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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   903 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 18, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Does anyone have their own equivalent of a personal "antimeme", a concept you familiarize yourself with (potentially with difficulty) and then inevitably forget unless you make an intentional effort to look it up?

In no particular order:

  • I often have to look up whether I need an x86 or x64 executable when I need to download a program
  • ECGs. Fucking ECGs. I get good at understanding them when I absolutely have to (before exams), but guess what, by the time the next one rolls around, it's all out of my head.
  • Fourier transforms (how they actually work, and not the conceptual strokes)
  • And many more, all of which stubbornly refuse to come to mind, because of course they do.

Plenty. Most of the program/systems at my previous job had a bunch of automation I setup/modified and left alone for years at a time, only for something to change and I'd have to go back and re-trace my steps to get to where I was previously.

(Or they suddenly require a new input/ID number that I have no clue where it's pulled from and have to go on a deep-dive. Cripes.)

I'm sure if I was doing it day-in-day-out I'd be able to knock it out in 5 minutes, but...

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