Reenabling external SD card access that is restricted in Android 4.4 (KitKat) with SDFix

If you have updated your Android smartphone to version 4.4.x (KitKat), you might find that access to your external SD card is now restricted by the system.

The system now comes with a file explorer that is having full read/write access to both your internal storage and external SD card storage. However, 3rd party file explorers lost the write access to the external SD card and can no longer create, move or edit files or folders in it.

Many apps can no longer save data and files in the external SD card, including your backup apps, multimedia apps, file transfer apps, etc.

This will bring problem to the operation of numerous apps. You might also face storage shortage if the internal storage of your phone is less than 32GB.

Luckily, you can reconfigure your Android smartphone to treat your external SD card the same way as before version 4.4, and let you get rid of the restriction that causes you hassle, trouble and problem.

There is only one condition: your Android smartphone must be rooted, as root access is required to change the affected system configuration file.

I use a free app called SDFix: KitKat Writable MicroSD by NextApp Inc. for my HTC One (M8) and Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 (GT-N5100) after they've updated to Android 4.4.x. This app is simple, easy, and works like a charm.

You will need to reboot your phone for the change to take effect after the app changed the system configuration file. If the change is successful, you can proceed to uninstall the app as you only need to run it once.

Deepavali public holiday in 2014 changed from Thu 23-Oct to Wed 22-Oct

Malaysia Federal Government vide Gazette notification dated 6 December 2013 has declared 22 October 2014 (Wednesday) as the Public Holiday for Deepavali.

This superseded the earlier Gazette Notification of Deepavali which declared it to be on 23 October 2014 (Thursday).

Source references:

• Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) Circular No. AG 7/2014
• Warta Kerajaan No. 43367 dated 6 December 2013
• Singapore Ministry of Manpower (MOM) webpage for Public Holidays 2014

ecoLiving Advance E27 LED light bulb

I need to change the light bulb in one of my pillar lights, and found this ecoLiving Advance LED light bulb (9 watts, 910 lumens, for E27 base) selling at promotion price of RM15.90 in Tesco.

I used to use energy saving CFL light bulbs, which cost around RM10-15 too. On the same day, Philips brand energy saving CFL light bulb (18 watts, 1040 lumens, for E27 base) was selling at the price of RM11.90 in Tesco, only RM4 cheaper.

Other brands of 9W E27 LED light bulb available in Tesco include Osram and Philips. They were priced at above RM40 in Tesco on the same day.

Since its cheap price, I decided to give it a try. So, this is my first purchase of E27 LED light bulb. Let's see it in action...

It is as bright as the 18W CFL energy saving light on other pillars beside it, yet it is able to save 50% of energy by operating at 9W only!

It also claims to have 1.5x longer lifespan (up to 25,000 running hours) than the CFL energy saving light bulb (10,000 running hours).

When the price of LED lightings become more and more affordable, I can foresee that they will replace the CFL energy saving lightings, which currently replacing the traditional fluorescent and incandescent lightings.