The AI Effect

2025-09-25

“AI” is not a technology. It is a capability rating. …

My Custom Gearwall

2025-08-31

I wanted a modular gearwall for bags, jackets, bike gear, and assorted kid stuff. My niche requirements ruled out commercial options. So I designed my own, based on router table t-track hardware. …

More bike accessory hacks

2023-08-10

Ok, this is proof-of-concept level, so not sure how much of it is worth pursuing yet, but here you go: https://imgur.com/a/3fN3hqL My motivation: Bottle for longer, hotter rides around town when I mostly know where I’m going Bag for very long rides when I need more calories - I don’t normally want it there interfering with my knee range-of-motion. Phone for any other time, partly with the idea of being able to snap it off quickly for a photo Bottle: the off-the-shelf bottle mount works pretty well. My top tube slants down to the seat, so the bottle is inverted, and I thought I wouldn’t trust a normal bottle cage there. But to be truly micro-optimized, it needs a “self-sealing” valve like on all my other bottles, and this Peaty brand bottle doesn’t have it - but Fidlock bottles do. …

Ruler and compass construction of a heart

2023-02-14

My take on the parametric heart shape concept. A: 90 B: 90 There are many ways to use math to define a heart curve. The second one on that page, a sextic algebraic equation, $$(x^2+y^2-1)^3 + x^2y^3 = 0$$, strikes me as one of the most elegant, but it’s not very… adjustable. …

Hypercorrection

2021-07-09

I don’t like to be “that guy”, correcting meaningless mistakes of grammar/usage/pronunciation in conversation, because for whatever reason it’s considered rude or thoughtless. But if the mistake you’re making is hypercorrection, pointing that out must be… hypocorrection? Which, by extrapolation, must then be polite and thoughtful (/s). …

Upgrading my bike accessories

2021-03-02

I’ve always been fond of physical modular systems, but lately I’ve become a little obsessed with customizing my stuff with modular attachments. My bike has seen the most of this, both in terms of the number of projects, and the amount of effort put into them. …

Lies, Damned Lies, and Exponentials

2021-02-01

An exponentially increasing blog post. …

Why Benford's Law is Obvious

2020-11-28

Benford’s Law states that in many naturally occurring collections of numbers, the leading digit is likely to be small. I love math factoids like this, and I remember how deeply unintuitive this seemed when I first learned it. Now, I find myself looking for a way to explain how intuitive it really is. …

Ortlieb Organizer

2020-05-10

Project log for my organizer insert for Ortlieb Back Roller bike panniers. …

Ortlieb Organizer

2020-05-10

Project log for my organizer insert for Ortlieb Back Roller bike panniers. …

Tanzania 1: prep

2018-12-01

I climbed a mountain with Andrea and Donna. It took a lot of work. …

Tanzania 2: Hike

2018-12-01

I climbed a mountain with Andrea and Donna. We hiked five days to get to base camp. …

Tanzania 3: Summit

2018-12-01

I climbed a mountain with Andrea and Donna. A couple days before we summited, Andrea said it was the stupidest thing she’d ever done. I didn’t disagree. …

Tanzania 4: Safari

2018-12-01

I climbed a mountain with Andrea and Donna. Then we went to a really nice zoo. …

Tanzania 5: Post-mortem

2018-12-01

I climbed a mountain with Andrea and Donna. We learned some lessons. …

A webgl shader experiment

2018-01-11

How to create real fast demo animations with webgl. [EPILEPSY WARNING] …

Plots in Hugo

2017-11-01

I want to put interactive plots in my posts, ideally from Python source, with minimal development overhead. How can I do that in Hugo? …

Setting up LaTeX in Hugo

2017-10-26

I want to put equations in my posts. How do you do that in Hugo? It’s easy as $$\prod_{n=1}^{\infty} \left(\frac{2n}{2n-1} \cdot \frac{2n}{2n+1}\right)$$. …

