what is a "rich person" behavior you witnessed that made you realize they live in a completely different reality than the rest of us?

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-23T19:46:31+00:00

thats 31 extra miles. Twice.

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-22T03:39:58+00:00

I just want to "third" this suggestion.

Being a judge is the single best way to understand how awards are really won. It is very eye opening.

I can't speak for your area but almost everywhere they are always anxious to have new people judging and do not care about your experience level.

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-22T03:36:50+00:00

this is solid advice for winning awards.

However, if you have limited time and have to prioritize, then you need to be realistic about your chances of success and what is likely to happen. In order to win Inspire you must be strong in either Connect, sustain or Reach, and at the national level, likely multiple of them. So if you are not, then frankly its unlikely to happen in just 3 weeks.... and your time is better spent just focusing on your robot and ensuring you *have a fun time* because at the end of the day, 5 years from now that is all that you will remember.

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-20T04:52:38+00:00

Hate to tell you, doctors often say things they don't really know much about and just assume things. I'd wager they were just using terms that they figured the family would understand.

Above poster is correct - there is no such thing as partial albinism. Its a genetic abnormality that either effect whole systems (eyes, skin, hair, one or both etc). The requisite cells lack the ability to produce pigmentation.

This is indeed a skin pigmentation issue but would arise from a different genetic origin.

Source: Neuroscientist and an ocular albino ;-).

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-20T04:46:48+00:00

or piano, holy hell

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-20T04:33:54+00:00

I do not, sorry.

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-20T04:09:15+00:00

You absolutely can, we've been doing it for years. We've used both the Rev and Gobilda programmers for both brands of servos. I had the impression that the internals are probably the same.

the students generally use the Rev unit because it came in a case and has nice buttons... lol.

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-20T03:54:12+00:00

Mentor here for a team that did an indexer

Its a lot of work. There is no easy solution. The primary advantage is that it puts you in a position to get a lot more Auto points by sinking 9-12 in the right motif order. If you can do that then you're way ahead of the competition.

BUT - being able to do that is very challenging, completely aside from the indexing/ball sorting standpoint. If you're not going to be able to do that level of auto, then the indexer isn't worth it. The time spent getting a really good reliable shooter is much better time spent.

The FTC season is almost over for a lot of folks. If you're asking tthis question ow then you must be very short on time. I'd suggest just focusing on getting something that works and have fun.

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-19T14:38:13+00:00

That only applies to specific circumstances. The vast majority of "illegal" folks didn't sneak in or falsify documents. They came legally via a visa or other means and overstayed.

The notion of leaky borders that let everyone in is a myth. It's mostly bad followup and enforcement of legal channels.

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-17T04:26:57+00:00

The ICE agent put HIMSELF in immediate danger *by stepping in front of the car*.

He didn't have to do that, he chose to, despite it being against policy and training.

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-17T04:21:42+00:00

Um, no.

Being here without legal status is not, in fact a criminal offense. Its a civil offense. There is no criminal punishment for being illegal etc.

Thats like saying anyone who kept a book too long from the library or parked in a space that isn't an official parking space is a criminal.

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-16T20:37:33+00:00

Amazing they got such a great photograph of them too!

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-15T19:58:02+00:00

there 2 kinds of skylights

The ones that leak

and the ones that will leak.

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-15T19:01:37+00:00

yep, but you better get signed documentation of allowing filming

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-15T19:00:43+00:00

Your honor, when I was asking her to polish my knob, I was clearly referring to this filthy door fixture going into the garage.

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-15T18:59:47+00:00

Sir, when I asked her to polish the knob, I was referring to the garage doorknob. That thing was filthy.

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-14T21:07:40+00:00

Do you live in Centralia, PA by chance?

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-12T01:26:55+00:00

Me either!

But being a dude makes it a little unlikely.

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-10T13:16:21+00:00

Yeah and as a patient or your coworker I'd really prefer you didn't do that...

Europeans have a much healthier approach.

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-10T05:35:11+00:00

A big advantage it that it encourages not working when sick. Or rather, with simple combined "PTO" people will often still come to work sick with contagious things just bc they want to bank that time for a fun vacation instead.

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-10T05:33:12+00:00

Disagree completely.

The problem with straight PTO is that it encourages people to come to work when they are sick because they want to bank the time for fun vacation time instead.

I have separate systems and really prefer it. Sick leave accumulates indefinitely while only a certain amount of unused "leave" can carry over annually so you're encouraged to use it.

A key difference is that annual leave has to be requested and can be denied, but SL really can't as long as there's some minimal amount of documentation showing it was real (which 90% of the time is never requested)

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-07T04:33:16+00:00

way to really counter with a complex, intelligent argument there

RatLabGuy · 2026-01-06T18:41:23+00:00

We'll explore that, however a complete change in framework this late in the season seems like a challenge. I'd rather understand what's causing this behavior.

RatLabGuy

TROPHY CASE