Anson Biggs - Anson's Notes

Anson's Notes

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Anson Biggs

Software Engineer specializing in simulation and modeling of advanced flight systems for space exploration.

Black and white photo of an escalator leaving the DC metro full of people.

Working With Recruiters

Things I've learned over dozens of engineering interviews over the past few years.

A close-up, abstract image of white paper sheets curled and layered to create a wavy, textured pattern.

Project Breakdown

Building My Own Newspaper

Writeup on my personal newspaper that I made in Rust

Interviewing with AI

AI has fundamentally broken the interviewing process, creating an arms race where both sides automate away the human connection that makes hiring decisions meaningful.

Double Pendulum

Summary The web page discusses the creation of a double pendulum animation using Observable JS, a tool recently supported by Quarto for interactive and animated visualizations. The author, inspired by Daniel Shiffman's work, initially created a double pendulum in Python and Processing.js, which gained popularity. The author

2024

All of my new tools and other findings from 2024.

Combining Ghost and Quarto (The Lazy Way)

Combining Ghost and Quarto (The Lazy Way)

How I combined my Ghost Blog and my Quarto Blog into one unified blog that gets the best of both platforms.

A scrap pile of old computer hardware

Technical Breakdown

ScrapNAS

Build a ScrapNAS with spare parts! Learn about FreeNAS, Ubuntu, Windows, and Unraid for your DIY NAS and discover why Unraid is the ultimate choice for a reliable and flexible home server.

Steam Deck Dock Saves New Mac Mini

I bought a M4 Mac Mini and was not at all prepared to get it set up.

Moon Cannon: Prelude

Summary The document discusses a project titled 'Moon Cannon: Prelude,' which explores the feasibility of launching a payload from the Moon to Earth using a cannon. The author uses Julia's DifferentialEquations package to simulate the trajectory, simplifying the problem by considering only the gravitational forces of

A Porsche Carrera driving away with a hand out the window waving goodbye.

Review Featured

Goodbye Hey.com

Why I stopped using an app that I am deeply in love with.

The Rat Race is Linear

The Rat Race is Linear

My experience with negotiating salaries and how it isn't as straightforward as a win as I once thought.

Porsche Cayenne in front of a lit up Waffle House sign at night

Porsche Cayenne

1 Year With My 958 Diesel Porsche Cayenne

My experience of my first year of ownership of a 958 Diesel Porsche Cayenne

Simple Stock Bot End-of-Life

After over 5 years my Simple Stock Bot is being sunset. The popular Telegram and Discord Bots will soon no longer work.

A single lonely, useless cloud.

Apple Photos is a Miss

The pain I suffered trying to share media with Apple Photos, and how I worked around it.

Grid of copper coins

Crypto Featured

Cryptocurrency Rankings

Highly opinionated, but non speculative list of popular cryptocurrencies

US Government Report Featured

Biden Admin Declares War on C++

Breakdown of the White House Report calling for the adoption of memory safe programming languages and the adoption of software security measurability.

A person wearing a sheet that looks like a ghost standing in an empty street

Ghost is a little empty without Email

Ghost is the go-to platform for independent publishing. However, its SaaS model is pushing its reliance on Email which is hurting self hosting.

A rocket engine lays horizontally on a flatbed structure with wheels, ready to be transported.

Vulcan and BE-4 Inaugural Flight

Explore the landmark ULA and Blue Origin launch at Cape Canaveral, a defining moment in space exploration.

Stylized depiction of a binary search. A bookshelf made in excalidraw.

Technical Breakdown

Beli: Rating Has Never Been So Good

Comparison of current rating methods popular on the web alongside a technical breakdown of a new novel rating algorithm used in the Beli App.

Coding Challenge

(Cancelled) shuttle.rs Christmas Code Hunt

Shuttle Christmas Code Hunt: An early start to a month of puzzling.

A row of VHS tapes on a shelf. They are all labelled in pen.

Media Needs Preservation

The bad guys are winning, and if they have their way the mouse will be the only piece of media to survive the 20th century!

Classic cars displayed in a large garage.

Porsche Cayenne

This... Is my Cars and Bids Review

Cars and Bids ranks pretty highly based on my AnsonScore. An in depth look at buying at the popular new auction site.

A plug unplugged and dangling.

APIs Are Temporary

Discover the risks of relying on third-party APIs. Learn valuable lessons about API dependencies and planning for change.

Machine Learning Directed Study: Report 2

Summary The report details a project focused on analyzing satellite debris using 3D models from GrabCAD. The initial dataset consists of three satellite assemblies, processed in Blender to convert them into STL files, resulting in 108 unique parts. An algorithm was implemented in Julia to calculate essential properties like moments

Machine Learning Directed Study: Report 1

Summary The report details the initial steps of a project focused on analyzing orbital debris using 3D models. The author began by gathering high-quality 3D models from GrabCad, specifically a 6U CubeSat model with 48 unique parts. Data preparation involved deriving fundamental properties from each part using Fusion 360, a