~Zero BlogSpot

AppLocale Utility

2008-07-19T15:23:00.003+08:00

Sometimes you may come across some non-Unicode based software/program that you can't possibly run without changing and system locale (which requires a Windows reboot), but after changing the system locale, some other software/program messed up!

One simple solution for all of this: The AppLocale Utility

Offered by Microsoft for free download, AppLocale emulates the software/program using the chosen system locale. Below is an example of a chinese software that run with/without changing the system locale.

Before changing the system locale: (Garbage characters everywhere)

After changing the system locale (or using the AppLocale)

As you can see, using AppLocale saves you the time and effort to change the system locale everytime you want to run a specific software, without rebooting.

How to use:
1) Open up AppLocale
2) Choose Application
3) Select Language
4) Done

You will be promt to save the shortcut of the 'AppLocaled' software if you want, so whenever you wanna open that software you don't need to open up AppLocale everytime.

you can download AppLocale from here

Revo Uninstaller

2008-07-17T10:46:00.002+08:00

In the past, when I wanna remove a program, I usually run the unintaller from Windows Add/Remove Program, for a clean uninstall, I usually restart immediately, open up program files and delete all of the left over directory, then I run CCleaner and make sure the program vanish completely from my PC. That was a lot of work, and may not be clean enough.

I came across a freeware, Revo Uninstaller.

What it does after one click:
1) Create a restore point
2) Analyze program before uninstalling
3) Run program uninstaller
4) Scan for left over files

That was neat!

Not only the uninstaller, it also has some built-in tools, like the Autorun Manager which lets you choose your startup program.

Well, everyone've been complaining how slow your windows start, why not delete some unnecessary startup program. Just highlight the startup you don't want it to start during startup, and delete entry. I have only 5 programs for startup, it's faster this way (although still can't compete with xp, which my sidebar has been taking a lot of time starting up, and I can't live without it. yet.)

The interesting part of this Revo Uninstaller is its Hunter Mode and the Drag and Drop Mode.

	The Hunter Mode, a crosshair like this appears on your desktop, just aim at any program interface or icon on the desktop and a context menu will show up for you to uninstall the pin-pointed program. This is useful when you know you have suspicious program but you can't find it anywhere in the uninstaller (Probably the program didn't install itself to the registry)
	The Drag and Drop Mode, works the same as the Hunter Mode, except that you drag the program interface or icon into the fire (as if you're throwing the program into the fireplace).

Interesting isn't it?

The built-in Junk Files Cleaner works almost the same as CCleaner, except that CCleaner even scans for unused registry. Consider having both.

BE CAREFUL when uninstalling programs you don't know. You wouldn't want to accidentally uninstalled any hardware drivers or windows component. Consult Google when you come across unknown program.

Download Revo Uninstaller from here
More information on CCleaner

Hide your important folder (Part 2)

2008-07-10T10:49:00.003+08:00

This post shows you how to make the folder invisible to hide files, while still get easy access to it. And now I have a part 2, which also hides folder while still get easy access to it, by using an App Launcher like Humanized Enso.

The App Launcher Humanized Enso has an interesting feature of "learning" new commands, and this is how we make use of it.

Step 1: Create a new folder
Step 2: Learn the new command
Step 3: Hide the folder

Step 1: Create a new folder
Just create a new folder and rename it as whatever you like. For example below, I name my new folder as "hidden files".

Step 2: Learn the new command
Highlight the folder, open up Humanized Enso (by default is holding the CapsLock key), and learn as a new command, for example below I learn it as Open windows files. You would want the new command be hard to guess but easy to remember.

Step 3: Hide the folder
Right click on the folder, choose properties. Under attribute, tick for hidden. Click on OK, done. The folder is now hidden, and yet you can simply access to the hidden folder by using the enso command you assigned just now.

More information on Make the folder invisible to hide "important" files.
More information on Humanized Enso

AveIconifier 2

2008-07-01T12:57:00.004+08:00

This is a simple, free tool to convert whatever image you want into icon file(.ico), and you may apply it on your desktop icon or whatever.

Download site: WinMatrix

Although there stated that you can convert .png to .ico and vice-versa, I tried converting .jpg to .ico and it works still fine. These are some icons I created myself (edited from images from the web of course, those are folders for my school and office.)

Below is a screenshot of the program (with a default skin, you can change the skin yourself, the download come with several skins. Check on the Tutorial on how to change the skin)

So, how to use it? Simple.

