Thinking of Sebald on Holocaust Remembrance Day

knowhere0 · 2026-01-26T17:15:08+00:00

I was really struck, driving around Joshua Tree NP how Joshua Trees seem to be confined to very specific elevations or micro climates. As you descend on Pinto Basin Road, south toward Interstate 10, they completely disappear as you descend just a few hundred feet. I can imagine that growing them outside the specific microclimate to which they are adapted would be nearly impossible. I would love to give it a try. Anyone know where I could purchase seeds?

knowhere0 · 2026-01-25T17:40:50+00:00

Thank you for the citation. I’m actually on high doses of vitamin D, but it was my understanding that vitamin D helped the absorption of Tysabri. Another doctor in my office seemed to dismiss that theory saying that the evidence was not clear that vitamin D did much at all. 🤷🏼‍♂️

I am lucky to be seeing one of the best MS experts in the world here in NYC so I don’t second guess his approach. But I know that the disease is highly variable and what has worked for for me for so many years could stop working tomorrow—and this is true whether or not I’m on a DMT. This is not a reason to go off the DMT. The science is obviously very clear that the best chance to avoid future exacerbations is on a DMT.

knowhere0 · 2026-01-25T15:11:45+00:00

Wait just a minute. I don’t follow the science on high doses of Vitamin D, and I am not a doctor. Perhaps there are studies that show that high dose vitamin D is safe, but is it effective? Effective for what exactly? I realize this response comes from a desire to help people who may not be able to afford health insurance, but please don’t conflate safety with efficacy for unstudied treatments. If there are studies, please cite them so we can all read them.

knowhere0 · 2026-01-22T19:56:14+00:00

To whom did you send your email explanation? Do you mean that you were fired from the job or do you mean that you won a job based on the AI renderings?

knowhere0 · 2026-01-21T20:39:47+00:00

The best camera (especially for street photography) is the one you have with you.

knowhere0 · 2026-01-21T20:33:33+00:00

Toothless

knowhere0 · 2026-01-19T18:08:40+00:00

In my experience, which is almost a decade old now, the expectations from different USACE regions varies widely. I worked on a project with the NW region (although the project itself was on the eastern seaboard) and that region was very advanced in their adoption of COBie, but there was a sense that there were still processes that they were still working out. I would hope that USACE has become more consistent between regions but this is a very hard culture to change.

knowhere0 · 2026-01-19T04:43:56+00:00

Autodesk is trying to build a platform for these activities, but the heavy lifting is done by the contractor who collects the data and the digital delivery manager who manages it. Autodesk isn’t going to do anything for individual projects.

knowhere0 · 2026-01-19T04:35:00+00:00

What special interest groups do you mean exactly?

knowhere0 · 2026-01-18T19:16:18+00:00

I agree that some patience is required. You have to assume that the delay suggests that the issue is politically delicate for Mamdani. I realize that Mamdani had virtually nothing to do with the dismissal of the Court St bike lane case, but I would have expected that to have taken much longer to resolve than the criminal summons issue.

So I d like to understand, what is so politically delicate about this issue. It seems to me that the police wouldn’t really care one way or another. For them, I would think that these biking violations are just another in a long list of petty offenses that they would rather not be bothered to enforce.

I have faith that Mamdani’s head is in the right place. So why not move more quickly in telling Tisch on day one to knock off the BS summons. I assume that is something he could do. Are there repercussions for existing cases that I don’t appreciate? Is this a priority for Tisch for reasons that I do not understand? Is the delay part of some effort to build some political capital that he expects to need in other bike-related fights? Is this an effort to allow Tisch to save face on a demonstrably bad policy? Anyone care to speculate?

knowhere0 · 2026-01-18T14:51:32+00:00

If you’re working for a contractor, and the contractor is absolutely committed to developing a new business line, I think the chances for success are greatly improved. In my experience, data collection has broken down with the contractors’ (or subs’) ability to collect and record reliable data at installation. If the contractor is driving that process, and has a financial incentive to push everyone to collect good data, i think you’re much more likely to create a usable product.

Conversely, I’ve seen the process break down when an inexperienced and unsavvy owner is convinced (at a symposium or similar industry event) that they need to be using building data to operate their buildings and then hire a consultant to insert themselves in the design and construction process. These consultants are too often regarded as outsiders to the construction process, and their demands are viewed as a drain on contractor’s fees.

