Tom's Tips

The release of Monster Hunter: World on PC has broken records. Powered by the unfamiliar MT Engine, Linux users were worried that they might miss out on the experience. Luckily, some got it working on day 1 (hat tip Vahron and all the users on the reddit thread). Here's a way to get it working :) Upgrade to Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver. The previous release, 17.10 Artful Aardvark didn't work for me. Install lutris . Lutris is a launcher for games on Linux. There are so many different wine versions and configuration options. Lutris manages them all for you and has installers with 'known good' configurations. Open lutris and install the 'Wine Steam' runner. (Lutris -> Manage Runners -> Wine Steam -> Install). This will let Lutris run games via a wine-installed version of steam Manage the wine version of lutris to install esync-3.13 . (Lutris-> Manage Runners -> Wine -> Manager versions -> Tick esync 3.13). This will make the latest high...

In February 2018, Taiwan launched an "Employment Gold Card",a combination of residence visa and work permit. Aimed to attract more high level professionals, the card has strict application requirements. Here's some information on those and a step-by-step guide on how to apply (see also: official guide ). Do I qualify? You must have worked in one of the below eight fields, and met requirements within the field. This is a very brief unofficial summary not to be relied on - please refer to the supporting document for your field for the official information. Other than law and architecture you only need to meet one of the criteria, and most have a catch-all entry for "other" qualifications as approved by the relevant ministry. Salary references are monthly. This post was updated in October 2019 with to reflect relaxed qualifications in Sport and Culture.   Field Requirements Supporting Documents Science and Technolog...

 Taiwan offers a smart card to adult foreign residents that can be used to verify their identity online. This allows some government services previously only available in person to be provided online, including: Tax return submission Applying for credit reports Accessing healthcare data from the NHI Requesting a police check Certificate of Entry and Exit dates from the NIA Ordering Face Masks Sounds great! However, the system relies on some ironically insecure/outdated technology, a mishmash of different browser plugins and very few support staff know about its existence. Here's a tip on how to use yours... How to get your record of Entry and Exit Dates from Taiwan's National Immigration Agency Get a Digital Citizen Certificate and set it up in your card reader Visit https://ncp.immigration.gov.tw/niaweb/entryExitForeignQuery , (if the link has changed, try clicking through English - Online Applications -Certificate of Entry and Exit Dates - (red link) P...

 Taiwan offers a smart card to adult foreign residents that can be used to verify their identity online. This allows some government services previously only available in person to be provided online, including: Tax return submission Applying for credit reports Accessing healthcare data from the NHI Requesting a police check Certificate of Entry and Exit dates from the NIA Ordering Face Masks Sounds great! However, the system relies on some ironically insecure/outdated technology, a mishmash of different browser plugins and very few support staff know about its existence. Here's a tip on how to use yours... How to get your Credit Report from Taiwan's Joint Credit Information Center Get a Digital Citizen Certificate and set it up in your card reader Visit https://apply.jcic.org.tw/CreditQueryInput.do , download and install the setup file when prompted. Close your browser and re-open it (I used Chrome, for reference) Enter your ARC ID and the CAPTCHA, ti...

The Netgear GS116Ev2 is a managed 16-port Gigabit switch with a 32Gbps backplane. If there's DHCP on the network, it will request an IP from that (look for MAC B0:7F:B9). If not, the default IP address is 192.168.0.239. The default password in the web interface is "password".

Skype for Business is the new name for Office 365 Lync. The Desktop Client does not work under Linux. Luckily, there's a pidgin plugin (pidgin-sipe) that works just fine for attending Skype for Business audio meetings. It involves a couple of advanced configuration tweaks. The guide below works find under 17.04 to set it up: https://garywoodfine.com/pidgin-office-365-lync/ There are also some notes on the desktop sharing client here: https://forums.mauilinux.org/showthread.php?tid=24347 Once setup, to join the meeting, copy the URL from the email invite and paste it in the box under Accounts > Your Account > Join Scheduled Conference.

Recently (2018-03) purchased a Philips 55PUH6002/96 Smart TV, which appears to be a Taiwan-only model 55" 4K TV. It runs Android TV, but it is very locked down (eg no Google Play Store), so here are some notes on how to get various stuff working. Model: Philips 55PUH6002/96  Max resolution: 3840x2160 @ 60 CPU: ARM Cortex A53 (supports arm64) GPU: Mali-820MP4 Memory: 4GBEMMC, 1GB DDR3 Internal Storage: 2GB Android Version: 5.1.1, probably How to enable installation from unknown sources on 55PUH6002/96 Installation from unknown sources is normally hidden from view. Luckily, there is a non-invasive hack that will allow you to enable it. The PTS / 公共電視 App requires YouTube to work, which is not installed by default and can't be found in the Philips App Store. This is great, because it starts installation for it. Install the PTS / 公共電視 App from the Philips App Store When it asks to install YouTube select Yes When it complains about the package being from unknown...