SC-Network

Welcome

2009-12-31T08:18:00.000+08:00

Welcome to my blog!

This blog contains tips and info about IT related topics-- including Domino, Lotus Notes, Windows, Lunix and Blackberry etc.

In addition, it covers a fair bit of topics like money saving and investment.

Some articles here are also written in Chinese.

如果您需要用中文阅读，就在菜单中选择<中文版>。

Mails Get Stuck In Domino Mailbox

2009-09-26T05:30:00.004+08:00

For the past one week, our Domino SMTP server kept having problems everyday where the mails got stuck in the "mail.box". It happened everyday at the middle of the night between 2 to 3 AM. When I checked the mailbox, it has errors prompting Symantec AntiVirus/Content Filtering scan pending.

After much monitoring, troubleshooting and isolation, I found that the problem is related to the latest definition updates from LiveUpdate where the system tried performing a scheduled LiveUpdate from the Symantec site (Oh... forgot to mention that the server is protected by Symantec Mail Security for Domino).

To resolve the issue, I upgraded the existing SMSDOM version to SMSDOM 7.5.8.

Because of the problems, I didn't have a good sleep for the last one week as I had to wake up early morning to restart the Domino (via VPN connection from home) so that the mails can be processed for delivery. Too bad, my boss wasn't aware of my little extra effort. Sigh!

Phonics Song - Ants On The Apple

2009-08-01T20:38:00.004+08:00

Phonics (看字读音法) is the most widely used approach for the teaching of English reading and spelling.
I get to know a phonics song when my kids go for phonics learning class.
With the song, it really helps the children quite a lot in memorizing how the letter sounds.

Here is the phonics song "Ants On The Apple" for kid:-

ants on the apple a,a,a.
balls are bouncing b,b,b.
caterpillar coughing c,c,c.
dolls are dancing d,d,d.
elegant elephant e,e,e.
five flamingos f,f,f.
goats are giggling g,g,g.
helicopters are hovering h,h,h.
indian itching i,i,i.
jellybeans are jumping j,j,j.
king kicked a kettle k,k,k.
lion licking lollipop l,l,l.
monkeys are munching m,m,m.
nuts in a nutshell n,n,n.
old orange octopus o,o,o.
popcorn is popping p,p,p.
queen waiting quietly q,q,q.
rats are running r,r,r.
sausages are sizzling s,s,s.
tigers on tiptoe t,t,t.
up umbrella ah,ah,ah,
violent volcanoes v,v,v.
wibbly wobbly walrus w,w,w.
fox in a box ks,ks,ks.
yak is yawning y,y,y.
zigzag zebra z,z,z.

You may listen to the song by clicking the "play" button below...

169 IP Address On Windows Vista

2009-04-21T20:54:00.010+08:00

Last week, I encountered some problems when I was helping my friend setting up the wireless access on the broadband router.

The Windows XP PC can access the Aztech router DSL305EW via wireless but Windows Vista failed. On the Windows Vista notebook, it showed that it was connected but the IP address assigned to it was 169.X.X.X.

I confirmed it with another Windows Vista notebook and it gave the same behavior. However, both Windows Vista notebooks can access the wireless from another's router without any problem.

After searching from the internet, I tried the solution below by changing some registry entries but still can't get it work.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/928233

-- related to DhcpConnEnableBcastFlagToggle registry key.

At last, I managed to resolve the problem by upgrading the version of router’s firmware.

Why Compact Cannot Reduce File Size

2009-03-08T09:32:00.006+08:00

On our Lotus Domino server, it has been defined a scheduled job to perform compact task for the Lotus Notes Mailboxes (NSF files) during non-peak hours. After finishing the compact, I can see that the file’s size of databases was being reduced. Lately, I notice that the file size doesn’t reduce any more.

When I did a “load compact” manually on server, I also see that the file’s size wasn’t reduced and there was no error prompted.

After doing much research on the internet, I realized that the change of behavior was due to the fact that I enabled the transaction logging on the Domino server recently.

Before I dwell down to the point, let me fist highlight that there are three styles of compacting:
[1] In-place compacting with space recovery (means –b option)
[2] In-place compacting with space recovery and reduction in file size (means –B option)
[3] Copy-style compacting

(For detailed description, you may refer to URL http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=0&uid=swg27006573)

Here are how Domino works and behaves…

If the transaction logging is not enabled (by default) and when you run Compact without specifying options, Domino uses “In-place with file size reduction” style of compacting on databases. So, the file size of database is reduced.

On the other hand, if the transaction logging is enabled and when you run Compact without specifying options, Domino uses “In-place” style of compacting on databases. That explains why the file size of the database can't not be reduced after the compact done.

So, in order to achieve file’s size reduction, I have explicitly used the “load compact –B” option for compacting the databases.

VBScript Tutorial

2009-01-18T20:03:00.000+08:00

Here are some of the resources about VBScript tutorial which I find it very useful:-

http://www.quackit.com/vbscript/tutorial

Tutorial for beginners

http://www.computer-training-software.com/vb-script.htm

Video tutorials (free)-- let you read less but learn more

Philips Vouchers For Sale At Lower Rate

2008-12-20T16:25:00.004+08:00

20 x $50 (total S$1000) Philips Vouchers for sale at S$900 (you can save S$100)!

