tingilinde: design

The authors compared two conditions which differed in the variation of the mean wind speed over time: a constant average speed typical of hurricanes, and a speed that at first rapidly ramped up, reached a plateau, and then ramped down, characteristic of downbursts. The results showed that there was far more suction on the sides of buildings during downburst events than during hurricanes.

"When strong winds move through a city, they can bounce due to interference between tall buildings. This increases pressure on walls and windows, making damage more severe than if the buildings were isolated," said Omar Metwally, a doctoral student who was the study's first author.

"On top of this, downbursts create intense, localized forces which can exceed typical design values for hurricanes, especially on the lower floors of tall buildings."

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05:55 in design, environment, Science | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 20, 2025

finding a sucker

HP is buying Humane - their "AI" wearable was described by several reviews as the worst piece of consumer electronics they'd ever encountered. That and the CEO is considered a loon in some quarters. Here's John Gruber's commentary.

snip

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Well, at least we can say HP was smart enough not to spend $1 billion on this. But they were dumb enough to bring into their company Chaudhri, who was described to me, by someone who worked with him at Apple (and a person whom I’ve never heard badmouth a single other former colleague), as “an utter fraud”. But a fraud whose personal website is an inadvertent testimony to the lunacy of the U.S. patent system — that it serves ego inflation, not innovation.

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More on Humane's shafting their customers from their FAQ

05:37 in design, society and technology, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0)