As an aside, bit-player.org is an amazing blog and resource. Recently I've been thinking about what will happen when Brian Hayes, its author, shuffles off this mortal coil.
Other than relying on the Wayback Machine, what are the options for keeping a site like this alive and at least minimally maintained, at its original URL?
If you are volunteering, reach out and ask him. If not, ask for volunteers here then reach out and ask him. I an sure he would be happy to work with you on it.
Not much is known about the Necrotyr who became Aleph-Null.. oh you didn't mean that Aleph-Null.
Random old mysteries like this are fun. Maybe this will spread far enough the original Aleph-Null could hear about it but there's increasing odds they're dead.
John Francis in the comments seems to have (correctly) uncovered the mystery,
looking at the homepage given in that comment via wayback machine has a link github with commits as recent as november.
I've used the spoon trick for the longest time, until I was found faced with the challenge in complete lack of spoon or similar instrument.
Then I looked at the cap and realised it has this wedgy shape slightly protruding.
Well, hold the jar strongly in one hand and hit that part hard with the ball of the hand near the base of the thumb. This deforms the cap just enough that air gets in.
Might take a couple of tries to get the hang of it but has worked for me ever since: I've never used the spoon trick again since at least a decade.
There's a specific tool for this. It works similarly to a spoon or knife, but it reduces the odds of cracking the jar or slipping and putting a knife through your hand.
I've got one in my kitchen drawer, and it works well. Occasionally you get a jar where the gap between the lid and the jar is too narrow for the tool to slot in, but that's rare.
I rarely delve into comments sections. Kind of assumed if someone had brought up a solution the author would have updated it but I can see that dropping off when a comment comes 8 years after the article was published.
