my Computer Quest

Rooting the LG Optimus SOL

2012-01-16T10:52:00.002+08:00

Image by LGEPR via FlickrImage by LGEPR via FlickrImage by LGEPR via FlickrImage via Wikipedia16-Jan-2012

Even with my recent success in rooting the Samsung Galaxy R, I thought, of course, with much hesitation, of rooting my daughter’s LG Optimus Sol phone. This time around, the anxiety is more, since the unit is no longer mine. Should something happen, my daughter, not to mention my wife, will give me a good scolding. Well, my wife usually give me a good dose when see sees me doing something that she thinks doesn’t benefit anybody in the house. Don’t we men usually go into this kind of preoccupation?

I’m done with the rooting of the Samsung Galary R phone. Now, I’m off to attempt the rooting of the LG Optimus Sol, E730.

I plugged in the device to my laptop using USB connection. I thought it was the same as the other phone: plug, click, wait, watch, success. But, it was a wait, watch, failure!

What has happened?

So it’s true what they say. A freshman enters high school and is blur all throughout the year, and eventually he learns a lot – but not all. Yet, on the second year, he thinks he knows everything already. So the term ‘sophomoric’.

I thought I knew it all about rooting. But I failed.

I tried many times. In fact, SuperOneClick didn’t work. So I tried searching for other one-click rooting tools. I downloaded and tried UnlockRoot, and it also failed. I also tried DooMLoRD's Easy Rooting Toolkit, but it also failed.

With the use of 3 different one-click rooting tools, and all failing, I was thinking that something else could be the problem. We all think this way when something doesn’t happen the way we want it, don’t we. But when it succeeds, we don’t, right?

Anyway, it took me about 3 days to finally determine that I lack one fundamental requirement for rooting: the USB drivers. And hey, it could not be my entire fault. Plug-and-play dictates that the drivers, not only USB, would be installed when a ‘new’ device is plugged in to a computer – which it didn’t.

Fortunately, I don’t give up that easily. I searched, and searched, and searched, until I found that there is downloadable software from LG: LGMobile Update, and from there, LG PC Suite IV. I was downloading the USB drivers from the LGMobile Update interface, but I found that after installing the LG PC Suite IV software, it did the same, and in auto mode at that. So finally, I got the USB drivers from the LG Optimus Sol device. And all the other drivers specifically designed from the Sol unit.

So what now?

Right after, I made a new attempt to root the device, and guess what. This time, it was a success. Of course, I was inclined to the simpler and more presentable interface of SuperOneClick root-er, so that is what I used, and just like with the Samsung Galary R, I clicked, and waited, and watched, and success!

Next: Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V. but I haven’t found any effective rooting program yet for this one. I don’t lose hope. I know it will come. In time.

Till then!

Root-ing my Samsung Galary R

2012-01-16T08:50:00.002+08:00

Image via WikipediaImage by Yutaka Tsutano via FlickrImage via WikipediaImage by benmarvin via FlickrImage via WikipediaImage via CrunchBase16-Jan-2012

I did it last week.

I mean, I've not been doing anything with the iPhone 4 when my wife got hers, since I'm not really enamored with the iPhone, even when it was only 3, then 3S. And when my wife got hers, it was already 4, and I was simply ignoring that small device which has captivated millions (is my estimate correct?) all over the world. And it still does, but I will never be in the statistics.

You see, when I got my Samsung Galary R over a month ago, I felt it was a very good deal, unit price promo-ed at only $11 at the least plan that will have data access, not to mention that the SGR was already a dual-core device, albeit a toned-down version of the Samsung Galaxy S II.

Anyway, I was immediately introduced to the already huge world of android freebies, primarily through the Android Market, and then to the all-free spree being done in all of the major android sites - always. And this is something that I enjoyed on what the web has to offer - freebies!

Anyway, I also immediately found that many of the stronger apps out there (and yet still free) are requiring the device to be 'rooted' - a limitless, all-access, superuser account category - that would be able to control the device from the very core.

Then I found that to root a device, it will void the warranty, and that the process of rooting, if done wrongly, may render the device unusable, 'bricked' so they say, ending up simply as a beautifully-formed glass and metal (and plastic) artwork.

Furthermore, it is a cat-and-mouse chase: while you may succeed rooting your device, phone manufacturers will eventually release a firmware update, which will unroot your device and clear any superuser accounts, and reinstate the device to its unrooted state. So hackers (developers to be precise) who are not content with that will again try to develop rooting methods and programs that will again be able to 'root' the device even with the latest firmware. Then manufacturers will release a firware update... it just never ends!

So I had my hesitation... take note, I had...

But the best of me yielded to the 'risk-taking', and on the 12th of January, I did my first rooting business - and I succeeded.

What made it all too easy is that I found several articles that offered help by laying down the process step-by-step, so I was fully familiar with that I should be doing, but finally, I found that I only have to click a button, and wait, and watch, and it's done. Is it too good to be true?

Well, it was. I used SuperOneClick. With all the hesitation in my mind, my finger steely clicked the mouse button, and I waited, and I watched, and it was a success! SU was created, and I had superuser access to the rooted device! That finally gave me the privilege to install those free apps that will help me take control of my small device from the very core.

So that's it. My small, yet very fruitful, new adventure: rooting my android device. And I showed my phone to my wife, and she wanted an exchange...

See, not everyone who gets the iPhone are really iPhone fanatics. My wife is one who would prefer the 'better' deal. She thinks the iPhone is outdated. I think all the more that it is outdated. It is like the IBM story, closed, proprietary, unaccommodating. Then PC came. Android has come, but devices will still be rooted. The limits and boundaries may be set and defined, but there are many who just can't be boxed and enclosed.

Android is freedom, and the exercise of freedom makes android users freer.

Till then!

Codec Pack and Filters for playing flac in WMP/Classic Media Player

2011-12-21T10:59:00.002+08:00

Image via Wikipedia
21-Dec-2011

I was searching for the Christmas songs that I downloaded, so I can play them while working. It took a while, for it would only be opened once a year, but anyway, these are the Carpenters songs, and lo and behold, they are in flac format.

So when I tried to open them in Windows Media Player, I was alerted of a probable problem, that the audio format is unsupported.

I therefore searched for this issue, and found a good forum, where the different media players are discussed, the pros and cons, and the various audio formats are also put to the test and evaluated, and of course, the heated arguments are there – usually balanced off by the cool-headed arguers.

Anyway, I got what I wanted, and acquired what I needed, to play the Christmas songs.

But I learned a couple of things from that forum, which is here: Windows Media Player: How do I Play Ogg and FLAC Files in WMP?.

As for the codecs, I downloaded from here, K-Lite Codec Pack.

This is because I decided to stick with Windows Media Player and Media Player Classic Home Cinema. Others went on to advocate VLC media player, or foobar2000, or MediaMonkey, or Zoom player, or what have you!

