February | 2011 | Leateds.com

Toshiba Satellite Pro L300 Screen Issue

February 27, 2011

As I said in a post a while back, I want to help out others by providing information that I found out which might be of benefit to others. So this is one of those posts which hopefully might help one or two.

I was working on two laptops which have multiple things wrong with them, they are both the exact same Toshiba Satellite Pro L300, this was great since I could swaps parts between the two to narrow down what might be wrong.

In this case, one of the laptops happened to have an issue with the video showing up on the screen, when I powered on the laptop the screen would flash then remain black, I then connected the VGA port to my monitor to test if there was video being sent and there was, so that was one issue sorted, there is video there.

Next I thought it must be the screen which has broken, the person who owns the laptop told be she hit the laptop off something, so naturally you would assume the screen was in need of replacement, this is where having the two same laptops came in handy.

I took both laptops apart and took the screens out too, then the screen which would show any picture, I put this into the laptop which would show video and the screen worked no problem, so that was another possible problem I thought it could have been, busted.

Next I started to check the cables connecting to the monitor and they all seemed fine, good and secure. So the next set of cables I wanted to check was under the keyboard, these are the cables that connect from the motherboard / graphics card to the screen. To get to these, simply remove the grey strip, which is shown in the picture below.

Next remove the two screws then gently push the tab in the middle to release the keyboard.

Gently lift the keyboard up as to not break the cable that is connected underneath. You should now see a cable which runs from the screen to the board under the keyboard, check to make sure this is pushed in fully.

In my case, this was loose, so I simply pushed it back in, then put everything back together and powered on the laptop and it worked perfectly, no issues, the black screen was gone and I could see the video on screen again.

This was a simple solution, one I should have checked before taking the screens out, but it was also a case of process of elimination, and it paid off!

Hopefully this post helps someone who expierenced this problem too.

KT Tunstall – Olympia Theatre

February 23, 2011

This Monday February 21st i was in Dublin for a KT Tunstall concert. It was a bit of a last minute thing, i happend to come across the tickets for the concert last week and just ordered them there and then.

The venue was the Olympia Theatre, i had never been there before. The place is pretty big, nothing compared to the Point Theatre ( now known as the o2) but it looks like an old fashioned laid back theatre you would expect from years ago.

Before KT Tunstall came on there was a supporting act, his name was Pictish Trail, he was definitely entertaining, he pretended to be a rave artist and then soon introduced himself as an acoustic / techno artist, it was a blend of the two which made him a great supporting act.

KT Tunstall herself was a great entertainer and performer, she really gets the audience involved and since i was on the third tier up, which didn’t have the best viewing vision she still made sure she taked to everyone! She made a witty remark about needing a disclaimer for any tickets that are sold for the top tier due to the height.

I took my camera along with me but it wasn’t much use, in order to get a good photo it is best to be much closer since zooming in from where i was just made the camera very wobbly! I did manage to get a few decent enough pictures and i also recorded a video of a cover song of the cures song which is below!

The gig was excellent and i would definitely go back next time she comes and i would recommend everyone to go if you have the opportunity.

get some free tv stations online

February 16, 2011

I never usually watch TV anymore, anything I want to watch I just watch it online. But every so often there might be something interesting that I want to watch and I haven’t got any TV channels tuned into my TV so I have to go into another room.

I was on boards.ie the other day and found a thread about a new TV service that is being offered my Magnet, I only ever knew of them from their gaming broadband they offer, which is a complete rip off!

Anyway they have a few different packages available which you have to pay for, these include the likes of VH1, MTV and Dave and others. Here is a picture below of loads of channels they offer, for me though I am not willing to pay, I already have sky in the house so if I want to watch something on those channels I will just watch it in the room which has sky!

There is also a free service of Magnet TV, you can watch basically Irish channels for free, there are 5 in total these are: RTE 1, RTE 2, TV3, TG4 and 3e. Not bad for free!

If I didn’t already have sky in the house I would consider paying for a subscription from magnet since it is convenient to have it on my laptop or computer and I can also watch it elsewhere instead of just in the house.

The picture quality is great and I am sure if you have some kind of recording software for your computer you could record the programs, I must have a look and see if I can get one! I just thought I would share this with you, in the off chance you didn’t hear about it!

So if you want to give it a try then just go to their site at www.magnetwebtv.ie

Going to see KT Tunstall

February 14, 2011

Looks like I am going to see KT Tunstall next Monday!

I was on Ticketmaster over the weekend just seeing if there was any concerts coming up that I might like, turns out there are a few so I think I will be going to some more this year.

I bought 4 tickets tonight and it took forever, usually I have no problems ordering tickets but there seemed to be some strange glitch when ordering these tickets. I first tried to order all four together and no joy, I kept getting a message telling me there was no tickets for my search!

Image by Drew "Rukes" Ressler via Flickr

I kept trying and eventually realised I could order them as two separate orders, it wouldn’t let me order two sets of 2 so instead it would let me order a set of 3 and another single ticket, really strange and in case you are thinking maybe there is a limit, well there is and it is 8!

Before I ordered the set of 3 and 1 tickets a checked about them to make sure they are the exact same area, which they are, so since the area is first come first served in relation to where we sit, we will have to get in early for the best seats.

Unfortunately the tickets are seated, that’s all I could get, I could get a single standing ticket but that is of no use.

The gig in on next Monday – February 21st in the Olympia Theatre, and there are still some tickets left if you like them too, just go on over to Ticketmaster.

Here are a few of her songs below.

Do i need a CV?

February 13, 2011

This is a thought which I have been thinking about over the last few days, whenever you look up jobs online it is always required that a curriculum vitae (CV) be sent in.

I used to have a CV, but for the last 4 or 5 years I have not had a need for one and it became outdated and I have also misplaced the original file. So now I am thinking of should I bother with one, last semester in college we were told that the CV is not really the top priority especially when it is a job related to IT.

Image by r(t.) via Flickr

What is considered most important is not the qualifications / degree that you have but what the quality of the work is that you can produce. This is why a portfolio, preferably online, is recommended. Don’t get me wrong in thinking that a degree is considered nothing to the employer, it is important, but what I mean is that it is not the most important part, the main part of whether you get the job or not will be based on your work you have done.

I set myself up a portfolio last year, and it comes in handy for showing what I can do and what qualifications I have, everything about me that a potential employer or client wants to know can be found on my portfolio, and if need be I send it off to any job that I want to apply for, I have not got my CV ready yet so I am using my portfolio instead.

This brings me to whether I need a CV, I think that although it comes down to what you can do based on your portfolio, it is also good for the employer to see it written clearly in front of them in a more printable / readable format. So I am most likely going to begin working on my CV over the next while, I will have more to add to it than the last time and since I will be beginning it again I have to find out what exactly I should be adding in.