Android – How to keep phone from “sleeping” (timing out) when plugged in

All cell phones have a “timeout” feature that is in place mainly as a battery saving measure. After a specific amount of time, your phone just “goes to sleep”. When I’m using the battery I don’t mind this feature, but there are times when having the phone timeout is not what I want to happen.

Using the phone as a GPS in the car or Streaming Video while traveling (I take a lot of airplane flights) are just 2 of the many reasons when the timeout setting could become annoying. In both cases (among many others), I would have my phone plugged in via the car charger or airplane charger (having power at the airplane seat is the best invention EVER!).

The normal timeout setting (that everyone seems to know about) can be found in Android –> Under settings –> Display

On the display screen you will see –> Screen timeout. Usually this setting is set to between 1 and 5 minutes or off if you just don’t ever want to have your screen turn off.

So the question is “How can I keep my phone from timing out without having the change this setting over and over”?

The answer is actually simple, if you know where to look. (And here is the answer)

In Android –> Go to settings –> (Scroll down to) Applications > (Click on) development –> (And finally) check the box that says ‘stay awake’

Once you do that, this setting will override whatever is in the timeout setting, whenever your phone is plugged in.

12/6/11– Tech Geek and More – Site issues

Tech Geek and More moved to a new web host yesterday. We are in the process of fixing a few small Oh !^#!$. We hope to have everything back to normal shortly.

Thanks

Alex

Head of Tech Geek and More

TGM How To: Converting Video from your pc to play on a DVD player

I regularly get “How do I do this” questions. A lot of what you see posted on Tech Geek and More, comes as a result of those questions. Tonight’s post is another example of “How do I……”, and this questions revolves around taking videos that are already on a pc and being able to copy the videos to a DVD disc and have that disc recognized on an average DVD player. Tonight’s question comes from a teacher who would like to be able hand dvd’s with study material to his class as part of an overall lesson plan.

These instructions will list the FLV format (which is the file format for flash videos, like what you would find on sites like YouTube). If you have videos in other formats (AVI, WMV, MOV, etc.) these same steps apply, just adjust for your video type in the instructions.

The biggest reason FLV is popular is because of its compression rate, in other words, how small the video can get. The smaller the video, the less bandwidth required to play which is both a cost savings and also allows for the video to play faster. A few DVD players I’ve seen recognize flash files (or other non-DVD formats), but that seems to be rare, so to take the FLV file and play it on most DVD players would require the video to be converted to the format a DVD play would understand. All DVD players read the MPEG 2 format, which is the standard for DVD players.

Since I know we all live on tight budgets these days (computer guys are not immune from not getting paid enough), these instructions use Open Source, as in Free software, to accomplish the goal. So how do we convert the video so that it can be used on DVD – Here are the steps.

Requirements

Download and install WinFF (From http://winff.org/html_new/downloads.html (http://winff NULL.org/html_new/downloads NULL.html))

WinFF is available for Windows 95, 98 , ME, NT, XP, VISTA, 7 and Debian, Ubuntu, Redhat based GNU/Linux distributions

*If you are running Windows XP you can download – Windows Movie Maker 2011 (From http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker (http://explore NULL.live NULL.com/windows-live-movie-maker) )

If you have Windows Vista or Windows 7 – You have Windows DVD Maker already installed by default. (The example shown will be from Windows DVD Maker)

Blank DVD (Could be either DVD-R or DVD-RW)

Pt. 1 – Converting with Winff

1. Start Winff and select the “Add” button.

2. In the window that comes up appears to find your FLV file. When you find it, double-click on it. In the example (below), I’m using a William Shatner comedy bit about Facebook. (If you hold your CTRL key, you can select and convert more than 1 file at a time)

3. Now at the bottom of the main WinFF window, click on the drop-down menu where it says “Convert to” and select “DVD.” Then click on the drop-down menu next to where it says “Preset,” and select the DVD format and location version (NTSC or PAL) you wish to use. If you are in the USA/Canada it will probably be NTSC and in Europe it will be PAL). In addition, most users, will probably want to select Fullscreen for the type of conversion. (You probably will want to play with that one to see what works for you)

4. Next step (at the very bottom), select where you want your converted video to be saved. You do this by selecting the a location on your pc, where it says “Output to Folder”.

