Writings from Nick Winter, founder of CodeCombat and Skritter and author of The Motivation Hacker.https://www.nickwinter.neten-ushttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/my-experiences-in-gray-swan-ais-ultimate-jailbreaking-championshiphttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/my-experiences-in-gray-swan-ais-ultimate-jailbreaking-championshipA quick jaunt into the world of red-teaming turned into a month-long free-fall down the rabbit hole of AI psycho-warfareMon, 07 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMTAIhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/rubys-vocabulary-acquisitionhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/rubys-vocabulary-acquisitionI tracked every word that Ruby learned to say in the first 2.5 years of life, analyzing vocab compared to her brothers.Tue, 02 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMTLearninghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/tenth-year-book-saleshttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/tenth-year-book-salesIn which I ignore how many copies of The Motivation Hacker I sold for six years, then "just" ask the AI.Mon, 04 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMTWritinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/christmas-gift-ideas-chatgpt-vs-googlehttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/christmas-gift-ideas-chatgpt-vs-googleIn which I have a magical Christmas shopping experience with the AIMon, 05 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMTAIhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/meet-rubyhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/meet-rubyPhotos from the first few weeks of baby Ruby's lifeSun, 22 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMTFamilyhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/clarks-vocabulary-acquisitionhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/clarks-vocabulary-acquisitionI tracked every word that Clark learned to say in the first 2.5 years of life, graphing it and comparing it to Max's.Sat, 17 Oct 2020 00:00:00 GMTLearninghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/willpower-and-success-spiralshttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/willpower-and-success-spiralsI was talking to a friend who seemed to be independently rediscovering what he called self-referential motivation: m...Sun, 17 Mar 2019 00:00:00 GMTLifehackinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/active-vs-passive-learninghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/active-vs-passive-learningHere's another concept from language learning pedagogy (see also Extensive vs. Intensive Learning): the difference b...Sun, 17 Feb 2019 00:00:00 GMTLearninghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/extensive-vs-intensive-learninghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/extensive-vs-intensive-learningIn language learning, there's a slightly obscure but useful concept of "extensive reading" vs. "intensive reading". ...Sun, 03 Feb 2019 00:00:00 GMTLearninghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/getting-better-at-making-accurate-predictions-with-predictionbookhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/getting-better-at-making-accurate-predictions-with-predictionbookI use a site called PredictionBook to make predictions, say how likely I think they are to occur, and then later jud...Sun, 20 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMTLearninghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/murphyjitsuhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/murphyjitsuHumans are naturally bad at predictions. Being bad at predictions, and figuring out how to make better ones, sounds ...Sat, 05 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMTLearninghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/meet-clarkhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/meet-clarkNow I have two kids. So far, it's pretty similar to just having one kid. The time and energy needed to sustain doubl...Mon, 26 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMTFamilyhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/fourth-year-book-saleshttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/fourth-year-book-salesI always love it when people share revenue data for their apps / games / books / works, and it's been four years sin...Sat, 10 Jun 2017 00:00:00 GMTWritinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/graph-of-maxs-vocabulary-acquisitionhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/graph-of-maxs-vocabulary-acquisitionMax's vocabulary started exploding around 15-17 months old. I started writing down everything he could say (with und...Tue, 30 May 2017 00:00:00 GMTLearninghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/video-maxs-second-yearhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/video-maxs-second-yearMax recently turned two, so I made another video! See also the video I made for his first year....Thu, 18 May 2017 00:00:00 GMTFamilyhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/how-to-really-make-an-impression-when-speaking-chinesehttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/how-to-really-make-an-impression-when-speaking-chineseI just got back from a business trip to China, where I visited Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. I listened to and s...Sun, 26 Mar 2017 00:00:00 GMTLearninghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/video-maxs-first-yearhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/video-maxs-first-yearSince Max