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McKinley Valentine

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frozen because i have a responsibility at any point in the future

The “I can’t start any tasks because I have an appointment in 5 hours” problem

If I have basically anything scheduled in a day, my brain goes into “waiting mode”. Like, that appointment is the next thing on the list, can’t do things out of order, so can’t do anything.

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Expanders: People who expand your sense of what's possible in a life

Expanders: People who expand your sense of what's possible in a life

They're not necessarily role models - you might not want to be like them in a lot of ways - but when you meet them you realise your life could be a bit bigger.

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On favour-sharking (emotional loan-sharking)

On favour-sharking (emotional loan-sharking)

Favour-sharking is when someone does a favour for you totally unasked for and possibly unwanted, in order to make you feel obligated to them.

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The Whippet #90: Facial expressions don't indicate emotions, you just imagine they do

The Whippet #90: Facial expressions don't indicate emotions, you just imagine they do

A newsletter for the terminally curious: science, history and weirdness with 0% contemporary politics, because oh my god sometimes you need a break.

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The Whippet #89: Radical adequacy

The Whippet #89: Radical adequacy

A newsletter for the terminally curious: science, history and weirdness with 0% contemporary politics, because oh my god sometimes you need a break.

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Make your personal admin tasks slightly more delightful by renaming them

Make your personal admin tasks slightly more delightful by renaming them

One a lot of people do is making their passwords something fun to type. That's the right approach: something that makes you happy but is kept secret, so you can be unashamedly dorky.

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Why optimisers are always late

Why optimisers are always late

Optimisers break stuff because they try to carry everything down to the car in one go instead of making multiple trips.

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Leaving Facebook was easier than I expected

Leaving Facebook was easier than I expected

I'd been agonising about it for literally years so I had this plan where I was going to do it and then write to you about the Experience but it was frankly such a non-event that I don't have much to say.

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"How do you know when you're actually right about something and it's not just hubris and confirmation bias?"

"How do you know when you're actually right about something and it's not just hubris and confirmation bias?"

You never know you're right, you just settle into a state of "this is how it looks to me at the moment"

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How to remember a new PIN / digit-based password

How to remember a new PIN / digit-based password

There's a set of digit mnemonics (created, as far as I know, by a Kevin Trudeau for some cassette-based memory-training course in 1995).