Articles

This is a collection of random thoughts and articles; some factual and some not.

• The Decline and Near-Extinction of the North American Sasquatch Once numbering in the millions across the Pacific Northwest, the Sasquatch population was devastated first by introduced disease and then by commercial hunting. This is the conservation history of a species that has never officially existed.
• 80×24 The default terminal size of 80 columns by 24 rows is a direct inheritance from IBM punch cards and CRT display physics. Here is how a 1928 card format ended up defining the shape of every terminal window opened today.
• A New York Minute and a Country Mile The surprisingly specific historical origins of two idioms — the New York minute and the country mile — and what they actually measure.
• Seeing little people A wild mushroom enables people to see tiny elf-like creatures
• I live better than Louis XIV Our everyday comforts outperform the greatest luxuries of the past
• The Rose-Tinted Rearview Mirror Why people remember grimy Times Square as “safer” and old cars as “fine,” and how the peak-end rule, survivorship bias, and other memory effects help explain it.
• The Fragility of Digital Memory Digital information feels permanent, but it depends on fragile layers—hardware that disappears, formats that go obsolete, and media that quietly degrades.
• What We Choose to Remember Data loss is not just a technical problem. It is shaped by human choices, institutional failures, and the quiet filtering of what we consider worth keeping.
• Optimizing the Selling Price for My Exams What’s the mathematically optimal way to sell your own exam?
• Electricians, Engineers, and Certifications Reflections on the differences between certifications and academic study
• Telling Time Deciphering the mystery of analog clocks
• Telling Time - Advanced Topics Some devices make it extra hard to tell the time
• Seminal Ideas in Computer Science Innovations that changed computing
• Big Ideas in the History of Operating Systems A look at the big ideas and landmark innovations that shaped operating systems over the past seven decades.
• The Evolution of File Systems How file systems evolved from tape reels and flat catalogs to today’s cloud-native storage.
• Searching for the Ideal Coin System An exploration of how to choose optimal coin values to minimize the number of coins needed for making change.
• Why Electrical Engineering Seems Backward A reflection on the odd conventions in electrical engineering
• The Great, the Bald, and the Unready A look at the refreshingly honest tradition of medieval ruler nicknames, and why we should revive it.
• My macOS configuration My cheat sheet for setting up new Macs
• A Modest Proposal for the Return of Phrenology A look at the discredited "science" of phrenology, reimagined as a cost-saving, complementary tool for modern medicine
• In Praise of the Imperial System of Measures It really is superior
• Pounds, Shillings, and Pence A case for a return to British coinage
• Passport Artists A look at the forgotten profession of passport artists—artistes passeportiers—who sketched portraits for travel documents before photography was practical.
• The Noble Art of Conducting Why Settle for a Harp When You Can Play Everyone at Once?
• Airplane Etiquette - A Field Guide A guide to the do’s, don’ts, and utterly bizarre habits of air travel
• The Strange Naval History of the Orange A look at how "naval oranges" became tied to sailors, scurvy, and even the wardrobe of Oompa Loompas.
• Potted Meat Food Products Let's hope we aren't what we eat