I also installed DFX audio enhancer for Windows Media Player, which I got from wmplugins site. I just got the free version.

And the other codec pack that I installed (the first one actually) is from Xiph.org: Directshow Filters for Ogg Vorbis, Speex, Theora, FLAC, and WebM.

Findings:

It was not so good for Windows Media Player, in that while it was able to play the flac format, the sound quality was ‘thin’ – kinda squeaky, like there was no mid to low audio information. But when I switched to Media Player Classic, the full sound spectrum was there.

Now at this point, I can’t say what is wrong, so I will reserve my comments what Windows Media Player isn’t at all good for playing flac audio format. For all the good points that users threw at the forum, I am one who will also vouch for this free media player. It is best at its good points, and only poor at its weak points, for one reason that I can presume: those who made it, whatever they fitted it with, made it at its best, so what third-party providers add in, it isn’t – or it may never be – at its best.

Remember Edward Scissorhands? He didn’t get a heart, but he got scissors for his hands, and they functioned very well, he used them very well. It’s like that for Windows Media Player.

Okay, so I will end here, and here’s to wish everyone a very blessed Christmas, and a joyful New Year!

Till then!

Using Kies with my Samsung Galary R (GT-I9103)

2011-12-12T13:19:00.001+08:00

Image by low.lighting via Flickr
12-Dec-2011

I wrote about my experience using iTunes the past week, and today, I am writing my encounter with Samsung Kies. Well, I didn’t have a plan to buy a new phone for myself last week, but it was just for my daughter, who is now entering secondary school next year. The deal was simply to get her a new phone, whose price
is not exceeding her PSLE score, when she renews her phone subscription plan contract.

Well, I should have done this a long, long time ago, but it was only this year that I am moving over, due to some bad publicity that Starhub had, where the reception signal isn’t quite good.

That may have changed along over the years.

So from Singtel, the whole family will be migrating over to Starhub. That started with my wife, which was also when she got her iPhone, first quarter of the year, and then last week, one of my daughters, and at the spur of the moment, including me.

After attending worship service at the church, we had lunch, and decided to pass by and do window shopping for phones to probably buy, but actually, to check out the brand and model she’s been eyeing, since the November company road show they held at our factory, I mean, Starhub team. She saw the Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S, but the price of the unit, under the plan we were targeting, whew! It’s quite for our budget, (but it is within her agreed amount, remember, PSLE score; we actually can buy 4 units…)

Our contracts were ended at the same time, somewhere in August, so anytime, we can sign up for a new one, and it was just a matter of time.

So we went to see and touch, check and compare, etc., etc., etc. Then what was available made her change her mind. It was due to the price, lower than what is offered for the Xperia arc S, but on another brand and model. That day, 4th of December, LG Optimus Sol and Optimus 2x, were just being released into the market, and they come with very good packages.

She decided first to get the Optimus 2x Plus package, which is Plus due to the charging dock, on top of the usual charger, and the additional 2GB SD memory. The phone already is fitted with 8GB internal memory, so that would already be sufficient.

And most of the phones we are checking are already on dual-core systems.

I am checking out the HTC Sensation XE, but I cannot buy yet due to the high unit price on the plan I am targeting.

That was until we got a queue number, waited, and when called, sat down, and started discussing with the attending personnel. While her particulars are gathered, I stood up and walked around, to do the final view of the phones, for her (in case there might be better units on second thought), and that’s when I saw the Samsung Galary R, being offered for $11, at the same plan she’s getting. I was wondering, what is this phone coming to? It is supposed to be a better unit, I think, but why $11 only?

That’s when I saw the date at the price tag: 3-4 Dec only. So I rushed to check with the guy who has been pushing the LG units, and he said, that’s for 2 days only, yesterday, and today, then it will be back to its original price: $348, at your subscription plan.

So I tried to bargain with my daughter and told her about the other phone, but she can’t be persuaded, and her mind can’t be changed anymore: it was already 2 times she’s changed her choice. She won’t anymore. So my wife told me, why not I get it for myself.

So I did!

Then my wife was telling me to wait for the other phone, which really is my choice, but I said, this is already a very good deal, and besides, the difference in the features aren’t really killer features, but the price is. So I decided to buy the phone and get my contract signed up at the same time, too.

By the way, I keep on confusing by saying ‘renew my plan’, but since we are porting over from Singtel to Starhub, it is not a renewal… it is a new contract. So the renewal, that will probably be in the next 2 years or so.

So there’s the story about my buying the phone, the Samsung Galary R (GT-I9103) en punto.

Using the Kies

I was thinking, this is software that would be quite frustrating and irritating, much like the iTunes, but I was wrong. Kies was so simple, and it was easy to use. I am immediately able to set the preferences, and of course, copy music and video files, within the hour, which included the downloading of the installer, and from the initial run, I don’t think there is anymore of tweaking setting, which are under the hood. Perhaps it was designed that way – and why not – things like this shouldn’t be so complicated so everybody can use it without any assistance from the customer service personnel.

You would immediately see the similarity of iTunes and keys, the device and the library. But with Kies, you are able to copy the files into your device by pasting it into the folders under the device. If you have done that, and then copy the same file in the library folders, Kies detects that as a duplicate file, demarked with filename(2), much like what Windows do, in case you accidentally copy over what has been edited with the original file.

But anyway, one thing I found is that I spent much time trying to convert video files into different WMV formats, and I can’t get the video frame that fits the screen size of GT-I9103 to a ‘T’. After trying so many frame sizes, copying these into the device by ‘paste’ or Ctrl-V’ into the device folder, and then viewing the videos, the size, no matter what I select, are either narrow, or short; it’s either the length or height that is a mismatch. Sometimes both.

But one time, when I plugged in the unit into the laptop, I decided to click on the option in the Autorun window that opens the device in Windows Explorer. I mean, I do that now and then, but this time, I used Windows Explorer to view the folders, then copy one of the video files that I have been converting for a thousand times (okay, that’s an exaggeration…), and when I played it on the device, it was a surprise: the video frame was an exact fit!

So that’s it. Why bother converting externally, when upon copying over, it will be converted into the right frame size and format by the laptop/phone software, automatically? Actually, the setting are there in the Kies, to automatically convert, but this is another way to copy music and video files, and get them in the correct playable format, and some more, being in the right video frame size?

Some things we learn the easy way, and some things, the hard way.

But we learn.

Till then. Shalom!

ASP.NET Textbox Selectall() property

2011-12-12T13:10:00.003+08:00

12-Dec-2011

I am currently writing a form where I needed to highlight and select all text in a textbox when it is selected (onfocus), cause that is what user will be doing: copy and paste, so that in effect requires selecting the whole text string currently in the textbox, to replace it with new value.

I got two answers from my search routing, server side, and client side, and that is coming from a single article.

