App Discovery: UnigetUI, the almost-universal Windows Patcher

Windows 10 and 11 actually has multiple methods of self-updating ASIDE FROM Windows Update. However, they are reserved for powerusers, not regular users, as most rely on command-line interface (CLI). Such as Winget, Scoop, Chocolatey, Pip, Npm, and more. Though to be honest, NPM is more for Node.js, and PIP is more for Python, but they are there, and they are used on Windows quite a bit. 

One user, Marti Climent, decided to change that, and came up with UnigetUI, which is a graphical interface for all those different sources, combined into one app. 

Between this and Patch My PC's Home Updater, they should update just about EVERY app you have on your PC. 

Now you have NO excuse to NOT keep your PC's apps updated. 

App Discovery: Spacedesk by Datronicsoft

As you use more and more tech, you object have extra old tech left over. If you have an old tablet left over, have you wondered what you should do with it? 

How about turn it into an extra display for your desk accesories that you don't want to take up extra desktop space? 

I have an old Nexus 7 (2nd gen) tablet, too old and too slow for 2025, but it's fast enough to act as a secondary display. I cleaned it up (removed all the old apps I don't use), uninstalled a bunch of crap, then went to 

https://www.spacedesk.net/

And downloaded the "driver" for the PC. Then went to Google Play Store (yes, my Nexus 7 can still access it) and downloaded the Spacedesk app.  I connected the USB cable between the 2, set the tablet on file transfer mode, fiddled with it a bit, the driver software saw the app, and voila, I have a 4th screen. 

This will also work in Wifi, but wired is more secure and faster. 

My triple-wide desktop, now with a small 4th display.
I stuck my desktop widgets and other stuff there.  

The software is FREE for personal use. If you have Spotify or Stock Ticker or Weather, Clock, and so on, put in on that display for extra clean look of your desktop. 

And happy "Pi" Day. 

(3/14, get it?)

Windows 11 Audio Weirdness: Bluetooth vs Wired, Headphone vs Headset, and More

I do some Youtube videos and one of the ways is to use NVIDIA Shadowplay to both capture the foodtage AND to add live commentary. However, it seems that Win11 has changed the way things are set it's a royal PITA to connect Bluetooth headset, but only use it as Bluetooth headphones. It seems you cannot "choose" that, but you have to disable it under Settings // System // Sound then find Microphone section, find the Bluetooth microphone, and click on "don't allow". 

There are other ways, but they come with additional drawbacks. One of the ways offered up by Google via one of the forums was go into Device Manager and disable the device's "AVRCP" protocol driver. However, this has several problems. a) if you disable AVRCP, Windows will not detect your headset as a headphone, but as a hands-free device. What's the difference? A hands-free device, in order to give microphone fidelity, HALVES the audio transmission quality of whatever you're receiving. Since we're NOT using the microphone, and Bluetooth already has lousy audio quality (and Qualcomm's AptX supposedly helps with that, but is obviously exclusive to Qualcomm chipsets) this is a very bad compromise.