Reforged Blade http://www.juson.org/blog Just another WordPress site Fri, 18 May 2012 14:54:30 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Fixed VPN connection on Parallels 7, Win 7, Mac OSX http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/05/18/fixed-vpn-connection-on-parallels-7-win-7-mac-osx/ http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/05/18/fixed-vpn-connection-on-parallels-7-win-7-mac-osx/#comments Fri, 18 May 2012 14:52:13 +0000 admin http://www.juson.org/blog/?p=2342 After spending several hours today scouring the web and experimenting with various network and firewall settings, I finally managed to establish a VPN connection to my remote server.

This fix might work for you. If it does, do leave a note to let me know. Otherwise, sorry I can’t help further.

First, the specs:

  • MacBook Pro (early 2009)
  • Mac OS X 10.7.4
  • Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac, build 7.0.15094
  • Windows 7 Professional, Service Pack 1
  • Zonealarm Extreme Security 10.1.079.000

Second, the network settings on Parallels 7:

You might wonder why I have two network devices. The Network 2 is disconnected as shown below. I defined it because I saw somewhere that someone managed to fix his VPN issue by doing this but without giving any further details. I did the same but it didn’t work, it always disconnects my Windows network connection.

Then my Zonealarm settings:

The “Allow VPN Protocols” must be checked.

On Zonealarm’s main screen, clicked on View Zones and added the IP address of my remote server.

I hope the above helps you.

]]> http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/05/18/fixed-vpn-connection-on-parallels-7-win-7-mac-osx/feed/ 0 Where to next? http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/04/06/where-to-next/ http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/04/06/where-to-next/#comments Fri, 06 Apr 2012 02:54:06 +0000 admin http://www.juson.org/blog/?p=2338 My assignment in Singapore is coming to an end. Just a few more days and I should be off to somewhere… or home sweet home.

]]> http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/04/06/where-to-next/feed/ 2 Trip to Bohol http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/03/22/trip-to-bohol/ http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/03/22/trip-to-bohol/#comments Thu, 22 Mar 2012 03:30:19 +0000 admin http://www.juson.org/blog/?p=2291 Three eventful days! Nice…

Took Liza with me to visit this wonderful island in the Visayas. The weather was cloudy, drizzled a bit on the first day but the succeeding days were fine.

We stayed at the Metrocentre Hotel in Tagbilaran, which is less than 10 minutes from the airport. The hotel arranged for a driver to pick us up from the airport and to take us to the usual touristy places.

The great thing about Bohol is there are a number of ways to tour the island. You can choose to do a land, sea and/or underwater tour. We chose land, of course. On land, we were asked to choose Chocolate Hills Tour, Panglao Island Tour and/or Sagbayan Tour. We chose Chocolate Hills and Panglao Tours but skipping a few places in our itinerary as we do not have the time nor the interest to look at all of them.

Day 1:
We arrived at around 5 pm at the hotel from the airport. Walked to the St. Joseph Cathedral and then to BQ Mall for dinner.

Day 2:
Breakfast at the hotel at around 7 am. From 9 am, our driver took us to the following places:

  • Chocolate Hills
  • Tarsier Conservation Area
  • Loboc Floating Restaurants
  • Baclayon Church
  • Pact of Biak-na-Bato
  • Dumaluan Beach Resort at Panglao Island
  • Hinagdanan Cave

    • Was back in the hotel at around 2:30 pm. Paid PHP3,000 to our driver for the whole trip.

    Hotel actually arranged for a tourist guide to take us to these places but she didn’t show up. If she did we would have paid about twice as much. I don’t think we needed a guide.

    Day 3:
    Left the hotel at around 10 am to tour and have lunch at the Bohol Bee Farm Resort. For lunch, had grilled marlin, seafood spaghetti, fruit and nuts salad and malunggay ice cream for dessert. All great!

    Paid PHP400 to the tricycle driver to transport us there (roundtrip to/from the hotel). Toured the farm and bought some pasalubongs. Back in the hotel before 2 pm. At 3 pm, hotel driver took us back to the airport. Our flight back to Manila was at 4 pm.

    There are certainly a lot more places to see. I’d like to return one day and go diving.

    Here are the photos:

    ]]>     http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/03/22/trip-to-bohol/feed/ 1     Pyrotechnics at SM MoA http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/03/11/pyrotechnics-at-sm-moa/ http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/03/11/pyrotechnics-at-sm-moa/#comments Sun, 11 Mar 2012 23:31:04 +0000 admin http://www.juson.org/blog/?p=2284 You might find this interesting. I took my family to Shoemart Mall of Asia yesterday to watch this fireworks display.

    ]]>     http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/03/11/pyrotechnics-at-sm-moa/feed/ 0     Random thoughts about my time off http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/03/09/random-thoughts-about-my-time-off/ http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/03/09/random-thoughts-about-my-time-off/#comments Fri, 09 Mar 2012 12:21:15 +0000 admin http://www.juson.org/blog/?p=2280 Currently at the gate waiting for my plane to take me home to Manila.

    I was home last November. 5 long months. Hmmm… I’d bet there are plenty of things to do.

    One thing I’d do is fix the house. Then maybe go jogging with the kids around our village. What else can I do? Go to Cebu maybe? Bohol? Will give it a thought for sure.

    Need to try my target shooting again and learn from Derek how to box. Study a new programming language or maybe develop a cool new app. Maybe do a DVD marathon for a couple of days. I hope I can shoot more pics though and show them on here. Reminds me of setting up my Celestron Telescope to view the night sky. Venus, Jupiter and Mars are visible with the naked eye but I’m sure I can see more interesting stuff with my scope.

