Monthly Archives: September 2020

Ep 279: World wars, cyphers and subs



World wars, cyphers and subs

War grips the globe, twice. Technology pushes forward, including the specialized calculating machines to encrypt messages on the one hand, and break the encryption of the enemy on the other.
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Ep 278: Vacuum tubes, with a side order of steampunk



Vacuum tubes, with a side order of steampunk

We talk about vacuum tubes, how they work and how they made radio and telephone work so much better. We also spend some time talking about the very first computer programmer, the mother of steam punk, and enchantress of number—Ada Lovelace.
Continue reading Ep 278: Vacuum tubes, with a side order of steampunk


Ep 277: Phil’s hundredth episode!



Phil’s hundredth episode!

It took a little over two years, what with the one episode a week format and all, but this is Phil’s one-hundredth time as our co-host extraordinaire! We share some of the things that we couldn’t squeeze into previous episodes, become baffled by Benford’s law, and otherwise relax and shoot the breeze.

Take that, you filthy air currents!
Continue reading Ep 277: Phil’s hundredth episode!