3 ms·

Those extremely rare moments when you open the door literally on zero, with no sound, and the display showing 0s, are like half of the reason I use a microwave.

by Groxx 8mo ago

Those extremely rare moments when you open the door literally on zero, with no sound, and the display showing 0s, are like half of the reason I use a microwave. Man vs machine at its most visceral, it makes me feel alive

parpfish 8mo ago
The only thing that comes close is trying to stop the fuel pump on a nice round dollar amount.
- nakedneuron 8mo ago
  Supermarket checkout with a round amount feels like winning some lottery, admittedly.
  - SpaceNoodled 8mo ago
    You'd think that it would happen around 1% of the time, but it doesn't seem to.
    - randallsquared 8mo ago
      Prices aren't random, after all.
      - SpaceNoodled 8mo ago
        Yes, but how random is the number of items purchased?
        randallsquared 8mo ago
        Not, even if you only consider between one and a hundred, it'll be strongly tilted toward low numbers, which means that prices, which are typically like X.49 or X.99 or more rarely X.00, will often float in the aggregate in the 40s or 90s before sales taxes in places that have them. So, if there is no sales tax, one would expect a strong band just under $1 or 50 cents, and if there are, it'll be more complicated, but still not evenly distributed across all possible cents.
xattt 8mo ago
I’m half-expecting a Therac-25 situation in those edge-case operating moments, but then remember that microwave ovens, unlike the Therac-25, have physical interlocks to prevent open-door operation.
- taneq 8mo ago
  You really don't want to succeed in faking it out, though. Not because it'll microwave you, but because part of the safety mechanism is a fuse that blows if the door is open while the magnetron is on.
- Krssst 8mo ago
  I remember having some microwave oven that started rotating if I opened the door partially at just the right angle. Hopefully does not mean the magnetron was actually running.
  - mkbosmans 8mo ago
    That seems to be due to he microcontroller using its pins in duplex. There is indeed no radiation being emitted in that case, just the lamp and rotation. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46979936 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46979936

by Groxx 8mo ago

parpfish 8mo ago

The only thing that comes close is trying to stop the fuel pump on a nice round dollar amount.

nakedneuron 8mo ago
Supermarket checkout with a round amount feels like winning some lottery, admittedly.
- SpaceNoodled 8mo ago
  You'd think that it would happen around 1% of the time, but it doesn't seem to.
  - randallsquared 8mo ago
    Prices aren't random, after all.
    - SpaceNoodled 8mo ago
      Yes, but how random is the number of items purchased?
      - randallsquared 8mo ago
        Not, even if you only consider between one and a hundred, it'll be strongly tilted toward low numbers, which means that prices, which are typically like X.49 or X.99 or more rarely X.00, will often float in the aggregate in the 40s or 90s before sales taxes in places that have them. So, if there is no sales tax, one would expect a strong band just under $1 or 50 cents, and if there are, it'll be more complicated, but still not evenly distributed across all possible cents.

xattt 8mo ago

I’m half-expecting a Therac-25 situation in those edge-case operating moments, but then remember that microwave ovens, unlike the Therac-25, have physical interlocks to prevent open-door operation.

taneq 8mo ago
You really don't want to succeed in faking it out, though. Not because it'll microwave you, but because part of the safety mechanism is a fuse that blows if the door is open while the magnetron is on.
Krssst 8mo ago
I remember having some microwave oven that started rotating if I opened the door partially at just the right angle. Hopefully does not mean the magnetron was actually running.
- mkbosmans 8mo ago
  That seems to be due to he microcontroller using its pins in duplex. There is indeed no radiation being emitted in that case, just the lamp and rotation. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46979936 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46979936