay is to persuade you that we shouldn’t send human...
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William James on the Most Vital Understanding for Successful Relationships "Neither the whole of truth nor the whole of good is revealed to any single observer."
2nd Jun 2023
107

William James on the Most Vital Understanding for Successful Relationships

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Jun 2023
"Neither the whole of truth nor the whole of good is revealed to any single observer."
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AI is an impediment to learning web development
21st Jul 2024
1

AI is an impediment to learning web development

from Ben Borgers [alt+shift+b] in literature

21st Jul 2024
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Hiring from Big Tech Some brief notes about the subject
30th Mar 2024
28

Hiring from Big Tech

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

30th Mar 2024
Some brief notes about the subject
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Almost anything you give sustained attention to will begin to loop on itself and bloom When people talk about the value of paying attention and slowing down, they often make it sound...
4th Sep 2025
105

Almost anything you give sustained attention to will begin to loop on itself and bloom

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Sep 2025
When people talk about the value of paying attention and slowing down, they often make it sound prudish and monk-like. But we shouldn’t forget how interesting and overpoweringly pleasurable sustained attention can be.
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✏️ Threaded I penned a Thot(?!), or rather, a post on Threads, the Twitter clone that Meta released some time...
5th Nov 2023
18

✏️ Threaded

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Nov 2023
I penned a Thot(?!), or rather, a post on Threads, the Twitter clone that Meta released some time ago. I don’t find it particularly useful, as my Twitter usage had declined long ago. Anyway, the post (and accompanying photo): “When I contemplate the idea of relocating, it’s 70°...
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Book Review - Iron John Iron John by Robert Bly is a classic book about men. It has legions of ardent fans, but I...
15th Dec 2019
38

Book Review - Iron John

from Blog - Anchorpointexpeditions.com [alt+shift+b] in literature

15th Dec 2019
Iron John by Robert Bly is a classic book about men. It has legions of ardent fans, but I reluctantly admit I am not one of the more zealous. Although the book has high points – the classic story of Iron John as put down by the Grimm brothers stands out to me, as well as an...
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After Love: Maxine Kumin’s Stunning Poem About Eros as a Portal to Unselfing It is one of the hardest things in life — discerning where we end and the rest of the world begins,...
3rd Oct 2023
32

After Love: Maxine Kumin’s Stunning Poem About Eros as a Portal to Unselfing

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Oct 2023
It is one of the hardest things in life — discerning where we end and the rest of the world begins, negotiating the permeable boundary between self and other, all the while longing for its dissolution, longing to be set free from the prison of ourselves. That is why we cherish...
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✏️ Midlife Malaise The past few days have felt heavy. In a weird headspace, floating in the middle of space between a...
8th Jun 2023
19

✏️ Midlife Malaise

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

8th Jun 2023
The past few days have felt heavy. In a weird headspace, floating in the middle of space between a destination or goal, or rather, a state I aspire to, but seeing a road ahead of which the length is unknown. It feels like a lot of things have been taken, removed, or no longer...
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[RIDGELINE] Driving the Tōkaidō Ridgeline subscribers — Hello from amidst the Toyama rush of media requests. I’ve had to say no to...
16th Jan 2025
1

[RIDGELINE] Driving the Tōkaidō

from Craig Mod — Writer + Photographer [alt+shift+b] in literature

16th Jan 2025
Ridgeline subscribers — Hello from amidst the Toyama rush of media requests. I’ve had to say no to most of them, mainly because I’ve been finishing the final final final final set of edits on the Random House edition of Things Become Other Thing. Those edits are in. The book can...
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The Moon and the Yew Tree: Patti Smith Reads Sylvia Plath’s Haunting Portrait of Depression "This is the light of the mind, cold and planetary."
4th Sep 2023
32

The Moon and the Yew Tree: Patti Smith Reads Sylvia Plath’s Haunting Portrait of Depression

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Sep 2023
"This is the light of the mind, cold and planetary."
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Every student is cheating with AI
17th Aug 2026
2

Every student is cheating with AI

from Ben Borgers [alt+shift+b] in literature

17th Aug 2026
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How /swipes Works
1st Apr 2022
1

How /swipes Works

from Ben Borgers [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Apr 2022
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Bollards: Why & What author’s note: it’s always fun to see your own stuff on the Hacker News front page! This very post...
30th Apr 2024
29

Bollards: Why & What

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

30th Apr 2024
author’s note: it’s always fun to see your own stuff on the Hacker News front page! This very post sparked >450 comments worth of conversation! I didn’t even know this got posted until days later! What are bollards The what and the why in a single image: The what and why in a...
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Books of the year 2024 In order of being read. Giorgio Agamben – What I saw, heard, learned… One night, along Venice’s...
15th Dec 2024
1

Books of the year 2024

from This Space [alt+shift+b] in literature

15th Dec 2024
In order of being read. Giorgio Agamben – What I saw, heard, learned… One night, along Venice’s Zattere, watching the putrid water lap at the city’s foundations, I saw that we exist solely in the intermittence of our being, and that what we call I is just a shadow...
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Practicing with Polylines This is a first pass at trying to do something interesting (repeatedly) with the same base...
10th Sep 2024
39

Practicing with Polylines

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

10th Sep 2024
This is a first pass at trying to do something interesting (repeatedly) with the same base primative, in this case, a “polyline”. Read the rest of this post, understand what we’re going for, then go to part 2: get your own polyline from strava. It’s not trivial to get, but its...
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My TEDx talk about the future of fiction And publishing.
16th Jun 2024
117

My TEDx talk about the future of fiction

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

16th Jun 2024
And publishing.
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The Brahmin and His Imaginary Friend How a classic paean to the honest virtues of a Maine fisherman obscured several ugly truths The...
2nd Dec 2024
37

The Brahmin and His Imaginary Friend

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Dec 2024
How a classic paean to the honest virtues of a Maine fisherman obscured several ugly truths The post The Brahmin and His Imaginary Friend appeared first on The American Scholar.
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On Fables: Finishing up Antifragile I’m cleaning up some notes I wanted to jot down over the last few weeks Nassim Taleb, in...
9th Jan 2016
21

On Fables: Finishing up Antifragile

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

9th Jan 2016
I’m cleaning up some notes I wanted to jot down over the last few weeks Nassim Taleb, in Antifragile, says: The great economist Ariel Rubinstein gets the green lumber fallacy - it requires a great deal of intellect and honesty to see things that way. Rubinstein refuses to...
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A little bit of slope makes up for a lot of y-intercept The following is recounted on  Quora, from a lecture by Stanford professor John Ousterhout (he’s in...
26th Jun 2015
22

A little bit of slope makes up for a lot of y-intercept

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

26th Jun 2015
The following is recounted on  Quora, from a lecture by Stanford professor John Ousterhout (he’s in the Computer Science department): Here’s today’s thought for the weekend.  A little bit of slope makes up for a lot of Y-intercept.   [Laughter] So at a mathematical level this is...
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Stickies: Spatial note-taking
2nd Apr 2023
1

Stickies: Spatial note-taking

from Ben Borgers [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Apr 2023
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Let's read the Terra Ignota series together Our summer reading is Ada Palmer's feat of utopian worldbuilding.
3rd Jul 2024
108

Let's read the Terra Ignota series together

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Jul 2024
Our summer reading is Ada Palmer's feat of utopian worldbuilding.
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Do Not Neglect The Needful Role of the Witness Introduction Elsewhere I’ve mentioned “the role of the witness”, been sitting on this as a draft (in...
7th Jul 2025
1

Do Not Neglect The Needful Role of the Witness

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

7th Jul 2025
Introduction Elsewhere I’ve mentioned “the role of the witness”, been sitting on this as a draft (in my head) for a long time. I absolutely cannot move away from the phrasing: Do not neglect the needful role of the Witness I capitalize Witness, as this is a real “role”, and it’s...
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✏️ Notes at 45 As I sit squarely in my mid-40s, I’ve gained valuable perspectives, learnings, and understandings....
12th Apr 2023
17

✏️ Notes at 45

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

12th Apr 2023
As I sit squarely in my mid-40s, I’ve gained valuable perspectives, learnings, and understandings. Here are some of them: People > things. In our current society, the deepening pit of materialism, capitalism, and an insatiable desire for more has become all-consuming. However,...
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Quality, Maintenance & Craft We are shokunin. Last week I was in Ojai, California, for True’s Founder Camp.[1] James Freeman,...
12th Mar 2025
57

Quality, Maintenance & Craft

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

12th Mar 2025
We are shokunin. Last week I was in Ojai, California, for True’s Founder Camp.[1] James Freeman, founder of Blue Bottle Coffee was in conversation with Jeff Veen, and one of the attendees asked him: “How do you maintain such high quality?” Freeman answers, “‘Maintaining’ is a...
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20 years of Linux on the Desktop (part 3) 20 years of Linux on the Desktop (part 3) Previously in "20 years of Linux on the Deskop": After...
8th Mar 2025
51

20 years of Linux on the Desktop (part 3)

from Ploum.net [alt+shift+b] in literature

8th Mar 2025
20 years of Linux on the Desktop (part 3) Previously in "20 years of Linux on the Deskop": After contributing to the launch of Ubuntu as the "perfect Linux desktop", Ploum realises that Ubuntu is drifting away from both Debian and GNOME. But something else is about to shake the...
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Dottie Lo Bue House and home The post Dottie Lo Bue appeared first on The American Scholar.
4th Nov 2024
58

Dottie Lo Bue

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Nov 2024
House and home The post Dottie Lo Bue appeared first on The American Scholar.
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A list of books and essays that I love I’m purposefully not looking at my bookshelf to make sure I only pick books that I’ve thought about...
4th Nov 2025
11

A list of books and essays that I love

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Nov 2025
I’m purposefully not looking at my bookshelf to make sure I only pick books that I’ve thought about so much that they immediately occur to me.
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Kawabata's The Sound of the Mountain - He began to feel that there was some sort of special little... Dolce Bellezza hosted her 19th Japanese Literature Challenge last month.  Once I have written...
7th Feb 2026
1

Kawabata's The Sound of the Mountain - He began to feel that there was some sort of special little world apart over behind the shrubbery

from Wuthering Expectations [alt+shift+b] in literature

7th Feb 2026
Dolce Bellezza hosted her 19th Japanese Literature Challenge last month.  Once I have written this post it will be the 54th book in this year’s event.  Amazing. The book is Yasunari Kawabata’s The Sound of the Mountain (1954, serialized 1949-54).  The sound of the mountain is a...
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The happiest I’ve ever been It was around January 2020. I became the head coach of a youth basketball team. I was a few months...
25th Feb 2026
1

The happiest I’ve ever been

from ben-mini [alt+shift+b] in literature

25th Feb 2026
It was around January 2020. I became the head coach of a youth basketball team. I was a few months into my first job out of college, and I was feeling… empty. I couldn’t explain why, so I set out to fill the void. I built side projects, went drinking with coworkers, and got...
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✏️ 2023 in the Rearview End-of-year recaps and reviews haven't been something I do. Generally, my mindset is about embracing...
3rd Mar 2024
23

✏️ 2023 in the Rearview

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Mar 2024
End-of-year recaps and reviews haven't been something I do. Generally, my mindset is about embracing the present, with a gentle forward momentum towards what comes next. Years ago, I heard an Imam once speak about not having regrets. I took that to heart at the time and have...
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Open Thread 445 ...
3rd Aug 2026
1

Open Thread 445

from Astral Codex Ten [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Aug 2026
...
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Let Me Fix [some of] Your Parking Problems Hi there! I’m Josh, and I’m your local neighborhood advocate for overlooked spaces. Today, we’ll be...
14th Jul 2023
23

Let Me Fix [some of] Your Parking Problems

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Jul 2023
Hi there! I’m Josh, and I’m your local neighborhood advocate for overlooked spaces. Today, we’ll be focusing on parking lots. Your parking lot has a job to do, and every day, every night, rain or shine, hot or cold, clear, rainy, or snowy, your parking lot does the best it can at...
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On Scooters as a class of vehicle/tool Introduction Often when I say “scooter”, especially in the united states, the person thinks of...
18th Dec 2024
100

On Scooters as a class of vehicle/tool

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

18th Dec 2024
Introduction Often when I say “scooter”, especially in the united states, the person thinks of something different than what I mean. Here’s Denver’s Sportique Scooters, here’s one of their recent posts: So that is the kind of vehicle I’m talking about when I say “scooter”. I...
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Million-Mile Tech Durability is the ultimate feature. I wrote in October last year that I wouldn’t upgrade my iPhone...
21st Oct 2025
1

Million-Mile Tech

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

21st Oct 2025
Durability is the ultimate feature. I wrote in October last year that I wouldn’t upgrade my iPhone 14 Pro. That’s also not quite true. I did upgrade my phone — with a new battery and leather case. This isn’t what people typically think of when they say they upgraded their phone....
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Book Review - Dancing Naked in the Mind Field Dancing Naked in the Mind Field, the autobiography of Kary Mullis, published in 1998, is...
26th Jun 2021
49

Book Review - Dancing Naked in the Mind Field

from Blog - Anchorpointexpeditions.com [alt+shift+b] in literature

26th Jun 2021
Dancing Naked in the Mind Field, the autobiography of Kary Mullis, published in 1998, is reminiscent of another Nobel Prize winning autobiography, Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!. Dr. Mullis and Dr. Feynman had a great deal in common, including their incomprehensible...
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Three Ways to Decide What to be When You Grow Up Recently, I have had to explain to people what is it that I want to do. This question is difficult...
20th Dec 2012
24

Three Ways to Decide What to be When You Grow Up

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

20th Dec 2012
Recently, I have had to explain to people what is it that I want to do. This question is difficult to answer for two reasons. The first reason is I am not yet strongly pulled into a specific position. My ideal answer would be “I want to do X role at company Y.” Short. Concise....
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Blood Knowledge by Kirsty Gunn "A novel is a kind of lazy way of writing a short story, a short story a lazy way of writing a poem"...
29th Nov 2024
1

Blood Knowledge by Kirsty Gunn

from This Space [alt+shift+b] in literature

29th Nov 2024
"A novel is a kind of lazy way of writing a short story, a short story a lazy way of writing a poem" said Muriel Spark, adding by explanation: "The longer they become, the more they seem to lose value". We might wonder then if the most value is to be found in the shortest novels,...
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Book Review - Owning Your Own Shadow The shadow of the human psyche cannot be overlooked in a thorough exploration of personal...
16th Jan 2020
26

