Passing fancies #27

Strap yourself in and prepare to be inundated with evidence of my weird interests, much of which I found thanks to my RSS feeds.

Beer

About a month ago, I was talking with an old friend (of ~40 years or so) and he mentioned that a mutual friend of ours had passed away a while ago.  One of the weird things about getting older is having to accept the fact that friends I haven't seen in a while may have died without me finding out until long afterward.  I met Randy while working at a company called Netrix which made networking equipment (X.25, Frame Relay, ATM, and voice) about 30 years ago.  Randy and I discovered that we had many geeky interests in common which led to us enjoying many long conversations over food and beers.  At one of those meals, he recommended I try the beer pictured above, a North Coast Old Stock Ale.  It's become one of my favorite beers and I raised a toast to Randy tonight while drinking one.

Books

This week I finished reading After Midnight aka Not After Midnight, a collection of short works by Daphne du Maurier.  It includes her stories The Birds and Don't Look Now, both of which were adapted into weird and suspense filled movies.  She was an excellent author who had a deft hand with stories featuring some weird or supernatural element.  I'm not normally a fan of shorter fiction but this is an exceptional collection which I enjoyed.

Television/Movies

With the sad news about Dolly Parton and Tim Curry passing away recently, we watched several short clips of Dolly with the Muppets.  It turned out my wife had never seen Muppet Treasure Island with Curry playing Long John Silver.  We watched it this week and enjoyed Curry's absolutely delightful performance.  In the past my wife has dragged me to a few late night performances of The Rocky Horror Picture Show which are always fun.

I also watched Rooster Cogburn which has John Wayne reprising his character from the movie True Grit.  Rooster Cogburn reminded me a bit of The African Queen because Katherine Hepburn had such good rapport with both John Wayne and Humphrey Bogart.

Last night we were catching up on episodes of Stuart Fails To Save the Universe when I saw what appeared to be ASCII characters on a doormat in the intro sequence as shown in the photo above.  Being slightly obsessive, I couldn't reset until I had decoded the hexadecimal bytes into legible text.  The show is an interesting blend of science fiction, weird references, and humor which somehow manages to be enjoyable.  Apparently a lot of the critics didn't care for it but I'm rarely influenced by things like that.

Music

Speaking of Dolly Parton, we listened to the White Stripes cover of her song Jolene on our way to a local brewery called Harvest Gap last weekend.  At the brewery we enjoyed live music provided by a talented musician named Andrew O'Day who also performed a fine cover of Jolene while we were there.  That's Andrew on the stage behind my beer, a fine sour ale.  Both the brewery and the musician are worth seeking out if you're near northern VA.

Links

I was surprised to find this article about the origins of the Windows BSOD (Blue Screen of Death).  It lists 3 people responsible for the BSOD, one of whom I've known since he was in high school.  I met John Vert while frequenting a few favorite DC area BBSes in the late 1980s.  Even back then I could tell he was a gifted programmer.
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20240730-00/?p=110062

One of the first social networking protocols was called Finger.  I remember it fondly from the early 1990s when I had a Sun Workstation on my desk at work.  Back in the day we used to use it to share what we were working on, a favorite quote, or upcoming after work plans.   It just made the workplace a little more fun.
https://en.andros.dev/blog/54572bc7/finger-the-1971-social-network-that-never-died/

Speaking of Sun Workstations, one of the technologies I loved on them was the X-Windows which enjoyed its 40 anniversary a couple years ago.  I know it's been replaced by Wayland but X-Windows is still readily available on the systems I use.  Since it works for me there seems to be little advantage in making the switch.

https://blog.dshr.org/2024/07/x-window-system-at-40.html

Have you ever heard of Fordite, a weird by-product of painting automobiles?  After reading an article about it a while back, I found the patterns interesting enough that I found some earrings for my wife made from Fordite.  The patterns can be fascinating.

https://geologyscience.com/gemstone/fordite-detroit-agate/

I find this graphical demo of fluid dynamics interesting enough to be almost hypnotic.

https://david.li/fluid/

It's stories like this one about DoD refrigerators possibly getting hacked that makes me hesitant to ever get a smart appliance.  Making anything network accessible makes it vulnerable to hackers.  Often the networking capability offers no significant advantage over non-networked appliances.
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/08/is-someone-hacking-dod-refrigerators.html

