Tag: TechStories

Innovative iPad Case Design and a Treasure Trove of Lost Photos | May 28 2025, 00:57

Back in 2010, I devised the design for a leather case with a shoulder strap for the first iPad and had it custom-made from my sketches by a craftsman (Evgeny Lunin). The idea was simple—use it, then just toss it over your shoulder, hanging there, open or closed. It was insanely convenient. I’ve never seen such a thing on sale ever again.

(I found an old hard drive in the garage with lost photos on it. Just from the US, there are 82 gigabytes of photos from 2015, in Raw format, including several videos. And along with them, all sorts of other photos have surfaced too.)

Supercharging Adventures: A Tale of Fast and Odd Tesla Charging | May 27 2025, 14:42

Yesterday, we arrived to refuel at the Tesla supercharger v4 325kW, which is the fastest one. We plugged the hose into the car, and a loud gurgling sound began to come from the stand. “The current is flowing,” says Nadya. It seems to be some sort of liquid cooling. Inside the car, the battery is also intensely cooling during charging, because 48 amps is quite a lot.

But while we were charging, we saw a very strange scene. Next to us, there was a Tesla being charged from an outdoor outlet of a nearby building with a very long cable. I mean, it’s certainly possible, but it takes an hour to charge the battery by 1% (which is about 5km). Well, at least it’s free. People do the oddest things;-) and the funny thing is, they could have parked right next to the outlet, but no, they park at the supercharger and charge from an outlet across the street;)

Shifting Paradigms in Evidence-Based Medicine: 15 Evolving Perspectives | May 26 2025, 01:16

I stumbled upon 15 examples where evidence-based medicine has shifted its stance over time. Truly intriguing; there was a lot I didn’t know.

1. Cholesterol: “bad vs “good

Originally, total cholesterol was considered the main risk. Nowadays, it’s more important to look at LDL (“bad) and HDL (“good) in the context of inflammation and overall metabolic state. High levels of LDL (“bad)—a confirmed risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, especially when HDL (“good cholesterol) levels are low.

2. Saturated Fats

Long considered a cause of cardiovascular diseases. Modern studies have proven: trans fats are indeed harmful, but natural saturated fats in moderate amounts are permissible. In the USA, as I understand, there has been a complete ban on adding artificial trans fats to food products since 2021, while in Russia, as I found, there is a limit of 2% trans fat content in certain products, but no total ban and less stringent control measures are in place.

3. Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)

HRT was long believed to protect against cardiovascular diseases in women. The WHI study (2002) showed an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, and breast cancer with combined therapy.

4. Vioxx (rofecoxib)

This drug was heavily advertised as safe for joints. In 2004, it was withdrawn from the market due to an increased risk of heart attacks. It was found that the manufacturer had hidden side effects.

5. Antiarrhythmics Post-Heart Attack

Drugs like flecainide were used post-heart attack. The CAST study (1989) showed: such drugs increased mortality.

6. Low-Fat Diets

Fats were once considered the main culprits of obesity. Today, it’s clear that replacing fats with sugar and fast carbohydrates only intensified the epidemic of diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

7. Infant Weaning

Solid foods used to be introduced at 2–3 months. Today, WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months.

8. Stomach Ulcer and Helicobacter pylori

Ulcers were once linked to stress and diet. Now, it’s known that the main cause is H. pylori infection. Treatment involves antibiotics. Upon my arrival in the US, it was immediately detected and treated.

9. Antidepressants and the “Serotonin Theory

Depression was formerly explained by a lack of serotonin. Nowadays, this theory is not supported, and the effectiveness of antidepressants is critically assessed.

10. Omega-3

Omega-3 supplements were once regarded as a panacea for the heart. Major studies (e.g., VITAL, 2018) found no benefits in healthy individuals. Eating fish continues to be considered beneficial.

11. Vitamin D

Its deficiency was associated with many diseases. However, meta-analyses have shown: vitamin D supplements do not prevent cancer, diabetes, and heart attacks unless there is a deficiency.

12. Aspirin for Prevention

Aspirin used to be prescribed to many healthy individuals. Today, its use is limited to high cardiovascular risk due to the risk of bleeding.

