Cakeblog

Learning A New Skill / Hobby during COVID-19

2020-03-23T00:02:00.000+08:00

If you are looking to learn something new, a skill, a hobby, upgrade yourself or just simply want to fill in the time, here are a some of the sites that aggregate courses that available for free during COVID-19 period.
https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/coronavirus/free-online-classes-for-adults-to-take-up-during-social-distancing
https://petapixel.com/2020/03/21/ppas-1100-online-photo-classes-are-currently-free
https://www.npr.org/2020/03/20/818670715/getting-bored-heres-a-list-of-free-things-that-werent-free-before-coronavirus
https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/ivy-league-free-online-courses-a0d7ae675869/

Pick one and spend 20 hours over the next 1-2 weeks on them. Because it only take 20 hours to learn something new and be good at it.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MgBikgcWnY

Detail steps from the video ( Watch the video first ) : http://sourcesofinsight.com/learn-anything-20-hours/

Is Kuala Lumpur Water Hard or Soft? Is it safe to drink?

2017-05-29T17:09:00.000+08:00

What is the hardness level of Malaysia water source?

According to Wikipedia, water is classify as soft water when the hardness is below 60 mg/L, below 60 ppm or below 3.5gpg ( grain per gallon) .

( Hard/ Soft Calssification Table, Source: Wikipedia - Hard Water )
* Parts per million (ppm) is usually defined as 1 mg/L CaCO3. It is equivalent to mg/L

One recently study on Kuala Lumpur Tap Water in 2007 has shown that most populated areas in Kuala Lumpur are soft water.

(source: A Survey Of Tap Water Quality in Kuala Lumpur - March 2007 )

Also commentary of the study has confirmed that piece of finding.

"As shown in ﬁgure 3, the hardness of tap water in these20 selected areas ranged from 48 mg CaCO3/L to 92 mgCaCO3/L with an average of 65 mg CaCO3/L. The tapwater in all these areas is considered soft as the hardnesslevel is below 100 mg CaCO3/L. Although there is nohealth-based guideline value, soft water and low pH maycause corrosion of pipes resulting in the presence of certainheavy metals such as cadmium, copper, lead and zinc. Ahardness of 100 mg/L would ensure CaCO3encrustation ofthe mains and very little corrosion"

So, can we drink directly from Tap Water?

According to Syabas, Tap Water supplied by them is safe to drink.

(source: Frequently Asked Question - Syabas)

From the same study above, it was concluded that Tap Water in Kuala Lumpur areas is safe to drink but it doesn't represent the entire Malaysia.

"From the analyses of water samples from 20 selected areasin the Klang Valley, the tap water quality may beconsidered as safe for drinking. Among the 16 parametersstudied for each sample, most of them complied withthe guideline values of the Ministry of Health, Malaysia.The only exception was barium, which was higher than theapproved limit. It is suggested that a special study becommissioned to investigate the reasons for the high concentration of barium in all water samples. However,there is no evidence that barium is carcinogenic and causesadverse health eﬀects at low concentrations.

The survey showed that consumers’ feedback on thesmell, colour, turbidity and taste of the tap water wereacceptable except on certain days. The consumer surveyshowed that 74% of the households used to boil tapwater before drinking. Moreover, 50% of the consumershad water ﬁlter ﬁtted to their kitchen supply. It showsthat there is a lack of conﬁdence among the consumersabout the quality of tap water. The result of the survey,however, is not the true representative of the whole ofMalaysia. At the same time, the survey covered asigniﬁcant area in and around Kuala Lumpur, in theKlang Valley, covering urban population. In general, theawareness about drinking water quality has increased inthe region, which has been reﬂected in this work as wellas in a recent report published from south-east Asia(Chung et al. 1997, Kruawal 2005)."

Having to say that, it is also highlighted there are other factors that might affect the water come out from the Tap after it went through the water treatment such as:

Water disruption / Major Water shutdown
Piping conditions / broken piping / aging pipe as highlighted in Syabas website

"Q 10 - Why does water supplied to consumers sometimes has occurrences of yellowish/ brownish colour?
A - Although treated water currently complies with all the statutory standards, the residual contents of Aluminium, Iron and Manganese and turbidity value in treated water is still considered high causing it to precipitate in the distribution network at sections of the pipe network where the flow velocities are lower than self-cleansing velocity. Whenever there is a disturbance to the flow in the distribution system like upon opening of supply after a pipe repair, the loose sediments in the pipe gets churned and carried in suspension to the consumers’ taps which explains the discoloration of water observed at the tap. However, this occurs only for a very short period of time until the flow in the system attains its steady state. This also happens in cases where some of the residential area is an old residential area and most probably the piping systems are old and needs to be replaced. Dead end reticulation system or the use of galvanized iron pipes/ storage tanks in the home plumbing system normally will cause water to be yellowish/ brownish. Normally air scouring is conducted by SYABAS at identified locations with similar issues to remove the sediments in the pipelines. If the internal pipes or tanks are old and rusted then they need to be replaced."

Other factors such as household waterflow network and etc.

Verdict

As a conclusion, although Water in Kuala Lumpur/ Malaysia is considered as soft water and rated as safe to drink, it is best to invest a water filter system that can actively filter contaminated water to ensure it is safe to drink as there is no guarantee if your water is contaminated due to lack of maintenance and aging pipe( which is quite common in Malaysia.
It is also best to choose a water filter system that have the following certificates: NSF 42, NSF 53, NSF 58 (RO), NSF 401.

NSF/ANSI 42 establishes the minimum requirements for the certification of POU/POE filtration systems designed to reduce specific aesthetic or non-health-related contaminants (chlorine, taste, odor and particulates) that may be present in public or private drinking water.

NSF/ANSI 53 establishes the minimum requirements for the certification of POU/POE filtration systems designed to reduce specific health-related contaminants, such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, lead, volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) and MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether), that may be present in public or private drinking water. The scope of NSF/ANSI 53 includes material safety, structural integrity and health-related contaminant reduction performance claims. The most common technology addressed by this standard is carbon filtration.

NSF/ANSI 58 establishes the minimum requirements for the certification of point-of-use (POU) reverse osmosis systems designed to reduce contaminants that may be present in public or private drinking water.

NSF/ANSI 401 addresses the ability of a water treatment device to remove up to 15 individual contaminants (listed below), which have been identified in published studies as occurring in drinking water. While not a public health issue, the contaminants covered in NSF/ANSI 401 have been detected in drinking water supplies at trace levels and can affect some consumers’ perception of drinking water quality. (NSF/ANSI 401 also applies to reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment.)
* Note: NSF is equavilant to ANSI. e.g. NSF 42 = ANSI 42.

