auspicacious (Posts about 42)

The things I didn't do in 2025

Andrew Todd — Sun, 04 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Starting with the obvious, I didn't write anything on this blog in 2025. Or in 2024¹, for that matter. There are articles that I very much want to write, but time and cognitive capacity are always in short supply.

This article, though, is really about choices: what I didn't do last year, what not doing it accomplished, and some goals for not doing things in 2026.

The influence of Seth Vidal, ten years later

Andrew Todd — Sat, 08 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMT

I was in a Duke University classroom after hours, somewhere around 2005. Seth Vidal had grabbed a whiteboard and was enthusiastically explaining to me and a few others just how XMPP worked. I remember that impromptu little lecture well. Simple as it was, it illuminated computers for me in a way that my computer science classes often didn't.

Seth wasn't a professor or a student: he was a sysadmin in the physics department. To me, he was the person who would always show up and always lend a hand; it was only later that I came to understand that it wasn't just my little Linux User Group events he was showing up for, or a few undergraduates that he was lending a hand to.

Ten years ago today, Seth was killed by a hit-and-run driver while cycling home. I still think about him often.

Dust Masks and the Politician's Syllogism

Andrew Todd — Mon, 17 Dec 2018 09:00:00 GMT

In our lives, we're constantly challenged by far more than we can fully understand. I work on complex systems for a living; my interests lie in reducing the harm those complex systems can do because we can't fully understand them. My work is with computers, but it's fascinating to look into other fields and learn from them.

This past fall I found myself feeling trapped indoors. I was living in South Korea, and for the first time in my life was forced to confront what millions -- maybe billions -- of people face every day: nearly constant, dangerous levels of air pollution.

I found myself falling into a common mental trap; I could see it in others as well. The politician's syllogism describes it well:

We must do something
This is something
Therefore, we must do this.

I felt trapped and powerless; of course, I wanted to protect myself from this air pollution and keep myself healthy. So I started doing research and taking actions. I started observing what other people were doing.

Dignity

Andrew Todd — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 00:01:00 GMT

And I'm telling this story in a faraway scene
Sipping down raki and reading Maynard Keynes
And I'm thinking about home and all that means
And a place in the winter for Dignity...

Obligatory September 11 Remembrance Post

Andrew Todd — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 15:03:48 GMT

In September of 2001, I was just beginning my senior year of high school, still ensconced in my prep school's pastel, stained-glass world; it was a place for academics, where televisions would have ordinarily been rare but for that day.

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News and Commentary of Note, Early August Edition

Andrew Todd — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:19:52 GMT

Outspoken traveler (and inspiration for my North Korea trip) Paul Karl Lukacs explains how being a digital nomad isn't without negative dangers. While he's largely right, I will comment that your employability post-travel largely depends on overall demand for your profession. During travel, unless you're already an independent worker, good luck finding someone to let you work remotely and -- inevitably -- erratically.

Three Books to Change the World

Andrew Todd — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:08:08 GMT

Sort of an off week. Perhaps these books haven't changed the world, but they revolutionized my point of view on the world, much more so than better-known pop science books like Freakonomics or Blink.

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Why is Amtrak so Expensive? (or, Why is BoltBus so Cheap?)

Andrew Todd — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 19:09:21 GMT

I don't have a definitive answer, but recently I was planning a trip to New York, and came across some incredible numbers. Both BoltBus and Amtrak depart from Baltimore Penn Station, and arrive at New York's Penn Station. (The bus stop is a few blocks away from each).

The Amtrak's high-speed Acela takes two hours, fifteen minutes, and costs at least $134.

The BoltBus takes three and a half hours, costing $15.

Both of these are demand-based prices, but the ratio remains effectively the same: for an extra hour of travel time, BoltBus is one-tenth the price of Amtrak. How is this possible?

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Independence Day

Andrew Todd — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 10:24:31 GMT

It's an odd feeling, spending July 4th outside the US.

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North Korea has 500,000 3G Mobile Phone Users

Andrew Todd — Tue, 24 May 2011 07:24:22 GMT

Of course, they'll still confiscate your mobile phone for the duration of your visit.

I don't have too much trouble believing this recent news report. The 3G network rollout was well under way during my visit in late summer of 2009; my guides had mobile phones "for use in emergency situations." They said that they didn't have coverage out in the countryside yet, but I think that there is now.