▒▓█ Technology

HOW TO FIX OUT OF SYNC TIME ON OLD WINDOWS 7 INSTALLATIONS

HOW TO FIX OUT OF SYNC TIME ON OLD WINDOWS 7 INSTALLATIONS

A couple of weeks ago i run into problem related to out-of sync time clock. Tried almost all imaginable solutions, like time service restarting, checking that internet time-sync option is turned on and so on and so forth. Of course to no avail at all. How typical! My Windows 7 installation dates back to early 2019 and i’ve plethora of software installed, and more over system is heavily customized so plain reinstall of operating system is not an option in my case.
HOW TO EASILY FIX GPS ISSUES ON SONY XZ1 COMPACT SMARTPHONE

HOW TO EASILY FIX GPS ISSUES ON SONY XZ1 COMPACT SMARTPHONE

As you may know [Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact] is my main web surfing phone on the go. I’m fully satisfied with it’s capabilities even in 2023. Except one little problem, related to GPS and speed of satellites detection. Issue showed up couple of months ago and it seems that i finally found an easy way to fix it. After some investigations i conclude that device has a hardware based problem, and to eliminate it completely you need to open phone casing and pull up antenna so it will have tighter surface touching with in-case metallic plate.
HOW TO POWER OFF OR RESTART ANDROID PHONE WITHOUT TOUCHING HARDWARE BUTTONS

HOW TO POWER OFF OR RESTART ANDROID PHONE WITHOUT TOUCHING HARDWARE BUTTONS

Say you would like to extend life cycle of your hardware power button and want to turn off/restart your device without touching mechanics. Unfortunately most of smartphones don’t offer such functionality out of the box. However there is an easy way to make things rollin'. Problem can be solved by installing [Power Menu] , very small application. It is a simple tool which just works, do expected thing and moreover contains no bloat at all.
ENDEAVOUR OS ▀ LINUX FROM NETHERLANDS

ENDEAVOUR OS ▀ LINUX FROM NETHERLANDS

Recently i had [some frustrations] with Manjaro Linux. Most notable for me were: not so good compatibility with Windows 7 [dual booting is working, but after Manjaro updated, Windows 7 stopped working for some reason]. some problems with Nvidia drivers strange power management system not properly working keyboard backlit on Dell laptop So, i went to [DistroWatch] and instantly noticed [EndeavourOS] , which was already among popular distributions and rapidly climbing to the top.
FIXING SLOW STARTUP OF APPLICATIONS IN MANJARO XFCE

FIXING SLOW STARTUP OF APPLICATIONS IN MANJARO XFCE

Right after installing [Manjaro Linux] i run into weird issue. Most of needed applications like Firefox and Thunderbird take around 10 seconds or so just to startup. Such behavior on NVME drive is unacceptable at all. Problem was in a serious [bug in gnome desktop] , despite the fact that i’m running XFCE desk. Workaround for GTK-based desktops is to run following commmands in terminal: sudo pacman -Rdd xdg-desktop-portal-gnome sudo pacman -S xdg-desktop-portal-gtk Imagery by spacedrone808
SWITCHING TO LINUX TO KEEP UP WITH MODERN TECHNOLOGIES

SWITCHING TO LINUX TO KEEP UP WITH MODERN TECHNOLOGIES

Recently, I’ve decided to install Linux for web development to make sure that i’m not missing something in terms of modern features and technologies. I chose [Manjaro] with [XFCE] desktop. However, all multimedia works are staying on Windows 7. I still can’t find proper replacement for Vegas Pro and many other tools i use in my daily workflow. [Modern web is working] , [security is updated] , so i don’t see any reason to ditch it in favor of something more fancy.
ESSENTIAL VSCODE SHORTCUTS TO SPEED UP YOUR WORKFLOW DRAMATICALLY

ESSENTIAL VSCODE SHORTCUTS TO SPEED UP YOUR WORKFLOW DRAMATICALLY

UPDATED ON: 2024-04-05 Here is a small list of mandatory keystrokes, which significantly speed up working process! NOTE! ++[KEY] ► means that you must release previously pressed keys upon pressing it NAVIGATION [CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[N] ► new editor instance [CTRL]+[K]+[CTRL]+[O] ► open folder [CTRL]+[K]++[F] ► close folder [ALT]+[L]+[ALT]+[O] ► open in browser [CTRL]+[W] ► close current tab [CTRL]+[K]++[W] ► close all tabs [ALT]+[1]/[2]/[3] ► fast-switch to diffrenet tabs [CTRL]+[1]/[2] ► fast-switch between panels
RENOISE EFFECTS LIST AND VARIOUS TRACKER TIPS

