An exploration of Thomas Jefferson’s wheel cipher, an ingenious 18th-century cryptographic invention utilizing 36 rotating wooden disks on a spindle. This essay breaks down the mechanics of early American diplomatic encryption and Enlightenment-era technology.
As was much of the world, I was astonished when the U.S. government issued an order forbidding the sale and use of Claude’s new release, Fable 5. The concern is that Fable, through ingeniously constructed and timed prompts, can be made to do things that it is not
Think of all the things you may have done today. You made breakfast for your family. You drove the car, following all traffic rules. You held the door open for your office mates. You pressed the correct door-open button so those hurrying to get on the elevator didn’t
Unfortunately, symphonic and chamber music forms are not taught at all in school. In English class, we learn all the analytical terms for literature: foreshadowing, similes, irony, and character development. But we learn nothing for music. Terms such as sonata-allegro form, rondo, and the development section; none of these
George Washington’s inaugural address was quite the affair. There were thousands of people packed along Wall and Broad streets in New York City. Quipping that he “felt like a culprit going to his execution,” the future first president was visibly nervous. He had great things to say and he
There are many bromides that annoy me, but stating that one “is on the right side of history” is by far the most grating. Declaring that one is on the right side of history is often used as a bullying tactic, a sweeping invalidation of a different point of view.
The world has become gray. Creativity has come to a standstill. I’m not talking about the normal institutional sameness, like yet another Spider-Man movie, but a real crisis in creativity. No new books have been published, all the TV shows are in reruns, and even YouTube is moribund.
I was late for the train and had to settle for one of the end seats in the passenger car where the passengers face each other. A man was sitting across from me and maneuvered politely as I nestled into the tight space. The man, wearing a bowler hat, wasn’
Pity the poor author who writes a book. Finally, there it is for the rest of the world to devour and enjoy—or at least skim at the airport while waiting for Group Q to board. But no, the world has other ideas. Saddened by this reality, I shuffled despondently
My previous post had a lot of fun visualizing the ridiculous size of the national debt and the violence done to the spacetime continuum as the "green stream" of dollar bills rips through the cosmos. To the layman, this seems mad. The economist, on the other hand, takes
When I applied for a software job at a well-known communications company, I wrote a little program that calculated the national debt. It was rather whimsical, a drawing of a billboard sign with the national debt racing ahead in real time. It worked, and I got the gig. Absorbed
I wrote a blog a while back about the personality differences between the past and the future. Using the Five-Factor Model, I noted that they were quite different, their personalities radically divergent. This was a disconcerting realization: does this have to be so? Is it such a good thing