Better Explained is about 2 years old, and what ride it’s been. The best part about having a geek diary is interacting with other learning aficionados. My “to read” list grows longer by the week (not that I mind!) and I’ve received some fantastic recommendations.
But that’s all me, me, me.
My friends at slinkset let you make a custom news site to share, vote and comment on articles. I’ve always enjoyed the per-article discussions in the comments here, but they’re constrained to specific topics — why not share any link or topic?
Enter links.betterexplained.com. It’s a repository of links and explanations that gave you that “aha” moment. What can you do?
- Read good explanations. When I’m learning a new topic I’ll privately save delicious bookmarks. Now, we can share articles that make us go “aha!” with everyone.
- Learn how to communicate well. When I find an insightful post, I think “That was awesome. How can my articles be like that?”. Usually it’s a combination of style, empathy with the reader, live examples, and useful analogies that make a subject click. Seeing a job well done is a wonderful learning tool. (If you want to learn how to write, read.).
- Share your explanations. Several readers have asked to contribute articles to the site. Right now, I’m the editing bottleneck and can barely keep up with my own posts — avoid this slowpoke and post your story! Any reader can enjoy your epiphanies and give you feedback.
I’ve put up some of my favorite articles and hope you will do the same (you can contribute anonymously). Happy math, science, business, programming… :)