I did a body mass measurement today – to my surprise, I gained 4 kilos, which puts me at 62.3 kg. Being away from 1-day-1-meal program (aka mom-not-home program) for a couple of months had shown some really obvious effects on me.

I don’t feel fatter, and certainly don’t feel any taller. So where does this 4 kg went to? No idea. (Though from the start of the Super GT job, I started my warm-up-program – maybe this is another possible factor behind the sudden drastic change in body mass.)

325 points, so you achieved position 1052 of 16453 on the ranking list
You type 450 characters per minute
You have 80 correct words and
you have 3 wrong words

80 WPM

Typingtest

Woke up at 3:30AM today, warm-up, shower and set-up. Around 4:30AM, I received a message telling me to meet at the guard house at 4:50AM. I had time to spare – broadcasted on Twitter (and Facebook, both are linked) “@corelance is working in the Estee Lauder Staff Sales today @ Renaissance Hotel. [coordinator]” – I was expecting people to flood in messages asking me to buy stuff, but surprisingly, nobody turned in a reply.

The staff sales is an invitation-only stock clearance sales – you usually get offers between 35%-65% discount for Estee Lauder, Bobbi Brown, Tommy etc. brands you usually find in Parkson, which explains why people started to camp at the entrance from 3:30AM, scaaaarrryy.

I was assigned as assistant cashier, which basically in-charge of speeding up the payment process by grouping similarly priced items together, reporting to the cashier, placing items back to the bags and finally sealing them. So the (unlucky?) cashier I’ve been assigned to is a girl, probably in her mid-twenties, has a voice signature quite similar to Yui, named Siew Ying. Coincidently, the leader of our row of cashiers is also a female, probably in her late thirties or early forties, name ends with Ying too (Chia Ying if my memory serves me right). Jason was jealous of me getting a better looking cashier than him (hohoho).

After a slight briefing, we head for breakfast in TEMPTations. From the looks of it, it’s a 5-star buffet – they have the usual Malaysian stuff like nasi lemak etc., American breakfast like bacons etc., salad station for your DIY Caesar salad, fruits, cereals, dim sum (!!) and lots of pastries. We had an odd seating order there, our part-time guys (black polo-Ts + blue jeans) one row and opposite us is a row of part-time girls (black top + blue jeans).

Unfortunately, none of us talked to members of the opposite sex. The pastries are nice though, they have these high-quality chocolate chips inside. :P

7AM is when Hell breaks loose. You can constantly hear PA on “do not sit on the floor”, “do not block the entrance”, “your time is up, please pay at the counter” and so on. I heard from one of our customers – a Malay lady, probably in late-twenties or early-thirties, saying there were other ladies pinching her arm just to get to the item. All that for a bunch of cosmetic items? Scaaaaary #2. She was the only order we had made mistake on – but she’s cool about it, saying guys are probably more interested on gadgets than cosmetic products and asking us what time we reach here. *gasps* “5AM? Poor thing…”

Forgot to mention, the staff (which gets priority on buying before the customers were let in) actually “reserved” their goods in terms of boxes. Scaaaaaaary #3.

Standing on my right, another part-time assistant cashier, female, around the same age as me, if not, younger, short hair, high (but not very high) pitch voice, black long-sleeved top. I noticed she just got chicken-pox or something, which should explain the long sleeve. She kinda covers part of her face with the hair, something you see in anime, errr… Imagine short hair + hair cover one eye, swipe to the side – something like that.

Anyway, she should be highly observant – whenever my counter needs any stuff, she just *poof* appear the stuff on her hands out of nowhere. But her plastic bag wrapping technique – inspired by the style supermarkets use to wrap your fruits and stuff, is rather inelegant, so to speak. The only asst. cashier I saw that says “thank you and have a nice day” almost every time.

Standing on my right, my “boss”, Siew Ying. Shoulder-length, rebonded, colored hair; speaks Cantonese, which I had a hard time choosing between speaking my highly broken Cantonese (screwed up a few times when telling the prices), Mandarin or English. Should be a really chatty person, frequently saw her talking to other colleagues – how unlucky to be paired with a silent person, yours truly xD.

At first, she’s quite nervous – the first few orders had entry mistakes on each of them, which is quickly cancelled and re-inputted, no idea why. But after that, she kinda calmed down. She’s kind of laid back, so working together with her does not need any sort of fixed protocols, all impromptu picking the fastest method possible – I’ll cover her by announcing the price when she’s busy, and she’ll cover me by sorting and keying in the items while I’m doing something else (unlike other cashiers I later work with, who insisted I need to announce the prices one by one to her even though she’s darn free and I had to sort and put the items back to the bags).

