Security

 

Hidden Cameras

https://us.norton.com/blog/how-to/how-to-find-hidden-cameras - an excellent list of methods to identify hidden cameras 

Will have more in this article ......

iRiver IBC-R6 Bone Conduction Earphone - Manual and Review

 Recently bought this bone conduction earphone from the mature company iRiver of South Korea. You may remember iRiver from the days of really portable MP3 players, recorders and such. It is priced in the mid-range of 65,000 to 70,000 Won. The reason I chose this over no-brand or unheard-of-brands which are less than half the price is because it is from a South Korean company, rather than China. There are more expensive ones of course, such as Aftershock, which has been rebranded as Shokz, but I cannot justify the price to myself.

The first part of this blog would be showing the User Guide / Manual which is originally in Korean. The English translation (via Google Translate Camera function) is also shown below.

The review will be coming soon .... stay tuned

Grand Mafia Strategy

Rules

City Rules

This can be found in: Event Centre -> Governor's War Season 2 -> Battle for The City Hall -> City Announcement -> Check Announcement

Mansions

Level 17 - Get Babe #3 Julia

Campaign 

Normal vs Elite - both have 7 stages.

Each Normal stage has to be completed first, then only the Elite stage can go to the same level of stages.

Elite #5-12 - Bubba - Need Sparrow, Vinny, Mike, Nurse Doxxy, Nioh

Elite #7-12 - Anonymous - Need Sparrow, Big Shot, Bubba, Lok, Nurse Doxxy

Defense

Wall 

This is one of the keys to defense against attackers. The higher the level, the better.

In general, go to Investment Center to upgrade various wall defence items.

Within the Wall, the Traps also need to be upgraded.

Enforcers can be selected as Defensive Enforcers within the Wall. Some Enforces are better than others, e.g. Sparrow, @nonymous, Tony, etc.

Radar - built this structure to ensure you get notified when others are attacking you.

Enforcers should return home (from Robbing or other activities), once you know (from the Radar notification) that you are under attack.

Safehouse

Keep Enforcers and Associates in Safehouse if Turf is under attack.

Police Raids

Enforcer - choose the one that is under the Wall category, e.g. Tony or El Cortardo. 

Gear up the Enforcer - maximise the biker gear.

Jewels - biker attack and biker defence, wall defence and trap attack

Crew Defense buff - enable this under the Combat buffs

Specialties - normal or Governor - should be all Biker and Crew Def/HP

Reinforce vs Station

Station - will be based on our stats. We can also station our Underboss on the other Turf, but if the battle is lost, then we will lose the UB too.

Reinforce - based on the stats of the other player.

Construction

Workshop

Workshop has links to Set, Armory, Jewels

Materials needed for workshop items can be obtained from Kingpins. Click on Item -> Upgrade -> Select Missing Material -> Method of obtaining

Buildings:

Wall <- Workshop <- Smelter 

Training vs Hospital vs Diamond Production

For miniH:

To train T4 bikers takes 6 days 18hr, 240,000 influence Hll events

Given that stats are:

2 training, 2 diamonds

total associates 1.993m

hourly upkeep 5.053m

training speed bonus 229.3%

training time -69.63%

associates/session 15,747

---

hospital capacity: 566/791,764  318.8%  566

Robbery

Clothing to increase speed: electric gun, builder's shirt/boots, investor's trouser/dagger

Clothing to increase load: investor's trouser/pistol, builder's shirt/shoes/shovel 

Robbing efficiency - Level 4 resources:

Arms. 1.26m x 14 PTS / 126min = 0.14 pts/min

Metal 0.945m x 14 pts/ 96. min = 0.138 pts/min

Depot 1.26m x 14 pts/ 140mi. = 0.126 pts/min

Diamond  0.4725 x25 pts / 82mins= 0.144 pts/min

Enforcers

Specialties increase: when Exp level of Underboss is increased.

Enforcers level up when: attacking kingpins, go on campaign

Troops increase

- by Enforcer Rank increase

Items

Where to acquire the items that we need?

Go to Faction Shop -> Faction Shop to buy with coins.

Go to Faction Shop -> Broker to buy with gold.

The items are categorised in:

Premium: Direct/Random Relocator

Kingpins

Experience

DMG      L1 L2         L3         L4

1        819 1431 2304 3973

2       1638 2862 4608 7946

3       2457 4293 6912 11919

4      3276 5724 9216 15892

5      4095 7155 11520 19865

Governor's War Specialties

DMG L1  L2         L3         L4

1        492  858         1382 2383

2        984  1716 2764 4766

3        1476  2574 4146 7149

4        1968  3432 5528 9532

5        2460  4290 6910 11915

Please excuse the numbers above if the format is jumbled up. The first column is the DMG levels reading downwards. Across the columns are the 4 different levels.

The Levels L1-L4 are the levels of the Kingpins

The DMG is in the game, where if we have enough Energy, we can hit a L1 Kingpin with DMGx2 or DMGx3 etc.

The main question the table above tries to answer is: Should I hit on a L4 OR using the similar energy to hit a L1 by using DMGx4?

The answer from the table is hitting a L1 with DMGx2 or DMGx3 is better than hitting a single (DMGx1) L2 or L3. However, if you can hit L4, then it is better to hit 1 L4 Kingpin (Exp=3973) than hitting an L1 Kingpin using DMGx4 (Exp=3276). 

Governor's War

Events Sequence

Day1 : Robbery

Day2 : Street Sweep / Police Station - Kingpins, Action points, Police Stations, family currency/insignia

Day3 : Increase Influence - enforcer wheel, family currency/insignia 

Day4 : Speed Ups

Day5 : Kill Event / Massacre Day

Battle

L5 Police Station - Bruiser Square

T3: Bruisers 1.140m Hitmen 1.169m Bikers 0.588m Cars 0.151m

Our Side: Hitman Square  UB: Bruiser Mike. Call for Bruisers.  

T3: Bruisers 1  Hitmen 1  Bikers Max Cars 0

Enemy has:

L5 Police Station - Bruiser Square

T3: Bruisers 1.064m Hitmen 1.144m Bikers 0.425m Cars 0.0m

Our Side: Bruisers Square  UB: Biker Bubba. Call for Bikers.  

T3: Bruisers Mine Max  Hitmen 0  Bikers Others Max Cars 0

good win

Notes Nokia 8.3 Android 11

DON'T BUY - Mine got Overheated with no chance of recovery. Bad thermal design.

Recovery Mode

Forgot Password

Missing Back button

Wifi - Hidden and MAC address

Screenshot button missing 

This notes may apply to Anroid 11 mobiles in general, although the notes are based on my Nokia 8.3. This is because the Nokia 8.3 is running Android One, which is supposed to be an unaltered version of pure Android.

Recovery Mode

===============

To enter recovery mode:

- plug in USB-C cable

- turn off the phone

- Press Volume Down AND Power button and hold for a few seconds.

Once in Recovery mode, the options are:

- START

- Restart Bootloader

- Recovery Mode

- Power Off

- Boot to FFBM

- Boot to QMMI

- 

Forgot Password

=================

This will WIPE ALL DATA

- Go to Recovery Mode as mentioned above.

- Select Recovery Mode. The Android logo is shown

- Unplug the cable

- Press the Power and the Volume Up key once

- The Recovery Mode menu will show many options

- Choose the Wipe Data / Factory Reset

Missing Back button

====================

By default, Android 11 hides the 3 usual buttons, including the Back button.

To enable these 3 buttons on Nokia 8.3 Android 11:

- go to Settings -> Accessibility -> System Navigation

- Choose between:

Gesture Navigation

3 button Navigation (includes the Back, Home, Apps buttons)

Wifi - Hidden and MAC address

================================

Two important items when connecting to a Wifi on the phone is:

- using a Hidden wifi network

- using the Device MAC address, NOT Randomized Mac.

Unfortunately modern Android phone deliberately make these two security features very hard by HIDING the relevant settings.

On a totally new Android phone, with no SIM card, adding a Wifi network also seems to be a challenge. I forgot the exact details, but persevere and click through all possible options to add the first wifi network.

Before configuring the phone, ensure to 

i) change the network Wifi settings, to be it NOT HIDDEN temporarily.

ii) Add the MAC address of the phone

Then go into the phone and start Configuring:

- go to Settings -> Network and Internet -> Wifi

- Click Add Network at the bottom.

- Type in SSID, Security option eg WPA2, Password

- Click Advanced Options

--- In Hidden Network, change to 'Yes'

--- In Privacy, change to 'Use device MAC'

- Click Save and Connect.

Go back to network Wifi and change back to:

- Hidden Network enabled

Screenshot button missing 

=============================

In previous Android or other handset, the screenshot features is available in two places:

1. Swiping down from the Top of the screen will reveal apps settings like WiFi connection, GPS, HotSpot, Bluetooth, etc, AND Screenshot.

2. Pressing the Power and Volume Down button, will trigger screenshot.

However the above methods is no longer available in Nokia 8.3 running Android 11. It may also be the same for other mobile brands using Android 11.

The Screenshot however is still available in a new spot. This applies to whether using 3-button navigation or Gesture navigation. To trigger Screenshot, simply go to the screen that shows the multiple background apps.

i) Using 3 button navigation, the Background Apps is available by pressing the Squre icon button. Then the words Screenshot will appear on the bottom.

ii) Using Gesture navigation, the Background Apps is available by Swiping upwards from the bottom of the screen. Then the words Screenshot will appear on the bottom.

I can imagine this is a very smart and intuitive location, even though it is very annoying if we got used to the previous methods. It is intuitive because the Screenshot is taken for the whole screen. What better location than to put the Screenshot at the Background Apps area, where we can scroll through different Background Apps to take screenshot for.

NOTE: The word background does not mean wallpaper background. It means the multiple apps that we open, but it is hidden by the recent app. So these background apps are the ones still running but not on the front screen. 

Google Drive Desktop - Different modes of Syncing and Offline

 A bit of background first on Google Drive:

Google Drive have been in existence over many years. It's basically an online, browser based, file storage where you can drag-n-drop any files from your computer onto the webpage of Google Drive. Then there are specific Google office apps which are equivalents to Microsoft Office such as:

Docs (like Word)

Sheets (like Excel)

Slides (like Powerpoint)

.... and even better new apps like: Forms, Drawings, etc

Basically Google Drive allow you to have a file system / file storage plus working on some of those files online from a browser webpage.

Google Sync

Then came the little technology that allows us to install a component on our computer, which then automatically syncs between Google Drive and our computer. This means that we see the Google Drive files and folders on our computer, through File Explorer - as if those Google Drive files are on our computer. 

The reason for this blog is that the Google Sync technology has undergone a few iterations with new names and so creating some amount of confusion. Every few years coming back to this technology again, the name has changed. I may be mistaken, but I roughly remembered the earlier name as Google Sync -> then it became Backup and Sync -> now it became "Google Drive Desktop"

Google Drive Desktop

This post is about the new syncing technology called Google Drive Desktop (now that we are sort of clear on the history) and we won't mention the previous products from this point on.

Installation

Simply open your favourite browser and search engine and type: Google Drive Desktop

Then click on the results as shown below.

Installation Problems

It is worth mentioning a few of the installation problems I encountered which does not seem to have a specific or logical solution - but I managed to solve it and will share it here. 

The problem occurs after installing the Google Drive Desktop, the little icon in the taskbar is visible but nothing much else. There is a button or link to prompt us to sign in to our Google account or sign in to Google using the web browser or various other ways to prompt us to sign in to Google. But after signing in, still there are no options in the Google Drive Desktop taskbar icon except to sign-in. So I encountered this loop where I keep signing in and there are no results after that. Right click on the taskbar icon and select Preferences, and a window seems to pop up and disappear immediately. There is also a new icon on the desktop itself, and that also prompts us to sign-in, again repeated sign-in had no results.

You may also see the 'Success!' message below after each sign-in attempt, but we may still get nowhere, i.e the Google Drive files is still not showing in our local computer.

Here are a few things I tried that may in combination provided the solution:

- Restart your computer, perhaps do this two or three times.

