Yes, lots of layoffs in biotech recently (Recursion is a big recent one, although some of that is post-merger restructuring after the Ex Scientia acquisition.)
This, 100%. Agile (properly done, for whatever value of “proper“ you choose) is fine for websites, apps, consumer facing stuff. For things that must work, in predictable fashion, for years, it’s often inappropriate.
OS work is somewhere in between, but definitely more towards the latter category.
One important note: "With its advanced multi-quantum well structure and ring geometry, the laser minimizes the power consumption and the heat generation, enabling stable operation up to 90 Kelvin (K) or minus 183.15 degrees Celsius (°C)."
Room-temperature operation is still in the future.
The Radio Shack catalog (and Radio Shack itself) was a hugely influential part of my childhood. My grandfather (Berkeley EE '34) was a huge fan, and one of my favorite early Christmas gifts was the 75-in-1 Electronics Kit, which taught me the fundamentals of electronics. Later, I got my first computer (a TRS-80 Model I), and I would write programs for school assignments, then ride my bike to the Radio Shack Computer Center so that I could print them out.
I glad we have websites like SparkFun and friends, but there was something about browsing the catalogs or visiting the stores that was creatively inspiring. (RIP Fry's)
I was at MicroCenter in Cambridge yesterday, so that experience isn't totally lost, but it's harder to find.
I swam in a competition at the Sydney Olympic Park, just a couple of years after the 2000 Games. It's mostly a 3 meter pool, with some shallower areas near the end; the impression was one of great depth (because it had the best water clarity I've ever seen in a big pool.)
Subjectively it felt like a very fast pool (I ended up beating my high school times, even 16 years later!)
My daughter has a reproduction, and I've enjoyed many hours of looking at the illustrations. My girlfriend and her best friend went to see it at Trinity last year. I'm jealous.
“Sturgeon's law (or Sturgeon's revelation) is an adage stating ‘ninety percent of everything is crap’.”