Linky
Good until 1/5/09
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
FREE McAfee VirusScan Plus Firewall and AntiSpyware (1-year subscription)
Linky
Promo code: VSPPROMOCF
Free McAfee VirusScan Plus Firewall and AntiSpyware (1-year subscription)
Promotion ends 12/31/08
Promo code: VSPPROMOCF
Free McAfee VirusScan Plus Firewall and AntiSpyware (1-year subscription)
Promotion ends 12/31/08
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Amazon playstation 3 promotion (80g ps3 + resistance 2 + the dark knight blu-ray for $400)
Right now Amazon has the following promotion for playstation 3
Buy a 80G Playstation 3, Resistance 2, and the Dark Knight Blu-ray movie for $400 shipped. Pretty good deal if you want a good game and one of most popular film of the year.
Playstation 3 promotion
Buy a 80G Playstation 3, Resistance 2, and the Dark Knight Blu-ray movie for $400 shipped. Pretty good deal if you want a good game and one of most popular film of the year.
Playstation 3 promotion
Sunday, December 7, 2008
CVS.com $25 off $50
Right now if you register at CVS.com you can get $10 off $50 automatically when you sign in. You can then apply the following coupon codes for a total of $25 off $50
MEDICARE $5 off
MASTERCARD $10 off after entering credit card info.
This is pretty good if you need to stack up on diapers etc.
MEDICARE $5 off
MASTERCARD $10 off after entering credit card info.
This is pretty good if you need to stack up on diapers etc.
Xbox 360 Guitar Hero II Wired Guitar bundle for $17, or with 2 extra wired controller for $30
Right now you can get xbox 360 guitar hero II wired bundle for $17 at RedOctane.com
Linky
Add to cart and apply $20 off coupon SAVE20 and it comes to $10. Shipping starts at $7.
Alternatively you can add 2 more wired guitar controller ($10 each) for a total of $30 with free shipping!
Linky
Add to cart and apply $20 off coupon SAVE20 and it comes to $10. Shipping starts at $7.
Alternatively you can add 2 more wired guitar controller ($10 each) for a total of $30 with free shipping!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Iron man, Kung fu Panda, Indiana Jones 4 blu-ray $15.49 each!
Right now Amazon have the following blu-ray movies for sale at $15.49 each. This is only $.50 more than their black friday pricing.
Iron Man (Ultimate Two-Disc Edition + BD Live) [Blu-ray]
Kung Fu Panda [Blu-ray]
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [Blu-ray]
They also have Godfather collection for $41.99
The Godfather - The Coppola Restoration Giftset (The Godfather / The Godfather Part II / The Godfather Part III) [Blu-ray]
Note: Godfather collection is also available at Bestbuy for the same price with free in-store pickup.
J&R also has a huge blu-ray sale going on for cyber Monday with some as low as $4.99. But I believe they charge $2.99+ for shipping.
Iron Man (Ultimate Two-Disc Edition + BD Live) [Blu-ray]
Kung Fu Panda [Blu-ray]
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [Blu-ray]
They also have Godfather collection for $41.99
The Godfather - The Coppola Restoration Giftset (The Godfather / The Godfather Part II / The Godfather Part III) [Blu-ray]
Note: Godfather collection is also available at Bestbuy for the same price with free in-store pickup.
J&R also has a huge blu-ray sale going on for cyber Monday with some as low as $4.99. But I believe they charge $2.99+ for shipping.
HD-DVDs on sale @ Borders.com (including many boxsets at $10!)
Right now Borders.com is having a HD-DVD sale at $10, this includes many boxsets such as Planet Earth, Heros Season 1, Battlestar Galactica Season 1 etc. Ship to store is free, otherwise it's $3. I know HD-DVD is dead, but this is a good buy for existing HD-DVD owners especially when the same movie on blu-ray is still very expensive.
HD-DVD Sale
HD-DVD Sale
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Xbox 360 Deals
Last Remnant for $30
This game is just released last week and it's already $30! Most reviews said this is a good game with some technical glitches that can be solved by installing the game onto hard drive.
Xbox bundle offer
Get a Xbox Arcade Holiday bundle with 60GB live starter pack for $250. This is almost like getting a xbox 360 pro at $250. The only thing you are missing is the component hd cable, but you can get a HDMI cable for $2 here.
Linky
Circuit City also has Xbox Arcade Holiday bundle with refurb wireless controller and 20GB hd for $199.99 (in store only)
Linky
This game is just released last week and it's already $30! Most reviews said this is a good game with some technical glitches that can be solved by installing the game onto hard drive.
Xbox bundle offer
Get a Xbox Arcade Holiday bundle with 60GB live starter pack for $250. This is almost like getting a xbox 360 pro at $250. The only thing you are missing is the component hd cable, but you can get a HDMI cable for $2 here.
Linky
Circuit City also has Xbox Arcade Holiday bundle with refurb wireless controller and 20GB hd for $199.99 (in store only)
Linky
Friday, November 28, 2008
Amazon.com Blu-ray promotion
Looks like they are really pushing it!
Right now you can by selected blu-ray movies and get $20 off 3 movies, $60 off 6, or $100 off 10 movies. Quite a lot of James Bond movies as well as Die Hard 4. Promotion Valid from 11/28 ~ 12/7
Linky
Note: It seems that James Bond movies have additional discount of $5 per pair. For example, I put 2x Thunderball, 2x Dr. No, 2x Live and Let Die, 2x From Russia with Love, 1x For Your Eyes Only, 1x Die Another Day, and the total becomes $175 - $25 - $100 = $50 for 10 movies!
They also have buy 3 movies for the price two promotion. These include Planet Earth, Batman Begins, Harry Potter etc.
Buy 3 for the price of two
Right now you can by selected blu-ray movies and get $20 off 3 movies, $60 off 6, or $100 off 10 movies. Quite a lot of James Bond movies as well as Die Hard 4. Promotion Valid from 11/28 ~ 12/7
Linky
Note: It seems that James Bond movies have additional discount of $5 per pair. For example, I put 2x Thunderball, 2x Dr. No, 2x Live and Let Die, 2x From Russia with Love, 1x For Your Eyes Only, 1x Die Another Day, and the total becomes $175 - $25 - $100 = $50 for 10 movies!
They also have buy 3 movies for the price two promotion. These include Planet Earth, Batman Begins, Harry Potter etc.
Buy 3 for the price of two
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Amazon.com playstation 3 promotion
Right now amazon is running the following promotion for Sony Playstation 3
Buy a Sony PlayStation 3 and a Sony PS3 game and get a Blu-ray remote and a Blu-ray movie for free. At checkout, enter the code SONYGAME to receive your discount. Hurry--this offer is only valid through November 27th.
Playstation 3 promotion
Another offer
buy the PlayStation 3 80GB you'll get Resistance 2 Collector's Edition and a PlayStation 3 Component AV Cable & USB Cable for free. Add all three items and enter the code RESISTCE at check out to qualify. Valid til 12/1.
Linky
You can combine above offers with the Sony Credit card $150 off Playstation 3 to get it at cheap price!
Buy a Sony PlayStation 3 and a Sony PS3 game and get a Blu-ray remote and a Blu-ray movie for free. At checkout, enter the code SONYGAME to receive your discount. Hurry--this offer is only valid through November 27th.
Playstation 3 promotion
Another offer
buy the PlayStation 3 80GB you'll get Resistance 2 Collector's Edition and a PlayStation 3 Component AV Cable & USB Cable for free. Add all three items and enter the code RESISTCE at check out to qualify. Valid til 12/1.
Linky
You can combine above offers with the Sony Credit card $150 off Playstation 3
to get it at cheap price!
Sony Blu-ray Disc Player BDP-S350 $150 at sonystyle.com
Temporary out of stock. But you can order now and they'll ship out later.
Linky
Use coupon DISCOVER50BR to get $50 off
Total cost $150 + tax w/ free shipping.
This one can do BD-Live so it should be a profile-2.0 player.
