Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Lenovo 410 Fan and Ram

I like the off-lease Lenovo 410 i5s but have run into a couple of issues.

Fan-error: This is a known weakness. Here is what one guy said about replacement models.
"the bad fan model is FRU 45M2722, the good model is FRU 45M2724."
*** Blowing out with can of compressed air might do it but use paper clip to stop fan rotation to not blow out the bearings. If bad fan this will not help.***

It could be a driver error. Hold the Escape Key while booting. If this allows you to bypass the fan error then the problem is driver related and not hardware related. Not sure which driver to update. If you do this bypass be sure to check that air is blowing.

Here is the procedure to replace the fan. LOTS of screws ...
http://www.insidemylaptop.com/replacing-cooling-fan-in-lenovo-thinkpad-t410-laptop/

Here is an interesting YouTube series on Lenovo fan I would watch first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdU5j7OxnGg


Thursday, December 17, 2015

Lenovo Laptop Refurbished

We have a couple 400S and like them for spare and travel units. The drivers were even updated in 2015 so good for Lenovo. The new drivers improved performance in several areas.

I just ordered a 410 with i5, 4mg and 320 HD for $230. I have read to avoid 420 because of the screen.
Ordered from laptopexperience from their ebay page. We shall see ...

If I were using it, I would install SSD with adapter.

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Adobe Block

# Begin Adobe block
#
#
#
#
127.0.0.1 lmlicenses.wip4.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 lm.licenses.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-1.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 3dns-4.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sea.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate-sjc0.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-1.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-4.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobe-dns-5.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 adobeereg.com
127.0.0.1 crl.verisign.net
127.0.0.1 CRL.VERISIGN.NET
127.0.0.1 ood.opsource.net
127.0.0.1 ereg.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip1.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 ereg.wip4.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 hh-software.com
127.0.0.1 www.hh-software.com
127.0.0.1 hl2rcv.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.newoa
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.ntp
127.0.0.1 practivate.adobe.ipp
127.0.0.1 activate.wip.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip1.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 activate.wip4.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip1.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wip4.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 wwis-dubc1-vip60.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 www.wip.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 www.wip1.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 www.wip2.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 www.wip3.adobe.com
127.0.0.1 www.wip4.adobe.com
#
#
#
#
#
# End of Adobe block

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Unknown Device in Windows

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/unknown_devices.html

Normally I copy the device-properties-id string and search for it. The above program can help for some stubborn devices.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Roku For Hotels

https://support.roku.com/hc/en-us/articles/208755578-Can-I-take-my-Roku-player-with-me-when-I-travel-or-at-a-school-or-hotel-

Friday, November 27, 2015

Good Guide For SSD Instal

http://www.disk-partition.com/kb/tips-ssd-optimization-windows7-1.html

I don't agree with all of it.

 Use software for your brand of drive. Ocz software is non-existent.

Also these:
http://ssd-life.com/eng/download-ssdlife.html
http://alex-is.de/PHP/fusion/news_cats.php?cat_id=2

And this if your alignment is not correct:
http://www.disk-partition.com/free-partition-manager.html
or
https://www.minitool.com/partition-manager/

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Replacement Keyless Entry (key fob)

http://www.keylessride.com/

Reset Windows 7 Password

http://www.howtogeek.com/96805/how-to-reset-your-windows-password-without-an-install-cd/

I used the password reset in Hiren 15 the other day. Worked fine.
http://www.hirensbootcd.org/resetting-windows-password/

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Gimp Install

2018-08-13:
I use four or more different PCs regularly and am sick of tweaking Gimp with my favorite fonts, plug-ins, scripts and preferences on each machine with each Gimp version.
Go to Partha's Place and grab the most recent portable version - currently "GIMP 2.10.4 64-bit Standard Edition portable"
Set it up once and store it in the cloud for download to your machines.
The portable version is easier to locate the fonts, scripts, etc. folders. And Partha includes G'mic in his packages. G'mic can be a pain to get working on your own.
I don't add much anymore . . .





