Idea for Guard to Prevent Robot Vacuums from Getting Stuck Under Furniture

Robot vacuums invariably get stuck under some piece of furniture (often couches). Solution--an adjustable-height "visor" along the front perimeter, to prevent the robot from going under the problem furniture that is going to get it stuck.

I guess a complication is that it is not enough for the visor to extend upwards, preventing entrance. That might just cause the unit to stall. It needs to extend down, over the bumper, which is what prompts the unit to redirect when it hits an obstacle.

Although I think there is a software fix. If the unit is not moving for 10 seconds, even if the bumper is not activated, assume it has hit an obstacle, and change direction.

Insert Hyperlink

CTRL-K seems to be pretty nearly universal shortcut functionality for editing a hyperlink. That's good, I use it a lot. The correct implementation (IMO) is for the modal dialog to place the focus into the link/address text input box. Most apps to that.

Webex Chat and Confluence are annoying outliers that place the focus on the text displayed. At least for the way I always, instinctually use CTRL-K, this is dumb and pointless. I have just typed a phrase I want to link, and have selected it before invoking CTRL-K (select-then-do UI metaphor). Or alternatively I am editing something I have written, and identify a phrase that needs a link. In either case, the display text is already written and selected--I effectively never expect to change that in the modal dialog.

Blogger lands in the middle--it doesn't default the focus anywhere. So I don't wind up typing in the wrong place without noticing, which is a small improvement.

Is this just a me thing? Are there other common use cases/workflows where the semi-standard default doesn't make sense?

Used 2019 Crosstrek PHEV vs ICE Decision

Mid-2024, we were somewhat unexpectedly in the market for a vehicle. When we bought 2 new cars almost 10 years ago, I vowed/predicted that my next vehicle purchase would plug in--possibly fully electric, and minimum plug-in hybrid. Not great timing, though,, because EVs still carry a stiff premium and have somewhat limit selection, PHEVs aren't cheap either and are less attractive now that full electric is common. And obviously terrible timing to commit to a new ICE vehicle. 

So we were definitely going the used route--about 5 years old, max 60K miles. The car would be my wife's, and she wanted a Subaru Crosstrek. She pointed out that it does have a plug-in hybrid option. I did some research. The Crosstrek seemed very solid, I couldn't come up with any reason to object to the ICE version--other than the fact that it was ICE. There are alternatives obviously, but nothing stands out, so if she wants a Crosstrek, why not?

But the reviews on the Crosstrek plug-in hybrid were very negative. So negative that I initially rejected the hybrid option it out-of-hand. But then I thought more about why the reviews were negative:

1. High cost: PHEV is only available in Limited (top) trim level, which already commanded about $10K over base. PHEV adds $7000 on top of that.
2. Worst-in-class electric range of 17 miles.
3. Battery pack eats into cargo space.

#3 was not too big a deal for us, since we don't have kids to haul around, and our other vehicle is a minivan. #2 is definitely a bummer, but 17 electric miles is better than none, so it really comes down to cost.

Regarding cost, we were already in the market for the top-line Limited trim--the only trim offered for the PHEV--so the PHEV premium new would have been $7000 (that's in 2019 dollars & prices). In researching used 2019 Crosstreks, I noticed the hybrid only cost $3000-4000 more (2024 dollars) than the ICE with Limited trim line. Quite a discount. After the requisite several days of agonizing weighing the decision, I decided rationalized going with the hybrid.

My rationale involved multiple dimensions, of which cost was only one among several.

Cost: at our annual mileage and gas/eletric costs, the annual savings would be about $300. Not compelling on its own, but worth maybe half of a $3000 premium (applying a financial discount factor for the time value of money).

Environmental: I expect the PHEV as driven by us to get 45 mpg, vs 29 for the standard ICE. That is a meaningful reduction in CO2. If gas cost what it should, I wouldn't have to think past cost, so I weight this about equal to cost.

So the first 2 factors make it a toss up. The deciding factors that pushed my rationalization engine over the finish line, to go PHEV:

Electric Niceness: for those 17 city miles, the smooth & quiet of electric is a pleasant thing.

Power: Nobody buys a Crosstrek for its power. I'm not a power guy, so that's fine. Still, the hybrid is about 10% better for pickup, so that's also a nicety, if it comes along for the ride.

Reverse Range Anxiety: the primary driver of the Crosstrek is known to be in a rush and come home with a tank run so low that it requires a separate trip, later that evening, to be sure there is enough gas to get to the destination in the morning. With the 17 magical electric miles, that concern disappears.

Fast Heatup: also a nice thing to have when you live in Minnesota.

There were a couple of negatives factors to consider for PHEV:

1. Hard to get outside of CA and the few other states they were sold new (never available new, for love or money, from MN Subaru dealers).
2. Limited color selection.

As luck would have it, a very attractive 2019 showed up in Carmax just when I had made my decision. It carried only a $250 transportation charge, which is as good as it was ever going to get. Unfortunately it was white--just about my last choice for color. I sucked it up, and white it was.

Secondary Devices A Minor Chink in the 2FA Security Armor?

Am I missing something, or are secondary devices (e.g. tablets) a bit of a 2FA weakness? E.g., if I know your phone PIN, it might still be very hard to get hold of your phone to leverage it for 2FA. But if you have a tablet that doesn't get daily use, that could be much easier to get hold of unnoticed. It's still low-percentage for most people, of course.

Barely Avoided a Car Crash

Driving on the highway through St. Paul, going low end of highway speed. Coming around a bit of a curve and all of a sudden I see a car in my lane, mostly facing forward, and a second car in front of the first car, this one at a diagonal, clearly struck by the first car. I braked hard, but realized I wasn't going to be able to stop without a collision. It wouldn't have been too bad, I would have lost a lot of speed by the time of impact, but it would have done catastrophic body damage at minimum. 

It was almost like I was in a video game. I saw that there was a comfortable car's width of room in the shoulder. And my trajectory from the curve was favorable to maneuvering in that direction. So I let up on the brake and swerved right. I was confident I would avoid a head-on collision, but I remember thinking that I would probably make contact in the rear. But to my wonder, I sailed right through, unscathed. It probably helped that I happened to be driving my son's car, a compact Ford Focus hatchback.

I was already planning to get front/rear dashcams, this is why.

Universal Dash Phone Holder Slot

I've used a number of different cradles for mounting my smart phone in the car. The CD-slot ones seem far superior--if you have an old enough car that it has a CD slot. Which makes me wonder--why isn't there a a universal phone-mount slot standard? It wouldn't have to be nearly as wide as a CD-slot. For extra credit, it could also provide a charging port or maybe even wireless charging.

I know, if you have Android Auto or Apply CarPlay, you may not need to mount your phone while driving. But not all cars have them, and there are apps that don't support them, and also there are automakers that don't support them. Also, wireless use can be iffy, and sometimes you are in a hurry on a short trip, and not interested in connecting the cable (if you don't have wireless). Or maybe a passenger is connected to the audio.

Luxury of excessive battery life

I am a super-heavy earbud user. I have a pair of SoundCore A40 earbuds that has ridiculously good battery life, both in the buds and the case. So good that I don't have to devote any time to worrying or managing the battery. In 2 years of heavily daily usage, not one time have I run out of charge or had to conserve. That is such an under-rated luxury!

Which makes me wonder--how much bigger would an iPhone have to be (for sake of argument, let's say the mainstream regular size iPhone 16) to double the battery life? I would certainly accept a 1/3 increase in volume for that!