--Update (3:27PM CST)
Looks like the code no longer works :(
Linky
Use coupon DISCOVER50BR to get $50 off
Total cost $150 + tax w/ free shipping.
This one can do BD-Live so it should be a profile-2.0 player.
--Update (3:27PM CST)
Looks like the code no longer works :(
Playstation 3 DualShock controller $30 at Radioshack!
Linky
This is very cheap for a dualshock controller! Free shipping on orders over $25
--Update 3:27PM CST
Out of stock online, but you can still get it tomorrow morning in store.
This is very cheap for a dualshock controller! Free shipping on orders over $25
--Update 3:27PM CST
Out of stock online, but you can still get it tomorrow morning in store.
Amazon.com Black Friday Blu-Ray sales
Many titles starting at $10.95
Black Friday Blu-Ray Sale
Some notable items
Transformer $9.99
There will be a few new titles (Iron man, Indiana Jones 4 etc) available under $15 from 2-11 AM On Friday (Pacific Time)
Early Bird Special
Black Friday Blu-Ray Sale
Some notable items
Transformer $9.99
There will be a few new titles (Iron man, Indiana Jones 4 etc) available under $15 from 2-11 AM On Friday (Pacific Time)
Early Bird Special
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Microsoft Live Search cashback for Circuit City, Target, and Ebay
Right now if you search certain keywords through live.com, you can get 20~25% cashback from Microsoft!!
To get cashback, you need to sign up for a cashback account https://cashbackaccount.search.live.com/cashback/welcome.aspx
Also make sure you disable any ad blocking software (adblock etc). I would just use Internet Explorer for it.
For Circuit City, search for Circuit City, then you should see a banner on the right hand side saying Circuit City Online with Live Cash back at the buttom. Click on the banner and shop at Circuitcity.com and enjoy the cashback. The cashback for Circuit City is 20%
For Target, search for ipod, again the banner should appear on the left. 20% cashback also. Note that overstock.com also offers 10% cashback.
For ebay, you need to have an ebay account as well as a paypal account. The cashback is only applicable to Buy It Now listings and using paypal for payment. You can see the terms and conditions here. Basically you can search a lot of things, like ipod or playstation 3, and a banner should appear on top. Click on the banner and enjoy 25% cashback! There are also several 10% off coupons from paypal that you can try, but this is YMMV.
Coupons:
cholidaynov2008
CPPEBAY110810P
CRTSY08JLY25
CHOLIDAYTECH
To get cashback, you need to sign up for a cashback account https://cashbackaccount.search.live.com/cashback/welcome.aspx
Also make sure you disable any ad blocking software (adblock etc). I would just use Internet Explorer for it.
For Circuit City, search for Circuit City, then you should see a banner on the right hand side saying Circuit City Online with Live Cash back at the buttom. Click on the banner and shop at Circuitcity.com and enjoy the cashback. The cashback for Circuit City is 20%
For Target, search for ipod, again the banner should appear on the left. 20% cashback also. Note that overstock.com also offers 10% cashback.
For ebay, you need to have an ebay account as well as a paypal account. The cashback is only applicable to Buy It Now listings and using paypal for payment. You can see the terms and conditions here. Basically you can search a lot of things, like ipod or playstation 3, and a banner should appear on top. Click on the banner and enjoy 25% cashback! There are also several 10% off coupons from paypal that you can try, but this is YMMV.
Coupons:
cholidaynov2008
CPPEBAY110810P
CRTSY08JLY25
CHOLIDAYTECH
Amazon.com customer vote is back for black friday!
Linky
You basically vote on which deal you like (e.g., which playstation 3 package for $200), and on that day if you are selected, you have a chance to buy the product at the insane price. Worth a try.
They also have black friday sale here
BF2008 Sale
You basically vote on which deal you like (e.g., which playstation 3 package for $200), and on that day if you are selected, you have a chance to buy the product at the insane price. Worth a try.
They also have black friday sale here
BF2008 Sale
Sunday, November 23, 2008
igfxsrvc.exe causing high CPU utilization
Recently every time I boot up my windows server 2008 the CPU load shoots up because of this exe, igfxsrvc.exe, which is related to the Intel graphics driver. After googling a bit it seems that it's another exe, igfxpers.exe, that's causing the problem by repeatedly calling igfxsrvc.exe. To remedy this, we can simply remove igfxpers.exe from the registery in the following location.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MIcrosoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Once I removed it from the registry and rebooted, I no longer have the problem.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MIcrosoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Once I removed it from the registry and rebooted, I no longer have the problem.
TomTom ONE 125 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator $99.99
This is almost like black friday pricing but without the wait. Very nice unit at this price.
TomTom ONE 125 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
TomTom ONE 125 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Wii in stock at Amazon.com $249.99
Wii
in stock at $249.99. Free shipping and no tax for most. I still can't believe it's so hard to find one but here it is.
in stock at $249.99. Free shipping and no tax for most. I still can't believe it's so hard to find one but here it is.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Amazon Blu-Ray Promotion Get a Playstation 3 and 4 movies for $363
Amazon right now has some blu-ray promotion going on where you buy a blu-ray player and 4 Warner movies and get $100 off. This is a pretty good deal, especially if you are thinking about getting a PS3. For example, a Playstation 3 80GB is $400, pick four lowest priced blu-ray movies: 300 [Blu-ray] ($15), House of Wax [Blu-ray] ($14), Blood Diamond [Blu-ray] ($17), GoodFellas [Blu-ray] ($17) and enter the code AMAZONBD at check out and you can get a ps3 and 4 blu-ray movies for $363 with free shipping and tax free in most states!
Amazon blu-ray promotion
Update (11/29/08)
The promotion is no longer valid. For latest Amazon promotion for Playstation 3 and/or Blu-ray check
Here
and
Here
is $400, pick four lowest priced blu-ray movies: 
($14), 
($17), 
($17) and enter the code Amazon blu-ray promotion
Update (11/29/08)
The promotion is no longer valid. For latest Amazon promotion for Playstation 3 and/or Blu-ray check
Here
and
Here
Trend Micro Internet Security 3 Years Free
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Singly Linked List
Decided to refresh my data structure knowledge again. Will update from time to time.
Type declaration for a linked list of integers in C
typedef struct elementT {
int data;
struct elementT *next;
}
Type declaration for a linked list of integers in C
typedef struct elementT {
int data;
struct elementT *next;
}
Monday, October 20, 2008
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
change voice codec from EVRC to 13k on Sprint Mogul
To me the voice quality improved by quite a bit when I switch the codec from EVRC to Voice 13k on my Sprint Mogul. Below is the steps on how to switch.
- On the phone screen type ##786# and write down the ESN(Hex) Value
- Search for MSL Generator
- Use the MSL generator to obtain the unlock code by entering the ESN value in step 1 (need to be all CAPS)
- On the phone screen, type ##778#, select Edit, and enter the unlock code obtained in step 3
- Click on View Info at the bottom, select CDMA Settings, and change all the codec from EVRC to Voice 13k
- Reboot.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
funny
ptt 看到的
黑囧牌馬奶可以讓您
結石恆久遠，一顆永留傳
還有
一個謀財的下台了, 換一個害命的
說真的, 本來以為騜只是親中無能
沒想到現在看起來是腦袋也結石了..
還好當初沒有回台灣
不然現在搞不好也要到醫院照結石....
黑囧牌馬奶可以讓您
結石恆久遠，一顆永留傳
還有
一個謀財的下台了, 換一個害命的
說真的, 本來以為騜只是親中無能
沒想到現在看起來是腦袋也結石了..
還好當初沒有回台灣
不然現在搞不好也要到醫院照結石....
Monday, September 8, 2008
New Gear #2
Shuttle KPC K45 Barebone system $45 after rebate
Intel E2140 Pentium Dual Core CPU + Stock Fan from old parts
2GB Ram from old parts
80GB WD HD from old parts
TV Tuner from old parts
Total costs: $45 assuming the rebate comes back.
