Microsoft Exchange Server Logon problem

This is a problem happened before.  After over two weeks of back and forth with IT, it was resolved by deleting the Outlook client profile and start setting up the mail account again.

It came up again two weeks ago.  I removed the profile on two computers and it fixed the problem right away.  However, it came back occasionally. 

Symptom:
Outlook client log on error and asking for password again even though the originally saved password is correct.  Entering the correct password again won't work. 

This only happened on one computer while other computers with Outlook or other e-mail clients (e.g. iOS) worked fine.  However, this problem will eventually cycle through other devices as well.  In most times, it will go away after cancel the logon box. 

Solution:
It seems that the authentication encryption may be the cause:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/3032395/outlook-connection-issues-with-exchange-mailboxes-because-of-the-rpc-e

In my case, the encryption was already enabled.  I just changed the "logon network security option" from  "negotiate authentication" to "password authentication (NTLM)". 

Then it worked.  After checking the setting again, it went back to "negotiate authentication".  It seems that the change in this setting reset a faulty state. 

WiFi problem

Since switched to a new ISP, I purchased a new DSL modem + WiFi router from TP-Link.  One reason to go with this route is that the UPS has one fewer device to support during a power outage hence would last longer.

The TD-W8961ND router looks quite nice and straight forward to set up.  However, it started to give problems at the very beginning.  There are a few devices in the house would connect then lost the connection randomly, mostly wouldn't be able to get an IP assigned.  Even with DHCP reservation table.  The only fix is assign a fixed IP from the client side.  This is not a convenient solution, as one of these devices is my main laptop.  When I go to other places, I can't use the fixed IP, so had to change it all the time.

Eventually, I fed up and called TP-Link.  It seems that after suggesting update firmware (done that, didn't work), the tech quickly decided it's a hardware problem.  In an hour or so I received the RMA.  What's annoying is that even under warranty, TP-Link would need the customers to mail the defective device back to them at the customers' expense.  Then a new (or refurbished) device would be sent back to the customer.  Besides the shipping cost, the time required to complete the process may be easily two weeks. For most users, they'd get a new router for the two weeks.

Luckily for me, TP-Link has a an office that is within 50 miles that I bite the bullet drove there and did a "manual" swap.  Although the tech support and RMA (including the swap) process was smooth, and everybody are pretty nice, in the future, I'd seriously think twice to buy anything critical from them.

So far, the new router/modem seems to be working flawless in the first a few hours. The hardware version of the old defective one is v3.1 and the new one is v3.2.  So they are not exactly the same.  The firmware is also different, while on their support website, they only differentiate v3 to v2 and v4.

Online ads targeting your Internet history?

When visiting some web sites, especially those newspaper sites in my case, the ads around the main content are very closely tailored to my previous Internet history. Although it is not embarrassing yet, I can see a scenario that an awkward ads showing up besides an article I try to show during a presentation (my of my rules on presentation is to only show screen shots, not the web sites directly).

Anyway, I finally decided to do something about it.  It turns out that most of these ads are somewhat linked to Google, who makes this a quite easy and painless process.  All you need is to go to Google's ads setting page, and opt out both Google ads and other web services who use Google's ads server.

You may also stop Google from tracking your web history (a separate process from the ads).

Thanks the following web sites for providing above tips:

Stop Google from tracking your search history

I'm Being Followed: How Google—and 104 Other Companies—Are Tracking Me on the Web

Why do ads follow me around the web?

Prevent chrome always go to other country's google site

Google is the homepage for Chrome and most other browsers on my devices.  It's simple, use little data, fast to load, and useful. 

An annoying problem started to show up while traveling outside the country and afterwards.  While traveling, Google automatically detected, likely through IP, that I'm in a different country, so the Google page and associated search results are tailored to that country. Since I disabled some of the cookie functions (don't know what, need to figure out late), it still used the other country setting for some time even after I returned. This becomes very annoying especially the country specific search is usually useless to me. 

A quick Google search landed me to this site: "How to always use Google.com and stop Google from sending you to country specific website [Tip]".  Basically, you just type www.google.com/ncr in the home page setting (or just in the URL).  The "ncr" part means "no country redirect", according to the source. 

It worked great! 

Cisco VPN Anytime Connect DLL problem

Over the past week, my Cisco Anytime Connect client started to behave funny.  Mostly it won't connect to the server at start up.  I had to click "quite" twice to close it, then started it again, when it usually would work.

Then it happened on Monday that it just wouldn't connect to the server.  Just hang during trying. 

I decided to uninstall it and reinstall it. 

What a bad idea. 

After uninstall it from the Control Panel, it won't install again either using an old installation file or new installation files just downloaded from our IT site. The error message is:

 "There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A DLL required for this install to complete could not be run. Contact your support personnel or package vendor."

Search online didn't give me any good results.  Our IT guy said that this may because I had Java 7 installed.  Although I don't believe him, tried it anyway.  After downgrade to Java 6, same error message.

Damn.

Then our IT guy suggested that I reinstall Windows. What a Bxxxxxxx.

I decided to try it on my own.  First, create a new administrator account.  Then use this account to install. 

It worked! 

When log back to my own account, Cisco AnyConnect is already there and working!

We the unwilling

We the unwilling
Led by the Unknowing
Are doing the Impossible
For the Ungrateful.
We have done So Much
With So Little
For So Long

--- Anonymous

Note:
1. This is not a Mother Teresa of Calcutta quote according to this statement.
2. If "unwilling" is changed to "willing", it's used as the Engineer's Credo.

Own your friends! on My Space

It's the daybefore Xmas, and I'm not happy.

It is NOT because in 2008:  

my retirement plan lost over half of its value; 

not even because there are six people I know died in the second half of the year (including three relatives, two very close friends, and a business partner) all out of the blue.  

It is because I can not buy my friend on My Space.  

Or, more precisely, buying him will not allow me to stop what he's going: Bagdad.  

 

According to My Space: 

"Using Own Your Friends you can:

• Buy and sell your friends as 'pets'.
• Make your 'pets' hug, punch, and poke each other.
• Change your pets' status messages to whatever you want.
• Find out how much your friends think you are worth!

What I want is for him to stay at home.  

What would he want?  

"the dumbass volunteered,"  another friend told me. 

This is him, who always does what he believes in.  From college to the Army, to Kuwait, to Bosnia, and back to teach high school, he made his own plans.  

May be we should celebrate that instead of buying him.  

Hopefully there will be one day that we can "Buy a soldier" and ask them to teach instead of fight, for whatever reason. 

Pointless web site

Some say they might be interesting.

My miniCity

talking to God