VLC player with chinese font

I am using VLC 1.1.10 for playing english movies.
I've tried to use it for a movie with chinese subtitles, but the subtitle is showing up as squares. After searching in the internet, I finally make it to work.

1) Go to "Tools" menu
2) Select "Preference"
3) Select "Subtitles & OSD"
4) Change Default encoding to "Universal, Chinese (GB18030)"
5) Change the Font to "PMingLiU".
6) Close VLC and start it again.

This works for me... It might work for you as well... ;)

Unix commands on Windows machine

I used to have cygwin installed on my laptop. After getting a new laptop, I am in search of something better...
I found in Tyler Muler's Blog about combining cygwin and PuTTY, so I've decided to give it a try.

You can get the latest version of Cygwin from here:
http://cygwin.com/install.html
and latest version of PuTTYcyg here:
http://code.google.com/p/puttycyg/

Cygwin
Once downloaded and executed, the program will ask you what packages you want to install, after you select it will start downloading everything you have selected and will complete the installation.
Make sure that the rlwrap, vim, gvim, openssl, and openssh packages are selected. 

By default, Cygwin is installed in C:\cygwin\
and your home directory is C:\cygwin\home\\.

PuTTYcyg
Download the file and unzip.
Create a shortcut of putty.exe to desktop.
Change the shortcut name to puttyCyg.   [You don't have to change name... I just find it easier for me...  ;)  ]
In the Target field, add " -cygterm -" to the end, so the Target field will look something like this:
\putty.exe -cygterm -

To run
Just double click on the desktop icon.

How to install East Asian language in Windows XP SP3 without CD

 After searching web, here is the method that works when you don't have the CD with you:

1. Download Windows XP SP3 patch from The Software Patch
2. Open the downloaded exe file using winRAR and extract the files to a local folder (folderX)
3. Download East Asian Language pack and extract files to a local folder (folderY). Someone has posted a link at youtube:  http://www.mediafire.com/?0c6220upv8hh6on  [updated with new link. 10/2012]
4. Go to Start menu
5. Click Run
6. Type"intl.cpl" and click OK
7. Go to Languages tab
8. Put a check mark beside "Install files for East Asian languages" and click OK
9. If prompt for "cplexe.ex_" or "cplexe.exe" file, use the browse button to find it in [folderX]/i386/lang/cplexe.ex_
10. If prompt for other files,  use the browse button to find it in [folderY]
11. Reboot your computer

How to install IIS on Windows XP SP3 without installation CD

I have the installation discs, but they are somewhere at home and it'll probably take me long time to find them.
After searching in the web, this is the method that I use to install IIS on Win XP SP3:

1. Download Windows XP SP3 patch from The Software Patch
2. Open the downloaded exe file using winRAR and extract the files to a local folder (folderX)
3. Download the IIS 5.1 required files from AP Dubey tech corner and extract the files to a local folder (folderY)  [I guess I could've used all files from this site, but since this site is for Win XP SP2, I've decided to use SP3 patch files if the file exists in SP3 patch.]
4. Go to Control Panel from Start menu in your computer 
5. Double click Add or Remove Programs
6. Select Add/Remove Windows Components on the left
7. In the Windows Components wizard window, put a check mark beside IIS and click Next.
8. When prompt for "staxmem.dl_" file, use the browse button to find it in [folderX]\i386\staxmem.dl_
9. When prompt for "adsutil.vbs" file, use the browse button to find it in [folderX]\i386\ip\adsutil.vb_
10. When prompt for other files, you'll find them in

After installation is completed, you can open IIS by:

1. Go to Control Panel from Start menu
2. Double click Administrative Tools
3. Double click Internet Information Services

The default web publishing directory for IIS is:
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot

Copy your personal web pages to this folder.

IIS will search for the default page in the following sequence by default:
Default.htm
Default.asp
index.htm
iisstart.asp
You can change the name and sequence of default document.

If all setup is completed, you should see your site using following URL in your browser.
http://localhost/

Destopdating invitation is malware!

Today, I've received 2 email invitations from 2 different persons asking me to join Desktopdating. It could be a new site like facebook, but the name "Desktopdating" doesn't seem legit. So, I did a search in the internet...

If you have received an email with subject " has sent you a Desktopdating invitation", don't open it and please delete it immediately!

Based on people's comments, it seems this malware only targets windows/outlook/IE. It will search your address book and send similar invitations to all of your contacts.

I didn't open my emails in outlook, so I hope my computer is not infected.

