Skyjuice

The Missing DVD Drive in Windows

2011-09-25T17:33:00.000-07:00

26 September 2011

Introduction

After using some software, one might find that Windows 7 can no longer able to use the IDE DVD drive because the icon was missing from the drive tables and also, one could not find the DVD drive in the Device Manager. The DVD drive is gone. The Windows’ trouble shooter will say there is no optical drive connected to the computer and the Device Manager’s hardware scanner refuses to pick up the missing DVD drive. All known attempts, sometimes, including system restore, failed to reinstate the presence of the DVD drive.

What Happened?

The solution suggested that the driver for the DVD drive could have been replaced by the use of the "nasty" software and now becomes just another ATA device under the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. The system was not able to recognise it as the DVD drive.

The Solution

The solution is actually quite simple i.e. to uninstall the “device” from the Device Manager and let the computer’s "plug and play" picks up the DVD drive and install the correct device driver. However, there is catch because under the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers, there will be more than 1 ATA device. Now, which one belongs to the DVD drive?

One way out to find out is to check the device detail of each device but the easier way is just to uninstall all the ATA devices, one by one, in the IDE ATA/ATAPI controller and let the computer restores all the drivers. After removing the devices, restart the computer, one should happily see the return of the DVD drive in the drive table “without having to pull out one’s hair”.

Turning Off Windows CE ActiveSync

2011-08-09T06:16:00.000-07:00

9 August 2011

Introduction

Many smartphones and mobile devices use Windows CE Mobile 6.1 and the likes as operating system. Many users of these devices have experienced one common problem; the ActiveSync program will run every few minutes in the background. This program drains battery power.

How To Detect?

Goto Task Manager. ActiveSync will turn on and run every few minutes after one has cleared and stopped it.

How to Remove This ?

There are few methods being circulated in the Net but the correct method is to modify the Registry of the mobile devices.

Would This Affect the Auto-Synchronizing?
No. However, there may be a need to start Windows Mobile Centre in the PC or NoteBook first before plugging in the USB cables.

What are the Steps?

1. Download PHM Registry Editor from here or the correct version from SKTools

2. Copy the cab files to the mobile devices after having a connection and install. One should see the PHM icon under "Program" ;

3. Run PHM Registry Editor ;

4. Click “Tool” and also “Find” to bring up the Find screen;

5. Click Keys, Values and Data checkboxes and click “Find Next”

6. Program will find “KeepAlive” element; double click it to bring up the editing screen;

7. In the Editing screen, change the Value Data from 1 to 0 and close the screen;

8. Done

To Lockup Roof Top Access Doors in HDB Blocks?

2011-06-30T19:30:00.000-07:00

1 July 2010

Introduction
A dead body was found in one of the 8,000 HDB blocks in Singapore. The Town Councils that manage the HDB blocks just announced that they would strengthen the security of the roof top access and replace all locks at the roof top access doors with better ones. The keys to the new locks cannot be duplicated easily.

The Cost
The total cost is around S$ 10 millions for the security measures and about S$ 3.3 millions will be spent on the new locks

The Arguments
For:

a) The new locks are more secured as they cannot be easily duplicated;

Against:

a) Not effective if the doors are left opened after use by the workers;

The Proposal
Installing an additional telemonitoring point to the access doors.

The Supporting Reasons
a) Why Doors not locked?
Lift motor rooms and water tanks are often located at the roof tops. Lift mechanics are the frequent users. They often left the doors opened for their own convenience and forgot to lock the door after the repair work.

b) Fire Escape to Roof Tops?
Roof top is often used as one of the fire escapes for highrise buildings. In case of a fire in the middle floors, the only fire escape will the roof tops. This is especially true in the case of HDB Point Blocks where the staircases are close to each other.

c) Stop Crimes at Roof Tops?
A secured locking device will never stop crimes. It is a false sense of security if the locking device is not monitored. It merely delay crimes from happening.

d) What will be the Cost?
For every HDB block, there is already a telemonitoring system that monitors the lifts. One could always find a spare monitoring point that could be easily programmed to alert the lift monitoring operators when there is an intrusion.

This monitoring point can link all the electrical limit switches at the roof top access doors all in one circuit.

This proposal is expected to cost around S$200/= per block or about S$1.6 millions for 8,000 HDB blocks. This proposal is about 9 times cheaper than the $10 millions proposed to spend by the Town Councils and will be much more cost effective.

Micorsoft Silverlight Installation Problem in Windows 7

2011-02-03T06:24:00.000-08:00

2 Feb 2011

Introduction

When Silverlight was first installed, everything will work fine. After it was updated to a new version, Silverlight failed to install and gave error ID of 1603. All attempts made to re-install the Silverlight failed including removal of existing program and edition of registry.

Why?

Some keynames in Internet Explorer Registry were locked for security reasons and they disallowed Silverlight installer to change the keywords. Silverlight installer just gave error id with no further explanation.

How to Detect?

Use Winrar or similar unzipping program to inspect the "silverlight.exe" file and locate the "silverlight.7z" zip file. In this zip file, click and run silverlight.msp. The program will start to install silverlight and report any error found.

Uninstalling the Silverlight.exe in the control panel will also report similar errors.

What Kind of Errors?

The following keywords in [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MAIN\FeatureControl\] are locked from any editing. Note that Wow6432Note is the folder for LOCAL MACHINE32.

FEATURE_SCRIPTURL_MITIGATION
FEATURE_Cross_Domain_Redirect_Mitigation
FEATURE_VIEWLINKEDWEBOC_IS_UNSAFE
FEATURE_RESTRICT_OBJECT_DATA_ATTRIBUTE
FEATURE_SHOW_APP_PROTOCOL_WARN_DIALOG
FEATURE_BLOCK_LMZ_SCRIPT
FEATURE_BLOCK_LMZ_OBJECT
FEATURE_BLOCK_LMZ_IMG
FEATURE_ACTIVEX_REPURPOSEDETECTION

How to Unlock?

Note: Before proceeding to diagnose and unlock the registry keyname, it would be good to try restoring the system to the earlier date using system restore function.

1. Once the locked keyword is identified, use "regedit.exe" to locate the keyword in and then, rightclick and select "permissions" to open the “permissions” window.

2. In the opened permission window, click “Add” button in the “group and username” section if there is no name in the block and the following screen should appear.

3. Selecting the “Advance” button to open up the following screen.

4. Click “Find Name” button to add “SYSTEM” as the username.

5. Click "OK" to return to the 1st opened permission window.
Note that the checkboxes in the "Full control" and "Read" cannot be set until one has reclaimed the ownership of the keyword.

6. To reclaim ownership, click "Advance" and in the next window, select “owner” tab and then change the owner’s name to reclaim ownership of the keyword.

6. Return to 1st opened permission window and click “Full control” check box.

7. Click “OK” button and then test if one can open the keyword in the registry editor.

Quicker Way to Unlock?

Instead of unlocking the keywords one by one, one can release all the locks in the sub keyname under the keyname “FeatureControl” by releasing the lock in the “FeatureControl” keyword. To do so, one must click the checkbox "Replace owner in subcontainer and object" when reclaiming the ownership of the keynames. Repeat same for the "permission" tab.

Repair Spin Mop or Magic Mop

2010-12-15T04:36:00.000-08:00

14 December 2010

Introduction

Magic mop or 360 degree mop are spin mops. The earlier model has a foot pedal with gearing system that will spin the cage as the pedal is being “pumped”. This article will describe how to repair this kind of spin mop.

How Spin Mop works?

The spin mop has a set of gearing system. When the pedal is stepped on, it will spin the centrifugal cage. The heart of the system is a “one way bearing” that allow the force to be transmit to the shaft of the centrifugal cage.

This bearing has about 8 small little needle bearings in it that are arranged to “lock” the gear to the shaft whenever a force is applied to turn the gear. As soon as the force is removed or when one stops the pedal “pumping”, the needle bearings will “unlock” themselves, allowing the centrifugal cage to continue spinning freely with the “one way bearing” now acting as a normal bearing. The animation of the “one way bearing” can be found here

What Can Go Wrong?

After some use, these little needle bearings will wear out and no longer able to “lock” the gearing system to the shaft of the centrifugal cage. The centrifugal cage will stop spinning.

What can be done?

a) Dismantle the gearing mechanism

1. Unscrew the 4 screws that attach the gearing block from the pail

2. Remove the small pinion gear that is attached to the shaft

3. Remove the "one way bearing" by knocking the old one out

4. Replace the “one way bearing”. Check to rotate the shaft by hand to ensure the correct direction of the bearing before inserting the bearing. The “one way bearing” will not work if it is inserted in the wrong direction.
5. Re-assemble the gearing block.

How to Sharpen a Knife or Chopper

2010-12-11T02:06:00.000-08:00

10 December 2010

Introduction
There are tons of articles and videos on the web telling people how to sharpen a knife or a chopper. Some are shown by professional chef. However, none could help a layman sharpening a knife or a chopper properly

Why?
The secret of sharpening a knife is to have the knife always maintaining at a constant angle of about 20 degree to the surface of the sharpening stone or sand paper when sharpening a knife. If the knife edge is irregular, the knife will never be sharp.

How?
To maintain a constant angle, one can use something like a thicker steel ruler to provide a shim or a spacer to “wedge” the knife at about 20 degree angle to the surface of the stone. The trick is on how to stick the ruler to the knife while sharpening the knife.

A Simple Method
a) Find a piece of PVC electrical trunking about the length of the knife. One may be able to get one free from the electricians as they often have some waste piece lying around in the work places; the PVC trunking will usually have a "tongue and groove" arrangement to snap the cover in place;

b) Remove the cover of the PVC trunking which should have a “groove” in it. Cut the “groove” piece out of the cover and snap the piece to the knife as shown.

c) Start sharpening and one will always have a knife or a chopper sharpened in a professional way.

How to Sharpen a Planer Blade

2010-12-07T20:48:00.000-08:00

8 November 2010

Introduction

There are many ways to sharpen a planer blade instead of replacing and throwing them away. This article will introduce one easy way.

The Planer and Planer Blades

The planer used is as shown. It has 2 blades, each has a length of 3-1/4" and are made of HSS steel.

When the blades are blunt, it will not give a good cutting surface on the wood and the surface will have a fluffy feeling.
The Sharpening Tools

The usual way to sharpen the blade is to use a standard blade sharpening tool which has adjusting screws for angle and other adjustments. Grinding stones are often used. The sharpening work will require some professional skill to prepare grinding stones etc. This article will introduce a simple and yet effective way for DIYs using tools that can be made in just less than ½ hour. No professional skill really required.

The Materials

a) A base made from a piece of plywood measuring around 100 mm x 75 mm ( 4” x 3”) or with the width to suit the length of the blade;
b) A 15 mm PVC tube of about 75 mm (3”) in length;
c) 4 wood screws and washers; 2 shorter ones to tighten the blade to the base and 2 longer ones to tighten to the base to a PVC tube for adjustment of the blade angle;
d) 2 pieces of water base sand papers; one of 240 grade and the other of 300 grade or finer
e) Optional: a set of rollers to be mounted underneath the 15 mm PVC tube so that the base can slide freely on the sand papers. One can use the small rollers that is stripped from the spoilt computer mouse for this purpose.

Other tools required are electric drills and suitable drill bits

The Set Up

a) Drill 2 rows of holes and 2 small holes as shown on the base
b) Drill 2 small holes on the PVC tube to hold the longer screws

The Completed Assembly

Note:

1. One can omit having rollers mounting beneath the PVC if one can always place the PVC tube outside the sand paper area. Anyway, PVC tube are replaceable if they are worn.

2. Constantly check the grinding surface of the blade and adjust the angle of the blade to be grinded. When the angle is correct, make a marking on the PVC tube and the base.

3. When the blade is ready, one should feel the blurs on the opposite edge of the blade. Dismantle the blade and grind away the blur on a fine sand paper. To ensure the blade is always placed at a small angle to the sand paper, one can use a steel ruler or the back of another sand paper to "jack" up the opposite end of the blade when grinding away the blurs.

Access Denied in Windows 7 Registry

2010-10-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Windows 7 is fast and easy to use but many users said they had tried and went back to XP. They said Windows 7 was not stable. Some complained about program not able to run or run slower than XP after some usages. Reinstallation of these programs often failed. This article will describe a way to solve some of these problems.

Why?

One of the problems is the denial of access to change certain keys required by the programs in the Registry. After some period, the ownership or the permission of the Registry key will be changed for some reasons, probably caused by User Account Control (UAC). The programs will lose the privilege to access and change these keys under normal operation. The solution is to restore the ownership and permission of these keys.

How ?

a) Prepare to check which key was denied the access.

To monitor the Registry, download Process Monitor . Install and run.

3. To limit the number of events to be display, in the “Filter” menu, select “Filter”

4. In the Architecture dropdown box, select “Result” and type in “ACCESS DENIED” in the box as shown

5. Click ok. The monitor is now ready to capture any access denial events for study.

b) Run the faulty application or installation or any program again. this time, check if there are Registry keys being denied access. Note down this key and use “Regedit” to reclaim ownership or permission to change these keys.

What if there are plenty of Registry to Change?

When there is a lot of keys to reclaim ownership or permission, it may be necessary to reset the entire Registry to the defaulted ownership or permission.

How ?

Important Notes: It is advisable to backup by exporting the entire Registry or otherwise save in another disk or partition. The reset of ownership or permission by SubInACL can upset some programs.

1. Download SubInACL which is a program that will enable administrators to manage files, registry keys, and services.

2. Unzip and run SubInACL. It will create a new folder called “Windows Resource Kits/Tools” inside the Program Files (x86) folder.

3. Start up “NotePad”. Copy and paste the following

subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE /grant=administrators=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CURRENT_USER /grant=administrators=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT /grant=administrators=f
subinacl /subdirectories %SystemDrive% /grant=administrators=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE /grant=system=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CURRENT_USER /grant=system=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT /grant=system=f
subinacl /subdirectories %SystemDrive% /grant=system=f

4. Save NotePad file as “Reset.cmd” in the “Windows Resource Kits/tools” folder.

5. In the box of the Windows Startup Button, enter “cmd” (without quotes) and rightclick “cmd.exe” when the file appears at the top of the window and select to run as Administor.

6. Type “cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Resource Kits\Tools” at the prompt, follow by “reset.cmd”

7. The program will run for the next 3 minutes to change all the ownership and permission of the entire keys in the Registry to the default value

The Tokyo Tunnel - G-Cans

2010-08-24T00:51:00.000-07:00

24 August 2010

Introduction
The Tokyo flood tunnels – G-Cans project started construction in 1992 and completed in 2004, about 12 years later. It was just in time to be tested in tyhoon 22 in 2004 when 14 families were reported to be affected instead of 236 families before the completion of the project. The tunnel collects water from Tokyo downtown district and discharge it into the Edogawa river.

The Tunnel
The tunnel is 10m in diameter and about 6.3 kilometers (four miles) long. It is buried 50 metre under the ground in the Tokyo suburbs.

It has 5 concrete silos, each having a diameter of about 32 metres and is about 70 metres tall.

The tunnel is connected to a gigantic water tank measuring about 78m width, 177m long and 25m tall (or 350,000 m3). The tank is propped by 59 numbers of gigantic pillar, each weighing about 500 tons. As the pillars look like those in ancient temples, some named this water tank “the underground temple of Tokyo”.

Connected to this water tank are series of water pump that have a total output of 14,000 hp or 10 MW. They can discharge flood water up to 200 m3 per second or one Olympic pool water in 10 seconds.

The Cost
Estimated to be about US 2.0 billion

The Volume
The tunnel can hold approximately 640,000 m3 of flood water.

Web Query Hangs

2010-08-22T18:01:00.000-07:00

23 August 2010

Introduction
Users of Microsoft Excel and other web query software, like IMACROS, often query websites to get the web information for stocks or other purposes. These users will write scripts to automate the process. Sometimes, the process will hang causing lost of data. This article will describe methods to overcome this problem.

Why it Hangs?
The process will hang either because the website is down or because the web traffic is high. A webpage usually takes 5 to 6 seconds to download may take up to 10 minutes or even hours.

How to Over come?
The following methods have been tried without much success.

a) Introduce timeout events in scripts or VBA
The script is waiting for a webpage to download and will not activate the timeout under such events.

b) Ping the website before proceeding to download
This will only help if the website is down but it will not help when there is a delay due to heavy traffic.

The better method is to modify the window registry’s internet setting with a timeout of appropriate delay. This is because most browsers use this delay in the internet setting.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/181050

How to Modify the Registry?
The timeout is not native in the registry’s internet setting. It will have to be created under
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings]. The keyword is "ReceiveTimeout”. Its value will depend on normal delay in webpage download.

The Window default is

Internet Explorer 4.0 and Internet Explorer 4.01 --- 5 minutes
Internet Explorer 5.x and Internet Explorer 6.x---- 60 minutes
Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 ------- 60 minutes

In VBA, add the following code before downloading the data

Set myWS = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")'write registry keymyWS.RegWrite
"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet " &
_"Settings\ReceiveTimeout", "15000", "REG_DWORD"

The value of “15000” means a delay of 15 seconds. Insert the same code just after the download script and change the value to suit normal surfing.

Error Message for Dynamic Link Library mscvp90.dll

2010-08-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

21 August 2010

Introduction
When installing Ad-aware program, one will get the following error message for some PCs:

"procedure entry point?_xfunc@tr1@std@@YAXXZ cannot be located in the dynamic link library MSVCP90.dll "

Why?
This error is due to a wrong version of msvcp90.dll being installed by some programs for some reasons.
The dll is one of the C Run-Time Libraries for Visual C++ and programs such as Ad-aware use them.
According to some descriptions, there are 2 versions of such dll having the same name, msvcp90.dll, one for 64 bits and the other for 32 bits machine. XP operating system is a 32 bit machine.

What Next?
If one is using a XP operating system and has encountered the problem.

Step 1: Download the correct version of Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (x86) from the following website for XP machines

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/confirmation.aspx?familyId=9b2da534-3e03-4391-8a4d-074b9f2bc1bf&displayLang=en

Step 2 : Locate the directory C:\WINDOWS\WinSxS\x86_Microsoft.VC90.CRTxxxxx. In the directory, one should find 3 Nos of 90.dll files. Rename these files with an extension of .tmp. If one has 2 directories of similar name, do the same.

Step 3: Run the downloaded installation program called “credist_x86.exe”. The installation program will automatically uninstall and reinstall the correct version of 90.dll programs.

Step 4: Locate the directory C:\WINDOWS\WinSxS\x86_Microsoft.VC90.CRTxxxxx again. One will find the new 90.dll programs. Copy all the 3 programs to “c:\windows\system32”

Marina Barrage - Fighting With Nature

2010-08-20T02:49:00.000-07:00

Introduction
There was recent spate of flooding in Singapore. The famous Orchard Road was under 300 mm of water. Some blamed the Marina Barrage that was completed 3 years ago. This article will examine how the barrage works and if it can alleviate flooding in low-lying areas.

The Marina Barrage
The Marina Barrage (Chinese:滨海堤坝) is a 350 metres low level dam in Singapore built across the mouth of the bay, between Marina East and Marina South. It was officially opened on 1 November 2008.

The barrage serves 3 purposes:-
a) Provide Water Supply
b) Perform Flood Control
c) Lifestyle Attraction

The video about the barrage can be found here

How the Barrage Works?

During heavy rain, the series of 9 crest gates at the dam will be opened to release flood water into the open sea when the tide is low. The 7 Nos of 40 m3/s (about 2.5 MW @ 3.5 m head) pumps, capable of pumping an Olympics-size swimming pool per minute will work when the tide is high. This mechanism is supposed to alleviate flooding in the low-lying areas in the city such as Chinatown, Boat Quay, Jalan Besar and Geylang.

The video of the crest gate and the pumps can be found here and here.

The Marina Basin

The Marina Basin has a surface area of about 240 ha (240,000 m2). It is linked to a 100-km2 rain catchment area shown green in the attached model. During raining days, the drains and canals will channel the flood water into the Marina Basin.

The flood
A series of flood occurring after the Barrage was completed

Can the Marina Barrage Cope?
The Barrage and the basin will not eliminate flooding totally if there is a very heavy downpour and the tide is high. This is because the rain fall from the water catchment, if more than those on 17 July, may raise the water level Marina Basin by more than 4.0 metres (discounting the retained water on the surface of the catchment and the buffer in drains/canals/river) during a heavy downpour as shown in table 1.

2o August 2010
What Can We Do?
a) Reduce the Water Catchment Area
If we were to reduce the catchment area by 40%, this will reduce the water level rise in the basin by about the same proportion to 4.5 metres per hour without pumps and 4.0 metres per hour with pumps in full operation. The alternative is to regulate the flood water flow from higher areas.

b) Allow More Buffer Capacity In Basin
With the present barrage, there is a limit on how much a buffer can be created in the basin because the gates are not totally water tight. There will be seawater leeching into the basin if there is large difference in the level of water in the basin and the open sea; also, the pumping electricity cost would be high if we keep the water level in the basin low.

Reducing the water catchment area appears to be a better of the 2 solutions for the present setup at the Marina Barrage.

Where Long Term Funds Park Their Money

2010-07-25T03:43:00.000-07:00

25 July 2010

The Long Term Funds in US

The Investment Company Institution (ICI) keeps in touch with the Fund Managers (The Funds), their shareholders, directors and investment advisers regularly. They aim to facilitate the effective functioning of Funds under the U.S. legislative and regulatory framework. They keep and release the Funds' investment in local as well as in foreign countries. This article will aim to introduce ICI as well as to analyse the data they have collected for the information of the readers.

The Data Collections

The data collected by ICI can be found here in this PDF file.
The data tabulated out how much the Funds have invested in Foreign and Domestic equities as well as in bonds and other investment vehicles.

Graphical Plot
The following is a graphical plot of the data kept by ICI for Foreign and domestic equities.

(Doubleclick to enlarge)

The chart shows that the US Long Term Fund (LTF) has withdrawn about US$300 bln from the domestic equity market since January 2007. Lately, they withdrew a total of US$ 50 bln in May 2010 and June 2010. They increased their withdrawal and withdrew about US$ 7.0 bln in the first 2 weeks of July 2010. As for the Foreign Equity investment, LTF maintained their funds at around US$ 150 bln to US$ 200 bln during the periods shown.

Divergence Between Equities and Funds

There is a divergence between DOW and the US domestic funds as shown in the following graph. This graph illustrates that the US domestic equity Funds decreases as DOW increases in value during the period between March 2009 and April 2010. The LTF withdrew even more funds from the domestic equity market during period between April 2010 to present date.

(Doubleclick to enlarge)

Where LTF Parks their Money ?

To find out, please click here

Conclusion

LTF are buying bonds instead of equities ever since the last recession that started in 2007/2008. The pattern appears to have the tendency of repeating again.

Will History Repeat Itself?

2010-06-18T22:07:00.000-07:00

19 June 2010

Introduction
Many used to say that history will repeat itself in the stock markets; what has happened will happen again. Therefore, Technical Analysis Technicians have come out with many shapes, patterns, trendlines and formations to predict the futures of a stock or currency market. This article will examine the DOW index from a technical prospective and check if it is possible for DOW to repeat itself.

What will be used?
Trendlines. There are many different types of trendline; some are called necklines, others are just simple trendlines. Necklines are usually found when there is a “head and shoulder” formation. Once a neckline or trendline is broken, there will be large movements in prices.

The Occasions
There are 2 occasions recently when DOW broke necklines or trendlines and sent stocks plunging. One was in January 2010 due to debt crisis in Dubai; the other was in May 2010 when debts in Greece shocked the markets.

In both occasions, the necklines were broken. The Dubai incident was soon forgotten. Will they forget the Greece incident?

The Technical Analysis
The Dubai and the Greece incidents are shown in the following chart marked wave 3-4 and wave 5-1 respectively.

a) The similarities
1) A “dead cross” when the 20-day MA crossed under the 50-day MA.
2) A broken neckline.
3) At the point where index regained and touched the neckline (As shown in blue vertical line)
a. The stochastic was oversold and just about to cross under its own moving average
b. The Bollinger bands had just contracted
c. The 20-day MA had just flattened with the 50-day MA reducing its decline

b) The differences
1) The Greece’s 20-day MA moved further down from the 50-day MA
2) DOW and its 20-day MA in the Greece incident crossed below the 200-day MA
3) The Greece’s depth of fall from its neckline did not satisfy the conditions of the “head and shoulder”. The depth of fall must be equal or more than the height of “head” measured from the base of the neckline.

(Double click for larger image)

Will DOW Break the Neckline This Time?
Similar pattern and lots of similarities occurred in Nov/Dec 2007 when the credit crisis caused a plunge in the markets. For example, DOW broke a trendline sending index plunging below the 200-day MA and regained to touch the trendline. This pattern is more similar to the Greece incident.

The analysis suggests that DOW is more likely to reflect from its neckline than to break the neckline.

(Double click for larger image)

When Will DOW Makes the Decision?

The candlestick chart shows that DOW has made 3 spinning tops in the last 3 sessions. The appearance of a spinning top candlestick always signify that there is indecision in the market. The following chart suggested that DOW would be making a decision pretty soon if history is repeating itself.

(Double click for larger image)

What to Do Next?
If one is long, it would be prudent to “buy insurance” by hedging or other similar methods. It is recommended to stay away from the markets until DOW’s 20-day MA crosses over the 50-day MA. Even then, it is good to check if the neckline has been broken.

Disclaimer:
Information here is for sharing and learning. It is not intended to give any advice on any stock or movement or trend of any index. If a price or movement of a stock/index is given, it is only intended for illustration. The reader shall verify the information given here before using them.

How To Replace Hard Drive in Laptops

2010-03-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

28 March 2010

Introduction

Have a faulty hard drive? Want to replace it? This article will how to replace the hard drive in Fujitec S7110 laptop that has a SATA drive.

What is SATA drive?

SATA is a interface standard that allows connection between the hard drive and the motherboard's hard drive controller. SATA stands for Serial Advanced Technology Attachment or Serial-ATA.

What’s needed?

a) A small Philip screw driver; and for those who need to modify or clone the old hard drive;
b) A workable desktop with a spare SATA connection;

For those who need to convert the SATA hard drive using software, such as Hitachi or IBM drives;
For those who needs to clone the hard drive – will need a software such as Acronis True Image or Partition Magic or equivalent

Degree of Difficulty

a) Just to replace the hard drive - Easy
b) To modify or clone the hard drive - Need to read up the software instruction sheet.

Why Need to Convert Hard Drive?

Newer hard drive most likely comes with SATA II or SATA III hard drive interface that enable faster transfer speed. Unfortunately, laptop of more than 3 years old have SATA I standard interface and it may not be able to detect or recognize the newer interface.

How to Convert the Hard Drive

If the hard drive comes with extra jumpers, it would be as easy as reconfiguring of this jumper to convert the hard drive to SATA I interface. However, when you have Hitachi or IBM hard drive that does not come with the extra jumper, a conversion software will be required. In this case, follow the instructions given in the "Change SATA Settings" by the software. Select 1.5 Mb/sec and disable the "Spread Spectrum Clocking".

To Remove the Hard Drive
a) Remove the 2 screws securing the cover and slide the cover in the direction shown
b) Remove the 3 screws and remove the bracket that attach the hard drive to the laptop
c) Pull the plastic tag to the left to disengage the hard drive from the laptop.
d) Remove the hard drive pocket from the laptop and remove the hard drive. Pay particular attention to the contact blade.

To Re-install the Hard Drive
Reverse the step as described in the section “To remove the hard drive” stands for Serial-ATA

Bicycle chain kept jumping out of the sprocket

2010-01-14T01:26:00.000-08:00

14 Jan 2010

Introduction

Bicycle chain kept jumping out of the rear gear sprocket, making plenty of noises and causing jerky pedals when riding. This article will suggest a fix for such problem.

What Can Go Wrong?

Misalignment between the gear sprockets and the chain. May be caused by :

a) poor Rear Derailleur Adjustment
b) Faulty components such as
1) A faulty chain;
2) A bent sprocket at the pedal;
3) A bent or faulty gear sprocket at the wheel;

Adjustment to Rear Derailleur

Many websites have step by step procedures or helpful hints on how to adjust the rear derailleur. The adjustment involves 2 stop or limit screws; one to prevent the chain going beyond the smallest gear sprocket and the other, beyond the biggest gear sprocket when there is gear shift. The following video gives a good understanding on how derailleur works and how to adjust it.

In words

Place the bicycle upside down as shown

1. Put the shifter in high gear and turn the wheel. Tighten the high gear screw in one direction until one can no longer shift beyond the smallest gear sprockets into high gear then backup the screw in the other direction until a larger gear is engaged. After that, turn the screw a little more until the derailleur shifts smoothly onto the smallest gear sprocket.
2. Put the shifter in low gear. Tighten the low gear screw until one can no longer shift beyond the largest gear sprockets and repeat the same as the high gear screw.

What if the Derailleur Adjustment Does not Work?

Check the condition of the gear sprockets at the pedal and the back wheel. If the bicycle is in good condition, the gear sprockets should run truly vertical without any wobbling when the pedal and the wheel are running. If the gear sprocket wobbles, it could suggest that either the sprockets are damaged or the pedal/wheel shaft is bent. It is time to dismantle the back wheel and examine the sprocket or shaft for damages.

Why Shaft bends?

The pedal shaft seldom bends because they are usually of larger diameter; however, when the chain jumps out of the rear gear sprocket, the chain could be caught between the gear sprocket and the bicycle frame. Any subsequent heavy forces applying onto the pedal could bend the shaft.

Actions to be Taken

If one is lucky and the sprockets is not damaged, it will just be a matter of replacing the shaft or having the shaft straightened. Replacement of the shaft is recommended because bent shaft will require special tool to straighten. A little bit of wobbling usually won't cause gear jumping.

Web Query of Excel Hanged

2010-01-03T14:14:00.000-08:00

4 January 2010

Introduction

We often use the Web Query function of Microsoft Excel to extract data such as stock quotes from various websites. Many a time, Excel just hang without reporting any error message. The only way to resolve the problem is to terminate the Microsoft Excel application program. This article presents a simple and effective way of resolving this problem.

What’s Required?

Some experiences in macro or VBA programming.

What Has Been Tried?

The Web offered many solutions to resolve this problem but none could work better; either because the solutions, such as introduction of scheduled (OnTime) procedure, do not work or they have complicated macros or VBAs that no one can understand. Error trappings using Error handling loops do not help either because the Website being queried was only down and not out.

What is the Solution?

Write a short macro to “ping” the website before initiating the web query command.

How?

a) Using the API function of VBA and putting a Public declaration in the top or heading of the macro or VBA.

Private Declare Function InternetCheckConnection Lib "wininet.dll" _
Alias "InternetCheckConnectionA" _
(ByVal lpszUrl As String, _
ByVal dwFlags As Long, _
ByVal dwReserved As Long) As Long

Private Const FLAG_ICC_FORCE_CONNECTION = &H1

b) Writing or using the recording function of Excel to create a macro for the Web Query and insert the following macro to the Web Query VBA

Sub downloading()
Dim sUrl As String
sUrl = “http://yahoo.com”
but = InternetCheckConnection(sUrl, FLAG_ICC_FORCE_CONNECTION, 0&)
If but Then
…initiate web queries
Else
… announce website is down
End If
End Sub

Quick Fix for IPOD error “Firewire Connection Not Supported

2009-05-28T17:42:00.000-07:00

29 May 2009

Introduction
Many IPOD members had this to say: “I was getting this error and I tried all things without luck. I got another new iPod and within a month it started giving me this same error "Firewire Connection Not Suported...". Pressing the center button makes it go away for less than 1 second and it scrolls right back again. I can't select songs, turn it off, or anything! Nice paperweight right now. I am going to be one dissatisfied iPod owner “

What Happened?
Dirty IPOD connector. Very often we neglect to look after the IPOD cables and its connectors. The cables are often left idling around and the connectors exposed to the air without any cover. They will accumulate dusts and this dusts will be transferred to the IPOD’s blades of connector. Over time and with enough moisture, these dusts will turn into dirts and cause a connection between the blades of connection. Somehow, the IPOD detects this as an attempt to connect the IPOD via the firewire.

Tools Required
a) WD 40
b) Tooth pick
b) Cotton wool

Method
1. Spray some WD 40 directly into the window of the connector as shown and wait for a few minutes;

2. Put some cotton wool and row it onto the tooth pick and make attempts to clean up the blades of the IPOD; repray some WD 40 into the window;

3. Reset the IPOD if needed be and the “Apple” screen should reappear without the error. If not, retry step 1 & 2.

4. Clean up the residual of WD 40.

Common Network Problem - Limited Connectivity

2009-04-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

15 April 2009

Introduction
Every now and then, one would receive error message in the task bar saying one's network has limited connectivity or no connectivity. Very often, fixing the known bug in SP2 and clearing and resetting the TCP/IP stack etc just do not work. Then it may be worth the while to fix it by resetting the modem and also, re-installing the network drivers.

What could have happened?
Devices such as network controller are often assigned an Interrupt Request(IRQ) by the system during start-up. Because there are limited numbers of IRQ, many devices would have to share the same IRQ. Most computers nowadays are ACPI compliance. The ACPI will assign these IRQs during start up according to its default settings. It may cause competitive use of the IRQs and corrupt device drivers. If that being the case, the only fix is to re-install the driver. It is necessary also to resolve the IRQ conflicts to fix the problem permanently.

How to Confirm the Problem is not caused by ISP ?
It is always good to check the connection using another PC or noteb0ok just to confirm that the problem is related to the computer.
It is also good to take the opportunity to reset the modem to ensure that it has been reloaded to default setting or the manufacturer's setting. To reset the modem, one often need only to turn-off the modem, wait a few seconds and re-connect the modem again.

How to Re-install the Network Driver?
1) Bing up the device manager
Click start, then run. In the dropdown box, enter "devmgmt.msc" (without quote). One could also start up Device Manager using the Control Panel. The following Device Manager screen should appear.

Look for the "Network Adaptor", expand it and then double click the network device to bring up property screen. When in the property screen, select the driver tab and click the "Uninstall" button to remove the network driver.
2) Re-start the computer.
If the network driver is still in the window system folder, the computer will find it and prompt user to re-install the network driver during start-up. However, in case the computer cannot find the driver or the driver in the window system has been corrupted, one would have to re-install the driver using the motherboard disk that come with the computer.

COPPOCK Indicator: When to Enter or Leave the Market

2009-04-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

13 April 2009

What is COPPOCK indicator?
The Coppock curve or Coppock indicator is a technical analysis indicator created by Edwin Coppock, first published in Barron's Magazine in 1962.
Edwin Coppock developed the Coppock Indicator with one sole purpose: to identify the commencement of bull markets. The indicator was devised for use on S&P 500 but is suitable for use on other market indices or averages.

How COPPOCK Indicator is Calculated?
The indicator uses a monthly time scale. It's the sum of a 14-month rate of change and 11-month rate of change, smoothed by a 10-period weighted moving average;

In formula:
COPPOCK= WMA[10] of (ROC(14)+ROC(11))

and in words:
1. Calculate the 14 month Rate of Change (of Monthly Price) for the index.
2. Calculate the 11 month Rate of Change (of Monthly Price) for the index. 3. Add the results of 1 and 2.
4. Calculate the 10 month weighted average of the results

Where Can I Find This Indicator For STI and DOW?
There is no known source that can give updates for COPPOCK indicator on STI and DOW. However, it is not too difficult to build this indicator in the metastock or similar kind of software using the following formula:

Mov((ROC(C,14,%)+ROC(C,11,%)),10,W)/100 (shown red in attached charts)

Another formula to express COPPOCK in smoothened mode

(Mov(ROC(Mov(C,14,S),11,%),10,E))/100 (shown blue in attached charts)

Interpretation of COPPOCK Curve
When the indicator was published in Barron’s (1962), it was suggested one should enter the market only when Coppock Curve started to reverse from an extreme low.
However, one will notice that market will reverse its trend whenever COPPOCK curve reverses from its extreme low or extreme high.
Other observations are:
a) The first COPPOCK reversal from extreme low is often followed by the highest COPPOCK reading (highest momentum); subsequent ones are usually followed by lower peak COPPOCK readings, indicating weakening or aging market.
b) The market will rise when the COPPOCK crosses above the COPPOCK smoothen curve; otherwise, the market will fall.

Best Time To Enter the Market?
According to the original interpretation, the best time to enter the market is when the COPPOCK curve (red) reverses from its extreme low. The DOW's COPPOCK curve is now suggesting that it is still not the right time to enter the market.

As for STI, the picture is about the same.

However, it is suggested that one should not just rely on one or two indicators to decide when to buy, sell, enter or leave the market. COPPOCK indicator may have given the correct signals so far but that does not always mean that COPPOCK curve will be able to give a precise timing.

Application of COPPOCK in Other Charts
COPPOCK suggested to use monthly charts for his COPPOCK curve. Many Analysts have attempted to use it for charts of different time scales. One example shown here is its application on a weekly chart of DOW.

The chart shows clearly that the COPPOCK has a signal to enter the market on 21 Nov 08 (red curve) but the market continued its fall until March 09. However, if one were to study DOW's weekly COPPOCK curve carefully, one could find that DOW will always rise when the red curve (COPPOCK) cross above the blue curve (the smoothened curve); similarly, the market will always fall when it crosses under. May be those crosses make more reliable signals.

Last updated: 14 April 2009; 15 April 2009

DOW May be Trapped inside a Channel

2009-01-24T01:42:00.000-08:00

24 January 2008

Introduction
After having broken the support of the bearish rising wedge, DOW continued to edge lower, hugging against the lower Bollinger Band. It was in dangerous and critical condition when DOW's ADX rose above 20, where tradings would become more and more volatile. However, DOW was able to resist the selling pressures thus far and rebounced at the end of the last few trading sessions with relatively higher trading volume. It may be because DOW has found another support in an Ascending Channel.

What is an Ascending Channel?
An ascending channel is a set of upward sloping parallel lines that restrict the price/index movement as shown in the attached. Price/index may not always be within the parallel channel lines that show the support and resistance for price/index targets. A breakout above the upper channel line can signal continuation of an upward movement whereas a breakout below the lower channel line can signal a trend change.

Abnormal Behaviour
Usually when a stock or index hugs and expands the lower bollinger band with ADX above 20, the tradings will not only be volatile but also brutal with daily falls expected to be more than 1%. However, DOW's behaviour in the last few sessions was quite abnormal. Instead of going down sharply as it should be, DOW was building up its resistances, showing bullish long tailed candlesticks with trading volumes above the norms. Such behaviour usually suggest that a support has been found and this could be the trendline shown blue in the attached.

click for enlarged view

This blue line together with the former major resistance line shown red in attached could suggest that DOW could be trapped in an ascending channel.

How about STI and Hang Seng?
The following charts suggest that STI and Hang Seng, which often track the movement of DOW, are showing similar resiliency and are trapped also in the ascending channel.

Trading Strategy
If one has no vested interest in stock or equity or index market, it will be good to wait for the confirmation that DOW is:

a) Not breaking the lower channel line;
b) rebouncing from this lower channel line with ADX changing its direction from going up to going down. For those who are vested and are preparing to ride through the "storm", it is good to watch that DOW will not break the final support @ 7,500 or to buy Put Warrants to hedge for the expected losses to be incurred.

1 Feb 2009 Update :
DOW rebounced but failed to break above the 20-day moving average. It is now sitting on a supporting trendline which was inadvertently shown as the lower channel line in the last posting. The updated chart will show that if this supporting trendline is broken, DOW may found support at the lower channel line. It will want to retest the low of 7,997 on 20 Nov 2008 when this lower channel line is broken.

It is quite likely that DOW would rebounce if the Obama's $825 bln stimulus package is passed by the Senate next week.

click for enlarged view

19 Feb 2009 Update:

The Obama stimulus package did not help to boost the market; instead, DOW broke away from the rising channel. It dipped 1.19% to a new low of 7,465 which is just below the November 2008's low of 7,552. It would appear that DOW had just formed another bearish flag, which would suggest 5,500 as the next target unless DOW could regain and reclaim its November 2008's low convincingly. DOW's present position is quite similar to the one in June 2008 as shown in the following graph.

click for enlarged view

18 April 2009
DOW found itself trapped in another channel after Feb 2009 as shown in the attached weekly chart. This time a bullish declining channel. DOW appears to have a bullish look with the following observations:

a) It has just cleared the bullish declining channel;
b) It has recovered the last break of the "bear flag" line (as shown red in attached chart);
c) It has also cleared 20-week average and now is sitting above it;

DOW is believed to be heading for the resistance line, originated from Sept 2008; then, it will test the upper Bollinger line.

However, there are dangers signs around, signified by the falling 50 and 100 week averages. The 100-week average, which is about the cut under the 200-week average, appears to have a dangerous look.

The COPPOCK indicator suggested that the present market is still a trader's market and not a start of a bull market where long term investor can safely enter the market.

DOW in Dangerous But Not Critical Condition

2009-01-14T15:04:00.000-08:00

15 January 2008

Introduction
Last night, DOW lose about 250 points or 3% and fell from 8,448 to about 8,200. DOW is now in dangerous but not in critical condition. This is because the ADX has just reversed its direction but stayed below 20.

What's ADX?
ADX is a acronym for Directional Movement Index, which is another very important index in Technical Analysis. ADX will tell the direction in the movement of a stock or index. When ADX is moving down and suddenly reversing its direction to move up or vice versa, it signifies a directional change in the movement of stock or index. One would expect the stock/index to move up or down depending on the changes. If ADX moves above 20, it usually signifies an accelerated movement and when it it moves above 30, the acceleration will intensify.

The following Chart A will illustrate with red circle identifying the up movement and blue circle identifying the down movement.

Why Dangerous and Not Critical?
Earlier on, DOW formed many shapes and patterns. It finally selected the bearish one which is the rising wedge pattern. It then broke the supporting trendline that has been restricting DOW's movement since November 2008. Subsequently, it broke the 20-day as well the 50-day supports and presently hugs the lower Bollinger band with ADX changing its direction as shown in attached Chart B. This put DOW in a very dangerous position. However, the Bollinger band has only been expanded slightly and ADX is below the 20 critical line with the 10-day Stochastic chart in oversold region, these indications suggested that DOW was not be in a critical condition.

Trading Strategy?
If one has no vested interest in stock or equity or index market, it will be good to stay sideline until the situation has improved. For those with vested interest, it would be advisable to set targets for loss cutting or prepare to buy Put Warrants to hedge or compensate for the expected losses to be incurred should there be a serious downfall in stock market. Invariably, there will investors who would want to take the chance to short sell the market or go bargain hunting during this period.

Disclaimer:
Information here is for sharing and learning. It is not intended to give any advice on any stock or movement or trend of any index. If a price or movment of a stock/index is given, it is only intended for illustration. The reader shall verify the information given here before using them.

DOW Has Formed Many Shapes and Patterns

2009-01-02T19:26:00.000-08:00

2 January 2009

Introduction
DOW re-bounced from its low of 7,552 on 20 Nov 2008 to the present high of 9,034 on 2 Jan 2009. It has gained about 1,500 points or 20% over a period of slightly over 1 month. It has moved up against the odd of many bad economic news.

Where will it move from here?
According to Chinese Zodiac, the next Chinese New Year is an OX year. It was speculated that years of OX were never a good year for equity or stock market. This has proven to be true for year 1973, 1985 and 1997 when markets plunged during these dreadful years.

Will it be true also this year?
Charts are not able to tell much about the distant future. However, the chart of Elliot Wave indicates that DOW is presently forming the "ABC waves". The Elliot Wave chart suggested that DOW could have just completed forming its downward "A wave" and presently, it could be forming the "B wave" as shown in the attached monthly chart:

The above chart also shows that DOW tested the 200 MA support line recently. If this important support line is broken, then one would expect DOW to extend its wave A movement and seek lower lows.

Can the Charts Read the Near Future Movement?
The following charts will show that DOW is presently negotiating a re-bounce and is forming all sort of shapes and patterns. It gave conflicting signals about its near future movements.

Although most of the signals are positive ones, there is one worrying signal that indicates that DOW will continue its decline as shown in the attached chart:

doubleclick for enlarged view

The above chart shows that DOW has formed 4 different shapes and patterns. They are:
a) The bottom Head and Shoulder pattern (bullish);
b) The ascending triangle(bullish);
c) The symmetrical triangle(bullish);
d) The rising wedge(bearish).

It is good also to note that:
a) DOW had broken the resistances of some of these shapes and patterns;
b) Its 20-day MA was about to cross over the 50-day MA;
c) The trading volume was low when DOW broke the resistances.

Isn't That Bullish?
By popular count, one can say that DOW is bullish presently; however, the trading volumes were quite low when DOW broke the resistances plus there were many bad news, one could not conclude that DOW will continue its way up; on the contrary, DOW may just turn bearish and continue its way down.

How's STI Doing?
With the 68 point gained last Friday, STI has broken the symmetrical triangle that has restricted the STI's movement over the past 3 months; again, this significant event was not supported by very heavy trading volume. It could mean that the investors were still doubtful about the STI's future movement.

Trading Strategy
Unless there is a trading breakout supported by heavy trading volume in the next few sessions, it is likely that STI or DOW will remain range bounced with a sideway movement or may even dip from the presently level.

It is therefore wise to remain cautiously optimistic until the 20-day MA can cross over the 50-day MA convincingly or when there is a trading breakouts supported by heavier trading volume.

Disclaimer:
Information here is for sharing and learning. It is not intended to give any advice on any stock or movement or trend of any index. If a price or movment of a stock/index is given, it is only intended for illustration. The reader shall verify the information given here before using them.

Monitoring Hard Disk Conditions

2008-12-26T21:10:00.000-08:00

29 December 2008

Introduction
Very often, one faces the problem of computer failing to start up; sometimes, the computer just hanged and may even re-start itself before it reaches the usual welcoming start up screen. Besides a virus that can cause such problem, the harddisk's condition could just be another one of such causes.

Can We Prevent Harddisk Failure?
Harddisk failure is either caused by component failures due to electric surges or by damaged harddisk media due to normal fair wear and tear. The latter appears to be main cause of all problems. One of the many ways that we can prevent a harddisk failure is to monitor the harddisk's working condition, especially its operating temperature.

How to Monitor?
One can download this S.M.A.R.T software free from here.

What is S.M.A.R.T?
It stands for "Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology", first introduced by IBM in 1992. S.M.A.R.T will monitor about 40 different attributes of the harddisk from read and seek errors to airflow temperature in and around the harddisk.

How useful?
Among the many attributes monitored, one would find the temperature monitoring most useful. Very often, one neglects the proper ventilation of the harddisk. This S.M.A.R.T software can continuously monitor the temperature and warns us if the temperature has exceeded the preset level. This would often prevent premature harddisk failures.

Besides temperature monitoring , the software can scan harddisk surface and display the results in graphs. This will facilitate the repair and the revival the harddisk. The software could also point out the data transfer errors caused by faulty cables etc.

Doubleclick for enlarged view

How to install?
The HDDScan software to be download comes with installation readme notes as well as manuals for the installation and operation of the software. There are no complicated installation procedures other than having to extract the ZIP files into a selected directory.

Related articles
1. S.M.A.R.T. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2. HDDScan, the HDDGuru

A Period of Indecision in STI

2008-12-25T20:27:00.000-08:00

26 December 2008

Introduction
One will heard endless arguments about where STI will move in the coming weeks. Some will say that a plunge is imminent while others will disagree. This is all because STI has entered a period of indecision.

Progress Todate
STI has plunged more than 54% since October 2007. It has just recovered about 8% or 130 points from its low at 1,613 on 20 November 2008. It has been moving sideway ever since and is presently trapped in a symmetrical triangle formation as shown in the attached graph.

doubleclick for enlarged view

Going Forward
Presently, US has been reporting very poor economy figures; the Singapore's economy figures are not any good either. Many analysts, including Mr. Daryl Guppy, had projected selling pressures in STI although they were not too sure of the exact market movement next because of the symmetrical triangle being formed in the STI's chart.

Mr. Guppy had 2,300 on the upside and 1,250 on the downside.

What the Chart is Telling Us?
The above daily chart shows the symmetrical triangle that Daryl Guppy has mentioned. The chart is also telling us that:

Bearish looks:
a) STI has formed another bear flag with its based at 1,600;
b) It tried twice recently but failed to break the upper triangle trendline

Bullish looks
a) Its 20-day MA is rising and the 50-day MA, flattening out; the 20-day MA is about the cross the 50-day MA;
b) It's Stochastic has reached the oversold region.

Neutral looks
a) It's volume is thinning out as it goes sideways or slightly lower;

Future Movements
The chart also tells us the future movement; for example:

a) Heading lower when the lower trendline of the symmetrical triangle is broken.
If the last low of 1,600 support is also broken, STI will want to target for 1,250, which is the equal length measured from the 1,600 base of the flag pole to its last high. If this target of 1,250 is broken again, the next target is likely to be around 1,050.

b) Heading higher when the upper trendline is broken.
If the top of the Bollinger Band (shown dotted in red) is broken, it will want to target for the 100-day MA line. Next, it will target for the 200-day MA line which happens to be the trendline of the peak since October 2008 (shown blue in the chart)

However, for both events to happen, there must be also a surge in the trading volume; otherwise, STI might just continue its sideway movement, much like the breakout of the triangle on 9 December 2008 (shown dotted in blue)

Disclaimer:

Information here is for sharing and learning. It is not intended to give any advice on any stock or movement or trend of any index. If a price or movment of a stock/index is given, it is only intended for illustration. The reader shall verify the information given here before using them.

How to Revive Faulty Hard Disk

2008-12-19T17:36:00.000-08:00

20 December 2008

Introduction
There are many reasons why computer always hang or run slowly or sometimes, even re-start itself. One of reasons can be traced to the harddisk failure. Normally, one would repair the harddisk by recovering the bad sectors using "Chkdsk" in the "Windows Recovery Console". However, there will be times that even this method won’t help. This article will describe another method to revive that harddisk.

How Long the Harddisk will last After the Revival?
It will depend on the condition of the harddisk. If the harddisk had a crash, there is a good chance that the harddisk will not last too long before it will fail again. Therefore, it is good to make a safe copy of the important data in the harddisk whenever possible.

Harddrives are quite cheap nowaday; it will make good sense to replace rather than to repair or revive them. But if one had decided to give the revival a try, this article will describe one method.

What’s needed?
1. Low Level format software (free to download from here)
2. Partitioning software such as Partition Magic or equivalent

Step by Step Procedures
a) Non Destructive Method
This method will make use of the PartitionMagic to create a new partition to isolate the bad section and to use the healthy part of the harddisk.

The method will retain most of the applications and programs in the harddisk. One might have to perform a low level format describe in Section (b) when there are too many bad sectors in the harddisk.

1. Estimate where to create this partition
When performing "Chkdsk" operation, observe the progress counter and note down its percentage when Chkdsk got stuck. The following example will assume that the counter got stuck at 75% while checking D: drive.

2. Start up PartitionMagic
One would be greeted by this screen that shows all the partitions in the harddisk.

3. Create New Partition
Select to “create new partition” in the “Wizard” and after answering a few questions about how to use new partition and the type of file system, one would come to the following screen where one would have to specify the location for the new partition.

Since the Chkdsk counter was stuck at 75% when scanning D: drive and D: has 50 GB, one would like to create a new partition between D: drive and E: drive and take about 35-40% off from D: drive to make this new partition. One might have to release some space in D: drive if it is full. New partition can only be created from free and unused disk space.

In case when error is encountered during the process of creating a new partition, either try to resize or erase the new partition, then assign a smaller size of partition to isolate the faulty session,

Click “Finish” and subsequently, click “Apply Change” to make the changes. Thereafter, format the entire disk so that a drive number can be assigned to the new partition just created.

4. Check For Errors
Check the various partitions for errors using the utility programs available under the “operation” menu of the PartitionMagic. Resize the new partition and recheck for error if necessary.

(Note: The above example assumed that the harddisk is still working with some errors in one section. If the faulty harddisk cannot start properly, one would have to hook the harddisk as a slave. The latter is always recommended because one might have to tweak the size of the new partition to locate the faulty section and it would save the trouble of re-starting the computer to change the partition sizes)

b) Destructive Method: Low Level Format
When there are too many bad sectors or faulty sections in the harddisk, it is always good to backup the important data and perform a low level formatting. This low level formatting will always require the faulty drive to be hooked up as a slave drive.

1. Download the low level format program from here.

2. After installation, run “LLFTOOL.EXE” and follow the instruction to select the faulty drive and then select low level format page.

Double confirm the correct faulty drive before you press the button “FORMAT THIS DEVICE” because all data in the drive will be erased and gone permanently.

3. Create new partitions and reformat the harddisk as if it is a new harddisk

4. Reinstall operating system and the rest of the applications/software

Note: If one still encounters problem, one can go through the Section (a) again to isolate the faulty sections.

1. Repair Damage Master Boot Record & Boot Sectors
2. Replacing the Hard Disk

VIX, DOW and Market Movement

2008-12-17T16:12:00.000-08:00

18 December 2008

Introduction
The Volatility Index, commonly known as VIX, is a Futures stock index traded in the Chicago Stock Exchange. It is often referred to as the barometer of investors’ confidence in equity market. It indicates the investor sentiment and market volatility. A higher VIX will indicate a lower DOW and vice versa.

What happened to VIX lately?
The attached chart shows that VIX was having very volatile trades lately; it climbed from $20 on 1 Sept 2008 to $80 on 27 October 2008, a hefty $ 60/= or 300% jump, which had never been seen before since 1993 when VIX was first introduced. Then it made a double top formation and plunged 40% to the present level of about $50 through volatile trades.

(Doubleclick for larger view)

What's the use of VIX?
VIX has volatile trades; hence, it is good gauge to judge the movement of the equity markets, which usually have less volatile trades that make future prediction difficult.

Where Can I Get Free Quotes?
One can get free quote of VIX from here and DOW from here.

Where is VIX Heading?
The attached chart shows many weaknesses of VIX; for example:

a) It has just formed a double top formation and is presently declining from its second peak;
b) It's 20 MA (green) is about to cross under the 50 MA(blue), meaning VIX is about to start its decline;
c) The top and bottom Bollinger bands are falling together with falling 20 MA and flattening 50 MA;
d) The stochastic is showing a “falling peak” with VIX dropping steadily into the oversold region. There are still rooms for further declines.

The above weaknesses will show that VIX is presently under heavy selling pressure. One should soon see VIX started to yield once it crosses below the double top support (red) at around $48.

According to rule of thumb, once VIX crosses under the double top support, it will target for $15, which a projection from the base double top support, using equal length measured from the tip of the double top to the base support.

Where would DOW be then?
There is no direct co-relationship between DOW's and VIX’s movement. But if there is any indication at all, DOW will move up when VIX is moving down. However, if the projection of VIX is correct with a target of $15, DOW may be targeting around or max out at 13,000. But to reach that level, DOW would have to break several resistances including the one at 200 MA, which could be a "tough nut to crack" unless DOW is supported by very good news and economy figures.

The US National Debts

2008-12-10T17:57:00.000-08:00

10 December 2008

Introduction
The US Congress has just approved the bills to bailout the Wall street's Banking sector, then AIG, the insurance sector and now the 3 big autos in the automobile industry. These bailouts were estimated to be more than US$ 1 Trillion. One might ask, where does the US Government get all these money from?

The US National Debt
The U.S. National Debt is now well over $10 trillion. This is nearly double the debt in 2000, which was $6 trillion, and $1.3 trillion more than 2 year ago, when the debt was $8.7 trillion.

What's happened in the US? How can the US accumulated such debts? Who have caused all these debts?

The I.O.U.S.A Documentary Film
A documentary film called the I.O.U.S.A, tried to explain all about these US National debts in its 30-minute video shown attached.

A Nuclear Power Plant Proposal for Singapore

2008-12-05T21:55:00.000-08:00

5 December 2008

Introduction
Singapore is too small to have a Nuclear Power Plant. “We must have the power plant located at least 30 km away from populated area”, said our Minister Mentor, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, in a recent presentation on 5 November 2008. This article will introduce a nuclear power plant option that we can use safely in Singapore.

What is this Option?
The mini or miniature nuclear power plant (MNPP) that can be installed underground and underneath each and every HDB block. These MNPPs will not have the Chernobyl effect nor will they require the 30 km clearance rule.

What are these MNPPs ?
The MNPPs are small and self contained nuclear power generating plants that have mini or miniature or even micro reactors. The smallest reactor is about the size of a bath room (about 12 m2) and the largest, about the size of a badminton court (about 50 m2).

They can supply electricity from 200 kw, enough for a HDB block to about 45 MW, enough for 45,000 homes in Ang Mo Kio New Town. Together with other ancillary equipment such as steam turbines and generators, a 50 MW MNPP may need a space as big as a JTC factory or about 1,500 m2.

The advantage of MNPP is that the whole plant can be buried underground as shown attached.

The complete reactor unit can be manufactured in a factory, then shipped to site and then returned back to the factory for refueling.

The testing model is said to contain no cooling tower with minimum maintenance requirement. The residual or excess steam can be vented into the outer shell, where it will condense into water that can be collected and recirculated to cool the core. It would use no primary water pumps.

How Long will the Fuel last before next refueling?
Each reactor has a fuel supply for 7 to 10 years. The refueling can be done in the factory. The 200 kw Toshiba unit claimed to have a fuel supply of 40 years for a single block of building.

How Safe are these MNPPs?
According to manufacturer’s claim, the reactor is designed based on a 50-year-old design that has been proven to be safe for the students to use. They expect little objection from the countries to use the MNPPs.

What are the Expected Installation requirement ?
The MNPP can be installed underground and underneath any building.

Depth
The depth at where the reactor to be located will depend on the explosion power of the nuclear reactor. Toshiba recommended the reactor be buried 30 meters under ground in a sealed container so that it would not be easily reached by earth moving equipment.

Encasement
The reactor is expected to be surrounded by strong layers of steel, lead, and concrete in order to protect their operators from excessive radiation levels.

What about cost ?
The Chief Executive of Hyperion, who has about 100 orders, said "Our goal is to generate electricity for US 10 cents a kilowatt-hr anywhere in the world". MNPP will cost approximately US$25m each. For a community with 10,000 households, that is a very affordable US$2,500 per home.

When can we expect to use MNPP?
The MNPP is presently being developed and tested in US and in UK and would become commercially available in year 2015. In UK, Hyperion planned to set up three factories to produce 4,000 MNPP between 2013 and 2023. They have a pipeline for 100 MNPPs with a 6-year waiting list.

MNPP Accidents
MNPP was first used in the US in early 50s. Then most MNPP were above ground. In 1961, there was an accident happened in a facility, located at the National Reactor Testing Station approximately forty miles (60 km) west of Idaho Falls, Idaho. 2 people were killed and about 22 people were exposed to some radiations. The MNPP were subsequently buried to contain the damage.

Related article

1. Safe, modular, scalable nuclear power generation
2. Clean, Safe, Affordable Power
3. The US's First Nuclear Accident
4. Toshiba's Small Fast Reactor 4S (10 MW)
5. Toshiba Builds 100x Small Micro Nuclear Reactors
6. Nuclear Power Generating in Singapore

How Much Can One Profit From a Recession?

2008-12-04T21:35:00.000-08:00

Introduction

There are fears that market will plunge during a bear market in a recession. But a study has shown that market could rebounce and rise 25% from its low before the recession is officially declared to be over.

The Table

The attached table from a study shows 14 recessions where bear market lasted for 6 to 34 months, the longest being the “Great Depression” in 1929. The table shows the following:

a) An average return of 8.7%, if one were to stay invested throughout the recession periods;

b) A profit as high as 25% if one were to invest during the lows and take profit by the time the recession is declared over.

The table also shows that not all the recessions have noticeable bear markets and also, 8 out of 11 recessions have created another new bull market when the recession is over.

Click to View

The Comparison Chart Between Various Recessions

One can compare the performance of various recession by following this link.

Today and Yesterday's Bear Market

2008-12-02T20:35:00.000-08:00

New York Times has an interesting chart that compares the present bear market of 2008 with the rest of the bear markets of yesterday.
The present bear market appears to track the 1942 or the 1973/74 bear market except the momentum is quite similar to the 1942 than 1973/74 bear market. It is hopeful that we are tracking the 73/74 market or 1st part of 1932 as we have the second World War in the 1942 market.

The comparison chart can be viewed by clicking the following picture.

If one cannot get the interactive features of selecting and comparing the graph, one will have to download the latest version of flash player here.

Disclaimer:
Information here is for sharing and learning. It is not intended to give any advice on any stock or movement or trend of any index. If a price or movment of a stock/index is given, it is only intended for illustration. The reader shall verify the information given here before using them.

Why STI is Down Today?

2008-11-30T17:49:00.000-08:00

1 December 2008

Introduction
Why STI is down when DOW and the US markets were up last Friday? This article will try to explain using very simple technical tools called simple moving average curves.

Why is Simple Moving Average ?
A Simple moving average is just an average value of a stock price, or indicator, averaging over a period of time. The term "moving" implies the average value will change or move. As the stock's price changes over time, its average price moves up or down.

Where Can I Watch Simple Moving Average Curve?
One can watch it from the any technical analysis software or free from Yahoo website. The latter only give Daily chart. Some private website, such as Shareinvestor.com , can provide intraday charts, such as 60-minute chart for a fee.

How Can I use Simple Moving Average Curves?
Most common curves being used are 200-day(200), 50-day(50) and 20-day (20) moving average(MA). The 5-day MA and 10-day MA are often used by Day Traders for day to day tradings. Among the curves, the 20 MA is most commonly used. It acts like a magnet that stock prices or indexes will always fall back after wondering away.

The MA curves are actually the supports as well as resistances of a stock price or index. For example, the 60-minute chart attached shows that STI has crossed over the 20 MA (green) and 50 MA(blue) and these lines becomes the support lines. STI is now testing the 200 MA (red) line, which is now the resistance line.

Apparently, STI just failed in the morning to break the 200 MA resistance line and index started to fall. It will fall towards the 50MA or 20 MA and wait. However from the chart, one can see that this is the 3rd time STI is testing the 200 MA line. It is always said that as more times a resistance or support is tested, it will break eventually. The rising 20 MA and 50 MA are at present supporting this action to break the 200 MA line.