Here’s how:

In Page_Load event, add below code:

myTextBox.Attributes.Add("onfocus", "this.select()")

The other way is what I tested, and it worked, so I assume above works as well:

Hoe this helps you, as it did me.

Till then. Ciao!

Reference: selectall() property in C# for textbox control

The iTunes saga: unable to copy movies and music to iPhone

2011-12-08T09:30:00.002+08:00

Image via CrunchBaseImage via Wikipedia08-Dec-2011

I am one who wouldn’t go for the iPhone for my own use – I wouldn’t die just to get an iPhone. However, somebody dear to me wanted it, and so she got it.

Here comes the nicer part: I didn’t bother ‘learning’ this gadget, so I didn’t know anything about it when my wife asked me to go and configure it, something that I would usually do with my phones (since I started using one back then in 1999). I have zero knowledge of iPhone, so I didn’t know what to do.

Natural thing, I checked from the web. There is no manual, and sort of everything that you do with and about the iPhone is by trial and error method. And since I was keeping the acquisition of the iPhone a secret, and I was quiet about it, I cannot any longer, for I have to ask those before me, before us, who are using iPhones and have already done much configuration on their units.

That’s what we did.

But the natural thing to use is, I thought, the iTunes. Or so I thought.

I actually keep on messing up the movies that I would attempt to copy over from the computer to the iPhone, and sometimes succeeding, but at many times, and with much frustration and headache, fail. I would even be erasing, accidentally, what I have already copied over.

What?!

All the while I thought that iTunes is the problem, especially that when Apple team released an upgrade, that some features were disabled, some were taken out due to security and vulnerability issues, etc., etc., so I thought that iTunes IS the problem.

And I was wrong.

You see, I found one forum, where users are having the same problem like me, exactly. And you know what? It was a very simple solution. I mean, if I were a user smart enough, I would have figured it out myself. But sometimes, you could trip over a pebble…

There is a section entitled “LIBRARY”, and there is that section that pops up and disappears, as and when a device (meaning your iPhone unit) is plugged in or not. By way of nature (I mean my natural way), I would copy the files (movies) into the Movies folder under the Device node. And why not? That's where I want them appearing, right? It doesn’t matter actually whether the checkbox “Automatically sync…” is ticked or not. For my case, it is unticked, so whenever I click on ‘Sync’ button, what I put in the Movies folder are immediately wiped out, to my surprise!

Then, I found out it was being put in the wrong place…

I have to put it in the “LIBRARY” node, in the Movies folder. I did that. I even added in some mp3 files in the Music folder, and, as was suggested in the forum, make sure that the files I wanted to copy over are ticked.

So now I have the movie and music files put in the LIBRARY node, in the Movies and Music folders, respectively, and when I clicked on Sync, the transfer was a success!

What I did next is to tick the ‘Automatically sync…’ box, and while my device was disconnected, I added in some more files, in the LIBRARY section, (for where else, since the 'Device' isn't present, not available; it is disconnected) and unticked some of the files already inside, and when I plugged in my device, naturally, the sync process was immediately triggered.

Happy now?

Yes! At least I know now how to manage files on the iPhone. But I’m still not getting an iPhone for my own use…

Till then, my friends.
“…to the audience we’ll never have…”

When SxecuteScalar() returns null

2011-12-05T15:48:00.001+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

05-Dec-2011

I was working on a new web page today, and I decided to use ExecuteScalar() as my method to fetch a singular data that returns a string.

I completed the whole code, and during debugging, I encountered some issues. One of them is simply throwing an exception, and when I stepped through, I found that it was due to a null value being returned by the ExecuteScalar() procedure.

I then checked from the web on possible solutions to this problem, and after putting in all the patches, all scenarios can now be handled.

Here’s how it works. Detect first if the return value is null, then handle it appropriately:

if (cmd.ExecuteScalar() == null)

{

}

An else clause is then added to handle possible return values other than null:

else

{

bfrResult = cmd.ExecuteScalar().ToString();

}

And that’s all there is to it. Hope that this helps you also, as it did me.

Till then!

Flock 2.6 and Zemanta 0.7.1

2011-12-02T10:05:00.001+08:00

Image via CrunchBaseImage via CrunchBase02-Dec-2011

I guess this is one long overdue post.

I mean whenever I browse the web and search for Zemanta for Flock, I always see those angry and frustrated people like me, who wanted the old Flock (Flock 2.6.1, or 2.6.2) with the magical Zemanta add-on, which is really magical when you are into blogging.

You know what Zemanta can do for you, so when it’s gone, the horror!

I have come across the same problem myself, which is one major reason why I am not ‘killing’ my other PC, the old XP machine, which holds the magical duo Flock 2.6.1 and Zemanta. I hold this PC from being migrated to Windows 7 because of that.

But now, there’s no holding back. I have searched long and hard, and have found how to get the magical duo into any other PC.

There are many sources, but one singular site I can recommend for getting Flock 2.6.1 is FileHippo.com; and there are many sources for Zemanta 0.7.1, many of which are bogus sites, telling you they have, but offering something else. Fortunately, the source I found is very reliable as well. And why not, it is the same add-on that works for Google’s Chrome browser.

So there you go:

Flock 2.6.1, get from FileHippo.com.
Zemanta 0.7.1, get from Mozilla Add-Ons Page.

Well, the links I have provided, so hopefully, you’ll get them right away.

Happy blogging!

The provider is not compatible with the version of Oracle client; ORA-03134

2011-12-02T09:02:00.001+08:00

Image via Wikipedia02-Dec-2011

One of the final touches that I had to do on the new refurbished PC that I got is to make it into a local web server, an intranet application per se. And having found that in Windows 7, the way to go is publishing by a compiled site, I did just that.

I am one who would tend to make use of the different technologies and methodologies, just to be able to familiarize and not be tied to one; it’s for the good: when that singular method you lean on breaks, your whole system breaks, so having many sticks to lean on, you still are lifted up by the many others that remain standing and strong – when one breaks or falters.

Here’s what happened:

I copied over the codes, built the solution, and then published it. Since this is the second time around, I was going through all these things, including the creation of the folder, a breeze.

When I accessed the service from another PC, well, I got a 404 error.

I went to the IIS manager, and ticked all the services and features that I think are needed; of course, I haven’t memorized these sets, so I referenced the other PC that is already running the same web application.

That wasn’t enough. I still get a 404 error.

I remembered other things needed, so I didn’t hesitate downloading Web Platform Installer, where some other small, small services or features, not to mention some other service packs or applications, are offered.

I did that, and when the installation was finished, I did a reboot.

That brought the intranet application up and running!

Well, not all of it.

The section that runs queries using Oledb was okay. The other section that runs queries using Oracle client (ODP.NET) wasn’t. I got this error message:

“The provider is not compatible with the version of Oracle client”

Of course, the web being my primary source of information, I immediately launched Maxthon, which I prefer using to IE (a snail browser; Netscape is many times faster than IE), and searched on solutions to this problem at hand.

Again, many, many articles and discussions offered various steps to solve this problem, like copying over some dll files to the folder holding the exe, installing the ‘right’ and ‘compatible’ version of Oracle client, etc., etc. I could say the list is endless. I think I also saw some that suggested checking on the Oracle home definition, in various way and means, which I did by invoking Home Selector, and finally, through the registry editor.

And these didn’t help me. My problem isn’t solved. I actually did another comparison technique, that of the working PC and the non-working PC. They are the same.

But taking from some from the whole, I did what I think will help. I reinstalled ODP.NET, of course the version I am using is the same all over the computers that I manage. So there is no question of introducing an ‘incompatible’ or ‘incorrect’ version for this software.

Well, that fixed the problem on the particular section. BUT, it broke a number of other applications!
In particular, I got this error:ORA-03134. This is something about a newer Oracle client version accessing an older Oracle server version.

I’ve been through this one, but I don’t remember how I fixed it! My gracious me…

But I thought, since I fixed one by reinstalling, why don’t I do the same with this other?

And I did just that, reinstalling Oracle 9i client – which fixed ORA-03134.

I did a reboot, and after confirming that all the sections of my just-released web application are working, I retired – for the day.

Here’s a summary of what I was doing, what happened, and how problems are fixed, so far:

Publish an intranet application on a local desktop PC running in Windows 7
Copy the codes from another PC (already running the same web apps).
Created the folders in the Program Files directory for the web apps destination.
Built, and published to local folder (through compiled site method).
Opened IIS manager (inetmgr), then added in the Virtual Directory (PC_Name >Sites > Default Web Site right click, then select Add Virtual Directory).
Once the Virtual Directory is added, I right click on it, and then selected Convert to Application.
That’s when error 404 was thrown out.
Turned on additional windows features on IIS. Still got 404.
Installed Web Platform Installer, followed by installing the service pack, and some auxiliary services and features.
Reboot, and that’s when Web Apps was brought up, but section using Oracle client wasn’t working, with this error message: The provider is not compatible with the version of Oracle client.
Reinstalled ODP.NET (the version I am using is ODT with ODAC 11.2.0.2.1)
Fixed section using Oracle client for oracle connection, but created a problem for the others, specifically Oracle 9i client, with this error message: ORA-03134.
Reinstalled Oracle 9i.
The other programs were okay, and every section of the web apps works.
Reboot, and crossed my fingers while waiting for the machine to come back up.
A final check and review, and everything were working fine.
And so I retired for the day, tired, but happy.

Till then!

Can't play streaming radio: fixed!

2011-12-01T17:29:00.001+08:00

Image via Wikipedia 01-Dec-2011

This is from the home front.

When I did a trial of AVG PC TuneUp 2011, I was very happy. Little did I know that some effects were undesirable.

My IE9 stopped playing streaming radio.

And I thought it was IE9. When I tried it on Firefox, Maxthon, Safari, Chrome and Flock, the same result I got: the play button on the internet radio just flickered when it quickly sunk on mouse click, then it popped back up right away.

I thought if I clicked many times, it would work… silly me.

This went on for days.

I searched the web.

Some forums or articles led me to checking Windows Media Player setting. And I found that there is no value in the Streaming proxy settings (Organize > Options > Network). What’s more, the Configure button is grayed out.

I searched and surfed, and here’s what I found as suggested actions:

Make Firefox the default browser, or vice-versa.
Reinstall IE ( or whatever is your favorite browser).
And many other various tips and tricks, so they say.

Of course, all of them didn’t fix my problem. Until…

A couple of days back, I came across one forum, the discussion of which was a lengthy one, and of course, the usual offerings (as listed above) were thrown to the asker. And almost at the end (which is an indication that the solution was got), one guy told of registering one library:

wmnetmgr.dll

That is, to go to c:\windows\system32 folder, then issue the command in the command prompt:

c:\windows\system32>regsvr32 wmnetmgr.dll

Did that fix my problem?

You bet it did!

And if you are having the same problem, you can try this solution. I bet you will say it is the solution.

Till then!

The Free Emulator called KiTTY: Registry Setting

2011-11-30T17:26:00.003+08:00

Image via Wikipedia29-Nov-2011

At this time of the year, majority in our team has already been given a laptop in exchange for the old desktops we have been using for years; it is a mixture of GX280s and GX520s.

For our group, who makes use of WRQ Reflection to access PROMIS running in VMS, we found some problem when doing remote access from home. The Reflection apps doesn’t run. Or if it does, it is only for one time – the first time – and then it is gone forever.

A supposedly workaround to this is installing a virtual machine where WRQ Reflection will run in.
That also is its own problem – very unstable and very dependent on network performance. And when at home, who can guarantee that?

We were all struggling with this, our team, and as for me, I was simply doing a remote access to the other desktops that we have in the office – through VNC. For that, I use both Real VNC and UltraVNC; these two are working nicely in Windows 7 and of course, in Windows XP.

Then one day, I thought of checking out PuTTY, which is the emulator being offered in our Citrix farm. Consequently, in my surfing and browsing, I stumbled upon KiTTY, the younger sister, and which is advertised to have some, wait, more offerings than it older brother PuTTY.

I tried it, and I liked it.

Then the agony.

For PuTTY, there are numerous help articles that can be found scattered all over the web. Not quite for KiTTY. Or at least, even if there isn’t much, at least we should have those that will take us up and running with this free emulator software.

A few more days after, and I kept on searching and browsing.

I finally found what I am looking for.

You see, PuTTY comes with a registry setting, so if you would want to migrate your own settings, or in my case, let my colleagues share with the discovery, I would just need to export my registry data for PuTTY, and that’s it!

It took me some time, but not very long, to discover that KiTTY also have a registry setting. And as it was leveraging from its older brother, whose registry path I already know, it was enough for me to get the path for KiTTY and can follow on from there:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\9bis.com\KiTTY

The pot of gold I found, and I immediately set to work on my other desktop that ‘s just waiting to receive KiTTY as its one and only terminal emulator.

I guess we can say goodbye to WRQ Reflection, which costs an arm and a leg for each user. I hope they’ll just give us that amount, now that we have an alternative, which costs nothing.

Hope this is a big help to all KiTTY users out there.

This is my source on the registry setting for KiTTY:
KiTTY: Automatic saving

The download site for the KiTTY is also from 9bis.com:
KiTTY: Download

Till then!

UltraCopier evaluated

2011-11-29T15:54:00.002+08:00

Image via Wikipedia29-Nov-2011

I thought there is some promise coming from UltraCopier; or if ever there was, it was broken.

