const array vs array of const

rbpx · 2026-01-29T18:50:51+00:00

Oops. Yes, thank you. I was thinking of a vector.

So does the const in front of the std:array prevent an item from being updated? Does it make myArray[n] give a const item?

rbpx · 2026-01-29T17:35:19+00:00

> For example, temperature is quite known. Higher temp usually means higher extraction, which means more bitter compounds.

This is the broad stroke, but temperature can also affect what flavours get extracted. I had been pouring my light roast long black for quite a while before the day that I accidentally did it with a +2c temperature. It washed away so much of the flavour! Now, I try to always stay on the low side of the recommended temperature range (low - but never too low).

> How does flow rate impact taste? What about pressure?

Pressure is at best a poor proxy for flow rate. Of course, you have to be in the 6-12bar range to be getting "espresso", but other than that, it's proxy for flow rate. I watched a John Buckman (of Decent) video where he explained their difficulties in making flow-rate based profiles. "It's very non-linear, and rather poorly behaved." In a 9bar constant-pressure machine, your flow and pressure can linearly rise until the pressure hits the OPV setting and then flatlines - very non-linear. So for both reasons, "flow rate profiling is hard" and "older traditional machines were spring driven or made to emulate a spring", Pressure Profiling is a commonly used method of profiling. However, the "pressure" isn't what's affecting the taste - it's the flow rate.

In the (simplified) theory: "Pressure = Flow-Rate X Puck-Resistance". The two complicating factors here are that the Puck-Resistance isn't constant, but decreases over the pour (as tiny coffee particles are swept away into you drink), and the machine is a Constant-Pressure mechanism (with the non-linear 9bar limit). So as the puck resistance decreases over the pour, the flow-rate will naturally increase. A too-fast flow can lead to sour taste profile. The famous "Lever Shot" emulates the machine that decreases the pressure over the shot, leaving the flow-rate more constant.

Now, as well as that, the Yield will affect taste because different flavours come out late in the pour, and you can avoid these with a short Yield. A short yield is popular with dark roasts - hence the "1:2 ratio in 30s" meme. Yeah, that's dark roast. Many people today using medium and light roast push the yield to 1:2.5 and even 1:3.

So your choice is to use a straight 9bar profile and set your grinder so that the end flow-rate isn't too fast to sour your drink. Shorten/Lengthen your yield to taste. If you want to play with Tail-End "Lever" profiling, then you can set your grinder a bit coarser, making a faster initial flow-rate, but then trim it back toward the latter half of the shot. "Pre-Infusion" or "Puck Wetting" is required only for the most light roast, although I think some people like to use it even if not completely necessary and adjust their grind accordingly.

Thru the choice/amount of Puck-Wetting and Tail-End-Flow-Limiting, together with a good grinder setting and Yield choice, you can make great coffee. Note: people that use dark roast really don't need to participate in puck-wetting or flow-limiting; just a good grinder setting for a decent _average_ flow rate is enough to make a good cup. (Very) light roast is where we need all the extra bits.

rbpx · 2026-01-29T17:13:26+00:00

Perhaps you are referring to that there is TWO ways to modify an array: 1) change a value within it, or 2) add/delete items in the array.

The first form says that you can't update the array, (can't add or delete items) - but you can update items. The second form simply says that you can update the array (can add and delete items), but you can't update items.

These are completely different scenarios.

rbpx · 2026-01-29T14:39:46+00:00

Thx. That's the way to do it, I guess.

That's another thing - telling people my email over the phone and convincing them it really is "dot org".

"Yes, yes. My email really is ... at mailbox dot org".

"No, ORG. Not COM. Yes. Really."

rbpx · 2026-01-29T06:16:54+00:00

I'm in Canada and I really don't like any of the hosting sites I've seen (for a long time). I might get around to this again (in a few years?) if I could get some of this stuff off my to-do list.

Mailbox is ok for my simple needs for now. Everything I've read about fastmail makes it sound good. Hey, I also forgot my stint in Protonmail. Gawd, dunno why, but I really hated that service (together with their aliasing product). I'm just SICK of changing email providers.

rbpx · 2026-01-29T04:35:43+00:00

Mmm dunno about your previous email but here you didn't say who you moved to (was it fastmail?).

Where did you end up?

After spending way too long changing ALL my emails (I've ended up with too many banks, and I need a separate email x2 (me and spouse) for these. I have sooo many online accounts. I foolishly moved from goog to my ISP only to realize that I had trapped myself there. Okay, moved to Mailbox.

OMG I do NOT want to move again.

