Mark Bernstein
@eastgate.bsky.social
Designer of Tinderbox, information gardener. Research interests include literary hypertext, internet villainy, and intellectual history of computing. https://markBernstein.org/ https://www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/
Generosity and abundance are wonderful virtues. For a time, it seemed that the Web and the Internet were exemplars of these virtues. That turned out to be a mistake: the Web lent itself to villainy.
from my new book THINKING WITH TINDERBOX
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
from my new book THINKING WITH TINDERBOX
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
June 27, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Generosity and abundance are wonderful virtues. For a time, it seemed that the Web and the Internet were exemplars of these virtues. That turned out to be a mistake: the Web lent itself to villainy.
from my new book THINKING WITH TINDERBOX
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
from my new book THINKING WITH TINDERBOX
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
From a reader on my THINKING WITH TINDERBOX:
I just finished Thinking with Tinderbox and wanted to say: what a joy to read! ....One idea that stayed with me is the notion of generosity in software — that great tools sometimes surprise us, go beyond the expected.
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
I just finished Thinking with Tinderbox and wanted to say: what a joy to read! ....One idea that stayed with me is the notion of generosity in software — that great tools sometimes surprise us, go beyond the expected.
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
June 23, 2025 at 10:15 PM
From a reader on my THINKING WITH TINDERBOX:
I just finished Thinking with Tinderbox and wanted to say: what a joy to read! ....One idea that stayed with me is the notion of generosity in software — that great tools sometimes surprise us, go beyond the expected.
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
I just finished Thinking with Tinderbox and wanted to say: what a joy to read! ....One idea that stayed with me is the notion of generosity in software — that great tools sometimes surprise us, go beyond the expected.
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
Software should be:
❧ Built for people
❧ Built by people
❧ Crafted in workshops
❧ Savage
❧ Inspired
from the artisanal software section of my new book THINKING WITH TINDERBOX
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
❧ Built for people
❧ Built by people
❧ Crafted in workshops
❧ Savage
❧ Inspired
from the artisanal software section of my new book THINKING WITH TINDERBOX
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
June 19, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Software should be:
❧ Built for people
❧ Built by people
❧ Crafted in workshops
❧ Savage
❧ Inspired
from the artisanal software section of my new book THINKING WITH TINDERBOX
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
❧ Built for people
❧ Built by people
❧ Crafted in workshops
❧ Savage
❧ Inspired
from the artisanal software section of my new book THINKING WITH TINDERBOX
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
THINKING WITH TINDERBOX:Generosity & Abundance
“Tinderbox aims to be a maximum viable product, the most capable and flexible system we can manage to support and maintain. This stance was, in part, forced
on Tinderbox by its natural audience of writers and researchers.”
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
“Tinderbox aims to be a maximum viable product, the most capable and flexible system we can manage to support and maintain. This stance was, in part, forced
on Tinderbox by its natural audience of writers and researchers.”
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
June 8, 2025 at 1:29 PM
THINKING WITH TINDERBOX:Generosity & Abundance
“Tinderbox aims to be a maximum viable product, the most capable and flexible system we can manage to support and maintain. This stance was, in part, forced
on Tinderbox by its natural audience of writers and researchers.”
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
“Tinderbox aims to be a maximum viable product, the most capable and flexible system we can manage to support and maintain. This stance was, in part, forced
on Tinderbox by its natural audience of writers and researchers.”
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
From my new book THINKING WITH TINDERBOX
“In this chapter, we turn from notes acting on other notes to examine how notes act on us — how we can design an environment that serves us well, promotes our well-being, and perhaps encourages us to be better.”
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
“In this chapter, we turn from notes acting on other notes to examine how notes act on us — how we can design an environment that serves us well, promotes our well-being, and perhaps encourages us to be better.”
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
June 4, 2025 at 6:21 PM
From my new book THINKING WITH TINDERBOX
“In this chapter, we turn from notes acting on other notes to examine how notes act on us — how we can design an environment that serves us well, promotes our well-being, and perhaps encourages us to be better.”
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
“In this chapter, we turn from notes acting on other notes to examine how notes act on us — how we can design an environment that serves us well, promotes our well-being, and perhaps encourages us to be better.”
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
My Sydney paper is available at last!
