ossblogger.com

I have been using jGnash for the past few month to manage my financial statement. However, I have not been very keen to use the software properly, (I just installed it as a trial and error basis) until last week when I realize that I have to do something to get the most out of my jGnash.

Yesterday, I decided to try to import all my financial statement that I have, mostly online statements, into jGnash. It looks easy at the beginning by just exporting the statement to QIF file, and import it directly to jGnash; but it actually not. Most of the time, I have to run “trial and error” before I could get the correct data field transfered into jGnash. A lot of issues occurred along the process, but fortunately, I could manage it after cracking “the geek brain” out of me.

These would be the challenges that I face during the process:

1. I would like to import my Google Adsense income statement to jGnash. Unfortunately, Google can only export the data as a comma separated value (CSV) file. As I need the data to be transferred straight to jGnash, I would have to do either manually (which will be very time consuming) or just convert the CSV file to QIF.
2. Importing my Paypal statement into jGnash is not as straightforward as it looks like. Although Paypal can export my statement to QIF, the file that it produces does not seems to be able to be “compatible” during the importing process.
3. The worst issues that I faced was my Maybank2u.com account. It’s my online bank and credit card account. It seems that I could not export the statement out easily, as they don’t have “export” feature, let alone CSV or QIF converter! I have to print the statement out (as PDF), and have to enter the data manually. Maybank will charge me RM10 if I were to request my bank statement printed out, have to wait for a few days before the statement ready, and have to go to the specific Maybank branch here in Kota Kinabalu to get the statement. Sigh…
4. Similar thing happened with my E*trade account. I could not export the statement out directly to jGnash, and they provide a PDF files of my monthly statement to be printed out. Another additional burden to enter the data manually into jGnash.

The solution for *some* of the challenges that I face above:

1. On exporting CSV file into jGnash: Use CALC2QIF to convert CSV file to QIF. You have to have Open Office installed in your computer first before you install CALC2QIF, because CALC2QIF is a macro for Open Office. It can convert almost all Open Office Calc data into QIF for easy import to jGnash.
   1. The installation for CALC2QIF is very straightforward. Download the ZIP file, extract it and just click calc2qif.sxc.
      

      

   2. It will automatically open your Open Office Calc with a security warning, saying that you are opening a document with macros. You don’t have to worry as the macros you are running is safe.

      

      

   3. You can choose where you would like CALC2QIF situated. I prefer it to be as one of the features in “Top Menu”.

      

   4. To convert your CSV file with this macros in Open Office, just click on the “calc2qif” tab on the main menu. A window will open and show the parameters that can be changed. You should arrange your data according to column that is sorted by type of field.
2. I use the step above to transfer my Google Adsense statement to jGnash, as Google just provide .CSV file download for the report.
3. For Paypal, I think there was some *bugs* with jGnash. The QIF file that Paypal produce does not seems to be behaving properly while in the process of importing. During the second stage of importing, at “2. Modify QIF transactions”, the changing of “Account” could not be done. I end up exporting Paypal statement to CSV and convert it to QIF with CALC2QIF…

   

4. For my Maybank2u.com and E*trade account - I have to transfer the data manually…

In relation to my previous post about using third party plugin for GIMP, I had some comments, stating that there was an issue on plugin.dll file. The Adobe Photoshop plugin (pspi.exe) could not function properly due to the absence of plugin.dll file.

I did some Googling and found out some very interesting facts about plugin.dll. Apparently, plugin.dll is a proprietary file that belongs to Photoshop. By having this file, you could actually use Adobe Photoshop plugin with Paint Shop Pro and even Irfanview.

I remember that I have once installed Adobe Photoshop before, and plugin.dll may still be inside my notebook. However, when I do search for the file, I could not find it. Funny…  I wonder how did my .8bf file running smoothly WITHOUT plugin.dll?

If you face similar problem, I would suggest that you grab Plugin.dll from various sources from around the net:

1. Download it from Dlldump.com.
2. Download it from Paint Shop Pro User Group.
3. Download it from Irfanview Plugins website.

