Honda Element: CarPlay upgrade
There are a bunch of things I want to add to my Honda Element to make it my own. I just finished the first upgrade: CarPlay. I didn’t really know what I was doing but somehow stumbled through it. It is a huge improvement compared to the 15-year-old factory radio.
Documentation online is a little inconsistent for this kind of upgrade. I wasn't totally sure if the parts were correct until they arrived. In the end I used these:
- Sony XAVAX1000, 6.2-inch media receiver. Simple, clean design with an actual knob. I think it’s discontinued but Best Buy had one.
- Metra 70-7863, stereo wiring harness. With RCA cables that go to the Sony unit. Ordered the wrong kit at first, then found the right one at Custom Sounds in Austin instead of waiting for shipping.
- Metra 95-7863, plastic dash kit. I was honestly shocked when this arrived and it was the right shape. It was hard to tell from the online photos.
If you are reading this in the future to upgrade your own car, note that I have a 2008 Honda Element SC. I don’t know if these parts would work perfectly with earlier or later models, or the EX or LX trims.
First step, disconnect the negative on the battery. Finding the right socket wrench in our garage took nearly as long as anything else.
With a little plastic removal tool, I popped up the faceplate around the radio. After that it’s easy to unscrew the old unit and take it out.
I stripped the wires on the new Sony unit and connected them to the appropriate wires on the Metra wiring harness. I didn’t have any fancy wire connectors so just threaded them together, twisted them, and wrapped in electrical tape. I went very slowly and think it turned out fine.
Finally, all that was left was to install the unit. I screwed everything in and popped on the new plastic covering. Some of the original wires from the car weren’t used so they are just dangling hidden inside. Hopefully they weren’t too important!
I also fed the microphone wire down to the floor so it can attach on the dashboard or behind the steering wheel. Haven’t totally figured out the best place for it yet.
Very happy with this upgrade overall. I probably should’ve had a professional do it, but I learned a lot. My car feels like it belongs in this decade now.
There's a new episode of Core Intuition out. We talk about Daniel shipping a beta of MarsEdit with Mastodon support, the value of feedback from customers, upcoming plans, microblogging and social network differences, and how sometimes we have to cut features to ship.
Sarah Gooding, writing at WP Tavern about Automattic's 100-year plan:
What resources will a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) point to 50 years from now? Or will URLs be discarded into the scrap pile of obsolete building blocks as soon as there’s a better, more efficient way to identify web addresses?
I think URLs and HTTP are here to stay. The web is over 30 years old and the basic foundation is strong.
Noticing the moon as a long day winds down.
The third-party Mastodon web app Phanpy has a conversation view that reminds me a lot of Tweetie on iPad. The multi-pane layout in that app never really caught on, but I always thought it was a nice use of space.
It's just about time for the September photo challenge! Got any ideas for prompt words to inspire each day's photos? Jean has the details here and her email address to send them to. We'll pick a random word each day and collect everyone's photos together.
This is how Amazon always wins... I want to pick up an organizing storage-type thing and think IKEA would be perfect. But it's a bit of a drive, so I check Target and they have basically the same thing. But then I realize Amazon also has something similar that can be here tomorrow for zero effort.
Manuel Moreale has started a new People and Blogs series where he interviews people about their blogs. The post with me just went live today. I love this idea and look forward to future posts in the series.
After owning a house for 20+ years, submitting a rental application is a nerve-racking process. Don't usually have this kind of fear of denial.
Nice blog post from Allen Pike about link formatting. I'd add that overthinking SEO is a good way to lose your way. Design links for readers and the rest will take care of itself.
Found some old postcards and emails we sent from Europe in 1999 and they are absolute gold. May try to put some of them online as an archive if I get permission from @traci. Here's a highlight from traveling before wi-fi existed:
We won't be connecting the PowerBook to the Internet again until we get to the next city, probably, but we should be checking email the rest of the week anyway. There's a restaurant here that gives free Internet access when you order a dinner, which should be nice if it's true.
First day of the Micro.blog photo challenge: abstract.
Day 2 of the Micro.blog photo challenge: buildup.
