2015-08-24

Notes.

I've been learning Materialise Magics over the past week. Magics is kind of the linchpin of the additive manufacturing production chain right now; it takes in 3D CAD files and outputs print programs (essentially). I'll be spending a few more weeks with it before moving on to some advanced design (topology optimization & lattice structure generation) software.

I've also been thinking a bit more about my role in the 3D printing world. I've spent a *lot* of time over the past two years calling experts and asking them questions about the industry, and did similar work while I was working for Undercurrent too. Thinking about this over the past weeks has me remembering this passage from a Chuck Klosterman book, in which he questions why interview subjects feel compelled to answer. It's good.

Pathfinding.

• Sam Altman on why you should keep the thing a "project" (as opposed to a "company") for as long as possible.
• What recent investments (by Berkshire Hathaway and Foxconn) mean for Indian manufacturing.
• I didn't realize how much the federal investment tax credit has helped SolarCity's business model work. It is being reduced at the end of 2016, and SolarCity's new Buffalo PV cell manufacturing plant will come online shortly after. This article questions how the math will end up working out after the credits expire.

Building.

• The FDA cleared Oxford Performance Materials's 3D printed spinal implants. These are laser sintered plastic parts (made from PEKK plastic) that are designed to be structural components in a human body. Pretty cool.
• A Chinese factory supposedly replaced 600 workers with 60 robots.
• What Boston Dynamics, Google's (sorry, Alphabet's) crazy robotics company, is working on.
• MIT Media Lab's Mediated Matter group released some videos & info on a glass 3D printer they made. Pretty cool.

Logistics.

• Apparently some VW engineers are working on a semi-autonomous baby stroller. I think this is a great idea.

Evaluation.

• A *very* open look at how Zach and I spent the money we raised on Kickstarter for The Public Radio.
• So, that long NYTimes article on Amazon... here it is. But you really should read Ezra Klein's response to it, which feels like it has less of an axe to grind. Even there, though, I tend to take a more nuanced view of the "blue-collar work" part - if only because I myself spent many hot summer days chipping concrete walls out of crawl spaces.

Stuff that doesn't fit into my dumb/arbitrary categories.

• The release notes on Tumblr for iOS 4.3.1 are pretty great.
• I want some jianbing in NYC.
• What it's like to spend 48 hours climbing a hill on a bike to beat a world record.

And.

All the areas in NYC that are more than 500 meters from a subway stop.