13. Statins

Previously prescribed widely, including for moderately elevated cholesterol. Now prescribed selectively, based on overall risk assessment.

14. “Safe Opioids

In the 1990s, it was claimed that OxyContin did not cause addiction. This triggered the opioid crisis in the USA—one of the biggest challenges to the healthcare system.

15. PSA Testing for Prostate Cancer

Mass PSA screening led to overdiagnosis and unnecessary surgeries. Nowadays, its use is individualized, after discussion with the patient.

Exploring Pronunciations and the Curious Naming of Lululemon | May 25 2025, 21:23

Today I discovered an interesting story about the name of the brand Lululemon (see below) and it turns out, not only is `ballet` pronounced in English as bal-AY (it seems everyone knows this), but also `cabriolet` as ka-bree-ow-ley, `valet` as val-AY, and even `parquet` as paar-kay. `buffet` is also pronounced as buh-FAY, but there is also the verb `to buffet` which is pronounced as BUH-fit. and `sorbet` is pronounced as sor-BAY. They are all borrowings from French.

It also turned out that aborigine is pronounced as a·buh·ri·juh·nee. `apostrophe` and `catastrophe` are pronounced as uh·po·struh·fee and kuh·ta·struh·fee respectively. `coyote` is pronounced as `kai·ow·tee`. The word `dilettante` (did you know there are two t’s together?) is pronounced as di·luh·tan·tee. Well, about recipe (reh·suh·pe) and fiance (fee-ahn-say) everyone probably knows.

I also read an interesting story about why Lululemon is called just that. Lululemon Athletica founder, Chip Wilson, shared: “The reason the Japanese liked Homeless (his former skateboard brand) was that the name had the letter “L. A Japanese marketing agency would never come up with a brand name containing “L because it isn’t in their alphabet. They find it hard to pronounce. So I thought: next time I have a company, I’ll invent a name with three “Ls and see if I can make three times the money. It’s amusing to watch them try to pronounce it.” (2004 interview with National Post Business Magazine)

Choosing the Tesla Model Y 2026: A Personal Review | May 24 2025, 18:53

Well, congratulate me 😉 I’ve finally picked the Tesla Model Y 2026, despite doubts about whether it’s worth paying Musk. I carefully analyzed all the alternatives to the “horrible Tesla,” but the new model beats all competitors, some by a significant margin. The only thing is I could have saved a bit. Tesla has finally made decent interior materials, and they and the exterior design finally match the price. And the AWD with a 4.5-second acceleration is hard to underestimate.

The level of automation from the buying process to driving is so advanced that, as an IT professional, I find it hard to rank anything above it.

I drove home for half an hour on full autopilot. Really cool, but after three months I won’t renew it; it’s pricey, although good. On some left turns, I would let more oncoming cars pass than it does, but, I must admit, it calculates very accurately.

Celebrating Liza’s Commencement and New Beginnings at Virginia Tech | May 16 2025, 02:00

Liza has finally graduated from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and now we have a certified architect in the family! Over here, a graduation ceremony is called a “Commencement,” which translates from English as “beginning.” Today, there was a formal diploma presentation ceremony. However, they don’t actually hand out diplomas but something like a voucher for a diploma, which can be converted into a diploma as long as you don’t have any “tails” left. Because the ceremony is a thing unto itself, and of course, no one is going to move or adjust it. The actual diploma will be sent by mail.

Today and tomorrow, our entire family, including our menagerie, is in Blacksburg—the place where the huge university campus is located, seemingly taking over the entire little town in southern Virginia. Nearly 40,000 students study here alongside about 13,000 staff members. It’s a whole universe, its branches shining even in our parts: campuses and research centers are not only here in Blacksburg. But this place is the “core.”

Well, now Liza, learn to drive! You won’t manage to get to work on public transportation around here; it’s very fragmented, slow, and unreliable. All in all, we are very happy. Tomorrow is the main event at the big stadium, and then, onto new tracks!

It seems like it was only yesterday. 2020, masks, COVID. But they let you study “in-person.” With a lot of restrictions, but at least not from home. You chose architecture, and people constantly asked us if we had architects in the family? Of course, we do, that’s me, except, well, I’m not really about houses and bridges. But now we have the full spectrum!

