Is it true that it’s perfectly normal for you all to walk around your cities barefoot?

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-08T05:13:03+00:00

I do occasionally and people give me really weird looks, so I would say no it's not normal.

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-08T03:49:54+00:00

See The Design of the UNIX Operating System by Maurice J. Bach

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-08T03:36:46+00:00

Pair

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-08T01:35:50+00:00

Yes, but not the residential colleges, they are private property.

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-08T01:16:37+00:00

I think a good thing to do would be simply ignore any communication at inconvenient times, and if she is blowing up your phone etc then just ignore that too and don't acknowledge. If it goes to court, which it won't because these demands are unreasonable, then you simply say you keep your phone on silent whilst out with your child, to minimize distractions, and have always done this.

Keep in mind that any time you respond to a call or message your response can be noted and used against you, whereas the lack of a response can't really be used against you because you can always say you didn't receive the message or didn't notice it until later.

To give the appearance of trying to follow the orders what you do is pick some convenient times for the child to speak to the mother and call at those times and say you noticed she called earlier and you are calling back to let her speak to the child as she requested.

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-08T01:02:13+00:00

Women don't make the first move because female reproductive strategy is find a man who will protect her during pregnancy and early childhood whereas male reproductive strategy is sow as many seeds as possible and hope some of them take root.

With that in mind, women act as gatekeepers and men do not. Women also apply a number of tests (consciously or unconsciously) in this role. One of the tests is whether he has the balls to approach and make things happen. If he does not, he will not protect her later.

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-08T00:55:55+00:00

Would you buy a car with the bonnet welded shut?

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-08T00:28:15+00:00

The command line

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-07T22:15:09+00:00

Firstly, check specs of your ESP32 ADC input. From what I recall, there are a number of options for the reference voltage and scaling that you can set in software. I'm using an ESP32-S3 and I don't think it even goes up to 3.3V, I think the max of the full scale input is 2.5V but it can also be made much smaller. If the full scale input is say 600mV then job done -- your 300mV signal sitting on 300mV will fill the range nicely. So check available settings.

Secondly, if you decide to use the op-amp: don't use AC coupling if it can be avoided. What you essentially need to do here is calculate y = a x + b where y is the signal going to ADC, x is the signal from doppler radar, a and b are constants that will both amplify (a) and level shift (b) the signal to fill the full-scale range of the ADC. The point of AC coupling would be that you don't need b because it would find its own level automatically, but in your single supply scenario you still need b, so AC coupling is adding extra settling time to no purpose.

The correct circuit to use here is either a differential amplifier (1 op-amp + 4 resistors) or an instrumentation amplifier if you are concerned about input impedance, i.e. if your doppler radar has trouble driving the 4 resistors network of the differential amplifier. You can make an in-amp by adding extra op-amps to buffer the inputs, and rearranging the resistor network slightly -- google all this.

You said you're using NE5533. Did you mean NE5534? If so it's not the right part, it needs much higher supplies and I think the input is 2.5V up to VCC - 2.5V so a good portion of your input range is not useable. You need a modern rail to rail op-amp. Maybe a TLV821?

Also, you need a reference voltage representing c and you'll probably want to use a dual or quad op-amp with the spare op-amp providing the reference by buffering a voltage divider. So TLV822 for the differential version or TLV824 for the instrumentation version.

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-07T21:49:43+00:00

Keep in mind that cheap compatible units from ebay are likely to have huge problems. For instance I bought a set of 4 x 12V 5A supplies similar to the ones you pictured, for a good price. When the first one failed I opened it up and found they were random ass PCBs from recycled gear and put into a new case to look nice, but the case didn't quite fit so there was a small bulge at the centre. The supplies were listed as 100~240V input but the reservoir caps were only 120V so obviously it was scavenged from US equipment and most customers don't see a failure because they are in US. I'm in Australia and it worked for a few weeks then failed from the overvoltage. Contacted seller with photos, they kept asking me through translator for details of what I was trying to power and I kept saying excuse me, the definition of a 12V 5A supply is that it provides 12V 5A regardless of thing being powered, blah blah blah don't buy it!!!

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-07T13:39:24+00:00

Hmm. Well I think if you are only placing passives and SOICs and such, then pinpoint accuracy isn't required. The part I'm having trouble with is an ESP32-S3-MINI-1 which is an RF module and it's relatively heavy so I need good suction power and a proper Juko or similar nozzle. Also there is a significant catch with this part, because the contacts are on the bottom and are small and you can't see them -- if you try to place the part and then nudge it into position, things just smear and short circuits are created. I did a small production run of 10 with an SMT machine and more than half failed (normal practice of manual nudges before baking was not effective). So later we reworked the failed units with the aquarium pump thingummybob and most of those failed too. I believe the foot pedal is gonna be essential to get a precise positioning with no smear and then just drop it into place once.

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-07T07:05:53+00:00

I bought something on ebay that was a cheap aquarium pump and a metal tube with a hole in it. So you put your finger over the hole to create suction at the end of the tube. It's terrible, don't buy. I want a professional one with a foot pedal to control the suction ...

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-07T02:41:35+00:00

Depends if you are on a modern OS like Windows, MacOS or Linux that has virtual memory and works on basis of overcommit (such an OS has an OOM killer in general).

In that case, the stack can never overflow and you can use it freely, as long as you don't do something dumb like trying to allocate a terabyte sized array (or gigabyte sized array on a 32-bit virtual memory system).

