Useful Stuff

Personal Backup X4 Does Not Impress

2006-09-19T22:53:00.000-07:00

Let me get this off my chess before I go on: don’t waste your money on this program: it is essentially a copy program that pretends to be a backup utility. Now, with that out of the way, I would like to introduce a little background. I have been looking for a backup application to safeguard my iMovies, iTunes, and iDVD collections in addition to other important data. I made a mistake not to try Intego’s Personal Backup X4 (PBX4) before buying it. Instead, I jumped right in and purchase the software based on the reviews that I have read. What a mistake.

Now, this is not a review per se, but just a reflection of my experience using the program. After installing the program, I briefly read some documentation and decided to jump ahead to backup my home folder, which should take about 5 DVD-R’s. I must say that the interface is very easy to learn: I just drop the home folder to the “source” well, then insert a blank DVD and select CD-R/DVD-R for the target. At this point, all I had to do is to click the “Play” (the triangle) button started the backup process--easy enough. The trouble came when PBX4 finished verifying the first disc: it complained that there was some system error and ejected the disc. At this point, I told myself to go on, just to see what would come next. I then inserted another blank DVD-R disc and PBX4 picked up from there, continued with the backup process. When it reached disc number 4, PBX4 choked when filling the disc around 80% and ejected it. Dutifully, I inserted disc number five, PBX4 also ejected at around 80%, so was disc number six. At this point, I aborted the whole process altogether.

Instead of giving up, I thought I could try again, this time with something smaller in size: my 6GB Pictures folder. As with before, PBX4 complained about a system error after verifying disc number one and ejected it. Midway through disc number two (at which time, the source has be exhausted), PBX4 complained about the system error and ejected disc number two. I thought it was odd since we are supposed to finished at this point, but the program patiently waited for disc number three. So I insert the third blank disc and waited to see. To my dismay, PBX4 ejected disc number three halfway through and waited for disc number four. Obviously, backing up 6GB of day only requires two 4.3GB discs, so something was terribly wrong. At this point, I aborted the process one more time.

How about something that fits in one disc? This time, I tried my 200MB Document folder and one DVD-R (I forgot to do the math: a CD-R would provide more than enough space for this purpose). Backup went through without a hitch. To verify the backup, I simulated deleting a couple of files by moving them off the Document folder. Next, I fired up PBX4 and choose restore. At this point, I discover another problem with PBX4: it does not allow selective restore. I could either restore all the files, or none. This is why I claimed PBX4 was just a copy shell instead of a backup utility. That means if I want to restore only a handful of files, I still have to restore everything, which could mean tens of gigabytes, if not hundreds. The good news is PBX4 does not overwrite newer file with an older copy.

Another shortcoming of PBX4 deals with its inability to backup more than one folder at a time. For example, if I want to backup my music, pictures, and movies folders, I have to make three different backups. That is copy, not backup in my book.

In summary, while the program is easy to use, it is just a dumb copy shell and does not worth the $69.95 price tag.

Bonjour Monsieur Printer

2006-09-15T22:58:00.000-07:00

I have been living under a rock, therefore I only discover Apple's OS X Bonjour recently. All I can say is it works beautifully. For a long time, I have been looking for ways to share printer between my Windows and OS X computers. Today, I learnt about Bonjour for Windows, so I installed it on my Windows system. In a couple of minutes, I could print from Windows to my OS X printer. If you are in my situation, give Bonjour for Windows a try.

Drag and Drop tricks for OS X Tiger

2006-09-14T22:01:00.000-07:00

In OS X Tiger (10.4), I often found myself drag and dropping objects from one window to another. The problem is the drop target window is often hidden behind other windows. This trick will help to cope with that situation.

1. Click on the object and drag it as normal, but do not drop yet.
Either:

Task switch with the Apple+Tab key to your target window, then drop, or
Hit F9 to span out all windows, find your target and drop.

Here is another tip: When task switching with Apple+Tab key, you can quickly select the window you want using the mouse: just move the mouse pointer to the desired window and click; or you can just let go of the Apple+Tab key while the mouse is hovering over the desired window.

Keeping Shopping List with iCal, iSync, and my W810i

2006-09-14T21:39:00.000-07:00

Life continue to be good with my switching over to OS X Tiger and my dear Sony Ericsson W810i phone. This trick also applies to other phones which can be sync'ed with the Mac.

I often found myself keeping my grocery list in a post-it note in my pocket. Chances it are, I will lose it. So, I deviced this trick to keep my shopping list. In my iCal, I create the shopping items as tasks, but I precede each item with a dash, like this:

This way, all of my grocery items are groupped together and you can quickly scan through the dashes when shopping. Finally, I use iSync to transfer them to my phone.

Use MacBook to Charge the W810i

2006-09-14T00:49:00.000-07:00

If you want to charge your W810i, but are not interested in any connectivity at all, then this tip is for you. It is useful when traveling as the cable is lighter and more compact than the AC adapter. Plus, the cable also allow connectivity to your laptop should you need it.

1. Connect the phone to your PC (in my case, my MacBook)
2. The W810i will ask you to choose between "File Transfer" or "Phone Mode", choose "Phone Mode".

At this point, you might ask, "Why don't I just connect it and charge at the same time?" My answer is two-fold. First, I believe the phone will charge faster without the connection to the computer. This is due to the fact that the phone will be in standby mode without the connection. Second, without the connection, you don't have to worry about properly ejecting the device. Disconnecting the phone without a proper eject procedure might lead to data loss, or worse, malfunction.

