TruXter Tech

Pokemon(ed) out

Posted on2016/07/122016/07/30AuthorTruXterLeave a comment

Well it seems in less than a week we have seen and read so much about Pokemon, we are now sick of the app.
All of the Memes of people with their find on the toilet, or in a wineglass. And all of the creepy van pictures with spray painted signs saying “Pokemon inside” blah blah blah.
We’ve all heard the 60 year old news anchor pretend to be turning off his Pokemon-go app, and we know darn well he doesn’t care about that game.
We’ve heard our local radio hosts yammering on endlessly about their kids getting out of the house finally.
We get it, the game requires you to walk to the end of your street. You did it once and have been posting memes about all of the walking you have been doing for the past six days. We get it…
We’ve seen the Pokemon pop up in weird locations that make us wonder “how’d they know the dimensions of this exact location???”. come on. You have your camera on. It asked you for permission. You can’t be that ignorant can you?
Here’s the permissions, Don’t worry it’s short and no big words.

Version 0.29.0 can access:
In-app purchases
Identity
find accounts on the device
Contacts
find accounts on the device
Location
approximate location (network-based)
precise location (GPS and network-based)
Photos/Media/Files
modify or delete the contents of your USB storage
read the contents of your USB storage
Storage
modify or delete the contents of your USB storage
read the contents of your USB storage
Camera
take pictures and videos
Other
receive data from Internet
control vibration
access Bluetooth settings
use accounts on the device
prevent device from sleeping
view network connections
pair with Bluetooth devices
full network access

It was a short chuckle the first time we all saw the beat up van with “Pokemon inside” then we saw the cleaner but solid white kidnapper van, then the guy “it puts the lotion on it’s skin” and the plethora of clowns. This game is creepier than what we were scared of with facebook. Did you sign in using your Facebook account? because that would be 1000Xs creepier.
That’s enough.
The game has no high moment just a constant “meh” with no climax.

It seems that Pokemon is pretty much for those who ignore simple reality, or children too young to know what their privacy is worth.
And they don’t even care that you can’t battle people. The whole concept of the cartoon the game is based on is battling with your Pokemon. The whole concewpt of the cards that were played with was to battle with your Pokemon.

Your typical pokemon players

Pokemon-Go away. Please stop promoting this dead horse.

pokemon-goaway

Cricket Wireless Mass Outages

Posted on2016/06/032016/06/03AuthorTruXterLeave a comment

Share this page to help get the word out
Yes Cricket users you have no signal.
People are reporting outages to the Cricket network across the country on a website called ” isdownrightnow.net”
If you just go to the site and search for Cricket, and when you find the page for reporting outages, just sit there and hit refresh and look at all of the people reporting in they have an outage, and look at where they are reporting from.

Doesn’t look like Cricket to AT&T switching is going all that smooth.

the Cricket website is also going in and out and forcing you to re-log in. The amount of time you stay logged in is about 1/5th the amount of time it takes for Cricket’s website to accept your password.

From New York to Texas to California, all of Cricket cell phone serviceis down.
Nation wide cell phone outages.
since 4pm Central, Cricket has been out of service. No calls in or out. If you call your voicemail from another phone, you can log in and check your voice mails. You can even delete them. Nothing much after that. Your phone will still show that you have voicemails that have not been deleted or heard.

Odd that this happens right after TeamViewer gets hacked then Myspace gets hacked.
Share this page to help get the word out.

How to disable LIVE VIDEO notifications on facebook

Posted on2016/05/302016/10/22AuthorTruXterLeave a comment

Do we care? Do we care that someone has their iPhone on shooting some useless shaky footage of them at the dmv giving a play-by-play?
No we do not.
If you are at the white house and asking good questions, then yes, we all want to see it (you might get arrested using the camera. not sure. never tried so.. ask first). but if you are just running the live video for the sake of streaming live on Facebook (which you can do with Ustream and have been able to do since Facebook started). Please don’t send out mass notifications
Dear Facebook, please quit opting me in for that crap. I don’t care is someone is streaming a live video of how to call a library and ask for an extension.

Okay.
That’s out of the way.
Let’s get rid of the “Live video” notifications.

Open Facebook on your computer. Click the globe in the top right corner. the one that is for notifications.
When the list of notifications drops down, look at the top right of that. Click on “settings”
Scroll all of the way down to the bottom of the “settings” page, and there it is.Says “Live videos”.
Look to the right hand side.
There will be a small drop down menu.Likely says on or all on.
Click that and make your choice. I selected “ALL OFF!!!!” .
That simple. You’re done

Dasani Water and Parasites

Posted on2016/05/162016/05/16AuthorTruXterLeave a comment

So we’ve ll seen the picture of the hand holding the translucent skinny fish looking thing with the caption saying something along the line of Coca~cola recalling Dasani bottled water due to contaminants.

