NeoniQ/Geniatech/Asiapads ATV1000 firmware updates etc

I bought one of the above Android-based media players and had a hard time getting it to play movies properly. The interface wasn't exactly the easiest to live with.

I have since found a newer version of the firmware (09Sep2011) *and* a version of the Android Market!!!

Download the above and then do the following:

1) copy the new firmware onto an SD card (not a USB disk!!!),

2) rename it to update.zip

3) On the media player, press F2 to go to the home screen, the F1 to bring up the options at the bottom of the screen. Select Settings, Privacy, Update firmware. It will reboot and install the new firmare.

Repeat this process for the market zip too.

Note: There have been a few updates since the above was written.

The first one is update_eng_0916 and the second one is update_Australia_0927

Update_eng_0916 is very similar to the original 09Sep2011 one, with a few more apps in it, as well as Flash player v10.2

The 'australian' one comes with Flash player v10.3

I am using the 'eng' version and, apart for the extra junk apps, it works very well.

The above updates do not include the HDMI switcher that came with the original firmware.

To get it back, do the following:

• press and hold left mouse button
• when the menu pops up, select Shortcuts, Settings, Display settings.
• Done!

Enjoy!

ps: Comments and/or links to this article are most welcome!

FileZilla connection issues - MSLD

It looks like somebody cocked up at FileZilla.
The latest version (v3.5.1) refuses to connect to my RedHat server, even though all previous versions of FileZilla did.

Reading some of the threads around the web, the developers decided to use the MLSD command (to get a directory listing) and it seems to cause no end of problems.
They seem to insist that MLSD is a standard command and the people should change their FTP servers instead.
Perhaps those devs should extract their cranium from their anus, instead of telling people to change their (perfectly good FTP servers. We use ProFTPD)

That rant aside, the way to overcome this problem is to not use passive mode.

Use the File/SiteManager menu to find the entry you want to connect to and, under TransferSettings, set the Transfer mode to Active.

Enjoy!

Why Your JavaScript Developed in Firefox Might Fail in IE

Mitchell Pronschinske has a great article explaining js differences between Firefox and Internet Exploder.

Some of those issues can be bypassed by using jQuery but it still is a great read for all js developers.

Samsung Galaxy S2 secret codes

An extensive list of the secret codes for the S2 can be found here
Many thanks to the XDA guys!

how to fix - Excel won't show charts any more!

One day my VBA code in Excel was happily generating charts and the next it wasn't.


It would create the new worksheets, raise no errors whatsoever, but show nothing!

Nothing was changed in the spreadsheet. I even retrieved a copy from my backups.


There is no explanation I can think of for this but here is how I fixed it.

I opened the print preview dialog, went to page settings, changed the paper backwards and forwards, toggled a few other settings, left everything the way it was, closed the dialog and       voila! it now works!

ps: Comments and/or links to this article are most welcome!

Google+ guide

this article has a great multi-part guide to g+.

It describes most of the functions of g+. as well as how to manage g+.

For example, there is mention of 'reading' circles and 'sharing' circles.

You would use sharing circles for publishing info and/or pics to friends.

A person could appear in more than one of your sharing circles.

On the other hand, reading circles are place where you want to consume info from others and you would only have a person in one such circle.

This is a neat way of managing the amount of info that you are faced with.

Viewing your Streams (posts from anyone in any of your circles) can be overwhelming, whereas reading circles make it much more targeted and manageable.


Please note that g+ offers 'circles', period. It makes no distinction between reading, sharing, caring or any other kind of circles.
The distinction and naming is strictly yours.

Read the article for much more info on how to get the best of g+.

Enjoy!

Eclipse Indigo - some useful addins

Here are some useful addins for Eclipse Indigo:

• PHP development tools (PDT):
  Using the Help/InstallNewSoftware menu option, click on ADD and enter the following:
  Name: PDT
  Location: http://download.eclipse.org/tools/pdt/updates/3.0/milestones/
  When presented with a list of choices of components to install, choose All-in-one-SDK
  Done!
• Rockstarapps CSS/JS compressor:
  Using the Help/InstallNewSoftware menu option, click on ADD and enter the following:
  Name: RockstarApps
  Location: http://update.rockstarapps.com/site.xml 
  When presented with a list of choices of components to install, choose all except Amazon WS Tools and WorkBench Branding Feature.
  (Note, this is a personal preference, you can choose to install those too)
  Done!

I started by installing Eclipse IDE for JavaScript Web Developers