Category: Uncategorized

Resetting Netflix on Panasonic Viera Smart TV

Resetting Netlfix on the Panasonic Viera Smart tv didn’t really go as planned.  However, I did resolve my issues.  Netflix wouldn’t load at first.  I tried to remove the channel (they call them apps) and I guess you can’t actually do that.  I also tried the netflix cheat code to get into the settings menu.  No luck.

What did work was changing my DNS entries for the TV.  Why that?  Who knows.  I certainly don’t know.  Everything else on the TV worked including youtube and amazon video.  I changed the DNS to default instead of my standard Google DNS of 8.8.8.8.

This is a 2012 smart tv.  I hate smart tvs.  Not just hate but I could go to bed thinking of ways to smash them. They never get updated.  The UI is never user-friendly and when things go wrong you can’t do much about it.  Give me a roku or googlecast any day of the week!

How I brought my Cisco 7961G Back to Life

This is how I brought my Cisco 7961G back to life.  Many hours later but here are my notes.

I used TFTpd32 as my tftpd software but I wasn’t having any luck with the DHCP piece for the 1 of my 2 7961G phones.  Prior to this last brick I had at one point been successful with a flash to SIP but then the next test it failed and I was back to square one.

In a nutshell:

  • I had to set both option 66 and option 150 to the ip address.  I made sure that the name included “”
  • I took the handset off the phone.  Weird.  I know but it was on the Cisco site as a possibility.
  • I used my router for the DHCP server and Tftpd for the tftp server and as the dns server
  • That Hex stuff..didn’t work
  • I used the firmware from the file called cmterm-7941-7961-sccp.8-0-3.zip
  • I added an XMLDefault.cnf.xml file and changed the one line inside it

My next challenge is to get it upgraded.

Valve needs to do ONE THING RIGHT and They Screwed it UP

Valve needs to do one thing right and they screwed it up.  Actually they have two things to do with the most important being stamping out bullying.  For that uncaring attitude I say SCREW YOU VALVE.  Now on to tonight’s issue.  Team Fortress 2 has changed to a ranking system to try and combat Blizzard’s new game called Overwatch.  That’s great and all.  They have two levels with the lowest level for those of us who have real lives.  It is called casual.  They should call it a waste of time.

Right now I really should be dropping f-bombs left and right but I am talking about something virtual instead of real life.  Granted, how “virtual” is it if you have almost 2000 hours(correction: only 876 hrs) invested in it?  In any event, I waited almost 10 minutes only for the game to crash while loading a match and then when I tried to wait again for a match I gave up over the 10 minute mark.

Here is the real doozy…

Does these douches comprehend how much freaking alcohol a person drinks waiting for a match on a FRIDAY night?!  Trust me it is far more when you “ain’t” doing anything.  On to a more endearing issue..if I am not able to play team fortress 2 I will move on to another game.  If I move on to another game then Valve has less or zero chance of me buying anything..especially with alcohol involved.  It makes me wonder what the hell they are smoking  that they can’t comprehend the rest of us?!  Now, let me get the monkey? out of the room.  Normal people don’t go and write blog posts that maybe 1 other person will read.  However, you can never rule out anything on the internet and how this post could gain traction.

SO VALVE,  start caring about real-life things like racism and fixing  your matchmaking skills.  You see, there is this fairly large 8 digit? large cash prize game called DOTA2 that you OWN that does better matchmaking then this.  How about asking that team?  While you are at it find a dictionary and look up the words bullying and racism  You put in as much effort as Donald Trump puts into his public displays.

What is the Default Canon Pin for Canon Printers?

What is the default Canon pin for canon printers?  I’ve had to look this up more than once therefore I need to make a note of it.  Very simply the ID and PIN (password) are both “7654321”.  While I am glad that part is easy I still am not a fan of Canon.  This time it’s their quirky address book.  First, there is no test button.  Why would such an expensive printer not have a test button for scanning?!  That is nuts.  Second, and even more importantly, it requires a path and location?  In other words say the directory you are scanning too is //mycomputernamebob/scans.

In the first field you enter //mycomputernamebob/ and then when you continue on you’ll come to a place where it asks for the path or location.  In there you just put scans.  Isn’t that weird?

Canon

Hard Drive Failed for 2nd Time

My physical hard drive failed for the 2nd time in as many years.  That brings the total of lost hard drives to 5 for me personally.  All on island.  I lost plenty of drives on the mainland but this is crazy.  It was my only non-ssd drive I had left.  In fact, compared to how many drives I have replaced over the past year alone probably has crept up to a dozen.

I just don’t think hard drives do well in this heat and humidity.  The SSDs appear to hold up much better.

Now I did replace my failed 750 GB drive with another non-ssd drive but I was in need of one in a pinch and had nothing bigger than 120 GB lying around.  Prices continue to drop on SSD and at some point I will move this one over to SSD.

TF2 Keeps Pausing when Downloading

TF2 keeps pausing when downloading.  This was an annoying problem and definitely preventable.  I didn’t even realize what the issue was at first until Windows gave me a notification reminding me that I am out of room on my c drive!

After freeing up space on Windows 8.1 I was able to download and update team fortress 2.

Related articles

Why Does Tweetdeck ask for My Password Everytime I log in!

Why does Tweetdeck keep asking me for my password when I open it?  It is set for 2 factor authentication but the SMS takes minutes to get to me.  Sometimes like today it doesn’t seem to ever get to me.  First, they should let me use a code generator like others do.  Second, I should still be able to declare my computer or my browser as a trusted device thereby me reducing the amount of times I have to use 2-factor.  This is quite annoying.

 

Splashtop Business now has File Transfer

Splashtop BusinesSplashtop Business now has file transfer as of late last week.  You can read the email that I received from them.  This was a highly sought feature and should make many people happy.  I am still looking forward to having in-chat options.

I was a teamviewer user for many years and with their “lifetime” license I still use it here and there.  My biggest gripe with teamviewer has always been their licensing.  It sounds good that you get a lifetime license but it’s only for that version.  For example, every year they release a new version of teamviewer.  I believe they are up to version 9.  That is great and I am glad they add new features to it every year.  However, their upgrade fee i still high.  Not only that but they hit you for every little thing with the biggest one being mobile access.  With splashtop business I pay $60 and can use my tablet to remote into another computer.

I will definitely concede the point that teamviewer has numerous more options and better stability but it comes at a cost.  A cost that I can’t justify in a mobile world.  I will also point out that splashtop business will charge me $60 per user each year I use it.  Either way that is still much cheaper than teamviewer’s pricing.

Splashtop Business now offers a way to transfer files! This has been one of the most requested features, and we’re glad to finally have it for you to try.

I would also like to mention that the email said that the updated files are not readily available on their update server but should be there soon.