Book Review - Owning Your Own Shadow

from Blog - Anchorpointexpeditions.com [alt+shift+b] in literature

16th Jan 2020
The shadow of the human psyche cannot be overlooked in a thorough exploration of personal development. According to the classic resource Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche, “The shadow is that which has not entered adequately into...
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Good Software Has a Clear Geography
1st Feb 2022
1

Good Software Has a Clear Geography

from Ben Borgers [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Feb 2022
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Yes, Taylor Swift is just as genius as Mary Shelley The video from our live event.
3rd Oct 2024
108

Yes, Taylor Swift is just as genius as Mary Shelley

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Oct 2024
The video from our live event.
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✏️ Music That Got Me Through 2020 As time goes on, I've learned something about myself: I'm now that person — that old fogey — that...
1st Feb 2021
17

✏️ Music That Got Me Through 2020

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Feb 2021
As time goes on, I've learned something about myself: I'm now that person — that old fogey — that mumbles under their breath about the old days when music was real. That said, there are plenty of good artists (even great artists) making meaningful music today. I just have to...
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Quotes from 'Spare the Child' Introduction Here’s quotes from Spare the Child: The Religeous Roots of Punishment and the...
1st Feb 2025
40

Quotes from 'Spare the Child'

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Feb 2025
Introduction Here’s quotes from Spare the Child: The Religeous Roots of Punishment and the Psychological Impact of Physical Abuse, by Philip Greven. It was written in 1989, same year I was born, 35 years ago as of 2025. It’s sometimes nice to be able to share quotes with people....
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The Weeks Percolating on design At the end of every year I start to feel it. 2024 ended on a tumultuous note....
7th Nov 2025
1

The Weeks

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

7th Nov 2025
Percolating on design At the end of every year I start to feel it. 2024 ended on a tumultuous note. I dive into introspection, combing over the last year in search of pattern and meaning. I gathered what I found at the bottom of the ocean floor, coming up for air with the...
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whatever it takes on monomania
17th Feb 2026
1

whatever it takes

from the late review [alt+shift+b] in literature

17th Feb 2026
on monomania
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Nucleus Nouns Consider the “nouns” the live inside an app of your choice: You can spend hours building a list for...
10th Apr 2026
2

Nucleus Nouns

from ben-mini [alt+shift+b] in literature

10th Apr 2026
Consider the “nouns” the live inside an app of your choice: You can spend hours building a list for just one app. But the more interesting exercise is weighting the nouns by impact in the app- considering which ones have the most “gravity” from the eyes of the user: You quickly...
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[RODEN] A new Popup Walk, Lots of Books Roden Readers — Ahoy from Crisptown, population: Everyone in Japan. The summer is done. Thank...
2nd Sep 2025
1

[RODEN] A new Popup Walk, Lots of Books

from Craig Mod — Writer + Photographer [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Sep 2025
Roden Readers — Ahoy from Crisptown, population: Everyone in Japan. The summer is done. Thank glorious gods be, the summer is done. (Mostly.) I can feel my brain starting to solidify again, returning to its natural state after three months of relentless broiled liquefaction. In...
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On Looking: Poet Lia Purpura on the Art of Noticing “The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands...
4th Sep 2025
47

On Looking: Poet Lia Purpura on the Art of Noticing

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Sep 2025
“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in the way,” William Blake wrote in his most spirited letter. “As a man is, so he sees.” Because how we look at the world shapes the world we see, every act of noticing is an act...
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Waking Up Early, Part 3 I’ve written about my attempts to wake up early before. Most recently, I promised to take a sleep...
2nd Aug 2013
25

Waking Up Early, Part 3

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Aug 2013
I’ve written about my attempts to wake up early before. Most recently, I promised to take a sleep log, to track trends. Fortunately, I did not intend to try to wake up early, because I didn’t. Here’s what I learned in the last three weeks: Benadryl messes with your ability to...
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The internet is dead—long live print media! A retreat to the forest.
3rd Nov 2025
10

The internet is dead—long live print media!

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Nov 2025
A retreat to the forest.
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La première Madame Pipi de l’espace profond La première Madame Pipi de l’espace profond Outre la première victoire au Tour de France d’Eddy...
3rd Apr 2026
1

La première Madame Pipi de l’espace profond

from Ploum.net [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Apr 2026
La première Madame Pipi de l’espace profond Outre la première victoire au Tour de France d’Eddy Merckx, 1969 fut une année qui marqua trois événements très importants. 1. Le premier homme sur la Lune Deux de ces événements ont encore aujourd’hui un impact quotidien dans votre...
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The Colors Of Her Coat ...
1st Apr 2025
58

The Colors Of Her Coat

from Astral Codex Ten [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Apr 2025
...
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Building FirstMover I had one month to find a place to live in Manhattan. I reached out to friends for tips, and nearly...
14th Sep 2024
29

Building FirstMover

from ben-mini [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Sep 2024
I had one month to find a place to live in Manhattan. I reached out to friends for tips, and nearly all of them pointed me to StreetEasy, the Zillow-owned NYC real estate search platform. Some of my more Type-A friends gave me extra helpful advice: Narrow your search to 2-4...
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I Once Worked Hard When I began working at my first job out of college, I knew I didn’t want to spend my whole career...
12th Apr 2013
23

I Once Worked Hard

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

12th Apr 2013
When I began working at my first job out of college, I knew I didn’t want to spend my whole career there. I was a college graduate (that means something, right?) working at a climbing gym, part time, teaching seven-year-olds how to climb at about $10 an hour. I had no idea what I...
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War Room: Expansion features
5th Mar 2023
1

War Room: Expansion features

from Ben Borgers [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Mar 2023
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Sunday Scrawl #1: Learning Not to Know Sunday Scrawl #1: Learning Not to Know When my parents sat me down in the living room the night...
30th Nov 2025
2

Sunday Scrawl #1: Learning Not to Know

from Steven Scrawls [alt+shift+b] in literature

30th Nov 2025
Sunday Scrawl #1: Learning Not to Know When my parents sat me down in the living room the night before I was supposed to leave for college, I thought they were going to tell me they were getting a divorce. At the time, it was the most terrifying upheaval I could imagine. Instead,...
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Alyse Galvin on Coronavirus in Alaska Last week I spoke by video chat with Alyse Galvin, who is running for Congress in Alaska's sole,...
24th Jun 2020
17

Alyse Galvin on Coronavirus in Alaska

from Idle Words [alt+shift+b] in literature

24th Jun 2020
Last week I spoke by video chat with Alyse Galvin, who is running for Congress in Alaska's sole, enormous Congressional district in a rematch against Don Young, the longest-serving member of Congress. Young, who just turned 87, is a notorious figure in state and national...
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How to Be a Lichen: Adaptive Strategies for the Vulnerabilities of Being Human from Nature’s Tiny... The hero of the modern myth is the victim, the emblem of the modern self the pronoun. We seem to...
2nd Nov 2025
11

How to Be a Lichen: Adaptive Strategies for the Vulnerabilities of Being Human from Nature’s Tiny Titans of Tenacity

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Nov 2025
The hero of the modern myth is the victim, the emblem of the modern self the pronoun. We seem to have forgotten that we are survivors of innumerable spasms of space and time, creatures who never would have given up the gills for lungs if we attached identity to gillness. Not so...
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What I Read in February 2026 – Mouek mouek mouek… Ma-a-a-a… Ma-aa-a… said Saha I am almost on my way to London.  Some Shakespearian and Not Shakespearian activities are on the...
1st Mar 2026
1

