Photo: Kitti Suwanekkasit (Shutterstock)

In general, SMS is an effortless and productive way to communicate. Sure, it can get annoying when I’m in a group chat that turns into a barrage of missives that I don’t care about. in these cases. The ability to mute an annoying thread is a godsend. But there’s another annoying facet of text messaging that is beyond my control and deserves credit: the apparent inability of some copywriters to resist, like, haha, or on every goodam message I send them Respond to emoji in a different way.

There are probably more than a few of these itchy-fingered texts among your friends and family – people who don’t think of answering even the most mundane messages with cryptic thumbs up, hearts, or exclamation marks, no matter that these texts actually deserve replies could contain – CFSP – actual words.

You might think my handles are little potatoes, but they are Tapback function– which allows copywriters to reply to messages with simple, unwritten answers like question marks, hearts and thumbs up or down – is terribly overworked and makes texting even more impersonal. Discourse blog Recently it was suggested that the time has come to reach consensus on how to properly use the thumbs up emoji when texting, but I would take the problem a little more vehemently: you need to use your tapbacks sparingly and strategically and use actual words more often.

Some smaller texts go a long way

Reacting to a text with a heart tapback is no substitute for a thank you. Incidentally, sending a heart emoji also pales in comparison to a “thank you” – especially one followed by an exclamation point. (I don’t make the rules, it’s just like that unspoken subtleties of SMS can flummox even the most prudent of us.)

When I text you wish a happy birthday, simply responding to the message with a heart doesn’t tell me that you appreciate the gesture. For me your reaction is a non-verbal yawn, an indication that honors have been received on your very special day that make it impossible to say a “thank you”! as you wade through the flood of good wishes.

The same is true of many other types of messages. Why would you put a thumbs up or an exclamation mark on my message and ask, “What are you doing tonight?” Has our brain been messed up by the sheer number of screens and digital notifications vying for our attention? When in response to simple messages like “Do you have plans tonight?” The answer is probably yes.

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A text – although it has no tangible emotions and nuances than any other form of discussion – is supposed to be a conversation. And tapback, especially in a text chain between two people, doesn’t encourage the conversation at all. It’s more like a bear trap holding up a discussion.

When someone sends you a joke or a good wish, I think it’s okay to respond with a tapback when it is followed by other subtle textual affirmation. I often throw in a “lol” or a “nice” to confirm that I actually read the message and didn’t fall off a cliff while looking at my phone.

When tapbacks are good

Don’t get me wrong: if we look at tapbacks at their lowest functional level, they can be very useful when used sparingly. Does someone tell you to remember to lock the back door before you leave the house? Respond with a thumbs up – it indicates the message was received and that you understand the importance of not being broken into. Are you in a group chat where someone’s jokes light the thread? A simple “haha” response will do – you don’t have to overshadow the prankster or try to yell at the sound.

A tapback is also a great way to indicate a point. Are you trying to end the back and forth of a conversation? Just put a thumbs up on the final message, which suggests that the message was actually received, so to speak.

However, it is important that we not abuse the power of tapback. It has its undeniable usefulness, but whether or not it is appropriate depends heavily on the context. So when I text you, “Hey what’s up?” Please, for the love of all that is decent in this world, don’t answer with a thumbs up. Send me a text. It’s right there in the name.

Apple plans to do this Reformat the serial numbers for Macs and MacBook this year. Currently, Macs use the same 12-digit alphanumeric serial codes as other Apple products, but Apple will soon switch them to random strings between 8 and 12 characters in length.

This seems like an unimportant change, but the new serial codes make it harder to look up important information about newer Macs and MacBooks. All Apple devices manufactured between 2010 and early 2021 have serial numbers that indicate where and when an Apple device was built, its specific model number, and its hardware configuration.

This information is helpful in helping users know when a product will be available recalled due to manufacturing defects or if a class action lawsuit Only includes devices from a specific region;; or if you have to Replace lost or damaged parts;. It will also help you determine whether a Refurbished product is legitimate.

Apple will certainly have a way of decoding these random strings at the end, but they’re not helpful for general users who want to find out some of this information for themselves – at least on new Macs.

Fortunately, other Apple products keep the 12-digit serial format and continue to print all Macs and MacBooks made between 2010 and early 2021. As long as your Apple device has a 12-digit serial number, you can use that to learn more about its origin.

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How to decode an Apple serial number

There are Tools that scan and decode Apple’s 12-digit serial numbers are for you, but you can read much of this information for yourself once you know what each digit means.