References:

https://www.syabas.com.my/consumer/frequently-asked-questions-faqs#q12
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_softening
A Survey of Tap Water Quality in Kuala Lumpur (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249018418_A_Survey_of_Tap_Water_Quality_in_Kuala_Lumpur. Download PDF
http://waterwatchpenang.org/water-facts/
http://www.nsf.org/services/by-industry/water-wastewater/residential-water-treatment/residential-drinking-water-treatment-standards

Phone Scams Alerts!!! 03-27727359

2016-09-04T15:39:00.000+08:00

TLDR;

A call pretended as bank (AEON) representative called me saying that my credit card was abused and then ask me to call BNM through 03-27727359. It is a scam. Please call the bank yourself, google and ask your friend before doing anything.

The Story

This morning I received a call from AEON transaction department via 03-27199999 which is the official Aeon Credit Service Number. The customer service agent, Joanne Lee requested me to verified a RM 4999 transaction from KLIA Machines. Being a tech-guy myself I know its a MAC Book Air 13' with 1.6GHz Processor 256 GB Storage. Of course I denied that transaction as it didn't happen.

She acted surprise and double check the card info with me. She informed me that the card (4563-0602-2236-4579) was registered in AEON Ipoh Station 18 on 04-July-2016 using my name, IC and a Ipoh Jaya address. At this moment, it seems to be clear that someone has used my ID to register a credit card and spent it.

I, of course asked for guidance and advise from her. She said that she is going put all transactions on hold and will log a case to BNM. She also asked me to go Bank Negera Myself to log a fraud case, or I can call Bank Negara via 03-27727359 and report my case through the bahagian laporan. I recorded all the info that she gave me and hung up the phone.

The truth

The next logical thing for me to do is to call the BNM to report a fraud case. However as a citizen in Bolehland, I normally do things with cautious. The motto "trust, but verified" kicked in. I wrote a note to verify the phone number she gave me.

Search the phone number 03-27727359 return only 1 result from Sinchew daily suggested that this is a scam.

Upon open the link I found out that the news just release today at 12.10, 2 hours before the scammer called me. The scenario look exactly the same as mine. Apparently this is a new way to scam and fortunate enough ( unfortunate?) I'm among their early targets.

I also called AEON bank Credit Service and they have verified that I don't own a second card. They also shared with me that they started to received similar inquiries since few days ago and the card number that I shown above are non-existent. Their management has made aware of the current situation and will do the necessary actions as required.

Finally, to report a fraud to Bank Negara the phone number is 1-300-88-5465. A quick search in google has reached to the right place - http://www.bnm.gov.my/microsites/fraudalert/04_help.htm

The story has come to an end. As a retrospective, I realized that their whole setup involved both technological and psychological tricks:

Caller ID Spoofing - The call I received shown as 03-27199999 which is a official AEON Credit Service Phone Number. Of course, you know its fake by now. This is a technique to show call receiver a different number than the original caller. To know more about caller ID spoofing refer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caller_ID_spoofing
Human nature -Lazy - They know human now want to do thing fast, if we can pay a bill online we won't go to bank. So they started by saying walk in and report to BNM office to gain your trust. After that give you a phone number to set you up for the second part of the scam.
Inception - Scam within another scam - They raise the attention by giving you a situation that you have been scam to drag your attention. This make you unconsciously treating them as the good guy, indirectly making you trust them and listen to them.

Post event

So what happened to the second part of the scam?

I did actually call the phone number. The number lead me to a call system start with " Thank you for calling Bank Negara, for bahasa melayu, press 1, english press 2".

A guy with clear voice pick up the call. I told him about the story as he seems to be very curious ( we call this acting don't know). He asked which bank that my card was abuse. I told him Aeon. He said in such case he need to record my name and phone number which they will call me back. I hung up the phone at this point as I don't want to give them my info although they already have my info.

I could imagine once I leave my contact detail, they will categorized me as "confirmed water fish" category. Someone will then call me and set me up so that I would pay them for whatever "Pay us to verify your account detail is accurate" kind of scenario to finish the show.

Final thought

The whole setup is very well prepared, thought through. On one end, I'm impress with the whole setup on how thorough they plan the whole system. In the other hand, Its such a waste they use their talents in a wrong way.

I almost got tricked albeit I'm very well aware of the potential technology, technique used and scams around us. I believe many will fall into it and eventually got scammed hence I'm writing my experience down to warn the public.

Ciao!

Galaxy Note 5 Marshmallow update is now available in Malaysia ( 29 April 2016)

2016-04-30T04:41:00.002+08:00

Finally, Samsung Galaxy Note 5 Marshmallow update for Malaysia dual sim model is now available. If you have yet to receive the OTA notification that the update is ready, you may manually check through the device's settings menu > About device submenu, find the Software Update section and tap the update now button.

Alternatively, you can upgrade through PC via Samsung's Smart Switch software.

Malaysia Income Tax Query

2016-03-13T21:33:00.001+08:00

* Telah melupuskan syer dalam syarikat harta tanah dan/atau harta tanah di bawah Akta Cukai Keuntungan Harta Tanah 1976

Telah melaporkan pelupusan tersebut kepada LHDNM?

for 2016 Income Tax the wording changed to

"Melupuskan aset di bawah Akta Cukai Keuntungan Harta Tanah 1976 "

Basically this means, If you have sold your house in 2015 from January to December then you will need to declare as YES (YA). If you have declared YES(YA), have you reported to LHDNM? If you have done so then select YES(YA) or else NO(TIDAK). I believe this allow the tax office to determine whether they need to locate you to collect the RPGT fees for last year. For more detail you can refer to Pindaan Peruntukan ACKHT 1976 Perintah Cukai Keuntungan Harta Tanah (Pengecualian) (No.2) 2009 [P.U. (A) 486]

For those didn't perform house selling transaction last year, simply select NO (TIDAK) and you are all good.

Hassle Free Manga Downloader - DomDomSoft Manga Downloader

2016-03-13T02:23:00.000+08:00

I had tried to find some classic manga in English such as Detective Conan and Dragon Ball to store in my Kindle Paper White however there was no easy way to do it. You had to either go to Manga Sites to download them page by page, or prayed if someone had compiled them and put them on torrent sites.

However these hassles is gone with the following software: DomDomSoft Manga Downloader. It is by far the most promising manga downloader after trying few alternatives available.

According to their website:

DomDomSoft Manga DownloaderSome manga viewer sites are very good websites to read manga online. But they don’t have a download section. Some people would prefer downloading from such sites because of reasons such as having low-speed internet or wanting to store manga. DomDomSoft Manga Downloader is just the software that helps you do it.