You want to know if it is true or not.

Well it is false.

There are several known “false-news” websites promoting this rumor and several websites out there dedicated to busting lies that state many facts that destroy this rumor.

but you know facebook. “If I keep seeing it, then it must be true”.
Hoax-Alaert
Hoax-Slayer
Snopes

All say this rumor about a parasite in dasani water is false.
Simple fact is you would see that eye in the water and the fish would die long before it gets to you because there is no new fresh to mix in the water.
This one comes up about as often as the “butt spider“.

Same thing with the butt spirder rumor. If you see a post on Facebook about the dasani water parasite, share this link in the comments.. At least you will know you did your part.

How To Block The Spam on Your Cricket Phone

Posted on2016/05/102016/10/08AuthorTruXter2 Comments

Since the new Privacy Policy change at Cricket , they have allowed us to opt out of the advertisement types. Such as; web browser spam, and text message notifications.
We here at TruXter Tech decided to run through them all and opt ourselves out of them all. Here’s how we did it.

To opt out of “Relevant advertising” Click here

To opt out of advertisements on your phone based on your usage and locations Click Here

Phone Spam Opt Out

More Addvertisers to opt out from Click Here

You have opted out of relevant advertising on your mobile device.

To unsubscribe from Cricket’s Email spam Click Here

Federal Do Not Call list Click Here

To stop getting mail from Cricket and their affiliates Click Here

To Opt out of Cricket Text Messages Click Here

Opt Out Cricket Text Messages

Cricket Changing Privacy Policy

Posted on2016/05/102016/05/10AuthorTruXterLeave a comment

Cricket Cell phone carrier changing it’s privacy policy

In a text from Cricket

It’s Cricket Wireless here with an important service update. Effective June 16, 2016 we are changing our privacy policy so we can share your information with our parent company, AT&T. We are also changing the payment grace period. Please visit cricketwireless.com/june for more information.

Grace Period Change

Effective June 16th, 2016, the grace period to restore your service if you miss your Cricket Pay Date is changing from two (2) days to one (1) day. After the grace period you will be charged a reactivation fee to restore your service.

Basically Cricket and AT&T Merged a while back. and you’ve seen some changes. Well those changes aren’t over yet. You are in for a bunch of new spam.
Spam related on your browser history and your locations you frequent or frequently pass.

Cricket’s new policy change is based on AT&T’s policy since AT&T owns Cricket now.

Here is the current standing Privacy Policy of Cricket
any policy additions as of now are found here

How to opt out of Cricket Spam

I don’t like the idea that they can watch everything I am interested in, or things that freak me out so I check it out to see what it is then advertise to me based on my searches. I also don’t like the idea that I can be chasing my dog down the street to get him back home and get stuck behind a fish market trying to get him to come into reach and start getting advertisements based on seafood. Or that I can say the word “seafood” and BAM I am bombarded with seafood ads.

Heatsink Upgrade to Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus on AM3+ Review

Posted on2016/05/062016/05/07AuthorTruXterLeave a comment

The Girlfriend does a lot of video recording and editing internet companies. She runs an i7 processor and an Nvidia 970 video card with 16 gigs ram. She uses Camtasia software for a lot of her work. During the phase of compiling, we noticed sometimes her pc would crash, or lock up. After we installed speedfan we realized that she was hitting 180+ degrees so her intel was peaking high.
Until we could find her a new heatsink for her work horse, we tried to get by with my Athlon II X3 445 (Tri-core cpu) and my AM2 6 core which I bought for $5 at Epic A resell store.

This was a hard fact to face. The i7 is flat out a beast, and my AMD machines were completely useless for her. Except maybe recording. Rendering a video that she just compiled normally would have taken 10-17 minutes on her machine (when working right) ended up saying it would take 45 minutes on the AM2 and approximately 3 hours on the tri core.

So we took a trip to the computer store and bought the best heatsink they could advise, and what has the best/most reviews on line. We bought her computer a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO. Her temperature now stays in the 110s while compiling. Oddly there is no noticeable damage to the cpu or motherboard.

PcCooler Heatsink

My AMDs that I was proud to have had running for so little investment, were crushed in the dirt and now useless for every function in the house. Between her video work and my autoCAD work, it was time for an upgrade. So I (being the true AMD Fan I am) took a trip to the local computer store and brought home an AM3+ 8320 processor, 16 gigs of pny Anarchy 1866 ram, and an MSI 970A-G46 motherboard. of course a new case. Dropped my Geforce GTX460 Video card in and slapped on the factory heatsink, installed a spare power supply we had. Installed windows 7 and pushed the computer to her and said “well, try it out”.