What I Read in February 2026 – Mouek mouek mouek… Ma-a-a-a… Ma-aa-a… said Saha

from Wuthering Expectations [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Mar 2026
I am almost on my way to London.  Some Shakespearian and Not Shakespearian activities are on the schedule. My reading, before this trip, was again  very British.   THE WAR OF THE POETS Antonio and Mellida (1599?) & Antonio's Revenge (1600?), John Marston – A remarkable pair of...
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App Identity
1st Mar 2022
1

App Identity

from Ben Borgers [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Mar 2022
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Modular life, meaningful work Highlights from the cutting room floor, pt. 3
5th Feb 2025
50

Modular life, meaningful work

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Feb 2025
Highlights from the cutting room floor, pt. 3
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✏️ On Racism On May 31, 2020, I wrote these words (on Instagram) days after George Floyd was killed: I am a brown...
18th Mar 2021
17

✏️ On Racism

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

18th Mar 2021
On May 31, 2020, I wrote these words (on Instagram) days after George Floyd was killed: I am a brown person. I am an immigrant. I am Southeast Asian. I am Malaysian. And I am an American. I’m a third culture kid. I came to the States at 19, alone. I’ve lived here for 22+ years,...
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New Year, Old Year The post New Year, Old Year appeared first on The American Scholar.
1st Jan 2025
59

New Year, Old Year

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jan 2025
The post New Year, Old Year appeared first on The American Scholar.
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How ChatGPT spoiled my semester
13th Oct 2024
1

How ChatGPT spoiled my semester

from Ben Borgers [alt+shift+b] in literature

13th Oct 2024
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Trust and Procedural Fetishism I recently finished reading Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. The book explains the...
14th Jun 2025
1

Trust and Procedural Fetishism

from ben-mini [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Jun 2025
I recently finished reading Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. The book explains the various missteps taken by the U.S. government that led us to where we are today: a bureaucratic sludge of policies and regulations that’s caused ambitious projects to go over budget...
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The Lunacy of Artemis In August 2020, the New York Times asked me to write an op-ed for a special feature on...
19th May 2024
38

The Lunacy of Artemis

from Idle Words [alt+shift+b] in literature

19th May 2024
In August 2020, the New York Times asked me to write an op-ed for a special feature on authoritarianism and democracy. They declined to publish my submission, which I am sharing here instead. A little over 51 years ago, a rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral carrying three...
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An Open Letter about Golden 2022-06-15 Update I wrote this document the first time in a very small number of minutes, three...
24th May 2022
19

An Open Letter about Golden

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

24th May 2022
2022-06-15 Update I wrote this document the first time in a very small number of minutes, three weeks ago, on my way out the door on a particularly busy day. I follow “write it now”. I’ve gotten to discuss this letter with a few different people, because I mentioned it in email....
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The Sunflower and the Soul: Wendell Berry on the Collaborative Nature of the Universe and the Cure... "We are not the authors of ourselves. That we are not is a religious perception, but it is also a...
1st Jul 2024
99

The Sunflower and the Soul: Wendell Berry on the Collaborative Nature of the Universe and the Cure for Conflict

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jul 2024
"We are not the authors of ourselves. That we are not is a religious perception, but it is also a biological and a social one. Each of us has had many authors, and each of us is engaged, for better or worse, in that same authorship. We could say that the human race is a great...
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The intimate outside When this post from Max Cairnduff appeared I had been reading Heidegger's lectures on Hölderlin's...
31st Jan 2026
1

The intimate outside

from This Space [alt+shift+b] in literature

31st Jan 2026
When this post from Max Cairnduff appeared I had been reading Heidegger's lectures on Hölderlin's poetry and books and essays studying Heidegger's lectures on Hölderlin's poetry in a bid, however incongruous, to articulate an experience unique to reading novels, so I was...
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Nicholas Decker In Hell ...
3 weeks ago
1

Nicholas Decker In Hell

from Astral Codex Ten [alt+shift+b] in literature

3 weeks ago
...
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'Shut Not Thy Purse-Strings' Unlike his friends Coleridge, Hazlitt, Wordsworth and Hunt, who often made fools of themselves as a...
1st Mar 2025
44

'Shut Not Thy Purse-Strings'

from Anecdotal Evidence [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Mar 2025
Unlike his friends Coleridge, Hazlitt, Wordsworth and Hunt, who often made fools of themselves as a result, Charles Lamb had little interest in the momentous events of his day. About “Boney” – Napoleon Bonaparte – he wished only to know the dictator’s height, unlike Hazlitt, who...
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Open Thread 432 ...
4th May 2026
1

Open Thread 432

from Astral Codex Ten [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th May 2026
...
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[RODEN] Blank Spaces, Radicalized Offlineness, Curious Protagonists Roden Readers — Ahh, it’s nice. The outside. The outside is nice. Finally, very nice. The best...
28th Nov 2025
1

[RODEN] Blank Spaces, Radicalized Offlineness, Curious Protagonists

from Craig Mod — Writer + Photographer [alt+shift+b] in literature

28th Nov 2025
Roden Readers — Ahh, it’s nice. The outside. The outside is nice. Finally, very nice. The best season in Japan. The leaves, they change. Out yonder, Mt. Fuji performs foojalicousness on the horizon as I type these very words. Being a bit coy, hiding, peeking, hiding once again....
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Reading, detachment In an in-between time in which nothing begins or ends, in which blank patience takes the place of...
28th Aug 2025
1

Reading, detachment

from This Space [alt+shift+b] in literature

28th Aug 2025
In an in-between time in which nothing begins or ends, in which blank patience takes the place of activity, I picked two books from my shelves stubbornly remote from utility, lacking the intimacy of possession, and a third in which I had never read a key section. The first was...
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Most of Life The post Most of Life appeared first on The American Scholar.
1st Apr 2026
1

Most of Life

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Apr 2026
The post Most of Life appeared first on The American Scholar.
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Everybody Needs a Rock A new homepage and site improvements. Looking at the Colophon from it’s last update, I mentioned...
14th Feb 2026
1

Everybody Needs a Rock

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Feb 2026
A new homepage and site improvements. Looking at the Colophon from it’s last update, I mentioned that a refresh had happened in February 2025. A year later, another refresh has landed I wouldn’t normally write about a site update like this, but the goal of the new homepage design...
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On Returning The post On Returning appeared first on The American Scholar.
2 weeks ago
1

On Returning

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

2 weeks ago
The post On Returning appeared first on The American Scholar.
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The Ecstasy of Eternity: Richard Jefferies on Time and Self-Transcendence This is the great paradox: that human life, lived between the time of starlings and the time of...
2nd Mar 2024
53

The Ecstasy of Eternity: Richard Jefferies on Time and Self-Transcendence

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Mar 2024
This is the great paradox: that human life, lived between the time of starlings and the time of stars, is made meaningful entirely inside the self, but the self is a mirage of the mind, a figment of cohesion that makes the chaos and transience bearable. A few times a lifetime, if...
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In Florida, the Pitch Is High and Hard A special Senate committee has opened an investigation into these “Misery Acres” that take dollars...
29th Mar 2023
23