- Definitely try signing in two or three or more times after each step.

- When there is an opportunity to sign-out, then completely sign-out of any Google accounts.

- Finally when there is an option to 'Disconnect' from Google Drive, then click Disconnect (this may appear in a smaller window)

Summary - keep on trying various things to sign-out, disconnect etc and signing in again until it works.

Installation Working

When the installation is successful, then in Windows File Explorer, it should show the Google Drive like this:

Syncing Warning

1. By default all files in MyDrive on Google Drive will be synced and appears in File Explore on the local computer

2. Deleting a file on the local computer, e.g. through File Explorer, will ALSO delete the file in the cloud Google Drive.

For my usage, I prefer NOT to sync everything between the Google Drive and my computer, so I prefer to choose which folders in Google Drive need to be synced to my computer.

The next section will discuss more on how to configure the other modes of syncing, and not deleting the files on the cloud when the local file is deleted.

"Set up offline access" - Right-click on the file or folder you want to make available for offline use. Next, choose "Available Offline" under the "offline access" menu.

Syncing with Offline access

Several modes are described here:  https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9308619

Essentially with the offline access mode, we can work on the documents while temporarily not having internet connection. For example, this could be on a flight, in a park, in a coffee shop where we don't trust their public wifi, etc.

1. Working with non-Google files (ie not Docs, not Sheets, etc)

Assuming Google Drive for Desktop is installed, open the Google Drive folder. Select the file or folder to be accessed offline. Right-click on it, and select Drive File Streama and then Available offline.

2. Working with Google files (eg. Docs, Sheets, etc)

Install the Google Docs Offline extension. In Drive, click Settings, thenSettings.
Go to the Offline section, check the Create, open and edit your recent Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files on this device while offline.
Right-click a file and turn on Available offline.

3. Working on mobile phones

On your mobile device, open the Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides app. Tap Menu and thenSettings. Turn on Make recent files available offline.

Syncing Mode Preferences

As shown below, there are at least 3 different syncing modes. To come to these options, right click on the Google Drive Desktop taskbar icon, then select Preferences.

1. Google Drive - My Drive - Stream files

The files are mostly in the cloud (not on our computer). But when we need to work on the files with no internet connection, we can make the files and folders available offline. See section above about working with offline files.

2. Google Drive - My Drive - Mirror files

The files are stored both in the cloud of Google Drive and also on the local computer. The files on the local computer are available to work with, even when there is no internet. There is no extra steps to make these files to be offline, since there is always an offline or local copy already.

3. My PC - This option allows us to select files or folders originally on our local computer already, to be stored / backed-up on the cloud. Click on the Add Folder button to select which existing local folders should be placed on the cloud.

When everything is working, opening the taskbar icon for Google Drive Desktop should show something like this:

Setting up a Secured Email Server

 This article is Work In Progress....

There are lots of good info on the web about setting up email servers. So this article will start with some links to those sites.

References:

https://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/how-to-set-up-your-own-email-server/

Mail Server - it looks like the most popular on is 'hmailserver' - https://www.hmailserver.com/download/

Metaverse and the Bitcoin Blockchain CryptoCurrency

 Metaverse - What is it?

The metaverse has been around for a few decades in one way or another. However it is not until recently when Facebook chief - the Zuck - announced the new name Meta for his company that the Metaverse has come into heightened attention. Here are some definitions of the Metaverse typically found on Google search:

Wikipedia - "A metaverse is a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection. In futurism and science fiction, the term is often described as a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, universal virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual and augmented reality headsets"

Nvidia - "The metaverse is a shared virtual 3D world, or worlds, that are interactive, immersive, and collaborative. Just as the physical universe is a collection of worlds that are connected in space, the metaverse can be thought of as a bunch of worlds, too. Massive online social games, like battle royale juggernaut Fortnite and user-created virtual worlds like Minecraft and Roblox, reflect some ..."

Bybit - "Living, working and playing in an alternate reality requires funding, and that means cryptocurrency. Just as there are several metaverses to use, there are also multiple cryptocurrencies. Understanding the options, differences, and pros and cons f each one can help you make the best investment decision for your needs.

When I first encountered the hype about the Metaverse, it sounded very much like Virtual Reality (VR) - which was the big thing touted in the late 80s and early 90s. VR has not really taken off in the big way, although there are definitely some tangible benefits realised. Things like pilot training simulators and immersive technology certainly have their niches. There could even be a revival in the form of Google Glasses and the Oculus devices. Thinking a bit deeper, VR is usually associated with the technology that allows the  3D immersive experience. Although the implementation of the Metaverse is  also dependent on technology, the Metaverse is much more than about the 3D reality aspect - but it seems to encompass all aspects of the virtual world itself, including commerce, way of life and much more in this alternative metaverse.

The life and commercial aspect of the Metaverse is where cryptocurrency comes in. The quote by Bybit above says it precisely. What currency is better suited to a virtual meta world, then a virtual meta currency embodied by the cryptocurrency blockchain?

Here are some of the up and coming cryptocurrencies that may follow the development of the Metaverse:

ALIEN WORLDS (TLM)
Atari Token (ATRI)
Bloktopia (BLOK)
Boson Protocol (BOSON)
CEEK VR (CEEK)
Chromia (CHR)
CryptoPlanes (CPAN)
DEAPcoin (DEP)
Decentraland (MANA)
inSure DeFi (SURE)
IOTEX (IOTX)
METAHERO (HERO)
MINIGAME,
MRE
METAL
NJF
Polygon (MATIC)
Radio Caca (RACA)
RMRK (RMRK)
Sandbox (SAND)
Solana (SOL)
SQUID,
Starlink (STARL)
TERRA VIRTUA KOLECT (TVK)
Theta Network (THETA)
Torum (XTM)
UFO Gaming (UFO)
Verasity (VRA)
Victoria (VR)
Vulcan Forged (PYR)
WAX (WAXP)

DVB-T + DAB +FM - Software survey

 Bought an el-cheapo Digital TV (DVB-T) USB stick which also has Digital Radio (DAB) and FM Radio - what more could I ask for?

