• Activity
  • Votes
  • Comments
  • New
  • All activity
  • Showing only topics in ~tech with the tag "help". Back to normal view / Search all groups
    1. Help: iPhone SE (2020) home button not working; “Unable to Activate Touch ID”

      Really hoping there’s an easy fix for this, because it’s making using my phone a pain. Relevant info: I never actually set up a fingerprint, and have only used passwords. phone memory is almost...

      Really hoping there’s an easy fix for this, because it’s making using my phone a pain. Relevant info:

      • I never actually set up a fingerprint, and have only used passwords.
      • phone memory is almost full (I have too many photos I still haven’t offloaded, I don’t use iCloud)
      • I did drop the phone earlier today, but there was no visible external damage
      • case does not cover the home button
      • I’ve tried force restart, it didn’t work
      7 votes
    2. My phone just won't let me click things once anymore

      I'm hoping someone else has had this problem and has found a solution. I have turned on visibility of taps/clicks, and I've also turned up screen sensitivity. I've turned off all animations. I've...

      I'm hoping someone else has had this problem and has found a solution. I have turned on visibility of taps/clicks, and I've also turned up screen sensitivity. I've turned off all animations. I've restarted it. I've installed the most recent update. Nothing changed it. I can see it registering my taps with the visibility feature, but it won't do anything the first time I tap.

      My phone is an Galaxy A52. I don't have a screen protector.

      What's happening is a lot of times (more than half) I will click something, and it won't register. So I have to click again. Usually it's only twice, but sometimes it can be up around five times before it will register that I've clicked the screen. This also sometimes happens when I'm scrolling a webpage, so it's like scroll, scroll, try to scroll but it gets stuck, scroll, etc.

      It happens pretty much everywhere, in every app, except the keyboard letters and numbers (thank god). But even the word suggestions sometimes need to be clicked more than once.

      I'm SO sick of it. I've looked as much as possible to find a similar situation with a fix, and I can't find one. Does anyone know what else I can do?

      18 votes
    3. Suggestions on better interactions with YouTube on my Moto G Power?

      situation: Watch video until the end, and want to get back to "home" with as little drama/clicking as possible. Current process: hit the tiny ass'd "x" at the top right to close the suggestions...

      situation: Watch video until the end, and want to get back to "home" with as little drama/clicking as possible.

      Current process:

      • hit the tiny ass'd "x" at the top right to close the suggestions overlay (usually after several attempts)
      • drag the video position back 30+ seconds so that the "up next" overlay is no longer obscuring the minimize video carat in the upper left.
      • hit the tiny ass'd minimize video carat (usually after several attempts)

      I keep wishing there was just a 'go back to home screen' option available at the end of videos that I'm just missing.

      8 votes
    4. Please help me understand and manage external hdd sleep

      I have an external drive (3.5" hdd, SATA) in an enclosure (usb 3) (purchased separately), connected to a thunderbolt dock (OWC) connected alternately to an iMac and a macbook pro. The HDD goes to...

      I have an external drive (3.5" hdd, SATA) in an enclosure (usb 3) (purchased separately), connected to a thunderbolt dock (OWC) connected alternately to an iMac and a macbook pro. The HDD goes to sleep, and causes problems. Freezes, weird internet access problems, kernel panics.

      I have done some research, and can't seem to figure out:

      how to know whether it is the drive, enclosure, or computer causing the sleep, although, fiddling with various settings on the mac seemed to have no effect, although it may have increased my battery usage :(

      how to adjust settings on the drive, or in the enclosure.

      How to determine what the sleep behavior of prospective drives will be.

      As a workaround, I tried to write a zsh script to touch the drive ever few seconds. This kinda worked, but was a struggle to figure out appropriate permissions issues and how to make it run automatically.

      I welcome all guidance, pointers to resources, clarifications, incantations, well-wishes.

      8 votes
    5. How to disable Mac prompt to connect to iCloud

      Long story short--I don't want to connect my mac to my iCloud account, but every time I login to my laptop, I get three popups in a row that say "This Mac Can't connect to iCloud because of a...

      Long story short--I don't want to connect my mac to my iCloud account, but every time I login to my laptop, I get three popups in a row that say "This Mac Can't connect to iCloud because of a problem with [my email] ...".

      I can't find a setting that allows me to disable this, and online searches have been fruitless.

      9 votes
    6. How to find out which extension opened an advertising tab?

      Recently I've been coming back to my chrome browsers to find a tab open with the following URL: (link disabled to prevent giving them any more clicks) https...

      Recently I've been coming back to my chrome browsers to find a tab open with the following URL:
      (link disabled to prevent giving them any more clicks)

      https ://theaisecrets.beehiiv.com/p/chatgpt-can-now-work-docs-apps-websites-emails

      This is happening across all my computers, both linux, windows, and linux VM, so I don't think it's OS-specific malware, but I suspect a rogue chrome extension is opening the tab, because I have chrome synced across all affected devices via my google account.

      I've searched for this particular problem and URL to no avail, so I wondered if there's a way to track back which extension opened the tab, other than by doing a binary search disabling half my extensions at a time (which would be annoying as hell - the tabs only seem to get opened once a day or so).

      14 votes
    7. 4G networks - does SMS and standard voice calls still work if 3G/2G networks are shutting down?

      Hey all, Over here in Australia (imagine in USA and a few other countries), the 3G/2G mobile networks are being shutdown. My carrier Vodafone is gradually shutting its down with Dec 15th 2023...

      Hey all,
      Over here in Australia (imagine in USA and a few other countries), the 3G/2G mobile networks are being shutdown. My carrier Vodafone is gradually shutting its down with Dec 15th 2023 being the final closure date. The 4G network will have VolTE but my device (LG V20) does not appear to support VolTE nor does it look like i can update the firmware easily (if at all) to do so.
      Anyone else have this issue with their phone? (i realise it will be older ones)
      Question about VolTE though - will sms and standard voice calling still work on 4G on my device or similar devices without VolTE ?.
      thanks
      Nig

      24 votes
    8. Seeing very smooth movement on classic shows on a big screen TV

      I recently visited my sister who has a big screen TV that shows very smooth movement including on Star Trek, the original series. Not that I don't have smooth movement on my home TV set, but hers...

