the late review
love's bad infinity
tristan und isolde - in theory and at the met
24th Mar 2026
tristan und isolde - in theory and at the met
Steven Scrawls
Sunday Scrawl #2: Mimicry
Sunday Scrawl #2: Mimicry
The knock comes at 3:31 AM, the metal bunker door reverberating with
two...
7th Dec 2025
Sunday Scrawl #2: Mimicry
The knock comes at 3:31 AM, the metal bunker door reverberating with
two sharp raps, and I shake myself from slumber and check the
monitor.
Tammi’s face. But then, it’s always Tammi’s face. I unmute the
connection.
“The summer after graduation,” I say....
Josh Thompson
Back in the saddle (of writing)
Background
It’s been a hell of a year. I’ve got about 10,000 things I’ve wanted to write about, and...
26th Apr 2022
Background
It’s been a hell of a year. I’ve got about 10,000 things I’ve wanted to write about, and have not gotten around to any of them. Here’s my various top-level reasons for not writing:
what I want to write about feels too complicated to express easily/coherently
I feel...
Josh Thompson
Driven by Compression Progress
Note from author: This is part of an experimental series, more-or-less based on “white papers” and...
18th Feb 2021
Note from author: This is part of an experimental series, more-or-less based on “white papers” and academic literature, as applied to somewhat practical-ish domains.
These pages serve as a brief overview of a paper, and I’ll be able to link to this paper down the road when I what...
Escaping Flatland
Take a part of the world that you love and give it your care
Edward Weston, Armco Steel, Ohio, 1922
1st Apr 2025
Edward Weston, Armco Steel, Ohio, 1922
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...
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...
ben-mini
Things to be Happy About & Perfect Software
Happy to share a new project: Things to be Happy About - things.ben-mini.com. It’s a daily blog...
27th Dec 2025
Happy to share a new project: Things to be Happy About - things.ben-mini.com. It’s a daily blog where I simply write five things to be happy about.
Back in college, I had a tiny whiteboard outside my dorm where I did the same exercise. I also brought it to my cabin as a camp...
Ben Borgers
AI is an impediment to learning web development
21st Jul 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...
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...
Escaping Flatland
A measuring device that tells me what is interesting
+ links
2nd Oct 2024
the late review
reclaiming the wälsungs
part of a body of work on Wagner's Ring cycle
14th Dec 2024
part of a body of work on Wagner's Ring cycle
Escaping Flatland
Thoughts on agency
If anyone is in the mood for a video call, I would like to get a few of you together on Saturday at...
12th Jun 2024
If anyone is in the mood for a video call, I would like to get a few of you together on Saturday at 6 pm CET (9 am PST). Like last time, I’ll prepare a few questions (probably relating to today’s post since that is top of mind) but mostly we’ll just talk about whatever comes up....
Josh Thompson
Pry Tips and Tricks
the following is cross-posted from development.wombatsecurity.com. I wrote about some handy extra...
7th May 2018
the following is cross-posted from development.wombatsecurity.com. I wrote about some handy extra features I’ve found using Pry much of my day.
I joined the Wombat team a few months ago, and have been working on the threatsim product. We had a bit of a bug backlog, and myself and...
Idle Words
Protests and Power
In August 2020, the New York Times asked me to write an op-ed for a special feature on...
4th Oct 2020
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.
When the George Floyd protests began to spread nationally in the summer of 2020, I...
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!
Escaping Flatland
Being creative requires taking risks
When children learn to draw, they tend to make more and more interesting images for several years...
7th Jan 2026
When children learn to draw, they tend to make more and more interesting images for several years until around age five, when they learn to be boring.
Escaping Flatland
On mentors
What is it that motivates someone to take on someone and help them grow? Why do some learners have...
8th Nov 2023
What is it that motivates someone to take on someone and help them grow? Why do some learners have that privilege?
Ben Borgers
Winter break project list
19th Dec 2023
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Grantland
Day 22: Oct 1, 2023
—
As we suspect, the weather reports prove wildly inaccurate. At 8,000 feet,...
