Halfloaf's recent activity

  1. Is anyone else having trouble focusing? What strategies do you use to help with focus?

    ~society Ask
    Since the election, and especially in the last couple of weeks, I’ve had an incredibly difficult time focusing on important tasks. I get a bit nihilistic at the worst times, wondering what the...

    Since the election, and especially in the last couple of weeks, I’ve had an incredibly difficult time focusing on important tasks.

    I get a bit nihilistic at the worst times, wondering what the point of my day job is with what feels like the collapse of society happening around us. It’s also been a really stressful month or so at work, which doesn’t help with trying to focus on the edge of burnout.

    The last few days have been incredibly unproductive, but also not restful. I’m just sort of stuck in a loop.

    Anyone out there feeling the same, or does anyone have suggestions for getting out of this loop?

    23 votes

  2. Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of September 15 in ~society

    Halfloaf
    Link
    3 killed in US strike on 2nd alleged Venezuelan drug boat, Trump says This did get me to look up the technical description of crimes against humanity:

    3 killed in US strike on 2nd alleged Venezuelan drug boat, Trump says

    The strike was the second of its kind in less than two weeks in what appears to be an unprecedented use of lethal military force against a criminal enterprise. In the past, the U.S. government has relied on the U.S. Coast Guard and law enforcement personnel to board vessels for inspection, much as it did on Friday.

    This did get me to look up the technical description of crimes against humanity:

    According to the Rome Statute, there are eleven types of crimes that can be charged as crimes against humanity when they are "committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population":[4][24]
    Murder;
    Extermination [including "the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population"];
    Enslavement;
    Deportation or forcible transfer of population;
    Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;
    Torture;
    Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
    Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;
    Enforced disappearance of persons;
    The crime of apartheid;
    Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.

    5 votes

  3. Comment on A timeline of false “gender ideology” claims about the Charlie Kirk shooting in ~lgbt

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    Thank you for being you!!

    Thank you for being you!!

    9 votes

  4. Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    Agreed! Bluh. This week has been exhausting!

    Agreed! Bluh. This week has been exhausting!

    2 votes

  5. Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society

  6. Comment on Israel targets Hamas leadership in military strikes on Qatar, officials say in ~society

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    That’s a fair point! Apologies - it’s been a rough day. I initially misread the column - I thought that Israel knew the location of the Hamas leaders because Trump was trying to set up...

    That’s a fair point! Apologies - it’s been a rough day.

    I initially misread the column - I thought that Israel knew the location of the Hamas leaders because Trump was trying to set up negotiations, and knew their locations.

    3 votes

  7. Comment on Israel targets Hamas leadership in military strikes on Qatar, officials say in ~society

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    Honestly? I may be wrong in my interpretation of this. It’s already been a week of far too much stuff going on.

    Honestly? I may be wrong in my interpretation of this. It’s already been a week of far too much stuff going on.

    1 vote

  8. Comment on Israel targets Hamas leadership in military strikes on Qatar, officials say in ~society

    Halfloaf
    Link
    source Trump is -as always- destroying any credibility the USA has in the international stage. It should never be assumed that he is acting in good faith on anything. He is the epitome of a piece...

    The strike came as Hamas leaders based in the Qatari capital, Doha, were weighing a new ceasefire proposal from the Trump administration. The White House said Israel had informed the U.S. before the strike and that it had in turn warned the Qataris.

    source

    Trump is -as always- destroying any credibility the USA has in the international stage. It should never be assumed that he is acting in good faith on anything.

    He is the epitome of a piece of shit.

    6 votes

  9. Comment on So was there no song of the summer this year? in ~music

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    I actually came to this thread looking for Disco Snails. Thank you. But, we’re likely in the same bubble.

    I actually came to this thread looking for Disco Snails. Thank you.

    But, we’re likely in the same bubble.

    1 vote

  10. Comment on ‘Sex reversal’ is surprisingly common in birds, new study suggests in ~science

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    (Thank you for letting me know! :D)

    (Thank you for letting me know! :D)

    3 votes

  11. Comment on What’s something that’s more complicated than most people realize? in ~talk

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    In terms of normal wear, the tumbling will accelerate wear a little, but not much. However, I’ve had a poorly-designed dryer in an apartment once, and it had a little hook on the inside of the...

    In terms of normal wear, the tumbling will accelerate wear a little, but not much.

    However, I’ve had a poorly-designed dryer in an apartment once, and it had a little hook on the inside of the drum that my clothes would catch on every now and then, and make a hole.

    It was definitely a bit infuriating.

