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Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: June 13th, 2023

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  • Having a static IP is not the same as exposing your local network to the internet. It also does not automatically make you a target for DDoS attacks.

    If you don’t have public facing web services, its incredibly unlikely that anyone is going to DDoS you. That would be a total waste of time and resources.

    Every modem connected to the internet (WAN) has an IP address. Most of then are dynamically assigned by your ISP and can change occasionally.

    Static IP’s are also assigned by your ISP but are assigned to your account/modem and do not change.

    If the API you’re trying to connect to absolutely requires a static IP, you can ask your ISP for one. If they offer them – some ISP’s don’t for residential accounts – they’ll probably charge you a small monthly fee. Mine is $10/ month.

    If you get a static IP, you will need to know how to configure it in your router. Its not super complicated and can be done with a little bit of research.

    If you can get the API provider to forgo the static IP requirement and you aren’t self hosting any public facing services, then you don’t need a static IP and it would be a waste of money more than anything.

    Side note: you should definitely not expose anything on your local network to the WAN unless you absolutely know what you’re doing.






  • There are so many issues with this video.

    When using power tools, safety should be your number one concern.

    1. Never use an angle grinder without the blade guard installed. Is it inconvenient at times? Sure. But you know what else is inconvenient? Trying not to bleed to death or being blinded over what should have been a quick and easy job.
    2. Always wear the proper personal protective equipment (PPE). That includes a heavy long sleeve shirt, gloves, safety classes, a dust mask, and a hard hat (especially when cutting poles or other materials that are vertical and have a risk of falling).










  • I’m a “software engineer.” One of the most interesting jobs I’ve had was working on a team of (mostly) electrical engineers at an industrial tool manufacturer. Most of the team designed electronics (primarily IC’s) for the controls. A few of us designed software that interacted with said controls.

    That experience taught me that engjneering, at its core, is just solving problems in a given domain with a a specific set of “tools”. I was amazed by how much thought process overlap there is between software and electronics engineering.

    My job is solving business problems. Writing code is auxiliary to that. And even though I don’t have have a degree or any certifications, none of the people on that team ever talked down to me or tried to make me feel inferior.