Alphabetic index

This index links to all the entries in my memoirs, alphabetized by title. It is the best index to use if you remember an entry by its title.

As is usual in English alphabetization, the words "a" and "the" are moved to the end, so that, for instance, "The poison apple" is sorted under "poison apple, The". Articles in other languages are given no special treatment.

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Entries alphabetized by title

# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

70   On turning 70, and the second anniversary of my blog.
#0113   January 11, 2012

Abe   My paternal grandfather Abraham Krakauer.
#0077   April 21, 2011   *FAMILY1  *PEOPLE

Air Chance   The return flight from our honeymoon.
#0078   April 28, 2011   *FAMILY2

Algorithms   Mindlessly following automatic procedures.
#0105   November 17, 2011   *TECHNOLOGY

Allons enfants de la patrie ...   Bastille Day at the Club Med
#0089   July 14, 2011   *FAMILY2  *FRENCH

Amateur radio   My history in amateur ("ham") radio.
#0054  November11, 2010  *MIT  *TECHNOLOGY

Ask Larry   Do I know everything?
#0039  July 15, 2010  *FAMILY1

Ayache formula, The   Getting to the Place Clemenceau in the shortest time, with mention of the "patisserie effect".
#0032  May 27, 2010  *LANGUAGE  *MATHEMATICS

Badges   A few stories loosely related to corporate identification badges.
#0073   March 24, 2011   *CAREER  *KRONOS  *TECHNOLOGY

Being smart   What being of above average intelligence has meant to me.
#0090   July 21, 2011   *CHILDHOOD  *FAMILY1

Biscotti   Some word origins, and connections between languages.
#0034 June 10, 2010 *ENGLISH *FRENCH *GERMAN *ITALIAN *LANGUAGE *SPANISH

Biscotti (bis)   How Americans misuse and mispronounce Italian words.
#0035 June 17, 2010 *ENGLISH *ITALIAN *LANGUAGE

Bits   Just what is "one bit" of computer memory? An explanation for the non-technical reader, by way of the "Double-bed dual-control electric blanket effect". Includes pictures of some old "core" memories.
#0045   August 26, 2010  *TECHNOLOGY

Bob Pease   A tribute to Bob Pease
#0091   July 28, 2011   *MIT   *PEOPLE   *TECHNOLOGY

Boston   Some stories about my adopted home.
#0059   December 16, 2010   *FAMILY2  *KRONOS

Busy, busy   Sara's always on the move.
#0053  November 4, 2010  *FAMILY2

cat who came in from the cold, The   How Alice came by her pet cats.
#0062  January 6, 2011  *FAMILY1

Chess and nim   About chess, and other finite deterministic games.
#0066   February 3, 2011  *CHESS  *MATHEMATICS

Chess stories   Tales of Richard Greenblatt's Mac Hack VI chess program, and some related stories.
#0055  November 18, 2010  *CHESS  *MIT  *TECHNOLOGY

Chester   Our first family dog (part 1 of 3).
#0112   January 5, 2012  *FAMILY2  *PEOPLE

Chester (bis)   Our first family dog (part 2 of 3)
#0115   January 26, 2012  *FAMILY2  *PEOPLE

chipmunk, The   An incident when I was a summer camp counselor-in-training.
#0107   December 1, 2011   *CAMP

Coming to Kronos   The story of how I came to work at Kronos in April, 1979.
#0005   January 11, 2010   *CAREER   *KRONOS

Computer Camp   I created the very first computer programming course taught at a summer camp.
#0036   June 24, 2010  *CAMP  *MIT  *TECHNOLOGY

Computer chess via ham radio   I was involved in what was probably the first chess game played between two computers via amateur ("ham"") radio.
#0037   July 1, 2010   *CHESS  *MIT  *TECHNOLOGY

Copies   Copies were once hard to make.
#0087   June 30, 2011   *TECHNOLOGY

Costco effect, The   Buying more than you need.
#0098   September 29, 2011

Dan and Elissa   Interests shared by my father and a daughter.
#0101   October 20, 2011  *FAMILY1  *FAMILY2  *PEOPLE