We head back up to the computer parts store and buy a $21 heatsink. Give it one test and find that it was time to take another trip to the computer store to buy the exact same heatsink we bought for her intel cpu. Within 1-2 minutes of rendering, the temperature of the processor jumped from the cool 98 degrees up near 140 degrees and was climbing faster every second. The PCcooler heatsink is great for dissipating heat, at idle. but it was as if there was a threshold of like 115 degrees before it’s method of absorbing and dissipating heat become utterly useless. I will not throw it away. I will be installing it on another pc, but I’ll have to add an extra fan or something experimental.

Since I remember the instructions for the girlfriend’s computer came with instructions and spare parts for an AM3+ processor, I decided to search for the same heatsink.

I found the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus sounded like and looked like the same heatsink. Chased down the reviews and found everyone complaining about the install instructions but praising the cooling. Bought it for $35 and got free shipping.

It took all of about 10 minutes to install the new heatsink. I admit I cheated and watch this guy’s video though. I had to remove one side case fan for clearance, the processor heatsink was just too tall for my ENERMAX case.
Right away I went to rendering a video I compiled last night . When I tried to render the video last night, though the new computer made light work of the task, my cpu temperatures got to 145 degrees.
but now with the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus heatsink, re-rendering the same video took less than half the time it did last night and temperatures never exceeded 116 degrees.

The build is finally a success. and total cost under $600. and so far nothing runs slow, nothing hangs so far and it seems my autocad is flying. even using the knock off brands of cad design like bricsCAD, nanoCAD or ProgeCAD. They all run smooth with no pausing, no “thinking”.

Temperatures while in autocad never exceed 113 degrees.

I even ran a windows benchmark.
tempsidle
Sorry about the screenshot with in a screenshot. Only way I could think to get both scores up at once.

Review score for the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Ease of installation: 10/10
visible appeal: 10/10
effectiveness: 10/10
noise factor: 9/10

Final score: 10/10

Extra score = Instructions booklet usefulness: 1/10

Why Android Apps Sometimes Won’t Update

Posted on2016/04/222016/04/22AuthorTruXterLeave a comment

I find myself sometimes wondering if my tablet is broken, or if my internet connection is flakey or if my tablet or phone has a virus. I sit for longer than I’d like to admit to myself, trying to get apps to update. I find that some apps will update, and some just won’t . No matter how many times I try, no matter how close to the router I sit. Nothing
Update Failed
Well I figured out why the apps sometimes will not update on my Android devices.
I moved them to the micro-SD card.
That simple.
You move the apps to the micro-SD card and for some reason, Android forgets how to function.
When installed on SD card, sometimes Android has trouble updating the apps, sometimes has trouble even running the apps.

Here’s how to get the apps to update.(extreme case)
You have to move them back to the phone , then uninstall them.
Format your micro-SD card.
Take the micro-SD card out, reboot your Android and then reinstall the apps.
Then reinstall the micro-SD .
You should be done.
If you want to move the apps back to the micro-SD card, that’s all up to you.

You could see Update Failed again though.

I however will not be moving apps to my micro-SD card on my android. and will not be buying a large capacity micro-SD with my next Android purchase. There’s no reason for me to.
You can keep your Update Failed notices.

Social Media and Sharing with Your Friends

Posted on2016/03/232016/05/19AuthorTruXterLeave a comment

No one will call you a liar or call you out if you like and share a friend’s website, article or event page. You are not too good to help a friend and your other friends are not too good to see you share that post. Facebook and Twitter are not just for posting funny memes, inspirational pictures or helpful quotes. Your friends will not analyze your likes and shares. They will look to see if it is worth them sharing and liking too. Who knows, maybe you don’t think much of it, but one of your other friends might like the post and share it too, or even purchase the content.

If you see a friend posting from their website or personal company page, share that stuff for them. If you like what your friend is sharing then, by all means, share that stuff. If you don’t like it but you see your friend struggling to get the word out about what they have to offer, share that stuff. If you see a friend post an event, even if it’s an event about watching paint dry, share it. If your friend shares something and you don’t share it or comment on it or click the like button, but within the next day or…well, in any day after that for the rest of your friendship, you share that same exact content, but from the page of someone famous – you are not a thoughtful friend. You are someone helping promote the content of someone who does not need help and will not appreciate it.

If you think one of your friends might like the content your other friend is promoting then share it. Help.

