All posts by erk

I love writing, computers, puns... and can sometimes be spiritual, or mindful.
Humor

I’m going to totally dominate the packaging industry!

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I’m going to totally dominate the packaging industry!

How? you ask… I’m going to test my packages before sending them into production!

I expect to become a packaging-baron within a few months.

Update: Well, with the exception of Tetrapack, though. They seem to know this trade secret as well…

Update 2: Shit! Did I just give away my competitive edge now?!

Update 3: Or is it that someone has all the patents in packaging so that everyone else has to do things ass-backward to not have to pay for the patent of “a package that can be opened”?

Ooooh! I think I’ve realized something fundamental about the packaging industry!

Politics and Society

Five Stages of Climate Change Denial

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Stage 1: There is no climate change.

Stage 2: The climate is changing, but humanity is not responsible.

Stage 3: Humans are responsible, but there’s nothing we can do about it.

Stage 4: There are things humans can do about climate change, but it can’t be done in our country.

Stage 5: Why the hell didn’t anyone do anything about climate change?

Update: Apparently there’s also a:
Stage 0: The Earth has no climate (!)

I mean… wow…

Politics and Society

Pompeo Promises ‘A Smooth Transition To A Second Trump Administration’ : Live Updates: Presidential Transition : NPR

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“There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” Pompeo said during a briefing Tuesday. “All right? We’re ready.”

“Post truth” now becomes “Post election”?

Source: Pompeo Promises ‘A Smooth Transition To A Second Trump Administration’ : Live Updates: Presidential Transition : NPR

Science and Technology

Why is “North” “Up” on a Map?

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Why is “north” “up” on a map?

I don’t understand the question…

By Tobias Jung [CC BY-SA 4.0], via map-projections.net
By Strebe – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
By Tobias Jung [CC BY-SA 4.0], via map-projections.net

Ok… it’s because the map makers (cartographers) that made the first maps drew them from “their perspective” and now, as you might have figured out from the above projections, it gets a bit hard to compare if it doesn’t continue somewhere along the same line…

Header image: By Strebe – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Computers and Internet

Typical Support Case

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Here’s how a typical support case works after my colleagues started checking out like flies in November and my idea that management thought knowledge was transferred via some kind of “USB”-cable for programmers’ brains turned out to be enormously optimistic—the predominant theory seems to be that knowledge sticks to the walls… I’m hoping no one orders me to lick the walls…:

Customer: The system is broken! What’s wrong?

After lots of research in non-existing documentation and uncommented code following the “unnecessary surgery” doctrine of Ghostbusters (this relates both to the term itself and the performance of the actors in the linked clip…):

Me: The input is wrong…

Politics and Society, Talk

Three rules of self-defense

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Here are my three simple rules of self-defense. They can be applied without any self-defense training, only using a little common sense:

  1. Avoid places and situations where you need to defend yourself
  2. Move away from places and situations where you need to defend yourself, run if necessary
  3. If someone surprise attacks you, parry/break free using whatever technique you have at your disposal (hit them with your umbrella!), then see rule 2.

If you feel this limits your freedom, use your vote to change the situation, not your life!