Tidbits | Dominik Mayer – Products, Asia, Productivity

Interesting articles, videos and other tidbits from around the web.

Ten Things You Should Know About Haskell Syntax  

Bartosz Milewski:

Learning a new programming language involves learning syntax, semantics, and idioms. Syntax itself can tell you a lot about the philosophy of the language, but learning syntax without any context is not only hard but also boring. On the other hand, you’d want to get some handle on syntax as soon as possible, so you can sight-read simple programs and try your own hand at modifying them.

So here’s a little introduction to Haskell syntax, without any formal definitions, that touches on the philosophy of the language and tries not to be too boring.

It’s not boring at all.

Wanderers  

What if we could live on the other planets of the Solar System? Here’s Erik Wernquist’s take. He writes:

The film is a vision of our humanity’s future expansion into the Solar System. Although admittedly speculative, the visuals in the film are all based on scientific ideas and concepts of what our future in space might look like, if it ever happens. All the locations depicted in the film are digital recreations of actual places in the Solar System, built from real photos and map data where available.

Onedown  

ONEDOWN is a humane rat trap. The trap rests precariously in a horizontal position on a circular foot. Bait inside would lure the rat into the trap, a metal insert in the base coupled with the weight of the rat will tip the trap and bring it to a vertical position indicating that a rat has been trapped. Then the rat can be released instead of killed.

The Saddest Feeling in the World  

Aditya Yadav:

After a breakup you will never see her dog again and her dog will never know why you stopped visiting.

Moving Walls Transform a Tiny Apartment Into a 5-Room Home  

I love these transforming rooms. This is the first time I’ve seen one that only spans half of an apartment.

How I Learned I Was Pro-Choice by Secretly Aborting My Friend’s Baby  

Zaron Burnett III had to make the decision to abort his friend’s baby:

How do you decide something like that for someone else? How do you know what the right thing to do is? What grounds do you use to decide if an abortion is the right call? Morality? Practicality? I had nightmares of babies cussing me out. I had dreams of my friend pushing a stroller and cursing my name. There was no way to be certain. And, in the absence of certainty, my mind offered me lots of ways I might ruin the lives of others.

Watch a 100-Year-Old, 28.5-Liter Engine Scream to Life  

Check the linked article for more information and a second video.

The Case Against Time Zones  

Matt Yglesias explains where time zones come from and how we get rid of them.

Car Concepts Between Past and Future  

David Obendorfer creates new versions of classic cars.

A Learning Music Player  

I’d like to see the information synced back to Spotify.

The Force Awakens

This feeling of the old movies. Wow.

How to Start  

Joel Runyon quotes advice he’s been given by Perry Marshall:

All you really need to do is three things:

  1. Commit to something
  2. Put your balls on the line
  3. Then figure it out

That’s all there is to it.

Joe Buhlig's Omnifocus Setup and Workflow  

Joe Buhlig describes his OmniFocus setup. Like Sven Fechner I especially enjoyed reading the part on contexts. Many of my contexts are quite similar. I never liked the name of my “Weekend” context and happily adapted Joe’s “After Work”.