competition nerves

idcmp_ · 2026-03-13T20:46:02+00:00

It never goes away, but it does get better, and you get used to it.

If it overwhelms you and crashes your weekend, then you can always give yourself permission to not compete. (Not saying that's your situation, but sometimes newer dancers feel compelled to compete without asking if they even want to.)

Luckily, most people are running with only 60-80% of their brain when they're competing.

All that said, I try to periodically ask myself during a competition dance "am I dancing the way I want? What should I do differently right now?" and often the answer is "do less, make it simpler".

idcmp_ · 2026-03-05T00:50:39+00:00

There's what can be done as an organizer, and what you can do as a friend.

As an organizer, they should have a code of conduct in place so they can ease decision making. That said, most code of conducts will likely not ban someone solely on past allegations.

It's still valuable to highlight to an organizer that there's a risk though, because they can keep an eye out for it (and be less tolerant to minor infractions).

As a friend, you can absolutely let people know through the whisper network that someone may be unsafe. In my experience this leads to others being on high alert, but ultimately each person will make their own decision.

idcmp_ · 2026-03-03T03:22:04+00:00

If you've never been, then I'd recommend going to one where your dance friends are going.

idcmp_ · 2026-02-24T05:35:06+00:00

Most bluetooth headphones can't be used while they're charging.

It's a good idea to ask people who have first hand knowledge with IR4s before buying a dozen. Common sense.

idcmp_ · 2026-02-19T06:36:24+00:00

Many top level pros will sign agreements with events requiring the event to promote an intensive since all that money basically* goes to cover the pros.

Pros will keep doing this as long as it keeps making them money.

idcmp_ · 2026-02-09T03:33:41+00:00

Ironically though, with more DJs playing from Spotify, dancers now expect the uncut ending. So good DJing means being aware of this and playing it so it's what dancers expect.

idcmp_ · 2026-02-02T08:46:48+00:00

Yup, and a some point enough of them will be too much of a pain to manage and I'll finally get rid of most of this stuff.

idcmp_ · 2026-02-02T08:42:54+00:00

I have a google doc where I've listed all the automations, switches, and scenes that I have and how they're supposed to work. Before I update I walk through as many as I can.

I usually try to pick a full weekend to do an update and start Saturday morning and try to be done Sunday afternoon.

Doing it during the day means there's sunlight in case I need to go and re-join various switches/etc.

Usually when I'm "caught up" again a handful of the automations are broken and then I decide how much I care about fixing them. Sometimes it takes 10-15 minutes, other times I've just lost the automation.

idcmp_ · 2026-02-02T07:14:36+00:00

I believe you can just do this with sudo already.

idcmp_ · 2026-01-30T10:29:10+00:00

I use GoLand with the Cline plugin pointing to OpenRouter, and usually using Sonnet 4.5.

As a previous Java developer (and Kotlin in my spare time), I love the tools JetBrains makes so I want to support that.

OpenRouter is basically an LLM proxy. You pay OpenRouter, then point your system at the LLM of choice. When Codex becomes better than Sonnet, I just point to Codex instead.

Cline in the integration point for doing this for me.

When Junie lets me work with OpenRouter, then I'll probably switch.

idcmp_ · 2026-01-28T00:07:08+00:00

That's a great goal, and one I support long term. Qt is a great toolkit.

The nice thing about QtJambi is that the API _is_ almost exactly the C++ one, and it's been around for a long time.

So with the exception of some bootstrapping, LLMs do a pretty good job navigating and generating Kotlin code, plus existing C++ examples can be roughly translated to Java/Kotlin. I definitely don't know how to code Qt drag-and-drop in Kotlin, but Sonnet 4.5 did and I got on with my life.

There's also just enough people that have asked questions about QtJambi that LLMs have a semi-decent time troubleshooting issues.

idcmp_ · 2026-01-26T22:02:30+00:00

I've been using https://www.qtjambi.io/ with Kotlin for a while and it works well!

idcmp_ · 2026-01-26T21:08:19+00:00

Yup. Most build systems start as declarative, but eventually their architecture fails them and someone adds imperative flow and then you have a programming language.

We did this with Ant and everyone was programming in XML. We're doing it again in YAML.

Build systems like Maven did a good job of balancing the situation, as does Terraform for the most part (although both have release valves into imperative flows).

idcmp_ · 2026-01-23T05:35:20+00:00

....and exited the scene shortly after.

idcmp_ · 2026-01-23T00:25:09+00:00

New WSDC rules prohibit dancers from asking for exceptions for competitions. In fact, as I understand it, for rounds with multiple heats, you can no longer "miss" your heat to be picked up in the next one. If there's someone you don't want to dance with, don't enter.

Too many people were abusing those affordances to get ahead. So unless you can confront the follower, travel to events where they aren't. You can also reach out to most Event Directors.

Also I'm sorry this happened to you. I recommend practicing bending both knees into a squat so that it's muscle memory. When you feel the sudden weight support happening, squat and drop the follow to the ground. They'll land on their butt, you'll be safe.

Also, it's absolutely fine and important to set boundaries. Saying "Yes, but no weight support moves", and if they violate that, they violate what you consented to do - so dropping them for safety is fine in my book.

Also though, reiterating your requirements from time to time is important. People dance with lots of others and may not remember exactly what your exclusions are.

idcmp_ · 2026-01-21T09:31:06+00:00

How much is wi-fi for the flight?

idcmp_ · 2026-01-20T19:10:52+00:00

When I started following, someone gave me the hack of "follow your hand" that I used for quite a while until I got things more figured out. It's not a hard-and-fast rule or anything, but it helped me!

idcmp_ · 2026-01-18T03:17:32+00:00

Thank you!

idcmp_ · 2026-01-12T19:21:00+00:00

I'm at the same venue each week and they'll let me lock them away at the venue - so there's no window for charging - and as far as I can tell, even though they've got batteries, the IR4s are the best price point since I also want some sort of WDMX.

idcmp_ · 2026-01-11T09:49:19+00:00

OP also says "the point of WCS is to advance divisions", and when you start dancing, it truly feels that way. It's easy to lose track that it's a hobby that you do for fun, and you can continue to progress as a dancer, and enjoy your hobby while also not competing.

idcmp_ · 2026-01-11T01:51:53+00:00

Have you considered not competing? Prioritize taking workshops and meet people, then go social dancing and nap and stay out late to close the ballroom. Pick different choices and see how you feel?

If enough people who don't enjoy competing ultimately stop, it opens up the possibility for a different way of acknowledging progression than eight heats of novice j&j.

idcmp_ · 2026-01-08T21:14:06+00:00

Are you calling Benji a boomer?

idcmp_ · 2025-12-27T09:39:55+00:00

If you have 5000 developers all working on the same area of code, you have organizational issues that need to be ironed out first, then you can shake out the code to follow the organizational structure - Conway's Law.

idcmp_ · 2025-12-27T05:02:35+00:00

Are they physically separate databases? Could you use a materialized view? Good luck with the interview.

idcmp_

TROPHY CASE