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freerobby

1,911 karma · joined October 6, 2009

@freerobby robby@freerobby.com
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freerobby··on Rivian embraces Tesla's charging standard for EVs
What charge port do you have that isn't Tesla compatible with an adapter?
freerobby··on Reddit CEO Says Mods Too Powerful, Plans to Weaken After Blackout
Good.

If mods want to withhold their own work and resign in protest, power to them. But right now they're hanging this all on mass censoring the work of their users. Screw that.

Now, if users want to take down their own content in protest, also power to them.

freerobby··on FAA selects sustainable design for new control towers at smaller airports
Lots of ancient tech in control towers. The FAA is soliciting proposals, though.

https://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/non_federal/r...

freerobby··on Tell HN: Amazon shows different (worse) pricing when logged in
Important: the seller is different. When logged in, the seller is Amazon.com. When logged out, the seller is SHOEBACCA (which does not appear to use Amazon for fulfillment).

If you are logged in and click to see all New & Used options, you can select the SHOEBACCA variant at that price.

My guess is that when you're logged in as a Prime member, Amazon defaults to variants that are fulfilled by Amazon so they can guarantee Prime shipping times.

freerobby··on Cirrus Vision Jet Pilot Pulls Chute in Florida
There's some folklore in that criticism. Cirrus listed CAPS as its spin recovery technique because it was the easiest + cheapest way to demonstrate that it meets FAR 23.221. EASA didn't accept that and required actual spin recovery, so a test pilot put an SR20 into a spin about 60 times without incident. It sounds like there is some technique to it, but nothing that couldn't be taught in transition training or that you wouldn't expect from such a slippery airframe:

> The Cirrus test pilot performing the spin program noted that while all spins entered were recoverable, they required a method of spin recovery that, while not unique in light general aviation airplanes, is different from that of a light trainer airplane in which a pilot is likely to receive spin training. Significant variability in spin recovery training techniques also exists – ranging from merely releasing the elevator control in some light trainers, to movement of the control to neutral, to brisk forward movement to neutral, to brisk foreward movement past neutral, etc.. In the case of the SR20, the proper spin recovery procedure is to briskly move the elevator control to the full down position. This is an unnatural control movement, when the nose of the aircraft may already appear to the pilot to be pointing down sharply. This is also a movement not typically advocated by spin training instructors due to associated discomfort.

https://www.peter2000.co.uk/aviation/misc/3-105960-Cirrussta...

freerobby··on Tesla remotely converts battery pack, cutting 1/3 of range
That sucks. Got a link by chance?

That's definitely not a standard practice, but I can see how that would happen by mistake (e.g. forget to remove FSD from the spec sheet) and then be difficult to get fixed. It's near-impossible to reach the right human at Tesla, so when things fall through the cracks, it's a nightmare. I suspect that's the issue OP is quoting, too -- there's likely a reasonable person at Tesla who can and would help if they knew about this story.

freerobby··on Tesla remotely converts battery pack, cutting 1/3 of range
FSD does transfer to next owner with any private sale.

If you sell it to Tesla, they often remove FSD and resell without it; but that's no different than anyone else modifying a vehicle they own and then selling it in its new state.

freerobby··on OP-1 field
Agree about the built-in sounds, but I solved that pretty quickly by adding things like mellotron samples to it.
freerobby··on Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated
> It seems reasonable that if someone is in a two person cessna they probably have some additional flight exposure, right?

I think that's true as you stated it, but this wasn't a little 150; it was a 208 (which seats up to 14). Very common to have non-aviation passengers in something like that. On the flip side, the fact that he was sitting front-right seat could be evidence he had some aviation background (e.g. as a pilot + aviation enthusiast, I would excitedly take that seat if it was an option).

freerobby··on Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated
Also pilot here, agreed.

I suspect there is a little more to the story. On the LiveATC audio, he was giving descent rates and asking tower/approach for headings. Didn't speak like a pilot but seemed to know more than a layperson. Maybe some aviation exposure but no flight time? Whatever the case, very well done by both him and ATC.

freerobby··on California will pay off all past due rent
If the State is protecting debtors from going through bankruptcy, it seems appropriate that the State compensate the creditors who would otherwise be able to make claims as part of bankruptcy.
freerobby··on Two people killed in fiery Tesla crash with no one driving
Why is this comment downvoted? It is 100% correct.
freerobby··on Two people killed in fiery Tesla crash with no one driving
It doesn't matter what a "regular person in the street" thinks, from a safety standpoint. What matters is what Tesla owners think (i.e. the people driving the cars). Are they fooled by the term? Search around on TMC, /r/teslamotors, or any other owners group, and you'll find it's pretty universally understood.

