Zach - A Friendly Fox

The Best Methods for Wall-Hanging Frames, Shelves, TVs, and More

By Zach | 2022-05-232022-05-23 by Zach

In this post, I’ll teach you several different products that I’ve confidently used to hang objects safely and securely on the wall of your home, from light frames to heavy televisions and more. Let’s jump right in. Photo Frames, Posters, and Other Light Objects TL;DR: Use 3M Command Strips ($19, Amazon). Best Option – Command Strips In most of the cases where you are hanging a photo frame, a poster, or another similar light object,…

Education

Wall-Mount a TV into Metal Studs with Confidence

By Zach | 2022-05-192022-05-19 by Zach

If you live in a large apartment building or high-rise built within the past 20 years, it’s very likely that your building is framed with metal studs. Follow these detailed instructions to learn how to confidently mount a television or other heavy object to the metal studs behind your drywall. Other tutorials that I found for this project didn’t go into the level of detail that made me feel comfortable. Using the technique below, I…

Personal

Your Guide to Moving and Buying a Home: Part 1

By Zach | 2022-01-25 by Zach

My wife and I are strongly considering moving out of our current detached, single-family home in the Washington D.C. Metro Area. We purchased this home in November of 2020, so we haven’t been here for very long. I move my home base relatively frequently – since graduating from university in 2015, my “permanent” address has changed six times. On average, that’s one big move every 1.1 years! I am very grateful: Each time I’ve moved,…

Personal

50 Reasons to Keep Going and Stay Motivated

By Zach | 2021-12-282021-12-28 by Zach

Sometimes, we need help when we’re feeling down. Below, I’ve provided a list of some reasons to push through the pain and sadness you might be experiencing right now. All of these reasons resonate with me in some way, and I hope at least a couple resonate with you, too. Please come back to this page when you’re not feeling well, and pick a couple of reasons that matter to you. Spend a few minutes…

Uncategorized

Essential Home Cleaning Products for Clueless Men (and Other People)

By Zach | 2021-12-23 by Zach

Do you feel like everyone else already knows how to actually clean their living space? Do you feel like it should be easy to pick out cleaning products – but it isn’t? As a Clueless Man, I’ve recently had these thoughts. But I wanted to stop using these thoughts as excuses for not cleaning my house, and so I’ve put some energy into figuring out the best way to clean. I’d like to pass on…

Uncategorized

Developing a Photography Website, Part 1: Planning

By Zach | 2021-12-13 by Zach

In August 2018, I purchased the zachfox.photography domain name and a Vultr VPS and wrote the first version of my personal photography website. I didn’t have too much of a plan at the time, besides “I want to show off and sell my photography and photography services.” I sold a few prints and digital wallpapers, but I mostly learned about web development and exactly how hard it is to sell photographic work. Now, I want…

Personal

8-Day Iceland Itinerary – November 2021

By Zach | 2021-11-092021-11-11 by Zach

Greetings, travelers! My partner and I visited Iceland for our honeymoon between October 30th and November 7th, 2021. We had a spectacular time packed full of adventure, and I’d like to share with you our itinerary, some photos, cost details, a packing list, and some travel tips. I hope that this information helps someone who is interested in visiting Iceland, especially during the off-peak season like November. I’ll start here with a summary of what…

Uncategorized

2021 Tesla Model Y Charge Port Error cp_a050

By Zach | 2021-07-182021-07-18 by Zach

I knew Tesla vehicles were notorious for problems that caused them to be undrivable, but I never expected it to happen to me. I suppose that’s what everyone thinks. We have a 2021 Model Y, picked up in February 2021. We drove the car about 150 miles on 7/16 evening without problems. The battery drained from 80-ish percent to 25-ish percent. Everything seemed normal. I got in the car on 7/17 and the screen displayed…

Computers Music

Best Headsets, Headphones, and Microphones for Remote Work and More (March 2021)

By Zach | 2021-03-22 by Zach

I wrote another blog post for High Fidelity, and it’s another one that’s a perfect fit for this blog. Below, you’ll find the original post’s text, which offers a buying guide to folks who are interested in a new headset, headphone, or microphone.

Computers Education Programming

From Hello World to Production: A Path to Web Development Success

By Zach | 2021-03-092021-03-09 by Zach

I work for High Fidelity, a technology company currently building an API that allows developers to integrate 3D, spatialized audio into their applications. I recently wrote a blog post for us, and I’d like to share it here as well: About 4.66 billion people use the Internet regularly – that’s over half of Earth’s population. Users’ time is split between content on social media, news sites, mobile apps, and more. Often, Web browsers like Google…