Archive - FreakTakes

May 2025

My Appearance on the Foresight Institute Podcast

Where I discuss Bell Labs systems engineers, giving away $100 million like Warren Weaver, and more.

May 30 •

February 2025

A Category Theory-Inspired BBN

How the Topos Institute tackles problems in complex systems

Feb 28 •

January 2025

A New Chapter At FreakTakes

An applied research shop becomes a bit more applied

Jan 10 •

Edwin Cohn and the Harvard Blood Factory

How a chemistry “purist” built one of World War II’s greatest applied R&D laboratories.

Published on Asimov Press • Jan 5

December 2024

A Note on the Changing Faces of (D)ARPA

Three variables that mark key regime changes in ARPA history

Dec 31, 2024 •

October 2024

A Scrappy Complement to FROs: Building More BBNs

ARPA's early decades of success have made the ARPA model iconic.

Oct 15, 2024 •

May 2024

Everything Old is New Again: Old research models for new-era semiconductor research

Alternative Title — How to optimally build at the top: the case for BBN-model orgs

May 28, 2024 •

March 2024

Managing Lockheed’s Skunk Works

And Many Stories About the Maleffects of Bureaucracy on R&D

Mar 7, 2024 •

January 2024

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