Harnessing The Hidden Power of Gmail

I am despirately looking for best solution to my problem in communicating to my wife. We are usually using the Yahoo services in order to have better communication in a form of e-mails, videochat, voicechat and textchat. We used Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Messenger to achieve our needs. We enjoyed the Yahoo services but until such time that we have been tortured of constant garbled signal. We've been apart for thousands of miles. She's now in New Zealand and I am in the Philippines. Both of us used broadband internet connections but still we were wondering the undesirable results.

So, we tried the Google Talk Gadget for our voicechat, however I am not contented with the voicechat. The Google Talk Gadget offered only voicechat for now. I wanted to see my lovely wife at the far end. We tried Skype also but the result was not guaranteed to its best performance. Then, I did exploring the Google because I doubted that Google did not able to think about the videochat as offered by Yahoo. To my surprise, they did! Google developed a way to offer videochat by installing a Google Plug-in into the browser. One prime requirements of Google VideoChat, VoiceChat and TextChat is you must have to sign-up a Gmail account of Google, because everything that I wished to enjoy will be offered in their Gmail. However, Google also recommended their browser called Google Chrome in order to use its full features offered in Gmail.

We are now enjoying of the Gmail hidden power and it offered clear signals with very lively video and voice chat. We did not experience heavy garbled signals for the past three weeks now. We have best communication for now. We are very interactively exchanging talks properly now in the average of five hours per day of continues conversation. We are hoping that Google will be able to maintain its performance, in order for us not to waste lots of time.

Mabuhay GOOGLE!

How to Change the Windows XP Product Key?

My friend came to me for a help because he wanted to install new legal license of Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2. He bought new clone desktop computer for his office. So, we set a date for his computer operating system's (OS) installation on the next day.

Upon examining his newly bought clone desktop computer, I've noticed that there was a pre-installed Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP 2. Then, I told my friend that it's already there (the OS) and no need for installation. He immediately replied to me that it is NOT LEGAL! He don't want to violate the intellectual property rights (IPR) according to him.

Then, I was contemplating on the scenario because installing Windows XP will take much time. I decided to change the product key installed in the desktop computer instead of installing fresh OS in order to shorten my stay in his office. In order to make it more legal, I affixed the Certificate of Authenticity sticker to the exterior of the computer also.

I tapped my online friend, GOOGLE...I was googling then for more help, and here is what I found. I tried to use this ideas and it works perfectly...........

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

1. Click on Start and then Run.
2. In the text box in the Run window, type regedit and click OK. This will open the Registry Editor program.
3. Locate the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE folder under My Computer and click on the (+) sign next the folder name to expand the folder.
4. Continue to expand folders until you reach the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Current Version\WPAEvents registry key.
5. Click on the WPAEvents folder.
6. In the results that appear in the window on the right, locate OOBETimer.
7. Right-click on the OOBETimer entry and choose Modify from the resulting menu.
8. Change at least one digit in the Value data text box and click OK. This will deactivate Windows XP.
9. Click on Start and then Run.
10. In the text box in the Run window, type the following command and click OK. %systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a
11. When the Windows Product Activation window appears, choose Yes, I want to telephone a customer service representative to activate Windows and then click Next.
12. Click Change Product Key.
13. Type your new, valid Windows XP product key in the New key text boxes and then click Update.
14. If you're taken back to the previous screen and prompted, choose Remind me later.
15. Restart Windows.
16. After restarting Windows XP, a 30 days registration for activation reminder will appear. In this case, you must be connected to the internet for online registration/activation or call the local Microsoft Regional Office for telephone activation....of course you must spend for long distance call....

I am hoping that this will help to those Microsoft Windows XP fanatics as a life line in times of mission critical moments. Enjoy your IT experience!

Ubuntu Linux Router Setup - How to

Here are the instructions for Ubuntu Linux Router configuration using the old PC. The purpose of this is to utilize the slow PC to become a Router in replacement for commercial Routers, like the Linksys WRTG54GS. The following specifications of an Old PC are as follows: AMD Athlon XP 1.7GHz Processor, 512MB DDR1 400 memory, 40GB IDE 7500rpm Seagate Hardisk, Redfox Mainboard with built-in Video, Audio and LAN card and extra Realtek LAN Card at the PCI slot.

Instructions:

1. Bring-up the Console Terminal of the Ubuntu Linux and Running ifconfig -a will show you what network interfaces are available.


2. Internal Network Information: Router: Address: 192.168.1.1, Network: 192.168.1.0, Netmask: 255.255.255.0, Broadcast: 192.168.1.255 and Clients: Addresses: 192.168.1.2 - 192.168.1.254, Netmask: 255.255.255.0, Broadcast: 192.168.1.255, Gateway: 192.168.1.1


3. Setting up network interfaces: Device Naming: eth0 = external and eth1 = internal.


4. Take a backup of your current network configuration: sudo cp /etc/network/interfaces /etc/network/interfaces.bak


5. Configuring the External Network Interface:


• For Dynamic IP Addresses (DHCP) Only:
  
  
  
  • Open /etc/network/interfaces with your favourite editor. Delete everything and paste in what is below. Follow the commented out instructions carefully.
    

    # Set up the local loopback interface
    auto lo
    iface lo inet loopback        
    # Set up the external interface
    #
    # Don't forget to change eth0 to the proper name of the external
    # interface if applicable.
    #
    auto eth0
    iface eth0 inet dhcp



• For Static IP Addresses Only
  
  
  
  • Open /etc/network/interfaces with your favourite editor. Delete everything and paste in what is below. Follow the commented out instructions carefully.

  # Set up the local loopback interface
  auto lo
  iface lo inet loopback
  # Set up the External interface
  #
  # For every xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, enter the numeric address given to you
  # by your Internet provider. Don't forget to change eth0 to the proper
  # name of the external interface if applicable.
  #
  auto eth0
  iface eth0 inet static
       address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
       netmask xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
       gateway xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
  
  Now, set up your DNS servers as given to you by your service provider in /etc/resolv.conf, which should look something like this
       nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
       nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx 

6. Testing Connectivity: Reload the network configuration and test for connectivity,

   sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart
   ping -c 3 -W 10 ubuntu.com 

7. Configuring the Internal Network Interfaces


• Wired Only
  
  
  
  • Append the following to /etc/network/interfaces and follow the commented out instructions carefully.
    

    # Set up the internal wired network
    #
    # Don't forget to change eth1 to the proper name of the internal
    # wired network interface if applicable.
    #
    auto eth1
    iface eth1 inet static
         address 192.168.1.1
         network 192.168.1.0
         netmask 255.255.255.0
         broadcast 192.168.1.255 



8. Restart Networking Now, if the following command is executes successfully, your networking devices have been properly configured.

   sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart 

Ethernet Cable Color Codes Standards

If you are interested to be a network engineer, it is a must to learn the standards. If you are planning to establish a small network like an internet cafe, it is highly recommended to learn the proper termination of the UTP cables at both ends.

To learn more deeply the standards, you can download my compiled notes HERE!

Electronic Fuse

This circuit is an electronic version of fuse. The electronic fuse cuts off the current (like the ordinary fuse does) and lights up the LED when a certain current level is exceeded. The advantage of this fuse in comparison to a conventional one is that it can be reset and re-used. The electronic fuse can handle a 500mA maximum of current but it can be increased beyond 500mA by changing the value of R1 with the aid of this formula: R1 = 0.4(I), where I = desired maximum current.

Click the image to enlarge.

Overvoltage Crowbar Circuit

A simple circuit but very effective to protect a main circuit which is sensitive to overvoltages. The circuit uses a zener diode in parallel to the power line of the protected circuit or device. Once the output of the power supply increases due to a malfunction, the excess voltage will be routed to ground by the zener diode. If the voltage will increase further, the total current consumption will exceed the capacity of the fuse. The fuse will blow at this moment and the current supply is broken.

The schematic diagram can be download here!

MP4 Regulated Power Supply for my Car

Recently, I acquired a Sony MP4 player which was Made in Japan according to the label. But, I doubted that it is not Made in Japan for obvious reasons. Anyway, the purpose of buying this gadget is to be used in my car stereo as a source of crisp digital music from MP3 and MP4 media format. During my travel to provinces, my gadget was powered from a lithium-ion battery that lasted more than two hours only in which I need to recharge the battery again, once it will be drained. So, I decided to develop a very simple regulated power supply that can sustain the long journey of travel without thinking and worrying of no power supply for the gadget.

The schematic diagram can be downloaded here!.

IECEP Seminar a SUCCESS!

The IECEP - Davao Chapter and the Board of Electronics Engineering conducted a seminar related to the Guidelines of the Electronics Board Examination, Mechatronics and Robotics, and the Orientation of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No.: 9292. There were almost 200 and 40 participants for Students and Professionals, respectively.

From the bottom of our hearts, we (the IECEP - Davao Chapter) were thankful for the efforts of Engr. Sylvia Marcelo (Chairman of the Board) and Engr. Joel Bajador (Member of the Board) for their supports to us.