Doubleclick for larger view

What Would Happened if STI Breaks the 200 MA?
200 MA is usually taken as an important support or resistance line as it always indicate the health of the index or stock price going ahead. If the 200 MA is broken, it would then become the support that will bring STI to new highs; otherwise, it would just remain as a resistance.

Can We See What Happened in the Daily Chart?
The 200 MA may reflect in the Daily Chart as an important support or resistance event. In this case as shown in the daily chart attached, STI is about to cross the 20-day MA (green). If the resistance of the 200 MA in the 60-minute chart is broken, it would mean that STI would be able to break the 20-day MA resistance in time to come.

The side-way movement of the 20-day MA in the Daily Chart indicates that STI has begun its recovery process. If the 20-day MA resistance is broken, STI would want to head for the next resistance, which will be the 50-day moving average. On the other hand, it might reverse to go down to meet the lower trendline of the triangle that had been enclosing it since Oct. STI will want to seek lower lows, lower than 1,600 if the lower trendline is broken.

Doubleclick for larger view

Soft Water Supply for Humidifiers

2008-11-20T19:28:00.000-08:00

Introduction
Using hard water directly from running taps often kills the electronic ultrasonic humidifier. This is because hard water will form scales that will eventually damage the ultrasonic vibrator of the humidifier. This article will describe a method where one can obtain reasonably clean soft water for proper humidifier operation.

What is Hard and Soft Water ?
Water is said to be "hard" when it contains minerals such as calcium carbonates and other derivatives or metal oxides. Hard water usually comes from the ground water that contains a lot of minerals. One can turn hard water into soft water simply by boiling. The other way is to use reverse osmosis machines. But these methods will use a lot of energy. The other method is to find soft water sources. One of the many sources is rain water but it is not clean. Yet another method is to use condensate water.

How Do We Get Condensate Water?
One can get condensate water from cooling the air. When air is cooled to its dew point temperature (around 50 degree C depending on where you live), moisture in the air will condensate into water. One can get this water from a special water making machine.

or simply from any air-conditioning unit. This article will concentrate on how to obtain clean soft water from our normal air conditioning units.

Condensate Water from Air-Conditioner Units

Every air-conditioner unit will have a condensate water piping running from the cooling or evaporating coils to the nearest drain. This water is usually clean except for some dust particulates that are also collected together with the air that passes through the evaporator coil. Dirty water tray and piping can also pollute this water. To get clean condensate water, one must prepare the air-conditioner unit and install a water filter to receive and store the water. To filter and store the water, one can use the common mineral water filter shown as follows:-

Preparing the Air-Conditioner Unit

Every air-conditioner unit has a plastic water tray underneath each evaporator coil. This tray is always connected to a drain pipe. One must always ensure that this tray and the drain pipe are always clean and free from algae forming. One must also change the air filter at least once every month, depending on the usage.

Preparing the Mineral Water Filter

Mineral Water Filter (MWF) has a dome shape ceramic filter on top and a plastic cylinder that is filled with various mineral sand and stones.

To ensure the water remain soft, one must remove the cylinder of mineral sand or stones or replace them with silica sand that has no mineral content.
Making Water Overflow and Drain Pipe

One would have to make additional holes in the MWF for inserting overflow pipes in the top plastic container as well as the storage container as shown. The existing drain pipe should be cut and be diverted to fill water into the MWF. The new overflow pipes should be connected to the existing drain pipe as shown with a T-joint.

To facilitate the plumbing work, one could use 6 mm diameter PVC pipes as they can be easily cut and bent to shape for proper installation.

What about Water Borne Diseases?
Legionnaire bacterias and algae pores are often found in water of cooling towers of the air-conditioning system; however, legionnaire bacteria will not thrive in air conditioning condensate water because the water temperature are usually below 20 degree C. One may found certain type of algae pores in the condensate water system if the system has not cleaned regularly. Nonetheless, legionnaire bacterias and algae pores are usually more than 3 microns in size. They will be filtered out by the ceramic filter of the WMF which has pores smaller than 0.5 microns. Should some algae or bacterias pass through the ceramic filters, it would not have survived because:

1. There isn't much nutrient in the filtered water to feed the bacterias/pore;
2. The ultrasonic vibrator of the humidifiers would have killed these bacteria/pore as it has some sterilising effects.

Other Usage of Soft Water
Soft water can be used in many areas where scaling is always a problem

a) in steam irons

b) in steamers

c) In Automobile as battery distilled water.

1. Repairing Ultrasonic Humidifiers
2. Cut Electricity Bills by up to 90%

How to Make XP Run Fast again

2008-11-12T16:00:00.000-08:00

Introduction
Often heard people complaining that their computers have been running very slow lately; sometimes, the computers may re-start itself for no reason. Running the virus scanning software did not detect any viruse. Some people resort to reformatting the harddisk which will clean the harddisk but will require one to re-install all the programs and application.
This article will describe some steps to solve some of these problems and keep the computer in tip top condition again.

Why Run Slow?
Top of the list has to do with computer viruses. The other has to do with computer parasites. Besides these problems, the computer may not be as healthy. For example, the harddisk may have a lot of bad sectors or the CPU performance may be affected by faulty CPU fans etc.

Step by Step Solution
1) Repairing the Harddisk
It is always good to start the troubleshooting process by checking and repairing the harddisk. Many problems are associated with bad sectors or media in harddisk. When computer encounters some read/write problem in the harddisk, it will slow down the computer; sometimes, the computer may just re-start itself without any reason. The bad media would also corrupt the master boot sectors or boot files and prevent the computer from normal startups. Once these problems are cleared, the computer should work faster and better to perform the other steps.

To check and repair the harddisk, please refer to this article.

2) Restart the computer

3) Clear the computer viruses
Run whatever virus or spyware scanning software available, making sure one's computer is free from these nasty viruses.

4) Clean the rubbish and get rid of parasites
As we use the computer, we build up rubbish and cultivate computer parasites. They are stored inside the harddisk. Computer Parasites, such as internet temporary files, are not only occupying harddisk space but also reducing the computer operating speed. These parasites are often loaded onto the computer memories without one's permission and they often takes up computer bandwidth. To clean the rubbish and get rid of the parasites, please follow the following step by step procedure

Cleaning the HardDisk
Step a: Backup the Registry and System State
It is advisable to backup the registry and the system state before carrying any modification to the registry. Follow this article to back up the registry and the system state.

Step b:Download CCleaner from this website, install and then run it (note: this cleaner is safe to use; no viruses or spyware ever detected). After starting up, one will get to the following frame:-

Uncheck the necessary checkboxes; for example, if one prefers to keep the “cookies” that store the various passwords or userids of the frequently visited website, just uncheck the “Cookie” checkbox. One would be surprised how much files that CCleaner will be able to get rid of and disk space freed up.

Alternatively, one could also use the file and cookie cleaning functions of the Internet browser; for example, in the Internet Explorer, one could use Tools/option in the menu and then select to delete the cookies or the Internet files. The other way is to use the “Clean Manager” function of the Window.

Step c: Clean the Registry

To get rid of the unwanted registry entries and entry parasites. This cleanup will make your computer run faster and smoother.

a) First, create a restore point of the registry (important). To do so, go to the restore page by clicking "start" then "All programs/accessories/system tools/System Restore" and then follow the instruction to create a restore point. Alternatively, on can click "start" button and then "run". In the drop down box, enter "%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe" (without quotes) and click ok. The system restore point would enable one to restore the computer to its original condition when the registry is written over or damaged.

b) In the sidebar of the CCleaner, click "Registry". In the new window, click "Scan for issues". When prompted for saving, click yes. One may have to do at least 3 registry scanning before one can completely clean the registry.

Step d: Re-start the computer

5) Done. Your computer should run as fast as new.

Related Articles
1. Trouble with Youtube or Streaming Data
2. Repair Damage Master Boot Record & Boot Sectors
3. How to Revive Faulty Hard Disk
4. Replacing the Hard Disk

Installation Failures in Windows Live Messenger

2008-11-04T21:58:00.001-08:00

5 November 2008

Introduction
MSN Live Messenger is a free to use product that enables one to use internet to talk live over a webcam. Once installed, it is relative free and easy to use. However, the installation program is quite sensitive and a re-installation may not always be successful. One can try all tricks; cleaning up memory caches, internet temporary files, clean up Registry, clean all the files and all methods precribed, it just failed. This article will describe a method that has been successfully used under such conditions.

What happened?
There are many versions of what went wrong. One would get error code messages such as 0x80070643 or 0x80070057 or 0x8000ffff with scaring warnings such as "catastrophic failures", "major system failures" and other messages like "Windows Live Suite was not installed". After one has fixed all these errors, then come the sickening part; waiting for half an hour to get another “X Not installed” message, this time without any good help.

According to some forum discussions, the cause could be due to some parts or information of an older version still left in the harddisk or in the registry. Some said it had something to do with the "Windows Validity Checks" problems. The Live Message installer just could not get rid of these problems for some reason.

What to do next?
Carry out all the recommendation/advice given by Live Messager Installer
a) Making sure that one has the required capacity in the hard disk
b) Clean the internet files by using Internet Explorer's Tools/Internet option, then click "delete files"
c) Clean the harddisk by clicking start/run, then in the dropdown box, enter "cleanmgr"(without quotes) and select the default drive (C:) and clean all necessary files
d) Go to Control panel and click icon "Add/Remove program" and remove all the files associated with "Windows live" or "Live Messenger" programs
e) Download this Windows Installer CleanUp Utility program and run it. If the program does not self start, run it by clicking Start-> All Programs-> Windows Install Clean Up.

After starting up the Windows Installer CleanUp, delete all the programs that are associated with Windows Live Messenger, be it mail, tool bars, photo gallery or any other program. Search through the program names; sometimes, "Windows live" are used and hidden behind some program names. Go through the program lines one by one.

f) Download and run this full version Windows Live Messenger 8.1 from the MS website or this site (18 MB). This full version program will bypass most of the checks required normally.

Note:

1. If one were to fail to install the Windows Live Messenger using the full version installer, try to reboot the computer after having cleared the check boxes temporary in the startup tab of the MSconfig program. Thereafter, install the full version Live Messenger installer again after the starting up. There is a possibility that some 3rd party drivers or the old messenger programs could have started up during booting and could have affected the installation process. To uncheck the boxes in MSconfig:

Click Start/run and in the dropdown box, enter "msconfig"(without quote) and click ok. In the Startup tab, note down and remember which check boxes have been ticked and untick those check boxes.
Remember to replace the ticks of the check box after the successful installation of the Live Messenger

2) If the installation fails again, search through the program files folder (c:\program files) and delete

Messenger folder
Windows Live Messenger folder
Any other folders e.g Live Messenger Toolbox
if necessary, use Regseeker to clean up registry that has named after "Windows live" & "MSN Messenger" or "Messenger". A free copy of the Regseeker can be downloaded here.

Re-install the program again after a fresh startup.

3) One can try to install the following Microsoft Windows Live Messenger Full Version also:

a) Microsoft Window Live Messenger 8.0 from here
b) Microsoft Window Live Messenger 2008 (8.5.1) from here.
c) Microsoft Windows Live Messenger 2009 (9.0) from here.

Nuclear Power Generation in Singapore

2008-11-04T17:01:00.000-08:00

5 November 2008

Introduction
Singapore is a small country state. It has only about 700 sq. km of land area. It is in close proximity to Indonesia and Malaysia who are always sensitive to any development in its neighbours. The building of a nuclear plant on land or at sea will be out of the question; however, there is a good chance that we can build a nuclear plant in a rock cavern, deep inside a piece of large rock located underground.

What is a Cavern?
Cavern is just an empty space in a piece of rock or some solid rock materials. Three quarters of Singapore is presently sitting on pieces of big granite rock. There are also rocks of different structures and materials underneath Singapore. Some rocks are so big that one can build swimming pools or warehouses or even an Olympic Stadium in them. They can be used to house many facilities. A nuclear electricity generating plant can be one of them.

Presently, Singapore has an ammunition storage cavern somewhere underneath Bukit Timah hill. It will soon have oil storage caverns in Jurong Island. These caverns are large enough to store a few warehouses of ammunition and also storage tanks bigger that those we have seen presently on the Jurong Island.

an inside view of oil storage cavern

Why Cavern ?
1. Safety and security

It is not exposed to military attack from the air
It is not easily accessible because it would be rather hard to drill another access inside a rock located underground; hence, it is easy to keep facilities away from suicide bombers or the enemies.
It is self contained. It can be built such that it will withstand and contain any nuclear disaster. There would be no need to remove any nuclear fuel or assemblies or debris. Monitoring would be minimal.

2. Storage and Transport of materials

Caverns are good for storage of nuclear fuel. Spent or used fuel if any need not have to leave the caverns. Such fuel can be stored and sealed in other caverns forever with minimum effort and maximum security. No radioactive materials would need to be re-handled on the surface.

4. Waste and decommissioning

When the reactor reaches the end of its useful life, the whole facility could be sealed, complete with the spent fuel. This will avoid the many problems of handling and re-handling of the nuclear waste and the decommissioning of nuclear facilities. The sealed cavern will need only minimal remote monitoring until it is ready for safer disposal.

5. Environmental impacts

The nuclear plant can be designed to have no serious impact to the environment above ground. The vulnerable materials will be located inside the caverns. The use of the surface footprint would be limited to the accesses for the cavern, the electric power lines, the secondary cooling and other non-radioactive secondary circuits.

Example Overseas

1. Switzerland

The country, one of the Europe's smallest (but still 50 times larger than Singapore), began its experiment with nuclear energy in 1957. Now, it has 5 nuclear plants supplying 40% of the electricity generation.
They have a nuclear reactor constructed in 1962 located inside a rock cavern but it was decommissioned in 1969 due to an accident. It is recommended that Singapore understudies these developments in Switzerland.

2. Other Countries

Norway, Sweden and some other countries has constructed power plants in caverns. But all of these are not nuclear plants.

3. Words from the Experts

Jan A Rygh, a former director of a consulting company responsible for the overall planning of the Gjøvik Rock Cavern for the Olympic Stadium said that "we can easily create caverns big enough to put nuclear reactors .. and we would never experience another Chernobyl"

Problem and Concerns

1. Water seepage

Water seepage can be a problem for caverns as no wall sealants will be permanent forever. The advent of membrane and the rock-engineering technology for sealing and draining would help. However, caverns can always be pressurized just like a balloon so that equal pressure will keep the water away. A well designed facility would need no real water pumping facilities that would otherwise required to contaminate the surface and environment.

2. Protest from Neighbours and Citizens

Our neighbour and Citizens will protest. They will be very fearful of "what if". There should be efforts spent to educate them.

3. Danger of a total collapse

The careful selection of a piece of rock to construct the nuclear plant is very important to ensure its success. Singapore has very good granite rocks underneath. We should be able to construct a good cavern that can withstand the catastrophic failure of a nuclear plant. We could always select a piece of good rock underneath the sea bed.
There was no report of a total collapse of caverns in operation although there were reports about collapse of underground tunnels during the construction stage. The construction of space in cavern and underground tunnels are totally different in nature. The more than 30 times construction cost difference between them could give some prospective although the former involves taking out solid rock materials and the latter involves removing of the soft earth materials that will normally settle in time.

4. How deep? Will it affect Shipping?

In Sweden, nuclear fuel are stored at about 30 metres below sea level. They have plans to store spent fuel finally 500 metres below. If the nuclear cavern is to be located under the sea bed, it should not have affected the shipping lanes as the seabeds are only of depths around 20 metres.

5. Will the Switzerland Failure Repeat?

The Swiss failure was due a burst in one of the pressure tubes, causing the reactor to malfunction. It is not quite related to the use of cavern for nuclear operation. More than 30 years have since passed, the advent of technology must have a solution to prevent a recurrence. This is a good example where Singapore could learn much from the Swiss before embarking a similar project.

6. Will the Cavern Be Able to Withstand Nuclear Blast?

There was no report of any nuclear test carried out using caverns although there were underground tests carried out as shown in this video. The blast at Chernobyl of Russia was said to be 50 Kilotons or 2.5 bigger than the 20 Kilotons shown in the video. But the following report indicated that underground nuclear test of more than 1 megaton had been carried out in the US. It is believed that caverns can be made to contain the nuclear catastrophic failures.

Other Alternatives

Other possible alternative is to construct a nuclear plant on floating platforms and float it 100 km away in Pacific Ocean. But this idea may be too risky as a nuclear power station is not only expensive with long submarine cables but also subject to security risk and many other legalities with Law of the Sea.

Conclusion

Singapore is a small nation that has no natural resource. It depends solely on fossil fuel for its electricity generation. It has no other alternative energies that can be harnessed in big quantities to alleviate the shortage of electricity supply. It will have to resort to building more and more fossil fuel plants in the future until it can find an alternative. Nuclear Power Plant built inside a cavern can be one of such an alternatives. The Government should spend efforts not only to carry out research and development work but also to educate its neighbours.

Construction work inside a rock cavern

1. Creative use of underground space
2. Sweden's Nuclear Plant with underground storage facility
3. Switzerland’s first nuclear plant decommissioned
4. Underground Nuclear Explosion Tests
5 Mini Nuclear Power Plant for Singapore

Is There X'mas Rally This Year?

2008-10-30T05:48:00.001-07:00

30 October 2008

Many people expected a X'mas rally in stock market during the end of the year. Is there going to be one this year?

What is the chance?
If the past record or history is of any guide at all, there is a 5:2 chance that one would get a X'mas rally every year. But this year is quite different. It is a US election year and we have a global credit crisis and a global recession in our hands. But there is still a chance.

The X'mas Rally Years
Take DOW as an example. We have 53 good years for the past 90 years. DOW rallied through from 1 November right up to 24 December. For these good years shown attached, DOW gained more than 12%* in 1928, just before the Great Depression in 1929. DOW gained the least with only 0.12% in 1945, almost at the end of Second World War. The average gain stood at 4.2%. Most of the US Presidential Election year gave DOW the X'mas rally.

Note: * gain/loss compared to 1 Nov for the year. Same for the rest in this article

Doubleclick for enlarge view

The Bad Years
There are 7 bad years in DOW's 90-year history where there is no X'mas rally at all. DOW just fell straight from 1 November right through to 24 December. There was a nasty fall of 14% in 1973, when we had an oil spike triggering a World recession. The Black Monday on 1987 was not as bad though it had a fall of about 0.72%. The average was -4.6%.

Doubleclick for enlarged view

19 Half Cooked X'mas Rallies
There were altogether 19 X'mas rallies that started sometime near 1 November but fell short of running through to the X'mas day. Many of these were during US Presidential Election years where DOW gained more than 1.8%. There was the Dot.Com bubble year of 2000 where DOW rallied for 8 days. The Asian Financial Crisis and the Great Depression prevented DOW from rallying but they could still achieve a maximum gain of more than 1.4%. The most impressive gain was just after the Great Depression where DOW gained 12%. The Asian Financial Crisis did not dampen the spirit when DOW rallied and gained 6% on 5 December 1997.

Doubleclick for enlarged view

What are our Chances this year?
Judging from DOW's past performance, there is not a very good chance that the market will rally from 1 November right through to 24 December this year. However, there might be a chance that market will rally to a higher level mid way and form another half-cooked X'mas rally this year.

1997 and 2008 Stock Market

2008-10-29T19:29:00.000-07:00

Introduction
Many claimed that the present stock market, affected by the America's credit crisis, looked more and more similar to the stock market during Asian Financial Crisis in 1997/1998.

The Asian Financial Crisis
The Asian Financial Crisis started sometime in late 1996 and the market recovered only in 1998. The market reclaimed its lost ground only in l Jan 2000, or about 3 years later. Then STI dropped from a high of 2,456 on 2 Sept 1996 to a low of 1,650 on 4 Sept 1998. That was about 800 points or 67% over a period of exactly 2 years. In between, STI saw a "dead cat bounce" of about 430 points or 35% from 1,245 on 16 Jan 1998 to 1,675 on 20 March 1998. This dead cat bounce lasted 2 months.

The 2008 Financial Crisis
The present financial crisis started from America. A bubble was formed in the US home sale market. It started to burst in mid 2007. Then a few hedge funds involved in the subprime home loan got into financial trouble in July 2007. This credit crisis grew bigger and bigger. First, a few smaller US banks gone bankrupt and finally, it affected larger banks like Bear Sterns, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and Lehman Brothers. Even AIG, one of the World's largest insurance company, was not spared. The crisis spread across the Globe. US Government cut interest rates and came up with more than US$1,000 billions of various financial packages to rescue the US economy.

During this crisis, DOW dropped from a high of 14,000 in Oct 2007 to a low of 8,145 on 27 Oct 2008. It lost a total of about 6,000 points or about 46% over a period of about 1 year. STI shed about 2,300 points from the high of about 3,900 to the present 1,600. This is a loss of about 60%, 14% more than DOW.

