Once, during the summer that I worked in the campus computer store, a chatty customer began talking to me about science fiction books. One he mentioned specifically was The Mote in God’s Eye, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. This stuck in my mind only because he was impressed that I knew what the word …
Tag: automation
Recommendations for February 26, 2016
Today’s theme: Necessity and Invention Article: “The Most Precious Cargo for Lighthouses Across America was a Traveling Library” by Natalie Zarelli I’ve never given much thought to the day-to-day reality of operating a lighthouse. That might not seem surprising, but it occurred to me as I read this piece that I actually talk about lighthouses …
Recommendations for May 4, 2015
Video: “Terminal” by Jörg Wagner I’ve written here before about my interest in shipping containers and standardization. I’m partly just fascinated by the idea that the whole world can agree on anything, but also by what such agreement makes possible— the astonishingly fast movement of colossal amounts of goods of all kinds across the world, …
Recommendations for March 22, 2015
A bit lake this week as it is finals time and I had stacks of grading to get through. Video: “A Message” by Kelela I was not as blown away by Kelela’s first release, Cut 4 Me, as many critics seemed to be, but this is very nice. Minimal production on the verses—basically just percussion— …