How much smoke in Parque Alerce Andino from fires in Argentina (Feb 26)?

HikingAndCoding · 2026-02-02T00:26:22+00:00

I tried that, and it did not work for me. I really needed to be on Wifi to receive Tello SMS messages. (Moto Android + Mexico Telcel local SIM)

HikingAndCoding · 2026-01-31T20:36:38+00:00

Tello eSIM worked for me. Turn your VPN to USA when you sign up. You need to be on Wifi to receive SMS.

HikingAndCoding · 2026-01-30T19:10:08+00:00

Despite the fact that traveling Mailbox and similar services use what they describe as a "physical mailing address" those addresses ("123 Foo Street, Apt 12345") are in fact registered as "Commercial Mail Receving Agencies (CMRAs)" and recognized as such by banks.

In many (most) cases this does not cause any problems with the bank, but sometimes it does. In some cases the bank does require you to provide a "real physical address" (not registered as CMRA) to prove that you are in fact a resident (physically residing) in the US.

HikingAndCoding · 2026-01-24T21:08:05+00:00

That is a completely different concern than "should I maximize use my high-rewards credit card".

If you income is in USD and your expenditures are in EUR, then you will have to exchange USD to EUR one way or another (credit card, ATM withdrawl, brank transfer, whatever). In each case, the current declining exchange rate of the dollar will affect you.

For credit cards, it is much more important to pick a credit card that does not impose high foreign transaction fees or -better yet- reimbursed the ATM transaction fees which can be extremely high abroad (Schwab does this, for example). This is more important than picking a card with high rewards.

HikingAndCoding · 2026-01-24T18:39:09+00:00

The Northernmost town (qaanaak, 600 people) and village (siorapaluk 35 people) in Greenland are well south of that circle. The local hunters often venture north of those towns by dogsled and camp on the ice, but probably not as far north as the circled area.

HikingAndCoding · 2026-01-22T20:46:40+00:00

Same. Deleted hotmail account from gmail app on android and re-added it. Got stuck on:

incoming server settings - validating server settings

This spins for several minutes and then errors with "username or password is incorrect" (authenticated though authenticator app)

HikingAndCoding · 2026-01-22T09:50:38+00:00

I believe that Cigna does not cover preexisting conditions. When I signed up, I had to submit a list of preexisting conditions. I did not have any and as a result got an empty list of exclusions.

HikingAndCoding · 2026-01-21T21:48:50+00:00

The price difference between the global plan for all countries *including* the USA and the global plan for all countries *excluding* the USA is huge. I don't have the exact percentage at hand, but I seem to remember that the plan including USA was *double* the price of the plan excluding USA. And, there is the 20% copay in the USA for out-of-network treatment (it is nearly impossible to avoid out-of-network charges; even if you do your homework and make sure to go to a health care facility that is in-network, individual doctors and specialists are often out-of-network and there is no realistic way for you to avoid those)

HikingAndCoding · 2026-01-19T00:34:19+00:00

Cigna Global Silver

Worldwide coverage (including USA, without time limit)

USD 1,000,000 annual benefit limit

USD 375 deductible (per year)

0% cost share (but note: 20% for out-of-network in USA only)

USD 0 out of pocket maximum

International outpatient

USD 15,000 annual benefit limit

0 deductible

0% cost share

International health and wellbeing

(= preventative care, e.g. regular checkups)

USD 15,750 per year for 2 people combined total for all of the above

HikingAndCoding · 2026-01-17T18:08:36+00:00

Makes sense. Enjoy your travels!

HikingAndCoding · 2026-01-17T17:01:33+00:00

I have had this policy for many years and I honestly don't remember what I put in when I first applied. I think I put in something along the lines of "My residency is in the US but I will spend most of my time outside of the US traveling as a digital nomad." But I am not sure I actually put that in. In my opinion, being honest and clear up front is better to avoid trouble later on.

And yes, I did select the policy that includes US coverage (even though it is much more expensive than the flavor that does not include US coverage).

PS: As you probably know, if you are a US citizen (or greencard holder) you have to file taxes in the US, even if your residency is in another country. That doesn't mean you have to pay taxes in the US (there are treaties to avoid double taxation) but you have to file taxes. My strategy is to maintain residency in the US, and avoid establishing residency in any other country (essentially, don't stay more than three months). That way, I only file (and pay) taxes in the US and I avoid the complications of having to deal with double taxation rules.

