link dump #9

 

I follow a lot of RSS feeds which makes it easier for me to discover interesting web pages without having to visit my list of interesting blogs which aren't updated often.  I hate to send these interesting links via email since it feels too much like a teacher giving homework... here, go read all of these web pages and report back to me.  Instead I think collecting them in a blog post is a friendlier way to pass links along.

My Google Alert for stories about Andy Weir alerted me to the news that the directories of the movie Project Hail Mary are planning to adapt the first book from Dennis E. Taylor's Bobiverse series as their next film project.  If you enjoy SciFi books and haven't read this series, you're in for a treat.
https://www.cbr.com/universal-hard-sci-fi-bobiverse-next-step-after-project-hail-mary/

I love old Blues music so this story about a new recording of Cross Road Blues by Robert Johnson grabbed my attention.  This recording is amazingly clear and provides insight into how revolutionary his music was in the 1930s.  It gives a better context for how the rumor about him selling his soul to the devil for his outstanding guitar skills came about.  Wow, I love the way a slide guitar sounds when played by a expert musician.
https://www.openculture.com/2026/04/recording-lets-you-hear-delta-blues-legend-robert-johnson-in-stunning-clarity.html

I follow NASA's APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day) because the pictures are always interesting.  This photo is one of my favorites.  I love taking pictures of crepuscular rays.  I had no idea that anticrepuscular rays existed.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250204.html

As a film buff, this story about younger viewers no longer having the attention span requires to watch a full length film saddens me.  Apparently many feel the need to glance at their phones.  Alamo Drafthouse used to be my favorite venue for movies thanks to their strict policy of ejecting customers using their phones in the theater. but that may no longer be the case  Apparently their new policy of allowing phone ordering has degraded the experience.
https://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2026/01/attention-span-problems-viewing-movies.html

Voice AI tools are threatening the livelihoods of voice actors.  I enjoy animated programs and movies and can't imagine them without the work of the talented humans who help bring them to life.  I feel the same way about the narrators of audiobooks.  Their performance can add so much to my enjoyment of a book.
https://restofworld.org/2026/ai-voice-actors-hollywood-dubbing/

Lawrence of Arabia is one of my favorite movies.  This quote illustrates Lawrence's irreverent attitude towards authority.
https://www.quotes.net/mquote/1194085

I recently found a mention of Margaret Hamilton, who reportedly coined the term "software engineer" while working at NASA.  I've long been an admirer since first seeing the famous picture of her standing next to her assembly language listings.  The quality of her code is legendary.  The link below contains a story of her daughter uncovering a bug in the AGC (Apollo Guidance Computer) in a simulator while playing with it was really interesting.  If you prefer video, Youtube has a short video of her talking about the incident.
https://wehackthemoon.com/people/margaret-hamilton-her-daughters-simulation

I've been a fan of Penn & Teller for a long time.  This story surprised me a bit.  While Penn often shares his political views, I don't recall them taking such an active stance as this.  I guess the fight against pseudo-scientific thinking is never ending.
https://hoodline.com/2026/04/penn-teller-crash-supreme-court-fight-over-texas-hypnosis-death-row-case/

I found this story about kids making the trek from Oklahoma to New York on their own in 1910 fascinating.
https://texascooppower.com/the-astonishing-ride-of-the-abernathy-boys/

link dump #8

 

I follow a lot of RSS feeds which makes it easier for me to discover interesting web pages without having to visit my list of interesting blogs which aren't updated often.  I hate to send these interesting links via email since it feels too much like a teacher giving homework... here, go read all of these web pages and report back to me.  Instead I think collecting them in a blog post is a friendlier way to pass links along.

