Tech tutorials for meat puppets

Looking inside the Meta Quest 2 Left controller for sticky residue and or something like bad springs in the triggers is an amazing adventure in technology. This is worth way more than $75 per controller. This is more of a repository for others to see the in and out process, and not a full how to yet. Note, the triggers have metal sensors for proximity and maybe get damaged over time holding down a trigger too hard or too many times even so it might not look like a spring or plastic mechanism is stressed or bent, etc.

Repairing some headphone cable damage in the Skullcandy ink'd+ headsets with a dremel, soldering iron, solder, flux, and a glue gun.

So, this is incredibly buggy and complicated. If you have a complex setup for email like I do, I will explain in a moment. For now I will explain how to fix a bug that cannot be fixed by writing in the proper information if you already have one or more verizon email accounts connected to aol, since verizon got rid of their email servers and rely on aol now.

[jump down past this to complex setup if you have a different hard drive or location and or multiple pcs reading the same thunderbird data]

If you have a folder like I do, say
C:\emails
C:\emails\verizon_john
C:\emails\verizon_thegamer

verizon email with aol and thunderbird win10 fix - supercala

fios cannot reach aol.com win10 dns fix cloudflare blocking

http://www.supercala.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=260

So I suddenly couldn't access my aol servers with pop3 or smtp with thunderbird in windows 10 and thought, did I get hacked? Is something wrong? I removed my special authorization code, redid my smtp server, checked for oauth2 and other things. Nope.

Then I scanned my system for malware. Nope.

Then I checked the flash dns cache and reset my tcp ip stack with CMD as admin. Nope.

Then I looked with my vpn tunneling data to me while all other sites just AOL didn't work. VPN was cyberghost, worked fine. AOL.COM easily reachable. Turn off the VPN. Nothing.

Checked the HOSTS file in windows 10. Nope.

Changed my DNS from cloudflare
1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1

to GOOGLE 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 and AOL.COM was instantly reachable. Did this in the Ethernet card settings in control panel and IPV4 . Then I kept it on auto, went into my 192.168.1.1 route192.168.1.1ngs for the DNS in my a1100 router...

192.168.1.1 -> Logged in with my n/p for the router (at times on your router sticker if you don't change it like I do)
My Network -> Network Connections > Broadband Connection (edit button)
Settings> click this
(scroll down on next page)
IPv4 DNS Address 1: 8.8.8.8
IPv4 DNS Address 2: 8.8.4.4
APPLY (press button)
wait...

all browsers AOL.COM works again

It was NOT ghostery in firefox
it was NOT adblock in any browser
it happened in all browsers

I could ping aol.com and get a response in CMD prompt so that was weird.

It was simply cloudflare for whatever reason 11/30/2022 all day so far blocking anything wildcard AOL in an address using their dns addresses
1.1.1.1
1.0.0.1

Might change in the future, just letting others know this by putting it online.

fios cannot reach aol.com win10 dns fix cloudflare blocking - supercala

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01iEzOHexYE

some gpu help for those of us with multiple nvidia cards and some glitches in preview crashes with vegas pro 18 and 19.

Using 2 Nvidia (or other) GPUS 2080ti 3060 with Vegas 18 19 | by kristoffe There is a strange bug in systems with the newer Vegas Pro by the company that took over after Sony, in version 18 and 19 now, it seems that especially in 19...

http://www.supercala.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=259

Creating large photo images and touchups can be great on a local computer and apache server with php. but when you have to upload the images and allow a page to load those as a gallery of thumbnails, 200+ mb of images should be resized to be efficient.

What I did was install Imagemagick to windows 10 then I ran a script in PHP I wrote to find my galleries and make another folder replicating them if they didn't exist (none did when I did this, so 20 new gallery folders).

so I have
[data][img][galleries][*]
[data][img][gThumbs][*]

my script makes those gThumbs folders, which I initially created by hand, [website_folder][data][img] is my structure in the apache html root

I made a few files in each folder, kids in a group, then individual kids were photographed as well. I thought, if I rename the group pic to group_00.jpg and keep the names of the individual shots alone, I could scan each folder for a group_00 folder and group_00.jpg file for the gallery menu on the left hand side of my interface. I use 4k because it's easiest to manage so many images and galleries, then I used css grid and css flexbox so they will nicely fit even on smaller HD monitors or sub-windows on 4k.

There were some problems I sorted out with imagemagick's executable [CONVERT.EXE] I called with PHP's EXEC function... windows 10 also has [CONVERT.EXE]. One solution was to change my PATHs in windows to see imagemagick first, but I would rather just call it directly with a location in php. One problem is the [\] slash is [\\] double to be escaped in a php string, say $locStr needs windows paths to be double slashed for a single slash (escaped). Then there is the problem that for whatever reason, microsoft calls it's default program area "PROGRAM FILES" so I tried escaping the space and many ways it kept outputting in error.log of apache's server "C:\PROGRAM " is not a executable... it got lost at the space.

I found a simple command in php called ESCAPESHELLARG and you put your double slash for folders string in there and it fixes the space and suddenly the EXEC works, so I wrote the string, then put it in that ESCPAESHELLARG and saved it in a string itself, then just EXEC that new string:

Creating large photo images and touchups can be great on a local computer and apache server with php. but when you have to upload the images and allow a page to load those as a gallery of thumbnails, 200+ mb of images should be resized to be efficient.

What I did was install Imagemagick to windows 10 then I ran a script in PHP I wrote to find my galleries and make another folder replicating them if they didn't exist (none did when I did this, so 20 new gallery folders).

so I have
[data][img][galleries][*]
[data][img][gThumbs][*]

my script makes those gThumbs folders, which I initially created by hand, [website_folder][data][img] is my structure in the apache html root

I made a few files in each folder, kids in a group, then individual kids were photographed as well. I thought, if I rename the group pic to group_00.jpg and keep the names of the individual shots alone, I could scan each folder for a group_00 folder and group_00.jpg file for the gallery menu on the left hand side of my interface. I use 4k because it's easiest to manage so many images and galleries, then I used css grid and css flexbox so they will nicely fit even on smaller HD monitors or sub-windows on 4k.

There were some problems I sorted out with imagemagick's executable [CONVERT.EXE] I called with PHP's EXEC function... windows 10 also has [CONVERT.EXE]. One solution was to change my PATHs in windows to see imagemagick first, but I would rather just call it directly with a location in php. One problem is the [\] slash is [\\] double to be escaped in a php string, say $locStr needs windows paths to be double slashed for a single slash (escaped). Then there is the problem that for whatever reason, microsoft calls it's default program area "PROGRAM FILES" so I tried escaping the space and many ways it kept outputting in error.log of apache's server "C:\PROGRAM " is not a executable... it got lost at the space.

I am sure you can make something better, it's just online to help those who might not know how to do some things or are feeling pitfalls due to exec and paths, maybe even smaller images in web traffic be more efficient. Happy graphic coding.
I found a simple command in php called ESCAPESHELLARG and you put your double slash for folders string in there and it fixes the space and suddenly the EXEC works, so I wrote the string, then put it in that ESCPAESHELLARG and saved it in a string itself, then just EXEC that new string:

Creating a local imagemagick gallery for web - supercala

Had to reinstall windows 10 on my friend Dell optiplex 760 PC. It's old, doesn't understand UEFI but users bios called mbr instead. This is how the hard drive format works similar to vhs or betamax.

I've figured out a way to install win 10 in it.

I upgraded his bios from a02 to a16 but I couldn't run windows to run the install, his system froze and was unbootable.

I just used Rufus to create a freedos USB key. Then I added the a16 update onto it. I then booked to the USB. I thought it didn't work but it had an uppercase O as the first character not a 0. Update them worked fine.
Street the update it still didn't allow our understand UEFI so I made an iso of win 10 into an mbr version with Rufus with a USB 3.1 256gb key.

That didn't work, I saw the windows icon flash and then a black screen. Probably didn't understand a usb key so big boss the USB controller before Windows chipset drivers or something else in the install that just got lost with mbr, USB 3.1 and or 256gb.

My dad had a partially fried ssd 256gb sata drive. I used that inside of a USB 3.1 enclosure. Then I ran Rufus and didn't see the drive. I diskpart in cmd and removed all partitions. Nothing.

Then I read online to use Ctrl+alt+f to show other drivers, not to be confused with the dangerous alt+f which you should not use the external USB data showed.

I installed using the 21h2 win 10 iso and mbr and voila. Very quick image built. Unplugged from PC and plugged into the Dell 760.
Pressing f2 I made sure I voted from USB then sata. Same problem. Still didn't work.

So I turned off the Dell, removed the power and sata from the DVD drive and removed the DVD drive itself. I then plugged in the sata SSD when I took it out of the usb enclosure, power and sata cables both...
I then pressed t2 and sure I could see both sata drives in the drives available and restarted. Windows 10 install didn't flicker or freeze it just worked.

Street the install it rebooted and I tried to remove the install sata but that wouldn't work. The active position was that second drive and so I plugged it back in and restarted. It took two install steps and restarts as it asked question after question. Then windows asked the obvious questions.

I turned off all data options but kept location on for the weather app I like it. Then I used the pro option of joining a network vs a home environment. I also joined a donation and didn't use an email to create a user. Then when it was all setup I had one more thing to do.

I right clicked on this PC in Windows explorer and choose manage. Computer management comes up, and I'll get to this after the next step.
Then I opened start and pressed cmd and right clicked the cmd icon and ran as administrator... Then I wrote this live off code to make my first sata drive bootable on is own...

bcdboot C:\windows /a C:

That copies the systems files to the c drive. Since windows didn't know if you're an it tech person or not it doesn't do this if you have two SATA drives and install from the one to your os by default.

Next in the computer management windows I choose storage-disk management... Both sata drives show up. There is a split window of real drivers and then lower is drive and partitions per. On the top area, right click your win10 C drive and choose mask position as active.

Done.

Start-power-shut down.

Take out the installer sata drive, and then replace it with the DVD drive. One thing to now, that blue plastic hard drive tray for the older hard drive users screws for larger 3.5" drivers and has wider threads on the screws than most 2.5" SSD drives have.

So you can look in an older pic you might have or have kept those thinner tinier threaded screws often used for floppy drives or DVD CD drives. Screw in over side most likely the bottom right side near the connectors, but...

Use pliers or scissors and cut off the L shaped bracket for the back of the older big 3.5" drive. It blocks the sata and power connectors. Then you're good to go.

I hope this helps at least one other older PC live a little longer from 2022 on. Also I added 2*1gb sticks of ram and win 10 loved it vs 2*2=4 on there already. I think 2*2 more would have been better but it's really old team and I didn't have any spare.

Good luck.

Thanks to HELLO EVERYONE for the 2013 post on this last step... in 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMIeJIUfiA0&lc=UgxviSqxj9sYdNYLXpx4AaABAg

Luckily I bought the world's best made and yet cheapest mechanical keyboard. You know when you spill something and keys get sticky? Well with a kt red switch keyboard you can use special tools, really a $2 ic chip puller, small very very small screwdriver kit, some cleanser and maybe a magnifying glass... And viola. Fixed keyboard key. Or if the liquid shorts or your switch, only the $2 switch needs replacement. Also it makes a great tactile sound while typing, similar to a real piano that has weighted keys vs a cheap jiggling keyboard that plays awkwardly...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdnjGr5e-XY

Many templates made for after effects have been rendered almost completely useless for those of us with CC2018 After Effects and Premiere. Transparent MOV files with ALPHA are no longer "supported" with CC after 2017. The answer? Conversion.

So rocketstock and shutterstock should re-render all of these templates and sell them accordingly.

What you want to do is download CC 2017's version of Media Encoder from the cloud or if you have it already run it. In the settings, you can choose QUICKTIME as the first setting, or wrapper, than then CUSTOM in the next GUI setting, and PNG as the codec (algorithm process) and "8-bit + alpha".

You can then output to a new folder, and keep the same name, or in the settings of Media Encoder ask it to increment the file with "_1" in the the file name so there's [circle.mov] and [circle_1.mov].

Check one of your files and see if it imports, and it will.

A longer process is to have your template kit, find "*.mov" in explorer or finder (os x) and drag all of them into the GUI of Media Encoder. Then choose one of those files (424 in this example) and then do a setting which affects them all. Outputting can be:

Same folder "_1" appended, then you can use NAMEWIZ in windows, and delete the _1 in all files in all subfolders that you rendered (aka make a folder structure that just holds all those MOV files by copy-paste to a new folder renamed so you remember "folder" and "folder_new" etc. remove all of the other files that are not mov files.

Or simply let all of the files render into a "_render" folder, and uncheck mark the rename choice in the settings for the files in the GUI and move them by hand overwriting in the "new" folder.

Good luck. It should work on all older MOV files with alpha that won't import (CC Media encoder 2017 is your go to for this, remember) and cc2018, cc2019, cc2020, cc2021, cc2022 After Effects and Premiere all allow these new QUICKTIME (PNG 8-bit with ALPHA) to now import or drop in etc.

MOV with Alpha file fix for Templates in After Effects | by kristoffe Many templates made for after effects have been rendered almost completely useless for those of us with CC2018 After Effects and Premiere. Transparent MOV fi...

MBAM 02-22-2022 easily found and removed a bitmining trojan off of my system. It was almost 70°F today and I thought it was me turning off my fans for a voice over, and it made no sense. My cpu utilization was about 50-90%, and my GPU 1 (I have 2 gpus) was at 100% use and both cpu and gpu were running at 80°C which is horrible. My case and IAO 3 fan cooler were super warm.

I thought changing to the new beta bios for my asus TUF-GAMING WIFI was the issue, but it was not. Then I lowered my overclocking, to auto etc, and that was also not the issue. What could it be? What was running? I found a few processes in CTRL+SHIFT+ESC for the task manager, killed a few, and voila, back to something near normal. So I caved in and used MBAM. One scan found a ton of crap.

Was it some sh*tty autokms for windows or office dropped in some game or some package? Was it some game for gog? Was it something inside of oculus, nvidia, or some driver package? I have read a lot of variations on the web. So look for these files, or something like them, run MBAM, and restart, and your electric bill will thank you.

Users\*\ZoomE.exe
Users\*\ZoomX.exe
Users\*\Public\Libraries\ZoomE.exe
Users\*\Public\Libraries\ZoomX.exe
C:\Users\*\AppData\Roaming\Windows\Telemetry\sihost64.exe

and older stuff similar to this previously
(autokms windows activator hidden in some package I added accidentally?)
C:\Users\*\AppData\Roaming\Windows\Telemetry\sihost32.exe
C:\Users\*\AppData\Roaming\Windows\Libs\sihost64.exe
C:\Users\*\ZoomX.exe
C:\users\*\ZoomE.exe
C:\Windows\Systems32\tasks\ZoomE
C:\Windows\System32\Tasks\Updates\mNYkizWPoloDxA
C:\Users\*\AppData\Local\Temp\8D24.tmp
C:\ProgramData\Adobe\mvlc.vbs

https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bYFQgZM_ww

Math & Logic | A Cat & Turtle Enter A Bar... on a table | by kristoffe I saw a fun brain teaser on proportions and relativity, so I thought, sure make a fun tutorial on how to find a way to do this. Then I kept having fun, sound...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpdl4jt4x5Q

40x Zoom on some VHS Mechanisms | by kristoffe This is just a fun experiment and self note taking on some of the mechanisms of a common but not all-defining VHS cassette I was having troubles with the tap...