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Open Secrets in your field (1 Viewer)

Max Power

Footballguy
Saw a reddit talking about open secrets in your field.  Its a good read.  Curious what others here might add.

First post is about how dirty beer taps are.

For me... The only thing I can say is that the CIA plays hard, fast, and loose. Or that drone strikes aren't as cool as you'dthink.

 
We could try to make art and win awards, but, pumping out formulaic crap from the assembly line pays better. 
What part of the entertainment field do you work in?

im in special effects for movies. So my secret is: it's REALLY HARD to make a convincing digital human ;)  

 
Jerry: Alright, alright. Alright, that's enough! Let's get back to my deal. That undercoating, that's just a rip-off, isn't it, David?Puddy: Oh, we don't even know what it is.

 
I can't say everything obviously, but the moon landing was faked and Neil Armstrong drank a few beers with some aliens back in '69.

 
At this point, when you get stuck on syntax in most programming languages, you can probably just google it. 

 
Not sure that it's exactly a secret at all per se, but there is only one state that has standards for mold removal. So if you end up with mold and hire someone to remove it, unless you live in NY, there's no actual standard that they have to meet to declare it cleaned up.

 
This one was very interesting

Structural engineering.....the East Coast is probably way more screwed in the long run as far as earthquakes go than the West Coast.

The reason is that until the advent of national seismic codes in the last century, designing for earthquakes pretty much stops when the people building stuff no longer remember that there's earthquakes in their region.

We know from history that many parts of the East Coast experienced some major earthquakes on several hundred year cycles....maybe longer. A seismic risk map of the East Coast actually requires modern structures to have some degree of earthquake load resistance against a moderate quake......and it is not uncommon anymore for bridges and buildings in places like NYC or Boston to have seismic loads govern (meaning that's the highest load a piece is designed for) the design. I've worked on multiple Boston area projects where seismic retrofits were being applied to existing bridges....some major ones. Its all very routine and gets little attention. So what's the problem?

Look at a picture of NYC....Philly....Boston.... 80% of those buildings are unreinforced masonry. All those mid-level buildings and refurbished industrial and commercial spaces built before 1950 or so were built by people with generally no regard for earthquakes. If reinforcement or steel framing was used.....it was not designed with seismic loads in mind. Know what kind of structure gets flattened in even small earthquakes? Mid height...unreinforced....masonry structures.

This means that when NYC or Boston eventually gets a moderate earthquake again......vast, vast sections of these cities are going to be completely flattened. The major infrastructure and newer buildings will be largely fine, but 70-80% of these cities are buildings that are 100+ years old. We're talking millions and millions of people homeless with an enormous death toll. Sure, some buildings are brought up to code, but most are not because they are grandfathered with all but the most major of structural renovations.

Bridges.....depends. Old bridges that still sit on masonry piers from from the 1800's are in big trouble....but we do retrofit them with just about every rehab job and most get rebuilt on 50-75 year cycles.

And no.....the damage can't be compared to San Francisco because as bad as some recent quakes were, the frequency has meant almost all buildings were built with an earthquake in mind. Not so in Hartford, CT or Springfield, MA.

TL:DR....Parts of the East Coast are likely going to be ruined in an inevitable moderate future earthquake and there's nothing we can really do about it.

 
People think there's a lot to it, but it's the simplest job you could imagine. Some 50ish usually fat lady gives you $150 and you just bang the living crap out of her. Some of them are widows; most of them are divorced or their husbands lost interest.

 
In healthcare administration and the amount of time, effort, and money spent putting procedures and actions into place to avoid even the possibility of some lawsuit (usually frivolous) is just stupid.   

 
Not for ####s and grins though, just to cover your ### from bottom dwelling lawyers, right?
What's with the recent disdain for lawyers? 

Secret from the lawyer field: we aren't all bottom-dwelling bs artists looking to take any case to overbill and make a buck no matter who it impacts and we don't have a magical lawyer wand which turns irrational or unreasonable positions into gold. Oh, and there are actually many public defenders that provide better criminal defense than many high-priced private lawyers. 

 
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I'm in the IT consulting business and every firm in the industry relies heavily on partnering with third party firms that hold the visas on Indian programmers.  These third party firms break several labor laws consistently, harass and treat these H1B workers horribly but everyone pretty much turns a blind eye to it because you can make more margin by partnering with these firms since the labor cost is much, much lower than their W2 counterparts.