This case is really small, much smaller than the In Win case I bought earlier. But because it's so small there's no room for to fit a dvd burner unless I mod the case to include a slim type. So I just open the case and attach a dvd burner to install the things I need, everything else go through the network. Not sure what to do with this build yet. It works well for a 24x7 server because of the low power consumption or as a basic net box. But most likely I'll just sell it and see if I can make any profit.
Intel E2140 Pentium Dual Core CPU + Stock Fan from old parts
2GB Ram from old parts
80GB WD HD from old parts
TV Tuner from old parts
Total costs: $45 assuming the rebate comes back.
This case is really small, much smaller than the In Win case I bought earlier. But because it's so small there's no room for to fit a dvd burner unless I mod the case to include a slim type. So I just open the case and attach a dvd burner to install the things I need, everything else go through the network. Not sure what to do with this build yet. It works well for a 24x7 server because of the low power consumption or as a basic net box. But most likely I'll just sell it and see if I can make any profit.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Google Chrome
This is a new browser from google.
Linky
Just installed, so far didn't really feel anything significantly different than firefox 3.0, but will test it out a bit more.
Linky
Just installed, so far didn't really feel anything significantly different than firefox 3.0, but will test it out a bit more.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
New Gear #1
Assembled a new desktop with the following spec
AMD Athlon x2 BE-2400 CPU $29.99
Foxconn A7GM-S 780G uATX MB $66.99
2G Ram from existing server
In Win uATX desktop case $59.99
320 GB SATA Maxtor HD from existing server
Samsung 22x SATA DVD-RW Burner and CPU Heatsink & Fan from Microcenter $44.88
Total cost
$201.85
This is mainly used to connect to my LCD TV for media center purpose since I want to watch slingbox, mlb.tv and other videos on big screen. The only complaint I have is it's a bit noisy, else it runs just fine with Windows Vista Ultimate. It can also output audio through HDMI so one less cable needed. So far fairly satisfied with it as a low power consiumption, low cost media center.
AMD Athlon x2 BE-2400 CPU $29.99
Foxconn A7GM-S 780G uATX MB $66.99
2G Ram from existing server
In Win uATX desktop case $59.99
320 GB SATA Maxtor HD from existing server
Samsung 22x SATA DVD-RW Burner and CPU Heatsink & Fan from Microcenter $44.88
Total cost
$201.85
This is mainly used to connect to my LCD TV for media center purpose since I want to watch slingbox, mlb.tv and other videos on big screen. The only complaint I have is it's a bit noisy, else it runs just fine with Windows Vista Ultimate. It can also output audio through HDMI so one less cable needed. So far fairly satisfied with it as a low power consiumption, low cost media center.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
How to send email to sprint phone
Send the email to xxxxxxxxxx@messaging.sprintpcs.com
where xxxxxxxxxx is the 10 digit phone #
where xxxxxxxxxx is the 10 digit phone #
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Sprint SERO is ending on 7/10 or 7/13
After reading through howardforum, it seems that one of the best cellphone plan is ending very soon. On 7/10 or 7/13, Sprint will discontinue the current SERO plans and replace them with Simply Everything plus. Below is a post from a sprint employee on howardforum. So get in right now if you can.
Launch Date is 7/10/08.
SERO is gone. In its place is Everything Plus. Its basically the same as SERO except it includes text and GPS Navigation in the plan. Thats the good news, the bad news the pricing is going up. Way up.
Everything Plus 500 is going to be $59.99
Everything Plus 1000 is going to be $79.99
Simply Everything for $99.99 will still be an option
The $30 for 500min and $50 for 1250min will expire on 7/10. Those customers still on it will be grandfathered and remain on the plans, but all new SERO activations will be on these new Everything Plus plans.
Launch Date is 7/10/08.
SERO is gone. In its place is Everything Plus. Its basically the same as SERO except it includes text and GPS Navigation in the plan. Thats the good news, the bad news the pricing is going up. Way up.
Everything Plus 500 is going to be $59.99
Everything Plus 1000 is going to be $79.99
Simply Everything for $99.99 will still be an option
The $30 for 500min and $50 for 1250min will expire on 7/10. Those customers still on it will be grandfathered and remain on the plans, but all new SERO activations will be on these new Everything Plus plans.
Friday, June 27, 2008
NEW Offical Sprint HTC Mogul ROM
This is ver 3.56.651.0 with Radio 3.42.02
This release has windows mobile 6.1 update. Supposedly it should be on HTC's website very soon.
Link 1 (Rapidshare)
Link 2 (Mediafire)
Thanks to the folks at ppcgeeks.
This release has windows mobile 6.1 update. Supposedly it should be on HTC's website very soon.
Link 1 (Rapidshare)
Link 2 (Mediafire)
Thanks to the folks at ppcgeeks.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Moonlight shadow lyric
Heard this song the other day, liked it very much.
By Mike Oldfield. For John Lennon I believe.
The last that ever she saw him carried away by a moonlight shadow
He passed on worried and warning carried away by a moonlight shadow
Lost in a river last saturday night far away on the other side
He was caught in the middle of a desperate fight
And she couldn't find how to push through
The trees that whisper in the evening carried away by a moonlight shadow
Sing a song of sorrow and grieving carried away by a moonlight shadow
All she saw was a silhouette of a gun far away on the other side
He was shot six times by a man on the run
And she couldn't find how to push through
I stay, I pray, I see you in heaven far away
I stay, I pray, I see you in heaven one day
Four A.M. in the morning carried away by a moonlight shadow
I watched your vision forming carried away by a moonlight shadow
Stars moved slowly in a silvery night far away on the other side
Will you come to talk to me this night?
But she couldn't find how to push through
I stay, I pray, I see you in heaven far away
I stay, I pray, I see you in heaven one day
Caught in the middle of a hundred and five
The night was heavy and the air was alive
But she couldn't find how to push through
Far away on the other side. The night was heavy and the air was alive
But she couldn't find how to push through
She couldn't find how to push through, how to push through (Repeat)
Here's the youtube video
By Mike Oldfield. For John Lennon I believe.
The last that ever she saw him carried away by a moonlight shadow
He passed on worried and warning carried away by a moonlight shadow
Lost in a river last saturday night far away on the other side
He was caught in the middle of a desperate fight
And she couldn't find how to push through
The trees that whisper in the evening carried away by a moonlight shadow
Sing a song of sorrow and grieving carried away by a moonlight shadow
All she saw was a silhouette of a gun far away on the other side
He was shot six times by a man on the run
And she couldn't find how to push through
I stay, I pray, I see you in heaven far away
I stay, I pray, I see you in heaven one day
Four A.M. in the morning carried away by a moonlight shadow
I watched your vision forming carried away by a moonlight shadow
Stars moved slowly in a silvery night far away on the other side
Will you come to talk to me this night?
But she couldn't find how to push through
I stay, I pray, I see you in heaven far away
I stay, I pray, I see you in heaven one day
Caught in the middle of a hundred and five
The night was heavy and the air was alive
But she couldn't find how to push through
Far away on the other side. The night was heavy and the air was alive
But she couldn't find how to push through
She couldn't find how to push through, how to push through (Repeat)
Here's the youtube video
Hard reset Palm 755p
Haven't tested it myself yet.
hold the power button while you replace the battery and then release it when the Palm logo appears.
hold the power button while you replace the battery and then release it when the Palm logo appears.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Windows workstation 2008
After obtaining a copy of windows server 2008 64 bit, I decided to use it as a workstation and replace the XP what I am currently running to take advantage of my 4GB ram.
So far:
So far:
- It detects most of the drivers out of the box except intel bus thingy, BT, and my Creative Webcam Live. I was able to install intel chipset driver and BT driver, but it seems that creative no longer suppoert Webcam Live.
- It can use most of the vista 64 bit drivers.
- Hyper-V works, but needs winxp sp3 to install integrated pack.
- My Netgear print server works, added the tcp/ip port manually by copying the values from xp. My Brother HL-2040 driver is built in.