Symantec Report on Rogue Security Software

According to a new Symantec report on security software, tens of millions of computers are loaded with scam security software that their owners may have paid for but which only makes the machines more vulnerable.

A rogue security software program is a type of misleading application (also known as scareware) that pretends to be legitimate security software, such as an antivirus scanner or registry cleaner, but which actually provides the user with little or no protection whatsoever and, in some cases, can actually facilitate the installation of malicious code that it purports to protect against. There are two prevalent ways in which rogue security software can be installed on a user’s computer: either it is downloaded and installed manually by a user after he or she has been tricked into believing that the software is legitimate; or it is unknowingly installed onto a user’s computer, such as when a user visits a malicious website designed to automatically download and install illegitimate applications.

To date, Symantec has detected over 250 distinct rogue security software programs.


Top reported rogue security software:

Rank - Software
1 - Spyware Guard 2008
2 - AntiVirus 2008
3 - AntiVirus 2009
4 - Spyware Secure
5 - XPAntivirus
6 - WinFixer
7 - SafeStrip
8 - Error Repair
9 - Internet Antivirus
10 - DriveCleaner

Click here to see the full Symantec Report on Rogue Security Software July 2008 - June 2009

(The Symantec Report on Rogue Security Software is an in-depth analysis of rogue security software programs. This includes an overview of how these programs work and how they affect users, including their risk implications, various distribution methods, and innovative attack vectors. )

source:
canada.com
realwire

Ninja weapon

The following Ninja weapon 2G USB flash drives are pretty cool, especially if you love Ninja Anime (e.g. Naruto, etc.). It can be part of the cosplay outfit. ;)

The only problem is that they are very expensive. $135 Cdn for a 2G flash drive... forget it!!!




Source:
Gizmodo
Geek Stuff 4 U

Laptop with two screens

gScreen has announced that it will ship a laptop with dual 15.4-inch widescreens, called the Spacebook, by end of this year.
This laptop is pretty cool with an expensive price tag (USD $3,000).
One monitor is definitely not enough nowadays.
Hopefully, more laptops from different companies will be equipped with two screens.
I can't wait to get one when price eventually drops to an affordable price! ;)


Source:
The Tech Herald
PC Magazine

Pidgin

A coworker has recently recommended new multi-protocol IM application to me called Pidgin. I was a bit skeptical because I have tried other IM applications that claim to support all chat networks. However, when I use them, they were all disappointments.

According to the Pidgin website, it supports a long list of chat networks (AIM, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, Groupwise, ICQ, IRC, MSN, MySpaceIM, QQ, SILC, SIMPLE, Sametime, XMPP, Yahoo, Zephyr) . It also works on Windows and Linux.
So, I've decided to give it a try.

Now, I've been using it for a week. It's not the greatest and most beautiful IM application out there, but it does the job. The GUI is simple. It is fast. It works well with Yahoo, MSN, and Google Talk. I especially like the fact that it's free and open source. ;)

There are a lot of plugins on the website, but I haven't try any of them. I've only played around with some of the plugins that come with Pidgin but are not enabled by default (e.g. conversation colours, etc.).

The only disadvantages with Pidgin are that it is very hard to change skin/theme and there aren't many theme choices. The main reason being Pidgin uses the GTK+ Toolkit for creating its GUI. Having been using Google Talk (desktop version) for a while, I can live with this simple, ok looking GUI. ;)


Pidgin website:
http://pidgin.im/

I've found a site that tells you how to change the look & feel of Pidgin:
http://samuelhaddad.com/2008/02/16/sick-of-pidgins-look-and-feel/

Is it a car? Is it a computer? It's a batmobile PC!!

A guy turned the 1/6 scale Tumbler Batmobile RC model into a batmobile PC!!
This Bat PC has an AMD Sempron 2800+ processor with 40 gig HD, 736 megs of DDR 400 ram, on-board video card, and CD/DVD. It's not the latest and greatest, but it's good enough for simple web surfing.




Source:
Gizmodo
CaseModGod

YouTube video embarrasses Google

Jimmy Ruska, a 21-year-old American, has posted a video on YouTube explaining how to use Google’s search engine to download music and ebooks for free. The video shows users how to do an "index of" search and how to direct Google's search engine to locate files from unprotected computer systems, such as university systems. “A lot of students use the web-space given to them by their university to share music with their friends,” said Ruska.

Ruska's formula also worked at Yahoo and other search engines as well. According to Ruska, music files could be downloaded this way far more quickly than from peer-to-peer file-sharing networks.

The video is potentially embarrassing for Google, which owns the YouTube video-sharing website. In order to prevent illegal music download, Google has long since disabled functions that were previously used to search for MP3 music files.


I couldn't find that video in youtube. Youtube might have removed it. However, I found it at another web site: King Nutter

Jimmy Ruska actually created a web site to help people download mp3, ringtone, and pdf from Google:
http://www.jimmyr.com/mp3.php


Jimmy's "index of" trick:
(For example: you want to search for a mp3 song called "No one knows".)

1) Go to google.com

2) Type the following in search box and perform search.
intitle:"index.of" (mp3|mp4|avi) No.one.knows

3) If you don't want web pages, type the following in search box and perform search.
intitle:"index.of" (mp3|mp4|avi) No.one.knows -html -htm -php -asp -cf -jsp

4) If you want to search for pdf in university sites, type the following in search box and perform search.
site:.edu intitle:"index.of" pdf

5) If you want to search for calculus pdf in university sites, type the following in search box and perform search.
site:.edu filetype:pdf calculus


Create shortcut in Firefox to perform the above search:

1) Perform step #3 in "index of" trick.

2) Copy the result url
e.g. http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla....

3) Press "Ctrl-B" to display the bookmarks page

4) Add a bookmark by right click and select "New Bookmark..."
Name = directory index
Keyword = music
Location=(paste url from step #2; scroll to the word "No.one.knows" and replace it with "%s")

5) Click Ok in the New Bookmark window.

6) In Google search box, type the following and perform search.
music No.one.knows

7) You'll get same result as the result in step #3 of "index of" trick.

Japanese emoticons

I've been using vertical and horizontal emoticons for years. I just thought there are two different styles of emoticons.

vertical:
:) :D
horizontal:
(^o^) (T_T)

Today, I stumble across a web site (Hiroette.com) that talks about the difference between the two. The vertical ones are actually Western emoticons and the horizontal ones are Japanese emoticons.
Personally, I think the Japanese emoticons are more lively and cute while the Western emoticons is simpler.

Here is a list of different Japanese emoticons that I found from various web sites:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
happy

(^0^)
(^_^)
( ﾟ ヮﾟ)
＼（○＾ω＾○）／

yeah!

d=(^o^)=b
(b^_^)b
d-(^_^)-b
b(~_^)d

peace

(^_^)V

angry

(＃ﾟДﾟ)

wink

(^_-)
σ(ﾟｰ^*)
ヽ(*’-^*)。

sleeping

(-_-)zzz
(~o~)zzZ

crying

(T_T)

questions

(･_･?)

struggle

(>_<")

Thanks

ｍ（．＿．）ｍ

Sick

（┐・・┌）
(>o<)
{{(>_<)}}
(°.....°;)

Depress

。：゜(；´∩｀；)゜：。
(´･ω･`;)
（；・д・）

Shock

∑(O_O；)
Σ(゜д゜;)
(；゜゜）
(◎◎；)

Laughing Out Loud (LOL)

(＾▽＾)
（⌒▽⌒）

Surprise

（￣□￣；）
(@_@)

Punch!

(>_<)○------(^o^)○

Panic

＼(>o<)／Gyaaaaaaa！

Words

~~~ヾ(＾∇＾)Good morning ♪
( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/ Good evening
(^-^*)/ Hello!
( ^_^)／ Hi！
＼(＾▽＾*)Welcoooome(*＾▽＾)／
(ヾ(´･ω･｀)See you later
(*≧▽≦)Nice to meet you ♪
☆彡(ノ^^)ノCongratulationsヘ(^^ヘ)☆彡
☆彡(ﾉ^^)ﾉ☆彡ﾍ(^^ﾍ)☆彡(ﾉ^^)ﾉ☆彡 Congratulations!!
(*^^)/｡･:*:･ﾟ'★,｡･:*:･ﾟ'☆ Congratulations!!
(*ﾟ▽ﾟ)/ﾟ･:*【祝】*:･ﾟ＼(ﾟ▽ﾟ*)
(*'∇')/ﾟ･:*【祝】*:･ﾟ＼('∇'*)
(*＾◇^)/ﾟ・:*【祝】*:・ﾟ＼(^◇^*)
(￣～￣;）Hmmmmmmmm・・・
(＞。≪)Ouch
(ﾟｰﾟ)(｡_｡)Yup yup
No(･_･ 三･_･)no
┐('～`；)┌ Don't know

Dancing

ヘ(^_^ヘ)(ノ^_^)ノ
o(^^o)(o^^)o
〜(^∇^〜）（〜^∇^)〜
┌(・。・)┘♪└(・。・)┐♪┌(・。・)┘
♪┌(★o☆)┘♪└(★o★)┐♪┌(☆o★)┘ ♪
☆＼(^０^＼) ♪(／^-^)／☆♪ ☆⌒

Love

(*ﾟ.ﾟ)(ﾟ.ﾟ*)

Thinking

（‐”‐；）
(?(｡_。).｡o0O?？
｢(ｰﾍー;)
(・・*)。。oＯ(想像中)

Bomb

(^-^)/(((((((((●〜*

Pig

（＾(●●)＾）
( ´(00)`)

Fish

<*)) >>=<

Cat

(=^･ｪ･^=)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The top 10 dead (or dying) computer skills

Top ten dead, or dying, IT skills

Based on several industry stalwarts, a list of skills and technologies has been compiled that, while not dead, can perhaps be said to be in the process of dying. Or as Stewart Padveen, Internet entrepreneur and currently founder of AdPickles Inc., says, "Obsolescence is a relative -- not absolute -- term in the world of technology."

1. Cobol
Y2k was like a second gold rush for Cobol programmers, but six-and-a-half years later, there’s no savior in sight for this fading language.

2. Nonrelational DBMS
In the 1980s, there were two major database management systems approaches: hierarchical systems (such as IBM's IMS and SAS Institute Inc.'s System 2000) and network DBMS (such as CA's IDMS and Oracle Corp.'s DBMS, formerly the VAX DBMS). Today, however, both have been replaced by the relational DBMS approach, embodied by SQL databases such as DB2, Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server,

3. Non-IP networks
TCP/IP has largely taken over the networking world, and as a result, there’s less demand than ever for IBM Systems Network Architecture (SNA) skills, said David Foote, president of Foote Partners LLC in New Canaan, Conn.

4. cc:Mail
This store-and-forward LAN-based e-mail system from the 1980s was once used by about 20 million people. However, as e-mail was integrated into more-complex systems such as Lotus Notes and Microsoft Exchange, its popularity waned, and in 2000, it was withdrawn from the market.

5. ColdFusion
This has since been superseded by other development platforms, including Microsoft Corp.’s Active Server Pages and .Net, as well as Java, Ruby on Rails, Python, PHP and other open source languages.

6. C programming
As the Web takes over, C languages are also becoming less relevant, according to Padveen. "C++ and C Sharp are still alive and kicking, but try to find a basic C-only programmer today, and you'll likely find a guy that's unemployed and/or training for a new skill," he says.

7. PowerBuilder
This client/server development tool in 1994 was bought by Sybase Inc., which was once a strong Oracle competitor. Today, PowerBuilder developers are at the very bottom of the list of in-demand application development and platform skills.

8. Certified NetWare Engineers
n the early 1990s, it was all the rage to become a Certified NetWare Engineer, especially with Novell Inc. enjoying 90% market share for PC-based servers. Today, however, you don't have to look far to find CNEs retraining themselves with other skills to stay marketable.

9. PC network administrators
With the accelerating move to consolidate Windows servers, some see substantially less demand for PC network administrators.

10. OS/2
Initially created by Microsoft and IBM and released with great fanfare in 1987, the collaboration soon unraveled, and after repeated rumors of its demise, IBM finally discontinued sales in 2005.

Full article: The top 10 dead (or dying) computer skills

***********************************
I have 2 of the 10 dying skills... 20%!!
I know C programming language... even though I haven't used it for many years....
I also know OS/2.... I used it when I was working in IBM...
I guess I can't put those 2 skills in my resume any more....

Want a new laptop?

Are you a hello kitty fans?
Do you want a new laptop?
Here's one for you ---> NEC LaVie G laptop!!
Sorry boys.... This laptop is just for girls...
I don't think any boys want to walk around with a hello kitty laptop...



299 Swarovski crystals are used to decorate the laptop cover with Hello Kitty and four hearts!!
Well... This laptop is not going to be cheap... It costs approx. $1,745 Cdn...

Personally, I think this laptop is just good for display... It's too much pressure walking around with this laptop... Those Swarovski crystals might fall off....

But if you are interested.... Here is the specs:

- CPU: Mobile Sempron 3400+ (1.6GHz)
- Memory: 1GB (maximum 2GB)
- HD: 100GB
- Graphics: ATI Radeon Xpress 1100 (video functional built-in) +IXP 460
- DVD drive
- LCD: 15.4", 1,280×800 dot (WXGA)
- OS: Windows Vista Home Premium
- USB 2.0×4
- IEEE 1394 (4 pins)×1
- SD card/memory stick (PRO)/xD-Picture Card slot
- IEEE 802.11a/b/g wireless LAN
- Gigabit Ethernet and modem
- weight approximately 3.3kg


Links:
NEC Direct

Organizing cables

