technabob » repair http://technabob.com/blog gadgets, gizmos, games, cool gadgets for geeks Sat, 20 Mar 2010 13:46:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 sugru: mod your world http://technabob.com/blog/2009/12/15/sugru-mod-your-world/ http://technabob.com/blog/2009/12/15/sugru-mod-your-world/#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:39:00 +0000 p. blandino http://technabob.com/blog/?p=24598 Sugru might look like normal everyday clay but actually it’s a silicone polymer that cures at room temperature. Why is it so special? Well it can be molded in to any shape and stuck on to metal, ceramic, wood, leather and plastic! It sticks on to the object like it was applied with super glue! Since its made with silicone it’s water proof, keeps rather stiff with a bit of flexibility and its grip.

sugru

Some example uses for Sugru pulled from their gallery shows it being used to fix the heel of an old pair of shoes, make a bike handle better or just make a new handle all together! Fix a wobbly chair. The uses are endless with Sugru! Its meant to repair and make stuff work better for you. This product could replace duct tape in your toolbox.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You can order some packs of Sugru at their website. It goes for £7 GBP (appx. $11.18 USD) a pack. There are options for large, medium or small lumps of Sugru if you don’t want to deal with one big blob of the stuff. I’m picking up a pack just to keep in my tool box.

]]> http://technabob.com/blog/2009/12/15/sugru-mod-your-world/feed/ 1 clearview: one software to fix them all http://technabob.com/blog/2009/10/30/clearview-self-repairing-software/ http://technabob.com/blog/2009/10/30/clearview-self-repairing-software/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:45:53 +0000 lambert v. http://technabob.com/blog/?p=22211 Ah, software problems. We’ve all experienced them in varying degrees – sometimes it’s just a stupid online video that won’t load, and sometimes the operating system itself gives up. Now imagine a future where programs can still be compromised, or attacked, but will no longer crash or hang. A group of MIT researchers, led by Martin Rinard and Michael Ernst, are working to make that future possible. They’re working on ClearView, a program designed to fix other programs. According to the Technology Review’s Erica Naone,  ClearView doesn’t fiddle with a program’s source code; instead it “monitors the behavior of a binary: the form the program takes in order to execute instructions on a computer’s hardware.”

no-spinning-beachball

ClearView makes a list of rules based on a program’s “normal” behavior. When something causes the program to deviate from those rules, ClearView “comes up with several potential patches designed to force the software to follow the violated rules… If additional rules are violated, or if a patch causes the system to crash, ClearView rejects it and tries another.” And it does all of that without any human intervention. As a test, ClearView was tasked to babysit Firefox while the browser was attacked via ten different methods. On average, ClearView came up with a patch within 5 minutes of exposure to an attack. How’s that for customer service. If you’re tired of having programs die on you, read the full article at Technology Review. It may just make your day.

[via Slashdot]

]]> http://technabob.com/blog/2009/10/30/clearview-self-repairing-software/feed/ 1 computer repair book educates through the power of flowcharts http://technabob.com/blog/2009/09/01/computer-repair-diagnostic-flowchart/ http://technabob.com/blog/2009/09/01/computer-repair-diagnostic-flowchart/#comments Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:25:29 +0000 lambert v. http://technabob.com/blog/?p=19240 flowchart. As unbelievable as that sounds this is indeed the first post here that contains that superficially geeky word. But a flowchart itself, if used by masters like Morris…]]> Let it be known that on this great and blindingly sunny morning I accomplished yet another first here at technabob: I got dibs on the word flowchart. As unbelievable as that sounds this is indeed the first post here that contains that superficially geeky word. But a flowchart itself, if used by masters like Morris Rosenthal, is not just truly geeky but truly helpful as well. Rosenthal’s book, Computer Repair with Diagnostic Flowcharts: Troubleshooting PC Hardware Problems from Boot Failure to Poor Performance, Revised Edition (Paperback), has a long-ass title for a very short book, but his flowcharts are relatively easy to follow, with questions and instructions that a person with average knowledge of computer hardware can easily understand.

computer-repair-flowchart-1

Above are the flowcharts that anticipate most, if not all, of the things that can go wrong with your computer that will prevent it from starting up. Rosenthal knows how the internet works – it’s all about sharing – so he has a link to the full pdf file on his website. Rosenthal is cool with you printing the poster for personal or educational uses (I converted it to jpeg and turned out to be a massive 4500 x 4500 image). His website also has flowcharts in more manageable sizes too, like this one about optical drive problems:

cddvd-flowchart

Any flowchart with a step that tells you to “Laugh at self” is a good flowchart. The flowcharts on Rosenthal’s website are somewhat interactive: clicking each step takes you to a more detailed explanation of what’s going on and what you can do to fix it. You can also download a free pdf of the flowcharts on Rosenthal’s site. If you only have one computer you’d better print that ASAP, or better yet get a copy of Rosenthal’s book. It’s only $14 (USD) on Amazon. And remember: I was the first one to use the word flowchart in this blog.

[via Boing Boing Gadgets]

]]> http://technabob.com/blog/2009/09/01/computer-repair-diagnostic-flowchart/feed/ 3 microsoft offers free repairs for early xbox 360 consoles http://technabob.com/blog/2006/09/21/microsoft-offers-free-repairs-for-early-xbox-360-consoles/ http://technabob.com/blog/2006/09/21/microsoft-offers-free-repairs-for-early-xbox-360-consoles/#comments Thu, 21 Sep 2006 22:47:26 +0000 technabob http://technabob.com/blog/2006/09/21/microsoft-offers-free-repairs-for-early-xbox-360-consoles/ Xbox 360 Red Rings of DeathI guess good things come in threes from Microsoft. First, the Zune was revealed to be just $229.99, then the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive announced for under $200, and now they’re offering to repair any Xbox 360 manufactured prior to 1/1/2006 for free by extending the warranty on those machines by an additional year (over and above the orirginal 90 days.)

If you have a defective 360, you’ll just need to contact 1-800-4my-xbox for customer support.

Should you have a 2006 Xbox 360 that dies, I feel for you, but my old launch day 360 will be going back for repair now that this has been revealed.

If you have already spent money to have your pre-1/1 Xbox 360 repaired, they’ll even refund the money you paid (you should receive a check from Microsoft in the next 5 to 8 weeks).

[via Official Xbox Forum viaDailyTech]

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