2016-02-07

Notes.

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

Pathfinding.

• 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.

Building.

• 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.

Logistics.

• 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.

Evaluation.

• 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.

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

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

And.

Photos from NYIO's tour of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project.