1st Oct 2023
Day 22: Oct 1, 2023
—
As we suspect, the weather reports prove wildly inaccurate. At 8,000 feet, we’re subject to alpine weather rules. Meaning, isolated storms can cycle in at anytime, and they do. Lightning flashes, thunder cracks. We sleep in fits and starts. I remove the...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Now Reopen for Business
California re-opened on Tuesday and literally overnight, it feels like everything changed. And it...
17th Jun 2021
California re-opened on Tuesday and literally overnight, it feels like everything changed. And it has. The streets are busy again, clear voices can be heard all over, and people are emerging from their cocoons at their pace.
It feels like whiplash: going from riding with one...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Midlife Malaise
The past few days have felt heavy. In a weird headspace, floating in the middle of space between a...
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...
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...
Ben Borgers
Trip to Germany, spring 2024
26th May 2024
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...
Ploum.net
Qucocoma Philippe Samyn ?
Qucocoma Philippe Samyn ?
J’apprends avec tristesse le décès de l’architecte Philippe Samyn, un...
1st Jun 2026
Qucocoma Philippe Samyn ?
J’apprends avec tristesse le décès de l’architecte Philippe Samyn, un esprit incroyable aux idées fulgurantes avec qui j’ai eu de longues et passionnantes discussions.
Philippe Samyn - Wikipédia (fr.wikipedia.org)
Car l’architecture était pour lui une...
Anecdotal Evidence
'Either Very Gravely Gay or Very Gaily Grave'
“Lend me—lend me some
disguise; / I will tell prodigious lies; / All who care for what I say /...
1st Apr 2026
“Lend me—lend me some
disguise; / I will tell prodigious lies; / All who care for what I say / Shall
be April Fools to-day!”
This sounds like our understanding
of April Fools’ Day as kids. Low-cost, nothing elaborate, just walk up behind a
guy and scream “Your pants are on...
Naz Hamid • Journal
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
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...
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...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Boy Meets Girl
At the request of my much loyal readership (I’m looking at you Lacey), the story of how I came to be...
26th Oct 2004
At the request of my much loyal readership (I’m looking at you Lacey), the story of how I came to be with girl seems to be of interest. I know, I know. I disappear for a bit from writing and then I return smitten, enamoured and very much exploring a journey I’m quite glad to be...
Escaping Flatland
Self-help for cocoons
and what's on my mind
7th Mar 2024
Ploum.net
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
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...
Josh Thompson
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
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...
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...
The Marginalian
From the Labor Camp to the Pantheon of Literature: How Dostoyevsky Became a Writer
"I have nothing, except for certain, and perhaps very minor, literary abilities."
1st Sep 2024
"I have nothing, except for certain, and perhaps very minor, literary abilities."
Josh Thompson
Mythical Creatures: Refactoring wizard.rb
Preparing for Turing Series Index
What follows is an eight-part series that will help you pick up...
25th Jan 2020
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...
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...
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,...
sbensu
Notes on UX and LLM integrations
I analyze 8 apps (ChatGPT, Notion, Perplexity, etc.) that use or integrate LLM and try to break down...
1st Jan 2024
I analyze 8 apps (ChatGPT, Notion, Perplexity, etc.) that use or integrate LLM and try to break down when and why they work well, or poorly.
Ben Borgers
Stickies: Spatial note-taking
2nd Apr 2023
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...
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...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Grandstand Grant
This year: more people in photos. And more people in photos in landscapes. Cherish the times with...
19th May 2023
This year: more people in photos. And more people in photos in landscapes. Cherish the times with friends in special places. Here, Grant in Death Valley.
Read on nazhamid.com or Reply via email
This Space
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
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...
Naz Hamid • Journal
Million-Mile Tech
Durability is the ultimate feature.
I wrote in October last year that I wouldn’t upgrade my iPhone...
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....
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...
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...
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...
The Marginalian
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
"I did not know what love was until I encountered one that kept opening and opening and opening."
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...
Robert Caro
‘The Power Broker’ Is Finally Getting a Digital Edition. What Took So Long?
