Software development without estimates, specs, or other lies – The secret to being a good coder is understanding the business problem you’re being paid to solve. I know, you just want to code, but that skill’s getting democratized to death. Your real value manifests when you hunt down a ton of messy and contradictory needs and figure out a solution that works for the most important ones.
The mystery of San Francisco English – Did you know San Franciscans used to sound like Brooklynites?
On Chomsky and the two cultures of statistical learning – Peter Norvig dismantles Chomsky’s dismissal of statistical models. Bring popcorn.
Five lies your world map told you – Country borders aren’t nearly as well-defined as you might think. Some great examples in here, including the Bir Tawil Trapezoid that neither Sudan nor Egypt want to claim.
If it doesn’t work on mobile, it doesn’t work – Must-read data on understanding mobile. Written by Brian Boyer from the trenches of web development, you’ll learn why almost no mobile use is by people moving, that they prefer reading on phones to desktops or even tablets, and that American hourly usage patterns are very similar to British, but without a tea-time spike at 4pm!
Pete Warden's blog 