First, download and extract every files into a new folder. Launch the AveIcon.exe in the folder. No installation is required, it's a stand-alone program.

Just select the image you wanna convert (better be croped into square, or else the icon will be stretched. The online image resizer offer image cropping). Drag and drop onto the right frame, the program will then generate the icon onto the left frame, drag and drop the icon from the left frame onto windows explorer, and that's it. Simple.

The same goes to converting icon into image, just drag and drop the icon file into he left and drag and drop the image from the right.

How to change the skin?
Right click the configuration setting AveIcon.ini open with notepad, change the Skins/Default into the skin you want to change, for example Luna Grey.

Save it, done. The AveIconifier now have a new skin.

How to remove the "invisible" folder mentioned from previous post?

2008-06-30T11:36:00.003+08:00

Ok, I've receive quite an amount of messages regarding on the deletion of the invisible folder I mentioned from previous post. Well, as some may know (and experienced), after you create the "invisible folder", you can't move/rename/delete it using the normal way. Well, this could be an advantage on protecting your files, but it could be a problem too, I know.

So, now I'll explain in detail, on how to move/rename/delete the invisible folder. If you know how to do these steps, just click on the next step to skip on below.
Step 1: Open command promt
Step 2: Change directory
Step 3: Rename (important!!!)

Step 1: Open command promt
First, open command promt. For Windows Vista, just search for 'command promt' in the startbar and it should come out as the first choice. For Windows XP, go Start -> Run, and type in "cmd" and click ok, the command promt will come out.

Windows Vista:

Windows XP

Command promt in both Vista and XP will look the same, so just continue.

Step 2: Change directory
The command for change directory is "cd". So just cd to the directory you put your folder in, for example: in vista, if your invisible folder in on the desktop, just type in "cd desktop" and enter, the line will change from "C:\Users\yourname>" into "C:\Users\yourname\Desktop>". See screenshots below.

Before:

After:

You can check whether you're in the right directory or not by using the "dir" command.

Step 3: Rename
This step is very important. It may looks confusing, but actually it is very simple.

Make sure you're in the right directory. Again, you can check all your files and folders in the directory you currently in by using the "dir" command. If you're in the right directory, an empty name folder should be on the list of the "dir".

When you're in the right directory, just type in "ren " " asd" and enter. THE SPACE BETWEEN THE QUOTES ARE THE ALT+0160, NOT A NORMAL SPACE.

Once this is done, you should see the invisible folder now have a filename "asd". You can move/rename/delete the normal way using windows explorer, and no longer need the command promt anymore, just close it.

If you wanna revert it back to invisible, just follow the same step on how you made it invisible in the first place. If you can't remember (or just want to make sure), you can refer back to my previous post: Make the folder invisible to hide "important" files

Make the folder invisible to hide "important" files

2008-06-01T18:23:00.003+08:00

Everyone have some files that they would rather keep private (especially guys). One good approach is to bury them deep within those system files, but this makes access to the file rather complicated and inconvenient. Now I'll introduce one method that could make your folder invisible (but not hidden), that the files are invisible but still accessible in one or two clicks away.

This method will make your folder invisible. it will be visible only when it is highlighted, so to prevent anyone from accessing the folder by chance, try to tuck the folder to the corner or in a folder people less access. See below:

Ok, to do this, just follow the steps below:
1) Create a new folder

2) Rename it. Highlight the new folder and press F2 button, hold down Alt and type in 0160 using the numpad, then release. You won't see the numbers, you will see a blank space after you release the Alt button.

3) Change the icon. Right click the folder, properties, customize, change icon, select a blank icon and click ok.

So that's it. You can throw your "private" thing inside, and you can simply access to them by double clicking the folder. I'm sure you know the location of the invisible folder, don't you?

Click here for a tutorial on How to remove this invisible folder?

MintEmail.com - an online temporary mailbox

2008-04-25T00:22:00.002+08:00

Ever come across a suspicious website that needs you to sign up before you do anything else out of that site? No more worries, they can never spam your real e-mail inbox anymore, with this temporary, free webmail service provided by MintEmail.com

So, how it works?
First, visit www.mintemail.com
A free, temporary random e-mail address will immediately be generated and copied to your clipboard. Next, you can just paste the temporary e-mail address to anywhere you like.

The webpage will look like this. See how they generate the random e-mail for me.

