2016-04-24

Notes.

This week nTopology released a free version of our lattice design software, Element. This is the culmination of a lot of hard work, and I'm totally confident when I say that it's the most powerful lattice design software for 3D printing on the market. And in the coming months we'll be both refining the current product and releasing a series of paid features.

I'd love your feedback - try Element out and send me a note once you've played around!

Wayfinding.

• A good Reddit thread on why companies would or would not use Proto Labs for short run injection molding.
• "There is a very small subset of business problems that are best solved by machine learning; most of them just need good data and an understanding of what it means that is best gained using simple methods."
• Fred Wilson on making decisions efficiently.

Building.

• Parts three, four, and five of that same multipart article on grain flow in forgings.
• "The technology gap left by Amazon’s acquisition of Kiva Systems."
• A good piece in Develop3D about how long it takes big companies to switch to a new software provider.
• Formlabs launched a biocompatible resin aimed at dental guides.

Logistics.

• RRS Boaty McBoatface probably won't be named Boaty McBoatface.
• A contest to make a game adaptation of The Power Broker.

Evaluation.

• A great fit for robots: in our sewers, testing the water.
• How I-81 killed Syracuse, NY.
• On Wink's exodus from Quirky and their future with Flex.

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

• When did the phrase "a thing" become a thing?
• Ben Thompson on Apple's org chart.

And.

I took apart a $6 Nerf gun. It's pretty impressive.