Ben Borgers
War Room — using the native date picker
13th Feb 2023
The Elysian
Humanity from the perspective of robots
Talking points for our literary salon next week.
1st May 2024
Talking points for our literary salon next week.
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Liquid Gold
Hi, this is Weightshifting, a newsletter by Naz Hamid and Jen Schuetz, primarily about vehicular...
10th Sep 2023
Hi, this is Weightshifting, a newsletter by Naz Hamid and Jen Schuetz, primarily about vehicular travel and exploring the American West.
This is season 2, en route from San Francisco to St. Louis. Our primary reason is to visit Jen’s family and attend a wedding. Our secondary...
Josh Thompson
Demonstration Junction Repair on Downing in Denver
I was out and about by scooter a recent warm january saturday evening.
Earlier in the week a few...
9th Dec 2025
I was out and about by scooter a recent warm january saturday evening.
Earlier in the week a few companies had been operating drilling equipment in the area. I’m not sure what they were doing, but they were scattered all about the neighborhood.
The work was done, but traffic...
Jim Nielsen’s Blog
Sanding UI
One of the ways I like to do development is to build something, click around a ton, make tweaks,...
3rd Sep 2024
One of the ways I like to do development is to build something, click around a ton, make tweaks, click around more, more tweaks, more clicks, etc., until I finally consider it done.
The clicking around a ton is the important part. If it’s a page transition, that means going back...
Josh Thompson
Practicing with Polylines
This is a first pass at trying to do something interesting (repeatedly) with the same base...
10th Sep 2024
This is a first pass at trying to do something interesting (repeatedly) with the same base primative, in this case, a “polyline”. Read the rest of this post, understand what we’re going for, then go to part 2: get your own polyline from strava. It’s not trivial to get, but its...
Escaping Flatland
A list of books and essays that I love
I’m purposefully not looking at my bookshelf to make sure I only pick books that I’ve thought about...
4th Nov 2025
I’m purposefully not looking at my bookshelf to make sure I only pick books that I’ve thought about so much that they immediately occur to me.
The Marginalian
From the Labor Camp to the Pantheon of Literature: How Dostoyevsky Became a Writer
"I have nothing, except for certain, and perhaps very minor, literary abilities."
1st Sep 2024
"I have nothing, except for certain, and perhaps very minor, literary abilities."
Ploum.net
La conjuration de la fierté ignorante
La conjuration de la fierté ignorante
Les scientifiques, les vulgarisateurs, les professeurs...
2nd Dec 2024
La conjuration de la fierté ignorante
Les scientifiques, les vulgarisateurs, les professeurs consacrent leur vie à lutter contre l’ignorance. Mais l’ignorance n’est pas vraiment le problème. Ce qui est dangereux c’est lorsqu’elle se camoufle. Lorsqu’elle se transforme en...
Naz Hamid • Journal
The Abstraction Gap
Bridging the design-development gap as AI rises.
There’s a frustrating gap in how development...
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...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ 2023 in the Rearview
End-of-year recaps and reviews haven't been something I do. Generally, my mindset is about embracing...
3rd Mar 2024
End-of-year recaps and reviews haven't been something I do. Generally, my mindset is about embracing the present, with a gentle forward momentum towards what comes next. Years ago, I heard an Imam once speak about not having regrets. I took that to heart at the time and have...
Josh Thompson
Dizzying but Invisible Depth
The following is from https://plus.google.com/+JeanBaptisteQueru/posts/dfydM2Cnepe, but Google+ is...
16th Jan 2021
The following is from https://plus.google.com/+JeanBaptisteQueru/posts/dfydM2Cnepe, but Google+ is shutdown, so it’s not easily sharable. I’m reposting here because this is such a useful post.
Dizzying but invisible depth
You just went to the Google home page.
Simple, isn’t...
The American Scholar
Mario Ayala
Research while driving
The post Mario Ayala appeared first on The American Scholar.
2nd Feb 2026
Research while driving
The post Mario Ayala appeared first on The American Scholar.
The Marginalian
Youth and Age: Kahlil Gibran on the Art of Becoming
A roadmap to the fulfilled belonging on the other side of "the great aloneness which knows not what...
4th Apr 2023
A roadmap to the fulfilled belonging on the other side of "the great aloneness which knows not what is far and what is near, nor what is small nor great."
The American Scholar
Good Vibrations
One eccentric’s desert landmark allows visitors to bathe in sound
The post Good Vibrations appeared...
15th Apr 2024
One eccentric’s desert landmark allows visitors to bathe in sound
The post Good Vibrations appeared first on The American Scholar.
Robert Caro
In Florida, the Pitch Is High and Hard
A special Senate committee has opened an investigation into these “Misery Acres” that take dollars...
29th Mar 2023
A special Senate committee has opened an investigation into these “Misery Acres” that take dollars from people who cannot afford it.
The American Scholar
The Stolen Lines
The post The Stolen Lines appeared first on The American Scholar.
1st Sep 2025
The post The Stolen Lines appeared first on The American Scholar.
Ploum.net
De la décadence technologique et des luddites technophiles
De la décadence technologique et des luddites technophiles
La valeur de texte brut
Thierry s’essaie...
6th Feb 2025
De la décadence technologique et des luddites technophiles
La valeur de texte brut
Thierry s’essaie à publier son blog sur le réseau Gemini, mais a du mal avec le format minimaliste. Qui est justement pour moi la meilleure partie du protocole Gemini.
La low-tech peut-elle...
sbensu
High Variance Management
How should you manage a team that is trying to achieve results out of the ordinary?
18th Jan 2023
How should you manage a team that is trying to achieve results out of the ordinary?
This Space
An anniversary appeal
On this day last year I began posting every day for 39 days to commemorate 39 years since I began...
23rd Apr 2025
On this day last year I began posting every day for 39 days to commemorate 39 years since I began reading books. I dug out a folder of book lists I'd kept since 1986, chose one book from each year that I'd not written about before and wrote what ever the book suggested to me....
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Anecdotal Evidence
'Shut Not Thy Purse-Strings'
Unlike his friends
Coleridge, Hazlitt, Wordsworth and Hunt, who often made fools of themselves as
a...
1st Mar 2025
Unlike his friends
Coleridge, Hazlitt, Wordsworth and Hunt, who often made fools of themselves as
a result, Charles Lamb had little interest in the momentous events of his day.
About “Boney” – Napoleon Bonaparte – he wished only to know the dictator’s
height, unlike Hazlitt, who...
Josh Thompson
On Learning
As a student at Turing, I’ve recently been thinking about learning how to learn, specifically in the...
5th Jun 2017
As a student at Turing, I’ve recently been thinking about learning how to learn, specifically in the context of software development.
I am a bit hyperactive when it comes to trying to learn new things. Over the years, I’ve done plenty of ineffective learning, and at least a...
Josh Thompson
Barefoot Sprinting Up a Grassy Hill, & Kettlebell Swings
Introduction
A few months ago, maybe in November, certainly by December, I began this ‘barefoot...
