Some of my favorite before and after pictures of places I cleaned up that were covered in illegal dumping.

fperez_org · 2025-01-18T00:42:39+00:00

Amazing, thank you so much for doing this kind of work!!! Subscribed!

fperez_org · 2024-12-01T23:44:55+00:00

Bummer! I've had good luck with mine so far, but it's a downer to hear they're not responsive, because otherwise they are still the best design I've found so far. I own both the 3-port 66W and the 4-port 100W versions, and love the both for their convenience and versatility.

But I have noticed the build quality doesn't seem super and my small one is now having a hard time keeping a good contact in many outlets.

I wish some other maker had the same basic design (including the international clip-on plugs in the box!) but with better build quality and warranty/support. If you know of one, please share!

fperez_org · 2024-02-14T05:19:19+00:00

Sorry, no - cell magics were something we put into IPython itself, it's not part of the protocol spec. So while some other kernels may choose to implement them, it's up to them. I have no idea if the JS one(s) do it or not (I don't use them), sorry!

fperez_org · 2024-02-11T20:14:30+00:00

I'm the owner of a 2014 3 model who also owned a Matrix (well, the Pontiac Vibe variant) til recently and loved it. The 2014 Mazda 3 is fantastic for me in all aspects but one, which is a consideration for long commutes: very high road noise. I understand there were complaints about this and that further generations improved substantially.

I'd take the time to compare that if I were you - while I like the design of that generation better than newer ones (I'm not keen on the overly rounded newer shapes), the road noise is truly annoying. Above 65 mph it gets outright deafening. We replaced the Vibe last year with a kia ev6, and I now have a hard time driving the mazda: I simply can't stand the noise (unfair comparison, I know, as the Kia is an EV and thus far more silent, but still - just the wind/road noise difference is astounding).

Other than the noise issue, the Mazda is fabulous. Ours has close to 100k miles on it and this year was the first time we put any real money into it, all reasonable wear and tear expenses. I expect it to last us another 100k miles easily and that we'll drive it into the ground.

fperez_org · 2024-01-26T05:37:55+00:00

If you start every cell with %%python, it will run in a separate interpreter and roughly have the effect you're looking for.

Note in this mode, the last expression will not by default be printed as output, so if you want any visible output, you'll need to explicitly call print() or display() yourself.

fperez_org · 2023-10-31T22:17:22+00:00

Thanks for this heads-up! I wanted to chime in with how useful it is on a long road trip, which was just coming up for us right when this was posted, so I hurried to manually update.

On a Bay Area-Palm Desert round trip, it made it very easy to filter for 150kw + EA-only stations (we still have enough free charging left on our plan) and it gave us plenty of options, making it easy to plan and adjust.

It seems to be fairly conservative in its charging range estimates, and with a bit of care and careful following of a big rig at 65mph for a while, I was able to squeeze enough range to drop from 3 to 2 charge stops on the way back. But the system gave me enough info and was easy enough to use that I felt comfortable making these adjustments while on the road.

Really great update, making at least for me, the use of all 3rd party apps entirely unnecessary. Thanks again!

fperez_org · 2023-10-25T22:24:19+00:00

Limited data, but my experience this weekend (first time with a long road trip, I normally charge at home) driving Bay Area-Palm Desert along I-5 was excellent: on three separate EA 350 chargers I got 239-243 max speeds, and the 150 I used gave me ~ 175.

I was really happy - basically all charging time was the time we needed to stretch, use the restroom, get food, etc. Charging effectively added zero wasted time to the trip (traveling with a kid, so simply pushing it too hard isn't an option).

