Blog -...
Book Review - Owning Your Own Shadow
The shadow of the human psyche cannot be overlooked in a thorough
exploration of personal...
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...
ben-mini
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
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...
Josh Thompson
Array divergence in Ruby
Lets say you have a list of valid items, and you want to run another array against it, and pull out...
2nd Feb 2018
Lets say you have a list of valid items, and you want to run another array against it, and pull out the items that don’t match.
You don’t want to iterate through all of the items in one array, calling other_array.include?(item). (That’s computationally expensive)
valid_people =...
Naz Hamid • Journal
Real Wood
AI makes particle board.
As a child, woodworking was part of my school’s curriculum. One of our...
20th Apr 2026
AI makes particle board.
As a child, woodworking was part of my school’s curriculum. One of our projects was making a simple sailboat, with the kind of shape and blockiness of those wood toys you see for little kids. From a solid block, we chiseled out the center cavity where the...
Escaping Flatland
Drift
Right now it is April 18 and I am walking along the steep coast at the peninsula on the Northeastern...
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.
Wuthering...
What I Read in June 2026 – I don’t know, that’s all words, never wake, all words, there’s nothing...
Oh right, I can pretend I am writing something. Some notes on books I read in the distant...
22nd Jul 2026
Oh right, I can pretend I am writing something. Some notes on books I read in the distant past.
NOT SHAKESPEARE
The Dutch Courtesan (1604), John Marston – Discussed long ago.
Poems (1594-1612), George Chapman – A superb,
innovative poet, somehow an Ovidian and an...
Wuthering...
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
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,...
Naz Hamid • Journal
Craft Is Not Culture
A time, a place, and humans.
Let’s take a moment to consider the font, Instrument Serif. Created by...
24th May 2026
A time, a place, and humans.
Let’s take a moment to consider the font, Instrument Serif. Created by the Portland-based design agency Instrument for their own use — along with Instrument Sans — they open-sourced it on GitHub, where it made its way to Google Fonts, in a generous...
The Marginalian
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
"What we’d hope for on the planet is creativity and sanity, conviviality, the real work of our hands and minds."
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Mirrored Malaysia
After almost three years apart due to the pandemic, we were heartwarmingly reunited with my family...
14th Sep 2022
After almost three years apart due to the pandemic, we were heartwarmingly reunited with my family in August of 2022. It was an intense and dense ten days, spending almost all waking hours together: talking, eating, and watching the time go by as fast as it would arrive. I...
Wuthering...
What I Read in July 2025 - books are quiet and unobtrusive, and do not try to hustle the reader
In general, however, he [Louis XVI] preferred writing down his thoughts
instead of uttering them by...
8th Aug 2025
In general, however, he [Louis XVI] preferred writing down his thoughts
instead of uttering them by word of mouth; and he was fond of reading, for
books are quiet and unobtrusive, and do not try to hustle the reader. (Stefan
Zweig, Marie Antoinette, 1932, p. 77 of the 1933...
Anecdotal Evidence
'A Book That Everybody Can Understand'
A partner at the Houston
law firm where my youngest son is working as an intern this summer has...
1st Aug 2025
A partner at the Houston
law firm where my youngest son is working as an intern this summer has loaned
him two nineteenth-century law books. Both were compiled by John G. Wells
(1821-80) and were bestsellers in their day, long before the practice of law
was fully...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Notes at 45
As I sit squarely in my mid-40s, I’ve gained valuable perspectives, learnings, and understandings....
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,...
The Elysian
Yes, Taylor Swift is just as genius as Mary Shelley
The video from our live event.
3rd Oct 2024
The video from our live event.
Josh Thompson
Aggregate and deduplicate your deprecation warnings in Rails
We know we all stay on the cutting edge of Rails; no one, and I mean no one out there is making a...
3rd Oct 2019
We know we all stay on the cutting edge of Rails; no one, and I mean no one out there is making a 4.2 -> 5.2 upgrade because Rails 4.2 is no longer supported.
You, dear reader, have just suddenly found an interest in resolving deprecation warnings, and as one jumps a few Rails...
Escaping Flatland
Some remarks on being stuck, with digressions on David Hockney, developing style, and gardens
If something feels wrong, it is useful to articulate very precisely why that is
6 days ago
If something feels wrong, it is useful to articulate very precisely why that is
sbensu
APIs as ladders
APIs are hard to learn. If you think about the learning curve of your API, you can design one that...
24th Jan 2022
APIs are hard to learn. If you think about the learning curve of your API, you can design one that works for beginners, novices, and experts.
Blog -...
Welcome to Anchor Point Blog
I am starting this blog for one primary reason: my belief that
self-discovery does not have to be...
17th Nov 2019
I am starting this blog for one primary reason: my belief that
self-discovery does not have to be a solo journey. Through this blog men
can connect to resources that will help to enhance their personal
development. Many of these resources have deeply impacted my growth, and...
Escaping Flatland
Almost everyone I’ve met would be well-served thinking more about what to focus on
Including me
3rd Jan 2024
Naz Hamid • Journal
SF Zine Fest 2026
The antithesis of slop.
It's been a few years since I'd attended the SF Zine Fest. Friend Scott Boms...
a week ago
The antithesis of slop.
It's been a few years since I'd attended the SF Zine Fest. Friend Scott Boms had a table with his Matter Editions wares, and it's a 10-minute walk from home, so Jen and I had to go.
Held at The Hibernia, it was a treat to actually go into this historic...
Steven Scrawls
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
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...
Josh Thompson
Movies I went out of my way to watch
Introduction
I’ve long liked to accrue certain lists of things I like within certain categories. to...
