Andre Grindstaff

May 2025 Updates: New Photos Added to the Gallery, Site Enhancements, New Tutorials Added, Check It Out!

Hello visitors! I’ve made a number of updates to the website!

I added more than a handful of new images to the gallery. I’ve taken some images two years ago at Red Rock Canyon and I am pleased to show some of them to you.

There’s some other new photos added, including some food photography, in addition, to landscape photography!

I’ve added an easy to link to get to the gallery from anywhere on the site, there’s an entry to access it! It’s Photography

→ Check out the updated photo gallery

In addition, I have added a new tutorial, earlier this week, a remake of an oldie about Windows Remote Assistance, the predecessor to Quick Assist. Fully rewritten tutorial for the new remote control assistant that’s built-in to modern versions of Windows.

I have a new article/opinion piece in the works, it should be done within a week or so, it’s about the impending doom of Windows 10 and how Microsoft messed up their product end of life and how Windows 11 still hasn’t caught up to its predecessor after nearly four years being in the market and being a free upgrade.

I’ll go into how Microsoft fumbled this and how it is different from the fiasco that occurred when Windows 10 was released!

Be sure to check out the updated andreg.org!

How to Use Windows Quick Assist (for remote assistance)

Last Updated: 12/5/25

Revision Number: 4

Here’s how you open Quick Assist for when you receive support from me or someone you trust. Do not permit connections to your device to a stranger or someone soliciting to repair your device.

How to download VMware Player / VMware Workstation (and VMware Fusion)

Since VMware, LLC, was acquired by Broadcom Inc., there has been a great amount of confusion of how to download VMware Workstation virtualization software, but especially Workstation Player.

VMware, now under the umbrella of Broadcom, has taken down (or at least broke) download links to download VMware Workstation Player, the free version of VMware Workstation. And if you were to search online, regardless of which search engine you use, you would have a difficult time figuring out how to download the latest versions of Workstation Player. There seems to be a lack of quality results, dictating how to acquire it. I spent a couple of weeks, off and on, trying to find out how to get Workstation Player, I even called up VMware to find some answers. For those who don’t know, I am investor in Broadcom, Inc., but I don’t have a license for Workstation, I am a free user of Workstation Player, not Workstation Pro.

How to Reset the Windows Store

Last Updated: 5/13/25

Revision Number: 5

With the many PC system configurations and different kinds of software, in time, things can go wrong with Windows Store app update failing, corrupt databases, corrupt operating system files or as simple as the Store crashing.

Christmas Message for 2023

Merry Christmas, everyone! I want to take a moment to thank you all for sticking around, even the people who have soft blocked me (on Twitter), even to all the grinches around the world! I’m blessed to have the friends and those who I’m closest with!

Although it was a tough year at home, from the deteriorating state of my father to the threats and harassment for solely exercising my 1st amendment rights, my inability to land a job. Despite that, you all made it special and worthwhile.

Even if we don’t message often, even if we’ve never shared a direct message, even those who just like and retweet my tweets, thank you for being here. I’m most thankful for having the close friends I have, for God putting them in my path and sticking around. You guys are the ones who call when no one else does, you guys are the ones who when others give excuses or just call out, you guys show up, you guys have been there for me and I’m so thankful for you all.

It’s not been the happiest Christmas season for me, but I should recall how blessed I really am. May 2024 be the year I really can be independent, the year of peace, the year where I really do grow. Christ is Lord, thank you, God, for bringing your only begotten son here oh so long ago, so we can be forgiven of our sins while paying the ultimate price.

I want to thank you again, but for reading though my message! With people having 10 second attention spans, it is incredible. Haha, but in all seriousness, thank you! Merry Christmas, may this day be merry and bright, spend time with friends and family. Enjoy it well!

This message was revised and edited for viewing on this website, from Twitter.com. Click here to view the original thread.

Modpack Update #4, 11/6/23

Thank you for being an active member of the Notch’s World Minecraft server.

For more information and retrieve the latest breaking information, visit andreg.org/minecraft/status

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

If you subscribe to the modpack on CurseForge, you DON’T NEED TO MANUALLY DOWNLOAD THE UPDATE. Just update to the latest profile in CurseForge, when you right click and click Change Version Then you click Continue in the Change Profile Version pop-up dialog.

Update Notes:

Happy early Christmas to you all! I am proud to present the November 2023 Update, also known as the Light Update to the modpack! I browsed tirelessly for some mods to add not only more building blocks, but also light fixtures, with four new mods added in this update that is all about lighting: lamps, candles, and lanterns! Beyond the lighting updates, I discovered quite a wonderful mod that backports many of the most popular more modern Minecraft items to older versions, like 1.12.2, so no more having no scaffolding or no honeycomb, etc.! To learn more about those changes, click here.

This also will be known as the release that brings back immersive railroading to the modpack, after popular demand! The latest focus in the server these days is about infrastructure and transport, so it only makes sense that we add it back! As we close this year, I hope we’ll have another great year in the wonderful, from sophisticated to the delightfully simple, from the compact to the mansion, from the unique to the ubiquitous, we hope to see more next year and beyond!

Be sure to update your profile!

Feat. New Mods:
• Immersive Railroading (v1.9.1)
• Future MC (v0.2.11) (backport of newer MC items)
• Simply Light (v0.8.7)
• Additional lights (v1.2.1)
• Additional lanterns (v1.1.1b)
• Adobe Block 2 (v7.0.3)
• Sit (v1.3) (allows you to sit on any slab or stair)
• VDeco (v1.1)
• Engineer’s Doors (v0.9.1)
• BetterFPS (v1.4.8) (to improve searching reliability and performance improvements)
and more…!

Mod Updates:
• Blu’s sign pack (v1.2.1_H1)
• Immersive vehicles (core mod) (v22.12.0)
• Immersive vehicles official pack (v25)
• Moving elevators (v1.4.4)
• Supermartijn642’s Config library (v1.1.8)
• Supermartijn642’s Core library (v1.1.15)
• Security Craft (v1.9.8)

Mods removed:
• BuildCraft
• Placeable Items

New Schedule, New Hardware, and more news

I finally did it

After months of stating I, Andre, would get around to assembling a proper server, as some may know, I was operating the Notch’s World Minecraft server from various home computers, over the years. Although there was a brief period where it run on a server, it was very inadequate (and ran exceptionally poorly).

This time around, I got a somewhat last-generation system to do the job. As I mentioned causally on my Twitter and Discord, I received the system after clenching the winning bid from the Goodwill Auctions website. After a laborious amount time would pass until I would wait for the staff in that center to ship to my home. The system was equipped with a sixth gen Intel Core™ i5 desktop processor,

The server is now 6 to 1 am everyday.

Mod Update #3, 11/11/22

Thank you for being an active member of the Notch’s World Minecraft server.

For more information and retrieve the latest breaking information, visit andreg.org/minecraft/status

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

If you subscribe to the mudpack on CurseForge, you DON’T NEED TO MANUALLY DOWNLOAD THE UPDATE. Just update to the latest profile in CurseForge, when you right click and click Change Version Then you click click Continue in the Change Profile Version pop-up dialog.

Update Notes:

It is time for an upgrade in functionality! We’ve added new mods to make your builds and our server experience even more intricate!

NEW FEATURES (new additions)

The following lists the new mods that were added from update #2 (12.2.7.2)

Buildcraft (v7.99.24.8)
Immersive Vehicles Core Mod (for 1.12.2) v22.3.0
- Immersive Vehicles Base Content Mod v23 (prerequisite of Immersive Vehicles)
[IV] gıvro’s Turkish Traffic Signs Pack v1.1
Blu’s Sign Pack [MTS/IV] v1.2.0
Fairy Lights v2.2.0
MoarSigns v6.0.0.11
Placeable Items v3.3
Simple Logic – Gates v0.5.6.1

ENHANCEMENTS:

Includes updates to Security Craft (to v.1.9.3.1), Moving Elevators (to v1.3.9), Gauges and Switches (to v.1.2.8) mods

Further notes

Mod update #2 (12.2.7.2) has the same additions to update #1 (12.2.7.1), but 7.2 removed BuildCraft, as it wasn’t being used yet and it caused crashes if attempting to join our server. For more information, click here.

Download

Download update on andreg.org
Download full package on andreg.org

How to use CurseForge with Notch’s World CMP

This is now the easiest way to start playing on Notch’s World is to use CurseForge and add the profiles for you.

CRITICAL: Mod Update #2: GAME BREAKING BUG with CurseForge 12.2.7.1, 7/10/22

Thank you for being an active member of the Notch’s World Minecraft server.

For more information and retrieve the latest breaking information, visit andreg.org/minecraft/status

The recent release of the modpack on CurseForge has a game-breaking bug, it contains the Build Craft mod, which cannot be loaded while you attempt to connect to our server. As much I would like to rant about the innocence of including a mod not in use, but I would suggest you either delete the mod from the mods folder or update to the latest modpack, which is being made available right now.

Applies to: Curse Forge modpack users