When I read this article about Columbia House shutting down, my first reaction was surprise at the fact that they were still around.  I was a member for a while 30+ years ago but it's been a long time since I heard about them.  It was a great way to build a music collection at the time.

https://pitchfork.com/story/columbia-house-is-shutting-down/

This article about core memory modules used in space brought back made me nostalgic.  In the late 1970s and early 1980s I worked as a Field Engineer for Honeywell mainframes and there were still machines with core memories in use at that time.  The core memories I worked on back then were huge, taking up more floor space than any single room in our house.  Now it seems a bit surreal that we stored individual bits of data on tiny magnetic donut shaped devices.

https://www.righto.com/2026/08/spacelab-core-memory.html

Speaking of core memories, the first practical patent for one was filed 75 years ago.

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/jay-forrester-filed-the-first-practical-ram-patent-75-years-ago-this-week

The recent launch of the Nancy Grace Roman space telescope has space geeks like me excited.  I can't wait to read about the discoveries it helps make.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260826055448.htm

I think I'd like this inflatable Oktoberfest beer hall from Samuel Adams more than the inflatable holiday decorations I see on so many lawns around various holidays.

https://www.americancraftbeer.com/samuel-adams-oktoberfest-beer-hall-sierra-nevada-2027/

Apparently Linux has been used in space missions since 1996.  It makes sense since it's very stable and since the source is readily available, it can be customized for any application.

https://www.windriver.com/blog/Linux-Flies-into-Space

link dump #16

I follow a number of RSS feeds to make it easier to find interesting articles without having to regularly visit my entire list of interesting blogs, many of which aren't updated often.  As you can see, I find a dizzying array of topics interesting.

We live on former farmland which gives us some lovely views of the sky.  Here's a particularly nice sunset from a few days ago.

 

My second job in the computer industry was as a field engineer at a company which maintained systems built around the DEC PDP-11.  During the 7 weeks of training, I found that I loved the instruction set of the DEC PDP-11.  At other jobs, I discovered the Motorola 680x0 series of CPUs which had a very similar instruction set.  Both machines have orthogonal instruction sets.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/03/a-brief-tour-of-the-pdp-11-the-most-influential-minicomputer-of-all-time/

I was surprised to read that Apple AirPods may cause cardiovascular implantable devices such as pacemakers to malfunction.  Apparently AirPods create a magnetic field strong enough to affect pacemakers and other implantable devices.
https://www.engadget.com/2193554/airpods-pacemakers-magnet-interference/

Stronger magnets are also harmful to other types of electronic devices.  Since I've been working with computers for so long that I keep my devices away from magnets primarily out of habit.  Apparently there's good reason to do so with some types of devices.
https://hackaday.com/2026/05/21/magnets-are-bad-for-hardware-again/

I enjoy watching Rick and Morty because their humorous takes on science and science fiction make me laugh.  One of their episodes features a lightsaber which was dropped with the point down and which proceeded to burrow its way through the Earth.
https://laughingsquid.com/dropping-light-saber-vertically/

I've been finding the growing number of terms which end with "maxxing" such as "sleepmaxxing" annoying.  I'm glad to see others feel the same way.  I ignore the output of influencers but it becomes hard to do when it gets embraced by popular culture.
https://www.joanwestenberg.com/p/just-be-normal-about-st

I've been a fan of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings books since high school 50+ years ago.  That caused me to find the fact that a newly discovered species of cricket has been named after the Balrog amusing.
https://thedebrief.org/you-shall-not-pass-scientists-identify-new-balrog-cricket-species-in-greek-island-tunnel/

I'm not at all surprised that listening to music promotes mental health.   I find listening to music while I'm working helps me to achieve a deeper level of concentration particularly when audio distractions are present.  It only works that way if the music is something I'm quite familiar with.  I also watch videos of live musical performances regularly.
https://www.aesthetics.mpg.de/en/newsroom/news/news-article/article/is-there-a-link-between-listening-to-music-and-mental-health.html

In modern military conflicts, GPS jamming and spoofing is becoming increasingly common.  It's also being used as a form of economic warfare since it's so disruptive.
https://boingboing.net/2016/08/04/spoofing-gps-is-surprisingly-e.html

I've long felt that most technical interviews are a terrible way of choosing talented engineers.  Bad technical interviews are something I'm happy that I'll never face again since I'm so close to retirement. 
https://fagnerbrack.com/technical-interviews-reject-the-wrong-engineers-a8e78ca04b2e?gi=46f57f353ef1 

There's a new proposed theory for how the objects commonly known as black holes form.  I'm not sure I can get used to the term gravastar.
https://thedebrief.org/black-holes-arent-real-astronomers-propose-elusive-formation-mechanism-for-gravastar-alternative-that-is-easier-to-accept/

link dump #13

 

I follow a lot of RSS feeds which makes it easier for me to discover interesting web pages without having to visit my entire list of interesting blogs which aren't updated often.  As you can see, I find a lot of topics interesting.

It's difficult for experts to fully explain the innate knowledge which makes them so good in their fields.  Experience can be impossible to pass long when trying to create new experts.  I think this may make it impossible to train AI systems to replace experts.
https://cekrem.github.io/posts/the-tacit-dimension/

I'm generally not keen on AI use but if you can hide prompts to force LinkedIn recruiter bots to entertain you with their unwanted spam, it seems like a win to me.
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/linkedin-recruitment-spam-becomes-olde-english-prose-after-user-hides-ai-prompt-injection-in-bio-bots-also-also-manipulated-to-address-user-as-my-lord

When I first switched from Windows PCs to Macs 25 years ago, I found that I loved Mac OS X.  It reminded me of the software environment I enjoyed on the Sun 3/80 Workstation I had on my desk while working at Sprint International (the division which developed the computer networking hardware and software for Sprint's packet switching network) in 1990.  That Sun was the machine which caused me to love Unix.  The combination of Unix, X Windows, and that fast Sun hardware was the most productive environment for software development I had seen at that time and I still have fond memories of it.  Lately Apple's software seems much buggier than it used to which frustrates me at time.  It's reassuring to see that I'm not the only one who has noticed this steady decline in software quality.
https://taoofmac.com/space/blog/2026/05/18/1320

Someone has created an animated version of Vincent van Gogh's painting The Starry Night and I found it entertaining to interact with various parts of the painting.
https://stillnight.joshua-garcia.com/

A study has found that playing the didgeridoo can help counteract the daytime sleepiness caused by sleep apnea.  I can't imagine many offices would be open to this type of therapy to treat affected employees.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1360393/

Finally there's  evidence for why the T-Rex had such tiny arms.  Sometimes evolution plays cruel tricks...
https://nautil.us/we-finally-have-the-answer-for-t-rexs-tiny-arms-1280997

There's no way I would agree to join a mission commanded by a billionaire rather than a fully trained astronaut/pilot.  Making an insane amount of money doesn't imply the ability to solve problems in stressful situations like a long space flight.  I'm curious to see how the radiation affects humans on this longer mission as it will be hard to shield the crew capsule adequately.  Shielding materials are heavy and extra weight is always hard to justify.
https://gizmodo.com/spacex-taps-crypto-billionaire-to-lead-first-crewed-mission-to-mars-2000762451

The Super El Niño predicted to form by winter could have devastating effects on both the world economy as well as our ability to keep the world's population fed.
https://respublicamgz.substack.com/p/a-super-el-nino-is-coming-the-last

It strikes me as horribly inefficient to have unique terms for groups of birds of different species.  Things like this make the English language both rich and difficult to master.
https://www.themarginalian.org/2024/01/04/brian-wildsmith-birds-company-terms/

link dump #12

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.

I started in the computer industry as a field engineer.  When I got stuck on night shift, there was often little to keep me occupied between trouble calls.  I used to play early computer games like Star Trek and Adventure (aka Colossal Cave Adventure on a TI Silent 700 terminal with an acoustic modem.  Here's a history of the game which brought back memories for me.
https://dhq.digitalhumanities.org/vol/1/2/000009/000009.html

I assumed that Lithium Ion batteries caused a fair number of fires but I had no idea it was this bad.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/11/uk-firefighters-lithium-ion-battery-fires-ebikes

I worked for an optical networking startup company called Ocular Networks for a while.  The news that fiber optic cables can be used to eavesdrop on people came as a surprise to me.
https://www.science.org/content/article/fiber-optic-cables-can-eavesdrop-nearby-conversations

