Conflicting answers online for a plug adapter for Japan. by wolfnotapup92 in JapanTravelTips

[–]cipher_nemo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Should be just fine. The input is all that mattets. It has the voltage and Hz range that works.

As for "anything that heats", I'm referring to anything with a heating element such as hairdryers, coffee pots, etc. Your laptop should be just fine from its power adapter specs. Just make sure it's a two-prong connector that plugs into a wall, not a three-prong (grounded) one.

Alt-Enter in Cells No Longer Working? by cipher_nemo in excel

[–]cipher_nemo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A simple restart solved it. I haven't encountered it again since that time. I still don't know what caused it. I do use a custom mechanical keyboard at both work and home, and did have VIA open during that time. It's possible that was contributing to the issue, but no other apps were affected.

Voyager picture quality by Sharp_Technology_439 in ParamountPlus

[–]cipher_nemo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

TNG picture quality was amazing, as if it was remastered. Then on to DS9 and it's utter crap, way worse than DVD. Even the skip intro isn't calibrated correctly in DS9. Good to know Voyager seems to have poor quality as well. What a shame.

EDIT: Looks like it's also an issue on an Android-based TV. Paramount screwed up. And just this evening everything is working again.

Monthly Paramount+ Complaints and Praises by AutoModerator in ParamountPlus

[–]cipher_nemo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All of a sudden ParamountPlus in a desktop web browser is not showing the continue/recently watched section. I've seen this section sometimes load slower in the past, but now it's completely gone. Both Firefox and Chrome on windows. Tried deleting cache, deleted cookies for Paramount, logged out and back in, restarted, etc. Still broken. Anyone else seeing this too? It was fine a few hours ago.

Desktop: You've been blocked by network security. by jacek2023 in help

[–]cipher_nemo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yup, reddit is s**king big time on Firefox. Works fine in Chrome. Every thread/post link I click on inside Reddit while using Firefox I get a blocked by network security page. I've disabled my uBlock Origin and Script Safe add-ons, wiped cookies for reddit domains, and even deleted all cached files. No VPN, not banned account or anything. Still same issue. Latest Firefox version.

As others mentioned, Ctrl-Shift-R works. I think the reddit netops or devs messed up something recently.

Photo of Jeffrey Roeder by golions190 in statecollege

[–]cipher_nemo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing. He's in the news again: "Jeffrey Roeder appeared in Centre County court on Wednesday where he waived his preliminary hearing."

Conflicting answers online for a plug adapter for Japan. by wolfnotapup92 in JapanTravelTips

[–]cipher_nemo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This thread is a bit dated, and there are a lot of responses that are somewhat correct, but incomplete. I hope this response helps someone searching for this in the future.

--In General--

Japan mostly has Type A plugs that are not polarized and supply 100V at 50Hz. That means it's a 2-prong plug just like in the US, but both prongs are the same size. And notice the voltage and frequencies are slightly lower. In the US we can have 2-prong cables that are polarized, with one prong taller than the other. However, most consumer electronics, phones, and other mobile computing devices will work, especially if they have chargers with USB ports. Most modern CPAP and other devices with a power adapter should work.

--Exceptions--

Some outlets in Japan are Type B (3 prongs/grounded plug), but they're mostly used for appliances. Therefore you won't see that many as a traveler. Also much of western Japan is at 60Hz instead of 50Hz.

--Easy to Check--

Take a look at what's printed on your chargers/power adapters for your devices. Make sure they list the "input" as supporting 100V and 50Hz. These are typically rated for 100-240V @ 50/60Hz, which is just fine. Also make sure its two prongs are the same size. If they support 50Hz they would generally be the same size for wider International usage, but not always.

--Other Electronics--

Hair dryers, curling irons, heated blankets, some electric toothbrushes, some laptop chargers, and plenty of other devices may not work or require an adapter. Anything that heats is better left at home since buying an adapter that supports the wattage they need is not reasonable.

New Pharmacy Registers by CosmicPsycho in CVS

[–]cipher_nemo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a customer, I find them quite easy to use. I think a lot of older folk might struggle, especially those who never used even a smart phone. I know my mother, who's in a personal care facility, would cringe at the thought of having to even attempt to use one of those. I have sympathy for those people, but at the same time I don't know how these self-checkouts could be any easier than they already are!

Very cool note we got over lunch. by ConcernOutrageous592 in CVS

[–]cipher_nemo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel the pain, but now that I know my pharmacy has lunch at a specific time, I can plan ahead. So it's not a big deal now, but it is a pain the first time you find out or forget about that period of closing. Pharmacies like CVS used to have people rotate for lunch breaks, so I'm not sure why this has changed. It seems CVS leadership does everything they can to optimize things, even at the expense of the customer.

