Octopus Overlords

Posted: **Tue Feb 22, 2022 12:31 am**

Now see, that's why I posted here. Wireless charging never occurred to me. What is this witchcraft?

Posted: **Tue Feb 22, 2022 1:31 am**

Magnets and electricity are interchangeable.

Posted: **Tue Feb 22, 2022 1:51 am**

Woot often has them. Currently they have "fancy" ones.

Lamp + charger
Cup warmer + charger
Lamp + organizer + charger
3 in 1 (chargers for phone, watch, and... not sure - didn't read)

But you can find ones out there that are much simpler. Many are just a round circle that you lay the phone on (assuming your phone is already wireless enabled - which I'm being told is the case). I have one that I like because it props up the phone - makes it easier to check. Sits on my desk.

Posted: **Tue Feb 22, 2022 7:42 am**

Wireless charging pad can be had for under $10, at least the single coil models. Charging speed however, will be slower than the wired equivalent.

Replacing a charging port can cost anywhere from $25-125 depending on your local shop. Try Batteries Plus, probably $100.

Posted: **Tue Feb 22, 2022 11:07 am**

There's a new shop called Fixfore (a play on Foxfire) that's a half-mile walk from home, so that's where I'll take it. Depending on their prices I might get a new battery, too, since they'll have to lift the old one to get at the charging port. My 2-year-old battery still works acceptably but could be better.

Meanwhile, I'll try one of those magical wireless coasters since they're so cheap.

Posted: **Tue Feb 22, 2022 12:17 pm**

Kraken wrote: ↑Tue Feb 22, 2022 11:07 am Meanwhile, I'll try one of those magical wireless coasters since they're so cheap.

I have a couple of these, and Michelle uses an upright version. I'm sitting around the house enough that I've just put one in the two places I'm always hanging out (on my computer desk and on my workbench), and have just gotten in the habit of setting it there when I'm not using it. It also means I'm less likely to misplace the phone.

Posted: **Tue Feb 22, 2022 8:07 pm**

Sometimes my dad can't be bothered to do anything.

Just the other day, he normally calls Lyft by himself, but he apparently didn't setup Lyft on his new iPhone 13. He called me and insist it's in driver mode. I had to setup a Lyft for him with me paying and reversing the direction. And of course he insist the car's not there and I told him it's there already, then he's like "oh, okay..."

So he showed me the phone that he insist has Lyft in driver mode? It was the un-setup Lyft. The button actually says "get started", and below that, a tiny small link that says "want to drive for us?" My dad somehow read that as the app in driver mode.

I clicked get started, turned on GPS, to full during app's running, verified SMS (simple with iOS) and was done in 20 seconds.

Posted: **Tue Feb 22, 2022 8:26 pm**

Posted: **Tue Feb 22, 2022 8:29 pm**

Well isn't your dad like 90 by now? I can forgive elderly folk from tech....most times.

Just out of curiosity on wireless charging. You cant just sit anything on one of those pads that has a battery and it charge right? The phone or device has to have something built into it to take effect of the charging pad right? I recall in the earlier days you had to install something on your device like in the charging port or something. Like I cant take a 10 year old battery device and it charge wirelessly right?

Posted: **Tue Feb 22, 2022 8:41 pm**

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Feb 22, 2022 8:29 pm The phone or device has to have something built into it to take effect of the charging pad right?

Yes.

Computer World

It works like this: A magnetic loop antenna (copper coil) is used to create an oscillating magnetic field, which can create a current in one or more receiver antennas. If the appropriate capacitance is added so that the loops resonate at the same frequency, the amount of induced current in the receivers increases. This is resonant inductive charging or magnetic resonance; it enables power transmission at greater distances between transmitter and receiver and increases efficiency. Coil size also affects the distance of power transfer. The bigger the coil, or the more coils there are, the greater the distance a charge can travel.

Posted: **Tue Feb 22, 2022 8:49 pm**

My understanding is that the conductor (copper coil) is built into any device that comes "ready for wireless charging". When I had a Galaxy S5, which did not support wireless charging out of the box, I had to attach this adapter to the battery. The adapter would receive the charge and transfer it to the battery through metal connectors:
https://www.amazon.com/DiGiYes-Standard-Wireless-Charger-Receiver/dp/B00L7CWWLU/

Posted: **Tue Feb 22, 2022 8:55 pm**

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Feb 22, 2022 8:29 pm Well isn't your dad like 90 by now? I can forgive elderly folk from tech....most times.

Just 70+.

Just out of curiosity on wireless charging. You cant just sit anything on one of those pads that has a battery and it charge right? The phone or device has to have something built into it to take effect of the charging pad right? I recall in the earlier days you had to install something on your device like in the charging port or something. Like I cant take a 10 year old battery device and it charge wirelessly right?

The phone must support Qi wireless charging. There used to be a different competing standard PowerMat (and a third Airfuel), but that waved the white flag and was absorbed into the Wireless Power Consortium and everybody is now Qi.

For devices that do not have it, you can still buy charging coil that plugs into your USB port but usually that blocks the USB port completely.

Posted: **Wed Feb 23, 2022 5:47 pm**

Posted: **Mon Feb 28, 2022 11:56 pm**

I got my phone's charging port and battery replaced today for $140. So my S10 should be good for another 2-4 years. My S4 lasted 6 years and I expect my S10 to do at least as well, unless there's some compelling reason to upgrade to 5G before then. The shop doesn't sell wireless chargers so maybe I'll grab one of those online...eventually...since I no longer need one.

Posted: **Tue Mar 01, 2022 1:11 am**

The only reason I've ever felt compelled to upgrade phones is when they stop receiving security updates.

Posted: **Tue Mar 01, 2022 2:46 am**

I only upgraded from the S4 because everyone was pointing at me and laughing.

Posted: **Wed Mar 02, 2022 11:09 pm**

Kraken wrote: ↑Tue Mar 01, 2022 2:46 am I only upgraded from the S4 because everyone was pointing at me and laughing.

It wasn't until after I upgraded my phone that I finally realized...

Posted: **Thu Mar 03, 2022 1:55 pm**

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Mar 01, 2022 1:11 am The only reason I've ever felt compelled to upgrade phones is when they stop receiving security updates.

I upgraded my phone in November, and in my case it was because my old one was so old and slow it would have trouble downloading updates over the play store and would sometimes even reboot spontaneously.

Posted: **Fri Mar 04, 2022 2:49 am**

I just gotta say that a new battery feels like a superpower. My old one wasn't that bad, but being at 25% after two days of light activity is pretty awesome.

Posted: **Fri Mar 04, 2022 12:39 pm**

My keyboard is really starting to give me troubles and annoyances now. It started within a few months of owning it and it was an expensive one from razer my wife saved up and got me for a Christmas present years ago. I guess now its really old. I think she got it in 2016. The keys have never stayed on good. I could type and a key would fly off or come off and sit at a weird angle. Then the letters started chipping off. My gaming with it is hindered because of shit keys. Like I use right ctrl to crouch. But if I crouch a few seconds and hold the key down then it sticks to my finger and comes off in the middle of a fight. Or a key will suddenly come part ways off. And the keys are clean and so are my hands. Now keys are starting to stick in the down position. I just cleaned it solidly a few months back.

Ill NEVER get Razer anything again. And Ill damn sure get a cheaper KB next time. I do love how bright the LEDs in this are. Thats a big plus to me.

Posted: **Fri Mar 04, 2022 1:03 pm**

Razer is awful. I have gone on at length about how godawful their stuff is.

Posted: **Fri Mar 04, 2022 3:07 pm**

Autoplay wont stay OFF for YouTube videos that I middle click to open in their own tab. I can go to YT and autoplay will be off. If I left click a video to play it is off. But if I middle click that same video so it starts its own tab then the video has the autoplay slider set to ON. Annoying. And I can find no fix for this. All fixes simply show how to turn it off and I already know that.

Posted: **Fri Mar 04, 2022 4:24 pm**

Daehawk wrote: ↑Fri Mar 04, 2022 3:07 pm Autoplay wont stay OFF for YouTube videos that I middle click to open in their own tab. I can go to YT and autoplay will be off. If I left click a video to play it is off. But if I middle click that same video so it starts its own tab then the video has the autoplay slider set to ON. Annoying. And I can find no fix for this. All fixes simply show how to turn it off and I already know that.

If you are using Google Chrome, that's likely because Google devs specifically removed the ability to block autoplay in websites via built-in settings. So, the easiest fix is likely to be a suitable extension, like AutoplayStopper. Thankfully, Firefox makes it fairly effortless to block autoplay for all media via the relevant section in its Privacy & Security settings.

Having said that though, it's more prudent to learn how to use uBlock Origin properly, so you can easily block and control such annoyances with dynamic filtering:

Posted: **Fri Mar 04, 2022 4:53 pm**

Wow, he's not kidding. Around the 4m mark he says "now to show you something which should terrify you" and proceeds to show just how many companies are watching your every move on random sites. Jesus. I knew they were doing it, but to actually see them grabbing your IP as well as browsing historyusing uBlock is both cool and scary at the same time.

Posted: **Fri Mar 04, 2022 4:54 pm**

I use FireFox and uBlock. Ill watch that video tonight when I have more time.

Posted: **Sat Mar 05, 2022 4:45 pm**

Daehawk wrote: ↑Fri Mar 04, 2022 4:54 pm I use FireFox and uBlock. Ill watch that video tonight when I have more time.

If you simply want to ensure that autoplay media remains blocked and disabled in Firefox, just follow these steps from Mozilla to Always allow or block media autoplay.

Learning how to use the advanced features of uBlock Origin can certainly immensely improve your overall browsing experience though, as long you keep in mind the caution provided on the uBlock Origin Wiki.

Posted: **Sat Mar 12, 2022 1:25 am**

I use FireFox. My tabs at top have a little + on the right of the furthest tab. It lets me open a new blank tab. But its gone now. Its Waaaaaaay over at the right of my browser.Functions the same but I want it on my tab up there. WTF happened?

EDIT: NM I just clicked default then had to drag the stuff I use back up there. Fixed. Still weird it happened.

Posted: **Sat Mar 12, 2022 11:14 am**

As someone who doesn't have any clue how to code, I dread when I'm trying to install something and find a link to GitHub. Nine times out of ten I give up trying to figure out exactly what I'm supposed to actually download.

Posted: **Sat Mar 12, 2022 3:08 pm**

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sat Mar 12, 2022 11:14 am As someone who doesn't have any clue how to code, I dread when I'm trying to install something and find a link to GitHub. Nine times out of ten I give up trying to figure out exactly what I'm supposed to actually download.

FWIW, Chris Titus provides a 'How to Use GitHub' video you may find helpful:

Posted: **Sat Mar 12, 2022 10:29 pm**

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sat Mar 12, 2022 11:14 am As someone who doesn't have any clue how to code, I dread when I'm trying to install something and find a link to GitHub. Nine times out of ten I give up trying to figure out exactly what I'm supposed to actually download.

If they designed the "site" properly the main description should just link you to the download, i.e. a compiled EXE for your platform, or whatever the executable form is.

Posted: **Sat Mar 12, 2022 10:31 pm**

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Sat Mar 12, 2022 10:29 pm
Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sat Mar 12, 2022 11:14 am As someone who doesn't have any clue how to code, I dread when I'm trying to install something and find a link to GitHub. Nine times out of ten I give up trying to figure out exactly what I'm supposed to actually download.
If they designed the "site" properly the main description should just link you to the download, i.e. a compiled EXE for your platform, or whatever the executable form is.

Right. Half of the time I'm going from page to page trying to figure out where the actual download is. I'm not a programmer, nor am I personally invested in the project. I just want to download the (whatever) and see install instructions.

Posted: **Wed Mar 16, 2022 10:52 am**

Study confirms Computer Science as the least popular UK science. Gotta love the subtitle, "It's also a subject in which males outweigh females six to one." which I think is a bit of body shaming

Computer Science is now not only the least popular science chosen for study in the UK, but also one that sees boys outnumbering girls by around six to one. That's according to a recent study from BCS, a UK-based charity with a focus on stirring up enthusiasm for the study of technology-related subjects.

"Computer Science (or its equivalent) appears to be the least popular science subject and there are grounds for trying to understand this and to raise its esteem and attractiveness," the key findings section relays.

As for the balance of male and female participation, it "can be in excess of 10:1 in some cases," the study notes. And "while male:female ratios of 2:1 were not untypical of the older Information and Communications Technology (ICT) curricula, the move to a more computing-focused approach has seen the imbalance grow: most regularly to around the 5-6:1 level."

Posted: **Wed Mar 16, 2022 11:00 am**

That's interesting. The gender gap is nothing new, but the lack of popularity is interesting and even concerning. Of course the first thing I would mention that the computer science degree I got nearly 30 years ago had about nothing to do with science. I mean I guess you could stretch things to make it sound like a science, but most Comp Sci majors were just creating solutions to satisfy the given requirements, which when I type it that way kind of sounds like science but I think I would liken it more to engineering but without the physical aspects typically associated with engineering. There is a reason we are called software engineers in many (most?) circles.

Posted: **Thu Mar 17, 2022 1:15 am**

In the US 60% of uni students are female. So the math tells us that 1/6 of 40% requires a computer to calculate.

Posted: **Sun Mar 20, 2022 7:06 pm**

You used to hear that "magnetic pad" is NOT compatible with Qi wireless charging. So you have to get either one or the other, but not both. Most require you to "stick" a piece of ferrous metal to the back of your phone or case to do the magnet thing, And even Apple's "magsafe" worked around it by putting the material in a circle around the charge coil, but not over it.

What sorcery is this? Just bought a piece that *is* magnet compatible, and did not affect my Qi Charging. I used it on with my magnetic phone holder, and then put it on my Qi charge stand... Works great. Had to stick it on the case, as it won't work UNDER the case. But it's charging fine.

Posted: **Mon Mar 21, 2022 7:53 am**

tl;dr Halp! Can't get my Dell laptop to recognize the modem after a HD replacement.

I'm getting old - I've done this before, and just a few years ago, and cannot remember steps to the apparently delicate dance of replacing an SSD (again) in my Dell laptop.

Forgot how important the order of the steps to install software was, namely:
1. Dell System software "if applicable" - not sure I know what that "if applicable" means...do I need it or not?! Anyway, using the service tag on the Dell support site, I don't really see any Dell specific software (though I DO remember this from before...could they have removed it since then?)
2. Chipset drivers
3. BIOS I think
4. everything else

So I didn't do the above the FIRST time...my Dell support page lists two different modem drivers, and I have no idea which one I should use (so that could be PART of the issue here - I installed the wrong one initially).

But I think the more likely problem is I tried installing the modem driver as my first step...before the chipset stuff. I VAGUELY remember uninstalling and reinstalling Windows multiple times before, and I am wondering now if it was because of the same reason - I screwed up the order, and merely 'uninstalling' the drivers didn't do it.

My question is: does that sound reasonable, that if I didn't follow the install order, that a complete wipe/reinstsall is in order? (ha!)

I was going to try and connect via ethernet, but
1. I would have to spend a consderable amount of time looking for the cat5 dongle thingie for the laptop (laptop doesn't have a full sized LAN input)
2. I assume that if I can't get my comms drivers working, then probably ethernet won't work at this point either?

Suggestions? The steps I took so far have been:
1. replace SSD
2. boot and install using a version of Win 10 using the Media Creation Tool (I did have a hiccup there where I guess the formatted drive was not the same as how I was booting - UEFI vs GPT or something...never came across that before)
3. the FIRST time, I tried installing a modem driver, then when I remembered the "install in order" commandment, I
4. installed the chipset drivers
5. uninstalled and reinstalled modem driver - probably tried installing the OTHER modem driver here as well.

I can actually SEE the modem hardware installed at this point (assuming it's got the right model), but it just won't 'activate' or whatnot (one of the screens in Control Panel shows all the deets of the modem, but it shows NOT OPERATIONAL and the whole thing is greyed out). I feel if I can just get that working, I can download the Dell update tool thing and let it fill in all the gaps that remain.

Posted: **Mon Mar 21, 2022 8:41 pm**

Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 7:53 am tl;dr Halp! Can't get my Dell laptop to recognize the modem after a HD replacement.

I'm getting old - I've done this before, and just a few years ago, and cannot remember steps to the apparently delicate dance of replacing an SSD (again) in my Dell laptop.

Forgot how important the order of the steps to install software was, namely:
1. Dell System software "if applicable" - not sure I know what that "if applicable" means...do I need it or not?! Anyway, using the service tag on the Dell support site, I don't really see any Dell specific software (though I DO remember this from before...could they have removed it since then?)
2. Chipset drivers
3. BIOS I think
4. everything else

So I didn't do the above the FIRST time...my Dell support page lists two different modem drivers, and I have no idea which one I should use (so that could be PART of the issue here - I installed the wrong one initially).

But I think the more likely problem is I tried installing the modem driver as my first step...before the chipset stuff. I VAGUELY remember uninstalling and reinstalling Windows multiple times before, and I am wondering now if it was because of the same reason - I screwed up the order, and merely 'uninstalling' the drivers didn't do it.

My question is: does that sound reasonable, that if I didn't follow the install order, that a complete wipe/reinstsall is in order? (ha!)

I was going to try and connect via ethernet, but
1. I would have to spend a consderable amount of time looking for the cat5 dongle thingie for the laptop (laptop doesn't have a full sized LAN input)
2. I assume that if I can't get my comms drivers working, then probably ethernet won't work at this point either?

Suggestions? The steps I took so far have been:
1. replace SSD
2. boot and install using a version of Win 10 using the Media Creation Tool (I did have a hiccup there where I guess the formatted drive was not the same as how I was booting - UEFI vs GPT or something...never came across that before)
3. the FIRST time, I tried installing a modem driver, then when I remembered the "install in order" commandment, I
4. installed the chipset drivers
5. uninstalled and reinstalled modem driver - probably tried installing the OTHER modem driver here as well.

I can actually SEE the modem hardware installed at this point (assuming it's got the right model), but it just won't 'activate' or whatnot (one of the screens in Control Panel shows all the deets of the modem, but it shows NOT OPERATIONAL and the whole thing is greyed out). I feel if I can just get that working, I can download the Dell update tool thing and let it fill in all the gaps that remain.

If you have decent bandwidth and can download from another system, I would suggest grabbing the full Snappy Driver Installer Origin (SDIO) Application and Driver Packs via Torrent, described as follows:

snappy-driver-installer.org wrote:Install Missing Drivers and Update Old Drivers
Snappy Driver Installer Origin is a portable Windows tool to install and update device drivers. It can be used offline to install drivers where Internet isn’t available. No more searching for drivers after a clean install, just let Snappy Driver Installer Origin do it’s thing and your job will be done in no time. The perfect technician’s tool.

Features
State of the art driver matching algorithm. Fully portable so you can run it from a USB flash drive. Built in application and driver pack updates. Can be fully automated using the built in scripting engine. Multilingual interface. Built-in and custom themes. Supports Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11.

Open Source and Absolutely Free
Snappy Driver Installer Origin remains a free, open source project. Free means it costs you nothing to download and use. Free means it is free of adware, malware, back doors, unwanted third party software and other dodgy stuff.

The full Application and Driver Packs torrent clocks in at around 30GB, as it contains almost every driver imaginable (making for a mighty useful digital 'Swiss Army Knife' stored on a USB flash drive). So, if you're able to download using another system, just copy everything to a USB flash drive. Then stick that flash drive into your Dell laptop, run the 'SDIO_Auto.bat' on that drive, and you should be able to install any and all missing drivers on your Dell laptop even while it's offline. Here's a video courtesy of Chris Titus Tech that walks you through how to use it:

Posted: **Mon Mar 21, 2022 8:47 pm**

I simply have never done Dell anything.

Posted: **Tue Mar 22, 2022 9:56 am**

Nice, thanks. I've bookmarked those AIO driver links for future reference.

I ended up reinstalling Windows (didn't want THAT to be a factor), and first installed ALL the chipset drivers, not just the one that seemed, well THE one. I think the actual issue though was that there were two different modem drivers listed for MY specific laptop, which is the opposite of helpful.

It almost completely nullifies the advantage of being able to literally input your service tag, and get the exact drivers needed for your particular build.

Anyway, installed first modem driver, no worky. Installed second one listed, worky. YAY!!

Posted: **Fri Mar 25, 2022 11:16 am**

Turns out Chrome or Windows can't handle having more than one webcam active. It can't switch among them. The only way to make it work is to disable the rest of them via device manager.

Octopus Overlords

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