DSTV and flashing lights

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EDIT: For some reason I’m getting a lot of hits on this page at the moment, it only addresses one element on one decoder. If you have any other hassles with your decoder check out this link.

I went home this evening for a family get together and walking into the TV room I noticed an annoying flashing orange light on our Multichoice DSTV decoder. Although others had noticed it, no one knew anything about it. While browsing through some channels my sister pointed out a small “letter” icon which had popped up in the one corner of the screen. Going to the menu and opening the “Mail Messages” option gives one a brief notice about new terms and conditions relating to Multichoice. It also stopped the flashing light.

Mentioning this to my Dad, he told me my Gran had been complaining about the light too, quick phonecall to her and problem solved, along with a set of instructions she was to pass on to her friends.

Now I like the way that Multichoice have integrated this feature into the system, it’s just a pity that I doubt anyone actually knows about it. I’m also very curious to know how many phone calls the service centre got about this flashing light that just started randomly last week.

So for anyone wanting to get rid of the flashing orange light:
Turn on your TV and Multichoice Decoder. Take your remote and push the bottom left “Menu” button. A menu should come up on your screen, scroll down to the “Mail Messages” option (if I recall it was option 4) using the cursor/arrow buttons, and use the select button to go into the Mail Messages. It should display a message with regards to the new terms and conditions. Once read, the light should stop flashing and you can press the white “Exit” button once or twice to resume your viewing.

Minecraft Peculiarities

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I haven’t played minecraft since November, but was lus to play the other day so downloaded the latest version: Beta 1.3_01. I ran the program, loaded one of my maps and was met with an unplayable environment. Severe lag being the main cause, and when movement did occur it resulted in unstoppable spinning movements. I tried playing the in browser version, but for some reason it won’t let me out of the menu and into the game, it appeared to not register my mouse clicks.

First thing I did was update my Java to the latest version, this appeared to have no noticeable effect.

Next was my graphics driver which at least appeared to solve the lag issue, but the mouse would start my man spinning at the gentlest nudge. Searching for such issues mainly resulted in issues with Java and the in browser version. Finally found a reddit post mentioning Synergy (which I run). Turning off Synergy fixed the issue so my Minecraft is once again playable, although it does hamper my multi-tasking abilities with Synergy closed.

Time for a quick post

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As Toetsweek leers it’s second last head and I put in hours of work on projects which will probably only count a minor part of my final mark, i look back at 3 years of Engineering.

Someone asked me the other day what I was studying, and I responded with my standard: “Engineering”. “Fun, fun fun…” he replied sarcasticly, and so I thought about it a bit. Now it’s not that I haven’t enjoyed my last 3 years. THey’ve been great, filled with all kinds of adventures, new experiences and new people. But my course itstelf hasn’t exaclty been fun. I’ve learnt a heck of a lot, and I’ve had the opportunity to apply a fair amount of it. But after 3 years, I can finally actually say I enjoy my course.

This being said, I haven’t been this busy with varsity work ever before, but I enjoy. The 20-30 hours spent in the Electronics labs the last week, as soul destroying as they may have been, were great. I really, really enjoy design. It’s teaching me things I’ve always wanted to be able to do, but never got around to. Mechatronics, although the theory is relatively boring, the practical work is once again great.

At the moment I can’t wait till the second semester. Where we have minimal class, and we can work full out on our skripsie.

For now however I am faced with a series of tests. Saturday is Heat Transfer, followed by me riding my 9th Argus Cycle Tour on Sunday. Monday leads to Electronics with Mechatronics on Tuesday and rounding off the week with Project Management on Friday. But that’s next week. First I have a project to finish off. And let’s not get started on my private projects. OBDii is my current interest.