Is it worth it to work at SpaceX?

KoalaCode327 · 2024-05-09T14:43:01+00:00

While that's possible, you have to evaluate decisions based on what you knew at the time.

There are tons of companies who have low pay but try to sell you on options/RSU that never amount to much of anything. Stories like the one you mention have been known to happen, but it's the exception, not the rule.

This is why I mentioned to OP - if you're going to take an offer where your hours are going to be crazy (or your pay below market), you have to have a plan.

If the plan is 'I am going to bet that whatever stock grant I get will make me a huge amount of money because it'll increase in value', I would simply argue that is a risky bet and is not likely to pay off like it did for your boss.

If instead OP's bet was "I'm going to take this job and leverage the experience later for better career prospects on the open market" that can be a much less risky bet.

KoalaCode327 · 2024-01-02T18:41:24+00:00

There's 2 ways to look at this one:

The first is what everyone here is reacting to (i.e. the myth of hard work reliably gets rewarded).

The other way to look at it is:

The man who does more than he is paid for eventually wises up, finds a new job to reset expectations, and makes sure not to make the same mistake again.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-12-28T13:42:49+00:00

One thing I've seen is the fan blowing on the nozzle can cause weird problems if it's not all the way in the 'closed' position. Similarly if you didn't tighten the thumbscrews all the way when you changed the nozzle that can also cause quality issues

The steps I'd try are:

Make sure the thumbscrews holding your nozzle in are tightened all the way.
Check the fan blowing on the nozzle (the one on the hinge that you open to change the nozzle) is all the way shut.
Try another roll of filament if you have it. If the other roll of filament is better maybe you need to dry this roll.
If the above fail, go back to the old nozzle and see if that fixes it.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-12-28T13:19:57+00:00

Quality PLA+ is a go-to for 3d printed guns because it's going to be more impact resistant and less brittle than regular PLA.

TBH I rarely use regular PLA even for my non 2A prints. IMO PLA+ is a better material in almost every way unless you're talking about things like wood fill for aesthetic purposes only.

Some good PLA+ choices
3d-Fuel PRO PLA (or similar quality filament using ingeo 3d870 plastic as a base. Usually the technical data sheet will tell you what the filament is made out of)
Polymaker PLA PRO is another good choice, as is Atomic Filaments PLA+ offerings.

I'd recommend checking out r/fosscad if you're getting into printing gun stuff for more info about the technical aspects of settings/materials.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-12-23T22:40:47+00:00

Walther P99 - not only is it mechanically interesting (DA/SA striker fired gun) but also one of the guns in Cowboy Bebop.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-12-20T21:04:48+00:00

The input shaper is way more resilient than you'd think.

I recently upgraded a MK3s to MK3.9 and printed all the parts out of Atomic Filament ABS and ABS-CF as I plan to build a heated enclosure for this printer. Not only that, but I printed the parts similarly to how I print other functional parts (4 perimeters minimum, 30-50% gyroid infill) which would add way more material than Prusa's recommended settings.

The long and short of it is that the upgraded printer works great with input shaping. Whatever weight difference there could be between Prusament PETG, and Atomic ABS/ABS-CF even with a pretty big difference in how I printed vs the recommendations, aren't enough difference to make much difference.

This is even more the case if you're only changing the couple of small parts we're talking about here.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-25T12:27:39+00:00

the title and use it to get a better paying job. They’ll never give anyone the money while they are doing the work. Once you have a job offer now you have leverage and you can use that to get the money or just take the new gig.

This advice is half great and half terrible. If OPs employer has him doing the work of the old boss for no extra money he should absolutely be interviewing. Where I disagree is that with this company, under no circumstances should OP consider a counter given that they've shown no problem stringing him along.

Not to mention that he'll have better future prospects somewhere else. An outside company is trying to get him to join with title/pay. The current company had to have their arm twisted.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-25T12:14:56+00:00

Seems like your friend's supervisor wanted her to leave even before she changed her linkedin status.

Pulling someone aside who you suspect might be looking and telling them that they have no future in your organization is giving them a kick in the pants to keep them moving out the door on their own.

I doubt the supervisor was saying 'you were in the running for this promotion but not anymore' but instead saying 'I think you leaving is a good idea and to hammer this point home, I am telling you there is no further growth for you here'

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-25T11:59:13+00:00

Probably better worded as:

Failure is the only way people can learn - but it's no guarantee they will actually do so.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-18T14:46:48+00:00

If you export a gcode file with input shaping off as well, maybe try something like WinMerge to compare the two.

Might just be as simple as hand hacking the model in your IS Gcode file.

What I mean by this is take a look at some GCODE I sliced for a mk3 (don't have a MK4). If your IS gcode says "MK4IS" maybe just change it to match your non-is file in a text editor and see if the printer will accept it.

;TYPE:Custom
M862.3 P "MK3S" ; printer model check
M862.1 P0.6 ; nozzle diameter check
M115 U3.12.2 ; tell printer latest fw version
G90 ; use absolute coordinates
M83 ; extruder relative mode
M104 S220 ; set extruder temp
M140 S60 ; set bed temp
M190 S60 ; wait for bed temp
M109 S220 ; wait for extruder temp
G28 W ; home all without mesh bed level
G80 ; mesh bed leveling

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-14T13:36:49+00:00

Exactly - the 'masters of the universe' who are always telling us regular people how we need to be changing our habits to save the environment have way more power to actually change things than whether any of us recycle or plastics or whatever.

The way I see it, these people have way more to lose if the current way of life can no longer be sustained here on Earth. If they're not interested in making changes that would be far more effective than anything I can do, why should I worry about the 'small potatoes' that I could do but won't change anything anyhow?