5. Last step, click on the “Convert” button and wait for your video to be converted.

That completes the conversion part. There is a 2nd part to get that newly created file onto a DVD itself. Here are those steps……

Getting a .MPG (MPEG) file onto a DVD disk

For some of the more advanced users reading this, you will wonder why I’m using Windows DVD Maker. Well, its simple, if you have Windows Vista or Windows 7, the program is installed. In addition, the most important part, ITS FREE. There are other software packages from companies like Nero and Roxio among others. If you have a DVD creator program, you can use that at this point if you don’t want to use the Windows DVD Maker.

PT. 2 – DVD Burning Instructions

1. Click the Windows “Start” button.-> Under programs look for “Windows DVD Maker” and click on it to open.

2. Click “Add Items” in the program window and browse your computer to the folder with MPEG files.

3. Click on the MPEG file you converted. (If you want to add multiple files then click on each MPEG file while holding the “Ctrl” key to select multiple files) Then click the button “Add.” Selected files will appear in the DVD Maker window.

4. Now click on “Next” and select a desired menu style on the right panel. This is also where you can customize Menu’s and add Slide Shows to your DVD.

5. Now put a DVD-R or DVD-RW on your drive and click “Burn” in the DVD Maker window to start recording the video DVD.

Once the process has completed, you can put the DVD in your DVD player and it should be ready to go.

And More – I Survived Black Friday 2011 – What was I thinking!

Just under 24 hours ago I decided to go into battle. Did I join the military, NO. Did I dress up as a super hero and take down bad guys, NO. I went shopping, more specifically I went shopping for BLACK FRIDAY. For starters, WHAT THE !%#$ WAS I THINKING! For the record, I wasn’t even in the Black Friday trenches for a high ticket item. I went to Battle to save $30 on an Xbox360 game which was on sale at (LINK) Best Buy (http://www NULL.bestbuy NULL.com/site/Batman%3A+Arkham+City+-+Xbox+360/2173065 NULL.p;jsessionid=37B8AC12039C8DB9FB04525A3D12B1EC NULL.bbolsp-app05-26?id=1218312458670&skuId=2173065&st=batman&lp=3&cp=1) (The game is for my 13 yr. old son, what a parent does for his kid)

So I got to my local Best Buy about 10p, and from the start I knew this was going to be a long night. The 1st thing I came across was the long line that circled the entire parking lot. In addition, the squad car and local police officer trying to keep order.

This is where I started in line

I guess it could be worse as this is the line behind me and I was told by a Best Buy staff member (about11:30 p) that the line reached the parking lot in the back of the store.

Eventually, about 12:30 a, I was finally able to make it into the store. The people you see in these 2 pictures are now in line that were created inside the store for each high value area. So if you wanted a TV or Laptop, you needed to get in line again for them to help you.

Once you got your merchandise, then you got inline to pay. That line started in the music section and required you to go up and down each row of the music area until you got close to the register.

While I was in line with all these people, I did discover that Best Buy sells Vinyl (for those born in the 90’s, that the thing that came before CD’s) and I guess they are considered classics as they all ranged around $20 each in price. OUCH!

Eventually I made it to the cash register, about 1:30 a. I must have been tired as I think I see cows…..

With all that being said, yes I was able to get the game I was trying to get. It was one of the last ones they had in stock. I guess I was lucky, my local Best Buy was controlled chaos. At other stores the chaos was not so controlled.

