Miscellaneous Whatnots Archives

Day one review: Hotline Games anti-slip grip mod for Razer DeathAdder V2 Pro mouse

I've used Razer mice for years, specifically the venerable DeathAdder. I've tried loads of other mice, including the competition (G502 etc) which are impressive but just don't feel quite right to me. My Deathadder hall of fame (or, the drawer next to my desk) consists of many of the DA models, all used extensively until either destruction or upgrade - starting with the original model, through the various models with their upgraded sensors or higher DPI, until the most recent purchases of the DeathAdder Elite (wired) and the DeathAdder V2 Pro (wired/wireless).

However, as I have Sandpaper Fingers (super dry skin which is quite abrasive), the textured top surface and the silicone side rubber grips quickly get worn down to smooth, shiny surfaces, which I hate. But there is a solution... grip tape!

How to download and install builds of the latest iperf3 Windows versions

iperf3 is a very useful network throughput testing tool, however the most prominent versions available for Windows are either old, buggy or superceded by newer builds. It's always worth keeping up to date with the latest available build, but most people on Windows won't be able to compile from source due to lack of knowledge/lack of time.

The ESNet project maintains iperf3 but doesn't release compiled binaries for Windows. Sites like the high-visibility iperf.fr only host up to v3.1.3 which dates back to 2016 - six years old as of writing, and the operator of that site appears to have gone AWOL or has stopped updating it.

Fortunately, the wonderful user BudMan on the Neowin forums decided to do something about this, and has been steadily compiling the latest iperf3 builds for Windows and hosting them for download since 2014! Someone should buy BudMan a beer. Another Neowin user CryptAnalyst has also recently begun compiling for Windows and is publishing builds to their GitHub. Spoiled for choice!

https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1234695-iperf-311-windows-build/ has the latest build linked directly, and you can download all previous releases from https://files.budman.pw.

For ease of use on the command line, don't forget to extract the zip to a 'persistent' location, then add that folder to your Windows PATH environment variable (it only takes a few seconds). Here's another guide on how to do it in Windows 10; the process is very similar for Windows 7 (see also https://stackoverflow.com/questions/23400030/windows-7-add-path).

Of course, adding the iperf3 path to your Windows PATH variable is optional, but it's convenient. Once done, you can just invoke "iperf3" from a prompt like anything else. Happy throughput testing.

Compiling the HTTP Substitutions Filter module for NGINX on CentOS 7

I use NGINX for various things, including one niche case, where I rewrite and replace strings before presenting them to the user. I do this using the HTTP substitutions filter module. The readily-compiled module to accomplish this is included with the paid NGINX Plus, but is also available to DIY compile if you have the ability.

If you're just looking for precompiled .so files you can use with NGINX on CentOS 7 available from the nginx.org repository, see the end of this post.

A while ago I took the time to work out how to compile this for updates; the CentOS box I run NGINX on uses yum packages for updates, but then the subs filter module stops working. So, after half an hour or so of tinkering, quiet swearing, obtaining of additional packages, tweaking commandlines etc... I have a working oneliner to make an NGINX build which will also compile a suitable ngx_http_subs_filter_module.so file.

To compile this dynamic module you generally need to build with the same switches used for the packaged build. So, first step was to find out how it was compiled:

See how to check your compile flags, and how to build from source

Guide: Creating more professional livestreams with OBS & VoiceMeeter

I've used VoiceMeeter for years. It can be confusing at first, but its powerful features make it an invaluable tool.

During this time, quite a few people have asked me about how to configure VoiceMeeter and OBS for their own streaming needs. More recently, questions about setting up a livestream or podcast streaming setup for going live on the web-based Melon and more fully-fledged Restream.io services prompted me to update and publish a guide I'd had in my drafts for some time.

If you're a PC streamer, it's worth familiarising yourself with OBS and VoiceMeeter. This combo is really useful and opens up a tremendous amount of flexibility.

There's a lot I haven't covered in this first guide. I've barely scratched the surface of optimising OBS for recording and streaming, particularly as there is so much to cover depending on whether you are Intel/AMD or NVidia/AMD for graphics, whether you have one or two machines for presenting/gaming and streaming... NDI also creates more possibilities in this regard.

And with regard to VoiceMeeter, there's also more to cover - VBAN (low latency, uncompressed networked two-way audio), VoiceMeeter's processing and effects, the wonderful virtual insert feature which lets you route audio into a DAW via ASIO and back into VoiceMeeter as an insert... All incredibly powerful features.

I'll write further guides covering these - please leave a comment or tweet me with what you'd like to see. Likewise, if you spot any errors, please leave a comment or contact me on social media.

What is VoiceMeeter?