The software is intuitive and easy to use as shown in screenshot below:

If you are interested, get it from to their official page (or click here) and start downloading.

That's it, an excellent tool to help download your favorite manga and read them in your preferable device - in my case, kindle.

Brokerage Calculation for Maybank Value Trade and Hong Leong Power Trade

2016-03-04T07:58:00.000+08:00

How to Reset Xiao Mi Power Bank

2015-06-03T13:15:00.003+08:00

According to Mi official website,

Mi Power Bank 10400mAh

10400mAh should charge within 12 hours for a standard 1A charger. I have a 10400 Mi Power Bank but it take >24 hours to charge.

I contacted Xiao Mi Support and indeed this is not normal. They suggested to Reboot the power bank. To do that:

Press the Power Button for more than 15 secs.

After that drain the power bank and charge again. The power bank should fully charge about 12 hours or in some case 13 hours is fine.

The support person also suggested if the unit still behaves the same, we should bring it to the nearest service center for checking. http://www.mi.com/my/service/repair/

What need to be done after purchase a property in Malaysia

2015-01-09T14:27:00.000+08:00

The process of purchase a house is not end at the moment we get the house key. We need to inform various authorities regarding the change of ownership. There are 5 of them.

Cukai Taksiran/ Pintu
Cukai Tanah ( Don't not get confuse with cukai taksiran)
Electricity - Tenaga Nasional Berhad
Water Supply - Syabas
Indah Water Konsortium

It take me a lot of time to understand and research the whole process hence I'm writing down my own experience, hopefully this will help some of you out-there. The example below is specific to Selangor hence it will be different for other state. When in doubt, always call your Municipal Council for more information.

Tips: You will always need IC and S&P, make at least 4-5 copies of them.

Cukai Taksiran

Cukai Taksiran need to be done at municipal council, aka local Majlis Perbandaran. In my case, I did it in MPSJ (Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya), which located in USJ 5, Subang Jaya ( click here for google maps). To transfer the ownership, you will need the following

Transfer Ownership Form ( can get it via information counter)
Latest "Cukai Taksiran" bill from previous owner. ( You need to query from another counter if you don't have this)
S&P ( Most important)
Photo copy of your IC (identification card, if you don't know)

After that, get your number and it will be done within 15 mins as normally the queue wasn't large. Please note that they normally ask you to pay for the current year tax too so prepare RM 200-300/year ( you have option to pay for 1/2 year) for that.

Cukai Tanah

Don't get confuse "Cukai Tanah" with "Cukai Pintu", they are totally 2 different taxes. I got confused until the counter lady told me I need to change my name in government land office. After several research again, it appear this has been done during the S&P process ( purchase the house, the land have to be under your name). Having to say that, its good to cross check with them and pay your cukai tanah before 1 May of every year to avoid late payment charges. To understand which office you should refer to you can check on your "No. HakMilik". If it started with PM mean you should refer to Pejabat Daerah Petaling which located in

Pejabat Daerah/ Tanah Petaling
Kompleks Pejabat Kerajaan Daerah Petaling
No.1, Persiaran Atmosfera, Seksyen U5
40150 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan.
Tel : 03-7841 9400
Samb : 9403, 9404, 9405, 9406, 9407, 9408, 9409
Email : hasilpetaling@selangor.gov.my

( full list refer to http://hasil.selangor.gov.my/DirektorPejabatHasil.aspx)

You can also choose to pay Cukai Tanah online via http://hasil.selangor.gov.my/ and click on "Semakan Cukai Tanah". You will have to key in a 21 digit account number, which you can get it by calling their office. In my case, I manage to pay via online without having the hassle travelling to their office.
Tips and Learning: Its always good to call their office to verify this information before the trip to double confirm.

Electricity - TNB

This is the fastest among all and you can go to most kedai TNB to get this done. However to be safe I went to the Pejabat TNB which is located in Bandar Baru Bangi ( Click here for google maps ).

You will need the following:

SNP
Transfer ownership form. This form can get in the information counter and you need to fill in you immediate family member together with his/her IC. Do get this in before hand as there is limited telco line (digi).
Setem Hasil Rm 10.00 ( can get it there)
Deposit ( Wang Cagaran) - Depend on your house type. e.g. landed single storey Rm 250, double storey rm350.
Processing fee of Rm3.00.
Photocopy of your IC

Water Supply - Syabas

The process is no different than TNB. You will need to following

Photocopy of your IC
S&P
Deposit of Rm70.
Prepare another Rm40 if your house don't have the meter.
You

You, as the owner must be present for the application. Before you go to any branches, call 1-800-88-5252 to understand more the procedures. According to my discussion with the Customer Services. It doesn't matter which office/branch you goto but its always better to refer to the office that responsible for your area. You can refer to this page for the list of Syabas Branches and their location.

Indah Water Konsortium ( Contact )
There is 3 option for Indah Water.

Walkin
Fax
Email

The only document needed is the 1,3, last page of your S&P as prove, other than that, there is no charges or whatsoever.

If you prefer to walk-in, you can bring the S&P and visit their HQ via

Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd (211763-P)No 44, Jalan Dungun, Damansara Heights,50490 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIATel: +603 2780 1100Fax: +603 2780 1101

If you prefer fax or email, you should always give them a call. Tell the customer service agent your purpose and they will give you a "Report Number". This Report Number should come with format like R04/3633423 (example) is to let IWK know that the documents they receive either through Email or Fax are from you.

In my case, I send them my email via care@iwk.com.my together with my scanned copy of S&P and Report Number. That is. Done.

Finally, I'm now done with name amendments for all utilities for my house. It took me 2 months hesitating to do it but once I start doing it. I only take 1 week in total.

It is impossible

2015-01-05T22:41:00.001+08:00

Have you been into a situation where you say "It is impossible to...".

There is an old saying in chinese - "Nothing is impossible"

How many of us actually believe this and how many people have doubt about this ? Especially when facing difficulties such as:
* Having a very difficult customer / client that make it impossible to change their mind.
* In a company that doesn't promote team work but finger pointing?
* Cannot achieve something you don't have the tools. ( must be an oven for baking ? )

How is that possible to make such changes to improve this kind of situation ? Is that not possible or is it because we haven't tried to make a change?

Well, don't draw the conclusion until you watch the video below:

or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU4oA3kkAWU

Now, would you confidence enough to say " it is impossible to change.../do.../for me to..." now?
I don't.
Do you you believe Nothing is impossible?

What is Productivity, Effectiveness, Efficiency and the differences between them

2014-12-07T12:04:00.000+08:00

I was confused between Efficiency and Effectiveness and Productivity so I go ahead and do some research about it. Below are my finding which clear my thought.

In Manufacturing,

Productivity is an average measure of the efficiency of production. Productivity is a ratio of production output to what is required to produce it. The measure of productivity is defined as a total output per one unit of a total input.

Effective refer to the capabilities to producing a desired product/ result.

Efficiency refer to produce product in the most optimum way - Fastest and least expensive way. It is being measure by the amount of time, money and energy.

What is Productivity efficiency: Productive efficiency occurs when the economy is utilizing all of its resources efficiently. The concept is illustrated on a production possibility frontier where all points on the curve are points of maximum productive efficiency (i.e. the maximum throughput). Productive efficiency occurs when the economy is using all of its resources efficiently

As for personal,

I believe Productivity is about doing the right thing (Effective) at the right time (efficient). If A person is being effective and efficient, we will see a rise in productivity.

So what is the difference between Effective and Efficiency?

Efficiency refer to how well a person do something, whereas effectiveness refer to how useful it is.

Lets see the comparison chart below (taken from Diffen.com):

As a personal, we should first determine we are doing the right thing (read: effective) then only we should be looking at how to completing it in the fastest and least expensive way (read: Efficient), ultimately, become a more productive personal.

Lastly, a video about efficiency VS effectiveness

(A lot of my notes were taken from the references links below. Credit goes to the authors)

References:

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/effective-is-not-the-same-as-efficient.html

http://www.diffen.com/difference/Effectiveness_vs_Efficiency

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/effectiveness-efficiency-relate-productivity-37341.html

http://oeecoach.com/efficiency-effectiveness-productivity/

加强Gmail的功能和贴士

2014-12-05T11:02:00.003+08:00

从八月的南洋商报看到一篇关于加强谷歌邮箱功能的贴士。一些功能还满强和有意思的。
长话短说，看图。

Jstock Auto Dividend

2014-12-04T12:13:00.001+08:00

When Select the Auto Dividend Feature in Jstock. It is based on the Ex-Date of the share bought.

What is Ex-date?

The ex-dividend date is the day on which all shares bought and sold no longer come attached with the right to be paid the most recently declared dividend. This is an important date for any company that has many stockholders, including those that trade on exchanges, as it makes reconciliation of who is to be paid the dividend easier. It is just as important for investors, however, since you must own a stock before the ex-dividend date in order to receive the next scheduled dividend. - taken from http://www.dividend.com/dividend-stock-library/dividend_date.php

Potential Scam - Sms sent from unknown number 0078090501303

2014-03-12T16:03:00.001+08:00

Today I received a sms from +78090501303 with the text below:

hello we have important voice message for you call this number now to hear it 0078090501303

For a moment I almost press the number to call however I recall if its a voicemail it should go through my telco with the number 121. This look like a scam for me. I did the search online apparently i'm not the only one receive message from this number. More detail can be obtain via http://callerr.com/0078090501303#yourreport.

I didn't call back so I don't know this is a scam but there is a high chance it is.

你是这样的大学生吗？？？

2014-01-23T01:20:00.000+08:00

你是这样的大学生吗？？？

刚开始新的学期：杀气鹏鹏！！这次一定要四点零。

过了一个星期：迷迷糊糊一个星期了。。不知道做么。。

在第二个星期:YEAH...轻轻松松。。自由自在。。。。。

在 mid-term test之前:CEH。。。。mid sem 而已嘛。。。小case。。

在考mid-term test:哭哭～～～～不会做。。。

mid-term test后:yeah。。。潇潇洒洒。。。。

final exam前:没什么大不了的啦。。。

在知道final exam 时间表后:哇！）@×@&……@……@%%@%@……@&！×！！！

final exam前七天:睡先才说。。

final exam前六天:听听音乐再说。。还早。。。

final exam前五天:没有心情读书。。。。

final exam前四天啊～～！～～～！～不知道要做么。。没有心情啊。。。

final exam前三天:惨啦。。。惨了。。。还剩三日。。。

final exam前两天:要撞墙了。。。还没读完。。不会。。

final exam前一天:死定了。。。。。。。

final exam前一晚:ZZZzzzzzz.........

final exam前一小时:啊～～～～～！！！！！抓狂了！！

当final exam的时候。。:完蛋了。。。。。。。。。

一走出考场。。。:情绪超级低落。。。

一考完试。。。放假了。。:yeah。。。。潇洒走一回。。。。

考试成绩一出:
选择A)
考试成绩一出，竟然是个A！！！！

选择B)情绪低落。。。

哈哈哈！！你是不是也这样呢？？（本文源自佳礼论坛）

LogMeIn Free is discontinued with Surprise - How to lost customers in one day

2014-01-22T03:48:00.001+08:00

LogMeIn is a Remote Access Tool that let you Access, manage and support computers remotely.
I have been using LogMeIn Free version for years to occasionally access to my home machine or help friends to troubleshoot their windows problem.

Today I receive an update from LogMeIn with the following email:

Yes, you read it right. Today is 21 January and they are terminating their free option immediately. It is actually fine for me as I only occasionally using it and its not hard for me to make the decision say no to the 49USD/year subscription and start looking for alternative like TeamViewer.

What need to highlighted is actually how bad ( yes, I mean bad) their marketing is and also how they treat their customers. The email basically say nothing but "Pay me or get off", if you search around the internet you will find comments like below or in their Community Page:

This is a shame. As I receive an email notification today announcing the end of the service today! It's hard to make a shorter notice than that. Sorry, this shows no consideration to your customers base. I'll think twice before going for paid service alternative... I'm disappointed.

it is quite insulting as a longstanding user of logmein free to be slapped in the face with "SURPRISE! PAY US OR F#$* OFF!" in my opinion, this type of announcement really should have been a 1-3 month advanced notice type of thing. "hey guys, sorry, but this is going to go away. please pay us?". this is a scare tactic, plain and simple. "SURPRISE! you have to pay us, or you wont be able to remote in to your PC and install something different! MUAHAHAHAAH!"

Why their customers are so mad?

Communication

LogMeIn has actually been offering free version for many years so they have a huge customer base. These are invisible assets to their company. If I were them I will be extra careful on messaging this to customer. Having at least 1-3 months notice in advance would be a good notice period but definitely not one day. There isn't any notice that can be shorter than that, really.

This leave no option for the customer to look for alternative and it also not giving time to their customers to think whether they should subscript the service. You hasn't been giving your customer options to success.

They are not just hurting the free customer but also telling their paid customers that this the type of responsibility they are getting from the company.

The Content
Lets talk about the content, there is actually a 7 days grace period for existing customer and only started to count the next time you use it. It is shared in their blog as below:

Impacted users will be notified via email and in-product messages. While messaging started today, users will be given 7 days to make a purchase decision about LogMeIn Pro. To be clear, the 7-day grace period starts when you next login to the LogMeIn service.

It is fine but it is not communicated properly in the email. If they had clarify that in the email, perhaps the flame might not be escalate that fast. This to me, they haven't been reviewing the content before they send to their customers or they just don't care.

Customer as Your Advocate
Having been using LogMeIn Free for years. I didn't purchased it because its usage is not important enough for the yearly subscription and the price is steep for personal use. However as a satisfy user of your product, I had been sharing my experience to friends, colleagues, and even during meetings. I also demonstrated your software couple of times in the past. If my company was to consider to purchase a Remote Access Tool, LogMeIn will be on the list.

Look at it this way, I'm like your free sale person, sharing my good experience and promote your software without getting a single penny from you. I pretty sure there are tons of people like me and you just decide to kill them off.

I think this is a really bad move and you shouldn't fuck your customer like that, even they didn't contribute to your revenue. You can do some much better by just communicate this a little bit earlier and clearer to your customer. If we go through their forum, most of them are angry because of the bad communication rather that taking off the free option.

Thank you LogMeIn, I know what to share to my team tomorrow - How not to fuck your customer up in one day and what we can learn from it.

How to Remove Hao123 adware after install Qvod 2014 ( 如何在安装Qvod后移除hao123 )

2014-01-20T03:36:00.002+08:00

tl;dr

Uncheck everything throug Qvod player by right click > Options (选项）> others (其他）> Uncheck Everything.

After installed Qvod 5 last week ( January 2014), all my browsers such as IE, Firefox and Chrome has been kidnaped by an adware hao123.com. hao123 is actually a website provided by baidu as a comprehensive website listing however it become very annoying especially it injected to your browser start page without your approval.

Hao123 main page

I didn't pay a lot of attention when I installed Qvod hence it installed "快玩" and other unwanted adwares to my pc. The first lesson:

ALWAYS pay attention to software that you are going to install. You will never know what additional application it will "recommend" to you.

I spend some time to remove all of them however the problem still persist - hao123 still showing all around.

For IE, it is pretty straight forward. I manage to restore it via default home page preference. Baidu were trying to modify again but was detected (by anti adware) and disabled.

For chrome and firefox, they are a little bit tricky. I will use Chrome to show you why. According to internet, hao123 used to modify their setting in Chrome via Setting > On Startup and Search Engine. This is not the case anymore. As you can see below, all setting in the settings page in Chrome look completely normal.

To be honest, I was amaze on how the hell it manage to change my startup page without modify the chrome setting. After go through couple of research apparently Qvod is the Culprit here. There is a setting in Qvod which checked by default to modify browser to open the adware. To solve it, just uncheck the option as show in screenshot below.

In fact, you can remove all of them as none of them provide any benefit to you except disturbance.

So, how did Qvod Manage to do this?

According to my finding, it is related to the background services which run even Qvod is closed.

To be specific, it communicate through QvodTerminal.exe to achieve this.

Investment - IOI Properties, (IOIPG, 5249) - Introspective Moment of Impulse Decision Making

2014-01-15T12:36:00.002+08:00

Today I shouldn't get holding by the market trend and buy share blindly, aka follow my Impulse. This happened during IOI Properties (5249 ) IPO listing date where the price shoot up from listed price 2.51 -> 3.0 -> 3.2 -> 3.4 -> 3.6 within few minutes when the market open.

I initially bid at RM2.86 but the pre-open market bidding make me feel that I'm too low for my price as majority of them bit > RM 3. The pace of the price increase went up after market open convinced me about that feeling and believe that the price will eventually push to higher price ( even to RM5) and hence during that time, my mind was only having the mind of " Buy ! Buy ! Buy !" before its too late.

During that moment, NTA ( which 3.2 at the moment) , PE , DPS were totally out of my mind. I just don't want to lost the chance of being an early bird to buy the share. I decided to place my bet after the share slow down a little bit and by putting bit on 3.4, while it was 3.42 during that period. If I succeeded in purchase the share, perhaps I would be losing a more than 10% of my modal as the price goes down to 3 within 15 minutes.

Why I didn't manage to purchase while the price is dropping? Lucky me there was an system wide error in Maybank online trading system, a Nationwide issue from Maybank system to the dealer system according to my phone call with Anis, the remisier / investment service Agent from Maybank. Due to this I was not able to purchase the share and I somehow suspect this is part of the reason it drop sharply as a lot of purchaser cannot place their order online.

Anyway, due to this, I have the chance to slow down, get back my rational thinking rather than emotional attached to the trend.

This really prove the advise from famous investor advisor "冷眼" ( Cold-Eye ):

"第一、是因为股市根本是不可预测的。第二、是股票投资赚钱根本不需要靠预测股市。股市有如黄鳝，浑身滑溜溜，你根本无法抓住它。一个曾经做过鱼贩的老同学告诉我抓黄鳝的"秘诀"。他说："黄鳝吃软不吃硬，所以只能'托'，不能用力'抓'。"不能用力捏，否则，它感到不舒服，就会挣扎，你无论多么用力，都会从你手中溜走。抓黄鳝，紧不如松，快不如慢，刚不如柔，巧不如拙。股市也一样，你盯得太紧，企图预测它的动向，它偏偏跟你作对。许多股友，千方百计，企图"捕捉"股市的起落，结果都徒劳无功，就好像用力抓黄鳝，始终抓不住一样。最好的方法，是远离股市，不太在意它的波动，把焦点集中在公司的业绩表现上，反而更易"驯服"股市。就好像轻轻托起，反而更能将黄鳝"制服"一样。股市的波动，就好像黄鳝的不断蠕动一样，是正常的，不必去理会它。采取反向策略，低价买进好股，就不动如山。只要公司业绩不断上升，就不卖。不要理会股市短期的波动，不必担心你的股票不会起，因为当公司赚钱越来越多时，股价必然会同步上升。

股市于我何有哉？"

"Get yourself away from the market, you will be clearer on which area you should be focusing"

The price went down from 3.4 to 3.02 in within 15 minutes and relatively stable until the time this review is written. Its also the time that I purchase the share with relatively reasonable price @ RM3.1. Albeit this is still relatively higher than my original price of <RM3. But looking at the potential future of this share and its relatively high NTA, lands on hand and reputation in the country. Its still a go for me.

