Tesla AA5B • 1 month ago • 83%

I just got back from a 1,200+ mile road trip and Superchargers, especially with the trip planning, made it easy! However non-Tesla chargers seem to be more common in Connecticut. I went to try one and discovered I don’t have as complete a set of adapters as I thought. What if I need to charge at a CCS charger? I looked online and the price range is huge. I see a $64 and one close to $300, and several in between. Do you know what the difference is or what I should be looking for? Is there one you’d recommend? Is it even worth it, since Superchargers are everywhere, plus I charge at home, and CCS is likely to go away in a couple years?

Tesla AA5B • 1 month ago • 53%

I just got back from my first real road trip in an EV: over 1,200 miles in nine days! I stayed with my brother most of it, but did not even ask to plug-in. I saw many destination chargers, but filtered them out. I charged only at Tesla superchargers. There was always one close to on my way, and I never felt too delayed. My first charging stop was at the Meadowlands, which is apparently a huge mall when they’re not playing football. It was a huge surprise to see the pop up to continue the trip _before we were able to find the food court_. I did follow the pattern from trip planning, to charge up frequently for short periods of 10-20 minutes, rather than wait for a full charge, and it worked very well. Basically each stop was to grab a soda, maybe use the bathroom, and go, and I always had a couple hundred miles of charge available There was only one spot where I was worried. After sitting in traffic over an hour with the AC running, I was getting worried about reaching the planned supercharger. I exited to try a different brand, but discovered I didn’t have that adapter. Oops. However in the end, we did make the planned stop with a decent amount of charge left, despite the traffic delay and a couple detours The final leg of the trip was 350 miles through mostly rural are with fewer super chargers. Trip planner recommended 2 quick charging stops, but by the time we ate lunch, the first stop was more than sufficient. Even in this rural area, supercharging wasn’t inconvenient! No more range anxiety here it, it worked very well …… although admittedly in urban areas in the northeast where superchargers are fairly common. Still, destination chargers were common and I could have plugged in at my brothers.

Beer With a View AA5B • 4 months ago • 92%

A few years back at Fenway Park watching the Boston Red Sox I think this was the game where I was carded and didn’t have my license to prove I’m old enough to drink. Lol, found one of the guys literally half my age to buy beer for me. I guess thanks for the entertainment at stupid adherence to paperwork despite greyed haired reality staring in disbelief 

Beer With a View AA5B • 4 months ago • 100%

Finally able to turn off the heat, sitting out on the deck.’c “Shipping off to Boston” with the dog, listening to the Dropkick Murphies with an adult “lemonade”. SUMMMERTIME!!!! Ok, not so scenic, especially since I didn’t include the dog, but let’s see you do better. Please. Let’s see beer in the Alps and places more scenic than my deck

AssholeDesign AA5B • 5 months ago • 41%

I don’t know if this fits the community, but the way ads placement works can lead to some unfortunate results Just looking for some cooking ideas, and I wish I could forget what I saw 

Tesla AA5B • 5 months ago • 52%

Yesterday at the grocery store, someone keyed my new car. It’s not like I could have done anything to annoy someone, since there wasn’t anyone parking in the next spot when I pulled in, and I was almost perfectly centered in my spot I just got the car in November, and it’s that really nice new navy blue. Looks fantastic. And now it’s keyed. I hope it was at least an acciden somehow, because I’ve read too many articles online about people just wanting to see the world burn For anyone else who had to have the paint touched up, can I take it to a normal body shop? Or does it need something special? Where would I look?

pics AA5B • 5 months ago • 88%

Insufficient tinting, but lens flair got the image at 95%

Cast Iron AA5B • 6 months ago • 88%

I hope this is ok to post: cast iron adjacent and has not better home on Lemmy …. Seafood feast I made for the kids last night. That fried rice started as 2c dry rice and would have been tough to make without the space of this griddle top! Or maybe it’s just me, I can’t seem to make it without spreading out and making a mess It’s all an experiment - only the second time cooking tuna steak - only a few times trying to sear shrimp - fried rice - ok, hot sesame oil was new, gave it a nice kick without being hot Probably use it for a massive number of pancakes tomorrow So this is also a cry for help: what can I replace this with? - I’m getting an induction glass top, which doesn’t support griddles of any kind - I don’t want to go back to Teflon, that all stand-alone electric griddles seem to be - I don’t know how big to consider: during the week it’s just me and a skillet is sufficient, but kids do come home from college - I considered getting a Blackstone or similar, but the weather here is not friendly to outdoor cooking half the year Anyone have ideas what to look for in a stand-alone griddle that’s not Teflon, and is cast iron or cast iron adjacent?

