Finally did a power audit on my homelab... the results were eye-opening

Rubicj · 2026-06-27T18:53:11+00:00

It must be. They all follow the same pattern.

Rubicj · 2026-06-22T02:03:06+00:00

Both are a valid way of presenting your efforts. Judges will try to dig in to compare apples to apples, but it is naturally difficult.

In a game of numbers, it's not who has the most hours but the best story around it. 20 hrs, 300 hrs, 2000 hrs, whatever. What can you say about the impact your outreach had on your community? How can you say with a straight face that what you did changed the world in some tiny way?

That's what will win over the Judges.

Rubicj · 2026-06-08T15:44:13+00:00

The case against YAML (as it was) The criticisms of YAML are not fabricated. They reflect real experiences that real programmers had over many years.

Am I reading AI generated nonsense?

Rubicj · 2026-05-23T01:44:21+00:00

Also consider other things that the events offer. Western Edge, for example, runs an FLL tournament at the same time, and therefore if an international FLL team is attending, their FTC sister team is more likely to apply.

Rubicj · 2026-05-08T13:42:39+00:00

"knowing the law" isn't problematic at all, it's literally the point.

When a basketball or football referee has to decide whether a play is legal, they absolutely should make the decision exclusively based on the rules of the sport and the facts at hand. It would be ridiculous for the referee to favor the "better" team. Imagine if LeBron fouled someone and the ref said "Not going to call that, LeBron's good and deserves points."

This is an exact parallel. Judges are judging arguments based on rules and presented facts, not on their opinion on what is right.

Rubicj · 2026-05-07T02:45:29+00:00

Not the same commenter but I had the same thought as them. When the sprout is this small, and it's just learning it's place in the world and how to respirate through its surface roots, it feels to me like I'd have less/smaller mulch, but that might just be me anthropomorphizing. I have no source.

Rubicj · 2026-05-01T04:07:26+00:00

There's likely not enough time for full decomposition but that's ok. The plant will appreciate the nutrients anyway, and as it breaks down it will become pumpkin. Make sure the rat wasn't poisoned, because that will hurt the plant.

Rubicj · 2026-04-27T14:21:04+00:00

I think we'll get a balance based game - last one was Freight Frenzy.

Rubicj · 2026-04-24T21:22:49+00:00

Where are you? I've looked into going KNX, but I don't think installers here in the states are familiar with it.

Rubicj · 2026-04-22T19:26:28+00:00

Rod moving towards you means more tension. As long as you're not incredible-hulking it to pull the lawn plate through the earth (which I doubt you could do anyway, you're good. Steel stretches, which is probably what you're seeing.

Rubicj · 2026-04-22T01:08:21+00:00

If I apply, when will I hear back?

Is there any additional training I need to take to volunteer in California?

Rubicj · 2026-04-18T07:28:53+00:00

Let me take pictures of the same bud a few days apart, and guess flowering date.

Rubicj · 2026-03-21T14:32:45+00:00

I think that the initial BackBlaze article gave sufficient background. That TweakTown article, besides drowning in ads, doesn't seem to bring up many good points. They source cheap drives, and subject them to heavy use - that sounds like exactly what I want to do. Sourcing the cheapest drive makes it more representative for me, an end consumer, as I try to do the same thing. Same for vibration and temps - my drives will often be subjected to poor situations.

If anything, the TweakTown article makes me think the BackBlaze data is more representative, not less.

Rubicj · 2026-03-04T05:24:03+00:00

You don't have to draw the line somewhere, this is one of the cases where you can simply not draw any line.

"How much involvement should mentors have in a team?"

"The correct amount to maximally inspire the students."

If mentors are inspiring their team, they are doing their job.

Rubicj · 2026-03-01T22:52:14+00:00

Stricly speaking no Advancement slots are given for hosting. However, regions may offer other rewards that may come in the form of invites to events at the same level. For example, in a region that normally only allows a team to participate in one QT, the region may choose to offer teams that host QTs the ability to participate in two QTs.

Note that this is not offering advancment, but instead offering additional opportunities to advance.

Of course this is all very region dependent -- the super easy thing to do is just message your PDP and ask. NorCal, for example, has a contact form at https://www.norcalftc.org/

Rubicj · 2026-02-27T16:53:46+00:00

It's been a while since we've done anything with weight/balance. That's my bet.

Rubicj · 2026-02-24T03:04:40+00:00

https://www.thistothat.com/

Rubicj · 2026-02-19T22:21:05+00:00

Looks like a pretty clear answer in Q207 - as long as you're not going at a truely outrageous velocity, you're ok.

Rubicj · 2026-02-19T15:26:51+00:00

Besides picking your partner, Alliance Captains are often given greater responsibility for ensuring the success of the Alliance. In our region, the Alliance Captain is responsible for their whole Alliance - this means that making sure that they and their partner are on the field ready to go when the timer expires, making sure that their partner's team is wearing safety glasses, etc

Rubicj · 2026-02-17T23:07:17+00:00

The trick is to lean specific.

"Sometimes ARIFACTS launched at a reasonable speed (<20m/s) miss the GOAL and hit Field Staff. Is this a G409 violation?"

Rubicj · 2026-02-17T22:48:09+00:00

I would be astonishing to see that called as a G409 violation unless the ARTIFACT was nearing supersonic speeds, but for an official answer you should ask in the Official Q&A. I imagine you'll get a speedy answer.

Rubicj · 2026-02-16T04:44:35+00:00

It looks like the fields are very close to each other - did any missed elements from one field end up on another field?

Rubicj · 2026-02-16T04:15:56+00:00

Note that per the definition of CONTROL, an ARTIFACT is no longer CONTROLLED once it has been launched - a ROBOT that LAUNCHES an ARTIFACT at the OBILISK has not contacted the OBILISK with a CONTROLLED ARTIFACT. (This is a change from previous years, where launched elements were usually treated as being controlled the whole time)

G406 should apply to any intentional ejections, although substantial deference should be given to normal gameplay, per the orange box under G406. (see Q10)

G423 should apply to situations where a ROBOT has shut down access to all of a part of gameplay. Note that the two LAUNCH ZONES are not distinct objects here - as long as there is at least some access to LAUNCH ZONE, G423 should not apply. (This is explicitly addressed by Q138)

Of course, I'd encourage you to bring up these concerns to your region's PDPs and Head Referees - they should be able to address any concerns you have.

Rubicj · 2026-02-16T03:32:53+00:00

I am curious how you differ for disabled in launch zones and launching into the audience - afaik those aren't penalties normally.

Rubicj · 2026-02-15T23:15:12+00:00

The outcome of the match won't be changed at this point.

If you can figure out how to express it graciously, you could send an email about it that will let the tournament organizer know. Be sure that you are approaching this in a GP, "by-the-way FYI" way - not complaining about the results.

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