Developer

Hong Kong's PCCW wireless services for computers is a pleasure to use; after you got it all set up. Supporting and automatically switching between WiFi, HSPA and 3G, a speedy connection is assured at almost any spot, from country to beach sites thanks to their "Auto Network Selector" USB stick.

The stick's features are impressive and make it ready to take on travels assuming one can get an appropriate SIM card for data transfers at the destination. Besides MicroSD (up to 8 GB) memory card slot, it is compatible with networks HSUPA/HSDPA/UMTS 900/2100 MHz, EDGE/GPRS/GSM 850/900/1800/1900 Mhz. That should cover about all network covered places.

The messages below are Twitter messages I tweeted during setup.

• Picked up Netvigator WiFi/HSPA/3G USB stick today. I thought it has 8GB memory *included*, not just the slot for such memory card. Pfff.. :(
• Connecting PCCW's "Auto Network Selector" to PC for 1st time, it detects a Huawei Mobile, some Sierra WiFi device and more. Takes forever :(
• After more than 10mins, I finally have to reboot. Let's see what happens after that and if I manage to get online. I have some bad feelings.
• After reboot, Netvigator Everywhere stick installed devices again at least twice (by counting the popups). 3G works faster than my Lux DSL..
• It's scary to see the 3G data counter. Thinking about 3's 100MB offer, I'm overwhelmed with disbelief. Although they have an unlimited plan.
• However, the Netvigator USB stick does interfere with laptop's internal WiFi which smartly disables itself for duration of stick's activity.
• Conclusion: use hassle-free internal WiFi when stationary at a PCCW WiFi hotspot, force 3G (disable auto-mode) for on-the-go or weak signal.
• PCCW WiFi is something for people with lots of time & patience. Sitting right above access point, it took 3 connection attempts: low speed..
• To conclude my PCCW WiFi quest: I'll only use it on mobile if right next to a booth. The same applies to laptop use. Otherwise it's 2G & 3G.

Hong Kong's PCCW WiFi proves to be more pain than gain despite being a great service when it works. Below is my quest to get the service back to functioning on my HP iPAQ HW6965 mobile, running Windows Mobile 5 (WM5).

The messages below are Twitter messages I tweeted during setup. 

• @dda Re "PCCW WiFi login": they must have changed more to it (invisible) as recently WM5 IE fails it too and Opera most of the time as well.
• @dda No problem using a Windows computer either. But I've failed with all apps on both WM5 & WM6 (I usually do *not* carry around a laptop).
• @dda I will try that on a mobile this noon: RT @waishinglee: New PCCW Wi-Fi login page! Now there's an actual portal. And timer (...)
• Applied for 110HKD (98+12) unlimited 2G & WiFi plan at People (China Mobile). It's only monthly based, great as no 3G so can switch anytime.
• I tried the PCCW WiFi login from my WM5 mobile: it's still the same. No optical nor functional change & still giving cryptic error messages.
• @waishinglee Re "PCCW WiFi Connection Manager": I'll try tonight. Last time WM5 was not available so just used browser login until fail now.
• PCCW WiFi's connection manager for WM5 works fine.. except for it deleted all my previously saved network connections (about a dozen). Sigh.
• PCCW WiFi is something for people with lots of time & patience. Sitting right above access point, it took 3 connection attempts: low speed..
• To conclude my PCCW WiFi quest: I'll only use it on mobile if right next to a booth. The same applies to laptop use. Otherwise it's 2G & 3G.

Google Chrome, the new web browser in town. It grabbed anywhere from 1 - 7% of the browser market share within its first 3 weeks of public existance, according to various sources. Not much reliability about that though as they are mostly based on individual sites. It's also the software the easiest forgotten / ignored as still being a public Beta.

Taking into consideration Google's brand - something equal to the "Apple of the Internet" - expectations have been high for the browser and users seen to be easy on the forgiving. I've had my healthy share of problems with the browser in particular when it comes to compatibility with other software / drivers, yet I don't see the public reporting and shouting about such issues for even a fraction they would do with anything, say, Microsoft. (More)

Microsoft Installer (MSI) files often contain files you might want to use individually without actually installing everything by executing the main MSI setup file.

Users of Windows Mobile (WM) frequently run into this problem when they want to install an application only on their mobile device and not first on their computer.

If you have Windows Installer installed:

1. Open Command Prompt: Start > Run > "cmd"
2. Either go to the folder where the MSI file is located or use full path:
   msiexec /a path_to_MSI_file /qb targetdir=path_to_target_folder

For more information about msiexec execution:
Command-Line Switches for the Microsoft Windows Installer Tool 

ddclient is a Perl client used to update dynamic DNS entries for accounts on 'Dynamic DNS Network Services' (DynDNS) free DNS service. It currently supports a lot of different routers and a few different services.

ddclient fits excellent into the "Extracting Dynamic IP From China" scenario where the Chinese client IP address is known to the server through FTP uploads of images by a netcam ("NetCam gallery"). China's national firewall (Golden Shield Project) blocks access to services like DynDNS from within China and therefore the client IP address must be extracted via a server located outside China which then can update DynDNS entries.

While the server periodically extracts the IP address from the FTP log files and outputs it into a text file, ddclient reads the file and updates DynDNS as scheduled.

A simpler alternative tool could be inadyn-mt, which comes with installers for various systems and can be run from the command line in Linux as well. It's limited in file/web page data reading but for a basic use (local machine's IP address), it does the job.