Next, you can either leave the page open or bookmark it. The e-mail address will be valid for 4 hours, and after that, it will be automatically deleted.

Now I'm testing the mailbox by sending an e-mail to the temporary mailbox I created just now.

And the temporary mailbox will be like this...

E-mail received! Tested valid~

Humanized Enso

2008-04-11T21:55:00.003+08:00

Wow~~~~
THIS THING IMPRESSED ME!!!!!!!!

This...kinda like app launcher but not an app launcher...

IT JUST MAKE ALMOST ANYTHING A SHORTCUT!!!!

With Humanized Enso, I can open any apps, any folder, any website...with just some keyboard typing!

Oww...I can't explain more.
Just go ahead and try it yourself.
The download link: http://humanized.com/enso

They have an Enso Launcher and an Enso Word.

With Enso Launcher, I can...
Open up IE this way...

Key sequence: [Winkey] -> Letter "o" -> [Tab] -> "ie" -> [Enter]

I can open up my gmail inbox this way...

Key sequence: [Winkey] -> "o" -> [Tab] -> "gmail" -> [Enter]

I can look up on google like this...

Key sequence: [Winkey] -> "goo" -> [Tab] -> "enso" -> [Enter]

And before I publish this post, I can do a spell check this way...

Key sequence: [Winkey] -> "spel" -> [Tab] -> [Enter]

Ok, ok, there're more.
If I am to put every screenshot of every function, it'll be veeeeeeeery long post for this blog. So I just list out some useful stuff.

Humanized EnsoLauncher can do:
- Open Application
- Open File/Folder
- Open website

Humanized EnsoWord can do:
- Google a term
- Find definition for a term (Online)
- Spellcheck
- Calculate
- Change text uppercase/lowercase

There're more. For more detailed tutorial/demo/explanation, go visit their website.

Download Humanized Enso from here

How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

2008-04-04T14:42:00.002+08:00

A fun website to test how addicted to blogging are you.
here: http://www.justsayhi.com/bb/blog_addiction

below are my answers and result:
Where is your blog located?
Blogspot, Blogger, or other hosted blog service. I have this blogspot, and my personal blog is in Windows Live Spaces.

How often do you update your blog?
Several times a week. I update this blogspot very occasionally now. But I do update my Windows Live Spaces almost on daily basis.

How many blogs (actual blogs, not individual blog entries) do you read a day?
12-20, depends on how many friends' and/or those tech blog I subscribed have updates on that day.

How much time do you spend reading blogs?
1-2 hours a day. My first thing to do when I got online is to check for every updated blogs, and I do that sevaral times a day. Not that I spend 1-2 hours straight on reading, but maybe around 10-20 minutes every time I went online.

How many different blogs do you post entries on?
2, as I said, here this blogspot, and my personal Windows Live Spaces.

Have you ever 'live blogged?' (where you blog about an event as it's happening)
Yes, I live-blogged using my mobile phone twice.

How do you stay up to date with all your favorite blogs?
I subscribe to feeds via RSS, Atom, etc

Have you ever blown off an important task, such as studying for an exam or making a deadline, because you were blogging?
Yes, sometimes.

If something interesting happens to you, do you immediately think about how you're going to write about it on your blog?
Sometimes. I'll take pictures and/or videos on the event, intended to blog about it when I got online.

What do you usually blog about?
Anything and everything, including personal issues or something funny you saw at the park the other day. I blog about techies thingy here, but I blog about anything and everything around me in my personal Windows Live Spaces.

What kind of blogging do you do?
Both professional and personal.

Have you ever tried to convince a friend or family member they should start a blog?
Yes, mostly friends.

Have you ever come up with a great blog idea while doing something completely random, such as taking a shower or watching a movie?
Yes. I got the idea to blog about mousetrap while I was doing my university project.

When this quiz is over, do you plan on blogging about your blogging addiction?
Yes, and I did.

And so I got...
84%

You can Try It Yourself!!

Tips for an organized desktop

2008-03-16T17:20:00.002+08:00

Shortcuts, Files, Folders etc. filled up your desktop? Does your desktop looks so messy, that you wouldn't want to show to others? If you had a messy desktop, how are you going to show off your cool wallpaper?

So, here's a tip for an organized desktop. Once it is done, you will only have minimal items on your desktop. Depends on your reference, you may even have only 2 things, one recycle bin, and new folder on your newly organized desktop.

