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--- newsletters:2026-05 [2026/06/03 22:24] – [Andrés] osnr
+++ newsletters:2026-05 [2026/06/05 17:08] (current) – osnr
@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 {{htmlmetatags>metatag-og:title=(Folk Computer May 2026 newsletter)
-metatag-media-og:image=(newsletters:img_3690.jpeg)
+metatag-media-og:image=(newsletters:img_5266.jpeg)
-metatag-og:description=(More new studio setup (new 4K projector, new L area); multi-display and multi-camera; calibration improvements)
+metatag-og:description=(To-scale tabletop editor and printing; Expect!; new drawing primitives; big open house; SVA talk)}}
-}}
 //Our next Folk open house will be on [[https://luma.com/niypr5av|Tuesday, June 30th, 2026]].//
@@ Line 24: / Line 23: @@
   * [[https://github.com/FolkComputer/folk/commit/66d771a4557a8e3194908da36721512bdd0800d0|Fixed epoch thread slot cleanup]] so you can keep churning threads without running out of epoch slots in the epoch-based reclamation system
   * [[https://github.com/FolkComputer/folk/commit/8caf5ca89c9629931bd3480ba75a134cc393e972|Debounced/reduced canvas creation churn]] when the statement's parent goes away and comes back a lot
-  * [[https://github.com/FolkComputer/folk/commit/dfbc6b0dce918d6ad99d277cd907a31622b710eb|Fixed RAM exhaustion check]] which had been broken by using meminfo file instead of API
+  * [[https://github.com/FolkComputer/folk/commit/dfbc6b0dce918d6ad99d277cd907a31622b710eb|Fixed RAM exhaustion check]] which had been broken by using meminfo file instead of API (this fix makes it harder to fully break systems such that you can't even ssh in)
   * [[https://github.com/FolkComputer/folk/commit/1c4fac2910827b28d578007c0d976842e152ac90|Fixed -atomically]] flag for When which wasn't actually getting the When pattern to distinguish between blocks on the same origin, so you'd get unnecessary blinking
     * Also now use atomicallyWithKey to control blinking on titles/footnotes/etc
@@ Line 39: / Line 38: @@
 Omar: We were getting crashes when we tried to, say, display a really long string of text (or other complicated graphics).
-The problem was that we were actually //running out of texture slots//, which caused a panic.
+The problem was that we were actually //running out of texture slots//, which caused a panic. And it's not because we were allocating any more textures than usual; it's because we weren't freeing the old ones in time anymore:
 Texture reclamation runs on the GPU thread alongside the parsing and rendering of all the glyph instance objects for that really long string of text. So if you're drawing something complicated such that the parse/render work takes too long (see the draw-lists-construction section here, which is 50-100+ ms), you stop freeing old texture slots before the next frame starts:
@@ Line 312: / Line 311: @@
 Omar, Andrés, and Brian worked on installing a Folk system permanently in a small cubby/study area at School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. It might be our cleanest setup yet -- we like this method of hanging from a dowel and drilled into the ceiling -- it is easily able to support the weight, and it's adjustable.
-{{newsletters:img_4477.jpeg?200px}} {{newsletters:img_4485.jpeg?200px}} {{newsletters:img_4486.jpeg?200px}} {{newsletters:img_4493.jpeg?200px}}
+{{newsletters:img_4477.jpeg?200px}} {{newsletters:img_4485.jpeg?200px}} {{newsletters:img_4486.jpeg?200px}}
-{{newsletters:img_4495.jpeg?200px}} {{newsletters:img_4499.jpeg?200px}}
+{{newsletters:img_4493.jpeg?200px}} {{newsletters:img_4495.jpeg?200px}} {{newsletters:img_4499.jpeg?200px}}
 Andrés working on the final setup of the table:
-{{newsletters:img_4617_no_hdr.mp4?400px}}
+{{newsletters:img_4617_no_hdr.mp4?200px}} {{newsletters:img_4599.jpeg?200px}}
 == The talk ==
-{{newsletters:img_4599.jpeg?220px}}
+Andrés: Omar and I gave a talk at the [[https://sva.edu/events/now-what-mfa-interaction-design-class-of-2026-thesis-exhibition|SVA IxD thesis show]] on May 8th. We covered:
+  * A brief introduction to Folk programs (''When'', ''Wish'', ''Claim'')
+  * Talked about inspiration for the Interaction Design History class Andrés taught at SVA IxD this Spring semester, including:
+    * [[https://www.lri.fr/~mbl/Stanford/CS477/papers/Weiser-SciAm.pdf|The Computer for the 21st Century (Mark Weiser, 1991)]]
+    * [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_Room_coffee_pot#|The Trojean Coffee Pot (1991)]]
+    * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Inxp6LY1y_4|Attention Receipts: Utilizing Materiality of Receipts to Improve Screen-time Reflection [CHI2024]]]
+    * [[https://clementzheng.info/Printed-Paper-Markers|Printed Paper Markers (Clement Zhang, 2020)]]
+  * We ended with a live demo of the system and a Q&A. It was a great time and people asked really insightful questions!
