Search results

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    Shared PC Solution for 4 Homeschoolers

    We have 4 children whom my wife homeschools, ages 7 to 13. I guess our 2 year old decided they needed a new computer (they did, 10 year old tower) and destroyed their Windows PC. Aside from a toddler proof desk solution I am thinking more long-term for a workstation solution. We have a tight...
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    Max $400, Debating 2k 25" IPS, 2k 32" WVA, 34" UWide IPS

    I am looking for suggestions & advice. My 28" Hanns G finally "died." It must of had bad capacitors as when it would shut off it never wanted to go back on. I love the size but the colors and viewing angle were horrible. But it was 1920x1200 instead of 1080 which was good for working with...
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    Text-to-Speech in the Android Kindle App

    I am having a hard time getting TTS working in the Android Kindle App (Moto G4 Plus, Marshmellow OS). I am new to the Kindle app on the phone (although I have used the Kindle Cloud reader a lot in the past). A number of friends noted the Kindle app has TTS and even the Google Play Store...
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    Android Phone Dock / Charger / Speaker (BlueTooth)

    The charger that came with my Moto G4 Plus is woefully short. After rummaging through the reviews it appears getting a dock for an Android phone that will charge the device and offer Bluetooth stereo speakers is like finding a needle in a haystack. Any personal experience or...
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    Software/Templates: Living Memorial Scrapbook for Dying Mother

    My mother is dying from stage 4 cancer. I need some help with a memorial project. My mother broke her hip a couple weeks back and sadly the cause was metastasized cancer destroyed her hip. We don't know if she has a couple months or closer to a year but the prognosis is very poor either way...
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    Best place for music archive to stream (PCs and Android Phone)

    We have ~ 8GB of music from our CD collection. It us currently sitting on our old Synology DS210j NAS. Unfortunately, I cannot get the DS App to sync correctly. My wife is probably getting the same phone I am (Moto G4 Plus) we would like access to our own music collection while in and away...
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    My Initial Experience w/Moto G4 Plus

    You can read here why I purchased a phone, and why I didn’t have a need for one. Also my need & want list out of a device in my $200-$300 budget. I purchased a Lenovo Motorola Moto G4 Plus... which if it weren’t for LG which also has a brand model named the G4 I wouldn’t need that mouthful of...
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    Android App for Video Messaging

    I am new to smartphones and purchased a Moto G4 Plus. The goal is to be able to share more pictures and videos with my mother. She has a Nexus 7 (2012) and a Samsung S5. She is a technology neophyte -- so something that is easy to use, stable (not going to disappear in the next year), and...
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    New to Smartphones, read a lot of scanned PDFs (Text to Speech?) and need GPS

    I am in search of a smartphone. Trouble is I have never owned one as I have always been at home with the family or at work. We had (past tense) a cheap basic emergency phone in our glove box which satisfied the rare occasion I needed a phone on the road. Unfortunately, my mother has fallen ill...
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    Geany Editor & Terminal for beginners

    Does anyone have experience with the Geany code editor with terminal? Python Crash Course highly recommends Geany and describes it as: https://www.geany.org/ At first blush it looks like Notepad++ with an integrated Terminal. Which sounds like a great transition for my sons (just...
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    Schedule for over seeding, weed control, and fertilizing

    I am pretty new to lawn care. We live north of Seattle. Last year I killed off the front "lawn" aka a moss and weed jungle with almost Zero grass. We brought in 13 yards of top soil and planted a North West Blend. The front side lawn was planted in ~ June (we had to replace our water line) and...
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    Job ideas for someone with Meniere's Disease

    TL;DR: Could people recommend some job ideas for a 50 year old with no college education, basic art design background, unemployed for a couple years, and limited physical abilities due to vertigo. Comcast help desk hires in the area. Costco checker is too difficult (!); my guess is Star Bucks is...
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    Python for 11 year old

    My son is learning Python on CodeAcademy and really enjoying it. He has asked about writing/saving his own code outside of their walled garden. Which tools would you recommend? The simplicity of CodeAcademy, code on the left, run button on the bottom, output on the right, is user friendly...
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    80" tapers rip cut on 2x1 (without table saw)

    I am doing a clean up project around the house and need to taper cut a couple 2x1 that are 80" long. I don't have a table saw and my friend with one is on vacation for 3 weeks. I have a circular saw but not really confident on setting this up right/safely. My oscillating tool won't cut it...
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    Recommend: Free forum hosting (bonus: BlogSpot)

    Our little church has a BlogSpot website. We would like to add a forum. Ideally, we would like: #1. Shared login (i.e. Gmail login, Facebook, etc.) #2. Can be embedded into the BlogSpot website It looks like Nabble can be embedded easily but appears to have its own login. Another option...
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    Free standing bench leg design

    We had 3 long free standing benches on our front patio that were 8', 10' and 12' depending on the house wall they were against. They had no arms or back supports. My wife really liked them but the legs were rotten because whoever built them used standard 2x4s. The bench boards (2 x 8) are...
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    Mouse in a Pen / Pencil Form Factor (Windows) ?

    I am looking for a Mouse in the shape of a Pencil or Pen. I don't care if it has a scroll wheel but I want Right and Left click. I have some legacy Windows software that doesn't work well on my tablet (HP Omni 10) because it requires a lot of right/left/right click interaction. I have a...
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    Sprinklers for Seeding New Lawn 178'x12' strip 'L' shaped

    TL;DR: I need sprinklers to water a stretch cumulatively 178 feet long and 12 feet wide. The stretch is in a slightly curved 'L' shape. I am planting new lawn seed. My lawn is dead. Long version. OK, I killed my lawn. Well, murder is more like it. After Scott's Weed and Feed, moss killing...
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    Best "short" bulbs for a simple chandelier

    We have a simple chandelier like this in our bedroom and my wife was thinking of replacing the old drop down semi-flush mounted lights in the dining area with two like the one I linked to. The replacement would be pretty simple/straight forward. She likes the idea of moving them a couple feet...
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    Turn Based Multiplayer Game Recommendations

    I am hunting for some turn based multiplayer games to play with my sons and a few friends. Ideally it would have local multiplayer (hot seat) but not required. But we do want to play some games as a group but our gathering place, unfortunately, doesn't have internet access so some hotseat recs...
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    Bike Repair & Maintenance: Multitool, lubricants, etc.

    I am progressing toward biking to work. I now have a new used bike (gifted) that I am fixing up before I work my way up to the full commute (final path is 13.5 miles). The bike is an older (1998) aluminum framed hybrid Diamondback Lakeside that has been well cared for but not used in a couple...
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    Xbox 360 Power Brick (fat)

    I loaned out my 360 and it was returned without the power brick and unfortunately it cannot be found. I see them on Amazon for $30 but was curious if there is a reputable place to get them cheaper as that seems steep. My model is a 14.2A Falcon Crest.
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    Biking to Work? (North of Seattle)

    Some of you are quite experienced at biking—maybe even in the same area!—so maybe you could give me some feedback. I am interested in biking to work but I am not committed to the idea yet. I don’t currently own a bike and it would be an extra 30-45 minute daily commitment + getting ready for...
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    Opinions on Gutter Gardening

    I recently stumbled upon some articles on Gutter Gardening. Yes, planting strawberries, some lettuces, and other shallow root plants in gutter material in vertical arrangement. Instructions on construction from Lowes Link 1 Link 2 Link 3 Link 4 Link 5 Link 6 Link 7 This idea is appealing...
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    Window AC unit in horizontal slide window

    We have been looking at window AC units but have a hurdle: All of our windows large enough are horizontal slide windows. I found a couple instructables (here and here) to work around the mounting issue. Any suggestions/thoughts before I attempt? We are eying a Danby model @ Costco, $260, cools...
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    Fence and Desk Stain, revisited

    I have identified my search blunder: the Home and Garden forum is new so any old threads are in OT. Alas this issue has been discussed before but I didn't want to necro an old threat in OT. Some oldies here here and here. We have some dilapidated fencing (cedar) that is grey and worn. It needs...
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    Door Trim with unevent gap between casing and wall face

    Over the weekend with the help of some friends we hung 2 exterior doors, front and back entryway doors. The front door was a challenge. We had measured and selected a 36x80 door. The door is in plumb, level, and square but I have two issues. The first issue is there is a relatively wide...
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    Transmission? 2006 Chevy Uplander, minor reving, infrequent/random "shudder"

    I am assuming this is a transmission issue. What should I be looking in a shop to get this diagnosed? Where to go / where to avoid? I live north of Seattle near the King County/Snohomish County board (Shoreline/Lynnwood). In the last couple weeks the van has "reved up" a little before...
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    Pressure Washer Recommendations ~ $200

    We have a number of projects over the next 2 years that would greatly benefit from a pressure washer: our wood fence is old, peeled, and in dire need of new stain; we plan to paint our home next year (paint isn’t peeling but was a poor job by FNMA), clean the moss off the driveway and patio...
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    Sanders? Sanding benches and fence

    I have a number of sanding projects to do over the summer, including sanding three 12' long wood benches as well as our prep our very beat up fence that has very little of the red-brown solid stain the previous owners must have put on 10+ years ago. Next year I plan to paint the house and...
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    Garage Organization -- pegboard and other ideas

    How do you guys and gals organize your garages? I am looking for some inspiration. Most of our tools and such have always remained in boxes due to moving rental to rental every couple years. With our own garage I would like to make things more accessible and organized. I don't have a lot of...
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    Replacing 8ft T12 Fluorescent Garage Lights

    Among my spring projects in our new place was to replace the blown out fluorescent bulbs in the garage. Lo and behold they are no longer available in my state (WA) as they are T12 -- not to mention long at 8ft. I guess I could change the ballasts to T8 but the fixtures are really cheap shop...
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    Water Line Leak: Plastic Pipe Diameter 1.13"

    We have a water leak between our house and the meter; total water loss is 50-100gal. per day. After a week of digging last night I found the leak (1/4" pinhole). The pipe is a black plastic--I do not know when it was put in. I do know 10" up the line toward the house it connects to some old...
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    Power Tools Suggestions?

    We recently purchased a home and I need more tools. I own a 13 year old DeWalt 12V cordless drill and some loose ends (oscillating tool from Harbor Freight, no-name small screw driver, etc.) but the remainder of my tools are all manual. Alas the day has come and I have a “list” of tools I need...
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    Battlefield 1942 on Netbook with no CD Drive

    I used to play a lot of Battlefield 1942 and the mod Dessert Combat "back in the day." All my friends, even my wife, would play. Good times! I have wanted to load it up again on some of my older netbooks. I have all the disks and keys but the problem is they lack CD drives. My challenge is two...
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    Digital Camera for Wife's Bday -- Food Photography $200-$400

    For a birthday gift I want to get my wife a new camera. She has been writing on her own food blog since 2006 and does all her own photography so I want to get something that works well for indoor photography, that will be asked to take photos in less-than-ideal lighting situations, and can...
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    Is there a Minecraft-like game with Kodu-style logic?

    For those unfamiliar with Kodu, it is an Xbox 360 indie/PC education title where players can build mini-games and program their own logic and ai through a visual programming language. Project Spark is the spiritual successor. I was wondering if there was a game that used a Kodu-style editor...
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    Recommend: Case, Keyboard, Touchpad for 10" Win Tablet

    I have been wanting a case for my 10” HP Omni tablet. In my ideal world it would include a keyboard (Bluetooth) for typing on the go, would allow the tablet to be positioned in portrait orientation, and include a touchpad (trackpad) on the keyboard. Bonus points if the case/cover doesn’t intrude...
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    Stream PowerPoints to TV from Win8 Tablet (No router/internet)

    I will be giving a lecture in 2 weeks and my presentation is on PowerPoints. The challenges are the building has no wireless network or internet. There is also no projector. The small room has a large HDTV with HDMI. I have read Chromecast has an experimental cast the screen feature--but would...
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    Windows 8.1 post-updates Screen Going Black in Apps, Camera not working

    I am not sure if this is a MS update related issue but I think it is. Windows 8.1 tablet (HP Omni). It regularly updates. The last month or so I haven’t used it much outside of basics but I discovered some things not working after our move. Unfortunately I didn’t have internet for 2 weeks and am...