zhongfu's inane ramblings

also, with macOS 26+, Apple will apparently let you calibrate replacement displays, lid angle sensors, and Touch ID sensors... on your own, without needing to be an authorized repair center, or to purchase a bunch of expensive tools

did you know that Torx 1IP (Torx Plus) screwdrivers are practically unobtanium? also, Apple uses them in their MacBooks, of course

anyway, tonight: MacBook Air M2 lid angle sensor replacement

I bought a for-parts MacBook Air off eBay with a display issue, but it apparently *also* had a lid angle sensor issue, where the lid wouldn't reliably register as being closed

sounds minor, but:
- MacBooks will, by default, turn on when the lid is opened
- even if you disable that behavior, it probably still kinda wakes the MacBook up

and so, if you don't fix it, the battery will drain itself to zero in a day or two, even if the MacBook is powered off

costs:
- new, unprogrammed lid angle sensor: US$4.49
- Torx T1 screwdriver: US$7.50

ups battery swap done, this is probably gonna let me run on backup power for at least 40 minutes at 400W load

and somehow it's even cheaper than a good Yuasa lead acid battery, and yet it won't lose basically all its capacity after a year or two

(let's hope the UPS can cool itself enough while inverting 400W for that long tho)

new toy, 384Wh nominal LiFePO4 battery

this is going into my ups (probably) (inshallah i won't set my house on fire)

twice the price for a tenth of the convenience

Chinese domestic GPUs don't have ray tracing so they had to turn shadows off

day 2, segamat to padang besar

not the first time I'm going to Thailand by train, but technically the first time I'm going from Singapore to Thailand by train

withings just released a friend that you can pee on

why does my new charger have ACHIEVEMENTS

drove to and from KL with an EV that's not too efficient, a battery that's not too big, and fast charging that throttles if you do it more than twice or so in a day

but it was fun, pleasant, and pretty effortless, despite everything

new router means i can probably push 20Gbps over both my internet connections without breaking a sweat. maybe even a few gigs of wireguard?

got my second broadband line recontracted from 2.5Gbps -> 10Gbps

& also switched out the new ONT for an SFP+ ONU

it just werkz^tm

Wonk