rant on irq5 test

Adobe Flash Player is Crap

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 00:54:00 +0000

It seems that Adobe has been releasing Flash Player updates very often, and it’s getting a little irritating since I told it to “notify me to install updates”. I’m generally very against software that automatically updates itself (like Google Chrome). So recently an update popped up a couple of days ago, and I went ahead to install it. What’s really irritating is that it doesn’t keep my preference of “update method”.

Don't Use Power Drills as Screwdrivers!

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 16:24:00 +0000

I think people who use power drills with those screwdriver “drill bits” are just plain lazy. I had a new ceiling fan installed yesterday, and the installation guy came over with a power drill fitted with the Phillips screwdriver bit to do his job, and he used it on everything. The fan came with the blades and motor hub separately, so some assembly was required. Just have a look at the result.

Lumix LX3 (Lacks a) Remote Shutter Release

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 01:47:00 +0000

It’s sad that my family members always buy stuff that lack features I want (or sometimes sane features - I’ll talk more about this in another post hopefully in a few weeks). Obviously if I had a say in it, I would definitely not have picked it. My sister bought a Panasonic Lumix LX-3 some time ago, but unfortunately, it lacked a remote release feature. The previous camera, bought by my dad, was a Sony DSC-T1, and it too, lacked such a feature.

I want a faster iPad

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 23:41:00 +0000

Actually I was aware of this problem some time ago. Even though the iPad has a beefy processor, it still renders Javascript-heavy sites slowly. Yes, probably the Javascript that draws on the canvas can be further optimized, but if other browsers can render faster, why can’t MobileSafari? [youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=s72rGDUn2uo]

Change of iPad's Orientation Lock Switch Function

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 21:37:00 +0000

Apple is planning to change the iPad’s orientation lock switch into a mute switch, just like on iPhones, in iOS 4.2. I can’t agree more with this: The iPhone and iPod Touch are, for many people, audio devices. But the iPad is a reading/viewing device for most of us.

Copying files between users in Windows 7

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 18:17:00 +0000

I’ve recently installed Windows 7 on my desktop and I’m trying to migrate files from the laptop’s hard disk. Whenever I try to copy files from a folder that I do not have permissions to, it asks me if I want to gain “permanent access” to the folder and its contents, which means to alter the folder permissions to take ownership of the folder & files. Why would I want to do that?

Removing read-only protection from MS Word

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 21:02:00 +0000

Recently I needed to fill up some form for submission, in soft copy. The template file provided was a MS Word document, but for some really stupid reason it was marked read-only. When I tried to edit the document, this helpful sidebar appeared.

When I clicked the “Stop protection” button I was prompted for a password. I didn’t want to waste time trying to recreate this whole form, nor do I wish to hand-write it.

Drag & drop in Windows 7 doesn't work

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:53:00 +0000

I reformatted my computer yesterday and installed Windows 7. I installed 2 apps - Winamp and Mp3tag, both of which cannot accept files that have been dropped onto them. Hmmm… that’s strange. It turns out that this is a security feature, part of UAC. Instructions on how to fix it is detailed here. In the Control Panel item “Administrative Tools”, under Local Policy, disable this item called “User Account Control: Only elevate UIaccess applications that are installed in secure locations”.

Photo Kiosks Infecting USB Devices

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:26:00 +0000

Here’s another reason why I think dedicated kiosks like these should never run Windows. … has Windows-based Fuji photo kiosks in at least some of its stores that don’t run antivirus software, and are therefore spreading infections… via customers’ USB storage devices. The same problem occurs with shared computers in our school’s lab computers - people come in with their thumbdrives and use it to save their files, but at the same time the virus on the drive autoruns.

BenQ DW1640 drive tray

Sat, 05 Jun 2010 17:21:00 +0000

I own a BenQ DW1640 DVD drive and like many other people, the drive tray will no longer eject and retract properly. Following advice from a blog, I took apart my drive and indeed the tray mechanism is driven by a rubber belt. Although it seems to run properly by manually spinning it, it still doesn’t work after I’ve oiled some gears. I have no rubber band of such a small size lying around, so I either have to go out and buy another rubber belt to fix the drive for the next few months (maybe years), or I can go out to get a new drive that doesn’t use rubber belts.