Interesting links from around the web

This is a collection of technical articles, weblogs and interesting written material that I read over years. There is no concurrent theme here. It's an all-inclusive list from a bunch of different topics, so have a look and hope you find something cool!

man reading

Short reads worthy of your attention

  • Fermy Paradox - A fascinating read! You will dive deep into a different perspective about the possibility of life in the universe.
  • The AI Revolution: The Road to Superintelligence - We are on the edge of change comparable to the rise of human life on Earth.
  • What You Can't Say - Paul Graham explores how to find recipes for discovering what you can't say, in any era.
  • How Complex Systems Fail [pdf] - The author summarizes this as, "Being a Short Treatise on the Nature of Failure; How Failure is Evaluated; How Failure is Attributed to Proximate Cause; and the Resulting New Understanding of Patient Safety."
  • A Plea for Lean Software [pdf] - Niklaus Wirth's famous paper from 1995. Software's girth has surpassed its functionality, largely because hardware advances make this possible. The way to streamline it lies in disciplined methodologies and a return to essentials.

Longer Reads worth binging on

  • Ribbon Farm - A longform blog devoted to unusual takes on both familiar and new themes. What we call “refactored perception.”
  • Principia Cybernetica - Tries to tackle age-old philosophical questions with the help of the most recent cybernetic theories and technologies.
  • Acolyer Blog - The Morning Paper (in Computer Science).
  • Reflections on trusting trust - Ken Thompson, co-author of UNIX, recounted a story of how he created a version of the C compiler that, when presented with the source code for the "login" program, would automatically compile in a backdoor to allow him entry to the system...
  • Seven Habits of effective text editing - From the primary author of Vim, this paper presents guidelines and hints for doing your work more quickly and with fewer mistakes.

Music

  • myNoise - The background sound generator that offsets its entire carbon footprint!
  • Dorm Room Ambiance - Some sweet ambient music from Soundcloud.