Dan and the moon   Using the moon, my father teaches me how to think.
#0086   June 23, 2011   *CHILDHOOD  *FAMILY1  *PEOPLE

Disable interrupts   Interrupts, for both people and computers. Algorithms for taking pills.
#0050  October 14, 2010  *TECHNOLOGY

Due diligence   A "Due Diligence" meeting held when I invested in Kronos in July of 1979.
#0014   February 3, 2010   *CAREER   *KRONOS

Eigenstories   How tales evolve over time.
#0067   February 10, 2011  *ENGLISH  *LANGUAGE

English noun phrases   Fun with English - reinterpreting noun phrases.
#0076   April 14, 2011   *ENGLISH  *LANGUAGE

English sparrow, The   A few stories about birds.
#0088   July 7, 2011   *FAMILY1  *PEOPLE

Food   Some stories about how we relate to food
#0092   August 4, 2011   *FAMILY1  *FAMILY2

Frau Pan   Studying German with Frau Pan: memorizing poetry, linguistic memory depth.
#0013   February 3, 2010   *GERMAN  *LANGUAGE   *MIT  *PEOPLE

French, The   A recent trip to France.
#0099   October 6, 2011  *FRENCH  *LANGUAGE

Frequent kickbacks   Frequent flyer programs and corporate ethics policies.
#0106   November 23, 2011   *CAREER  *KRONOS

gambler, The   My MIT course on Statistical Decision Theory
#0068   February 17, 2011  *MATHEMATICS  *MIT

Gender   Some stories about gender, human and linguistic.
#0094   August 18, 2011   *ENGLISH  *LANGUAGE

German article and adjectivial inflections   This is not a regular blog entry. It's a highly technical discussion of a particular aspect of German grammar. If you're not into that, skip it. Otherwise: it's my (hopefully) simplified chart of German article and adjectivial inflections.
#0027   April 29, 2010  *GERMAN  *LANGUAGE

giant fork, The   A collection of stories from various points in my life, loosely tied to sleep.
#0048  September 30, 2010  *CHILDHOOD  *FAMILY2

Grandpa's first flight   My Grandpa Abe gets on an airplane.
#0080   May 12, 2011  *FAMILY1  *PEOPLE

Hackers   The Artificial Intelligence Lab in the sixties.
#0085   June 16, 2011   *MIT  *TECHNOLOGY

Harold   Introducing Harold, my sister Alice's blue and gold macaw.
#0011  January 21, 2010   *FAMILY1  *PEOPLE

Have it your way   My battle with Burger King over the Massachusetts meals tax.
#0019   March 18, 2010

Herr Bon   Some stories about Primus Benedict Bon, a German teacher at MIT in the sixties.
#0026   April 29, 2010  *GERMAN  *LANGUAGE  *MIT  *PEOPLE

History of Kronos, part 1   An annotated humorous 1997 speech on the history of Kronos, presented to an audience of about 800 people in Chicago. Part 1 of 2.
#0041  July 29, 2010  *CAREER  *KRONOS

History of Kronos, part 2   An annotated humorous 1997 speech on the history of Kronos. Part 2 of 2.
#0042   August 5, 2010  *CAREER  *KRONOS   *TECHNOLOGY

house of turkey death, The   A couple of turkey-related stories for Thanksgiving
#0056   November 25, 2010   *CAREER  *FAMILY2  *KRONOS

Horseradish   How many stories can I have about horseradish?
#0030   May 13, 2010  *FAMILY2

How I write   My writing style, and the technology that supports my writing (past and present).
#0004   January 11, 2010   *INTRO   *TECHNOLOGY

I resign   On a casual game played against Mac Hack VI, Richard Greenblatt's chess program, with a brief discussion of the anthropomorphization of computers.
#0008   January 11, 2010   *CHESS   *MIT   *TECHNOLOGY

In loco parentis   Dating in the sixties.
#0057   December 2, 2010  *MIT

Introduction: What are these pages?   On immortality, and why this blog is being written. The main topics to be covered: memoirs and stories from my life, technology, and languages.
#0001   January 11, 2010   *INTRO

Just do it   A bias for action?
#0095   August 25, 2011   *CAMP  *CAREER  *KRONOS

Kids say the darndest things   Things my children said.
#0021  April 1, 2010  *FAMILY2

Krakauer   The origin of my family name.
#0103   November 3, 2011  *FAMILY1  *GERMAN  *LANGUAGE

Kristin Espinasse   A visit to my "blogging idol".
#0109   December 15, 2011  *PEOPLE&

L'Accent tonique   Thoughts about listening to and speaking French (probably only of interest to those who speak or are studying French).
#0010   January 15, 2010   *FRENCH  *LANGUAGE

Le Cercle Français   How I found Le Cercle Français, including an interesting event that occurred in Mme. Brynjolfson's conversational French course.
#0049  October 7, 2010  *FRENCH  *LANGUAGE

Le stage   A summer job in France.
#0081   May 19, 2011  *FRENCH  *LANGUAGE  *TECHNOLOGY

Leon Cogan's story   A Russian Jewish émigré helps his daughter learn English.
#0043  August 12, 2010  *ENGLISH  *LANGUAGE  *PEOPLE  *SPANISH

Linguistic lunacy   Some quirks of English and Spanish.
#0058   December 9, 2010   *ENGLISH  *LANGUAGE  *SPANISH

Listening   Margie draws people out.
#0075   April 7, 2011   *FAMILY2

Live free and die   Thoughts about seatbelts.
#0097   September 8, 2011

Lobster   My sister Phyllis discovers a magic word to shut me up. Want to know what it is?
#0016   February 26, 2010   *CAMP  *CHILDHOOD

Mac Hack VI competes   Stories of Mac Hack VI, Richard Greenblatt's chess program, competing against human players in tournament play.
#0040  July 22, 2010  *CHESS  *MIT  *TECHNOLOGY

Madhu and the death ray   Two Ph.D.s at Micronetic Systems argue over the testing of a laser.
#0031  May 21, 2010  *CAREER  *TECHNOLOGY

Magic   Remember when your children still thought you were magical?
#0052  October 28, 2010  *FAMILY2

Man v. Machine   The ongoing battle with our own creations.
#0044   August 19, 2010  *MIT  *TECHNOLOGY

Marthe   About Marthe Mulvaney
#0093   August 11, 2011   *FAMILY2  *PEOPLE

masons, The   How I came to join the Masons.
#0116   February 2, 2012  *FAMILY1  *PEOPLE

Micronetic Systems   Some stories from my first start-up company
#0060   December 23, 2010  *CAREER  *TECHNOLOGY

Miss Crouch   Adventures in babysitting, morphing into a discussion of the early technology leading to some of the keys on modern personal computer keyboards.
#0007   January 11, 2010  *CHILDHOOD  *PEOPLE  *TECHNOLOGY

MIT people   Some people I encountered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which I attended for 11 years.
#0069   February 24, 2011  *MIT  *TECHNOLOGY

Moby Memory   About a 256 Kiloword core memory.
#0084   June 9, 2011   *MIT  *TECHNOLOGY

Monsieur L'Oiseau   A story about French formality, on my first trip to France in 1961.
#0020   March 25, 2010  *FRENCH  *LANGUAGE  *PEOPLE

Mont-Tremblant   A camping vacation in Mont-Tremblant National Park (Québec, Canada). Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!
#0018  March 11, 2010  *FAMILY2

Mr. Canfield   Studying French with Mr. Canfield at Great Neck North High School.
#0025   April 22, 2010  *CHILDHOOD  *FRENCH  *LANGUAGE  *PEOPLE

Mr. Lusch   My high school physics course at Great Neck North High School.
#0024   April 15, 2010  *CHILDHOOD  *PEOPLE

My brain on Ovaltine   Are our brains simpler than we think? Radio days.
#0038  July 8, 2010  *FAMILY1

My moustache   About my moustache, including why and how I shaved it off.
#0033   June 3, 2010   *FAMILY2

mushroom, The   An experience with a wild mushroom.
#0072   March 17, 2011   *FAMILY2

