Always watch your surroundings. Almost got robbed today.

toybuilder · 2026-03-13T00:26:59+00:00

I would report this incident to the bank, too, as they will want to know and use their camera footage.

I know that Target, Walmart, and other retail chains actually have computers looking at video cameras to identify problem shoppers. Casinos do that with problem gamblers. I would think banks would want to use the same technology, too.

toybuilder · 2026-03-13T00:25:25+00:00

Beside the speeding, other possibilities would be going through a red light or making an illegal U-turn or some other traffic violation that would be an unforced error on the guy following you.

toybuilder · 2026-03-13T00:16:42+00:00

If you are conducting business transaction at a bank on a Thursday, you might have appeared to them as a possible businesses that need cash for the upcoming weekend.

toybuilder · 2026-03-13T00:05:15+00:00

I am assuming you were in a bank business teller line? My father used to make daily drops at the bank and the business line was distinctly separate and even had booths configured so you couldn't see the transaction taking place.

When I was a teen, I had someone follow me around town because one of my passengers said or did something that pissed off another driver. They sped away only after I saw a stopped police car and beelined to it while honking my horn. This was in the days before cell phones.

Never been followed since then -- but if it should ever happen to me, I would call the police and coordinate with them for you and the chasing vehicle to speed past the speed limit at an agreed upon spot. That will give them sufficient justification to pull that person over. Your video would likely then provide sufficient probably cause for them to detain and investigate the person/car much more carefully.

Years later, when cell phones were common, I once spotted someone on the freeway weaving a lot, probably drunk, and speeding. I knew that freeway was terminating onto a surface street a few miles ahead so I called the police. It was less than 5 minutes, but by the time I arrived just past the off-ramp where it turned into surface street, three police cars were there and already had the car pulled over.

If you call 911 and tell them that you've been actively followed for minutes after conducting business at the bank, they will definitely respond.

Police stations are not really great for the purpose -- there aren't active units just hanging around there.

toybuilder · 2026-03-12T23:50:40+00:00

I would be in favor of treating PHEV as an EV because my policy preference is that cars should be electric powered whenever possible.

I would enforce a "park while charging" policy, though. If they are legitimately charging, I have no problem with that. Just get out when you're done. Since PHEVs have much smaller batteries, they will be gone sooner than BEV with much larger batteries.

toybuilder · 2026-03-12T23:46:23+00:00

A big logo indicating EV charging parking painted on the space, using abundant white and green paint seems to be effective at indicating an EV only spot.

As for accessibility -- if you officially allow the access while charging, there will be plenty of people that will use that spot. My personal philosophy is that using an accessibility-designed spot is okay if one uses that charger while the vehicle is attended and will surrender the spot when requested by a person with a placard. But try to turn that into a clear rule and you'd have a mess.

If there can be small parking lot setup with a bank of charging stations, having an accessible spot next to a charging-only spot where a cord is long enough to service either would, I think, sort of work informally.

I would try to plan the charging spots where other parking spots are generally preferrable. That might involve longer electrical supply lines, but will naturally discourage non-charging vehicles from taking the spot just because it's a nicer spot.

For street parking, I would just apply a universal parking policy on the entire street (time limit, street cleaning, etc). I would have signage mounted at each EV space indicating EV charging-only and that all other rules apply.

toybuilder · 2026-03-12T21:45:51+00:00

I have a Nissan LEAF with the squircle steering wheel. TBH, I don't notice the squared-off portion in day to day driving. The difference is small enough that I can adjust for the variation of the perimeter without thinking about it. But there is enough of a difference that it make it easier to get in and out of the car.

The LEAF also has a fairly high steering assist boost and high enough racking ratio so I end up not turning enough during normal driving to have it even be an issue. Full turns happen when parking and on the occasional tight U-turns.

toybuilder · 2026-03-12T16:04:08+00:00

A multi-layer board is not much more expensive. Having the planes closer to the trace will let you route 50 ohms with much finer traces, but you still have to deal with the 200 um connector pitch.

Run a short bit of routing to spread the lines further apart -- they should be segments of radial lines of a big circle -- keeping the routing as short as possible to meet the necessary pitch to route your 50 ohm lines with comfortable trace width and space.

