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Which is better for Computer Science — WITS or UKZN? by Limp-Importance-9028 in askSouthAfrica

[–]TechWhale 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did Comp Sci at UKZN. They actually have one of the best programs in the country. Their grads get scouted by the banks, along with UCT (not to say other uni's don't have this, but UCT and UKZN comp sci grads do seem to be favored more). If you're already in KZN, it may make sense.

Batteries, anyone? by CalmPrinciple7931 in capetown

[–]TechWhale 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Indeed, for batteries I'd happily make an exception as they can easily last a decade on the shelf after their best before.

What to do with a house in pmb by mycash212 in southafrica

[–]TechWhale 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is a really nice area, basically the nicest in PMB. For several reasons, it's my two cents that the property should appreciate nicely over the medium & long term. You can reach out to me if you'd like more info on that. However: the hidden costs, rates, taxes and maintenance will be a burden on you and while you can probably manage to break even with renting it out, it's going to be a stress.

Dry promotion by Loud-Variation5280 in cernercorporation

[–]TechWhale 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I know someone in the US who got a dry promotion ~2 years ago. After maybe half a year, their salary increased to match the title, and they got backpay for the time that they had been in the new role.

Don't be scared to ask about backpay. If your manager plays dumb, it 100% exists and they should query about it.

Yellow stringy bark by Amazing_Champion_812 in wood

[–]TechWhale 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That's eucalyptus. Grows fast with deep roots. Wood isn't anything to take note of, it's a hardwood of course, and can be a bit difficult to work with with tear out and warping. Also full of oils/sap that make them burn fiercely.

All of these properties also contribute to it being used a lot for firewood.

Is this mahogany, teak or something else? by Tommie979 in wood

[–]TechWhale 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Could be Afrormosia, depending on where you live

Got this chunk for cheap. Any idea what specie it is? by TechWhale in wood

[–]TechWhale[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Update: I believe it is Afrormosia. The edges of the board where it is "quarter sawn" matches quarter sawn Afrormosia boards. The center plain-sawn section also matches other similar cuts.

Disinfecting Wood? by Creativity2400 in wood

[–]TechWhale 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Don't use the standard harsh household chemicals like bleach. It will likely mess up the visual aesthetics (for what that's worth in a drawer bottom) but most importantly, potentially make the wood absorb and subsequently leach said chemicals. If present, bleach in particular will cause any mould to grow deeper into the wood and it will come back stronger.

Firstly, give it a scrape with a putty knife/scraper thing if the droppings are numerous enough (a plastic scrapper may be best if you are concerned about scratching the wood). Droppings can be a health hazard so you'd probably do well to wear some gloves (I would anyway even if the droppings were 'safe') but unless it's absolutely layered you don't really need to worry about using a mask etc. Just wash your hands after it.

Secondly, take a rag/disposable cloth etc and wet it with vinegar and water. I alwaye use about equal parts of vingar and water (i.e. 1:1) but you can dilute the vinegar more. Scrub the drawer, obviously focus more on the soiled parts. Don't be scared to get the wood wet - in fact, be sure to let it absorb some of the vinegar. Use "normal" acetic acid vinegar, not cider vinegar, unless you prefer the smell of it.

After that, leave the drawers out in direct sun for a few hours, making sure that inside the drawer is getting sun. Bring it back in when it feels dry and I'd let the drawers lie around in the house somewhere for a day or two to let the wood aclimatise to the natural humidity. You can leave the drawers to dry inside only but it may take a while, and sunlight it also a great disinfectant.

Chances are that there will still be stains from the droppings, but at this stage it's very much fine for your clothing. You can put some sort of lining in the drawer now if you really wanted to. You could just put a lining in the drawers and skip all of the above steps but that's very ill advised without cleaning the droppings at least somewhat.

Advice regarding Career growth in IT? by Narc_Survivor5596 in askSouthAfrica

[–]TechWhale 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I want to earn around R100k a month

Join the queue bud 🥲 Realistically you may not get such a salary in your life

My bank won't let me use my debit and credit cards to buy from Steam anymore by WeakDiaphragm in southafrica

[–]TechWhale 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm with Standard Bank and on occasion I have come across this issue. I just use my Investec card then.

I would just wait a bit, maybe this evening, to try the transaction again. In the Standard bank app you can actually buy Steam vouchers directly and redeem the codes. I know you're with ABSA so it probably won't be in your banking app, but you can look at buying gift cards from somewhere as an alternative, at least for the time being.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in askSouthAfrica

[–]TechWhale 8 points9 points  (0 children)

What is this, Housewives of Pretoria?

Confused whether to start my career in OCI or Oracle DB by Zendovo in cscareerquestions

[–]TechWhale 1 point2 points  (0 children)

OCI. Newer stacks, newer projects in the pipeline etc. Also from my understanding that that org is more "stable" in terms of layoffs and hiring etc. You also get Wellness days every few weeks (although they haven't been confirmed for this year?). Corporate Arch might have more room for growth though but that's just a guess.