RENOISE EFFECTS LIST AND VARIOUS TRACKER TIPS

UPDATED ON: 2023-09-20 Version: 0.5 Considered Renoise version is 3.4.x. Just a small collection of important things to remember. Will be nice if stash come in handy to someone. ▒ GENERAL SETTINGS [-] GUI effects and animation [+] More compatible GFX updates [48] Limit frame rate [-] View multiple patterns continuously [+] Single click to create new points [hold Shift to select] [-8dB] Track headroom ▲ BACK TO TOP
DELL PRECISION 7520 AND LENOVO X1 CARBON GEN5 RECEIVED ANOTHER BIOS UPDATES

DELL PRECISION 7520 AND LENOVO X1 CARBON GEN5 RECEIVED ANOTHER BIOS UPDATES

Fastest Windows 7 laptops are still on the edge. Dell & Lenovo ’ve made some enhancements to address following security vulnerabilities: * CVE-2022-38087 * CVE-2022-40982 * CVE-2022-37343 * CVE-2022-44611 * CVE-2022-27879 * CVE-2022-38083 * CVE-2022-43505 * CVE-2023-28005 * CVE-2022-36763 * CVE-2022-36764 * CVE-2022-36765 [Dell Precision 7520] ► Firmware version 1.31.0 [take a note that model 7510 was bumped also] [direct link] [Lenovo X1 Carbon Gen5] ► Firmware version 1.59 [applied to models 20HQ, 20HR, 20K3 and 20K4] [direct link] Nice to see that such older platforms are still maintained.
COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF THE MOST IMPORTANT RENOISE SHORTCUTS

COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF THE MOST IMPORTANT RENOISE SHORTCUTS

UPDATED ON: 2023-09-20 List of shortcuts, which i frequently use in my work-flow. Text version for offline surfing can be grabbed [here] . Official list of shortcuts can be found [on Renoise site] . ▒ MODIFICATORS [SHIFT] ► track [ALT] ► block [selection] [CTRL]+[SHIFT] ► column [ALT]+[SHIFT] ► group [CTRL] ► pattern ▒ GENERAL [ALT]+[ENTER] ► toggle real fullscreen [CTRL]+[N] ► new song [CTRL]+[S] ► save song [CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[S] ► save track as [CTRL]+[O] ► open song [CTRL]+[,] ► open preferences
HOW TO COMPLETELY DISABLE TELEMETRY SERVICES WHICH DIAL BACK TO THIRD-PARTIES IN FIREFOX

HOW TO COMPLETELY DISABLE TELEMETRY SERVICES WHICH DIAL BACK TO THIRD-PARTIES IN FIREFOX

UPDATED ON: 2023-09-06 Some new parameters were added. Note that by default all [Nightly versions] of Firefox are sending back telemetry to third-parties in extensive manner. So, to disable such malicious actions besides turning off telemetry settings via standard GUI options: about:preferences#privacy You’ll need to use good old: about:config To change to: FALSE …or create following parameters in software registry: toolkit.telemetry.archive.enabled toolkit.telemetry.enabled toolkit.telemetry.unified toolkit.telemetry.unifiedIsOptIn toolkit.telemetry.bhrPing.enabled toolkit.telemetry.firstShutdownPing.enabled toolkit.telemetry.hybridContent.enabled toolkit.telemetry.newProfilePing.enabled toolkit.telemetry.reportingpolicy.firstRun toolkit.
HOW TO STAY SAFE WHEN USING OB-SOUL-EEE-TEE WINDOWS 7 IN 2023?

HOW TO STAY SAFE WHEN USING OB-SOUL-EEE-TEE WINDOWS 7 IN 2023?

I often get asked regarding Windows 7 safety especially in 2023. "Is it safe to use such old operating system?" "What about security?" "How about modern viruses?" .... …. and many other similar questions. Funny thing that people who are asking about security don’t give a damn about privacy. Yeah, that’s quite different definitions for sure, but from my point of view they always come together hand in hand. The main and the most important security police officer is your head.
IS IT HARD TO RUN WINDOWS 7 IN 2023? NAH, NOT AT ALL!

IS IT HARD TO RUN WINDOWS 7 IN 2023? NAH, NOT AT ALL!

