Category: Tech Tips

DirectX Encountered an Unrecoverable Error – Advanced Warfare

This DirectX encountered an unrecoverable error fix for Call of Duty Advanced Warfare and Ghosts is really more of a workaround than a true fix, but it will make this game completely playable.

I’m certain there isn’t anyone reading this that’s uninitiated with the DirectX encountered an unrecoverable error, but as a quick overview this error fires on compatible machines with compatible software and completely prevents these titles from opening. The “DirectX encountered an unrecoverable error” is a bug. An annoying bug.

If you’re like me, the above error brings pain and frustration. I first want to isolate … Read More

November 10, 2014

Migrate and Host iPhoto Library from Network Storage

Below are quick direction to migrate and host iPhoto library from network storage such as a network area storage (NAS) device. I personally host my iPhoto library from a network storage, but there are negatives.

Pros and Cons of Hosting iPhoto Library from Network Storage Device

Pros:

Bulk storage, which is necessary with the proliferation of SSDs in primary devices
Single storage and iPhoto library for access across devices
Single iPhoto library, or shared iPhoto library, can be accessed from multiple devices – using OSX as this is an iLife applications
Functionality reflecting keeping your library local

Cons:

Network

October 28, 2014

AweSEM Advice / Blog / Tech Tips / YouTube

Add Associated Website to YouTube Video Annotation

I’m going to quickly describe how to add associated website to a YouTube video annotation. This will allow you to link to applicable content on a site you OWN via the annotation.

What you need before you add the associated website to your YouTube video annotation:

A Google account with accompanying YouTube channel
A website that MUST be verified to Google Webmaster Tools under the same Google account as the YouTube account

Here’s how to add associated website to a YouTube video annotation

Enable monetization of your channel: In YouTube click your top right avatar and then “Creator Studio:”

October 23, 2014

Blog / Tech Tips / XBMC

Weather Underground Broken Fix – XBMC (Kodi)

Edit 2: Weather Underground has a full replacement you should get instead called OpenWeatherMap.

Edit: As a partial alternative to the below, you can install a Weather Underground zip file found here. You will still need to generate the WU API key per instructions below. This key will be added in the new add ons settings. Both solutions work; I suggested picking the one you anticipate being more permanent, but neither should be overwritten in updates. I’m using the below method and not the zip file to help avoid bloat, which my install already suffers from.

Edit 2: … Read More

October 18, 2014

AweSEM Advice / Blog / Tech Tips

The Basic Necessities of a Google Analytics Setup

Google Analytics is a great, though flawed, tool. It has endless potential and can accomplish most of your website tracking goals for the low price of free. Without diving into advanced setup or getting into unique situations I cover the basic necessities of a Google Analytics setup. I do not use Google Tag Manager, which is great, for this example.

The steps below will get you off the ground with accurate tracking and some recommendations of mine for cleaner data in Universal Analytics.

Necessities of a Google Analytics Setup

Log into Google Analytics – Click “Admin” – “Create

October 16, 2014

Blog / Tech Tips / XBMC

Seamlessly Launch Steam Big Picture Mode From XBMC (Kodi)

Update:

These instrustions to launch Steam big picture mode from XBMC do not work for Kodi, the DO still work for XBMC 13.2 and older. Please visit my resource here to launch Steam from Kodi.

There are many ways to launch Steam Big Picture Mode from XBMC (Kodi) including Angelscry’s versatile Advanced Launcher, but there is another, more efficient, way to seamlessly launch Steam Big Picture Mode from XBMC (Kodi).

Below are the steps to easily launch Steam Big Picture Mode from XBMC (Kodi)

If you are familiar with XBMC (Kodi) then this is low hanging fruit. I want … Read More

October 8, 2014

Blog / Tech Tips / XBMC

Add Custom XBMC Splash Screen to Windows Machine

Adding a custom XBMC splash screen is easy, but I, too, needed a resource to locate the root file. These instructions are for a Windows machine, but should apply to most XBMC installs on most machines.

What’s the XBMC splash screen? It’s the opening intro you may or may not see for a long time based on the speed of your machine.

Grab yourself a high-resolution custom flash screen for XBMC. The one I used can be found on XBMC’s wiki here.
Make sure you have “show hidden files” enabled in your OS
Navigate to the below

September 26, 2014

Blog / Kodi / Tech Tips / XBMC

How to Set Up Rom Collection Browser XBMC (Kodi)

This tutorial will be as quick as possible to set up Rom Collection Browser in XBMC (Kodi) to launch all your favorite emulators. I will walk through all the emulators I have installed. I was disappointed a resource wasn’t available when I was putting together my install.

Here’s a video of my Rom Collection Browser setup that is several months old, but give you an idea.

Nav:

Set Up Rom Collection Browser in XBMC (Kodi)
Emulator Parameters in Rom Collection Browser
Add Gameplay Videos to Rom Collection Browser
Tips for Your Rom Collection Browser Setup

Steps to Set Up Rom

September 21, 2014

Blog / Tech Tips / Wordpress

Fix WordPress Fatal Error Allowed Memory Size Limit

Today is a quick tutorial on how to fix the error message: Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 67108864 bytes exhausted

If you’ve never seen this message, good, you’re hosting provider is good. I, however, have elected to go with free hosting at 000WebHost and while it’s a good free host, it is not a good host. Not to say I would hit these same barriers with a paid account.

Fix WordPress Fatal Error Allowed Memory Size Limit

To fix the Fatal error: Allowed memory size of error message all we’re going to do is add one line to our … Read More

September 18, 2014

AweSEM Advice / Blog / Tech Tips / Wordpress

Add Custom Favicon to WordPress Site

In this post, I will quickly walk through how to add a custom favicon to a WordPress site. If you are not aware what a Favicon is it is the tiny image that rests in your tabbed view in most browsers. It will also show in bookmarks and social bookmarks.