When your friend shares content on Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn, they are getting the maximum amount of visibility they can from their limited amount of friends. If 10% of their friends would share the same content, the visibility of that content would increase ten fold.

See, there is another article on the sister site talking about band promotions and how so many people will post on the event page saying why they can not come; and, no one sharing the article. It’s the “Invite Etiquette” post. This was the inspiration of this article. I wrote that article a couple of years back and I tagged all of the musicians I saw who I know have posted events and the page was full of people saying, “Sorry, working Kool-Aid stand with senile neighbor’s cousin’s favorite teacher”. I prefer to say nothing if too busy to comment or, “Bad ass. Hell yeah,” then private message my excuse. “Sorry…rectal exam that day because I’m an a$&ho1e”. Blah. blah, blah.

The issue I have here is, never has a musician shared that post. The best I got was one comment and maybe a like or two. Sure it might come off rude if a musician shared that link. That would only happen if the musician didn’t add a funny quip like, “HAHAHA – Someone is fed up,” etc.

Share your friend’s stuff. Don’t leave this type of exposure for just the scammers and spammers. Help your friend get exposure. It costs you one maybe two clicks. That’s it *click click*, then end. Done. You are now a friend that cares.

This goes for Twitter and LinkedIn. How does your broke friend with, what they think is a great idea, get seen or have half a chance if you, a “friend”, won’t even like, share or at least comment on what they have to expose to the world. Tweet that stuff on Twitter. Like and share that on Facebook and LinkedIn. Help your friend before your friend has to see someone else with a bigger, tighter group of friends steal his idea, which you will likely share at that point.

New SEO Tactics Seem Spammy

Posted on2016/03/162016/03/16AuthorTruXterLeave a comment

Web site SEO tactics have changed in the past 3-5 years. Tactics of getting their sites up front and high traffic that seem to be less than, well let’s say “Honorable”.
I was looking to see why some of my posts have no traffic. I was searching for tips to keep myself fresh and ran into endless posts on the first few pages of my search that were just appalling compared to ethics codes of web design. Such as those annoying popups that people have on their sites that seem to come up when you are trying to leave the site. The popups that say “Wait don’t go just yet” and then offer some pointless coupon to a product that you no longer trust because it seems the site is using some sort of intelligent software that tracks your mouse and is scheduled to come up when you try to close a tab or hit the back button. Well that is in fact what they are doing. So um, yeah, I don’t trust those types of sites and instantly close the tab/page. and you should too.

Weird redefinition of common items. AKA Double Talkin Jive
Infographic – Sounds like a great word that has scales and graphs. Right? nope. Just means Relevant picture that gives the readers a visual of your page.
Responsive site – Means the site changes shapes and size as you use a different display dimension.

Content increases page navigation
Slide shows – The site is designed for images to be seen and the first page is titled “700 top funniest pictures on the internet”. You give it a go and the page loads slow as mud because of all of the Ads populating and the image is the first image leading to a joke. now you have to click the “next” button” which in theory should take you to another page so you can see the rest of the page. Nope just loads the same image with more pre-joke garbage and another 5 minutes of ads loading. Five clicks later you see the joke yet there is still a “next” button, for the next joke. Nope. I am now thoroughly frustrated and will not be back. and wish I could submit your site to a list of sites to be blocked, so I can help prevent people from wasting their time.
No one wants to click through a slide show to eventually get what they came for.

Calling their site a blog when it it’s more of an internet infomercial
Get a link to a site and it is presented to you as a blog but turns out to just be a website selling you get rich quick material, but written in a manor that seems makes you “feel like the writer is just like you”. The writer is not. The writer is just skilled at writing that way.

Hacked accounts spamming social sites
Those links you click that steal your passwords, were created to gather up popular accounts and confirmed accounts and spam links to the followers. Those accounts will stay hacked for weeks, months and sometimes forever. The garbage they post will be to get traffic to junk websites.
Reddit is notorious for having people with multiple accounts upvoting (click the “agree with” button) their own content and then downvoting (disapproval button) all other content submitted with in the same time frame so their content is seen the most.

Click bait
Titles for clicks- Content lacks. “Three guys meet a dragon you won’t believe what happens next”. “Man finds kitten, you won’t believe what happens next”.
How about some content and a title that doesn’t tell me what I will or won’t believe next.

Using apps that “consolidate your work effort” such as contact email blasts and such. Dude that is spam.

Using the pop-ups that say “wait don’t leave until you hear about this”. Dude that is a pop up. stop it. Stop trying to make that a thing. That just makes people leave faster and never come back.

What’s with the new pages looking like MSN 1998 ? No defined lines, just one table in the center of the page.