Star Simpson @starsandrobots Twitter profile

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

8 years

The future is STILL unwritten

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

7 years

This went up quickly (at 24th and Bryant)

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

Why is the rallying cry of yolo developers "move fast and break things" instead of just "Deeeeeeeeploy Jenkins!"

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

OMG I think I just edited a tweet?? I wrote a tweet, noticed a benign single-letter typo, deleted the tweet and pressed “reply” again and found the full text of my previous tweet available to edit and send again. If this really is the feature test I think it is I am SO HAPPY.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

8 years

Q: "What do you call a stolen Telsa?" 🚘 A: "An Edison." ⚡️🔥

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

5 years

I wish there were something like a Museum of Prototypes you could visit somewhere — just a hall where you can see the first sketch, first kludgy working version etc.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

This is my new favorite galaxy brain stackoverflow answer: abusing double-precision float behavior to make discontinuous CSS rules. It works and I truly hate it.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

5 years

I want to read a Bond sequel but it's just about how M does project management and generally runs the org in the face of tough challenges such as difficulty reaching reports, coordination vs. impenetrable information silos, and general byzantine info issues.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

7 years

We portray engineering as being a very sterile, logical process but I experience it mostly as focused dissatisfaction until things are Right

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

1 year

It’s been so long since I shared anything publicly about what I’ve been working on and I am very excited to show off what we’ve been building. (star @therecraft .com) I’d like to publicly introduce Therecraft which offers aviation services using our drone vehicle called Hopper —

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

2 years

I’m just starting to come to terms with how much pressure I felt in my teen years to dedicate all of my available effort to getting into college, and how unreasonable it all was?

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

TIL — the Thai cave rescues were a HAM win! Go, open hardware! (via )

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

7 years

God, why has nobody yet put a claw on a drone, filled a huge field with teddy bears, and made a giant unconstrained coin op prize grab game

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

8 years

Our terrible renewed cultural interest in trolley problems..

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

2 years

Paper straws are such an incredible let-down, and frankly they simply don’t work. I am reminded of how impressive plastic is and how transformative plastic consumer products must have been when first introduced every time I end up in a situation like this.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

2 years

Is this the closest possible such 2-up? Or: what two images show the greatest and most striking technology advance vs. the shortest intervening number of years?

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

@corbett I remember being walked around campus by an upperclassman getting advice during my freshman year at MIT. "Look at all the plants in her office," referring to a professor. "All the women CSAIL professors keep massive amounts of foliage" s/he said. "Stallman really hates plants."

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

RT if a connection you've made at a technical conference has ever significantly impacted your career.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

What is your most obsolete technical book that you would not / will not get rid of, for sentimental reasons?

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

7 years

Sorry.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

If you want to horrify every electeical engineer you know, this is perfect:

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

3 years

View Source has created so much public good. I want this same ability but for everything on the whole computer.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

5 years

People talk about businesses having "moats" but I think a better metaphor is a reef. A reef can protect and foster an ecosystem while keeping bad players out, or serve as treacherous and impassable protection. They also grow fractally. Grow a reef.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

8 years

TIL the "curb cuts" in sidewalks (allowing wheelchair access eg) started with activists smashing curbs in Berkeley with sledgehammers

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

You are walking along a sidewalk in San Francisco. You see a physical copy of Snow Crash in a pile of free things being discarded, on the ground.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

7 years

This joke is better than the last 2 Fibonacci jokes I've heard, combined!

Misha Filippov

@misha_filippov

7 years

I asked librarian for a book about Pavlov's dogs and Schrodinger's cats. She said it rang a bell but she didn't know if it was there or not

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

One of the most amazing gifts of the internet age is the gift of learning. In your free time (as such) you are allowed to learn as much as you want at as fast as pace as you can stand. Access to information is so much less a barrier than ever before. What an incredible joy.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

The holy grail. This is officially the Worst stock art for drones I have ever seen and (I hope) will ever:

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

I’ve been using UNIX way too long to find out this week that you can read a file out linewise-backwards using the command ‘tac’ (as opposed to ‘cat’)

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

3 years

Using UNIX has you typing `man cat` into a computer and acting like this is completely normal.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

