Oct 25
A while back the security department at work started to monitor our PCs more tightly which meant that I had to be more caution of what software I installed (including Google Talk…I probably shouldn’t be using Google Talk at all, but old habits are hard to break. 
). Google Talk doesn’t have a portable version available for USB storage, so I decided to go with a portable version of Pidgin (a multi-protocol instant messaging client that supports Google Talks, MSN, Yahoo!,etc…).
Configuring Pidgin to work with Google Talk
- Download and install the latest version of Pidgin
- Open Pidgin and click on ” Add…”
- From the drop-down box choose XMPP as the Protocol.
- For Username enter your GMail username only (NOT the full email address).
- For Domain enter gmail.com
- For Password enter your GMail password.
Pidgin Add Account
In the “Advanced” tab:
- Check “Require SSL/TLS”
- Check “Force old (port 5223) SSL”
- Enter for 443 for “Connect port”
- Enter talk.google.com for “Connect server”
- Click on “Save” and you are done.
Pidgin Advanced Settings
Nov 29
Since I use a Windows Mobile phone, my contacts and personal information are sync with Outlook. I know it’s good practice to do backup, but I it’s a hassle to manually to do a backup each time. Unfortunately, that was a mistake as my Outlook content accidentally got deleted a while back.
To make sure that doesn’t happen again I installed an Outlook add on: The Personal Folders Backup which automatically backups your personal folder (.pst) file. The add on supports Outlook 2002/2003/2007.
May 27
When it comes to watching videos, there is not one format that dominates as a standard. We have Windows Media Video (.wmv), RealVideo (.rm or .rmvb), QuickTime Movie (.mov), DivX or Xvid (.avi), MPEG-4 (.mp4), Ogg (.ogg), Matroska (.mkv), and the list goes on. In the past I would have to install at least three media players so that I can watch all these different formats. Luckily, there are media players that are free and able to play all these formats.
The three that I know of are:
To watch RealVideo with these players you need to install the Real Alternative codec pack.
Out of the three players my preference is the KMPlayer because it produces the best sound quality. As well, it’s also able to play through incomplete or corrupted videos without stopping or crashing the player. I once tried playing a video which was only 80% complete from bittorrent, other than some cut scenes, I was able to watch the entire video without any hassles. The other two either stopped playing or crashed.
Jan 12
I always believe its a good idea to protect my important files even if my computer is password protected. Two key things to help protect my extra sensitive data is to encrypt it, and shred it when deleting.
- To encrypt files I use AxCrypt a free software by Axantum Software AB.
- To shred files or securely delete them, I use Eraser.
These two software also comes with portable versions so that it can be installed in a USB flash key or portable hard drive.
Another software that I use is TrueCrypt. This software is able create a virtual encrypted disk within a file on a hard drive and then mounts it as a real disk. What I find particular useful that “Traveller Mode” functionality. It allows TrueCrypt to be installed on any portable hard drive or storage devices.
To setup the traveller mode, I had to first create a new volume on my portable drive by following the tutorial.
After creating the volume, I followed these instructions to complete the traveller mode setup.
Dec 29
I watch a lot of media, this includes movies, tv series, and anime. As well, being in the IT industry, technology is changing all the time and I find myself reading through many articles and books. With so much material, it has become hard to track them inside an Excel spreadsheet. Searching through the web, I managed to find two free products which works well for me.
