Category: Tech

This Site

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In case anyone is wondering why the site looks different it’s because my host updated all accounts to PHP 8 last month and broke my site, which I hadn’t noticed until recently since I only log in once a month or so. The front-end still worked, but I couldn’t log into the admin page. Basically the theme I was using is no longer compatible with the latest PHP & WordPress version. I also had to delete all the other themes I actually liked because they too were broken. Sigh.

In any case, I’m currently using a theme I don’t love but at least works because I cannot seem to find another one that looks how I want and also doesn’t break something. I had found one earlier this morning that I thought would work until I realized it took all of my old entries and turned them into one single paragraph, ignoring the spaces between the paragraphs.

I am struggling to understand the way WordPress works these days and have to use a plugin just to access their classic editor. The new visual one is actually more confusing to a person like me. I don’t want each paragraph or image to be it’s own “block”, nor do I like that I have less control over elements because it thinks it knows better. Why can’t we have a version for people who know HTML and CSS? Or at least USED to know, because lately it seems confusing even to me and I used to build my sites from scratch. Use it or lose it, I guess.

February 2023 Recap

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Learned that the Lombard Roller Rink is shutting down. I had my 35th birthday “party” there and it was packed. Do people not enjoy roller skating anymore? How sad.

Discovered a very funny and unique show on Hulu called Extraordinary. It’s about a girl named Jen, a self-aware young woman who lives in a world where everybody except her has a superpower. 9/10 just because there’s a character named Jizzlord.

Was woken in the middle of the night, for the second time this year, by the Eufy video doorbell going off. Nothing is creepier than the doorbell ringing in the dead of night. If it just detects motion that will send an alert to my phone and I have my phone on DND, but if someone presses the button, the base downstairs will ring. No one was picked up on video actually ringing the doorbell, so it was a malfunction. Or my dead uncle pranking me as my cousin suggested. Either way I find it weird it never malfunctions during the day.

Started watching Party Down again for the 3rd attempt. Could not get into it the first two times I tried even though I like all the actors in it. Was motivated to try harder this time since they recently added a third season after 13 years. It’s funny, but not the best show. But what aggravates me is after finishing the second season I came to realize the third season is only available on Starz. So why the hell are they advertising it on Hulu? I feel swindled.

Streamed the annual Puppy Bowl live thanks to Discovery+ (we don’t have cable). The kitten half-time show was no more than five minutes long and pretty boring but the puppies were as cute as ever. I miss the days where they had guinea pigs in blimps over the field and whatnot.

Paid $69 (plus tax) to Apple to replace the battery in my iPhone 11. Technically they don’t need to be replaced until they hit 80% capacity (mine was at 85%), but I was tired of charging my phone 4-5 times daily, plus they were raising the prices March 1st to $89. We had to walk around Woodfield Mall while waiting 45 minutes for my repair and we were one of the few people wearing face masks. I guess everyone has collectively decided we don’t care that 300 people in this country alone are still dying from COVID every day. Sad. I’m willing to bet if they suffered through the nightmare I did from May 2019 – March 2020 they’d feel differently about risking their health. Long COVID is actually scarier to me than dying because at least if you die the suffering ends.

While backing up some photos I became aware that not only is my secondary drive nearly full, so is the backup one. Instead of buying larger drives, I decided to take on the time-consuming and emotionally exhausting task of reviewing all my photos and deleting some unnecessary shots. No one needs five different angles of the same subject, or in some cases, photos that are either boring, out of focus, or both. Why I kept those is beyond me. Judging by the progress I’ve made thus far, I do not expect to be done with this project for several months. I cannot sit at my computer for as long as I used to when I was working. It’s tiring, plus I get super cold if I don’t keep moving.

Our cookware set is old and some pieces are in worse shape than others. We decided instead of getting a new matching set we’re going to replace each piece as needed. Found this pretty purple 8″ frying pan at Home Goods for $8. I’m really liking it so far.

Apple Watch

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It probably comes as no surprise that I ended up getting an Apple Watch.

Friday (12/16) Joe came home work and told me he had gotten some American Express gift cards, and between that and finally selling the coffee table he had restored over a year ago, it would cover the watch and I should get it. He wanted to surprise me, but he knew I wasn’t sure which one I wanted (SE or Series 8), nor what color/size case.

He mentioned Target had them on sale through Saturday the 17th which put me into a bit of a panic since I needed to make a decision quickly. Needless to say, I spent the entire evening looking at options and using the Apple Store app on my phone to compare the watch case to the Amazfit Bip 3 to get an idea of how it would look on my wrist.

