I really was hoping for nano-texture on MacBook Air. The cynic in me thinks this is intentional as I'm now purchasing the 14" MBP with nano-texture. It's 42,000 JPY ($282 USD) more then a near equivalent MacBook Air. But the matte display is the killer feature for me.
And this is to finally replace my trusty 2025 MBPr. It's had an extremely good run. May this one also be a ten year laptop.
I agree a matte screen is necessary. I haven’t updated my 2013 mbp, but also not been using it for like 5 years, either. I don’t like Apple trying to upsell me just to have non-mirror screen, and the mbp is pretty heavy too.
I would imagine by implying that if Honda doesn't cooperate, they would face increased regulatory scrutiny. IE, Honda factories needs to have more safety inspections, vehicles fails to pass emissions tests, a finding that requires huge recalls, etc.
I hope this is successful but have a feeling that it's going to end up like Premium Friday. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premium_Friday Starts with big fanfare, supported by businesses, until focus drifts elsewhere and it quietly disappears.
For Garmin watches, auto activity tracking is under Settings > Activity Tracking > Status On. This shows up in Garmin Connect under graphs such as Body Battery, Heart Rate, etc. These auto tagged items don't show up as discreet activities and will not show up in other systems like Strava.
This is on the Forerunner 945 and will auto tag things like walks, runs, and cycling.
Nissan Leaf with it's single pedal setup is like a driving a car in 2nd gear, where the speed can go down to zero and accelerate all the way up to highway speeds.
In single pedal mode, slowing down to a stop is a lifting the accelerator pedal completely and it will come to a stop in predictable manner. The brake pedal adds more regen and stronger application applies the brakes itself. From a stop, pushing down the accelerator starts moving the car. On hills, there is brake assist and works without any drama. Operating in reverse is the same way.
In dual pedal mode, or classic operations. While under motion, lifting the accelerator has a bit of regen until about 7kph and then creeps forward. To come to a complete stop, the brake pedal is necessary. From a stop, lifting the brake pedal starts the creep forward. This being an electric, even on inclines, the creep forward is consistent. Reverse is the same way.
At slow speeds, ie parking, it is easier to have the creep mode. Controlling speed with the brake pedal feels better. However, with experience, single pedal slow speed works well, just have to feather the throttle.
I've set the car to default to two pedal setup on start. I hit the single pedal mode switch every time I'm driving. It works well in a shared car setup. I do find it more weird to now drive with two pedals, but using the brakes still comes up even with single pedal driving, so if I do "forget" which mode I'm in, I'll still use the brakes when the car isn't slowing down enough.
Regarding the simulated legacy behavior, ie rolling back on the hill or changing torque. This is in the same line as simulating gearing in a CVT and simulating engine noise. I don't find it appealing and do hope car manufacturers have it as a configurable item, like Nissan has done with the one pedal driving. Here in a Japan, even the noise generator to warn pedestrians can be turned off.
The first is "Creep" which behaves like a classic automatic transmission. It basically matches the dual-pedal mode.
The second is "Stop", which matches the single-pedal mode you describe.
But there's a third mode, "Roll", which essentially mimics a manual transmission in neutral once speeds get below ~7 mph.
When I first got my Tesla, I came from a car with a manual transmission, so "Roll" made me feel at home and I used it for the first couple weeks. But once I tried out "Stop" mode and tried out single-pedal driving, I was sold. There's no going back. It's now exceptionally rare for me to use the brake pedal.
Owner of a customized pre-fab (!?) home here in the Kanto (Tokyo) area.
Homes in Hokkaido area, where it gets quite cold in winter, have good insulation. If one is building a custom house in Japan from construction company that does pre-fab, ask to see the catalog for houses in Hokkaido. It will have features such as double paned windows and venting systems with heat exchangers. I'm the only one in the neighborhood with the heat exchanger setup.
Regarding central air versus having a compressor for each room. My previous house in the same area had central air and in hindsight, it wasn't an economical choice. It made all the rooms drafty and we were constantly fighting with low humidity. The current house has it's own compressor for each room and along with the ventilation provided by the heat exchanger, just running two units downstairs is enough for the whole house.
