Lu Wilson
todepond.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2023
Lu Wilson writes a personal blog about programming, creative tools, analytics, AI and making things with code.
What HN saysHN commenters list it among favorite personal sites, and the author joined a thread to discuss their analytics article and its sequel.
21HN people shared it
8linked it in comments
27stories submitted
194story points
4 months agolast shared
2023people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1Just4 people · 22 points · first shared 2024 · 8 comments on HN
- 2Homepage3 people · first shared 2023
- 3Splash Colour Format2 people · 4 points · first shared 2024 · discussion on HN
- 4Are Analytics Good?2 people · 3 points · first shared 2023 · discussion on HN
- 5We are not here to make code1 people · 37 points · first shared 2025 · 18 comments on HN
- 6Minification Is Evil1 people · 34 points · first shared 2023 · 41 comments on HN
- 7AI Is Bad/Good Actually1 people · 28 points · first shared 2024 · 45 comments on HN
- 8Arroost: Unblocking Creation with Friends1 people · 17 points · first shared 2024 · discussion on HN
- 9I went to an algorave1 people · 12 points · first shared 2024 · discussion on HN
- 10Leave a Message for the Next Visitor1 people · 5 points · first shared 2024 · 2 comments on HN
- 11Rhetoric vs. Science1 people · 4 points · first shared 2024 · 1 comments on HN
- 12Why frogs are so good1 people · 4 points · first shared 2024 · 2 comments on HN
- 13It Comes in Waves1 people · 3 points · first shared 2025 · discussion on HN
- 14Split1 people · 3 points · first shared 2024 · discussion on HN
- 15Reputation1 people · 3 points · first shared 2024 · discussion on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
stevekrouse · 2026-07-20
https://worrydream.com
https://macwright.com/
https://www.petemillspaugh.com/
https://www.geoffreylitt.com/
https://maggieappleton.com/
https://www.robinsloan.com/
https://thesephist.com/
https://wattenberger.com/
http://conal.net/
https://www.todepond.com/
https://devonzuegel.com/
https://nadia.xyz/
https://adamwiggins.com/
http://glench.com/
https://ncase.me/
Classic from my old Haskell professor: https://byorgey.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/abstraction-intuition-and-the…
surprisetalk · 2024-12-05
"discipline" seems to be a key word here.
I've been feeling similarly haunted by projects, which I now call a "one man war of attrition":
[1] https://taylor.town/attrition
It's a weird spot, because you need enough discipline to convince yourself to expend more effort than watching Netflix, but also not stress yourself out.
As a concept, "building in public" has been not great for convincing myself to do more.
I think TodePond's "slippy mindset" might be more useful for these situations:
[2] https://www.todepond.com/explore/tadi-web
rakoo · 2024-05-18
Totanly agreed. We as a profession do not learn what existed before, only what the latest are doing and it's tiring. We value creating instead of reusing and maintaining, as seen in the extreme in the evaluation process at Google. We have Show HN for brand new stuff and not Remember HN for past, proven technologies put back to use.
As said eloquently by Lu (https://www.todepond.com/):
NO MORE IDEAS WE HAVE ENOUGH
NO MORE TOOLS WE HAVE ENOUGH
humbugtheman · 2023-11-22
Hi there, I wrote this article!
I'd recommend also the sequel to this article: "Good and bad analytics"
https://www.todepond.com/wikiblogarden/social-media/analytics/good-and…
efilife · 2026-06-09
https://www.todepond.com/sky/non-binary/
you go with any pronouns so why bring this up?
sandywotsits · 2023-12-18
There's a link from the page to here[0] and then out to here[1], which says...
The tadi web is built with a slippy mindset. We try to be as ‘slippy’ as possible.
Being slippy means you’re not stuck.
When you’re slippy, it’s easy to change plan, or rebuild something from scratch. It means you’re not locked in to using a certain tool.
If something breaks, you can choose to fix it, or let it die. It’s ok, because it won’t take long to rebuild it from scratch.
Every time you grow back, you’ll be a bit different. You might be stronger. Or you might be better equipped for your changing needs.
[0]: https://www.todepond.com/wikiblogarden/tadi-web/
[1]: https://www.tadiweb.com/
themgt · 2023-11-22
There is a drive towards “no analytics”. For example, this wikiblog has no analytics.
view-source:https://www.todepond.com/wikiblogarden/social-media/analytics/
<script data-goatcounter="https://todepond.goatcounter.com/count" async src="//gc.zgo.at/count.js"></script>
> GoatCounter is an open source web analytics platform
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
DonHopkins · 2024-03-05
AI runs on GPUs, and GPUs are made out of sand, so maybe AI is sand's way of organizing itself.
I have a hard time dismissing those stinky crystal worshiping new-age hippies, since I spend so much of my time playing with patterns of electrons in little silicon chips.
Hippies get a little too excited about the minds of the crystal and spirits inhabiting rocks and communicating through ethereal protocols too, yet here we are in 2024, programming and communicating with silicon CPUs and GPUs and wireless internet smartphones ensconced in shiny layers of Gorilla Glass that we obsessively carry around with us everywhere and continuously gaze into and hold up at each other and rub and tap on and talk and listen to.
Ways to Make Sand (2020) [video] (youtube.com):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDyvjkAs5-Y&list=ULcxqQ59vzyTk&…
HN discussion:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38037110
TodePond 2023 Roundup:
https://www.todepond.com/wikiblogarden/year/2023/roundup/
>What’s next?
>2024 is the year of chaos. Much more will happen.
>The next sandpond saga video will be TOP 99 WAYS TO MAKE SAND.
>There will soon be a vote for the one after that. If you want to vote, sign up to my patreon.
https://patreon.com/TodePond
Top 99 ways to make sand repo:
https://github.com/TodePond/99
Sandspiel Studio:
https://studio.sandspiel.club/
Making ALIEN ELEMENTS (to learn the basics of Sandspiel Studio):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48-9jjndb2k
Making "Huegene" in…