I finally settled on this one:

Apple Watch Series 8 GPS 41mm Silver Aluminum Case with White Sport Band – S/M

Initially, I thought I wanted a black one, but I didn’t care for the fact that the midnight case isn’t truly black, but instead a very deep blue. I briefly considered the Starlight color, but I tend to wear cool tones, so silver seemed to match better and would be more versatile with different color bands.

As for size, I felt the 45mm one was a bit too large for me and would be heavier than the watch I was currently wearing. The 41mm one is 1 gram lighter. I excitedly ordered the watch and then had to painstakingly wait until Wednesday (12/21) for UPS to deliver it.

It arrived with a nearly dead battery so the first thing I did after letting it come to room temperature was charge it. Luckily, I was aware of the absence of a power brick, so I had ordered one from Amazon which, in a stroke of perfect timing, arrived a half hour after the watch did.

Small rant: I think it’s shitty of Apple to not include everything you need to actually charge the watch. Imagine buying the watch as a gift for someone and not knowing this. Here’s something you can’t use until you buy something else. It’s pretty presumptuous of them to think someone getting a watch already has the appropriate plug when they recently changed from lighting to USB-C. I owned exactly zero USB-C compatible plugs until now.

First Impressions

The silver case is even nicer looking than I pictured, as is the white sport band. White is not a color I ever really wear so I was kinda bummed I couldn’t get a black band, but I’m actually really digging the white after all.

It’s heavier than the Amazfit and hurt my arm at first. This is because the band has more heft to it. It also takes getting used to with the way it fastens and then loops back into the side of the band against your arm. Initially I really didn’t like that, but now that I’m used to how it feels it’s not bad, and the bonus is the band cannot not get caught on anything since there’s no exposed excess.

The screen quality is stunning and even though I chose the smaller case, I can see everything quite well even with my bad eyes (I need progressive lenses ASAP).

Pros

I love how easy it is to customize watch faces and switch between them on the fly. You can store a bunch of them in memory.

Watch faces are interactive & offer at least one, but usually many, Complications (Apple’s term for small interface elements that users place on the clock face). For instance, if you add a weather complication that shows the temperature, tapping on it with your finger will bring you to more detailed weather data.

Notifications are intelligent – if your iPhone is locked, notifications will only make noise/vibrate on your watch. If you’re actively using your phone, they won’t bother you on the watch since you’d see them there immediately.

You can make/answer calls from the watch.

You can control media from the watch such as Spotify, podcasts, YouTube, etc. although you cannot actually listen to that media directly from the watch’s speaker.

I can keep better track of my hydration with the water app I have installed. Spoiler alert – I never drink enough.

The Activity app helps motivate me to move around more during the day and exercise at a higher intensity in order to complete my goals.

Cons

Audible notifications on the watch all sound the same regardless of which app they come from (with the except of phone calls). I wish you could mirror the same sounds as the phone since some notifications are more time sensitive than others.

There’s no Complication for steps as Apple doesn’t think they are as important as how much overall activity you have per day. I really don’t like Apple telling me what to do. I have just gotten into step counting and don’t like I need to install a 3rd party app to see that information at a glance. Apple tracks it, but I have to click on Activity and scroll down to see my steps. That is obnoxious and the 3rd party app wasn’t syncing the data correctly, so I ended up uninstalling it.

Conclusion

Despite some of the frustrations I have, I really love this watch! It’s very functional, and looks great too.

Amazfit Bip 3 Smart Watch

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About a week before Thanksgiving I was chatting with my bestie and she was telling me about the Fitbit she wanted to get her mother. At that point I realized I had been thinking how I wanted an Apple Watch.

My biggest concern, however, other than the price, was whether I could handle the size/weight of one since I never wear watches, or any jewelry for that matter. Other than the Apple store, you cannot try a watch on before purchasing it which to me is kinda crazy. I remember as a teenager going to Service Merchandise and trying on watches. I bought one that had a face that detached and went on different color bands. It was the coolest thing in my mind. But I digress…

Fast forward to November 30th and I saw through a deal site I frequent that Walmart was selling the Amazfit Bip 3 smart watch for $35 on an extended Black Friday sale (normally $50). I did a little reading up on it and in addition to the fitness stuff, learned it receives phone notifications, weather updates, etc. so I decided to order it. I figured it would be a cheap way to test whether I can handle wearing a watch after all these years.

