EuRoadTrip 2014

Year 2014 has gone. 2014 was a wonderful year for us, we were traveling to some Europe countries by road. We managed everything by ourselves, such as finding flight, arrange visa, itinerary, car rental, hotel, parking area, tourist spots, etc. That was the most adventurous trip we have ever had.

We visited some interesting locations in 5 different countries within 15 days. Since we were traveling with small kids, we tried to make our trip as relax as possible. Hence we chose the route from France - Belgium - Netherland - Germany - Switzerland - and back to France. Here we go... our EuRoadTrip experience..

Day 1 -- Paris, France -- Eiffel Tower.
It was rainy day in Paris..

Day 2 -- Paris, France -- Louvre by Batobus.

Day 3 -- Paris, France --

Day 4 -- Bruges, Belgium.

Day 5 -- Kinderdijk, Netherland.

Day 6 -- Zanse Schan and Volendam Netherland.

Day 7 -- Cologne, Germany

Day 8 -- Strasbourg, France

Day 9, 10 -- Spiez, Wilderswil, Jungfrau, Switzerland

Day 11, 12 -- Chamonix, France.

Day 13 -- Dijon, France.

Day 14 -- Paris, France.

[..to be continued..]

Upgrading iPhone to IOS 7 Beta 1 without developer access to IOS Dev Center

As you are aware, Apple has announced new version of iOS software for iPhone. Yes, it is iOS 7 and officially will be released in this Fall, long enough to wait ? :)
If you can't wait to try it, you can try its beta version which already available to download. Unfortunately, you need developer access to iOS Dev Center to download iOS 7 Beta 1.
However now it is possible to download iOS 7 Beta 1 without access to Dev Center and then you can happily install it. All you need to do as follow..

First, you need to download 2 iOS softwares, 1st download your latest official iOS software and 2nd iOS 7 beta 1. Save it to your computer  i.e desktop folder.
In this case, my latest iOS version is 6.1.4 (10B350),  refer to your iPhone setting (setting > general > about) for the right version of your latest iOS software. You can download official iOS software from this link: http://www.felixbruns.de/iPod/firmware/.

Then you can download iOS 7 Beta 1 version from this link http://geeksays.com/download-ios-7-betas/. Now we have 2 iOS softwares in computer hard disk; iPhone5,2_6.1.4_10B350_Restore.ipsw and iPhone5,2_7.0_11A4372q_GDELUXE.COM_Restore.ipsw


Connect your iPhone to iTunes and backup your iPhone. Click iPhone in iTunes.

In order to update iOS 7 by forcing iTunes to use iOS file in hard disk, you can press shift + click "check for update" in iTunes. In my case (Macbook), press option button (alt) and click "check for update".

It will prompt you file selection window. Select iPhone5,2_7.0_11A4372q_GDELUXE.COM_Restore.ipsw then UPDATE.

Installation process will start immediately and let it finish.
The same thing, if you decide to restore your iOS to your latest official version, you can press shift button (option button for mac user) plus click 'restore iphone..." button in iTune and then select latest official iOS version, in my case is iPhone5,2_6.1.4_10B350_Restore.ipsw.

Enjoy it !

Car For Sale: Landrover LR2 2008 & Honda Jazz 2012

FOR SALE !

Land Rover LR2 SE - 2008  *** Excellent condition, Like Brand New ***

• Model year 2008 (registered: September 2008)
• 3.2L V6 Engine
• Red Color
• Low mileage: 47,000 KM only !
• First owner, asian expat
• Accident free, never been off-road
• Under warranty
• Regular service at Alfardan Premier Motor
• Full coverage insurance until September 2012 (QIC)
• Like brand new: 
• No Scratch !
• New 4 Tyres: Hankook !
• VKool window film
• Features: Start-stop Engine, Terrain response, Rear parking sensor, 6 CD Changer, Cruise Control, All Power Window, Dual Zone AC.
• Price: QAR 76,000

Honda Jazz LX - 2012

• Model year 2012 (registered: November 2011)
• White Pearl Color
• 3,000 KM mileage only 
• No Accident, No Scratch 
• Price: 

[MacTIPS] Folder color labeling

There are many ways to organize our files or folders. We can create our own way to prioritize or easily find our favorite / important files from hundreds of files / folders. Simple and eye-catching thing to organize the file so that our favorite files easily seen is by label it with color. It's similar with flagging in email for important or follow-up mail. We might have ignored this useful thing :)

It is pretty easy to do it, just right click file or folder and click color-box under label.

That's it and it will look nice :)

Home Device (CPE) Management using TR-069

Do you have WIFI Router / DSL Modem / Access Point for accessing internet or IPTV at home? i believe many of us, if we are DSL customer, have it at home.

How if you forget wifi password? what if you don't know how to configure the router after loss configuration or reset? i believe, if we don't have backup, we will contact our operator / service provider to solve it.

The question is how operator solve it without sending technician to customer site. That means how will  operator be able to response remotely customer enquiries / complaints such as providing wifi password, push configuration, etc.. ? 

In order for cpe to be manageable remotely, DSL forum has defined application layer protocol for remote management of end-user device. It known as TR-069. 

TR-069 (Technical Report 069) is a DSL Forum (which was later renamed as Broadband Forum) technical specification entitled CPE WAN Management Protocol (CWMP). It defines an application layer protocol for remote management of end-user devices. As a bidirectional SOAP/HTTP-based protocol, it provides the communication between customer-premises equipment (CPE) and Auto Configuration Servers (ACS) [wikipedia].

For more details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TR-069

Shortly, in order to manage cpe remotely, CPE has to be pre-configured its CWMP with ACS URL. Typically there is engagement between operator and cpe manufacture to set cpe with ACS URL as default / factory configuration.

Once cpe pre-configured and connected to DSL line then cpe will be registered and activated in operator OSS system for cpe-management. At this stage, remote control / management can be done such as reboot, reset, push configuration, firmware upgrade, etc.

Samples below are screenshots of my modem seen in CPE-Management tool;

My modem detail display:

My wifi SSID can be seen remotely:

Some functions can be applied to cpe remotely:

Umrah Trip 2010

Living in Qatar is a good opportunity to have Umrah trip by road which is not possible to do this trip from my home country, Indonesia :P.  Because Qatar is Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's (KSA) neighbour and not separated by sea.  It will take around 3000 KM from Doha to Mecca, Madina return. Believe me, it will be amazing and unforgettable experience.

On April 2010, the weather in Qatar was very good, 20-33 degree Celsius. We had plan for umroh trip along with other Indonesian families, total 9 cars in convoy !! We departed around 5 early morning from apartment and met at Villagio mall  parking area as our meeting point. Once the convoy members met and briefed, the trip started ! 

Front side covered by mud-paint, @Villagio parking area.

Preparation

It's common thing that before we go, we need to prepare everything nicely and carefully. Things we need to prepare are documents, car, food, and our health itself. Documents preparation (better to make some copies for each) :

• passport
• umrah visa (attach to passport)
• driving license
• car registration letter (istimara) and insurance
• exit permit
• hotel booking.

We need to ensure car in good condition for long trip. Doha-Mecca-Madina-Doha trip will take around 3000 km. It is better to check car condition in car dealer/workshop and if possible change the tyre air with Nitrogen. Also we need to ensure the car is under our ownership, if not (i.e owned by company) then we need to have letter from owner/company.

Car preparation:

• spare tyres.
• tyre inflator
• jump start cable
• hydraulic
• first aid

Last, we have to prepare some foods and drink for the trip and the important thing is keep our body healthy.

We departed from Doha (Villagio mall) around 6 am and arrived at Qatar border (Immigration office) around 7 am morning. We then processed exit procedure and it took relative faster.  When we arrived at Saudi border, the queue line was very long. Fortunately, we all passed border checking without any issue and the journey began... :).  Following are some pics of Saudi's road..

[to be continued]

[MacTIPS] Sending iCal Invites to Outlook user

http://www.ehow.com/how_5887667_send-ical-invites-outlook.html