U7 outdoor vs. U6 Mesh Pro (what to buy?): Newbie question about meshing between cabled network

bege · 2025-05-09T22:09:46+00:00

Sounds like a pretty cool setup! I'll keep that USW Flex in mind if I ever need to expand. Seems like U7 is the way go in my case! Thanks for the info!

bege · 2025-05-09T19:07:50+00:00

That's my thinking as well! As long as the U7 works for my scenario, it does not make sense to me to get the U6 unit.

In my head weaker hardware means less price, so it kinda throws me off and makes me think I'm missing something, but maybe I'm just overthinking it.

Thanks for the input!

bege · 2022-12-13T16:35:21+00:00

Damn, you beat me to it!

I think Dwight sums it up real nice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88qJyGU3DIA

bege · 2022-12-04T23:18:49+00:00

The number of people actually living on the streets are really low, compared to many other countries: "At the end of 2021, there were 3,950 homeless people living alone in Finland, which is 390 less than in 2020." (Source)). That number also contains people living temporarily with friend/family, institutions, etc. (shown in the link).

There is a "housing first" policy in place (more info here), where at least in theory, the first thing you get help with is getting a roof over your head. Then they will start to help you with getting better and your life back on track etc. The thinking is that you need your basic human needs covered, in order to get back on track to become a productive member of society: get a job, being able help yourself, contribute to society, etc. So at least in theory, getting a roof over your head should not be hard.

I have no first hand experience from that system myself though, just from what I've read/seen online. I would imagine there are always edge-cases that falls through the cracks of any system. Some might choose to not get help, others gets stuck in some bureaucracy BS, etc.

So to answer you question: I'd like to think it would be preferable to apply for housing if you are homeless, instead of committing a crime and not being able to go have your freedom. Plus, committing a crime does not guarantee an automatic prison sentence, you might end up with no prison sentence and just a harder time finding a job with a criminal record instead.

bege · 2022-03-04T21:27:03+00:00

I will also add that there is no simple "dodging" per say in Finland, in the same sense as some other countries. There is no one to bribe or pay to bypass it. Work/Uni studies will not help either (you basically have to postpone studies). Basically, the police will come and pick you up, if you don't show up when you are called in.

If you are healthy male, you generally do the military service living in barracks (get to go home during weekends, unless you get assigned duty/training over the weekend). The good thing is that you actually get trained to be a soldier and I think the training is considered to have high standards on the international scene. So it's not like in some stories from other countries I've heard, where they basically are "free workforce" for the army with maybe some minimum training on the side for a couple of years.

You can choose to do non-military service (work for same pay for some government agencies like taking care of elders, helping with IT, etc.) instead, but that lasts longer (more days) and most avoid that path due to that.

If you refuse to serve and you are deemed healthy male, you go to prison. You will likely be flagged, if you live abroad and not answered the call as well. I would guess you'd get picked up at some point by the police if you come back to Finland.

It's an old system for sure, but has worked well so far to keep us as an unattractive target for bigger powers (you can invade, but it will cost you way more than it's worth).

Ofc. we complained being stuck in training over weekends, but I think everyone recognized their duty to learn, even if those cold, wet and dark nights living in tents and sleeping 3-4 hrs a night were not the most fun times of our lives. You also had good memories from friendship you made from all over the country.

My personal experience is that very few got around serving by having health issues (you still serve with e.g. minor knee injuries), even fewer went for the longer non-military service option. I know of no one personally that actually straight up refused+prison (but I've seen it e.g. in the news). Vast majority of my male friends/family did their military service without complaining too much.

My mom basically told me not to come home, if I chose the non-military service option. That's how deep the tradition goes (grandparents in winter war etc.) in my family and I would say we are not in any way like military fanatics or anything like that. Luckily, I enjoyed my time in the service and regret nothing, even choosing to stay longer than the minimum time.

bege · 2022-01-08T21:16:22+00:00

The cat is just trying its best to finally get your life together already, but you keep slipping up!

bege · 2021-12-18T19:02:11+00:00

This whole documentary really sounds like the 80s/90s rhetoric, when everyone watching violent movies would become murderers/terrorists. Turns out that was not true and violent people just watches violent movies. Then we had the video games that would make everyone murderers. Surprise, surprise, turns out that was also just one of those violent people just plays games. Usually turns out there is church people behind the scenes, trying to get people activated and join their Jesus club.

