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Category: Technology

How To Use USB Modem
05.15.09 |Internet, Technology| Permalink | 1 Comment
Many have asked me what USB Modem is or how it is used. Well with advanced technology, we do not need any wire to make a call or use Internet.

A few months back I bought an USB Modem from Celcom for a backup Internet usage. It is important for me because I need it for my work. It is kind of frustrating when I am in a teleconference and my ISP decided to sleep.

The Vodafone USB modem allows me to insert a SIM card, the normal SIM card that you would use for a mobile phone. You can use any local telecommunication SIM. You can pick from Maxis, Celcom or Digi. Whichever that provides you with the best internet plan for your need. I went for Celcom Prepaid broadband as it is my backup ISP. The 3G speed is pretty good.

Here are some pictures of how you would go about using it.
1. Plug in the SIM card into the USB Modem. Actually the SIM should face down for this model. I took the picture face up to show you the SIM.
2. Plug the USB modem to a USB port on your notebook or PC.
3. The USB modem will come with mobile connection software that is store inside the memory of the modem. It is pretty need. Your PC should be able to auto run for installation. It will also install a SMS program that allows you to use it to activate your SIM, top up and check balance on the SIM. You do not need a mobile phone to do any of those.
4. Once the installation is completed, you can launch it and detect available signals around your area.
5. Select the 3G signal as the GPRS signal is slower. The cool thing about this Vodafone USB modem is that the color led light will tell you which kind of mobile network it is connected to.
6. Once you are connected, you can start surfing. No other configuration required. It is that simple!
The SMS program:

Popularity: 3% [?]
Celcom Prepaid & USB Modem
04.17.09 |Technology| Permalink | 6 Comments

What do you do when you do not have Internet? The other day when I was having a telecon at night, working from home, my streamyx went down. It was frustrating because I cannot view the presentation. After the meeting, I didn’t know what to do as I cannot surf or work. I had to resort to watching TV. My friend did the same thing.

I faced the same problem every time I return back to my hometown. No internet available in my parent’s place. Today I was at LowYat Plaza with a mission to source for the cheapest way to get myself on Internet. You cannot put a techie like me without Internet.

I got myself a Vadafone USB modem with Celcom Broadband Prepaid Pack. Celcom Broadband Prepaid is a life saver for me as I can pay for the internet when I need it. No monthly fee, no activation fee and no contract. The daily rate is RM6 and the weekly rate is RM20. I can live with that.

It is my backup solution if my streamyx goes down. With the USB modem, it is plug and connects. Wah lah, I got myself connected within a few minutes. The USB modem provides HSDPA connection with 3G. It is just so cool!! I wonder if I can plug the Celcom SIM into my iPhone?

P/S: Performance is not bad.

Popularity: 3% [?]
Upside Down Notebook Screen
04.03.09 |Technology| Permalink | 2 Comments

I pulled out my DVD drive from my notebook and everything went upside down. Yeah the screen turned upside down. I was chatting with a friend and I have to turn my head to read what she was typing. She told me to reboot my notebook. I did reboot, put it to safe mode but it doesn’t help.

I had to Google for answer. It is putting my brain to the test because I move my mouse right, it went left. I move it up and it went down. Fortunately the mouse clicks are the same. I have to retrain my brain to think opposite.

Oh well, finally got the answer to turn the screen right side up by going to the display screen with all windows minimize. Right click -> graphics options -> rotation -> normal. I wonder why do they have this option to begin with??!!

Popularity: 3% [?]
Not My Day
01.15.09 |Myself, Technology| Permalink | Comments Off

Two days ago, someone called me up to say there is a big problem with his PC. He told me that all his web applications cannot run. He was blaming the network, he has to blame something right. It wasn’t the network as I tried accessing some URL and it was successful.

Next, he told me it was the application problem. It cannot be because 3 web applications cannot run. After I did some troubleshooting, I found out the scripting doesn’t work on the browser. Conclusion, the browser was the culprit. I checked the setting to ensure scripting is enabled and even set the lowest security. The browser still remains problematic.

After a few hours of troubleshooting and running out of workable idea, I asked him to install firefox. With firefox, all his web applications work.

However, he still needs the IE to be fixed. Today basically I asked him to reformat the PC because the IE is corrupted big time. He even installed IE7 and still all his applications didn’t work. Funny thing is that there is no version, product id and info showing in the IE about box.

Oh well, I didn’t give up and thought maybe reapplying XP Service Pack 2, it may get it to work. After applying the XP Service Pack 2, it restarted the PC. Now it is still in processing mode and never got to the login screen, after an hour. Bumma, now he really has to reformat the PC. It is just not my day with fixing things.

I am still keeping my finger cross, that it will complete processing and go to the login screen. Tomorrow will be a new day!

Popularity: 2% [?]
4G SD High Capacity
12.21.08 |PP, Technology| Permalink | Comments Off

Battery Check! Memory Check! Camera Check!

I believed I am set to take some great photographs. I have encountered many times whenever I am on a trip ready to take pictures, I bump into different problems. Once my batteries went flat and another time, I ran out of memory in my SD card.

The other day, my friend was asked to become a photographer for the kindy concern. He got 1 G of memory card. With the first 15 minutes, everything is used up.

Now I am glad SD card comes with High Capacity storage. It comes in 4G or 8G. I am glad my camera can take in both. Now I never am going to run out of memory. Imagine I captured the entire Lion King performance in Disneyland with the 4G SD card.

I also have a solution with batteries. I get Sanyo Eneloop batteries which lasts a longer period. Even if you don’t use it, it still works.

I am all set!

Popularity: 2% [?]
Apple WIFI AirPort Extreme
12.03.08 |Technology| Permalink | Comments Off

My hubby bought an Apple WIFI Airport Extreme. Now you may asked what does it do? Well, it connects everything without any wire. Now I can print to the printer anywhere in the house or access to any share folders in any PC/MAC. Basically, it can build a wireless network in the house without any cable.

It allows me to surf internet anywhere in the house too, so does my old router. But the airport extreme provides high speed access. With this thing, I practically can build a internet café in my house.

Still don’t know what I am talking about? Look at this picture.

I had to do a little spring cleaning in my study room just for this thing. We need to put the modem, printer and airport in one location.

Popularity: 3% [?]
How To Read 4G SD Card?
12.02.08 |Technology| Permalink | 1 Comment

I got two pieces of 4G SDHC card for my Hong Kong trip. With 8G of memory to play with and yet it was only just sufficient for my trip. Yeah, I had a lot of video to take when I was in HK Disneyland. I had the entire Lion King performance in video.

When I got back, my HP notebook couldn’t read the 4G SD High Capacity card. I google for info and found out that I need to upgrade my notebook card reader. Yeap, I went to download the latest card reader driver from hp.com. The card reader driver is Texas Instruments Media Card Reader Driver 2.0.0.8 A. Download here.

After I install it, I could read the high capacity card. I could load all the pictures and videos into my notebook. SWEET!

Now SD HC comes in 8G too. Wow 8G in a small piece of plastic. I remembered my first computer only had 20MB in the hard disk. 10MB to run the OS and 10MB for applications. That was a luxury in those days. Now 10MB is so insignificant. Time has changed and technology has advanced.

Popularity: 2% [?]
iPhone Transformer Theme
11.12.08 |Technology, iPhone| Permalink | 1 Comment

I just upgraded my iPhone firmware from 2.0 to 2.1 My friend sent me a link from iClarified and instructions were clear. The only mistake I made was I didn’t upgrade my iTunes before doing the upgrade. Result, my latest backup didn’t work. Sigh.

Thank goodness I have a July backup. However some of the photos, SMS and notes I took vanished.

The reason I wanted to hop on to 2.1 is because it is more stable and I wanted some applications that is on 2.1. Hey 2.1 also come with a installer.app

The best part I can have transformer theme and other cute themes.

In order to install these themes, I need to download the themes from www.spaziocellulare.com. It has the most collection of themes. You also need to install WinterBoard from Cydia, the other installer. Lastly you ftp the themes into iPhone using WinSCP.

