
Best things and stuff of 2015 - platz
http://blog.fogus.me/2015/12/29/the-best-things-and-stuff-of-2015/
======
kbenson
Crap, I still have a tab open in my browser at home for the best things and
stuff of 2013[1] that I haven't made it though, and I first opened it when it
was posted in late 2013! I really need to devote some time to that, since I've
bothered to make sure that tab survived for two years.

1: [http://blog.fogus.me/2013/12/27/the-best-things-and-stuff-
of...](http://blog.fogus.me/2013/12/27/the-best-things-and-stuff-of-2013/)

~~~
Pyrodogg
I've been there myself, but it's really mentally freeing to just let go of the
tabs.

If you have something open because you need to finish a task... Put the task
explicitly on your todo list, set a reminder, and close the tab.

If you have something open that you are need to finish reading reading but
don't immediately have the time? Add it to your Pocket or alternative, and
close the tab. If you feel you might forget it, set a calendar reminder to
follow-up.

If you have something open that you think might just be nice to reference for
that project you're kinda tinkering on... Summarize your finding in a way that
would be meaningful to a future-you searching for that reference. You can do
this in whatever method you prefer (bookmark, txt file, journal, pocket, etc.)
And finally, close the tab!

In my personal experience having tabs open for weeks, to years on end did
nothing more than exacerbate my anxiety over the fear of somehow missing out
or loosing that information.

Give your working brain a rest and externalize this effort onto something that
you aren't constantly being reminded of every second you're using the browser.

If you're worried about not finishing something, give yourself deadlines and
set reminders.

If you're worried about not finding something, make it easier for a future-you
to find it.

~~~
tedmiston
If you just want to get all the tabs out of your face but be able to find them
later, try OneTab. [https://www.one-tab.com/](https://www.one-tab.com/)

~~~
kbd
Why not just use Chrome's built-in feature to save all your open tabs as
bookmarks?

~~~
codemac
Or even save all your open tabs as a MAFF archive! Then you can read them
offline. I like to add them to my todo list and then read them when I turn of
my networking so I don't get lost down a hacker news rat hole. Dunno if chrome
supports that, but Firefox (obviously) does[0].

[0]: [http://maf.mozdev.org/](http://maf.mozdev.org/)

~~~
darylfritz
I'm just going to open that in a new tab and save it for later... d'oh!

------
wcarss
This has become one of the few end-of-year wrap-ups that I actively look
forward to seeing, both as inspiration to read more and as a source for
interesting ideas.

As usual, this is an amazing trove of interesting links and top notch personal
accounting. Thank you, fogus!

~~~
mark_l_watson
I agree. Last year I ended up spending lots of time following Michael's
tracks.

------
sotojuan
For discovering music I recommend Rate Your Music. You don't need an account,
just go to the "charts" page and you can search by any genre (really, any!),
country of artist or reviewers, by top rating or "esoteric" rating, etc.

The site is also getting an overhaul with a new name in April which will have
even more powerful searches.

~~~
alexisnorman
This has been by favorite way of researching new music for quite a while. I'll
usually start with an album I really enjoy and then read reviews or checkout
lists with that album included to find similar (and sometimes totally
different!) albums and artists. I know a lot of people who praise discogs.com
but RYM deserves way more credit.

~~~
sotojuan
Yep. RYM has over ten years of user contributions. It's a disgusting mess of
PHP with no API, but it works.

The new rewrite will have an API, though I am not sure what the stack will be.

------
awjr
There was one blog post that had the most profound impact on my development
approach for Single Page Apps.
[http://www.pocketjavascript.com/blog/2015/11/23/introducing-...](http://www.pocketjavascript.com/blog/2015/11/23/introducing-
pokedex-org)

Discussed here
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10619933](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10619933)

I find it to be the one article I can link to people that has a profound
impact on the way they think about web app development.

------
twoquestions
Wow, how does somebody get all that reading/working done in a year?

~~~
malexw
I'd love to know that too. His goodreads profile shows 107 books read this
year, so about 2 per week. I think my personal best (since I started tracking)
was 12 in a year.

~~~
panglott
My average for the last four years (since I started tracking) is 43.5. I think
reading 100/year would require reading books instead of watching TV nearly
every night.

Here's confessions of someone who read 164:
[http://www.vox.com/2015/12/29/10634416/reading-list-
books](http://www.vox.com/2015/12/29/10634416/reading-list-books)

Blogger/economist Tyler Cowan also advises quitting books that are a slog.

~~~
fogus
> I think reading 100/year would require > reading books instead of watching
> TV nearly > every night.

That's about right. I spend about 2-hours per week on television (depending on
the season I spend zero) and I haven't played a video game in 5 years. There
have been many times that I've wanted to see certain shows (Supergirl looked
fun) but when the time comes reading wins out almost every time. I can only
read this much because I love reading more than any other form of
entertainment. It would be impossible otherwise. It does kinda stink to never
be able to engage in conversations about games and shows though. Maybe there's
a market for semi-annual books about current media. ;)

------
bostonpete
He's done all that reading and still hasn't read Snow Crash? What the what...?

Edit: It's been on his "Still Haven't Read" list since 2010. Maybe it's some
sort of inside joke at this point...