Philips Voucher is in $50 denomination and will sell @ $45 each.

Term & conditions

- Valid for all Philips product sold in the Philips Experience Showroom (located in Toa Payoh, Singapore).

- Vouchers valid till 21 Feb 2009.

- Not exchangeable for cash. Any unused amount is not exchangeable for cash.

- Customers have to top-up difference for purchases exceeding the stated value
here.

- Only valid at normal retail price not applicable for items on promotion.

If interested, please SMS to 94893088.

Factory address
The Philips Experience Showroom
620A Lorong 1, Toa Payoh
TP4 Building, Level 1
Singapore 319762
Tel: 6882 3999

How To Disable Telnet For Linux User

2008-12-20T13:08:00.002+08:00

If you need to disable the telnet function for a particular UNIX/Linux user, it can be done by editing the /etc/passwd file and replace the shell (say /bin/bash) for that user’s entry with something else (say say /dev/null).

If it doesn’t work, then do these:-

- Login as the user.
- Edit the .profile (with vi editor) and add in the last line “exit”.
- Save the .profile.

With that, if the user tries to do a telnet, he will be automatically kicked out.

Wedding Anniversary

2008-12-12T08:37:00.009+08:00

Today (12/12) is mine and my honey’s wedding anniversary.

I still remember it was so romantic and wonderful when we said “I DO, I DO” during the moment in the ceremony.

I love you, honey!!

Mobile messaging for Lotus Domino

2008-12-01T21:00:00.009+08:00

Now, the Lotus Notes user can look forward to have the push mail service using a mobile device if the following criteria are met:-

- Lotus Domino 8.0.1 server or later (Lotus Domino 8.5 will be required for Nokia S60 support).
- Mobile device running under Windows Mobile (WM) 5.0, 6.0 and 6.1 releases. Or, Nokia mobile device running under S60 (Symbian OS platform).

To support pushmail access on the mobile device, you just simply need to install the IBM Lotus Notes Traveler software onto the device. After that, with some simple configuration on the device itself, it will be able to do the real-time replication (automatic) of Lotus e-mail (including attachments), calendar, address book, journal and To-Do-Lists.

With this major development of IBM's efforts, IBM has expanded the mobile support for the Lotus software portfolio (at no additional cost). In other words, the Lotus Notes user no longer needs to reply on Blackberry to pull email from Domino server, which requires additional infrastructure, overhead and cost.

To have a better picture about Lotus Notes Traveler on mobile, you may refer to the video clip below:-

References:-
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/21856/1127
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/lotus/products/notes/traveler.html

How To Update Virus Definition

2008-11-22T20:11:00.007+08:00

Virus definition file (also called signature file) is basically a database that contains the virus code (the signature) of those known viruses. To detect a virus, the antivirus program looks for these code strings in executable programs.

In addition, the virus definition file also contains repair information about all the discovered viruses so that the antivirus program knows how to remove the virus from the directories and registry in the inflected computer.

There are many new viruses and security risks being introduced into the computer community every day. In order for the antivirus program knows to how detect and clean the most recent viruses, the virus definition file must be updated regularly to have the latest information.

For Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition (for Norton as well), there are two ways of update the virus definitions:-
1. Live Update
2. Intelligent Updater

Live Update
It is the preferred method for the virus definition update as it is easy to use.

If your computer is configured as an unmanaged client, then it can be configured to get the update automatically from Symantec virus definition’s server.

If your computer is configured as a managed client (Live Update option may be grayed out), the “virus definition” update is most likely getting from a central, internal server in your company.

In any time, if you need to get ad-hoc update from the server, you can just simply click the “Live Update” button to trigger the download (as shown below).

Intelligent Updater
The Intelligent Updater file is an executable file (EXE file) to use as an alternative to LiveUpdate for updating virus definitions.

It is less convenient as compared with LiveUpdate, because it is a manual process. It also needs a larger download (say, bigger than 35 MB) that may be inconvenient if you have a slow internet connection (e.g. dial-up).

If your Symantec AntiVirus on your computer is configured as a managed client, it will not able to get the virus definitions from the company’s server when your computer is not connecting to the office network (for example, working on your notebook from home).

In that case, the only choice is to download the Intelligent Updater directly from the internet server and get the update.

The URL to the Symantec Security Response Web site to download the Intelligent Updater is as follows:-

http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/definitions/download/index.jsp

Create a Pivot Table in Excel

2008-10-16T20:33:00.001+08:00

The “Pivot Table” is one of the most powerful features in Excel.

In particular, it is very useful to use it to present information in a report format.

Assuming you have an Excel data file about the sales in different regions, with the Pivot Table created, you can click the “drop down” lists and change the data that is being displayed based on Month, Sales person, Product or geographic location.

