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Stephen Cass

@stephencass.bsky.social

2.4K followers 2.1K following 860 posts

Special Projects Director at @spectrum.ieee.org. Co-author of Hollyweird Science Vol. 1 and 2. Occasional science fiction editor. Maker and Retrocomputician. Feral cat servitor. 5e DM. ADHD. KB1WNR. 65xx. Originally from Dublin.

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Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 8h

Thank you! Yes, there was nothing like filling up a blank sheet of graph paper!

Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 9h

OMG: thank you, that means so much to me! This essay was a real departure for me, as my writing is so rarely personal given my day job as a journalist. It's amazing and wonderful to hear that this resonated!

Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 9h

Aww! Thank you!

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Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 4d

Rescuing 1 image a day from the depths of my Photo Library

#242 "Fully Computerized"

A black and white photograph of a shuttered store on a city street corner. Signs above the shutters read "Captain Video" and "Fully Computerized."

Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 4d

Thank you, I’m lucky to be working at Spectrum, where I get to do so many nerdy things!

Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 4d

Thank you, that's very kind of you to say! It's been fun excavating these moments and seeing them in a new light!

Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 5d

What's your sign

A triangle with a black border and red background. Inside the border are black symbols with white outlines. A trefoil on the top, representing and warning of radiation. Five lines emanate in an arc towards the bottom of the triangle. On the bottom left, there is a skull and crossbones, signifying death. On the bottom right, there is a running figure, with an arrow pointing right, away from the skull and crossbones.

Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 5d

Rescuing 1 image a day from the depths of my Photo Library

#241 "Carved"

A black and white photograph of a leafless tree with a broad trunk and thick spreading branches. Many initials have been carved into the trunk, running up the height of the frame.

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Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 6d

Rescuing 1 image a day from the depths of my Photo Library

#240 "Breezy"

A black and white photograph looking down a building arcade formed from rectangular concrete panels in a brutalist style.

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Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 7d

LOL! Extra fun fact: @ericoguizzo.bsky.social is still at @spectrum.ieee.org :)

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Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 7d

Rescuing 1 image a day from the depths of my Photo Library

#239 "Bermuda Vertex"

A photograph near sunset, with the light tinting everything yellow. A small tower with a windsock stands on a promontory jutting out into a wide body of water. In the distance a line of trees runs along the horizon, and a stone wall can be seen with a small archway on the water.

Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 7d

A fun one for @spectrum.ieee.org's special issue on scale: while this tech isn't what we used to think #interstellar exploration would be like at all, it has the advantage of being much closer to doable, with mission durations comparable to what we're already used to with planetary flybys. #space

The Plan to Send Tiny Probes to the Stars

A new approach to interstellar travel could bring us close-up images of exoplanets in just 25 years.

spectrum.ieee.org

Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 7d

Remember that photo I posted of the guts of a homebrew #C64 cartridge? Well, this is what it was for, a demo in a traveling museum exhibit version of @spectrum.ieee.org's Chip Hall Of Fame! #6502, #Commodore, #Assembly #retrocomputing #6510

A Commodore 64 Cartridge Brings History to Life

Discover the "Chips That Shook The World" exhibit, featuring a C64 cartridge that brings the history of microchips to life in a captivating way.

spectrum.ieee.org

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Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 7d

Who's your favorite Jedi?
(wrong answers only)

Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 8d

Rescuing 1 image a day from the depths of my Photo Library

#238 "Attack"

A photograph of a tall building made with corrugated iron walls against a blue sky. Shrubs and small trees are encroaching on the building, obscuring its walls and even appearing in a wide rectangular window.

Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 9d

Rescuing 1 image a day from the depths of my Photo Library

#237 "Aggregate"

A black and white photograph of the top of round tower with irregular stones mortared together occupying the lower left two-thirds of the frame. Half of the tower is in bright sunshine, while the other half is deep shadow against a cloudless sky shading from grey near the bottom of the frame to black at the top.

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Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 11d

Rescuing 1 image a day from the depths of my Photo Library

#236 "Table Setting"

A photograph of a concrete table in a clearing of a wooded area. Brown leaves carpet the ground and verdant green moss blankets half the table.

Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 15d

I feel the loss of these deeply: yes, the parts were expensive, but being able to run into a Radio Shack and grab a missing item for a build at 6:30 pm on Sunday was 👍👍👍. Now, there is simply no ability to do that in Manhattan (pop. 1.6 million), and 1 MicroCenter in BK and Queens apiece.

Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 15d

For 12 years I've been responsible @spectrum.ieee.org's annual rankings of the Top Programming Languages, but this is both the most interesting and possibly final one we do as the impact of AI is heralding some fundamental changes for programming languages #coding #vibecoding #programming #TPL2025

AI Is Redefining the Concept of a Programming Language's Popularity

Python reigns supreme again, but is AI changing the game for programming languages? Find out how coding is transforming.

spectrum.ieee.org

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Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 16d

One of my older brother's hand-me down Jean-Michel Jarre albums: every six months, when a tape started getting worn, he'd ceremoniously make a fresh one from the precious vinyl record, and I'd get the old one.

Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 16d

You only had to read Slashdot in the early 2000s to see how uninterested many computer folks were in the humanistic ideals wrapped up in the original concept of personal computing.

a black and white photo of two men standing next to each other with the words `` i 'm shocked . ''

ALT: a black and white photo of two men standing next to each other with the words `` i 'm shocked . ''

media.tenor.com

Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 16d

I read it so long ago I remember the Commodore 64 adaptation! :) I'm generally fond of the trope of plucky protagonist who starts out with a broken down spaceship and ends up with a fleet :)

Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 16d

I mean it's been 11 years since, say, the "Clovis" SV episode of Veep, notably the only episode where the audience ends up rooting for the Creatures From The Hill. And 11 years since the "Silicon Valley" TV show started satirizing exactly this mindset. 10 years since Parks & Rec introduced Gryzzl...

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Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 16d

65xx assembly programming (it’s like Suduko with moving parts); cats; space opera science fiction; naps; also naps with cats

Stephen Cass @stephencass.bsky.social · 17d

Rescuing 1 image a day from the depths of my Photo Library

#235 "GW"

A black and white photograph of the underside of a very tall, very long metal truss suspension bridge, taken in bright sunlight, looking through an archway in the open framework of a supporting tower.

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