Anti-Jet Lag Calculator

On the day of your flight, you fast for 12-16 hours before breakfast time in your destination. […] Stick to the plan, avoid snacks (no more than a tiny handful of nuts, if you must), and you’ll be golden.

I found this while going through notes with the blog tag in Simplenote. Interesting concept. Maybe I’ll try it for my next team meetup.

Source: Take Control of Your Body’s Clock With the Anti-Jet Lag Calculator

Replaced my iPhone 6 battery, part one

The good

I disassembled, replaced the battery, and reassembled my iPhone. The instructions from iFixit were solid.

My phone powered up, I don’t see display issues, and Touch ID still works. Feels quicker, too. 💥

CPU benchmarks

These two benchmarks — from Geekbench 4 — correspond to the old and new batteries, respectively. Higher is better.

  • Single-core went from 816 to 1547. Increase (↑) of 89.583%.
  • Multi-core went from 1329 to 2643. Increase (↑) of 98.871%.

With my iPhone not in Low Power Mode when I ran the test, is the large discrepancy due to:

  • The old battery level being at 4%, and
  • The new battery level at around 40%?

I’m…not sure. The battery charge needed to be very low1 before I dug into my iPhone.

With the new battery level at 7%, I ran another CPU benchmark.

The result? Single- and multi-core benchmarks were 1548 and 2674, respectively, which means it wasn’t a fluke. 🙌🏽

Have you seen a comparison posted elsewhere? Let me know in the comments!

The bad

With the new battery, I applied the adhesive on the wrong side, and I initially didn’t order an extra set. 🤦🏾‍♂️

The ugly

To be safe, I ordered two sets of iPhone 6/6s/7 battery adhesive strips with the most expensive shipping. The estimated arrival date is Friday.

Until then, I need to handle my phone with extra care. I definitely won’t carry my phone in my pocket. 😱

Reason: With the bit of extra space not yet taken by adhesive, I need to prevent damage to the internal bits.

The silver lining

I work from home, and don’t need to venture out over the next couple of days. I can still use Authenticator for two-factor authentication.2

Ultimately, Friday isn’t that far off. I’ll do my best to keep that in mind. 😬

Update — Read part two!

 

 

  1. For safety, the instructions state the battery level needs to discharged below 25%. “A charged lithium-ion battery can catch fire and/or explode if accidentally punctured.” 😱 ↩
  2. Yes, I have backup codes. ↩

My birthday of 2017

I’m a year older, and I had a mellow, enjoyable birthday.

I booked a 60-minute session1 for an isolation tank at Just Float. In each room, they now include a foam ring to support your head2, which helped me relax for almost the whole time.

Afterwards, I met Amy in the waiting room, then we walked to Conrad’s for brunch.

Back at home, I took a short nap, watched Pulp Fiction3, and played Super Mario Kart against Amy.

Amy also cooked an early dinner for us. I think it’s called a Spicy Buddha Bowl. 😋

For dessert, we went to Fosselman’s Ice Cream (also my first time). I went with a mocha almond fudge shake. It was tasty!

Our last stop was at Sprouts for some groceries, before requesting a Lyft driver to take us home.

Thanks for the nice time, Amy! ❤️

  1. Thanks to Nico for letting me get started early! He gave me about ten more minutes in the room because I arrived early, and was one of the first sessions of the day. ↩
  2. Last year, I went to Just Float for my first time. They didn’t have a foam ring, and my neck was sore. I also had to treat the water in my ears. Overall, I still enjoyed the experience. ↩
  3. It’s expiring on Netflix. I’ve seen it before. ↩

Apple Music and Last.fm scrobbling update

Last November, I wrote:

Switching from Rdio to Apple Music might mean scrobbling to my Last.fm account will be inconsistent, which makes me sad because I’ve been tracking since 2007.

Since then, I add songs, albums, or playlists in Apple Music to my library before I start listening.

