Category Archives: tech tips

Neverware CloudReady VM (for VMWare/VirtualBox) [FREE]

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Recently several tech sites ran article about using Neverware’s customized version of Chrome OS to turn old PC hardware into Chromebooks. That is of course very cool 🙂 However, would like to be able to easily test Chrome OS on modern (relatively) high-end hardware. Preferably without having to dual boot. Virtual machines to the rescue! Here is the download link for Neverware’s VM, it works with both VMware and VirtualBox: http://go.neverware.com/freeVM44 Here are screenshots I took of the installation process

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HDCP stripper – HOWTO remove HDCP from HDMI signal

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I recently encountered an issue where my DirecTV HDMI output was unusable on my new LCD. Thankfully, the following HDMI HDCP stripper allowed me to watch on my monitor 🙂 NOTE: The best price I could find was $19.95 on Amazon with free shipping and if you need the extra HDMI cable, they have them for ~$5.49. The process is very simple: Connect power to the HDCP stripper Connect first HDMI cable from DirecTV receiver to “HDMI INPUT” on the stripper Connect second HDMI

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JPS300V 5V DC power supplies for LED signs

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The JPS300V DC power is a robust option for powering LED signs and other products that require relatively high amperage 5V output. 60A at 5V = 300 watts which is pretty hefty for a DC power supply. Out of approximately 80 PSUs, we have had around 2-3 fail. This is a roughly 3.8% failure rate in some fairly difficult situations (withstanding fairly intense heat, cold and moisture). Overall I would rate them as a good low-cost option especially if you can

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New Exede Speedboost plans + wifi [review & prices]

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Here are some new updates on Exede’s latest plans: Personally, I would only pick a plan that has their new Speedboost + WiFi modem and the Liberty Pass. Initially I enjoyed the “late night free zone” (or LNFZ) but as of late it just became too much of a hassle to manage data usage during the daytime (and saving all the heavy stuff for late night) so now I much prefer the ease and simplicity of the Liberty Pass. Plus I absolutely

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BIOS/UEFI boot menu for Yoga? [SOLVED]

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Lenovo doesn’t make it very clear which key to press for the boot device selection menu 🙁 Thankfully, holding Fn+F12 during boot will show you the boot menu! 🙂 Applies to: Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro and many other Lenovo Yoga, IdeaPad & Thinkpad devices 🙂 Top Search Terms:access bios lenovo yoga 2 (3)yoga 730 boot menu (3)lenovo yoga 2 boot menu (2)lenovo yoga boot menu key (2)yoga 2 bios key (2)nu vot (2)yogs 2 pro enter bios (1)enter bios on

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Recover files from lost GPT disk NTFS partition [SOLVED] {FREE}

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Recently my Dell work laptop failed to resume after sleeping. It still recognized the internal 2.5″ SSD boot drive but it said it was not bootable. I believe the problem was caused by Windows 10. After removing the drive and connecting to another computer for diagnostics, I was able to determine that no partitions/GPT disk structure was being picked up by Windows. 🙁 Thankfully after trying a ton of recovery options, I was finally able to recover all my files

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Disable Skype Voicemail

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I do not care for Skype’s voicemail feature. I much prefer Google Voice or other similar services. Oddly, I have been unable to find a way to disable the voicemail via the Skype app for Android. However, if you login to the Skype.com site you can disable voicemail at the following page: https://secure.skype.com/account?page=voicemail Woot! 🙂 PS here are a couple screenshots showing voicemail enabled and then DISABLED: Top Search Terms:[keywprd] (1)

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Slow AutoCAD on Dell M6700 with AMD FirePro [SOLVED]

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Step 1. Uninstall all Catalyst Drivers Step 2. Install Dell Catalyst Pro drivers from the AMD site: Drive download Step 3. Make sure hardware acceleration is enabled: AutoCAD knowledge base article   Other links: http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Display-and-Video/Graphic-card-problems-AMD-Fire-Pro-M5100-in-AutoCAD-and/td-p/4867242 http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-2004-2005-2006/no-hardware-acceleration/td-p/2877122 Top Search Terms:autocad 2014 amd firepro m5100 (1)slow m6700 video (1)

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