+{{newsletters:img_3989.jpeg?200px}} {{newsletters:img_3985.jpeg?200px}}{{newsletters:img_3984.jpeg?200px}} {{newsletters:img_3990.jpeg?200px}} {{newsletters:img_3977.mp4?200px}}
 === folk-recurse ===
@@ Line 350: / Line 357: @@
 {{newsletters:img_5388.jpeg?300px}} {{newsletters:img_5387_no_hdr.mp4?300px}}
+=== Eliana visit ===
+  * Andrés: [[https://elianagelman.com/|Eliana Gelman]] visited on May 25th, she tried out the new editor experience and we worked on some shape demos together:
+    * {{newsletters:img_6398.jpeg?200px}} {{newsletters:img_6395.jpeg?200px}}
 ===== What we'll be up to in June =====
@@ Line 359: / Line 370: @@
   * Omar: go back to working on SAM2 demos and object tracking
   * Omar: work with Karl on DrawTalking demo
-  * Omar: continue working on new editor (needs better user experience, calibration accuracy, fields interactions
+  * Omar: continue working on new editor (needs better user experience, calibration accuracy) + fields interactions (hand-writing, drawing, getting those as objects in Folk)
   * Help tune up the Recurse Center Folk system
@@ Line 366: / Line 377: @@
 ==== Andrés ====
   * [[https://www.instagram.com/reels/DXWqD1oigMV/|A pen and paper game, kind of like a 2-player minesweeper? Very interesting to see people developing new games like this!]]
-  * [[https://www.instagram.com/reels/DY65ZWZJIvN/|A scissor hinge, make totally out of (heavy weight) paper!!
+  * [[https://www.instagram.com/reels/DY65ZWZJIvN/|A scissor hinge, make totally out of (heavy weight) paper!!]]
   * [[https://mitchellh.com/writing/my-ai-adoption-journey?utm_source=vicki&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=we-should-be-more-tired-than-the-model#user-content-fnref-1|My AI Adoption Journey]] (Mitchell Hashimoto) — the only one of these sorts of posts I've actually found reasonable
   * [[https://sre.google/resources/practices-and-processes/no-heroes/|Why Heroism Is Bad And What We Can Do To Stop It]] (Alexander Malmberg) — an oldie (2015 ... which was 11 years ago) but a goodie, from Google, on changing team dynamics to avoid depending on "heros" (who often burn out)
   * [[https://www.surfabeam.com/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio|Sufabeam]] — weird but interesting little app that let's you do planar projection mapping pretty easily
   * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zokKqP0plrM|IBM CONFIDENTIAL: SYSTEM/360 FILE ORGANIZATION]] — This is a video on the filesystem of IBM's System/360; intended for salesmen, it's interesting to appreciate how much this has and hasn't become irrelevant to modern computing.
-  * [[https://x.com/picardie_aurora/status/1547967294533316614|"someone said they were a ‘cloud architect’, for a moment i imagined the most incredible job in the world before i realized they mean like software"]
+  * [[https://x.com/picardie_aurora/status/1547967294533316614|"someone said they were a ‘cloud architect’, for a moment i imagined the most incredible job in the world before i realized they mean like software"]]
   * [[https://lifelatelymag.framer.website/|A website that takes your camera roll and turns it into a magazine to send to your friends]] - maybe this specific service isn't so great, I haven't tried it myself, but the rise of services like this (see also: [[https://www.getprinternet.com/|Printernet]], a monthly internet reading list, printed and mailed to your house!) is very Folk-Computer-y (folky?)
   * https://omnifixo.com/en-us