- http://www.win2008workstation.com/wordpress/ is a good resource
- So far seems quite stable and snappy. I think winxp is still faster on my machine, but server 2008 definitely feels faster than Vista (c2d e6850 + 4gb ram)
- Have trouble activating, kept getting error code 0x800723B DNS name does not exist. Update: for some reason after I changed the product key (same one I entered when I installed) it activated successfully. I also found a potential solution here.
- List of programs (will update as I go along)
- Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition for Vista 64 bit (v10.2.0.298) works. Had to use my school's script to get live update working
- Firefox 3 works, flash plug in also works
- Live Messenger works, but need to get the offline installer. The integrated live installer won't install on server OS
- Winrar 3.62 works
- Open PCMan 2007 (a telnet/BBS client) works
- Nero 7 Ultra Edition (7.8.5.0) works
- Picasa2 2.7
- uTorrent 1.8 beta (build 10853)
- KM player. Works, but computer becomes a bit slow when playing videos.
- DVDfab HD Decrypter 5.0.3.0
- Itunes 7.6 (Had to disable Data Execution Prevention for AppleMobileDeviceHelper.exe)
- Adobe acrobat reader 8.1.2
- Adobe acrobat 8 (works after installing 8.1.x updates. The installer looks for AdobePDF.dll on vista cd-rom at the end, just cancel it and install the updates. See here for more details)
- Visual Studio 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
HP Multimedia Tablet TX2000Z for $600 after rebate 5/25!
This Sunday Office depot is going to have HP Multimedia Tablet laptop (model tx2000z) on sale for $600 after rebate + addition s/h and tax. You need to order this from the in-store kiosk. The advertised configuration code is "12358782".
The ad is here
The review is here
This machine has the following config. Pretty loaded for the value, IMO if I didn't just bought a thinkpad X61, I'd be all over this deal.
SPECIFICATIONS
* Operating system Upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) edit
* Processor AMD Turion(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-60 (2.0 GHz) edit
* Display 12.1" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen (1280 x 800) w/Integrated Touch-screen edit
* Memory 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit
* Graphics Card NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 6150 edit
* Personalization FREE Upgrade to HP Imprint Finish (Echo) + Fingerprint Reader + Microphone edit
* Networking FREE Upgrade to 802.11b/g WLAN and Bluetooth from 802.11b/g WLAN!! edit
* Hard Drive FREE Upgrade to 250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive from 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive!! edit
* Primary CD/DVD Drive FREE Upgrade to LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support edit
* TV & Entertainment Experience No TV Tuner w/remote control edit
* Primary Battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery edit
* Security Software Norton Internet Security(TM) 2008 - 2 Year Subscription edit
* Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Works 9.0 edit
The ad is here
The review is here
This machine has the following config. Pretty loaded for the value, IMO if I didn't just bought a thinkpad X61, I'd be all over this deal.
SPECIFICATIONS
* Operating system Upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) edit
* Processor AMD Turion(TM) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-60 (2.0 GHz) edit
* Display 12.1" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen (1280 x 800) w/Integrated Touch-screen edit
* Memory 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit
* Graphics Card NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 6150 edit
* Personalization FREE Upgrade to HP Imprint Finish (Echo) + Fingerprint Reader + Microphone edit
* Networking FREE Upgrade to 802.11b/g WLAN and Bluetooth from 802.11b/g WLAN!! edit
* Hard Drive FREE Upgrade to 250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive from 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive!! edit
* Primary CD/DVD Drive FREE Upgrade to LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support edit
* TV & Entertainment Experience No TV Tuner w/remote control edit
* Primary Battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery edit
* Security Software Norton Internet Security(TM) 2008 - 2 Year Subscription edit
* Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Works 9.0 edit
Intel T7250 NV Mobile Core 2 Duo CPU
I recently bought a Thinkpad X61 from Lenovo outlet. Before I placed my order I was confused by the CPU it has: T7250 NV since I couldn't find any information on this CPU, in particular the NV suffix. After googling a bit I still cannot find a conclusive answer, as people believe it's either Normal Voltage or No Virtualization. After receiving my X61 today and play around, I can confirm that it does support Intel Virtualization, so NV would simply mean Normal Voltage.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Free Kaspersky Internet Security 6 months license
Exclusively for customers of UBS in Switzerland: Kaspersky security
Customers of UBS in Switzerland can now use the new version of Kaspersky Internet Security for free – 6 months! Protect your computer from all kinds of internet threats, most important when banking online.
Works for non-members as well...
Linky
Activation code: T6B6K-8YK22-VBQH7-ZUZJG
Customers of UBS in Switzerland can now use the new version of Kaspersky Internet Security for free – 6 months! Protect your computer from all kinds of internet threats, most important when banking online.
Works for non-members as well...
Linky
Activation code: T6B6K-8YK22-VBQH7-ZUZJG
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Free Winrar 3.62
I personally use winrar for all my compressed stuff. Right now some German magazine is giving out free winrar 3.62 key. Follow the steps
1. (instant) license request: https://covermount.win-rar.com/pcwelt0508/
It askss for Firstname, Last name, email, email again, and select Anderes Land for country - last one.
2. When you get the email, the download link is the SECOND url in the email.
Copy the rarreg.key it downloads into your c:\program files\winrar\ folder
WinRar 3.62 author site, direct download: http://www.rarlab.com/rar/wrar362.exe
1. (instant) license request: https://covermount.win-rar.com/pcwelt0508/
It askss for Firstname, Last name, email, email again, and select Anderes Land for country - last one.
2. When you get the email, the download link is the SECOND url in the email.
Copy the rarreg.key it downloads into your c:\program files\winrar\ folder
WinRar 3.62 author site, direct download: http://www.rarlab.com/rar/wrar362.exe
Saturday, April 26, 2008
H-1B Notice
Just received an email from the company's lawyer saying that they received a notice for my H-1B application, which means I was selected by USCIS in the lottery process! I was really surprised that they actually used premium processing for my H-1B application. Nevertheless this is great news for me, and once I settled down at work I can start thinking about green card..haha!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
USCIS runs random selection of H-1B
As title, press release here.
Basically people with advanced degrees are selected first. We can expect notice from USCIS no later than June 02. If you applied for premium processing, the 15 day starts from yesterday (4/14/08). Good luck everyone.
Basically people with advanced degrees are selected first. We can expect notice from USCIS no later than June 02. If you applied for premium processing, the 15 day starts from yesterday (4/14/08). Good luck everyone.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Number of applications for FY 2009 H-1B
USCIS just released the preliminary number for FY 2009 H-1B applications.
Press release
There are 31200 applications for H-1B advanced degree, and 163000 total applications. So if you are applying for H-1B advanced degree, chances are still pretty good (over 70%) that you can get H-1B visa, otherwise if you are in the STEM fields, better luck next year.
Press release
There are 31200 applications for H-1B advanced degree, and 163000 total applications. So if you are applying for H-1B advanced degree, chances are still pretty good (over 70%) that you can get H-1B visa, otherwise if you are in the STEM fields, better luck next year.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Bad news: H-1B quota reached
USCIS just announced that the FY 2009 H-1B cap has been reached after only 7 days. What is surprising is that even the additional 20000 quota reserved for people with advanced degrees (MS/PhD) from US universities has also been reached. Consider that these 20000 quota didn't get used up until 4/30/07 last year, this is bad news for us since we now face lottery as well. My application was submitted on 4/3, hopefully I can get it this year, else it's a pain to continue trying for H-1B even with the OPT extension.
Press release
Press release
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Garmin nuvi GPS system price drop @ Amazon.com
Looks like they are trying to get rid of those units before they introduce new ones. Right now you can have the following Garmin nuvi 360 or 660 GPS navigation systems for cheap at Amazon.com. Both are very good units.
nuvi 360 @ 232.99 (from beach camera, Amazon ones is 239.22, but you can combine it with the Amazon visa card coupon)
nuvi 660 @ 320.64 (from Amazon.com), this one has 4.3" wide screen.
Both has north america map and bluetooth.
nuvi 360 @ 232.99 (from beach camera, Amazon ones is 239.22, but you can combine it with the Amazon visa card coupon)
nuvi 660 @ 320.64 (from Amazon.com), this one has 4.3" wide screen.
Both has north america map and bluetooth.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Breaking news: new OPT extension and H-1B cap gap extension ruling
DHS just had a press release on OPT extension and H-1B cap gap ruling that impacts a lot of foreign students.
Press release
For the whole ruling document check here
Additional Q&A here or here
Basically, if your company (or the company wants to hire you) is enrolled in E-verify program (check here), the following applies to you:
1. If you have a Bachelor, Master, or PhD degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM), you are eligible to apply for a 17 months OPT extension after your current 12 month OPT expires.
2. This is for ALL degrees. If you are currently working and has applied for H-1B petition during the acceptance period (starts at 4/1 every year) but your OPT expires before 10/1 (so called H-1B cap gap), you are eligible for the cap-gap extension and can continue to work regardless of your OPT status until the following:
2.1. Your H-1B is not selected by the USCIS, then your extension automatically terminates when USCIS announces the completion of the random selection of H-1B applications.
2.2. Your H-1B is approved, in which case you can continue to work until your H-1B kicks in (10/1 the same year).
All in all, this is great news for foreign students, especially for those in the STEM fields since you don't have to worry about H-1B too much now that you have more chances of getting a H-1B.
Press release
For the whole ruling document check here
Additional Q&A here or here
Basically, if your company (or the company wants to hire you) is enrolled in E-verify program (check here), the following applies to you:
1. If you have a Bachelor, Master, or PhD degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM), you are eligible to apply for a 17 months OPT extension after your current 12 month OPT expires.
2. This is for ALL degrees. If you are currently working and has applied for H-1B petition during the acceptance period (starts at 4/1 every year) but your OPT expires before 10/1 (so called H-1B cap gap), you are eligible for the cap-gap extension and can continue to work regardless of your OPT status until the following:
2.1. Your H-1B is not selected by the USCIS, then your extension automatically terminates when USCIS announces the completion of the random selection of H-1B applications.
2.2. Your H-1B is approved, in which case you can continue to work until your H-1B kicks in (10/1 the same year).
All in all, this is great news for foreign students, especially for those in the STEM fields since you don't have to worry about H-1B too much now that you have more chances of getting a H-1B.
Amazon discounts with Amazon Visa card
Just received an email. I am not sure if its account specific. If you use Amazon VISA then following discounts can be obtained:
$20 off $200 on electronics, computers and cell phones: 2IK9E6R8
10% off $50 on music : CDJLXT8U (Limit $20 per customer)
$5 off $50 on DVDs: DVD5BFHR
Limit one offer of each type per household.
$20 off $200 on electronics, computers and cell phones: 2IK9E6R8
10% off $50 on music : CDJLXT8U (Limit $20 per customer)
$5 off $50 on DVDs: DVD5BFHR
Limit one offer of each type per household.
Sprint SERO cellphone plans
SERO stands for Sprint Exclusive Referral Offer, which is probably one of the best cellphone plans you can find if you don't mind Sprint.
SERO has three plans:
500min for $30/month, 1250min for $49.99/month, and 2500min for $99.99.
All plans also come with the following:
Anyway, you can go to http://www.sprint.com/sero or call 1-888-882-4030 and use the following emails with a valid Zip code to order
savings@sprintemi.com <- generic email, doesn't work for phone order
tristan.kime@sprint.com
Personally I perfer to call in and order since there's less of an chance for Sprint to screw up your order (they do quite often), if you need a sprint employee email, just google.
SERO has three plans:
500min for $30/month, 1250min for $49.99/month, and 2500min for $99.99.
All plans also come with the following:
- Unlimited Nights & Weekends starting at 7pm!
- Domestic long distance
- Unlimited Mobile to Mobile
- Unlimited Web/Data Access
- Unlimited Picture Mail (with compatible devices)
- Unlimited text messages until 5/31/08 (they kept extending it)
- Unlimited roaming
Anyway, you can go to http://www.sprint.com/sero or call 1-888-882-4030 and use the following emails with a valid Zip code to order
savings@sprintemi.com <- generic email, doesn't work for phone order
tristan.kime@sprint.com
Personally I perfer to call in and order since there's less of an chance for Sprint to screw up your order (they do quite often), if you need a sprint employee email, just google.
How to feed newborn baby
An experienced nurse told us this way, and it seemed to work well.
1. Burp the baby first.
2. Start from one side of the breast (side 1), feed the baby for about 15 minutes.
3. Burp the baby good and/or exchange diapers in between if wet or pooped.
4. Start on another side of the breast (side 2) for another 15 minutes or so.
5. Burp the baby again.
6. If the baby still feels like eating, feed him on side 2 for a few minutes
7. Next time start from side 2 first.
During daytime, we can feed the baby once every two hours, during night time we can wait a bit longer so the baby can adjust. If the baby cries in between, burp or rock him, or change diapers, or use a pacifier.
1. Burp the baby first.
2. Start from one side of the breast (side 1), feed the baby for about 15 minutes.
3. Burp the baby good and/or exchange diapers in between if wet or pooped.
4. Start on another side of the breast (side 2) for another 15 minutes or so.
5. Burp the baby again.
6. If the baby still feels like eating, feed him on side 2 for a few minutes
7. Next time start from side 2 first.
During daytime, we can feed the baby once every two hours, during night time we can wait a bit longer so the baby can adjust. If the baby cries in between, burp or rock him, or change diapers, or use a pacifier.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
潤餅
from 聯合報, 做為以後參考用
欣葉餐廳（台北市雙城街40-1號，02-2596-3255，1條80元）
萬福號（台北市重慶北路2段29號，02-2556-1244，1條40元）
健民潤餅（桃園市民權路104號，03-332-4313，1條40元）
郭家潤餅（新竹市城隍廟北外側攤位，03-522-2285，1條35元）
金得春捲（台南市民族路3段19號，06-228-5397，1條30元）
欣葉餐廳（台北市雙城街40-1號，02-2596-3255，1條80元）
萬福號（台北市重慶北路2段29號，02-2556-1244，1條40元）
健民潤餅（桃園市民權路104號，03-332-4313，1條40元）
郭家潤餅（新竹市城隍廟北外側攤位，03-522-2285，1條35元）
金得春捲（台南市民族路3段19號，06-228-5397，1條30元）
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Pragna Technologies Interview
I think this is an IT consultant company. This is the screen interview for a Microsoft full-time/contractor software position. The interview has two part, first they send me a question documents containing three questions:
1. Given a linked list, write a function void DeleteBefore(node **head, data). For example, if the list has values 1->3->6->7->8->9->13, if data is 7, then element with data = 6 will be removed. This is fairly straightforward.
2. Given a sorted array say int num[10]={-5,1,6,7,9,9,20,25,31,45}, write a function void findsum(int [],int x) that can print out all possible pair of elements in array that can make a sum equal to x. For example if value of x is 26, then function should print {1,25}, {25,1}, {-5,31}, {31,-5}. The tricky thing is that they asked for a O(N) or O(2N) solution, and not O(N^2) solution, i.e., no nested loops. I can only come up with a O(N^2) solution, and the interviewer don't think there's O(N) or O(2N) solutions too.
3. OptimalQueues problem from topcoder
In the phone interview they basically asked me to go through the code I wrote for the first three questions, and check for any bugs. They also asked two additional questions:
4. Given 10 empty buckets and distributed 1000 coins to these 10 buckets, what's the distribution for the coins so that give any number between 1~1000, all you need to do is to return the corresponding buckets to have that number. For example, if the number is 1000, then all 10 buckets will be returned. The answer is actually quite easy but I failed at this one because I was doing it in reverse. The correct distribution is 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 411.
5. Count the number of 1s in an integer. There's an added twist to this question as well since the integer can be negative. I gave the answer that work for unsigned int (from the programming interview exposed
). To deal with negative numbers, we first check if its negative, then reverse it.
