My Notepad

Education borne by loans

Crackjet — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:50:56 +0000

The trends forward in education funding is to have children funding their own college fees through a education trust fund + loan type of package. The trust fund will help the children to get a head start in the college of their choice and at the same time, take up an education loan such as Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional (PTPTN) in Malaysia. One criteria to get hold of PTPTN loan is the child’s parents must have setup a savings account with Skim Simpanan Pendidikan Nasional (SSPN).

Visit PTPTN website, http://www.ptptn.gov.my, to get more information.

Kudos to MyNIC for their New Image (0)

Official Message from Sitemeter about IE error

Crackjet — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:04:05 +0000

The following is the official explanation from Sitemeter with regards to a compatibility issue which causes yesterday’s Internet Explorer error worldwide.

As of now, I won’t be reinstating the counter on my websites. I’m happy with Google Analytics and Awstats.

Updates

The team has promised that there will be no reoccurance of the same problem. I’ve reinstated the sitemeter on my websites. Thanks guys..

Solved! IE Operation Aborted error when viewing website! (0)

Solved! IE Operation Aborted error when viewing website!

Crackjet — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 06:38:33 +0000

The new migration to new codes/platform by sitemeter has caused inconvenience to users using Internet Explorer when they are browsing websites which uses Sitemeter as their counter. They got the error “Operation Aborted” when viewing these websites.

If you’re affected by this, do let me know too by leaving a comment.

I found out about this problem as one of my forum member highlighted his difficulties when trying to access the forum via Internet Explorer 7. He claims to have no problem when using Mozilla Firefox.

Upon checking, this is what I got from Yogajess.com

Upon checking, even Kennysia.com is also affected.

The only solution I had now for my members is to remove the Sitemeter temporary until the Sitemeter team fix the problem. Other solution is to get them to use Firefox.

Blooper…

Official Message from Sitemeter about IE error (0)

Why I won’t use public FREE Wifi?

Crackjet — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:07:37 +0000

FREE… Is there such thing as free lunch?

Wireless network, a Star Trek phenomenon came true. Wireless network has by far provided many consumers the convenience of accessing their favourite Internet contents while on the move. Many convenient outlets such as coffee franchisers, shopping centres, sidewalk cafes, waiting rooms, hotels, business centres, convention halls, etc, are providing convenient Free Wireless network access to their patrons, and even squatters. ;p

Internet has penetrated through many urban lifestyles and still growing strong. The use of Internet is no longer only providing research information, but has evolved to include virtual lifestyles in making communications easier. Many would commit the extra dollars they earn monthly just to get connected via their ISP.

Now, why I won’t use public FREE unsecured/secured wireless connections in shopping malls, food outlets, hang out areas, etc. You may ask, why not, its free? Being a network administrator and having myself learned about network forensics, traceability, firewall technology, proxy and most importantly in related to this topic is the transparent proxy for Web, instant messaging (IM) and pop/smtp, it has made me realise that by connecting myself to FREE wireless provider’s network, I’m pretty much giving my personal lifestyle away.

Disclaimer: I would like that point out that not all FREE wireless providers are doing the unethical practise I mention here. Some are truly just want to share their resources and keeping their customers happy.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you”, I told my friend.
“Why?”, he asked.

“Well, you see”, I told my friend, “Once you get connected to a network, your information are required to go through a router/gateway. This router could be just a dumb router, or, if the provider choose to be “clever”, they could put in a more intelligent router, which could records your information without you knowing it. This is called transparent proxying. Each search key you typed and sent to Google or Yahoo or MSN could be recorded. (Transparent HTTP Proxy). Each non encrypted (Non-SSL) email’s being received or sent on your notebook could be read/recorded. (P3Scan). Each line of Instant message you sent to or receive from your friends could be recorded by the server. (IMInspector/Smoothwall). “, I explained.

Don’t get me wrong. Transparent proxying if done ethically is good for many users and eases many network administrators job. Before transparent proxying, each network note need to be configured with the proxy server’s address.

Why would any party want to do it? Few reasons:-

Information is money. If enough information gathered for a certain geographical area, the information could be sold for a large sum.
Latest chat/lifestyle information gathered could results in increased sales/cross sales.
e.g. If there are a lady chatting on her IM with her friend about should she get another cup of latte, and all of a sudden a waiter approach the lady asking if she would like to get another cup of latte.. now would that be all too coincident?
Illegal reasons. Passwords and banks information could be passed via email, IM or web browser.
many more…

Don’t take my words for it, do your own research and find more info about the danger of using FREE wifi.

