November 2013 archive

Internet Explorer 11 Eschews Version-Specific Document Modes

It’s been the bane of web developers for many years – Internet Explorer and the unique quirks associated with each version. Sure, you could try and accommodate this by detecting the version of Internet Explorer and writing code for each version but then you have issues of maintaining and updating multiple versions of code for …

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The Return of the Infrared Remote in Smartphones

When LG visited work recently to show off their new G2 Android smartphone and some other product including a couple of Ultra HD televisions (which looked fantastic in my opinion) there was one particular feature on the smartphone which I really liked. It wasn’t the large screen or the quad core CPU, its speed or …

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Trawling eBay for Older Generation Computer Parts

Well, i have been doing some research on various computer components after deciding to go down the cheaper in-place upgrade path rather than building a new computer from scratch. However, I thought I would have a look and see what CPUs my Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME motherboard supports. It turns out that with the last BIOS revision …

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CrashPlan – Status Update

A while ago I thought I would give CrashPlan a go as a cloud backup solution. Well, after thirty nine days I have backed up about 220GB of data from our home server and will backup additional some data from my wife’s MacBook Air this week. I’ve not run into any issues so far and …

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Upgrading or Building Anew?

I have been doing some thinking about what to do with my desktop computer as it has served me well since I first built it back in 2009. Aside from a minor hiccup here and there it has strode on through the years quite admirably however I have recently run into some bottlenecks. Firstly, 12GB …

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Finding Compatibility View in Internet Explorer 11

If you’re using Internet Explorer 11 then some websites may not work properly for whatever reason. In these instances, you may need to add these websites the compatibility view list to have Internet Explorer use an alternative method of rendering the page. However, IE11 no longer shows the compatibility view button at the end of …

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Internet Explorer 11 – Time to Reevaluate

Those of us in the know are all too aware of the history of Internet Explorer including its quirks, lack of standards compliance and the possibility of having your browser hosed but impossible to fix without potentially compromising the operating system. Microsoft had coasted for years on the popularity of Internet Explorer having the majority …

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Getting Back into Shape with Adidas miCoach

The title says it all really but I have found it a little challenging at work recently to get to the gym as it has been a challenge to keep on top of everything. However, that excuse only goes so far and there comes a point where you have to look after yourself. Anyway, I …

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Resizing Start Screen Tiles in Windows 8.1

With the upgrade to Windows 8.1 comes the ability to access two new tile sizes in addition to the wide and medium sizes that were available in Windows 8. The large and small sizes are respectively four times larger and smaller than the medium size tile allowing you to get more live tile real estate or …

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MyBells – A Smart Doorbell Solution

Edit 10/08/2014: I am withdrawing any sort of moral support for this project and specifically Aron Czigler and Kristina Odegova for the lack of communication to backers. I phoned Kristina (+7 926 086 9425 and k.odegova@mybells.net as found on Syracuse)  on 14/07/2014 to discuss the way forward and she advised that MyBells are still waiting to …

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