Lists of favorite things, biased towards the recently discovered, listed in no particular order, and updated indiscriminately.
[Movies][Series][Non-Fiction][Fiction][Podcasts][Video Games][RSS Feeds][Songs][Albums][Movie Scores][Knots][Equations][Miscellaneous]
Movies
- Dune (2021)
- Empire Strikes Back
- Interstellar
- Inception
- Moonrise Kingdom
- Passengers
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
- Top Gun: Maverick
- The Godfather
- The Imitation Game
- The Martian
Series
- Band of Brothers
- Firefly
- Fleabag
- For All Mankind
- Foundation
- Game of Thrones
- House of Cards
- iZombie
- Sherlock
- Silicon Valley
- Stranger Things
- Ted Lasso
- The Blacklist
- The Expanse
- The Good Place
- The Sopranos
- The West Wing
- Travelers
- Veronica Mars
Non-Fiction
- Eccentric Orbits: The Iridium Story by John Bloom
- FIRE: How Fast, Inexpensive, Restrained, and Elegant Method Ignite Innovation by Dan Ward
- Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared M. Diamond
- Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny by Robert Wright
- On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins1
- On Writing Well by William Zinsser
- Peopleware by Tom DeMarco & Tim Lister
- Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott
- The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis
- The High Frontier by Gerard O’Neill
- The High Frontier: An Easier Way by Tom Marotta & Al Globus
- The Innovators’ Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen
- The Innovators’ Solution by Clayton M. Christensen
- The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering by Frederick P. Brooks Jr.
- The Rise and Decline of Nations: Economic Growth, Stagflation, and Social Rigidities by Mancur Olson
Fiction
- A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay
- A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
- Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
- Delta-V by Daniel Suarez
- Remembrance of Earth’s Past by Liu Cixin:
- Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
- The Expanse by James S. A. Corey
- The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
- The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
- Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein
Podcasts
- 99% Invisible: all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about
- Accidental Tech Podcast: Marco, Casey, and John discuss tech and Apple
- Cortex: CGP Grey and IMYKE
- Dithering: three episodes per week, 15 minutes per episode; not a minute less, not a minute more
- Exponent: about tech, society, and business strategy
- The Incomparable: pop culture
- Liftoff: space and related subjects
- Mindscape: Sean Carroll hosts conversations with the world’s most interesting thinkers
- MECO: space news and other hot drama
- No Dumb Questions: two white guys talking
- Off-Nominal: a few friends, a couple of drinks, and casual conversations about space
- Planet Money: the economy explained
- Robot or Not?: Jason Snell asks John Siracusa to rule on the meaning of various words and concepts. It’s not just about robots anymore.
- Sharp Tech: How technology works, and the ways it is impacting the world
- The Daily: from the NYT
- The Talk Show: with host John Gruber of Daring Fireball
- What Roman Mars Can Learn About Con[stitutional] Law
Video Games
- Civilization
- Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey Jr.
- Serf City (a.k.a. The Settlers)
- Tecmo Super Bowl
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- TIE fighter
RSS Feeds
- And now it’s all this
- Ars Technica (by far the highest volume)
- Daring Fireball
- Main Engine Cut Off — Blog
- Marginal Revolution
- Selenian Boondocks
- Slow Boring
- stratechery
- Wait But Why
- What If?
- xkcd.com (with mobile-friendly alt-text)
Songs
- All Outta Angst by NOFX
- Bend to Squares by Death Cab for Cutie
- Come What May Moulin Rouge Soundtrack
- Crash Into Me by Dave Matthews Band
- In Circles by Sunny Day Real Estate
- Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven
- Say it Ain’t So by Weezer
- Strange by Celeste
- Such Great Heights by The Postal Service
- Wake Up by Rage Against the Machine
- Well Enough Alone by Chevelle
- Where is My Mind? by Pixies
Albums
- Crash by Dave Matthews Band
- Diary by Sunny Day Real Estate
- Discovery by Daft Punk
- Fashion Nugget by Cake
- Flood by They Might Be Giants
- Give Up by The Postal Service
- Nevermind by Nirvana
- Punk in Drublic by NOFX
- Rage Against the Machine
- Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins
- Something About Airplanes by Death Cab for Cutie
- Straight Ahead by Pennywise
- Sublime
- The Bends by Radiohead
- The Moon & Antarctica by Modest Mouse
- Undertow by Tool
- Vena Sera by Chevelle
- Weezer
Movie Scores
Mainly for listening to when I’m working.
- Blade Runner 2049
- Gone Girl
- Journey (technically a video game)
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- The Empire Strikes Back
- The Imitation Game
- The Social Network
- TRON Legacy
Knots
- Square Knot
- Bowline
- Double Overhand Stopper
- Tautline Hitch
- Clove Hitch
- Shoe
- Full Windor
Equations
$$ \begin{equation} \label{eq:ln}
\ln(a)=\int_1^a \frac{1}{x}\,dx
\end{equation} $$
$$ \begin{equation} \label{eq:fourier}
\hat{f}(\xi) = \int_{-\infty}^{+\infty} f(x)\ e^{- 2\pi i x \xi}\,dx
\end{equation} $$
$$ \begin{equation} \label{eq:maxwell}
d * F = J
\end{equation} $$
$$ \begin{equation}
dS \ge \frac{\partial Q}{T}
\end{equation} $$
$$ \begin{equation}
\label{eq:euler-lagrange}
\frac{\partial L}{\partial f} = \frac{d}{dx}\frac{\partial L}{\partial f^\prime}
\end{equation} $$
$$ \begin{equation} \label{eq:navier-stokes}
\frac{\partial \mathbf{u}}{\partial t} + \mathbf{u} \cdot \nabla \mathbf{u}= -\frac 1 \rho \nabla \bar{p} + \nu \nabla^2 \mathbf u + \tfrac13 \, \nu \nabla (\nabla\cdot\mathbf{u}) + \mathbf{g}
\end{equation} $$
$$ \begin{equation} \label{eq:quaternion}
i^2 = j^2 = k^2 = ijk = -1
\end{equation} $$
Miscellaneous
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Discussed on Systematic 210 and On Intelligence. ↩