Keith Houston's Blog, page 3

January 31, 2025

Miscellany № 105: blog questions challenge

There is something interesting happening with blogging. For a long time, blogs like this one were the way to opine, to share, to bloviate. Then social media came along and stole blogging’s thunder, with the average blogger gravitating towards long threads on Twitter (RIP; † ⚰; 💀; etc., etc.) or photo-heavy Instagram posts. Next came newsletters — blogs delivered by email, essentially — which finally broke the social media hegemony.

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Published on January 31, 2025 04:54

March 10, 2024

Shady Characters on Alan Alda’s Clear and Vivid podcast

I’m still pinching myself, but recently I had the distinct pleasure on appearing on Clear and Vivid podcast, hosted by the great Alan Alda. I knew of Alan’s work as an actor and writer from the likes of M*A*S*H , of course, but I hadn’t known that in recent years he has moved into the world of science communication, not least with the foundation of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University, New York.

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Published on March 10, 2024 00:55

January 4, 2024

Shady Characters at MacGuffin magazine: interrobang!

The following was published in issue 13 of MacGuffin Magazine. It recapitulates some of the contents of my interrobang series and adds some new details to boot. I think — I hope! — it’s a little more Enjoy!

The Speckters lived in a postwar apartment near Gramercy Park in Manhattan. Their collection of printing presses lived in a rented apartment across the hall, a three-thousand-pound Columbian press balanced carefully across the beams under the floor. The couple were steeped in the world of pr...

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Published on January 04, 2024 11:30

December 23, 2023

Shady Characters advent calendar 2023: the Sinclair Executive

It’s the final day of the first ever Shady Characters advent calendar! I’ve been counting down to Christmas by way of a collection of beautiful, clever, important, and/or outright odd calculators and calculating devices. I hope you’ve enjoyed the series, and happy holidays to you all!

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Published on December 23, 2023 11:25

December 21, 2023

Shady Characters advent calendar 2023: the HP-35

Welcome to day eleven of the first ever Shady Characters advent calendar! I’m counting down to Christmas by way of a collection of beautiful, clever, important, and/or outright odd calculators and calculating devices. Some come from the pages of Empire of the Sum, some are part of my Calculator of the Day series, and some will be new to the blog. I won’t manage twenty-four posts, but I do plan to hit at least one every other day. I hope you enjoy the series!

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Published on December 21, 2023 11:16

December 19, 2023

Shady Characters advent calendar 2023: the Canon Pocketronic

Welcome to day ten of the first ever Shady Characters advent calendar! I’m counting down to Christmas by way of a collection of beautiful, clever, important, and/or outright odd calculators and calculating devices. Some come from the pages of Empire of the Sum, some are part of my Calculator of the Day series, and some will be new to the blog. I won’t manage twenty-four posts, but I do plan to hit at least one every other day. I hope you enjoy the series!

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Published on December 19, 2023 07:06

December 17, 2023

Shady Char­ac­ters advent calendar 2023: the Curta

Welcome to day nine of the first ever Shady Characters advent calendar! I’m counting down to Christmas by way of a collection of beautiful, clever, important, and/or outright odd calculators and calculating devices. Some come from the pages of Empire of the Sum, some are part of my Calculator of the Day series, and some will be new to the blog. I won’t manage twenty-four posts, but I do plan to hit at least one every other day. I hope you enjoy the series!

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Published on December 17, 2023 12:41

December 15, 2023

Shady Char­ac­ters advent calendar 2023: the E-6B

Welcome to day eight of the first ever Shady Characters advent calendar! I’m counting down to Christmas by way of a collection of beautiful, clever, important, and/or outright odd calculators and calculating devices. Some come from the pages of Empire of the Sum, some are part of my Calculator of the Day series, and some will be new to the blog. I won’t manage twenty-four posts, but I do plan to hit at least one every other day. I hope you enjoy the series!

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Published on December 15, 2023 08:16

December 13, 2023

Shady Char­ac­ters advent calendar 2023: the addiator

Welcome to day seven of the first ever Shady Characters advent calendar! I’m counting down to Christmas by way of a collection of beautiful, clever, important, and/or outright odd calculators and calculating devices. Some come from the pages of Empire of the Sum, some are part of my Calculator of the Day series, and some will be new to the blog. I won’t manage twenty-four posts, but I do plan to hit at least one every other day. I hope you enjoy the series!

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Published on December 13, 2023 11:55

December 11, 2023

Shady Char­ac­ters advent calendar 2023: the Comptometer

Welcome to day six of the first ever Shady Characters advent calendar! I’m counting down to Christmas by way of a collection of beautiful, clever, important, and/or outright odd calculators and calculating devices. Some come from the pages of Empire of the Sum, some are part of my Calculator of the Day series, and some will be new to the blog. I won’t manage twenty-four posts, but I do plan to hit at least one every other day. I hope you enjoy the series!

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Published on December 11, 2023 14:28