Michelin CrossClimate 2 All Weather Tires Review - a safe year-round choice for rain & snow with a longer life than CrossClimate+, but less range for EVs like Tesla Model 3/Y

As of Jan 28 2023, this article has 3,602 Pageviews and 3,095 Unique Pageviews. This article is not a sponsored post, based two family cars' of experience. My 2018 Tesla Model 3's CrossClimate+ tires were rated for 40K miles and lasted 36,331 miles over 33 months of year-round driving in all…

Dec 10 2021

VMware has pulled all versions of ESXi 7.0 Update 3 and VCSA 7.0U3b (Jan 27 2022 - Re-released as 7.0U3c on Jan 27 2022)

UPDATE - VMware vSphere 7.0 Update 3c was announced on Jan 27 2022: Announcing Availability of vSphere 7 Update 3c I'm working on home lab testing 7.0U3c today, Jan 28 2022, and will be creating a new article at TinkerTry today about me updating my lab to it. I had updated to (since recalled)…

Nov 30 2021

Supermicro Xeon D SuperServer BIOS 2.3 / IPMI 3.88 released, how to upgrade with ease!

Step-by-step walk through video! Nov 23 2023 - Paul Braren - Supermicro SuperServer Xeon D BIOS 2.3 and IPMI 3.88 updates via browser So far, I don't have any detailed information about this 2.3 BIOS release. The first I heard of it was yesterday, from TinkerTry commenter jrp here: BIOS 2.3 is now…

Nov 23 2021

EV Club of Connecticut - New Englanders sharing their Tesla FSDBeta experience

Slide Deck Introductory remarks presentation slide deck here. Video Replay Nov 11 2021 - EV Club of Connecticut - New Englanders sharing their Tesla FSDBeta experience Panelists Here's the 4 panelists that were able to attend. Agenda November 11 2021 EV Club of Connecticut Meeting, 7pm-8:30pm…

Nov 11 2021

First Time Using Tesla Full Self-Driving, Beta v10.3.1

After a month of earning my 2018 Tesla Model 3 Long Range a Safety Score of 99, my FSDBeta (Full Self-Driving Beta) finally arrived on October 29th 2021. It's really a Level 2 autonomy system in its current form, and from the video you'll hear that my co-pilot wife wasn't impressed. But for me,…

Nov 3 2021

Open registration for EV Club of Connecticut's Nov. 11th panel discussion - New Englanders sharing their Tesla FSDBeta experience

I'm delighted to have helped put together a panel of Tesla Full Self Driving aka #FSDBeta testers for our monthly EV Club of Connecticut meeting at 7pm eastern time on Thursday November 11, 2021. This feature required the driver be attentive at all times, and isn't suited for aggressive drivers.…

Oct 27 2021

October 2021 Boston VMUG UserCon Presentation - The future of USB/SD in the vSphere Data Center and Home Lab

As promised to attendees, my presentation from today's Boston VMUG. Always a great honor to be asked to speak, so glad that I had this chance to co-present with Matt Kosloski! See also my new article referenced in the presentation. No future for booting ESXi from USB in VMware home labs, using…

Oct 27 2021

No future for booting ESXi from USB in VMware home labs, using max endurance microSD for ESXi 7.0U3 now, SATA/SATADOM or M.2 later

Since I wrote this article, two major new updates from VMware should be read first: SD card/USB boot device revised guidance (85685) Last Updated 4/27/2022 Summary VMware will continue supporting USB/SD card as a boot device through the 8.0 product release, including the update releases. Both…

Oct 26 2021

EV Club of Connecticut Show & Tell videos feature owners sharing their real-world experiences

Photo by Paul Braren on Oct. 17 2021 at Sherwood Island State Park. Polestar 2 at left, Mustang Mach-E at right. I've been donating my time as camera man to produce this series of videos where fellow EV Club of Connecticut member Larry Thompson and I set out to capture EV buyers impressions of…

Oct 20 2021

Enduring the Tesla Safety Score experience on the road to a safer, more autonomous future

Yes, I'm currently in the Safety Score phase of my own road toward access to the "Full Self Driving" beta. Whatever happens, it will be interesting on many levels. Let me be clear here, as Tesla states: The currently enabled Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features require active driver…

Oct 12 2021

Supermicro SYS-5028D-TN4T mini-tower/Wiredzone Bundles are on the VCG for ESXi 7.0 Update 3

The title says it all, even thought vSphere 7.0 Update 3 only became generally available on October 5 2021, Supermicro has already listed their popular SYS-5028D-TN4T mini-tower on the VMware Compatibility Guide here. This means full support continues! I'm quite relieved about this, as it's been…

Oct 9 2021

VMware vSphere 7 Update 3 and Microsoft Windows 11 both arrived on October 5 2021, many great lessons learned the hard way but testing is going well

Notes added on July 20 2022 - Warning, bypassing TPM isn't recommended, proceed at your own risk. See also TinkerTry commenter blogthis who wrote this warning below this article: You definitely do NOT want to use one of those Windows 11 hacks to bypass TPM 2.0 and CPU checks for install. They were…