In Florida, the Pitch Is High and Hard

from Robert Caro [alt+shift+b] in literature

29th Mar 2023
A special Senate committee has opened an investigation into these “Misery Acres” that take dollars from people who cannot afford it.
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This Space of Writing ten years on Today in 2015 my blog-collection This Space of Writing was published as a book. An ideal Christmas...
11th Dec 2025
1

This Space of Writing ten years on

from This Space [alt+shift+b] in literature

11th Dec 2025
Today in 2015 my blog-collection This Space of Writing was published as a book. An ideal Christmas gift. Not a happy memory to be honest; an editor would have made it a better book. However, I can't fault the cover design, and I was lucky to have Flowerville's permission to use...
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Chip Off The Old Block ...
1st Jul 2026
1

Chip Off The Old Block

from Astral Codex Ten [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jul 2026
...
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What I Read in August 2026 – what he hopes to gain from all this knowledge Now and again, Geiser finds himself wondering what he really wants to know, what he hopes to gain...
2 weeks ago
1

What I Read in August 2026 – what he hopes to gain from all this knowledge

from Wuthering Expectations [alt+shift+b] in literature

2 weeks ago
Now and again, Geiser finds himself wondering what he really wants to know, what he hopes to gain from all this knowledge.  (Man in the Holocene, Max Frisch, tr. Geoffrey Skelton, p. 90) An uncomfortable sentence there. A reminder that I will return to non-Shakespeare plays...
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39 Books: 2023 This is the 39th and final post of this series. As the introduction explains, I began seeking a...
1st Jun 2024
1

39 Books: 2023

from This Space [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jun 2024
This is the 39th and final post of this series. As the introduction explains, I began seeking a return to the short-form of the early days of blogging. And it started off well, with each entry written in no time, sometimes stirring up the sediment of initial enchantment. As I got...
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Twentieth anniversary post On this day in 2004, I posted the first entry on this blog.  In recent years many posts have...
25th Sep 2024
1

Twentieth anniversary post

from This Space [alt+shift+b] in literature

25th Sep 2024
On this day in 2004, I posted the first entry on this blog.  In recent years many posts have reflected on the past and present of literary blogging (it has no future) so I will not go over that waste land again except to wish more had followed the example of This Space. One of...
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✏️ Pound, rub, pound It’s something like midnight. A four-and-a-half-pound senior Chihuahua is tucked into her blanket...
21st Nov 2021
19

✏️ Pound, rub, pound

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

21st Nov 2021
It’s something like midnight. A four-and-a-half-pound senior Chihuahua is tucked into her blanket and snuggled up next to my left rib cage inside my sleeping bag. Jen is asleep beside us. It’s 35°F. We have myriad layers happening: Jen wears a down jacket inside her sleeping bag...
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Claude is kicking ChatGPT’s butt (in one thing) Back in high school, I remember receiving an email for a study guide from a friend. Instead of the...
15th Jul 2025
1

Claude is kicking ChatGPT’s butt (in one thing)

from ben-mini [alt+shift+b] in literature

15th Jul 2025
Back in high school, I remember receiving an email for a study guide from a friend. Instead of the PDF coming attached, it was a link to a site called Dropbox. Upon opening the file, you create an account. From there you’re introduced to a feature stack that went well beyond any...
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A Junction Efficiency Metric: Vehicles Per Square Meter Per Minute still sorta drafty, but also its entirely possible the point is easily apprehended, and I’m way...
13th Sep 2025
1

A Junction Efficiency Metric: Vehicles Per Square Meter Per Minute

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

13th Sep 2025
still sorta drafty, but also its entirely possible the point is easily apprehended, and I’m way over-explaining Introduction Elsewhere, I’ve been referring to a ‘vehicles per square meter per minute’ calculation, when talking about junctions on mobility networks. The first place...
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Book Review: The Rise Of Christianity ...
12th Nov 2024
48

Book Review: The Rise Of Christianity

from Astral Codex Ten [alt+shift+b] in literature

12th Nov 2024
...
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If we fix the phone, we fix society Here's how I would redesign it.
3 hours ago
1

If we fix the phone, we fix society

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

3 hours ago
Here's how I would redesign it.
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On having more interesting ideas, pt. 2 Cutlery designed by Salvador Dalí
11th Aug 2026
1

On having more interesting ideas, pt. 2

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

11th Aug 2026
Cutlery designed by Salvador Dalí
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Writing For The AIs ...
3rd Nov 2025
1

Writing For The AIs

from Astral Codex Ten [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Nov 2025
...
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Barefoot Sprinting Up a Grassy Hill, & Kettlebell Swings Introduction A few months ago, maybe in November, certainly by December, I began this ‘barefoot...
12th Mar 2025
68

Barefoot Sprinting Up a Grassy Hill, & Kettlebell Swings

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

12th Mar 2025
Introduction A few months ago, maybe in November, certainly by December, I began this ‘barefoot sprinting up grassy hills’ thing I’m going about to talk about in detail below. Shortly after I started, I began making use of the kettlebells I’d usually ignored at the gym(s) I have...
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✏️ I Don't Have Facebook I don’t have an account with the big blue F. It’s 2015. The social network is almost 11 years old....
15th Jan 2015
19

✏️ I Don't Have Facebook

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

15th Jan 2015
I don’t have an account with the big blue F. It’s 2015. The social network is almost 11 years old. It’s remarkable — over a decade in existence and, mostly, still going strong. I read about it a lot. I have friends who work there. I have been recruited and asked by the same...
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Why schedule something that doesn't exist? The first thing I did when making this post is I set it to be published tomorrow. Then, I left the...
5th May 2016
22

Why schedule something that doesn't exist?

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th May 2016
The first thing I did when making this post is I set it to be published tomorrow. Then, I left the room for a bit. I didn’t have anything to say. Or, I didn’t think I did. Yet, all over my computer, and in various list trackers and note-taking apps, I’ve got dozens of ideas to...
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✏️ Resilience By Design Every morning I read about a situation that pushes us further away from what we've come to know or...
17th Apr 2020
21

✏️ Resilience By Design

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

17th Apr 2020
Every morning I read about a situation that pushes us further away from what we've come to know or expect. With that comes the question of how our evolving reality affects product design, particularly for those who practice it. While some tech companies are seizing opportunities...
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39 Books: 2015 In the Spring of 1997, I visited a friend in Kassel, a city in the middle of Germany, home of the...
24th May 2024
1

39 Books: 2015

from This Space [alt+shift+b] in literature

24th May 2024
In the Spring of 1997, I visited a friend in Kassel, a city in the middle of Germany, home of the Brothers Grimm and Franz Rosenzweig, and not very far from Weimar, hence the visit to the Goethehaus mentioned in the entry for 1989. I hadn't heard of it before and nor had my...
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"A delicate mix of chess... and bear wrestling" Over the last few weeks I’ve found myself needing to break down “why” of sport climbing (I’ll refer...
2nd Nov 2014
20

"A delicate mix of chess... and bear wrestling"

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Nov 2014
Over the last few weeks I’ve found myself needing to break down “why” of sport climbing (I’ll refer to sport as “lead” climbing from here on out. Sorry, trad climbers). If someone is enjoying top roping, (or bouldering) why should they take on the work of learning to lead climb,...
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✏️ Notes at 46 Thoughts, observations, and new ways of approaching life that have been percolating since my last...
8th Apr 2024
18

