Info Tech for Non-Profits

OBS virtual camera plug-ins for both Mac and Windows

In this new era where work from home and daily video conferencing is the norm, it's worthwhile investing a bit of extra time and effort to improve the video experience.

OBS Studio is a fantastic free, open-source app for mixing video on your computer. And with these plug-ins that let you route the output for OBS into nearly any video conferencing app (Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams…).

I set up a green screen and some lights and use that to put in an appropriate background for my video calls. I also picked up the OBS iPhone camera app, and for $16 it's a fantastic way to get a high quality video signal into your computer.

Mac—Virtual Camera plug-in for OBS Studio

Windows—Virtual Camera plug-in for OBS Studio

Google Chrome Canary for video webcasts like Zoom, Skype, and Hangouts

I use Google Chrome as my primary browser (and you should too!). But I've also installed a lot of extension and tweaked a lot of settings so that sometimes things just don't work for me. I've been running into this lately with all the video conferencing I've been doing (what with the lockdown due to a global pandemic).

I know I can just create another profile in Chrome and use that, but I actually like having a separate dedicated app that I use for video conferencing that I can switch to/from using my OS app switcher.

I solved this by installing Google Chrome Canary. It's the cutting edge development build, so there is some risk that it might be more unstable than Chrome itself. But I've not had issues with that thus far.

AVG anti-virus the best free version for Mac OS (and a solid option for PC too)

4 years ago I recommended AVG for Mac anti-virus, and I am renewing that recommendation today. AV-Test—the source I trust for anti-virus software evaluations—gives them a perfect rating (as they do with 75% of the tools they tested). Digging into the details, AVG has minimal impact on performance, and best of all has a free version.

Of the paid options, I'd recommend Norton first and then Bitdefender. They impact system performance the least. I can't recommend Avast anymore as they have been caught selling user data and are now under investigation for it.

To make things easier, I recommend going with the same brand for PC, especially since AVG is a solid option. It's performance isn’t great, so I don't blame you if you want to choose a different one that has less performance impact, like Norton, BitDefender, or BullGuard. But it doesn't look like any of the free options fall into that category. 

Download AVG AntiVirus for Mac Download AVG AntiVirus for Windows

Can't sign into airport, hotel, or cafe WiFi? Solved by going to neverSSL.com

If you end up with a page that is stuck or endlessly trying to load when logging onto a WiFi network while traveling, it very well might be because of the way Internet security works these days. By going to http://neverssl.com, your browser can immediately connect without getting stuck on blocked security requests. If it sounds a bit sketchy, go ahead and read the text on the page itself. It sure beats the alternative.

How to add a link to an image in Gmail (workaround for broken button dialog)

I just created an email with some images that I wanted to be clickable links. Maybe it's me or some weird extension conflict in my browser, but I couldn't get it to work. If I just select the image and clicked the link button (or Ctrl+K), either the selection would go away, or the link dialog would come up, but wouldn't work.

I figured out a workaround. Add text to either side of the image (I used a space on both sides), then select the text plus the image. You can then link that whole selection to a URL. Then afterwards, delete the linked text (spaces) from either side of the image and you are left with just a linked image.

Rugged tablet recommendations for field work: get a standard consumer tablet and “ruggedize” it

All of the wildlife conservation non-profits I support do extensive work in the field, whether it is working with the community or doing research. Standard consumer electronics don't stand up well to the harsh conditions. But rugged versions design for military or mining are too expensive for the budgets of these orgs.

As a compromise, I recommend getting a solid consumer tablet which you can then “ruggedize” with a case, screen protector, or even an underwater case. That plus one or more power banks will be cheaper than a specially designed rugged version. Use the extra money you save to get a backup tablet and swap out the case/protective gear if it fails.

Also as a reminder, the best way to get a decent deal on tablets (or anything really) is use Amazon Warehouse Deals or Blinq to buy open box returns. And get an Amazon Prime credit card for an additional 5% cash back on your purchases.

Use emoji in your GSuite YAMM messages by setting up send as account in your personal Gmail account

I just started using YAMM with one of the nonprofits I support. We wanted to use emoji in the subject line to help increase open rates. Unfortunately YAMM with GSuite accounts only support a very limited set of emoji 😞

But I found a workaround: add your org’s GSuite address as a send account in your personal Gmail account. Ironically, you will need to enable less secure apps for your GSuite account in order for this to work. And that isn't possible if you have 2-factor authentication turned on. So that's annoying.

Also, you will need a license of YAMM on your personal Gmail account. The one on your corporate account won’t work.

But if you do get it working, here's a tip for including emoji in your subject line: create a stand-alone text subject and add the emoji to either the beginning or end (or both!) as decorations. That way if a recipient can’t see the emoji, they can at least read and understand the subject; but there might be boxes or ? in place of the emoji, so decide if that experience is ok for those recipients.

LinkedIn now offering free community meeting space in the San Francisco Bay Area for nonprofits

LinkedIn offering free space to Bay Area nonprofits. LinkedIn's community center, InCommon, is on the ground floor of its San Francisco building. LinkedIn is introducing InCommon, a 1,400-square-foot space in its downtown San Francisco building available free of charge to nonprofits, on Tuesday.