Using Hugo and org-mode for a blog

2017-09-30

I just set up this blog with Hugo. This is the story of why and how. …

Using Python and openCV to revive a dead Etsy product

2017-09-30

[ambigram pic] Here are some things I like: words, optical illusions, art. An [ambigram] is a clever combination of all three of these, so of course I like these too. There are a few different forms, and while they're all neat, I am particularly fond of the type that incorporates two wholly different words, with a 180-degree rotation separating the two: [rotational trans-ambigram]http://www.anopticalillusion.com/2012/12/truefalse-ambigram-by-john-langdon/ One day, I noticed one of those dishwasher clean/dirty magnets, and thought "Hey! that would be a perfect way to use an ambigram!" Then, realizing my limited artistic skill would prevent me from inventing it myself, I turned to the web. I found a handful of examples, and [one that I really liked on Etsy][https://www.etsy.com/listing/175915541/clean-dirty-ambigram-dishwasher-magnet] - this one was actually designed to be used as a dishwasher magnet (tag: no original ideas)! Unfortunately, the product was listed as unavailable, and with no other products in the shop, I was not hopeful about contacting the creator, [https://www.etsy.com/people/GilbertNick]. …

Reviving a dead Etsy product

2017-09-06

I thought of a thing that I wanted, found that someone else had already done it, and sold it on Etsy, but then stopped. Using a photo of it, and some light hacking skills, I made another one for myself. …

A DIY appliance shutoff system (md)

2017-09-02

I need a way to shut off an appliance if it’s dumping water too fast for the drain, because reasons. I have a [[http://www.getfloodstop.com/][Floodstop]] for another appliance, it works well but it’s pricey, and works with the water line instead of power, which is what I need. Tight space constraints prevent me from using something like [[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00988NOV2][this]]. Guess that means I have to make it myself… Ideas disable water or power? DIY float switch, integrated into standpipe plumbing fixture to attach to standpipe Version 1 Ultimately, the simplest, cheapest thing won: Attach a tee fixture to the standpipe, as a makeshift overflow fitting. This was harder than it sounds, because …

A Map of the Entire Universe

2017-08-25

… the universe of 65536-bit sets in Roaring, that is. This is one part debugging postmortem, one part documentation, and three parts academic deep dive on the structure that underlies Roaring Bitmaps. …

How to Really Squeeze the Value Out of Your Overpriced Razor Blades

2014-08-12

I read somewhere that a strip of denim works pretty well for stropping razor blades, which supposedly extends their effective life. It seemed like a good experiment opportunity. …

Tough Mudder

2012-10-06

Sometimes I do these silly obstacle course races. One of them resulted in one of my nicknames, “No-challenge Bernstein”. …

Dirichlet Integral

2010-03-17

The Dirichlet integral can be evaluated with a neat trick. This post is nothing special, just a record of my own process of understanding how it works. …

Bell Curve Integral

2010-02-09

Evaluating this integral requires using two nonstandard tricks (i.e. things not taught in calc 1). …

Ok, this is proof-of-concept level, so not sure how much of it is worth pursuing yet, but here you go: https://imgur.com/a/3fN3hqL My motivation: Bottle for longer, hotter rides around town when I mostly know where I'm going Bag for very long rides when I need more calories - I don't normally want it there interfering with my knee range-of-motion. Phone for any other time, partly with the idea of being able to snap it off quickly for a photo Bottle: the off-the-shelf bottle mount works pretty well. My top tube slants down to the seat, so the bottle is inverted, and I thought I wouldn’t trust a normal bottle cage there. But to be truly micro-optimized, it needs a “self-sealing” valve like on all my other bottles, and this Peaty brand bottle doesn’t have it - but Fidlock bottles do. …

$ amount item # per 4x4 panel purpose 80 1 8'x4' 3/4" maple plywood .5 main panel 35 1 4'x2' 3/4" plywood .25 french cleat 40 4 t-track 3 peg rails 5 4 1/4" wingnut 2-4 track end stop 8 100 8-32 x 3/4" metal screw ~15 fasten rail to wood 8 100 8-32 nut ~15 fasten rail to wood 8 100 #10 washers ~15 fasten rail to wood 10 100 #8 1 1/4" construction screw ~5 fasten french cleat to plywood 10 100 #8 2" construction screw ~6 fasten french cleat to studs 12 20 t-track bolts 1/4" x 2.5" 10-20 small pegs 14 20 t-track bolts 5/16" x 3.5" 10-20 large pegs 16 25ft heat shrink 3/8" 3-6ft thread cover 1.5 8 5/16-18 nut - end caps on pegs Price per panel (4'x4', 12' of rail): $84 Price per peg: $0.86 panel + 15 pegs: $96 …