Actually I would ask for an actual software to come with that. As with all things in Ebay, there is a reason why they are cheap. The advertisement itself shows nice and flashy TV pictures on a software. It's only in the fine print of the Package contents that says the software is a Trial Version. I did read that in the ad, but subconsciously put that aside. So now, I'm left with a USB stick with drivers installed but nothing to play with. I don't think I want to touch Windows Media Center, though I guess that is an option to some people.

So the point of this post is to collect and comment of my research on the software that can work with the newly acquired DVB-T stick. Here goes..... (perhaps starting with the paid software, then saving the best free ones for last).

DVB Viewer - http://www.dvbviewer.com/en/index.php?page=features

Cost around 20Eu - which is not a bad price. However there are paid add-ons such as Media Server add-on and Video Editor add-on. On Screenshot pages shows it looks very professional. The Features pages is very comprehensive and also list a lot of TV cards that it supports. Unfortunately mine is a generic brand and I don't expect to find it on the list. The payment is by bank transfer and you put the description of the bank transfer as DVBViewer + email. So it feels quite old school and an independent developer (not a commercial company), and this is one of the positive point for me.

AltDVB - https://www.videohelp.com/software/ALTDVB

Looks like it is free and is under active development, since the last update at the time of writing is May 2021. It's meant to work with DVB-S (Satellite, meaning worldwide signals are available. The T in DVB-T stands for Terrestrial, meaning the local stations). It's 11Mb, its portable, and it has a whole list of Changelog and Release notes. It has its own YouTube subscription channel to explain how to use it.

ProgDVB - https://www.progdvb.com/progtva_download.html

There is a paid version with the title name and there is also a free version called ProgTV. The free version won't support recording and is around 11Mb. It's supposed to let you watch digital TV and listen to radio channels. The paid version supports IPTV, DVB-S/S2, DVB-C (cable) and more.

Media Portal - https://www.team-mediaportal.com/mediaportal/about-mediaportal

This looks like a very complete media center - a full fledged solution. So its ability to play DVB-(C/S/T) is almost drowned out by all the other features. Incredibly, it's not only free but it's open-source too. When it comes to popular software that non-technical people use and download, there is generally a risk of using Free software on the internet. However when a software is open source, like Media Portal, the risk is reduced because the source code is available for the world to see. (this is a general statement about truly open source software and it is not an assessment of the security and safety of using Media Portal). Only drawback is that some DAB (digital radio) functionality may not be fully supported yet.

Review - Antec C40 CPU Cooler

Is a CPU Cooler really necessary? Is it all hype? Or does it actually work? Or will it be much better than the stock CPU coolers that come together with the original CPUs.

In this simple, unofficial review of the Antec C40 CPU Cooler, I hope to answer some of those questions from my experience with this product. Firstly, for all the official information, please go to the following sites, so I won't repeat the stats of the device in this post:

https://www.antec.com/product/cooling/c40

(Apologies for not having a real photo of the actual cooler. I was too excited to install it before thinking about taking photos. The product link should have many photos of this product)

Why do I need a CPU cooler?

My Windows PC has been turning-off by itself at irregular and unpredictable times. Sure most of the times it is because of Windows - and I am never shy of blaming Windows because most of the time it is Windows' fault. I've checked for drivers incompatibilities, new programs that may cause crashes, anti-virus/anti-malware, plugins misbehaving, Windows Update. But none of this were the reasons. Good for Windows that it is not the problem this time. 

By the way, the effect is not really the PC 'crashing'. What happens is that while working on the PC, the computer literally turns-off or powers-off, the same effect as if someone just pull out the power plug. 

So this can only be two things:

• Power Supply Unit
• Overheating CPU (either motherboard or CPU triggers a shutdown to prevent damage)

The Power Supply Unit problem will be very difficult to check. Perhaps qualified electricians can use a multimeter to check a few points (DO NOT TRY THIS). But most PC enthusiasts way of testing is to try a different Power Supply and see if the problem exist. In addition, this problem happens at totally different activities while working on the PC. 

Although it looks random, the pattern of the auto turn-off problem emerges. It happens when the computer is left running for some time. It may also happen when doing heavy browsing. It feels more and more like a heat problem. But SpeedFan program says the temperature is between 45-60 degrees. This does not seem to be overly critical although it is high. 

Then one day I rebooted, when into BIOS and check the temperature from the BIOS stats, and it is 80'C degrees. Obviously SpeedFan is wrong! The PC is placed at a corner next to a tall filing cabinet, which I thought would have sufficient airflow since it is not tightly cramped, but apparently not. Bringing the PC out of the corner, and removing the side panel of the motherboard reduced the temperature to 60-70'C degrees.

So definitely temperature is the most likely culprit. Although 60-70'degrees may not cause the problem anymore, but I would need to place the PC back to its original position, hence I thought of purchasing another CPU Cooler to replace the stock standard CPU cooler that came with the original CPU.

CPU Socket Type

My desktop PC is based on an AMD APU (CPU + graphics) of FM2 socket type. So I did a whole lot of research of price vs functionality of CPU coolers before selecting this. What I did not realise that was motherboard was FM2+ socket type until after the purchase. However it turns out to be fine since FM2/FM2+ are compatible not only in terms of the motherboard but also the Antec C40.

In fact the Antec C40 is compatible against a variety of AMD CPUs(see product link above or specs in the images above), but it is also compatible with some types of Intel CPUs. For the Intel CPUs, Antec C40 provides an extra harness / frame to screw onto the motherboard (screws provided), on which to secure the CPU cooler. In addition, Antec C40 also comes with a thermal paste, which MUST be applied between the CPU and base of the cooler when installing it.

Product Selection

So apart from the price / functionality, why exactly did I choose this among the many other choices:

• Antec seems to be a specialised brand when it comes to CPU cooling. Other brands which I seriously considered were Coolermaster and Thermaltake.
• The Copper base was an important point for me.
• The weight of the cooler - it is not the lightest but quite reasonable given the dimensions.
• The cool factor from the blue LED lighting.

Installation

Before installation of the Antec C40, the original stock standard AMD CPU cooler fan has to be removed. These are the steps I follow - and I do not guarantee any safety  - please read other instructions or manuals before doing this.

