Most software is a terrible pile of unreadable code with no tests and horrible architecture choices, that somehow manages to keep working just through the power of years of customers finding bugs and complaining loud enough to get them fixed.
If you write any automated tests at all, you’re already better than most “professional” software companies. If you have a CI/CD pipeline, you’re far ahead.
These aren’t secrets, but may not be well known (unless you watch LPL):
Sentry Safes aren’t safes, they are fire boxes with a fancy lock.
High security locks are not high security because of the lock design, but because the keys are very difficult to have duplicated.
No one (except maybe intelligence agencies) breaks in to a house by picking a lock, especially in the US. Windows, weak door frames, and, in a pinch, making a hole in the wall are all faster ways of getting in.
Car keys are so expensive because many manufacturers charge a subscription or per-use fee to access and program the keys to the ignition. These costs are passed on to consumers
No one is picking your locks just to move things around or steal small, insignificant items. You are either suffering from a mental disorder or a trusted member of the household is gaslighting you (it’s not gaslighting though,
you’reyour grasp of reality is slipping. Don’t call me for a pick proof lock, just get help please)Some manufacturers (you know, in China) will put any sticker you want on the products they produce, including UL and ANSI stickers. Before buying a product that is supposedly fire-rated, such as a fire safe, check the UL website to verify the item is actually listed with them.
“Grade 1” door hardware sold in stores like Lowe’s or Home Depot is, at best, Grade 2, and is likely Grade 3 (residential grade). These grades are really just about how durable the product is over time, and how much abuse they will endure by the public.
And just a little practical advice. Find a qualified, honest locksmith before you need one. We’re like plumbers. If you wait until you have an emergency to find one, the quality will be questionable. There are a lot of scammers out there. If you don’t have a resource for locksmiths beyond Google, look on the ALOA website for members in your area. The good ones will know who the other good ones are, and won’t be shy about sharing that info if they are unavailable or too far away
In the UK, slot machines fall into 4 main categories. Of particular interest are category C machines, as these can remember a fixed number of previous games. I.e. the “myth” that a machine is “about to pay out” because “someone lost a lot to it” can hold for these games.
Cat A and B machines are completely random, previous games can have no impact on probabilities of winning (though pots can climb).
Online games have different rules, not always fair ones!
Oh, and ALL games (in a physical location) must (by law) show “RTP” (return to player) somewhere. It usually gets stuck it in a block of text in the manual since no-one reads them. (If it’s below 97.3% just go play roulette as it offers better returns).
walks into a casino Alright man, gimme the manuals to these bad boys right now, money ain’t gonna win itself.
Speaking of slot machines, every slot machine, electronic poker machine, etc. are just state machines that operate based on a stream of random numbers fed into them by another device.
The random number generators (RNG’s) used for gaming are highly regulated (at least here in the US) and only a small handful of companies make them. They have to be certified for use by organizations like The Nevada Gaming Control Board. RNGs have to be secured so only NGC officials and other key people can access them. If they are opened unexpectedly or otherwise tampered with then they need to go into lockdown and stop generating numbers until an official resets it.
The RNGs also need to be able to replay sequences of numbers on demand. If the same sequence of numbers are fed into a game and the user plays the same way then the result of the game should be 100% identical each time.
What about category D?
Never really worked with them (we never made them).
I think they’re lower prize threshold cat Bs.
The interview is a vibe check first and foremost. If you vibe with the team we will overlook other things in your application. If you made it to interview, we already think you’re good enough so don’t stress trying to impress or apologize.
Managers are mostly people who get tired of watching other people do things badly and decide to try to do better. You don’t need a special degree or any magic to be a good manager, you should like people though.
Everyone is faking it to some degree.
The cost of digital advertising cannot be justified by its effectiveness (or rather lack there of). We’ve collectively spent hundreds of billions of dollars creating the infrastructure for invasive hyper targeted ads that do not get better results than simple billboards and terrestrial TV ads even now. We’ve created a global economy of marketing, media, advertising and sales solely reliant on technofeudalist overlords who’ve provided very little actual improvement of anything.
Imagine if an alternate timeline is already being produced in the virtual world. The one we will all be strapped into until the death of our core energy cell.
Could you elaborate?
Maybe if those invasive highly targeted ads were the least bit accurate I would buy some shit from them. Instead half the time I can’t find the product I want without wading through a sea of crap even when I give them a search with specific parameters.
(Buy Washing Machine)
“Hello, I see you bought a washing machine. Would you like to buy a few more?” - Internet Ads
For me it’s been “I see you bought this specific laser engraver. Would you be interested in buying that exact model?”
No. I already bought it, and it’s not a consumable. If I decided I needed a new laser a week into ownership, it wouldn’t be because I was thrilled with that exact model.
A whole bunch of welds in nuclear reactors are visually inspected using cameras duct taped onto the end of incredibly long poles which also get duct taped together. This would be the inside of BWR plants near the fuel and jet pumps. There is also an “art” to moving the cameras and poles around to get the shots you need. And if you get stuck the talented people know how to get you unstuck. There are also cameras just duct taped to ropes that the camera handler “swims” to certain spots.
