Watching the TV Watching
SURVEILLANCE · PLATFORMS · LAW AND COURTS
March 23, 2026
Televisions, work vessels, trucks,
and smartphones increasingly collect
continuous data without explicit…
Just Messing With Computers –
Part VI
GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS · ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
March 19, 2026
The article explores how global
trade and communication networks
form a complex, adaptive system
resembling parallel computing, with
AI revealing.
One evening I was looking at a
real-time map of cargo ships moving
around the planet…
The Speed of the Factory
WAR AND SECURITY · MIDDLE EAST · MILITARY TECHNOLOGY
March 19, 2026
In Camden, Arkansas, Patriot
missiles are assembled through a
complex, multi-stage industrial…
Just Messing With Computers –
Part V
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE · LEARNING · NEUROSCIENCE
March 17, 2026
The article explores how human
intelligence and machine learning
both rely on prediction, error
correction, and pattern recognition,
highlighting key.
About a year ago I was sitting on
the living-room floor watching my
grandson try to walk…
Just Messing With Computers –
Part IV
SUPERCOMPUTING · DATA VISUALIZATION
March 14, 2026
In 1992, a supercomputer's fluid
dynamics visualization revealed
hidden storm patterns, illustrating
how data visualization uncovers
complex structures.
In 1992 my phone rang with an
unexpected offer.
The caller was Henry Burkhardt, one…
Just Messing With Computers –
Part III
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE · COMPUTING HISTORY
March 12, 2026
The author reflects on an AI’s
confident but incorrect response
about a Cambridge bookstore,
illustrating how machines generate
answers through.
This is Part III of a series about
my brushes with artificial
intelligence over the past couple of…
Just Messing With Computers -
Part II
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE · MUSIC TECHNOLOGY
March 11, 2026
The article recounts early
experiments with AI in music and
machine vision, highlighting pattern
recognition’s evolving role and the
origins.
This is Part II of a series about my
brushes with AI over the past couple
of centuries. You can read Part I at…
Just Messing With Computers -
Part I
COMPUTING HISTORY · PROGRAMMING
March 6, 2026
A personal account of early computer
programming, exploring punch cards,
time-sharing systems, and initial
experiments with pattern
recognition.
Punch cards, midnight experiments,
and the strange things you discover
when you take machines apart to see…
Who’s Reading My Google?
IMMIGRATION · LAW AND COURTS · POLITICAL POWER
February 10, 2026
Federal authorities increasingly use
administrative subpoenas to obtain
subscriber data from companies…





