John Ellmaker

As a 100% feedback user on ebay of many years, I always cringe when something is seemingly available on Aliexpress where it isn't found anywhere else. Thinking back, I don't believe I've ever had success with them in those instances, perhaps for mainstream stuff and outside the US they can do well but I experienced straight up fraud through them this time. It wasn't for a lot of money but I was surprised at Ali Express acknowledging the fraud and then not fully refunding the transaction (not to worry my chargeback is succeeding from my credit card issuer which everyone should know to do and keep records in situations like this). Ali indeed ruled in my favor but only proposed to refund half my money. This is a case where I ordered a daughterboard and cable, it was clearly shown in the picture of the item and title of the item (which I kept). The seller then only shipped the cable and then when I opened the ticket for missing items, the seller changed their listing to cable only and the photo. This is why Ali agreed to refund, but it was ridiculous that they would try to keep any money here. And the seller issued insults the whole way after doing all this changing of their listing by personal message through the site. I'm not here to complain to this community but figured with everything going on you might like to see some other news and what such a large commerce site is still capable of doing to clients these days. The other purpose here is to help protect yourself if you order a lot of parts online or even infrequently. What helped me here is I used a credit card that does virtual cards so I can shut that down easily, it also has a fast acting chargeback department and I always check my products I receive as soon as I reasonably can. I take photos and screenshots, especially when it is a vendor selling something for far less than others when none are available elsewhere, in this case a daughterboard normally priced around $40 was low in supply so ebayers were selling it for over $200. Ali had it listed through this seller for the normal $40 so I took a screen shot while purchasing it and Ali would naturally have this info on their backend so they could verify the seller changed the listing and photo after the dispute was started. I still needed all of that foresight to know to take all that evidence so I could present it to the chargeback in the case that Ali didn't protect me from the scammer. I hope this helps someone in considering everything you need to do these days to make sure you get justice in the case of overt fraud.

Is this annoying anyone? I actually have paid for a license going back many years and have all my clients so used to reading off their ID and password and now without warning you are going to have to tell your clients an ID to join a session. Perhaps I'm overreacting but I just hate when software companies make these unilateral changes without any option to "turn off the new crap". If you don't know what I'm talking about, download the current version of teamviewer or have a client update to the new version and see what I'm talking about, if it bugs you, please reach out to Teamviewer and speak your mind. One of the reasons that I've stuck with Teamviewer for so long is I actually like the fact that my clients have the choice of when someone connects to them instead of something that is running all the time like logmein, its a philosophical difference as I know plenty of techs that want persistent access. Does anyone have any low cost alternatives to teamviewer that operates similarly where the client has control of when the software is active (on launch) and passwords that generate for each session? Teamviewer has long been overly expensive for the model of small business so this is a good time to shop around regardless.

I just helped a client recover from a ransomware attempt and found the file that they remotely downloaded to create the screen lock that is an updated version of previous ones I've seen. While the client had my protection setup and was easily put back into working order, it got me thinking that there should be some file repository to report such files to Microsoft or other security company so these types of apps are not allowed to run. This probably exists and I just haven't had enough coffee to look past my nose. The executable was labeled smart_pc_locker_pro_setup which i think is the same or similar name as previous executable but it worked on Windows 10 21H2 fully updated and resistant to many of the previous techniques that removed earlier versions with ease. Didn't know where to post this so please move to appropriate topic area, thanks.

Welcome to my love hate relationship with Teamviewer software and just a quick note, I appreciate eager beavers that want to help but if you don't use this software in a professional setting and your experience is limited to helping a few friends and family here and there with the free edition, I'm not interested in your advice, no offense. One of the reasons I've stuck with the license for Teamviewer is its simply noninvasive to my clients or at least has the reasonable appearance of being this way, I know this isn't important to everyone hence all the software that I've rejected like logmein and similar "always on" remote softwares. I tell every client that they can either uninstall Teamviewer after a session if they are paranoid about being snooped on by anyone and the software is very easy to remove and re-add (at least on Windows), and most of them elect to keep it on and I advise them not to give out codes to strangers as well as checking that the startup with Windows is unchecked. I discuss this with my clients every single session so they are aware of how to see when it is running and how to ensure it is closed afterwards which gives them confidence, warranted or not, that they have control of when someone connects to them in a clear manner that I can explain to a young adult or senior. Other softwares like IDrive or logmein have a persistent system tray icon that cannot be turned off, as far as I know, without fully uninstalling the program and I've had issues with full clean removal of some of those brands in the past so I'm not interested in many of the remote software that you might recommend and please do not go recommending anything if you don't clearly understand the previous paragraph and ask for clarification if it wasn't clear to you. The ability to tell my clients that they have control in an easy manner like how Teamviewer can be opened or closed (just the fact that it doesn't minimize when hitting the "x" and actually closes is important to me), is paramount. The big gripe when it comes to Teamviewer is their pricing for small business, they go from the free edition which is fine if you are the defacto family or friend group tech troubleshooter to an edition that is designed for a mid sized corporation with nothing in between for small business users. I can have stretches of days in a row where I have 1-2 hours a day of remote support for my small business or residential clients followed by stretches without any remote support at all, its heterogeneous use but overall estimated use is 10 hours a week or less on average. My license fee even when I bitch and moan to Teamviewer support, and believe me I do every year, is in the neighborhood of $400 and it would be higher without the haggling. My only recourse is to tie up as much time with support and expressing my repeated ire at them until they get the message there needs to be a middle cost license option. I can't believe I spend more on remote software in 2021 than I do on secure offsite backup and productivity software combined. The second more minor annoyance is always cresting close to the maximum number of installs, I'm a frequent upgrader being in tech so I can clearly explain what the difference between generations feels like to clients and I'm always close to the maximum number of reinstalls for Teamviewer. In 2021, how they haven't figured out how to get rid of the maximum reinstalls for techs is again ridiculous. Not to mention they just had their highest revenue year ever and trying to tell their clients currently (if you are a license holder you got the email, go check it) that this incurred them more cost so they have to raise prices. Seriously? The price should be getting lower save for inflation perhaps but that should be completely offset by how much more revenue they made. Ok, I think my rant is finished, thanks for reading all of it if you made it here. If someone has a remote software that they use in a professional setting that can replace Teamviewer, I'm all ears and would love a recommendation but only if it fits the criteria outlined in this, please do not try to convince me to run an always on software, its a dealbreaker. Teamviewer also works with my numerous Mac users so any suggestion should have a very polished Mac installer that didn't falter during new releases of MacOS. I'm actually really shocked that other remote software hasn't been created like Teamviewer considering the popularity.

Just had a client bring in a Razer Blade Pro 17 gaming laptop and the charger had the pins snap off from the dc jack, long story short the dc jack needs to be replaced and that is a job we do frequently for all models of laptops. Two major issues here with Razer, first they have the dc jack soldered directly on the mainboard, not sure why anyone is still doing this but not an issue provided we can find a replacement jack to solder one on. So the second problem is there doesn't seem to be any sourcing for these and contacting Razer directly gets zero response, they don't even take the time to say, "sorry we don't provide those" which at least would be something, just radio silence. I'm not out of options yet since I have some other resources I'm diving into, but it is at least a much bigger pain to service Razer than other major manufacturers. I bring this up because it has been a brand reviewed on this channel many times so this information is hopefully relevant to viewers looking to spend a significant amount on a gaming laptop.

I’ve seen a zillion different setups with hd antennas for cord cutters and there’s a lot to unpack. Brand, roof mount, websites that help you point your non omnidirectional antenna to the right tower, recording device or sling box. Even if there’s an older video on this it certainly could use a refresh

I’ve had a lot of photographers use it now for several years and recover from failure successfully. I think it lets you do externals too but check the terms

I don’t see this as a big deal, you’re probably getting a bunch of advertisement emails that you won’t take the time to unsubscribe to and mad about ads on a free email client on what is likely a free email account?

Just buy and iPhone, problem solved

A company is going retro and making affordable arcade machines as early as the end of the month. Some assembly required but the roms are licensed by the original developers like Street Fighter 2 championship edition from Capcom. Youtube has a good review of that model, available for pre order for $299.

Maybe you’ll be able to slap some optane into the cards

Sure, does windows + r still work to open a run prompt? Just checking if you have a windows button mapping or physical issue

Does ctrl alt del lock screen not work as well?

You’d be reflowing what typically should be reballed

Netscaaaape