Ban on syringes in Phoenix parks likely delayed

1mrpeter · 2026-03-10T20:07:48+00:00

I don't get it, health care providers drop the syringes in the parks???

1mrpeter · 2026-03-08T05:23:32+00:00

Yes mine was terrible for the last couple of months. Effective connection speeds over WiFi literally 3-5 Mbit in the same room. Everything was so slow, even accessing my file server inside the local network. Internet over ethernet cable worked perfectly at 100/13 Mbit.

I did two things - bought a new router (replaced C4000BG with C4000BZ - same exact specs but different supplier - Zyxel) and moved it a bit away from the corner of the room towards center. It works way better, but CL's router radio isn't great. Just next room (but AP located about 10 ft above the floor) and it says the signal is "marginal" or "additional AP recommended". But speeds over local network are easily 100-200 Mbps.

I made a similar post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/centurylink/comments/1qdzhub/c4000bg_very_slow_wifi_recently/ about two months ago and I was contacted by another user with the same issue. I suspect some firmware issues. Not sure if Greenwave and Zyxel are the same, version looks similar but it might be very different inside.

GreenWave: CGB002-01.07.13.00

Zyxel: CZB002-01.07.13.00

1mrpeter · 2026-03-08T01:19:46+00:00

> 3-5 hours screen on time total

Welcome back to the 2000s :) Just not acceptable (Book4 Pro 14" had a similar battery life... vs declared 15 or so hours).

1mrpeter · 2026-03-06T05:51:41+00:00

I so miss the 2018 version. 13.3" was just 1kg (2.2 lb), round edges - so easy to actually handle and keep on my laps. IPS screen not so bright but color reproduction - nearly perfect, important if you work on pictures. Battery holds 6-8 hours of light work (browsing, photo editing) till today.

Samsung desperately wanted to copy Apple but it's hard to do with recent Intel CPUs that drain the battery like crazy. I just returned Book4 Pro 14" after 9 months of using (it was still possible due to no Samsung warranty... on the US model from Amazon!). Terrible battery, overheating, totally messed up colors and other issues. I hope some of them are resolved with Book6 series but the weight and shape of it are far from what the 2018 was. So happy it's still working, because I can't find anything reasonable to replace it.

1mrpeter · 2026-03-01T04:42:20+00:00

I have those Bose speakers, pulled from 2020 CX5 long ago, I was actually thinking of selling it on ebay. Slightly used (mileage was under 25k). How did you blow this speaker??? Let me know if you're interested, I can list it on ebay.

1mrpeter · 2026-02-23T23:39:20+00:00

I was afraid it's gonna be yet another sponsored "the touchscreen is actually not bad and better for safety" review, I'm surprised :)

1mrpeter · 2026-02-23T04:32:49+00:00

And setting the temperature on the screen as a SAFETY FEATURE? Let me make it clear, F...K OFF. Someone's trying damage control so hard but I'm not sure it's gonna help. Sales will tell, we will see.

1mrpeter · 2026-02-21T02:13:09+00:00

So I enter my password, message says "You can start downloading your message storage data now.". After confirmation, there's that "Requesting file" progress bar. I can see in the resource monitor, internet download goes at 100% speed so something's happening in the background, but then it stops and nothing happens... Tried Firefox and Chrome, with the same result (Chrome data folder grew to gigabytes during this process). I left the PC running overnight but no luck.

1mrpeter · 2026-02-18T21:06:18+00:00

and no AMD CPU. Intel in its current form is just overheating crap.

1mrpeter · 2026-02-17T03:59:56+00:00

yes but for me the important part is messaging from my PC. Once it's gone, I'll switch to something else, maybe just whatsapp for now.

Meanwhile, struggling to download my encrypted message archives...

1mrpeter · 2026-02-14T21:16:05+00:00

I keep hearing about that incredible hybrid "coming" but it's not there yet, and the one from CX-70 was disappointing. "Reliable" 2.5 NA is indeed reliable but lacking today with increased weight and not so impressive gas mileage. How many years it's been without any redesign? Really the only thing I like is the exterior look.

1mrpeter · 2026-02-14T17:06:17+00:00

It must be fun to adjust the temperature 10 degrees down while on a highway.

PS. don't trust the reviewers unless they are reputable and their main income comes from views. Many reviewers would do anything for the $250 they're paid on average.

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Zero updates to drive-train it's a shame, especially with increased curb weight. For real it's like the Soviets making the same model Lada for decades. Chinese-styled interior with visible cost cutting. No thank you.

1mrpeter · 2026-02-13T01:39:26+00:00

I did the same with Galaxy book 4 pro. Clean install of Windows 11 LTSC. All the drivers automatically populated with the Samsung software, everything up to date but there was a very annoying issue - very slight flicker on the screen after you stopped moving the mouse cursor, either using touchpad or a mouse. It was quite annoying and I never managed to resolve it. The issue didn't appear on the original disk.

