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Chris Aldrich

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Musings of a Modern Day Cyberneticist

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Book Club: Yuval Noah Harari’s Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

A copy of Harari's book Nexus standing next to a sandstone yellow Royal FP typewriter with index cards sitting in front of it with several pencils and a pen. They all sit on top of an oak library card catalog.
Coming up for the next few weeks, the Dan Allosso Book Club will focus on Harari, Yuval Noah. Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI. New York: Random House, 2024. The first session will be on Saturday, March 14, 2026, and will recur weekly from 8:00 AM – 10:00 Pacific. … Continue reading Book Club: Yuval Noah Harari’s Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

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Replaced the old, crushed rubber body panel grommets on my 1956 Remington Standard typewriter with new ones.

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Typewriter Guy Action figure packaging
This is coming out next week on the 11th, and totally unrelated: my birthday is coming up…   h/t to Joe Crawwford (#)

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Olympia SG1 Standard Typewriter Clean, Oil, and Adjust

A green crinkle painted 1956 Olympia SG1 standard typewriter sits at an angle on top of an oak library card catalog filing cabinet
Over the weekend I stripped down my 1956 Olympia SG1 and cleaned all the body panels thoroughly. I had taken out all the old foam, but I also removed the remaining loosened felt pieces. I flushed the internals out with lacquer thinner and blew everything out with the air compressor the following day. I replaced … Continue reading Olympia SG1 Standard Typewriter Clean, Oil, and Adjust

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Replacing the Body Shell Rubber Bushings on an Olympia SG1 Typewriter

Mechanical diagram of the parts pertaining to the body shell of the Olympia SG1. The rubber washer part number is highlighted in yellow.
Over the weekend I made a major push on beginning restoration of the Olympia SG1 standard typewriter I picked up this past month.  One of the small issues I encountered was finding four crushed rubber bushings between the exterior typewriter shell and the main chassis at the four corners on the bottom of the machine. … Continue reading Replacing the Body Shell Rubber Bushings on an Olympia SG1 Typewriter

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The Deluxe Steelcase Field Notes Notebooks Archive 

A few dozen Field Notes notebooks lined up in a metal drawer of a larger filing cabinet
This nearly indestructible black and gray powder-coated 20 gauge steel constructed 8 drawer cabinet with art deco flourishes has 36 linear feet of storage space for over 2,000 Field Notes notebooks. This is enough space for over 83 years’ worth of subscription to the quarterly notebooks. Literally enough space for a lifetime of notes. Staple … Continue reading The Deluxe Steelcase Field Notes Notebooks Archive 

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Rubber Grommet Repair on Remington Super-Riters and Standards

Shadows and sunshine play across the sparkling front of a gray Remington Standard typewriter with green keys
As rubber replacement is one of the necessary and sometimes more finnicky parts of typewriter restoration, I thought it would be useful to write up the details of a small recent repair for others as well as my future self. Late last May, I did a full clean, oil, and adjust (COA) on my 1951 … Continue reading Rubber Grommet Repair on Remington Super-Riters and Standards

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Close up of an index card in a typewriter carriage which reads: "Kathleen, you are a lone reed, standing tall, waving boldly in the corrupt sands of commerce." -Frank Navasky | You've Got Mail (Warner Bros., 1998) | as typed on his Olympia Report De Luxe Electric. In the background is a wooden dresser with a large screen television which has a somewhat blurry image of Greg Kinnear sitting at his typewriter from the movie.

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Lego Snoopy with Woodstock sitting on his red doghouse as he types on a blue typewriter
My birthday is in July, just after this new LEGO set is released…

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Book Club: César Hidalgo’s The Infinite Alphabet and the Laws of Knowledge

Book Club: César Hidalgo’s The Infinite Alphabet and the Las of Knowledge
Coming up for the next few weeks, the Dan Allosso Book Club will focus on Cesar Hidalgo’s new book, out this month in the United States: Hidalgo, César A. 2026. The Infinite Alphabet: And the Laws of Knowledge. New York: Penguin.   The first session will be on Saturday, February 21, 2026, and will recur … Continue reading Book Club: César Hidalgo’s The Infinite Alphabet and the Laws of Knowledge

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My website has been hobbling along for about two weeks now. Sadly I’ve either been away or too under the weather to clean things up. Hopefully a bit of work this morning has improved things. We’ll see how stable things are going forward.

