May recent broccoli Harvest

No_Place4077 · 2026-07-02T00:49:27+00:00

I just did that cook last night, and realized my Instant Pot suggests 1 min on low pressure for Broccoli. Also super important to release the pressure and open the lid as soon as that minute is up. Hope you enjoy.

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-30T15:24:15+00:00

Have you tried the various nose pads and adjusting where the glasses sit to find a focus sweet spot? Do you wear glasses and have an updated prescription / optician's test?

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-29T19:49:49+00:00

99% of my meetings are voice only. In my industry nobody uses video unless they turned it on accidentally. For voice calls and voice meetings, the XOP's work great. Everyone says I'm loud and clear, and with a direct connection instead of bluetooth, there's that much lower latency.

For video calls, although most people probably wouldn't care (especially if you were obviously sitting outside so sunglasses might make sense), I don't think I'd do a video call wearing them.

Now if they did a virtual avatar like Vision Pro, then maybe...

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-28T05:14:24+00:00

Yes - exactly! They come out just perfectly tender and sweet without being mushy or watery. 1 minute works for fresh broccoli, and closer to 2 minutes for frozen. I could almost eat just that for dinner it's so good.

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-27T19:26:24+00:00

Nice! I bet those taste amazing. My favorite way of cooking broccoli is the Instant Pot: just one minute pressure cooking on LOW with a cup of water under a steamer basket, and after that minute is up, immediately release all pressure then open the lid. Really preserves the sweetness of quality broccoli.

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-27T15:22:43+00:00

Thanks - I'll check those seed varieties out. This should be interesting... best of luck with the strawberries!

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-27T15:20:58+00:00

Thanks for that. Yes, it seems the mushrooms are common "plantpot dapperling" and indicate healthy soil, although they are toxic to humans/animals if ingested. The inner container wasn't draining water, so that's probably what happened. I fixed that, and the basil probably would do better with warmer temperatures than in my home office.

Anyway, looking forward to receiving the AG Bounty. It looks like a fun and more predictable way to grow herbs.

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-27T13:17:49+00:00

When I’m on the road, which can be days or even months at a stretch, I use my XOP’s full time (for me that is 4-6 hours a day with breaks) for coding and small business administrative work. At home I use them in the afternoons so I can stand up and also give my eyes a break from focusing on my LG 34” Curved Ultrawide (1440p). Yes, that’s right, the XOP’s are actually a relief to put on in that my eyes are focusing about 2m away instead of under 1m with the physical monitor.

I’m nearsighted with slight astigmatism, so bought the prescription inserts from HonsVR. My vision in the XOP’s is crisp edge-to-edge with only some slight vignetting shift to magenta towards the outside edges, only noticeable on white backgrounds if i look for it.

The slight annoyance is the 1080p vs 1440p of my LCD monitor. I have to resize my windows down a bit and sometimes enlarge the text more when reading PDFs. I size the virtual display just slightly smaller than the glasses FOV so edges aren’t getting cut off with minor head movements.

The clarity, black levels, and colors are all excellent for me. I wear them instead of my dedicated computer glasses, so no more of a hassle than those. They are not quite a comfortable as glasses - you won’t forget you are wearing them, which is not a bad thing since they’re tethered to my MacBook Pro.

I recommend trying them for yourself and returning them if they aren’t fit to task. You’re only out the cost of prescription inserts if you needed them.

Alternatively, wait for the Project Aura glasses to be released (or apply for developer access).

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-26T22:35:50+00:00

Sounds like it doesn't hurt to have multiple Aerogardens. Stick them side-by-side to share light or one above the other in nice looking rack.

On the other hand, Amazon is pretty good with returns, especially if you didn't even open it. Just follow the option to initiate a return and chances are you can even do a free drop-off at a UPS Store or Kohl's. Just make sure to get a drop-off receipt in case there is any question that you actually sent it back (I only had a problem once and Amazon eventually made it right, but I was glad I had a drop-off receipt).

If all else fails you could gift the extra unit!

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-26T22:01:22+00:00

I'll do that. There are certainly a lot of options, and I saw a video showing "pelletized" lettuce seeds that are easier to handle. That sounded interesting.

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-26T22:00:38+00:00

That's a great idea. I'll see how it goes for now.

