Notable

Posted 14th Sep 2022 @ 08:29

We recently brought a car and it can read speed signs and will display the current speed limit on the instrument cluster. Nice to see at a glance and if you go above, while it doesn't restrict you, it will flash as a silent warning. I think you can enable audible warnings too in our case.

In addition to a bunch of other tech, our car does feel extremely safe, so I don't really object to these types of features. While we're still in control of the whole experience though, I feel that they need to be passive in their application. For now.

If autonomous vehicles really become a thing and the scales tip in their favour then it would make sense for them to become more intrusive.

I have wondered many times why car companies shout about safety features very few drivers benefit from. Lane keep assist is almost always a paid option or "standard" as part of the most expensive configurations. If safety was the top priority then these features need to trickle down faster into smaller models, but at the base level too.

Posted 10th Sep 2022 @ 12:00

I've had this post by Nick Heer bookmarked for ages and wanted to expand on it in a bigger post but just haven't found the time. Rather than sit on it, I thought I would share and come to it in the future when I have some more time.

Posted 8th Sep 2022 @ 10:32

Good post by John Gruber over on Daring Fireball. Apart from this bit:

Prior to Lightning, USB connectors were both unidirectional (one side was up, the other down) and ungainly.

This is surprisingly untrue. I backed a project on Kickstarter a few years ago called Quickdraw 2.0 which featured a reversible USB-A connector.

I could not believe that this was possible with USB-A and had not been taken advantage of (at least not in a cable I'd come across) before. From their campaign page:

Which way do you plug this cable in? Any way! A reversible USB has been the most requested feature and we have finally been able to get MFi approval so have now been able to include it in the Quickdraw 2.0. Now your cable will always plug in first time and every time. No more fumbling behind your computer or with your wall plug. This is a very little and simple thing but Oh! does it make life easier. We promise you will love this.

Overall, I do agree with Gruber that these mandates are unlikely to lead to more innovation. I do, however, remember the state of mobile phone chargers at the turn of the century where even a single manufacturer would have different chargers for different models of phones.

I don't think any cable I had was reusable with a new device until they started to take advantage of Micro-USB ports.

Posted 7th Sep 2022 @ 09:00

I've had this bookmarked for a few weeks, but wish I'd checked it out a before our trip to Bristol a few weeks ago. One to keep in mind for our next road trip.

Posted 22nd Aug 2022 @ 14:11

Posted 22nd Aug 2022 @ 11:05

Very late getting to see these photos and sharing, but they are stunning. I'm always impressed by volcanic activity.

Posted 19th Aug 2022 @ 09:00

Excited for this, I actually hope I'll be able to delete some apps I use purely for checking scores.

I assume it will be tied to a team, but would be good to have this available during a competition like the World Cup. And on that, can it handle multiple events at the same time? Or multiple Live Activities at once?

Posted 12th Aug 2022 @ 14:10

This has come in conversation with family recently, but I hadn't dug into the details. I knew BMW experimented with this type of thing for CarPlay/Android Auto activation but walked that back. This new proposal, is probably not surprising in a subscription driven world, but it does feel extremely greedy.

This was quoted from The Verge's article by Nick:

A monthly subscription to heat your BMW's front seats costs roughly $18, with options to subscribe for a year ($180), three years ($300), or pay for “unlimited” access for $415.

What happens when the car moves on to a new owner? Do they get all of the enabled features and the original owner carries those luxuries over to their next car? Or is the feature dead for everyone until a new subscription is started?

If I make an in-app purchase on my phone, I know that my next upgrade will bring that purchase with me. If that's the way BMW are moving, then maybe it's not so bad. But I would guess that purchase will be tied to the car making this a more difficult conversation when looking at the next model.

This isn't limited to BMW either, pretty sure Mercedes-Benz are looking for ways to eek more money out of their new car buying customers too.

Posted 28th Jul 2022 @ 11:49

Posted 19th Jul 2022 @ 13:38