Matt's Repository

Although there are many accessibility options integrated into modern operating systems and software applications, increasing the default zoom level of received messages in Microsoft Outlook remains surprisingly complicated and inhibiting. I have recently been assisting with computer setup and tutoring of a friend who has macular degeneration, which makes it increasingly difficult to read small text. One of the more difficult tasks was personalizing Outlook 2016 to make the baseline text much larger with minimal required user interaction. Below is a summary of my tribulations and my most recommended way to configure Outlook for those with advanced vision impairment.

These instructions should be equally applicable to Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013, but have not been tested. Read Full Article

When I received the new Oculus Rift last month, one of the bundled accessories was a wireless Xbox One controller with a wireless USB adapter. Curiously, despite my system being completely up-to-date, the plug-and-play driver installation was never able to succeed correctly. I have seen similar issues pop up occasionally on Facebook and other discussion groups.

The official Microsoft support link on troubleshooting the wireless adapter suggest a wide range of potential solutions, none-of-which helped in my situation. At the end of the first solution that most closely matched my issue ("The adapter didn't auto-install"), Microsoft tells the reader to attempt the uninstall/update process once more and "if this doesn't work, your adapter needs to be replaced." Luckily that isn't really the case and the fix only takes a moment to apply. Read Full Article

When I list items for sale on eBay, I use a custom-developed HTML template with the item's pictures uploaded externally and embedded into the description for more visual appeal than what eBay provides. This allows me to apply custom styles to the images via CSS, provide descriptive content below specific images and generally offers a lot more flexibility and professionalism.

By default, eBay allows you to upload up to 12 images for free to be included in the ad, and requires uploading at least one image through their service to be displayed in the auction results and so forth. The images uploaded in this manner appear at the very top of the auction page alongside the auction metadata. These eBay-hosted pictures are scaled to 500x375px regardless of the user's screen resolution, with an option to view larger versions by clicking/hovering over them. Read Full Article

I recently built a new computer to better accommodate the forthcoming line of resource-intensive tech products, namely the Oculus Rift and related VR devices. While my old computer was nothing to shake a stick at, its hardware was not satisfactory enough to produce a consistently smooth experience on the Developer Kit 2 (DK2). The second iteration of the developer headset kit requires rendering a 1920x1080 display (960x1080 per eye) 75 times per second or else latency and lag lead to a jittery and nauseating experience. When the consumer version drops next year the hardware demands will be even greater.

With my latest PC upgrade (Geforce GTX 980 TI, MSI Z97 Gaming 5 motherboard with an Intel i7 4790k CPU, 32GB RAM, Samsung SSD 840 Pro, Sound Blaster Zx) I made the sudden, albeit fully expected observation—none of these new components provided any Windows XP support by the manufacturers. After all, Microsoft itself ceased mainstream support for XP way back in 2009 and officially declared it to be 'end of life' and fully unsupported in April 2014.  It makes zero sense for any manufacturers to waste additional developer resources maintaining support for such an archaic and unsupported operating system, even as millions of diehards still cling on. Read Full Article