DeepWave

Over the past couple of days, I’ve added a few new pages. These are mostly old articles and items which were never posted at the previous DeepWave server.

• A Short Romp in the US
• Negotiation in a Nutshell (Foreword)
• Review of Palm A.R.M. Screen Protector
• From the m505 to the T3

OK, I put up the Manic Depressive Server Message. You can see it here. Most people don’t understand it. They think it is something strange, even though the message right at the top says "File Not Found". But I like it, and it is my website so I’ll do what I like to the server.. I can’t claim credit for writing it of course, I think it came from penguinppc.org, but they have a picture of a woman as their 404 page now. Yeah, I’m sure a lot of guys will be hitting penguinppc.org/nosuchfile now..

There are three parts to the Animator’s Toolkit, the Application Packages, Animation Systems and Video Players. Some of them are available here, and others are available elsewhere. You can check out how to go about creating your own animations with the 5 step plan. It’s all here! Recording from a Video Source, well, someone care to donate a video camera to me?

Application Packages:
Graphics drawing programs like:
Bitmap (Pixel by pixel) based:
    Paint Shop Pro
    Windows Paintbrush
    Neopaint for DOS

Vector (Object) based:
    Adobe Illustrator
    WordPerfect Draw

Ray Traced (3D):
    POVRay
    Breeze 3D Designer
    POVCad

Each Program should be able to import and export various graphics formats including GIF, TIFF, JPEG, TARGA, DIB, BMP, WMF. In general Graphics formats are as follows:
    GIF, TARGA, BMP, WMF - general formats
    JPEG - 16 million colours, small file, but quality loss
    TIFF - 16 million colours, no quality loss

Animation Systems:
Dave’s Targa Animator (DOS)
    Converts TARGAS and GIFs to animated FLI, FLC
Video for DOS (DOS)
    Converts TARGAS, BMPs to FLI, FLC, AVI
    Converts MPEG Raw Files to MPEG
    Converts FLI, FLC to AVI and vice versa
GIFAnimator (Windows 95)
    Builds Multiblock (animated) GIF89 files for use on the Web
GifCon (Windows)
    Builds Multiblock (animated) GIF89 files
GIFLoop
    Adds Looping Application Control Block to GIF89s (For Netscape/Web)
Video for Windows (Release version, not downloadable one)
    Includes VIDEDIT.EXE and other utilities. Adds sound (WAV/AIFF) and other AVIs
    to AVI files, and converts FLI/FLC to AVI. Also builds new AVIs from DIBs and BMPs.
    The downloadable version is called the Runtime Edition and doesn’t have these
    utilities. Does seem to have a few occasional problems under Win95.
Paint Shop Pro 5.0 (Windows 95)
    Contains a program called Animation Shop that can be used to make fantastic
    Animated GIFs. Will automatically create the transitions for you as well. By far
    the most powerful and easiest to use of all the GIF Animators.
Microsoft GIF Animator
    Able to compile multiple GIFs into a single animated GIF.

Video Players:

• Windows Media Player
• Windows ActiveMovie
• VMPEG For Windows
• QuickTime for Windows
• Autodesk Animator for Windows

Once you have assembled the Animator’s Toolkit, you probably want to know how to do it right? Well, here is a 5 step process guide for creating your animations.

How To Do It:

1) Create images:
Use any of the Application Packages to create the image. Start with the key frames and pictures. These key points are like the starting and ending, places where one scene shifts to another, when the camera changes angle and so on. All animations have at least two key frames, the start and the end. Then build/generate each frame individually one at a time to connect the key frames. Frames in between will connect the two. Try to imagine how it will all look in the end.

2) Arrange images in order:
Make sure images are all saved in the same format and numbered accordingly. It is safer to use pic01.xxx instead of just pic1.xxx as a filename. Do this for pictures numbered 1 through 9. Store all images in the same directory. Nothing else but the frames should be in that directory.

3) Run Animation System and create animation.
I suggest starting with Dave’s Targa Animator, converting TARGA and GIF to FLI/FLC, and then using Video for DOS or VidEdit to convert to AVI. Of course you can also skip the FLI/FLC step and go straight to AVI using VidEdit if your frames are in BMP/DIB format.

If you plan to have a GIF89 animation instead, GIFCon can be used to convert GIF files to GIF89 Multiblock animations. You can use the Control blocks to set up delays etc. A control block is located before the image it controls. The max delay time is 255. GifCon assumes this time to be in seconds, but Netscape seems to take this time as milliseconds. If you want longer delays, use the same image multiple times with the same control block and longer delays. If you set the control block to remove by background, don’t forget to set the background colour. This is because apparently Nestcape on Windows 3.x/95 seems to interpret transparent backgrounds for the first frame only and use that for all following frames, but Netscape on Macs do not. Use GifLoop program to add the Looping application control block to the GIF89. If you create images with this animation method, remember that browsers that do NOT support GIF89 animations will display the first frame! Of course, most of the details here are automatically handled by PSP5’s Animation Shop.

