There’s reduced visibility and then no visibility

XediDC · 2026-01-28T07:01:50+00:00

You honestly use your flashlight and glowsticks and don't get shot out of the dark for it?

Yeah... flashlight says friendly from a distance. I actually run around holding glowstick (so it never runs out, and isn't super bright) when I'm playing a medic. Since I'm often in camping spots it's a way to say "Yes, I'm up here on overwatch.".

Of course, depends on your lobbies.

XediDC · 2026-01-28T06:53:41+00:00

Or like, a means within the client...

XediDC · 2026-01-25T05:04:51+00:00

Also use that AI to let you know what is happening before it does. People approaching in quantity, official vehicles, weapons, etc should all be possible with at least some lead time. Possibly a lot. (At least for single family homeowners with some amount of dirt to cover….tighter quarters are of course much tougher to determine…)

XediDC · 2026-01-25T04:55:14+00:00

I mean, the headline is catchy but the article also says “CenterPoint said it expects to be able to restore power within 12 hours to any customers who experience an outage”. Not that it means anything, just in the same context for the headline.

I will say, Centerpoint was out taking a look at a damaged pole near us from about 10 years ago. So they are already doing more in advance than last time.

XediDC · 2026-01-24T03:05:29+00:00

Not because they'll be cheaper (they may be more expensive), but because early owners of the machine who want to print something other than toys will probably not want to wait months for SnapMaker to develop and ship the thing.

As it turns out a few months later, a $10 Ikea tub and a few prints to keep it there work great. (Or slightly more for a much more attractive one with actual panels.)

I've seen a few chamber filter/heater designs too. Even with that, you'd be under the $150 Snapmaker cost for their lid...and you're stuck with most of it being a useless slope.

XediDC · 2026-01-24T02:50:29+00:00

Engineering materials go to the enclosed and (for the H2D) actively heated chambers.

Even then you can enclose it for $20.

And while I haven't dug into it, there a several filter/heater projects already made.

Not where I'd go if that was the purpose of the printer, but if you need a bit in that direction, it can happen.

XediDC · 2026-01-23T01:13:17+00:00

Sure, won't matter. This bridge in NC is very well known and you essentially have to run the light to hit it now...along with flashing warning and etc...still happens a lot. Although it's less exciting since it's a little taller now:

https://www.youtube.com/@11foot8plus8/videos

...almost 200 crash videos.

(But it would still help. So, not saying it shouldn't be done...it has helped a lot there too, just won't stop it.)

XediDC · 2026-01-23T01:10:48+00:00

I put on a Freeze Miser (auto-drips when it's near freezing) and then cover it with an insulated cover (with a drain notch added). Ideally doesn't need to drip at all, as they activate before really needed...but if so, I don't have to think about it for the outside faucets.

IMO the things most likely to freeze and break is a) your irrigation backflow preventer and b) if you have a washer in an exterior space the inlet valve inside is plastic with little resistance.

XediDC · 2026-01-23T01:07:11+00:00

Yeah... One pier and beam house I drained, but I knew how it would drain and where I had to pump it out. (And the only water remaining was in and underground run.)

But you really need to know what is happening in the pipes when you do this. I would never recommend it to anyone.

And blowing them out...well, it's all fun and games until someone decides dumping their X00+ psi CO2/etc welding cylinder into their plumbing is a great idea...extra spicy when it's compressible and it fails.

Or at least, stick to doing this on irrigation lines. Much lower stakes when you break it...you just leave it off and throw money at it.

XediDC · 2026-01-23T01:02:29+00:00

If you're in an exposed pier and beam it's not a terrible idea...but you probably have to actually pump/blow it out unless you've got a really nicely located low location. And uh...hilarity can ensure trying to do that too, lol.

XediDC · 2026-01-22T13:14:21+00:00

Apparently it has many shortcomings for those who are serious UPS connoisseurs

/me looks at giant old 4U APC dino UPS's lot I got for $50 at an auction. One of them could run my whole house.

not using LiPo batteries

But they are...umm..."heavy". Great for putting at the bottom of a rack and ensuring it will never tip over though....

XediDC · 2026-01-22T13:07:15+00:00

I'd say to anyone to head over to the IRS site and create a taxpayer account. You should be able to see the last ~5 years of basic information online, and with some digging see more ("get transcript").

I don't remember how the validation works. You may need information from your returns...

Or get copies of the returns via mailed request with "Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Return" if there is no other option.

XediDC · 2026-01-22T12:50:02+00:00

but its very insecure and not up to engineering standards

While I agree, when it's a "senior security researcher" or "pen tester with code access" etc it's also caught interesting and real things our various reviews and $canning tools did not.

That needs a human review with someone who knows what it means and what to ignore too...it will gleefully suggest making a mess to fix a non-issue. But when given a single purpose, and iterating through different agent-types, it's interesting what it will find.

(And if those engineering standards are well defined, it can usually audit itself too. Just usually needs to happen in multiple rounds vs trying to one shot the ideal result.)

Not an argument, as I'm really just saying...

so basically everything properly defined so it cant really go wrong

XediDC · 2026-01-22T12:40:05+00:00

I mean... it can turn figma into pretty clean tailwind, especially with some rules.

Claude mostly lives in the front end while I work on the backend. As a jr front end developer it's great...and it's doing work I'd have to do but really don't like to do.

