打算轉投Apple陣營已是很久的事，是十年夢想。十年前曾經看過Mac OS 7的說明書，其標榜的易用易明介面，真的比Windows 95好十倍百倍，看後又是妒忌又羨慕。今年夢想該要成真吧，好好享受一下電腦帶來的樂趣，不是煩惱。
從前考量實戰需要，加上經費緊絀，選擇IBM PC是無奈。每月一死，每季一鏟，每年加RAM，Windows之金科定律，不論是95還是XP。用於維護、重灌、升級的時間和金錢，其實並不能彌補其便宜的機價。單以重灌所需的時間，以最低時薪計，隨時可以買起一台專業級的Apple PC。
2003年尾因燒機要購入的EZ barebone機，自去年年中每三個多月就會傻下傻下，聽歌睇戲又會窒下窒下。今次是第四次，我忍夠了。
電腦畢竟只是一件工具，一件工具就該有工具的覺悟，不該帶給使用者諸多不便。電腦不該讓用家太累。
去年為了急速提升戰力而傾家盪產孤注一擲買入的IBM T42，或許終歸是IBM的專業機種，用起來蠻稱心，夠穩定。既然工作有T42平定，遊戲又有PS2這類從不需要升級的game console，那我的home pc只需要能夠好好地儲存和管理文件、電郵、相片、CD collection便足夠，我哪管它是電腦還是電筒、是XP還是Vista，總之，「簡單就是美」，一按即用、簡單、方便、不死，掂！
原本打算訂購iMac 17"，換1x1GB ram和500GB硬盤，連日後升級的事省掉不管，不過又聽說新的Mac OS X 10.5會於今年八月推出，所以還是要等吧。等著等著，我又心動，到時還是訂部iMac 20"吧，反正都是免息分期的。
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Monday, May 29, 2006
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Ultimate Reset: Formatting on Mobile
These days I'm working on Recognizer and Document Handler. This time, however, I've no luck at all. The application has to be embedded and handle data probably. I couldn't find a complete example nor documentation. Most of the posts on the Web are debugging auto-start function, a deformed usage utilize the recognizer.
Tonight is the second night in a row I stayed late at office, trying to hunt down the right code. Yet, no gain, but pain. So frustrated.
How am I going to report to my boss tomorrow? Sigh...
Out of curiosity, I tried those auto-start codes from forums. I'm too lazy to copy the whole structure but the core piece. Anyway, after rebooting, the phone couldn't startup. Not even can I enter *#7370# to reset it. Luckily, there's still a way to format the device:
1. power off,
2. press and hold Green + * + 3,
3. power on and hold the above three keys until "Formatting..." appears.
Woops, that save my life. And this is my first time seeing this formatting screen on Symbian. So what the 3230 tried to tell me is, try everything on emulator first before deploying to real device.
Tonight is the second night in a row I stayed late at office, trying to hunt down the right code. Yet, no gain, but pain. So frustrated.
How am I going to report to my boss tomorrow? Sigh...Out of curiosity, I tried those auto-start codes from forums. I'm too lazy to copy the whole structure but the core piece. Anyway, after rebooting, the phone couldn't startup. Not even can I enter *#7370# to reset it. Luckily, there's still a way to format the device:
1. power off,
2. press and hold Green + * + 3,
3. power on and hold the above three keys until "Formatting..." appears.
Woops, that save my life. And this is my first time seeing this formatting screen on Symbian. So what the 3230 tried to tell me is, try everything on emulator first before deploying to real device.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Black Soul 黑魂
 期待已久的黑魂版N70（外殼），今日終於到手了。原廠的N70有銀黑配和米啡配，其中以銀黑配最漂亮，個人覺得，近期One2Free推的黑銀配比不上銀黑的，而大陸版官方配色就是這種黑銀，跟香港的對調。N70比起過往S60的機種，整體感覺比較扎實，換上這個全黑的外殼，就更加剛強。加上多得各大網絡商的努力，銀黑配的N70滿街都是，三至八十歲都有，坐一趟地鐵，最少見到十部。只可以說，感覺平凡。 純黑色，永遠給人一種神秘而專業的感覺，有沉實穩重的意味。就算周不時流行的銀灰色和全白色，也似無法與之抗衡，IBM的laptop更標榜其黑色外殼永不退色；似乎只有Steve Jobs才能使出白色的力量。電視機、遊戲機、手提電話，什麼顏色都曾有過，但最終都會推出全黑版本。 後記：某日返到公司，同事不斷指著我部N70要Mini-SD，說，部N80是否收埋張Mini-SD。哈，Mini-SD？對，我就是喜歡全黑色，貪佢似N80。 後記２：The memory card N70 using is RS-MMC. |
Left: Black soul N70, feel like the N80 black version.
