Your #1 is most of the explanation; Phil is a net.personality from way back ("Travels with Samantha", 1994), as well as a pithy writer of several perennial piec

Your #1 is most of the explanation; Phil is a net.personality from way back ("Travels with Samantha", 1994), as well as a pithy writer of several perennial pieces of HN text (like: http://philip.greenspun.com/careers/women-in-science http://philip.greenspun.com/careers/women-in-science).