index.md (10142B)
1 --- 2 title: "Dispatch #36 (February 2026)" 3 date: 2026-02-02T00:26:33-05:00 4 draft: false 5 tags: 6 - dispatch 7 references: 8 - title: "OpenSCAD Is Kinda Neat – nuxx.net" 9 url: https://nuxx.net/blog/2025/12/20/openscad-is-kinda-neat/ 10 date: 2026-01-07T14:53:56Z 11 file: nuxx-net-xnrgb7.txt 12 - title: "The Enduring Point of Pointless Corp | Viget" 13 url: https://www.viget.com/articles/the-enduring-point-of-pointless-corp/ 14 date: 2023-04-05T14:58:49Z 15 file: www-viget-com-97ckk4.txt 16 - title: "AprilTag Introduction – FIRST Tech Challenge Docs 0.3 documentation" 17 url: https://ftc-docs.firstinspires.org/en/latest/apriltag/vision_portal/apriltag_intro/apriltag-intro.html 18 date: 2026-02-02T05:08:14Z 19 file: ftc-docs-firstinspires-org-thvpq0.txt 20 - title: "Dan McQuade, 1983–2026 | Defector" 21 url: https://defector.com/dan-mcquade-1983-2026 22 date: 2026-01-30T03:40:45Z 23 file: defector-com-hefgsb.txt 24 - title: "Food Comas and Some Bests • Buttondown" 25 url: https://buttondown.com/nathanlong/archive/food-comas-and-some-bests/ 26 date: 2026-01-06T18:39:37Z 27 file: buttondown-com-lxmsti.txt 28 - title: "3 books with Samuel Arbesman (Interconnected)" 29 url: https://interconnected.org/home/2025/11/14/arbesman 30 date: 2026-01-06T18:40:18Z 31 file: interconnected-org-9bc7pq.txt 32 - title: "Things you're allowed to do" 33 url: https://milan.cvitkovic.net/writing/things_youre_allowed_to_do/ 34 date: 2026-02-02T05:25:17Z 35 file: milan-cvitkovic-net-aqgldo.txt 36 - title: "Singing the gospel of collective efficacy (Interconnected)" 37 url: https://interconnected.org/home/2026/01/30/efficacy 38 date: 2026-02-02T05:25:18Z 39 file: interconnected-org-heqhgj.txt 40 - title: "The Dilbert Afterlife - by Scott Alexander" 41 url: https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/the-dilbert-afterlife 42 date: 2026-02-02T05:25:27Z 43 file: www-astralcodexten-com-z9axyx.txt 44 - title: "Manton Reece" 45 url: https://www.manton.org/2026/01/20/matt-mullenweg-blogged-about-scott.html 46 date: 2026-02-02T05:25:28Z 47 file: www-manton-org-to8xs2.txt 48 - title: "Velocity Is the New Authority. Here’s Why – On my Om" 49 url: https://om.co/2026/01/21/velocity-is-the-new-authority-heres-why/ 50 date: 2026-02-02T05:25:30Z 51 file: om-co-i3epdl.txt 52 - title: "Manton Reece - Velocity and authenticity" 53 url: https://www.manton.org/2026/01/21/velocity-and-authenticity.html 54 date: 2026-02-02T05:25:30Z 55 file: www-manton-org-htmmhe.txt 56 - title: "ASCII characters are not pixels: a deep dive into ASCII rendering" 57 url: https://alexharri.com/blog/ascii-rendering 58 date: 2026-02-02T05:25:34Z 59 file: alexharri-com-d1kmv9.txt 60 - title: "JavaScript Weekly Issue 769: January 20, 2026" 61 url: https://javascriptweekly.com/issues/769 62 date: 2026-02-02T05:25:36Z 63 file: javascriptweekly-com-bszyss.txt 64 - title: "Fascists Are Pathetic | Defector" 65 url: https://defector.com/fascists-are-pathetic 66 date: 2026-02-02T05:25:46Z 67 file: defector-com-p9as3r.txt 68 --- 69 70 Greetings from frigid Durham, North Carolina. We've had an uncharacteristic amount of winter precipitation this month (mostly ice last weekend but a few inches of snow this one). On the one hand, our work is pretty flexible and we've gotten plenty of extra time with the kids. On the other, my home office and all my hobbies are in the basement, where it's presently around 40°F, so I'm about ready for things to get back to normal. 71 72 <!--more--> 73 74 {{<dither IMG_3192.jpeg "782x600">}}Bundled up in a double stroller, both kids happily munching snacks on a chilly street.{{</dither>}} 75 {{<dither IMG_3258.jpeg "782x600">}}Snowy woods selfie: bundled mom and baby, rosy cheeks, winter headbands, big smiles.{{</dither>}} 76 77 {{<dither IMG_3244.jpeg "782x600">}}Pink pom-pom hat, tiny hands in the snow, and a big winter laugh.{{</dither>}} 78 {{<dither IMG_3260.jpeg "782x600">}}Bundled up and ready for a snowy sled ride.{{</dither>}} 79 80 I spent a few days in Miami for a company leadership retreat. Highlights included a run along the [Miami Beach Beachwalk][1] and beers at [Abbey Brewing Company][2]. Then we headed up to DC for a friend's baby shower and some time with my folks. 81 82 [1]: https://www.miamibeachfl.gov/city-hall/parks-and-recreation/parks-facilities-directory/beachwalk/ 83 [2]: https://www.instagram.com/abbeybrewingmia/ 84 85 While we were up there, our car finally gave up the ghost. It's been struggling to start for a while now, so it wasn't completely unexpected, but I'd hoped to replace it by choice rather than by necessity. We've got a Toyota Rav4 plug-in hybrid headed our way. I'm pretty psyched for this, getting around town on electric power but still being able to fill up with gas when we travel. 86 87 ### Voice Note Shortcut 88 89 I'm constantly thinking of, and then promptly forgetting, things I need to do, groceries to buy, ideas for these blog posts, etc. I've been on the hunt for some way to quickly capture these fleeting thoughts. I like the idea of a ring that can record voice memos, but [this one][3] requires a $10/mo subscription, and [this one][4] just ... turns into trash after 12-15 hours of recording. 