Recovering of Partition Table Information

One of the most nasty things happened while shrinking drives is this unreadable partition. Sometimes this also could happen, if you accidentally cleanED (using windows DISKPART) a disk. At first when I thought it was deleted, it is a 500GB hard disk, so you can imagine how much information it holds. I tried to get a cup of coffee and convinced myself that "Hey, it is not all deleted. No computer can delete such file size in a few seconds. If you want to delete a Hard Disk without a trace, you have to switch 1 and 0 per 8 bits of a byte of that 500 gigabytes." Thus, I decided to spend this night sleepless, trying to recover the data.

Searching on the internet is hard. I tried many softwares there, and sadly some are hijacked with virus, rootkits and some even tried to write a function after few months to mess my drive's partition table after uninstall. I also installed some "promising" softwares, but in the end they won't allow you to fix your partition table.

Good thing, I'm able to find this good tool called TestDisk. At first it is hard to use and after trying all those crapwares, I already lose hope, but TestDisk worked like a charm. From the damaged partition, it can even extract files back and also fix the partition that I accidentally cleanED using the diskpart tool. After analyzing the disk partition, it will write a new one and instruct you to restart it to take effect. On my case, it is a removable device. Simply unplug, plug, found new device and WHOA! the files are there.

and the best thing about this, it is FREE! Thanks to the genius behind this Open Source Project.

Self Generating Contents Website in less than 60 hours

I just challenged myself to make a simple website that will display Japanese verb conjugation. I think this site is very useful to improve vocabulary provided that one already recall some sentence patterns, then this would surely help them to even higher levels. This japanese fundamental learning tool is made less than 60 hours. Yes! you read it right. I did it alone, including the database, few SEO guidelines, planning, DEBUGGING (and I say hello to somee), few graphics and verb check up ,etc.

CONTROLLER <======>  VIEW
                    |^
                    ||
                    ||
MODEL<================   

So, here is the plan. I do know the fundamentals of Japanese language, but to get even more better and fluent, I must improve my vocabulary and the only thing that comes in my mind is to improve retention. Past exams that I have taken proved me that, whenever anyone sees something in a timely fashion, then your mind will remember it, whether you like it or not. Much better if you would like it, though. So from this, I put up a list of all the verbs I can term as fundamental. Verbs in Japanese is as complicated as speaking the language.

I also need it, at the same time, want to share this to other people who might thinking of the same thing. Thus, this is where my web dev skills apply.

First I tried to search for free webhost, but unfortunately they only allow MS Access database (at least for a FREE account). They also don't have support to MVC, so I'll be downgrading few features based on the resources available to me.

I don't have much time, so I guess MVC approach suits this. There are patterns for each Japanese groups, to which few are exceptions.

I manually entered all the verbs, the conjugation and thought of some rules to make the conjugation automatic. there are 359 verbs in the access database, using MVC approach, I'm able to produce 359 verbs x 10 different conjugation + 3 verb groups x 359 verbs + 3 list page and 1 front page resulting to 5,015 different page views using 1 aspx.

It took me less than 60 hours to make a working copy on my local. This will be search engine friendly. By looking at the code, I think I did well. With just 1 ASPX file as my VIEW. I have an isolated MODEL that deals with the access database. There is a controller who will check which pages are requested, check the model, pass the data to view and return the data to site visitors.

Also, I mentioned search engine friendly. I made a function that outputs all the possible combinations of URL into sitemap. This is dynamically run, so I don't have to worry about it each time I made an update.

All worked perfectly until one thing I realized... the server is not as good as they claim to be..

They don't support url changing so, my controller class already failed. This made me review all the SEO books I know. I tried all the methods to make it work. Overall, I tried 3. (from Intellegencias code, to Global asax application start approach to even path convertion), but alas nothing work. So, I guess I have to make another trick. the leading "/". Now everything will appear as if it is 1 file.

so, one thing I'm sure of. If I get my credit card, I'll just buy a hosting, transfer all of it there and upgrade it to what I really planned.

