Fed up with Captchas?

Don't we just hate Captchas*? Try using your browser's zoom facility to be able to read them better.

In Internet Explorer you can use Ctrl and + to enlarge, then use Ctrl and - to reduce the size back (or use Ctrl and 0 (that's a zero).

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAPTCHA

PS. If you want to see some 'funny' captchas, try this link (don't know how many are genuine):-
http://www.oddee.com/item_96665.aspx

'God' Mode in Windows 7

Might be worth a try if you want instant access to control your system?

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/GodMode-Windows-7-How-to,9345.html

VLC Video Player 2 - Latest update

Might play bluray files and/or discs on a Mac:-

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/releases/2.0.0.html

After 485 million downloads of VLC 1.1.x versions, VideoLAN and the VLC development team present VLC 2.0.0 "Twoflower", a major new release.
With faster decoding on multi-core, GPU, and mobile hardware and the ability to open more formats, notably professional, HD and 10bits codecs, 2.0 is a major upgrade for VLC.
Twoflower has a new rendering pipeline for video, with higher quality subtitles, and new video filters to enhance your videos.

It supports many new devices and BluRay Discs (experimental).

It features completely reworked Mac and Web interfaces, and improvements in the other interfaces make VLC easier than ever to use.
Twoflower fixes several hundreds of bugs, in more than 7000 commits from 160 volunteers.

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/releases/2.0.0.html

Humax Foxsat HDR and Apple Mac (Highly technical)

Finally, a solution to accessing the Humax from OSX Lion. i.e. SMB sharing.

Quote "My experience is that Lion has upgraded the smb protocol stack and is
using a more secure authentication procedure."

Apple's fine engineers gave instructions on how to return Lion's smb
security protocol back down to Snow Leopard's level. They suggested using the
following command that needs to be run in a terminal window everytime Lion
boots:-

 sudo sysctl -w net.smb.fs.kern_deprecatePreXPServers=0

To restore the smb protocol stack back to Lion's original state either reboot
or run the following command in a terminal window:-

 sudo sysctl -w net.smb.fs.kern_deprecatePreXPServers=1

Also check out AV forums for Raydon's alternative firmware for the Humax:-

http://www.avforums.com/forums/freesat/1517610-media-file-server-bundle-foxsat-hdr-release-4-0-a.html

Many thanks to Davy for this.

Wi-Fi next to you

If you want to know if there are any wi-fi routers near to you, try one of these wi-fi analysers (and maybe change your channel to one that doesn't conflict).

Wi Fi Analyzer for Android (Android Market)
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.farproc.wifi.analyzer&hl=en

For PC
InSSIDer
http://www.metageek.net/support/downloads/

Mac
iStumbler NB. Check out Release 100 For OS X 10.7 Lion to avoid 'crashes'
http://www.istumbler.net/

Airgrab
http://www.airgrab.com/AirGrab_WiFi_Radar/

App
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/37792/wifi-analyzer

Keep your Windows computer clean!

Microsoft Security Essentials - install and keep.
Malwarebytes - install and run each week.
Avira/AVG/Spybot and Adaware - install, run once and then uninstall - keep for a 'rainy day'.
Ccleaner - install and run regularly.

All icons the same (picture viewer?)

Assuming that it isn't a virus (!) - run your anti-virus and malware/adware scans first. Download the reg file from the link below:-

http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/105/1/File-association-fixes-for-Windows-Vista.html

The reg file for icons is:-

http://www.winhelponline.com/fileasso/lnk_fix_w7.zip

Don't worry that it might say Vista, it works with Win7.

Hopefully this will fix it it, if not, (and System Restore doesn't work - a last resort), you have to create a new user with administrator rights and then delete your old user (but it's a while since I had to do that).

Battery meter on laptop disappeared

http://www.ehow.com/how_6934071_edit-restore-battery-meter-laptop.html

Another 'fix' is to logout your user, then login again. Don't know if this will be a permanent fix and not sure what causes it.

There is a Microsoft fix to do with Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) settings here:-

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555555/en-us

AVG blocks links

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090326192829AAqi757

Samsung phone reset

Samsung phone reset password to 0000 (eg GT-E2600)

*2767*3855#

and/or

*2767*2878#

Reset is last in the menu (if stuck in a different language)