12th Mar 2025
Introduction
A few months ago, maybe in November, certainly by December, I began this ‘barefoot sprinting up grassy hills’ thing I’m going about to talk about in detail below. Shortly after I started, I began making use of the kettlebells I’d usually ignored at the gym(s) I have...
The American Scholar
Lorena Diosdado
Multifaceted Latinx identities
The post Lorena Diosdado appeared first on The American Scholar.
5th May 2025
Multifaceted Latinx identities
The post Lorena Diosdado appeared first on The American Scholar.
Josh Thompson
Playing Pranks
My wife played a brilliant prank on me today, as she does every year. Here’s a partial...
1st Apr 2014
My wife played a brilliant prank on me today, as she does every year. Here’s a partial list:
Convincing me that I was about to eat a slice of carrot cake; it was a sponge covered with toothpaste. I bit into it.
Convincing me that she had, in anger and frustration, cut off almost...
Josh Thompson
Taiwanese & Balinese Scooter Norms
Sometimes I’ve told people “I ride with Asian scooter norms.” or “I ride with Taiwanese and Balinese...
14th Aug 2025
Sometimes I’ve told people “I ride with Asian scooter norms.” or “I ride with Taiwanese and Balinese scooter norms”. Here’s what I mean by this statement.
a ‘norm’ is ‘something common, accepted, sometimes codified in law, but certainly accepted as ‘right’ or ‘acceptable’ or...
The Marginalian
Emerson on the Singular Enchantment of Indian Summer (and a Better Term for This Liminal Season...
"There are days... wherein the world reaches its perfection, when the air, the heavenly bodies, and...
1st Nov 2024
"There are days... wherein the world reaches its perfection, when the air, the heavenly bodies, and the earth, make a harmony."
The Elysian
Let Cities Build Utopia—new drop!
My deep dive on the future of cities is now available as a print pamphlet, digital pamphlet, and...
10th Feb 2026
My deep dive on the future of cities is now available as a print pamphlet, digital pamphlet, and audio essay.
Josh Thompson
Back in the saddle (of writing)
Background
It’s been a hell of a year. I’ve got about 10,000 things I’ve wanted to write about, and...
26th Apr 2022
Background
It’s been a hell of a year. I’ve got about 10,000 things I’ve wanted to write about, and have not gotten around to any of them. Here’s my various top-level reasons for not writing:
what I want to write about feels too complicated to express easily/coherently
I feel...
The American Scholar
“A Bed for Your Voice to Sleep In”
The post “A Bed for Your Voice to Sleep In” appeared first on The American Scholar.
3rd Aug 2026
The post “A Bed for Your Voice to Sleep In” appeared first on The American Scholar.
Anecdotal Evidence
'In Those Old Marshes Yet the Rifles Lie'
“But before he could
install himself in his Oxford college, Britain declared war on the...
1st Nov 2025
“But before he could
install himself in his Oxford college, Britain declared war on the Central
Powers, and soon this quiet young poet and literary scholar found himself commissioned
in the Royal Sussex Regiment, where his shyness won him the nickname Bunny but
his bravery won...
Ben Borgers
Publishing my Fall 2022 class notes
5th Jan 2023
The Elysian
Every country ranked from best to worst
A report card for the whole world.
2nd Sep 2025
A report card for the whole world.
Naz Hamid • Journal
Everybody Needs a Rock
A new homepage and site improvements.
Looking at the Colophon from it’s last update, I mentioned...
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...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ On Racism
On May 31, 2020, I wrote these words (on Instagram) days after George Floyd was killed:
I am a brown...
18th Mar 2021
On May 31, 2020, I wrote these words (on Instagram) days after George Floyd was killed:
I am a brown person. I am an immigrant. I am Southeast Asian. I am Malaysian. And I am an American.
I’m a third culture kid. I came to the States at 19, alone. I’ve lived here for 22+ years,...
the late review
bride and sister, be to your brother
sentimental incest in Die Walküre
3rd Apr 2025
sentimental incest in Die Walküre
The Marginalian
Between the Infinite and the Infinitesimal: A Scientist’s Search for the Fulcrum of Faith
"The universe is not a place where evolution happens, it is the evolution happening. It is not a...
2nd Feb 2024
"The universe is not a place where evolution happens, it is the evolution happening. It is not a stage on which drama unfolds, it is the unfolding drama itself."
Ploum.net
How Github monopoly is destroying the open source ecosystem
How Github monopoly is destroying the open source ecosystem
I teach a course called "Open Source...
5th Jan 2026
How Github monopoly is destroying the open source ecosystem
I teach a course called "Open Source Strategies" at École Polytechnique de Louvain, part of the University of Louvain.
As part of my course, students are required to find an open source project of their choice and make a...
The American Scholar
Medina de Rioseco
The post Medina de Rioseco appeared first on The American Scholar.
1st Jul 2026
The post Medina de Rioseco appeared first on The American Scholar.
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[RIDGELINE] A (Very) Short Walk With Rich Roll
Ridgeline subscribers —
For years, Kevin Kelly and I have been inviting (to no avail) Rich Roll on...
4th Jun 2025
Ridgeline subscribers —
For years, Kevin Kelly and I have been inviting (to no avail) Rich Roll on Walk and Talks. So it was with great delight that about a month ago, I (Craig Mod, author of this newsletter, Ridgeline; thanks for subscribing) flew out to LA to go on the Rich...
the late review
against the fleeing to europe industrial complex
a brief polemic
18th May 2025
Josh Thompson
A little bit of slope makes up for a lot of y-intercept
The following is recounted on
Quora, from a lecture by Stanford
professor John Ousterhout (he’s in...
26th Jun 2015
The following is recounted on
Quora, from a lecture by Stanford
professor John Ousterhout (he’s in the Computer Science department):
Here’s today’s thought for the weekend. A little bit of slope makes up for a lot of Y-intercept.
[Laughter]
So at a mathematical level this is...
Josh Thompson
Isometric Deadlift Holds (for Climbing!)
alternative titles: yielding isometric mid-thigh pin pulls, isometric deadlift 'holds' for fun and...
3rd Apr 2025
alternative titles: yielding isometric mid-thigh pin pulls, isometric deadlift 'holds' for fun and climbing
Introduction
A few months ago, I began some barefoot sprints up a hill at a local park, and discussed also adding heavy kettlebell swings.
My back started feeling great,...
Escaping Flatland
In praise of insular groups
Last spring, as we were exploring the coastline of our island, Johanna, the kids, and I crossed a...
4th May 2024
Last spring, as we were exploring the coastline of our island, Johanna, the kids, and I crossed a meadow where two men were artificially inseminating a longhaired cow. We stopped to observe the work. When it was done, one of the men came over to where we stood by the electric...
Escaping Flatland
People are too big to fit inside our heads
Notes on relationships, conversation, Dostoevsky, and Bakhtin
2nd Jun 2026
Notes on relationships, conversation, Dostoevsky, and Bakhtin
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Josh Thompson
Climbing in Cuba, 2019
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go climbing in Cuba.
Mark and Dave, walking back from...
