Blog Marco - Technology + Gadgets

Laptop Family

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:40:20 -0800

Teaser:
The Laptop Family has grown in the past decade: MID (Mobile Internet Device), tablets, subnotebooks, netbooks, mininotebooks...

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The Laptop Family has grown in the past decade there are so many categories to choose from: MID (Mobile Internet Device), tablets, subnotebooks, netbooks, mininotebooks, booklets, smartbooks, personal Internet devices, ebook readers, e-readers, smart phones and ultra mobile Internet devices. So many gadgets to choose from. So many choices. Argh!

Can you Install Windows on a Mac?

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:05:34 -0800

I was watching this recent video (below) with Steve Ballmer (Microsoft CEO) and the student claims that his Mac has windows installed on it. According to this Engadget article, you can. There's also a video showing you how to do it below...

How to Build a Laptop Tray for Your Car

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:13:12 -0700

Teaser:
In this project Michael Davis built his own laptop tray for his car.

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I love reading about DIY (Do-it-yourself) projects. In this project Michael Davis built his own laptop tray for his car. In his creative but “ghetto” idea he created a laptop tray out of PVC piping, wooden boards and a little ingenuity and hard work. Why did he do it? Davis does a lot of travelling in his car and travels to many estate sales and auctions. He also often brings along his laptop to keep in touch, and to check what things are worth before buying them at estate sales, yard sales or bidding in auctions. Michael Davis has a broadband access card for his laptop, so he can get online from anywhere.

Davis had always wanted a built-in laptop / notebook computer tray for his car. The commercially made units are pricey and through a little research he found that several models cost close to $300. The commercially made units also bolt to the floor and take time and tools to install and remove. He thought of a better way to suit his situation through brainstorming and figured out a quick and easy way to build a laptop tray for his car that cost a little over $30! That's 1/10 of what the commercially made units cost! And it only took him an afternoon to build it.

Microsoft Internet Explorer is Disgusting Like Vomit

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:44:23 -0700

Use Firefox or Google Chrome. Screw Microsoft Explorer. Last week they pulled this advertisement featuring ex Superman actor Dean Cain in "O M G I G P Internet Explorer 8 Puke Vomit Girl"

Excel: How to Delete The First or Last Word

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 16:37:09 -0700

Teaser:
Learn how to delete or remove the first word in a column or last word in a column set in Microsoft Excel

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I was looking at maintaining some excel databases and I needed to delete the first word from every row in a certain column in Microsft Excel. I imagined myself going through every cell and deleting the dratted word but I thought a macro could do that. Better yet there is an excel formula which you can program to get Excel to delete and remove the first word from a cell column/row or even the last word depending on what you need:

Code for deleting the first word in a cell in Excel:

=RIGHT(C2,LEN(C2)-FIND(" ",C2))

Code for deleting the last word in a cell in Excel:

=LEFT(C2,LEN(C1)-2)

Useful Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows win-Key

Sun, 10 May 2009 07:16:11 -0700

Teaser:
Windows button Win Key Shortcuts for the Keyboard - save time

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Learn a few useful keyboard shortcuts for your Windows key button (Win-key). Hopefully this will help save you time.

Windows Key + D = Minimise all windows and return the you to the desktop.
Windows Key + M = Minimise all windows.
Windows Key + SHIFT + M = Undo the minimise.
Windows Key + E = Open Microsoft Explorer. Some keyboards have a dedicated button for the internet browser - which may save you one keystroke.
Windows Key + Tab = Cycle through open programs through the taskbar, then hit Spacebar to activate the program you want. (Only works if you have Aero turned on in Vista - alternatively in Pre-Vista versions you simply use your Alt-Tab to cycle through programs)
Windows Key + F = Display the Windows Search / Find feature.
Windows Key + CTRL + F = Display the search for computers window.
Windows Key + F1 = Display the Microsoft Windows help.
Windows Key + R = Open the run window.
Windows key + L = Lock computer (Make sure you know your computer password before you execute this)
Windows key + Pause/break = system properties

What's Inside a Laptop Battery Pack?