I’ve seen 2 story’s about Black Friday that makes be grateful for the controlled chaos I had to deal with

- In the So. California area, seems a shopper at a Wal-Mart didn’t like the chaos to the point that 20 other customers ended up pepper sprayed. (This So. California news story is from KCBS 2 (http://losangeles NULL.cbslocal NULL.com/video/6489444-shopper-starts-pepper-spray-melee-at-porter-ranch-walmart/) in Los Angeles – Reporter Suraya Fadel). News report does include a cell phone video of the chaos.

- In Puerto Rico, at a Best Buy store, it seems there were so many people that the staff could not (or would not) completely open the gates. They would only open it just enough to allow a handful of people to crawl under the gate at a time. (Video by Que nos pasa (http://quenospasapuertorico NULL.com/), Puerto Rico)

Black Friday 2011

Shopping: Black Friday 2011 Deal–Acer Iconia Tab (Refurb) $269 w/Case

Currently on the (LINK) Best Buy (http://www NULL.bestbuy NULL.com/site/searchpage NULL.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=-2385739114435906649&id=pcat17071&type=page&st=iconia+tab&sc=Global&cp=1&nrp=15&sp=&qp=&list=n&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960) website, they are offering a refurbished Acer Iconia Tab 16 GB Tablet with Case for $269.99.

As someone who has tried virtually all 10” tablets, and owns an Iconia Tab (That I paid $399 without a case), I can highly recommend this tablet. I know it lists as a refurbished model, from the Best Buy (http://www NULL.bestbuy NULL.com/site/Electronics-Promotions/Refurbished+Product+FAQs/pcmcat249600050017 NULL.c?id=pcmcat249600050017) site, here is what that means

The Iconia Tab looks and feels well built, and comes well equipped. The Iconia Tab has the follow specifications

Product Height

0.5″

Product Width

10.2″

Product Weight

1.7 lbs..

Product Depth

7″

Processor

NVIDIA Tegra 2

Processor Speed

1.0GHz

Display Type

Widescreen WXGA high-definition multitouch (1280 x 800)

Screen Size (Measured Diagonally)

10.1″

Storage Capacity

16GB

SD Card Slot

Yes

Adobe Flash Compatible

Yes

Front Facing Webcam Pixels

2.0MP

(Rear) Digital Camera Pixels

5.0MP

Wi-Fi Built In

Yes

Bluetooth-Enabled

Yes

USB 2.0 Ports

HDMI Output

Yes

Operating System

Android 3.0 Honeycomb (at boot up)

(Will upgrade to v3.2)

The Tablet comes with Honeycomb 3.0 installed. Acer has released the 3.2 upgrade for the tablet, so you will be running the official LATEST version of Android. You will get prompted for the upgrade when you 1st boot up and get connected to the internet. In addition, for those of you who like to Root your Android devices, this is one of the simplest tablets to Root. Rooting instructions are on (LINK) Tech Geek and More (via XDA – Developers (http://forum NULL.xda-developers NULL.com/showthread NULL.php?t=1138228)).

Software: Update your Non-Tech friends pc day…. 11/25/11

Microsoft via their (LINK) Windows Team Blog for Internet Explorer (http://windowsteamblog NULL.com/ie/b/ie/archive/2011/11/23/get-ready-for-update-your-parents-browser-day NULL.aspx) is calling this coming Friday 11/25 “Update your Parents Browser” day. However, in the opinion of Tech Geek and More that idea is narrow minded. Every Tech, Geek or just knowledgeable computer person has a few people (because no one has just 1) that call regularly whenever something goes wrong on a pc. You know the call, “I wasn’t doing anything and then all of a sudden………” . So Tech Geek and More is actually asking its readers to expand on the idea, and use Friday while your visiting non-tech friends and family, and update all software on the pc. Just remember, the more updated they are, the better chance you have of them NOT calling you to fix it.

Just an idea of what should be updated

- Adobe Acrobat

- Adobe Flash

- Adobe Air

- Adobe Shockwave

- Oracle Java

- Anti-virus (If they don’t have a current one install a free one)

- All Windows Updates

- All Office Updates

- All installed browsers (Not just IE)

- **Plus review for any other installed programs that you know should be updated.

