17 January 2023 | Gizmos, How Does it Work?, Wireless Wonderland |
These days, streaming is all the rage.
Whether you have a smart TV, a streaming stick, Blu-Ray player, soundbar, or even some projectors, many of these gizmos come with Android TV built in.
Too many of them also only have WiFi – no Ethernet jack to be found! This is particularly irritating for those of us who want to go wired and avoid the Wireless Wonderland.
So, how to get Ethernet? Well, you just buy a USB-Ethernet adapter, right?
Yes – sort of…
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10 May 2022 | Computers, Gizmos, How to |
This one’s a lot of fun!
You connect your Android phone or tablet with a USB cable to your PC. You expect to be able to browse the files on your phone, or transfer photos/video.
Nope! Nuttin’. Nada. ZILCH.
It worked before, so what happened? Better yet, how do you fix it?!
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15 March 2022 | Computers, Gizmos, How Does it Work?, Video |
Everyone knows about keyboard and mice… But the foot pedal?! What the heck?
Surprisingly enough, it turns out that they’re not so expensive and very easy to set up – if you use the right software.
Speaking of software, it’s exactly because of NCH’s Pedable application that this thing is so incredibly useful.
You can use your foot to do 3 (or even 6) different things – including in games!
Foot pedals aren’t just for translators and transcribers…
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6 October 2020 | Computers, Gizmos, How Does it Work?, Uncategorized |
Just how fast is USB 3?
There seems to be a bit of confusion out there about how fast USB 3.x devices can actually go – as well as how to actually obtain those blistering-fast transfer rates.
That’s not surprising since what should be a pretty simple topic is actually quite convoluted…
You may recall my earlier video, Slow copy speeds with USB 3? No problem! 🎞
I was recently informed by one viewer that 400 MB/s is completely impossible for USB 3, so I guess it’s time for a review!
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24 March 2020 | Gizmos, How Does it Work?, Video |
Quick charging is all the rage these days.
We all want our smartphones and tablets to charge REALLY quickly via plain old USB cables.
But how do quick chargers actually work?
After all, USB itself is limited in terms of the power that it can provide…
Tune in and discover the magic of USB quick charging!
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26 November 2019 | Uncategorized |
Ah, the USB stick. They’re supposed to be handy for transferring files between computers.
Unfortunately, most of the time they end being painfully slow. If you’re frequently waiting several minutes for that large file to copy to your USB stick, then you’re using the wrong one!
After a recent debacle with 2 different USB 3 sticks, I set out to find the best USB 3.1 sticks that won’t set you back an arm and a leg.
Not only did I discover a new Speed Champion, but I also found a VERY cheap and large model that’s still quite zippy…
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3 July 2018 | Computers, Do-It-Yourself, Networking |
I’m not a big fan of WiFi, but I do use it from time to time.
It’s just convenient to use for some gizmos where an ethernet dongle is not supported.
Trouble is, I kept forgetting to turn off my WiFi router when I was done.
And then – two days later – I would discover I was still bombarding myself with magic 5 GHz death rays.
Not any more!!
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4 December 2017 | Computers, Gizmos, How Does it Work?, Video |
A few weeks ago, I published a video on how to get max speed from your USB 3 gizmos, which you can find here:
Slow copy speeds with USB 3? No problem!
Right, but if what about lowly USB 2 sticks? They’re far more prevalent than USB 3 sticks, and many of them are veeeery sloooow…
There are a few things to watch out for when buying your next USB stick.
And you don’t even need to be a technical genius!
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10 October 2017 | Computers, How Does it Work?, Video |
USB is totally awesome, and USB 3.0+ is even more awesome.
With real-world data transfer rates of 400MB/s or more, copying files to external USB sticks and drives has never been more fun.
Only one problem, and I’ve noticed this A LOT: People are using USB3, but they’re sitting there putting up with relatively slow copy speeds from, say, a USB3 key.
It’s often rather difficult to achieve copy speeds in excess of a measley 40MB/s…
What gives?
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27 November 2016 | Gizmos, How Does it Work?, Networking |
You may have heard about tethering, but it probably seems a bit mysterious and complicated.
Tethering is when you connect your smartphone or tablet to your puter, and then use your mobile device’s data connection to surf the internet on your puter.
Well, to put it another way: your puter uses your smartphone (or your tablet’s 4G connection) as its internet connection instead of your normal DSL, cable, fiber, etc.
Tethering can be done in several ways, and it’s much easier to set up than you think!
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These days, streaming is all the rage.
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