Step 1: Determine which application you use most
First, you have to decide which application you use most in your everyday life to be inserted in the Quick Launch bar. For me, I will surely open IE and Firefox everyday. My Windows Live Messenger are on startup auto run, so I don't need it for Quick Launch. I do also do screenshot quite often, so ScreenHunter will be my choice.

You may wanna put in text editor if you're using it everyday. Gamers may wanna insert their games. You don't need to put media player in it even if you use it everyday. Double on the media you wanna play will bring out the media player, no need for manual launch.

Step 2: Managing Quick Launch
First, delete everything from the Quick Launch. Next, right click the shortcut of the applications you wanna add into Quick Launch, and select [add to Quick Launch].

Less than 10 applications is recommended. Too full may shorten your taskbar.

Step 3: Managing Applications
Right click on the desktop, and open a new folder. Name it whatever you like. I named mine [Apps].

Open the new folder, cut and paste every application's shortcut into it. You can also organize them into sub folders. Once you move every shortcut, your desktop are left only files.

right click on the taskar, and select Toolbars > New Toolbar...
Select the new folder you created on the desktop.

Step 4: Organize your taskbar
Right click on the taskbar, select properties, go to [Notification Area] tab, click on [Customize...], and hide everything that you don't want it to appear. Once it is done, click OK and close the box.

Right click and untick the [Lock the Taskbar]. Move your taskbar for all Quick Launch icons to appear. Move the new Toolbar to the righ end, so that the ugly yellow folder icon will disappear, and two arrows ">>" to come out instead.

Step 5: DONE!
Right click on the taskbar, and tick back [Lock the Taskbar].
Finalize what you want to do with your desktop, like moving other unorganized files into your other folders. Add some folders that you want it to be on the desktop for easy access. And that's it.

Below is how my desktop looks like.

Geeky enough?
Hehe, at least it looks organized.

Happy organizing~

Awesome tips on using Gmail

2008-03-03T16:48:00.007+08:00

Gmail, unlike other e-mail providers, contains a very awesome "secret"...
And that is...one e-mail address can be used in many ways!!!

first of all, you can change your @gmail.com into @googlemail.com and those mails will still send towards your Gmail inbox. For example my Gmail address is shauntmw@gmail.com, anything you sent to shauntmw@googlemail.com will be received by me in the same mailbox too.

Secondly, you can add dots in between your Gmail address, and they will be sent to your Gmail inbox too. Anything sent to shaun.tmw@gmail.com will be sent to my mailbox too. Those dots can be added in any place between your Gmail account name, and at most one dot each between 2 characters, for example s.h.a.u.n.t.m.w@gmail.com.

Last, and the most useful one. You can add anything behind your Gmail account name by adding a "+" sign. For example, anything sent to shauntmw+anything@gmail.com will also be sent to my mailbox. You can add anything you want.

So, a summary for you. Basically e-mails sent to following addresses will be sent to the same person, which is me.

- shauntmw@gmail.com - s.hauntmw@gmail.com - sh.auntmw@gmail.com - sha.untmw@gmail.com - shau.ntmw@gmail.com - shaun.tmw@gmail.com - shaunt.mw@gmail.com - shauntm.w@gmail.com	- shauntmw@googlemail.com - s.hauntmw@googlemail.com - sh.auntmw@googlemail.com - sha.untmw@googlemail.com - shau.ntmw@googlemail.com - shaun.tmw@googlemail.com - shaunt.mw@googlemail.com - shauntm.w@googlemail.com
- s.h.auntmw@gmail.com - sh.a.untmw@gmail.com - sha.u.ntmw@gmail.com ... ... ... - s.h.a.u.nt.m.w@gmail.com - s.h.a.u.n.tm.w@gmail.com - s.h.a.u.n.t.mw@gmail.com - s.h.a.u.n.t.m.w@gmail.com	- s.h.auntmw@googlemail.com - sh.a.untmw@googlemail.com - sha.u.ntmw@googlemail.com ... ... ... - s.h.a.u.nt.m.w@googlemail.com - s.h.a.u.n.tm.w@googlemail.com - s.h.a.u.n.t.mw@googlemail.com - s.h.a.u.n.t.m.w@googlemail.com

- shauntmw+YourEmailAddress@gmail.com
- shauntmw+YourWebsite@gmail.com
- shauntmw+AnythingYouLike@gmail.com

OK, it's a huge list. In fact, there're infinite combination of e-mail addresses for you to use.

