Miscellany
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Technology
'Go To' Statement Considered Harmful
Dutch computer scientist Edsger Dijkstra, known for the Dijkstra shortest-path algorithm, on why "go to" statements should be avoided.
Guerilla Open Access Manifesto
Programmer and hacktivist Aaron Swartz's plea to open educational information to the entire world.
The original Usenet post in which Tom Christiansen warns against making programs require a graphical interface.
Erlang co-developer Joe Armstrong demonstrates the concept of minimal viable programs through Erlang's ticket system.
Wendell Berry cautions against excessive specialization in this excerpt from his 1977 book "The Unsettling of America".
Gravis of Cathode Ray Dude laments the sell-out philosophy of many modern technology startups.
Blogger and journalist Corey Doctorow explains how commercialization causes online platforms to collapse.
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Philosophy and Politics
Archived from a post by English YouTuber Ozkii on his now-deleted Substack.
All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
The famous essay written by Robert Fulghum in 1986.
Five Serious Philosophical Questions
Alan Watts's semi-facetious list, given as an aside during a 1969 recording of his lecture "The Nature of Consciousness".
Archived from a post by bootyist-monk on Free Republic that is no longer online.
The oft-quoted closing segment of Bill Hicks' 1992 comedy special "Revelations".
Vanessa Gobes discusses hunger and the opportunity it presents for us to be more mindful about ourselves.
Economist Michael Shuman argues for solving modern problems through decentralized, local-first thinking.
Short for "Skill and Work Ethic Aren't Taboo", a pledge to work hard and take nothing in life for granted.
One of George Carlin's best works, celebrating and satirizing life in the dawn of the 21st century.
Reddit user u/ryans01 offers some personal advice on building discipline and achieving success.
English essayist William Hazlitt defends the work of theatre and its purveyors.
Carl Sagan's famous 1994 passage, inspired by a picture of Earth take from a distance of 6 billion miles.
Written by Dr. Bob Moorehead in 1995 and incorrectly attributed to many people over the years.
A collection of passages about serenity from many places and times.
Trading Substance for Sterility
Written by Elle Purnell (née Reynolds) and published on The Federalist on 2021-02-15. While it focuses mainly on the cultural fallout from COVID-19, I feel it applies to many other facets of life, both pre- and post-pandemic.
My favorite passage from the Buddhist monk Kenko, as translated by Donald Keene in 1967.
From the FSE blog, operated by the Free Speech Extremist Pleroma instance, this article outlines the concept of free speech from an anarchist perspective.
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Guides
How to set up and use the EZ-Flash IV GameBoy Advance flashcart.
How I configure my Planet Computers Gemini PDA for use as a semi-daily driver.
Moving Gemini Client Certificates
How to use the same client certificates in Deedum and Kristall. More clients will be added later.
An in-depth guide to using Filespooler, a file-based job queueing tool written by John Goerzen.
My assembled and polished notes on using NNCP, a suite of store-and-forward programs and the spiritual successor to UUCP.
How to perform tasks using only POSIX-compliant utilities and shell built-ins.
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Games
My high school's house rules for ERS, as well as some other rules I know about.
A road-trip game invented/adapted by a few high school friends.
Super Monkey Ball Game Rankings
My thoughts on which Super Monkey Ball games are better than others.
A mini-game featured in the Atlus RPG "Persona 5 Royal", plus a few tips and strategies I've found.
My results from the geography guessing game by acidus. NOTE: contains spoilers for the game.
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Fiction and Creative Writing
My found-document science fiction serial, originally hosted on Cosmic.voyage.
The fictional background to a role-playing group that ultimately never formed.
A fanfiction short story I wrote many years ago, set in the universe of "Holes" by Louis Sachar.
A short story based on an image prompt by IronAge Media.
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Other
Why I believe the secondary antagonist of Disney's "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" is not as evil as people claim.
My view on how technologies rise and fall over time.
A parody poem from season 1 of the Sifl & Olly Show.
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[Last updated: 2026-04-04]