turned one last week, I made a poignant video of poignancy showing him growing up over the past year....Mon, 16 May 2016 00:00:00 GMTFamilyhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/mealsquares-the-ultimate-lifehacker-foodhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/mealsquares-the-ultimate-lifehacker-foodI used to eat food. I still do, but I used to, too.You have probably heard of Soylent, the liquid meal replacement w...Sun, 29 Nov 2015 00:00:00 GMTLifehackinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/surprises-from-maxs-first-four-monthshttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/surprises-from-maxs-first-four-monthsBaby Max is four months old today. I posted when he was one month, talking about what a difficult little demon he wa...Sat, 05 Sep 2015 00:00:00 GMTFamilyhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/bantling-name-your-baby-with-algorithmshttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/bantling-name-your-baby-with-algorithmsWhen Chloe and I were trying to come up with baby names, every conversation would go something like this:Chloe: "New...Thu, 11 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMTHackinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/meet-maxhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/meet-maxWe have reproduced! Max is one month old now. Here's his birth announcement photo, where he looks adorable:Apart fro...Fri, 05 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMTFamilyhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/second-year-book-saleshttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/second-year-book-salesI always love it when people share revenue data for their apps / games / books / works, and it's been two years sinc...Sat, 11 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMTWritinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/calibrating-spendinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/calibrating-spendingWhen I was a kid, I didn't work. I got a tiny allowance ($5 per week, or maybe per month), and every now and then I'...Wed, 31 Dec 2014 00:00:00 GMTLifehackinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/anonymously-admonish-me-pleasehttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/anonymously-admonish-me-pleaseIt's that time again where I become a better person. Help me out, would ya? Follow this link to give me anonymous ad...Sun, 21 Dec 2014 00:00:00 GMTLifehackinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/just-whats-uphttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/just-whats-upHere are some of the posts I want to write: experiential sampling tools, the butter eating competition story, experi...Thu, 06 Nov 2014 00:00:00 GMTRandomhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/maniacs-minimalists-and-mega-hikehttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/maniacs-minimalists-and-mega-hikeManiacsInspired by my 120-Hour Workweek Epic Coding Time-lapse video, Bethany and Danny over at Beeminder have done ...Fri, 27 Jun 2014 00:00:00 GMTRandomhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/the-motivation-hacker-now-in-paperbackhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/the-motivation-hacker-now-in-paperbackReader Raj Bapna has formatted The Motivation Hacker into a paperback, so you can now get one and do your normal boo...Fri, 30 May 2014 00:00:00 GMTWritinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/what-if-you-could-copy-yourselfhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/what-if-you-could-copy-yourselfThere's a thought experiment people use when they think about possible future technologies like teleportation and cr...Mon, 26 May 2014 00:00:00 GMTRandomhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/my-emacshttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/my-emacsEmacs wizards will tell you that it is not merely a text editor, but an operating system; not just a way to work, bu...Wed, 21 May 2014 00:00:00 GMTHackinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/first-year-book-saleshttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/first-year-book-salesI always love it when people share revenue data for their apps / games / books / works, and it's been a year since T...Wed, 23 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMTWritinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/probs-some-techie-millionaire-too-good-for-shoeshttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/probs-some-techie-millionaire-too-good-for-shoesThis is the 2nd time I've seen this kid, both times with a burrito, and NO shoes. It's in SOMA, and he has a fancy b...Mon, 14 Apr 2014 00:00:00 GMTRandomhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/demo-day-donehttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/demo-day-doneA month before Y Combinator Demo Day, I resolved to be as productive as possible for 30 days, since they say that th...Thu, 27 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMTStartupshttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/startup-blogginghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/startup-bloggingHere are the last six posts I've written for the CodeCombat blog over the past few months. Look at the view counts:T...Mon, 10 Feb 2014 00:00:00 GMTStartupshttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/badass-pointshttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/badass-points04:06. The wake light has gradually brightened to 20% brightness, but I cut it off early. It's time to rise, silentl...Sat, 01 Feb 2014 