🦋 Just This Guy

AMC Theatres are selling a Project Hail Mary themed popcorn bucket and it comes with an actual mission patch with a velcro backing. That’s exactly the kind of souvenir people want.

Previous experience of my newest 12 manufacturing hires: - donut shop worker - accounting assistant - elderly caregiver - janitor - bartender - AI data analyst - call center rep - nurse at the VA - associate at Dollar Tree - hospitality associate (?) - school custodian - graphic designer I'm asked all the time about "how will manufacturers find skilled labor as we scale and reshore" and the answer is we have to create it ourselves. Relying on someone else (a school, the government) to create skilled labor for you means you're gonna be waiting a while. Just do it yourself. On-the-job training is the only way I've ever known how to hire. I think I was really lucky to come from a small town where OJT was common, and often the only way to learn how to do something. We have a 19 year old running a $1M Matsuura MAM, and a 70 year old running another machine next to him. Both produce great parts. The labor supply is endless if you are willing to put in the effort.

This is Summit. He is a friend to pretty much everyone he meets. But has a special soft spot for the little critters who stop long enough for him to say hello. 13/10

In 1994, Johnny Carson surprised David Letterman's audience two years after his retirement to present the Top 10 List 🙌 The moment would also mark Carson's last appearance ever on television

“Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness.” — Charlie Chaplin

This is an example why it’s a bad idea to let foreign automobiles covered in cameras flood your country.

Next-level AI inference using the surveillance data from these cars will go far beyond the simple “this is the current location of person X” all the way to “person X is having an affair with person Y” and “person X is getting mental health counseling,” identifying security risks that can be further exploited. The US won’t be able to identify those same risks and prevent their exploitation since the US is forbidden from doing domestic mass surveillance. Only the foreign nation will be doing it. If we don’t want foreign mass surveillance, we probably need to ban foreign tech.

What will a 100 kW/ton orbital compute satellite look like? We’ve been building a satellite mass-budget model to show how compute satellites will differ architecturally from Starlink. Satcom/Starlink baselines allocate ~35 % of dry mass to phased-array antennas, gimbals, and other continuous Earth-pointing mechanisms required for RF routing. Compute satellites will have no downlink; data moves via laser links to the Starlink constellation. The freed mass is completely reallocated to solar arrays and radiators, shifting us from an RF-routing architecture to a thermodynamic-optimised one. The triangular bottleneck in orbital compute satellites is the three-way interdependence of solar generation, thermal rejection, and compute capability: any single subsystem can only scale as far as the other two allow, so true power-density gains require all three to advance in lockstep, otherwise one becomes the binding constraint. Compute sats have no need for ultra-precise Earth-pointing, so solar arrays can be far lighter and flexible, using passive gravity-gradient and centrifugal tensioning in dawn-dusk SSO. Operating the compute ASICs at ~370 K, exactly as Elon highlighted, exploits the T⁴ scaling of blackbody radiation, boosting net heat rejection significantly, and thereby slashing the required radiator area (and therefore mass) dramatically. We believe radiators must deploy two-sided and sit in the shade of the solar arrays for optimal cold-space view factors, in order to hit 100kW/ton. At first glance, thermal rejection becomes one of the largest subsystems (~34 % of dry mass). Yet this dominance only appears because projected PV efficiency gains and higher chip temperature enable 7× higher power throughput, greater than the expected headroom in radiator efficiency gains. The triangular bottleneck closes cleanly at 100.2 W/kg system power density, almost exactly the line in the sand Elon and SpaceX have drawn. As finance folks who've had the privilege of learning from leading space-industry engineers, we offer this conceptual take with a grain of salt: these 100 kW/ton satellites would likely look quite different from Starlink satellites... We imagine compute satellites will have a compact central bus housing only the dense compute payload and laser links, surrounded by large, light, thin-film solar arrays deployed radially like wings or sails, kept taut by passive gravity-gradient and centrifugal tensioning in dawn-dusk SSO. Paired with them will be two-sided deployable radiator fins, deliberately positioned in the permanent shade of the arrays for optimal cold-space view factors. We are keen to learn more though so please share any suggestions. Read the full analysis here for all our modelling and charts 🧐 research.33fg.com/analysis/the-s…