      I recently visited my sister who has a big screen TV that shows very smooth movement including on Star Trek, the original series. Not that I don't have smooth movement on my home TV set, but hers was ridiculous. It almost looks like raw footage before it was refined down. It was like there were frames between the frames, if that makes any sense.

      What am I seeing here?

      22 votes
    9. Is there a reason the iPad pro "scans" your house every minute?

      My wife has an ipad pro, and we have a baby monitor. So I was watching the baby monitor and noticed that her ipad was also in view of the camera. What I also noticed is that her ipad seems to...

      My wife has an ipad pro, and we have a baby monitor. So I was watching the baby monitor and noticed that her ipad was also in view of the camera. What I also noticed is that her ipad seems to flash an infrared light every minute or so.

      After some googling I think this is the lidar scanner, although I'm not 100% sure.

      Anyway, does anyone know why her ipad is doing this? It feels pretty creepy that a device is scanning your house all the time. Normally you don't even notice, it's only when you view the iPad pro from a camera that also shows infrared.

      Maybe I'm just a little paranoid, but it feels like a privacy violation.

      10 votes
    10. Weird video playback issue

      Specifications: Computer: Framework 13" DIY Edition. 32GB RAM 11th Gen i7-1185G7 Windows 11 Pro Browser: Brave Browser Current Version Displays: Samsung LC27JG50QQNZA Series Curved 27in HP VH240a...

      Specifications:

      Computer: Framework 13" DIY Edition.

      • 32GB RAM
      • 11th Gen i7-1185G7
      • Windows 11 Pro

      Browser: Brave Browser

      • Current Version

      Displays:

      Dock:


      Issue:

      Regardless of the website that I am on (I.e. Youtube, Twitch, Rumble, Netflix, etc.) my video stream will at random and only on my Samsung display will start to slide repeatedly to the left. The best way that I can describe it is to imagine taping a picture to a treadmill and setting to a highspeed setting. The image will move along with the treadmill. That's what the video feed does at random for some reason.
      • If I move it to the HP display it stops.
        • sometimes when I move it back it continues and sometimes it doesn't.
      • If I try and capture it via the built in screen recorder in windows it doesn't show up in the recording.

      Have any of you had this experience or know what is causing this?


      P.S. Thank you in advance for whoever corrects my tags and title which seams to happen evetime I post. I'm still trying to learn the correct way to post here on Tildes.


      ***EDIT***

      All sorts of stuff is going on now...
      • My monitor also blinks now and then video starts to slide
      • I've only gotten it to reproduce on Brave Browser.
      • I put Firefox and Brave side by side when it started happening. When I clicked on the Firefox browser it stopped. Then when I clicked on to Brave browser it started again... Like WHAT!?
      • With the browsers side by side the video on the brave browser started to slide again but now slid across both browsers...
      • Every time I try to record it stops... It's mocking me at this point.
      13 votes
    11. Modem help

      Hi all - I need some help troubleshooting my internet and really don't feel like dealing w/ customer service reps. I don't consider myself a tech savvy person, so I'm wondering what this community...

      Hi all - I need some help troubleshooting my internet and really don't feel like dealing w/ customer service reps. I don't consider myself a tech savvy person, so I'm wondering what this community might know..

      I've been having issues with my internet for a while. we have xfinity with a plan that promises up to 1000mbps. I'm lucky if i get up to 250 on a good day. beyond that, we constantly lose connection, or get very slow connectivity. i'm using a Netgear c7000v2 as my modem/wifi router combo paired with a Google Nest Mesh router. My home is roughly 1000 sqft footprint split level. my computer is in a different room, but there's no doors between and about 600 ft from the modem/mesh routers.

      i called xfinity to talk about the issue, they said that my modem likely needed to be replaced. the initial modem was also a Netgear c7000v2, but i figured maybe the hardware just burnt out(?) they sent me an xfinity modem, and everything seemed to work great (still not 1000mbps, but definitely better). when I realized they were charging me more than I was willing to pay monthly for a rental fee on the modem, i decided i'd go back out and buy a new modem. i bought a Netgear c7000v2 again, because it should be able to handle those speeds, and to my understanding is a decent enough modem. i also bought a new coaxial cable to double check. but after replacing, my internet is still spotty and constantly goes in and out.

      i don't have any device to plug directly into the ethernet cable (because it's 2023...), so i can't pinpoint the issue through that. i haven't had an xfinity tech come out yet, because apparently that takes anywhere from 6-8 weeks to get a visit...

      any ideas on what i should do? part of me is convinced that xfinity is throttling my internet because I'm not using their modem and paying them a rental fee, but i don't want to give into conspiratorial thinking...i'm about to file an FTC complaint on them because I'm just fed-up at this point.

      14 votes
    12. Work profile, akin to credit score?

      I was scrolling through Tildes a while ago when I can across a comment talking about how employers fed data into a credit-bureau-esque application that they could check to see things like your...

      I was scrolling through Tildes a while ago when I can across a comment talking about how employers fed data into a credit-bureau-esque application that they could check to see things like your past salary data. Unfortunately, I can’t find that comment anymore. Does anyone know what it was, or where to find it?

      I find the concept to be incredibly worrying, especially as it seems like unregulated technology or at the very least operating in a gray area carved out by existing credit reporting.

      (Please let me know if this should go in ~misc or somewhere else. Wasn’t sure where to put it!)

      35 votes
    13. Question about a bug encountered while transferring photo and video files between devices

      This is my first Tildes post and I'll remove it if needed! I recently dumped some photos from an old cell phone on to an old windows 10 laptop to be stored on an external hard drive. The phone is...

      This is my first Tildes post and I'll remove it if needed!

      I recently dumped some photos from an old cell phone on to an old windows 10 laptop to be stored on an external hard drive.

      The phone is a 4 year old Galaxy with 128g onboard storage.

      The laptop is an HP running windows 10 and is a notebook-like machine with about 30g total hard drive, the max usable is like 4 or 5 gigs after the OS etc.

      At the time of transferring files, I found it quicker to use the available 2.5 gigs I had to put pictures directly on the laptop and then transfer them from there to the external hard drive.

      Here is my problem:

      2 folders, from separate camping trips, totalling about 380 photos and a few videos are stuck on the desktop and are claiming to take up 4.02 terabytes and thus cannot be moved.

      I did notice the file type .heic is not recognized by windows 10, but all my other photos (several thousand,) are the same file type and take up a normal amount of space.

      These individual photos in question are claiming to be around 7 to 8 gigs each.

      There's not 4 TB between the phone(128g,) laptop(30g,) and the external drive(3tb.)

      So the pictures are stuck on this laptop which is only acting as a surrogate computer while I'm building a real desktop PC.

      I can keep this laptop forever, even though I'd rather donate it or something, but one of these folders has pictures from the last camping trip with my brother before he took his own life last year, I'd really like to keep them archived and backed up.

      Any ideas? Anyone have a similar experience? Thank you for reading and thanks in advance for any suggestions!

      Again, I'll delete this post if it's inappropriate.

      Cheers.

      EDIT: I just realized while proof reading this, that if I can update the codecs where windows can view the files, I could screenshot the photos, but that still leaves me at a loss for the videos.
      I miss his goofy laugh, and want to preserve it for his son also.

      23 votes
    14. Help: Is there a way to search the fediverse in one place, instead of just my server / instance?

      Hi everyone, I'm quite new to working the cross-server world of the Fediverse. Is there a way to search the Fediverse in one place, instead of just my server / instance? For example, being able to...

      Hi everyone, I'm quite new to working the cross-server world of the Fediverse. Is there a way to search the Fediverse in one place, instead of just my server / instance?

      For example, being able to search for #cats in not just my Mastodon server / instance, but on the others as well? And if it can search Lemmy and others as well, that would be AMAZING.

      16 votes
    15. Having trouble staying logged in here, and elsewhere on iOS

      I’ve been running into a minor annoyance of late, I tend to get logged out of ~ on a page refresh (I.e., pull the screen down) on iOS after about a day or less. I have also noticed that my outlook...

      I’ve been running into a minor annoyance of late, I tend to get logged out of ~ on a page refresh (I.e., pull the screen down) on iOS after about a day or less. I have also noticed that my outlook web also does a thing where it seems to forget that I’m signed in under an account, and asks me to input an email, but if I refresh, there’s a 50/50 shot it will see I’m logged in and drop me into the outlook web client.

      I recall some of these threads from a few years ago here (but having issues finding them in search) and seem to remember the consensus being “check your add-ons”…. But this is happening on the super nerfed Firefox for iOS (I.e., there are no add-in’s to my knowledge).

      I’m running Ffirefox 115 if that helps at all

      12 votes
    16. Google seems to be running OCR on photos in my Gmail. Is this happening to you too?

      This morning I was asked to find an archived email with photos of some scientific equipment. I searched "Powerlab," the name of one of the instruments, in gmail, and the email came right up....

      This morning I was asked to find an archived email with photos of some scientific equipment. I searched "Powerlab," the name of one of the instruments, in gmail, and the email came right up. Great! But then I noticed that the word "powerlab" never appeared in the text of the email. I tried searching "ML206", an arbitrary character string from one of the photos in the email, and again, the email appeared in the search, without the search phrase highlighted in the search result, as it normally would be. I tried different phrases from jpgs in emails; not all yielded search results but some did.

      I'm not happy about this. I accept some compromises to privacy when using Gmail, but sending text as an image can be a way of specifically avoiding information being harvested. All I ask for is a way to turn it off.

      Can anyone replicate this? Did anyone already know about this?

      51 votes
    17. Help with converting PDF to Excel and back to PDF?

      I may be asking a dumb question or going about this wrong but I'm not sure what to do here. So right now, I receive an estimation from one company in a PDF. It has a bunch of fields such as...

      I may be asking a dumb question or going about this wrong but I'm not sure what to do here.

      So right now, I receive an estimation from one company in a PDF. It has a bunch of fields such as customer name, product, address, etc. Then I type that data and put it into Excel, where I add additional data that I have. From there I have a second PDF which has form fields that I fill with the data of the Excel spreadsheet.

      My problem is with the first PDF that I get from this other company, unless I am doing something wrong I am unable to get that first PDF to show the data as fields. If I convert the first PDF into an Excel then the table data is very messy.

      The amount of typing or copy and paste that it's not hard but it is time consuming. What is the best way for me to go about doing this? I've been Googling things but I'm not sure the right words of action I'm looking for.

      I hope this all makes sense, but if not please ask questions and I'll do my best to try and clarify further.

      12 votes
    18. iPhone support -- SMS verification codes not appearing as autofill. Help?

      My phone used to autofill the 2-factor SMS verification codes used when logging into a site. I can't remember when or why, but suddenly it doesn't appear, and I have to... (gasp) type in the SMS...

      My phone used to autofill the 2-factor SMS verification codes used when logging into a site. I can't remember when or why, but suddenly it doesn't appear, and I have to... (gasp) type in the SMS code manually.

      SOLVED:

      Autofill SMS codes only work with Safari.

      8 votes
    19. Tasker issues with volume sync on new Pixel

      Hi all, first post so hope I do it right. I just read the Tasker post and thought I'd post a question/request here about it. On my old Samsung S21 I wrote a simple Tasker script that detected a...

      Hi all, first post so hope I do it right.

      I just read the Tasker post and thought I'd post a question/request here about it.

      On my old Samsung S21 I wrote a simple Tasker script that detected a change in volume on one of the sliders, eg Media, and then adjusted the others, IE System, Notification and Call, to match with a little check, ie %VOLM neq %VOLR.

      It worked fine in my Samsung but goes all over the place on my new Pixel!

      Has anyone else seen this or can post something that works on Pixels? Or maybe my scripts need some work!

      The trigger is variable set, IE VOLM, and the actions are to set the other 3 volumes to VOLM if they are not already set to that. And I have 4 of those, one for each variable.

      And advice appreciated!

      5 votes
    20. Let's talk Local LLMs - So many questions

      Hello there (oh god, I am opening my first thread here - so exciting) I'd love to ask the people here about local LLMs. To be honest, I got interested in this topic, but am leaving reddit, where a...

      Hello there
      (oh god, I am opening my first thread here - so exciting)

      I'd love to ask the people here about local LLMs.
      To be honest, I got interested in this topic, but am leaving reddit, where a sub r/locallama exists.
      I don't want to interact with that site anymore, so I am taking this here.

      My questions, to start us off:

      • Models are available on huggingface (among other places), but where do I get the underlying software? I read "oogabooga" somewhere, but honestly, I am lost.
      • If I only want to USE a local model, what are the requirements, and how do I judge if I can use something from the values of "4bit / 8 bit" and "30B, 7B"??
      • If I get crazy and want to TRAIN a LorA ... what then?
      • Good resources / wiki pages, tutorials, etc?
      21 votes
    21. Setting up a NAS as a first timer?

      So I've seen some posts here and elsewhere about people making a home NAS setup, using it as a media server with jellyfin/plex/.arr to set up media + keep files/passwords/photos, and then managing...

      So I've seen some posts here and elsewhere about people making a home NAS setup, using it as a media server with jellyfin/plex/.arr to set up media + keep files/passwords/photos, and then managing it remotely. That sounds incredibly cool.

      I also did some cursory searching that one way to do things without messing with port-forwarding is to look into Tailscale to network remotely.

      I want to try this for my parents and I, especially since I will be training abroad for several years while they will be based in Asia.

      The obvious problem is I don't have any experience with the process or even networking in general. I also do not know how to code in any capacity. I am in a decidedly non-tech field of work.

      I've been googling but want to know if this a feasible idea at my skill level? Is this work for hobbyists or those in the professional field of computing? Am I going to potentially shoot myself security-wise if i try this? Should experiment with something smaller-scale first?

      Preliminary "Research":

      1. Watched Practical Networking on youtube to see what I was getting into (understood... lets say 45% of what he was talking about)
      2. Plan to get a synology NAS with minimum 4 drive bays (Supposedly this is easiest for beginners?)
      3. Connect to network via tailscale
      4. Get a vpn
      5. Install docker
      6. Install apps
      7. Connect it to PCs and smart tv at my parent's home in Asia
      8. ???
      9. Maintain it from Europe?

      Any advice on how to start or any guides to recommend? (most of what I've found is 2021 or earlier so I am unsure if a lot's changed since then)

      9 votes
    22. Question about using AppleTV+ in Firefox browser

      For the life of me I am unable to find the "up next" area to watch things I have added to watch. The left top of the screen has the AppleTV+ logo, and the right top has the settings. Can any of...

      For the life of me I am unable to find the "up next" area to watch things I have added to watch. The left top of the screen has the AppleTV+ logo, and the right top has the settings. Can any of you help me get this sorted?

      3 votes
    23. Tab viewer/organizer?

      Weird question, but does anyone know of a simple tab viewer or organizer for Firefox (bonus points if it works on iOS)? I have... way too many tabs open, and I want to see what I can bookmark...

      Weird question, but does anyone know of a simple tab viewer or organizer for Firefox (bonus points if it works on iOS)? I have... way too many tabs open, and I want to see what I can bookmark before closing rather than having to either close everything or manually check each tab.

      11 votes
    24. Internet is slow, but only when opening a new domain

      Internet in my fiancee's house is weird. Once I open up a domain, going to links in the same domain is quite fast, but if I try opening another domain in another tab it is super slow. On Chrome it...

      Internet in my fiancee's house is weird. Once I open up a domain, going to links in the same domain is quite fast, but if I try opening another domain in another tab it is super slow. On Chrome it is really bad, Firefox is better but still sluggish. This occurs similarly on different devices running Windows, Linux, and Android. What could be causing this?

      8 votes
    25. Is there a way to make sure sent e-mails are opened?

      A few years ago I decided to ditch Gmail and started using Disroot as my e-mail provider. It was recommended by privacytools.io. I realized that at least one e-mail I sent went to spam and now...

      A few years ago I decided to ditch Gmail and started using Disroot as my e-mail provider. It was recommended by privacytools.io.

      I realized that at least one e-mail I sent went to spam and now every time I send an e-mail I get paranoid if it will reach its destination. Is there a way to know if the e-mails I send are opened?

      I've thought about switching to a more mainstream e-mail provider like ProtonMail but I already have so many accounts linked to Disroot that make switching dreadful. As a matter of fact I still have over 100 accounts that are using my Gmail address because it's so time intensive and not a priority to do the switch. Hopefully in the password-less future this kind of problem will cease to exist.

      11 votes
    26. [SOLVED] Looking to debug a wifi issue, or possibly for a new wifi router

      EDIT: Crisis averted! The problem was with the modem and not the devices connecting to it. I'm not sure why the first person I called at the ISP couldn't help me. In reality, the second person I...

      EDIT: Crisis averted! The problem was with the modem and not the devices connecting to it. I'm not sure why the first person I called at the ISP couldn't help me. In reality, the second person I called also didn't help, but something magically started working after talking with them a second time and rebooting the modem about 5 more times, so it turns out I don't need a new WiFi router at this time. That said, I will take these suggestions to heart, as I may be buying one anyway as a backup for when this inevitably happens again.

      TL;DR: I probably need a new wifi router and want one that isn't malware and will work even if the company I bought it from goes under or stops making it.

      Long version:
      So today my wifi stopped working. I use an Apple Airport Extreme (the tower one that has a Time Machine backup in it). I've had it for 5 or 10 years and it's worked fine during that time, other than replacing the hard drive it backs up to. My spouse and I were sitting on the couch after lunch surfing the web on our phones, when we suddenly couldn't reach anything. The router itself appears fine. We can connect to it and see other devices that are connected to it, but for some reason, it's no longer communicating with the cable modem via the WAN port. It still backs up the computers in our house, though. I have tested the cable that was connecting it to the cable modem, and it appears fine. I can connect my computer directly to the cable modem without issue using the same cable. So my guess is that the WAN port is hosed.

      However, I'm suspicious that something else is going on for 2 reasons. #1, the cable company (Spectrum) made me replace my cable modem last week. I did that, got my Airport connected to it, and after a call to tech support got it up and running. It's been working for the past week. I suspect the modem may have updated or changed configuration without me knowing it and that's the real cause here. They sent me a Wifi router with the modem, but will charge me $5.00/month if I keep it. I'd rather own the hardware. #2, I have an older Airport Express that was working the last time I used it. I replaced it with the newer model about 5 years ago so I could do backups. It fails to work in the same way. It seems like the WAN port isn't communicating with the cable modem. So, if there's some way to verify that the WAN ports on my Airports are or aren't working, I'd be interested to hear about it.

      I am able to connect a wired ethernet switch to the cable modem and all devices on the switch can see the Internet just fine. I tried connecting both Airports to the switch via their WAN ports while the switch was connected to the cable modem, but that did not work. (Or at least, I couldn't connect to the internet via either Airport.)

      So, on the off-chance that both my Airports have a similar failure, I need to replace them. I have gotten suggestions from others, but have been pretty unhappy with them. I have the following requirements:

      • Absolutely must not store any information about me in the cloud (for example as Ubiquiti apparently does)
      • Absolutely must not rely on any sort of connection to the manufacturer to work properly and must not phone home without my permission
      • Preferably not a poorly made device that will die in 3 years
      • Must work properly and at full speed with Apple devices
      • Must not require a phone app to configure
      • Must have ~3 ethernet ports so I can hardwire in my TV devices (AppleTV, TiVo, etc.)

      Things I don't need, but aren't a deal-breaker if it has it:

      • The ability to configure every little setting. I prefer to set it and forget it.
      • Mesh networking. My house is not huge, the cable modem is in the middle of the house and my single Airport base station has good coverage of the entire house.

      If you know of any device like this, please share!

      7 votes
    27. Does the Reddit 'Popular' page base results on the user's preferences?

      I use Reddit more than I should. I flip to the 'Popular' page to see current events. I am curious if I am looking at skewed results based on the subreddits and posts that I visit, or if I am truly...

      I use Reddit more than I should. I flip to the 'Popular' page to see current events. I am curious if I am looking at skewed results based on the subreddits and posts that I visit, or if I am truly looking at a good sample of Reddit's popular posts?

      3 votes
    28. Hive mind: In the early 2000s, there was a website that tracked and reviewed open source applications. What was it?

      You could look up, say, CMSes, get some basic info about each one (to make useful decision), and learn who its active committers were. The site closed, I know. Do you remember its name? Or people...

      You could look up, say, CMSes, get some basic info about each one (to make useful decision), and learn who its active committers were. The site closed, I know. Do you remember its name? Or people who were part of it?

      I asked someone to write an article for me about "review sites for open source" -- think Yelp for Software -- and neither of us can remember its name. But if you have others that you think should be included (for positive or negative reasons), please let me know.

      10 votes
    29. [SOLVED] Tech support request: Possible screen-tearing issue while gaming on TV

      EDIT: This is now solved thanks to @Amarok! Solution is here. Changing the refresh rate from 60 Hz to 120 Hz fixed it. My husband and I recently upgraded our TV to a Samsung Q70, and I have...

      EDIT: This is now solved thanks to @Amarok! Solution is here. Changing the refresh rate from 60 Hz to 120 Hz fixed it.


      My husband and I recently upgraded our TV to a Samsung Q70, and I have started experiencing an odd issue, visible in this video here.

      The Issue

      There's a horizontal section across the entire bottom of the screen that seems to be refreshing later than the rest of the TV. The game is running on a PC hooked up to the TV via HDMI, and the TV is running on game mode. This issue did not happen on our last TV (a 10-year-old Visio that I don't remember the model number of).

      The Oddness

      • It doesn't happen on the desktop or in video inputs.

      We've been watching YouTube and Hulu through a Shield TV that we also have hooked up, and this issue isn't present in any of those, nor is it visible when I'm using desktop applications on the TV through the PC.

      • It only happens in certain games.

      The video is from Trackmania 2: Lagoon, where it is always present. Meanwhile, it is not present at all in Trackmania (2020). Likewise, I've been playing 428 Shibuya Scramble where it shows up in the exact same way in the exact same area, but it does not exist in Distance or Rogue Legacy, for example.

      • It does not respond to v-sync.

      I've tried toggling v-sync on and off, both through the game itself and forcing it through my video card. Neither alleviated the issue. The display looked the same whether or not v-sync was turned on or off.


      I'm looking for any guidance anyone can give me, especially if this is a hardware issue with the TV itself, since I'm still in the return window.

      6 votes
    30. Home network support: Setting up a network switch

      I moved into a new apartment and was surprised to see that all my rooms have CAT 5 Ethernet ports in the wall. However, cue my disappoint when I try to naively plug my router and machine in two...

      I moved into a new apartment and was surprised to see that all my rooms have CAT 5 Ethernet ports in the wall. However, cue my disappoint when I try to naively plug my router and machine in two separate ports to find that the ports don't actually work. After searching various forums, I found that I have to:

      1. Locate the panel where all the ethernet ports connect
      2. Wire them to an ethernet switch.

      I found the panel but all the wires look like this:

      https://i.imgur.com/Qzm72g0.jpg

      I'm not sure what I need to do from here to plugging into my network switch. Any guides or advice would be extremely helpful. I don't need every port connected to the switch, only one or two. None of these look labelled so I might have a difficult time isolating which cable runs where.

      And about the network switch... Any qualms about using an old router that has the AP turned off?

      10 votes
    31. [SOLVED] Tech support request: Getting a scanner and controller working in Linux

      Most recent update is here. The Tildes community has been amazing and patient with me as a new and uninformed Linux user, and I'm greatly appreciative of that. I return to you today with yet...

      Most recent update is here.


      The Tildes community has been amazing and patient with me as a new and uninformed Linux user, and I'm greatly appreciative of that. I return to you today with yet another request.


      Hardware

      System76 Oryx Pro
      Distro: Pop!_OS 19.10


      Issue #1 (mission critical)

      Brother MFC-L2750DW

      I have a Brother printer/scanner for which I have installed the drivers using the .deb file provided on the Brother site. It's connected via USB. Printing works fine; scanning does not. My husband and I both need the ability to scan for our jobs, so this issue is pretty important to us.

      I am using the program Document Scanner (I believe it's one of the GNOME default programs?). When I open the program it says "Searching for Scanners" and then recognizes my scanner, giving the model number and says it's "Ready to Scan". Whenever I attempt to scan, however, whether from the ADF or the flatbed, it says "Unable to connect to scanner". I am not sure how to proceed, and any guidance on this would be greatly appreciated!


      Issue #2 (optional)

      Hyperkin Duke Wired Xbox Controller

      This is an optional issue and not at all one that needs to be solved by any means. A while back my husband got me this because it's my absolute favorite controller of all time (I know, scoff all you want!). It worked fine in Windows, but now that I've shifted over to Linux it has been sitting and gathering dust.

      When I plug it in the controller rumbles briefly (which it also did on Windows), but other than that does nothing. No input is accepted. If it's easy to get this up and running in Linux, I'd love to be able to use it, but if it's not that's totally fine. I have another controller I can use, and again, none of this is essential to my work. I just figured since I was asking for help I'd throw this in here too.


      If you need any additional information or need me to try any specific things, let me know!

      10 votes
    32. [SOLVED] Tech support request: Broken start menu on Windows 10

      Solved! Thanks to @pseudolobster's post here, I was able to resolve the issue by creating a new user account on the computer. I'm leaving the post up for posterity, in case anyone else is ever...

      Solved!

      Thanks to @pseudolobster's post here, I was able to resolve the issue by creating a new user account on the computer. I'm leaving the post up for posterity, in case anyone else is ever searching up this same issue in the future.


      My husband is starting to transition to work from home. He is using his personal computer and just yesterday set up a VPN, Microsoft Teams, and Windows' built-in remote desktop so that he can access his work computer. Everything worked smoothly and he was able to finish out his workday from home just fine.

      Primary Issue

      This morning, upon booting his computer, he cannot access his Start Menu. It is on screen, and it appears clickable, but nothing comes up. Likewise, the search bar in his task bar is present on boot, but upon clicking the start menu for the first time it disappears and does not return. Other basic Windows functionality seems to be broken. Alt-tabbing does not work to switch between windows. System tray icons are present, but right clicking them and selecting an option does nothing. We cannot open taskbar settings or network settings this way, for example.

      This might be indicative of a larger breakdown. Even by command line, I can't get to the Windows 10 settings or Windows Update. It seems like all of the "new Windows"-style interfaces won't start (though the old ones, like the Control Panel, do).

      We can still open up apps by clicking on the links in his taskbar, and those seem to work fine. I can also get to the run command with Win+R.

      He is running Windows 10, and as far as I know, it's fully up-to-date (I can't open Windows Update to check).

      Additional Information

      In attempting to diagnose this issue, I've come across several others that are potentially related. I don't know if these are relevant and they're not a primary concern at the moment, but I'm including them here in case they help contextualize what's going on.

      There seems to be a runaway process that slowly eats up more and more memory over time, as well as a chunk of CPU. Sometimes it's called "Service Host: Windows Push Notifications User Service_#####" and sometimes it's called "Service Host: WpnUserService_#####" with the numbers changing each boot.

      Also, in attempting to restart the computer, it sometimes (but not always) pauses with a notification about programs still running, with one of them being "Task Host Window" with the message Task Host is stopping background tasks. (\Microsoft\Windows\Plug and Play\Device Install Reboot Required) Finally, immediately before restarting, it shows an error message from "svchost.exe" which reads The system detected an overrun of a stack-based buffer in this application. This overrun could potentially allow a malicious user to gain control of this application.

      Is this potentially a malware/intrusion issue?

      Attempted Solutions

      I have tried, to no success:

      • Rebooting the computer, both via a restart in Windows as well as by holding down the power button
      • Signing out and back in to his user account on the computer
      • Running sfc /scannow
      • Running DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

      Request for Help

      I know we have a lot of techy people here, but I also know you are all probably busy with everything that's going on. Nevertheless, if anyone has any guidance or help they could give on this issue, I'd greatly appreciate it.

      Also, it's been a while since I've used Windows, but IIRC there's a way of just resetting the whole thing and starting fresh? That's not ideal, but if that's the course of action I need to take, just let me know. Ultimately I just want this to work, by whatever method, so that my husband can be at home and reduce his exposure.

      7 votes
    33. [SOLVED] Some of my internet radio stations aren't playing on my computer

      EDIT: The problem has been solved. @Sill identified the problem here and @cfabbro found a work-around here. Crisis averted! I listen to some internet radio stations on my computer, but a couple of...

      EDIT: The problem has been solved. @Sill identified the problem here and @cfabbro found a work-around here. Crisis averted!



      I listen to some internet radio stations on my computer, but a couple of them aren't working any more: they appear to play, but there's no sound coming from my computer's speakers.

      It is only two stations. I've tested other internet radio stations I listen to, and they still work: I can hear them. I can play and hear YouTube videos. I can stream Spotify on my computer. I can play and hear my music files stored on my computer's hard drive. So I know my speakers work. I know Chrome works as a music player for other sources, including other internet radio stations. It's just these two radio stations.

      One of them is this radio station. Also this radio station. I know their digital streams are working, because I can listen to them via an internet radio app on my phone. So I know their digital signals are being sent out. But, while my phone app can play them, my computer browser can't play them.

      I've tested both non-working stations in Chrome and Internet Explorer. They both don't work in Chrome, but this station also doesn't work in IE.

      I'm using Chrome 80.0.3987.122. And I'm running Windows 7.

      This problem only started a couple of days ago.

      What's going on? How do I fix this?

      12 votes
    34. Where can I find collected wisdom from Silicon Valley?

      I am talking about advice such as "make incremental improvements" and "ship the minimum viable product." Is there a name for this kind of advice - advice related to software and tech. I am looking...

      I am talking about advice such as "make incremental improvements" and "ship the minimum viable product."

      Is there a name for this kind of advice - advice related to software and tech.

      I am looking to make a compilation.

      7 votes
    35. [SOLVED] Tech support request: Recovering from hard crashes in Linux

      EDIT: Latest update This is something so rudimentary that I'm a little embarrassed to ask, but I've also tried looking around online to no avail. One of the hard parts about being a Linux newbie...

      EDIT: Latest update


      This is something so rudimentary that I'm a little embarrassed to ask, but I've also tried looking around online to no avail. One of the hard parts about being a Linux newbie is that the amount of support material out there seems to differ based on distro, DE, and also time, so posts from even a year or two ago can be outdated or inapplicable.

