2026-04-25 03:05:40
“We had the idea to make a Bodoni interpretation with potato stamps, so we bought 8kg of potatoes, some knives and [started carving]. When we finally had the full alphabet we stamped it on paper, made a font out of this and called it Bodedo.”
2026-04-25 02:19:12
While reading this article about the structure of complex knots, I ran across this diagram drawn by scientist Peter Guthrie Tait in 1885 for a paper called On Knots Part III. It’s one of two figures that together show all of the possible variations of knots with 10 crossings. I think the color plus the small multiples activated the Tufte array in my brain; anyway, I love this diagram. (via damn interesting)
(I tried for the better part of an hour to track down a high-resolution copy of Tait’s paper to no avail. There are various contenders, but nothing that includes high-res scans of both knottiness diagrams. I’m curious about this archive of the original paper but not $41 curious. If anyone has access through their institution and wants to send me a PDF, I’d love that. Update: I have a copy of the paper and will be posting updated images soon! Thank you, Michael!)
Tags: mathematics · Peter Guthrie Tait · science
2026-04-25 01:23:31
Instead of Losing Democratic Elections, What If We Just Stopped Having Them Altogether? “My goodness, imagine the efficiency. No long lines. No campaign ads. No need to pretend Wisconsin matters every four years.”
2026-04-25 00:12:34
How The Heck Does Shazam Work? “By throwing away almost everything and keeping only a handful of landmark peaks, a noisy 5-second clip from a coffee shop becomes a set of coordinates precise enough to pinpoint one song out of millions.” Fascinating!
2026-04-24 22:54:00
What’s on your mind lately? What’s going on in your life? Witnessed anything amazing? Anything you’d like to share with the rest of the class?
Here in Vermont, it’s barely spring (which means it’ll probably snow at least one more time before I need to start mowing the lawn). No mountain biking yet. A local theater is playing Silence of the Lambs this weekend (35th anniversary!), so I might go do that. I’ve been working on a new post editor for KDO and it’s coming along — building software and designing interfaces is fun and maddening. Autumn is going to come with some big changes for me, and I’ve been making some progress in preparing for that.
Hows about yous?
Tags: kottke.org
2026-04-24 22:14:40
1D Chess. “You might initially find it more difficult than expected, but assuming optimal play, is there a forced win for white?”