Scanning the Past, Measuring the Future

Morning routine. SESIG discussing autonomous driving, 3D scanning for preservation, and retirement reflections. Ordered Melanie Mitchell's AI book for Book Club and began listening. Minecraft transportation networks. Emma's autobiography. Beer:30 conversations.

From 3D scanning family artifacts to questioning human exceptionalism

Events and activities that occurred on Friday, January 23, 2026

SESIG gathered for the regular Friday morning check-in, ranging across technology projects that blend past and future. Jon described his project to scan and print chess pieces his grandfather turned from screwdrivers in the 1960s—preserving family craftsmanship through digital means. Larry considered the Einstar II 3D scanner for similar preservation work, wireless scanning with real-time feedback and recent Mac support opening new possibilities for capturing objects and memories.

The autonomous driving discussion revealed tangible progress. Jon completed a fully-autonomous drive from his garage to Portland using Tesla's FSD, the kind of milestone that demonstrates how quickly theoretical capabilities become practical reality. The conversation touched on measuring progress against competitors like Waymo, and what it means when technology moves from experiment to everyday use.

Larry's friend Dave Orth is retiring after 41 years at HP, prompting reflection on careers and the managers who shaped them. Forty-one years at one company represents a different model of professional life, one increasingly rare in technology fields where movement between organizations defines careers more than tenure within them.

From the day's walk

The Book Club selection arrived via order—Melanie Mitchell's Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans. The walk to Beer:30 offered time to begin listening, and Mitchell immediately raised provocative questions. The belief that intelligence operates as zero-sum competition—that only one species can be intelligent at a time—reveals more about human perspective than about intelligence itself. The fierce defense of human exceptionalism suggests anxiety about what we discover when we examine intelligence rigorously. Mitchell asks whether intelligence proves harder than we assume, and what that means for how we value what we've accomplished as a species.

Minecraft provided evening work extending the NTS transportation network, completing the connection between Lelandhome and Porto Alegre. The satisfaction of infrastructure completion translates across domains—whether connecting virtual cities or linking concepts in knowledge systems, the pleasure of making connections that enable future movement remains constant.

Beer:30 gathered the usual Friday group—Tim, Michael, Cathy, and Mary. Cathy's ride home afterward represented the kind of practical kindness that weaves community together, small gestures that accumulate into connection.

Emma's autobiography offered late evening reading, particularly the chapter on adolescent development—the conflicts and transformations that mark that particular passage.

The day demonstrated questions worth exploring: How do we preserve what previous generations made? What does progress in autonomous systems reveal about capability and safety? What assumptions about intelligence deserve examination? How do we create systems—whether transportation networks or social rhythms—that enable rather than constrain?