Uninstalling the AMD stock standard CPU cooler:

1. Switch of the PC and all connected equipment.
2. Unplug everything connected to the PC.
3. Open the CPU case and make sure you touch the metal from to unearth any static charge.
4. Reposition the CPU case in a comfortable position, with proper lighting, so it is easy to work with.
5. Gently move any wires aside.
6. Unlock by pressing the lever on one side of the AMD stock standard CPU cooler. This type of cooler is extremely easy to remove. Once unlock, gently and lightly tilt both ways to let the CPU cooler unhinge from the motherboard latches. NEVER EVER use force. If anything does not move, just tilt or change some other position.
7. As you lift up the old CPU cooler, you will see some old thermal paste on top of both the CPU and the base of the old CPU cooler. Clean the thermal paste on top of the AMD CPU by rolling the tip of a cotton butt on it.

(Old AMD stock standard CPU. The best thing about this is the super easy way to install/remove due to the excellent lever design. The Antec C40 on the other hand is hard to clip on, and even harder to unclip to remove)

Installing the new Antec C40

1. Unpack the Antec C40. 
2. Ignore the screws and square harness. Those items are for Intel CPUs.
3. Test Run Only: Gently lower the Antec C40 on top of the AMD CPU. Practice to latch one side of the CPU Cooler onto the motherboard around the CPU - just to experience any challenges or difficulties. Get a feel of how difficult or easy it is to secure the latch but DON'T do the actual attachment yet.
4. Use the thermal paste supplied by Antec and squeeze a light amount on top of the AMD CPU. Gently spread the paste with the thermal paste tip, then use a small flat thin cardboard to evenly spread the paste on the CPU. 
5. Get the Antec C40 cooler AND REMOVE THE THIN FILM from the base of the C40 cooler.
6. Lower the C40 down on top of the AMD CPU. In my case, lowering the side opposite to the latch until it hooks onto the CPU edge was actually quite easy - to this at an angle.
7. When one side is latched, then very very gently tilt the CPU cooler to be horizontal, to latch on the other side, in order to clip it on. This is the hardest part. You need to apply force, but applying too much force may damage the CPU.
8. When securely attached, close the PC case, attach the PC components again, restart the PC and go to BIOS screen.

Problem Solved

Is a CPU Cooler really necessary? Is it all hype? Or does it actually work? Or will it be much better than the stock CPU coolers that come together with the original CPUs.

YES, it is necessary. No it is not hype. Yes it does work. Yes, it is definitely better than the AMD Stock Standard CPU Cooler.

Actually the first time I installed it, the BIOS showed 80'C degrees. That was totally unexpected. At least if it was like 60-70'C degrees, that would be similar to the old AMD CPU cooler - that would be understandable. But why would the new Antec C40 produces 80'C degrees when first installed. After checking this and that, with the PC case still open, there seems to be  a shiny border between the CPU and the base of the CPU Cooler. Then the shocking realisation that I actually forgotten to remove the thin film packaging on the C40 cooler's base as described in step 4 above.

So after uninstalling the new C40 cooler (uninstalling is even more difficult  when trying to unclip the new C40 cooler), remove the thin file at the base of the cooler, then reinstall everything again,  the PC was rebooted. Now the very good surprise was that the temperature is hitting about 40'C degrees only. What's more when I place my hand near the CPU cooler fan, it is actually cool air, instead of the hot air I previously felt.

When Windows was restarted, running many applications, browsers, etc to test, the temperature was much lower than with the previous old AMD cooler (actual numbers given by SpeedFan were wrong in absolute terms, but the temperature readings are significantly lower with the new Antec C40 cooler). So the conclusion, at least on my particular AMD FM2 system, the Antec C40 cooler definitely show a dramatic reduction in CPU temperature and the PC does not switch off by itself anymore.

Below image shows the Antec C40 in all its glory (PC case is open)

 

Online Development Tools

 This post is a collection of useful tools for the programmer. The list will be updated as necessary:

https://gist.github.com/discover - Gist is a way to share codes and snippets with others. Every Gists are individual git repository and this is forkable and usable.

https://ideone.com/ - No need for any tools or installing compiler and editors. Ideone is capable to compile over 60 programming languages.

https://sqldbm.com/Home/ -  go to the website and start building your database. Supported database types

SQL server

MySQL

PostgreSQL

Another main facility here is work with the term in a collaboration. Developers can work remotely on a single project through this platform.

https://www.figma.com/ - Figma is a prototyping tool. Just go to the web and start building your design and save online.

https://coggle.it/ - This is a mind mapping application also applicable for structured documents like document trees.

Review - Machine Learning For Absolute Beginners - Oliver Theobold

Machine Learning For Absolute Beginners: A Plain English Introduction (Second Edition) 

Oliver Theobald

This book at Amazon

ISBN-10 : 1549617214

ISBN-13 : 978-1549617218

There is a wealth of information out there on the subject of Machine Learning (ML) especially over the last 10 years. There are books with catch-phrase titles but lacking in substance. Conversely there are books which dwell too deeply into certain kinds of programming framework for ML (nothing wrong with that). For a data scientist, there are not many books out there which cover a broad spectrum of ML, yet with substance on each topic. 'Machine Learning for Absolute Beginners' by Oliver Theobold seems to be one of these rare gems that covers ML broadly and capable of explaining important concepts without too much mathematics or code snippets. Despite the title, a seasoned data scientist may yet find this as a valuable reference.

Following a pleasant introduction to ML and an overview of a typical workflow, it discusses in detail the 3 classes of ML: Supervised, Unsupervised and Reinforcement Learning. It describes a special case of Reinforcement Learning known as Q-Learning. This is followed by a chapter on ML Toolbox where it discusses the data requirements, the infrastructure, the algorithms and the visualisation options that are available. Here it explores the various programming languages (Python, C, R, etc), the cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, Google) and the algorithm frameworks (Tensorflow, Caffe, Torch, etc).

The chapters on data preparation and feature selection covers a lot of the techniques as well as the motivation behind them. These include row and column compression, one hot encoding, binning, treatment of missing data, normalization and standardization. Partitioning of data and cross validation (k-fold) are discussed as the final stages of preparing the data before model training.

