Headworx

The wireless CarPlay was working great. Until it stopped. Did not stop completely, but started losing the connection, freezing, or not connecting at all. Interestingly, I installed the Ottocast wireless adapter exactly to solve similar problems with the wired USB connection. The hypothesis (never firmly verified) was that there was too high temperature-related clock oscillator drift in my Pioneer head unit : a cold iPhone would not connect to a sunbaked in-dash radio. So the Ottocast solved the problem (perhaps by being equally "baked" with Summer sun rays and thus drifting the oscillator in the same direction, or simply by being less strict on USB timing, compared to the iPhone). That was Summer 2024. Come Autumn and Winter, and the stable configuration started behaving less stable. Freezing screen, erratic updates, not connecting at all, or disconnecting and reconnecting in a loop). Of course the iPhone was the last suspect on the list. I was checking connectors, software ...

It is still winter(ish) here and there but some of the Spring days are really really nice in April. Perfect time to try some new activities.  Actually I learned the packrafting idea during the 2024 New Zealand trip. A packraft is like a pontoon, but smaller, better shaped, and can be quite light. You put it in a backpack, go for a mountain hike and then raft down a river. Can be quite extreme, but it is all a choice. Packrafts are perfect for slow rivers, lakes and fiords too. The one I bought (seen on the photo) is a tad above 2 kilograms. On top of that you need a paddle (a carbon one while expensive, is super light). It folds down to a size of a bear canister so can be strapped to any backpack. You can save on weight by not carrying a sleeping mat - turn the raft upside down and lie on it. Also a simple tarp is sufficient instead of a tent. A pyramid-shaped tarp can be set up on the paddle. There are a bit bigger rafts which allow carrying a bike. And then you call the think bik...

Tesla discussions have always brought very polarized opinion. Either trash and going bankrupt or the absolute leader in AI about to deliver autonomous driving (Full Self Driving - FSD) through a simple software update. My point today is really not about Tesla but about the value of FSD in general. I wrote about this many times, with the Tyranny of Convenience being the most popular post. Today the theme is similar. It is about the concept of "enough" which is one of the key enemies of capitalism. Prospering capitalist economies (the USA being the prime example here) absolutely depend on creating and expanding consumers' desires. People must want more for the wheels to spin. And the vision of consumers even remotely calling "we have enough" is the most feared. "Enough" must be eliminated. In many ways I am a person who has enough of many things. Sometimes I even feel that my level of "enough" is definitely too high. I try not to chase new car...

I am a bit paranoid about backups. That includes planning for a backup gear when going on a multi-day remote hikes. On one hand it is really prudent to take as little gear as possible to travel light and thus reduce the risk of orthopedic injuries. Unfortunately there is no way to take backup ankles and knees... Smartphones - even if out of network range - are great in combining multiple functions in one device - a camera, a map, a satellite locator, a notepad, a book reader, a chess board, a music player etc. But no matter how good they are protected, there is still the elevated risk of damaging the phone on a trek. A simple screen crack may render the touch function inoperable and the whole device suddenly becomes useless. There is one other aspect to phones - they run out of batteries and are not ideal to use in full daylight. Displays get better, but for true daylight use like reading books, we still use Kindles. But then Kindles are limited in function - no maps, no GPS, cannot be...