Have you looked into price comparisons for homes in Japan vs Europe or the US? Something off-the-napkin such as "an average salary person would need 30 years to pay off an average unit" or the like?
One thing that turned me off property in Germany was the amount of regulation and inspections involved, which can also be a problem in US areas with aggressive localities bent on generating revenue from homeowners. This, in my estimates, increased prices and made home ownership less attractive (for me).
In my pedestrian look-up of prices for homes in Japan, when accounting for salaries, they were comparable in salary-life-years spent, or higher, to US or Europe. What is your experience?
I used to live in the southern California area in the United States. I made a bit better then you average salaryman. Home prices varied wildly but I was able to get a 30 year loan for a new construction house. I did benefit from for low interest rate and liberal lending practices.
In Japan, I make nearly double what an average salaryman. This made getting a 35 year mortgage possible. I spend about 30% of my income on the home, its taxes, and upkeep. The current house is customized to higher spec then what is typically offered.
Like many places, prices vary quite a bit. This home was purchased during the "before" times and my commute into central Tokyo was between 90 to 120 minutes, by train or bicycle. Land prices is a quarter of what it is close to the center, about half compared to places within an hours commute time. For location reference, my station is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruhino_Station
The building itself is relatively cheap for the quality. I was able to spec it out before it was constructed. Most pre-built houses do skimp on insulation, ventilation systems, and typically have primitive co-generation power.
The curious thing about Japan is that buildings depreciate to zero in 30 years time. Land prices are stagnant or loses value the further out from major metropolitan areas. I had to get a realtor estimate on the house, and in the four years since the house was constructed, I would only be able to sell for about 80% of what I purchased it for.
> Homes in Hokkaido area, where it gets quite cold in winter, have good insulation.
Define "good insulation". I live in Aomori prefecture and most houses here have terrible insulation, and when I visited Hokkaido it didn't look much better. There is a reason why home centers sell lots of different materials to insulate the house yourself, because the construction itself is awful.
I think it depends if the house was pre-built or meant for rentals. I had the unfortunate experience of buying a used pre-built house in the Tokyo area and it was terrible. Every room vented directly outside, windows were single pane with bare framing, and it felt like it had only token insulation. Same with rental apartments, with the only benefit being small places.
The builders I've worked with; Tokyu Homes and Seksui House build all over Japan and have a catalog of options catered for each region. ie: Kanto (Tokyo area), Tohoku (Aomori), Hokkaido, etc. The contents of the catalog are surprisingly different. For example, triple pane glass and heat exchangers for ventilation is not shown in Kanto catalog.
My ex-partner was an architect and I have a strong interest in things mechanical. Along with experience of having multiple homes built for us and with a western attitude, we were able get a livable house that's fairly efficient (for a Western lifestyle).
I've been using "Magnet" for tiling. It's in the Apple App store.
My use case, 15" laptop display and a 32" 4k display. I find it sufficient enough screen real estate. I sometimes think about getting an additional display but can't quite justify it.
It took me multiple visits with a therapist to find that I need to have more self-care, otherwise I fall off a cliff. I need to take care of myself to be able to help others. What that is to be able to recognize symptoms and have techniques for coping with the stressors that have become too much.
I still struggle these days. The metrics from the "Body Battery" and "Stress Levels" let me acknowledge that I've had a bad day and need to rest.
Some cyclists get empowered by the "sharrows" and purposely become nuisance to other road users. While the cyclist does have the right of way, the intent is to signal to automobile drivers to share the roads. Courtesy from the cyclist would be to share the road with other road users.
I do find that cycling on roads with "sharrows" have less aggressive behavior from cars.
/me: Cycle commuter for 15 years in Tokyo, 20km to 40km each way during the "before" times. Currently mostly casual group café rides totaling 200km to 300km a week.
And this is to finally replace my trusty 2025 MBPr. It's had an extremely good run. May this one also be a ten year laptop.