00:00:00 GMTLifehackinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/the-tetris-effect-and-markov-paul-grahamhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/the-tetris-effect-and-markov-paul-grahamMy head obsesses. I get songs stuck in my head so badly that I have to leave the room when "I'm On A Boat" comes on,...Sat, 11 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMTStartupshttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/the-time-i-flushed-my-new-iphone-down-the-toilethttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/the-time-i-flushed-my-new-iphone-down-the-toiletHere's an old post from 2011-11-21 I thought I'd save from Google+. It is just two years old and already my G+ histo...Thu, 26 Dec 2013 00:00:00 GMTRandomhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/unnecessary-thingshttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/unnecessary-thingsAfter a reader asked about why I don't use shower products on the cold showers post comments, I started thinking of ...Tue, 17 Dec 2013 00:00:00 GMTLifehackinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/cold-showers-testedhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/cold-showers-testedA few months ago, I set out to test cold showers. Here's what I wrote for my experimental mission statement:People a...Tue, 03 Dec 2013 00:00:00 GMTLifehackinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/the-120-hour-workweek-epic-coding-time-lapsehttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/the-120-hour-workweek-epic-coding-time-lapseLast week I set out to see how many hours of programming work I could do in one week on CodeCombat, our multiplayer ...Mon, 18 Nov 2013 00:00:00 GMTHackinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/upcoming-maniac-weekhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/upcoming-maniac-weekStarting Monday morning at 04:00, and ending the next Monday at 03:59, I'm going to see how many hours of CodeCombat...Sun, 10 Nov 2013 00:00:00 GMTHackinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/codecombat-in-y-combinatorhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/codecombat-in-y-combinatorOriginally posted on the CodeCombat blog.What a crazy weekend! We launched our beta on Friday morning by posting to ...Tue, 22 Oct 2013 00:00:00 GMTStartupshttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/help-me-become-a-better-conversationalisthttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/help-me-become-a-better-conversationalistWatch out: I use "I" 54 times in this post, so this will be boring if you, like me, aren't interested in hearing me ...Sun, 13 Oct 2013 00:00:00 GMTLifehackinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/aftermath-of-the-motivation-hackerhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/aftermath-of-the-motivation-hackerIt's been almost six months since I published The Motivation Hacker, my book on how to get yourself to want to do wh...Sun, 29 Sep 2013 00:00:00 GMTWritinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/towel-pull-upshttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/towel-pull-upsFor a few months in the beginning of 2012, the only exercise I got was doing 10-20 sets of pull-ups a day. I was hac...Thu, 19 Sep 2013 00:00:00 GMTLifehackinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/mother-in-laws-tongue-areca-palm-money-planthttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/mother-in-laws-tongue-areca-palm-money-plantThese are the three plants I have out of my 99 things. I went to a plant nursery and bought them after my friend Dav...Tue, 10 Sep 2013 00:00:00 GMTLifehackinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/breathing-slowerhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/breathing-slowerI was thinking of 1) setting something up where I could monitor my breath rate while working at my computer and 2) u...Thu, 05 Sep 2013 00:00:00 GMTLifehackinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/extreme-learninghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/extreme-learningYesterday, I went down to the Institute for the Future for a workshop on "extreme learning". There were many diverse...Wed, 21 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMTLearninghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/stress-fractureshttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/stress-fracturesDuring the hike up King's Peak (wild bachelor party, I know), I was a lithe gecko gliding up the trail. When going d...Thu, 15 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMTRandomhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/telepath-logger-now-open-sourcehttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/telepath-logger-now-open-sourceA while ago I was working with Yoni on Telepath, a project to make your laptop do passive machine learning on your e...Thu, 01 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMTHackinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/spiraling-into-controlhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/spiraling-into-controlI wrote this as a guest post on the Beeminder blog — comments can live there.It’s dark. Warm. Safe. You’re in bed, a...Wed, 24 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMTLifehackinghttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/wife-and-husbandhttps://www.nickwinter.net/posts/wife-and-husbandChloe and I dated for six years. For three years*, we were long-distance. For five years, starting five months in, I...Sun, 14 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMTFamily