Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

This mechanical watch explanation: https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/


Everything he makes is great, I'd also highly recommend the GPS explanation.


His floating point representation is so good that middle schoolers can understand it:

https://ciechanow.ski/exposing-floating-point/


Wow. This guy makes amazing stuff. That's what I call beautifully harnessing the power of web technologies to explain things.


if it's the one I'm thinking of.. i spent like 4 hours reading that and still didn't finish, but every bit was amazing


Truly fantastic and well made!

At the end, concludes with:

> Mechanical watches are not as accurate as digital ones. They require maintenance and are more fragile. Despite all these drawbacks, these devices show a true mastery of engineering. With creative use of miniature gears, levers, and springs, a mechanical watch rises from its dormant components to become truly alive.

And to an extent, I can agree that figuring out and building such a tiny mechanic is truly genius. But so is figuring out the digital electronics devices, even if they seem much less sexy.

What we should really be thankful for are those geniuses who figured out all those technologies and put their powers in the hand of the mere mortals.

I don't need to be able to understand the inners of the computer, but can still make use of its power to the benefit of others.


So this is clearly amazing, but on the topic of page design for my future reference, can any frontend people tell me whether there is an effective way to avoid the 'i want to scroll but interacted with the graphic' effect?


That's insane.


And many of the other pages on the same site.


a passion project for sure


This is fantastic


Just beautiful




Consider applying for YC's Summer 2026 batch! Applications are open till May 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: