Using inSSIDer and WiFi Analyzer to scan wireless networks around you

Do you want to know what are the active WiFi networks around you, together with the detail of their signal strength, maximum bandwidth, and connection security setting? Do you want to search for WiFi networks with open security?

If you encounter connection and/or bandwidth problem with your own WiFi, do you want to know which is the best available wireless channel to have least disruption from other wireless networks around you?

inSSIDer is a free open source tools for PC running on Windows or Linux to scan for all nearby wireless networks and to troubleshoot competing access points. It is best used in a laptop with WiFi capability. It provides detail of the wireless network around you as shown below.

With it, you can look for unoccupied WiFi channel to set for your own WiFi network, in order not to compete with the others. If you compete the same channel with other access points, you will possibly encounter poor wireless speeds and even frequent WiFi network disconnection.

If you have an Android device (eg. smartphone or tablet), there is a similar tool for the mobile device called WiFi Analyzer. WiFi Analyzer even has a Channel Rating feature to suggest for least competed channel to get the optimum WiFi stability and speed.

If you install the open source WiFi Connecter Library together with WiFi Analyzer, you add in the ability for WiFi Analyzer to connect to the WiFi network that you tap on its listing. This will make WiFi Analyzer to be a nice GUI tool for you to pick for the WiFi network you want to connect.

Disabling WiFi function of Unifi D-Link DIR-615 router

By default, the WiFi wireless function of the D-Link DIR-615 router that comes with TM Unifi High Speed Broadband is turned on.

If you are not going to use WiFi wireless for your network connection, you can turn it off to eliminate the WiFi radiation around you that is emitted by your D-Link DIR-615 router. This will also eliminate any possibility of intruder gain access to your network via WiFi connection. In addition, this will also free up some CPU cycles and memory resources in the D-Link DIR-615 router to serve its other functions.

Here are the steps to diable the WiFi function of the D-Link DIR-615 router that comes with TM Unifi HSBB:

• Login the router with "admin" or "operator".
• Go to Setup tab and click on the "Manual Internet Connection Setup" button.
• Go to Wireless Setup and click on the "Multiple Wireless Network Name Setup" button.
• Uncheck and also clear out all the fields in Wireless Network Name, then click the "Save Settings" button.

• You are not done yet. Click the Reboot button to restart the router.
• By now, the WiFi should be turned off. You can see the WiFi indicator light on the D-Link DIR-615 front panel is turned off.

If the WiFi indicator light is still on, your WiFi is not off yet. Check if you have missed out any of the steps above.

iCapital.biz Bhd (ICAP, 5108) year 2011 Annual Report

ICAP,  managed by Mr. Tan Teng Boo (陈鼎武), which is the one and only closed-end fund in KLSE, has just published its 2011 Annual Report.

As disclosed in the annual report, this is the current portfolio of ICAP as at 22 June 2011.

ICAP has finally sold out all MIECO (5001) and removed it from the portfolio. If you want to criticize ICAP, this is the failed investment which has caused a 59.22% or RM1.2 million lost to its share owners. MIECO was sold out at an average price of about RM0.5257 (RM857,876/1,632,000), which was not a good timing and near its lowest price. MIECO has once gone up to RM0.83 in March 2011, and even gone up to RM0.97 one day before the 6th AGM of ICAP held last year. In fact, during the AGMs of past few years, share owners had been asking Mr. Tan Teng Boo about why MIECO was still kept in the portfolio despite horribly performed in its EPS as well as share price.

To my surprise, within the year, ICAP has bought and also sold 1,360,000 units of COASTAL (5071), making a profit of 12.12%. Why COASTAL is such a short term investment/speculation, despite its fundamental still looks good?

You will notice that PADINI (7052) has increased by 5 times in the portfolio. Actually, this is due to share split exercise of PADINI. ICAP has not changed its holding in PADINI since 2008.

ICAP currently only invested in 10 counters only, which is the lowest number since inception. The cash position has increased to RM115 million. This shows Mr. Tan remains cautious to the investment environment, especially when he quoted John Donne's "no man is an island, entire of itself" in this annual report.

Anyhow, despite the failed investment in MIECO and lowering of invested position, the NAV of ICAP still keeps on climbing and is now at its historical high. This shows that overall, ICAP is still a well performed closed-end fund, and Mr. Tan remains a remarkable fund manager trusted by some 3,200 share owners, including foreign financial institutions such as The Bank of New York Mellon, Credit Suisse, etc.

I have produced the table below to show the change in portfolio of ICAP from 2006 to 2011.

MSC (5916) was highlighted during the 6th AGM of ICAP last year, and ICAP has bought in another 1 million shares of MSC after that. SURIA (6521) was another highlighted counter during last AGM, and ICAP has also increased its position in this counter. However, the share price and trading volume of these 2 counters still remain dull until now.

The NAV performance of ICAP over the year is mainly contributed by blue chips such as F&N (3689) and PETDAG (5681) bought a few years ago.

Well, see you in ICAP 7th AGM and 2011 Investor Day on 1 October 2011.
Disclaimer: This article is intended for sharing of point of view only. It is not an advice or recommendation to buy or sell any of the mentioned stock counters. You should do your own homework before trading in Bursa Malaysia.

The end of CIMB credit cards weekend cash rebate promotion

If you hold a CIMB or Direct Access credit card, you might have been enjoying their weekend cash rebate promotion since 2009.

This had been an attractive cash rebate promotion, whereby 5% cash rebate was given to weekend retail transactions in Tesco, Giant, Cold Storage, Sunshine, Guardian, KFC, etc. There was also 10% cash rebate rebate for weekend transactions made in Burger King.

At first, this weekend cash rebate applied to both Saturday and Sunday. Later, it applied to Sunday only. Anyhow, this was among the best credit card weekend cash rebate promotion, and more attractive to similar programme by Citibank Cash Back Platinum Card (2% rebate only for groceries transactions in Tesco, Giant, Cold Storage, etc., although not restricted to weekend) and UOB One Card (also 2% rebate only for groceries).

However, after the last promotion period ended on 30 June 2011, there is no news from CIMB about any new weekend cash rebate promotion for their credit cards. It seems that this attractive cash rebate programme from CIMB has finally come to an end.

Meanwhile, OCBC Titanium Credit Card also offers 5% rebate for groceries transactions, which is now the most attractive cash rebate credit card at the moment.

The 2nd Integrated Content Development Programme (ICON2) by MDEC

If you are a Malaysian and wanna enter into mobile apps development for iPhone/iPad or Android, or you want to setup a content/knowledge website, you should know about ICON2 which can provide you training, financial and facility support to bring your dream to reality.

The Integrated Content Development Programme (ICON) commenced in 2009 was aimed for MDEC to provide support and assistance to Malaysian content developers in creating quality web and mobile apps. 96 projects has already benefited from this programme.

ICON2 just launched earlier this month (July 2011), is an extension of ICON, and initiated under the Communications Content and Infrastructure sector, identified by ETP as one of the growth engine in the 12 NKEA. This round, it is targetted for iPhone/iPad and Android apps development projects.

There are 3 components under ICON2.

ICONapps is a mobile apps development programme for team of 2-4 Malaysian developers. It provide funding assistance through reimbursement for training in iOS or Android development, any purchase of development platform and devices, purchase or license of 3rd party SDK, and also reimbursements for any 1st year developer registration fee.

In short, you can start up your mobile apps development by getting free training, free computer, free development phone, free development tools, etc. from MDEC by applying to this ICONapps programme. I believe this is a perfect programme for university/college students and/or free graduates and/or any Malaysian who would like to develop mobile apps to kick start with.

ICONdap is a developer assistance programme that provides funding assistance for those who have innovative ideas and concepts to come out with POC and prototype. The funding covers all direct costs incurred for the proposed project. At the final stage, MDEC will also assist you for Business/VC/Angel matching.

ICONeX is a digital content hosting and exchange facility targeted at SMI/SME and individuals which require bandwidth for online content, applications and services. This is a datacenter server hosting and/or co-location facility at a competitive price.

Click here for more information and application form download of ICON2.

Android game: Strategy to play Pirates and Traders

Pirates and Traders is a single-player strategic role-play game for Android phones and tablets. It is developed by MicaByte Systems,  surprisingly just a 1-person company based in Norway.

As informed by its developer, Pirates and Traders is a homage to Sid Meier's classic PC game, Pirates! It would be remiss, however, not to mention other influences on the game - most notably Pieter Spronck's "Space Trader" (for PalmOS), David Braben and Ian Bell's "Elite", and the Richard Berg boardgame "Blackbeard".

The game started by bringing you back to year 1650 in the Carribean sea, where you'll start your adventure.

Here is the strategy I found out, after playing with this game for a few hours:

• Befriend with British, Dutch and French. Get the Letter of Marque from their Governors and only attack the Spanish ships and ports.

• In the beginning of the game, borrow money from the Governor and use the money to upgrade your ship as soon as possible.
• Make sure to repay back your loan as soon as possible once you are able to earn more than 10,000 doubloons (gold coins) , otherwise your debt will grow with interest.
• You will be able to attack and win the combat with larger warship once your ship got all the necessary upgrades. Seize the larger warship and upgrade it again. With larger warship, you have higher chance to win battles, and you'll have enough capacity to carry more crew for port attack.

• Remember to recruit specialist crew (Master) found on the ship you captured. You have higher chance to encounter them when you play the game in easier game levels, and harder to find them in harder levels.
• The fastest way to gain a lot of doubloons is to attack and plunder enemy ports. Start your attack to ports with smaller army. If you are outnumbered, use the "cunning" attack strategy. You'll also need a high cunning skill.

• The types of ship in this game, and their capacity before any upgrade, are listed as below. Once you acquired the Flag Galleon and fully upgrade it, you'll be quite invincible, especially in easier game levels.

• When you start feeling boring due to no comparable opponent, click the Retire button to end the game.

The 4 pillars of IT security management

When we talk about IT security, we have to ensure that all the following 4 areas are well covered and non are missed out:

• Availability - information must be available and usable when required, and the systems that provide it can appropriate resist attacks and recover from or prevent failures.
• Confidentiality - information must only observed by or disclosed to those who have the right to know, and well protected against unauthorized access and use.
• Integrity - information must be complete, accurate and protected against unauthorized modification.
• Authenticity - business transactions, as well as information exchanges between enterprises, or with partners, can be trusted

Information Security Management must consider the following 4 perspectives:

• Organizational – well defined security policies and staff awareness of these
• Procedural – well defined procedures used to control security
• Physical – controls used to protect any physical sites against security incidents
• Technical – controls used to protect the IT infrastructure against security incidents

Does the IT security of your organization has all these in place?

Who are the one afraid of BERSIH 2.0?

BERSIH 2.0 (a.k.a. Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections) is a civil coalition currently endorsed by 62 non-government organizations (NGO).

If you support BERSIH 2.0, you simply agree and support the following 8 demands to reform Malaysia's electoral processes:

1. Clean up the electoral roll to address irregularities
2. Reform postal voting
3. Use indelible ink
4. Establish a minimum campaign period of 21 days
5. Ensure free and fair access for all political parties to the media
6. Strengthen public institutions
7. Get rid of corruption
8. Put a stop to dirty politics

Yes, BERSIH 2.0 is about reformation, for the sake of goodness. Anyway, what's wrong with the word "reformation"? If certain party afraid of "reformation", how about using the word "transformation"? After all, the aim is to "change" to a better state.

It is ridiculous for certain parties, and their helpers/servants/bondmen/slaves to attempt to defame BERSIH 2.0 or to mislead people by tying BERSIH 2.0 with:

• the opposition politic parties - well, the opposition can support BERSIH 2.0, so does the ruling one. Does BERSIH 2.0 rejected or unwelcome the ruling parties to be part of them in the first place?
• communist - in my understanding, communists don't need election. It is more likely for those afraid of BERSIH 2.0 to be communist supporter instead.
• troublemaker - well, in their eyes, BERSIH 2.0 is really a troublemaker for them. That's why they are so afraid.

Why they are afraid of BERSIH 2.0? Probably because they have totally no confident to win the game in a fair manner.

A student would not need to cheat in the exam if he/she has confident to pass. A worker would not worry about being sacked if he/she is ethical and well perform.

If you are afraid, you know you have weaknesses. The right way should be to reform/transform/adjust/correct your points of weaknesses, instead of fortify your weaknesses.

Updating Samsung Galaxy Tab from Android 2.2 (Froyo) to Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread)

Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) is available for Samsung Galaxy Tab now.

In order to perform the update using the "official" way, you need a computer installed with latest version of Samsung Kies.

Launch the Kies application in the computer, then connect your Samsung Galaxy Tab to it with the USB cable. Set the connection type to be "Samsung Kies".

Kies will detect the Samsung Galaxy Tab and automatically inform you the availability of Gingerbread update.

The process starts with downloading the update file to your computer.

After that, you are given a chance to backup your data in the phone to Kies. Although this update will not cause any data or setting lost to your Samsung Galaxy Tab, it is always a wise choice to perform a backup, just in case.

Then, your Samsung Galaxy Tab will be automatically rebooted into download mode, and the update file will be transferred from your computer to the Tab.

Once the transfer is completed, the update process will begin. Then, your Tab will be rebooted again. It will take some time during its first boot up after the update.

You will be advised by Kies to disconnect the USB cable, reboot the Tab again, then connect back the USB cable. Your computer will then update its USB driver to connect to your Tab with the new Android Gingerbread ROM.

Among the new things after this update are 2 new apps installed in your Tab, namely Sketch Memo and Pulse. Sketch Memo is a pretty handy app that worth a try, but it doesn't come with any widget, which I think it should.

Clarivue matte anti-glare screen protector for HTC Incredible S

Although HTC Incredible S comes with Corning Gorilla Glass, I think it still need a screen protector that can reduce fingerprint, smudge and glare. So far, I found that only the matte kind of screen protector can fulfill this requirement.

However, the trade-off of using matte screen protector is that, it will reduce the transparency of the screen, and you will see distortion of colourful tiny grains shown up, especially on white background.

Actually, before I went for Clarivue, I've been looking for the SGP Steinheil Ultra Optics screen protector which claims to allow more light transmittance from the screen, as well as minimize the graining effect of its matte surface. But SGP didn't have a clear schedule on when they will produce Steinheil Ultra Optics screen protector for HTC Incredible S, so I ended up using Clarivue instead.

Both SGP and Clarivue are expensive kind of screen protector costing more than US$10 per pack. Actually, screen protectors are just a piece of plastic and should not be more than US$1 when come out from factory. However, a lot of cheap matte screen protectors manufactured in China (and probably distributed from Hong Kong) are of low quality and bring a lot of visual distortion (graining effect) to the screen. So, sometimes we have to pay the premium to get the screen protector from a trusted brand in US (probably manufactured in Japan). In addition, Clarivue Anti-Glare and Ultra-Clear screen protectors come with "lifetime warranty". You can always have a replacement for your screen protector from Clarivue at a handling cost of US$3 for regular shipping.

Clarivue can be ordered online from their website, and they provide free shipping worldwide for their HTC Incredible S matte anti-glare screen protector. Purchase with coupon code "clarivue1210" and you will get a 10% discount directly. I waited about 2 weeks for it to come all the way from USA to Malaysia.

The package of Clarivue comes with 2 pieces of screen protectors and 1 pre-moistened cleaning tissue pack. It is very easy to apply on the phone.

Although there is still some tiny grains on the matte screen, I find the overall screen display is still OK with Clarivue matte screen protector applied on it.

This is how the screen of HTC Incredible S with Clarivue anti-glare screen protector looks like, with the brightness setting to "auto". Note that the vibrant colour from the WVGA Super-LCD screen is still intact. The multi-touch screen is also as responsive as before.

And this is how the screen looks like when I set the brightness setting to 0%. Even at this extremely dim level, the screen is still viewable.

Therefore, I have no complain to Clarivue matte anti-glare screen protector other than its price.

Case-Mate Barely There case for HTC Incredible S

The famous Case-Mate Barely There is a kind of hard plastic shell for mobile phone to protect the phone from scratch, minor impact/drop, etc.

As its name suggested, it fits to the phone perfectly and we can barely feel its existence especially when see from distance.

I have been putting Case-Mate Barely There case on my HTC Incredible S phone the next day after I got the phone. It is very easy to put on and also very easy to take off.

To let you have a better idea of how it looks like, I have taken picture of the case putting together with the naked phone side-by-side.

The front:

And the back:

This is how the phone looks like after putting on the case:

As you can see, Case-Mate Barely There fits nicely to the phone, maintaining the slim profile of HTC Incredible S and provide good access to all the ports, sensors, speakers, buttons, cameras and functions of the phone.

Case-Mate Barely There also provides good protection to the main camera of the phone. As you can see from the 2nd photo above, the back camera's glass surface of HTC Incredible S will have contact to the table surface it lies on when you put the phone facing up. Imagine that glass surface keeps on knocking your table whenever your phone vibrates. Take a look at the 3rd photo, and you will find how Case-Mate Barely There protects the back camera.

The top edge of Case-Mate Barely There is of same level with the power button of HTC Incredible S. This will prevent accidental pressing the power button (and turn on the screen, which in turn drain out your battery) when your phone is in your pocket. However, this also makes pressing the power button a bit harder than naked phone.

The price of Case-Mate is quite expensive. I bought it at the cost of over RM60. However, you will find it worth the price considering its nice design, good quality and the "barely there" feeling.

The packaging of Case-Mate Barely There is bundled together with Case-Mate clear screen protector. However, you will soon find fingerprints and smudge developed on that screen protector. Therefore, my phone is using Clarivue ultra-thin matte anti-glare screen protector instead.

Fixing Android unable to connect to WiFi network problem with FXR WiFi Fix And Rescue

Have you ever encountered these kind of WiFi network connection problem with your Android device?

• Your Android device unable to detect the presence of a particular WiFi router/AP although SSID is broadcasted and all other wireless devices can detect and connect to the WiFi without problem
• Your Android device's failed to obtain IP address from the WiFi router/AP and unable to start, although the WiFi DHCP service is running well with other wireless devices
• Your Android device's WiFi service just unable to start

Normally, situations as above come at a sudden, and before that, your Android device has no issue at all connecting to that particular WiFi all the while.

Sometimes, rebooting the Android device can fix the problem, and you'll be able to connect back to the WiFi again. However, the same problem might also come back again.

I've encountered such annoying problem between my Android phone and my home WiFi router, and I finally fixed it using a free tool called FXR WiFi Fix And Rescue.

It is a one button fix solution. Just click the "Fix My WiFi" button and the tool will attempt to fix your WiFi problem in your Android device for you. You will lost all your WiFi settings, including all the saved WiFi connection passwords, along the process. However, this is still much better than having to do a full factory reset to the Android device.

It worth to give it a try before going for factory reset or sending the Android device to repair center.

App: Use Business Calendar for Android to sync Google and Facebook calendars

Do you find the Calendar app that comes with your Android phone not impressive enough? Do you want a calendar app that can show as much information as possible in a single screen in a well-organized and readable way, especially in the Month view?

So far, I came across 2 Android calendar apps that meet this requirement, and able to sync with Google Calendar. They are Business Calendar for Android and CalenGoo.

I prefer Business Calendar by Mikado Software of Germany because its price is cheaper than CalenGoo, there is a free Lite version of it, and most importantly, its user interface is very much alike Google Calendar accessed with desktop web browser. It also has a more business professional look-and-feel than CalenGoo.

Click here to see some screenshots of Business Calendar.

Business Calendar is able to access and sync with the same set of calendars as the HTC Calendar app, including PC Sync (that will sync with the calendars in your PC through HTC Sync program), multiple Google Calendars as well as Facebook Calendar. Apparently, it shares the same calendar database with HTC Calendar that comes together with the phone.

Beside Month view, it has Multi-day (Week) view, Day view and Agenda view. Its Month view uses popup to show event details, allowing you to access the information easily within the same screen. Its Multi-day view supports multi-touch zoom-in and zoom-out gesture.

One of the thing I like about Business Calendar is it comes with highly customizable widgets of various size from 2x1 to 4x4 (altogether 12 of them), allowing us to access and manipulate the calendar directly from Android home screen.

App: Setting Profiles in Android phone with MyProfiles

Profile setting and management has been a must-have feature in all mobile phones since long time ago, even before smart phones available in the market. This function allows us to quickly change multiple settings in the phone to specific need, such as set it to Silent Mode in cinema, Battery Saving Mode at night, etc.

However, this basic function doesn't come by default in Android, and we have to install the 3rd party application from Android Market in order to have such function in our Android phone.

I find MyProfiles developed by Fancy01 Inc. in Taiwan to be the best in terms of user friendliness, easy to use and good user interface, although it isn't the one having the most comprehensive features. Its operation doesn't consume much battery too.

MyProfiles lets us define an unlimited set of profiles and name them accordingly. Here are the profiles I set in my phone.

MyProfiles provides 40 over icons for us to choose and associate to the profiles we set, which is pretty sufficient.

For each of the profiles, we can define the settings of:

• Sound volume for ring tone, media, alarm, notification, in-call and system
• Sound effect / music for ring tone, alarm and notification
• Vibration
• SMS notification handling
• Auto answering
• Auto speaker on
• Screen display timeout
• Auto lock timeout
• Airplane mode
• WiFi
• Bluetooth
• Mobile network
• Auto Sync
• WiFi hotspot
• GPS
• WiMAX
• Mobile data connectivity
• Display brightness
• Screen auto-rotate
• ... and more

After the Profiles is setup, they can be switched into until the next toggle, or switched temporary for a period of time, then fall back to the settings before the switch.

The temporary mode will be handy in situation such as: we know a movie will be ended in 2 hours time, so we set our phone to be in Silent Mode for 2 hours and let it auto-revert back to its previous state.

We can also schedule for a certain profile to be triggered during certain time period.

Currently, MyProfiles still lack of features such as location based auto profile switching, car motion (> 20 km/h) auto profile switching, battery state profile switching, cable connection (and/or charging state) profile switching, etc.

MyProfiles development is pretty dynamic, with new release coming out at least once every week. Fancy01 is also very responsive to emails sent to them.

MyProfiles comes in 2 versions, the free MyProfiles Lite and the paid MyProfiles. Its price at US$1.49 (increased from US$0.99 since 28 April 2011) isn't expensive and very affordable.

If you own an Android phone and haven't found a suitable profile management app yet, or you find your current profile management app too difficult or tedious to use, I recommend MyProfiles to you.

Battery consumption between GSM (2G) mode and WCDMA (3G) mode

I notice that the battery life of my phone can last longer when it is in GSM (2G) mode than WCDMA (3G) mode.

Here is a simple observation of its battery consumption pattern. I switched it to GSM mode (Settings > Wireless & networks > Mobile networks > Network Mode > GSM only) during day time, and switched it to WCDMA mode (Settings > Wireless & networks > Mobile networks > Network Mode > WCDMA only) before I slept, and switched it back to GSM mode again the next day. Along the whole period, there is no phone call.

Here is the battery consumption pattern I get:

and here is the same graph shown in landscape view:

It is very obvious that when the phone is on WCDMA mode, its battery consumed faster.

This is an HTC Incredible S upgraded to Gingerbread Android (version 2.3.3). I do notice that when it is in GSM mode, the signal is pretty stable (I can always get a full bar), and when it is in WCDMA mode, the signal is not that stable (there are frequent occasions of losing one bar or two bars). Probably the stability of the signal is one of the major factor in battery consumption.

Anyhow, it is a known fact that the phone will consume less battery when it is in GSM mode rather than WCDMA mode, and it is among the tweaking of battery saving apps such as Juice Defender.

App: Yahoo! Mail for Android is a battery sucker

Yahoo! Mail for Android is an app developed by Yahoo! Inc. to access Yahoo! Mail accounts directly from the smart phone.

There are quite some feedbacks in Android Market complaining that this app is slow, but I didn't experience any obvious slowness in my HTC Incredible S.

Despite that, I've uninstalled Yahoo! Mail because it consumed too much battery, and I couldn't find any setting to fine tune its battery consumption, such as controlling its sync behaviour.

Before I installed Yahoo! Mail, my phone will consume about 7% of battery at night during my sleep. After installed Yahoo! Mail, I noticed the battery consumption had gone to 14%, doubling up the original, and after I uninstalled it, the battery consumption now gone back to 7% during sleep again.

Looks like Yahoo! need to pay more attention to their QA before releasing the app.

Solution for Samsung Galaxy Tab unable to turn on problem

If you own a Samsung Galaxy Tab, have you ever encountered the problem of unable to turn it on after you off or reboot it?

The symptom could be:

• You press the Power button. No matter how long you pressed and how many times you pressed it, nothing happen. Your Samsung Galaxy Tab remains dead with a black screen.
• You press the Power button. It vibrates. But then it is dead again.
• You press the Power button while charging. It shows the battery charging icon for a while, then it is dead again. 
• You press the Power button. It freezes during boot up.

If you encounter this kind of problem, don't give up yet! Try this:

Touch any part of the screen with one finger, at the same time press the Power button. Wait for a while (and pray - might take up to 2 minutes). Your Samsung Galaxy Tab might come back to life again.

HTC Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) built-in battery reading graph

There are several 3rd party battery metering apps which can draw graph based on battery reading, but if you have recently updated your HTC smartphone to Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread), your phone actually has a pretty nice built-in battery reading graph within the system. This feature is found in Gingerbread version of HTC Incredible S, HTC Desire HD, etc.

Go to Settings > About phone >Battery > Battery use and you'll see the screen similar to as below.

Note that on top of the screen is a slanting slope with information telling you how much time your phone is on battery since last charged. In fact, that slanting slope is your phone's battery reading graph. Right below the graph you will be able to see some blue marks. Don't worry, they are not screen display problem, but are actually indicators when battery is used by phone activities. If you charged your phone, you will also see green bar plotting the battery charging period.

Tap on it and you will get a clearer graph. The blue battery usage marks are further break down to the respective activity.

If you turn your phone to landscape orientation, this screen will also adjust itself to landscape view.

I think, with this nice battery plotting feature, you don't need to use any 3rd party battery metering apps anymore.

App: Keep an eye on apps that access your private data with Lookout Privacy Advisor

There are quite a number of private data stored in our smartphone, including our identity, contact details, location tracks, address book details, phone call logs, SMS messages, etc.

Do you want to keep an eye on the apps installed in your Android smartphone, to know what kind of private data they are able to access? In fact, these apps get access to our private data because we allowed them so during installation.

Anyhow, we don't want the apps to access our private data unless really needed. For example, SMS application such as Handcent need to access our mobile number, address book and SMS messages in order for it to function, but it should not access our location tracks unnecessarily.

Lookout Mobile Security (Premium Edition) for Android has a handy tools called Privacy Advisor that can scan through all the installed apps in our phone and provide us the insight of what kind of private data they are able to access.

After the scan, Privacy Advisor  will report how many apps has access to our Track Location, Identity Info, Messages and Contacts respectively.

It will list out all the apps with such private data access, and provide detail explanation of the findings.

If we click the "App Info & Options" button, it will go to the phone's application management function, which we have the option to uninstall the app if we want.

I find this feature pretty useful, but it is not available in the free version of Lookout Mobile Security.

App: NetQin Android Booster aka Mobile Guard

If you are using an Android phone, I would like to introduce you NetQin Android Booster (a.k.a. Mobile Guard), which is a utility that can automatically free up memory, monitor network and power usage, prolong battery time, etc. This is an ads supported free app, which you can find in the Android Market.

If you are using S60 Symbian phone, there is also a Symbian version of NetQin Mobile Guard, but there are lots of different from this Android version.

Android Booster comes with a handy widget. With it, you can watch the battery level in percentage, quickly toggle the WiFi, Bluetooth and Mobile Data Network. There is also a one button quick optimizer to clean up running apps and free up memory and save some battery usage.

Although the new Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) in HTC Incredible S already has a quick setting page to toggle the WiFi, Bluetooth, Mobile Network, etc., it still involves a few steps to reach there, and I find Android Booster really handy for switching these connections on/off. Samsung Galaxy Tab also has handy WiFi and Bluetooth toggle by pulling down its Notifications, but lack of Mobile Network toggle.

Tap on "Android Booster" will open up the app itself, and tap on the battery will bring you direct to the Battery Consumption Tracker screen of the app.

When you open up the app, you will be shown the Overview screen, which displays the memory usage, mobile data network usage and battery remaining. The same "optimize" button as in the widget is also found here.

The Utilities screen lists down all the functionalities of Android Booster.

Task Manager lists out the running apps and their memory usage, and you can kill them here if you want. This is similar to the famous Advanced Task Killer apps. So with Android Booster, you don't need another Task Killer apps anymore.

Network Manager displays your data plan consumption and WiFi usage, which you can counter check with 3G Watchdog Pro. This is not as comprehensive as 3G Watchdog Pro, but will give you basic information about your network bandwidth usage.

Power Manager (a.k.a. Battery Consumption Tracker) will tell you what is the item that consume the battery most.

If you tap on Applications, it will further tell you which app consume the battery most.

Application Manager enables you to see the listing of installed system apps and 3rd party apps. Tap on the app and you'll be able to run it, show its detail info, and even uninstall it if it is a 3rd party app.

File Manager lets you access the file system of your memory card. You can view the folders and files, and perform functions such as delete, rename, copy, move, share, create new folder, etc.

Call / SMS Manager is another app by NetQin which can block unwanted calls and/or SMS, and also hide out secret SMS and/or call logs.

Location Privacy Manager teaches you how to switch off the option to disable Google from collecting location data from your phone.

As you can see, Android Booster is feature rich, and it is free (but you will see Ads bar at the bottom).

The dual-core HTC Sensation to debut in Malaysia on 1 June 2011

There is news from Cubic Platforms that the dual-core HTC Sensation smartphone will be made available to Malaysia from 1 June 2011.

The HTC Sensation put emphasis on its multimedia capability, plays video and music with SRS virtual surround sound, and able to record full HD video with stereo sound. Its official retail price is RM2,299, slightly higher than the HTC Desire HD.

Specification:

• 4.3-inch Super LCD with qHD (540 x 960) resolution
• 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM 8260 Snapdragon processor
• Adreno 220 GPU
• Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) OS
• HTC Sense v3.0 UI
• 1 GB internal storage, 768 MB RAM
• 8 MP main camera with dual-LED flash
• VGA front camera
• Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP
• Comes with 8 GB microSD card
• 1520 mAh Li-ion battery

You may be able to see it at Cubic Platforms, Sunway Giza, Kota Damansara.

Updating HTC Incredible S from Android 2.2.1 (Froyo) to Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread)

The OTA (Over-The-Air) Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) of HTC Incredible S smartphone has been made available to Malaysia today (26 May 2011) morning.

You can manually check for the update now, or wait for the automated update alert appear on your HTC Incredible S smartphone sooner or later.

Although this update will not cause any data or setting lost to your smartphone, it is always a wise choice to perform a backup using tools such as MyBackup (or the paid MyBackupPro) or Titanium Backup (or the paid Titanium Backup Pro) prior to the update, just in case...

Before the update, my HTC Incredible S is running on Android 2.2.1 (Froyo) software number 1.38.707.1.

After the update, it is now running on Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) software number 2.12.707.5 with HTC Sense 2.1 (sadly, not the newer 3.0 yet).

Manual update is pretty easy. Just go to Settings > About phone > Software updates and click on the "Check now" button. You should be able to get the update notification as below.

After the download, you'll come to a confirmation screen to apply the update to your phone.

If you answer OK to Install now, your phone will be rebooted and the update process will begin. It takes a while to complete. Then the phone will reboot again, and your phone is now powered with Android Gingerbread!

Download and read the complete HTC Incredible S User Guide

HTC Incredible S comes with a small printed Quick Guide, which is definitely not sufficient enough for new Android smartphone user to learn about the phone features and get the best of them.

Well, the complete HTC Incredible S User Guide of 214 pages does exist, and you can freely download it from the Internet.

This comprehensive user guide covers all the content in the Quick Guide, plus many more, including:

• Basics
• Getting started
• Personalizing
• Phone calls
• People
• Keyboard
• Messages
• Accounts and sync
• Social
• Email
• Calendar
• Clock and weather
• Internet connections
• Web browser
• Bluetooth
• Camera
• Photos, videos and music
• HTCSense.com
• Maps and location
• More apps
• Security
• Settings
• Update and reset
• Trademarks and copyrights
• Index

Click here to download the complete HTC Incredible S User Guide.

How to check if your HTC smartphone is genuine original (under SiS warranty)

Since SiS Corporation is the sole distributor of HTC smartphones in Malaysia, the HTC phones imported by SiS to Malaysia and under their warranty are generally called "genuine original set". Those imported by other vendors, not going through the official HTC distribution channel, and not under HTC/SiS warranty (probably warranty by the import vendors themselves), are generally called "AP set".