      Here's my situation: I'm a newbie Linux user running Pop!_OS 19.10 with the GNOME desktop environment. Occasionally, games I'm playing will hard crash and lock up my system completely, leaving a still image of the game frozen on the screen indefinitely. The system stays there, completely unresponsive to seemingly any inputs. It doesn't happen often, but when it does it's almost always when I'm running a Windows game through Steam's Proton layer. I suspect it also might have something to do with graphics drivers, as I'll at times notice an uptick in frequency after certain updates, though that might just be me finding a suspicious pattern where none exists.

      Anyway, what I don't know how to do is gracefully exit or recover from these crashes. No keyboard shortcut seems to work, and I end up having to hold the power button on my computer until it abruptly shuts off. This seems to be the "worse case scenario" for handling it, so if there is a better way I should go about this, I'd love to know about it.


      EDIT: I really want to thank everyone for their help so far. My initial question has been answered, and for posterity's sake I'd like to post the solution here, to anyone who is searching around for this same issue and ends up in this thread:

      • Use CTRL+ALT+F3/F4/F5/F6 keys to access a terminal, where you can try to kill any offending processes and reboot if needed.
      • If that fails, use ALT+SYSRQ+R-E-I-S-U-B.

      With that out of the way, I've added more information about the crashes specifically to the thread, primarily here, and some people are helping me out with diagnosing the issue. This thread is now less about the proper way to deal with the crash than it is about trying to identify the cause of the crash and prevent it in the first place.

      12 votes
    36. What did Google Reader offer back in the day?

      From time to time I see people on the internet who remember Google Reader fondly, and miss it. At the time, I didn't have much use for something like it, so I never used it. But a common theme in...

      From time to time I see people on the internet who remember Google Reader fondly, and miss it. At the time, I didn't have much use for something like it, so I never used it.
      But a common theme in these conversations about Google Reader is that no other feed reader ever offered everything Google Reader could, but I can't seem to find details.

      So what was it? Does anyone here remember Google Reader, or even still wishes it was available? Why did nothing come from the Open Source community that could replace it?

      16 votes
    37. Can anyone help me with home security systems?

      I could use some clarity, as I feel like most of what I'm reading regarding home security is either FUD or marketing. I don't trust most of the comments I read online, as almost everything about...

      I could use some clarity, as I feel like most of what I'm reading regarding home security is either FUD or marketing. I don't trust most of the comments I read online, as almost everything about this seems predicated on creating fear in me so that I'll pay up.

      Simplisafe and Frontpoint are supposedly easy (and Simplisafe is quite cheap), but reviews online are mixed, and many people seem to think a self-installed wireless system is garbage no matter who it's from or who's doing the monitoring. Is this true, or is this just stratrgic doubt trying to drive me to a different or more expensive solution? I don't know!

      Also, ADT sent me an ad that was a straight up lie. The person on the phone had to guess at how they might be able to stack discounts to even get close to the price I was looking at on their flyer, and the best she could offer was ~50% higher than what was shown, with their higher tiers costing well over double the price in the ad. I politely terminated the call.

      My home security needs are simple. All I need is basic protection, and, honestly, I'm less concerned about a break-in than I am a fire. That's what I'd want to make sure I have solid monitoring for. My stuff can be replaced, but my home itself and my dog cannot.

      Can anyone help me cut through all of the crap out there and just give me accurate information? What's my best bet?

      13 votes
    38. Recovering my account on StackExchange

      Occasionally, I lose control of my account on StackExchange. I don't visit for a few months, I get logged out by some process during that time, and, when I try to log in, it tells me my password...

      Occasionally, I lose control of my account on StackExchange. I don't visit for a few months, I get logged out by some process during that time, and, when I try to log in, it tells me my password is incorrect.

      When I go through the "forgot password" process, get the recovery email, and reset my password... I then get told I'm about to create a new account on StackExchange. I actually did that once, many years ago, and trying to figure out how to combine the accounts was messy.

      It's happened again.

      How do I reset my password without creating a new account? StackExchange has always been a little bit like High Dark Magic to me. Its account structure seems more confusing than necessary.

      7 votes
    39. Advice for starting a Wiki project

      I am considering starting a wiki project for an academic niche. I've already started prototyping using Gitit, I've written a bit easy pages to get a feel for the software and am planning to start...

      I am considering starting a wiki project for an academic niche. I've already started prototyping using Gitit, I've written a bit easy pages to get a feel for the software and am planning to start working on the most important page that summarises the topic itself, which I believe will help guide me to which pages to create first.

      Now, here I'm asking for general advice to a newcomer n00bie wiki admin like me: what to expect, what software, etc. Any advice welcome, but I'll list a few questions below:

      • What wiki software? I am liking Gitit, it is nice and easy to set up, and comes with its own server which I run with a systemctl user unit in the background. I tried Oddmuse but couldn't get it to work with a simple server; Ikiwiki setup is too clumsy for my liking (it friggin put stuff on my $HOME by default!); I want to avoid PHP stuff in general; I want a simple wiki that serves simple HTML pages.

      • How to defend against spam? My plan is to keep it invite-only for as long as I can. IDK how to do that with Gitit yet.

      • How to serve it securely and for cheap, once I decide to publish? It probably won't ever grow beyond a few dozens of megabytes in file size.

      • How do you go about promoting a wiki?

      • What peripheral services (issue tracker, mailing list, IRC/Discord/etc channels) go well with a wiki?

      • What tools are available to ensure content quality (no plagiarism, enforce conventions, monitor changes, ...)?

      13 votes
    40. Hey anybody here want to be on a panel about labor rights and tech contracting?

      I'm putting together a panel for Tech Worker's Coalition for SXSW 2020 and the focus of my panel is on tech contracting. Specifically we're looking to speak on the issues of labor rights and how...

      I'm putting together a panel for Tech Worker's Coalition for SXSW 2020 and the focus of my panel is on tech contracting.

      Specifically we're looking to speak on the issues of labor rights and how they are effected by contracting.

      Anybody interested or have experience with the subject?