Right: Original sliver-black case of N70
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Acer n300 v1.00.16
New ROM is out. But I'm not planning to flash. Just too lazy to reinstall all the softwares. (news)
Several hacks to Registry for WM5:
Several hacks to Registry for WM5:
- To erase the battery icon from the Start Bar, create a DWORD with name ShowTitleBarClock and value 1
[HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Shell] "ShowTitleBarClock"=dword:00000001 - To change the format of date and time on Start Bar, create a binary value with name TBOpt and value 13 00 00 00
[HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Shell] "TBOpt"=hex:\13,00,00,00
(I will keep updating when more is found)
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Smart Phone
To better organize my peronsal data, I synchronise my Nokia N70 with home PC once a while. Whenever it connected via the Nokia CA-53 USB data cable, the battery goes down quicker than in stand-by mode. Therefore, I must plug the charger to the phone while using the cable.
Nowadays many mobile phones are called smart phone. They've the basic PIM functions built in. In someway that they are like (pretend to be) a Palm or a Pocket PC. So, this is smart(?). I've been using Palm and Pocket PC for years. The data on device is synchronise (and backup) with Outlook. Month ago, I began to synchronise the phone with Outlook. Trying to eliminate the troubles when I wish to have same data on PDA and phone. Also, I could able to access to all contact I've, no matter I'm holding my PDA or phone. Yet, I
Nowadays mobile phones are called "smart phone". They implemented the basic function of PIM - Personal Information Management. In other way, they're very like a Palm or Pocket PC. And this is smart. I've been using Pocket PC for years and got lots of information on it. With Outlook I synchronise the device with computer daily. When my device malfunction and being hard resetted, or being replaced, I just connect it to computer and all data are back. Palm is even better because all programs and games will be restore automatically upon connected.
Nowadays many mobile phones are called smart phone. They've the basic PIM functions built in. In someway that they are like (pretend to be) a Palm or a Pocket PC. So, this is smart(?). I've been using Palm and Pocket PC for years. The data on device is synchronise (and backup) with Outlook. Month ago, I began to synchronise the phone with Outlook. Trying to eliminate the troubles when I wish to have same data on PDA and phone. Also, I could able to access to all contact I've, no matter I'm holding my PDA or phone. Yet, I
Nowadays mobile phones are called "smart phone". They implemented the basic function of PIM - Personal Information Management. In other way, they're very like a Palm or Pocket PC. And this is smart. I've been using Pocket PC for years and got lots of information on it. With Outlook I synchronise the device with computer daily. When my device malfunction and being hard resetted, or being replaced, I just connect it to computer and all data are back. Palm is even better because all programs and games will be restore automatically upon connected.
Monday, April 24, 2006
the Set game for mobile (4)
Set on Mobile, ver 0.02.06 - with basic game statistic.
Deck - number of cards remain in deck.
Score - number of Sets player made, +1 for each correct Set, vice verus -1.
Move - number of possible move/Set on screen. when it becomes zero (0), press Options > Deal.
Deck - number of cards remain in deck.
Score - number of Sets player made, +1 for each correct Set, vice verus -1.
Move - number of possible move/Set on screen. when it becomes zero (0), press Options > Deal.
.2.jpg)
version 0.02.06
Sunday, April 23, 2006
the Set game for mobile (3)
Toys'R Us does not have the Set nor Duo for sell. But I found UNO H2O on sale with 20% off the tag price. Now I see why the owner of the cards prohibited us to bend them.
Set on Mobile, ver. 0.02.05 - something that can play with, finally.
To honor the SET Enterprises Inc., the icon use the original box design. To reserve more space, the patterns and card are smaller. Some statistics will be put on the right-hand-side later (such as # of cards remain/pick-up). The check algorithm is done. If I add a big loop into it, the computer should able to tell me the number of possible SETs on table. Still thinking about the difficulties, whether an easier game (or harder game) possible.
Set on Mobile, ver. 0.02.05 - something that can play with, finally.
To honor the SET Enterprises Inc., the icon use the original box design. To reserve more space, the patterns and card are smaller. Some statistics will be put on the right-hand-side later (such as # of cards remain/pick-up). The check algorithm is done. If I add a big loop into it, the computer should able to tell me the number of possible SETs on table. Still thinking about the difficulties, whether an easier game (or harder game) possible.
the Set game for mobile (2)
I ordered the card games at Amazon, together with another one - Duo, something like UNO with more features. However, Amazon told me that they cannot be shipped to Hong Kong. Wat!? Why? Oh well, I have to visit Toys'R Us later.
There is no progress on my mobile version. Still struggling (not working) on the data structure of card and deck. Even so, I already have a piece of code that can generate cards with m features and n variants. And I have think about how to lay out the cards on screen, esp when it's too crowd to show the whole card. This is my weakness - spend too much time on the very detail part, dragging the whole development process.