Caro’s mammoth study of the urban planner Robert Moses is coming out as an e-book on the 50th...
25th Mar 2025
Caro’s mammoth study of the urban planner Robert Moses is coming out as an e-book on the 50th anniversary of the biography’s publication.
Escaping Flatland
Morning ritual
+ reading recommendations
1st Feb 2024
+ reading recommendations
Wuthering...
What I Read in September 2025 – A hand that taught what might be said in rhyme
My writing on Christopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great
plays has been hampered by an apparent...
7th Oct 2025
My writing on Christopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great
plays has been hampered by an apparent post-France short circuit in my ability
to write. So I will put up some easier
posts to remind myself how to write.
I had two major projects this month, one ongoing, one returned
to...
Anecdotal Evidence
'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
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...
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...
✏️ 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
Hackathon: Let's build a profit-sharing platform for writers
Creatives and developers—join us this Friday!
1st Oct 2025
Creatives and developers—join us this Friday!
Naz Hamid • Journal
Beyond Curiosity
I'm not sure he meant it that way.
We were walking together in the shopping center. The central...
15th Jul 2025
I'm not sure he meant it that way.
We were walking together in the shopping center. The central escalators made you loop around on the floor on the short side to proceed to the next set. As we neared the ground floor, headed to the food court sub-level, my father posited a...
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.
This Space
The intimate outside
When this post from Max Cairnduff appeared I had been reading Heidegger's lectures on Hölderlin's...
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...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
🔗 Eva Decker
Eva Decker is a designer engineer who likes playing piano and writing CSS. Currently living in NYC...
6th Aug 2024
Eva Decker is a designer engineer who likes playing piano and writing CSS. Currently living in NYC with Samwise.
— Eva Decker
Visit original link → or View on nazhamid.com →
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,...
Steven Scrawls
I want to love fiction
I want to love fiction
I want to love fiction.
I want to love both reading and writing fiction. I...
14th Apr 2024
I want to love fiction
I want to love fiction.
I want to love both reading and writing fiction. I want to obsess
over the craft of fiction, to pore over characterization and structure,
to create stories that radiate color and humanity and hope.
I want fiction to be a tool for...
Escaping Flatland
People are too big to fit inside our heads
Notes on relationships, conversation, Dostoevsky, and Bakhtin
2nd Jun 2026
Notes on relationships, conversation, Dostoevsky, and Bakhtin
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[ESSAYS] The Seventh Year of Running my Membership Program
Hello there. I’m Craig Mod. And we just entered Year Eight of my SPECIAL PROJECTS membership...
4th Feb 2026
Hello there. I’m Craig Mod. And we just entered Year Eight of my SPECIAL PROJECTS membership program. Time passes, things get done. Here we are with seven giant years under our belt. Seven of the biggest years of my life, by far. Much of it, thanks to this membership program....
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.
Idle Words
Why Not Mars
For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot...
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...
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.
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Forty Three
On March 28th 2021, I turned 43. My second pandemic birthday, I turned 42 shortly after San...
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...
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[RIDGELINE] Kazunori Hamana in Apartamento
Ridgeline subscribers —
Man, it was fun talking with Kazunori Hamana back in January. He’s lived a...
12th Jul 2026
Ridgeline subscribers —
Man, it was fun talking with Kazunori Hamana back in January. He’s lived a bizarre life, seemingly one without a roadmap, though I suspect his laid-back, subtly-goatee’d vibes belie a cunning streak. He was welcoming and rough-edged in a disarming way. He...
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Ploum.net
Is Pixelfed sawing off the branch that the Fediverse is sitting on?
Is Pixelfed sawing off the branch that the Fediverse is sitting on?
In January 2025, I became aware...
4th Dec 2025
Is Pixelfed sawing off the branch that the Fediverse is sitting on?
In January 2025, I became aware that there was a real problem with Pixelfed, the "Instagram inspired Fediverse client". The problem is threatening the whole Fediverse. As Pixelfed received a lot of media...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ 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
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...
Josh Thompson
On Cleaner Controllers
A few days ago, I worked on a project that was mostly about serving up basic store data (modeled...
9th May 2017
A few days ago, I worked on a project that was mostly about serving up basic store data (modeled after Etsy) to an API.
We had a few dozen end-points, and all responses were in JSON.
Most of the action happened inside of our controllers, and as you might imagine, our routes.rb...
Wuthering...
Anthony Powell's style and sensibility - Life is full of internal dramas, instantaneous and...
Nicholas Jenkins – I did not register his name at all for
the entire first novel, but I know it now...
22nd May 2025
Nicholas Jenkins – I did not register his name at all for
the entire first novel, but I know it now – goes to school, gets a job in
publishing, writes a novel, gets a girlfriend, gets a job as a script writer, splits
with the girlfriend, and writes another novel or two, none of...
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[RODEN] Oooohhh Summer, How Much Risk Is a Useful Amount of Risk?
Roden Readers —
There is sweat and then there is s-w-e-a-t and the out-of-doorsness in Japan is...
4th Aug 2026
Roden Readers —
There is sweat and then there is s-w-e-a-t and the out-of-doorsness in Japan is presently a natural machine that produces nothing but sweat and sweat and sweat and swelter. Dryness has been eradicated. Fire is impossible to start. Blowtorch any single thing and it...
Blog -...
Book Review - Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant
In the book Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant, author Roland Lazenby
meticulously shares the...
29th Mar 2020
In the book Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant, author Roland Lazenby
meticulously shares the journey of Kobe Bryant, from ancestral influences
up through his final game in the NBA. He is a clear fan of Kobe’s
inarguable work ethic, but he allows readers to reinforce their...
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
a week ago
If something feels wrong, it is useful to articulate very precisely why that is
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...
The Marginalian
Consciousness, Artificial Intelligence, and Our Search for Meaning: Oliver Sacks on ChatGPT, 30...
"We are not incoherent, a bundle of sensations, but a self, rising from experience, continually...
2nd May 2023
"We are not incoherent, a bundle of sensations, but a self, rising from experience, continually growing and revised... Through experience, education, art, and life, we teach our brains to become unique. We learn to be individuals. This is a neurological learning as well as a...
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
Astral Codex Ten
The Colors Of Her Coat
...
1st Apr 2025
ben-mini
What’s Preventing Us from Building a Beautiful Product?
I just finished listening to Lenny’s conversation with Nan Yu, Head of Product at Linear, about what...
5th Feb 2025
I just finished listening to Lenny’s conversation with Nan Yu, Head of Product at Linear, about what it takes to build a great SaaS product.
Like many SaaS apps, the Kibu team and I have taken inspiration from Linear. But as we plan our roadmap and implement new solutions, I ask...
The Marginalian
The Souls of Animals
“They do not sweat and whine about their condition,” Walt Whitman wrote of the other animals, “they...
1st Mar 2025
“They do not sweat and whine about their condition,” Walt Whitman wrote of the other animals, “they do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, they do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning...
Anecdotal Evidence
'But to Divert a Fierce Banditti'
The English poet William
Cowper (1731-1800) suffered his first attack of mental illness – today we...
1st Dec 2025
The English poet William
Cowper (1731-1800) suffered his first attack of mental illness – today we would
likely call it profound depression – at age thirty-two. Before then, while
studying law in the Temple, Cowper dined every Thursday with friends at the
Nonsense Club. He and a...
Naz Hamid • Journal
It’s Time
Gains without measurement.
The weight fell off. Literally and figuratively, the device that now...
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...
Josh Thompson
Quotes from 'Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving', by Pete Walker
I’ve found Pete Walker’s Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving to be deeply helpful.
Some of you,...
11th Aug 2022
I’ve found Pete Walker’s Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving to be deeply helpful.
Some of you, many of you, have blessed me and cared for me in kind ways, sometimes with very little knowledge of what was going on, or why I was the way that I was. Thank you. I’ve been...
The American Scholar
Sticking With It
A sobering chronicle of our toxic times
The post Sticking With It appeared first on The American...
