TheBoohers.org

  • Robots and Chatbots

    Robots and Chatbots

    Before ChatGPT, human looking robotics defined AI in the public imagination. That might be true again in the near future. With AI models online, it’s awesome to have AI automate our writing and art, but we still have to wash the dishes and chop the firewood. That may change soon. AI is finding bodies fast…

  • Power and AI

    Power and AI

    The Growing Power Needs for Large Language Models In 2024, AI is awesome, empowering and available to everyone. Unfortunately, while AI is free to consumers, these models are expensive to train and operate at scale. Training them is expected to be the most expensive thing ever. Yes, more than the Manhattan project, pyramids and the…

  • Autonomy

    Autonomy

    I lead autonomy at Boeing. What exactly do I do? We engineers have kidnapped a word that doesn’t belong to us. Autonomy is not a tech word, it’s the ability to act independently. It’s freedom that we design in and give to machines. It’s also a bit more. Autonomy is the ability to make decisions…

  • Conviction and Leadership in Aerospace

    Article views are my own and not coordinated with my employer, Boeing, the National Academies, DARPA or the US Air Force. Aerospace and Defense work is super technical, rewarding and meaningful. But it’s more than that. Everyone in this industry deeply cares about protecting the people who fly and fight in these planes. You feel…

  • Laser Alignment

    Laser Alignment

    I’m going dive into the theory of laser alignment, show the math and the jigs I built to put that math into practice. This post is for someone who wants the “why” behind a lot of the online material on laser cutters. If you just want some practical tips on how to better align your…

  • “Room Temperature” Superconductor?

    “Room Temperature” Superconductor?

    Note: these results are still new and will need to be replicated and further studied by the scientific community. This whole thing may be nonsense, but I did some thinking on the impact if it’s true. Researchers from Korea University have synthesized a superconductor that works at ambient pressure and mild oven-like temperatures (like 260…

  • All those wireless Mice! (from Taiwan)

    All those wireless Mice! (from Taiwan)

    If you are like us, you get too many mice and keyboards lying around. With 5 or six devices, and an equal number of receivers you can just plug stuff in to find what matches. That assumes the peripherals are working and haven’t been lost. Can we interrogate the usb receivers and discover their associated…

  • Quick(ish) Price Check on a Car

    Quick(ish) Price Check on a Car

    So, is it a good price? With my oldest daughter heading off to college soon, we’ve realized that our family car doesn’t need to be as large as it used to be. We’ve had a great relationship with our local CarMax over the years, and we appreciate their no-haggle pricing model. My wife had her…

  • The (necessary) Luxury of Honesty and Vulnerability

    Professionally, my goal was “work hard until something good happens” for many years. I had the luxury of the world’s best string of bosses. I had no idea how lucky I was to be learning from giants who poured wisdom into me, protected me and told me hard truths that shaped my character. At DARPA…

  • The Problem with Integrity

    The Problem with Integrity

    I think about Winston Churchill a lot. A successful writer, correspondent, painter, politician and businessman, he is known for his bold principled stand against Hitler. However, zoom in and a more complex narrative emerges. After Neville Chamberlain negotiated the Munich Agreement in 1938, which sought to appease Nazi Germany by allowing them to take control…

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