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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
1

History before Shakespeare - The Famous Victories of Henry V - he hath taken the great raze of ginger that Bouncing Bess with the jolly buttocks should have had

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

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...
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Things that connect us to ourselves, and things that don't + recommendations
6th Feb 2026
1

Things that connect us to ourselves, and things that don't

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

6th Feb 2026
+ recommendations
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What I Read in December 2025 – We ain’t gonna eat that. I am not so interested in writing a longer summary of my year in reading, so I will put that...
12th Jan 2026
1

What I Read in December 2025 – We ain’t gonna eat that.

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

12th Jan 2026
I am not so interested in writing a longer summary of my year in reading, so I will put that here.  Finishing the massive The Story of the Stone and reading the monstrous Finnegans Wake (here, continuing, ending) were solid accomplishments in reading, if there are such things. ...
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Open Thread 436 ...
2nd Jun 2026
1

Open Thread 436

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

2nd Jun 2026
...
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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
21

The Feather Detective: How Roxie Laybourne Pioneered Forensic Ornithology

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

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...
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On Not Consuming Animals Or Viewing Them As Exploitable This is such a draft, but I wanted to get it written so I could point to this big compendium of...
3rd Aug 2026
1

On Not Consuming Animals Or Viewing Them As Exploitable

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

3rd Aug 2026
This is such a draft, but I wanted to get it written so I could point to this big compendium of things related to “now I eat/consume plants and not animals”, or “i went vegan recently, here’s some observations”. I ‘went vegan’ a few months ago, as of when I began drafting this...
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Why Your Belayer is Keeping You from Climbing Hard(er) Since climbing regularly again (!!!), I’ve observed lots of belaying in the gym. I can’t walk up to...
1st Oct 2014
25

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

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

1st Oct 2014
Since climbing regularly again (!!!), I’ve observed lots of belaying in the gym. I can’t walk up to a stranger and say “Excuse me, sir, I noticed that your poor belaying is totally crippling your climber’s ability to try hard, and actively eliminating any hope you had of...
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Goodbye, Tufts
1st Jun 2025
1

Goodbye, Tufts

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

1st Jun 2025
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the perils of writing about oneself some essays about writing essays pt 2
5th Aug 2025
1

the perils of writing about oneself

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

5th Aug 2025
some essays about writing essays pt 2
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Twentieth anniversary post On this day in 2004, I posted the first entry on this blog.  In recent years many posts have...
25th Sep 2024
1

Twentieth anniversary post

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

25th Sep 2024
On this day in 2004, I posted the first entry on this blog.  In recent years many posts have reflected on the past and present of literary blogging (it has no future) so I will not go over that waste land again except to wish more had followed the example of This Space. One of...
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Fox and Bear: A Tender Modern Fable About Reversing the Anthropocene, Illustrated in Cut-Cardboard... An antidote to the civilizational compulsions that rob human nature of nature.
1st Jul 2023
55

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

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

1st Jul 2023
An antidote to the civilizational compulsions that rob human nature of nature.
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[RODEN] A new Popup Walk, Lots of Books Roden Readers — Ahoy from Crisptown, population: Everyone in Japan. The summer is done. Thank...
2nd Sep 2025
1

[RODEN] A new Popup Walk, Lots of Books

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

2nd Sep 2025
Roden Readers — Ahoy from Crisptown, population: Everyone in Japan. The summer is done. Thank glorious gods be, the summer is done. (Mostly.) I can feel my brain starting to solidify again, returning to its natural state after three months of relentless broiled liquefaction. In...
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Claude is kicking ChatGPT’s butt (in one thing) Back in high school, I remember receiving an email for a study guide from a friend. Instead of the...
15th Jul 2025
1

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

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

15th Jul 2025
Back in high school, I remember receiving an email for a study guide from a friend. Instead of the PDF coming attached, it was a link to a site called Dropbox. Upon opening the file, you create an account. From there you’re introduced to a feature stack that went well beyond any...
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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
36

There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm

from ribbonfarm [alt+shift+b] in literature

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...
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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
1

20 years of Linux on the Desktop (part 4)

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

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...
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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
1

Movies I went out of my way to watch

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

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...
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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
1

An anniversary appeal

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

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....
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[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
1

[ESSAYS] The Seventh Year of Running my Membership Program

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

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....
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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
42

Book Review - Shots from the Hip

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

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...
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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
27

Easy Questions, Part 2: Delusional Desires in Fiction

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

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...
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What I Read in February 2026 – Mouek mouek mouek… Ma-a-a-a… Ma-aa-a… said Saha I am almost on my way to London.  Some Shakespearian and Not Shakespearian activities are on the...
1st Mar 2026
1

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

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

1st Mar 2026
I am almost on my way to London.  Some Shakespearian and Not Shakespearian activities are on the schedule. My reading, before this trip, was again  very British.   THE WAR OF THE POETS Antonio and Mellida (1599?) & Antonio's Revenge (1600?), John Marston – A remarkable pair of...
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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
28

Fred Roger's Method For Writing Scripts

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

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...
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Content but Restless There is tension between being content with what you have, and striving for more. We have all heard...
3rd Sep 2013
21

Content but Restless

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

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...
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the hairshirt doldrums on having a brain injury
6th Mar 2025
1

the hairshirt doldrums

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

6th Mar 2025
on having a brain injury
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My Taipei Quarantine Part of what brought me to Taiwan was bureaucratic thrill seeking. Few other countries had gone...
26th Apr 2022
29

My Taipei Quarantine

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

26th Apr 2022
Part of what brought me to Taiwan was bureaucratic thrill seeking. Few other countries had gone from “just hop on a plane” to North Korean levels of inaccessibility as fast as Taiwan, and like a cat that paws at a door just because it's closed, I wanted in. The country was...
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Let Me Fix [some of] Your Parking Problems Hi there! I’m Josh, and I’m your local neighborhood advocate for overlooked spaces. Today, we’ll be...
14th Jul 2023
23

Let Me Fix [some of] Your Parking Problems

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

14th Jul 2023
Hi there! I’m Josh, and I’m your local neighborhood advocate for overlooked spaces. Today, we’ll be focusing on parking lots. Your parking lot has a job to do, and every day, every night, rain or shine, hot or cold, clear, rainy, or snowy, your parking lot does the best it can at...
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Stealing is a Skill I’m slowly developing my own list of advice: have a creative mindset, embrace radical transparency,...
24th Jun 2026
1

Stealing is a Skill

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

24th Jun 2026
I’m slowly developing my own list of advice: have a creative mindset, embrace radical transparency, and write down what makes you happy. I’d like to add one more to the list: stealing is a skill! Stealing is good for the soul. If done well, you will be able to build value at...
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love's bad infinity tristan und isolde - in theory and at the met
24th Mar 2026
1

love's bad infinity

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

24th Mar 2026
tristan und isolde - in theory and at the met
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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
1

