Windows is upside-down – What can Thomas do?

Thomas was working with a little explainer video when Windows suddenly turned into something that he calls “upside-down” mode. Everything went upside down, and the menu bar suddenly was on the top of the screen.

Thomas has been through a lot, but this was incredibly annoying. Not long ago Thomas had to fix it when Windows turn black and white, and now this… Maybe he should starting using a Mac instead, or Ubuntu? No, that cannot happen, as Thomas is too much of a Windows guy. But, this was really annoying, and Thomas had to fix the upside-down mode quickly because he was unable to do anything at the moment.

How to fix Windows turning upside-down?
How to fix Windows turning upside-down?

Take a look at the screenshot above. Thomas was sitting there and working on a video explainer, and suddenly his screen moved everything and he had to keep his head in 90 degrees to the right to read anything. Later he discovered that it could just as well have moved in the other direction, or totally upside down, but he didn’t care, all Thomas needed was to find a solution.

How did Thomas make the upside-down mode in Windows disappear?

It wasn’t much that needed to be done to fix the problem. In fact, all he needed to do was to press three buttons at the same time, and the problem was fixed. So, what did Thomas press?

The solution to the problem was to press the following buttons on the keyboard:

Control (CTRL) + ALT + UP (arrow key)

As Thomas pressed these three buttons at the same time, Windows at once jumped back to normal mode, and he could keep on working. For fun, Thomas tried clicking the same combination with the different arrow directions afterward and doing so, Thomas was able to make Windows turn right, turn left, and of course, upside down. But, he quickly returned to the normal Windows mode afterward!

Did the solution Thomas found help you as well? He certainly hopes so!

Want to read more interesting articles from Thomas? Make sure to follow him on Steemit, on Facebook, on Medium, on Twitter, on YouTube, and do not forget to visit www.thethomasstories.com.

How to turn off CPU-mining with XMR-Stak?

Thomas has been mining some Monero and Loki coins using the mining software XMR-Stak. He likes using this, and he likes having a mining machine in his room heating it up throughout the winter.

But, he also uses the mining computer for other purposes, for example as a server for the rest of his house. It has some big hard-drives on it, and these are running all day and night.

Yesterday, as Thomas checked up on the mining activity, he noticed that XMR-Stak is actually using CPU power as well do mine even more efficiently. That is nice, but Thomas doesn’t want XMR-Stak to mine using his CPU, as he wants all CPU power to be used for the server job and other things that might happen.

This is how to turn off CPU-mining with XMR-Stak in Windows

To turn off CPU mining in Windows with XMR-Stak, Thomas first opens the directory in which the miner is located. He then right-clicks the XMR-Stak.exe file and clicks “Create Shortcut.”

Right click the XMR-Stak file and click Create Shortcut
Right-click the XMR-Stak file and click Create Shortcut

When this is done, a new window is opened in which Thomas can create a shortcut. He then goes to the “Target” and adds the following text to the end: –noCPU

Thomas has to modify the target to turn off CPU mining with XMR-Stak in Windows
Thomas has to modify the target to turn off CPU mining with XMR-Stak in Windows

That is what the target line looks like for Thomas after modifying it and telling it not to mine using the CPU in Windows.

He then clicks the OK button, and next time he wants to start the miner, he simply clicks the shortcut file. XMR-Stak will then start mining, without using the CPU miner.

Thomas is really happy about this. The only thing he wants now is for the prices of Loki and Monero to moon, and he will be a rich guy!

Want to read more interesting articles from Thomas? Make sure to follow him on Steemit, on Facebook, on Medium, on Twitter, on YouTube, and do not forget to visit www.thethomasstories.com.

Windows turned black and white? How to get the colors back?

Thomas was writing an article when an incredible thing happened. He was just about to copy and paste a text when Windows suddenly went into a black and white mode. Thomas has no clue how it happened, and he has no clue how to fix the problem either.

windows went into black and white mode
Windows suddenly turned black and white. What can Thomas do to make the colors return?

Thomas had to look around the Internet to find a solution, and luckily he didn’t have to search for a very long time in order to find a solution to his problem. There is something about black and white pictures that make them look nice. But, Thomas was very annoyed when Windows went black and white, so he wanted to fix the problem at once.

The solution to his problem was a very easy one. You can take a look at the short YouTube video beneath to see the solution, or just keep reading the article beneath the video.

How Thomas got the Windows colors back?

