欧州自転車レース追っかけ日記

H&R Wheel Spacers
So I have recently purchased ones from Amazon Germany. I am waiting for them to arrive. I downloaded the PDF manual for the spacers long before I actually decided to buy ones made by H&R. Here are some of the pictures from it.


The manual instructs the potential users (or users) how to install properly. This first picture shows the image of the back side of the wheel center of certain wheels. Here you have recesses that will comfortably ingest the heads of the protruding bolts on the hub.

Luckily my factory original Mazda MX-5 wheels do have those recesses.



This is the image of unsuitable wheels. If the back of the wheel center does not have recesses, you have to shorten the original stud bolts on the hub. If you shorten the bolts, you have problems when you want to install the wheels without the wheel spacers. I don't want that.


Vignettes
Here in Luxembourg and in some big cties (as far as I know city of Luxembourg = Capital and Esch-sur-Alzette), parking on the street is NOT free on weekdays.

In those towns (almost) wherever you go, you will find parking meters (actually, parking ticket vendors that accept cash or cards). You have to pay.

Residents can waive payments if they have the proper vignette. City of Luxembourg issues vignettes for the residents according to their residential areas. Luxembourg cities are broken into many residential areas. Their names are written on the vignettes in shortened form in two letters.

Since 2010 when I had my Ford Ka, I have a vignette of my own until this day for my Mazda MX-5. The vignette is valid for one year and the renewal is due in December. I have a new one valid for 2018.

I got the new one and it is on my car already.


(This image was taken from the Net and it is an old format. They started distributing a new format, a bit shinier with a gold stripe)

In some neighboring communities around Luxembourg city, the vignettes are also issued for the residents.

The vignette does not say much. It shows the license plate number, valid area and valid year. They are free for the first car but you have to pay for the second and the third cars. The maximum number of cars is three. I think the reasoning behind this: If your household is rich enough to own more than three of them, you have enough money to own a house with a big garage.

If you ask, they (you local city hall) will give you a holder that sticks on the back of the front windshield. They (transparent holder) are flimsy and will break eventually after one year or so.

The one I was given in 2010 was on my Ford Ka until I gave the car away. I had to apply some Scotch® tape to keep it in shape.

My MX-5 now has a transparent holder purchased on Amazon Germany.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Vignettes swapping time in Luxembourg]の続きを読む

テーマ:愛車と日常 - ジャンル:車・バイク

1. 2017/12/27(水) 01:37:02|
2. Info Luxembourg
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It used to be "I wish a Happy Christmas" but it is now simply whatever you want to celebrate.

www.h-r.com is a site by H & R.

I have been wanting to get one of those wheel spacers (in German they are expressed as track extenders). H&R's wheel spacers (hub-centric ones) are trusted and around here in Europe.

I ordered ones for me on Christmas Eve from Amazon Germany. They will be arrive in 2018, I think.

Fortunately, I got a real good price on them and the delivery fees are waived.

Unfortunately, they (Amazon Germany) had only one pair in stock. Other sellers selling the same items on Amazon Germany had some in stock but the prices are much higher.

My MX-5 will have them on sometime next Spring when I take the winter tires (on wheels) off and put on summer tires (on wheels) on on the rear.

I hope by then (next March) I will get another pair for the front.

****
Added on December 26, 2017. Amazon Germany again started listing this item (B5024541) but the price is up above €100. I am not buying them right now. I will wait until the price gets down (if it does).
****


H&R B5024541 is the model number. B stands for Black and the spacers are black anodized. The first '50' part stands for 50 centimeters thick per axel and it means that one space is 25 millimeter thick (about a inch thick).

Other numbers must mean something but I can not easily decipher them.

I also ordered a cupper powder paste in a tube with the spacer. This paste is for the thread. It is not a normal thread compound that you apply on bolts and nuts where you want them not to rub together generating too much heat. This cupper paste for just for this kind of application where you expect bolts and nuts turn smoothly when tightening but rest firmly once tightened.

One more thing besides the missing one pair of wheel spacers I need is a torque wrench. It is really useful?

