Jamie Fisher (u/jamief67)

Posts

Heard a podcast host say 'you can't see the Milky Way from 80% of North America' and it got me thinking

They were talking about light pollution and mentioned that places like Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania are some of the last dark sky spots. I looked it up and the Bortle scale map for my area is awful, which explains why my galaxy shots are so noisy. Has anyone had good results from a Class 4 Bortle zone, or do I really need to drive 5 hours to a darker site?

3 comments

c/coding-for-beginners•

jamief67•5d ago

Spent 3 hours trying to make a simple button change color when you click it

I wrote a function in JavaScript and used 'onclick' in my HTML, but the button just turned grey and stayed that way (which was not the plan). I learned that I forgot to tell the function to change the color back after the first click. How do you make a button toggle between two colors properly?

3 comments

c/gadget-reviews•

jamief67•6d ago

Can we talk about how many smart home gadgets just stop working after a few years?

I was reading a report from a tech repair shop in Seattle last week, and they said that on average, a smart plug or light bulb from a major brand only gets software updates for about two years after it stops being sold. After that, it might just brick itself or lose connection. I have a couple of those early wifi plugs from 2019 that are now basically useless paperweights because the app won't even recognize them anymore. It's not like they broke, the company just decided to stop supporting them. It makes me really hesitant to buy into any new smart home ecosystem now. What's the point if it's designed to fail? Has anyone found a brand that actually promises longer support, or are we all just accepting that our gadgets have an expiration date?

3 comments

c/electricians•

jamief67•7d ago

I spent $450 on a thermal camera for my phone and it found a hot splice in a wall

I was working on a house in Phoenix last month, the homeowner kept saying a light switch felt warm. I checked the usual stuff, voltage was fine, connections seemed tight. I was about to write it off until I remembered this little thermal camera I bought that plugs into my phone. I scanned the wall and there it was, a clear hot spot right behind the switch plate. Popped it open and found a backstabbed wire on the switch that was just starting to arc and melt the plastic. That little gadget paid for itself right there, maybe even stopped a fire. It's not perfect, but for finding overloaded circuits or bad connections inside walls without tearing them open, it's a game changer. Has anyone else used one of these for troubleshooting, and what kind of stuff have you found with it?

3 comments

Posts

Heard a podcast host say 'you can't see the Milky Way from 80% of North America' and it got me thinking

Spent 3 hours trying to make a simple button change color when you click it

Can we talk about how many smart home gadgets just stop working after a few years?

I spent $450 on a thermal camera for my phone and it found a hot splice in a wall

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