Just bought a new laptop with Win 7 on it. I have to say I miss Win XP for the most part but the thing that most frustrated me about Win 7 is the Chinese keyboard input (han yu pin yin).
In XP, all I have to do is toggle to Chinese keyboard, start typing, and choose from the drop down list for the character needed. But in Win 7, I couldn't even get the drop down list to appear until I found instructions from Pinyin Joe's website http://www.pinyinjoe.com/windows-7/win7-chinese-intro.htm
With the new operating system, user has to key [space bar] and [down arrow] for almost every character. This would be such a waste of time that I may as well forget about typing Chinese altogether. I need an alternative.
Looking further in Pinyin Joe's website, I found this great tool called CantoInput by John Burket (http://cantoinput.wordpress.com/).
Three things I like about this little app:
1) It is a java application so it will run on any OS
2) Allows both Cantonese and Mandarin (Pinyin) input - including those Cantonese characters like 啲, 嘢 etc.
3) Simple to use
4) It is FREE!
If you do Chinese typing occasionally, you will probably like this app :)
Showing posts with label Computer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Computer. Show all posts
Friday, August 27, 2010
Saturday, August 07, 2010
August Update
CMA board report result is out! Almost officially a CMA unless some horrible things happened - and the chance of such occurrence is so slim that even a pessimist like me would dismiss it as too remote to worry about.
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My beloved netbook was so sluggish that renders it useless. If anyone is old enough to remember how a cassette tape sounded like when the walkman runs out of battery - that's exactly what I heard when I play my tunes on iTunes. Virus scan/Spyware scan turned out nothing, CCleaner and Defrag didn't do the trick either. The only option left is to reformat the netbook, but here's the catch: there's no CD/DVD drive in the netbook, so how can I reinstall Windows? After spending entire day looking for ways to boot the computer using USB key, I gave up and went to buy an external DVD drive instead. After 30+ times of restarting the netbook looks like the baby is back.
Only one mystery remains: Why is the "System" PID 4 took up 100K+ memory when the system is not running any programs even after reformatted?
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The laptop is running well still but it is already 6 years old. The back-to-school deal are tempting, and since I'm done with school, I have all the time in the world to rid of the crapware and tune the new laptop to my likings. Some of my fav applications may not be available in Windows 7, will to see how to get around that.
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Found a FB app called F.B. Purity. It is absolutely fantastic if you are tired of weeding out the real updates from all the game updates from your friends. The app can be downloaded from http://www.fbpurity.com/
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Learning my new job while providing training on my old job. It has been a rough transition but starts to see light at the end of the tunnel. New job is really different from the old stuff I used to do, it is refreshing to see things from different angle.
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This song has been looping in my head for the past week.
個人喜歡張宇那種比較「有力水」的演繹, 陳慧琳版太K歌Feel了。
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My beloved netbook was so sluggish that renders it useless. If anyone is old enough to remember how a cassette tape sounded like when the walkman runs out of battery - that's exactly what I heard when I play my tunes on iTunes. Virus scan/Spyware scan turned out nothing, CCleaner and Defrag didn't do the trick either. The only option left is to reformat the netbook, but here's the catch: there's no CD/DVD drive in the netbook, so how can I reinstall Windows? After spending entire day looking for ways to boot the computer using USB key, I gave up and went to buy an external DVD drive instead. After 30+ times of restarting the netbook looks like the baby is back.
Only one mystery remains: Why is the "System" PID 4 took up 100K+ memory when the system is not running any programs even after reformatted?
**************************************************************
The laptop is running well still but it is already 6 years old. The back-to-school deal are tempting, and since I'm done with school, I have all the time in the world to rid of the crapware and tune the new laptop to my likings. Some of my fav applications may not be available in Windows 7, will to see how to get around that.
**************************************************************
Found a FB app called F.B. Purity. It is absolutely fantastic if you are tired of weeding out the real updates from all the game updates from your friends. The app can be downloaded from http://www.fbpurity.com/
**************************************************************
Learning my new job while providing training on my old job. It has been a rough transition but starts to see light at the end of the tunnel. New job is really different from the old stuff I used to do, it is refreshing to see things from different angle.
**************************************************************
This song has been looping in my head for the past week.
個人喜歡張宇那種比較「有力水」的演繹, 陳慧琳版太K歌Feel了。
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Power out!
My dad's computer went kaput - it shutdown itself mysteriously and failed to reboot. I suspected it might have to do with power supply so I decided to take a crack at it.
The computer works fine after the power supply was replaced but the USB ports are fried. The only workaround is to install a new USB PCI card :(
Something was rattling inside as I take the power supply out...
...Here's the baby!