4) Test/View animation with Video Players.
Use the animation players to view the files. Remember you must have the proper drivers to view certain files. VidEdit and Video For DOS both have viewers of their own so you may not need to find some other viewer. GIFCon, Microsoft’s own GIF Animator and PSP5’s Animation Shop contains built-in players for Animated GIFs.

5) Repeat steps 1-4 or any subset thereof until you are satisfied.

Important Notes
Lots of times, Animations seem to go wrong because of several common problems. The first is that the images do not seem to correspond to each other. This can easily be seen if the animation does not seem to "flow" or if it "jumps" erratically from one frame to another. Make sure your individual frames are matching, and make sure you did step 2 correctly!

Another problem is if the animation "flows", but seems "jerky", or is not "smooth scrolling". It is likely the frame rates are wrong, or if your individual frames are "too far apart" from each other. Each frame should differ from the next one by a few rows/columns of pixels, not whole chunks. You can also change the many parameters in Video For DOS and VidEdit to change settings. Experiment with different settings and try different file formats. FLI/FLC may be more appropriate for some, or AVI better for others and still other situations call for GIF89.

Remember, some images and applications take up a lot of resources, Hard Disk space, memory and CPU power are important factors in determining the quality and success of an animation. However, the content of your animation is still dependent upon your limitless imagination.

Examples
Here is an example of an Animated CSI Logo. It was created from 28 different frames drawn in Paint Shop Pro and saved as GIF89 and TARGA files. GifCon and GifLoop were used to create the animated GIF89, while Dave’s Targa Animator converted the TARGAs to FLI/FLC. Video for DOS converted it to AVI and VidEdit added the sound clip to the AVI. The animated GIF89 can be seen to be animated if you are using Netscape 2.0. There is a delay before the animation starts/restarts. Included in the zip file is both the Animated GIF and AVI versions.

DeepWave Resources
The Animator’s ToolKit (460K). This package includes:
    Dave’s Targa Animator 2.2
    Video for DOS 1.6d
    GifLoop Application Extension
Amateur’s Video Guide GifCon (570K) can be used under Windows 3.x and Win95.

Novell has several certification programs for people who work closely with Novell Products. This includes the Certified Novell Administrator (CNA), the Certified Novell Engineer (CNE), the Certified Novell Instructor (CNI), the Master Certified Novell Engineer (Master CNE) and the Master Certified Novell Instructor (Master CNI). For those with an inclination to the Internet, there is also the Certified Internet Professional (CIP).

Much debate has been going on as to the relevance of these certifications as opposed to actual networking exprience. As an employer, one would want to see as much as possible on-the-job experience, but does certification show a person has that kind of experience?

My personal experience is that you need access to a network in order to get you through these exams, otherwise you should pay the $4000 some odd US Dollars to attend the classes.

But do you even need these exams? The Networking Professionals Association (NPA) has developed a program with Sylvan Prometric called the CNP (Certified Networking Professional) and from what I’ve seen of the requirements, boy, only the best of the best are going to get through that one! If you want or need the paper qualifications to support your technical abilities, such exams are the way to go.

Well, for whatever reason, if you are trying to achieve a CNE/CNA, or just want to boost your general Netware knowledge, here are some helpful pointers.

CNE Book Review
Several Books are pretty useful in your pursuit of a CNE/CNA. Even for general NetWare knowledge, here are a couple of books and what I found of them.

Netware 4 for Professionals - New Riders Publishing
A good book, very detailed and technical. Perhaps too technical to just pick up and read. This is more like a reference or a look-up book through the index I suppose. The new update for 4.1 is also available. It seems to have a lot of information on setting up Netware 4, and OSI Layers. Netware 4 administration stuff doesn’t come until half the book is gone.

The Complete NetWare Command Reference - New Riders Publishing
A really useful reference for CNEs and NetAdmins alike. It covers in pretty good detail all the utilities and commands including console commands and NLMs for NetWares 2.x, 3.x and 4.x. If you already know NetWare, just bring this book around and you’ll never get lost in a NetWare environment anymore. It has seperate sections for different versions of programs (eg Install 2, Install 3 and Install 4). If you’re trying out the 4.1 Admin exam, don’t forget to read the cx, netadmin, filer, nlist and ndir sections especially.

