UTECHPIA

UTECHPIA

Aputure COB 120t & 120d BROKEN won’t stay on; turns off; SOLUTION FOUND!

Last updated April 12, 2018

My trust Aputure COB 120t stopped working today.  It keeps turning off after about 8 seconds.  Watch the video to see the solution that fixed it for me:

It keeps turning itself off after about 8 seconds. Doesn’t matter if i’m at 10% or 100% power, it would keep turning off. It was working fine before and this suddenly happened.

Now, every time I power it on, it shuts itself down within 8 seconds.

I found the SOLUTION! The fan was stuck so I used a small screw driver (a thin pen also works), to spin the fan and nudge it so that it will start turning as I turned on the light.

This FIXED the problem! I LOVE this light a lot, I like the power of the light, the color of the light, the versatility…

…it’s also quiet and compact.

If it continues to work well, I will buy more! I hope Aputure’s customer service will take care of me.

 

UPDATE: Customer service has responded!

 

WhiteStone Dome Glass for iPhone X: How to Install + Review + Unboxing

Last updated June 10, 2018

WhiteStone Dome Glass Screen Protector for the iPhone X.

The video above is a Step-By-Step on How to Install the WhiteStone Dome Glass Screen Protector.

Amazon Link: http://amzn.to/2zlrXc6

This is one of the best screen protectors you can buy for the iPhone X, but it *is* expensive and take patience to install.

The installation process took longer than I expected because it was my very first time installing this type of screen protector.

I wanted to follow all the steps and read the instructions carefully because I definitely didn’t want to mess up. There were a lot of steps, but the instructions were clear and easy to follow.

The result is a perfect installation of a very high quality screen protector, it aligned perfectly and I couldn’t find a single air bubble. It looks and feels just like the native glass on my phone.

I quickly forget that the screen protector is even there; which is great because now I have an extra level of protection without sacrificing the sensitivity, feel, clarify, or contrast of the original screen.

The downside is that the installation process does take some time (about 15 minutes), and you don’t want to mess up. You have two chances with the supplied materials, after that you’ll have to buy another one, and at $45 each, they are NOT cheap!

Prepare ahead of time: Avoid areas of bright lights (because that can start the curing process) and dusty environments. Also, make sure you have access to a USB port that can power the UV hardening device (an auxiliary battery, a laptop, or USB charging port).

How to find out if your case is compatible with Dome Glass:

DJI Mavic Pro Propeller Guards – Worth it?

Last updated April 12, 2018

After using the DJI Mavic Pro for a few days now, I feel there is a time and a place to use the Propeller Guards.

They are inexpensive: $15 or less on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ymQBJ3

 

Although they are fragile and bulky, they do get GREAT reviews on Amazon!

 

When to use:

  • When there are lots of obstacles near by.

  • When you use a Active Track mode in a tight area.

  • When I plan to catch the Mavic Pro with my hands; I don’t want the propellers to hit my head or eyes!

When I prefer NOT to use:

 

  • When I’m in a hurry: When I need to unpack, take off, capture footage, land, pack, and move away asap.

  • When I want to travel light…and fit everything in my DJI Mavic Pro Shoulder bag

Here’s how to install the Mavic Pro Propeller Guards without removing the propellers:

Pro Tip:

 

Keep the packaging:

If you buy the Mavic Pro Propeller Guards, remember to keep the cardboard box along with the packaging foam.

This is probably the best way to store these super fragile Propeller Guards when not in use.

 

 

 

 

Pixel 2 XL – Front Camera Portrait Mode FIX

Last updated April 12, 2018

I LOVE the portrait photos that come out of the camera in this phone.  It is the best photos out of any phone camera I’ve used.

 

PROBLEM: Out-of-the-box the Pixel 2 XL Portrait Mode ONLY works with the rear camera (back camera).  There is no option to flip it to the front camera (front facing camera, aka selfie camera).

 

SOLUTION: Simply upgrade to the latest version of the Google Camera App.  Here is how:

  1. Go to “Play Store” on the phone.

  2. Select “My Apps & Games”

  3. Look for the “Google Camera”, it should be on the list of updates you have available.

  4. Simply update the “Google Camera

  5. Go back to your “Camera” app and select “Portrait Mode”

  6. You should now be able to switch to the rear camera and take a selfie!

Detail Steps with Photos:

 

Below: We Switch to Portrait Mode:

Below: Notice the button to switch to the FRONT camera is NOT there.

Below: Go your “Play Store” and go to “My Apps & Games” from the drop down menu, and select to UPDATE the “Google Camera”:

Below: Test if it worked!  Opened the Camera App again, Go to “Portrait” Mode:

Below: YAY!!! We see the button to switch to the Front Camera!

Below: Portrait Mode with Front Camera TEST:

Below: Results show that the phone properly processed the Portrait Mode!  NOTE the background of the photo is blurred out.

Below: COMPARE the UNPROCESSED photo:  NOTE the background of the photo is NOT blurred out.

Below: So this is the result: NOTE the background of the photo *IS* blurred out.

How to Quickly grow a YouTube channel in 2018!

Last updated April 12, 2018

How to Quickly grow a YouTube channel in 2018. You can get 100 Subscribers in less than a week! The video includes everything that I have learned and applied to grow my channel to 1700 subscribers in 5 months.

UTECHPIA “5000” Giveaway:

https://gleam.io/hkcFr/utechpias-5000-subslikes-giveaway-10-amazoncom-giftcard-giveaway-10-winners

YouTube tools that can help you with Search Engine Optimization:

https://www.TubeBuddy.com/utechpia
https://www.VidIQ.com/#_a_utechpia

The video is broke down into 4 parts:

1. Finding your niche
2. Networking and growing subscribers
3. Making the BEST Videos you can
4. Video Search Optimization (making it so that people will find your videos)

1. Finding your Niche. You need to pick a focus and stick with it. I’ve created other YouTube channels before, I tried to do a daily vlog, motivational videos, fitness videos, life hacks video, and I even vlog about food, but I rather just eat…. and through it all I found that I naturally enjoy doing tech videos that most. So that’s what I stuck with.

2. NETWORKING and growing your subscribers: Growing your first 100 subscribers. The first 100 subscribers was very difficult for me too, after I asked all my family, friends, and co-workers to subscribe, I was still at around 11 subscribers for weeks! Then I started to network with other YouTubers and it helped a lot. I would subscribe to Luther youtubers channels and asked if they would subscribe to my channel. This is called Sub4Sub, and it’s frequently frown upon, because people typically do it just for the numbers and not for the networking aspect. Sub4Sub can get your channel terminated if you do it just for the numbers and not networking aspect! My advice is find new YouTubers who make videos that are in your niche; subscribe to their channel and build a friendship with them, so you can help each other out. Seriously, take the time to watch each other’s videos and comment with good genuine feedback so you can both grow. This is a big part of how is how UTECHPIA grew, and I think it is very hard to grow without doing this. Once you get to about 100 subscribers, then you should focus more on creating content.

3. START Making videos as SOON as possible, and make videos as OFTEN as possible. Don’t wait until you get to 100 subscribers, start making videos right away. Don’t expect your videos to be perfect, because they WILL not be. This was the hurdle for me because I’m a perfectionist and kept re-recording my videos. So don’t worry about being perfect. The more videos you make, the better you will get.

4. How to get people to FIND your videos? YouTube is a big Giant Search Engine.

You have to learn how to make videos that people will search for. In the Tech Word, that’s talking about the hottest technology, doing a HowTo or Comparison video usually works best, where as unboxing and reviews are typically over saturated and won’t get as many views. Also, in the tech world, you can stay up to date about the news from top blog sites, this will give you an edge so you can make videos about the latest news. These types of videos are often searched for.

You also have to know how to make the video title, description, and tags optimize for search results. I use two tools, TubeBuddy and vidIQ (links in the description below). They are FREE tools that allow help me create tags, and it also shows me the tags that other competing videos use. They also contain a lot of analytical tools that help understand your videos as well as other YouTuber’s videos.

Alright, so you have a great video, have excellent video title, descriptions and tags, the next thing to do:

You also need a great thumbnail: Once your video comes up in the search results, it is your thumbnail that determines if your video gets clicked on. I spend a lot of time to create my thumbnail, because I believe it’s very important. The thumbnail should have an interesting picture and also include clear and easy to read text, IMO.
Lastly, Don’t neglect the Comments people write. Make sure you’re always responding to your comments, if you don’t’ have time, at least heart them. Audience Engagement will help your video rank. You also want to share your videos on your facebook, other social media, online community like Reddit, Quora and on forums that are specific the your video topic.