tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66681810834692867632024-02-02T04:35:22.215+00:00Esco's Mobile Blogit's ya boy esco in case u ain't no soUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger307125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668181083469286763.post-15944214494600944222017-11-12T11:20:00.002+00:002017-11-12T11:20:20.244+00:00Here is how electric bikes work<div class="post-imageBleed" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #555555; font-family: "ARS Maquette", "Helvetica Neue", Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<img alt="Here is how electric bikes work" src="https://cdn0.tnwcdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/11/pic-796x531.jpg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; vertical-align: baseline; width: 767.333px;" /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: inherit;">When you first hear about electric bicycles, you might picture an electric motorcycle or a scooter. However, they look quite different – much like a regular bicycle with several added electrical components such as a motor, battery and controller. These are all seamlessly integrated into the design of the bike and they make up the fundamentals of all of these vehicles available on the market.</span></div>
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Electric bikes handle and pedal just like a regular bicycle. Overall, they also use the same parts. The electric component is meant to enhance human power, but not totally replace it. It makes obstacles such as headwind and hills easier to handle and lets you travel further distances without getting so tired.</div>
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To operate one, the battery needs to be charged then you can turn on the controller system, then twist a throttle, pedal the bike forward, or pull the trigger to start the motor drive system. The throttle-only drive acts a lot like a traditional gas-powered scooter since the rider does not have to pedal. On the other hand, pedal-assist mode uses the input of the rider as the throttle signal.</div>
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Electric bikes rely on three main components working together to operate: The electric motor, drivetrain and battery.</div>
<h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">The motor</span></h3>
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The electric motor is the most important feature. The three different kinds of motors which can be found on a majority of electric bikes, are the front hub, rear hub, and mid-drive motor.</div>
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Front hub motors are fond on the front tire and give the rider propulsion from spinning the tire. The motor gives the rider the sensation of feeling the bike is pulling forward. Rear hub motors on the other hand, give propulsion by spinning the back tire. They push you forward, which may feel more natural for conventional bike riders than the front hub motors. Power is sent to the drivetrain of the bike rather than a hub in mid-drive motors. The central location of this motor gives a riding sensation that is more natural than either hub motor.</div>
<h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">The battery</span></h3>
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Batteries today provide riders between 20 and 60 miles per charge. Their range depends on the style of riding – pedal assist, pedal only, or electric only.</div>
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In pedal assist bikes, the motor is activated only when the pedals are in motion. Doing so lets the rider still get a workout, but gives you an additional boost to make the ride easier. Pedal only bikes ride just like a normal bicycle, powered by you. In electric only, you simply need to twist the throttle and the bicycle turns on much like a moped. With no assistance from you, this vehicle has the biggest drain on the battery.</div>
<h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Drivetrain</span></h3>
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The drivetrain gives you the torque and power needed to turn the wheels of the bicycle manually. Mid-drive motors send power right to the drivetrain, which makes chain cranking easier. A majority of drivetrains also let you shift gears, which vary the difficulty of pedaling.</div>
<h3 style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: black; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">The jolt</span></h3>
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If you are in the market for an electric bicycle, one that is up and coming is the <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/jolt-ebike-the-best-electric-bike-on-the-planet#/" rel="nofollow noopener" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ff4422; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Jolt</a>. A newly designed bike, the Jolt is said to be the most affordable vehicle of its kind. Plus, it folds up for convenient and easy storage, and it ships to you completely assembled.</div>
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The Jolt comes equipped with a 36V and 350-watt motor, plus has a fifty-mile range with an LG high-quality lithium-ion battery. Therefore, you get fifty miles of range with pedaling alone, or thirty miles without any pedaling at all. The speed of this bike is capped at 20 mph. It has the power to propel the bike at higher speeds, but regulating it at 20 mph keeps it street legal and reduces the wear on the engine.</div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; vertical-align: baseline;">Additional features</span></h3>
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Almost every electrical bike is equipped with a small LED or LCD display, which monitors some vital riding figures and stats such as battery level, current speed, trip mileage, total mileage, and electric assistance level. Some models, which are advanced, have a display that features advanced stats like cadence monitor, light indicators, current temperature, calorie meter, or navigation.</div>
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Lastly, if you are going to ride at night or in inclement weather, lights are an essential you need to have. A lot of bikes come with built-in lights, and if that is the case they are powered usually from the main battery. You may, however, need to purchase lights separately.</div>
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courtesy: TheNExtWeb.com</div>
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Did you upgrade your PC to Windows 10? If so, ever wonder what happened to the previous version of the OS? It probably disappeared into the mists of Windows past, right?</div>
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Wrong. Your old OS didn't get erased; rather, it's lingering in a system folder called, aptly enough, Windows.old. And depending on the size of that version, it could be hogging a lot of precious space.</div>
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First things first: If you think you might want to <a href="https://www.cnet.com/how-to/windows-10-how-to-roll-back/" style="color: #b80000; cursor: pointer; font-weight: 600; text-decoration: none; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: all; transition-timing-function: ease;">downgrade from Windows 10</a> back to the previous version, don't delete that folder.</div>
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pull-right" section="shortcodeImage" style="background-color: white; border-bottom: 3px solid rgb(228, 231, 234); clear: right; float: right; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Proxima-Nova, proxima-nova, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; margin: 0px auto 20px 20px; max-width: 100%; width: 770px; zoom: 1;"><span class="imageContainer" style="display: block; position: relative;"><span itemprop="image" itemscope="" itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject"><img alt="windows-old-folder.jpg" class="" height="578" src="https://cnet3.cbsistatic.com/img/JRd47M5TVXrOPWbJQtaD4VSW9ZM=/770x578/2015/09/08/4d97ddfa-6801-48e7-b4e7-83ed7c374714/windows-old-folder.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-size: 13px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative; width: 723.993px; z-index: 1;" width="770" /></span></span><figcaption style="font-size: 0.94118em; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 15px; text-align: center;"><span class="credit" style="clear: both; color: #768696; display: block; font-size: 12px; padding-top: 5px;">Photo by Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET</span></figcaption></figure><div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Proxima-Nova, proxima-nova, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
Second, unless you're seriously strapped for space on your hard drive, you don't have to do anything: Windows 10 will automatically delete the Windows.old folder one month after you performed your upgrade.</div>
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If you'd rather not wait -- if you want to reclaim that storage now -- you can delete the folder immediately, though not in the way you might expect. Indeed, if you simply click the folder and then press the Delete key, Windows will tell you you need permission, yada-yada, etc.</div>
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Here's the proper way to delete the Windows.old folder:</div>
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<strong>Step 1:</strong> Click in Windows' search field, type Cleanup, then click Disk Cleanup.</div>
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<strong>Step 2:</strong> Click the "Clean up system files" button.</div>
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<strong>Step 3:</strong> Wait a bit while Windows scans for files, then scroll down the list until you see "Previous Windows installation(s)."</div>
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<img alt="disk-cleanup-previous-installations.jpg" class="" data-original=" https://cnet1.cbsistatic.com/img/B0Lu1IWyCiU3HP4vNJAQqHT5y0M=/fit-in/370x0/2015/09/08/8fdea224-3229-49bd-a8c9-24312679fb3c/disk-cleanup-previous-installations.jpg" height="0" src="https://cnet1.cbsistatic.com/img/B0Lu1IWyCiU3HP4vNJAQqHT5y0M=/fit-in/370x0/2015/09/08/8fdea224-3229-49bd-a8c9-24312679fb3c/disk-cleanup-previous-installations.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-size: 13px; height: auto; max-width: 100%; position: relative; width: 369.988px; z-index: 1;" width="370" /><a class="clickToEnlarge" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="bottom: 10px; color: #b80000; cursor: zoom-in; font-weight: 600; position: absolute; right: 20px; transition-duration: 0.2s; transition-property: all; transition-timing-function: ease; z-index: 2;"><button class="searchButton" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: url("https://cnet2.cbsistatic.com/fly/images/sprites/main-s4d0c66239a.png"); background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px -706px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: initial; color: black; cursor: zoom-in; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 17px; height: 14px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; position: relative; top: 4px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 14px;" type="submit" value="Search"></button><span style="color: white; float: left; font-weight: 400; position: relative; text-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8) 0px 1px 1px;">Enlarge Image</span></a></div>
<figcaption style="font-size: 0.94118em; line-height: 1.1em; margin: 15px; text-align: center;"><span class="credit" style="clear: both; color: #768696; display: block; font-size: 12px; padding-top: 5px;">Photo by Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET</span></figcaption></figure><div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Proxima-Nova, proxima-nova, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; margin-bottom: 20px;">
<strong>Step 4:</strong> Check the box next to the entry, then make sure there are no other boxes checked (unless you do indeed want to delete those items). Click OK to start the cleanup.</div>
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As you can see from my screenshots, Windows 8 was occupying nearly 25GB of space -- a full 10 percent of my solid-state drive. Needless to say, I was glad to be rid of it and get that space back.</div>
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} catch(err) {}</script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668181083469286763.post-50516453782964407272016-07-19T10:51:00.000+00:002016-07-19T10:51:29.729+00:00Find the Large Attachments Eating Up Your Gmail Space with a Simple Search<figure class="asset marquee-asset js_marquee-assetfigure has-media media-medium has-image" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; clear: left; color: #222222; font-family: ElizabethSerif, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px auto 1.5rem; max-width: 636px; position: relative; text-align: center; width: auto;"><div class="img-wrapper lazy-image " style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: auto; max-width: 100%; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 640px;">
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<span class="js_lightbox-wrapper lightbox-wrapper" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; display: block; max-width: 100%; position: relative; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><picture style="box-sizing: inherit;"><img class="ls-lazy-image-tag lazyautosizes lazyloaded cursor-pointer" data-chomp-id="184ld7t13g00mjpg" data-format="JPG" data-mp4-src="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--MY8zllXL--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/184ld7t13g00mjpg.jpg" data-poster-src="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--MY8zllXL--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/184ld7t13g00mjpg.jpg" data-sizes="auto" data-webm-src="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--MY8zllXL--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/184ld7t13g00mjpg.jpg" sizes="636px" src="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--MY8zllXL--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/184ld7t13g00mjpg.jpg" style="background: none; bottom: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; display: inline-block; height: auto; left: 0px; max-width: 100%; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; right: 0px; top: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 636px;" /></picture></span></div>
</div>
</figure><div class="first-text" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; font-family: ElizabethSerif, Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 1.25rem; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 636px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; word-break: break-word;">
This may come as a surprise, but Google is known for its search capabilities and offers <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5958583/find-the-large-attachments-eating-up-your-gmail-space-with-a-simple-search" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #709602; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">many useful search shortcuts</a>. It's no wonder that Gmail does the same. Network administrator Josh Gilmour points out on his blog that if you're low on space in your Gmail account, one easy way to fix it is to search by message size.</div>
<div id="js_adsense-container" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; font-family: ElizabethSerif, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; font-family: ElizabethSerif, Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 1.25rem; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 636px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; word-break: break-word;">
Searching by size is very simple. You just type size: and then the minimum number of you want each message to be. For example, you'd type size:1000000 for messages greater than 1MB. Here are a few more examples, and you can click each link to see the results in your inbox immediately:</div>
<ul style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; font-family: ElizabethSerif, Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 32px; list-style-position: outside; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px auto 1.5rem; max-width: 636px; padding: 0px; position: relative;">
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 6px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 2.25rem;"><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/size%3A5000000" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #709602; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Search for attachments greater than 5MB</a> (size:5000000)</li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 6px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 2.25rem;"><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/size%3A25000000" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #709602; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Search for attachments greater than 25MB</a> (size:25000000)</li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 6px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 2.25rem;"><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/size%3A100000000" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #709602; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Search for attachments greater than 100MB</a> (size:100000000)</li>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; font-family: ElizabethSerif, Georgia, serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 32px; margin-bottom: 1.25rem; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 636px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; word-break: break-word;">
Pretty useful for clearing things out.</div>
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If you have printers in your office that you seldom use, you run the risk of the printer ink drying out. When you attempt to use these old cartridges to print your business documents, the output will be unclear and barely readable. Fortunately, you can take several steps to keep your printer ink from becoming unusable.</div>
</div>
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<h2>
Keep Cartridges Active</h2>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px;">
One simple way to prevent printer ink from drying out is to use the ink cartridges. Make a point of printing at least several pages a week, even if you simply print a test page and then discard it. Additionally, make sure the documents that you print utilize all of the colors in your ink cartridges. This will ensure that seldom-used colors won’t dry out and render the cartridges unusable, creating headaches when you are in a rush to print important documents.</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="section-2" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.4px; margin: 0px 0px 15px 60px;">
<h2>
Moisten Cartridges</h2>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px;">
Regular moistening can extend the life of your printer cartridges, particularly if they don't get a lot of use. Put on protective gloves and remove the cartridges from the printer. Gently wipe the top of each cartridge with a clean, damp cloth or paper towel to remove residual ink from the surface. This helps to prevent the cartridges from becoming clogged, ensuring a continuous flow of ink during print jobs. Dry the moistened cartridges before reinserting them into your printer.</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="section-3" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.4px; margin: 0px 0px 15px 60px;">
<h2>
Adjust Temperature</h2>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 15px;">
Maintaining a moderate temperature in your office can go a long way to prevent printer cartridges from drying out. Ink dries out faster when exposed to excessive heat or cold, so try to maintain a comfortable 68 degrees in your office. Besides extending the life of your cartridges, this measure will create a more comfortable work environment for your employees.</div>
</div>
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<h2>
Properly Storage</h2>
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If you don't intend to use a printer for an extended time, you can preserve the ink cartridges by removing them from the printer and storing them separately. Put on gloves, remove the cartridges and securely wrap in a damp cloth or paper towel. Place the cartridges in a sandwich bag or airtight plastic container and store in an area that is not subject to extreme temperatures.</div>
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<span style="color: #282828; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20.72px;">On printers where the print head is integral with the cartridge (most HP models for example), if you know you are not going to be using it for a while simply remove the cartridges, refit the protective covers and pop them into an airtight zip-lock bag until you need to use it.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><u><i>WINDOWS</i></u></b></div>
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Start a command prompt, and start the DISKPART console. List all of your disks by typing <code style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 5px; white-space: pre-wrap;">LIST DISK</code>, then select the proper disk with <code style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 5px; white-space: pre-wrap;">SELECT DISK #</code> (where # is the SD card). You can then type <code style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 5px; white-space: pre-wrap;">CLEAN</code> to clear the partition table on the card, effectively blanking it. <strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">MAKE SURE YOU SELECTED THE PROPER DISK BEFORE RUNNING THE <code style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 5px; white-space: pre-wrap;">CLEAN</code> COMMAND!</strong></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.5px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
To create a primary partition to reuse the space on the card, type <code style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 5px; white-space: pre-wrap;">CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY</code>. This will then reallocate the previously "cleaned" space.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.5px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
To format, type <code style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 5px; white-space: pre-wrap;">FORMAT FS=FAT32 QUICK</code>, and finally, to reassign a drive letter, type <code style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 5px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ASSIGN</code>.</div>
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If you're unable to determine the proper disk, remove the SD card, run <code style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 5px; white-space: pre-wrap;">DISKPART</code> and <code style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 5px; white-space: pre-wrap;">LIST DISK</code>, and then re-run it with the SD card inserted. The SD card is just the disk that has been added.</div>
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<sub style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Note that the above commands are <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">not</em> case sensitive; I used caps to match the convention <code style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 5px; white-space: pre-wrap;">DISKPART</code> displays</sub></div>
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<sub style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><u><i><span style="font-size: small;">LINUX / MAC</span></i></u></b></sub></div>
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In a terminal, start <code style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 5px; white-space: pre-wrap;">fdisk /dev/sdx</code> where <code style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 5px; white-space: pre-wrap;">/dev/sdx</code> is your SD card device (may depend on the Linux distro you're using, see below). You can then delete all existing partitions on the device by typing d, and then adding a single new partition & format it. You an also just type n to create a new partition table, and start laying everything out.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.5px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<code style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 5px; white-space: pre-wrap;">cfdisk</code> is also another viable tool, which is basically <code style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 5px; white-space: pre-wrap;">fdisk</code> with a greatly improved user interface. In both cases, once the drive is formatted, you will lastly need to <code style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 5px; white-space: pre-wrap;">mount</code> it.</div>
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<sub style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></sub></div>
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If you're unable to determine the proper device, remove the SD card, run <code style="background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 5px; white-space: pre-wrap;">fdisk -l</code>, and then re-run it with the SD card inserted. The SD card is just the device that has been added.</div>
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<sub style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></sub></div>
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<span style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #003366; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Google Play Music Manager</strong></span> is a simple open source application used for adding the music files on your computer to your Google Play Music library, from which you can then listen to your songs on your mobile device or computer. With Google Play Music Manager, you can upload at least up to 20,000 songs, choose how much bandwidth you use to upload music, and download music you have uploaded or purchased on Google Play. You can also upload your iTunes, Windows Media, or any other collections of music you have to Google Play Music Manager.</div>
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<a href="http://www.sysads.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/googlemusicmgr-05.png" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #ce2121; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 300ms, background-color 300ms, opacity 300ms; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="googlemusicmgr-05" class="aligncenter wp-image-10497" height="223" src="http://www.sysads.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/googlemusicmgr-05-700x341.png" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: auto; line-height: inherit; margin: 5px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="447" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #505050; font-family: Ubuntu; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.8px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #003366; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Install Google Play Music Manager Beta on Ubuntu 14.04 & Ubuntu 14.10</strong></span></div>
<pre class="wp-code-highlight prettyprint prettyprinted" style="background: rgb(238, 238, 238); border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); color: #505050; font-family: Courier, monospace; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px; overflow: auto; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 784px; word-wrap: normal;"><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">sudo sh </span><span class="pun" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #666600; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">-</span><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">c </span><span class="str" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #008800; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">'echo "deb http://dl.google.com/linux/musicmanager/deb/ stable main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-musicmanager.list'</span><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
wget </span><span class="pun" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #666600; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">-</span><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">q </span><span class="pun" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #666600; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">-</span><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">O </span><span class="pun" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #666600; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">-</span><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> https</span><span class="pun" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #666600; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">:</span><span class="com" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #880000; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">//dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -</span><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
sudo apt</span><span class="pun" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #666600; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">-</span><span class="kwd" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #000088; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">get</span><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> update
sudo apt</span><span class="pun" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #666600; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">-</span><span class="kwd" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #000088; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">get</span><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> install google</span><span class="pun" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #666600; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">-</span><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">musicmanager</span><span class="pun" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #666600; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">-</span><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">beta</span></pre>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #505050; font-family: Ubuntu; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.8px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
– Start Google Play Music Manager</div>
<pre class="wp-code-highlight prettyprint prettyprinted" style="background: rgb(238, 238, 238); border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); color: #505050; font-family: Courier, monospace; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px; overflow: auto; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 784px; word-wrap: normal;"><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">google</span><span class="pun" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #666600; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">-</span><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">musicmanager</span></pre>
<pre class="wp-code-highlight prettyprint prettyprinted" style="background: rgb(238, 238, 238); border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); color: #505050; font-family: Courier, monospace; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px; overflow: auto; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 784px; word-wrap: normal;"><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
</span></pre>
<pre class="wp-code-highlight prettyprint prettyprinted" style="background: rgb(238, 238, 238); border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); color: #505050; font-family: Courier, monospace; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px; overflow: auto; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 784px; word-wrap: normal;"><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #505050; font-family: Ubuntu; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24.8px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal;">
<span style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #003366; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Remove Google Play Music Manager Beta</strong></span></div>
<pre class="wp-code-highlight prettyprint prettyprinted" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); color: #505050; font-family: Courier, monospace; font-stretch: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px; overflow: auto; padding: 2px 7px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 784px; word-wrap: normal;"><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">sudo apt</span><span class="pun" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #666600; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">-</span><span class="kwd" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #000088; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">get</span><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> remove google</span><span class="pun" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #666600; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">-</span><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">musicmanager</span><span class="pun" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: #666600; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">-</span><span class="pln" style="border: 0px rgb(230, 230, 230); color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">beta</span></pre>
</span></pre>
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Electricity. We all need it. We all pay for it. Most of us would like to keep our electricity consumption (and our bills) to a minimum. But most of us also have no idea where to begin when it comes to calculating our own personal electricity expenses, or understanding how electricity consumption varies from appliance to appliance. To help you better understand your electricity consumption habits and expenses, we’ve put together a very basic guide to help you understand how your electricity bill is calculated.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">
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<a href="http://www.sustainable.co.za/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Woman-holding-lightbulb.jpg" style="color: #5a9e34; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Woman holding lightbulb" class=" size-medium wp-image-2877 alignleft" height="201" src="http://www.sustainable.co.za/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Woman-holding-lightbulb-300x201.jpg" style="border: none; float: left; margin: 0px 1.1em 1.1em 0px !important; padding: 0px 10px 0px 0px;" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">How is a unit of electricity measured?</strong></div>
<div style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">
The power of electricity is measured in watts (W). While watts are used to measure the power of an electrical appliance or product, the amount of energy converted in a one hour (h) period is known as kilowatt-hours (kWh). Therefore the units of electricity we purchase in store for our paid meters or on our electrical bill are equal to the kilowatts of electricity consumed per hour. So, one unit of the electricity that we purchase is equal to 1000 watt-hours (Wh) or one kilowatt hour (kWh).</div>
<div style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><em style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">By the numbers:</em></strong></div>
<ul style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1 unit of electricity bought = 1 kilowatt hour = 1000 watt-hours.</li>
<li style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The wattage of something tells you how much electricity it consumes.</li>
<li style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The higher the wattage of an item or appliance, the more electricity it uses in a standard period of time.</li>
</ul>
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<a href="http://www.sustainable.co.za/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Watt-watt.jpg" style="color: #5a9e34; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Watt watt" class=" size-medium wp-image-2878 alignleft" height="270" src="http://www.sustainable.co.za/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Watt-watt-300x270.jpg" style="border: none; float: left; margin: 0px 1.1em 1.1em 0px !important; padding: 0px 10px 0px 0px;" width="300" /></a></div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">How much electricity will an item or appliance use?</strong></div>
<div style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">
An appliance will use its wattage worth of electricity in an hour (if left on, uninterrupted for an hour). For example, a 60 watt light bulb will use 60 watt hours of electricity in one hour. It will use 120 watt hours of electricity if left on for 2 hours, and more electricity as the time passes and it is left on to operate. The higher the wattage, the more electricity is required to run the item per hour.</div>
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<div style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">How is the price of electricity determined?</strong></div>
<div style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">
In South Africa, the government has established an independent collective of experts who help to determine the prices we are charged by utilities such as electricity. This collective acts as a regulator and is known as the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA). It helps to determine the price of electricity by considering the cost to the supplier (as it should be if they run the company efficiently) and what a reasonable profit (rate of return) would be on the regulatory asset base.</div>
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The electricity costing program established by NERSA runs according to a semi-set Multi-Year Pricing Determination (MYPD). Currently NERSA operates on a five-year (macro-style) Multi-Year Pricing Determination plan (due to end in March 2018). This is so that the increase in the cost of electricity per year is slightly more predictable. The current price for 1 unit (1 kilowatt-hour) of electricity varies based on numerous factors, but hovers at around roughly R1.50 in domestic environments.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">
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<div style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">
<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">How much electricity does your home use?</strong></div>
<div style="background-color: #f0f0f0; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">
To simplify things and help you make educated decisions about how you choose to use your electricity, we’ve compiled a guide to estimating how much electricity your home uses on average. See the appliances below found in a common household, along with their power ratings in Watts, and follow the instructions to calculating energy consumption: <a href="http://www.sustainable.co.za/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Electricity-Usage-Table.jpg" style="color: #5a9e34; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /></a></div>
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Appliance power rating (in Watts) X hours in use i.e. 40W x 2hrs = 80Wh or 0.08kWh.</div>
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} catch(err) {}</script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668181083469286763.post-1451714835051253492015-08-27T06:26:00.001+00:002015-08-27T06:26:14.229+00:00How to Fully Control Your Android Device from Any Computer<div class="row" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', sans-serif; font-size: 23px; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 27.6000003814697px; margin: 0px -15px; padding: 0px;">
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Have you ever been using your computer when a friend randomly decides it's time to start up a text message conversation? You usually have to stop what you're doing on the desktop, then go pick up your smartphone and respond to the text. Then, if your buddy replies with another message, you have to juggle back and forth between your mouse and keyboard and your handheld device.</div>
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But what if you could respond to that same text by simply opening up a window on your computer? And what if that window let you have full control over your smartphone while it was charging over USB? Well developer Koushik Dutta has seen to it that this fantasy scenario is finally a reality—and since his new <a href="http://www.vysor.io/" rel="nofollow" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1199ee; cursor: pointer; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Vysor</a> app works for the <a href="http://www.google.com/chrome/" rel="nofollow" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1199ee; cursor: pointer; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Chrome web browser</a>, you can do this with almost any desktop operating system.</div>
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<a href="http://android.wonderhowto.com/how-to/fully-control-your-android-device-from-any-computer-0164097/" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1199ee; cursor: pointer; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Tap to Play Video</a></div>
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Step 1: Enable ADB on Computer (Windows Only)</h2>
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If you're using a <a href="http://windows.wonderhowto.com/" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1199ee; cursor: pointer; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Windows PC</a>, you'll need to install the ADB drivers. So click <span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://download.clockworkmod.com/test/UniversalAdbDriverSetup.msi" rel="nofollow" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1199ee; cursor: pointer; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">this link</a></span> and the driver file should begin downloading immediately. (Mac users don't need to do this, so skip to the next step.) When it's finished, go ahead and launch it, then follow the prompts for installation.</div>
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Step 2: Enable USB Debugging on Your Android</h2>
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Next, you'll have to enable ADB on your Android device, then make sure that it's set to always allow connections from your computer. So connect your phone or tablet to your computer with a USB data cable, then open the Settings menu on your Android device.</div>
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From here, head to the "Developer options" menu (if you don't see such an entry, make sure to <a href="http://android.wonderhowto.com/how-to/android-basics-enable-developer-options-usb-debugging-0161948/" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1199ee; cursor: pointer; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">enable Developer options</a> first). Next, enable the "USB debugging" option, then press "OK" on the popup.</div>
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At this point, with your phone still connected to your computer, you should see an additional popup asking if you'd like to allow an ADB connection from this device. Tick the box next to "Always allow from this computer," then press "OK" on this popup.</div>
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Step 3: Install the Vysor App for Chrome</h2>
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Next up, head to <span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/vysor-beta/gidgenkbbabolejbgbpnhbimgjbffefm" rel="nofollow" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1199ee; cursor: pointer; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">this link</a></span> from the Google Chrome browser on your computer. From here, click the "Add to Chrome" button at the top of the screen to install the Vysor Chrome app.</div>
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Once Vysor's been installed, click "Launch App," or open the Chrome App Launcher from the bookmarks bar near the top of your screen, then click the Vysor icon.</div>
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Step 4: Connect Vysor to Your Android Device</h2>
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With Vysor installed and ADB set up, using your computer to view and control your Android device will be incredibly easy from now on. Start by clicking the "Find Devices" button on Vysor's main menu.</div>
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<figure class="gal-mgb" data-index="0" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://android.wonderhowto.com/how-to/fully-control-your-android-device-from-any-computer-0164097/" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1199ee; cursor: pointer; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="How to Fully Control Your Android Device from Any Computer" src="http://img.wonderhowto.com/img/53/94/63576101378388/0/fully-control-your-android-device-from-any-computer.w654.jpg" style="border-radius: 5px; border: 0px solid rgb(238, 238, 238) !important; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: block; float: none !important; height: auto; margin: 8px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" width="200" /></a></figure></div>
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From here, choose your Android device from the list, then click "Select," then your screen should start being mirrored over to your computer within seconds. If you're having trouble connecting here, revisit Step 1 of this tutorial to make sure ADB is set up properly.</div>
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Step 5: Control Your Android Device from Your PC</h2>
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Now that you're connected, you should see your Android device's display in a window on your computer. From here, you can use your mouse or keyboard to navigate your phone or tablet as you normally would.</div>
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There are a few keyboard shortcuts that you should be aware of, though. Use the ESC key to simulate the back button, the F1 key to access Android's menu function, and the Home key to head back to your home screen quickly. On a MacBook, these keyboard shortcuts may vary or might not work at all.</div>
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<figure class="gal-mgb" data-index="0" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://android.wonderhowto.com/how-to/fully-control-your-android-device-from-any-computer-0164097/" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1199ee; cursor: pointer; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="How to Fully Control Your Android Device from Any Computer" src="http://img.wonderhowto.com/img/74/96/63576103638602/0/fully-control-your-android-device-from-any-computer.w654.jpg" style="border-radius: 5px; border: 0px solid rgb(238, 238, 238) !important; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: block; float: none !important; height: auto; margin: 8px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" width="200" /></a></figure></div>
</div>
</figure><div style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">
If you open an app with landscape orientation, the window on your computer will automatically rotate to fit the contents of your screen. The same goes if you want to resize this window—just drag from one of the corners and the contents will scale up or down to fit the window on the fly.</div>
<figure class="whtGallery" id="58120219docPartGal880027" role="group" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="gallery-layout" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">
<div class="gallery-layout-container" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">
<figure class="gal-mgb" data-index="0" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://android.wonderhowto.com/how-to/fully-control-your-android-device-from-any-computer-0164097/" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1199ee; cursor: pointer; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="How to Fully Control Your Android Device from Any Computer" src="http://img.wonderhowto.com/img/19/32/63576103647447/0/fully-control-your-android-device-from-any-computer.w654.jpg" style="border-radius: 5px; border: 0px solid rgb(238, 238, 238) !important; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: block; float: none !important; height: auto; margin: 8px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" width="200" /></a></figure></div>
</div>
</figure></section><section style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><h2 class="step" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: rgb(17, 153, 238) !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 1.3em; font-weight: 500; line-height: 1.1; margin: 20px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
Step 6: Share Control of Your Android Device with Other People</h2>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">
If you ever need to share control of your device with another person—let's say for troubleshooting purposes—it's actually really easy using Vysor. Just connect your phone to your computer and launch Vysor as your normally would, then click the "Share" button in Vysor's main menu.</div>
<figure class="whtGallery" id="14727022docPartGal880031" role="group" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="gallery-layout" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">
<div class="gallery-layout-container" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">
<figure class="gal-mgb" data-index="0" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://android.wonderhowto.com/how-to/fully-control-your-android-device-from-any-computer-0164097/" style="background: 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1199ee; cursor: pointer; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="How to Fully Control Your Android Device from Any Computer" src="http://img.wonderhowto.com/img/87/06/63576104016569/0/fully-control-your-android-device-from-any-computer.w654.jpg" style="border-radius: 5px; border: 0px solid rgb(238, 238, 238) !important; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: block; float: none !important; height: auto; margin: 8px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" width="200" /></a></figure></div>
</div>
</figure><div style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; float: none !important; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px;">
At this point, you'll get see a message informing you that a link to share your device's screen was copied to your clipboard. Just open your favorite messaging program or email app, then paste this link into a message to the other person. On their end, once they click the link, they'll be prompted to install the Vysor Chrome app, and when they do, they'll be able to control your phone remotely just like you can.</div>
</section></div>
</div>
</div>
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<u><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /></u><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I have a Linux server running Debian, a close relation of Ubuntu and a laptop running Ubuntu. I bought a Sonos ZP90 but not the controller. I found various bits and pieces on the internet on how to get this working but no complete howto so I thought it would be useful to others if I created a detailed guide for Google to find :-)</span><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><b style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Physical set-up</b><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The Sonos and server are connected to my ADSL modem with ethernet cables. The laptop connects via wireless.</span><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><b style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Sharing the music</b><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">On the server create a new users sonos</span><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><div style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 20px 20px; padding: 0px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 10pt !important; font-stretch: normal !important; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px;">
Code:</div>
<pre class="alt2" dir="ltr" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); border: 1px inset; box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 1.4rem; height: 50px; overflow: auto; padding: 6px; width: 600px;">sudo adduser sonos
sudo passwd sonos</pre>
</div>
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">and enter a new password.</span><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Check that user sonos can read your music files</span><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><div style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 20px 20px; padding: 0px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 10pt !important; font-stretch: normal !important; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px;">
Code:</div>
<pre class="alt2" dir="ltr" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); border: 1px inset; box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 1.4rem; height: 114px; overflow: auto; padding: 6px; width: 600px;">su - sonos
cd <wherever have="" music="" you="" your="">
ls
cd <some folder="">
ls
exit</some></wherever></pre>
</div>
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">check you have Samba installed</span><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><div style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 20px 20px; padding: 0px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 10pt !important; font-stretch: normal !important; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px;">
Code:</div>
<pre class="alt2" dir="ltr" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); border: 1px inset; box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 1.4rem; height: 34px; overflow: auto; padding: 6px; width: 600px;">dpkg --get-selections | grep samba</pre>
</div>
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">If you have it returns</span><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><div style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 20px 20px; padding: 0px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 10pt !important; font-stretch: normal !important; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px;">
Code:</div>
<pre class="alt2" dir="ltr" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); border: 1px inset; box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 1.4rem; height: 34px; overflow: auto; padding: 6px; width: 600px;">samba-common install</pre>
</div>
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">If not install it with</span><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><div style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 20px 20px; padding: 0px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 10pt !important; font-stretch: normal !important; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px;">
Code:</div>
<pre class="alt2" dir="ltr" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); border: 1px inset; box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 1.4rem; height: 34px; overflow: auto; padding: 6px; width: 600px;">sudo apt-get install samba</pre>
</div>
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Back up the config</span><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><div style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 20px 20px; padding: 0px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 10pt !important; font-stretch: normal !important; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px;">
Code:</div>
<pre class="alt2" dir="ltr" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); border: 1px inset; box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 1.4rem; height: 34px; overflow: auto; padding: 6px; width: 600px;">sudo mv /etc/samba/smb.conf /etc/samba/smb.conf.orig</pre>
</div>
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">then create /etc/samba/smb.conf to look like this</span><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><div style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 20px 20px; padding: 0px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 10pt !important; font-stretch: normal !important; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px;">
Code:</div>
<pre class="alt2" dir="ltr" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); border: 1px inset; box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 1.4rem; height: 354px; overflow: auto; padding: 6px; width: 600px;">[global]
workgroup = server
netbios name = server
server string = Samba Server %v
load printers = no
log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
max log size = 50
socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192
interfaces = lo eth0
security = user
password level = 12
username level = 12
encrypt passwords = yes
username map = /etc/samba/smbusers
[musicshare]
path = <wherever have="" music="" you="" your="">
valid users = sonos
read only = yes
printable = no
only guest = no</wherever></pre>
</div>
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">and create a samba users file /etc/samba/smbusers</span><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">to look like this</span><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><div style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 20px 20px; padding: 0px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 10pt !important; font-stretch: normal !important; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px;">
Code:</div>
<pre class="alt2" dir="ltr" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); border: 1px inset; box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 1.4rem; height: 66px; overflow: auto; padding: 6px; width: 600px;">root = administrator admin
nobody = guest pcguest smbguest
sonos = sonos</pre>
</div>
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">This next is a new feature for Samba that some of the older howto's didn't need:</span><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><div style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 20px 20px; padding: 0px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 10pt !important; font-stretch: normal !important; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px;">
Code:</div>
<pre class="alt2" dir="ltr" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); border: 1px inset; box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 1.4rem; height: 34px; overflow: auto; padding: 6px; width: 600px;">sudo smbpasswd -a sonos</pre>
</div>
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">and enter a password. This is the one you will use below during the Sonos set-up.</span><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Restart samba to use the new config</span><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><div style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 20px 20px; padding: 0px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 10pt !important; font-stretch: normal !important; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px;">
Code:</div>
<pre class="alt2" dir="ltr" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); border: 1px inset; box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 1.4rem; height: 34px; overflow: auto; padding: 6px; width: 600px;">sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart</pre>
</div>
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Check it's working</span><br style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><div style="background-color: #eeeeee; box-sizing: content-box; color: #333333; direction: ltr; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 20px 20px; padding: 0px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 10pt !important; font-stretch: normal !important; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px;">
Code:</div>
<pre class="alt2" dir="ltr" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); border: 1px inset; box-sizing: content-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 1.4rem; height: 34px; overflow: auto; padding: 6px; width: 600px;">sudo vi /var/log/samba/log.?mbd</pre>
<div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668181083469286763.post-82248002186290495692015-05-31T19:16:00.001+00:002015-05-31T19:16:22.782+00:00Deluge Web Tutorial for Ubuntu<h3 id="WebUI" style="background-color: #f7f7f7; border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #2c3f59; font-family: Arial, Verdana, 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.018em; margin-left: -18px; page-break-after: avoid;">
Web UI<a class="anchor" href="http://dev.deluge-torrent.org/wiki/UserGuide/ThinClient#WebUI" style="border: none; color: #d7d7d7; font-size: 0.8em; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: text-top; visibility: hidden;" title="Link to this section"></a></h3>
<div style="background-color: #f7f7f7; font-family: Verdana, Arial, 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
The Web UI is slightly different as the <tt style="background: rgb(250, 250, 250); border-radius: 0.25em; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 221, 204); color: #660000; padding: 0px 0.3em;">client</tt> is a web server daemon <tt style="background: rgb(250, 250, 250); border-radius: 0.25em; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 221, 204); color: #660000; padding: 0px 0.3em;">deluge-web</tt> that connects to a running <tt style="background: rgb(250, 250, 250); border-radius: 0.25em; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 221, 204); color: #660000; padding: 0px 0.3em;">deluged</tt>.</div>
<ol style="background-color: #f7f7f7; font-family: Verdana, Arial, 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li><a class="wiki" href="http://dev.deluge-torrent.org/wiki/Installing" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(187, 187, 187); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #425570; text-decoration: none;">Install </a><tt style="background: rgb(250, 250, 250); border-radius: 0.25em; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 221, 204); color: #660000; padding: 0px 0.3em;">deluge-web</tt> and run it:<div class="code" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-radius: 0.3em; border: 1px solid rgb(215, 215, 215); margin: 1em 1.75em; overflow: auto; padding: 0.25em;">
<pre style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); overflow: auto;">deluge-web
</pre>
</div>
Note: To run it in the background as a daemon, use <tt style="background: rgb(250, 250, 250); border-radius: 0.25em; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 221, 204); color: #660000; padding: 0px 0.3em;">--fork</tt> option. You may also want to set it up as a<a class="wiki" href="http://dev.deluge-torrent.org/wiki/UserGuide/InitScript" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(187, 187, 187); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #425570; text-decoration: none;">service</a>.</li>
</ol>
<div style="background-color: #f7f7f7; font-family: Verdana, Arial, 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
In your web browser, enter the url below where <server> is the IP address of the server:</server></div>
<pre class="wiki" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-radius: 0.3em; border: 1px solid rgb(215, 215, 215); box-shadow: rgb(238, 238, 238) 0px 0px 1em; font-size: 13px; margin: 1em 1.75em; overflow: auto; padding: 0.25em;">http://<server>:8112
</server></pre>
<ul style="background-color: #f7f7f7; font-family: Verdana, Arial, 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<li>Default password is: <tt style="background: rgb(250, 250, 250); border-radius: 0.25em; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 221, 204); color: #660000; padding: 0px 0.3em;">deluge</tt></li>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: #f7f7f7; font-family: Verdana, Arial, 'Bitstream Vera Sans', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Congratulations! You can now access deluge on the server via the Web UI.</div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></span><script type="text/javascript">
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; word-wrap: break-word;"><div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 20px; word-wrap: break-word;">
Before getting started, press Ctrl+ALt+T on your keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run:</div>
<pre style="background-color: whitesmoke; border-radius: 4px; border: none; font-family: Monaco, Menlo, Consolas, 'Courier New', monospace; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 9.5px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: break-all; word-wrap: break-word;">sudo pm-hibernate</pre>
<pre style="background-color: whitesmoke; border-radius: 4px; border: none; font-family: Monaco, Menlo, Consolas, 'Courier New', monospace; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 9.5px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: break-all; word-wrap: break-word;"><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 20px; white-space: normal; word-wrap: break-word;">
<b style="word-wrap: break-word;"><u>Enable Hibernate in System Tray Menu:</u></b></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 20px; white-space: normal; word-wrap: break-word;">
The indicator-session was updated to use logind instead of upower. Hibernate is disabled by default in both upower and logind.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 20px; white-space: normal; word-wrap: break-word;">
To re-enable hibernate, run the commands below one by one to edit the config file:</div>
<pre style="border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-radius: 4px; border: none; font-family: Monaco, Menlo, Consolas, 'Courier New', monospace; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 9.5px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-break: break-all; word-wrap: break-word;">sudo -i
cd <b style="word-wrap: break-word;">/var/lib</b>/polkit-1/localauthority/50-local.d/
gedit com.ubuntu.enable-hibernate.pkla</pre>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 20px; white-space: normal; word-wrap: break-word;">
<i style="word-wrap: break-word;">Tips: if the config file does not work for you, try another one by changing <b style="word-wrap: break-word;">/var/lib</b> to <b style="word-wrap: break-word;">/etc</b> in the code.</i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 20px; white-space: normal; word-wrap: break-word;">
Copy and paste below lines into the file and save it.</div>
<blockquote style="background-color: white; border-left-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 5px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 15px; white-space: normal; word-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 20px; word-wrap: break-word;">
[Re-enable hibernate by default in upower]
Identity=unix-user:*
Action=org.freedesktop.upower.hibernate
ResultActive=yes</div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 20px; word-wrap: break-word;">
[Re-enable hibernate by default in logind]
Identity=unix-user:*
Action=org.freedesktop.login1.hibernate
ResultActive=yes</div>
</blockquote>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 20px; white-space: normal; word-wrap: break-word;">
<a href="http://ubuntuhandbook.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/enable-hibernate-ubuntu1310.jpg" style="color: #4d8b97; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;"><img alt="enable hibernate ubuntu 14.04" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1963" height="278" src="http://ubuntuhandbook.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/enable-hibernate-ubuntu1310.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.25s ease-in-out; border: 0px; display: block; float: none; height: auto; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; margin-top: 0.5em; max-width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 0.25s ease-in-out; vertical-align: middle; word-wrap: break-word;" width="550" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 20px; white-space: normal; word-wrap: break-word;">
Restart your computer and done.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 20px; white-space: normal; word-wrap: break-word;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 20px; white-space: normal; word-wrap: break-word;">
<u>To Modify Options for Power Button</u></div>
<pre style="background-color: #eeeeee; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; max-height: 600px; overflow: auto; padding: 5px; width: auto; word-wrap: normal;"><code style="border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: inherit;">gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.power button-power 'hibernate'
</code></pre>
<div style="background-color: white; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; clear: both; color: #111111; font-family: Ubuntu, Arial, 'libra sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 19.5px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; white-space: normal;">
If you want to see your settings first, try this:</div>
<pre style="background-color: #eeeeee; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; max-height: 600px; overflow: auto; padding: 5px; width: auto; word-wrap: normal;"><code style="border: 0px; font-family: Consolas, Menlo, Monaco, 'Lucida Console', 'Liberation Mono', 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono', 'Courier New', monospace, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: inherit;">gsettings list-recursively org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.power</code></pre>
</pre>
</b></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668181083469286763.post-41098691641949364272015-05-28T10:21:00.000+00:002015-05-28T10:21:40.375+00:005 basic but effective Google Drive tips<img align="middle" alt="5 basic but effective Google Drive tips" height="197" src="http://i.nextmedia.com.au/Utils/ImageResizer.ashx?n=http%3a%2f%2fi.nextmedia.com.au%2fNews%2fgoogle-drive.png&h=480&w=640" title="5 basic but effective Google Drive tips" width="404" /><br />
<h4>
If you're new to Google Drive, here are some suggestions for getting the
most from the service.</h4>
<strong>Install the Drive software on your computers and devices</strong><br />
Maybe this one's obvious, but it is an important step if you don't just want
to use Google Drive via the web. With Drive
https://www.google.com/drive/download/ installed on your Windows or OS X
computer, or iOS or Android device, Google Drive works much like Dropbox and
similar file-sync services in terms of keeping your files accessible
everywhere.<br />
<br />
<img alt="" height="285" src="http://i.nextmedia.com.au/Assets/Google_Drive_download.png" width="404" /><br />
<br />
<strong>Use Google Drive instead of attachments</strong><br />
If you email a large file to someone, there's a chance that it will be too
big for their inbox, or larger than permitted by their mail administrator.
Various services exist to get around this (eg, Hightail https://www.hightail.com
) by letting you upload the file to their servers and then emailing a link to
the recipient. Equivalent capability is built into Gmail and Google Drive.<br />
When composing a message in Gmail, click the Google Drive icon to the right
of the Send button, then select the required file from your Google Drive. <br />
If you do want to send a file from Google Drive as an attachment, that option
is available too.<br />
<br />
<img alt="" height="406" src="http://i.nextmedia.com.au/Assets/Gmail_Google_Drive.png" width="402" /><br />
<br />
<strong>Move files easily into Google Drive</strong><br />
The previous tip works nicely if the file you need to send is already in
Google Drive. Copying a file to Google Drive means opening the Google Drive
folder - if you followed our first tip, the easiest way is to click on the
Google Drive icon in the system tray and select "Open Google Drive folder" - and
then drag the file to it.<br />
Wouldn't you rather do this in one step instead of two? You can, after a
once-off setup task.<br />
Open a Windows Explorer window (perhaps by selecting Computer from the Start
menu) and type or paste the following string into the address bar:<br />
%APPDATA%/Microsoft/Windows/SendTo<br />
and press Enter.<br />
Next, right-click the Google Drive item in the list of Favorites (the
left-hand column of the window), and drag it into the main body of the window.
Release the button, then select "Copy here" (<i>not "Move here"</i>)
from the popup menu with a left-click.<br />
Now you can right-click on any file and then select Google Drive from the
"Send to" submenu.<br />
<br />
<img alt="" height="131" src="http://i.nextmedia.com.au/Assets/Google_Drive_Send_to.png" width="397" /><br />
<br />
<strong>Online apps</strong><br />
This might be obvious to the initiated, but Google Drive is more than just a
Dropbox alternative as it also provides a suite of online applications: Docs
(word processing), Sheets (spreadsheets), Slides (presentations), Forms (data
collection), and Drawings (graphics). Click the New button to create a document
using any of these apps.<br />
Documents created in Google's apps do not count towards your Google storage
quota.<br />
A variety of other apps integrate with Google Drive. Click the New button,
hover over More, and click "Connect more apps" to see them listed.<br />
<br />
<img alt="" height="419" src="http://i.nextmedia.com.au/Assets/Google_Drive_New.png" width="414" /><br />
<br />
<strong>Empty the Bin</strong><br />
You already know that when you move an item to the Recycle Bin (Windows) or
Trash (OS X), it isn't actually deleted until you empty the Bin/Trash. Google
Drive works much the same way. When you delete an item from your Google Drive
it's just moved into the Bin. To empty the Bin, click Bin, then open the Bin
menu and select "Empty bin".<br />
<br />
<img alt="" height="367" src="http://i.nextmedia.com.au/Assets/Google_Drive_Bin.png" width="409" /><br />
<br />
Read more: <a href="http://www.bit.com.au/News/404516,5-basic-but-effective-google-drive-tips.aspx#ixzz3bQVqZbx4">http://www.bit.com.au/News/404516,5-basic-but-effective-google-drive-tips.aspx#ixzz3bQVqZbx4</a><br />
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Getting samba configured</b> <br />First, let us make sure samba isn't running:</p> <p>Code:</p> <pre>sudo /etc/init.d/samba stop</pre><br /><br /><p>As a starting point I included an smb.conf below, and there are only a few simple things you may need to tweak.<br /> <br />Since the installation of samba just installed a rather useless template file we're going to rename it - we keep the file just in case.</p><br /><br /><p>Code:</p><br /><br /><pre>sudo mv /etc/samba/smb.conf /etc/samba/smb.conf.template</pre><br /><br /><p>Next we create a new empty file</p><br /><br /><p>Code:</p><br /><br /><pre>sudo touch /etc/samba/smb.conf</pre><br /><br /><p>And finally we need to open the file inside an editor</p><br /><br /><p>Code:</p><br /><br /><pre>sudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf</pre><br /><br /><p><i>NOTE: If you're on KDE replace "gedit" with "kate"</i><br /><br /> <br />Copy / Paste the contents of the code-section below into your editor and read on ...</p><br /><br /><p>Code:</p><br /><br /><pre>[global]<br /> ; General server settings<br /> netbios name = YOUR_HOSTNAME<br /> server string =<br /> workgroup = YOUR_WORKGROUP<br /> announce version = 5.0<br /> socket options = TCP_NODELAY IPTOS_LOWDELAY SO_KEEPALIVE SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192<br /><br /> passdb backend = tdbsam<br /> security = user<br /> null passwords = true<br /> username map = /etc/samba/smbusers<br /> name resolve order = hosts wins bcast<br /><br /> wins support = yes<br /><br /> printing = CUPS<br /> printcap name = CUPS<br /><br /> syslog = 1<br /> syslog only = yes<br /><br />; NOTE: If you need access to the user home directories uncomment the<br />; lines below and adjust the settings to your hearts content.<br />;[homes]<br /> ;valid users = %S<br /> ;create mode = 0600<br /> ;directory mode = 0755<br /> ;browseable = no<br /> ;read only = no<br /> ;veto files = /*.{*}/.*/mail/bin/<br /><br />; NOTE: Only needed if you run samba as a primary domain controller.<br />; Not needed as this config doesn't cover that matter.<br />;[netlogon]<br /> ;path = /var/lib/samba/netlogon<br /> ;admin users = Administrator<br /> ;valid users = %U<br /> ;read only = no<br /><br />; NOTE: Again - only needed if you're running a primary domain controller.<br />;[Profiles]<br /> ;path = /var/lib/samba/profiles<br /> ;valid users = %U<br /> ;create mode = 0600<br /> ;directory mode = 0700<br /> ;writeable = yes<br /> ;browseable = no<br /><br />; NOTE: Inside this place you may build a printer driver repository for<br />; Windows - I'll cover this topic in another HOWTO.<br />[print$]<br /> path = /var/lib/samba/printers<br /> browseable = yes<br /> guest ok = yes<br /> read only = yes<br /> write list = root<br /> create mask = 0664<br /> directory mask = 0775<br /><br />[printers]<br /> path = /tmp<br /> printable = yes<br /> guest ok = yes<br /> browseable = no<br /><br />; Uncomment if you need to share your CD-/DVD-ROM Drive<br />;[DVD-ROM Drive]<br /> ;path = /media/cdrom<br /> ;browseable = yes<br /> ;read only = yes<br /> ;guest ok = yes<br /><br />[MyFiles]<br /> path = /media/samba/<br /> browseable = yes<br /> read only = no<br /> guest ok = no<br /> create mask = 0644<br /> directory mask = 0755<br /> force user = YOUR_USERNAME<br /> force group = YOUR_USERGROUP</pre><br /><br /><p>Ok, I already mentioned that there are a few simple things you may need to tweak; so here they are:<br /> <br />-> netbios name = YOUR_HOSTNAME<br /><br /> <br />Replace "YOUR_HOSTNAME" with your desired hostname (don't use spaces!). Best pratice would be to use the same name you configured upon installation.<br /><br /> <br />Example:<br /><br /> <br />netbios name = DAPPER<br /><br /> <br />-> workgroup = YOUR_WORKGROUP<br /><br /> <br />Replace "YOUR_WORKGROUP" with the name of your workgroup, but make sure you're using the same as configured in Windows.<br /><br /> <br />To find out the Workgroup name in Windows follow these steps:<br /><br /> <br />- Click "START"<br /><br /> <br />- Click "Control Panel"<br /><br /> <br />- Click "System"<br /><br /> <br />- Click the 2nd Tab entitled "Computername" and find the name of the Workgroup there.<br /><br /> <br />Example:<br /><br /> <br />workgroup = MSHOME<br /><br /> <br />-> wins support = yes<br /><br /> <br />If your box doesn't have a static ip-address, or you cannot configure your router/server to provide you with a fixed dhcp-lease, change this configuration parameter to "no".<br /><br /> <br />In this case you cannot use the benefits of WINS.<br /><br /> <br />-> [MyFiles]<br /><br /> <br />This is the name of the share. Leave it as it is or adjust it to whatever you prefer. Don't use more than 31 characters and try to avoid spaces!<br /><br /> <br />-> path = /media/samba/<br /><br /> <br />This suggests that you've mounted an hard drive or partition on /media/samba where all the shared files will be stored.<br /><br /> <br />In case you don't have an extra hard drive/partition you may also create folder.<br /><br /> <br />I assume you've been wise enough to put /home onto a separate partition having an reasonable amount of storage space.<br /><br /> <br />To create the folder type (inside a new terminal) ...</p><br /><br /><p>Code:</p><br /><br /><pre>sudo mkdir /home/samba</pre><br /><br /><p>... and adjust "path =" to read ...<br /> <br />path = /home/samba/<br /><br /> <br />Remember that this is just an example - you are free to put things wherever you like.<br /><br /> <br />-> force user = YOUR_USERNAME<br /><br /> <br />-> force group = YOUR_USERNAME<br /><br /> <br />Well, this should say it all. Replace "YOUR_USERNAME" with the name you use for login (no spaces!).<br /><br /> <br />Example:<br /><br /> <br />force user = stormbringer<br /><br /> <br />force group = stormbringer<br /><br /> <br />Now we completed the part of editing smb.conf<br /><br /> <br />Save the file and close gedit.<br /><br /> <br />Since we are going to share the folder with other users we should now make sure that the permissions are set. Type:</p><br /><br /><p>Code:</p><br /><br /><pre>sudo chmod 0777 /media/samba</pre><br /><br /><p><i>NOTE: Don't forget to correct the path to the location you chose above!</i><br /><br /> <br />That's it - now we need to start samba ...<br /><br /> <br /><b>1.1 Starting samba and setting up user accounts</b><br /><br /> <br />Let us fire up samba for the first time. Type:</p><br /><br /><p>Code:</p><br /><br /><pre>sudo /etc/init.d/samba start</pre><br /><br /><p>NOTE: If the above command doesn't work for you, try:</p><br /><br /><pre>sudo smbd reload</pre><br /><br /><p>Once Samba has restarted, use this command to check your smb.conf for any syntax errors</p><br /><br /><p><strong></strong></p><br /><br /><pre><strong>testparm</strong></pre><br /><br /><p>Time to add yourself as an samba user.<br /> <br /><i>NOTE: You will be asked for a password - make sure you use the same as you use for login!</i></p><br /><br /><p>Code:</p><br /><br /><pre>sudo smbpasswd -L -a your_username<br />sudo smbpasswd -L -e your_username</pre><br /><br /><p>In case you need other users to be able to access the share you need to add them to your system AND samba as well. Make sure you use the very same Windows usernames and passwords!<br /> <br /><i>NOTE: Windows XP doesn't set passwords for its useraccount per default. If you haven't set a password on your XP box just press enter when prompted to enter a password for the user account you're about to create!</i><br /><br /> <br />In the following example we will add an user called "mark" ...<br /><br /> <br />Example:</p><br /><br /><p>Code:</p><br /><br /><pre>sudo useradd -s /bin/true mark<br />sudo smbpasswd -L -a mark<br />sudo smbpasswd -L -e mark</pre><br /><br /><p>The "-s /bin/true" in the first line prevents the users from being able to access the commandline of your linux box ("-s" stands for "shell"). I strongly advise you to follow this recommendation! Don't change that setting to a valid login-shell unless you really know what you are doing!<br /> <br />Repeat this step until you configured all user accounts!</p><br /><br /><p> </p><br /><br /><h4>File Sharing (Advanced)</h4><br /><br /><p>We started with the base of Samba file-sharing. The above-mentioned items should be enough to get you started. Next we will add details that you might or might not need.</p><br /><br /><h5>If you have more than one network card</h5><br /><br /><p>If you have more than one network card (or interface) then you have to define where you want Samba to run. In smb.conf under the [global] section, add:</p><br /><br /><pre>interfaces = 127.0.0.1, 192.168.0.31/24<br />bind interfaces only = yes</pre><br /><br /><p>The first address (127.0.0.1), is a loopback network connection (it's your own machine). The second address (192.168.0.31), is the address of the card you want Samba to run on, the second number (24) is the subnet default for a CLASS-C network. It may vary depending on your network.</p><br /><br /><p>With "bind interfaces only" you limit which interfaces on a machine will serve SMB requests.</p><br /><br /><p>You can limit which IP address can connect to your Samba server adding these lines:</p><br /><br /><pre>hosts allow = 127.0.0.1, 192.168.0.31, 192.168.0.32<br />hosts deny = 0.0.0.0/0</pre><br /><br /><p>The loopback address must be present in the first line. The second line deny access from all IP address not in the first line.</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668181083469286763.post-27931582593030479972014-06-24T11:34:00.001+00:002014-06-24T11:34:23.192+00:00Enable Chrome Remote Desktop on Linux (Ubuntu)<p>On linux when running <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chrome-remote-desktop/gbchcmhmhahfdphkhkmpfmihenigjmpp?hl=en">Chrome Remote Desktop extension</a> in chrome you will notice that it does not give you an option to add the computer as shown in the image below</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ILeCaki7GUwsFQbsuhZKUWq0YgdbhmtMeJyZtnkb08-JFlg0eHdtzX9NCdkMs2OvgqwFK_zmiwO7Idag_lxsFm1l2F0NS65xq3_994hQwNy1SEjiTz6TBmREHDafi_cgdSV5KOc6Ulk/s1600/missing.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ILeCaki7GUwsFQbsuhZKUWq0YgdbhmtMeJyZtnkb08-JFlg0eHdtzX9NCdkMs2OvgqwFK_zmiwO7Idag_lxsFm1l2F0NS65xq3_994hQwNy1SEjiTz6TBmREHDafi_cgdSV5KOc6Ulk/s1600/missing.jpg" width="400" height="220" /></a></p> <p>The solution is not that well documented out there on the web, Google? <br />the following instructions are for Ubuntu, I have tested them successfully on Ubuntu 14.04 <br />Edit: <br />sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/chromeos.list <br />Add the google Repository: <br />deb http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome-remote-desktop/deb/ stable main <br />Install: <br />sudo apt-get update <br />sudo apt-get install chrome-remote-desktop <br />sudo /etc/init.d/chrome-remote-desktop start</p> <p>Then go back to Chrome Remote Desktop Extension and the following option will be available.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZmvOl5L2O_a8NFLSBM4b-2nWjDQvenDuk_w7An9e6J4ZvRzth__7E69g8PVzJTWLZrHiY4wwpLmeTMhiReLaL2vbhNmeUAf21Ntd-iRDK6ljfYO8O49Wzp_jPXId8xxb3396s33fJfMg/s1600/chrome_remote_4.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZmvOl5L2O_a8NFLSBM4b-2nWjDQvenDuk_w7An9e6J4ZvRzth__7E69g8PVzJTWLZrHiY4wwpLmeTMhiReLaL2vbhNmeUAf21Ntd-iRDK6ljfYO8O49Wzp_jPXId8xxb3396s33fJfMg/s1600/chrome_remote_4.png" width="400" height="106" /></a></p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668181083469286763.post-409037008557470132014-06-10T08:22:00.001+00:002014-06-10T08:22:20.613+00:00How to Build Your Own Network-Attached Storage System<p>With cheap storage readily available, the temptation to build vast libraries of music, movies, photos, and documents is ever present. But when each PC in your home is packed to its aluminum gills with gigabytes upon gigabytes of digital goods, managing all of that data can be a hassle.</p> <p>Network-attached storage can make wrangling data much easier. Imagine a single machine on your network slinging files to every PC in your home, managing backups, and safeguarding all of your important memories or sensitive data.</p> <p>Plenty of <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/213487/best_nas_boxes_for_less_than_1000.html">network-attached storage</a> appliances on the market are ready and able to tackle your storage needs, but buying one can be an expensive option--particularly if you have only a few files that you want to share with a few machines. Things get even more problematic for those users who have terabytes upon terabytes of data: You can expect to pay dearly for a NAS that’s equipped to handle your digital hoard.</p> <p>Fortunately, <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/239102/make_your_own_nas_box.html">building your own NAS</a> is simple. And doing so offers a lot of advantages over forking over your hard-earned cash--build your own, and you can dictate its size, feature set, and storage capacity, and change things on a whim.</p> <h5><strong>Choosing the Software</strong></h5> <p>A wide variety of operating-system options are available for setting up your own NAS. Many popular Linux distributions offer a server-oriented variant, with instructions on getting your file server up and running. But we’re going to keep things simple and go with FreeNAS.</p> <p>FreeNAS is a popular choice, as it’s fairly easy to configure once all of the hardware is in place. You can download the latest version from the <a href="http://www.freenas.org/">FreeNAS website</a>. Burn the .iso file you download onto a CD or DVD; in Windows 7, just right-click the file and select <em>Burn disc image</em>. For other versions of Windows, you can use the free <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,64960-order,4/description.html">ImgBurn</a> utility.</p> <h5><strong>Choosing the Hardware</strong></h5> <p>Now that you have a copy of FreeNAS, let’s talk hardware. FreeNAS will run on just about anything, so an old PC you’re not using anymore will work just fine. For optimal performance, you’ll want to have at least 4GB of RAM.</p> <p>For my FreeNAS build, I pulled a few spare parts together. My NAS centers on a Gigabyte E350N motherboard, equipped with an AMD E-350 processor. I picked this motherboard because it's small, it draws little power, and it can fit into small spaces, yet it offers four SATA ports for my hard drives. When choosing a system (or building your own), make sure that the motherboard has room to support all of the drives you want to use for storage.</p> <p>I collected three spare 1TB drives for storage, plus a spare DVD drive to handle the installation. When FreeNAS is installed, it takes over the entire drive you install it on. To keep all of the storage drives available, I also grabbed a 2GB USB key, to host the the operating system.</p> <h5><strong>The Setup: Installing FreeNAS</strong></h5> <p>With the hardware selected and the FreeNAS CD at the ready, it’s time to get started.</p> <p>Insert the DVD and USB key into the computer you’re setting up as your NAS. Before you start the machine up, be sure that the ethernet cable is plugged into the motherboard. You’ll also want to have another computer that’s connected to your network up and running, as you’ll be using it to connect to and configure the NAS.</p> <p>Start up the PC and <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/241032/how_to_enter_your_pcs_bios.html">enter the BIOS</a>. The steps to getting into the BIOS will vary depending on your motherboard, but the general rule of thumb is to mash the F2, F7, F8, or Delete key while the PC is booting up--watch the monitor after you’ve pressed the power button, and the instructions will scroll past during the normal startup sequence.</p> <p>Once you’re in the BIOS, set the machine to boot from the optical drive. The steps will once again vary based on your motherboard model, but you should see a section that lists a Boot Priority order. Once you've set that, press <strong>F10</strong> to save and exit; the machine will restart, query your optical drive, and then start loading FreeNAS from your CD.</p> <p>You’ll know that FreeNAS is running when you see a plain blue screen with a list of options. You want to install FreeNAS onto your USB key, so select the very first option. FreeNAS will list arcane drive model numbers, so looking for the capacity of the USB key (in this case, 2GB) should be the easiest approach. Follow the prompts; FreeNAS will warn you that it will delete everything off of the USB key. Click through that message, and then go get a cup of tea while the progress indicator rolls over to 100 percent complete.</p> <p>Once it’s done, you’ll see a prompt to eject the CD and reboot the machine. When your computer restarts, it should boot FreeNAS from the USB key--if it doesn’t, head back into the BIOS, set the motherboard to boot to the USB key, and restart again.</p> <p>As FreeNAS is starting up, it will present lots of arcane lines of code, followed by a numbered list and a Web address to connect to. This is normal. That URL is the network address of your new file server. Type that address into a browser on a computer in your home that’s connected to the same network as the NAS, and you’ll reach the FreeNAS configuration screen.</p> <p>FreeNAS will prompt you for a username and password. The default user name is “admin,” and the default password is “freenas.” You can change the default to whatever you’d like in the FreeNAS options.</p> <p>If you ever forget your password, resetting it is fairly easy. You need to head over to the NAS, and type the following command:</p> <p><em>Python /usr/local/www/freenasUI/manage.py changepassword admin</em></p> <p>FreeNAS will then prompt you to enter a new password.</p> <h5>The Setup: Building Volumes</h5> <p><a href="http://images.pcworld.com/images/article/2011/10/volumesjpg-5227216.jpg"><img alt="" src="http://images.pcworld.com/images/article/2011/10/volumesjpg-5227216.jpg" width="406" height="272" /></a>Once you’re logged in, the first thing you’ll want to do is create the file system. Click <em>Storage</em> at the top of the menu bar, and then select <em>Create volume</em>. In the window that pops up, select all the drives you want to include, and give the volume a name.</p> <p>You’ll have two options to choose from: UFS (Unix File System) and ZFS. We’re going with ZFS, as it offers support for numerous features designed for file servers, such as RAID support, snapshots, and file compression.</p> <p>Depending on the number of drives in your machine, you’ll see a few new options. With three drives, I get a choice between mirror, stripe, and RAID-Z. Mirror duplicates data from one disc across the others, as RAID 1 would. Stripe splits files among the discs in the array, as RAID 0 would. RAID-Z is essentially a software implementation of RAID 5.</p> <p>So what does all of that mean? With my three 1TB drives, selecting the mirror type gives me 1TB of total storage capacity, but preserves my data across all drives; if one drive fails, I can replace it and keep moving. Stripe gives me 3TB and a very fast response time; lose one drive, though, and all of that data is gone. RAID-Z is a sort of amalgam of the two: It gives me 2TB of space, and if one of the three drives fails, my data can be rebuilt from the remaining pair while I find a replacement.</p> <p>Because I like to live on the edge, I’m going with the striped option. It isn’t the safest alternative, but I’ll squeeze out every bit of space, and I can always implement a safer, redundant backup solution later on.</p> <p>Whatever you choose, be aware that any data on the discs will be wiped. Click <em>Add volume</em>, and moments later your file server is almost ready to go.</p> <h5><strong>Sharing Your Files</strong></h5> <p>You have your storage volume in place, so now you can fill it with photos of pets, as well as your legally acquired media.</p> <p>FreeNAS makes it easy to share files with Linux, Apple, and Windows computers. You can create as many shared folders as you’d like--say, a Windows/Unix/Apple share for your movies and music collection, and an Apple-specific share for your Time Machine backups.</p> <p>The first step is to enable the CIFS (Common Internet File System) service. Click<em>Services</em> on the left, and then click the button for<em> CIFS</em>. Click the wrench next to the CIFS line to set your workgroup, assign other network and user permissions, or just give your NAS a readily identifiable name. You’ll be typing this name in to access your file server from Windows machines.</p> <p><a href="http://images.pcworld.com/images/article/2011/10/shares-5227220.jpg"><img alt="" src="http://images.pcworld.com/images/article/2011/10/shares-5227220.jpg" width="411" height="329" /></a>On the navigation bar at the left, click the tab conveniently labeled <em>Sharing</em>. I’ll set up a Windows share as an example here, but the instructions for Linux and Apple are fairly similar.</p> <p>Click <em>Add Windows Share</em>, and give it a name in the window that pops up. Click the drop-down menu next to 'Path' to assign your NAS to an address that Windows will be able to find. Select <em>Browsable to Network Clients</em>, as this feature will let you use the Windows Explorer menus to access your NAS as you would any other folder on your PC.</p> <p>The other options I’ve selected aren’t especially secure. I want this NAS to be readily accessible to everyone, though, and I have a reasonable level of trust in my coworkers.</p> <p>And we’re done! Just click <em>Start</em> on a Windows machine connected to your network, and in the Run text box (immediately over the Start icon) type <strong>\\<em>YourNASnamehere</em></strong> and press <strong>Enter</strong>. Windows will connect to the NAS, and you can start dropping files in. Feel free to tuck the NAS out of the way. Mine isn’t even connected to a display, as everything we need to do can be handled in a browser on any machine on the network.</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668181083469286763.post-63124409897749682582014-05-18T23:11:00.002+00:002014-05-18T23:11:39.155+00:00SOLAR WATER HEATING BUYER'S GUIDE<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18.600000381469727px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">
At first glance the purchase of a solar water heating system might seem a little intimidating, enough so to often deter potential buyers from following through on their decision to save money and help save the environment. This buying guide takes you through some of the key factors you need to consider when purchasing a solar water heating system.</div>
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By reading this, you will come to realize that implementing solar water heat in your home or business is not as complicated and intimidating as you initially thought.</div>
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This buying Guide will cover the following topics:</div>
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<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">How does solar water heating work?</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Types of Solar water heating systems</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Types of solar collectors</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Determining how much water your household uses (what size system you require)</li>
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1. How does solar water heating work?</h4>
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Solar water heating is an entirely different technology to solar powered electricity generation. Whereas solar power uses the suns energy to create electricity, solar water heating uses the radiating heat from the sun to physically heat water up.</div>
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A solar water heating system is made up of three primary elements:</div>
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<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Solar collector: This is an energy device which has been specifically designed to absorb solar heat radiation and transport that energy into the transfer medium or liquid passing through the collector.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Energy transfer medium: This is a medium that via the process of conduction or convection, transfers the heat that has been absorbed by the solar collector, into the water to heat it up.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Thermally insulated hot water storage vessel or geyser: Usually consisting of an inner lining made up of copper, steel or a polymer, this is the storage vessel, or more commonly, the geyser in which your water is stored and kept warm. Different geysers with different pressure systems are used in various circumstances, depending on the overall system design.</li>
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Solar water heating geysers are usually larger than your average household geyser as they are required to store the ENTIRE water allocation for each day.</div>
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Depending on your requirements, you can either use your solar water heating system to supplement the amount of heated water required from your conventional electric geyser, or you can use it to completely replace your electric geyser and provide your total hot water allocation for each day (recommended).</div>
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As far as the positioning of your solar water heating system is concerned, it can be stored on the roof, in the ceiling or in a regular closet as with a regular electric geyser. Ideally, you want to store your water storage vessel vertically, but if this is not a possibility, it can also be mounted horizontally without too much of an effect on the performance of the geyser.</div>
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2. Types of Solar Water Heating Systems:</h4>
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There are two main types of solar water heating systems, namely:</div>
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· <img alt="Direct Solar water Heating System" height="208" src="http://www.spplus.com.au/images/hotwater/open-circuit.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" width="272" />Open circuit or direct systems: These types of systems circulate water directly to the geyser from the solar collector. Unfortunately, these systems aren’t anti-freeze resistant and therefore often not eligible for an Eskom solar water heating rebate if you reside in an area of the country that is susceptible to extremely cold temperatures. </div>
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Image courtesy of sspluc.com</div>
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· <img alt="In-direct Solar Water Heating System" height="192" src="http://www.spplus.com.au/images/hotwater/close-circuit.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" width="272" />Closed circuit or indirect systems: These are systems that contain a heat transfer medium that is circulated through the pipes within the system to heat the water and then returned to the solar collector for re-heating. These systems are more resistant against colder temperatures and are therefore recommended for use in the South African inland where frosty conditions are often experienced.</div>
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Image courtesy of sspluc.com</div>
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3. Types of Solar Collectors:</h4>
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As mentioned before, Solar Collectors are the actual solar water heating panels that absorb the heat from the sun and supply the heat to be used in the remainder of the system. There are two main types of solar collectors:</div>
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Flat panel collectors: These types of collectors tend to be a little more versatile as far as their positioning and placement goes. They can be mounted on the roof, inside the roof or even separate from the roof if need be.</div>
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Vacuum (Heat pipe) / Evacuated tubes: These tubes function similarly to the way in which a hot water (coffee) flask does; by creating a complete vacuum inside the parallel pipes that make up the collector, which results in the water staying hot once heated.</div>
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Both the above systems are equally effective as long as they are used in the correct type of system. Have a look at some of the pros and cons of each system and then decide which will best suit you and your domestic solar water heating needs.</div>
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4. Selecting the correct size solar water heating system:</h4>
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The two variables that come in to play when determining the size of the solar water heating system that you require are the size of the total collector area and the size of the geyser/storage vessel that you require.</div>
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The general rule of thumb for calculating the size of your solar hot water heating system is that on average, each person in the house requires approximately 50 litres of solar heated water per day. Obviously, this can fluctuate depending on different people’s habits, but one should aim to use on average this amount of water.</div>
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Remember though, that different household tasks and appliances also utilize hot water. Below is a table that illustrates the average daily hot water consumption for a family of four:</div>
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Sizing example for a household of four people:</div>
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Daily hot water requirement</div>
</td><td style="height: 20.1pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; vertical-align: top; width: 184pt;" valign="bottom" width="245"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; padding: 0px;">
50 litres per person (200 litres)</div>
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Hand basins</div>
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5 litres per person per day (20 litres)</div>
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Dishwashing</div>
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3 litres per meal, assume 2 meals at home daily (24 litres)</div>
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Add compensation for heat loss due to cold water mixing</div>
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244 litres x 20% (48.8 litres)</div>
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No washing machine added</div>
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<br /></div>
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Total hot water requirement</div>
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292.8 litres per day</div>
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</tbody></table>
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Table courtesy of eskomdsm.co.za</div>
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You see, it’s not that complicated</h4>
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As you can see, the process of selecting a solar water heating system need not be any reason to deter you from actually going through with purchasing one. Your biggest considerations are what type and size of collector to utilize, and what size storage vessel/geyser to use.</div>
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If you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to <a href="http://www.sustainable.co.za/contacts/" style="color: #7d7b78; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">contact us</a>. We have professional consultants at hand to advise you on exactly what you require and what type of system will create maximum benefits for you.</div>
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You can go green with LED lights and save money while also helping the environment. Who doesn't want a better way to improve their home and become more eco-friendly? The recent innovations of LED lights make them even more efficient and beneficial to anyone looking to go green in their homes, offices, cars, bicycles and more. Once you learn more about how LED lights are helping people go green, you'll wonder why you didn't make a switch sooner.</div>
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Here are some of the ways that LED lights help you go green:</div>
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• They use less energy.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />• They last longer and thus don’t need to be replaced every few months.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />• They can replace most CFLs and high powered lights installed in your home.</div>
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LED Lights are now more affordable and more readily available than ever before, making it easier to get exactly what you need today. You can find them in a variety of colours and styles as well as shapes to meet your needs and even your personal décor style. It's that easy!</div>
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This buying Guide will cover the following topics:</div>
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<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">How do LED Lights work?</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Selecting the correct size.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">What colour is best for me?</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Types of LED Lights.</li>
</ol>
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<u>How do LED Lights work?</u></h4>
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LED stands for Light Emitting Diode and this is a light source that is used in solar powered products. You've probably seen these before even if you did not realize what you were seeing. There are many advantages to LED lights over incandescent and halogen lighting sources. To understand what these advantages are, you need to understand how the LED works.</div>
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First, the LED contains a semiconductor diode. This means that it has a material that is capable of conducting electricity. With an incandescent light, it would operate differently. The current is sent through a filament which is different from the LED principle.</div>
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If you are new to the world of electronics and LED lighting, you may be wondering what a diode is and how it works? To put it in layman’s terms, a diode is a one-way route for electric current to flow. Basically a diode is a one way valve that allows the current to run one way but not in the other.</div>
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The way a diode works can seem confusing to someone who is not familiar with electricity. But to keep it simple, a diode has two electrodes that work like semiconductors. There is a P or positive electrode which is called an anode and an N or negative electrode which is called a cathode. The cathode receiving a negative charge compared against the anode allows the current to flow. If the electrodes are similarly charged, the current will not flow.</div>
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Diodes serve a few different purposes in electronics. One way to think of a diode is as a check valve or switch for the electric current. If you think of electric current as water and the diode a ball check valve, it makes it easy to understand a diode. When a diode is used, the “water” can flow upstream but not downstream, or downstream but not upstream. Diodes can be reversed but will remain a one way path. Simply put, the water can flow but if it tries to flow the wrong way the diode will block the path.</div>
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Diodes can be used to convert an electric current from Alternating Current (AC) to Direct Current (DC). This process is referred to as rectification and requires a rectifying diode. This is generally used with low voltage electric current applications. To increase the voltage flowing through, you can bridge diodes to create more power.</div>
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Diodes can also be used to turn a circuit off or on, using a switching diode. Did you ever wonder how different radio station bands are reached and kept separate? A band diode is used to switch between high frequency band signals.</div>
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Diodes are also used in producing signals, light and microwave frequencies. Light emitting diodes are known as LED, and probably most commonly used in computers, clocks, solar lighting and electronic panel displays. These days there are LED televisions and even modern Christmas lights as well.</div>
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Simple electronic diodes are used in so many areas of modern life that you would be surprised at the many applications of diodes you will find as you move through a normal day. When you flip a light switch, you have used a diode. A digital clock shows you the effect of a diode. How about your cell phone, iPod, laptop, remote control, and big screen television? Each and every one of these devices uses diodes.</div>
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Now that you know what a diode is, understanding electronics is probably going to be a much easier task. Electricity is all about current and the route it takes to bring the voltage to the necessary device. When you understand the basics of what the diode does, it helps you to understand LED lights and other uses as well.<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></strong></div>
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<u>Selecting the correct size</u></h4>
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The general rule of thumb, when selecting the wattage of your LED light is to calculate ten percent of your current light bulb wattage e.g. 60W = 5/6W LED Light</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Fittings:</strong></div>
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B22 and E27 are most like normal househould fittings.</div>
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<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">B22 – Bayonet 22mm diameter 220V input</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">E27 – Edison Screw In 27mm diameter 220 volt input</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">E14 – Edison Screw In 14mm Diameter 220Volt input</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">GU10 – 2 Pin Downlighter Fittings 220V Input</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">MR16 – 2 Pin (thin) Downlighter Fittings 12V AC</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">MR16 – 2 Pin (thin) Downlighter Fittings 12V DC</li>
</ol>
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<u>What colour is best for me?</u></h4>
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LED Lights are available in a variety of colours. The reds, blues and yellows etc, are self explanatory but there are two white options that may be confusing. Pure white refers to a stark white colour similar to fluorescent tubes, while warm white refers to the colour normally found in household bulbs.</div>
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<u>Types of LED Lights</u></h4>
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18.600000381469727px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.5em; text-align: justify;">
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.sustainable.co.za/energy-efficiency/led-lights-1.html?light_type=323" style="color: #7d7b78; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Fairy Lights</span></a></li>
<li style="font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.sustainable.co.za/energy-efficiency/led-lights-1.html?light_type=325" style="color: #7d7b78; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Fluorescent Tubes</a></li>
<li style="font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.sustainable.co.za/energy-efficiency/led-lights-1.html?light_type=278" style="color: #7d7b78; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Indoor Ceiling Lamp</a></li>
<li style="font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.sustainable.co.za/energy-efficiency/led-lights-1.html?light_type=326" style="color: #7d7b78; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">LED Lamps</a></li>
<li style="font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.sustainable.co.za/energy-efficiency/led-lights-1.html?light_type=363" style="color: #7d7b78; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">LED Spotlight</a>s</li>
<li style="font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.sustainable.co.za/energy-efficiency/led-lights-1.html?light_type=324" style="color: #7d7b78; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">LED Strip Lights</a></li>
<li style="font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.sustainable.co.za/energy-efficiency/led-lights-1.html?light_type=234" style="color: #7d7b78; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">LED Downlighters</a></li>
</ul>
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<u>What are you waiting for?</u></h4>
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Don’t be left behind as LED lighting grows from a trend among the purely eco-conscious to widespread adoption internationally. </div>
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If you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to <a href="http://www.sustaianble.co.za/contacts" style="color: #7d7b78; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">contact us</a>. We have professional consultants at hand to advise you on exactly what you require and what type of system will create maximum benefits for you.</div>
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Selecting the correct solar panel products for your home can be an extremely daunting task for the average person. If after reading this buying guide you are still not entirely sure which products you require in order to start using solar panels in your home, then please do not hesitate to <a href="http://www.sustainable.co.za/contacts/" style="color: #7d7b78; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">contact us</a> now so that our experts can assist you.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />South Africa has an average of more than 2,500 hours of sunshine a year; with the total radiation reaching the land area amounting to roughly 1 kilowatt per square metre at noon on a sunny day. This is more than double the solar radiation output of Europe, making it one of the highest in the world and perfect for home solar panels in South Africa. <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />This buyer's guide will cover the following topics:</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">*</strong> How do Photovoltaic solar panels (PV) systems work? <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">*</strong> Types of home solar panel systems<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">*</strong> Types of solar panels<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">*</strong> Determining what size solar panel system you require<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">*</strong> Solar panel installation<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">*</strong> Benefits of a Photovoltaic solar panels (PV) system</div>
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<u>1. How do Photovoltaic solar panels (PV) systems Work?</u></h4>
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PV Solar panels are made up of a series of cells that convert sunlight directly into electricity (direct current). These cells are made from semiconductor material, usually silicon. Solar panel cells operate according to what is called the photovoltaic effect, ('photon - light, 'Voltaic' - electricity). In the photovoltaic effect, sunlight (or photons) strikes the surface of semi-conductor material, such as silicon, and then the energy penetrates the cell and dislodges electrons from the material's atoms. Certain chemicals added to the material's composition help establish a path for the freed electrons. This creates an electrical current.</div>
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A fully functional home solar panel system is made up of the following essential components:</div>
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<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Solar panels: These are often connected together in an array to provide higher power outputs and DC voltages.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Solar storage batteries: The electricity generated through the home solar panels is stored here.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Charge controller/ regulator: These prevent excessive discharge or overcharging which could damage the solar storage battery.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">DC-AC inverter: Solar panels produce direct current (DC) and most appliances and equipment are designed to be powered by alternating current (AC). An inverter is used to convert the direct current from the PV solar panels or battery into alternating current which we can use in our homes.</li>
</ul>
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It is important to note that ordinary incandescent bulbs should not be used with a PV solar panel system for the home as they drain power from the batteries much faster than energy efficient <a href="http://www.sustainable.co.za/energy-efficiency/led-lights-1.html" style="color: #7d7b78; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">LED light bulbs</a> will.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></strong></div>
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<u>2. Types of Solar Power Systems</u></h3>
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There are two types of Solar Power Systems that can be used in the home or the office, namely:</div>
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2.1 Stand-alone Solar Power Systems</h4>
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These systems are designed to operate independently from the grid (Eskom). <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Since there is no electrical energy storage (batteries) in direct-coupled systems, the load only operates during sunlight hours when the PV solar panels are hit by the sun; making these designs suitable for common applications such as ventilation fans, water pumps, and small circulation pumps for solar thermal water heating systems. <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />For the above reason, it is advisable to have solar batteries installed in the solar panel system so that power can be stored and used when there is no direct sunlight.</div>
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2.2 Grid-connected Solar Power Systems</h4>
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Grid-connected PV solar panel power systems are designed to operate in conjunction with the grid (Eskom’s power supply). The main component in grid-connected solar panel systems is the inverter. The inverter converts the DC power produced by the PV solar panels into AC power which is consistent with the voltage and power quality requirements of the grid and automatically stops supplying power to the grid when the utility grid is not energized. <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />A bi-directional solar panel interface is made between the solar power system’s AC output circuits and the electric utility network. This allows the AC power produced by the solar panel system to either supply on-site electrical loads or to feed power back into the grid when the home solar panel system output is greater than the demand of power being used within your house at any time.</div>
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At night and during other periods when the electrical requirements in your home are greater than the solar panel system output, the balance of power required in your home is taken in from the electric grid. This safety feature is required in all grid-connected systems and ensures that the solar panel system will not continue to operate and feed back into the utility grid when the grid is down for service or repair.</div>
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<u>3. Types of Solar Panels</u></h4>
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There are 3 types of Solar Panels available, namely:</div>
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3.1 Monocrystalline Solar Panels</h4>
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These solar panels are made of a large crystal of silicon. Monocrystalline solar panels are the most efficient with regard to absorbing sunlight and converting it into electricity; and thus do better in lower light conditions than other solar panels.</div>
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3.2 Polycrystalline Solar Panels</h4>
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These are the most common solar panels on the market today. They look a lot like shattered glass as consist of multiple amounts of small silicon crystals. Polycrystalline solar panels are slightly less efficient than Monocrystalline solar panels but are less expensive to produce.</div>
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3.3. Amorphous Solar Panels</h4>
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These panels consist of a thin film made from molten silicon that is spread directly across large plates of stainless steel or similar material. Amorphous solar panels are less efficient than the other two types of solar panels but are also the cheapest to produce. One advantage of amorphous solar panels over the other two is that they are shadow protected, meaning that the solar panel continues to charge while part of its cells are in a shadow. These work great on boats and other types of transportation.</div>
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<u>4. Determining what size system you require</u></h4>
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If you plan on tying your solar panels into the grid, then one way going about it is to just buy as many solar panels as you can afford right now and then simply sequentially adding panels to the system as you are able to afford them over time. Eventually you could end up with a fully operational solar panel system that is completely independent of the grid and providing you with free electricity. <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />If you wish to completely disconnect your home from the grid, then there are a few steps that you will need to follow in order to find out about how many solar panels you will require to generate 100% of the energy used in your home:</div>
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<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Make a list of all the electrical appliances that you use in your home, how many watts each uses and estimate how many hours per day you use them.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Multiply the total watts by the hours used for each appliance. So for example if you use a radio for 2 hours a day while working out and it uses 14W, then you would multiply 14 by 2 to get a total of 28watts per day for the radio. Once you have done this for each item, add them all up to get the total sum of watts that you use in your house on a daily basis.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Determine the average amount of sunlight hours your solar panels will receive a day.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Now divide the total amount of watts used per day as you figured out in step 2, by the average amount of sunlight. If you use 3000 watts per day in your home and the average sunlight is 4.3 hours, then you would divide 3000 by 4.3.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">This means you will need at least 698 watts of solar panels to get enough solar energy to power your entire house.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
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<u>5. Solar Panel Installation</u></h4>
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NB. If you are not technically inclined, then it would not be advisable to attempt installing a solar panel system in your home without any assistance from a professional.</div>
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There are three ways in which to install solar panels in your home, namely:</div>
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<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Ground Mounted Solar Panels</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Roof Mounted Solar Panels</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Thin Film Solar Panels</li>
</ul>
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5.1 Ground Mounted Solar Panels</h4>
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Ground mounted solar panels are fixed to poles that are cemented into the ground. There are a couple different options you can choose from if you decide to go with a ground mounted solar panel system, namely:</div>
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<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Static Mounted System</li>
</ul>
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The most cost efficient ground mounted solar panel system is to just use a setup that points the solar panels towards the most effective direction for maximum sunlight exposure.</div>
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<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Active Solar Tracker</li>
</ul>
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Solar Trackers have an optical sensor that follows the sun throughout the day and maximizes the energy absorbed by the solar panels.</div>
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<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Passive Solar Tracker</li>
</ul>
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This is a slightly cheaper option than active solar trackers. A passive solar tracker system uses the sun's heat to move liquid from side to side within the tracker; allowing gravity to turn the solar panels to follow the sun without the use of motors, gears or controls. By using either type of solar tracker you'll help your solar panels get as much sun as possible throughout the day as it automatically points them in a perpendicular direction to the sun.</div>
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5.2 Roof Mounted Solar Panels</h4>
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Solar panels can be mounted on many different types of roofs. Shingle roofs are the easiest to work whilst tiled roofs can be a bit more challenging.</div>
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5.3 Thin Film Solar Panels</h4>
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Although thin film solar panels don't absorb the sunlight with as much efficiency as other solar panels, there are numerous benefits to installing these types of solar panels:</div>
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<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Unlike Monocrystalline solar panels, you don't have to mount the thin film solar panels on your roof. The thin film panels are literally glued onto the roof which means no holes. Putting holes in your roof can void your warranty and even damage it if it’s not done correctly.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Also, thin film solar panels don't weigh as much as other panels that contain large amounts of silicon with structural support.</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Thin film solar panels work better than conventional panels in very hot climates. They also do a better job of producing energy at the beginning and end of the day during times of non-direct sunlight.</li>
</ul>
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<u>6. Benefits of a PV System</u></h4>
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<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Solar panel power is a renewable form of energy, i.e. it won't run out like oil, coal and gas.</span></li>
<li style="font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Once the initial cost of purchasing the panels is paid in full, the electricity it produces for the remainder of the solar panel system's lifespan (25 – 30 years) is absolutely free!</li>
<li style="font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Photovoltaic solar panels can provide electricity for lighting and entertainment during blackouts</li>
<li style="font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Solar panel systems provide a safer lighting option than candles and paraffin</li>
<li style="font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">There are no harmful emissions caused either through generating electricity or inside the home</li>
<li style="font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The photovoltaic solar panel industry can provide up to 400% more jobs than the conventional energy industry</li>
</ul>
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<u>Conclusion</u></h4>
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Yes, it can seem daunting having to select the correct solar panels and accompanying products to purchase for your home, however this guide should point you in the right direction. If you require any further assistance, please DO NOT HESITATE to <a href="http://www.sustainable.co.za/contacts/" style="color: #7d7b78; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">contact us</a> so that our experts can help you choose the correct solar panel system for your home.</div>
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<a class="cboxElement" href="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/energysavingbulbs2.gif" rel="lightbox[5138]" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Energy Saving Light Bulbs"><img alt="Energy Saving Light Bulbs" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5182" src="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/energysavingbulbs2.gif" height="305" style="border: none; clear: both; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px;" width="400" /></a></div>
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Five years ago I bought my first LED light bulbs. They were to replace halogens in my bathroom. I spent too much money on not enough lumens and way too many kelvin. You know what I mean?</div>
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No? Perfect. Let’s make a deal?!</div>
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If you spend ten minutes reading this post I promise you that by the end of it you’ll understand how to buy a low energy light bulb. In return I’ll try not to bore you senseless.</div>
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Ready? Let’s do this. With five simple questions.</div>
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1) What fitting do you need?</h2>
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<span style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">This is simple, but you really don’t want to mess it up. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Although there </span>are literally hundreds of light fittings in existence, your home probably only has a couple. I’ve got two in my ceiling fittings, a couple more in table lamps. In the image below there are some common ones for the UK and US.</div>
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<a class="cboxElement" href="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/bulb-fittings2.gif" rel="lightbox[5138]" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="bulb fittings"><img alt="bulb fittings" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5166" src="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/bulb-fittings2.gif" height="247" style="border: none; clear: both; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px;" width="400" /></a></div>
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‘B’ is for Bayonett, it’s a bit of a British Empire thing. ’E’ is for Edison Screw, dominant in the US thanks to Thomas. ’GU’ is for, gee you really need to get yourself a life a if you know what ‘GU’ means.</div>
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You don’t need to know what they mean. But if you scribble down the fittings before you start shopping for bulbs not only will they fit, they’ll be the right voltage too.</div>
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2) What shape bulb do you want?</h2>
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Bulb shape is not just a question of liking the look of a bulb, it is about how it throws light. The design of the bulb determines what direction the light goes, so you need to consider what you want the bulb to do.</div>
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<a class="cboxElement" href="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/bulb-shape.gif" rel="lightbox[5138]" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="bulb shape"><img alt="bulb shape" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5159" src="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/bulb-shape.gif" height="145" style="border: none; clear: both; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px;" width="400" /></a></div>
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There is literally an alphabet describing different bulb shapes, but since I promised not to bore you I’m just not going to go there. All you need to do for shape is use your common sense.</div>
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For a ceiling pendent you might want an ‘omnidirectional’ bulb like the arbitary, stick or spiral shape. For a lamp you might need a candle shape with a broad spread. And if you are putting a spot into a recessed downlight you’ll need a reflector with an appropriate beam width for the context.</div>
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A bulb that throws the wrong angle light can be really annoying, so do take the time to contemplate the shape before you buy.</div>
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3) How bright does it need to be?</h2>
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It is no longer enough to think about bulb brightness in terms of watts. That was fine when we only had incandescents, but now we need to start thinking in lumens.</div>
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This is particularly the case when buying LEDs, because the use of the term ‘replacement’ is can be abused by bulb re-sellers, and occasionally by lesser manufacturers too. The following tables are a rough explanation of how many lumens you get from your watts for different bulb technologies for a standard fitting.</div>
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Now I’m very sorry to do this, but I had to make two charts to explain this properly. One for our readers in the low voltage (120V) countries like the US, Canada, Brazil and Japan. And a second one for readers in high voltage (240V) countries, that’s the rest of the world.</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The American Lumen:</strong></h4>
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If you live in the US, or anywhere else with a lower voltage grid, please look at this first chart. If you live elsewhere skip straight to the second.</div>
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<a class="cboxElement" href="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/lumensUS.gif" rel="lightbox[5138]" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Lumens US"><img alt="Lumens US" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5168" src="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/lumensUS.gif" height="363" style="border: none; clear: both; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px;" width="400" /></a></div>
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At the top of this chart you have the brightness of the bulb in lumens. This is the number you need to start thinking in.</div>
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Let’s say you’re in the US and want to replace an old 60W bulb and get a similar amount of light. Then you know you’ll need to get at least 800 lumens in order to match the brightness of the old 60W .</div>
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Got it? If you know your lumens, you won’t be mis-sold a ‘replacement bulb’ that isn’t bright enough.</div>
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The High Voltage Lumen (UK):</h4>
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In the rest of the world grids have higher voltage, meaning that lumen equivalent for standard incandescents is different.</div>
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<a class="cboxElement" href="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/lumensUK.gif" rel="lightbox[5138]" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Lumens needed"><img alt="Lumens needed" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5167" src="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/lumensUK.gif" height="363" style="border: none; clear: both; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px;" width="400" /></a></div>
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At the top of this chart you have the brightness of the bulb in lumens. This is the number you need to start thinking in.</div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 10px; padding: 0px;">
Let’s say you’re in the UK and want to replace an old 60W bulb and get a similar amount of light. Then you know you’ll need to get at least 700 lumens to get a similar brightness to the old bulb.</div>
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Knowing your lumens means you will get the brightness you want, and avoid being mis-sold ‘replacement bulbs’.</div>
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A quick word on spotlights:</h4>
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Just spot me a second here. Both the two charts above are designed to help you replace a normal lightbulb. When it comes to spotlights you can often experiment with going for fewer lumens. In our bathrooms I have replaced 700lm halogens with 320lm LEDs and actually prefer the light. The result is a 90% energy use reduction per bulb.</div>
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4) Do you want warm or cold light?</h2>
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This question might sound complicated, but it is dead easy and one of the great things about LEDs.</div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The temperature of light can be measured in terms of </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">‘kelvin’. Very orange light has a low number of kelvin, for example a candle is about 1,500K. Daylight is much colder, often above 5,000K. Here is the scale.</span></div>
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<a class="cboxElement" href="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/kelvin.gif" rel="lightbox[5138]" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="kelvin scale lightbulbs"><img alt="kelvin scale lightbulbs" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5172" src="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/kelvin.gif" height="276" style="border: none; clear: both; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px;" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 10px; padding: 0px;">
When it comes to household light bulbs the temperature choices are very simple. Most people simply want what is called ‘warm white’ (<span style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2,700k) to replicate the warm, slightly yellow glow of an old incandescent or halogen.</span></div>
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In a kitchen, bathroom or other situations you may prefer a slightly less yellow light, sometimes called a natural white (3,000K). You may want to try cool white (4,000K). Or for a very specific style (5,000K). Anything above that starts to get a little blue.</div>
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This type of temperature choice is mostly associated with LEDs. If your home has a quite modern style you should definitely consider trying some cooler temperatures, as they can look great in the right context.</div>
<h2 style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
5) Are LEDs good value yet?</h2>
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<span style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Compact fluorescent (CFLs) bulbs are now so cheap that a CFL can pay itself off with energy savings in just months for a well used bulb. I personally quite like CFLs in the right context, but if you want instant light, dimming or cooler light they aren’t great.</span></div>
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LEDs on the other hand are gradually overcoming many of these problems. The main issue with LEDs at this point is their upfront cost. This is particularly true for 75W and 100W replacements (I’m waiting for prices to drop).</div>
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With this in mind let’s crunch some numbers and see how the payback is for LEDs. In the following chart I estimate how quickly energy savings will recoup the cost of replacing a 60W incandescent with a 10W LED that costs $10, assuming the bulb is used for 2 hours each day.</div>
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<a class="cboxElement" href="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/payback.gif" rel="lightbox[5138]" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="LED payback times"><img alt="LED payback times" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5176" src="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/payback.gif" height="306" style="border: none; clear: both; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px;" width="400" /></a></div>
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Because of the huge difference in the <a href="http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/average-electricity-prices-kwh" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">prices of electricity</a> the $10 outlay for the LED pays itself off in anything from 9 months in expensive Denmark to three and a half years in India or China, where electricity is cheap.</div>
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Of course a 60W LED for $10 is still quite cheap. If it costs you $20 to get such a bulb you’d need to double these numbers. On the other hand if you are using the bulb 4 hours a day, then you should halve them. What does this mean for you in practical terms?</div>
<ul style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Cheaper LEDs payback faster</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Payback is faster where electricity is expensive</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The more you use a bulb the faster the payback</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Replacing CFLs with LEDs is not yet cost effective</li>
</ul>
<div style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 10px; padding: 0px;">
In most cases the one year running cost of an incandescent bulb you use regularly (>2 hours a day) is greater than any drop in LED prices we are likely to see. So it makes sense to switch when you see a decent value bulb. However, if you don’t use a bulb much (< 1 hour a day) you may want to wait for falling prices. Especially in the 100W replacement range which are still extortionate.</div>
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I have one incandescent left in my loft that I’d be lucky to use for 10 hours a year. I’ll probably only switch it if it blows.</div>
<h2 style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
5 Steps to Buying a Energy Saving Light Bulb</h2>
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If you’ve made it this far you now know a lot about light bulbs. Because I promised not to bore you I’ve decided not to discuss dimming (read the labels), color rendering (above 80 please) and bulb lifespan (buy a known brand).</div>
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Let’s just recap the five steps:</div>
<ol style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 10px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Fitting:</strong> Write down the code</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Shape:</strong> Decide on the best shape</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Brightness:</strong> Get enough lumens!</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Temperature:</strong> Warm or cool?</li>
<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Cost:</strong> Look for good value bulbs</li>
</ol>
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Like I said in the introduction, I bought my first LED five years ago and only really got the first of these five steps correct. But things have changed an awful lot in five years, and LEDs are now becoming a really sensible option. CFLs remain excellent value due to their low prices and running costs, but you can’t always get the light you want.</div>
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If you have never bought LEDs before I highly recommend trialing a single bulb, or spotlight, first before buying too many. LEDs are not cheap and last a long time, so you want to be sure about fitting, shape, lumens and kelvins before going all in on them. I also recommend looking for specials on known brands or having a money back guarantee up your sleeve.</div>
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Here in the UK I’m on the lookout for decent 10W LEDs around the £10 mark. This <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BIZ3RB0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00BIZ3RB0&linkCode=as2&tag=shrithatfoot-21" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Verbatim LED 10,5 W </a> verbatim is a great deal for £9.99. Or something like this <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B0073CY81U/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&linkCode=ur2&showViewpoints=1&tag=shrithatfoot-21" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">10 Watt LED</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=shrithatfoot-21&l=ur2&o=2" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px;" width="1" /> (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0073COMUW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B0073COMUW&linkCode=as2&tag=shrithatfoot-21" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">or in a screw fit</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=shrithatfoot-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B0073COMUW" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px;" width="1" />). I’ve just bought this <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DKU5750/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00DKU5750&linkCode=as2&tag=shrithatfoot-21" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Philips Master </a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=shrithatfoot-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00DKU5750" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px;" width="1" />because I’ve always liked the look of it and saw a big price drop . For bathroom or kitchen spots I prefer <a href="http://www.ledhut.co.uk/spot-lights.html" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Sopts">LEDHUT</a>.</div>
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Looking over the pond to the US I’m almost jealous. You guys get similar <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008OBEDSM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B008OBEDSM&linkCode=as2&tag=shrithatfoot-20" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">10W LEDs</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=shrithatfoot-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B008OBEDSM" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px;" width="1" /> for $10. This great <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B4CPL5W/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00B4CPL5W&linkCode=as2&tag=shrithatfoot-20" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">11W LED Dimmable</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=shrithatfoot-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00B4CPL5W" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px;" width="1" />from Phillips (complete with Energy Star rating) for $15. Interesting <a href="http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-SlimStyle-60W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-A19-Dimmable-LED-Light-Bulb-433755/204730356" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">slim style</a> bulbs. Your <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AF027XI/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00AF027XI&linkCode=as2&tag=shrithatfoot-20" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">LED spots </a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=shrithatfoot-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00AF027XI" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px;" width="1" /> are cheaper too. And you can buy <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007V1VOI8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B007V1VOI8&linkCode=as2&tag=shrithatfoot-20" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153) !important; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">remote controlled color changing LEDs </a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=shrithatfoot-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B007V1VOI8" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px;" width="1" /> for just $13, which is not boring!!</div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If you made it the end, thanks for reading. I wish you much success with your LED hunt and hope you get the right<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> fit, shape, brightness </strong>and<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> temperature</strong> at a decent price. Most importantly I hope you prefer the light of your new bulb, as that is the main test of success.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668181083469286763.post-4440435029285648872014-05-18T11:09:00.003+00:002014-05-18T11:09:48.249+00:00Power of Rising SunGermany is the world leader in terms of the total megawatts of electricity produced by using solar technology. A couple of years ago the German government provided an incentive to the citizens to produce electricity from renewable sources in their homes and sell excess units to it or get them adjusted against the bills they received for using conventional electricity.<br />
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Called “feed-in tariff”, this concept was introduced to promote the use of cleaner technologies to meet energy needs of the country and also cut on the cost of production and maintenance in the long run. Within two years, 14,000 megawatts of electricity was added to the system. People would switch on the solar systems they had installed before leaving for work or going to schools or colleges. By the time they returned sufficient energy would had been produced and diverted to the grid.<br />
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It is interesting to note that this capacity added over a brief period of two years is almost equal to the total energy demand of Ghana. This leads to the question as to why a country like Ghana which is facing a severe energy crisis cannot try a similar option and come out of the dilemma it faces. Are the policy makers sitting on top not wise enough to gauge the potential or is it the powerful lobbies and mafias used to receiving kick-backs who become a hurdle in the launch of such initiatives in Ghana?<br />
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2. Shrink the Windows partition</h2>
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Windows is like an infestation of cockroaches. Cockroaches will keep filling up space until it runs out and will try and find some more space. Windows is built to believe that all the available disk space belongs to it and therefore there is no spare space for another operating system.</div>
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To get around this issue there is a tool available within Windows that lets you shrink the Windows partition (or indeed any other partition on the disk).</div>
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To be able to shrink the Windows partition you will need to run the "Disk Management" tool. To do this move your mouse to the top right corner and click on the search icon. Now click the settings icon and start typing "disk".</div>
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Click on the option "Create and format hard disk partitions".</div>
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As you can see the Dell Inspiron by default has a busy looking disk layout.</div>
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The operating system is on drive C and is called OS. </div>
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This is the partition that needs to be shrunk in order to make space for Ubuntu.</div>
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Right clicking on the relevant drive brings up a context menu and on that context menu is the option to "Shrink Volume".</div>
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When you click on "Shrink Volume" a box appears asking you how much disk space you want to shrink the disk by.</div>
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The Shrink utility helpfully sets up the amount of disk space that it can comfortably spare.</div>
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Unless you have a reason to choose otherwise it is generally fine enough to accept the default options.</div>
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Click on "Shrink" to start the process.</div>
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Unlike the backup process this bit is quite quick.</div>
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3. Create a bootable USB drive with Ubuntu on it</h2>
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Download Ubuntu</h3>
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You can download Ubuntu from <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop" style="border: none; color: #2266bb; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop</a>.</div>
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As you can see there are two versions available.<br />
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Version 12.04 is a long term support release which means you can install it now and it will still receive updates in 4 years time. This is great if you are the sort of person who likes stability and you aren't too bothered about getting the new features early.<br />
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Version 13.04 has only 9 months worth of support and then you will be expected to upgrade to a newer version of Ubuntu. This may sound like a very short period of time (and it is) but 13.04 already feels slick compared to 12.04.<br />
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If you become comfortable with the installation process then moving up to the latest versions keeps you in the now club.<br />
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The long term support releases are great but consider that the last LTS version was back at version 10 which pre-dates Unity. To quote Ferris Bueller:<br />
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<span style="border: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.</span></blockquote>
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The one thing you do have to do though to be able to run Ubuntu alongside Windows 8 is to choose the 64-bit version.<br />
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Note that if you have a Dell Inspiron 3521 and you wish to install version 12.04 there is a dedicated version especially for you at <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/hardware/201208-11539/" style="border: none; color: #2266bb; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/hardware/201208-11539/</a>.<br />
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The Dell Inspiron 3521 can be purchased pre-installed with Ubuntu and therefore there is already an image available which has all the necessary drivers set up.<br />
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I can confirm however that I installed Ubuntu 13.04 and I used the stock 64-bit download and I have had no issues with Ubuntu whatsoever.<br />
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If you live in the city then downloading Ubuntu will be a quick process. If you live in the countryside and your internet connection sucks as much as mine then there is always the option of <a href="https://www.osdisc.com/products/ubuntu-1304-desktop-install-live-dvd-64bit-pc.html?affiliate=everydaylinuxuser" style="border: none; color: #2266bb; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">buying a DVD pre-installed within Ubuntu Linux</a>.<br />
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Download Unetbootin</h3>
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Unetbootin is the tool that I used to create a bootable USB drive with Ubuntu on it. To download Unetbootin visit <a href="http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/" style="border: none; color: #2266bb; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/</a>.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.559999465942383px;">Click on the "Download (for Windows" link. The download is fairly small and even on my meagre internet connection takes under a minute.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.559999465942383px;">To run Unetbootin press the "Start" button and click on "Files". Now type "Unetbootin" into the search box and Unetbootin will be the first option. Click on the icon to run Unetbootin.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.559999465942383px;">To create a bootable USB drive you need to insert a blank USB drive into a USB port and then select the disk image option.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.559999465942383px;">Clicking on the button with 3 dots brings up a file browser and you should be able to find the downloaded Ubuntu ISO.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.559999465942383px;">Make sure that the USB Drive is indeed in the drive letter specified and when you are happy that you aren't about to install somewhere you shouldn't click OK.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.559999465942383px;">It takes a few minutes for Unetbootin to do it's stuff but ultimately you will end up with a bootable USB drive.</span><br />
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4. Turn off fast boot and disable secure boot</h2>
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Turn off fast boot</h3>
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To turn off fast boot you need to get into the control panel and then the power options.</div>
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To open the control panel move your mouse to the top right corner and then click on the settings icon that appears.</div>
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When the menu appears click on the control panel.</div>
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From within the Control Panel click on the "Power Options" icon.</div>
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From the "Power Options" screen look down the menu on the left side and select "Choose what the power button does".</div>
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On the snappily titled "Define power buttons and turn on password protection" screen scroll down to the bottom.</div>
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There should be an option that says "Turn on fast startup". If this option doesn't appear click on the link at the top of the window that says "Change settings that are currently unavailable".</div>
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If the "Turn on fast startup" option is checked turn it off. I know that it says recommended but in this case it really isn't recommended.</div>
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Click the "Save Changes" button to continue.</div>
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Turn off secure boot</h3>
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To turn off secure boot move your mouse to the top right corner and then click the settings option.</div>
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Now comes the ninja bit. Hold down the shift key and select "power" and "restart" whilst keeping the shift key held down. (Take out the USB drive if it is still plugged in).</div>
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When you reboot a screen similar to the one above will appear. The option you should choose is the UEFI Firmware Settings.</div>
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At this point you will be taken into the UEFI settings for your make of computer and I can't write instructions for each make and model therefore Google is your friend (and not at all evil). Type in your make and model and search for UEFI settings.</div>
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When you are in the UEFI settings you are looking for the option that says something like "Secure boot" with the value set to "Enabled" and you want to set that option to "disabled".</div>
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5. Run the Ubuntu Installer</h2>
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To load Ubuntu in live mode insert the USB drive created in step 3 and reboot your computer.</div>
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It is a beautiful sight seeing Windows disappear and Ubuntu appear in its place even if it is the live USB version.<br />
<br />
Let's get started.<br />
<br />
Clicking on the "Install Ubuntu 13.04" (or 12.04 if you are going LTS) brings up the Ubuntu installer.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPIxpJOXbbehGJLUG4uKfYbEU9vggN1reRH87BvBCUuHDRELFzsEnrsM5ttD-lepKvkdQ3VzKHdA6mSFQrKsSqzfBJsn9gUNfmQTLQ7MMmV5kdX-fdyhDC58pt9gN1bVinqNBk2alNQ0I/s1600/ubuntu2.png" imageanchor="1" style="border: none; clear: left; color: #2266bb; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPIxpJOXbbehGJLUG4uKfYbEU9vggN1reRH87BvBCUuHDRELFzsEnrsM5ttD-lepKvkdQ3VzKHdA6mSFQrKsSqzfBJsn9gUNfmQTLQ7MMmV5kdX-fdyhDC58pt9gN1bVinqNBk2alNQ0I/s1600/ubuntu2.png" height="246" style="border: none; height: auto; margin: 3px; max-width: 620px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" width="320" /></a></div>
The first step lets you choose the language for the installer.<br />
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If you speak English I recommend choosing English (unless you feel you need an extra challenge) and indeed if you aren't a native English speaker then choose the language you feel most comfortable using.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqQIWbObxY3QGf4pfFjiupw6LRRuFYCsNtoyK_K3jwMIT3wQsW84kcsSMyzeR8no958347kMtNZ826P2-HTJeyGXSFF-1Qw_pvA3QOJ_f7FCedb7F9DH7VwOmB3RDjujjxsC88uoTKDWA/s1600/ubuntu3.png" imageanchor="1" style="border: none; clear: right; color: #2266bb; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 1em 1em; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqQIWbObxY3QGf4pfFjiupw6LRRuFYCsNtoyK_K3jwMIT3wQsW84kcsSMyzeR8no958347kMtNZ826P2-HTJeyGXSFF-1Qw_pvA3QOJ_f7FCedb7F9DH7VwOmB3RDjujjxsC88uoTKDWA/s1600/ubuntu3.png" height="246" style="border: none; height: auto; margin: 3px; max-width: 620px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" width="320" /></a></div>
The preparation screen shows you whether you are fully prepared for installing Ubuntu.<br />
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As you can see from the screen image I had plenties of disk space and I was fully plugged in to the power but I didn't have an internet connection.<br />
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Having the internet connection set up lets you download updates on the go. I prefer to do it afterwards.<br />
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You will also notice the "install this third party software" checkbox which will make Flash and MP3s work straight away after the install.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-sypptq4jUBNqUg4ILRGpay6ujg9b4Sgz15PXOc7OnhPRZKu7qZX-IPqq0Z3x24Y0yCWrZfuazQMHgBC-YlCHL2nIBB4ZKe-kw3ayb-zHSLOa3aORzeuoKfDMWTxwDNQsx2d6EvzMdXE/s1600/ubuntu4.png" imageanchor="1" style="border: none; clear: left; color: #2266bb; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-sypptq4jUBNqUg4ILRGpay6ujg9b4Sgz15PXOc7OnhPRZKu7qZX-IPqq0Z3x24Y0yCWrZfuazQMHgBC-YlCHL2nIBB4ZKe-kw3ayb-zHSLOa3aORzeuoKfDMWTxwDNQsx2d6EvzMdXE/s1600/ubuntu4.png" height="247" style="border: none; height: auto; margin: 3px; max-width: 620px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" width="320" /></a></div>
If you aren't already connected to the internet now is your chance to get connected.<br />
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You can choose any one of your broadband connections.<br />
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I have 2 available to me and neither of them are any good.<br />
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I prefer to install first and update later so I leave the internet disconnected.<br />
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<br clear="left" />
<h2 style="border: none; margin: 5px 0px 10px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">
6. Partition the empty space</h2>
<b>This bit is going to amend your hard drive partitions and if you didn't do a backup at the beginning this is the point of no return.</b><br />
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<b>I highly recommend making sure you have created the correct recovery media before continuing. </b><br />
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I could have made the install process one big step but the partitioning takes a bit of explaining so I put this in a separate section.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4bnitD2SY3Sj0aQtTugEexuVveMKZjhICU0ua5LVIkpzm4HHYwKXDIqrr5526gCQ5fnjdAGdxiSHI9tUwF-h6OmQ9ven3lbGiaMWSjV1QG8XQt5_ZRAVRovFtffrVs9Al4eByRyeuydI/s1600/ubuntu5.png" imageanchor="1" style="border: none; clear: left; color: #2266bb; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4bnitD2SY3Sj0aQtTugEexuVveMKZjhICU0ua5LVIkpzm4HHYwKXDIqrr5526gCQ5fnjdAGdxiSHI9tUwF-h6OmQ9ven3lbGiaMWSjV1QG8XQt5_ZRAVRovFtffrVs9Al4eByRyeuydI/s1600/ubuntu5.png" height="296" style="border: none; height: auto; margin: 3px; max-width: 620px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" width="400" /></a></div>
There are 2 options available to you from the partitioning screen.<br />
<ul style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px 0px 0px 35px;">
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Erase disk and install Ubuntu</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Something else</li>
</ul>
If you just want to install Ubuntu and forget Windows ever existed (and if you have tried Windows 8 nobody is going to blame you for making this decision) you can simply press continue .<br />
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This guide is about installing alongside Windows 8 and therefore to do this choose "Something Else".<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglKTtpn9Vxj9McgCxY_PMvXbhoLXrgnbng3Cu2AobZJBVnLiYRp5sN9ERRTcAJquQs-Hi-6fh5_YlAC3OjYMhSdyzCBEg_2hrwwsaaazCBQYUjHiUi3J7IlJVk2K-aH-56V8aDmRURKNI/s1600/ubuntu6.png" imageanchor="1" style="border: none; clear: left; color: #2266bb; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglKTtpn9Vxj9McgCxY_PMvXbhoLXrgnbng3Cu2AobZJBVnLiYRp5sN9ERRTcAJquQs-Hi-6fh5_YlAC3OjYMhSdyzCBEg_2hrwwsaaazCBQYUjHiUi3J7IlJVk2K-aH-56V8aDmRURKNI/s1600/ubuntu6.png" height="329" style="border: none; height: auto; margin: 3px; max-width: 620px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" width="400" /></a></div>
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The disk layout on the Dell Inspiron 3521 is quite involved.<br />
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What you should do is look for the large amount of unpartitioned space by scrolling down. (For the Dell it was /dev/sda7).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuSR_3_p-eoOmgOa6bm0YzG3J-yDzfIXyVLKNsOeMgX2HZSYZ_FMCIi_O7hLH83aqxHApFwJg6H3EtKIGD5KdZUNR5LZjYS1NdebUcXJNB334wQa4wsXV28cLTzZ_Fra__F21TIHzBy54/s1600/ubuntu8.png" style="border: none; color: #2266bb; margin: 0px 1em; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuSR_3_p-eoOmgOa6bm0YzG3J-yDzfIXyVLKNsOeMgX2HZSYZ_FMCIi_O7hLH83aqxHApFwJg6H3EtKIGD5KdZUNR5LZjYS1NdebUcXJNB334wQa4wsXV28cLTzZ_Fra__F21TIHzBy54/s1600/ubuntu8.png" height="209" style="border: none; height: auto; margin: 3px; max-width: 620px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" width="320" /></a></div>
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When you find the unpartitioned space click on the plus symbol and create a logical partition. Mount the partition to / and set the size to 50 gigabytes. Set the partition type to EXT4.<br />
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Now find the unpartitioned space again and click on the plus symbol and create another logical partition. Mount this one to /HOME and set the type to EXT4. The size should be virtually all the unpartitioned space minus about 16 gigabytes.<br />
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There is a lot said about how much swap space you need but as disk space isn't exactly expensive anymore I always just choosing 16 gigabytes which is way more than is actually required. (By quite some distance). You will therefore need to create a third partition in the unpartitioned space and choose SWAP as the type.<br />
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When it comes to choosing where to install the bootloader don't change a thing. Leave it pointing to "/dev/sda". Whatever you do don't choose one of the other partitions like "/dev/sda1" or "/dev/sda2" etc. This is one of the most common mistakes people make.<br />
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For the 3 partitions that you just created make sure the format checkbox is checked.<br />
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<b>Do not continue unless you are really satisfied that you have done everything correctly and that you have a backup available in case of bad times.</b><br />
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Press Install to continue.<br />
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<h2 style="border: none; margin: 5px 0px 10px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">
7. Complete the installation</h2>
The installation will now continue and you will see files copied across and the installation taking place.<br />
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At this point you will be able to choose keyboard layouts, timezone and you will be asked to add a new user.<br />
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At the end of the install process you will asked if you want to restart the system or continue using the live version.<br />
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<h2 style="border: none; margin: 5px 0px 10px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">
8. Reboot into the live image</h2>
At this point it is worth rebooting the computer to see what has happened.<br />
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When the computer has started to reboot remove the USB drive and let the bootup process begin as normal.<br />
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If you are lucky everything has worked perfectly well and you have a GRUB menu showing options for Windows and Ubuntu.<br />
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The reality is that you will be very lucky if that really has happened.<br />
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One of three things will have happened:<br />
<ol>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Ubuntu will have loaded</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Windows will have loaded</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">Nothing loads</li>
</ol>
If either Ubuntu or Windows loads then you just have a bootloader issue, if nothing loads it is likely that you didn't turn off secure boot and probably have messages on the screen saying so.<br />
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Unless you have a perfectly running dual boot system plug your USB drive back in and reboot so that the live version of Ubuntu runs again.<br />
<h2 style="border: none; margin: 5px 0px 10px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">
9. Run the boot repair</h2>
For the next part you will venture into the terminal. Press the super key on your keyboard (that is the one that looks like the Windows icon).<br />
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Type "term" into the search box that appears. Click on the "Terminal" icon.<br />
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From within the terminal window type the following:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="border-left-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 10px; color: #666666; font-size: 1em; font-style: italic; margin: 20px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 30px 0px 20px;">
<pre>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair && sudo apt-get update</pre>
</blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
The above command adds a special repository to your Ubuntu live system and then the update command downloads a list of all the applications that reside in that repository.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
Now all you have to do is type:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="border-left-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 10px; color: #666666; font-size: 1em; font-style: italic; margin: 20px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px 30px 0px 20px;">
<pre>sudo apt-get install -y boot-repair && (boot-repair &)</pre>
</blockquote>
The information I am providing here comes straight from the following page:<a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair" style="border: none; color: #2266bb; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair</a> (Just in case you thought I was making all this up as I went along).<br />
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A message will appear saying that boot repair is scanning your partitions.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE9sFFONcs6T4v3tW4MKqpx_ImpEQvASt_opopClYs8UurLbTlFS4dYzKOGdSJV9bDEHwnYEh7YJCJMkswWxKn6BTE2CY8gogpgGnPAuKkgPMsiuES-qpY9Ggi0Dwb86RVEaVapxi5Qek/s1600/bootrepair.png" imageanchor="1" style="border: none; color: #2266bb; margin: 0px 1em; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE9sFFONcs6T4v3tW4MKqpx_ImpEQvASt_opopClYs8UurLbTlFS4dYzKOGdSJV9bDEHwnYEh7YJCJMkswWxKn6BTE2CY8gogpgGnPAuKkgPMsiuES-qpY9Ggi0Dwb86RVEaVapxi5Qek/s1600/bootrepair.png" height="204" style="border: none; height: auto; margin: 3px; max-width: 620px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" width="320" /></a></div>
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At this point I clicked the "Recommended repair" button as it does say it fixes the most frequent problems.<br />
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After a few minutes the application will tell you if it needs you to run extra commands in the terminal and it gives you the commands to copy and paste.<br />
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By following the instructions provided my boot loader was fixed and I could move on to the final step.<br />
<h2 style="border: none; margin: 5px 0px 10px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">
10. Test that everything works</h2>
Reboot your computer and remove the USB drive.<br />
<br />
You should now have a menu with various options on it. The first one will be Ubuntu and somewhere down the list is Windows EFI.<br />
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Try Ubuntu and make sure that it loads correctly, then reboot and try the Windows EFI option. Windows 8 should now load.<br />
<h2 style="border: none; margin: 5px 0px 10px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">
Troubleshooting</h2>
If either Windows or Ubuntu won't load or nothing loads at all it is worth checking over the above steps to make sure you turned off fast boot and secure boot.</div>
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</div>
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If you think you have done everything correctly then copy any errors and load the Live USB version of Ubuntu again.</div>
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</div>
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Now Google is again your friend (and not at all evil). Search for the error text that you received or go to the Ubuntu forums and search there for your error.</div>
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</div>
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If that fails to help you can either ask for help yourself at the Ubuntu forums or on the <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/" style="border: none; color: #2266bb; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Ubuntu sub-reddit.</a></div>
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</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.559999465942383px;">
Another option is to open XChat by pressing the super key and typing XChat. Now find the Ubuntu IRC chatroom and state your issues within the realms of IRC chat. There are always helpful people there.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.559999465942383px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.559999465942383px;">
but ..... if all else still fails .... remember those backups I mentioned throughout this article. It is time to think about using them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.559999465942383px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.559999465942383px;">
You can always restore Windows to it's original state and try following the instructions again.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19.559999465942383px;">
<h2 style="border: none; margin: 5px 0px 10px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">
Summary</h2>
I hope this article helps some of you install Ubuntu alongside Windows.<br />
<br />
It will probably take you less time to install Ubuntu than it has to read the article down to this far.<br />
<br />
Don't be afraid. Give it a go. You will be glad you did. Let's face it. Windows 8 sucks.<br />
<br />
Thankyou for reading.</div>
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Ubuntu 13.10, <a href="http://itsfoss.com/ubuntu-1310-codenamed-saucy-salamander-rolling-release/" target="_blank" title="Ubuntu 13.10 Codenamed Saucy Salamander. Will It Be Rolling Release?">codenamed Saucy Salamander</a>
has been released as per its schedule on 17th October. If you did not
upgrade from Ubuntu 13.04 to Ubuntu 13.10 and instead you did a clean
install of Ubuntu 13.10, you might be wondering what are the <strong>things to do after installing Ubuntu 13.10</strong>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is one of the first question that pops up after installing any new OS, what to do next? I have previously written on <a href="http://itsfoss.com/top-ten-installing-elementary-os-luna/" target="_blank" title="Top Ten Things To Do After Installing Elementary OS Luna">things to do after installing Elementary OS Luna</a> and <a href="http://itsfoss.com/things-to-do-after-installing-ubuntu-13-04/" target="_blank" title="Must To Do Things After Installing Ubuntu 13.04">Ubuntu 13.04</a>,
and now I am here with the list of must to do things after installing
Ubuntu 13.10. While different people have different requirement and thus
their to do list may differ from the one here, most of the things are
still essential after a clean install.</div>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">
Must to do things after installing Ubuntu 13.10<span id="more-2553"></span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
Update Ubuntu 13.10:</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
First and foremost thing after
installing Ubuntu 13.10 is to update the system. Open a terminal
(Ctrl+Alt+T) and use the following command:</div>
<pre><code>sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade</code></pre>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
Install Ubuntu restricted extras:</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Ubuntu restricted extras” consists of
several codecs that are not installed by default. The reason Ubuntu
doesn’t include these codecs by default is because of legal constraints
in many countries. But if you install these codecs, it is you who would
be held responsible for the usage and not Ubuntu. Don’t worry its safe
to install these codecs. With these codecs installed, you can play
different media formats such as MP3, MP4, AVI and several other formats.
Install it using the following command:</div>
<pre><code>sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras</code></pre>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
Install Adobe Flash player:</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Even after installing extra codecs, you
may face difficulties with Adobe Flash player. You may not be able to
run YouTube videos is one of the example. You can install Adobe Flash
player using the following command:</div>
<pre><code>sudo apt-get install flashplugin-installer</code></pre>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
Install VLC media player:</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The default video player Totem is quite
good but VLC is the best open source media player for playing videos.
Apart from playing almost all kind of media files, <a href="http://itsfoss.com/download-subtitles-automatically-vlc-media-player-ubuntu/" target="_blank" title="Download Subtitles Automatically With VLC Media Player In Ubuntu">VLC can download subtitles automatically</a> and you can also <a href="http://www.computerandyou.net/2013/04/how-to-watch-online-streaming-videos-with-subtitles/" target="_blank">play YouTube videos with subtitles</a>. Install VLC player in Ubuntu 13.10 using the following command:</div>
<pre><code><code>sudo apt-get install vlc</code></code></pre>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
Play encrypted DVD in Ubuntu 13.10:</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Enable encrypted DVD playback in Ubuntu 13.10 using the following commands:</div>
<pre><code>sudo apt-get install libdvdread4
sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh</code></pre>
<h3>
Install RAR:</h3>
To avoid error like “<a href="http://itsfoss.com/fix-there-is-no-command-installed-for-rar-archive-files/" target="_blank" title="How To Fix: There is no command installed for RAR archive files">There is no command installed for RAR archive files</a>“ install RAR in the following manner:<br />
<pre><code>sudo apt-get install rar</code></pre>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
Get rid of “Sorry, Ubuntu 13.10 has experienced internal error”</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Ubuntu-1310-has-experienced-internal-error.png"><img alt="Ubuntu 1310 has experienced internal error" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2564" height="205" src="http://itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Ubuntu-1310-has-experienced-internal-error.png" title="things to do after installing Ubuntu 13.10" width="522" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Its a legacy now. It started with Ubuntu
12.04 and continue till date. Though totally harmless, this crash
report is extremly annoying. You can disable the apport by editing the
following file:</div>
<pre><code>gksu gedit /etc/default/apport</code></pre>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now, in this file look for the line <strong># sudo service apport start force_start=1 enabled=1</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Change the enabled=1 to enabled=0. For more detail steps, follow this article on how to get rid of <a href="http://itsfoss.com/how-to-solve-sorry-ubuntu-12-04-has-experienced-an-internal-error/" target="_blank" title="How To Solve: Sorry, Ubuntu 12.04 Has Experienced An Internal Error">Sorry, Ubuntu has experienced an internal error</a>.</div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
Install additional drivers in Ubuntu 13.10:</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
You may suffer from Wireless and
graphics card related problem. To avoid such troubles, install the third
part propriety drivers. Go to Unity Dash and search for Software &
Updates. Open Software & Updates and click on Additional Drivers
tab. If there are any additional propriety drivers for your system, it
should be listed here.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Install-Additional-Drivers-Ubuntu1310.png"><img alt="Install additional drivers Ubuntu 13.10" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2558" height="466" src="http://itsfoss.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Install-Additional-Drivers-Ubuntu1310.png" title="things to do after installing Ubuntu 13.10" width="634" /></a></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
Improve battery life and reduce overheating:</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
One of the important things to do is to take care of your laptop’s battery life and overheating issue. Until Ubuntu 12.10, <a href="http://itsfoss.com/solve-overheating-issue-in-ubuntu-12-10/" target="_blank" title="Solve Overheating Issue In Ubuntu 12.10">Jupiter was the best tool to reduce overheating</a>, but since its <a href="http://itsfoss.com/jupiter-linux-applet-development-stopped/" target="_blank" title="Jupiter Linux Applet Development Stopped!">development has stopped</a>, you can use <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/TLP" target="_blank">TLP</a> or <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/CPU_Frequency_Scaling" target="_blank">CPUFREQ</a> instead of Jupiter. Install TLP using the following command:</div>
<pre><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linrunner/tlp
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install tlp tlp-rdw
sudo tlp start</code></pre>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And that’s it. No configuration required for using TLP. Install it and forget about it. Read this article on <a href="http://itsfoss.com/install-cpufreq-ubuntu-1304/" target="_blank" title="Install cpufreq In Ubuntu 13.04 To Save Power [Quick Tip]">how to use CPUFREQ to reduce overheating in Ubuntu</a>. Oh! By the way <a href="http://itsfoss.com/install-jupiter-ubuntu-1304/" target="_blank" title="It’s Alive! Install Jupiter In Ubuntu 13.04">Jupiter is still available</a> unofficially. But it is better to use TLP as Jupiter is no longer being developed. Your choice basically.</div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
Install other desktop environments:</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Unity is not everyone’s favourite, is
it? You don’t need to ditch Ubuntu just because you hate Unity. Just
replace Unity with your favourite Gnome or <a href="http://itsfoss.com/how-to-install-cinnamon-in-ubuntu-12-04/" target="_blank" title="How to Install Cinnamon In Ubuntu 12.04">Cinnamon</a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Install Gnome 3 in Ubuntu 13.10 using the following command:</div>
<pre><code>sudo apt-get install gnome-shell ubuntu-gnome-desktop</code></pre>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Install latest stable Cinnamon in Ubuntu 13.10 using the following command:</div>
<pre style="text-align: justify;"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gwendal-lebihan-dev/cinnamon-stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install cinnamon</code></pre>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
Tweak Unity and Gnome:</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Not satisfied with the default looks of
Ubuntu 13.10? You can always tweak it. Though you can do that using the
options provided in Ubuntu itself, Unity Tweak Tool and Gnome Tweak Tool
are excellent tools to tweak the appearance to any extent. Use the
following commands:</div>
<pre><code>sudo apt-get install unity-tweak-tool</code></pre>
<pre><code>sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool</code></pre>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
Install Java in Ubuntu 13.10:</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Sooner or later, you’ll have to install
Java. There is simply no escaping from it, no matter how much you try.
Assuming that you are not going to do Java development, you’ll only need
OpenJRE. Install Java in Ubuntu 13.10 using the following command:</div>
<pre><code>sudo apt-get install icedtea-7-plugin openjdk-7-jre</code></pre>
<h3>
Install Dropbox:</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ubuntu 13.10 now gives you the option of
configuring Ubuntu One at installation time itself. But that does not
stop me from using Dropbox, my favourite Cloud storage. You can install
Dropbox from their website or by using this command:</div>
<pre><code>sudo apt-get install dropbox</code></pre>
<h3>
Privacy matters:</h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
You can configure different types of security and privacy options by going in <strong>Security & Privacy</strong> in <strong>System Settings</strong>.
You will find an option of turning off the online search suggestions in
it. But since it will turn off all kind of online suggestion, you might
not want to deteriorate your experience of Unity smart scopes. So, here
is an option for you. Disable just the shopping suggestions and keep
the rest (like Wikipedia suggestions) in the Dash. Use the following
command to disable the shopping suggestions from Unity Dash (my theme
cannot display the command properly, sorry for that):</div>
<code>gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Lenses disabled-scopes
"['more_suggestions-amazon.scope', 'more_suggestions-u1ms.scope',
'more_suggestions-populartracks.scope', 'music-musicstore.scope',
'more_suggestions-ebay.scope', 'more_suggestions-ubuntushop.scope',
'more_suggestions-skimlinks.scope']"</code><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Of course this is not the end of it.
There are several other things to do after installing Ubuntu 13.10 but I
had to stop somewhere. I hope you find it useful. You can also check
another useful post on <a href="http://itsfoss.com/speed-up-ubuntu-1310/" target="_blank" title="9 Killer Tips To Speed Up Ubuntu 13.10">how to speed up Ubuntu 13.10</a>. What is your to-do list after installing Ubuntu? Did I miss anything here? Do share your views.</div>
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It uses $6.77 per month in electricity.</p> <p>(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)</p> <p>Since 2011 the FTC has required that every TV display a yellow and black Energy Guide label estimating how much it costs to run for a year. The label assumes a price for electricity (11 cents/kWh) and a baseline usage (5 hours per day).</p> <p>The cost is tiny. A typical label can read anywhere from $6 for <a href="http://www.walmart.com/ip/VIZIO-32-Class-LED-720p-60Hz-SMART-HDTV-3.34-E320I-A0/21311576">32-inch LEDs</a> to $38 for <a href="http://www.abt.com/documents/47318/TCP65ST60.pdf">65-inch plasmas</a> (PDF). Per year. That's from 50 cents to $3.18 per month. If that's the definition of chump change to you, you're probably not alone.</p> <p>That's the primary reason I stopped widely testing TV power consumption a couple of years ago (plasmas are the exception; I still test consumption by those). Simply put, TV manufacturers have done a good-enough job of managing TV power that the operating cost became negligible. And once people realize how cheap even the biggest TVs are to run, energy use largely stops being a factor in the purchasing decision.</p> <p><img alt="" src="http://asset0.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2013/04/16/Panasonic_TC-P65ST60_energy_guide_2_610x183.png" width="383" height="115" /></p> <p>Here's the official Energy Guide label for a 65-inch 2013 plasma TV. Your mileage may vary.</p> <p>(Credit: ABT.com)</p> <p>Of course, there's a bit more to it than that. I like to think of the Energy Guide number as the minimum it'll cost to run the TV. It's determined using the default picture settings, which are often (especially on plasma TVs) dimmer than what people end up using at home. Since most TVs' default picture settings incorporate a room lighting sensor, watching in a bright room may in turn automatically make the image brighter and thus use more power.</p> <p>You may also watch for longer than 5 hours per day or live in an area where electricity is more expensive. Residential energy prices <a href="http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=electricity_factors_affecting_prices">vary widely</a> according to season and <a href="http://www.targetmap.com/viewer.aspx?reportId=9037">state</a>. Connecticut residents, who pay the most in the U.S., should probably tack an extra couple of bucks on to the sticker figure.</p> <p>But even if you double the figures on the Energy Guide label, even the largest, least efficient TVs still cost less per month than a decent lunch. The most power-hungry TV I've recently tested,<a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/panasonic-tc-p65vt50/4505-6482_7-35118305.html">Panasonic's 65-inch TC-P65VT50</a>, costs about $81 per year, or $6.77 per month. And that's<i>after</i> calibrating the picture so it's suitable for viewing in moderate lighting.</p> <p>Here's a list of various recent TVs we measured for power use after calibration. They appear in order of how much they cost in electricity, assuming the same per-kWh cost and usage as the Energy Guide labels.</p> <h4><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Z6D_E2xZe4g/UpeS3ImEnZI/AAAAAAAALPM/5w4QpV6nXiY/s1600-h/Capture%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Capture" border="0" alt="Capture" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-fDY5QUW-EdI/UpeS4NP5b2I/AAAAAAAALPU/FqIvLqPAiyQ/Capture_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="431" height="387" /></a></h4> <h4>Eco-minded TV shopping tips</h4> Are you still concerned about how much juice your next TV will use? Here are a few tips on how to keep the power bills very slightly lower, and do something to help the environment, while you watch TV. <ul> <li><b>Buy an <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57344058-221/led-lcd-vs-plasma-vs-lcd/">LED TV</a>.</b> They use one-half to one-quarter the power of a comparably sized plasma. Some LEDs are more efficient than others; <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57572740-221/led-lcd-backlights-explained/">local-dimming models</a>, for example, can use less power. Look for <a href="http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=most_efficient.me_tvs_under35_inches">Energy Star's Most Efficient designation</a> for the most miserly. </li> <li><b>Buy a smaller TV.</b> A 32-inch <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/led-tvs/">LED TV</a> uses about half the energy of a 60-incher. </li> <li><b>Watch with a dimmer picture.</b> Light output is the largest factor in how much power a given TV uses. Try turning down the backlight control or engaging the power-saver setting. </li> <li><b>Watch less TV.</b> In case you're wondering, TV "standby" power use amounts to pennies per year.</li> </ul> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668181083469286763.post-32733968767707541982013-11-28T18:54:00.001+00:002013-11-28T18:54:45.192+00:00How big a TV should I buy?<h3>Wondering what size TV to get? Wonder no longer.</h3> <p><a href="http://www.cnet.com/profile/GeoffMorrison/"><img alt="Geoffrey Morrison" src="http://asset2.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2011/10/17/headshots_Geoffrey_Morrison_140x100_60x43.jpg" width="60" height="43" /></a></p> <p>by <a href="http://www.cnet.com/profile/GeoffMorrison/">Geoffrey Morrison</a></p> <p><img alt="" src="http://asset2.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2012/07/09/40_Degrees_with_label_1.jpg" width="411" height="274" /></p> <p>Most people sit about 9 feet from their TV. THX recommends a display that fills 40 degrees of your field of vision.</p> <p>(Credit: Geoffrey Morrison)</p> <p>How big a TV should you buy? 37? 42? 50? 65? <i>90?</i> There's a TV in nearly every size you can want, and at nearly every budget.</p> <p>As long as you're not limited by a cabinet or entertainment center, you can probably get a bigger TV than you're figuring. Possibly, a lot bigger.</p> <p>Here's how to figure out how big you can go.</p> <p>The short answer: as big as you can afford. The longer answer depends on your room, your seating distance, your eyes, and the acceptance of any cohabitating co-deciders.</p> <p><b>Recommended</b> <br />There is a direct correlation between recommended screen size and seating distance. The farther away you sit, obviously, the smaller your TV appears. The ideal is to have a screen that fills a certain amount of your field of view, though how much is "ideal" is up for debate.</p> <p><a href="http://www.thx.com/consumer/home-entertainment/home-theater/hdtv-set-up/">THX recommends</a>, for example, a viewing angle of 40 degrees, to create "an immersive cinematic experience." What does 40 degrees mean to those of us who love math in theory but not in practice? Skip the protractor, and multiply your seating distance (in inches or centimeters) by 0.84. This gets you the recommended screen diagonal.</p> <p>For example, most people sit about <a href="http://hdguru.com/lechner-distance-the-number-you-need-to-know-before-buying-an-hdtv/21/">9 feet (108 inches) from their TV</a>, so THX recommends a screen size of around 90 inches diagonal for that distance. That means the 55-inch you're looking at is not "too big," at least as far as THX is concerned. They realize, though, that not everyone has the space (or desire) for a TV that big, so they also recommend something in the 60-inch range for seating distances up to 9 feet.</p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMPTE">SMPTE</a> recommends 30 degrees, obviously quite a bit smaller. To match their recommendation, multiply your seating distance by 0.625. So given our 9-foot example, that means a TV around 68 inches (so a 65- or 70-inch model would work).</p> <p><img alt="" src="http://asset1.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2012/07/09/30_Degrees_with_label_1.jpg" width="409" height="273" /></p> <p>SMPTE recommends a display that fills 30 degrees of your field of vision.</p> <p>(Credit: Geoffrey Morrison)</p> <p>CNET, <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/tv-buying-guide/">when this topic was covered last</a>, recommended no closer than 1.5 times the screen diagonal, or 0.667 times your seating distance. This allows for a slightly larger TV than the SMPTE recommendation, with a "maximum" screen size of 72 inches (again, 70-inch models are the closest) for a 9-foot viewing distance.</p> <p>While these are good guidelines, I think they need to be taken as the recommendations they are, not any sort of steadfast rules. It's far too easy to get caught up in a numbers game when the reality is far more complex. There are additional factors in play than this-times-that-means-this would seem.</p> <p><b>Beyond the "rules"</b> <br />Two factors come into play when you're talking about maximum screen size: resolution and room domination. Most TVs now are 1080p, and that's a lot of pixels. Even at the <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57458841-221/dont-buy-a-jumbo-lcd-tv-buy-a-projector/">largest flat panel screen sizes available today</a>, you're not going to see pixels sitting at 9 feet. If the TV (or<a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/best-home-theater-projectors/">projector</a>) isn't very good, you might see other artifacts <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57418594-221/when-hd-isnt-hd/">like video noise or dithering</a>, but you're not likely to see pixels. If you're sitting closer to such a large TV, pixels <i>may</i> start getting visible, but you'd have to be sitting awfully close. This is one of the reasons I said <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57566079-221/why-ultra-hd-4k-tvs-are-still-stupid/">Ultra HD 4K TVs are stupid</a>, and why there are at least <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57540238-221/three-tv-improvements-more-worthwhile-than-ultra-hd-4k/">three TV improvements more worthwhile than Ultra HD 4K</a>, and there's more math in that both articles about what resolution the human eye can actually see.</p> <p>The short version is: extremely large TVs may not look quite as good when you're sitting really close to them, as you're seeing more than they were designed for you to see. That isn't to say they'll be "unwatchable" close-up, they just may not look as good as if you were sitting farther away. This is especially true if you're not always watching a pristine source like Blu-ray. Check out <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57418594-221/when-hd-isnt-hd/">When HD isn't HD</a> for more on the lesser sources that will look really bad on a huge TV.</p> <p>The other factor, room domination, is completely subjective. How big does a TV have to get in your room before it becomes the only thing in the room (either figuratively, or literally).</p> <p>If you have any doubts, I'd recommend taping off or cutting out cardboard in the size of the TV you're thinking about, and seeing how it fares in your room. Know that once it's actually in there, it will be way more awesome than cardboard, and likely seem way, way bigger. It certainly depends on your room, decor, and overall spousal tolerance/enthusiasm.</p> <p>If you think you might be sitting close enough to see pixels (or are curious if you are), check out this <a href="http://referencehometheater.com/2013/commentary/4k-calculator/">4K Calculator</a> and put in your viewing distance, screen size, and your vision (20/20, etc).</p> <p><b>Beyond the beyond: What's possible</b> <br />I'll be honest, I don't subscribe to any of the established "rules" for viewing distance and screen size. I think the SMPTE and the lesser THX numbers are too TV-biased. I think they vastly underestimate what's easily possible with modern technology, for those that want more.</p> <p>I sit 9 feet from a 102-inch screen. That's just the 16x9 portion. The full screen is 2.35:1, and 128 inches diagonal. With a 1080p projector, I can just barely make out pixels when I expand a 1080p projector to the full width of the screen. <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57344073-221/projectors-vs-tvs-giant-screen-pros-and-cons/">Watching TV this size is addictive</a>, and I love it.</p> <p>I mention this as proof you can go much larger than most people figure is possible.</p> <p>Do you want to? Well, that's an entirely different question. I find the larger screen sizes easier on the eyes, as more of your field of view is taken up with the roughly uniform brightness of the screen. In an otherwise dark room, your pupils are more naturally closed to the amount of light thanks to the big screen.</p> <p>Conversely, I find watching a small screen in a dark room more fatiguing, as your pupils are more open (because of the dark room) with this one annoying pinprick of bright light (the TV).<a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57473442-221/why-do-my-eyes-hurt-while-watching-tv/">Many people complain about headaches when they watch TV in a dark room</a>. One possible cause is the 50+ footlamberts from a TV (or more with LCDs) taking up a tiny fraction of your field of view. Think about when someone shines a flashlight in your eyes when you've been in the dark for an hour. With a projector, you've got 25 ftL or so over a huge swath of your vision.</p> <p>True, bias lights, leaving room lights on, and <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57572740-221/led-lcd-backlights-explained/">turning down an LCD's backlight</a> can minimize fatigue as well or better than a big screen, but I <i>like </i>watching TV in a dark room. To each their own.</p> <p><b>Bottom line</b> <br />Of course, the ultimate decision is one of personal preference. My goal here was to point out a rough idea of what is possible and/or recommended. For me, I would always err on the side of "too big." My opinion is that a 42-inch TV is too small for most rooms. That's not to say I think everyone should get a 102-inch screen, but the reality is a 42-inch flat panel is not really appreciably larger than the 36-inch CRTs of the old days (different aspect ratios notwithstanding). With great 50-inch TVs available for $500, that's where I'd look at first if I were shopping for a TV.</p> <p>If you want to go really big, like an <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57608968-221/hands-on-with-the-massive-samsung-un-85s9-85-inch-4k-tv/">85-inch TV</a> or <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57344073-221/projectors-vs-tvs-giant-screen-pros-and-cons/">projection</a>, only then should you think about 4K (unless you're sitting really close, like under 6 feet). Since there's still a lot of potential issues with <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57603018-221/hdmi-2.0-what-you-need-to-know/">HDMI 2.0</a> adoption, I'd <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57607131-221/hdmi-2.0-upgrade-path-where-do-the-manufacturers-stand/">be wary</a> of 4K at all right now.</p> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6668181083469286763.post-8846052724691306912013-11-19T18:41:00.001+00:002013-11-19T18:41:30.658+00:00How to use the PS4 Controller in Windows with XBOX Controller XInput Games<p><a href="http://static.hardcoreware.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/ps4-controller-windows.jpg"><img alt="ps4 controller windows" src="http://img.hardcoreware.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/ps4-controller-windows-620x413.jpg" width="401" height="267" /></a></p> <p>Unlike using the PS3 controller in Windows, the PS4 controller is supported by the OS easily with basic DirectInput drivers. </p> <p>Unfortunately, not a lot of modern games use DirectInput for controller support anymore. Instead, they use XInput, the API that is easily ported from XBOX games. Furthermore, the button and control axis are reversed or incorrect using the standard API.</p> <p>Luckily there is an easy way to get your PS4 controller to work in Windows games that use XInput.</p> <ol> <li>Download <a href="http://www.hardcoreware.net/files/DS4Tool.zip?1c90c8">this file</a> and extract it to a permanent location </li> <li>Run ScpDriver.exe from the “Virtual Bus Driver” folder and click install </li> <li>It should show that Bus Device and Bus Driver are installed </li> <li>Connect your PS4 controller through bluetooth or USB <ol> <li>To pair on Bluetooth, hold the Connect + Share button on the controller. You will be able to pair the device using your standard Bluetooth control</li> </ol> </li> <li>Start ScpServer.exe </li> <li>If you see the message Controller : UPP_Worker_Thread Starting, it is confirmed to be working </li> <li>To make sure it is working, check Devices and Printers. It should show up as an XBOX 360 controller</li> </ol> <p>This software supports up to 4 controllers connected at one time.</p> <p>Requirements:</p> <ul> <li>Microsoft .NET 4.0 </li> <li>Visual C 2010 Runtime </li> <li>Latest DirectX Runtime</li> </ul> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0