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Angle on the segment of a 1954 Royal HH typewriter featuring Pica Double Gothic typeface
Acquired via thrift on 2026-02-06. This machine continues my typewriter collection theme for 2026: hunting for great machines with less common typefaces. Gothic was an older word meaning san-serif. The “double” portion means that it’s two sets of capital letter forms. (Sorry James…)

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1936 Royal KHM standard typewriter sits on a gray felt typing pad which itself is sitting on an oak Gaylord library card catalog
After my note earlier about progress on restoring my 1936 Royal KHM typewriter, a colleague reminded me that a KHM makes an appearance in the Taylor Swift song Fortnight. Then they asked if I was just collecting machines from her videos? While I fully expect to pick up a Royal Ten one day, it’s a … Continue reading

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Yellow index card with red ruled lines featuring a type sample of a 1936 Royal KHM typewriter in Royal Pica typeface
Wiped off the worst of dust and grime on the exterior of my 1936 Royal KHM standard typewriter. Cleaned up the carriage a bit and did a light oiling. Cleaned out the paper tray and platen area. Spooled up some new ribbon. After a few quick tweaks, this typewriter is now at least minimally usable. … Continue reading

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Green crinkle painted Olympia SG1 standard typewriter sitting at an angle on a wooden library card catalog.
2026-01-31 Acquired at thrift for a very reasonable $70.  I was really hoping to get a Modern Elite No. 66 or an Elite No. 8 as my first SG1, but finding this with a Congress Elite No. 84 typeface was a reasonably acceptable alternative, particularly in usable condition. Initial condition assessment This 70 year old … Continue reading

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Grand Opening of Typewriter Muse

Typewriter Muse's typewriter showroom with 4 wire shelving units covered with about two dozen typewriters of various makes and models. Underneath the shelving is a row of typewriter cases. On the side of the room opposite the shelving is a table with space for three typewriters for typing tests.
For about 7 years Typewriter Muse has been operating out of a home-like space, but this weekend they opened a lovely brick and mortar location in Riverside, CA in a nice sized business park with plenty of Doris Day parking right out front.  Their Instagram account has been documenting some of the move and set … Continue reading Grand Opening of Typewriter Muse

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Rest in Peace: Typewriter Repair Legend Duane Jensen (August 21, 1961-January 25,2026)

Duane Jensen in a blue collared shirt sitting in his typewriter repair space in his garage
Just a few hours ago, Faye shared some sad news. Most of us might only be able to recognize his voice, his patient hands, and his preference for lacquer thinner, but all of us are richer in typewriter knowledge because of Duane Jensen’s kind sharing of his craft by way of his spectacularly helpful Phoenix … Continue reading Rest in Peace: Typewriter Repair Legend Duane Jensen (August 21, 1961-January 25,2026)

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Green metallic personal document file sits on a library card catalog next to a sandstone yellow Royal FP typewriter
Purchased at Acts Thrift for $2.20.  The green paint is almost an exact match for our vintage Stanley thermos and my 1958 Olympia SM3 typewriter.

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Typed index card that reads: On Which Typewriter is the "Best" | It's all subjective. Some days you want apples. Other days you prefer oranges. | This is why one has a collection of 50 or more typewriters—to have a machine that will suit your mood on any given day.

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Congratulations on getting this back to life. I’m a big fan of typing on index cards myself. If you need inexpensive, US-made typewriter ribbon, try Baco Ribbon or Fine Line which can be had for pennies on the dollar (and it’s usually where most shops or re-sellers of ribbon are sourcing theirs). https://boffosocko.com/research/typewriter-collection/#Typewriter%20Ribbon Most know … Continue reading

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Typed index card that reads: REASON #58 FOR KEEPING A COMMONPLACE OR ZETTELKASTEN | THE OFFICE, "Performance Review", Season 2, Episode 8 | Context: Hapless branch manager Michael Scott is under the gun from corporate to demonstrate his value and show his work and share his ideas, which he hasn't done and can't provide. | MICHAEL: Pam, I have ideas on a daily basis. I know I do. I have a clear memory of telling people my ideas. Um, is there any chance that you wrote any of my ideas down in a folder---like an idea folder? PAM: Sorry. MICHAEL: That's unfortunate. How about the suggestion box? There's tons of ideas in there.

