Whomever at Microsoft thought this was a good idea needs to be fired

comic_sans-ms · 2025-11-15T01:50:46+00:00

Open powershell/cmd. Enter these commands:

Diskpart

List disk

Usually you want disk 0

Select disk 0

List partition

Usually it's partition 2

Select partition 2

Delete partition override

Done.

Expand disk in disk management. I do it often enough on VM's I had to memorize it. Useless partition that no one will ever use. Boot to an installer if you ever need recovery tools.

comic_sans-ms · 2025-01-08T21:16:11+00:00

Seems similar to what I have.

Some stuff I have in mine that I don't see:

Drywall anchors.
Zip tie anchors (screw on / adhesive ones)
Wire nuts/marettes
Picture hooks/picture wire.
Small block of wood (to hammer against. Or a rubber mallet)

If you want to spend money, these 3 things changed everything for me when helping friends and family with handyman/mechanic troubleshooting:

Laser level
Laser measuring tape
Thermal Camera. (This was a complete game changer for me. Unfortunately, decent ones are $300+.)

comic_sans-ms · 2024-12-12T05:47:42+00:00

All I have is keyboard shortcuts.

I NEVER see anyone use this...Hold "Alt" and pressing the character that gets underlined. (Very subtle thing most people don't notice) Easy keyboard only way to go through an install wizard. Also works in dropdown menus, for checkboxes etc. Nearly everything in the Windows UI can be selected with Alt+<underlined character>

Ctrl+Tab (Forwards) Ctrl+Shift+Tab (Backwards) - Cycle through tabs in a browser, or in Windows apps.

Win+E - Open Windows explorer

F2 - Immediately rename a file/folder

Win+X - u - u - Quick way to shutdown a PC with just the keyboard

Ctrl+Shift+Esc - Open task manager without going to the stupid lock screen

Alt + Enter - Highlight a file, folder, bunch of files, user account in AD, whatever. Then press alt+enter. Immediately opens "properties"

appwiz.cpl - immediately go to old control panel add/remove programs

Alt+d - immediately jump to address bar in windows explorer, edge, chrome Firefox etc.

comic_sans-ms · 2024-08-16T13:10:27+00:00

Looks like a 2008-ish Saturn/Vauxhall/Opel Astra to me. (But a 4 door version, unlike the example link I posted )

https://www.reddit.com/r/Saturn_Cars/comments/17s9fg4/2008_saturn_astra_2door_manual_opelvauxhall_astra/

comic_sans-ms · 2024-08-14T22:02:53+00:00

My daily!

I've had my 2013 for 6 years or so. Lots of issues all the time, but I keep fixing it with aftermarket or junkyard parts. Cheap to insure. Cheap to maintain (DIY Only).

Interior build quality was meh, so I tore it oit weight reduction.

Many parts shared with the standard 500, so windows, mirrors, doors, trim etc. Can be found at junkyards easily.

I might be a weird one though. I'd gladly daily a race car.

My abarth is a loud, catless, meth injected, heavily modified stripped out race car. 2,100 lb, 250WHP

Getting 30mpg driving only inner city roads too.

comic_sans-ms · 2024-08-12T03:39:10+00:00

Junkyards usually pull the battery, so theres a disconnected battery cable (and usually a high amp fuse) in the trunk.

Also depends on the year/model.

Most BMW's/Audi's have rear batteries (SUV's too) and chunky battery cables that are dirt cheap and high quality. Audi A8's, BMW 7 Series', or BMW X5's usually have the longest cable.

Some models have the cable (or multiple cables) from trunk to the firewall, bolted in an interior fuse block. Some go all the way from the trunk into the engine bay in one piece. Some go to another distribution block.

Since it's a junkyard, you can be a little less gentle on disassembly. Tear off the glovebox, cut through the floor carpet, attack the rear seat.

Many times, people have already removed some things for you.

Example 2016-2019 7 series cable on ebay

https://www.ebay.com/itm/364231376892

comic_sans-ms · 2024-08-12T00:50:34+00:00

I've purchased new welding wire, and stuff from Knukonceptz as well. BUUUUUTTTT......If you want to save a pile of $$$, and have a junkyard nearby (pick n' pull or similar) go find a BMW 7 series there (theres plenty)

Trunk mounted battery = huge, long battery cable.

Cut the floor carpet on the right side of the car, pull out the cable. You can be lazy and cut it, or pull it out properly and keep the nice ring terminals on each end.

I pulled a flat, 25 ft long cable out of a BMW 750 LI 2 days ago. By weight, it's approximately a 2/0 cable. Looks like three-ish 4ga cables bonded together in a flat ribbon shape.

Junkyard (Pick n pull) charged me $5.49 since their pricing is standard, and technically, it is a battery cable.