Unfortunately that’s all of the article I can see because it is quite ironically sequestered behind a paywall. So I won’t even bother linking to the offending site.

I’m reaching out to InCommon@linkedin.com (you can too for more details) and will post more when I hear back.

Gaming PC build: MSI B350 motherboard no display and ASUS PCE-AC51 WiFi card not detected—SOLVED

I recently helped a neighbor build out a custom gaming PC. After putting it all together, it initially wouldn't even power up. Chalk up a bad power supply for that. Once replaced though, the computer still wasn't showing anything on the display, despite all of the components hooked up and getting power. All of the debug LED lights on the motherboard were coming on and going out as expected.

So I finally used a jumper to clear the CMOS and that fixed it. The boot screen came up as expected.

I should note that one thing that initially threw me for a loop was that this particular motherboard—and many motherboards these days—do not have onboard graphics. So despite having video out connectors on the motherboard, you need a graphics card installed in order to get any video signal at all. At one point I had pulled all of the cards out of the case to try to isolate the problem.

Once I got Windows 10 installed, I had another problem with the WiFi card. Despite installing the latest drivers, it was not showing up at all in the Device Manager. I had to flash update the BIOS and also change the PCIe bus from 16x to 4x-4x-4x-4x. Hope this helps someone else.

Vizio TV picture keeps dimming and brightening on its own (solved, fixed)

I was trying to watch TV last night and during the show—sometimes in the span of only a few seconds—the picture brightness would dim and then brighten on its own. I dug around in the settings, searched the web, and finally figured it out.

On my TV—Vizio D32-D1—the setting is: Menu > Picture > More Picture > Backlight Control. Set Backlight Control to Off. There’s also Menu > Picture > Auto Brightness Control which I switch off as well for good measure.

I’m sure there are similar settings on other Vizio models, or even other brands of TV. Look for a setting named Ambient Light Sensor, Smart Dimming, Zone Dimming, or something along those lines.

Responsive YouTube and Vimeo video embeds (and Google Maps too!)

Fixed width media should never be in your email/web content. I previously blogged about responsive images, and here is a technique for embedding responsive videos, and even more content including a generic frame which could contain anything.

Just go to Embed Responsively and paste in the URL to the content you want to embed. It will generate the HTML source code that you can simply copy and paste into your content. Easy!

Solved: Mac Photos app "cannot open migrated library" or "library cannot be opened" or "quit unexpectedly" errors fixed

A friend and colleague who uses a Mac just had problems with his Mac Photos app library. First, it's frustrating in this day and age that software still can't be more resilient against such corruption. But I digress.

First thing to try: hold down command and option while launching Photos. This brings up the photo library repair tool, which should handle most issues.

Of course if that doesn't work, you're going to have to recover the photos manually and start over with a brand new library. (Sorry 😞) To recover the photos from your library:

1. Quit Photos if it is running
2. Make a current backup so you can recover to this state should anything go awry
3. Go to the Pictures folder in your Home folder. (Click Go -> Home in the Finder menu, then open Pictures)
4. Right click on the Photos Library and click Show Package Contents
5. Copy the Masters folder out to a safe location (an external hard drive if you don't have space on your built in storage)
6. You may need to repeat steps 3–5 for the iPhoto Library if you have one as well; that will contain any older photos from before the Photos app existed
7. Delete the Library (or Libraries) 
8. Launch Photos
9. Drag the Masters folder into Photos to import the photos back in

And whatever you do, don't go deleting any old iPhoto library on your system. As a part of the migration from iPhoto to Photos app, the developers chose to simply link to the photos already in the old library while adding photos to a new Photos Library. Super confusing, I know. But if you do delete the old library, you will lose those old photos.

Convert HEIC to JPEG on Mac

HEIC is definitely a more efficient format for photos (and this is how the iPhone stores them now), but not all systems support it. I've found the quickest and easiest way to convert HEIC to JPEG on Mac is to create a droplet app using Automator.

1. Open Automator
2. Create a new Application
3. Search for "change type"
4. Drag the item for change type of images over to the workflow section on the right
   (if there is more than one, drag the one with the Preview icon over)
5. Save
6. Name it whatever you want like HEIC to JPEG

You might want to drag it into your Dock for easy access. Now just drag any number of HEIC images over onto the icon and they will be converted to JPEG.

I recommend using both Review Meta and FakeSpot; both have Chrome browser extensions

I previously recommended FakeSpot, then switched to Review Meta. Now that both have Chrome browser extensions, I recommend using both. I find it especially helpful when shopping for third party refills for name-brand items: printer ink, replacement air filters, and replacement parts for vacuum and mopping robots (of which I am now a huge fan 😀)

Apple will fix faulty keyboards that repeat key presses on their MacBook laptops

I have this problem on my MacBook Pro, so I suspect some of you might have the same issue as well.

https://www.apple.com/support/keyboard-service-program-for-mac-notebooks/

3rd party iPhone screen replacement—you get what you pay for

These days given how pervasive smartphone usage is, it’s inevitable that at some point you—or someone you know—is going to crack a screen and need to have it replaced. It happened to me recently with my iPhone 8; and it was my 3rd in the 10+ years I’ve owned an iPhone.

