Force Apple Captive Portal Login

 If you try attaching to a guest wi-fi with an active portal that doesn't seem to want to trigger, try this:

http://captive.apple.com/hotspot-detect.html

Hope this helps!

Acer TravelMate Disable Secure Boot

 I was working on an Acer TravelMate that would NOT let me install Windows 8 or Windows 10. Turns out, the SECURE BOOT option was ENABLED and that was the culprit. Unfortunately, the BIOS would not let me select the Secure Boot option to change it. Turns out, there is a VERY easy fix:

Set the "Supervisor Password" in the BIOS to remove the greying out (there is a total of five different kinds of password in some of the BIOSes):

Hold down F2 during startup of the laptop to enter the BIOS.

Select menu "Security" using the arrow keys.

Select "Supervisor Password" using the arrow keys.

Press Enter to get the dialog for setting the password.

Type in a password and Enter.

Retype in a password and Enter.

Remember the password somehow! You will be prompted for it the next time you try to enter the BIOS.

Press Enter to dismiss the dialog.

Select "Boot" using the right arrow key.

"Enabled" for "Secure Boot" is no longer greyed out (and can be changed to "Disabled")!

Optional: Set the "Supervisor Password" back to empty.

Select menu "Exit" and menu item "Exit Saving Changes" using the arrow keys. Press Enter for "Yes" in the prompt.

This came from a forum post and I decided to post it here in case that post should disappear: : https://askubuntu.com/a/1001155

First Saturday Computer Flea Market, Dallas Texas (1st Saturday)

 Way back in 1994 or 1995, a group of my co-workers told me about a computer flea market in Dallas, Texas, that only took place at night. I was skeptical. Turned out to be true! What appears below is from an archived web page I had on the subject. NOTE: So far as I have been able to determine, the flea market has been long defunct.

So, you've been trying to figure out how to get to the now famous Dallas Computer Flea Market? Well, look no further! I thought the once a month, midnight computer flea market in Dallas was a big secret or something. It took a lot of digging and prodding, but my family and I found it. We wanted to be sure that NO ONE else ever had to go through what we had to, so:

The Dallas Computer Flea Market (aka 1st Saturday) is located at the corner of Ross Avenue and Routh streets in downtown Dallas. The closest approximation I could come up with is North Central Expressway and Ross Avenue. The market actually takes up several parking lots near the Ross/Routh intersection, but the vendor check-in (thus, most vendors) are in the lots at Ross/Routh.

The vendors start setting up around 11:30 p.m. on the first Friday of the month, but actual set-up starts at Midnight Saturday. When we went, we started at Midnight and hung out until about 4 a.m. I'd say the best time to get there is around 3 a.m. Most of the vendors are there and it's pretty kickin'. The whole things closes down at noon on Saturday, so don't wait! Have fun!

We hope this helps! If you have ANY questions, please contact me: David Henderson

Here's a map for clarity (The general area is marked in RED):
THIS MAP IS ABOUT 85k! (Note: Back in those days, this was a HUGE picture - haha!)

A couple of notes in hindsight:

• The area marked in red was the parking. The actual event took place southwest after you crossed the street under the freeway.
• Note the hand-drawn black lines to indicate a new highway being built! That is now 366 (Sorry I don't know the local name for the interchange).

FortiFone FON-175 Silent Ring Mode

On the FON-175, the MUTE button does more than just mute the microphone, as I recently discovered. The MUTE button also places the phone into "Silent Ring Mode."

When the MUTE button is activated while NOT in a call (that is, when the handset is on the base), the MUTE button will toggle the Silent Ring Mode feature. This prevents the phone from ringing audibly during a call. The red light will flash during an incoming call, but the phone will not ring.

In order to toggle the setting back again, press the MUTE button while the handset is in the base and is not in use.

Hope this helps, as this terminology (Silent Ring Mode) is NOT referenced in the user's guide. 

Remove and/or Disable the Preview Pane in Windows 10

a) Press “Windows Logo” + “R” keys on the keyboard to open the “Run” command box.

b) Type “regedit” in the “Run” command box and press “ENTER”.

c) Now, navigate to following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

d) In right-side pane, create new DWORD “NoReadingPane” and set its value to 1.
(To create a new DWORD, click on the option “Edit” at the top, select “New” and then select the option “DWORD” from that sub-menu.)

e) Restart or log off your system and "Preview Pane" button will get removed from Windows Explorer command bar.

To restore the "Preview Pane" button, you can either remove DWORD or change its value to 0.

(Taken from: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-desktop/how-to-hide-the-file-preview-pane-on-the-browse/36e8da9c-10c0-4ac0-ab16-284fea930075 and placed here to make it easier to find.)