Random Sequence

Note to self after having to do this a couple of times. If I need to install WinXP from a USB memory stick, the absolute no-brainer way to do it is WinToFlash . The keyword here is no-brainer , because there are tons of tutorials out there that require you to have a rocket science degree and a PhD to follow. Not so for WinToFlash. Run the program, point the source path to the WinXP install files, point the target path to the USB memory stick and click a button. Then go for a cup of coffee and you are done. Here is how it looks during bootup: Option 1 is for the first bootup where you get into the text mode setup, configure and format your partition and copy essential files. Option 2 is for the second bootup where you actually see the Windows XP splash screen and then it starts to configure devices and settings. I have no affiliation with the company that produces the software. It has a free, ad-supported version if you are a casual user. There is also a personal, profess...

Just stumbled across this website called GadgetzFinder that aggregates products from a couple of DealExtreme -like sites (including DealExtreme itself). For those of you who are not familiar with DealExtreme, it is the granddaddy of Hong Kong-based B2C websites that list all kinds of Made-in-China gadgets and offer free shipping for all purchases. Almost all the items are a fraction of the price of similar items sold in western developed countries. For example, I bought this laptop security cable recently for under $4, where it would have cost me $20 in local stores. The downside to that cheap price is the long waiting time for the purchased item to arrive. On average I have to wait about 3 weeks for an item, but surprisingly I have received every single item I have purchased so far, and believe me, I have bought a lot of items from DealExtreme and others. Kudos to the global postal system! Also be prepared for some hits and misses in terms of product quality. But the nov...

Looked around for a way to export web pages to PDF on Firefix. Most of the existing addons for exporting to PDF involve doing so via a web service, which has security implications, especially when the web page to be exported contains sensitive information. The Firefox addon that I finally settled on is PDFIt , which as far as I can tell does not involve any web service but does everything on the client web browser. Once installed, the PDFIt menu appears in the "Tools" menu as well as the context menu. The PDFIt addon not only lets you convert web pages to PDF, it lets you convert to PNG or JPG as well. In addition, you can add a custom title to the output with full control over the font color, size and position. You can also apply a filter (from a total of 16) to the output, including rotation, flipping, sepia, reflection etc. The only downside I can find is that the output PDF is an image of the web page i.e. even text on the web page are converted to bitmap. If you ...

Just got an OTA update on my Nexus One for Gingerbread 2.3.6. Reboot to install. Oops, what's that? Lost my root. No problem. Reboot into recovery and reinstalled su.zip. Oops, what's that again? Link2SD gave a mount warning and requested a quick reboot. After the quick reboot, the warning was gone and all linked apps were working well, but I don't relish having to reboot twice every time from now on! After some mucking around, here's how to fix it. I had to uninstall Link2SD, reinstall it, run and select the filesystem type of the second partition, then reboot. This reinstalls the mount script correctly in the new ROM and everything works fine after that.

Another more powerful way of freeing up phone storage is with Link2SD . Using this method requires you to have a rooted phone. If you don't, either root your phone or there isn't really much else you can do. The idea behind Link2SD is simple. Remember Android is basically a modified version of Linux and the application files resides in /data (where '/' , or the root directory, is your phone storage). When more and more files are created in /data , your phone storage is slowly eaten up and very soon you will see the "Phone storage low" warning. Link2SD lets you move some of the files in /data to the SD storage but retain a pointer or symbolic link in /data . This is a legitimate filesystem sleight-of-hand that retains the directory structure that Android expects, but with the bulk of the data moved to the SD card. For example, after moving Angry Bird using Link2SD, the affected files are: /data/app/com.rovio.angrybirds-1.apk -> /data/sdext2/com.ro...

This is my personal experience with Jetstar, but it might apply to other low budget airlines as well. During the checkout process, after you enter your PayPal or credit card details and enter "Submit", if you encounter a timeout error or any other error, DO NOT TRY AGAIN! Call the airline to confirm if the order has been placed or not, or you may be left with a duplicate booking. Now if you end up with a duplicate booking, you can always call up the airline and get them to refund one of them. But the refund can take a looooonnnnng time. In my case, it took 1 month for them to approve the refund, and another week for the money to be refunded. I guess I was lucky to get my money back. Some people weren't so lucky . And did you know that 50% of Jetstar profit comes from people who buy a ticket and don't fly ? I wonder what percentage of that is non-refunded duplicate booking?

If you are running Android 2.2 and above, there is a simple way to free up more phone storage without rooting the device. First you need to download and install the Android SDK. Now this is not as scary as it sounds. It is actually a pretty standard installer, and it will come it handy later if you plan on doing more hacking on your Android device. The reason for installing the Android SDK is to use a command-line utility in the SDK called "adb". Next you need to download and install the USB driver for your device. If you using an Android device from one of the major manufacturers, this page should help you locate the driver. Now select "Settings" on your Android device, then "Applications", then "Development", then make sure "USB debugging" is checked. After you have done that, plug the device into the USB port on your computer and make sure all necessary drivers are properly installed. Open a command prompt and "cd...