Here's an interesting look at how NASA engineered a fault-tolerant computer for the Artemis II mission.  It is able to handle bit flips due to cosmic rays which apparently aren't uncommon in space travel.
https://cacm.acm.org/news/how-nasa-built-artemis-iis-fault-tolerant-computer/

I'm an avid follower of space technology and was interested to hear that a new memory device which could withstand the exceptionally high temperatures on Venus has been invented.  I wonder whether a CPU to function in such a hostile environment can be created and whether there's a way to connect them.
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-new-computer-chip-could-finally-withstand-the-hellscape-of-venus

Apparently rich techies are paying to get on a waiting list to have their brains digitized.  The process is 100% fatal.  There seems to be a ridiculous leap of faith required to take advantage of this technology.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/science/5809555/sam-altman-nectome-brain-computer/

This essay echoes many of my feelings about using Apple devices these days.  I still like their hardware but their software continues evolving in ways I don't find particularly useful and occasionally I find myself wondering what the hell they're thinking customers want.
https://taoofmac.com/space/blog/2026/04/12/1330

Physicists have managed to entangle two helium atoms which has interesting possibilities.
https://www.livescience.com/physics-mathematics/quantum-physics/really-really-weird-physicists-entangle-two-moving-atoms-for-the-first-time-validating-spooky-quantum-theory

NASA has a Daily Moon Guide which might be useful.
https://science.nasa.gov/moon/daily-moon-guide/

This poll which indicates that print books still dominate American reading habits surprised me.  The convenience of e-books and e-audiobooks had made print books a last resort for me.  I only use them for books not available in electronic form.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/04/09/americans-still-opt-for-print-books-over-digital-or-audio-versions-few-are-in-book-clubs/ 

For a while, Scotland seemed to dominate original thinking.  It's amazing how many fields they excelled at - economics, engineering, medicine, etc.
https://www.ageofinvention.xyz/p/age-of-invention-why-scotland-succeeded

I've read a number of books about the early days of hacking which included phone phreaking but I don't recall reading about a blind hacker who called himself "Joybubbles".  Apparently his exploits inspired other phone hackers.
https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/joybubbles-documentary-rachael-morrison-interview

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

link dump #7

I follow a lot of RSS feeds which makes it easier for me to discover interesting web pages without having to visit my list of interesting blogs which aren't updated often.  I hate to send these interesting links via email since it feels too much like a teacher giving homework... here, go read all of these web pages and report back to me.  Instead I think collecting them in a blog post is a friendlier way to pass links along.

Given the fact that Microsoft is warning people that their CoPilot AI assistant is for entertainment purposes only and should not be trusted, this study showing people blindly trust AI results is disturbing.  I believe the results from this study since so many people fall for phishing emails which contain painfully obvious errors.
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/study-do-what-chatgpt-tells-us

Speaking of absurd beliefs, apparently some people think that blood banks maintain separate supplies from donors who have never been vaccinated.  I've been donating blood for over 50 years and have seen no evidence that separate blood supplies exist.
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/more-people-requesting-unvaccinated-blood-themselves-or-their-children

This article about the memory devices used in the AGC (Apollo Guidance Computer) also contains detailed descriptions of other memory devices used during that time which were considered.  I remember these older technologies since I'm older than dirt.
https://2earth.github.io/website/20260304.html

I'm not surprised that repeated clonings from different generations of the same line of cloned mice has caused problems.  Entropy is a cruel mistress.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a70861443/scientists-cloned-a-mouse-for-58-generations-the-results-were-catastrophic/

Recently a magnetic tape containing source code for UNIX v4 was discovered.  I found the procedure used to extract the data from that old tape fascinating.  Stories about magnetic tape make me nostalgic for large computer rooms.  A row of tape drives constantly seeking and reading is a visual indication of a busy computer.  Tape drives were always my favorite peripheral devices to maintain.
https://irreal.org/blog/?p=13661

I'm not sure I would trust any Internet connection sufficiently to try using it to install directly from it to an SD card to boot Linux.  That being said, the technique is quite interesting.
https://astrid.tech/2026/03/24/0/curl-to-dev-sda/

Here's an account of the role which the Parkes Observatory in Australia played in monitoring the Apollo 11 mission.
https://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/news_events/apollo11/

Too often people focus on negative stereotypes of people on the autism spectrum while ignoring their creativity and other gifts.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/positively-different/202601/what-the-world-got-wrong-about-autistic-people

It makes me happy to know that John Fogerty has regained control over his music catalog.  His songs are in many of my favorite playlists I have on my phone.  This NPR Tiny Desk Concert shows what I love about his music.
https://laughingsquid.com/john-fogerty-npr-tiny-desk/ 

link dump #6

 

I follow a lot of RSS feeds which makes it easier for me to discover interesting web pages without having to visit my list of interesting blogs which aren't updated often.  I hate to send these interesting links via email since it feels too much like a teacher giving homework... here, go read all of these web pages and report back to me.  Instead I think collecting them in a blog post is a friendlier way to pass links along.

