My personal glimpse into the first half of the 21st Century for some yet to be known future
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Thursday, January 01, 2026
Express Your Message as Atomic Weights
Monday, December 22, 2025
Tool that Rounds to the Nearest Fraction
When working in trades like carpentry, machining or cooking,
you often run into decimal measurements that are difficult or impossible to
translate to a standard ruler, tape measure, or measuring cup. Sometimes, you
just need to work with fractions.
While a CAD program might output a required component hole as
0.6875 inches, a person on the shop floor needs to select a tool or check a
dimension using the common fraction 11/16 inches. Similarly, scaling a recipe
can result in awkward numbers like 0.833 cups, which is much easier to manage
when converted to a practical fraction like 5/6 or the nearest standard
measuring cup size. Below is the tool that is designed to bridge that gap by converting any
decimal into its closest usable fraction.
The Fractional Rounding Tool (below) takes any decimal
number and, based on your chosen level of granularity (the maximum denominator,
such as 1/8 or 1/16), it determines the nearest possible fraction. This is
essential because it allows you to standardize your precision and use common
measuring instruments effectively. You also have full control over the rounding
method, which dictates how the tool handles numbers that fall exactly halfway
between two fractions. This is a great feature when working with tolerances,
negative numbers or specific industry standards like rounding half up or half
even. Use the tool below to instantly convert your decimal plans into
measurable, actionable fractions.
Fractional Rounding Tool 📏
For information on other tools and topics:
Futhorc Runic Bi-Directional Converter: Turn your message in to First Millennium runes and back! [Try out this rune conversion tool on your own messages.]
Earth's Looming Expiration Date: Why Earth faces an early deadline as Sun's energy output increases. [Idea on how to preserve our planet]
Number Rounding Tool: This the rounding tool that you didn't know you need! Multiple methods of rounding are supported. [Type Your Number and Round it up or down!]
Sunday, December 07, 2025
Ireland's First Script Ogham (with Converter tool)
The Ogham Alphabet
The Ogham alphabet (often pronounced "OH-um") is the earliest known form of writing used in Ireland and parts of Britain, appearing primarily in inscriptions between the 4th and 9th centuries AD. It's unique among world writing systems for its striking visual form and method of inscription.Historical Context and Use
Ogham emerged during the period of Primitive Irish, the
oldest attested form of the Gaelic language.
- Form
and Structure: Unlike the Latin or Runic alphabets, Ogham consists
entirely of a system of notches and parallel strokes etched along a
central line, or "stemline." On monuments, the natural corner or
edge of a standing stone served as this stemline, making Ogham essentially
a three-dimensional script. It reads vertically, typically from bottom to
top.
- Primary
Function: The vast majority of surviving Ogham inscriptions are found
on monumental stones (known as Ogham stones) scattered across Ireland and
Wales. These stones functioned primarily as commemorative boundary markers
or memorials, usually bearing the name of an individual and that person's
lineage.
- The
"Tree Alphabet" Tradition: Ogham is incorrectly known as the "Celtic Tree Alphabet." This
association comes from medieval manuscript tradition, where each of the 20
original Ogham characters was given a name corresponding to a native Irish
tree or plant (e.g., ᚁ
Beith = Birch, ᚇ
Dair = Oak). This tradition popularized the script but often
overshadowed its true linguistic purpose.
- Decline:
Ogham usage declined dramatically after the 7th century, largely being
replaced by the Latin alphabet as Christianity spread and written language
shifted from monumental inscriptions to manuscripts.
Transliteration for Modern English
The original Ogham alphabet had only 20 core characters (feda),
which reflected the limited sound set of Primitive Irish. To adapt this ancient
script for Modern English (which has 26 letters and many more sounds), a
systematic approach is necessary.
This converter (below) uses a modern, mostly reversible transliteration method that maps the six missing English letters (J, K, P, V, W, X, Y, Z) to their closest existing Ogham phonetic or orthographic neighbors, ensuring every modern English word can be accurately rendered in Ogham. We also use the dedicated (Ogham space mark) for all word separation and punctuation to maintain the authenticity of the script's digital representation.