Looking back to previous couple of years and taking into perspective generic non-computer life it is quite amazing what people are capable of. I’m talking about amount of rave and chaotic mess they can produce. Artificial difficulties, overcomplicated situations, meaningless and moronic wars, you name it. Taking into account above mentioned things it’s really easy to handle such “problem” as running Windows 7 in modern age. Despite the fact that there are plenty of people around who are mumbling about Windows 7 obsolescense and bla-bla-bla.
KEYCHRON Q6 ▀ BLUE MECHANICAL BEAST WITH BROWN TACTILE SWITCHES IN REALLY HEAVY METAL CASING

KEYCHRON Q6 ▀ BLUE MECHANICAL BEAST WITH BROWN TACTILE SWITCHES IN REALLY HEAVY METAL CASING

If you are a long term reader/visitor of my site you may already know that i am using following keyboards: Japanese [Topre Realforce RGB] [rubber-dome capacitive key switches] Chinese [Vortex Race III] [clicky blue Cherry-MX key switches] Chinese [Vortex Tab90M] [clicky blue Cherry-MX key switches] Thailand [IBM KB-8926] [quite good rubber-dome key switches] Note: board from 1996 in mind condition, using it on my job. And now i’ve decided to give a shot to top end keyboard of Keychron brand.
WINDOWS 7 X64 EXECUTES FIREFOX 117 NIGHTLY VERSION WITHOUT ANY ISSUES

WINDOWS 7 X64 EXECUTES FIREFOX 117 NIGHTLY VERSION WITHOUT ANY ISSUES

UPDATED ON: 2023-08-23 Despite [previous statement] regarding Windows 7 EOL status after version 115 current nightly alpha binary [v117] works just fine. Installer threw generic mambo-jambo that program can’t work in Windows 7 environment and then artificially blocks installation. How generic & dumb. Workaround is just unzip exe-package with [7-zip] and execute browser from unpacked Core folder. FIREFOX 117 ABOUT WINDOW Right after installation software immediately begins to whine about inability to update.
HOW TO CHANGE GUI LANGUAGE IN PHOTOSHOP TO ENGLISH

HOW TO CHANGE GUI LANGUAGE IN PHOTOSHOP TO ENGLISH

This can be done by changing application’s language locale to English. But what if you have only one non-English language in GUI preferences? The solution is surprisingly simple. Close Photoshop if it is already running Find following file: tw10428.dat Standard location: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop YOUR-VERSION\Locales\YOUR-LANGUAGE\Support Files\ In case of Photoshop 2020 file is named: tw10428_Photoshop_ru_RU.dat Rename it into something like: tw10428.dat.bak Ta-da! Start software and enjoy! Imagery by spacedrone808
BRING BACK NORMAL HEIGHT TO TABS IN FIREFOX 115

BRING BACK NORMAL HEIGHT TO TABS IN FIREFOX 115

I bet most of Firefox oldschool users hated the recent “changes” in terms of overall browser design. Rounded childish like-chrome corners, foolish restriction on what can be configured and so on. And now they crippled the look of browser tabs: to waste your workspace and spoil the design, just take a look at this: MODERN “NORMAL” STYLE LEGACY NORMAL STYLE SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISON I suppose that such “changes” were made in favor to touchscreen devices.
HOW TO MINIMIZE LAPTOP POWER CONSUMPTION

HOW TO MINIMIZE LAPTOP POWER CONSUMPTION

Say you need to run on a laptop battery vintage or simply non-demanding applications for an extremely long time. Here is a little breakdown of mandatory things to do: turn off in BIOS unneeded devices like camera, sd-card reader, fingerprint scanner, gsm-modem, wifi, bt or whatever you are not using turn on power saving features like various C-power states turn off hyper-threading and hi-core count [if you have such ability] lower screen brightness to acceptable level check my [quick] and [comprehensive] optimization FAQs get rid of [unneeded services and bloat applications] Also you can use core parking utility [Park Control] , but in this mini-guide i’ll show you how to set power related things up via internal Windows 7 tools.
HOW TO SET PROPER COLOR FOR CURSOR AND COMMENTS IN VSCODE EDITOR

HOW TO SET PROPER COLOR FOR CURSOR AND COMMENTS IN VSCODE EDITOR

UPDATED ON: 2023-12-02 The main reason i’ve decided to write this note is indistinct default color mappings and inability to solve issue simply using GUI of software. In main configuration file: settings.json add following lines: "workbench.colorCustomizations": { "editorCursor.foreground": "#ff0000", "terminalCursor.foreground": "#02ED3D", "editorLineNumber.activeForeground": "#ff0000", "editor.lineHighlightBackground": "#016119", "editor.lineHighlightBorder": "#02ED3D", "terminal.foreground": "#02ed3d" }, To set custom color for GREY comments drop in these lines: "editor.tokenColorCustomizations": { "conmments": "#ff006f" } To fast access configuration file press:
HOW TO RUN LATEST VS CODE IN WINDOWS 7 X64