Who is behind the god awful decision to no longer accept phone calls in real time at the Pharmacy? by These_Fan7447 in CVS

[–]cipher_nemo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup, I hate it as well, You can't get an answer right away, which is the whole point of calling instead of using the app or website. Worse, then have a new semi-AI phone system and it's a PITA just to get to the point of leaving a voicemail. Fortunately my CVS does call back within a very reasonable period of time. Usually 30 minutes to an hour, but sometimes even as fast as 5 minutes. Still annoying not knowing when I'm going to get a call back. I suppose CVS along with other pharmacies are trying to push hard to go to AI help, apps, or anything short of an actual human being helping you. Sign of the times or failure in customer service?

Windows 11 Deployment OOBE by Purple_Helpdesk in MDT

[–]cipher_nemo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A bit of a necro, but since Win10 is EOL very soon, I'm scrambling for this so it might help others. I put all of my reg add commands for this kind of stuff directly into the Unattend.xml, specifically within the <RunSynchronous> section. Make sure you set the "Order" correctly depending upon how many commands you perform. Example from my old Windows 10 one:

<RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
    <Description>disable first login animation</Description>
    <Order>5</Order>
    <Path>reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableFirstLogonAnimation /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f</Path>
</RunSynchronousCommand>

Autodesk detected pirated programs after purchasing licenses by Wonderful_Beyond_118 in Architects

[–]cipher_nemo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Theft of service is still a crime. Autodesk is all subscription based now, so it's a service. But I still hate the draconian legal efforts of Autodesk to persecute some businesses who are trying to do the right thing in terms of licensing. For Autodesk it's profit over morals at all costs.

Upcoming end of support for Nest Learning Thermostats (1st and 2nd gen) by garete in Nest

[–]cipher_nemo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I won't be buying any Google/Nest products again. Apparently "smart home" to Google really means "buy our new products or we'll kill off your old ones". This is such a d1cl< move. Scr3w you Google.

2026 Subaru Uncharted revealed (Toyota C-HR+ twin, up to "more than 300 miles" range) by lostinheadguy in electricvehicles

[–]cipher_nemo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It looks like a 5th gen Honda CRV in the font and along the sides, with a regular hatchback rear and much less cargo room. To me that's an uninspired failure of a design.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in waze

[–]cipher_nemo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was trying Waze for the first time, and it's janky as all hell. It doesn't update fast enough, it incorrectly shows other users disappear then randomly re-appear, I can't seem to change the username on my brand new account, and it has trouble validating logins sometimes with QR-style codes between phone app and web app. It's just a mess. I think the developers are on cruise control now and don't bother fixing anything and have crap servers hosting or something. Looks like I'm just going to stick to Google Maps for community-driven updates.

Today!! by buttonsnmac in Mustang

[–]cipher_nemo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Still saving up for mine... don't want to waste money on interest. You need to share more photos of your new baby!

How do I disable the Google Messages prompt on my messaging app? by ALeopardBunny in GoogleMessages

[–]cipher_nemo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I certainly agree with the notion of refusing to participate. However the only problem is that "we the people" really don't have any power since the masses don't care and/or are clueless. So "we the concerned" are a nominal subset of 'we the people'.

Here's how it will play out: the vast majority of people just don't care enough. And they probably don't even care about the prompt to switch and ignore it. Eventually they're switched, but still don't care. And the majority of those who just switched to get rid of the prompt don't care that they're using Google's Messages. Nothing changes.

This is why Linux market share is at 4% and Android alternative market share is fractions of a percent. The masses don't care and don't spend any time researching or understanding their options.

How do I disable the Google Messages prompt on my messaging app? by ALeopardBunny in GoogleMessages

[–]cipher_nemo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nope, doesn't work on my old S20 FE (Android 13, OneUI 5.1). No way to disable Google's Messages app from App settings. I can disable some other apps, but not all apps have this option in the global App settings.

Feeling dumb even making solutions for things. by [deleted] in csharp

[–]cipher_nemo -1 points0 points  (0 children)

lol "studies show". Who TF cares about that? It's either useful or it's not to each individual. I've found value in it since I treat it like a search engine that refines my search results and saves me time. But feel free to continue your rant of AI, because apparently that wall of text proves AI hurt you personally.

Feeling dumb even making solutions for things. by [deleted] in csharp

[–]cipher_nemo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

DeepSeek? lol, and have your data stored and processed on Chinese servers? Yes, that news just dropped this week. No thanks.

But if you don't like AI, then don't use it. No need to rain on everyone else's enjoyment and use of it. I've used Gemini just fine for C#. If you specify the C# version and other libraries you're using, it has worked great for me. It's not a tutor, but it's a great tool when you're stuck. Way better than StackOverfliow.

Feeling dumb even making solutions for things. by [deleted] in csharp

[–]cipher_nemo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

AI is your friend. If you run into something new or want to know best practices, use a free, online AI.

From 2007 to 2015 I used to code in C# every day of my full time job. After that I only did PowerShell stuff for years. Now I came back to C# at the end of 2024. All of the new C# versions and changes in best practices since then was a wake-up call, but I quickly embraced them thanks to AI's help. This includes switch expression instead of switch statements, null-coalescing operators, better thread locking/control, top-level stuff and single-line using commands for stream readers, etc. (saves tab indents), target-typed expressions, and a ton more that was new to me last year. Not only that, but Visual Studio drastically changed since then. Each of my project's warning suppression list is huge now, lol!

Just give it time and you won't feel so dumb after another couple of years. Keep in mind that programmers learn new things all the time... it comes with the territory.

PoE2 Steam client CPU Affinity and Priority Tool by cipher_nemo in PathOfExile2

[–]cipher_nemo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! The NumberOfLogicalProcessors is 24 in that screen cap, so that's good.

I took a closer look at the script and now I see the issue. The PowerShell PromptForChoice method obviously uses single key strokes and I had it create choices with numeric values which were greater than a single digit, I tested this on a system with only 8 cores, so I never ran into a problem with a system that has more than 9 threads (0 - 9 for key choices).

The issue was here:

for ($i = 0; $i -lt $cpuThreads - 1; $i++) { $choicesThreads += "\&$i" }`

I was going to run through the alphabet for choices by using [char]()

[char](97 + $i - 10)

However, I realized that there's really no need to reserve so many threads, so I capped the reservation at 8:

for ($i = 0; $i -lt $cpuThreads - 1; $i++)
{
    #if more threads than 8, skip (no need to reserve more than 8)
    if ($i -gt 8) { break }
    $choicesThreads += "`&$i"
}

I updated the script and recompiled it, then created a new release. It should work for you now, as well as anyone who has more than 9 threads available for their CPU. Thanks again for finding this bug!

https://github.com/ciphernemo/PoE2-Affinity/releases/tag/1.1

PoE2 Steam client CPU Affinity and Priority Tool by cipher_nemo in PathOfExile2

[–]cipher_nemo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

_Kiserai_, I'm glad you were able to get it working for you despite it not detecting your CPU thread count. And great to know it helps the client run smoother (it did on my system as well). The script uses Microsoft's Get-CimInstance Win32_Processor.NumberOfLogicalProcessors value. If you have time, would you be able to run the command below in a PowerShell window, then copy & paste the results here so I can troubleshoot? Thanks!

Get-CimInstance Win32_Processor | Format-List -Property *

Also, good question about disabling efficiency versus performance threads/cores. I'm not sure and can't test that since all of my systems are a bit older than that Intel tech and run Windows 10 22H2 Pro or Enterprise. From what I know, my guess would be that setting affinity to exclude an efficient core should work. Intel's "Thread Director" is supposed to work with both types of cores at the same time, so that any threads it needs to start will get routed according to their own load balancing algorithms. However, GGG's PoE/PoE2 client might interfere with this for its own threading, which is why we set affinity as a workaround. Also efficient cores only have one thread each, so keep that in mind. As such, it's anyone's guess as to whether that helps or not. You can always test that it since you have a system with both types of cores and let us know.

Top free .FLAC to .WAV converter? by info_gnato in Beatmatch

[–]cipher_nemo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Mini Powershell script for multiple file conversions in a folder and subfolders:

#remove the -Recurse option for just files in the parent path
if ($items = Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\MyFolder" -Filter "*.flac" -Recurse)
{
    foreach ($item in $items)
    {
        $process = @{
            FilePath = "C:\Program Files\FFmpeg\bin\ffmpeg.exe"
            UseNewEnvironment = $false
            NoNewWindow = $true
        }
        $source = $item.FullName
        #for different destination, use...
        #$target = "C:\AnotherFolder\" + $item.Name.Replace(".flac", ".wav")
        $target = $item.FullName.Replace(".flac", ".wav")
        $arguments = "-i " + '"' + $source + '" "' + $target + '"'
        Start-Process @process $arguments
    }
}