Starting this week, I will round up a handful or two of the links that have most inspired me during the past week. Subscribe to the feed if you’re interested.

Octopress – A blogging framework for hackers // A highly opinionated blogging engine based on simple files, Markdown, Git, baked static pages, and Ruby. Matches my own preferences to the iota, so I just had to run my new blog on this engine.

Bret Victor – Inventing on Principle (video) // Amazing talk with stunning examples of how to give creators instant feedback to allow for creative play (@worrydream).

Right versus pragmatic // Marco Arment (of Instapaper fame) on toilets, trash cans, and the media industry.

The cheapest way to discover if a startup idea will make money // Interesting approach for validating ideas. In addition, it forces you to focus.

I Have No Idea // Mike Swanson, creator of comic-effect photography app Halftone , on going the extra mile: “Your exit criteria should be when you’re delighted to use your own app or feature and surprised that you were able to pull it off.”

Wir, die Netz-Kinder // A refreshing manifesto of our generation. (English translation)

Optimizing for Happiness (slides) // GitHub co-founder @mojombo on the evolution of GitHub and its underlying values. Sure sounds like an inspiring and engaging place to work.

Kickstarter projects // I backed three wonderful projects today: Matter (quality journalism), Gremolata & Cancellaresca Milanese (making a new metal typeface), and LowLine (an underground park on NYC’s Lower East Side).