12th Apr 2019
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go climbing in Cuba.
Mark and Dave, walking back from climbing outside Viñales
Locals crag, called “The roof of the world”. Stunning routes.
because it was so hot, we spent a lot of time in this cave.
Kristi and I tend to stick...
Josh Thompson
A Junction Efficiency Metric: Vehicles Per Square Meter Per Minute
still sorta drafty, but also its entirely possible the point is easily apprehended, and I’m way...
13th Sep 2025
still sorta drafty, but also its entirely possible the point is easily apprehended, and I’m way over-explaining
Introduction
Elsewhere, I’ve been referring to a ‘vehicles per square meter per minute’ calculation, when talking about junctions on mobility networks. The first place...
Anecdotal Evidence
'Influential Works That Are Almost Never Read'
John Ruskin would have a
difficult time of it in what passes for literary culture today. First, he...
20th Jan 2025
John Ruskin would have a
difficult time of it in what passes for literary culture today. First, he was
phenomenally prolific, even by Victorian standards, and how many people would
read all five volumes of Modern Painters or the idea-rich sprawl of Fors Clavigera?
Second, Ruskin...
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[RODEN] Blank Spaces, Radicalized Offlineness, Curious Protagonists
Roden Readers —
Ahh, it’s nice. The outside. The outside is nice. Finally, very nice. The best...
28th Nov 2025
Roden Readers —
Ahh, it’s nice. The outside. The outside is nice. Finally, very nice. The best season in Japan. The leaves, they change. Out yonder, Mt. Fuji performs foojalicousness on the horizon as I type these very words. Being a bit coy, hiding, peeking, hiding once again....
Naz Hamid • Journal
Modus Operandi
My operating rules and way of living.
This is a m.o. (mo) page, or modus operandi page. It lists out...
14th Apr 2025
My operating rules and way of living.
This is a m.o. (mo) page, or modus operandi page. It lists out the way I approach my life and the rules I apply to it to thrive. This is a living document and will be added to as more comes to mind, or as I develop new ones.
It is mirrored at...
ben-mini
Everything is a Spreadsheet
Revisiting an old 2020 Invest Like the Best podcast that interviews John Collision, co-founder of...
9th Nov 2025
Revisiting an old 2020 Invest Like the Best podcast that interviews John Collision, co-founder of Stripe. When asked about his thoughts on no-code:
I don’t think no-code is fully a panacea. Even when you’re doing no-code, you’re still reasoning about the relations between...
Anecdotal Evidence
'But to Divert a Fierce Banditti'
The English poet William
Cowper (1731-1800) suffered his first attack of mental illness – today we...
1st Dec 2025
The English poet William
Cowper (1731-1800) suffered his first attack of mental illness – today we would
likely call it profound depression – at age thirty-two. Before then, while
studying law in the Temple, Cowper dined every Thursday with friends at the
Nonsense Club. He and a...
Astral Codex Ten
The Colors Of Her Coat
...
1st Apr 2025
Josh Thompson
December Review, January Goals
This is a follow-up from last month’s goals
1. Deepen Knowledge of Back-end Development
I finished...
5th Jan 2017
This is a follow-up from last month’s goals
1. Deepen Knowledge of Back-end Development
I finished OverTheWire’s Bandit series, except the last lesson, which didn’t make sense. (It does now! Turns out login shells and “regular” shells are different. I’ll take another spin at it...
Steven Scrawls
Doomr
Most of my creations can be contained within an RSS feed; Doomr cannot. You'll want to check the...
14th Feb 2024
Most of my creations can be contained within an RSS feed; Doomr cannot. You'll want to check the website for this one.
The Marginalian
The Feather Detective: How Roxie Laybourne Pioneered Forensic Ornithology
You wouldn’t know it, looking at the tiny elderly woman in the white lab coat bent over a table in a...
1st Oct 2025
You wouldn’t know it, looking at the tiny elderly woman in the white lab coat bent over a table in a halogen-lit government office, you wouldn’t know she had spent her youth doing science with her whole body: extracting herself from a deadly mudflat with stubbornness and applied...
Blog -...
Welcome to Anchor Point Blog
I am starting this blog for one primary reason: my belief that
self-discovery does not have to be...
17th Nov 2019
I am starting this blog for one primary reason: my belief that
self-discovery does not have to be a solo journey. Through this blog men
can connect to resources that will help to enhance their personal
development. Many of these resources have deeply impacted my growth, and...
Ben Borgers
New in Superadmin: styling, images, rich text
23rd Nov 2022
Naz Hamid — Journal...
🔗 Eva Decker
Eva Decker is a designer engineer who likes playing piano and writing CSS. Currently living in NYC...
6th Aug 2024
Eva Decker is a designer engineer who likes playing piano and writing CSS. Currently living in NYC with Samwise.
— Eva Decker
Visit original link → or View on nazhamid.com →
Steven Scrawls
Space to Play
Space to Play
I remember childhood as the slow advance of a great laboring
Seriousness. When I was...
26th Feb 2025
Space to Play
I remember childhood as the slow advance of a great laboring
Seriousness. When I was in middle school, an awareness began to settle
on me that great beings known as “colleges” watched from afar; by high
school I understood that I ought to order my life to be...
Josh Thompson
"A delicate mix of chess... and bear wrestling"
Over the last few weeks I’ve found myself needing to break down “why” of sport climbing (I’ll refer...
2nd Nov 2014
Over the last few weeks I’ve found myself needing to break down “why” of sport climbing (I’ll refer to sport as “lead” climbing from here on out. Sorry, trad climbers).
If someone is enjoying top roping, (or bouldering) why should they take on the work of learning to lead climb,...
The Elysian
The TERRAFORM print pamphlet is now available—here's what we earned
Plus, join our literary salon discussion this week!
4th Aug 2025
Plus, join our literary salon discussion this week!
Josh Thompson
POODR Notes: Acquiring Behavior Through Inheritance (Chapter 6)
I’m reading through Practical Object Oriented Design in Ruby .
These are some notes from chapter 6,...
28th Nov 2019
I’m reading through Practical Object Oriented Design in Ruby .
These are some notes from chapter 6, Acquiring Behavior Through Inheritance; mostly these are for me, and they don’t intend to stand on their own. Read the book, work through chapter six, and then come back and read...
Josh Thompson
Denver Botanic Gardens - What, How, Why
I recently got access to a delightful amenity, based on where I live. I’ve been sharing it with...
2nd Jun 2024
I recently got access to a delightful amenity, based on where I live. I’ve been sharing it with others as quickly as possible, because they too have access to it.
From here on out, when I reference “botanic gardens” or “the gardens”, I’m referencing the Denver Botanic Gardens,...
Escaping Flatland
How I write essays
Notes on process
4th Dec 2024
sbensu
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
Stories about Stripe Link where we have to do a lot of upfront coordination but it was worth it.
Escaping Flatland
On agency
Or, how to handle being sentenced to freedom, and handle it effectively, and authentically, and...
7th Jul 2025
Or, how to handle being sentenced to freedom, and handle it effectively, and authentically, and responsibly
Wuthering...
What I Read in May 2025 – “There’s the store that’s shaped like a duck,” Franca said.
First, my poor email subscribers missed some of the installments
of my newsletter about Anthony...
2nd Jun 2025
First, my poor email subscribers missed some of the installments
of my newsletter about Anthony Powell.
If this keeps happening I will have to think of something or even do
something. Here they are:
A skippable piece of throat-clearing about the roman
fleuve.
What I think...
the late review
wagner's ring: believing in the stakes
or: how to get ring cycle pilled
20th Nov 2024
or: how to get ring cycle pilled
This Space
The crisis of narration and the future of the novel, part two
Byung-Chul Han says in The Crisis of Narration that modernity "is animated by a belief in progress"...
6th Nov 2025
Byung-Chul Han says in The Crisis of Narration that modernity "is animated by a belief in progress" and its narratives "radiate an aura because the future is a phenomenon of distance". This is evident in our reverence for the monuments of modernism, a reverence formed by wonder...
The Elysian
Please come up with wildly speculative futures
Inside my writing philosophy.
1st Apr 2024
Inside my writing philosophy.
Ploum.net
Qucocoma Philippe Samyn ?
Qucocoma Philippe Samyn ?
J’apprends avec tristesse le décès de l’architecte Philippe Samyn, un...
1st Jun 2026
Qucocoma Philippe Samyn ?
J’apprends avec tristesse le décès de l’architecte Philippe Samyn, un esprit incroyable aux idées fulgurantes avec qui j’ai eu de longues et passionnantes discussions.
Philippe Samyn - Wikipédia (fr.wikipedia.org)
Car l’architecture était pour lui une...
Josh Thompson
An Open Letter about Golden
2022-06-15 Update
I wrote this document the first time in a very small number of minutes, three...
24th May 2022
2022-06-15 Update
I wrote this document the first time in a very small number of minutes, three weeks ago, on my way out the door on a particularly busy day. I follow “write it now”. I’ve gotten to discuss this letter with a few different people, because I mentioned it in email....
Josh Thompson
Typing for Programmers
If you had to distill my ability to bring value to those around me, it would be “Josh types good”.
I...
11th Dec 2016
If you had to distill my ability to bring value to those around me, it would be “Josh types good”.
I can press these magical little keys on this little metal box here, and make these words come out.
If you’re reading these words, you don’t care how these words actually got on...
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[RODEN] Hark, a Book Appears!
Roden Readers —
Howdy! From the sky! En route to NYC! I’m Craig Mod and this is Roden, a newsletter...
2nd May 2025
Roden Readers —
Howdy! From the sky! En route to NYC! I’m Craig Mod and this is Roden, a newsletter sent via magic tubes.
Since returning from Spain I’ve been in full-bore April Pod Mode, recording a dozen+ interviews and working on a bunch of essays for various publications in...
This Space
Reading, detachment
In an in-between time in which nothing begins or ends, in which blank patience takes the place of...
28th Aug 2025
In an in-between time in which nothing begins or ends, in which blank patience takes the place of activity, I picked two books from my shelves stubbornly remote from utility, lacking the intimacy of possession, and a third in which I had never read a key section. The first was...
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Ploum.net
Un manifeste Offpunk
Un manifeste Offpunk
Ce texte est une traduction en français du Offpunk Manifesto rédigé par Arlon...
3rd Aug 2026
Un manifeste Offpunk
Ce texte est une traduction en français du Offpunk Manifesto rédigé par Arlon de Serra Grande et que j’ai co-signé
An Offpunk Manifesto (English version)
Versão em português
La révolution ne sera pas numérique
Alors que l’hyperconnexion apparait comme le...
Josh Thompson
Blood Flow Restriction with Tyler
old draft, publishing, needs polish.
Me: Sport climber, decade+, of and on a few different times...
16th Feb 2019
old draft, publishing, needs polish.
Me: Sport climber, decade+, of and on a few different times over the years.
Educate myself, train as effectively and safely as I can. I’m 30, and wanna hit some significant climbing goals by 40, and a big part of that is getting stronger,...
The Perry Bible...
Hacked
The post Hacked appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
5th Apr 2024
The post Hacked appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Forty Three
On March 28th 2021, I turned 43. My second pandemic birthday, I turned 42 shortly after San...
14th Apr 2021
On March 28th 2021, I turned 43. My second pandemic birthday, I turned 42 shortly after San Francisco went into lockdown. It feels like a lifetime has passed between now and then, and with a sense of deja vu, like it was yesterday. Except that I wasn't at home, and I was on the...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Notes at 45
As I sit squarely in my mid-40s, I’ve gained valuable perspectives, learnings, and understandings....
12th Apr 2023
As I sit squarely in my mid-40s, I’ve gained valuable perspectives, learnings, and understandings. Here are some of them:
People > things. In our current society, the deepening pit of materialism, capitalism, and an insatiable desire for more has become all-consuming. However,...
The Marginalian
The Universe in Verse Book
"We need science to help us meet reality on its own terms, and we need poetry to help us broaden and...
1st May 2024
"We need science to help us meet reality on its own terms, and we need poetry to help us broaden and deepen the terms on which we meet ourselves and each other. At the crossing point of the two we may find a way of clarifying our experience and of sanctifying it."
Ploum.net
Quand éclatera la bulle IA…
Quand éclatera la bulle IA…
Comme le souligne Ed Zitron, toute la bulle actuelle est basée sur 7 ou...
1st Nov 2025
Quand éclatera la bulle IA…
Comme le souligne Ed Zitron, toute la bulle actuelle est basée sur 7 ou 8 entreprises qui s’échangent des promesses de s’échanger des milliards d’euros lorsque tous les habitants de la planète dépenseront en moyenne 100€ par mois pour utiliser ChatGPT....
ribbonfarm
Ribbonfarm is Retiring
After several years of keeping it going in semi-retired, keep-the-lights-on (KTLO) mode, I’ve...
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...
This Space
39 Books: 2023
This is the 39th and final post of this series. As the introduction explains, I began seeking a...
1st Jun 2024
This is the 39th and final post of this series. As the introduction explains, I began seeking a return to the short-form of the early days of blogging. And it started off well, with each entry written in no time, sometimes stirring up the sediment of initial enchantment. As I got...
Ben Borgers
AI is an impediment to learning web development
21st Jul 2024
Naz Hamid — Journal...
🔗 Rick Rubin on Listening
If it’s music you’re listening to, consider closing your eyes. You may find yourself getting lost in...
15th Jul 2024
If it’s music you’re listening to, consider closing your eyes. You may find yourself getting lost in the experience. When the piece ends, you might be surprised by where you find yourself. You’ve been transported to another place. The place where the music lives.
— Rick...
Anecdotal Evidence
'So a Fool Returneth to His Folly'
Grownups seldom credit children
with insight into human psychology, thus treating them as smaller,...
1st Apr 2025
Grownups seldom credit children
with insight into human psychology, thus treating them as smaller, more annoying versions
of themselves. My father had an acquaintance even he knew was a fool. By admitting such knowledge, he was violating adult solidarity. His friend's customary...
Ben Borgers
Don’t standardize your company’s coding agents yet
10th Nov 2025
ben-mini
Building FirstMover
I had one month to find a place to live in Manhattan. I reached out to friends for tips, and nearly...
14th Sep 2024
I had one month to find a place to live in Manhattan. I reached out to friends for tips, and nearly all of them pointed me to StreetEasy, the Zillow-owned NYC real estate search platform. Some of my more Type-A friends gave me extra helpful advice:
Narrow your search to 2-4...
The Marginalian
Octavia Butler on Religion and the Spirituality of Symbiosis
"On many levels, we wind up being strengthened by what we join, or what joins us, as well as by what...
2nd Nov 2023
"On many levels, we wind up being strengthened by what we join, or what joins us, as well as by what we combat."
Josh Thompson
Change your MAC address with a shell script
For a while, I’ve had notes from Change or Spoof a MAC Address in Windows or OS X saved, so if I am...
18th Dec 2019
For a while, I’ve had notes from Change or Spoof a MAC Address in Windows or OS X saved, so if I am using a wifi connection that limits me to thirty minutes or an hour or whatever, I can “spoof” a new MAC address, and when I re-connect to the wifi, the access point thinks I’m on...
ribbonfarm
Imagination vs. Creativity
I like to make a distinction between imagination and creativity that you may or may not agree with....
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...
Josh Thompson
Streets in Asheville
Quick-and-dirty street analysis in Asheville, NC
A few months ago, I visited Asheville, NC. It’s a...
11th Feb 2017
Quick-and-dirty street analysis in Asheville, NC
A few months ago, I visited Asheville, NC. It’s a nice town, and has a great pedestrian life, as far as I can tell.
As a thought experiment, I decided to see how well I could make the case for reducing the road width of a few...
Josh Thompson
Array divergence in Ruby
Lets say you have a list of valid items, and you want to run another array against it, and pull out...
2nd Feb 2018
Lets say you have a list of valid items, and you want to run another array against it, and pull out the items that don’t match.
You don’t want to iterate through all of the items in one array, calling other_array.include?(item). (That’s computationally expensive)
valid_people =...
Anecdotal Evidence
'Poor Naked Wretches, Whereso’er You Are'
Aleksander Wat (1900-67)
was a Polish poet and one-time Communist hounded and imprisoned by Nazis...
1st May 2025
Aleksander Wat (1900-67)
was a Polish poet and one-time Communist hounded and imprisoned by Nazis and
Soviets alike. In 1964 while visiting California, he recorded lengthy
conversations with fellow poet and Pole Czesław Miłosz. The transcripts were
translated by Richard Lourie...
Josh Thompson
Gratitude 3x/day
Earlier this year, I read
The Miracle Morning, which promises (paraphrasing here):
If you do these...
1st Jun 2016
Earlier this year, I read
The Miracle Morning, which promises (paraphrasing here):
If you do these seven things every morning you’ll be the most amazing person you’ve ever met.
OK, it’s not exactly that bold, but it’s not far off. It wasn’t a terrible book, it had lots of good...
Josh Thompson
Relational Antipatterns
Introduction
This list of relational anti-patterns started as a draft of a written list in a small...
12th May 2025
Introduction
This list of relational anti-patterns started as a draft of a written list in a small notebook I carry with me most of the time.
Eventually, I was jotting down notes for both this this particular list and the list on the piece on sadness and grief, and there is...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ 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
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...
Josh Thompson
On Cleaner Controllers
A few days ago, I worked on a project that was mostly about serving up basic store data (modeled...
9th May 2017
A few days ago, I worked on a project that was mostly about serving up basic store data (modeled after Etsy) to an API.
We had a few dozen end-points, and all responses were in JSON.
Most of the action happened inside of our controllers, and as you might imagine, our routes.rb...
The Marginalian
The Porcupine Dilemma: Schopenhauer’s Parable about Negotiating the Optimal Distance in Love
This is the supreme challenge of intimacy — how to reconcile the aching yearning for closeness with...
3rd Aug 2023
This is the supreme challenge of intimacy — how to reconcile the aching yearning for closeness with the painful pressures of actually being close, how to forge a bond tight enough to feel the warmth of connection but spacious enough to feel free. Kahlil Gibran knew this when he...
Idle Words
Protests and Power
In August 2020, the New York Times asked me to write an op-ed for a special feature on...
4th Oct 2020
In August 2020, the New York Times asked me to write an op-ed for a special feature on authoritarianism and democracy. They declined to publish my submission, which I am sharing here instead.
When the George Floyd protests began to spread nationally in the summer of 2020, I...
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Josh Thompson
Context Setting for certain patterns & classes of relationship difficulties
I’ve been “catching up” a lot in my life lately. Some of that catching up involves bringing up to...
3rd Jul 2022
I’ve been “catching up” a lot in my life lately. Some of that catching up involves bringing up to speed various people I’ve not spoken too (or spoken too much, or openly, or recently, or ever, or some combination thereof).
I am strongly biased towards written/editable/consistent...
Anecdotal Evidence
'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
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]...
Idle Words
Let's All Wear A Mask
Let's talk about masks!
On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control recommended that every...
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...
Idle Words
Effective Political Giving
With less than two months left before the election, this is an explainer for the politically...
3rd Sep 2020
With less than two months left before the election, this is an explainer for the politically panicked. You're anxious, you feel the need to do something, and you have a little money to spare. Who should you give it to?
My goal here is not to sell you on specific candidates...
Naz Hamid • Journal
Beyond Curiosity
I'm not sure he meant it that way.
We were walking together in the shopping center. The central...
15th Jul 2025
I'm not sure he meant it that way.
We were walking together in the shopping center. The central escalators made you loop around on the floor on the short side to proceed to the next set. As we neared the ground floor, headed to the food court sub-level, my father posited a...
The Elysian
My TEDx talk about the future of fiction
And publishing.
16th Jun 2024
Escaping Flatland
Self-help for cocoons
and what's on my mind
7th Mar 2024
The American Scholar
Jane Skafte
The language of trees
The post Jane Skafte appeared first on The American Scholar.
1st Jul 2024
The language of trees
The post Jane Skafte appeared first on The American Scholar.
Josh Thompson
Circles of Influence
I was listening to a podcast today, where they said if you have problems knowing what to write...
5th Mar 2016
I was listening to a podcast today, where they said if you have problems knowing what to write about, or you’ve hit a block, write about something that angers you.
This is easy. I could write about any number of things that we’ve all read in a newspaper, and get good and angry...
Wuthering...
History before Shakespeare - The Famous Victories of Henry V - he hath taken the great raze of...
The establishment in the 1570s of permanent theaters just
outside of the walls of London led to a...
8th Nov 2025
The establishment in the 1570s of permanent theaters just
outside of the walls of London led to a massive increase in the demand for new plays. Every available source of stories was looted. English history proved to be especially popular
or at least easy to adapt to the...
