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Ben Zotto

@bzotto.bsky.social
123 followers 110 following 286 posts

Forensicphile

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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 6h
A nice piece on Bonnie Bridges, the local architect responsible for the design of like fully half of all the cafés, restaurants, and shops that have defined "San Francisco cool" ever since I moved to the city. @cydhayes.bsky.social
sf.gazetteer.co
It’s Studio BBA’s city, we just live in it
Whether you’ve dined at Mister Jiu’s, caffeinated at Tartine, or worked 9-9-6 from an industrial-chic AI office, you’ve probably spent time in the handsome world created by this little-known architect...
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Kenny Logins @kennylogins.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
shanley tucci
@markpopham.bsky.social
boy the words "Mannheim Steamroller" really do not prepare you at all for the music you are about to hear. if you asked someone who hadn't heard Mannheim Steamroller to describe what kind of music it would be they would never get it right in a million years
December 19, 2023 at 9:18 PM
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Another banger from @righto.com. Computing history, math tricks, and a sprinkle of avionics in here
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
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Mike Scollins @mikescollins.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
just found out this also works with gin and tonics
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Todd Vaziri @tvaziri.com · 08/09/2026
"Rear Window" miniatures by davidminiatures on IG, 1:87 scale www.instagram.com/p/Dcy6jvQCb...
1:87 scale miniature of the courtyard in the movie Rear Window
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
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Glenn Fleishman @glennf.com · 06/09/2026
Here is your lovely story of the day. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/s...
nytimes.com
The 92-Year-Old Mathematician and the Teenage Apprentice (Gift Article)
Joan Birman thought her major discoveries were behind her. Then came an email from a young neighbor — a girl who knew little but wanted to learn.
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Joe Eskenazi @esksf.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
The real question: Will they replace the missing "U"?
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
This great quickie by @tvaziri answers it question definitively, but I think raises a new one: for an idea the filmmakers make a point to hit on repeatedly, why do so many people miss it? What does that tell us about filmmaking? www.youtube.com/watch?v=E866...
youtube.com
Easter Egg or Thing in the Movie: Lone Pine Mall from “Back to the Future”
YouTube video by Todd Vaziri
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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Wrote a big essay w/ @matteowong.bsky.social trying to put a finger on this moment in AI right now. The AI agent hacks, lack of control, the weirdening & slopping of culture. The feeling that the industry is speeding toward something it can’t even decide is good and lecturing that it is inevitable.
theatlantic.com
The Singularity Is Not What It Seems
Whatever the AI future is, we’re in it right now.
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
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Rachel Cole @rmartincole.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Cover of "Memoria de labores," with red background and geometric type design reading "Memoria 1,968 - Caminos - Ministerio comunicaciones y obras publicas, Guatemala CA"
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Laine Nooney @ 🔥🗑️🔥 @lainenooney.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Because it seems I don't know how to write a book without public accountability: Day 1: 50 minutes, 1863 words. I've reconceived the Sierra book so much since publishing the Apple II Age: Chap 2 is now Chap 1, & parts of that are getting stripped out into an intro. This is fun! (no it's not)
static.klipy.com
Elmo Shakes Head 'No'
ALT: Elmo Shakes Head 'No'
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Spent some time really trying to learn FORTH on Sphere. What a fascinating, infuriating programming language!
sphere.computer
Sphere News: So On and So FORTH
Adventures in the infuriating elegance of the FORTH programming language on Sphere, the challenge of reimplementing Snake with it, and the SLURP that could have been.
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Spent some time really trying to learn FORTH on Sphere. What a fascinating, infuriating programming language!
sphere.computer
Sphere News: So On and So FORTH
Adventures in the infuriating elegance of the FORTH programming language on Sphere, the challenge of reimplementing Snake with it, and the SLURP that could have been.
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Burrito Justice @burritojustice.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
what tape
an empty row of “invisible tape@ at target
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
all gas no brakes skynet
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Remarkable building and photo
sfmemory.org
SFMemory.org: Castro & Market
Wulzen Drug Store on the southwest corner of Castro, 17th & Market (Market Street ended here at the time) [SF-2-88.1 - Wulzen Drug Store; W end Market St at Castro/17th, 6/15/1899 - 6:00]
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
From 2023 bzotto.medium.com/its-time-for...
bzotto.medium.com
It’s Time for the Internet Archive to Grow Up
Poor usability and careless downtime are hampering one of the internet’s most important resources.
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Westerns & the Old West @davidlambertart.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Happy Birthday to the late Robert Culp, born 96 years ago today
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Absolute s-tier city motto. So good the state should probably have eminent domained it to use for all of California, but I’m glad they didn’t.
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
👨‍🎤
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Marcin Wichary @aresluna.org · 11/08/2026
I was hoping for your help with something. (Please RT for reach.) Is there a particular font that’s instantly recognizable to someone who lives where you do, and appreciated/recognized/hated there, but completely unknown elsewhere? Road signs, street names, transit, infrastructure, stuff like that?
An old dot-matrix display at the platform of Bay Area Rapid Transit near San FranciscoA license plate in TaiwanA house number in San FranciscoAn old street sign in Szczecin, set in a distinctive typeface
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Marcin Wichary @aresluna.org · 10/08/2026
@bzotto.bsky.social Do you happen to know what this font is called? I vaguely remember reading about it long ago, but I can’t find it now.