But she does seemed like to steal chicken – turning off the counter and taking a stroll outside when there were a few customers around. It’s all good though, since I got to rest also. But I do felt a bit guilty when I saw Jason’s bro keep raising his hand (signal for open-cashier). xD

The customers today are majority female – leng lui chicks to obasan-tachi (aunties) to obaasan-tachi (grandmas), carrying big bags loaded with all their stuff. Average each transaction is around RM1000, some can reach RM4000. Scaaaaryyy #4.

Lunch is 5-star high-tea at TEMPTations. Malay, Indian, Chinese, Western food, fresh oysters, mussels, chocolate fountain, DIY ais kacang, fruits and desserts. Very nice.

After that it’s all the same again, but with lesser people. 3PM is when we finally pack-up and leave. Though it’s 3PM, it feels like 7PM to me – tired as hell, imagine whole day getting stuck inside Parkson’s cosmetics department (the perfume-rich atmosphere).

The gross turnover for our counter is RM60,000+. That’s only for one counter, we have more than 16 of them here. Scaaaaarry #5.

So, RM50 for this job – well, without the petrol and parking, it’s well worth it. Maybe I’ll join in next year too. (Jason’s aunt – Suzzane is quite good-looking :P)

That concludes this messed up post.

There are many cases where Windows Audio Service crashes, along with Windows Event Log and DHCP Client. The reason is somehow the audio driver files crashes the whole Service Host container, pulling everything inside the container down with it. The worst part is: you have no idea what is the reason, because the Event Log service is crashed as well.

Most of the cases mentioned above involve IDT audio drivers. Well, you can either blame IDT for releasing incompatible drivers with Windows Vista, or the driver signing firm that incorrectly signed an incompatible driver, or you can blame Windows Vista’s buggy UAC implementation.

Solution

Disable UAC (User Access Control) from your control panel and reboot. A big chance after rebooting your problem will be solved. As for the exact security violation caused by IDT – I have absolutely no idea.

The following are questions frequently asked throughout the Internet regarding Elecom Shield.
More information on Vanguard - http://zonelance.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!8AB1DFD374276C25!883.entry

1. What is Elecom Shield?
   Elecom Shield is a non-interactive client and server protection solution designed to keep robots, packet duplication, packet modification and client modification away from your eAthena-based emulated Aegis service. In a nutshell, it is a tool to keep Kore, WPE and rPE out of your server. Latest version allows you to protect your customized content contained in your GRF files from unauthorized ripping.
   
   
2. What is Vanguard?
   Vanguard is a codename for the latest optional protection mode for Elecom Shield version 3, as well as the general project codename for Elecom Shield v3. Activating Vanguard mode will detect and block cheat tools like system timer modification (speedhack), keyloggers and macros from accessing the Aegis client.
   
   
3. Is there a way to bypass Elecom Shield?
   There is no public bypass methods for Elecom Shield since v2.5. The rumor of a “crack” released by the Portugese community is a naive attempt at placing a proxy between the client and the server, which does not work with any of Elecom Shield servers, as discussed in my earlier posts.
   
   
4. Is Elecom Shield bulletproof?
   Unfortunately, no software is bulletproof. To tell the truth, after a couple of years of working with the Aegis client, I discovered there is one definite way of bypassing all the available Aegis client protection systems on the Internet, due to the flaw in the software architecture of Aegis.
   
   
5. Can I have the screenshot of Elecom Shield?
   Elecom Shield does not have screenshots as it runs silently in the background. The non-interactive design of Elecom Shield will avoid annoying the players with unnecessary dialogs and confirmations.
   
   
6. Why Elecom Shield?
   Elecom Shield is developed by an ex-developer of eAthena, and an ex-server administrator. The development of Elecom Shield involves gathering feedbacks from players and clients on all aspects – performance, compatibility, robustness and integrity. The design of Elecom Shield focuses on simplicity, to avoid any possible security holes or resource leaking introduced due to the use of Ring-0 drivers, kernel hooks or excessive API hooking.
   
   
7. Is Elecom Shield compatible with X-Ray Client and/or RagRE Client?
   Yes, Vanguard is fully compatible with both of them.
   
   
8. What are the differences of Elecom Shield LITE and XT?
   Elecom Shield LITE contains the all the client protection facilities. Elecom Shield XT contains all the features of LITE, with addition to enhancement modifications that is never before seen in any of the servers on the Internet. For screenshots, visit http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=108572&id=667272015&l=44024430a8 . XT includes a custom sound engine that overrides the default Miles Sound System in the Aegis client, supporting more file formats (including OGG Vorbis) – and allowing server-instructed dynamic BGM/SFX; a render modification system that allows server-instructed weather effects to be possible; a server-instructed screenshot invoker; and any possible additions requested by the server owner.
   
