I can talk the talk, but this is really going to test that ……

I live in a fairly walkable town outside one of the most walking and transit oriented cities in the US. I’ve always been a transit and walkable communities advocate.

My town is centered on a train station/bus/taxi/scooter/bicycle hub and we have a traditional walkable “Main Street” with shops and restaurants that we pedestrianize for the summer. We have a new rail trail that will eventually connect to a statewide network, a riverwalk and even kayak rentals in the middle of downtown

Higher density housing is centered on the downtown, dominated by 4-6 story apartment/condos, including residential over commercial. Works great. Surrounding that is a belt of 2-3 story multifamily houses, townhouses, and small apartments. I’m the first street zoned for single family, but I can still walk to the town center, and take the train into the nearby major city.

I even spoke up in favor of new statewide zoning, requiring “as of right” zoning for large apartment buildings near transit …… maybe you see where this is going …..

When I was out walking my dog this morning, I saw construction …. apparently there are a couple huge 6 story apartment buildings going in just a couple blocks away. It all seemed like a great idea until it was my neighborhood. It was a great idea when things were grouped by size. But now it’s a behemoth towering over three deckers and the like, and even looming near single family housing.

I’ve “talked the talk” but really don’t know if I can “walk the walk”. This really seems excessive for the neighborhood.

What do you think? Could you still support higher density housing when it means something twice the height going into your neighborhood, hundreds of tenants where now it’s 3-10 per building? What would you do when you get what you were asking for but it’s in your neighborhood and way out of scale?

After all this online drama over something as silly as green bubbles, I just discovered their power. I had a brief power outage and apparently my cell provider had degraded service, so I had no data and text messages didn’t go through. Then I tried a green bubble conversation and it worked.

SMS worked, when data and iMessage did not. So how can I do that on purpose? I don’t know if this is a normal occurrence but the next time I have degraded service with no data, does anyone know if there is a way to SMS to fellow iPhone users?

The SkyConnect dongle was sold as Zigbee but with the promise of also supporting Thread. This is available in HA as experimental. Does anyone have experience with how stable it is? Is it close to ready?

Is there a difference, and what?

I’ve been reading about the “15 minute city” idea, and it is both fascinating and brings back good memories. I’ve lived in a few neighborhoods of Boston, where my biggest use of a car is finding some place to stash one long term. I had all my daily needs in a short walk, as was a subway station. Combine that with a monthly pass and the freedom to go anywhere was fantastic. I know people in NYC with similar experiences, including several who never had a reason to learn to drive. My oldest is at college and on experiencing campus life, commented similarly. I hope y’all get to experience this some day

However the Boston area has focussed on” transit oriented development “ for the last few decades. They use zoning and other development tools to encourage mixed neighborhoods with more housing, more retail, and even more office space focussed on transit hubs. It’s not just a train station but each is a “hub”, centering other options including bus routes, taxis, trails, cycling, and other personal transportation. This is a lot of what makes a “15 minute city” possible. Now we’re extending it to Eastern Massachusetts, where any town convenient to transit needs to have similar zoning actively supporting transit oriented development.

These two concepts seem very similar, except for the special case of college campuses. What’s the difference, or is it just evolving terminology? Which is better? Are there strengths of one approach that need more attention in the other?

Has anyone else seen problems using a portable charger (USB-A) with their new phone?

I plugged the phone into my portable charger and saw all four status LEDs, indicating the charger saw the phone and had a full charge available. However my phone never started charging, and the status lights on the charger eventually went off as it gave up.

At first I thought it was the new cables, but I used the same cable with an old Apple charger, no problem. Unfortunately I don’t have another usb-c device I can try with that cable and portable charger.

The portable charger charges older (Lightning) phones, so that is not the problem.

So all three of my new iPhone, portable charger, and new cable work in other scenarios but not this specific combination.

Edit to add: rebooting worked. Thanks @weksa@lemm.ee

Now that we see the iPhone 15 with the new usb-c port, what’s your first impression?

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For me it’s not too big a deal, functionally identical. I have the pro, so could use high speed data, but I never have used the charging cable for data and am not likely to start now. I appreciate faster charging but realistically charge overnight, so no change

I understand and support the goal of one set of chargers and cables for everything, but in the immediate term, it does mean buying new cables and chargers, and it means all the existing ones going to waste.

-- so far, I’ve had to buy two cables, a charger, and two new power strips with USB-C, and there will be more to come

-- My teens still have Lightning iPhones and they’re hard on cables, so my old cables won’t go to waste.

-- admittedly, I’m trying to jump past the next transition by moving to usb-c chargers somewhat rather than buy new usb-a to usb-c cables for old chargers

-- I bought a usb-c watch cable but am not counting that because it was a replace t for a damaged usb-a Watch cable

-- I’ll still need charging cables for my car, and my laptop bag, and I’m sure additional charging block or two

In the last couple of years, I replaced all my lawn care equipment with battery powered and it has worked fantastically. I’m sure there will soon be other large batteries that need to be charged.

However I also note headlines about fires from cheap or damaged batteries. I don’t buy cheap and I do take care of my stuff so I’m not too worried but wonder if it would be worth building some sort of battery charging enclosure. Does anyone have any links, ideas or references?

My first thought is I have an unfinished basement with concrete walls and floor so that should be fire resistant: could it be as simple as stacking cinder blocks or pavers? My second thought is that would make a great oven, so no. So is there something I can do for my chargers to protect my house from any chance of fire?

So I have the opposite problem with a Chromebook from everyone else online, and haven’t been able to find any info ….

How would school management work on a personal Chromebook?

My teen is starting at a new school and they provide a free Chromebook, managed by the school. They do warn that it’s restricted and logged so he should keep personal use on a personal device.

That’s fine but he got his free Chromebook today and is seriously disappointed. The “new” school one is crap compared to his 4 or 5 year old personal Chromebook that I had to buy for his previous school. He wants to use his old one.

However what does that mean for school management? Can he even use his school account or only if he enrolls his personal device? Is management tied to the device or account? Since it’s his personal device, can he just create multiple logins and switch between them, or will the school see all and restrict all?

I just read a great article about a company wanting to do Circadian lighting on the International Space Station! It was very inspiring, so now I want to look into automating that. Up until now, my priority has been smart switches (both Zigbee and Z-Wave) and voice control, but I also have an automation to dim when it’s bed time.

Can anyone compare Circadian vs “dim to warm”, by how happy you are with results, cost, complexity? I guess I’d have to get all new bulbs either way, but I’d have to rewire and reconfigure switches for smart bulbs to do Circadian and I’d have to actively automate, vs “dim to warm” would just do it