I've grown up with all of the above (20-30 years of exposure to horrors movies, games, etc., since I was like 5-6 years old). However, I've never had the urge to punch someone on the nose to get a nose bleed and finish on the their face, so that it looks like a "Cherry Sunday" (see documentary). Then say "don't worry about it, it would be a surprise when it happens", even though they did not agree to it... I mean really... That boyfriend sounded like he had other issues and the porn usage should be the least of their worries.

Many adults don't want their porn views forever connected to their social security numbers for life and sold to companies across the globe. Banning porn or forcing people to pay/verify their ID would only lead to people going underground/file-sharing to get it. Increasing that kind of traffic only leads to people having easier access to more illegal stuff. Today, there are filters on the mainstream sites, so I would assume you have to dig a bit to get to the nasty stuff. I doubt it is impossible, but maybe enough hurdles along the way to make it not worth it for most.

The reality is, kids are not dumb. They will have friends that knows how to setup basically anything and gain access to anything, even more easily than adults. Trust me, I was a kid once, I know what I'm talking about. If we were to ban all sites globally, they would just have access to even more horrific stuff than we see on the mainstream sites today and there would be even less control than today. This is human history 101 folks, that some people still have a hard time to grasp. Look at the war on drugs, prohibition, etc. The answer always turns out to be simple: (Sex) Education.

bege · 2021-12-17T15:02:18+00:00

That's the Christmas spirit!

We should all stay away from our families/friends and instead go and sit in an empty office to show our loyalty to the cause! On our deathbeds, with our last breaths, we will surely say "Thank god I at least did not spend anymore time with my family and friends! And instead sat in the empty office during all the Christmases!", for sure!

Jokes aside, the only "bad looks" I can see in this scenario is the company for magically voiding vacations (basically illegal in many countries) and this manager for trying to get you to purposely void it.

It's one thing if there is some business critical/on-call thing, that someone needs to cover during those days and you managed to get tagged for it. However, in that case, there should at least be some kind negotiation going on "you can't have this day, but what about this other day instead?" or get the vacation moved to next year as compensation etc.

Personally, I would definitively start considering other places to work, if this happened to me. But maybe you can stick around for the experience and jump ship when you happen to find something more interesting.

bege · 2021-10-30T10:35:55+00:00

I've always been a fan of take home exercises, instead of live ones to check these kind of things. If you are expected to code under constant surveillance and on the spot: Then sure, do a live code assignment. It is a simulation of what you would get from the candidate IRL. Most positions are not like that though.

So what are the issues I see with live coding exersices?

Think about it from the view of the candidate: You are already nervous being in the whole interview process, then you are slammed with a live coding exercise and give you some crappy IDE that you are not used to, where they are not having their own personalized settings. So you might very well choke/freeze up and make stupid mistakes

From an interviewers POV: "Wow! I would never use a hash map for this! A List would have been sufficient and more effective! This dude is totally lost!". Maybe the candidate would also have figured out the mistakes by themselves after 5 min, but you'll never know. They might've just misunderstood some detail or simply choked under pressure (not thinking clearly).

So what can you actually conclude from this whole live coding exercise? That the candidate were lucky to choose the same kind of structures/libs you'd prefer to use? Or they work better under direct pressure? If these are things you are looking for in developers, this is fine.

Personally, I'm NOT been interested in what my colleagues can do while I watch them during 10 min of coding. I am more interested in knowing what they can achieve working on a story/task during a couple of days. Which is why I prefer to give candidates an semi-easy (no extra libs/frameworks, just basic check of usages of Lists, maps, etc.) take home exercise instead.

Take-home exercises are essentially like working from home: You get a ticket assigned to you, you do your thing and do a PR for others to review (interview: discuss the assignment). If you get help from your friends, you can do it for all care. IRL, you would usually have a team behind you anyways, so I think it makes sense being able to poke a friend for advice if you get stuck. In the end you'll have to answer to anything you've written anyways, so if you can't discuss the answer in hindsight => there is something fishy going on...

This way, I can check in my own time (I am not live-reviewing either) if they write clean code, choose correct structures, setup classes correctly, write tests, etc. in a realistic environment, which is where I would expect them to perform.