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [I wish all A Very Happy Holidays!]の続きを読む

テーマ:愛車と日常 - ジャンル:車・バイク

1. 2017/12/25(月) 02:02:32|
2. Mazda MX-5
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Navteq maps have been updated?

I noticed belatedly (because I did not open the email earlier) that I got a email notification that the map update was available for downloading.

While ago I installed an application called "Mazda Toolbox" on my MacBook Pro (MId 2010) and ran it with the microSD card from my MX-5. The program instantly told me that an update was available and I updated the map. It was back in October?

A while ago, Garmin Express told me that a new version of map was available (2018.30). I have not yet downloaded it.

Why am I mixing two map update instances together?

Because they (Garmin's map and Mazda's map) come from the same source. I wrote about this a while ago.

Navteq and TeleAtlas are the main contenders in the digital maps. TomTom owns TeleAtlas and Navteq was once purchased by Nokia and later Nokia sold it to a consortium of German car manufacturers. The whole story will be better found on Wikipedia.

So Navteq released a new update and Garmin and others started passing it on to their customers.

I wonder if this release reflects the change here in Luxembourg. There was a temporary bridge along side the historical bridge in the middle of Luxembourg city. It (the temporary Blue Bridge as it was painted in blue, how poetical!) has been gone for a while by now. Garmin's map (2018.20) claims that it is still there.

TomTom's map on my iPad mini 2 clearly shows no sign of it (Blue Bridge).


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [The map on my MX-5 gets a update notification as Garmin's map does]の続きを読む

テーマ:愛車と日常 - ジャンル:車・バイク

1. 2017/12/23(土) 02:24:12|
2. Mazda MX-5
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COWSPIRACY The Sustainability Secret
I am thinking of supporting their cause.

I found that they have made another movie, a follow-up to the first one. It is called Fuck The Health. I would like to watch it. How do I do it?

Downloading the movie is the only sensible way because of the rather expensive shipping fees if I bought a DVD and had it sent over from the States.



I am thinking of printing the QR code above on some T-shirt of making a bumper sticker with it.

Why does their web shop carry some bumper stickers?

Update from Garmin
The latest map from Garmin is now available for download and its version is 2018.30. It is 4.8 GB big. I haven't downloaded or installed yet.

I have the TomTom map on my iPad mini 2 (TomTom Go Mobile) and the map is very good as it reflects the change in Luxembourg. The Adolph Bridge that hangs in the middle of Luxembourg city has been restored and the temporary bridge called Blue Bridge (as it was painted in blue) has been dismantled for some time by now. TomTom's map is up to date and does not show this Blue Bridge but Garmin's map still has this Blue Bridge ghost.

I wonder the latest map from Garmin still carries this ghost.

Google's map is also up to date.

I have always noticed this lag in Garmin's map.

Update from Google
My Google (LG) Nexus 5X is now on Android 8.1.0. It seems that not much has changed from 8.0.0 but from outside I can see the settings shortcut pull down menu has been changed back to white letters and icons on black background as it was under Android 7.* (Nougat). It was briefly black on white under 8.0.0.

I don't know the reason for this change. I liked black on white.


Snow in Luxembourg and I hit 5,000 km

We had a snowy day a few days ago and when I went to my car, my dear MX-5 was like this.


I hit 5,000 km.

In Japanse: 続きをどうぞ [Cowspiracy The Sustainability Secret]の続きを読む

1. 2017/12/20(水) 20:21:45|
2. Diary
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A medium formerly known as Luxembourg Wort

One of my local news source had been Luxembourg Wort because it had an English edition. There are other local news sources but they are not in English.

I read something on this site weeks ago that a media group bought another media group (or company) or acquired the right to use some 'registered trade mark names'®. I vaguely remember that it involved Luxembourg Wort or its parent company (group).

If I look into the past (but relatively recent) archive (of Luxembourg Wort), I may find out what it (acquisition) was all about. I am lazy so I won't do anything.