If you don’t want to take to long doing this, you can visit (LINK) Ninite (http://ninite NULL.com/), where you can install the latest version for a majority of the software.

If you need ideas as to when, the (LINK) Windows Team Blog (http://windowsteamblog NULL.com/ie/b/ie/archive/2011/11/23/get-ready-for-update-your-parents-browser-day NULL.aspx) lists Top-10 Moments to Update…. (Windows Team Blog story by Scott Armstrong (http://windowsteamblog NULL.com/members/sarm34/default NULL.aspx))

Top-10 Moments To Update Your Parents’ Browser

10. When they’re manning the fire extinguisher dealing with the yearly deep-fried turkey accident.

9. When they’re telling your cousins “when I was your age” stories.

8. When they’re face down in the eggnog punch.

7. When they’re fighting over the right way to carve a turkey.

6. When your mom kicks you out of the kitchen for peeling potatoes “the wrong way.”

5. When they’re sent to the grocery store at 2PM on Thanksgiving Day for extra cranberries.

4. When they’re sitting at the Adult’s table (rally the other kids to help).

3. When they’re standing in a Black Friday line.

2. When they’re untangling Christmas lights.

And the number one time to update your parents’ browser is…

1. When they’re distracted by grilling you about when you’re going to get a real job, when you’re going to settle down, and when you’re going to give them grandchildren.

So watch for these moments and many more to help them make the upgrade to a modern web browser today. Web developers everywhere will thank you!

Happy Thanksgiving from the IE team!

News: Let your Voices be heard. Make sure you tell Congress that the Protect IP Act and SOPA ARE A BAD IDEA! (Updated 11/23/11)

(https://wfc2 NULL.wiredforchange NULL.com/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8173) (Banner from EFF.org (https://www NULL.eff NULL.org/))

Tech Geek and More does not usually take a political stance as that is NOT the goal of this site. With that being said, there currently is a pair of bills in Congress that are SO SCARY that TGM feels that it has to get politically involved in this case.

***Update 11/23 -

Sen. Wyden of Oregon

Senator Wyden (D – Oregon) who is a steadfast opponent of the Protect IP bill. He has agreed to try and block any vote on the bill by filibustering it if it comes up for a vote.

“Sometimes filibusters last hours – or days – leaving Senators reading out of the dictionary or cookbooks to pass the time.”

‘Sen. Wyden agreed to read censorship opponents’ names from the floor of the Senate, and to try to enter the rest into the Congressional Record.”

You can visit (LINK) Stopcensorship.org (http://stopcensorship NULL.org/?referring_akid= NULL.1521576 NULL.GByv-v&source=typ-tw) to add your name to the list.

**Nov 21st Post -

PROTECT IP Act in the Senate

“Establishes a system for taking down websites that the Justice Department determines to be “dedicated to infringing activities.” The DoJ or the copyright owner would be able to commence a legal action against the alleged infringer and the DoJ would be allowed to demand that search engines, social networking sites and domain name services block access to the targeted site. In some cases, action could be taken to block sites without first allowing the alleged infringer to defend themselves in court”. (From LINK OpenCongress.org (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-s968/show))

Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House

“This bill would establish a system for taking down websites that the Justice Department determines to be dedicated to copyright infringement. The DoJ or the copyright owner would be able to commence a legal action against any site they deem to have “only limited purpose or use other than infringement,” and the DoJ would be allowed to demand that search engines, social networking sites and domain name services block access to the targeted site. It would also make unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted content a felony with a possible penalty up to five years in prison. This bill combines two separate Senate bills — S.968 (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-s968/show) and S.978 (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-s978/show) — into one big House bill”. (From LINK OpenCongress.org (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-h3261/show))

