How to Remove Chewing Gum from an LCD TV Screen

How to Remove Chewing Gum from an LCD TV Screen:
from How to of the Day

via SysAdmin

Removing chewing gum from an LCD TV screen is not going to be easy. LCD screens are made of soft films, which are very delicate and can be damaged easily. If you have already tried what the manufacturer recommends or your TV is out of warranty and this is your last-ditch effort, this method might prove useful. However, proceed with great caution!

Edit Steps

1. Proceed only if there is there is no alternative and you're aware of the potential risks. Check your owner's manual for recommended products and methods to use on your LCD TV screen before contemplating any non-conforming approach––bear in mind that if you are still under warranty, using another product will likely void it.
   
   • You might want to read the "Warnings" section below first before attempting to "do it yourself" and remove the chewing gum from your LCD TV screen.
     
2. Unplug your TV or turn off the power of your LCD TV screen. (Make sure your hands are dry when you unplug and plug back in your TV LCD screen.) Wait for a few minutes until the unit cools down to room temperature before working on the chewing gum.
   
3. Mix 1 part distilled white vinegar with 1 part distilled water in a spray bottle. Do not use ordinary tap water as it may leave a residue on your LCD screen.
   
4. Spray a few squirts of the mixture on a microfiber cloth or on any soft lint free cotton cloth. Make sure to moisten only, not wet the cloth. Do not spray directly on the LCD screen.
   
5. Gently blot the chewing gum with the moistened cloth. The vinegar will dissolve or soften the chewing gum, making it easier to remove. Try to blot only the gum and not the surface of your LCD TV screen.
   
6. Very gently wipe the chewing gum, peeling it off from the screen. You may need to repeat the blotting and wiping process a lot of times to completely remove the chewing gum from the surface of the LCD TV screen. Use a new cloth or at least a new clean section of your cloth every time. During the whole removal process, remember not to press too hard on the cloth and not to put too much pressure on the screen. LCD screens are quite soft and pressure can spoil that part of the screen permanently.
   
7. Make sure your TV LCD screen is completely dry before using it again. Do not plug back in until you are sure it has dried.
   

Edit Tips

• Avoid touching the LCD screen with your fingers. You may leave some oily smears or prints on it.
  
• When spraying the vinegar solution on the cloth, make sure to hold the cloth away from the TV screen.
  

Edit Warnings

• Check your LCD TV screen's warranty for specific operations that could void it.
  
• Damages due to pressing down the screen and damages caused by spraying liquids directly on your LCD TV screen might not be covered under the warranty.
  
• Don't forget to remove the tag of the cloth you are going to use on your LCD screen as this might scratch the screen.
  
• Always use distilled water and not tap water or mineral water, as they could leave white marks on the screen.
  
• Never use solvents like acetone, ethyl alcohol and ammonia to clean LCD screens. They are strong enough to melt the plastic screen of LCD displays.
  
• The quick drying effect from the heat of the TV can cause permanent streaking on your LCD TV screen. Make sure to turn off your TV unit before trying to remove the chewing gum.
  
• Pressing too hard on the screen can cause dead pixels.
  
• Paper towels and toilet paper can scratch the surface of your LCD screen so it's highly recommended to use a microfiber cloth.
  

Edit Things You'll Need

• Spray bottle
  
• Distilled white vinegar
  
• Distilled water
  
• Pieces of microfiber cloth or soft lint free cotton cloth
  

Edit Related wikiHows

• How to Remove Chewing Gum from a Tire
  
• How to Remove Gum from Clothes
  
• How to Remove Chewing Gum from Leather
  
• How to Remove Chewing Gum from a Dryer Drum
  

Edit Sources and Citations

• http://www.cleanlcds.com/
  
• http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-best-way-to-effectively-clean-lcd-laptop-monitor-screens/
  
• http://www.pc-tips-and-tricks.com/how-to-clean-lcd-monitor.html
  
• http://www.home-speaker.net/how-to-clean-lcd-monitor.html
  
• http://support-us.samsung.com/cyber/popup/iframe/pop_troubleshooting_fr.jsp?idx=25533&modelname=&modelcode=&session_id=
  
• http://www.home-speaker.net/how-to-clean-lcd-monitor.html
  
• http://www.cleanlcds.com/
  

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USB microscope used for soldering very small things