To get the colors back to Windows, Thomas had to do a very simple thing. You probably know that the copy shortcut in Windows is Control-C. And, if you want to switch back and forth between color-mode and black/white-mode in Windows, you need to press Control-WindowsButton-C. So, they are very close to one another, but they have a very different function.

Get Windows colors back = Control+WindowsButton+C

Are you happy? Thomas is really happy the colors have returned, and he can gladly keep up writing his planned article.

Want to read more interesting articles from Thomas? Make sure to follow him on Steemit, on Facebook, on Medium, on Twitter, on YouTube, and do not forget to visit www.thethomasstories.com.

If you have more trouble getting the Windows colors back, or just want to say thank you to Thomas, use the comment field beneath, give the article a clap or an upvote, or share it with your friends online!

Visiting the Familypark in St. Margarethen (outside Vienna)

Thomas read an article about a park named Familypark as he relaxed on his sofa. He looked at the pictures and thought “I’ve got to visit that place”.

Thomas borrowed a car and headed in the direction of the Familypark, located outside the city of St. Margarethen. This is very close to Hungary, so Thomas considered paying Sopron, and the beautiful quarry located in Fertorakos. He eventually visited both places, but more about those in another article.

The car-ride from Vienna to the Familypark took about 1 hour, without much traffic to see. But, Thomas was greatly surprised upon arrival at the park. He had read that it opened at 9.00 every day and that the rides only started from 10.00. So, he expected the park to be quite empty upon arrival at 9.30. But, he was completely wrong. Before he found a place to park the car, he had to pass by hundreds of cars that had arrived even earlier than him.

One of the attractions in the Family Park - Source.
One of the attractions in the Family Park – Source.

Entering the park – entrance fees

To enter the park, Thomas had to pay 24 Euro. This fee is for all the attractions inside, meaning that he could enjoy everything on the inside after that without paying any extras. But, he had to stand in line for 10 minutes to get his ticket (even though there were 6 cashiers open). This place was much more popular than he would have imagined beforehand.

As he looked through the price-list, Thomas said to himself, that if he lived close to this park, he would have bought the annual ticket (costing only 69 euro). In other words, if you visit the park more than twice a year, the annual ticket gives you the best value.

Once inside, Thomas empties his tank (in one of the many toilets in the park) and looks for something cool to do.

Thomas spots a carousel in the park
Thomas spots a carousel in the park

At first, Thomas spots a carousel in the Familypark. It looks nice, but for people in their 30’s, this isn’t exactly the kind of program you are looking for in an amusement park.

Walking a bit further, he can see one of those rides he fears a lot. You have to sit in a chair together with others, they take you to the top, and then suddenly let you fall downwards. Luckily, this is a small one, so Thomas decides to take a seat and enjoy it.

Luckily, this ride wasn't to scary for Thomas
Luckily, this ride wasn’t too scary for Thomas

This was a nice start on the stay in the park for Thomas. Now he walks on to see what else to do. In the background, he spots a roller-coaster and hurries up to give it a try. He isn’t really so tough, but he likes to think of himself as a guy not fearing anything. As Thomas gets into the line, he is happy that it is only 25 Celsius outside, because this line would be a disaster if it would have been warmer. After 20 minutes in line, Thomas is ready to take a seat and try the rollercoaster.

Thomas enjoys the rollercoaster in the Familypark
Thomas enjoys the rollercoaster in the Familypark

It isn’t often that 60 seconds passes by this fast. There were no loops in the rollercoaster, but it still felt scary, and Thomas’ legs are shaking a bit as he leaves the car. He would like to try it once more, but he doesn’t want to spend 20 more minutes in line in order to do so. He walks on to find more cool stuff worth trying.

As he walks around in the park, he spots a very delightful little train driving people around inside parts of the park. It looks nice, and Thomas can easily imagine visiting this place with kids sometime in the future. There are loads of rides suitable for kids, and there are even fairy tale houses where you can listen to fairy tales and see famous fairy tale figures.

Lots of delightful rides for kids in the Familypark
Lots of delightful rides for kids in the Familypark
One of the fairy-tale houses in the park.
One of the fairy-tale houses in the park.

Thomas is getting hungry, and around lunch-time, he can see that there are more and more people coming into the park. He eats something quickly and is surprised that the prices aren’t higher. Since everyone visiting the park stays for the entire day, they will all have to eat something, and thus they could “push” the prices higher in the park. Luckily, they haven’t done so, and Thomas could enjoy a wiener schnitzel with fries costing him around 6 Euro.