22nd Oct 2025
Introduction
I’ve long liked to accrue certain lists of things I like within certain categories. to list appreciable books invites a similar list for movies and movie-like things.
It feels strange to list all of these movies like this, in some ways, especially the first two...
Josh Thompson
On Money (again)
Recently I posted
thoughts about money I’d written from back in 2013.
Money is hard to write about,...
18th Feb 2016
Recently I posted
thoughts about money I’d written from back in 2013.
Money is hard to write about, because there are many different ways we can approach it. It’s easy to feel judged when someone does something with their money that I don’t do with mine.
That all said, there...
the late review
whatever it takes
on monomania
17th Feb 2026
Naz Hamid • Journal
Quality, Maintenance & Craft
We are shokunin.
Last week I was in Ojai, California, for True’s Founder Camp.[1] James Freeman,...
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...
The Perry Bible...
The Message
The post The Message appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
3rd Nov 2025
The post The Message appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
Josh Thompson
Turing Prep Chapter 4: Arrays, Hashes, and Nested Collections
Preparing for Turing Series Index
What follows is an eight-part series that will help you pick up...
9th Jun 2019
Preparing for Turing Series Index
What follows is an eight-part series that will help you pick up useful information about a number of topics related to Ruby, specifically geared for students learning the Ruby programming language, as part of the Turing School’s Backend Software...
sbensu
Creative kernels
Artists can often trace entire pieces around one idea that drives everything else.
1st Jul 2024
Artists can often trace entire pieces around one idea that drives everything else.
Naz Hamid — Journal...
🔗 Do you miss Twitter?
Twitter remained fun for a bit after that, but it became harder to ignore that there was a dark...
3rd Jun 2024
Twitter remained fun for a bit after that, but it became harder to ignore that there was a dark cloud emerging. And that for people that didn’t look like me, that cloud might’ve always been there.
— Mike Monteiro
Visit original link → or View on nazhamid.com →
Josh Thompson
Anarchy (or, less provocatively, Mutuality and Co-Creation)
In 2017, I read The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the...
3rd May 2024
In 2017, I read The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey; everything and nothing changed.
Lots changed because all of I sudden, I could clearly label a dynamic that had always irked me. I could see that some people would avoid...
sbensu
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
The main trick is to design them with extension in mind so that you won't have to break them later.
Ben Borgers
Don’t standardize your company’s coding agents yet
10th Nov 2025
Escaping Flatland
Relationships are coevolutionary loops
Looking for Alice, part 3
31st Oct 2023
Looking for Alice, part 3
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[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
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...
The Marginalian
Octavia Butler on Religion and the Spirituality of Symbiosis
"On many levels, we wind up being strengthened by what we join, or what joins us, as well as by what...
2nd Nov 2023
"On many levels, we wind up being strengthened by what we join, or what joins us, as well as by what we combat."
The Marginalian
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
"Neither the whole of truth nor the whole of good is revealed to any single observer."
Anecdotal Evidence
'Superintending What He Cannot Regulate'
In my family we can’t get
away from the “Y” chromosome. Having children is known as “going to the...
1st Jul 2025
In my family we can’t get
away from the “Y” chromosome. Having children is known as “going to the Y.” I
have three sons, no daughters, and my brother, who died last summer, was my
sole sibling. My mother had five brothers, no sisters. My father, two brothers,
no sisters, etc....
Josh Thompson
Playing Pranks
My wife played a brilliant prank on me today, as she does every year. Here’s a partial...
1st Apr 2014
My wife played a brilliant prank on me today, as she does every year. Here’s a partial list:
Convincing me that I was about to eat a slice of carrot cake; it was a sponge covered with toothpaste. I bit into it.
Convincing me that she had, in anger and frustration, cut off almost...
The Marginalian
Carl Linnaeus’s Flower Clock
“The eternal problem of the human being is how to structure his waking hours,” the Canadian...
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,...
Wuthering...
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
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...
sbensu
The Perfectionists (book)
A great book that covers the ideas and people behind modern industry.
1st Aug 2024
A great book that covers the ideas and people behind modern industry.
Josh Thompson
Accomplishments and Achievements
We’re encouraged to accomplish and achieve, yes? From birth, we pass milestones. Generally these...
2nd Jul 2014
We’re encouraged to accomplish and achieve, yes? From birth, we pass milestones. Generally these milestones grow in complexity as we add to our abilities - it’s been a while since I’ve been rewarded for not wetting myself - but they are usually on par with our abilities.
For...
Josh Thompson
How to fly… like a boss
I am in a quest to
level up my life. Free flights is a big part of this. I’ve not gotten too many...
7th Oct 2013
I am in a quest to
level up my life. Free flights is a big part of this. I’ve not gotten too many of those yet, but the next best thing is free seat upgrades. I’m not talking about first class - that’s beyond me, at the moment. I’m talking about getting stuck in the back of the...
The American Scholar
“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
Poems read aloud, beautifully
The post “The Fig Tree” by Ruth Stone appeared first on The American Scholar.
Josh Thompson
Sidekiq and Background Jobs for Beginners
I’ve recently had to learn more about background jobs (using Sidekiq, specifically) for some bugs I...
30th Jul 2018
I’ve recently had to learn more about background jobs (using Sidekiq, specifically) for some bugs I was working on.
I learned a lot. Much of it was extremely basic. Anyone who knows much at all about Sidekiq will say “oh, duh, of course that’s true”, but at the time, it wasn’t...
Wuthering...
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
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...
Wuthering...
Ralph Roister Doister, among the first regular English comedies - Then to our recorder with...
Ralph Roister Doister (written c. 1550, published 1567)
once had the distinction of being the first...