The wait was difficult as the watch wasn’t due to be delivered until December 12th. Side note: If that delivery time frame was supposed to get me on board to keep my Walmart+ subscription after the free trial, they should think again. It got updated to the 8th but then delayed and was ultimately delivered on the 9th.

First impressions

I really like how they designed the box. Even opening it was easy and didn’t cause any damage to it. Everything was laid out inside nicely.

Amazfit BIP 3 box

Pull tab to open box

Inside the box

The battery was at 42%, so after letting it warm up to room temperature and briefly trying it on, I charged it. It took about an hour and 15 minutes to get to 100%.

It was simple to set up. There’s a QR code in the little instruction booklet which when scanned takes you to where you download the app. Then you follow the instructions in the app to pair it to the phone. You can also mess with settings and whatnot.

Now that I’ve been wearing it daily for 12 days, I’ll break down the pros and cons:

Pros

» Lightweight (33gm) & comfortable despite the large 44mm case

» Exceptional battery life. I haven’t had to charge it since the initial charge & the battery is currently at 30%

» Seems to track steps accurately, although it lags behind and doesn’t do it in real time

» Can buy 3rd party bands to customize the look of your watch

» Price is very good for an introductory smart watch, especially for someone who doesn’t need all the bells and whistles

Cons

» Doesn’t seem to track sleep accurately; thinks any time I’m in bed I’m also asleep

» Doesn’t render notifications accurately so sometimes they’re missing pertinent info

» Watch face isn’t interactive, only informative

» You can only have two watch faces stored in the watch at a time, and one of those is a default that cannot be deleted. So basically you cannot easily switch watch faces as it’s a multi-step process in the app where you have to delete the face, then download and install the one you want

» Current weather often stops displaying until you go into the app to re-sync the watch; otherwise it just shows you the predicted high & low for the day

» Allows you to control what’s playing on your phone (such as music or podcasts) but lacks the 15 second skip ahead feature for podcasts (which I use frequently to skip over ads)

Conclusion

Instead of satiating my desire for an Apple Watch, owning this watch has only increased it. Not that it was a total failure – it made me realize I could handle wearing a watch all day (although I do take it off when showering & at night for a break since the sleep tracking sucks anyway).

Craving A New Camera

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Over the past 3-4 years I’ve rarely picked up my DSLR camera. I kinda lost my passion for photography and defaulted to using my iPhone to take photos. It actually does a great job for closeups and wide angle shots, but where if falls short is wildlife photography. You need an actual camera with a long telephoto lens for that.

With my growing interest in birding this year, I’m feeling unfulfilled with my camera equipment. My DSRL is 14 years old and my newest/largest telephoto lens is 7 years old and not the best piece of glass. I think it’s time to upgrade to something more robust. Cameras have come a long way and I’ve been drooling over the idea of having more than 9 auto-focus points. The newer Canons have an animal tracking feature that would really be helpful as well.

Here’s the problem – I don’t even know whether I should stick to DSLR or go for the newer mirrorless cameras which are quieter, but go through batteries far quicker. The shutter on my current camera scares the hummingbirds so a mirrorless camera is tempting, but I’d need to buy an adapter if I want to still make use of my current lenses. That’s assuming I stick with Canon and don’t move to an entirely different system. It also doesn’t solve the issue that I want a better telephoto lens anyway.

On top of that, there are too many choices! Canon’s site alone lists too many camera bodies and even when comparing them I’m having a hard time figuring out the differences that would matter to me. I’ve been perusing DP Review but it’s not been helping much. Information overload!

Another problem is I don’t want to spend a lot of money. The older I get, the harder it is to spend money. Which is ironic, because thanks to saving & investing, we have more money now than we did back when I was buying $1000+ cameras every few years. To get the kind of shots I crave, I’d probably have to spend $4000 between a camera body, high quality telephoto lens (the ones I’m interested in are in the $2000 range), and a better tripod. I could save money buying used, but even then I’d still be looking at $1000 or more depending on the lens.

Another drawback besides money is the big lenses are heavy! Like 4 lbs before you even add the camera. It can get annoying real quick.

I feel like I’m at an impasse here. I’d like to visit a camera shop to take a look at inventory in person, and speak to an expert who might be able to steer me in the right direction, but the local ones have very limited hours. I wish they were open on the weekends since Joe is at work during the week. One shop in particular even lets you rent cameras and lenses, and while it’s not cheap, it could potentially save me money if I were to find out I didn’t like something before investing in it.