A solid password manager for Mac OS X

2006-08-30T23:04:00.000-07:00

I have been gradually moved to the Mac. Of all the things I missed in the Windows XP world, RoboForm is very high on the list. Fortunately, I found a worthy replacement: 1passwd. This program works just like RoboForm, only simpler. For example, forms are automatically saved. 1passwd also leverage the power of OS X's keychain to store its passwords. This is definitely a program that I won't live without.

Deleting Duplicate Songs in iTunes

2006-08-29T09:47:00.000-07:00

I wish I remember where to read this tip from, so I can give proper credit. To delete duplicate songs in your iTunes library, first select your library, then click on the Edit / Show Duplicate Songs menu. At this point, iTunes will show you all songs that it thinks duplicate, sorted by name.

Before you delete them off the library, right-click (or Ctrl+click) on the song and choose Show Song File to locate the file in the Finder. Delete both from the Finder and the iTunes library.

Save Your Online Receipts the Web Receipts Way

2006-08-28T18:23:00.000-07:00

I found out the Mac OS X tip by accident. If you are purchasing online, chances are you want to print out the receipts for your record. Most of the time, you want to save a copy of the receipt instead of printing. This tip shows you how to accomplish so using Mac OS X (mine is 10.4.7).

When you are ready to save the receipt, select the File/Print menu
Click the 'PDF' button at the lower left part of the print dialog
Select 'Save PDF to Web Receipts Folder'

That's all there to it. Now check your Documents folder: a new folder named 'Web Receipts' has been created with your receipt in PDF format. Please note that it is a good idea the rename your PDF file since subsequent print from the same site could overwrite your existing file without any warning. That will mean loss of old receipts for you.

I recommend to change the name of the file to something like:
2006-08-12 iPod 30GB from Apple.com
This way, the receipts will be sorted by purchase dates. If you google the term Web Receipts, you will see that countless of other people have made the same discovery long before I did.

Tags: OS X, PDF, receipt, web

How to Back up Your iTunes

2006-08-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

If you are thinking of backing up your iTunes, Apple support site has a couple of good tips. The first tip shows you how to create a big play list with every song in it and burn to CD or DVD. The article also discusses way to back up just the music you purchased from the iTunes music store. The second tip shows you how to make incremental back up. Essentially, you create a play list with songs added after a certain date.

Tags: OS X, OSX, iTunes, backup, music

MyKey 2300 RFID lock : Freedom from Keys

2006-08-16T21:42:00.000-07:00

I have read about this RFID lock from Popular Science magazine. It sounds great until I checked out the spec in the website: the encryption is only 40-bit, which is not too secured in today's computing power. Nevertheless, this seems to be a good alternative to the keyed entry.
Link: MyKey 2300 RFID lock : Freedom from Keys

Getting Rid Of XP’s Restart Prompt After Auto Update | HipTechBlog.com

2006-08-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

This trick shows you how to delay those Windows Update prompt.

WUGNET - Speed Test

2006-06-28T01:24:00.000-07:00

WUGNET is my favorite broadband speed test.

Picture to text

2006-06-28T00:42:00.000-07:00

TEXT-IMAGE.com is a free service that turns your photo into text.

E-Mail Icon Generator

2006-06-27T15:51:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted to put your email on your blog or website, but were affraid that spamers can haverst it using their script? If that is the case, check out the E-Mail Icon Generator, a free service that generates email icon for you. The service includes icons for popular domains such as Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, Comcast, Earthlink, and more. Here is an example:

Creating the icon is fast, so give it a try.

Unlocker

2006-06-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

Have you ever encountered these annoying error messages when trying to access a file?
- Cannot delete file: Access is denied
- The process cannot access the file because another process has locked a portion of the file.
- And other similar messages.

For a long time, I have to put up with these messages upon attempting to backup Outlook data file (*.pst file). Running Unlocker, I found out that it was the good old Windows Explorer who locked the file (don't ask me, I have no idea why). Unlocker allows me to unlock the file and thus enables me to make back up. For that reason, I give this tool two thumbs up--better yet, it is free.

UNLOCKER 1.8.3 BY CEDRICK 'NITCH' COLLOMB

CamBags.com - Camera Bags Review Resource for Nikon and Canon D-slr cameras.

2006-04-08T10:43:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a camera bag, give this website a try. The site is well designed, which allows the visitors to search for bags that fit a particular camera or by bag type.
Link

How to get your songs off your Windows iPod - CNET.com

2006-04-08T08:24:00.000-07:00

CNet has an article on how to copy songs from a PC (not Mac) iPod back to to the PC. I found this article easy to understand and very useful.
Link

PCWorld.com - New, Improved Web

2006-03-09T23:28:00.000-08:00

This is an interesting article, which discusses many good services, most are free. After reading it, I have enrolled in a couple services that I found useful and discussed in my blogs. Some of them are: BackPackIt, Writely, WriteBoard, and Yahoo Widgets.
Link: PCWorld.com - New, Improved Web

Google Page Creator

2006-02-27T00:15:00.000-08:00

Google Page Creator (GPC) is a free service from Google that enable the users to create web pages using online tools. However, at this point, the service is flaky: I keep losing my changes due to disconnection problem. I will revisit this service after a couple of weeks; at that time, I hope the quality of service should be improved.

Adding photos and links to a page is easy. A photo can reside on the web (you supply the URL) or on your local machine (GPC will upload it). While a link to email or URL works, link to a local file shows some problems. I tried to link to a local .pdf file and GPC automatically upload it and made the link works--OK so far. When I try to link to a local .html file, GPC uploads and created the link just fine; but when I tested the link, it only shows the first line of the file.

I like GPC for creating pages that is free of clusters and ads (they might introduces ads later, but I hope they will be text ads per Google's tradition).

2006-02-28 Update
Since yesterday, the service is more consistent. Today, I did not even notice the "disconnected" problem. I am not surprise because I expect the inconsistency in quality of service during the beta period. The more I use GPC, the more I appreciate its professionally designed templates. These templates are simple, elegant, aesthetic, and easy to read.

BubbleShare.com: a quick photo album

2006-02-25T22:46:00.000-08:00

I discovered BubbleShare by accident. It allows a person to upload photos online and share the album via email. Furthermore, we can also add the album to our blog such as the example below. I like BubbleShare for not having to register to use the service, just supply an email for notification when the upload is finished. Furthermore, we can add audio commentary to each photo, up to 30 seconds per photo.

This album is powered by
BubbleShare - Add to my blog

Clock Link: Add a clock to your website

2006-02-13T21:17:00.000-08:00

Want to add a clock to your home page? Try ClockLink, a free service that allow you to pick from different clock faces. ClockLink also provides count up and count down services.

How to Add Signature to Photos

2006-02-13T13:22:00.000-08:00

Greg Beasley devices a simple, yet effective way to add signature to your photos.

Get Driving Direction from Your iPod

2006-02-13T00:48:00.000-08:00

Do you use Yahoo to find driving direction? Do you own iPod Photo (or later)? If you answered "Yes" to both questions, you are a prime candidate for a useful service: iPod iWay (IPIW).

How does it work? At the iPodi Way site, submit your starting point and destination, IPIW will return you a .zip file with a series of .gif images (001.gif, 002.gif, and so on), each contains one or more instruction. All you have to do is to copy these images to synchronize with your iPod. At driving time, just view those images in sequence and follow the instruction.

You might wonder, "Why images? Why not text?" The answer is simple: the .GIF images allows for larger font, which is helpful when you are driving. Besides, the .GIF format does not take up that much space. The direction from my home to the airport 30 mile away only takes up 104KB of disk space--puny.

What not to like about it? Instead of just print out the direction on paper, you have to synchronize the images with iPod--not an easy job for some users. Also, when driving, operating the iPod to read the instruction is much harder than just picking up the paper and read.

Despite the shortcoming above, I think iPodiWay is an excellent service that increase the usefulness of your iPod.

Links:

iPodiWay web site
Review from The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
Review from infopackets
You can Google "iPodiWay review" for more information

Ning.com Social Application

2006-02-13T00:09:00.000-08:00

I picked up somewhere that Ning is a hot place for creating online social applications so I checked the site out. After a couple of visits, I concluded that Ning is not that practical.

The idea behind Ning is online applications that users can use and contribute to it. For example, Ning has a Bookshelf application which allows users to review books that they read, or mention books that they want to read. Users can also add their own reviews to other people's books. If you like the idea, but want to use that application for something else such as movie review, just clone it. I have not actually cloned any app, but it seems straight forward.

The problem with Ning lies in the fact that it only has a handful of core applications we can clone from. That means if none of those applications fit your need, you are out of luck, unless you can create your application from scratch.

The second problem with Ning is the applications are single-minded. What do I mean by that? Let's look at Yahoo! Group (YG) for example. YG offers its users many features such as discussion, photo album, file depository, database, poll, calendar, ... These features make up a comprehensive online community. A Ning application just do one thing, and it does not do it well enough to stand out.

In conclusion, after playing around with Ning for a few days, I do not see any value Ning can offer me. Keep in mind that this is my own opinion, there are plenty people who will beg to differ. If you are curious about Ning, give it a try. It might fit your needs or it might not.

Links:

Ning
Review and follow-up from TechCrunch
The Long Tail--another site that talks about Ning
Don't forget to Google "Ning Review" for more information.

Panasonic DMC-LC1 Impression

2006-02-10T00:45:00.000-08:00

Previous cameras

To put into perspective where I came from, here is a list of the cameras that I owned in reverse chronological order:

Panasonic DMC-LC1, a prosumer-level point-and-shoot that is the Leica Digilux 2 twin.
Canon A610, an excellent compact point-and-shoot camera.
Fujifilm F10, an outstanding lowlight performer that can pump the ISO to 1600 while maintaining resonably low noise.
Panasonic DMC-FX7, one of my favorite: small, image stabilization, 2.5" screen, excellent picture quality.
Fujifilm S2Pro, a DSLR that I still own. It has excellent picture quality, hard-to-beat skin tone.
Nikon Coolpix 5000. I have too many thowaways with this camera. It works well for somebody, but not me.
Nikon Coolpix 995. I quickly sold this one to get the Coolpix 5000: I did not like the swivel lens.
A Kodak 1MP camera whose model has long escaped me. This was my first digital camera.

Of the ones in the list, the cameras that I currently still own are: LC1, A610, and S2pro. I keep the A610 in the car most of the time for those quick captures. My wife loves the S2 despite its large size and chunky lens. I hope the LC1 will replace my S2 for most situations.

First Impressions

My first impression of the LC1: it is heavy on the left side so one-hand operation is difficult, but not impossible. The camera is well built, I am impressed at the quality of the doors and hinges, especially the battery door: it is the best battery door among the P&S I have encountered. I get confused between the zoom and focus rings; time will fix that. The menu is not the easiest to use--just enough to get by. I prefer the A610's and S2's menus.

The white balance is not consistent; my Canon A610 leaves the LC1 in the dust in this department. If I only move the camera just an inch, my picture might go from perfect white balance to a warmer (or colder) tone.

