2016-01-24

Notes.

Got a lot done this week, and a *lot* more done this weekend.

Pathfinding.

• Airbus is investing in Local Motors. I don't understand this, which makes me want to know more.
• Carbon3D "is collaborating with" Johnson & Johnson to print surgical devices. I'm looking forward to hearing more details about this as well.
• In-Q-Tel is pretty weird. An independent nonprofit company with no official government affiliation, its goal is specifically to invest in things that support the CIA. In this case (and I'm loathe to say this kind of thing) I think that the intelligence community is *actually* acting as a platform.
• I've got not one, not two, but three upcoming speaking engagements planned. Come!

Building.

• Via Kaitlin, a good article on the factors that go into designing a keyboard.
• Moog (the aerospace company that recently acquired Linear Mold) won a contract to work on 3D printed parts for liquid fueled rockets.
• I built nTopology a new website. Information! Calls to action! All of it :)
• I also (finally) found time to take some pictures of the parts that MicroTek finished for me recently. Teaser post here, more soon.

Logistics.

• A (somewhat soft, but whatever) NYTimes piece on the Baikal–Amur Mainline, a train that runs parallel to the Trans-Siberian Railway.
• A good explainer on the impressive bandwidth capacity of hard drives and airplanes. Which reminds me of the great XKCD What If about how the internet will finally be better at data transfer than FedEx in... 2040.
• Firefly Space Systems is a company specializing in low cost launches for small payloads - CubeSats and the like. I spent a while today reading their Payload User Guide, which is pretty interesting if you're curious about what it takes to put a research satellite into orbit.

Evaluation.

• A really great analysis of Citibike's recent data drop. <- Recommended.
• Josh Luber, the founder of Campless, was on EconTalk this week. I talked to Josh at the ITP show almost three years ago and found him totally captivating. Also, pretty crazy that Dan Gilbert bought Campless.

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

• Brendan asked me what other newsletters I like, and I replied. If anyone out there has one that I didn't mention, let me know!
• nTopology wants to hire two Senior Software Engineers: One for systems architecture, and the other for finite element analysis. Please share!!!

And.

A tour of the factory where Fujifilm's flagship cameras are built.