Terry Carter (u/terry_carter15)

Posts

The day I figured out I was cutting against the grain for 2 years

About 6 months ago a older barber named Dave watched me do a fade and just said 'you're fighting the hair the whole way.' I had no idea what he meant. Turns out I was going against the growth pattern on the crown every single time because I learned from YouTube videos that never mentioned grain direction. Fixed it in one cut and the blend was way smoother. Anyone else have a basic thing click way later than it should have?

0 comments

c/beat-the-algorithm•

terry_carter15•20h ago

My Instagram reach tanked after I started using the 'best times to post' feature

I trusted that little analytics tool for three months straight, posted at exactly 7:15 PM on weekdays like it said. My engagement dropped by half compared to when I just posted whenever I felt like it. Turns out the data was pulling from all accounts globally, not my specific audience. Now I just post when I have something good and ignore the scheduler. Has anyone else found those 'optimal time' tools to be way off?

3 comments

c/cosmetologists•

terry_carter15•1d ago

Warning: Took me 5 hours to fix a bad toner job I thought was fine in 20 minutes

So last week I had a client who wanted a cool ash blonde, and I used a toner I had used before no problem. But I rushed the application, didn't check the processing time close enough, and it came out this weird muddy greenish color. I thought I could just throw another toner on top and fix it, but that made it worse. Ended up spending almost 5 hours doing a color correction, stripping it back and starting over. That whole day was shot and I had to reschedule two other clients. My advice is always test a small strand first and set a timer, don't trust your gut on timing. Has anyone else had a toner turn on them like that or was it just my bad luck?

2 comments

c/fake-vids-exposed•

terry_carter15•1d ago

The simplest deepfake detector I've found is checking the teeth

I was watching a viral video of a politician giving a speech the other day, and something felt off. The face looked right, the voice sounded close, but their teeth kept blurring or shifting between frames. I read up on it, and apparently most deepfakes struggle with consistent teeth rendering because they're complex small shapes with lots of contrast. Now when I see a suspicious clip, I zoom in on the mouth area and watch if the teeth stay stable. Caught three obvious fakes this month alone, all shared by friends on Facebook. Has anyone else noticed this tells after trying other methods?

3 comments

c/carpet-installers•

terry_carter15•1d ago

Took me 12 years to figure out the trick to seaming in doorways

Last month I was wrestling with a seam in a tight bedroom doorway and finally tried running the seam down the middle of the door instead of under the closed door. Saved me 20 minutes of fighting the backing and it looks way cleaner. Has anyone else got a weird spot they changed how they seam?

2 comments

c/chefs•

terry_carter15•1d ago

Cast iron vs stainless for searing - which actually gives you a better crust in a pro kitchen?

I've been on the line for about 3 years now and always used cast iron for steaks. But last month I picked up a heavy stainless pan from a garage sale and tried it side by side with my old Lodge. Same steak, same heat, same oil. The crust on the stainless one was honestly way more even and came off the pan cleaner. Cast iron gave better color in spots but had way more sticking. Now I'm wondering if I've been wasting time with cast iron for searing in a rush. The stainless cleaned up in like 30 seconds too. Anyone else made this switch or got reasons to stick with cast iron?

2 comments

c/bricklayers•

terry_carter15•3d ago

Vent: That old timer who told me to soak my bricks before laying them

I had a guy on a job in Raleigh last summer yell at me for ten minutes about soaking bricks in water before the mortar goes on, and now I see why he was so serious because the mortar dried out way too fast on a hot day and cracked bad.

3 comments

c/ai-innovations•

terry_carter15•4d ago

Overheard a dev say GPT-4o is 'basically useless for debugging' and it got me thinking

I was at a coffee shop last Thursday and two guys were arguing that Claude is way better at finding bugs than GPT-4o. Made me wonder if I've been wasting time with the wrong tool. Has anyone else noticed a big difference between them for fixing code?

2 comments

c/drywall-installers•

terry_carter15•18d ago

Overheard a guy at Home Depot say taping is 'just mudding with extra steps'

I was grabbing some 90-minute compound yesterday in the aisle and this dude tells his buddy that finishing drywall is basically the same as hanging it, just messier. Like, has he ever tried to get a crisp corner bead or feather out a butt joint without sanding through the paper? Makes me wonder how many folks out there actually think this trade is just slapping mud on walls.

2 comments

c/diy-home-projects•

terry_carter15•18d ago

Argued with my buddy about using self-leveling compound vs feather finish on a big floor job and now I'm second guessing my whole approach.

I read a stat on the Flooring Forum that said 70% of DIYers ruin their tile jobs by not using self-leveler on uneven slabs over 1/4 inch, but my buddy swears a good feather finish is faster and works fine if you know the tricks, so which side are you on for a 200 sq ft living room with a 3/8 inch dip?

2 comments