Starting almost two weeks ago, the URL (of Luxembourg Wort) got redirected to luxtimes.lu. So I edited my bookmarks on Apple Safari to accommodate the new correct URL.


There are currently (as of December 15, 2017) some interesting news articles on it. Allow me to introduce them to you!

I quote some headlines..

More affordable parcel delivery across EU
Luxembourg to appeal Amazon tax ruling
What the world's central banks are saying about ...

The first one concerns me. There is no Amazon Luxembourg although the European head office of Amazon does reside in Luxembourg. I buy things from Amazon Germany and sometimes the shipping fees bother me a lot. I wished that the this (what this first article suggests) would happen. Now I wish that it will.

The second one is so typical of Luxembourg (or maybe Ireland). Luxembourg's tax law has been exploited by those big companies. There have been numerous reports of those humongous companies being accused of tax evasion by placing a tiny company in Luxembourg that sucks money from its affiliated companies doing business in big countries like France, Germany or whatever in EU. There were fights between Amazon France v.s. the French tax authorities, the legal fight between Dolce & Gabbana v.s. the Italian tax authorities and others.

The third one is about cryptocurrencies and especially the so-called the Bitcoin bubble.

My personal favorite news piece is the third one. Some people are very very jealous, jealous to the point of being hateful and feeling threatened.

Bitcoin is very popular for the moment and there are no control over this currency by any of the governments in the world. Those people think that this is very dangerous. Dangerous because Bitcoin may take their reign over the money circulation in the world away.

There are other cryptocurrencies in the world. Some of them were introduced by some obscure individuals or groups but some were created by some of those big banks, money institutions or world's richest people behind those money institutions. They want their sacred holy grail (control over currencies) back in their possession. They want to make people believe that the Bitcoin bubble will burst any time soon and discourage them to invest any further in Bitcoin.

Look what ECB (does it stand for European Central Bank?) chief said about Bitcoin. He said that the current situation compared to that famous fairy tale of Dutch tulip bubble.

In the United States of America, some places started (or will start) handling Bitcoin in big scales. I forgot the names but I thought they were as well-known as Chicago Merchandise Market. Those funds will soon start dealing Bitcoin and will try to make it crash.

People in power fear what they can not control.

Personally I want to see Bitcoin grow more not in the value but in our life.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Luxembourg Times formerly Luxembourg Wort]の続きを読む

テーマ:ヨーロッパ - ジャンル:海外情報

1. 2017/12/16(土) 02:41:09|
2. Info Luxembourg
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A portable shower

I found another pressurized-air-operated portable shower equipment sold on the Amazon. The Hozelock PortaShower was from a company in England. This one is called Freshower and it is from a company (www.epicaspa.com) in Italy.

The name is kind of corny but makes sense.

This company Epicaspa is so kind to tell us that its dimension is 19 x 19 x 41 cm and the tank volume is also 7 litters. So it is almost identical with the one from Hozelock.



The prices are almost the same at least on the Amazon.

Should I buy one?

There are other garden sprayers produced by other companies in Europe but I wonder why their portable shower variants (if any) won't be visible on the Amazon.

Christopher Froome doping allegations

Now the B sample is confirmed to be also positive. He is running out of excuses. Even if it was caused by a mistake, he is ultimately responsible for what is in his body.

The biggest problem is that he is the most prominent rider of all the riders out there. If he were not punished for this, almost everybody would say it is not fair.

Would he get a ban? He will. I am sorry but the rules are rules.

Would I see him at the Tour de France in 2018? I doubt it.

Cowspiracy

When I saw the title of this film and its category (or genre), I immediately thought of its plot as follows.

It must be a documentary about the theory that if we ate vegetable food instead of meat, there will be enough food to feed all of us on earth.

My hunch was almost correct and the only thing I missed was that this film focused more on environmental issues rather than famines and fights over food in some parts of the world.

Why did I know what the movie was about before watching it just by its title?

Because I read a small article advocating this theory long time ago when I was . . . certainly a teenager (more than 30 years ago I am afraid).