2nd Jun 2025
A sobering chronicle of our toxic times
The post Sticking With It appeared first on The American Scholar.
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'...
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.
Josh Thompson
About Roundabouts
I’m desperately trying to work through a giant back-log of writings. Please see write it now for...
5th Mar 2022
I’m desperately trying to work through a giant back-log of writings. Please see write it now for more. I’m spending only a few minutes on this, forgive my errors.
Of late, I’ve had a lot of conversations about roundabouts. I’m basically trying to explain the ways that a mobility...
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...
The American Scholar
Natale Adgnot
Country couture
The post Natale Adgnot appeared first on The American Scholar.
3rd Nov 2025
Country couture
The post Natale Adgnot appeared first on The American Scholar.
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 Write A Letter of Recommendation for Yourself
I meet regularly with early-career software developers. A few recurring meetings, 1x/week, plus...
6th Aug 2020
I meet regularly with early-career software developers. A few recurring meetings, 1x/week, plus ad-hoc calls as needed with others.
A question came up recently:
My three-month internship is close to wrapping up. The Co-founder/CEO/lead developer of the consulting company I’m at...
the late review
obligatory one month without social media on my phone substack essay (contrarian edition)
it didn't change my life
27th Jul 2026
Idle Words
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
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...
Ben Borgers
An underbaked GPT-Codex-5.3-Spark review
14th Feb 2026
Ploum.net
Offpunk 3.0 "A Community is Born" Release
Offpunk 3.0 "A Community is Born" Release
For the last four years, I’ve been developing Offpunk, a...
9th Feb 2026
Offpunk 3.0 "A Community is Born" Release
For the last four years, I’ve been developing Offpunk, a command-line Web, Gemini, and Gopher browser that allows you to work offline. And I’ve just released version 3.0. It is probably not for everyone, but I use it every single day. I...
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
On Friction
warning. self-indulgeant diatribe coming. I generally try to avoid these, but it’s my website, and I...
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...
The Perry Bible...
Bubbled
The post Bubbled appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
1st Mar 2025
The post Bubbled appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
Blog -...
Book Review - Shots from the Hip
In the fields of Taoism, herbalism, and Chinese culture, Daniel Reid is a
legendary author who has...
18th Jul 2021
In the fields of Taoism, herbalism, and Chinese culture, Daniel Reid is a
legendary author who has written books that have changed the course of
lives. His most recent publication is a two-book memoir entitled Shots from
the Hip, a colourful account of his many exotic...
sbensu
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
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!
Wuthering...
Marlowe's restless Doctor Faustus - I’ll burn my books!
In Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus the great
scholar sells his soul to the devil in exchange...
8th Dec 2025
In Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus the great
scholar sells his soul to the devil in exchange for twenty-four years of power
and knowledge. After learning and doing
everything he wants he spends Acts III and IV playing an increasingly stupid
series of pranks on anyone and...
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.
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...
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...
This Space
On the Calculation of Volume 1 by Solvej Balle
The premise of this multi-volume novel is simple: a modern-day French woman called Tara finds...
9th Jun 2025
The premise of this multi-volume novel is simple: a modern-day French woman called Tara finds herself stuck inside the eighteenth day of a November. The nineteenth never appears. On the 121st iteration of the same day she begins to write by describing the sounds made by her...
Astral Codex Ten
Chip Off The Old Block
...
1st Jul 2026
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...
the late review
this is the late review
a casual blog of late reviews
21st Jul 2024
a casual blog of late reviews
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...
Josh Thompson
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
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...
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.
Ploum.net
La conjuration de la fierté ignorante
La conjuration de la fierté ignorante
Les scientifiques, les vulgarisateurs, les professeurs...
2nd Dec 2024
La conjuration de la fierté ignorante
Les scientifiques, les vulgarisateurs, les professeurs consacrent leur vie à lutter contre l’ignorance. Mais l’ignorance n’est pas vraiment le problème. Ce qui est dangereux c’est lorsqu’elle se camoufle. Lorsqu’elle se transforme en...