I think this is from here that it fell off:
I think this is from here that it fell off:
The computer works fine after the power supply was replaced but the USB ports are fried. The only workaround is to install a new USB PCI card :(
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Tip For Fixing Lost Connection
Ever have problem with connecting to internet after your computer wakes up from sleep mode? Sometimes repair connection would work, but more times it doesn't and the eventually I have to reboot the computer.
I've researched the problem on web (e.g. Googling "connection problem sleep mode") and looks like I'm not alone on this issue. Suggestions on the forum ranging from rebooting the computer (thanks but no thanks) to updating the BIOS, but none of these really appeal to me until I found a post where someone suggested that it might have to do with problems resolving DNS names. Going this direction, I think I have found the solution:
1. Right click My Computer > Manage
2. Click Services and Applications
3. Click Services
4. Select DNS Client (click on the picture above for enlarge view)
5. Click Restart
The connection should be back to normal after going thru these steps. This trick works on my laptop everytime, but I haven't try it on another computer yet. If you have the same problem, please try the above solution and let me know if it works.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Saturday, January 20, 2007
爆機
I have no idea how the hinge broke. After dealing with some hardware problems with Dell laptops at work, my gut feeling is that this problem should be something I can fix myself provided I have the parts, so it led to my first eBay experience.
Lesson learned:
I should have called Dell first before looking at eBay, it turns out that it costed more to buy on eBay than order the part directly with Dell. It's also more hassle with this particular eBay purchase - the seller is in the states and I have to make some special arrangement to pay him; also I'm losing on the currency conversion.
The part should be arrived at my office next week, hopefully it is in good condition.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Invitation to the Penguin Club......sent by M$
I was not happy with the way M$ installed WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) behind my back and have it "phone-home" to M$ every now and then. I was further upset by the way they claimed that the WGA is infallible and turned a blind eye to the contrary fact.
See this - Image Gallery: What really happens when WGA attacks
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?page_id=112&page=1
Not only that, M$ deemed their WGA so successful that they decide to push the envelop further in Vista. Here's what would happen if Vista WGA thinks your OS is pirate:
"By choosing "Access your computer with reduced functionality," the default Web browser will be started and the user will be presented with an option to purchase a new product key. There is no start menu, no desktop icons, and the desktop background is changed to black. The Web browser will fully function and Internet connectivity will not be blocked. After one hour, the system will log the user out without warning. It will not shut down the machine, and the user can log back in. Note: This is different from the Windows XP RFM experience, which limits screen resolution, colors, sounds and other features."
Source: For Vista, WGA gets tougher
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=148
Combining the fact that:
1. WGA detection is not perfect, some ZD bloggers even suggest as high as 20% false positive rate (among those detected as pirate)
2. WGA will phone home at least once a month for critical patch updates
3. It is unclear whether the WGA will get "improvements" (more intrusive) on XP
4. The grave consequence (essentially a kill swithch) of failing the WGA test
The Penguin just looks more and more attractive.
Hello M$, I have the right to use my own hardware that I paid hard-earned cash for. Just because I have to re-format my hard drive doesn't mean I have to buy another copy of your OS, or spend endless hours trying to communicate with an uncomprehensible tech support.
I think I'll get a CD from Ubuntu to test the Linux water. It can be ran from a CD so it doesn't need to be actually installed on the computer.
For more info, see http://www.ubuntu.com/
See this - Image Gallery: What really happens when WGA attacks
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?page_id=112&page=1
Not only that, M$ deemed their WGA so successful that they decide to push the envelop further in Vista. Here's what would happen if Vista WGA thinks your OS is pirate:
"By choosing "Access your computer with reduced functionality," the default Web browser will be started and the user will be presented with an option to purchase a new product key. There is no start menu, no desktop icons, and the desktop background is changed to black. The Web browser will fully function and Internet connectivity will not be blocked. After one hour, the system will log the user out without warning. It will not shut down the machine, and the user can log back in. Note: This is different from the Windows XP RFM experience, which limits screen resolution, colors, sounds and other features."
Source: For Vista, WGA gets tougher
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=148
Combining the fact that:
1. WGA detection is not perfect, some ZD bloggers even suggest as high as 20% false positive rate (among those detected as pirate)
2. WGA will phone home at least once a month for critical patch updates
3. It is unclear whether the WGA will get "improvements" (more intrusive) on XP
4. The grave consequence (essentially a kill swithch) of failing the WGA test
The Penguin just looks more and more attractive.
Hello M$, I have the right to use my own hardware that I paid hard-earned cash for. Just because I have to re-format my hard drive doesn't mean I have to buy another copy of your OS, or spend endless hours trying to communicate with an uncomprehensible tech support.
I think I'll get a CD from Ubuntu to test the Linux water. It can be ran from a CD so it doesn't need to be actually installed on the computer.
For more info, see http://www.ubuntu.com/
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