KOH KHO KING

New Product Page Design at ShaShinKi.com

Posted on April 14th, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT, Photography.

I spent the last weekend in redesigning the product page at ShaShinKi.com, I am pretty happy and satisfied with the results…so here to share with you all my excitement.
I have always wanted to make the product page more user friendly, clearer and easier to browse. With my limited knowledge in php, I have to spend extra time to try and error.:P

Here’s the results:

What are the changes?

1. Product image has moved from right to left.

2. Bigger product image (250 x 250px) now, give clearly view of the product.

3. Clear listing of Brand, Category, Model #, Stock Status, Price and Quantity selection.

4. For product/s with Option, it will be shown below the Price before Quantity.

5. Boxed Picture. Personally I find this makes the image neater to show.

6. Brand name Clickable, to browse products under the same brand.

7. Added a title bar “Product” to the right column of the product page.

I hope this gives a better shopping experience to my customers at ShaShinKi.com. You can see the actual product page in action at:

http://shashinki.com/shop/nikon-full-frame-digital-12mp-live-view-9fps-p-1167.html

Happy shopping!

0 comments.

What types of RAW files does Epson P-5000 & P-3000 support?

Posted on April 8th, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT, Photography.

As of March 2008, Epson P-5000 and P-3000 supports RAW format images from the digital SLR cameras listed below:

The camera models listed here have been tested by Epson and were found to be compatible. Other camera models may be compatible, but have not been tested.

** In order to view RAW images from these camera models, make sure you update your P-5000 & P-3000 firmware to v1.20.

Firmware download at:

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/s…

0 comments.

How many email spams you received daily?

Posted on March 15th, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT.

Nowadays, spam is unavoidable in our email account.

How many email spams you received daily? I have been using my gmail account for around 3 years, and now…everyday I received around 150~200 spams in my gmail account. That’s more than 5 times of the actual emails in my inbox!

I have read some research conducted online that more than 90% of our daily emails are spams, with the left over 10% being the actual email that we would want to read.

How to deal with spams? It is possible to avoid spam?

There are NO LAW to shoot down spammers, but many server providers have strict rules that if your server are sending out spam emails, then your account will be suspended. This is especially true in USA servers, but if you notice the spam emails…most of them are NOT from the US server. There are still many grey area related to internet in many countries.

I have given up using outlook to read my email, as it can’t filter out spams accurately. Gmail is good, though occasionally some of my important emails are being marked as spam by them…but most of the time they are quite precise in marking those spams. I use Gmail exclusively nowadays. Not just because it is good with great interface, but of course the every growing space that outlast the grow of email I received daily. As of today, my email account space allocated by Gmail is 6520 MB! (currently using 2676 MB space).

Spam solution? Use Gmail.

0 comments.

Another reason to LOVE Google…

Posted on March 13th, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT.

I have been using Google personalized homepage for quite some time…but recently I discovered that we can actually change the theme/colour of the header and your personal homepage!

Here’s what I am using at the moment. It will change automatically according to time…

I probably should be sleeping like the two bugs in the picture now…time to go to bed…happy Googling!

0 comments.

Highest per day earn from Adsense!

Posted on March 2nd, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT.

This is the highest per day earned money from Adsense in my account after nearly a year of “rejoining” Adsense!

(in USD)

Date Earnings
Thursday, February 28, 2008 $7.67

My average per day earning in February 2008 is still just $2.59…yeah…quite low and little…cannot survive with just $2.59 (USD) per day…

Compared to many…this is probably still a joke! I read some “professionals” are earning thousands USD per month…mine? Not even US$100 per month…

Slowly…patiently…waiting for Google Adsense to feed my daily meals…

3 comments.

Google Gtalk…quality real bad!

Posted on February 27th, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT.

I used to love Google Gtalk, as it is simple, easy and fast! Quality was superb when I use internet phone conversation with my family oversea.

However, now Gtalk quality is really bad. I still like to use it for messaging, but when coming to voice talk…it just doesn’t work. The opposite just can’t hear what my voice, real bad quality. As compared to Live Messenger, it is miles behind. I love to use Live Messenger now for voice call.

I guess the quality drop is mainly due to the popularity of gmail/gtalk now. With the increment of users, quality drops. This is bad…

NO!

YES!

Voice call? Sorry, Gtalk. Thanks, Live Messenger!

0 comments.