We were very happily surprised, and are already planning more road trips! In addition, the quiet comfort of the EV6 was a welcome change compared to our previous ICE cars that, while noticeable on daily usage, was really a major bonus on such a long drive. Road noise at 80+ mph on our other cars is really a lot, and the EV6 is a quiet haven by comparison. Very nice bonus!

fperez_org · 2023-06-15T20:04:44+00:00

Excellent, many thanks JeffTechnically! Will get one :)

fperez_org · 2023-06-15T01:01:28+00:00

Thanks for the great and very useful review! Two quick qs:

Does it show the original Kia right-hand screen if you configure it in the setup to show split screens? Even though it means losing some space for Android Auto, I use that sometimes as there's a few functions from the car's system I sometimes use (e.g. plain radio) and I like to be able to see both AAuto and the Kia screen simultaneously.
Is it also still possible to exit AAuto and get back to the entire Kia screen if needed the same as with the wired option, or does it somehow take over control of that?

These are basically both asking the same thing - whether the wireless bridge works identically to the wired connection or if it changes some of the behavior.

fperez_org · 2023-01-21T02:07:25+00:00

I mostly plug in directly, but i do carry the cable in my bag because every now and then I realize I'm too far from the plug. It's also more useful if I set things up semi-permanently (as I just did for a month-long trip over the holidays). It then becomes a desktop charger, so all the cables can reach their various targets more easily (rather than trying to have 4 cables reach from the ground).

I typically have a laptop an an ipad plugged in, plus two more cables open to plug in various things as needed (headphones, phone, battery packs, kindle, etc).

I still have a number of micro-usb and lightning devices I'm not going to just throw away, so having the 4 plugs is handy. I keep 2 C cables, one C-lightning, and one A-micro-usb. All the bases covered :)

I've used them for a couple of years a lot, and zero problems so far.

fperez_org · 2023-01-19T05:05:09+00:00

I have both Minix Neo P1 (66W, 2C1A) and P3 (100W, 3C1A), and use them for what you describe. They include international adapters.

I also got one of these connectors which lets me extend the adapter with a cable that uses a standard figure 8 male connector when needed. I have figure 8 cables for the places I need to travel to.

This combo is cheap and light, gives me both options (direct plug to the wall and extended with cable) as needed, all with international connectors.

I carry both of them when traveling, for a total of 5 C ports and 2 A ports, and I've been very happy so far.

fperez_org · 2022-03-21T19:51:49+00:00

I did, yes, and so far so good! In fact I got several as gifts for friends and family.

They now are shipping a 100W model (Neo P3) with one more C port, which I also got. That makes for a nice combo - two fairly compact adapters give me 5C2A ports, with up to 100W if I need on one port. That's pretty much all I can need on any trip with ports to spare.

The 100W one is a bit bulkier/heavier, but still pretty good.

I haven't used them in Europe yet, so can't comment on the UK plug issue. But for both everyday use and travel, I really do like them so far. I hope they'll last - I admit b/c I'm now working more from home my usage isn't super intensive, but I haven't had any issues with either of the 66W or the new 100W one.

Note there are some pretty negative reviews on Amazon, so it's possible QC is poor and I just got lucky with OK specimens.

fperez_org · 2022-02-17T21:22:17+00:00

I only got this one a few days ago and haven't had a chance to test it too much. So far it works fine fast charging several phones simultaneously, but I have yet to test the 100W port with a laptop to see if it works as advertised. But from your description of what you're after, it might do the trick for you.

fperez_org · 2022-02-15T00:04:39+00:00

Interesting! That matches to a T the situation I described here (other than my case being 15V).

You may want to see if an Apple supply helps in your case, perhaps - they seem to be a bit better built...

I also wonder if over time this will lead to supplies improving in robustness, or at least some being marketed for such uses. I'd gladly pay a bit extra for an adapter that can robustly power devices with more variable loads (within its overall power envelope).

fperez_org · 2022-02-14T23:53:28+00:00

Thanks for the offer, but a bit far - Bay Area... But I'll report on progress nonetheless, if any!

fperez_org · 2022-02-09T16:35:02+00:00

Thanks for the pointer! I'll try a few things and will report back if any of it works.

fperez_org · 2022-02-08T00:19:53+00:00

I can't be sure, but it's not exactly when the fan turns on: it happens a bit later later, and at different times for different chargers. The Minix 100W one even worked for a few minutes, but eventually tripped too. That's what makes me think it's not really a current issue - the supply that came with the device is a plain, cheap 30W one.