The article that I read was a simple one and it was all about an equation. This equation was also featured in the film (Cowspiracy The Sustainability Secret).

If we ate the plants directly instead of feeding them to the animals that will eventually give us their flesh as meet. The equation was all about the share of lost in translation in the equation. The amount of the plants the cattle eat won't be the weight they get. They have to take piss, shit and belch a lot occasionally.

I did not give much thought about it and subsequently did not become a vegetarian or vegan.

Now after watching the movie I thought of becoming a loose vegetarian.

www.cowspiracy.com offers some merchandises but it is difficult for me to get them because of the shipping charges. I would very much like to get one of them, indeed.

I would like to help their cause. How can I do it?

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ
[Freshower and PortaShower]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2017/12/13(水) 21:04:13|
2. Camping in Europe
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Where I should be?

Stage 16 is fought between Carcassonne and Bagnères-de-Luchon. Although those Start and Finish towns are French, there is a short stretch of Spanish road. Let me show you (I don't think there are any out there)!

This is the part where the peloton wanders into the Spanish territory. Only about 20 km.

(A clip image of screenshot from my Garmin BaseCamp)

The image is bellow is big in size (width and height) but small in size (130 KB) so I decided to put it like this. If you click on it, it will expand.

(A clip image of screenshot from my Garmin BaseCamp)

I get to the point. There seem to be two small towns on this short stretch of road, namely Les and Bossost. I would like to get there and if possible get a table at one of the restaurants to enjoy a Spanish food.

I have been to Spanish territory before but it was actually Basque land. I was there only about 5 minutes. It was of course during the Tour de France when a ski station was the finish of the stage and the Spanish border was just 30 minutes away on the bike. I always hear that Spanish (including Basque I guess) food is inexpensive and really good.

I will manage to get there. Bossost is the start of the climb to Col du Portillon, the climax of the stage anyway.


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [TdF2018 Stage 16: Where I should be?]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2017/12/13(水) 02:26:12|
2. Tour de France
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To buy or not to buy
Previously I wrote about the equipment that would give some decent comfortable experience while camping out in the wild. Out of 4 weeks during the camping car travel following the Tour de France, I guess I spent around 10 days (or more?) in the wild on average.

Should I buy those things (and replace the ones that I already have), namely a portable camping toilet and also a portable camping shower that I wrote about?

How many nights will I spend sleeping in the tent where no camping sites are available (during the Tour de France 2018)?

There are usually no camping site operators in the middle of mountains. Some people (typically retired senior couples) come in very comfortably equipped mobile homes and sleep like a king or queen. Some (gutsy adventurous youngish not necessarily actually young men and women) on touring bikes (bicycles) with a load of pannier bags full of stuff and sleep in tiny tents. Some (no stereotypes but those not with too much money?) in cargo or passenger vans with the interior converted to a bed room. Others come with normal passenger cars just like me. Many people just put up tents and sleep there.

All men are not created equal: Some have the privacy of bedroom and bathroom but others not so much.

It is very common to see people just sleeping in tents on the roadside (of course along the course of next day's stage) during the Tour de France. It is relatively safe to do so if there are other people doing the same. The more (warm bodies), the safer (reads the more, the merrier).


I would like to point out the recent changes to the layout of the stages, in particular the rest days arrangement.

I remember up to year 2012 or 2013 (?), I spent (and slept) more days in the mountains because the rest days came in between mountain stages. That meant that I used to drive to the mountain where next stage would be immediately after the last stage before the rest day and slept there two nights.

So I used to spend consequent four or five nights without checking in a camp site. In those days, I craved for a warm shower in the middle of the mountains where I was sleeping.

Recently I spent the rest day (the rest of the last day before the rest day) driving, just driving.

Case 1:

For example, next year (2018) the first rest day is set between the stages (9 and 10) one finishing in Roubaix (North of France) and the other starting in Annecy (South of France). There lies a whopping distance of 800 km between those two cities. By the time I arrive at Annecy (probably the morning of the rest day), I will be exhausted after driving almost all night. I may visit the hotels where the teams are staying and then I will drive to one of the climbs after shopping for some nourishment.

