#and the chemicals are so caustic you can't develop them by hand like you do in b&w

[raspberryconverse]

I can't tell you how many people assume that because I'm a web developer, I know any and all things computers/cell phones.

Did I recently replace my loud, apparently busted laptop fan with a new one I bought on eBay? Yes.

Am I a hardware or software person? Not really.

First off, web developers and software developers are not the same thing. If you get an actual degree (as opposed to a certificate), you'll have to learn a little of the other side, but after those few classes, you'll focus on your side. Of course, you're allowed to take more classes outside of your program (like I took a few Android dev ones), but that really just delays your entrance into the workplace, which can pose a problem (more on that later.

So yes, I learned several programming languages, but idek any of the modern Javascript frameworks (Angular, React, Node, etc) because they were just coming into popularity right as I was finishing my web dev degree and they hadn't been worked into the curriculum yet. The fact that I had to stretch out my program an extra semester because I got fucked over with financial aid (they transferred all of my gen eds from my bachelors instead of just the ones I actually needed for the degree and made them electives when I actually wanted to take other IT electives, which put me at 150% of the credits required within 2 semesters and no longer eligible for financial aid), which put me in a tough spot career-wise.

I'm forever grateful that a headhunter found me for my current job because idk where I'd be right now if he hadn't. And because I'm strictly in email, the difficulty level is low, especially in our particular market (B2B as an office supply distributor) and the role I'm in (my team members do some cool shit for our customers, but I'm the one who just does all the newsletters and other communications like recalls and webinar invites, etc). Yes, there are tons of cool innovations happening in email, but it's just not really worth the effort for our particular niche. I'm not going to be using AMP in an email to tell you there's a hurricane and the delivery of your post-its might be delayed. Hell, I'm not even going to personalize that shit.

So I might be able to tell you why your computer isn't working, but 9 times out of 10, I'm going to start with The First Troubleshooting Step ("Did you try turning it off and turning it back on again?") and then head right to Google if that didn't work. And 10 times out of 10, Imma be annoyed that it turned into a lmgtfy.

If you need HTML/CSS help (especially if we're talking making shit not break in Outlook), I'm your gal. But if your computer/phone is doing something weird, Google that shit and leave me TF alone.

Me: oh yeah, if you think school photography is hard now, try imagining doing this with film.

The new girl: what’s film?

Me: … film. Like… film that goes in a film camera.

New girl: what’s that mean?

Me: … before cameras were digital.

New girl: how did you do it before digital?

Me:… with film? I haven’t had enough coffee for this conversation

[raspberryconverse]

1 or 2. I can't remember if we had encyclopedias or not, at least physical ones. I definitely had a CD-ROM one.

Also, I not only took photos with a film camera and developed them not just in a B&W darkroom, but in a color darkroom.

I got ONE point. Never used a boom box.

— LeeWilliamDesigns (@designs_william) February 19, 2023

— Coley 💗💜💙 Bisexual people exist (she/her) (@raspberrychucks) Feb 20, 2023 February 19, 2023 at 07:44PM via Twitter https://twitter.com/raspberrychucks

[dataanalyzer]

Just wanted to add on a new perspective in the "keeping things clean being skilled work" space (pun intended).

There is a REASON a guy poured millions of dollars of his own money to develop a pen that would work even without gravity. It's because, while pencils are cheaper and also work regardless of gravity, they also create tiny particles of graphite as you write. In zero gravity, those particles float around and get into machinery and electronics through the ventilation. Graphite is highly conductive (there's a life hack where you carve out a slice of a pencil so you can touch the lead core, which allows you to use it like a stylus on tablets), so when it gets into the electronics they cause short circuits that can damage important equipment and endanger the astronauts' lives.

There is a REASON that you should clean out the inside of desktop/tower computers. Dust buildup can ignite and create fires if you have sufficiently powerful CPUs or if it gets in the power supply. However, you can't just throw your computer in the dishwasher. You have to use special, noncunductive chemicals and/or composed air targeted to not destroy delicate circuitry.

There is a REASON circuit boards and microchips are manufactured in clean environments. When you're working and making things at the near atomic level, the tiniest speck of dust can completely ruin or outright demolish a project and product. Silicone circuit board are made by layering sheets of silicone interlaced with mazes of microscopic wiring, so a dust particle creates a warp that just compounds imperfections and circuit breaks as more and more layers get added (think about those elementary art projects where you trace around your hand, then trace around the tracing, then keep doing that until you run out of paper. By the end the outer most lines barely hold any resemblance to your hand).

There is a REASON that astronomical telescopes have to be thoroughly and regularly cleaned. When you're studying the lowest intensity stars billions of light years away, even a miniscule reduction in the amount of light reflected off the special mirrors used in the telescope can make the difference between detecting a new planet versus only seeing the vast emptiness of space.

There is a REASON that severe radiation exposure protocols are so extreme. You have to remove all clothing (it gets destroyed), shave off all your hair (radioactive particles can stick to hair and the hair can prevent particles from being removed), and then you have to basically chemically peel off the topmost layer of skin, yes even your eye lids, to make sure every last mote of potentially radioactive substance is no longer present on your body (some particles get absorbed into your skin but they can only go so far), and then you pray that whatever particles you probably inhaled aren't enough to kill you.

Cleaning, disinfecting, and sterilizing things and areas and making sure they stay that way is absolutely skilled work. It's takes knowledge and training to know: which caustic substances can be used on which surfaces without damaging things, how to identify the cause, age, and deepness of stains, how to clean things when you can't use water, can't move or pick up the item, and can't directly touch them, how to operate cleaning machinery like heavy duty vacuums, floor scrubbers, power washers, and in the extreme cases cherry-pickers and scaffolding elevators (or whatever you call those things window washers use to go up and down the building), how to read a MSDS, how to handle biological waste like blood, vomit, urine, feces, semen, mucus, and saliva, what counts as a biohazard and the proper procedures for handling it, and when cleaning something takes priority over whatever else might be going on.

Janitors, cleaners, maids, custodians, maintenance workers, sanitation engineers, garbage removers, whatever their title, deserve to be paid, not just a minimum wage, but more than any other occupation, and they deserve the utmost respect. Their work is what keeps civilization running.