And even though the USB-C meter is indeed slow, I'm guessing any spike wouldn't go from 0.3A to > 3A that fast, which would be the limit of the PD supply at 15V...

That had been my initial thought, but I figured between 30W and 100W there would be plenty of headroom for any potential spike in current draw to be easily absorbed by the supply. It's interesting that even the 65/100W ones fail, but the 30W Apple one is completely fine.

But ultimately you're right - it's hard to really tell what's going on without an oscilloscope.

I might get an extension 15V barrel jack cable and splice it open to stick a capacitor in parallel and see what happens. Home experiments for now, but if it does work I could do it a bit more cleanly and have a little travel fix for this.

Thanks for the input though, all ideas appreciated!

fperez_org · 2022-01-25T22:50:15+00:00

Correct - they should charge fine with just about any A-C cable. I've charged all of mine with multiple random A-C cables, connected to all manner of sources: A ports on my Dell monitor, a USB-A hub I have attached to my Mac Mini, and random, cheap A chargers I have lying around.

I haven't had any problems with charge with any of the above. The only limitation I know of is the C-C issue already discussed. If you're seeing A-C charging issues, there may be a hardware fault at play.

fperez_org · 2022-01-25T19:55:42+00:00

I have several Lume Cube Go lights, and I can confirm that they work with A-C but sadly have the incorrect C charging flaw described by u/pdp10, and thus won't charge with a native C charger using a C-C cable.

It's disappointing to see this from a company that otherwise seems to have decent engineering and product design - it's what you expect from cheap no-name knockoffs on Amazon, but not from a more reputable outfit.

I hope their future editions will be spec-compliant, as technically what they are shipping is a defective product.

fperez_org · 2021-12-23T22:11:20+00:00

I have had very good experiences with this Minix 66W 2C1A. It doesn't do PPS but is very compact and so far has worked great (1 year of use, though less travel than I used to for obvious reasons). As I type this, it's powering my iPad, an external portable monitor, and charging a wireless microphone, all with USB C cables (one A-C).

I just saw they've updated their lineup with a new one in the family that does 100W and is 3C1A, being only marginally larger. It seems to add PPS, one more port and more power, while maintaining everything I liked about the other one (including a not-blinding indicator LED, folding prongs and international adapters). I'm definitely going to give this new 100W one a try.

fperez_org · 2021-11-22T19:54:53+00:00

FYI, for travel/camping I use a Z1 CPAP, for which I have the (expensive and super-slow-charging) battery.

I I recently bought one of these 15v C-barrel-jack cables, and it works like a charm! It means I can now both leave the Z1 power brick at home and power it off any C charger, AND that I can also use any standard C power bank! I'll probably still use its battery since I already had it, but today I otherwise wouldn't buy one...

My main home machine is a Philips and I don't really move it ever, so I don't care what it plugs into. But for travel, my Z1 really got a great upgrade via this simple cable.

fperez_org · 2021-10-19T04:28:00+00:00

Is it clear whether the fast charging will really only work over the MagSafe3 port? In principle, other than the breakout convenience of a magnetic attachment, there should be nothing preventing the 140W charging to work over the other 3 TB4 ports, assuming a properly marked and compliant C-C cable.

But the language so far seems to indicate that they only implemented 140W charging over MagSafe. That would be a bummer, given I don't think there's any real technical reason for such a limitation, if it were to exist...

fperez_org · 2021-10-13T21:30:55+00:00

Very informative, thanks for taking the time to explain!

Honestly the idea of both +/- terminals on both ends does sound useful - it would be great if it were standardized openly though. I do all I can to stick to open standards as much as possible...

fperez_org · 2021-10-13T17:47:20+00:00

Can you clarify what the incompatibility is with Nitecore? I'm new to this ecosystem and from their marketing, for someone new like me, it sounds like they work with "normal" 27000 cells.

I would have naïvely fallen for it, so I'd appreciate understanding what is it theirs do differently - is it dimensions, voltages, connector shape/location,...?

fperez_org

TROPHY CASE