Additionally, the car reminds you of its limitations every time you use it. And it disables if it doesn't detect torque on the steering wheel, or weight in your seat, or the seatbelt clipped in. I understand how someone could be mislead by marketing early in the buying process. But by the time you get to operating the vehicle, it is borderline impossible to use Autopilot and still believe it requires no human attention.

freerobby··on Coinbase Announces Listing Date of Its Stock on the Nasdaq
April 14
freerobby··on Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index
Proof of space, too. See e.g. https://www.chia.net
freerobby··on Tesla spent $1.5B in clean car credits on Bitcoin
They'll complain and then we'll show them the energy consumption of the finance industry.
freerobby··on Launch HN: Aviron (YC W21) – High-Intensity Peloton for Rowing
Check out Asensei for live coaching, or Kinomap for outdoor rows. Both connect to the PM5 on the C2.
freerobby··on Launch HN: Aviron (YC W21) – High-Intensity Peloton for Rowing
I can see why the ECR piece is a handy input for the games, but having tried every connected rowing app under the sun, I think what is missing in this space is compelling content and compelling software on the same platform. As a fellow tech guy/non-rower who just wants to stay in shape, it's hard for me to see how success here hinges on ECR rather than the software and content. But I also understand you've already made a large bet on this, and I hope it pays off for you.
freerobby··on Launch HN: Aviron (YC W21) – High-Intensity Peloton for Rowing
Strong +1 to every part of this... except that I don't even have ADHD and still find exercise mind-numbingly boring. :)

Like you, Andy, and many others, I am not a "rower" but I do use a rower at home to stay in shape with minimal time spent doing so.

I also use a C2 and am hesitant to move off of it. I use a few connected rowing apps, mostly Asensei and Kinomap. They don't deliver a Peloton level of experience but they are good enough to stay motivated and there is no vendor lock-in on the hardware side, which is important to me as this is a nascent industry and I don't believe that all entrants will be winners.

While I have no interest whatsoever in buying another hardware platform, I would gladly pay $40/mo for an amazing software platform for the C2.

freerobby··on Boeing charged with 737 Max fraud conspiracy and agrees to pay over $2.5B
> How would one start pushing for such legislation?

Lessen the punishment of street criminals.

freerobby··on The Raspberry Pi 4 has a fan now – the Case Fan
If anybody wants a fully printable fan mount for a Pi that isn't coupled with a particular case, I designed one as part of an OSS project. The CAD files are available here: https://astroswarm.com/blog/build
freerobby··on Stack operations on a guitar loop pedal
I've used SooperLooper too! It reminds me a lot of (and seem to draw a great deal of inspiration from) the Gibson Echoplex.

I like working within Ableton for a few recording workflow-related reasons but agree SL is fantastic as a standalone tool.

freerobby··on Stack operations on a guitar loop pedal
I built a homemade multitrack looper using Ableton and a custom Max4Live plugin. It works similar to a looper pedal, but (1) it gives you random access to all loops instead of just the top of the stack; and (2) it keeps every audio stream on its own channel, so you can route drums to a PA system, guitars to an amp, etc, instead of having everything go to a single output.

Here's some riffing I did on the Stairway to Heaven solo that showcases it: https://freerobby.wistia.com/medias/vcajgqerla

freerobby··on Raspberry Pi 400 – First Impressions
I believe they avoid socketed chips due to vibration issues. Definitely should have upped the physical capacity to distribute the writes, though.
freerobby··on Raspberry Pi 400 – First Impressions
I have a reverse-ssh tunnel + script to upload the logs to my home server on demand. If the MCU crashes or reboots unexpectedly, I would lose those logs.

Ironically, my system for downloading the logs writes them to an SD card on a raspberry pi.

freerobby··on Raspberry Pi 400 – First Impressions
Yep, same problem with eMMC on Tesla's Tegra board. Solution: mount /var/log and other such partitions as ramdisks :)
freerobby··on The cheap pen that changed writing forever
Check out the Pilot Vanishing Point. Fantastic pen, also click-style and with a reasonably good seal while disengaged. I've been using mine as a daily writer for the better part of a decade. Unfortunately the price has crept up in recent years.
freerobby··on Uber Drivers Sue Company over Pressure to Support Prop 22
What if the owner in that situation is telling the truth though, i.e. they believe the club will become insolvent if it doesn't pass? Can they not say it?
freerobby··on Uber Drivers Sue Company over Pressure to Support Prop 22
You may be technically correct, but I would ordinarily read "threat of discharge or loss of employment" in a retaliatory sense, not an existential one.

A more cut-and-dry example might be clarifying: if there were a ballot initiative to outright ban strip clubs, and a strip club sent a memo to its staff, correctly noting their jobs would be gone if it passed, would that be a violation of this statute?

freerobby··on Tesla Model 3 Drives into Overturned Truck in Apparent Autopilot Failure
It doesn't say anything about the limitations of cameras. It says a lot about the current software limitations of Autopilot. As does the owner's manual:

> Traffic-Aware Cruise Control cannot detect all objects and may not brake/decelerate for stationary vehicles.

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