My graduation cap runs Rust

10 hours ago (ericswpark.com)

> It probably would’ve been easier if I didn’t use Rust and just used the Arduino libraries, or if I used a different board. But I was really married to this blog post title idea

Worth it, nicely done

> Fun fact #1: you rent your cap and gown in the US. You have to return them. And they’re expensive, too! I paid $94 just for the privilege of renting mine, which is insane because they probably cost way less than that to manufacture.

Ah, yes, of course this is how it works in the US.

If you go to a bigger school, they have multiple graduation ceremonies. Split the rental amongst anyone who does not share a time slot with you.

That’s what I did and people acted like this was a genius move. No, I am just broke.

  • I skipped the graduation ceremonies for my BA and my first master’s degree. For my second, apparently the cost of a cap, gown and hood was included in the tuition so I have academic regalia sitting in a box somewhere should I ever find myself in need of such, a scenario I cannot imagine ever coming to pass.

    • Yeah, I skipped mine too. I was not (and am not) at all proud of my box-checking degrees.

      I had a blast in undergrad, not at all because of the classes.

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  • I just did online school and didn't bother showing up to any kind of ceremony. I was 30 when I finally finished school, I didn't really feel the need to prove anything.

Genuinely the best use of "I was really married to this blog post title idea" as a justification for a technical decision I've ever read. Congrats!

I am pretty sure I purchased my cap and gown instead of renting. But my college was a bit smaller.

  • At my school, I purchased my cap but rented the gown. The cap is in a box never to be looked at again. I can't imagine what I would do with the gown.

    • It’s not just for graduations! You can wear it at any gown-appropriate event!

      Marriages, graduations and funerals carry forward some traditions that haven’t made sense for generations. They are the irregular verbs of modern life. Interestingly, marriages and funerals often have a religious element, and religion itself is conservative—but graduation doesn’t have that excuse.

  • Wouldn't the purchase option be priced at a multiple to the rental?

    • OP paid $94 to rent their gown. I'm pretty sure I paid less than that (if not a comparable price) to buy mine. Thank god it wasn't multiple more, I only wore it for 5 minutes for a picture, since I graduated during Covid.

Those ATtiny85 boards that plug directly into a USB port are great if you need 1 to 5 GPIOs and/or a HID interface. At 2 dollars apiece or so it's worth having a few around.

> So you do need to shell out to rent them. And they don’t give you the option to buy the cap and gown outright.

You can't buy them from a 3rd party? Maybe a cheap Spirit Halloween costume? Maybe even make your own from cardboard and a black napkin or two?

Living in the PE side of software, with its EBITDA and other metrics, poorly researched product initiatives, senseless firefighting, and toxic bro cultures, it's nice to be reminded some of the reasons I got into this. Thank you.

> I thought about it but decided it looks pretty tacky. It looks like what kids would think of as a gaming PC and what boomers would think of as a seizure.

Missed chance to be a school legend and initiation of a career launching arc.

  • I think if designed in a way where it’s subtle when off/low and at appropriate times can be activated on-demand, that would be great.

    But to be in a crowd of people all dressed the same, all graduating as well, having a gaming PC on your head might be too much main character energy.

    • I don't recall that there is a situation that you can turn on gaming RGB on your head. Someone suddenly starting to shine is as bad as keep shining. It's just either stealing everyone's concentration near you or give a jump scare to how ever was unlucky to look at your direction when you turned it on.

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> Are you actually going to wear this to your graduation? > Heck no.

What? That would have been so much fun!

Cool project. And it goes to show how this education system is scammed out to the max, even cap and gown.

1. No it doesn't, it runs machine code.

2. Yet again we have the need to announce Rust to the world, when the usage of it is inconsequential in this context