The cables around my computer desk are a mess. I have monitor cable, speaker cables, USB cables, cell phone cables, mp3 player cables, etc... (Since there are soooo many, it will take me a couple of hours to list them all here...)

I tried to organize them better with cable wraps, which made them look a little bit better, but it wasn't fun doing that.

Well... I found some products that will make organizing cables very fun!!
There are Cat Cable Clips, Cable fish, Cababo Frog, and One Man Tied.
These things will make the computer room look like a zoo... or a place holding lots of hostages.... Hee hee...



I don't really know these things will actually work or not, but they are surely cute and fun to look at!!

Encyclopedia of Life

Having an Encyclopedia of Life webpage is a really good idea!
People all over the world (e.g. scientists, professors, school teachers, students, or people with too much time to spent) can benefit from this.

I just check out the www.eol.org site, but there is nothing yet. It only has a few demonstration pages.

---------------------------------------------
Leading Scientists Announce Creation Of Encyclopedia Of Life (partial article)

Science Daily — Realizing a dream articulated in 2003 by renowned biologist E.O. Wilson, Harvard and four partner institutions have launched an ambitious effort to create an Encyclopedia of Life (EOL), an unprecedented project to document online every one of Earth's 1.8 million known species. For the first time in history, the EOL would grant scientists, students, and others multimedia access to all known living species, even those just discovered.

The effort, announced May 9, will be supported by a new $10 million grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and $2.5 million from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

With a Wikipedia-style Web page detailing each organism's genome, geographic distribution, phylogenetic position, habitat, and ecological relationships, organizers hope the EOL will ultimately serve as a global beacon for biodiversity and conservation.

....

For more than 250 years, scientists have catalogued life, but traditional catalogues have long since become unwieldy, EOL organizers say. They believe technology can help science grasp the immense complexity of life on this planet while protecting Earth's biodiversity and better conserving our natural heritage.

Over the next 10 years, the EOL will create Web pages for all 1.8 million living species known to exist on Earth. The pages, housed at http://www.eol.org, will provide written information and, when available, photographs, video, sound, location maps, and other multimedia information on each species. Built on the scientific integrity of thousands of experts around the globe, the EOL will be a moderated Wikipedia-like resource, freely available to all users everywhere.

....

Full article
---------------------------------------------

Tutorials

Here are links to good tutorials for different programming languages.
I'll continue to update this in the future as I find more.

Servlet & JSP

• Beginning and Intermediate-Level Servlet, JSP, and JDBC Tutorial
• Advanced Servlet and JSP Tutorial

Struts

• Jakarta Struts (Action Framework) Tutorial

How long do we have to wait before summer comes?

There is a site that tells you when summer will come.
Summer Meter

Today, we have:

• 86.97% of non-summer period accomplished!
  
• 61.32% of Spring completed!
• 5.08 weeks or 35.56 days or 853.53 hours or 51211 minutes until summer.
  

Can't wait till summer comes!!!

Cup

Below is another one of those forward emails that I got...
I like getting forward emails... because they are either funny stuffs or meaningful stuffs... ;-)

A group of working adults got together to visit their University lecturer.

The Lecturer was happy to see them. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. The Lecturer just smiled and went to the Kitchen to get an assortment of cups - some porcelain, some in plastic, some In glass, some plain looking and some looked rather expensive and Exquisite. The Lecturer offered his former students the cups to get drinks for themselves. When all the students had a cup in hand with water, the Lecturer spoke, If you noticed, all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal that you only want the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all you wanted was water, not the cup, but we unconsciously went for the better cups."Just like in life, if Life is Water, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold / maintain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change."

"If we only concentrate on the cup, we won't have time to enjoy / taste the water in it.

If we are always concentrated with work and other stuffs... then we won't have time to enjoy life...

Useful software

I found a site with some useful freewares related to password recovery and windows product key:

MessenPass - Recover the passwords of instant messenger programs: Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, etc.

Mail PassView - Recover the passwords of popular email clients: Outlook Express, MS Outlook, Eudora, etc.

Network Password Recovery - Freeware utility that recovers the network passwords stored by Windows XP.

ProduKey - Recover Office/Windows CD-Key

http://www.nirsoft.net/