Eduardo3rd

Lumafield co-founder and CEO here. Stay tuned - we’re bringing SotM back!

'I had Craftsman power tools until battery replacements were only available from fly-by-night companies and a couple of the tools started failing (after 20 years). I wound up buying a couple of DeWalt tools on sale and they've been rock-solid. So I added a couple more as needed.'

I think we are in complete agreement! After 20 years of use are are more than qualified to know what you need and go get it regardless of the price point!

High quality tools are absolutely a joy! I love the high end tools that I get to use in my professional life as a mechanical engineer. (less frequently now that I am a manager, but you never get tired of using a well designed Festool, Bosch, or Wera product)

However,I don't need the same level of quality in the things I have at home. I've built, repaired, and otherwise tinkered away on countless projects over the years with things I found/bought on sale/picked up along the way with no issues. I'm not a professional [plumber, carpenter, electrician, mason, machinist, etc] and I don't need the same tools they have to get the job done safely.

There's nothing wrong with choosing to spend your personal money on high end tools. In general I find the attitude around tool ownership to be one of gate keeping though, and I'm more interested in getting started and discovering what I really need with less expensive tools than I am in spending my entire budget on high end equipment only to learn that I don't need specific expensive features after a few uses.

I've long subscribed to the philosophy that you should buy the cheapest tool you can find and use safely, use it until it wears out, breaks, or your skill surpasses the capability of the tool - and only then should you spend money on high quality tools. Too much money is thrown away in the name of "buy once, cry once" only to discover that you don't need the capabilities offered by the top of the line options.

I would argue that outside of the Elon Musk tier of the deep tech world (and there's really only one person like that) almost every other person I know making measurable progress in hard technology is extremely focused on one thing at a time. The Crichton style 100-things-at-once approach grabs more headlines, retweets, and attention - but most of the engineers I know working on fusion reactors, electric vehicles, carbon capture, artificial intelligence, space travel, and medical advances are not trying to be VCs, entertainers, authors, and philanthropists at the same time they move their field forward.

Focus on running towards what actually moves the world forward and you'll discover the other people who are keeping up with you quickly. Don't worry about all of the noise around busier people working on other things. None of that will last.

“Every man has two deaths, when he is buried in the ground and the last time someone says his name. In some ways men can be immortal.”

― Ernest Hemingway

No one remembers the names of those yet to be born. The frame of reference matters a great deal here.

Meter | https://careers.meter.parts/ | San Francisco, CA and Boston, MA | Full time | Onsite

Meter is a developing next-generation volumetric imaging technology. We are building a machine that can see inside of anything and cloud-based software for processing the complex, volumetric data that the machine produces. Our technology will give engineers, designers, and eventually medical practitioners more confidence in their processes and lower the barrier to high quality imaging and inspection tools.

Our team of engineers includes world-class researchers, industrial designers, PhDs, founders of successful startups, and zero egos. We are backed by some of the top venture capital funds and angel investors in Silicon Valley and beyond. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, MA and has an office in San Francisco, CA.

We’re hiring across a number of open positions including…

Computational Imaging Scientist - Build state-of-the-art image processing systems

Research Scientist - Independently lead and contribute to applied research projects

Mechanical Engineer - Design structural components and motion systems for products

Backend Web Engineer- Drive development of the backend tech stack behind Meter’s customer-facing web app and websites

Computational Geometry Engineer - Build state-of-the-art geometry processing systems

DevOps Engineer -Architect Meter’s cloud data processing pipeline for performance and scalability

Frontend Engineer - Build user-friendly 3D experiences utilizing React, Typescript, Three.js, and WebGL

Apply at https://careers.meter.parts/ or email jobs@meter.parts if you have any questions

Meter | https://jobs.lever.co/meter | San Francisco, CA and Boston, MA | Full time | Onsite

Meter is a developing next-generation volumetric imaging technology. We are building a machine that can see inside of anything and cloud-based software for processing the complex, volumetric data that the machine produces. Our technology will give engineers, designers, and eventually medical practitioners more confidence in their processes and lower the barrier to high quality imaging and inspection tools.

Our team of engineers includes world-class researchers, industrial designers, PhDs, founders of successful startups, and zero egos. We are backed by some of the top venture capital funds and angel investors in Silicon Valley and beyond. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, MA and has an office in San Francisco, CA.

