I received my second reminder to install OBU in early Feb. I had three months left to do it for free.
Then, LTA announced that OBU is mandatory for all cars (except those on Classic/Vintage scheme) from 1/1/2027 and that free installation is offered up to mid-May only. I went to book an installation date immediately. I didn't want to get caught up in last minute jam — installation dates can be several months out.
(Over 93% of vehicles (~930k) have installed OBU as of 31/1/2026. Last report was 65% (~650k) in Aug 2025.)
I had the impression my regular workshop do OBU installation. They didn't. Panic. I started to look for one. I wanted to use an authorized workshop as they would be more flexible compared to authorized centres such as Vicom. I prefer somewhere near my office so that I can do it during working hours. The first one I called, they didn't handle my car. I looked around some more. Second one, bingo! I asked for an April appointment, but they were not taking April appointments yet, the latest date I could book was end-March. I didn't want to put it off, in case I forgot, so end-March it was.
Old vs new look:
My IU was placed on the dashboard — it fell off the windscreen many years ago and it still worked, so I didn't bother to put it back — so I want to put the antenna unit on the dashboard as well. Preliminary result: it works flawlessly!
I wonder if it works if it is turned around.
I notice that some vans/lorries have vertical windscreen, so the antenna unit is mounted vertically, and it still works, so there should be some flexibility in placement.
I'm happy the main unit can be installed in the console cavity where the radio unit used to be.
After some fiddling, I found that the display unit can be placed in the console cavity as well. It is held in place by its stand — just long enough! — from the other end. It is quite secure, but it can be pulled off with a little force — and it takes some effort to put back properly.
The cashcard slot is blocked. Need to rotate the display unit to insert cashcard. :lol:
I'm pretty happy with the OBU installation. I achieved all my objectives:
For my car which has a barebone console, a display brings it into the 21st century! :lol:
Modern cars already have their own display that can display the same things, so it is redundant.
The info it displays now (speed camera zone, school zone, silver zone, bus lane, road works, est time on expressways) are nice-to-have, but not really essential. Waiting for its killer app: distance-based charging. :-D
It helps that it is not placed at the windscreen and blocking the front view. I would have felt very differently.
My 8-in-1 Air Quality Monitors, all four of them, suddenly show 0 for PM 2.5. Surely the sensors can't all fail at the same time?
I found this, a 7-in-1 Air Quality Detector. It has: AQI, PM2.5, CO2, TVOC, HCHO, Temperature and Humidity. (Is AQI a reading?) :hmm:
The battery is 1200 mAh, it will last a few hours at most. My current one is 800 mAh and lasts around 4 hours.
Hopefully it is more reliable than my current monitors.
I also hope it is less chatty. The current ones update Tuya Cloud every 60s. This isn't too bad, except they also update when there is a change. It is especially bad for temperature and humidity, which are only accurate to whole numbers. When humidity is, say, at 59.9% to 60.0%, it will keep switching between 59% and 60%. It can happen as fast as 1.4s. It should limit the update to once every 60s.
I'm surprised it is still available after so long (released in 2016), and at MSRP somemore.
I have the first edition of the base game, no expansions. The update pack replaces 6 existing cards with 7 new ones. This is important as the original 6 cards are proven to be 'useless' over the years as people gain experience with playing the game, so people don't play with them anymore.
This is enough Dominion for me. :lol:
I recently noticed there are many Richard Feynman lectures 'brought to life' using AI. They use his voice and imagery. Some use static picture, but many show him talking — animated through the wonder of AI.
The topics are his signature physics stuff, but also non-physics stuff I'm not sure he ever talked about in his life.
I learnt some new things.
First, we are moving forward in time at light speed. Space-time is like a plane. Imagine time as x-axis and space as y-axis. This is why time slows down when you move through space. If you move at light speed (vertical line), time stops.
Second, space is filled with fields. An EM wave propagates through an ever-present EM field. It reminds me of ether, but physicists refused to call it ether — because ether is a physical medium. I would call it New Ether. :lol:
Gravity is the curvature of space due to mass. EM field is curved along with space, so the EM wave follows the curved path.
Third, light wave-particle duality. Light behaves like wave. However, it has been proven to be made up of particles, called photon.
The only problem is the double slit experiment. It shows interference pattern, so light behaves like a wave. If we fire one photon at a time, it still builds up an interference pattern over time, implying a single particle interferes with itself?! It makes no sense. The funny thing is, if we try to observe which path it takes, the interference pattern disappears and it acts like a particle (two distinct bands).
I came to a realization after listening about it and EM waves. A photon is the smallest unit of EM radiation. This is why we say light is packetized. However, it travels as a wave — the energy of a single unit is spread out as a tiny wave. It enters both slits and hence can interfere with itself. When we observe it, we energize one part of it and hence it is no longer be interfered by the other part.
We are trapped by the word 'particle' to think it is an indivisible point. Once we abandon the thinking, it becomes crystal clear. This is the essence of Richard Feynman's teaching.
This can explain so much at sub-atomic level.
Why is there quantum entanglement? Why is there quantum tunneling? They are due to the same principle.
This also helped me to get past the hurdle on how an electron 'orbits' the nucleus. Do they really orbit? No, they exist as standing waves around the nucleus — this is elementary Quantum physics. Wave. It is all waves! When we make an observation (which is destructive), what we think is the particle is the absolute maxima.
Headlines after public outcry: Ageing condos will not get public funds for lift maintenance, renovation and redecoration works: BCA
But the contents says:
It reiterated that any government co-funding will be targeted at safety upgrades for older lifts, to add safety features that were not available when they were installed.
These include systems to prevent lifts from moving unless the doors are fully closed and secured, or to automatically stop them if they move upwards too quickly.
After 30 years, anything can be categorized as 'safety issue'.
Lift replacement is one of those decade long events that you don't consider and it comes back to bite you.
Worse is if a condo is planning/trying to enbloc and does minimal maintenance, and now expects a free upgrade? That's the worst kind of selfishness.
Some people say if the Government can fund coffeeshop toilets upgrading, it can fund private condo lift upgrading as well. No, coffeeshop toilets are still open to public. A better analogy would be restaurant/mall toilets.
The Government can fund lift upgrades, but it cannot be free. It should either be a loan or to clawback when a unit is sold or the condo is enbloc'ed.
