I also made a SDF editor, with different goals. It's WebGL-based for pasting code from ShaderToy and can export STLs for 3D printing. https://sdf2stl.saej.in/
Thanks for referencing that. I'm similarly doing independent research and feel like I "do", but not much more. As I've previously researched in either academic and corporate settings, where there is so much other scaffolding, that helped outline some ways to contextualize and activate.
Yeah, the onboarding process for independent research needs work. Especially with various disruptions coming for existing settings. The Gap by Ira Glass pops to mind.[1] We need a bunch of those. Analogous to the conversation around becoming a writer or other artist. Or to starting a business. With lots of insights into what needs doing, how, and how to sustain. With its fun parts, tedious parts, grueling parts. The universal challenge of crafting a life which sustains, but encompassing the research. Imagining and pulling into existence the rhythms, constraints, network/village, the exoskeleton to usefully produce. As a DIY project, rather than "here's your ID, desk, mentor, advisor, lounge, whiteboard supplies, schedule, the person to see if you need anything done, and the weekly lab social is today at 5". There's also the "I imagined myself a freelancer, but find myself a sole proprietor" twist. Maybe some of this is starting to exist? Perhaps there are blogs out there? I've not looked. A survey of that might make for an interesting blog post or HN discussion.
> My favorite project along those lines is Kartik Agaram's Mu[3], which wraps emulation, tracing, and time-travel debugging around a subset of x86 assembly language.
From https://akkartik.name/code : Mu[1], a safe, hackable computing stack that builds up from raw machine code (guided tour[2]; paper '20[3]; talk '20[4]; sample app[5])
I also made a SDF editor, with different goals. It's WebGL-based for pasting code from ShaderToy and can export STLs for 3D printing. https://sdf2stl.saej.in/
Note that Matt Keeter has been at this for quite a while now, very generously sharing his efforts and research:
https://www.mattkeeter.com/research/
In particular, his thesis is well-worth reading: https://www.mattkeeter.com/research/thesis.pdf
"What does this independent research look like?"[1] - timestamp link into Implicit Surfaces & Independent Research (2025) on that research page.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxGxsGnbyJ4&t=2150s (I started the clip a few seconds early as teaser for rest of talk)
Thanks for referencing that. I'm similarly doing independent research and feel like I "do", but not much more. As I've previously researched in either academic and corporate settings, where there is so much other scaffolding, that helped outline some ways to contextualize and activate.
Yeah, the onboarding process for independent research needs work. Especially with various disruptions coming for existing settings. The Gap by Ira Glass pops to mind.[1] We need a bunch of those. Analogous to the conversation around becoming a writer or other artist. Or to starting a business. With lots of insights into what needs doing, how, and how to sustain. With its fun parts, tedious parts, grueling parts. The universal challenge of crafting a life which sustains, but encompassing the research. Imagining and pulling into existence the rhythms, constraints, network/village, the exoskeleton to usefully produce. As a DIY project, rather than "here's your ID, desk, mentor, advisor, lounge, whiteboard supplies, schedule, the person to see if you need anything done, and the weekly lab social is today at 5". There's also the "I imagined myself a freelancer, but find myself a sole proprietor" twist. Maybe some of this is starting to exist? Perhaps there are blogs out there? I've not looked. A survey of that might make for an interesting blog post or HN discussion.
[1] https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/the-gap-by-ira-glass-9651...
> My favorite project along those lines is Kartik Agaram's Mu[3], which wraps emulation, tracing, and time-travel debugging around a subset of x86 assembly language.
From https://akkartik.name/code : Mu[1], a safe, hackable computing stack that builds up from raw machine code (guided tour[2]; paper '20[3]; talk '20[4]; sample app[5])
[1] https://github.com/akkartik/mu [2] tour https://github.com/akkartik/mu/blob/main/tutorial/index.md [3] paper https://akkartik.name/akkartik-convivial-20200315.pdf [4] talk https://vimeo.com/416363066 [5] sample app https://archive.org/details/akkartik-mu-2021-08-15
Very cool idea!
I love this!
I'm waiting for Halfspace 3.