Quand éclatera la bulle IA…

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

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....
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'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
1

'Either Very Gravely Gay or Very Gaily Grave'

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

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

Lieutenants are the limiting reagent

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

25th Sep 2023
Why don't software companies ship more products? Why do they move more slowly as they grow? What do we mean when we say "this company lacks focus"?
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On Learning As a student at Turing, I’ve recently been thinking about learning how to learn, specifically in the...
5th Jun 2017
20

On Learning

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

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...
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Trip Report: New River Gorge Kristi and I are spending a few weeks in Fayetteville, WV, home of the New River Gorge. There’s...
13th Sep 2015
21

Trip Report: New River Gorge

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

13th Sep 2015
Kristi and I are spending a few weeks in Fayetteville, WV, home of the New River Gorge. There’s fantastic climbing here. I climbed with good friends, and was absolutely humbled by how strong they all are. (My defense, at least for the next few weeks, is that I’ve not climbed...
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A list of books and essays that I love I’m purposefully not looking at my bookshelf to make sure I only pick books that I’ve thought about...
4th Nov 2025
11

A list of books and essays that I love

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

4th Nov 2025
I’m purposefully not looking at my bookshelf to make sure I only pick books that I’ve thought about so much that they immediately occur to me.
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Modular life, meaningful work Highlights from the cutting room floor, pt. 3
5th Feb 2025
50

Modular life, meaningful work

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

5th Feb 2025
Highlights from the cutting room floor, pt. 3
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'Shut Not Thy Purse-Strings' Unlike his friends Coleridge, Hazlitt, Wordsworth and Hunt, who often made fools of themselves as a...
1st Mar 2025
44

'Shut Not Thy Purse-Strings'

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

1st Mar 2025
Unlike his friends Coleridge, Hazlitt, Wordsworth and Hunt, who often made fools of themselves as a result, Charles Lamb had little interest in the momentous events of his day. About “Boney” – Napoleon Bonaparte – he wished only to know the dictator’s height, unlike Hazlitt, who...
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#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...
7th Sep 2026
1

#94 Jay St. Charles on Project Quiver

from Salish Wolf [alt+shift+b] in literature

7th Sep 2026
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...
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New Martian Writing If you've enjoyed my writing about space over the years, I invite you to subscribe to my new...
26th Mar 2026
1

New Martian Writing

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

26th Mar 2026
If you've enjoyed my writing about space over the years, I invite you to subscribe to my new substack newsletter, titled 'Mars for the Rest of Us', where I've been posting weekly essays on topics around Mars exploration. Here are two recent free posts: Musk on Mars: a...
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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
86

In praise of insular groups

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

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...
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obligatory one month without social media on my phone substack essay (contrarian edition) it didn't change my life
27th Jul 2026
1

obligatory one month without social media on my phone substack essay (contrarian edition)

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

27th Jul 2026
it didn't change my life
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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
4

Write Like a Human

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

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...
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2017 In Review & Thoughts on 2018 Note: this “annual review” covers three topics. Click on one to skip to it: Looking back on...
1st Jan 2018
21

2017 In Review & Thoughts on 2018

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

1st Jan 2018
Note: this “annual review” covers three topics. Click on one to skip to it: Looking back on 2017 thoughts on going into 2018 book recommendations from the 79 books I read last year I’ve got mixed feelings on annual reviews. I steadfastly refuse to set New Years’ resolutions, and...
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🔗 Eva Decker Eva Decker is a designer engineer who likes playing piano and writing CSS. Currently living in NYC...
6th Aug 2024
20

🔗 Eva Decker

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

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 →
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Isometric Deadlift Holds (for Climbing!) alternative titles: yielding isometric mid-thigh pin pulls, isometric deadlift 'holds' for fun and...
3rd Apr 2025
36

Isometric Deadlift Holds (for Climbing!)

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

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,...
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On Foraging Mushrooms From the Local Park (Part 2) A time ago, I wrote a thing that felt like stumbling into a delightful discovery: On Foraging...
a week ago
1

On Foraging Mushrooms From the Local Park (Part 2)

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

a week ago
A time ago, I wrote a thing that felt like stumbling into a delightful discovery: On Foraging Mushrooms at Cheesman Park Sometimes I’ll amend a post, with updates from a later time, sometimes it’s easier to just make a separate part 2. Everything continues delightfully with...
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Imagination vs. Creativity I like to make a distinction between imagination and creativity that you may or may not agree with....
14th Jul 2024
45

Imagination vs. Creativity

from ribbonfarm [alt+shift+b] in literature

14th Jul 2024
I like to make a distinction between imagination and creativity that you may or may not agree with. Imagination is the ability to see known possibilities as being reachable from a situation. Creativity is the ability to manufacture new possibilities out of a situation. The two...
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William James on the Most Vital Understanding for Successful Relationships "Neither the whole of truth nor the whole of good is revealed to any single observer."
2nd Jun 2023
107

William James on the Most Vital Understanding for Successful Relationships

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

2nd Jun 2023
"Neither the whole of truth nor the whole of good is revealed to any single observer."
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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
86

From the Labor Camp to the Pantheon of Literature: How Dostoyevsky Became a Writer

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

1st Sep 2024
"I have nothing, except for certain, and perhaps very minor, literary abilities."
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Why Not Mars For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot...
1st Jan 2023
33

Why Not Mars

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

1st Jan 2023
For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled. — Richard Feynman Entrance to underground cavern on Pavonis Mons. HiRISE, 2011 The goal of this essay is to persuade you that we shouldn’t send human...
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Issues related to the city of Golden While I was biking around recently, I saw notes about an upcoming neighborhood meeting about some...
26th Jul 2021
27

Issues related to the city of Golden

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

26th Jul 2021
While I was biking around recently, I saw notes about an upcoming neighborhood meeting about some rezoning, a big lot in downtown Golden. I went to the meeting (Thursday, July 22) and learned a lot. Here’s the lot in question: I have ridden my bike past this property hundreds of...
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Goodbye Offpunk, Welcome XKCDpunk! Goodbye Offpunk, Welcome XKCDpunk! For the last three years, I’ve been working on Offpunk, a...
1st Apr 2025
53

Goodbye Offpunk, Welcome XKCDpunk!

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

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...
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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
37

We’ve raised $50,000—now I’m writing a book!

