Today I Learned

“Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth” “δῶς μοι πᾶ στῶ καὶ τὰν γᾶν κινάσω” Archimedes is described as a...

The Greek philosopher Diogenes is famous for carrying a lantern during the day, claiming he was “searching for an honest man”. Yet...

“Why can’t we all just get along?” This was the question asked by the incomparable Jack Nicholson in Mars Attacks! Nicholson’s...

M. C. Escher has always been one of my favourite artists. From the moment I first saw his work (I think it might have been Waterfall ),...

A farmer asked a physicist to help him figure out how to increase milk production. After gathering data and studying the problem, the...

Recently, I was listening to an old episode of The Skeptics Guide to the Universe , (actually, episode 803, dated 28-Nov-2020 ), in which...

In the late 1980’s I liked to collect “taglines” to include in my interactions with people. While these included many “pithy” statements...

I’ve heard a number of people say that they “don’t like X”, only to discover that their only exposure has been some “pop culture” version...

You need to come up with something, so keep it simple. Even if it starts out with only six words, you can always add more later. ...

Risk ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_%28game%29 ) is one of those games that seems to endure. It’s a simple game, which is probably...

This might look like a standard cup game, but it’s actually a very interesting test. I won’t spoil it for you – give it a try. ...

We have endless opportunities to learn, if only we take them. I recently commented on the survival of the learner (...

I finally have a semi-usable version of a Kanban tool running. I built it on the so-called “LAMP” ( https://www.til-technology.com/post/...

More, actually, but not with Sgt. Pepper... When I got my first coding job, in the 1990’s, I was working through a certificate in...

I find it interesting that, even (especially?) when our work focuses on careful planning or a disciplined approach to problem-solving,...

“It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.” Often attributed to Mark...