I am incredibly thankful for the internet, and to all the people who have created and shared videos and wrote books that helped to pull me out of the deep dark hole of ignorance/hopelessness/depression.<p>I come from a pretty dark environment, and I can't count the times when the access to the internet and information created by brilliant people have literally saved my life. And, perhaps more importantly, made it worth living.<p>I am thankful for Owen Cook, Paul Graham, Eliezer Yudkowsky, Ayn Rand, Dan Harmon, Randall Munroe, Louis CK, and countless other brilliant and bright people. They are my heroes, they have created things that inspired me, and taught me about the world, and brought a lot of joy into my life.<p>----<p>I am also very thankful for the fact that I have discovered 3D graphics at a very early age. It showed me what it feels like to be extremely passionate about something, and how awesome and fun it can be to create things. It taught me to think and to learn things and to care about my craft, and to pursue mastery at what I do. It drove me to learn English language and, ultimately, opened to me the world of everything else that I love and care about.
My health, after having been hit by a car while cycling (airlifted to Stanford Hospital back in 2013), and having gone through depression several times in my life which could have taken bad turns.<p>My family, who was supportive of me quitting my first job from stress and depression and gave me the time to recover.<p>My childhood friends, who all grew up in SV together and still remain close friends (just went on a morning hike together on Thanksgiving day). We definitely keep each other sane amidst the insanity, anxiety, and hypercompetitiveness of modern SV.<p>My social situation, which spares me from the fear that many peers feel regarding the upcoming presidency and the emboldened vitriol of the hateful.
I'm thankful for the luck of the industry.<p>I use futureme.org to write diaries to my future self, and when I went into college after dropping out of high school, I wrote one that said I'd drop out of college too if a job were to offer me 40k/yr.<p>4 years later I graduated and moved to SF for 140k, and it didn't stop there.<p>I wish I could say I knew it would go this way, and was destined for greatness, yadda yadda, but I was as surprised as anybody.<p>The thing I was passionate about happened to explode into a darling of basically every company.<p>I'm thankful I was in the right place at the right time.
I am thankful for my wife, who loves me.<p>I am thankful that both of my daughters are healthy and smart young women.<p>I am thankful for the AT&T team who created UNIX.<p>I am thankful for the programmers who work on the Linux, GNU, *BSD, Plan 9, and FreeDOS operating systems.<p>I am thankful to all the programmers who make free software possible.<p>I am thankful for the ACLU, the EFF, the CBLDF, and the NRA.<p>I am thankful to Edward Snowden for revealing that our government has been breaking the law.<p>I am thankful that there are things like Pinboard and Tarsnap out there, where building something good is the goal.<p>I am grateful for Project Gutenberg, Wikipedia, Hacker News, and Lobste.rs; all for providing me interesting things to read.
I'm most thankful for my wife. I don't think I'd have it in me to work as hard as I have if it weren't for her. I know she's always got my back, no matter what.
I'm incredibly thankful for my education. I've had the privilege of being relatively well educated and looking back I am incredibly grateful that my parents were both willing and able to put me through decent schools.
Being alive. Being an American. Kids being alive and delightful. Having a Constitution, one protected by a brave, dedicated volunteer force. Health. Hacker News. The opportunity to work for Microsoft a couple decades ago. Fantastic coworkers. JavaScript, web2py, golang. Fender guitars. Owning our home and being debt free. Surviving childhood beatings.
I'm very thankful to have quit my job to travel and freelance 8 months ago.<p>It wasn't all pretty but I have grown and challenged myself in many ways that I otherwise would not have been able to!<p>I'd be glad to discuss with anyone interested in doing the same either over a Tokyo beer or email (:
I am thankful for living in the "information age" and for the effort of the people making it reality.<p>Once I spent my holiday trakking in Turkey and was reading HN during a pause on a mountain. I stumbled upon the link <a href="https://sivers.org/book" rel="nofollow">https://sivers.org/book</a>. I used my kindle to by some books about stoism and read them on my jurney. In English, which I mainly practice on online forums. I came back home with a different view of life. Now I know that happines is not measured in the PS of my car, the area of my flat, my bank balance or the jealousy of neighbours. OK, a high bank balance is still a fine thing but I stopped caring about the rest. And I become a better person.<p>This couldn't have happened without the "information age" being reality.
Incredibly thankful for the opportunity to have moved to the US 10 years ago. It's not a perfect country -- but there is no other place I like to call home today.
I am thankful to Tim Berners-Lee.<p>I am thankful for being born in this era.<p>I am thankful to everyone who is in Open Source.<p>I am thankful for your time reading this.
I am thankful for my cats and my partner. I'm thankful for the very faint hope that I might get to see Mars in person one day. I'm thankful for the fact that we care about AI and are making progress in that field. I'm thankful that I was born lucky, into a middle class family who moved from a post-Soviet country to the U.S. and gave me opportunities I wouldn't have otherwise had. I'm thankful that I lucked into some good genes.
I am thankful for my life.<p>I am thankful for my kids who think of me as their 'rock'.<p>I am thankful for my relationships and experiences.<p>I am thankful that I have Asperger's and think logically about everything.<p>I am thankful that I live in the age of information, which will (hopefully) make the world a better place.
I'm thankful for living in the most prosperous country in the world. <a href="http://www.li.com/about/press-releases/new-zealand-is-the-most-prosperous-country-in-the-world" rel="nofollow">http://www.li.com/about/press-releases/new-zealand-is-the-mo...</a><p>and I'm thankful for living in the country with the most liberty! <a href="http://patrickrhamey.com/saturday-research/2016/5/24/2016-state-of-world-liberty-index" rel="nofollow">http://patrickrhamey.com/saturday-research/2016/5/24/2016-st...</a>
My job at buffer. It rescued me from a job which left me sad most days (mostly a difference in cultures there. The people were fine). And did so just in time for our child being born (4 days ahead to be precise). Thanks to that I now work from home, alongside my little one and wife, both whom I absolutely love, and I've been fortunate to witness every single "first" of my son's. All while working on things I love with amazingly supportive people. When I'm older I'll probably look back on this part of my life with the hashtag #HappinessIs :)
I'm thankful that I don't have to worry about my surivival and the survival of my family and friends. Too many people around the world have reasonable doubt that they will survive to tomorrow or if they will have another meal.<p>I'm thankful for my friends and family who's support I couldn't do without.<p>I'm thankful for all of the strangers and community members that have helped me along the way, asking nothing in return. I hope I can do the same for many others.<p>I'm thankful for all of the great people who stand up for others and do good when they have nothing to gain.
Dad : For his perseverance and patience which saw us through many struggles to get us an education. His words : things learnt stay learnt - no forces can steal them from you echo strongly now.<p>Internet and programming: opportunities and possibilities that it provides is unprecedented.
I'm thankful for everyone that decided to contribute to the world by sharing information freely, be it knowledge, software, entertainment...<p>Those are my heroes, small and big.