    2 votes

  12. Comment on What’s something that’s more complicated than most people realize? in ~talk

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    Please do be careful with this - one of the most common ways for dryer fires to cause issues is if lint from the base of the unit gets sucked through the heating element, catches fire, then...

    Please do be careful with this - one of the most common ways for dryer fires to cause issues is if lint from the base of the unit gets sucked through the heating element, catches fire, then quickly makes it's way through the unit, lighting lint stuck in the vent.

    Also, while you have the dryer apart, I'd check for the resistance of the element. It should be somewhere in the 1 - 100 ohm range if you have a multimeter handy. Anything in the megaohm range means you'll have to replace the element.

    3 votes

  13. Comment on What’s something that’s more complicated than most people realize? in ~talk

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    Okay, here's a shot at round two! For this round, I want to dive a little deeper into the complexities of appliance sales and marketing! I spent my time in product engineering and sensing, but...

    Okay, here's a shot at round two!

    For this round, I want to dive a little deeper into the complexities of appliance sales and marketing! I spent my time in product engineering and sensing, but part of that engineering goes into understanding how sales happen.

    (I don't really know how in-depth I can go into how washers and dryers sense the status of the load without having NDA / self-doxing issues, but I might be able to try if there's enough interest)

    For any appliance, the sale happens three times.

    1. Manufacturer to Retailer
    2. Retailer to Consumer
    3. Consumer to Consumer

    1. Manufacturer to Retailer

    The first thing to note is that none of the major appliance manufacturers do direct-to-consumer sales. This is probably because the market started back in the early 1900's, when national distribution was even more complex than it is today. It persists for a number of reasons, but a lot of them boil down to these things are big and heavy, and it takes capital investment to store them and move them where they need to go efficiently.

    So, appliance manufacturers' customers aren't actually the end users. The primary customers are the retail outlets.

    That's one of the major reasons for the sometimes-overwhelming number of cycles and buttons on most appliances - it's way easier to sell something if you can show iterative improvement from one year to the next. It's easier to tell a retailer

    "Hey, last year's model has five cycles, and this year's model has seven! You'll be able to sell a seven-cycle washing machine so much easier. That's why you should put your existing inventory on sale, to make room for buying 10,000 new models."

    or

    "Hey, we figured out how to make this new model cheaper, so we'll sell you way more product that you can sell at the same price, so your margins will be better."

    or

    "Hey, we'll give you a better price on these models, if you display them prominently in-store for three quarters"

    or some combination of these three and more.

    That's a gross oversimplification, but it's a decent first-order model.

    2. Retailer to Consumer

    When the retailer sells to the consumer, the consumer has a really limited set of experiences to make their decision around. Like I said in the post above, there are a ton of pressures on the consumer, and that makes an informed choice really difficult in most cases. (Side note, this is pretty similar to how I envision the -absolutely broken- US healthcare system, but I don't know what I'm talking about there).

    If the retailer is getting a good deal, they may increase employee training around specific models.

    The manufacturer will often try to focus product cost on "touchpoints" - literal things that people can touch an feel on the showroom floor. These floor models are very rarely powered, so a lot of digital displays just fall flat at this time. Knobs and buttons and hinges and handles are key points for influencing a customer's perception of quality. So, manufacturers put a lot of time into getting those points right.

    3. Consumer to Consumer

    Finally, when the consumer actually has the appliance in the home, they get to evaluate it. a HUGE driving factor on whether or not a person buys from a specific appliance brand is whether or not they owned the same brand in the past, and whether or not they have a good time with it.

    Judging consumer sentiment online is really really hard, because appliances are meant to be in the background in most cases. People (that aren't me) just don't talk about appliances to one another, unless the appliance is a real pain. It's like talking about the weather, in that a bad appliance can make for great small talk!

    If a consumer has a great time with an appliance, then they're really likely to go with the same brand. It can override a pretty significant price margin.

    But, the time scales here are wonky. As I said above, manufacturers usually aim for a ten-year life target. In that time, there have probably been at least five major iterations of those appliance designs, and there are a large number of good and bad decisions wrapped up in those five iterations.

    If a decision ten years ago was a bad one, it takes ten years to get that feedback into the appliance design. It can go a little faster than that if the decision is really bad, but then there are much larger problems anyway.

    So thank you for listening to my mini info session / rant about the weird world of appliance sales! I think I have a bit more energy for this, if there's interest.

    Topic ideas:

    1. Energy usage and efficiency within the home
    2. standard loads, Department of Energy tests, and "official" product evaluations
    3. Certification of Safety, and the weird role played by Underwriters Laboratories
    4 votes

  14. Comment on What’s something that’s more complicated than most people realize? in ~talk

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    It absolutely does make sense! I've had the idea of starting up an open-source appliance company rolling around in the back of my head for a long time now, but I keep hitting roadblocks. These...

    It absolutely does make sense!

    I've had the idea of starting up an open-source appliance company rolling around in the back of my head for a long time now, but I keep hitting roadblocks. These things end up controlling a lot of energy, and it's really hard to make something safe that is also effective without heavy-duty metal stamping.

    I'm aware of one company that's actively trying to work in the space of lower-tech appliances for the global south - https://www.thewashingmachineproject.org/ They seem pretty legit, and I hope they do well!

    1 vote

  15. Comment on What’s something that’s more complicated than most people realize? in ~talk

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    Unfortunately, I have no better answer for you on that one. good luck, appliance shopper!

    Unfortunately, I have no better answer for you on that one. good luck, appliance shopper!

  16. Comment on What’s something that’s more complicated than most people realize? in ~talk

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    There are usually a couple of levels of protection around overheating. One fuse will reset itself, and another will trip permanently, if the self-resetting fuse fails to stop an overheating issue....

    There are usually a couple of levels of protection around overheating. One fuse will reset itself, and another will trip permanently, if the self-resetting fuse fails to stop an overheating issue.

    If you're right that that second fuse has failed, it's worth trying to figure out what's causing the overheating issue in the first place. Typically, this is due to some sort of blockage in the ducting system that the dryer is connected to.

    This is usually:

    • Some sort of animal building a nest in the the outlet
    • The slow accumulation of lint in the tube connected to the vent
    • A kink or messy angle in (usually) the metal tube connecting the dryer to the wall
    • a poorly designed ventilation system in the home itself.

    I've seen what should be a 30-minute job extend into the 250-minute range due to a kink in that metal tubing (It was a nightmare of an R&D problem until a team traveled to the test site).

    The other possibility is that your heating element opened. This is possible over time, basically your element slowly reacts with the atmosphere, and eventually the oxide layer on the outside can just cause the whole thing to open. But again, this is more likely if temperatures are elevated in the first place, pointing to a restriction of some sort.

    Most home appliance manufacturers suggest cleaning the vents every 18 months or so, but I have yet to encounter a regular person that knows that.

    3 votes

  17. Comment on What’s something that’s more complicated than most people realize? in ~talk

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    Yeah, a Speed Queen is definitely a particular style! In general though, I find brands way less reliable as a marker of quality than specific model lines. I tend to view appliance brands in the...

    Yeah, a Speed Queen is definitely a particular style!

    In general though, I find brands way less reliable as a marker of quality than specific model lines.

    I tend to view appliance brands in the same way as I view car manufacturers. I think the specific model and the engineering team behind that model are usually better indicators. In my experience, brands themselves can be all over the place in terms of quality.

    I've never actually used a Speed Queen, but I've seen them being tested.

    9 votes

  18. Comment on What’s something that’s more complicated than most people realize? in ~talk

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    I love combo units!! They're actually really common in Europe, as well - the smaller general living spaces and the sensitivity to energy efficiency drove them into market dominance decades before...

    I love combo units!!

    They're actually really common in Europe, as well - the smaller general living spaces and the sensitivity to energy efficiency drove them into market dominance decades before they ever came over to North America!

    (Side note, I'm not terribly sure about South America - I know that most appliance companies try their hardest to get clothes dryers into common usage in the South American markets, but the rate of adoption is really low - air drying is just way too effective)

    A number of years ago, combo units would still tend to be a bit smaller, and would also tend to dry a little less thoroughly - maybe ending clothing at between 5% and 10% remaining moisture, instead of the usual 2%-4% common in the US. I bet they've really improved that in the time that I've been out of the industry!

    I hope they catch on! I personally would definitely take the increased cycle time over not having to swap laundry from one machine to the other. On the other hand, I'm a pretty basic laundry user. It can be tricky if people often use air drying for a part of a wash.

    6 votes

  19. Comment on What’s something that’s more complicated than most people realize? in ~talk

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    You're welcome!! Thank you for having an interest! :D

    You're welcome!! Thank you for having an interest! :D

    1 vote

  20. Comment on What’s something that’s more complicated than most people realize? in ~talk

    Halfloaf
    Link Parent
    I usually do enjoy talking about it more than writing - it's easier for me to see what topics pique interest, and it's easier for me to lead people through fulfilling their own curiosities! I...

    I usually do enjoy talking about it more than writing - it's easier for me to see what topics pique interest, and it's easier for me to lead people through fulfilling their own curiosities!

    I think the interest in this will get me to do a follow-up post with more appliance knowledge, so I'll try to write another section tomorrow!

    5 votes