   
9. How is Elecom Shield priced?
   Purchasing Elecom Shield involves only a one-time payment (price reduced, details: http://zonelance.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!8AB1DFD374276C25!883.entry) via PayPal – Credit Card supported. Currencies are in USD, but you may pay in any currency you wish as long as the resulting equivalent value is the same.
   
   
10. What do I get for purchasing Elecom Shield?
    You will get the patches for your server and client, and an installation manual. You are also eligible for minor updates, including security patches if there is any. Delivery to your email will take usually less than 24-hours upon receipt of payment along with the required data.
    
    
11. Will the development of Elecom Shield continue?
    It is not guaranteed and highly depending on the demand.
    
    
12. I have an old version of Elecom Shield, can I upgrade to Vanguard?
    Yes. The upgrade price is USD100 for unlimited amount of Elecom Shield installed server you own. If you want to license new IPs, additional USD10 per IP is charged.
    
    
13. What if I have more questions?
    Feel free to contact me via Windows Live Messenger or through eAthena.
    
    
14. Who uses Elecom Shield?
    ZNRO, Balfer, CrazyRO, FansRO, Genesis, TrinityRO, ImmortalRO, Kaiyoshi, LimitRO, MoonRO, Mundorag, NoobFuryRO, PassionRO, RagnaBR, Ragtotal, SkuldRO, Valhalla’s Reborn etc.
    
    
15. What is Elecon Shield?
    I have no idea, seriously. Though I created a prank page for this interesting name: http://zonelance.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!8AB1DFD374276C25!411.entry .

Lance: “Hi Vista, delete ntfs.sys on my external drive for me please.”
Vista: “Sorry, insufficient permissions.”
Lance: “Ooookay..”
Vista: “Do you want to elevate yourself to an administrator?”
Lance: “Yes, please.”
Vista: “You’re an administrator now.”
Lance: “Wow… I feel…… nothing.”
Vista: “Sorry, insufficient permissions.”
Lance: “Why?”
Vista: “I don’t want to tell you.”
Lance: “Grant me read/write access to the file now.”
Vista: “Access denied.”
Lance: “Hey, I’m an administrator – do as I say.”
Vista: “You’re not the owner of the file – it is owned by the program – TrustedInstaller.”
Lance: “Oookay.. so my authority is lower than a computer program…”
Vista: “You can always take ownership of the file.”
Lance: “If I can take ownership freely, why don’t you allow me to avoid the hassle and grant me access directly?”
Vista: “Because you’re not the owner of the file.”
Lance: *moans* “Grant me ownership of the file.”
Vista: “Sorry, insufficient permissions.”
Lance: “…”
Vista: “Do you want to elevate yourself to an administrator?”
Lance: “… Yes.”
Vista: “Ownership granted.”
Lance: “Now, delete ntfs.sys. This time it should work right?”
Vista: “Access denied.”
Lance: “What the… What now?!”
Vista: “Although you’re an owner, you don’t have read/write permissions to this file.”
Lance: “Grant me read/write permissions.”
Vista: “Sorry, insufficient permissions.”
Lance: “!@#$”
Vista: “Do you want to elevate yourself to an administrator?”
Lance: “… DO I LOOK LIKE I DON’T WANT TO BE AN ADMINISTRATOR??”
Vista: “Are you sure? This can lead to system vulnerability and system instability.”
Lance: “As if you know how to take care of your own arse. Grant me access NOW.”
Vista: “Are you sure? This can lead to system vulnerability and system instability.”
Lance: “DOH!!! … Yes.”
Vista: “Read/write access granted.”
Lance: “Now, delete ntfs.sys.”
Vista: “Sorry, insufficient permissions.”
Lance: “Elevate me to administrator.”
Vista: “Do you want to elevate yourself to… Wait, how do you know I’m going to ask that?”
Lance: “Cut the crap and delete that file already.”
Vista: “Certainly.”

Times have changed, to the extent events are publicized using social networking websites like Facebook. Andy (our foundations course coordinator) came back from Korea and arranged a reunion with his ex-students.

All of his ex-students from HITECC and FEST courses were invited, which apparently, includes yours truly. Lucky for me, the location is darned near my place, which I would probably not have made it if not for this.

