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Tech Tuesday: Turing Machines (Introduction)
Albert Wenger – Nov 12, 2013
So far in the Tech Tuesday series on the theory of computation we have learned about Finite State Machines and their limitations, as well as the more general relationship between automata and languages. As a reminder, an automaton is a [...] Read more
Act Now: Super Typhoon Haiyan
Albert Wenger – Nov 11, 2013
I have written a fair bit about climate change here on Continuations. It seems that in the US we have about a weeks worth of debate after a big storm such as Sandy and then it quickly dies down. So [...] Read more
Atera
Albert Wenger – Nov 8, 2013
Last night Susan and I met up with friends of ours for dinner at Atera. The idea of spending several hundred dollars a person for dinner seemed more than a bit crazy to me but I was proven wrong: it [...] Read more
The Startup Journey (Twitter Edition)
Albert Wenger – Nov 7, 2013
Twitter is going public today. This is something many startups aspire to yet very few succeed in doing. My congratulations to everyone who has contributed to Twitter’s growth over the years. There are many people whose names will not be [...] Read more
Homeschool Wednesday: In 3D (Printing)
Albert Wenger – Nov 6, 2013
When we invested in Shapeways at USV, one of the trends we liked was that 3D design tools were getting cheaper and more accessible. I am happy to report that Tinkercad is now an amazing entry level and free tool [...] Read more
Tech Tuesday: Languages and Automata
Albert Wenger – Nov 5, 2013
In the last two Tech Tuesdays, I introduced Finite State Machines (FSM) and showed examples of both their usefulness and their limitation. Just as a reminder, we study computer science theory to get a handle on two fundamental questions: what [...] Read more
Bitcoin As Protocol
Albert Wenger – Oct 31, 2013
We owe many of the innovations that we use every day -- from our favorite longstanding websites to the latest mobile applications -- to the existence of underlying highly technical protocols. Endusers don't need to understand these any more than [...] Read more
Bitcoin As Protocol
Albert Wenger – Oct 31, 2013
Today’s post is over at USV. It describes why bitcoin is a potentially important protocol that could enable a lot of innovation. Read more
Homeschool Wednesday: NSA Edition
Albert Wenger – Oct 30, 2013
One of the many things I love about homeschooling is the ability to use current affairs to motivate the study of history and civics and more. And it is hard to imagine a richer quarry than NSA surveillance and spying. [...] Read more