2nd Sep 2025
Ralph Roister Doister (written c. 1550, published 1567)
once had the distinction of being the first comedy in English. Please see this 1911 edition of the play
calling it “the first regular English comedy.”
I do not know what 19th century critics meant by “regular” but this...
Ben Borgers
Make sure your university events are actually interesting
1st Mar 2025
The Elysian
Your visions for the next Renaissance
From our May writing prompt.
1st Aug 2024
From our May writing prompt.
Josh Thompson
Blood Flow Restriction with Tyler
old draft, publishing, needs polish.
Me: Sport climber, decade+, of and on a few different times...
16th Feb 2019
old draft, publishing, needs polish.
Me: Sport climber, decade+, of and on a few different times over the years.
Educate myself, train as effectively and safely as I can. I’m 30, and wanna hit some significant climbing goals by 40, and a big part of that is getting stronger,...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ The Dark is Dubious
We find ourselves sitting by a heated pool in autumn temperatures at 7,200 feet. Santa Fe has been...
1st Oct 2021
We find ourselves sitting by a heated pool in autumn temperatures at 7,200 feet. Santa Fe has been home for two nights, where we luxuriated in a king-size bed with our own pillows (we don’t leave home without them).
How We Got Here
Since the last missive, we parted ways with...
The Elysian
My TEDx talk about the future of fiction
And publishing.
16th Jun 2024
Anecdotal Evidence
'Those Little Cracklings of Mirth and Folly'
Who is being described and
who is doing the describing:
“His prose is the model of
the middle style;...
1st May 2026
Who is being described and
who is doing the describing:
“His prose is the model of
the middle style; on grave subjects not formal, on light occasions not
grovelling; pure without scrupulosity, and exact without apparent elaboration;
always equable, and always easy, without...
Josh Thompson
Limitations of My Own Thinking
I sometimes make recommendations, or at least recount a story that has “actionable insights”....
5th Nov 2015
I sometimes make recommendations, or at least recount a story that has “actionable insights”. Anytime this happens, I start tripping over myself with warnings and qualifying statements.
Here’s what would happen:
I would make a recommendation (“start a side project to help get a...
The American Scholar
New Year, Old Year
The post New Year, Old Year appeared first on The American Scholar.
1st Jan 2025
The post New Year, Old Year appeared first on The American Scholar.
This Space
39 Books: 2023
This is the 39th and final post of this series. As the introduction explains, I began seeking a...
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...
Ploum.net
Pas de médaille pour les résistants
Pas de médaille pour les résistants
Si vous voulez changer le monde, il faut entrer en résistance....
26th Aug 2025
Pas de médaille pour les résistants
Si vous voulez changer le monde, il faut entrer en résistance. Il faut accepter d’agir et de se taire. Il faut accepter de perdre du confort, des opportunités, des relations. Et il ne faut espérer aucune récompense, aucune reconnaissance.
Un...
Anecdotal Evidence
At the Bookstore
I work hard to resist sentimental impulses and
indulgence in nostalgia. Ours is a sentimental age,...
1st Sep 2025
I work hard to resist sentimental impulses and
indulgence in nostalgia. Ours is a sentimental age, and at the same time an
angry, unforgiving age. One strain of sentimentality especially prevalent among
the aging is a rueful, self-pitying lament for what no longer exists....
Ben Borgers
Thursday, January 13, 2022
13th Jan 2022
This Space
Left on the Shelf
My old and very good friend Mark Thwaite has taken over at the Left on the Shelf bookshop, so if...
7th Feb 2026
My old and very good friend Mark Thwaite has taken over at the Left on the Shelf bookshop, so if you're at all interested in any of the subjects listed in the poster below, please consider subscribing to his newsletter, checking out the listings on Abebooks, and the offers on...
Escaping Flatland
How I write essays
Notes on process
4th Dec 2024
The Elysian
The TERRAFORM print pamphlet is now available—here's what we earned
Plus, join our literary salon discussion this week!
4th Aug 2025
Plus, join our literary salon discussion this week!
Josh Thompson
On Leaving Evangelicalism And Opposing It
Content warning & summary
This paper talks about ethics, ethical behavior, violence, abuse,...
18th May 2023
Content warning & summary
This paper talks about ethics, ethical behavior, violence, abuse, complicency, domination and oppression. It’s a condimnation of evangelicalism, but not, necessarily, any particular evangelical. There are those within evangelicalism who are ethical,...
Josh Thompson
Gratitude 3x/day
Earlier this year, I read
The Miracle Morning, which promises (paraphrasing here):
If you do these...
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...
The Marginalian
Blink Twice to Quell a Quasar: Carl Sagan on Superstition
Growing up in Bulgaria, in a city teeming in stray dogs and cars, I was deeply distressed by the...
4th Aug 2025
Growing up in Bulgaria, in a city teeming in stray dogs and cars, I was deeply distressed by the sight of each dead animal in the streets between home and school — deaths I could not prevent and could not bear. To cope with the aching helplessness, I developed a private...
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[RIDGELINE] Full Days and the Long Walk
Ridgeline subscribers —
Hello from the other side of my ~220 kilometer walk through the Kiso...
27th Oct 2025
Ridgeline subscribers —
Hello from the other side of my ~220 kilometer walk through the Kiso Valley.
I sent a shorter version of this newsletter as the last issue of the (the entire walk is) Between Two Mountains pop-up newsletter. This version is quite expanded. The archives of...
ben-mini
Commoditize Your Complements
To the man who coined the phrase, “nothing in life is free”… have you been on GitHub...
16th Aug 2024
To the man who coined the phrase, “nothing in life is free”… have you been on GitHub lately?
Open-source is software that anyone can freely view, use, modify, and share because its code is publicly available on sites like Github and Huggingface. My last coding project alone was...