Intel unveils “Skulltrail” eight-core platform

Posted on February 23rd, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT.

A dream machine?! Dual processors with quad core each! In total eight processing engines flying your desktop to a new level!

Codenamed “Skulltrail”.

The Intel Desktop Board D5400XS, when paired with two Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9775 processors, forms the foundation of the Intel Dual Socket Extreme Desktop Platform. Hardcore gamers will welcome the opportunity to enjoy multiple simultaneous graphics card solutions featuring either NVIDIA SLI or ATI Crossfire for today’s latest graphics-intensive titles.

(more…)

1 comment.

Toshiba quits HD-DVD

Posted on February 20th, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT.

Yes…this might be the hottest news in the technology world recently. Toshiba has announced that they are officially quiting the HD-DVD format, leaving few others players behind.

In case you are wondering…this it the world for the next generation high storage DVD format, between HD DVD and Blu-Ray (Sony).

Toshiba’s HD DVD is backed by Paramount, Universal Pictures, Microsoft, Sanyo, and NEC.

Sony’s Blu-ray is backed by Disney, 20th Century Fox, MGM, Dell, Panasonic, and Philips.

In Japan, the TV news even conduct a very comprehensive war analysis between the two formats…but my memory not so good to remember all. In summary, Sony Blu-Ray seems to have more promising future, with HD DVD dying slowly. PlayStation 3 is definitely playing big help in promoting Blu-Ray format.

You can read CNN news on Toshiba quiting the HD DVD format at:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/02/19/toshiba.hdd/index.html

0 comments.

Ebay Fee…REDUCED!

Posted on February 16th, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT.

Surprised! Yes, ebay has just announced a new fee for their customers. I received an email from ebay today…went to check out the new fee…and to my surprised, reduced! Ebay has increased their fees from year to year…and it is really surprised to see that they are now reducing their fee.

Eg.

I do use ebay from time to time (not a powerseller), so this is still a good news for me.
Check out the details at:

http://pages.ebay.com/sell/update08/basic/index.html?ov=004W6

0 comments.

Photo Editing Program - my favorite Paint Shop Pro!

Posted on February 8th, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT, Photography.

I have been using Paint Shop Pro program since version 4…that was more than 7 years ago…and I just love this program.

Why not photoshop? One of the main reason for me to go for Paint Shop Pro during the early days is because it is a FREEWARE. Yes, free to download and use on your computer. That was in version 4 and version 5. Version 9 and later is a paid software, but later Corel bought JASC and the last version from JASC was version 10. Version 9 was later given as a free software together with Lexar professional memory card, which is definitely a very very good value!

How is Paint Shop Pro as compared to Adobe Photoshop? For me, it does everything I needed in photo editing. Curve, contrast, brightness, unsharp mask, crop, border, layers, etc. It also is much easier to use and less resource hungry like photoshop. I can start and use my PSP within 5 seconds after launching, but for PS, I have to wait for 10s or more. Of course, if you have very fast PC, you might not notice the difference.

Today, I download the 30 days trial version of PSP from Corel website. I was already about to BUY already (already in the PayPal page, one click away from paying), but since there is a 30 days trial, I thought why not? I clicked the cancel order button and went back to download the software to try out first. The latest version is Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 and my experience with PSP is mainly based on version 6. I want to see how much improvement it has after Corel bought over JASC, and the US$89.99 is worth spending or not.

What I am expecting from the latest version which I think is lacking in the dated version 6:

• Better noise removal
• Faster processing
• RAW file processing (version 6 can process raw file but loading takes ages…)
• More features on borders, templates, effects…etc.
• Smarter one step photo fix (available in version 6 as well, but I wonder if there is any surprise in the latest version)

Basically, that’s it. I don’t really need a software that has tones of features that I don’t use but burden down my computer.

Now…let’s see some examples that I run through PSPPX2 just now. The photos below are taken using Nikon D200 at IS3200, I set the camera at high ISO the night before and forgot to set it back to low ISO. My wife used the camera the next day to take Megumi’s photos… Originally posted at: 看我笑得见眼不见牙

(Take note that the before images are already of some processing previously…which used automatic batch process…hence the quality still not so good and some sharpness already lost)

Before

After PSP

Before

After PSP

You have to click the photo to appreciate the difference. There is a nice Skin Smoothing command in PSPPX2 which I find it delivers good results. The above is just a quick test…I will have to get some RAW files to test it further, but I think I am definitely going to buy one before the 30 days trial period ends up.

