Most Viewed Technology Blogs (217)

Two hundred dollar cheapskate HP PC was on the Fritz. Windows 10. Luckily had time left on Walmart 2 year extended warrantee. Sent it in and hoping they can't effect repair so I'll get a check, like the one I got recently from homeowners' for a free new roof on the Aa Ponderosa mansion after tree paid us a close visit. May then buy new one. But this machine was hanging around---twins won it guessing jelly beans number in jar at orthodontist. So dad gets to use it for a while. Spoiled rug rats got brand new wicked costly Apple LP's. Had forgotten how nice Apple platforms are. But old dinosaurs die hard. Aa.

hi! hope this reached you in a good condition. lol. so i wrote this to ask if it is possible to edit or change my username. i’ve looked but didn’t see any option that i can. i have resolved to think that it isn’t possible but my persistent self said that i should ask the experts which will be the other users of this site before totally giving up. so here i am. IS IT POSSIBLE TO CHANGE OR EDIT MY USERNAME? if so how? thanks in advance.

My computer did 2 updates yesterday. Virus protection and Firefox.
Now, all the websites are hesitating to load.
In the bottom corner of the Firefox window I see: Performing a TLS Handshake...
Searching Google I see there is an issue with the TLS Handshake causing it to 'hang' when loading pages. So, I opened Google Chrome and I'm getting the same delay.
Explorer has the same issue.
Three different browsers and they are all acting the same. I suspect it's related to the virus software update and since I have it installed on a few computers, I'll go around and check to see if they are all running with the same update.

Like I have time to troubleshoot computers this week...

Google has this to say about it "The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Handshake Protocol is responsible for the authentication and key exchange necessary to establish or resume secure sessions. When establishing a secure session, the Handshake Protocol manages the following: ... Authentication of the server and optionally, the client."

There's everyday people, and then there's gorgeous.

Gorgeous can be really gorgeous, but it also can be someone *else's* gorgeousness, and being used as a hook to reel you in.

A handy little online tool (and there are many similar) is ReverseImageSearch.





For example, this one profile caught my eye.



Gorgeous, to be sure. Curious, I right-clicked on the image and "copy image location."

This is what you copy, to paste into the URL box at the ReverseImageSearch utility.

You might get a CAPTCHA challenge on some of these pages and a selection of search engines. I find that Bing, Google and Baidu are pretty much useless.

Yandex, however, a Russian search utility, seems to have good results.

What did you find using the sample profile, hmmm?

Your results may vary, but this resulted in reaching a Russian website, actually, at least two. One to Yulia's photos, and another to My Photos. Not England.

Google has just informed me they are updating their privacy policy, not to worry, they say nothing will change! Well of course not! They will continue ripping off our private details and following us wherever we go. Use Duck Duck Go instead people.

Apparently, the release from Microsoft will start tomorrow, but will be done in waves.
This means that it might not be available for your machine until later.
The free upgrade should be complete by mid 2022.

For more info see;

All we are doing is switching pollution. Bottom line is solar power and wind power are barely making a dent in where electricity is generated from. Same idea with getting rid of coal fired power plants.
No matter how a power plant generates electricity using fossil fuels, it still is polluting.
Nuclear plants are few and hated. And there we have the issue of where to go with spent rods.
Cali wants to ban the sale of all new cars that aren't electric. We already have a power grid that is hanging on by it's eye teeth. Black outs and brown outs in the making.
Now everyone is supposed to plug in their electric car batteries to re-charge. Kick up that old power plant folks and burn some more coal or gas. Get that fracking going, sorry about those earthquakes and water
pollution.
All the solutions seem to be is swapping bad for bad.
People don't seem to think about where that electricity comes from they use. Nor what will happen to those batteries when they die. Or what pollution is being done manufacturing them.
Gasoline has improved, mileage has improved. Public transportation has not. The best solution is less flying, less driving. That is the point covid has made.
Cut out driving to a gym to run on a tread mill. Make a shopping list and get it all instead of making a breakfast drive to the store and then an evening drive to the same store.
I make few trips to shop. And when I do, I take my list, hit 8 stores in one afternoon and get everything I need or think I will for weeks. Get home tired, but so what.
How soon before the landfills are polluting with dead batteries. Do you recycle them? I know I don't. No place takes them around here.

Now that millions of people are home under lockdown, it's safe to say the internet is on bandwidth overload. Many sites cannot handle the amount of increased traffic. I heard (on local radio) some streaming services (like Netflix) will be limiting/restricting their High Definition signals during peak hours.

I usually obsess on YouTube during the weekends and noticed EVERY video I clicked had an error message that required a second try to get the video to play. High bandwidth problems is suspected.

It took several tries to logon to CS this morning as I received HTTP Error 503.2 - Service Unavailable and a few errors while navigating around the site.

A friend who is a regular at the county park where we fly model aircraft said ALL the parks are now closed. One of the local flying clubs website stated local and regional parks are closed until further notice! The field video camera confirmed no cars in the lot and the airstrip is devoid of pilots.

My plan was to catch a few helicopter flights in the schoolyard, but someone told me under city lockdown I could be jailed and/or fined. No one around me for 200 yards... I promise to wear an N95 mask.

You know - like that legendary T.V. guy who can make/fix anything with nothing but a hairpin.

My house was built circa 1890.
Many of the fixtures are original - 125 years old.

A while ago, an original door lock went hawire.
I figured it was busted, so taking it apart couldn't hurt...what the hell, I might even be able to fix it.
Also, I'm rather fond of old things & like to keep them functioning.

A flat spring in the mechanism had broken.
I figured going to a hardware store asking for a spring for an antique lock would result in...
So I laid it aside for the time being.



A few days ago, I figured I might be able to cobble in a spring from a ballpoint pen.
Rummaging through an odds 'n ends bin, I found (are y'all ready for this?)
a...HAIRPIN!
Yes. Really!!

I figured it was just springy enough, and exactly the right size to snip & bend into a suitable flat spring.

VOILA!

Yep.
It fit just like it was custom made for the mechanism...which I guess it was, come to think 'bout it.

As long as it was disassembled, I also oiled up the whole mechanism.
It now works like everything's moving on jeweled bearings...far(!) smoother than it ever did since I've owned it...probably smoother than it has in fifty years.
Maybe a hundred years, even.

Pretty cool, huh?

Mic Guyver

There are few public parks with model aircraft flying sites provided by Palm Beach County - Parks & Recreation where people go to visit and fly airplanes, helicopters and drones.

One problem is many are within 50 miles of president Trump's Mar-a-Lago retreat and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) has banned all model aircraft on days when he's in town.

I believe the normal restrictions are 400 feet maximum altitude and no flying within 5 miles of a commercial airport.

So any Palm Beach modellers who only fly weekends and holidays get shut down when the president is at Mar-a-Lago on those days.

Happy flying... !