Tech Geek

Since playing The Division, I’ve noticed a ton of FPS loss when playing a video whether it being youtube, plex, vlc, etc... on another monitor. In my case I have a triple monitor setup with a 980TI. So I thought, what about running the video on the same monitor. It would be easier to see in my peripheral and for whatever reason it didn’t affect my FPS.

This brought the idea of running my chrome window as “Always on Top”. So it sat above The Division game I was playing. Chrome does not have this functionality built in, so I needed to find a solution. Luckily I found https://www.autohotkey.com/ .  

After you have installed autohotkey follow the steps below to enable “always on top” for any window by simply press Ctrl  Spacebar at the same time! 

I’ve included my script here in case you have troubles: 

AutoHotKey 112303 install file https://www.dropbox.com/s/yns1wtorhh79n6r/AutoHotkey112303_Install.exe?dl=0 

.AHK Script  https://www.dropbox.com/s/1thib1al0bxkrv1/Always%20on%20Top.ahk?dl=0

.EXE https://www.dropbox.com/s/kidtlvkq3rhweg8/Always%20on%20Top.exe?dl=0

Highres screencaps https://www.dropbox.com/sh/kb34di03fc5bphm/AAAwOp3uZ72NKA8QgTK5rkzza?dl=0

Step 1:

Right click on your desktop and click on new

Step 2:

Click on AutoHotkey Script

Step 3:

You will notice a new script placed on your desktop. For this example I changed the name to Always On Top

Step 4:

Right click on your newly made script and click on Edit Script

Step 5:

You should see something similar to below

Step 6:

Now copy and paste this line.  ^SPACE::  Winset, Alwaysontop, , A  

Simply when you press Ctrl and Space at the same time, you will enable “Always on Top” mode on whatever window you have selected

Step 7:

File > Save

Step 8:

Right click on your script again, and click “Compile Script”

Step 9:

You should now have a new icon that says “Always On Top”. Double click on that icon

Step 10:

Make sure the icon is in your active desktop tray

Step 11:

Now just click on whatever window you want to be on top, and press Ctrl Space. And when you want to stop it from being on top, just press Ctrl Space again! Enjoy

After many months of debating on spending $700 on the Nexus 6, my Nexus 5 microphone gave out. (most likely due to moisture, I like my phone in the shower). One thing I've been really excited about with Google's Nexus 6 is the hardware! It runs the first gen of qHD screens! Yes thats 1440 x 2560 pixels at 493 ppi pixel density. And since it's sitting in a AMOLED display, I could get all the similar features that the MOTO X, And LG G3 and Note 4 got. Most notably, breathing notifications. 

Now the hardware is phenomenal. It runs Qualcomm Snapdragon 805, Quad-core 2.7 GHz Krait 450 CPU and Adreno 420 GPU. The Note 4 for example runs the same hardware, but runs on a horribly optimized (lack of) TouchWiz interface, and still Kitkat 4.4.4. And LG G3 features a slimmed down, but still skinned Android Lollipop. So I've been wanting to see what this Nexus 6 can actually hit on pure stock and then running the famous(for battery life namely) Franco Kernel.

I used both industry standards, 3DMark and Antutu. I was surprised to see how far up stock Nexus 6 achieved in 3DMark, and made me still want a NVIDIA Shield Tablet in the end.  Unfortunately both the LG G3, and Note 4 ranked very low, and iPad Air ranked even lower, with their A5X. (Might explain why rumor says Apple is going back to Samsung for their chipsets)

Below you will see the screenshots. Franco Kernel is r14.  I just ran extreme profile, did not tweak voltage or cpu governor.  For the curious on my apps I run on my Nexus 6 can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QmwJxOz5huGRRcaZgIOeOhmn77owba608_6gmWXyAi0/edit?usp=sharing I run extremely low numbers on apps.  34 are Google/Android Apps, and 31 are 3rd Party Apps. Until Android Wear consolidates their apps into an app manager like Google Glass did. I will have many 3rd Party Apps. 