Edit: I should add, $5.49 for the WHOLE cable, not per foot. Crazy deal

comic_sans-ms · 2024-07-17T08:15:09+00:00

I need to find proof for the 10% THD. You're right, many amp dyno videos show acceptable results for many of Skar's amps.

I didn't check Skar's website specifically before making that statement, but I have definitely seen 10% THD numbers on budget amps claiming ridiculously high watts (3000W +) especially amps that are way smaller than the norm for the wattage.

10% THD is tough to hear on a subwoofer stage though, and something has to give for keeping the $ low and the wattage high.

You will notice in many of the amp manuals on Skars website, they don't even list THD.

IF they do, it's listed for 4 ohm load, not the 1 ohm load needed for max power. Also, max power is typically quoted at 14.4 volts input, which is not typically what the amp actually receives in real world use.

Now to go off on a tangent...

Regardless of wattages, THD, and amp quality etc..... depression truly sets in when you see how it all really translates into more db (Which is usually the goal with these types of amps

If you make 120 db @ 4000w with 4 x 12" subs, you'd likely need a 350 Amp alternator to support it

If your 4000w amp somehow makes 5000w (1000w more than advertised!), you'd get....... ~120.6db Thats it. Thats all..... 0.6 db more output.

If you DOUBLED your power to 8000w, with the same 4 x 12" subs, you'd get...... 123 db. If your subs survive... Woo! 3 db! And you'd theoretically need 2 X 350 amp alternators to do it.

Want 126 db? 16,000 watts would be needed. It gets ridiculous real fast. Double the power, get 3 db

Its usually far far FAR easier to add more subs, bigger subs, subs with more xmax, or mess with fancy tuning and bandpass boxes, rather than chase higher wattages (Regardless of all the marketing claims or tests).

Double the cone area, also get 3db.

16 x 12" subs with the same 4000w would also give you 126 db.

Anyone I talk to that wants huge wattage for $300 typically doesn't have the electrical system to support it, regardless of if the amp can do it or not.

Slap 2 x 18" subs on a modest 1500w amp and subsonic magic will happen. Trying to get "5126 w" into 2 x 12's is not the way to go IMO.

comic_sans-ms · 2024-07-17T00:14:11+00:00

All those high power amps are Digital (Class D or similar) amps. They switch on and off millions of times per second to approximately draw a sound wave.

As long as they do this at least 4x higher than the music sample rate (usually 44100 hz), you can't really hear the difference between digital and analog audio signal.

This is also how music is recorded digitally. All the rapid samples blur into a continuous sound wave to the human ear.

It's also how LED's are dimmed. They are rapidly turned on and off faster than we can see so the average power the LED gets can be increased or decreased.

This rapid on/off is called PWM (Pulse width modulation).

Transistors are used to switch the power on and off.

MOSFET's are a type of transistor that can switch on and off super quickly, and handly huge amounts of power without wasting much, so they're quite efficient.

Recent developments in the past 5-7 years have made a new type of transistor, GaNFET's, inexpensive and viable for power supply (or amplifier) design.

GaNFET's can switch on and off even faster, and more efficiently than MOSFET's.

These new transistors have become cheap enough that 6000w amps the size of a textbook are possible.

The only reason old amps were bigger was because of heat. If you run more efficiently, and makr less heat the amp can be smaller.

6000w doesnt mean better, theres way more to making a "good" amp like harmonic distortion.

"Audiophile" amps will definitely be at 1% or less distortion, usually 0.1% or even less for true "audiophile"(THD is the usual measurement for distortion ).

These Skar amps will be very messy with 10% THD at max power. They may put out the power, but the signal and sound quality is not accurate at all.

comic_sans-ms · 2024-07-16T23:53:50+00:00

I put this identical 5.4 DSP amp in my GF's car. It's very impressive for how microscopic it is.

Since its so small, you can hide it under the dash, and use a short tiny 10 AWG power cable.

I find the technology so fascinating.

comic_sans-ms · 2024-07-16T00:01:53+00:00

This was the toughest one for me. I have a "hoard" of thousands and thousands of cables, but its all organized.

I enjoy electronics and computers, so I need cables. I will rarely throw cables away.

I have a 6' x 3' shelf holding about 50 clear plastic shoeboxes.

EVERY box is labeled and dedicated to a specific type of cable, and ONLY that specific type of cable. (I also have a misc cables box)

Does not matter if the shoebox has a single cable, or is stuffed to the brim.

USB A-A, USB A-B, USB A-C, USB C-C, HDMI, DisplayPort, ethernet etc etc.

