David’s Guide to Mudding Part II

Posted on May 7, 2020 by Kip

In a previous post, I mentioned a fellow I know named David Strauss who’s working on getting people back into MUDs — Multi User Dungeons, as we called them in the old days; text adventures that had multiple players on them at the same time — the precursors to the modern MMOs. He’s released a second guide to MUDding and I wanted to give him a big shout-out and post a link to his guide to MUDding part II. It’s right here:

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Free Verse 101

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Kip

Life is beautiful life is grand
for which brave moment we make a stand
we are rich in what we have

and so it shall be for the c ir cle never ends

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David’s Guides to MUDding

Posted on February 22, 2020 by Kip

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

There was a young man named Kip, who was away at college in Berkeley, CA, and who was obsessed with computer games and the beginnings of the Internet. It was the ’90s…and he found a host of online games called “MUD”s, or Multi-User-Dungeons.

These are the precursors to the MMORPGs we see today. However, they were text-only, and you could eventually become a creator (“Wizard”, generally, on the MUD I played, it was called “Scientist”, as we were sci-fi themed).

The MUD I played was called NuclearWar and is STILL RUNNING, though not at its original site — you can telnet to it at nuclearmudusa.com port 4080.

Anyway, a good friend I made on there, David Strauss, has begun a series of videos on MUDs vs modern MMORPGs and a some introductory videos on how to log in and play MUDs. I highly recommend these videos. Especially if you’ve ever played a good text adventure and want to play one online with multiple players.

Without further ado, the link to David’s videos is right here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpaLs9kav4o76aCNvG_FgcQ

Take a gander. You’d be surprised how much we’ve lost lost since the good old MUD days!

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Razer Mouse Randomly Double-Clicking Quick Fix

Posted on February 22, 2020 by Kip

Are you having problems with your Razer mouse double clicking when it shouldn’t? I’ve owned a Razer Mamba for years and only recently had this problem. I tried resetting it and recalibrating it; no luck.

Then I read a suggestion that may seem simplistic and unhelpful — except it works. Just take your Razer Mouse and blow into it. Hard. And slow. (That’s what she said). I did it from the top left side, right next to the left mouse button, which is the one that has been giving me trouble.

So far, it’s working like a charm. I’m not getting the double click anymore. Let’s hope it stays this way, and I hope this information helps somebody!

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Workaround for Cydia Impactor “XCode 7.3” Error (and possibly other Cydia Impactor errors — a new way to sideload)

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Kip

Okay, first, all credit where credit is due. I did not come up with this fix myself. I lost my semi-tethered Jailbreak on my iPhone (Electra) and was unable to get Electra back on there (after a while, even though I have not updated my iOS past 11.0.1 to hold the JB, the Electra app for Jailbreaking fails to open on my iPhone). Then, when I went to use Cydia Impactor to get it back on there, I got a “Provisioning error 81/Please update XCode to version 7.3 or newer”. This, by the way, is on my MacBook; all these instructions are for jailbreaking on a Mac, not a Windows machine, but it might work for Windows, too; I don’t know; see if you can download XCode for Windows, I think you can, because that’s the first step (see below).

So, this method, again, not mine — it’s from autumn-autumn on Reddit — allows you to sideload the Jailbreak IPA (Electra, unc0ver) using XCode. So I’m just going to repost autumn-autumn’s workaround and clean it up a little bit, plus add a few refinements of my own dealing with errors I ran into. Here we go:

  1. Install XCode. You need the new disc image file for it (.dmg). I opted for the newest .dmg file available, which was Xcode 7.3. If you want any version of Xcode, here they all are: https://developer.apple.com/download/more/
  2. It’s going to take a long time to download. Go watch TV for an hour or something. Next, click on the darn thing and move/install it to the applications folder and open it; this also going to take a long time, but just bear with it, this DOES work. Autumn-autumn got an error message that could only be solved by first opening console to read through the error log, then going into settings, date & time, manually set, change system date to a date before the certificate for Xcode expired, then save, and try again. That should work. *Note: I did not get these errors — Kip
  3. Now, open XCode. Go to File -> Preferences and add your Apple ID. Double click on the ID in the right hand box once added, a window will open. Click the CREATE button on the right side of window. (*Note: This did not quite work as described for me. Just add your Apple ID and password under Preferences, then File -> New or New Project, I forget) to create a new single project in Xcode (*Note: You’re going to see a lot of options here. I chose the second one, which was, I think, “Single Display Page App”. It worked. I don’t know if all the other options work or not, as I did not try them all –Kip) Attach your device to the computer with a cord. Select your device in the top left bar. Select your Apple ID as the “team”. (*Note: I did not see “team” but I did see a place in the project to add my developer account. Use an iPhone Developer account, do NOT use “Mac Developer”. The option will be the second or third box down — Kip) Leave all other defaults as is. Set this aside, we are coming back in a moment.
  4. Go get the latest support files for your iOS. Xcode may not have them. Mine did not, I was using an older version. Here they are: https://github.com/filsv/iPhoneOSDeviceSupport . I downloaded the zip, then expanded and saved in Applications, right-click, “Open Applications”, Right-click Xcode > Show Package Contents, go to Developer > Platforms > iPhoneOS.platform > DeviceSupport. Save here and close out. Quit Xcode. (*Note — This part is crucial; I did have the same problem; I’m still running 11.0.1, so I downloaded the “11” folder from the link above, put it in the path mentioned, and it fixed all problems –Kip).
  5. Launch Xcode again. Make sure your device is attached. Watch the little status bar thing do its little status bar dance, top of page. When it says ready or something like that, you should be able to click the arrow looking button (play) in the top bar, or manually click run. See what fun error message you get (*Note: This is almost always due to not having the iOS support files, see above, Step 4, to get the right ones, again –Kip), or maybe it’ll be well behaved and actually RUN. If so, you must now go into settings –> general –> device management (on your phone) and TRUST yourself as a developer (*Note: This can be a little tricky to do or you may not even actually have to do it; somehow my iPhone automatically trusted me. Also, at some point early in this process, you may get a yellow warning icon in Xcode that says your Provisioning is having problems — use the “Fix” button underneath it to keep fixing until there are no more problems. Also, when you run the actual code, you may get some warning messages on the left; pay them no mind unless the operation cannot successfully run; I ran it and got warning messages but it executed on my iPhone as it should have, no problems– Kip)
  6. When it successfully runs the project on the target device and you’ve “trusted” yourself as the app developer, download iOS App Signer: https://dantheman827.github.io/ios-app-signer/ and follow the instructions.
  7. This is where that useless “project” you created and ran in the steps above comes in. You’re going to use that thing as a vessel for whatever it is you want to sign & sideload (*Note: Brilliant, autumn-autumn; this method is actually really pretty darned easy after you install Xcode). Now you need to add the .IPA for whatever jailbreak app you’re using, and you’re going to need the code signed. Open iOS App Signer –> INPUT FILE is that jailbreak app you want to sideload (this was unc0ver for me (*Note: I use Electra, and it worked fine for me, as well), SIGNING CERTIFICATE should have some sort of reference to your Apple ID in there, PROVISIONING PROFILE — for that select that “project” you created. Click start. It will want you to choose an output path and name of file. (*IMPORTANT NOTE* — Be sure to sign the code with your iPhone Developer certificate, not your Mac Developer one. Also, when I finally figured out I had to use iPhone Developer, it gave me a message that there were problems signing my code; self fix did not fix them; if you get that message, go into your Keychain and delete all the certificates that say iPhone Developer — JUST those certificates — and then run Xcode again, just start it up, it should generate new certificates for you; I was stuck on this part for a while, shoot me a comment if you’re having problems here –Kip).
  8. This will create a ready-to-use file. Go back to Xcode once completed, click on devices (Window -> Devices); select your device. At the bottom, it will show loaded apps. Drag and drop the .IPA of the app you want to sideload (Note: In my case, Electra; many people are using unc0ver these days. though –Kip) or hit the plus sign, and that will sideload the NEWLY SIGNED app. This should do it. It should now be on your device and ready for use.

Again, ALL CREDIT GOES TO autumn-autumn on Reddit for finding this workaround. As far as I know, it is currently the only way to sideload an IPA; all the impactor apps, including the original Cydia Impactor, no longer work. And, note, it DOES WORK. It took me a night and an afternoon to get it right, but now my iPhone is jailbroken again. Believe it or not, the method listed above is the easiest (and perhaps, currently, only) way to sideload apps. It’ll sideload other .IPAs, too, I would imagine, if you actually want to code a new app or something, LOL, but you’re probably just going to be using it to sideload the Electra IPA or the unc0ver IPA.

Also, once you do it one time, you’ll learn pretty fast that, now that you know what to do, it’s not actually that hard; it’s just a bit of a learning curve with Xcode, if you’ve never used it before, plus, downloading and installing Xcode are by far the longest things you’re going to be doing. REMEMBER: You want to make sure you have the support files for the right iOS you have, and you want to make sure you put “iPhone Developer” into that, I believe, second box in iOS Signer, NOT Mac Developer, and iPhone Developer may give you some problems; again, you need to delete all the iPhone Developer certificates from your keychain and re-launch Xcode to get new certificates that work.

One last thing — at some point you are, I think, required to enter what’s called an “app specific password” from Apple. Here’s a link with an easy step-by-step guide for creating an app specific password from Apple. It’s really easy, much easier than you might think. and if you’ve ever used Cydia Impactor to jailbreak, you know how to do it already. But, anyway, here’s the link to it: https://www.imore.com/how-generate-app-specific-passwords-iphone-ipad-mac .

If you have any issues with this, reply below, and I’ll do my best to answer your questions. All I can say for now is: this method works with an iPhone 8 Plus running iOS 11.0.1. I imagine eventually saurik & company will fix Cydia Impactor but I wouldn’t hold your breath. In the meantime, this workaround, though it takes a while (mostly to download, copy, and open Xcode the first time) and again I have only tried using the above method using a MacBook as it was written intended for use on a Mac. If you have a Windows PC (which I do), you can try the same above steps — if you do, please let me know if this works on Windows as well. All I can say is, I’m glad I have a MacBook as a backup, even if it’s years out of date and the battery is shot. Don’t care; it’s still a lovely little machine that does its job very well, and I usually use it to jailbreak all the time, over my PC, because the PC jailbreaks of late have been rather iffy with me.

Good luck, and again, if you have problems or questions, please submit a comment and I will do my best to help you. Happy jailbreaking!

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My Father and I Need Your Help for our GoFundMe Campaign!

Posted on January 22, 2019 by Kip

Hey, guys. I’m just going to put the link for my GoFundMe page up here, and repeat the description I wrote on the GoFundMe site. Anything you can spare would be enormously appreciated by me and my father, and you can also help without donating by simply spreading the link everywhere you can on social media.

First, the link:
https://www.gofundme.com/property-tax-help-for-disabled-father-and-son

Next, the campaign statement:

My father and I both live together and are both disabled — I’m Bipolar I and have had psychotic breaks, and my father has had a heart attack, a bad fall and broken hip, has an implantable defibrillator, is incontinent with a permanent catheter, and spends much of his time in a wheelchair.  He’s 75 and I’m 43. Neither of us are able to work. The government recognizes us both as legally disabled. In 2017, we lost my mother to a sudden stroke and as a result we lost a lot of money; her social security plus a monthly gift she had been left by her godmother to help her (and us) get by. After we lost my mom (she died on my birthday, of all days), we were unable afford to pay our property taxes from then until now (and we were already behind on them at that point). Now we’re being threatened by the town and we’re afraid of losing the house, which is a modest one-floor affair, but which is all we have. We owe a total of $28,000 in back taxes on the house. We reached a deal to pay $300 a month in the back property taxes with town tax officials. However, we simply can’t afford to lose that $300 per month; we’re barely making ends meet as it is. We live as frugally as possible. We are both on government assistance but it does not provide very much. I’m looking to raise $3600, which would be a year’s worth of property taxes. If we could do that, we could pay the taxes, avoid losing the house, which we’re very much afraid of, and still be able to (just) make ends meet. The funds we receive will *only* be used for the purpose of paying property taxes, nothing else. It would be great if we could hit a mark of $300 the first month and then keep it going for a year. I cannot tell you how grateful my father and I would be for your help; I’m an only child and I feel terrible that I cannot provide for my father in his old age due to my disability — but you have to play the cards you’re dealt in life. Every single dollar you give will, again, go directly to pay our property taxes of $300 per month. I can only hope that we have some success on here because our luck has been bad for quite a while now and I’ve run out of places to turn. Anything you could give us would be so, so, so very appreciated and would ease our worries about losing our home. Thank you for your time and consideration just in reading this. My goal is a year’s worth of a property taxes, which would be a total of $3,600, but it would be really great if, as I said, we could somehow bring in $300 per month, so we could stay current with our finances. Again, we live VERY frugally. We do not eat out, we spend almost zero money on entertainment, and we keep holidays as simple as possible. God bless each and every one of you who contribute, and once more, thank you just for reading this and listening to our plea. I want to thank everyone *ahead* of time for any help we receive. I have to believe there are good people out there who will help us get through this. To make matters worse, we’re *just* recovering from having our well failing and having to connect to town water, the cost of which entirely drained everything we had in savings. Bless you for your help; if I could personally thank everyone who contributes, I would.

Thank you for your time reading this post.

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How to Program Your X1 Box For 30-Second Skip and 15-Second Rewind

Posted on August 16, 2018 by Kip

Okay, guys, this is a pretty easy little hack, right here.

I have verified this works on an XR15 remote, which I believe is the latest. Remember, you’re programming the box, not the remote.

A search box will come up while you’re doing this; pay no attention to it, just follow these simple instructions:

Hit EXIT -> EXIT -> EXIT (EXIT three times, quickly and deliberately)
Type 0030 (this is where the search box will come up, ignore it)
Press the ENTER button (the button that glows white in the middle of the directional pad)

Your PageUp button will now fast forward 30 seconds, and your PageDown button will rewind 15 seconds.

NOTE: This will NOT work on Xfinity On Demand titles. It will only work on DVR-recorded programs and live (buffered) television.

Hope this helps some folks.

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Fix for PLEX “Unauthorized Server” Problem on Roku

Posted on July 16, 2018 by Kip

Okay, so I just got a Roku Streaming Stick for my dad, and I wanted to set it up so it could use PLEX, which is what I use to stream everything from my PC.

I was going nuts, because it kept telling me it couldn’t log into the server, because the server was “unauthorized”, even though I let it accept non-secure connections.

The fix, courtesy of gsparx on Reddit, is the following (the following example is if you want to get it to play on devices connected to your home network):

In the PLEX app on your computer, go to Settings -> Server -> Network. There will be a box that says “List of IP addresses and networks that are allowed without authorization”. Enter 192.168.1.0/24 into that box. You may need to refresh, but your Roku should now be able to access your server. You may have to enter a different IP depending on your configuration, but that one worked for me, since, again, I’m using it on my home network.

I hope this helps some people. It was driving me nuts.

Posted in computers, television, tips and tricks | 11 Comments

Fix for Assassin’s Creed: Origins Freezing/Stuttering on Consoles

Posted on November 12, 2017 by Kip

Some of you playing on consoles may notice that Assassin’s Creed: Origins is freezing up on you ever now and then (or a lot, depending on when you’re playing). The problem is the same as it was for AC: Unity — it’s the online component. Too much online stuff going on at once. The fix? Simple. Play the game offline. Disconnect from the Internet. Then you’ll lose the freezing (also, the online features, of course).

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How To Make Your IPhone Recognize The Word “Fuck”

Posted on October 15, 2017 by Kip

If you’re at all like me, the fact that your iPhone constantly autocorrects the f-word so it reads “ducking”, you’ve probably wondered if there’s any way you can get the damned thing to ever autocorrect the word properly — fuck, fucker, fucking, etc.

I HAVE THE ANSWER.

Add two contacts. Just fake, empty contacts. Name one (first name, last name) “fuck, fucker” and name the other “fucked, fucking”.

Now go and try to type some text in something. Try to mess up the word “fuck” a little bit. It should now autocorrect to the above listed profanities instead of defaulting to “ducking” and so on.

You’re welcome.

🙂

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