Welcome back! Today I have links to stories about knitting, NASA Apollo missions, and computer science. Plus building musical instruments, robot umpires used this year by Major League Baseball, and how people fed cats in Victorian England. It required a complex culture that disappeared when canned food became available. There’s also links about Susan Kare, a really interesting artist who happened to create some of the first computer interfaces, icons, and fonts.
Knitting, NASA, and Computer Science
Recently I found an Instagram video that shows the link between computer science and knitting. More coding and knitting with some computer science concepts tossed in. I mentioned this video to my son and he pointed me to an article about NASA, knitting, and Apollo missions. Which, of course, reminded me of a link to the actual code used for Apollo.
As you might imagine, the Apollo code is brute force simple. It could not be more than 64 kilobytes in size. As the article my son pointed me to points out, it also had to use knitting concepts. One technique they used is core rope memory. It’s read only memory. You can’t change the programs or data in the memory, only read it. Core rope memory also was hand woven. It looks like weaving and knitting with strands wound tightly together.
The most amazing bit to me: how you wire the core makes a strand represent a 0 or 1. How you wire the core makes an electric current move in one direction or the opposite direction. And if that doesn’t make complete sense, you’re not alone. But I get the high level understanding. And it gives an idea of the primitive technology used to send people to the moon.
Knitting and Coding
https://www.instagram.com/p/DHdpHqFKAol/
The Parallels Between Knitting and Coding
https://codeop.tech/blog/parallels-between-knitting-and-coding/
Knitting as Programming
https://dev.to/abbeyperini/knitting-as-programming-3e5
Knitting is Coding and More
https://waldorfpeninsula.org/blog/knitting-coding/
Core Rope Memory
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_rope_memory
Coding the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC)
https://kidscodecs.com/coding-the-apollo-guidance-computer-agc/
Projects: Build a Ukelele
Years ago, I read that around 1900 people made banjos using steel wire from screen doors. Learning an instrument is interesting and enjoyable. But learning how people build an instrument I find more engaging. Buying ready made is easy. Building or watching someone build can teach you a lot more. And it helps you appreciate the instruments. Buying kits is a way to bridge the gap between a finished instrument and building from scratch. Also, finding a local makerspace means you don’t need your own workshop and tools.
Building a Ukelele in 4 Days
https://youtu.be/nU_pkSx9Aes
https://www.youtube.com/@DaisyTempest
Building a Ukelele from Scratch
https://www.instructables.com/Building-an-Ukulele-from-scratch/
DIY Ukelele Kits
https://ohana-music.com/collections/d-i-y-ukulele-kits
Building a Banjo
https://www.cwitulski.com/banjo_build
6 Ways To Get Kids (Or Anyone!) Into Woodworking
Makerspace Directory
Resources: MIT Open Learning
MIT Open Learning Library is a distinct collection of educational resources from MITx and MIT OpenCourseWare. All of the resources on Open Learning Library are free to use and available to all learners worldwide without registration.
The resources on Open Learning Library allow learners to learn at their own pace while receiving immediate feedback through engaging interactive content and exercises.
MIT Open Learning
https://openlearning.mit.edu/
https://openlearning.mit.edu/courses-programs/open-learning-library
People: Susan Kare
Susan Kare is an artist who happened to work at Apple in its early days. She helped create many of the computer icons we use today: the trash can, floppy disk (Save), and early fonts.
But what I’ve always liked about her story is that she’s an artist. She got her PhD writing about Honore Daumier and Claes Oldenburg. Kare also is a great role model for kids into art and tech who might be shy. Or lead a private life like Kare. You can contribute to the world and not seek the spotlight. You don’t have to be an out there tech bro like Zuckerberg, Jobs, Gates, and too many others.
Making the Macintosh: Interview with Susan Kare
https://web.stanford.edu/dept/SUL/sites/mac/primary/interviews/kare/trans.html
Timeless Design Insights from Susan Kare: Mastering UI, Iconography and Typography
https://www.playforthoughts.com/blog/susan-kare-design
Susan Kare demonstrating the Macintosh Interface in 1984
Notes on Icons and Design with Susan Kare
Susan Kare, Iconographer (EG8)
https://www.egconf.com/videos/susan-kare-iconographer-eg8
STEAM Bits and Bytes
Links I’ve come across recently that might interest you.
- The Cat’s Meat Man: Feeding Felines in Victorian London — The Public Domain Review. An amazing cultural history how people fed cats in England in the late 1800s early 1900s.
https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-cats-meat-man/ - What’s the shape of the universe? Mathematicians use topology to study the shape of the world and everything in it.
https://theconversation.com/whats-the-shape-of-the-universe-mathematicians-use-topology-to-study-the-shape-of-the-world-and-everything-in-it-235635 - The robo ump could cause a unexpected casualty: the TV strike zone box. Baseball season starts soon in the US. Here’s one way technology will impact the sport this season.
1. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6145712/2025/02/19/robo-umps-tv-strike-zone-box-mlb/?source=user_shared_article
2. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6144194/2025/02/20/abs-robot-umps-mlb-spring-training/?source=user_shared_article - iCloud encryption explained: How secure is your data? All encryption is not the same.
https://www.macworld.com/article/2606947/icloud-encryption-how-secure-is-your-data.html
This Week
Our Sunday email this week will have fun often offbeat links about about solving an ancient Sanskrit code, why our brains aren’t meant to be awake after midnight, what scientists discovered listening to people’s brains, and what makes memories stick around. Plus window washing robots, bonding wood and metal with sound and 3D printing, and how Earth’s atmosphere escapes into space. And bonus links to get you ready for April Fool’s Day. Look for the email this Sunday.
