w1nter

Author here. After reading the comments I’m afraid my article didn’t communicate the main point clearly. The mental models suggested here are sweet, but:

It’s not about how to explain recursion or programming, it’s about explaining abstract and complex concepts via adopting to the listener’s worldview and letting them experiment to evolve that view.

Thanks! It made me wonder at the time: how many SaaS products out there include these ghost users in their metrics and revenue reports? How many users sign up for stuff they don’t use, but still continue paying for it?

What’s more, I think the incentives are not aligned. People who write content nowadays don’t usually have the reader in mind, but instead focus on promoting something (a tech, a tool, or their personal brand): https://angryscript.home.blog/2020/05/08/in-2020-all-content...

A mobile app for the Joking Hazard card game https://jokinghazard.app/ (skip the signup page https://get.jokinghazard.app/start). A fun way to socialise when everyone is staying at home.

I switch between commonly used apps with a single shortcut (e.g. ⌥E opens VSCode, ⌥D opens Chrome). Details http://frantic.im/macos-app-shortcuts

I use a simple TODO file for side projects https://blog.frantic.im/all/todo-file-for-personal-projects/

http://sourcecast.io/

Lets you share the content of a text file and stream changes to everyone who's watching.

Useful for live coding demos, teaching programming, etc.

Works without installation.

http://octave.im/

Web IDE for GNU Octave (open source Matlab alternative). Originally built it because Octave had no UI and installation was a pain. It was heavily used by Machine Learning Coursera students and currently just pays for its hosting.

I'm sure it could be useful in niche academia market, but don't have time/connections to pivot. NodeJS/React/PostgreSQL/websockets. Email address on the home page.