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Explore the range of video recorder accessories today!

Posted by The Temperamental Techie | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 22-07-2010

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When it comes down to capturing those extraordinary moments on camcorder, be it filming your son’s rugby debut or your daughter’s first, hesitant steps, it always pays to have all of your accessories to hand – like a replacement battery. There’s little more displeasing than a camcorder running out of power at inopportune moments.
 But with a small forward planning you can make sure that you don’t find yourself in this sort of inconvenient situation.

 Next time you are outside, sniff around for a bag or holdall with a pocket that may keep the substitute battery and other accessories safe and dry – even if you’re not used to carrying items in this way, it will be beneficial over the long run.
 Batteries like these nearly always have a lengthy guaranty, so there isn’t any need to fret should it get spoilt by accident. Nowadays, of course, they are also recyclable, so when you replace your old battery with a new one, remember to drop the old one off at your local recycling station, so playing your part in shielding the environment.

 There are plenty of other camcorder accessories available in most high street shops that might well be worth purchasing, as any item that can help to save you time, money and difficulty over time is generally worth it.
 Multi-use terminal cables ( for connecting your mpeg recorder to your PC, laptop computer or television ), battery chargers and cleaning cassettes ( to maintain or perhaps improve picture standard ) are all part of a non-professional camera user’s recommended ‘toolbox ‘.

 If you’re sure to be filming in or near water, all kinds of trusty underwater cases are available now. Completely watertight, they take away the worry and stress from your Jacques Cousteau moments!
 Many mpeg recorder manufacturers produce corresponding tripods, which may be worth considering for family gatherings and memorable occasions. Putting an end to that annoying search for a flat surface on which to balance your camera, you may at last be able to produce family video clips of an OK quality. Extendable, flexible and alterable, these handy stands often fold away into a sturdy carrying case.

 If a tripod is too cumbersome for your tastes, a addition to the market is the pocket-sized, bendy mini-tripod. Its three leg joints stretch and bend to whatever shape suits the situation you find yourself in, be it on a mountain top, at the rear of a dance hall or within an automobile, and the scale of the item means you can even carry it on your person.

 Eventually, if you truly want to take your videos to a different level, you could think about taking a microphone attachment. These are designed for high-quality digital camcorders and produce broadcast sound quality. Perfect for picking up the screams in the scrum or the tip-tap of little feet!

Fibre Optic Cabling the benefits explained?

Posted by The Temperamental Techie | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 02-06-2010

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With the progress of Fibre Optic Cabling, it is now a much more commendable choice between electricians and tradesman alike. So just why is it that fibre optic cabling is better than the alternative choice copper cabling?

To find out we must look at the following subjects to check for developments in the cabling field; natural progression, speed, electromagnetic immunity, security, safety and dimension / mass.

To start, it is expected with most progressions in technology that you will see a greater invention, and fibre optic cabling is no exemption. Copper wire has been around for more than a century; therefore, it is very outdated, and fibre optic cabling is a expansion just like the development of black and white television to colour television.

Fibre Optic Cabling is much faster than copper cabling; this is because one cable can contain thousands of fibres in a single cable. This makes it perfect for high-speed Internet and busy business telephone systems.

Fibre Optic Cabling willnot get any hindrance from Electromagnetic signals; in Copper Wiring this will cause distortion be it on telephonelines, intrusionto television signals or even loss of your your Internet service. Fibre Optic cabling will not get any hindrance from Electromagnetic sources.

Unfortunately with copper wires there are a few security issues. Copper cables can expose information due to the magnetic field seeping out, and can be seeked out with elite antennas. Even though there has been development to stop the problem with copper taping, it makes the copper wiring less effective and more dear. Once more fibre optic cabling will under no circumstances cause this problem.

As copper wires run electrical energy from one point to the other, they can be very unsafe. Electrical currents can cause sparks, which could cause electrical shocks or even fires. Also, they can conduct lightning which is obviousally extremely unsafe. As fibre optic cabling sends out light and not electric it will not cause troubles with lightning, sparks or even electrical shocks.

The size and weight of the cable may not be much of a worry to the customers but for the installer it makes a lot of difference, copper cabling is double the mass of fibre optic cabling.

As you can see with the above, there are a lot of reasons why fibre optic cabling is a better selection than copper cabling.

The Temperamental Techie Is Back!

Posted by The Temperamental Techie | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 29-04-2010

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Our troubled economy is no respecter of persons. After a battle with unemployment, your favorite Temperamental Techie is back with a new look and lease on life! Please send in your questions or experiences with the temperamental techie in your office for all to enjoy.

LCD vs. Plasma TV’s

Posted by The Temperamental Techie | Posted in Home Theater, LCD, Plasma, TV | Posted on 09-09-2009

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Many people come to me for advice about general electronics purchases. One of the common questions I receive is “Which is better, LCD or Plasma?” My answer? It depends on how you are going to use it. The arguments below are based on my research on the subject from sources like Sound & Vision, Consumer Reports, Cnet, and others.
The argument for LCD
  1. LCDs are brighter than plasma and their screens are less reflective. This means they’ll look better in a bright room or even outside if you are creating an outdoor lounge.
  2. LCDs typically use less power, but the difference is probably not significant unless you leave your LCD on for long periods of time, like for use as a computer monitor.
  3. LCDs are less susceptible to burn-in. This remains true, although testing has shown that the new plasmas have many features to make it a very low risk for your TV. However, if you want to use it as a computer monitor or for video games where there are fixed images displayed for prolonged periods of time, LCD is probably still the way to go.
  4. Plasma TVs seem to be going by the wayside which means LCDs will probably be in the marketplace much longer and your LCD TV will still be worth something if you want to sell it down the road because you want to upgrade to the latest technology.
The argument for Plasma
  1. You get more TV for your money with a Plasma TV. A 50″ 1080p plasma may cost $1000 while a 52″ 1080p LCD may cost $1500. The price gap is getting smaller, however, and will continue to get more competitive over time.
  2. Plasma TVs are better than LCD at displaying the deep blacks and have better contrast which creates more realistic and natural images especially in dim lighting. This means they’ll look better in dark rooms like a home theater or when watching movies with the lights turned low or off.
  3. Plasmas also produce fast motion images without blurring much better than LCD. They say 120Hz and greater LCDs are showing improvement in that area, but are still subpar compared to plasma. So if you’ll be watching a lot of sports and action movies, you’re better off with plasma.
  4. Plasma TVs have a virtually unlimited viewing angle. You’ll want a plasma if you are planning a Super Bowl party or having a bunch of friends over to watch a movie and not everyone will be able to sit front & center.
The myth of longevity
Many people will try and tell you that the life expectancy of an LCD is 2-3 times greater than a Plasma. That may have been true with early models but is now no longer an advantage exclusively held by LCD technology. An example demonstrating the effective life expectancy of plasma televisions I read about is the use of the Panasonic Tau plasma by In Motion Pictures at major airports around the country. Although most of the earlier Tau models have now been replaced by a newer model, these plasma displays were used for 5 years and were the first generation of plasma displays to go a considerable distance. The TVs were run from 6AM until 10PM daily (16 hours), putting them in use by for about 30,000 hours. 30,000 hours equates to a life expectancy of about 25 years for a home owner that watches 3 hours of television per day.
If you still have qualms about the longevity of a plasma, remember the adage “you pay for what you get”. Not all plasmas are created equal, and not all LCDs are created equal. If you want a TV that you can feel good about the quality of the product and how long you think it will last, pay a little more and you usually won’t regret it.
Sources

