Hackaday Newsletter 0x04

Skater vs Inventor: Isaac Newton wins. [HACKADAY]( An Homage To Daft Punk In Fan-Made Helmets Through The Years. [Read Article Now»]( 99% Inspiration, 99% Perspiration, and 99% Collaboration By [Elliot Williams]( I was watching an oldish [TEDx talk with Rodney Mullen]( probably the most inventive street skater ever, but that's not the point, and it's not his best talk either. Along the way, he makes a claim that ideas -- in particular the idea that a particular skateboard trick is even possible -- are the most important thing. His experience, travelling around the world on skateboard tours, is that there are millions of kids who are talented enough that when they see a video demonstrating that a particular trick idea is possible, they can replicate it in short order. Not because the video showed them how, but because it expanded their mind's-eye view of what is possible. They were primed, and so what pushed them over the edge was the inspiration. On the other side of the street, we've got Thomas Edison and his "1% inspiration, 99% perspiration" routine. Edison famously tried a bazillion filament recipes before settling on tungsten, and attributes his success to "putting his time in" or "good old-fashioned hard work" or similar. So who's right? The inventor of the Casper Slide and the lightbulb are both right. Rodney is taking it for granted that these kids have put their time in; they are skaters after all, they skate. He doesn't see the 99% perspiration because it is the natural background, while the inspiration flashes out in Eureka moments. Similarly, Thomas E. way underestimates inspiration. He's already fixated on this novel idea to take an arc lamp and contain it in a glass envelope -- that's what he's spending all of his perspiration on, after all. But without that key inspiration, all he'd be is sweaty. And they're also both wrong! They're both missing a third ingredient: collaboration. Certainly Mullen, who spent his life hanging out with other skaters, teaching them what he knows, and learning from them in turn, [wouldn't say the community of skaters didn't shape him.]( Even in the loner's sport of skating, nobody is alone. And Edison? His company profited greatly from broader advances in science, and the scientific literature. [Menlo Park]( existed to take bright, well-trained minds and put them all in one place, sharing, teaching, and working together. It embodied the idea of collaborative innovation, and that's where some of his best work was done. So I'm with Isaac Newton, "[standing on the shoulders of giants](. Success is 99% collaboration. This leaves us with one problem: the percentages don't add up. But that's alright by me. From the Blog --------------------------------------------------------------- [Wind Turbines and Ice: How They’re Tailored for Specific Climates]( By [Bryan Cockfield]( The tough winter threw the spotlight on frozen windmills in Texas, but overheating is a real risk too! [Read more »]( [What Uses More Power Than Argentina But Doesn’t Dance The Tango?]( By [Jenny List]( The environmental impact of Bitcoin and the energy it takes to keep the currency working have been in the news. Let's take a look at that. [Read more »]( [World’s First eVTOL Airport Will Land This November]( By [Kristina Panos]( Want flying cars? You're going to need flying-car airports. Welcome to the future you wanted. [Read more »]( [Hackaday Podcast]( [Hackaday Podcast 108: Eulogizing Daft Punk Helmets, Bitcoin Feeling the Heat, Squeezing Soft Robots, and Motorizing Ice Skates]( By [Hackaday Editors]( What happened last week on Hackaday? Editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams get you up to speed. [Read more »]( If You Missed It --------------------------------------------------------------- [Street-Legalize Your Ebike With A Magnet]( [Hidden TV-Out On The Nintendo DS Lite]( [Lowering The Electricity Bill By Mining Cryptocurrency]( [Demonstrating The Mars Rover Pendulum Problem With A Drone On Earth]( [Attack of the Flying 18650s]( [Hackaday]( NEVER MISS A HACK [Share]( [Share]( [Share]( [Terms of Use]( [Privacy Policy]( [Hackaday.io]( [Hackaday.com]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} [why did I get this?]( [unsubscribe from this list]( [update preferences]( Hackaday.com · 61 S Fair Oaks Ave Ste 200 · Pasadena, CA 91105-2270 · USA