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:32:47 -0800

Have you ever what secrets lie in a laptop battery pack? Well I asked myself that exact question. What is inside my laptop battery pack? Well this is it (see photo above and video below). The pack is just a bunch of AA cells in a tight configuration, soldered together and packed in with some circuitry. Yep, just inexpensive AA's in a plastic casing. Why am I interested in this? My laptop battery pack used to hold about 7 to 8 hours of charge for my laptop (unbelieveable? believe it - its for the legendary IBM Thinkpad X40). Now, after 4-5 years it can only hold about 1.5 hours. So its time to find a replacement (or I can open it up and replace the internal rechargeable AA's myself if I'm brave enough). But I think i'll pass - I don't want to risk putting in a battery backwards or risking explosion while soldiering lithium batteries together. Perhaps buying a generic brand replacement would be cheaper than buying the genuine battery part.

Stupid Data charges on GPS Phone - Turn Off AGPS Assisted GPS

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:00:06 -0800

Teaser:
Turn Off AGPS (Assisted GPS) - Avoid Internet Data Charges on Your Mobile Phone!

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Don't get want to get data charges from using your Nokia 6110 / GPS Phone? Turn off AGPS (Assisted GPS). If this feature is left on - it allows you to receive a more accurate location. GPS determines your location by communicating with three or more satellites in orbit around the Earth. GPS works great AGPS in relatively clear areas, like the bush or the suburbs, but they are easily confused in city centres where signals bounce off the tall concrete and glass buildings. This is where AGPS steps in: assisted GPS, sends the little bits of GPS signal that it receives to an assistance server on the Internet. In the case of the Nokia 6110, Internet connectivity is via your mobile network, which is where the Internet data charges come in.

Who needs adccurate GPS readings? Don't get those stupid internet data charges on your mobile phone by simply following a few steps to turn off some features:

Press the Menu button -- it's located underneath green accept call button.

Stargate SG-1 Goauld Ribbon Device for Sale

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:06:21 -0800

Teaser:
MGM Selling off Genuine Original SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis Props - This one is a Goauld Ribbon Device for Sale

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How cool is this? MGM is selling off their Stargate prop department piece by piece... I guess after they've shut down and cancelled productions for Stargate SG-1 after 10 seasons and Atlantis for 5 seasons they've reasoned that these props belong to the loyal fans. All auctions start from 0.99 cents but many of them end up at a few hundred dollars for a hunk of painted artificial metal or wood artifacts. But hey - its as close as you can get to the real thing - you can relive famous Stargate SG-1/Atlantis scenes. As I write this the Stargate SG-1 Props: Goauld Ribbon Device is at USD$690 or AUD$1,018.45.... with a bit under 5 days to go. I'm guessing it will fetch at least USD$2,000+? C'mon, this device is iconic in the Stargate universe... It has been with the franchise since the original Stargate movie (I think). And they say that's its the only one being offered in the eBay auctions. they say its a "Metallic Working Ribbon Device. The device is quite heavy as it’s metal that’s painted silver. It has a switch on the base that when turned on allows the device to be activated by a wireless remote. Using the remote the light on the bottom glows on and won’t turn off till the button is pushed again." If I had some spare cash lying around I would definitely buy this prop...

Vista Registry Hack: Disable User Account Control (UAC)

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:48:40 -0800

Teaser:
How to turn off annoying Vista feature - Disable the User Account Control (UAC) using Registry Hack

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Ok, before you go messing around with your registry make sure you back up and know how to restore your registry just in case anything goes wrong. This Vista registry hack will show you how to turn off and finally get rid of that annoying User Access Control (or was it User Account Control? UAC) dialog box that keeps popping up. You've probably tried this: Open up Control Panel, and type in "UAC" into the search box. You'll see a link for "Turn User Account Control (UAC) on or off".

After you've backed up your Windows Vista registry, open up the registry editor by clicking "Start" and "Search" for "regedit". Once found, open up that registry editor.

Use the "Find" function to search for this: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Then find the key for: ConsentPromtpBehaviorAdmin

Change the DWORD entry from 00000002 to 00000000.

Print Books On Demand

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:48:37 -0700

Teaser:
Now we can print books on demand.