Since I don't care for contractor jobs I didn't spend much time on this. But I actually like the second part of the interview since the interviewer is very patient and actually give and explain the answers.
1. Given a linked list, write a function void DeleteBefore(node **head, data). For example, if the list has values 1->3->6->7->8->9->13, if data is 7, then element with data = 6 will be removed. This is fairly straightforward.
2. Given a sorted array say int num[10]={-5,1,6,7,9,9,20,25,31,45}, write a function void findsum(int [],int x) that can print out all possible pair of elements in array that can make a sum equal to x. For example if value of x is 26, then function should print {1,25}, {25,1}, {-5,31}, {31,-5}. The tricky thing is that they asked for a O(N) or O(2N) solution, and not O(N^2) solution, i.e., no nested loops. I can only come up with a O(N^2) solution, and the interviewer don't think there's O(N) or O(2N) solutions too.
3. OptimalQueues problem from topcoder
In the phone interview they basically asked me to go through the code I wrote for the first three questions, and check for any bugs. They also asked two additional questions:
4. Given 10 empty buckets and distributed 1000 coins to these 10 buckets, what's the distribution for the coins so that give any number between 1~1000, all you need to do is to return the corresponding buckets to have that number. For example, if the number is 1000, then all 10 buckets will be returned. The answer is actually quite easy but I failed at this one because I was doing it in reverse. The correct distribution is 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 411.
5. Count the number of 1s in an integer. There's an added twist to this question as well since the integer can be negative. I gave the answer that work for unsigned int (from the programming interview exposed
). To deal with negative numbers, we first check if its negative, then reverse it.Since I don't care for contractor jobs I didn't spend much time on this. But I actually like the second part of the interview since the interviewer is very patient and actually give and explain the answers.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Google Calendar Sync
I've been using google calendar for nearly 2 years now, and I have to say, it's one of the best calendars out there. It's simple to use, and you can check it anytime as long as you have Internet access. But one of the bad thing is that there weren't any good solutions to sync google calendar with Outlook, which is important to me because I have a pda phone. But google has just released their own sync software and it works pretty well. And it's free! Highly recommended if you need to sync google calendar with outlook.
Link
Link
Friday, March 7, 2008
Juniper networks phone interview
Just had a phone interview from Juniper networks. Don't think I'll get it since a lot of things I either don't know or messed up. Either way this is probably the toughest phone interview I had so far, and the kind of questions I actually expect from other companies. The interviewer first asked me if I had any other job offers, and if I need visa sponsorship, then he went right to the questions. Below are the questions I can remember, I'll try to prove the answers that I know (might not be correct!)
1. Count the number of 1s in an integer
2. Difference between little-endian and big-endian
Q1 and Q2 are in Programming Interviews Exposed
3. If uint32 *p = 100, what's the value of p after ++p
should increment by the size of the uint32 (I think)
4. What is a system call
from wikipedia, a system call is a mechanism for an application to request service from the OS.
5. Follow 4. Something about write() and strcpy()
write() is a system call
6. what does keyword volatile in C do
it tells the implementation to suppress optimization
7. Something about spinlock
8. Difference between semaphore and mutex
Since I never did any thread programming, I can't answer these two at all :-( But here are some answers.
9. difference between TCP and UDP
TCP is connection-oriented, reliable, in order delivery, and has congestion control
10. When to use TCP and UDP
TCP, when we cannot afford packet loss. UDP, time sensitive applications, voice, video etc
11. System function calls for a simple server
socket()->bind()->listen()->accept()
12. is listen() blocking?
listen() is nonblock and accept() after listen is default blocking. Note: recv() also blocks <- failed at this one
13. difference between SOCK_STREAM and SOCK_DGRAM SOCK_STREAM-> TCP, SOCK_DGRAM->UDP
14. What does the keepalive option in socket() do?
it's a heartbeat that periodically (usually 2 hrs) checks if the TCP connection is still valid.
15. can udp use connect()? what does it do?
Yes, udp can use connect(), it filters the incoming packets to certain hosts or certain port. <- not very sure A better explanation. It simply tells the OS the address of the peer. No handshake and no data is sent. Once is connected, client can use sendto() with null address, and can use send(), recv(), read(), write().
16. describe select(), what is the disadvantage of select() select monitors several sockets (file descriptors) at the same time, and let you know which one is ready so you can do further processing. disadvantage? No idea, but here are some answers
17. What is MTU/Path MTU
MTU = maximum transmission unit. The max size of a packet that the layer can handle. Path MTU, the max size of packets between a path (2 end points) can have without fragmentation. Wiki
18. describe how traceroute works
basically we sent out a series of ordinary IP packets (UDP datagram), each with increasing TTL value (1, 2, etc) and a random port. When TTL expires, the router returns a TTL expired ICMP message. When it reaches the destination, the destination returns a port unreachable ICMP message.
19. what does SOCK_SEQPACKET do?
Never seen this before, but I think I actually gave out the right answer. Here is a better explaination. Basically, it's either a sequence of packets which are delivered reliably and in order, or a reliable, ordered stream with record boundaries in it.
And there's also a question ask me to explain one of my project (id-based routing protocol). Overall I think I am ok with networking concepts, but I really need to do more study on the basic C/thread programming/socket programming stuff.
1. Count the number of 1s in an integer
2. Difference between little-endian and big-endian
Q1 and Q2 are in Programming Interviews Exposed
3. If uint32 *p = 100, what's the value of p after ++p
should increment by the size of the uint32 (I think)
4. What is a system call
from wikipedia, a system call is a mechanism for an application to request service from the OS.
5. Follow 4. Something about write() and strcpy()
write() is a system call
6. what does keyword volatile in C do
it tells the implementation to suppress optimization
7. Something about spinlock
8. Difference between semaphore and mutex
Since I never did any thread programming, I can't answer these two at all :-( But here are some answers.
9. difference between TCP and UDP
TCP is connection-oriented, reliable, in order delivery, and has congestion control
10. When to use TCP and UDP
TCP, when we cannot afford packet loss. UDP, time sensitive applications, voice, video etc
11. System function calls for a simple server
socket()->bind()->listen()->accept()
12. is listen() blocking?
listen() is nonblock and accept() after listen is default blocking. Note: recv() also blocks <- failed at this one
13. difference between SOCK_STREAM and SOCK_DGRAM SOCK_STREAM-> TCP, SOCK_DGRAM->UDP
14. What does the keepalive option in socket() do?
it's a heartbeat that periodically (usually 2 hrs) checks if the TCP connection is still valid.
15. can udp use connect()? what does it do?
Yes, udp can use connect(), it filters the incoming packets to certain hosts or certain port. <- not very sure A better explanation. It simply tells the OS the address of the peer. No handshake and no data is sent. Once is connected, client can use sendto() with null address, and can use send(), recv(), read(), write().
16. describe select(), what is the disadvantage of select() select monitors several sockets (file descriptors) at the same time, and let you know which one is ready so you can do further processing. disadvantage? No idea, but here are some answers
17. What is MTU/Path MTU
MTU = maximum transmission unit. The max size of a packet that the layer can handle. Path MTU, the max size of packets between a path (2 end points) can have without fragmentation. Wiki
18. describe how traceroute works
basically we sent out a series of ordinary IP packets (UDP datagram), each with increasing TTL value (1, 2, etc) and a random port. When TTL expires, the router returns a TTL expired ICMP message. When it reaches the destination, the destination returns a port unreachable ICMP message.
19. what does SOCK_SEQPACKET do?
Never seen this before, but I think I actually gave out the right answer. Here is a better explaination. Basically, it's either a sequence of packets which are delivered reliably and in order, or a reliable, ordered stream with record boundaries in it.
And there's also a question ask me to explain one of my project (id-based routing protocol). Overall I think I am ok with networking concepts, but I really need to do more study on the basic C/thread programming/socket programming stuff.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Epic Systems Corporation Skill Assessment
-- update 5/16/11 --
Still getting a lot of comments requesting questions. Again, per agreement I am not allowed to disclose the questions. All I can say is get the book
and work through it and you should be fine. I also find another book Cracking the Coding Interview: 150 Programming Questions and Solutions that is extremely useful in coding interview too. Well worth the price.