The CNE-4 Study Guide - Sybex Network Press
A very good study guide, much better than most of the others, especially the one from New Riders. It sections the book into the 7 major parts of the CNE course, and include the TCP/IP elective. It also has short questions and answers at the end of each chapter. But my favourite is the fact that it explains things in a laid-back-easy-half-jokingly style. It is technical, but it also keeps the atmosphere of the book from becomming too serious. Not as un-serious as NetWare for Dummies, but livens things up enough to make it a “pick-up-and-read” kind of book. But like all CNE reference/tutorials/books, no matter how much you prepare, there are questions that seem to come from nowhere…

Big Red Self Test
Big Red Self Test develops some pretty good testing programs that challenge your NetWare knowledge. It looks pretty good and is relatively close to the real exams. It only lacks the actual NetWare Administrator interface test on the real exams. This is a good one to get and worth the price especially if you are studying on your own.

Other References

• Novell Certification Program Information in ZIP File with WP 6.1 and Postscript formats.
• The Novell Netware CNE/CNA Notes that can help you learn more about Netware. This is not a read through book, it is a quick reference and is about close to a hundred pages long covering 9 topics including Networking Technologies, Service and Support, 4.1 and 3.1x administration, TCPIP and more. You can download this in WordPerfect 6.1 Format (159K) or as Postscript (HP LaserJet 4) (550K). The current version of this book is the January 96 Version.
• NetWare (General) Assesment Program (DOS)
• CNA Assesment Program (DOS)
• CNE Assesment Program (DOS)
• CNE Quizer Sampler (DOS)
• Novell Certification Sampler (Win) v5.4 (Big Red Self Test)

What is Back Orifice?
BO was one of the first truly terrible trojan horse/backdoor/viruses to spread widely over the Internet. It infected machines over file and print sharing and via email. Once infected, BO acts as a keylogger, backdoor, zombie all in one.

What is BO’s weakness?
Back Orifice in general is a powerful and remarkable program. It is amazing because for such a small program, it can do so much harm and is so easy to use. However, it is still a Windows program. And that, is BO’s biggest weakness. As a Windows program, it still has to conform to Windows’ restrictions and conditions. In order to start automatically every time Windows starts, Windows conventions will have to be used. This makes it easy to find, if you know where to look.

How was BO analysed?
Using Novell’s snAppShot (a part of the ZENWorks package), we installed Back Orifice 1.2 and analysed the AXT file produced by snAppShot. It indicated the following:

• A registry key is created to run BO on Windows startup:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\RunServices

Here, one of the services started is the Back Orifice Program. Future versions of Back Orifice, or similar programs will probably have to be installed in such keys, in the SYSTEM.INI, WIN.INI, or other such startup files.

• A file, the BO executable, is copied to the system, usually the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. This file is the same file as specified in the registry key above.

• Another file, C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WINDLL.DLL is installed. This file does not seem to be part of any other software package and is created when BO is installed or started. It seems to exist regardless of the configured name of BO. It was noticed that if the WINDLL.DLL file is deleted, when the PC reboots, it will automatically be recreated.

How do you check for the presence of BO?
The surerest way you can check is by looking at the registry and making sure that the programs being started by those registry keys are legitimate programs or drivers. A quick and simple way is to use the BOCheck 1.2 (21K) program, available for free here. Other software is also available, but they generally cost money. BOCheck 1.2 looks for the existence of the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WINDLL.DLL file.

How do you remove BO?
Once you have detected BO in your system, follow the instructions below:

• First, click on the “Start” Button, choose “Run”
• Key in “regedit.exe” and press “Enter”
• In the Regedit window, press “Control-F”
• This brings up the Find dialog box, key in “RunServices” and press “Enter”
• When the find has stopped, look on the right side of the screen. You should see two fields, a “Name” and a “Data” field.
• Write down the name of the program (located in the “Data” field) of the suspected BO registry entry and then click on it. Press the delete key to delete the registry key.
• Exit Regedit, and reboot your PC.
• When the PC has completed the reboot, you can use the Windows Explorer to delete the program in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory written down in the steps above. You can then also delete the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WINDLL.DLL file.

WARNING! Inappropriate use of the Registry Editor can result in your PC being unable to boot Windows 95, or have serious problems running software. If in doubt, check with a qualified and experienced IT person.

This should remove BO from your PC entirely.

Do also check out Some Light Reading for fiction work, or the Press and Events section for publications, press, seminars and events.