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

5th May 2025
My vision for the future of capitalism has been greenlit. Now let’s make it a reality.
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Summer 2025
5th Oct 2025
1

Summer 2025

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

5th Oct 2025
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The How and Why of BlockValue I wrote the following post, and built the application in question, in 2017, in my “end of Turing”...
14th Sep 2017
23

The How and Why of BlockValue

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

14th Sep 2017
I wrote the following post, and built the application in question, in 2017, in my “end of Turing” project, before I’d ever been hired as a software developer. I really enjoyed the app that I built, and I keep wanting to get around to cleaning it up and making it work again. Maybe...
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No safe landing A review of A Winter in Zürau and Partita by Gabriel Josipovici   Gabriel Josipovici has said that...
5th Oct 2024
1

No safe landing

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

5th Oct 2024
A review of A Winter in Zürau and Partita by Gabriel Josipovici   Gabriel Josipovici has said that as a critic he is conservative but as a novelist he is radical. The second claim may not be controversial but the first will come as a surprise to those who remember what he said...
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[RIDGELINE] The Shops Atop the Canal in Toyohashi Ridgeline subscribers — Hello from Toyohashi, a city between nowhere and somewhere else. A Tōkaidō...
12th Mar 2026
1

[RIDGELINE] The Shops Atop the Canal in Toyohashi

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

12th Mar 2026
Ridgeline subscribers — Hello from Toyohashi, a city between nowhere and somewhere else. A Tōkaidō city I’ve walked through on my two trips back and forth between Kyoto and Tokyo. A city with a space shuttle on top of a building and the letters USA strangely emblazoned below. On...
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Let him kill a lion with a pestle, husband! - The Knight of the Burning Pestle by Francis Beaumont Innovations in art to tend towards Mannerism.  As a form matures it turns on itself, as creators,...
a week ago
1

Let him kill a lion with a pestle, husband! - The Knight of the Burning Pestle by Francis Beaumont

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

a week ago
Innovations in art to tend towards Mannerism.  As a form matures it turns on itself, as creators, and some portion of the audience, become more interested in the form itself.  So we get more art about art.  The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1607) is young (age 22, 23) Francis...
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We Are the Borg Is the convergence of human and machine really upon us? The post We Are the Borg appeared first on...
3rd Jun 2024
36

We Are the Borg

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

3rd Jun 2024
Is the convergence of human and machine really upon us? The post We Are the Borg appeared first on The American Scholar.
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✏️ Resilience By Design Every morning I read about a situation that pushes us further away from what we've come to know or...
17th Apr 2020
21

✏️ Resilience By Design

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

17th Apr 2020
Every morning I read about a situation that pushes us further away from what we've come to know or expect. With that comes the question of how our evolving reality affects product design, particularly for those who practice it. While some tech companies are seizing opportunities...
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On Fables: Finishing up Antifragile I’m cleaning up some notes I wanted to jot down over the last few weeks Nassim Taleb, in...
9th Jan 2016
21

On Fables: Finishing up Antifragile

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

9th Jan 2016
I’m cleaning up some notes I wanted to jot down over the last few weeks Nassim Taleb, in Antifragile, says: The great economist Ariel Rubinstein gets the green lumber fallacy - it requires a great deal of intellect and honesty to see things that way. Rubinstein refuses to...
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Our AI Midwife A guest post by Drew Housman
3 weeks ago
1

Our AI Midwife

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

3 weeks ago
A guest post by Drew Housman
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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
27

I want to love fiction

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

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...
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The third annual Elysian print volume is here One year of my work, printed for collectors.
9th Dec 2025
2

The third annual Elysian print volume is here

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

9th Dec 2025
One year of my work, printed for collectors.
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just surf
23rd Jul 2026
1

just surf

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

23rd Jul 2026
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Baseline Loss What the days look like now. I buzzed my hair down today. I needed to baseline it. I still have a...
2nd Mar 2026
1

Baseline Loss

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

2nd Mar 2026
What the days look like now. I buzzed my hair down today. I needed to baseline it. I still have a healthy amount of hair, but it’s going. I have a semblance of vanity, but I knew from my father’s own hair loss where mine would eventually head to (hahahaha). I’m not vain enough to...
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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
27

How to fly… like a boss

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

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...
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Blocks recap
31st May 2021
1

Blocks recap

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

31st May 2021
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Language thought-orientation You can tell a lot from somebody based on their speech patterns
27th Jan 2025
31

Language thought-orientation

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

27th Jan 2025
You can tell a lot from somebody based on their speech patterns
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Bollards: Why & What author’s note: it’s always fun to see your own stuff on the Hacker News front page! This very post...
30th Apr 2024
29

Bollards: Why & What

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

30th Apr 2024
author’s note: it’s always fun to see your own stuff on the Hacker News front page! This very post sparked >450 comments worth of conversation! I didn’t even know this got posted until days later! What are bollards The what and the why in a single image: The what and why in a...
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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
1

Ralph Roister Doister, among the first regular English comedies - Then to our recorder with toodleloodle poop

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

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...
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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
28

How To Write A Letter of Recommendation for Yourself

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

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...
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HTTParty and to_json I was having some trouble debugging an HTTParty POST request. A few tools that were useful to...
12th Mar 2019
22

HTTParty and to_json

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

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

Making My SQL Skills Obsolete

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

22nd Dec 2024
Quick Update: I updated my domain to ben-mini.com! All old URLs and the RSS feed under ben-mini.github.io will automatically redirect, so no changes are needed on your end. By far, the most useful LLM app I’ve made is the Kibu Schema God: I try not to make my posts too...
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3blue1brown.elk.sh
1st May 2022
1

3blue1brown.elk.sh

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

1st May 2022
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[RIDGELINE] Walking the Brooklyn Bridge Ridgeline subscribers — Thanks for all the “Yo!“s last week. It looks like transmissions from...
1st Jun 2026
1

[RIDGELINE] Walking the Brooklyn Bridge

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

1st Jun 2026
Ridgeline subscribers — Thanks for all the “Yo!“s last week. It looks like transmissions from mailbot2k are getting through. (Let me know if you see any “rendering errors” in your email clients; I think we fixed the Proton Mail issues.) FYI, because the last issue of Roden ended...
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✏️ The Work Is Never Done I went for a run. I’ve been running consistently for over a year and a half now. It’s a panacea for...
7th Nov 2024
31

✏️ The Work Is Never Done

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

7th Nov 2024
I went for a run. I’ve been running consistently for over a year and a half now. It’s a panacea for me. I run outside. I like to feel the cool wind on my skin, my pores open and sweating, the legs rhythmically turning over in pursuit of flow. In the beginning, I kept my head...
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'Silence Where Hope Was' I’m coming to suspect that nothing is ever irretrievably lost to memory. The other night I dreamed...
1st Oct 2025
15

'Silence Where Hope Was'

