Daniel van der Merwe
thinks in systems, automates the boring, builds for others, tinkers relentlessly, writes to think, learns in public, cares about craft, cares about people, shows up
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Nexus Score v2: Teaching Notes to Know Their Place
How I rebuilt the Nexus Score system from the ground up using graph theory algorithms, replacing arbitrary weights with betweenness centrality, PageRank, community detection, and Chladni-inspired visual patterns.
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You Have to Care
I opened my abandoned Roam Research graph, found 116 users still relying on an extension I forgot about, and realized I'd become the outsider I was criticizing.
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AI and the Agency Paradox
Artificial Intelligence is everywhere. A look at how it's reshaping our world, the risks to agency, and how I plan to use it responsibly.
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200 Weeks
I jogged three times a week for 200 weeks. I still don't like jogging. Here's what I learned.
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Year of Legacy: Foundations [2024]
My yearly theme for 2024 focuses on laying foundational systems across finance, family, and personal health.
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Loadout Update [2023/Q3]
The first ever Loadout Update. An in-depth look at the hardware, software, and systems I'm currently using.
- ●○●○●○●○●Streaks MOD2026.02.17Why I'm skeptical of streaks despite maintaining one for 200+ weeks. The cost, the conditions, and what Clear's "never miss twice" rule reveals about why breaking a streak is so destructive.PUB2025.11.05
- ●○●○●○●○●Habits MOD2026.02.17What makes habits survive long-term. Friction removal, frequency, and the frameworks behind it.PUB2025.11.10
- ○•○•○•○•○Maintaining Averages: A Healthier Alternative to Streaks MOD2026.02.10A flexible alternative to streaks for habit maintenance. Manage rolling totals instead of binary pass/fail tracking.PUB2023.09.25
- ●○●○●○●○●PACT MOD2026.02.10Output-focused goal-setting for open-ended, long-term goals. Why SMART goals don't fit every situation and when PACT (Purposeful, Actionable, Continuous, Trackable) works better.PUB2025.11.05
- ○•○•○•○•○Progressive Taring MOD2026.02.10When a habit becomes so automatic it disappears from your effort budget. The kitchen scale tare function as a mental model for raising baselines.PUB2024.12.16
- Astro Elysium --- STABLE
An opinionated, minimal, responsive, accessible and SEO-friendly Astro personal website and digital garden theme based on Astro Paper.
- Toggl Extension for Roam Research --- STABLE
Toggl Track Extension for Roam Research allows you to track time in Toggl Track and pull timers into your Roam Research database.