This morning I just changed my home Internet broadband service from Cyber Express to i-CABLE. My Cyber Express connection was a 6Mbps PPPoE DLS (PPPoE = Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet, DSL = Digital Subscriber Line) link and I was paying HK$410 (~US$52) per month (yes, expensive!). The new i-CABLE connection is a (theoretical) 10Mbps cable broadband link and I'm paying HK$278 (~US$35) per month. Both services provide unlimited service around the clock so basically my connection is permanent, although my IP address changes periodically (usually once every 1 or 2 weeks). The dynamic IP addressing isn't a problem even though I have an AXIS 2100 Network Camera because I have a ZyXEL Prestige 314 broadband router that supports a feature called "DynDNS". DynDNS is a service that allows me to always access my (private) home network camera at http://webcam.justintom.com even though my home IP address changes. When the Prestige 314 detects a new IP address, it automatically updates name servers at DynDNS.org which hosts my justintom.com domain so that webcam.justintom.com resolves to the new IP. I also have a 1st-generation Apple AirPort Base Station (hooked up to the Prestige 314) that provides 802.11b wireless networking for my (company-owned) Apple PowerBook G4 and Windows 2000 desktop PC (not branded, MSI motherboard and AMD Athlon processor).
Actually, all I wanted to say was that the the switchover from the DSL connection to the cable connection went very smoothly — better than I expected! After the i-CABLE technician came in and installed the Terayon cable modem and hooked it up to the Prestige 314, I telnetted to the Prestige 314 and changed the Internet Access Setup (menu 4) from PPPoE to Ethernet encapsulation and 5 seconds later I was using the new connection!
Here's a photo of my home network setup right now. The UFO-looking thing is the AirPort Base Station, the blue thing just below is the newly installed cable modem, and the white box below that is the DSL modem (NEC ATU-R300, soon to be returned to Cyber Express). The dark gray box on the right is the Prestige 314 broadband router. Not included in the photo is my AXIS 2100 network camera (Linux-based Web server and Ethernet port built in) that's connected via Category-5 cable directly to the Prestige 314. Pretty cool, huh?! ;)
Problem:
Unable to insert an .asx or .wmv video into a PowerPoint 2000 presentation (inserting a .mpg file was okay). After choosing Insert => Movies and Sounds => Movie from File..., I immediately got the following error:
PowerPoint couldn't insert a movie from the selected file. Either the file is non-standard, or QuickTime is not installed properly.Setup:
Strange that I was unable to find the Windows Media Player 7.1 English installer from Microsoft's Windows Media download page. On that page, if for Version you choose "Player 7.1 for Win98, Win 2000, Win Me", your options for Language are narrowed down to "Czech", "Danish", "Finish" and several others but excluding English! What's up with that?! ;)
I eventually did find Windows Media Player (English version) off of Download.com's site:
http://download.com.com/3000-2139-5948260.html?tag=lst-0-1
These did NOT work:
Looking for a dictionary and thesaurus for your Windows PC? I highly recommend the free WordWeb. (There's also a fuller-featured Pro version for US$18.) Since all the data is stored locally and not on the Internet like some other dictionary/thesaurus programs out there, WordWeb is fast and always available (not only when you're online). You can highlight a word in any application and then just click WordWeb's system tray icon or HotKey (Ctl+Alt+W is the default) and that word is instantly looked up and displayed (initially showing type, definitions, and synonyms). The user interface is top-notch too with buttons on the right to filter or jump to a specific type — noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. Tabs at the bottom let you quickly see synonyms, antonyms, attributes, or similar words.
I only wish they had this available for Mac as well!
If you've got hard disk problems on your Mac, I highly recommend Alsoft's DiskWarrior. Yes, Symantec's Norton Disk Doctor (part of Norton Utilities) used to be tops, but in the last few years, DiskWarrior has proven to be the safest and most effective. In general, though, you should try Apple's Disk First Aid (OS 9 or earlier) or Disk Utility (OS X) first, then DiskWarrior, and then Norton Disk Doctor or Micromat's Drive 10. (A good friend and Mac guru, Patrick Yeung, initially passed on this sound advice.)
I was able to quickly fix 2 disks today using DiskWarrior. One was an removable 3.5" MO (Magneto Optical) disk and the other was an internal hard disk. The MO disk wasn't recognized by Mac OS 9 and so everytime we inserted it, the system asked whether the disk should be initialized or ejected. I had to run DiskWarrior first (and have it as the active application) and then insert the MO disk so that DiskWarrior was able to "see" it (without the system interrupting first). On the second disk, we were not able to delete any folder located on the desktop; the system would say that the folder was locked. I tried using Norton Disk Editor to unlock the folders (unticking the Finder Locked checkbox) but the changes were not sticking. In both cases, DiskWarrior fixed the disks in about 5 to 10 minutes. The whole process is pretty much automated — you just click a few buttons and disk problems are gone!
Mail links in most Web pages (mailto:) allow spammers with special software — sometimes referred to as "spambots" — to automatically harvest email addresses. Well, using Hivelogic's Enkoder (a Web-based script or downloadable Java applet formerly known as "Email Address Encoder") you can have the same functionality as mailto links but without revealing addresses to spammers. It basically "encodes" mailto links using JavaScript and HTML escape codes. You simply enter 3 things — email address, link text, and hover text — and click the Encode It! button. You'll end up with something like this in the Results box:
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
var first = 'ma';
var second = 'il';
var third = 'to:';
var address = 'dt-bl
og';
var domain = 'bbdoa
sia.com';
document.write('<a href="');
document.write(first+second+third);
document.write(address);
document.write('@');
document.write(domain);
document.write('" title="Email me">');
document.write('Email me<\/a>');
// -->
</script>
You then substitute the above code for everything in between and including the <a href="mailto:...">Email me</a> in your normal mailto link. The result is this:I used this in the first issue of our company newsletter which we made available for readers whose mail clients don't support HTML well or at all (e.g. Lotus Notes). The original HTML/XML code was done in Microsoft Outlook using Microsoft Word as the editor. I then tweaked the code using BBEdit on my Mac.
I first learned of Enkoder from the 01.10.2003 edition of the Lockergnome WebREPORT.
I suppose that programmers who develop spambot software could update their code to circumvent this technique. We'll then have to come up with something else. ARGH!... the battle with the spammers never ends!
We got a new DELL PowerEdge 1400SC server (Pentium III 2.8GHz, 512MB RAM, 18GB Ultra-160 SCSI 10K HDD, built-in Adaptec 2-channel Ultra-160 SCSI controller, 3-year warranty) to replace an aging Taiwanese server (ASUS motherboard) that had been intermittently locking up recently (the old server running Windows NT Server 4.0 had been very reliable for at least 4 years though, so I'm not knocking Taiwanese products). The DELL server only cost HK$8770 (US$1125) without an operating system. We purchased a Windows 2000 Server license for it though so yesterday I installed Windows 2000 Server and I only had 1 glitch during the Windows 2000 Server Setup. I got this error:
The following value in the .SIF file used by Setup is corrupted or missing: Value 1 on line 0 in section [Keyboard] Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3.It stumped me for about 20 minutes (it was a continuous loop!) and I tried searching on the Web for answers but eventually, based on the error mentioning "Keyboard", I figured out that the keyboard was the problem. I had to swap out a cheap Filand-branded keyboard for an HP-branded one and that did the trick (disconnecting and reconnecting the Filand keyboard and rebooting didn't help). And so by yesterday afternoon, I had Windows 2000 Server installed.
This morning, I needed to transfer two 9GB Seagate SCSI hard disks, an Adaptec AHA-2940-UW SCSI controller, and an external HP SureStore DAT40 tape drive from the old server to the new DELL. Opening up the case and getting at the drive cages on the DELL was a snap! It's extremely well-designed and constructed and needless to say, I was impressed. Getting at the hard disks in the old server's case was just the opposite — it was like trying to work out a puzzle! The two old SCSI hard disks are 1" thick and they heat up quite a bit and so I wanted to ensure they had empty space above and below. I ended up mounting one in the last free 5.25" drive bay and the other two in the lower 3.5" drive cage with an empty slot in between. I needed to change the SCSI ID number on one of the old disks so I did a quick Google search for "ST19171W" (the model number of the old disks) and the very first item in the search results was just what I needed: ST19171W Illustrated Configuration. I used another SCSI cable to make use of the extra Ultra-160 channel on the motherboard, hooked up all 3 disks, added in the Adaptec card, connected the external tape drive and powered up the system. To my amazement, Windows 2000 Server recognized all the new devices, asked to be rebooted, and then everything worked! I was very impressed at how smooth all of this went.
I just put up a new photo album, december 11 - 23, containing 33 photos of mostly Justin at around 9 months old.
More photos to come... I'm trying to catch up but the selection process especially just takes so long!
I tweaked this site's layout just a few days ago by mainly changing my CSS style sheet. The layout still does not display properly in anything other than Internet Explorer on the Mac but I like the new look better, of course! I reduced the colors on the page by replacing the dark orange with the red used in my masthead. I also made all titles lowercase and changed the boxes I had around the titles to just an underline. The spacing is opened up a bit as well.
I plan on using tables (perhaps just 1 more) and a single masthead graphic to fix the problem with the layout displaying incorrectly (or not as I intended) on most browsers.
I stayed up till almost 2am last night to get this done! There are 3 new video clips of Justin:
http://derektom.com/gallery/jt21
1. Babbling - Take One
2. Babbling - Take Two
3. Almost Walking
For each video, there are 2 versions: 1 for Mac users (QuickTime progressive) and 1 for PC users (Windows Media Video).
If you are on your PC, click the files on the top row. If you are on your Mac, click the files on the bottom (2nd) row. To be sure you view the correct one, you can also read the captions underneath each picture.