Ploum.net
I Don’t Have a Smartphone…
I Don’t Have a Smartphone…
…or, at least, I wish I didn’t.
"I don’t have a smartphone," is what I...
2 weeks ago
I Don’t Have a Smartphone…
…or, at least, I wish I didn’t.
"I don’t have a smartphone," is what I tell people and professionals nowadays. This allows me to cut the crap about companies insisting that I install their app or restaurants wishing that I scan a QR code to access their...
The Marginalian
William James on Love
"If it comes, it comes; if it does not come, no process of reasoning can force it. Yet it transforms...
3rd Apr 2024
"If it comes, it comes; if it does not come, no process of reasoning can force it. Yet it transforms the value of the creature loved."
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[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
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...
Anecdotal Evidence
'Leaves Must Be Green in Spring'
The Battle of Malvern Hill
was fought near Richmond, Va., the capital of the Confederacy, on July 1,...
1st Jul 2026
The Battle of Malvern Hill
was fought near Richmond, Va., the capital of the Confederacy, on July 1, 1862.
Not as well remembered as Antietam or Gettysburg, it was the last of the Seven
Days Battles in the Peninsula Campaign, and prompted Confederate General Daniel
H. Hill to...
Blog -...
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
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...
Escaping Flatland
Reading challenging books with kids is fun and probably useful
I was looking through my diary from the summer of 2020 and found this entry about Maud, then three...
2nd Apr 2024
I was looking through my diary from the summer of 2020 and found this entry about Maud, then three years old, in late toddlerhood. 25th of July 2020. I was doing the dishes. Maud came in. “I have looked a little in books,” she said.
the late review
the perils of writing about oneself
some essays about writing essays pt 2
5th Aug 2025
some essays about writing essays pt 2
ribbonfarm
History is More Like Science Fiction Than Fantasy
I’ve been slow-reading Bettany Hughes’ Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities for months now, ever since I...
2nd Apr 2024
I’ve been slow-reading Bettany Hughes’ Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities for months now, ever since I visited the city (on Kindle, so I didn’t realize when I started that it’s 600 pages plus another 250 odd notes). It’s dense and absorbing and I’ll probably do a reflections post...
Josh Thompson
Change your MAC address with a shell script
For a while, I’ve had notes from Change or Spoof a MAC Address in Windows or OS X saved, so if I am...
18th Dec 2019
For a while, I’ve had notes from Change or Spoof a MAC Address in Windows or OS X saved, so if I am using a wifi connection that limits me to thirty minutes or an hour or whatever, I can “spoof” a new MAC address, and when I re-connect to the wifi, the access point thinks I’m on...
Josh Thompson
Isometric Deadlift Holds (for Climbing!)
alternative titles: yielding isometric mid-thigh pin pulls, isometric deadlift 'holds' for fun and...
3rd Apr 2025
alternative titles: yielding isometric mid-thigh pin pulls, isometric deadlift 'holds' for fun and climbing
Introduction
A few months ago, I began some barefoot sprints up a hill at a local park, and discussed also adding heavy kettlebell swings.
My back started feeling great,...
Josh Thompson
On Learning
As a student at Turing, I’ve recently been thinking about learning how to learn, specifically in the...
5th Jun 2017
As a student at Turing, I’ve recently been thinking about learning how to learn, specifically in the context of software development.
I am a bit hyperactive when it comes to trying to learn new things. Over the years, I’ve done plenty of ineffective learning, and at least a...
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Josh Thompson
Upgrade your job
So, apparently I send a lot of email about people trying to get cool jobs. Here’s yet
another email...
30th Oct 2015
So, apparently I send a lot of email about people trying to get cool jobs. Here’s yet
another email I sent to a friend, recorded here.
Hi [redacted],
First I want to highlight is that flexible/remote jobs are
just like normal jobs, but more people want them, so the companies...
Ben Borgers
How I got scammed on Facebook Marketplace
10th Jul 2023
Josh Thompson
"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
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,...
Ploum.net
Goodbye Offpunk, Welcome XKCDpunk!
Goodbye Offpunk, Welcome XKCDpunk!
For the last three years, I’ve been working on Offpunk, a...
1st Apr 2025
Goodbye Offpunk, Welcome XKCDpunk!
For the last three years, I’ve been working on Offpunk, a command-line gemini and web browser.
Offpunk.net
While my initial goal was to browse the Geminisphere offline, the mission has slowly morphed into cleaning and unenshitiffying the modern...
The Elysian
Every country ranked from best to worst
A report card for the whole world.
2nd Sep 2025
A report card for the whole world.
Astral Codex Ten
Book Review: The Rise Of Christianity
...
12th Nov 2024
The Elysian
Idea Labs! An open thread for collaborative worldbuilding
Let's brainstorm the future together.
22nd Mar 2024
Let's brainstorm the future together.
Salish Wolf
Welcome to Salish Wolf Podcast
In this podcast I share with you incredible stories of extraordinary
endeavors that capture the...
2nd Apr 2020
In this podcast I share with you incredible stories of extraordinary
endeavors that capture the magic of the human spirit.
The inspiration for this podcast is a wolf named Takaya who gained global
fame for living alone for nearly a decade on a tiny archipelago in the...
The American Scholar
The Story of Mumbet
Who was the enslaved woman whose burial site at a Berkshires cemetery draws so much reverence and...
2nd Mar 2026
Who was the enslaved woman whose burial site at a Berkshires cemetery draws so much reverence and respect?
The post The Story of Mumbet appeared first on The American Scholar.
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[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
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...
Escaping Flatland
If you're facing a complicated decision, your first job isn't to find a solution, but to understand...
