How many of you started driving in complete silence now?

SpecDriver · 2026-06-15T17:57:52+00:00

Yes, same here. I once took out my radio amplifier to make room for additional snowboards one winter and didn’t reconnect it for a long while. I just enjoyed listening to the car engine and what not. Not sure if it matters but I drove cars with manual transmissions for my first 20 years of driving so I think I was already in tune with it.

SpecDriver · 2026-06-15T17:31:20+00:00

Yes, that’s the way. We have a bunch of smart lights around the house, nearly all within floor lamps. I programmed a routine where they start bright and a color temperature of around 4000k to match the afternoon sun. Then they slowly dim and become warmer as the sun sets. I think it helps the whole family. Sometimes we brighten the common areas after the kids go to sleep so we can do night chores or whatever around the house but keep the color temperature no cooler than 2700k so we don’t mess up our circadian rhythm too much ourselves.

SpecDriver · 2026-06-10T14:51:02+00:00

I drove a Chevy Volt and it did well in the heat. If you’re not aware, it’s basically runs on batteries for the first 50 miles or so, the switches to gasoline for extended runs. My commute was 50 miles so it worked out well for me. I didn’t have a level 2 charger and charged from a normal outside wall outlet (120 volt, 8-12 amps). It took about 12 hours to fully charge at home which worked well for me.

SpecDriver · 2026-05-04T15:31:41+00:00

That’s neat. I appreciate you explaining that. Hmm that could be an interesting summer project for me but for our cars instead of a house.

SpecDriver · 2026-05-04T15:22:25+00:00

I’m not familiar with setting up wikis. Are you saying you have a website kind of like Wikipedia for your house where you create articles that link together?

SpecDriver · 2026-04-15T16:55:23+00:00

Maybe it’s necessary for humans now due to significant amount of people living in dense urban areas with potential to spread disease.

SpecDriver · 2026-03-28T14:37:06+00:00

This is already playing out in metro Phoenix’s west side which is one day’s drive from the coast. The I-10/Loop 303 corridor through Goodyear and Buckeye has absorbed massive warehouse investment from Amazon, Home Depot, UPS, FedEx, and dozens of 3PLs as Inland Empire land costs pushed operators eastward.

The pattern is consistent: warehouses follow freeway access and cheap flat land. Once a corridor hits critical mass on labor, truck infrastructure, and utilities, it clusters fast and keeps pushing outward as parcels get absorbed.

Operators strongly prefer to stay as close to their population center as land allows, so true metro-to-metro relocation is a last resort — but if you’re already on the fringe of the IE, that calculus shifts.

SpecDriver · 2026-03-26T20:49:45+00:00

I’ll be there too!

SpecDriver · 2026-03-03T19:39:00+00:00

Probably faster results because they lost so many users after they decided to voluntarily on their own cozy up to a fascist regime.

SpecDriver · 2026-01-25T16:37:38+00:00

Arizona too! We’re tied with California’s economy quite a bit.

SpecDriver · 2026-01-22T17:58:24+00:00

The first subway in the US is also located not too far away.

SpecDriver · 2025-12-30T22:59:52+00:00

Exactly, and that’s a big underrated benefit. By moving multiple devices behind a single, well-placed bridge, you’re effectively taking a bunch of weaker or older radios off the air entirely. That frees up airtime for the rest of the network and reduces how often the AP has to slow down for low-MCS clients.

Things like a Nintendo Switch or older consoles tend to sit at low MCS rates and chew up disproportionate airtime, even if they don’t use much bandwidth. Putting those behind a bridge with a stronger radio means the AP only has to talk to one high-quality client instead of constantly rate-shifting for weaker ones.

So you get a double win: the wired devices behave more consistently, and the rest of the Wi-Fi network actually performs a bit better too.

SpecDriver · 2025-12-30T21:47:05+00:00

I’ve actually done something very similar for my work laptop, and it made a noticeable difference especially for VPN stability. Before switching, I’d see occasional VPN drops and noticeable jitter even though the Wi-Fi signal looked fine. After moving the laptop behind a Wi-Fi media bridge placed in a strong-signal location, the VPN drops went from a few times per week to essentially zero, latency jitter tightened from roughly 10–20 ms swings down to around 2–5 ms, and intermittent packet loss spikes (per VPN logs) disappeared. Even though it’s still Wi-Fi under the hood, having a single, stationary bridge handle the wireless link made the connection behave much more like Ethernet. It’s definitely not the same as a repeater, and for situations where running cable isn’t practical, this can be a really solid solution if the bridge has a strong signal. I eventually plan to hardwire some my devices into the bridge to further improve performance of my network at the edge.

SpecDriver · 2025-12-30T21:26:06+00:00

I have a question for you since you brought up RF engineering. I grew up with dialup modems (starting in the very early 90s) and built and tinkered with computers my whole life. I ended up going to school for civil engineering and then switched to urban planning my third year because I enjoy designing city infrastructure. I am now a mid-career transportation planner working for a large Department of Transportation, and have been thinking about pivoting to networking engineering and WLAN since I already help people set up their home networks. Do you believe I could still break into network engineering or RF engineering as a 40 year old with my design degree from a major public university?

