Latest 9
Latest articles by Eleanor Vale
Technology Mystery Disclosure
Why Some Ciphers Fall and Others Wait Half a Century
A durable comparison of Enigma and the Zodiac ciphers, showing why cryptanalysis depends on more than brute force.
Technology Mystery Disclosure
Bob Lazar and the Long Life of a Modern Tech Myth
This article examines Bob Lazar as both a disputed witness and a durable cultural figure: his 1989 claims about work at a secret S-4 facility near Area 51, the unverified education and employment history that continue to shadow his account, and the larger role.
Web Architecture
Why QWERTY Has Survived 150 Years—and What That Says About Technology Standards
This article uses QWERTY’s long life to examine path dependence in technology standards: how an early keyboard layout, typewriter-era adoption, and later compatibility costs helped lock in a system that alternatives such as Dvorak and Colemak have struggled to.
Technology Mystery Disclosure
Why Forecasts Fail, and Why We Keep Trusting Them
A durable look at forecasting as a discipline: how probabilistic scoring, scenario planning, and institutional foresight have tried to make long-range prediction more honest, and why AI may improve some forecasts while worsening the illusion of certainty.
Technology Mystery Disclosure
When the Camera Stopped Being Enough
This article connects the rise of AI-generated imagery to the longer collapse of photograph-as-proof in journalism, law, and public discourse.
Foundation Models
In court, AI hallucinations are no longer a curiosity. They are a liability.
This article examines how AI hallucinations have moved from a technical annoyance to a legal and commercial liability, using court sanctions, legal-research studies, and shifting professional norms to show why verification is becoming the central operating law.
Foundation Models
Why AI Content Often Scores Well Until People Learn It Was AI
This article connects a growing research pattern in AI evaluation: blind tests often show AI-generated or AI-assisted content competing well with human work, yet disclosure of authorship can reduce perceived quality and trust.
Technology Mystery Disclosure
Voyager’s Long Flight Is a Lesson in What Good Engineering Refuses to Waste
Voyager is not just a story about deep space. It is a durable case study in long-life engineering: conservative power budgets, redundant radio systems, disciplined operations, and a mission culture that treated longevity as a design constraint.
Foundation Models
If Washington Takes a Cut of OpenAI, the Regulator Becomes a Shareholder
This article examines reported discussions over a possible U.S.