Tong Family (richtong.org sync)

Ok this must truly be the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. We have a brand new radar detector and it mysteriously stopped working. Turns out that the lighter adapter has a mini-blade 2 amp fuse in it. There is a easy to push button which releases it. So next time your Valentine doesn’t work, look…

I’ve been getting terrible hangs on Safari (running latest Sierra), but not with Google Chrome. I’m pretty sure this is related to UBlock Origin, but thought I would try debugging: Clear all history. This will wipe out your cookies Disable WebGL. I’m not sure this all matters but did it. We are running UBlock Origin…

OK, a few folks have asked me what the best machine is for compiling things like the Linux kernel. Turns out the answer isn’t super intuitive, but the new AMD Ryzen has just been a monster at doing this. They have more cores and more threads, ECC for big memory and overclocking. All things that…

OK, I don’t know how many New York Subway cards I have that have expired, so here are two solutions: If you have an expired MetroCard with money in it, take it to the subway station and they will give you a new card for free. EasyPay. If you don’t get there often enough, use…

Ok, so you’ve got a MacBook Pro and you need a battery pack, the main issues are: For the older MacBooks, getting something with a Magsafe connector. For the MacBook 2016 and later, you need something that does high speed USB C charging. Most chargers will charge at 5V x 2A or 10 watts, but…

There’s no doubt that if you are typing 12 hours a day, having a crappy keyboard is really frustrating.  A few quick notes. While the Apple keyboards for instance do work are OK, the true aficionado needs a mechanical keyboard. So here are some reviews. Hobgear is one person’s view. Note that these are “compact”…

Well a few tricks here to double dip: Cashbackmonitor.com doesn’t work on gift cards mainly because they are largely excluded from rebates. However, MileagePlus X is explicitly all about gift cards, so check there first for deals. As an example AMC is a 5x bonus with a 25% additional bonus if you hold a United…

Sometimes when you boot your MacBook particularly in some recovery modes it will forget the cached FileVault credentials. You then get thrown into a strange mode where it says it forgets and asks for FileVault password. And says you forgot your password.  Actually it’s not you. It’s the macOS which has lost the encrypted disk…

OK, this is a little convoluted, but Happy Fathers Day here is how it works (hat tip to TPG) but here’s some documentation on a promotion that ended June 16, keep on the look out for more, but the basic idea is you find a retailer that is on both the United Portal and also…

It’s been so long since I’ve printed (in facts, four years since that’s the last time I posted how to do this!). But here’s a reminder of how to do it: Go to the Ilford site and download the ICC profile that matches your paper to your printer. Look at the paper and find the…

Well, training by heart rate has been something that has been around for decades now, but whats the magic maximum heart rate. Turns out the traditional formula 210 – Your Age is at best an approximation. So here’s what Lifehacker says: In your twenties, 210-Age works and this is how the formula was first fit If you…

Well, I spent years a long time ago on Weight Weenies figuring out how to lighten a bike. I remember sitting in meetings calculating the cost per gram for lower weight. Sometimes I went too far when a handlebar broke, but by and large it worked and I got down to a 15 pound bike…

Of course a dedicated bike computer has a longer battery life than an iPhone particularly for long rides, but if you are just going out, it is possible to use the iPhone as a computer as long as all your devices support Bluetooth LE (as long as it’s a short ride). Here are the things…

Well, if this summer you need some heavy iron to train models, here are some tips. The main issue is that both AMD and Intel are in a transition, so availability of the really cool hardware is delayed. TL;dr So you have two choices, one is to stick with the last generation CPU and use…

If you have a bunch of photos and just want a random slide show to appear on a TV, what’s the easiest path? If you are lucky your TV has a built in player, that is when you stick a USB key in, it knows how to read the slides and play it. Our Samsung…

Synology has really made it easy to get yourself into trouble. We have a 12 drive Synology at home and a 8 bay plus older Drobo 8 bay and a Drobo 4 bay. Somehow we’ve ended up with terabytes and terabytes of storage, but I’m always running out on one volume or another, so here…

There are two ways to make this happen: Sign up for Netflix with Chase Ink, this will give you the equivalent of 11% off if you have a Chase Sapphire card and can use the points. Buy a bunch of iTunes gift cards and use them to pay for your Netflix. This works, but is…

One thing that has been bothering me is that two of my bikes have quick release skewers and disc brakes. Although unlikely, it is possible that the QR can come loose. Most folks are shifting to through axle which is more reliable. However, it turns out that you can convert from QR to thru axle…

Well this had lots of parts but is pretty cool. Basically with the older Ultegra Di2 system, you need to add a wireless transmitter to update it and for it to give you gear and other information. It’s not really documented how to make this all work, so here’s a quick guide: DN101 Battery. First…

Seems like we are always needing more of these, so once again, let’s take a look at ultralight gear for tents, trekking poles and water purifiers, so the ultralight list at Outdoor Gearlabs is super helpful Tents Well, there is a tradeoff between lightweight and being sturdy, but we have the Big Agnes UV 2…

OK I’ve never quite figured out the many settings that Adobe Photoshop has for printing as I barely ever do it. First a few notes: If you want to print some favorites out of an Apple shared album, this is actually pretty hard. There is a like button for instance, but in Mac Photos there…

Well Synology has just been awesome with compatibility and updates, but hitting the first signs of obsolescence. It looks like Synology systems older than June 2014 have an 8TB hard disk limit. I know, I know, that seems like lots of capacity, but it’s not well documented if you look at the Synology compatibility lists you…

Wow these are some lenses, thanks first of all to lensrentals.com, they are just awesome. I needed these lense for shooting a sailing regatta that was probably 1km away, it’s tough to get shots like this, but at least the boats are moving slow, so I could use ultra high resolution bodies (the Canon 5DS…

OK, I’ve been updated to a new bike and here are some notes: The recommendations on tires have changed quite a bit. I used to ride 23mm at 110 psi, but now folks are recommending a wider 25mm at 90 psi, apparently it’s about the same footprint on the road and much more stable. Heart…

The Points Guy. Can anyone tell we are back to the geekfest. A great list of flight apps. Flightradar24 is cool. I loved it when united had their ATC channel now it’s free. Finally Windy is good as is Tripit (president version free every the Amex card). Also use a Flightview as it has where…

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/9to5macToys/~3/PMN-xAleGhw/ the LG 55 C6 is an incredible OLED screen. At $1400 it’s expensive but nearly 40% off its initial price. It’s kind of the perfect gamers screen. Talk about immersive! Main issue is getting one that has a defect. Amazon is awesome because they will just pick one up and give u a new…

https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2017/06/the-comprehensive-ranking-of-the-major-uv-filters-on-the-market/ everything you need to know about filters to protect your lense front end. I normally get the B+W MRC Clear Transparent which is a nice $50 choice. It maybe shouldn’t be surprising but if you want to protect your front end, you need at least a $50 piece of glass and not an el…

Seems like every year (?!) when I do print, I have to remember how to get the profiles right. With an old Canon iP100, the question is how to get a nice color, so here is the mapping: The Paper codes They have a two digit paper code system from lowest to highest quality MP.…

Well the fragility of MacBook Pros has me looking for new laptop recommendations. I by the way did tweet to #tim_cook and apples executive support tram responded awesomely fast.  The main news is that there is no recourse from what level 2 tech support says through that channel. Warranty decisions are made at the descretion…

Ok, I’ve had three cases now of MacBook Pro 2016 which have screen cracks from things that is should not. The repair cost is $700 and they will not cover it under AppleCare Closing your laptop on an Ethernet adapter. This will totally crack your screen and this is called accidental damage. Closing your laptop…