It is really tiring to adjust to limitations , find solution than just to let money talk. But it was fun. Another experience that improved my skillset. And that less than 60 hours is not consecutive. I'm also a human being, I need to rest, eat, take bath and some other things. I just keep track of that on assumption of normal working days. like 8 hour in 1 day. I finished this in almost 1 week. I could have done better, but since the server will not allow all of those optimization, I decided to leave it as is, for now.

this is the sitemap that gets generated each time the web crawler checks for my sitemap.

http://sayinjapanese.somee.com/?XML=ウェブ開発者&sitemap=sayinjapanese.somee.com/

Google changed their sitemap format

From this

<urlset xmlns='http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9'>
<url>
URL
</url>
<lastmod>DATE</lastmod>
<changefreq>FREQ</changefreq>
</urlset>

To this


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<sitemapindex xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
<sitemap>
<loc>URL</loc>
<lastmod>DATE</lastmod>
</sitemap>
</sitemapindex>

Windows 7 - How to Enable the Start > Run from Start Menu

1. Right-Click on Start Menu

2. Click "Properties"

3. Under Start Menu Tab, Click "Customize"

4. Scroll Down and Check "Run Command"

5. Click "OK".

Gundam RX78 : Sighted at Odaiba (Japan)

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the popular Anime series "Gundam", they placed this Amuro Ray Gundam unit here in Odaiba. This 18 meter model stands at Shiokaze Kouen in Odaiba Park.

We didn't went there just to see the unit, so I'm unable to take the illumination event. I noticed that the head can look up, sideways and a bit down. Everything looks realistic too, the lights, and the mist , whoa! Everyone can just say it is wonderful!

I wonder if they can make the advance units, like ZGMF-X19A or ZGMF-X10A in HiMat mode.

I'll post more pics and the actual footage, I can't upload them all since I'm not using the super fast wired internet. (*sigh*, maybe e-mobile is only good for mailing, surfing.. even a no for youtube uploads).

Installing Windows 7 : SUCCESS

I just finished installing Windows 7. It took me less than an hour just to get things installed and see the Windows 7 fighting fish wallpaper. And the sound is also perfectly fine, no need to get the drivers, unless I am really picky.

By checking things, I can tell that Microsoft really have done a good thing about Windows 7, compared to Vista. There are still the semi-eye candy thing, probably they just disabled aero feature from Vista, but it is still cool.

First, this is just to prepare for the VAIO Type P that I preordered. It is an owner made, running with Atom 550 (2.0Ghz), 256GB SSD HD, 2GB RAM. I took the Japanese keyboard, because the ENTER key is easier to hit and also, I want to type Japanese characters on my VAIO P as well. I also took the brown one over the typical silver, because the silver keyboard hits hard on fingertips while I feel much better typing on the brown keyboard. I also didn't take the Wireless WAN/GPS since I can live without it. It is binded to NTT Docomo but there are always some way to unlock it.

First is to make a portion of Windows 7 into my HD. This is where I will put those Windows 7 files and remove it afterwards.

After few minutes, the Fighting Fish wallpaper shows up!

Google add warning to PRC website as HARMFUL?

What the hell's going on? PRC website hacked by someone, that Google sees it as an offensive site?

Check the proof below. I verified this when a friend told me to check my name on google.

It seems that PRC's page got injected by codes that redirect to harmful sites. Maybe this is why google marked the page as "HARMFUL".


Not only that. Once you checked PRC website, the browser will either stop or warn you that the site is not safe and may cause something to your computer. I hope they do something about this even before google or other search engine delete their indexes on search engine results.Result from Firefox


Result from Google Chrome


Result from IE. They even prevent the page from being displayed. I check my internet connection and it is perfectly OK. (In Tokyo, Japan)

Error in PHP when accessing SQL Express

I started to play around with PHP - MSSQL when I bumped on an error that took me some time before I managed to find some fix. PHP is OK, all the functions, all green. But if I would try mssql functions, I would get 500 error (Internal Server Error) and even threw me a FastCGI Error, to which I really gave a laugh. FastCGI is sitting idly like an angel, while blame on it.

Then, I found the faulty part.

