Hacker News gives life lessons

- You don't need very much at all. Maybe a laptop computer and a couple changes of clothes. Pictures and videos of your life. That's about it.

[...]

- Nothing will ever replace experiences. No matter how big the car, nice the house, or professional-looking the suit, it's never going to be as much fun or mean as much later as the experiences you have in life. And it's not just having the experience, it's looking forward to them, and planning them, and making pictures, movies, and blogs out of them. The best part, oddly, may be the planning. So planning a 200-dollar trip to the beach in the Fall with people you love may give you many hours of happiness this summer -- along with the fun of the trip itself.


[...]


- Create. With a passion. There are two major kinds of people in this world, consumers and creators. The herd will push you to consume, life will push you to consume, consumption is the easy and default path, but true joy and a full life come from creating. It does not matter one bit how many people like what you create, just create. Write. Blog. Make videos. Make a movie. Write a program. The longer the format and the more creativity involved, the more you are going to turn on and exercise key parts of your brain. Nobody wants to be 80 and only have stories of being at the office, but fuck, if you were at the office creating something at least you tried to make a difference. I'd rather be that guy than the one who watched Sumo wrestling everyday (or played 20,000 hours of WoW during his 20s) The only thing you're going to have at the end of your life are the decisions you made, the things you created, and memories. Learn to maximize these things.
via news.ycombinator.com

Great stuff here, but these 3 are my favorites.

Photos from the secret xkcd meetup!

There was a puzzle throughout the xkcd book we published over at breadpig, which some ambitious xkcd readers managed to crack after months of work.

The solution was a set of coordinates, time, and date with lots of love. That day was this past Saturday the 26th. We had a great time at Golden Gate Park (as evidenced by these photos). There was a bobcat in a box, an xkcd kite (no camera, unfortunately), delicious xkcd cupcakes, and lots of glorious geekery!
Randall also created some special limited edition "service packs" to the first 256 attendees. Thanks to all of you who braved the chilly SF weather!

Want more photos and recaps from attendees? Click here.

"Who's the Scientist" - 7th graders describe scientists before and after a visit to Fermilab

"A scientist is hardworking, studious, detail-oriented, observant, intelligent, exacting, and patient. When I think of a scientist, I think of someone who sets out to find the facts without predetermining what the outcome is. During this process a scientist must be fair, honest and unbiased. A scientist must be exact by following all directions and recording every step and observation, so that the experiment can be reduplicated. He/she must check and double-check all of his/her work. A scientist is very important in our lives because all of the experiments he/she does in the lab can affect our health, environment, nutrition, and other aspects of our daily and future life." . . . Marisa


The scientists really liked this description. Was it written before or after the visit to Fermilab? See what the kids have to say.

via ed.fnal.gov

Hardly a scientific study :) but illustrative of scientist stereotypes (and hopefully enlightening for those 7th graders about how awesome - and normal - most scientists are). Lots of labcoats in those before drawings.