nzeldes 
Here is the Physics and Mathematics faculty building in Bashkir State University, in the city of Ufa, capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia. See what it looks like? Depends on your age or your affection for the history of computing, I suppose. This building looks like a logarithmic slide rule, the icon of the … Read more
I happened to look up and noticed this against the evening sky: These skewed towers with the broken antennas on top used to densely decorate every city rooftop when we were kids; every apartment needed an antenna, and the taller its tower, the better the reception – less “snow” and other interference in receiving … Read more
The art of Gauging and Ullaging, i.e. assessing the quantity of liquor, beer or malt in a barrel in order to tax it properly, used to be an important application of mathematics, and resulted in the development of some intricate computing devices over the last few centuries. Check the new article on my History of … Read more
This is the Ashtanur pencil case. Once you see it, you can’t help wanting one: it is simply too cool! So I got one, and here it is. These are made by two designers, my friend Ido Mohar and Baruch Mogilevsky, in mimicry of the local flat pita bread – called Ashtanur in Jerusalem, but … Read more
Here is a photo I snapped in a kitchen area in a company I visited. See what’s wrong? The refrigerator sits close to the wall on the left, and its door opens to the right (handle on its left side). Which means the person opening this door has to do a little dance to get … Read more
I was at a fancy home and kitchenware store and saw the box in the photo here, containing – it says on the front – “Salt & Pepper Napkin Rings”. This sounded weirdly intriguing, like “Oregano & Thyme Spark Plugs”, so I took a closer look. Turns out this is one of the stranger design … Read more
When Elisha Otis invented the ‘safety elevator’ mechanism in 1852, elevator crashes have become a rare event indeed. But these days “crash” has a new meaning, which Otis couldn’t have foreseen. Consider the elevator in the photo, from the Azrieli towers in Tel Aviv. It has a wonderful new control system with a large computer … Read more
Every seasoned traveler knows the drill: you go to baggage claim, everyone’s bags arrive except yours, and you start running around to try and locate it. If you’re lucky, you end up finding your suitcase standing, forlorn and confused, with a few other bags in some corner or another. How it got there nobody can … Read more
Here are two retractable tape measures. The one on the left is a classic by Stanley, the other, made by Panyi, clearly a cheaper clone. Looks the same, works the same… except for one small difference. Notice the difference? This type of tape measure has a stated offset printed on it, equal to the width of … Read more
Today we have a guest post from our loyal reader George Trudeau of Hyannis, Massachusetts. George sent me this photo: And here is the story: I went to a Doctor appointment and took the elevator up to the second floor office by pressing the great big 2. When I left the office, I was still … Read more
