Category Archive

Illustration. No, we’re not talking about iOS today. Anda berbicara bahasa Indonesia? Baca artikel terjemahannya di sini! It’s been quite a while since I last wrote a quick guide. Well, things have been busy and since there’s no budget for a new device, well… device reviews will be paused for quite a bit. Instead, I will be writing reviews for apps and quick guides for overcoming errors in my devices. So, what’s in store this time? Recently, I switched from Xiaomi Mi Note 2 to Asus Zenfone 3. Why, because the Mi Note 2 was not mine, and I won a free Zenfone 3. I prefer Zenfone 3’s camera (which uses the same sensor as Mi 5, BTW) so I switched. Fortunately, the Snapdragon 625 wasn’t that much slower than the former-flagship 821, so I don’t really notice the downgrade. Before returning the Mi Note 2, I had to remove my Google Account in it. Otherwise, the owner will need my password to re-use that device, even after a factory reset. That’s been the case ever since Android Lollipop, to at least make it more difficult for thieves to misuse your device. Unfortunately, I had this strange error when trying …

Starting a Website: Instant or Not? Anda berbicara Bahasa Indonesia? Baca artikel terjemahannya di sini! Okay, so you want to have your own website — either to keep up with the trends, upscale your professional reputation, or tell the world about your business. That’s okay. But just like they say, the first step is the hardest to make. One thing people tend to ask themselves is whether they’ll use instant website, or craft one from scratch. In this article, I’ll briefly explain about each, what they are for and against, so you won’t have a hard time choosing. At the end of this article, I’ll offer you a website hosting that I’ve been using to try out, including a 10% off coupon code. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s go. Instant Website This type of website is the simplest of all, because coding skills are not necessary. It’s very easy to set them up — so easy and simple that it is called WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) because well, the acronym should be self-explanatory enough. CMS and blogging platforms are also included in this category because again, no coding skills are necessary. A few examples …

Windows 10, albeit great, has its flaws Anda berbicara bahasa Indonesia? Baca artikel terjemahannya di sini! Let’s face it. Even though Windows 10 is great, it obviously is not bug-free, even after a couple of major updates. Personally, I found two bugs that annoy me the most: missing text and disabled search bar. I solved the missing text problem here. This article is intended to solve the latter. Windows 10 Universal Search in action. One of the key features in Windows 10 is its universal search. Coupled with the right hardware (SSD drives), it can be a powerful tool to finding your files/app/configuration in a snap. That’s why losing this means losing the essence of using Windows 10. Anyway, after spending quite a while finding out the fix, it turns out that it is not that difficult. Let’s head after the break to find out. In my case, this bug is related to an executable named ctfmon.exe. After a brief research, it turns out that this particular application has something to do with language and speech. Since Windows 10’s Cortana requires speech, maybe it’s why this service is needed. Confusingly, though, in some of my PCs, I don’t have it …

I really love the Windows Photo Viewer. Anda berbicara bahasa Indonesia? Baca artikel terjemahannya di sini! Windows 10 totally revamps the Windows UI which has been known as “ancient” and “complicated”. Learning from their mistakes in Windows 8, Windows 10’s interface is now optimized for both desktops and tablets. Even so, it seems like Microsoft retains their decision in replacing the old default apps with their new “modern” apps. For example, Photos now replaces the old Windows Photo Viewer. There’s also Music, which replaces Windows Media Player, etc. Windows Photo Viewer (left) vs Photos (right). Which one do you prefer? To be honest, I don’t really like the new “modern” apps because of their “overly simple” and “confusing” interface. Moreover, the options provided in the modern apps are not as powerful as their “ancient” counterpart. For example, the print menu in Photos. The options provided there aren’t as powerful as the ones in Windows Photo Viewer. Print menu in Photos vs Windows Photo Viewer Of course, you can always change the default apps through Settings -> System -> Default Apps -> Photo Viewer or through Control Panel -> Programs -> Default Programs -> Set Default Programs then choose the default …

Not a long moment ago, Xiaomi decided to lock their bootloader. Anda berbicara bahasa Indonesia? Baca artikel terjemahannya di sini. During their early years, Xiaomi was a developer-friendly manufacturer. It was terribly easy to flash a new ROM. Just boot into fastboot and use MiFlash to flash a new ROM. Rooting wasn’t difficult too, even though I rarely root my device. Recently, however, starting from the days of their 3rd generation Redmi phone (Redmi Note 3, Redmi 3), Xiaomi decided to lock their bootloader, making it one step more difficult to flash a new ROM. Xiaomi stated that the decision was to comply with Google’s Android guideline. I personally think that it is probably to prevent sleazy importers from flashing unofficial ROMs to their devices. Unsurprisingly, this decision, of course, enraged most of the community. Some threatened to never buy Xiaomi devices again (good luck finding another great value-for-money brand), some just grumbled like usual. However, my opinion is clear: Xiaomi’s main market is, of course, the mainstream users who probably don’t even know what a bootloader is. Heck, they even may not know if the ROM running in their phone is fake, and whenever something goes wrong, they would …