-- update 3/2/10 --
After suddenly got a lot of email about comments on this page, I've decided to update this page again. Unfortunately due to agreement with Epic, I am not allowed to disclose any information on their skill assessment to anyone. So there's no point asking me for questions. Like I said earlier, the questions are not hard and if you have worked those kinds of questions before you should be fine.
-- updated 10/28/09 --
It's been almost a year and it looks like epic is on a hiring rampage since a lot of hits is directed toward this page. To prevent epic contacting me again, all I can say is that the questions I did were very similar to Programming Interview Exposed. So get the book, read it thoroughly and practice, then I am sure you'll do well.
-- updated 12/10/08 --
Removed per Epic system's request.
Overall it's not that hard, but since they judge you on speed and accuracy (yes, you have to record the time for each question!), it's hard too say. Besides, I haven't use a pencil to write code for a long long time....
Still getting a lot of comments requesting questions. Again, per agreement I am not allowed to disclose the questions. All I can say is get the book
and work through it and you should be fine. I also find another book Cracking the Coding Interview: 150 Programming Questions and Solutions that is extremely useful in coding interview too. Well worth the price.-- update 3/2/10 --
After suddenly got a lot of email about comments on this page, I've decided to update this page again. Unfortunately due to agreement with Epic, I am not allowed to disclose any information on their skill assessment to anyone. So there's no point asking me for questions. Like I said earlier, the questions are not hard and if you have worked those kinds of questions before you should be fine.
-- updated 10/28/09 --
It's been almost a year and it looks like epic is on a hiring rampage since a lot of hits is directed toward this page. To prevent epic contacting me again, all I can say is that the questions I did were very similar to Programming Interview Exposed
. So get the book, read it thoroughly and practice, then I am sure you'll do well.-- updated 12/10/08 --
Removed per Epic system's request.
Overall it's not that hard, but since they judge you on speed and accuracy (yes, you have to record the time for each question!), it's hard too say. Besides, I haven't use a pencil to write code for a long long time....
Thursday, February 28, 2008
US Bank in person interview
Just had an interview with US Bank. It's actually First American Funds (FAF), a sub-division of US Bank. They are looking for software/web developer. Since I live close by, they invited me for an in-person interview that lasted about an hour.
The non-technical part went fine I guess, the interviewer explained the job and I asked a few questions. The technical part consists of two questions, and I have to write on a white board.
Q1. Give an index x, return the x element in a Fibonacci Sequence.
Example, the sequence is 1,1,2,3,5,8..., for x = 4, the function should return 3.
I had a mental block on this, supposedly we should use recursive function for this.
The reason is that fab(1) = 1, fab(2) = 1;, fab(n) = fab(n-1)+fab(n-2) for n > 2.
i.e., something like this
long fib(unsigned long n) {
if (n < 1) {
return n;
} else if (n == 1 || n==2) {
return 1;
} else {
return fib(n-1)+fib(n-2);
}
}
I did a non-recursive version of it, which still works, but not as pretty.
Q2. Give x=3, y=5, swap the value without introduction another variable.
I was stuck here for a while, but it's actually quite easy.
x = x + y; //sum the two value together
y = x - y; //sum(x+y) - y = x;
x = x - y; //sum(x+y) - x = y;
I think bitwise operation would do as well, same concept.
--Update (2/29/08)--
Got a phone call from the head hunter/agent the next day saying I passed. So will have a final interview with the boss on Monday (3/3). Fingers crossed!
--Update2 (3/7/08)--
The manager seemed pleased during the final interview. And today I got an email from my headhunter saying the HR is checking with legal for visa issues. So either I get rejected because of visa issues, or I'll get an offer from them. We'll see.
The non-technical part went fine I guess, the interviewer explained the job and I asked a few questions. The technical part consists of two questions, and I have to write on a white board.
Q1. Give an index x, return the x element in a Fibonacci Sequence.
Example, the sequence is 1,1,2,3,5,8..., for x = 4, the function should return 3.
I had a mental block on this, supposedly we should use recursive function for this.
The reason is that fab(1) = 1, fab(2) = 1;, fab(n) = fab(n-1)+fab(n-2) for n > 2.
i.e., something like this
long fib(unsigned long n) {
if (n < 1) {
return n;
} else if (n == 1 || n==2) {
return 1;
} else {
return fib(n-1)+fib(n-2);
}
}
I did a non-recursive version of it, which still works, but not as pretty.
Q2. Give x=3, y=5, swap the value without introduction another variable.
I was stuck here for a while, but it's actually quite easy.
x = x + y; //sum the two value together
y = x - y; //sum(x+y) - y = x;
x = x - y; //sum(x+y) - x = y;
I think bitwise operation would do as well, same concept.
--Update (2/29/08)--
Got a phone call from the head hunter/agent the next day saying I passed. So will have a final interview with the boss on Monday (3/3). Fingers crossed!
--Update2 (3/7/08)--
The manager seemed pleased during the final interview. And today I got an email from my headhunter saying the HR is checking with legal for visa issues. So either I get rejected because of visa issues, or I'll get an offer from them. We'll see.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Microsoft Live Skydrive
It is finally open to public. Free 5GB online storage.
http://skydrive.live.com/
Unfortunately, there's no software or anything that can sync the skydrive with your computer. It'd be very convenient if it can sync with my documents. Hopefully when google's gStorage (or whatever it is called) launches it'll come with some sync feature.
http://skydrive.live.com/
Unfortunately, there's no software or anything that can sync the skydrive with your computer. It'd be very convenient if it can sync with my documents. Hopefully when google's gStorage (or whatever it is called) launches it'll come with some sync feature.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Microsoft Phone Interview
Just had a phone interview from Microsoft, which ends really fast (22min or so), so I guess I didn't do too well?
The interviewer didn't ask a lot. Three non-technical questions
1. Why do you choose software development (instead of testing etc). Answer, I like designing stuff blah...
2. What's the project you like most or most challenging, answered with one of my research, but I doubt I explained that well.
3. What's the software you like most, asked if webservices are ok, and answered with gmail (BIG MISTAKE!).
The technical question is from the book "Programming Interviews Exposed: Secrets to Landing Your Next Job (Programmer to Programmer)", asked me to code a C routine to remove characters. So just give answer from the book.
Question: Implement the following
void Remove(char* string, char* delims);
Input/output example:
"hello world", "low"
"he rd"
The interviewer didn't ask a lot. Three non-technical questions
1. Why do you choose software development (instead of testing etc). Answer, I like designing stuff blah...
2. What's the project you like most or most challenging, answered with one of my research, but I doubt I explained that well.
3. What's the software you like most, asked if webservices are ok, and answered with gmail (BIG MISTAKE!).
The technical question is from the book "Programming Interviews Exposed: Secrets to Landing Your Next Job (Programmer to Programmer)
", asked me to code a C routine to remove characters. So just give answer from the book.Question: Implement the following
void Remove(char* string, char* delims);
Input/output example:
"hello world", "low"
"he rd"
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
How to hard reset Sprint Mogul
1. Press both softkeys, use stylus and press the reset button
2. keep softkeys pressed, release the reset button until message: "do you want to erase all data..."
3. slide out the keyboard, press R for hard reset, X to exit reset process.
2. keep softkeys pressed, release the reset button until message: "do you want to erase all data..."
3. slide out the keyboard, press R for hard reset, X to exit reset process.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Common software
Software that I use
From google pack:
firefox (新同文堂)
picasa
acrobat reader
skype
realplayer
Security software
Kaspersky Anti-Virus 7 (unfortunately this doesn't work with a lot of the free firewalls.
norton client security (for U of Minnesota students)
Comodo firewall 3.0
Windows defender (for spyware)
Spyware Terminator
Word processing/editing/viewer
Microsoft Office 2003 (I don't like 2007..)