This video was shot on a Sony MiniDV camcorder, brought into iMovie on an Apple PowerBook G4/500 via the FireWire interface, and exported to QuickTime format. The Windows Media Video files were created by converting from the QuickTime files using Discreet cleaner 5.0.
Hope you like 'em!
For the first time in several years, I got to see Yuki and Chiaki (old friends from the days when I used to live in Laguna City, about 7 or 8 years ago!). They dropped by our apartment just before their farewell dinner for Chiaki (yes, she is really leaving Hong Kong this time!) downstairs at Cine Citta restaurant. When they came, Gwen was shopping with her sister, Lim, and Christine (visiting from Singapore) so unfortunately they weren't able to meet up. We were hoping the girls would be able to stop by after dinner but they just rang and because it's so late now (past 11pm) we decided to try and meet another time. At least they got to meet little Justin. Farewell, Chiaki!
Uh oh!... For the past 2 nights, Justin has been waking up in the middle of the night and wailing. Last night (actually, at 4am this morning) he wailed for 30 minutes straight, although it felt like over an hour! We held strong and didn't give in and pick him up to comfort him. We're hoping he'll go back to sleeping through the night from tonight onwards!
BTW, it's COLD here! Today the temperature dropped to a low of 7 degrees Celsius (44.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Yup, we'll probably have our fan heaters blowing throughout the night.
From about the past 2 to 3 months, Justin has shown signs of wanting to walk — bringing himself up to standing position, "cruising" along our couch and nearby large beanbag, happily taking steps while supported, and balancing for up to 10 seconds while standing. Today, however, Gwen noticed a marked improvement in his ability to balance and take more steadied steps. Will he be walking in 2 days? A week? I dunno but I get excited thinking about it!
Justin's favorite foods: spinach, bananas, grapes, and yogurt.
OK, so I thought I'd start taking notes about the wines I've drunk. Keep in mind that I only started seriously learning about wine through books and some sites just a few weeks ago. So at this point I'm just a baby when it comes to discerning wine's many smells and tastes and describing them. Don't laugh, here goes:
Color is ruby red. Smells very fruity, berry-like — like many other reds I've tried. Light to medium bodied. After about 20 minutes after opening the bottle, tastes like brandied cherries — quite pleasant and easy-drinking. Tannins there but minimal. Medium acidity. Sour then pleasant buttery finish.
From a couple of sites I came across, I found out that Claymore Wines just opened in 1999 in South Australia so this is definitely one of their first wines out the door. From the label: "This Claymore 'Nocturne' range of wines represents the combination of exceptional McLaren Vale fruit with traditional winemaking expertise. This, our very first bottling of McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon, has been carefully selected and produced for your indulgence. Our fruit comes from the Wilepena Vineyards in the heart of the McLaren Vale region. The wine has matured in brand new French oak with only 600 cases bottled after 12 months of maturation."
I paid about HK$125 (US$16) from Wine Buff Fine Wines shop located just down the street from our apartment on Queen's Road East. I like this wine better than the 1998 "Clos des Menuts" Saint-Emilion Grand Cru wine from the same shop that cost HK$216 (US$27). Would I buy this again? Probably not since it wasn't exceptional and at this stage I just want to try a huge variety of wines. I don't regret buying it though. Overall, it's an average, quite smooth, pleasant wine to drink. I like it better than many other more expensive wines I've tried and if it were cheaper, it'd consider buying more. Having said that, Gwen just approved of buying more but said we need to make sure we breathe the wine for at least 30 minutes before drinking (she didn't like the first taste). Gosh, you know what?... I''ve drunk almost half the bottle already — perhaps this is a pretty good wine! It's certainly easy to drink.
On the way home tonight, I stopped by Watson's Wine Cellar in Seibu's GREAT supermarket in Pacific Place to pick up a bottle of 1999 Penfolds "Koonunga Hill" Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon. It was on sale for HK$108 (US$14), normally HK$138.
Oh, our Vintec 120 SG wine cellar is being delivered tomorrow morning — woohoo!
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and wishing you and yours good health, happiness, and prosperity in 2003!
Our new year's celebration was pretty uneventful — Gwen, myself, baby Justin, Lim (Gwen's sister visiting from Singapore), and our helper Pina just had pizza and ribs delivered to our door from Pepperoni's for dinner! We opened a bottle of 1998 "Clos des Menuts" Saint-Emilion Grand Cru wine but that was pretty disappointing. The small fireworks show in Victoria Harbour at 10pm we were only able to view on TV and not from our living room window as we had in the past — thanks to the massive building coming up in front of us off of (I think) Hennessy Road! Still, we enjoyed a mellow, safe, relaxing time at home. On new year's day we had lovely brunch with John and Gloria Young, John's mom, and Steve Lawrence (John's old roommate) at "Brasserie on the Eight" in the Conrad hotel.
In between my last entry and this, we've been busy: We had Pattra and Lisa over for dinner, we attended Nadim and Cynthia's son "Jun Jun's" 2nd birthday, we had a full-day's outing on Cheung Chau Island, and I ended up buying a wine cellar! Photos and a video clip of Justin babbling are to come.