In conclusion, I’d would like to advise my friends to be cautious when using the Internet in public domain, be it via your own notebook or via a shared terminal in schools, universities, or shopping centres. Be smart and always choose secured https or secure POP3s connected whenever possible.

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How does Google fight SPAM?

Crackjet — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:54:58 +0000

http://www.gmail.com/fightspam

Spam, aka, unwanted interuption to our daily mail box, has infact become a part of our daily routine. How many of you will at least scan through your SPAM box, 2 times a day? Once in the morning, and one time before you retired to rest.

I’m like many of you who hates spam. Be a proactive user and help fight spam. Whenever a spam reaches to your inbox instead of SPAM Hell, report it in. You could have save millions of seconds for millions of people.

Cheers.

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Using Joomla! as CMS

Crackjet — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:34:11 +0000

Joomla! is by far easiest content management system (CMS) that impress me most. I’ve been toiling with different types and versions of CMS over the last 5 years, from the well-known PHP-Nuke to Post-nuke, PhpWebsite, Drupal, Mambo CMS (Origin of Joomla!) and now, Joomla! 1.5.

Thanks to Joomla! 1.5, my delivery time of CMS to my customers has drastically reduced. For those of you who is looking for a CMS that works, check out Joomla! 1.5 Overview.

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Kudos to MyNIC for their New Image

Crackjet — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:25:03 +0000

This definitely will help Malaysia’s Internet management gets better “wow” from International community. The shorter http://www.mynic.my also looks sexier.

All I want to say is, Thank You. Keep up the good work.

Education borne by loans (0)

Open Source as Alternative

Crackjet — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:56:01 +0000

SME can rely on using the new generating of Linux Desktop as their company’s operating system. Years ago when Linux tried to penetrate this SME market, it was still rugged and many interoperatability between Windows clients were not ready. The gap between Linux and Microsoft Windows is now closing in and at some areas, it actually outbeats Microsoft Windows. As it is already a fact now, Girls can do the same things as what Guys do, and some does them better.

Here are some alternative things which Linux has manage to accomplish in bridging the gap to Microsoft Windows platform.

Operating System Cost
Microsoft Windows Vista Business Edition - USD$199.95
Fedora Core 9 - USD$0.50 (Cost of a blank DVD)

Office Productivity Tools
Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2007 - USD$449.95
Sun OpenOffice 2.4 - USD$0.00

Mail Servers
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 - USD$3,677.48 to $6,809.99
Linux MTA servers or Google Apps - USD$0.00 (You may need to get some expert help on this)

Web Browsers
Internet Explorer 7 - USD$0.00
Mozilla Firefox 3 - USD$0.00
Opera 9.5 - USD$0.00

All are available at your expense and you can decide for yourself how much you would want to save. It is all about mindset changing and removing the idea that there is only one.

MyBB Forum Management (0)

Technology Enablers for SME

Crackjet — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:45:32 +0000

Free Off-the-shelf Technology.

That’s the taglines major giants like Google and Microsoft are trying to put at. Free corporate email services, free office productivity tool, free colaboration tools, free voice chat, and others. The only price tag put forward by these giants is to enable them to sell advertisement space within these tools.

In my home country, Malaysia, many efforts were made to get SMEs to publish their information online, such as the development of MIRC, MCA ICT Recourse Centre. All these SMEs need to do is to say yes, I want to be IT enabled.

These technology enablers series which I’m going to cover over the next few posts will show you how to eDIY your company to make use of them at lowest cost possible.

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Windows Vista Business Slow Network Access on Dell XPS M1330

Crackjet — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:07:05 +0000

I found that the wireless network access on this notebook is slow. I started using this notebook since last 2 weeks and it really annoying as me when the network drops every few seconds. After trying all sorts of methods and upgrading the drivers, finally I found out what was wrong. (Yes, I don’t give up without a fight)

It is the problem with the bluetooth adapter and the wireless adapter. Just by disabling the bluetooth adapter, I’m able to get back the full speed to my wireless network. you can’t turn it off using the switch because in Dell XPS, the bluetooth control and wireless control comes in the same switch. You could turn off the bluetooth device via the icon on the tray or inside Device Manager.

Disable via Tray Icon

However, this surely is not a desirable solution. What if I would want to use both bluetooth and wireless together? Argh.. I hope Dell will come out with a solution soon.

Well, I’ve spent hours trying to figure out this, so I hope those who have the same problem will be able to solve.