Why techies can be temperamental…

Posted by The Temperamental Techie | Posted in Jokes | Posted on 07-08-2009

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Here are a few reasons why we techies can be temperamental. (Borrowed from http://www.sloppynoodle.com/joke-techsupport.shtml.)
So you think you’re computer-illiterate? Check out the following excerpts from a Wall Street Journal article by Jim Carlton –
1. Compaq is considering changing the command “Press Any Key” to “Press Return Key” because of the flood of calls asking where the “Any” key is.
2. AST technical support had a caller complaining that her mouse was hard to control with the dust cover on. The cover turned out to be the plastic bag the mouse was packaged in.
3. Another Compaq technician received a call from a man complaining that the system wouldn’t read word processing files from his old diskettes. After trouble- shooting for magnets and heat failed to diagnose the problem, it was found that the customer labeled the diskettes then rolled them into the typewriter to type the labels.
4. Another AST customer was asked to send a copy of her defective diskettes. A few days later a letter arrived from the customer along with Xeroxed copies of the floppies.
5. A Dell technician advised his customer to put his troubled floppy back in the drive and close the door. The customer asked the tech to hold on, and was heard putting the phone down, getting up and crossing the room to close the door to his room.
6. Another Dell customer called to say he couldn’t get his computer to fax anything. After 40 minutes of trouble-shooting, the technician discovered the man was trying to fax a piece of paper by holding it in front of the monitor screen and hitting the “send” key.
7. Yet another Dell customer called to complain that his keyboard no longer worked. He had cleaned it by filling up his tub with soap and water and soaking the keyboard for a day, then removing all the keys and washing them individually.
8. A Dell technician received a call from a customer who was enraged because his computer had told him he was “bad and an invalid”. The tech explained that the computer’s “bad command” and “invalid” responses shouldn’t be taken personally.
9. An exasperated caller to Dell Computer Tech Support couldn’t get her new Dell Computer to turn on. After ensuring the computer was plugged in, the technician asked her what happened when she pushed the power button. Her response, “I pushed and pushed on this foot pedal and nothing happens.” The “foot pedal” turned out to be the computer’s mouse.
10. Another customer called Compaq tech support to say her brand-new computer wouldn’t work. She said she unpacked the unit, plugged it in, and sat there for 20 minutes waiting for something to happen. When asked what happened when she pressed the power switch, she asked “What power switch?”
11. True story from a Novell NetWire SysOp:
Caller: “Hello, is this Tech Support?”
Tech: “Yes, it is. How may I help you?”
Caller: “The cup holder on my PC is broken and I am within my warranty period. How do I go about getting that fixed?”
Tech: “I’m sorry, but did you say a cup holder?”
Caller: “Yes, it’s attached to the front of my computer.”
Tech: “Please excuse me if I seem a bit stumped, It’s because I am. Did you receive this as part of a promotional, at a trade show? How did you get this cup holder? Does it have any trademark on it?”
Caller: “It came with my computer, I don’t know anything about a promotional. It just has ’24X’ on it.”
At this point the Tech Rep had to mute the caller, because he couldn’t stand it. The caller had been using the load drawer of the CD-ROM drive as a cup holder, and snapped it off.

The Temperamental Techie’s Reviews

Posted by The Temperamental Techie | Posted in Uncategorized | Posted on 07-08-2009

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Well, after a week’s vacation and a two-week hiatus from the blogging world, the Temperamental Techie is back in full swing. Check out my new blog dedicated to temperamental reviews of the technology I work with every day. Just go to http://reviews.thetemperamentaltechie.com. If there is a product you would like reviewed before you try or buy, just let me know and I’ll screen it for you.

I will continue to share tips, tricks, ravings, and rants right here at www.thetemperamentaltechie.com.

Create custom buttons for your macros in Microsoft Excel

Posted by The Temperamental Techie | Posted in Customization, Excel, Microsoft Office | Posted on 09-07-2009

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Have you created a macro that you use often? Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a button on your toolbars that ran the macro so you didn’t have go through all the menus every time you want to use it? Here’s how to create a custom button that can be placed on any toolbar for easy access.

  1. Click Tools –> Customize…
  2. Select the Commands tab. From Categories, select Macros. Then click on, hold, and drag the Custom Button to the desired place on one of your toolbars. (The same thing can be done with the Custom Menu.)
  3. With the Customize dialogue box still open, right-click on your button to assign properties, change the icon and style, or give it a name. Click Assign Macro… to enable the button to run your custom macro when you click on it. Select the desired macro and click OK.
  4. Close the Customize dialogue box and test out your new button!
It’s as easy as that!

Sort your Excel worksheets alphanumerically

Posted by The Temperamental Techie | Posted in Excel, Microsoft Office | Posted on 08-07-2009

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Doesn’t it seem like sorting worksheets alphanumerically should be a built-in function of Microsoft Excel? Well, stop looking in Excel for a tool or option to do it, because it doesn’t exist. Unfortunately, you have to create a macro. When you create a macro, you are telling Excel to memorize a set of commands and carry them out in sequence. Fortunately, Microsoft has published the commands in programming code that will help us make the macro. “I’m not a programmer!” you say? Hakuna Matata (my kids have been watching the Lion King lately…”it means no worries”), you don’t need to be a programmer to make this work. I’ll walk you through the process step-by-step.
First, highlight and copy the following code to your clipboard.

