Q: “How can I get information about me off the internet?”

A: Leverage Google’s Results About You tool.

Alas, ya gotta sign in to Google to use it. But WSJ’s Nicole Nguyen recommends it as a good way to request data removal.

1. Go to myactivity.google.com,
2. click the “Other activity” link in the leftnav, and then
3. click the “Manage results about you” link and follow the prompts.

All chapters of “Divorce Google”:

• Part 1 (stop using Chrome)
• Part 2 (hide from YouTube’s algorithm)
• Part 3 (remove yourself from Google search results)

. . . I also expand on these tips & ideas at googlebeevil.com

Q: “When did Salesforce release [Feature X]?”

A: Gosh, if only the Release Notes were all collected in one place.

or, if you’d like them individually:

. . . now to run these suckers through ChatGPT and create something nerdily interesting!

I’m thinking

• a timeline of major features (eg, Permission Sets went GA in Winter ’12) or
• analyzing features by area
• studying trends in word choice

Q: “How can I prevent the ‘Tables’ palette from appearing every time I create a new Google Sheet?”

A: There’s no setting in Google Sheets to suppress it.

But the Tampermonkey browser extension, with a script, can do it:

1] install the Tampermonkey extension in your browser

2] click the Tampermonkey icon and select “Create a new script…”

3] highlight the existing code in the <new userscript> window

4] replace the highlighted text by copying-and-pasting the code block below:

// ==UserScript==
// @name         Kill Google Sheets Tables sidebar
// @match        https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/*
// ==/UserScript==
(function() {
    let interval = setInterval(() => {
        let sidebar = document.querySelector("div.building-blocks-sidebar > div > div > div#docs-tiled-sidebar-title");
        if (sidebar && sidebar.innerHTML === 'Tables') {
            document.querySelector("div.building-blocks-sidebar > div > div > div#docs-tiled-sidebar-title + div.docs-tiled-sidebar-close").click();
            clearInterval(interval);
        }
    }, 50);
})();

5] click “File | Save”

That’s it! The next time you open a new Google Sheet, you’ll see the “Tables” palette flicker and disappear.

props to Reddit user zoooooook’s solution

Q: “How do I get the Salesforce ID out of a hard-coded hyperlink in a Google Sheets cell?”

A: Here‘s the Apps Script function. More explanation below.

function GetURL(input){
  const sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet();
  const myFormula = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveRange().getFormula();
  const matches = (myFormula.indexOf("(") !== -1 && myFormula.indexOf(")") !== -1) ? myFormula.slice(myFormula.indexOf("(") + 1, myFormula.indexOf(")")) : undefined;
  const range = sheet.getRange(matches);
  // Extract the link URLs for each cell in the range
  const linkUrls = range.getRichTextValues().map(ia => ia.map(row => row.getLinkUrl()));
  // Return the link URLs
  return linkUrls;
}

Let’s say you’ve pasted values from Salesforce into Google Sheets like the following. . .

. . . and you need the Salesforce IDs behind those links.

You could get the URL from each cell, one at a time–but that‘s woefully inefficient.

The faster way is to define a custom GetURL() function you can use in the spreadsheet:

1. click “Extensions | Apps Script” from the Google Sheets menu bar;
2. highlight all text in the “Apps Script: Untitled Project” window that appears
3. replace the highlighted text by copying-and-pasting the red code block above
4. click the “Save project to Drive” button (it looks like a floppy disk):

Congratulations! You now have a custom GetURL() function you can use in the spreadsheet, like this:

props to https://productivesheets.com/extract-url-from-hyperlink-google-sheets/

Q: “How can I find all the Jira tickets I touched in the last week?”

A: Three steps:

1. Run a regular search in Jira.
2. In the results screen, click Jira’s “Switch to JQL” link
   
3. Once you’ve switched to JQL, run a query like the following:
   key IN updatedBy(ezra, -7d) ORDER BY key DESC

• if your name isn’t Ezra, you probably want to modify the ezra part
• if you want a timeframe other than the last 7 days, modify the -7d argument

Q: “How can I find all the Jira tickets in the current sprint?”

A: sprint IN currentSprints()

If, like me, you save queries and you don’t wanna constantly update the query to say sprint = 'Sprint 2' or sprint = 'Bugfix Sprint' or whatever, then sprint IN currentSprints() is your huckleberry

Q: Pop quiz! One of these Custom Activity Formula Fields is syntactically correct, and the other produces an error. Which is which?

Option 1:

Option 2:

A: Highlight to show answer: Option 2 is syntactically correct. I don’t know why. AccountId is a perfectly legitimate system field on both Event and Task!

Q: Why doesn’t the installer for Data Loader on the Mac install automatically?

A: Nerd cred, I guess. It’s more badass to have to do manual things.

Anyway, if you’re on a Mac and you

1. downloaded the latest installer from this site,
2. double-clicked the downloaded Zip file with a name like dataloader_v62.0.2,
3. opened the folder with a name like dataloader_v62.0.2,
4. double-clicked the file named something like install.command, and
5. got the error below. . .

. . . here’s what you should do:

1] control-click the folder with a name like dataloader_v62.0.2,
2] select “New Terminal at Folder” from the drop-down menu

3] copy the command below, paste it into the Terminal window, and press Return:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine install.command

. . . and that should do it! The file named install.command has been unquarantined and should now run without further complaint.

props to this StackExchange post and this old Macworld forum post

Q: How do I stop Jira automatically setting me as a watcher every time I create or contribute to an issue?

A: In any Jira screen,

1] click your Account menu in the upper right-hand corner and choose “Personal Settings“:

2] In Personal Settings, change “Watch your issues” to “Disabled” and click the “Save changes” button:

that’s it!

plucked from this Jira support page.

Q: Can Salesforce Integration Licenses access Standard Objects like Accounts and Opportunities?

A: Yes, but only with some configuration weirdness!

To access Standard Objects, a userid with a Salesforce Integration License must be assigned to the right kind of Permission Set: the Permission Set’s “License” field must be set to

• no specific License, or
• a “Salesforce API Integration” License:

• a Permission Set whose “License” field is “Salesforce” can’t be assigned to a userid with a Salesforce Integration License, and
• a Permission Set whose “License” field is “Salesforce Integration” can’t access Standard Objects.
• And a Salesforce Integration License’s Profile can’t access Standard Objects, either.

go figure.

thanks to Josh Dehkordi and Surya Kamkipati for their help sorting this out!