**Although these websites offer plugin.dll for download, it is basically illegal to do it, because it is part of Adobe applications and has a copyright.

I also came across msvcrt10.dll file that is also required for Adobe Photoshop plugin to be running smoothly in GIMP. I have mine in C:\WINDOWS\system32. You may need to download and install it in the same directory to minimize the chances of your Adobe Photoshop third party plugin error…

Can you get your .8bf file running with the above tweaks?

If you use to see screen recording presentation by any internet marketer, you must have came across Camtasia Studio, the well known proprietary screen recorder for demos, presentation and training. I was interested on that piece of software at the beginning, but when I saw the price tag of the software, I almost fainted. (Yes, it costs whooping $299 for the license). It happened a year ago. I never looked back to their website since then.

Until yesterday, when I decided to use the software for my next internet project. As an open source fan, I Googled “open source camtasia“. To my surprised, osalt.com pop up and revealed CamStudio.org. CamStudio is a free alternative and open source software for Camtasia Studio. And guess what? It’s free. If you are looking for an option for the hefty priced Camtasia, why not downloading CamStudio for a test run.

So, what is actually CamStudio?

Using “CamStudio - Free Streaming Video Desktop Recording Software” as the tagline, CamStudio are able to record all screen and audio activity on your computer and create industry-standard AVI video files and using its built-in SWF Producer can turn those AVIs into lean, mean, bandwidth-friendly Streaming Flash videos (SWFs).

In short, it is the best free tool for you to create any demos, presentations and training for your viewers from Windows. For Linux users, you may want to check out xvidcap.

Where can I get Camstudio?

As usual, you can download your copy of CamStudio from Sourceforge.net. Camstudio.org is their official website, and I would suggest that you read CamStudio’s blog to get updates on the software. Thanks to Nick Smith (the developer), for sharing his work.

What can I do with CamStudio?

• You can use it to create demonstration videos for any software program
• Or how about creating a set of videos answering your most frequently asked questions?
• You can create video tutorials for school or college class
• You can use it to record a recurring problem with your computer so you can show technical support people
• You can use it to create video-based information products you can sell
• You can even use it to record new tricks and techniques you discover on your favourite software program, before you forget them

So, how does it look like?

Upon running the software, the above window will pop up. I must say that the menu and navigation of the software is very straightforward. You can almost record your desktop screenshot almost instantly by clicking the red button.

However, I would advice you to read their “Help” section first, as it contains all the important information on how to optimize the usage of your presentation using CamStudio.

May I see CamStudio in action?

Well, I know, we like screenshots. So, I have recorded my screenshot using CamStudio for 40 seconds, just to give you an idea how does it look like.

Apology for the audio and video quality. It was just a test. The video clip becomes like that because:

1. I did not manage to set up my microphone (the sound quality is bad) and my soundcard.
2. The screenshot that I made was a full screen view. YouTube resized the video after the upload.

Anyway, it is just a preview. You can do mush better than what I did. And I suggest that you get one for yourself!

Damn… I have almost all the software that he mentioned. Is he stalking me?

I have been experimenting Wordpress blog platform since I know how to install, tweak and use it for the last two years. I have compared it with Drupal - and still find out that Wordpress is far more superior - in certain areas that I am comfortable with. Other community portal like phpNuke, Geeklog, Joomla and Typo3 looks really “geeky”, and I don’t think it is “suitable”. I tried it for a few moments as it comes with my cPanel Fantastico package.

4 months ago, I decided to use Wordpress (not Wordpress MU) as a community portal for my alumni school association. At first, I tried to use Wordpress MU, but I found it really difficult to install with my existing experiences and knowledge of setting up a Wordpress blog.

My alumni background is mostly “professional”, age 30, have some computer and internet knowledge and really few know what is a blog. They don’t even know or heard about Wordpress and they don’t even care.

Basically we just need one nice and easy platform so that we can share our stories together and reconnect our long lost relationship since we left our secondary school in 1994. The website/portal is also functioning as a “message board system” which we could use it to announce events and happenings around our community.

What I did was just set up a new Wordpress blog and choose a theme that is more “portal like” presentation, compared to “blog like” presentation. Rockinthemes.com and Solostream.com are the places that I found very nice Wordpress themes that is suitable for a “community portal”. I used RockinPaper 3 column for the first few months, until I decided last week, to change it to Zeke1.0+widgets to be the latest theme.

After completing the installation and change default Wordpress theme to the one above, I need to get everybody to be involve in posting their entry into the portal. I appointed one of my good friend as co-administrator, (so that if I am not around, somebody is there to have a look on the portal) and changed the “New User Default Role” to “Author”, so that new registered members can post anything they want, without the need of administrator moderation. I do that because members are my ex-schoolmates, and we know each other well. I also have warned them to do self-censorship before posting any post.

Wordpress installation, by default is best suits for bloggers. Transforming it to become a portal need special plugins so that it can function properly as a community portal. These are some of the plugins that I use to enhance the usability of Wordpress platform.

1. UserOnline - a nice plugin for admin and members who is browsing the website, as it shows real time guest, member and bot online. Other members will know who is online.
2. Email Users - ease up my task as an admin to send announcement email to the members. I used to export the emails that I catch from user registration into phplist and send mass email from phplist, but after finding the plugin, it’s just speed up my tasks.
3. Subscribe to Comments - another plugin that “connect” members with comments and discussions. Members who leave comments (and they have to be logged in to do that), have an option to subscribe to the post comments. So, whenever any other members put a new comment, they will automatically get informed.
4. cforms II - the best contact form available for Wordpress. I can customize almost all the fields and variables to make a very nice contact forms. And they have their own beautiful form templates to choose.
5. KB Countdown Widget - a plugin that count the years/months/days since, until, or between events. A good plugin that I use to broadcast our yearly event, STAR OBW.
6. WP-Sticky - the problem with Wordpress is that by default, new post will be published above the older ones. Unless we use this plugin, an announcement post for the members also can be pushed down if other members post a new entry. By having this plugin, admin can make sure that the post sticks on the first post of the homepage, so that everybody could view the post before reading other ordinary posts.

Want to see the Wordpress as a community portal? Check out www.starian94.com.

I came across SysAdmin’s Diary today, asking for any beta testers for Firefox Bahasa Malaysia Plugin. The plugin is currently developed by Razi from Pakatan Firefox-MS.

Without hesitation, I went to the website to download the installation package, an .xpi extension…

Standard installation with any Firefox extension took place, but after restarting, I was a bit lost - at the beginning - after seeing my browser in Bahasa Malaysia. These are the screenshots of the Malay version Firefox browser. And of course, my two cents review.

><

The first impression when I saw this drop down menu was “Malay words will occupy more space to translate it from English.” I wonder where did my “Close Window” button go…

><

Is it “Cari Lagi” or “Cari Semula”?

It is difficult to find a replacement word for “Off” other than “Mati” in Malay. “Mati” is a direct translation of “Die” in English.

Is it “Tab Terbaru Ditutup” or “Tab Ditutup Terbaru”?

I think there should be a space between “Tanda” and “buku” in “Tandabuku semua tab”.

><

Is it suitable for “Opsyen” to be change with “Pilihan”. Damn… I wonder where my Flashgot button go???

><

I think “Memeriksa” should be change to “Periksa”. And I wonder what happen to “Laporkan Laman Web Rosak” and “Laporkan Laman Web Palsu” in my English version.

“Lumpuhkan”???

When downloading files, I would suggest that “buka” in “Anda telah memilih untuk buka” is changed to “membuka”.

Nice… I like your sentence “Perisian berniat jahat boleh merosakkan komputer anda atau mencabuli privasi anda”.

It seems that I cannot resize the window. As you can see, some of the buttons are not showing its full image. Is it a bug (pepijat), Razi?

Anyway, nice to know that we have the option to use Firefox in Malay. Kudos to the developer!

I thought PCLinuxOS has the same cow with Ubuntu.

Managed to try PCLinuxOS Live CD today, after my first attempt with PCLinuxOS a year ago failed due to GRUB issue. The CD that I used then was faulty.

And yes, they have a different cow, and aptitude moo -v did not give you anything.

Anymore Easter Eggs in PCLinuxOS?

Hahaha. I only knew “apt-get moo” while I was using Xandros few months back.

Until I read about “aptitude moo” and the extra letter after the command.

I wonder if there is anymore Easter Eggs for Linux user other than those?

Adding more “-vvvvvvvv” will only give you the same answer.

By the way, I get it by using kubuntu Live CD…

Cheers!

Yes. I know, I should have put it “… in Linux”, but still, there are so many of us out there stuck with OEM copy of Windows that comes with the notebook/PC that we bought.

I think it is good, once in a while to expose Windows user on what Open Source Software could offer them on alternative software to the proprietary ones for daily computer usage.

The list is actually endless, but I will just highlight the 10 softwares that I use with Windows.

1. Open Office.org - a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, drawing package and database in a complete package. I have been using it as a replacement for my pirated version on MS Office 2003.
2. N|vu / Kompozer - the best WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) HTML generator. I use it to create websites during my early days of webmastering, before I shifted into blogging. Still a nice piece of software to use (although still a bit buggy), as compared to my Macromedia Dreamweaver (of course, pirated version).
3. 7zip - the award winning file archiver and compressor. The one I used to replace WinZip and WinRar.
4. Mozilla Firefox - the most powerful web browser. The best thing about Firefox is the availability of the plugins, especially the one that increase my productivity of being a webmaster/blogger. However, it starts a bit slow…
5. GIMP - ah… my Adobe Photoshop replacement. It can even use Photoshop’s third party plugins also!
6. VLC media player - the all rounder media player, that can play almost ALL media format. A small but very powerful player.
7. Audacity - the award winning audio editor.
8. FileZilla - a full featured FTP client. I can’t function as a webmaster without it.
9. Mozilla Sunbird - my calendar and task management program. With a vary familiar interface, it replaces my MS Outlook long time ago.
10. XAMPP - Apache, mySQL, PHP, phpMyAdmin, etc in one complete package for a webmaster-to-be. A good platform for me to learn about how servers operated and how to operate a server.

Do you know that you can have all the above software WITHOUT Windows?

Today is Software Freedom Day 2007. Software Freedom Day (SFD) is a worldwide celebration of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). Their goal in this celebration is to educate the worldwide public about the benefits of using high-quality FOSS in education, in government, at home, and in business — in short, everywhere!

It was a bit late when I got the news, and I have not be able to organize such an event here in Kota Kinabalu. When I checked on Software Freedom Day official website, there are only 2 places that held this event in Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur and Kuching.

I was wondering on how I can contribute to the community, although I am doing this alone. It is almost impossible to contact local university (University Malaysia Sabah) in this short period of time. I also do not have any contact with Malaysia Open Source Training Center to get some feedback on the above matter.

At last, I decided to give away my Ubuntu Linux cds which I got from Canonical few months back. 1 Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn 64-bit and 2 Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn 32-bit, which is in excellent condition. I also have their Kubuntu cds, but after trying, it seems that the cds are faulty. I won’t give the Kubuntu cds out.

For your information, Ubuntu Linux is one of the friendliest Linux operating system nowadays. It is really suitable for normal computer users, either notebook or desktop. It is a Live CDs, means that you don’t have to change any configuration to your existing computer to get it running. Just pop it in and run.

So, if you want to experience the feeling of having an option to your Window$, just drop an email to drizad(at)gmail.com with your address (Malaysia only please). I will personally snail mail/parcel it to you. If you don’t mind waiting, you can also ask your copy from ShipIt.

Talking about Ubuntu, I think you want to see this. Oh, put it in a better words - YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS -up till the end of the video.

That is the least I could do. Happy Software Freedom Day!

*First come, first serve basis, and yes, I am doing this free for Ubuntu.