At Home with Tech

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Category: Tech Fixes

August 27, 2017

Why Your Tech May Not Survive Your Next Vacation

‘Fun in the sun’ is not a phrase fit for many of your gadgets. If you’re not careful, the punishing summertime elements can really do a doozy on your tech…

Your gadgets are supposed to work hard while you’re having fun in the sun. There’s no ethical dilemma here. No “Westworld” to concern yourself with.

But you should remind yourself that all of your gear may not be designed to easily handle your next vacation’s itinerary. In fact, your personal tech can be as delicate as your skin without any SPF protection…

Here are five pieces of Kryptonite your gadgets have to contend with…

#1
Sunlight
Direct sunlight can be a real problem for your camera lens…

  • Strong sunlight facing your subject can wash out or over expose your shot.
  • Sun from the rear can make your subject’s face look too dark.

Softer light or shade is usually easier for your camera lens to handle.
(Or just hope for a cloudy day)

#2
The Beach
The sandy beach is an especially dangerous place for your camera…

And I’m not just talking about that large body of water.
(I once saw a friend’s DSLR camera lens accidentally drop into a lake, because it wasn’t securely locked into place on its camera body. Oops!)

It’s that sand.
Those tiny granules can really kill your tech.
Even a single poorly placed speck of sand wedged into a retractable camera lens can immobilize your camera from ever taking another shot.

One simple solution is to use a waterproof camera without an exposed lens…

Another option is to only take photos with your smartphone. No exposed camera parts to worry about.

#3
Heat
Don’t overheat your tech… as in… don’t leave it in your car at high noon.
Enough said.

#4
Summer Fun
Just having a good time in the great outdoors can spell doom for your tech.
‘Cause if you’re not paying attention… Whoops… Plop…. Crack.
(That’s the sound of your camera or smartphone shattering on the sidewalk.)

#5
Travel Can Be a Losing Proposition
Let’s face it. It can be hard to keep track of all your stuff when you’re on vacation.
But if you leave a pair of socks behind or a t-shirt, that’s not such a big deal. If any of your tech doesn’t it make it back, that’s obviously a much bigger issue.

My solution: Don’t bring it!
If you don’t absolutely need it, I say you can do without…

And that goes for your car too.
Because when you least expect it, a wild turkey will fly into it!
(Yes, it’s happened to me.)

So you might want to consider becoming a public transportation Weekend Road Warrior.

The Terminator Vs. WALL-E
Look, I know this cautionary musing is mostly common sense.

And in fact, your fancy tech can actually enhance summertime fun… or at least feed you with lots of ‘comfort data.’

Heck, a solar-charging watch actually thrives during the summer months!

But the truth is your tech isn’t built like the Terminator.
If you want it to be back for your next vacation adventure, you’d better start treating it like your personal WALL-E.

Even though your gadgets don’t need to outlast all robotics on the planet, it also wouldn’t hurt to offer your tech a little more love.
(Or at least the protection it needs to survive while you’re having fun!)

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August 13, 2017

What Does Error Code E22 on a Bosch Dishwasher Mean?

The good news is when something goes wrong with your dishwasher these days, if it’s got an LED display, it may try to tell you what the problem is. You just need to speak its language…

For me, dishwashers are simply supposed to do their job, and you shouldn’t have to think about it too much. Over the past four years, I’ve been totally satisfied with my Bosch dishwasher. The only oddity I’ve discovered (and the salesperson warned me about it when I was considering my choice) was you shouldn’t leave dirty dishes in it for days at a time without running it. That’s because there’s no heated drying cycle.
(An environmental friendly choice of Bosch’s)

Of course, that’s exactly what I did during the first few weeks and found that the residual dampness left behind would interact with the dirty dishes and create something of a stink after a few days.
(Of course)

The solution was simply to run the dishwasher every day or two, and the offending olfactory ‘ripeness’ immediately evaporated.

In Search of Code E22
Fast forward four years to last week…
I ran the Bosch overnight, and when I woke up and walked down the stairs to a dark kitchen, I was greeted by an eerie red glow on the front panel.

 

 

 

 

 

Something was very wrong, and the mysterious error code on the display was #E22.

Awesome.

I took a peek inside. The dishes seemed clean, and I could feel some residual heat from the washing cycle. I figured the problem occurred somewhere mid-flight or after the cycle had mostly completed.

Now, I just had to figure out what #22 meant.
After a little online research, I came upon the following clue:

‘Residual water in the dishwasher’s sump pump’

Clear Out the Sludge!!!
And then I remembered one other warning the salesperson had given me…
(I suppose you might question a dishwasher that comes with multiple warnings… but let’s not go there.)

He told me you’ve got to regularly clean out the filter that captures all of the food particles at the base of the Bosch dishwasher. Because the ‘passive-catch’ filter can get pretty gross.
And it leads to the sump pump.

How gross?
I pulled the filter out…
Take a look…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’d say all of that organic goo constitutes an official clog!

Do you think this alien-like slime can create E22?
You betcha.
(There was about a cup of undrained water lurking at the bottom.)

So, I cleaned away all of the sludge, removed the remaining water in the dishwasher and popped the filter back in.

And then… everything was just fine!
I ran the dishwasher that night, and no more E22.

You’ve Got to Clean the Filter!
You might be wondering… How long had it been since I’d cleaned out the filter?
Yeah, good question.

I’ve washed the filter before, but it’s obviously slipped my mind over the past few…
…months?

Yes, this story squarely falls into the category of
‘User Error.’

Perhaps the code should have been-
“E-User”

Now, that makes more sense!

Let’s not talk about this again.
Thank you.

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August 6, 2017

Best USB 3.0 Hub with Card Reader for Your iMac

Does anyone else feel that having to stretch behind your iMac to reach the card reader is something of a drag? The same goes when you’re trying to connect a USB flash drive. I think it’s time to get ahead of the problem…

Message to Apple designers: I don’t like struggling to reach to the back of my new iMac to access the SD card reader slot for my camera card and USB 3.0 ports for my various devices. And while I’m kvetching… I want more than four USB 3.0 ports. Just as importantly, I need one or two of them much nearer to my keyboard to plug in my iPhone, thumb drives and such.

Earth to Barrett: You’re on your own to find front-facing ports.
Fortunately, the easy solution is to buy a little USB 3.0 hub/card reader combo that can sit elegantly within fingers’ reach.

The question is which one?

So Many Choices!
After doing a little research, I found five companies making devices to address this need:

  • Alcey
  • Cateck
  • Sabrent
  • Satechi
  • UNITEK

Most of these combo units are silver, reflecting the Apple design aesthetic, and I focused on the smaller models, offering only 3 USB ports:
(I don’t need more.)

And all of the choices are backwards compatible to earlier USB protocols.

Alcey
Alcey Bus-Powered USB 3.0 3-Port Hub with SD/TF Card Reader Combo
$14.99 on Amazon

Cateck
Cateck Bus-Powered USB 3.0 3-Port Aluminum Hub with SD/TF Card Reader Combo
$19.99 on Amazon
(Looks exactly like the Alcey)

Sabrent
Sabrent Premium 3 Port Aluminum USB 3.0 Hub with Multi-In-1 Card Reader
$19.99 on Amazon
It has three different card reader slots as opposed to two.
(I don’t really need the extra one.)
The orientation of the ports are top/down as opposed to side to side like the Alcey and Cateck.

Satechi
Satechi Aluminum USB 3.0 Hub and Card Reader
$29.99 on Amazon
The two card reader slots (Micro and SD) are side to side as opposed to one on top of the other.
Note: It’s also ten bucks more than the competition…
The specs mention the cable being ‘shielded.’
(More on this later)

UNITEK
UNITEK 3 Ports USB 3.0 Hub with Multi-In-1 Card Reader with 5V 2A Adapter and USB 3.0 Cable
$21.99 on Amazon
4-in-1 card reader
It’s black instead of silver.
(Looks like something out of a “Terminator” film)

USB 3.0 and Bluetooth Devices Don’t Play Well Together
Before we continue, please note that each of these choices comes with a warning listed in the marketing materials…
You see, Bluetooth-connected keyboards and mice (like I have with my new iMac) can have a problem with USB 3.0 hubs that aren’t properly shielded. The resulting interference can cause your wireless devices to malfunction.
(Nice! Right?)

So, if you place these hubs too close to your iMac wireless transmitter in the back corner, you might run into problems.
(If you’re connecting to a laptop, you’ll be fine.)

That said, you shouldn’t forget that the Satechi unit claims to have a ‘shielded’ cable. I don’t think that’s any kind of guarantee, but it couldn’t hurt…

Which One?
At the end of the day, the choices all seem similar, except for the UNITEK ‘Skynet’ box, which didn’t appeal to me at all. I just didn’t like the design. Plus, I didn’t need all of the extra card slots.

And what do other reviewers have to say?
The Alcey, Cateck and Sabrent units all had a similar split of Amazon reviews.
Many folks gave 4 or 5 stars, but enough gave 1 or 2’s.

Hmmm…

Satechi received better overall Amazon reviews, but there were only eleven of them.

Both Macworld and The Gadgeteer liked the Satechi.
But MacSources liked the Sabrent.

Still, no clarity…

Then, I went to the websites for each of the manufacturers.
I know you shouldn’t judge a product based on the marketing quality of a website, but image does matter.

Satechi blew away the competition, and Alcey came in dead last.
The rest were perfectly fine.

So where does this all point to?

Hello, Satechi!
Short of saying “Eenie meenie miney mo…”
I say, “Get the Satechi!”

Yes, it’s more expensive, but it appears to have a more unified fan base.
(Plus, the cable is apparently ‘shielded’ and may play better with wireless devices.)

That’s my choice, and I’m sticking with it!
At Home with Tech says…
“Click.”

Any other suggestions out there?

Do tell!

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