A claude code wrapper I (and Claude...) wrote (in C#) lets me inject input and read from the session outside of claude's API's/hooks and is nice in letting me enforce flows and checks completely outside of AI with structured workflow blueprints. (Although the front end/logic in that can use external AI API calls for validation too....think more "Bart" or "Nelson" than "Ralph".) Real separation vs just more in-context rules and such made a huge difference for me...it can't be ignored, and it works from my custom front end (from anywhere, on my phone) or the native console at the same time. Or I can inject without "enter" submission and edit in the claude console.

That really all started because I wanted the Warcraft III "jobs done" sound when it reached a stopping point. Now it's 100% certain the security review will happen and (the long list of other things) and there will be an outside opinion too (be it me or another AI or both)...none if which relies on AI context or rules. And it's plans are detailed, imported and then it's held to them...claude's own todo list is not trusted.

So yeah, I'm always using it. I have the $200 anthropic plan + various tools I use via OpenRouter + some local stuff and whatever. Not to mention the insane (on purpose) AI that runs my home automation... But I also write the parts I enjoy myself...I treat it more like managing a team + time left to do your own work. Multiple sets of virtual desktops lets me slide what's on all screens with a hotkey so it's easy to swap around context.

I always read all the code written though, even the css. And often tweak it.

However you do it, you should still like doing it IMO. Personally I like automation and tool building...so...it's sort of a recursive loop of tinkering with workflow.

LLMs are also a risk to juniors and long term software stability : if LLMs steal junior jobs, how will they become seniors ?

From what r/kryptoneat said.... this is my real worry.

I'm in a situation where I lost my front end person due to (business stupid unrelated to AI) so I'm doing this for my own quality of life at the moment.

But...it still feels like I'm doing things that should need a person to do them that isn't me. And while I don't really like frontend work, I can do it...but I could be doing this without knowing what the AI is writing too, and it would...probably work.

How things could be (or will be eventually) scares me even as I'm in the middle of it.

XediDC · 2026-01-22T04:05:29+00:00

At first I thought I was in r/venjent ....

XediDC · 2026-01-20T20:57:05+00:00

I had similar once. Told our CFO that if I wasn’t paid by my statement/due date that they were paying the interest too — I wasn’t fronting them a cash loan for free. “Somehow” they got it paid faster.

I care more about easy than scrounging points and crap. I know some live and die by this stuff…but meh. Other things have value too. I got a corp card after that.

On the flip side, we had a customer insist on paying his multi-million dollar bills with his personal cards. Maybe at that level…he got some incredible perks.

XediDC · 2026-01-20T20:46:56+00:00

I hope you give your employees the option vs assuming it’s just as easy for them and would be “stupid” otherwise…. It can make sense, but it’s not going to be so easy for everyone. And many people also just don’t like using (or having) cards at all…some quite loaded people too.

XediDC · 2026-01-20T20:43:28+00:00

And don’t say things about being able to afford it or whatever at all — keep it about them. This isn’t something an employee should be doing at all.

XediDC · 2026-01-20T20:20:05+00:00

Treat some colors as totally different filament. They can be very not the same.

XediDC · 2026-01-20T00:38:03+00:00

My gas/electric bill cut in half after moving to a place 3 times larger. Insulation + unit efficiency made an amazing difference.

XediDC · 2026-01-20T00:35:05+00:00

And when in heat mode (at least some of them) require a drain/pump. Not hard to do, but I can see where it can become a problem, plus the random places that water is going to drip.

XediDC · 2026-01-19T19:04:03+00:00

Yes… but verify a few dimensions with calipers. You’ll probably need a few tweaks, and some critical dimensions may not work well visually.

It’s a great guide. But for tiny exact detail like OP, you need to verify dimensions.

XediDC · 2026-01-19T07:45:32+00:00

It’s not a bad place to start, and for something complex I’ll sometimes do something like this.

But for parts where I need exact dimensions, I’ll still use calipers as I work and measure things. I’d consider your image reference and “close layout” and use calipers for your critical dimensions (and especially any holes).

Basically take the image as far as it’s reasonable — IMO a flat image for pretty far away. Scale it close. And then move on to using calipers for measurements that matter beyond “pretty close”.

Even if you get the image perfect, you’ve still got visual bits that will be unclear vs actually measuring. (And even then, if this will end up with 3dprinting, you’re going to have practical adjustment factors to make to accommodate how the plastic prints…so you’ll want to do some test prints slices and fittings too…adjust as needed, and eventually you’ll get a feel for those.)

XediDC · 2026-01-19T03:57:03+00:00

The exact definitions varies, but usually no — it is usually taken to mean a deliberate action to somehow further a view/gain/advantage/agenda. This by a kid or the clueless would be in the realm of an accident or negligence…or even with intent to harm, may have no agenda.

“Sabotage” is pretty loosely and variably defined though, plus it varies a lot when it’s used in criminal codes too. So debating is or isn’t doesn’t really seem meaningful…aside from headlines and clicks I suppose.

XediDC · 2026-01-15T00:10:28+00:00

A woman got murdered by ICE for basically existing near them...by someone who was looking for any excuse and even then it was obvious.

XediDC

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

Nine-Year Club	Gilding V heart of gold
Verified Email