✏️ Notes at 46

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

8th Apr 2024
Thoughts, observations, and new ways of approaching life that have been percolating since my last birthday: Owning a personal digital space is more important than ever before. Having come to the internet during a time when all it was were personal fan sites and journals, and the...
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the mirror-self an obsession
12th Dec 2025
2

the mirror-self

from the late review [alt+shift+b] in literature

12th Dec 2025
an obsession
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Trip to Germany, spring 2024
26th May 2024
1

Trip to Germany, spring 2024

from Ben Borgers [alt+shift+b] in literature

26th May 2024
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just surf
23rd Jul 2026
1

just surf

from Ben Borgers [alt+shift+b] in literature

23rd Jul 2026
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Lieutenants are the limiting reagent Why don't software companies ship more products? Why do they move more slowly as they grow? What do...
25th Sep 2023
28

Lieutenants are the limiting reagent

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

25th Sep 2023
Why don't software companies ship more products? Why do they move more slowly as they grow? What do we mean when we say "this company lacks focus"?
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I'm crowdfunding my next book advance And sharing the earnings with readers.
2nd Mar 2025
48

I'm crowdfunding my next book advance

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Mar 2025
And sharing the earnings with readers.
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Writing while walking We do not belong to those who have ideas only among books, when stimulated by books.
2nd Sep 2024
90

Writing while walking

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Sep 2024
We do not belong to those who have ideas only among books, when stimulated by books.
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Change The more things change, the more they stay the same. Or something like that. Sometimes change is for...
30th Jun 2014
23

Change

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

30th Jun 2014
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Or something like that. Sometimes change is for the better, and sometimes its for the worse. I don’t know if there’s always a difference. Recently, Kristi and I have seen lots of change; I’d say its for the better, but it’s not...
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Rage, Muse The novels that revisit Greek myths, giving voice to the women who were scorned, wronged, or...
1st Aug 2024
84

Rage, Muse

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Aug 2024
The novels that revisit Greek myths, giving voice to the women who were scorned, wronged, or forgotten The post Rage, Muse appeared first on The American Scholar.
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Gary Snyder on How to Unbreak the World "What we’d hope for on the planet is creativity and sanity, conviviality, the real work of our hands...
1st Feb 2025
63

Gary Snyder on How to Unbreak the World

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Feb 2025
"What we’d hope for on the planet is creativity and sanity, conviviality, the real work of our hands and minds."
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Love's Executioner (book) Countertransference applies to regular conversation.
1st Dec 2024
50

Love's Executioner (book)

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Dec 2024
Countertransference applies to regular conversation.
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How to avoid breaking APIs The main trick is to design them with extension in mind so that you won't have to break them later.
16th Mar 2023
27

How to avoid breaking APIs

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

16th Mar 2023
The main trick is to design them with extension in mind so that you won't have to break them later.
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Productivity YouTubers
1st Jul 2022
1

Productivity YouTubers

from Ben Borgers [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jul 2022
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'All He'd Read and Learned' Eccentricity in books is a tricky quality. It can be charming and inspire lifelong devotion. Take...
1st Aug 2026
2

'All He'd Read and Learned'

from Anecdotal Evidence [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Aug 2026
Eccentricity in books is a tricky quality. It can be charming and inspire lifelong devotion. Take Robert Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy, a book I discovered in my freshman year. I redundantly keep three copies on the shelves nearest my desk. Tristram Shandy is another...
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Let Cities Build Utopia—new drop! My deep dive on the future of cities is now available as a print pamphlet, digital pamphlet, and...
10th Feb 2026
1

Let Cities Build Utopia—new drop!

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

10th Feb 2026
My deep dive on the future of cities is now available as a print pamphlet, digital pamphlet, and audio essay.
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Redefining Success It’s been pretty quiet around here lately. It’s been almost a month since my last entry. I thought...
6th Nov 2013
22

Redefining Success

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

6th Nov 2013
It’s been pretty quiet around here lately. It’s been almost a month since my last entry. I thought about writing something here almost every day, but here is why I didn’t: I want to produce “content” that is helpful and relevant to those who might read it. I felt like nothing I...
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Your visions for the next Renaissance From our May writing prompt.
1st Aug 2024
85

Your visions for the next Renaissance

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Aug 2024
From our May writing prompt.
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Stealing is a Skill I’m slowly developing my own list of advice: have a creative mindset, embrace radical transparency,...
24th Jun 2026
1

Stealing is a Skill

from ben-mini [alt+shift+b] in literature

24th Jun 2026
I’m slowly developing my own list of advice: have a creative mindset, embrace radical transparency, and write down what makes you happy. I’d like to add one more to the list: stealing is a skill! Stealing is good for the soul. If done well, you will be able to build value at...
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'The Things Which Make a Life of Ease' R.L. Barth, our finest living epigrammist (admittedly, not a vast job description), has sent me his...
1st Jun 2025
38

'The Things Which Make a Life of Ease'

from Anecdotal Evidence [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jun 2025
R.L. Barth, our finest living epigrammist (admittedly, not a vast job description), has sent me his translation of a well-known epigram by Martial, the Roman master of the pithy form. Bob found it among his papers and doesn’t remember making it. “[T]ranslating something [Ben]...
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The morning of graduation
21st May 2025
1

The morning of graduation

from Ben Borgers [alt+shift+b] in literature

21st May 2025
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Easy Questions, Part 1: Introduction Easy Questions, Part 1: Introduction What if our stories explore questions not because those...
20th Mar 2024
29

Easy Questions, Part 1: Introduction

from Steven Scrawls [alt+shift+b] in literature

20th Mar 2024
Easy Questions, Part 1: Introduction What if our stories explore questions not because those questions are interesting, but because those questions are easier to respond to than the alternatives? Trope: The Chosen One What’s the shallow, wish-fulfillment version of...
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The Abstraction Gap Bridging the design-development gap as AI rises. There’s a frustrating gap in how development...
1st May 2025
30

The Abstraction Gap

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st May 2025
Bridging the design-development gap as AI rises. There’s a frustrating gap in how development projects present themselves. What looks straightforward on GitHub — ‘just run this command!’ — quickly spirals into an odyssey of sudo permissions, package managers, and missing...
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Carl Linnaeus’s Flower Clock “The eternal problem of the human being is how to structure his waking hours,” the Canadian...
2nd Apr 2025
56

Carl Linnaeus’s Flower Clock

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Apr 2025
“The eternal problem of the human being is how to structure his waking hours,” the Canadian psychiatrist Eric Berne observed in his 1964 classic Games People Play. Four centuries earlier, Galileo had both combated and complicated the problem by inventing timekeeping and with it,...
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Sanding UI One of the ways I like to do development is to build something, click around a ton, make tweaks,...
3rd Sep 2024
86

Sanding UI

from Jim Nielsen’s Blog [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Sep 2024
One of the ways I like to do development is to build something, click around a ton, make tweaks, click around more, more tweaks, more clicks, etc., until I finally consider it done. The clicking around a ton is the important part. If it’s a page transition, that means going back...
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Modus Operandi My operating rules and way of living. This is a m.o. (mo) page, or modus operandi page. It lists out...
14th Apr 2025
62

Modus Operandi

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Apr 2025
My operating rules and way of living. This is a m.o. (mo) page, or modus operandi page. It lists out the way I approach my life and the rules I apply to it to thrive. This is a living document and will be added to as more comes to mind, or as I develop new ones. It is mirrored at...
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Act a Fool, or: Motion vs. Action If you’ve started reading this article, but have only two minutes, don’t read what I’m writing. Go...
16th Mar 2014
23