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Harry McCracken @harrymccracken.com · 01/08/2026
Ben Zotto at VCF with his working Sphere computer. He’s autographing his excellent book about it!
Two men examine a vintage Sphere Corporation computer system at a retro computing expo, with a program list card nearby.
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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
t-shirt, advertised in creative computing magazine (1979) archive.org/details/crea...
the t-shirt print reads: i'd rather be playing spacewar!
it shows images of spacecraft from star trek, star wars and battlestar galactica (and a small explosion).
smaller text font toward the lower right hand corner: creative computing software
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Play intelligence games, win intelligence prizes
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
SF’s @letterformarchive.org annual Type West type design program is gearing up for applications for 2027. A wonderful program to kick start your font design (a)vocation. if you’ve ever wanted to do this kind of thing, this is a fantastic way to get into it docs.google.com/forms/d/1HqL...
docs.google.com
I would like more information about Type West
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Peter Hartlaub @peterhartlaub.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
“Every now and then, I get a little bit nervous/That the best of all the years have gone by.” RIP to a 1980s legend. Others sold more albums. You made the decade’s best roller rink free skate anthem. 🛼🪩💔
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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
art, login, magazine (1982) archive.org/details/logi...
a computer/keyboard, a satellite in space and a dolphin in water, all connected via a triangle. you can see the word 'login' printed in stylish letters.
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J. Peterson @isonno.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Two great books on the origin of the microcomputer revolution published this year: @davidpogue.bsky.social's Apple - The first 50 years @bzotto.bsky.social's Go Computer Now My review of both books, and how their stories are related: saccade.com/blog/2026/06...
saccade.com
Highs and Lows from Mid-70s Computing | Highs and Lows from Mid-70s Computing – Saccade.com
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
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Erica Fischer @enf.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
ASCII-art maps in 1889! archive.org/details/spec...
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memento lessi @itsrealkeenan.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
diagram showing the eyes receiving visual data (the abbreviation "USMNT") and the brain's output of the same data ("United States Mutant Ninja Turtles")
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Russian map of San Francisco, ca. 1960. Neat. www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap...
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
New game for Sphere: Scrappy Bird, a mini flappy bird that runs on a 32x16 text screen on the 1975 Sphere system. I made this for the upcoming VCF West. You can play it in the emulator by clicking this link. Enjoy! sphere.computer/emulator?run...
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
New game for Sphere: Scrappy Bird, a mini flappy bird that runs on a 32x16 text screen on the 1975 Sphere system. I made this for the upcoming VCF West. You can play it in the emulator by clicking this link. Enjoy! sphere.computer/emulator?run...
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
This is a good piece and it’s useful to see the issues explored top to bottom in a new context like this. Because the same questions and uncertainties apply to every context everywhere else too. www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Amid a flood of AI advances, astrophysicists are questioning the soul of their field
Researchers see enormous power in new tools—but also the potential end of astrophysics as a human endeavor
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arr @arr.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
english isn't for cowards. if you're not saying 'torpify,' that's a skill issue. there's no Académie Française telling you what to do. if you try to type 'pallific' and freak out when you see a little red underline, maybe you're not ready to roll with the big dogs.
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
He was around for the 150th!
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Immediate time machine
fontsinuse.com
Sunprint Kits
First published in 1975 by the Lawrence Hall of Science and the University of California, Berkeley, this packaging makes use of several alternate characters of ITC Serif Gothic with ITC Bauhaus and He...
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Same energy
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
New post, a behind-the-scenes from finishing my Sphere book: getting one final photo that required an unusual Southwest Technical product and logistics gymnastics. And graphical chess! sphere.computer/news/2026-06...
sphere.computer
Sphere News: A Checkmate on the Teevee
Behind the Scenes: The last photo to make it into the book, by way of resurrecting an unusual vintage graphics terminal!
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ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories @romchip.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
📣 NEW ROMCHIP PRESENTS 📣 Peter McDonald on The Impossible Reversal: A History of How We Play 🎲 Talk Title: "The Birth of Game Design from the Spirit of Management" 📈 TUESDAY July 14 @ 7PM. LIVE on Twitch. More info here: www.tickettailor.com/events/romch...
tickettailor.com
Select Tickets – ROMchip Presents: Peter McDonald on The Impossible Reversal: A History of How We Play – Twitch
ROMchip Presents: Peter McDonald on The Impossible Reversal: A History of How We Play – Twitch, Tue Jul 14, 2026 - **Tickets serve as calendar reminders for the event; they are not required to attend....
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Delighted to see my book on @fontsinuse.com (I submitted it, tbf) but also that it got a Staff Pick (editors did that). The book uses Media77 by Optimo, in different widths and styles, for all running text-- an unusual, great choice by designer Sophie Wietlisbach. fontsinuse.com/uses/77829/g...
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
it's the extra space between "about" and "make" that got me
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Perfect vibes.
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Ben Zotto @bzotto.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
San Francisco inflation indicators. This 2013 headline makes me feel like the old "when I was your age we could get a hamburger for a nickel"
venturebeat.com
$4 toast: Why the tech industry is ruining San Francisco
I have a great business idea: luxury sanitation. White-glove garbage collectors and high-end toilet systems.
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