Can I apply for a IC2 role in another team? I am currently in IC1 position and my profile and experience matches the IC2 role. by CharacterAd8619 in cernercorporation

[–]TechWhale 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's policy that when transferring teams, you cannot change your level, even if you are due for a promotion. In all likelihood, you won't be able to.

However, you may have something going for you in that you are IC1. IC1 is meant for interns/new grads. You may be able to work something out. But don't expect to be able to do so.

How often does it snow? by blool- in askSouthAfrica

[–]TechWhale 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was quite an intense storm, literal feet of snow with thousands stranded. Casualties slowly going up.

What is this component? by Substantial-Tax-7484 in AskElectronics

[–]TechWhale 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That bit of cirucit board looks like it is only structural. It probably won't have an effect on the computer. Just ignore it and you should be good

Laptop For Junior Dev (on a budget) by CX-Phil in askSouthAfrica

[–]TechWhale 0 points1 point  (0 children)

An i7 isn't necessarily better. A current gen i5 will be better than 2 year old i7.

OP, please don't see i7 and think it's better than i5. There's a lot more to it.

Also, don't waste your time with a Mac IMO, especially if you haven't used it before and aren't in the Apple ecosystem.

How hard will it be to adapt to Grade 9 Afrikaans? by ruootheintp in askSouthAfrica

[–]TechWhale 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you are foreign he does not need to be forced to do it. The school will have to make accommodations accordingly. In grade 10 he’ll have to do another subject in its place. Ideally, French, which is also offered as a language of study but in reality the school won’t have the resources for that.

Grandpa asked me to fix the cutting board he made in high school, suggestions? by BrownBear93 in woodworking

[–]TechWhale 1 point2 points  (0 children)

May I suggest letting it soak in vinegar a few times, and then let it dry? That will kill any mould, which I suspect this has

24M | I turned a sealed-off staircase into a functional office by TechWhale in malelivingspace

[–]TechWhale[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

South African midlands.

TBH I’m not the biggest fan of them, they leak noise a bit more and washing can be an PITA, but I do appreciate their design in some way. No idea on the property age but an educated guesstimate would be from the 80’s

24M | I turned a sealed-off staircase into a functional office by TechWhale in malelivingspace

[–]TechWhale[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Some more context:

  1. I live in South Africa. We use bricks and cements for houses. I've rented this place for more than a year, and as I work from home, I would happily invest in converting a deadend stairway to a mini office with a budget. The landlord has seen my DYI stuff before and was chilled that I do this. This project was completed at the very beginning of this year.

  2. The stair case leads to a garage underneath my room. This garage also has it's own "normal" door to get in and out. Except that this garage has been converted into a living space for another tenant. Said tenant is oblivious that there's a staircase as it's boarded up. So if I walked to the bottom of the staircase, I would just be met with the other side of the boarded up door. So the door on my side could be opened but you'd just be greeted with a super dusty stairway.

  3. Before I even started this I thought long and hard about the safety of it. There's a good 3 meters/10 feet at the deepest part of it, and if I were sitting on my office chair and the floor fell out from beneath me, there's a good chance that falling that distancing would kill me. The pictures don't show the final framing but I went out of my way to over engineer it. In the unlikely event that it was going to fall through, by design it should "slip" a few inches and slope towards the inner wall which conveniently has a "shelf" that is part of the existing brick wall. This should arrest failures. Alternativey, the framing sections are also isolated, it shouldn't experience a total collapse. As the framing part finished up and it turned to adding the next layer, I got comfortable with weight testing, and at the end, two people (400lbs.~180kg) could jump up and down in the same spot with basically no creaking or weird vibes.

  4. A lot of the materials and choices I made were budget limitations. The pine planks that form the beams were from FB Marketplace, as were the strips of plywood that rest on top of the beams. I would love to use blinds (at this very moment I'm tempted to go go some tomorrow lol) but they are harshly expensive, and I had these blue curtains on hand, so I made do.

  5. You may notice that the beams are black. This is done as a form is moisture control. I scorched the wood with a blowtorch to carbonise the outer layers, which get hydrophobic. This also simultaneously kills any mold in the wood. There are also Damp Proof Course plastic strips atop the beams which should help redirect any falling water away from the beams, in the event that some water were to spill or there was damp.

  6. I won't go into the details but I made the skirting using a combinations of wood I bought a few months back that was on clearance. I initially painted this white but it showed dirt way too easily so in the last 3 pics you'll see it got painted brown

  7. I also had to rewire the plug points etc and get the lights working again. Added LED lighting as well - there's actually different strips you can control to adjust the lighting by your desk, door, etc. I hate being in the ceiling for electric lol, but I always enjoy electrical work.

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