90 91 Instead, I played around in the iOS Shortcuts app and made a shortcut that captures text from speech, then looks for a note named for today's date (creating it if necessary) and appends the dictated text to it. Then I made it so that double-tapping the back of the phone launches the shortcut (shout out Viget friend [Max Myers][5]). I'm getting a ton of utility from this, using it throughout my day. [Here's the shortcut if you want to give it a shot.][6] 92 93 [3]: https://www.sandbar.com/stream 94 [4]: https://repebble.com/index 95 [5]: https://maxmyers.me/ 96 [6]: /journal/dispatch-36-february-2026/voice-note.shortcut 97 98 ### 3D Printing 99 100 Still having a blast with the 3D printer (though, again, too cold to operate it at present). Made a ton of toys for the kids, stuff for the house, and (of course) accessories for the printer itself. 101 102 Friend of the blog [Tim Hårek][7] linked to [this post about OpenSCAD][8], which lets you define 3D models with code. I had Codex help me make a stencil for Nev to use for her Valentine's Day cards. Then I ordered this [Crayola airbrush kit][9], which works shockingly well. She's been having a blast with it. 103 104 [7]: https://timharek.no/ 105 [8]: https://nuxx.net/blog/2025/12/20/openscad-is-kinda-neat/ 106 [9]: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTB2N2D9 107 108 {{<dither IMG_9773.jpeg "782x600">}}Blue 3D pen and a fresh printed “happy valentine’s day! ♥ nev” card on the worktable.{{</dither>}} 109 {{<dither IMG_9772.jpeg "782x600">}}“Happy Valentine’s day!” and “Nev” stamped on a pink slip with a heart.{{</dither>}} 110 111 We're doing our [company hackathon][10] in a few weeks, and I'm planning to use the printer to make something with both physical and digital components (probably involving [AprilTags][11]). 112 113 [10]: https://www.viget.com/articles/the-enduring-point-of-pointless-corp/ 114 [11]: https://ftc-docs.firstinspires.org/en/latest/apriltag/vision_portal/apriltag_intro/apriltag-intro.html 115 116 Finally, [RIP Dan McQuade][12]. 43 years old. What the hell. I'm off to hug my family. 117 118 [12]: https://defector.com/dan-mcquade-1983-2026 119 120 ### This Month 121 122 * Adventure: keeping it local this month (though I guess I need to get up to DC to deal with the car at some point) but lots of friends and family visiting 123 * Project: aforementioned hackathon 124 * Skill: I predict I'm going to struggle to meet all of my commitments this month, so I'm going to give myself a little bit of grace on this one 125 126 ### Reading & Listening 127 128 * Fiction: [_The Will of the Many_][13], James Islington ([via][14]) 129 * Non-fiction: [_The Magic of Code_][15], Samuel Arbesman ([via][16]) 130 * Music: I've got a bit of a backlog here; gonna spend some time with the records I already have rather than buying something new 131 132 [13]: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Will-of-the-Many/James-Islington/Hierarchy/9781982141189 133 [14]: https://buttondown.com/nathanlong/archive/food-comas-and-some-bests/ 134 [15]: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/samuel-arbesman/the-magic-of-code/9781541704480/ 135 [16]: https://interconnected.org/home/2025/11/14/arbesman 136 137 ### Links 138 139 * [Things you're allowed to do][17] ([via][18]) 140 141 > This is a list of things you’re allowed to do that you thought you weren’t, or didn’t even know you could. 142 143 * [The Dilbert Afterlife - by Scott Alexander][19] ([via][20]) 144 145 > Once you’re sufficiently prominent, politics becomes a separating equilibrium; if you lean even slightly to one side, the other will pile on you so massively and traumatically that it will force you into their opponents’ open arms just for a shred of psychological security. 146 147 * [Velocity Is the New Authority. Here’s Why – On my Om][21] ([via][22]) 148 149 > Authority used to be the organizing principle of information, and thus the media. You earned attention by being right, by being first in discovery, or by being big enough to be the default. That world is gone. The new and current organizing principle of information is velocity. 150 151 * [ASCII characters are not pixels: a deep dive into ASCII rendering][23] ([via][24]) 152 153 > Recently, I’ve been spending my time building an image-to-ASCII renderer. Below is the result — try dragging it around, the demo is interactive! 154 155 * [Fascists Are Pathetic | Defector][25] 156 157 > In Trump's second term, the federal government has intentionally rid itself of the capacity to do anything but make things worse; it has quite literally traded Ph.D scientists and dedicated civil servants for the chance to hastily stand up this expansion team from the waiver wire flotsam of the violence worker community. 158 159 [17]: https://milan.cvitkovic.net/writing/things_youre_allowed_to_do/ 160 [18]: https://interconnected.org/home/2026/01/30/efficacy 161 [19]: https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/the-dilbert-afterlife 162 [20]: https://www.manton.org/2026/01/20/matt-mullenweg-blogged-about-scott.html 163 [21]: https://om.co/2026/01/21/velocity-is-the-new-authority-heres-why/ 164 [22]: https://www.manton.org/2026/01/21/velocity-and-authenticity.html 165 [23]: https://alexharri.com/blog/ascii-rendering 166 [24]: https://javascriptweekly.com/issues/769 167 [25]: https://defector.com/fascists-are-pathetic