Years ago, my friend and I had a tumblr called Loo York City where we reviewed bar bathrooms in NYC. We had some fun nights drinking at bars and writing up grandiose assessments about life based on where you go pee. The page received no traction whatsoever and we eventually took it down, but I still have local copies of the reviews and reread them more often than I care to admit. The writing is more entertaining and memory-triggering than any free-form journal I ever attempted.
Nowadays, I write beer (and sometimes wine) reviews in a similar matter. I would never post them on untappd or elsewhere because the thought of someone who brewed the beer actually stumbling across something so self-indulgent makes me uneasy, but I have found it to be a fun, low-stakes creative outlet (even if my wife dislikes me writing notes while we're out)
I think the improvements and increased acceptance of prefabricated construction and machine learning can make for an intriguing combination. I am by no means a construction specialist, but if you distill ML to new innovation from historical data sets, architecture certainly has untapped potential.
Just imagine being able to input a geolocation and automatically receiving insight about construction that optimizes for usable space, energy efficiency, or even the prospective homeowner's lifestyle (an AI that recommends different layout options for a family of 5, lifelong bachelor, and non-family roommates on identical quarter-acre plots)
On a slightly more disruptive angle, imagine an AI that could understand a municipality's building code and optimize the space while complying with the literal requirements. Your town has banned finished attics without two methods of egress? Here is an ideal renovation that will provide that necessary balcony while maintaining budget (and here are 4 other buildings in the town that were approved with the same design).
if the genetic algorithm was built such that it used simulated traditional building materials and assembly techniques then sure.
otherwise most genetic algorithms essentially boil down to calculating local minima and maxima of stresses and strains, and optimizes accordingly. The resulting geometry is generally fine for a manufacturing technique such as 3d printing.
Otherwise, despite the material efficiency the labor involved might explode exponentially.
I'm pretty sure I've seen urban planning software that use building codes / parametric parameters to to do this. But architecture / construction has poor history of adopting leading edge tech (constructionphysics.substack.com has great dives into history).
One thing i'm excited for is AI generating ornamentation combined with additive/subtractive manufacturing and we might finally get relatively budget revival of a bunch of more craft based aethetics. Even though we can (relatively) cheaply create detailed geometry now, it's still cost prohibitive to design said details.
Observe a trivia night focused on a specific TV Show (like Simpsons or Seinfeld trivia) and you'll see this phenomena en masse. People make connections based on plotlines, celebrity guest stars, or even head writers on episodes and then can drill down to a precise line of dialogue or gag.
The same thing happens with die-hard sports fans. You ask "Who was the rookie points leader on the 05-06 Toronto Maple Leafs?" and a sports nut can start piecing together how the team did that year, who was on their roster, and finally derive an educated guess.
For sure! One of the hallmarks in how ADHD often presents is also hyperfocus on things they’re particularly interested in, which also exists in non-ADHD folks sometimes of course. Paul was clearly curious about everything, and hyperfocused on a few things (music). Get Back is a great thing to watch to see this in action; his brain flies from idea to idea, until he lands on one he is imminently curious about and then that’s all he talks or thinks about for hours.
I don't do a lot of interviewing at my company, but I encountered my first fraud candidate two weeks ago. He said he was having connectivity issues and asked about not joining video. I offered to work with HR to reschedule but he said he didn't want to inconvenience anyone. If it was purely my decision, I would say no video = no interview, but I guess fraudsters thrive when administrative coordination breaks down.
He gave a technically sound answer to every question, but I was extremely skeptical. For one thing, he wholeheartedly agreed to the design outlined in my "honeypot" question where the solution would be something prone to triggering immense technical debt. He also dismissed the "soft" question about a time he encountered a challenge.
His most recent work experience was at a competitor where a former colleague works (we're in a niche space). That friend told me he encountered the same thing, including a candidate who recently claimed to work at my company and was moving (I never heard of the name nor could find mention in Slack/AD).
It's not quite "dying", but there is a pattern that is so obvious it's confounding:
> Small group of experts form Boutique Consultancy focused on specific technology (Cloud, SaaS Product, Framework, Open-source tool, etc.); Headcount = ~10 employees
> Experts start making referrals and mentoring analysts in specific technology; Slight diversification in offerings; Headcount = ~100 employees
> Boutique Consultancy makes major splash with huge client; Hire like crazy; Maybe accept additional investment; Headcount = ~300 employees
> Boutique Consultancy gets acquired by Global Service and Consulting Provider; Assurance that branding and leadership will remain; Buyers interested in "synergy deals"; Headcount = ~300 employees in +100,000 employee network
> Original experts and early employees take acquisition payouts and find/found new Boutique Consultancies; Buyers satisfied with acquired brand and customer base; Headcount = ~100 employees
I am curious how the leanest of "cutting-edge" startups will adapt to these new employee expectations. In the short-term, designing a company as "remote first" is a huge boon, but I could foresee a bounce-back to close collaboration in the coming years.