Device Specifications

Wireless network device: Intel Wireless Wifi Link 4965AGN

Bluetooth device: Dell TrueMobile 355 Bluetooth

Operating System: Windows Vista Business x86

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.66Ghz

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FTP clients stuck at LIST command solution

Crackjet — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 09:09:58 +0000

I’ve faced this problem for quite sometime and usually ignore it. I’m using FileZilla as the FTP client. Other common clients are WSFTP, CuteFTP and the raw FTP client from Microsoft.

FTP is an important tool for Webmasters and bloggers who owns their own domains. Usually this is the best way to upload files to web servers in the hosting data center. Some applications like Dreamweaver and Frontpage also uses this.

My problem begins when doing FTP, it will do the normal PASV and LIST -a. At the LIST -a command, it will just wait until time out. As per the example below:-

Command: PASV
Response: 227 Entering Passive Mode (210,48,157,101,10,223)
Command: LIST
Error: Disconnected from server
Error: Failed to retrieve directory listing

After doing some research, I found out that it has got something to do with the firewall in Windows XP SP2. What I do to solve it? Here they are.

Access the Firewall Settings

Access the Exceptions page in Windows Firewall. Click Add Port.

Create a first port with Name “FTP (20)” and Port number “20“.

It will look like the following screen shot.

The end result is the following:-

Response: 227 Entering Passive Mode (10,48,17,101,238,151)
Command: LIST -a
Response: 150 Accepted data connection
Response: 226-ASCII
Response: 226-Options: -a -l
Response: 226 22 matches total
Status: Calculating timezone offset of server…
Command: MDTM .bash_logout
Response: 213 20071126221047
Status: Timezone offsets: Server: 28800 seconds. Local: 28800 seconds. Difference: 0 seconds.
Status: Directory listing successful

Happy FTPying.

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Telnet SMTP connection test

Crackjet — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 00:56:51 +0000

Testing the SMTP^G connection to your mail server need not be difficult. This is what I usually do to test my mail servers’ SMTP status.

Telnet SMTP connection test

Open the command prompt. Use the following command.
telnet 25

You will the receive the SMTP server’s welcome screen.

Enter word helo . This will initiate the session.

Introduce yourself to the SMTP server by using the mail from: command.
mail from:

Then, specify where you want to send the email to by using the rcpt to: command.
rcpt to:

Next is to enter some message. Use the data command.

After completing your message, type “.” on a line by itself and enter. As per the diagram below.

The SMTP mail server will then generate the mail id and send the email. To end the session, type quit.

That’s how simple it is to troubleshoot if your mail server is serving your emails or not.

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Winpooch test result

Crackjet — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 17:35:41 +0000

After trying it up in a few high end machines (HP 7700 - Core 2 Duo 2.13Ghz with 4GB DDR2 866Mhz RAM), I noticed that after installation of Winpooch and Clamwin, the machines tend to lag and applications starts to slow down. After removing the software, the machines went back to its super fast operation. Not sure if this is caused by Winpooch, but I will do further test.

Winpooch - An open source Anti Spyware and Antivirus (0)

Winpooch - An open source Anti Spyware and Antivirus

Crackjet — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 10:06:24 +0000

While searching for alternative anti-spyware and anti-virus, I stumble upon a promising GNU GPL licensed windows watchdog - the Winpooch. Some features listed on their website includes:-

Description: detection of spywares and trojans. It becomes an anti virus if associated with ClamWin
Development Status: open source project in progess
Environment: Win32 (MS Windows)
License: GNU General Public License (GPL)
Natural Language: English, French, Italian, Polish
Operating System: 32-bit MS Windows (NT/2000/XP)
Programming Language: C

The interesting part is, it works together with ClamWin to make it real-time virus scanner. Will this actually slow down the workstations?

Will be testing it out on our computer labs. Stay tune for the results.

Winpooch test result (1)

Welcome to My Technology Notepad

Crackjet — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 07:41:56 +0000

This is my small domain of technology I found to be useful in my work. Hopefully it will be useful for you too. Have a nice day.

My Notepad

Education borne by loans

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Official Message from Sitemeter about IE error

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Solved! IE Operation Aborted error when viewing website!

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Why I won’t use public FREE Wifi?

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How does Google fight SPAM?

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Using Joomla! as CMS

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Kudos to MyNIC for their New Image

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Open Source as Alternative

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Technology Enablers for SME

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Windows Vista Business Slow Network Access on Dell XPS M1330

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FTP clients stuck at LIST command solution

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Telnet SMTP connection test

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Winpooch test result

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Winpooch - An open source Anti Spyware and Antivirus

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Welcome to My Technology Notepad

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