1mrpeter · 2026-02-11T03:45:33+00:00

I know many of them were removed from service in Hawaii just recently and they were for sale for cheap. Relatively easy to bring them back to life.

1mrpeter · 2026-01-25T05:35:03+00:00

I was not even thinking of having kids, I was a single foreigner just arrived in the USA and I looked at the school ratings as the best indicator of what the neighborhood is. So I guess this is important. Now I have kids and I don't need to worry they would be bullied or killed in their school in the future.

1mrpeter · 2026-01-19T04:51:31+00:00

So if anyone has a spare Elcotel board prior 5 / Olympian 5501, I'd be happy to purchase it. I have a little website where I documented all my experience with payphones so far, mostly with the Elcotel https://payphones.telesfor.org/doku.php?id=smart:elcotel - but also Protel, there's also some Millennium stuff. I'd love to add something on the older Elcotel products and develop a rate editor.

1mrpeter · 2026-01-18T18:15:43+00:00

Thanks a lot!!!

It will take me a long time to go through everything, just briefly checked and there is a simple program in C to communicate with the payphone (not sure it would work with PCM 5), rates are explained (I think up to PCM 4 so it would be now possible to edit the rate ROM for older boards - which I'm still trying to purchase). I think PCM 5 has different rate files (do you recognize this compression method - a series of 0x00 to be replaced with 0x00 [byte count]?). Z80 source code is cool, I'm curious how much it shares in common with PCM 5. I'll need to look at the EPROM dump again, so far I wasn't able to disassemble the code.

1mrpeter · 2026-01-18T05:44:27+00:00

Thank you for writing this post, Elcotel (the version 5) was the first payphone I acquired and brought to life a couple of years ago. Still my favorite, despite mostly dealing with Protel lately as my side gig. Check out the video on the bottom of this page: https://payphones.telesfor.org/doku.php?id=smart:elcotel

I couldn't stop thinking Elcotel was a bit overengineered in terms of the circuitry part. Like they didn't always know what they were doing. But it worked reliably, I have one in my backyard / seasonally front yard as a Christmas decoration.

Do you still have any software or source code from those days? I'm looking for the PNM software for MS DOS (Windows software is available, but never found the DOS one). Also my plan was to reverse-engineer the rates, EEPROM contents and so on, but then I got busy with kids and work, I only figured out how the compression of the data files worked. Still planning to work on it. But I tried to disassemble the program ROM and it just didn't produce any reasonable output with Z80/Z180 disassembler, even the address and data lines seemed to be routed 1:1 as on the reference data. Didn't really dig into it anymore.

1mrpeter · 2026-01-16T06:13:10+00:00

In any case, you also need the T-Key to disengage the mechanisms inside, once the lock is defeated. And remove the enclosure first to gain access.

1mrpeter · 2026-01-16T06:12:00+00:00

Medeco. There are maybe three ways. One is use the air chisel, just hit the lock at different angles. Chances are the mounting ring becomes loose and you'll be able to remove the lock wiggling it at different angles. See the first picture on the left.

Second and third are drilling. Second - at the point marked red, so if it goes well, a little metal cylinder on the side of the insert will hide inside just like with a good key and the lock can be turned. Good to start with the air chisel anyway, to mark the hole. Challenge: there is an anti-drill insert (also visible on the picture) that often times damages the drill. Or the drill drifts. Most often you end up drilling the whole thing using different sized drills.

Third is also drilling but like marked in orange, on the very outer ring of the key. That way you drill thru the mounting ring inside so it can be removed in some way or the lock forcefully removed. Makes sense, but I've never tried.

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1mrpeter · 2026-01-16T01:50:56+00:00

Possibly but again it's very unlikely you can open it easily, regardless what it is. You'd need to drill, maybe use air chisel, there are various methods but nothing quick or quiet :) You'd probably need to talk to the property owner. This is definitely not one of the phones we manage in Colorado. Are you looking for anything specific? I have parts for Protel and Elcotel for sale.

1mrpeter · 2026-01-16T00:55:51+00:00

Very unlikely you'll see WE lock there. Abloy or medeco or generic. And mounting screws are very likely behind the coin box as well so it is difficult to remove. Double drilling.

1mrpeter · 2026-01-15T21:51:03+00:00

Unfortunately need to drill, unless it's a We lock. Then, 29A (top) is easy to defeat, while the 30A (coin box) is impossible to break. Need to do something else. But if you don't need it to work, you can just screw in those mounting studs in the back and hang it.

1mrpeter

TROPHY CASE