Innovation is rarely harvested in a vacuum; the best ideas emerge when experts hang out "at the water cooler". I think the volatility of the past two years has reduced the demand for innovation, as no one knows what the "new normal" is actually going to look like. Once this stabilizes, I can foresee passionate, lean teams that work in close proximity outperforming pre-2020 firms.
Or maybe my contrarian views are unfounded and the "Garage Startup" has truly been killed by the "Discord Startup"
To start, malls tend to be built on highways removed from a municipality's center. Many of the people in this area will need certain amenities (for example, schools) and will have commutes. The entire surrounding area would have to be redesigned before you can plop 2,000 new residents in an empty lot.
I'm not saying it can't be done, but making something more desirable is more complicated than just rezoning. And making something less desirable could be absolutely dystopian.
The mall is perfectly suited to adapt to 2000 new residents; shift one store to a grocery, one to a daycare, and you're 90% of the way to rebuilding a nice little town center that lets people live most of their lives without a car.
The real problem is the planning profession, which has taken to such micromanagement of central planning that there's no way to dynamically adjust spaces to better uses. In my local downtown area, there are extremely strict rules about which type of retail are allowed where. And how close to which corners. It's a disaster.
My wife is pescatarian, which has really lowered my consumption of meat. There is such a weird contrast between meat marketing and the actual use. With my reduced consumption, I am still sometimes pulled in by marketing: the masterfully grilled steak; the shawarma roasting on a spit; the artisanal burger with a delicate balance of ground beef, fat, sausage, and maybe one or two secret ingredients...
...but this expectation rarely meets the reality when I order a meat item. Modern consumers have high demands for consistency and convenience, and that usually means adjuncts, breading, blending, and other techniques to account for the uncertainties of agriculture. I think we are still generations away from indistinguishable lab meat, but there are so many advances that are ready for market.
I don't understand why the industry is so determined to R&D that "replaces" all animal consumption when more specific, modest goals (replacing the chicken nugget, replacing the pepperoni) would have a notable environmental improvement.
> modest goals (replacing the chicken nugget, replacing the pepperoni)
Quorn have made 'Crispy Nuggets'[1] from funghi for decades. They're a great replacement for chicken nuggets and I feel like if someone ate them without realising they wouldn't question what they're eating.
My old boss gave me one of hers at lunch one day. I noticed instantly.
But I'm still of a mind that if you want to promote vegetarianism, make vegetable recipes taste better; don't make the vegetables imitate something they're not.
I feel similarly, but when the thing being imitated is just breaded and fried "stuff" like a nugget, it seems like an inexpensive, tasty vegan filling should be simpler. Maybe the distinction is making a bite that is delicious, not necessarily something meat-like. If the nugget is good, you won't care if the filling is chicken, mozzarella, bean, or something else.
If folks enjoy them, what's the harm? There's a brand of TVP-based taco "meat" (Fantastic World Foods) that I actually like better than beef. Perhaps your boss has fond memories related to chicken nuggets and wants to enjoy the nostalgia.
I don't even think it's necessarily the taste of meat, but rather having something that is as widely compatible with recipes as what it is intended to replace.
For instance, some of these replacement items can't be boiled as one might in making a soup. It makes it difficult to complete a meal without refactoring the whole thing in some cases.
Plain meat is pretty... From what I recall typically doesn't have much taste without several additives like salt, butter, herbs typically marinated... You can do all that with the replacements, typically.
Not a judgment on your wife, but sharing for general awareness: I would eat land animals before eating fish again. You can read Outlaw Ocean for a quick look at how awful the seafood industry is. The seafood industry has everything from slavery, abuse, animal population decimation, and more, which is directly supported by anyone who eats seafood:
> Do you know if the fish on your plate is legal? A new study estimates that 20 to 32 percent of wild-caught seafood imported into the U.S. comes from illegal or "pirate" fishing
Yeah, I'm a firm believer in moderation and not allowing perfection to get in the way of progress. So many decisions can be seen as immoral once examined under heavy scrutiny and choosing to be "vegetarian" instead of just "eating meat on special occasions" has a profoundly different impact on relationships and daily life.
My entire argument above was basically that an invisible hand removing meat from everyday products will be a greater win for the environment than expecting a segment of consumers to go completely vegan.
Not only is it tougher to book an act and fill a venue outside of a town whose economy is fueled by 20-somethings, but I think there is also a NIMBY factor, mostly justified by noise complaints. If there are any residential neighbors next to your pre-war warehouse turned-venue, you will get noise complaints... except in a college town where everyone is basically inoculated to that behavior.
Nowadays, I write beer (and sometimes wine) reviews in a similar matter. I would never post them on untappd or elsewhere because the thought of someone who brewed the beer actually stumbling across something so self-indulgent makes me uneasy, but I have found it to be a fun, low-stakes creative outlet (even if my wife dislikes me writing notes while we're out)