journey into solids

February 21, 2022

Welcome to Corgi-Class Starship, the newsletter that's ready to welcome the next week's worth of actual Bay Area winter weather with wide open arms 

You'll Like This

Update(s) on thing(s) I made or somehow helped to bring about.Idea Factory GiveawayThe thing about having a 4yo and a baby who doesn't yet sleep through the night is that you can't put them in the same room together overnight, and it's also not possible to put yourself in the room with him without causing even more sleep complications. Long story short, we're sleeping in the office (the house's third and possibly actual master bedroom, considering it has the attached half bath) on the pull-out couch, which is also where my computer is, so the edit on the last episode we recorded (which admittedly was last year) still isn't quite complete. But it'll get there someday!As of the time of this writing, there are still 43 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ratings, plus howevermany wonderful reviews. You have the power to take us to 45 and beyond: you!!Instant Band Night 15: TIME WARPThis is your heads up that we're gonna reschedule Instant Band Night 15 for July as soon as I can confirm the date is free with the event space. Surely by July we'll get those vaccines for the kids under 5?? (Eventbrite) (Facebook)+ +  r e t u r n i n g   i n   2 0 2 2  + ++ +  h a n g   i n   t h e r e  + + 

Medium Ramble

Skippable if you're in a hurry.You may have already heard about Vampire Survivors, but if you haven't, it's a great little snack of a videogame. You can try it in your browser right now. The only controls are the arrow keys; your weapons fire automatically, so the only thing you have to do is move your character around and kill monsters. It's simple, it's fun, and occasionally you can put together enough power-ups to become an absolute whirlwind of monster death. I think I read somewhere that the guy who designed it used to work on casino tech, which I understand deeply, having played a bunch of it by now -- I bought myself a copy, which was extremely easy because it's three bucks. For the price of, like, half a coffee, you can unleash a torrent of destruction on malevolent bats, skeletons, and weird little plant zombies basically whenever you want, and there have already been updates. It's great. I endorse it. Seriously, try the browser version and then you'll know. Let's all be in this space together! 

#dadthoughts

Also skippable if you're in a hurry or don't care. No judgment.Two teeth have begun to make what seems to us like a verrrrrry slooooooooow emergence from Felix's bottom gums,* so we're starting the journey into solids. Thus far, I would summarize his views as:Avocado: Sure, why not.Butternut squash puree: Nectar of the gods. A++ would eat again, at all times, anytime.Plain yogurt: Pretty dang great!Broccoli puree: Suspicious.Plain potato mash: Eh.Broccoli puree or plain potato mash mixed with butternut squash puree: Sounds good to me!!!!Mashed banana: Meh.We'll try him on banana again soon; next up will be pears, steamed within an inch of their lives and pureed. In the near future the freezer will be full of Ziploc bags containing cubes of various colors, like what I imagine the kitchen on Captain Kirk's Enterprise must've been packed with. This was a fun phase with Quentin; let's hope it's the same with his little brother.* They only seem to bother him after about 2p, and we've found a dose of Tylenol lasts him until roughly bedtime, at which point we can put some ibuprofen in him that carries him to 2a. 

Fascination Corner

I read a lot of newsletters; here are some links that caught my eye. 

  • As if there wasn't enough to worry about already, antibiotic resistance is getting worse out there. (Vox) 

  • The Sandy Hook families reached a $73M settlement with Remington; good, but I don't know how broadly applicable their strategy is, especially if gun companies decide to adjust their marketing. (CNN) 

  • Is anyone surprised that white supremacists (a) really want to destroy progressive art (b) get away with it regularly? (Gizmodo) 

  • How to live with your regrets. (BBC) 

  • This is a pretty good summation of the failures of crypto from a much more technically experienced and organized mind than mine (namely one of the co-founders of Nvidia); it flies just low enough over my head to be enjoyable, and you might like it too. Also you get quotes like "Libertarianism's attraction is based on ignoring externalities, and cryptocurrencies are no exception." King shit. (DSHR's Blog) 

  • Please enjoy these GAN-generated vintage sci fi novel covers. (CDM) 

  • "What Your Favorite Sad Dad Band Says About You" (McSweeney's) 

  • Some Engineers have been doing work on an android that can make recognizable facial expressions, although they're somewhat limited by the fact that silicone skin doesn't really wrinkle. I think when we get to the point where androids are a thing, they'll just have a flatscreen for a face anyway. I'm calling it now. (RIKEN) 

  • The Scientists have figured out that you can transmit data with light underwater by using solar cells as receivers. (Optica) 

  • An idea for interstellar exploration that's been gaining a lot of ground recently is to blast tiny probes to other star systems using a combination of lightsails and ground-based lasers. But how do you design a sail that won't tear when you shoot your big laser at it? (U Penn) 

  • I like when a species we're trying to restore is a nice r-strategy type: conservationists are trying to bring oysters back to parts of the Chesapeake by firehosing millions of them into the water. (Hakai) 

  • Almost 10% of the oil that spilled out of the Deepwater Horizon disaster was dissolved by sunlight, according to a recent study. (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) 

  • Looks like the trees on the edges of the forest -- the ones near developed areas -- suck more CO2 out of the air than we thought. (BU) 

  • It's been goddamn years and the concept of the "smart home" is still nowhere near market-ready for the average person. (TechCrunch) 

  • Did you know there's a whole subreddit that tries to connect people who want to learn a skill with people who are happy to give advice about said skill? Fascinatingly simple. (r/IWantToLearn) 

  • The Scientists have engineered a strain of bacteria capable of converting CO2 into industrially useful chemicals, and they think it might be readily scalable!!!!! (Northwestern) 

  • Here's an interesting case study from a civic design nonprofit that redid the DMV renewal mailings for the state of Michigan, saving them an estimated 32M sheets of paper. (Civilla) 

A Fictional Thing

Something made-up that somehow suggested itself to me and which I could not escape.A band and their albumWe Who Hunt You, It Is Purpose that Drives Us(If you've made it this far, feel free to hit REPLY and tell me what you think this band/album sounds like, because now I'm curious) 

Thanks

If you've read this far, I thank you. Feel free to forward this to someone you like, or inflict upon someone you don't.