The lens barrel has three rings: the zoom, the focus, and the aperture ring. Since I spent a good deal of time on my DSLR, I am used to operating the zoom ring. In fact, I prefer this method over zooming with the thumb or index finger. To enable autofocus, lock the ring to the AF or AF-Macro positions. For people who used the good old film range finder cameras, the aperture ring should be familar.

These are my first impressions. I will update this page regularly. Please send me any comments you might have.

2006-02-11 Update

Today, I took the kids to the park and brought the LC1 to test outdoor pictures. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my 1GB SD card and had to get by with a puny 16MB one. Thus, I set the picture size to 1280 which is one size larger than 640; I also set compression to the most agressive. That allowed me to take more than 30 pictures.

To my surprise, they are very vibrant and I do not think I have any problem with 4x6 prints. Overall, I think the color is excellent: warm, bright, and vibrant. The only complain I have against the color is the LC1's sky seems to be lighter than what I got from my Canon A610. In the future, I might bring both cameras out and test my theory.

While I do not usually take photos at wide angle, I found myself dialed to 28mm as often as 90mm. What set the LC1 apart from the other cameras is how intuitive it is. To zoom, just turn the ring. Need flash? Pop it open. Need aperture priority mode? lock the shutter dial to A (automatic) and dial the aperture ring. My wife, on the other hand, dislike the camera's large size. She said she would rather use our even-bigger Fujifilm S2 because after all, it is an DSLR.

A second complain I have against the LC1 is the shutter lag. There are some instances when I try to capture a running kid and ended up taking the picture sans kid. This is the problem that prompted my wife and I to purchased our DSLR in the first place.

2006-02-12 Update

Today, I took the camera out for more pictures. I found the LC1's auto white balance works better in the sun than in the shade. In the shade, the automatic setting renders the picture with a blue cast. My Canon A610 has no problem in this situation. I am sure that if I custom set the white balance, the colors will be dead on. However, custom setting might not be practical because I constantly switched between the sun lit and shade areas; it would be a pain to remember switching the white balance settings accordingly.

2006-02-25 Update

Yesterday, I took the camera for a walk where I frequently step between the sun lit and shaded areas. I found it hard to view the pictures on the 2.5" LCD, so I switch to the electronic viewfinder (EVF) and found it not very clear. Before I purchase the camera, I was aware of this limitation. However, as I now experienced it, I found it annoying.

The square lens hood add very little weigh and dimension to the camera, but it helps to shield the lens from flare. For that reason, I keep it on most of the time. I recommend you do the same. At least, keep the hood and the square cap in your camera bag so you can use it outdoor.

Problems with Google Web Accelerator (GWA)

2006-02-08T12:08:00.000-08:00

In a wimp, I installed GWA on my laptop and instead of saving time as promised, I spent hours trying to finish the installation process alone. In my first attempt, the installation process froze just before reaching the 100% mark. No mater what I did could kill the beast, so I finally had to resort to holding down the power button to turn off the system.

After restarting, I had to deal with system problems such as freezing, hanging, browser hangs (IE, AvantBrowser, and FireFox) along with other countless irregularities. I could not even uninstall the program.

Finally, I attempted to run the installation a couple of times before I can completely uninstall the beast. GWA might work for other people, but not for me. I am now happy again without it.

Where to put your video and photos to share online?

2006-02-04T15:58:00.000-08:00

I used to have a .Mac account where I can share my family video clips with my relatives around the world. But .Mac costs about $100 a year and I am not a %100 Mac guy, so I am setting out to look for an alternative, especially a free one. My quest landed me at putfile.com, a free photo and video hosting service. Please read on to see if the free service fullfill my modest need.

Pros:

Free, simple to use
Video and audio files up to 25MB in size per file
Visitors do not have to enter a password to view your media (also a cons)

Cons:

Not folder hierarchy to organize your media
Visitors do not have to enter a password to view your media (also a pros)
Only allow media files and not other kinds (.doc, .txt, ...)

The registration is relatively easy; the user only need to answer about 10 questions regarding name, birthday, password, ... The service allows its users to upload many kind of media: video, audio, and photos. It does not allow its users to upload other kinds of files such as Word documents for example).

Once the upload is finished, the service supplies its users with a URL to that file. At this point, the user can email that URL to potential viewers. So far, I have uploaded two videos, both are in Quicktime movies format and the viewing experience is fantastic. As soon as a person views the URL, the service will start buffering the video, then plays it automatically.

In conclusion, despites a couple of minor complains, I am pleased with the service, especially its price: free.

Writely-an Online Word Processor

2006-02-02T00:58:00.000-08:00

While surfing the web, I stumbled across www.writely.com, an online word processor that permit collaboration, i.e. many people can simultaneously edit the same document.
Sign up to the service is easy: all you have to do is entering the email address twice and supplying a new password; it takes less than one minute. Inviting other people to collaborate your document is easy: just click "Collaborate" and add your collaborators' email addresses. The invitees will receive an email notification with the login URL, and the password.

Writely also associate a unique email address to each account (email in). The user can send document to this email address.

Pros

Fast, easy to use
WYSIWYG editor
Email in feature

Cons

No spell checker
Flat folder structure, better to have hierarchical folder structure.

Peanut Butter Wiki

2006-02-02T00:13:00.000-08:00

After evaluating some Wiki, I settled with Peanut Butter Wiki for its balance between ease of use and wealth of features.

Pros

View without log in
Easy-to-remember formatting style
Apply for a new wiki is very easy
Nice and clean interface
Automatic table of contents
The ability to backup your wiki

Cons

Non-standard formatting style, prefer WYSIWYG editor
Not easy to create page, cryptic syntax
No community features: the wiki is meant for one person to use. That rules out such possibilities as project pages and team editing effort. Now, we can get around this problem by having each team members to log in using the same email/password, but different name.

Check out the PBwiki tour!

Creating fancy frame using Photoshop

2006-01-16T16:24:00.000-08:00

I love this. I will try it sometimes.

Mini Wiki Review

2006-01-15T22:43:00.000-08:00

I have been looking for an easier way to create my website: I don't want to mess around with offline editing and then upload the files. Naturally, a wiki seems to be the answer. So, I set out to see which of the free wiki fits my need. My list includes jotspot, pbwiki, xwiki, and wikispaces. Clicking the link and you will find my summary of the pros and cons of each.

What is the purpose of the 4-digit number after the 5-digit ZIP code?

2005-12-09T09:27:00.000-08:00

This is an interesting short article that explains a few things about the ZIP code such as what ZIP stands for, how does it work.

Comic Life: turns your photos into a comic

2005-11-13T10:45:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting application. I would like to try it out, but I store my pictures on my Windows machine, not my iBook. If you know anything like this for the Windows world, please let me know.

2006-02-12 Update
A couple of days ago, I visited a local Apple store and found a machine with Comic Life installed, so I decided to play with it. The program is very easy to use; if you know how to drag and drop, you are almost there, just add your imagination. Comic Life allows to export the result to .TIFF, .JPG, .MOV, among other formats. While using the program is easy, you could be frustrated if you are using a small monitor (say, 15 inch or less). The machine in the store sported a 20-inch LCD, which allows to see full page, including the small captions easily. If you have a smaller monitor, you might have to zoom in to see the captions, which means lots of scrolling. Once you created your comic, the monitor size also carry to viewing: it would be nice to view the full page, and the only way to do so comfortably is to have a large monitor. I tried to view the comic on a laptop with 14-inch screen and I can barely read the captions--not fun at all. However, for $29, this software offers good value and fun.
[Link]

Portable FileZilla (USB Friendly)

2005-11-08T13:13:00.000-08:00

In my quest to fill my USB key (AKA thumb drive, or pen drive, or flash drive) with useful applications that I can use on public computers, I ran across John Haller's portable FileZilla (PFZ).

Pros:

Free!
Small: PFZ takes about 3.51MB of space
Full featured
Settings stored in XML file

Cons:

Size is larger than i-ftp
Perhaps need to strip down in size and feature
A little hard to use for novice

Installation

As with other portable applications, you install by merely unzip the installation file (.zip) to your USB key and start running.

Running the program

The program looks and feel just like the regular FileZilla. For those who already used FileZilla, myself included, they should feel at ease. However, for those who are new to FileZilla, the busy interface is a bit daunting. While I have not used the program extensively, I do not notice any missing features, compared to the full version. One think I like about PFZ is the way it stores settings in the filezilla.xml file. This way, I can back it up for later restoration. This is a useful feature inherited from the full FileZilla; it allows you to save your servers' settings and transfer them to different machines if needed.

Portable AbiWord (USB friendly)

2005-11-07T10:25:00.000-08:00

While I am happy with portable OpenOffice (POO) as my on-the-go office suite, POO does not correctly render some documents, including my courses' syllabi. Because of that problem, I turned to portable AbiWord (PAW).

Pros:

Small: PAW requires 22MB of space
Fast: it starts much quicker off a USB 2.0 key, compared to POO
Simple and easy to use: the interface is very simple.
Adequate features: I use it mostly to view documents and to write academic papers.
Free!
Space saving: PAW can compress documents to save space

Cons:

Limited feature set: it does not bother me, but it is worth mentioning.
Only word processing, not spreadsheet and presentation

Installation
After you download the .zip file from the website, unzip it to your USB key (or your local hard drive) and run the PortableAbiWord.exe file to start the program. Yes, it is that simple. The entire program is about 15MB, but in practice, it occupies a little more than 22MB.

Using the program
PAW starts up quickly on a USB 2.0 key with USB 2.0 highspeed port. On a slower USB 1.1 connection, it starts up much slower, but still very reasonable (about 15 seconds on my test machine).

The first thing you notice is the clean, elegant interface. PAW does not cluster its toolbars with tons of buttons. Instead, you will see only two rows of buttons: standard (new, open, save, ...) and formatting (bold, italic, ...). If you have been using Microsoft Word or other word processing applications, you should not have any problem using PAW. The feature set is adequate for academic writing with spelling, paragraph formatting and table support.

Conclusion
If you would like a lightweight word processor, you should give PAW a look. It is small enough to fit in my USB key, which is a big plus. If you want more feature, consider the full-featured version.
This entry linked to Wikispaces page (PortableApplications)

Outlook 2003 delivers mail to nowhere

2005-10-24T02:17:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago, my Thinkpad T42 laptop suddenly could not boot up for some reason. No problem, I thought, I would run the IBM Rescue and Recovery program to recover my operating system as well as personal files, which I back up every week. The restoration went exceptionally well that I only loss about 4 days worth of data. The bad news is Outlook 2003 started to act strangly. When I started Outlook, the status bar told me that Outlook is downloading my messages to the Inbox. The problem is, I did not see any of those messages. I searched and searched and could not find them anywhere. After almost a day of troubleshooting, I was ready to give up and thought of re-installing Office 2003. Then I remember my good friend Duong and went to him for help. This is a big blow to my pride because I used to be an Outlook tester. It turned out that Duong had a solution for that, and it worked.

