Image Compression: ImageOptim vs. Google Photos

When compressing images such as .jpg or .png files, I usually use ImageOptim which is available as a macOS application as well as an online interface that works with any operating system.

However, did you know that you can accomplish the same thing with Google Photos? As long as you store your photos using Storage Saver mode (which compresses your images, as opposed to original quality which does not compress your photos), you can download them in their compressed state.

I decided to compare file sizes and image quality for these two techniques. For ImageOptim, I enabled all compression methods, opted to strip JPG metadata, and enable lossy minification with JPG quality set to 80%. In all fairness, I do not know if these settings are equivalent to the compression algorithms used by Google Photos, but I believe these were more or less the default settings that were present when I installed ImageOptim.

 

From a recent photo shoot, I edited 93 photos in Adobe Lightroom Classic and exported them in JPG at 90% quality. These 93 JPG photos occupied 530.9 MB. After uploading them to Google Photos and downloading all 93 photos, the collection was compressed to 172.1 MB (32.4% of the original size). After compressing them with ImageOptim, the 93 photos were reduced to 159.7 MB (30.1% of the original size).

In terms of image quality, I cannot see any noticeable degradation in quality when displaying the photos in full screen mode on my 32-inch monitor. It is possible that if I enlarged all photos to 100% magnification I would see artifacts in the compressed images, but for all practical purposes, the compressed images with both Google Photos and ImageOptim look no different to me than the original uncompressed images.

In summary, I observed a minor advantage in file size when compressing JPG images with ImageOptim as compared with Google Photos, but this may simply be due to my ImageOptim compression settings. I think the one advantage of ImageOptim is that you can choose your JPG compression quality, whereas compression with Google Photos is limited to their default settings. Another advantage of ImageOptim is that image compression is quick, whereas compression with Google Photos requires uploading and downloading images so is limited by internet bandwidth. Overall, I find both compression methods to be perfectly suitable for my needs, but I’m sticking with ImageOptim for macOS because of its convenience.

Apple iPhone Battery Replacement

I purchased my iPhone 12 Pro Max in November 2020. After using it for 4.5 years, its ability to hold a charge has decreased noticeably, and the iOS Battery Health & Charging setting displayed a “Service” indicator (as pictured above) with a maximum capacity of 78% (as pictured below). Because I am happy with the features of my existing iPhone, I decided to replace the battery and hold off on upgrading for at least a couple of years.

There are 2 Apple stores in my area, and both are situated in crowded malls. I initially dreaded hunting and paying for a parking space and battling crowds just to visit the Apple Store, but I discovered from the iPhone Battery Replacement website that my local Best Buy was an Apple Authorized Service Provider, so I scheduled an appointment there. My local Best Buy is less than a mile away, there is plenty of parking, and it’s usually not very crowded. There were also more appointment slots available, and I was able to find a time that matched my schedule the next day.

Upon walking into the Best Buy for my appointment, I discovered that the service was performed by Geek Squad. Nothing wrong with that, just an observation. Despite me scheduling an appointment through the iPhone Battery Replacement website and specifying that I wanted my iPhone 12 Pro Max battery replaced, the Geek Squad staff did not receive that information. After telling my service technician that I had an iPhone 12 Pro Max, he checked their inventory and said that I was lucky because they had 1 battery left. I think Apple could provide more seamless services by notifying their Apple Authorized Service Providers about the details of the service. Had they run out of iPhone 12 Pro Max batteries, I would have had to reschedule my appointment. If I ever use an Apple Authorized Service Provider again, I will know to call ahead of time and inquire about parts inventory. Anyway, the service technician ran diagnostics on my phone and confirmed that the battery needed replacement. I paid $89 + tax and was told to return in about 3 hours to pick up the phone. After picking up my phone, I verified that the Battery Health & Charging “Service” indicator went away and the maximum capacity was back at 100%.

I’ve only been using the new battery for 2 days, but I’ve felt that its ability to hold a charge is only slightly improved, whereas I expected a dramatic improvement. Following my non-scientific observations, I speculated whether they might have accidentally installed an iPhone 12 battery in my iPhone 12 Pro Max, and I had a brief conversation with ChatGPT, It stated that it’s possible that an incorrect battery was installed and that an iPhone 12 Pro Max battery should have a capacity of ~3,687 mAh. It said that I could check my battery capacity with coconutBattery and so I did. It confirmed that my battery had a full charge capacity of 3839 mAh and a design capacity of 3666 mAh, so the numbers are compatible with an iPhone 12 Pro Max battery.

 

ChatGPT also stated “Let it go through 2–3 full charge cycles to see if calibration improves performance.” There is an Apple Support article about recalibration of battery health. Note that recalibration in this context does not refer to fully discharging the battery to 0% and fully charging it to 100%. Instead, recalibration happens automatically with normal use of the phone. Although my phone does not state that it is recalibrating the battery, I will wait a couple weeks to see if maybe my perceptions of battery life change and/or recalibration results in more accurate reporting of remaining battery life.

