I ran into a frustrating problem when setting up the SQL Native Client 10.0 in System DSN,  it kept on rejecting the Local SQL user and password. After a thousand tries later, I finally took a minute to check the server settings in the Management Studio. Then found the section to allow both kind of authentication modes.

When it comes to desktop deployment, performing the provisioning process and understanding how linked-cloning works in the back-end really amazes me. VMWare really made the configuration and deployment process very straight forward. The planning guide and administration documentation can be found here.

Issue: When trying to open *.DOCX documents in Internet Explorer, the file becomes *.ZIP.

Not sure if Windows update fixed this issue yet. But here’s the manual registry fix.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_MIME_HANDLING

Change the value of iexplore.exe (NOT explorer.exe) to 0.

Restart IE, or bounce the machine.

Visited Maui this August, it wasn’t quiet as what I expected compared to my experience in Honolulu last year.

I may go back there again in my 40′s. But while I’m young, I might just stick with places that has a little bit more night life than Maui. Click on “Read More” to see the whole album.

Back to work, back to life again. But I’m tuned for my trip to China in November!

$i = 0;
/* Server: localhost [1] */
$i++;
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['verbose'] = 'localhost';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['host'] = 'localhost';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['port'] = '';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['socket'] = '';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['connect_type'] = 'tcp';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['extension'] = 'mysqli';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'config';
// $cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'http';
// A browser based prompt
// $cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'cookie';
// A web page prompt rendered in HTML
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['user'] = 'root';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password'] = '123abc'; // Hack me!
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['AllowNoPassword'] = true;
/* End of servers configuration */
$cfg['DefaultLang'] = 'en-utf-8';
$cfg['ServerDefault'] = 1;
$cfg['UploadDir'] = '';
$cfg['SaveDir'] = '';

I wasn’t able to log onto Windows Live Messenger on my laptop today. Even though my other laptop works fine. Two of my computers are on the same wireless subnet behind the same’o router. After clicking retry button for the 256th time, I almost made the announcement that I’m not using WLM ever again on my Facebook page.

I tried all the troubleshooting guide from Windows Live Support Blog with no avail. When I was about to reset my router, I noticed the time was incorrectly displayed on the router status part. I then updated the NTP Server and time zone, waula! I logged on.

The point is, make sure not only the time on your PC is correct. Also, check the time settings on your router too. Use a NTP service is better than setting the time manually.

Got a pair of computer glasses from a local optometrist. What’s so “computer” about these glasses? Well, they come with yellow tint to ease your eyes while looking at bright monitors. And the prescription that it came with will make whatever you see a slight bigger.

After a few hours of experiment, I approve this product to my fellow Computer Dudes. For less than $300 bucks, you can get one too!

http://www.gunnars.com

Some coworkers of mine left this on my desk as a Joke. This isn’t the 5¼ yo, this is the legendary 8 inch from the 1970′s. This vintage disk holds 175 Kilobytes of your precious data! About the size of a piece of your hair in a picture taken by modern digital cameras.

I surely knew nothing about this disk, because I wasn’t around when it was popular. I found the information here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk

Sometimes, you can’t really blame your ISP or router for the unstable internet connection. Look at the graph I got from running inSSIDer. There are about 20 radios in the area spreading throughout the channels. You can run a scan and study which channel others are using, and try to stay off of the same channel as others. In this case, I really feel bad for the people on channel 6.

Feels great to get back with my Bluetooth mouse comparing to the standard 2.4GHz wireless. Especially the part where you don’t need to plugin a wireless receiver.