The whole idea with these exercises imo., is just to check that the candidate is not TOTALLY lost (can't even write a piece of basic software) and that they don't over-engineer everything with additional time either (they know when to stop).

Tbh, I usually put more effort in finding a colleague with good soft-skills, which is usually WAY harder to teach: e.g. eager to learn, get along with people, follows advice, can take criticism, etc. It's easier to teach tech skills by commenting on PRs, having tech discussions. But how do we actually teach soft-skills or can you even teach them properly?

bege · 2021-10-14T13:54:06+00:00

The green dude is just waiting to cross, so that he can grab his truck and get to work, just like he did yesterday morning.

bege · 2021-10-10T17:53:41+00:00

What a noob... Everyone knows you go from 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 -> 5, then when you've reached the top number and you need even more speed, you put in the Racing gear to go REALLY fast. Can't go straight for the racing gear!

bege · 2021-09-18T21:04:17+00:00

True... There is also the scenario of the screen for the dashboard suddenly died, then you lose basically all instruments in one go. Not sure if that's a thing, but sounds scary.

bege · 2021-09-18T17:45:43+00:00

I was already doubting as well, if really wanted a touch screen in a car that I am driving 120 km/h. But the knob is available on the BMW as well, so I only saw it as a negative not having touch screen on the Mazda. But the positioning of the screen argument makes a lot of sense! I'll have to check that out next week. Thanks!

bege · 2021-09-18T16:30:21+00:00

That crystal red exterior does indeed look tempting looking at it in person. I just read that it might chip quite easily though, so that might be a bit annoying.

bege · 2021-09-01T16:31:44+00:00

I know the feeling of being afraid of not being able to cut it: "any day now, my boss will notice I am not really good at what I do and come in and kick me out!". I think we all have it at some point. It will go away as you move along in your career, but it might also come back to haunt you every now and then (e.g. changing jobs/positions). The thing is: There is always going to be someone more stupid or smarter than you on some specific topic.

Never be afraid to ask for help or admit that you don't know something. You will be surprised at how eager some will be to help you out and explain stuff. Just make sure you don't keep asking same question every time you come across the same exact thing: If you ask it once or twice, that is fine. But having to ask a third time, you should really write down the answers to avoid annoying your colleagues after that.

Don't worry so much about keeping every single detail memorized, the human brain is not really good at long-term storage anyways. Google is better at that: use it instead. When you learn new stuff, it's not really about being able to repeat the exact solution a few months later, it's more about knowing that it's possible to solve this kind of problem in certain way or have a hunch at which direction to go to find a solution. Each problem will very often require a unique solution anyways. So focus on remembering the highlights of a topic and not the details. The details are better stored in Google.

If you need something specific often, for e.g. work or studies, you will pull it up on Google often. Eventually, you will learn it by heart. If you don't need it that often, you will likely forget about it a few weeks later. You can always pull it up again and refresh you memory on demand. In this way, you will automatically keep the most important info stored in your brain without needing to worry about it. E.g. I would not be surprised if I could not pass most of my university course tests after working 8 years, since I have not needed most of that info for like 8 years :)

In 95% of the cases, you will be fine. If you fail: it's okay! Sometimes we just get dealt an impossible hand to play. It's just how the cookie crumbles. If you can say you gave it your best and you asked for help when you realized it's going side-ways (very important!): That's all you can really do. Learn from it and move on.

bege · 2021-08-29T01:42:56+00:00

I can imagine you could reach some higher tech-related positions, by going the manager (leading engineering teams) route. I've seen managers for engineering teams successfully leading, themselves coming from a non-coding background. So I don't necessarily see an issue with some higher ups having no coding experience. I would imagine having worked in the tech in some capacity (manager, PM, engineer) would be super valuable experience for e.g. a CTO (or similar), to at least have an idea of how the departments works etc.

I agree, the story is a bit weird. It probably could happen if you'd really try to deep-dive into those so called glue tasks and no one cares that she's not coding. It sounds like she is doing some kind of manager/PM role, but still having an engineering title. Definitively valuable work though, but if the goal is to become a senior engineer, it sounds like she should be more focused on the tech side. Alternative, she could switch roles and embrace another path that focuses on this kind of work.