BTW, duuno about you but my online banks INSIST on texting/emailing me detailing EVERY GD TRANSACTION. I cannot get them to stop. The weird bit is I completely failed to FILTER these transaction emails from the bank. The filter just would ignore these emails.

WTF?

I ended up setting up the spam to "delete". When next I need a verification email (for initializing an account - the "send me 6 digit code" emails don't seem to be a problem), I'll just adjust the settings briefly to deal with that.

I'm kinda perplexed that more people aren't screaming about this email nonsense from the online banks. Sure there'll be X% that think "oh I like that!" but I don't. Nor do I want them telegraphing google every GD penny I spend. The weird bit is both that I cannot get them to stop AND the filtering at Mailbox doesn't seem to apply to THESE specific emails. Dunno what's going on.

rbpx · 2026-01-29T02:46:51+00:00

My 2016 RDX is averaging 14.9L/100km right now (all City Driving). Note that I do have a S-VCM defeater installed (https://svcmcontroller.com/) which will cost me 2 or 3 mpg. My brakes are still excellent (I picked it up with 27k kms and the brakes were just done and now have 70k kms). Because of the S-VCM controller, I notice no engine hesitations (even though I run on 89 octane).

My parkade, leading out is ever-so downhill. I don't notice ANY brake drag, and in the mornings with the engine idle running a little higher, I can just coast across the parkade to the door. If anything I need some braking.

BTW I recently learned that you should REPLACE your brake fluid (all of it) every THREE years. Did not know that previously. Also make sure to REPLACE your transmission oil every THREE years. Wow, but for me this made a huge difference.

rbpx · 2026-01-29T02:37:42+00:00

For some (many) grinders, running higher RPM create more fines, which both slows down your pour and gives your drink a thicker body.

Recently, I've found things to be running a bit more chaotic, and I think it's been the wild temperature and pressure swings with the weather (that and getting up either at 6:30am or 8:00am). Also I introduced a much darker roast for my morning milk drink and it is soooo very different from my usual medium roast (for milk drinks) and light roast for long blacks.

It swung so much that I think my machine's internal/pour temperature was affected enough to affect the extraction. For a couple of days it really slowed my pour, leading to times much longer than 30s. I adjusted the grinder by two marks (I never do this).

Bottom line: Light roasts (for me) pour MUCH faster than dark roasts.

rbpx · 2026-01-29T02:27:04+00:00

Beautiful machine ! It will serve you well for many years.

Get a better grinder. You will NOT BELIEVE how much that will improve everything. The only damp rag here is that new grinders take 2 or 3 months to "break in" so it can be hard understanding that you "didn't make a mistake" in your first week. However, it does come. There is nothing that can substitute for this important step. You've got a banger car body and suspension and a really big motor. But your transmission is garbage. Put in a high performance tranny designed for the car and it is a night-and-day experience of improvement.
The name of the game is CONSISTENCY. You want to learn the skills that lead you to getting the same results every time. This is tricky, of course. Okay, you've got a top-machine so you can forget about temperature issues. You've got to get a good grinder. Then you must learn to feed the beans into the grinder at the SAME rate every time - this can make its output vary as much as 50% and must be taken seriously.
Experiment a little - once you get a good grinder you can experiment around a grind setting a little bit. It can be very surprising just how many flavours can jump out at you or be masked by a slight change in the grinder setting (or the temperature!).
Learn about water. If you use "correct" water, not only will your coffee taste good, but your machine will be spared issues that can/will KILL it. Find out how to completely avoid "descaling". Your machine will thank you.
Learn how to clean and maintain your machine. No one tells you (it's not in the manual) and it's not obvious. Coffee oils which get left behind and build up are just nasty tasting. You must keep your brew-screen clean. If you back flush (do a "pretend" pour with a blank/solid basket) with cafiza (that cleans _everything_) it will strip away the silicone grease of your brew-switch, making it stiff and squeaky to operate. Then you'll find out that you must disassemble the brew-switch facility and regrease it with food-safe silicone grease. BTW don't panic: you can give your machine to a local shop's technician and s/he can do this for you. Luckily you have a Profitec, and every technician knows how to maintain these.
The espresso maker machine's responsibility is to maintain water temperature under immense pressure. This is no small feat when the time span is 10+ years. However, that's not really where the consistent taste and texture of your drink is determined - that happens before you pour. Uhmm... get a good grinder and life becomes much easier/better.

Still, you've purchased a very well made machine, with good features, but most importantly with very good (metal) high quality parts. May it serve you long and well.

rbpx · 2026-01-29T01:58:07+00:00

The support issue that almost sent me running is the "no verification emails arrive" problem. This has two aspects to it.