The next two chapters were devoted each to Regression and Clustering respectively. These are perhaps the two foundational families of algorithms which are also known outside the context of ML. The difference between Linear and Logistic regression conceptually and applicability to real scenarios were well illustrated. A very simple hand calculation shows how linear regression really works. Logistic regression is then explained by contrasting its usage with linear regression. Similarly the concepts and application for k-Nearest Neighbours and k-Means Clustering for supervised and unsupervised learning were well explained, including the reasonings behind the algorithms.

Machine Learning For Absolute Beginners: A Plain English Introduction (Second Edition) (Machine Learning From Scratch Book 1)

Bias and variance has a short chapter by itself and is enough to explain with sufficient details. Here is another example that brings this book above other ML books which just focus on coding. The understanding of the interplay between bias and variance, which is also emphasized in Andrew Ng's Machine Learning course, differentiates between a data scientist and an ML coder.

Next two chapters deal with the advanced algorithms Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). SVM is contrasted with Logistic regression, with explanation of the hyperplanes concept and the margins around the boundary for SVM. ANN concepts were explained from the basic components of neurons and activation functions, building up to the perceptron with mathematical examples for very simple cases. Multilayered Perceptron (MLP) and the various Deep Learning techniques were briefly discussed.

While ANN may be very effective in some cases, it is well known for its lack of explanability (except perhaps with recent developments in SHAP, ICE, LIME, etc). On the other hand Decision Trees has often been hailed for its high explainability nature. So a decent chapter is devoted to Decision Trees with simple mathematical calculations of entropy - which is key to decide on how to split the nodes of the tree. This is expanded to the advanced trees family including Boosting, Bagging and Random Forest and when to use them effectively. This is followed by a short chapter in Ensemble Modelling, where the Stacking method is also discussed.

The last three chapters, finally but rightly put, deals with introducing the development environment and the tool necessary for machine learning work. These include using the anaconda environent to program in the Python language and using the Panda library's dataframes. It also discusses the concept of model optimization and illustrated using the Grid Search technique. Towards the end there is a source code for a simple but complete Python code for an ML workflow, recommendation of other useful books, an Appendix on the introduction of Python but what I consider most useful is pointers to a few free datasets. 

Help - Ping request could not find host ... DNS problem

 You may have seen this message before:

Ping request could not find host www.cnn.com. Please check the name and try again.

There could be many things that can go wrong with the networking that caused this. Ultimately it is very likely the DNS that is the problem.

Firstly, let's simply go through a few troubleshooting options - just to rule out it is not because of the them. Do one step at a time, check the WiFi and if it works, don't need to progress to the next step.

1. For older laptops, believe it or not, there is actually a slider switch to click the WiFi on or off. Check this if you have it.

2. On Windows, on the TaskBar, ensure that the Wifi (not any particular Wifi network yet) itself is turn on. The WiFi can be either On or Off or Flight Mode or something else.

3. Check that the Wifi is connected to a particular WiFi network. Make sure it says Connected and Secured. And there is no yellow exclamation mark.

4. Open up CMD command terminal, type:

ipconfig  /release 

ipconfig /renew

ipconfig /flushdns

5. Reboot the computer.

If all else does not work, it is now time to suspect the DNS.

The DNS, in layman's term (you can Google for the exact definition), is directory service that lookup the URL you type and translate to an IP address. Its like a Post Office that receives an address and then go to that address. Our computer need to have the address of the DNS server itself - eg. we need the POST OFFICE's address, so that we can give them our letter.

The so somehow, our computer needs to know which DNS IP address to use. Most of the time, this is hidden from the user, that is why most computer user don't have to deal with it and so don't understand it. It can be automatically set on the modem or router, and also optionally automatically set on the Windows network settings.

So why should there be a problem when the DNS working nicely behind the scenes one day, then the internet is not working the next day? There could be many answers, but a recent experience has shown that some software, including VPN software can go it to the network settings and change the DNS address.

Hence one more solution to above error message is to change the DNS address on the Windows networking level. Whichever Windows version you have, 

- find your own way to the 'Network Connections' page or 'Change Adapter Settings' and you can see a page with a list of your network (ethernet, Wifi, VPN) adapters. 

- Right click on the Wifi adapter, if you are using the Wifi adapter.

- Choose 'Internet Protocol Version 4', and click on the Properties

- Go to the section called 'Use the following DNS server addresses', and add 'Preferred DNS' and 'Alternative DNS'

Some of the free DNS addresses are:

Quad9 - known for security

9.9.9.9, 149.112.112.112 (Secured)

9.9.9.10, 149.112.112.10 (Unsecured)

Google - you know them

8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4

Cloudfare - known for speed

1.1.1.2, 1.0.0.2

OpenDNS - mature and known for security, 

208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220

CleanBrowsing - known for parental filtering

185.228.168.168, 185.228.169.168

Notes Crypto Coin (CRO)

Recently discovered ths exciting new crypto coin. There are a few features: - staking - The Syndycate https://www.securities.io/investing-in-crypto-com-cro-a-comprehensive-guide/

Notes LinkedIn

 NotesLinkedIn

=================

How to Print Messages to PDF

How to Block someone without them knowing

How to Print Messages to PDF

================================

Printing to PDF is a very simple thing, or it should be. But by default, it seems very difficult to do to get the formatting just right. It is either cut off on the right hand (maybe we can change to Landscape). But then it only prints a little bit of the message on one page.

How to we print the many items of a very long message conversation? The trick is as follows.

- Use Chrome Browser

- Click Messaging on the top horizontal panel.

- The main screen has a left panel of various people, and the middle panel has the main message history of a chosen person.

- On the left panel, click on the person whose message you want to print, and check that the correct message history is on the main panel.

- For privacy, if you want to hide the people on the left panel before printing, go to the left panel, click on the triple dots on top, and select 'Manage Inbox Request'

- On the middle message panel, scroll up to see the start of the messages you want to print.

- Press Ctrl-P, choose Save as PDF.

