1y ago

What is a well known 'public secret' in the industry you work in that the majority of outsiders are unaware of?

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https://xkcd.com/2030/
Truth
- The past decade of the tech industry has felt very snakeoil-y.
  INB4 "It always has been."
  
  If you’re good at building hype and have some connections, you can attract all sorts of investors hoping to get in on the ground floor of the next big thing.
  Dan Olsen’s NFT video from a year ago summed it up well, I think (link). People with money to invest today want to repeat the insane growth in wealth brought about by computers, the internet, social media, etc. So they will basically gamble on any new ideas that have an air of plausibility to kick off the next boom.
  
  What's sad is there are plenty of actual problems out there that could be solved with software. Most of the time they're not that 'sexy' and management is so blinded by greed that they throw away all the good opportunities.
  
  Do you have any examples of problems currently lacking a (plausible) software solution?
  
  I think it started with registry cleaners.
  
  Those weren't really pushed as a get-rich-quick scheme, which a lot of the hustle seems to be currently.
  
  Oh, you’re thinking of crypto to junk. Nah, Fudge That.
  
  Just say blockchain or AI and you've got the base of a startup these days
  
  Blockchain is gone, just like "space age", "plastics", "environmentally friendly", "digital", "computer controlled". Every startup is including "AI" and "sustainable" in their pitch this year.
- scared laughter
- Tom Scott on Computerphile
  And his own channel's sequel
- It is kind of hilarious that airplanes are seen as being safe and reliable, when if they were given the same factor of safety as most other consumer goods, they'd never get off the ground from being too heavy.
  I do NOT recommend you do this, but if a ladder says it is designed for 300 lbs, then it should carry 1200 lbs. 4X is a fairly common factor of safety for things like ladders where people's lives are in jeopardy. Most other items are usually 2X. (I want to point out that there are qualifications to this... static loading and dynamic loading are totally different things. Also a simple point load is not the same as a cantilevered loading condition. A new piece of equipment is not the same as one abused on the job for the last 10 years. All these things will dramatically affect safety ratings for things)
  
  I'd say the difference is that every single part of an airline is carefully rated though. Everything that's supplied for use on an airline is expensive because of all the regulations.
  A ladder may be rated for 1200 pounds, but nobody inspects every single use-case for that ladder and ensures that the entire system always has 4x safety. Once you buy the ladder it's up to you what you lean it up against, etc.
  
  Regulations and quality checks on aerospace parts is no joke. More so on stuff that goes out into space and on military hardware, but every single nut and bolt and everything in between can be traced back to a supplier and that supplier will be able to tell you when it was made, by who and even where the raw material came from and show you the certs. Regular airplanes not nearly as strict or as much paperwork, but it isn't that far behind, quite honestly.
  Also, you might be surprised by the testing that ladders go through. Not so much the cheapo Chinesium stuff, but safety in all fields is no joke. It is too costly to skimp on testing.
  
  I used to believe this, but recent incidents have exposed systemic issues in engineering and QA at at least one major US aerospace manufacturer.
- I like to use https://explainxkcd.com/2030/ since I get the title text, an explanation, and comments.
- Works fine in Brazil, shit is audited every single year by universities and other especialists, only rightoids scream that it's bad and only when they lose.
  
  What works fine in Brazil?

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