Some housekeeping:
18th Aug 2025
Josh Thompson
Quotes from 'Spare the Child'
Introduction
Here’s quotes from Spare the Child: The Religeous Roots of Punishment and the...
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....
This Space
The end of literature, part five
"Stupid" and "a marketing exercise" were the first two descriptions I saw of the New York Times' 100...
25th Jul 2024
"Stupid" and "a marketing exercise" were the first two descriptions I saw of the New York Times' 100 Best Books of the 21st Century polled from hundreds of "literary luminaries" offering ten choices each, and while it is both of those things, "parochial" is the first word that...
Ploum.net
20 years of Linux on the Desktop (part 4)
20 years of Linux on the Desktop (part 4)
Previously in "20 years of Linux on the Deskop": After...
23rd Jul 2025
20 years of Linux on the Desktop (part 4)
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. In the meantime, mobile computing...
The Elysian
We’ve raised $50,000—now I’m writing a book!
My vision for the future of capitalism has been greenlit. Now let’s make it a reality.
5th May 2025
My vision for the future of capitalism has been greenlit. Now let’s make it a reality.
Steven Scrawls
Easy Questions, Part 2: Delusional Desires in Fiction
Easy
Questions, Part 2: Delusional Desires in Fiction
In Part 1, I examined a few
common tropes in...
6th Jun 2024
Easy
Questions, Part 2: Delusional Desires in Fiction
In Part 1, I examined a few
common tropes in stories and suggested that some stories might explore
certain questions not because those questions are interesting, but
because engaging with those questions allows the story to...
This Space
Invasion of the Universe
I wonder how many of those of us who write exclusively on literature and read only novels, poetry,...
14th May 2026
I wonder how many of those of us who write exclusively on literature and read only novels, poetry, literary criticism and occasionally into related subjects, have an otherwise unaccountable curiosity with another beyond the literary horizon. Many, I imagine. I'm not talking about...
the late review
the gallery of maladies
on long covid, hypochondria, and the forums
6th Nov 2025
on long covid, hypochondria, and the forums
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Ben Borgers
War Room: Expansion features
5th Mar 2023
Josh Thompson
Fred Roger's Method For Writing Scripts
Someone said:
People think this is silly, but read about Fred rogers’ method for writing a script...
30th Sep 2020
Someone said:
People think this is silly, but read about Fred rogers’ method for writing a script for his show. The rules aren’t fully applicable to presentations, but the attention to detail and to the Interpretation of the audience is. Don’t use any words carelessly.
I...
Escaping Flatland
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
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.
Robert Caro
Anatomy of a $9 Burglary
“Anatomy of a $9 Burglary” is among Caro’s best early writing. When police arrested a criminal, all...
1st Apr 2023
“Anatomy of a $9 Burglary” is among Caro’s best early writing. When police arrested a criminal, all signs indicated a simple case of burglar
Ploum.net
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
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...
Josh Thompson
Circles of Influence
I was listening to a podcast today, where they said if you have problems knowing what to write...
5th Mar 2016
I was listening to a podcast today, where they said if you have problems knowing what to write about, or you’ve hit a block, write about something that angers you.
This is easy. I could write about any number of things that we’ve all read in a newspaper, and get good and angry...
Ben Borgers
Every student is cheating with AI
17th Aug 2026
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Josh Thompson
Migrating my Jekyll site to Netlify
Troubleshooting Netilify deploy
Ugggh I moved intermediateruby.com to Netlify a few months ago in...
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...
Ploum.net
Ne venez pas dire que vous n’étiez pas prévenus…
Ne venez pas dire que vous n’étiez pas prévenus…
…c’est juste que vous pensiez ne pas être...
20th Jan 2025
Ne venez pas dire que vous n’étiez pas prévenus…
…c’est juste que vous pensiez ne pas être concernés
Depuis des décennies, je fais partie de ces gens qui tentent d’alerter sur les terrifiantes possibilités qu’offre l’aveuglement technologique dans lequel nous sommes plongés.
Je...
The American Scholar
Inside Man
A young reporter’s devastating exposé of the amoral elite
The post Inside Man appeared first on The...
1st Jun 2026
A young reporter’s devastating exposé of the amoral elite
The post Inside Man appeared first on The American Scholar.
Josh Thompson
Rails Migration: When you can't add a uniqueness constraint because you already have duplicates
I get to occasionally contribute to the Wombat Security dev blog. I wrote the following for...
28th Sep 2018
I get to occasionally contribute to the Wombat Security dev blog. I wrote the following for development.wombatsecurity.com.
This post has been updated to reflect some lessons learned while running this migration in production. Don’t leave a column without an index at any point in...
This Space
The crisis of narration and the future of the novel, part two
Byung-Chul Han says in The Crisis of Narration that modernity "is animated by a belief in progress"...
6th Nov 2025
Byung-Chul Han says in The Crisis of Narration that modernity "is animated by a belief in progress" and its narratives "radiate an aura because the future is a phenomenon of distance". This is evident in our reverence for the monuments of modernism, a reverence formed by wonder...
The Marginalian
The Porcupine Dilemma: Schopenhauer’s Parable about Negotiating the Optimal Distance in Love
This is the supreme challenge of intimacy — how to reconcile the aching yearning for closeness with...
3rd Aug 2023
This is the supreme challenge of intimacy — how to reconcile the aching yearning for closeness with the painful pressures of actually being close, how to forge a bond tight enough to feel the warmth of connection but spacious enough to feel free. Kahlil Gibran knew this when he...
Wuthering...
What I Read in June 2025 - A life of agony was all for naught.
My summer plan was to read, short, easy books, and I almost
succeeded. I read short, difficult...
