Unpopular opinion: using canned air for sensor cleaning is fine

I was at a workshop in Portland last June and this guy with a Leica tried to tell me I was ruining my cameras by using canned air on sensors. He said I had to buy a $200 vacuum kit. Look, I've been cleaning sensors with canned air for 8 years and never had a single issue. I just hold the can upright, give it a quick burst from 6 inches away, and go. Has anyone else had good results with the cheap method?

My uncle swore by using a 3/8 inch joint for everything, even in the winter.

He told me last November in Chicago that a tighter joint would hold up better in the freeze-thaw cycle. I did a whole garage foundation his way, and by spring, half the joints had spalled. Had to go back and re-point the whole thing. Anyone else get burned by 'one size fits all' advice when the weather changes?

Overheard a building manager in Cincinnati say 'the elevator just needs a reset' when the door zone tape was clearly shredded.

Shoutout to the old-timer who insisted on using a copper gasket on a high-pressure steam line

I thought it was overkill compared to graphite, but after it held through a 3-day pressure test at the plant, I'm convinced. What's a piece of old-school advice that's actually held up for you?

Talking to a museum guy about old hinges changed how I see my own work

He pointed at a 200 year old gate hinge and said 'The guy who made this knew it would outlive him, so he put his name on the back.' I've been signing my stuff with a tiny stamp for years, but now I'm thinking about making it a real part of the piece. How do you all mark your finished work?

Appreciation post: Switching to a 3/8-inch rope for my climbing saw made a huge difference in my wrist strain.

I used a 1/2-inch line for years on my Stihl 201T, but after a big removal job in Boise last fall, my forearms were killing me for days. My crew lead suggested I try a thinner, lighter rope, so I swapped to a 3/8-inch climbing line just for the saw. The weight reduction seems small, but after six months, I haven't had that same deep ache at the end of the week. Has anyone else found a specific gear tweak that helped with repetitive strain?

My dive partner in Louisiana swore by using a specific brand of neoprene glue for suit repairs, said it held better underwater. Tried it on a tear last week and the patch peeled right off after an hour.

My smart fridge's recipe app bricked itself after a firmware update last Tuesday.

I was in the middle of cooking and the screen just froze on a loading icon for 45 minutes. Had to do a full factory reset and lost all my custom settings. Is this kind of planned obsolescence for connected appliances a fad or the future of home tech?

PSA: I was reading a declassified FBI file and found a memo about a 1950s UFO report they never followed up on

It was on the FBI's own online vault, file number 62-0. The memo from 1952 describes three military pilots seeing a silver disc over Kentucky, but the agent just wrote 'no further investigation warranted' and closed it. I always thought they at least looked into those old reports... makes you wonder how many other cases got that same stamp. Has anyone else dug into those old government files and found something that just got dropped?

Watching a certain actor's apology from a hotel room in Boise made me spot a new tell

I was stuck in a Hampton Inn last month and caught that apology video from the actor who had the restaurant blow-up. Seeing it on that small, cheap TV screen, I noticed his eyes kept flicking to something just off-camera every time he said 'deeply sorry'. It wasn't in the articles I read later. Has anyone else found that watching these on a different setup changes what you catch?