Are The Two Crisis Similar?
The Asian Financial Crisis and the US Credit Crisis are all connected to financial matters. There appears to have some similarity here. If we were to superimpose both time charts, they look something like this:

Has the Market Hit the Bottom?

Whether the market has hit its bottom or are there still more downsides to come, one will have to wait for Mr. Market to decide. The Asian Financial Crisis then was not as widely spread as the present US Credit Crisis. One would have to wait patiently to see the effectiveness of the rescue efforts put in by the various World's Central Banks.

The stock market could be taking a breather right now; but it may continue to dip if the rescue efforts put in by the various Governments were found not to be effective.

Related Articles

1. Bear Flag in Our Backyard 5 Sept 2008

2. Why STI Was Falling More than HSI, Shanghai and other Indexes? 4 Sept 2008

Power Savers. Do They Really Save Electricity Bills?

2008-10-28T21:27:00.000-07:00

29 October 2008

Introduction
Electricity rate has gone sky high. Many will try to save electricity bills by trying out the installation of energy saving devices. Now, there are Power Savers available in the market. Do they really save electricity bills?

What are these Power Saver?
There are many different types of power savers in the market. Some are floor mounted, others are just small appliances with a 3 pin plug. All claimed to have saved electricity energy; some claimed to save up to 35%. This article will examine if they will really save your electricity bill.

The Salesman's Pitch
In the sale booth, the salesman can demonstrate to you that the Energy Saver can save energy.

Doesn't that Saves Energy?
What the salesman demonstrated is that by installing the Power Saver, the electric current is reduced. But that does not necessary mean that your monthly electricity bills will be reduced.

Why?
First, let us find out what are really inside these Power Savers. If one were to strip open the casing, one will find small electric capacitors.

What are these Electric Capacitors?
These are electronic components we often find in electronic appliances such as in Televisions. They may cost around $ 2 or $ 3 each. They are often used to smoothen electrical circuits to get rid of spikes. They can store up electricity energy just like our car batteries. In the application of Power Saver, the capacitors serve to correct the power factor of an electric appliance but they correct only the reactive and not the active power usage of an appliance.

What is Power Factor?
Power factor is a jargon used in electric and electronic power industries. It is nothing but a term defining the relationship between the active and reactive power of an alternative current or electric waves. Power factor is often referred to as the mathematical "cosine" of the angle between the active and the reactive power. It is one of measurements for the quality of the power supply system.

What are Active and Reactive Powers?
Our electricity supplies active as well as reactive power to our homes. In simple layman term, the active power (measured in KW) is for us to produce work or heat whereas reactive power (measured in KVR) is related more to energy storage part of a system. For example, an appliance having pure resistances, such as electric heaters or irons, uses only the active power whereas an electric motor will use both the active power as well as the reactive power.

KWh Meters
By name, KWh meters measures only the active power (KW) of the electricity usage. The meters are constructed such that it ignores the reactive power usage. As Power Saver corrects only the reactive power, it does not save electricity bill directly.

Isn't the Reduction in Electric Current reduces KWh Meter Reading?
The ordinary home KWh meters are of electromechanical type. Each meter has 2 coils, a current and a voltage coil. They are arranged with 90 degree phase shift to always measure the active power usage of the electricity. Depending on the meter construction, many are affected only by the active power used by the network but the power factor of the network does have some effects on the meter reading.
In the case where the current drawn does affect the KWH meter reading, it shall be noted that most home appliances are either of resistive load or already installed with power factor correction capacitors in order to comply to the manufacturing specification. Therefore, additional capacitors provided by Power Saver will not serve much purpose. On the other hand, an over correction with more than enough capacitors may increase the current drawn.

It is therefore advisable not to install the Power Saver unless one is sure that the electric appliances to be used do not have the required capacitors already installed. Even then, the electricity bill saving may be minimal except for some heavy appliances such as air conditioners, where some users of Power Saver claimed to have saved some electricity cost.

DOW Jumped Almost 11%

2008-10-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

29 October 2008

DOW jumped almost 10.9% last night, gaining about 890 points and lifted DOW from 8,175 to close at 9,065. This was the 2nd largest gain in the month. The last one was on 13 October 2008, just about 2 weeks ago. Then, DOW jumped 936 points or 11% to lift DOW to 9,387 from 8,451.
With such strong lift in DOW, does it mean that DOW has a total reversal?

Going through the above table, the matching days that DOW has made a gain of 10% or more are mostly done during the Great Depression period from 1929 to 1933.

The last time that DOW made similar gain was in October 1987, during the Black Friday/Monday. Then DOW gained about 10% on 21 October 1987 to compensate for the loss it had made on 19 October 1987, the Black Monday.

After that, DOW tanked for another 2 months. It then took off slowly over next 12 years and pushed its index up 5,000 points from 7.000 to 12,000, until the DOT.com bubble burst in year 2000.

(doubleclick to enlarge image)

Is this the wildest swing in HSI's History?

2008-10-28T06:06:00.000-07:00

28 Oct 2008

Hang Seng plunged 1,600 points or 12.7% yesterday; it recovered 1,580 points or 14.3% today. Hang Seng went through a swing of about 3,000 points or 28% in the 2 days. Is this the wildest swing of Hang Seng's history? Is this an indication that Hang Seng has made a reversal?

According to record, Hang Seng made a similar swing during October 1997, the Asian Financial Crisis. On 28 October 1997, Hang Seng shed about 14% or 1,400 points to end the day at 9,060 points. The next day, on 29 October 1997, Hang Seng recovered 18.8% or 1,700 points as shown in the attached table.

A 3-year bull run pushed Hang Seng up about 10,000 points from 7,000 points in January 1995 to near 17,000 in August 1997. Then came the Asian Financial Crisis. This brought Hang Seng down to earth and made Hang Seng lost all the 10,000 points over next 12 months.

The October 1997 swing was then the largest swing since 1987. However, that swing did not manage to cause Hang Seng to make a total recovery. Hang Seng tanked for about 5 months after that and went down subsequently to recover in August 1998.

Is HSI's Fall of 12.7% the Highest in History?

2008-10-27T01:53:00.000-07:00

27 October 2008

Hang Seng fell 12.7% or 1,600 points today in a volatile trade; it was down 15.4% for a brief moment with an intraday swing of about 2,000 points. It opened 12,373 and closed 11,015 just above a major support. In the morning trade, it went up to 12,737 but lost all its gain in the afternoon after Nikkei posted a 6% lost in the afternoon trade. The unwinding of Yen carry trade was said to be the cause.

According to the record, the last time Hang Seng closed 13% down was on 28 Oct 1997, during the Asia Financial Crisis. Then Hang Seng lost 14% to close at 9,060 although it opened about 600 points higher at 9,649.

The largest fall in the Hang Seng's history has to be the trade on 26 Oct 1987, exactly one week after the Black Monday on 19 Oct 1987. Then Hang Seng lost about 33% or 1,121 points.

It was reported that a 4-year bull run took Hang Seng to a record high of 3,968 points on 1 October 1987. On 16 October 1987, the Black Friday, global markets crashed. On the following Black Monday, 9 October 1987, Hang Seng shed 420 points to close at 3,362. This prompted the HK Exchange to suspend trading for the rest of the week to cool the market. When market resumed trading on 26 October, the following Monday, Hang Seng plunged 33 per cent on that single day.

With a fall of 1,600 points, Hang Seng slumped more than 65% from its peak of 31,958.41 in October 2007. This fall was more serious than the 62% fall experienced in the Asia Financial Crisis in 1997. On the other hand, Nikkie ended at lowest in 26 years with 7,162.

Replacing the Hard Disk

2008-10-20T20:13:00.000-07:00

21 October 2008

After having scanned the harddisk using CHKDSK, the computer showed multiple error messages of “CHKDSK is performing additional checking or recovery…”. After having booted up the computer to backup the files, one received error messages.

What Could Have Gone Wrong?
CHKDSK could have found bad sectors in the hard disk and making attempts to recover the bad sectors. This process usually takes less than 30 minutes. If the process takes hours with more than 20 error messages, one might have a faulty harddisk.

What should I do Next?
Back up as many files as possible. There might still be a chance that one could recover all the files if one can still boot up the computer. If one could not boot up the computer, try to repair the master boot sectors and the boot files. If the computer failed to start up after this, go and seek other solutions. One of the solution is to isolate the faulty section of the harddisk; the other solution is to repalce the harddisk. This article will describe the latter.

What do I need?
a) A copy of the XP installation disk
b) Another good harddisk of similar or bigger capacity

Why Not Use Existing Harddrive?
Unless one is sure about the condition of the harddisk, it is advisable to backup the files into another harddisk. Not only the existing harddisk might not have the necessary capacity, but also, the backing up operation might cause more damages to the harddisk.

Step by Step
1. Hooking up the new harddisk

Switch off the computer and hook up the new harddisk as a slave drive
Start up the computer and boot up the computer as usual
Mount the new harddisk using available software such as Disk Manager or Partition Magic and Format the new harddisk

Mount the new harddisk with 2 partitions; one of them preferably with large enough capacity and formatted with NTFS system. This is because the normal FAT32 system has a limited capacity of 4 GB using the XP’s backup program.

2. Backing up the System/Program
If one has not backup the system/program before, should start to do so now. Back up as many programs as you can with priority giving to the following files
a) System state. This will restore your computer to its original condition
b) Important data, such as stock data, JPG, photos
c) Hard to get programs in “Program file”
d) One should also backup the necessary windows' drivers as one would have to install a new copy of the XP system on the new harddisk. This program can be used to extract drivers on the existing XP operating system.

Tips:

Try to backup directory by directory. If there are error message, then select to backup sub-directory by sub-directory or file by file.
Some program stores information in program/common file folder as well as in document and setting folder. When in doubt, try to backup as many files/directories as possible.
Place the backup files in the new hard disk.
If the backup file size is more than 4 GB, store the file in a NTFS partition
Select to verify the data whenever possible.
A lot to time and patient

3. Restoring the System/Program

With the computer switched off, dismount the old harddisk and hook the new harddisk as the master drive.
Reboot using XP installation disk
Install new XP operating system in the new harddisk. Use the same username as the old copy of XP system when ask to create one

If everything is fine, restore all the backup files, one by one, starting in reverse sequent (though not important) as stated in

Why Not all the Menu Icons were shown?
The restore should reinstate the computer to its original condition. If one has problem with missing icons in the menu, this could probably due to:

a) The username during XP installation is not the same as those in the old harddisk or the backup files
Check if there are more than one username folders in the “Documents and Settings” of the C: drive. Find the original username folder and check the sub folder , “C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Desktop “ (username= your username) to see if it contains the menu icons that you have expected; if so, copy all the files/directories in this desktop folder over to the default username folder.

b) Some programs were not backed up properly
The programs or part of the program component could be missing.

Can One Re-Use the Old Harddisk?
If one can boot up the computer, probably the damage in the hard disk are not as serious. If one want to reuse this faulty harddisk, one should

a) Try to re-run the CHKDSK again just to make sure that it has cleared all the bad sectors;
b) Clean the harddisk using the clean manager of XP system;
c) Defrag the disk, if possible in SAFEMODE

If everything else failed, one could always revive the harddisk .

1. How to Revive Faulty Hard Disk
1. Repair Damage Master Boot Record & Boot Sectors

How To Restart After Computer Hangs

2008-10-17T22:41:00.000-07:00

17 October 2008

Introduction
The computer just hanged. This article will try to offer some help step by step.

What can be wrong?
Restart the computer. If one can hear a soft and short beep sound, most likely the computer's hardware is working fine. The master boot record or boot files or the Registry of the XP's operating system may be corrupted.

What are the Usual Ways?
Usually, users will re-install the complete XP system. Some will choose to reformat the hard disk. One would lose all the personal documents, program files and other 3rd party programs. This article will describe a method that will not only save time for the restoration but also avoid having to reinstall all other programs.

What's Required?
a) A good working hard disk;
b) XP installation disk

How to?
Step 1 Suspect Faulty Master Boot Record or the Boot Files Follow the instructions in this article to repair the master boot record and the boot files and restart the computer. If the computer still hangs, then

Step 2 Suspect Faulty Registry
Copy the 5 files, namely: system, security, software, sam and default files from the “repair” sub folder to “config” sub folder in Windows and restart the computer to enter the safe mode. This Microsoft site gives the detailed instructions.

Thereafter:

a) If you have a Registry Backup copy
Following this article to restore the Registry files from the backup copy and restart

b) If you do not have a Registry Backup Copy
Continue to follow the instructions given by Microsoft and restore the 5 files from a special “System Volume Information” folder. This folder is normally hidden from view. The system files are stored in this special folder when XP's System Restore is working. Note that the files in the folder may contain viruses as System Restore does not check for viruses when it stores the files.

Related articles
1. How to Restore Corrupted Registry
2. How to backup and restore Registry files
3, How to repair faulty Master Boot Record and Boot files

Back Up XP Registry and Boot Files

2008-10-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

17 October 2008
Introduction
Viruses often attack the Registry of the computer’s operating system. After that, the viruses would be loaded to take control when the user starts the computer. This article will describe how we can back up a copy of the Registry and have it restored at a later date.

What is Registry and How Viruses Can attack it ?
Registry is a place where XP keeps all the information about the computer's hardware and software. It is being used by all the parties including 3rd party hardware and software. For example, if a new program has just been installed or files added, the Registry will be updated. Therefore, the Registry is the one place where it is most vulnerable to virus attacks. It is often difficult to get rid of them; sometimes, they may modify the Registry, making computers going hire-wired.
Viruses can be loaded into the Registry when we browse the Internet or when we run a program.
We can always restore the computer back to its earlier saved state if we have a backup copy.

How to Backup the Registry?
There are 3 methods:

Method 1: Using the System Restore
This is part of the XP built-in program and can be set to save a copy of the Registry automatically or as and when required. Read this article.

Method 2: Backing up the whole of the Registry
Do this often manually or whenever we make some changes to the computer.

Click Start, and then click Run. One will reach the following screen.
In the drop down box, type "regedit"(without quotes), and then click OK

In the next screen, select “My Computer” and in the File menu, click Export.

In the "Save in" box, select a location where you want to save the Registry
In the "File name" box, type a file name, and then click Save.

Note
1. This file will have an extension of ".reg" and is at least 5 Mbytes.
2. Make sure the computer is cleaned of viruses before saving.
3. Use separate file name each time as the copy of Registry to be saved could contain viruses.
4. Save this file in another hard drive or thumb drive or a RW CD ROM

Method 3: Backing up the System state
XP operating system has a built-in function called “Backup” in the System Tools folder. One can back up not only the whole registry but also the boot files in the Windows’ system 32 folder and the COM+ Class Registration Database.

In the main Window, click Start, then in the All program/Accessories/System Tool folder, start the Backup program and follow the instructions, one should reach this screen

Browse and select where the backup file should be installed and give the backup file a file name. Remember to use different file names if necessary. Click Next and one should reach the following screen.

Select "Let me choose what to backup" and click Next to reach the following screen.

Now, expand My Computer folder and then click the tick box next to "System State" folder as shown and click Next
Select Advance button and after that, select "Normal" in dropdown box. Click next and one would reach the following screen to select the verification of file after backup. Tick that verification box and then Next. The computer will do the rest of job.

Note
1. One would need a free disk space of about 600 MB.
2. Make sure the computer is cleaned of viruses before saving
3. Store the backup file in a thumbdrive or RW CD or another harddisk so that it can be read and the backup file restored in case of harddisk failures.
4. The backup file has a maximum limit of 4 GB for hard disk with FAT32 system rather than NTFS system. Check your system here.
5. BACKUP is not installed by default in Windows XP Home Edition. Install it using the instructions available at: Q302894. A copy of Backup program can be downloaded here.
Restoring the backup files
To restore any Registry, always try to boot into the SAFE Mode. This will start the computer with minimum numbers of file and prevent viruses from loading.
To boot into SAFE Mode, hit F8 continuously after the 1st welcome screen when one boots up the computer.
When one is in the SAFE mode screen, might as well try if one could start the computer using the option "using Last Known Good Configuration".
Method 1: Using System Restore
Refer to this article
Method 2: Restore the whole of the Registry
Go to the directory or the folder where the registry file was stored. Double click that file. The following screen will appear. Click OK

Method 3: Restore the System state
- Following Step 1 of method 3 in the backup section above, then choose "restore files and settings" instead, one should reach the following screen.
- Browse through to the directory of the backup file and doubleclick the file, a new screen should show the folder "System State".
- Tick the box to select file to restore and click Next. Click advance in the next screen. Change the default setting if necessary.
Which of the 3 Methods is the Best?
Method 3 appears to be the best; however, there were reports that it may not be compatible with some 3rd party software and may not restore everything in full. Sometime, it prompted users for CD keys etc after the restore.
Method 2 is neat as it restores everything in full but it does not back up the boot file and Com+ file
Method 1 is often the target of viruses. Very often, it would automatically save a copy of Registry complete with viruses. Some experts therefore recommended to de-activate the auto-saving function. To de-activate this function, just click start and the run in the main Windows and in the dropdown box, enter "sysdm.cpl" (without quotes). Then in the System Properties window, select the System Restore tab to untick box to turn off the system restore function.
It is good to use all the 3 methods.

1. How To Restart After Computer Hangs

Fundamentals of Some STI Counters

2008-10-16T22:21:00.000-07:00

The table (click the dates) will show the fundamentals such as shareholders' fund, long term debts, liquidity ratio and other financial data of about 200 counters in STI. It will be published once by the end of every month when most companies have reported its earnings. If there are additional counters to be included, please email skyjuicetse@yahoo.com.sg

1. 16 October 2008
2. 30 November 2008 30 November 2008(interactive-see note)

Disclaimer:
Information here is for sharing and learning. It is not intended to give any advice on any stock or movement or trend of any index. If a price or movment of a stock/index is given, it is only intended for illustration. The reader shall verify the information given here before using them.

Note: To use the interactive mode, one would need to download a add-in component for internet explorer from Microsoft website and one must also have Microsoft Excel 2003.

Forward and Swap Fuel Oil Prices

2008-10-10T16:46:00.000-07:00

11 October 2008

Introduction

What is forward fuel oil price? What is swap fuel oil prices? How do they differ? Are there confusions in using the term "forward fuel oil prices" by the Energy Market Authority of Singapore (EMA)? What is the fair price to be used for evaluating electricity rates?

What is Forward and Swap Fuel Oil Prices?

They are just derivatives of oil trades similar to the Futures Oil prices traded in the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).

Forward fuel oil prices (FFOP) are quoted in a forward market. Unlike the NYMEX Futures market, the forward market is less price transparent because the forward contracts are traded informally between principals such as big oil companies who are not obliged to publish the details of any deal that is done.

Swap fuel oil prices (SFOP) are quoted in a swap market. It is a relatively new form of OTC derivative trading market. It is very much like the NYMEX Futures except it is commonly used by banks & big oil companies nowadays; hence, big quantities with relatively few trades. The oil trades are quoted in metric tonnes instead of barrels. Like FFOP, it is still a private agreement between two parties to exchange cash at pre-arranged dates in the future according to an agreed price formula. But unlike FFOP, the SFOP quotations can be found in public exchanges such as ICE; also, SFOP does not involve physically delivery of fuel oil at the end of the contract. More details about FFOP and SFOP can be found here.

Confused Terms Used
The EMA's website clearly shows that EMA has been using the term Forward Fuel Oil Price (FFOP) for evaluating the electricity rate. This term is also being used by EMA in all its clarifications in the press and newspapers. But if one clicks the link on FFOP in EMA's website, one will be led to a published SWAP quotation from ICE. Is EMA confused between the terms used?

Click for enlarged view

Click for enlarged view

The ICE's Quotation

The ICE's quotation for 4th quarter 2008 which is quoted in July 2008 is shown attached. They are quoted in US$ per metric tonne. To convert from metric tonne to numbers of oil barrel, one would have to divide it by 6.6.

Click for enlarged view

The quotation clearly shows that there are not more than 300 bids/offers and 11 deals were settled in the month of July 2008. The highest quote was US$ 795 per metric tonne (or US$ 120 per barrel) and the lowest quote was US$ 698 (or US$ 105 per barrel).

Which Market is Fair?
There just isn't a market price that can be used to accurately predict the fuel oil price to be used in the future. This is because NYMEX futures, forward, swap, options are all derivative instruments of the spot oil market. They are only good for use as hedging tools. They are all subject to manipulation, in particular, the FFOP and SFOP because of the private dealings and the small numbers of active trades.

Among the markets, NYMEX futures is the most transparent and most actively traded; therefore, a better market. Alternatively, we can use spot fuel oil price.

SP & Power Generating Companies would never lose out in any pricing that EMA has adopted and agreed upon. This is because SP & Power Generating Companies have the means to hedge such price against any future price variation like what SIA has been doing all the while.

