Web development isn’t just about building websites — One surprisingly versatile use for html is using it to typeset pdf documents. Html provides a good middle ground between the precision of latex and the informality of markdown. With a little knowledge of basic css and html you can make good looking custom documents that render in very predictable…

Tying your token, to your technology is a bad choice. — Cryptocurrencies have promised a lot, and delivered a certain amount of utility. But the clear problem with cryptocurrency as a concept is that your technology stack is intrinsically tied to your token and its value. Technology changes frequently. Throughout history, accounting technology has changed from one medium to the next…

The mainstream narrative, behind interest rates, is that lower rates increase lending, and thus drive inflation. Meanwhile, higher rates reduce lending. But who is lending to who, and for what, actually matters. So you can’t make a blanket generalization, about these effects. The biggest effect of lending practices on inflation…

Iterate when you are close to your target /* How to use leapfrog debugging When you are first learning a coding principle or practice, it is extremely beneficial to debug and test at every step. Even with experience, incremental testing has certain benefits. But like anything there is a cost. …

Imposter syndrome is real. It isn’t your fault, but you have to fix it anyway. — Many people have imposter syndrome, meaning they feel underqualified for the role they are expected to perform. Most of the time, they are correct. We have high expectations for people that isn’t really based in reality, but rather wishful thinking. If I tell you that this imposter syndrome isn’t your…

Alice has $1,000, bob has $100, and rachel has $10. Let’s say each of them spend all their money, but earn it all back by the end of the day. Is there inflation? Well, there’s no reason for inflation to happen, because they are all exchanging equal value. The net…

Custodianship naturally evolves into payment systems — What is a bank? Based on the name, banks are custodians, in other words, they hold onto something for you. In order to do this, the first step required is that you have to be able to identify yourself to the bank. So the first technical challenge of banking is…

Interest is not natural, and the fact that money exists proves interest is unnecessary. — In part 1 of this series, we talked about credit. I identified 3 main forms of credit “Interest sharing loans”, money creation, and grants. To comment briefly on each of those, conventional interest rates are merely a way to offer a fixed return, in contrast with equity returns which are…