I mean, interface-wise, it is almost the same as SuperCopier, but UltraCopier falls behind. I would describe both as skinny and scrawny, and showing some sticks and bones here and there.

NiceCopier looks sleek and smooth.

The messages while in operation (success, failure, prompts, messages), they also need improvement.

And is it only the looks?

Today I got the PC which I was handed down from another colleague within our department, which I sent to our User Support team for formatting and migration to Windows 7. And I was in the process of installing, rebooting, updating – and copying – that I was able to test both UltraCopier and NiceCopier against each other.

I made mistakes of issuing a reboot, as required or requested by installations or updates, and that is while the copy process is going on. The copy was issued from another PC, the source PC, going into the ‘new’ PC (I should say refurbished).

UltraCopier stopped, and the error message was flagged, and that’s it. I tried to click on ‘Play’ button, but there is no resuscitating the activity. I quit the window and exited the application.
I then tried to see how NiceCopier will fare under the same situation.

NiceCopier stopped, threw an error message, and stayed frozen. When the refurbished PC went back up, I clicked on the ‘Retry’ button at the error message window, and the activity resumed.

Oh, and I shouldn't forget to mention the time required to move files here and there. UltraCopier likes to measure in days. SuperCopier doesn't usually say anything, just indicate the progress through the progress bar. And of course, NiceCopier shows by progress bar and tells the remaining time to copy/move - in minutes!

So with three free file management applications evaluated, I would recommend NiceCopier.

To rank them, in descending order:

NiceCopier
SuperCopier
UltraCopier

Hope that this will be of help to many who are looking for file management apps that will be used in place of Windows 7’s built-in apps – which sucks!

Till then!

Alzheimer's GPS shoes to hit US

2011-11-29T14:49:00.002+08:00

I'd say this is one breakthrough in the use of technologies... one that is more of a need than a luxury... who needs an iPad anyway?
-----

Posted: 23 October 2011

WASHINGTON: The first shoes with built-in GPS devices -- to help track down dementia-suffering seniors who wander off and get lost -- are set to hit the US market this month, the manufacturer says.

GTX Corp said the first batch of 3,000 pairs of shoes has been shipped to the footwear firm Aetrex Worldwide, two years after plans were announced to develop the product.

The shoes will sell at around $300 a pair and buyers will be able to set up a monitoring service to locate "wandering" seniors suffering from Alzheimer's Disease.

Andrew Carle, a professor at George Mason University's College of Health and Human Services who was an adviser on the project, said the shoes are likely to save lives and avoid embarrassing and costly incidents with the elderly.

"It's especially important for people in the earliest stages of Alzheimer's who are at the highest risk," Carle told AFP.

"They might be living in their home but they're confused. They go for a walk and they can get lost for days."

Carle said studies indicate more than five million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's, a number expected to quadruple in the coming years. He said 60 percent of sufferers will wander and become lost and up to half of those lost who are not found within 24 hours may die, from dehydration, exposure or injury.

Other devices such as bracelets or pendants can provide similar protection but seniors often reject these.

"The primary reason is that paranoia is a manifestation of the disease," Carle said. "If you put something on someone with Alzeheimer's that they don't recognise, they remove it. If it's a wristwatch and it's not their wristwatch, they will take it off. So you have to hide it."

The GPS system, which is implanted in the heel of what appears to be a normal walking shoe, allows family members or carers to monitor the wearer and to set up a "geofence" that would trigger an alert if the person strays beyond a certain area.

The shoes are being developed by GTX Corp., which makes miniaturised Global Positioning Satellite tracking and location-transmitting technology, and Aetrex. They received certification from the Federal Communications Commission this year for the system.

The makers say the market for such shoes is growing, given the soaring costs of Alzheimer's.

"This is a significant milestone for both companies and while the $604 billion worldwide cost of dementia has become and will continue to be a significant fiscal challenge, the under $300 GPS enabled shoes will ease the enormous physical and emotional burden borne by Alzheimer's victims, caregivers and their geographically distant family members," said Patrick Bertagna, chief executive of GTX Corp.

Professor Carle said the original idea was to develop the shoes for children and long-distance runners but the makers changed the plan when he offered his advice, noting that the devices can also help ease a lot of anxiety about seniors who want to remain active.

"They feel a need to walk and it is good for them," he said. "They should take a walk. It's good for them."

- AFP/wk

-----
Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Alzheimer's GPS shoes to hit US

Mobile phone, cancer "no link"

2011-11-23T10:04:00.002+08:00

Is this to say 'finally'?!
-----

Posted: 21 October 2011

PARIS: The largest study of its kind found no link between long-term use of mobile phones and increased risk of brain tumours, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) reported on Friday.

Danish researchers found no evidence of enhanced risk among more than 350,000 mobile-phone subscribers whose health was monitored over 18 years.

Earlier research on the possible link between cell phone use and cancerous tumours has been inconclusive, partly due to lack of long-term data.

In June, the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified the radio-frequency electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones as "possibly carcinogenic to humans."

The new study follows up an earlier investigation that compared the cancer risk faced by all mobile phone subscribers in Denmark -- some 420,000 people -- with the rest of the adult population.

Patrizia Frei, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Danish Cancer Society, and colleagues examined health records from 1990 to 2007 for 358,403 cell phone subscribers.

Overall, 10,729 tumours of the central nervous system were diagnosed.

But among people with the longest mobile phone use -- 13 years or more -- cancer rates were nearly the same as for non-subscribers.

"The extended follow-up allowed us to investigate effects in people who had used mobile phones for 10 years or more, and this long-term use was not associated with higher risks of cancer," the study concluded.

The findings, however, could not rule out the possibility of a "small to moderate increase in risk" for very heavy users, or people who have used cell phones for longer than 15 years.

"Further studies with large study populations where the potential for misclassification of exposure and selection bias is minimised are warranted," the researchers said.

In a commentary, Anders Ahlbom and Maria Feychting from Sweden's Karolinska Institute said the new evidence was reassuring but called for continued monitoring of health registers.

There are about five billion mobile phones registered in the world, a figure that continues to rise sharply along with the average amount of time spent using them.

The IARC does not issue formal recommendations, but its experts pointed in June to a number of ways consumers can reduce possible risk.

Texting and using hands-free sets for voice calls lower exposure to potentially harmful radiation, compared to device-to-ear voice calls, by at least 10-fold, they said.

- AFP/wk

-----
Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Mobile phone, cancer "no link"

How to change the Visual Studio 2010 Registered User and Organization

2011-11-17T08:52:00.003+08:00

Image via Wikipedia17-Nov-2011

I've been looking at my splash screen and About info, and all the while, I have been just ignoring the registered User and Organization info. Until lately. I thought I should get that info corrected, or, have it show the user and organization to my liking, whatever. Hey, I've come across one forum and one guy actually asked the same question, and he said that if that doesn't change, then whenever errors happen, and dumps are sent, then the user and organization will be Microsoft-Microsoft. I mean, he is saying that correcting those 2 values is to Microsoft's advantage.

Anyway, so many blogs copy from each other, and what's worse, they copy wrongly.

I have tried, and found that only the organization was changed. The company is correctly reflected, but the user remains the same. One blog after another. One article after another. All saying the same thing.

Until today.

I searched, and seems to me that the day is beginning nice.

Chinthaka Bandara wrote the same old stuff, and more. From his blog, entitled Changing Visual Studio 2010 Registered User & Organization, I've seen the complete solution to changing the user and organization info, in both the splash screen, and in the About details.

Premise:

During installation, you are not allowed to enter these values, the user and company/organization. These values are picked up from some registry settings.

Having said thus, we will need to modify the registry. So, edit at your own risk!

VS2010 About screen

On a x86 bit (32 bit OS) computer follow the below path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VisualStudio\10.0\Registration\UserName
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\RegisteredOrganization

On a x64 bit (64 bit OS) computer follow the below path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\VisualStudio\10.0\Registration\UserName
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\RegisteredOrganization

You can click on the Close button (the Red button with an X on it at the top right of the registry editor windows), but as always, the recommended step to close the windows is through the menu: File > Exit.

Changing the UserName will change the first line in the help about dialog.
Changing the RegisteredOrganization will change the second line in the help about dialog.

VS2010 Splash screen

NOTE: This will reset the IDE settings, so you better do an export settings first, which, of course, you will restore by importing afterwards.

Open up a command prompt.

On a x86 bit (32 bit OS) computer go to below directory:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE

On a x64 bit (64 bit OS) computer go to below directory:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE

Type "devenv.exe /setup", then hit [Enter].

Did I mention that while doing this, VS2010 IDE should be closed?

Well, if not, then close the IDE, and do again from the start.

Now, when you activate the VS2010 IDE, take note of the spash screen. User and Organization values should now be changed. A couple of minutes later (longer if you have a slow computer), click on About to display VS2010 details, and voila! User and Organization info should also be changed.

For if not, how?

I do not know...

At least the steps here I have tried myself, on several computers, and they didn't fail me.

Till then!

Troubleshooting WebSite publishing in Windows 7

2011-11-11T15:25:00.001+08:00

Image via Wikipedia11-Nov-2011

This is how I found out about the 'BIG' difference between 'COPYING' and 'COMPILING' when publishing a web site, in Windows 7.

Follow deployment tutorial from MSDN (compiled web site, published locally)
Error: ASP.NET 4.0 application error: Unrecognized attribute 'targetFramework'...
Change IIS DefaultAppPool .NET Framework Version to "4.xxx".
Error: HTTP Error 500.21 - Internal Server Error
Run "%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\aspnet_regiis.exe -i". This is to correct installation of ASP.NET
Error: none; website is displayed correctly, and working.

NOTE: \Framework\vN.xxx\ -> this is according to the version that is installed in your computer.
Check from the following folder: C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\

I hope that this will be of help to many developers like me who struggles with using the latest technologies, but get stuck somewhere in the middle, one way or another...

Till then!

Publishing a Web Site in Windows 7

2011-11-11T15:19:00.003+08:00

Image via Wikipedia11-Nov-2011

I think I have finally figured out how to publish a web site in Windows 7. I mean, I managed from my limited knowledge years ago to create a very simple web site that performs just a number of functions, put it in one of the desktop PCs, and since it is working as expected, forgot all about it, how I created it from scratch, how I put the things altogether, and finally, how to make it run.

Now, with the series of migration being done for at least 4 PCs from Windows XP to Windows 7, what is keeping me back from migrating all to Winows 7 is the simple web apps that I can't figure out anymore how I put up.

I have already spent many days (and weeks) testing, recreating, compiling, publishing, copying, running - all to no avail. The web apps run fine when run in debug mode, but once deployed, one error after another comes up. And even with the help that I get from the web, the errors don't go away. I'm stuck.

Today, I may just be fortunate to have some time to read again and again the tutorial on Walkthrough: Deploying a Web Site Project by Using the Publish Web Site Tool, which is from MSDN. Now, this is by way of publishing a web site. The one that I have always been testing and testing is publishing by Copy method.

Then, in one of the links of the related topics, I chanced upon a very simple revelation: publishing a web site by copy method means you need to have FrontPage Server Extensions. That would have been alright, since I immediately found it by way of a quick Google search. Then, boom! It is not free...

Anyway, I have already made the other method working for me, so I will nwo stick to the new method of web site publishing: Compiled Site.

I guess, that is due to some security issues, that while it is allowed (so easily) in Windows XP, being described a more secure OS, Windows 7 has to be right and rigid. And I got hit with that mantra. But now I know.

I'm now preparing to migrate my simple web site for publication in a PC running Windows 7. And all my codes can now safely run in that OS.

Till then!

File Manager other than Windows 7's Windows Explorer

2011-11-03T17:11:00.002+08:00

Image via CrunchBase I thought I have posted an article about file manager in Windows 7, but as I checked today, there is none!

Well, what prompted this search for an alternative file manager is the poor performance of the same application that is provided by Windows 7. I mean, the Windows Explorer is working fine in Windows XP, but when it comes to Windows 7 (I can’t remember how this fared in Windows Vista), the thing just sucks!

When does it not perform well? The performance is already bad even with a single-instance copy session. The worst comes when while that single-instance copy session is still ongoing, and you initiate another copy (or delete) session, then the duration or countdown to file transfer/delete completion skyrockets from minutes to hours! If you really want to ‘play with it’, add more file copy/move/delete session, and the numbers don’t move anymore.

I wanted to stop this there and then, because I cannot stop thinking why it behaves this way, the Windows 7 file manager. I searched the web, and I found several solutions, and of course, not all are acceptable, and while many work, not many are quite promising.

FastCopy – I couldn’t say anything about this application, because I can’t figure out much of its menu or instructions. I’m not being racist or whatever, but it is like flying a jet plane with all the button and switches written in another language. One wrong button and your plane will just crash!

NiceCopier – This I am using at home. I find that it is most advantageous when used for localized file activities. That means from locally-linked external drives, HDD, USB drives, SD cards, etc., it is most efficient, not to mention that the interface is nice and quite easy to understand. It is useable right out of the box.

SuperCopier – For wireless connections, NiceCopier seems to slow down, or its performance degrades. Without any change at all of the infrastructure, using SuperCopier does a better job. I used NiceCopier at first, and I find that the countdown goes up and down, and while the file transfer is progressing, there is just no telling when the activity will finish. Thus I used SuperCopier instead, and I am satisfied with the better performance. This is an A-okay application.

