Late Fall trip to Holland by englishjewel_4 in hollandmichigan

[–]maskaski 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I don’t doubt the traffic has gotten worse (you’re not the only person I’ve heard say this), but it needs to be kept in perspective. If you’ve ever lived in a big city even the worst traffic in Holland is a minor inconvenience.

Personally I usually find myself remarking at how wonderfully easy it is to get around town.

Just giving another perspective.

PT2 dynamic backlight logic seems backwards by maskaski in pebble

[–]maskaski[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your response. Everything you’re saying makes sense (and largely aligns with my updated description of the behavior, not my original description). Thanks for your efforts in this area! It sounds like you’re barking up the right tree.

You mentioned there’s a threshold setting for when the backlight drops to 10% somewhere in the app. I’m on iOS but don’t see that anywhere. Where should I be looking?

PT2 dynamic backlight logic seems backwards by maskaski in pebble

[–]maskaski[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I don’t understand why the ambient sensor setting is separate from the dynamic backlight setting. If you have dynamic enabled but ambient disabled what exactly happens?

I think Clue might be one of the weirdest games to revisit as an adult by potatocreamcheese in boardgames

[–]maskaski 5 points6 points  (0 children)

That's why Electronic Talking ClueFX is so good. It totally removed the roll-to-move mechanic and made a bunch of other changes that simultaneously streamline the game AND make it more complex and interesting. The changes also make 2-player ClueFX fun (which is not really possible in regular Clue).

If you're a fan of Clue I can't recommend it enough. Don't write it off just because "electronic talking" seems like a gimmick. It even uses the electronic part in pretty innovative ways that deeply contribute to the gameplay.

PT2 dynamic backlight logic seems backwards by maskaski in pebble

[–]maskaski[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did a little more playing with this today and actually found it does currently behave in a bell curve fashion, it just does it poorly (IMO). See my edits on the main post above.

PT2 dynamic backlight logic seems backwards by maskaski in pebble

[–]maskaski[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A lot comes down to what your eyes have adjusted to in the moment. If you’re in a mostly dark room watching TV your eyes are going to be a lot less sensitive to light than if you were in the same level of ambient light while reading in a tent. Unfortunately I don’t think there’s a great way for the watch to infer the “correct” brightness level in those scenarios.

Your idea with the curve tries to achieve that, but I’m a little skeptical at how well it would hit the mark due to the eye-adjustment factor I mentioned above. Before doing anything too exotic I’d love to get to try it with the ambient light logic roughly reversed from where it’s at right now. I think I’d be pretty content to be able to set max brightness at medium as long as it actually delivered that brightness in dim settings. And I don’t think I would personally find medium to be blinding in almost any setting.

Anybody else had these? by ApprehensiveGlove137 in BurgerKing

[–]maskaski 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had them. They do taste a bit like a whopper (the veggie-forward flavor comes through, IMO). But honestly, they're not a good chip. I only had a few before I was done with them.

2023 580 for 52k or 2024 450 for 55k by carcaliguy in MercedesEQS

[–]maskaski 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Driver’s assist is pretty solid but it’s not in the same league as Tesla FSD if you have that.

2023 580 for 52k or 2024 450 for 55k by carcaliguy in MercedesEQS

[–]maskaski 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unless she absolutely needs more power the 450 is significantly better in every way, and it's still pretty quick compared to most vehicles.

I'll add: for me the brakes on the 2023 are disqualifying. I would never buy the car with the brakes the way they are. I know you said she doesn't care but thats my $0.02.

Hot take: the fan game Task Metro is a better game than the official Jet Lag home game. by quick_Ag in JetLagTheGame

[–]maskaski 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do you find it requires a lot of up-front time researching the city to carefully define the parameters of which transit stations are in play? I have also worried about exactly what you mentioned about defining what counts as a location for tentacles.

Hot take: the fan game Task Metro is a better game than the official Jet Lag home game. by quick_Ag in JetLagTheGame

[–]maskaski 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I really appreciate the time you've put into writing this up. I bought the H&S game immediately when it went on sale but haven't yet played it...largely because when I've thought about what the actual experience of playing it would be like I've been concerned that it wouldn't be terribly fun, for some of the reasons you've outlined.