Unfortunately, our FEST5 representatives for this event were only a very pity handful – two person. Ex-students from other courses were more sporting though, but we were still better than FEST6 and FEST7, whom not even a shadow of them is seen during the course of this event.

Andy shared his very interesting Korean adventure with us, which somewhat made me wanting to put Korea in my list of choices of countries to further my studies in. The gist of it were:

1. Korea is a safe country. You don’t need to heighten up your senses when walking outside alone during the night.
2. Korean food lacks variety (from a Malaysian point of view).
3. Andy got above 99% average score for his second semester.
4. The syllabus are in English.
5. The Koreans have a harder time studying in English, which puts us multi-linguists Malaysians on the upper hand.
6. The syllabus focuses on practical application in researches rather than theory.
7. The syllabus is dynamic, depending on research needs.

He’s going back to Korea on the 11th of July.

On the side note, the food in BBQ Chicken is quite nice. The ‘Hot Hot Drums’ (damn you Geof) tastes better than McD/KFC/A&W – can’t wait to try the Jerk BBQ next time. The price is on the slightly higher side though, but still cheaper than Carl’s Junior.

Our ‘second-round’ was in Banana Leaf, Centrepoint (because 1U closes at ~10:30PM). Which Andy continue sharing his Korean saga.

One of the seniors consulted Andy about constructing a perpetual device, a self-sustaining device which operates forever without the need of a source of energy, also knows as a free-source device, whereby the output energy is fed back as input energy. I personally don’t believe this is possible – there must be an unknown source of energy – be it EM radiation, internal energy or the likes of it.

Having a Year 3 undergraduate to produce even a PhD couldn’t proves to be daunting task. The closest thing I’ve come by is by using highly efficient method of electrolysis using the theory of resonance, where the combustion of the hydrogen, oxygen and air would produce higher energy than the energy required to perform the electrolysis.

This is described to be St. Meyer’s machine, and rumors indicated that someone with the name of Dave managed to duplicate the works and produce a prototype of an almost self-sustaining water reactor (the term ‘almost’ is used because the primary source of energy is water and sun [for water energizing]), defying the laws of Faraday.

Putting that aside.

Thank you, fellow engineering senior Chin Jou for organizing this event.

Before I talk about the main topic, I would like to show something interesting happened a couple of days ago…

Yes, this is a memorial event – the spotting of an eight-petal mangosteen. It’s almost as rare as a four-leaf clover.

Back to the main topic.

Believe it or not, I’ve never been to Putrajaya before (as well as Cyberjaya), even though I always made fun of the –Jaya (Malay lit.: success) name as Putarjaya (Malay lit.: spinning success, Putrajaya: prince success) – it’s funny isn’t it? Come on, say it’s funny. =D

So today, due to having to settle things dealing with immigration, or rather, I’m the driver-of-the-day for someone dealing with immigration issues, I set my eyes on Putarjaya (… haha sorry) for the first time.

When crossing the bridge (Jambatan Seri Wawasan – Glittering Vision Bridge) linking the highway and Putrajaya, it felt like entering into another country. The bridge itself has a rather majestic and futuristic architecture. It was a shame I didn’t get the grab a photo of the bridge, due to obvious reasons.

A closer look at the infrastructure of the city really resembles what I saw in Adelaide. Well-planned buildings with fine architecture, aesthetically pleasing lamps and traffic lights, large pedestrian sidewalks, pedestrian-friendly city layout, centralized free car parks and the list goes on.

Honestly, it is so beautiful until I almost shed tears. (okay, maybe not to that extent)

Then, I saw something ugly. Guess what is it?

MALAYSIANS.

Malaysians, after getting too used to poor city planning, poor diet and lack of exercise, simply chuck their cars at the sidewalks. This otherwise beautiful city which should be clear of traffic jams – is starting to jam just because of these ignorant fools.

They not only park on the sidewalks, but park near a junction, near a traffic light, park at reverse direction, stop in the middle of the road like nobody’s business

Malaysians just don’t deserve beautiful cities, don’t they?

Some of the blame should be on the city planner as well. Though I very much appreciate the western-approach to the planning of the city, it would seem they, the city planners, forgot which country we are in right now.

Problem one: We are in a country where people like to drive cars. The clustered parking area, which aims to broaden the roads to save space, is insufficient – even with the city’s low population.

Problem two: Malaysia is a tropical country. Let’s face it, the Sun is hot, and nobody likes to walk under the hot sun. There should be cover roofs throughout the city to protect the pedestrians from the harsh sunlight and possible rain (I know it’s impossible to block heavy rainfalls) – so people are willing to move their lazy ass from the car park to their destination.

