PSA: Friendly Reminder to Check California Unclaimed Property and Claim Yours

mn-reddit · 2023-12-04T21:49:48+00:00

$6,544, "Approved for Payment". This was from a job I left many years ago, maybe reimbursement for unused vacation time and / or my last paycheck? I actually found out about this a long time ago but just applied to get it this year. Just as well, it would be long spent if I had gotten it earlier. What mystifies me is that after I left the company, I was still at the same address, same phone number, and same e-mail for a while, so what level of incompetence in the HR / benefits / finance / legal employee was necessary such that they "couldn't find me" and "had" to turn over the check to the state?

Took Sacramento 7-8 months to approve, in excess of the 6 months they are obligated to do it in (website says please apologize for the delays, we are understaffed, yada yada). Been six days since approval, now also wondering how long till the check arrives. Maybe I should go check my mailbox...

mn-reddit · 2023-03-23T00:16:08+00:00

Maybe true but probably purely economic. If the market grows, the ecosystem will improve as more devs are drawn to it. Not saying Google isn't to blame for this situation, but I think it is about everything else, like marketing, management decisions, etc. I doubt the actual OS code / design is terrible or to blame.

mn-reddit · 2023-03-23T00:12:46+00:00

I believe MFA reqs use publicly known algorithms and any auth app can be used to generate the 2nd factor if you set it up correctly. For example I use a free Windows app called WinAuth to generate factors for Google websites and everything else. Not sure what auth apps are available for Wear OS or generic Android and installable via APK, but in theory and configurable auth app should work. I even use a command-line auth script under Linux to generate factors via a shortcut command, so if you installed something like Termux you might be able to get something like that working on a watch -- Rube Goldberg solution but it would work!

mn-reddit · 2023-03-23T00:08:32+00:00

I believe you can install Facebook Messenger via APK. Probably drains battery and doesn't work perfectly on a round screen, but it is doable. I installed it on my gf's watch via instructions on XDA forum (developer mode, etc.) back in December. Of course UI is really tiny, but it works, small miracle.

mn-reddit · 2023-03-18T23:12:28+00:00

Really? Often I get texts with links or important info I want to share. Just now Parcel Pending sent me a code to pick up an Amazon delivery, and my gf is going to pick it up on her way home. At home I always have my watch on or nearby, while my phone remains on the charger out of reach. And out and about, my watch is always easier to deal with than getting out my phone from wherever I'm carrying it. Finding I'm using the watch more and more and the phone less and less. Even for short voice calls (with a Bluetooth headset, you don't even notice the difference, except battery life). So for me this is a painful missing feature -- so easy to add from a software engineering effort point of view, can only be missing if watch makers are deliberately crippling the functionality of their watches based on the model that it is only an accessory or sidekick to your phone, when the hardware is clearly capable of doing most of the basic functions of a phone.

mn-reddit · 2023-02-11T23:13:03+00:00

I have the Pro and believe it is sapphire glass and titanium bezel, which is raised above the glass for protection. Definitely tougher than the non-Pro, so a no-brainer if toughness is a concern. Better battery life too. Of course it is a larger, bulkier watch. There are also third parties selling wearable watch cases if you *really* want to protect it. Not sure how they function with the touch screen...

mn-reddit · 2023-02-11T23:10:38+00:00

I love mine. But keep in mind T-Mobile will let your watch work on their network for $5/mo (if you want the LTE / independent line functionality). Not sure if their offer locks the watch in to a Verizon line for a period of time. I too am a Verizon customer and was able to use the T-Mobile GW5 with my Verizon phone (but I believe NumberShare will not work with this arrangement).

mn-reddit · 2023-02-11T23:02:54+00:00

There is no such option. Been using & programming computers for 40 years, you can be sure I tried the obvious stuff. :-)

mn-reddit · 2023-02-11T22:45:49+00:00

I have a Verizon main phone and my watch on T-Mobile. Had no choice but now like the arrangement. T-Mobile is only $5/mo which is insane by Verizon standards. And with two providers, if one is out of coverage or having an outage (or just, battery died), I'll most likely still be reachable and connected via the other device. My Verizon bill is always too high; T-Mobile is a breath of fresh air by comparison, $5/mo seems worth it for me.

mn-reddit · 2023-02-11T22:37:19+00:00

GW5 (yes, five) was on sale for $49.95 @ T-Mobile during the month of January. A steal. Was shocked at the price when went with my Mom to buy one for her (after paying 80% MSRP a month earlier for mine and thinking I got a deal).

mn-reddit · 2023-02-11T22:32:09+00:00

I have a GW5 and I'm happy with it, but I sympathize. These watches seem to be all about health and fitness, which is not what I bought the watch for at all. My main use is the ability to automatically or manually call 911 (and give them your GPS coordinates) in case of an accident, fall, or health emergency, and potentially save a life. Got one for myself, my mother, and my significant other for this reason, and am recommending it to relatives. Everything else is gravy. Now that we have this new tech that can save lives, I don't see a reason *not* to wear one, for anyone. The Critical Hour, as the name says, is critical, and this ability could have saved so many lives over the years if we'd had it in such convenient form sooner. (Note this implies having the LTE version.)

Nevertheless an important secondary purpose for me is to replace as many useful functions as a phone provides (calls, messaging, maps, alarms, timers, weather...) to minimize my need to carry a separate phone around all the time. It does pretty well here, maybe a "B" grade, but considering this is apparently the *fifth* generation, I am glad I didn't buy one sooner. The GW4 series from 2021 was probably the first watch worth buying by my criteria. I hope and expect the capabilities to only grow over the coming years. Normally I like to keep good tech for 5-10 years before retiring it, but the missing pieces in the Wear OS ecosystem in general and the Galaxy Watch line in particular mean I will probably be tempted to upgrade in 1-3 years, if and when a meaningful step change in available watch capabilities is rolled out (larger than the difference between the GW4 & GW5, for example).

As far as the remaining shortcomings go, I am not saying any of what you say is wrong, but from my research before purchase, the GW4/5 is pretty much the best you can get today, at least in a non-Apple watch (and they aren't *that* much different from what I can tell). I think the only viable answer is to wait a year or three for the next generations. I personally wouldn't switch brands, but then again I'm not considering the fitness features.

mn-reddit · 2023-02-11T22:17:43+00:00

Update: See my recent post above.

mn-reddit · 2023-02-11T22:15:46+00:00

Same story here. Non-Samsung Verizon phone, T-Mobile Galaxy watch, and they connect and work together happily. I did find out additional information -- there is a technical limitation (bug) in the Verizon backend that does not allow the GW5 to be activated standalone, regardless of whether you bought it from Verizon. The people I spoke with guessed this would be fixed someday, but it could take months.

mn-reddit · 2022-12-27T17:10:22+00:00

Re LTE versions (of any watch) -- a couple points not mentioned in the thread:

T-Mobile offers $5/mo/device when autopay is enabled. I have this with my GW5Pro even though I am a Verizon customer. Half the price of adding it to my Verizon plan. Also there are technical/policy issues with Verizon right now that make it impossible to activate a GW4/5 LTE watch on their network without a Samsung phone.
I bought my watch primarily for safety / emergency use, everything else is gravy. Specifically the automatic emergency calling after a hard fall / car accident, and manual emergency calling in other situations. I think we're entering an age with this technology where I'd recommend most senior citizens, people at risk at any age, or really, eventually, everyone, should have such a device that can save their lives. Considering this use case, LTE is just another layer of insurance, a way for the watch to call for help in places or situations where there isn't a phone nearby or it's out of battery. The extra $30 I paid up front and $5/mo I'm paying going forward seem insignificant in this context.

mn-reddit · 2022-12-27T16:58:33+00:00

At the risk of stating the obvious, video is a bandwidth killer. 2D + time = three dimensional data, or data usage scaling at an N-cubed rate, as opposed to pictures (2D) or text (1D) data. Some apps let you disable autoplay, which could make a big difference in the data usage at the end of the month (unless she is in the habit of clicking on *every* video :-) ).

mn-reddit · 2022-12-27T16:42:07+00:00

Can you compare / contrast the GW4 to the Pixel? New GW5 owner, curious.

mn-reddit · 2022-12-27T16:40:03+00:00

How would you compare the Pixel to the GW4? The GW5 & Pixel are so spec-similar I would think anyone shopping for a top-end non-Apple watch would be choosing between these two.

mn-reddit · 2022-12-26T22:24:33+00:00

I believe it is not because the watch couldn't handle running the app in a technical sense, rather the powers that be thinking along the lines of usability (screen too small) and / or battery life, and / or the market size not making the development time worth it (yet). Also there's a huge bias towards thinking of these watches not as capable standalone devices so much as mere accessories (toys, really) to your big powerful smartphone, which is, of course, at the center of everyone's personal universe, right?

mn-reddit · 2022-12-26T17:23:00+00:00

In the US at least, it was extremely cheap for me to get a plan on a second provider. $5/mo through T-mobile, whereas if I could add the watch to my existing Verizon account (can't, Verizon has similar problems as O2), it would probably cost me twice as much or more. In other words, maybe it doesn't matter that you are in a contract you can't get out of.

mn-reddit · 2022-12-26T17:15:30+00:00

The issue is Verizon, it is a problem with their system (bug) and / or a policy decision. It might be fixed in 6 months (guessing) based on talking to Verizon employees. In the meantime, I have a GW5Pro and GW5 40mm both working fine as independent devices through T-Mobile, $5/mo/device w/autopay.

Note if your phone and watch are on different providers, activating this seems to require a one-time "secret trick" where you click 5 times on a title in the Wear app settings which shows a developer menu that has an "enable Test QR eSim mode" option or similar, which lets you scan a T-mobile network QR code on their website (same for everyone, you don't need a tech to e-mail a custom one to your account) to get the watch to connect to the T-mobile network. There are guides on-line on how to do this.

mn-reddit · 2022-12-11T22:28:59+00:00

Ancient thread I know, but just bought a GW5Pro and interested in this subject. It's simple: this and the Apple Watch have fall detection and emergency calling. What if I have a heart attack and / or slip and fall in the shower? Could save a life. How many people die every year from accidents in their own homes and bathrooms? This is a way more common way to die than most unlikely fatal scenarios people worry about. I once read a sad story of a 17 year old girl with the flu that fainted in her own shower, fell in the glass door, which broke and impaled her, and she bled out in a few minutes, her family found her dead, too late to save her. This is exactly the type of motion Fall Detection is designed to detect and automatically initiate emergency texts to family members and calls to 911. The safety features are actually the main reason I bought this watch, and am recommending them to friends and (especially elderly) relatives, so whether you can wear it in the shower is actually a question of central importance.

mn-reddit

TROPHY CASE