Troubleshoot IT

StarMobile Diamond X1, The Octa Core Phablet (Yes, It has 8 cores)

2014-02-27T21:35:00.003-08:00

StarMobile is now offering an Octa Core Phablet. The StarMobile Diamond X1 Phablet is equipt with 8 Cores of processors, capable of handling large applications and multiple processes. X1 model also comes with a 6 inch HD screen with a scratch proof glass andrunning with Android Jelly Bean.

Photo taken from www.starmobile.com.ph

The 8MP front camera will surely capture clear selfies and the 18MP main camera can produce much better photos rather than some point and shoot cameras out in the market. One of the best features of the phone is the Yamaha speaker attached to the unit's 7mm thin body and the suggested retail price for this unique phablet is only Php 13,990.

For full specs you may visit StarMobile website with these links:

http://www.starmobile.com.ph/phablet-diamondx1.html#specs

http://www.starmobile.com.ph/

Excel CONCATENATE Function

2014-02-22T09:14:00.001-08:00

In computer terms concatenation is the process of joining two or more strings together to create a word or a group of words. In Excel concatenation is also joining strings or characters in order to create a word or set of words. Below is the syntax for the CONCATENATION( ) function.

Syntax:

CONCATENATE(Text1, Text2, ...)

Please view the images and steps below to guide you on how to use the CONCATENATE( ) Function. Remember that only 255 entries are allowed and each text entries must be separated by a comma.

1. Select the cells you want to be added in the function. Enclose the cell address with paragraph and separate them with comma, in the example, cells A1 and B1 are selected.

2. You will notice that in Cell A3 (where the function resides) the word "HelloThere" will appear since cell A1 contains the word "Hello" and B1 contains "There" and these are the Cell address that is included in the function.

3. If you want to add a space between words, you must put a double quotes (" ") between the cell address. Please refer to the image below on how to create spaces between each text.

4. You must have a result similar to the image below.

This is how basic concatenation in Excel works. Thank You.

LTE, A Fast Information.

2013-06-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

LTE or Long Term Evolution is a high speed wireless connection for mobile devices developed by 3GPP(3rd Generation Partnership Project). In 2009 LTE was first released commercially in Norway and Sweden, but LTE services are now widely used worldwide by telecommunications company to provide consumers with high speed data connections on their mobile devices. The LTE can provide smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices with 100 Mbit to 1 GBit per second.

Windows 8 Sucks?

2013-06-14T02:23:00.000-07:00

Windows 8 sucks!, these are the words you can hear for some irate users of the new microsoft operating system.
The Windows 8 O.S. is far different from all the previous OS released by Microsoft, the UI (User Interface) is 
uniquely new because microsoft is catching up with new designs and technology in UI, taskbars are transparent,
and searching is different, and of course since this is a new Microsoft OS, system requirements is much higher
compared to previous versions of Microsoft Operating Systems. At least you need a 1Ghz OR much faster CPU, 1GB 
of RAM for 32 bit and 2G of RAM for 64 bit, and your processing unit must support other Physical Address Extensions
in order to support new security features of the OS.

Here are links to articles and forums on the web, telling that Windows 8 sucks:

Things that suck about Windows 8 on a desktop
http://www.neowin.net/news/editorial-things-that-suck-about-windows-8-on-a-desktop

Skype Community
http://community.skype.com/t5/Windows-8-from-Windows-Store/Skype-on-Windows-8-Sucks/td-p/1246406

Why Windows 8 Might Not Save Microsoft
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/03/23/why-windows-8-might-not-save-microsoft.aspx

This hilarious video explains why Windows 8 sucks [Video]
http://dottech.org/94027/this-hilarious-video-explains-why-windows-8-sucks-video/

Changing Project Platform in VB.Net - 64Bit(x64) and 32Bit(x86)

2013-03-09T08:03:00.001-08:00

Ever wonder how to change your project’s platform in VB.Net to 64Bit or 32Bit? Here are some easy steps on how to do it.

1. Open your project, then click Build in menu.

2. Under Build Menu, Select Configuration Manager at the end of the list.

3. The Configuration window will appear, then select New in the combobox under the platform column.

4. New Project Platform window will appear, select X64 for 64 bit or X86 for 32 bit platform, remember that Any CPU platform means that your project will run on both 64 and 32 bit platforms.

5. Once you select your platform, click close. You will also notice that Active Solution Platform is set with the platform you selected. Rebuild your project and the new platform is implemented.

SuperGeek (Australia)

2013-02-16T23:38:00.001-08:00

If you are in Australia and you need Computer repairs and other IT related issues, Try SuperGeek .

Supergeek offers broad range of computer repairs and services, that includes data recovery, complete PC trouble shooting, Virus Removal and protection, cloud computing, networking, custom built systems, Laptop repairs, computer trainings and website development and even computer sales.

SuperGeek aims for a same day service, and they come to your home or business so you cansee the repair process and you may ask questions while your computer is being repaired. SuperGeek is located in many different locations across australia, to find a supergeek near you click this link to view information about the different supergeek locations.

SuperGeek Locations: http://www.supergeek.com.au/locations

If you also would like to invest in IT business SuperGeek is available for franchise, check out the franchise section on the website to know more on how you can have your own IT business.

Call now to know more about SuperGeek in Australia. Phone 13-4335 (13-GEEK). OR
Visit them at www.supergeek.com.au

Some Common Computer Acronyms

2012-09-29T00:07:00.000-07:00

There are so many acronyms in the field of computing. You might encounter them every day or you don’t even know that the word you are reading is actually an acronym. The list below might help you know the real meaning of some of the common acronyms that you might read.

ANSI - American National Standards Institute

Bcc - Blind Carbon Copy

BIOS - Basic Input/Output System

BMP - Bitmap

CAD – Computer Aided Design

Cc – Carbon Copy

CD – Compact Disc

CD-R – Compact Disc Recordable

CD-ROM – Compact Disc Read Only Memory

CD-RW –Compact Disc ReWritable

CMOS - Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor

CPU – Central Processing Unit

CMYK – Cyan Magenta Yellow Black

CRM – Customer Relationship Management

CRT – Cathode Ray Tube

DDR – Double Data Rate

DHCP – Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

DLL - Dynamic Link Library

DSL – Digital Subscriber Line

DV – Digital Video

FIFO – First IN, First Out

FSB – Front Side Bus

FTP – File Transfer Protocol

GPS – Global Positioning System

GPU – Graphics Processing Unit

GUI – Graphical User Interface

HTML – Hyper Text Markup Language

HTTP – Hyper Text Transfer Protocol

HTTPS – Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secured

IM – Instant Message

IP – Internet Protocol

IRC – Internet Relay Chat

ISDN – Integrated Services Digital Network

ISO – International Organization for Standardization

ISP – Internet Service Provider

LAN – Local Area Network

LCD – Liquid Crystal Display

LED – Light Emitting Diode

ODBC – Open Database Connectivity

OLE – Object Linking and Embedding

OOP – Object Oriented Programming

P2P – Peer To Peer

PDF – Portable Document Format

RAM – Random Access Memory

RGB – Red Green Blue

ROM – Read Only Memory

RTF – Rich Text Format

SATA – Serial Attached Technology Attachment

SDK – Software Development Kit

SEO – Search Engine Optimization

SMTP – Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

SSD – Solid State Drive

URL – Uniform Resource Locator

USB – Universal Serial Bus

VGA – Video Graphics Array

VOIP – Voice Over Internet Protocol

VPN – Virtual Private Network

WAN – Wide Area Network

WPA – WiFi Protected Access

WIFI – Wireless Fidelity

WWW – World Wide Web

Y2K – Year 2000

Happy 14th Birthday, GOOGLE

2012-09-26T23:44:00.000-07:00

It is the 14th Birthday of GOOGLE, the search engine that helps us find almost everything on the net. Google was established in 1998. After 14 years Google is not just a search engine, the company is also providing services such as, Google Art Project, Google Answers, Google Scholars, Google Maps to name a few. They are also providing tools like Google Android, Google Blogger, Google Chrome, Google Docs, Google Earth, Picasa and many other services that caters communication and other productivity tools.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GOOGLE!!!! May you have many more birthdays and innovations to come.

