Magnitude and Direction — Issue #151
Sequin clocks, spreadsheet instruments, and TONS of upcoming events
Welcome to the latest installment of my bi-weekly newsletter, covering some of my favorite new developments in the fields of biotech, data science, engineering, and more. If this is your first issue, it's great to have you! For everyone else, thanks for coming back!
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Notes
Once again, welcome to the Black Friday edition of Magnitude and Direction. In keeping with the Black Friday tradition of unbelievable deals and savings, this edition of Magnitude and Direction is coming to you free of charge!
In all seriousness, something I’ve noticed for basically the entire half-decade-plus history of this newsletter is that an edition of M&D always goes out on Black Friday. Mathematically speaking, I’m not sure how this keeps happening, nor do I know if it will continue indefinitely (maybe the next leap year will throw everything off?). Anyone who can provide an answer to this question will win some kind of prize.
So while you put together a leftovers sandwich and maybe give minimal effort at work today (except for the CPG gang, for whom today is the Super Bowl, RIP), here’s some interesting articles (and a TON of upcoming events) for you to peruse.
Oh, and this edition’s font is called Bebas Neue.
Jobs
No new job postings in this edition. Check out previous editions for earlier listing.
Hardware, Prototyping, and Fabrication
🕰 It's not every day you see a clock built from sequins.
🛠️ Maintenance is maybe the most important, but oft-overlooked aspect of hardware engineering and development. This book aims to change that, in part by itself evolving as community members add knowledge to it.
🧱 There is an entire online community dedicated to just the 2x4 LEGO brick.
🔎 If you're in the business of reverse-engineering as frequently as I am, you might also find this plastics identification chart useful.
📦 One of the hardware community’s great traditions returned this fall: Keyboardio’s Box of Crap. I once again pitched in to get a box of whatever $100 would get me from the electronics markets of Shenzhen, China, and this blog post from Keyboardio walks through everything I got.
Software and Programming
🎛🎚🎶 The next great musical instrument might be the spreadsheet.
⌨️ If you’re like me, and Photoshop isn’t really your jam, you might want to consider using a code-based software like LaTeX to design your documents, just like Olivier Pieters did with their business card.
Science, Engineering, and Biomedicine
🔡💊 Sometimes, it feels like drug names are just made by a group of people throwing darts at an eye chart, but there's actually a pretty strict set of rules around the whole process.
👅📺 We may not have smell-o-vision yet, but we do have lick-able TVs now. (Although, I suppose TVs have technically always been lick-able...)
📀🌧 Old DVDs and rain might be able to provide us with a new source of renewable energy.
Mapping, History, and Data Science
🎈 This is your annual M&D Black Friday reminder that New York’s Thanksgiving Day Parade used to be MUCH longer than it currently it (and used to pass through the campus of my alma mater, CCNY).
📈📊📉 This dataset visualized 100 different ways can be a great source of inspiration for your next data visualization project.
Events and Opportunities
Boy, oh boy, are there a bunch of events coming up for the tech, hardware, and biotech communities…
Tuesday, 11/28 ECHO Bio-Entrepreneurship Happy Hour. Derek Brand’s long-running bio-entrepreneurship happy is hour is back again this month to bring together the entrepreneurs, clinicians, and operators that help build the vibrant New York City biotech ecosystem. All are welcome to attend and, as always, "bring an entrepreneur".
Tuesday, 11/28 Civic Tech'ish Holiday Party. Join data enthusiasts, technologists, and civic leaders for a year-end gathering and and informal and fun opportunity to connect with folks interested in the civic space. Whether you’re currently involved in civic tech or looking to learn more about its vibrant community in New York, all are welcome to attend!
Thursday 11/30 (+ Weekly on Thursday) Starta Fall 2023 Pitch Contests. Join Starta Accelerator for their weekly Fall 2023 Pitch Contests, where founders hone their startups' pitch in front of a panel of judges consisting of VCs, angels ,and industry experts. After the presentations, there will be time for Q&A followed by networking with other frontrunners, entrepreneurs and investors of the NYC startup scene.
Thursday, 11/30 Secret Science Club at Pier 57. Join environmental scientists Dianne Greenfield and Chester Zarnoch as they plunge into the wild waters of the Hudson River Estuary to investigate how the health & diversity of NYC’s biggest ecosystem is impacted (in both good ways and bad) by human activities. Their presentations will look at how some of the smallest & most unsung species can turn estuaries into some of the wildest ecosystems on the planet, all while surrounded by some of the subjects themselves at this interactive lab and museum in Hudson River Park.
Tuesday, 12/5 Holiday Mixer at West End Labs. Join the NY Metro chapter of BuildsBio+, Elevate Research Properties, and Triumvirate Environmental for a holiday season get-together at the brand new West End Labs in Lincoln Square. Connect with industry professionals, enjoy great food and drinks, and toast to a successful year ahead. Don't miss out on this festive gathering!
Wednesday, 12/6 Accelerating BioVenture Innovation Final Pitch Event. Join the BioVenture eLab at Weill Cornell for the culminating event in their semester-long Accelerating BioVenture Program. Teams of students present their pitches for review by a panel of investor judges. A networking reception will follow with hors d'oeuvres and beverages.
Wednesday, 12/6 SOSV X Genspace Deep Tech NYC BioHoliday Party. Come join SOSV's programs IndieBio and HAX and Genspace in bringing together the scientists, engineers, climate folks and others for drinks and snacks. Light programming, and a holiday get together for all of our favorite ecosystem builders!
Wednesday, 12/6 JLABS NYC Holiday Reception. The most magical time of the year is just around the corner, and JLABS is thrilled to extend an invitation to their Winter Wonderland Holiday Reception to come together to celebrate the joys of the holidays and the warmth of our shared connections. Join the NYC JLABS team for an evening of festive cheer, enchanting decor, and delightful surprises as they transform JLABS into a Winter Wonderland.
Monday, 12/11 Transit Techies Meetup. What do you do when you want a new stop sign in your neighborhood? Join the NYC Transit Techies and Josh Sucher - lifelong Brooklynite, occasional UX researcher and frequent pothole reporter - on a deep dive into the wild world of traffic calming advocacy. The discussion will center around bringing together 311, NYC Open Data, computer vision algorithms and even NY's freedom-of-information law to grease the wheels of bureaucracy.
Thursday, 12/14 3rd Annual Hardware Holiday Party at NewLab. The NYC Hardware Meetup is back at Newlab with Informal for their annual Hardware Holiday Party! This year the meetup is also partnering with the NY Robotics Network to put this event on. As is the holiday tradition, there’ll be good beer, nice wines, delicious food, and a live jazz band playing holiday classics. Attire is informal and holiday sweaters are highly encouraged. Bonus points if yours lights up or has interactive elements!
⭐Saturday, 1/20/24 Mouthy Baby Returns to Arlene's Grocery! Coming off a jam-packed double-set at the Brooklyn Music Kitchen, we're once again returning to another familiar venue with a headlining show at Arlene's Grocery. With our friends in Off Wing joining us on the lineup, you can be sure this show is gonna be packed to the gills and full of energy, so get your tickets before they run out!
Other events coming up you think I should know about? Let me know here!
Map of the Month
⏱️🏙️ I could spend hours playing around with this map that estimates how long it takes to get around NYC from anywhere else in NYC.
Odds & Ends
📦 In honor of Black Friday, can you figure out what these Temu products are supposed to be?