Porthmadog, Wales

Last autumn, October 2013, a friend and I visited Porthmadog in Wales where the view of the estuary looking out to sea was simply lovely. We spent a considerable time wondering along Britannia Terrace which is a short walk to the town centre. One big attraction is the steam train which still runs along the railway on the right of the picture.

View from Britannia Terrace with rail for steam train on right and marshes on left side.

One way to get more UMPH!

HOLIDAY!!

I got to visit Devon recently in April 2014. It was a memorable trip, nostalgic as I am a few months away from returning. As the trip was done a few weeks before Easter, I was able to enjoy my time thoroughly, avoiding the hustle and bustle from the influx of Easter-time tourist.

The walk to Hope's Nose from Haytor Hotel was refreshing. I started the walk after breakfast so I pretty much have the whole of the cliff to myself apart from the odd visitor. And how lucky it was to have the lovely blue sky which revealed the lovely turquoise waters around the cliff area.

Hope's Nose, Torquay, Devon

Understanding of truth

Our understanding of the truth is conditioned - Ai Weiwei

How to remove WD Smartware for Windows machines with multiple access privileges

I bought a sleek WD Passport 500GB recently to backup my work in a networked Windows XP machine. But, soon I was having difficulty getting the folders I want to backup. The Smartware software in the hard disk do not allow me to do this but instead lets me backup the entire "Document" folder. This does not help because this is a university machine with access privileges set up. I had run as adminstrator to install the Smartware and now it is backing up the "Document" folder for that administrator account, which is inaccessible to me and not useful to my work. The administrator access was given to me purely for installation purpose. So, through several helpful websites, I am able to remove/deactivate the software and do the usual drag-drop or copy-paste to the hard disk like all other hard disk, which with the Smartware, I could not do. I've compiled steps I have taken, some from helpful websites, and others my own, to hopefully help someone who wishes to remove the smartware from their WD hard disk.

Thanks to http://www.marccizravi.com/2010/remove-wd-smartware/ for his tip on Step 1 and Step2. I had switched the two the other way round because when I did Step 2 first, it couldn't remove the VCD Manager when it couldn't detect the My Passport drive.

Step 1: Remove VCD Manager

1. Download VCD Manager WDSmartWareVirtualCDManagerforWindows-v1.0.7.4.zip for Windows to your desktop. (mirror here)
2. Unzip the file using any extraction program.
3. Double click on WDSmartWareVirtualCDManagerforWindows-v1.0.7.4.exe.
4. Click Continue to disable the VCD.
5. Once the utility has found your drive, click Configure Drive and then click Exit.
6. Turn off  or disconnect the drive.
7. Wait 10 seconds and turn on or reconnect.
8. Check that the VCD no longer appears.

Step 2: Update Firmware

1. Disconnect all other external drives from the computer except for the My Passport hard drive you want to update.
2. Download the Firmware Updater for Windows. (mirror here)
3. Unzip the file and double click to open the Firmware Updater.
4. Click Continue to update the firmware.
5. Click Update Firmware.
6. Click Accept the End User’s License Agreement (EULA). The updater will scan the drive; this may take a few minutes.
7. Once the updater is finished, click Exit.
8. Disconnect the drive.
9. Wait 10 seconds. Reconnect and you will find that My Passport no longer appears.

At this point, I tried to access the hard disk using another two Windows machines and the My Passport icon no longer appears in My Computer. So, I formatted the hard disk just to be sure that everything is gone.

Step 3: Reformat the My Passport hard disk. I used KillDisk's Kill option.This has to be installed using admin access. Simply right-click on the .exe installation file and Run As admin and enter your password for the admin account.

KillDisk Kill completely clears the HD, including partitions. The HD is now unallocated. If you run Smartware, it will says "No writable WD SmartWare partition found".

Step 4: Partition hard disk using Disk Management (wd community link)

1. Right-click on Computer from the Start Menu and then click on Manage. This will bring you to a window called Computer Management. Alternatively, go to Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Computer Management. Right-click and select Run As to start the program as admin.
2. Click on Storage.
3. Click on Disk Management.
4. There should be a disk that is unallocated. Right-click on this box and select New Partition. This box should have a black bar. If it has a blue bar, it means it has already been partitioned and formatted. You can right-click on the blue bar and select Delete Volume. If you require more information, go to the WD Community Link for partitioning hard disk using Disk Management here.
5. Go through the wizard, clicking Next and finally Finish.
6. Wait for a few seconds and you should see the box with the unallocated disk showing the text "Formatting".
7. When it says "Healthy", you can close the program and check for your hard disk icon on My Computer. 
8. You can now use your WD Passport hard disk like any other hard disk.

Canada Trip Day 27: White Rock BC Canada

9 July 2010 - It was finally and properly summer on our last day in Canada! My cousins brought us to White Rock to enjoy the sun. It was pretty busy at the promenade but it was a merry sort of busy, which was nice. It was nice to see Mount Baker over in the States from White Rock.

That night, we had a barbeque with our Canadian family as well as other friends who had migrated from Brunei. I felt rather sad and somewhat regretted organising many days traveling around rather than spending more time with family. That can only mean another trip back to Canada.


Nice house at White Rock, BC

Nice house at White Rock, BC

White Rock has many nice houses

White Rock neighbourhood

Construction of house in White Rock

A drive along the beach

Pretty house in White Rock

"Be sun smart" board on the beach

People enjoying the sun at White Rock

People enjoying the sun and water at White Rock

Our sunbathing spot was somewhere here. Green grass and blue sky and BY THE BEACH!!! My kind of perfect day!

We walked along to the boardwalk

The beach became busier as time passed

View of Mount Baker in US from White Rock promenade and pier

Sea gull at White Rock, BC

Walking along to the pier - White Rock

Board walk at White Rock BC Canada

Coast of White Rock

White Rock BC Canada and a glimpse of Mount Baker

White Rock BC Canada and a glimpse of Mount Baker