3 months

Bag of dry pasta: $6.99 Balsamic Vinegar: $3.99 Mushrooms: $1.99 Sausage: $6.99 Pasta cook timer: $3,499 Electricity: $59 someone who is good at the economy please help me budget this

Joey Banks

@joeyabanks

4 months

This was the first frame from an Apple Vision Pro review that made me believe we’re all going to be using and leaning into spacial computing soon enough. It always comes back to timers.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

@b0rk the !! thing is why I love aliasing sudo to "please" then if I forget to run sudo $ rm file.png Permission denied I can type $ please !! and it works :D

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

TIL . - 13 months - 4 weeks exactly (28 days each.) - Every date fixed to the same weekday every year - One extra day every year ("Year Day!" Dec 31) to sum to 365. Kodak (film/camera company) used this calendar internally from *1928 to 1989*

International Fixed Calendar - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

Iceland is creating a special visa program for those employed and able to work remotely: ummmmmm sounds pretty sweet?

Icelandic measures for remote workers put in place

The Minister of Tourism, Industry, and Innovation, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs have put in place measures to enable non-EEA foreign nationals to reside in...

www.government.is

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

Even knowing that she landed okay, the emotion in this girl's voice as she circles her plane around the airport watching the emergency vehicles assemble for her on the day of her first solo flight brought me nearly to tears (radio recording — )

The Boston Globe

@BostonGlobe

6 years

A 17-year-old student pilot safely landed a plane at Beverly Regional Airport after it lost a wheel during departure. “She did a phenomenal job in the emergency situation she was in.”

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

What are the best books on technology development history? eg electrification, The Big Roads, etc

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

1 year

Literally an order of monks using Italian-made stone carving CNC machines to more efficiently carve beautiful cathedrals

CNC Stone Carving - Carmelite Gothic

CNC Stone Carving In a form of architecture so ancient, CNC machines may seem a little out of place. However, when one considers that the medieval builders were always on the forefront of the...

carmelitegothic.com

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

3 years

I wish someone would write a cookbook of recipes optimized for the ADHD-having home cook. Specifically: recipes optimized for a minimum of ingredients and steps. These recipes don’t need to be particularly fast (which is often confused for simple) as much as low-complexity.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

@corbett I am still struck by the idea that all of the professors in the lab would keep special charms and amulets to ward off a specific person — if nothing else, this is an incredible illustration of the lack of functional recourse that professional women there previously had.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

Pt 1. Why current events are making a particularly personal impact: when I was 19, I went to pick my boyfriend up at the airport at 6:50am inbound on a California redeye. I was wearing a sweatshirt that I, beginning year 2 in engineering, thought would make him do a goofy laugh.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

2 years

Got access to DallE

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

9 years

Sisyphus was a king of Ephyra. He was punished to reach inbox zero each day, only to receive email each night, and to repeat this forever.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

New high score: if you abandon Facebook for long enough they move from sending desperate "come back" emails to sending *text messages*

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

7 years

This is what my team at @otherlab have been working on! 😁

Recode

@Recode

7 years

These paper-airplane drones may one day save your life

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

2 years

If the word gigabytes (GB) is verbalized as “gigs” I propose that terabytes (TB) be referred to as “tubs”

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

I mek experiment — a face shield with integrated quiet fans that inhale air through filters, and flows the filtered air over my face.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

Whoops!! My airbag helmet fired. Rode bike to work had just leaned bike against a wall, saw the bike about to fall over and leapt to grab it. One big surprising “Floom!” and I know I can trust @hovdingofficial with my life. This thing inflates *fast* and HARD.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

Announcing the startup I have been working on, @ThereCraft__ today for the first time:

ThereCraft

@therecraft__

4 years

Announcing ThereCraft! Our drone plane can deliver cargo precisely on a spot — without landing! Great for customers like emergency responders who need equipment transported rapidly and efficiently:

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

5 years

I built this Mac app called "GoldenHour" 🌅 that adds bright light bars of varying color temperatures to the sides of my screen in 2015, and I still use it on every. single. video call 🖥️💻

Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

9 years

Weekend project: tired of looking terrible/bright blue on video calls, I built a little mac app to turn the edges of my screen into lighting

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

8 years

RT if you learned electronics because of Forrest M. Mims III check —Mims circuits for 2016!

