Moving Forward –> End of an era for alwinian.net 2009-2023

Like an old VHS tape, it looks like the our bespoke wordpress theme, which ran like a well-oiled steam-engine on PHP 7.4 will no longer work with supported versions of PHP 8.x It’s an uncertain future for our bespoke theme based on Gigawatt and will post an image here for posterity.

Dogs in the wild: Thoughts on the domestication of our furry friends

Dog at a campfire

This entry is published on Medium. You can find the entry here: https://medium.com/@alwinian/dogs-in-the-wild-b67e9ac95a2e A recent encounter with a bobcat while jogging had me thinking about how we must have domesticated our closest friends, dogs. While we can’t say for certain, deeper thinking about the circumstances can shift the probability in favor of one scenario over … Read more

The philosophy of Boethius

Have just discovered the philosopher Boethius. Spending the night reading about him with many insights and revelations there. 🎓 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boethius

Art is a wasteful endeavor

I realize one thing as I get older, which I did not while young. The pursuit of art, in the kind that becomes a symbol and changes the world, can be a most wasteful endeavor if lost, unused or forgotten. It can occupy the minds, hearts and talents of the brightest and best while giving … Read more

Quote of the Day: Glenn Gould on Beethoven

Food for thought: Glenn Gould on why Beethoven is an admired composer.   Spoken notes before performing Piano Sonata 17 in D minor, op 31. The Tempest Sonata. Broadcast March 19, 1967   “…within every creative person there is an inventor at odds with a museum curator…and most of the startling things that happen in … Read more

Thinking about chess pieces as investments during a game

#Chess Inspired while watching videos about AlphaZero. As a thought experiment, imagine that each piece is an investment, with the potential of certain pieces to be multiple times their initial value. A knight or bishop, normally worth 3 points may in time become +9 points during a game, such as the famous ‘octopus knight’ in … Read more