Top all-time · #15959
Mert Bulan
Personal blog · mertbulan.comcultureprogrammingcareer
Mert Bulan's personal blog at mertbulan.com covers culture, programming and career. Since 2025, 4 different Hacker News readers have linked it 30 times, most often “How Digital Is Germany?”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-08-02, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (2) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
Linked for posts on background task scheduling in mobile apps, such as iOS BGAppRefreshTask. One commenter cites a post as support for a question about iOS and Android background execution.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 2 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Product-minded developer in Hamburg sharing experiences, thoughts, guides, reviews, and discoveries about building, learning, technology, and everyday life.
Most-linked posts?
- How Digital Is Germany?2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2025-07-14
- Why Paying for Spotify Mostly Pays Taylor Swift2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2025-08-10
- Munich from a Hamburger's perspective2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2025-06-15
What Hacker News says?
How do you trigger that in iOS? iOS can decide not to trigger it all from what I have read - https://mertbulan.com/dont-rely-on-bgapprefreshtask-for-your... Even Android is not predicatable from my testing or I'm doing something wrong
Comment linking /dont-rely-on-bgapprefreshtask-for-your-apps-business-logic/
on “Breaking Up with Google Play: Why Conversations Is Now Free”Submitted A layoff fundamentally changed how I perceive work as a story · 1041 points
HN discussionMany people attempt to apply the American mindset to the European market, then act surprised when it doesn't work. This is yet another example. European culture operates differently, and the startup model doesn't translate seamlessly to this continent for a variety of reasons. I've explored this in depth on my blog, with a particular focus on Germany: https://mertbulan.com/2025/02/24/we-dont-need-startups-we-ne...
Comment linking /2025/02/24/we-dont-need-startups-we-need-digital-mittelstand/
on “EU startups fail because their press refuses to hype them up”Submitted Munich from a Hamburger's perspective as a story · 138 points
HN discussionIf people are paying a significant portion of their salaries, one-third or even half, towards rent, does it truly make sense to implement UBI? In my opinion, the answer is no. Instead, we should focus on establishing a Universal Basic Land: https://mertbulan.com/2025/03/02/we-need-universal-basic-lan...
Comment linking /2025/03/02/we-need-universal-basic-land-not-universal-basic-income/
on “Calibrated Basic Income by Derek Van Gorder [pdf]”Submitted We don't need startups, we need Digital-Mittelstand as a story · 137 points
HN discussionAnd the biggest part of the money you pay the streaming platform goes to neither Soundgarden, nor the remaining Beatles, nor to those artists you discovered but to Taylor Swift[1]. This is in stark contrast to how CD economics worked. As someone who spent a lot of his youth carefully avoiding big label acts and trying to support small artists, this is what bothers me the most: there is no way to do that anymore if y…
Comment linking /2025/08/10/why-paying-for-spotify-mostly-pays-taylor-swift/
on “The Intolerable Hypocrisy of Cyberlibertarianism”Submitted Why I don't ride the AI Hype Train as a story · 85 points
HN discussionSubmitted The American vs. European Mindset on Life as a story · 51 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Role of A/B Testing in Entshittification as a story · 7 points
HN discussionSubmitted How Digital Is Germany? as a story · 6 points
HN discussionSubmitted WatchOS 11 Bugs Are Driving Me Crazy as a story · 6 points
HN discussionSubmitted When the Tech Industry Becomes Disgusting as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Differences Between Expats and Immigrants as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why Paying for Spotify Mostly Pays Taylor Swift as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why I don't ride the AI Hype Train as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Munich from a Hamburger's Perspective as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted How to declare taxes in Germany as an App Developer as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted I Stopped Following the News as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted What Is a City Super App and Why Every City Needs One as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted We'll Never Have Flying Cars as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted How Digital Is Germany? as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted My Cowboy Classic E-Bike Review After 3.000 KM as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted We Need Universal Basic Land, Not Universal Basic Income as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted More German than many Germans as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted My 2025 Q2 Highlights: Favorite Books, Games, and TV Shows as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Becoming 30: Reflections and the Road Ahead as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted My 2025 Q1 Highlights: Top Faves in Books, Movies, and TV Shows as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted How to get subscription notifications on iPhone without RevenueCat as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Steve Jobs Syndrome and How to Identify It as a story · 1 points
HN discussion