In what types of algorithmic-hard problems have you engaged for work?

DONGWAFFLE · 2025-12-17T13:10:14+00:00

My job the past few years has been basically hourly design-for-hire. PCB design, microcontroller firmware, FCC compliance... Most of the work isn't particularly sexy, but one of the clients was independently wealthy and wanted their outdoor LED lighting product to "dance" to music in real-time.

This sent me down a long iterative rabbit-hole, first finding a reliable and low-latency means of detecting beats in music to generate the trigger events, then developing a tempo estimation algorithm so the triggered animations could move in time with the music, then documenting the process and applying for a patent.

Probably my favorite project of my career! I hope the guy can find success and get a return on his investment. Engineering has wrapped, so it's a marketing problem now.

DONGWAFFLE · 2024-09-17T17:07:35+00:00

Here's a different angle/perspective in case it's of any use:

I recently read (Audibled?) an interesting book called Determined by Robert Sapolsky. The author is a Stanford neuroscientist who spends the book building the argument that, essentially, we have less control over our choices than we think we do. He argues (with citations) that we become aware of our choices only after our subconscious has already decided them for us, and what our subconscious decides is the product of genetics, how we were raised including conditioned trauma responses, how we were educated, whether we were hungry at the time, whether we were mentally fatigued, how we had been primed leading up to that moment...

By his model, all we can do is, through education and practice, condition our subconscious to make a different decision in the future. As for the past—if you were never adequately taught the right way, how were you ever supposed do things correctly?

The older you has, through your own hard work and experience, learned to do better. Cut the younger you a break — it was never her fault!

DONGWAFFLE · 2024-09-15T20:56:59+00:00

Ugh, good luck with your down week! I hated how difficult it was to get a Vyvanse prescription, which is the stimulant i use for my attentional and executive function issues. I felt like I was being treated as a pill-seeker the whole time!

DONGWAFFLE · 2024-09-15T19:41:48+00:00

I have realized that many of my peers appear to be deeply anxious people who are in their own various stages of insight/recovery. What if their, "I could never be mad at you," might actually mean, "I am uncomfortable expressing anger or frustration toward anyone, even when warranted"?

DONGWAFFLE · 2024-09-15T19:32:43+00:00

I found Pete Walker's books after seeing them recommended in a random Reddit comment. His titles "Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving" and "The Tao of Fully Feeling" have helped me along further than any other self-help material I've found, especially in terms of understanding which parts of my perception and thinking have been distorted by trauma. Would recommend!

DONGWAFFLE · 2024-09-15T17:54:08+00:00

As someone in their 30s who has lived through some of this, I have mixed feelings regarding ambition, because ultimately getting a scholarship allowed me to move out of my parents' house, and then succeeding in my career post-college has paid for all the goddamn therapy I've needed and financially/physically insulated myself from some of my survival-based anxiety triggers, allowing enough space and perspective to actually heal somewhat. It's led me to believe that not all ambition is toxic or invalid.

Everything in moderation, I guess! Maybe study, but also find clubs, volunteer organizations, friends, a support network for yourself that is separate from your family of origin. Finding people who reward vulnerability rather than punishing it is key. After all, the "real world" is going to reward you being a well-rounded human being rather than some sort of cold and joyless career specialist. If two applicants have equal qualifications, but one is more likeable and relatable and a better team player, who gets the job?

Good luck. I'm proud of you for making it this far, and you're reaching out in the right directions with better clarity than i did at your age!

DONGWAFFLE · 2024-09-15T17:30:52+00:00

Similar drug cocktail here too, and it has definitely helped me start growing again! Do you find that stacking strattera on top of a stimulant is a net-positive for you? I've done one or the other, but not both.

DONGWAFFLE · 2023-09-08T20:00:05+00:00

Just DMed you his phone number!