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

8 years

The most jarring thing to me about this photo's spread is the blasé non-surprise at a pic that's apparently 100% men

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

5 years

I love when two multilingual speakers meet and protocol-handshake through the available options to the language of highest mutual competence.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

7 years

I want to go on vacation but not to a place I want to go to the internet of 1998 when everything was simple & filled with possibility

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

5 years

Every time a 'robot' becomes useful it takes on a special name ("dishwasher") and transforms magically into an "appliance." Similarly, every time a 'flying car' becomes useful it gets called an "airplane" or a "helicopter" (though in fairness the former are mostly flying busses)

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

5 years

I like collecting stories of famous inventors who were just really nice people and seemingly lacking in major personality flaws. Who should I know about?

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

This is huge huge huge. MedTronic is leading and enormously forward thinking, doing this:

Medtronic Publishes Design Specs for Ventilator to Combat Coronavirus

Medtronic Plc said it would publicly share the design specifications for a ventilator product to allow other companies to explore producing it rapidly to help meet demand driven by the new coronavi...

www.wsj.com

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

5 years

This is the only Strava segment I want to see PRs for. Get on your shoes and do the Hilbert Memorial Star Simpson run in the mission. It’s 10.0 miles:

Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

5 years

HERE WE GO

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

Headlines about AI — "Ha! This AI was trained to recognize sheep but instead became a classifier of grassy hilly backdrop scenes!" Me — an advanced specimen, surely in possession of "the other kind" of intelligence: *blithely enters someone's Prius, just assuming it's my Lyft.*

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

10 years

Asked my coworkers for an explanation of how git really works and literally all I got was http://t.co/4IyX3eTMxl (h/t @eqe )

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

3 years

*logs into Twitter* *reads Sahil’s tweet* *logs out*

Sahil Lavingia

@shl

3 years

Whatever you’re doing right now is the best use of your time, according to you.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

1 year

Our flagship drone which we call Hopper, has performance that should blow you away: - 6 hours of flight time - range of 180 miles - that’s while carrying a typical 10-lb payload (easily carrying cameras, sensors, cargo; such as tacos 🌮😄) - the empty vehicle weighs just 20lbs

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

Why don’t older technologies remain vibrant for decades as cheaper technology? Eg: good airplane designs from the ‘20s should make it possible for, w today’s materials, mfg, prices etc people to be able to build airplanes, all over the world. But that doesn’t happen, why?

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

2 years

Also, how did we end up in a situation where you receive a paper straw in a huge plastic cup??

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

Circuit Classics in the retail shop at the Exploratorium in San Francisco:

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

11 years

starting a new relationship with my laptop: new alias please='sudo'. Now I can "please rm $file"; feels great!

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

3 years

Software is Cheap Published 3/17/2005 “Firmware is the most expensive thing in the universe..”

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

I once worked with a senior electrical engineer who routinely microwaved his lunch under foil. The deal is, you just can’t concentrate the field too much or you’ll get sparks (so smooth and round surfaces) which makes perfect sense after you’ve gone to years of engineering school

Jessica Joy Kerr

@jessitron

4 years

Today I learned that it’s useful to put metal in microwaves; it gets hot and helps cook the food. It’s pointed metal that’s dangerous; that can arc. Foil ok, crumpled foil bad. Thick metal racks ok, twisty tie wires bad. Spoons nbd, forks very bad.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

One cool thing I learned recently: an overstressed amygdala turns life's decisions from appearing nuanced to a series of yes/no questions instead. How to tell if you're overworking it: does everything seem like a bunch of terrible binary choices?

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

Seeing transit authorities leap at the decadally-occurring opportunity to fix infrastructure given the relative traffic quiet is one of the few items in my “small joys during quarantine” quiver.

myBurbank News

@myBurbankNEWS

4 years

CalTrans continues to demolish the Burbank Bridge tonight the sounds of the jackhammering can be heard miles away from the freeway, Don't need to call and complain about it they are way ahead of schedule and will finish quicker. Watch as crews work.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

8 years

This rain is so nice. Glad the city of San Francisco finally found the right cloud services provider.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

2 years

Then I compared notes with peers in Europe. College is kind of casual? Costs around a grand per semester, pretty manageable while you figure out “life” as well? The US version of this enterprise seems SO broken.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

My unpopular opinion: 1) corporate #pride is actually really good 2) ✨imagine✨ what it would look like if #brands put the same level of effort into performing similar displays of support during black history month

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

2 years

In another century this level of effort would have resulted in something like, idk, conquering Macedonia? And I poured it into .. what? Why did getting into college seem like an absolute life-and-death battle?

