Some interesting points and possible good resource in the future episodes.
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Hated to miss it but couldn’t swing it. Thanks to @takitus, @karaelena, @rebecca and @polarbrainfreeze.
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Half way through the discussion, I could no longer hear @polarbrainfreeze when he spoke. I had no idea I kept cutting him off. It just sounded like dead air to me that needed to be filled with sound.
So, now I am horrified. So sorry @polarbrainfreeze! Next time I will double-check that I can hear everyone before speaking (so I don’t unwittingly cut folks off). Sheesh!
Again, mea culpa. Totally my bad. 
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It’s not your fault that you could not hear me. I think it was a glitch on my computer. I would have done the same thing as you when presented with “dead air” and tried to fill it.
Next time, I’ll hopefully have a better connection, and we won’t run into this.
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I enjoyed listening to you guys, nice to put a voice to a face ( I’m lookin’ at you Ben)!
I would like to attend sometime if I can square my schedule. I tried to join once previously, but all I got was @karaelena’s avitar…
@rebecca, your character makes it clear you wouldn’t intentionally plow over anyone’s conversation 
(or repeat every word of your last 12 sentences). The glitch was unfortunate, and luckily Ben is a mellow push-over 
for a guy with a voice that sounds like he is 7feet tall.
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Still sad I missed participating in this!! Eagerly awaiting the chance to join a second attempt 
I’ll be watching the video tonight when I get home from work, bet some great ideas were tossed around.
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I’m sorry my webcam did not work. I was on vacation at the time and using my daughter’s laptop. I had never used it’s webcam before and it was giving me issues.
Next time, I should be using my own laptop and the webcam should be working fine.
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You’re the nicest person ever. I am sure the technical issue was on my end. I now know that if I would have logged out temporarily and logged back in, I would have been able to hear you.
Also, my computer fan was screaming at the end of the talk. I think my computer was adding distortion in the hangout. Ugh. I’m going to look into this before the next hangout.
I should just get a new computer (I’ve been saving my ducats) …but I am waiting for the new Macbook Pro to be released…which was not released yesterday. At this rate, the Glowforge will arrive before the new Macbook Pros do.
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I think you are right, after the glitch the camera stayed on you so I think your CPU or GPU was struggling.
I spend a good amount of time in hangouts with a far-flung friend, and normally I will restart my system before the call.
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Thank you for posting, and hosting this!
Busy last night preparing for an eminent spring storm, and missed the hangout again.
We had 77° and are looking for perhaps a foot of snow - before a return to 80°. Snow and 80° in the same forecast… Spring time in the Rockies!
@karaelena, may I ask what your science discipline is?
Thanks again, hopefully the cascade of events in my universe will allow me to participate next time!
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Aeronautical Engineering technically. But then did Computer Science after the fact.
My former profession was server management (VMWare ESX, Network management etc…)
Right now I am doing freelance design work, rapid prototyping & electronics.
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Somehow I missed that this was happening at the time so I apologize for not saying hi!
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Note(s) from the talk:
- @jkopel 's unit was not direct from the production line, but it’s only a week or two old, and it was made on a low-volume line at our manufacturer, not in our office.
- @rpegg, yeah, we were tempted to just send something out and say “look we shipped something to someone” - but that didn’t seem right.
- @eva worked for a NASA subcontractor, but consumer power supplies are a whole different thing, so we brought in specialists. Also, Eva’s busy on the mainboard.
- @jkopel has a basic, and requested a window vent unit (not a filter).
- Manual lets you enter parameters (raster or vector, speed, power, focus) for a given color directly, instead of reading presets from the material (assuming you’re using material you got from us). If you bring your own material, ‘manual’ is the only option available.
- Yes, the lens is an insane fisheye lens that’s been de-distorted (retorted?) to rectangular.
- I can’t remember if Tony shared a screenshot of the spec or the live code, but they’re pretty close either way.
- Re: the box, that was Josh’s unit from the factory. It was a terrible shot because I was literally running past it when I took the picture. Evenings I tend to comb through my phone and see if there’s anything worth posting about. There’s always a tradeoff between working on the product and working on nice pictures and posts. But sorry I forgot to update you on what that actually was!
- Re: laser thursday, we usually see 5-10 cool projects finished (and lots more partway done) but many of them are personal, so they don’t make it on to the forums.
- Re: social media, everyone in the office has their favorite, but we try to get all the best stuff into the forum ASAP. And if we miss it, some ambassador from the forums always seem to manage to retrieve it.
- re: T&Cs, we have committed to keeping the basic service (that is, everything you saw in the video) free forever. In the future, we might sell different products, with different ways of charging.
You get a Glowforge! And you get a Glowforge!
–dan
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Thanks for the follow-up @dan! Everything weve seen from you guys so far has been great, and we’re all dying to get our hands on our glowforges!
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Works for me. We know your busy. Need to hire an unpaid intern.
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I actually did work with a NASA contractor that designed high voltage supplies for mass spectrometers, but laser supplies are quite different beasts.
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