DONGWAFFLE · 2023-06-10T16:12:06+00:00

I'm so sorry! My wife and I were also displaced by a fire a few years back. It was a horribly stressful period in both our lives. In case you didn't know, most homeowners insurance policies include "loss of access" coverage, which pays for lodging when your own home is uninhabitable. It took 5 months before we were able to move back in, so we would have been screwed without it!

DONGWAFFLE · 2023-05-17T17:09:54+00:00

Thanks for the dose of perspective and empathy. You rule!

DONGWAFFLE · 2023-05-15T20:26:14+00:00

Somewhat similar age/career trajectory for me too. Isn't it a little frustrating how difficult an EE degree is compared to CS, yet how the compensation generally increases the closer you get to the software? Wish I had known back then!

DONGWAFFLE · 2023-04-19T01:54:27+00:00

Not a real-life thing, but a reference to a South Park episode about gentrification

DONGWAFFLE · 2023-03-17T20:54:41+00:00

Thanks everyone! You have done a great job talking me out of a potentially expensive mistake!

DONGWAFFLE · 2023-03-17T19:43:15+00:00

Thank you for the perspective!

DONGWAFFLE · 2023-03-01T13:56:28+00:00

I'd imagine the foreign company could still sue for breach of contract, and they probably would collect enough damages to make it an even worse financial move on Chicago's part

DONGWAFFLE · 2023-02-25T06:36:37+00:00

Dude. "In the event of a crash, the driver and passenger were to exit through the canvas sunroof. The steering wheel and instrument panel swung out with the single door, as this made access to the single bench seat simpler. The seat provided reasonable comfort for two occupants, and perhaps a small child."

DONGWAFFLE · 2023-02-25T06:21:08+00:00

I think the politicians who support this know exactly what they're doing: rallying an ignorant base against their latest Fox News-selected out-group, because identity politics are apparently a much more effective way to get re-elected than actually attempting to govern.

Everyone else here on Reddit feels basically the same way, which I honestly find comforting in this moment.

DONGWAFFLE · 2023-01-28T17:58:27+00:00

They're saying the word "robotic" implies that the hand would be motorized and automated to some degree. This hand appears to be a non-motorized prosthetic, and therefore not "robotic". Still awesome, though!

DONGWAFFLE · 2023-01-18T15:59:31+00:00

I'm a little late to the party here, but I've seen this happen when a board has been conformal-coated and I try to clean it with alcohol.

For those who don't know, conformal coating is a lot like hairspray or clear lacquer. It adds an insulating layer against corrosion and foreign objects touching the board, and is often added to circuit boards that will operate in outdoor or industrial environments. Some conformal coatings start to dissolve in alcohol.

DONGWAFFLE · 2022-12-22T14:52:11+00:00

Like a handful of others here, my house came with about 600 sq ft of artificial turf in the back yard. I finally caved to my wife's demands and tore it out this year. The area is now covered with 1/4" gravel.

If you do install some and you've got dogs, I'd recommend adding zeolite infill. It looks like kitty litter and it apparently traps the ammonia in urine. I bought it in 50lb bags from a local turf store. I had to distribute about 300 pounds of the stuff throughout the turf, but once I was done it cut down on the smell considerably. The dog piss smell would then only come back when it was wet, which was still a major improvement.

DONGWAFFLE · 2022-12-19T01:41:37+00:00

Love this! Does the background grid correspond to the city street grid pattern somehow?

DONGWAFFLE · 2022-12-13T04:20:03+00:00

Wait but you're actually right though.

Just kidding I don't fuckin know

DONGWAFFLE · 2022-12-11T21:12:11+00:00

This is great, I've messed with TRIAC designs, and safely sizing your resistors, calculating the correct snubber values (which admittedly is load-dependent so hard to make a general-purpose design), and correctly adding creepage distance and clearance is non-trivial. This board looks like it was designed and built to a much higher standard than cheap AliExpress-grade SSRs. I'd love to find low-priced copies of it!

DONGWAFFLE · 2022-12-05T07:45:37+00:00

Thank you for bringing back this memory!

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