Amiability and the Web: Lessons from Red Vienna and the Origin of Computing
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
Amiability and the Web: Lessons from Red Vienna and the Origin of Computing
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
May 29, 2025 at 2:27 PM
My Sydney paper is available at last!
Amiability and the Web: Lessons from Red Vienna and the Origin of Computing
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
Amiability and the Web: Lessons from Red Vienna and the Origin of Computing
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
“Two naturalists might not share a common language, but both will know that a Cyanocitta cristata is a big blue bird, though one thinks of it as a Blue Jay and the other has always known it as a Blåskrikje.”
from THINKING WITH TINDERBOX (Ch 9: Streams)
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
from THINKING WITH TINDERBOX (Ch 9: Streams)
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
May 23, 2025 at 8:09 PM
“Two naturalists might not share a common language, but both will know that a Cyanocitta cristata is a big blue bird, though one thinks of it as a Blue Jay and the other has always known it as a Blåskrikje.”
from THINKING WITH TINDERBOX (Ch 9: Streams)
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
from THINKING WITH TINDERBOX (Ch 9: Streams)
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
“New software is fun to write. Everything is possible, the sky is the limit. Working with old software can be stressful, because old software brings with it a legacy of old decisions.”
Chapter 11 of THINKING WITH TINDERBOX talks about Staying Young.
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
Chapter 11 of THINKING WITH TINDERBOX talks about Staying Young.
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
May 22, 2025 at 11:29 PM
“New software is fun to write. Everything is possible, the sky is the limit. Working with old software can be stressful, because old software brings with it a legacy of old decisions.”
Chapter 11 of THINKING WITH TINDERBOX talks about Staying Young.
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
Chapter 11 of THINKING WITH TINDERBOX talks about Staying Young.
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
Stream operators in Tinderbox transform text into a form that is more useful for you.
They have been unloved, because they touch on questions of language that have puzzled thinkers for a very long time
THINKING WITH TINDERBOX chapter 9. eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
They have been unloved, because they touch on questions of language that have puzzled thinkers for a very long time
THINKING WITH TINDERBOX chapter 9. eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
May 21, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Stream operators in Tinderbox transform text into a form that is more useful for you.
They have been unloved, because they touch on questions of language that have puzzled thinkers for a very long time
THINKING WITH TINDERBOX chapter 9. eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
They have been unloved, because they touch on questions of language that have puzzled thinkers for a very long time
THINKING WITH TINDERBOX chapter 9. eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
“The placement of notes in a Tinderbox map often suggests not only how notes re- late to each other, but also how subsequent notes might be added to those already present.” Maps that rearrange themselves is the topic of Ch. 8 in THINKING WITH TINDERBOX. eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
May 20, 2025 at 9:52 PM
“The placement of notes in a Tinderbox map often suggests not only how notes re- late to each other, but also how subsequent notes might be added to those already present.” Maps that rearrange themselves is the topic of Ch. 8 in THINKING WITH TINDERBOX. eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
from THINKING WITH TINDERBOX:
19th-century mathematics discovered a strange but consistent form of geometry: as things get more and more distance from the center, they get smaller and smaller....This geometry works well for visualizing big link networks.
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
19th-century mathematics discovered a strange but consistent form of geometry: as things get more and more distance from the center, they get smaller and smaller....This geometry works well for visualizing big link networks.
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
May 13, 2025 at 11:18 PM
from THINKING WITH TINDERBOX:
19th-century mathematics discovered a strange but consistent form of geometry: as things get more and more distance from the center, they get smaller and smaller....This geometry works well for visualizing big link networks.
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
19th-century mathematics discovered a strange but consistent form of geometry: as things get more and more distance from the center, they get smaller and smaller....This geometry works well for visualizing big link networks.