Josh Thompson
Book Notes: 'The Case Against Sugar' by Gary Taube
In the last few weeks, I read The Case Against Sugar by Gary Taubes.
I found it to be compelling...
12th Aug 2019
In the last few weeks, I read The Case Against Sugar by Gary Taubes.
I found it to be compelling (more on that in a moment) and I want to be impacted by them. I want the daily decisions that I make to be subtly influenced by this author and these books.
Related but in a different...
Ploum.net
How I fought my smartphone addiction
How I fought my smartphone addiction
In a poignant Gemini post, Kevin Boone wrote about his anxiety...
13th Mar 2026
How I fought my smartphone addiction
In a poignant Gemini post, Kevin Boone wrote about his anxiety to go out of his house without his phone. (This is the Gemini protocol, totally unrelated to the Google chatbot.)
Phone anxiety (larsthebear.me)
Web version of the former
Around...
The Perry Bible...
Please
The post Please appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
26th Jul 2024
The post Please appeared first on The Perry Bible Fellowship.
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Now Reopen for Business
California re-opened on Tuesday and literally overnight, it feels like everything changed. And it...
17th Jun 2021
California re-opened on Tuesday and literally overnight, it feels like everything changed. And it has. The streets are busy again, clear voices can be heard all over, and people are emerging from their cocoons at their pace.
It feels like whiplash: going from riding with one...
Anecdotal Evidence
'Give Thanks for All Things'
“It is the province of
poems to make some order in the world, but poets can’t afford to forget...
1st Mar 2026
“It is the province of
poems to make some order in the world, but poets can’t afford to forget that
there is a reality of things which survives all orders great and small. Things are.
The cow is there. No poetry can have any strength unless it continually bashes
itself against...
Josh Thompson
October 2016 Goals
In the last year, I’ve fluctuated between writing
every day for 30 days and
not posting once in...
19th Oct 2016
In the last year, I’ve fluctuated between writing
every day for 30 days and
not posting once in two months.
Frankly, neither of those is good for me.
I like writing because it clarifies my own thoughts. Sometimes it seems useful to others. I like to be useful (“utility” can...
sbensu
Notes on UX and LLM integrations
I analyze 8 apps (ChatGPT, Notion, Perplexity, etc.) that use or integrate LLM and try to break down...
1st Jan 2024
I analyze 8 apps (ChatGPT, Notion, Perplexity, etc.) that use or integrate LLM and try to break down when and why they work well, or poorly.
sbensu
Love's Executioner (book)
Countertransference applies to regular conversation.
1st Dec 2024
Countertransference applies to regular conversation.
ben-mini
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
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...
Astral Codex Ten
Book Review: The Rise Of Christianity
...
12th Nov 2024
Salish Wolf
#5 Fritzi Horstman on Healing Childhood Trauma, Activism Through Film, and Uplifting Humanity
Fritzi Horstman is a rare, beautiful individual with a selfless passion to
transform lives. As a...
9th May 2020
Fritzi Horstman is a rare, beautiful individual with a selfless passion to
transform lives. As a Grammy-award winning producer for her work on the
“The Defiant Ones”, Fritzi is not resting on her laurels. Nor is she
coasting through Hollywood, lapping up the limelight....
Josh Thompson
About Roundabouts
I’m desperately trying to work through a giant back-log of writings. Please see write it now for...
5th Mar 2022
I’m desperately trying to work through a giant back-log of writings. Please see write it now for more. I’m spending only a few minutes on this, forgive my errors.
Of late, I’ve had a lot of conversations about roundabouts. I’m basically trying to explain the ways that a mobility...
Wuthering...
What I Read in September 2025 – A hand that taught what might be said in rhyme
My writing on Christopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great
plays has been hampered by an apparent...
7th Oct 2025
My writing on Christopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great
plays has been hampered by an apparent post-France short circuit in my ability
to write. So I will put up some easier
posts to remind myself how to write.
I had two major projects this month, one ongoing, one returned
to...
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[RIDGELINE] Happy New Year With a Side of Fries
Ridgeline subscribers —
Hello from Denny’s. Happy new year. You can tell it’s January first, because...
1st Jan 2026
Ridgeline subscribers —
Hello from Denny’s. Happy new year. You can tell it’s January first, because I’m at Denny’s. I woke up and made a nice coffee and did some accounting (as one does) and went to my local shrine in Tokyo and bowbowclapclapbow’d and then I was off! Tramping...
Escaping Flatland
On mentors
What is it that motivates someone to take on someone and help them grow? Why do some learners have...
8th Nov 2023
What is it that motivates someone to take on someone and help them grow? Why do some learners have that privilege?
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Grantland
Day 22: Oct 1, 2023
—
As we suspect, the weather reports prove wildly inaccurate. At 8,000 feet,...
1st Oct 2023
Day 22: Oct 1, 2023
—
As we suspect, the weather reports prove wildly inaccurate. At 8,000 feet, we’re subject to alpine weather rules. Meaning, isolated storms can cycle in at anytime, and they do. Lightning flashes, thunder cracks. We sleep in fits and starts. I remove the...
The Elysian
Is America about to fall? Or flourish?
That depends on us.
4th Nov 2024
The Marginalian
William James on the Most Vital Understanding for Successful Relationships
"Neither the whole of truth nor the whole of good is revealed to any single observer."
2nd Jun 2023
"Neither the whole of truth nor the whole of good is revealed to any single observer."
Steven Scrawls
Sunday Scrawl #1: Learning Not to Know
Sunday Scrawl #1: Learning
Not to Know
When my parents sat me down in the living room the night...
30th Nov 2025
Sunday Scrawl #1: Learning
Not to Know
When my parents sat me down in the living room the night before I was
supposed to leave for college, I thought they were going to tell me they
were getting a divorce. At the time, it was the most terrifying upheaval
I could imagine.
Instead,...
Josh Thompson
First pass with Elixir/Phoenix
I’m digging into Elixir and Phoenix. I’m working through this tutorial to cloning Slack.
The...
27th Oct 2017
I’m digging into Elixir and Phoenix. I’m working through this tutorial to cloning Slack.
The tutorial author says
At the time of writing, I have ~1 week experience with Phoenix. Similar to Rubber Ducky Debugging, I am writing this blog post to force myself to think differently...
Wuthering...
Anthony Powell's style and sensibility - Life is full of internal dramas, instantaneous and...
Nicholas Jenkins – I did not register his name at all for
the entire first novel, but I know it now...
22nd May 2025
Nicholas Jenkins – I did not register his name at all for
the entire first novel, but I know it now – goes to school, gets a job in
publishing, writes a novel, gets a girlfriend, gets a job as a script writer, splits
with the girlfriend, and writes another novel or two, none of...
The American Scholar
Dottie Lo Bue
House and home
The post Dottie Lo Bue appeared first on The American Scholar.
4th Nov 2024
House and home
The post Dottie Lo Bue appeared first on The American Scholar.
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[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
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...
Astral Codex Ten
Chip Off The Old Block
...