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TIL: Moon+ Reader Pro has RSVP technology hiding in it’s settings! This is going to dramatically help my inspectional reading this year.

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I’ve just noticed that Zotero update 7.0.31 added specific fields for Original Place, Original Publisher, and Original Date for books. Even better, the books for which I had defined an “Original-date” in the Extra section automatically sucked in that data and updated my database! Good work development team!

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Because I often buy index cards in tranches of 5,000 to 10,000 at a time, I’ve noticed that Oxford recently dropped their brick of 500 4×6″ index cards to $6.47, a new low for the past year when they’ve generally been hovering in the $8.50-9.50 range. As a competitive move, Amazon has dropped their competing brick … Continue reading

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Golden Globes: Nominees for Best Typewriter in a Movie or Television Series?

Thing, a disembodied hand, types on a black portable Juwel 3 typewriter.
As I’m watching the Golden Globes, it’s painfully obvious that it is missing some important analog representation. In an effort to remedy the error, shall we collect the nominations for Best Typewriter in a Movie or Television Series? (The only requirement for nomination is that the movie or television show was released in the 2025 … Continue reading Golden Globes: Nominees for Best Typewriter in a Movie or Television Series?

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On Purchasing Typewriters: Condition is King; Context is Queen

A cameo pink 1957 Royal FPP Standard Typewriter on a library card catalog next to a small blue vase of pink and purple flowers.
New typewriter enthusiasts will very often post to Reddit, one of the Facebook typewriter groups or other similar fora, something along the lines of: “I spotted this typewriter at an antique store. Good condition to buy?” and include a picture of some generic typewriter. It bears mentioning and thoroughly understanding that even an expert typewriter … Continue reading On Purchasing Typewriters: Condition is King; Context is Queen

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A clever affordance of card index filing cabinet drawers

A steel desk with several card index filing cabinets and a bookcase in the background. On the desk next to a typewriter is a double drawer of 4x6" index cards with a capacity of approximately 7,000 index cards. The drawer has obviously been pulled out of one of the card index filing cabinets in the background.
Someone recently mentioned to me that the small, portable 1,000 index card capacity cardboard box with lid that they use as a zettelkasten felt more like it was for deep storage rather than daily use. Perhaps it’s a result of the fact that this is how most people have been using these cheaper cardboard boxes … Continue reading A clever affordance of card index filing cabinet drawers

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Ricky Gervis in a black t-shirt pretends to be typing as if at an invisible typewriter
They’ve got a lovely big attic, a typewriter. You’re gonna love it there. —Ricky Gervais in Ricky Gervais: Mortality (Netflix, 2025)

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Typed index card with text: "I've got lots to say. I'm saving it all up." ---Beca Mitchell (portitayed by Anna Kendrick) Pitch Perfect 2 (Universal, 2015) Given as an excuse in a recording studio This is the reason that creatives should keep notebooks, commonplace books, or zettelkasten---so they have material to use immediately when under pressure, or simply to stimulate their creativity. 2026-01-02

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Book Club: Steven Pinker’s When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows

A dyptic photo of Steven Pinker, with gray curly hair sitting in a chari with his arms in his lap split with an image of his latest book When Everyone Knows. The title is the majority of the cover an appears in concentric thought clouds on a black background.
Dan Allosso has been hosting a regular book club since Autumn 2021, centered around sense making, note taking, and topics like economics, history, sociology, and anthropology. (See our list of past books to get an idea of topic coverage.) Our next iteration over the coming month or so will focus on Steven Pinker’s most recent … Continue reading Book Club: Steven Pinker’s When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows