I've been using it for light CAD work to design stuff for (hobbyist) 3d printing. You can use exact measurements just fine. The main issue is that it isn't parametric but for my needs that isn't a big issue, and the one-time $150 pricetag is wildly easier to swallow than a Fusion 360 subscription.
It's a lot like Blender, if Blender was a few degrees more usable for CAD. That said, I've yet to try the Blender CAD Sketcher addon (https://www.cadsketcher.com/).
I've tried that add-on and while it works, it still feels rather incomplete. I don't have much CAD experience though so my expectations might just be out of the norm.
I've ended up preferring to use cadquery instead, since copilot makes iterating designs with it pretty easy. But it looks like Plasticity might have the kind of workflow I'd like.
There's also FreeCAD, which is getting better! Definitely worth trying the RealThunder fork [0] that handles some geometry better than the upstream branch, and is kept up to date.
It's still weird. That's for sure. But very much usable as a fusion360 replacement for simple to intermediate 3D printing work.
I really want to like it. I am well accustomed to dealing with quirky FOSS UIs. But it is so bad. Something that takes one click in Solidworks or Solid Edge takes ten, and at any point if there is an error, there is no feedback.
If it looked like FreeCAD was trying to improve the UI I think I'd be throwing some money their way to fund it. But it appears they're happy with the way it works, as these paper cuts have actually gotten worse over time.
It's just FreeCAD, not FOSS-CAD-as-a-whole. Kicad gets better and easier to use each release and I am well aware what a gift it is to engineering work.
Are you familiar with parametric modelling in general / from other software? Fusion360/NX/Onshape/Inventor etc? Cause while there are a bunch of UX issues big and small in FreeCAD, some of the complexity and learning curve does come with the territory.
but last time I tried it I couldn't figure out how to do almost anything. Fusion 360 and solidworks (and I think onshape) all just "made sense". Throw down a sketch, extrude some surfaces, etc. FreeCAD was a struggle for me and I went back to fusion 360 mostly because I was already familiar with it.
I use Fusion360 (unwillingly) and Shapr3D, plus I learned Solidworks and used a _lot_ of 3D design (mesh) and parametric apps (like OnShape, Solvespace, etc.). It’s not the territory, it’s FreeCAD’s inscrutability by design—even Solvespace has a better workflow.
10 editable files at any one time. You can have an unlimited number of files that are set to read-only, and you can freely switch files from read-only to editable or vice-versa.
For what it’s worth, the Pixel 7 series (and maybe 6) has compatibility issues with some wireless chargers. It’s actually quite quick if you find one that plays nice: I measure 12-15 watts, so not much slower than wired. Incompatible chargers pull 3 watts or less, disconnect frequently, and often don’t even offset the phone’s regular drain.
I had to try a few to find one that works properly in my car. I’ve had good luck with chargers from Anker and Peak Design, and bad luck with Apple, JSAUX, and Spigen branded chargers. Google’s own chargers presumably work fine as well.
(Also, a lot of Qi chargers are extremely picky about the USB-PD or QC specs of the power adapter you use. I highly recommend using a USB power/voltage monitor to make sure they negotiate PD or QC power at 9/12v rather than the base 5v/1a. Without that, you’ll be charging at an absolute maximum of 5 watts before Qi losses.)
GEOS (a Garmin subsidiary) offers this for most devices on the Iridium network, including Zoleo and Garmin's own inReach communicators: https://my-geos.com/products
I have a Zoleo device and pay for the $40/yr coverage. You just register your device's IMEI with them.
Most dealers don't do this, though admittedly as another commenter mentioned, this isn't stopping the all the less scrupulous dealers.
I paid MSRP for a Mach E I ordered online with relatively little fanfare, albeit with a ~10 month wait and a model year bump (for which Ford gave me a discount off the slightly higher MSRP).
By far the simplest solution is to just crack a window. Even a modest amount of fresh air exchange is enough to offset most of the CO2 generated by the people inside.
I use a relatively small 10x11ft spare bedroom as my home office. If I close the door and window, it'll quickly climb above 1200ppm after 15-30 minutes (and set off an alarm on my sensor). It'll cross 1500ppm easily if left unchecked. HVAC helps but gets outpaced quickly if my apartment windows are all closed.
That said, keeping doors open, running HVAC normally, and cracking a small window open, even 1-2 inches and on the opposite side of my apartment, is enough to keep CO2 levels around 550ppm while sleeping and 700ppm (in occupied rooms) while awake.
I have one of the Anker batteries. It'll happily take in >1000W from an AC wall outlet to charge fully in ~1hr. It's 300W max DC input from solar (which is where that 3.6hr number comes from) or 100W max from a 12v car adapter.
Those other batteries you linked look like a potentially great deal for raw capacity, though there's something to be said for having a mostly portable package with thermal management and a bunch of different inputs and high-powered outputs.
I'm about halfway toward a PPL myself and have been trying to practice with a simulator. My biggest complaint is that control inputs seem to be almost completely different from the real thing. Maybe it's the hardware I'm using, maybe it's my own lack of experience, probably some combination of the two... but it's been a mixed bag for me, largely due to the controller situation.
For example, I explicitly stopped using a supposedly more realistic yoke controller in favor of a HOTAS joystick because I repeatedly found that I just _can't_ translate the physical inputs to a real plane. Yoke controllers in particular seem hard to get right (or maybe mine is just bad), but more generally, PC controller axes have a surprisingly low resolution (just 256 steps on an axis) making them wildly less precise than real thing, plus there's no force feedback. Using a completely different (and more precise) type of controller seems to help keep my brain from drawing conclusions it shouldn't.
Simulators _do_ seem helpful for more abstract stuff, like going through checklists, practicing maneuvers, experimenting... so long as you're very intentional about what you're trying to learn. I think I benefited some from practicing ground reference maneuvers [0] in X-Plane with a VR headset, for example, since they're largely visual and aren't tightly tied to physical inputs. On the other hand, practicing stalls in the simulator has probably lost me a decent amount of time in the air with my CFI trying to un-learn the wrong ideas I picked up, due to both control differences and (I think) simulation differences.
Looked at that in the past, for a more realistic experience you probably have to buy yokes like https://www.brunner-innovation.swiss/product/cls-e-ng-yoke/, which have more steps and do have force feedback. Unfortunately they are quite expensive ($1000 and up..)
It was mentioned later in that thread, but the Kona EV also lets you control the AC remotely via its mobile app without leaving the keys in the car. I don't know if it'll run indefinitely, though; my old Chevy Volt would turn off remotely started climate control after 15 minutes or so, and I haven't tried in the Kona yet.
That said, even if it is time-limited, 15 minutes is usually enough to cool down the car without leaving the AC on all day.
Any time limit defeats the point. An electric car isn't just a car without gas, it's a climate-controlled room you can put anywhere.
As global temperatures rise, there are places becoming increasingly uncomfortable to live in. There may be cases where it's cheaper to wait out the hottest days in your car, instead of retrofitting a cooling system onto a building.
Their older models from 2015 or so with 970m GPUs won't boot due consistently due to the hybrid (Optimus) graphics. The situation may have improved with the newer models, though, and their Stealth line only has Intel graphics which should work fine.
[1] https://www.sparkfun.com/products/19956