Tong Family (richtong.org sync)

Wow what a camera, this thing is small yet super complicated 🙂 The main notes for first time users is You have to do a firmware upgrade by sideloading from a Mac or PC. This is a USB C camera, so on a modern Mac, you just need your USB C cable and then do…

Ok, there are so many different terms when you use Training Peaks and they have lots of different help buried everywhere. Here’s a simple decoder ring: It all starts with your FTP, that is your functional threshold power. This is the amount of wattage that you can generate for an hour. For the average person…

One of the things about the Garmin 1030 (and the 820) is they do have an app marketplace. This is actually pretty cool because it let’s you do some great integration. Right now I can’t get my Garmin to work with my iPhone. They actually require that you do a full iPhone reset to try…

OK, I’ve used the PowerTap P1 for quite a while now and it was mostly just automatic, the Garmin Edge 810 just picked it up and it displayed right and left balance no problem. Because the 810 is older, it just uses ANT+ for connectivity and this worked flawlessly with the Wahoo Speed Cadence, PowerTap…

Wow these cars are pretty incredible. You basically just change the oil and then you hit the 60K major maintenance interval. Looking at the Owners Manual, here is what is required then. Don’t let a repair shop lead you wrong, if you haven’t been abusing the car, here is what you might expect to see,…

OK, there is basically no user interface for the dash cam. Here is what I’ve figured out: If you stick a USB key in one of the front USBs and one of the partitions has the folder TeslaCam and it is formatted as FAT32, you will get a Dashcam icon. If the icon has an X on…

OK, this is all a bit complicated, but basically the new Autopilot 9.0 on Hardware 2.5 Teslas. These are Model 3s and Tesla Model X and S manufactured after August 2017 need two forms of USB storage. (Why they didn’t put a real storage architecture in the cars and charge an extra $1K for a…

Ok, for your high quality backup camera that fits in between your camera phone and your mirrorless, what are the accessories to get. Hat tip to Brian Smith (his list is a little outdated so make sure his recommendations work for the M6),  Kain Photo for SD card recommendations Sony Battery and Charger Kit with NP-BX1 Battery…

So you can’t wait anymore. You have a big trip planned and you gave your other camera away. […]

Well, Sony must have done something right because it seems like everyone else is launching cameras to keep up with them. While it is hard to figure out what is up, here’s a quick analysis: Canon. Their main claim to fame is that they are compatible with existing Canon lenses, however, if you have “old”…

OK there is a lot of misinformation about what is going with the 20″ tires with the larger red caliper brakes. For one thing, Tesla has said that you cannot use the 18″ or 19″ wheels with this setup. What are the reasons for this. The folks at Tesla Model 3 Owners Club really explain…

Ok some quick reminders. The first is that you should make sure you pay attention to the quality of the rental and then make sure you are using the right discount codes and things. Getting points and miles It might not seem like it, but with AirBNB, you can actually get more points values than…

Well, sometimes things don’t work. I’ve been telling everyone to get an Unifi instead of consumer grade hardware, but today I got caught. If you have the “square” access points, they are effectively dead. These are called Unifi UAP AC and they use the Broadcom chipset that has been buggy and is now unsupported. Super…

Now that everything from the Jaguar iPace to the Audi EQ are coming out, it’s time to take a look again at real-world vs. EPA efficiencies. Here are some notes: Tesla Model X 100D This car has an EPA rating of 295 miles with a 100kWH battery, that translates into 338 WH/mile. The big variables…

Some folks have been asking me what are the must have accessories for the Model 3 (for the lucky ones who are getting it). Here’s my stack ranked list: Protective wrap. The car has lots of paint in the front and from our Model X experience, you really need a protective film. There are many…

OK, now that I know that increasing your average wattage from 150 watts to 175 watts is actually quite a bit of work. So what are some other ways to be more efficient. Why this matters? Being dropped Some wonder, why any of this matters for the average rider who is going in a group…

Although the iPhone has made printing photos basically obsolete, it is still nice to decorate a dorm room with photos. The easiest way is to just use an online print service to do it. While you can always go to Costco or Walgreens, it turns out that there are specialty shops that do a great…

These are benefits that I really should take more advantage of, but somehow I really do forget, so in order, here are the big ones for some of the major credit cards: Chase Sapphire Reserve They have a mini website devoted to benefits, here are the interesting ones in order: Auto rental primary insurance, so…

Well, if you are like me a little safety conscious, then you might know that we are in a big transition right now. Disc bikes used to have lots of disadvantages, but the latest Dura Ace for instance has no weight penalty. The one thing that is a little concerning is that some bikes are…

I barely use it but these (not very discoverable Tricia are great). Hat tip to Lifehacker To navigate. Hard press in the keyboard and you can navigate through text fast. Lighten pressure and then hard ideas in this mode and do quick selections In Mail medium press and peek at Email On a folder hard…

Well, I’ve been using a set of Nike biking shoes. These use velcro straps and then have a ratchet system. They actually don’t work as well as my very old Sidi shoes which have three ratchets. So on to looking for some replacements. They have carbon fiber soles, but along with the PowerTap P1 pedals,…

Another thank you to Brad for finding great stuff. But if you are riding, then you don’t just […]

Ok, here are some things I’m always looking for and never seem to find. First if you have a Merrill Lynch credit card, it is issued by Bank of America and because BoA owns ML, there is integration. For months, if you try to prepay your balance, no matter how much you look on Bank…

Well the winter is approaching and in Seattle that means rain and darkness, so time to get ready for it. There are a few things that you need. Computer Well Garmin seems to be ruling the roost here, but if you need directions then the 1030 is the one to have. It is large enough…

Seems way to early to talk about winter sports, but a  sale on winter ski passes ends Sept 3. See https://www.epicpass.com/pass-results/passes.aspx.  If you are going to Park City that is included as are most resorts in Colorado and Whistler as well, it’s called the Epic pass and the discount ends shortly. See https://www.epicpass.com/pass-results/passes.aspx but basically a…

As part of my campaign to reconnect, been hanging out with victorr. Awesome guy and amazing book recommendations. Haven’t missed for me yet! Island Books staff picks are here: https://www.mercerislandbooks.com/meet-staff Victor’s current recommendations are: • Educated (https://www.mercerislandbooks.com/book/9780399590504) • Need to Know (https://www.mercerislandbooks.com/book/9781524797041) • How to Change Your Mind (https://www.mercerislandbooks.com/book/9781594204227) • Life Reimagined (https://www.mercerislandbooks.com/book/9780399573323) My list…

Well the good news is that Google finally allows more than one account for synchronization. Right now Dropbox allows two, one personal and one for business. The bad news is that Google only allows three and I oftentimes need more than three since each non-profit, each company has it’s own drive. Sigh. If you need…

Since switching from macports, Homebrew has been just awesome, I use it for my personal installation scripts and it is fast and seems reliable. The nice thing is that it installs the so called casks in their own directory and then symlinks them to /Applications` However, last month I discovered two problems: When you use the…

I got a “I’m at Best Buy, what should I buy?” call from my friend Jon. So, opinions vary on this, but if you are getting a Mac, then the MacBook Pro without  Touchpad makes a lot of sense as a budget model with 8GB of memory and 256GB hard drive. When you add the…

Well if you are car camping, you have so much more latitude in terms of gear. You don’t have to eat dehydrated food. You don’t need to worry about weight. So for the average mortal it’s way more practical. Here are some things to get to prepare in order of comfort: Sleeping pad. You want…