0 comments.

CaptureSG.com back online

Posted on February 8th, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT, Photography.

Today I managed to restore another photography forum of mine…CaptureSG.com. Since the server HDD failed on 21st Jan 2008, I was having problem in restoring CaptureSG.com from my backup, as the database tables were corrupted.

Today I learned a few things and managed to restore the database and manage to repair the corrupted tables and everything is back online.

Though CaptureSG.com is not a very active site and can’t be regarded a successful yet, but still there are some faithful members there that I owe to bring the site back.

I am glad that CaptureSG.com is back online now. Hope more will visit it especially photographers from Singapore.

CaptureSG = Capture Singapore!

0 comments.

Google Payment

Posted on February 6th, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT.

Just updated by bank book in Japan and noticed that Google has paid me! Yeah…money from the Adsense ads.

How much? Not much…only US$100+ and the conversion rate to JPY is very poor now (weak USD).

The good thing about Google in Japan is that you can have Google deposit the money directly to your bank account. No need to receive check, just update your Google account with a valid Japan bank account, Google will then deposit a small amount of money (in my case JPY120) and you will have to answer the question of the exact amount in your Google account later. This is to verify your bank account is really belongs to you…and yes, you get the FREE JPY120.

My earning from Google Adsense is actually very minor…the USD100+ was accumulated since more than 3 months ago…and only till early Jan I was able to hit over USD100, and Google paid me end of the month on 30th Jan 2008. Yes, you have to have over USD100 before you can withdraw the money.

No…don’t try to cheat and click on your own ads. This will result your account being suspended. As Google motto says…”Don’t be evil!”

Happy Chinese New Year too to all the Chinese and those who are celebrating the Spring in the world!

0 comments.

New PC - surprise!

Posted on February 5th, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT.

Got a new PC yesterday…what a surprise!

They said I am the senior in the laboratory, so the new PC is for me. Yes, there is only one new PC, but there will be another few coming in April 2008 (few months away), which will be given to to the other few “seniors”.

Just managed to migrate all my data and files today, also have to remove all sensitive information in the old PC…

Specifications?

• Intel Core Duo 3.00GHZ - E6850
• 3GB Memory
• 300GB HDD
• 19 inches LCD monitor
• Microsoft optical mouse 3000
• Speaker
• Keyboard
• DVD-RW

Very fast as compared to my previous PC…I am a happy man.

0 comments.

Stock Status

Posted on February 5th, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT, Photography.

I feel really good today, because I have managed to install a modification to ShaShinKi.com/Shop.

~ Stock Status ~

Yeah…I have wanted to have stock status shown on the product page since day 1. I use to type this on every page…

Ready Stock! Next Day Delivery!
or
Special order item, allow 1~2 weeks for delivery.

Typing the above is easy, not difficult at all when I create a new product and copy and paste the sentence in my product page. However…the product arise when I started to keep stock of a certain hot selling products…this is the headache part as I have to open up every in stock product page and change the description, or when product sold out, I have to edit the description again (else will get fire by customer shouting why the product page say in stock but I do not have stock?).

I want a system that can show the Stock Status based on product stock quantity. In my store, changing quantity is easy as I can change them in batch. Yes, even 100 or 1000 products at one time.

Finally, I managed to install the Status Status modification! Yeah! I work till 4am last night…but the result is fruitful and I am quite satisfied with it. Here’s what you will see:

I guess I don’t have to explain any further…except “Special Order” means product will take 1~2 weeks for delivery in most cases.

So next time when you see the above sign/picture at ShaShinKi.com/Shop, remember that I work till 4am for you ya!

0 comments.

Microsoft wants to buy Yahoo!

Posted on February 4th, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT.

Yes…you read it right. In fact, this is not the first time…last year Microsoft offered to buy Yahoo! as well, but was turned down by Yahoo!. Now, Microsoft tries it again after the old CEO just stepped down (due to poor performance in directing Yahoo!).

Is Yahoo! for sale? Is Google for sale?

Yahoo is not performing well…in fact, you can use the word BAD. The reason is simple, Google. People are switching to Google for their internet browsing and using habit. I use Gmail now as my main email (Google space outgrow my email growing space), Gchat for chatting (not the only one though, together I use Live Messenger as well as Skype), Google Earth when I need to find a location, Analytics for my website statistics, Adsense to get some $, etc. Eh…I left out the most important one…I use Google to SEARCH!