Popularity: 3% [?]
HP 6910P Notebook
11.04.08 |Technology| Permalink | 1 Comment

Today I got another free new notebook to play with. It is the Compaq 6910P. It has a 14.1 inch monitor and weighs 2.3kg. As opposed to my current working notebook which is lightweight 1.3kg. Should I switch? I kind of like the touch screen for volume scroll, volume mute, wireless button and presentation button. However I find that the volume scroll is not that sensitive.

Overall the screen is huge and good for watching DVD. There’s a fingerprint reader for biometric security and it offers a TPM integrated security chip, so does my notebook. It is fairly quiet too.

The specs as below:
• CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 2.00GHz
• OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Business
• Hard Drive: 120 GB SATA @ 5400RPM
• RAM: 2.0GB DDR2 SDRAM (2 x 1GB)
• Screen: 14.1″ WXGA Widescreen (1280 x 800) (WXGA+ option available)
• Graphics: Intel GMA X3100 integrated graphics
• Optical Drive: DVD SuperMulti drive (DVD+/-RW) w/Double Layer Support
• Wireless: Intel PRO / Wireless 802.11 a/b/g/n
• Optional WWAN: Integrated HP ev2200 1xEV-DO Wireless Module
• Security: Fingerprint reader, TPM hardware-based encryption
• Weight: 5.2 lbs
• Dimensions: 13″ (Width) x 9.4″ (Depth) x 1.1″ (Height)
• Battery: 6-cell lithium ion, 55WHr
• Ports/Slots: docking connector; 1 IEEE 1394 (FireWire); 3 Universal Serial Bus (USB 2.0); VGA monitor out; S-video out; RJ-45 Ethernet LAN; RJ-11 modem; Type I/II PC Card Slot; SmartCard; SD card reader; headphone/speaker jack; microphone
• Warranty: 3 year parts and labor

Anyway, I have to carry 1 extra kg every day, forget it. I will not switch. The thought me setting up a new notebook and configuring every applications give me nightmare. I will just give it to my project manager, not sure when he/she will be on board. Funny, the notebook arrived first before my new hire.

Popularity: 2% [?]
XD Picture Card
08.19.08 |PP, Technology| Permalink | Comments Off

The other day, my digital camera flashed red light telling me that the memory card is full. Wow 1G of pictures and video. Imagine if it were a traditional camera, it will cost me a lot of film. With advance technology, xd picture card come with 2G of memory space, that is twice as much memory. It is also affordable.

With 2G, you can take over thousands of pictures. You can capture the world in your digital camera. Isn’t that great?

Popularity: 2% [?]
Notebook LCD Drank Water
08.15.08 |Technology| Permalink | 1 Comment

They don’t make notebook like they used too. I always thought the LCD screen is water proof. I was so dead wrong. The other day I was rushing for an offsite meeting. I packed a bottle drink into the notebook bag. I forgot to tighten the bottle cap. As I was walking to my car, I felt water spilling over my pants. Oh no. The bottom of the bag is wet.

Next surprise when I open my notebook, I saw water stain on the LCD display. I thought it will damage it. However the notebook did boot up without any problem. Now how do you fix a wet notebook LCD screen?

I was searching in Google to see whether I can fix the water stain in the LCD screen. Hey you can find lots of fixes in Google. I found this cool post showing step by step how to take the LCD screen apart.

No of coz I didn’t do that. I decided not to do anything because it is only water and water dry up. I will let it dry up by itself. If it doesn’t, I just send it into my company support team to repair it. It is still under warranty.

Today is the second day and it dried pretty well. Take note, if you have water stain on the LCD display, just let it dry up by itself. However if you spill water in between the keyboard, I would suggest you not to power on to prevent short circuit. Use a hair dryer to dry it up first.

The white area is the water stain.

Popularity: 4% [?]
Of Banana & Egg
08.12.08 |Technology| Permalink | 2 Comments

If you are called a banana, you are yellow on the outside which means a Chinese but white inside, which means westernize inside. An egg is a person who is white on the outside, a Westerner but yellow inside which means a westerner who stick to Chinese culture or ways. Sounds interesting isn’t it?

