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Reluctant Habits
Personal blog · edrants.comculturewriting
Reluctant Habits is a personal blog at edrants.com about culture and writing. Since 2009, 11 different Hacker News readers have linked it 11 times. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-27, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (6) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
Linked as a source on the Cooks Source plagiarism scandal, and for posts on the Amazon Kindle controversies, reputation management and an Infinite Jest review. Mostly cited by link.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 6 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
His prose sings with the force of a thousand angels, but his views on women were decidedly not so heavenly. He influenced New Journalists, veteran writers like John Steinbeck, and numerous rock and roll bands, but does his limitless panoramic portrait of an America which no longer exists have any r
Most-linked posts?
- /the-cooks-source-scandal-how-a-magazine-profits-on-theft/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2010-11-05
What Hacker News says?
The most complete listing of Cooks Source plagiarism I've seen so far, including stolen images and at least seven specific Food Network recipes: http://www.edrants.com/the-cooks-source-scandal-how-a-magazi... One source at Food Network stated their legal department is looking into it.
Comment linking /the-cooks-source-scandal-how-a-magazine-profits-on-theft/
on “"The web is considered 'public domain'"”Submitted Is Amazon Censoring 2010's Robin Hood in the United States? as a story · 9 points
HN discussionThe flip side of this is someone with an influential blog (high PageRank) etc. can easily use this to smear someone and there's absolutely nothing the target can do about it. For example, look at Thomas Hawk (aka Andrew Peterson). In the past, his (occasionally mis-guided) vitriol has been aimed at various targets. It's tapered down since he was sued but it remains appalling how someone with so much pent up anger is…
Comment linking /is-thomas-hawk-a-first-rate-jerk/
on “The World of Black-Ops Reputation Management”Submitted Mike Daisey Lies on This American Life; Theaters Won’t Issue Refunds as a story · 4 points
HN discussionI'm reminded of the fly-bat-worm example from Anathem [0]. It seems to me that the way things appear to our consciousness reflect a computationally easy (relatively easy, for our nervous systems) way to integrate different sense perceptions; say, sight, sound, and touch. [0] excerpts from an interview with Neal Stephenson, http://www.edrants.com/segundo/neal-stephenson-bss-245/
Comment linking /segundo/neal-stephenson-bss-245/
on “Did Humans Evolve to See Things as They Really Are?”Submitted IKEA’s Billy Bookcase: The Real Story as a story · 3 points
HN discussion"Besides frequently losing itself in superfluous and wildly tangential flights of lexical diarrhea, the book suffers under the sheer burden of its incredible length." http://www.edrants.com/the-infinite-jest-review-that-dave-eg...
Comment linking /the-infinite-jest-review-that-dave-eggers-doesnt-want-you-to-read/
on “The Unfinished: David Foster Wallace’s Struggle to Surpass Infinite Jest (2009)”Submitted Thirty-Five Arguments Against Google Glass as a story · 2 points
HN discussionThis is not the first time Cooks Source has copied something without permission. Check this out: http://www.edrants.com/the-cooks-source-scandal-how-a-magazi...
Comment linking /the-cooks-source-scandal-how-a-magazine-profits-on-theft/
on “Congrats, Self-Righteous Internet Mob. You Killed a Magazine.”Submitted Emily Gould, Literary Narcissism, and the Middling Millennials as a story · 1 points
HN discussion1. They already had a chance to, and they didn't go far enough. Amazon's in a position where now they're playing catch-up, big time. That's a bad position for the market leader to be in. 2. Do you even remember these controversies? They sure riled up consumers when they happened, especially the first one. Amazon fail: http://www.edrants.com/amazonfail-a-call-to-boycott-amazon/ Orwell lawsuit: http://www.pcmag.com/ar…
Comment linking /amazonfail-a-call-to-boycott-amazon/
on “We’re calling it: The Amazon Kindle had a good run, but it’s done.”