kelvin quee

The below information is only for the purpose of Fair Use. The workaround is suggested because you already own the rights to the document but its overzealous creators restricted you more than they should. Your first workaround should be to contact the creator of the document to relax the restrictions. If you do not have the rights to the document, it is probably illegal for you to apply any of the suggested methods below. Check with your lawyer.

If you find yourself with a protected PDF (or what some people call “DRM-ed”), there’s a way to get around this. It’s not very elegant, but it works.

Here’s what the document properties window will look like, for a protected pdf, besides the “Lock” icon on your bottom left of Acrobat.

As you can see, it’s very restrictive. I cannot even cut-and-paste.

To work around this, you need to be able to print, which is allowed in my case. You need to print to a new file. Since I’m using Microsoft Windows, I’ve the Microsoft Office Document Image Writer.

1) Print to Microsoft Office Document Image Writer. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, from your print dialog window, choose the Image Writer. It’s pretty obvious if you’re on Windows. For other platforms, you probably have your own workaround, like Mac OSX pdf printing function.

2) Open the .mdi file created. From there, print to your PDF writer, like CutePDF.

3) Open the newly created PDF file and see the document security settings removed and everything else intact.

Note: Printing to a PDF writer directly, like CutePDF, does not work. Adobe probably realised this simple workaround and did something about it. You need to print/convert to another format, in this case the .mdi format, before printing/converting back to pdf format again.

Alternatively, you can try this suggestion here that uses Gmail as a workaround and metioned on Boing Boing. It doesn’t work as well as all methods above, but it’s definitely cross-platform.

Happy Fair Use-ing.

Macintosh, or more specifically, OSX users will probably scream at this. Either that, or they will probably scroff it off as downright loser.

In anycase, it is now really simple to get an Windows XP desktop to look really like OSX, with all the bells and whistles.

Or, even better.

Here’s what my desktop look like after revamping. Go take a look:

As you can see, OSX’s all-too-famous dock is implemented, complete with the magnification. Drag-N-Drog to dock works too. OSX’s Spotlight is also emulated, courtesy of Google’s Desktop Search. There’s also the very useful function of labelling your folders with different colours, just like on OSX.

Perhaps more importantly, you get all the bells-and-whistles of the the pow-wow eyecandy like drop-down shadows, transparency and the, though weak, implementation of the genie-effect.

Incredibly, the author somehow managed to alter the boot screen to show a silverised (think laser-etched) Apple logo against a cool background while Windows loads. The Windows login screen is also emulated nicely.

To achieve this, if you’re lazy like me, just go download FlyakiteOSX. It’s a 30mb download. Warning: The software does extensive changes to your computer which may be irreversible. Make sure you do a System Restore point, which the installer will very helpfully ask you if you want to, before installing.

Otherwise, if you’re a diehard hacker, just go ahead and do it manually and enjoy the process. alang has an extensive and detailed manual to guide you through.

If you want additionally functionality, like the ubercool Exposé which is missing from the package (read: Not free), try Topdesk which is working very well for me. Additionally, Topdesk will emulate Vista’s mode of taskswitching. How cool is that?

Of course all these coolness and functionality comes at a price. While all the addons are surprisingly stingy on RAM, they do use up processing speed. Make sure you’ve a decent graphics card. My builtin Intel Extreme Graphics 2 barely limps along. The sacrifice of speed for functionality is still worth it though.

Still, there’s one major caveat emptor that I’ve yet been able to handle - the uneasy fit of OSX looks on PC (read: cheap) hardware. Seeing the Apple boot screen on a all-so-serious Thinkpad almost made me chuckle out in laughter.

Remember that no amount of emulation will be able to reach what Apple has achieved, that is the epitome of usability. It’s a philosophy, not just looks alone. If you really want to explore usabability on a PC, go get Gnome. You may have to ditch Windows for Linux though.

Or, if you want to know what all the fuss about MacOSX is all about, so much so that even PC users go all-out to emulate it, go read up on its features.

Again, I’ll emphasise on usability. I know getting your desktop to look exactly like OSX is really ubercool, but if your PC will only limp along and crash every now and then, it’s really pointless. I’ll be testing driving this hacked-together setup for a while, to see if it works. So far, so good though.

(For non-Singaporeans: Starhub is a info-communications company. One of their many services is MaxOnline, an Internet broadband service through co-axial cable. This post is mainly about how Starhub MaxOnline ‘blocked’ an important port of my Internet Connection.)

(Note: The word ‘block’ and its various forms are in quotes because I cannot be absolutely sure what Starhub was doing and what actually happened at that moment. As far as I understand, the situation, to the best of my knowledge, was that I couldn’t access any sites that uses Port 443. To me, and I believe most people in the IT profession, Port 443 was inaccessible or ‘blocked’. To avoid possible misunderstanding, I will place the word ‘block’ in quotes. It’s up to you to interpret it.)