3rd Jul 2025
My summer plan was to read, short, easy books, and I almost
succeeded. I read short, difficult books
in French, and accidentally read several grim, sad, violent books, alongside some
playful nonsense.
FICTION
The Field of Life and Death (1935), Xiao Hong – For example. Ninety...
Anecdotal Evidence
'Try to Make Something New'
Almost the only thing I
ever write down so I don’t forget it is the grocery list. Sporadically I...
1st Feb 2026
Almost the only thing I
ever write down so I don’t forget it is the grocery list. Sporadically I kept a diary when younger but each time the essential tedium of recording quotidian
events defeated me. I discovered that most of my own life, the practical stuff
that consumes so...
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Escaping Flatland
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
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.
ben-mini
Everything is a Spreadsheet
Revisiting an old 2020 Invest Like the Best podcast that interviews John Collision, co-founder of...
9th Nov 2025
Revisiting an old 2020 Invest Like the Best podcast that interviews John Collision, co-founder of Stripe. When asked about his thoughts on no-code:
I don’t think no-code is fully a panacea. Even when you’re doing no-code, you’re still reasoning about the relations between...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ 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
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...
Anecdotal Evidence
'Shut Not Thy Purse-Strings'
Unlike his friends
Coleridge, Hazlitt, Wordsworth and Hunt, who often made fools of themselves as
a...
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...
Escaping Flatland
Days are enormous
+ personal update and reading recommendations
1st Apr 2026
+ personal update and reading recommendations
Josh Thompson
Streets in Asheville
Quick-and-dirty street analysis in Asheville, NC
A few months ago, I visited Asheville, NC. It’s a...
11th Feb 2017
Quick-and-dirty street analysis in Asheville, NC
A few months ago, I visited Asheville, NC. It’s a nice town, and has a great pedestrian life, as far as I can tell.
As a thought experiment, I decided to see how well I could make the case for reducing the road width of a few...
Naz Hamid • Journal
Write Like a Human
Collaborative writing is rewarding.
In the past few months, I’ve been writing a lot. Not as much...
13th Jul 2026
Collaborative writing is rewarding.
In the past few months, I’ve been writing a lot. Not as much here, but for Aphera. Between our newsletter, blog, direct email feedback, and social media networks, I might spin up a draft and then bounce it off Ryan and Juan, or we volley it...
The Perry Bible...
Artist
The post Artist appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
21st Jan 2026
The post Artist appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
Astral Codex Ten
Chip Off The Old Block
...
1st Jul 2026
Josh Thompson
Book Notes: 'The Case Against Sugar' by Gary Taube
In the last few weeks, I read The Case Against Sugar by Gary Taubes.
I found it to be compelling...
12th Aug 2019
In the last few weeks, I read The Case Against Sugar by Gary Taubes.
I found it to be compelling (more on that in a moment) and I want to be impacted by them. I want the daily decisions that I make to be subtly influenced by this author and these books.
Related but in a different...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ A Second Shot
It sunk in. Both the needle and the fact that life had indeed changed. I turned to my left and...
13th May 2021
It sunk in. Both the needle and the fact that life had indeed changed. I turned to my left and looked at her. She, the same Black woman who had administered the first, and this time I tucked her name away into my memory, having forgotten it in the excitement and overwhelming...
Naz Hamid • Journal
Fade to Blue
Redesigning as a method of interrogation.
Okay, okay, okay. I did it again.
Sometimes you design a...
24th Jun 2026
Redesigning as a method of interrogation.
Okay, okay, okay. I did it again.
Sometimes you design a thing, or redesign it, or evolve it, and you think you're there. But this unsettling feeling sinks in, and you think: “I’m not happy with this. What’s the problem?”
Friggin'...
Ben Borgers
Winter break project list [2024]
21st Dec 2024
The Elysian
It's obvious why we hate social media
We need better internet platforms. We're already building them.
1st Apr 2026
We need better internet platforms. We're already building them.
Josh Thompson
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
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....
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Threaded
I penned a Thot(?!), or rather, a post on Threads, the Twitter clone that Meta released some time...
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°...
Escaping Flatland
How can we rejuvenate the social fabric?
ask_another_guest
8th Jul 2026
Astral Codex Ten
Meetups Everywhere Spring 2026: Times & Places
...
1st Apr 2026
Astral Codex Ten
Model City Monday 2/3/25
Things fall apart
3rd Feb 2025
This Space
An anniversary appeal
On this day last year I began posting every day for 39 days to commemorate 39 years since I began...
23rd Apr 2025
On this day last year I began posting every day for 39 days to commemorate 39 years since I began reading books. I dug out a folder of book lists I'd kept since 1986, chose one book from each year that I'd not written about before and wrote what ever the book suggested to me....
Idle Words
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
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...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ A Simple Sophistication
The weather was beautiful today. A sunny 65 degrees or so. Fresh from a shower, I headed out during...
23rd Mar 2004
The weather was beautiful today. A sunny 65 degrees or so. Fresh from a shower, I headed out during the lunch hour on foot, camera in hand and took a lot of photos during my walk. It took me straight out to the lake, an 8 minute journey. I was surprised to see that they had made...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Pound, rub, pound
It’s something like midnight. A four-and-a-half-pound senior Chihuahua is tucked into her blanket...
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...
The American Scholar
A Messy Mix
The post A Messy Mix appeared first on The American Scholar.
1st May 2024
The post A Messy Mix appeared first on The American Scholar.
The Elysian
Social Development > Self-Development
We need one much more than the other.
1st Jan 2025
We need one much more than the other.
The Marginalian
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
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...
Salish Wolf
#9 Luke Gifford on the Hero’s Journey, Shadow Work, and Childhood Trauma
Occasionally a person enters my life who I know almost instantly is going
to have a profound...
