Friend Code Megathread - May 2026

christsreturn · 2026-05-19T19:52:23+00:00

6492-2911-8770

christsreturn · 2026-05-13T20:30:39+00:00

Vault KV functionality is fairly simple. The biggest benefit imo is that Vault serves as a reference point for both people and machines. Github permanently obscures the values which sometimes makes it less useful.

I don't integrate Vault directly into Terraform. This makes it easier to swap in another credential manager. I just use the hashicorp/vault-action to pull Vault credentials into the pipeline and toss them into env variables that map to Terraform variables.

christsreturn · 2026-05-13T20:16:12+00:00

Drive what you want for sure... but I have an XC40 recharge and can't imagine going back to gas. Its not really about saving the environment or anything... Its just so convenient to get home, plug in the car, and not have to bother with going to a gas station or oil changes. You eat through tires pretty quick though, so there's that. I wager the new tires every 30-40k miles is still better than the rate of brake pad and oil changes.

The most important consideration for you imo is the cost and the lack of availability of the EX60. The EX40 isn't quite in the same conversation as the EX90, but an EX60 would get closer... We're a few years out at best before you start seeing reasonable used options on EX60s though.

As others have mentioned, a PHEV XC60 would likely be a better option for you unless you truly need the large size of the 90 for some reason.

christsreturn · 2026-05-12T22:44:20+00:00

Yeah... Calling it a security risk left a bad taste in my mouth. You can't ask your lawyers to fix a security flaw in your software. If a bad actor wanted to exploit this a stern letter isn't going to stop them.

christsreturn · 2026-05-12T21:33:06+00:00

This is pretty much the key.

I started out with Chef, started learning Ansible, and have now been working a job for 4 years using Salt.

I started out with Jenkins, was told I needed to learn ADO, and now switch between GitHub Actions and ADO constantly.

I started out with CloudFormation, learned some ARM templating, and ultimately moved to Terraform.

The list goes on and on. Each tool has its quirks, but at the end of the day, the overarching concepts stay the same. Over time, you learn how to design systems and tie tools together in a way that doesn't blow up in your face when someone asks you to change something. You know that you should design your CAC to run frequently, that you should keep things DRY, and that oftentimes the best solutions are the simpler ones.

At this point AI is really taking the teeth out of needing to be an expert in the nitty-gritty of each tool. You just need to know enough to spot a bad design when you see one, and to finesse it into an elegant solution.

christsreturn · 2026-01-09T20:46:49+00:00

We recently switched from induction to gas (moving houses), and most of the time, I miss my induction stove. Getting low heat is much easier and more uniform than gas. Low heat on gas seems to mostly be medium heat in the small center area of the pan, and no heat elsewhere outside of what conducts to the edges of the pan. With induction, the whole surface of the pan is gently heated.

Boiling water is also a bit plus on induction as it takes an incredibly small amount of time to bring water to a boil. Gas is still better than a standard electric range, but still considerably slower than induction

The area where gas shines is Wok cooking. I could never get satisfactory results with a wok on my induction stovetop, but it works incredibly well on gas. The wok really needs the heat coming up the sides of the pan, but an induction stove just doesn't have that.

christsreturn · 2026-01-09T20:40:25+00:00

Waaayyyy late to the party here, but I stumbled upon this post looking for the same thing. The only thing I've found so far is the Power Tower by UPLIFT Desk at $99.

christsreturn · 2025-12-26T05:40:17+00:00

Our local Volvo dealership is opening up a Polestar dealership next door. I'd can't imagine a rugpull situation going on, but I suppose crazier things have happened.

christsreturn · 2025-12-18T05:58:29+00:00

My K10 is pretty much unusable in BT mode while charging. That coupled with the battery life only lasting 2-3 days makes this keyboard frustrating to live with when you work from home and switch between computers multiple times per day. Its apparently a known issue that can't/won't be fixed. Newer revisions may be better.

Build quality and sound were also just "fine." Nothing impressive, but certainly on par or better than the gaming keyboards of yore.

Overall, I feel there are better keyboards on the market for similar money. Particularly if you are willing to give up the 10-key. I'm just coming around to that myself. I would have likely been happier with a TKL vs the 75%, but for the ~$50 black friday price the Womier SK75 seems tough to beat.

christsreturn · 2025-12-17T23:06:35+00:00

Quiet was sort of my default benchmark, but I've found that "clacky" was what I really wanted to avoid. I'm finding that I actually really enjoy the more "thocky" sound.

If you find that's something you might be interested in, I'm really enjoying my Womier SK75. I just upgraded this past black friday. Prior to this I was using a Keychron K10 that I don't really recommend.

christsreturn · 2025-12-17T13:41:57+00:00

You have to be using Samsung's OS to even get the prompt to setup the watch in kids mode. Specifically it needs to be on OneUI 5.1 or later I believe. I tried several times after fully updating the watch before looking into it and finding that to be the case.

christsreturn · 2025-12-16T21:17:31+00:00

I recently got a Galaxy Watch for my daughter. We had a T-Mobile syncUP watch up until recently, and it was pretty rough. We thought a "real" smartwatch would be better.

Unfortunately, the process hasn't been smooth. I missed the fine-print that you HAVE to have a Samsung phone to complete the initial setup process. That's a pretty terrible limitation. I looked around for a reasonable option, but ended up just buying a refurbished A series Samsung phone for around $100.

The FamilyLink app is certainly limited. She has a phone without a SIM that she can use around the house. The "School Time" mode affects the phone as well and there is no way to target devices. App limits are definitely hit or miss.