Act a Fool, or: Motion vs. Action

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

16th Mar 2014
If you’ve started reading this article, but have only two minutes, don’t read what I’m writing. Go read this article by James clear. It’s called “ The Mistake Smart People Make: Being In Motion vs. Taking Action”. I’ve linked it a third time here. Go read it. James starts with...
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On Friction warning. self-indulgeant diatribe coming. I generally try to avoid these, but it’s my website, and I...
20th Dec 2017
22

On Friction

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

20th Dec 2017
warning. self-indulgeant diatribe coming. I generally try to avoid these, but it’s my website, and I can write what I want. We’re rapidly approaching the end of the year, and I’ve got a few dozen ideas rolling around my head that I want to solidify my thoughts on. One of the...
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"Sometimes God, sometimes nothing" Once I imagined a novel in which everything seen throughout the day by a single person is reported...
18th Jul 2026
2

"Sometimes God, sometimes nothing"

from This Space [alt+shift+b] in literature

18th Jul 2026
Once I imagined a novel in which everything seen throughout the day by a single person is reported in detail. I was a teenager in my first job and began by using company paper to describe the scrub on the slopes beside a motorway as seen from a car. I never got any further. No...
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Interfaces for logical migrations This post explains how you can use interfaces to make data model and database migrations easier.
4th Aug 2023
23

Interfaces for logical migrations

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Aug 2023
This post explains how you can use interfaces to make data model and database migrations easier.
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Why Your Belayer is Keeping You from Climbing Hard(er) Since climbing regularly again (!!!), I’ve observed lots of belaying in the gym. I can’t walk up to...
1st Oct 2014
25

Why Your Belayer is Keeping You from Climbing Hard(er)

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Oct 2014
Since climbing regularly again (!!!), I’ve observed lots of belaying in the gym. I can’t walk up to a stranger and say “Excuse me, sir, I noticed that your poor belaying is totally crippling your climber’s ability to try hard, and actively eliminating any hope you had of...
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“The Fig Tree” by Ruth Stone Poems read aloud, beautifully The post “The Fig Tree” by Ruth Stone appeared first on The American...
1st Jul 2025
31

“The Fig Tree” by Ruth Stone

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jul 2025
Poems read aloud, beautifully The post “The Fig Tree” by Ruth Stone appeared first on The American Scholar.
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The Power Broker, Chapter 30: Robert Moses and Mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri Note from Josh: The following is an excerpt of chapter 34 of the Power Broker, called “Moses and the...
5th Aug 2023
24

The Power Broker, Chapter 30: Robert Moses and Mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Aug 2023
Note from Josh: The following is an excerpt of chapter 34 of the Power Broker, called “Moses and the Mayors”. The chapter is about Moses’ relationship with all of the mayors of NYC that overlapped with Moses’ “rule” over NYC. This excerpt covers just one of the mayors’ overlap...
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2023 Annual Review It’s that time of the year. I often enjoy reading other people’s annual reviews, and I’ve always...
27th Jan 2024
24

2023 Annual Review

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

27th Jan 2024
It’s that time of the year. I often enjoy reading other people’s annual reviews, and I’ve always found value in writing my own, even as there is a few years I’ve missed, since I started the habit way back in 2015. for a long time, I did annual reviews. 2020 was late, and then for...
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Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Living at Resort ‘Small Village’ of Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Alive, Thriving at Caribbean...
8th Aug 2024
39

Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Living at Resort

from Steven Scrawls [alt+shift+b] in literature

8th Aug 2024
‘Small Village’ of Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Alive, Thriving at Caribbean Resort Gabriel Martinez, a 35-year-old confectioner living in the Cayman Islands, thought he was posting a simple promotional photo when he snapped a picture of his ‘cocoa-banana-surprise’ and...
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✏️ Forty Three On March 28th 2021, I turned 43. My second pandemic birthday, I turned 42 shortly after San...
14th Apr 2021
18

✏️ Forty Three

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Apr 2021
On March 28th 2021, I turned 43. My second pandemic birthday, I turned 42 shortly after San Francisco went into lockdown. It feels like a lifetime has passed between now and then, and with a sense of deja vu, like it was yesterday. Except that I wasn't at home, and I was on the...
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It’s Time Gains without measurement. The weight fell off. Literally and figuratively, the device that now...
10th Jan 2026
1

It’s Time

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

10th Jan 2026
Gains without measurement. The weight fell off. Literally and figuratively, the device that now occupies my wrist is simple. It’s much smaller, tells the time, and the date. It requires no battery and is powered by my own kinetic movement, like riding a bicycle. For the past few...
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June trip to the New River Gorge The New River Gorge had beautiful weather this weekend. The forecast for the weekend was, until...
3rd Jul 2013
20

June trip to the New River Gorge

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Jul 2013
The New River Gorge had beautiful weather this weekend. The forecast for the weekend was, until Friday, near-certain thunderstorms. Typical of the New, the weather proved unpredictable, and we had glorious sun the entire trip. I was eager to get out to the New, since my last...
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The TERRAFORM print pamphlet is now available—here's what we earned Plus, join our literary salon discussion this week!
4th Aug 2025
20

The TERRAFORM print pamphlet is now available—here's what we earned

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Aug 2025
Plus, join our literary salon discussion this week!
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Baseline Loss What the days look like now. I buzzed my hair down today. I needed to baseline it. I still have a...
2nd Mar 2026
1

Baseline Loss

from Naz Hamid • Journal [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Mar 2026
What the days look like now. I buzzed my hair down today. I needed to baseline it. I still have a healthy amount of hair, but it’s going. I have a semblance of vanity, but I knew from my father’s own hair loss where mine would eventually head to (hahahaha). I’m not vain enough to...
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We Are the Borg Is the convergence of human and machine really upon us? The post We Are the Borg appeared first on...
3rd Jun 2024
36

We Are the Borg

from The American Scholar [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Jun 2024
Is the convergence of human and machine really upon us? The post We Are the Borg appeared first on The American Scholar.
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Love and the Sacred "I did not know what love was until I encountered one that kept opening and opening and opening."
3rd Jan 2024
89

Love and the Sacred

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Jan 2024
"I did not know what love was until I encountered one that kept opening and opening and opening."
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Monthly Review: November This is my second monthly review, and I’m hooked. I’ve thought this coming review frequently, but I...
1st Dec 2013
23

Monthly Review: November

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Dec 2013
This is my second monthly review, and I’m hooked. I’ve thought this coming review frequently, but I thought about that as I was conducting my month. This proactive review is in line with Viktor Frankl’s admonition to “live every day as if it were your second chance to live it.”...
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Modality Switching Online I hate it when my dad leaves me a voicemail. Whenever I open my phone and see the pending voicemail,...
8th Jun 2024
26

Modality Switching Online

from ben-mini [alt+shift+b] in literature

8th Jun 2024
I hate it when my dad leaves me a voicemail. Whenever I open my phone and see the pending voicemail, I roll my eyes. He tends to meander. My dad’s messages can range from 40 seconds to 2 minutes. He typically wants to inform me of something, like an upcoming family event or an...
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Wherever You Are, Stop What You’re Doing Nothing magnifies life — in the proper sense of the word, rooted in the Latin for “to make greater,...
4th Jan 2025
91

