Ranjit Mathew
rmathew4bs.bsky.social
Ranjit Mathew
@rmathew4bs.bsky.social
Notorious procrastinator, supposed reader, and alleged programmer.

https://rmathew.com/
I’ve always preferred to take afternoon naps (but it isn’t usually feasible on workdays 🥱) – the bit about long naps is concerning 😥:

“How To Get Power Naps Right”, The Economist (www.economist.com/science-and-... or archive.is/Rqz8V).

#Naps #Sleep #Health
How to get power naps right
It’s all in the timing
www.economist.com
February 8, 2026 at 4:55 AM
The RRBC Piccassso guys have been *destroying* the peace in the Jayanagar 4th T & 9th Block neighborhoods in Bangalore for *days* with loud religious songs & speech day & night, but neither the police nor the MLA are willing to do anything about it. 😡

#NoisePollution
February 8, 2026 at 2:17 AM
A must-read #paper 👇🏽 if you use #AI to boost your #productivity:

“How AI Impacts Skill Formation”, Judy Hanwen Shen & Alex Tamkin, Anthropic (arxiv.org/abs/2601.20245).

On HN: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4682...

On Lobsters: lobste.rs/s/k6fjcb/how...

#Skills #Expertise #Career
How AI Impacts Skill Formation
AI assistance produces significant productivity gains across professional domains, particularly for novice workers. Yet how this assistance affects the development of skills required to effectively su...
arxiv.org
February 1, 2026 at 12:24 PM
💖🍒🍎🍐:

“Meet The Italian ‘Fruit Detective’ Who Investigates Centuries-Old Paintings For Clues About Produce That Has Disappeared From The Kitchen Table” [2024], Smithsonian Magazine (www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture...).

#Fruits #Italy #Painting #Renaissance #Art #Biodiversity
Meet the Italian 'Fruit Detective' Who Investigates Centuries-Old Paintings for Clues About Produce That Has Disappeared From the Kitchen Table
Renaissance paintings, medieval archives, cloistered orchards—how one Italian scientist is uncovering secrets that could help combat a growing agricultural crisis
www.smithsonianmag.com
January 26, 2026 at 9:54 AM
As a kid, I used to love MAD (& Punch) – here’s an ode to the MAD magazine in its heyday:

“The MAD Files” [2024], Tablet (www.tabletmag.com/sections/art...).

#MAD #Humor #Comics #AlfredENeuman #Magazines #Satire #Funny
The MAD Files
An excerpt from David Mikics’ introduction to ‘The MAD Files: Writers and Cartoonists on the Magazine that Warped America's Brain!’
www.tabletmag.com
January 26, 2026 at 9:43 AM
A #review of the #book “The Bookshop: A History Of The American Bookstore” by Evan Friss:

“Bookselling Out” [2024], The Baffler (thebaffler.com/latest/books...).

#Books #BookReviews #Bookselling #Bookshops #Bookstores #Business #Reading #Publishing #Reviews
Bookselling Out | Dan Sinykin
“The Bookshop” tells the story of American bookstores in thirteen types. Its true subject is not how bookstore can survive, but how they should be.
thebaffler.com
January 26, 2026 at 6:41 AM
An #obituary for the remarkable Lewis Lapham, creator of the amazing Lapham’s Quarterly:

“On The Remarkable Legacy Of Lewis Lapham” [2024], Literary Hub (lithub.com/on-the-remar...).

#LewisLapham #LaphamsQuarterly #Writing #Editing #Publishing #Style #Lapham #RIP
On the Remarkable Legacy of Lewis Lapham
You only meet a few people in your life who, like stars, exert a pull so strong that they alter its trajectory completely. I was lucky enough to enter the orbit of the legendary editor and essayist…
lithub.com
January 26, 2026 at 6:13 AM
A #review of the #book “Ayn Rand: Writing A Gospel Of Success” by Alexandra Popoff that is more of a commentary on #AynRand than a #BookReview:

“Atlas Schlepped”, Jewish Review Of Books (jewishreviewofbooks.com/literature/1...).