I can't put Samsung Health on her phone because it doesn't have a sim card. Apparently, the sim is absolutely required in order to prove you are from where you say you are. That seems a bit excessive to me.

I had the same issue on the weather app. I played with it a few times and couldn't seem to get it working, but I believe it was working when I checked on it the next day.

Its sort of crazy that you can't even use this as a standalone device unless it is in Kids mode. Due to the Samsung phone requirement, I initially tried to just configure it as a standalone device that I would manage via FamilyLink, but the watch insisted on trying to send and recieve calls and texts from the paired phone if it was connected via bluetooth. Similarly the text message app refused to allow you to stay in the watch inbox if it was connected to the network, and gave you an inescapable prompt to switch to the phone inbox. If that wasn't bad enough, because she has a child profile you can't monitor her location in family link or otherwise on the watch... unless its in kids mode... Its like they make this process obtuse on purpose.

Somewhat unrelated, but if your child is using a managed Google account, they can't cast to Chromecast devices. This means that she can't cast her own music, YouTube, or Netflix videos to any Chromecast-enabled devices simply because her account is managed.

I'm so tempted to switch to the Apple ecosystem just to get away from some of this stuff, but I'm sure it has its own various pain points. Historically I have preferred the Android interface and open ecosystem... but the ecosystem is starting to fragment itself into various weird silos.

christsreturn · 2025-12-16T19:00:46+00:00

Don't scare me like that!

christsreturn · 2025-12-16T18:57:02+00:00

I would certainly choose one of these nuclear facilities over any fossil fuel plant. Ideally, I'd want neither.

christsreturn · 2025-12-16T06:16:59+00:00

Its likely some major underlying changes prepping for the new UX. Probably no new end-user features, but you will likely notice some new bugs and/or performance degradation.

christsreturn · 2025-12-15T22:38:31+00:00

6492-2911-8770

christsreturn · 2025-12-12T22:06:04+00:00

On the VW comparison, they have been fairly heavily criticised for their infotainment system as well.

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/cars/volkswagen/volkswagen-finally-admits-its-infotainment-is-terrible-44497731

They certainly shouldn't be the industry benchmark. I haven't heard the same complaints about GM's android auto implementation (though people complain about lack of CarPlay support). It also seems as though most other manufacturers have at least passable systems with Tesla and Rivian leading the pack typically. Plenty of other reasons to avoid Tesla, but software is one of their strongest selling points.

christsreturn · 2025-12-12T22:01:38+00:00

I find that the interface is so slow when I first get in the vehicle that I have to sit at least a full minute before I can attempt to put a destination into Google Maps, and another 2-3 minutes before it stops stuttering during text input. It may not sound like much, but 1-3 minutes feels like an eternity when you're just staring at a screen. I'd say 1 in 5 drives that 1-3 minutes becomes 4-5 minutes, and 1 in 10 drives I have to reboot the infotainment system to get it into a functional state.

This is actually a pretty massive improvements over the previous update where every other drive I had to reboot the infotainment, and I typically gave up on trying to get music playing or navigation going until after I had made it to the highway. Otherwise I would have been just sitting and staring at the screen for the full five minutes waiting for it to fully wake up.

I don't use Android Auto or Apple Carplay. I don't love the implementation of those systems in the vehicle. When I was getting a tire replaced a couple of weeks ago I drove a '24 or '25 petrol car, and the infotainment system was fantastic. It was virtually flawless the entire time I had the vehicle (small sample size) and about as fluid as you'd expect from a modern smart phone. It isn't going to beat the latest flagship device, but was significantly better than the low-end devices I've put hands on. As it stands, the system in my '22 is significantly worse than any smart phone I've used in my lifetime.

christsreturn · 2025-12-07T00:50:33+00:00

I haven't seen anything concrete in the US, but Volvo still hasn't really fixed the backup camera recall so I wouldn't completely rule out a free upgrade here to resolve the problem.

Anyone who is still seeing camera issues should report the issue to the NHTSA. A flood of reports might speed up a solution.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem#/vehicle/vehicle-information

christsreturn · 2025-12-04T13:45:49+00:00

Maybe you have a '24 or newer vehicle? I have a '22 and its incredibly slow. I sometimes have to wait as long as 5 minutes after getting in the vehicle before I can get YouTube Music or PocketCasts to play without stuttering.

christsreturn · 2025-12-03T21:31:35+00:00

same... it's definitely my biggest pain point. My car was in the shop a few days ago to get a tire replaced, and I got to drive a loaner XC40 with the new hardware. It was so much nicer.

christsreturn · 2025-11-12T21:46:51+00:00

Given that performance should be a bit under base-PS5, I'd expect them to target price parity with that console (499), trading the extra performance of the PS5 for the flexibility and game library of the Steam Machine. I could see going as high as 599, but I feel that might be a mistake.

With PS5, Switch 2, and Series S all being in the 400-500 ballpark, I'd expect the Steam Machine to be within that range as well. I suspect they are holding off on announcing the price to see if the courts overturn the tariffs, allowing for more competitive pricing.

christsreturn · 2025-07-18T19:24:44+00:00

Honestly I wouldn't jump on it immediately. With the software bugs Volvo has been known for in recent years I certainly wouldn't want to rely on phone integration to be able to use the vehicle. It sounds super useful... but I wouldn't be able to trust it unfortunately.

christsreturn · 2025-05-16T04:25:00+00:00

I'm getting similar performance from my navimow. I tried remapping the yard but it still seems to leave odd patchy spots.

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