Create a Pivot Table
In the Excel worksheet, go to toolbar and click “data”, and then “pivot table and pivot chart report” to follow the instructions given. Essentially, you just need to select the whole data set and create the pivot table in the new worksheet. All the column headers from your dataset should appear in a control box on the right of the screen. You can drag-and-drop the field buttons on your table.

For step-by-step procedures on how to create a Pivot Table, you may refer to the URL link www.homeandlearn.co.uk/ME/mes9p5.html for details.

I bet you… it is easier than you might think.

Opening of EPS file (How To)

2008-10-10T20:45:00.004+08:00

To open an *.EPS file (Encapsulated PostScript) directly, you would need either of the following software installed onto your PC:-

Adobe Illustrator
Abobe PageMaker
Adobe Photoshop
CorelDRAW

However, there is still a work-around solution to open it using the normal Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint.

The steps are:-
- Launch Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint
- Click "Insert" menu then Picture, and select the From File (to point to the *.EPS file).

Find command in Linux

2008-10-08T18:29:00.011+08:00

I suppose the “find” command is properly the most useful utility in UNIX/Linux.

The following are a few examples showing how to perform some common tasks using the “find” tool. I will add more as time goes on.

Basic syntax: find pathname... expression

#If you want to find files that are 7 days old, use the -mtime option
find . -mtime 7 -print
(Assuming today is 23-Dec, the command will show the files that are only dated 16-Dec.)

#An alternate way is to specify the range of periods
find . -mtime +6 -mtime -8 -print
find . -mtime +6 -mtime -8 -exec ls -lt {} \;

#Find files based on 7 days ago (atime means last accessed time)
find / -atime 7 -ls

#List old files and delete them (mtime means last modified/creation time of a file)
find -mtime +60 -exec rm -f {} \;

#Find core files in the directory and remove them
find . -name "core" -exec rm -f {} \;

Note:-
When using with “-exec” command, it should be used together with {} and ; (semicolon), where {} is used as a variable whose name is the file “find” found. As for ; (semicolon), it represents the end of command which must be punctuated by a quoted or escaped ; (semicolon).

Send Large Email Attachment Over Internet

2008-09-28T20:12:00.006+08:00

In most of the organizations, they usually have a policy in place for E-mail system to restrict people from sending or receiving mail with very huge attachment.

You can’t use the personal E-mail account to do the task as well because they also have a control for maximum attachment size rule. As far as I know, Gmail can accept up to 20 MB whereas for Yahoo, it can only take up to 10 MB.

In that situation, perhaps you can consider using the online file storage services like Rapidshare, Megaupload to send the mail.

I have tested Rapidshare before using their free service. Even though the upload speed is not fast but at least it serves the purpose. For information, the file kept on their server will be automatically deleted if it has not been accessed for 90 days.

Cannot open attachment in Lotus Notes (How To)

2008-08-25T20:28:00.003+08:00

I came across an incident that Lotus Notes user can't open (example Excel file) within Lotus Notes. The system prompted that "Sorry, an application to open this document cannot be found". The attachment has the .xls extension and can only be viewed with the Notes viewer, but cannot be opened.

Upon checking, I realized that it was simply due to Windows “file association” issue.

To resolve the issue, go to Windows Explorer > Tools > Folder Options > File Types. Then select XLS extension and associate it with the appropriate program (by clicking the “change” button).

That is how I solve the problem.

Making Your Own Passport Photo (How To)

2008-08-20T08:06:00.001+08:00

Few days ago, my wife mentioned to me that she needs a photo in passport size for the kid so as to enroll her for school next year.

To save money, instead of going to photo shop to do it, I did it DIY for free via the web site below:-

http://www.epassportphoto.com

Frankly speaking, on the first thought, I was thinking to install a Photoshop software and then prepare the photo from there. Really didn’t expect it to be so easy!

Follow-up Flag

2008-07-09T22:03:00.000+08:00

In Lotus Notes, the mails can be marked with a follow-up flag and assigned a date and time to remind you about the message.

The messages marked for follow-up have a flag icon next to it which allows you to sort them, making them easier to find and work with. You can also set up an alarm for a specific date, time as well as having an e-mail notification.

Flagging a message also places it in the Follow Up view which show only messages requiring follow-up.

To flag a mail, just select the message that you want to follow up and then click "Follow Up" button. And, follow by the "Add or Edit Flag".

It is a good feature that helps user to manage mails!

Windows Vista - Parental Controls (How To)

2008-06-25T20:36:00.013+08:00

If you are concerned about what your children are surfing on the internet or want to restrict them on the time spent in browsing, you may use the built-in Parental Controls to do the restriction… if your computer is running on Windows Vista.

Windows Vista comes with Parental Controls (not for Windows XP). Even though it is not very powerful, it still serves the purpose.

Assuming you already have a user account created for the child, follow the steps below to block their usage:-

1. Start > Control Panel > User Accounts and Family Safety.
2. Click “Set up parental controls for any user” and select the user account that you want to control the access.
3. Click “Time limits” and then click on the blue box next to “Blocked”.
4. Use the grid to set blocks of time when your child can use the computer.

With this setup, your child will not be able to log on during blocked times. If the child has already logged on when time limits expire, he/she will be automatically logged off by the system.

For details, you may refer to:-
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/products/family/vista.mspx

As a parent, if you willing to spend money, then you can consider getting “Advanced Parental Control” for a better control (can also monitor the usage of your PC).

	Advanced Parental Control (BuyNow)

Thermal Cooker (焖烧锅)

2008-06-08T18:18:00.006+08:00

Another money saving’s tip…

焖烧锅(Thermal Cooker)是近年来流行的一种新型节能锅。它分为内外两层，内层是金属锅，外层是保温材料，将内锅放在火上，里面的汤水烧开后拎到外锅里，盖好，过几个小时就可取出来吃了，汤、粥、饭，都可以用它来煮。

它利用保温材料或真空断热原理阻隔空气，内锅沸腾的热气不会流失，反而在锅内循环，自四面八方为食物加热，免电免煤气免照顾，时候一到自然就是一道热熟的美味佳肴。

它最大的优点就是放进去后就不用管它了，因为不需要火,不需要电，不会有任何安全隐患，你大可以放心去上班、逛街、睡觉，到时候取出来吃就行。

焖烧锅适用于炖、熬、焖等料理，依照食谱指示控制烹调过程,才能恰到好处。焖烧内锅借助其它炉具将食物加热至沸腾2~15分钟再移置焖烧外锅中盖紧。

根据研究，焖烧锅可节省约60%-80%的煮食时间。

总之它的好处可以: 省时！省能源！简便！炖汤，炖肉，排骨汤，熬粥,蒸蛋，新鲜可口的美味任你享受！还有一个关键,就是在焖煮过程中营养保持绝佳！

NoteTab Light -- HTML editing tool

2008-05-25T08:28:00.008+08:00

If you are looking for HTML editing tool, NoteTab Light maybe is a good choice for you and it is... FREE.

I started to appreciate it because NoteTab can load very fast and is quite user’s friendly.

Next, it allows me to open and manipulate multiple documents, and then search & replace text and HTML tags within documents.

As the software is free, I had installed it onto the company’s pc so that I can do web pages editing in my office using this tool. Now, I don’t need to rely on Macromedia Dreamweaver or MS FrontPage anymore.

To download, get it from http://www.notetab.com/ntl.php

Below is another online html editor that I use it quite often because it is handy:-
http://www.redpeachdesigns.com/html-editor.htm

RepliGo - Viewing Blackberry’s attachment

2008-05-06T15:36:00.010+08:00

In my previous post in last year September, I highlighted about the BeamView software (by Beamberry company) where it can use for attachment viewing on blackberry device... in a way that the document on the blackberry can be displayed in their original form as they would look on the computer.

In actual fact, there is another more established software called RepliGo (by Cerience Corporation) that can do the same task. I didn’t mention it because BeamView still offers for free during that time.

With RepliGo, users also have the ability to send original documents as attachments in an email, print to HP Bluetooth printers (beautiful, right?), store documents locally and on the server, and even fax original documents right from the BlackBerry.

For organizations having BlackBerry Enterprise Server, I would think that deploying RepliGo is the only best choice for attachment viewing (compare with Beamview) if they are concerned about security (without compromising content).

This is because Cerience has a cooperate solution called “RepliGo Server” where it can be installed on your own Windows server in your premise (either a separate Windows machine or directly onto the BlackBerry Enterprise Server machine). To understand how the communication flows between the server and device, you may refer to the diagram above.

As for Beamview solution, they don’t have a cooperate edition. All the documents are processed and stored on the provider’s BeamBerry servers.

I also notice that RepliGo is an Alliance member of Blackberry. So, I guess you can have another choice now.

如何开榴莲

2008-04-26T11:13:00.000+08:00

朋友送我几只榴莲，很开心，有榴莲吃了，确实也有很久没有买榴莲了。可是当我们看到那几只榴莲时，有点伤脑筋，因为老公不会开榴莲，我也不会，这怎么办？老公说上网看看。果然没找两下，就有答案了：先要找一块没用的毛巾或布（用完了就可以丢），然后把榴莲放在一个大砧板上，一只手拿布按住榴莲，另一只手拿刀砍去榴莲的尾端（没有柄的一端），大概2cm左右，这时候就可以看到榴莲的一个切面图，上面有五条线，接着顺着这五条线用刀把榴莲扳开成五瓣，这样就大功告成了！

我们终于吃到了榴莲，又学会了开榴莲，互联网的作用可真不小。现在的科技好厉害，只要一上网，什么问题都已经不是问题了。

Follow-up Flag

2008-04-11T21:52:00.006+08:00

In Lotus Notes, the mails can be marked with a follow-up flag and assigned a date and time to remind you about the message.

Flagging a message also places it in the Follow Up view which show only messages requiring follow-up.

To flag a mail, just select the message that you want to follow up and then click "Follow Up" button. And, follow by the "Add or Edit Flag".

It is a good feature that helps user to manage mails!

Acrobat Reader -- Read Out Loud feature

2008-03-23T10:59:00.005+08:00

I believe that not many people are aware that there is a speech synthesizer existed in Acrobat Reader (version 6 & above), where it can read the PDF file with the sound coming out from the speaker.

Hence, a person with certain cognitive disabilities might benefit from reading and hearing the information.

To enable the Read Out Loud feature, just simply select View > Read Out Loud and then select one of the available options that you want.

It also allows customization where you can change the default Read Out Loud attributes.
To get into the settings, choose Edit > Preferences > Reading from the list of categories on the left side of the window (as shown).

Learning Keyboard Typing

2008-03-08T10:12:00.013+08:00

The diagram below gives a glance of which fingers to be used when doing typing.

Proper position:-
- The fingers of your hands must be resting correctly on the home row keys. Your right thumb should be resting lightly on the space bar.
- Keep your elbows close to the body.
- While typing, only one finger should move out of the home row to type a key at any one time.

During practicing, you may find it helpful to quietly say out the name of the key as you strike it.

Practice makes perfect!!

IP camera vs conventional camera

2008-02-23T12:38:00.014+08:00

Lately, I have done some read up on comparing the conventional CCTV camera (Analogue CCTV) and the IP CCTV camera (also known as network camera) because I was looking one for the kitchen to monitor the maid.

Finally, I purchased an IP camera (spent $288) as I conclude that this type of camera is much better than the conventional type.

In the internet, there are a lot of info mentioning about the comparison of the 2 types of CCTV cameras. For example... http://www.iviewcameras.co.uk/IP/exploreip/ipadvantagesoveranalogue.htm

Below are just some of the essential points which I had considered for my purchase:-

1. Access
- Remote access to live images and remote administration to IP camera are possible from anywhere using a Web browser.

2. Image Quality
- The picture is digitalized. There is no deterioration over time and cable length is not an issue.

3. Video & audio support
- It can support both video & audio.

Now, with the camera that I installed, I can monitor the live or recorded video anywhere using pc. I can also access the live images using my 3G mobile phone. In addition, it allows me to set up motion detection to trigger automatic recording and E-mail alerts.

No wonder IP cameras are quickly gaining ground over the conventional CCTV camera system!!

For IP camera, you can consider it choosing from Axis, D-Link (recommeded), JVC or Linksys.

Increase font size in Lotus Notes

2008-02-16T08:43:00.010+08:00

It is not surprised that Lotus Notes user doesn’t know where to change its font size for viewing because the setting is not done at the GUI interface.

For Lotus Notes 5 (or later, apply up to Lotus Notes 8) client, you can customize the display size of the default fonts by adding the following setting to your NOTES.INI file (inside the Lotus Notes directory):-

Display_font_adjustment=x

Where x is the number of points added to the default size, and is a number between 0 and 25. For example, if you need to increase the font size to 5, you would type:
Display_font_adjustment=5

Alternatively, you can also change the font size of Lotus Notes by changing your display fonts in Windows (Control Panel > Display > “Settings” tab > Advanced button).

However, please note that changing the Windows display fonts will affect all programs on your computer.

"Aviva BIG e" investment plan

2008-01-13T19:33:00.004+08:00

Around Oct/Nov last year, I was attracted by the big advertisements from Aviva on their "Aviva BIG e" investment plan. It advertised that they can generate higher returns on the CPF which gives average of 3.5% PA interest.
After some consideration, I signed up the plan in Nov-07 with some money from my CPF.
Just few days ago, I received a postage mail from Aviva stating that the interest rate will be reduced to 2.75 % w.e.f from Jan-08.

What a disappointed!! http://www.avivadirect.sg/whatweoffer/bige/benefits.html

Stock Market Indices

2008-01-07T21:23:00.005+08:00

American Indices 美国股市指数	Asian Indices 亚洲股市指数	European Indices 欧洲股市指数

Dow 道琼斯 NASDAQ 纳斯达克 S & P 500 标普500 MerVal 阿根廷 Bovespa 巴西 TSX 加拿大 IPC 墨西哥	Nikkei 日经指数 Hang Seng 香港恒生 Shanghai 中国上海 Straits 新加坡海峡 Jakarta 印尼雅加达 NZX 纽西兰 TSEC 台湾 Sensex 孟买 Nifty 印度	AEX 荷兰阿姆斯特丹 FTSE 伦敦金融时报 DAX 德国 CAC 法国

Keywords 关键词:
Stock Market Indices - Last & Change 各国股市指数变化

Mail Merge

2008-01-03T20:09:00.002+08:00

Well, it is a new chapter of the year again. And, it is time to send greetings to friends & family.

Having this in mind, I would like to share with u all about Mail Merge features in Microsoft Word which u can make use of it. If you get to know how to use the mail merge, you can send E-mail to any number of people quickly. For example, u may use it for sending newsletter to customers; sending out holiday greetings to friends/family.

Using the Mail Merge is easier than what you may think. To start the mail merge process, launch the Microsoft Word. Next, on the Tools menu, point to Letters and Mailings, and then click Mail Merge... and then blah blah.

For details, please refer to:- http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA011095491033.aspx

Opening of EPS file

2007-12-07T20:10:00.003+08:00

To open an *.EPS file (Encapsulated PostScript) directly, you would need either of the following software installed onto your PC:-

Adobe Illustrator Abobe PageMaker Adobe Photoshop CorelDRAW

However, there is still a work-around solution to open it using the normal Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint.

The steps are:-
- Launch Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint
- Click "Insert" menu then Picture, and select the From File (to point to the *.EPS file).

VMware Converter

2007-11-28T23:22:00.002+08:00

VMware has a very good utility called VMware Converter.

It can be used to convert Microsoft Windows based physical machines (local and remote physical machines) and third party image formats (such as Microsoft Virtual PC and Microsoft Virtual Server) to VMware virtual machines.

There are two available editions of VMware Converter:-

1. VMware Converter Starter -- is a free download available to everyone. It is an easy to use product for single conversions.

2. VMware Converter Enterprise -- is a robust, enterprise-class product for managing and automating large scale conversions

For details, u may refer to:-http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/

Virtual PC and Virtual Server

2007-11-18T21:47:00.000+08:00

The following article describes the differences between Virtual PC & Virtual Server:- http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/virtualserver/techinfo/vsvsvpc.mspx

In summary…

1. Virtual PC is a virtual machine software for running on desktop operating system whereas Virtual Server is a virtual machine software for running on server operating system.

2. Virtual PC is NOT free, but Virtual Server is free.

3. For Virtual PC, both the host operating system (the one on which you install Virtual PC) and the guest operating systems (the ones running inside virtual machines) must be desktop operating systems. For Virtual Server, supported host and guest operating systems are all server operating systems, except for Windows XP Professional, which is supported as a host operating system.

How can your use Virtual PC/Virtual Server?
There are a number of other ways you might want to use Virtual PC. For example, you may use Virtual PC at home so that your family can use it to surf the Internet. This can then eliminate worries about applications or files your family might download—those downloaded materials will not affect the host operating system. If the virtual machine becomes corrupted or infected with a virus, you can simply delete the virtual machine and start it over.

Save file into PDF format

2007-10-15T20:10:00.002+08:00

Someone asked me how to convert a Microsoft Project file into a PDF file within the MS Project application (Actually the source file can be in the format of WORD, EXECL or POWERPOINT).

Here is the answer:-
- Download the CutePDF Writer (freeware) from http://www.cutepdf.com and install it onto the PC required.
- Open the Project file and click File > Print. In the printer name, select CutePDF writer, the system will then prompt you to save the file into a PDF format.

EXCEL file can’t be open

2007-10-09T18:05:00.000+08:00

上海外滩钟楼 >

I had encountered a problem with a user’s pc where the EXCEL file can’t be open when double-click on the .xls file itself. The system promoted the messages of “Windows cannot find "filename". Make sure you typed the name correctly and then try again”.

However, the file can be open if I first launch the Excel program and then go to File menu to open the .xls file. The problem can’t be resolved even reinstalling the MS Office.

After much research, I finally got a solution for it from the Internet.

These are the steps for the resolution: -

1. In Microsoft Office Excel 2007, click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Excel Options.

2. Click Advanced, and then click to clear the Ignore other applications check box in the General area.

3. Click OK.

For the earlier version of Excel (Microsoft Office 2003 or below):-

1. Go to the Tools menu of Excel, click Options.

2. Click the General tab.

3. Click to clear the Ignore other applications check box, and then click OK.

See also my article-- Cannot open attachment in Lotus Notes:- http://sc-network.blogspot.com/2008/08/cannot-open-attachment-in-lotus-notes.html

Lotus Domino 8

2007-09-29T19:01:00.001+08:00

I just attended the Lotus Collaboration Summit for the launching of Lotus Domino 8 yesterday.

It is very great that IBM has now come out such a cool & new user interface.

There are 2 features which I would like to highlight here.

First, the “Mail recall”, it allows the retrieval of messages sent in error or to the wrong person.

Next, with the “Conversation mode”, it can gather and review e-mail threads easily—it is a very good feature especially for those users who receive a lot of mails.

To what I know, there are a lot of positive responses for this version 8.

For example, Infoworld reported that “Notes 8 has a clean new look, logical menus, and customizable layouts; for me, this design makes the client easier to use compared to Microsoft Outlook. Still, current Notes users should feel comfortable with the mail client, since it works much as before”.

Lotus Domino 8, well done!

Viewing Blackberry’s attachment

2007-09-22T18:50:00.004+08:00

Recently, I happen to find a software called BeamView which can be used by blackberry device to view attachment very nicely… and it is still free of charge.

It is a product developed by Beamberry Solutions.

How Beamberry works? When you open an email document attachment via BeamView on your BlackBerry a request is sent to the BlackBerry server to forward the corresponding e-mail with an attachment to their BeamBerry server. After receiving the e-mail with the requested attachment it is processed in a fashion that depends on the document format, converted to a series of images, compressed and streamed to the BlackBerry device for viewing. The whole process takes mere seconds.

The formats which are supported by BeamView are PDF, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, RTF & ZIP archive.

It can be downloaded from http://beamberry.com/download.

See also my article-- RepliGo - Viewing Blackberry’s attachment:-
http://sc-network.blogspot.com/2008/05/repligo-viewing-blackberrys-attachment.html

Domino Web Access (DWA) performance tip

2007-09-17T20:27:00.001+08:00

1. There is a way to speed up the DWA performance by turning the "Reuse child windows". To do it, just go to the Preferences -> Other after logging into DWA.

With this setting turned on, the DWA caches and reuses parts of mail and calendar forms that don't change. The performance time can then be improved for the most frequently used actions.

2. If you are running R6.x Domino server to host DWA, there is a global setting can be added to the server's Notes.ini (as below). In other words, you don't need to set individually for users.

inotes_WA_ReuseChildWindows=1

Shares Trading

2007-09-09T09:49:00.002+08:00

Just get to know that there is a popular blog on shares trading for Singapore Stock Market:-

http://www.growmoney.blogspot.com/

Maybe can learn something from there.

Money Saving

2007-08-25T18:05:00.000+08:00

Always pay all credit card balances in full amount every month.

Any outstanding balance on a credit card account will leave you susceptible to a high APR (annual percentage rate).

Get Paid To Read Emails

2007-08-18T21:18:00.000+08:00

During a conversation, my lovely niece informed me that there is a EmailCashPro web site pays people to read Email.

Upon checking the info on the web site, now, I have an idea how it works.

Firstly, you need to join EmailCashPro site as a member (free-of-charge) and select the kind of emails you are interested in receiving. From here onwards, you will receive Paid Emails from them that match your profile and interest.

Once you click on the Paid Link and visit the advertiser's website for 30 sec, your account will be credited with 1 point.

So, to earn extra money, this may be a choice for you.

If you are interested, you may use the referral link below to register for the free account. It is to help me to build up my network and it wouldn’t cause you to earn less.

http://www.emailcashpro.com/?r=sclam

Notes: each paid email earns you between 0.5 cents to 1 cent depending on revenue sharing.

Firefox Whips Internet Explorer

2007-08-03T22:19:00.001+08:00

During a tea break, a colleague of mine happened to mention that Internet Explorer is much better than the Firefox because of it has less vulnerabilities.

Actually this is NOT true... I corrected him as he didn’t aware of the other’s part of story behind.

The fact is that... in the earlier Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report, Symantec counted only vendor-confirmed bugs when comparing the two browsers. However, it is not accurate as in open source, more vulnerabilities will be acknowledged because of the transparency in development.

In the newest report, which Symantec issued, they had then split the counts into two categories: vendor-confirmed and a combination of vendor- and non-vendor-confirmed flaws. In term of counting vulnerability, this way should be more appropriate & accurate as it includes those made public but not necessarily confirmed by the vendor.

From the report shown this time, the Firefox is more secure than Internet Explorer.

Reference:- http://www.informationweek.com/internet/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=181501752&pgno=1&queryText=

EXCEL file can’t be open

2007-07-21T17:08:00.005+08:00

职场名言

2007-07-15T08:24:00.009+08:00

曾经在某个网站看过这段职场名言...

一、应答上司交代的工作:“我立即去办”!　　
二、传递坏消息时:“我们似乎碰到一些情况……”　　
三、体现团队精神:“××的主意真不错!”　　
四、如果被问到你所不知道,或不懂的业务上的某些问题:“让我再认真地想一想,两点前答复你好吗?”
五、请同事帮忙:“这个企划没有你真不行啊!”　　
六、男同事讲有味笑话令你尴尬:“这种话好像不适合在办公室讲啊!”　　
七、工作太繁重,向上司请求减轻工作量:“我知道这件事很重要,我们不妨先排一排手头上的工作,按重要性列出先后顺序去做,好吗?”　　
八、承认过失:“是我一时疏忽,不过幸好……”　　
九、找不到话题,又要打破冷场:“我很想知道你对这件事的看法……”　　
十、面对批评:“谢谢你告诉我,我会仔细考虑你的建议。”

这一些话都是一具有成熟的EQ人该会说的话。　　

Copy contacts from MS Outlook onto Lotus Notes

2007-07-14T22:08:00.004+08:00

In the forum, I have seen people asking for solution about how to copy contacts from Microsoft Outlook to Lotus Notes address book.

I have tried the suggestion before and find that the method is not very straight forward. Basically, those steps involve exporting data to a text files; importing into Excel/Lotus 123 files etc.

Actually, there is a tool Called MSOTool (in NSF file’s format) that can do the job much easy which I downloaded from:

http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/sandbox.nsf/0/e422584f6953308685256c5c00483421

FTP server on WINXP Home PC

2007-07-07T21:36:00.002+08:00

<-- 东方明珠塔 (上海) I have a client who needs me to set up a FTP server on his office PC which is running Windows XP Home Edition.

As WINXP Home PC doesn’t come with IIS component, I have done some research on how to go about it.

At last, I found that instead of setting up the IIS onto the WinXP Home PC, it is much easy to install a 3rd party’s FTP software to address the issue.

Personally, I feel that GuildFTPd FTP Server is quite easy to use & configure which I got it from http://www.guildftpd.com/.

About hibernate & standby

2007-07-02T21:41:00.004+08:00

When you put the notebook/pc into hibernate, it saves everything in memory on disk, turns off your monitor and also hard disk, and then turns off your computer. So, there is no electricity consumption at all. And, there is no vibration issue when you bring the notebook to move around (because everything is OFF).

In contrast, while on standby, your entire computer switches to a low-power state where devices, such as the monitor and hard disks, turn off and your computer uses less power. Standby is particularly useful for conserving battery power in portable computers. Because Standby does not save your desktop state to disk, a power failure while on Standby can cause you to lose unsaved information.

Hope that I have answered your concerns.

Hibernate feature in Windows XP

2007-06-24T11:25:00.003+08:00

<-- Yuiyuan (豫园 in Shanghai)

Do you get frustrated while you wait around for the slow WinXP computer to startup? To speed up the process, you should considering using hibernate.

When you put the computer to hibernate when powering off the system, the hibernate feature saves everything in memory on disk and then turns off your computer. When you restart your computer the next time, your desktop is restored exactly as you last left it. In other words, you can save some times in reopening the programs again when startup the computer.

To enable the Hibernate feature, go to Control Panel, double-click Power Options, and then click the Hibernate tab. Click to select the Enable Hibernate check box.

To put the computer to hibernate when shutting down, you just need to press ALT + CTRL + DEL key and it will give you the option to hibernate.

How to set default ACL on mail file when registering user on Domino

2007-06-17T08:35:00.002+08:00

For the Lotus Domino, lately, I found out a way to set the default ACL for the user mail file when registering the new user.

1. In the Domino Administrator client, select the "Template only option” in the "Show me" combo box.

2. Find the mail template used to create mail files, say iNotes6.ntf. Right click on the template, and then select Access Control -> Manage.

3. Click the Add button.
- From name lookup select the administrator's group.
- Select that Administrator's group in the ACL, and click Rename.
- Add brackets to the group name. For example, if the group name is "AdminGroup", rename it to "[AdminGroup]".
- Click OK.
- Assign the group manager access.

4. Now when mail files which are created is based on the modified template-- the administrator's group will automatically appear in the ACL with manager access.

Proofpoint anti-SPAM

2007-06-10T17:42:00.001+08:00

I have just tested an anti-SPAM product called Proofpoint for the E-mail system lately for a couple of months.

Before that, I have tried the Symantec, Trend Micro & Barracuda and it is the best among these few. Till now, there is not a single false-positive detected for mails.

According to my research, it is the third generation product which uses MLX technology for mail scanning. It is really GOOD!
Reference:- http://www.dominopower.com/issuesprint/issue200408/00001340.html

SUSE Linux -- good alternation to Microsoft

2007-05-31T08:04:00.002+08:00

I attended a seminar about Novell Work Group Tour yesterday.

After seeing all those demo, I feel that SUSE Linux can be considered as a very good alternation to the Microsoft product. It is worth to explore further…

As for their OpenOffice which is the equivalent of MSOffice, it also looks impressive.

To try it out, go to the http://download.novell.com

水至清则无鱼

2007-05-29T22:45:00.002+08:00

“水至清则无鱼，人至察则无友” 意思：水太清澈就没有鱼，人过分精明就没有朋友做人不能太较真，这正是有人活得潇洒，有人活得太累的原因所在。

How to save Flash (SWF) file from web page onto your PC

2007-05-27T12:10:00.013+08:00

Someone ever asked me a question on how to download the animation or cartoon game was created using Flash from the Web page onto his own hard drive.

The answer is that... it can be done regardless whether you are using Internet Explorer or Firefox as a browser even though the technique is not straight forward (because there is no option to save the flash file when you right-clicking the item).

Here is the method to save flash in IE browser...
- At IE, click Tools - Internet Options
- In the General Tab, click the "Settings" button available in the Temporary Internet Files group.
- Click "View Files" to open your Temporary Internet Files folder.
- Once you find the right flash file, right-click & choose Copy. Then paste the swf file in any other directory... Now, you are done.
- After that, you may go to that directory to do off-line viewing.

As for Firefox browser, these are the steps…
- Click Tools - Page Info.
- Click "Media" Tab and scroll down the list to locate the SWF file.
- Click the "Save As" button to save the file onto a directory on your hard disk.

Happiness

2007-05-16T20:29:00.000+08:00

Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on you.

Error about installing ‘Microsoft Office XP Professional with FrontPage’

2007-05-14T21:46:00.004+08:00

I attended a user’s problem today where the PC popped out an error about installing ‘Microsoft Office XP Professional with FrontPage’ when he surfed the Internet using Internet Explorer.

It kept nagging the user even though he tried clicking the Cancel button to ignore the error.

To resolve the issue, I used the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility (ie windows uninstaller) to remove any references to the failed update package installation.

For details, u may refer to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301