So how many consequent nights will I spend without access to a warm shower during Stage 9 and 12? It also depends where will be sleeping after Stage 8. Up to 4 or 5 nights?

Case 2:

The second rest day (between Stage 15 and 16) is spent (by the riders) in Carcassonne. I will spend this second rest day partly in Carcassonne and then drive to one of the climbs. Between Stage 15 and Stage 21 (Champs-Élysées), I don't think I can check in any of camp sites so I will need multiple showers on my own.

I want these
I want to have these.


Continental joining the Tour de France
The tire manufacturer, automobile tires as well as bicycle tires, is now one of the partners of the Tour de France. Does this mean that all the official vehicles (Skoda cars) are going to wear Continental tires?

Kleber is also a partner and a tire manufacturer but there will be no conflict because Kleber's focus seems to be agricultural vehicles like tractors and others.

Would Continental be so generous to give us their bicycle tires as free giveaways? I think not but we (spectators) may get some vouchers or coupons promising some discounts.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Some camping comfort equipment II]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2017/12/12(火) 16:55:16|
2. Camping in Europe
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I have a brilliant idea for the Tour de France next year.

It dawned upon me a short while ago! Let me explain it to you (if any out there and I doubt if any out there so I am talking to myself)!

I bought a Mazda MX-5 despite the fact that its features (especially, its limited luggage space) were not suitable for camping trips. Well, that's OK because the this car is extremely fun to drive. This is another proof that eating a cake and having it is not possible.

(eating the cake = practicality / having it = fun)

Anyway, I go on with my stupid idea:
What is the single most exciting event for an average spectator waiting for the race to come? The answer is the passage of the publicity caravan and its inevitable free giveaways (petits cadeaux in French = small gifts).

There are ways to induce them to give you more over other spectators. In essence, you have to stand out among others. There are ways to stand out visually among the crowd.

Some decorate their parked mobile homes and wear some costumes on top of it (I once parked just next to a man dressed as a clown complete with his decorated mobile home who was very popular among the caravan volunteers and got a load of giveaways). Some wear costumes (a super hero tights and capes, mankinis and others). Locals decorate the front of the house. Waving hands is just not enough.

One of the most effective ways to attract the attention is to use small kids. This is very true. Just put your kid on your shoulders to get some giveaways!

Me? What are my tactics? I use the very cadeaux they gave in the past. For example, I put up the flags of Carrefour supermarket or others. I wave St. Michel's flag that I got years ago to get their Madeleines.

Next year I will use my car. Yes, I will open the roof of my car and invite them to throw giveaways into my car. To encourage them to do so, I have to prepare something. A target! Something like a bull's eye with a hole in the center! Where should I get one of those?

I did some search and found some promising materials on the net. I need a target for them to aim at. How about these? They are not so expensive. I have to fix one of hula hoops on the bike rack that I already have ad make some target patterns on a piece of cloth to hang it inside the hoop.


(Decathlon sports equipment chain offers this: 0.9 kg and 100 cm in diameter)
It may be too big for my MX-5 but wait! There's a nice feature to it.


(It collapses into 8 pieces!)


(Decathlon also offers this: 65 cm in diameter but not collapsible)


I have a black version.



I may have to ask one of those printing businesses to print this kind of target mark on a piece of cloth.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [A brilliant idea for the Tour de France 2018 or bummer?]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2017/12/11(月) 18:49:08|
2. Tour de France
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Year 2018 (mainly its road cycling season) is coming soon. The road cycling race season begins toward the end of February here in the Northern (or Central) part of Europe.

KBK (Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne www.kuurne-brussel-kuurne.be) is set to Sunday, February 25. The official site says the race events are held on Saturday, 24, too. I guess the cyclo-cross race is held on Saturday.

I am not if I can or will make it next year but this is one of the earliest road race events held in my area.

What will be my main objective(s)? Or what will be my motivation for going to race events in 2018?

Let me explain to you (if any out there) something!