For the iPhone 8, the official Apple price is $150. I found 3rd party repair shops (via Yelp) who will install an Apple OEM screen for $120. I ended up going with with a third party screen for $80.

You get what you pay for. The colors are definitely less saturated than on the OEM screen. I noticed it immediately when I picked up my phone and tested it at the repair shop. It’s almost as if I have a security screen protector on it that prevents people from seeing the screen when looking at it obliquely from thee side. I also noticed after a few days that the battery was draining faster with the 3rd party screen than it did with the original one.

Also the 3D Touch feature no longer worked for me. Thankfully the guys at the shop were cool about it. They tried to repair it and when that didn’t work, they offered to install a proper Apple OEM screen for me. (I half suspect these 3rd party screens don’t even support 3D Touch and most people who get the cheap repair done either don’t notice or don’t care.)

Bottom line: if I had to do it over again I’d definitely pay the extra money go with an OEM screen replacement. I look at this screen for several hours every day and it's worth it not to have that nagging feeling in the back of my head always that the display isn't as bright, sharp and saturated as it could be.

I’m pretty sure the 3rd party shop installation will work as well as the Apple Store, so it is possible to save a bit of money on the labor. But I think next time around I’ll go for the AppleCare. If nothing else, you can always turn in the phone near the end of the 2 year coverage and for $30 you can get a a new screen and battery.

Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo is a solid budget international smartphone

I bought 6 of the Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo for one of my conservation partners who works in Africa last fall, and he just put in a second order for another 6. That’s a solid endorsement, so I’d recommend it to others looking for a budget international smartphone. (Here’s the case I ordered for them as well.)  It also comes in black, or for a little bit more money you can upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy J8.

 

Water purification packets from Procter & Gamble (P&G) are simply amazing

Watch this first:

Pretty amazing, right? I saw a demo of this at a community event I attended in Westgate, Kenya last year. And I realize something like this doesn't directly aid in wildlife conservation. But if conservation orgs provide resources such as clean water to the community with the understanding that they will in turn help with the org’s conservation mission, I believe that is the best way forward for long-term, sustainable community-based conservation.

When low-tech wildlife conservation solutions actually beat out high-tech

I just started a thread on the WildLabs forum about when low-tech solutions outperform high-tech alternatives. I mention the practice of painting eyes on the rumps of cattle to trick predators into thinking the animal is looking at them (although I can't readily find any follow up data on how well that is performing). And there is livestock guard animals—such as The Livestock Guard Dog program at Cheetah Conservation Botswana which is one of their most cost-effective tools to aid in cheetah (and other predator) conservation.

Do you have others that come to mind? Join the conversation on WildLabs!

Fix for ASUS laptop that no longer works on battery power: uninstall Windows drivers and remove AND re-seat battery

So this was annoying: an ASUS laptop that I procured for a nonprofit stopped working on battery power. Previously we solved it by simply uninstalling all the drivers under Batteries in the Windows Device Manager (as outlined in this article). But this time that didn't work. I actually had to crack open the laptop itself, pull out the battery, and then reseat it.

Even more annoying is that the ribbon connector for the track bad is very finicky, so getting it reseated so that the trackpad still works proved to be as much of a hassle as reseting the laptop’s power management system.

John Wesley Hyatt and Michael Phelan, two unsung heroes in elephant conservation who helped reduce the ivory trade

I just recently learned the story of John Wesley Hyatt, an American engineer and inventor who is credited with creating the first true commercially viable plastic: celluloid. He was inspired to do so by Michael Phelan, an Irish immigrant who became “the father of American billiards”.  Mr. Phelan created a $10,000 prize awarded to whomever could come up with a replacement for ivory for billiard balls. (This also is a great example of the power of an inducement prize contest.)

While Mr. Hyatt’s invention didn’t have the desired properties to replace ivory in billiard balls, it did kick off the age of plastics. And it found a use in places where ivory had also typically been used previously: combs, buttons, collars and other fashion products. And it led other inventors to experiment with plastic materials, including Leo Baekeland who developed Bakelite in 1907, which was a superior material (cheaper, more consistent, and higher quality) and finally supplanted ivory as the preferred material in billiard balls.

A promotional pamphlet for the new material by the Albany Billiard Ball Company proclaimed (and rightfully so), “As petroleum came to the relief of the whale, so too has celluloid given the elephant, the tortoise, and the coral insect a respite in their native haunts; and it will no longer be necessary to ransack the earth in pursuit of substances which are constantly growing scarcer.”

Updating a Windows 10 PC using the Update Assistant and the Media Creation Tool

So the Windows 10 built in software update seems to do well getting smaller updates, but it doesn't always pull down and install the big ones (like the most recent Windows 181o update from October 2018. Hence the numbering scheme they use.)

What you'll want to do is download the Windows 10 Update Assistant. That tool will force the latest big version of Windows to be downloaded and then installed on your PC.

If you are going into a place where there isn't fast internet, or if you just have several PCs you need to update, I recommend creating a USB installer using the Windows Media Creation Tool, which is available on Microsoft's Windows 10 disc image (ISO) download page.

Finally I encourage you to go into the installed apps page in Settings and uninstall pretty much all of the junk that you can from there. Both Windows and the PC manufacturer have put a lot of crap on the computer by default (OneDrive, games, bloatware from the manufacturer etc). The only thing I strongly encourage you not to remove is any WiFi/wireless driver you see in the list. Anything else is ok to uninstall as the computer will reinstall it if it is truly necessary for your computer.