Naked and nude   Why does English have so many words?
#0065   January 27, 2011   *ENGLISH  *LANGUAGE

Nerd pride   Early computer geeks.
#0083   June 2, 2011  *MIT  *TECHNOLOGY

Nils Frederiksen   Some stories about Nils and Nancy Frederiksen.
#0082   May 26, 2011   *CAMP  *MIT  *PEOPLE

Patents   Inventors in my family
#0110   December 22, 2011  *FAMILY1  *KRONOS  *PEOPLE  *TECHNOLOGY

Personalities   The differing personalities a company needs, illustrated by a troubleshooting story.
#0051  October 21, 2010  *KRONOS  *TECHNOLOGY

poison apple, The   A minor childhood trauma.
#0006   January 11, 2010   *CHILDHOOD

Rats   Elissa's pet rats
#0061  December 29, 2010  *FAMILY2

Recalculating!   Our Garmin GPS (and its use in Europe)
#0100   October 13, 2011  *TECHNOLOGY

Remembrance of things breast   À la recherche des seins perdus.
#0022  April 8, 2010  *FAMILY2

Roots and wings   Tracking our children's flights.
#0046  September 2, 2010  *FAMILY2

Sailing   A few sailing and windsurfing stories. In one, I get knocked over by a beam of light.
#0028   May 6, 2010  *MIT

Sara's birthday gift   A guest blog entry, written for my 70th birthday by my daughter Sara.
#0114   January 19, 2012  *FAMILY2

Sehr gut   My first attempt at speaking German, plus my favorite tri-lingual joke.
#0009   January 15, 2010   *FRENCH  *GERMAN   *LANGUAGE

Sex in the woods   A summer camp story that says a lot about what I was like as a kid.
#0015   February 18, 2010  *CAMP  *CHILDHOOD

Telephones   How telephones have changed since the forties.
#0070   March 3, 2011  *TECHNOLOGY

Telephones (bis)   More about the history of telephones.
#0071   March 10, 2011   *FAMILY2  *TECHNOLOGY

Television   The television technology of my youth.
#0079   May 5, 2011  *FAMILY1  *TECHNOLOGY

Time   Some musings on our various ways of measuring time, and on interesting numbers.
#0063  January 11, 2011  *MATHEMATICS

Toothache   A Fourth of July toothache.
#0074   March 31, 2011   *FAMILY2

Tracks   Tracks in the snow
#0108   December 8, 2011

Tyranny of the clock   The pain in Spain is mainly in the brain. Eating in Spain, and how our modern dependence on the clock limits our thinking.
#0047   September 23, 2010

Véronique   About my first trip to France, and learning to speak French.
#0012   January 28, 2010  *FRENCH  *LANGUAGE  *PEOPLE

Vocabulary   My vocabulary cards from the sixth grade.
#0102   October 27, 2011  *CHILDHOOD

Western Ass   Words in one language which are vulgar in another.
#0017  March 4, 2010  *FRENCH  *GERMAN  *LANGUAGE 

What's eating us?   Parasites we have known.
#0064  January 20, 2011  *FAMILY2

Who am I?   A quick once-over on my life story, broken down roughly by decade.
#0002   January 11, 2010   *INTRO

Why do women have two breasts?   The "One-half Rule" that applies, approximately, to all mammals, including homo sapiens.
#0023  April 8, 2010

Why write using the HTML and JPG file formats?   Keeping things forever: the ability of digital technology to make exact copies.
#0003   January 11, 2010   *INTRO   *TECHNOLOGY

Windsurfing for sailors   Hints for sailors learning to windsurf: the basic forces, and sailors' prejudices that could interfere with learning.
#0029   May 6, 2010

Word processors   An interesting 1963 study on human factors in word processing.
#0111   December 29, 2011   *TECHNOLOGY

Wrestling for Baker House   My brief athletic career at MIT.
#0096   September 1, 2011  *MIT

Yiddish   Some stories relating to the Yiddish language.
#0104   November 10, 2011   *GERMAN  *LANGUAGE


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This page was originally posted January 11, 2010, and is updated weekly.