Maybagyo.com, Your Ultimate Philippine Tropical Cyclone information website

2012-09-24T10:03:00.000-07:00

It's Cyclone season once more in the Philippines, dozens of tropical cyclones will come and visit the country. And when these time comes, we all need information about the cyclone passing PAR (Philippine Area of Responsibility). Maybagyo.com, is the website that can give you all the vital information about the typhoon visiting the Philippines.

Maybagyo.com, is a back-up domain of Typhoon2000.com, the website is designed by David Michael V. Padua that was launched on November 2, 1997 at Naga City, Camarines Sur, Philippines. The website aims to give “EASY-TO-UNDERSTAND” tropical cyclone information in parts of South China Sea (A.K.A. West Philippine Sea) and Northwest Pacific Basin.

You can also join thousands of email subscribers from around the globe, who are getting free emails containing storm updates. The Information provided by the site are taken from different web meteorological websites, like PAGASA (Philippines), JTWC (Hawaii) and Tokyo Typhoon Centre (Japan) to name a few. You can even view satellite images, movies and other related information from the site by selecting from the Satellite images, Movies, etc. section that can also lead you into different links providing storm information (see image below).

Definitely Maybagyo.com is your ultimate guide, in getting “EASY-TO-UNDERSTAND” tropical cyclone updates. By the way you can help the site by clicking this link http://maybagyo.com/donate.htm

Lets GO!

2012-03-30T00:12:00.001-07:00

GO is an open source programming language created by Google that started in 2007 by
Robert Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson.

Last March 28, 2012, Google announced the release of the very first version of the language,
and it was named GO Version 1 or GO 1. The language supports many flat forms like Linux,
FreeBSD, Mac OS X and Windows (Yes, Windows). Go Lang is also supported by Google App Engine SDK which was also released together with GO 1.

The GO Syntax is more likely in C language. Curly Braces {} in every block of codes.

Here is a "Hello World" sample

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
fmt.Println("Hello, World")
}

Everything about GO is in golang.org, visit this now and start studying the new language.

Java and C Developers Needed

2012-03-05T23:14:00.001-08:00

If you are experienced Java and C programmer or developer, and in need of a job or wanted to get a new employer. Feel Free to send your information and resume to productions.twotone@gmail.com, with the subject JAVA and C programmer or Developer and include basic information of yours in the message. (Philippine residents only)

NAME

AGE

ADDRESS

EMAIL ADD

Thanks.

Goodbye, Arfa Karim Randhawa

2012-01-20T01:53:00.000-08:00

The programming prodigy died few days ago due to epileptic seizures. Arfa Karim Randhawa became the worlds youngest Microsoft Certified Professional at the age of 9. There were reports that Bill Gates offered the child to pay for her treatment in US, but due to her medical conditions, Randhawa cannot travel abroad.

In an interview with "Digital Life" she shared her philosophy as a young child. She told:

“If you want to do something big in your life, you must remember that shyness is only the mind.
If you think shy, you act shy. If you think confident you act confident. Therefore never let shyness conquer your mind.”

May you Rest In Peace, thanks for inspiring us.

ODBC, A Database Connection

2012-01-09T18:42:00.000-08:00

ODBC stands for Open Database Connectivity. ODBC is a method to connect and modify a database, allowing developers to manipulate a system’s database regardless of DBMS (Database Management System) managing the data. SQL Access Group created this connection that was first released in 1992.

In order to use ODBC, an ODBC database driver is needed to be installed (most database system have their own ODBC drivers). For this connection to operate properly the application and the database management system must be compatible and supports ODBC in able to send commands that the DBMS also understands.

WhackYourBoss.com: Time for Revenge?

2011-12-07T20:23:00.001-08:00

Note:

This post is just for information purposes only, and not intended to promote violence.

Sometimes (or always) you feel so very stressed and sick of all your work in the office and your boss is pressuring you to finish all of your assignments; giving you loads of job; and the worst your boss always gives comment and wanted you to revise all of your work after all the efforts and overtimes you made just to finish the job, at these times you really need something to calm yourself (or you feel like killing a man?) because you can’t complain and you are dealing with your boss.

Revenge is so sweet, but you cannot do it just because you might lose your job or the worst you might go to jail. I saw a website with a game (being played by an office mate), that could relieve your stress and at the same time, execute your planned revenge.

The website is WhackYourBoss.com the site is created by Tom Winkler, also of doodie.com.

The site design may be very simple, but wait until you play the WhackYourBoss game. The game is a Flash game, so you need a flash player in order to play and it is not recommended for children or to someone with a close mind, because it contains brutality and more brutality.

The objective of the game is you need to find the items that you can use to start the office violence in your office cubicle, in order to finish the game you have to find it all. After committing every beatings, your place will become a complete mess, blood are scattered around and there are times that internal organs may be present. You may need the cleaner to clean the chaos you made, there is a button after every beating scenes.

So if you don’t want cruelty don’t visit the site, but if you want to just have fun and wanted to "manage your anger without harming a soul" (as stated in website A Public Service statement) view the images below and play the game.

Below are some of the screen shoots of the game.

If you found the images very fascinating and wanted to play the game, visit the link below.

WhackYourBoss.com

“No When, No Want, No Worry”

SUPPORT TO MAKE THE WEB OPEN AND FREE FOR ALL

2011-11-25T17:55:00.001-08:00

The U.S. Congress is in view of stopping online piracy. It is called SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act). The law for sure will not stop the piracy but can give a grim threat to social media and sites like YouTube that gives us freedom to post and view videos (contributed by users) online. In this case the world wide web will face some new security risks and it will not be as open as it is right now.

That is why companies like Mozilla, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Yahoo, LinkedIn and other companies wrote a joint letter to appeal to this law.

Click link to view letter content.

http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2011/11/15/mozilla/

Let us keep our cyberspace this way, stop the censorship.

Participate now by clicking the link below from Mozilla.

https://donate.mozilla.org/page/s/SOPA?source=snippet

EPSON L100 AND L200: WORLD FIRST PRINTER WITH GENUINE INK TANK

2011-11-13T20:03:00.001-08:00

Recently EPSON released the world’s first printer with genuine ink tank; this may be EPSON’s answer to ever growing unauthorized CIS (Continuous Ink System) installers in the market. The technology and the principle of the EPSON printers with ink tanks is just the same with the existing CIS in the market, the only difference is, you don’t have to worry that your warranty will get void.

These Printers are real value for your money; with up to 12,000 pages for black and 6,500 pages for color, it will definitely increase your productivity.

There are 2 models to choose from, the L100 and the L200.

L100 - Inkjet Printer

*Image courtesy of www.epson.com.ph

L200 – All-In-One Printer

*Image courtesy of www.epson.com.ph

These models are running in 4-colour Ink System (Black, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow) with Print Speeds of Approx. 27 ppm for Black in Draft Mode and Approx. 15 ppm Color in Draft Mode. EPSON L100 and L200 is covered with 1 year or 15,000 prints, and equipped with Fast Ink Top-up (FIT) technology that lessens ink leaks and print head clogging. Ink Refills are available in individual EPSON Genuine Ink Bottles. For full specification visit the links below:

L100 Specification Link - http://www.epson.com.ph/epson_philippines/printers_and_all_in_ones/inkjet/product.page?product_name=Epson_L100

L200 Specification Link - http://www.epson.com.ph/epson_philippines/printers_and_all_in_ones/inkjet/product.page?product_name=Epson_L200

The package includes User Manuals, USB Cable and Power Cable, 5 EPSON Genuine Ink Bottles (3 Black, 1 Cyan, 1 Magenta, and 1 Yellow). Ink tank caps (for transporting purposes) are also available in the package.