UltraEdit (latex wordfile)
Miktex (for latex)
Acrobat
Ghostgum/Ghostscript
Multimedia
PowerDVD
KMplayer
Quicktime + iTunes
Real alternative
SlingMedia player
Sopcast
Ruckus
Communication
SSH Secure Shell
Attachmate Reflection
PCMan (for BBS)
Windows Live Messenger
Utilities
Winrar
Dr. Eye 2001
CompanionLink for google
P2P
eMule
uTorrent
Copying
Nero
DVDFab HD decryptor
Programming
Microsoft Visual Studio
Others
cygwin
Windows XP powertoys
From google pack:
firefox (新同文堂)
picasa
acrobat reader
skype
realplayer
Security software
Kaspersky Anti-Virus 7 (unfortunately this doesn't work with a lot of the free firewalls.
norton client security (for U of Minnesota students)
Comodo firewall 3.0
Windows defender (for spyware)
Spyware Terminator
Word processing/editing/viewer
Microsoft Office 2003 (I don't like 2007..)
UltraEdit (latex wordfile)
Miktex (for latex)
Acrobat
Ghostgum/Ghostscript
Multimedia
PowerDVD
KMplayer
Quicktime + iTunes
Real alternative
SlingMedia player
Sopcast
Ruckus
Communication
SSH Secure Shell
Attachmate Reflection
PCMan (for BBS)
Windows Live Messenger
Utilities
Winrar
Dr. Eye 2001
CompanionLink for google
P2P
eMule
uTorrent
Copying
Nero
DVDFab HD decryptor
Programming
Microsoft Visual Studio
Others
cygwin
Windows XP powertoys
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Ramdisk how-to
ramdisk file by gavotte version 1.0.4096.4.
This is a free ramdisk and has no limitation on the size of the ramdisk. Also works on XP and Vista. One of the best thing is that if you are using 32-bit XP or Vista and have more than 4GB of RAM installed, this ramdisk can use the RAMs not seen by XP or Vista. For example, if you have 8GB installed and XP only sees 3GB, you can create a 5GB ramdisk to full utilize the memory.
Instruction:
1. Download from the above link, unzip to some directory.
2. if you have more than 4GB ram installed, double click on ram4g.reg to import the registry. Also make sure memory remapping is enabled in BIOS
3. run ramdisk.exe and install ramdisk, default fixed media is good
4. set the size of the ramdisk you want
5. reboot and you should have a ramdisk with as R: drive
Since this ramdisk uses the memory, all the stuff on the ramdrive will be wiped out when you reboot. To keep things on the drive, you can create two batch files (e.g., loadimage.bat and saveimage.bat) that copies the content to/from the ramdrive to the hard drive upon login/logout. To do so:
1. go to start->Run, type in gpedit.msc
2. go to User Configuration->Windows Settings->Scripts (Logon/Logoff) and select the appropriate scripts for logon/logoff.
Below is my way of load/save ram contents to f:\rimage (one of my hd)
in loadimage.bat
>> xcopy r:\temp f:\rimage /s /h /R /Q /y /d /i
in saveimage.bat
>> xcopy f:\rimage r:\temp /s /h /R /Q /y /d /i
ideally we should be able to use
>> ramdisk /S or /L imagename
in the batch file. However, for some reason it always gives me some LockVolume error so I just gave up.
This is a free ramdisk and has no limitation on the size of the ramdisk. Also works on XP and Vista. One of the best thing is that if you are using 32-bit XP or Vista and have more than 4GB of RAM installed, this ramdisk can use the RAMs not seen by XP or Vista. For example, if you have 8GB installed and XP only sees 3GB, you can create a 5GB ramdisk to full utilize the memory.
Instruction:
1. Download from the above link, unzip to some directory.
2. if you have more than 4GB ram installed, double click on ram4g.reg to import the registry. Also make sure memory remapping is enabled in BIOS
3. run ramdisk.exe and install ramdisk, default fixed media is good
4. set the size of the ramdisk you want
5. reboot and you should have a ramdisk with as R: drive
Since this ramdisk uses the memory, all the stuff on the ramdrive will be wiped out when you reboot. To keep things on the drive, you can create two batch files (e.g., loadimage.bat and saveimage.bat) that copies the content to/from the ramdrive to the hard drive upon login/logout. To do so:
1. go to start->Run, type in gpedit.msc
2. go to User Configuration->Windows Settings->Scripts (Logon/Logoff) and select the appropriate scripts for logon/logoff.
Below is my way of load/save ram contents to f:\rimage (one of my hd)
in loadimage.bat
>> xcopy r:\temp f:\rimage /s /h /R /Q /y /d /i
in saveimage.bat
>> xcopy f:\rimage r:\temp /s /h /R /Q /y /d /i
ideally we should be able to use
>> ramdisk /S or /L imagename
in the batch file. However, for some reason it always gives me some LockVolume error so I just gave up.
How to change firefox cache directory
From here
1. In Windows XP, go to C:\Documents and Settings\XXX\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\XXXXX.default
2. Create a file called User.js (same directory as Prefs.js)
3. Paste this into it and save:
// Path to Cache folder:
user_pref("browser.cache.disk.parent_directory","x :\\");
X:\\ is the directory you want to place the cache
Useful when you want to place the cache onto a ramdisk
1. In Windows XP, go to C:\Documents and Settings\XXX\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\XXXXX.default
2. Create a file called User.js (same directory as Prefs.js)
3. Paste this into it and save:
// Path to Cache folder:
user_pref("browser.cache.disk.parent_directory","x :\\");
X:\\ is the directory you want to place the cache
Useful when you want to place the cache onto a ramdisk
Friday, February 8, 2008
TGI Friday's $5 off $15 coupon
Very good coupon, it's a shame it cannot be used together with 3 course combo. Expires 2/29.
http://www.tgifridays.com/Feb2008_5off15_search.htm
http://www.tgifridays.com/Feb2008_5off15_search.htm
Linksys CIT200 Skype Phone problem
Sometimes the headset itself loses the registration with the base station. To re-register the headset, do the following
1. Press the big buttom on the base station until light flashes.
2. Register the headset, default code 0000
1. Press the big buttom on the base station until light flashes.
2. Register the headset, default code 0000
How to change Volume Licensing Key in Windows XP
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. In the left pane, locate and then click the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Current Version\WPAEvents
4. In the right pane, right-click OOBETimer, and then click Modify.
5. Change at least one digit of this value to deactivate Windows.
6. Click Start, and then click Run.
7. In the Open box, type the following command, and then click OK.
%systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a
8. Click Yes, I want to telephone a customer service representative to activate Windows, and then click Next.
9. Click Change Product key.
10. Type the new product key in the New key boxes, and then click Update.
If you are returned to the previous window, click Remind me later, and then restart the computer.
11. Repeat steps 6 and 7 to verify that Windows is activated. You receive the following message:
Windows is already activated. Click OK to exit.
12. Click OK.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. In the left pane, locate and then click the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Current Version\WPAEvents
4. In the right pane, right-click OOBETimer, and then click Modify.
5. Change at least one digit of this value to deactivate Windows.
6. Click Start, and then click Run.
7. In the Open box, type the following command, and then click OK.
%systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a
8. Click Yes, I want to telephone a customer service representative to activate Windows, and then click Next.
9. Click Change Product key.
10. Type the new product key in the New key boxes, and then click Update.
If you are returned to the previous window, click Remind me later, and then restart the computer.
11. Repeat steps 6 and 7 to verify that Windows is activated. You receive the following message:
Windows is already activated. Click OK to exit.
12. Click OK.
installing a new hard drive in windows xp
Install the hard drive according to the manual. Boot into windows. To format the drive in Windows 2000 or XP, right-click on My Computer and go to "Manage". In the window that comes up, click Disk Management in the left pane. Once it loads, you should see an "Initialize Disk" wizard pop up. Partition and format the disk to your liking.
remove windows messenger
Run this through command line
RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\inf\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
should get rid of the annoying windows messenger
RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\inf\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
should get rid of the annoying windows messenger
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)