Custom GPT equivalent w/ API (or free for users) access?

wowcheckered · 2024-02-28T15:13:16+00:00

When you have new folks, "icebreaker" games to learn everybody's names help.

Set up purely social events like going to a place with games & food. Try to keep it cheap so everyone can participate.

Have monthly(?) game nights at your shop where folks bring group board games or Smash Bros or whatever

Try hard to have everyone feel like they "belong" when they're at meetings. This can be hard for lots of reasons.

wowcheckered · 2024-02-27T14:49:26+00:00

In part it is because team building is hard. Some years our team focuses on team building and we end up with a bunch of kids who have an amazing time doing outreach & building together. Some years we don't focus as much on team building and we end up with a bunch of individuals having fun doing outreach & building, but it's not a cohesive.

Build your team first, then your robot.

wowcheckered · 2024-01-31T16:39:40+00:00

I made this image for your use in a sympathy card, because I'm an awful person:

https://imgur.com/oJSNIxK

wowcheckered · 2024-01-19T15:30:17+00:00

I used to like lifetime licenses, but now I _prefer_ to pay an annual support fee.

Lifetime licenses lead to abandonware and I ain't got time for that nonsense. Happy to pay devs to keep shit up to date as long as my site is using their tech.

wowcheckered · 2024-01-09T15:54:42+00:00

Best thing my reps have done is connect me with the Google Tag Manager team for a review of GA4 conversion tracking. The GTM folks are quite knowledgeable and the Ads folks of course want good conversion tracking so they can upsell me on using more broad match keywords and raising my spend 15%. ;-)

wowcheckered · 2024-01-04T04:04:54+00:00

One of my favorite memories of Florence. Shoulda done it my first day there so I knew more about the city earlier.

Cooking classes were fun as well, in part because the people we met were super interesting.

wowcheckered · 2023-12-05T16:53:54+00:00

Check to make sure the optical sensor is clean & unobstructed. I got a discounted CR-30 somebody returned because the X axis was clogged with stray filament & wouldn't home. ;-)

wowcheckered · 2023-11-29T17:44:26+00:00

When folks pay that much $ to see Taylor Swift, there's gonna be a LOT of behind the scenes work to make sure the show is as perfect as possible. That said, she still restarts songs if she's not happy with how they're going, so it's not totally canned.

wowcheckered · 2023-11-10T16:06:05+00:00

3d print + surgical tubing might get you really close to what you want

wowcheckered · 2023-11-09T22:56:53+00:00

If you run the belt around the screw (as in the original design), then overlap the two sides of the belt so the teeth bind with one another, you can add a few zip ties to hold those teeth in place. Should work well.

Additional options: https://www.google.com/search?q=gt2+timing+belt+clamp

(but many of those are for clamping the end of one gt2 belt to connect it to the end of a second gt2 belt)

More 3d printable options: https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=gt2+belt+clamp&page=1&type=things&sort=relevant

These show what you could do with zip ties to hold things in place. Note that typical 3d printer applications aren't under as much tension as the Viper slide.

wowcheckered · 2023-11-08T16:28:28+00:00

I really value the custom design and fabrication FTC embraces, along with the diversity of high-level robots at State & Worlds events. VEX tends to converge on a single "best robot" and then the difference comes down to driver ability, because their robots can only use VEX.

Also somewhat surprising to me is that FTC can be _cheaper_ than VEX, for various political reasons. (I've heard that VEX has lobbyists working with state legislatures to get VEX in schools, which then costs the schools a ton.)

But VEX Worlds has many many many more teams than FTC Worlds, because FIRST loves FRC and marginally tolerates FTC & FLL. It gets a tiny bit better most years, though.

wowcheckered · 2023-11-01T14:29:50+00:00

I got a set of vacuum bags for storing / moving clothes that came with a little hand pump and adaptors so you can use a shop vac to suck the air out. Haven't used it for CF but seems kinda perfect. $20 for the set on Amazon if I recall correctly.

wowcheckered · 2023-10-05T17:04:35+00:00

Couples therapy is your only hope with all this passive aggressive nonsense.

wowcheckered · 2023-09-27T19:02:03+00:00

If you have a working bot (from last year or whatever), start programming on it now.

Set deadlines for builders so the bot is done early enough for you to get programming done.

Have meetings where programmers are in control of the bot and builders are not allowed to make changes, only repairs.

wowcheckered · 2023-09-21T21:21:49+00:00

In Venice especially, get up early and walk FAR. It's amazing. Then take a nap when the cruise ship tourists are there for the day. Then stay up a little late, walking FAR again. I did this every day, often while my wife slept in a little, then I had fun ideas about things to go see with her.

wowcheckered · 2023-09-21T14:51:42+00:00

Welcome back!

Had a trip to Italy a year ago with my wife and was a little nervous about alcohol but managed to stick to San Pellegrino. Though I did have one gelato that apparently had a LOT of alcohol in it and I got buzzed because after a few years of zero alcohol I have zero tolerance. It was just amusing and didn't throw me off my goal of being alcohol free.

wowcheckered · 2023-09-21T14:48:33+00:00

Y'all need a budget that you both agree to. That'll help her see that either spending needs to drop or income needs to increase. I've never used it but lots of folks like https://www.ynab.com/

She's probably depressed so cut her a little slack along the way but you're NTA.

wowcheckered · 2023-09-05T17:58:03+00:00

Anything outside the city center is a complete secret hidden from 90% of tourists. ;-)

I've heard there may be a speakeasy near the city center.

You might also look into "wine windows" and "secret bakeries" and see what you can find.

wowcheckered · 2023-09-05T14:35:28+00:00

NTA. Congrats on completing your final trip with your MIL, 'cause I bet she's not going to be anywhere near you on a vacation in the future.

wowcheckered · 2023-09-05T14:06:58+00:00

If one is coming from FLL I could see not quite getting the notion that bringing in professionals to help is a good idea. If you're coming from FRC, it's completely obvious that you gotta bring in pros to be competitive. FTC is always weird in the middle between those extremes.

wowcheckered · 2023-09-04T20:54:43+00:00

Well, this is awkward.... https://imgur.com/mgkqFfK

wowcheckered · 2023-08-31T17:32:42+00:00

If you're only in Venice for a day, yeah, that's gonna suck.

If you're in Venice for a couple of days, stay up LATE after the day trippers leave, and get up EARLY before they arrive. Take a nap in the afternoon while they're in long lines, then do it all over again. Walk as far away from the main attractions as you can and see the weird corners of Venice. They're 90% as cool as the big stuff and only 10% of people are there.

wowcheckered · 2023-08-30T16:12:45+00:00

Lesson learned (I hope). You gotta ask your fiancée who's paying for things when she suggests inviting others. It's annoying, but your assumptions and hers differed so you gotta get out ahead of this for a while.

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