Paul Rydell

Google Street View

How long does it take for Google Street View to update?

I saw the Street View car on my bike ride on November 12, 2025. I checked the view every few days to see if it had been updated. Today I checked on December 26, 2025 and it has been updated with the latest view, including me on my bike. So

Tesla

Syncing Tesla Lightshows with Falcon Player

Newer model Teslas have built-in Lightshows you can play on the car. They also let you upload custom shows that you prepare in xLights. I wanted the Tesla to be in sync with the show on the house though. Through a little experimentation we found that if you schedule a

Review

What does a podcast taste like? Part 2: Review: Hope's Cake

As the creator of a Youtube cooking channel and a lover of podcasts, this episode was just right for me (and for Frances). A family in New York loved a cake, the bakery that made it stopped making it, and then they worked on re-creating it. The recipe for the

Review

What does a podcast taste like? Part 1: Review: Dubai Chocolate

First heard about this on the podcast Search Engine and it showed up at the gas station near me. It wasn't gooey or runny. It was actually really good. I think it was almost $9 though. Review: 101/124

Pumpkin Pancakes

Adjusting World's Greatest Pancakes to be Pumpkin Pancakes

I found this recipe for pancakes a few years ago and they are amazing. I wanted to try some pumpkin pancakes so I asked ChatGPT to adjust the recipe for me. Here is what it came up with: 🎃 Pumpkin Pancake Version Dry ingredients: * 2 cups flour * 2 tbsp sugar (bump

Review

What is the best candy corn brand?

Honest disclaimer on the packaging is a plus– the Candy Corn are not actually that big. Also you can see through the bag to see the actual size of the corn. They are the correct amount of chewy & taste good. Review of Brach's: 30/31 Zachary Candy

Liquid Glass

iOS Liquid Glass is Horrible

If "reduce motion" doesn't actually reduce stupid motion effects then how about an option for "reduce unnecessary flashy UI elements"? When you tap a control that is a slider just slide the slider over. This is so stupid. The best feature of iOS 27

Review

Guest Review: Blue Cougar Tail

Guest review from in-the-stands reporter at the BYU vs University of Utah game. My own review of the Cougar Tail will be posted soon. 0:00 /0:22 1×

Gmail

Gmail: When a block isn't a block

I am trying to reduce the # of AI generated unsolicited commercial email campaigns I get from SaaS companies. In Gmail I have been clicking "Report Spam" and then choosing to block the sender. But then I realized I was still getting the messages. I thought the senders were

Review

Review: Hokey Pokey Ice Cream

Due to recent interest in this blog from the Australasian population I am adding a back-dated review. New Zealanders have been holding out on us for a long time. I have never seen Hokey Pokey ice cream in the USA. Here is a scoop of it at the Tara Iti

cheeseheads

What is going on with CheeseHeads String Cheese?

Our favorite string cheese is Frigo CheeseHeads. But sometimes the cheese is not stringy and doesn't taste good. This week I noticed the cheese that was not stringy and didn't taste good did not have an expiration date stamped on the top of the cheese. The

Chex

Chextra flavoring

Recently saw this Chex at the grocery checkout. I assumed it was more fake advertising and nothing "extra" is actually added since it also says "Original Recipe" on the bag. But I did like the wordplay. One user on Instagram says it is not chextra and

BYU

BYU Dropoff

See: Duke Dropoff Frances started BYU in August, 2025. We dropped off Eddie at BYU in August of 2020 and Covid made it a pretty lame experience. Obviously I was quite sad to be saying goodbye to Frances but it was nice to have a non-covid experience so I could

Reese's

Reese's Caves - Honesty in Packaging Arrives

As previously noted here and here, Reese's is dishonest in their Halloween packaging. I noticed this week that the 2026 packages have been updated to include the crucial disclaimer: "CARVING NOT ON ACTUAL PRODUCT" Seems like an admission of guilt to me. Side note that I&

Log cake

The most log like recipe yet:

Hello Kitty

Measuring Cartoon Characters in Apples

Last year I learned two things I didn't know about Hello Kitty: 1) She is not a cat but is actually a little girl from London. 2) She is 5 apples tall. (My interest in Hello Kitty mainly started in relation to Hello Kitty Marshmallow candy.) Then last

Survey Fatigue

Google checking if you are actually reading their survey

Google asked me to fill a Maps survey. Lots of questions and I was experiencing my usual "survey fatigue." But I caught tricky Google actually checking if I was reading the questions before I rated them! Check line #3 below. I'm not sure if they would

Les Miserables

Thoughts on Les Miserables

San Juan Hills High School performed Les Miserables (Student Version) in April 2025. Review: 10/10! The show was fantastic. Obviously I am quite biased because Frances & Cal were performing in the pit orchestra and many of their friends were on stage. Other notes about Les Miserables: 1. I

Review

Review: Two new Peep Flavors - Rice Krispies & Dr. Pepper

Got my hands on two new Peep flavors: Dr. Pepper and Rice Krispies Treats. Review of Dr. Pepper: Actually kind of tastes like Dr. Pepper. Really good! 79/85 Review of Rice Krispies: Needs more rice krispy taste. Tastes like chemicals. 3/11

St. Jude

Impossible to unsubscribe from St. Jude

It is impossible to unsubscribe from St. Jude marketing/fundraising emails. The messages have unsubscribe links. But if you click the unsubscribe link you will see the name of the email newsletter that they have subscribed you to. In this case I have been subscribed to the "Dream Home&

Review

Solution to wrist band adhesion to arm hairs

Apparently the problem of the wristband not going on exactly straight and then sticking to hairs on your arm and then ripping them off has been solved. Cal got this nice and improved wristband on a recent trip to Mission hospital for an xray. Review of Mission Hospital wristbands: 10/

Breeze

Checking a bike as oversized luggage on Breeze Airways

I wanted to bring a bike to Utah on Breeze Airways and checked their website for baggage guidelines. They claim this for bikes: * Hard-sided, padded bicycle cases must be less than 80 linear inches and weigh less than 70 lbs. Overweight and oversized bag charges still apply. I believe packing

NYTimes

Name your own price with the NYTimes!

$25 every 4 weeks for NYTimes seems excessive. But they have deals for $4 every 4 weeks. But then the special offer ends. They will send an email about the pending rate hike. So you can just click to cancel rather than accept the rate hike.

Review

Review: Hamburger Habit Sirloin Steak Sandwich

The local Habit offers a Sirloin Steak Sandwich and I love sirloin so I gave it a try. I looked for info on the steak sandwich on the Habit website and found nothing. So I'm not sure if it is just a test here or why it is

Apple

Apple's AI Summaries are awful

The only reason I haven't researched how to turn this off is because it is amusing how badly it screws things up.