If I pick up a bidon (water bottle) discarded by one of the riders at the feed zone, I feel glad and rewarded that I have come to the race. This is not the main objective to go to a race event but it is rewarding anyway.

When I have a chance to talk to one of my favorite riders out there at the start or finish around the team bus area, I am very happy. This is really rewarding.

When I spot some team staff members that I know and chat with them, I feel rewarded.

During the long camping trip following the stages of the Tour de France when I encounter some beautiful places or get together with friends and talk, eat and drink, I am very happy. When I conquer some mountain climbs, I feel high (I am talking about natural "high" meaning that one gets endorphins after physically demanding efforts) and happy.

Endorphins (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorphins)


I like Katsusha team because I know a lot of staff there. I like Quick-Step Floors team because I know some of the team staff and Bob Jungels and Philippe Gilbert are there. I like ... etc.

My favorite activity during the race events is painting on the road but not taking pictures. For this I need riders' names. This is a very demanding pastime activity in terms of economic and physical burdens. It is also very rewarding when the riders express their appreciation.

I am waiting for confirmations that my favorite riders are continuing in the next season. I am watching out for the news of their contract extension confirmation.

Camping equipment
I have been wondering for quite some time by now if I should buy these and take them with me on the camping trip following the stages of the Tour de France next year.


(image 1: This is not a simple folding chair)


(image 2: This is not a gardening device to spray some insecticide over the plants. Well, actually it is. www.hozelock.com)


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ
[2018 is coming!]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2017/12/09(土) 02:45:14|
2. Bike Races
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Well before my Mazda MX-5 arrived (as I had to wait for 4 months), I purchased a spare tire and a scissor jack for it.

I was lucky to source a space-saver temporary spare made for Toyota MR2 (manufactured around year 2000) sold as a second hand. I knew that the bolt pitch circle diameter had to match (and of course the number of bolts used obviously). 4 x 100 (mm) was the magic number, so I thought.

(the spec was 125 / 70 / 16 to be exact)

Actually, there was one more figures that I had to check (but I did not); the center bore (in diameter) and the offset. As I already wrote that "I was lucky" above, the center bore and the offset were also the same (54.1 mm and 45 mm respectively) between them (for Mazda MX-5 ND and Toyota MR2 of that model year).

So I am pretty sure the spare tire/wheel will fit.


Now the criteria that I set for a jack were compact, lightweight and inexpensive.

I found one on Amazon (Germany as there is no Amazon Luxembourg). It was compact and relatively light and was inexpensive. I did not pay much attention to some details when I bought it.

I have not used it but I will use it in late March when I change the winter tires to summer tires. Or in case I had a flat or burst tire.

I chose this particular model as I had thought that the ratchet mechanism (image 1) would be neat.


(image 1: I thought this ratchet mechanism was neat)

There is one feature that has been bothering me for a while. I don't know why I had not paid more attention to this (image 2).


(image 2: this has been bugging me)

My Mazda MX-5's designated jack-up points are pinch weld points in corners just like those on most of the vehicles out there on the road


(image 3: taken from Amazon Germany)

I knew that this kind (image 3) of jack was the typical manufacturer's standard tool (if equipped) for the pinch weld like bellow.


(image 4: taken from the Internet)

I am sure the jack will work as is but it might accidentally bend the pinch weld.

So I am thinking fitting an adapter. I ordered this rubber part (image 5) and will modify it to secure a tight snug fit onto the jack by carving a snug fit hole on the back side of the rubber adapter.


(image 5: taken from Amazon Germany and this is the actual one I ordered)

If there was a scissor jack with a ratchet and the support illustrated in image 3 and 4, I had bought it in the first place. Unfortunately there was none.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [A scissor jack and pinch weld jack up points]の続きを読む

テーマ:愛車と日常 - ジャンル:車・バイク

1. 2017/12/08(金) 23:33:17|
2. Mazda MX-5
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Apple products memos

One of my MacBooks Late 2009 has been on the public beta program for a while (since its inception of the program) and got the latest public beta update.

My iPad mini 2 has been updated to iOS 11.2.

TomTom Go Mobile

My first impression of TomTom Go Mobile:

It is simplified, way simplified than former TomTom (region name) versions. I like the old TomTom Western Europe better than TomTom Go.

Changes they have made to the new program seem to focus on making the appearance simple so that you don't see as many menus as before. Fewer choices, less confusion, maybe, maybe for first time users. For those who have used navigation programs, having fewer choices does not mean simple but deprived of something.

This deprived feeling may pass over time. I have been using TomTom Western Europe for years mainly for finding cities and learning the routes to them while away from my car or indoors. For this purpose new TomTom Go seems to be inappropriate. Maybe I will stop using it all together when the app asks me to renew the subscription with fees.

***** unimportant background *****

I have been using TomTom Western Europe for a while (since 2010 or so). They (TomTom) have changed their program range.

They used to have TomTom (name of the regions) series but now they have TomTom Go. You have to buy the maps you want to have before using the program.

As a user of TomTom Western Europe, I am qualified for a free upgrade (at least for a while) but I have been holding up on the upgrade simply I did not have to.

I was planning to upgrade to TomTom Go in near future since TomTom stopped updating old TomTom Western Europe (or all of its siblings of the same generation) in favor of this new Go. This TomTom Western Europe is not my main navigation software.

My No.1 navigation device is (and has been) the Garmin (my third Garmin device since 2005?). My second GPS navigation system is now the navigation system on my Mazda MX-5. TomTom on my iPad is the third system. It is used as a backup system just in case the Garmin nüvi broke down.

It happened to me in 2011. My Garmin suddenly stopped working one morning (start up loop) and had to be sent back to Garmin for repair just a week before the Tour de France started and I had to manage the entire car trip (following all the stages) with only TomTom Western Europe on my iPhone 4. [iOS 11.2 and TomTom Go Mobile]の続きを読む

テーマ:Mac - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2017/12/05(火) 00:06:36|
2. iPad, iPhone and iPod touch
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macOS 10.13.*

I upgraded two of MacBook Late 2009 to High Sierra the other day and noticed that iTunes stay at 12.6 after the upgrade (contrary to what I thought would happen - automatically upgraded to iTunes 12.7).

So I upgraded MacBook Pro Mid 2010 and did not updated iTunes on it to the latest 12.7. This is the MacBook that I use for managing iPad and other Apple devices.

I don't want to upgrade to iTunes 12.7 because of the rather drastic changes that the latest version introduced. I will stay with iTunes 12.6.2 as long as I can.

Just recently Apple acknowledged that they had made a terrible error when they introduced 10.13.1 update to the public. There was a critical bug that lurked inside this version.

The bug is rather appalling and ridiculous. Anyone (for example even a guest user) who make a new user with the name "root" can do anything he/she wants with this "root" account.

In a way it makes a perfect sense. A "root" user is the god on a typical Unix-like (or Unix) system by tradition. So it may not be a bug at all but a basic feature since the days of Unix system inception.

It is a diabolic bug when anyone can create a user with the name "root".

Apple soon started distributing a patch to kill the bug. I also applied the patch (Apple calls it a security update or something).

13-inch MacBook Pro MId 2010: macOS 10.13.1 (17B1003)
2 x 13-inch MacBook Late 2009: macOS 10.13.1 (17B1003)

Sar War - The Last Jedi

It is coming to the theater near you. I think I used to hear this a lot when I was living in the U.S.A. I was living in so-called the Greater Los Angeles Area so movie going was a part of life back then.

I did not go to watch any Star Wars movies then. It was the dark times when they took a hiatus from producing Star Wars movies.

Will I go to the theater here in Luxembourg? No, probably not. I will wait until the movie is released on DVDs or iTunes or Google Store or somewhere.


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [macOS 10.13 (High Sierra)]の続きを読む

テーマ:愛車と日常 - ジャンル:車・バイク

1. 2017/12/01(金) 00:41:30|
2. MacBooks and Macs
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