Productive Procrastination
How I learned to stop worrying and start procrastinating.By Tibet Tornaci | Tue, 04 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT | 5 minutes read
Rare Earth
- video
- short
- history
Rare Earth is a series about humanity, and the stories and realities we have created and faced throughout history. Are you having an existential crisis? Do you want to make it worse? Look no further.
Captain Disillusion
- video
- short
- mediaproduction
Captain Disillusion makes videos debunking the visual and special effects used in films and viral videos alike, as well as the occasional crowdfunding project. With extremely slick animations and explanations that are simple and to the point, this is an excellent way to "waste" time.
Ben Eater
- video
- course
- project
- verylong
- compsci
Ben Eater is a person who is insane. How do I know this? Because not only did he build an 8-bit computer from scratch on breadboards, and not only did he did he document this whole process with his excellent YouTube videos, and not only does he sell kits so you too can subject yourself to such torture, as if that wasn't enough this guy also did the same with a 6502 computer and a video card. Videos are good, haven't tried the kits yet because I haven't had the time; I do have two of them and can verify that they arrvied safely though. Great way to spend a lot of time, but the learning curve is rather steep.
Harvard CS50x
- course
- verylong
- compsci
This is just a very nice intro to computer science course. Lectures are incredibly long, but all the information in them is valuable, and you will use it during that week's problem sets, as well as when actually writing software in the real world. From what I've heard from friends, no other intro CS course dares to touch on topics like memory management and search algorithms, as well as most of everything else covered here. After the problem sets, the course culminates in an open-ended final project. You need a lot of self-discipline, but if you finish this, you'll have a rock-solid foundation in Computer Science. Highly reccomended, especially for confused CS majors.
nand2tetris
- course
- verylong
- compsci
Go from logic gates to a general-purpose computer. This is a class for insane people. You start with basically nothing and build your way up to having a functional general purpose computer, implemented in both hardware and software. And as if that wasn't enough you also write an assembler, compiler, and operating system. And yet, it doesn't feel overwhelming, a testament to the incredible teaching skills of Noam and Shimon. I don't like the lectures on Coursera, which is my only complaint; the book covers everything you need though. Completing an intro to comp sci course is highly reccomended. Right now I've finished the hardware part and am just starting the software part, I've very much enjoyed it so far though.
Shenzen I/O
- game
- verylong
- compsci
Shenzen I/O's description on Steam tells you about all you need to know about the game: "BUILD CIRCUITS. WRITE CODE. RTFM." In the game you work as an engineer, creating increasingly harder circuits and code to specifications given by your superios, uncovering the story in the process. It's good fun, good programming practice, and good frustration.
Tom7/suckerpinch
- video
- long
- compsci
Have you ever wondered what an uppercase letter more uppercase than an uppercase letter would look like? What the most inefficient hard drive we could create would look like? How to create 30 chess algorithms that don't work very well? No? Well then this isn't the channel for you. Move along.
Kyle Hill
- video
- long
- science
Kyle Hill's excellent videos detail clearly the horrors of radiation, as well as the human factors that underlie them. Videos include detailed accounts of Fukushima, Three-Mile Island, and the Goiânia Incident, as well as a three-part series filmed at Chernobyl. This is the perfect channel for anyone with even a modicrum of interest in nuclear energy; whether they are for or against it.
Archipel
- video
- long
- art
Archipel makes high quality documentaries focusing on Japanese artists and creators. Their work focuses on everything from anime and manga and video games to clay pots, papermaking, and restaurant management. All videos are professionally subtitled in English, and often other languages as well.
HealthyGamer
- video
- long
- mentalhealth
HealthyGamer is an initiative spearheaded by Harvard Med alum Dr. K, who himself went through video game addiction. On the channel are videos about how to deal with mental health issues, as well as full therapy sessions performed with other creators. Great resource for those who feel lost, like they're a failure, and generally just bad about themselves.
3Blue1Brown
- video
- long
- math
A self-described "combination of math and entertainment", Grant Sanderson makes excellent math explainer videos. But there's plenty of great math explainers out there, I hear you say. And yes, you're right, but they're usually lectures, whereas these videos focus on showing, rather than telling the beauty of mathematics. I'm not very good at math but this channel makes me want to be.
2 Minute Papers
- video
- short
- compsci
Short videos about advances in AI. Very approachable for beginners, though there will be concepts you might not understand at first brush.