Tech Education
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Meet Jerry Lawson: The Black Engineer Who Invented the Video Game Cartridge So We Could Change Games
If you grew up with a console (whether it was the Atari, the Sega Genesis, the Nintendo 64, or swapping discs on a PlayStation) you probably have fond memories of a very specific ritual: blowing dust out of a plastic slot, slamming a cartridge home, and hearing that glorious chime as the game fired up.… Read more
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Before Auto-Tune Saved Pop Singers, It Was Invented by a Geophysicist Looking for Underground Oil
If you turn on the radio, listen to a modern pop song, or spend five minutes on TikTok, you are hearing Auto-Tune. It is the invisible safety net of the music industry… the digital magic wand that can take a singer who sounds like a cat stuck in a fence and make them sound like… Read more
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How a Kenyan Farmer’s Invention to Scare Off Lions With LED Lights Inspired Engineers Around the World
When I was eleven years old, my biggest technological achievement was figuring out how to blow into a video game cartridge just right so it wouldn’t freeze on the loading screen. When Richard Turere was eleven years old, he was put in charge of protecting his family’s cattle on the edge of Nairobi National Park… Read more
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The Clock Inside Your Computer Does Not Know What Month It Is; It Only Counts Vibrations
At the bottom right corner of my screen, the operating system claims with absolute authority that it is Tuesday, September 15th, 5:16 AM. It tells this story with neat typography and calm punctuation. It presents time to me the way humans understand it: broken down into lunar cycles, solar rotations, working days, lunch breaks, and… Read more
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The Architecture of Elevator Algorithms (Yes, They Run on Code)
There is a ritual that takes place in office lobbies and high-rise apartments every morning: you press the call button, step back, and stare at a small digital number that refuses to move. After thirty seconds of silence, you begin the quiet psychological negotiation. You wonder why the lift is currently going up to floor… Read more
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Frankenstein’s Masterpiece: A Guide to Not Blowing Up Your PC
Let’s be real for a second: the first time you look at a pile of computer parts, you don’t see a “high-performance machine.” You see a $1,000 puzzle that looks like it wants to hurt you. You see tiny gold pins that look like they’ll bend if you even breathe on them too hard. You… Read more