Tracy Kidder, the author of the excellent book The Soul of a New Machine, died recently.  Here's some memories of Tracy from the daughter of one of the engineers featured in the book.  Her memories emphasize the importance of not letting work interfere with spending time with your family.
https://www.jessamyn.com/journal/2026/03/tracy-kidder-rip

I plan on re-reading The Soul of a New Machine.  A while back I had saved a link to an article with interesting notes on the book so I could access them while enjoying the book.
https://auxiliarymemory.com/2017/01/06/rereading-the-soul-of-a-new-machine-by-tracy-kidder/

Kim Stanley Robinson, author of several books about Mars, has pointed out how ridiculous the idea of emigrating to Mars is.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2520312-author-of-red-mars-calls-bullshit-on-emigrating-to-the-planet/

NASA's plans for a moonbase seem rushed to me.  I worry that they'll be sacrificing safety to meet arbitrary goals.
https://www.livescience.com/space/space-exploration/nasa-announces-near-impossible-space-plans-including-usd20b-moon-base-and-humanitys-first-nuclear-powered-interplanetary-spacecraft

It's getting harder to get a look at the night sky which is clear of satellites. That's sad since seeing stars is one of many reasons I enjoy living in a more rural area.
https://petapixel.com/2026/03/21/as-spacex-launches-its-10000th-satellite-a-photographer-captures-the-impact-on-the-night-sky/

CERN has succeeded in transporting antimatter particles in a containment trap.  This allows them to distribute samples for experimentation at other laboratories.
https://home.cern/news/press-release/experiments/base-experiment-cern-succeeds-transporting-antimatter

Scientists have byproducts of bourbon production into super capacitors, probably extra tasty super capacitors.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/how-chemists-turned-bourbon-waste-into-super-capacitors/

There's evidence that Romans used a weapon similar to a machine gun 2000 years ago.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/archaeology/a70698814/archeologists-uncovered-evidence-of-a-2000-year-old-machine-gunand-the-damage-it-did/

Stephen Colbert and his son are developing a new Lord of the Rings film.  This article also mentions Andy Serkis' project, The Hunt for Gollum, which I haven't heard about in a while.
https://variety.com/2026/film/news/lord-of-the-rings-movie-stephen-colbert-warner-bros-1236698684/

Recently I read about a documentary about Lowell George of Little Feat fame.  It's available to watch free on Youtube at the link below and I enjoyed watching it yesterday.  I hadn't realized that Lowell collaborated with Frank Zappa.  I had also never noticed that he used a Craftsman 11/16" spark plug socket as the slide for his guitar.  Apparently his reasoning was that it would be easy to replace if it ever got lost while it might be hard to find the same type of bottle had he used if he used a bottle neck as many musicians who play a slide guitar do.
https://youtu.be/VZ8EKw46Ce8?si=TESumuPdWsGPj-f3

link dump #5

I follow a lot of RSS feeds which makes it easier for me to discover interesting web pages without having to visit my list of interesting blogs which aren't updated often.  I hate to send these interesting links via email since it feels too much like a teacher giving homework... here, go read all of these web pages and report back to me.  Instead I think collecting them in a blog post is a friendlier way to pass links along.

For a while, Turbo Pascal was my favorite programming language.  The IDE it used was fast and made me more productive than other compilers available in the mid 1980s by showing me the cause of any compilation errors immediately.  This web page shows how small it was which seems weird in an age of phone applications are quite large.  It was also much, much faster than other compilers of that time.
https://prog21.dadgum.com/116.html

Somone has used AI to disassemble Turbo Pascal to better understand how it achieved such a small size.
https://simonwillison.net/2026/Mar/20/turbo-pascal/

Apparently it can dangerous to fill your SSD devices too full.  I knew this was the case on some of the low level flash memory devices used on embedded systems but thought SSD controllers would be able to handle this more gracefully.
https://www.makeuseof.com/why-never-fill-ssd-past-80-and-you-shouldnt-either/

This research into how fireflies stay in sync is fascinating.  I wonder whether this is similar to how starling murmurations work?
https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/the-science-of-how-fireflies-stay-in-sync/

