Favoriting Techtonic with Mark Hurst: Playlist from December 12, 2022 Favoriting

Mark Hurst's avatar View Mark Hurst's profile Favoriting

Conversations with creators and thinkers who are charting the way forward in a tech-saturated society. Tech, community, video games, and whatever else is next.

Monday 6 - 7pm (EDT) | On WFMU | 91.1, 90.1, 91.9 FM & wfmu.org
WFMU LIVE Audio Streams (Get help):   Pop-up  |  128k AAC  |  128k MP3  |  32k MP3

iTunes Feed Also available as an MP3 podcast. More info at our Podcast Central page.

<-- Previous playlist | Back to Techtonic with Mark Hurst playlists | Next playlist -->


Favoriting December 12, 2022: Rachel Ignotofsky, author, "The History of the Computer"

Listen to this show: MP3 - 128K | Pop-up listen Pop-up player!

Playlist image Favoriting

Today: Rachel Ignotofsky, author, “The History of the Computer” – with her husband and business partner Thomas Mason.

The History of the Computer: People, Inventions, and Technology That Changed Our World, by Rachel Ignotofsky

rachelignotofskydesign.com, Rachel’s website

iWoz, by Steve Wozniak

Fire in the Valley: The Birth and Death of the Personal Computer, by Michael Swaine and Paul Freiberger

Videos featuring Alan Kay





Sign up to get Mark's weekly email newsletter. You can also join Mark’s Creative Good community.

PAST EPISODES: techtonic.fm lists recent Techtonic shows.

PODCAST: Subscribe to the Techtonic podcast

Artist Track Images Approx. start time
  Rachel Ignotofsky, author and illustrator, “The History of the Computer”
Tomaš Dvořák  Game Boy Tune   Favoriting
Favoriting
 
  Mark's intro  
Favoriting
 
  Interview with Rachel Ignotofsky and Thomas Mason  
Favoriting
0:10:10 (MP3 | Pop-up)
  Mark's comments  
Favoriting
0:44:50 (MP3 | Pop-up)
Matryomin Ensemble  Symphony No. 9, Boogie   Favoriting
Favoriting
0:54:48 (MP3 | Pop-up)


<-- Previous playlist | Back to Techtonic with Mark Hurst playlists | Next playlist -->

RSS feeds for Techtonic with Mark Hurst: RSSPlaylists feed | RSSMP3 archives feed

| E-mail Mark Hurst | Other WFMU Playlists | All artists played by Techtonic with Mark Hurst |

Listen on the Internet | Contact Us | Music & Programs | WFMU Home Page | Support Us | FAQ

Live Audio Streams for WFMU: Pop-up | 128k AAC | 128k MP3 | 32k MP3    (More streams: [+])


Listener comments!

Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:00pm
ultradamno:

Mark! Techtonputer Dates!
  6:00pm
Rolando:

Present!
Avatar 6:01pm
herb.nyc:

yay, rolando has a present for mark!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:01pm
Will thee Sound Guy:

Good evening Mark Hurst and all!!!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:02pm
Hopey Sockmonkey:

Hello! Very interested in hearing about this book.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:02pm
chresti:

Hi Mark and techtonicans!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:03pm
ultradamno:

I gather because Elon Musk assumed they had demonstrated a high tolerance for extended transphobic rants and stratospherically high levels of narcissism that a Dave Chappelle audience would be a welcoming to him, he was wrong gizmodo.com...
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:03pm
Webhamster Henry:

Hi Mark! I AM the history of computing!
  6:04pm
David in London:

Evening Mark and all Technoids.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:04pm
dale:

ooh. is the abacus the first computer? followed by the slide rule?
Avatar 6:05pm
herb.nyc:

"the history of the computer" book. at ccny where i used to work, a math prof was into logic. another prof said "well he's great at computers. theoretically". we laughed, bec this math guy was not adept at computers. (psst, i was not faculty. only the lowly staff.)
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:05pm
Webhamster Henry:

Boxing Day in the Arbitrarium. Hey I'll get ChatGPT to spit out a few hundred limericks & Haikus.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:06pm
chresti:

maybe she'll have AI recite the poems
  6:07pm
Rolando:

Hear we go … poetry, knowledge and honesty on Techtonic
Avatar 6:07pm
arb:

and it's not even poetry month!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:07pm
Webhamster Henry:

Me: write six haikus about the surveillance state

ChatGPT:
Hidden cameras watch our every move
Privacy stripped away
Big Brother looms large
Eyes in the sky track our steps
No place to hide from view
Surveillance state grows
Every action monitored
Freedom fades in the face of
Constant watchful eyes
Our thoughts no longer our own
Data harvested and used
In the surveillance state
The watchful gaze of power
Intrudes upon our lives
Leaving us feeling trapped
The price of safety?
Loss of liberty and privacy
In the surveillance state.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:09pm
Wendy del Formaggio:

Hi Mark and everyone! I vote for the interview.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:09pm
Mike Sin:

Interview next week.
“Year in review” in January.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:09pm
Folsom:

extra points awarded if the poetry mentions solo
  6:09pm
Rolando:

Year in review for me, though I always look forward to the books and authors you review. Flip a coin!
  6:09pm
hear, hear:

What about a call-in show next week where people share their thoughts on the biggest stories you share and others perhaps that were missed?
Avatar 🤖 6:09pm
MarciB:

The interview sounds good - but so does your Y-i-R...can't decide!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:10pm
Webhamster Henry:

You can do the wrap-up next year. I like wrap-ups because you cover a lot of material!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:10pm
Wendy del Formaggio:

I like Mike Sin's idea, too.
  6:10pm
Sam:

Please do the interview! I like new material better than years in reviews, especially on this show
  6:10pm
morphe':

There once was a Man from Twitter ..

oooppss not for the playlist
Avatar 6:10pm
herb.nyc:

yes, BACKSTREETS interview.
Avatar 🤖 6:11pm
MarciB:

The illustrations showed here are fabulous!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:11pm
JohnEBGood:

Hi Mark, I enjoyed your show but not the reality of Big Brother providing cell phone service in The City.
  6:11pm
Jackie G:

these ideas arent helping. either/or ....pick one for petes sake
  6:13pm
Sam:

There once was a man named Mark Hurst
Who made every tech bubble burst
He went to the river
And threw his phone thither
Because surveillance is the worst
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:13pm
Webhamster Henry:

Me:Write six limericks about the surveillance state

ChatGPT:
There once was a surveillance state
Where every move was monitored and late
Privacy was a thing of the past
And freedom didn't last
Now everyone lived in fear and hate

The government watched from above
Tracking each citizen with love
No place was safe to hide
From the all-seeing eye
In the surveillance state, we were just a glove

The cameras on every street
Recorded our every feat
Our every thought and deed
Was tracked with speed
In the surveillance state, privacy was obsolete

The people lived in constant dread
As their lives were carefully fed
Into the data banks
Where they were ranked
In the surveillance state, freedom was dead

The watchful gaze of power
Intruded upon every hour
Leaving us feeling trapped
And constantly slapped
In the surveillance state, liberty was a flower

The price of safety and security
Was the loss of privacy and liberty
In the surveillance state, we were all just pawns
Trapped in a never-ending cycle of surveillance drones.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:13pm
The Butterman:

Inter-view, inter-view, inter-view!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:13pm
chris in the redwoods:

i once wrote a "brief history of computing" for a CTO. my paper had *no* pictures. FAIL!
hello, Mark and folks!
  6:14pm
castor:

Hi Mark! I LOVE these illustrations! I also got to see the Antikythera Mechanism in the Archeological Museum in Athens, freakin incredible.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:14pm
Webhamster Henry:

better be 2700 years, not thousand
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:14pm
ultradamno:

By the way, Sauna Youth/Feature/Monotony veteran Jen Calleja's new novel (and third book) Vehicle about "a time when looking into the past has become a socially unacceptable and illegal act" is now available for pre-order prototypepublishing.co.uk...
Avatar 6:14pm
James Akers:

Lets hear the interview as a christmas show, that sounds perfect! Tales from the origin location of where some gifts come from.
  6:15pm
Jackie G:

year in review must include some "best of" Mark's rants
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:17pm
JohnEBGood:

I like the get off google shirt ; )
Avatar 6:17pm
herb.nyc:

aside - she talks about drawing. i have an ipad mini. can ya recommend a drawing app? (i usually draw on the back of used paper. thx)
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:17pm
Mark Hurst:

Hi all, thanks for joining tonight! I think we have several votes for INTERVIEW and one (or one and a half) for Y-I-R. So far, looks like it's gonna be "The Backstreets" next week.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:18pm
Webhamster Henry:

Well, if you can get an iPad that understands Apple pencils, ProCreate is spectacular . $$$ but amazing!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:19pm
Webhamster Henry:

That is, ProCreate is cheap, the hardware is $$$
Avatar 6:20pm
herb.nyc:

i see $$$ and im liking pencil and paper better. thx.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:20pm
Webhamster Henry:

Paper is $$ these days!
Avatar 6:21pm
Rolando:

Looking at the show notes, creative and original !! very very nice Rachel Ignotovsky!
Avatar 6:21pm
Carmichael:

Hi all, late to the conspiracy.
Avatar 6:22pm
herb.nyc:

oh, wnyc was celebrating the TRANSISTOR this morning. and when they said SEMICONDUCTOR carefully, i thought "SEMI?", yeah!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:22pm
ultradamno:

Is 'boyfriend level' reading lower than 'middle school'?
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:22pm
Feldy:

I love her work! People are visual creatures, so visualizing things helps people's retention
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:23pm
PaulRobeson1922:

Hi Hi Hi
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:23pm
Mark Hurst:

@PaulR hi hi!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:24pm
dale:

my graphite imac from 1999 still works fine. not really old in the scheme of things.
Avatar 6:24pm
herb.nyc:

aside - someone showed me some EDWARD TUFTE graphics, and it sure as hell helped me really SEE things.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:24pm
Webhamster Henry:

Her beautiful style is like the old Giant Golden Book of Math (Illustrations: Lowell Hess)
  6:24pm
Jackie G:

thomas , dont call me tommy
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:24pm
JohnEBGood:

Too many of our politicians are middle school .......
Avatar 6:24pm
Rolando:

This is a great podcast episode +++ Enjoying this very much.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:25pm
Mark Hurst:

@Rolando thanks!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:25pm
Webhamster Henry:

computerhistory.org
  6:26pm
Jackie G:

thomas is a good, strong name
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:26pm
Webhamster Henry:

I still have the manual for my Geniac: en.wikipedia.org...
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:27pm
Wendy del Formaggio:

Oh! I have Rachel's postcard set of "Women in Science." It's really cool. The drawings are lovely.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:28pm
JohnEBGood:

Yes, it is. Tommy can you here me??
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:28pm
Wendy del Formaggio:

Hi Butterman! I'm going to a show with Luke on Wednesday, and maybe Friday, too. So, he's not Jack Torrance-ing out just yet...
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:29pm
Franco Twinkie:

I wrote this on the back of a parking citation I got in Echo Park:

There is this machine
that's ruined my life
all that it's called me
is anguish and strife

Despite all the claims
it's not made things better
it's so bloodless and cold
I need my wool sweater

Call me backwards
a hopeless old crank
but the monsters at facebook
are the ones you can thank.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:31pm
PaulRobeson1922:

As I went walking
That ribbon of highway
I saw above me
The endless skyway
Avatar 6:32pm
Rolando:

+++ Rachel Ignotovsky and Thomas Mason +++ you two are going to do good things together. (Only in your thirties) at least 50 more years ahead of you. Enjoy every minute together.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:32pm
PaulRobeson1922:

I associate the computer with IBM & the Nazi’s
Avatar 6:33pm
herb.nyc:

"e-waste" - lower east side ecology resumes in january:
01/08/23 — Union Square Park
01/28/23 — Ridgewood (Rosemary’s Playground)
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:34pm
PaulRobeson1922:

Nazis*
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:34pm
PaulRobeson1922:

Jezus
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:34pm
Bas NL:

Hi Mark & all!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:35pm
Webhamster Henry:

They are working on getting dev systems up an running on iPads. And sure you can wrote a book on it. Apple ships Pages with it .
  6:35pm
castor:

A lot of computer and tech development also was funded and directed by the Dept of Defense, specifically for military use. What sort of effect does that have on what tech is and is not created?
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:36pm
Webhamster Henry:

Plus: voice transcription and BLE keyboards make it easy to write on iPads.
  6:36pm
castor:

wealth is being stolen all the time
Avatar 6:37pm
Jeff Moore:

It's easy to push to a pretty rich Linux environment on an unlocked Android phone.
  6:37pm
morphe':

Great GI (Genuine Intelligence) Interview .....
??? True that AI is not good with Irony, Metaphor, etc????
Avatar 6:39pm
(Murakami Whywolf))):

I don't think the limitation is intentional, except to the extent that it was hard enough to get a small device to do what they needed it to do to be useful for consumption, and they had no incentive to makes them any more powerful. I've tried running an IDE and compiler on fairly powerful tablet, and it was tortuously slow. It's much cheaper to make a desktop or laptop device that's better suited to development.

Now, Apple's actually charging you money to be able to develop for Apple devices, _that_'s gratuitous.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:39pm
Webhamster Henry:

Me: write an ironic statement about artificial intelligence.

ChatGPT:
One ironic statement about artificial intelligence is: "With the development of artificial intelligence, humans are becoming more intelligent every day." This statement is ironic because while artificial intelligence is designed to augment human intelligence, it is ultimately still a machine and does not possess the ability to truly understand or replicate human intelligence.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:39pm
Bas NL:

An app teaching the way to use paper and pen for writing would be awesome.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:39pm
Ken From Hyde Park:

I wonder where went to TRS-80 we had in high school?
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:39pm
JohnEBGood:

Tools and education are available to the struggling here in the USA. You Stop the Hate by Do not Hate.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:39pm
Ken From Hyde Park:

"went the"
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:39pm
PaulRobeson1922:

Good job, ChatGPT bot!
  6:40pm
?:

Mark, if you're gonna do a best of, include David Sax Analog Future interview. One of your best, if not your best.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:40pm
Webhamster Henry:

ChatGPT can be pretty entertaining, if somewhat pedantic and dull. But you can ask it not to be pedantic and dull.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:41pm
Mark Hurst:

? - thanks! Will do if/when YIR comes about.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:41pm
Mark Hurst:

@Bas good point - an app called "Put Down The Phone"
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:42pm
PaulRobeson1922:

Is IBM in this history book on computers?
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:42pm
Mark Hurst:

@PaulR definitely, IBM is in there
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:42pm
Mennlinn Rebarts:

Speaking of problematic tech figures, William Shockley, "father of the transistor," was into eugenics and what not.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:43pm
dale:

'whacky hijinx' - love those!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:43pm
Mennlinn Rebarts:

Is Dehomag mentioned? Maybe a bit grim...
  6:45pm
morphe':

There once was an AI device that spoke
ejits followed it and went broke..
they awoke in a daze
a self absorbed haze
and were escorted out of society

ooooppppsss not for
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:46pm
JohnEBGood:

Joyful creation. Dirt. Let's hook up. I'm the Captain
Avatar 6:47pm
Rolando:

Reuse, Repair, Repurpose ! Joyful creation. - Preach it sister !
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:47pm
Franco Twinkie:

Robert Crumb worked at Hallmark.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:48pm
Bas NL:

I restoring restoring microscopes at work. Decades old but with some basic TLC they become like new.
  6:48pm
morphe':

Would love to see R. Crumb Hallmark cards...
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:49pm
Franco Twinkie:

The DNA for Zap is there if you squint.
  6:49pm
Jackie G:

Rachel and Thomas, good luck in all your future endeavors. Such great energy.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:49pm
ultradamno:

R. Crumb’s lowly years cranking out cards for American Greetings dangerousminds.net...
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:51pm
ultradamno:

A great horror movie could be made about people getting neuralink implants infused with the terror of 15,000 animals
Avatar 6:52pm
James Akers:

rachelignotofskydesign.com...

soooo gooood
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:52pm
Franco Twinkie:

Thanks Ultra. Hallmark - American Greeting SAME DAMN THING!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:52pm
dale:

no angelfood mcspades cards for hallmark?
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:52pm
Franco Twinkie:

Haha!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:53pm
dale:

i guess he had to rein things in.
Avatar 6:53pm
(((Murakami Whywolf):

ultradamno:
I, too, thought of Crumb….

I wonder if along the way she mentions the attempts to make automatic anti-aircraft cannons during the Second World War, I recall it as being a failure but they learned a lot about control theory. I think Norbert Wiener was involved, but I might be wrong about that.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:54pm
Webhamster Henry:

That was fun interview!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:54pm
PaulRobeson1922:

Yeah!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:54pm
Count d'Al Dente:

Did she do the artwork? Makes me think of Chris Ware.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:55pm
PaulRobeson1922:

Holy shit!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:55pm
dale:

i saw the falcon 9 launch last week while on a beach on florida. pretty wild seeing stage one drop back down and land. followed by a huge sonic boom!
Avatar 6:56pm
Jeff Moore:

Since I have the obsessive need to bring any conversation around to wristwatches, I'll note that the page on the Antikythera mechanism (including the picture of the happy hard-hat diver) flash-reminded me (since there's a diving reference and the Antikythera mechanism is an elaborate perpetual calendar complication) of a recent wristwatch from Greek designers (the Ianos ΜΗΧΑΝΙΚΟΣ) which references a Greek air-pump mechanism to assist divers.

www.flickr.com...

https://ianoswatches.com/ianos-mihanikos
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:56pm
Mennlinn Rebarts:

Nothing complicated about Elon Musk--he's simply a petty turd person.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:56pm
JohnEBGood:

I like the show Black Matter from Canada.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:57pm
Franco Twinkie:

That's all!?
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:57pm
Wendy del Formaggio:

@Mennlinn Rebarts: Hahaha, that's the most succinct description of EMusk I've read so far.
  6:57pm
catherine:

Elon Musk has replaced Donald Trump as media's most favorite go-to subject
  6:57pm
Jackie G:

Elon Musk has a very waxy face.
  6:57pm
Peter from Boonton formerly Dover NJ:

Respect for pedestrians? Take it from someone who's been hit by a car, it's non existent..
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:57pm
Count d'Al Dente:

What about this yootoob mirror link?
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:57pm
Wendy del Formaggio:

Thanks, Mark!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:57pm
JohnEBGood:

Dark Matter my bad!!
  6:57pm
castor:

Thanks Mark!!!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:57pm
Bas NL:

Thanks Mark!
  6:57pm
chresti:

Thanks Mark!
  6:57pm
morphe':

Thanks MH and all !!!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:58pm
Will thee Sound Guy:

Thank you Mark Hurst and Rachel!
Avatar 6:58pm
Jeff Moore:

On the Musk/Twitter tip:

Migration to Mastodon is in full swing. The Mastodon user count keeps rising, and there's now a vibrant and engaged community over there.
Avatar 6:58pm
(Murakami Whywolf))):

Mennlinn Rebarts:
I disagree, I think there used to be something to him, but wealth has given him a god-complex.

Similarly, Mr Chappelle used to be quite funny at times, now he's more of troll.
  6:59pm
morphe':

As said during O's show...the Theremin Doc is a sad/crazy Cold War story ..
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:59pm
ultradamno:

I loved Block Party, but he's burned down any respect I ever had for him
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:59pm
Ken From Hyde Park:

7,500 satellites? Why not just put up half a billion cell phone towers every kilometer across the surface of the Earth?
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 7:00pm
PaulRobeson1922:

Beautiful! Thank you Mark and friends!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 7:00pm
JohnEBGood:

Happy Holidays all !!!
Bottom
Comment!
Name
Email
(C) 2024 WFMU. Generated by KenzoDB, written by Ken Garson