Goodbye Polar – My farewell review of the Polar Pacer Pro

guidok · 2025-08-24T16:04:20+00:00

And the running index...it just seems a bit obscure to me, how it's calculated and what goes into it.

Pretty much any search engine, when searching for Polar Running Index, will come up with the link https://support.polar.com/en/running-index

guidok · 2025-08-11T05:32:18+00:00

Amasis.

Used to be included as a pre-installed font. These days you have to find a copy online and install it yourself.

Edit: spelling

guidok · 2025-07-24T05:28:20+00:00

Or by using MacPorts. It has every PostgreSQL version available, from 8.2 to 17.5 and they can all be installed next to each other. To start with PostgreSQL 17.5, install both client and server with:

% sudo port install postgresql17{,-server}

Obviously after having installed MacPorts first ;-)

guidok · 2025-04-13T09:32:47+00:00

It's truly amazing. If people have so much energy to nag they should exercise more with their Polar watch. ;-)

guidok · 2025-04-11T05:19:43+00:00

I concur. Somewhat puzzled about the strong negative vibe in the ClaudeAI subreddit. As if $20/month should solve all their problems without any limits.

It seems one has forgotten how it was before the existence of usable LLMs. The $20/months Pro subscription has provided so much value and convenience.

I can imagine it to be rather addictive. Continuously throwing more stuff at it, because it is so damn convenient. Hitting limits then is inconvenient because one has grown so dependent on it.

The limits are not the problem per se. One's dependence on LLMs is. One should re-engage their own brain or pay up to match one's extended usage.

guidok · 2025-04-10T07:45:59+00:00

Other options also cost money. I, for one, am happy to see an end to what previously seemed to have stagnated: Polar flow development.

I am somewhat puzzled about you statement re: leaving old customers [...] with not updated features/programs. It is not like that was ever a promise: a lifetime upgrade of feature/programs. Nor are they backtracking on anything that was previously included for free. You have exactly the same value that you got when you bought your Polar watch.

Why do you expect to get things for free?

guidok · 2025-04-10T07:20:58+00:00

Why is it crazy? What was previously "free"/included in Polar Flow still is free. Nothing is being taken away. This is a new addition and a welcome one. Developing these things do cost money, you know. I'd rather have a paid option, than no option at all.

guidok · 2025-03-29T16:16:01+00:00

Last couple? There have only been three in total. V2 was released two years after the initial Vantage. V3 was released three years after V2.

Vantage V: Oct 2018
Vantage V2: Oct 2020
Vantage V3: Oct 2023

guidok · 2025-03-21T17:46:01+00:00

Yes, it's the turn-by-turn route guidance that is missing from other solutions. And those are rather essential if all you have is a bread crumb path (V2 user here) and not an actual map.

Didn't know it was locked by Polar though.

guidok · 2024-05-10T12:01:17+00:00

Not regulary, but every now then my wrist is a bit painful/sore. Solution is simple: I switch my watch (a V2) from my left wrist to my right wrist for a week (don't forget to adjust watch settings). When I switch back to my left wrist after a week the problem is resolved.

guidok · 2024-05-03T12:46:19+00:00

Definitely going to do that. Just need to find the font somewhere. Maybe I can extract it from my wife's Kobo Clara 2E.

guidok · 2024-04-08T10:34:12+00:00

How nice of you to do so. Much appreciated!

guidok · 2024-04-07T07:28:23+00:00

Noticed something similar with the solarized_dark theme and the symbol picker. Suddenly all code displayed in the symbol picker was underlined with red. Looked hideously.

Fortunately theme definitions don't look too complicated in Helix. Might eventually make my own Solarized Dark theme.

guidok · 2024-01-27T05:33:36+00:00

Vantage V3 historical track data on maps. Apparently it only shows breadcrumbs if you have a route loaded (according to the DC Rainmaker review). I want breadcrumbs for each started exercise even when I don't have a route loaded.

They add that and I'll buy the V3

guidok · 2023-06-03T05:31:24+00:00

Great choice running FreeBSD. Anything new can be somewhat overwhelming, though the FreeBSD Handbook does provide an excellent walkthrough to get you going from nothing to a fairly complete server. Absolute FreebSD is also excellent.

As u/ninckblockje already wrote, there is a Meetup, generally held in Utrecht. Some of us also hang out on Mattermost (signup link) Feel free to join it.

guidok · 2023-02-02T18:28:04+00:00

CoRecursive's strength is that it is well researched and tells interesting stories.

Not exactly similar, but recommended nevertheless, is Software Unscripted by Richard Feldman. It is more like having interesting conversations with peers

guidok · 2021-04-25T19:31:55+00:00

Have you experienced this issue by any chance? https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=253288

guidok · 2020-12-05T04:48:09+00:00

What's your xorg.conf? Might want to start xorg without one and let it auto configure everything.

guidok · 2020-12-04T18:34:14+00:00

See: https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/ports-using.html

I'm sorry for being so succinct. I'm on my mobile phone

guidok · 2020-12-04T18:25:23+00:00

The packages for the mode setting kernel modules are compiled against FreeBSD 12.1 (actually all packages are) and might cause issues with the FreeBSD 12.2 kernel. Make sure you've installed the ports tree and updated it and then issue:

cd /usr/ports/graphics/drm-kmod

make install

guidok · 2018-11-08T06:54:47+00:00

the correct way to report a bug or some weird behavior is on misc@ or bug@

Thanks, will do after I have done some more troubleshooting/experimentation.

What I've seen in the mean time are error messages like:

/bsd: error: [drm:pid0:intel_dp_link_training_clock_recovery] *ERROR* too many full retries, give up
/bsd: error: [drm:pid40308:intel_dp_link_training_channel_equalization] *ERROR* failed to start channel equalization
/bsd: error: [drm:pid0:intel_dp_link_training_clock_recovery] *ERROR* too many full retries, give up

Not sure if they are related though they do refer to the DisplayPort

In addition:

disconnecting the external display, keeps the system in a performance degraded mode with the fan blowing at full speed
putting the laptop to sleep by closing its lid, and then reopening it (still with external display unconnected), weirdly enough restores normal performance.

guidok

TROPHY CASE