If someone asks you a question, paste your answer — not the chatbot's.

Every time I post a new behavioral experiment, or share a personal resolution of some kind, I get a few emails telling me not to be so strict with myself.

They always say something like “It’s not good to be so hard on yourself!” or “We shouldn’t be forcing ourselves to do things!”

This is a common thing to hear in our improvement-focused culture. I used to think it was a reasonable caution, but now I think it’s generally bad advice.

It seems well-meaning in most cases—people sometimes do go overboard with exercise, frugality, and personal efficiency. But I think it’s much more common for people to go under-board in some or all of those areas, and you can bet the person giving you a hard time is one of them.

We often hear about the importance of “balance” in our self-improvement efforts. But what exactly are we balancing? Good behaviors and bad ones? Are we looking for lives that are equal parts wisdom and recklessness?

Can you imagine someone saying “I don’t think we should force ourselves to brush our teeth every day. You have to live a little!”

If a developer claims the badge of mid-level-plus but doesn’t feel at ease in at least the five principal paradigms—they are a pompous fool, and you should show them the door.

Смотрелка заметок для осма

Automatic headphone equalization

If you actively use Stack Overflow as a coding instrument, your reputation will be lofty; if you don't use it, you're not really a professional software engineer.

The easiest way to configure a performant, secure, and stable NGINX server.

This idea is pretty simple, in principle: sometimes we miss a good-enough solution because a not-quite-good-enough solution is already out there and in use.

Trying to make the case for permanent irrevocable digital identities, which unfortunately today, by de-facto, are email addresses.

Про автомобили, химию, эксперименты, скандалы, историю, политику, сферы влияния, махинации, войны итд итп.

3 часа восторга!

Просто напоминаю про прекраснейший блокировщик рекламы, который не только — внезапно — скрывает рекламу от любимого пользователя, но и старательно засерает статистику рекламным площадкам ("все кликают ВСЁ"), сводя на нет самый смысл персонифицированной слежки.

Full text of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, with notes to help the reader

Коллекция интерактивных штуковин. Очень красивое

Языки программирования как люди

I write almost everything important in my life: thoughts, plans, notes, diaries, correspondence, code, articles, and entire books.

They are my extended memory — my noted self — my organized thoughts. I refer to them often. I search them, update them, and learn from them. I convert them into HTML to make websites, or LaTeX to make books.

My written words are my most precious asset. They are also a history of my life. That’s why I only use plain text files. They are the most reliable, flexible, and long-lasting option. Here’s why.