2022-01-07 Nerd Roundup

Our new home on Discord is kicking ass, we've got some great tech stories, and Jon Kern dropped by to go over the news. The NASA Hall-Effect lifter for electrostatic levitation on planetary probes and my essay on TDD/ATDD and cross-checking were especially nerdy. Don't miss out on the story about coding in machine language in the 1980s on the TRS-80 CoCo! Good memories.

There were a lot of great stories, but I have to call my favorite as the open question on HN "How do you build a house to last 1,000 years?" For whatever reason, it's a thought experiment I've been kicking around since my teenage years, probably because there are so many interesting angles to the question.

Far, far too many cool tech stories and not enough time!

links
STORY BUT WHY?
Exchange 2019 Anti-Malware - Bad Update? You have to be freaking kidding me! This from software only a couple of years ago?
Astronomers discover the largest group of rogue planets yet In my mind I have a picture of a bunch of planets wearing leather jackets and riding motorcycles
Companies that had successful pivots

original article
HN discussion regarding startup pivots
Programming in 1987 versus today Yup. Good times!
You Have No Idea How Hard It Is to Get a Hamster Drunk I could speculate
NASA hired 24 theologians to study human reaction to aliens: new book Yikes! What the heck is that, anyway?
Alternative statistical method could improve clinical trials Interesting idea. Wonder if it'll get traction
Emirates’ (Probably) Terrifying Boeing 777 Flight To Washington Yikes. More computers almost killing people. When will we finally get enough of this story?
MIT engineers test an idea for a new hovering rover Whoa
On the use of ffmpeg All the giant companies used ffmpeg (2020)
How to design a house to last a thousand years This has been a pet thought experiment of mine since my teenaged years
Masterclass: cross-checking Had to include it

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