Radio, Amateurishly

Much of the United States is experiencing a bit of a cold spell, my southern California home included (by which I mean it was about 3° Celsius first thing this morning), so I thought now might be a good time to tell this story. On the way to the punchline, we'll visit thermodynamics, computer science, and the ultimate fate of the universe. Poor climate control in offices is a common complaint. In particular, people often complain about their offices being too cold. I've heard plenty of explanations—it's difficult to keep the temperature consistent across such a large volume of air, different people have different temperatures at which they're comfortable, etc—and I haven't found any of them convincing. Movie theaters and airports, as just a couple of examples, don't seem to have too much trouble keeping large numbers of people comfortable in a large indoor volume.  I once worked in an office where my desk was under the air conditioning vent. When the air conditi...

  Francis Fukuyama famously declared in the early '90s that we had reached the end of history. The end of Soviet communism and the triumph of liberal democracy was humankind's last great struggle, and it was a done deal. Watching the horrifying events of 6 January, 2021 unfold, I reflected on the prematurity of Fukuyama's conclusion. Liberal democracy's triumph is far from assured, humankind still have plenty of struggles left, and there's still a whole lot more history to be made. It can be tempting to think of history as a great sweeping arc of change and development that existed for the sole purpose of bringing us to this one static moment when nothing much else happens, but it's an illusion. If you view a small enough section of a curved line or surface, the curvature goes away. This is why the surface of the earth appears flat to an observer near the ground. It's not just a limitation of perception; it is a practicality within defined cases. A Formula O...