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No I don't mean using your home printer to print out a whole book using your own ink and printer. I'm talking about walking into your local bookshop and printing up a book on the spot using a machine called an "ATM for books" by Time magazine. Even if the book is not on the shelves and is totally out of print - you can have it instantly. Angus & Robertson became the first Australian book chain to install the "Espresso Book Machine" (EBM) aka the "storymaker", capable of printing, trimming and binding a paperback book on demand within minutes. The bookshop chain has initially planned for several hundred out-of-print or difficult to get hold of books to be available, but Angus & Robertson said the range would expand daily, reaching 10,000 within 18 months. They would cost the same as the current shelf price of paperbacks or less, the retailer said. Which is great news as a typical Angus & Robertson shop can hold just more than the 20,000 physical books and it gives them a competitive edge against significant threats from online sellers such as Amazon.

What Mobile Phone to Buy?

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:41:13 -0700

Teaser:
What Mobile Phone Should I Buy? Something I Want? or Need? Based on the Model or the Plan?

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Which mobile phone should I buy? Should I base my decision on the mobile phone model type or the cellphone plan and the amount of credit I get during the usual 24 month contract?

If I base my decision on what type of phone - which mobile phone type of function should I buy and look for? A Camera phone - mobile phone with camera as key feature, although there could be other fuctions like music player, but less advanced? Music phone - mobile phone with music playback capability as key feature, although there could be other functions such as camera / but less advanced? Multimedia phone - mobile phone with equally good functions of camera, music and video? Or a Smart phone - mobile phone with PDA like function?

If I base my decision on the mobile phone plan what numbers and costs should I look at? What will be my usage like? How many minutes will I be talking on the phone? How many SMS' will I send? How much credit will I need? Am I comfortable with a two year plan? What is my budget for a phone? Different mobile phone carriers have different flag fall rates and charge either per second or per 30 second block - perhaps I should calculate which carrier's plan is cheaper depending on how they price their call rates?

Vacuum Dustbin

Wed, 07 May 2008 21:11:42 -0700

Useless gadget of the day: Vacuum Dustbin. Instead of sweeping up the dust into a dustpan and throwing it into the bin, have a bin which as a vacuum inside it suck the dust into it? Sounds like a good idea but really, its a waste of electricity and a waste of space. Just use the good old dust pan and broom. OR why don't you just use a vacuum cleaner? They were trying to sell this crap on http://www.catchoftheday.com.au/ today. I've actually bought junk from that website - novelty items that aren't worth a penny. RRP $150 for the vacuum, but they're having a fire sale and are selling it at a bargain basement price of $20.

ThinkPad pwned MacBook AIR

Sat, 03 May 2008 17:36:53 -0700

I love the Thinkpad line... MacBook Air may look sexy but on a practical level, perhaps its a little ahead of its time.

Video details: Viral Video parody of the MacBook AIR commercial sales pitch of having the whole laptop into a yellow envelope, but then having to contend with various USB connections - a little over the top, but nowadays USB connections are used for Mice, Keyboards, Printers, external Hard Drives, Cameras, Memory stock readers... Thinkpad 1 vs. Mac Air 0

How to Lubricate Your Bicycle Chain

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 13:59:11 -0700

I'm a bit of a bicycle enthusiast. I enjoy riding my bike for exercise and leisure. I did the Spring Cycle in Sydney in 2006 and again last year. The Spring Cycle is a 50km public cycling event in Sydney held annually in October riding from North Sydney to Sydney Olympic Park. It's been a while since I gave the bike a clean: especially the most important part of the bicycle: the gears and the chain. So now I have to learn how to lubricate my bicycle chain. And from my research and asking around (thanks to the helpful guys at the bicycle shop Cheeky Transport.)

Blog Marco - Technology + Gadgets

Laptop Family

Can you Install Windows on a Mac?

How to Build a Laptop Tray for Your Car

Microsoft Internet Explorer is Disgusting Like Vomit

Excel: How to Delete The First or Last Word

Useful Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows win-Key

What's Inside a Laptop Battery Pack?

Stupid Data charges on GPS Phone - Turn Off AGPS Assisted GPS

Stargate SG-1 Goauld Ribbon Device for Sale

Vista Registry Hack: Disable User Account Control (UAC)

Print Books On Demand

What Mobile Phone to Buy?

Vacuum Dustbin

ThinkPad pwned MacBook AIR

How to Lubricate Your Bicycle Chain

So what grease do you use to lube a bike chain?