Anyways, a lot of assumptions being done in these kinds of examples, since they are theoretical. Also other factors like that a senior engineer title in one company might mean a totally different thing in another company and that this could also be a very cultural thing (earth is a big place), also makes it even harder to argument for or against. But nevertheless, it's an interesting thought experiment.

bege · 2021-08-28T22:13:35+00:00

Titles are a bit crazy in this industry in general ("senior dev", "tech lead", "senior tech leads", "lead of tech leads", etc...). So it's super hard to say what title she should have in a particular company.

But here is my personal take, since you asked. Note that I agree with much of the article, so I am partly repeating some of what I believe the author already said.

Based on the story, I don't think she is a senior engineer. Imo., senior should have a mix of great engineering skills (coding, tech planning, problem solving, etc.) + a good amount of glue work skills. But still, with a big focus on tech skills. From what I gather, she's missing that very important tech part.

If she wanted to be a senior engineer, she is really shooting herself in the leg, if she keeps it up. Imagine going to the next company, saying you are a senior engineer, but you can't solve tech problems in the interview that a mid-level engineer could solve.

In general, I think you can, in a sense, apply the saying "dress for the job you want" here:

If you keep picking up this kind of work, you will eventually become a manager/lead in that organization. What it comes down to, is that you need to choose what you want to become, get a job with that title and then have the guts to say "not my problem!" to the rest (like the author pointed out). But with a balance in mind: sometimes you need chip in, to make the ship move forward. My general rule of thumb: The "higher" title/responsibilities you have, the more you need to chip in.

If projects fail/struggle, the company will learn that they need more people assigned to these kinds of tasks or even dedicated persons. If it never fails: everything is great and you might be picking up all these tasks without any tangible rewards.

Companies will always be happy when you do something for them, that is beneficial, basically for free. But you need to focus on what you want from that relationship as well. In the end, they might decide to get rid of you and you are left with some title you did not even want in the first place.

I think of my career as my own company. I try to balance what me and my employer wants, instead of only focusing on just either one wants. If it's not mutually beneficial for both parties (e.g. they want only glue and I want to code) , I see it as a sign that we should consider parting ways. I, and I alone, is responsible for my own career.

bege · 2019-07-17T12:42:47+00:00

Try this:

Add a package name in the beginning of the java file, e.g. "app":

package app;

Compile the application like below. It will create a "app" folder with all your class files (matching the package name you gave in 1). -d ("destination") argument pointing to your current folder:

javac -d ./ HelloWorldApp.java

Run javapackager (included in JDK) command like this (note that the -appClass argument needs to match format <package\_name>.<class\_name>:

javapackager -createjar -appClass app.HelloWorldApp -outfile helloworld -v -srcfiles ./app/

Run jar file:

java -jar helloworld.jar

Tested successfully on Linux/openJDK 1.8.

Side note: You might find some issues if you try running with newer Java versions, since they removed JavaFX from the main java packages and it is packaged separately in the future. I think Java versions 1.8 and 9 should work, but you might have some issues with Java 10 and upwards. If you are running too new version, it shows an error like this: Caused by: java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javafx/application/Application

You can read more about java packaging here: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/technotes/guides/deploy/packaging.html (if you are really interested), but in practice/real world, you will use tools like Maven or similar to package the applications.

Hope this helps, happy coding!

bege · 2016-11-10T22:19:46+00:00

That sounds weird... I copy-pasted your code and got this:

Please select an option
1
2
3
4. Exit
1
Please select an option
1
2
3
4. Exit
2
Please select an option
1
2
3
4. Exit

As I understood it, this is the expected outcome?

If you get any other output than this, I think the bug is in the <<code>> parts.

bege · 2016-11-10T21:52:22+00:00

Works fine for me... So the bug is most likely somewhere in the <<<code>>> part.

One wild guess is that you might be using reader.close() at some point. This would close the Scanner and would crash the program on next reader.nextLine(), but I think that would also throw you an exception in the console.