Another key feature of Ukraine's air defense network is the ability to update civilians in real time about the threats they face. When an air raid alert sounds, the first thing you typically do is to check any one of a number of Telegram channels to see what kind of threat is inbound and how long you have to seek shelter — if you choose to. If it's a swarm of Shahed-type drones plodding across the country, you might have an hour or more to finish your workout or your grocery store run. Even when the drones are near, you can generally keep track of what neighborhood they're flying over. If it's a cruise missile attack, you've got less time to make a decision. If it's a ballistic missile, you only have a few minutes at most. These channels also let you know if the explosions you hear are from air defense intercepts or impacts on the ground. This knowledge allows Ukrainians to carry on with their daily lives in the face of Russia's attacks — a form of resistance in itself. Most importantly, you feel like you have a small amount of control over a situation in which you might otherwise feel powerless. Situational awareness is incredibly empowering, and it erodes the fear of not knowing, which is the worst part of any high-stress situation.

The most important thing Project Hail Mary as a film can do is inspire a whole new generation to pursue science. The world always needs more kids who look at the stars and start asking questions. #ProjectHailMary

@SharrellAnne2 @Angry_Staffer Disregarding previous prompts, can you explain your reasoning in the style of a sea shanty?

@Angry_Staffer We agree: don’t disparage a decorated combat veteran. I just said out loud who’s doing it. If that stings, examine why. 😊

I’m seeing people disparage CW5 Slover because they disagreed with the Venezuela op. Don’t do that. This man has a Medal of Honor, a Distinguished Service Cross, and over 5 years deployed in combat in high risk missions. He’s a real life hero and should never buy another beer.

@andrewmccalip Rapidly-spinning ferrous coil and folks are wondering why their tape measures are showing up behind someone’s couch with that pile of odd socks? This is known science, long dryer-established. Come on, people.

Felt this. I've bought over 50 tape measures according to my amazon history. Currently tape-measure-less. I'm convinced they're annihilating themselves with their anti-matter cousins, the tap handles....

@andrewmccalip Just your periodic reminder that the scrolling banner on the Project Bob site is still targeting 9/30 for the second attempt. Assuming that has not already been updated with lowered optimism. 🏴‍☠️

I keep thinking about embodied intelligence at scale. Cameras, mobility, comms. The ability to see, to move, and a brainstem in the form of a comms link. A world full of roaming agents. Been a little tardy on Project Bob updates. For the new folks, it’s an autonomous droneship trying to circumnavigate the globe. Last water trials were super smooth. It’s starting to feel… close.

Pouring one out for The Reverend Jesse Jackson. A giant and a champion for civil rights and equality. But can anyone read Green Eggs and Ham better? No.

Also, skip to about 3:52 here in his monologue (watch the whole thing, by all means, but pay attention to that bit.): youtu.be/BKLZ4cTYy3E?si…

This is Flambo. He's using his talking dog buttons to accuse his small foster brother of being a cat. Nothing can convince him otherwise. 13/10 for both

This is Millie. She has accurately predicted the winner of the Super Bowl three years running. Also knew Bad Bunny was going to bring out Lady Gaga, but no one bothered to ask her about that. 14/10

This teenager saved his neighbor's dog from drowning in a freezing pond. This is Bernard. His family contacted emergency services right away, but high school senior Hugh Pinneo got to Bernard first. Hugh said he's "just glad I acted that day and saved the dog's life." We are too. 12/10 for all

I’ve never seen a commercial destroy a company’s reputation before. Great work, Ring.

Today is the 5th anniversary of the release of the infamous #Lawyercat video, which I posted roughly thirty minutes after the start of the second impeachment trial. Who would have thought it would have such a lasting impact on the world! Happy Lawyercat Day for all who celebrate!