Unclaimed Property

Did you know that the state of California is holding more than $9.3 billion in unclaimed property and money? According to the California State Controller’s Office:

“California’s Unclaimed Property Law requires financial institutions, insurance companies, corporations, businesses, and certain other entities to report and submit their customers’ property to the State Controller’s Office when there has been no activity for a period of time (generally three years). Common types of unclaimed property include but are not limited to: bank accounts, stocks, uncashed checks, insurance benefits, wages, and safe deposit box contents. Property does not include real estate.”

To check if you have unclaimed property, visit https://www.sco.ca.gov/search_upd.html and click the “Search for Your Property” button. From there, you can enter search criteria for the Address and City fields. If there are too many records (e.g., if the address is an apartment complex or there are multiple occupants for the same address over time), you can further restrict your query by populating the Name field.

Read more about unclaimed property here. It is my understanding that each state has different laws related to unclaimed property, so if you do not live in California, I suspect that a quick web search will lead you to the relevant information about how to find and claim unclaimed property in each state. If you found money that belongs to you, leave a comment!

Bring Back the Old Yahoo Mail

Yahoo recently introduced New Yahoo Mail. Normally I try to avoid making negative remarks on this blog, but I feel that there are 3 major changes in the new version of Yahoo Mail that make it worse, not better.

First, space utilization is poor. In the image above, you can see how each message consumes far too much vertical real estate, thereby limiting how many messages can be viewed on the screen. This applies to both the desktop/laptove and iOS mobile versions of Yahoo Mail. Disabling message previews helps a little bit, but there is still a lot of wasted screen real estate. And those silly icons next to the sender names? No thank you. Exactly what purpose do they serve? Recommendations to Yahoo: Give users the ability to toggle between the current view and a compact view of email messages. Also give users the ability to show or hide the icons.

Example #1 of a useless AI-generated email summary

Example #2 of a useless AI-generated email summary

Second, Yahoo Mail introduces AI-generated email summaries. Again, no thank you. I know how to read, and I don’t need Yahoo Mail to summarize things for me. Everyone is trying to add LLM features to their products for the sake of adding LLM features, rather than solving real problems. When I see the AI summaries such as the 2 examples above, I am reminded of a humorous Reddit post. Recommendation to Yahoo: Give users the option to show or hide the AI-generated summaries.

Third, the new folder structure is confusing. I have some custom folders where I store emails of various topics. However, the Archive, Spam, and Trash folders have been moved to a new location that can be displayed by clicking on the 3-dot icon. This is something that I will probably eventually get used to, but for now I have been repeatedly been clicking on the “Folders” icon to look for the Archive, Spam, and Trash folders, only to be reminded that I have to click elsewhere. Recommendation to Yahoo: If something is not broken, don’t try to fix it.

Overall, I do appreciate having a free email service, and even though I think the new New Yahoo Mail is a downgrade, it is probably not as horrible as I might have made it seem. Maybe I’ve reacted negatively because change can be hard sometimes, but there is really nothing about the New Yahoo Mail that I see as a positive change. I wonder how others feel about the New Yahoo Mail—am I overreacting?

Maintaining and Troubleshooting My Bambu Lab A1

I purchased my Bambu Lab A1 Combo about 5 months ago, and with the exception of a heatbed temperature malfunction, I’ve had a great experience with it because the 3D printer just works. In comparison to my older 3D printer, the Bambu Lab printer is relatively worry-free because bed leveling, Z-height adjustments, and flow calibration are done automatically, and success rates with prints are very high. That being said, the printer does require occasional routine maintenance, and there are some common issues that I’ve either experienced myself or see reported by others that may require troubleshooting.

MAINTENANCE

First let’s talk about routine maintenance. I find it helpful that my Bambu Lab A1 reminds me of scheduled maintenance. For example, it tells me when it is time to lubricate the A1 Y-axis guide rail. It displays a QR code on the screen which takes you to the wiki page with written step-by-step instructions and an accompanying video to illustrate.

Another reminder is the availability of firmware upgrades. Upgrading is as simple as accepting the upgrade on the touchscreen or from the Devices tab in Bambu Studio. While most firmware upgrades are welcomed with open arms, there has been recent controversy with the impending release of their Authorization Control System which they state is being done for security reasons. Some users have lamented this forthcoming change, the rumor mill was in full swing, and Bambu Lab issued a statement to set the record straight related to third-party integration with Bambu Connect in an attempt to quell some of the fear. A summary is provided here and here and a zillion other places. Suffice it to say that I am not bothered by it at all, and I will likely just instal the firmware update when it becomes available.

Visit the A1 Maintenance Guidelines for additional recommendations.