If EMA wanted to be fair to both SP & Power Generating Companies and the consumers, they could always do a price adjustment at the end of a period, like the Public Utilities Board (PUB) used to before 2000. Using SFOP or FFOP to evaluate the electricity rate is not necessary fair to the consumers.

Other related Articles

1. Forward Fuel Oil Pricing Used by EMA

2. Is it fair to use Forward Fuel Oil Pricing

Biggest Fall in DOW in a Week?

2008-10-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

10 October 2008

DOW fell another 678 points in 9 October 2008 or about 7.4%. This makes the total fall to be more than 20% in 7 trading days, from 1 October to 9 October 2008 or about 1 week. Is this the biggest fall in DOW's history?

Doubleclick for enlarged picture

Comparable Falls
There are 2 occasions where DOW fell for about 20% or more in 1 week.

1st Fall
The first was from 9 October 1987 to 19 October 1987. DOW fell from 2,516 to 1,738, a total of 778 points or more than 30%. That day on 19 October, the famous Black Monday, DOW registered the biggest fall of 22% in a single day. The market did not recover from this damage until 01 August 1989, about 2 years after the fall.

Doubleclick for enlarged picture

2nd Fall
The second was from 13 May 1940 to 21 May 1940. DOW fell from 144 to 114 or about 30 points or about 21%. The market did not recover until 15 July 1943 or about 3 years later. This was in the midst of 2nd World War.

Doubleclick for enlarged picture

The Biggest Fall
The biggest fall in the history of DOW has to be the fall during the great depression in 1932. Although this is not the biggest fall in a week, DOW fell by about 50% over a period of about 2 years. The market did not fully recovered until 1953 or about 20 years later.

Forward Fuel Price ; Is it Fair?

2008-10-07T17:46:00.000-07:00

8 October 2008

Introduction
EMA used forward fuel oil pricing (FFOP) quoted in July 08 for the next 3 months to peg electricity rate in Singapore; as a result, the electricity rate went up by 21%. This article will examine if this FFOP is a fair peg.

What is Forward Fuel Oil Price(FFOP)?
FFOP is quoted in a forward market just like the Futures market in New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). But unlike the Futures market, the forward market is less price transparent because the forward contracts are traded informally between principals such as big oil companies who are not obliged to publish the details of any deal that is done. For more details about forward fuel oil contracts, please refer to this article.

Why the High FFOP?
EMA explained that the FFOP quoted in July 08 for delivery of fuel oil between October 08 and December 08 is being used to determine the electricity rate for this period. As the fuel oil price increased sharply in July this year, there was a corresponding spike in the July forward fuel oil price for October 08 until December 08. This appears on the surface to be very fair to both the Power Generating Companies as well as the consumers.

Why July's FFOP Not Reflective?
Rightly speaking, if fuel delivery is for period between October 08 and December 08, it should reflect the present fuel oil price; however, this is never the case. Lets examine the oil prices quoted in the NYMEX (FFOP is not available) for delivery in Feb 09 and for delivery in Nov 08. One could immediately identify that these 2 quotes are almost identical.

Doubleclick for enlarged picture

Why So Identical ?
This is because the Oil Price for future delivery is always affected by the prevailing spot price. When the traders do not know what is in stored for them in the future, they would invariably use the present spot price as the base price.

What's the Implication?
The FFOP quoted 3 months ago will be forever lagging behind the spot or the present fuel oil price. If the oil price continues to climb, the electricity rate will become very reasonable; on the other hand, the electricity rate would become very unreasonable if the oil price continues to fall.

Is It Fair to Use FFOP?
On the surface, it would appear very fair to use FFOP to peg electricity rate because SP and the Power Generating Companies will take actual delivery of the fuel oil at the end of the period. On further examination, it would appear to be unfair to the consumer because:-

a) This FFOP rate is less transparent; for example, the NYMEX Futures for oil was quoted at US $ 147 per barrel at the peak of July 08 whereas the FFOP used to peg the electricity rate was quoted as US $ 155 per barrel. Whether the FFOP deal in July 08 was done at its peak is not known publicly;

b) FFOP contracts can be traded in the market. If SP and Power Generating Companies found advantages to trade the contracts, they can do so and buy cheaper oil from the spot market;

c) It is very common for oil consumption companies, such as airlines and power generating companies to hedge present fuel oil price against any future price variation. For example, SIA has been known to hedge its jet fuel oil price. With the correct hedge, they will never lose out and might even gain handsome profits. On the other hand, the consumers will never have any choice but the pay for the electricity rate.

Conclusion
The FFOP as a peg for electricity rate does not seem to be fair to the consumers who have no alternative but to pay for the electrcity rate.

Afternote:

1. EMA was referring to SWAP fuel oil pricing as Forward Fuel Oil pricing

2. The USD 155 per barrel should be read as SGD 155 per barrel

1. Confusion in the use of Forward and Swap Fuel Oil Pricing
2. Forward Fuel Oil Pricing Used By EMA

Refrigerator Repair

2008-10-06T05:57:00.000-07:00

1 December 2009

Repairing Refrigerators
Refrigerator is one of the most common household equipment. This article will give some tips on how to locate and repair some common faults in refrigerators

What are the common faults
Modern refrigerators need little or no maintenance except for the regular cleaning of blocked ventilation holes if it is located in a dirty environment. Poor cooling is often caused by faulty or aged components. One of the common fault is frozen cooling coils. Other faults can be motor related; for example, motor starter problem. Because the refrigerant system is a total sealed system, leakage of refrigerant is not usually the problem.

How to Check if the Fridge is Working Properly
A working fridge should:

1) Feel warm on some part of the panel. This is because fridge uses these panel to dissipate heat;

2) Have noise coming out of the electric motor;

If the fridge panel is always cold or there is no running motor noise for a long period, most likely the fridge is dead; otherwise, it could be due to the following problems:

a) Frozen cooling coils
b) Faulty components

This article will concentrate on how to clear frozen cooling coils

Frozen Cooling Coils

Frozen cooling coils could happen under 2 conditions:-

a) Refrigerator is short of freon gas;
b) Faulty defrosting circuits

Like any refrigeration equipment, coils are easily frozen when there is a shortage of freon gas in the system. However, this is quite unlikely in the case of refrigerators because most refrigeration system is sealed and there is little chance for freon leakage. When the coil is frozen, it will not allow air to pass through the colling coil and hence, cooling is affected.

Checks for Frozen Cooling Coils
Modern refrigerators are frost free. Cooling is achieved by a circulating fan and defrosting is done by a defrosting heater.

Because the cooling coil and the fan are hidden from view, visual inspection is often not possible. However, one could deduce if the coil is frozen by checking if the compressor is working and also by observing if defroster is functioning.

How to Check
Step a) Check if the defroster is working

If the refrigerator has a defrosting tray underneath, check the tray for some water. The defrosting heaters will be turned on automatically once a day by a self running time, during which, ice if any on the cooling coil will be drained to the defrosting tray.

For refrigerator that has concealed defrosting tray, then the only way to check if the defroster is working is to turn off the refrigerator for more than 1 hour, allowing ice to be defrosted. If by turning on the refrigerator resume the cooling function, one can confirm that the defroster circuit is faulty; then, proceed to step c);

Important Note: The compressor panel consist of electrical components. Proceed to step b) & c) when you know what you are doing.

Step b): Check if the compressor is working properly
1) Open up the compressor chamber by removing the back panel of the refrigerator;

2) Check for oil leakages in the refrigerator pipe and tube; if there are traces of oil anywhere, most likely the system have a freon leak;

3) Check if the compressor motor is running. If it is running, check for its proper working by hand feeling the temperature of the compressor's discharged and the suction tubes. One should notice the discharged tube is always warm and suction tube is always cool. If there is not much temperature difference, most likely the compressor is not working properly and it is time to change the refrigerator.

Step c)
The defrosting components normally consist of a timer and a few heaters. Check the heater circuit for fault using an ohm meter. If the heaters are ok, most likely the timer is fault. Repair or replace the timer.

The Foward Fuel Oil Price Used by EMA

2008-10-06T00:44:00.000-07:00

5 October 2008

Introduction
The Energy Market Authority (EMA) recently announced that our electricity rate would increase by 21%, the highest one-time increase in seven to eight years. This is because EMA has pegged the electricity rate to the forward fuel oil pricing for the next 3 months.

EMA’s Explanation for the Price Hike
EMA, the electricity and gas industry regulator, explained that since 2004, electricity tariffs had been pegged to the "forward fuel oil prices" for the next three months. This price was $155.14 per barrel, up 38 per cent from $112.35 per barrel for the current quarter.

What is “Forward Fuel Oil Price” ?
There are about 4 types of oil market:
a) The Spot market
b) The forward market
c) The Futures market
d) The Swap and options market

More information about the various oil markets can be found here
There are also more about futures and forward contracts in here and here.

Forward contracts are traded in the forward market. Like the futures contracts, forward fuel oil contracts are traded for the delivery of fuel oil on a future date at a pre-agreed price; but unlike futures contracts, the forward contracts are traded informally between principals such as big oil companies who are not obliged to publish the details of any deal that is done. The forward market has therefore lesser price transparency than a futures market such as NYMEX Oil Futures traded in the US.
Deals in forward contracts are usually done over the telephone. Participants either trade directly between each other or through specialist brokers (like Goldman Sachs) who provide a useful service by quoting bid-ask levels for forward Contracts. The main difference between forward and futures trading is as shown in the following table:
Why EMA used Forward Pricing of Fuel Oil?
EMA explained that “forward fuel oil” prices are the prices of fuel delivered to the Power Generating Companies; also, they are less volatile than the 'spot oil' prices quoted for immediate deliveries. To illustrate, EMA used the following graph:-

While there is no way to verify the authenticity of the forward fuel oil prices quoted by EMA, the following 2 curves in this article about forward contracts of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent will illustrate that forward pricing can also be very volatile.

Correct for EMA to use Forward Pricing?
Forward pricing, like future pricing, is often used as a hedge against any future price variation . If it is used for other purpose, it can act as a double-edged sword, working for as well as against an investor. In this case, as a peg for electricity rate for the next 3 months, it will work for consumers if the oil price is rising and against the consumers if the oil price is falling. Furthermore, EMA uses forward fuel oil pricing quoted 3 months ago, it is forever lagging months behind the actual fuel oil prices.

Forward pricing is less transparent as spot pricing. To protect the interest of the consumers, it would be better to use the spot or futures pricings that are traded in public exchanges such as NYMEX.

Will SP & Power Generating Companies lose?
SP and Power Generating Companies will not lose out with any price set by EMA if the set price has been agreed upon. This is because SP and Power Generating Companies can always hedge against any future fuel oil price variations. SIA's hedging policy on jet fuel price is one of the good examples. On the other hand, if consumers were to be asked to pay higher fuel price today for the next 3 months and if SP and the Power Generating Companies could hedge the future price correctly, they stand to earn a good profit.

As no contract or hedge will be able to cover all future price variations, at some point, consumers inevitably will have to pay for any higher fuel cost incurred by SP and Power Generating Companies. This is when EMA can come in to mitigate. Asking the consumers to pay electricity rate upfront based on a forward contract price is not necessary the way to protect the consumers’ interest.

Conclusion
EMA has chosen the forward fuel oil pricing to be "peg" to evaluate electricity rate but this pricing has lesser transparency. They also used forward fuel oil pricing quoted 3 months ago. There will always remain a question as to whether this forward fuel oil pricing is a good peg to protect the consumers' interest.

Afternote: EMA was referring to SWAP fuel oil pricing as Forward Fuel Oil pricing

1. Confusion in the use of Forward and Swap Fuel Oil Pricing
2. Is it fair to use Forward Fuel Oil Pricing?

Repairing Ultrasonic Humidifier

2008-10-03T01:12:00.000-07:00

2 October 2008

Ultrasonic humidifiers have been used extensively in temperate as well as in tropical countries. They are used to keep room humidity at comfortable level. They are pretty cheap and simple to operate. They need little maintenance except for the frequent topping up of the water. This article will describe the workings of various electrical and electronic components and touch on how to repair some common faults.

What is Ultrasonic humidifier (UH) ?
Please refer to this article

What are the components inside the humidifier?
The humidifier consist of the following components
a) Control Panel (analogue or digital)
b) Mechanical fan
c) Water container and water level sensor
d) Electronic ultrasonic Generator
e) The piezo-electric transducer

How do these work?

a) Control Panel
Analogue or digital type. This panel will allow users to control the amount of mists generated and/or speed of the fan. Some humidifiers have built-in humidistat that will regulate the amount of mist to a preset control;

b) Mechanical fan
This is usually a small mechanical fan used to distribute the mists. It is made from using a small single-phase shaded pole a.c. motor with a centrifugal fan attached.
c) Water container and water level sensor (aka float switch)
The water container is usually an inverted container that can hold about 4 to 5 litres of water, enough for one day’s operation. The top end of the container is always sealed such that as water is being drawn from the container, it will create a vacuum on top of the container which will hold the water above the water level. All UH has a water level sensor or float switch that will stop the operation of the humidifier when the water level is low.

d) Electronic Ultrasonic Generator
This usually consists of a power switching transistor arranged as a Colpitts oscillator to provide power to the piezo-electric transducers. The oscillating frequencies are around 0.8 MHz to 1.7 MHz.

e) The Piezo-Electric Transducer
Connected to the output of the electronic ultrasonic generator is the peizo-electric transducer, which looks like a 50 cts coin or a lithium battery of that size.

During the humidification process, the peizo-electric transducer will vibrate at ultrasonic speed and water will be broken up into mists of 1 to 3 microns when they come into contact with the vibrating transducer.

What Can Go Wrong?
When the humidifier stop working, it could be due to many factors but this article will concentrate on one of the most common problem: the humidifier is working but it is just not strong enough to create the mist. Some water circulation is seen on top of the transducer.

There are a few reasons:
a) Clogged Transducer
This normally don’t happen if one uses soft water as recommended and cleans the transducer often. However, should a de-scaling required, do not use any chemical or soap or scrap the transducer surface with any hard objects. They might attack or damage the thin coatings of the transducer. A soft brush, brushing the surface may be sufficient. If this cannot remove the scaling, try some soft cleaners such as alcohol or other soft cleaners and rub against the surface of the transducer softly.

Handle the transducer with care. Transducers are made of ceramics. They are hard and very brittle. They will break into pieces once they fell onto the floor.

One can buy replacement ceramic disc from some aquarium shops that sell mist makers for fish tanks. They are packed together a key as shown and they are pretty cheap.

b) If the cleaning of the transducer does not work, it is likely that the oscillator may be at fault. It might be due to the following reasons:

1) Faulty Power Supply Unit
The power supply is from a 35-40 volts power transformer. This power is fed to a set of 4 diodes that form a rectifier bridge. The output of the bridge is filtered by a smoothing capacitor in the range of 2 to 50 uF (C5 or capacitor connected immediately after the bridge). If this smoothing capacitor is faulty, it will not deliver enough d.c. power to the oscillator circuit

2) Faulty Oscillator
The capacitors that form the oscillator could have been faulty and as a result, the oscillator is oscillating at other frequencies that could not deliver enough power to the transducer

3) Fault Power Switching Transistor

If this transistor is faulty, it is likely that oscillator will not work. Check the transistor for proper operation. Not every transistors are made the same for operation. Equivalent transistor may not work properly.

Schematic Circuit of other Brand
Note: If you find schematic diagram of other brands, please email me.

4) Bad Contact at the Transducer
The transducer is usually connected to the circuit through a spring to allow the transducer free to vibrate. Bad electrical contact between the spring and the transducer may cause the unit to stop working. Dismantle the transducer and polish the contact surfaces at the transducer and the spring to ensure good electrical contact.

Related Articles
1. Soft Water Supply for Ultrasonic Humidifiers
2. Cut Electricity Bills by up to 90%

Cut Your Cooling Bills by 50% to 90%

2008-09-30T21:42:00.000-07:00

1 October 2008

Introduction
Electricity rate in Singapore went up by 21% from 1 October 2008 from $0.26 per kWh to $ 0.30 per kWh. It is likely that this rate will remain high because of the ever increasing higher energy consumption that has driven up the energy price. We are addicted to comfort living and working nowadays. This article will tell how one could use available gadgets in the market to get some desired cooling and to cut electricity consumption by as much as 90% at the same time.

How?
a) Cut up to 50% by reducing the space of cooling and by introducing spot cooling. Please refer to article for this method ;
b) Cut up to 90% by using ultrasonic humidifiers (UH) and fans for direct cooling. This article will concentrate on how this can be done.

What is Ultrasonic Humidifiers (UH)?
It is an electro-mechanical device that can generate aerosol mists, much like the steam vapour that we produce when we boil the water. UH is cheap and easily available in Supermarkets, Homefix etc. They cost around $ 80 to $ 300 per unit.

How does UH work?
UH has 3 basic components:-
a) an ultrasonic vibration unit to generate the fine mists;
b) a small mechanical fan to distribute the mists and
c) a water container

The more sophisticated ones may have various controls for the fan speed and humidity adjustments. The heart of UH is a piezo-electric transducer that looks like a 50 cts coin or a Lithium Battery cells of that size. This transducer is electronically driven to vibrate at frequencies in the range of 0.8 MHz to 1.7 MHz. When water comes into contact with the vibrating transducer, the water is immediately broken down into fine mist, about 1 to 3 micron in diameter. Unlike boiling of water, no heating is required to produce this mist and therefore, little energy is used for the operation. A medium sized UH would consume only about 50 Watts of electricity.

How Effective is the UH Cooling?
UH will not be able to cool a room to the comfort of an air-conditioning unit especially in a hot and humid environment like Singapore. However, its direct cooling effect is much better than an electric fan. This cooling feels like when we are next to a strong water stream when we are in a shower.
Normally, Singapore's ambient air temperature stays around 23 -34 oC with humidity varies from 60% in the afternoon to 100% during rainy days. One can expect UH to lower the cooling temperature by 2 to 4 0C according to the following table.

UH will work better under a high ambient temperature and low humidity environment. Further cooling effect can be achieved if a strong mechanical fan can be used to create Flash Cooling.

What are the other Advantages?
Besides saving electricity, the unit will operate quietly with very little maintenance except for the frequent topping up of water as it evaporates. For those who constantly stare at computer screens, the higher room humidity will help them keep their eyes moist to prevent “dry eye” problem. Because UH operates at ultrasonic frequencies, it should have some bacteria killing effects.

What are the Health Concerns?
UH operates in frequencies between 0.8 to 1.7 MHz. This range of frequency is known to have effect of killing germs or microbes . However, there were no evidence that commercial UH also have these effects.

UH, like all equipment, will require regular maintenance to keep the unit hygienically clean. Legionnaire's bacteria , said to be found in water systems such as cooling towers and evaporative condensers, has not been reported in UH applications.

What about People with Rheumatism?
Scientists have found that weather or temperatures and humidities variation doesn’t cause rheumatism and doesn’t damage joints but they did find that weather does affect the severity of rheumatic pain. This is because bones, tendons, muscles, and joints have different densities and expand or contract differently when exposed to drops or rises in temperature and humidity. These weather sensitve people may found it uncomfortable with this kind of cooling.

What Water to be Used?
Ordinary tap water can be used if they are soft water (contained less minerals); however, distilled water is recommended by most manufacturers. Hard water has been found to be not suitable for UH because they have bicarbonates and sulfates that will form scaling to "kill" the transducer.

Distilled water is expensive although there are other alternatives. It may be more cost effective to use ordinary tap water and have the piezo-electric transducer replaced regularly.

Getting soft water from air-conditioning units is one good alternative to save money.

What size of a UH Unit should I purchase?
There is a co-relationship between the moisture of room air and the additional moisture to be added to achieve the desired cooling effect. One could use a psychromatic chart to determine the number and the unit sizes if one wishes to cool the whole room. However, for the purpose of achieving a direct cooling and not room cooling, a medium size UH that is capable of delivering about 400 ml/hr has been used successfully.

Related Articles
1. Soft Water Supply for Ultrasonic Humidifiers
2. Repairing Ultrasonic Humidifiers

2008-09-29T16:04:00.000-07:00

30 Sept 2008

Is 7% losses on 29 Sept 08 the Largest in DOW?

The losses of about 7% on 29 Sept 2008 is not the largest in DOW's history. The following table will show that there are about 18 times that DOW lose more 7% or more. The last time was in 17 Sept 2001 when DOW lose 7.13%, after the terrorist attack on 11 Sept 2001. Google showed that DOW had done 368 mil which is 150% of the average volume of 240 mil. on 29 Sept 2008.

As for the gains, there are about 19 times that DOW has gained more than 7% as shown in the following table. The last gain of larger size was in 21 Oct 87. That time DOW gained a hefty 10%.