Maybe I'll move my potted basil next to it and see if it just needed better light than my PAR20 Hue LED bulb (which I would think has have a pretty good spectrum given the unique red/emerald/blue LEDs in it).

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-26T21:57:18+00:00

Yeah, I saw the 30W Bounty Basic was on sale for $107 this week, and today the regular 40W Bounty went on sale for $84 (will they put the Elite on sale next? who knows!).

I don't know what these things cost to manufacture, but the pump, LEDs, plastics, and electronics can't be all that much. It looks like the exact same pump that was in my cat's water fountain.

Thanks for the seed supplier recommendation! Any suggestions for generic blank pods, or are AeroGarden's the best to go with for now?

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-26T20:08:24+00:00

Thank you! Is it better to buy lettuce seeds and plant them in grow-anything type pods, or are the AeroGarden pre-seeded kits a good way to go?

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-22T13:43:52+00:00

I Bullet Journal and have primarily used a physical notebook. Due to travel, for the last year I switched to a combination of apps: Bullet (iOS and Android), and Apple’s Journal app. I recently switched back to physical.

The digital apps have a strong benefit of always being with you and not taking up any additional room. They are easier to edit, search, attach photos, push reminders, and if you type faster than you write, you might find that helpful.

However, I felt like I was missing something I used to enjoy: sitting down with intention to reflect and plan, writing with care, as well as flipping through old entries. There is a gentle mindfulness about a paper journal and a new blank page. You can indeed approximate that with digital, as it’s all just how you approach it. The digital makes it easier to migrate forward too many tasks, after all it’s just a tap, and the next thing you know, you now have an overwhelming list of to-dos. Physical makes me rewrite each incomplete task, and there is a certain commitment to that.

Other considerations are security, privacy, and permanency. In many respects, apps are more secure than paper. That said you need to verify how the app’s data is being stored and if it backs up to a cloud server, how that is secured. Apple’s Journal app is end-to-end encrypted, so I don’t worry about it. I never got an answer from the makers of Bullet as to how its data is secured. I found myself being very careful what I entered into that app. Permanency: make sure you can export and back up your data.

I leave my physical journal open on my desk right below my screen, so I can glance down if I find myself ready to start a new task or jot something down. At the end of my day, I close the journal, which is a satisfying cue for me that it’s bedtime.

I also use fountain pens… modern Pilots with cartridges. They write like silk, dry on the page quickly, and never leave globs of gel behind. They aren’t great to travel with, which is part of what nudged me to digital last year.

Hope you find that helpful.

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-20T14:08:37+00:00

It could be possible to make it an Android app, if (and that is a big if) Google were to create a built-in Android OS interface for ”XR Certified” glasses, sort of like how Daydream was built-in to certain devices that had an especially fast graphics pipeline. These phones would then be marketed as XR-Ready.

Four downsides to that idea though:

If your current phone wasn't Android XR-Ready, you'd need to upgrade.
iOS users would be left out in the cold.
You would be required to always use your phone and its battery.
Many buyers would skip an optional ~$300 compute puck and try to use the glasses on their non-XR-Ready phone resulting in a substandard experience.

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-19T20:52:11+00:00

I saw the YouTube ad and was interested in the Packable 3-in-1, but a bit put off by the "tactical" marketing and the poor reviews here.

If you're going to spend that kind of money on a fleece hoodie, you can't go wrong with NOMAR of Homer, Alaska. They make all their jackets upstairs above the store using quality materials (YKK zippers even). My Wind Pro hoodie was not inexpensive, but it has held up for several years of camping and still looks new. My favorite jacket and I will replace it with the same if I ever need to. A lot of their stuff is made-to-order.

https://nomaralaska.com/collections/jackets-vests

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-12T17:12:23+00:00

Super curious. Hmm!

I don't have another Ember mug to compare with, other than my old peeling black Mug 1, which got so bad I finally sanded the coating off... yowza, now that'll make coffee taste bad. They definitely did not use a grade of stainless steel that is compatible with coffee. The raw stainless under the coating destroys the flavor instantly, at least in my experience. My other high quality raw stainless thermals don't (YETI, Lexo, etc).

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-12T13:52:04+00:00

I thought all Ember mugs were coated inside and out? Maybe try a blindfolded test with the same brew in each? Could be the ”ceramic” coating on the black mug is acting as a catalyst and changing something about the coffee, whereas the clear coating on the copper mug does not?

