Technology catch-all thread

[Big Hurtin]

Talking about memory lane, anyone remember newsgroups? I used to use them back on AT&T Roadrunner. They eventually became unavailable on Comcast. Something last week reminded me of them (can't remember the specifics).

[southsider2k5]

Anyone remember message boards? Those things were cool back in the day.

[Brian]

Anyone remember message boards? Those things were cool back in the day.

 

Chat Rooms that were big games. I frequented the Name that Movie room a lot.

[Jenksismyhero]

a/s/l?

[Brian]

a/s/l?

 

I remember cussing out some stranger who sent that to me because I didn't know what it meant the first time I got it.

[StrangeSox]

 

being able to boot other people offline lol

[RockRaines]

 

being able to boot other people offline lol

I had a bunch of those. Loved it.

[Texsox]

I remember the days of Prodigy before AOL.

 

GEnie was the first I joined. Followed by Prodigy then AOL. Before that dialing into servers on my blazing 4200 baud modem was the way to go. Exec PC in Milwaukee and The Well in S.F. where two of my favorites. Long distance bills were killer at times.

[Y2HH]

GEnie was the first I joined. Followed by Prodigy then AOL. Before that dialing into servers on my blazing 4200 baud modem was the way to go. Exec PC in Milwaukee and The Well in S.F. where two of my favorites. Long distance bills were killer at times.

 

I started at 300 baud...and as for long distance charges, as was said in WarGames...there were ways around that.

[Texsox]

I started at 300 baud...and as for long distance charges, as was said in WarGames...there were ways around that.

 

Actually now that I think about 1200 was my first. A prototype from Incomm Data a customer of mine at the time. Full card that fit in my 8088 case. Wow that was almost literally a lifetime ago.

[Y2HH]

Actually now that I think about 1200 was my first. A prototype from Incomm Data a customer of mine at the time. Full card that fit in my 8088 case. Wow that was almost literally a lifetime ago.

 

My first was on a Commodore 64!

 

We're showing our age.

[Brian]

My first was on a Commodore 64!

 

We're showing our age.

 

Ditto. Played some game called "Montezumas Revenge". No joke. Had no clue what I was doing. Also "Pitfall"

[Y2HH]

Ditto. Played some game called "Montezumas Revenge". No joke. Had no clue what I was doing. Also "Pitfall"

 

I remember montazumas very well lol. And of course pitfall. One of the coolest games was The Castle of Dr. Creep.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

I'd start a download, go to school, come home, and it still wouldn't be done. Or the connection was interrupted at some point during the day. This was when AOL finally went $19.99 a month unlimited.

Accidentally ran up a big bill when they charged by the hour for awhile.

 

You guys a little older than me, but I remember playing Counter Strike 1.6 in like....2001 maybe?? and falling asleep at the computer waiting for a new map to download. Or sleeping on the floor next to the chair waiting for it to download.

[Texsox]

My first was on a Commodore 64!

 

We're showing our age.

 

Vic20 won in a sales contest. I didn't really do anything except learn a little BASIC. Cassette tape drive. LOL Then a 8088 used computer I picked up check.

[Texsox]

I just bought some Philips Hue bulbs. I was able to connect and program them, including voice commands through my Amazon Alexa in about ten minutes. The routines I programmed seem to work. So far I like what I see.

[Y2HH]

Need to go to the Apple Store tomorrow, my Iphone is running WAY too hot, and the battery all the sudden is draining way too quickly when I use any app. It's an IPhone 6 that I purchased like 2 months ago. It seems like they say it could be a rouge app, but I don't know how to find what it could be.

 

Settings > Battery > Check to see if any one app is burning through battery. If an app itself isn't listed, it's probably a iOS process run wild. These can often be cleared by doing a "hard" reboot. Press down the power/sleep button while holding the home button for about 10 seconds, you should see an Apple logo. A soft reboot is when you simply hold down the power/sleep button until slide to power off pops up on the screen.

 

I'd also recommend going into Settings > General > Background App Refresh, and disable any apps you don't need refreshing in the background.

[RockRaines]

Need to go to the Apple Store tomorrow, my Iphone is running WAY too hot, and the battery all the sudden is draining way too quickly when I use any app. It's an IPhone 6 that I purchased like 2 months ago. It seems like they say it could be a rouge app, but I don't know how to find what it could be.

Check your email setting as well. If the mail app is trying to fetch a bad account over and over it burns up.

[Brian]

I think the splitter I'm using from Xfinity is slowing up my internet and screwing up my cable signal on that TV. Are there good splitters out there? Better than the ones Comcast gave me?

[Y2HH]

I think the splitter I'm using from Xfinity is slowing up my internet and screwing up my cable signal on that TV. Are there good splitters out there? Better than the ones Comcast gave me?

 

Splitters always degrade signal, either by -7dB or -3dB, what you're likely looking for is an amplifier.

 

Depending on the type of modem you have, you can check your signal levels and power.

 

For example, regardless of what your IP scheme is, for Arris modems, going to 192.168.100.1 will show you these signal levels.

 

What you're looking for:

 

Downstream:

Power: -5 to +5 dB

SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio): ~32.5 - 40, usually a solid safe range, anything below 32 will start to cause retransmission errors and slow speeds.

 

Upstream: Less than 50dBmV, anything above 50 and the signal is too strong to hold connection.

 

 

Amps to purchase:

 

This one will help fix upstream signal levels being too high as well as boosting downstream signal:

https://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Signal-Boos...cable+amplifier

 

This one will help fix downstream signal levels (if your upstream power levels are already ok, use this one):

https://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Signal-Boos...cable+amplifier

 

The drawback to these amps is there is no way to "tone them down", they will boost your signal a certain amount and that's that. These amps are solid because they don't add a bunch of noise to the line. Often, cheap amps will boost power but also add line noise to the signal, which isn't ideal.

Edited July 5, 2016 by Y2HH

[Brian]

Can someone translate that to English for this simpleton. Jk

 

I know splitters hurt signal, was wondering if technology had an end to where one didn't.

 

Will signal be leaked on those above if now all 4 outputs are used?

Edited July 5, 2016 by Brian

[Y2HH]

Can someone translate that to English for this simpleton. Jk

 

I know splitters hurt signal, was wondering if technology had an end to where one didn't.

 

Will signal be leaked on those above if now all 4 outputs are used?

 

No, all four ports will receive the same boost.

[Brian]

Won't hinder me since i have wireless headphones but rumor is no headphone jack on iPhone 7.

Edited July 23, 2016 by Brian

[BigHurt3515]

Anybody have PlayStation Vue?

[iamshack]

So I got sick and tired of the cable company dicking my parents around and cancelled basically everything but internet. Signed them up for Sling tv. They will be my cut the cord guinea pigs...