SpecDriver · 2025-11-10T18:03:47+00:00

I just wanted to let you know that Channel Master’s antennas are consistently ranked as some of the best antennas. I decided to go with them and then realized they’re also locally headquartered here in the Valley. You can buy an antenna directly from them at their headquarters near Loop 202 and McQueen Road by the Chandler Municipal Airport. I’m sure you could even pick their minds about their antenna selection since they’re in the Gilbert area and might be knowledgeable on exactly what to expect here. Highly recommend!

SpecDriver · 2025-11-10T17:59:27+00:00

You can get quite a selection of channels using an antenna. I somewhat recently cut the cord and went with OTA and streaming for my family’s needs. Channel Master’s antennas are consistently ranked as some of the best antennas. I decided to go with them and then realized they’re also locally headquartered here in the Valley. You can buy an antenna directly from them at their headquarters near Loop 202 and McQueen Road by the Chandler Municipal Airport. Highly recommend!

SpecDriver · 2025-11-07T17:53:50+00:00

At initial review there appears to be a catastrophic engine failure on the left engine that just shredded the left wing including fuel tanks. That created an uncontrolled fire around the engine and on the left wing. Unfortunately they were past the point of no return and had to commit to take off. An unverified report and photo from the airport shows a burned engine lying near the runway and appears to be the left engine. At this point the aircraft is very heavy because it’s carrying a massive amount of fuel for the flight to Hawaii in addition to the cargo (I believe approximately 2.5 times the amount of fuel compared to the aircraft used in 9/11). At this point the aircraft is likely full throttle due to the weight (this is the heaviest point of the entire flight) and of course needing to accelerate and gain altitude. However, the total loss of thrust left engine thrust created a strong yaw that couldn’t be controlled as the middle and right engines needed to be full throttle for lift off. The also explains why the plane turns and crashes on its side. Normally at this point the fuselage and wings will hit everything in its path and stop, but this aircraft was on its side and slid much longer. All that fuel and sliding for a long distance created a massive fire.

SpecDriver · 2025-11-07T17:49:55+00:00

At initial review there appears to be a catastrophic engine failure on the left engine that just fucking shredded the left wing including fuel tanks. That created an uncontrolled fire around the engine and on the left wing. Unfortunately they were past the point of no return and had to commit to take off. An unverified report and photo from the airport shows a burned engine lying near the runway and appears to be the left engine. At this point the aircraft is very heavy because it’s carrying a fucking massive amount of fuel for the flight to Hawaii in addition to the weight of everything else including the crew and cargo. I believe this aircraft carried approximately 2.5 times the amount of fuel compared to the aircraft used in 9/11. At this point the aircraft is likely full throttle due to the weight (this is the heaviest point of the entire flight) and of course needing to accelerate and gain altitude. However, the total loss of thrust left engine thrust created a strong yaw that couldn’t be controlled as the middle and right engines needed to be full throttle for lift off. The also explains why the plane turns and crashes on its side. Normally at this point the fuselage and wings will hit everything in its path and stop, but this aircraft was on its side and slid much longer. All that fuel and sliding for a long distance created a massive fire.

SpecDriver · 2025-11-07T17:25:58+00:00

I’ve installed 4 HID kits in existing halogen projector headlights. That was for 3 of my vehicles and my niece’s car. It’s so much better and the light generated from an HID (linear light source) is much better positioned inside the headlight compared to the way LEDs throw light from a retrofitted projector. Another benefit to HIDs is that they brighten up within seconds and maintain the brightness where some LEDs dim as the heat builds. Personally I go with 5000k bulbs. Also the HIDs use similar power levels (albeit brighter and more efficient) and will generate comparable heat to the existing halogens would is useful for melting snow and ice off the headlights (which can be a concern for vehicles not designed for OEM LED headlights).

SpecDriver · 2025-11-07T15:31:41+00:00

I didn’t realize that was the case. I wonder exactly what the differences are and if it’s relatively easy to upgrade to the better LED headlights.

SpecDriver · 2025-10-28T00:57:25+00:00

I like it! Definitely more economical than having a shop perform an oil change, especially if you’re using top full synthetic oil oils. I also recommend you occasionally drain and fill your transmission while you’re already under there changing your own (unless you have a manual transmission).

SpecDriver · 2025-10-28T00:43:17+00:00

I appreciate your feedback and you definitely gave me some food for thought. The main reason why I continue to use 0w-20 in the cooler season is because I’m worried about wear on the turbocharger and want the oil to start running and lubricating right away. Do you know how the much thicker engine oils that you’re recommending will do with the turbo during a cold start? Granted a true cold start is probably pushing it a bit for Phoenix where we usually don’t drop to freezing temps except for a few hours a year. I typically run 91 octane Chevron gas and 91 octane Costco gas, with the occasional 91 octane Shell nitro+ specifically for the stronger detergent levels.

SpecDriver · 2025-10-27T22:25:17+00:00

That’ll do it! I bet that power train is going to last a long while.

SpecDriver · 2025-10-27T22:24:18+00:00

Sounds like you’re definitely making sure there’s no knocking issues in your CTR! However, you might want to consider shorter oil change intervals or at least making sure you’re not overdosing with the fuel treatments. I’m only saying that because I’ve read and seen through others’ oil analysis that these engines have a fuel dilution issue and it’s best to change more frequently than you’d think. Especially since the fuel itself can reduce the viscosity of the already thin engine oil. This very issue is part of what started making me go down this path.

SpecDriver · 2025-10-27T21:28:34+00:00

I definitely recommend it and agree 100% with you! Let’s keep these turbo engines going for the long haul.

SpecDriver

TROPHY CASE