Ready for some more action in the Familypark

As Thomas walks to the other part of the park, he can see some attractions looking more like something for adults. The first attraction catching the attention of his eye was another rollercoaster. This one is called the Götterblitz, and it looks to be a bit scarier than the first.

Rollercoaster in the Familypark
Another rollercoaster in the Familypark – Source

There is only a slight problem. By now, on a late August day, the park is so packed that you have to wait around 30 minutes (at least) to enjoy the popular rides. Thomas keeps wondering if he should have visited the park in September instead (when the local kids are attending school instead of the park), but he cannot change that at the moment.

One of the popular rides in the Familypark, ideal for kids, not so fun for adults!
One of the popular rides in the Familypark, ideal for kids, not so fun for adults!

The coolest attraction in the entire park is, without a doubt, the new flying machines, ala Leonardo da Vinci. Unfortunately, it was a terribly long line for this attraction as well, but Thomas felt as if he had to give it a try at least.

Leonardo da Vinci in Familypark
Flying with Leonardo da Vinci – Source

The picture above doesn’t show Thomas during the ride, but it for sure felt scarier than what the picture shows. If you manage, you can even make your “flight” turn upside down as it goes round and round and up and down, making it an even greater adrenaline kick than if you just take it for a normal flight.

After a long day in the park where Thomas has tried quite some rides, he feels satisfied and is ready to leave the park.

He has some trouble finding the way out of the park (he misses some signs showing where the exit can be found), but he doesn’t really mind that. As he gets back into his car it is extremely hot inside. The car has been in the sun for the entire day, so he rolls down his windows and gets ready for more action somewhere else.

Thomas got soaking wet as he tried this ride...
Thomas got soaking wet as he tried this ride…

Thomas’ short Familypark summary

It was a magnificent park, and he now understands very well why it is called a Familypark. It is not the ideal park for adults wanting to enjoy some action rides (those should rather visit Prater in Vienna), but for those with kids aged between 2 and 20, this park is perfect. And again, if Thomas had to return to Familypark another time, he would for sure try to visit the park on a day when most people are in school and kindergarten, instead of during the summer holidays when all kids are bored and their parents bring them to the Familypark.

For more information about the Familypark, visit their website.

Want to read more travel reports from Thomas? Make sure to follow him on Steemit, on Facebook, on Medium, on Twitter, and do not forget to visit www.thethomasstories.com.

 

A day-trip to Bratislava

Thomas has heard about the city of Bratislava and has wanted to visit it for a long time. Recently he got the chance to do a day trip to Bratislava, and this is his report!

Thomas in Bratislava
Thomas visits Bratislava – Source: Pixabay

Thomas woke up early in his Vienna hotel and quickly packed his stuff together. On the wait to the boat he bought some breakfast, and at 8.30 the Twin City Liner was ready to leave Vienna in order to reach Bratislava. The ticket price was 30 Euro (something Thomas found to be quite expensive), but it was still worth it as it would take him to Bratislava on the River Danube.

The boat trip took 75 minutes, and at 9:45 he arrived in Bratislava. The boat stopped in the heart of the city (Old Town), so now he was ready to discover whatever the city had to offer. His return with the boat would leave Bratislava at 16.00 (price was 20 Euro), so this is the story of what Thomas did during his six-hour stay in Bratislava.

The story of Thomas’ stay in Bratislava

He decided to start his day by getting some food. He noticed an interesting shaped “building” in the middle of the bridge had crossed under and decided to pay the UFO a visit. This is one of the most important landmarks in Bratislava, and it is a popular place to dine, so why not start the day in Bratislava with a UFO-visit?

ufo in bratislava
Thomas wants to visit the UFO in Bratislava

Thomas walks toward the bridge and follows the walking road “under” the bridge all the way to the UFO. He pays the entrance fee and takes an elevator to the top of the UFO. Here he can enjoy a spectacular view in all directions, and he uses the opportunity to grab a piece of food.

While waiting for the food to be served, Thomas takes a panorama photo with his mobile in the direction of the castle and the old town. He is very satisfied with the result.

A beautiful view towards the castle and the old town from the UFO in Bratislava
A beautiful view towards the castle and the old town from the UFO in Bratislava

Thomas wasn’t entirely satisfied with his food, but at least he got some new energy. Now he is ready to leave the UFO and get back to the old town. But, before walking around in the old town, he decides to visit the castle to see what the view is like from there and to learn more about the castle building itself.

