converser.nz

Category: NZTekonverse -> Hardware

  • Reinstall KDE system with LXQt [1]; KDE network and display configuration extremely difficult with numerous bugs

    KDE has some great reputation as a desktop environment in Linux and has won considerable plaudits. It however has numerous unresolved bugs which I have observed in the display and network configurations that are leading me to ditch KDE on one of my desktop computers in favour of LXQt. I have had three computers running…

  • Raspberry Pi or HPTC For Livestream Player [5]

    Last time I wrote on this subject I took a look at whether to continue using a Raspberry Pi to play livestreams and video clips, or to take a look at a more conventional HPTC setup with a normal computer. Original attempts to use a normal computer were with the Mini-ITX board and chassis I…

  • HOWTO: Set laptop screen brightness in Lubuntu

    Some laptops have function keys that can be used to adjust screen brightness. These may not be supported on all laptops, however. In that case, there may be the controls in monitor settings or power management to adjust the brightness. In my case I wasn’t able to find anything, so I discovered how to adjust…

  • Power Tools: Best brand of home power tools?

    If you are working at the cheap end of power tools there are a few brands to choose from. I have bought Ryobi stuff a few times, weedeaters have been good, also a good 1200 watt electric drill (a knockoff of a Bosch or Hitachi drill) with variable speed, hammer, 2 speeds, reverse etc. I…

  • Red/green/white handheld signalling lamp

    Anyone who is associated with rail heritage knows that on the professional railways in New Zealand, train crews used hand held signalling lamps that could produce red, green and white light, for use when shunting a train. The older style lamps of this type worked with a mechanical rotating filter holder to move red and…

  • Arlec Plug In Heater Controls [2]

    In my previous post in this series I described the PC900 2 hour plugin countdown timer which Bunnings have been selling for some time. The oddity of this product is that it is described on the packaging as having “adjustable switching increments”. This is a rather clumsy phrase more worthy of adjustable 24 hour timers…

  • Arlec Plug In Heater Controls [1]

    Arlec is an old established Australian brand of electrical products (such as extension cords and plugboxes, timers etc) that has been available in NZ for many years – at least 40 to my recollection, their innovative designs and features continue to the present day. With plug in electric heaters sometimes certain desirable features that would…

  • How to PERMANENTLY disable an input device in Linux (Xorg Display Server)

    About 2 months ago I posted on how to use the xinput command (on Ubuntu and derivatives) to disable an input device. This, however, only works until the next time the computer is restarted. In addition, not all distros provide the xinput command; Debian doesn’t, and I haven’t done any research to determine whether this…

  • Escaping Google’s walled garden on handhelds [3]: Using Lineage OS – 1

    So last time I wrote about the installation experience for Lineage, now it is time to have a look at early impressions of using it. Along the way I discovered some stuff about the Nexus 5X. It turns out that it was first shipped with Android and the final official release of Android for it…

  • Escaping Google’s walled garden on handhelds [2]: Installing Lineage OS

    So after further investigation I decided Lineage OS would be the most straightforward means of getting my Nexus 5X off Google. This is quite a lengthy process that involves replacing the installed Google bloatware on the phone with the LineageOS installation images. LineageOS provides guides, which are pretty good except that like me, you can…