So what's the point?
You can have one e-mail for many purposes. Instead of giving out your Gmail address directly, you can give Name.Surname@gmail.com to your collegues, NameSurname@gmail.com to your friends and family, use N.ameSurname@gmail.com for newsletters etc. Then you can make use of the Gmail's filter function to filter out mails that sent to Name.Surname into work folder, mails sent to NameSurname filter out to personal folder etc. This should keep your mailbox neat and multi-purpose.

You can track or block spammers with the "+" sign. When you are going to sign up for a certain forum or website, you can sign up that particular website using YourEmail+TheWebsite@gmail.com. Like this, you can block your subscription whenever you wish easily. You can even track and identify spammer website that distribute your e-mail address to other third party spammer websites.

The easiest way to test your Anti-Virus On-Access Scanner.

2008-02-20T17:57:00.002+08:00

One of the easiest way to test your Anti-Virus On-Access Scanner.

Copy and paste the following code into notepad. Save it as a .txt file.

X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*

- Your Anti-Virus works GREAT if it detects a virus immediatly after you paste the code.
- Your Anti-Virus works GOOD if it detects a virus immediatly after you save the code.
- Your Anti-Virus works JUST FINE if it detects a virus in 3 seconds after you save the code.
- Your Anti-Virus works BAD if it detects a virus only when you manually scan the file.
- Your Anti-Virus works VERY BAD if it doesn't detect anything no matter how you scan the file.

The code above is just a test virus code that every common Anti-Virus recognize. It does no harm, it is just to test your Anti-Virus. This test determines how fast your Anti-Virus reacts, not the Detection Rate or power of your Anti-Virus. The fastest may not be the best, while the slowest may not be the worst. If your Anti-Virus does not detect anything, CHANGE TO ANOTHER ANTI-VIRUS IMMEDIATLY!!!

Alcohol 52%

2008-02-19T21:41:00.002+08:00

Last time I introduced about the Virtual CloneDrive in this post,
now I found another piece of software that works more than just that.

The Alcohol 52% is the freeware version of Alcohol 120%.
Except for cd-burning, it does everything Alcohol 120% does.

Main Features:
- CD-image burning. Burn many image formats including .iso .bin/cue .mds/mdf .ccd/img/sub and more.
- Mouth CD-image up to 6 virtual drives.

And they come with these cute little extension shell to use.

If you wanna copy a CD/DVD, you will have to find another burning software that can burn .iso image file. Or if you want, you can download the Alcohol 120% (which isn't a freeware that has a trial period, not recommended)...

Last but not least, you can use this Alcohol 52% to burn your PlayStation game CDs into image file for the pSX emulator to run. CD image is easier to run, safe from scratches, and it runs from your harddisc instead of the CD-ROM, means less heat, less time and less risk.

Download Alcohol 52% here

More information on pSX emulator
More information on SlySoft Virtual CloneDrive

pSX emulator - PlayStation for your computer

2008-02-14T12:30:00.003+08:00

PlayStation...well-known game console a long time ago. PS3 has already released, but why bother playing PlayStation games?

Actually, I think a lot of PlayStation games are still very fun to play with. Although the graphic may not be as advanced as PS2 or PS3, but what matters is the gameplay. In my opinion, Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX all have better gameplay than PS2's FFX and XII. There're more: Chrono Cross, Resident Evil III:Nemesis, the old Digimon World...and more!

I myself owns a PS2 console at home, but I don't bring them everywhere. And of course, using a console, you will need a TV set too. So what do I do? I installed the emulator into my laptop and viola! A portable PlayStation! (erhem...not PS2, but I'm satisfied)

The emulator looks like this...

You can choose to play it fullscreen, or in a windows.
A look of the emulator on my desktop.

Just insert a PlayStation CD or CD-image, choose the drive to load and it will play by itself. Not to mention, the save state and load state of most game emulator...Hehe, kinda like cheating in a game, lol.

No PlayStation memory card needed, no joystick needed(but you may buy one USB PlayStation controller from the store). Nice~

You can download from here

Note: USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
Using an emulator like this without owning a console may be considered illegal, the same goes with pirated PS game CD...I can't forbid you to download, I can't stop you from using/playing. I can only warn you. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! Either you play it legally and ethically, or don't get caught.

That's all.
Happy gaming~

A glimpse of a PlayStation console...