      In case I forget to check Tildes (I joined and then I always forget to check it) my email is aslan@jackalope.tech

      We've also got a couple of other panels brewing on the subject of unionization in tech and another on the recent controversies between tech workers and their companies over social issues (such as google walkout over sexual harassment, wayfair's walkout over selling beds to ICE etc)

      6 votes
    41. What would be a good security setup for me?

      So: I keep all my passwords in my password manager (Bitwarden) All my 2FA codes are generated by AndOTP on my phone. My 2FA backup codes are also in Bitwarden, which I think is a bad idea, because...

      So:

      • I keep all my passwords in my password manager (Bitwarden)
      • All my 2FA codes are generated by AndOTP on my phone.
      • My 2FA backup codes are also in Bitwarden, which I think is a bad idea, because that defeats the purpose of 2FA. So where should I put those?
      • I have my Bitwarden 2FA backup code in my wallet and in a safe at my house. Is that a good idea for the other backup codes?
      • Is there anything I'm forgetting here?
      8 votes
    42. Is a password manager essential?

      I feel like it's impossible to remember passwords that are long, random, and unique for every service. I have too many accounts. On the other hand, I don't like the idea of giving up control of my...

      I feel like it's impossible to remember passwords that are long, random, and unique for every service. I have too many accounts.

      On the other hand, I don't like the idea of giving up control of my passwords to a password manager and using the ones it generates and stores. It feels weird that I wouldn't "know" my passwords.

      Is this a hangup I should just get past? What do I do if I need to login somewhere but cannot access my password manager?

      30 votes
    43. Seeking help on a Tasker set up

      I have a Fitbit blaze. It doesn't have a proper api, you can only get the data it generates. However it does have push notifications and a music controller. My idea was to set up a playlist of...

      I have a Fitbit blaze. It doesn't have a proper api, you can only get the data it generates. However it does have push notifications and a music controller.

      My idea was to set up a playlist of empty music files to act as menu options. E.g. track one would be named "turn phone off" and so on. This works as fine as a single menu option but when using multiple option, VLC just plays through the entire playlist.

      Is there a music player that selects one track on a playlist and then stops? Or can I set this in VLC?

      11 votes
    44. Seeking help on how partitions will work when dual-booting.

      I plan on dual-booting Linux soon, and I am wondering on how to handle partitions. I have 3 drives in my computer: an SSD that Windows 10 boots from, a second SSD with one partition and some...

      I plan on dual-booting Linux soon, and I am wondering on how to handle partitions. I have 3 drives in my computer: an SSD that Windows 10 boots from, a second SSD with one partition and some unallocated space intended for Linux, and an HDD.

      When I install Linux on that SSD, how can I prevent Windows from messing with the Linux partition and vice-versa? Can Linux and Windows both read and write to the HDD partitions without complaining about the other modifying them?

      4 votes
    45. any sites like 23andme that dont sell your DNA to corporations?

      I'd really like to have a DNA test done to know my family history beyond 2 generations (adopted relatives) I've heard numerous times that 23andme will abuse the information they obtain and either...

      I'd really like to have a DNA test done to know my family history beyond 2 generations (adopted relatives)

      I've heard numerous times that 23andme will abuse the information they obtain and either target you with ads or sell your DNA to marketing agencies, are there any non invasive DNA tests available online or elsewhere?

      14 votes
    46. What are the best practices for passphrase security?

      This is a sort of continuation of a previous topic I posted. This weekend I will be wiping and reinstalling my computer and encrypting all of my drives in the process. In doing so, I will have to...

      This is a sort of continuation of a previous topic I posted. This weekend I will be wiping and reinstalling my computer and encrypting all of my drives in the process. In doing so, I will have to choose secure passphrases. As such, I have some questions about how best to do this:

      1. I have three drives that will be encrypted. Is it okay to have the same passphrase for all of them, or should I have different ones for each?

      2. In looking up info on this topic, I came across this article which recommends something called a Diceware wordlist. The premise is that you roll dice which match to a list of 7000+ words. You then string six or more of these words together which become your passphrase. Is this a sound way to generate one?

      3. Rather than using the Diceware wordlist, couldn't I roll my own password of the same type using six "random" words of my choosing? I feel like that would be easier to remember, but am I weakening security in doing so?

      4. If the Diceware method is to be trusted, does that mean I do not need to pepper my passphrase with digits, mixed case, and special characters? Or should I add these anyway?

      5. I'm also considering changing over passwords on a lot of my online accounts based on this method. I like the idea of using a single passphrase as a root, but how do you modify it so that it is different for each account? Would I do something like [dicewarewords]tildes, [dicewarewords]spotify, [dicewarewords]ubuntuforums, etc.? I feel like it would be too on-the-nose, and it would make it easy to guess my other passwords if one were compromised. On the other hand, I don't like the idea of using a password manager to generate a random string for me. I'd like to still be able to login even without my password manager.

      6. For people that have used something like this, how do you then deal with password restrictions on sites? I know that no matter how great I set things up I'm still going to have to make exceptions for sites that that either require or forbid numbers, mixed case, or special characters, have character limits, or make me change my password frequently.

      14 votes
    47. What are the best practices regarding personal files and encryption?

      Over the past year I have done a lot to shore up my digital privacy and security. One of the last tasks I have to tackle is locking down the many personal files I have on my computer that have...

      Over the past year I have done a lot to shore up my digital privacy and security. One of the last tasks I have to tackle is locking down the many personal files I have on my computer that have potentially compromising information in them (e.g. bank statements). Right now they are simply sitting on my hard drive, unencrypted. Theft of my device or a breach in access through the network would allow a frightening level of access to many of my records.

      As such, what are my options for keeping certain files behind an encryption "shield"? Also, what are the potential tradeoffs for doing so? In researching the topic online I've read plenty of horror stories about people losing archives or whole drives due to encryption-related errors/mistakes. How can I protect against this scenario? Losing the files would be almost as bad as having them compromised!

      I'm running Linux, but I'm far from tech-savvy, so I would either need a solution to be straightforward or I'd have to learn a lot to make sense of a more complicated solution. I'm willing to learn mainly because it's not an option for me to continue with my current, insecure setup. I do use a cloud-based password manager that allows for uploading of files, and I trust it enough with my passwords that I would trust it with my files, though I would like to avoid that situation if possible.

      With all this in mind, what's a good solution for me to protect my personal files?

      26 votes