Tag: Safety

Navigating Tornado Warnings: Safety Over Probability in the US | March 16 2026, 17:59

Today a tornado warning was issued. A warning is issued if radar detects conditions favorable for the formation of a tornado. In the end, there was a little rain at the exact predicted time (within about 10 minutes). It came, poured down, and moved on. Everything was canceled everywhere. A bunch of people are still on edge. The principle in the USA: safety is more important than anything, even if the probability is nearly zero, if the consequences threaten life, a small probability is weighed against high seriousness and ultimately maximum protocols are activated. When assessing risk, the most pessimistic option is chosen because if you’re wrong – you remain responsible. People head down to basements, children are locked in gyms, etc.

Everything seems fine, but such a reaction to bad weather and similar troubles instills a behavior of excessive caution for life, and people simply choose comfort and are scared to death of thunderstorms and snowfalls. Not sure if this is right or wrong.

Check out the weekly temperature swing from 21 to 0 and back to 23.

The Mysterious Early Morning Explosion in Leesburg: Unanswered Questions and the Hunt for Clues | December 06 2025, 16:58

Two months ago, there was a loud bang at four in the morning in the neighboring village. Firefighters, police, and medics arrived but found nothing at the scene except for several open manhole covers and the smell of burning. No fire, no casualties, no consequences (besides the displaced covers). Yesterday I read that the local fire marshal has offered a $10,000 reward for information that helps find and arrest four suspects who had the audacity to look suspicious in that village shortly before the bang. No faces, only the colors of their shorts and t-shirts.

Smart Car Seat Selection: How My Tesla Knows the Driver | November 03 2025, 14:29

Incidentally, in my Tesla, there’s a very clever system for identifying the driver. If I enter the car first but sit in the passenger seat, placing my phone immediately in the central console for charging, and then Nadia enters second but sits in the driver’s seat and also places her phone there, her profile is selected automatically because she’s the driver, even though both phones are on charge under the central console.

So, there are two possibilities: either there is an antenna which can precisely detect that a phone has crossed the driver’s door rather than entering the car in any other way, or there is a camera focused on the driver. In any case, it’s very reassuring that it “just works”.

Chicago Airport’s Cannabis Amnesty Boxes: A Pre-Flight Solution | October 18 2025, 22:07

At Chicago Airport, there are these boxes for voluntary donations of marijuana to the police. And they are located AFTER the TSA screening line.

“These boxes belong to the Department of Aviation, but are serviced by the Chicago Police,” said police representative Maggie Huynh.

In general, they give passengers flying from Chicago the opportunity to dispose of marijuana before boarding the plane, as transporting it across state borders is illegal. Although marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, authorities claim they do not intend to arrest people found with it at Chicago airports. The TSA stated that if marijuana is found, they will refer the matter to the police. Chicago Police, while not recommending traveling with drugs (nicely said), states that they will not arrest a person if the amount they possess does not exceed the legal limit. They simply direct them to this box to voluntarily surrender what was found (what else to do with it, as carrying it on the plane is illegal by law)

So why use these specific boxes instead of, say, a regular trash bin? Because, as Huynh explained, only police have access to these boxes and can empty them — this helps prevent the marijuana or related products from falling into the “wrong hands.” And evidently, they must incinerate the waste somewhere…

From Tesla Model Y to Model S Plaid: A Swap Experience | October 14 2025, 16:51

Recently, my Tesla Model Y fell ill, and the dealership gave me a Model S Plaid as a loaner car. It’s simply a monster, accelerating to 100 km/h in 2 seconds. Over a thousand horsepower. But after driving it for a week, Nadezhda and I realized that we would still not trade our Model Y for a Model S.

Well, the fact that it’s unusually low to the ground is a minor issue. We would get used to that. But getting out from behind the wheel is always incredibly awkward for me. My belly isn’t that big, but in the Model S, it’s like a real cockpit. You have to carefully sit down and climb out, whereas in the Model Y, you just jump in somehow and go.

Moreover, the Model S is really noisy inside compared to the Model Y. You can hear the road. And this is for a price twice that of the Model Y. Also, for some reason, the mode where you just walk away from the car works less sensitively, and locks the car only when you are already quite far away.

And then there are the turn signals. What idiot decided to put their buttons on the steering wheel? It’s impossible to get used to that. The steering wheel still turns, and the buttons are always somewhere unclear.

But, damn it, it’s very beautiful from the outside. Especially with a light interior.

By the way, Tesla has somewhat poorly thought out the mechanism for issuing a replacement car, and it works with only one driver. You can’t set two keys for two different phones. Moreover, it would be nice to store the settings in the cloud and receive a replacement car already adjusted to your preferences.

And the car fell ill in an interesting way too. It’s funny when the car on the highway tells you that there’s a little problem, the engine is dead, but you should not distract yourself, just keep driving. After parking, the car might theoretically not drive, but so far all is normal. If not, we will tell you. Meanwhile, your drive will not sound the same.

As I understood, the car simply switched from 4-wheel drive to 2-wheel drive. Funny that such a fallback exists at all. Already fixed, it needed an inverter replacement.

The Ingenious Mechanics of Modern Fuel Pumps | September 28 2025, 13:36

With the purchase of a Tesla, there’s sudden interest like a fuel nozzle understanding that the tank is full. And a couple of other interesting findings on the topic.

There used to be an awkward problem at gas stations. Customers didn’t know when their tank was full and gasoline often spilled over. Engineers came up with a genius solution.

Inside the fueling nozzle, there’s a thin tube that pulls air from the car’s tank into a special membrane chamber (if you look at the “nozzle,” there will be two holes) When you press the trigger, fuel flows until the tube is submerged in gasoline (which means a full tank) and the air flow stops.

This creates a vacuum, which pulls three little steel flaps into the center of the mechanism, instantly releasing the trigger and cutting off the fuel supply.

By the way, approaching the diaphragm valve in the channel there is a compartment with a small ball inside. If for some reason the fuel nozzle falls out of the tank, the ball will block the vacuum channel, provoking a sharp increase in vacuum – and triggering the process described above.

It also turned out that the diesel nozzle is larger in size so it cannot be mistakenly inserted into a gasoline tank. But the opposite mistake can happen. Although they could have invented a different design that would work both ways from the start.

When a tanker refills an underground reservoir, the valve automatically closes when the tank is nearly full, and the gasoline vapors are sucked back into the tanker through another hose, where it condenses back into liquid fuel.

And it also turned out that if you drive away with the hose still in your car, there will be no fireballs, spilled fuel, or toppled gas pump. The hose connecting the nozzle to the pump is designed to disconnect into two parts when a certain force is applied. Next time you are at the gas station, pay attention to the metal connector on the hose. That is the break point. When the hose disconnects and you drive away, the area of the hose breaks, built-in valves in the hose cut off the fuel, but, of course, the pump will not operate for some time until everything is put back to normal again. Interestingly, this risk is considered and damage is minimized.

Oh, and here’s something for those who haven’t driven in New Jersey. By law, it’s prohibited to refuel your own vehicle. At all gas stations, there are attendants who do it for you.

Revolutionizing Car Safety: Pre-Collision Airbag Deployment and Smart Updates in Modern Vehicles | September 24 2025, 12:54

So far, I have only one car model and brand that can deploy airbags not at the moment of impact, but a moment earlier, so that by the time of the impact, it’s not too late to do so. We’ll see what the news shows, but tests indicate that this thing works better than the traditional method. Reality might turn out to be harsher, but we’ll keep an eye on it.

It’s also interesting that the car started to receive new exciting features after purchase. I never had this experience before. What you bought it with, you lived with, and sometimes you could go to the dealership for something new, and it usually involved replacing something physical.

The previous update (not very useful to me, but maybe to someone) was about automatic detection of children and animals in the cabin. And if it turns out they were left inside while the owner left, the car does not turn off the climate control. And of course, it screams into the app that this is not a good thing to do.

Childhood Curiosity and the Mysteries of Soviet Electrical Engineering | September 23 2025, 17:00

I remember being puzzled as a child by who the idiot was that decided to make the radio plug exactly the same as the one for 220 volts. This radio plug was supposed to go into a radio socket.

As a child, I used to disassemble and “improve” almost everything electrical in the house (I hadn’t graduated to electronics yet). Of course, I got shocked many times by the outlet, but to my surprise, the old Soviet phone could also give a shock. When a call came in, the voltage in the line would jump from 12-60 volts to 120 volts 🙂

I also had an interesting experience with Christmas lights. For a younger schoolchild, it was unclear why Christmas lights could shock you since they used the same bulbs that I connected to a flat “Planeta” battery. I had to learn the technicalities 🙂 By the way, those square flat batteries have disappeared; they used to be everywhere.

Switching from Sony to AirPods Max: A Cautionary Tale on Counterfeits | September 22 2025, 20:44

I made a gift for myself yesterday and bought Airpods Max. I already had Sony WH1000XM3, but I didn’t quite grow to like them. They don’t perform well with multiple devices, especially Macs, and although I find the sound quality decent, I prefer the sound in the Airpods, initially thinking it was due to the codecs, which indeed are a bit chaotic. Sony supports all – SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, and LDAC. Apple devices (Mac, iPhone) do not support aptX and LDAC. Of all the advanced codecs available to Sony, the only one Apple devices can utilize is AAC. Exactly the same codec found in Airpods. But the sound to the ear is noticeably different.

Regarding the new ones, I realized I would be earning an eternity plus still, of course, I decided to buy used. For popular items, if you have a lot of time, you’ll definitely find some in excellent condition and for half the price. And here’s what I found out in the process: nine out of ten “half-price” headphones are fakes. The same situation applies to Airpod earplugs. Sometimes they are of very high quality, but like any counterfeit, they have serious flaws, but as many reviews say, the average ear won’t notice the difference, as counterfeiters don’t skimp on the audio path.

Eventually, I watched a ton of videos on how to distinguish fakes from genuine ones, and managed to buy Airpods in perfect condition yesterday for $180 when their price is $500.

Interestingly, checking the serial number on Apple’s website is no longer a cure-all because they’ve learned to reuse serial numbers from stolen ones. Most importantly: never buy a sealed box. Its outer part is counterfeited such that it can only be differentiated by the slightly less neatly wrapped film. In unpacked “ears,” the differences are more noticeable. The main thing – the headphones must pair with the computer using Apple’s proprietary protocol, which the counterfeiters have not yet been able to replicate.

Popup on iPhone upon first connection: Genuine — with a “Connect” button. Fake — no button, connects via Bluetooth settings.

The material of the headphones — should be metal. Fake — plastic, because metal is more expensive to manufacture. Snap your fingers on them, there should be a specific sound (try it in the Apple Store) — but most importantly, it should be the same on both sides. On the fake, it’s different and distinct.

The material inside the box: Genuine — cardboard (possibly recycled). Fake — plastic. Although cardboard is sometimes used too. An unreliable indicator.

Wrapping of the headphones: Genuine — in paper material. Fake — in plastic or without wrapping. Also unreliable.

Case — Interior material: Genuine — soft, changes color when touched, has text. Fake — hard, does not change color. This is quite a reliable aspect, because fakes will not use more expensive leather.

Noise when shaking: Genuine — noiseless. Fake — the button moves, noise is heard. Ear cups: Genuine — strong magnets, do not fall off. Fake — weak magnets, easily detach or fall off. Screws inside the cups: Genuine — dark. Fake — silver or light. This only works if you have seen the genuine ones. The difference is impossible to describe in words.

Noise cancelation (ANC): Genuine — activates only on the head. Fake — works in any position (even on a desk). Of course, it’s also poor, but detecting this is difficult unless you have the fakes on hand.

We must also check for Spatial Audio. It requires an accelerometer inside. Of course, fakes do not install one – it’s almost unused and why unnecessarily make the design more expensive. But in Spatial, it is used (you move your head – the sound shifts back and forth).

In short, when I was traveling yesterday, I was almost sure I wouldn’t buy anything. But — I got lucky.

Speaking of the Airpods themselves, they have some drawbacks that have been known for several years. I’m okay with them. The headphones are heavier than they could be, they don’t fold as they might, they bump against the chin when worn around the neck, and it’s not very comfortable to wear them that way, the price is high (but okay for used), strange case, and the protective case is huge, half the size of a backpack. Among the very important pros for me — support for multiple devices and perfect integration with Apple devices, good noise cancellation (almost like Sony’s), premium materials, and perfect build quality.