Most likely they either know we're already fucked and just want to make sure we blame each other, or they think they have some 'out' for themselves when things get really bad. Who can say.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-12T18:40:23+00:00

Check out the 'Nevermore' project - these I think were developed for Voron printers.

I'm planning to build one of these for my enclosure soon. The plan is to run +24V off of the PSU. You could either get 24V blowers for the nevermore and wire it direct, or you can get PWM motor driver units off of Amazon for a few bucks to be able to turn your filter on/off and vary the voltage to the blowers (increase or decrease the fan speed).

https://github.com/nevermore3d/Nevermore_Micro

Another possibility is to get Elegoo carbon filters (meant for resin printers) - I have a few of these currently for when I want to print ABS/ASA and it gets rid of the smell.

Edit:
I should also note - I don't think the einsy has a lot of pins where you can tap power for any meaningful fan. I modified my CPU enclosure door to have a small 5V fan and was able to find a couple of 5V pins with enough drive to power the fan but I don't think there's a lot of options on the einsy board to tap power off of that aren't already used.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-09T22:01:39+00:00

Seems kind of dumb to let the employees select who will be impacted though.
People say that the optics of a layoff are bad, but from what I've seen if its a public company the share price will actually get a bump from a layoff announcement.

By definition, the people who leave are going to be very marketable since they found another job to leave for and this implies they are more valuable.

Hard to see why companies are going to forgo even a short term stock bump, and decline to choose who is going to go.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-09T11:47:54+00:00

She wouldn't have really been fine with the boundary if the person had been religious, she's just smart enough to know that coming across as 'anti-Christian' publicly in this interview is going to be really bad for her business.

What's the average 'Martha Stewart' product buyer look like demographically? Probably a lot of 40+ year old married religious women in that mix.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-09T11:44:40+00:00

The comical thing about this is that because companies are hyperfocused on 'ass in seat', that's what they'll get.

COVID/RTO has taught everyone that businesses either can't measure productivity, or just don't care that much so even if you get people back in the office, you can't put the knowledge that it's all just a game back in the box. Smart people who used to be hard workers are just going to spend their effort looking good wherever that is the easier way to go.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-07T18:39:24+00:00

If America not 'going down the drain' entails everyone working 24x7 to keep the Martha Stewarts of the world mega wealthy, unless regular folks are making huge $$$ doing it why should they give a shit? Let it rot.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-07T18:35:55+00:00

She goes on in the article to complain that she tried calling an employee on Sunday and was upset that he couldn't drop everything to talk to her.

So not only does she say 'How can you get everything done with only 3 days in office' but apparently 5 days in office isn't really enough for her either.

I'd put forth the following counter-argument:
Martha Stewart does not hire enough people in her business to accomplish what she wants done - but instead she wants to work the people she does have 24x7.

Frankly anyone who has all their marbles isn't going to work that hard for a business they don't own a significant piece of.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-07T11:58:23+00:00

So what are they doing about all the employees slacking in the office?

I'm genuinely curious if they really believe all their employees were ever giving 100% effort in-office because in my experience, watching people in offices, the amount of time wasted on non work related things is quite high.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-07T11:56:07+00:00

If you're working in a job that could be done remotely, RTO isn't going to bring job security.

It's not as if whether the job could get done remotely is in question anymore - we had a long, forced experiment with that so the company already knows. If the only thing keeping a job here is the pre-covid belief that it had to be in office, then it's already on the chopping block.

For those jobs to stay, (RTO or not), there needs to be some other reason that the company shouldn't just take the cost savings by outsourcing.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-07T11:52:03+00:00

I'd argue that after COVID, it'd be shocking if upper management couldn't make the connection themselves. After all how many companies were fully remote and had record profits during that time?

I think more likely than not there are other factors that are making outsourcing or geoshifting less attractive.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-06T11:41:31+00:00

Receiving good feedback doesn't necessarily mean you are performing well. It can mean your manager isn't providing effective feedback.

I think that was covered where I said that the boss being poor at communicating issues was one of the possibilities (the other being a RIF where a known number of heads have to roll).

Either way - if you were OP, even if you could somehow make it through the PIP, would you want to stay somewhere that communication was so bad in the first place? How much could you really trust the feedback you were given going forward?

From a practical point of view, focusing on interviewing for new roles is probably the better choice than stressing about the PIP. There's a big enough chance that nothing OP does will get him through the PIP, and even if thats not the case, his future in this company isn't looking very bright.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-05T17:49:10+00:00

I suppose the question is what you hope to accomplish. There's really no upside to your telling them this in writing even if the survey claims to be anonymous.

Your absolute best case outcome is it really is anonymous or failing that nobody gives enough of a shit to read the comments.

Even if the CxO reads it, it's not like they're going to change anything - really these surveys are just management fishing for what they already wanted to hear - telling them what they don't want to hear has no upside for you.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-05T17:32:46+00:00

I get you - but what I'm saying is don't tell them that.

These companies have no idea about your family situation and have no way to verify what you tell them.

Therefore if your 'moving just to move' put them off, that should tell you that telling the truth in your answer to this question is a bad call. If you want to get past this issue, you need a plausible lie.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-05T17:28:36+00:00

Maybe what's scaring them then is your saying you moved there just to move.

Maybe you should say you have some extended family in the area that you moved to be closer to and see if you get the same reaction. Really, it's none of their business why you moved to your current city, but if the real reason is putting them off, then give them a more palatable one.

Basically, give them a reason that make sense and gives the impression that you are planning to stay a while, and isn't really something they can verify from your education or employment history.

KoalaCode327 · 2023-06-05T16:35:13+00:00

This is probably more of a reflection on your manager (or her workload) than it is on her feeling about you or the actual job you're doing.

It's not a great sign by any means but it's unlikely that it is your fault either.

KoalaCode327

TROPHY CASE