- In the browser Print panel, Portrait was enough for my printing. But you can change to Landscape.

- In the browser Print panel, in Scale, choose a smaller number say 70% and try a few different numbers until the size and content of messages is OK for you.

- Then click Save. This will produce a PDF file.

- Open the PDF and print as usual.

The main step above is to choose the scaling to make sure it fits enough information of the messages you want to print.

How to Block someoone without them knowing

============================================

No problem, LinkedIn does the block discreetly. It says:

"The blocked member won't receive any notification of this action." 

in here: https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/47081

The steps are very simple and listed on the link above.

Basically you have to go to that person's page, click on More, select Report/Block. 

When a few options are presented, click on the option that says "Block [user name]". Then click Block.

Note: Blocking is different from Removing a Connection. With blocking it seems you are still connected but would not be able to see their profile, updates and cannot message them anymore.

To unblock is a bit different. Go back to your main page.

On top, click Me, click Settings and Privacy, click Block and Hiding, click Block and select Change. Then choose the person you want to block.

Whaling and Social Engineering by a LinkedIn Babe

 On LinkedIn, I have been recently approached by a very professional seeming young lady. Have you had that experience? Then read on......

(Google Reviewers, please do read carefully before making any decision).

Firstly, I am a male, and I am susceptible to be very friendly with females who are friendly to me (I accept not all males feel the same). Female readers are very welcome to leave your comments, but please understand our weakness.

This article is about an experience which can potentially lead to severe security compromise for the victim, their relatives, friends, colleagues and employers. This article is about a potential account of a whaling or social engineering attempt.

There are various definitions of whaling or social engineering, but let's just use the definition below as an example (not that it is the 100% correct definition), so that we have a rough idea to proceed. 

https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/whaling

"A whaling attack, also known as whaling phishing or a whaling phishing attack, is a specific type of phishing attack that targets high-profile employees, such as the CEO or CFO, in order to steal sensitive information from a company, as those that hold higher positions within the company typically have complete access to sensitive data. In many whaling phishing attacks, the attacker's goal is to manipulate the victim into authorizing high-value wire transfers to the attacker."

Guys, this paragraph is for you. It's not unusual I get unsolicited invites from LinkedIn. They include bearded guys whose name I cannot pronounce, I click Ignore. Nice looking gentlemen who are headhunters, maybe I accept or ignore. Various ladies who are headhunters, again I may accept or ignore. PhD or students of various types, I may accept if they have an interesting profile, otherwise I ignore. But I have never been invited by a babe-level (non-headhunter) who wanted to strike a conversation which is non-work / non-professional related - until now.....

Initial invitation -

So this under 30s, corporate entreprenuer and executive professional who appears to be running a company, decide to invite me in LinkedIn. Let's call her LX from here. To be specific her LinkedIn profile photo is not babe-level, but instead very professional and very expensive looking high class lady. So the invitation is unusual in the sense of it being rare (I don't get invitations like this) but not enough to be suspicious initially - maybe her work or project made her see something in my professional background that may be interesting - after all this is what LinkedIn is about, thank you. On a personal level, she is also the same ethnic background as myself, so in this case, that increased my interest a little.

Interaction - 

The following is an account of the interaction and so far the interaction is still on going and there is no conclusion yet.

- After connection at LinkedIn, we started with well wishes and small conversations. Nothing unusual, but I'm quite excited to have this interaction.

- Not long after, LX admits she does not use LinkedIn much, and asks if I use WhatsApp or WeChat. Immediately I too wanted to move off from LinkedIn and continue our conversation privately in a non-professional platform for chats. 

- On the Chat platform, the conversation continued. The conversations was very pleasant and non-committal. We started to talk about what each other is doing. From my personal view, I enjoyed this very much because it was refreshing to have a new friend who seemed to be very interested in my routine life. She was not nosy and not at all inquisitive of what I do. So no alarm bells there.

- I asked a few questions about her professional life, ie the business that she does. The questions were in the direction of trying to see if there is any synergies between my work and her work so there is more to talk about professionally, or help each other's business. Again this is quite standard in what LinkedIn is suppose to allow for.

- No business talk. However her response to work and business questions were polite and relevant, but usually ended quickly. For example, her company is multinational, and although they have offices in your country, she does not have direct dealings with your branch. This is quite plausible but adds or subtracts nothing in terms of evidence.

- How is your day? The conversation continues very politely and showing interest in daily life routine, such as how is your day, did you sleep well, have you eaten. These are all very nice and I'm very touched to have this level of interest from someone else.

- Niiice photos - Without making any requests, she voluntarily send me photos of herself doing sports (in tight sports gear, calm down you guys) and also showing her at dinner. The dinner picture of her is sensational - very photogenic. So of course I want to continue the interaction more.

- We talked about music, food, weekend activities. So very nice indeed. She does not seem to care about my family background, education background, social status. I have no pressure to try to impress her simply because she seems to have everything. Wow I really like to meet her. Even if for a purely platonic relationship (guys, please!), she is so refreshing to interact with.

- The summary of the interaction is so far we have both kept it very friendly and have not demanded anything from each other at all. Hence no pressure and no expectations. Other males in this position may have taken a different direction and I don't really know how she would respnd. In any case, at this point there is no cause for alarm based on the interaction in the chat room.

Let's now go to the other side of thought.....

Reality Check - 

1. Who am I that such a perfect lady (looks, wealth, charm, humour) would pay attention to me? An old saying goes 'Look at your own cat-face (literal translation from another culture)', 'Look at your own mug-shot', 'Have you looked in the mirror lately'? This is one reality check that pulled me down to earth. Though not looking like Brad Pitt or George Clooney, etc, I do think I'm not bad looking at times. But with double chin, and an average look, really? would a pretty and wealthy and successful young lady choose me out of millions of nicer looking guys out there? (If you answer yes, you don't deserve sympathy if you are taken for a ride).

2. 'If it is too good to be true, then it is not true'. 

