Random Stuff
This page collects some links to interesting things I found while surfing the net. The order is random, the goal is to put the most recent things first and group stuff by topic but don't take it for granted. I try to add a small comment after each link in order to provide some context about it.
Table of contents:
Articles
Out of the Wild
Wonderful article about the human tendency to position themselves as protectors of the natural order. This is based on a idealized notion of the wild which does not actually belong to nature. I enjoyed learning that humpback whales show a simiar behavior: they sometimes protect seals from killer whales.A calculator app? Anyone could make that
The complex and fascinating story behind the development of the Android calculator app, particularly its ability to accurately handle floating point arithmetic.Dancoland
Thoughtful intorduction to systems thinking. To be re-read from time to time.Secrets about People: A Short and Dangerous Introduction to René Girard
The title speaks for itself: this is an introduction to Girard's thinking with a critique of social media as a bonus.Albert Camus built a philosophy of humanity on a foundation of absurdity
Video compendium on Camus' philosophy.Patients and psychiatrists at Saint-Alban in France fought against fascism side by side
Roberto Calasso: The Sorcerer
This is the article that lead me to the discovery of Roberto Calasso: one of the greatest italian writers of the last century.William Blake’s The Gates of Paradise
Wonderful collection of drawings by William Blake for The Gates of Paradise.Laughter is vital
What laughter meant for the philosopher Henry Bergson.What I Learned from Losing $200 Million
"The 2008 financial crisis taught me about the illusion of control, and how to give it up."The Transistor, Part 1: Groping in the Dark
Three-part history on the transistor. Very well written and instructive.Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning
People drowning don't behave like in the movies.If correlation doesn't imply causation, then what does?
Some theory about the difference between correlation and causation. Insightful.Boredom is not a problem to be solved. It's the last privilege of a free mind
How totalism works
"The brainwashing methods of isolation, engulfment and fear can lead anyone to a cult."Law in the Jungle
Essay on the Jungle refugee camp in Calais. The article deals with how it became its own society and what this meant.How to Get Rich
The title is kind of a clickbait. This is a talk by Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel. It is a summary of his book.Caves all the way down
Different cultures approach and experience psychedelics in different ways.Ursula K. Le Guin - A Left-Handed Commencement Address (Mills College, 1983)
Talk given by Ursula K. Le Guin at the Mills College. It is about feminism and how male models and language dominate the academy. Food for thought.A Hidden Order of Reality
Article about the structuralism of Claude Lévi-Strauss.
"No amount of conviction in my freedom can unburden me of the structures that impose their contours on daily existence. And that studying the way those structures operate —in our schools, through our prison system, in what we see when we turn on the television— constituted the first step in combatting the awesome reaches of their power."How to Ruin a Country in Three Decades
Article about the roots of Italy's economic crisisHow Information Got Re-Invented
The story behind Shannon's theory of information
Society
The idea of primitive communism is as seductive as it is wrong
It's important to challenge our own assumptions from time to time. This article does just that by demistifying the idea that societies were naturally egalitarian and communal before farming.Littlewood’s Law and the Global Media
Littlewood's law states that "In the course of any normal person’s life, miracles happen at a rate of roughly one per month". This means that most of the time sensational news reported in the media is not representative of an actual trend.Ours is the Waste Age: that’s the key to transforming the future
Three Theories for Why You Have No Time
"Better technology means higher expectations, and higher expectations create more work." To leave a meaningful life one has to keep an eye on his/her expectations.Angels in the Market
The heart-tug tactics of 1950s ads steered white American women away from activism into domesticity. They’re still there.In a pandemic we learn again what Sartre meant by being free
How do people learn to cook a poisonous plant safely?
Intresting comparison between the development of culture and the scientific method. However I do not fully agree with the article since science, the same way as our culture, develops by emulation and improvement on previous results by other people.The demoralized mind
Essay about how our consumerism culture relates to depression and demoralization.Like start-ups, most intentional communities fail – why? | Aeon Essays
A great essay highlighting difficulties most intentional communities fail. All in all "communities are just fractals of society".Better Than Free
Article by Kevin Kelly. It points out how the internet is a copy machine that has made many things worthless and for what the people is still willing to pay.Neoliberalism has conned us into fighting climate change as individuals
"This is the con-job of neoliberalism: to persuade us to address climate change through our pocket-books, rather than through power and politics."
Also on the same line: Conscious consumerism is a lie. Here’s a better way to help save the worldReturn of the city-state
"This is the crux of the problem: nation-states rely on control. If they can’t control information, crime, businesses, borders or the money supply, then they will cease to deliver what citizens demand of them. In the end, nation-states are nothing but agreed-upon myths: we give up certain freedoms in order to secure others."Universal Basic Income is a neoliberal plot to make you poorer
"A closer look at how UBI is expected to work reveals that it is intended to provide political cover for the elimination of social programs and the privatization of social services"Fitter, Happier, More Productive… and other fantasies of millennial life
"Radiohead’s OK Computer is turning 21 this year (2018). The album has enjoyed a renaissance of late, finding more relevance in a tech addicted society."Radical Critique of Wellness Culture
Essay about the fear of death typical of contemporary society.Die Like a Dog
Pet dogs often have a peaceful death that forestalls protracted suffering and pain. Why can’t we do the same for humans? (see also the article above)Orwell knew: we willingly buy the screens that are used against us
Paradise Lost?—The iron cage of consumerism
"Far from creating a credible eschatology, consumerism appears to be a continuous exercise in denial of our own mortality and of the widespread suffering in the world."
"we might usefully conclude, countering consumerism must start from more robust secular (or religious) theodicy: the building of meaning structures, communities of meaning, that lie outside the realm of the market; and that offer credible answers to the deep foundational questions that continue to haunt us."
Work related
https://tomcritchlow.com/2019/11/18/yes-and/
Multi-part article about politics at work. Mainly focused on consultants, but worth reading nonetheless.Questions to ask the company during your interview
And also the HN discussion from where this link came from:
Job interview questions engineers should ask, but don'tDon't Call Yourself A Programmer, And Other Career Advice
Intresting, albeit cinical view of why companies hire engineers.
"Engineers are hired to create business value, not to program things: Businesses do things for irrational and political reasons all the time, but in the main they converge on doing things which increase revenue or reduce costs."Economists Are Obsessed with “Job Creation.” How About Less Work?
Is Everything a MLM (Multi Level Marketing scheme)
Critical article about PhD and academic jobs in general.
"too many people coming through grad school, and too few sustainable academic jobs. And as anyone in any field understands, when there’s way more qualified applicants than jobs, the existing jobs can demand more of applicants (more qualifications, less money) while applicants lower their own expectations (for compensation, for benefits, for job security, for course load and service, for location)."
Relationships
Lately I have become more intrested in relationship-related essays. Here is a selection. Relationship here is intended both as concerning a couple or between people general.
Buddhists in love
"Lovers crave intensity, Buddhists say craving causes suffering. Is it possible to be deeply in love yet truly detached?" Also contains a short primer on Buddhism.Can relationship anarchy create a world without heartbreak?
For me this article has been an introduction on the concept of relationship anarchy.Against marriage
Essay on why marriage is actually a bad idea.Why read Aristotle today?
"The fundamental tenet of peripatetic philosophy is this: the goal of life is to maximise happiness by living virtuously, fulfilling your own potential as a human, and engaging with others – family, friends and fellow citizens – in mutually beneficial activities."
Guides, Lectures and Books
What is Nmap and How to Use it – A Tutorial for the Greatest Scanning Tool of All Time
A Visual Guide to SSH Tunnels: Local and Remote Port Forwarding
linux-insides
A book-in-progress about the linux kernel and its insides.Inversion and The Power of Avoiding Stupidity
"It is not enough to think about difficult problems one way. You need to think about them forwards and backward. Inversion often forces you to uncover hidden beliefs about the problem you are trying to solve."How GPS works
Very well done. A work of art. The other explainations by the same author are great.How Not To Sort By Average Rating
An insightful gude on article rating. See also the related discussion on HNThe Availability Bias: How to Overcome a Common Cognitive Distortion
Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century
List of books in case I'm in search for something to readHow NOT to Measure Latency
Interesting overview presentation about how to measure latency and the proper usage of percentiles.Analog Electronics Tutorials | Analog Devices
Great tutorials by Analog Devices about analog electronics usign opamps and the like.How to Buy Gifts That People Actually Want
The title speaks for itslef. The relative discussion on HN is also full of useful comments.How to be Indistractable
"When you notice yourself feeling distracted, pause and ask yourself what you’re feeling. Are you worried? Are you afraid? Then go one step deeper. What caused the sensation? How does it feel in your body?"
Also related: Urge Surfing mp3Digital Camera Know-Hows
Albeit the tecnical information is dated this tutorial is still to the point.OpenBSD Jumpstart
Short presentation for first-time OpenBSD usersUsing imagemagik to make sharp web-sized photographs
You may never know when this may be useful.Digitizing analog circuits containing op amps using Wave Digital Filters
Hostnames!
A source of inspiration for computer hostnames
Programming
How to interpret complex C/C++ declarations
Useful guide for reading C/C++ code.Algorithmic Composition: A Gentle Introduction to Music Composition Using Common LISP and Common Music
A book on common lisp and music. The best combo you can get!Bit Twiddling Hacks
List of code snippets for clever bit operations
Lisp
Why Lisp?
Getting started with Lisp developmentStatic type checking in the programmable programming language (Lisp)