Wherever You Are, Stop What You’re Doing

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Jan 2025
Nothing magnifies life — in the proper sense of the word, rooted in the Latin for “to make greater, to glorify” — more than the act of noticing its details, and nothing sanctifies it more: Kneeling to look at a lichen is a devotional act. We bless our own lives by recognizing and...
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Not As Giants Love Not As Giants Love Short story, ~2000 words A week ago, when I asked you if you still loved me, I...
4th Jul 2024
40

Not As Giants Love

from Steven Scrawls [alt+shift+b] in literature

4th Jul 2024
Not As Giants Love Short story, ~2000 words A week ago, when I asked you if you still loved me, I thought the most painful thing you could’ve said was no. I don’t know if you remember, but when you said “Of course I still love you” and asked if I still loved you, I started to...
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Maybe "Now" Is Not the Right Time Recently I deleted a bunch of old notes I had in Evernote. Some of the notes were almost immediately...
19th Jul 2015
25

Maybe "Now" Is Not the Right Time

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

19th Jul 2015
Recently I deleted a bunch of old notes I had in Evernote. Some of the notes were almost immediately unneeded, like old receipts and confirmations.  Much of the rest was notes related to goals (“Checklist to move out of MD Apartment”, “Planning trip to Buenos Aires”) or to...
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Moltbook: After The First Weekend ...
2nd Feb 2026
1

Moltbook: After The First Weekend

from Astral Codex Ten [alt+shift+b] in literature

2nd Feb 2026
...
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✏️ Ernie Is Our Co-Pilot Hello. You’re receiving this long-dormant-now-re-reawakaned newsletter because at some point in the...
25th Sep 2021
17

✏️ Ernie Is Our Co-Pilot

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

25th Sep 2021
Hello. You’re receiving this long-dormant-now-re-reawakaned newsletter because at some point in the past you subscribed. (Thank you, by the way.) Back then, I was writing about some nexus of travels abroad, personal or professional news, and technology-ish topics. There are some...
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Drift Right now it is April 18 and I am walking along the steep coast at the peninsula on the Northeastern...
1st May 2025
30

Drift

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st May 2025
Right now it is April 18 and I am walking along the steep coast at the peninsula on the Northeastern corner of our island.
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Morning ritual + reading recommendations
1st Feb 2024
45

Morning ritual

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Feb 2024
+ reading recommendations
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Self-help for cocoons and what's on my mind
7th Mar 2024
46

Self-help for cocoons

from Escaping Flatland [alt+shift+b] in literature

7th Mar 2024
and what's on my mind
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Migrating my Jekyll site to Netlify Troubleshooting Netilify deploy Ugggh I moved intermediateruby.com to Netlify a few months ago in...
26th Sep 2021
23

Migrating my Jekyll site to Netlify

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

26th Sep 2021
Troubleshooting Netilify deploy Ugggh I moved intermediateruby.com to Netlify a few months ago in like 10 minutes, so my primary site, josh.works, should take maybe 20, right? I’m a few hours deep. Here’s what I get when Netlify tries to build: I should have done the following...
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Mondragon as the new City-State This cooperative could be its own country.
3rd Sep 2024
92

Mondragon as the new City-State

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Sep 2024
This cooperative could be its own country.
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'I Can't Quite Recall Your Name' My first high-school reunion was postponed for a year by the COVID-19 lockdown. We met in 2021 for...
1st Feb 2025
30

'I Can't Quite Recall Your Name'

from Anecdotal Evidence [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Feb 2025
My first high-school reunion was postponed for a year by the COVID-19 lockdown. We met in 2021 for the fifty-first at a supper club on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland. Lake Erie was a hundred yards to the north and when conversation lagged, I could watch the ore boats moving down...
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It's obvious why we hate social media We need better internet platforms. We're already building them.
1st Apr 2026
1

It's obvious why we hate social media

from The Elysian [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Apr 2026
We need better internet platforms. We're already building them.
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John Quincy Adams on Impostor Syndrome and the True Measure of Success “You will never get any more out of life than you expect,” Bruce Lee wrote to himself. All...
3rd Jun 2024
99

John Quincy Adams on Impostor Syndrome and the True Measure of Success

from The Marginalian [alt+shift+b] in literature

3rd Jun 2024
“You will never get any more out of life than you expect,” Bruce Lee wrote to himself. All expectation is a story of the possible. Every person lives inside a story of who they are, what they are worth, and what is possible for their life, and suffers in proportion to how...
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How Github monopoly is destroying the open source ecosystem How Github monopoly is destroying the open source ecosystem I teach a course called "Open Source...
5th Jan 2026
1

How Github monopoly is destroying the open source ecosystem

from Ploum.net [alt+shift+b] in literature

5th Jan 2026
How Github monopoly is destroying the open source ecosystem I teach a course called "Open Source Strategies" at École Polytechnique de Louvain, part of the University of Louvain. As part of my course, students are required to find an open source project of their choice and make a...
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A fundamental deprivation: Montevideo by Enrique Vila-Matas Perhaps all novels seek to converge on a single point.  The thought occurred to me as I read...
16th Apr 2026
1

A fundamental deprivation: Montevideo by Enrique Vila-Matas

from This Space [alt+shift+b] in literature

16th Apr 2026
Perhaps all novels seek to converge on a single point.  The thought occurred to me as I read Vila-Matas' Montevideo, translated by Sophie Hughes and Annie McDermott. A random thought, apparently, but also the kind of thought provoked by the passion of observation, anecdote and...
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Winter break project list [2024]
21st Dec 2024
1

Winter break project list [2024]

from Ben Borgers [alt+shift+b] in literature

21st Dec 2024
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H5N1: Much More Than You Wanted To Know Don't give your true love a partridge, turtledoves, or (especially) French hens
1st Jan 2025
48

H5N1: Much More Than You Wanted To Know

from Astral Codex Ten [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jan 2025
Don't give your true love a partridge, turtledoves, or (especially) French hens
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Gratitude 3x/day Earlier this year, I read The Miracle Morning, which promises (paraphrasing here): If you do these...
1st Jun 2016
21

Gratitude 3x/day

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jun 2016
Earlier this year, I read The Miracle Morning, which promises (paraphrasing here): If you do these seven things every morning you’ll be the most amazing person you’ve ever met. OK, it’s not exactly that bold, but it’s not far off. It wasn’t a terrible book, it had lots of good...
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2020 Annual Review please note: i’m publishing this far after it was drafted, which was in January 2021. It’s being...
27th Jun 2022
26

2020 Annual Review

from Josh Thompson [alt+shift+b] in literature

27th Jun 2022
please note: i’m publishing this far after it was drafted, which was in January 2021. It’s being published in June 2022 - I’m trying to back-fill ‘annual reviews’, I never finished this one or published it, until now. Is it even possible to mention a 2020 review without somehow...
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✏️ Road to Mesa Good morning, light. I awoke early this morning, perched on a mesa cliff-side, surrounded by low...
18th Jul 2022
21

✏️ Road to Mesa

from Naz Hamid — Journal + Links [alt+shift+b] in literature

18th Jul 2022
Good morning, light. I awoke early this morning, perched on a mesa cliff-side, surrounded by low foliage, cow patties galore, and a few skeletons and carcasses of younger cattle that couldn’t survive the path of migration that was next to our camp. Everyone else was still mildly...
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