“Epicycles” is the theory created by pre-Copernican astronomers to explain away the movements of the planets that countered the accepted heliocentric view. This definition can be found in elaborated form near the bottom of Epicycle’s front page. With that statement and the astronomical map that is the background image of Epicycle, you can see right away the scientific and technological focus of this site.
Epicycle feels more like one of those 1995 personal sites than a standard blog. The “About Me” page gives the writer’s full name as well as a photo, family information, and job history. It also gives a list of the published works of Dominic Thomas, the person behind Epicycle. Other sections on the site include pages devoted to Dominic’s home-built computer, his space models, Dominic’s digital art, his father’s monograms, and his fiction; all are worth a look.
The blog itself is chock full of tech jargon that can turn off a normal web surfer, but not me. Reading about the trial and tribulations of a network analyst as he combats the Yaha worm is refreshing. Every entry is about technology, from recommending a cyberpunk-influencing novel to the solving his sound card problems. Sometimes all the tech-talk can get a bit much, as the writer does assume a certain level of know-how that most people do not have, including myself. But it is still worth a read, if only to marvel at the writer’s in-depth technical knowledge.
Stylistically, Epicycle is not the prettiest thing to look at. It does present the content in an easy to read manner, but there is no sophistication of color or design. Otherwise, it is a very nice site.
Epicycle is unique among blogs. It’s an old-time site that offers the reader much more than daily musings, it gives us the world as seen through a tech-head’s eyes. It is worth visiting, especially if you are at all interested in computers, and even if you are not.
Epicycle