Conditioned Taste Aversion to dissuade wild carnivores from killing livestock

OK, I know this is pretty far afield from IT, but it does qualify as technology that can seriously help wildlife conservation groups out there.

One common scenario in human-wildlife conflict (HWC) ocurs in livestock-herding communities living at the edges or even amongst wild carnivore ranges. If the livestock are not managed well, wild carnivores can take advantage of an easy meal of a domesticated goat, sheep, or even calf. Sometimes it's just a one-time act of convenience; after all, wild carnivores do have a preference for the taste of their particular prey animal. But sometimes the wild carnivore can get in the habit of taking livestock. Once this happens, options are limited. Relocation isn't that effective: 50% success at best. And of course sometimes the community will take things into their own hands and kill the predators.

But another solution is conditioned taste aversion. It involves chasing the predator(s) off the animal they killed and lacing the carcass with a compound such as thiabendazole, levamisole, or lithium chloride. If the predator comes back to eat the animal, the compound will make them nauseous and immediately condition them to avoid that particular animal in the future. 

RSS feed for Wildlife Conservation Network is https://wildnet.org/feed/

Wildlife Conservation Network—my previous non-profit employer—updated their web site last year. I only just noticed that they also changed the URL for their RSS news feed. Now I realize I’m one of less than a dozen people who probably still use a news reader to consume WCN news, but just in case anyone is searching the web for this info, the new URL is:

https://wildnet.org/feed/

Giving Assistant allows online shoppers to generate funds for your non-profit

A friend of mine who is on the board of The Greater Sum recommends Giving Assistant over Amazon Smile. It works with thousands of online stores including eBay, Macys, and Home Depot, and it generates on average about 3% (vs ½% for Amazon Smile). Granted, ½% is better than nothing so I don't see a reason to give up Amazon Smile. But definitely get your most passionate supporters to sign up for Giving Assistant. The downside is that it requires all ad blockers be disabled. 😕

Check it out!

Cash back from Amazon: Smile vs. affiliate links

Amazon Smile is a program that allows Amazon shoppers to designate a certain 501(c)(3) non-profit and have ½% of their purchases go to that org. It’s certainly a nice sentiment, but there are a few things wrong with it:

1. People need to remember to go to smile.amazon.com in order for it to work. If they forget and order on the regular Amazon site, the non-profit won't get the money.
2. They only pay out ½% to non-profits vs. ~4–6% for affiliates.
3. Amazon is the entity making the donation, so they get the tax credit for it and the non-profit only sees Amazon as the donor. No matter how much a particular person generates through Smile, the non-profit will never know their name or magnitude of their contribution.

The savvy non-profit is a member of the Amazon Affiliate program, and they encourage their supporters to use their affiliate ID rather than Smile. It will generate nearly 10✕ the money for your org.

To be sure that every single order they make benefits you, you should create a help page that shows them exactly how to install an Amazon affiliate extension for their browser (like these for Google Chrome, Firefox and Safari) and add your org’s affiliate code.

Update: I’ve learned that if Amazon feels you are earning "too much" from your affiliate link, or if you are marketing it too heavily, Amazon can cancel your affiliate account. Best bet is to judiciously reach out to a few donors and get them to use your affiliate link, but for the masses push the Smile program. 

Also, don't forget that you can get 5% back for your org by getting a Prime credit card.

Inyenyeri, the clean-burning cooking stove that aims to replace charcoal and firewood

Many have tried to fix the problem of dirty, unhealthy, and unsustainable cooking fires used by so many people around the world. This article does a good job of summarizing the efforts to date as either too expensive to be sustainable, or too cheap to be reliable.

Inyenyeri—a company in Rwanda—is trying to change that by moving to the razor/blades model of giving away a high-quality stove (the mimi moto) and charging for the fuel it burns. It's a much better model for their market as it requires no large initial capital expenditure to get started. And they even have a firewood trade-in program, and the wood they receive can then be turned into pellets that burn with 2–3✕ efficiency compared to firewood.

There are still growing pains, the biggest of which is getting a large, reliable supply chain going for the pellets. I hope they have enough capital runway to get there. I'd love to seem them succeed in Rwanda so they can expand to other countries. 

Alternative livelihoods for indigenous people to help support local conservation efforts

Most of the community-based conservation orgs I help out have some sort of alternative livelihood program to help establish businesses that bring money into the community that don't involve exploiting the local environment or wildlife.

The most obvious one is by hiring them as staff to help with the project. Every single person earning a salary helps support a whole family of people in that area, so the effect of simply employing local works is amplified.

Another common program is arts and crafts like the felti figures/ornaments for spectacled bears, the snare wire sculptures for painted dogs, or the Eco-Mochila bags for cotton-top tamarins. Or more simply just selling traditional arts and artifacts from the region.

Participating in tourism is also another option, whether as a guide, helping to run a lodge or other tourist establishment, or through performance of traditional music or dance.