We’re hiring across a number of open positions including…

Computational Imaging Scientist - Build state-of-the-art image processing systems

Research Scientist - Independently lead and contribute to applied research projects

Mechanical Engineer - Design structural components and motion systems for products

Backend Web Engineer- Drive development of the backend tech stack behind Meter’s customer-facing web app and websites

Computational Geometry Engineer - Build state-of-the-art geometry processing systems

DevOps Engineer -Architect Meter’s cloud data processing pipeline for performance and scalability

Frontend Engineer - Build user-friendly 3D experiences utilizing React, Typescript, Three.js, and WebGL

UI/UX Designer - Lead design for an integrated hardware/software ecosystem

Apply at https://jobs.lever.co/meter or email jobs@meter.parts if you have any questions

Meter | https://jobs.lever.co/meter | San Francisco, CA and Boston, MA | Full time | Onsite

Meter is a developing next-generation volumetric imaging technology. We are building a machine that can see inside of anything and cloud-based software for processing the complex, volumetric data that the machine produces. Our technology will give engineers, designers, and eventually medical practitioners more confidence in their processes and lower the barrier to high quality imaging and inspection tools.

Our team of engineers includes world-class researchers and industrial designers, PhDs, founders of successful startups, and zero egos. We are backed by some of the top venture capital funds and angel investors in Silicon Valley and beyond. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, MA and has an office in San Francisco, CA.

We’re hiring across a number of open positions including…

Computational Imaging Scientist - Build state-of-the-art image processing systems

Research Scientist - Independently lead and contribute to applied research projects

Mechanical Engineer - Design structural components and motion systems for products

Backend Web Engineer- Drive development of the backend tech stack behind Meter’s customer-facing web app and websites

Computational Geometry Engineer - Build state-of-the-art geometry processing systems

DevOps Engineer -Architect Meter’s cloud data processing pipeline for performance and scalability

Frontend Engineer - Build user-friendly 3D experiences utilizing React, Typescript, Three.js, and WebGL

UI/UX Designer - Lead design for an integrated hardware/software ecosystem

Apply at https://jobs.lever.co/meter or email jobs@meter.parts if you have any questions

I'm not an MIT alumnus, but if I was one I feel like this joke would write itself.

Gimmick or not, wearables (Watch + Airpods) are a massive business for Apple. Large enough that they would be a F500 company if spun out at current revenue numbers.

https://fortune.com/2019/08/06/apple-airpods-business/

I don't think you can characterize that as a business failure.

This was written back when YC was a few companies per batch and all of the biggest successes were yet to materialize.

Today?

Stripe: 2,500+, AirBnB: 6,300+, Dropbox: 2,300+

I wonder if this stance changed a dozen years later now that there are several multi-thousand person organizations in the YC network. Does PG think differently today after seeing several examples of large companies run by people he knows personally, or would he tell a talented hacker not to work at Stripe because it is too big?

Meter | Multiple Positions | San Francisco, CA | Full Time | Onsite

Meter is a startup building volumetric imaging technology. We are focused on improving industrial inspection with better hardware and software.

Our software team works closely with the hardware team to develop cutting edge computational imaging software, geometric processing technology, and customer facing products. You’ll have a chance to explore and develop novel solutions to several different classes of problems as part of the Meter team.

Our current team of engineers includes researchers and industrial designers, PhDs, founders of successful startups, and zero egos. We are backed by some of the top venture capital funds and angel investors in Silicon Valley and beyond.

Our open roles (below) are listed here: https://jobs.lever.co/meter

Full Stack Software Engineer | SF Bay Area | Full Time | https://jobs.lever.co/meter/7dfa9869-cd47-4c1a-80a1-a6124c5b...

Computational Imaging Scientist | SF Bay Area | Full Time | https://jobs.lever.co/meter/9f2d724f-b4e2-41d7-9747-b285f2ab...

Computational Geometry Engineer | SF Bay Area | Full Time | https://jobs.lever.co/meter/6648a8b2-281d-4eca-b663-724bf110...

browser console is a pretty under rated feature. I wish it was used more extensively to teach people how to code. so many cool little hacks you can do on public web pages that cement new concepts quickly.

Yes.

The cost to do the work and the cost to ensure compliance with the law would both be real dollar amounts for most small companies. Enough that if you wanted to try out an experimental new service you'd have to take into account that cost in your budgeting.

Telling a company (or individual) that they need to sit down and pay to kill their products means they will think harder before they launch them. That's a barrier, and it will slow down innovation and make sure that only the companies with the resources to support compliance and open sourcing will be the ones to launch new services.

This is a great example.

I'm not saying that the behavior Sonos engaged in here is good - I'm just saying that jumping to "it should be illegal" so quickly without considering all of the secondary impacts is a mistake.

Practically speaking it costs time and therefore money to do this. Small companies can't be expected to have both the technical and legal resources on hand to ensure compliance in the event of an EOL event for an API.

It's only faulty if you look at it through very narrow lens. Not every company has FAANG (or even VC backed startup) level of funding to support these kinds of efforts. Telling a small business that they are going to be breaking the law if they don't sit down and open source all of the code for a project they have decided to abandon is preposterous.

A penalty large enough to impact the companies you care about here would be business destroying to a small organization. Individuals and companies are not going to want to assume that kind of liability. I don't see how anyone could support this kind of measure if they are thinking about the breadth of business out there.

Strongly disagree. Your proposal would squash innovation and make sure that no small company ever creates an API based system again.

Why is it a negative consequence that the replacement requires no skill? Turning on a light switch requires far less skill than trimming wicks for oil lamps, but I'd consider that a feature not a bug.

Exciting announcement for the OpenAI team.

The wording in the press release reminds me of a question I haven't been able to answer for a while now. Can anyone point me to the moment in time when general purpose artificial intelligence was re-branded to artificial general intelligence? Is GAI that much worse of an acronym than AGI? What's the deal here?

Boston based founder here - I think it makes perfect sense.

- NY is far easier to get to Boston from anywhere else on the east coast - flights, busses, trains, etc. Much less Europe.

- While the amount of total VC dollars invested in each city is similar[0], I've always gotten the impression that figure is skewed by a small number of mega-rounds going into the biotechnology companies in Kendall Square vs. the number of companies in the wider ecosystems.

- NY is just a better city to visit. More public transit options, hotel rooms, things to see while you are in town for the interview, etc.

I love Boston, but I'd make the same decision.

[0] https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/04/boston-area-startups-are-o...

Interesting example of a place where a small but meaningful advantage in a manual application (reduced eye strain during visual inspection) leads to a larger, nearly insurmountable advantage in a world where the task has been largely automated thanks to preexisting R&D/economies of scale. I expect we will see more and more of this in the coming decades across multiple industries.

Anything else fit this pattern today?

“Needed at home - USB Power Adapter 5V, 1A or greater”

It’s a $250 device that doesn’t include a plug for the charger. I don’t know if that’s an effort to save money or reduce waste, but either way it strikes me as a way to guarantee a subset of customers are annoyed in their first 30 minutes of using the product.

What am I missing here?

I’m a big fan of “Mistaking directing for leading” here. So often I see new leaders mistake their new responsibility for results with a need to be in charge of every decision. There’s a big difference between leading and simply being in charge. Don’t base your own habits on the poor management styles you’ve seen in the past.

I very much enjoyed Part 2 of this article. It puts forward a much more complete framework for success than part one, which mostly just talks about the flaws in many standard approaches.

The notion that you are going to find the perfect person for the rest of your life at any given moment in time is ridiculous - you are going to change, they are going to change, your relationship is going to change both of you. The sense of friendship, being at home with one another, and the mindset that a marriage takes work have all been instrumental in my own marriage so far.

My wife and I met in our early 20s. The things we wanted out of life - both individually and as a couple - have changed significantly over the past decade. It is likely that if either of us had known where we would end up we might not have chosen our past selves to be together with our future selves. However, we've been a part of every individual and collective change and have worked to build a strong relationship through the changes. There is something amazing about walking through adulthood together and staying committed through all of the ups and downs.

Sure - this paper (PDF warning) is a decent place to start learning about how the process works. http://quebec.hwr.arizona.edu/classes/hwr432/2014/jones02-TD...

I haven't looked at the industry in a couple of years, but I think that many of the high-end commercial sensors use some variation of this technique.

I really like the addition of the web camera - it's a nice bonus on top of the more traditional temperature/humidity/light/moisture readings that most people incorporate into these DIY systems. Much better than what I made the first time I built one of these things.[0]

The one thing that made my scratch my head was your approach to measuring moisture. There are several very reliable methods for measuring soil moisture directly (changes in resistance, capacitance, time domain reflectometry, etc) that will give you exactly what you are looking for here.

"Therefore, we felt it was fair to assume that watering based on moisture level is impossible and that GreenPiThumb is doing the best it possibly can, given certain inexorable limits of the physical world."

This just isn't true. The sensor you picked up from Sparkfun should give you decent measurements for a while before degrading gradually depending on your soil chemistry.

[0] I ran a consumer soil moisture IOT company for a few years that was sold to Scotts Miracle Gro in 2016.

Hey Michael - I'm leading the engineering team that is building the Fuse 1 here at Formlabs. This is awesome! I can't wait to try out a few of these prints soon.

Thanks for sharing this with the world. It's so rewarding to see people inspired to make stuff like this based on the printer we have been working on for such a long time.

I'm the lead engineer for the Fuse 1 project here at Formlabs and I think it is safe to say that we'll have something to show off soon. Really glad that Michael shared his code with us all here. Stay tuned!