• Game Hints
• Back Orifice Check
• Novell CNE/CNA Information
• Animator’s Toolkit
• PalmOS Information and Reviews
• WordPress Hide Dashboard Plugin
• WordPress Serene Theme
• MyGallery to WordPress Converter Plugin

Old, Outdated or just Archived documents:

ASCII Art Pack!
___ ____ ___
____( \ .-’ `-. / )____
(____ \_____ / (O O) \ _____/ ____)
(____ `—–( ) )—–’ ____)
(____ _____________\ \____/ /_____________ ____)
(______/ `-.____.-’ \______)

BIG HUG

HTML References

Javascript References

Net Information - contains the following references:

• Internet Access Information (Internet Service Providers) - CICNet, FreeNets, Merit - MichNet, MSEN, Public Dial-up Internet Access List
• Mailing Lists - Anonymous Mail Server, ASPIRE, Berita-L (SEA News), Gateway 2000 Computers, Novell Netware, SLink (Singapore/ASPIRE), Windows For Workgroups, WinNews Newsletter
• Other Information - SANS’s Heuristic Analysis system for Defensive Online Warfare, Computer Abbreviations, Escape Codes, Graduate School Email Addresses, Computer Companies’ Phone Support

Below is a list of publications, press articles, presentations and events I have worked on. Do also check out the Articles and References section for non-fiction articles, or Some Light Reading for fiction work.

Digital Photography as a Hobby
Mensa Singapore Soapbox, 21 June 2008

Starting a Technology Company
WMV Download (217MB, 1hr 15m)
55@SP, Singapore Polytechnic, 6 January 2006,
Video recording by Singapore Polytechnic

Local Invention that Resurrects Crashed PCs
Today, 13 July 2004

Recovery Made Simple
Computerworld Singapore, 7 July 2004

Data Recovery Solutions for Small Businesses
The Business Times, 5 July 2004

Backing Up The Real World
Exabyte Partners Forum, 23 October 2003

Scientific Minds in Singapore
Agency for Science, Technology And Research (A*STAR) Explosion Magazine,
Issue 6, October 2003

Data Storage Support for Grid Computing
Agency for Science, Technology And Research (A*STAR) Computing Grid
Thematic Strategic Research Program Workshop, 22-23 September 2003

Data Storage is the Key to Business Success
Business Briefing: Data Management and Storage Technology, September 2003
World Markets Research Center

ComputerWorld Storage Dialogue 2003
ComputerWorld, 18 July 2003

Build your own Network Storage with DSI’s HyperSCSI
Data Storage Institute (DSI), Exploit Technologies (ETPL) and Singapore Infocomm
Technology Federation (SITF) Joint Workshop, 9 July 2003

Introduction to Network Storage
Anglo-Chinese Junior College, 18 March 2003

Ethernet Network Storage: Getting More For Less
Marcus Evans Network Storage Technologies and Solutions 2003,
13-14 January 2003

Sir, This Is Your Microwave Oven Calling . . .
Singapore Science Center, 14 December 2002

Ethernet Network Storage - Yes, You can have it Now!
Image and Store 2002, 12 December 2002

HyperSCSI Touted for Low-cost SANs
Computer Weekly 360, 25 November 2002

Ethernet SANs
ComputerWorld, 22 November 2002

Ethernet Network Storage - Reality or Pipe Dream?
Patrick Beng T. KHOO, Wilson Yong H. WANG, Heng N. YEO
LinuxDevices.com, 11 November 2002

Ethernet Storage Trends and Overview
ComputerWorld Storage Forum 2002, 30 October 2002

Ethernet and Internet Protocol-based Network Storage
Business Briefing: Data Management and Storage Technology, October 2002
World Markets Research Center

What’s a Hard Disk and How Should I Organise My Files?
Mensa Singapore Chill and Chat, 11 May 2002

Introducing a Flexible Data Transport Protocol for Network Storage Applications
Patrick Beng T. KHOO and Wilson Yong H. WANG
10th NASA Mass Storage Systems and Technologies Conference / 19th IEEE
Symposium on Mass Storage Systems, 15-18 April 2002

ComputerWorld Storage and Backup Dialogue 2002
ComputerWorld, 5 April 2002

Home-Networked Storage: The Heart of Your Future Home
Innovations Magazine, April 2002

The Heart of Your Future Home
Storage Unlimited, April 2002

The Future of Network Storage
SAN World 2001 Seminar, 21 November 2001

More Storage Protocols: eSCSI
Network Computing Asian Edition, October 2001

Agnostic Architecture
ComputerWorld, 28 September 2001

Free to Choose, Room to Grow
Computer Times, 12 September 2001

Life as a Research Engineer
NSTB Student Seminar - Nanyang Technological University, 11 September 2001

New Technology Widens Scope for Storage
Asia Computing Weekly, 18 September 2000

Network Storage Technology: A Summary From The Field
TechPartnership Seminar, 7 September 2000

Can I Help You? - Exploring Your Technical Support Options
NetWare Connection, October 1998