🏷️ tech

I have a new monitor. Well. @paul's not so old 4k monitor which he bought last year, because he's already bought a newer ridiculous 4k TV to use as a monitor.

Since my Dell only has one HDMI display output, I've replaced the previous 1080p Paul monitor monster hand me down.

I didn't think my laptop would let me do a built in 1080p and 4k monitor because it's so old and limited to HDMI 1.3. But thanks to the magic of Linux configuration, I now have the builtin 1080p at 60Hz and the 4k displaying scaled 2k at 30hz.

I couldn't figure how to add custom resolutions with Wayland and Mutter in Fedora 25 so I've reverted back to Xorg for now.

Here's how I did it with xrandr and cvt:

Run cvt verbose with your desired x and y resolution and refresh rate. It retuns a list of X settings along with the calculated bandwidth it needs to display. This helps you figure out if your output can carry the signal. in this case I was conservative with 2k at 30Hz.

cvt -v 2048 1556 30

Take that output and pipe it to xrandr --newmode. After that you add that mode as a x setting for an output device with --addmode. You can then set the mode with --output or in the Gnome display settings.

xrandr --newmode "2560x1440_30.00"  146.25  2560 2680 2944 3328  1440 1443 1448 1468 -hsync +vsync
  xrandr --addmode HDMI1 2560x1440_30.00 
  xrandr --output HDMI1 --mode 2048x1440_30.00

@chris bought it for his playstation. Compared to the Samsung VR, it's way more immersive. The helmet tracks your movement in the real world and you can walk around a little bit.

The controllers are also tracked by the console and you can see them in the games - the creepiest feeling was playing this clown shooting game and your hands were carrying guns. I didn't like that.

Here's @paul in VR world, about to be eaten by a radioactive shark.

I downloaded f.lux for my computer. It's a program that adjusts the color temperature of your computer screen as the time of the day and position of the sun changes. Because blue light prevents melatonin, which helps you fall asleep, from being produced, the program gives your screen a warmer color temperature as it gets darker/later.

Download it here.

I used to have it on my Windows computer but it's much better now. It takes into account your location, the time of day you want to wake up, and generates an graph overlay of the required color temperature on the amount of potential sunlight for the day.



I've already noticed a difference in the past few days in how long it takes me to get ready to sleep. There's even a version for android phones but unfortunately it requires you to be rooted. So I downloaded a similar app called twilight. You have to make sure to turn down the brightness on OLED screens like the Note, otherwise you may get burn in.

As seen on @paul's desk.

The moment when your USB rechargeable mouse battery dies, but you can't use it while it charges because the plug is on the bottom (?!). so it's back to a much cheaper corded mouse which never dies.

Magic mouse for real. Why would Apple not put it in the front or make it inductive? What about when the battery life is reduced?

I went over to my parent's house for Latvian food and dog walking.



My sister and I discovered the snapchat faceswap filter while I was there. I think @xandra is the best at these, but here's Mary swapping faces with the high school pictures of Daniel and me.

As found in the TV's computer. How did it get this big without us knowing? If our house burned down, would Apple pay for it?

At work they replaced the old vending machine with a new one that takes cards and NFC payments, including Android Pay. for some reason its called healthy vend even though it vends nothing healthy. The idea is kind of cool but you also get charged 15% more for it using cash.

The system itself is connected using either WiFi or a cellular connection, and the payment computer is running some version of before Android 4.x (looks like 2.x). I wonder what vulnerabilities are left open by running such an outdated OS.

I went to Ashker's (yum!) today with @paul and Patrick in his truck (blech!) I can't wait to see if the one at Ferry and Main actually opens.

While I was there, I noticed they had a Bitcoin vending machine. I've never seen one in real life, and this one looks kind of shady. I wonder if anyone has ever used it and if so, what the fee is.

Also, the value of a bitcoin is down to $290/BTC, from the crazy peak of $1230/BTC.

When @paul's new bluetoothbrush won't sync up with his phone, iPad, or my phone.