    Plenty of stuff to do.

    Now what do I do with my 2 weeks?

    We’ll see.

    ]]>     http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/03/09/random-thoughts-about-my-time-off/feed/ 0     Marina Bay Sands and CBD http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/03/07/marina-bay-sands-and-cbd/ http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/03/07/marina-bay-sands-and-cbd/#comments Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:16:54 +0000 admin http://www.juson.org/blog/?p=2273 Had dinner tonight at Thai Express, Esplanade when I saw all these lights coming from the MBS. Really cool! Wished I knew this earlier and I could have positioned myself elsewhere better. Nevertheless I think the lights are pretty cool.

    Lasers at Marina Bay Sands

    …then went to Funan. I just couldn’t resist taking a photo of the CBD for the nth time.

    CBD at night

    ]]>     http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/03/07/marina-bay-sands-and-cbd/feed/ 0     Fixed Apple Macbook Pro/Win 7 problem with Bluetooth Speaker and Built-in Webcam http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/02/23/fixed-apple-macbook-pro-problem-with-bluetooth-speaker-and-built-in-webcam/ http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/02/23/fixed-apple-macbook-pro-problem-with-bluetooth-speaker-and-built-in-webcam/#comments Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:52:21 +0000 admin http://www.juson.org/blog/?p=2267 Thought I’d share here how I fixed my issues. First, let me tell you what I have:

    1. Apple MacBookPro 13″ (unibody, early 2010 model), built-in webcam
    2. Windows 7 Pro SP1, 64-bit, OEM. I use Bootcamp to switch between OSX and Win7.
    3. Creative Zii D5 Speaker

    Fixing the built-in webcam issue:
    1. Switched to MacOSX
    2. Run Bootcamp (in Utilities) and selected option to download the latest software only.
    3. Downloaded it to my USB stick.
    4. Restarted my PC and switched to Win 7.
    5. Installed Bootcamp (v4.0).
    6. Ran Skype to test my video and it worked. I may have restarted my PC before running Skype but I don’t remember anymore.

    Fixing my Bluetooth Speaker:
    1. Downloaded and ran the latest Broadcom driver here:
    http://www.broadcom.com/support/bluetooth/update.php
    2. After installation, the Devices & Printers window appeared.
    3. I noticed that the “exclamation point” on my speaker’s icon disappeared.
    4. I restarted my PC. Probably unnecessary but did it anyway.
    5. Once back in Windows, I went back to the Devices & Printers (you’ll find this in the Control Panel) window and right clicked on my speaker’s icon. Selected “Control”.
    6. Run a Youtube video and the sound came from my speaker.

    If the above helped you, do let me know.

    ]]>     http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/02/23/fixed-apple-macbook-pro-problem-with-bluetooth-speaker-and-built-in-webcam/feed/ 0     Cristo Rei up close http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/01/23/cristo-rei-up-close/ http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/01/23/cristo-rei-up-close/#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:16:08 +0000 admin http://www.juson.org/blog/?p=2251 On our final day in Lisbon we went to see the magnificent statue. The city of Lisbon can be viewed from that vantage point as well as the spectacular 25 De Abril Bridge, which looks like the Golden Bridge in San Francisco.

    Cristo Rei (c) juson.org 2012

    Photographing the Cristo Rei (c) juson.org 2012

    25 de Abril Bridge (c) juson.org 2012

    ]]>     http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/01/23/cristo-rei-up-close/feed/ 0     Day 2 at Lisbon http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/01/11/day-2-at-lisbon/ http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/01/11/day-2-at-lisbon/#comments Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:49:51 +0000 admin http://www.juson.org/blog/?p=2231 Registration for the conference was in the evening yesterday and so we decided to take a peek at what Lisbon has to offer. We weren’t disappointed. Some of the sights were simply fabulous! We went back to the Praca do Commercio, took the train to the Mosterio dos Jeronimo, walked to the Torre de Belem and then headed to the Lisbon Oceanarium by bus.

    Here are some photos taken on our way and at the monastery.

    Praca dos Commercio (c) juson.org 2012

    Mosteiro Jeronimos (c) juson.org 2012

    Inside of the Monastery (c) juson.org 2012

    Another front view of the Monastery (c) juson.org 2012

    Padrao dos Descrobimentos (Monument to the Discoveries) (c) juson.org 2012

    Nazarene (c) juson.org 2012

    The Altar (c) juson.org 2012

    Tomb of a Royaltay (c) juson.org 2012

    Today is the start of the conference. I’ll be very busy the whole day until the end of this week. I hope I can take some more photos and show them on here.

    ]]>     http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/01/11/day-2-at-lisbon/feed/ 0     First day in Lisbon http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/01/09/first-day-in-lisbon/ http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/01/09/first-day-in-lisbon/#comments Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:46:52 +0000 admin http://www.juson.org/blog/?p=2222 My ass and thighs still ache due to the 15hour flight from Singapore.

    The temp this morning was 13C but it felt much colder. My windbreaker wasn’t enough as my knees were knocking each other out while I was exiting Lisboa airport and queuing for taxi. Good thing none of my knees passed out!

    Checked in to my hotel and then went downtown with my colleagues to see the usual touristy spots. In the next 5 days I will be in a conference the whole time so I’m taking advantage of this break today and early tomorrow.

    Here are a few snaps of this place.

    Praca do Commercio (c) juson.org 2012

    Ministry of Justice (c) juson.org 2012

    ]]>     http://www.juson.org/blog/2012/01/09/first-day-in-lisbon/feed/ 0