Articles
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A chair fitting
February 20, 2026
Read moreWe have these old Ikea folding chairs. They were cheap and cheerful when I bought them about 20 years ago, but time and the sun have caused the plastic backs to start to fail. I’ve Frankensteined a crack that developed in the same place in each chair, and that fix has held up for a while, but the plastic is starting to go in between the holes holding that fix together. A new approach was required.
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A flashlight finite state machine
January 24, 2026
Read moreI’ve muddled around with this off and on for years,
without really finishing it; but my friend Robert started playing with an AI formal requirements tool, and I needed a test case. -
Sakharov's prophetic reflection
January 16, 2026
Read moreAndrei Sakharov saw it coming. Living through the advent of the Soviet Union and directly experiencing its repression gave Sakharov plenty of examples of how a corrupt regime achieves power. He would, I think, be aghast at the current trajectory of the United States, formerly a beacon of democracy.
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Mailing list
January 12, 2026
Read moreI have set up an email notification list to tell folks when I post something here. If you want to be added, or deleted, please just let me know and I’ll be happy to take care of it.
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Thoughts on "How the internet drove down regard for actual facts — and education", an article by Philip Bump, Jan 4, 2026
January 6, 2026
Read moreMy father recently sent me an op-ed published on MS Now (formerly MSNBC) by Philip Bump titled “How the internet drove down regard for actual facts — and education”.
Mr. Bump offers a compelling analysis in his opinion piece. I mostly agree; “the Internet” (and more specifically, the algorithmically-driven echo chambers referred to as “social media”) have been significant contributors to the current sociopolitical situation. It’s too easy to just blame them, though – I think they’re enablers and amplifiers of our current culture’s worst tendencies, which would be present regardless of the predominance of social media. The real question at hand is what do we do about it?