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

1st Oct 2025
I’m coming to suspect that nothing is ever irretrievably lost to memory. The other night I dreamed of a schoolmate I hardly knew who died sixty years ago. His name was Randy Peck. He had a twin sister named Mandy. Their names invited jokes, of course, as did their Georgia accents...
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#92 Kevin Hawkins on Project Quiver Kevin Hawkins is a bowyer based in North Carolina and moderator and owner of the Primitive Archer...
27th Aug 2026
1

#92 Kevin Hawkins on Project Quiver

from Salish Wolf [alt+shift+b] in literature

27th Aug 2026
Kevin Hawkins is a bowyer based in North Carolina and moderator and owner of the Primitive Archer Forum. He recently took over the Forum from the founders to preserve the community that has given so much to him as a bowyer and plans to maintain and update it so it can...
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Open Thread 432 ...
4th May 2026
1

Open Thread 432

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

4th May 2026
...
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Publishing my Fall 2022 class notes
5th Jan 2023
1

Publishing my Fall 2022 class notes

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

5th Jan 2023
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Ethan Magnass' sermons from Grace Anglican Church in Grove City, PA I’ve been recommending a collection of sermons to many people recently. I’ve listened to each of...
14th Dec 2020
24

Ethan Magnass' sermons from Grace Anglican Church in Grove City, PA

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

14th Dec 2020
I’ve been recommending a collection of sermons to many people recently. I’ve listened to each of these sermons quite a few times. They’re worth your time. Ethan Magness is the rector at Grace Anglican Church in Grove City, PA. Sermon Series on Joseph Grace Anglican Church podcast...
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Is America about to fall? Or flourish? That depends on us.
4th Nov 2024
59

Is America about to fall? Or flourish?

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

4th Nov 2024
That depends on us.
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✏️ Ernie Is Our Co-Pilot Hello. You’re receiving this long-dormant-now-re-reawakaned newsletter because at some point in the...
25th Sep 2021
17

✏️ Ernie Is Our Co-Pilot

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

25th Sep 2021
Hello. You’re receiving this long-dormant-now-re-reawakaned newsletter because at some point in the past you subscribed. (Thank you, by the way.) Back then, I was writing about some nexus of travels abroad, personal or professional news, and technology-ish topics. There are some...
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On Scooters as a class of vehicle/tool Introduction Often when I say “scooter”, especially in the united states, the person thinks of...
18th Dec 2024
100

On Scooters as a class of vehicle/tool

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

18th Dec 2024
Introduction Often when I say “scooter”, especially in the united states, the person thinks of something different than what I mean. Here’s Denver’s Sportique Scooters, here’s one of their recent posts: So that is the kind of vehicle I’m talking about when I say “scooter”. I...
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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
1

What I Read in July 2025 - books are quiet and unobtrusive, and do not try to hustle the reader

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

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...
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#97 Joe Giago on Project Quiver Joe Giago is skilled bowyer from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and an enrolled member...
3 weeks ago
1

#97 Joe Giago on Project Quiver

from Salish Wolf [alt+shift+b] in literature

3 weeks ago
Joe Giago is skilled bowyer from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and an enrolled member the Oglala Sioux tribe. Joe began his bow-making journey over 15 years ago from the encouragement of an uncle and has been carving beautiful replica Native American bows every...
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Let's All Wear A Mask Let's talk about masks! On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control recommended that every...
5th Apr 2020
19

Let's All Wear A Mask

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

5th Apr 2020
Let's talk about masks! On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control recommended that every American wear a face covering when in public. Masks will be the hot, bold look for summer. The medical evidence for the practice is overwhelming. The post-SARS countries in East...
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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
23

Habits, Milestones, and Climbing

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

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...
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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
20

Streets in Asheville

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

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

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

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

2nd Sep 2026
Now and again, Geiser finds himself wondering what he really wants to know, what he hopes to gain from all this knowledge.  (Man in the Holocene, Max Frisch, tr. Geoffrey Skelton, p. 90) An uncomfortable sentence there. A reminder that I will return to non-Shakespeare plays...
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Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Living at Resort ‘Small Village’ of Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Alive, Thriving at Caribbean...
8th Aug 2024
39

Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Living at Resort

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

8th Aug 2024
‘Small Village’ of Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Alive, Thriving at Caribbean Resort Gabriel Martinez, a 35-year-old confectioner living in the Cayman Islands, thought he was posting a simple promotional photo when he snapped a picture of his ‘cocoa-banana-surprise’ and...
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The Ecstasy of Eternity: Richard Jefferies on Time and Self-Transcendence This is the great paradox: that human life, lived between the time of starlings and the time of...
2nd Mar 2024
53

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

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

2nd Mar 2024
This is the great paradox: that human life, lived between the time of starlings and the time of stars, is made meaningful entirely inside the self, but the self is a mirage of the mind, a figment of cohesion that makes the chaos and transience bearable. A few times a lifetime, if...
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Relationships are coevolutionary loops Looking for Alice, part 3
31st Oct 2023
33

Relationships are coevolutionary loops

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

31st Oct 2023
Looking for Alice, part 3
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The Weeks Percolating on design At the end of every year I start to feel it. 2024 ended on a tumultuous note....
7th Nov 2025
1

The Weeks

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

7th Nov 2025
Percolating on design At the end of every year I start to feel it. 2024 ended on a tumultuous note. I dive into introspection, combing over the last year in search of pattern and meaning. I gathered what I found at the bottom of the ocean floor, coming up for air with the...
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Ethos and imagination Milk Drop Coronet, an ultra-high-speed photograph of the splash of a drop of milk, Harold Edgerton,...
4th Nov 2024
66

Ethos and imagination

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

4th Nov 2024
Milk Drop Coronet, an ultra-high-speed photograph of the splash of a drop of milk, Harold Edgerton, 1957
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Growing in your first software development job I started my first software developer role a year ago. (November 2017) This is tremendously...
28th Nov 2018
23

Growing in your first software development job

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

28th Nov 2018
I started my first software developer role a year ago. (November 2017) This is tremendously exciting, of course, but introduces its own set of challenges, like: I finished Turing and I’ve got a job! Oh snap. I just finished a grueling program, and my reward is I’m fit to sit at...
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Almost anything you give sustained attention to will begin to loop on itself and bloom When people talk about the value of paying attention and slowing down, they often make it sound...
4th Sep 2025
105

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

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

4th Sep 2025
When people talk about the value of paying attention and slowing down, they often make it sound prudish and monk-like. But we shouldn’t forget how interesting and overpoweringly pleasurable sustained attention can be.
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If you're facing a complicated decision, your first job isn't to find a solution, but to understand... Some housekeeping:
18th Aug 2025
42

If you're facing a complicated decision, your first job isn't to find a solution, but to understand the problem

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

18th Aug 2025
Some housekeeping:
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I'm crowdfunding my next book advance And sharing the earnings with readers.
2nd Mar 2025
48

I'm crowdfunding my next book advance

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

2nd Mar 2025
And sharing the earnings with readers.
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Mondragon as the new City-State This cooperative could be its own country.
3rd Sep 2024
92

Mondragon as the new City-State

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

3rd Sep 2024
This cooperative could be its own country.
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bride and sister, be to your brother sentimental incest in Die Walküre
3rd Apr 2025
1

bride and sister, be to your brother

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

3rd Apr 2025
sentimental incest in Die Walküre
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Pry Tips and Tricks the following is cross-posted from development.wombatsecurity.com. I wrote about some handy extra...
7th May 2018
20

Pry Tips and Tricks

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

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...
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Let Cities Build Utopia—new drop! My deep dive on the future of cities is now available as a print pamphlet, digital pamphlet, and...
10th Feb 2026
1

Let Cities Build Utopia—new drop!

