Tongfamily (Richtong.com Sync)

There is a dizzying array of ways to make your tax payments. And I have to say they are not super discoverable, but here is what I have found from cheapest to most expensive: directpay.irs.gov. This requires that you valid by knowing some facts from previous returns and then it…

Ok in consumer electronics, here are the next recommendations: TL;dr TVs as Computer monitors. Do not get one, instead, get a low-end TV. At 43 inches, this will let you really develop software well assuming you have the room on your desk and believe me you will want to. The…

I got two adapters that convert USB C to a SATA interface, you can bus power a SSD, so this is not a bad test. I then ran Black Magic Speed Test and found to my surprise that one of the cables is 20-30% faster than the other. I used…

I’ve been using Google Slides quite a bit lately and I’ll be on to Office365 next, but here are some power user tips: The themes are really powerful, but you can many themes with the same name. There is an invisible GUID for themes, so when you are confused about…

Well they now allow unlimited photos with an Amazon Prime account and you can share your high resolution photos with up to five family members. It does sound like the ideal backup strategy. But here are the problems: Live Photos. They still have a 5GB limit for videos and other…

I’ve been meaning to put a real router into the house for a while. You really want something that can handle 2M packets/second (why, I don’t know) but more importantly something that is reliable. Previously I had used the Linksys WRT-54G (which dates me!) and I found that under heavy…

Ok there are real problems with after market cables particular with USB C. TL;dr USB C, unlike other USB cables, are not created equal. Some only have six wires in them, some have 24, some have the right passive electronics (pull up resistors) and some have the right active electronics…

Well, the family the blogs together has the most fun together. Here’s a list of everyone who is blogging. I don’t know how up to date, but we definitely have the domain names covered: gracetong.com. Out of date, but it is there! calvintong.com. Just up now add some content Calvin…

Well it seems like it is that time of year again. Got two questions on backups. Here’s the short story If you are using a USB flash drive to backup your precious photos please stop! That’s not super reliable. Instead get a $120 hard disk backup at least. Wirecutter has…

I’ve been trying to use Harry’s Lap Timer and need the detailed specifications for a 2008 Mazdaspeed3. Here are the detailed specifications and some of the more obscure ones that these performance telemetry applications want: Volumetric Efficiency: This a measure of how what percentage fuel goes in, it varies by…