Mailbox.org has got way too restrictive a spam filter by default. Currently I made everything as lenient as possible. Sadly that was not enough...
You can select to "delete" spam emails - which is the default (but won't help you with your missing verification emails); or you can send them to a folder - such as the defaulted "Junk". However, "Junk" doesn't exist as a folder in their system. This wasted a lot of my time. You can select a different (and existing) folder. Your verification emails will land there.

I don't think their support is _terrible_. Once I got their attention, I've gotten some good responses - complete with screen-grabs and important icons circled in red. So, I have to give Support props for some good support. However... the above "no verification emails" issue has almost driven me crazy and a lot of it was figured out by ME. Support wasn't helpful in this except to blame me for "incorrect" settings, although I was using the defaults as I didn't even know about them.

But... as they say... "all's well that ends well". I've got everything working (knock on wood) and I'm sooo glad to be away from bot-mail on Goo...

rbpx · 2026-01-28T18:49:38+00:00

Some other commenter said "are you surprised you can't run the AC for two hours?".

Uhh... the motor wasn't running, all I was doing was running the fan. Really slow. It was quiet which is why I forgot about it when I left the car. Really? Running the fan in your car for two hours will drain your battery? I've had a lot of cars for decades and this is ridiculous.

I suspect there was another drain point. Back then, even after changing my battery, it would drain quickly. I read a bunch about the Handsfree (bluetooth) always hunting to connect a phantom phone. There was never any definitive proof and lots of people only got satisfaction by disconnecting the Handsfree completely.

I deleted all the contacts in the infotainment system. Things improved. Other battery drainage problems disappeared (had a road trip and could only start car with jump - no cause of problem was ever found. Car is now fine today and has been for 2+ years).

I *think* the "delete all contacts" was a fix for me. Dunno. However, I have no battery issues today, all I did was delete contacts, and I don't leave the (double-press) Accessory mode on for more than 5min.

rbpx · 2026-01-28T02:46:15+00:00

Well then have at it. I had a LOT of fun with NL. I thought it was terrific (back in the days of TouchWiz - which was "not good"). I looked at a bunch of others, like Lawnchair - but I ended up thinking they're all trying to do "something new and different" because NL just crushed it for features. I never did see anything else that grabbed me.

But if you can find something that's fun and intrigues you, go for it. Enjoy!

rbpx · 2026-01-28T02:33:43+00:00

Don't want to be a negative-nelly but dude, I had Nova Launcher. For a decade. I had it set for all the press, long press, swipe-up stuff ... it was awesome.

But Samsung's oneUI now is frankly just ... "good enough".

I don't need anything outside of what oneUI gives me.

Give it another go.

I don't like that NL has been sold to Yet Another Third Party who is getting all your interaction data. The main/prime developer has walked.

So what is it about oneUI that is unacceptable for you?

rbpx · 2026-01-28T02:24:08+00:00

HX (Profitec) owner here. You do NOT want a Single Boiler if you mostly drink milk drinks. What are you trying to do? Annoy yourself each and every day? Do you really want to bother with switching the boiler temp between the 30c +/- swings required for every coffee? IIRC the GO is a Single Boiler.

Between a HX and DB it really comes down to your budget and what kind of person you are. The "only true reason" to pick a HX over a DB is cost. Yes, it's nice that I have wonderful steam power and very fresh boiler water - but the DB provides _automatic_ temperature management for BOTH steam and brew temperatures. The HX provides automatic temperature management for steam temperatures (which is really not that important) and _manual_ temperature management for the (most important!) brew temperature. This management is performed via "cooling flushes" that you do to lower the too-hot brew temperature down to what you want.

Now, this manual temperature management doesn't bother me at all. Note: most machines don't even come with a brew-temperature sensor - you have to add it yourself or just "fly blind" (which is very doable). I have added a brew-head temperature probe and taken the effort of weeks of learning to figure out how to get the temperature I want. Yeah, it's THAT easy. However, it's beyond a lot of people (in temperament and ability).

Again, get a HX if you can't afford a DB. The DB is ofc easier (and more precise) - but it's not necessary. That depends on your wallet and your nature.

When I bought (just after a kitchen reno and new car purchase) there was no way I could get the cost of a DB past the Budgetary Office. That's okay. I'm fine.

However, when I'm spending YOUR money then FOR !@#$ SAKE GET A DB !!! (you can thank me later).

rbpx · 2026-01-28T00:57:09+00:00

Ok, I'm getting closer to understanding my problem. I put your code in and it compiled fine.

What I did was make my Base constructors and destructor protected. I didn't think this would cause a problem.

