Monday, June 9, 2008

AT&T ( Cingular )

It seems to be that kind of a day where everything is thrown in to chaos, but, in a calculated way. First, Apple store is down. But, we all know that it will be and now you can see the new 3G iphone. The price surprises me and I decided that it's the new for me to get it(16GB at $299). Coming to the actual issue, Cingular(AT&T) site is done. I checked it 10 mins ago and there is no sign of the new 3G iphone. Hopefully, this maintainence is for that and we will get to get from there too...


Apple Store

Hi,

You would have heard about the Amazon site being down a couple of days ago. It seems that Apple Store is being updated( strong indication that the 3G iphone is being added to the store). If not, what else does Apple has in store for the fanboys??



Friday, June 6, 2008

Amazon is down

Well, the giant is down, but not down. Yes, Amazon site is down. If you visit amazon.com today, you would receive something like this "Http/1.1 Service Unavailable". One interesting thing that you will notice is it might reload properly if you refresh it. But, try navigating to any other site and you will end up with the same thing. All you folks gotta wait now. will keep ya posted.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

PMOG (Passively Multiplayer Online Game)


PMOG is the new thing running around with a unique concept of online gaming. It does not exactly translate into your general idea of MMOs like WoW or Rangarok(Whiever is your thing). However, it did come up with a passive way of playing. Let me lay it out.

First up, you need to register on the website www.pmog.com. It will push you straight into the site with any confirmation emails and stuff(I like that). Then, you would need to install the game. The game is just a firefox plugin(Yes, you can play it only on Firefox. Flock works for me.). You would now see a toolbar kind of thing at the bottom of the browser window. This shows your assets and skill level. The website has better information regarding each of them and the exact gameplay. 'Merci', the game developer is playing too and as a starting point, I recommend adding her as an acquaintance(Boy, isn't this word the most abused in English language. Read "Spitzer") . Anyways, Merci created some nice missions(information) which will help you get a grip on the game and there is more chance than not that you will like this game for at least some time. Go., give it a try.

Friday, March 14, 2008

BSOD (Blue Screen of Death)

Haven't we all been there? NO....then, you, my friend are one lucky person.

BSODs are way too common in Windows environment for anyone to let go easily. They stop you right in your tracks and in most cases shut you off from accessing your data. For someone without much knowledge on these, it can also be a nightmare. I will explain the necessary things that could try in case of a BSOD.

1. Try logging into "Safe Mode."(After the BIOS is booted up, immediately press F8. This would bring up the screen wherein you can select the boot options.

2. If you have the luck that I do, then chances are that you wouldn't be able to get anywhere with the safe mode(it fails too). If it works check 4.

3. Instead of re-inventing the wheel, I put some some pointer which contain information regarding the BSOD and stpes to resolve them.
4. For some advanced stuff, do the following.

  • Install the Windows Debugging Tool.
  • First we run the WinDbg utility from the Debugging Tools for Windows we just installed.
  • In the File menu - "Open Crash Dump" - Choose you Minidump or Memory.dmp file.
Some information regarding the dump files:
Toccurred
c:\windows\minidump > This folder stores .dmp files that were created during the BSOD by Windows. hey includes some basic information regarding the Memory and drivers that were running while the error .

c:\windows\memory.dmp > This file will appear instead of the above minidumps, incase windows was setup to save a Kernel or Full dump or the memory.

Windows Event Log- System Log > error events from the source "Save Dump". the event description includes the BSOD error code and the path for the memory dump that was created.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Powering up.....

Hey folks,

This is the first post in a series of continuing tech/admin related stuff that I will be constantly posting. Let's get started with some useful info.

In any kind of setting, there are bound to be few things which are common to all.LOSING DATA. This could happen for many a reason. But, failure to retrieve lost data is not an option for many. There are many freeware/notfreeware things you can try or you can employ the services of data recovery services. Let's see if we can find some decent programs that will help you retrieve data without burning a hole in your heart.

1. Restoration

+ves: Ultra Portable(229kB), can run from USB drive

Restoration is an easy to use and straight forward tool to undelete files that were removed from the recycle bin or directly deleted from within Windows, and we were also able to recover photos from a Flash card that had been formatted. Upon start, you can scan for all files that may be recovered and also limit the results by entering a search term or extension. In addition, it also provides the option to wipe the found files beyond simple recovery. The program is small and standalone, it does not require installation and can also run from a Floppy disk. Restoration works with FAT and NTFS as well as digital cameras cards.

2. Glary Undelete

Glary Undelete is a free and easy-to-use yet powerful file undelete solution for FAT and NTFS file systems. It will bring back files emptied from the Recycle Bin, in a DOS window, from Windows Explorer with the SHIFT key held down. It will even recover files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses!

We will get to other good things as and when we try and find them out. There are other things that we can also do which I will explain sometime later.