Lenovo IP Flex 5 14IAU7 Chromebook review

The good,

• Affordable. I bought a refurbished one for ~300 USD.
• 16:10 ratio 1920x1200 screen is good for office work and web browsing.
  
• It has a USB-A port.
• It has a USB-C on each side. Both supports video output and charging.
  
• The camera has a privacy shutter.
• The screen's hinge can rotate 360 degrees.
  

The bad,

• It is 2cm thick and weighs 1.5kg.
  
• Screen is glossy.
• Screen brightness is 300 nits.
• 8GB RAM can be a problem if too many tabs are open.
• The USB-C ports does not support Thunderbolt/USB4.
• No dedicated HDMI/DisplayPort.
  

Specs

• Intel Core i3-1215U CPU
• 8 GB LPD4X-4266 RAM
• 256 GB SSD

My conclusion: It is an affordable entry level laptop.

ThinkPad X1 carbon gen 10 review

I bought a refurbished ThinkPad X1 carbon gen 10 on Lenovo outlet. The model number is 21CB000HUS. It is as configured below,

Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-1240P
Memory: 16 GB LPDDR5 5200MHz (Soldered)
Storage: 512 GB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 Performance TLC Opal
Display: 14" WUXGA (1920 x 1200), IPS, Anti-Glare, Touch, 100% sRGB, 400 nits, 60Hz

the good,

• The 16:10 display allows more content than 16:9 ones.
• The display has a matte finish and is bright enough outdoors.
• 12th gen Intel CPU runs much faster than the 8th gen in my X1 carbon gen 7.
• Speakers are loud and clear.
• Good Linux support (ArchWiki).
  

the bad,

• The keyboard travel is shorter than X1 carbon gen 7.
• The keyboard cannot be replaceable independently.
• Windows 11 is garbage. I tried it for an evening and then replace it with Linux.
• The only two USB-C ports are both on the left side. I wish to have a third USB-C port on the right side like the M3 Macbook pro.

秦晖讲西方福利制度（2016年）笔记

讲座视频：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHAYFYhDjM0

国家有两个维度：权力和责任。有四种组合：

大权力大责任：现代福利国家属于这种情况

大权力小责任：例如秦国

小权力大责任：不可持续的福利国家。例如希腊。

小权力小责任：古典政府

国家福利的对立面是传统小政府，所谓的“自由放任”。我的引申：政府权力可以间接从税收占GDP比例得出。但是这个比例高的国家未必就是福利国家：）

福利国家政府提供福利是义务，是公民对政府的要求。公民获得了福利无需感恩政府。政府受公民的监督。政府没有提供服务要被追责。要民众感谢政府提供福利的不是福利国家。

再小的政府也要提供灾害救援。台湾和中国应对同一场台风的案例。台湾死了2人。但是官员因为睡午觉被追责。中国死了几十人，宣传部发指令要突出政府功绩。

福利国家的二次分配会降低基尼系数。秦晖将这种定义为“正福利”。现代西方国家福利有大有小，但是都是正福利。中国没有公布二次分配前后的基尼系数。

有些国家是“负福利”。二次分配反而提升不平等。比如中国古代王朝。中国现在官员可以免费享受高级医疗，有分配住房。城市户口可以享受比农村更好的医保。中国现在“负福利”在减少，但是还没进入“正福利”。

福利国家的政府有义务提供福利。公民有权利获得福利。这个关系不能搞反了。秦晖举例欧美流浪汉。政府不能把他们抓起来。但是他们可以自愿进入shelter。政府提供职业培训是义务。但是政府不能强制征召公民做“徭役”。

2023 Honda CR-V review

I rented a 2023 Honda CR-V EX AWD for three days.

The good,

• Driver's seat is fully powered with lumbar support.
• Heated front seats.
• Honda Sensing features are the same with upper trims.
• Spacious interior.
• Large side mirrors with blind spot indicators.
• Adaptive cruise control.
• Key-less entry and start.
• Remote start button on key fob.
  
• The brake hold function can persist across reboots.
  

The meh,

• No heated steering wheel.
  
• Passenger's seat is not powered.
• No wireless cellphone projection.
• All the above are available in higher trims.
  

The bad,

• Vehicle dynamics does not give me confidence when cornering.
• Infotainment UI is sluggish.
• Back up camera's image quality is below my expectation.
• The small moon roof is useless.
• The honeycomb strip around air vents are hard to clean.
  

 

Garmin Vivoactive 5 smart watch review

I had the watch for one month.

The good,

• bright and crispy touch screen
• not too heavy
  
• snappy UI response
  
• fast GPS fixing
• long battery life (up to 5 days if I do not use GPS)
  

The bad,

• The Garmin Connect app is worse than Apple watch app.
  
• The app cannot work offline. It needs Internet access for syncing even if the watch is connected over bluetooth.
• GPS drift happens at times.
• No wireless charging
   

Ricoh GRIII camera review

I borrow a Ricoh GRIII camera for a week. Here is my take.

The good,

• USB-C port
• Touch screen
• Boots up very quickly
• Sharp lens
• large APS-C sensor has decent dynamic range
  
• Dedicated knob for exposure compensation.
• supports geo tagging
• small form factor. fits in a pocket.
• The lens has a marco mode.
  

The bad,

• The UI is too "simplistic".
• Records video at a maximum resolution of 1080p.
• The screen is fixed. It cannot be tilted.
• No viewfinder.
• The 28mm lens is not wide enough for landscape.
• Auto focusing is slower than SONY RX100 mark 5a.
  

Verdict: GRIII is a very good fixed lens camera for still shoots.