Evercoss Winner Tab V specs at a glance. Anda berbicara bahasa Indonesia? Baca artikel terjemahannya di sini! Last year, for business purposes, my workplace decided to purchase Evercoss Winner Tab V, a very delicate entry-level Android tablet. The tablet currently serves as a template and benchmark device for our web apps. Even though the specs are… well, let’s say they reflect its highly-affordable price… the tablet itself is pretty good. In fact, to our surprise, we just realized that it’s been upgraded to Marshmallow. Yes, the Winner Tab V, which comes with Lollipop (Android 5.1) and costs less than $100 has received the major update to Marshmallow. Don’t hold your breath for Nougat, though… However, the update process isn’t as easy as OTA. You need to flash the firmware. Yes, you read that right–flash the firmware, which may include risks such as brick and bootloop. The instructional video listed on the device’s support page wasn’t helpful, either, as it seems to be outdated (the PC in the video still runs Windows XP) and some elements are different (such as booting button and removable battery). Well, okay… I guess that affordable price doesn’t include decent support and update process. So, yeah, …

USB 3 ports are normally colored blue. Anda bisa berbahasa Indonesia? Baca artikel terjemahannya di sini! Who doesn’t know USB 3? For those of you who don’t know, USB 3 is the latest iteration of the USB port you usually use to connect various hardware (external harddisk, thumb drives, phones, etc.) to your computer. There’s also USB-C, which is smaller and reversible. However, our focus here is on the normal-sized USB port. Anyway, USB 3 carries a few significant improvements, a few of which are its blue color and much faster speed (up to 5Gbps). Additionally, there’s also a new feature: selective suspend. If it’s implemented correctly, your computer can automatically suspend inactive USB 3 devices to save power. Unfortunately, the implementation for this eco-friendly feature is not always spot-on. For example, sometimes my external hard drive experienced connecting and disconnecting in a matter of minutes. I first thought that the cable was funny, but after trying out another hard drive with a different cable, the issue persisted. Interestingly, this issue only happened when the drives were connected to USB 3 port. They were fine when plugged into USB 2 ports. Fortunately, after researching various forums, I found a solution. …

Gatekeeper Logo Anda berbicara bahasa Indonesia? Baca artikel terjemahannya di sini! I’ve been using Mac for quite a long while, and I must say that I like it, despite the direction the UNIX-based platform is going and the insane price a certain manufacturer is asking for their laptops. In fact, I’m planning to keep my 2012 MacBook Pro until its death, at which point I may or may not have enough money to afford another one. Anyway, today’s not about my Mac, today’s all about OSX’s (now macOS) security feature, Gatekeeper. If you’re a frequent Mac user like me, I’m pretty sure you know about this feature already. Yes, Gatekeeper is Apple’s solution to make its OS secure. Its purpose is to stop malware from ever entering your Mac, usually by installing malicious apps from unknown sources. Though it sounds good, I found out that the security is kind of… annoying, especially on Sierra, the Mac’s latest iteration, especially if you like to install various apps from outside the walls of App Store. Now, instead of getting a warning, macOS will tell you that the app is broken and should be moved to the trash. Evil, isn’t it? Wow, wow… …

Windows 10’s Start Menu is a Marvel. Apakah Anda berbahasa Indonesia? Baca artikel terjemahannya di sini! Another day, another Windows 10 tip. Who doesn’t like Windows 10? This release makes Microsoft seem as if they had finally found the right combination between the flat style UI and the traditional familiarity of Windows. However, just like all kinds of software, bug is still present, and one of them, is the missing texts of system UI. What do I mean? Well, head past the break to find out more. In fact, I’ll also give you a tip on how to solve that annoying bug. Have you ever experienced this?If not, good for you. It’s very annoying to have this kind of problem… Okay, what would you do now? See the picture above? That’s exactly what I meant. All the application names are gone, even the ones that are supposed to appear in the live tiles. What’s worse is that it doesn’t happen to just the apps, but also the system as well. See the picture on the left? Yeah, the system is supposed to tell us to input the password of a certain wireless network, but you can’t tell which network it is, …