Because there is a price difference between genuine original set and AP set, if you are buying a genuine original set (which is normally more expensive than AP set), you might want to check if your HTC smartphone is really a genuine original set, officially supported and warranty by HTC through SiS.

You might also want to ensure that you are getting a brand new unopened set, instead of otherwise a display set, etc.

Here is the way to check it. A new HTC genuine original set must fulfil all the criteria below:

• The packaging box should be sealed with SiS sticker (photo as below)

• The phone's serial no. and IMEI no. should be the same as printed on the box and at the back of the phone (in battery compartment)
• You can check if the serial no. and IMEI no. is under SiS warranty here
• Inside the box, there should be 2 stickers with same serial no. and IMEI no. for you to stick on the warranty card
• All accessories should be sealed in plastic bag, except the battery charger. There should be a cut opening on the battery charger's plastic bag, for SiS to paste the warranty sticker onto the charger
• Beside the charger, there are also SiS warranty sticker on the phone and on the battery
• The battery is already inside the phone, but the circuit is blocked with a piece of plastic, which you need to remove in order for the battery to function
• The battery should be partially charged
• At the side of the box, you can find a sticker providing instruction about HTC/SiS online product warranty registration (photo as below)

• At the other side of the box, you can find another sticker about free introductory training provided for the phone
• If you are getting an HTC Incredible S phone, the free 8GB microSD memory card should be pre-installed in the phone's memory slot
• You can register the HTC phone for warranty here. Need to scan and upload your receipt of purchase during the registration process

Dynaquest Monthly Digest will stop publishing by August 2011

I have been subscribing to Dynaquest's Monthly Digest for years, and have been using it to shortlist and analyse my stock picks. It is sad to know that this publication will come to an end.

Founded by Dr Neoh Soon Kean (梁孙健), Dynaquest has been publishing precious fundamental analysis information of the Malaysian stock market, including the Stock Performance Guide (SPG), the Second Board Guide (SBG, which has ceased publication few years ago), Monthly Digest and the expensive Stockbase.

Contents of Monthly Digest includes:

• Summary of marketwide information
• Ranking of companies by PER & DY
• Ranking by discount to NAB/Share
• Ranking by Market Capitalisation
• Ranking by combination of PER, DY, PX/NAB and ROE
• Valuation of TSR and warrant
• Valuation of REITs
• Dynaquest's selected stocks
• EMAS index vs Sectoral indices
• EMAS index vs Major Global indices
• Entitlements information
• Summary of updates for the month
• Financial statistics
• Weekly price charts

Although there are a few competitors to this publication, those competitors are yet to close up the gap in getting close to Monthly Digest's comprehensiveness, up-to-date info, detail and usefulness.

Existing subscribers of Monthly Digest are given 3 options to:

• Get a refund for remaining subscription paid
• Continue receiving Financial Statistics part of Monthly Digest in PDF format
• Convert to Stockbase subscription

Stockbase is a set of updated KLSE public listed companies' information and fundamentals, selling at a few thousand ringgit per year. This will be too expensive for retail investors.

Tweaking Ubuntu 11.04 easily with Ubuntu Tweak

Ubuntu Tweak is an open source tool licensed with GPL v2, designed to make easy to configure your Ubuntu Linux system and desktop settings using its user friendly GUI interface.

It is developed by Tualatrix Chou (周鼎), a 24 years old Chinese guy who also founded HZLUG (Hangzhou Linux User Group).

Features of Ubuntu Tweak includes:

• Display Basic System Information (Distribution, Kernel, CPU, Memory, etc.)
• GNOME Session Control
• Auto Start Program Control
• Quick installer for popular applications
• Lots of 3rd-party sources to keep applications up-to-date
• Clean unneeded packages or cache to free disk space
• Show/Hide and Change Splash screen
• Show/Hide desktop icons or Mounted Volumes
• Show/Hide/Rename Computer, Home, Trash or Network icon
• Tweak Metacity Window Manager's style and behaviour
• Compiz Fusion settings, Screen Edge Settings, Window Effect Settings, Menu Effect Settings
• Set the Shortcuts to archive quicker access your favourite applications
• GNOME Panel Settings
• Nautilus Settings
• Advanced Power Management Settings
• System Security Settings
• and many more...

For example, many of us prefer to have the Window Titlebar buttons on the right instead of on the left. You can easily set this with Window Manager Settings in Ubuntu Tweak.

You can download the DEB installation package of Ubuntu Tweak from its website. To install it after download, just double click on the DEB file.

After installation, you can find Ubuntu Tweak inside the System category of Applications. Click the Applications launcher on the side bar of Ubuntu 11.04 Unity Desktop, drop down the search selector which default to All Applications and select System. Alternatively, you can search for "Ubuntu Tweak" by key-in its name in the application search box.