Dell Inspiron 3050 Micro Teardown #HTPCGeek

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Looking for the 3050 SATA cable?  Click here for my post with photos and part number for that cable.

This week Dell responded to HP's recent release of the HP Mini Stream with a palm-sized Windows 8.1 PC of its own: the Dell Inspiron 3050 Micro Desktop.  Like the HP Mini Stream, the 3050 is a tiny desktop system under $200 providing a great step up for those getting their streaming media via a Roku, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire USB stick or the like.

Although all the usual media outlets dutifully reported on the 3050 Micro's release, none that I've found have included any breakdown information on this new system or how it might be upgraded.

In this post I'll answer a number of common questions such as "Can I add more RAM?" and "Is the 3050 fanless?" and "Does the Inspiron 3050 Micro support VESA mounting?" and "Is there room for a secondary drive like in the HP Mini systems?"

Read on for the answers and even a few breakdown photos...

$35 generic or $350 Apple Watch? #GadgetGeek

UPDATE 11/1/2015: The generic U8 watch outlined in this post is now available for under $15 from some online sources. Quite a bargain!

Today Apple unveiled prices for its initial smartwatch offerings.  With the most basic model starting at $350, a common question will be, "Is it worth it for me?"  You may have interest but can't stomach the idea of spending $350 to possibly discover that you don't like using a smartwatch no matter how good it may be.

If you'd prefer to test the smartwatch waters without making a big initial investment, consider this: a touchscreen smartwatch that lets you make and receive calls, check text messages, boasts a battery life more than three times longer (estimated) than the Apple Watch but sells for only 1/10th the price.

I've recently been evaluating just such a device -- read about it below -- and the positive experience has heightened my interest in the more advanced (read: costly) smartwatch options from the likes of Samsung and Apple...

Set SSRS export options for individual reports #ReportGeek

File type export options in
Microsoft SSRS

If you work with Microsoft's SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) then you've probably run across a certain irritating limitation:  no ability to define the export file type options for individual reports.

Although the Reporting Services product is now over a decade old, Microsoft has failed to add some of the more obvious features any small startup would likely jump to support.  One of those features is granular control over export options.  You would expect that the file types provided in a report's export options could be defined specifically for that report.  Barring that, you might expect that the export options could be defined at the report folder level such as is done for security rights.

Alas, no, Microsoft has to be difficult by providing only a system-wide setting for report file type export options.  That means that, if you rely on the default Microsoft ReportViewer control, every report in the entire SSRS server is bound by the same export configuration.

Take Control
I'm going to show you how to easily control the mix of export options in the ReportViewer control using a handy bit of CSS (only one line of code!)  From there I'll point you towards a solution for controlling export options on individual reports.

Know Your City #AustinGeek

This past weekend Saturday Night Live featured a series of parodies based on the recent Matthew McConaughey Lincoln MKZ ads.  The SNL spots were only the latest in a variety of paradies from the likes of Conan O'Brien, Ellen DeGeneres and others.  Unexpectedly, the first SNL spot hit very close to home...

Google Fiber in Austin #NetworkGeek

Following up on my "What are my chances?" Google Fiber post from April, 2013, we now have a map and a date for the Austin launch.  As expected, the initial rollout has taken longer than indicated with the initial round of signups now slated to begin in December, 2014.  Also as expected, initial coverage will be in an area boasting a higher-than-average population density with a likely demand for fiber service... plus it happens to be conviently close to Austin's main corridor of internet connection and hosting facilities. Unexpectedly, though, the initial covered area does *not* include the various downtown apartments, condos and businesses immediately north of Ladybird Lake...

Simple bypass for simple "adwalls" #WebGeek

A typical content-hiding "adwall" prompting
users to register before accessing content.

It's quite common these days to arrive at a web page only to be greeted by a content-hiding layer with ads or messages prompting you to perform some action before you can access the web page.  

I employ a handy trick that bypasses many of these popover "adwalls" using nothing but my web browser and a few well-informed mouse clicks...

Update: Nest Protect Improved Value #GadgetGeek

Nest Protect is now only
$99 for 7 Years of Use
 

Last December I questioned the overall value of the $129 Nest Protect.  I wasn't questioning the device's utility or features (it's quite cool) but rather the price versus the fact that it is programmed to stop working after 7 years.  In that posting I chided Nest for not being more forthcoming about the purposefully-limited lifespan in the product's marketing materials and retail packaging.

Some notable events have happened since that post. The upshot of those events is that the Protect's standard price has dropped from $129 to $99.  Considering the average home would require multiple units for adequate coverage (as with any smoke alarm), the device is a decidedly better deal today than when first released.

TIP: Get Nest Protect for less than $99
If you are in the market for the Nest thermostat or one of the two Nest Protect models then your least expensive option is to watch for a general discount coupon from your local home center store such as Lowes or Home Depot.  Lowes routinely offers general discounts of 10% or more -- I saved $25 when buying my Nest thermostat.  Check the Lowes page on RetailMeNot for current coupon codes you may be able to use when purchasing online (select the "in-store pickup" option to avoid shipping costs).

Windows Clipboard: Remove Trailing Space #WindowsGeek

It seems I can barely go more than a week or two without encountering a certain windows-related copy-and-paste issue.  The issue? Unwanted trailing spaces.  The culprit?  Windows' rendering for text highlighting.

Figure 1 -- It's hard to tell if your highlighted text
includes an unwanted training space.

When highlighting text to copy, Windows will sometimes include a trailing blank space character as part of your selection if one happens to follow the last word selected.  When this does happen it is often impossible to spot (see Figure 1).

This issue is especially nefarious when it comes to troubleshooting:  a typical visual check won't catch text that includes a trailing space versus the expected value (no trailing space).

What to do?  Windows' clipboard is simply performing the one simple task it was created to do.  We can't make the Windows clipboard smarter but we can substitute in a smarter option...

TIP: Clear DNN Cache #DotNetNukeGeek

Have you found yourself needing to programatically clear DotNetNuke (DNN) cache but were dismayed to discover newer DNN versions no longer rely on an easily-cleared cookie?

Here's a simple option to force the cache to clear...

What a penny buys #StorageGeek

My most recent tech panel (CTRL-ALT-TECH on the first day of SXSWi ) was on the topic "All Things Storage".  As part of that panel I brought along a little slice of storage history: an Apple ProFile from one of my two Apple III systems -- the computer that launched me into programming all those years ago.

Near the end of the live interactive session I brought out the ProFile and declared it a "box of storage firsts"...

TIP: VirtualBox Unresponsive Windows #VirtualGeek

After many years of using VirtualBox as my preferred virtual desktop hosting software for development VMs I ran into a new-for-me issue:  Internet Explorer's page display would become exceedingly slow to respond to changes within a few seconds of loading.  Refreshing the page did not help.  Opening a new tab repeated the process:  slow page response a few seconds after the completion of page load.

A bit of virtual poking and prodding eventually revealed a solution, though not an explanation...

 

TIP: Beware nefarious spaces #DotNetNukeGeek

I'm never ceased to be amazed at "holes" in software that's been around for ages -- that is, simple bugs that have had plenty of time to be detected and quashed but somehow aren't.  This week I ran into an oversight in the venerable DotNetNuke (aka "DNN") web platform which is a nicely-featured framework for quickly building .NET-based websites.

DNN has been around for over a decade yet the bug that tried to bite me is a simple oversight in how account usernames are handled...