Dads Only AA5B • 6 months ago • 94%

Can I just say, I’m really happy how successfully my kids appreciate a huge variety of foods, and I’ll pat myself on the back for part of it. We had a bit of a rough start with one kid allergic to everything and the other just not eating. Now they’re teenagers and not only know how to eat healthily, but enjoy a huge variety from many cuisines (and are almost at my level for hot sauce) Today one kid was home and he thoroughly enjoyed: - breakfast: cilbir - lunch: pupusas with avocado mash (and when I offered my hot sauce selection, he picked ghost pepper sauce!!!!) - dinner: tuna steak and halloumi over salad in a sesame dressing with nori At my house: dinner around the world! Edit: or maybe I need to rephrase …. As Americans with no other cultural heritage and whose families eat “American” food, my kid in one day had food inspired by Mediterranean cuisine, Central American, and Asian. Polished his plate and asked for more!

Cooking AA5B • 7 months ago • 96%

I use extra virgin olive oil for some cooking - where taste matters, but never knew what to look for. Several years back, we did a taste test of brands and styles found in my grocery, and settled on one that was good, but they no longer stock it. Now I need to look for a new one but still have no idea what to look for, so what do you look for? I used “Philipo Berio” brand _robusto_. I don’t know if that’s considered good but it tastes good to me and has a reasonable price. My grocery still carries the brand but not _robusto_ and the other styles don’t have as much flavor. Apparently _robusto_ is not a thing, since no other brand uses that nomenclature, so what can I look for to find one with a strong flavor? How can I find a “good” brand without spending a lot? Is there a price sweet spot, like with wine?

Fuck Cars AA5B • 7 months ago • 77%

I can talk the talk, but this is really going to test that …… I live in a fairly walkable town outside one of the most walking and transit oriented cities in the US. I’ve always been a transit and walkable communities advocate. My town is centered on a train station/bus/taxi/scooter/bicycle hub and we have a traditional walkable “Main Street” with shops and restaurants that we pedestrianize for the summer. We have a new rail trail that will eventually connect to a statewide network, a riverwalk and even kayak rentals in the middle of downtown Higher density housing is centered on the downtown, dominated by 4-6 story apartment/condos, including residential over commercial. Works great. Surrounding that is a belt of 2-3 story multifamily houses, townhouses, and small apartments. I’m the first street zoned for single family, but I can still walk to the town center, and take the train into the nearby major city. I even spoke up in favor of new statewide zoning, requiring “as of right” zoning for large apartment buildings near transit …… maybe you see where this is going ….. When I was out walking my dog this morning, I saw construction …. apparently there are a couple huge 6 story apartment buildings going in just a couple blocks away. It all seemed like a great idea until it was my neighborhood. It was a great idea when things were grouped by size. But now it’s a behemoth towering over three deckers and the like, and even looming near single family housing. I’ve “talked the talk” but really don’t know if I can “walk the walk”. This really seems excessive for the neighborhood. What do you think? Could you still support higher density housing when it means something twice the height going into your neighborhood, hundreds of tenants where now it’s 3-10 per building? What would you do when you get what you were asking for but it’s in your neighborhood and way out of scale?

I currently have no use for spatial photos, can’t justify the price of the Vision Pro headset, and really don’t have a reason to have strong motivation. Looking back at old family photos, I see sepia from my parents, faded from when I was a kid, and low rez/faded even from when my kids were little, looking across that timeline, the march of technology is clear. Older photos are noticeably older (even when not printed). However I have a phone that can take spatial pictures and has extra storage, and I just had to raise my iCloud storage. Assuming spatial photos and videos becomes commonplace, it will be another noticeable jump in photo technology. Reviewers of the Vision Pro rave about them Do you think - spatial photos will become common/normal, or are just a fad like 3D tv? - is there a standard format or is it Apple specific? - it’s worth getting a jump on the technology for personal photos, even without a use yet? Presumably I will have a use at such time as I look back on personal photos

Apple AA5B • 9 months ago • 47%

After all this online drama over something as silly as green bubbles, I just discovered their power. I had a brief power outage and apparently my cell provider had degraded service, so I had no data and text messages didn’t go through. Then I tried a green bubble conversation and it worked. SMS worked, when data and iMessage did not. So how can I do that on purpose? I don’t know if this is a normal occurrence but the next time I have degraded service with no data, does anyone know if there is a way to SMS to fellow iPhone users?