How about Yahoo!? I don’t use Yahoo Messenger nowadays, I don’t use Yahoo mail nowadays…I don’t use Yahoo to search nowadays…Yahoo? Hmm…I don’t remember using any Yahoo service now.

So…is Yahoo dieing? Not yet…but I believe Yahoo is definitely in trouble. Microsoft sees it. In fact, Microsoft is worrying that they might be the next Yahoo and get swallow up by Google…so they want to get Yahoo now in order to retain some market share to fight the “don’t be evil” Google.

How much? US$44 billions. I don’t know exactly how much that is…but I remember Youtube was sold at US$1.65 billions few years ago by Google. I guess Microsoft should have bought Youtube…as it is definitely the most successful online video sharing site nowadays. Yes, I use Youtube service. When Google bought Youtube, many asked if Google overpaid…but now it seems cheap to me (seeing how much influence Youtube has on the internet).

Back to Yahoo…so is it sold? Not yet, for now. Yahoo share up nearly 50% after Microsoft announced the buying news. Those insiders must be laughing all the way to the bank now…

Rumors that Yahoo might seek other buyers alternatives, e.g. Apple. Yes, I think Apple has a more healthy image than Microsoft…and people like Apple. Yahoo + Apple = New Life. Steve Job is definitely one of the smartest guy in the world. With him guiding Yahoo, there might still be chance to survive. Microsoft? They can’t even survive on their own now…not sure how they can inject new life into Yahoo.

By the way…Yahoo…if you are listening…you should launch your Publisher Network to people outside USA. I have been waiting for more than a year…and you still not including internet users from other country to join. There are many people who can’t use Adsense, or have been banned by Adsense, they want alternative and I am sure Yahoo is the best alternative to Google. You should grab this chance, opportunity…but after one year waiting…you are still not progressing. What a shame…what a disappointment…

0 comments.

Server Hardisk Failure on 21st (Mon) Jan 2008

Posted on January 24th, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT.

This is the first time I am experiencing this. Yeah…my server hard disk failed on the morning of 21st Jan 2008 while I was doing some backuping work.

Yes, I have foreseen the hardisk to fail. cPanel software that I use for my server has sent me two warning on 18th Jan 2008 (Friday) and 20th Jan 2008 (Sunday).

I contacted my server provider a day before I received the warning, as my httpd service couldn’t be started. It was some conflicts between my SSL certificate and the httpd service. It seems that my SSL certificate has corrupted. Most probably is due to the hardisk problem already, but my provider checked and said they found no error. So I just leave it apart.

Of course, after receiving the cPanel warning, I contacted them again and the advice is to backup my files “IMMEDIATELY”. Yes, one shouldn’t delay any further when this warning comes up.

I am not experience enough to know how to backup my entire server effectively. The backup feature in WHM doesn’t seem to work to my understanding. So on Sunday night, I backup manually the database and home directory of two of my most important sites: ShaShinKi.com and PentaxWorld.com.

On Monday morning, I am on the way to backup more of the other sites that I have on the server…too bad I was not in time to grab them all.

I lost an important site of mine…CaptureSG.com. Though the site is very quiet and not growing as what I have hoped for, but there are some very dedicated members that still help out in the site. I must say I am sorry not being able to safeguard the data well…

On Monday morning, my database suddenly can’t be accessed. I restarted mySQL but failed. Then I tried restarting httpd, failed again. Now both database and http can’t be accessed. FTP still working fine, and I manage to copy some other backup of ECMalaysia and BlogMalaysia. However, their database are gone (for the better future I believe).

To be continue…

1 comment.

Memory card speed test

Posted on January 16th, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT, Photography.

How fast is your memory card? How fast is your camera writing and reading speed? How fast is your computer writing/reading speed? How fast is your card reader?

Does it really matter?

A friend of mine, Aaron Kok took up the trouble and spent time to do the test below. Hope you will find it useful.

Camera - 1D Mk3

PC - Sony Vaio notebook - Centrino 2ghz

Card Reader Tested

- Buffalo PCMCIA CardBus (RCF-CBA)

- Buffalo MCR-A27

CF Card Tested

- Sandisk Extreme IV 4GB

- Sandisk Extreme III 2GB

- Lexar Pro 2Gb 80x

- PenDrive 4Gb 155x

SD Card

- Kingston 2Gb Elite Pro SD

Tests are NOT scientific, just done to satisfy myself to purchase cheaper cards . Tho keep in mind on reliablity. So far only cards have failled me is kingston CF and Lexar Pro. Kingston was exchanged for Sandisk and Lexar was replaced. Lexar works fine now.

