tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-289468892024-03-28T05:20:11.621-04:00tobias-tobinQuick tidbits on computing.tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.comBlogger181125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-59752315397320732502023-04-06T17:06:00.001-04:002023-04-06T17:06:29.580-04:00New beginner's guide to PowerShell on my GitHub page<p> I created a beginner's guide to PowerShell here:</p><p><a href="https://github.com/aamjohns/Powershell_Guide/blob/main/README.md">https://github.com/aamjohns/Powershell_Guide/blob/main/README.md</a></p><p>I hope it helps someone learn PowerShell.</p>tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-30223497227234757022022-06-14T17:16:00.000-04:002022-06-14T17:16:27.652-04:00Windows logon hangs at Other User Welcome message<p> We had a newly setup server exhibit a very slow logon due to hanging at 'Other User Welcome' screen (for a minute or two). I could not find anything related in the event logs. I couldn't find anything relevant on the system to explain this hang.</p><p>I googled this issue and finally found something that worked. The problem had to due with the server and Azure Active Directory.</p><p>I was able to fix the slow logon by running the elevated command: dsregcmd.exe /leave</p><p>Before disjoining it, if I ran the command dsregcmd.exe /status everything appeared normal to me and it appeared to be AAD joined. I am not sure why leaving AAD resolves this slow logon issue but I wanted to document it in case this helps anyone else.</p>tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-25885801378972829842019-12-12T14:01:00.002-05:002019-12-12T14:01:21.152-05:00Macintosh - Box Drive causes Finder to go to Not Responding for 5+ minutes<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I recently ran into this issue with a user who upgraded to MacOS Catalina. This user stores much of their data in Box Drive and uses it regularly. After they upgraded to Catalina, anytime they clicked the 'Box' folder in Finder, Finder would stop responding for a long time. Eventually, it responds and he can use it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did much troubleshooting trying to find what was causing this issue. I didn't find anything online that was helpful. I uninstalled and reinstalled Box Drive, which did not help. One test I conducted that was helpful; I logged on with my profile and accessed my Box drive. It worked fine. That told me this was most likely due to something in the user's profile.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used Activity Monitor to explore the 'Open Files and Processes' associated with the Box process. I recorded the output in the box to get the different paths where it stores and uses data.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To make this post short, if you run into this issue, you can try the following steps:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, make sure Box is not running. You can end the process from Activity Monitor if needed.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rename this folder (replace <username> with their username)
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>/Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Box</b></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to</span>
<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>/Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Box.bak</b></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Open Box and see if it works normally now.</span><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"><ol><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /></span></span></ol>
</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-74680522161193085832019-10-28T10:26:00.001-04:002019-10-28T10:26:20.179-04:00Annoying Ads in lower right portion of desktop with Google Chrome?<span style="font-size: large;">Block websites abusing the notifications functionality of Google Chrome from popping up ads on your machine</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
I worked on a system that would get large, annoying, sometimes bizarre, ads in the lower right portion of the desktop, right above the systray. In this particular case, they were coming from https://daily.foundation<br />
<br />
If the ads say Google Chrome - <i>some name </i>then you can remove them by following the steps below:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Click the 3 dot menu item in the upper right portion of Chrome</li>
<li>On the menu click 'Settings'</li>
<li>Scroll to the bottom of the Settings menu and click 'Advanced' (if Advanced options are already exposed you will see them listed under 'Advanced')</li>
<li>Under 'Privacy and Security' click on 'Site Settings'</li>
<li>In the list of Site Settings, click on 'Notifications'</li>
<li>You should see 'Ask before sending', make sure the slider is turned on</li>
<li>Under allow, look for any websites you don't want to be allowed to automatically pop up things, like ads.</li>
<ol>
<li>To the right of an unwanted site, click the 3-dot menu item</li>
<li>On the menu that pops up, choose 'Block'</li>
<li>Repeat this for any and all sites you want to block</li>
</ol>
<li>You can close the Settings window once you have made the above changes</li>
<li>Hopefully, those annoying ads will be gone now</li>
</ol>
<br />
<br />tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-86021873266760120292019-06-17T07:44:00.000-04:002019-06-17T07:44:04.517-04:00Jamf JSS, JSS Importer, and SpruceI recently found out about Spruce (<a href="https://github.com/jssimporter/Spruce" target="_blank">Spruce</a>). Spruce can help clean up a JSS server.<br />
From the author's GitHub page: " Spruce looks for objects on your JSS which have no current usage, are out of date, or are otherwise crufty"<br />
<br />
My JSS server uses a self-signed certificate. I have JSSImporter already configured and working. When I went to use Spruce I would get this error:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<code><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">requests.exceptions.SSLError:
HTTPSConnectionPool(host='ndh-jss-01.corp.contoso.com', port=8443): Max
retries exceeded with url: /JSSResource/distributionpoints (Caused by
SSLError(SSLError("bad handshake: Error([('SSL routines',
'ssl3_read_bytes', 'sslv3 alert handshake failure')],)",),))</span></code></blockquote>
I had installed python-jss using '<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">sudo pip install python-jss</span>'<br />
<br />
Event though Spruce reads the JSSImporter preferences file for connection information, it would not successfully connect to my JSS.<br />
<br />
I found a resolution. In my case I needed to edit this file:<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> /Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/jss/tlsadapter.py</span><br />
<br />
Near the bottom of the file I changed:<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">ssl_version=ssl.PROTOCOL_TLSv1) </span><br />
to this:<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">ssl_version=ssl.PROTOCOL_TLSv1_2) </span><br />
<br />
After this change my sslv3 error went away and Spruce was able to connect to the JSS server.tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-69571231109278429852018-03-07T07:36:00.001-05:002018-03-07T07:43:30.702-05:00Windows 10 with Ubuntu: Install error CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows cannot be found or cannot be accessed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirSyVfoW-FxFfCFCn_XHQTFonh3N8GfPZVeUcZIgvCdbbHgKx4gRC7wkbmvRG3TxjqV6vnYA0-392Mcu4fr95IAEYQFfpUaevmQTYSao7CIoqQGQQe5lG9Ojzul1b_ttv6T540lg/s1600/Ubuntu-2018-03-07.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows error message" border="0" data-original-height="163" data-original-width="573" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirSyVfoW-FxFfCFCn_XHQTFonh3N8GfPZVeUcZIgvCdbbHgKx4gRC7wkbmvRG3TxjqV6vnYA0-392Mcu4fr95IAEYQFfpUaevmQTYSao7CIoqQGQQe5lG9Ojzul1b_ttv6T540lg/s1600/Ubuntu-2018-03-07.png" title="Windows 10 Launch Ubuntu Error" /></a></div>
<br />
On Windows 10 Enterprise build 1709 I installed the Windows Subsystem for Linux. Next I open the Microsoft Store and did a search for Ubuntu. That gave me the option to Launch which then triggered the install. The last step was a shell prompt asking me to setup a user and passphrase.
After that I could use the Ubuntu command line shell (bash).<br />
<br />
Later on, something went wrong and I stopped being able to use Ubuntu. I cannot remember for sure but I think I wanted to uninstall and reinstall. I removed the Windows Subsystem for Linux (control panel>add remove features>turn windows features on or off>Windows Subsystem for Linux - unchecked the box, clicked ok, and rebooted when prompted).
I then put back the subsystem by going back and checking the box.<br />
<br />
After than, I went to the MS Store and tried to launch Ubuntu. I started getting the error about unable to access ...CanonicalGroupLimited.UbuntuonWindows... from C:\Program Files\WindowsApps.
I tried many different recommendations to resolve this issue. I finally found something that worked.<br />
<br />
For me, going to the Start Menu on Windows and right clicking the Ubuntu tile and choosing uninstall seemed to remove the bits that were causing this issue. After uninstalling Ubuntu from there (it is not listed in the add remove programs list) I was able to go back to the store, launch, and it reinstalled successfully.
Many of the issues described <a href="https://github.com/Microsoft/WSL/issues/2323">in this thread</a> (and proposed solutions) did not work for me but the above steps did.
I did not know about the uninstall by right clicking the tile in the Start Menu. I had thought that maybe there were leftovers in the registry or file system that made Windows think Ubuntu was fully installed when it was not. By being able to trigger the uninstall, that allowed Windows to reinstall and thereby fix the issue.
I wanted to share this potential solution as so many other attempted solutions did not work.<br />
<br />
The above steps may also work for the other Linux distros in the Microsoft Store, or possibly other MS Store installed apps.<br />
<br />
BTW - some people have success by using the diagnostic/repair tool <a href="http://aka.ms/diag_apps10" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0366d6; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none;">http://aka.ms/diag_apps10</a><br />
It appears some temp file paths get changed and cause a breakage. For me the repair tool did not work.<br />
<br />
Also, the repair tool insisted UAC needed to be enabled for Ubuntu to work but that is not the case. The UAC is <i>not required</i>.tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-55093457846992480962016-10-03T11:20:00.000-04:002018-03-12T07:18:53.471-04:00Updating Offline Windows 10 with NTLite and enabling .Net 3.5For imaging I use an extracted .ISO of Windows 10 Enterprise, apply updates using WHDownloader and NTLite, and make settings changes.<br />
<br />
One thing missing that needs to be included is the Feature .Net 3.5. Without this, problems will most likely occur down the road. This is not listed as an option in NTLite. <br />
But there is an easy solution. Click on the Updates page of NTLite. Now browse to your extracted ISO of Windows 10. Specifically to \Sources\SXS<br />
<br />
Drag the Microsoft-windows-netfx3-ondemand-package.cab file and drop it on the Update page. It will now get installed with the other updates you have selected into your updated install.wim.tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-73485982657650970082016-06-23T11:33:00.000-04:002017-03-09T08:32:07.435-05:00Visual Studio 2015 error mscorlib mismatch when Entity Framework runs transformationI was following the instructions on this page <a href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/data/jj574514.aspx" target="_blank">Databinding with WPF</a> when I ran into an issue at the <i>Updating code generation for data binding </i>step. I was getting an mscorlib version mismatch error. I could not compile the project.<br />
<br />
I had noticed that changing ICollection<T> to ObservableCollection never did the regeneration of the entity code. Running 'Run Custom Tool' on the .tt file also did not work.<br />
<br />
After some searching I came across this page <a href="https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/2589836/mscorlib-mismatch-when-entity-framework-runs-transformations" target="_blank">mscorlib mismatch when Entity Framework runs transformations</a>. I installed the <a href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt695655.aspx">vs14-kb3151378.exe</a> updated mentioned in the comments section. After the install and reopening my solution in VS 2015, the mscorlib error was gone. The project would successfully compile.<br />
<br />
Some posted in the comments about changing the SQL server authentication off of Integrated but I know for many of us that is very much undesirable.<br />
<br />
If you run into this issue and have not installed KB3151378, if you are a candidate for the install, I recommend it as it may solve the issue for you too.<br />
<br />tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-29531761697082088852016-04-13T09:15:00.000-04:002016-04-13T09:15:14.878-04:00Outlook error 0x8000ffff attempting to add data file (.pst)I encountered this error using Office 2016 (32-bit) on Windows 7 x64. Logged on to the system as a User, I opened Control Panel>Mail>Data Files and attempted to add a new data file under my default Exchange account. All efforts led to the Error code: 0x8000ffff.<br />
<br />
This error apparently occurs due to the path I took to add the new data file. To successfully add a new data file use this:<br />
<br />
Open Outlook 2016<br />
Click File>Account Settings (big button to the right)>when it drops down click Account Settings.<br />
This will open the Account Settings for the account in the same view as going through the Control Panel, except now a data file can be added without error.<br />
<br />
Click Data Files tab>Add>Select the location for the file, and type the name in the box>Click OK.<br />
The file should successfully be added this time.tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.com129tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-27884061318344770382016-04-01T18:39:00.002-04:002016-04-01T19:12:50.036-04:00Sites to share from posts off the site https://www.quora.com<div>
<ol>
<li><a href="https://www.quora.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quora</span></a></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.coursera.com/" target="_blank">Coursera.com</a></span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.khanacademy.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Khan Academy</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://wolframalpha.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Computational Knowledge Engine</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.udacity.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nanodegree Programs</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.codeacademy.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Learn to code</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.edx.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">edX</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.code.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Every child deserves opportunity</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.stackoverflow.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Stack Overflow</span></a></li>
<li><a href="https://scholar.google.co.in/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Google Scholar</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://freerice.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Play online, learn online and feed the hungry | Freerice.com</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.freecodecamp.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Learn to code and help nonprofits</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.ted.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">TED: Ideas worth spreading</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.lifehacker.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lifehacker - Tips and downloads for getting things done</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">StumbleUpon</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.codeschool.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Learn to Code by Doing - Code School</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://thenewboston.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">thenewboston.org</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">MakeUseOf - Technology, Simplified</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.thenextweb.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Next Web - International technology news, business and culture</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.duolingo.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Learn Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian and English for free</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.howstuffworks.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">HSW</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://noexcuselist.com/everything" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No Excuse List</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.instructables.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DIY How To Make Instructions</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.hackaday.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fresh hacks every day</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">clear answers for common questions</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.academicearth.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">750+ Free Online Courses from the Best Colleges | AcademicEarth.org</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.wolfram.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Computation Meets Knowledge</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.mashable.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mashable</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.addictivetips.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">AddictiveTips</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Free Online Course Materials</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.scribd.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Scribd - Read Unlimited Books</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.coindesk.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">CoinDesk Bitcoin and Blockchain News</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.cookingforengineers.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cooking For Engineers</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://curious.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Grow Your Skills with Online Video Lessons</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.geekwire.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">GeekWire</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://differencebetween.net/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Difference Between Similar Terms and Things</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dictionary and Thesaurus | Merriam-Webster</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.wonderhowto.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wonder How To " Show & Tell for Creators & Doers</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.pcworld.com/howto.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Buying Guides, Tips, How to Advice on the PC Ecosystem</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.curious.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Grow Your Skills with Online Video Lessons</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://theverge.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Verge</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.lumosity.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Brain Games & Brain Training</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gohighbrow.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Highbrow</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://learni.st/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Share What You Know! | Learnist</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://brainpump.net/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Brain Pump - Learn something new</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gizmodo.in/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gadget Guide, Technology & Electronics, News & Reviews</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.freecodeformat.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Free code format online</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.stepjumpr.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">stepjumpr.com</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://mentalfloss.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Random, Interesting, Amazing Facts - Fun Quizzes and Trivia | Mental Floss</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://nseindia.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Page on nseindia.com</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://unplugthetv.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Instead of TV, you should watch...</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://lifehackninja.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">lifehackninja.com</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.launchschool.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Launch School (formerly Tealeaf Academy)</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.eloquentjavascript.net/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Eloquent JavaScript</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.learnenough.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Learn Enough to Be Dangerous</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://learnrubythehardway.org/book/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Learn Ruby The Hard Way</span></a></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.screenr.com/" target="_blank">screenr.com</a>– record movies of your desktop and send them straight to YouTube</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.bounceapp.com/" target="_blank">bounceapp.com</a>– for capturing full length screenshots of web pages</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://goo.gl/" target="_blank">goo.gl</a>– shorten long URLs and convert URLs into <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/tools/qr-codes-share-text-inside-images/3867/" target="_blank">QR codes</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://untiny.me/" target="_blank">untiny.me</a>– find the original URLs that’s hiding behind a short URLs</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://localti.me/" target="_blank">localti.me</a>– know more than just the local time of a city</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://copypastecharacter.com/" target="_blank">copypastecharacter.com</a>– copy special characters that aren’t on your keyboard</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://topsy.com/" target="_blank">topsy.com</a>– a better search engine for twitter</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/AppStore" target="_blank">fb.me/AppStore</a>– search iOS app without launching iTunes</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.iconfinder.com/" target="_blank">iconfinder.com</a>– the best place to find icons of all sizes</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.office.com/" target="_blank">office.com</a>– download templates, clipart and images for your Office documents</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.woorank.com/" target="_blank">woorank.com</a>– everything you wanted to know about a website</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.virustotal.com/" target="_blank">virustotal.com</a>– scan any suspicious file or email attachment for viruses</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://wolframalpha.com/" target="_blank">wolframalpha.com</a>– gets answers directly without searching – more <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/wolfram-alpha-tricks/17752/" target="_blank">wolfram tips</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.printwhatyoulike.com/" target="_blank">printwhatyoulike.com</a>– print web pages without the clutter</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://joliprint.com/" target="_blank">joliprint.com</a>– reformats news articles and blog content as a newspaper</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://isnsfw.com/" target="_blank">isnsfw.com</a>– when you wish to share a <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/safely-open-nsfw-websites/12881/" target="_blank">NSFW page</a> but with a warning</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://e.ggtimer.com/" target="_blank">e.ggtimer.com</a>– a simple online timer for your daily needs</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.random.org/" target="_blank">random.org</a>– pick random numbers, flip coins, and more</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.mywot.com/" target="_blank">mywot.com</a>– check the trust level of any website – <a href="http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/labnol.org" target="_blank">example</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://viewer.zoho.com/" target="_blank">viewer.zoho.com</a>– Preview PDFs and Presentations directly in the browser</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.tubemogul.com/about/oneload" target="_blank">tubemogul.com</a>– simultaneously upload videos to YouTube and <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/video/easily-upload-video-to-multiple-video-sharing-websites/1946/" target="_blank">other video sites</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.truveo.com/" target="_blank">truveo.com</a>– the best place for searching web videos</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://scr.im/" target="_blank">scr.im</a>– share you email address online without worrying about spam</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://spypig.com/" target="_blank">spypig.com</a>– now get <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/email/check-yahoo-gmail-email-read-receipts/2150/" target="_blank">read receipts</a> for your email</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.sizeasy.com/" target="_blank">sizeasy.com</a>– visualize and compare the size of any product</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.whatfontis.com/" target="_blank">whatfontis.com</a>– quickly determine the font name from an image</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.fontsquirrel.com/" target="_blank">fontsquirrel.com</a>– a good collection of fonts – free for personal and commercial use</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://regex.info/exif.cgi" target="_blank">regex.info</a>– find data hidden in your photographs – see more <a href="http://www.labnol.org/software/exif-data-editors/14210/" target="_blank">EXIF tools</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.tineye.com/" target="_blank">tineye.com</a>– this is like an online version of Google Googles</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://iwantmyname.com/" target="_blank">iwantmyname.com</a>– helps you <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/domain-name-research-tools/17881/" target="_blank">search domains</a> across all TLDs</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.tabbloid.com/" target="_blank">tabbloid.com</a>– your favorite blogs delivered as PDFs</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://join.me/" target="_blank">join.me</a>– share you screen with anyone over the web</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.onlineocr.net/" target="_blank">onlineocr.net</a>– recognize text from scanned PDFs and images – other <a href="http://www.labnol.org/software/convert-images-to-text-with-ocr/17418/" target="_blank">OCR tools</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.flightstats.com/" target="_blank">flightstats.com</a>– Track flight status at airports worldwide</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.wetransfer.com/" target="_blank">wetransfer.com</a>– for sharing really <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/share-large-files-without-email/13937/" target="_blank">big files</a> online</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://pastebin.com/" target="_blank">pastebin.com</a>– a temporary online clipboard for your text and code snippets</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.polishmywriting.com/" target="_blank">polishmywriting.com</a>– check your writing for spelling or grammatical errors</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.awesomehighlighter.com/" target="_blank">awesomehighlighter.com</a>– easily highlight the important parts of a web page</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://typewith.me/" target="_blank">typewith.me</a>– work on the same document with multiple people</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://whichdateworks.com/" target="_blank">whichdateworks.com</a>– planning an event? <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/schedule-meetings-online/12172/" target="_blank">find a date</a> that works for all</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://everytimezone.com/" target="_blank">everytimezone.com</a>– a less confusing view of the <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/world-time-zones/14346/" target="_blank">world time zones</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://warrick.cs.odu.edu/" target="_blank">warrick.cs.odu.edu</a>– you’ll need this when your bookmarked <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/recover-deleted-webpages-from-internet/6529/" target="_blank">web pages are deleted</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://gtmetrix.com/" target="_blank">gtmetrix.com</a>– the perfect tool for measuring your <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/test-website-performance-online/17736/" target="_blank">site performance</a> online</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://imo.im/" target="_blank">imo.im</a>– chat with your buddies on from one place</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://translate.google.com/" target="_blank">translate.google.com</a>– translate web pages, PDFs and Office documents</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/leanback" target="_blank">youtube.com/leanback</a>– enjoy a never ending stream of YouTube videos</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.similarsites.com/" target="_blank">similarsites.com</a>– discover new sites that are similar to what you like already</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.wordle.net/" target="_blank">wordle.net</a>– quick summarize long pieces of text with tag clouds</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.bubbl.us/" target="_blank">bubbl.us</a>– create mind-maps, brainstorm ideas in the browser</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://kuler.adobe.com/" target="_blank">kuler.adobe.com</a>– get color ideas, also <a href="http://www.labnol.org/home/decoration/choose-living-room-color-scheme-popular-paint-combination-ideas/2782/" target="_blank">extract colors</a> from photographs</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.followupthen.com/" target="_blank">followupthen.com</a>– setup quick <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/setup-email-reminders/17910/" target="_blank">reminders via email</a> itself</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://lmgtfy.com/" target="_blank">lmgtfy.com</a>– when your friends are too lazy to use Google on their own</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://tempalias.com/#/" target="_blank">tempalias.com</a>– generate temporary email aliases, better than <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/email-address-safety/12746/" target="_blank">disposable email</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.pdfescape.com/pdf/open/preload.asp" target="_blank">pdfescape.com</a>– lets you can quickly <a href="http://www.labnol.org/software/edit-pdf-files/10870/" target="_blank">edit PDFs</a> in the browser itself</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://faxzero.com/" target="_blank">faxzero.com</a>– send an online fax for free – see more <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/send-fax-from-computer/17676/" target="_blank">fax services</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.feedmyinbox.com/" target="_blank">feedmyinbox.com</a>– get RSS feeds as an email newsletter</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://isendr.com/" target="_blank">isendr.com</a>– transfer files without uploading to a server</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://tinychat.com/" target="_blank">tinychat.com</a>– setup a private chat room in micro-seconds</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.privnote.com/" target="_blank">privnote.com</a>– create text notes that will self-destruct after being read</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://flightaware.com/live/" target="_blank">flightaware.com</a>– live flight tracking service for airports worldwide</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://boxoh.com/" target="_blank">boxoh.com</a>– track the status of any shipment on Google Maps –<a href="http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/03/track-shipments-from-ups-dhl-or-fedex.html" target="_blank">alternative</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.chipin.com/" target="_blank">chipin.com</a>– when you need to raise funds online for an event or a cause</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/" target="_blank">downforeveryoneorjustme.<wbr></wbr>com</a>– find if your favorite website is offline or not?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.example.com/" target="_blank">example.com</a>– this website can be used as an example in documentation</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.whoishostingthis.com/" target="_blank">whoishostingthis.com</a>– find the web host of any website</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.google.com/history/" target="_blank">google.com/history</a>– found something on Google but can’t remember it now?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://errorlevelanalysis.com/" target="_blank">errorlevelanalysis.com</a>– find whether a photo is real or a photoshopped one</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.google.com/dictionary" target="_blank">google.com/dictionary</a>– get word meanings, pronunciations and usage examples</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/" target="_blank">urbandictionary.com</a>– find definitions of slangs and informal words</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.seatguru.com/" target="_blank">seatguru.com</a>– consult this site before choosing a seat for your next flight</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.sxc.hu/index.html" target="_blank">sxc.hu</a>– download stock images absolutely free</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://imo.im/" target="_blank">imo.im</a>– chat with your buddies from one place</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://wobzip.org/" target="_blank">wobzip.org</a>– unzip your compressed files online</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://vocaroo.com/" target="_blank">vocaroo.com</a>– record your voice with a click</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://scribblemaps.com/" target="_blank">scribblemaps.com</a>– create custom Google Maps easily</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/" target="_blank">buzzfeed.com</a>– never miss another Internet meme or viral video</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.alertful.com/" target="_blank">alertful.com</a>– quickly setup email reminders for important events</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://encrypted.google.com/" target="_blank">encrypted.google.com</a>– prevent your ISP and boss from reading your search queries</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://formspring.me/" target="_blank">formspring.me</a>– you can ask or answer personal questions here</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://snopes.com/" target="_blank">snopes.com</a>– find if that email offer you received is real or just another scam</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.typingweb.com/tutor/" target="_blank">typingweb.com</a>– master touch-typing with these practice sessions</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://mailvu.com/" target="_blank">mailvu.com</a>– send video emails to anyone using your web cam</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://ge.tt/" target="_blank">ge.tt</a>– quickly send a file to someone, they can even preview it before downloading</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://timerime.com/" target="_blank">timerime.com</a>– create timelines with audio, video and images</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://studio.stupeflix.com/" target="_blank">stupeflix.com</a>– make a movie out of your images, audio and video clips</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.aviary.com/tools/myna" target="_blank">aviary.com/myna</a>– an online audio editor that lets record, and remix audio clips</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.noteflight.com/" target="_blank">noteflight.com</a>– print music sheets, write your own music online (<a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/compose-music-notations-online/9457/" target="_blank">review</a>)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://disposablewebpage.com/" target="_blank">disposablewebpage.com</a>– create a <a href="http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/10/create-temporary-webpage-that-self.html" target="_blank">temporary web page</a> that self-destruct</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.namemytune.com/" target="_blank">namemytune.com</a>– when you need to <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/find-name-of-songs/12316/" target="_blank">find the name of a song</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.homestyler.com/" target="_blank">homestyler.com</a>– design from scratch or re-model your <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/3d-home-design-software/8788/" target="_blank">home in 3d</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://snapask.com/" target="_blank">snapask.com</a>– use email on your phone to find sports scores, read Wikipedia, etc</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://teuxdeux.com/" target="_blank">teuxdeux.com</a>– a beautiful to-do app that looks like your <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/organize-todo-lists-online/11619/" target="_blank">paper dairy</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.livestream.com/" target="_blank">livestream.com</a>– broadcast events live over the web, including your desktop screen</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.bing.com/images" target="_blank">bing.com/images</a>– automatically find perfectly-sized <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/find-wallpapers-for-mobile-phones/13650/" target="_blank">wallpapers for mobiles</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://historio.us/" target="_blank">historio.us</a>– preserve complete web pages with all the formatting</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://dabbleboard.com/draw" target="_blank">dabbleboard.com</a>– your virtual whiteboard</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.whisperbot.com/" target="_blank">whisperbot.com</a>– send an email without using your own account</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://sumopaint.com/app/" target="_blank">sumopaint.com</a>– an excellent layer-based online image editor</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://my.lovelycharts.com/" target="_blank">lovelycharts.com</a>– create flowcharts, network diagrams, sitemaps, etc</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://nutshellmail.com/" target="_blank">nutshellmail.com</a>– Get your Facebook and <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/nutshellmail-for-twitter/8006/" target="_blank">Twitter streams</a> in your inbox.</span></li>
</ol>
</div>
tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-69811672832299787642016-03-26T14:05:00.002-04:002016-03-26T14:09:53.002-04:00Follow up to Drobo 5N issue and fixIn the previous post I wrote about finding the issue by doing a slot flush on each drive. When I reached the 4th drive the slot flush did not work, and the Drobo exhibited the same pattern I saw when attempting to boot it.<br />
<br />
Having no other answers to what I was seeing I made the assumption that drive 4 was bad. I went to the store and bought an identical drive of same size and speed. With the Drobo powered off, I removed the old drive in slot 4 and inserted the new drive. I also verified that all 5 drives were securely locked in.<br />
<br />
I powered on the Drobo and within a relatively short period of time was able to once again gain access to it through the Drobo Dashboard software. It showed me that Data Protection was running and estimated (way too high) how long until the new drive would be rebuilt.<br />
<br />
I do have a 64GB m-SATA drive (accelerator) in the slot on the bottom of the Drobo 5N. I'm not sure if this made a difference but aside from what the Dashboard reported as the amount of time to for data protection to restore the new drive, the actual time ended up being about 11 hours. This is on a unit with a total of 20TB of drive space, and about 14.9TB usable. I had used 80% so this device was close to full. The Dashboard started off saying it would be 93 hours to restore. That estimate went down over time but still remained higher than the actual time.<br />
<br />
I am not sure if the m-SATA helped speed things up, or if the fact I use 7200RPM drives helped, but I wanted to let others know the restore can happen relatively quickly. I have read where other's have taken days. <br />
<br />
I wanted to make sure nothing attempted to write to the device during the restore so I disabled anything I use that might have tried to write to the Drobo during the restore. One thing that is incredibly nice was I had access to my data during the restore process. <br />
<br />
I hope this additional information answers some questions others may have if they go through the same experience I did.tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334830983386238901noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-43652403140109748962016-03-19T18:37:00.003-04:002016-03-19T18:38:35.587-04:00My Drobo 5N nightmare (it didn't tell me I lost a drive)I have a Drobo 5N with (5) x 4TB Hard drives in it. It also has a 64GB m-SATA accelerator drive. The Drobo was working Wednesday night and Thursday when I woke up it had no lights except a solid orange power light. I did troubleshooting the first day but made no progress. <br />
<br />
Here is what I saw:<br />
<ol>
<li>Power on, drive lights all solid orange, power light green, cycling quickly through colors. </li>
<li>Next, side drive lights all go out, power light flashes green, blue lights move from sides to center</li>
<li>Power light continues to flash green, blue led's at bottom move from left to right stopping on third light from left, the moving on to right. In the end I would end up with this:</li>
<ol>
<li>00X0000XXX (x is a illuminated blue led).</li>
</ol>
<li>Power light would continue to flash green, and eventually turn orange and blue led's would all go out. It would sit with solid orange power light for a while and then restart the whole process over.</li>
</ol>
<div>
The next day I tried contacting Drobo and as usual (support in general) I got waived off unless I wanted to purchase a one time support ticket. In my email to them I listed everything I had tried, everything I had observed. The response, as usual, appeared they didn't read a word of it as it told me to do all that I had already done.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I was concerned that a drive had failed, but I had no indication. I had a working email notification system configured on the unit and had never received a message. No drive light indicated an error drive. In panic, I ordered a new Drobo 5N but wanted to leave it as a last resort.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I reached the last resort stage, and after following all preparation instructions, finally moved my drives to the new Drobo. It displayed the exact same boot sequence (and loop).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I came across some discussion of slot flushing, and I had not performed this step. I put the drives back into my original Drobo, and step by step did a slot flush on each drive. Each flush worked as documented. But when I reached the 4th drive, it did not. I actually exhibited the sequence I had been seeing all along, eventually turning to a solid orange power light. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This made me believe I had to have a faulty drive. So a quick trip to the store and came back with a replacement drive of same size and spec. Having successfully slot flushed the other four drives, and with the device powered down, I inserted the new drive, made sure all were secure in their slots and powered up. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Finally a normal boot. Finally the Drobo Dashboard software saw my Drobo. I should note that was another symptom. No access to the device using the dashboard unless I removed all drives and directory connected the network cable to my laptop. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now the dashboard is reporting 93 hours to restore. But as the documentation states, I can already access the data stored on the Drobo, I just cannot write to it (and that is fine). I have a feeling the actual restoration of the new drive will take less time but I really don't care because I have my data back. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For a while there I was not happy with Drobo. The whole reason for this large investment was to protect my data, and now I was in a state of no access to my data, and no help from them at all. Even though I had registered my Drobo after purchase it was out of warranty and I guess they don't care to read what someone writes and instead just send back boilerplate 'make sure you drives are all connected' type stuff.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I had never found an exact description and solution to the problem I experienced when searching, so I wanted to document it in case anyone else runs into the same situation as myself.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I wish I knew why I was not given any indication I had a bad drive. That would have saved an enormous amount of time and money. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Be cautious whenever troubleshooting your Drobo. The last thing you want to do is mistakenly do something that will cause it to wipe your data.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here is an example of the slot flush procedure. I am not saying 'do it' but since it gave me the clue to the solution I would like to offer a link:</div>
<div>
<a href="https://myproducts.drobo.com/article/AA-01429" target="_blank">https://myproducts.drobo.com/article/AA-01429</a></div>
tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-91085428123167234872016-02-22T10:20:00.002-05:002016-02-22T10:20:58.837-05:00Server 2012 or 2012R2 - RDP takes long time to logon (10 to 25 minutes)I have found in our environment we have two particular network settings that have been linked with various issues. If, when making an RDP connection to a Windows 2012 server the logon takes a long, long time try running these commands from an ELEVATED (Admin) command prompt:<br />
<br />
1) <strong style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17.55px;">netsh int tcp set global rss=disabled</strong><br />
<br />
Now test RDP. If it works normal you are done. If not, run this second command.<br />
<br />
2) <strong style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17.55px;">netsh int tcp set global chimney=disabled</strong><br />
<strong style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17.55px;"><br /></strong>
Try again. Hopefully it works now. The values can be checked by running this command<br />
<br />
netsh int tcp show global<br />
<br />
if the problem re-occurs it can be addressed using a group policy preference modifying the registry settings as shown here:<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.1104px; line-height: 18.1656px;">
<span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI'; font-size: 10pt;">HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.1104px; line-height: 18.1656px;">
<span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI'; font-size: 10pt;">-EnableTCPChimney and EnableRSS will most likely need to be created as 32-bit REG_DWORDs.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.1104px; line-height: 18.1656px;">
<br /></div>
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Segoe UI', 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.1104px; line-height: 18.1656px;">
<li><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI'; font-size: 10pt;">Right-click <strong>EnableTCPChimney</strong>, and then click <strong>Modify</strong>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI'; font-size: 10pt;">In the <strong>Value data</strong> box, type <strong>0</strong>, and then click <strong>OK</strong>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI'; font-size: 10pt;">Right-click <strong>EnableRSS</strong>, and then click <strong>Modify</strong>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI'; font-size: 10pt;">In the <strong>Value data</strong> box, type <strong>0</strong>, and then click <strong>OK</strong>.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Segoe UI;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 18.1656px;">Another option is executing a computer based script running the above two netsh commands.</span></span></div>
tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-78263530075123530572016-02-09T10:58:00.002-05:002016-02-09T11:00:31.037-05:00Repost of Advanced Bash-Scripting GuideI found this guide helpful. The original website is:<br />
<a href="http://www.tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/">http://www.tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/</a><br />
<br />
I wanted a pdf copy to read on my tablet but the link on the site is broken. So I am reposting a pdf version of the guide <a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5274864/HostedFiles/Blog/AdvancedShellScripting-guide.pdf">here</a> (<a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5274864/HostedFiles/Blog/AdvancedShellScripting-guide.pdf">dropbox download</a>):<br />
<br />
I found that the problem on the original site was an incorrect URL. To access the pdf on the original site visit:<br />
<a href="http://www.tldp.org/LDP/abs/abs-guide.pdf">http://www.tldp.org/LDP/abs/abs-guide.pdf</a><br />
<br />
Much appreciation to the author Mendel Cooper. I hope you don't mind me reposting this valuable guide.tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-70706086505177364132015-12-31T07:08:00.003-05:002015-12-31T07:08:36.132-05:00Teamviewer issues with screen refresh on remote hostI use Teamviewer a lot. It is a great tool and for personal use, it is free. I've never really had any issues with it until recently. I setup a Linux Mint (Rosa) and when remoting to it using Teamviewer, I've had issues with the remote screen not refreshing properly. I may close a window, but portions of the window will remain behind, buttons, chunks of the previous window, things like that. Eventually the desktop will become so cluttered I cannot use it. <br />
<br />
Sometimes toggling the quality settings will clear up the screen for the moment but I really need a reliable solution.<br />
<br />
So far, the only thing I have found is a setting on the local teamviewer client. Bring up the top menu, under View, click to expand (if necessary) to show 'custom settings'. Then select the box for 'better compatibility' or 'improve application compatibility' depending on what version of Teamviewer you are using.<br />
<br />
This may help.tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-33107644976352872472015-12-17T15:25:00.000-05:002015-12-30T14:31:45.841-05:00Having issues with node-red-contrib-freeboard and your own instance of freeboard?<h3>
<a class="name" href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/node-red-contrib-freeboard" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #cb3837; font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: bold; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">node-red-contrib-freeboard</a> </h3>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h4>
a npm node by <a class="author" href="https://www.npmjs.com/~urbiworx" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); font-family: Consolas, 'Liberation Mono', Menlo, Monaco, Courier, monospace; font-size: 0.9em; letter-spacing: -0.48px; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">urbiworx</a></h4>
</blockquote>
</div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The instructions for node-red-contrib-freeboard say 'Just install this plugin to your Node Red installation by using npm: "npm install node-red-contrib-freeboard" in your Node Red root directory'.</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- That is supposed to be all that needs to be done for this to work...</span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I do this, essentially, freeboard is missing. The freeboard page is not there and attempting to access yields a '<b>cannot GET /freeboard</b>' error.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The issue is the actual freeboard node is getting placed in the same node_modules folder as the node-red-contrib-freeboard node, and that is not what the 'contrib' node expects. Instead, the contrib-freeboard node is looking for the freeboard directory under it's own node_modules directory, but it is not there. To remedy this issue, we need to move it to the location where node-red-contrib-freeboard expects it to be.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From the command line go to your node-red/node_modules directory. If you run: ls free* [enter]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">you should see freeboard listed as a directory. Let's move that...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<class tr_bq="">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">node-red/node_modules $</span> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>mv freeboard ./node-red-contrib-freeboard/node_modules/</b></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now if you take a look at the contents of node-red/node_modules/node-red-contrib-freeboard/node_modules/ you should see freeboard along with a few other directories.
Now when you launch node-red, and open http://localhost:1880/freeboard, it should be there.
The above is assuming you are using that port and localhost.</span>
</class><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334830983386238901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-51639989948276585622015-11-23T11:57:00.001-05:002015-12-19T14:11:36.781-05:00Printable version of the Alexa Skills Kit documentation<span style="font-family: inherit;">I took all of the documents linked from this page:</span><br />
<a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/getting-started-guide"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/getting-started-guide</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And made them into a single, printable, PDF file.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5274864/Alexa_Skills_Manual-11-23-2015.pdf"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Download Here</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I removed color from the images and embedded the fonts. I also applied optimization to reduce size and, although I have not tested yet, made it viewable on mobile devices.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am not attempting to skirt around the Amazon site. I know that myself, and some others learn better from a physical document. I guess since we spent much of our lives studying that way (or atleast I did), it seems more comfortable to me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This may not be perfect, I apologize ahead of time. You can always download it and look it over before printing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Also all section from the list below are included *except* the entire Publishing section. Please refer to the website for the publishing guidance.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is the articles included in this PDF, in the same order (minus the Publishing section)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
Getting Started<br />
<ul>
<li>Getting Started with the Alexa Skills Kit</li>
</ul>
Voice Design<br />
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Voice Design Handbook</li>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Defining the Voice Interface</li>
</ul>
Developing:<br />
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Developing an Alexa Skill as a Lambda Function</li>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Developing an Alexa Skill as a Web Service</li>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Handling Requests Sent by Alexa</li>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Implementing the Built-in Intents</li>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Linking an Alexa User with a User in Your System</li>
</ul>
Getting Sample Code:<br />
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Using the Alexa Skills Kit Samples</li>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Deploying a Sample Skill to AWS Lambda</li>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Deploying a Sample Skill as a Web Service</li>
</ul>
<br />
Testing:<br />
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Choosing the Invocation Name for an Alexa Skill</li>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Registering and Managing Alexa Skills in the Developer Portal</li>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Testing an Alexa Skill</li>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Deploying a Web Service for an Alexa Skill to AWS Elastic Beanstalk</li>
</ul>
<strike>Publishing:</strike><br />
<ul>
<li><strike><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Submission Checklist</strike></li>
<li><strike><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Policy Testing</strike></li>
<li><strike><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Security Testing</strike></li>
<li><strike><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Functional Testing</strike></li>
<li><strike><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Voice Interface and User Experience Testing</strike></li>
<li><strike><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Submission Testing Walk-through: Tide Pooler</strike></li>
<li><strike><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Submitting the Skill for Certification</strike></li>
</ul>
Reference:<br />
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Alexa Skills Kit Interface Reference</li>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Alexa Skills Kit Interaction Model Reference</li>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Alexa Skills Kit Java Library Reference</li>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) Reference</li>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Supported Phrases to Begin a Conversation</li>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Alexa Skills Kit Glossary</li>
<li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Migrating to the Improved Built-in and Custom Slot Types</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5274864/Alexa_Skills_Manual-11-23-2015.pdf" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Download (same link as above)</span></a>tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-66759558446036496452015-07-26T21:08:00.004-04:002015-12-19T14:12:48.033-05:00Hue bridge - 14 bulbs - frequent loss of connectivity to bulbs {"reachable":"false"}After so many wasted hours with the Wink Hub, I really thought the Hue bridge would be create a more reliable, stable environment. Now that I have been using the Hue bridge for months, I've come to learn my initial hopes were not met.<br />
<br />
My primary issue consisted of unpredictable loss of 'reachability' to different bulbs. This can be seen the Philips Hue app as lights with a (!) symbol next to them.<br />
<br />
After much googling I found some things to try to resolve this issue.<br />
<br />
<u>Easy - Turn light off and back on</u><br />
<u><br /></u>
1) Turn the light off and back on. Wait a minute. Sometimes the light would rejoin communications.<br />
2) Repeat the above until it worked... when step (1) didn't.<br />
<u><br /></u>
*Save this one if nothing else works - Bulb Reset - Discovery<br />
<u>Time consuming...potential headache... may not even work...</u><br />
1) Try a different Zigbee channel. Turn all lights on (make sure the power is on). Use the Hue app to change the Zigbee channel. Go around and test the lights. Under Settings>Lights>tap each one with a (!) make next to it and see if the light flashes on and off. If so, click ok, and it should be back in contact. If not, then having to trigger a reset on the bulb (differs by bulb but usually something like turn on, wait a few seconds, turn off, wait at least 3 seconds, repeat 5 times). The light will give a sign that it reset (GE Link bulbs fade and then go bright, Hue flash (if I remember)). Then running the auto detection routine in the app (light will flash when detected), name, and should be back on.<br />
<br />
Alternate version - perform a reset on the Hue bridge (reset button is on bottom)<br />
<br />
Next reset the bulbs using whatever method is used for your type of buld<br />
Use the app to discover the bulb.<br />
Re-add it.<br />
<br />
I don't recommend either of the above two approaches unless as a last resort. Especially if you have a large number of bulbs. This will take a long time to get fully back up and running, if it succeeds.<br />
<br />
When the problem manifests somewhat randomly, and at times works, or at least only affects a small number of bulbs, troubleshooting is a great first step.<br />
<ul>
<li>Did the problem start after a software/firmware update to the Hue bridge?</li>
<li>Did the problem begin after some kind of change?</li>
<li>Have diagnostics been run on the home network to ensure it is working problem?</li>
<li>Anything documented online that matches your situation and has a good solution?</li>
<li>If using a mix of brands of bulbs, are the problems limited to a certain brand?</li>
</ul>
<div>
To make this short... I did all of the above, I spent much time trying to find a pattern, a change to my environment, or anything potentially defective.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Essentially, I believe I may have found the problem. Although the Hue bridge is using Zigbee to communicate with the lamps, it also shares a frequency spectrum near enough to WiFi signals that interference is a potential issue. Well, if you really want to boost the RF interference, put the WiFi network device, and the Hue bridge near each other. Proximity increase the potential, or real, RF interference. By creating interference, the Zigbee network suffers significantly. So after thorough troubleshooting, my issue was having a WiFi AP too close to the Hue bridge.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Oddly, this was not something I really came across while researching the problem I was experiencing. It was not until I read a research paper on the potential interference be 2.4Ghz Wifi and Zigbee that I realized my AP and bridge may be too close (approximately 3 feet). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But, I should point out this was a recent change to my environment, yet I have had these issues on and off for a good while. Further, the AP was still somewhat close, at about 6 feet. So I would say most of the time the AP has been fairly close. Today I moved the WiFi AP to another room, about 24 feet way from the Hue bridge. I then when to each like that had a (!) next to it in Hue app>Settings>Lights and turned the light off and back on. After about a minute the (!) went away and I regained control of the device. This went relatively smooth and quick. I would say this was the most positive sign I have had regarding stability and easy of communication among the devices connected to the Hue bridge.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Although I made this change just a few hours ago, the way things went so easily and quickly, it makes me think this may have been the predominant issue. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I should add that a while back I did add more bulbs to my environment to ensure that the mesh network should have adequate proximity between bulbs and a reasonable changes to form good signal strength.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To sum, I wanted to get something posted right away in case it might help others. I am very tired and realize this may be poorly written and a bit confusing.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I'll come back and review when I am rested. So, when troubleshooting an unreliable Zigbee mesh network, include RF interference as a culprit between WiFi and the Hue bridge.</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334830983386238901noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-19709968804792221792015-07-25T16:34:00.002-04:002015-12-19T14:13:06.985-05:00Analyzing and troubleshooting network and bandwidth issues<h3>
Full diagnostics</h3>
<a href="http://n1.netalyzr.icsi.berkeley.edu/analysis/">http://n1.netalyzr.icsi.berkeley.edu/analysis/</a><br />
<br />
This site reports back a great deal of helpful information. I recently installed Tomato USB firmware (Shibby) on a Netgear R7000 and as part of the setup process, used this site to help with QOS setup and inspecting for any other issues.<br />
