Shallow Thoughts : : Mar

Gmail with an App Password

In 2022 I wrote about Sending Mail via Gmail using OAuth2.

But it turned out that Google expires OAuth2 tokens on a weekly basis. So if you use that method, once a week you'll have to bring up a browser, log in to your Google account and go through the five or so pages of re-authorizing. Which will invariably happen when you're in a hurry and just wanted to send a quick email so you can move on to other things.

However, it turns out there's an easier way, which apparently doesn't expire: App passwords. I switched to using app passwords back then (I've been using that app password since then), and I even wrote it up, and then forgot to post it. What a dingbat!

But I changed my GMail password recently, and it turns out when you change your Gmail account password, Google revokes all app passwords you've set up (and, of course, doesn't bother to tell you that, and the error message you get when you try to sign in with the old app password has nothing whatever to do with the actual problem, which is that your app password has been revoked and you need to create a new one).

So I dug out this old never-got-posted article and used it to make a new app password, and have updated the parts that were a little out of date.

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Command-Line Metronome

I mentioned before that I'm taking beginner guitar lessons. Justin recommends using a metronome for some of the practicing, and that makes sense: I notice that sometimes when I practice I try to go too fast, which might or might not be good for learning the chord changes but it also leads to more mistakes and worse chord quality.

There are probably lots of phone metronome apps, but I'm usually practicing near my computer (where I watch the lessons and where I keep all my notes on chords and rhythms for particular songs), so I thought it would be nice to have a metronome on Linux.

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How to Assemble a Stem on a Threadless Headset

(This is a followup to Upgrading an Old 1-1/4" Cannondale to a Modern 1-1/8" Fork.)

After installing a new headset and fork on my mountain bike, I slid the stem onto the new steerer tube, cinched it up, tightened the top bolt and went for a test ride.

It tested out fine, but the way I'd installed it was exactly wrong, and I didn't realize it until I did some more reading. It turns out cinching down a threadless headset requires a step that's not at all obvious if you don't know any better. Or at least it wasn't obvious to me.

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Upgrading an Old 1-1/4" Cannondale to a Modern 1-1/8" Fork

My (beloved) mountain bike is an old 1993 Cannondale M700, which I've customized fairly heavily over the years. I know people say the new (enormous, heavy) mountain bikes are more capable, but I'm not convinced. I've ridden Dave's new Specialized and while it's a nice bike (and I love the modern trend of an 11-speed cassette with a single-speed front), it's heavy and slow-steering and honestly, it didn't tempt me to replace the Cannondale.

But one thing about the 'dale that could definitely use replacing: the fork.

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How Common is Easter in March?

"Easter is March 31 this year," my husband said. "I think that's rare, having Easter in March."

"I guess so," I said.

"There's a Cray somewhere that they use to calculate the date each year," he joked.

And of course that made me want to find out if Easters in March really are rare.

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