External Links:
pSX emulator Official website
pSX emulator from wikipedia

Web Page Analyzer

2008-02-12T11:54:00.000+08:00

Ever wondered how your website runs on other people's computer? Is it fast? Is it slow? Is it too fancy, too much component? Or is it too boring, too few things?

Try here.

You can just ener your website url and submit, the results will then be shown.

Results for this page:

Ouch, this web has over 30kb in size...Every web should keep the size below 30kb if possible. I'll try to reduce the size in time...

For a T1 broadband will take about 8 seconds, so for DSL broadband should take about 10 seconds. Using my office DSL broadband really takes around 10 seconds to load this blog, not very fast, not very long...Everyone should keep the loading time as low as possible...

In the bottom of the analsis, there're some Advices for your webpage too...

How to split one big file into smaller files?

2008-02-07T16:26:00.000+08:00

The main reason for people to split one big file into smaller files are to share files over the internet.

Most free mailboxes like Windows Live Hotmail and YahooMail, they got a limit size for attachment files. What if you got a huge file and you wanna e-mail it? You got to make it smaller than the maximum allowed size.

To share a file larger than the maximum size allowed by the mailbox provider, you can upload the file to a file host like rapidshare, and e-mail the download link to your contact. What if the file is so big, like Gigabytes of 'em? It could take forever to upload and download it.

So, an easier way, is to split the file into smaller parts of it. Ten 100MB files are easier to upload/download than a 1GB file. And don't expect a file host would host your 4GB dvd-image as a single file(unless you're using a paid host).

So, how do you split it?
By using file splitter of course!

HJSplit is a freeware, multi-platform file splitter.
No installation is required, you just have to run the executable file inside the download. The whole program is as small as 300KB only. After you split the file, the smaller parts will have a file extension of file.001 file.002 file.003 and so on.

When joining up, you will need HJSplit too. The best way for sharing huge file, is to split them up into small files, and send out these small fragments, while you can also include the HJSplit client inside your files to your recipent. These files can also be joined using a 7-Zip archiever or WinRAR(may not work all the time).

You can download the HJSplit from the developers' site

External Links:
HJSplit from CNET Download.com
HJSplit from PC World
HJSplit from Softpedia
Search for HJSplit from Google

System Requirement Test. Can you RUN it?

2008-02-05T13:01:00.000+08:00

Do you have this kinda experience?

You have a game in mind that you wanted to play for a long time, but you've been wondering whether your hardware can run that game or not...

OR! You bought a new game, but after installing, you couldn't play it at all because your hardware isn't good enought.

Here's a website that tests your system and hardwares to check whether you can run a specific game well enough or not. It has a big list of games for you to choose. The link's below:

How to use it?
Just select the game you wanna test for your system. For example, now I wanna test whether my computer can run World of Warcraft smoothly or not...

Install anything that is given, install the Active X plug-in, and after a while, the results come out.

And...oops! looks like my system isn't sufficient enough to run this game. I'm glad that I didn't purchase this game yet. Before I buy this game, I should upgrade my video card first...

Sometimes, you may pass the minimum requirement, but fail the recommended requirement. You can still run the game, but not in perfect condition. Maybe. I passed the minimum requirement for Warcraft III but failed the recommended reuirement, I can still run the game, but in minimum system settings(especially graphic).

Anyway, good luck~
To be a gamer, you must have good hardware before you can have good skills. haha~

How to access blocked website?

2008-02-04T14:33:00.000+08:00

Ever wanna chat with your friend at school, but they've blocked all messenging website? Ever wanna check your personal mailbox or update your personal blog from the office, but they've block all access to the mailbox providers like hotmail and yahoo? I'll tell you some of the ways you can try.

1) If you know the website server's IP address, you can type in the IP adress instead of the website address in the browser's address bar. Some network hosts only filter out keywords from the website address, but not the actual website itself.

2) Use a url redirection. The same reason as above, the hosts may only filter out keywords. Some free redirection: tinyurl, snipurl

3) Use a free subdomain redirection. This works like a redirection, but instead changes the website's domain. These subdomain hosts usually places an ad bar above the website you're viewing, but at least it does the job for you.

4) Use Google search for the website you want, and visit the cached copy of the website. This may preview an outdated version of the website to you, but if you just wanna use the service like instant messenging and mailbox, this shouldn't be bothering you.

5) Use a proxy server. One example of anoymizer is www.anoymizer.com. Some of the time, your network host did not block the proxy site, then you will be glad. But most schools will block proxy servers too.

