A writer reflects on reading Edgar Allan Poe's 1843 short story 'The Gold-Bug' as a middle schooler in India, describing how it introduced them to cryptography through a tale of a buried pirate treasure decoded from symbols. The essay notes Poe wrote the story around 1840, submitted it to a Philadelphia newspaper contest, won $100, and had it published in 1843, making it likely the oldest fiction to feature cryptography.
robotsinplainenglish.com
· 2026-10-12
Amazon is selling the Ugreen 10-port gigabit PoE+ switch for $37.79, its lowest price yet. The unmanaged switch supports the IEEE 802.3at standard, delivering up to 30W per port and 60W total across its eight PoE+ ports, with automatic shutdown of lower-priority ports if power draw exceeds that limit.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-09-30
WIRED's 2026 video doorbell guide lists three additional models that just missed the top picks: the $100 SwitchBot Smart Video Doorbell with a built-in display, the $100 Aqara G400 Select wired doorbell with local storage and optional HomeGuardian subscription, and the $170 Philips Hue Secure Video Doorbell offering 2K resolution and Hue light integration. Each has strengths and drawbacks, from slow displays to bulky designs to reliance on paid subscriptions for advanced AI features.
wired.com
· 2026-09-03
A literary essay examines how Edgar Allan Poe's stories derive their terror not from the murders depicted but from the confessions that follow them, tracing this back to Poe's own career struggles as an editor at Graham's magazine in 1841 Philadelphia. It details Poe's financial precariousness as a writer, noting he earned little from his early books despite growing critical respect, and had to rely on magazine work to make a living.
yalereview.org
· 2026-09-02
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