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

7 years

Two electrical engineers on a motorized T-Rex. Pretty good end of week BBQ @otherlab

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

“I don’t read books” and “I don’t run software updates” seem like equivalent positions for different platforms

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

3 years

I love engineering; especially on the days when you achieve real technological feats; our drone carries more weight & more volume than anything else its size is capable of. This is a snapshot from after a day of successful flight testing, on a drizzly day in LA.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

At long last, we have the answer: the dogs let themselves out.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

3 years

I somewhat resent school for giving the impression that being capable of continuously learning new stuff the most impressive you could be. It’s remarkable that in 12 years, school doesn’t really pause for a breath to provide opportunities to use skills, nor demonstrate mastery.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

9 years

Announcement: I'm working with Forrest M. Mims to bring his designs out of his amazing hand-drawn books to real life, as PCBs. Stay tuned!

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

As long as we’re all slowly losing it, I figured I’d go out for my walk today in my best garments that I too infrequently have any occasion to wear:

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

If you were to enter a teleporter that sent you to a random point on a road on Earth, could you figure out where you were without consulting someone? A game h/t @deanputney

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

7 years

@PulpLibrarian This early BASIC programming manual cover is great, more retrocomputing please — (via )

Pulp Librarian

@PulpLibrarian

7 years

Early #computers had to be programmed by hand. This involved graphic designers trying to make you think BASIC was fun...

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

I and others feel buoyed by their powerful support, and today I’m glad I chose to stay in the tech industry. Thank you, Google employees, for standing up and speaking out.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

9 years

Learning today for the first time about Margaret Hamilton pictured here with her source code: http://t.co/qvHiQhPLTr

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

Nearly every time I open Facebook Messenger - sometimes 5+ times a day - it asks me again if I wouldn’t like to share all of my contacts & turn on notifications. This is waiting for me to press a wrong button, not consent-seeking.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

5 years

HERE WE GO

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

7 years

"Where are the senior women in tech?" A 2nd friend just let me know she is leaving San Francisco so she can afford to have more than 1 kid

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

Thread on #GoogleWalkout :

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

In all honesty, I'm really looking forward to self-driving vehicles on the hope that when they arrive I will actually be able to bicycle through a city in peace and without constant vigilance over the things drivers do.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

Just close your eyes and imagine how much creativity and productivity could be unleashed if basic CAD was as accessible as a document editor.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 months

I wish people who grew up in cold climates understood what a foreign language just the act of dressing for outdoors is.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

7 years

Most people think my name is just "Star" but my full ride-sharing name is "Star? Is that your real name? How did you get that name?"

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

7 years

Who called it a "3D printer for food" and not a Nompiler

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

When are we getting regulations that would allow a self-driving RV/camper vehicle? Instead of arduous road-tripping, you go to sleep and it creeps along through the night (even at 35mph or whatever!) and you get to simply wake up in some new beautiful locale. 🌄🛌🚚😴🛣🥱🏞😎🌿

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

7 years

Like Do-Not-Disturb mode but instead Do-Not-Distract where airplane mode automatically turns on and prevents your outgoing TCP/IP other than stackoverflow and Wikipedia

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

4 years

I’m not saying its a good idea to avoid touching your face by simply having your fingers constantly coated in Cheeto dust, I’m just saying it would probably work

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

5 years

I have finally achieved the point in my lifelong difficult relationship with having my first name where I am willing to wear stuff that has stars on it.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

My early experiences in tech made me question the "pipeline problem." We started a non-profit to deal with just one part: Project Alloy pays for people to attend tech conferences that lead to jobs/funding. Their stories are inspiring. Learn more here:

Project Alloy

projectalloy.org

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

2 years

Note: I am not addressing loans or debt in this thread, but the sheer misery of spending every waking moment attempting to live a life leading to creating the perfectly-structured application form. I say this as someone who “won” (achieved my goal) - it was hell.

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Star Simpson

@starsandrobots

6 years

😢👋

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