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Burning Man Projects 2023

Another burn is upon us! This year I got a chance to do some major infrastructure upgrades for the trailer and the truck, installing a much improved solar / battery system and an awning on the back for having additional space for more panels. I also started work on a fold away murphy bed, but had to pause as I ran out of time. I’ll get that done some time in the next year.

Last year I installed a 12v – 100AH battery, a 60A MPPT charge controller and 160 watts of panels for powering house lights and charging batteries. This system worked great, but I still needed to break out the 2000W honda generator when I needed to run AC or something more power hungry like the espresso machine. This was a real pain in 2022 as temperatures soared to 130F during the day, making getting up and turning on the generator in the mornings a sweaty no-fun experience.

I did some research into kits and found a Chinese supplier that sold a solar charge controller, panels, and a lithium iron phosphate “power wall” style battery. The total cost was about ~3k for the solar. Here is a breakdown of the specifications

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Dawn of the age of business.

It’s Business Time.

I haven’t updated this site in quite a while. The last time I was drawn to write, my good friend Justin Corwin has just passed on, we were still in the midst of the pandemic that will be a defining moment for the rest of our lives. I was working on fun projects for a small robotics focused incubator, but felt unfulfilled. To keep myself busy, I took on machine shop and engineering development work with the CNC mill and lathe I’d restored in my garage. I was making money, but I still didn’t feel like I had purpose.

304 Stainless is a cool material.

Over the last year, working on a small aerospace upstart called Vast, I found that purpose. One day I’ll be able to share that story, but for now my status is: amped to build something new.

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March Continues. Farewell, Justin.

Hello there, Kyle here.

It’s March 239th 2020. https://whatdayinmarchisit.com/

If going insane indoors wasn’t enough, my long time close friend and former roommate Justin Corwin died suddenly from a fast moving illness (not covid) on Thursday.

Me and Justin on the Ferry in Seattle a few years ago.

He was an amazing individual who had more knowledge in his brain than I’ll ever be able the cram in, and still, somehow he was always a humble servant to all around him, leading Crashspace’s officers as president and keeping it real as an engineer at Hyperloop and Disney Research. I could write a book on how incredible Justin was, and it still wouldn’t do him justice. He was still young (only a few years older than me) and his absence in my life will always leave a wide gaping hole moving forward. His kindness and generosity in life is something I can only hope to echo in his memory. Fair winds and following seas in what may come, you were a true friend Justin.

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Making Swarf #3: Productive Pandemic

Too many zoom calls. Hacker Drinkup with a cube theme.

On Lockdown

Hadn’t used the P100 respirator since the fires last year

That was an interesting 3 months. I was planning on publishing weekly blogs but I had a lot in my life change very rapidly, so I took a break from writing. In the midst of bringing the garage shop online, starting a business formally ( swarf.io ), and interviewing for jobs, a pandemic started and I got exposed to a friend who got the ‘rona. I’ve been on lockdown since (starting around Feb 28th). Luckily I never got sick, but now I’m busier than ever.

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The Engineering Software Struggle

Is real.

Engineering work is difficult. Software to make it collaborative and productive is probably even more difficult.

  • Don’t ever try to use onshape professionally

The last month or so I’ve spent working on a few separate problems evaluating and selecting software packages for the engineering group I’m working with.

There are a lot of challenges to selecting CAD, analysis tools, even databases in the modern era. In the end the differences between the higher end packages aren’t stark, but can subtly affect every aspect of the design / build cycle, and also impact overall performance of the team. Some notes:

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There and back again: taking a break from work for the modern engineer

Hello internet,

Life can have many paths. No wrong answers.

I assume, like me, many of you are technical types that work full time jobs slamming out code, making CAD models, and doing science. Rad. This is complicated, hard work, that can fry your brain, make life at home tough, turn your body to mush, and end up all being for naught, as the company dies, goes in a different direction, or is no longer a good fit for you. Many people frame who they are by the work they do, and the first thing they use to describe themselves in a social setting is their job.

The first project of my career holds up the engines on a rocket. Talk about skewed perspective.

My perspective on career got really screwed up when my first job out of school was SpaceX, as most people tend see their career as a progression towards an unattainable pinnacle “best job” and I got that out of the way day one. ( It was pretty fun to be honest). Ever since, finding meaning and purpose in life has been easier for me. I know just how extreme the mission can be, and I can self identify where I want to go, and what things I want to do, and know they’re within reason.

The last year(ish) of my life has been the in between that most experience but few embrace: unemployment. It sounds scary, can be challenging financially, and frequently leads to depression, but I tried my best to make it a purposeful and positive, and in my view it was one of the most successful years of my life. Turns out, you don’t need the purse strings of a billionaire to have a good time.

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A total noob’s radical first Defcon

It feels like it’s been a year, I’ve been to the burn, packed all my belongings into a storage unit and moved to San Fransisco, but just last month in September, I went to my first Defcon. And it was amazing. So I wrote up the experience. If you’re a noob and considering going, or if you’re a seasoned hacker veteran, take a look. Hopefully it’s as fun to read as it was to go.

Without further ado

– Kyle

Wow.

Defcon 26 was a wild ride through the hardcore hacker halls of the people I’d always vaguely known on the internet but never had a face to go with the name. Now I feel jacked into the dark places of the internet where some amazingly talented and nice and funny people reside. I’m super pumped and excited.

Contents:

  1. Preamble: Why I ended up at Defcon
  2. So I said to me, let’s do it, Defcon
  3. Part I: Journey to Defcon
  4. Part II: Defcon 101 (Thursday)
  5. Part III- Real Defcon 101
  6. Part IV – Crazy Night One
  7. Part V – Ciphers and Penthouse Pool Parties
  8. Part VI – Sandstorm & The Challenge Party
  9. Part VII – Pinball Wizard
  10. Epilogue – The Journey Home

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