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

10th Feb 2026
My deep dive on the future of cities is now available as a print pamphlet, digital pamphlet, and audio essay.
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the mirror-self an obsession
12th Dec 2025
2

the mirror-self

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

12th Dec 2025
an obsession
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The Lunacy of Artemis In August 2020, the New York Times asked me to write an op-ed for a special feature on...
19th May 2024
38

The Lunacy of Artemis

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

19th May 2024
In August 2020, the New York Times asked me to write an op-ed for a special feature on authoritarianism and democracy. They declined to publish my submission, which I am sharing here instead. A little over 51 years ago, a rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral carrying three...
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some thoughts on siegfried a very normal essay somewhat about wagner's ring cycle
3rd Jan 2025
1

some thoughts on siegfried

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

3rd Jan 2025
a very normal essay somewhat about wagner's ring cycle
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How Github monopoly is destroying the open source ecosystem How Github monopoly is destroying the open source ecosystem I teach a course called "Open Source...
5th Jan 2026
1

How Github monopoly is destroying the open source ecosystem

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

5th Jan 2026
How Github monopoly is destroying the open source ecosystem I teach a course called "Open Source Strategies" at École Polytechnique de Louvain, part of the University of Louvain. As part of my course, students are required to find an open source project of their choice and make a...
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How to: friction logs Friction logs are a technique to improve your own products and understand others. You use the...
12th Dec 2023
30

How to: friction logs

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

12th Dec 2023
Friction logs are a technique to improve your own products and understand others. You use the produdct the way a real user would and write down every single moment you experience some form of negative emotion.
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Structural Holes and Good Ideas Note from author: This is part of an experimental series, more-or-less based on “white papers” and...
18th Mar 2021
21

Structural Holes and Good Ideas

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

18th Mar 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...
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[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
1

[RIDGELINE] Kazunori Hamana in Apartamento

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

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...
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Carl Linnaeus’s Flower Clock “The eternal problem of the human being is how to structure his waking hours,” the Canadian...
2nd Apr 2025
56

Carl Linnaeus’s Flower Clock

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

2nd Apr 2025
“The eternal problem of the human being is how to structure his waking hours,” the Canadian psychiatrist Eric Berne observed in his 1964 classic Games People Play. Four centuries earlier, Galileo had both combated and complicated the problem by inventing timekeeping and with it,...
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Maybe "Now" Is Not the Right Time Recently I deleted a bunch of old notes I had in Evernote. Some of the notes were almost immediately...
19th Jul 2015
25

Maybe "Now" Is Not the Right Time

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

19th Jul 2015
Recently I deleted a bunch of old notes I had in Evernote. Some of the notes were almost immediately unneeded, like old receipts and confirmations.  Much of the rest was notes related to goals (“Checklist to move out of MD Apartment”, “Planning trip to Buenos Aires”) or to...
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[RIDGELINE] Walking and Not Walking a Castle in Italy Ridgeline subscribers — Hello! It’s me, Craig Mod. I’m doing an event with David Marx in Tokyo this...
a week ago
1

[RIDGELINE] Walking and Not Walking a Castle in Italy

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

a week ago
Ridgeline subscribers — Hello! It’s me, Craig Mod. I’m doing an event with David Marx in Tokyo this Friday night (17th) at Tiger Mountain, a small, hip bookshop. The in-person tix are all sold out, but it will be livestreamed, and there are still tickets for that bit. It costs...
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Are Democrats too liberal? Or too conservative? We're asking the wrong questions.
3rd Dec 2024
68

Are Democrats too liberal? Or too conservative?

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

3rd Dec 2024
We're asking the wrong questions.
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Everybody Needs a Rock A new homepage and site improvements. Looking at the Colophon from it’s last update, I mentioned...
14th Feb 2026
1

Everybody Needs a Rock

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

14th Feb 2026
A new homepage and site improvements. Looking at the Colophon from it’s last update, I mentioned that a refresh had happened in February 2025. A year later, another refresh has landed I wouldn’t normally write about a site update like this, but the goal of the new homepage design...
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#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
1

#11 Jen Segger on Adventure Racing, Endurance Coaching, and Pain as an Option

from Salish Wolf [alt+shift+b] in literature

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

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

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

20th Jul 2020
tl;dr: I’m creating a runbook for a very specific, delicate, and potentially time-consuming and emotionally-charged operation to replace my 70-year-old newly-widowed mother-in-law's ancient desktop computer with a easy-for-me-to-manage Chromebook Update: I posted to r/ChromeOS...
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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
1

Even Christopher Nolan prefers 70mm film

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

4th Aug 2026
With all the technology in the world, sometimes the more beautiful thing is less of it.
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War Room: Expansion features
5th Mar 2023
1

War Room: Expansion features

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

5th Mar 2023
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The Abstraction Gap Bridging the design-development gap as AI rises. There’s a frustrating gap in how development...
1st May 2025
30

The Abstraction Gap

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

1st May 2025
Bridging the design-development gap as AI rises. There’s a frustrating gap in how development projects present themselves. What looks straightforward on GitHub — ‘just run this command!’ — quickly spirals into an odyssey of sudo permissions, package managers, and missing...
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✏️ Grandstand Grant This year: more people in photos. And more people in photos in landscapes. Cherish the times with...
19th May 2023
21

✏️ Grandstand Grant

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

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
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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
2

Craft Is Not Culture

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

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...
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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
1

Pas de médaille pour les résistants

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

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...
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Default blind In a software business, it is hard to even know what is going on.
20th Sep 2024
42

Default blind

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

20th Sep 2024
In a software business, it is hard to even know what is going on.
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The Inner Game of Tennis I just finished reading The Inner Game of Tennis by Tim Gallwey. Originally published in 1974, the...
12th Oct 2024
45

