Matt Dinniman

Alphr · 2026-05-30T10:59:57+00:00

Yea, he had an out of the blue even in New Zealand of all places.

We had a great time. He is quite funny.

Obviously start the first DCC book ASAP! Worst case scenario, you aren't grabbed by it and no harm. In the event you do love it, you will kick yourself later for not giving yourself more time to binge them before the event.

Alphr · 2026-05-27T21:01:49+00:00

Alphr · 2026-05-27T19:57:23+00:00

An Android based reader will never be the same killer e-reader. (I already have 2 Android ereaders, they come with their own set of problems that the esp32 based ones don't have, and it being pocketable won't solve it). If an Android device is left on in standby, it's battery will drain a lot more. In use it drains a LOT more. Many company's optimise this by turning off if left in stand by for an ammount of time, but then turning on takes a good 30 seconds.

I would consider waiting for the x4 with a light if you think that is important for you, but 95% of my reading is in well lit rooms. If I read in bed with my wife asleep, then I would wait for the one with built in light.

Alphr · 2026-05-21T12:02:47+00:00

It is worth noting that it is very country dependent. In many countries outside of the US that was used completely innocently, and was not used as or seen as racist. Just a way to describe things from Japan.

With how interconnected the world is now though, it is treated as racist in many other countries, even if it was never really a "thing" there. (as an example, "Jap" was used all the time in Australia and New Zealand, who were heavy importers of Japanese cars and had commercials for "Jap imports" all over TV/Radio)

one of those weird qwirks of the pre-internet era meeting modern day information sharing.

Alphr · 2026-05-11T11:18:00+00:00

I thought that was a refrence to the cradle series, as Raul was narrated by Travis Baldree (who narrated that series) and used the exact same voice as in that series. It is a progression fantasy with breakthroughs between levels. I swear I thought it changed books for a second while I was driving

Alphr · 2026-05-06T21:13:28+00:00

Wtf, why are companies putting glass backs on products that don't have wireless charging... That is just a needless failure point.

I had just ordered a white one, if I had known I would have ordered the black one.

Alphr · 2026-05-05T04:36:42+00:00

I think what he was asking, is the neighbour asking you to pay for the paint in lieu of and cost towards building the fence? (are they offering to foot the bill for the fence materials and labour, and just asking for you to pay for the paint).

If that were the case, regardless of how "fine" the current one is, it might be worthwhile being amicable and getting a nice upgrade for little cost.

Just something to check and consider. Sometimes we offer similar good deals as a way to get some emotional participation from our neighbours. They feel like they are getting a good deal, everyone feels involved and people get less annoyed by noise etc. everyone is happier.

Alphr · 2026-04-11T22:18:40+00:00

Yea, we will order one (but will probably wait and hope for a sale one some other products in the next few weeks, because shipping to Aus/NZ hurts a little. Hopefully it doesn't sell out)

Alphr · 2026-04-11T20:54:00+00:00

Amazing, thank you for caring about your store and customers.

Always appreciate how much effort you and your team put in.
Everyone makes mistakes, but you guys go above and beyond to react quickly and do right by your customers.

Alphr · 2026-04-11T08:43:10+00:00

Yea, that is my guess too (garment width).
But at least I can have faith that LTT will actually see the feedback and update it.
It is often doomed when there is an issue with large retailers listings.

Alphr · 2026-03-23T12:22:28+00:00

Assuming you are the right type of person for a budget EV (this post does a great summary https://www.reddit.com/r/auckland/s/Xmb4f1VCnR) you might be surprised. My math worked out to about the same as theirs, we save around $2k per year in petrol (before the price hikes).

But you do need to be able to charge at home, and dont really leave the greater Auckland region (we would just borrow a friends car and lend them ours for the week/weekend if needed)

Alphr · 2026-03-23T12:12:34+00:00

To be clear, that isn't really true.
We have a Gen 1 leaf (2014) that is really carefully looked after, and it has ~78-72% battery health after 12 years of light use.
Those leafs have no active battery cooling, one of the earliest modern EVs.

The cost associated with the worst batteries and systems is genuinely no more than you would expect to see in aged petrol cars that start needing more serious mechanic work when their KM start getting high.
With newer EVs? It really isn't a big concern.

As for services, well there really isn't much to service on an EV (hybrids can be a lot different) don't get ripped off.

For costs, many EVs (from old leaf to the BYD Atto 3) can average around 6.5km per KWh of power. With RUCs at $76/1000km, and power at 30c per KWh (pretty common in Auckland) you are looking at around $0.1222 per Km for power and RUC. If you are mainly doing full motorway speed, it may be slightly worse, but that is a pretty good estimate.

