2016-02-07

Got the vise mounted to my desk this week. Still want to rebuild the desk.

Bunnie Huang launched a crowdfunding campaign for a guidebook to navigating Shenzhen.
Clarence Thomas hasn't asked a question from the bench in almost ten years. I'm inclined to think that's bad for the Supreme Court, but his rationale and commitment are rather compelling.
Some details on the MTA's struggle with ADA compliance.
The NYC EDC is looking for a consultant to help develop the advanced manufacturing center being built at the Brooklyn Army Terminal.
Siemens bought CD-adapco, a US maker of simulation software.

Second system syndrome: the mistaken feeling that you can rebuild from scratch and fix all the mistakes you made the first time (thanks, Sam!).
The fusion stellarator Wendelstein 7-X started up for the first time. You'll recall that stellarators are an alternative to tokamaks, like ITER.
AP242 is working to integrate some additive manufacturing data (build orientation, etc) into the STEP file format.

De Blasio proposed a streetcar to link Brooklyn and Queens.
A pretty awesome NASA blog post on the rocket equation. Tyranny!
When a Norwegian ro-ro was struck by another ship in the English Channel, a Dutch company had to cut it (and its cargo) in pieces in situ. The tone of this article is a bit slapstick, but the photos are awesome.
A map of Amazon's fulfillment centers.

Via Kane, an explainer of how the Pratt & Whitney J58 (the jet engine behind the SR71, among others) works.
A pretty interesting article about Cold War era Soviet maps.
Via Jordan, a long story about the fight to restore Hetch Hetchy and the history & future of dams in general.
The MIT team won the SpaceX Hyperloop competition.
"PDFs are where information goes to die."
Counting calories isn't the best way to estimate weight gain/loss.

This seems crazy but apparently some restaurants in China are adding opium poppies to their food (via Mike).

Love, Spencer.

p.s. - We should be better friends. Send me a note - coffee's on me :)