If the standard bachelor’s diploma in the States is obtained in four years, at Virginia Tech it takes five years to study architecture—and that’s still not a master’s degree. Initially, we were all worried about how we were going to afford this. When you apply to the institute, you show them all your income and expenses, and some smart system made up of a mix of people and computers tells you, for example, you’re poor but smart, so the university will charge you little, not a lot. Or it says, “you can afford it, I see,” so they give you the full load, tighten your belts. We didn’t quite meet the necessary level of poverty, and the numbers were initially scary, but somewhere along the way educational loans helped, and we also grew over time and started to get scared less.

And just like that, five years have flown by, and now Liza will start earning her own money. A big deal. From mid-June, Liza starts her first job—the one that had already offered her several internships in summer and winter. So there probably wasn’t even a question of whether to hire her full-time or not.

Lizochka, congratulations again! And wishing you success!

P.S. Also, today is Yuki’s birthday—he’s 4 years old. He sadly watched from the window as we loaded our suitcases into the car. Nadia quietly said, “Yuki, we’re going to Liza and Levchik,” and he, skidding his claws on the floor, charging at full speed, with skids on the turns, dashed to the door and sat next to it! And that’s considering how we usually have to shove him out the door to walk him—he’s a real homebody. Literally: you push him down the steps toward the door and he moves as long as you push him, reluctantly gets dressed in his harness, then he starts his half-hour pond avoidance program. But this time, he totally lost his mind! He understands us somehow.

Anomalies in Linguistic Output and the Case for AI Deployment in U.S. Politics

So, I’m convinced that Trump is operating on AI models, likely an early Grok, through a chip in his noggin, by special robots. All the signs are there, and I’ll provide the arguments.

That is, whenever Trump opens his mouth to say something, his TrumpGPT invents the next word for the already spoken ones, and since GPT hallucinations are not canceled, it ends up as it does. TrumpAI can’t finish a thought. It operates on looped inference: each word triggers the next without any notion of the end of the sequence. This isn’t rhetoric—it’s runaway generation. The speech patterns of TrumpGPT-0 remind one of a Markov Chain with lags.

Before elections, they just fine-tuned him on everything good, so when he comes up with the next token, it often clashes with what he was taught, but at the same time, generates a lot of accompanying nonsense. Anyway, he and Melania have their tokens, so everything’s in its place.

The pre-trained foundational model, as we see, is rather simple, probably about 1.5B parameters at best. Maybe GPT-2. Or something like that. This explains the irreducible inclination to looped inference. Apparently, there were a few volunteers, one went off to control a mouse cursor on the screen and play Minecraft, and the other, well, went off to become president. The timings match up.

Friendship with Elon is not about politics, it’s tech support. Elon did what he could to fine-tune the model, but apparently, they hit the limits of the technology.

The model was trained on Fox News broadcasts over 20 years. Everyone knows he “thinks what he sees on TV. Hence the “They’re eating the dogs, the cats”. Actually, it’s a vulnerability. As soon as the words “they’re stealing the election are uttered, Grok v0.1 intercepts and begins to playback the script. The syndrome of a “model too open to external context.

Retrieval-Augmented Generation? Not in this build. Question: “Who was the first president of the USA? might trigger an answer “Me. Because the model does not have access to external databases. Only pretrain on personal memoirs and commercials for Trump Steaks.

TrumpGPT operates on a custom version of TensorFlow from 2009, where half of the dependencies conflict with reality. That’s why it freezes at the words “climate change, “facts, and “evidence.

So, we just need to add a disclaimer:

This content was generated by artificial intelligence and for entertainment purposes only. This content is It should not be used for any other purpose, such as making financial decisions or providing medical advice. It may contain errors or inaccuracies, and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional advice.

The Dual Legacy of William Mulholland | May 06 2025, 19:31

I just read that Mulholland Drive was named after William Mulholland, who on one hand provided Los Angeles with water, but on the other hand buried 431 people after the St. Francis Dam he built collapsed, merely twelve hours after he and his assistant had inspected it. Essentially, it was the worst technological disaster in the US of the 20th century.

So, he truly did supply the county with water. Initially through good engineering, and then again through bad.

Incidentally, it serves as a good example of why it’s improper to name things after living individuals.