#AtlasShrugged #Books #Reviews #Objectivism #Philosophy
Atlas Schlepped - Jewish Review of Books
Ayn Rand imagined that her romantic prose soared, but it barely schlepped along.
jewishreviewofbooks.com
January 26, 2026 at 5:50 AM
🧬🐁🧑🏼‍🔬:

“Origins Of The Lab Mouse” [2024], Asimov Press (www.asimov.press/p/lab-mouse).

#Genetics #Mendel #LabMouse #Mouse #Experiments #Science
Origins of the Lab Mouse
How the mouse found its way from Victorian novelty to a biomedical mainstay.
www.asimov.press
January 25, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Pragmatic:

“How I Estimate Work As A Staff Software Engineer”, Sean Goedecke (www.seangoedecke.com/how-i-estima...).

On HN: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4674...

On Lobsters: lobste.rs/s/dspppf/how...

#SoftwareEngineering #Planning #Estimation #StaffEngineer
How I estimate work as a staff software engineer
www.seangoedecke.com
January 25, 2026 at 5:00 AM
Impressive that #PostgreSQL scaled so much before #OpenAI had to intervene:

“Scaling PostgreSQL To Power 800 Million ChatGPT Users”, OpenAI (openai.com/index/scalin...).

On HN: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4672...

On Lobsters: lobste.rs/s/uluua1/sca...

#ChatGPT #Scaling #Databases
Scaling PostgreSQL to power 800 million ChatGPT users
By Bohan Zhang, Member of the Technical Staff
openai.com
January 25, 2026 at 4:12 AM
Melvyn Bragg has left some really big shoes for Misha Glenny to fill 😬:

“Misha Glenny To present BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time” [2025], BBC (www.bbc.com/mediacentre/...).

#BBC #MelvynBragg #InOurTime #Succession #Podcasts #Radio
Misha Glenny to present BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time
The much loved series returns on 15 January 2026
www.bbc.com
January 24, 2026 at 6:55 AM
The auto-correct SNAFUs, the text-selection struggles, and the AirDrop randomness affect me far too often 😒:

“Bugs Apple Loves” (www.bugsappleloves.com).

Via HN: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4672...

#Apple #Apathy #Bugs #iOS #MacOS #iPhone #iPad #MacBook
Bugs Apple Loves
Bugs Apple won't fix. Why else would they keep them around for so long? We did the math.
www.bugsappleloves.com
January 24, 2026 at 2:34 AM
This is amazing 🤩:

“ASCII Characters Are Not Pixels: A Deep Dive Into ASCII Rendering”, Alex Harri (alexharri.com/blog/ascii-r...).

Via HN: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4665...

On Lobsters: lobste.rs/s/vp39cr/asc...

#Graphics #ASCII #ASCIIArt #GraphicsProgramming #Programming #TUI
ASCII characters are not pixels: a deep dive into ASCII rendering
A look at how I used shape vectors to achieve sharp, high-quality ASCII rendering.
alexharri.com
January 20, 2026 at 1:40 PM
Fascinating – I’ve always admired Vermeer’s paintings 🤩:

“A Scientist’s Quest To Decode Vermeer’s True Colours” [2024], The Walrus (thewalrus.ca/a-scientists...).

#Vermeer #Painting #Art #Colors #Pigments #Holland #Masters #TheDutchMasters
A Scientist’s Quest to Decode Vermeer’s True Colours | The Walrus
New techniques reveal hidden details in the Dutch master’s paintings
thewalrus.ca
January 17, 2026 at 11:20 AM
“Frameworks: The Realist Vs The Pragmatist View Of Epistemology” [2024], Aeon (aeon.co/essays/the-r...).

#Philosophy #Epistemology #Knowledge
The realist vs the pragmatist view of epistemology | Aeon Essays
Knowledge is often a matter of discovery. But when the nature of an enquiry itself is at question, it is an act of creation
aeon.co
January 17, 2026 at 7:54 AM
“Why You Should Feel Good About Liberalism” [2024], Persuasion (www.persuasion.community/p/why-you-sh...).

#Liberalism #Illiberalism #Politics #Philosophy #Tolerance
Why You Should Feel Good About Liberalism
We need to get better at standing up for the greatest social technology ever devised.
www.persuasion.community
January 17, 2026 at 7:49 AM