My Weird Prompts

Daniel needs a flood sensor network for his in-laws' Connecticut basement, but two concrete slabs between the basement and top floor kill ZigBee signals. We break down the physics of radio attenuation through concrete, explain why LoRaWAN at 868 MHz handily outperforms 2.4 GHz ZigBee in these conditions, and walk through a complete bill of materials — gateway, sensors, Raspberry Pi, and local aler...

Daniel is building a parking spot presence sensor with an ESP32 and a single 18650 cell. He wants to know if it runs for weeks or dies in two days. This episode walks through the actual mathematics step by step — sleep currents, ultrasonic pings, LoRaWAN transmissions, voltage regulator losses, battery derating, and the killer variable of retransmissions in a concrete parking garage. The spreadshe...

What happens when a modern government claims biblical heritage while passing laws the ancient prophets would have condemned? This episode unpacks the Knesset’s final legislative sprint before dissolution — including a Haredi draft exemption law opposed by the IDF Chief of Staff, a kashrut reform that strengthened the rabbinate’s monopoly, and an Orbán-style media oversight bill. We trace the roots...

Ever wonder who builds the actual spy gadgets — the hardware engineers behind covert listening devices and concealment rigs? This episode traces the hidden recruitment pipeline from hobbyist workbenches to CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology and Mossad's Technical Division. We explore the physics-first problem-solving mentality, the Acoustic Kitty disaster, and why the personality that thr...

In this episode, we deliver a definitive alphabetical walkthrough of all 11 Incoterms 2020 — from EXW to DDP. Learn which terms shift risk and cost to the buyer or seller, why FOB became the default for containerized ocean freight, and how the 2020 update fixed a decades-long letter of credit problem with FCA. We also break down why CIF insurance is often weaker than it sounds, and provide a menta...

Daniel wants to replace his failing IKEA storage with industrial Euroboxes in custom colors — but his architect wife has aesthetic standards, and shipping from China to Israel is its own puzzle. This episode breaks down the hidden world of LCL consolidation, INCO terms, and the two paths for getting a pallet of custom polypropylene bins from Shenzhen to Tel Aviv. We compare Israeli-side freight fo...

When you tweak your back moving apartments and can't take NSAIDs due to bile reflux gastritis, what painkillers actually work? This episode covers the three-layer approach: acetaminophen on a schedule, topical diclofenac gel, and lidocaine patches. We also dive into the science of acute-to-chronic pain transition — why prolonged rest is a risk factor for chronicity, how central sensitization rewir...

What does the science of biomechanics actually say about carrying a heavy tool belt, duty belt, or EDC setup? This episode traces the field back to its World War II origins at the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory, then walks through the physics of walking—the inverted pendulum model of gait—and what happens when you add asymmetric weight to your hips. We look at a landmark 1995 Army Natick study showing...

That row of pins on your Raspberry Pi or ESP32 isn't just decoration — it's the bridge between software and the physical world. In this episode, we break down what GPIO actually does, from digital inputs and outputs to I2C, SPI, and UART protocols. We walk through Daniel's real-world LoRa parking sensor project to show how ultrasonic sensors, temperature modules, and radio transceivers all connect...

What if we stopped asking banks to be good at customer experience, something they are structurally terrible at, and instead decoupled the whole thing? This episode explores a provocative idea: let banks run the settlement plumbing, interbank transfers, and ledger maintenance, and let a new layer of fintech intermediaries build the actual user experience on top. We examine Israel's Strum Committee,...

Why do banks, the places with the vaults, need to borrow from each other? This episode unpacks the hidden plumbing of global finance: the overnight interbank market, the rise and scandalous fall of LIBOR, and its replacement, SOFR. We trace how a rate based on hypothetical guesses came to underpin $200 trillion in contracts, how traders manipulated it with casual messages, and why the new system—a...

Ever shipped a package with a global giant like DHL, only to get local customer service that makes you nostalgic for the DMV? This episode unpacks the structural gap in international franchise agreements that creates "mini-monopolies" in small markets like Israel. We explore how the franchise veil lets global brands collect royalty checks while deflecting accountability, why termination clauses ar...