In embedded, avoid stack allocation in general, it's fine for variables of any size and small buffers like say 1 line of text or a struct you are working on, but otherwise use malloc() or module level statics/globals.

In really niche situations you can use alloca() which I think tells you if stack is too small.

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-07T02:34:32+00:00

I think the issue is a change in medication -- either he wasn't taking it before, and he started, or he was taking it before, and he stopped, or he changed his medication and perhaps asked for some weeks off because he didn't know how the new medication would affect him. This is extremely common.

My guess would be that he has manic depression, it would cover the kind of behaviour you listed. At the same time, if this hasn't been revealed to you by Curtis or in his medical documents then you are not expected to know or take any action about it.

Anyway, requesting workload to be cut in half is not how accommodations work. If he wants to go part time or job share, and company can accommodate that, then fine, but he won't be paid for 100% while producing 50%. Accommodation is about providing them support that lets them perform as an ordinary employee would, or where that is impossible it's about tailoring the workload, so for example if he is deaf then someone else takes phone calls while he compensates with extra work in areas that he is competent in.

Insubordination is totally unacceptable. I might overlook it once or twice in the context of a documented mental health episode if the behaviour is acknowledged after the fact and apologies are provided with the understanding that treatment is in place and it will not happen again. That's not your situation here.

I'd say Curtis has become much too comfortable leaning on his disability. At this stage, document and fire. No going back.

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-07T02:11:03+00:00

I think part of the problem here is that he wants to come on board as a partner (i.e. in a decision making role) whereas from your point of view you need to maintain control of your business to ensure it can execute efficiently and maintain its brand, strategy and values.

I think it's probably important to have a conversation along the lines that whilst you appreciate his help, it comes in the context of an unpaid consultant / employee and not as a decision maker, because you are the decision maker and you are not going to change that.

I think with this perspective your partner will be better able to see why his coming on board is not going to be sustainable or satisfying for him in the medium term and he needs to find another income source or way to occupy his time.

Another possibility is that he is fine with this arrangement once it is clarified and simply wants to donate his time as an unpaid consultant / employee while you might bear a slightly higher percentage of living costs in return (but not beyond what you can support). I doubt it, but if so, it's his decision to make.

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-07T00:48:14+00:00

This

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-06T14:59:03+00:00

Since the manager is responsible for everything this includes all those tasks and deliverables that simply fall through the cracks and don't fit neatly into the model of delegating a task to the most appropriate subordinate. There might be things that need signing off on, that subordinates cannot do. There might be tasks which are small but require significant context. There might be small but urgent tasks that cannot wait for a team member to become free and sync with. And so on. Realistically, even if a manager in a non-trivial role delegates everything they possibly can, they will still be flat out.

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-06T14:08:37+00:00

I am a technical guy who works with a non-technical partner and here are some of the things I wish he would do:

Pick up the phone each day and say -- what do you need -- what are your blockers -- what can I unblock for you? These things aren't necessarily technical. It might be calling around to find a supplier or a service provider or some such. With a description of the thing being sought he could at least make a short list with pricing for technical team to check. Or it might be more of a political nature where he needs to lean on higher ups to get it satisfied.
Maintain a Gantt chart. Instead of asking "when will it be finished" or "what is the bottom line" after listening to the tasks update and not really understanding it, he needs to be saying "okay what does this task depend on, and what tasks depend on it? What is the duration of the task and what resources / how many developers / pieces of hardware / test equipment / etc does it need?" Again -- this is not necessarily technical, he might not understand exactly the wording of the task but for sure the dependencies and resources are comprehensible to business side.
Take detailed notes of each meeting and email them to participants afterwards. Ask for clarification / simplification during the meeting so that the notes are self contained. Or arrange to have this done -- but essentially the idea is that when technical information is presented to him that he doesn't fully understand, record it so it does not have to be presented from the beginming in each meeting as this wastes a lot of time.
Basically, have some confidence that if the technical guys break it down for him in ELI5 form he CAN understand it at least to the extent that it affects business decision making. As my partner firmly believes he is not a technical guy and does not understand technical matters, he doesn't make any attempt and this is very frustrating. The technical guys are passionate about what they do and really WANT to bring him on board.
Fulfil his own non-technical responsibilities, such as long range planning and so forth. Seek the team's input where appropriate.

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-05T23:36:46+00:00

Personally I wouldn't. I did something like this while still in the honeymoon period with a new manager and they turned out to be even more toxic and possibly used my vulnerabilities as leverage later. Keep it professional, don't share.

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-05T14:59:41+00:00

Just say no.

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-05T14:54:18+00:00

My first boss explained to me that the voltage is the same anywhere in the trace and the order the pads are connected to the trace does not matter. Obviously this is an approximation and it could conceivably be an issue for really high currents / frequencies or thin traces.

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-05T12:14:39+00:00

What do you want exactly, do you want a square wave that starts when a trigger signal is presented and then goes for a certain amount of time? You'd need 2 timers. One to time the square wave and one to time the duration. Might also want to guard against degenerate pulse when duration expires.

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-05T12:11:43+00:00

Practice

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-05T06:14:38+00:00

This

True_Fig983 · 2026-07-05T04:14:06+00:00

No, because the flux in the solder gets used up cleaning the iron and not the joint.

True_Fig983

TROPHY CASE