Today, I went to search for other applications that may come in handy, or may have other functionalities not present in NiceCopier or SuperCopier, and I found one that I immediately downloaded and installed. When I have used it for some time, I will write a review of it. It is UltraCopier. Hope that it is as good as NiceCopier or SuperCopier, at the very least.

Till then!

File System: NTFS or FAT (or FAT32)?

2011-10-31T08:59:00.002+08:00

Image via Wikipedia31-October-2011

I have not always been so keen on the difference between NTFS and FAT file system. I mean, we apply and implement them in our work PCs and servers, but at home, who cares?

I should. At least now I know why.

Last Friday, I was downloading some worship video songs, and when done, I converted them to .avi format, so I can copy them to a USB drive and play them on the Philips integrated Hi-Fi system equipped with USB drive.

What I did was simply un-use one of my currently plugged USB drives from being a ReadyBoost device. Then I copied over the converted files, unplugged them from my laptop, and plugged them to the Hi-Fi system.

Sure enough, USB is detected, but there isn't any file shown!

I turned off my Hi-Fi system, turned on again, and selected USB input, and it is the same: no files!

I turned to one of the other USB drives still plugged in to my laptop, un-use it from being a ReadyBoost device, copied over the files, unplugged it, then plugged it to the Hi-Fi, and the result is the same!

I verified by copying over the files to other USB drives that are currently used for watching movies, and there they are, the files are showing immediately once USB input is selected.

Then another one was used to verify, an SD card, and the same result was got: the files are being shown and are able to play; these on the SC card and the USB card.

Then I was wondering, "What's the difference?"

Then I remembered, the USB drives that 'don't work' were used as ReadyBoost devices, which were formatted with NTFS file system, while the other USB drive and the SD card, well, they are formatted using FAT/FAT32 file system.

So naturally, I took one of the USB drives that 'don't work', formatted it using FAT32 file system, copied over the same video files, plugged it to the Hi-Fi system, and sure enough, it works!

In case you encounter the same problem, the solution may be the same: FAT or FAT32 file system for your Hi-Fi System, an NTFS for your ReadyBoost. Hey, that is what makes it go past beyond the 4GB limitation.

Till then!

Lotus Notes 6.5 is now working!

2011-10-27T15:30:00.003+08:00

27-October-2011

I finally managed to get Lotus Notes 6.5 work on the GX520 – and on the Probook 4430s laptop!

The reason was actually very simple, and so uncomplicated, that it is almost shameful to be told.

Anyway, after so many days and weeks of trying and trying, searching and searching, tweaking, installing, uninstalling, reinstalling, and I was losing my patience, particularly today, and was at the point of giving up on this thing, I prayed for strength to go on, and patience to keep me cool, but most importantly, wisdom to at least know and understand what I am doing.

To begin with, I checked how the working PC is faring.

I opened the Visual Studio IDE on both computers to see what variables are getting populated, and with what values.

I did a simultaneous run on both PCs, inserting breakpoints at the same line of code, comparing side-by-side when codes are being executed.

Then I found the differences:

The Lotus Notes document cannot be opened.

Why?

The Lotus Notes Database cannot be created.

Why?

The password is wrong.

Also, the server is wrong.

So why was I using the .ini file with all the wrong details inside?

These are all defined in the .ini file which I copied from the GX520 PC, which is not used as a primary mini-server machine, but it was a development machine, and while the codes would be verified before deployed, that was before the server and account was changed. And with a code that isn’t very dynamic, there wasn’t any need to update the files now and then. That’s the bug that bit me.

I stepped through the code backwards, and here are the errors as encountered:

“Object reference…” when the document cannot be opened.

When I tried to define a new Notes DB object by the ‘new’ directive, I got “80040154”.

When I searched about this error code, I found something like registering nlsxbe.dll, which I did, but the same error code/cause was thrown: 80040154.

Somewhere, maybe in quiet desperation, coupled with a slower movement on the code check, I managed to step through the line that initializes the Notes Session, which calls the login function, which was requiring the user, password, and of course, the server name.

I saw it from there, like a snake waiting to bite me if I ever stick my head in…

So a simple problem what needed a long time to get fixed, but it is all done now.

Lotus Notes object is not a problem anymore in my desktops and in my laptop (GX280, GX520 and Probook 4430s).

This may not be the case for still many others who are struggling with Lotus Notes 6.5 out there, but that number is one less now…

Till then!

Readyboost more than 4GB?

2011-10-24T10:46:00.002+08:00

Image via Wikipedia
24-Oct-2011, 8.30am:

Today I discovered that Readyboost size can be extended to more than 4GB!

I was actually not expecting this, as much of the articles found on the web sets the limit of Readyboost cache memory size to 4GB, no more than that. But as I have tried today on my laptop (Probook 4430s) and 2 others desktop PCs (GX280 and GX520 models), the size is no longer limited to 4GB.

I plugged in one 8GB thumb drive on the GX280 machine, and dedicated the whole drive to Readyboost, and it was accepted. The amount recognized is about 7584MB (7.47GB).

On the GX520 machine, I put in two: a 4GB drive, and one that is 8GB. The 4GB drive came up with about 3804GB (3.76GB), while the 8GB drive reserved about 7562MB (7.45GB) space.

On my laptop, I employed an 8GB thumb drive, and a 16GB Sd card. Both being dedicated to Readyboost, the 8GB drive gave a 7562MB (7.45GB) available size, while the 16GB SD card came up with about 15196MB (14.9GB) available space.

If what I'm thinking is correct, this is indicating that we no longer need a very huge RAM size. Just the baseline 4GB fitting will do. And if you need to jack that up, then buy one 16GB SD card, plug it in, set it to dedicated Readyboost usage, and you have a very huge cache memory to play with!

Of course, this is all that I am seeing right now, but before 64-bit, or even Windows 7 or Vista, RAM size was limited to 2/3GB, and the 'extra' that you may have physically isn't used! That is no longer the case these days. And while 32-bit memory addressing is causing the limitation of using up to 4GB RAM only, with 64-bit, that is not the case.

And we are no longer talking about RAM being expensive, but between adding RAM and using SD card or thumb drive, I would be avoiding RAM-adding when I already have 4GB, which could mean dismantling the laptop casing or opening the desktop chassis, when I could just simply plug in an alternative thumb drive or SD card. We actually should be talking about which is cheaper and faster to employ, with less hassle and less opportunity for error and mishandling, etc., etc., etc.

So how's that? Where will this Readyboost technology lead us?

The search toolbar that looks like a cigarette

2011-10-21T16:39:00.002+08:00

Image by imjustcreative via Flickr
Did you ever notice how the Bing toolbar actually resembles a Marlboro cigarette?

Look again...

I'm thinking it is actually a way to catch some users who smoke... a mimic of something that they are so familiar with...

Till then!