TROUBLESHOOTING

Aside from the aforementioned heatbed malfunction, the main issue I’ve had to troubleshoot is related to filament getting stuck in my AMS Lite unit. One time this was due to a tangle in the filament (which was my fault for accidentally letting go of the filament and not checking for tangles when loading the filament), and at other times it had been due to an overly sensitive filament tangle detection feature which simply required me to resume printing (I’ve since deactivated filament tangle detection because of the high rate of false positives).

I’ve recently started following the Bambu Lab subreddit, and there are some common problems that people report. By far the most commonly reported issue is a sloppy or non-adherent first layer, and community contributors are always quick to point out that users have gotten the oils from their fingers onto the build plate. While some people use isopropyl alcohol to clean their build plates, Bambu Lab offers a Textured PEI Plate Cleaning Guide and specifically recommends detergent because alcohol might only spread the oils on the print bed rather than removing it. While some commenters swear by a particular brand of dish detergent, I find that any dish detergent or liquid soap does the job well, as long as I remain vigilant about not touching the build plate with my fingers after washing.

One time I introduced a jam in my hotend because I attempted to feed a new roll of filament into the hotend in the middle of a print job as I reached the end of another roll. I simply needed to understand how to remove the hotend so I could clear the jam, and sure enough there is a wiki on how to replace the A1 toolhead.

Perhaps less common but certainly very dramatic is when users experience hotend clumps. If left unattended for many hours, the clumping can turn into a huge blob. Although it may appear quite disastrous, Bambu Lab provides blob/clump cleaning instructions which should restore printers to fully functional status.

CONCLUSION

As with any hobby, there may be ups and downs. For 3D printing, maintenance and troubleshooting are inevitable, but I think Bambu Lab does a very good job of making it as understandable as possible. I hope your ups far outweigh the downs so that you can unleash your creativity.

Deprecation of 4K Video Downloader

I watch a lot of videos on YouTube, and I often prefer to download them so that I can watch them using my favorite media player, VLC. I’ve previously written about how you can use 4K Video Downloader to download and convert YouTube videos.

Much to my dismay, 4K Video Downloader has reached end of life, as support has been discontinued as of February 1, 2025. The developers encourage 4K Video Downloader users to transition to 4K Video Downloader Plus which is a similar application by the same developer. The downside for me is that my license for 4K Video Downloader will not work on 4K Video Downloader Plus. Fortunately the free version appears to be full-featured, albeit with a daily download limit.

Sometimes developers release new versions of software that require new licenses, and they may do it so often that the licensure model starts to look more like a subscription model (cough cough, Parallels, cough). This is not one of those scenarios, but given that 4K Video Downloader Plus is pretty much the same application as 4K Video Downloader (plus a browser that I don’t plan to use), it doesn’t add any value for me. That being said, I can understand how the developer needs to invest resources to ensure compatibility with YouTube and other video repositories. For now, I’ll migrate to the free version of 4K Video Downloader Plus, and perhaps I will share more in-depth thoughts later on.

U.S. Passport Online Renewal

My U.S. passport was nearing its 10-year expiration, and I was dreading the renewal process. The last time I renewed, I recall filling out a paper form, jumping through hoops to obtain an “official” passport photo, sending the form and old passport via certified mail, and waiting anxiously for my new passport to arrive while at the same time fretting over the slim possibility that my precious passport could get lost in the mail.

I’m pleased to say that in 2024, the process is much simpler because the U.S. Department of State allows you to renew your passport online if you meet the requirements including:

• You are age 25 or older
• The passport you are renewing is or was valid for 10 years
• The passport you are renewing is either expiring within one year or has expired less than five years ago
• You do not need to expedite your renewal (routine service takes 4-6 weeks)
• You can upload a digital passport photo
• Various other requirements (see link above)

Filling out the online renewal form was easy, and the only information I had to look up were the details related to my current passport (e.g., passport ID and issue date). I was most pleased with the ability to upload a digital passport photo because that was the biggest time-saver in comparison to passport renewal in the old days when we had to provide 2 hardcopy prints that conformed to numerous dimensions as pictured below. Even with my photography skills, the photo requirements were usually too cumbersome for me to bother with, and I’d just pay for passport photo services to make sure they got the dimensions right.

But now you can simply upload your digital photo, and the U.S. Department of State provides a step-by-step overview on its website and accompanies it with a YouTube video. The photo requirements are much simpler now: use a white background, don’t do something stupid (e.g., close your eyes, look away from the camera, open your mouth) and save your original color photo in JPG file format. After uploading your photo, the website will apply conformance checks, automatically crop your photo to a square, and allow you to adjust the cropping if desired. No need to leave your home, print hardcopies, or pay someone to do something that you can easily do with the tiny little supercomputer in your pocket.

Another improvement in the passport renewal process is that you no longer have to mail in your old passport. It is stated, however, that upon submitting your renewal application, your existing passport becomes void and cannot be used for international travel so make sure you plan ahead. After paying the processing fee (which was $130 for a passport book at the time of this writing) and submitting my passport renewal application, I received an email confirmation and was also given the option to sign up for additional notifications about the status of my application. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!