 
A helmet is designed so that you don't crack your skull open.  It *may* help reduce concussions or CTE, but that's not the purpose really.

 
Media really is rigged by commercial interests.

Having a good insurance agent pays off in spades for commercial insurance. 

 
When I tell kids I was too busy to grade something that night I was probably just drinking beer and watching football. 

I can pretty much tell you what grade your kid will get after 1-2 weeks of class. Not that it's subjective, it's just clear off that bat who does their work, who is engaged and who has an intellect for the subject. It's also very clear in the opposite cases.

Sometimes, we really just don't like your kid. 

 
When I tell kids I was too busy to grade something that night I was probably just drinking beer and watching football. 

I can pretty much tell you what grade your kid will get after 1-2 weeks of class. Not that it's subjective, it's just clear off that bat who does their work, who is engaged and who has an intellect for the subject. It's also very clear in the opposite cases.

Sometimes, we really just don't like your kid. 
So here's a question for you:

Not sure what ages you teach, but if you teach younger kids, how do they distribute the kids at the beginning of the year. Meaning, how do they decide what teacher gets what kids.

I figure there is some kind of draft a couple of weeks before where they get in the cafeteria with some kegs and pizzas and start drafting kids for their classes.

Every year it seems like our kids get the same teachers as they move up in grades, meaning our youngest always seem to get taught by the same teacher our older two had. And every year they say: I'm so glad we got one of your kids again.

Do tell, what is the back room secret to all this?

 
Media really is rigged by commercial interests.

Having a good insurance agent pays off in spades for commercial insurance. 
Also, industry experts you see on TV and at conferences don't really know any more about the field than the average jerk, they just have a good PR firm.

 
So here's a question for you:

Not sure what ages you teach, but if you teach younger kids, how do they distribute the kids at the beginning of the year. Meaning, how do they decide what teacher gets what kids.

I figure there is some kind of draft a couple of weeks before where they get in the cafeteria with some kegs and pizzas and start drafting kids for their classes.

Every year it seems like our kids get the same teachers as they move up in grades, meaning our youngest always seem to get taught by the same teacher our older two had. And every year they say: I'm so glad we got one of your kids again.

Do tell, what is the back room secret to all this?
I teach high school, so I don't really get a say in what kids I get. Scheduling is so complicated and there are so many moving parts that I just get who I get. I would love a draft, would be funny and we have joked about it before.

I do know some elementary teachers and have heard different things at different schools. Some, it's just random and there is no changing (no matter how much a parent or teacher begs). Some schools randomly assign and then if teachers want to trade, administration is fine with it. Some schools do it random and then if you are a parent or teacher that is either well liked/respected by administration or a big enough pain in the ###, kids can be moved around. I have never heard of a draft. Sorry. If your kids keep ending up with the same teacher, here are the possible reasons why:

1. Those teachers really like your kids and request to have more of them 

2. Those teachers are hated by administration and your kids are awful so it's a punishment

3. Those teachers are hated by administration and you are really annoying parents so it's a punishment

4. The administrator believes in the family-teacher relationship and likes to keep siblings with the same teachers

4. Just randomness  

 
Exercise is a terrible way to lose weight. Everyone with a kinesiology degree or basic personal training cert knows this. Most doctors and nurses know this. Yet 85% of people who join gyms, take classes, hire personal trainers etc are there to lose weight. So you've got a customer who is paying you in part for an outcome you have very little ability to provide. 

 
Exercise is a terrible way to lose weight. 
I think you need to qualify this statement to make it correct. Exercise alone has a negligible effect if a person has a bad diet. But obviously diet & exercise is much more effective for weight loss than either one alone.

 
Exercise is a terrible way to lose weight. Everyone with a kinesiology degree or basic personal training cert knows this. Most doctors and nurses know this. Yet 85% of people who join gyms, take classes, hire personal trainers etc are there to lose weight. So you've got a customer who is paying you in part for an outcome you have very little ability to provide. 
Could you expand on this?  The only way I know - 100% beyond a doubt works every single time without exception - that I will lose weight quickly is to get back into basketball and lift.  5-7 hours a week of BBall + lifting 3-4 days.. boom, #### melts.

