Top all-time · #7135
Das Bityard
Personal blog · blog.bityard.net · on HN as bityardsystemsprogrammingsecurity
Das Bityard is a personal blog at blog.bityard.net about systems, programming and security. Since 2018, 10 different Hacker News readers have linked it 20 times, most often “The Design of Silicon Notes, with Cartoons”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-12, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (1) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Das Bityard's post on background work, where curiosity-driven side work, such as tinkering at 4 AM, is presented as a way to build credibility.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 1 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- The Design of Silicon Notes, with Cartoons2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-12-04
- Filling in the Knowledge Gap: HTTPS/TLS Certificates2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-12-09
- Rabbit Holes: The Secret to Technical Expertise2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2019-08-25
What Hacker News says?
Inkscape has its UI quirks but is really quite a fantastic tool for people who make things. It's my go-to tool for anything that looks like a 2D vector image or plot. I even use it to design vinyl motorcycle emblems: https://blog.bityard.net/articles/2022/June/diy-vinyl-cut-mo...
Comment linking /articles/2022/June/diy-vinyl-cut-motorcycle-emblem
on “Inkscape 1.4”Submitted A Lengthy, Pedantic Review of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) as a story · 294 points
HN discussionHeh, well yes and no. I feel like if you are the kind of person who builds or fixes things, there are certain topics that could be worth watching in your free time because they let you look over the shoulders of experts to grain some general understanding that you might not otherwise get exposed to. For example, I watch a channel run by a guy who repairs cars for a living because he's entertaining to watch, not beca…
Comment linking /articles/2019/January/i-built-a-bandsaw
on “Digital consumption keeps me from getting better at my job”Submitted Rabbit Holes: The Secret to Technical Expertise as a story · 276 points
HN discussionMore than 10 years ago now, I built myself a few x0xb0xes, one of Limor's first projects. You could only buy the PCBs and had to source all of the other stuff yourself. I still have one somewhere, those were fun to build and had a great community. http://blog.bityard.net/category/electronics.html Very satisfying to see how big Adafruit has become.
Comment linking /category/electronics.html
on “Adafruit Founder Limor Fried: Open-Source Hardware Revolution [video]”Submitted Bark: The Toll-Free BBS for 90s Teens as a story · 52 points
HN discussionMatthias is one of my personal heros, I've been reading/watching his stuff for years. His videos are mostly what got me into woodworking and made me see it as more than just a way to build furniture. I built a bandsaw, out of wood, based on his plans: http://blog.bityard.net/articles/2019/January/i-built-a-band...
Comment linking /articles/2019/January/i-built-a-bandsaw.html
on “Templates for Cutting Gears from Wood”Submitted Rabbit Holes: The Secret to Technical Expertise (2019) as a story · 2 points
HN discussionCan confirm. I built a bandsaw from his plans, out of wood: https://blog.bityard.net/articles/2019/January/i-built-a-ban...
Comment linking /articles/2019/January/i-built-a-bandsaw.html
on “Cheap Router Table and Lift”Submitted Filling in the Knowledge Gap: HTTPS/TLS Certificates as a story · 2 points
HN discussionHe seems to be saying something very much along the lines of [1]. However, I don't like the work clock centric viewpoint. In my own experience this kind of pattern: > My own experience of background work, though, is that sometimes my curiosity gets the best of me at inopportune times, like 4 AM, and I need to just go do the work. is not a good thing IMO. [1] https://blog.bityard.net/articles/2019/August/rabbit-holes…
Comment linking /articles/2019/August/rabbit-holes-the-secret-to-technical-expertise.html
on “Background Work: Establishing credibility by indulging engineering curiosity”Submitted The Design of Silicon Notes, with Cartoons as a story · 2 points
HN discussionA band saw! https://blog.bityard.net/articles/2019/January/i-built-a-ban... (I purchased the plans for it, though. It was not my design.)
Comment linking /articles/2019/January/i-built-a-bandsaw
on “Ask HN: What's the coolest physical thing you've made?”Submitted Filling in the Gaps: HTTPS/TLS Certificates as a story · 1 points
HN discussionIf anyone has an old Silhouette vinyl cutter sitting around gathering dust, there's an actively maintained open source Inkscape plugin that lets you "print" your design straight to the cutter: https://github.com/fablabnbg/inkscape-silhouette I wrote about it a couple years ago: https://blog.bityard.net/articles/2022/June/diy-vinyl-cut-mo...
Comment linking /articles/2022/June/diy-vinyl-cut-motorcycle-emblem
on “Unlocking a locked/deactivated e-waste Cricut Maker”Submitted Various Ways of Sending Mail via SMTP as a story · 1 points
HN discussionI need to write more often, but okay: https://blog.bityard.net/ If anyone has any leads on a comment system that isn't a spam magnet and also works acceptably with a static site, I'm all ears.
Comment linking /
on “Ask HN: Could you share your personal website here?”Submitted The Design of Silicon Notes, with Cartoons as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSuper late to the party, but my infrequent ramblings are at https://blog.bityard.net/
Comment linking /
on “Ask HN: Could you share your personal blog here?”Submitted Rabbit Holes: The Secret to Technical Expertise as a story · 1 points
HN discussion