Don’t get me wrong, we have cool ultrasonic inspecting robots as well, but I was absolutely blown away by what visual inspection looked like in practice.
PS: The high dose fields make the camera look like it is being blasted with colorful confetti because of the high energy particles bombarding the camera module.
If you value your privacy and you have a choice between using a browser to access a service vs installing their app, use the browser.
Online services can get much more information about you through an app vs the browser. Browsers are generally locked down more. Apps in general have access to much more information from your device.
Former process engineer in an aluminum factory. Aluminum foil is only shiny on one side and duller on the other for process reasons, not for any “turn this part towards baking, etc” reasons.
It’s just easier to double it on itself and machine it to double thickness than it is to hit single thickness precision, especially given how much more tensile strength it gives it.
Also, our QA lab did all kinds of tests on it to settle arguments. The amount of heat reflected/absorbed between the two sides is trivially small. But if you like one side better you should wrap it that way, for sure!
Update: sorry to be an OP who didn’t deliver. My buddy never made the measurement. I’m hoping he will. Sorry everyone!
The amount of heat reflected/absorbed between the two sides is trivially small.
Your particular choice of wording here makes me very curious: Do you mean that there really was a measurable difference (which was trivially small)?
Yup, the lab could tell a difference! Shiney side (so mill roller facing, as opposed to the dull side which faces the other layer of aluminum) was marginally more reflective, but I believe (and a former coworker also remembered it as) it was less than a tenth of a percent (<0.1% for the visual folks)
Anyone who says it affects cooking time or something is mistaken, I’d wager.
Any info on surface roughness? I’m thinking shiny side would be smoother and therefore less sticky, though I don’t know how much the passivation layer would affect it. Probably no where close to making a difference at the end of the day, but I’m curious.
It was a fair few years ago, but yeah, the oxidation on it will be so much smoother than the delta in surface roughness that I doubt it’d make much difference. Lemme reach out to a metallurgist from there and see what he thinks!
The world is littered with fake empty buildings used to obscure phone line junctions and internet provider stuff.
Almost every neighbourhood has one. But they look like normal houses, so you can never tell unless you know where to look for.
Underground railways use houses for ventilation as well.
Can’t believe Harriet Tubman got all that infrastructure up.
the oh so well kept secret of the software and services (surrounding it) industry that people seem to think is worth paying money for.
Yet time after time these paid software companies produce the most vile awful, dysfunctional, and garbage software (and services) that have ever been created. While somehow a group of people who aren’t being paid, and aren’t doing this for any sort of reason other than “why not” manage to create the most functional software ever, while also managing to somehow catch the single biggest potential software vulnerability in this decade (other than wannacry) purely because ssh has slightly sus behaviors when running the infected payload.
Please stop doing web dev, it isn’t real.
Please stop doing web dev, it isn’t real.
So, let me guess. Web dev isn’t “real” but Linux kernel dev is VERY real?
I mean, I don’t take issue with what SEEMS like your base case: Capitalism is crap and money is a silly game we all play, but what I’m reading / understanding from your statement is that the millions of people sending E-mail, writing documents, and managing spreasheets using web based applications aren’t doing “real” work as well?
Not arguing, just desperately struggling to understand where you’re coming from and what you’re trying to say in concrete terms.
So, let me guess. Web dev isn’t “real” but Linux kernel dev is VERY real?
linux kernel dev is wild, have you ever seen the mailing list when linus shows up?
To be clear, i’m mostly shitposting, it’s not that serious. But also, web dev produces the most routinely garbage crap and frankly unusable code half of the time, with the other half of the time being moderately usable. There is no good to come from this industry for quite some time.
Chefs can put as much butter, cream, salt, sugar and fat as they like into restaurant meals. That’s why they tastes so good.
Chocolate production is infested with slave labor, child labor and child slave labor.
i don’t think this is a secret anymore though
So is banana production. And here I am with a bowl of banana-topped chocolate ice cream. Dammit.
75% of American drinking water needs treatment to reduce particulate and parasites, and the treatment additive used to render the water safe is produced at a single chemical plant located in an area of severe flood risk – which means that a flood could take it offline for a day or two, or damage it for weeks.
(Efforts to build a second site recently fell through due to ever-changing regulations. Of course they’re stockpiling it in some mountain bunker, I’m sure)
The next Katrina could give us a brain-worms infestation via tap-water.
I don’t know the details about alum production (assuming that is what you are referring to), but there are many alternative coagulants available now. Sure the supply logistics would be incredibly challenging and many people would have to boil their water or use point-of-use filters, but this take is pretty doomer in my opinion. Most plants use alum because it’s cheap and easy, not because it’s their only option.
The quality of education at college and university is in free fall.
Was it ever good?
lol education? you mean terrorist chanting camps.
Polystyrene is about as recyclable as any other type of plastic
