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Month: January 2023

Office Space inspires thief

Office Space inspires thief

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A 28 year old worker from Tacoma who worked at Zulily was just busted by skimming shipping fees charged on the site. He claimed he was inspired by the movie Office Space (and Richard Pryor in 1983’s Superman III), and stole about $260,000 in shipping fees by redirecting the payments into his own account. He also manipulated prices using his developer permissions to buy $41,000 in merchandise on the website for pennies on the dollar.

He wasn’t subtle though and took ALL the shipping fees – so he was easily caught. I guess thieves in 1983 were at least smarter by taking fractions of a cent. Still, the idea of ‘salami slicing’ (as the skimming method has been known) has been around a long time.

Bitcoin heater

Bitcoin heater

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After jokes about all the heat generated using 300 watt graphics cards 24×7 to mine bitcoin – someone finally embraced it.

Heatbit is a space heater that mines bitcoin. The idea is with rising energy costs and a hash rate of up to 14 TH/s @ 1.4 kW it might even pay for itself. Obviously this only works if the price of energy stays below the mining threshold cost.

I can’t even. What a world we live in.

Ghosts of Oregon’s Logging industry

Ghosts of Oregon’s Logging industry

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Oregon was built on the logging industry – an industry that has almost completely collapsed to a shadow of it’s former self.

Here’s a map that a local guy was putting together in which you can still see some of those old remnants of bygone timber works.

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Games Done Quick prizes

Games Done Quick prizes

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Games Done Quick had some unique video game themed prizes donated by various artists. I spent some time finding some of the more interesting artists

Wavelet introduction

Wavelet introduction

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Artem Kirsanov normally talks about neuroscience, but in the process also made a great introductory video on wavelets. Wavelets let you find structures which are present in a complex signal but often hidden behind the noise. Since wavelets can perform decomposition in both time and frequency domains it makes them tremendously valuable tools.

Opposite of ultralight camping

Opposite of ultralight camping

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While through hikers focus on saving every possible ounce of weight – utilizing the lightest possible tents and equipment – there are other ends of the spectrum that are also covered by large, well-insulated tents.

Enter RBM Outdoors Cuboid 4.40 tents. These 104 sq foot large, insulated, and heated tents come with everything – even specially designed safe stoves. It features removable walls that separates the two rooms. One of the walls can be opened up into a roof in front of the tent with mosquito nets. This area could be used as a dining room or a terrace. They are really versatile all-season tents that protect from hot summer sun and from severe winter cold. In winter they recorded a comfortable temperature of 85°+ F inside the tent while -22° F outside.

Or, if you prefer, try a portable sauna! The SweatTent is a collapsible, wood-fired sauna that sets up in just three minutes.

An end to ‘Rest and Vest’ via cultural shift

An end to ‘Rest and Vest’ via cultural shift

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“Rest and Vest” is a term that describes some senior engineers at big tech companies. The joke even showed up in HBO’s series Silicon Valley. But with the recent decimation of stock prices, rising competition and rapidly shrinking revenues, those days may be over.

But how does one tackle the issue without alienating the workforce and driving good talent to competitors? Carefully, it turns out – because the best way involves a cultural shift of the company. Implementing draconian and invasive tracking on knowledge workers is not helpful. It alienates workers as well can actually stifle creativity.

Instead, managers can use 2 different social pressures for those in a ‘rest and vest’ mode:

  • Reminding a person that their subpar contribution is inequitable may motivate them to pull their weight. We have a deep-wired aversion to being perceived by others as a cheat or defector.
  • Second, it’s about belonging. We’re humans at the end of the day. No person wants to be a social pariah, even one who’s talented. Contributing, belonging, building alongside your fellow creators — this can be a strong motivator to get people involved more evenly.

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