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    1. Weekly Israel-Hamas war megathread - week of July 29

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant Israel-Hamas war content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate...

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant Israel-Hamas war content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.

      Please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.

      16 votes
    2. Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of July 29

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate...

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.

      This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.

      25 votes
    3. Movie of the Week #40 - Edge of Tomorrow

      The last blockbuster is Edge of Tomorrow from 2014. Directed by Doug Liman and starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. It made $370 million at the box office. IMDb Letterboxd Wikipedia Is this a...

      The last blockbuster is Edge of Tomorrow from 2014. Directed by Doug Liman and starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. It made $370 million at the box office.

      IMDb
      Letterboxd
      Wikipedia

      Is this a proper blockbuster? Is it a proper Tom Cruise movie?


      This also ends Movie of the Week format for now. See you in the Midweek movietalk instead.

      19 votes
    4. Why do so many recipes call for powdered sugar instead of regular sugar?

      This is a question I've been wondering about for a while as a home baker and amateur food scientist. Why do recipes for whipped, fluffy desert components like whipped cream or buttercream icing...

      This is a question I've been wondering about for a while as a home baker and amateur food scientist. Why do recipes for whipped, fluffy desert components like whipped cream or buttercream icing always seem to call for powdered sugar? If I want to add sugar to a something, why would I also want to add the anti-caking agent (usually starch I think) for powdered sugar as well? Is that starch actually something beneficial for a whipped desert? Because as far as I can tell, the only time powdered sugar makes sense is when it's dusted on top of something or incorporated into a desert that is being mixed by hand and doesn't have the shear of a mixer to dissolve or emulsify the granulated sugar. And I've never had any issues just using regular granulated sugar and honestly prefer it to powdered sugar for icings, whipped cream and the like. If a recipe calls for powdered sugar, but it's being combined with a mixer or beaters I just use regular sugar and the results are great.

      Anyone have any thoughts or experience as to what I'm overlooking? Or is it just a hold over from a time when electric mixers weren't common and you needed a finer sugar to incorporate the sugar by hand?

      18 votes
    5. Struggling with first dev job - seeking advice

      This is my cry for help. I'm a newer programmer who just got hired for my first actual programming job a few months ago. Before now the only things I really made were simple python scripts that...

      This is my cry for help.

      I'm a newer programmer who just got hired for my first actual programming job a few months ago. Before now the only things I really made were simple python scripts that handled database operations at my last job. I live in an area with no opportunities, and so this new job I got is my saving grace at this point. For the first time in my life I can have actual savings and can actually work on moving to an area with opportunities. However...

      Everything is falling apart. I have no idea how this place has survived this long. There is no senior dev for me to go to. There are no code reviews. There is no QA. There is a spiderweb of pipelines with zero error handling or data-checking. Bugs are frequent and go undetected. The database has no keys or constraints, and was designed by a madman (so it's definitely not normalized whatsoever). I already have made a bunch of little scripts handling data-parsing tasks that are used in prod, and I've had to learn proper logging and notifications on errors along the way, and have still yet to learn how to do real tests (I ordered a book on pytest that I plan on going through). I am so paranoid that at any moment something I made does something unexpected and destroys things (which... kinda actually happened already).

      We're in the long and arduous process of moving away from this terrible system to a newer, better-designed one but I'm already just so lost and... lonely? There's a few separate dev "teams" but one is outsourced and the other is infamously unapproachable and works on a completely different domain. There's no one there to catch me if/when I make mistakes except myself. The paranoia I have over my programs is really getting to me and already affecting my health.

      I guess I just want advice on what I should do in this situation. Is this a normal first experience? I care deeply about making sure the things I make are good and functional but I also don't have the experience to forsee potential issues that may come up due to how I'm designing things. And how can I cope with the paranoia I'm feeling?

      EDIT: It takes me a while to write responses, but I want everyone to know that I really appreciate all your advice and kind words. It does mean a lot to me! I'm doing my best to take in what everyone has said and am working on making the best of an atypical situation. I'm chronically hard on myself, but I'm gonna try to give myself a bit more grace here. Again, thanks so much for all the thoughtful replies from everyone. :)

      34 votes
    6. Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix 2024 - Results

      Not the most exciting race, but Mercedes made it exciting towards the end. I was really rooting for Lewis to overtake Russell , but Russell kept his P1. Ballsy strategy with a one-stopper, but in...

      Not the most exciting race, but Mercedes made it exciting towards the end. I was really rooting for Lewis to overtake Russell , but Russell kept his P1. Ballsy strategy with a one-stopper, but in the end, turned out to be a great call.

      UPDATE: Russell was DSQ'd post-race due to his car being underweight. FIA decision document [PDF]. Everyone moves up. Tough break, but the rules are the rules.

      Max was able to claw his way through the field, ending P5 P4. Checo did better this weekend, but finishing P8 P7 (and also getting fastest lap), probably still not great for his future. If he survives to drive another day, it's just barely.

      Anyway, on to the summer break. See you all for Zandvoort!

      Also, sorry for not posting an post-race discussion for Baku last weekend. I was out of town and almost immediately after the race had to leave for the airport.

      Next race:

      Dutch Grand Prix
      Circuit Zandvoort
      Sunday, August 25

      Provisional Race Results -- SPOILER
      POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
      1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 44 +0.526s 25
      2 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren Mercedes 44 +1.173s 18
      3 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 44 +8.549s 15
      4 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 44 +9.226s 12
      5 4 Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 44 +9.850s 10
      6 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 44 +19.795s 8
      7 11 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 44 +43.195s 7
      8 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 44 +49.963s 4
      9 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 44 +52.552s 2
      10 3 Daniel Ricciardo RB Honda RBPT 44 +54.926s 1
      11 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 44 +63.011s 0
      12 23 Alexander Albon Williams Mercedes 44 +63.651s 0
      13 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine Renault 44 +64.365s 0
      14 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 44 +66.631s 0
      15 77 Valtteri Bottas Kick Sauber Ferrari 44 +70.638s 0
      16 22 Yuki Tsunoda RB Honda RBPT 44 +76.737s 0
      17 2 Logan Sargeant Williams Mercedes 44 +86.057s 0
      18 27 Nico Hulkenberg Haas Ferrari 44 +88.833s 0
      DQ 63 George Russell Mercedes 44 1:19:57.040 0
      NC 24 Zhou Guanyu Kick Sauber Ferrari 5 DNF 0

      Fastest Lap: Sergio Perez

      Source: F1.com

      14 votes
    7. Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of July 28

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week! Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle...

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!

      Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”

      Rules:

      • No grey market sales
      • No affiliate links

      If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.


      All previous Save Point topics

      If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add save point to your personal tag filters.

      13 votes