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...
The Marginalian
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
“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...
Robert Caro
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
A special Senate committee has opened an investigation into these “Misery Acres” that take dollars from people who cannot afford it.
the late review
my enemy, the leitmotif
a missive
28th Jan 2026
the late review
some thoughts on siegfried
a very normal essay somewhat about wagner's ring cycle
3rd Jan 2025
a very normal essay somewhat about wagner's ring cycle
Naz Hamid — Journal...
🔗 Rick Rubin on Listening
If it’s music you’re listening to, consider closing your eyes. You may find yourself getting lost in...
15th Jul 2024
If it’s music you’re listening to, consider closing your eyes. You may find yourself getting lost in the experience. When the piece ends, you might be surprised by where you find yourself. You’ve been transported to another place. The place where the music lives.
— Rick...
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.
The Elysian
Humanity from the perspective of robots
Talking points for our literary salon next week.
1st May 2024
Talking points for our literary salon next week.
ribbonfarm
Intellectual Menopause
I ran across the alarming phrase intellectual menopause a few months ago in John Gall’s...
16th Aug 2024
I ran across the alarming phrase intellectual menopause a few months ago in John Gall’s Systemantics, and it naturally stuck in my brain given I’m pushing 50 and getting predictably angsty about it. The phrase conjures up visions of a phenomenon much more profound and unfunny...
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...
This Space
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
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...
Escaping Flatland
Relationships are coevolutionary loops
Looking for Alice, part 3
31st Oct 2023
Looking for Alice, part 3
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
Content but Restless
There is tension between being content with what you have, and striving for more.
We have all heard...
3rd Sep 2013
There is tension between being content with what you have, and striving for more.
We have all heard the “serenity prayer”:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
This prayer is...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
sbensu
Hiring from Big Tech
Some brief notes about the subject
30th Mar 2024
Some brief notes about the subject
The American Scholar
Hold the Salt
Reconsidering an ancient city's bad reputation
The post Hold the Salt appeared first on The American...
1st Dec 2025
Reconsidering an ancient city's bad reputation
The post Hold the Salt appeared first on The American Scholar.
ribbonfarm
There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm
I’m a little late to the party, but I just finished the wonderfully imaginative There Is No...
3rd May 2024
I’m a little late to the party, but I just finished the wonderfully imaginative There Is No Antimemetics Division (2020) by qntm. The premise is that our world is full of things with antimemetic properties. An antimeme is “an idea with self-censoring properties; an idea which, by...
sbensu
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
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"?
Salish Wolf
#94 Jay St. Charles on Project Quiver
Jay St. Charles is a legendary bowyer based in Fall City, Washington. While
he was born into the...
a week ago
Jay St. Charles is a legendary bowyer based in Fall City, Washington. While
he was born into the world of archery and grew up in his father’s archery
shop, Jay eventually became a master bowyer, carving bows under the brand
of Pacific Yew Longbows. He lives on a small...
Ben Borgers
New in Superadmin: styling, images, rich text
23rd Nov 2022
Astral Codex Ten
Moltbook: After The First Weekend
...
2nd Feb 2026
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
Things that connect us to ourselves, and things that don't
+ recommendations
6th Feb 2026
sbensu
Risk-takers decide faster
Unsurprising connection between risk and speed.
5th Nov 2024
Unsurprising connection between risk and speed.
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ 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
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...
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Josh Thompson
Denver Botanic Gardens - What, How, Why
I recently got access to a delightful amenity, based on where I live. I’ve been sharing it with...
2nd Jun 2024
I recently got access to a delightful amenity, based on where I live. I’ve been sharing it with others as quickly as possible, because they too have access to it.
From here on out, when I reference “botanic gardens” or “the gardens”, I’m referencing the Denver Botanic Gardens,...
The American Scholar
Medina de Rioseco
The post Medina de Rioseco appeared first on The American Scholar.
1st Jul 2026
The post Medina de Rioseco appeared first on The American Scholar.
The Elysian
Let's read the Terra Ignota series together
Our summer reading is Ada Palmer's feat of utopian worldbuilding.