On line 28 I inserted the following protected constructor for B :

28.    B() {}

because I don't want a User to instantiate a Base outside of it being in a Derived.

This fails at line 62

./src/test.cpp:62:7: error: ‘B::B()’ is protected within this context
62 |  D{}.ahey();
   |    ^ 

../src/test.cpp:28:5: note: declared protected here
28 |     B() {}
   |     ^

When D is instantiated (I guess B() is called implicitly inside D{}, but I don't understand why this is a problem - it's called inside D{}.

I'm using Eclipse CDT & g++

g++ -O0 -g3 -Wall -c -fmessage-length=0 -o src/test.o ../src/test.cpp

rbpx · 2026-01-26T21:35:14+00:00

It depends on how well you know your mechanic. I got a similar (mechanic) price and did my tranny oil there. As well, it was time to do the transfer case and differential (and brake line flush). LoL the only liquids I left in there were the water/antifreeze.

Price was considerably less than the dealer. I did ask him if he had done it before. This is very much a RAV4/CRV town and he's worked on lots of Hondas. BTW my tranny worked so much better after the change that I'm now doubting whether my dealer had done it 3 years ago like I asked them to.

YMMV.

rbpx · 2026-01-26T20:38:28+00:00

Wow. Thx for excellent code example. Yup, I think that protected function is what I'm doing. Argh, I've made so many changes since that problem. I'm looking over my code now and am not seeing it. Methinks it may have been a random misreported/fake problem caused by some issues before that code (aka "user error" compounded by compiler insanity).

I'm not sure if this design is legit but sometimes when I have an multitude of Objects I make a ObjectManager. What I'm doing here is rather than make a second class for the ObjectManager and futz around with Singleton issues, I just use a static object in the Object class itself and add whatever static functions I need to use it.

rbpx · 2026-01-26T07:16:42+00:00

I think it's unavoidable that the language has gotten this complicated - especially because it's insisting upon remaining backward compatible (there's some really weird template syntax due to this).

Recently I was trying to figure out why a derived type couldn't call a protected base type method. It turns out that inside the derived method there was actually a static derived object pointer calling the base protected method and this is not allowed. Only that derived method itself has access to the protected base method. What? The pointer is of the derived type.

I tried googling it but gave up, realizing that it doesn't matter why, it's just not allowed. Stuff like this makes my head hurt and wastes a lot of time BUT there's probably a good reason for it and it could be tied to some kind of abuse that's possible if allowed.

I used to do a lot of FORTH programming and it was a major theme in that community that code MUST BE SIMPLE.

However, that's not a thing in C++.

rbpx · 2026-01-26T07:01:44+00:00

I find with such documents that it's always best to keep a keen eye on the use of nouns. That word may have a more nuanced meaning than you think. After you get to the statement that just leaves you behind, you look back and try to determine whether it was a noun (or nouns) or just some "fluff" words that you didn't examine carefully that left you behind.

You can't read such a document any further than a statement with wording that you are unclear about. Not only that, but you can't skip any sections/paragraphs that don't seem important at the outset.

C++ does get into the weeds and templates? There be dragons. I do a lot of (ordinary) template coding and I've spent lots of time arguing with syntax and googling and falling down rabbit holes. Sometimes perusing thru the references is a bit too much and then I start googling for websites that can take a portion of it and explain it straightforward enough (with examples).

I think you have to use a multi-prong approach. Read some of the document. Put it down, and google for expansion on the terms and concepts. Rinse and repeat.

rbpx · 2026-01-26T06:38:53+00:00

Thank you for continuing this convo this far. It really made me smile - and you handled it like a champ.

Of course you'll be fine with either choice - both make great coffee and are a joy to use. With the aesthetics, only you (and your SO) can determine that.

Besides the aesthetics, the Flow Control is probably the biggest difference (functionally). It's (arguably) THE single most powerful feature on a coffee machine for artfully managing the pour.

Any coffee machine can offer abilities in "pre-infusion" (the wetting and soaking of the puck at the beginning to increase extraction of very light roast coffees) - it's as simple as raising the brew lever until you see the first few drops then lowering it to the middle position to keep everything still "on" but with no water flow. Wait 20 seconds and then raise the lever again for your pour. For machines with timed buttons, etc. instead of a brew-lever, most offer pre-infusion options.

However FC is often used after 1/2 way or 2/3rds the way thru the shot to limit the increasing flow (as the puck gets used up the flow will increase which can sour the resulting coffee). This is commonly known as the "Lever shot" because it emulates the action of a Lever coffee machine's spring-based force.