Also problem two: the plants, most notably grasses, are unsuitable for the weather. It really looks like autumn, where grasses are in patches and you can see patches of dirt everywhere due to the heat causing the grass to dry out.

I didn’t really capture the not-so-beautiful (mentioned above) parts of the city. Because this is another reason for me to shed tears. Such elegant city – wasted in the hands of Malaysians.

Malaysians, where are your aesthetic sense? Where are your sense of responsibilities? One of the reasons I’m reluctant to admit I’m a Malaysian.

Elecom Solutions officially announced the development of the third-generation of Elecom Shield – Codename: Vanguard, as the successor of Elecom Shield v2.6+.

Vanguard features a tighter integration to the Aegis client engine and a more robust network engine. From the accumulated past experiences with prior versions of Elecom Shield, Vanguard is designed to further minimize complexity while maintaining its reliability and compatibility.

There will be an additional version of Vanguard available to small servers, requiring simple yet effective protection at a competitive price.

Recent Updates:

• Vanguard v3.8 featuring:
1. More protection routines.
• Vanguard v3.7 featuring:
  1. Demilitarized Zone for authorized users, allowing third-party software.
  2. Macro input rejection system for scripted macros.
• Vanguard 3.6 featuring:
  1. Vanguard Mode update – AOS support.

Available Editions of Vanguard:
Vanguard 3.7 Essentials – USD150 for 1 server IP (NEW)
Vanguard 3.7 Premium – USD250 for 1 server IP*
Vanguard 3.7 Ultimate – USD350 for 1 server IP*

*Additional IP – USD10 per IP

Available Add-ons for Vanguard:
Vanguard Script Services (VSS) - USD50

Features of all Vanguard Editions*:

1. Rejects packet modifications and/or cloning (Anti-WPE/RPE).
2. Rejects unauthorized clients (Anti-bot).
3. Rejects unauthorized modifications to client program (Anti-hack).
4. Rejects scripted macro input (Anti-macro).
5. Vanguard Mode: Rejects keylogging.
6. Client hardware identification accessible by server-side scripts.
7. Flexible GRF file encryption for maximum compatibility with existing GRF readers.
8. Customizable title window, splashscreen.
9. High compatibility with different client programs (including Xray) – automated tools included.
10. DMZ for authorized accounts to use third-party clients.
11. Comprehensive manual
12. Supports Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7

*Limitations of Vanguard Essentials (Compared to Vanguard Premium):

1. Title window is set to “Ragnarok [Powered by Vanguard]”
2. Default fixed packet obfuscation algorithm.
3. Non-customizable client EXE name.
4. Source-only access to client hardware ID.
5. Automated tools not included
6. Limited (on-demand) GRF file encryption

Additional Features of Vanguard Ultimate:

1. Custom piggy-back sound engine supporting:
   • AIFF, ASF, ASX, DLS, FLAC, FSB, IT, M3U, MID, MOD, MP2, MP3, OGG, PLS, RAW, S3M, VAG, WAV, WAX, WMA, XM, XMA audio files
   • Audio streaming
   • Server-script controlled audio playback
   • BGM/BGS/SFX mode of playback
   • Fixes existing bugs of official sound engine
   • Smooth crossfading
2. Extended graphics engine supporting:
   • Customized software T&L vertex color blending
   • Server-script controlled color blending. (e.g. for dawn/day/dusk/night cycle)
   • Server-script controlled screenshot event
   • Unlimited sky-maps (ala Gonryun, Valkyrie)
   • Sky-map color correction

Vanguard Script Service Features:

1. Hardware-based client banning
2. GM controlled weather
3. GM controlled sound event
4. Real-time daylight cycle
5. Jukebox system

To Zone, the “Administrator of V-Shield” -
There’s an old Chinese proverb saying “the water in the well wouldn’t mess with the water in the river”. Your baseless criticisms to boost your sales and popularity have been monitored in our systems. We’ve chose not to comment on the design of your software, to avoid being ranked on the same level as you. If don’t mind being made fun by the public, please leave your criticisms untouched to let everyone on the Internet to enjoy it.

- Update 10/07/2009 -
I just received a personal message from "VShield Admin":

To the developers of GameFort -
Like the above, your criticisms and accusations were also monitored. Though I have the say, the group that appeared to be on our side and defended our software is in no way affiliated with us, and we make, made and will make no attempt to attack security software written by other development teams. Remember, you (along with others) are seen only as a rival, not an enemy. Good luck with your business. http://forums.openkore.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=1816&p=18667&hilit=elecom+shield+bypass#p18667 – this is naive, please don’t claim this works :)