To improve myself and avoid same situation happen again, I will:

Set a max go to price before the bid.
Avoid pre-open market as they are not for long term investor. Unless I have strong confident that this is the only chance.
Always put the basic in mind - NTA, DY, EPS and future growth of a company.
Keep a distance from the Market when needed. Do research than looking at the chart and price changes

Thanks to the system in saving my >10% lost, although its just a few hundred investment, but it teach me a lesson and pulled me back from the regret,allow me to review what really matters.

Thanks,

Cake

Canon PIXMA MG 3100 Series LCD Screen Error Codes and their solution

2014-01-12T14:34:00.003+08:00

I have a Cannon Wireless MG3170 All-in-one printer and I use it on my "Memory On Cloud Project". The project is to scan all my childhood pictures ( before Digital Camera was even born) into cloud storage to share with all my siblings and relatives.

There is a scan Feature in MG3170 which allow you to quick scan a file into computer without operating through Computer. This is extremely helpful when you do them in bulk.

When I press it, it does nothing but shows green code with E31.

I know this might be due to some configuration issue and a little bit of research apparently this scan button only works in wired connection, aka usb connection.

Below are all the others ERROR Code that I find them usefull when come in handy. Hence this blog.

Cause and Solution ( From :http://support-sg.canon-asia.com/contents/SG/EN/8201156800.html#25)

E, 0, 2

The machine is out of paper./Paper does not feed.

E, 0, 3

Paper jam.

E, 0, 4

The FINE cartridge is not installed properly.

E, 0, 5

The FINE cartridge is not installed properly./Appropriate FINE cartridge is not installed.

E, 0, 6

The paper output cover is open.

E, 0, 7

FINE Cartridge is not installed in the correct position.

E, 0, 8

Ink absorber is almost full.

E, 1, 0

Loaded paper is not compatible with automatic duplex printing.

E, 1, 2

Cannot print the contents on CREATIVE PARK PREMIUM.

E, 1, 3

The remaining ink level cannot be detected.

E, 1, 4

The FINE cartridge cannot be recognized.

E, 1, 5

The FINE cartridge cannot be recognized.

E, 1, 6

The ink has run out.

E, 1, 7

The front tray is closed.

E, 2, 0 / E, 2, 1 / E, 2, 2 / E, 2, 3 / E, 2, 4 / E, 2, 5 / E, 2, 6 / E, 2, 7

An error regarding network setup has occurred.

E, 3, 0

The size of the original cannot be correctly detected or the document is too small when the Fit-to-Page copying is selected.

E, 3, 1

The machine is not connected with the computer.

E, 4, 0

The protective material for the FINE cartridge or the tape remains attached.

E, 5, 0

Scanning the print head alignment sheet has failed.

E, 0, 2

Reload the paper on the front tray and press the Black or Color button.

When you load the paper, insert the paper stack until the leading edge touches the far end of the front tray.

Loading Paper

Loading Plain Paper / Photo Paper

See[Loading Paper]

E, 0, 3

The paper may be jammed. Remove the jammed paper, reload paper properly in the machine, then press the Black or Color button.

Paper Jams

See[Paper Jams]

E, 0, 4

The FINE cartridge is not installed properly.

Open the paper output cover. When the head cover opens, push up the ink cartridge lock lever to confirm that the FINE cartridges are installed properly. After that, close the paper output cover.

If the error is not resolved, remove the FINE cartridges, then install them again.

Refer to [ Replacing a FINE Cartridge ] for how to install the FINE cartridges.

E, 0, 5

The FINE cartridge is not installed.Install the FINE cartridge.

Appropriate FINE cartridge is not installed.Install the appropriate FINE cartridge.

If the error is not resolved, contact the service center.

Replacing a FINE Cartridge

When you need to replace a FINE cartridge, follow the procedure below.

See[Replacing a FINE Cartridge]

E, 0, 6

The paper output cover is open. Close the paper output cover.

E, 0, 7

Make sure that each FINE Cartridge is installed in the correct position.

Replacing a FINE Cartridge

When you need to replace a FINE cartridge, follow the procedure below.

See[Replacing a FINE Cartridge]

E, 0, 8

Press the machine's Black or Color button to continue printing. Contact the service center.

E, 1, 0

The size of paper may not be compatible with automatic duplex printing. The sizes of media suitable for auto duplex printing are A4 and Letter. Make sure that the size of the paper loaded in the machine is correct. Pressing the Color or Black button will eject the paper and restart printing from the front side of the next paper. The reverse side of the ejected sheet will not be printed.

E, 1, 2

You cannot print the contents on CREATIVE PARK PREMIUM.

When you print the contents on CREATIVE PARK PREMIUM, confirm the message on the computer screen, make sure that genuine Canon FINE cartridges are all installed properly, then start printing again.

E, 1, 3

The ink may have run out.

The function for detecting the remaining ink level will be disabled since the ink level cannot be correctly detected.

If you want to continue printing without this function, press the machine's Stop (Reset) button for at least 5 seconds.

Canon recommends to use new genuine Canon cartridges in order to obtain optimum qualities.

Please be advised that Canon shall not be liable for any malfunction or trouble caused by continuation of printing under the ink out condition.

Checking the Ink Status

Checking the Ink Status with the Ink Lamps on the Operation Panel

The ink level detector is mounted on the machine to detect the remaining ink level. The machine considers as ink is full when a new FINE cartridge is installed, and then starts to detect a remaining ink level. If you install a used FINE cartridge, the indicated ink level of it may not be correct. In such case, refer to the ink level information only as a guide.

When remaining ink cautions or errors occur, the error code will be displayed on the LED (Light Emitting Diode) to inform you of the error. Check the error code and take appropriate action.

-> [ An Error Code Is Displayed on the LED ]

See[Checking the Ink Status ]

E, 1, 4

Appropriate ink cartridge is not installed.

Printing cannot be executed because the ink cartridge is not compatible with this machine.

Install the appropriate ink cartridge.

If you want to cancel printing, press the machine's Stop/Reset button.

Replacing a FINE Cartridge

When you need to replace a FINE cartridge, follow the procedure below.

See[Replacing a FINE Cartridge]

E, 1, 5

The FINE cartridge cannot be recognized.

Replace the FINE cartridge.

If the error is not resolved, the Machine may be damaged. Contact the service center.

Replacing a FINE Cartridge

When you need to replace a FINE cartridge, follow the procedure below.

See[Replacing a FINE Cartridge]

E, 1, 6

The ink has run out.

Replace the ink cartridge and close the paper output cover.

If printing is in progress and you want to continue printing, press the machine's Stop/Reset button for at least 5 seconds with the ink cartridge installed. Then printing can continue under the ink out condition.