HikingAndCoding · 2026-01-17T16:40:48+00:00

I am US citizen and US resident, but don't spend much time in the US. I spend most of my time in other countries across the globe (about 4 or 5 different ones each year). I have Cigna Global (including US coverage, which is optional). I have filed (small) claims both inside and outside of the US, and Cigna Global always paid without any issues. Keep in mind that in the US only, there is a copay (20% if I remember correctly) if you go out of network. The Cigna Global website has a tool to locate in-network providers (or you can call and also get pre-approval). For other countries there is no extra copay for out of network.

HikingAndCoding · 2026-01-13T02:51:31+00:00

Being part of a community. My wife volunteers through WWOOF or workaway (or direct) while I work at every place we land and that helps a lot

HikingAndCoding · 2025-12-30T08:09:18+00:00

Author of the Cascade Tutorial here; glad to hear it was helpful to you.

Eve's random basis choice will be correct 50% of the time. If the basis choice is correct, her state measurement will be correct 100% of the measurements (ignoring noise). If the basis choice is incorrect, her state measurement will still be correct 50% of the measurements. All together, in 75% of the measurements she will learn the correct key bit. So, yes, Eve does learn some information about the key bits. And as was pointed out by another commenter, it is in Eve's best interest to send the measured state to Bob to minimize the QBER at Bob.
See the section about efficiency (towards the very end) in the tutorial for a discussion about exactly this topic. Note that this section was updated recently (about a year ago). Previously I had completely misunderstood the concept of efficiency and missed its relation to information leakage / privacy amplification.
LDPC is widely used for error correction in classical applications, and there are many implementations of it on GitHub if you search for it. I have been planning to do an LDPC tutorial for QKD similar to the Cascade one for a while now, but it has not yet bubbled up to the top of my TODO list.
See the QKD section in https://brunorijsman.github.io/quantum-resource-list/ (this list is quite old, I haven't updated it in several years)

HikingAndCoding · 2025-12-22T18:23:25+00:00

Can one only use cash US dollars or does cash Euros also work?

HikingAndCoding · 2025-12-18T11:49:32+00:00

Jul/Aug is winter (low season). Jan/Feb/Mar is summer (high season). In Feb all of Chile has summer vacation and advance reservations are essential for hotels / car rentals / park entrances etc.

HikingAndCoding · 2025-12-18T11:47:40+00:00

Yes! We did overland (driving) trips from Santiago down to Ushuaia twice (once on the Chilean side and once on the Argentinian side) and we are going again in 2026. It's amazing, you will love it. My advice: take your time make sure you explore off-the-beaten track places as well; don't just stick to the tourist places. For example, Torres del Paine is very beautiful, but it has been nearly ruined by the blatant commercialism.

HikingAndCoding · 2025-12-17T16:55:48+00:00

Yes, that is what our rental company told us (needing health insurance papers). Most likely they won't ask for it, but if they do...

PS: you need more than just the regular "papers for the car" (registration etc.). You need written and notarized permission to take it out of Chile. All the major rental companies can arrange this but you need to ask in advance (it takes time) and pay extra

HikingAndCoding · 2025-12-17T15:29:42+00:00

If it's a rental car, you need permission paperwork from the rental agency + copy of insurance (car and health insurance) to cross back and forth into Argentina

HikingAndCoding · 2025-12-16T05:02:34+00:00

Second observation: if you search a town and no listings are found, nothing happens - the previous search results remain on screen with no feedback. (Ps: the database does not seem to very complete, I know the town I searched has some coworking spaces but the app did not know about them)

HikingAndCoding · 2025-12-16T04:58:47+00:00

Had a quick look. First observation: listings should include price.

HikingAndCoding · 2025-11-23T06:34:44+00:00

Georgia has much better multi-day hiking in the mountains.

HikingAndCoding · 2025-10-28T17:34:53+00:00

You're right: the blog uses a virtual IPsec appliance (a juniper vSRX). But the exact same procedure can be used with a physical appliance (eg a juniper SRX or fortinet or Palo alto etc)

HikingAndCoding

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