tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29100831403665763962024-03-05T16:20:38.673-08:00My Trail of Random Tech TidbitsTechnical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-80912087399181882532024-02-02T14:37:00.000-08:002024-02-02T14:44:45.688-08:00How to remove a trash can lid<p> (Wow, it's been 3 years since my last post? My, how time flies ... )</p><p>My local trash-collection service provides free replacement lids for our trash and recycle bins. But those lids are a PITA to remove and there's no advice or how-to's for removing them. I finally figured it out, though, and so now I am posting this quick explanation.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">GENERAL INFO <br /></h4><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>First, you need to check the serial number of your trash/recycle bin to see if it's still under-warranty. At least where I live, that's 10 years. There should be a reference list on your trash service's web-site identifying which serials are still supported.</li><li>Also, worst case, you can always just throw the entire bin in your van or truck and drive down to the trash service's office -- and they'll figure it all out for you. If it's not under-warranty then they might require that you purchase a new one. Again, where I live, the recycle bins are always a free replacement, even if they're out-of-warranty</li></ul><h4 style="text-align: left;">INSTRUCTIONS</h4><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiykksIX0VbFDJMqdGwgzIzXeAi4nE4a3I4yDmlizndWU2zcFuwG3rk2JYaE_wFVw67sVUcvmB6OCi8TXKKfePk120AfF4lH0HzADfNwWWUMGG6wi0wuW1eoinaVn_yEK66rTmNxEF4cbHrO5nxw0rq8nbQA1rs-uRa_zsjBd416gp7A5DpA7xrVmtgI3U/s4032/trash%20can%20lid%20removal%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiykksIX0VbFDJMqdGwgzIzXeAi4nE4a3I4yDmlizndWU2zcFuwG3rk2JYaE_wFVw67sVUcvmB6OCi8TXKKfePk120AfF4lH0HzADfNwWWUMGG6wi0wuW1eoinaVn_yEK66rTmNxEF4cbHrO5nxw0rq8nbQA1rs-uRa_zsjBd416gp7A5DpA7xrVmtgI3U/w461-h284/trash%20can%20lid%20removal%201.jpg" width="461" /></a></div></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The lids are held-on by 2 really-strong plastic pins. Those pins have 2 slots cut in the side to allow the pin to 'squeeze in' just enough to click into place. The key to removing them is to grab onto those slots and yank the pin out. (Which is easier said than done.)</li><li>First, use your fingers or a screwdriver etc to pull the pin out as far as possible. This is only about half-inch but that's enough to expose the slots.</li><li>Second, find a screwdriver that is small enough to fit through the slots. (It needs to be long enough and strong enough, too, i.e., you can't use a <u>small</u> screwdriver!)</li><li>Third, jam the screwdriver all the way through the pin and the slots.<br /></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Finally, twist the screwdriver around until the tip is braced against the side of the trash bin. This is to give you more leverage. Now, just yank the thing out!<br /></li></ul><p></p><p></p><p>This was -- by far -- the easiest way to remove these pins. I originally made the mistake of trying to wedge the pin out using just the tip of the screwdriver and only 1 side/slot. I also tried an assortment of pliers but nothing could grip it well enough.</p><p>FYI - here's another picture which shows the pin after I pulled it out đ You can clearly see
the slot and how I was able to jam the screwdriver through.</p><p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yw0pcTzj_1wMS7a9udYpUxf6Rcjv5khcz4WJR9EwId3IPKABDm8ieQyboUZtfWmFbQVKp1BJsQtsr13OWQwWepTdW6A6hfwhYBbj5m4Uq3j1lCjnHPNi_nSGOHIpBFAAmEeDRtC3nUx4PKdfPtZIZGYDzloWtH2Fbl6mouT6WWatGTXxa_1VST3lV1M/s4032/trash%20can%20lid%20removal%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yw0pcTzj_1wMS7a9udYpUxf6Rcjv5khcz4WJR9EwId3IPKABDm8ieQyboUZtfWmFbQVKp1BJsQtsr13OWQwWepTdW6A6hfwhYBbj5m4Uq3j1lCjnHPNi_nSGOHIpBFAAmEeDRtC3nUx4PKdfPtZIZGYDzloWtH2Fbl6mouT6WWatGTXxa_1VST3lV1M/w472-h266/trash%20can%20lid%20removal%202.jpg" width="472" /></a></p><div><style></style></div><style></style>Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-36352852103038345922021-02-24T16:18:00.000-08:002021-02-24T16:18:19.683-08:00Gear 360 (2016) firmware updates<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Samsung_Gear_360_camera_(26666601836).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="213" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Samsung_Gear_360_camera_(26666601836).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The two Samsung Gear 360 models (SM-C200 in 2016, then SM-R210 in 2017) are now discontinued. So I don't think you can download firmware updates for them anymore.</p><p>I own the older 2016 model and I was trying to figure-out if it had the latest/final firmware. This is what I found:</p><p>Aug 2017 = C200GLU0AQ<b><u>F</u>1</b> </p><p>March 2018 = C200GLU0AQ<u><b>K</b></u>1 </p><p>So, I think the "K1" firmware is the final release for the SM-C200 model<br /></p><p> </p>Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-56117141316006314192020-05-02T22:22:00.000-07:002020-05-02T22:22:01.415-07:00SOLVED: Windows 10 mic input not workingI hope that this post rises in the search-engine results because I spent days trying to fix this issue, then found the solution through careful experimentation.<br />
<br />
<h3>
MY PROBLEM</h3>
My family and I are stuck sheltering in-place because of coronavirus and my kids are all attending online classes. So I had to dig-out several old HP desktop computers, and the first thing I did was refresh them with the latest Windows 10 '1909' operating-system. Everything seemed to work great.<br />
<br />
Then we started to have issues where everyone was trying to participate in video-conferences at the same time (and in the same room) so I bought everyone corded headsets. But the microphones wouldn't work! I swapped headsets around, even tried my known-good headset from my work, so I knew the issue wasn't the headsets -- it was the computers.<br />
<br />
<b>NOTE</b>: these computers used the old-style pair of Headphone vs Mic inputs, i.e., it did not use the newer combined input (like for smartphones). I'm not sure if this made a different to my eventual solution but it did help me to troubleshoot.<br />
<br />
<h3>
HOW I TROUBLESHOT</h3>
First I opened the Device Manager and saw that Win10 had installed (2) sound/video drivers:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>High Definition Audio Device</li>
<li>IDT HD Audio</li>
</ul>
<br />
The IDT driver was dated 2015 so I tried the 'Check For Updates' function, but it reported that it was already the latest version.<br />
<br />
Next, I opened the Win10 'Sound' settings. I noticed that when I plugged/unplugged either the headset or the mic plug, the list of available Output or Input devices would auto-update. So this told me that the IDT driver was correctly detecting the presence of the plug; this was a good sign!<br />
<br />
<h3>
MY SOLUTION / EXPLANATION</h3>
I eventually realized that the new Input (that appeared in response to plugging-in the mic) was labeled "Line In" rather than "Mic In". If the driver thought I had attached a line-level device, e.g. an external CD player, then it wouldn't apply the necessary amplification for a very low-level device like a microphone. Something was interfering with the IDT's ability to fully detect the status of the mic input-plug...<br />
<br />
So I tried disabling first the MS-provided "High Definition Audio Device" device. Everything still worked but the mic still failed to be detected correctly. At the very least, this demonstrated that the 2 drivers were redundant. Next I tried disabling the IDT and re-enabling the MS; now the mic plugin wasn't detected.<br />
<br />
Finally, <b>I disabled both audio devices -- then re-enabling only the IDT driver</b>. It worked! In the Sound settings the new Input was labeled "Mic In" and the headset mic now worked. So, apparently, when the IDT driver starts-up, it is blocked somehow by the presence of the default MS audio-driver.<br />
<br />
<br />Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-85392554687931287982019-07-03T05:17:00.000-07:002019-07-03T15:19:22.006-07:00Could the 'Upside Down' be real?In honor of tonight's release of Stranger Things season 3, I present the following argument in favor of the existence of the 'Upside Down'. Not like in the TV show, of course! The title of this post is just click-bait :-)<br />
<br />
But in all seriousness, and apropos of nothing, I have been thinking about the difference in Einstein's famous equation for energy, e=mc^2, and how it differs from other similar physics equations. (Actually, I think this whole chain of thought began with a wistful memory of how much math I learned in college, including the derivation of e=mc^2... oh, well!)<br />
<h4>
THE PROBLEM</h4>
There are many examples of math and physics equations of the form:<br />
'TOTAL' = <b>one-half</b>-of-something (multipled-by) something-else-squared<br />
<br />
For instance, kinetic energy = one-half MASS x VELOCITY-squared<br />
<br />
So why does Einstein's energy equation = <b>ALL-OF-MASS</b> x light-velocity-squared?<br />
<h4>
THE SOLUTION</h4>
My conclusion: the MASS we can measure is <span style="background-color: #fff2cc;"><b>only HALF</b> <b>the actual mass</b></span>. In other words, there's another entire 'mirror' universe equal in size to our visible universe. We just don't know how to access it...<br />
__________<br />
<br />
This conclusion is actually supported (maybe...) by the current models of a Grand Unified Theory (GUT) of physics which predict multiple additional dimensions -- though I think they predict that those dimensions are extremely extremely small. I'm reminded of the classic novel, "Flatland", which discussed the idea of how our 3-dimensional world would appear to someone accustomed to a 2-dimensional world. You could 'pick up' that 2D person and they would 'disappear' from their world, even though they were still entirely intact and whole. Then, you could return them to another spot in their world and it would appear as if they'd transported. If we could demonstrate and control our position in one of these hypothetical extra GUT dimensions, we could effectively do the same thing in real life.<br />
<br />
Another cool idea: if we could understand what causes gravity in the same way that we now understand magnetism, we could build our own artificial gravity-generators. This would make space travel much easier since we wouldn't need rockets, instead we would just generate 'reverse' gravity and we'd be launched into orbit by our centripetal motion!<br />
<br />
P.S. Don't quote me, I don't really know what I'm talking about ;-) In fact, the 'one-half' in kinetic energy comes from the fact that we're integrating (adding-up) the energy required to accelerate something from zero to some-velocity, and if you graph that it looks like a right-triangle where the area is HALF the height (x) width.Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-33890626209737656152017-09-16T23:20:00.001-07:002017-09-16T23:20:29.717-07:00What happened to Salon app<h3>
Problems with accessing Salon.com </h3>
The title of this post is copied from the auto-complete offer from Google search, when I was trying to find out what happened to the Android app for Salon.com. It had not been updated since 2015 (two years ago) and apparently I was fortunate that it still worked, at all, on my Galaxy S7 running Android 7.0 "Nougat". Most of the reviews in the Google Play Store said that it didn't work on Android 7.0.<br />
<br />
But now it seems to have stopped working for everyone and has been removed from the Play Store search.<br />
<br />
When you use the above-mentioned search term you are directed to the Salon.com web-site where they still <a href="http://www.salon.com/about/mobile/">extol the virtues of their (non-existent) Android app</a>. They also still include the link to the original app -- so the app is still available, but it's highly questionable if it still works<br /><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.salon.salonapp">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.salon.salonapp</a><br />
<br />
Probably they want people to use the mobile-optimized version of their web-site instead. Unfortunately, the site has a ridiculous amount of popup ads, making it very unpleasant to use.<br />
<b><i style="background-color: #f9cb9c;">So I wanted to post the following workaround</i></b>:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>use the <b>Play Newsstand app</b> and add Salon.com as a Library resource<br /><a href="https://play.google.com/store/newsstand/news/Salon?id=CAowgGA&hl=en">https://play.google.com/store/newsstand/news/Salon?id=CAowgGA&hl=en</a></li>
</ul>
<div>
The Play Newsstand app is free and skips all the ads. The only limitation is that you can only browse the most recent posts, maybe a days' worth.</div>
<h4>
What Happened to Salon.com?</h4>
<div>
I have been a regular reader of Salon.com since they began 20 years ago. I was even a subscriber, back when they tried to use that profit model. But now they seem to be on the decline. On their own site, under Press Releases, they admit that they are losing money and that their viewership has dropped 25% in the past year, 2016-to-2017. </div>
<div>
I also found the following articles, talking about the decline of the site:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>May 2016, in Politico<br /><a href="http://www.politico.com/media/story/2016/05/the-fall-of-saloncom-004551">http://www.politico.com/media/story/2016/05/the-fall-of-saloncom-004551</a></li>
<li>March 2017, Reddit<br /><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/slaterefugees/comments/605jnx/saloncom_quietly_gets_rid_of_their_comments/">https://www.reddit.com/r/slaterefugees/comments/605jnx/saloncom_quietly_gets_rid_of_their_comments/</a></li>
</ul>
<h4>
In Conclusion</h4>
<div>
If I ever see an official announcement about the app, I'll update this post.</div>
</div>
Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-79017567700255895852016-08-28T10:04:00.000-07:002016-08-28T10:04:32.146-07:00How to remove the armrest on a 2015 Honda Accord (9th generation)Quick post without any pics; my phone is sooo far away (in the next room).<br />
<br />
I just wrestled with my 2015 Accord's rear armrest and I was unable to find any information online about how to remove it, so now I'm posting the secret :-)<br />
<br />
On the right-side of the armrest there is a plastic spacer. This is easy to find and remove, and implies that you should now be able to push the armrest 'in' on the right to unclip the opposite side. But it wouldn't move. Eventually I figured-out that you have to pull back the carpeting around the left side and then you'll see a spring-loaded clip holding the left-side in place, too. Pinch to remove and now the assembly can be pushed out, to the right.<br />
<br />
It also looked like there was a bolt on the left side and I took a wrench to it, shattering the plastic. I don't think it needed to come off, the assembly was just stuck. But, by then, I was impatient :-)<br />
<br />Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-73507373855995656602016-05-21T15:43:00.001-07:002017-10-29T00:18:30.736-07:00Review of Yamaha MusicCast WX-030 for DLNA playback<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://data.yamaha.jp/sdb/product/image/main/medium/w/wx-030_black/2DAAEC0EEFE14651ABDED7EB00ACA04E_12001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://data.yamaha.jp/sdb/product/image/main/medium/w/wx-030_black/2DAAEC0EEFE14651ABDED7EB00ACA04E_12001.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
ABOUT MY DLNA COLLECTION</h3>
I have a large library of music on my home computer which I share throughout the house via <a href="https://www.jriver.com/">J River Media Center</a> and its DLNA service. I also use the <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bubblesoft.android.bubbleupnp&hl=en">BubbleUPnP</a> app on my Android phone and tablets to act as the front-end, to select songs and direct the playback to either the local device (typically bluetooth headphones) or my family-room stereo.<br />
<br />
Over the years I have gone through multiple AV receivers from Denon, Sony and now <a href="http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/musiccast/">Yamaha</a>. They generally work alright but both the Denon and Yamaha receivers tend to freak-out if I skip a song, i.e., they corrupt the playback and need to be power-cycled. Also, the playback is restricted to one room -- albeit the most important room. But I still hoped to find a solution for music listening in the kitchen and other rooms.<br />
<br />
<h3>
MY SEARCH FOR DLNA SPEAKERS</h3>
About six months ago I started a <a href="http://www.avsforum.com/forum/39-networking-media-servers-content-streaming/2225498-comparison-sonos-heos-paradigm-samsung-bluesound-etc.html">thread on the AVS Forum</a> asking for input about DLNA playback on all the available network speakers, e.g.<br />
<ul>
<li>Sonos</li>
<li>Denon Heos (Play-Fi)</li>
<li>Paradigm</li>
<li>Samsung</li>
<li>BlueSound</li>
<li>Definitive (Play-Fi)</li>
<li>LG MusicFlow</li>
<li>Polk Omni (Play-Fi)</li>
<li>Martin Logan Crescendo</li>
</ul>
<div>
Unfortunately, none of them seemed like a perfect match for my needs. The Play-Fi based models could act as DLNA 'Renderers' at least, but they were very expensive. I had been prepared to pay a lot for high-quality sound but then, for instance, the Definitive floor-models (at Best Buy) had broken buttons so I worried about their design.</div>
<br />
<h3>
NEW YAMAHA SPEAKER</h3>
Now I have a new toy -- the <a href="http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/desktop-audio/wx-030/?mode=model">Yamaha MusicCast WX-030</a> network speaker. It's very affordable @ $250. It has its own MusicCast app which allows you to playback from various streaming audio services like Pandora or Spotify, but I've yet to commit to any of those. It also lets you playback from 'Server' (DLNA) but then its track/playlist control is non-existent. Fortunately the speaker also works perfectly with BubbleUPnP. Probably the most important feature of the app is that it allows you to EQ the speaker as well as couples two speakers into a stereo pair.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/eveICaVVk4CI_dwDnt_8dL6MhYEc6ZJ6v_nU9POO-S3u5_XvIQuciNfWsC0rXMsH8w=h900-rw" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/eveICaVVk4CI_dwDnt_8dL6MhYEc6ZJ6v_nU9POO-S3u5_XvIQuciNfWsC0rXMsH8w=h900-rw" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BubbleUPnP playlist</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3>
DLNA Playback</h3>
When the speaker is asleep, I can initiate power-on and playback entirely from BubbleUPnP. I can also control the volume. And I specifically tested the EQ -- the settings I chose from the MusicCast app are saved by the speaker, they're not dependent on using that app. So once I 'fixed' the EQ I never need to use their app again, I can rely exclusively on BubbleUPnP.<br />
<br />
<h3>
HOW DOES IT SOUND?</h3>
well... You get what you pay for? It sounds alright, good enough that I'm not going to return it. But its definitely a small speaker without any deep bass, also the EQ seems to change based on volume. At low volumes the speaker sounds muffled, enough so that I boosted the high-band in the EQ. The bass sounds better at high volumes, probably because of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-weighting">relative-loudness phenomenon</a>. I also dialed-back the mid-band because the speaker seemed 'shouty'. <br />
<br />
In conclusion, I am happy with the speaker. Maybe 3 out of 4 stars? I plan on buying a second unit and pairing them together for stereo. That can't help but fill the room with sound, and hopefully it will improve the bass performance, too.<br />
<br />
<h3>
UPDATE: August 2016</h3>
I still rate it 3 of 4 stars. I bought a second unit and set up stereo-pairing but it quickly had problems. If the system had been 'asleep' and I woke it up from either the MusicCast app or BubbleUPnP (DLNA), the two speakers would be horribly out-of-sync. The right/master speaker would play normally but the left/slave speaker would stop and start.<br />
<br />
I contacted Yamaha tech-support and they insisted it was something wrong with my home network. They showed me where to access the diagnostics screen and that identified the problem. It is accessible in the MusicCast app under Settings > (speaker) > Information > Diagnostics. From this screen I could see that the right speaker could 'see' 5 or 6 of my neighbors' wifi and the ping time sometimes jumped from 0.03 seconds to 4.5 seconds! The left speaker didn't see any neighbors and its ping was consistently solid at 0.03 seconds.<br />
<br />
So I installed a PowerLine ethernet adapter for the right speaker. So far it works perfect, although time will tell.<br />
<h3>
UPDATE: October 2017</h3>
The playback has continued to be reliable since I bypassed wifi. I continue to rate the system 3 of 4 stars, though. They seem to release firmware updates every few months -- which I appreciate -- however, the updates always break the stereo-pairing. Recreating it requires a special key sequence on each speaker, i.e., it can't be enabled through the software. Also, there's a second key sequence which is needed to disable the default wifi mode, i.e., after each update the wired speaker defaults back to wifi.Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-68258756163699942372015-11-26T10:10:00.000-08:002015-11-26T10:14:46.658-08:00Fix for Sony HDR-CX430V video playback on Plex<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61le2bVtqJL._SL1200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61le2bVtqJL._SL1200_.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<h3>
CAMCORDER UPGRADE</h3>
<div>
<br />
About a year ago I upgraded my old Sony CX7 camcorder to a new Sony HDR-CX430V model. The old CX7 recorded in 1440x1080i and was having trouble focusing, while the new CX430 supported full 1080p @ 60fps and also included Sony's 'pro-level' Balanced Optical SteadyShot.</div>
<div>
<br />
<h3>
PROBLEMS WITH PLAYBACK</h3>
<br />
I have the Plex media-server app running on my home PC and serving-up all of my home videos, mostly from the old CX7 but also various smartphone videos etc. I love Plex! It rescued me from years of fussing with HTPC, XBMC, MPC-HC and on and on. Now, I can simply load the Plex viewer on my Samsung smart TV and everything 'Just Works'. <br />
<br />
Except that the new Sony recordings wouldn't play. The issue turned-out to be the specifics of the h.264 video recordings. The <b>CX430 was recording 1080p @ 60fps with h.264 L4.2 encoding</b> but the Samsung was only capable of decoding L4.0. What's more, the Plex server was only able to transcode up to L4.1 (not confirmed but that's been my experience). So all those new L4.2-encoded videos now need to re-encoded -- a lot of work since I've been using the camcorder for about a year now.<br />
<br />
<h3>
NEW RECORD SETTINGS</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The long-term solution is to switch the record mode from 60p to 24p / Standard. I found this option in the MENU under Image Quality > 60/MP4/Std > 24p > Standard. A quick test reveals that <b>the 24p recordings use L4.0 encoding</b>. And, finally, I confirmed that they playback correctly on my Plex/Samsung combination.</div>
</div>
<div>
I don't think these encoding specs are listed in any of Sony's manuals.</div>
<div>
__________________________________</div>
Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-27327575985769573662015-03-19T19:12:00.000-07:002015-03-19T19:12:00.107-07:00Review of the 'mystery' Samsung WB380F smart camera<h4>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixVEbOIq-zuuL5MJhU1VIXMoiaRLb3bNEooayjC3tOccW6gTd-Ho6RjfCMGVih1nNn3ZotXyoZWzotBhb6_Y7IW01OoTqBDvaaxdbo3eWbIR9a8NNBEzzICteSG-sGSCc94Ux27b19p9A/s1600/Samsung-WB380F-camera.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixVEbOIq-zuuL5MJhU1VIXMoiaRLb3bNEooayjC3tOccW6gTd-Ho6RjfCMGVih1nNn3ZotXyoZWzotBhb6_Y7IW01OoTqBDvaaxdbo3eWbIR9a8NNBEzzICteSG-sGSCc94Ux27b19p9A/s1600/Samsung-WB380F-camera.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a>MY NEW CAMERA<br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">I just bought a new Samsung WB380F smart camera through Best Buy's online store. It's a mid-level compact point-and-shoot that has wifi and online connectors for several online photo-sharing services. I specifically wanted something that could link to my cell phone (when switched to hotspot mode) and directly backup photos and videos to Flickr.</span></h4>
<br />
That didn't work out so well.<br />
<br />
<h4>
ACCIDENTAL BETA TESTER</h4>
Apparently Best Buy listed the camera for-sale before it was supposed to be released? That's the only explanation I can think of for the strange experience I've had with the camera. In general, I like the camera and it definitely takes better photos than my Nexus 5 smartphone! <b>But there's no longer a Flickr app.</b> That was an included feature on the predecessor model, the Samsung WB350F, but apparently its been dropped. I tried to find a list of supported services but the 350 is still the model listed on the Samsung U.S. web-site. In fact there's no mention of the 380, at all. When I tried to google "samsung wb380f" all I found were references to <b>camera stores in Germany</b> where it had gone on-sale in January (two months ago). I couldn't find any reviews or anything in English.<br />
<br />
So I submitted a tech-support request through Samsung's web-site. Their response was, "This is not a U.S. model." Um, then why is it for-sale at Best Buy? Why are all the buttons and manual in English? I tried googling it again and now, just 2 days later, I see it listed on the <a href="http://www.samsung.com/au/consumer/camera-camcorder/smart-cameras/compact/EC-WB380FBPBAU">Samsung Australia</a> and <a href="http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/model/EC-WB380FBPWGB">Samsung UK</a> web-sites. What's more, the older 350 model is now sold-out on the U.S. web-site. So clearly they're getting ready to switch models and I simply got ahold of one early.<br />
<h4>
ONLINE BACKUPS</h4>
Meanwhile, I had started experimenting with the remaining online services -- Picasa, Facebook, YouTube, and Dropbox. <b>Picasa is really Google Plus: Photos</b>. Dropbox won't let me login and I think the issue is that it doesn't recognize the 380 as a supported model. (I didn't try Facebook or YouTube because I don't plan on sharing anything online; I just want a mobile backup in case I run out of storage or lose the phone.) I called Samsung's phone support and they agreed that my issue needed to be escalated.<br />
<br />
I tried using the built-in Picasa backup but <b>I don't like the Google Photos web-site</b>, e.g. I couldn't see any way to organize my unsorted photos. You can either view the (already sorted) Albums, or you can View All which is a big mess. (My phone has a built-in Google Photos backup but that was the same result as the camera's app.)<br />
<br />
I tried using my phone's built-in Google Drive backup but then there's no 'photo awareness' of the files.<br />
<br />
I also tried using the official Flickr app but it <b>only backs-up photos you take with the phone</b>, i.e., it ignores photos you copy from elsewhere.<br />
_____________________<br />
<h4>
MY CURRENT BACKUP TECHNIQUE</h4>
<br />
<ol>
<li>I installed <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rafali.flickruploader2&hl=en">Flickr Upload</a> on my Nexus smartphone</li>
<li>I installed <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.samsungimaging.connectionmanager&hl=en">Samsung Smart Camera</a> app on my Nexus</li>
<li>I take pictures/videos on the Wb380F</li>
<li>Put the camera in 'wifi' mode, then select Mobile Link > Select Files From Phone</li>
<li>Open the Samsung Smart Camera app on my phone</li>
<li>tap the back of the phone to the 'NFC' label on the left-side of the camera</li>
<li>on the phone, click Select All checkbox, then COPY</li>
<li>The wireless copy is fast, e.g. 2-3 MB/second</li>
<li>Flickr Upload sees the new files and immediately re-copies them 'up' to the cloud</li>
</ol>
<div>
Even though this is a two-step transfer I only need to select the photos/videos once (in the Samsung app). Everything else is automatic. And I like the Flickr site because it has multiple views you can select, e.g. the new Camera Roll sorts by date and makes it easy to Select All > Add To Album.</div>
<h4>
WIDE-ANGLE = FISH-EYE!</h4>
<br />
One thing I noticed is that the camera has a wide-angle lenses so everything looks far away. If you try to fill the image by walking close to your subject, there's a 'fish-eye' effect. Instead you need to use the 21x optical zoom.<br />
______________________________________________________Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-83604231083890511342014-05-14T15:41:00.000-07:002014-05-14T15:41:24.705-07:00Workaround to Acrobat 9 updates not workingHas it really been 6 months since my last post?? Here's a new Quick Note, as always.<br />
<br />
My company still uses Adobe Acrobat 9 Standard but for the past month I've been <b>unable to auto-update</b> my new installs. Whenever I've tried the built-in Help > Check For Updates it reports "No updates available." I think I've now found the reason, as well as a workaround.<br />
<br />
<b>ROOT CAUSE?</b><br />
The base install of Acrobat 9.0.0 includes their older updater which is located in C:\Program Files x86\Common\Adobe\Updater6. Inside that folder there are two digital certs, e.g. AdobeUpdate.cer, which are dated 4/16/2008. I suspect those certs just expired last month?<br />
<br />
<b>WORKAROUND</b><br />
The workaround is to manually update Acrobat 9 until you get the <b>newer AdobeARM updater</b> which was included in <b>Acrobat 9.2.0</b>. Worst case you'll need to manually download and install all the following updates:<br />
9.1.0 > 9.1.1 > 9.1.2 > 9.1.3 > 9.2.0<br />
<br />
The downloads are located on this Adobe page:<br />
<a href="http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=1&platform=Windows">http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=1&platform=Windows</a><br />
<br />
There might be some shortcuts? For instance, some online discussions say you can skip directly from 9.1.0 to 9.2.0. Also, you might try copying the C:\Program Files x86\Common\Adobe\ARM folder from an updated PC to an un-updated, then run the AdobeARM.exe ?<br />
<br />Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-75682716502440103272013-11-10T14:49:00.002-08:002013-11-10T14:49:30.614-08:00Custom ringtones on Nexus 5I just got my new Nexus 5 through the Google Play Store. In general it's a great phone! My only complaint is that it has crashed on me twice -- once during the initial Google Play apps-sync, and again while using the USB 'Media' link to copy several GB of MP3s onto the phone.<br />
<br />
Some of those MP3s are custom ringtones that I'm accustomed to using for particular contacts, i.e., so that I can tell who is calling by the ringtone. Unfortunately, I could not find any way to select a custom ringtone using any of the built-in menus or apps. (In the past I've been able to use the built-in music player to set an MP3 as a ringtone but Google Play Music doesn't seem to have that.)<br />
<br />
Ultimately what I did was <b>install another file explorer</b> (in this case "ES File Explorer" but I suspect any would work). Now, when I go into the ringtone selector -- in either Settings > Sound or in the individual Contacts' ringtone -- there is a prompt to choose which file explorer. If I use ES File Explorer I can then choose any MP3.<br />
<br />Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-84079811969244880662013-06-17T14:16:00.003-07:002013-06-17T14:16:33.431-07:00fix for Windows Update error 8024402FI've just reinstalled my main home-office workstation and Windows Update started to fail after I installed Microsoft Office. The specific error-code is 8024402F.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I6gQJoVxfuc/Ub969qyUzFI/AAAAAAAAAbI/nZ7TMvdGcgU/s1600/Error+8024402F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="416" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I6gQJoVxfuc/Ub969qyUzFI/AAAAAAAAAbI/nZ7TMvdGcgU/s640/Error+8024402F.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
I tried all sorts of suggested fixes online:<br />
- reboot (MANY times!)<br />
- ran WindowsUpdateDiagnostics tool<br />
- ran System File Checker (SFC)<br />
- Reset the content of the Catroot2 folder<br />
There were other more-involved fixes, too, but I wanted to avoid them if at all possible. I mean- this was a brand-new install so how could any system files have gotten corrupted? I hadn't had crashes or other errors before this point.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Solution</h3>
The key was that Windows Update was configured for both Windows and Microsoft app updates. I went into 'Change Settings' and unchecked the option to update Microsoft apps -- i.e., Office -- and the problem went away. Honestly, the only Microsoft app I have installed is Outlook 2003 so I'm not expecting any updates. And, apparently, there's something about how Office 2003 registered itself that confused/broke that Microsoft Update feature.<br />
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-84666780183457781082013-04-05T21:20:00.003-07:002013-04-05T21:20:36.367-07:00Comparing Schlage vs Kwikset lockset handednessI have a side door on my garage with a matched set of Kwikset handle and deadbolt but <b>they lock/unlock in different directions</b>. This is a right-handed door and opens inward, i.e., from the outside the hinges are on the right, and from the inside the handles/bolts are on the right. The deadbolt works the way I expect, as the top of the key (from the outside) and/or the top of the handle (on the inside) moves the same direction as the bolt. The key to the handle, however, works the opposite direction. <br />
<br />
<h3>
Handedness of door locks</h3>
This is the 'handedness' of the lock. Rather than left or right, it's defined as clockwise or counter-clockwise. The seemingly-correct 'handedness' for my locks -- from the inside -- is clockwise to lock, counter-clockwise to unlock. But the handle's twist-latch turns counter-clockwise to lock. I set out to reverse this. And failed.<br />
<br />
<h3>
What I learned about lock handedness</h3>
I found some locksmith discussion web-sites where other people had asked about this. There was a lot of confused replies as most people thought the original poster was an idiot who couldn't figure-out how to remove and reverse the inside/outside orientation. Eventually I learned the following:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Some commercial locks are designed to have their handedness reversed but most residential locks are not.</li>
<li>When you flip a deadbolt from left-open to right-open, the handedness reverses too since <b>the door-open action </b><b>is the lock</b>. But when you reverse the direction on a handle the door-open mechanism reverses but not the internal locking mechanism.</li>
<li>Kwikset handles are all designed with a clockwise unlock. So in order for their handles and deadbolts to have the same handedness you need to use them on left-handed doors.</li>
<li>Schlage handles are the opposite, they're designed with a counter-clockwise unlock. So their handles and deadbolts only match when used on right-handed doors.</li>
</ol>
<h3>
Conclusions/Recommendations</h3>
<div>
I went to Home Depot and inspected the lockset displays. I also asked the employees in that department but they were unaware of this issue. They said people usually just accepted the mismatched handedness. Maybe now they'll ask customers which way their doors open and use that as a means of recommending one brand over another:</div>
<h4>
left-handed doors = Kwikset<br />right-handed doors = Schlage</h4>
Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-46112500128403496062013-03-02T09:33:00.000-08:002013-04-15T20:28:58.680-07:00Translation of IKEA frukt soppa instructionsThis is silly, I know, but I bought a packet of the Swedish fruit soup from IKEA then realized I couldn't read the directions. So I tried googling it but without success. Finally, I used Google Translate (which includes a virtual Swedish keyboard for the extra symbols) and the translation is as follows:<br />
<h4>
ORIGINAL FRUKTSOPPA DIRECTIONS</h4>
gör sÄ hÀr, vispa ner pÄsarnas innehÄll i 1 liter kallt vatten, en pÄse till 0,5 liter. Tillaga pÄ spis eller i mikrovÄgsugn. PÄ spis, Koka upp under omrörning. LÄt svalna, gÀrna i vattenbad och under lock. I mikrovÄgsugn, VÀrm pÄ hogsta effekt (600W) i 6 minuter. Rör om efter ca halva tiden.<br />
<div>
<h4>
TRANSLATED ENGLISH DIRECTIONS</h4>
<div>
Do this: whisk the bag's contents in 1 liter of cold water, (a bag to 0.5 liters). Cook on stove or in the microwave. On the stove, bring to boil, stirring. Allow to cool, preferably in water and under cover. In microwave, heat at maximum power (600W) for 6 minutes. Stir in about half the time.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-77166972756226771412012-10-11T11:39:00.001-07:002012-10-22T15:50:39.000-07:00Problems with Pelco and Swann security-camera DVRs<b>OVERVIEW</b><br />
<br />
My office has an established array of 8 security cameras but our DVR is now broken. The old DVR was a Dedicated Micros DS2 and it never really worked as expected, but it was minimally sufficient so we put-up with it. Now that it's died I was excited at the prospect of finally replacing it with something that worked exactly as we'd always wanted. But I continue to run into a bewildering array of problems, none of which could have been predicted.<br />
<br />
<b>MY RESEARCH METHOD</b><br />
<br />
I have now researched about 8 possible replacement DVRs. In addition to reviewing their online product-pages, I downloaded all the brochures and <b>I read all the manuals cover-to-cover</b>, keeping detailed notes. In this fashion I was able to immediately eliminate several DVRs because they did not allow you to limit users to individual cameras (just general access-levels, e.g. live-view versus playback).<br />
<br />
I have also been testing the online demos, of which I was surprised to find so few? This experience gave me a general 'feel' for the level of spit-and-polish on the UIs, which one would expect to reflect the overall quality of the product. Some DVRs had a distinctly 1990s UI -- not a deal-breaker but it definitely gave me pause.<br />
<br />
<b>REVIEW OF PELCO</b><br />
<br />
After much discussion, I was able to get an in-house demo of the DVR recommended by our security-system vendor -- the Pelco DX4808. This is the current mid-range DVR by the same industry-leading company that made our 480-line analog cameras. It featured full-resolution D1 recording capability across all 8 cameras simultaneously, which was the biggest failing of the old Dedicated Micros unit. Unfortunately, we quickly ran into serious issues with the new unit.<br />
<br />
1. The D1 recordings were not properly de-interlaced. When people would move side-to-side in the camera view, there were major 'jaggies' around them. And this issue extended to motionless images, too, i.e., the new '480-line' recordings looked worse than our old 240-line recordings (which skipped the whole de-interlacing issue by simply recording one set of NTSC video frames). I asked several people at Pelco about this and none of them had any idea how to fix it; they confirmed that there was no hidden setting I could use to 'flip' the odd/even frames, nor was there a switch on the cameras to reverse how they were sending the image.<br />
<br />
2. There were 3 different DVR interfaces available but none of them allowed you to easily review the recordings? The 'old' DX Series application allowed you to search by camera and date/time, then presented you with a time-line indicating when the camera had been triggered. But the timeline was awkward to use since most (short) recordings would show-up as a single pixel-wide 'event' and clicking anywhere nearby would result in the 'invisible' playback of other cameras rather than skipping ahead to the next event on the camera you had searched for. There was also a newer DS Control application which allowed you to search but then played-back events without any timeline or listing, i.e., it was like you were randomly playing back events.<br />
<br />
3. The remote viewing apps used an old Win95-style video interface. This meant that you could not move the view screen to a 2nd monitor nor could you resize it. Also it would force my Windows 7 computer to drop out of 'Aero' mode. The new DS Control app seemed to work properly but the playback UI made it a deal-breaker for my boss.<br />
<br />
4. Finally -- and this is really a weird stupid one -- I could not get the DVR to properly use the local-time. It seemed stuck on GMT, no matter what I tried. I think the issue was that the initial recordings were done when the unit was still fresh-out-of-the-box running on GMT and so it insisted on deferring to those time-stamps even though I'd switched the general configuration to PST. I repeatedly asked Pelco if I should just reset the cache of recordings but they never responded, and I returned the demo before bothering to test it.<br />
<br />
One good point: I was able to successfully operate the Pelco DVR remotely across our Cisco VPN. The old Dedicated Micros had apparently used a faux 'UDP' mode of transmission (TCP packets without the full handshake) which tripped-up our VPN and made playback almost unbearably slow.<br />
<br />
<b>CONSIDERATION OF 'OFF' BRANDS</b><br />
<br />
From all my extensive research I had started to notice distinct similarities between some brand-name DVRs and comparable 'off-brand' models. Clearly, some of these units were simply OEM versions of the same recorder! For instance, the Pelco DX4800 was really just a rebranded LG LE5008-NH albeit with additional remote interfaces like DS Control. But this made me realize that I should consider some of the smaller (cheaper) brands, too.<br />
<br />
<b>REVIEW OF SWANN</b><br />
<br />
The local Fry's Electronics would frequently advertise security DVRs for a fraction of the cost of the 'real' DVRs I had been reviewing. In the past, when I would try to test the products' online demos or read their manuals, it was clear that they were shoddy fly-by-night units, totally unfit for a business environment. But then I saw the brand-new 'top-of-the-line' Swann DVR8-4000. It featured full D1 recording across all 8 channels as well as a well-reviewed mobile app. And it only cost $400 -- a third what the Pelco would have cost! So I purchased a unit, with the expectation that I could return it within 30 days if it wasn't All That. <br />
<br />
At first it seemed a roaring success. Out of the box it appeared to be a very well built and professional unit. The default settings were all totally appropriate so I didn't even have to change anything to suit our desired recording-mode, i.e., only motion-activated and always max quality (D1 and 30 fps). And the live-playback was properly de-interlaced -- finally, true 480-line resolution!<br />
<br />
Unfortunately it went badly south from there:<br />
<br />
1. First, I ran into weird UI issues where I would think I had saved a setting (because I'd clicked OK afterwards) only to learn that the unit only saved some changes if you clicked OK, then APPLY, then confirmed OK again. <br />
<br />
2. Next, I created a new user-account and assigned it access to just 1 camera; this was one of the primary requirements which the old Dedicated Micros was unable to perform. Unfortunately, the remote viewer would either show ALL the cameras (ignoring the configuration) or NONE. I called Swann tech support and they eventually admitted that these were known issues, to be fixed in a 'future' firmware upgrade -- no ETA. <br />
<br />
3. They also asked me if I was able to playback the recordings; I could not! Apparently this was another known bug.<br />
<br />
4. Since I only had 30 days with which to test, I escalated my issues to the senior tech support and asked if I could beta-test the next firmware. They were very helpful and obliged me, sending me the file which was very easy to install ... and rendered the unit completely inoperable. Now the tech support people offered to send me a replacement unit, but I declined that in favor of simply returning the unit to Fry's for a refund.<br />
<br />
<b>CONCLUSION</b><br />
<br />
So here I sit, sans security recordings. Of course, the cameras are still serving their primary 'deterrent' role since people don't know they're inoperable! I'm staying in touch with Swann and if I don't find something else, soon, I may just re-purchase the DVR8-4000 after the firmware is upgraded.Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-65139703724329067652012-04-25T21:16:00.000-07:002012-04-25T21:18:51.547-07:00Reactivate Mirror immediately caused Failed Redundancy?!<b>WINDOWS MIRROR IS NOT SO SMART</b> <br />
I just spent a frustrating couple of days trying to upgrade the SATA controller on my Windows 7 workstation. The controller upgrade went smoothly but, in the process, my existing software mirror (RAID-1) broke and I <b>could not</b> re-establish it! Everything I tried to google was unhelpful, i.e., I never found anything beyond, "Delete the mirror and recreate it."<br />
<br />
Both drives were still visible and with identical partitions/folders, but Windows Disk Manager reported "Failed Redundancy." As soon as I saw there was a problem, out came the external hard-drives and I spent those first 24 hours updating my offline backups. I then tried breaking the mirror, deleting the volumes on the 2nd drive, and then re-adding them to a new mirror. No go. No matter how I tried to do it, the new mirror immediately came up saying, "Failed Redundancy." Checking the Windows Event Viewer merely reported, "FT Orphaning : A disk that is part of a fault-tolerant volume can no longer be accessed."<br />
<br />
FYI - I was also SUPER CAREFUL to consistently remove only the 2nd drive, i.e., so that I didn't accidentally nuke the copy I was keeping. (The original partitions on that 2nd drive had long-ago been nuked.)<br />
<br />
<b>MORE THINGS I TRIED</b><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>The only suggestion I found online (that I hadn't already tried) was to click Reactivate Volume on the newly recreated (and 'failed') mirror. But this simply triggered a new "FT Orphaning" error in Event Viewer. </li>
<li>I had originally upgraded from a 2-port controller to a 4-port Sil-3114 controller. Out of the box the 3114 was running the latest/final v5.403 RAID firmware. When my continued attempts to re-add the mirror kept failing I began to suspect the card. So I re-flashed it with the non-RAID firmware, v5.500. (I was able to do this from within the Windows driver! Very cool. I had to install the non-RAID driver afterwards, too.) Unfortunately this didn't help.</li>
<li>I had already tried deleting everything on the 2nd drive from Windows
Disk Manager but I wondered if maybe there was some left-over MBR data
that had to be deleted. So I booted a copy of FreeDOS and ran the following command: fdisk /clearall 2<br />Unfortunately, that didn't help either.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>WHAT FINALLY WORKED :-)</b><br />
I have no idea why but <i><b>re-arranging the drives' positions</b></i> on the controllers did the trick! Specifically, I took one of the drives connected to the motherboard (<u>not</u> my boot drive!) and swapped it with the 2nd mirror'd drive. Other than that I made no additional changes to the drives, partitions etc.<br />
<br />
It's disappointing, really, that after all these years the Microsoft software mirroring system still has such deficient error-reporting.<br />
_______Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-46580517178445975682011-12-30T14:11:00.000-08:002011-12-30T17:21:50.026-08:00How to fix blank/default icons on Windows 7 Task Bar (oops!)My office is in the process of converting from Windows XP to Windows 7 and I am one of the early testers. One problem I ran into was that <b>Acrobat PDF files would open-up but without the proper Acrobat icon</b> on the Task Bar. Normally you could simply right-click on the Task Bar icon, then right-click again on the program name ("Adobe Acrobat') and then click on 'Change Icon' to fix it. But because of the way Acrobat installed the 'Change Icon' link was greyed-out.<br />
<br />
When I tried googling this situation I found lots of varied suggestions, none of which seemed to apply. What seems to have worked, fortunately, was the following procedure which I believe <b>triggered an update/refresh of the cached icon-image</b> for Acrobat.<br />
<br />
<b>PROCEDURE</b><br />
<br />
<ol><li>located original 'acrobat.exe' in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 9.0\Acrobat<br />
(I noted that it had the correct icon but it was missing from Task Bar once opened)</li>
<li>created a shortcut to the .EXE<br />
(the shortcut also had the correct icon)</li>
<li>opening the shortcut showed the correct icon! </li>
<li>At this point I temporarily pinned the app to the Task Bar.</li>
<li>I tried opening some PDFs and found that they opened in the pinned app and with the correct icon</li>
<li>I unpinned the app from the Task Bar</li>
<li>I opened some PDFs again and now the icon is correct</li>
</ol><div>________________<br />
<br />
<b>UPDATE</b>: And just like that it's gone... I thought I had fixed it this morning but now it's broken again.</div>Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-21822821882659791082011-12-21T16:43:00.000-08:002011-12-21T16:43:07.896-08:00Convert phone contacts to GmailI just helped a co-worker convert all her built-in phone contacts to Gmail contacts, in preparation for getting a new phone. (This was on an older Android smartphone.) The trick is sort of counter-intuitive -- you need to disable the built-in contacts rather than the Gmail!<br />
<br />
FYI - Here's where I found the solution (though it's not written as clearly as I'm about to do it):<br />
<a href="http://www.samsunggalaxysforum.com/samsung-galaxy-s-how-to/copy-move-contacts-from-phone-to-gmail/msg2462/#msg2462">http://www.samsunggalaxysforum.com/samsung-galaxy-s-how-to/copy-move-contacts-from-phone-to-gmail/msg2462/#msg2462</a><br />
<br />
<b>PROCEDURE</b><br />
<ol><li>(this might not be necessary?) Open your Contacts app, click the menu button > More > Import/Export Contacts > Export to SD card. This creates a .VCF file in the root-folder</li>
<li>again click the menu button > Display Options, and disable the view of all built-in Phone contacts. Only leave your Gmail account selected. Don't freak-out when the Contacts list goes blank :-)</li>
<li>again click the menu button > More > Import/Export Contacts > Import from SD card > Import from VCF</li>
</ol><br />
At this point all the contacts should re-appear and now they'll be marked (the tiny icon to the right of each entry) as both 'G' and 'P' for Gmail and Phone. Login to your Gmail account, click on the drop-down next to the big MAIL link (in the top-left) and select Contacts. Everything on the phone should now be there!<br />
_______________________Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-37630571423905910342011-10-19T17:41:00.000-07:002011-10-19T17:41:30.715-07:00Quick fix for secure erase of used SSDI just bought a Corsair Force3 SSD on-sale at Fry's. I saved money coming and going, in fact, as there was a mail-in rebate <u>and</u> the drive had been returned by someone else -- so it was discounted another $15. These particular drives use the new 'SandForce' SSD controller which have lots of reliability problems so they probably need to offer the rebates to move them off the shelves... Now, why did I bother buying one??<br />
<br />
<b>CHECKING THE FIRMWARE</b><br />
The first thing I checked was the firmware on the drive. 'Fortunately' it was not running the current v1.3.2 which tells me any problems the original purchaser had might have been fixed by this firmware upgrade. I proceeded to install the new firmware and had no problems. Now all that remained was to do a secure-erase, to ensure I got the correct 'New Drive' performance. (The write-speed on SSDs gradually drops as they get full and the 'free space' becomes fragmented. Since the physical memory 'sectors' are remapped 'logical sectors' you can't use a traditional OS or application defragger.)<br />
<br />
<b>TRYING TO PERFORM A SECURE ERASE</b> <br />
Most of the online instructions said to download the Parted Magic ISO, boot from it, then select the 'Erase this drive' option in the GUI. You also need to select the 'Internal' mode (which tells the drive to do it's built-in erase command) rather than 'External' mode (which manually rewrites the entire drive and just adds wear to an SSD). I knew that Parted Magic just relies on the same Gparted and 'hdparm' commands on my beloved Ubuntu, so I decided to just use an Ubuntu boot-drive I already had setup.<br />
<br />
Here's where the problem came in, and the fix:<br />
<br />
<b>INPUT/OUTPUT ERROR</b><br />
For whatever reason the Ubuntu flash-boot and/or the BIOS locked the drive. I was able to run the basic-query hdparm command successfully,<br />
> sudo hdparm -i /dev/sda<br />
<br />
But when I tried to run the advanced query,<br />
> sudo hdparm -I /dev/sda<br />
<br />
or when I tried to trigger the internal secure-erase command,<br />
> sudo hdparm --security-erase NULL /dev/sda<br />
<br />
I got an error message re "Input/Output Error"<br />
<br />
<b>THE FIX</b><br />
After much googling I finally found one discussion (on the Intel SSD forums) which made passing reference to either hot-swapping the drive or sleeping/waking the machine. From my Ubuntu 10.10 flash-drive boot, I was able to click the 'Suspend' command, then power-on again, and <b>the hdparm command now worked.</b><br />
_____________Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-75623959723034408822011-09-25T08:39:00.000-07:002011-09-25T08:39:16.714-07:00Why my next computer will be Windows, not LinuxFor those of you who have been following my blog (anyone?!) it may be surprising to hear that I'm abandoning Linux. It is not a decision I am making lightly. But after several years dealing with the limitation of Linux (specifically, Ubuntu) I have realized that the Windows 'ecosystem' really is better for me. Let me explain...<br />
<br />
<b>Multimedia support</b><br />
I use my computers as my primary source of video, both TV shows, movies, and my extensive collection of home videos. On Linux the playback of high-definition video has always been problematic, requiring never-ending experimentation with replacement video-drivers (the proprietary vendor 'blobs' versus the open-source drivers). The h.264 hardware-acceleration still doesn't work properly with ATI videocards, even with extensive manual revision of the installed drivers.<br />
<br />
On Windows, this multimedia support is trivial, as Microsoft has created a well-organized system (DirectX) that all the manufacturers use.<br />
<br />
<b>Multi-user support</b><br />
Linux is inherently a multi-user OS yet the graphical interface is poorly tested. My wife and I share our Linux workstation, taking turns as the current login, and we can attest to these problems first-hand. Whenever one of us connects a flash-drive, the other user gets non-sensical error messages. This is a known problem with a longstanding Launchpad bug; never fixed. When we switch from user-to-user (using the longstanding 'fast-user-switch' feature) the login screen always flashes the name of the <b>current</b> user, then corrects itself... 'always' except for the occasional crash! Clearly this feature has not been properly tested. The first issue is cosmetic, the second is clearly more, but neither has ever been fixed.<br />
<br />
<b>RAID support</b><br />
One of the reasons I was initially thrilled with Linux was the ability to setup a software-based RAID mirror and get improved read-performance (as well as piece of mind). I used this on my combined boot/data drive(s). But now I am switching to using a single SSD for my boot/OS drive and a separate pair of mirrored data drives. This combination has always been supported under Windows so Linux has no advantage. Plus, on Linux, there was no built-in GUI for checking the state of the RAID array. I managed to find an old unsupported utility to do it but I have no idea if it would actually warn me of a failure. On Windows, I'm quite sure this GUI is available and supported.<br />
<br />
<b>Printer and Scanner support</b><br />
I have had non-stop problems with both my printer and scanner under Linux. From kernel rev to kernel rev the support for my peripherals has come and gone, unpredictably. This has been true for my Canon inkjet, my Brother laserjet, and my Epson scanner. In theory I appreciate the use of generic hardware drivers -- the use of shared drivers means that they are better tested than individual/per-device drivers. But that advantage is moot if they don't correctly work on your hardware. <br />
<br />
To add insult to injury, everything prints slower, especially the Brother laser. It's like there's an extra layer of translation taking place during the print-file generation? Printing even a single page will require a 20 second delay, whereas the printing from Windows is instantaneous.<br />
<br />
I also have a 'pro-sumer' Epson scanner with 'ICE' support for correcting scratches in photos. But this feature is only usable through the Windows driver, there is no support for it through the generic scanner driver.<br />
<br />
<b>USB wake from sleep</b><br />
By default, Windows lets you wake a machine from sleep-mode by moving your mouse and/or typing on the keyboard; Linux does not. It is possible to configure Linux to do the same but it can't be set as the default?! Instead, the best you can do is add a startup script to manually change the power settings at boot. And the configuration of this script varies from distribution to distribution, and even from release to release (as the startup processor changes or is replaced). On Ubuntu there is a Launchpad request for either a change in the default behavior, a GUI to easily edit it, or even just a way to make a permanent change in the configuration. It has languished for years without action.<br />
<br />
<b>Windows-only apps</b><br />
I have also tried resolutely to only use native Linux apps. Some are actually better than their Windows equivalents, e.g. MP3 music managers. But I continue to run into unsolvable situations where the only functional option is the Windows version. My scanner, as I already mentioned, can only use it's ICE scratch-recovery with the native Windows driver. My Oregon Scientific weather station is only recognized under Windows; some other models have Linux drivers but not mine. The only Newsgroup Binary Reader with bandwidth control is on Windows. Quicken is still the best checkbook app. Outlook is still the best email/organizer app. Yes, for many years now I've been using Evolution in place of Outlook... And I have a handful of unresolved bugs (filed with Gnome.org) to prove that Outlook works better.<br />
<br />
For the past couple of years I've resorted to running these Windows apps in a Virtualbox VM. In general this has been a satisfactory workaround. But I've long suspected that the majority of my system crashes were related to this VM sub-system. Surely it's better to run a single OS?<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
All these experiences have made me appreciate the relative pro's and con's of open-source software like Linux versus for-pay software like Windows. Obviously, no one in the Linux developer community is concerned enough about the various glitches to which I am subjected to try and do something about it. I still love the freedom of Linux and plan to continue using it on my personal single-user workstation. But, much as I hate Microsoft, I am forced to admit that the nominal cost of their Windows is a small price to pay for a 'sane' OS.<br />
______________Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-56751370674262890242011-09-25T08:24:00.000-07:002011-09-25T08:24:15.607-07:00My plan for US economic recoveryThe Democrats and Republicans keep arguing about the economy and taxes but without really connecting the two. Because of the seeming disconnect I think it's necessary to go back to 'first principles', to sort of start over.<br />
<br />
The first and most important fact, which I don't think the politicians ever mention, is that <b>work creates wealth</b>. If you pay me to do something -- anything! -- for you, the profit I earn on my labor is newly-created wealth. If, in turn, I then use this new wealth to pay YOU to do something for ME then you have now created wealth! Even though the physical cash is a 'zero sum' game, we both end-up wealthier for having traded services. (The same is true for selling goods.) This is the reason GDP is so important. It is supposed to be the measurement of all economic activity in our society and, all other things considered, the more activity the better. (This is also the reason that the Federal Reserve has been aggressively lowering interest rates, to try and promote economic activity of ANY KIND.)<br />
<br />
<b>The problem is what happens with this new wealth. </b><br />
<br />
Is it put back into the economy to pay for still-more goods and services, hence still more wealth? Or is it put into savings accounts, effectively removing it from the 'active' side of the economy? Obviously, we need to have some reasonable amount of savings so that there is money available for investment. But, as Alan Greenspan correctly noted in his (post-Fed Chairmanship) autobiography, there has been a worldwide glut in savings for the past two decades. The proof: a steady decline in the interest rates available to savers.<br />
<br />
So, for Republicans to claim we need to continue reducing taxes on the rich is clearly false. There is already <b>far more</b> than enough savings available for startups and capital investments. Instead, the tax policies of the past decade (cough*Bush*cough) have simply allowed the ultra-rich to redirect a significant amount of wealth into their savings -- and away from more productive uses in the hands of workers. <br />
<br />
<b>This isn't class warfare. It's simple economics.</b><br />
<br />
The solution, I feel, is a new corporate tax based on executive pay. Ideally this would be implemented as part of a general tax SIMPLIFICATION plan. History has shown that stockholders are unable to influence or control executive compensation, so I think the government needs to weigh in. <br />
<br />
Herewith, the new <b>'TOVAR POLICY' </b>(though I don't think I'm really the 1st to say this): <br />
<i>Any corporation who's executives earn more than 20x the median income (of it's employees) must pay an additional corporate tax. </i><br />
<br />
If an executive committee really thinks their CEO is responsible for such a large share of their profits, they'll need to pay for it. My hope, of course, is that they'll choose instead to lower executive compensation, or give raises to their employees! The point being: a larger percentage of the wealth generated by the company should go to the employees and stockholders, where it will be returned to the economy, and less to the handful of ultra-rich executives who can't possibly spend it all.<br />
____________________Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-24886148223687310682011-09-16T16:20:00.000-07:002011-09-16T16:25:12.139-07:00Home Theater Acoustics 101<div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hometheater.com/images/a1011acout.bsorblocation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://www.hometheater.com/images/a1011acout.bsorblocation.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="http://www.hometheater.com/images/a1011acout.bsorblocation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"><br />
</span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Excellent intro to room acoustics!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.hometheater.com/content/acoustics-101#.TnPZZT4p0hA.blogger">Home Theater.com - Acoustics 101</a> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Really, I should call it an excellent summary as it has all the most-urgent things to do.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div></div>Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-18060287736089796052011-08-27T07:33:00.000-07:002011-08-27T07:33:31.671-07:00Using CHNTPW to fix weird bug in Windows 7I just spent a good many hours trying to fix a Windows 7 machine with a âbrokenâ login. The user hadnât changed their password (nor had it expired) but suddenly the computer insisted their password was wrong. My first thought was just to reset (hack) the password.<br />
<br />
I had previously used the â<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chntpw">chntpw</a>â tool to manually tweak the built-in SAM password database on Windows XP â but did it work on Windows 7, too? I carry a flash-drive on my key-chain which boots <a href="http://www.ubuntu.org/">Ubuntu</a> 10.10 so I started there. âChntpwâ is in the 10.10 repository (the âUniverseâ alternate) and I successfully installed it, then ran it against the Win7 machineâs hard-drive and SAM file. It said it had 'successfully' blanked the userâs password but Windows still reported âinvalid passwordâ. I also tried resetting to a new password; same result. <br />
<br />
I then tried one of the official Windows 7 repair techniques. I booted the install disc, then selected Repair > Recovery Console. Once I had the command-line open I tried the following command which was supposed to activate the built-in Administrator account,<br />
<blockquote>> net user administrator /active:yes</blockquote><br />
Unfortunately, even though this was using a âlegitâ Microsoft process it still didnât work; there was no Administrator login option.<br />
<br />
At this point, I thought maybe there was a newer version of âchntpwâ so I booted a newer Ubuntu 11.04 LiveCD. But there was no version of âchntpwâ in its Universe repository. Instead I had to download the .deb from Launchpad (just google âubuntu 11.04 chntpwâ). Unfortunately, attempts to both blank and also reset the user password still failed.<br />
<br />
Finally, I tried <b>unlocking the Administrator account with chntpw</b> and it finally worked! I still couldnât login as the regular user-account but I was able to click on Switch User > Other User > manually enter âadministratorâ (sans password) and it logged me in.<br />
____________<br />
<br />
Now, here's the weird bug part:<br />
<br />
From the administator login I was able to successfully reset the user's password and login as them. I immediately saw a weird error message, something about "user profile directory c:\windows\system32\config\Desktop not found." The user's Desktop folder is not supposed to be under C:\Windows?! Also, the system loaded a generic desktop. I switched back to the Administrator login and searched the C:\Users folder. The user's original Desktop folder was right where it was supposed to be, and I noticed something unusual: There was a copy of the files off a Norton Antivirus install CD filling the Desktop. I also saw the AUTORUN.INF and, on a suspicion, I deleted it. Voila! The user's account now worked properly.<br />
<br />
So, apparently there is an unpatched Microsoft bug wherein <b>Windows will try to 'obey' an AUTORUN file in the user-profile</b> directory.Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-20467135986911895532011-07-13T15:08:00.000-07:002011-07-13T15:08:20.353-07:00Unacknowledged problems with Intel SATA?For a long time I've had to deal with ongoing 'flakiness' problems with the hard-drives in our Dell laptops. Recently, it got so bad that I decided I had to do something about it! The only clue I had was the large number of 'device timeout' errors in the Windows XP Event Viewer. I had previously been told (by multiple co-workers) that the messages were false/cosmetic. They were easy to check for by applying a filter to the System event-log for either source= 'atapi' or source= 'iastor'.<br />
<br />
<b>DRIVER UPDATE 'FIXES' ERROR, SOMETIMES</b><br />
<br />
The first thing I figured-out was that some of the errors <u>were</u> cosmetic but only on our newer E-series laptops (the E6400 and E6410). They had always ever been setup with the older/generic version of the Intel SATA driver, 'iastor' v8.8. Once I upgraded these machines to the newer v9.6 the errors went away.<br />
<br />
I also figured-out a relatively reliable way of testing for the error. Without explicitly testing for it, I was seeing the 'timeout' errors every 1-4 weeks under normal usage. If I left a machine logged-in and running overnight, however, it almost always reported new errors in the middle of the night.<br />
<br />
<b>PROOF OF LEGITIMATE HARDWARE PROBLEM</b><br />
<br />
Most importantly, I was able to now demonstrate that these errors were NOT cosmetic on any of our Latitude D630 laptops. I spent about a MONTH swapping HDs between different machines, reimaging them, using the latest Intel SATA driver versus the older/default, even re-installing in AHCI vs ATA mode. The results were conclusive: the timeout errors were from the motherboard. And, the problem only occurred on the machines I had purchased between January 2008 and October 2008, i.e., it really seemed to indicate a bad batch.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, by this point, most of my D630s were out-of-warranty; most by just a few months. Dell was willing to replace the motherboards on all the in-warranty machines, of course, but I had a real argument with them about the rest. I pointed out how the problem seemed to be a manufacturing defect and that it had taken me a LONG time to prove. They ended-up granting me an additional 60 day 'grace' period on the warranties. So 7 of the 13 affected laptops are going to be repaired.<br />
_________<br />
<br />
<b>CONSPIRACY THEORY</b><br />
<br />
All of this got me thinking: Why do any of these machines show a SATA 'timeout' at all? I heard that the latest 'Sandy Bridge' chipset had been recalled because of an obvious defect in the SATA-2 controller. But is there a larger problem with Intel's chipsets? Why does the error occur on E-series laptops if you use an older revision of the Intel driver? Is it really a cosmetic error, or is it a universal problem which the newer version of the driver simply ignores?<br />
_________Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2910083140366576396.post-73771550104951825472011-06-09T15:25:00.000-07:002011-06-09T15:42:05.041-07:00Comparing old JVC KW-XR810 to new KW-HDR720I have the <a href="http://mobile.jvc.com/product.jsp?modelId=MODL028629&pathId=148&page=1">JVC KW-XR810 double-DIN receiver</a> in my car and love it. But it still has it's limitations. Most of all I miss having more EQ frequencies to play with, plus I'd like to have HD Radio. (Though I suspect HD Radio is slowly dying.)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://a248.e.akamai.net/pix.crutchfield.com/products/2011/14/105/h105KWHD720-F.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://a248.e.akamai.net/pix.crutchfield.com/products/2011/14/105/h105KWHD720-F.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Now JVC has introduced a <a href="http://mobile.jvc.com/product.jsp?modelId=MODL028818&pathId=148&page=1">new KW-HDR720 receiver</a> which is the 'mid-range' model in <a href="http://mobile.jvc.com/product.jsp?pathId=148">their line-up of double-DIN</a> radios. Both units are very similar and JVC has not made it easy to compare the detailed features of both units. So I have painstakingly reviewed both User Manuals and present my findings below.<br />
<br />
older XR810 (<a href="http://www.crutchfield.com/s_105KWXR810/JVC-KW-XR810.html">$300 at Crutchfield</a>)<br />
<ul><li>includes <b>Bluetooth adapter</b></li>
<li>supports HD Radio but not included</li>
<li>parametric EQ has 3 bands each with 3 frequency settings</li>
<li>subwoofer level can only be adjusted by digging through Menu settings</li>
<li>supports Sirius satellite radio</li>
<li>supports Bluetooth profiles: HFP 1.5, OPP 1.1, PBAP 1.0, A2DP 1.2, AVRCP 1.3</li>
<li><b>separate High-Pass</b> and Low-Pass crossovers for mains vs subwoofer</li>
<li>dedicated 'Phone' button</li>
<li><b>'full-dot' LCD </b></li>
</ul>newer KDR720 (<a href="http://www.crutchfield.com/S-x9Ylz6la2yZ/p_105KWHD720/JVC-KW-HDR720.html">$220 at Crutchfield</a>)<br />
<ul><li>supports Bluetooth adapter but not included</li>
<li>includes <b>HD Radio </b></li>
<li>parametric EQ has 3 bands each with <b>4 frequency settings</b></li>
<li><b>subwoofer</b> level adjustable directly from EQ window</li>
<li>no support for Sirius satellite radio</li>
<li>User Manual has no details about Bluetooth profiles</li>
<li>no separate High-Pass crossover for mains; just 'on/off' ?</li>
<li>dedicated 'Tag' button for HD Radio which doubles as 'Phone' when used with bluetooth</li>
<li>old-style 'segmented' LCD lettering </li>
</ul> They also have the 'low-end' KW-XR610 model which is the same as the XR-810 minus the $100 USB bluetooth adapter; the KDR720 uses a different adapter.<br />
<br />
I'm happy to see the additional EQ frequencies but wish they'd included even more. Also, I'd like to know if the bluetooth support has been improved. My current setup (XR810 paired with HTC Hero running Android 2.3.3) has inconsistent phonebook support and also is missing any audio display functionality (which I think requires AVRCP 1.4).<br />
______________<br />
<br />
<b>UPDATE</b>: Ha! No sooner had I written-up all this then I noticed the following PDF on the JVC product web-page. It shows that the KDR720 has the same level of bluetooth audio support (as the XR810) but not the phonebook support. It also looks to have superior radio-tuner performance, in general (not just with HD).<br />
<a href="http://resources.jvc.com/Resources/00/01/49/57.PDF">Comparison Chart of JVC Car Audio receivers</a><br />
______________Technical Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14411331967420845298noreply@blogger.com0