Ogham Bi-Directional Converter
Output (Click to Copy):
Note on Mapping: This converter uses the 20 core Ogham letters plus the later Forfeda for missing English sounds (P and CH). Punctuation is converted to the Ogham space mark ( ) for a more authentic output.
| Latin Input | Ogham Output | Ogham Name | Mapping Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| A, E, I, O, U | ᚐ, ᚓ, ᛁ, ᚑ, ᚒ | Ailm, Edad, Idad, Onn, Ur | Direct Ogham Vowels |
| B | ᚁ | Beith | Direct Ogham character. |
| P | ᚚ | Peith | **Uses the Forfid (supplementary letter).** |
| F, V | ᚃ | Fern | V is voiced pair of F. |
| C, K | ᚉ | Coll | K shares the hard C (/k/) sound. |
| CH | ᚙ | Eamhancholl | **Uses the Forfid for the CH sound.** |
| G | ᚌ | Gort | Direct Ogham character. |
| D | ᚇ | Dair | Direct Ogham character. |
| T | ᚈ | Tinne | Direct Ogham character. |
| H | ᚆ | Uath | Direct Ogham character. |
| L | ᚂ | Luis | Direct Ogham character. |
| M | ᚋ | Muin | Direct Ogham character. |
| N | ᚅ | Nuin | Direct Ogham character. |
| R | ᚏ | Ruis | Direct Ogham character. |
| S, Z | ᚄ | Saille | Z is voiced pair of S. |
| J | ᚉ | Coll | Mapped to C/K as a functional default. |
| W | ᚒ | Ur | Mapped to the vowel U (closest to 'oo' sound). |
| Y | ᛁ | Idad | Mapped to the vowel I. |
| Q | ᚊ | Quert | Direct Ogham character. |
| X | ᚉᚄ | Coll + Saille | Mapped as the two-character phonetic sequence CS (/ks/). |
For information on other tools and topics:
Futhorc Runic Bi-Directional Converter: Turn your message in to First Millennium runes and back! [Try out this rune conversion tool on your own messages.]
Earth's Looming Expiration Date: Why Earth faces an early deadline as Sun's energy output increases. [Idea on how to preserve our planet]
Number Rounding Tool: This the rounding tool that you didn't know you need! Multiple methods of rounding are supported. [Type Your Number and Round it up or down!]
Friday, November 28, 2025
Number Rounding Tool You Might Need
Everyone learns the "Schoolhouse Rule" of rounding. This is where you look at the next digit and if it's 5 or greater, round up. This method (Round Half Up, or 5 always rounds up) works for everyday math, but it introduces a hidden and cumulative problem that is often not considered: upward bias.
In financial, scientific, or engineering calculations involving hundreds of figures, the "5 always rounds up" rule causes you to round up more often than you round down. This subtle bias can compound into a significant error in the final result. Our tool provides professional rounding systems designed specifically to eliminate this problem.
Reducing Bias
These methods are used when the total sum of all figures must be as accurate as possible, minimizing accumulated error.
| Mode | What It Does | Why You Use It |
|---|---|---|
| Round Half Even | When a number is exactly halfway (e.g., 5.5 or 6.5), it rounds to the nearest even digit. | This is Banker's Rounding. By rounding equally to even numbers, it eliminates the upward bias of the schoolhouse method. It's the standard for professional financial and scientific calculations. |
| Stochastic Rounding | Uses random chance to decide whether to round up or down when exactly halfway. | Used in high-precision scientific simulation and modeling to introduce statistical fairness and prevent bias in complex, non-linear calculations. |
Strict Control Over Direction
These modes are used when your calculation must never exceed (or never fall short of) the true value.
| Mode | Rule | Example Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Round Floor | Always rounds down (towards negative infinity). | Resource Allocation: Calculating how many full containers, shipments, or packages you can create from a given amount, ensuring you never over-count. |
| Round Ceil | Always rounds up (towards positive infinity). | Safety Margins: Calculating how much material to order or capacity you need, ensuring you always have at least the required amount. |
By using this tool, you move beyond simple arithmetic to achieve the precise, mandate-required accuracy necessary for serious data analysis and computation.
Multiple Methods Rounding Tool 🎯
For information on other topics and tools:
Futhorc Runic Bi-Directional Converter: Turn your message in to First Millennium runes and back! [Try out this rune conversion tool on your own messages.]
Earth's Looming Expiration Date: Why Earth faces an early deadline as Sun's energy output increases. [Idea on how to preserve our planet]
The Number Converter Utility: Convert numerals to words and words to numerals! [Type Your Number and Convert it!]
Friday, October 24, 2025
Convert Your Message into Ancient Cuneiform Text
Cuneiform is one of the world's oldest known writing systems, recognized for its distinctive wedge-shaped marks. Originating in ancient Sumer (Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq), cuneiform was in use for over three millennia, providing a direct window into the political, economic and religious life of ancient civilizations.
What is Cuneiform?
While the script started with pictograms, it quickly evolved
into a sophisticated system capable of representing abstract concepts and sounds.
Usage and Rediscovery
How It Was Used (Purpose): Cuneiform was the
foundational technology of state administration. It was used to record:
- Law
and Government: Drafting complex legal codes (like the Code of Hammurabi)
and treaty documents.
- Economics:
Tracking commercial transactions, inventories, taxes, and wages—the basis
of the centralized economies of the era.
- Literature
and Science: Preserving monumental epics (like the Epic of Gilgamesh),
astronomical observations, and mathematical calculations.
- Diplomacy:
Writing international correspondence between kings and pharaohs (like the
Amarna letters).
How We Know About It Today (Discovery): The knowledge
of cuneiform was lost after the 1st century CE. We can read it today thanks to
a massive 19th-century effort in decipherment, primarily relying on trilingual
inscriptions found in Persia. The most famous example is the Behistun
Inscription, which contains the same text written in Old Persian, Elamite, and
Akkadian. Since scholars could read Old Persian, the inscription provided the
key to unlocking the syllabic and logographic systems of Akkadian cuneiform,
allowing the reading of hundreds of thousands of previously unintelligible clay
tablets.
How Cuneiform Represents Sounds
Cuneiform represents sounds primarily through a syllabary,
where each sign typically stands for a syllable rather than a single letter
(like an alphabet). These signs fall into three main categories:
- Syllabic
Signs: These are the most common signs, representing the basic
structures of speech sounds.[1]
- Open
Syllables (CV): These end in a vowel, like "BA" or
"NE".2 In cuneiform, these are the
Consonant-Vowel signs (e.g., BA, RI).
- Closed
Syllables (VC): These end in a consonant, like "EN"
or "UT". In cuneiform, these are the Vowel-Consonant
signs (e.g., AN, UM).
- More
complex signs exist for Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC) syllables (e.g., TUM).
- Logograms:
A single sign representing an entire word. For example, the sign for (AN)
(𒀭)
can also be read as (DINGIR), meaning 'god'.
- Determinatives:
Signs that are not pronounced but indicate the category of the following
word (e.g., placing the sign for 'wood' before a word like 'chariot').
The writing system was adapted for major languages like
Sumerian, Akkadian, Eblaite, and Hittite, with the Akkadian syllabary forming
the basis of most modern transliteration.[2]
The tool below converts English text into Cuneiform signs using the Akkadian syllabary. It applies phonetic, rule-based logic that prioritizes syllables (while falling back to single sounds equivalents) to roughly approximate the sounds of English words. Since English has silent letters and inconsistent spelling (which a simple algorithm can't fully know), the result is a fun, rough approximation of how your text might have sounded to an ancient Akkadian speaker! Go ahead, enter your text into the tool and see your words rendered in one of history's great scripts.
Simple Latin to Cuneiform Converter (Akkadian Syllabary)
*This tool uses dynamic syllabification (CV vs. VC fallbacks). To force a specific sign like RI, use the pipe syntax: RI| (with pipe).
For information on other topics and tools:
Futhorc Runic Bi-Directional Converter: Turn your message in to First Millennium runes and back! [Try out this rune conversion tool on your own messages.]
Earth's Looming Expiration Date: Why Earth faces an early deadline as Sun's energy output increases. [Idea on how to preserve our planet]
The Number Converter Utility: Convert numerals to words and words to numerals! [Type Your Number and Convert it!]
Saturday, October 18, 2025
Number and Word Converter Utility
Need to quickly change a large number like 15,000,000 into its written form, or check the value of words for numbers that are verbosely spelled out? This simple bidirectional converter handles all your number-to-word and word-to-number needs for figures up to 999,999,999. It uses the U.S. standard (no hyphens, all lowercase) for word output. It's also designed to be very forgiving when you type words in, as it can handle extra spaces, mixed cases, and even words like "and" without reporting an error. Just paste a number or type out your phrase in the box. The result will instantly appear below. Tap the result box to copy the converted value.
Number & Word Converter
*Supports positive whole numbers up to 999,999,999.
For information other ciphers and topics:
Pager Code Look Alike Cipher Tool: This is the full 26-letter system that uses visual tricks with numbers for every letter from the 1990's before texting. This cipher will translate messages into this OG secret messaging. [Try out this cipher tool on your own messages.]
Beeper Codes: Need a super-fast message? These are simple, standardized three-digit messages used as quick status updates (e.g., 143 for "I love you"). [View the Beeper Code Dictionary]
The Spartan Secret: Encrypt Messages with the Scytale Cipher: Use one of the earliest codes to be employed in the World! [Scytale Cipher Tool]
Friday, October 17, 2025
Futhorc Runic Bi-Directional Converter
The term "runes" refers to the writing systems used across North and Western Europe from the 1st millennium onward. Before the widespread adoption of the Latin alphabet, early forms of English relied on their own distinct runic script: Futhorc. Futhorc wasn't just a simple alphabet; it was a more precise fit for the sounds of Old English. It contained symbols that accurately transliterated phonetic elements that the 26-letter Latin alphabet lacks. For example, it featured a unique letter for the "th" sound, called Thorn (Þ and þ). There is also a dedicated symbol, the Eðel rune (ᛟ), for the long "o" sound (as in oar), distinct from the short "o" sound represented by the Ōs rune (ᚩ).
Try out the Futhorc Bi-Directional Converter to convert modern English letters to Futhorc runes and back! Special character inputs are available for the letters and combinations that don't have direct counterparts in the standard modern English alphabet.
Futhorc Bi-Directional Converter
Output (Click to Copy):
Special Input Key (Latin → Futhorc):
| Input | Rune/Ligature | Name/Sound |
|---|---|---|
| **EASTER EGG:** BLUETOOTH (all casings) → **ᛒᚼ** (Bindrune B+H) | ||
| ST|, St| and st| | ᛥ | Stān (ST Ligature) |
| W| and w| | ᚹ | Wēn (Original W Rune) |
| W and w | Ƿ / ƿ | Wynn (Latin W) |
| TH\, th\ and Th\ | ᚦ | Thorn (Runic) |
| TH|, th| and Th| | Ð / ð | Eth (Voiced Latin) |
| TH, th and Th | Þ / þ | Thorn (Modern Latin) |
| A| and a| | ᚫ | Æsc (Long A/Ash) |
| O| and o| | ᛟ | Eðel (Long O) |
| QU, qu and Qu | ᛣ | Cweorþ (KW sound) |
| SS and ss | ᛊ | Sigel (Alternative S) |
| V and v maps to ᚢ (Ur), the same as U and u. | ||
Unlisted single letters (A, F, E, I, etc.) map to their single runic equivalents (ᚪ, ᚠ, ᛖ, ᛁ, etc.).
For information other ciphers and topics:
Pager Code Look Alike Cipher Tool: This is the full 26-letter system that uses visual tricks with numbers for every letter from the 1990's before texting. This cipher will translate messages into this OG secret messaging. [Try out this cipher tool on your own messages.]
Beeper Codes: Need a super-fast message? These are simple, standardized three-digit messages used as quick status updates (e.g., 143 for "I love you"). [View the Beeper Code Dictionary]
The Spartan Secret: Encrypt Messages with the Scytale Cipher: Use one of the earliest codes to be employed in the World! [Scytale Cipher Tool]