~~~
ghthor
I started it and got about 1/2 a chapter in. Haven't picked it back up, dunno
why really, I was enjoying it a little.

~~~
therealdrag0
Same. I liked the jokes, and then got bored of it by 30% in.

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sandGorgon
Deja vu. I wonder how he came across one of the really old works of Zakir
Hussain. One of the greatest percussionists of Indian classical music of all
time.

~~~
fogus
I'm almost certain that I've heard his music before, but this was the first
year that I actively listened if you catch my meaning.

~~~
kasbah
Check out his collaboration called Sangam, with Charles Lloyd and Eric
Harland, if you are into Jazz. There is an excellent video recording on
Youtube as well as a CD (which is quite different and worth checking out
separately).

[https://youtu.be/0-OSqHAeLBU?t=1m41s](https://youtu.be/0-OSqHAeLBU?t=1m41s)

------
aresant
Just discovered "Kiwi Crates" via this post. As parent to a 4 and 3 year old =
incredible find. Love the blend of simplicity (delivered w/everything) and
still meaningful construction. Anything else like this parents of HN can
share?

~~~
icc97
I found it a nice touch that they'd included 'Art' to turn the rather
uninspiring (in my head anyway) 'STEM' into a rather more inspiring 'STEAM'.

~~~
theoh
I think this idea came from RISD. If you have ever sat in college level
classes in both the hard sciences and visual arts, the difference in the
capabilities of the students (and of the teachers) is very marked. It's not
that one set of abilities is better than the other, just a case of two self-
selected groups. Even in a mixed field like architecture the focus is on
formal (aesthetic) issues rather than rigorous conceptual/deductive thinking.
In fact "critical" reasoning is just barely on the agenda and is learned and
applied in an ad hoc way.

Maybe a figure like Gaudi came close to being the ideal STEAM all-rounder.
Whether we need more of his type I don't know!

------
Animats
His choice of a social analysis of Thomas the Tank Engine is disappointing.
Slate covered this in 2011, and was far better.[1] Sodor has the morals and
ethics of Imperial Britain. It's all about duty. Duty to one's social
superiors. There are even posters, "Sir Topham Hatt says Have you Been Really
Useful Today?" Think of this as you stare at your cube walls.

[1]
[http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2011/07/thomas...](http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2011/07/thomas_the_imperialist_tank_engine.html)

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SeanDav
Good to see LoseThos there. An interesting story about an interesting guy -
and also a great programmer.

------
Idontagree
I really gotta ask what's w/ snow crash this year? Did it get mentioned
somewhere, I've just seen it a bunch from my family, now here; but I read it
like 15 years ago. Is it because of Seveneves?

~~~
Hortinstein
I think the reemergence of Virtual Reality (oculus/vive) has a lot to do with
it

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pjbriggs
This is a pleasure to see I had read the last two years but i think this is
the one that will make me actively remember it in coming years.

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agumonkey
The 2014 and 2015 paragraphs are the most intersting to me.

The effort toward productivity, the 100:10:1 rule.

Pretty good stuff.

------
zeeshanm
According to this post - the author's read at least two books per week in
2015. How does one do that? Serious question.

~~~
fogus
Instead of watching TV, playing video games, surfing Facebook, and solving
Sudoku puzzles I read. There's really nothing else to it.

~~~
jseliger
_Instead of watching TV, playing video games, surfing Facebook, and solving
Sudoku puzzles I read. There 's really nothing else to it._

I'm the same way. Friends and students are endlessly amazed that I'm reading a
new book every couple days. I'm endlessly amazed at how much time they spend
on their phones.

A while ago I wrote "Why fiction? Why reading?"
[http://jakeseliger.com/2014/03/03/why-fiction-why-
reading/](http://jakeseliger.com/2014/03/03/why-fiction-why-reading/) :

 _Every great book is the result of years or decades of studying and
experience, distilled into a volume you can read in a few hours. How could you
not want that?_

------
elliotec
Fogus is the man.

------
tamana
I guess web caching is not one of the best things of 2015. Site is down.

------
polskibus
Hi fh

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melted
There's no way anyone can actually work and read 2 books per week. I call
bullshit on this one.

~~~
rwmj
Rubbish. I had a period when I read one book every day, including reading The
Dice Man (which is a huge book) in one day. Of course I did little else. But 2
books a week is easily achievable.

~~~
Pyxl101
The poster said "and work every day", while you're saying "of course I did
little else", so I don't think it's rubbish.