The Inner Game of Tennis

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

12th Oct 2024
I just finished reading The Inner Game of Tennis by Tim Gallwey. Originally published in 1974, the book explores how the thoughts of an athlete affect their game. It’s lauded as being at the forefront of what we now call “sports psychology”. Although my competitive sports days...
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how i transitioned into writing short stories as an essayist it’s been going well for me.
2 weeks ago
1

how i transitioned into writing short stories as an essayist

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

2 weeks ago
it’s been going well for me.
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'To Mold Clay, Fashion Men From It' Certain writers lay claim to a piece of geography. Think of Cavafy’s Alexandria and William...
1st Jun 2026
1

'To Mold Clay, Fashion Men From It'

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

1st Jun 2026
Certain writers lay claim to a piece of geography. Think of Cavafy’s Alexandria and William Kennedy’s Albany. Outsiders may visit but the deed is ironclad. When I hear something in the news about the Caucasus, that often-contested band of mountains between the Black Sea and the...
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How /swipes Works
1st Apr 2022
1

How /swipes Works

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

1st Apr 2022
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Why schedule something that doesn't exist? The first thing I did when making this post is I set it to be published tomorrow. Then, I left the...
5th May 2016
22

Why schedule something that doesn't exist?

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

5th May 2016
The first thing I did when making this post is I set it to be published tomorrow. Then, I left the room for a bit. I didn’t have anything to say. Or, I didn’t think I did. Yet, all over my computer, and in various list trackers and note-taking apps, I’ve got dozens of ideas to...
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The way of arrival Two intellectual memoirs dominated my reading over Spring, three if WG Sebald's Silent Catastrophes...
8th Jul 2025
1

The way of arrival

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

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...
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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
32

The Violence of God and the Hermeneutics of Paul

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

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...
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Cities should own their land—like Vienna and Amsterdam Land autonomy beats governance autonomy every time.
2nd Mar 2026
1

Cities should own their land—like Vienna and Amsterdam

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

2nd Mar 2026
Land autonomy beats governance autonomy every time.
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The Perfectionists (book) A great book that covers the ideas and people behind modern industry.
1st Aug 2024
23

The Perfectionists (book)

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Aug 2024
A great book that covers the ideas and people behind modern industry.
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this is the late review a casual blog of late reviews
21st Jul 2024
1

this is the late review

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

21st Jul 2024
a casual blog of late reviews
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I Once Worked Hard When I began working at my first job out of college, I knew I didn’t want to spend my whole career...
12th Apr 2013
23

I Once Worked Hard

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

12th Apr 2013
When I began working at my first job out of college, I knew I didn’t want to spend my whole career there. I was a college graduate (that means something, right?) working at a climbing gym, part time, teaching seven-year-olds how to climb at about $10 an hour. I had no idea what I...
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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
10th Sep 2026
3

Some remarks on being stuck, with digressions on David Hockney, developing style, and gardens

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

10th Sep 2026
If something feels wrong, it is useful to articulate very precisely why that is
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Metanational corporations are redesigning the world map Parag Khanna on metanational corporations and how they are opening borders, reshaping geopolitics,...
2nd Feb 2025
58

Metanational corporations are redesigning the world map

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

2nd Feb 2025
Parag Khanna on metanational corporations and how they are opening borders, reshaping geopolitics, and creating a world of interconnected city-states.
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Three Ways to Decide What to be When You Grow Up Recently, I have had to explain to people what is it that I want to do. This question is difficult...
20th Dec 2012
24

Three Ways to Decide What to be When You Grow Up

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

20th Dec 2012
Recently, I have had to explain to people what is it that I want to do. This question is difficult to answer for two reasons. The first reason is I am not yet strongly pulled into a specific position. My ideal answer would be “I want to do X role at company Y.” Short. Concise....
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[RIDGELINE] Talking While Walking the Camino Francés in Spain Ridgeline subscribers — Heeeeeeellllloooooooo to the many many many many new subscribers who came...
14th Apr 2025
1

[RIDGELINE] Talking While Walking the Camino Francés in Spain

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

14th Apr 2025
Ridgeline subscribers — Heeeeeeellllloooooooo to the many many many many new subscribers who came from the Tim Pod(s). Welcome. I’m Craig, and this is Ridgeline (my newsletter focused on walking (Roden, the other newsletter is more general)), which is supposed to be a weekly...
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🔗 What price? If anything, as the well gets poisoned by their own outputs, large language models may well end up...
6th Oct 2024
21

🔗 What price?

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

6th Oct 2024
If anything, as the well gets poisoned by their own outputs, large language models may well end up eating their own slop and getting their own version of mad cow disease. So this might be as good as they’re ever going to get. — Jeremy Keith I use AI. Not particularly for...
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On agency Or, how to handle being sentenced to freedom, and handle it effectively, and authentically, and...
7th Jul 2025
47

On agency

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

7th Jul 2025
Or, how to handle being sentenced to freedom, and handle it effectively, and authentically, and responsibly
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War Room
22nd Oct 2021
1

War Room

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

22nd Oct 2021
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About Roundabouts I’m desperately trying to work through a giant back-log of writings. Please see write it now for...
5th Mar 2022
25

About Roundabouts

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

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...
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Fade to Blue Redesigning as a method of interrogation. Okay, okay, okay. I did it again. Sometimes you design a...
24th Jun 2026
1

Fade to Blue

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

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'...
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'The Things Which Make a Life of Ease' R.L. Barth, our finest living epigrammist (admittedly, not a vast job description), has sent me his...
1st Jun 2025
38

'The Things Which Make a Life of Ease'

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

1st Jun 2025
R.L. Barth, our finest living epigrammist (admittedly, not a vast job description), has sent me his translation of a well-known epigram by Martial, the Roman master of the pithy form. Bob found it among his papers and doesn’t remember making it. “[T]ranslating something [Ben]...
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Book Review - The Surrender Experiment With the book The Surrender Experiment, author Michael (Mickey) Singer, gives us a gift. In this...
6th Apr 2020
39

Book Review - The Surrender Experiment

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

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,...
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🔗 Substack is at it again There is no such thing as a perfect place on the internet. But it’s possible to avoid the ones that...
3rd Jan 2025
31

🔗 Substack is at it again

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

3rd Jan 2025
There is no such thing as a perfect place on the internet. But it’s possible to avoid the ones that aren’t even pretending to try to be better. The best time to leave Substack was a long time ago. The second best time is now. — Marisa Kabas Visit original link → or View on...
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Reading, forgetting When John Updike read À la recherche du temps perdu after having read Scott-Moncrieff's translation,...
10th Sep 2025
1