USB microscope used for soldering very small things:
from Hack a Day by Brian Benchoff

via SysAdmin

Lasik eye surgery is pretty common these days, but there are of course easier and cheaper ways to solder SMD components. [techpawpanda] wanted a video camera to see what was going on when he placed and soldered very tiny components on his board, but commercial SMD video cameras were terribly expensive. He wound up using a USB microscope to place and solder these tiny parts, and we’re thinking his SMD soldering station is the bee’s knees.
[techpawpanda]‘s video-based SMD station is built around a USB microscope available at the usual online retailers for $40. This camera is mounted on a wooden base with a USB hub allowing the camera to be plugged in along with a few USB LED lights and a USB fan for a rudimentary form of fume extraction.
The results are impressive – even at 11x magnification, [techpawpanda] can put paste on pads and place even the smallest SMD parts. All this in a device that is small enough to fit in a shoe box, or be tucked neatly away whenever it is not needed.

Filed under: tool hacks

Replace Laptop Bumpers with Sugru

Replace Laptop Bumpers with Sugru:
from Lifehacker by David Galloway

via SysAdmin

Rubber or plastic bumpers in the four corners of laptop bottoms help to stabilize the computer but they also help to keep the laptop cool by adding additional airflow. After a year or two many of these bumpers are lost and it can be difficult to find the specific size bumper for your laptop. Consider using Sugru to make replacement buttons that should never be lost. More »

Automatically Send Starred Google Reader Articles to Pocket or Instapaper

Automatically Send Starred Google Reader Articles to Pocket or Instapaper:
from Lifehacker by Whitson Gordon

via SysAdmin

Bookmark and Read Later apps like Pocket, Instapaper, and Readability are awesome ways to store and catch up on the interesting articles you find online, but if you use Google Reader, saving those articles is a multi-step process. Here's an IFTTT recipe that will send articles to your favorite service in one keystroke. More »

It's movie time! Grab the popcorn and Media Player Classic-BE

It's movie time! Grab the popcorn and Media Player Classic-BE:
from BetaNews by Mike Williams

via SysAdmin

If you’ve ever explored the world of Windows video players then you’ll almost certainly have come across Media Player Classic (compact, easy to use, but a little dated now) and its spin-off Home Cinema project (more powerful, plenty of features).
What you might not have noticed, though, is the latest addition to the family, Media Player Classic-BE (for “Black Edition”, apparently). It’s a recent offshoot from Home Cinema and looks almost exactly the same, but already has one notable addition and plenty of smaller tweaks to enjoy.
Our favorite new addition is the program’s ability to preview different parts of a movie. If you want to view some other section, there’s no longer any need to click various parts of the seek bar until you end up in the right area. Instead, just hover your mouse cursor over a point on the bar, and MPC-BE will show you a thumbnail representing that frame (even if it’s still playing some other part of the video). If that’s not what you need, just move the mouse pointer across the bar, watching as the frames update, and only click when you’re in the right place.
The down side to this is it does require a fair amount of system resources, so might not work so well on ancient hardware, or if (say) you’re trying to view an HD clip over a slow network connection. Which perhaps is why the feature is turned off by default (click View > Options > Interface and check “Use the preview in the search” to enable it). It worked just fine on our system, though, and could well be enough to justify installing the program all on its own.
Of course the program has more, though.
Support for many minor decoders should help the program import even more file types, for instance (it can even open images now). MPC-BE provides more subtitle options and controls, as well as a new Sub button on the toolbar to help you access them. While there are plenty of smaller additions which may help, just occasionally -- like support for the Rotate tag in MP4 and MOV files.
And of course you still have the many great features of MPC-Home Cinema, including its extreme configurability. The program doesn’t just give you access to 180+ options and commands, for instance -- it allows you to set up a customizable hotkey for each and every one.
Media Player Classic-BE isn’t exactly a revolution in video playing, then, but it’s a neat improvement on an already good program, and we’ll be very interested to see where the project goes next.
Photo Credit: Baranova Alona/Shutterstock

Adding AirPlay to a shelf system

Adding AirPlay to a shelf system:
from Hack a Day by Mike Szczys

via SysAdmin

AirPlay is a great system. It allows you to send whatever media is playing from one device to another. Sure, we wish it were a bit more open (Apple is certainly not known for that) but there are several option for creating your own AirPlay receivers. After coming across a project that does just that, [Matt Shirley] decided to turn his shelf system into an AirPlay receiver.
The path to his goal depends on the Raspberry Pi’s ability to receive AirPlay audio using the Shairport package (we just looked in on another player that does this last week). He uses an Edirol UA-5 USB audio interface as an amplifier for his record player. He wasn’t using the USB port for it and knew that it would be simple to connect the RPi USB as a host for the device.
Wanting to keep the look of the system as clean as possible he popped the lid off of the amp. There is just enough room to fit the small RPi board inside. He hacked (literally, look at the pictures) an opening for the USB ports into the side of the metal enclosure. A short patch cable connects from one port to the USB jack on the back of the amplifier. The white cable leaving the side of the case provides power to the Rasperry Pi. The surgery was a success and now he can listen to his tunes with a tap of his finger.

Filed under: digital audio hacks, Raspberry Pi

Ask Slashdot: Easiest Way To Consolidate Household Media?

Ask Slashdot: Easiest Way To Consolidate Household Media?:
from Slashdot by timothyvia SysAdmin
First time accepted submitter Lordfly writes "The wife and I have started looking to buy a house. In the spirit of that, I've been giving away books, CDs, and DVDs to 'downsize' the pile of crap I'll have to lug around when we do find the right place. That got me thinking about digital files. I'm perfectly okay with giving up (most) books, CDs, and DVD cases. The only music I buy are MP3s anyway, and we stream most everything else if we wanted to watch a show or movie. That being said, I have a desktop, my wife has an old Macbook, we both have tablets, and I also have an Android smartphone. I'd like to set up something on an extra Windows box shoved in a closet that lets me dump every digital file we have (photos, music, ebooks, movies) and then doles it out as necessary to all of our devices. Unfortunately my best computer geek days are likely behind me (photography and cooking have consumed me since), so while I CAN schlep around a command line, I've lost most of my knowledge, so go easy on the 'just apt-get FubarPackageInstaller.gzip and rd -m Arglebargle' stuff. Something easy enough for my wife to use would be a major plus. So: What's the best way to make your own personal 'cloud'?"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Most Popular NAS Enclosure: The DIY NAS

Most Popular NAS Enclosure: The DIY NAS:
from Lifehacker by Alan Henry

via SysAdmin

If you're aching for a little extra storage space for your files but don't want to keep your primary machine stuffed with drives, a NAS, or network-attached storage device, may be perfect for you. They offer tons of storage in a highly available, highly redundant, and low-power box that's available to all of the systems on your home network. Last week, we asked you which models you thought were the best of breed. You responded, and we highlighted the five best NAS enclosures based on your nominations and put them to a vote. Now we're back to highlight the overall winner. More »

This DIY NAS In a Box Is Portable, Affordable, and Keeps Your Data Safe

This DIY NAS In a Box Is Portable, Affordable, and Keeps Your Data Safe:
from Lifehacker by Alan Henry

via SysAdmin

So we've established that the DIY approach is your favorite NAS option, so perhaps this tiny, super-portable NAS in a box would be a good weekend project. More »

How to Make Limited-Time App Deals Last Forever [Dealhacker]

How to Make Limited-Time App Deals Last Forever [Dealhacker]:
from Lifehacker by Whitson Gordon

We all love free apps, but it's hard to track when apps go on sale, and whether they're worth the trouble. Here's a trick for keeping track of on-sale apps, and making those sales last forever. More »

Raspberry Pi used as a Squeezebox server

Raspberry Pi used as a Squeezebox server:
from Hack a Day by Mike Szczys

via SysAdmin

[Jacken] loves his lossless audio and because of that he’s long been a fan of Squeezebox. It makes streaming the high-bitrate files possible. But after Logitech acquired the company he feels they’ve made some choices which has driven the platform into the ground. But there is hope. He figured out how to use a Raspberry Pi as a Squeezebox server so that he can keep on using his client devices and posted details about the RPi’s performance while serving high-quality audio.
First the bad news: the RPi board doesn’t have the horsepower necessary to downsample on the fly. He even tried overclocking but that didn’t really help. The good news is that this issue only affects older Squeezebox clients (he had the issue with V3) and only when playing tracks that are much higher quality than a CD (24-bit at 88.2Khz). He has no problem streaming those files to devices that can play them, and can even stream multiple files at once without any issues.
You can install the Sqeezebox server on your own Raspberry Pi by following this guide.

Filed under: digital audio hacks, Raspberry Pi

Interfacing a GPU with a CPU

Interfacing a GPU with a CPU:
from Hack a Day by Mike Szczys

via SysAdmin

[Quinn Dunki] pulled together many months worth of work by interfacing her GPU with the CPU. This is one of the major points in her Veronica project which aims to build a computer from the ground up.
We’ve seen quite a number of posts from her regarding the AVR-powered GPU. So far the development of that component has been happening separately from the 6502 centered CPU. But putting them together is anything but trivial. The timing issues that were so important to consider when developing the GPU get even hairier when it comes writing to the VRAM from an external component. Her first thought was to share a portion of the external RAM between the CPU and GPU as a way to push rendering commands from one to the other. This proved troublesome both in timing and in the number of pins available on the AVR chip. She ended up using something of a virtual register on the AVR chip that can receive commands from the CPU asynchronously. Timing dictates that these commands be written only during vertical blanking so this virtual register also acts as a status register to let the CPU know when it can send the next command.
Her post is packed with the theory behind the design, timing tests on the oscilloscope, and a rather intimidating schematic. But the most important part is the video showing her success in the end.

Filed under: computer hacks  

Microsoft Kills Expression Suite — And Makes It Free, For Now

Microsoft Kills Expression Suite — And Makes It Free, For Now:
from Slashdot by timothyvia SysAdmin
mikejuk writes "Microsoft has announced that the Expression suite of design tools is no more. It has been removed from sale immediately and it has been placed on a maintenance only status until it reaches its end of life. Expression was Microsoft's offering for designers and competed directly with Adobe products. You can now download the components of Expression — Design 4, Web 4 and Encoder 4 — for free but you can't buy them. Of course, knowing that you are using 'doomed' products, even for free, takes some of the icing off the cake.The central component of the suite the UI designer Blend is to be integrated with Visual Studio 2012 probably along with Update 2. It looks as if Microsoft is giving up on trying to get designers to use its tools."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Switchblade 0.70 troubleshooting toolkit revamps programs, adds Process Hacker

Switchblade 0.70 troubleshooting toolkit revamps programs, adds Process Hacker:
from BetaNews by Mike Williams

via SysAdmin

It’s a week since we covered Switchblade, an interesting portable troubleshooting toolkit which was a little flawed by its selection of programs. While there were some excellent choices, the package was distinctly short on system monitoring tools. And we weren’t entirely sure that most people would want to install a copy of Apache on a PC they were investigating, either.
With further questions soon emerging over licensing issues for some of the programs, it wasn’t long before the author removed the SourceForge download. It’s just reappeared in a new Switchblade 0.70 build, though, which appears to address at least some of the previous issues and concerns.
Some had wondered whether the author had the right to distribute a portable edition of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, for instance, and sure enough it’s now been removed. And IObit Uninstaller and Advanced System Care have similarly been pulled from the lineup.
The current bundle is also the more compact version, which doesn’t include Apache (amongst other things), and that makes for a much smaller download (45MB as opposed to more than 220MB).
And yet the package also greatly ramps up its troubleshooting abilities with some very useful system monitoring and tracking tools. AppCrashView gives you a detailed view of the last system crashes, for instance. LastActivityView provides a vast amount of information about what’s been happening recently on the target PC (startups, shutdowns, user logons and logoffs, programs run, applications installed and more). While Process Hacker shows you exactly what’s running on your system right now.
The interface has been revamped a little, with Switchblade’s various programs and features now all organized into four tabs (Security Tools, System Tools, Networking, Other).
And the "System Information" pane now correctly displayed the free RAM, IP address and host name of our test PC (previously this was blank).
We’re still left with a licensing question or two. Does the author really have the right to distribute Microsoft Security Essentials, for instance?
There’s no doubt that Switchblade 0.70 is much improved, though, especially with the inclusion of Process Hacker, and it’s good to see the package back and available for download again.