Employing Windows XP Logon Screen in Windows 7

2011-10-21T15:13:00.001+08:00

Image via Wikipedia
21-October-2011

Yesterday, I spent some 2 hours at our End User Support area, and one of the things that our main guy, the one doing all the OS installation and setup of individual and production PCs and laptops, was the user acceptability of Windows 7 for the general user group.

Mainly, the big difference between Windows 7 and Windows XP is right from the start: the Logon screen.

In Windows XP, users are so used to seeing 3 boxes:

username
password
domain

In Windows 7, you don't see the boxes, but you either see the name of the last logged user, and a box for the password, or you get 2 choices: the last logged user, and 'switch user'. Now, laying aside all questions of intelligence and common sense, an average user (and sometimes even a geek) would never try to guess and attempt clicking on the 'switch user' icon. Especially if that is their orientation, don't play-play.

So now you get the picture - will Windows 7 be accepted easily? It is like saying, go into that new house, there are better things there - and the average tenant can't even figure out how to open the gate...

Is there a workaround?

I told him I didn't knew about this problem, since in out team, we are on 99.9% single-user PC/laptop usage ratio. But things are different in the production line. And I said I would look it up in the web.
I did find some very simple solutions, applicable to both Windows Vista and Windows 7, and while the approach may be different between the flavors of Windows 7, the effect is the same.

Here goes:

Click on Windows 7 pearl (hey, it isn't a button anymore).
Type secpol.msc and hit [Enter] (that's for Security Policy).
At the left side, click on Local Policies, then on Security Options.
Then at the right side, click any item, then press "i". That brings you to the list of items beginning with "I".
The main item to Enable is: "Interactive logon: Do not display last user name".
Enabling this is optional: "Interactive logon: Do not require CTRL + ALT + DEL". Enabling this means users will immediately see 2 boxes at the logon screen: username and password.
Close window, and we are done.

Applicability:

I managed to apply these to 2 desktop PCs, and my laptop. I'm just happy that with this simple solution, the objective can be met.

As for the laptop, it isn't exactly the same screen, because there is an additional option for logging in: biometrics sensor.

Hopefully, we are helping to get Windows 7 less resisted but more accepted in the line.

Till then!

FCC Test to Measure Cellphone Radiation Flawed, Group Says

2011-10-18T20:05:00.002+08:00

Image via Wikipedia(WASHINGTON) -- A government test used to measure the radiation people absorb from their cellphones might underestimate the levels to which most adults and children are exposed, according to a group of doctors and researchers whose stated mission is to promote awareness of environmental health risks they believe may be linked to cancer.

Researchers from the Environmental Health Trust released a report Monday morning noting that the Federal Communications Commission test to determine radiation exposure is flawed.

The reason for the discrepancy, the group says, is that the process to determine radiation exposure from cellphones involves the use of a mannequin model that they say approximates a 6-foot-2, 220-pound person. Because the model represents only about three percent of the population, the authors report, the test will not accurately predict the radiation exposure of the other 97 percent of the population, including children. The group is pushing for a new testing system to measure radiation exposure in a wider range of consumers.

"The standard for cellphones has been developed based on old science and old models and old assumptions about how we use cellphones, and that's why they need to change," said Dr. Devra Davis, former senior adviser in the Department of Health and Human Services under the Clinton administration and one of the report's authors.

A different study cited in the report says a child's bone marrow absorbs 10 times the radiation as an adult. The authors also raise questions about long-term side effects, such as infertility in males who carry phones in their pockets, an exposure unaccounted for in the traditional certification process.

The authors suggest an alternative certification process, one that uses MRI scans to test real humans, including children and pregnant women. Such an approach would provide exposure data on a "Virtual Family," representing all ages, the authors say.

The U.S. government has had no specific comment on the report. The cellphone industry group CTIA-The Wireless Association said that because members "are not scientists or researchers on this topic," the news media should contact experts instead.

But whether the low level of radiation from cellphones actually causes cancer is a question that has yet to be answered. "No scientific evidence currently establishes a definite link between [cellphones] and cancer or other illnesses," the FCC says on its website.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Taken from WTMA.com; source article is below:
FCC Test to Measure Cellphone Radiation Flawed, Group Says

Domino 6.5 ain't runnin' in Windows 7 (Laptop)

2011-10-18T12:19:00.004+08:00

Image by Annie Mole via FlickrImage by HP PSG APJ via Flickr
I basically stopped posting articles on my blogs for a variety of reasons.

Sometime in early September, I was issued a laptop, an HP ProBook 4430s, so that they can take away my old desktop - hey, that what I was told!

And I was in the heat of installing and tweaking and customizing things, when after so many tries, I have given up: Domino 6.5 breaks in Windows 7 (laptop).

I know, a couple of weeks earlier to my getting a laptop, I was bragging about making Domino 6.5 work in Windows 7 (Windows 7 and Lotus Domino 6.5) - which is althemore, on an old Dell desktop PC. I didn't knew that it would all be completely different with a laptop. Took me almost a week of doing with the laptop what I did with the desktop to make Domino 6.5 work, but success eluded me everytime.

When I reached the end of my rope, after about 2 weeks, even trying out Domino 8.xx, I told my boss - the laptop I have no use for it, since the major programs I am maintaining is running with Domino 6.5 - which doesn't run.

Basically, Domino 6.5 is "seen" by Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2010. It can be called in. It can be referenced. But when I run the code, I get "null" errors, indicating that the object has not been instantiated.

Now in our company, we are issued either an HP machine, or a Dell counterpart. Another member of our team also got a laptop, and it was getting ready for deployment (meaning, to be used by the user, whose old desktop will also be taken away...), so my boss made a proposal.

Can I try it out on the other laptop? Maybe it was brand-sensitive, or maybe.... what?

Anyway, I yielded - that is what I was already thinking of doing a week after the unsuccessful tests - and the would-be owner agreed.

I tried, and guess what? The same error I got! So whether it is an HP ProBook 4430s, or a Dell Latitude E5420, if it is running in Windows 7, Domino 6.5 can't run. That's for my case.

As for the old Dell desktop PC, a dying GX280, which I got to reformat and reinstall Windows 7 Enterprise edition, 32-bit OS, I was able to apply the whole fix that I documented weeks back, and Domino 6.5 is able to run. So it's all on the laptops, I suppose... eh?

These are the specs, to be more precise:
Windows 7 Enterprise edition, 32-bit (64-bit ain't the right fit yet, dude!)
> desktops, laptops, they all get the same OS

And the very reason why we can't use 64-bit OS, is that we are still running Oracle 8i systems! And the upgrade isn't a time within reach, my man.

Finally, 64-bit ain't no use, since we only have 4GB RAM in our machines. I just made a good alternative to Windows 7, speeding up my processes by employing Readyboost - 2 pieces of 8GB thumbdrives plugged into my new laptop - now that's something!

The grapes are not so sour after all...

my Computer Quest

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