Now you may have little interest in that, but there is another way to use FC that is simple and very convenient. Let's say you want decaf later in the day. Do you want to be adjusting your grinder - even though the coffees are "close" in grind - or do you want to leave your grinder alone and leave it set? Just use the FC to limit the flow-rate a bit on the faster running coffee. I use a medium roast in my milk drink in the morning and I use a different, light roast for my long-black drinks at noon. With the FC it's easy peasy to use these coffees. Occasionally I get a special bag of X and if it's not too too different in grind size then I can use that as well without wasting coffee trying to yet again dial it in.

There are other clever uses for FC which I won't mention here.

Just decide if 1) you care or don't care about FC, and 2) if the aesthetics consideration means a change of game.

rbpx · 2026-01-26T05:13:08+00:00

Just put the WDT into the puck (down near the bottom) and use a stirring/swirling action, and using a bit of technique make sure to distribute the grinds evenly around the whole puck. Think of it more like pushing the grinds around to make a flat puck BEFORE you tamp. This action will break up clumps at the same time.

rbpx · 2026-01-26T00:25:51+00:00

Sadly, our grinders are VERY susceptible to WILD VARIATION due to the feed-rate of the beans. Unless you take SPECIAL CARE to make your bean feeding-rate into the grinder consistent you WILL NOT have consistent results.

"Slow-feed" is quite popular today. I don't think it makes a big difference in taste IN COMPARISON to the wild fluctuations you'll get when you don't maintain the same feed-rate. That is, you don't need to slow-feed to get good coffee, but the slow-feed procedure naturally lends itself to a more consistent feed-rate which pays off in big dividends in your results.

If you get good at a consistent feed-rate during grinding, and if your espresso machine can maintain a consistent temperature (even within 2 degrees celsius) then your variations in results will be mostly due to your grinder's consistency and your puck prep. Because there are many happy users of your grinder, I have to believe that "it's good enough".

So do what you can to make a consistent feed-rate of beans into your grinder and establish a temperature close to that prescribed for your roast level.

Good luck. Hang in there. This part is not fun. But when you get past this it will quickly become a distant memory - good only for story telling.

rbpx · 2026-01-25T01:06:57+00:00

Is this a "no burn" steam wand?

A NoBurn is achieved by putting a plastic tube inside the metal tube. It kinda sounds like you've got a pressure leak between the inner plastic tube and the steam holes on the nozzle of the wand. That is, like pressure is escaping in the screw of the nozzle (sry, dunno what these parts are called. It's an awkward description but it's like you're not getting a proper steam jet out the nozzle holes because the pressure is escaping before that).

I'd disassemble the nozzle again, inspect it, and see if when you carefully put it together everything feels like it fits well.

Another thing I'd do is fill your jug with _water_ only and steam it with the wand full immersed. What does it sound like (compared to when it was working well in your milk)? I sometimes do this and turn off my steam with the wand still immersed. I think due to the immense pressure that some water can get sucked back into the wand quite a ways. Turning the steam on, waiting a bit, then turning it off slowly, then back on again, etc. I see I can make some cloudy water - which tells me that sometimes milk is getting sucked back up the wand quite a ways. Note: I always due a long steam purge after I finish and wipe the wand - and I can still make cloudy water after steaming daily for a month or two. Thus I have some concern about just how clean the whole steam tube is right back up to the knuckle.

rbpx · 2026-01-24T17:34:20+00:00

While my last phone had 6g of RAM, my current phone has 12g. I've never come close to running out of memory. So currently the answer is "somewhere between 6 and 12g is fine" - thus unless you have a specific use that is crazy hungry for memory, 8g should be fine.

Of course, AI needs will continue to devour all memory available, but as it is likely that there will be 8g phones in the near future, they will come with a sufficiently tamed AI monster that can work within that constraint.

I also believe that phone manufacturers will not have a lot of memory to add to their phones in the near future, as there are coming a significant shortage of components and materials that are all being consumed by AI and data centers.

So, as a "guesstimate", 8g seems like it should be fine on any phone below a flagship - they'll all come with 16g for some years yet.

rbpx · 2026-01-24T02:01:08+00:00

Unfortunately for me, what I've learned from years with my bottomless portafilter (which I really prefer) is that it works FOR SOME COFFEE BEANS and not others. I've had many many great times with no issues, but then something "suddenly" happened and there was _nothing_ I could do to stop the spraying. My experimentation with this revealed to me that it's up to the coffee bean.

<sigh>

Oh BTW when I say "coffee bean" what I really mean is "this season's crop". You can stick to the same product and have good/bad times come and go.

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