6) Use Google Translate as a proxy. Go Google Translate and translate the website you wanna visit. The most unaffected results by the translation for English websites should be Chinese To English.

How to record sounds played from your computer?

2008-02-03T18:14:00.000+08:00

Method ONE:
Close the door, turn off the fan, and make sure no sounds other sound is nearby. On the speaker to maximum volume, put a microphone near the speaker, and start recording...

Results: BAD!!

Method TWO:
Get a recording device that comes with an input port. Buy a cable, and connects the computer output to the device's input. Start recording...

Results: WORSE!!

WHY SO MUCH EFFORD?
Here's a better way. No external device required. Records exactly the same quality as how the audio is played by the computer.

Method THREE: (The right one)
First, you have to enable the Stereo Mix from the Windows Control Panel.
Start > Control Panel > Hardware and Sound

Click on Sound Control

In the Recording tab, right click on the blank space and select [Show Disabled Devices] to call out the Stereo Mix. (Windows XP won't need to do this, as the Stereo Mix is already there)

OK, now right click on the Stereo Mix and enable it.

Now, you can record any sound played from your computer with any recording software like Audacity.

Results: GREAT!! Cheers~

More information on Audacity

Adding a Web Messenger into your website

2008-02-02T18:54:00.000+08:00

What's a 'Web Messenger inside your blog'?
Look below. You may try it out when I'm online.
Don't spam me please.

If the above is too large, you may just wanna insert this small icon that shows your online status, follow with a link that redirects your visitor to a Web Messenger upon click-on.
Click to send an instant message to me

How do I do that? It's easy.
First, you must have a Windows Live ID.
Second, you must have an instant messenger client that can sign you in with your Windows Live ID.
Sign up a Windows Live ID
More information on Windows Live messenger

Visit here.
Sign-in with yout Windows Live ID, on the left, click on the [Create HTML] tab. Next, choose your style, size, and color you desire. Copy the code below and paste into your space/blog/website/whatever.

Easy?

More information on Windows Live messenger

How to recover deleted files?

2008-02-01T16:32:00.000+08:00

First, check the recycle bin. See if the thing's still there. If the thing's in recycle bin, thank god, you can recover it for good.

If it isn't, you can have another shot by trying this:

There're some chances that you can get back your old files.
The probability of getting your deleted files back depends on the time you delete the file, the file size, and your harddisc size.

The chances are high when:
- The file was just deleted recently
- The file size is small
- Your harddisc has a large free space

The chances are low when:
- The file was deleted long time ago
- The file size is big(you may not fully recover the whole file)
- You harddisc has minimum free space
- You do disc defragment very regularly(!!!)

I won't explain how to use this software in details. To learn how to use, surf their official website.

Some advise before you download and install the Undelete Plus.
1) Download and save the installer in a saperate drive other than the file you wanna recover. For example, you wanna recover the files on your drive C, download and save the installer into drive D. You can install it into a USB pendrive or external harddisc too.
2) The same goes to installing the software. Install it into a saperate drive. Install it into a USB pendrive or external harddisc if possible.
3) Once you found your files in the list inside the Undelete Plus, undelete and store the undeleted file into saperate drive as well.

Official Website
Download Link: here
Note: Undelete Plus isn't a freeware, it is offering free download now for a limited time. I'm not sure when will this offer ends. So if you wanna get it, get it now before the offer ends.

Read on for some computer knowledge...

How is deleted data recovered?
When you delete a file, the data isn't physically deleted from your harddisc. Instead, it is 'marked' as free space, and will not be listed when you view the folders. The Undelete Plus will scan the whole harddisc and list down all free spaces that contained data in it. When you undelete a file, it isn't 'switched' back from a free space to a file, but it's copied out. That's why the software does not recommend you to undelete the file onto the same drive, as it may overwrite another deleted data. If you wanna know why are some data not recoverable, read on...

How is data stored in your harddisc?
First, let me explain some key concepts of how data is stored. As you may know already, data is commonly measured in bytes. In fact, one byte is equals to 8 bits, where each bit represents a zero or one. So, data are actually made out of 0 and 1s. The harddisc stores data in one rule: data is stored on the first available space.

Let me explain in a more simple way.