Buffer Clearing Tests. 6 shot burst. Time calculate from 1st shot till camera stops writing via the write light..

Test done by taking photo of a clock and taking final shot when buffer clears. Error of approx +-1 sec. All these are done via eyes and just the windows clock, not an actual timer.

Compact Flash

- Sandisk Extreme IV 4GB - 6 seconds

- Sandisk Extreme III 2GB - 6 seconds

- Lexar Pro 2Gb 80x - 10 seconds

- PenDrive 4Gb 155x - 20 seconds

SD Card

- Kingston 2Gb 50x Elite Pro SD - 6 seconds (it feels as it it clears much faster, will need to do more bursts to test)

There are differences in some card when it clears the buffer. Some will show the buffer dropping smoothly, some clears 1,2, then wait, then clears another 3, then wait and clears ones.

Card to PC - 200MB Multiple RAW Files

Buffalo PCMCIA

- Sandisk Extreme IV 4GB - 20 seconds

- Sandisk Extreme III 2GB - 20 seconds

- Lexar Pro 2Gb 80x - 25 seconds

- PenDrive 4Gb 155x - 30 seconds

Buffalo USB

- Sandisk Extreme IV 4GB - 15 seconds

- Sandisk Extreme III 2GB - 13 seconds

- Lexar Pro 2Gb 80x - 20 seconds

- PenDrive 4Gb 155x - 18 seconds

Credits to:

• http://www.aaronkok.com/ 

0 comments.

Google Adsense Experience…3 months later…

Posted on January 3rd, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT.

I have restarted Google Adsense in September 2007 - this time for real and of course, with all honesty. Do not click on the ads yourself!

Site…

My main site that listed my Adsense content is PhotoMalaysia.com. I am the co-founder of PhotoMalaysia.com, so I have full control over it for the ads and daily operation of it. Of course, also because I now take the burden of funding the server rental cost, which hit over RM5k or US$1.5k a year.

Back to Adsense…I would like to share with you some of my experience of how I notice the increase in revenue after I make some changes to the placement and contents of my Adsense ads.

Miracle Skyhigh Profit? Dream on…

Initially, I have high expectation from Adsense. After hearing and reading lots of success stories with Adsense, I was hoping that PhotoMalaysia can generate high income for me after I put up Adsense there. I was wrong…at least initially.

Do not expect your members to click ads in your site if you do not place them strategically. Warning: DO NOT ASK OR PROMOTE OR INVITE YOUR MEMBERS TO CLICK ON THE ADS! THIS IS NOT RIGHT AND ILLEGAL AND WILL RESULT YOUR ACCOUNT BEING TERMINATED!

My Statistics

My revenue from Adsense in September (starts from 5th September 2007) is just US$15.78, with total 293 clicks and 235,263 page impressions. For me, this is quite disappointing since I was hoping to get hundreds of dollars from Adsense. So I did not work further with Adsense in October and November, since I thought Adsense did not help much…so I might as well try selling ads myself.

September 2007 revenue:

• Total earning (USD): US$15.78

October 2007 revenue:

• Total earning (USD): $28.82

Yeah, October is better than September by nearly double! But still…not much…

November 2007 revenue:

• Total Earning (USD): $25.05

Hmm…less than October…seems like it is going to be static at average US$2x.xx if I am not going to do anything.

Another reason for me to go back to Adsense is because selling ads yourself isn’t easy. I don’t get many advertisers myself…and my ads are selling at low price too. So, might as well try Adsense again…since many have successful story with it.

One thing I notice in Adsense report is Page Impressions. It tells you how many times the ads is being served at your site. Put it in simple way, the higher the impression, the more frequent the ads being shown at your site. The more frequent the ads being shown, the higher chance people will click on it. Also take note that while the total click for November is less than September, but I got higher revenue in November because I got higher page impression in November.

So, I come to a simple and short conclusion: I should put more ads in strategic locations in PhotoMalaysia.com.

More ads yes…but what about strategic locations?

Have you seen websites with lots of ads and are mainly driven by Adsense than the content of the websites themselves? