After reading the entire post, one sentence still stuck out for me:

My late mother, aleha ha-shalom, told me repeatedly that I had a religious obligation to learn every day, and I have honored her memory by doing exactly that.

What a pleasure for me to read a statement like that on a hn post, for 2 different reasons:

1. It's nice to see a tidbit of wisdom spawned from a viewpoint rarely discussed or understood here. (I really don't want to start a debate or discussion here, just want to recognize a really cool thought.)

2. Sometimes I think half the reason anyone attempts anything creative is just to say, "Look Ma at what I did!" Even though my mother doesn't really understand what I do, that's still a big part of it for me.

I'm going to show her some really cool UI stuff I did last week. She'll say, "That's nice honey." That alone will fuel my rockets for another week or so.

My mother's favorite phrases directed at me growing up were "Tell me something I don't know" and "If the book is so interesting, why are you talking to me about it as opposed to reading it."

Always annoying, but motivating too.

My mom's was "Make something people want"

My Dad's was "shut up and do it"

Regarding #2, it's for that very reason I am considering naming my next startup, "Making Our Mothers Proud."

Wow, I thought this was going to be a linkbait-like read, but it was actually really interesting.

Here's to hoping he launches an anonymous blog in the future even if he is troubled by the negativity.

I'm glad you wrote this, because I assumed from the title that the post would be a lame argument about how blogs in general were becoming obsolete now that we're in Web 3.2b or whatever. But I clicked on it after reading your comment and - you're right, it's intelligent and wonderfully written, if sad. I'm not surprised Google hired this guy.

It's always sad when a post like this happens.