Sub Sort_Active_Book()
Dim i As Integer
Dim j As Integer
Dim iAnswer As VbMsgBoxResult
'
' Prompt the user as which direction they wish to
' sort the worksheets.
'
iAnswer = MsgBox("Sort Sheets in Ascending Order?" & Chr(10) _
& "Clicking No will sort in Descending Order", _
vbYesNoCancel + vbQuestion + vbDefaultButton1, "Sort Worksheets")
For i = 1 To Sheets.Count
For j = 1 To Sheets.Count - 1
'
' If the answer is Yes, then sort in ascending order.
'
If iAnswer = vbYes Then
If UCase$(Sheets(j).Name) > UCase$(Sheets(j + 1).Name) Then
Sheets(j).Move After:=Sheets(j + 1)
End If
'
' If the answer is No, then sort in descending order.
'
ElseIf iAnswer = vbNo Then
If UCase$(Sheets(j).Name) < UCase$(Sheets(j + 1).Name) Then
Sheets(j).Move After:=Sheets(j + 1)
End If
End If
Next j
Next i
End Sub

Next, go to Microsoft Excel and from the menu at the top click Tools –> Macro –> Record New Macro…. Name the macro anything (SortSheets, for example), and tell it to store it in the Personal Macro Workbook and click OK. (We save it to the Personal Workbook to make the macro available in any Excel file you may work with.) The ONLY thing you should do after you have started recording the macro is stop recording the macro. (Just click the stop button that appears on the screen.)


Now that you have created the macro, click on Tools –> Macro –> Macros…, select your macro and click Edit. You should get an error that says you “Cannot edit a macro in a hidden workbook.” Click Cancel and then choose Window from the menu and select Unhide…. Choose the PERSONAL workbook and click Unhide. Now go back to your Macro and click Edit. It should open up the Visual Basic Editor.


Once you’re in the Visual Basic Editor, delete the text in the window that is open and paste the code you copied earlier in its place. Click File –> Close and Return to Microsoft Excel.
Congratulations! You can now run the macro anytime! Just go to Tools –> Macro –> Macros…, then select your macro and click Run. Your worksheets will be sorted!
If you’d like, you can create a customized button that you can place on your toolbar for easy access. See my article on creating customized buttons in Microsoft Office for more information.
One last thing not to be left undone!!! Before you close Excel, you need to hide the Personal Workbook again. If you don’t it, the next time you open Excel, it will open to the Personal Workbook instead of a new workbook. Click Window –> Hide. When you close Excel, be sure to save your Personal Workbook.

Set IT Free!

Posted by The Temperamental Techie | Posted in IT | Posted on 18-06-2009

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In case some of my readers tell their IT guy about this great blog they’ve come across, I thought I’d post something for them.
If you don’t know about it yet, you’ve got to learn about it now. Spiceworks is the best IT tool I’ve ever used.
“Spiceworks is a free “everything IT” tool that delivers nearly everything an IT pro needs to simplify your job. Designed for small- and medium-sized businesses, Spiceworks single, easy-to-use interface combines network inventory, monitoring, troubleshooting and reporting with an easy to use help desk. And, it connects you with a community of over half-a-million other IT pros to share ideas, best practices and product recommendations, and in the spirit of helping each other solve problems and make the IT day easier.
“And, the best part? It’s free, thanks to top technology vendors that sponsor Spiceworks!”

Did you forget your password?

Posted by The Temperamental Techie | Posted in Excel, Microsoft Office, Password Recovery | Posted on 18-06-2009

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Have you ever forgotten the password for your protected Excel spreadsheet? Worried that you’ll have to recreate the spreadsheet? Don’t have any friends with good hacking skills? Well, worry no longer! PasswordX 2009 is a handy app that will remove the password so you can regain full access again. Give it a try today!
Speaking of forgotten passwords, NirSoft makes a whole suite of free password recovery tools you might find useful.
DISCLAIMER: I am only sharing this information with the intent to help people who have genuinely forgotten passwords. I do not condone attempts to discover passwords for illegal activities such as piracy, stealing, etc., and anyone who uses these tools illegally should have a very, very, guilty conscience.