3D Mark Stock

ANTUTU STOCK

3DMARK FRANCO KERNEL

ANTUTU FRANCO KERNEL

Star Citizen is the golden standard (already?) for future UHD gaming. Many people want to play this game in Surround mode at 4K, or even single display 4K.  Here's why, even at this very moment, you won't be able to achieve 4K, at a solid 60FPS and get that immersion you so desperately want.

(side note: many gamers have said that its a race for GPU manufactures to release a GPU that will run the specs Star Citizen requires. Crysis anyone?)

4K and Triple Monitor Support

HDMI 2.0 cannot do 144hz. 

Display Port or DVI-D can only do 144hz at 4K.

If you want that immersion and smoothness feel, 144hz is the gaming standard. 

To run at the current generation of cards, AMD 290x and NVIDIA 980GTX, you wouldn't be able to maintain 4K at 60FPS across triple monitors even if you did triple sli, or triple crossfire. 

VRAM, VRAM, VRAM, VRAM. After NVIDIA got busted for promoting their 970GTX as 4GB of ram, and then gimping it to 3.5GB thus causing massive slowdowns on games utilizing 3.5GB or above vram (shadows of mordor). NVIDIA refuses to apply a software fix to force games to switch to 3.5GB, and unfortunately, this practice will most likely continue for future gen cards.

Until 6GB+ cards are common, high res textures will just not be viable. 

There are no 4K monitors at 144hz, and won't be for a long time.

ASUS, and ACER have 2K monitors at 144hz, with G-Sync and 1MS refresh rate. (The closest you will get to 4k), and at a high price!

Still won't get a solid 60FPS in highend Triple AAA games with current gen cards

What about that Oculus Rift CV1 thats coming out? 

Oculus Rift DK2 and NVIDIA battle each other with the VRAM issue, mentioned above. The DK2 requires a bit more VRAM than many GPU's even provide. And currently the 970GTX and the DK2 have some issues. 

The per-eye resolution is 960x1080 with a DK2, the CV1 is much higher(possibly 1440p (2k)) Your GPU will need a high framebuffer to avoid blurring and a depth buffer as well. 

Currently for 2016, my build will involve: (keep in mind, these specs will be avg gaming pc specs in 2016)

2x or 3X SLI NVIDIA 6GB cards.

3x Asus ROG 144hz, 1ms, G-Sync 27" 2K monitors. (Currently $800 a piece).

Intel 8 Core CPU.

32 GB of RAM (plan on offsetting the ram for quicker load times with Dimmdrive :: Gaming Ramdrive @ 10,000+ MB/s), currently available on steam.

At the time of the writing i'm using driver 347.09 

Disclaimer: This will not give you the full benefits of SLI, just a fraction of the benefits.

During Christmas I received a great gift from my parents, a new 970GTX! However it was not the same brand; I had a EVGA, and this was a MSI. No big deal I thought, years ago I had two different brand 260GTX. 

After installing my liquid cooling to the card and voiding my warranty I went ahead and tested it out. Unfortunately NVIDIA does not support anything with different GPU Clock speeds Memory etc. This lead to a problem once I noticed SLI was disabled in the NVIDIA Control Panel....

As you can see with these two screenshots: 

Fortunately it wasn't that big of a deal. There is a program called DifferentSLIAuto. This lets you mix n match different video cards, even NON SLI supporting motherboards and enables SLI.  One thing to keep in mind, your DEV ID's much MATCH. Simply In your Windows device manager. Right click on your display adapter and go to properties. Switch to the "Details" tab, and in the combo box select "Hardware Ids."

For me it was 

If you are running NVIDIA Driver 347.09. Simply download the .sys file here And copy it into the DifferentSLIAuto1.1 folder. And just run the Install file! Nothing else!!!!

Now here comes the bad part, and this should help you in the future as well. And save you SEVERAL hours.....

Step 1:

Some SLI Bridges aren't reversible, so make sure its in the proper seating position.

Step 2:

You have to disable driver signing in windows. Open up Command Prompt and make sure to run it in Administrator Mode.

type in 

bcdedit -set loadoptions DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS bcdedit -set TESTSIGNING ON

IF you get an ERROR. Proceed to step 2a

Step 2a:

This is where my headache began. 

Return to the Start Screen, start typing gpedit.msc and hit Enter.

Navigate to User Configuration (2nd node) | Administrative Templates | System | Driver Installation | Code signing for device drivers

Double-click the policy and set it to Disabled.

Restart

Step 3: 

Make sure to check that TEST MODE shows up in the lower right hand corner (above the clock) If it doesn't proceed to Step 3a.

Run the rest of the utility. Check the readme for other instructions  (if you are 347.09 or above just Simply download the .sys file here And copy it into the DifferentSLIAuto1.1 folder. And just run the Install file!)

Step 3a:

You most likely have an issue with your BIOS. It probably has Secure Boot/UEFI enabled. My motherboard is an ASUS Z97 ROG, and after some digging around I discovered you need to restart into your BIOS (del).

Navigate to Boot > Secure Key Management.  

Click on CLEAR SAVED KEYS.

Restart Dear god to realize why disabling drivers wasn't working took 3 hours of my time, and then realized that this was the problem. 3 HOURS. I could be in bed right now sleeping!

Step 4:

Many of us work in an office, or live somewhere where port 32400 is blocked. So how can we view our content online when PLEX doesn't offer an easy way to redirect the port? This tutorial covers how to do it with Windows 7 - 8

Step 1:

Open up your Command Prompt (press your windows key + r)

And type in cmd, then press enter.

Step 2:

Type in to command prompt. 

[CODE] netsh interface portproxy add v4tov4 listenport=80 connectport=32400 connectaddress=192.168.1.20 [/CODE](replace this with the IP your plex server runs on)

Then press enter

Step 3:

Now go to your Router, typically 192.168.1.1 and enter in your credentials.

Step 4:

Find your portforwarding tab and forward your Plex server's IP to 80. Something like this.

Once you press Add. Make sure to restart your router.

Step 5:

Go to your Plex web interface and click on Connect  and then Show Advanced. Type under "Manually enter port" 80 . And then press connect.

If everything goes smoothly then you are ready to go!

Troubleshooting. 

Over the years, the idea of reformatting your hard-drive and having to reinstall all your applications/games seemed like a tedious, annoying process. So when decided to reformat my 750gb Samsung 840 EVO SSD last night. I figured I would have to spend several hours remembering all the programs and settings I once had. Fortunately this was not the case.

I actually only had a small list of files to download manually from the internet.

In retrospect I didn't need FileZilla and Sublime 3, because Google Chrome has many extensions for FTP and text editing.  But notice that 3 downloads there are cloud based? 

Below is a list of Cloud based services that made my life way simpler!

1. One Drive (15GB) and One Drive Business (1TB)

After Windows 8.1 Professional booted up after the install and I had entered in my live account. I immediately saw all my documents, photos, work files sync up.  This included all window live tiles, and Lync. I no longer need the Office suite, because Windows provides this through online apps, thus removing the need to install anything. Because of services like Windows Mail. I can sync up my outlook, and other emails. 

2. Dropbox (64GB)

Dropbox stores many of my immediate files, including save files for all video games I play. All backups of apps, and software from all my Android devices. Even the keychain for 1Password that I use for all my high priority passwords. The primary reason why I'm listing this is because it removes the need to run a local server like XAMPP for website building. As Dropbox provides you with its own (almost realtime) server to use.

3. Google Drive (100GB)

Google Drive holds many important and backup files.  All my pictures taken with my Android devices live on here. As well as many many dropbox compressed backups.   If my dropbox backup ever disappeared I have everything backed up here, as well as a 1 local drive (1TB), and through Crash Plan Monthly Subscription (infinite storage).

4. Steam (Infinite Storage)

An annoyance that many of us may remember is having to dig out our Cd roms and DVD roms to install each game.  Fortunately I moved to Steam many years ago, and repurchased every game I've ever owned (thats available) on Steam. Now I no longer need to keep my old cdroms and go through the annoyance of manually installing each game. Steam gave me the option to download and install (on its own) every game I've played in the past 30 days. 

5. Adobe Cloud (20GB)

Since I work in the design industry, I'm 100% reliant on Adobe's Cloud service and their products. One of the worst and biggest annoyances is having to backup all your presets and fonts etc. Fortunately Adobe stores all of this for you through your login. I simply choose the Apps I want on the computer and all App and personal files sync up. A Tree Map of my SSD

I have a box with 10 Gbps connection. And Star Citizen is horrendously slow to update, and just to grab the full game. So I'm going to keep an updated torrent for all of us to use.

Link to download the torrent.[1]

Alt link[2]

*updated*

With the developer preview of Android L. I noticed that many root kits with superSU and TWRP were out of date. And who really wants to type out all those commands? 

I decided to make my own script, for all of us who just are simply lazy and want to have fun!

This root kit utilizes superSU. Also have included a new superSU for Android L if you are upgrading to Android L. 

Here is the dropbox link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/obr57p7tm0blh10/Nexus5AllinOne.zip?m=

Alternate Mirror here: https://mega.co.nz/#!fAoR2Jrb!bAFmuXDxJlHjl9VMptN6mL3BFetQoFUr-vGeKcJh08M

Steps are Simple. It will ask you to go into fastboot mode. Then will unlock your bootloader. If already unlocked. It will skip and move to rooting! Once you have rooted it will then install TWRP(teamwin).

Have fun! 

*UPDATE* latest version here http://downloads.plexapp.com/plex-media-server/0.9.8.18.290-11b7fdd/plexmediaserver_0.9.8.18.290-11b7fdd_amd64.deb

Some of us may have a seedbox or a VPS out there on the web. Typically while renting a slot through such provider we aren't given sudo access. So how can I install applications such as Plex on them? Below you'll find a very simple solution of doing so!

*DISCLAIMER* The seedbox I have uses the OS Debian. To grab higher res photos here

Step 1:

SSH into your Server using your favorite ssh software. I'll be using terminal(MAC) but putty is a great alternative for Windows!

Step 2:

The wonderful team over here came up with a way to package plex for Debian servers. We will be using their latest version which can be found here. Alternatively you can use the BASH command and do [CODE]# wget http://downloads.plexapp.com/plex-media-server/0.9.8.6.175-88ffbb2/plexmediaserver_0.9.8.6.175-88ffbb2_amd64.deb[/CODE]

Once you've downloaded plexmediaserver_0.9.8.2.82-b32b611_amd64.deb. FTP into your server and place it in the root dir of your slot.  Step 3:

Next step is to unpack plexmediaserver_0.9.8.2.82-b32b611_amd64.deb. To do so go back to your ssh software and type. 

[CODE]ar x plexmediaserver_0.9.8.2.82-b32b611_amd64.deb[/CODE]

Step 4:

Type [CODE]ls[/CODE] And you should see control.tar.gz, data.tar.gz , debian-binary and plexmediaserver_0.9.8.2.82-b32b611_amd64.deb. What we have done is simple extracted the deb file. Now the next part is to extract both .gz files. 

To do this simply extract the data.tar.gz file. [CODE]tar xvzf data.tar.gz[/CODE] You will see a ton of files extract on your terminal! So don't worry.

Step 5:

Type in [CODE]ls[/CODE] and you should see, control.tar.gz  data.tar.gz  debian-binary  etc  plexmediaserver_0.9.8.2.82-b32b611_amd64.deb  usr. At this point you are nearly there!

You can now remove control.tar.gz, data.tar.gz, debian-binary and plexmediaserver.deb if you like!

Step 6:

The final step is getting to the Plexmediaserver. Depending on where you installed your plexmediaserver, the filepaths may initially look different. For me. Its simply [CODE] cd usr/lib/plexmediaserver [/CODE]

Step 7:

Once you have located that directory. Enter in [CODE]bash start.sh[/CODE]

You will see some folders created and it will notify you that Plex Media Server is running!

Disclaimer Currently these Screenshots are for Verizon Wireless Based Routers. I'm running the MI424WR-GEN3I Model.  Link Here. If you have $79.99 to spare its a fantastic N based router, with a HUGE NAT Table. So you can run simultaneous connections for months without reboots.

  Now there is a myth/rumor(fact) that Verizon, Comcast and TimeWarner are throttling access to youtube for several months. Regardless, its become apparent that its a big issue. Their are many fixes on the Net for MAC, Linux, Windows, Android machines. However iOS has limitations on blocking IP's. So I'll show you a quick way to block them on your Verizon based Router. (It should be similar on your routers) Although, I've looked through several Comcast Xfinity Routers, and couldn't find the ability to block IPS. Let me know if you do!

  Step 1:

Open up your Browser and Login into your Router. 

Typically what you enter into your address bar is 192.168.1.1.

  Step 2. 

You should see a page similar to this. Go Ahead and click on Firewall Settings.

    Step 3.

Click Yes.

    Step 4.

Now on the Firewall Page, click Advanced Filters.

    Step 5.

Your settings may be Different Here.

Essentially you want to route your IP, and your Local network IPs to 206.111.0.0-206.111.255.255

Click on the Add Button below Broadband Connection(Ethernet/Coax Rules)

  Step 6.

In the Edit Advanced Filter Section, Choose Add from the Drop Down under Source Address.

  Step 7.

Here you should have a blank page. So go ahead and Press Add

  Step 8.

Now Right to  Network Object Type select IP RANGE from the dropdown

Fill in the First IP Address of your Local IP (Typically 192.168.1.1).

Fill in the Last IP Address of your Local IP (Typically 192.168.1.255).

Once finished, Click Apply.

  Step 9.

Repeat Step 8, and enter in your Public IP. 

Go to whatismyip.com and Copy the first 3 blocks. (Example would be 78.82.23)

Inside the First IP Address enter in the first 3 blocks, then add a 0. (Example 78.82.23.0)

Inside the Last IP Address enter in the first 3 blocks, then add a 255. (Example 78.82.23.255)

Once Finished, click Apply.

  Step 10.

Now you should be back to the Edit Advanced Filter Page.

Click under Destination Address, the Add button in the Dropdown.

  Step 11:

Just like before click the Add Button.

    Step 12:

Inside the First IP Address enter 206.111.0.0

Inside the Last IP Address enter 206.111.255.255

Once Finished, click Apply.

  Step 13:

Thats it! on the Router End. Now go to http://www.youtube.com/html5 And Click Join Trial at the bottom.

This will ensure you are using the youtube HTML5 player, instead of Adobe Flash.

  Step 14. 

Sit back and watch 720p videos with 0 buffering :)

Every since the released of  Windows Phone 8, I've wanted to find something that would closely mimic it on Android. After trying numerous launchers, themes, widgets and icon packs I've finally found one that is close enough!

The Launcher is called Launcher 8, respectively. Link here, Developer Website here. Link to Higher res images here

Features of Launcher 8:

Add different size tiles;

Change each tiles Color.

Save and restore the theme.

Edit the start screen layout;

Set the current background style;

Switch the application list style

Even add Android widgets in the tiles; 

You can also set the Windows Phone 8 style lock screen and status bar;

Hundreds of Colors to choose from.

You can add special features tiles,like time ,pictures and contact photo.

On top of Launcher 8, to make it really feel like a Windows 8 phone I've added on 

WP7 Dialer

WP7contact

Messaging Metro Beta

UberMusic

Lets break this down, Screenshot by Screenshot. In Hindsight, I should have tried to match every android screen closely to the windows 8 mobile screens I referenced. 

Lockscreen:

The lockscreen offers identical customizations even down to the way alerts pop up on the lockscreen. As well as gives you 4 different formats on how you want it to look like. For this I ended up choosing a more familiar message icon, and android based fonts. 

Notice that the Status bar uses familiar icons.

Settings Screen:

Launcher 8 Mimicked very closely to the way the settings screen works, even down to horizontal scrolling.

As you can tell Launcher 8 made each word capitalized however. This wouldn't be to difficult to adjust in the .apk (I believe)

  Home Screen: (Unfortunately I couldn't find a windows 8 phone homescreen as long as my android one via google image search)

Android:

Windows 8 Phone.

  (Disclaimer: Blocked out my contact names/faces for security reasons)

Launcher 8 lets you adjust tile padding to make it more closely to Windows 8 Phone. For this demonstration I made mine have only 10px on each side. I believe Windows 8 Phone is using a slightly higher padding.

Launcher 8 also includes icon packs that Windows 8 Phone uses for similar icons. 

Not seen, but I will also mention that when you click on a Tile, it will do the same opening animation that is seen in Windows 8 Phone.

  Search/Apps Directory: (Unfortunately I could not find accompanying screens for Windows 8 Phone)

Launcher 8 lets you view all your Apps with lettering, or without.

As well as providing a similar search system seen in Windows 8 Phone.

  Folders:  (Unfortunately I could not find accompanying screens for Windows 8 Phone)

Launcher 8 Mimics fairly well the folder system/list used in Windows 8 Phone.

Also would like to mention that each App(tile) Is editable with color,size, as well as icon.

Contacts:

Music:

Messaging:

Things not shown:

Just like Windows 8 Phone, Launcher 8 has identical Status Bars. After a short period(designated by you) The Status Bar will minimize a bit, hiding all icons but battery. With a simple swipe down it will show all your other icons

On the Homescreen you can rearange, unpin, resize each tile to your liking.

Expand all tile icons to fit the tile, and or swap them out with different icons.

Opening an App animation is identical to the one you will find on Windows 8 phone.

Overall, I find Launcher 8 to be a great example of what can be done with Android and I'm looking forward to see what else this launcher will have in the future.

View all Screenshots in Higher Res here.

This is just a quick overview from my perspective of the Windows 9 Blue build 9364 that was leaked earlier today.

Installation of Windows 9.

Glad to see the Logo hasn't changed.

Strange says Windows 8?

First Indication of Windows 9 Prebuild.

Windows 9 Startscreen

Noticeable differences here. Alarm, Sound recorder  Calculator, and Movie moments are all new apps.

Alarm App

Calculator App

Sound Recorder App

Better Customization for the Start Screen. Kind of removes the need to use a 3rd Part App called Decor8.

Settings now has a Desktop Button. And notification window is a bit redesigned.

Right clicking on the Start Screen Prompts not the usual "All Apps" Button, but instead "Customize"

With Customize its easier to edit Group names. Rather have the "All Apps" Button.

Desktop Mode

Desktop mode has a tad bit of tweaking to File Explorer.

The Start Menu button now flashes when you initially open up the Charm Bar.

Memory usage is insane! Only using 523 MB of RAM! That's about the same as Windows XP!

PC Settings

There is an option now to revert back to Windows 8 version of Modern settings. Pressing it, I didn't notice too much of a difference. Must be a W.I.P.

Update has Page under Construction. Quite a few pages under Settings have that.

Side by Side Views now! (Finally)

Internet Explorer 11! 

Yikes, Html5test reads it as IE10(understandable) But the Point difference is still significant compared to the latest build of Chrome .

That's about all I've noticed so far. Even in a VM, Windows Blue is running extremely Smooth, and has much better ram utilization.

I'm disappointed in the lack of features added on so far. Microsoft did say that they planned on tying Desktop mode and Start Screen mode more tightly. The only thing I've noticed is adding apps to the Start Screen, so you won't have to use them inside desktop mode. 

Finished up the Like a Sir website, Linky to Website Here. Check it out!

Also got on DIYAppReviews

Link to above Picture.

That post by Armando Ferreria sums up the entirety of last nights keynote. And gives what I believe to be a perfect example of how different manufactures use Android. My one comment would be that if Google finds one of those 'features' from any device useful, it will take it and improve/implement it into its OS. Every manufacturer has gimmick features, Apple has them, Nokia has them, HTC, LG, and big time with SONY. Problem with Samsung's unpacked was that, was all they showed. Didn't even show the specs until the last minute, and they were on side screens, not even on the front main screen!  I will say though that Samsung has the best eco system out there. The things I can do with my Smart Tv in integration with my S3 is incredible, and surpasses any other phone out there. Now if I only had a Samsung Fridge, Washing/dryer machine, to fully utilize all the features *rolls eyes*. Aside from that, I may buy the S4. But i'll have to buy it outright, and since I ditched the Touchwiz interface(and all the features) about 11 months into owning my S3 for Stock Android. I probably won't get any benefit out of the S4 other than the higher than Retina Display/Resolution and 8 core CPU/GPU. All in all, I would say Skip the S4, and wait for the S5. And here are two amazing examples why.

Samsung leaving behind the iPhone Generation.