Here are the steps that I did, based on Duong's advice:

Back up my data (.PST) file
Delete the current Outlook profile
Repair Office 2003 (or Outlook 2003)
Run Outlook afresh

If you don't know how to perform these steps, you can search for them at http://support.microsoft.com

Firefox's Keyboard Shortcuts

2005-10-24T01:49:00.000-07:00

These keyboard shortcuts make my life easier. My favorites:

Ctrl+K to take me to the search box
/ to search within the window
Ctrl+B for bookmarks
Text sizes: Ctrl+= (ctrl and equal size to increase), Ctrl+- (ctrl and minus sign to decrease), and Ctrl+0 (ctrl and zero to restore)

Accepting and Rejecting Tracked Changes the Old Way in Microsoft Word

2005-10-22T14:21:00.000-07:00

Excerpt:
While I rarely use this feature, I can see how the new Word 2003 toolbars would suck, and why people want the old way back.

When you accept a tracked change in Word 2003, you must hit the Next button to go to the next tracked change, while in older versions, you were automatically taken to the next tracked change.

So here's how to get the old method back.

PicoCrypt: Encryption to go

2005-10-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

(Click here for Screenshot)
I have been looking for an encryption software that satisfy the following requirements:

Small and portable: I want to run the program from my USB key, that means it should be small. By portable, I meant the program should be able to run without installation. I can just plug the USB key into any computer running Windows and run the program from the USB key.
Public-computers friendly. Most public computers do not grant me the administrator privilege. This program must be able to run in this environment.

My search dragged on for a couple of days, which includes CryptainerLE Mobile, Private Disk Light, and Crypto Anywhere. All of these programs, with the exception of Crypto Anywhere, requires the admin right so I cannot use them. Finally, I settle for PicoCrypt from Picofactory.

Pros:

Small and portable: "installation" means copy the sole 13.5KB .EXE file to your USB key.
It does not require admin right to run. That makes encrypting your files possible, even in public computers.
Simple to use

Cons:

You have to enter password twice every time you run the program.
The "Always on top" and "Always ask for password" options are on by default and they are annoying.
Not a lot of features
Encryption algorithm uses 128-bit key, which is tiny in today's standard.

Installation:
Installation is easy: just copy the small 13.5KB .EXE file to your USB key and you are done. The filename is PCRYPTxxxx.EXE, where xxxx is the version number. However, I renamed it to pcrypt.exe to make it shorter.

Using the program:
Every time I run the program, it asks me to enter a password, then retype the password. The program does not remember previous password, which is a good thing. The bad news is, every time I run, I have to enter a password twice. This password is what I call "session password" because it lasts only for the current session. Once I quit the program, the password is forgotten. PicoCrypt uses this password to encrypt and decrypt the files.

Once I entered the password, I always do the following: turn off (uncheck) the "Always on top" and "Always ask password" menues under the "Options" menu. The first option is self-explanatory. If I turn on the "Always ask password" menu option, PicoCrypt will always ask for password twice every time I encode or decode a file. The only usefulness I can think of by using this option is when you want to encode or decode files using different passwords. Turn off this option, PicoCrypt will use the session password to encrypt and decrypt file, which is more convenient.

To encrypt a file, the easiest way is to drag it into the PicoCrypt window, then Click "Encrypt". At this point, PicoCrypt will encrypt the file and display the status in its window. The file is now encrypted, its contents has been scrambled, but its name remains unchanged. A second way to encrypt file is to click the File menu then click Encrypt.

To decrypt the file, drag the encrypted file to PicoCrypt window, then click Decrypt. Again, another way is to click the File menu, then click the Decrypt menu item.

That's all there to the program. It does not have any other function. While I am happy with this program, I always welcome others that fit my requirements. If you know any, please let me know by posting your comment.
This entry linked to Wikispaces page (PortableApplications)

SciTE--Excellent small text editor for your USB Key

2005-10-17T01:50:00.000-07:00

In my quest for a small, fast, full-featured text/code editor, I encountered SciTE. This is an excellent text editor that supports color-coded source code for many languages (C, C++, Fortran, Python, Perl, ...) The program is small, can be run without any setup, which makes it ideal in a USB key. Best of all, it is free.

The uncompressed version of the editor consists of about 76 files and weight in about 1.27MB. However, I chose to use the compressed file, which is a single stand-alone .EXE of 411KB.
This entry linked to Wikispaces page (PortableApplications)

BYOL--Bring Your Own Linux

2005-09-30T17:20:00.000-07:00

According the the developer, MetroPipe, you can "Carry your entire Internet communication system on a tiny USB drive."

The user does not have to have a lot of Linux experience to use it. The software runs a little on the slow side due to operating within the emulator. However, the software gives the user a complete environment for browsing the internet with FireFox (web browser), Thunderbird (email), aFTP (ftp), and other tools. Best of all, you don't leave your internet traces behind--everything is contained in your USB key. After you finish surfing, just exit the environment, eject your USB key and you are good to go.

This entry linked to Wikispaces page (PortableApplications)

Good Sync

2005-09-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a tool to synchronize your files, especially between computers or computer-to-USB, try Good Sync. Good Sync is a free program for personal use. I have used it for almost a year now and like it.

Free Greeting Cards, Free Ecards From 123Greetings.com

2005-09-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

If you want to send an eCard, but do not want to mess with the registration that most eCard sites require; head to 123 Greetings.

Portable Applications for your USB Key

2005-09-10T01:59:00.000-07:00

If you carry a sizable USB 2.0 key, you might want to load some
portable applications to bring with you on the go. They prove to be
handy for me. Please note that USB 1.1 key works, but it will take too
long to load the applications. Here what I have on
my key:

Portable FireFoxâa web browser that is small,
fast, and full-feature [Link]

Portable Thunderbirdâan excellent email program that supports POP3, IMAP, and RSS [Link]

Portable OpenOfficeâan excellent replacement for Microsoft Office [Link]

Portable RoboformâAKA Pass2Go, a password management that can fill out web pages for you, the free version is limited [Link]

TreePad Lite is a little application to organize your texts in a tree. [Link]

CryptainerLEMobile is a data encryption program, which creates a password-protected virtual drive to store your files safely. The program does not work without administrative right, unless the administrator on that computer installed the Cryptainer service. That rules out public computers. [Link]

i.ftpâa small and light ftp program [Link]

Foxit Readerâa PDF reader that is not even 3MB in size [Link]

Crypto Anywhere, OpenPGP edition. Unfortunately, this program requires administrator right to run. Once it runs, you can create a [Link]
PicoCrypt is the only encryption program that does not require administrator privileges to run. That means it is possible to run the program on public computers. I will post a mini review next. [Link]
Best of all, PStart organizes these programs into a neat launch pad. [Link]

Additional information:

John Haller's website, which hosts most of the portable applications mentioned above, also contains Portable NVU (HTML editor) and Portable Sunbird (calendar).

Besides Thunderbird, I also like i.Scribe, a very small (~ 1MB program size) email client. This program is from the maker of i-ftp.

PC Magazine has an excellent article which describes some ofthese applications and more. Please check it out as it worth your time.

Another website that describe some of these applications, including an FTP program, a music player.

Everything USB describes a list of U3 applications. For more information regarding U3 specification, you can visit the U3 site.

Dekart's Private Disk Light is a portable encryption program. I am going to try out this software and follow up with a mini review [Link]
Portable apps for USB flash Drives [Link]
A Directory Of Programs Designed For USB Drives [Link]
Playing with portable applications [Link]
Portable Applications for USB Drives [Link] *
PCWorld's Internet on a Stick article [Link]
Beginner's Guides: USB Memory Drive Projects and Tips. This website gives an overview of the available applications. [Link]

CNet's article about software for USB drive [Link]
The Portable Freeware Collection is a web site that dedicates to Portable Applications. [Link]
Tom's Hardware Guide has a review of KeyPasâa password management software [Link]
MetroPipe provides a special version of Linux that fits in a USB key. [Link]

This entry linked to Wikispaces page (PortableApplications)

How To Move Your iTunes Library From Your Mac To Your PC

2005-07-03T23:01:00.000-07:00

Juniorbird.com: How To Move Your iTunes Library From Your Mac To Your PC
Other interesting sites:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20031222044506360
http://playlistmag.com/forums/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=2571&page=0&view=expanded&sb=5&o=&fpart=1
http://www.tuaw.com/2005/06/22/how-to-move-your-itunes-library-to-a-new-mac/
http://juniorbird.com/archives/000599.html
http://www.apple.com/se/support/itunes/windows/tutorial/segment102081b.html

wiPod | iPod-based field guide to free wi-fi hotspots

2005-06-22T23:40:00.000-07:00

wiPod provides a list of free WIFI hotspot in your area. The list is broken down by state, then by city. Each entry has the address and phone number.
wiPod | iPod-based field guide to free wi-fi hotspots

SeattleWeekly.com - Food - Dining Guide for iPod

2005-06-22T23:36:00.000-07:00

Got iPod? Dine in Seattle? The Seattle Weekly has some treat for you: a list of restaurants in the Seattle areas that you can load to your iPod.
SeattleWeekly.com - Food - Dining Guide for iPod

Light bulbs that eliminate odors

2005-05-28T00:21:00.000-07:00

purchased two fresh2 light bulbs with skepticism. However, I can attest to their effectiveness. I installed two bulbs in my heavily-smelt kitchen and left the house for a couple of hours, I return toa kitchen free of odor. Read the frequently asked questions (FAQ) here. The review here prompted me to purchase them. If you want to eliminate odor, give these light bulbs a try.

Link: http://www.fresh2.com/index.html

Street Cards - create your own cool business cards online

2005-04-25T22:35:00.000-07:00

Come to Street Cards to create your own cool business cards online. Their cards make a strong lasting first impression.

My T42 support link

2005-02-19T16:35:00.000-08:00

This is my personal note.

Mike Lin's Useful Tools

2005-02-14T10:20:00.000-08:00

I like Mike's Startup Control Panel. It is a good, simple, and effective tool. It let you control which program to load at start up. You can enable, disable, or even delete these program. Windows XP should have included this tool. Mike also has a couple more tricks in his bag, check them out.

ScrapBook Extension for FireFox

2005-02-12T12:16:00.000-08:00

ScrapBook 0.12.0 allows you to collect clippings (really whole Web pages) from the Web sites you visit. It organizes the clippings and saves them to disk along with your own comments and annotations. The original URL of the clipping is also stored so you can revisit the site for more information. You can search notes and clippings. An indispensable tool for conducting research using Firefox.

Dictionary Search Extension for FireFox

2005-02-12T12:14:00.000-08:00

DictionarySearch 0.7 allows you to select a word, right-click on it, and choose Define. A definition provided by Dictionary.com then appears in another tab. This is a very easy way to learn the meaning of new words from within Firefox.

IE View Extension for FireFox

2005-02-12T12:09:00.000-08:00

The ieview plugin is a simple Mozilla and Mozilla Firefox extension (for Microsoft Windows systems), which allows the current page or a selected link to be opened in Internet Explorer. I use Firefox 99.99% of the time, but there are those moments -- particularly when testing new pages, or when viewing that rare IE-only page that's actually interesting -- when I need to see what things look like in IE.

Picasa 2.0

2005-01-21T01:26:00.000-08:00

Do you have tons of digital photos that overwhelmed you? Have you tried those so-called "organizer" but found them too hard to use? Do you like to fix up your photos, but don't want to pay for Photoshop, or even Photoshop Elements? Give Picasa a try. I have, and I like it.

Picasa is an excellent piece of software, its strength is in easy of use. You can fix your photo in just one click--imagine that! Best of all, it is free, from the people at Google.

Blogger

2005-01-16T22:37:00.000-08:00

This website is created using Blogger. The idea is to quickly create and update your site without having to know HTML. If you use blogger, don't forget BlogThis!

Harmony Remote Controls

2005-01-16T15:00:00.000-08:00

Are you going crazy juggling 10 different remotes just to watch a DVD? Do you spend hours to program your universal remote, but still does not find it work as expected? Enter the Harmony remote. You program it by plugging it to your computer's USB port and via' Logitech's website. The configuration process is very easy. Once done, you can watch your DVD, tape, or TV just by pressing one button on the remote. It's supper easy to use. My wife now can enjoy watching TV, tape, DVD, listening to radio, CD without going through the trouble of figuring which component to turn on, which setting to switch to. Highly recommended.

mrgadget.com

2005-01-16T14:14:00.000-08:00

I found this site to be useful. Mr. Gadget introduces many useful gadgets. I did buy some of the items he reviewed such as the trek flashlights, T9 lubricant, kidstation desk and chairs, and 3M microfiber cloths. The site is slow in updates, but you can expect to find good information there.

Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE) bootable live windows CD/DVD

2005-01-13T10:42:00.000-08:00

I have not time to try it yet, but I will definitely do so. This looks like a good-to-have tool.

Calculating Annuity with HP12C

2005-01-10T02:16:00.000-08:00

This is a good page that teaches by example. It's exactly what the doctor ordered.

Nvu - The Complete Web Authoring System

2005-01-09T15:25:00.000-08:00

Are you looking for a free web authoring program? Give the free Nvu (N-view) a try. I have used it for a couple of days and really love it.

Need to Send Large File?

2005-01-02T01:32:00.000-08:00

Use YouSendIt! This service is free, plus you don't have to register with it. You send send files with size up to 1GB, which is very useful. You can also create link on your website to let others send you large files via YouSendIt.

Animation Library - Thousands of FREE Animations

2004-12-15T16:34:00.000-08:00

This is a good place to get free animated GIF files.

TinyURL.com - where tiny is better!

2004-12-15T16:27:00.000-08:00

This webiste turns your lengthy URL into a much shorter one.

Ken Rockwell's website

2004-12-11T08:44:00.000-08:00

Ken's website offers useful tips which you can use. He de-emphasizes the importance of expensive cameras and concentrate on learning photography itself.

Nikon School

2004-12-11T08:38:00.000-08:00

If you want to make the best use of your camera, attend these classes. I will.

TrafficGauge(tm) Mobile Traffic Map

2004-11-28T19:49:00.000-08:00

Cool device provides real-time traffice maps to the LA and Seattle areas.

SnapFiles - download freeware and shareware software programs.

2004-11-28T11:31:00.000-08:00

A good site to download those shareware and freeware programs.

ScholarWord

2004-11-21T20:39:00.000-08:00

If you are writing paper in MLA or APA style, ScholarWord can help with the references, among other useful hints. Download a free version, or pay for it to get more useful features. Check it out.

Google Cheatsheet

2004-11-08T19:09:00.000-08:00

A nice cheatsheet to make search more productive.

Tabbrowser Extensions for FireFox

2004-10-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

This is one of the best extension for FireFox. You can customize your tabs in the way FireFox can't.

FoxyTunes - Control any media player from Firefox and more...

2004-10-27T21:38:00.000-07:00

I use this to control my iTunes--it's very useful

BlogThis for Firefox

2004-10-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

Cool stuff: right click a web page and choose "Blog This" to send the link of that web page to your blogger. It works with Firefox and Mozilla.

Microsoft Office Assistance: Demo: OneNote tips and tricks

2004-10-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

This is a wonderful, useful demo for those who uses Microsoft's OneNote.

Microsoft Office Online: Office Demos Showcase

2004-10-25T01:31:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Office website that packs tons of cool demos.

Download details: Office 2000 Document: A List of Useful Shortcut Keys

2004-10-23T23:40:00.000-07:00

From Microsoft:
Do you find that using the keyboard is sometimes quicker than using your mouse? Shortcut keys can help you bypass menus and carry out commands directly. This Excel 2000 worksheet contains a list of useful shortcut keys for each of the Office 2000 programs. With this list, you can choose to display all of the shortcut keys or only the shortcut keys for a particular program. You can then print the list to keep by your computer, or you can simply refer back to the online version whenever you need to find a quick way to complete a task.

Microsoft Office Assistance: Using the Microsoft Outlook Personal Folders Backup tool

2004-10-23T22:39:00.000-07:00

Here is a useful tool for backing up your .PST file. It works for Outlook 2000 and later.

Microsoft Office Assistance: Using the Microsoft Outlook Personal Folders Backup tool