DateTimePicker Essentials in Visual Basic.NET

2011-11-05T09:53:00.000-07:00

DateTimePicker plays essential role in the system development; it is very useful if you need to input a date, time or even selecting a date range in your data base. DateTimePicker control in one way or another is comparable to MonthCalendar Control, these controls both allows you to select a date.

Like any other controls in Visual Basic there are a lot of methods on how you can manipulate your DateTimePicker. Here are some of the essentials that you may need to know on how to use and control the DateTimePicker.

1. You can find the DateTimePicker control under Common Controls in the Toolbox.

2. By default a DateTimePicker Format is LONG. (Refer to the image below). You can change the format by selecting the Format in Properties Windows and change the value. There are 4 formats to choose from, LONG, SHORT, TIME and CUSTOM.

3. DateTimePicker1 is the Default Name of the control.

4. In order to change the display font, find CalendarFont in the Properties Window.

5. The default value of the control is based on system date.

6. To display the DateTimePicker value in a TextBox you can use the following codes.

a. SHORT DATE STRING FORMAT

TextBox1.Text = DateTimePicker1.Value.ToShortDateString

b. LONG DATE STRING FORMAT

TextBox1.Text = DateTimePicker1.Value.ToLongDateString

c. SHORT TIME STRING FORMAT

TextBox1.Text = DateTimePicker1.Value.ToShortTimeString

d. LONG TIME STRING FORMAT

TextBox1.Text = DateTimePicker1.Value.ToLongTimeString

7. You can also add days, month, and year in your DateTimePicker Value. Below is a sample syntax on how you can add a days.

ADDING DAYS

SYNTAX:

DateTimePicker.Value.AddDays(Value As Double)

SAMPLE CODE:

DateTimePicker1.Value = DateTimePicker1.Value.AddDays(10)

ADDING MONTHS

SYNTAX:

DateTimePicker.Value.AddDays(Monhts as Integer)

SAMPLE CODE:

DateTimePicker1.Value = DateTimePicker1.Value.AddMOnths(5)

ADDING YEARS

SYNTAX:

DateTimePicker.Value.AddDays(Value as Integer)

SAMPLE CODE:

DateTimePicker1.Value = DateTimePicker1.Value.AddYears(2)

These are the basics of DateTimePicker Control. Feel free to comment and ask more about DateTimePicker Control. Happy Coding.

Bye!, Steve.

2011-10-05T18:29:00.000-07:00

It is confirmed that Steve Jobs is dead. The Co-Founder and former CEO of Apple died due to pancreatic cancer, he was 56.

Here is the link in Apple.com's website commemorating the death of Steve Jobs.

http://www.apple.com/stevejobs/

The big question is; Will Apple die together with Steve?

Thanks Steve... RIP

Regions In VB.Net

2011-09-19T07:38:00.000-07:00

Region Directive (or simply Regions) in VB.Net is used if you have very long codes and you want to organize and make you codes easy to access and to manage.With Regions you can categorize your codes based on their common or similar functions.

Regions are collapsible, you can hide or collapse a Region. A collapsed region will show every codes inside the region, but a hidden one shows only the Region Name that you declared (Remember that only collapsed regions are search-able). But imagine if you have bunch of bunch of codes and it is not inside a region, you will have a hard time scrolling and scrolling.

Below is the syntax.

     #Region "Region Name"

        ... codes ...
      ... codes ...
... codes ...

        #End Region

A region starts with the code #Region followed by the "Region Name" or the identifier string then the #End Region.

Note: Do not put #Region or #End Region inside a function or subroutine, because it will not work.

Select Tab Page Code.

2011-09-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

In order to understand how to select Tab Pages by code in VB.Net, you must understand the difference between TAB CONTROL and TAB PAGE.

TAB CONTROL - a control that contains and organize different items that shares the same space in a form.

TAB PAGE - each page in a Tab Control is called a tab page, by default in VB.net there are two tab pages when you create a new Tab Control.

