Oh man, you're totally right. I once bought a "water resistant" flashlight for a camping trip that died in a light drizzle. The box just had a picture of a rain cloud, no real rating at all. Felt like a total sucker. Now I check for that IPX8 or a depth number, because "splash proof" might as well mean "don't even think about it.

That "single center mark" method only works if your plates are perfectly straight and your tape never slips. I've seen too many walls rack from trusting one mark, so I still measure each one. The extra time is worth not having to fix it later.

Oh man, @the_evan, you're totally right about the lazy scrolling. But that's the whole trick! They don't need a secret meeting in a basement when they can just feed us what we already want to hear. One side gets a happy headline, the other gets an angry one, and we both think we're getting the news. It's like they figured out the perfect recipe for keeping everyone mad and clicking. Honestly, calling it a conspiracy gives them too much credit for being organized. It's just profitable chaos.