MIT has a study which suggests that the use of AI may lead to cognitive decline.  This rings true to me.  I know anytime I've had a break from programming, it's hard to jump back in and be nearly as productive as I am when I do it regularly.  The same thing happens to software developers who move into management and completely leave programming behind.  An extreme case of this was a CEO at a small company where I used to work.  He liked to ingratiate himself to engineers by telling us about having started out as an ALGOL programmer.  From his performance as a CEO, it was not obvious he had ever possessed any technical skills.
https://publichealthpolicyjournal.com/mit-study-finds-artificial-intelligence-use-reprograms-the-brain-leading-to-cognitive-decline/ 

A number of bloggers are bemoaning the changes heralded by widespread use of AI in software development.  I'm glad I'll be retiring before management tries to force me to use it.  Programming and debugging are like solving puzzles for me and I'd hate to give that up.
https://nolanlawson.com/2026/02/07/we-mourn-our-craft/ 

link dump #4

I follow a lot of RSS feeds which makes it easier for me to discover interesting web pages without visiting a lot of favorite blogs which haven't been updated.  I hate to send these interesting links via email since it feels too much like a teacher giving homework... here, go read all of these web pages and report back to me.  Instead collecting them in a blog post seems like a friendlier way to pass links along.

I watched Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan again a few nights ago.  I had forgotten that they used old maintenance panels from a GE-635 mainframe computer to serve as controls for one of the Enterprise's systems.  I recognize panels from Honeywell and GE computers since I serviced both as a field engineer nearly 50 years ago.  It's not uncommon to see old maintenance panels used in this capacity since they usually have lots of lights and switches.  Here's a few other movies and TV shows which have used parts of the GE-635.
https://www.starringthecomputer.com/computer.html?c=427 

Apparently RAM kits are now being sold with one real RAM stick and a fake one due to the RAM shortage created by AI datacenters.
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ram/fake-ram-bundled-with-real-ram-to-create-a-performance-illusion-for-amd-users-1-1-value-pack-offers-desperate-psychological-relief-as-the-memory-shortage-worsens

Here's an interesting article about how how Lego goes about creating a new set.
https://www.theverge.com/c/23991049/lego-ideas-polaroid-onestep-behind-the-scenes-price

This article about how snakes manage to get up to 70% of their body length into the air is interesting but I found the picture a bit disturbing.
https://nautil.us/heres-how-snakes-defy-gravity-to-stand-up-1278914 

Scientists have figured out how to revive frozen mouse brains.  This might be a step towards allowing longer spaceflights.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00756-w

Iranian physicists have estimated that technological civilizations probably only last 5,000 years at most.  This could explain why we haven't encountered aliens yet.
https://boingboing.net/2026/03/03/iranian-physicists-estimate-advanced-civilizations-last-5000-years-or-less.html

Swiss watchmakers continue fighting back against accurate clocks from Japan.  It's got to be hard competing against both cheap accurate models and smart watches like the Apple Watch which can offer more features.
https://worksinprogress.co/issue/watch-men/

This article about how taxing the use of AI can be on users' brains makes me glad that I'll be retiring before being forced to use it at work.
https://www.the-independent.com/tech/ai-brain-fry-artificial-intelligence-b2934903.html

link dump #3

I follow a lot of RSS feeds which makes it easier for me to discover interesting web pages without visiting a lot of favorite blogs which haven't been updated.  I hate to send these interesting links via email since it feels too much like a teacher giving homework... here, go read all of these web pages and report back to me.  Instead collecting them in a blog post seems like a friendlier way to pass links along.

Nathan Fillion has been dropping hints lately which make are making fans suspect that some type of Firefly sequel might be in the works.  If I had the power to bring back a single show, it would definitely be Firefly.
https://www.ign.com/articles/nathan-fillion-is-getting-firefly-fans-all-sorts-of-excited-over-20-years-after-the-show-was-canceled 

I find a lot of anti-AI sentiment among techies and artistic types in various places.  I've lost the link, but I recently saw a CTO complaining that he got the axe because his company was replacing some executives with AI.  There's a company I definitely wouldn't want to work for or to reply upon as a customer.  I'm lucky because I'm very close to retirement with more than enough work to keep me busy until I pull the ripcord.  I feel sorry for younger engineers who have to deal with the instability AI is causing.
https://www.scottsmitelli.com/articles/you-dont-have-to/

NASA's DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) just managed to nudge a binary asteroid system.  There may be hope if we manage to detect a killer asteroid early enough to launch a mission.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/nasas-dart-mission-shifted-the-orbits-of-two-asteroids/

The news that younger males are clinging harder to outdated gender roles than older generations do depresses me.  One can only hope that they alienate partners before managing to reproduce.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/05/gen-z-men-baby-boomers-wives-should-obey-husbands

Videos of launching small cars via trebuchet are entertaining but I really wish they has stuck to launching Yugos or other worthless cars.  A classic Austin Mini seems too valuable to waste this way.
https://www.jalopnik.com/2117130/watch-cars-launched-by-trebuchet/

link dump #2

I follow a lot of RSS feeds which allows me to find a lot of interesting web pages.  I hate to send them via email since it feels too much like a teacher giving homework... here, go read all of these web pages and report back to me.  Instead collecting them in a blog post seems like a friendlier way to pass links along.

When I was a kid, my favorite cartoon by far was The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, which started airing as repeats when I was 7 years old.  I found it refreshing because unlike other cartoons of the time, it never talked down to kids.  I knew some of the humor escaped me but that made me love it all the more.  Thanks to the more sophisticated humor, I continue to love it even now.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-bullwinkle-taught-kids-sophisticated-political-satire-180964803/

Who knew that deaths due to car crashes spike around the release of pop albums?  Seeing the way some people drive on my 40 mile commute, it doesn't surprise me as much as it should.
https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/23/pop_album_fatal_car_accidents/

I've enjoyed Jason Lee's acting in Kevin Smith's movies as well as My Name is Earl.  Here's an interesting interview with him which he was not happy with.  I can see his point since it appears the interviewer misrepresented what type of questions would be asked.
https://defector.com/a-complimentary-profile-of-jason-lee-that-was-surprisingly-difficult-to-publish 

Cory Doctorow gave a speech 15 years ago about the coming war on general computation which looks increasingly plausible given what AI companies have been doing lately.  If you enjoy realistic near future SciFi which is both entertaining and a bit frightening in its likely accuracy, check out his website craphound.com.
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Coming_War_on_General_Computation

I was surprised to read that tire pressure sensors have enough range to be considered a privacy risk.
https://boingboing.net/2026/02/27/tire-pressure-sensors-are-a-huge-privacy-risk.html

An asteroid passed pretty close to Earth and apparently we didn't see it until it had already passed by.
https://boingboing.net/2026/02/24/an-asteroid-passed-428-km-from-earth-and-no-one-saw-it-coming.html

A computer formed of chips containing 800k human neurons has been taught to play Doom.  I find this disturbing on a lot of levels.
https://boingboing.net/2026/02/26/living-human-brain-cells-are-now-playing-doom.html

This article about the steady loss of deep knowledge is something which worries me.
https://fireborn.mataroa.blog/blog/the-slow-death-of-the-power-user/

link dump #1

I follow a lot of RSS feeds which allows me to find a lot of interesting web pages.  I hate to send them via email since it feels too much like a teacher giving homework... here, go read all of these web pages and report back to me.  Instead collecting them in a blog post seems like a friendlier way to pass links along.

I'm fascinated by miniatures so I find these very realistic RC trucks very cool.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/custom-rc-shop-recreates-real-life-work-trucks-that-are-fully-functional-just-mini

Speaking of miniatures, these models of classic computers remind me of my days as a field engineer in mainframe and mini computer data centers.
https://www.miniatua.com/work/ibm1401/ 

Someone took the time to recreate the Top Gear studio using Lego.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/someone-recreated-the-top-gear-studio-in-lego-and-so-can-you 

Did you ever wonder where the expression 'peanut gallery came from?  It's older than I thought.
https://theconversation.com/the-complicated-origin-of-the-expression-peanut-gallery-148897 

This sliderule simulator teaches you how to use one for calculations.  I should use it remember how to use one of my small sliderule collection. 
https://hackaday.com/2026/02/18/sliderule-simulator-teaches-you-how-to-do-calculations-the-old-fashioned-way/