Sad to say I am often called a banana because I am a Chinese but I don’t know any mandarin or write/read any Chinese characters. I do speak Cantonese, one of the Chinese dialect and love watching Cantonese Hong Kong TVB series.

The other day a friend of mine gave me a Chinese website with lots of goodies about iPhone. I wanted to install some application but I have no clue what was on the website. It is Babelfish to the rescue. Now http://babelfish.yahoo.com/ allows me to enter the website URL and it will translate most of the Chinese characters in the website. It is just so cool.

Now I can understand Chinese sites using babelfish. Try it, it is fun.

Popularity: 3% [?]
Beware of Phishing
08.04.08 |Scam, Technology| Permalink | Comments Off

Today Phishing comes in many forms. Be aware of it and never fall into the trap. When I first discovered phishing, it was in the form of email. The email will ask you to go to certain site which the sender will make you think that it is legitimate.

An example would be an email from your personal bank asking you to update your personal information in the bank site. The site will have the bank logo, the same look and exactly the same functions. But the URL is different from the usual. If you update any personal information like login and password, you will fall in the trap and may lose money over it. To avoid, do check the URL and make sure it is really legitimate.

Second type of phishing is through SMS where they send you a SMS saying you won a million dollars. In order to get 1 million prize money, you need to deposit a few thousand to their bank account. Don’t be greedy even if they claim that they are from reputable company. Do check with the stated company by calling their company hotlines and not the contact in the SMS.

Third type of phishing is through phone where someone called you up, saying that they are your bank officer. They want to do bank maintenance and they will fish for confidential information. Do not give them any login or password! Better still, do not give them any information but take his/her name and contact. Call back the bank and check the references.

Beware of Phishing, they are out there to get U!

Popularity: 5% [?]
Pinhole Glasses Review
08.01.08 |PP, Technology| Permalink | 1 Comment

A package arrived for me. I love receiving packages. Have a guess what it is before scrolling down.

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Wah lah!

I received my very first free pinhole glasses. I am so excited! I have signed up to test and review this product. I have actually seen one of these pinhole eyeglasses in my local pharmacy. I was wondering what it was. I did a little online research to investigate how it works.

Pinhole Glasses consist of a series of pin size holes about 1 mm on the lens. Light enters our eyes through these pinholes, reduces the size of the circle of confusion as the restricted rays are coming straight from the viewed object. These rays do not need focusing which makes the image clearer in our eyes.

I was surprised when I tried it on without my prescription glasses, everything is so clear. By the way I am short sighted. It is kind of cool. However I still have trouble reading words far or near. I guess it takes longer for my eyes to adjust to it. Some folks claim that these pinhole glasses will improve vision, help myopia or cataracts. However some experts say that there is no scientific proof. One important benefit is that it is 100% harmless. It will not make your eyesight worst.

I will definitely put it to the test. It will be effective if I wear it frequently for at least 6 months. I probably will wear it at home else people will stare at me if I take it out.

I must say that wearing pinhole glasses help my eyes to relax. Prescription glasses can strain my eyes some times. If I read too long or work on my computer too long, my eyes will get tired easily.

It is not very effective when it is use on a dim lighting. It blocks out a substantial amount of light which lowers the quality of the images. Not encourage to use pinhole glasses at poor lighting area. It is also illegal to drive with pinhole glasses.

You have a try, it may work on you. It is cheap too! By the way come back in 6 months and I will tell you whether it has improve my vision.

Popularity: 4% [?]
Upgraded to iPhone 2.0
07.30.08 |Technology, iPhone| Permalink | 3 Comments

Finally I upgrade my first generation iPhone to 2.0. With some tips from my friends, it was easily done. It took a mere 10 minutes but of coz the download of files and recovered back up data took longer. For those who want the crack version, you can look at iclarified site. Instructions are very detailed. Please backup before doing anything.

How is the new version? Good and bad, let me talk about the bad. It is no longer installer.app but Cydia installer. I do not like Cydia as it does not allow me to add new source. You can only install apps that are there. Some claims that old apps will not be able to work on 2.0, another bad. I will miss my iZoo, iWoman, Bible Reader, weDict with pronunciation and others.

The good, there are more new apps available. I have to install it through iTunes 7.7. There are a lot of free apps out there. For you to sign up to iTunes, you need an AppleID . The bad is when you register, it asks for your credit card or pay pal US account.

Now it has a search in the contact lists which is good. It allows me connect to CISCO VPN which means I can download my company email when I am connected. And I finally got my ringtones of my favorite songs working.

There is as far as I went for a night’s work. I will blog about this when I discovered more. Do let me know if you find any good apps out there.

Popularity: 17% [?]
Laser Computer Mouse
07.25.08 |Technology| Permalink | 2 Comments

I blog about my computer mouse before. After using it for 3 months, I am very satisfied with it. Why?

First I discovered that it has a 2 year warranty. I was very surprised by it because I never knew a computer mouse has warranty. Later I found out my other MAC mouse also have warranty.

Secondly it runs on batteries as it is a laser mouse. It has provided a USB charger with 4 chargeable batteries. The mouse uses only 2 batteries. I can interchange the batteries after the battery is dead and on top of that, the charger is very useful. Environmental Friendly.

Thirdly it is portable as I can carry it with me anywhere. However the receiver is a little bit bulky but I can live with that. I still like the previous one I had, it was a prototype that the receiver can be kept in the mouse itself. The design was definitely better.

I will see how long this laser mouse can last. It should be 2 years, else I get a new one free.

Popularity: 2% [?]
Hate Spam & Block It Out For Good
07.02.08 |Technology| Permalink | Comments Off

I created a public forum for new mothers using PHPBB. It has been running for a few years and last year it started to get registration spam. Bots were creating accounts maliciously. However they cannot spam the forum because they can never get themselves activated. The forum still needs an admin to activate it.

I am not sure why they want to spam a local forum. They really have nothing better to do. I constantly get email, 30-40 emails per day on account creation. I was too lazy to look at the php code to fix it.

Today while I was sick of working, I took a look at the code and fix the spam problems for good. It took me 30 minutes to fix it. Now the forum totally block out spam for good. I haven’t received a single email on activation of account now. They can leave my mail box in peace.

If you want to block out spam in forum, try writing the simple registration form yourselves. It is not that difficult with php. The bots will be clueless on how to spam your forum and they do not want to spend extra time on it. You will be left alone.

Popularity: 1% [?]
iProtected
06.24.08 |Technology| Permalink | 3 Comments

You can steal my notebook but you cannot steal my data. Recently my company bought the encryption software called PGP to protect the data in the notebook. The data in my notebook is not encrypted.

Even if you steal my notebook, you cannot get to my data. It is encrypted with a security password. It is a powerful tool and it encrypt the whole hard disk.

It is very simple to install, in fact I didn’t know it was installed until it asked me for a password. It is advisable to defrag the hard disk before installation, it will speed things up.

After it is done, it will ask you for a password.
Now every time I boot up my notebook, it will request for a password before loading the operating system. I heard with this software you can even protect your mobile phone.

Let’s hope I don’t have amnesia and forget my password.

Popularity: 2% [?]
Memory Goes With Age
06.12.08 |PP, Technology| Permalink | Comments Off

I am getting to be very absent minded and often forget things. How I wished there is a way to upgrade my memory just like I can with my PC. Wouldn’t that be great?

But there is help for me, I can still rely on my iPhone to record things that I need to do or remember. It even has my schedule in there to remind me of when and where my meetings are. Now I hardly missed any of my night conferences. Now I can reserve the good memory for others more important tasks.

Popularity: 3% [?]
Advance Technology
06.10.08 |PP, Technology| Permalink | Comments Off

I cannot seem to chase up with technology and it is going so fast. You make a purchase of the latest and greatest PC but in 1 month, it is considered out of date. Slowly I have learn to just get what I need rather the greatest technology.

My notebook barely used for 1 year and I need to upgrade the system memory just to have Microsoft Vista on it. RAM is never ever going to be sufficient.

It is time to call out for the OS designers out there to program the OS efficiently and not waste RAM. If you know what I mean.

Popularity: 2% [?]