Neal Mueller

A Splendid Torch

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no “brief candle” for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

George Bernard Shaw

Equations that changed the world

Largest rocket ever launched

33 engines on the booster.
6 engines on the upper stage.
Twice the thrust of Saturn V.

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Notorious B.I.G. slays at 17

I am astonished how some prominent figures exude maturity and confidence at remarkably young ages.

The genius of Keith Floyd on TV and in the kitchen

An innovator, Keith paved the way for “The Great British Bakeoff” to cook outdoors. During the “Floyd on Africa Series”, Keith Floyd’s stove lights the boat on fire while cooking squid. Undaunted he completes the cooking sequence and serves it to the captain who is unfazed. Life’s like that when working with a genius like Keith.

Keith transports us into the kitchen of a wonderfully fussy French cook making an omelet for family dinner.

SpaceX Tower Elevator

Elon Musk’s 5 Steps to Build Better Products

Elon Musk discussing the 5 steps to write better requirements at Starbase in Texas in 2021.

During a June 2021 a tour of Starbase, by space journalist Everyday Astronaut, Elon Musk talked about previously private methods that his companies (Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink and The Boring Company) use to make better products. Elon described the method he uses to effectively build software, cars, rockets, solar arrays, or anything. His steps are (1) make the requirement less dumb, (2) try to delete the requirement, (3) optimize, (4) accelerate, and (5) automate.