What’s So Scary about the bills

DoJ or the copyright owner would be allowed to demand that search engines, social networking sites and domain name services block access to the targeted site
- domain name services (DNS) record numbers. Tech Geek and More is known as 69.89.25.196 to the DNS services. Tech Geek and More is hosted on a shared service, which means that it is not the only website on that numeric sequence. As of this writing, there are more than 900 sites (of which there are only 2 other sites of the 900 that TGM has any involvement with) that are all hosted on that same numerical address. These bills do not say that they will contact the host about a site, they say that the DOJ will be “allowed to demand that search engines, social networking sites and domain name services block access to the targeted site”, which means without warning one day my site could go away simply as collateral damage without any notice. Even if my site had nothing to do with the offending site. Its not like that hasn’t happened before, (LINK) from Gizmodo (http://gizmodo NULL.com/5762161/feds-accidentally-shut-down-84000-websites-over-wrongful-kiddie-porn-accusation), a “crackdown by the Department of Homeland Security takes down 84,000 innocent websites”.
Another part of the bills, “In some cases, action could be taken to block sites without first allowing the alleged infringer to defend themselves in court”.
- Since when has it been ok to charged and NOT be allowed to defend ourselves. What happened to “Innocent until proven guilty”.
Lastly, these bills state that “The DoJ or the copyright owner would be able to commence a legal action against the alleged infringer”.
- The bills would grant private entities like the MPAA and the RIAA the right to blacklist a site.

What is Protect IP and SOPA Interview from Lockergnome (http://www NULL.youtube NULL.com/watch?v=VxPQ320jBLc&feature=youtu NULL.be&a)

The following video comes from Chris Pirillo of Lockergnome explaining how Protect IP and SOPA can affect everyone.

Brian Rowe and Marcus Barnes-Cannon w/Chris Pirillo discussing IP issues.

Where can you get more information about these 2 bills (LINKS)

100 Law Professors oppose Protect IP Act (http://freedomforip NULL.org/2011/07/06/100-law-professors-oppose-protect-ip-act/) – From Freedom for IP (Freedomforip.org)
Act Now : This Bill Seriously Screws with the Internet (http://www NULL.publicknowledge NULL.org/e-parasite-stop-online-piracy-act) (SOPA) – From Public Knowledge (Publicknowledge.org)
H.R.3261 – Stop Online Piracy Act (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-h3261/show) – From Open Congress (OpenCongress.org)
S.968 – PROTECT IP Act of 2011 (http://www NULL.opencongress NULL.org/bill/112-s968/show) – From Open Congress (OpenCongress.org)
Stop the Internet Blacklist Legislation (https://wfc2 NULL.wiredforchange NULL.com/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8173) – From the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF.org)
What is Protect IP and SOPA (http://www NULL.youtube NULL.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VxPQ320jBLc) (Video) – From Lockergnome (On YouTube)

Getting in touch with your Representatives in Congress

If you visit a site like (LINK) Project VoteSmart (http://votesmart NULL.org/) and enter your address on the top right,

you can get a list of information from the President to your local ballot measures.

If you click on the + next to Congressional (or whichever area interests you), you will get information like Office, First Election, Next Election, and Most Importantly Contact Information.

If you disagree with these bills and want to protect your freedom of speech, please contact your local Representatives in Congress and let them know that they need to vote against these bills if they want your vote in the next election.

Auction: Tech Geek and More on eBay – 5 Piece Wii Accessories Bundle / 5 in 1 Sports Kit

Another Tech Geek and More sale. This time we have the Wii Accessories Bundle / 5 in 1 Sports Kit listed on (LINK) eBay (http://cgi NULL.ebay NULL.com/ws/eBayISAPI NULL.dll?ViewItem&item=300623601360)

The item is new, but missing its exterior box. Wii Accessories Bundle 5 IN 1 Sports Kit includes the following items

Tennis Racket
Steering Wheel
Golf Club
Baseball Bat
Controller Handle

(Wii controller not included.)

Starting bid is $8, with the Buy It Now price set at $10. Bids will be taken until Nov. 18th or until someone uses the “Buy It Now”

You can find the item listing (link) here (http://cgi NULL.ebay NULL.com/ws/eBayISAPI NULL.dll?ViewItem&item=300623601360)

Facebook: Charge to format. Now able to select Sort type

Facebook has start rolling out another change to the layout. For once, Facebook is listening to complaints and bring back the option of being able to sort your FB posts by “Recent Stories First”. Ever since the last change in layout that took away that feature for the “Highlighted Stories” format (where FB shows you what it thinks you want to see on top), the number 1 grip has been wanting to get the sort back.

If you look on the top right, just above your News Feed posts, you will see a (small) message that says “SORT: HIGHLIGHTED STORIES FIRST”. If you click there you will see a choice for either recent stores or highlighted stories. So those who like the new sort format, you aren’t loosing your choice. (This is what FB should have done from the start).

So what do the choices really mean?

Highlighted Stories First:

Highlighted stories you haven’t seen yet will appear at the top of your News Feed. (If you don’t see highlighted stories, it’s because there aren’t any new highlighted stories since your last visit.)

If you have the choice on your page yet, keep checking as it seems this is being rolled out in parts to users.

Apple: If you have an iPod Nano (1st Generation) you may qualify for a replacement from Apple. (Due to exploding battery issue)

Over the years there has been numerous reports of iPod’s unexpectedly exploding (Not that one should ever expect their iPod to explode). Here are just a few of the online stories about the iPod exploding issue (LINKS)

2007 – iPod sets mans pants on fire (From WSB-TV / Atlanta) (http://www NULL.wsbtv NULL.com/news/news/ipod-sets-mans-pants-on-fire/nFDP9/)

2009 – Apple tries to silence man and his daughter over exploding iPod (From Daily Telegraph / UK) (http://www NULL.telegraph NULL.co NULL.uk/technology/apple/5963015/Apple-tries-to-silence-man-and-his-daughter-over-exploding-iPod NULL.html)

2009 – Exploded iPod video (From YouTube) (http://www NULL.youtube NULL.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gqTDUjbHueE)

2009 – Exploding iPod sets kids pants on fire (From Engadget) (http://www NULL.engadget NULL.com/2009/03/13/exploding-ipod-touch-sets-kids-pants-on-fire-melts-his-underwe/)

In some countries, Apple has acknowledged that there is an issue with the iPods battery. Apple started offering replacements in Japan last year, as well as in South Korea over two years ago. Apple has finally made the replacement program global. In an announcement on the (LINK) Apple support site (http://www NULL.apple NULL.com/support/ipodnano_replacement/),

Per Apple, “Apple has determined that, in very rare cases, the battery in the iPod nano (1st generation) may overheat and pose a safety risk. Affected iPod nanos were sold between September 2005 and December 2006.”

“This issue has been traced to a single battery supplier that produced batteries with a manufacturing defect. While the possibility of an incident is rare, the likelihood increases as the battery ages.”

“Apple recommends that you stop using your iPod nano (1st gen) and follow the process noted below to order a replacement unit, free of charge.

Note: This battery issue is specific to the iPod nano (1st gen) and does not affect any other iPod.”

Some key notes

You may order a replacement unit via the web. Click here (https://supportform NULL.apple NULL.com/201110/) to begin.
Your iPod Nano serial number will be checked to verify that it is eligible for this program. You will receive a replacement unit approximately 6 weeks after we receive your current iPod nano (1st gen).
If you have a personalized iPod nano, you will receive a non-personalized replacement. Make sure to use iTunes to back up any data on your current iPod nano before sending it in for a replacement unit. \
Your replacement iPod product is warranted to be free from defects for 90 days from the date of service.

You can see the complete iPod Message on the (LINK) Apple site (http://www NULL.apple NULL.com/support/ipodnano_replacement/)

Tech Geek and More

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