Oct 8 2021

VMware vSphere 7 Update 3 is now GA, here's how to download it any which way! (updated Jan 28 2022 for 7.0U3c)

UPDATE - VMware vSphere 7.0 Update 3c was announced on Jan 27 2022: Announcing Availability of vSphere 7 Update 3c My initial 36 hours of testing of 7.0U3c is going well, and I created a new article about it, VMware has released vSphere 7 Update 3c (VCSA 7.0U3c & ESXi 7.0U3c), includes Log4j…

Oct 6 2021

Featured on Tech Breakfast Podcast 212 | Nigeria - $90M Defi Oops - Mach-E - Amazon Astro - Vaccines | Aaron Russ & Paul

Show notes below. I had the chance to enjoy my fifth appearance on this fun and informative podcast, you can play this fresh episode in the embedded player below. 212: Oct 01 2021 - Aaron - Russ - Paul - Nigeria - $90M Defi Oops - Mach-E - Amazon Astro - Vaccines Recorded in one shot on Friday Oct…

Oct 1 2021

vSphere 7.0 Update 3 What's New article, video, and podcast from VMware

VMware vSphere 7.0 Update 3 video was released on Sep 28, 2021, as was the blog post vSphere 7 Update 3 - What's New. While there's no generally available release date announced yet, you can refer to the many new blog posts showing up today at core.vmware.com/blog, including the always-wonderful…

Sep 28 2021

Featured on Tech Breakfast Podcast 209 - The News | Podcast 210 - EV's & Law Enforcement | Tyler Russ & Paul

There may have been more hot takes than anybody could handle in this one, so the TBP crew split it in two! Show notes on both appear below. I had the chance to enjoy my fourth appearance on this fun and informative podcast, you can play these 2 episodes in the embedded player below. 209: Sep 20…

Sep 20 2021

Tesla Model 3 Long Range laps with my dad for charity, safely exceeding 100+ mph on our first track run ever!

Introduction Tesla makes EVs that are fun. Crazy fun. On regular roads, accelerating to the speed limit effortlessly and quietly without any of that attention-getting tire screech almost feels illegal. This fun factor is a big part of the reason that over a million of the more-affordable Model 3s…

Sep 16 2021

Avoid identity theft - How to freeze (or temporarily unfreeze) your credit, opt-out of unsolicited pre-approved offers, and secure your cell phone number

In September of 2018, credit freezes became free in the United States for Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. Credit locks often are not. The reasons why credit report reviews and freezes are a good idea are explained well by the FTC and Consumer Reports, with key excerpts below. The credit bureaus…

Sep 1 2021

VMware vSphere 7.0 Update 2c is now GA, here's how to download it any which way!

Table of Contents VMware vSphere 7.0 Update 2c was released on August 24 and isn't available for download on all 4 channels listed below quite yet, it's only on my.vmware.com so far. Don't worry, you can still get your lab updated to 7.0U2c now, read onward for details. I'll update this article…

Aug 26 2021

How to get Windows 11 Insider Preview running as a VMware ESXi 7 VM

On Oct 5th, Windows 11 became now Generally Available! I've added a new video to the library below using an alternative technique Install Windows 11 as VM on VMware vSphere / Workstation without TPM 2.0 chipset by Ivo Beerens. Step-by-step upgrade instructions and video below! If you already have a…

Aug 1 2021

Revel's first Superhub in Brooklyn had some challenges their first day of taking payments for fast charging EVs including Tesla

Revel Superhub Support On July 9, Revel let me know their preferred/best urgent support contacts for EV charging issues, in summary: Revel Superhub Payment/Payter Issues - call EVGateway at (949)945-2000 Be ready to read the Station ID of your charger Revel Superhub Tritium Charger Issues - call…

Jul 8 2021

Synology DSM 7.0 Announced, Release Candidate now available featuring a faster UI and improved ease-of-use ease-of-use

TinkerTry Home Lab Testing of Synology DS1618+ and DS1621xs+. DSM 6.2.x at left, DSM 7.x at right. Click/tap twice to zoom in. DSM 7 has made getting started even easier. Introduction This article is a natural follow-on to my previous, closely-related article about some hands-on time I had with…

Jun 23 2021

Connecticut residents can test drive, order, then take delivery of a new Tesla, here's how 14,408 owners already did!

On July 27 2023, big news for little Connecticut, details at: Tesla at Mohegan Sun casino soon - tribal land where Connecticut's protectionist car dealership laws don't apply Jul 26 2023 On July 28 2023, EV Club of Connecticut found that DMV sales figures indicate there are now 14,408 Teslas…

Jun 11 2021

VMUG Advantage video series - blogger tips

I was recently having a discussion with the leadership at the VMUG Organization, and given my 10 year anniversary of blogging happened this month, we decided together that it'd be a good idea for me to publish some short tips videos about blogging. I have a problem with being succinct (just look at…

Jun 10 2021