2016-02-29

Notes.

Just putting this out there: I want to meet developers (especially ones who have experience with enterprise desktop software) in NYC.

Pathfinding.

• Weighted shortest job first.
• On the difficulty of incentivizing people to build homes in poor urban neighborhoods.
• Bunnie Huang on how he used Altium to design his book's cover. I like the dedication to principles.
• Horace Dediu on how Apple makes decisions - by prioritizing whatever will help them acquire and retain customers.

Building.

• Boston Dynamics released a video of an updated Atlas robot. I recommend reading both of IEEE Spectrum's posts about them (one, two).
• The 2nd Ave subway is behind schedule, and the MTA is going to spend an additional $66M to meet the December deadline.
• Some pretty impressive robotic hands.
• It looks like GrabCAD is working on printing software that works with CAD files as opposed to STLs.
• In order to film Barry Lyndon without electric lighting, Stanley Kubrick made heavy modifications to some Zeiss lenses (which were originally built for NASA to use on Apollo moon missions). His camera contractor describes the process here.
• Mitsubishi built a robot to handle the mirrors on the thirty meter telescope. The difficulties of identifying and handling mirrors are kinda interesting.

Logistics.

• Via Jenny, a great article about how delays ripple through the NYC subway system.
• A short piece comparing urban and suburban logistics.
• The oculus of the Calatrava Path station - the most expensive train station in the world -  is opening this week.

Evaluation.

• Via Tom, a really interesting blog post on institutional memory, industrial espionage, and reverse engineering.
• Ben Thomson on the Apple/FBI situation.
• An interview with Robert Wilson, legendary short seller.

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

• My awesome wife was interviewed by Hyperallergic about newsletters as artforms. Yowza!
• The same four operas are performed over and over.

And.

A really great piece on how road salt gets to NYC,
and what happens to it once it gets here.