Here is a photo of the Jerusalem central bus station, a large blocky building at the entrance to the city. So, maybe it’s just me, but whenever I see it I get reminded of a mathematical construct – the Menger Sponge, a three dimensional fractal. Judge for yourself: OK, OK, the bus station is not … Read more
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
Form follows Function, as we all know… but function can change, leaving the form out of context. Consider the long, rather dilapidated building with the vaulted, tilting roof seen behind this parking lot in downtown Jerusalem. What does its form tell you? In its heyday, in the 1940s and 50s, this strange form was dictated … Read more
I spent a weekend with family in Neot Semadar (Shizafon), a Kibbutz in the Negev desert in the south of Israel. And I mean desert: he place is searing hot in the day, cold at night, and all around is sand, rock and the majestic desolation typical of deserts anywhere. In Israel we’re used to … Read more
Saw the panels below by an elevator. The left one is the familiar elevator control; the one on the right, however, uses fake buttons and reads: “Before you press, think of your health – use the stairs!” Good advice, nicely implemented…
Check the latest addition to the History of Computing exhibition at the Possibly Interesting web site: Michaelis’s concrete calculator (well, actually, Kvasnicka’s version of it).
Still in NYC, following the auspicious IORG launch, and took the opportunity to visit the Empire State Building. I was totally unprepared for what I saw. Of course, It’s tall, and the view from the top is incredible, but somehow I was expecting a ‘has been’. After all, this skyscraper was built some 80 years … Read more
When we toured Scotland we visited an ancient building with a curious design feature: it had a staircase that ran in a counterclockwise spiral, opposite to the standard design. We were told that there are a number of such buildings in Scotland, all built by the same family. Apparently the Kerr family tended to have … Read more
With the wonders of Google Maps at our service, we can get some interesting insights. Take the photo below, also viewable here. This is the older part of the Microsoft campus at Redmond, where much of the software in the computer I’m writing this on was developed. Notice how the buildings all have cross shapes … Read more
