April 2013 archive

An OST file is in use and could not be accessed…

If you’re a user of Outlook you may encounter the following error message on the rarest of occasions when attempting to open the application: The file <OST file location> is in use and could not be accessed. Close any application that is using this file, and then try again. This was after I had closed …

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Suppress Folders From Media Scanning Under Android

Whenever you restart your Android device it does a scan of all of its storage to check for new audio, video and picture files. However, over time there may be folders used by apps that contain such files that end up cluttering up your picture gallery. This can ultimately extend the time taken scanning for …

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Twitter for Mac OS X Finally Receives an Update

Another quick update. If you’ve been using Twitter for Mac OS X you may have been wondering where the updates have been for the official client. In particular, the lack of Retina display support may have been discouraging people from using the official client. Anyway, the latest version of the official Twitter client is now …

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How to Record and Playback a Demo in Team Fortress 2

Here’s a quick and easy tip for the TF2 players out there. When your in an active game and you want to get a recording of your session there’s a simple way of doing that as follows: Open the console by using the ` key (to the left of the 1 key on most keyboards), …

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Bringing USB 3.0 to Higher Power Levels

Just a heads up that if you have USB 3.0 as a prerequisite for new devices then you might want keep your eyes peeled for a new revision to the specification. At the moment, USB 3.0 ports are limited to outputting 10 Watts (a combination of 5 Volts @ 2 Amps) but with the new …

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Another Way to View Recent Earthquakes

Last year I wrote about a way to use Ifttt to get earthquake notifications on your mobile phone via SMS albeit after the fact. However, if you have a Wi-Fi tablet or a laptop this won’t be helpful particularly if you don’t hear message notifications on your phone. Fortunately, you can bookmark this USGS webpage …

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Incoming Gadget – DisplayLink DL-195 USB DVI Adapter

Just a short update. I’ve ordered an unbadged DisplayLink DL-195 USB DVI adapter for use at work. I am still waiting for my new monitor to arrive but I hope to test it with my laptop and existing external screen when the adapter arrives. Also included in the box are DVI to HDMI and DVI …

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If You Like Free Stuff Check Out Gumtree

Who doesn’t like free stuff? if you’ve got some time to kill then you might want to have a browse of Gumtree and look in the Freebies section under Browse Ads. Mind you, there’s a ton of stuff there such as televisions, tables and gadgets (usually broken but potentially usable for spare parts). It could well be …

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Making Australian Passport Renewals Easier

After coming back from our last holiday in Bangkok I was aware of the need to renew my passport as it was fast approaching the minimum six month validity required by many countries for travelers. Originally, I thought that I had a while to get it through the gate however it seems that I might need …

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Why Debugging is Greyed Out for SSIS Packages

Here is a quick tip for those using SSIS packages with Microsoft SQL Server. If you use the data import wizard in SQL Server and save a copy of the SSIS package used to import data you might want to reuse that package to load more data in the same format. However, once you’ve loaded …

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