No change in diet and I lose weight, body changes rapidly.  Of course improving my diet makes this go faster.. but nonetheless.

 
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What's with the recent disdain for lawyers? 

Secret from the lawyer field: we aren't all bottom-dwelling bs artists looking to take any case to overbill and make a buck no matter who it impacts and we don't have a magical lawyer wand which turns irrational or unreasonable positions into gold. Oh, and there are actually many public defenders that provide better criminal defense than many high-priced private lawyers. 
Reddit says about 50% of lawyers are incompetent . Agree or Disagree?

 
Reddit says about 50% of lawyers are incompetent . Agree or Disagree?
Both.  I know, lawyer answer.

We are usually asked to do a few thousand different things.  An attorney who is lights out as a family law guy might not know the first thing about bankruptcy but does them because of the referral base from divorce.  A landlord tenant guy who is a savant in that courtroom might not be able to be the same expert in a personal injury case.

So the same attorney could be "the guy" in one field, and incompetent in another.  And it also matters who you ask.  If you win, your client thinks you are great.  If you lose, you are incompetent.

 
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My company runs 74% gross margins on basic products used to treat patients in hospitals.  Of the three med device companies I have worked for, this is way low.

 
My company runs 74% gross margins on basic products used to treat patients in hospitals.  Of the three med device companies I have worked for, this is way low.
Health care could be a whole lot cheaper in this country. 

:top-secretinfo: 

 
I have worked as a Dental Ceramist for 16 years and the whole dental industry is almost completely unregulated and I have participated in medical malpractice on a daily basis. I have worked in the cosmetic end of the industry, which means elective dentistry such as veneers and full mouth reconstruction. I have worked with over 100 dentists and can count on one hand the amount that make decisions in the patients best interest. I have worked on cases that are billed out to patients at well over 50k and literally no protocol or proper steps were taken to produce the best possible product. Whether it is the dental companies[ almost exclusively based out of eastern Europe ] releasing products and materials that use dental labs and patients for testing of products or its doctors rushing through cases to make student loan and insurance payments. The dental industry is almost completely unregulated and outside of diagnosing biological/ dental issues or general practice dentistry or "preventive" dentistry, very few doctors stay current with esthetic dentistry or even have any training to do so. After 16 years I can confidently say at some point in the future people will look back on the time when Healthcare was for profit and shake they're heads in disbelief.

 
What's with the recent disdain for lawyers? 

Secret from the lawyer field: we aren't all bottom-dwelling bs artists looking to take any case to overbill and make a buck no matter who it impacts and we don't have a magical lawyer wand which turns irrational or unreasonable positions into gold. Oh, and there are actually many public defenders that provide better criminal defense than many high-priced private lawyers. 
Apologies.  You're right, that was a dickish statement.  Motion to withdrawal the statement your honor.

 
Management consultant who spent a good chunk of the Bush years out sourcing tech workers in the US to overseas work forces.

First, no execs think that the job you do at $50-75 /hr isn't something that couldn't be done be done better by someone who costs $25/hr. If for some reason your replacement sucks, there are literally thousands able to take their place with no issues related to firing the low performer. And if that still isn't fixing the problem, then the outsourcing provider usually has service level penalties in their contract whereby the buyer gets refunds or credits on their monthly fees.

 
No reason the vast majority of consumers would not be better served by using a credit union over any large bank

 
Former clerical worker in a midwest state prison, in the clinic. Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on patient drugs, which arrive by the thousands in huge bins, or, in an emergency, from Walgreens. Inmate refuses his Rx? Still have to buy it and keep it in stock, even if he never takes it. They have the right to refuse but we had to keep it available. I saw the invoice for an inmate with cancer who refused his meds. $12,000 a month, and the Rx sat in the locked nurse box.
Jesus... We need to fix this.
 
Depending on what state you are in you'll need close to $1 Million to either grow or sell cannabis legally.  This includes:  application fees, license fees, real estate and all normal fees to start up a business.  And then you'll have to pay at least double in taxes and won't be able to write off any traditional business expenses.

 
My company runs 74% gross margins on basic products used to treat patients in hospitals.  Of the three med device companies I have worked for, this is way low.
The companies making bank in healthcare these days are big Pharma, medical device companies, insurance companies, doctors, and hospitals.  In that order.  Nursing homes would come last if you include them.

 

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