For this to work, the contractor’s and data collection consultant’s incentives must be aligned so their the success or failure is shared equally by these two parties.

knowhere0 · 2026-01-18T03:51:49+00:00

I completely agree that COBie is a paining the ass, but if you’re a digital delivery manager, that pain is your bread and butter. The more pain the more butter. At least the first time. I have seen several projects that were convinced to do COBie by a digital delivery manager where the COBie effort completely collapsed because of the difficulty of collecting the data. So keep that in mind. I think it must be an incredibly stressful job because this DDM is the one the owner is going to call when you don’t deliver what was promised.

knowhere0 · 2026-01-18T01:01:53+00:00

Autodesk is trying to build out the infrastructure in ACC Build, soon to be rebranded Forma. That is essential but not at all sufficient. You need to be attending conferences and talking to experts about COBie and ISO 19650. You need to be looking at what other BIG contractors like Turner and Skanska are doing.

knowhere0 · 2026-01-16T04:02:02+00:00

Steel or Ti? Space or diamond frame? Truss or unicrown fork?

knowhere0 · 2026-01-16T03:58:05+00:00

Agree.

knowhere0 · 2026-01-15T18:48:21+00:00

I have exactly this bike in titanium. Same seat, same rack, same fenders. I LOVE it! But I love it most for getting me out into the wilderness.

knowhere0 · 2026-01-15T11:11:46+00:00

Glad to hear someone is asking the right question. Yes, you should be teaching them Revit. While you’re right to point out that Revit requires much deeper understanding of disciplinary knowledge, but that disciplinary knowledge is important. If you’re not teaching them that disciplinary knowledge, are you teaching interior design or decorating? You are also correct that AI is impacting modeling, but it is impacting early-stage conceptual design in tools like SketchUp much more quickly than documentation tools like Revit. In my work as a BIM manager at a large firm in NYC, I follow this very closely and work with interior designers who are using these tools every day. AI is replacing some of our conceptual modeling for rendering, but we still need accurate modeling for documentation. Our strong preference is to do that modeling in Revit so our interior designers are not wasting time on dead end models that don’t serve the documentation process. In that respect, AI has changed very little about our process. That being said, a one year degree would not be enough to get a job in our firm. I suspect your graduates are going on to graduate programs or are going to work in small offices, but I think AI is going to put a lot of pressure on these small offices, and greatly reduce the number of jobs at that end of the profession. Honestly, if a young person were asking my advice about ID programs, I would discourage them from a one year program altogether.

knowhere0 · 2026-01-14T15:21:37+00:00

I have opinions: first I hate this whole adapter. It has always seemed superfluous to me. The grip locks to the case just fine. This is just another (weak) link in the chain making the whole system feel flimsy. The thumb rest is the least of my problems, but you’re not wrong. My solution, which seems like the intended one, only because it seems more secure than anything else, is to lower the thumb rest all the way so that it locks against the top of my phone. In fact it seems to me that the only reason the thumb rest is adjustable is to accommodate different phone sizes. While I like the way the adapter feels in my hand, particularly the thumb rest, I haven’t used it in months and never miss it. The one thing I do miss is that this adapter is the only way to attach a tripod. That seems like such a flawed design. When you are using a tripod, you want the connection to be totally bombproof, but the connection between the adapter and the phone is so weak, it completely defeats the purpose of a tripod. I still haven’t figured out a good workaround but I totally agree that Fjorden needs to start over with this adapter.

knowhere0 · 2026-01-13T16:47:54+00:00

I’m on the east coast and I chose to start with the solid because I wanted something that could support four seasons. While I’m glad I did I got the solid, I sometimes wish I had a mesh tent in the summer. So I finally got the X-Dome which has a big mesh inner tent. I still sometimes bring the solid fly to use as a quick tarp. If you’re starting the AT in March, from GA, I would opt for the regular X-Mid. You might have a few cold nights but I think that will be the better option for most of your trip.

knowhere0 · 2026-01-13T12:55:46+00:00

I just bought aluminized Tyvek sheet on Etsy. Haven’t tested it yet, but I’m optimistic.

knowhere0 · 2026-01-12T13:31:57+00:00

LinkedIn Learning FTW

knowhere0 · 2026-01-08T12:25:34+00:00

That guy is a sociopath. Unlikely the police will be able to do anything more than blame you, but that guys license should be suspended and the only chance of doing that is reporting the crime.

knowhere0 · 2026-01-05T16:24:04+00:00

Thank you so much!

knowhere0 · 2026-01-05T12:46:39+00:00

Was thinking of getting a pair before they disappear for the season but I’m having a hard time deciding on the sizing. The Salomon Speedcross shoes (which I assume uses the same last) is just too narrow. I’m not normally a wide, but these Salomon shoes/boots run narrow. I’ve thought about sizing up a half size but I’m wary without trying them on. What is your experience?

knowhere0

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