Why does a small, innovation-driven country like Israel have a plug standard found nowhere else on Earth? This episode unpacks the SI-32 plug, the Israeli Standards Institute’s financial incentives, and the hidden tax it imposes on every imported device. From brutal driving tests with zero enforcement to fintech sandboxes that add layers instead of solutions, we explore the paradox of heavy regula...

Daniel's fed up with Israel's banking oligopoly — five banks controlling 95% of assets, call centers that close at 4 PM, and hidden fees that eat 5% per international transaction. This episode maps every real option for Israeli residents who want better: the US business entity route with Mercury and Relay, specialist FX brokers like Instarem, and the digital bank One Zero. We break down the costs,...

What if an AI could interview you about your vulnerabilities, critique your responses, and generate a preventative action plan — all using tools available right now? This episode breaks down a four-agent architecture for cascading failure detection: an Ideation Agent that generates plausible disaster chains, an Interviewer Agent that forces you to articulate your response, a Critique Agent that fi...

Moving into a new Jerusalem apartment only to discover a pigeon colony blocking your safe room's shutter and nesting on your balcony? This episode covers the full renter's guide to bird remediation and exclusion. We break down why professional bird control specialists (hadarat yonim) are essential for biohazard cleanup, the real health risks from Histoplasma and Cryptococcus in dried droppings, an...

When Daniel and Hannah moved into their Jerusalem rental, the bedroom hit 28°C while the living room stayed cool. The landlord's technician suggested blocking vents with cardboard — but is that a real fix or a disaster waiting to happen? In this episode, we break down the physics of duct static pressure, CFM distribution, and the 20% rule for vent blocking. We explain why restricting airflow can f...

Daniel's Broadlink RM4 Mini learns IR codes but won't share them locally — they're locked behind Broadlink's cloud. We walk through the hardware teardown, UART flashing, and open firmware options (Tasmota-IR, OpenBeken) to expose those codes over MQTT. Plus logic analyzer capture techniques and a Pi-based alternative for the non-flasher. Episode #381525 — open it directly at myweirdprompts.com/381...

That moment when AliExpress asks if you want to pay in dollars or shekels — it feels like a coin flip, but the math is actually clear. This episode unpacks Dynamic Currency Conversion, PayPal's markup, credit card foreign transaction fees, and the hidden costs behind each option. We run the numbers on small purchases versus large ones, explain why the "familiar" choice often costs more, and reveal...

Ever walked into a hardware store and wondered what those slanted plastic bins are actually called? This episode untangles the messy terminology of workshop storage — from open-front bins and picking bins to drawer cabinets and portable organizers. We break down the differences between Akro-Mils LinBins, Stanley Vidmar drawer cabinets, and the Sortimo L-Boxx ecosystem, explore why there's no unive...

When life throws a cascade of stressors — a toddler, two wars, a forced move, and financial strain — talk therapy isn't always the right tool. Occupational therapy, the "therapy of doing," targets the micro-decisions and sensory bottlenecks that make daily life unmanageable. But finding a specialized practitioner who understands adult ADHD and sensory processing, and affording them out of pocket,...

What if an AI could teach you programming the way a professor does — assign a project, let you struggle through it independently, then provide detailed, honest feedback? This episode unpacks the full architecture for such a system: intake diagnostics that reveal actual ability (not self-reported skill), competency graphs that track concept mastery over time, sandboxed execution environments for sa...

Ever tapped send on a form just as your train entered a tunnel, and the message arrived perfectly on the other side? This episode unpacks the surprisingly intricate chain of events that makes that work for small text payloads. We trace the journey from a failed fetch through IndexedDB storage, service worker background sync, and Stripe-style idempotency keys on the backend. Along the way, we expos...

You ask a model to write an email, then pause and say, "Actually, is this topic too obscure?" A good model answers the question. A bad one splices it right into the draft. This episode unpacks this surprisingly common failure mode — what cognitive abilities it requires, why it's not being measured, and how to build a rigorous benchmark for it. We explore pragmatic reasoning, discourse parsing, the...

Daniel's question about using a modular loadout belt for everyday life turns out to be about much more than gear — it's about cognitive architecture. This episode explores how to build an EDC belt system that externalizes working memory for ADHD without triggering the social semiotics of tactical equipment. We cover material choices that read as "accessory" instead of "gear," the universal "year o...