On the PHP folder, check the version of ntwdblib.dll file. If the version is like 2000.2.8.0 , just download the same file from a trustworthy source. I downloaded 2000.80.194.0 version of the DLL.

And things went OK.

Now time to convert all those things to PHP functions.

Here are the libraries I've done for ASP.NET.

Mailer

Web Request (POST/GET/Redirect/Stream)

Sockets

Audio

TTS

and If I can make it maybe even 80% of it in PHP, I would be sipping Java Chip F in any starbucks with my Type P.

Even just the rchWeb part.

Can't wait. ^-^

Sony Vaio Type- P - Getting cheaper because of Windows 7?

I recently pre-ordered a Japanese Owner-Made VAIO Type-P. Although, they told me that it is within my responsibility if I install English OS on it, I just laughed and said "Hai, wakarimashita" with a grin on my face. Of course, I took the best specs.

For me, it doesn't matter which OS, because most probably I'll just be using it for writing web scripts that need to be done ASAP whenever, whereever I am. I also took the 256 SSD, so hope that I'll be making a walkthorough here, or else just cross my palm with silver and I'll it for you, Sony Vaio Type-P , English.

I also grabbed the e-mobile package, but somehow I feel a bit of regret. e-mobile took 30000 yen from the total amount, but I have to subscribe to their service for 2 years, which would cost me minimum of 2,480 yen to maximum of around 6900 yen. And if I cancel now, I have to pay them 60,000 yen. I can't hardly google a thing from my current location unless I step on a nearby starbucks.... wtf!

Can't wait to get my mini machine.

Slowly killing time: Shibuya

A typical scene at Shibuya, Tokyo.
I always enjoy looking from above, watching busy people crossing the street.
I feel like time moves slowly and very relaxing.

Another apocalypse movie: 2012

I just watched the trailer of this new movie, 2012. It may sounds like another "Independence Day" or "The day after tomorrow". Just by looking at the trailer, I can imagine the work they've done using those effects, earthquake, volcano, destruction, etc.

The story? The earth will be destroyed on 12/12/2012.

Hoping for this to show in nearby theaters.

Finding a picture to fit on… TOKYO

I just realized how hard it is to live alone in Tokyo. I mean all by yourself, having no company to help you with the accommodation, finding job, etc. Consider this scenario. If one would try to find job here, first a shelter is necessary. There's no problem in food as you can just find everything you need in a nearby convenience store if cooking is a hassle and having limited budget. If you still find those convini foods to be expensive, try waiting around 9 – 11pm and the price will surely go down. Usually you can see this kanji引き (biki) preceeded by a number, which means, % discount. So if you see a bentou box with 500 yen tag and with 20%引き, it means you only have to pay 400 yen for it. And if you can see this , 半額 (hangaku) it means 50% discount or HALF – PRICE.

The condition to find yourself an apartment is that, you must have a WORK to start with or you must have a Japanese guarantor, someone who would stand there in case you would run from paying the rent (of course we know we won't do it, but there are different people too and we can't blame the owners). There is an option, but quite expensive. Staying on sakura houses might not be a bad idea. I can have my own room, having shared bathroom, toilet, kitchen, etc with other foreigners. With that amount per month, I can already rent my own apartment, provided I have Japanese guarantor and a present job. The monthly rent is really shocking if you would take Tokyo central places. But might suffer if you have to commute very far. The picture above is taken while I was inside a coffee shop. I was surprised because this pigeon walked from the park all the way to this place, and even waited for the traffic lights too. It walked all the way just to mingle with people in the coffee shop, hoping that they would at least share a part of what they are taking, quite a picture, isn't it.

My 2nd year in Tokyo

Whew, I almost forgot that it was my second year here in Tokyo, Japan. How time really flies and I couldn't remember the things that happened, as I can still feel things as if they happened yesterday.

分からないことで、どこか行きたい感じがあるんだが、どこへ行くのが分からない。おかしいだね？

さも僕の足が自分の頭があって、駅に歩かせちゃった。

Then I just found myself in Shibuya... I haven't eaten anything, but just before I entered some place where I can eat, I already placed a ticket to Den-EnToshi line... I just feel weird, I take the train. Then after seating, I enjoyed looking outside the window, looking at places that feels like familiar.

Then, thinking it was already far, I disembarked at Nagatsuta. I was amazed, I went all the way here, I don't even know if someone I knew used to live here, or by any chance I might bump on some fellow "Kababayan"...

Then, I want to move a little bit more, but my tummy is already complaining. I planned to go through the last stop of JR Yokohama, but I end up disembarking at the very next station, Naruse.

The place is somewhat different from Tokyo, it is like a province.

I happen to pass by a bridge, and beneath is a cemetery. There is also a water gate next to it, controlled by a sluice gate somewhere. I walked straight and straight, looking a something that I can't even describe, but I feel like I need to go there. Very weird, but it gave me a good exercise walking.

Then on this (I saw some sign, Aobayama, nantoka... something.. I'm getting drowsy since Ihaven't eaten anything and I'M tired and also quite exhausted because of the rain torrents, walking without the umbrella ....). I felt really worried. I looked around and at night time, it seems really dark on these areas. I hope somebody has been there for them, that those who do this act can't do their foolish acts without getting a fight or something..

I think I really lost my way. I tried to look for taxi, but can't find one. There are bus stops but I think they go to other direction. I can't see some kanji that I've seen on the station. So I just continued walking.

And then, I reached here, going out to a place that I believe I've been.

I feel like, I was looking for a missing fragment of my memory. It feels strange, and I felt like I've been here before. This looks like a school. I was looking at the big clock near the field. I looked for students busy running around the school, chatting, parting ways....

somehow I feel relieved and smiled... I decided to just rest at the nearby pasta restaurant. 学校のClockに見ながら、ゆっくりして、にこにこ笑わせた。 ^_^

Then... after some time, I went back home. It was a long day.

quite tiring, but I feel great. I don't know what I've found, but somehow I feel satisfied.

Web Layouts: What differs a Graphics Designer from Web Designer

When I was given a web project, I started to read some details to get opinions of other people. This is different from just dragging and dropping things in your visual IDE and worst, you might suffer later for cross browser compatibility (say hello to IE 6).

So because of this cross browser rendering issues, these layouts are used.

The Ice Cube Box

-these kind of websites tend to stay on the left side of the screen. They "STATICALLY" stay there,in such a way that they would be "SOMEHOW" rendered in that position. It is true, this will stay aligned to the left, but one big disadvantage of this is, when users who have resolution greater than the static dimension (w, h), things from their view will not be balanced.

The Jelly Box

-these kind of websites tend to stay on the middle of the screen. This layout address to the ICE CUBE Box limitation, the lack of "Balance". They are still somewhat "STATICALLY" measured, adjusting to the lowest possible browser resolution (I still consider 760px , although sometimes I fear those who use 640 x 480 resolution). Most who do this use the 760 px adjustment, thinking that most users still hae 800 x 600 px resolution. Since this stays in the middle of your screen, eerything appears to be proportionally balanced. However, since the dimensions are still statically set, this layout will waste some of the space, that you can also use to add some elements, or maybe additional ads space to earn extra.

The Liquid Layout

- Finally, to address those holes. The Liquid layout is dynamically adjusted, depending on the user's resolution. To accomplish this, you should not give an element some fixed value if they would act as "CONTAINER" for other elements (adjust to page element on percentage units). This is quite hard to accomplish, so you have to check every browsers, especially IE. Add some extra space, in such a way that if rendering error occur, your layout won't suffer much. Other thing is to reset all element renderings to have a uniform setting for all elements. Most of these I saw online are ice-boxed,liquid type since they adjust from LEFT. I would rather prefer the Liquid-Jelly layout, since it would appear more balanced.

I've seen many websites, and sometimes I still see people using the old approach for image switchovers (Javascript), preloader (still Javascript, duh)...and even some people who give form driven name some kanji or katakana or hiragana names... (Ouch). well, we can always learn from experience and someday we'll be able to do things in a more appropriate way.

OK. To answer the question. Graphics Designer are gurus when it comes to desktop publishing, but a Web Designer is someone who can extend those skills to a higher level.