Countless people with higher intelligence than myself have fallen victims to scams. I'm not qualified to give all the reasons why and how smart people get scammed, conned, tricked, but it happens all the time. To re-iterate many smart people fall for it. Simply put, when we see something is so good, and we really want it, then we will try to find all the reasons why this good thing can be true. It's not a matter of being optimistic that makes people vulnerable. Those who fall victim to scams, really do want the bait (money, pretty looking person, etc) - we all want something and sooner or later, there is scammer out there who would have the correct bait for us. 

3. Use logic not our senses - A Beutifual Mind.

Men have often been accused of thinking, not with their brain, but with the organ below. If looking in the mirror does not bring a reality check (coz You're So Vain), then remember the movie A Beutiful Mind about the Noble Prize winning mathematician and schizophrenic John Nash. Spolier Alert: Since his university days, he was seeing an imaginary little child. Through his many years of struggle with schizophrenia including hospitalization and medication, he still believed the child was real because he saw with his own eyes, and hear with his own ears. This super briliant mathematician knew he had schizophrenia but cannot deny the existence of the little child. However, the Reality Check came one day, when he realised (using simple logic), that he knew this child (seeing and talking with her) for many decades of his life but she did not grow old. This is the reality check that even all his physical senses tell him it is real, simple logic about humans and ageing brought him out of his delusion and so he accepted the little girl cannot be real.

OK - let's put our suspiscious cap on for a moment. (Remember, nothing in the interaction so far seems like she wants anything or has anything to offer, except friendship. Neither of us have spoken anything other than what two very familiar friends would speak about.) 

Profile:

- Profile photo included whole person, so her face is quite small in the picture.

- LinkedIn people also viewed other ladies with profiles which are very suggestive, yet with high corporate titles.

- She has a 500+ followers. Nothing wrong with that by itself.

- She has a very important, high position title, but somehow the wording is not quite right. 

- Education and work experience profile is quite short. For a yound person, this is understandable. Two universities were listed. Three work experiences listed, the first is an internship. The third is the current very high and important sounding role.

None of these stand out too much by itself, but ordinarily I would not have accepted the Connect invitation with someone with a very brief education and work experience profile. So my confession is that I accepted because she was an interesting lady.

Suspicions - Putting on the tin-foil hat.

The conversations in the chat does not indicate she wanted anything from me, neither information nor resources. The LinkedIn profile described above is not unusual for each individual item, but collectively, they are starting to ring the alarm bells. From there, trying much harder to look through all the evidence, here is a list of suspicious items.

- In the interaction / chats, when I tried to talk about her business to stimulate her interest or passion in her work or business, her answers very soon changed the topic. It was not avoiding the question, but the answers were very plausible, but like 'now let's talk about something more interesting in your personal life'

- She does not ask me about my work, except simply 'what I do at work'. There is no attempt to extract any kind of work related information at all. In fact this almost lack of interest about my professional experience, considering we met at LinkedIn is a bit unsual I thought.

- She has so far send two photos. The photo in a sporting activity shows her in a tight exercise suit - revealing a nice body (sorry, I have say it as it attracted my attention). The one at dinner was very proper looking, showing such a cute and sweet face. But comparing these two photos with her LinkedIn profile photo and the chat app profile photo, I cannot say for sure that it is or it is not the same person. Each photo was taken either at a different angle, with different hair style and different pose, basically enough differences that it could still be the same person.

- Photos - another thing about the photos is that they are not selfies. So she always has someone with her, taking these nice photos of her, whether in an action during sports or at dinner for one, yet looking nice and framed properly in the photos. Who took these photos? Was she with someone? If there is someone, even a friend, why would she be chatting with me half way around the world instead of giving more attention to that person who is with her?

- Looking more closely at the education level in combination with the work experience. She attended two universities consecutively from 2011-2017. A brief internship was done. Then it appears her first job after the internship is CEO of a company (4 years ago until now) and and second job at the executive level from (3 years ago until now). So this is what I meant by a seemingly successful or wealthy young lady. Can this be true? Yes since her country is a place where rule-of-law is not always true, and important people (e.g. her father) has significant advantages. Or it could be a not-very-good fake profile.

- Looking at her LinkedIn connections, it is almost all males out of the first 8 pages with only one female who is another high-powered successful lady. All the males are CXO, C-level executives, directors, Heads of xyz, business leaders etc. Not even head-hunters has such high powered connections. Could all these male high-flying individuals be potential victims?

Why me? What for?

Although some alarm bells may start to tingle, most likely we may not know the reason until it is too late. Here are just a few very general reasons and there could be more.

https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/don-t-know-why-i-sent-more-sally-lost-her-entire-savings-to-a-love-scam-20200909-p55ttb.html

1. The article above is about old-fashioned scamminng involving romantic love, but the technology could be modern, like chat or video conferencing. The scammers are patient and build trust and love on the victims, then the objective of the scam is old-fashioned money.

2. For more modern whaling, the objective would be to target high level corporate leaders, or someone influential enough in an organisation, such as an IT Administrator. Then if the scammer can infect the devices of the victim, potentially everyone else in the victim's computer network (ie the office) could be vulnerable.

3. Social engineering - this may combined the old-fashioned charm and get-to-know-the-person-trick, then with the similar objective as whaling, by having the goal of being able to access information or computer systems of more high value targets in the organisation of the victim. 

I don't think I can fall in the romantic scam trick, but that is in fact what I could fall for. I don't have a high title in my company nor important role, but that does not mean I cannot be used to get to another person through me. Just because I don't know why, does not make me any less valuable to a scammer.

4. Here is another potential reason (I won't comment further)

https://www.asianage.com/world/americas/310818/china-using-fake-linkedin-accounts-to-recruit-americans-us-top-spy-catcher.html

Checks

The suspicions above may or may not reflect the truth - and I still cannot be sure at this point.

However, a few things can be checked.

- Contact University? Alumni Lookup service?

- Check with a few others she has been in contact with.

- Check by calling the work company, maybe not directly, but approach with tact.

- Image check in the internet.

- Common scammer fake profiles search

Update:

I just verified using reverse image search (https://tineye.com/search/), that the chat app profile photo is taken from a young lady at a tourist website. The website has a lot of photos of the same lady and they are clearly recognizable as the same person. However, LX's various photo seem difficult to identify as the same person.