Author Archives: skierpage

About skierpage

As you might guess, my site is mine. My Schema.org info is at .

music: a chorus of Blackbirds

Posted on 2022-09-10 by skierpage

Did Paul McCartney know he wrote the greatest jazz standard since the golden age of the American songbook? The supremely confident moving bass line, the single note “Blackbird singing in the”, the early “dead of” leap in the melody, the … Continue reading →

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software: making it safer to run random programs

Posted on 2022-08-29 by skierpage

I was dubious about Google’s new Fuchsia operating system, but it has some very interesting ideas, including capability-based execution. Programs that can do nothing until you grant them capabilities are so much better – I hate downloading some Windows .EXE … Continue reading →

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music: so much great instrumental guitar

Posted on 2022-08-16 by skierpage

All the tired old people complaining about “the music today” just aren’t trying. With nearly all recorded music a click away, today’s musicians are building on the best in every genre. My journey through modern instrumental guitar from Vulfpeck to … Continue reading →

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cars: electrics eat supercars

Posted on 2022-08-09 by skierpage

There was a lot of coverage of the Goodwood Festival of Speed. More noisy $1M+ supercars that don’t even pretend to be anything other than garage queens that the ultra-rich trailer to the race track for catered racing experiences; more … Continue reading →

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eco: the latest on gravity energy storage

Posted on 2022-08-05 by skierpage

A year ago I wrote “eco: energy storage is hard, gravity storage as a game”, using physics and a units calculator to show how hard it is to profitably store energy using gravity. Gravity storage isn’t a scam, but nothing … Continue reading →

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cars: salespeople that don’t sell cars you can’t get

Posted on 2022-08-01 by skierpage

2013 trip to dealer Scene: in front of one Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid out of many that’s close to the spec I want.Me: I’m thinking of ordering this hybrid in a different color. Can I just sit in it?Salesperson: please, yes! … Continue reading →

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music: the Most Unwanted Song endures

Posted on 2022-07-11 by skierpage

Way back in 1977 I read a brief article in Wired magazine about artists Komar & Melamid‘s project to make the most unwanted song (and most wanted song) based on a rigorous consumer preference survey. When I got to “an … Continue reading →

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art: Franz Kline’s best work in years, done by AI

Posted on 2022-07-08 by skierpage

“Painting of a black cat with white markings sitting on a chair” is the best thing Franz Kline has painted in 60 years! Love the coiled energy and the furry tail on the left. This is the best of 9 … Continue reading →

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software: where’s my ARchitect identifier?

Posted on 2022-05-27 by skierpage

One of the oft-touted promises of Google Glass and other Augmented Reality headsets is you’ll look at something and the headset will indicate or say what it is. Meanwhile in the real world, a friend posts great cityscape photographs and … Continue reading →

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music: tracing samples and beats

Posted on 2022-05-25 by skierpage

I knew the Beastie Boy’s Paul’s Boutique is the apotheosis of sampling; now https://www.whosampled.com/Beastie-Boys/B-Boy-Bouillabaisse/samples/ lays out all 26 samples. You can also explore J Dilla’s dense samples on the site. It still feels strange to me that artists hear a … Continue reading →

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