Author Archives: jlredford

Jiahu: An Actual High-Tech Atlantis

Posted on January 8, 2026 by jlredford

I recently learned about an extraordinary archeological discovery, that of an ancient high-tech culture that really was drowned in a cataclysm.  It just didn’t happen to be the one Plato was thinking of when he described Atlantis.   He was … Continue reading →

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Actually Made in America

Posted on January 2, 2026 by jlredford

Most of the stuff in your daily life, of course, is made in the US. That’s groceries, and gasoline, gas and electricity, and construction materials like lumber, bricks, glass, and drywall. Yet your clothing almost certainly isn’t, nor are most … Continue reading →

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Give ’em a Short, Sharp Shock and They Will Totally Do It Again

Posted on November 25, 2025 by jlredford

We’re watching the tremendous Ken Burns PBS series “The American Revolution”. It stresses that the British tried to hit the Americans suddenly and hit them hard. They would disperse this disorderly rabble with a whiff of grapeshot. They burned everything … Continue reading →

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Little Free Libraries – Boon or Blessing?

Posted on November 10, 2025 by jlredford

I was out taking my constitutional the other evening when I noticed a new little free library. There are five of them within just three blocks of my house: Hmm! I see from the Little Free Library site that about … Continue reading →

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From Creepy DARPA Concept to Useful Widget – A Long But Typical Engineering Journey

Posted on October 20, 2025 by jlredford

The standard engineering story goes like this – someone thinks of a good idea, they found a startup to develop it, it gets backed by venture capitalists, it becomes a hit, everyone gets rich, and the field moves forward. Boy … Continue reading →

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The Odd Longevity of Pink Floyd

Posted on October 11, 2025 by jlredford

Our town has a theater, the Regent, where a lot of tribute bands come to play. They do covers of Elvis, Sinatra, and the Eagles, which are unsurprising. They were all massive stars with the usual songs about falling in … Continue reading →

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MIT Under Attack

Posted on July 24, 2025 by jlredford

Last May 31st I attended Technology Day at MIT, where the school presents talks on all kinds of interesting research to its alumni. Commencement is always the day before, and the alumni reunion events are that evening. I’m a big … Continue reading →

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“Whoosh” – Autonomous Gondolas vs Robo-taxis

Posted on June 21, 2025 by jlredford

A New Zealand-based company, Whoosh Solutions, is building a new kind of urban transit system – a network of overhead fixed cables that are used by self-driving battery-powered gondolas to go from point to point. They can switch from one … Continue reading →

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The Most Exciting Day in the History of Arlington MA

Posted on June 2, 2025 by jlredford

… was April 19, 1775, and that was plenty! That’s when the Regulars (both sides thought of themselves as British) retreated down Concord Road (now Massachusetts Avenue) from the Battle of Lexington and Concord. They had gone out there to … Continue reading →

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Tesla-Free At Last

Posted on May 6, 2025 by jlredford

I first leased a Tesla Model 3 in Dec 2019. It was the fastest and smoothest car I had ever driven! It was so quiet and had so much zip. Its interior was elegantly sparse – it had just a … Continue reading →

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