I'm beginning to think that the following sets are mutually exclusive:

  1. people who make web pages called "[1-9][0-9]* Ways To .+"
  
  2. good hackers ∪ people I want to read

Anybody have a counterexample?

I don't see how this list is going to be helping a "beginner" at all. It's "89" items that all boil down to "Read code, write code, study techniques for abstraction", which in turn boils down (roughly) to "practice" - which is the same thing you need to do to get better at, or master, any activity.

5.3 # Consider taking the SCJA or SCJP exams

WHAT?!

Any list above 5 items signals that the writer hasn't done what is really valuable for the reader: Preselected and prioritized the material.

89 items is just camuflaged information overload.

Why has it always a certain number? 7 Tips To Get Rich. 15.4 Ways To Get Smarter. 89 Ways to Kick Start Your Hacking. 28 Secrets To Be Whatever.

It's hard to have an instantiated and filled list with an undefined number of items.

excellent?

89 way to kickstart your grammar, etc

bullet points inside bullet points...oh well...

This is a sure sign of a sociopath, which explains a lot about my most geeky friends.