I should make it simpler - object(card and deck) should only hold data, engine handle game logic and calculation. Putting calculation code on object will results in larger object and hence wasting memory, esp when it is not neccessary and not too reasonable to do so.
ver. 0.2.0
There is no progress on my mobile version. Still struggling (not working) on the data structure of card and deck. Even so, I already have a piece of code that can generate cards with m features and n variants. And I have think about how to lay out the cards on screen, esp when it's too crowd to show the whole card. This is my weakness - spend too much time on the very detail part, dragging the whole development process.
I should make it simpler - object(card and deck) should only hold data, engine handle game logic and calculation. Putting calculation code on object will results in larger object and hence wasting memory, esp when it is not neccessary and not too reasonable to do so.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
the Set game for mobile
My friend showed me a card game, The Set. It is fun and is good exercise to brain and eyes. I'm trying to buy it in stores, Toys'R Us? Meanwhile, I'm working on a mobile version, so that play on road. Hopefully finish it by weekend.
No plan for A.I. nor for sell. So far it's for peronsal usage. There'll be a timer (later) for self-competition. There might be a hard level in which newly dealed cards will not form a set (except the last 3 cards). There might be 1 extra pattern for each feature. Anyway, just for fun.
No plan for A.I. nor for sell. So far it's for peronsal usage. There'll be a timer (later) for self-competition. There might be a hard level in which newly dealed cards will not form a set (except the last 3 cards). There might be 1 extra pattern for each feature. Anyway, just for fun.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Block Recognizer
近日研究緊Pocket PC上的輸入法，想在中文版PPC上加入Block Recognizer同埋大易輸入法。搵左幾日，大易似乎是「無行」了，真係要的話，可能自己寫會更快更直接。
Block Recognizer是最近似Graffiti的英文輸入法，只有英文機附有，中文機就沒有。從網上資料及刷了英文ROM的舊機上，證實了要使用Block Recognizer，最關鍵就是msim.dll這個ROM file。只要把相關的檔案和Registry的值加入到中文機裡，理論上是可以使用它的。可惜，網上沒有這個file，從英文機裡又沒法copy出來。 唉，有乜計？
Block Recognizer是最近似Graffiti的英文輸入法，只有英文機附有，中文機就沒有。從網上資料及刷了英文ROM的舊機上，證實了要使用Block Recognizer，最關鍵就是msim.dll這個ROM file。只要把相關的檔案和Registry的值加入到中文機裡，理論上是可以使用它的。可惜，網上沒有這個file，從英文機裡又沒法copy出來。 唉，有乜計？
Saturday, March 18, 2006
當電池走到盡頭時
俗語有云『當黑夜走到盡頭時，黎明的曙光就會來臨』，可是，我部Asus A600．．．『當電池走到盡頭時，恐怖的hard reset就會來臨』。
放著機子幾日不理，機就起動不了，當我一駁上sych-charge cable，那清脆利落的歡迎聲音和畫面隨之而來，我就知道，我就是知道，一切都…一切都…完了。
放著機子幾日不理，機就起動不了，當我一駁上sych-charge cable，那清脆利落的歡迎聲音和畫面隨之而來，我就知道，我就是知道，一切都…一切都…完了。
Friday, March 17, 2006
True VGA mode on WM5
網上有人教改registry使PPC行True VGA Mode的方法，無聊試下，但因為未能更改一堆DLL檔名而暫時放棄。不過又真係好過癮，睇下個Program Menu ，一個字，爽。
XP shut down dialog, force update
Today when I start up the laptop, there is an update from Microsoft - "Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool - March 2006 (KB890830)". Since I'm testing the system with the patch from yesterday, I ignored the update. When I pressed shut down, the dialog was "rewritten". Microsoft force users to install their updates, again.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Limit of hiberation, 1GB max!?
Last weekend I bought a 1GB DDR ram to upgrade my IBM T42 laptop. Since the laptop has two slots, which were filled by two 512MB ram, I only get 512MB extra after the upgrade. This extra 512MB cost me more than it should be.
After the upgrade, my laptop no longer able to hiberate. When I press Fn+F12 and it prepares hiberation, then it fails and returns "Insufficient system resources exist to complete the API" (technical details from Microsoft). Regarding this issue, many people went to Bryce Yehl's blog. Its thread is so long, and has full explaination, which other site cannot compare with. However, the patch is not available publicly until you call Microsoft. Luckily, I found the patch from an unofficial website.
Just installed and it works. Hopefully my laptop will run smooth from now on.
After the upgrade, my laptop no longer able to hiberate. When I press Fn+F12 and it prepares hiberation, then it fails and returns "Insufficient system resources exist to complete the API" (technical details from Microsoft). Regarding this issue, many people went to Bryce Yehl's blog. Its thread is so long, and has full explaination, which other site cannot compare with. However, the patch is not available publicly until you call Microsoft. Luckily, I found the patch from an unofficial website.
Just installed and it works. Hopefully my laptop will run smooth from now on.
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