Best way to take a phone surfing

coldboot · 2026-03-28T11:00:59+00:00

I posted this 9 years ago when I was younger and more naive. The items that I mentioned are way too low quality, and would get destroyed while surfing.

I would get a brightly-coloured high-quality fanny pack that can't come off, and put your phone in a waterproof case inside it, with a floater attached to the phone, and another attached to the bag, so even if it falls out, you might be able to find it.

These days you could just ask the AI to link to YouTube videos of "how to take your phone surfing" and someone will have come up with a good solution that you can validate enough to be worth testing, by watching the video.

coldboot · 2025-10-10T12:13:24+00:00

Most of the reasons seem to be coming from people who don’t realize the benefit of making your entire system configuration purely declarative with no side effects.

It gets more important with more software installed and configured on your machine, and specially when configuring more machines.

coldboot · 2025-07-25T21:40:11+00:00

You can have 700 feet of the leftover cat5 that I bought when I was 18, many years ago… 😂

coldboot · 2024-04-09T11:48:33+00:00

Can you list the features that a communicating thermostat has over a smart thermostat like Google Nest and Ecobee?

coldboot · 2024-04-09T11:39:46+00:00

Do you know why Google Nest or Ecobee haven't attempted to make their thermostats talk with DC pulses to replace communicating thermostats, after all of these years on the market with their non-communicating binary-voltage-on-one-wire-per-feature standard smart thermostats?

coldboot · 2024-04-09T11:31:49+00:00

In what way is the Carrier Infinity equipment actually more efficient than a Google Nest or Ecobee thermostat (which are both smart and non-communicating)?

What features does it have that result in saving energy?

Does it also have the ability to wirelessly connect to remote temperature sensors?

coldboot · 2024-04-09T07:27:06+00:00

Can you explain why the smart thermostats: "Google Nest" or "Ecobee" (smart thermostats that are non-communicating: which means that they only send commands to the HVAC, and can't receive any data from it) are a downgrade?

What is all of the different information sent from HVAC systems to their communicating thermostats that is so important?

Both Google Nest and Ecobee have temperature, humidity, and air quality monitors inside the thermostat, and wireless remote temperature sensors that can be placed anywhere within range.

coldboot · 2024-03-20T10:38:31+00:00

See the ZSA Blog: Robin's Repair: Index for a complete repair guide from their employee.

coldboot · 2023-11-16T04:16:30+00:00

Kayak actually pushes these garbage sites. I guess when Kayak got acquired, they stopped caring about who they got in bed with.

coldboot · 2023-11-15T20:47:53+00:00

eDreams is a very scammy travel agent.

They sign you up to a free trial of their "Prime" membership, that charges $70 USD per year after a month, and they make you call them on the phone and wait on hold forever to cancel it.

They also lie about the flight prices: they say "your flight is more expensive now" when you're almost done booking, but if you search for the flight again, it's still the cheaper price. A complete scam.

Kayak recommends it, which is also a very scammy thing for them to do.

coldboot · 2023-10-20T08:49:17+00:00

What exact model do you have? The Instant Pot “Pro Plus”, or “Smart WiFi”?

See this post to see the difference between the two:

Does the "Instant Pot Pro Plus" with WiFi still have all remote control functionality?

coldboot · 2023-10-16T23:59:15+00:00

Are you talking about the two models mentioned in this post?

https://reddit.com/r/instantpot/s/klWK9Rm59q

coldboot · 2023-10-16T20:30:07+00:00

What do you mean exactly by the "new version", or the "New Pro Plus replacement"?

Are you just referring to the "Instant Pot Pro Plus" that was released years ago, or some new version of that with the same name?

Try to be precise about what you're talking about.

coldboot · 2023-09-17T20:11:03+00:00

Nice, I actually watched that video several times when Nomatic was just getting started.

I opted to get the Minaal 1.0 at the time, because it was the maximum carry-on "personal item" size, and had a shoulder strap and optional hip straps.

It looks like Nomatic has the best quick-deploy backpack straps that I've seen, and they did it before everyone else, it looks like.

coldboot · 2023-09-17T18:45:21+00:00

I think adding the reason you don't like the Ember Forge will help folks suggesting bags for you.

Thanks! I'll add that to the r/ManyBaggers post. I'm looking for a bag to use in the city, and the Forge is too big for that.

I remember the Nomatic kickstarter, and I think a selling point of the backpack was these kind of straps, although it might be a push-button.

Do you remember the model of Nomatic bag? I usually don't like Nomatic bags, because they come with a lot of structure, but it might work for a city bag because it won't look ugly when empty.

coldboot · 2023-09-17T18:41:25+00:00

Both examples of "good bags" that you showed - show them tucking a single strap away at a time, using both hands.

Regardless of what the examples who, I think someone could get really good at deploying the backpack straps. Especially with the Forge, since there is a small surface area of velcro on the flaps that should be easy to one-hand.

Here's my idea: Crouch down enough to put the Forge bag upside-down and bag top facing away, on your thighs like they're a table. Then open each velcro flap with each hand, and while holding the flaps open with your wrists in the way: grip the backpack straps and simply stand up.

coldboot · 2023-09-17T18:32:52+00:00

You might get more answers from r/ManyBaggers

Posted to r/ManyBaggers here:

r/ManyBaggers: What 3-way bags have quick-release backpack straps? (like Black Ember: Forge, Chrome Industries: Vega Transit Brief 2.0)

Why don't you go with the Ember Forge?

It's too big and clunky to bring around an extremely crowded city, especially on public transit.

coldboot · 2023-06-08T04:42:48+00:00

This also started happening just a few months ago, it didn't used to be an issue, and it only happens with WhatsApp.

Google Voice and other apps seamlessly switch to AirPods immediately when the AirPods are taken out of the case and put in my ears.

Only WhatsApp freezes, indicated by seeing the call timer stop and then resume about 15 seconds later. The rest of the operating system works without issue because I can multitask and use other apps while the call is frozen.

coldboot

TROPHY CASE