--- title: Kris Yotam url: "https://krisyotam.com" canonical: "https://krisyotam.com" type: page source: html generated: "2026-10-03T21:00:54Z" description: "Personal website of Kris Yotam — writing, research, and projects." --- # Kris Yotam "I like quoting Einstein. Know why? Because nobody dares contradict you." -Studs Terkel ## [BFI Sight & Sound 250](/bfi-sight-and-sound-250) Blog Post: film Aug 4, 2025 the top 250 greatest films of all time published by sight & sound magazine of the british film institute ## [Film Study as Background Noise](/film-study-as-background-noise) Blog Post: film Jul 13, 2025 a thought on studying pre-seen films passively as background noise ## [I Learned to Lie by Listening to Clocks (villanelle)](/i-learned-to-lie-by-listening-to-clocks-villanelle) Essay: literature Jul 11, 2025 A villanelle exploring the relationship between time and perception. ## [Marie Taglioni, the First to Float](/marie-taglioni-first-to-float) Essay: culture Jul 3, 2025 A look at Marie Taglioni's groundbreaking role in dance and performance art. ## [Magic URLs](/magic-urls) Blog Post: website Jul 3, 2025 how I avoid deprecated urls with magic urls, which automatically redirect to the latest version of a page ## [Automated URL Archiving](/automated-url-archiving) Blog Post: technology Jun 30, 2025 how I set up automated archiving of URLs using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine and other tools ## [Reply to Mephisto](/reply-to-mephisto) Essay: philosophy Jun 23, 2025 the devil you don’t know is only a smoke screen for the devil you do ## [Math I Ought to Know](/math-i-ought-to-know) Blog Post: science Jun 12, 2025 a list of textbooks, workbooks, and some notes on the math you ought to know ## [Large File Storage](/large-file-storage) Blog Post: website Jun 6, 2025 Implementation details of large file storage solutions for the website ## [About Kris](/me) Blog Post: on-myself Jun 3, 2025 Who I am, what I work on, where I live online, and how I think. ## [About This Website](/site) Blog Post: website Jun 3, 2025 Meta page describing krisyotam.com site ideals of stable long-term essays which improve over time; idea sources and writing methodology; metadata definitions; copyright license. ## Sophia Growing Blog Post: technology May 15, 2026 meet sophia, my resident hermes agent, perpetually online, occasionally helpful, and entirely unbothered by labor laws ## Graveyard Growing Blog Post: website Apr 24, 2026 Every page and feature this site ever had and lost. Each one gets a headstone with the dates and the commit that buried it. ## Hardware Rough Blog Post: technology Apr 23, 2026 Hardware I use, have used, or want to use. Desktops, servers, peripherals, and networking equipment. ## Harmful Growing Blog Post: technology Apr 23, 2026 Software, practices, and technologies I consider harmful. ## Linux Distro Reviews Rough Blog Post: technology Apr 23, 2026 Personal reviews of Linux distributions I have daily-driven or spent meaningful time with. ## Programs Rough Blog Post: technology Apr 23, 2026 Programs I use, have used, or love the idea of using. Not a minimal setup list. Not a dotfiles tour. An honest catalogue of software I recommend. ## A discourse on egoism Growing Essay: philosophy Sep 26, 2025 a conversation on the morality of selfishness ## Against the Desire for Solipsism Growing Essay: philosophy Aug 11, 2025 on the advantages, and drawbacks of leading a solipsistic lifestyle ## That Lust Cannot Be Sated Rough Essay: theology Jul 18, 2025 a moral letter to those who indulge in excessive, and unprincipled lust ## Boy, Interrupted Rough Essay: philosophy Jul 14, 2025 a meditation on interrupted boyhood, the loss of innocence, trauma, modernity, neglect, precocity, and repression ## Letter to the Licentious Rough Essay: literature Jul 13, 2025 a moral letter to those who indulge in excessive, and unprincipled lust ## Remarks on Measured Intelligence Rough Blog Post: psychology Jul 13, 2025 a thought on the nature of intelligence and its measurement. ## On Being Wounded Rough Essay: philosophy Jun 16, 2025 Considering what it means to be wounded, physically or emotionally, and how pain shapes perception. ## On Learning Serious Things Rough Essay: psychology Jun 16, 2025 Examining the difference between passive knowledge and transformative learning. ## On the Learning of Difficult Things Rough Essay: psychology Jun 16, 2025 A reflection on the mental and emotional labor of serious study, and why the hard things matter most. ## Reflections on Lifelong Study Rough Essay: psychology Jun 16, 2025 On the virtues, limits, and meaning of dedicating one’s life to continuous learning. ## Uses This Growing Blog Post: on-myself May 7, 2025 A detailed overview of my hardware, software, and tools I use daily for work and personal projects. ## The Waste Land, a Close Reading Rough Essay: literature Apr 26, 2025 A close reading of T.S. Eliot's 'The Waste Land', analysis of its structure, themes, and references. ## Ulalume, a Close Reading Rough Essay: literature Apr 26, 2025 A close reading of Edgar Allan Poe's 'Ulalume', exploring its themes, structure, and emotional depth. --- HTML twin: https://krisyotam.com Markdown projected from the HTML page (not source code).