With iTunes 12.5.1.21 and Last.fm Scrobbler 2.1.371, I now see songs played from Apple Music are scrobbled, even if they aren’t in my library (including playlists).2 Yay!

Context: Apple Music and Last.fm: Does it Scrobble? — Florian Eckerstorfer

  1. On OS X El Capitan 10.11.6. ↩
  2.  Radio…no joy. I don’t use it at the moment. ↩

Topping off my coffee

The following is a stale idea for a post I jotted down in a few moments of silent rage a few years ago. It sounds like nitpicking, but I’m curious to see if anyone feels the same way. I attempt to shoehorn a customer service takeaway at the end.

When I have coffee that isn’t from an AeroPress1, I might add cream and sugar (usually two each). The ratio of coffee/cream/sugar is balanced to my liking. That means I’d only request more coffee at a restaurant if my mug is empty.

If the server tops it off when my mug is three quarters full, the ratio is skewed!

Instead of offering more coffee (my preference), some places begin pouring proactively.2 I find those interactions “rough”, mentally. I don’t interrupt when they’re already in the motion (they’re almost done anyway), so I bite my tongue and smile politely.

As they walk away, I’m thinking, “The ratio got skewed!”

Anyway. Here are my options if I’m not sitting in the middle of a room (the first is direct, the rest are passive):

  • Interrupt the server before the ratio-skewing liquid exits the larger vessel.
  • Keep the mug far from reach of the server, then relocate near the edge of the table when I’d like a refill.
  • Leave a napkin (or something) over my coffee mug to indicate I don’t want a refill.
  • Flip a coin to decide if I should add more cream and sugar, then hope for the best.

What would you do?

It’s “strange” (read: embarrassing) to read this post because this entire circumstance involves my personal preference. But, it might be a good takeaway for customer service: when in doubt, ask before taking action. I’ll appreciate that you’re attentive!

P.S. I promise I appreciate servers, even if they don’t ask before pouring. That’s still preferred over avoidance. 🙂

  1. e.g. Drip coffee at a restaurant or catered event. ↩
  2. If I’m mid-conversation with someone else, it’s likely that the server doesn’t want to be rude. I totally understand. ↩

DuckDuckHack Instant Answers

At the moment, DuckDuckHack has 687 live Instant Answers. DateMath and DaysBetween are slick (and will save me trips to Time And Date). Here are examples of DateMath and DaysBetween, respectively:

I also noted TimezoneConverter, Timer (e.g. timer 5m), Stopwatch, Random Choice, Random Number, News, and Rhymes.

For awhile, I’ve had DuckDuckGo as my primary fallback search in Alfred, and this is a reminder for myself that accessing these are a few keystrokes away. 😎

Legacy Skype accounts and Two Step Verification

When Microsoft bought Skype, then added two-step verification to Microsoft accounts, I promptly enabled it. But wait. My original Skype login still works—without prompting for two-step verification. 😐

I just found the following reply (dated 2014-10-11) from a Skype Community forum thread:

You can union your Skype account from your Microsoft account but that won’t disable your Skype account. Not having an account joined or TV/Phone account enabled is the only way to eliminate the single authentication of a Skype account from a Microsoft account. You can abandon your old account and clear out personal info from a severed account but you can’t add a second form of authentication to a legacy Skype account.

Crud. If I want my Skype login to be more secure, I’ll need to:

  1. Go to Account Settings in Skype.
  2. Unlink my Microsoft account.
  3. Close my legacy Skype account.

Warning: the linked support page says a lot! 😓

If you have a legacy Skype account, did you change anything? Feel okay using a strong password?

P.S. I rarely use Skype.

Marvel’s Daredevil

Binge watched seasons 1 and 2 of Marvel’s Daredevil on Netflix over nine days. Loved the first season, and thought the second season was better. Character development was mature, so storylines and action sequences felt more intense. Definitely worth watching.

Next to watch: Marvel’s Jessica Jones.