You can change page view by clicking the Tabs, but you can also create a code to change page views. Below is the sample code on how to change view through code.

Example Code: TabControl1.SelectedTab = TabPage1

Webify ME, Show your own web.

2011-08-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

Webify Me, is a website that lets you show your own web. Your own web will be represented by a collage that is created based on the questions that you answer. It is so simple, you only have to answer the 20 questions (you can skip a question, if you feel like not answering one). After answering the questions, you can name your collage (it is better if you include your collage in the gallery so others may see it), include your email add, then agree with the Mozilla terms and conditions and see your results. Your collage can be shared or twitted, but you can also download a snapshot of your results or you can get the link of your results.

This is my result, http://mzl.la/nUeCCG

Create your own web, create your own collage. Visit www.webifyme.org.

Bahay Game, My First Flash Game.

2011-08-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

Few years ago when I was starting to learn Action Scripting with Macromedia Flash MX and with the eagerness to create a simple flash game, I created "BAHAY GAME". The game play is very simple, you only have to find things and follow some instructions(in Filipino language). You can still play the game online, good thing i uploaded it to www.coroflot.com before my old laptop got ruined. This link will direct you to my game http://www.coroflot.com/meyrick/sample-works/8

Play the game.

Data Recovery, Don't Worry!

2011-08-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

   Loosing very important data on your computer is really a nightmare for all computer users, for most users any deleted data or lost data is gone forever and recovering the data is a mission impossible or i twill cost a lot of money.

   BUT DON'T WORRY!, there is a way you can recover your deleted data and you can do it on your own. There are special software that recovers data that has been deleted from a hard drive and even if you have reformatted the hard disk.

Below are the list of Special Recovery Software that can really help you to recover your deleted files easily and some of them are for free.

1. EASEUS Data Recovery Software - www.easeus.com
2. AVIRA UnErase Personal Edition - www.avira.com
3. Piriform RECUVA - www.piriform.com/recuva
4. PANDORA Recovary - www.pandorarecovery.com

   Read the recovery instructions carefully, the recovery software on the list performs the same functions, but they differ on process. Check their websites first and research more about the software.

Now its time to recover.

Findicons.com, The Icon Search Engine

2011-07-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

In Application Development Icons plays a significant role. To make an application more user friendly?, Icons are needed. To make an application more graphical?, Icons are needed.

There are lots of free download-able icons over the web, but there is a site providing icon search and that is www.findicons.com. FindIcons.com searches for icons across the web and search results are all download-able for free in different sizes and formats.

Website Link: http://www.findicons.com

Creating Modules in VB.Net, A Simple Sample for Modules

2011-07-23T11:05:00.000-07:00

Modules are reusable codes that you can use throughout your application development.
A module can store public functions or group of functions that you can call when
needed, rather than to code it again and again, module also reduces development time

and keeps your code area clean.

Follow the sample below to create a simple module.(The sample is a simple program

that uses module to show a message box)

Note: Please click the photos to enlarge.

Step 1. Create a new Windows Application. Then click Project in Menu Bar then under

the list click "Add Module". Please refer with the photo below.

An Add New Item Window will appear, similar to the photo next to Step 2.

Step 2. Click "Add" button to create the module. May may change the Name of your module

by typing on the module name textbox. The Default name is Module1.

The next picture shows the code view of your module

Step 2. Type the following code in the code area of your module.

Public Sub ModuleSample()

MsgBOx("This is a sample module message")

End Sub

Refer with the photo below.

Step 3. After creating the codes. Select the Form1 Design Tab and create a button.

Step 4. Now double click the button or switch to code.

Step 5. While on code view of Form1, click Module1 tab, and copy ModuleSample()

Follow the two (2) consecutive photos, for reference.

Step 6. Then switch again to Form 1 code view and paste ModuleSample()

Step 7. Run the program (Press F5). Then click the button on Form1. You must have
a result similar to the photo below.

That's it, you got a Simple Sample on how to create a module in VB.Net. I hope you learned something today, until next time. Thank you.

For your comments and suggestions, please comment.