Recently, I finally realized that piling on new features day after day is not the most effective way to improve software. As a programmer, it’s tempting to just keep building… but this approach does not leave room for data-based improvement.   “Growth Hacking” is a (relatively) new term in startupland....

Side projects are not just random diversions: they are a critical skill-building and rejuvenating activity everybody should actively participate in.     Programmers are especially keen on little side projects. The act of programming is, quintessentially, creating shortcuts to doing something. Many programmers got their start making little scripts to...

A number of weeks ago, I wrote the first post on hacking my own happiness. I participated in a study conducted at Harvard, and the result was a bunch of data collected from real-life about what made me happy. In the last article, I took a super-high-level look at the...

This is part one of my series of experiments on happiness using Track your Happiness, a “scientific research project that aims to use modern technology” to help you understand what makes you happy. It is the project of doctoral candidate Matt Killingsworth at Harvard University. During the course of many...

The rate at which your heart is beating is one of the most easily-quantifiable, yet informative, attributes of your body. Most people know that your heart rate increases as you strain yourself in some way, but the factors which impact heart rate are numerous. Sleep, activity level, temperature, mental or...

Regardless of if you’re hanging out with friends or running a business, you will need to make a request of your peers sooner or later. On one hand, you need to get something out of the request. On the other hand, you don’t want to be that guy.   This...

I’m not here to hawk any self-help products, yet like many book writers I will make the bold claim that I know the formula to success… and it is simple. Surprisingly simple — and widely overlooked or ignored.     I’m not saying that this formula will make you rich....

I like beef jerky a lot – especially as a travel food. It lasts a long time, does not take up much space and it is extremely rich in lean protein (so it keeps you satiated).   There are problems, though. A standard bag of beef jerky is about 3.25...

Malcolm Gladwell uses the term “Outliers” to describe people who are exceptional in some way. His point is well made, but at the end of the day we tend to forget that outliers are people who are different. Strange. Weird.     To have unusual success, you need to be...

Blackouts.   Anybody who has ever drank a lot (or been around people who do) knows about this phenomenon. Entire sections of the night can disappear from a person’s memory without a trace. A recent Lifehacker article about drinking and decision-making caught my eye, and one comment in particular claimed...