3rd Jul 2024
Our summer reading is Ada Palmer's feat of utopian worldbuilding.
The Marginalian
Youth and Age: Kahlil Gibran on the Art of Becoming
A roadmap to the fulfilled belonging on the other side of "the great aloneness which knows not what...
4th Apr 2023
A roadmap to the fulfilled belonging on the other side of "the great aloneness which knows not what is far and what is near, nor what is small nor great."
the late review
against the fleeing to europe industrial complex
a brief polemic
18th May 2025
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Borrego Boogie
Almost a year ago, Jen and I headed south to Bishop, then a run through Death Valley, an obnoxiously...
8th Mar 2023
Almost a year ago, Jen and I headed south to Bishop, then a run through Death Valley, an obnoxiously windy night in Alabama Hills, and then reset in San Diego before a good run and a few nights in Anza-Borrego desert.
It's remarkable that a place this wild and surprisingly...
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...
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...
Astral Codex Ten
Model City Monday 2/3/25
Things fall apart
3rd Feb 2025
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.
The Marginalian
The Feather Detective: How Roxie Laybourne Pioneered Forensic Ornithology
You wouldn’t know it, looking at the tiny elderly woman in the white lab coat bent over a table in a...
1st Oct 2025
You wouldn’t know it, looking at the tiny elderly woman in the white lab coat bent over a table in a halogen-lit government office, you wouldn’t know she had spent her youth doing science with her whole body: extracting herself from a deadly mudflat with stubbornness and applied...
Steven Scrawls
Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Living at Resort
‘Small
Village’ of Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Alive, Thriving at
Caribbean...
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...
Escaping Flatland
How I write essays
Notes on process
4th Dec 2024
Josh Thompson
POODR Notes: Acquiring Behavior Through Inheritance (Chapter 6)
I’m reading through Practical Object Oriented Design in Ruby .
These are some notes from chapter 6,...
28th Nov 2019
I’m reading through Practical Object Oriented Design in Ruby .
These are some notes from chapter 6, Acquiring Behavior Through Inheritance; mostly these are for me, and they don’t intend to stand on their own. Read the book, work through chapter six, and then come back and read...
Escaping Flatland
Almost everyone I’ve met would be well-served thinking more about what to focus on
Including me
3rd Jan 2024
The Marginalian
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
An antidote to the civilizational compulsions that rob human nature of nature.
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...
Josh Thompson
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
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....
The Elysian
My TEDx talk about the future of fiction
And publishing.
16th Jun 2024
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 American Scholar
Good Vibrations
One eccentric’s desert landmark allows visitors to bathe in sound
The post Good Vibrations appeared...
15th Apr 2024
One eccentric’s desert landmark allows visitors to bathe in sound
The post Good Vibrations appeared first on The American Scholar.
Ploum.net
Un manifeste Offpunk
Un manifeste Offpunk
Ce texte est une traduction en français du Offpunk Manifesto rédigé par Arlon...
3rd Aug 2026
Un manifeste Offpunk
Ce texte est une traduction en français du Offpunk Manifesto rédigé par Arlon de Serra Grande et que j’ai co-signé
An Offpunk Manifesto (English version)
Versão em português
La révolution ne sera pas numérique
Alors que l’hyperconnexion apparait comme le...
Ploum.net
Une vie sans notifications
Une vie sans notifications
Переведено на русский Wandering Thinker
Avertissement : Cet article...
2nd Sep 2025
Une vie sans notifications
Переведено на русский Wandering Thinker
Avertissement : Cet article parle de mon expérience avec le Mudita Kompakt, mais, n’étant pas lié à cette firme, je ne répondrai à aucune question concernant cet appareil ni le Hisense A5. Tout ce que j’ai à dire...
This Space
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
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...
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...
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.
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 =...
Josh Thompson
Continuos Glucose Monitors (part 2)
About a year ago, I wrote this post about continuous glucose monitors, that’s sorta ‘part 1’ of...