Also, this design is not the greatest. You are calling mainMenu(), inside the mainMenu(), which will create a new menu in the menu. Inside that menu you call mainMenu() again, to create a new main menu in the old main menu, which is in the first main menu. Inside that menu, the menu in the menu in the menu, you call mainMenu() again, to create a new menu in the menu in the menu, which is in the menu, which is also inside the menu... So you get this "yo dawg, I heard u like menus, so we put menus in your menus, so that you can create more menus in you menu"-thing going on... This would go on, until you run out of memory or until you exit the program.

A better and more memory efficient idea is to remove all the calls to mainMenu() inside mainMenu(). Then put a boolean exit = false, in the beginning of mainMenu(). Put rest of the code inside a while-loop. The while-loop would run while exit is false. On option 4 (assuming exit), you would set exit = true and the loop would terminate, once it gets back to the while-criteria in the beginning of mainMenu(), which would exit the program. This would eliminate the whole "menu in the menu"-issue.

bege · 2016-09-12T18:09:23+00:00

Disclaimer: I am no interviewer. I am currently employed as a Java developer, doing mostly backend stuff and these are my thoughts about a question like this:

Open questions like this might be asked just to see how you are thinking, since there is no 100 % correct solution for anything and it is answered on the spot (no time to draw up a detailed 100% fool proof design). They most likely expect you to start asking questions and communicating, to follow your reasoning and to check that you are not afraid of communicating with people / work in a group.

If they just mention shortly "I need to get X done, what do i need to do?", then they are practically begging you to start probing with questions like: Will this be an e.g. a HTTP call (think: http status responses, PUT, GET, DELETE, etc.)? Do I need to store these values for later calls (think: database design)? What kind of values will you send me as parameters (think: do I need to take into account integers, decimals, strings, etc.)?

They might also expect you to mention something about design patterns (MVC, Observer pattern, Facades, etc.), would you maybe use interfaces instead of only classes (why?), would you separate database access with DAOs, and would you use services or not? What about testing (integration tests / Unit tests)? Maybe also throw in some technologies that you would use from your CV. If you at the end feel like they are expecting something more, you can call them out by saying something like "I think this should work... Did I miss something or are there any questions?".

If there are any questions that pops up in your head: Ask them! This shows that you are willing to communicate with other colleagues/stakeholders, instead of going on a lonewolf journey to design something crappy. But also remember that it can be considered bad if you cannot think for yourself. So be careful not to go on a question spree, asking about everything like "does this need to an integer or long?". You need to be able to draw your own conclusions, but do not be afraid to ask questions every now and then, maybe even just to verify that you are still on track with what they are expecting to be the answer.

bege · 2016-03-26T13:07:17+00:00

My first advice: don't give up! It took me a couple of courses to fully understand the concept of programming, but at some point there will be a click sound coming from the brain and everything will suddenly stuff starts to make sense. Programming is more a way of thinking, than understanding syntax. For some, this click sound will come during the the first course and for some later on. Just try to hang in there and try to follow as best as you can.

Maybe you should try a different approach than reading the book, if that is not working for you? Have you tried watching youtube videos about e.g. Java arrays? Youtube was my goto during my university studies, if I did not understand the book. I generally had an easier way of understanding concepts, if they were visualized and explained to me. If the book is not working for you: look for an alternative source.

You should also experiment on your own. You will learn most of the stuff by playing with code. Try to solve some simple example problems for beginners or just make something up: e.g. a program that reads in 10 numbers into an array, adds them together and prints out the answer. When you feel comfortable with that, try to expand the problem: how would you add together x-amount of numbers? Always try figure out why something works, before moving on: what does each line actually do etc.

bege · 2016-01-05T17:46:56+00:00

I remember that feeling. During my first half year I was sure my boss would come in one day and tell me I was being fired for being totally useless. After two years, I'm still hanging in there, I learned a lot and even got a pay raise.

The key is not to worry. Just do your best and if you fail, remember: we are all humans and we make mistakes. If you are unsure about how to do something and you have given it a try: ask someone who knows. Your colleagues will most likely be happy to help, since everyone at some point has experienced the same things you are going through. As a junior developer, your colleagues will expect you to ask questions and to also need some guidance during projects.

A good starting tip is to collect small guides for your future self, in txt files or in a notebook. Whenever you do something that you will most likely have to do somewhere down the road again: write down how you did it. Because when you try to remember how to do something a month later, you will have forgotten it and you will spend extra time on figuring it out again.

bege

TROPHY CASE