The function for detecting the remaining ink level will be disabled.

Replace the empty ink cartridge immediately after the printing. The resulting print quality is not satisfactory, if printing is continued under the ink out condition.

E, 1, 7

Open the front tray to resume printing.

E, 2, 0 / E, 2, 1 / E, 2, 2 / E, 2, 3 / E, 2, 4 / E, 2, 5 / E, 2, 6 / E, 2, 7

Press the Black button or the Color button to dismiss the error, then perform setup again.

E, 3, 0

Make sure that the original is correctly loaded on the platen glass.

Check the position and direction of the original loaded on the platen glass.

E, 3, 1

Connect the machine and the computer with a USB cable.

*Scanning via a network is not available.

E, 4, 0

Check the inside of the machine. If the protective material or the tape remains attached, remove it.

When the Protective Material or the Tape Remains Attached

See[When the Protective Material or the Tape Remains Attached]

E, 5, 0

Press the Stop/Reset button to dismiss the error, then take the actions described below.

Make sure that the print head alignment sheet is set in the correct position and orientation on the platen glass.

Make sure the platen glass and the print head alignment sheet are not dirty.

Make sure the type and size of loaded paper is suitable for Automatic Print Head Alignment.

For Automatic Print Head Alignment, always load one sheet of A4 or letter-sized plain paper.

Make sure if print head nozzles are clogged.

Print the nozzle check pattern to check the status of the print head.

-> [ Printing the Nozzle Check Pattern ]

If the error is not resolved, connect the machine to the computer and align the print head on the printer driver.

-> [ Aligning the Print Head Position from Your Computer (Manual Print Head Alignment) ]

P, 0, 2

Follow the procedures below.

Check 1: Check if the protective material is left inside the printer

Check 2: Check if there is any foreign material inside the printer

Check 3: Check the encoder film conditions, and clean it if it is smeared

- Check 1: Check if the protective material is left inside the printer

If the error occurs during on-arrival setup of the printer, confirm that all the protective orange tapes and white packing materials are removed.

-> [ Removing the Protective Material ]

- Check 2: Check if there is any foreign material inside the printer

If foreign material such as jammed paper is inside the printer, the FINE cartridge cannot move properly, causing faulty printing or Error P, 0, 2.

Check and remove any foreign material inside the printer, following the procedures below.

-> [ Paper Jams ]

- Check 3: Check the encoder film conditions, and clean it if it is smeared

The printer detects the position of the FINE cartridge holder by the encoder film. If the film is smeared, the holder position cannot be detected properly, resulting in Error P, 0, 2.

Check the encoder film condition and clean it if it is smeared, while following the procedures below.

-> [ Cleaning the Encoder Film ]

If the problem persists, contact the service center.

P, 1, 0

Turn off the machine, and unplug the power cord of the machine from the power supply.

Contact the service center.

Maybank ATM Cardless Cash Withdrawal Service

2014-01-09T12:58:00.001+08:00

What is Maybank Cardless ATM?

The idea is pretty simple, it allow you to use Maybank2u to transfer money directly to anyone in Malaysia who has a Malaysia registered phone number. This is how it works:

How do you send cash to your recipients?

Login to Maybank2u

Click ‘Transfer', then ‘Cardless Withdrawal'

Enter Recipient's mobile number, name and amount (minimum RM100)

Enter TAC and click ‘Confirm'

You'll receive a Withdrawal Code via SMS. Forward it to your Recipient

How should the recipients withdraw cash?

Proceed to any Maybank ATM, press ‘Enter' key and select your preferred language

Select ‘Cardless Withdrawal'

Enter Transaction ID

Enter Withdrawal Code forwarded to you

Retrieve your cash.

Note: The RM1 service charge will be waived until 28 February 2014.Click here for contest Terms and Conditions

Reference:

http://www.maybank2u.com.my/
http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2014/01/06/Maybank-launches-cardless-withdrawal-service-via-ATMs/

As of now, I'm not going to use this service as I'm not sure how reliable is this service. inter bank giro work very well for me with only 10 cents charges while at the same time, the receiver don't have to go ATM to withdraw money.

Flash Unifi Router DIR-615 G2 to DD-WRT to Avoid Security Vulnerability

2014-01-06T02:53:00.005+08:00

tl;dr

Update: Uncheck the "remote access option" in your DIR-615 should fix it, bear in mind the LAN users still can access the password page.
This guide is meant for DIR-615 Revision G2
If you use Unifi IPTV, stop here, it won't work.
To flash dd-wrt firmware download this file and follow this guide. Setup Unifi using this guide.
DONE

Yesterday I read a rather shocking news ( at least for me) from How I hack 4 Unifi accounts in under 5 minutes that Unifi default router (D-Link DIR-615) are vulnerable to be hacked, No, its not even a hack. Its just say welcome to access and welcome to explore my setting by using bypass url below:

1. To access the password page the appendage is /model/__show_info.php?REQUIRE_FILE=/var/etc/httpasswd

After research a few blogs and play around with the router, eventually there is no way to disable remote access to my router setting page. Hence I decide to flash the router to the infamous DD-WRT with the understanding that I'm not going to able watch TV via hypptv. So if you use the IPTV feature from Unifi PLEASE DO-NOT PROCEED. ( Refer to this page)

Understand the requirement
There are 2 things to consider before we flash the firmware:

Router's firmware revision - This can found in the bottom of the router.
The firmware is supported - We can check this via dd-wrt router-database.

As you can see from picture above, my router is DIR-615 revision G2. This revision is not listed in the database but if we can find the routher chipset information, that might helps too.

A little bit of research via lowyat forum (comment from klseet) confirmed that G2 runs on RT3052F@384 chipset which is same with Revision Dx, so using firmware from Dx version is possible. Further reading on Another page had confirmed my finding.

Flashing DD-WRT
To proceed it is pretty straight forward, just follow the official installation guide for D-Link_DIR-615_rev_D3 and we are done. In my case, these are my step:

Download dlink-dir615d-factory-webflash.bin and put it in desktop.
Connect to the router through WIRED cable.
Access 192.168.0.1 to D-Link Web portal, please notice you MUST use the user "Management" ( default pass: TestingR2) as login as "Admin" won't give you the update firmware option.
Navigate to "Update Firmware" section, select the downloaded file and upload.
The router will now flash the firmware which take 2-3 minutes ( 99secs).
After that access 192.168.1.1 and setup my first time password. ( I didn't turn off router or rest router. )

Setup Unifi

After successfully change to DD-WRT, we need to setup Unifi. If you don't know your unifi PPPOE password, you might want to contact Unifi to retrieve it for you.