HOW TO RUN LATEST VS CODE IN WINDOWS 7 X64

UPDATED ON: 2024-04-06 v1.81.1 is a more recent version, which can be executed without any efforts v1.88 is a hacked [FINAL version] for Windows 7 x64 So, Windows 7 users are pretty safe at this point despite artificial restrictions of big corps. Usually i’m not feeling so delightful regarding microsoft modern programs, but this one is pretty good. And of course they tried to artificially cripple it under “obsolete” Windows 7.
VxKex ▀ WINDOWS 7 KERNEL EXTENSIONS TO RUN WINDOWS 8+ SOFTWARE

VxKex ▀ WINDOWS 7 KERNEL EXTENSIONS TO RUN WINDOWS 8+ SOFTWARE

Extended kernel project allows you to run some Windows 8+ applications on Windows 7. LATEST ALPHA BUILDS Click right mouse button to select executable properties and then switch to VxKex tab: Then cross your fingers and try to launch desired application. Warning! Software is in very early alpha stage, so miracles almost never happen. However very basic applications can be executed. Imagery by spacedrone808
HOW TO RUN NODE.JS 18.18 LTS ON OBSOLETE WINDOWS 7

HOW TO RUN NODE.JS 18.18 LTS ON OBSOLETE WINDOWS 7

UPDATED ON: 2023-11-27 Node.js dropped Windows 7 “support” rigth after [version number 13] .What a load of sh#t. Today i’ll tell you how to overcome this nonsense and run latest LTS version [Node.JS 18.8] without any problems. More newer versions may work also. I’ll leave you some room for experiments. First of all you need to download zipped version of software, not msi one. node-v18.18.2-win-x64.7z or node-v18.18.2-win-x64.zip Unpack archive in any folder on drive C.
ELIMINATE SCREEN TEARING ON INTEL HD GRAPHICS IN WINDOWS 7 ENVIRONMENT

ELIMINATE SCREEN TEARING ON INTEL HD GRAPHICS IN WINDOWS 7 ENVIRONMENT

In my newly purchased [Lenovo X1 Carbon] i run into screen tearing issues during web or local video playback with classic windows theme turned on. GOOD EXAMPLE OF SCREEN TEARING PHENOMENON I messed around with different video driver settings, under the hood browser parameters, fine-tuning other various tweaks without any changes for good. To my surprise solution was pretty straightforward. JUST TURN ON AERO THEME TO SAVE YOUR EV▓NING! Aero interface is rendered by Desktop Windows Manager [DWM].
INTERACTIVE SEARCH ENGINE MAP

INTERACTIVE SEARCH ENGINE MAP

Independent UK-based search engine [Mojeek] brought to us [convenient and very detailed map] of various search engines and crawlers. Project was inspired by [Internet map resource] . ►SEARCH ENGINE MAP◄ Imagery by spacedrone808
LENOVO X1 CARBON 6TH GENERATION ▀ BRIEF REVIEW

LENOVO X1 CARBON 6TH GENERATION ▀ BRIEF REVIEW

Main highlights of [6th generation] over [previous one] : very good keyboard for ultra-compact class [same quality as in 5th gen]. By the way, 6th generation is a last one to support such luxury. Generations 7th and 8th come with [crippled apple-like keys] with reduced key travel. noticeable quality increase in terms of color gamut, even better than in 5th generation. sRGB gamut: 95% [Gen6] vs 85% [Gen 5]. multi-core performance [increased around 80%] over 5th gen.
UGLY MOZILLA DECIDED TO DROP WINDOWS 7 SUPPORT FOR FIREFOX IN LATE 2024

UGLY MOZILLA DECIDED TO DROP WINDOWS 7 SUPPORT FOR FIREFOX IN LATE 2024

Despite the fact that current Firefox market share of Windows 7 users is around 13% Mozilla confirms to [drop Windows 7 support in 2024] . Actually i don’t really understand their bold move and why they are dropping Windows 7 and keeping support for example for Android 7.1 which stopped receiving updates more than five years ago. As you may know i’m using Android 8.0 on my websurfer phone and yeah, it is running latest Firefox forks easily.

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