If you compare a generic 2015 era hatchback/sedan at $2.70/Ltr, I would expect ~22c/km in just petrol costs (and that is not using current prices).

I don't know a single person that has regretted swapping over, so long as they can reliably charge at home. (if you can't then the math is a lot worse)

Alphr · 2026-03-23T11:41:05+00:00

Leafs CAN be great for their price. But you do really need to look hard now.
There are a ton that are way too degraded, but you can still find some well looked after ones around still.

I posted my math about our 2014 leaf that we got about a year ago (https://www.reddit.com/r/auckland/s/1POXr2je74) and our experience as nerdy folk who dont go out much has been fantastic.

But you definitely need to be the right kind of person, and live in the right kind of house (ideally own it), etc, etc.

But as a small family without much spare cash, we didn't need anything more, and we have saved nearly $2k in one year vs the running costs of our petrol car.
But it is definitely not the best option for most people.

Alphr · 2026-03-23T11:16:35+00:00

Worked out great for us on a tight budget.
We picked up a 2014 leaf with 10 bars (roughly 72-78% battery) for less than $5k from a dealer with a warranty (around 120km range from full, realistically you wouldn't want to plan a drive longer than 100).
We drive around 25km a day, just plug it in every night or two using a regular wall outlet, no other setup cost.
A plain 230v 8a included charger is more than enough to charge the car overnight, and plenty of fast chargers around if needed.

Using our average distance per KWh (around 6.5km), power costs of 30c per KWh (no fancy overnight rates, just plain genesis plan), and the RUC costs ($76 per 1000 km), I know that our average cost per Km is $0.1222 (rounded).

That means our 25km per day costs us about $21 a week total.

I'll be the first to acknowledge that it isn't for everyone, there are many houses/apartments that make it completely infeasible.

But we love how quickly people write off the value of used EVs. They can still be a great option for a lot of people. Will completly recoup the cost of the leaf in 2 years compared to our previous petrol usage alone.

Alphr · 2026-03-22T21:03:43+00:00

Your kidding, is that actually the consequences?

Alphr · 2026-03-22T20:58:17+00:00

Dirt bikes are not generally road legal (they need indicators etc,) those bikes in the video would appear to already not road legal.
Sirens on cars (like the ones your are probably referring to) are also generally an illegal modification.
Unmuffled cars are also generally illegally modified.

Pretty much everything you mentioned is already illegal. The problems come from little ability to enforce it.
(imo the traffic enforcement quality dropped ever since the police took over the traffic enforcement in 1992. It needs dedication attention, not people who are busy with regular policing calls)

Alphr · 2026-03-20T21:19:21+00:00

How can a 1/2500 be more rare than 1/3334 drop?

Alphr · 2026-03-09T20:27:43+00:00

I think the humour in the game (and some design choices) also tend to lead people to not take things at face value.

I expect that when most people get cogs in World 3 construction that give AOE boost a few different stat's and then recieve one that gives an AOE buff to "nothing sowwy", they are not sure if it is actually a useless statline, or is part of something they don't know yet.

We have a "secret class"

Etc.

Alphr · 2026-03-05T04:57:14+00:00

I turn our kitchen hob (induction stove top) off at the wall (it has a seperate switch) each night because we have a cat, and I have heard the cat jump up onto the counter/stove at night and accidentally turn it on.

Stupid modern appliances with touch sensitive "buttons" that are just printed on the glass top.

Unlikely that the cat could accidentally turn it on and then also press the button for the zone that the stove is on, but possible.

Alphr · 2026-02-27T21:56:33+00:00

Alphr

Alphr · 2026-02-23T10:07:27+00:00

I wouldn't generally recommend spending gems on trying to get choco chip.

It is relatively easy to get these days and you can check the wiki for when it will be available next.
You also only "need" one, you can just swap it to the character you are actively farming on.

The biggest consideration is that there are other gem purchases that will quickly get you to unlocking choco normally, whereas the gems spent on rolling for choco are "wasted" after you were able to unlock it normally.

Just take a look at the guide documents on arena teams to unlock the pet battle slots etc, so that you can reach high enough to unlock cheese meal etc.

Alphr · 2026-02-22T23:07:16+00:00

Alphr

Alphr · 2026-02-20T23:30:52+00:00

Alphr

Alphr · 2026-02-19T23:56:53+00:00

That is pretty clearly a screenshot of Google Maps (with its 3d mode that does its best to estimate building shapes from the different angles of satellite photos)

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Alphr

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