12th Mar 2026
About a year ago, I wrote this post about continuous glucose monitors, that’s sorta ‘part 1’ of these two parts.
Since then, and parallel to this most recent time with the sensor, I’ve encountered improvements to the ecosystem. The sensor technology is way better, as is the...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ 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
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...
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[RIDGELINE] Walk and Talk — The Portuguese Costal Camino
Ridgeline subscribers —
We were lucky. Maybe the luckiest group walking the Portuguese costal...
14th Apr 2026
Ridgeline subscribers —
We were lucky. Maybe the luckiest group walking the Portuguese costal Camino. (Certainly the second luckiest.) All the things conspired in our favor: The weather, the food, the quality of the path (lots of great seaside boardwalk walking for miles and...
Anecdotal Evidence
'Poor Naked Wretches, Whereso’er You Are'
Aleksander Wat (1900-67)
was a Polish poet and one-time Communist hounded and imprisoned by Nazis...
1st May 2025
Aleksander Wat (1900-67)
was a Polish poet and one-time Communist hounded and imprisoned by Nazis and
Soviets alike. In 1964 while visiting California, he recorded lengthy
conversations with fellow poet and Pole Czesław Miłosz. The transcripts were
translated by Richard Lourie...
The Elysian
Another step toward becoming reader-owned media
A bunch of business updates and a request for your feedback.
7th Jul 2026
A bunch of business updates and a request for your feedback.
Anecdotal Evidence
'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
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...
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.
ben-mini
Platform or Point Solution?
A while back, I wrote a post titled “What is a Platform?”. I defined what a platform is and why tech...
8th Mar 2025
A while back, I wrote a post titled “What is a Platform?”. I defined what a platform is and why tech companies are so determined to become labeled as one. My definition of a platform is a tool that allows users to define and build their own things, which can be used by other...
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...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Follow vs. Block
In the beginning, you followed someone to see their content in your feed.
Now, you block someone to...
2nd Jan 2024
In the beginning, you followed someone to see their content in your feed.
Now, you block someone to remove them from your feed.
That’s the price of an endless algorithmic feed designed to keep you in-app or on-platform, entertained, and eventually (if not already) monetized.
A...
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...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ 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
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...
Josh Thompson
The Violence of God and the Hermeneutics of Paul
Sometimes I (Josh) want to share around certain academic works. Sometimes its a PDF that I want...
8th Aug 2021
Sometimes I (Josh) want to share around certain academic works. Sometimes its a PDF that I want someone to download and read, sometimes it’s text from a book I’ve read, and cannot otherwise get a sharable format of. So, I laboriously take photos of pages, use an optical character...
ribbonfarm
Bangalore Meetup Report
Did a ribbonfarm meetup in Bangalore last night, the first ever in India. Thanks to Abhishek Agarwal...
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...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Music is Memory
Stone Temple Pilots’ “Kitchenware & Candybars” comes on, and suddenly I'm 17 again, driving...
3rd Sep 2024
Stone Temple Pilots’ “Kitchenware & Candybars” comes on, and suddenly I'm 17 again, driving underneath the amber glow of late-night deserted streets in Kuala Lumpur. I can feel the sharp air conditioning in the car against my skin, keeping the tropical heat and humidity outside...
Josh Thompson
Relational Antipatterns
Introduction
This list of relational anti-patterns started as a draft of a written list in a small...
12th May 2025
Introduction
This list of relational anti-patterns started as a draft of a written list in a small notebook I carry with me most of the time.
Eventually, I was jotting down notes for both this this particular list and the list on the piece on sadness and grief, and there is...
Josh Thompson
HTTParty and to_json
I was having some trouble debugging an HTTParty POST request.
A few tools that were useful to...
12th Mar 2019
I was having some trouble debugging an HTTParty POST request.
A few tools that were useful to me:
post DEBUG info to STDOUT
netcat to listen to HTTP requests locally
I had this code:
options = {
headers: {
"Content-Type": "application/json",
authorization: "Bearer...
The Perry Bible...
Hacked
The post Hacked appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
5th Apr 2024
The post Hacked appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
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