<br />tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334830983386238901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-16343389911818957552015-07-21T12:04:00.001-04:002015-07-21T12:04:22.164-04:00Windows Update - accidentally applied update during production hours and now have restart countdown timer - how to stop itI was troubleshooting a problem on a Windows 2008 R2 server that would not install an update properly. After much Googling, I resorted to this:<br />
<ol>
<li>Computer>Manage>Configuration>Services</li>
<ol>
<li>Right click Windows Update service and choose Stop. Set Startup Type to disabled.</li>
<li>That stopped the restart countdown timer (where you can choose to postpone 10 minutes to 4 hours). I need this server up all day and I could not sit and keep clicking postpone.</li>
<li>Just stopping the service is not enough. It will automatically restart itself (it use delay startup). So you need to set the Startup Type to disabled.</li>
<li>This should get us through the working day without an extremely important server rebooting.</li>
</ol>
</ol>
Some notes about the problem.<br />
<br />
Microsoft had released an out of band update and the server kept erroring over night trying to install it. I stopped Windows Update Service, deleted the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder's contents, and then restarted Windows Update Service.<br />
<br />
Apparently that took care of it because after a bit I received notification that the update was applied and the computer needed to restart.<br />
<br />
This was not supposed to happen based on GPO settings but after review I saw that the time for installing the update was wrong (11AM instead of 11PM).<br />
<br />
Finally,<br />
To finish this I need to get back on the server this evening after work hours, and set the Windows Update service back to Automatic-Delayed and then Start the service. That should restore the status of Update services and I can then safely reboot the server.<br />
<br />
Another tip: I have read only another solution to this was to run the command 'shutdown /a'. This was supposed to clear the pending reboot. It did not. The command returned the message that no reboots were pending.<br />
<br />
If you run into this situation you may want to try what I posted above, just remember to re-enable the Windows Update service and remove the Disabled startup type. This will allow your system to resume normal updating.tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334830983386238901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-44986892159296651192015-05-09T18:47:00.000-04:002015-05-09T18:47:23.453-04:00More on Wink Hub and open source home automation softwareI own two Wink hubs. One, using their cloud service, the other I kept offline for rooting and testing. The night Quirky pushed the bad firmware, my online hub got it. At the time I had no idea what happened. I spent hours trying to get it functioning again.<br />
<br />
The next day the announcement about the bricked firmware came out. Once the instructions were posted on how to fix the hub yourself I followed them. Apparently it worked. The hub flashed and then stopped on blue. After that I could get the hub online for short periods (blue light) and then it would go back to flashing purple. I spent a good while addressing this, but I never was able to get it working reliably. <br />
<br />
I pulled out the other hub, went through the whole thing again, apparently updated to the fixed firmware, and then had exact same problem. It would connect to the home network for a while and then eventually go back to flashing purple.<br />
<br />
So I've given up on Wink hub.<br />
<br />
I went out and got a Hue bridge and some bulbs. Since I already had GE Link light bulbs I needed something that would work with them. So these days I have a mix of Hue bulbs and GE Link lights all controlled by the Hue bridge.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://home-assistant.io/getting-started/" target="_blank">Home Assistant</a> works with the Hue bridge. I am still using Home-Assistant as my home automation software. It meets all of my needs. The developer and members of the group are continuing to add functionality to the software. More device support, added features, etc.<br />
<br />
I also spent plenty of time testing various other open source offerings. Nothing has yet to best Home-Assistant. <br />
<br />
Although there is not a downloadable application for <a href="https://home-assistant.io/getting-started/" target="_blank">Home Assistant</a>, it does work with mobile devices and renders nicely. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://github.com/balloob/home-assistant" target="_blank">Home Assistant source code on GitHub</a><br />
<br />tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334830983386238901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-67926119658841549422015-05-08T14:26:00.000-04:002015-05-08T14:26:20.711-04:00Ubuntu - new setup of nginx, mysql, and php5 - permission denied when trying to view info.phpI followed the very helpful guide here:<br />
<a href="https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-linux-nginx-mysql-php-lemp-stack-on-ubuntu-12-04">https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-linux-nginx-mysql-php-lemp-stack-on-ubuntu-12-04</a><br />
<br /><br />
I actually did the setup on Ubuntu 15.04 and they worked. There is one part where you have to change the codename used.<br />
<br /><br />
The last step is to create a info.php file that displays all of the php5 information.<br />
When attempting to view this file I would get error 404. I googled and started trying to find the issue. The log stated the file was not found. Since this is new to me I wanted to make sure the correct location was being used for my files and that the permissions were set correctly.<br />
<br /><br />
I checked the permissions on the files in the html directory and they were correct.<br />
So I created a test html file in the<br />/usr/share/nginx/html<br />
directory. A simple hello.html. I tested and the page displayed.<br />
<br /><br />
So it appeared that my info.php file was both in the correct location and permissions were correct.<br />
<br /><br />
Next I checked what accounts the nginx server process was using, and the php5-fpm process. I found that the server worker process was running as user nginx and the php5-fpm worker process was running as www-data. It was my intention that both be running as www-data.<br />
<br /><br />
I check to see if nginx was a member of www-data:<br />
$ id nginx<br />-output: uid=121(nginx) gid=133(nginx) groups=133(nginx)<br />
No, nginx is not a member of www-data.<br />
<br /><br />
To resovle this issue I need to give the nginx account access to the php5-fpm. To do this I needed to add the user nginx to the www-data group (www-data is the user and is a member of the group www-data).<br />
<br /><br />
To do this I ran usermod -a -G <groupname> username<br />
$ sudo usermod -a -G www-data nginx<br />
<br /><br />
Next, confirm the user is in the group:<br />$ id nginx<br />-output: uid=121(nginx) gid=133(nginx) groups=133(nginx),33(www-data)<br />
<br /><br />
As another way to confirm one can run:<br />$ awk -F':' '/www-data/{print $4}' /etc/group<br />nginx<br />www-data<br />
<br /><br />
Now nginx is a member of www-data. Next I restarted nginx server and php5-fpm<br />
$ sudo service nginx restart<br />$ sudo service php5-fpm restart<br />
<br /><br />
This time browsing to <a href="http://localhost/info.php">http://localhost/info.php</a> displayed my php info properly.<br />
<br /><br />
I hope this possibly helps someone.tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-77697894980805232572015-04-24T09:17:00.003-04:002015-12-19T14:13:41.482-05:00Have you tried Sublime Text for script editing?I recently stumbled upon <a href="http://www.sublimetext.com/" target="_blank">Sublime Text</a>. I was working on a new build of Linux and Googled for a good script editor. Sublime Text came up. I gave it a try. First the none beta version, version 2. After a bit I tried the new version 3 beta. <br />
<br />
I REALLY like this program. I have been using the free Komodo Edit and while it is great, and I still use it too (they just released version 9 with some nice features), I mostly use Sublime Text.<br />
<br />
Aside from having many built-in features that one wants in a coding platform, Sublime also has a Package Manager (Control) which can easily be installed. Once added, the Package Control opens up so much more versatility, expandability, and support it is emmensly valuable.<br />
<br />
In addition to the features, customizations, and add-ons, I particularly enjoy the massive selection of themes for the coding environment. I have become a fan of alternate color schemes which help me identify different elements of code more quickly. There is almost an infinite amount of pre-made themes free to download. Additionally, one can create your own themes.<br />
<br />
Sublime Text offers a fully functional trial version that does not expire. It will prompt occasionally about using an unregistered version, but this trial is enough to get you hooked and want to buy a license. Even better, the licensing is per user. So once you buy a license, you are permitted to install Sublime Text on all of your computers. Even work computers. As long as it is you using it.<br />
<br />
At the time of my purchase it was $70 USD. It is worth it.<br />
<br />
I'm sorry Komodo. I still love you. But <a href="http://www.sublimetext.com/" target="_blank">Sublime</a> has become my new coding best friend.<br />
<br />
Here are some links to get an idea of what Sublime looks like:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.100percentjs.com/attractive-colors-editor-make-want-code/" target="_blank">{100 Percent JS}</a></li>
<li><a href="http://colorsublime.com/" target="_blank">ColorSublime</a> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.blogger.com/%E2%80%A2https://scotch.io/bar-talk/the-complete-visual-guide-to-sublime-text-3-themes-color-schemes-and-cool-features" target="_blank">Scotch Digital (Bar Talk)</a></li>
</ul>
And have a look at this! - <a href="https://packagecontrol.io/" target="_blank">Package Control</a><br />