(Disclaimer: Everything here written is an account of what happened. It’s meant to express my opinion and not to change anyone’s opinion of Starhub. It reflects the truth to the best of my knowledge. I do not receive any incentives from Starhub or its competitors from this writing.)

I fumed.

I must have cursed in every possible permutation possible.

I checked every connection, both wired and wireless. I tested settings on all 3 computers. I tested every browser, from Opera to Firefox to Internet Explorer.

I spent 3 hours, when I should be studying for my exams, going through rigourously all my equipment, to realise that the fault lies over in Starhub.

Afterall, what are the possibilities that Starhub, having a plethora of engineers will actually fail? As compared to my less than $1000 equipment and my little experience in technology, the fault should be on my side.

As usual, I was wrong.

Here’s what happened: I was able to visit most webpages, but MSN Messenger and Gmail denied me. I was perplexed then. I mean, what’s the difference between normal webpage and MSN Messenger and Gmail?

Then I thought that my router or computer maybe blocking certain ports. My LevelOne router has been screwing up previously, so I thought that it must be the broken link. I tried to fix it. I couldn’t. I almost felt like throwing my router out of the window.

I then used wget (on Windows!) to connect to Gmail. That’s when my suspicions is confirmed. wget reported that it failed to connect to Port 443 (for SSL).

Starhub ‘blocked’ my Port 443! I wonder what other ports they are ‘blocking’.

I then called Starhub, cursing. The guy over at the other end refused to believe my claim until he made me go through all the firewall and Internet Explorer security settings nonsense, even though I displayed adequate knowledge that I knew that Starhub was ‘blocking’ my ports.

After I ended my call, when I next tried accessing the Internet much later (and more infuriated), it was fixed.

Still, it was a very bitter experience for me, especially when I pay about $600 (1 USD=1.6SGD) a year for internet access.

For a while, I thought I must get back at Starhub, so I went to read their Terms and Conditions. Then, I grew wiser, especially when there’s a section that reads:

12. Liability
a. The Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and you agree and accept that you use the Service or rely on any Content obtained through the Service at your sole risk. We expressly disclaim all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement to the fullest extent allowed by law. No advice or information whether oral or written, obtained by you from us or through the Service will create any warranty not expressly made in this Agreement.

b. You will be solely responsible for the Content/data retrieved, stored or transmitted through the Service and/or the Equipment.

c. If you are dissatisfied with the Service or with the Content, products or services available on or through the Service or with any of the terms and conditions of this Agreement, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue accessing and using the Service or terminate the Service according to this Agreement.

Now, I wished that I’ve a friend who is a lawyer. Does anyone know if the terms “as is” and “as available” are too all-encompassing? Is it a fair term?

Warning: NO Research, however Enriching, has been done before writing this. The author is not liable for any miscontruded view points, any losses of any kind to anyone or any thing in all situations. Still, the author has the inalienable right to write whatever he thinks is right and that will deal no damage or cause harm in the predictable future.

So, Iran has finally reached the penultimate stage to nuclear weaponary capability.

Maybe I’m an idiot, but both India and Pakistan acquired nuclear capabilities, much to US’s unhappiness but the Americans were silenced after that. It’s almost a clear case of hypocrisy to me - Both India and Pakistan are America’s allies. So, non-American allies don’t have the right to acquire N-weapons? And, in my opinion, Pakistan may well be behind Iran on the measure of democracy. General Pervez Musharraf is still the head of government after his successful military coup in 1999.

I’m not saying that Iran should have N-weapons. I’m just saying that the US, still being the remaining superpower (not for long), should perhaps wield its power more responsibly and fairly. I know that this is asking for too much, but, c’mon, the world is not blind - we can see your inadequacy.

Although we can’t do much to Bush’s behaviour and there’s much to love about America than to dislike, this incident is going to be yet another convincing story Al-Qaeda, and its small fragmented terrorist cells scattered all over the world, are going to capitalise upon.

There’s nothing wrong in stopping a rogue nation from acquiring N-capabilities, but do it the right way. Convince the world that Iran is a case worth stopping. If the US can’t, then Iran is probably not worth pursuing. Achieve your goals in other ways, like perhaps introducing your businesses into Iran and showing them respect, while slowly changing the people’s mind about you. That’s how democracy should work, right?

You, the US, can bomb the country to bits, you can even head their government but you won’t be able to convince the people, or the world that it was fair. Don’t forget the fact that you, the US, orchestrated Operation Ajax in 1953 to overthrow a democratically elected government, in the name of oil.

The world doesn’t need another North Korea, “Vietnam”, Afghanistan or Iraq. The US has enough troubles itself.

And, the world, hates to dislike the US, because the ideals the US and her people embraces stood for so much.

In a bid to make my old Acer TravelMate 280 more usable for my other family members, I decided to clear away the partitions containing SuSe 9.3 Linux to make more space for Windows (Sorry, Linux).

So I just went bruteforce, deleting all the linux partitions, completely forgetting that GRUB leads to the Linux boot partition. I then rebooted the laptop.

GRUB, obviously, pops out an error, refusing to boot.

I then pop in the Windows XP cd, got to the recovery console. It asked for my adminstrator password, I gave my administrator password. Of course, like all Microsoft products, it will die on you when you most need it. There’s a bug in certain incarnations of XP recovery console. Brilliant, isn’t it? I didn’t know that initially and I thumped every password I know before hurriedly running upstairs to grab my other laptop, thinking of dumping a boot disk into my USB thumbdisk.

Then it struck me that my Acer TravelMate 280 might not be able to boot from a USB thumbdrive. To confirm my fears, I browsed through the BIOS. I shuddered.

XP CD-ROM refused me. The laptop can’t boot from USB. So… I’m left with my floppy.

My Floppy Disk! I then earnestly shook off the layer of dust gathering on my floppy disk. When was the last time I used one? I hope it still works.

Thinking that the tides are with me now, I downloaded the best bootdisks I could find together with some Fix MBR utilities. Time to format a floppy! I felt around my Thinkpad, looking for an indentation indicating a floppy disk drive. No luck. Then it dawned on me that my Thinkpad has no floppy drive.

Cursing myself, I then transferred the compilation into another desktop before producing the floppy. Everything went smoothly from then on. Once booted from floppy, I typed “mbrfix /drive 0 fixmbr”. Rebooted. Windows XP loads. Done. :)

Lessons learnt:

1) Know your partitions. List down what they do, contain and their references (0, 1, 2, 3…)
2) Windows XP recovery may not always work.
3) Always keep a couple of floppy disks around, no matter how uncool they look. Also have one thumbdisk around for transferring stuff.
4) Make a bootdisk containing all essential utilities (fdisk and edit especially). Put one image in your floppy disk and the other in your thumbdisk.
5) Remember that computing is in a state of transiting from floppies to usb thumbdrive/network transfers. Note that, to recover most machines, the only way is to boot from CD or floppy or thumbdisk. Many older machines do not support booting from USB. One might not always have the right CDs to boot from too. Clearly, the floppy still offers the most versatile and universal boot solution, no matter how uncool and slow they are.

I’ve always pride myself for keeping my computer virus/malware free for the past few years, all without spending a cent or rigging my computer with too much paranoia-saturated programmes.

But just a moment ago, I was defeated.

I was searching for a way/tool to delete a folder named “.vdrift” from Recycle Bin. No matter how hard I try, I couldn’t. I then downloaded a programme that looks relatively harmless.

Algona Recycle Bin Manager 1.0 (Contains malware. Download only if you want the nasty stuff.)

Warning: Long, detailed rant ahead

The moment I executed it, trusty avast! antivirus pops up with multiple warnings. I was chilled. I quickly quarantined every single omnious executable file that was generated (10-15 in all), thinking that I will be safe.

I was wrong.

Microsoft Windows XP, being very helpful, then kept popping out ballons from the taskbar saying that my computer is infected. I clicked on it and Spyware Doctor comes to the rescue, scanning and listing all the malware (the list was long) and telling me exactly what all these evil binaries do. But, no, Spyware Doctor won’t remove them. Spyware Doctor will only remove them if you pay USD29.95/year.

Nice. I wonder why the hell I paid a bomb for an Operating System full of flaws, built-in with “spyware”/”malware” detection features but refuse to remove existing threats unless I pay.

This is not the way to make money, Microsoft. May your Vista never come to market.

I did a “Ctrl-Alt-Del” and under the process list and I still see all the nasty programmes I thought I’ve previously quarantined running in full joy. Next, avast! antivirus tells me that these programmes are trying to send a mail to some aol server. That further sent a chill down my spine. I brought my computer out of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) on the router and then quickly terminated these programmes, but XP still keeps popping out with warnings saying that my computer is still infected.

I then quickly download Lavasoft’s ad-Aware which is, (beat this Microsoft), free and feature-complete.

Two runs and it removed, seemingly all malware but XP is still not satisfied. The warnings still came.
A quick search around Google seems to suggest that the free Spybot is my next option. Spybot further detected and remove more malware.

This time, Windows stopped popping out with warnings. A check in the processes list suggests that no strange programmes are running there.

Time wasted? 4 hours.

Lesson learnt. I’m be more careful from now onwards. No, that won’t stopped me downloading software produced by individuals. I still will, but this time I’ll make sure that there’s a least some reviews of it on a notable website.

I should have not went ahead with the download when there’re almost no references to the Algona on the net by other users.

Still, this terrible incident will be forever remembered as another reason why I should switch to a Mac, or Ubuntu Linux.