2008-09-28T03:38:00.000-07:00

27 Sept 2008

Documentary Film of The Stock Market Crash in 1929

The full video come in 5 parts, each about 4 minutes. Click the button to view the various parts. To return to this page after viewing, click "Back" button

If you are in a hurry and prefer a condensed version that contains only the documentary, click here to play (8 minutes)

2008-09-26T03:10:00.000-07:00

26 Sept 2008

Interesting videos about the WallStreet Bailouts...

Video 1: Bush Sounds the Alarm

Video 2: THEY WANT MAMA

Video 3: Let's Play "WALLSTREET BAILOUT"

2008-09-24T22:02:00.000-07:00

26 Sept 2008

This is an interesting video that attempts to talk about how money was created and manipulated in the history of United States.
It is an old documentary made before 1996; but many points raised in the video are quite relevant in today's context.

Note that this video is about 3 hours long and the information contained therein have not been verified but it is entertaining. The video pointed out that it was meant only for educational purpose so that people would be aware of how US money was created and manipulated.

For those who just wanted to know about:

a) the Crash in October 1929 that was described in the video (about 5 minutes);
b) the Federal Reserve Board of United State is a quasi government organisation. It was said that Goldman Sac and Lehman Brothers are two of the stockholders. (10 minutes);
c) the Market Crash is not the Cause of a Recession (1.5 minutes)

Follow this link

Short Clip of Money Maker

2008-09-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

This short clips are part of the film "Money Maker" widely circulated in the Net for public viewing. The audience are advised to check the facts and verify themselves before taking any further action.

Video 1: Federal Reserve Board, a quasi government organisation (10 minutes)

It was said that Goldman Sac and Lehman Brothers are two of the stockholders.

Video 2: The Crash in October 1929 (about 5 minutes)

Video 3: Market Crash Not the Cause of a Recession (1.5 minutes)

2008-09-20T00:11:00.000-07:00

20 Sept 2008

Introduction

When investment giant, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy, some local investors received calls from DBS Bank, warning them that their investment in the DBS High Notes 5 may be at risk and the investors may only get a portion of their investment back or none at all. Some had invested S$50,000 while other had invested much more.

What is DBS High Notes ?
DBS High Notes are structured “first-to-default” credit linked notes, linked to a basket of stocks traded in SGX or NYSE or other World markets. The companies of these stocks usually have a minimum credit rating of A+ by Standard and Poor. It is designed for investors who are mostly clients of DBS's priority banking unit. It is an alternative means for these investors to participate in stock market investment. DBS has more than 150 different types of structured investment as indicated in their Website

What is DBS High Notes 5?
DBS High Notes 5 is a 5-1/2 year structured product linked to eight underlying stocks that includes:-

a) Goldman Sachs;
b) Morgan Stanley;
c) Merrill Lynch;
d) Macquarie Bank and
e) Lehman Brothers.

DBS High Notes 5 was issued in 2007 and the maturity date is 16 Nov 2012. It is based on Singapore Dollars.

How Do They Payout?
DBS will invest on behalf of the investors and pay interests to the investors at a rate of 3.5% - 5% per annum depending on the contract. In the case of High Notes 5, 5% per annum. The interest payment will stop when DBS redeems the Notes or when a Credit Event occurs. Normally, investors will receive 100% of their principal amount at final maturity;

but when there is a Credit event, the Notes will terminate automatically and the investors will receive only the Credit Event Redemption Amount(CERA).

What is a Credit Event?
The occurrence of any one of the following events to any stock in the basket as determined by DBS Bank Ltd, as a Calculation Agent for the Notes:-

(a) Bankruptcy
(b) Failure to Pay
(c) Restructuring

According to the contract, the Calculation Agent has the sole and absolute discretion as to when and whether to declare a Credit Event in respect of the Notes

How Do They Work Out the Credit Event Redemption Amount (CERA)?
The amount will be calculated based on the following formula:

(Principal Amount x Final Price) - Unwind Costs

What is Final Price ?
The Final Price is the price of the stocks in the basket expressed as a percentage determined by the Calculation Agent; most probably, worked out based on the current stock price

What is Unwind Costs?
The loss incurred by DBS, as determined by the Calculation Agent, for terminating, liquidating, obtaining or re-establishing any swap agreement, foreign exchange transaction, financing arrangement, investment or other financial transaction entered into by or on behalf of DBS in relation to the issuance of the Notes.

What will be the CERA for High Notes 5 ?
To be worked out. According to Straits Times report on 20 September, High Notes 5 investors may get back some money by Credit Event Redemption Date, which is not later than 37 payment Days after the determination of the Final Price (the Valuation Date).

Disclaimer:
Information here is for sharing and learning. It is not intended to give any advice on price of any stock or movement or trend of any index. If a price or movment of a stock/index is given, it is only intended for illustration. The reader shall verify the information given here before using them.

2008-09-19T02:35:00.000-07:00

19 Sept 2008

Is Today's Gain the Highest in History?

Today's gain of about 6% is not the highest in STI history. The highest gain was recorded to be about 14% in 1998 when we have IMF and Asian Crisis. In 1998, we have about 8 days when market gained more than 5%. Then, STI fell 1,300 points from 2,240 on 17 Jan 96 to 827 on 4 Sept 98, roughly about 60% over a 2 1/2 year period.

(Double click for enlarged table)

As for the losses, we have a record loss of about 10% on a black Monday in 1989. Record losses were also found in the 1997/98 crisis, when we have volatile trade with single day drop of more than 7% in 4 occasions. Note that we have the very first one of about 9% in this bear market. There may be more to come.

(Double click for enlarged table)

2008-09-10T22:45:00.000-07:00

5 Sept 2008

Bear Flag in Our Backyard

Did anyone notice that we have a bear flag in our backyard ?

The attached chart shows that the flag pole of the bear flag pattern started to form sometime in 29 Oct 07; it was completed on 21 Nov 07. The length of the flag pole was about 515 points. The bear flag took the STI up 300 points from 3,300 on 21 Nov 07 to 3,600 on 11 Dec 07.

(click to enlarge for viewing)

According to the description of bear flag pattern, the target point shall be the length to the flag pole, measuring from the bottom of the flag. This target point is 2,790 which was exactly where STI had landed on 17 March 08. It rebounded to 3,200 for a total gain of about 400 points before heading south again. Since then, 2 wedges have been formed and both were broken.

By the look of the sharper fall being developed recently, STI may be going to create another bear flag pattern on its way.

Bear flag in Weekly Chart

To filter out the noises, it would be interesting to see how the chart will look like in a weekly chart.

(click to enlarge for viewing)

As shown, the weekly chart also forms interesting bear flag pattern except that the daily chart’s bear flag has now disappeared. What was shown is another bear flag pattern that had the pole top formed since 12 October 2007 @ 3,870. The bottom of the pole was completed on 20 March 2008 @ 2,825. The total length of the flag pole is about 1050. The flag took STI to a high of 3,250 on 9 May 2008.

Again, if the traders had their ways and the bear market shall continue for a few years, the target of STI could be 1,800, which is about 1050 (the length of the flag pole) away from the bottom of the flag pole.

Take note that 1,800 is a very strong support and it is also around 0.618 of the Fibonacci retracement level.

Other related sites

http://chart-patterns.netfirms.com/bearflag.htm

2008-09-04T02:29:00.000-07:00

4 Sept 2008

Why STI Was Falling More than HSI, Shanghai and other Indexes?

MAS announced various economy data yesterday; some of which are important such as CPI and PPI figures; but, these figures were ignored in the past and why so different today? DOW closed positive at 0.14% during the night, Nikkei closed down 1%, HSI closed down 0.95% and Shanghai closed flat but look at STI, closed down 3%. All these while, STI has been tracking the movement of DOW, HSI and Shanghai indexes from a distance; for example, when HSI dipped 2%, STI dipped only 1%.

There is no obvious reason except for the possibility that the traders are waiting for some bad news to come because they were cautiously optimistic during the past trading days, cumulating some gains. Today is the right moment; poor economy data plus a Head and Shoulder pattern shown in the attached chart.

Notice that STI broke one of the neckline of the Head and Shoulder pattern on 7 August and the market responded with an increased volume of trade and today, it just repeated the same.

If the STI traders had a choice, they would set a new low target for STI. It is often said that whenever a neck line of a head and shoulder pattern is broken, stock price would further dip from the break point by the same price amount measured from the tip of the head to the neckline. This new low target happened to be 1,600. This target might become a reality if this bear market were allowed to be continued for a number of years.

(Doubleclick for enlarged view)

2008-08-15T23:22:00.000-07:00

World Major Index Comparison
doubleclick image for enlarged view

13 Feb 2009

30 Jan 2009

The US 10-year bond yield stayed high since the 1st day of the new year, 2009. It would appear that investors were not interested in the bonds and directed their investments elsewhere..

23 Jan 2009

17 Jan 2009

10 January 2009
The 2nd week of the new year was not good for US equity. DOW and S&P slipped into the red as compared to the monthly average and Nasdaq was the strongest among the 3 US indexes, still maintaining its gain for the week. KLSE and Jakarta climbed to the 1st and 2nd position. The US 10 year bond yield had appreciable gains, indicating that investors are losing interest in Bonds.

2 Jan 2009
"A good start in the new year will bring good luck to the market", so said many investors. This is exactly what the investors have done. World indexes shot up with the European and US market taking the lead, gaining more than 6% compared to the monthly average. STI and Hang Seng have made reasonable progress except for Shanghai, which lost about 7% compared to its monthly average. The continued rise in the 10 year US bond yield supported the US equity market.

28 December 2008
It has been a terrible Christmas week for World equity markets. Many indexes have lost their gains and left only about 30% of them in the black. Jarkata, Nikkei and KLSE maintained or increased their gains to clinch the top 3 position. STI slipped to 10th position after having lost about 5% of its shines. It is hope that year 2009 will be a better year for World equity markets.

21 December 2008
STI advanced to 6th position from last week's 10th position and Hang Seng Slipped for the week to 4th position. Kospi clinged the 1st position after having gained 10% compared to the 4 weeks' average. On the other hand, the US and the European markets have slipped their position in the week. It is noted that Australia, Japan and Malaysian markets have turned positive in the 4 weeks average. Altogether, 17 out of the 19 indexes tracked have registered gains in the week.
13 December 2008
Hang Seng is still in top position although it had shed more than 5% on Friday when all Asian Market fell because US Senate rejected the US Auto bailout bills. STI dipped more than 3% to 1,740 but it had advanced to the 10th position because it had less volatile sessions in the week. The US and Erupean markets, except for Stockholm and FTSE, had poorer performance and slipped to lower position in the week. Looking ahead, the Asian markets could have better performance in the coming weeks.6 December 2008
Shanghai and Hang Seng has taken over the lead in the week with the US counterpart following closely behind. Shanghai gained an appreciable 6% and Hang Seng, 2% as compared to the 4 week average. The US market performed relatively well since the 3-4% hike on Friday. The rest of the World market appears to be in negative territories. They might do catch up from next week.
30 November 2008
The US and European market staged a surprise triple digit gain after the thanksgiving holiday in a 1/2 day trading session last Friday. This gain lifted the US and European market to the front as far as the index rating is concerned. With the better than expected Black Friday retail sale figure, one would expect the US and European market to perform even better in the coming week. As for the Asian market, the have slipped their position with STI going back to the 16th position, except for Hang Seng, which had capture the 1st position with continuous gain over the past 1 week. Bombai was worst hit because of the terrorist events which killed over hundred and injured more than 300 people when terrorists sieged the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. The event has just only ended. 21 Nov 2008
Asian Markets soared in the week in the process of replacing US and European markets to take the lead. Many Asian countries have been given out stimulus packages. Shanghai was still in the lead with a wopping gain of 7.5% compared to a month's average. STI and Hang Seng made progressive gains with US markets also improved against the European counterparts.

15 November 2008

It is not a very good week for the World's equities. The indexes dropped with only Shanghai and FTSE stayed position compared to the 4 weeks' average. The US markets are testing their low again. STI shed about 4% and slipped from 6th postion to now the 12th position. All markets are now way below its 52 weeks's average by a margin of more than 25%. Shanghai, Hang Seng, Jakarta, Bombai, Taiwan were hit the hardest with losses of more than 40% compared to the 52 weeks' average.

8 November 2008

The Asian stocks have advanced and caught up with the European and US markets which had huge losses last week. STI gained 0.7% compared to the 4 weeks' average and clinched the 6th position in the chart. On the other hand, DOW slipped to 7th position from 3rd position after losing more than 3% compared to its 4 weeks' average. The Hang Seng made progress also in the week.

1 November 2008

The US and European markets ended the month with a good gain. They were up more than 1% compared to the 4 weeks' average. Their Asian cousins, however, are still struggling to get ends meet for some reasons. They were down 2 to 11% compared to the 4 weeks' average. As usual, the table will turn slowly and soon the Asian markets will be up and the US and European markets will be down again.

24 Oct 2008
The US 10 year Bond yield still remained high, meaning that traders are going for some other type of investment or just keeping the cash in hand. STI performed badly in the week and slided to the second last position with Korea's KOSPI in the last. US and European markets appeared to have done better than the Asian counter parts although KLSE held on to its position for quite some time.
11 October 2008
lor=#333333>It is not that the Hang Seng or STI's performances improved but rather the European and US markets deteriorated last week. STI and Heng Seng climbed several notches for STI to reach the 8th position. It is presently down 17% compared to the average about 1 month ago. Shanghai appeared to have recovered from its "shocks" and is now gaining momentum. The position of the various indexes appears to go in cycles. As soon as one index went down to bottom, it would come up to clinch the top position later and vice versa.

4 Oct 2008
It is US's turn to take the punishment now that their indexes has slipped badly with Nasdaq now in the last position, slipping from 7th position just about 2 weeks ago. STI and Hang Seng inched up a notch in the week with Kospi (Seoul) clearly the winner. Nikkei's performance was not too good in the week, falling from 12th to 16th position.
27 Sept 2008

The Shanghai traders must be happy when the Shanghai index jumped about 4.5% in the week compared to the average for the month. It is now in the 1st spot, pushing other indexes down. The Australian performed rather well and managed to recover some of the gain for the week. As for STI, its performance has deteriorated from 12th position after losing about 6.5% compared to the average for the month.

20 Sept 2008
STI improved its position from the 15th to 12th as it gained 2.1% to reduce its losses from 4.9% to 2.8% in the month. The US and French markets were the top gainers with US 10 year yield in the top position, gaining about 2.45% compared to a month ago. This suggested that traders were selling bonds and buying either equities or commodities as the markets rallied.

13 Sept 2008
Bombai slided to 13th position after losing about 500 points in the week.. KLSE and Swiss Exchange lost quite a lot as well. This allowed Dow, FTSE to climb up. KOSPI of Seoul had impressive gain of about 70 points or about 5%. STI stayed put, although a tad better than Hang Seng. Note that the 10-year bond yield has gone up; may be smart money is going for Commodities stocks. Overall, the equity market is still underwater.

Disclaimer:

If a price or movment of a stock/index is given, it is only intended for illustration. The reader shall verify the information given here before using them.

Cleaning the SamSung ML 1610 Laser Printer

2008-06-30T05:56:00.000-07:00

30 September 2008

Laser Printers are getting cheaper. They work well and need very little maintenance except for changing the toner cartridge. At times, there may be a need to clean the lens of the Laser Scanning Unit (LSU). This article tells how to clean this lens which was not covered properly in the Samsung’s printer manuals or servicing guide.

FAQ

What is this LSU unit?
It is the “printer head” of the printer. Instead of emitting ink, the LSU emits a laser beam, directing it at the drum of the toner cartridge so that electrostatic charge can be transferred onto the paper to form a “temporary glue” to pick up the carbons as the paper passes through the drum.

Why need to clean the unit?
Sometimes, when we move our printer around with toner cartridge still inside, some toner powder could have fallen on to the lens of the LSU. This will weaken the laser beam and prevent electrostatic charge being transferred onto the paper; as a result, the printing either got missing characters or blank vertical lines.

Where is this LSU unit located?
This is where the manual or the servicing guide wasn't very useful. The unit is hidden from view and it is located on top of the toner cartridge. A proper tool such as the dentist's mirror would have to used to see the lens. The lens is protected by a rectangular plastic window of about 100 mm x 10 mm. (Picture shows the LSU with the printer cover removed)

How to clean this lens?
As the lens is made of plastic material, it may not be advisable to use any form of cleaning chemical that would attack the plastic. The recommendation is just to use a cotton wool without any chemical.

There are 2 ways to do this cleaning job:-

a) Without stripping the printer unit
1. Switch off the power of the printer
2. Remove the toner cartridge
3. From the front cover, use finger to feel the rectangular window that protects the lens; paying attention not to touch the lens

4. Use a clean cotton wool and insert it into the window. Gently clean the lens with horizontal movement. (picture shown with top cover removed)

5. Change the cotton wool if necessary until no more carbon or dirt is seen on the cotton wool.

b) Removal of printer cover to clean the lens
This is for those who are mechanically savvy . To remove the cover,

a) Switch off the printer and remove the printer cable and the power cable
b) Remove the front cover from its hinges and unscrew the 2 screws in the front of the top cover;

c) Turn the printer around to the back cover and unscrew the 4 screws that attached the top cover and the back cover to the printer

d) Remove the back cover gently to expose the electronic board. Try not to touch the electronic board

e) Turn the printer around with the electronic board facing towards you and use your left and right hand fingers to slightly ply open the bottom part of the top cover where the 2 front screws were located; at the same time, try to gently lift the top cover off the printer. The top cover should come off from the printer in one piece
f) Locate the LSU and clean the lens with cotton wools
g) Reassemble the covers in reverse order.

Reference

Exploded view and part list

2008-03-01T17:52:00.000-08:00

More free and interesting animated GIF to liven up Discussion Boards can be download by clicking the "Free Animated GIF for Forum" on the right drop down panel. Right click picture and select "Save Picture As" to download. For larger picture, doubleclick the picture, then right click to "Save Picture As"
Download Avatar of the same picture from here and here

Repair Damage Master Boot Record & Boot Sectors

2008-02-25T06:23:00.001-08:00

Introduction
Very often, computers cannot boot properly because there is a damaged Master Boot Record or Boot Sector; also, computers may run slow and may sometimes just re-start for no good reasons. This article will describe a way to repair that damaged record, boot sectors and the bad disk media.

FAQ
1. What is Master Boot Record (MBR) and Boot Sector?
When computer starts up, the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) will start a small program stored in the first sector of the Master hard disk. This program, called the MBR, has a partition table that will tell which partition will be used for booting and transfer control to the partition boot sector of that partition to continue with the booting process. .

2. How Can MBR & Boot Sectors Get Damaged?
MBR and boot sectors can be damaged by virus attacks and sometimes, by power glitches or faulty disk medias.

3. What is the Common Messages for Damaged MBR?
One will receive messages such as "Invalid partition table when loading the operating system" or "Missing operating system". In some cases, one does not get any message at all, depending on the make of the system.

4. Would the Existing Files and Partitions Be Erased?
The repair would not erase existing files and partitions that have been created in the existing drive or the multi-partitions in one drive provided the partitions are of the standard partitions.

5. How Do We Repair ?
There are several ways to carry this repair to MB, of which, the most common one is to use the Recovery Console of the Window XP system.

Preparation
One would need a copy of the XP installation disk. For those who does not have a XP installation disk, one can download filies from this Microsoft Website to make 6 floppy disks. One can also make CD by following the advice from this reader who had prepared a package which contains instructions in the readme file.

Next Steps
1. Detection of Hard Disk
Boot up the computer and in the first screen, hit Del or F2 or F10 depending on your computer make to get into the BIOS Setup Page. In the Main page, one should see the Hard disk being detected by the BIOS. If there is no harddisk detected, the harddisk could have a loose connection or the hard disk is faulty;

2. Set Boot Device Priority
If a harddisk has been detected, navigate to the Boot menu and set Boot Device Priority to start from CD or DVD drive;

3. Enter Recovery Console
a) Boot up the computer with the Windows XP installation disk in CD/DVD drive. At the prompt to "press a key to start the computer from CD/DVD drive", do so quickly;

b) After a few minutes, one should reach the following screen:

However, when PC has SATA drives, XP installation software may not be able to find it and display the screen shown. This is because XP, being an older technology, does not have the drivers for SATA drives. One would have to incorporate SATA drivers in the installation process.

c) At the prompt, press the R key to enter the Recovery Console.

4. Start Recovery Console
a) When Recovery Console started up, it will prompt one to enter a number corresponding to the Windows XP installation that one needs to repair. In most cases, one will enter "1" (which may be the only choice). If one presses ENTER without typing a number, Recovery Console will quit and restart your computer.

b) Enter your Administrator password. If one doesn't enter the correct password, the process cannot continue.

5) Check and Repair Damaged Sectors
While in Recovery Console and at the DOS prompt, the first thing to do is to check and repair the disk drives for damaged disk sectors.