Imagine that your harddisc is composed of 100 million small squares, each square represents one kilobytes. Now, if you save a file, let's say, a word document that is 1MB in size, the first 1000 squares will now be 'filled' up. After saving a word document, you saved another image 1MB in size. The disc writer will now write onto the first avaible free space, which is next to the word document you just saved. After that, you went back and edit the word document, made it 700KB, the last 300KB of the data won't be physically erased, but is marked as free space instead. Now you save another media file which is another 1MB in size, the disc writer will find the first available free space(which is the 300KB you just 'freed' out), and write over it. Thus, the media file will split into 2 portions, 300KB will overwrite the 'freed' word document space, and 700KB will be written next of the image file.

While you're saving, editing, deleting and overwriting files in your harddisc, those file fragments are probably scattered all over the harddisc. As time passes, your system may run slow because it have to spend much time on finding thousands of fragments to open a single file. That is why regular defragmentation is able to speed things up a bit by rearranging the file fragments, grouping fragments of same files together to make retrieving data easier and faster.

Real Alternative - The alternative for RealPlayer

2008-01-31T11:12:00.000+08:00

Since my last update of Real Player, and the installation of some games that needs the Real Arcade or some sort, it really screwed my Real Player out. So, I decided to remove all Real components, and use this Real Alternative instead.

Real Alternative is a codec pack that lets you play Real Media such as .rm and .rmvb without using the Real Player. For more information about codecs, visit this post.

With this Real Alternative and the K-Lite codec pack, you can now play almost every media format you can ever name them(*really).

Download Links:
Download from CodecGuide.com
Download from FreeCodecs.com

External Links:
Real Alternative from wikipedia
Search for Real Alternative from Google

More information on K-Lite codec pack

SlySoft Virtual CloneDrive

2008-01-30T17:43:00.000+08:00

Like Alcohol 120% and the Daemon Tools, this Slysoft Virtual CloneDrive is able to mount on a CD image and create a virtual drive, enables you to run CD images without burning them out.

It is simple. After you installed this Virtual CloneDrive, all you have to do to run a CD image, is just a simple right click, mount, and it will appear as a CD Drive in the [My Computer] folder.

Download Links:

External Links:
Slysoft official website
Virtual CloneDrive from wikipedia
Search Virtual CloneDrive from Google

Audacity - The Free, Cross-platform Audio Editor

2008-01-29T17:21:00.000+08:00

Audacity is a free, cross-platform audio editor, that enables you to...as mentioned...edit audio files.

You can choose to record your audio files, or you can import a WAV, MP3, or whatever supported audio files, edit the audio, and export it into popular audio format like WAV or MP3.

Like a movie maker, you can combine, split, and add effects for the output audio.

Good tool for recording, adjusting existing audio, and remixing.
Have fun! ^^

Download Links:

Note: To import/export MP3 audio format, you will need to download and install the LAME MP3 encoder. Visit this page after you've install Audacity for instructions on how to install LAME MP3 encoder.

External Links:
Audacity homepage
Audacity from wikipedia

Multiply

2008-01-28T14:43:00.000+08:00

Multiply...A blog, a network, an online storage etc.
General speaking, it is a social network service like Friendster, but it offers MORE than just social network services. It offers UNLIMITED online storage for media!!!

You can use Multiply to find friends online. You can choose to view you friend's Multiply page, your friend's friend's profile...up to 5 Tiers of network!

1-Tier: Yourself

2-Tier: Your friend

3-Tier: Your friend's friend

4-Tier: Your friend's friend's friend

5-Tier: Your friend's friend's friend's friend

You can store your medias online. They have UNLIMITED storage for you to store/share files there.

Don't worry if you already have a blog elsewhere, you can use the import function of Multiply to import every articles from your previous blog.
You can import blogs from Blogger, yahoo360, TypePad, Windows Live Spaces, LiveJournal, xanga.com, amazon.com wishlists.

Photos too, no worries.
You can import your photos from Windows Live Spaces, KodakEasyShare Gallery, Photobucket, Shutterfly, flickr etc.

For videos, you can import videos from YouTube, Photobucket, Google Video, metacafe, and myspacetv.com.

Because everyone've been sharing their things, you may find some useful or interesting things in there. To find a specific media, you can search from there. Search for Blogs, photos, videos, reviews etc...
*They've disabled music search recently due to some piracy issue.

The only downside of Multiply is...everything inside is only limited to members only. Non-members cannot share, search, and download anything from there.

So, what're you waitin for!? Sign up, and start sharing away~~~

My Multiply Site

External Links:
www.multiply.com
The Multiply Blog
Multiply from wikipedia