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How to Use FireWire 400 Devices in 800 Ports


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I don’t know if you remember the battle between USB and FireWire, but USB won of course. I still have a few devices that use FireWire, including the camera I use to record my videos. FireWire has less overhead than you do with a USB connection.

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What’s in Your Home Theater?



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Have you set up a home theater yet? I finally had the opportunity to finish our home theater system that was started when we moved in. It’s a chore to pick the right equipment and set up the right environment. I’m happy with how it turned out, though. I have seven tips here passed along from TJ, to help you set up your own home theater.

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Am I the Only One in Love with Retractable Cables?


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When I got my laptop cooler, I quickly realized I needed a specific type of USB cable… one that had a male adapter on both ends. I had a difficult time finding the exact model I needed. It got me to thinking, I have a few smaller retractable kits, but I stumbled upon this one. It’s the best I’ve found, by far. The CablesToGo USB 2.0 Retractable Cable Kit is the most comprehensive kit I’ve seen, for only around $35.00.

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How Do You Organize Your Messy Cable Clutter?


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There will come a time when the device that you come to rely on is going to run out of energy. What do you do when that happens? You have recharge it. And to recharge it, you have to plug it in. But what do you do with all of those cables, and the mess that they create? I hate clutter. I’m a neat freak. I can’t help it.

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How do you Deal with Old Technology?

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We talk about new technology quite a lot. While home visiting my parents at this time, I’ve noticed how much my parents are behind the times when it comes to tech. Here in my old bedroom, there’s actually a small television with an antenna on it. That’s right… no cable.

This little piece of technology, however, was considered to be state-of-the-art at the time it was bought. It has a port in the front of it that allows you to put in something called a VHS tape. I know, most of you are now heading to Google to see what a VHS tape is! Trust me, they were huge back in the day before DVDs. The movies resided on a magnetic strip within the rectangular case. These were played on a device called a VCR. If you wanted to watch part of the movie again, you had to rewind a little bit. If you wanted to watch the whole movie again, you had to rewind it to the beginning.

Is anyone else out there having to deal with old technology when you visit somewhere? How do you get through it? Do you have to smack your hand against the side of a tv to get any reception? What about dialing up to an Internet account from their house, and opening their Netscape browser?? How do you deal with this?!? Doesn’t it make you crazy?

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What do you Need for a Wired Home Network?

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Mattstech writes: “Thought I’d share a basic top 6 list on how to hardwire a home network. For power users like me, wireless just doesn’t provide the speed and reliability that I need. I ran some CAT5e over to my room about a month ago, and wanted to share some tips with the community on how to get started.”

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Is the Quality of your Coax Cable Important?

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Daniel writes: “I recently decided to swap my office and my bedroom, opting to gain more workspace at the loss of a little living space. In the process of the swap, I relocated my PC to a new room. The coaxial cable running from the wall jack to the router proved to be too short, and as a result, I ran new cable to the new location… there began the problems. At the same time, I downloaded and began using Skype. Shortly after I began to use Skype, I noticed a severe lag in my internet connection speed. I could not figure out what was causing everything to be so slow. At first I thought it was Skype, so I researched its affects on connection speed, discovering that Skype is one of the better non-resource hogs to choose from. Next I tried dumping one of the apps I installed to use with my Skype phone. Strike two. Then, realizing that I couldn’t remember when the last time I cleaned out my browser was, I deleted cookies, and passwords, thinking it would free up RAM. Strike three. Finally, I figured it out. In addition to a new location, I added a new TV to my office mix. The PC and TV split the same cable line. I used an old segment of cable I had from a few years ago to connect from the splitter to the PC. Eureka! After changing out the old segment of cable with a brand new, never used segment, my internet speed was back to normal. I never realized the importance of a simple string of copper. Here are my top five tips for using coaxial cable.”

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Do you Watch “TV” on the Internet?

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Are you watching TV right now? Seriously, is there a television on in your room or house at this moment? I honestly don’t know about the future about the television. The future of TV is going to be on the Internet. There’s a reason I publish everything I do to YouTube. About one in three of every video on the Internet is watched on YouTube. There’s a good chance one of mine will show up.

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Pay as you Go Internet… Good or Bad Idea?

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The only truth when it comes to Broadband here in America is that we don’t have enough. One community member wrote in to talk about the fact that he really doesn’t have any options for Broadband, other than Satellite. He generally uses his Internet in the middle of the night, when he isn’t subject to capping. The satellite truly isn’t much better than pre-1993 dial-up speeds. He’s asking about “pay as you go/use” Internet service, and what I think the future of it is.

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ISP Tips

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I recorded a video not long ago about Bandwidth Capping from ISPs. I have a top-five list of things to look for when looking for an ISP. Here are some tips sent in by Lundberry to help you choose the right ISP for you.

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Tips for Choosing the Best ISP for your Needs

The other night, I was having difficulties once again with my Comcast connection. Within hours, two different people emailed me with their Top Five lists of ways to choose an ISP, and why. Here they are… hopefully they’ll help all of you. This list comes from Azaas in the live community.

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Telemarketing: Comcast’s Traffic Shaping Feature

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So this telemarketer from Comcast called me the other night. He attempted to sell me their Triple Play package. He kept letting me know how much I needed their services… even though I already have them. Once it became apparent that the guy had no clue what their services actually ARE and what they DO… I decided to have fun with him.

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Cable Management

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Jthermane wrote: “USB, Power, FireWire… there are many types of cables out in the world that do many different things. They can bring things to life, carry data, output sound. But the more cables you get, the harder it is to keep track of them. They start showing up in different locations around your room or home office. Here are my top five tips for cable management.”

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Don’t Jerk Your Power Cables!

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Every day I get mail. Every once in awhile I get companies that send me products to review, and share information about with all of you. Those are always fun. Today, I got a package with a tin full of little plastic doo-hickeys. The paperwork with it said “Stop Jerking!” HUH? Stop jerking what??

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USB Cable Mess

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This video is a plea to all device manufacturers in the world out there who insist on creating proprietary USB cables. I have a huge bin full of USB cables that I have NO idea what they go to.

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