To setup everything, there are two step to step guides by klseet.com:
http://klseet.com/index.php/setup-walk-through/setup-for-unifi

I basically follow the exact step from this page so nothing extra to write about. After setup Unifi, turn off router for 1 minute, plugin WAN internet cable I can access to the Internet.

You might also want to setup wireless and other setting by refer to guide below below, some minor setting might be vary.
http://klseet.com/index.php/setup-walk-through/basic-setup

That's it. Pretty straight forward and simple. Now its time to rest and have a worry free sleep.

Please be aware that this page is to record what I have done to flash my router firmware. I hold no responsibility if you brick your router following my steps. Though, you can unbrick it.

How much Loan you can get in Malaysia based on your current income?

2014-01-04T12:52:00.002+08:00

tl;dr Navigate to here and here to calculate how much loan you can get from bank.

In my recent conversation with friends and colleagues, almost everyone talk about the same topic - when to own a house and how much they can afford?

There is no solid answer as personal expenses are greatly depend on each individual life style. If you are enjoying having fine dinning experience and luxury goods, we can easily assume that you won't be able to afford that much ( depend on how much you earn). If you are strict with your own financial planning, chances are you have a proper saving plan and more comfortable in attached to a higher amount of loan. As a side note, a simple and great place for you to start your own financial planning would be The Jar System - Simple yet effective.

From the bank perspective, how much you can borrow from them is based on few key factors as mentioned in this guide How Much You Can Borrow based on your DSR .

Factors that determine your maximum loan amount

How much a bank can lend to you depends on 4 key factors:

Your Debt Servicing Ratio (DSR)

An individual’s risk profile

Property valuation

The max Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio / Margin of Finance available to you (See here)

I suggest you read through the entire page above to fully understand them. It covers foreigner situation so its apply to you no matter you are Malaysian or Foreigner.

"Its too complex, I want to know how much I can borrow based on my Salary"

Yes, This is possible. There are tools prepare by banks that give you simple form to help you with this. I particularly use load calculator from RHB and CIMB, where the first one based on your income while the later is based on your personal affordability.

Home Affordability Calculator from RHB

It is as simple as key in your current income and debt to calculate the Maximum of loan you might get from them. Do note that you need to know the current bank load % which range from 5-7%.

CIMB Home Loan Affordability Calculator

CIMB take another approach to let you enter how much you feel comfortable to pay every month which I find it very useful when prepare to get a loan. Based on this, I can know how much I need to save every month and how should I adjust my lifestyle based on it.

Do aware that these are just general calculation, actual amount from banks might be vary.

Cloning HDD to SSD in ASUS S400CA and fixing windows 8 MBR

2013-07-12T16:44:00.002+08:00

Its really a bad move from Asus that they didn't provide any recovery media or OEM windows 8 ISO to our purchased product. I wanted to speed up my laptop ( S400CA ) with SSD but due to the lack of recovery media above. Its a nightmare.

Long story short. Due to the reason above.

I have to clone my HDD(500GB) to small size SSD ( 256GB)
Normal cloning doesn't work as you will need sector by sector copy to avoid potential booting error.
I'm using EaseUS todo Backup Free Edition which provide Partition to Partition copy with Sector alignment ( or sector by sector copy). P/S: I was surprise that this free edition is no way found in their main page but reachable by using google.

After cloning, in my case, I've hit into the mbr problem. To fix the mbr, I use the resolution in this link.

To be specific:

bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /scanos
bootrec /rebuildbcd

Remember after you change to SSD, do not press F9 (recovery shortcut for asus) while booting. It will break the MBR and need to fix it again.

Google Hangout plugin is not installed due to windows updater error in windows 8

2013-07-11T22:41:00.000+08:00

After upgrading my machine to SSD. I reset my windows and start everything from scratch.
I found out I haven't install "Google voice and video installer" and when I use the web-installer from https://www.google.com/tools/dlpage/hangoutplugin.

The download take me 2 sec ( 780+KB) but it take years to actually install the plugin. You just feel stagnant.
I tried all resolution including looking for offline package, I didn't install offline package because:

Version is old.
Potential malware.

I occidentally found out that the Windows Update also having the same problem, using Wireshark didn't help but it did tell me there is no network activity when running updater. My instinct told me that they are related.

Lucky me, restart windows and run windows update again give me error below

code 80073718 - problem installing windows updates

It turn out it is a problem with windows installer. The resolution is to reset the windows update component as mentioned in this blog. To be specific, resolution below:

Let's manually Reset the Windows Updates Component and try to install the updates.
a) Press “Windows Logo” + “X” keys on the keyboard and then select “Command Prompt (Admin)” from the menu.
b) Stop the BITS, Cryptographic, MSI Installer and the Windows Update Services. To do this, type the following commands at a command prompt. Press the “ENTER” key after you type each command.
net stop wuauserv
net stop cryptSvc
net stop bits
net stop msiserver
c) Now rename the SoftwareDistribution and Catroot2 folder. You can do this by typing the following commands in the Command Prompt. Press the “ENTER” key after you type each command.
ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
ren C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 Catroot2.old
d) Now, let’s restart the BITS, Cryptographic, MSI Installer and the Windows Update Services. Type the following commands in the Command Prompt for this. Press the “ENTER” key after you type each command.
net start wuauserv
net start cryptSvc
net start bits
net start msiserver
e) Type “Exit” in the Command Prompt to close it.
Now you may try running the Windows Updates and check.

Bump! google updater running again and it take 1 minute to complete the whole installation of google hangout plugin.

Free solution to sync your folder between PC and External HDD

2013-01-26T02:43:00.002+08:00

Recently into photography and wish to backup all my photo. Store them in internal hdd seems very dangerous since my HDD is now 5 years old, it might spoil anytime. So the best is to keep at least a copy to external hdd. Manually copy and update them everytime is driving me to hell.

So, a sync tool is definitely the way to go.

My requirement is simple, it only require the do the following

Task that will pair between 2 folders, one in PC and one in External HDD
Synchronization must be 2 way.
If possible, free

After some research, I found one and it is coming from Microsoft. It seems promising. The Microsoft SyncToy.

I also found another free software call DirSync Pro, it give you more flexibility and more option, hence more complex. I installed it but haven't try it yet.

Right now SyncToy seems doing pretty good. Will stick with it for now.

* Telah melupuskan syer dalam syarikat harta tanah dan/atau harta tanah di bawah Akta Cukai Keuntungan Harta Tanah 1976
Telah melaporkan pelupusan tersebut kepada LHDNM?