Edit: I have a heck of a time chasing down Script-Fu scripts. Here they are for now
http://www.gimphelp.org/DL/ (Just download the 2.8 scripts and drop in the ones you need.

Alternatively a script installer is here.

For a quick portable version with many tweaks and improvements go to Partha's place. You can also grab the cutting edge beta version. http://www.partha.com/

Recently installing the entire extension pack seems to be too heavy so I started being selective. However installing one plugin from the pack may break another that is already installed. I am back to installing individually. Anyway this is what I currently install:

My addons to Gimp
shellout for adding Nik Effects (code here)
plugin files can not be within their own sub folder
Wallace Deblur
Extension Pack (try it)
gmic
resynthesizer (mostly for the healing function)
The next 3 have moved here
Layer via Copy/Cut
Place layer into selection very useful
Scale layer to image
Save for web
Shadow Highlights
Wavelet denoise
Wavelet sharpen
Water Reflection
FX Foundry (but I don't use it often)
layerfx script http://gimpscripts.com/2011/10/gimp-layer-effects/
fake hdr effects
Gimp Paint Studio (maybe) good presets
Script-Fu (This is now impossible to find so may need extension pack)
High pass for Gimp
Here is a good site for additional scripts
Settings I do:
Do not show layer boundry:
From the main menu, navigate to Edit > Preferences > Image Windows > Appearance
Uncheck Show Layer Boundary under Normal Mode and also Fullscreen Mode
Restart GIMP to for the changes to take effect

Move active layer:
Select the Move Tool for the Tool Box in the left panel
In the Tool Options dialogue box check Move the Active Layer
From the main menu navigate to Edit > Preferences > Tool Options > Save Tool Options Now
Restart GIMP

Mouse Wheel increase/decrease brushsize
edit>preferences>input controllers
double click "main mouse wheel"
highlight Scroll up>edit>select increase brush size
Do opposite for Scroll down

Try your own sharpening with layers:
  1. Open an image.
  2. Duplicate the base layer.
  3. Blur the top layer a bit (Gaussian blur).
  4. Set the top layer blend mode to “Grain Extract”.
  5. Create a New Layer from visible.
  6. Set the new layer blend mode to “Overlay”, and hide the blurred layer.
Copy and/or Invert Layer Mask
Select the layer from which you want to copy the mask

[Right Click] on it and select "Mask to Selection". Alternatively, you can go to Layer -> Mask -> Mask to Selection.

[Right Click] on the layer for which you want to add the mask and select "Add Layer Mask". You can also do this from the menu, Layer -> Mask -> Add Layer Mask (be sure to select it first though).

A dialogue window will open asking how you want to initialise the new layer mask. Choose "Selection" and you're done.

Pictures for printing
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DAN_Si9my4
or
http://forums.adoramapix.com/entries/228318-Resolution-and-image-quality

cartoon
duplicate 2x, gmic pencil then value, maybe freaky detail,  painting then overlay

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Opera Portable

Get Opera Portable Here
http://www.opera-usb.com/operausben.htm

It is great for a separate small window for radio or video.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Reset Windows 7 Password

Boot from Win7 install DVD
Choose repair > Then command prompt
(assuming "c" is the windows drive ...
copy c:\windows\system32\utilman.exe c:\
copy c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe c:\windows\system32\utilman.exe

Once the Windows 7 logon screen appears, locate the little icon on the bottom-left of the screen that looks like a pie with a square around it and then click it!

net user myusername mynewpassword

copy c:\utilman.exe c:\windows\system32\utilman.exe

(Actually you could use the syntax from the next example instead.)
This would be a way to do it ...



If you can not find an install DVD ...
Push the power button until Windows closes. Upon reboot you should be presented with this screen.
Choose repair but when presented with the next screen choose "cancel".
This next process will work for some time but you need to allow it to get to your goal.
When the above process completes, choose "view problem details".

When the "details" screen comes up, scroll down and choose the last option.
This brings up the "privacy statement" ... go for the "FILE > OPEN" option.
And Bob's your uncle, you have the explorer window.

Navigate to the Windows/system32 directory
Look for the "sethc" file and rename to "sethcold" for example
Now look for the cmd.exe file and copy/paste as "sethc" file. The sethc is a system file that, when the shift key is hit five times in succession, turns sticky keys on. You are changing it into accessing a command prompt which is a much more useful feature. I would not bother reverting after this process.
Reboot after copy/paste of cmd.exe. On the home screen hit shift five times.
This will bring up a command prompt. Type net user command.
The user accounts will be listed. Choose one you know is an admin account and type for example
net user home *. (I think there is a space between home and *) (or maybe the * is unnecessary)
Then type your new password twice.

You should now be able to use this password for that account.

I know this looks involved but by the time you download hacking software and have it not work, only to try another .... this is probably a time saver.

Hat Tip to this YouTube video for explaining this:






Monday, June 8, 2015

Cadillac Navigation DVD

Rumor has it that Nissan DVD works ...

https://thepiratebay.vg/torrent/9220360/Infiniti_Navigation_System_2014_Map_Update_DVD_V._7.9_(X7

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/cadillac-forum/t-233083.html

Monday, May 25, 2015

Lightroom Reminders

exposure
clarity 25-45 or higher
highlight down maybe all the way
shadows up maybe all the way
whites to zero clipping
shadows to some showing
Vibrance 15-25
(to brush out vibrancy use 1\2 saturation)

tone curve linear curve bumps contrast
add more contrast if needed

sharpening 75
luminace noise reduction 45

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Convert ePub to Mobi

If you need to quickly convert from epub to mobi the link below provides a program from Amazon. I does install. Calibre (http://calibre-ebook.com/) will do it also but it takes a tad more learning. Amazon just converts and saves to the same folder. Neither create a great conversion but readable.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000765261

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Fertilizing

Palms 8-2-12 +4
magnesium all slow release, never lawn fertilizer in palm drip line fert grass with palm fert. The general application rate for palms is 1.5 lbs. per 100 sq. ft. of canopy every 3 months. The formulation recommended for palm trees for this application is 8N-2P-12K+4Mg. Fertilize between the months of March and September
http://sumter.ifas.ufl.edu/FFL/documents/PalmFactSheet.pdf

Citrus 10-10-10 some say 6-6-6

Young Trees

Citrus trees will need more fertilizer as they age. In humid tropical climates such as Florida during the first year, start applying fertilizer at the start of the growing season in February just as the buds begin to swell, and reapply every six weeks through October. Apply about 1/2 pound of 10-10-10 fertilizer per tree. In the second year, apply about 1 pound per tree every seven weeks. For the third year, apply 2 pounds per tree every nine weeks. In the fourth year apply 3 pounds per tree every 12 weeks.

Mature Trees

For mature citrus trees that are 5 years old and older in humid climates, fertilize three times a season with 5 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer per tree. Fertilize in February, May and November. For each application, apply 1 pound of fertilizer for each year of the tree’s age. For instance, a Florida tree 10 years old would get 10 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer in three separate applications for a total of 30 pounds per year.
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/fertilizing-cycles-citrus-trees-22781.html

Friday, April 17, 2015

Save Google Maps When No Data Available

http://www.androidguys.com/2014/05/14/save-online-maps-offline-use-google-maps/

I used this in Montreal and it worked great.

Roku in Hotels - Virtual Router

Poor man's version:
https://medium.com/internet-tv/how-to-connect-roku-to-your-hotel-tv-22c7aa4a73b8

Driver Installer -Snappy Driver Installer

http://snappy-driver-installer.sourceforge.net/en/index.php

I just tried Snappy Driver Installer and am impressed. I let it download the entire driver pack of 12GB. It allows for updating itself and will reside on a flash drive with my Win7 installer.

I had to reinstall Win7 on and old OCZ SSD on and older Gateway P7811FX. Chipset drivers for Intel are suddenly becoming more cryptic to find for older systems.

Here is the best I could get on the SSD with Chipset and AHCI drivers from Intel.
This is what I got after installing the driver updates Snappy suggested from the driver pack.
The mobo interface is only 3GB so the drive could do better but the new drivers helped and Snappy chose the right ones. Impressive.

AS-SSD results were also more positive:


File Recovery

Disk Drill free
http://www.cleverfiles.com/disk-drill-windows.html

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Extract Text From PDF

Actually my favorite PDF xChange Viewer will do it easier but ...

STDU Viewer can extract text from pdf files easily. Nothing is perfect of course and there are several ways to extract from pdf files but this is easy. Just load the file with STDU, highlight the text you want (or use the "toots" menu), right click and "save to file". The Program is available as portable.

I like being able to simply grab a portion of text which is what we normally want to do.

From the tools menu choose select image and whatever you highlight can be saved as a bmp file.


Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Weber Mini Smokey Mountain

I bought my Smokey Joe Gold so need to start a list of things needed ...

Charcoal Hopper Material
24 in. x 1/2 in. x 12 in. Plain Metal Expanded Sheet
Home Depot $9.37
Cut to 3 inches high and use rebar twist wire to hold it in place
Vasconia 32-Quart Aluminum Steamer
Walmart $19.97 but unavailable
Cut out bottom tracing around 12 inch plate. Leave 2 inch lip. Our use the  the charcoal grate from the Smokey Joe,
Bolt cover to bottom and cut at same time. Then bolt or rivet to bottom for finish.
Buy a charcoal grate for a weber 18" kettle part #7440 (About $8) and cut one end off so it would pass through the pots steamer plate ridge. This is base for Terracotta or other bowl.

Terracotta Bowl: Some people use one, some use cheap aluminum pan. One guy uses a granite slab. Anything to achieve indirect heat. Others use the steamer plate as a diffuser.

Good blog post on building: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/155130/building-a-mini-weber-smokey-mountain-in-texas-mini-wsm

Good on burning/heating. http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/155368/mini-weber-smokey-mountain-test-run-data

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Cameyo.com for Portable Apps

I am a big fan of portable applications for PC. These are apps that need no installation and can run from their own folder or a simple *.exe file. To be truly "portable" they need to leave no trace on the system after running, normally not terribly important. The programs can be run from anywhere, a USB drive for example.

Cameyo.com has a program that easily allows you to make most programs portable if that program is not already available in stand alone version. But Cameyo also has a huge storehouse of programs that can be run form it's cloud. This could be convenient when operating a foreign computer if unarmed with your trusty flash drive. Cameyo provides the option to either download each stand alone program or run it form the cloud.

Hat Tip: http://www.intowindows.com/run-windows-apps-from-the-cloud/

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Canon SX50-HS Is Still My Go To Camera

The Canon SX50-HS is still my go to camera. The high quality optical and monster zoom is hard to beat in a fairly small package. The flexibility is just too convenient to pass up.

BUY HERE

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Bluetooth Speakers

First I bought a Fugoo for around $129 on special. I was very impressed but wondered about the UE Boom.

UE Boom dropped to $169 so I bought it. It needed charging out of the box (critical level it said) and after a few minutes it is at 80% ... I'm not buying it. Then I started reading people who had battery problems charging after a few months. Why did I not see that? The complaints were limited so let's hope it is not a general issue. So what do I think between UE Boom and Fugoo?
1. Fugoo sounds better to me. It is just hands down clearer. (Boom is good but Fugoo is better)
2. Fugoo 40 hrs. vs Boom 15 hrs (why did I even bother?)
3. Fugoo volume buttons easy to push - Boom very hard to push
4. Fugoo lighter and smaller
5. Boom has NFC - Fugoo does not
6. Boom can run dual speakers (who cares?)

I would recommend the Fugoo.

Pin Not Available

Crazy Error I had not seen before. Pin not available blah blah. I restarted a few times and it finally worked. If it doesn't some say to...