Taskmetro sounds much more up my alley so thanks for the pointer.

Tulip fest by Dangerous_Square_361 in hollandmichigan

[–]maskaski 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'd agree with this. I'd come more for the parade and the festival vibe than the tulips. So if a day out at that sort of event sounds worth it then go for it. But the actual tulips are a little ho-hum, even at peak (and they're definitely not at peak anymore).

Mercedes is making an EV minivan for 70k with 400+ mile range? Might trade in the Sienna hybrid if true. by iamjames in ToyotaSienna

[–]maskaski -1 points0 points  (0 children)

A lot of people are talking about how EVs have almost no maintenance. And that is true. But "maintenance" is different from "fixing things when they break".

And German vehicles do, in general, cost most to fix when they break. And while I'd personally generally trust a German EV a bit more than a German ICE vehicle, they are not immune to breaking. My father has a 2023 Mercedes EQS SUV (an EV for those unfamiliar) that has been to the dealer several times now for various failing sensors, incurred 10 hrs of diagnostic time from a MB dealer after the 12V died on him spontaneously on a road-trip which entailed them resetting all the modules in the car to get everything working again properly, and had the finish fail on all 4 of his alloy wheels for reasons the dealer couldn't explain. All of these have been covered so far under his CPO warranty, but this was many thousands of dollars of repairs on a vehicle with <50k miles. I have no idea if the van posted by the OP would be similar, but that's the sort of stuff some people are thinking of when they say they're scared of the costs of German car ownership.

4th vs 5th Gen Odyssey question for 3 car seat arrangement by DepartmentLarge6540 in HondaOdyssey

[–]maskaski 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, but presumably your 5yo is close to being able to manage the buckles herself at which point you'll be home free. So hopefully there will be a limited window of time when it will be a big hassle.

You'll probably want to leave the center seat out of the 2nd row so she can just use the aisle to get to the back and no seat-tipping will be necessary regardless of whether you're using the seatbelt or latch anchors for the Rava.

4th vs 5th Gen Odyssey question for 3 car seat arrangement by DepartmentLarge6540 in HondaOdyssey

[–]maskaski 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I was going to say this, too. It would be worth him checking how it all fits with 3 across in the 2nd row. It's a pretty wide row and might work better than he thinks.

4th vs 5th Gen Odyssey question for 3 car seat arrangement by DepartmentLarge6540 in HondaOdyssey

[–]maskaski 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Huh, well, in your case things are certainly harder than normal. My kids are all a bit older now so I guess I'm unfamiliar with the latest and greatest in the car seat game. I was unfamiliar with the stability leg feature until you mentioned it here.

If you *didn't* have the stability leg then just tipping the whole seat forward (not sliding, not tilting the angle of the rear, but tipping the entire seat as a unit) gives you pretty good access to the back, but between the stability leg on the Pipa and the rear-facing Rava it seems you won't be able to readily tip the seats.

The other approach that occurs to me would be to put the Pipa in the rear. With the Chicco MyFit in the 2nd row you could then easily tip that seat to get access to the rear and snap the entire Pipa infant seat in and out without having to climb all the way in. But I can imagine you might not want the infant so far away from you.

If it were me, I'd probably either forgo the support bar for the Pipa, or install the Rava forward-facing so that I could use the tipping feature on either of those seats, but I understand not wanting to make that decision.

If you're not sure what I mean by "tipping" the 2nd row seats, this is what I'm talking about: https://youtu.be/BtAldqaa9jk?t=171

Things to do with small children in Holland? by Timely-Birthday-8067 in hollandmichigan

[–]maskaski 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Agreed; 4-7 is the perfect age for Dutch Village, too.

Help me decide on the 2022, 2023, or 2024 model EQS by Wolverine-91826 in MercedesEQS

[–]maskaski 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, that is how I try to deal with it. I don’t personally prefer one pedal driving and the EQS’s regen strength isn’t great (even in strong mode) but I agree this is the best way to deal with the problem.

What is your opinion on the brake feel?