Can anyone recommend resources for learning to use an abacus? Physical media preferred, but websites are also ok. English language please.

I have a Chinese-style (suanpan) and two Japanese-style (soroban) abacuses. I'm especially interested in advanced techniques that you would need if you were replacing your calculator with an abacus.

Are there other abacus types useful for specific calculations?

I find the Lee Kai-chen Abacus fascinating: http://totton.idirect.com/abacus/Lee/

#abacuses #suanpan #soroban

Time for my #introduction!

I co-founded the Ungovernable Love technology collective with @violetvole, who I met while volunteering with Sunrise Movement to fight for #ClimateJustice and a Green New Deal. (I haven't given up on governments funding good things that help people, despite the current political moment, but I am becoming more of an #anarchist.) Thank you for joining us!

I sing while doing dishes or bicycling, or really whenever my body is moving. I drink hot loose leaf #tea (with lots of #honey) to recover.

I am interested in simpler tools that can be maintained indefinitely and handed down as heirlooms. I write with #FountainPens and #typewriters. I want to learn to use #SlideRules, #abacuses, and treadle sewing machines. I read https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/ and seek #solarpunk vibes.

I love identifying #birds, bugs, plants, and other wildlife with the help of #iNaturalist and Merlin. Why not bring binoculars and a magnifying glass, just in case? I take photos with my smartphone and my dad's old Konica film cameras.

Here's a photo from my first roll of slide film, I just got the scans back!

  • film: Flic Film Chrome 100 (bulk loaded Kodak Ektachrome)
  • camera: Konica FS-1 SLR
  • lens: Konica Zoom-Hexanon AR 80-200 mm / F4

#BelieveInFilm