I came across this on HN – an excellent introduction to non-digital computers. If you’re curious how mechanical systems can perform arithmetic and even calculus… Read More »Wonders of the Internet: Basic Mechanisms of Fire Control (analogue computing)
A thorough government survey in 1987 gave a clearer picture: an estimated 33,000 people resided within the walled city. Based on this survey, the walled… Read More »The most densely populated place in history?
Oh, when the sun beats down and burns the tar up on the roof,And your shoes get so hot you wish your tired feet were… Read More »Not long ago; or, Little by little (11): Hot feet on hot days
… and hubris. Long, and worth it – like the Histories as a whole. The king [Xerxes] took his seat… and looking down over the… Read More »Herodotus’ Xerxes on futility, suffering, risk-taking and action
“The best benefit of good planning is this: if one is thwarted by some setback, nevertheless one has the sense that the plans were well… Read More »Thinking in Bets, 425BC Edition (Herodotus on planning and risk)
This is from an amazing explanation of the airfoil by Bartosz Ciechanowski – one of many physics / engineering demonstrations on his (highly recommended) website.… Read More »God’s own latency
Be careful what you get used to; or, Get used to what you care for By asking the volunteers to increase the voltage one step… Read More »Tali Sharot and Cass Sunstein on Habituation
Recommended, via MR. The Nationalist Republican Alliance, or ARENA, founded by the far-right death-squad leader Roberto D’Aubuisson, and the Farabundo Martà National Liberation Front, or… Read More »Bukele; or, The Search for a Saviour
… the developments of the last decade, and especially the possibilities opened up through the further development of automation, give us reason to wonder whether… Read More »Hannah Arendt on labour and consumption, automation and Utopia
Marx’s attitude toward labor, and that is toward the very center of his thought, has never ceased to be equivocal. While it was an “eternal… Read More »Hannah Arendt on Marx’s equivocal view of labour