1st Jul 2026
Robert Caro
Anatomy of a $9 Burglary
“Anatomy of a $9 Burglary” is among Caro’s best early writing. When police arrested a criminal, all...
1st Apr 2023
“Anatomy of a $9 Burglary” is among Caro’s best early writing. When police arrested a criminal, all signs indicated a simple case of burglar
Ben Borgers
Every student is cheating with AI
17th Aug 2026
Josh Thompson
`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
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
.
├──...
ben-mini
Trust and Procedural Fetishism
I recently finished reading Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. The book explains the...
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...
Anecdotal Evidence
At the Bookstore
I work hard to resist sentimental impulses and
indulgence in nostalgia. Ours is a sentimental age,...
1st Sep 2025
I work hard to resist sentimental impulses and
indulgence in nostalgia. Ours is a sentimental age, and at the same time an
angry, unforgiving age. One strain of sentimentality especially prevalent among
the aging is a rueful, self-pitying lament for what no longer exists....
Naz Hamid • Journal
On Rdio
Rdio comes out of beta, and what a glorious service it is.
Music is a huge part of many people’s...
8th Jun 2010
Rdio comes out of beta, and what a glorious service it is.
Music is a huge part of many people’s lives. It seems odd that music is essentially sounds and noises put together to form something that transcends its individual parts. Music, even in its simplest form is a whole, made...
Josh Thompson
Trader Joe's Parking Lot
Hey Trader Joe’s,
This is a bit of an open letter, inspired by a recent visit to the local Trader...
13th Dec 2023
Hey Trader Joe’s,
This is a bit of an open letter, inspired by a recent visit to the local Trader Joe’s. I just moved to this part of Denver, and now for the first time am living within like a 3 minute scoot of a Trader Joe’s.
I know that some people like to complain about...
Anecdotal Evidence
'Try to Make Something New'
Almost the only thing I
ever write down so I don’t forget it is the grocery list. Sporadically I...
1st Feb 2026
Almost the only thing I
ever write down so I don’t forget it is the grocery list. Sporadically I kept a diary when younger but each time the essential tedium of recording quotidian
events defeated me. I discovered that most of my own life, the practical stuff
that consumes so...
The Elysian
Idea Labs! An open thread for collaborative worldbuilding
Let's brainstorm the future together.
22nd Mar 2024
Let's brainstorm the future together.
Escaping Flatland
Days are enormous
+ personal update and reading recommendations
1st Apr 2026
+ personal update and reading recommendations
The American Scholar
Inside Man
A young reporter’s devastating exposé of the amoral elite
The post Inside Man appeared first on The...
1st Jun 2026
A young reporter’s devastating exposé of the amoral elite
The post Inside Man appeared first on The American Scholar.
Anecdotal Evidence
'On the Plains of Poland'
On August 23, 1939, Hitler
and Stalin agreed to the secret non-aggression Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact....
2 weeks ago
On August 23, 1939, Hitler
and Stalin agreed to the secret non-aggression Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The Germans
invaded Poland from the west nine days later, on September 1, 1939. On
September 17, the Soviet Union invaded from the east. The battle was over,
Poland subdued, by...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Pound, rub, pound
It’s something like midnight. A four-and-a-half-pound senior Chihuahua is tucked into her blanket...
21st Nov 2021
It’s something like midnight. A four-and-a-half-pound senior Chihuahua is tucked into her blanket and snuggled up next to my left rib cage inside my sleeping bag. Jen is asleep beside us.
It’s 35°F.
We have myriad layers happening: Jen wears a down jacket inside her sleeping bag...
sbensu
Interfaces for logical migrations
This post explains how you can use interfaces to make data model and database migrations easier.
4th Aug 2023
This post explains how you can use interfaces to make data model and database migrations easier.
Ben Borgers
Building henrynitzberg.com
1st Dec 2022
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[RIDGELINE] A Few London Strolls
Ridgeline subscribers —
For the last ten days I’ve been walking around London. Mostly in a little...
a week ago
Ridgeline subscribers —
For the last ten days I’ve been walking around London. Mostly in a little corner of it in the northeast part of the city. But can you even call a part a “corner” when the city extends in every direction without stopping? Whatever you call it, I’ve been in...
The Marginalian
The Mind in the Machine: John von Neumann, the Inception of AI, and the Limits of Logic
"Something very small, so tiny and insignificant as to be almost invisible in its origin, can...
2nd Dec 2023
"Something very small, so tiny and insignificant as to be almost invisible in its origin, can nonetheless open up a new and radiant perspective, because through it a higher order of being is trying to express itself."
Ben Borgers
The morning of graduation
21st May 2025
Josh Thompson
Limitations of My Own Thinking
I sometimes make recommendations, or at least recount a story that has “actionable insights”....
5th Nov 2015
I sometimes make recommendations, or at least recount a story that has “actionable insights”. Anytime this happens, I start tripping over myself with warnings and qualifying statements.
Here’s what would happen:
I would make a recommendation (“start a side project to help get a...
The Marginalian
God, Human, Animal, Machine: Consciousness and Our Search for Meaning in the Age of Artificial...
An inquiry into the eternal enchantment of why the world exists.
2nd Mar 2023
An inquiry into the eternal enchantment of why the world exists.
The Elysian
Social Development > Self-Development
We need one much more than the other.
1st Jan 2025
We need one much more than the other.
Josh Thompson
On Money (again)
Recently I posted
thoughts about money I’d written from back in 2013.
Money is hard to write about,...
18th Feb 2016
Recently I posted
thoughts about money I’d written from back in 2013.
Money is hard to write about, because there are many different ways we can approach it. It’s easy to feel judged when someone does something with their money that I don’t do with mine.
That all said, there...
Wuthering...
Marlowe's restless Doctor Faustus - I’ll burn my books!
In Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus the great
scholar sells his soul to the devil in exchange...
8th Dec 2025
In Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus the great
scholar sells his soul to the devil in exchange for twenty-four years of power
and knowledge. After learning and doing
everything he wants he spends Acts III and IV playing an increasingly stupid
series of pranks on anyone and...
Ploum.net
20 years of Linux on the Desktop (part 3)
20 years of Linux on the Desktop (part 3)
Previously in "20 years of Linux on the Deskop": After...
8th Mar 2025
20 years of Linux on the Desktop (part 3)
Previously in "20 years of Linux on the Deskop": After contributing to the launch of Ubuntu as the "perfect Linux desktop", Ploum realises that Ubuntu is drifting away from both Debian and GNOME. But something else is about to shake the...
Josh Thompson
Change
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Or something like that. Sometimes change is for...
30th Jun 2014
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Or something like that. Sometimes change is for the better, and sometimes its for the worse. I don’t know if there’s always a difference.
Recently, Kristi and I have seen lots of change; I’d say its for the better, but it’s not...
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[RIDGELINE] Walking the Brooklyn Bridge
Ridgeline subscribers —
Thanks for all the “Yo!“s last week. It looks like transmissions from...
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...
Josh Thompson
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
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...