8th Jun 2020
Occasionally a person enters my life who I know almost instantly is going
to have a profound impact on my personal journey. My guest in this episode,
Luke Gifford, is one of those people. From our ‘non-chance’ encounter
almost 2 years ago at a personal growth event, we...
Josh Thompson
Five Days to Inbox Zero: How to Get Control of your Email
Email is a constant in our lives, yet it can be so overwhelming that it becomes almost 100%...
7th Feb 2014
Email is a constant in our lives, yet it can be so overwhelming that it becomes almost 100% ineffective.
I discussed with a friend the other day why they should switch from Yahoo to Gmail, and how to reduce the useless emails they receive. Below is how I suggested they move from...
Wuthering...
The Tragedy of Hoffman by Henry Chettle - The first step to revenge
His father hanged by the neck until dead for the high crime
of piracy, Hoffman vows Revenge! on the...
7th Apr 2026
His father hanged by the neck until dead for the high crime
of piracy, Hoffman vows Revenge! on the duke who executed his father. By chance the duke’s son is shipwrecked exactly
where Hoffman is keeping Hoffman, Sr.’s corpse hanging on the wall of a cave,
so Hoffman tortures and...
The Marginalian
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
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...
ben-mini
Stealing is a Skill
I’m slowly developing my own list of advice: have a creative mindset, embrace radical transparency,...
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...
Salish Wolf
#11 Jen Segger on Adventure Racing, Endurance Coaching, and Pain as an Option
Jen Segger has traveled the globe competing as a world-class adventure
racing athlete. She has,...
2nd Jul 2020
Jen Segger has traveled the globe competing as a world-class adventure
racing athlete. She has, for year after year, for nearly 2 decades, pushed
her body to the extremes of what the human body is capable of enduring. And
now, on the brink of 40, she is showing little sign...
This Space
A measure of forever
For me, fiction is a space of plainness and excess.
Amina Cain
When TS Eliot read...
3rd Mar 2025
For me, fiction is a space of plainness and excess.
Amina Cain
When TS Eliot read Dante for the first time, he noted a discrepancy between his enjoyment and his understanding, leading to the famous claim that "genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood"....
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Josh Thompson
Dizzying but Invisible Depth
The following is from https://plus.google.com/+JeanBaptisteQueru/posts/dfydM2Cnepe, but Google+ is...
16th Jan 2021
The following is from https://plus.google.com/+JeanBaptisteQueru/posts/dfydM2Cnepe, but Google+ is shutdown, so it’s not easily sharable. I’m reposting here because this is such a useful post.
Dizzying but invisible depth
You just went to the Google home page.
Simple, isn’t...
sbensu
High Variance Management
How should you manage a team that is trying to achieve results out of the ordinary?
18th Jan 2023
How should you manage a team that is trying to achieve results out of the ordinary?
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ This Is What We Have To Lose
Yesterday felt defeating with the damning report that our climate has indeed moved unfortunately...
10th Aug 2021
Yesterday felt defeating with the damning report that our climate has indeed moved unfortunately forward into severity and decline. It’s too late for some aspects but not too late to avoid some of the worst aspects.
The fires, the smoke, and the record-high temperatures that...
Anecdotal Evidence
'My Mind Was Not Free From Perturbation'
Dr. Johnson writes in his
diary on January 1, 1774: “This year has past with so little improvement,...
1st Jan 2026
Dr. Johnson writes in his
diary on January 1, 1774: “This year has past with so little improvement, that
I doubt whether I have not [rather] impaired than encreased my Learning.”
It’s customary, of course,
to make resolutions this time of year -- to lose weight or stop drinking...
Josh Thompson
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
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...
sbensu
Default blind
In a software business, it is hard to even know what is going on.
20th Sep 2024
In a software business, it is hard to even know what is going on.
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Liquid Gold
Hi, this is Weightshifting, a newsletter by Naz Hamid and Jen Schuetz, primarily about vehicular...
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...
Steven Scrawls
Doomr
Most of my creations can be contained within an RSS feed; Doomr cannot. You'll want to check the...
14th Feb 2024
Most of my creations can be contained within an RSS feed; Doomr cannot. You'll want to check the website for this one.
The Elysian
Are Democrats too liberal? Or too conservative?
We're asking the wrong questions.
3rd Dec 2024
We're asking the wrong questions.
Naz Hamid • Journal
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
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,...
The Perry Bible...
Big Fish
The post Big Fish appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
3rd Jul 2026
The post Big Fish appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[RODEN] Hark, a Book Appears!
Roden Readers —
Howdy! From the sky! En route to NYC! I’m Craig Mod and this is Roden, a newsletter...
2nd May 2025
Roden Readers —
Howdy! From the sky! En route to NYC! I’m Craig Mod and this is Roden, a newsletter sent via magic tubes.
Since returning from Spain I’ve been in full-bore April Pod Mode, recording a dozen+ interviews and working on a bunch of essays for various publications in...
Escaping Flatland
In praise of insular groups
Last spring, as we were exploring the coastline of our island, Johanna, the kids, and I crossed a...
4th May 2024
Last spring, as we were exploring the coastline of our island, Johanna, the kids, and I crossed a meadow where two men were artificially inseminating a longhaired cow. We stopped to observe the work. When it was done, one of the men came over to where we stood by the electric...
The Elysian
Creating a global safety net without nation-states
A Guest Lecture featuring Sondre Rasch, co-founder and CEO of SafetyWing.
3rd Jun 2025
A Guest Lecture featuring Sondre Rasch, co-founder and CEO of SafetyWing.
The American Scholar
Jane Skafte
The language of trees
The post Jane Skafte appeared first on The American Scholar.