First of all, you need to find out the serial number of your device. It is often printed on the outside of a deviceand is also available in the Settings app at General> Info> Serial number. The number looks something like this: “DMPC8[#][#][#]N70M. ”

Once you find it, it’s time to decipher it. Starting from left to right, each section of this number tells you something about your device. For example, the first two digits are the assembly plant ID, which shows where your Apple device was made:

• 1C, 4H, WQ, F7: China
• 7J, YM: China – Hon Hai / Foxconn
• C0: China – Tech Com
• C3: Shenzhen, China – Foxconn
• C7: Shanghai, China – Pentagon
• CK: Cordk, Ireland
• CY, PT: Korea
• DL, DM: China – Foxconn
• DN: Chengdu, China – Foxconn
• IT G: Singapore
• EE, QV, UV: Taiwan
• Q: Fremont, California, USA
• F1, F2, FK: Zhengzhou, China – Foxconn
• FC: Fountain Colorado, USA
• G8, QP, XA, XB: United States
• MB: Malaysia
• RN: Mexico
• VM: Pardubice, Czech Republic – Foxconn
• W8: Shanghai, China
• RM: Renovated

The third digit indicates the assembly line on which the device was manufactured. You would have to know the assembly line labels of a factory to be able to do anything with this number. (It is mainly used for quality assurance.)

The fourth and fifth digits are the production date. The fourth character stands for the year and the fifth for the week. Decoding this isn’t too difficult if you memorize what each character means and are willing to do a little math, but cross-referencing the date code the table on this page is much easier.

The remaining seven characters represent the product model:

• The digits 6 through 8 are random codes that ensure that every device manufactured in the same factory in the same week of the same year has a unique serial number.
• Model number and generation of digits 9 through 11. All Apple product model numbers are available on this list.
• The last digit indicates the configuration of the device, e.g. B. Color / Storage Option etc. These differ between devices. For example, an “M” at the end of an iPhone serial number indicates the color, while “1” on an iPad indicates the hardware configuration.

Chrome 90 is here, and a number of the fun features you get are all automatic – you don’t have to take any action. Others require you to tweak some settings or adjust the Chrome flags to see them. This is the cat-and-mouse game you find in every version of Chrome, and we’re ready for the hunt.

Before we get into these features though, let’s dig into the quick, automatic changes you’ll find in Chrome 90. The browser comes with a brand new version AV1 encoder This should improve the video quality (and bandwidth) of WebRTC-based video conferencing in your browser. Additionally, Chrome is now HTTPS connections are used by default Whenever you visit a website – something you have probably done already, thanks to extensions HTTPS everywhere (which you should keep using in case you come across a rare website causing Chrome to switch back to HTTP).

And finally you can now Hide Chrome’s Reading List directly from the browser’s user interface instead of having to set a fancy Chrome flag. Type of. You must first activate the reading list via chrome: // flags / # read-later. Once you’ve done that, you can right-click your bookmarks bar to quickly show or hide it.

Screenshot: David Murphy

Of course, Chrome 90 has more features hidden or buried in it. For example, you may want to right-click your address bar and select “Always show full URLs” because the browser will soon only show the domain of the site you are on and not the full URL. For ordinary people this is great; This makes it harder for them to get confused or confused as the domain they are connecting to is much more obvious (compared to a gigantic URL that might not be as easy to spot). However, if you are a power user, you will likely want this full URL.

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If you want a quick link to the latest features of your Chrome browser, enable this flag: chrome: // flags / # chrome-tips-in-main-menu. When you do, you will get a new link below Help> Tips for ChromeThis will take you to a Google website that will tell you a little more about what your browser has been doing recently.

Another fun feature to try out is enabling the following flag: chrome: // flags / # clipboard-filenames. You will now be able to Copy and paste content into websites Use traditional keyboard shortcuts instead of dragging and dropping them onto a site. For example, all you have to do is press Ctrl + V to add a file that you copied from a desktop folder to a Gmail message as an attachment. Goodbye by dragging and dropping, or worse, awkward attachment buttons that force you to look for a file every time. Copy it. Paste it. Email attachments don’t get much easier.

Photo: Pau Novell Aran (Shutterstock)

Smoke can stick to fabrics and doesn’t wash out easily from things like curtains and mattresses. The next time you smoke in your room, take an empty roll of paper, a rubber band, and three or four dryer sheets to make a “gap. ”

Take a dryer sheet and place it over one end of the paper towel roll. Secure the dryer sheet with the rubber band. Crumple the remaining leaves and place them in the tube. When you smoke, blow through the tube and it will act as a filter to make your smoke smell a bit more of fresh laundry than weed.