Escaping Flatland
How can we rejuvenate the social fabric?
ask_another_guest
8th Jul 2026
Escaping Flatland
Reading challenging books with kids is fun and probably useful
I was looking through my diary from the summer of 2020 and found this entry about Maud, then three...
2nd Apr 2024
I was looking through my diary from the summer of 2020 and found this entry about Maud, then three years old, in late toddlerhood. 25th of July 2020. I was doing the dishes. Maud came in. “I have looked a little in books,” she said.
Steven Scrawls
Not As Giants Love
Not As Giants Love
Short story, ~2000 words
A week ago, when I asked you if you still loved me, I...
4th Jul 2024
Not As Giants Love
Short story, ~2000 words
A week ago, when I asked you if you still loved me, I thought the
most painful thing you could’ve said was no. I don’t know if you
remember, but when you said “Of course I still love you” and asked if
I still loved you, I started to...
Escaping Flatland
Drift
Right now it is April 18 and I am walking along the steep coast at the peninsula on the Northeastern...
1st May 2025
Right now it is April 18 and I am walking along the steep coast at the peninsula on the Northeastern corner of our island.
Anecdotal Evidence
'Superintending What He Cannot Regulate'
In my family we can’t get
away from the “Y” chromosome. Having children is known as “going to the...
1st Jul 2025
In my family we can’t get
away from the “Y” chromosome. Having children is known as “going to the Y.” I
have three sons, no daughters, and my brother, who died last summer, was my
sole sibling. My mother had five brothers, no sisters. My father, two brothers,
no sisters, etc....
Wuthering...
What I Read in June 2025 - A life of agony was all for naught.
My summer plan was to read, short, easy books, and I almost
succeeded. I read short, difficult...
3rd Jul 2025
My summer plan was to read, short, easy books, and I almost
succeeded. I read short, difficult books
in French, and accidentally read several grim, sad, violent books, alongside some
playful nonsense.
FICTION
The Field of Life and Death (1935), Xiao Hong – For example. Ninety...
Ben Borgers
Good Software Has a Clear Geography
1st Feb 2022
Escaping Flatland
Some relationships deepen when you tell the truth and some end
I asked people to send me stories about situations where they had done what felt right to them, even...
11th Mar 2026
I asked people to send me stories about situations where they had done what felt right to them, even though they feared social pushback.
The Marginalian
Consciousness, Artificial Intelligence, and Our Search for Meaning: Oliver Sacks on ChatGPT, 30...
"We are not incoherent, a bundle of sensations, but a self, rising from experience, continually...
2nd May 2023
"We are not incoherent, a bundle of sensations, but a self, rising from experience, continually growing and revised... Through experience, education, art, and life, we teach our brains to become unique. We learn to be individuals. This is a neurological learning as well as a...
The Marginalian
On Looking: Poet Lia Purpura on the Art of Noticing
“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands...
4th Sep 2025
“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in the way,” William Blake wrote in his most spirited letter. “As a man is, so he sees.” Because how we look at the world shapes the world we see, every act of noticing is an act...
Idle Words
My Taipei Quarantine
Part of what brought me to Taiwan was bureaucratic thrill seeking. Few other countries had gone...
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...
Robert Caro
‘The Power Broker’ Is Finally Getting a Digital Edition. What Took So Long?
Caro’s mammoth study of the urban planner Robert Moses is coming out as an e-book on the 50th...
25th Mar 2025
Caro’s mammoth study of the urban planner Robert Moses is coming out as an e-book on the 50th anniversary of the biography’s publication.
Craig Mod — Writer +...
[ESSAYS] The Seventh Year of Running my Membership Program
Hello there. I’m Craig Mod. And we just entered Year Eight of my SPECIAL PROJECTS membership...
4th Feb 2026
Hello there. I’m Craig Mod. And we just entered Year Eight of my SPECIAL PROJECTS membership program. Time passes, things get done. Here we are with seven giant years under our belt. Seven of the biggest years of my life, by far. Much of it, thanks to this membership program....
Steven Scrawls
Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Living at Resort
‘Small
Village’ of Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Alive, Thriving at
Caribbean...
8th Aug 2024
‘Small
Village’ of Supposedly-Deceased Intellectuals Found Alive, Thriving at
Caribbean Resort
Gabriel Martinez, a 35-year-old confectioner living in the Cayman
Islands, thought he was posting a simple promotional photo when he
snapped a picture of his ‘cocoa-banana-surprise’ and...
Naz Hamid — Journal...
✏️ Borrego Boogie
Almost a year ago, Jen and I headed south to Bishop, then a run through Death Valley, an obnoxiously...
8th Mar 2023
Almost a year ago, Jen and I headed south to Bishop, then a run through Death Valley, an obnoxiously windy night in Alabama Hills, and then reset in San Diego before a good run and a few nights in Anza-Borrego desert.
It's remarkable that a place this wild and surprisingly...
This Space
Books of the year 2024
In order of being read.
Giorgio Agamben – What I saw, heard, learned…
One night, along Venice’s...
15th Dec 2024
In order of being read.
Giorgio Agamben – What I saw, heard, learned…
One night, along Venice’s Zattere, watching the putrid water lap at the city’s foundations, I saw that we exist solely in the intermittence of our being, and that what we call I is just a shadow...
Ben Borgers
Winter break project list [2024]
21st Dec 2024
The American Scholar
The Story of Mumbet
Who was the enslaved woman whose burial site at a Berkshires cemetery draws so much reverence and...
2nd Mar 2026
Who was the enslaved woman whose burial site at a Berkshires cemetery draws so much reverence and respect?
The post The Story of Mumbet appeared first on The American Scholar.
Escaping Flatland
Things that connect us to ourselves, and things that don't
+ recommendations
6th Feb 2026
This Space
The way of arrival
Two intellectual memoirs dominated my reading over Spring, three if WG Sebald's Silent Catastrophes...
8th Jul 2025
Two intellectual memoirs dominated my reading over Spring, three if WG Sebald's Silent Catastrophes can be included given that its analysis of the careers of various Austrian writers illuminates Sebald's own literary trajectory.1 Peter Brown's Journeys of a Mind: A Life in...
This Space
No safe landing
A review of A Winter in Zürau and Partita by Gabriel Josipovici
Gabriel Josipovici has said that...
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...
Josh Thompson
Maybe "Now" Is Not the Right Time
Recently I deleted a bunch of old notes I had in
Evernote. Some of the notes were almost immediately...
19th Jul 2015
Recently I deleted a bunch of old notes I had in
Evernote. Some of the notes were almost immediately unneeded, like old receipts and confirmations.
Much of the rest was notes related to goals (“Checklist to move out of MD Apartment”, “Planning trip to Buenos Aires”) or to...
Blog -...
Book Review - Shots from the Hip
In the fields of Taoism, herbalism, and Chinese culture, Daniel Reid is a
legendary author who has...
18th Jul 2021
In the fields of Taoism, herbalism, and Chinese culture, Daniel Reid is a
legendary author who has written books that have changed the course of
lives. His most recent publication is a two-book memoir entitled Shots from
the Hip, a colourful account of his many exotic...
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