Tesla AA5B • 9 months ago • 63%

So I’m enjoying exploring my new Model Y!!! However I noticed that driving at night on dark country roads, I invariably see a warning that my right pillar camera may be obstructed. This doesn’t happen in daytime, and granted the right pillar may not be able to see much in the dark. However I don’t see any obstructions and cleaning it doesn’t make a difference. So is this normal or a problem I need to have Tesla look at?

homeassistant AA5B • 10 months ago • 100%

The SkyConnect dongle was sold as Zigbee but with the promise of also supporting Thread. This is available in HA as experimental. Does anyone have experience with how stable it is? Is it close to ready?

Tesla AA5B • 11 months ago • 50%

I’m going through the process to buy a new vehicle, and see pluses and minuses with Tesla’s online process. Yes it’s very simple and fast but it also gives very little info about what to expect and when. So, coming down to the exciting part ….. I just got notified to schedule delivery. However “delivery” is apparently pickup, in a town 20 miles away, just like legacy car sales. However they only give me a choice of two days, weekdays only, and only during the day. That makes it tough to get someone to drive my old car back Schedule pickup is not giving me any other choices. Does anyone know a way to do that on a weekend or evening or a closer showroom? Edit: worked it out. While I loved the smoother, abbreviated purchasing process, I was frustrated at never knowing what was going on or what would happen next. I really wish they provided more info on how it all worked for those of us who worry when we don’t understand the details

Electric Vehicles AA5B • 11 months ago • 90%

In the US a decade or two ago, we enacted regulations to increase the efficiency of passenger vehicles. However larger vehicles typically needed for commercial and farming uses were exempt. Now we see the results of that as reverse incentive, where trucks became more common, even for simple commuting Will the same happen with BEVs, a reverse incentive that increases the use of trucks? I just read an opinion piece (lost just as quickly, sorry) that discussed issues with sales of EV pickups at GM and Ford. They made a compelling argument that EVs still have weaknesses as _work_ trucks and point to the success of Rivian as a _recreational_ truck. Certainly arguments against EV pickups do center on those weaknesses, even for scenarios where it wouldn’t apply (how many truck owners actually tow regularly?). So, as BEVs rapidly take over the car and crossover markets, and the holdouts have fewer choices of ICE cars, will they increasingly turn to trucks?

Fuck Cars AA5B • 11 months ago • 89%

Is there a difference, and what? I’ve been reading about the “15 minute city” idea, and it is both fascinating and brings back good memories. I’ve lived in a few neighborhoods of Boston, where my biggest use of a car is finding some place to stash one long term. I had all my daily needs in a short walk, as was a subway station. Combine that with a monthly pass and the freedom to go anywhere was fantastic. I know people in NYC with similar experiences, including several who never had a reason to learn to drive. My oldest is at college and on experiencing campus life, commented similarly. I hope y’all get to experience this some day However the Boston area has focussed on” transit oriented development “ for the last few decades. They use zoning and other development tools to encourage mixed neighborhoods with more housing, more retail, and even more office space focussed on transit hubs. It’s not just a train station but each is a “hub”, centering other options including bus routes, taxis, trails, cycling, and other personal transportation. This is a lot of what makes a “15 minute city” possible. Now we’re extending it to Eastern Massachusetts, where any town convenient to transit needs to have similar zoning actively supporting transit oriented development. These two concepts seem very similar, except for the special case of college campuses. What’s the difference, or is it just evolving terminology? Which is better? Are there strengths of one approach that need more attention in the other?

Apple AA5B • 12 months ago • 81%

Has anyone else seen problems using a portable charger (USB-A) with their new phone? I plugged the phone into my portable charger and saw all four status LEDs, indicating the charger saw the phone and had a full charge available. However my phone never started charging, and the status lights on the charger eventually went off as it gave up. At first I thought it was the new cables, but I used the same cable with an old Apple charger, no problem. Unfortunately I don’t have another usb-c device I can try with that cable and portable charger. The portable charger charges older (Lightning) phones, so that is not the problem. So all three of my new iPhone, portable charger, and new cable work in other scenarios but not this specific combination. Edit to add: rebooting worked. Thanks [@weksa@lemm.ee](https://lemm.ee/u/weksa)

Apple AA5B • 12 months ago • 84%

Now that we see the iPhone 15 with the new usb-c port, what’s your first impression? —- For me it’s not too big a deal, functionally identical. I have the pro, so could use high speed data, but I never have used the charging cable for data and am not likely to start now. I appreciate faster charging but realistically charge overnight, so no change I understand and support the goal of one set of chargers and cables for everything, but in the immediate term, it does mean buying new cables and chargers, and it means all the existing ones going to waste. -- so far, I’ve had to buy two cables, a charger, and two new power strips with USB-C, and there will be more to come -- My teens still have Lightning iPhones and they’re hard on cables, so my old cables won’t go to waste. -- admittedly, I’m trying to jump past the next transition by moving to usb-c chargers somewhat rather than buy new usb-a to usb-c cables for old chargers -- I bought a usb-c watch cable but am not counting that because it was a replace t for a damaged usb-a Watch cable -- I’ll still need charging cables for my car, and my laptop bag, and I’m sure additional charging block or two