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
from THINKING WITH TINDERBOX: how to tidy actions:
• replace comments with code
• extract duplicated code to functions
• extract magic numbers to variables, functions
• move connected vars to configuration note
• simplify conditionals
• extract conditions to dictionary
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
• replace comments with code
• extract duplicated code to functions
• extract magic numbers to variables, functions
• move connected vars to configuration note
• simplify conditionals
• extract conditions to dictionary
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
May 12, 2025 at 10:07 PM
from THINKING WITH TINDERBOX: how to tidy actions:
• replace comments with code
• extract duplicated code to functions
• extract magic numbers to variables, functions
• move connected vars to configuration note
• simplify conditionals
• extract conditions to dictionary
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
• replace comments with code
• extract duplicated code to functions
• extract magic numbers to variables, functions
• move connected vars to configuration note
• simplify conditionals
• extract conditions to dictionary
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
Chapter 6 of THINKING WITH TINDERBOX takes up “tidyings” — small refactoring moves advocated by
@KentBeck (Tidy First?) for programming, but easily applied to notetaking. I kick off with some common cases:
• Extract Attributes
• Clarify Symmetries
• Magic Numbers
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
@KentBeck (Tidy First?) for programming, but easily applied to notetaking. I kick off with some common cases:
• Extract Attributes
• Clarify Symmetries
• Magic Numbers
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
May 9, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Chapter 6 of THINKING WITH TINDERBOX takes up “tidyings” — small refactoring moves advocated by
@KentBeck (Tidy First?) for programming, but easily applied to notetaking. I kick off with some common cases:
• Extract Attributes
• Clarify Symmetries
• Magic Numbers
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
@KentBeck (Tidy First?) for programming, but easily applied to notetaking. I kick off with some common cases:
• Extract Attributes
• Clarify Symmetries
• Magic Numbers
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
THINKING WITH TINDERBOX has a chapter of ‘Influences and Other Paths,” the systems that influenced Tinderbox. Sketchpad, EMACS, VIKI/VKB, NLS/Augment, Agenda, Chandler, Gateway, and more.
We can learn a lot from old software! eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
We can learn a lot from old software! eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
May 8, 2025 at 9:51 PM
THINKING WITH TINDERBOX has a chapter of ‘Influences and Other Paths,” the systems that influenced Tinderbox. Sketchpad, EMACS, VIKI/VKB, NLS/Augment, Agenda, Chandler, Gateway, and more.
We can learn a lot from old software! eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
We can learn a lot from old software! eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
“The map view and its relatives draw from a limited range of visual traditions. ... If an office building “must be every inch a proud and soaring thing” [Sullivan, 1896], what should we expect of this map, this idea plane unfettered by material physics?”
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
May 7, 2025 at 11:34 PM
“The map view and its relatives draw from a limited range of visual traditions. ... If an office building “must be every inch a proud and soaring thing” [Sullivan, 1896], what should we expect of this map, this idea plane unfettered by material physics?”
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
“The nature of the digital flows from the core properties of Turing’s universal computing machine: it is a computing machine that can simulate any other computing machine as precisely as you require.” eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
April 27, 2025 at 11:05 PM
“The nature of the digital flows from the core properties of Turing’s universal computing machine: it is a computing machine that can simulate any other computing machine as precisely as you require.” eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
From the first chapter of THINKING WITH TINDERBOX
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
Why might we want a tool for thought?
• To remember
• To connect
• To answer questions
• To preserve
• To control
• To augment ourselves
• To converse
• To understand people
• To liberate
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
Why might we want a tool for thought?
• To remember
• To connect
• To answer questions
• To preserve
• To control
• To augment ourselves
• To converse
• To understand people
• To liberate
April 24, 2025 at 1:48 PM
From the first chapter of THINKING WITH TINDERBOX
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
Why might we want a tool for thought?
• To remember
• To connect
• To answer questions
• To preserve
• To control
• To augment ourselves
• To converse
• To understand people
• To liberate
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
Why might we want a tool for thought?
• To remember
• To connect
• To answer questions
• To preserve
• To control
• To augment ourselves
• To converse
• To understand people
• To liberate
THINKING WITH TINDERBOX
Our thinking about software design is muddy. We demand that our computers be “friendly.” We don’t ask our oven to be friendly: we want it to be hot. (An unfriendly oven might burn your cake or your fingers.)
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
Our thinking about software design is muddy. We demand that our computers be “friendly.” We don’t ask our oven to be friendly: we want it to be hot. (An unfriendly oven might burn your cake or your fingers.)
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
April 23, 2025 at 5:46 PM
THINKING WITH TINDERBOX
Our thinking about software design is muddy. We demand that our computers be “friendly.” We don’t ask our oven to be friendly: we want it to be hot. (An unfriendly oven might burn your cake or your fingers.)
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
Our thinking about software design is muddy. We demand that our computers be “friendly.” We don’t ask our oven to be friendly: we want it to be hot. (An unfriendly oven might burn your cake or your fingers.)
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
Thinking With Tinderbox
An all-new ebook on the design of things with which to think. 312 pages, with a foreword by Michael Becker.
You can save a few dollars right now, as we test the delivery system.
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
An all-new ebook on the design of things with which to think. 312 pages, with a foreword by Michael Becker.
You can save a few dollars right now, as we test the delivery system.
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
April 22, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Thinking With Tinderbox
An all-new ebook on the design of things with which to think. 312 pages, with a foreword by Michael Becker.
You can save a few dollars right now, as we test the delivery system.
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
An all-new ebook on the design of things with which to think. 312 pages, with a foreword by Michael Becker.
You can save a few dollars right now, as we test the delivery system.
eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Th...
Part on of a series (I hope): A Newer Hypertext View
Back to the Information City!
www.markbernstein.org/Jan25/NewerV...
www.markbernstein.org/elements/Hug...
Back to the Information City!
www.markbernstein.org/Jan25/NewerV...
www.markbernstein.org/elements/Hug...
January 21, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Part on of a series (I hope): A Newer Hypertext View
Back to the Information City!
www.markbernstein.org/Jan25/NewerV...
www.markbernstein.org/elements/Hug...
Back to the Information City!
www.markbernstein.org/Jan25/NewerV...
www.markbernstein.org/elements/Hug...
Actually, 25 distinct notes.
I think this sort of view, along with Gaudí View, might revive information gardening.
Here's the Gaudí View paper dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1...
You can use this on in Tinderbox today.
I think this sort of view, along with Gaudí View, might revive information gardening.
Here's the Gaudí View paper dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1...
You can use this on in Tinderbox today.
December 4, 2024 at 8:17 PM
Actually, 25 distinct notes.
I think this sort of view, along with Gaudí View, might revive information gardening.
Here's the Gaudí View paper dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1...
You can use this on in Tinderbox today.
I think this sort of view, along with Gaudí View, might revive information gardening.
Here's the Gaudí View paper dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1...
You can use this on in Tinderbox today.
Pondering novel hypertext maps for Tinderbox www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/. This sketch fits 20 distinct notes into a compact but legible space.
Tinderbox customers who join the Backstage Program www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Ba... get advance looks and opportunities for input.
Tinderbox customers who join the Backstage Program www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Ba... get advance looks and opportunities for input.
December 4, 2024 at 8:09 PM
Pondering novel hypertext maps for Tinderbox www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/. This sketch fits 20 distinct notes into a compact but legible space.
Tinderbox customers who join the Backstage Program www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Ba... get advance looks and opportunities for input.
Tinderbox customers who join the Backstage Program www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/Ba... get advance looks and opportunities for input.
Last chance to save $100 during the current #Tinderbox sale.
Tinderbox is a MAXIMUM viable product tool for visualizing, analyzing, and organizing your notes. Powerful maps, unmatched outlines, and innovative Gaudí View are just the headlines. www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/
Tinderbox is a MAXIMUM viable product tool for visualizing, analyzing, and organizing your notes. Powerful maps, unmatched outlines, and innovative Gaudí View are just the headlines. www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/
December 3, 2024 at 5:38 PM
Last chance to save $100 during the current #Tinderbox sale.
Tinderbox is a MAXIMUM viable product tool for visualizing, analyzing, and organizing your notes. Powerful maps, unmatched outlines, and innovative Gaudí View are just the headlines. www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/
Tinderbox is a MAXIMUM viable product tool for visualizing, analyzing, and organizing your notes. Powerful maps, unmatched outlines, and innovative Gaudí View are just the headlines. www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/
Thinking about Tinderbox, the tool for visualizing and analyzing your notes?
It’s on sale this week! Save $100.
www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/
It’s on sale this week! Save $100.
www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/
November 26, 2024 at 7:46 PM
Thinking about Tinderbox, the tool for visualizing and analyzing your notes?
It’s on sale this week! Save $100.
www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/
It’s on sale this week! Save $100.
www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/
Was 3rd century Ostia a tourist town? Some notes on Tinderbox and historical writing.
www.markbernstein.org/Feb24/Tinder...
www.markbernstein.org/Feb24/Tinder...
February 7, 2024 at 11:39 PM
Was 3rd century Ostia a tourist town? Some notes on Tinderbox and historical writing.
www.markbernstein.org/Feb24/Tinder...
www.markbernstein.org/Feb24/Tinder...