Installing OBS, Virtual Webcam, RSTP, Chromecast and what not, in 2026...

OBS + Windows

I'm writing this new OBS install post, as newer releases use different options, and things were getting a little confusing. Unfortunately, not everything works as it did in the past. That might be me, or other stuff may have changed...

Rakuten Kobo - Korte handleiding voor Kobo / Kobo Plus (Dutch)

Kobo + Dutch

Voor Engelstalige boeken ben je waarschijnlijk beter uit met Amazon + Audible, maar voor Nederlandstalige boeken is Kobo misschien de betere optie.

Sharing Touch Portal settings between two PCs

Datatalk + Touch Portal

Though Touch Portal has its own backup mechanism and you can use that to share settings it does take a few clicks and a bit of attention. When you quickly want to share stuff that's not what you want.

I created a few batch files and two buttons to speed things up. Here's my approach.

Chrome 2023 Refresh and Profile Colors

Datatalk + Chrome

I like to differentiate my Chrome profiles by different tab colors, but the 'Chrome 2023 Refresh' enforced pastel colors on us poor users. I had not spotted that yet, but when I made a profile change, I suddenly couldn't select my original color again. Instead, we now have 'themes' that don't do what I want...

But it's fixable... for now...

Launch applications from Touch Portal (or any other launcher) and force them to the front

Datatalk + Touch Portal

No matter how hard you try, sometimes Windows 11 doesn't let you push a window to the front. It can drive me nuts!

Why doesn't Windows have a, per application, setting to allow that specific application to be brought to the front by other apps and itself? It would save a lot of headaches.

Countdown to 2023... Shortcuts to webpages using Chrome profiles

Countdown + Chrome

You can launch Chrome with a specific user profile, but, unfortunately, there's no easy way AFAIK to discern which profile number matches a specific profile name. Here's a. how to figure out the profile number, and b. how to share batch files and scripts over different machines with different profile names.

Why? Because you might use the same website with different profiles, ie. settings, and you don't want to manually log out and in again.

TouchPortal - Launching troublesome applications

Datatalk + Touch Portal

Sometimes you want to launch another application from within TouchPortal, and it simply won't work, or behave oddly. I had a lot of troubles launching good old PhotoImpact X3 from TouchPortal, but thank heavens someone in the TouchPortal Discord suggested to use compatibility mode... Pfew!

Here are some things to try...

Chrome Profiles - Renaming, organizing, migrating, opening pages with specific profiles

Datatalk + Chrome

Google Chrome has profile support, allowing you to use different 'identities' when browsing the web.

A practical example is to use one account to write a blog, and a second account to test the functionality of that blog with a user name.

Facebook / Messenger Meetings (Dutch)

Datatalk + Dutch

Corona en kerstdagen...

Wil je mekaar toch een keer zien dan zijn er allerlei oplossingen, zoals mondkapjes, hazmat pakken, buiten blijven... of je gebruikt een App zoals FaceBook (Messenger) of WhatsApp.

In dit voorbeeld: FaceBook (Messenger).

WaitWindow - checking for open and closed windows from a batchfile

Datatalk + Waitwindow

This is a little command line tool I wrote to help me check from a batch file for windows which are open or closed. It can also launch other programs if a specific condition is met.

I couldn't find what I needed, and so I wrote it myself... You can download waitwindow.exe and waitfile.exe here.

(Searching for wallpapers may have brought you to this page. If so, try this link for a selection from the wallpapers that I collected.)

GoogleDocs getting slow (lagging when typing and searching)? Blame Grammarly!

Datatalk + Google Docs + Grammarly

I noticed that, sometimes, GoogleDocs suddenly slowed down. It looks like the culprit is Grammarly. The fix is easy, though a little illogical.

Read on if you installed Grammarly...

Windows 10 shortcuts to batch files and Store Apps

Windows

Windows 10 is pretty inconsistent when it comes to creating and pinning shortcuts. Here's some information if you need to pin a shortcut to a batchfile to the taskbar, if you want to create a desktop shortcut to a Microsoft Store App, or if you want to automate stuff...

Chrome - home button, pin to taskbar, default page on new tab, custom homepage

Chrome is my favorite browser. It has an important place in my daily workflow, but by organizing things a little I save a couple of clicks on every startup, adding up to quite a few clicks per day.

Combining PC and Tablet / Tablet as monitor / TV as monitor / Tablet as sketchpad in Teams

Datatalk / Windows 10 / Windows 11 / Multi Monitor.

Use your tablet as an extra screen or input device for your PC, or as a sketchpad for meetings. This post only describes solutions for Windows 10 in combination with an Android tablet, but there are similar options when you're using a Mac and / or an iPad.

Nerd - Level 2.1

3D Printing.

Define 'nerd'...

If it's a person who enjoys an overly complex technical solution for a problem that doesn't need to be solved... then... Yes! Guilty, your honor!

My own kids, fairly used to their father being a bit... euh... eccentric 😁 shake their heads in disbelief (and perhaps a little disappointment). Which means... Mission accomplished!

Linux Mint on Asus EeePc Netbook 1005HA

I am not a Linux expert and never will be.

But this old Netbook that's gathering dust might just get a second chance at life, so I dusted it off and gave it a spin. It once ran Windows XP well but that's no longer an option...

Right-sizing a home-server PSU

Datatalk

I am running a small, Windows 7 based home-server in my home. Its primary function is to serve music to my Squeezebox music player(s), but it also serves as my file server and movie transcoder.

I needed to replace the PSU, but what is a proper size?