1st Jul 2024
The language of trees
The post Jane Skafte appeared first on The American Scholar.
The American Scholar
“A Bed for Your Voice to Sleep In”
The post “A Bed for Your Voice to Sleep In” appeared first on The American Scholar.
3rd Aug 2026
The post “A Bed for Your Voice to Sleep In” appeared first on The American Scholar.
The Marginalian
God, Human, Animal, Machine: Consciousness and Our Search for Meaning in the Age of Artificial...
An inquiry into the eternal enchantment of why the world exists.
2nd Mar 2023
An inquiry into the eternal enchantment of why the world exists.
This Space
The way of arrival
Two intellectual memoirs dominated my reading over Spring, three if WG Sebald's Silent Catastrophes...
8th Jul 2025
Two intellectual memoirs dominated my reading over Spring, three if WG Sebald's Silent Catastrophes can be included given that its analysis of the careers of various Austrian writers illuminates Sebald's own literary trajectory.1 Peter Brown's Journeys of a Mind: A Life in...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Biblioteca Vasconselos
In the Buenavista neighborhood resides this impressive library that spans 409,000 sq ft, designed by...
2nd Jan 2021
In the Buenavista neighborhood resides this impressive library that spans 409,000 sq ft, designed by Mexican architects Alberto Kalach and Juan Palomar. Adored by those that appreciate architecture, and those looking for Instagram fodder, the space feels like you’re in the...
Escaping Flatland
Self-help for cocoons
and what's on my mind
7th Mar 2024
Wuthering...
What I Read in May 2025 – “There’s the store that’s shaped like a duck,” Franca said.
First, my poor email subscribers missed some of the installments
of my newsletter about Anthony...
2nd Jun 2025
First, my poor email subscribers missed some of the installments
of my newsletter about Anthony Powell.
If this keeps happening I will have to think of something or even do
something. Here they are:
A skippable piece of throat-clearing about the roman
fleuve.
What I think...
Anecdotal Evidence
'Give Thanks for All Things'
“It is the province of
poems to make some order in the world, but poets can’t afford to forget...
1st Mar 2026
“It is the province of
poems to make some order in the world, but poets can’t afford to forget that
there is a reality of things which survives all orders great and small. Things are.
The cow is there. No poetry can have any strength unless it continually bashes
itself against...
Idle Words
Effective Political Giving
With less than two months left before the election, this is an explainer for the politically...
3rd Sep 2020
With less than two months left before the election, this is an explainer for the politically panicked. You're anxious, you feel the need to do something, and you have a little money to spare. Who should you give it to?
My goal here is not to sell you on specific candidates...
The Elysian
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
My deep dive on the future of cities is now available as a print pamphlet, digital pamphlet, and audio essay.
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Blog -...
Book Review - The Surrender Experiment
With the book The Surrender Experiment, author Michael (Mickey) Singer,
gives us a gift. In this...
6th Apr 2020
With the book The Surrender Experiment, author Michael (Mickey) Singer,
gives us a gift. In this eloquently penned biography of his “journey into
life’s perfection”, he demonstrates the beauty that life can provide for us
when we are not solely guided by our logical,...
The Elysian
Even Christopher Nolan prefers 70mm film
With all the technology in the world, sometimes the more beautiful thing is less of it.
4th Aug 2026
With all the technology in the world, sometimes the more beautiful thing is less of it.
Idle Words
The Shape of a Mars Mission
This post is the second in a series. Read part one here.
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20th Feb 2025
This post is the second in a series. Read part one here.
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“From a mathematics and trajectory...
Ploum.net
Quand éclatera la bulle IA…
Quand éclatera la bulle IA…
Comme le souligne Ed Zitron, toute la bulle actuelle est basée sur 7 ou...
1st Nov 2025
Quand éclatera la bulle IA…
Comme le souligne Ed Zitron, toute la bulle actuelle est basée sur 7 ou 8 entreprises qui s’échangent des promesses de s’échanger des milliards d’euros lorsque tous les habitants de la planète dépenseront en moyenne 100€ par mois pour utiliser ChatGPT....
Josh Thompson
Habits, Milestones, and Climbing
Since April 9th, I have spent exactly 70 minutes training for climbing. Prior to April 27th, I have...
1st May 2013
Since April 9th, I have spent exactly 70 minutes training for climbing. Prior to April 27th, I have climbed exactly seven times in the last five months.
I just spent two days at the New River Gorge and exceeded my expectations, considering my almost half-year hiatus from regular...
The Marginalian
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
“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...
The Elysian
I'm crowdfunding my next book advance
And sharing the earnings with readers.
2nd Mar 2025
And sharing the earnings with readers.
Wuthering...
History before Shakespeare - The Famous Victories of Henry V - he hath taken the great raze of...
The establishment in the 1570s of permanent theaters just
outside of the walls of London led to a...
8th Nov 2025
The establishment in the 1570s of permanent theaters just
outside of the walls of London led to a massive increase in the demand for new plays. Every available source of stories was looted. English history proved to be especially popular
or at least easy to adapt to the...
The American Scholar
Rage, Muse
The novels that revisit Greek myths, giving voice to the women who were scorned, wronged, or...
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.
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ 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
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...
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Ben Borgers
Trip to Germany, spring 2024
26th May 2024
ben-mini
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
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...
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[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
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....
Josh Thompson
Load Testing your app with Siege
Last time, I dug into using Apache Benchmark to do performance testing on a page that requires...
2nd Jul 2019
Last time, I dug into using Apache Benchmark to do performance testing on a page that requires authentication to access.
Today, we’ll figure out how to use siege to visit many unique URLs on our page, and to get benchmarks on that process. I’ll next figure out performance...
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