Photo of Terence Eden. He has a beard and is smiling.

Terence Eden’s Blog

Book Review: "The Archaeology of Sanitation in Roman Italy: Toilets, Sewers, and Water Systems" by Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow

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Book cover showing a photo of a row of Roman toilets.

I wish I could remember who recommended this book to me. It's not something that I'd usually choose to read, but it was surprisingly interesting. How did Romans take a shit? That's at the heart of this book. Not just the how - but the why, the when, and the where. How did foreign toilet […]

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Unicode Roman Numerals and Screen Readers

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Screenshot of a Table of Roman numerals in Unicode.

How would you read this sentence out aloud? "In Hamlet, Act Ⅳ, Scene Ⅸ..." Most people with a grasp of the interplay between English and Latin would say "In Hamlet, Act four, scene nine". And they'd be right! But screen-readers - computer programs which convert text into speech - often get this wrong. Why? Well, […]

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Why Didn't The Romans Invent The Internet?

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A little Roman Centurion made out of Lego. He is grimacing fiercely.

In Terry Pratchett's book "Going Postal" he writes about the impact on the Discworld civilization of the semaphore tower. A new - but relatively basic - technology which revolutionises how people work, play, and interact. It changes the fortunes of the humble and the mighty. It is as useful for individuals as for nation states. […]

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