Old magician who likes old cars, and old whisky
If you have been following my posts you know that I have been playing around with creating apps for use as a Magician. But I wondered what else I could do. I was out driving using a speedometer app that has advertisements and features that I don’t care about so…
Continue reading “I don’t need no stinking Google Play store”
One of the features I like about the Si Stebbins stack is that if you know the bottom card you can calculate the position of any other card in the deck using some “simple” math. Technically the math is simple, but it takes some practice. So I wrote a web page and also an Android app for my phone to help me train in the calculations.
Continue reading “Si Stebbins Trainer”The Si Stebbins stack is built on a simple, consistent cycle, meaning the distance between any two cards in the deck can be found with basic arithmetic. This method breaks the calculation into three simple steps that are easy to perform in your head.
The goal is to find the Final Position from the Top (1-52) for the Target Card, assuming the Bottom Card is at position 52.
(Note: I have a Si Stebbins Trainer page to help you practice this method. It is at http://robertjwallace.com/stebbins)
Continue reading “The Magician’s Code: Calculating the Si Stebbins Position”What is Cordova? Cordova wraps your HTML/CSS/JavaScript web app in a native Android container, allowing it to run as a standalone app on Android devices. Having suffered through getting this all setup via Claude.ai I thought I would ask Claude.ai to write this guide.
What you’ll need:
TL;DR: I had a perfectly functional HTML file. It worked in every browser. It was beautiful. Then I decided to turn it into an Android app.
I’ve updated the Three Card Mystery trick to support remote performance via a phone call. Here are the key improvements:
Continue reading “Three Card Mystery: Remote Performance Edition”First let me describe the classic Hummer Trick.
It’s a beautiful card trick that looks like genuine mind reading, yet requires no sleight of hand, no marked cards, and practically no skill. All you need are three cards and an understanding of simple logic.
Continue reading “The Three Card Mind Reading effect as a phone app”I’ve used AI to create a tool for card magicians who work with deck stacks. This web application was inspired by Lloyd Barnes’s MAXIM app, which unfortunately kept crashing on my device. Rather than wait for fixes, I decided to create my own web-based alternative that captures the core functionality while adding some unique features.
Continue reading “Stack Reveal Helper: A Web-Based Card Magic Companion”Have you noticed how AI assistants always seem to think your questions are “brilliant” or “insightful”? How they’re unfailingly supportive, never tired, always available? It feels good—and that’s precisely the problem.
Continue reading “The Hidden Cost of Friendly AI: When Optimization Becomes Manipulation”We perform security theater daily. We update passwords, enable two-factor authentication, install VPNs, use encrypted messaging apps. We do these things because we’ve been told they make us “secure.” But what if I told you that despite all of this, you’re almost certainly compromised already—and that accepting this might actually be the most rational security posture?
Continue reading “Maybe We Should Just Accept We’re Compromised”