Title My Fancy

There has been some confusion surrounding the name of my blog? The purpose of this post is to settle all current and future rumors regarding the title "David ex Machina" once and for all. 
Let me start by explaining the difficulty in choosing the name for a blog, or any website for that matter. It's hard. Ever heard the quote:
"There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt."
-Audre Lorde
Well for the most part, it's true, and the best practical example of this is trying to register a domain on the web. I mean there's an entire business behind "domaining," the business of buying and selling names on the internet, most easily appreciated by the sale of "sex.com" for $14 Million (article)! There are a couple of ways around this however: actually come up with a new idea, be clever at rearranging words for your needs that still get the same message across (i.e. Digg), or just take an ego hit and buy one. 
I tried to be clever in coming up with "David ex Machina," almagamizing my own name with a prudent Latin phrase, "deus ex machina." The phrase was used in ancient times, when Greek playwrights needed something to miraculously solve all the problems in the story, they relied on a "deus ex machina," a god-like intervention or miracle. The phrase can also mean "god through the machine."
I think the title is apropos, as it resonates with me interacting with you through an internet-work of machines. I also hope that my blog can be of enough interest that you will welcome a David-like intervention on a regular basis. Plus, I like the ring of it. Only time will tell the effectiveness of my blog's name, but if I were you, I'd start stocking up on *exmachina domains. 

Popular posts from this blog

A Sophisticated Crypto Scam & The Power of Social Engineering

We've all heard the warnings: "Don't click suspicious links!" "Be wary of unsolicited emails!" But what happens when the scam isn't a glaring red flag, but a carefully woven web of trust and delayed tactics? What happens when a seemingly innocuous catch-up call nearly compromises your digital life? That's precisely what happened to me recently, and it was a chilling reminder of how vulnerable we all are to sophisticated social engineering. You never think you'll be the target – until you are. And when that feeling hits, the panic that you're about to lose everything is very, very real. From Conference Connect to Cyberattack It all started innocuously enough. Back in February 2024, I went to EthDenver and amidst the networking, I met a "Zoie Zhang", who worked for a VC firm, “Paramita”. We exchanged contact info on Telegram, snapped a quick photo to remember each other, and that was that. A crypto-standard conference connection. Fast...
Read more

Why Watch The NFL

Image
The NFL is a Fractured Product Mark my words: the 2025 NFL season will be remembered as the year the “product” finally started to crack under the weight of its own physical demands. While the league office continues to tout parity, ratings, and global expansion, I witnessed: a lack of talent depth, increasingly lopsided games, and a growing war of attrition where “any given Sunday” has given way to “whoever is healthy today.” Yes, injuries have always been part of football. But the scale, timing, and severity of injuries this season is a fundamental shift in the game, not just random luck. Let’s recap. The Meat Grinder The number of notable players injured during the 2025 season was staggering. By Week 5, entire playoff pictures were already compromised. And take note of the severity - these are season-ending injuries, team playoff trajectory defining injuries, non-contact injuries (I’m not even going to mention CTE). Look at some of the names involved: Joe Burrow. J.J. McCarthy. Lam...
Read more

The Water Scale

Image
via  stablediffusionweb.com The Water Scale A more meaningful way to describe life. How often do you get asked How’s it going? Or, how are you doing? 99% of the time the answer is “good” - a one-dimensional answer that’s so common, it’s almost meaningless. In fact, if you say “OK”, it’s often followed up by “Is something wrong?” So the expected response, “good”, is a formality to confirm the status quo, and move on.  I hereby propose an alternative “water scale" for describing your state in life. It stems from the familiar expression, “sink or swim”, conveying not just a fixed status, but also your trajectory and state of mind. Let's see how it works by answering "How are you doing?" for a few scenarios. "Sinking" implies you're currently struggling, overwhelmed by responsibilities, and unable to keep up (think chronic stress at work, financial hardship, or relationship conflicts). You are being pulled underwater. "Swimming" invokes the opposi...
Read more