It is a nice walk, but he uses more than 30 minutes to get from the UFO to the castle. During the walk, he takes some more pictures and notices the Martin Cathedral which seems to be a nice cathedral in the old town of Bratislava.

The Castle of Bratislava

The castle looked very impressive from the UFO, but as he gets close to the castle, he isn’t that impressed anymore. If the building would have been located in Paris, and not on a hill next to the Danube, nobody would even notice the building (at least so he thinks). But, as Thomas reads in his guidebook about the building, he understands that the castle has had a special history. A castle was first raised on the hill in the 10th century. It was later made into a gothic castle, a renaissance castle, and a baroque castle before it burned down in the start of the 19th century. It was left a ruin for more than hundred years before it was rebuilt around 1957. That kind of explains the look of the building to Thomas.

The Castle of Bratislava
The Castle of Bratislava didn’t really impress Thomas.

Thomas isn’t that much into museums, so he decides not to visit the department of the Slovak National Museum located inside the castle building. Instead, he drinks some water, makes some photos, and starts his walk towards the old town and the Martin Cathedral.

The Martin Cathedral is a nice church, but it cannot be compared to other churches Thomas has earlier. But, what should one expect from a small city like Bratislava (the city only has a population of 500,000 people). This is the most important church in Bratislava, and it has been the coronation church for kings throughout the centuries.

Martin Cathedral in Bratislava
Martin Cathedral in Bratislava

As he walks on towards the old-town he sees a beautiful tower at the end of a street (to the left). The tower is the Michaels Tower, and it is a very nice place to visit. He decides to visit the tower and pays the cheap entrance fee. As he walks towards the top he enjoys an exhibition portraying some historical objects, and from the top, he enjoys a fairly nice view towards the old town and towards the castle.

St Michals Tower
St Michals Tower, the only watchtower left in Bratislava

The building was originally built in the 14th century, but what we see today is mostly the result of the renovation work in the 18th century. It is one of the oldest buildings left in Bratislava today.

He leaves the tower and walks towards the main square of Bratislava. He can spot a little market and some restaurants along the way, but nothing that catches his interest. At the main square, Thomas can see a big fountain in the middle. This is the famous Maximillian Fountain. This monument is more than 10 meter high, and it looks very nice in the middle of the square.

main square bratislava
The main square in Bratislava with the Maximillian fountain and the old town hall

On the picture above you can see the fountain itself and in the background the old town hall with its famous clock tower. As Thomas went closer to the clock tower he noticed a little tunnel. As he walked into the tunnel he discovered a beautiful backyard, and as he went on he discovered another famous attraction in Bratislava, the Primates Palace.

The Primates Palace in Bratislava
The Primates Palace in Bratislava

As Thomas discovers the Primates Palace he starts to wonder. Is this the building he has read about? Is this what many call the most beautiful of all buildings in Bratislava? He cannot understand it. His guidebook says that it has had an important role in history and that it was here the Peace of Pressburg treaty was signed in 1805. But, who cares about that today? Thomas can say that he has seen the building, but he wasn’t very impressed!

Disappointed Thomas returns to the main square of Bratislava. Soon he gets in a better mood as a silver guy takes off his hat and greets him!

Schone Naci in Bratislava
Beautiful Ignac (Schone Naci) welcomes you to Bratislava, a popular statue in Bratislava – Source: Pixabay

Thomas immediately gets in a better mood, and as he turns his eyes back to the main square he discovers another statue. This time it is a soldier leaning onto a bench on the main square. This is one of the soldiers in the army of Napoleon, and Napoleon supposedly wore a similar hat back in the days.

French soldier in Bratislava
French soldier at the main square – Source

The boat is about to leave Bratislava

Thomas looks at his watch, and he can see that it is 15.00. He has spent quite a lot of time walking around, so he walks in the direction of the boat. He looks forward to taking a closer look at the Hviezdoslav Square, but before he gets there a crowd has gathered in front of him. Thomas wonders what’s going on, and then he sees a guy looking out from a manhole in the street. Luckily it isn’t a real person, but it is one more of these cool statues around in Bratislava. The guy he looks at is called Cumil, and he is one of the most popular attractions in all of Bratislava.

man at work in Bratislava
Cumil, a very popular statue in Bratislava.

Thomas takes a picture and walks on towards the Hviezdoslav Square. As he reaches the giant square he observes the National Theater to the left.

The National Theater in Bratislava
The National Theater in Bratislava

He quickly looks at the building, but as he loses his interest quickly, he takes a look to the right instead. There he can see lots of stands and it is some kind of market taking place at the square. There are lots of nice restaurants lined up, so the next time Thomas comes to town, he wants to grab something to eat here.

On the other side of the square, he can see a giant hotel, the Radisson Blu Carlton hotel. It might not be the nicest in Bratislava, but it has a fantastic location. Maybe this is were Thomas should stay if he ever returns to Bratislava?

The beautiful Carlton hotel at the Hviezdoslav Square in Bratislava
The beautiful Carlton hotel at the Hviezdoslav Square in Bratislava

Thomas walks on towards the river, and before he finishes his trip at the boat, he buys some chocolate and something to drink in the Billa store located on the side of the Carlton hotel building.

Refreshed he walks down to the boat and is ready to ride back to Vienna after six nice hours in Bratislava.

Thomas’ short Bratislava wrap-up

On the boat back to Vienna Thomas has some time to sum up his thoughts about Bratislava. He has enjoyed walking around in the city, but he is a bit disappointed by the city itself. He had greater expectations to the buildings and the architecture of the city. He could easily imagine spending a few days in the city for the sake of just walking around in the old town and eating in the nice restaurants. However, if the goal is to discover beautiful buildings, visit interesting museums and to be inspired by the surroundings, Thomas would rather spend an extra day in Vienna.

The main square in Bratislava
The main square in Bratislava

Have you been to Bratislava? Did you enjoy your stay? Do you feel the same way Thomas felt, or did you experience the city totally different? Write a comment and share your thoughts.

How to delete wallets inside Ethos Universal Wallet?

Thomas has been using Ethos Universal Wallet for a while. He enjoys the application, and now he has received his first cryptocurrencies as a part of the airdrop for those pre-registered for the wallet.

But, Thomas has a little problem. After installing Ethos Universal Wallet, he created lots of WatchFolio’s for fun, just to check it out. Now he is a little bit annoyed by all those WatchFolio’s existing inside his Universal Wallet with no purpose and all, and he really wants to get rid of them. The only problem is that he doesn’t find any way to do it.

Thomas wants to delete unnecessary wallets in the application, to easier see the things he are really interested in!
Thomas wants to delete unnecessary wallets in the application (Ethos Universal Wallet), to easier see the things he is really interested in!

The application seems to be a bit slow, especially upon loading it for the first time, but that is probably because the application loads information about the value of all the different cryptocurrencies as you load the application. He can understand that, and after some seconds, things start running smoother. But, why create an extra heavy load on the application by having unnecessary wallets created?

Thomas is about to open Google to ask the question: “How can I remove wallets from Ethos Universal Wallet?” Before he takes the step, he tries one last thing, which in fact is the solution to his problem.

This is how Thomas removed unnecessary wallets from Ethos Universal Wallet

To remove those unnecessary wallets inside the Ethos Universal Wallet, Thomas clicks the “Settings” option inside the application on his Android device.

There he selects “My Wallets“, and he sees an overview of all the different wallets he has created. Now he can simply click the name of the wallets he wants to delete and choose to remove/delete it.

Now Thomas has removed those unnecessary wallets, and it is much easier to keep an eye on the things and wallets that actually interest him. And with all those airdrops coming in daily to Ethos Universal Wallet holders, he is frequently visiting the wallet to see what’s flying in!

How to get rid of Telegram notifications on Android?

Thomas is using Telegram frequently to follow different chats about cryptocurrencies. He doesn’t like Telegram, and he would prefer Discord to Telegram, but since some groups only exist on Telegram, he is still forced to use it.

For a long time Thomas lived in peace with the Telegram application on his Android device, but then something happened. Suddenly Telegram started bombing his device with notifications about all sorts of activities happening in the different Telegram groups. This was way too much for him, so he opened the Telegram application, entered settings, and tried to turn off all sorts of notifications available. It helped here and there, but he still didn’t manage to get rid of all notifications.

Disable Telegram notifications on Android
Turn of annoying Telegram notifications on your mobile – Source: Pixabay

How did Thomas get rid of Telegram notifications on his Android device?

In the end, Thomas had to take a final step and it was not to uninstall the Telegram application (even though he would very much like to do so). He had to enter the “Settings” on his Android device. There he looked for “Installed apps,” and he found Telegram on the list. He then had to look for something that dealt with notifications. He selected this option and turned off all notifications (meaning that Telegram has no permission to give notifications at all).

telegram notifications on android

Since Thomas disabled all Telegram notifications he is finally at peace. He is no longer disturbed by annoying Telegram LED notifications, short beeps, or similar stuff. Whenever he is interested in reading conversations in a certain chat or group, he opens the Telegram app. He then checks out whatever he is interested in, but except for that, he stays far away from Telegram.

Thomas is very happy about the fact that he has turned off the Telegram notifications. He also hopes that these instructions will help you out. If they have, please give him a thumbs up, share the article, or follow his blog for further updates in the future!

 

Six hours in Vienna with Thomas

Thomas is sitting on the train when he hears the sound from the speaker: “Next stop is Wien Hauptbahnhof.” He puts on his backpack and gets ready to see as much as possible of Vienna in six hours.

Thomas is on a quick-stop in Vienna during his intense interrail in Europe. He doesn’t like wasting money, so he lives in hostels, sleeps on trains, and spends almost nothing on transportation, museums, and other expensive activities. Now he has arranged it so that he has six hours in the city, and then he will travel to Munich with a night train from Vienna. But, before he gets on that train Thomas wants to watch as much as possible of Vienna.

Thomas is good with maps, so he has made a plan. He knows that he will miss out on quite a lot of attractions, most importantly Schönbrunn, but he will cover the most important sights in the inner town of Vienna.

Thomas is ready to discover Vienna

Thomas leaves the train at Wien Hauptbahnhof, and he heads directly for the exit. He has already spotted the start of the super-popular shopping street Mariahilferstrasse. It is supposed to be around 2km, but for most ladies (luckily Thomas doesn’t have anyone around him on this trip) that means at least a day. Our hero doesn’t have a day to spend in this street packed with stores of all sorts, so he just walks through the street as soon as possible. He has, however, noticed that there are quite a lot of grocery stores in the street (Billa, Hofer, Merkur, Spar), meaning that he will buy some cheap food there before he gets back to the train again.

Mariahilferstrasse is fantastic if you want to do some shopping
Mariahilferstrasse is fantastic if you want to do some shopping.

As he reaches the end of Mariahilferstrasse, Vienna starts to unfold before his eyes. Looking to the left he can see the majestic Maria-Theresien Platz, and on it, two fantastic museums (Natural History Museum and Art History Museum). These are both museums in world-class, making them must-visit places for those interested in either of the subjects.

The Art History Museum at Maria-Theresien Platz in Vienna
The Art History Museum at Maria-Theresien Platz in Vienna – Source: Pixabay

Thomas already feels sad. He would have loved to enter the Natural History Museum, but he knows that time will not allow it, and since he doesn’t have any leftover money for such action, he walks between the museums and gets to the “Ringstrasse.”

A short visit to Hofburg

He feels tempted to go both left and right as he reaches the ring, but instead, he walks straight forward. He can see some fantastic building in the background, and a quick search makes him understand that he is staring at Hofburg. This is the official residence of the President of Austria, and during the Habsburg reign, this was known as the Winter Palace. There is so much to see in the area, but Thomas knows time is ticking (just like it always did for Jack Bauer in 24), so he forgets about the Imperial Library, the horse school, the museums and all the other interesting places he could have visited in the Hofburg palace.

Hofburg Vienna
The Hofburg Palace in Vienna

Thomas turns around 180 degrees, gets back to the Ring and walks to the right. He immediately discovers a classicist building that looks important. An Austrian flag is raised in front of the building which turns out to be the Austrian Parliament. Again Thomas feels overwhelmed by the beautiful and majestic buildings of Vienna. But, it is far from over…

Thomas keeps on walking along the ring, and soon he can see another giant building. It is the City Hall that was built around 1880 (just like the Austrian Parliament). He likes the neo-gothic style of the building and quickly grabs his smart-phone to make a selfie in front of the building. During some surfing Thomas did online he also read about the beautiful Christmas market that is arranged at the square in front of the City Hall every year, and Thomas has already decided that he wants to return to Vienna for a longer period of time and in order to visit the Christmas markets sometimes soon!

The City Hall in Vienna
Thomas Ledl, Wien Rathaus hochauflösend, CC BY-SA 4.0

Time to leave the ring and enter the inner-city

Thomas walks on along the ring and smiles as he walks by Cafe Landtmann, a cafe in which celebrities such as Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler, Peter Altenberg, and Felix Salten have discussed life’s big issues while drinking coffee a long time ago. Thomas would like to stop for a cup of coffee and a wiener schnitzel himself, but that will have to way. There is much more to see in Vienna before he returns to the train.

As Thomas gets to Schottengasse (located by the metro stop Schottengasse) he turns right. He doesn’t feel convinced that he has read his map correctly, but he trusts his instinct and walks in a high tempo. He is getting warm, and his back is soaking wet as he is sweating a lot because of his big backpack. He sees a Starbucks and feels tempted to take a break, but once again his will is stronger and he keeps on walking.

He reaches a Billa on the right side of the street. He walks in and buys a bottle of water and some chocolate. He leaves the store and walks along Freyung (which is a bit to the left). This is another location known for a big and nice Christmas market, but since it is in the middle of the summer, Thomas doesn’t see anything related to Christmas currently.

He walks straight ahead touching Heidenschuss, Am Hof, and Bognergasse, before he discovers that he has entered into the famous Graben (one of the big main shopping streets in Vienna). Before he got there, he passed by some very luxurious stores like Prada, Briono, Saint Laurent and others. Thomas has never understood why people will spend so much money on clothes, but if he gets very rich one day, maybe he will understand.

(Thomas considered walking in Herrengasse instead of Freyung. If he had done so, he would have passed by some beautiful buildings, museums, and ended up Michaelerplatz, from which he could have entered into Hofburg using the opposite entrance compared to where he entered a few hours ago. Had he done so, he would now have walked to the left down Kohlmarkt and ended up at the same spot at which he is currently standing).

Graben, Stephansdom, and Kärtner Strasse

Thomas is impressed by the size Graben. The street is big, with majestic buildings surrounding him on both sides. There are thousands of people walking around drinking coffee, eating ice cream, or just rushing home from work.

As Thomas gets to the end of Graben, he spots the most famous church in Vienna on his left side. He closes up to take a picture of the Stephansdom and also walks in to see what it is like on the inside. He has seen lots of churches before, and he isn’t that impressed with the church itself, but that doesn’t ruin his general impression of the city.

Stephansdom
Stephansdom in Vienna – Source: Pixabay

He returns to the end of Graben and continues his walk in the Kärtner Strasse. This is maybe the nicest looking shopping street in all of Vienna, and it is crowded with people. There is a mixture of locals and tourists walking up and down, and Thomas runs into a souvenir shop to buy a Manner (chocolate biscuit kind of thing from Austria). At the end of the street, he discovers the famous Hotel Sacher. Based on his quick math, he could stay about 15 nights at almost any hostel in Vienna for the same price as he could stay one night in this hotel. But, even if he doesn’t want to stay in the hotel, he would have loved to enter the cafe in order to taste an authentic Sacher Cake at the legendary Hotel Sacher. But, that will have to wait for another visit.

Instead, Thomas finds his camera. Beautiful building coming up! It looks majestic as he walks next to it, and as he gets to the face, he simply knows that the Austrian State Opera is another building he wants to take a closer look at some other time. And even if he cannot stand listening to opera, even Thomas feels tempted to buy a ticket for a performance based on the extraordinary look fo the building.

State Opera Vienna
The magnificent State Opera in Vienna – Source: Shutterstock

Thomas is preparing to get back to the train station

Thomas has had a fantastic walk so far. He is now getting ready to return to the train station, but he decides to walk straight ahead in Kärtner Strasse. He is soon at Karls Platz, and he can see the Karlskirche at the end of the square (to the left). He walks in the opposite direction, follows the ring, and soon he can see a big Nordsee sign. This is the start of “Naschmarkt”, a popular place in Vienna for shopping. It is a market where you can buy fresh meat, food, and groceries, and of course, eat a lot. Thomas takes a look at this for a few minutes.

Once finished, Thomas along Getreidemarkt, and after a few hundred meters he has reached a spot he has been on before, the end of the Mariahilferstrasse from which he spotted the Maria-Theresien Platz many hours ago.

Thomas walks into the Mariahilferstrasse once again. He has time to enter the Merkur store where he buys some fresh groceries and drinks that he will enjoy during his train ride. He also buys some more Manner biscuits, a package of “Mozart kugel,” and a bottle of Austrian schnaps for his father.

Thomas wants to visit Schönbrunn during his next trip to Vienna
Thomas wants to visit Schönbrunn during his next trip to Vienna

After 5 hours of intense walking, Thomas has now returned to the train station. He is happy about his stay in Vienna, but he looks very much forward to visit the city again. There is so much he hasn’t had time to see and discover, and highest on the list is Schönbrunn and Belvedere.

Want to read more travel reports from Thomas? Make sure to follow him on Steemit, on Facebook, on Medium, on Twitter, and do not forget to visit www.thethomasstories.com.

How to see the value of Steemit upvotes on your articles?

Thomas has been writing some articles on Steemit, and he feels addicted to the platform. But, to gain even more audience, he has decided to use some voting bots to turn “Hot” or maybe even “Trending.” But, he isn’t sure about whether or not it is worth it. 

Thomas once visited DTube, and there he noticed that you can see the actual value of every single upvote as you press the upvote button. Or, you might not see the value of all the upvotes, but at least the most valuable upvotes. Now Thomas wants to find something similar for Steemit, as he wants to know whether the upvote bots give as much back as he pays for their upvotes.

See the value of Steemit upvotes

Let us say that Thomas pays 3 STD for an upvote using an upvote bot. Now 75% of the “income” goes to the author, while the rest is normally going out as curator fees. That means the value of the upvote of the bot should be at least 33% higher than what you pay if it is supposed to be a 0 project. If he wants it to be a plus project, it should be even higher. And considering that Thomas often uses SteemPress (which takes 15% of all income), it would be great if the upvote had even higher value.

Right now Thomas doesn’t care so much about the mathematics, he is simply interested in finding out whether or not there is a way to see the value of an upvote on his article and videos. And yes, he has found a way.

What Thomas does to see the value of Steemit votes

Whenever Thomas has written an article and he wants to see the value of the votes coming in, he visits SteemPeak. There he checks his own profile and hovers the mouse over the heart, and at once he can see the value of the upvotes on his article.

upvote value on steempeak
Thomas can now see the value of Steemit upvotes on his articles.

He uses this frequently to check out the value of different votes, and he is happy about the service. SteemPeak has several other useful functions as well, but Thomas hasn’t looked deeply into those yet. Maybe some other time.

Thomas is now getting a thorough overview of the value of the upvotes of bots and actual people reading his article. He finds it useful and he is very happy!

 

Thomas wants Google to Index his content NOW!

Thomas is writing his stories at www.thethomasstories.com, but it can take Google weeks to index his content. What can he do to make those lazy bots index his articles faster?

Thomas is a quite patient guy, at least if he gets what he wants right now. He never wants anything for Christmas, because at the moment he discovers that he is in need of something, he has already ordered it from Amazon, eBay, or AliExpress. He is a guy that gets things done, but he isn’t always understanding when other people delay his work… like Google does when they do not index his articles at once!

Thomas is extremely fed up with Google

Can you imagine? Thomas wrote an article about an event that took place a few days after the article was written. He came up with information about the event, where to park your car, ticket prices and more. But, nobody visited the article at all. Thomas felt like he had wasted his time, and he quickly understood why… Google hadn’t indexed the site, and it was impossible to find it in the search engine. What is the solution for Thomas?

In his despair, Thomas has found a solution! This is what he has done to make Google index his articles (normally) in a few minutes.

What Thomas does to make Google index his articles

  • Thomas has registered his website in the Google Search Console.
  • He has added a sitemap of his website in the Search Console.
  • Now he finds the URL of the article he wants Google to index.
  • He clicks on “Crawl” and then “Fetch as Google.”
  • He adds the URL of the article he wants Google to Index and presses “Fetch.”
  • He now clicks “Request Indexing” and follows the instructions.
  • The article should be indexed by Google within a few minutes/hours.

Thomas has found out that this works almost always. But, there is one exception. Thomas started to doubt this method as he noticed that several articles didn’t get indexed at once, and it could take days, even when he used the method.

index by google
What to press to make Google index your articles quickly!

But, Thomas believes that he understands what the keyword is… quality content!

Google indexing and quality

The times when it has taken Google days to index his content is when the quality of the content has been very similar to other websites online. The articles didn’t say anything that hasn’t been said before, and for that reason, the Google bot made a decision to put the article on hold for some days, as those looking for information can find all the information of the given article in other articles online anyway.

Now Thomas is ready to publish this article. He has worked a lot on it, and he has even prepared a little YouTube video with the instructions. After publishing, he will follow his very own instructions from this article, and then he will update this article to tell you how long it took Google to index the article.

Time from publishing to indexing by Google: 2 minutes

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