In the last couple of years, I replaced all my lawn care equipment with battery powered and it has worked fantastically. I’m sure there will soon be other large batteries that need to be charged. However I also note headlines about fires from cheap or damaged batteries. I don’t buy cheap and I do take care of my stuff so I’m not too worried but wonder if it would be worth building some sort of battery charging enclosure. Does anyone have any links, ideas or references? My first thought is I have an unfinished basement with concrete walls and floor so that should be fire resistant: could it be as simple as stacking cinder blocks or pavers? My second thought is that would make a great oven, so no. So is there something I can do for my chargers to protect my house from any chance of fire?

Tesla AA5B • 1 year ago • 100%

I’m considering installing home charging (ok, I’m considering a Tesla so formulating my requirements for charging) so wanted to ask your experience for things that aren’t clear to me the idea of multiple chargers appeals to me since there’s usually more than one car in my driveway. I like how the home charger has power sharing and I certainly don’t need concurrent max charging, but …… — my panel is crowded. It’s unclear whether multiple chargers need to be on separate circuits or can share one? If can share, are there size requirements? One option is to put in a “big enough” circuit as the biggest expense but not worry about a second charger when I need it. But can they share a circuit? How big does it need to be? Or would I need a sub-panel in the garage? I don’t like all the extra connections for such a high draw circuit, but it would add flexibility — anyone with experience having the charger outside? Would I regret it? I have a one car garage but have realistically never use it for a car. If I install the charger inside the garage, I’d generally snake the cable under the door — for the universal charger, does it also have along cable or are there any placement limits? My driveway is one car wide by two long. If I park one in front of the other as usual, would I have any problems charging two cars at once? 24’ cable seems like it ought to be enough? —- Edit: I ended up installing only the one charger, and it’s outside. I verified I can park my ICE car up by the garage, and the cable is long enough to stretch the length of that to charge the Tesla in front. Tesla’s list of certified installers was not helpful. Most wouldn’t even call back and the one that did said i was out of his area. However when I called my usual electrician, he was very familiar with installing Tesla chargers. To move one circuit from my main to a sub panel, string a cable across my open basement ceiling and out a small hole in front of my chimney ended up costing $2,400. However I live in a high cost of living area and a new stove circuit had cost $2,600, so I guess it’s a fair price

Technology AA5B • 1 year ago • 95%

So I have the opposite problem with a Chromebook from everyone else online, and haven’t been able to find any info …. How would school management work on a personal Chromebook? My teen is starting at a new school and they provide a free Chromebook, managed by the school. They do warn that it’s restricted and logged so he should keep personal use on a personal device. That’s fine but he got his free Chromebook today and is seriously disappointed. The “new” school one is crap compared to his 4 or 5 year old personal Chromebook that I had to buy for his previous school. He wants to use his old one. However what does that mean for school management? Can he even use his school account or only if he enrolls his personal device? Is management tied to the device or account? Since it’s his personal device, can he just create multiple logins and switch between them, or will the school see all and restrict all?

homeassistant AA5B • 1 year ago • 100%

I just read a great article about a company wanting to do Circadian lighting on the International Space Station! It was very inspiring, so now I want to look into automating that. Up until now, my priority has been smart switches (both Zigbee and Z-Wave) and voice control, but I also have an automation to dim when it’s bed time. Can anyone compare Circadian vs “dim to warm”, by how happy you are with results, cost, complexity? I guess I’d have to get all new bulbs either way, but I’d have to rewire and reconfigure switches for smart bulbs to do Circadian and I’d have to actively automate, vs “dim to warm” would just do it

Lemmy.world Support AA5B • 1 year ago • 93%

New user here, yes I’m looking for alternatives to Reddit … I created an account on lemmy.world, subscribed to a couple communities, and even replied to a post. So far, so good. However, it keeps showing me as not logged in. The weird thing is I still have my subscribed communities, but am not logged in. Every once in a while when I try something more than reading, I have to login again (then again, sometimes I don’t). For example, by the time I read a bunch of posts in a community to decide whether I want to subscribe, I sometimes need to login again to subscribe I’m browsing lemmy.world from Safari on iPad, and should have mostly default settings. Can anyone help with explaining or fixing this behavior? It’s really annoying.