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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: August 7th, 2023

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  • I’m going to be “that guy” and rain on your parade a bit. So my apologies for that.

    A lot of modern cars recommend against being used as a jump point. Jumping another car can be bad for the electronics in your vehicle. In particular, most (all?) EVs very strongly recommend against being used to jump other peoples cars.

    Jumper cables were great in the 70’s when you had virtually no electronics in cars, and before lithium batteries were a reality. Today you’re better off having a good lithium jump pack — they’re small, portable, are often USB rechargeable, and can pack one hell of a punch. Many tow truck drivers have switched to using jump packs — they’re portable, can tell you more information on the state of the battery via built-in electronic meters, and have a lot of other useful features built in. And it’s way cheaper to buy a new jump pack if something goes wrong than it is to fix your vehicles electronics.

    I’ve been carrying jump packs for a few decades now, and like you I’ve jumped a bunch of strangers vehicles over the years. These days I’m rocking a NOCO GBX45 — with 1250A of boosting power @ 12V, USB-C PD rechargeable, automatic polarity warning circuitry, a built-in flashlight, and can be used to recharge other USB-C devices — all in a package that fits in one hand and weighs just under 1Kg. Way better IMO than jumper cables — it’s effectively safer to use for the user and the vehicle, you don’t have to get close enough to use it — and if you own one yourself you don’t need to rely on the kindness of strangers to get you out of a pickle.




  • The main browser to use WebKit these days is Safari. You’ll find that on macOS, iOS, and iPadOS. I’m guessing that would be why someone downvoted me (some people have strong feelings about Apple, even though WebKit is Open Source and is very highly privacy focussed).

    I had thought there were more options out there outside the Apple ecosystem, but it seems many of the browsers I once knew were using WebKit moved at some point to Blink (like Maxthon and Slepnir). The Gnome Epiphany browser for Linux however is built atop WebKit.

    There are others, but you’re not likely (or able) to use them on desktop systems. PlayStation’s Orbis OS for the PS4 and PS5 uses WebKit as its underlying browser engine, for example. And there is WPE that is intended for use in embedded system environments (like for digital signage).

    I did think there were more options out there (there once was!), but it seems a bunch of them moved to Blink when I wasn’t looking!