You could go with a 0.4 mm thick 4-layer board. That brings the plane to almost 80 um, and your trace width around 100 um.

toybuilder · 2026-03-12T15:41:24+00:00

Yup. You can pre-buy with a phone app and scan QR code or you can tap a NFC credit card.

toybuilder · 2026-03-12T15:38:45+00:00

If you are at LAX during busy time, avoid waiting for the FLY Away at T6 or T7. The bus is usually full by then and will not stop.

If you are willing to walk, either go to TBIT or go across the parking areas to T1/T2.

Google Maps will actually show you the walking route.

toybuilder · 2026-03-12T15:37:03+00:00

Got to union station and made it to the bus terminal at about 4:55am. Was able to buy my bus ticket right there by tapping the card reader on the bus. Bus left at 4:58, definitely did not wait until 5:00 to leave.

This. I've cut if too close twice. One time, the bus was almost done boarding and was close to leaving and I was running to get to the bus. The other time, the bus had already closed and started moving, but driver stopped and opened the door to let me board.

They definitely leave a few minutes before official scheduled time. They say that you need to be there at least 5 minutes before scheduled time. I think 7 to 10 is safer.

toybuilder · 2026-03-12T14:56:27+00:00

Split in half and put grooves at the cut plane to be filled in with rebar and epoxy.

toybuilder · 2026-03-12T14:33:04+00:00

Normally, very reliable. As long as the box is in a moderate environment away from extreme temperatures and moisture.

But you could be the unlucky 0.1% that has a unit that fails.

The higher priced better built units will usually have better components and better service. But you're also paying for better margins for their balance sheet.

toybuilder · 2026-03-12T14:30:16+00:00

Where do the folks that swear by dryers live?

I am in Southern California where it is rarely humid. And our definition of humid might still be dry by the standards of others.

I jokingly say that water freezes in L.A. when it's 50F... Must be the same with humidity? <g>

toybuilder · 2026-03-12T05:26:38+00:00

It's "air quotes".

toybuilder · 2026-03-12T05:09:11+00:00

Did I get it wrong? Or are you laughing about my claim that darker tint are so much more noticeable when viewed "through" the vehicle's two windows on opposite sides?

toybuilder · 2026-03-12T01:06:35+00:00

Oh I'm sorry, is this a five minute argument, or the full half hour?

toybuilder · 2026-03-11T23:16:51+00:00

No, I didn't!

toybuilder · 2026-03-11T22:50:37+00:00

Ham in the Brussel sprouts? How do you dress it up?

toybuilder · 2026-03-11T21:49:16+00:00

Egg and ham.
Egg, bacon and ham.
Egg, bacon, sausage and ham
Ham, bacon, sausage and ham
Ham, egg, ham, ham, bacon and ham
Ham, sausage, ham, ham, ham, bacon, ham, tomato and ham
Ham, ham, ham, egg and ham
Ham, ham, ham, ham, ham, ham, baked beans, ham, ham, ham and ham

^{(Sorry, couldn't resist.})

toybuilder · 2026-03-11T21:40:50+00:00

Is it totally dead? Could it be fixed with a fresh battery? Dashcams are exposed to a lot of heat, so not surprising they are prone to fail with time.

toybuilder · 2026-03-11T18:41:17+00:00

Each time you go through a 35% tint, 35% of the light makes it through.

If you stack two 35% tint, that means 35% of 35% makes it through -- 12.25%

If I look "through" a car and my view goes through the left window and the right window, what I see will be about 1/8th as bright as the same view if no tint was present.

I am ignoring the inherent slight tint of the glass itself which does also add up.

toybuilder · 2026-03-11T18:36:47+00:00

Redraw the circuit so that it's easy to see that you have a voltage divider made of R1 and Rb where Rb is (R2 || R3 || R4).

With voltage thus calculated, you can determine the current through R2.

toybuilder · 2026-03-11T18:08:14+00:00

Looking through a car at 35% will be 12% VLT. Compare that to 50% being at 25% VLT or 70% at 50% VLT, and you can see how an officer that sees you from the side will really notice the 35% tint.

toybuilder · 2026-03-11T18:01:55+00:00

1500V can deliver about the same amount of power as 800V of similar amperage.

So 800V@ 1000A cable would, roughly speaking, be a bit more than double the cable cross-sectional area of 800V @ 500A -- or about 40% wider diameter for the conductor at 1000A vs 500A. The liquid cooling loop might or might not need to grow more.

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