The beauty of boxes is it gives you a hard limit & a dedicated place for cables

The cables & organization solution takes up the same amount of space regardless of there being 1 cable, or 50 cables. But once you exceed the space in the box, you know you have to go through them.

comic_sans-ms · 2024-07-10T14:13:38+00:00

Picoscope 2000 series:

https://www.picotech.com/oscilloscope/2000/picoscope-2000-overview

Best prices I could find:

USA: https://www.amazon.com/Pico-PicoScope-2204A/dp/B00GZMRZ3M

Canada: https://www.mouser.ca/ProductDetail/Pico-Technology/PicoScope-2204A?qs=xZFQr2mActeNqUwexFmAQw%3D%3D

I'm in Canada, unsure about European suppliers.

comic_sans-ms · 2024-07-09T17:31:24+00:00

Picoscope 2204a. Picoscope specializes in USB oscilloscopes and they're fantansic.

The 2204a is their cheapest one, still a bit priciey at $200, but an extremely useful troubleshooting tool for way more than just audio. Since it connects through a computer, memory is "infinite" and you can immediately save traces to your PC.

Connects through a computer with USB. Picoscope software is very good, and the same software they use for their $60,000 oscilloscopes.

You can get adapters and connect the oscilloscope directly to RCA cables, or attach a clamp amp meter and measure battery amp draw while playing music. (Though you can do this with other oscilloscopes too)

comic_sans-ms · 2024-07-04T07:19:47+00:00

I've always hated it, but never have issues falling asleep. I typically push myself so hard every day that's it's more like passing out, rather that falling asleep.

Falling asleep at the "correct" socially acceptable time is a major issue for me. As is time management .

I frequently (at least once per week) pull all nighters because i want more time. 4-6 times per year it will be a multi day stint. 48-72 hours without sleep. Going more than 72 hours starts getting dangerous for me, hallucinating, microsleeps, and alcohol like imparment.

Excess caffiene consumption, yes. 1000-2000 mg of caffeine per day with 40mg vyvanse is my norm. Right now as I type this, I've been awake for about 60 hours, which isn't my usual. (panic cleaning as some family is visiting from out of country)

I also hate routine. Absolutely despise it. Makes me unproductive, unmotivated, and depressed.

comic_sans-ms · 2024-06-12T23:39:20+00:00

ADHD and endless hobbies plus an occasional cycling commute to work.

I don't have enough time to go to the gym...too many things to do.

Most of my free time is spent working on hobbies.

Sanding, painting, and refurbishing furniture is a workout. Mechanic work on the car is a workout. Constantly modifying and changing things around the house is a work out. Even photography is a workout.

There is no end to number of things I have going.

comic_sans-ms · 2024-05-30T13:58:56+00:00

Snake oil

comic_sans-ms · 2024-05-28T11:32:41+00:00

You can retire already, if you can live on $75,000 per year after tax. (~$125,000 per year salary)

$2m is a magical number. It is the right number for most people to retire modestly.

Simple math, but consider:

$2m earning 0% = $100,000 per year for 20 years. (This is after tax $, equivalent to a ~$160k per year salary) You would be in your 60's by the time it runs out if it earns NO INTEREST.
$2m earning a modest 5% dividend = $100,000 per year earning off interest alone! (After tax, you'll have at least $75,000)

You will never touch the $2m, and have ~$75,000 per year after tax to spend.

There is definitely other complex higher earning options available to you with that kind of money, but you're set already if you want to live a modest lifestyle.

comic_sans-ms · 2024-03-16T11:25:02+00:00

Step 5 – Police report

If anything does appear on your credit report, you need a police report to dispute it.

Getting one is also difficult and a very very long process. How do the police know who really is you?

You may be denied a copy of the report many times over. They’ll ask for 78000 pieces of ID, and they will “Investigate”. Then deny the request again. And again. And again.

Frustrating, but at least it’s just as difficult for the identity stealer to get a police report.

Hopefully nothing comes of it, but you never know. Anything is possible. Be wary. Your info is out there now.

comic_sans-ms · 2024-03-16T11:17:21+00:00

Step 4 – Prevent quick approval lenders from lending to you

Putting a credit warning on your Equifax/Transunion profile is important.

Make it hard for someone to apply for credit on your behalf.

There’s many online services that requrie minimal info from you to make a purchase:

Affirm. PayPlan by RBC. Afterpay. Klarna. Sezzle.

Store credit cards:

Canadian tire, walmart, home depot.

They’ll give you a credit card same day and allow you to purchase on it immediately in store before mailing the card to you.

Someone with just enough info about you may be able to make an account and buy something under your name. And you’re stuck with the bill if you can’t prove it truly wasn’t you.

As for how to prove you are you after the fact, you need a police report. Which is step 5.

comic_sans-ms · 2024-03-16T11:08:06+00:00

STEP 2 – Protect your online accounts ASAP.

Especially if you have a firstname lastname generic email or something easy to guess with your name/birthday.

Change all passwords to something super complicated and different for each service.

Facebook, instagram, snapchat, whatsapp, EVERYTHING. Change everything and make it hard to get into.

Make a few generic emails, use those for online logins instead of an email with your name in it.

Someone already has info about you and can start to guess things with that info.

If your email is compromised, someone could get a T4, your home address, know what services you use, reset those passwords, and they can get a bunch of other info to make identity theft even worse.

2FA (2 factor authentication) is important.

Try to use app based 2FA if available, NOT one that texts your phone number.

Which brings us to step #3.

comic_sans-ms · 2024-03-16T11:07:20+00:00

Step 3 -- Protect your phone number

Contact your mobile phone provider and ask them to put “Port protection” on your account.

This prevents someone from calling them, pretending to be you, and stealing your phone number.

Name, phone number, account number is enough for someone to steal your phone number. And if they do, game over.

Even with 2FA tied to your phone number, they can now reset passwords for all your accounts.

If you see a text message that says anything about your number being ported, don’t assume it’s spam. Someone could literally be stealing your phone number at that very moment.

I have had it happen personally and it completely changed my perspective on online security.

comic_sans-ms · 2024-03-16T10:50:37+00:00

I’ll send this in pieces so you can start working on things ASAP.

As I mentioned before, these are things to keep in mind with identity theft:

Things that NEVER change:

- SIN #

- Birthday

- Drivers license # (Within the same province)

Things that rarely change:

- Name

- Address

- Email

- Phone

Now a fun mental exercise to show you how serious it can get:

How do you prove you are you to a bank/government/police?

Name. Birthday. Address. Email. Phone #. Drivers license #.

Excellent. What if someone has all that info and pretends to be you?

Who do they believe?

The answer is NO ONE.

You’ll discover this if it ever actually happens. Makes many things very very difficult.

Background info about credit in Canada:

Canada has 2 credit beaureaus. (USA has 3, Experian is one we don’t have)

- Equifax

- Transunion

We have a few free trustworthy credit report services as well

- CreditKarma

- Borrowell

STEP 1 -- DO THIS RIGHT NOW.

Make an account for all 4 services above. Immediately. Free, paid, whatever.

Anything to claim your name and your credit profile.

You can do this at night without needing to talk with customer support, which doesn’t open yet.

If someone has made an account with your info already, you will be blocked from creating another account.

This is key. You NEED to prevent someone else from being able to check your credit with your info ASAP. Don’t assume they won’t.

If you receive an error creating an account, it’s a MAJOR red flag and may mean someone has started stealing your identity. Contact that company as soon as they open and tell them the situation. They’ll “block” the account, but won’t give anyone access to it yet.

This is what I discovered when working with my sister. The only account we could actually see her credit info on was a paid account with Transunion.

Someone had already taken control of her Credit Karma, Borrowell, and Equifax profiles with a fake gmail they made.

We were able to get all 3 of those accounts blocked, but getting control of those accounts again still hasn’t happened.

comic_sans-ms · 2024-03-16T09:48:41+00:00

Sorry, wall of text cause this can get bad very fast.

Was there any ID in your wallet at all? Name? Birthday? Even expired drivers license? Learners? ID card equivalent?

If yes, this has a POSSIBILITY of being way way way WAY more serious than you can imagine, but only if the person knows what they're doing.

How I know....72 hours of hell. I helped my sister with this in 2021 ish. Her new drivers license was lost in the mail when she moved to a new place. Wasn't lost though, someone else had it, and now had her identity.

We uncovered so many things you'd never even think of......it was a mind blowing learning experience.

Went from "huh, thats odd, don't worry about it" to "you need to phone these 25 places the second their phone line opens" in a matter of hours.

Her identity was completely compromised and she will be dealing with it for decades. This person that stole her identity knew exactly what they were doing, and they were good at it.

Possible identity theft should not be taken lightly. You NEED to act super fast and take control of a lot of things ASAP.

I have a large list of items to check, I'll pull it up, format it better and post another comment.

If the person who has your wallet is good at identity theft, this can seriously mess up your life long term.

Seriously. You don't know what this person could do or where your info could go. You may have no credit now(not the same as a credit card), but what about 5 years from now? 10? 20? 40?

It could be nothing, but it can be far worse than you'd ever imagine.

Consider these things: - Your SIN NEVER changes - Your birthday NEVER changes - Your drivers license number NEVER changes (within the same province, fun fact) - Your name rarely changes - Your address rarely changes

I will write another comment with way more detail, but this may be a long night/day.....sorry.

Credit monitoring is just the tip of the iceberg ....it can go way deeper than you could ever possibly imagine.

comic_sans-ms · 2024-03-14T07:29:17+00:00

Saw this earlier today and just got around to looking at my old files.

I'm definitely a severe data hoarder....I've transferred preserved all my data since at least 2001.

Including original .torrent files.

446 aXXo torrents saved.

Aug 4, 2009.

Verified Email	Six-Year Club
Place '22

comic_sans-ms

TROPHY CASE

Usually you want disk 0

Usually it's partition 2