Apparently cats react differently to falling in space.  The video is fascinating.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MBzDfmynaAQ 

Apparently volcanoes can create lightning while erupting.  As if lava wasn't scary enough on its own...
https://nautil.us/why-volcanoes-sometimes-shoot-out-lightning-1280235

The classic story of Mel, a programmer who hand optimized accesses on a magnetic drum storage device entertains me each time it surfaces.  I've known programmers who had this level of hardware knowledge.
http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/story-of-mel.html

Creating a permanent settlement on the Moon presents lots of challenges to overcome.
https://theconversation.com/the-unseen-challenges-of-life-on-the-moon-273370 

link dump #11

 

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.

In case you're curious about why I'm posting on my blog more often recently, it's because I'm counting down to starting my retirement.  According to my spreadsheet, today I'm down to 158 more days of work.

I have fond memories of playing some of the old Infocom games.  There's a new web based version of Zork which actually shows you the code which is running as you play the game.  That appeals to both the techie and gamer in me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infocom

NASA has shut down an instrument on the 49 year old Voyager 1 probe to extend its mission even longer.  This adds more evidence for my opinion that NASA does some of the finest engineering ever done.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/05/260504023835.htm

There's a new theory about a possible way to cut travel time to Mars.  This will be critical for continued missions.
https://www.livescience.com/space/mars/i-was-not-looking-for-this-scientist-accidentally-finds-shortcut-to-mars-that-could-slash-travel-time-in-half

This new brake by wire system sounds interesting but I'll avoid cars which feature it until it has much more testing.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/the-first-modern-car-without-hydraulic-brakes-is-headed-to-production

Richard Dawkins is being mocked for his questioning of whether LLM systems such as Claude pass all current tests for consciousness.  Since a few people working on AI systems have made similar claims, it seems ridiculous to mock a well respected scientist who has no special expertise in the subject.  Since these systems have been trained on massive amounts of output from talented authors, it doesn't surprise me that they can string together sentences which sound convincing.
https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/richard-dawkins-and-the-claude-delusion

If you got the idea that I'm an AI skeptic, you'd be right.  Here's one of the many reasons I avoid them at every opportunity.  I wonder whether the engineer who was working with the AI agent which did this got reprimanded or fired.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/ai-agent-deletes-company-s-entire-database-in-seconds/ar-AA21UbLU 

Even though I have strong doubts about whether we'll create actual conscious machine models anytime soon, I do believe that octopuses are intelligent despite having brains which are very different from ours.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01302-4

Denis Leary has long been one of my favorite comedians and he seems to be a great human being as well.  I know he's been doing fund raising for firefighters since he starred in Rescue Me and he's managed to step up the support through this innovative plan.
https://abcnews.com/Business/wireStory/denis-learys-crazy-idea-puts-civilians-fdny-training-132625577

I'm happy to hear that there are more bookstores now than there were six years ago.  Literate people would probably help prevent many of the problems we currently have.
https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/04/27/052242/america-now-has-70-more-bookstores-than-in-2020-says-bookshoporg-founder

The mention of Kurt Vonnegut's novel Cat's Cradle is initially what caught my eye about this story but it's interesting on its own merit.  Who knew there were 20 crystalline forms of ice?
https://boingboing.net/2026/04/29/scientists-found-ice-with-a-304-molecule-repeating-pattern.html

Hopefully you don't drive one of these cars with soy-based wiring since they attract rodents which can lead to expensive repairs.
https://www.box-kat.com/blogs/box-kat-blog/full-list-of-cars-with-soy-based-wiring-2025-update

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 #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/

Space DVDs

I just started watching a DVD set I recently picked up of the HBO series From the Earth to the Moon. I hadn't watched this series since it was first aired on HBO in 1998 so I'd forgotten just how great it was. It really stresses just how monumental the task of landing a man on the moon really was.

It also serves as a great companion to Ron Howard's film Apollo 13, another magnificent film for science geeks.

If you haven't seen either of these, I highly recommend both. I'm something of a space program buff so I watch any film about it which comes out. I also liked The Right Stuff (both the film and the book) a lot.

Needless to say, I'm excited about NASA's recently announced plans to return to the moon. This is the type of challenge that people like me with an engineering mindset dream about.