<br />tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334830983386238901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-61130823947958905272015-04-23T12:02:00.001-04:002015-04-23T12:02:52.508-04:00Taking existing HD image and applying to SSD - test your alignment<span style="font-family: inherit;">To fully gain the performance benefits offered by switching to an SSD, the clusters need to be properly aligned with the physical sectors on the SSD. If not, the performance gain from the SSD will be dramatically impacted and can also contribute to increased wear of the SSD.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">First, a clean install of Windows 7 or newer onto an SSD is already setup to do proper alignment. This is not an issue.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The issue can occur when an image is captured from a mechanical (traditional) hard drive and then applied to a Solid State drive. This could result in mis-alignment of the beginning of th clusters and physical sectors.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you have taken an image of your computer and then applied it to a new SSD, and would like to know if you are properly aligned, perform these steps.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">1) Open a command prompt (cmd) - Start>All Programs>Accessories>Command Prompt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2) Type in this command: </span><span style="color: yellow; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">wmic partition get Name, StartingOffse</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: yellow;">t</span> and hit <Enter> key</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This will return something like this:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Disk #0, Partition #0 1048576</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Disk #0, Partition #1 524288000</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now open calculator (Start>All Programs>Accessories>Calculator)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now divide the value return by the command by 4,096. If the result is an integer (no decimal value), then your partitions are properly aligned.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So in the example above division produced these results:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">256</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">128000</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">That indicates proper alignment. Had the results been something like 254.415 then alignment is offset.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If alignment is offset there are ways to correct the issue. You may want to take a look at these free tools:</span><br />
<a href="http://www.partitionwizard.com/" target="_blank">http://www.partitionwizard.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://www.disk-partition.com/download-home.html" target="_blank">http://www.disk-partition.com/download-home.html</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For the record, a SSD partition can be created with command line parameters to set alignment.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Diskpart</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">List disk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Select disk n (where n is the number that was given for your SSD in List disk)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Clean</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Create partition primary align=1024</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Format fs=ntfs quick</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Active (assuming you want to install an OS)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Exit</span><br />
<br />
The above commands are not a fix for a improperly aligned disk post imaging, this is a command to create the partition with proper alignment.<br />
<br />
If these issue affect your or you are interested I suggest doing some googling and more reading.</div>
tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08327188631204429840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28946889.post-58380017075465401722015-04-19T19:09:00.001-04:002015-04-23T12:28:46.060-04:00Wink bricked by update (~4/18/2015) - how to use your GE Link Bulbs with something else (link a Hue Bridge)Update:<br />
In case you have a bricked Wink hub I received an email from Wink and it is possible to repair your hub without having to send it in, provided you have the means necessary to follow these instructions.<br />
<br />
I wanted to post this for anyone who might not have gotten the email:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span 15px="" 22.5px="" arial="" d57="" elvetica="" font-family:="" font-size:="" helvetica="" line-height:="" neue="" sans-serif="">We’re writing again to apologize for the current situation. As previously mentioned, we suffered an outage this weekend that caused your Wink Hub to fall offline. This outage was preventable and we are deeply sorry. It pains us to have inconvenienced you as much as we know we have.</span><br />
<br style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;" />
<span style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">While last night’s report was grim, we are now offering two solutions to users who are affected by this outage:</span><br />
<br style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;" />
<span style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">Send Us Your Wink Hub - We’ll supply a box and roundtrip shipping. A box will be at your door early this week, and you’ll have your hubs back (with all of the settings preserved) very quickly. If you’re not into technical stuff- this is probably the easiest route for you. To send us your hub </span><a href="http://winkapp.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=35856b5a8564480e8088ceb02&id=a96b9af880&e=fb6e46c064" style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22.5px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">click here</a><span style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">.</span><br />
<br style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;" />
<span style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">Fix it Yourself - </span><strong style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">If you are comfortable making some quick changes to your home’s router settings, we can likely get you back up and running in 10 minutes.</strong><span style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">While this fix requires one to have some degree of technical skill, we’re happy to offer it to all who want to try. We can even walk you through it over the phone if you give us a ring at 844-WINK-APP . </span><br />
<br style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;" />
<span style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 22.5px;"><strong>You can view instructions on how to repair your Wink Hub yourself via this link <a href="http://winkapp.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=35856b5a8564480e8088ceb02&id=57fa2b4f84&e=fb6e46c064" style="text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">recovery.wink.com</a>. </strong> <em><strong>These instructions now apply even if you previously deleted your hub.</strong></em></span><br />
<br style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;" />
<span style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">We are happy to accommodate whichever route you prefer and apologize for creating extra work for you. Please note that this outage was caused by a security measure put in place to protect you. Although your home is offline and your hub is inactive - your home and your information remain safe.</span><br />
<br style="color: #394d57; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;" />
<span style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">The Wink Team</span></blockquote>
Above is an update, here is the original post...<br />
<br />
I think I am done with Wink hub. It is an extraordinary ordeal to get a simple API access token. Something that could be spit out on a web form just by authenticating with your account takes 7+ weeks from Quirky, if they get back at all. And that includes occasional check-in emails with them asking 'what is the status of my request'. I am not disparaging Wink\Quirky staff. There is just clearly some sort of ignorance to customer support. For me, without a token, the device is nearly useless for my purposes.<br />
<br />
Interestingly one night I had to chat with them for support due to an issue with my hub and I brought up the API request and 7 weeks going by and what the status was. I was told that an update would be made to my request, and to expect a response in 2 to 7 weeks. :(<br />
<br />
To their credit, the next day I got an email with my API information. Very much appreciated that they got on it after so long.<br />
<br />
So yesterday was the day I was up until 3AM trying to figure out why my hub would not connect. Then today I find out about the firmware update that was pushed and bricked many Wink hubs. <br />
<br />
The Wink hub is nice in the variety of radios on board, and potential for supported devices. And the cost. But on the downside, cloud only access, extreme difficulty getting an API key (why so hard? I happen to know it can be down instantly with user login and pass... but that is another story). What started out as a pretty solid (as in, online all the time) device, took a turn for the worse with firmware 0.77.0. By this point, I started having a lot of inconsistent, and frustrating issues. Lights turning on - on their own. Light groups turning on, leaving one off. Or turning off, leaving one on. Devices needing to be re-added. Slow reaction times. <br />
<br />
Other than the brick update, none of the above is really a deal killer for a $50 hub. But what is confusing is the reluctance to turn this into something great with a reasonable pace. <br />
<br />
1) An open source project called Home Assistant, which was the only home automation project I was aware of that you could get a token immediately, was my saving grace. Otherwise, I would have been real frustrated with the wait for them to issue me API access. But by going to the Home Assistant site, you could put your Wink user and pass in, and immediately get back a token that would allow integration into Home Assistant home automation project. This tells me that there was really no reason to wait 7 weeks for API access, and just by chance finally get it. It was a simple as a web form.<br />
<br />
2) With potential support for so many protocols and devices, why keep it so limited? Why not take a more agressive approach and open things up. That would spur sales, community development, growth, and a more ROI product.<br />
<br />
3) Considering the amount of competition in the market, I never have been able to understand why the Wink hub was rolled out, locked down, and eventually (unfortunately, blundered into uselessness). I'm done. Had a different, more open, more inviting approach been taken, the Wink hub could have been a tremendously popular device. But no...<br />
<br />
The real purpose of the post is a tip on how to re-associate items, like GE Link light bulbs with another device if they were not removed from the Wink hub (because you couldn't!).<br />
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First, the GE Link bulbs use Zigbee. The Hue bridge supports Zigbee, and these bulbs. The way to reset these bulbs for pairing is as follows:<br />
Power on the bulb for about 5 seconds. Turn off for about 3 seconds. Repeat this 5 times. On the fifth time you may see the bulb fade after power on, and at this point it should be cleared for easy pairing with another device like the Hue bridge.<br />
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Also, the bulbs have a serial number. It may be possible to do manual additions using the serial number.<br />
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I just wanted to pass along if you try to use a bulb with another hub, and it does not pair right away, don't worry, the bulb can be cleared and paired. <br />
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BTW, the GE Link bulbs are easy to setup with the Hue bridge. Compare to a Hue bulb, they do not dim as much, but they do work fine, and can be grouped into scenes.<br />
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<br />tobiashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18334830983386238901noreply@blogger.com0