One idea I just had after reviewing my photos I took with the San bushmen of the Kalahari in Botswana: life coach. I actually took a course several years back on posture and movement that is based on the fact that we spend so much time sitting, lying, slouching, leaning etc that we have essentially forgotten how to do it the way our bodies were designed. It's one thing to have Westerners who learn these techies teach them. But it might be even more impactful if people who actually spend their whole lives doing it the proper way do it. Plus since there really isn't any cost of goods, there would be higher margins. I also think there are opportunities to teach being present and mindful and connecting meaningfully and emotionally with others.

Of course there are challenges, not the least of which is connecting the people with a customer base. But maybe these could even be online courses.

I'm just brainstorming here, and haven't thought the details through. But having recently done a lot of personal explorations on true happiness, fulfillment and healthy living, I do believe that these indigenous people have a lot to teach us that we have forgotten over the generations after we began large scale agriculture, had the industrial revolution and just generally created a society quite different than the one our relatively ancestors lived in.

Amazon price tracker CamelCamelCamel will alert you to sales and price drops of desired items

A couple of years ago I wrote a long, detailed post about procurement in general. I want to highlight one tool here, because it definitely can and will save you money. The strangely-named but very useful price tracker site CamelCamelCamel. If there is any particular thing you buy with regularity, or even just have your eye on and don't need immediately but wouldn't mind picking up on sale, these are all great candidates for setting up a price tracker.

Personally I've used it successfully for shoes (I go through a pair of volleyball shoes every year, and dress shoes every 2–3). I also use it for dog food. The 28 lb bag I get for my dog is normally $52, but it drops below $45 on occasion.

I also picked up an Oontz bluetooth speaker and a Pelican high-efficiency cooler for ~30–40% off each by setting up price alerts and then buying then when they were on sale via Amazon’s Gold Box / Deal of the Day.

CamelCamelCamel Amazon price drop alerts

Make sure your showerhead has silicone rubber self-cleaning nozzles

OK, I realize this is a weird post for an IT blog. But I support wildlife conservationists who work in very remote areas. The water they use is from boreholes or wells and the quality of the water is, well, whatever it is. As long as it's not noxious, they will use it untreated. And more likely than not, the water is hard.

Hard water contains dissolved minerals (usually calcium or magnesium carbonate). Whenever the water is used (bathroom, kitchen, wherever), water droplets are invariably left behind. And when they evaporate the minerals that were in them remain.

Showerhead nozzles are usually fine enough that they will become restricted or clog after only a few weeks of use. You can dissolve the minerals with vinegar. But it is much easier to have the flexible silicone rubber nozzles that can simply be wiggled back and forth to break off any build up.

It looks like most of the top-rated showerheads at Amazon qualify. But if you are buying elsewhere, be sure this is one of the features! It will make your life (or the life of whomever is cleaning the shower) much easier!

Get silicone nozzle showerheads from Amazon

In some extreme cases you may want to get silicone rubber nozzles for your kitchen and bathroom sinks too.

Scott's Cheap Flights now tracks a ton of international departure airports, including Africa

Most of the wildlife conservationists I work with are based internationally, and the majority of them are in Africa. I have previously recommended Scott's Cheap Flights as a way to save some serious money on airfares (especially if you can be flexible with the dates). Just within the last couple of weeks they added departure cities from most of the bigger cities in Africa including Johannesburg, Nairobi, Gaborone, and Windhoek. I have the premium subscription, and I am tracking the cities where I know people who use them as departure points. At only $40/year, I do recommend that any org sign up for the premium subscription. Even if you only use it once  year, it will more than pay for itself.

Scott's Cheap Flights

Forwarding email tip: always be sure to delete the "manage your account" and "unsubscribe" links at the bottom

I often forward on emails such as Google Alerts or newsletters. But a problem with this is many senders try to make things easier for you, so they have one-click unsubscribe links, or auto-sign-in links for managing your account. This is great for the primary recipient, but can result in serious trouble should a forwardee decide to click one of those links. (And I'm sure it's not with malicious intent. It's easy for someone to get confused by such links in a forwarded email and think they apply to you and not the original recipient.)

So before hitting send, I make a point of always scrolling down to the footer of the message and deleting any manage and unsubscribe links there to avoid any inadvertent settings changes.

I learned this the hard way with Google Alerts, where a forwardee ended up unsubscribing me from my own alert. 😛

5% cash back with Amazon Prime Rewards credit card

Like a lot of non-profits, the ones I support order many things through Amazon. If your have Amazon Prime (and you probably should if you are ordering more than a few items per year) then you should absolutely get the Amazon Prime Rewards credit card.

This card gives you 5% back on all purchases you make at Amazon or Whole Foods. And if you are buying a lot of gear through them, it adds up. For example a solid $1000 laptop will net you $20 back. Most cash back credit cards are 1–2%, so it’s worth it to have this card, even if you only use it at Amazon and Whole Foods.

Note: Be sure to get the Prime Rewards card. A friend of mine—who was also a Prime member—had only the standard rewards card and so was getting only 3% back.

Apply for an Amazon Prime Rewards credit card

Extend your wifi to a large area with an outdoor access point

I just visited my friend Jen who owns a horse ranch in Washington state. She has 15 acres including the main house, horse barn, lower barn, extra auxiliary barn, workshop, tack room, arena, back cottage… you get the idea. She was just using the default wifi router that her ISP had provided, which only reached about 3 feet into the horse barn (the closest building to the house). And of course cell coverage is spotty there.

I did a bit of research and then purchased a TP Link directional outdoor wifi access point plus 100' of weatherproof ethernet cable. I was hoping to set it up as a wifi repeater, but since I couldn't get admin access to the DHCP server, I just gave it a static IP and set it up as a separate access point. It's a bit more hassle since people will have to join both networks separately. Warning: you will have to have access to a computer with an ethernet port to do the initial setup. We had to dig up an old-school MacBook Pro from 10 years ago since I forgot my ethernet adapter at home.

But boy does it work great! When I ran the first test by simply placing it facing out a first floor window, it easily reached over 100m down to the workshop and arena. Mounted outdoors and on the second story, I'm sure it will reach twice as far covering that whole side of the property. For less than $100, this setup is a super cost-effective way to extend wifi. You could get an omni-directional one, but the range will be reduced. It might even be better for some applications to simply get two of these and point them in different directions.

Endless Computers grant opportunity—up to 30 computers for non-profits

Endless OS makes an inexpensive Linux computer targeted at families and education. If you have an education program where you do computer-based learning, this might be a great opportunity to outfit your classroom with their hardware.

Apply for an Endless Computers grant

Disclaimer: I have no firsthand knowledge of Endless OS or their computers, so I can't say how well they would work.

ReviewMeta is my new go-to service for checking Amazon products for fake reviews (was FakeSpot)

I used to use FakeSpot to check Amazon products for fake reviews, and it's still a solid service that I recommend. However I like ReviewMeta. It looks like a more transparent system to me and I think they have been doing it longer, so I feel like I can trust them a bit more.

But the primary reason is because they have a Chrome browser extension. It makes it so much easier to check the corrected review score (which shows up on the extension button) or to generate a score for products not previously analyzed (just click the button).

YouTube video downloader Y2mate works for audio/music files too

I previously blogged about a site for downloading videos from YouTube for offline viewing, which is essential for embedding in a presentation. (Never ever rely on the internet for critical pieces your presentation.) That site no longer works, but after a brief search I found one that does.

Y2mate.com YouTube video/music downloader

Prevent Windows 10 system updates from eating up all of your data (Internet network bandwidth issue)

If you live and work in a place where you don't have unlimited data, Windows 10 is problematic. It is always downloading massive updating in the background. Even worse it downloads the same updates for each computer on the network, eating up even more bandwidth.

But there is a solution. First, make sure all of your Windows 10 computers are set to share updates with other computers on the network. I believe the current versions of Windows 10 have this turned on by default, but you should definitely go verify for each.

Second—and most importantly—tell Windows that you are on a metered connection. This will prevent the computer from downloading updates from the internet, and instead they will look for the updates only on the local network.

Someone really needs to create a router/gateway that will itself download the updates and then serve them to the computers on the network behind it. If something like that exists, please leave a comment. Thanks!

$100–$200 Windows laptop for running backups

If you are looking for an inexpensive Windows 10 laptop you can use as a dedicated backup computer (as I mentioned in my previous post regarding a cheap, reliable backup system) then check out the open box and refurbished ones available on Blinq.

$100–$200 laptop deals at Blinq

In this price range, you are likely to get 4GB of RAM and 32GB of flash storage. So be sure to get a 32GB USB 3.1 flash drive (or bigger) to supplement the meager internal storage. It will be necessary to install some of the larger Windows updates.

And if you want a laptop with better specs that can be used as an everyday computer by someone, look for something in the $300 range with 8GB of RAM and 1TB hard drive (like this ASUS).

If you are putting together a backup system, you can get a discount on 4TB portable hard drives too if you shop Amazon Warehouse for returned items. I just picked up a couple WD one for $85. So total cost of a 4TB redundant backup system is less than $300; not bad.

Note: I updated this post that was originally about a specific deal on a specific laptop to be more generic and therefore more valuable going forward.

The best cost-effective, reliable and resilient 3-2-1 backup system

Here’s all the gear you need:

• An inexpensive Windows laptop (ideally with an Ethernet port and 64GB internal storage) such as an ASUS E402 or a HP Stream (~$200–300)
• A USB flash drive if the laptop internal storage is small (~$20)
• 2 ✕ 4TB portable USB external hard drives (~$100 each)
• Resilio Sync app (free!)
• Optional: A fireproof safe to securely store the inactive backup drive (~$50+)

How to set it up

To keep this article relatively short, I'm going to leave out some of the details. 

Configure the backup laptop

First do the basic configuration for the Windows OS on the backup laptop. This involves uninstalling all of the bloatware that comes with it (pretty much anything that can be uninstalled should be, aside from required device drivers such as those from RealTek or Intel), and applying all of the latest system updates. I also advise you compress the internal hard drive, remove older versions of the system files, and use the USB flash drive as additional storage when applying system updates. While you are at it, install Resilio Sync on the backup laptop. I do not recommend installing any other 3rd party software, even things like Chrome or 7-Zip. Keep the system completely bare bones for simplicity.

Configure each computer that needs to be backed up

For each of the computers that you want to back up, install Resilio Sync and then add the folders you want backed up to Resilio. I recommend the 3 Ds: Documents, Desktop and Downloads. If you keep specialized files elsewhere (photos, videos, music, fonts etc.), be sure to add those folders as well. As you do this, copy the key (I use the read only key to prevent accidental modifications or overwrites. You may also want to use an encrypted key for security.) for each folder and paste it into a text document. Label each key with the computer/user name and the folder name. I save this document out to a file on a USB drive and take the drive with me to each computer I'm working on, but it could also be stored in a secure cloud service like LastPass or Google Drive.

Link the org computers to the backup laptop

Once you are done setting up Resilio Sync on each of the org's computers and you have a key for every folder on every computer you want backed up, it's time to link them to the backup laptop. On the backup laptop, format both portable external drives to ExFAT. I named them 4TB backup #1 and 4TB backup #2. Create a folder structure that will organize your backups. I recommend a top level folder for each computer, and inside a folder for each folder that is being backed up in Resilio Sync.

In Resilio Sync on the backup laptop, click + and choose Enter key or link. Paste in the key for each folder and link it to the appropriate folder on the portable external drive. It might take a bit of time for the folder and file structure to be read in and indexed by Resilio Sync, but after that the sync should start. If you can, plug one or both computers into the Ethernet network. This isn't essential but I find it tends to make things go a lot more quickly.

Once the first drive has finished syncing, quit Resilio Sync on the backup laptop, safely eject the external hard drive, and then plug in the second one. You may need to use the Disk Manager to remap it to the same drive letter as the first drive (usually D:). Now start Resilio Sync and let it do its thing once again on the second drive. In the meantime, take the first drive and put it somewhere safe. Ideally off-site (the further removed geographically the better, but keeping in mind you should be swapping the drives every week or so) or in a fireproof and waterproof safe locally.

Restore from the back up

Definitely check to make sure you can restore from the backup before you actually need to. One of the great things about Resilio Sync is that it stores the backup in the same file structure as the original files. You can just browse through the folders and files and open a few select ones to ensure everything looks good.

The other thing that is great about Resilio Sync is that it keeps a 30 day archive of older versions of files. So if there is an accidental delete or modification of a file, you can right-click the folder in Resilio sync, open the archive, and pull out an older version of the file from there.

My personal backup laptop with one of the backup drives mounted to the back using 3M dual lock fastener tape

Reasoning behind this setup

I've been helping nonprofits with IT for almost 5 years now, and I've tried a bunch of different systems. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, I think this works best for a lot of SOHO (small office/home office) orgs, and especially those where cloud isn't a viable option (where cheap and fast internet is not available).

You always have to worry about power outages. I have previously used a dedicated UPS. But having a laptop and USB bus-powered hard drives obviates the need for this extra item, and keeps things simpler.

Resilio Sync is hands down the best backup app I've found. I used to recommend CrashPlan, and it's still a good app. But I like Resilio because it backs up continuously and you can easily add other devices to create even more redundancy if you wish. It has the  archive feature for accessing older versions. And most importantly it keeps it's files in a readable form so even if you lose both the original computer and the backup computer completely, as long as you have one of the backup drives, it's easy to get back up and running.

Definitely let me know if you end up doing this and what your experience is with it.

My personal backup laptop running Resilio Sync to keep my MacBook Pro backed up

Extend a weak WiFi to your mobile phone using macOS Internet Sharing

I'm currently staying at place that has a central WiFi access point at the main building, and my room is the furthest. I can get reasonable signal on my laptop, but my phone—which has a weaker antenna—cannot reliably sustain a connection.

My solution is to use the Internet Sharing feature in macOS to use my laptop as a bridge between the WiFi and my phone.

1. Connect your phone to your laptop using a lightning USB cable
2. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to bring up the Control Center
3. Turn off WiFi and the mobile data network
4. Open System Preferences in the Apple menu.
5. Click Sharing
6. Check Internet Sharing
7. Check iPhone USB

1. 

Images of wild animals in marketing leads people to believe those animals are thriving in nature

I thought this was an insightful and super important message when it comes to helping save wild animals.

[Marketers have] created highly visible “virtual populations” of these [threatened] animals, which had led us to believe the animals were much more common than they actually are.

Because of this misperception, there is less urgent public pressure to conserve these animals…

[C]ompanies should compensate for this by paying money towards wildlife conservation when they use images of endangered species to promote their brands.

On eBay, beware of “Seller Refurbished”; you want “Manufacturer Refurbished”

Refurbished items are a great way to get a discount on something that will look and work like brand new. It makes a lot of sense for gear I buy that will be used overseas. A longer warranty doesn't make sense if there's not a convenient way to get the item back to the US for repairs. And we nearly always unbox items for travel to save on space, so the packaging is irrelevant.

I do a lot of shopping on eBay, if only to get an idea of the market. eBay’s size and low overheads for sellers make it a great resource for finding out how much things are really worth (at least for things with reasonable liquidity). Check a Flip (which uses eBay current and historical prices) is a fantastic resource for getting a rough average of a particular item. Be sure to weed out broken items sold for parts, or actual replacement parts for an item!

On eBay there used to be just 3 options for condition: new, refurbished, or used. But savvy sellers started listing used items as “refurbished” to command a higher sale price. And sure, some sellers do go the extra mile to clean up a used item. But unless you are truly restoring it to "like new" condition (for example replacing the battery in a laptop so it has no power cycles), then it's not really refurbished, it’s just used.

eBay now has values for “Seller Refurbished” and “Manufacturer Refurbished” to distinguish these two cases. I always filter out the Seller Refurbished items, unless I am looking for something used (and even then I often do because I think anyone who uses “Seller Refurbished” is arrogantly trying to get more money than something is really worth). I recommend you do as well.

 

Get a dash cam for your car, truck, vehicle to document any traffic incidents and accidents

 

The technology of dash cams is progressing so quickly, the four-year-old one I have is pretty dated at this point. I did upgrade to a newer model about a year later and moved the original to the rear of my car, so I now have front and back views. You can get a really good one for about $100 now, and an adequate one (probably even better than mine!) for even less. For a really great price on one, daily deal site meh.com has them for sale every couple of months if you want to wait. Essentially, it's to the point where I think everyone should have at least one in the car.

Mine have already paid for themselves. I was sideswiped by a guy who was illegally passing me on the right on a 2 lane, 25 MPH residential street. I was initially getting push back from his insurance company about wanting to get both sides of the story. But after I sent them video of what happened, they promptly paid for the damage.

I also recorded a collision where a speeding car goes out of control, crosses the center line and smashes into an SUV (by far my most popular published video to date!). The police actually contacted me and thanked me for posting it as it helped them with their investigation.

And of course if you search youtube for popular dashcam videos, you can see some pretty amazing stuff. Who knows what yours might capture?

Get a Top-Rated Dash Cam from Amazon

Enhance resolution of blurry, low res photos with neural network machine learning tools

I have digital photos from the late 90s and early 00s that just aren't very high resolution. In fact I have my first-ever selfie that was taken on an Apple QuickTake 100 back in 1994 at 640✕480 pixels; ⅓ of a megapixel.

But neural networks and machine learning are making it possible to add detail and resolution to photos like this. It's basically making an "educated guess" about what detail was there and "restoring" it. But it does a pretty good job, and I think it gives a better overall effect to older, smaller, or noisier photos. Science fiction becomes reality. 😊

There are some open-sourced tools out there that you can use for free. But they certainly aren't the easiest to use. I'm sure more user-friendly tools will be coming out in the next year or two. In the meantime, the one I've been using is a site called Let’s Enhance. It’s a paid service, but they do give you 5 free conversions when you sign up. And if you are really strapped for cash, I’m sure you can create multiple accounts to extend your number of free conversions.

Let’s Enhance high resolution image upscaling

 

 

No More Ransom site publishes known keys for ransomware so you can unlock files without paying

If you have been the victim of ransomware, before you pay for the key, definitely check No More Ransom first. They are publishing known keys, so you may be able to unlock your files without having to pay.

No More Ransom

Ethnographic photos of people, homes and artifacts at every income level all over the world

I just watched this TED talk which was a fantastic introduction to the web site Dollar Street. It is a massive database of images taken from all over the world of people, homes, and the artifacts it their life. Anyone who is thinking about problems or opportunities in a particular area of the world or in a given community would do well to start here and get a rudimentary understanding of how those people live. That is going to provide a lot of valuable context.

An interesting point that seems obvious in retrospect: images don't vary by country but by income level.

To pee or not to pee: female urination devices for travel, hiking and backpacking

When you are involved in wildlife conservation, you spend a lot of time traveling in undeveloped areas. That's sort of the point, right? Keep wild areas wild.

As a guy, I'm lucky that I can relieve myself pretty much anywhere there is a bit of privacy and not too much wind. But unfortunately the same cannot be said for my female cohorts.

Thankfully there are inexpensive and cheap solutions. I obviously don't have first-hand experience with any of these, so I encourage you to do your own research. However I generally trust Cool Tools, and they recommend the pStyle. This article in Backpacker recommends the Pibella first and SheWee second, with pStyle coming in third.

Get a pStyle female urination device from Amazon

Calibre is a great free app for managing eBooks on your Kindle or other reader

If you travel a lot, like most of the wildlife conservationists I support, then you will likely want a Kindle or other eBook reader. Amazon makes its easy to manage books purchased on the Kindle or at amazon.com, but not so much for books you aquire outside their ecosystem (like a PDF for example).

That's where Calibre comes in. It's great at converting between formats, and for pushing eBooks from your computer onto your Kindle. It's free (yay!) and looks to be a passion project by programmer Kovid Goyal. If you like it and find it useful, I recommend donating to him to thank him and encourage him to continue supporting it going forward.

Get Calibre—eBook management app

Mobius: an inexpensive and rugged SUV designed and built in Africa specifically for the African market

I just watched this TED talk by Joel Jackson about his company Mobius. The concept is simple and brilliant: design a vehicle specifically for the rough roads in Africa, leave out all non-essentials to keep costs low, and build it locally (in Kenya) to avoid import duties. There's also an important side benefit of investing in the local community and creating jobs.

The web site says the base model starts at KES 1.3 million (~$13,000 USD). The second version—which incorporates customer feedback from the original that was launched in 2015—comes out later this year (2018).

Mobius Motors: SUV designed for Africa