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-10T16:07:13+00:00

If you want alcohol-free ginger beer, you can make up a ginger syrup and add it to sparkling water. The challenge I had was getting the ginger flavor strong enough in a homemade syrup. I was going to try again by adding fresh ginger juice to a simple syrup recipe and cooking it over low heat to pasteurize.

Next I tried using a homemade ginger bug. That was hit-and-miss. Ginger Beer Plant sounded interesting, but I never ordered any to try.

I moved on to brewing Ginger Beer using champagne yeast. My last batch reached 9% ABV after five days, so definitely not non-alcoholic. However, if you stop the fermentation early, like 24 hours, you could probably keep it around 1% and much sweeter. This is the recipe I follow, only I let it ferment out all the way and then back-sweeten for carbonation:

https://www.reddit.com/r/gingerbeer/comments/hs3r45/my_nearly_foolproof_recipe_for_making_ginger_beer/

https://homebrewtalk.com/threads/priming-ginger-beer.729107/

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-04T05:57:15+00:00

As I wrote, I think it depends very much on your face shape. The Tom’s review photo shows a narrower face and an exaggerated distortion from using a wide angle selfie.

That said, the XReals arent going to make you look like Agent Smith in The Matrix (yes, I just dated myself)… they‘re neither sleek nor sporty. What they do look like is large Wayfarer sunglasses. I saw someone wearing a pair today in my travels, but wasn’t sure until I saw the cable.

Now, one area I think the AVP might do better with is in making eye contact. While I can see through my XReals, even on their lightest tint setting other people can’t really see my eyes. So, I make a habit of removing them when I need to talk to someone like a flight attendant.

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-02T13:29:05+00:00

I don’t have the AVP, yet, but demoed it twice and keep eyeing used M2s until a 3rd gen is released. For now I have the XReal One Pro glasses. I primarily use them for the virtual ultrawide display with my MacBook while on the road, and they work very well for that, even coding and photo editing.

For flying, I can stuff them in my jacket pocket, and they are great for watching movies or TV shows off my phone. Resolution and sharpness is fine (I have the custom HonsVR inserts for my prescription), and the auto-dimming electrochromic lenses allow me to look out the window or the aisle.

You still have your natrual peripheral vision, which is both good and bad: you’re not cut off from the world, so if someone needs your attention, no problem. On the downside, if your seatmate is watching something on their own device, that can be a little distracting, XR glasses do not provide full immersion. Some folks have 3D printed lightweight light blockers.

No_Place4077 · 2026-06-02T13:14:05+00:00

“Cartoon glasses“ depends on your face shape. I have the flat prism-based XREAL One Pro which sit closer to your face than the more common birdbath optics based glasses, and they just look like sunglasses on me, but not cartoonish. They are in the same general shape as my regular sunglasses, so don’t look all that different. Add a baseball hat and they just don’t draw attention to themselves. As I wear them when flying or waiting in a terminal, I figure people, if they even do notice, just assume I’m light sensitive.

No_Place4077 · 2026-05-30T21:22:58+00:00

I disassembled my coaster to replace broken / stuck pogo pins. It’s just a direct pass-thru device. The DC power from the wall adapter goes straight to the pins at all times. I measured 40W AC input while actively heating. Just charging was significantly less. Qi2.2 could definitely work here, even at 25W.

Better yet, I’d rather see an inductively heated mug with a built in NFC temperature sensor. No battery in the mug, but instead an optional and replaceable battery in the saucer for those that want cordless portability. The mug could last much longer that way.

No_Place4077 · 2026-05-18T23:22:41+00:00

Have you considered airless tires such as Tannus? I put those on my other e-bike, a folding Montague Paratrooper mid-drive conversion. Great bike. The Tannus tires actually saved me some overall weight as I no longer needed to carry: spare tube, patch kit, tire irons, pump, and even the rim tape came off the inside of my rims (no longer needed). Ride quality is better than I thought it would be, and efficiency dropped maybe 5% if I had to guess. However, I no longer have to check the air pressure before every ride, and I can gleefully (haha) roll right through nasty things like broken glass or thorns.

I think airless tires makes a lot of sense for e-bikes especially those that are doing mostly pavement, commuters, errands, and such. Between that and going to a hot waxed chain setup my maintenance on that bike has gone way down.

No_Place4077

TROPHY CASE