Akihabara : A glimpse of a tradegy...

At first glimpe, you would think that those are some garbage, I suppose. But a closer look, they are really flowers, drinks, snacks and others used as an offering for those who died in Akihabara last year, a stabbing rampage.

Japan's working lifestyle is reall strict. One mistake, you'll become an outcast. No body invites you to group parties, no body informs you about recent company policy or event, everybody mobs you on their conversation after work, etc.... very unforgiving in such a way, someone who experience those would most likely to be violent, do something sneaky, just to adjust for such unfair act.

Because of this, he tried to express himself in such a way that his existance will not be ignored. He posted several message to a Social Networking Site, and when he arrived at Akihabara, randomly stabbed everyone after he hit pedestrians using the truck he drove.

I also feel sorry for them and also for this guy, who didn't find a way to prove everyone that they are wrong about him.

Ginza: Back to Feudal Tokyo?

What is this? Am I seeing this right? Am I in Tokyo, year 2009?

I recalled my world history lessons when I saw this. Also, one of the things that Jose Rizal didn't like when he visited Japan. This man-pulled cart called "Jin-Riksha".

I tried to look inside the window, but it is hard to see. Maybe this is some special service. Sometimes, I can also pedal powered taxi here, streets of Ginza.

Function evaluation disabled because a previous function evaluation timed out. You must continue execution to reenable function evaluation.

Function evaluation disabled because a previous function evaluation timed out. You must continue execution to reenable function evaluation.


this error ticks me, I'm running this parser program I make since monday night and I'm stuck with just one month.

I'll try a work around on this since I use the debugger CLI from VS 2k5 which is rumored to be a "BUG".

I also tried to clean up the code and divide the load because I have to take text (if you know SQL datatypes, you know how big is this) long datas and roughly 3 million row that I have to parse, something which my computer running 1 GB, Pentium D can't stand, it can't even fill a datatable with all those data. >_<

So, my workaround is to just get some id, then get another query specific to that ID, so in that way I'll be able to see the progress per row processed and, should not end up like the first attempt, since I'm only storing integers in datatables. I'll POST later for this breakpoint thrilling debug.


*UPDATE* Things seems to work now, but only insert row at 1 row per sec, my notebook at home is much faster than this computer....>_<

Lesson Learned: "It is hard to be deprived..."

One Coin Internet

I was surprised to see this. On top of Tokyo being the most expensive city to live in, there are still some bits of cheap things found in limited place.


Using 100 yen, you can use the computer. This is useful when you're dying to check mails. (I was like this before...)

Shiodome @ Night

Just to share some view I took at top of Shiodome towers.

It was really cool. A sight on top of very tall tower. From this point, I can see the busy streets of Tokyo.

Yakiniku : Han no Daidokoro (Kitchen of Han)

My friends said Philippines people really like BBQ. But I said, of course maybe everyone does, with the exception of those who are vegetarians. When I take them to a Yakiniku Tabehoudai (eat all you can) place, they said they don't feel like eating within span of time, so this time I was taken to a different place.

The name of the place reminds of a Korean dynasty, Han. It is indeed, Han's daidokoro. (Kitchen of Han).







I can't say more about this place. They really give good service. They replace the grill every other minute, because it gets black if you grilled things in there.

If you look at the table, you can see that technology in Tokyo improved their daily lives, the grill can be controlled here, and also it has some sort of a clock that will show how long it is used. This is not chargable to customers though, I think they put it there so they can estimate how much their monthly electric bill will cost.

So we tried this. I forgot what this one is called , but this meet is one part of Cow's Tounge.

And we took this much. It was not as much as "gatsu-gatsu" in tabehoudai, but this is great. We had a good time talking and not rushing to fires.

And, I was quite hesitant to eat this. I just had my sashimi eating lessons few weeks ago but this time, no.. it was not yet the Ootoro, I'm reserving that for some special day. This is what they call "Wagyuu Nigiri". It is "RAW" Beef.

At first I thought I can't eat it, but I just put the wasabe I can and the ginger I can and the garlic I can and the soy sauce. And I ate one. Oishikatta~~~Yo!