Oh, that was from you, too?
I just read this a few days ago (was actually recommended here on HN [1]) and thought it was terrific.
That might be one of my biggest problems in science - I have a hard time memorizing people's names.
Turns out the author wrote about that problem, too [1].
The advice is mostly on how memorize names when you get introduced personally, but admittedly this is an even more important problem. Recommended read.
re: distilling -- my main intention in writing this memoir wasn't to provide advice, since it's hard for me to determine how much facets of my experience generalize. i do have plans to convert the "lessons learned" section from the epilogue into a talk, though.
i have this other article from the beginning of my third year that's more of the "advice" type, although again, I'm wary of making generalizations about Ph.D. life: http://pgbovine.net/PhD-life.htm
(other fun fact - i used one of your blog quotes as the title slide of my Ph.D. oral defense)