Tech tips & other words

Category: Technology (Page 6 of 10)

Restore 30 second commercial skip to your Motorola DCT 6416 DVR

Want to fast forward 30 seconds at a time (commercial skip) on your Motorola 6416, 6412, or 6408 DVR? I’ve got a Motorola DCT 6416 DVR, which is used by Insight Cable here in Northern Kentucky and elsewhere, and by Comcast elsewhere. Both cable companies have kowtowed to the networks on this issue, disabling the feature. Fear not! The days those annoying ads that interrupt the TV shows you’ve already paid for are over! Continue reading

Using wii’s controller as an advanced computer input device

Wii is currently one of the world’s best selling gaming platform, having sold 6.3 million units in 2007 and a cumulative 7.38 million units. The unique nature of its input devices makes it so. The motion-sensitive wireless hand held controller and sensor bar combine for a unique combination of twisting, turning, pushing and pulling game play that lets players mimic movements for bowling, tennis or sword-fighting. Continue reading

A multi-touch world awaits…

Multi-touch interfaces are taking the computing world by storm. While not completely new (multi-touch research has been around since the 80’s), researchers such as Jeff Han are hard at work bringing it to the forefront of computing interfaces.

Traditional touch screens allow only one point of contact at a time. Apple’s iPhone utilizes a technique that allows for two. Han’s technology allows for multiple *people* to use all their fingers, simultaneously. Multi-touch computer screens may herald the end of the point-and-click mouse. Continue reading

Mute system audio when increasing/decreasing volume

Here’s a cool tip from The Distant Librarian on how to silence the audio feedback you get when using the keyboard to increase or decrease the volume in Mac OS X.

Hold down the shift key while depressing the volume keys will silence the auditory feedback while raising and lowering the volume, but still show the visual cue.

Other cool tricks:

Hold down option while clicking one of the sound keys to access the Sound system preferences.

Get more granular volume control by holding down shift-option while clicking one of the sound keys to increase/decrease volume in 1/4 the normal increments. Normal, the Mac provides 16 volume levels. Holding down shift-option gives you 64 increments.

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