In the prompt, type "chkdsk c: /r (without quote, same as rest. Change C: to other drive number to be checked) and hit enter. "Chkdsk" will repair bad sectors, lost clusters, cross-linked files, and directory errors caused by system crashes or freezes, power glitches, incorrectly turning off and other problems.

This process may take about 10 minutes to scan a harddisk depending on the capacity and the condition of the hard disk. It might take longer (more than 1 hour) if it detects multiple bad sectors; however, if Chkdsk takes much longer than 1 hours, it may indicate hard drive had gone bad. A good disk drive will take only minutes to complete the scanning.

If there is a bad sector detected, Chkdsk will respond "CHKDSK is performing additional checking or recovery" and may run a second scan automatically.

Sometimes, it might be necessary to dismantle the harddisk and remove the print circuit board(PCB) to clean the contacts between the PCB and the harddisk. After many years of operation, these contacts may need to be cleaned using contact cleaner.

6) Repair MBR
At the next DOS prompt, type "fixmbr" and then verify that one wants to proceed. The damaged MBR will be replaced with a good one from the XP installation disk. The user will be prompted if MBR detects more than one partition in the hard disk irrespective of the type of partitions..

7) Repair Boot Sectors
At the next prompt, type "fixboot" and then verify to proceed.

8) At the next prompt, type "Exit" to exit Recovery Console. Type "Ctl-Alt-Del" to reboot.

NOTE: Should one has a dual boot or multiple booting system installed in the computer, the procedures to repair the MBR and boot sector would be different as the MBR program would be different. For example dual booting of XP and Vista, one would have to amend the Boot Configuration Data with VistaBoot Pro after one has successfully repaired the MBR/Boot sector.

8) Making Recovery Console Available
One can make the Recovery Console always available during startups. With the XP installation disk in drive, click start button then run, in the drop down box, enter "F:\I386\WINNT32.EXE /cmdcons", where "F:" is the drive that has the XP installation disk.

The Recovery Console will always appear as one startup option when one turns on the computer. The default timing of the option is 30 sec. One can adjust this timing from the "startup and recovery" section of the advance tab in the "System Properties" windows.

Windows XP System Restore

2008-02-21T07:34:00.000-08:00

Introduction
One of the easiest ways to get rid of viruses and to repair the XP operating system is to restore the computer's operating system to a restore point saved earlier. The article describes how.

FAQ
1. What is a System Restore?
System Restore is a built-in feature of Windows XP. System Restore takes snapshots of the registry of the computer system and saves them as restore points. It is for one to return the computer to an earlier state if one has a system failure or other major problem with the computer. If one can restore the system to an earlier working restore point, one would not need to reinstall the operating system.

2. How Often System Save Restore Points
Restore points are always created when one installs new device drivers or some application or when one performs an update of the operating system. These points are created without prompting. By default, the restore points can be created on a daily basis. One can also manually create restore points.

3. Would One Lose All the Data ?
System Restore will preserve all the data including Word documents, e-mail settings and messages , Internet favorite list and other data. One would not lose any data; however, one might not be able to use those application programs installed after the date of the restore point.

4. How much Disk Space One will need?
About 200 MB of free hard disk space to store the data gathered if one is creating a restore point. Performing a system restore to an earlier date will not need any additional free hard disk space.

Create System Restore Point Manually
To create system restore point manually:
1. Start the System Restore Wizard as an Administrator. Use either:
a) Click Start, then run. In the dropdown box, enter “Restore” (without quotes). In the new screen, doubleclick strui.exe or
b) Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore.

In the new screen, select "Create a Restore Point" and in the next screen, give some description about the restore point. Date of restore point would be automatically inserted.

Turn on and off Automatic Restore Point Feature
Click Start button, then click run. In the dropdown box, enter "sysdm.cpl" (without quotes) to bring up the System Properties widndow. Select the System Restore tab and check or uncheck the system restore features. When system restore is set on, the system will store a copy of the working registry everyday. Older copy will be erased.

Perform a System Restore
Method 1. Use Last Know Good Configuration
Reboot computer. At the first starting screen, press F8. Use arrow keys to navigate to “Last Known Good Configuration, and then press ENTER. The system will be restored to the last restore point where computer has been successfully started.

Method 2. Use System Restore
1. Start System Restore Wizard as an Administrator. Use either:
a) Click Start, then run. In the dropdown box, enter “Restore” (without quotes). In the new screen, doubleclick strui.exe or
b) Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore.
2. On the Welcome screen, click "Restore my computer to an earlier time", and then click Next.
3. On the Select a Restore Point page, select the date from the calendar that shows the point to restore to and then click Next.

4. On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, verify that the correct restore point is chosen, and then close any open programs.
5. Click Next if one is ready to proceed or click Back to change the restore point.
6. The computer will shut down automatically and reboot. On reboot, one will see the Restoration Complete page, and then click OK.

If System Restore doesn't work in Normal Mode, it might work in Safe Mode. To use System Restore in Safe Mode, press the F8 key during reboot and choose Safe Mode. If the restoration also failed in Safe Mode, the system restoration files stored in the harddisk could have been corrupted.

Other Related Sites
1. Microsoft Windows XP System Restore.

Remove Viruses Manually

2008-02-19T07:05:00.001-08:00

Introduction
There are viruses in the computer. Some scanner detected the virus and some don’t. The scanner I have cannot get rid of the viruses. What should I do next?

FAQ
1. Why My Scanner Cannot Get Rid of the Viruses?
The scanner might not have the databases of the viruses because it is new to the scanner; but some viruses are quite smart in that it can hide itself from detection once it resides in the memory. Some will lock themselves and prevent any detection; others might just restore the file when deleted.

2. What Are The Methods Recommended Here?
Manual detection and deletion. Windows has a Safe Mode to start up only few selected system components. As viruses are usually not part of the system components, it will not be started up and will remain dormant and therefore, one can detect and delete it.

3. What if the Virus is Part of the System File?
Sometimes, the viruses will disgust themselves and replace or embed in one of the system files which will be started up with the computer. This will also happen in the Safe Mode startup of the Computer. Once activated, it might prevent Windows from deleting them in the Safe Mode. Fortunately, Windows has Signature Verification and System File Check (sfc) programs that can verify the integrity of the system files and flag or replace them if necessary.

4. Can The Virus Disgust System File With The Signature?
Signature are digitally verified, it will be difficult for viruses to disgust themselves. The verification is supposed to protect the computer from virus attack but this is never fool proof. One might be able to find a virus that can disgust system file with signature.

Preparation
Ensure the one has a copy of the XP installation disk

Step By Step
Step 1. The First Step: Restore the Operating System
This should be the very first step. There are 2 ways described here. If the restoration by choosing the "Last Known Good Configuration" does not work, then choose the 2nd method and restore the operating system to an earlier date and if this very first step failed to get rid of the virus;

Step 2: Removal of Viruses Manually
1 Terminate Running Virus
a) Reboot and get into Safe mode (Pressing F8 in the start screen)
b) Sign in as Administrator
c) Unhide file scan by selecting Start>MyComputer>tools>Folder options>view, the select “show hidden files and folders”
d) Press “Crtl-Alt-Del” to get into Task Manager (See Appendix 2 if one cannot activate Task Manager), then click the “Processes” tab". One should see only about 10 to 11 files running. These are taskmgr.exe, explorer.exe, svchost,lsass.exe,services.exe. winlogon.exe,csrss.exe,smss.exe.system and system Idle Process. Should there be other files or user names, just select them and click “End Process” to terminate it. This will end only the running of the program and does not delete the program.

2. Check File Signature Verification
a) Click Start>Run and in the dropdown box, enter “Sigverif” and click OK. One would be greeted by the following screen:

In the screen, click “Start”. The program will check all system file for digital signature. On completion, View log by clicking “Advance” and the “Logging tab”. There should be no non-signature file appearing in the list. If there is, locate the file by a search and try to change the extension of this file or delete it if one is sure that it is a virus file.

3. Check MS Configuration
a) Click Start>Run and in the dropdown box, enter “msconfig” and click “OK”, In the next screen, select “Startup” Tab, uncheck as many startup item as you can. This will only prevent the items from starting up and will not delete the files. Should you have found the virus file that you have found earlier, uncheck it.

4. Delete the Virus File
If one has found suspicious files, it is time to delete the files or if you are not sure, change the extension of the files to "tmp". One can find these files by using the search file function. Once complete, restart the computer normally. Sign in as an Adminstartor or its Team member.

a) Check Integrity of System files
After rebooting normally, check the integrity of the system files by using System File Checking program (sfc). Note that this sfc cannot be used from Safe Mode. Now, click Start>Run and in the dropdown box, enter “sfc /scannow” and click "OK", one will be greeted by the following screen

If there is nothing happening after clicking the OK or the above screen does not appear, it could be because one does not have the permission or "certificate' to amend the protected system files. Goto Appendix 1 to obtain this certificate and restart the computer. One can refer to the website shown at this end of this article for other problems in using sfc.
On successful starting of sfc, the program will start checking the integrity of the system files and replace these files if necessary, It might prompt for the XP installation disk to copy some files.

b) Re-visit Processes Removal and Scanning of Signature File
Repeat the Processes of stopping the running of suspicious files and Scanning of Signature Files as in step 1 and step 2 above. . This time, one would find lot more files being run in the "Processes" tab folder of the Task Manager and also the log file of the Signature file scan will be much longer. Carefully scan through the list of files and note down the names and extension of the suspicious files. Then Google the web for information. If there are virus file found, try to stop them from running in the Task Manager and then, rename them or remove them if possible.

c) Ending Processes that Are Running
If one still fail to locate the virus, one can try isolating the virus by stopping each process that is running in the Task Manager in Normal Mode. Remove first those processes created by the users (identified by name) except for the "Explorer.exe", which is required for window navigation. Then follow by ending the processes of other file names. Avoiding ending the system processes because that will require user to re-start the computer. A list of such system processes can be found here. Note down the name of each process ended and check the computer's working. If the virus attack has stopped, then that must be the virus file. Rename or remove the file.

Stubborn Viruses Cannot Be Erased
In case one cannot remove the virus because it is locked and protected itself from being deleted. Note down the particular of the file, such as file folder, the file name and the extension.

1 Method 1. Floppy Disk
If one has a floppy disk drive :
a) Format the floppy disk
In Start>MyComputer, right click the A: and the select Format. Insert a new Floppy disk and check the “Create an MS-DOS Startup disk” box and start to format and create a bootable floppy disk.
b) Delete or Rename the Files
Restart the computer and hit the manufacturer’s prescribed key (F2, F10 or delete button) to enter the Boot Set up and change the Boot priority to start from floppy disk. In the boot up screen, one should see an A:> prompt. Use the following instructions:
a) To change drive from A: to C: Enter "C:" and hit Return
b) To change the folder : Enter "cd\" (without quotes, similar for the rest) at C:> prompt, followed by the name of the Folder and hit Return
c) To list the files in a director: Enter "dir/w" and hit Return
d) To delete a file: Enter "erase " , followed by the file name and extension with a space in between them (for example, "erase auto.bat"
e) To rename the file : Enter for example "rename auto bat auto.tmp" and hit Return.

2. Method 2: Bootable CD
If one does not have a floppy disk drive, one would have to either use
a) XP installation disk. Enter into the Recovery Console, in the DOS prompt, find the folder and delete the virus file. A copy of the Microsoft's guideline on the use of XP's Recovery Console and the commands can be found here
b) Make a bootable CD using Nero Express or similar CD burning. Select the “making of bootable CD” option to make this CD. Reboot into the CD, find the folder at the DOS prompt and delete or rename the virus file

3. Method 3. Make a Bart PE Bootable CD or KNOPPIX Linux CD
Make a bootable BartPE CD or KNOPPIX Linux CD and boot from the CD drive. Navigate the program to the folder to delete or rename the virus file. The BartPE is preferred because it is in Windows platform with many plug-ins available for virus scan and other programs.

Appendix 1: If sfc cannot run. Obtain Certificate
1. Click Start>Run and in the dropdown box, enter “mmc”. A “Console” screen will appear,

In the dropdown list of the file menu, select “Add/Remove Snap-in”. In the next screen, click “Add” and select “Certificates” in the dropdown list. In the new screen, select “Computer Account” and click “Next”. Finally, select “Local computer “ to complete.
2. Back to “Console screen” and in the right list, expand “Trusted Root Certificate Authorities” folder and double the “Certificate”, a list of certificates will be shown. Select “No Liability Accepted” and doubleclick to bring up the certificate and check to ensure that the expiry year is in 2004.
3. Export this certificate by selecting “Export” in the “All Tasks” dropdown after clicking the “Action” menu as shown. Save the certificate with a given name.
4. Back to the "Console" screen and in the Console's root directory, select “Trusted Root Certification Authority” and right click it to show a dropdown panel. Right click “All Tasks” and select “Import” to import the earlier certificate from the saved location.
Reboot the computer. The sfc function should now be working.

Appendix 2 : Ctl-Alt-Del Does not Bring up Task Manager screThe "Remove Task Manger" function has been enabled.
Window XP and 2000's Task Manager can be disabled by Administrator. If that is the case, Click Start and the Run, in the dropdown box, enter "gpedit.msc" (without quote) and click OK . One would be greeted by "Group Policy" window. In the left pane, expand the folder "User Configuration" and then the "Administrative Templates" . Click "Ctrl+Alt+Delete options". In the right pane, if the "Remove Task Manager" is enabled, doubleclick it and disable it in the new screen.Alternatively, for XP system one can use the following
a) Click Start then run, and in the dropdown box, copy and paste the following code: "REG add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableTaskMgr /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f" (without quote) and click OK. the screen will flash. Now check if Task Manager has been enabled.
b) Start NotePad, copy and paste the following text :

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]"DisableTaskMgr"=dword:00000000
Click "save as" in the File menu and save the file as "taskmgr.reg" in one folder, then find this file and doubleclick it to update the system registry.

Other Related Sites
1. Window's Protection Files (such as sfc) May Not Start
2. Information on Recovery Console by Microsoft
3. How to System Restore
4. Creating a Troubleshooting BartPE Bootable CD
5. Problems on the user of sfc /scanow
6. Files names in System Processes
7. Task Manager Disabled

Install XP in Vista Computers

2008-02-16T11:31:00.000-08:00

Introduction
There are 2 methods one can install XP operating system in the new PC/Notebook that has been preinstalled with Vista operating system.
Method 1: Replace Vista Entirely with XP Operating System
Method 2: Dual boot with XP and Vista in one computer

FAQ
1. Will the Installation Void Warranty?
Check with the manufacturer or its website. Some manufacturers have advised against downgrading to XP but most do not give indication about voiding warranty; also, some manufacturers like HP, will require users to re-install back the Vista operating system if the PC/Notebooks are to be sent back to them for repairs.

2. Do I Need Another Hard Disk for the Operation?
Not necessary. The PC/Notebook can be re-installed back to factory defaults any time if one has already make a copy of System Recovery Disk. However, it will facilitate the recovery and re-installation of the operating systems if there is another hard disk.

3. How difficult to Install the XP or Dual Boot?
It is not too difficult but XP system will need new drivers for the hard disk, network controller, sound system and other new devices in the new computer. This is because XP, being older technology, does not have these new drivers incorporated. Finding these XP drivers can be difficult if the manufacturer does not provide the support. Most computers will require a special driver for the newer SATA (Serial ATA) hard disk; otherwise, XP will not be able to find the hard disk during installation.

4. How to get Drivers if there is no Support?
One will have to depend on forums and discussion boards to get these drivers. "Google" with the model number and with words such as "XP drivers", one may be able to find some essential drivers.

5. How Can I Extract Drivers from Other PC?
If one can find suitable XP drivers in other PC/Notebook, one can extract the drivers and use them for installation. Please email for details on how to extract these drivers.

6. Will Dual Booting Slow down Vista?
A dual or multi-boot computer can only load one operating system at a time. The operating system will have full access to and the control of the RAM and the computer; therefore, its operation will not be affected by the other operating systems although they reside in the same machine.

Preparation
While one is still in Vista Operating System,
a) Download the SATA driver from the manufacturer’s site and save it in a floppy drive if one has a floppy drive; otherwise, one would have to slipstream the SATA driver into existing and create a new XP installation disk (see note1);.
b) Download the rest of XP drivers and keep them in a folder or CD (see note 2). The drivers could come in several forms. Many come with individual packages but there are some that come with compact format (with .info files). One can slipstream the drivers if they are in the latter format.
c) If one want to dual boot, download a copy of VistaBootPro from here or its Web page and save it in one of the folder in C:. Remember where you have saved this file.
d) Make a System Recovery Disk and back up the important data in the hard disk to the CDs or an external hard disk or thumbdrives. Important: One must make sure that the Sytem Recovery Disk will work by trying it out first. Also, make a copy of all the drivers available using this program.

Note 1: If the PC/Notebook's Boot Setup has a "Native SATA" mode. One can disable this mode without having to download and install the SATA driver.

Note 2: One could "slipstream" the SATA and the rest of XP drivers into existing and make a new XP installation disk.

Next Steps
Method 1: Replace Vista Entirely with XP Operating System
a) Boot from XP CD. One might have to change the boot sequence in the Boot Set up to allow booting from XP CD;
b) If SATA driver is required for the installation and if one did not "slipstream" the drivers, hit F6 when one see "'Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver".

Then, press "S" to specify additional device in the next screen. At the prompt, insert the floppy disk with the SATA driver, press enter to continue. The computer will further prompt for selected driver. Select "VIA Serial ATA RAID Controller (Windows XP)" to install the SATA driver and continue with the installation.
c) If one has slipstreamed the drivers, just continue with the installation until one reaches the following partitioning screen;

d) Select "D" to delete the partition. Window will prompt to confirm the selection. Select "L" to confirm and delete the partition.
e) Follow the instructions to create a new partition and subsequently, format the partition and then, proceed to complete the rest of the XP installation.
f) Remove the XP installation Disk and reboot the computer.
g) Proceed to install the rest of the XP drivers if one has not slipstreamed the drivers into the XP installation Disk (see note2).

Note1: If XP installation cannot find hard disk with the SATA driver, it could be an incorrect SATA driver or the hard disk's cable may not have been connected correctly.
Note2: If the XP drivers are in a compact format (see Preparation b), one can use the Device Manager to install these drivers following the instructions here. (ignore the part on the downloading of HP drivers). Device Manager has a function to search for the required drivers if it is led to the right folder.
Note2: For some computers, there are reports that XP would not start properly without one having to delete the hidden partition created by Vista for making the system recovery disk. XP may experience repeating booting process. In that case, try rewriting the Master Boot Record and Fixboot or erase the hidden partition.

II) Method 2: Dual boot with XP and Vista in 1 computer
a) Make a new partition in the hard disk for XP
b) Follow step a), b) and c) in Method 1 until one reaches the following partitioning screen:

c) If the new partition is shown as "Unpartitioned Space", then select the Unpartitioned space, press “C” to create and subsequently, format the partition. If prompted, choose NTFS as the file system.

d) Continue with the rest of the installation as per normal instruction;
e) Reboot. This time, Windows will reboot into XP instead of Vista operating system. This is because XP, being an earlier version, cannot recognize Vista and has overwritten Vista's Boot Configuration Data (BCD);
f) When XP completes its booting, one should see a C: for Vista operating system, D: for XP operating system after clicking the "Start" and the "Computer" icons;
g) Proceed to install the rest of the XP drivers if these have not been "slipstream" into the XP installation disk. Check the network for proper connection to Internet because VistaBootPro will ask one to download Microsoft .Net.Framework when it is reconfiguring the BCD.
h) Start VistaBootPro and reconfigure the BCD to re-activate Vista operating system.
i) Remove the XP installation disk from CD drive and reboot the computer. One should now see two systems, the XP and Vista, being displayed in the Windows Boot Manager. Select either one system to boot and complete the installation by adding all the necessary XP drivers.

Other Related Sites

1. Dual Boot HP TX 1209
2. Making New XP Installation Disk
3. Forum on Downgrading of TX1000

Disclaimer: Efforts have been made to present the author's experience in correct details. Users are advised to do further research and checks by themselves. The author is not responsible for any damage (which should not have happened) as a result of any use of information contained in this blog.

Create Word Picture Using PhotoShop

2008-02-14T19:48:00.000-08:00

Introduction
One can make a nice photo of oneself and create a word picture like this

How?
In the Adobe Photoshop
1. Create a Pattern from your picture
a) Open the picture
b) In the Edit menu, select Define Pattern
c) Save the pattern by clicking ok

2. Create the Word Life
a) Create New . Make sure you select Color Mode ; otherwise, the word would be in gray.
b) Type in the word Life
c) In the Edit menu, select Free transform
d) Drag the handles to resize the word Life

3. Create Pattern Overlay
a) double click the Text in the Layout window to bring up layout style window
b) Select Pattern overlay and doubleclick it
c) Click the small Pattern picture to select the picture
d) Click OK

Animated Picture of the Procedures
Click to enlarge and wait for the picture to roll