Reading, forgetting

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

10th Sep 2025
When John Updike read À la recherche du temps perdu after having read Scott-Moncrieff's translation, he was surprised to find Proust less Proustian, the epithet we associate with flowery prose blossoming over prodigious sentences proliferating clause within clause. While I cannot...
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'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
21

'Poor Naked Wretches, Whereso’er You Are'

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

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...
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2020 Annual Review please note: i’m publishing this far after it was drafted, which was in January 2021. It’s being...
27th Jun 2022
26

2020 Annual Review

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

27th Jun 2022
please note: i’m publishing this far after it was drafted, which was in January 2021. It’s being published in June 2022 - I’m trying to back-fill ‘annual reviews’, I never finished this one or published it, until now. Is it even possible to mention a 2020 review without somehow...
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Commoditize Your Complements To the man who coined the phrase, “nothing in life is free”… have you been on GitHub...
16th Aug 2024
47

Commoditize Your Complements

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

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...
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39 Books: 2023 This is the 39th and final post of this series. As the introduction explains, I began seeking a...
1st Jun 2024
1

39 Books: 2023

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

1st Jun 2024
This is the 39th and final post of this series. As the introduction explains, I began seeking a return to the short-form of the early days of blogging. And it started off well, with each entry written in no time, sometimes stirring up the sediment of initial enchantment. As I got...
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Grace Paley on the Countercultural Courage of Imagining Other Lives “Love is the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real,” Iris...
1st Aug 2024
69

Grace Paley on the Countercultural Courage of Imagining Other Lives

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

1st Aug 2024
“Love is the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real,” Iris Murdoch wrote in her superb investigation of the parallels between art and morality. There could be no such realization without imagination, which is our only instrument for fathoming...
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La conjuration de la fierté ignorante La conjuration de la fierté ignorante Les scientifiques, les vulgarisateurs, les professeurs...
2nd Dec 2024
25

La conjuration de la fierté ignorante

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

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...
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How I take notes, AKA 'Add an Index to Your Notebook' A while back, sometime in 2017, I wrote this tweet: a while ago, I read about how to keep...
4th Sep 2019
33

How I take notes, AKA 'Add an Index to Your Notebook'

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

4th Sep 2019
A while back, sometime in 2017, I wrote this tweet: a while ago, I read about how to keep well-organized notes on a range of topics. Here's my current notebook, indexed by category: pic.twitter.com/aVsNnGPEpd — Josh Thompson (@josh_works) May 8, 2017 Since then, I occasionally...
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Recording Screencasts
1st Jun 2022
1

Recording Screencasts

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

1st Jun 2022
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✏️ 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
18

✏️ A Second Shot

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

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...
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When coordination pays off Stories about Stripe Link where we have to do a lot of upfront coordination but it was worth it.
6th Oct 2024
38

When coordination pays off

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

6th Oct 2024
Stories about Stripe Link where we have to do a lot of upfront coordination but it was worth it.
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[RIDGELINE] A Few London Strolls Ridgeline subscribers — For the last ten days I’ve been walking around London. Mostly in a little...
8th Sep 2026
2

[RIDGELINE] A Few London Strolls

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

8th Sep 2026
Ridgeline subscribers — For the last ten days I’ve been walking around London. Mostly in a little corner of it in the northeast part of the city. But can you even call a part a “corner” when the city extends in every direction without stopping? Whatever you call it, I’ve been in...
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'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
1

'Those Little Cracklings of Mirth and Folly'

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

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...
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Rage, Muse The novels that revisit Greek myths, giving voice to the women who were scorned, wronged, or...
1st Aug 2024
84

Rage, Muse

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

1st Aug 2024
The novels that revisit Greek myths, giving voice to the women who were scorned, wronged, or forgotten The post Rage, Muse appeared first on The American Scholar.
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✏️ Biblioteca Vasconselos In the Buenavista neighborhood resides this impressive library that spans 409,000 sq ft, designed by...
2nd Jan 2021
32

✏️ Biblioteca Vasconselos

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

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...
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Love and the Sacred "I did not know what love was until I encountered one that kept opening and opening and opening."
3rd Jan 2024
89

Love and the Sacred

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

3rd Jan 2024
"I did not know what love was until I encountered one that kept opening and opening and opening."
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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
22

Back in the saddle (of writing)

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

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...
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✏️ 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
37

✏️ A Simple Sophistication

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

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...
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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
35

Octavia Butler on Religion and the Spirituality of Symbiosis

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

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."
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A mighty contagious absence, part two On submission and resistance to AI-generated literature   To great writers, finished works weigh...
26th May 2025
1

A mighty contagious absence, part two

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

26th May 2025
On submission and resistance to AI-generated literature   To great writers, finished works weigh lighter than those fragments on which they work throughout their lives. For only the more feeble and distracted take an inimitable pleasure in conclusions, feeling themselves...
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Drift Right now it is April 18 and I am walking along the steep coast at the peninsula on the Northeastern...
1st May 2025
30

Drift

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

1st May 2025
Right now it is April 18 and I am walking along the steep coast at the peninsula on the Northeastern corner of our island.
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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
21

Upgrade your job

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

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...
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Model City Monday 2/3/25 Things fall apart
3rd Feb 2025
42

Model City Monday 2/3/25

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

3rd Feb 2025
Things fall apart
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Limitations of My Own Thinking I sometimes make recommendations, or at least recount a story that has “actionable insights”....
5th Nov 2015
21

Limitations of My Own Thinking

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

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...
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War Room — using the native date picker
13th Feb 2023
1

War Room — using the native date picker

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

13th Feb 2023
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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...
2nd Sep 2026
2

I Don’t Have a Smartphone…

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

2nd Sep 2026
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...
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Playing with the HTTP send/response cycle in Ruby, without Faraday ("HTTP Yeah You Know Me" project) As part of the HTTP Server project. First, I’m working through Practicing Ruby’s “Implementing an...
7th Apr 2017
35

Playing with the HTTP send/response cycle in Ruby, without Faraday ("HTTP Yeah You Know Me" project)

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

7th Apr 2017
As part of the HTTP Server project. First, I’m working through Practicing Ruby’s “Implementing an HTTP File Server” for general practice and understanding. I’m going to use Postman to capture traffic and try to replicate some of the things the guides reference. Lastly, I just...
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20 years of Linux on the Desktop (part 3) 20 years of Linux on the Desktop (part 3) Previously in "20 years of Linux on the Deskop": After...
8th Mar 2025
51

20 years of Linux on the Desktop (part 3)

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

8th Mar 2025
20 years of Linux on the Desktop (part 3) Previously in "20 years of Linux on the Deskop": After contributing to the launch of Ubuntu as the "perfect Linux desktop", Ploum realises that Ubuntu is drifting away from both Debian and GNOME. But something else is about to shake the...
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Migrating my Jekyll site to Netlify Troubleshooting Netilify deploy Ugggh I moved intermediateruby.com to Netlify a few months ago in...
26th Sep 2021
23

Migrating my Jekyll site to Netlify

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

26th Sep 2021
Troubleshooting Netilify deploy Ugggh I moved intermediateruby.com to Netlify a few months ago in like 10 minutes, so my primary site, josh.works, should take maybe 20, right? I’m a few hours deep. Here’s what I get when Netlify tries to build: I should have done the following...
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my enemy, the leitmotif a missive
28th Jan 2026
1

my enemy, the leitmotif

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

28th Jan 2026
a missive
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Ribbonfarm is Retiring After several years of keeping it going in semi-retired, keep-the-lights-on (KTLO) mode, I’ve...
11th Oct 2024
46

Ribbonfarm is Retiring

from ribbonfarm [alt+shift+b] in literature

11th Oct 2024
After several years of keeping it going in semi-retired, keep-the-lights-on (KTLO) mode, I’ve decided to officially fully retire this blog. The ribbonfarm.com domain and all links will remain active, but there will be no new content after November 13th, 2024, which happens to be...
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Please The post Please appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
26th Jul 2024
26

Please

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

26th Jul 2024
The post Please appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
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✏️ To Comprehend To stand in a landscape that is hard to comprehend is to know that not all that should be celebrated...
14th Jul 2023
17

✏️ To Comprehend

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

14th Jul 2023
To stand in a landscape that is hard to comprehend is to know that not all that should be celebrated is human-made. To understand that to get here, it took hundreds, thousands, millions of denominations of time to render this environment is a lesson in a slow life that we’ve...
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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
31

Blink Twice to Quell a Quasar: Carl Sagan on Superstition

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

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...
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Different Think I don't write about Apple. I had to this time. It started with a magazine ad. A musician I admired...
5th Aug 2025
1

Different Think

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

5th Aug 2025
I don't write about Apple. I had to this time. It started with a magazine ad. A musician I admired was pictured: Henry Rollins, looking as he does, in black, shorts, tattoos visible and holding a computer. An Apple Powerbook. He appears with Terry Ellis from Imago Records,...
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In Florida, the Pitch Is High and Hard A special Senate committee has opened an investigation into these “Misery Acres” that take dollars...
29th Mar 2023
23

In Florida, the Pitch Is High and Hard

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

29th Mar 2023
A special Senate committee has opened an investigation into these “Misery Acres” that take dollars from people who cannot afford it.
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Wherever You Are, Stop What You’re Doing Nothing magnifies life — in the proper sense of the word, rooted in the Latin for “to make greater,...
4th Jan 2025
91

Wherever You Are, Stop What You’re Doing

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

4th Jan 2025
Nothing magnifies life — in the proper sense of the word, rooted in the Latin for “to make greater, to glorify” — more than the act of noticing its details, and nothing sanctifies it more: Kneeling to look at a lichen is a devotional act. We bless our own lives by recognizing and...
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Don’t standardize your company’s coding agents yet
10th Nov 2025
1

Don’t standardize your company’s coding agents yet

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

10th Nov 2025
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Make sure your university events are actually interesting
1st Mar 2025
1

Make sure your university events are actually interesting

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

1st Mar 2025
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Open Thread 410 ...
1st Dec 2025
1

Open Thread 410

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

1st Dec 2025
...
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✏️ Grantland Day 22: Oct 1, 2023 — As we suspect, the weather reports prove wildly inaccurate. At 8,000 feet,...
1st Oct 2023
19

✏️ Grantland

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

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

The Brahmin and His Imaginary Friend

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

2nd Dec 2024
How a classic paean to the honest virtues of a Maine fisherman obscured several ugly truths The post The Brahmin and His Imaginary Friend appeared first on The American Scholar.
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October 2016 Review October 2016 Review This month’s review. In another few days I’ll post the goals for November. I...
1st Nov 2016
25

October 2016 Review

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

1st Nov 2016
October 2016 Review This month’s review. In another few days I’ll post the goals for November. I had three goals for October, as of about 12 days ago: October goals: Programming I wanted to finish a certain Rails Tutorial, and move on to the next one. This project I made zero...
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Socratic dialogue with kids I’m simply trying to understand how she thinks. When she answers in a way that does not match my...
7th Dec 2023
42

Socratic dialogue with kids

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

7th Dec 2023
I’m simply trying to understand how she thinks. When she answers in a way that does not match my understanding—that is interesting to me.
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It's obvious why we hate social media We need better internet platforms. We're already building them.
1st Apr 2026
1

It's obvious why we hate social media

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

1st Apr 2026
We need better internet platforms. We're already building them.
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Redefining Success It’s been pretty quiet around here lately. It’s been almost a month since my last entry. I thought...
6th Nov 2013
22

Redefining Success

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

6th Nov 2013
It’s been pretty quiet around here lately. It’s been almost a month since my last entry. I thought about writing something here almost every day, but here is why I didn’t: I want to produce “content” that is helpful and relevant to those who might read it. I felt like nothing I...
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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
22

Array divergence in Ruby

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

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 =...
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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
33

Anatomy of a $9 Burglary

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

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

Trust and Procedural Fetishism

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

14th Jun 2025
I recently finished reading Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. The book explains the various missteps taken by the U.S. government that led us to where we are today: a bureaucratic sludge of policies and regulations that’s caused ambitious projects to go over budget...
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IMG_0416 Between 2009 and 2012, Apple iPhones and iPod Touches included a feature called “Send to YouTube”...
3rd Nov 2024
47

IMG_0416

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

3rd Nov 2024
Between 2009 and 2012, Apple iPhones and iPod Touches included a feature called “Send to YouTube” that allowed users to upload videos directly to YouTube from the Photos app. The feature worked… really well. In fact, YouTube reported a 1700% increase in total video uploads...
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`ls` command to show directory contents I like to use the tree command on my local machine when trying to peek into the structure and...
3rd Oct 2018
23

`ls` command to show directory contents

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

3rd Oct 2018
I like to use the tree command on my local machine when trying to peek into the structure and contents of a given directory. tree -L 2 will [L]ist recursively everything [2] levels deep from your current directory. The output is nicely formatted like this: > tree -L 2 . ├──...
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Creative kernels Artists can often trace entire pieces around one idea that drives everything else.
1st Jul 2024
24

Creative kernels

from sbensu [alt+shift+b] in literature

1st Jul 2024
Artists can often trace entire pieces around one idea that drives everything else.
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Another step toward becoming reader-owned media A bunch of business updates and a request for your feedback.
7th Jul 2026
1

Another step toward becoming reader-owned media

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

7th Jul 2026
A bunch of business updates and a request for your feedback.
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