VGA Adapter NOT on the Surface RT [Day 92]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/

I was hoping to have some news on the VGA Adapter, however due to two reasons this is not going to happen:

1. I decided to purchase a bargain (yes I did look to see that it stated Surface RT)
2. The seller does not know his RT from his PRO

I have ordered the right adapter based on part numbers ensure it is W7S-00001 and NOT W7U-00001

Ho hum

Andy

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PowerPoint (wireless) on the Surface RT [Day 91]

I gave a presentation remotely yesterday and love the functionality of PowerPoint on the Surface RT (see recent post for Wireless Connectivity). The tools accessed from the bottom right corner, ghosted, really come into their own when used on a touch screen (see above. The laser pointer allows you to move around the room and still put focus onto relevant points easily.

The downside… a protracted question and resultant answer resulted in the Surface RT going into sleep mode, effectively cutting off the wireless connectivity – in the end it would have take to long to restore the connection, so I continued with the PowerPoint on the Desktop connected to the PC. I certainly did not want to give a clipped answer to the question.

I have ordered myself the Micro HDMI to VGA Adapter and do want to revisit PowerPoint again, having seen other posts on the functionality this connection offers.

Andy

ZX Spectrum Collection on the Surface RT [Day 90]

http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/zx-spectrum-collection/92461f1a-5b20-4fe8-8f4a-984a138de47f

 

I teach Games Development and often we discuss older platforms, such as the beloved ZX Spectrum 48k by Sinclair. Students don’t believe the pain we went through with tapes and the eeeeeeeh-ah…eeeeeeeeeeeh-diddly-diddly-diddly-wah…. of the the loading program. Fats forward to 2013 and I can now not only demonstrate the awfully slow, painful and downright annoying audio but can show them the glories graphics that appear to accompany our pain through the use of the ZX Spectrum Collection as well as play a small sample, what would make it more realistic is if one out of every five attempt the load would fail!

 

Andy

Wireless Presenting on the Surface RT [Day 89]

http://www.wm.edu/

Today I had the opportunity to wireless present in the classroom (something I feel has been lacking on the Surface RT). Admittedly it is not a direct connection (such a Miracast) but a workaround using RDA (Remote Desktop Assistance)  to the PC attached to the Interactive Board (mentioned in a previous post).

Required: USB Drive (for transfer of assistance file)

Steps:

1. Turn on all the Surface RT, Desktop for Interactive Board and associated projector
2. Ensure you are logged onto the Eduroam network (USERNAME: workusername@southessex.ac.uk – not your email / PASSWORD: work logon)
3. Plug in USB Drive
4. On the surface RT search for “invite” and select “invite someone to connect to your PC and help you, or offer t…..”
5. Select “Invite someone you trust to help you”
6. Select “Save this invitatation as a file”
7. Save file to USB (for good USB removal practice carry-out the intermediate steps underneath in place of this step)
   •  Save file to the Surface RT, such as the main drive or SD Card
   • Copy file to your USB Drive
8. You can make a note of the code (I like to save this as a text file to the USB drive)
9. Ensure you are not writing to the USB stick and remove (or for good practice safely eject drive first)
10. On Desktop PC plug in USB
11. Run the “invitation” file
12. Enter password when requested
13. On the Surface RT accept permissions by clicking OK
14. Minimise the Windows Remote Assistance Window, by selecting the “-” in the top right hand window
15. Rock ‘n’ Roll 🙂

NOTE: If you wish to control the Surface RT from the desktop PC you will need to request Control (top left of   Windows Remote Assistance Window on the desktop PC) and accept this request on the Surface RT

There is slight lag, due to the network, but it is excellent none-the-less and I hope to test it on a better part of our WiFi network tomorrow. A number of presentations were tried with differing success, more on this in a later post, however animated sequences such as those with Prezi do not do any presentation justice. But to wander around the room whilst presenting is something I am really eager to try!

Andy

Missing in Windows 8.1 on the Surface RT [Day 88]

Not an exhaustive list but most noticeably

1. Messaging app, not used, now Skype is central focus (not really noticed this missing!)
2. Facebook and Flickr folders missing in the Photos app (I really liked this but Microsoft said it was only until dedicated Apps started to appear)
3. Apps not automatically added to start screen (I hate this, I would love the ability to turn this on or off – swipe up to see all apps)
4. My Computer is now “This PC” (neither a deal breaker)

Andy

Quiet Hours on the Surface RT [Day 87]

http://www.ghacks.net

I try and keep the volume down on my Surface RT due to noisy notifications through the night. Windows 8.1 adds a Quiet Hours setting that lets you silence notifications for specific times of the day.

Charms Setting > Change PC Settings >Search and apps > Notifications

You can set specific to and from times as well as electing to receive (or not) calls during those hours

Andy

Gliffy on the Surface RT [Day 86]

http://www.gliffy.com/

Not an app but a website, and one that seems to be fulfilling a need for a great diagram program whereby you can create a range of diagrams from pre-drawn elements.

• Basic Shapes
• Flowcharts
• Swimlanes
• UML 1.0 (Unified Modelling Language)
• Entity Relationships
• UI Form Components (User Interface)
• Upload your own images (PNG, JPG & GIF)

You do need an account (free) but you could easily screen grab and crop for small diagrams

 

Andy

 

Battery Issues on the Surface RT [Day 85]

Battery issue when updating from Windows RT 8.1 Preview to Windows RT 8.1 (official release)

If you updated Surface RT from Windows RT 8.1 Preview to Windows RT 8.1, you may notice a decrease in battery life. During the update, the wireless adapter power policy isn’t migrated. Instead, the power policy is set to a default value that consumes more power both during use and in the connected standby state.

To restore the wireless adapter power policy to the correct settings, open an administrator command prompt:

Step 1:	Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search. (If you’re using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, and then click Search.)
Step 2:	In the search box, enter command prompt.
Step 3:	Touch and hold (or right-click) Command Promptto bring up the context menu. Tap or click Run as administrator.
Step 4:	On the User Account Control dialog box, tap or click Yes.
Step 5:	At the Administrator: Command Prompt, enter the following: powercfg -setdcvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT 19cbb8fa-5279-450e-9fac-8a3d5fedd0c1 12bbebe6-58d6-4636-95bb-3217ef867c1a 3
Step 6:	Then enter powercfg -setactive scheme_current

Andy

Flipboard on the Surface RT [Day 84]

 

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000021785105/35436a689ce65d76cc46c9fb02e25d8e.png

At last the app that proved so popular for the iPad is here, Flipboard your personal magazine. Not only can you connect to great news and article sources but you can also connect your social networks like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Share what you are reading and enjoy updates from friends all in one place. Search for anything, such as people, topics, hashtags, blogs, your favourite sites—and flip through the results in a beautiful magazine format.

 

Andy

Lemmings on the Surface RT [Day 83]

http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/lemmings/11831df8-6c40-4a12-82b8-062c8dd4709d

I am not a hardcore gamer, more your casual gamer, and as yet I have not really sat down and played any games on the Surface RT. However, skip back a few decades to my youth and you would have found my sitting at an Amiga 500+ guiding the hapless creatures to safety. I love the fact that this is a free app, and as a casual gamer one that appeals to my jump in and out of the game when it suits me. If you have never heard or played lemmings it is an excellent distraction from the rat race, even for 10 minutes with this faithful reworking as an App and with touch-screen capability.

Andy