Allow me to present this (admittedly stilted) study in blue: “Did I tell you about my book project? The basic theme is blue-bloods vs blue-collars in blue states. I was writing a blue streak, but out of the blue, my publisher killed the deal. Now I’m in a blue funk.” Call it monochromatic polysemy… one … Continue reading "Colorful Language – Color Idioms Around the World"
Note: This first appeared on the MATLAB Blog. I wanted to keep a copy on my personal blog. In the autumn of 1991, I took a job with a mathematical software company in Natick, Massachusetts. The office next to mine was dark most of the time, but I soon learned it belonged to an occasional … Continue reading "Cleve Moler 1939-2026"
The geneticist Richard Dawkins recently spent some time conversing with Anthropic’s language model Claude. He was impressed. So much so that at one point he told Claude “You may not know you are conscious, but you bloody well are.” The Guardian: Richard Dawkins concludes AI is conscious, even if it doesn’t know it Predictably he … Continue reading "Consciousness and the Objectively Subjective"
What is a Star Chamber? Here’s one explanation I had lying around on my hard drive. But I know of another definition. It involves John, Rob, Pax, and Ned. We were four friends, originally from the same workplace, who would meet for drinks and conversation every week or so at Casablanca in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It … Continue reading "Thirty Years of Starchamber.com"
John Henry was a steel-driving man, Lord Lord. John Henry was a natural, a steel-driving man from the day he first picked up a hammer. Swinging that hammer felt good. He died with that hammer in his hand. And then he said: Oh Lord, this is right for me!I can see what I am in … Continue reading "John Henry 2.0"
Marzipan is yummy. But how much marzipan is too much marzipan? Imagine you owned a Marzipaniter, a device that generated as much of the stuff as you wanted. All day, every day, an endless tube of sugary almond paste at the touch of a button. How would that change your attitude about marzipan? Now imagine, … Continue reading "Plagued by the Clever"
When I was in grad school, my friend Larry Alder and I had a special term for when you truly understood something: owning it. Everyone knows that, armed with a little knowledge, you can sometimes wing it. Fake it. Multiple choice test? You’ll do okay. Of course, if you put in the time memorizing lists … Continue reading "Obliquity – On The Difference Between Knowing Something and Owning It"
In the caverns of Lascaux, the canvas was stone and the pigment was dirt. Mud was the medium because the mud was there. That was the brush the artist had. Every generation of artists is supplied with its own sets of media, often dictated by current technology. Painters in the nineteenth century benefited from advances … Continue reading "The Brush You Have – Kelly Boesch’s AI-Assisted Art"
A century ago, the cost of shipping was a significant fraction of what you paid for, say, an article of clothing. As a result, goods were often manufactured close to where they would be sold. So, for example, the Garment District in Manhattan was literally where the clothes were made. Not anymore. When containerized shipping … Continue reading "From How to What: The Plummeting Cost of How"
Did you forget the password to your toothbrush again? This is a real thing. And it’s funny because it’s both ridiculous and true, right? Because software is eating the world and user accounts are everywhere. But why is software eating the world? It’s because, in many cases, it really does make things better. Your connected … Continue reading "You Will Subscribe to Everything"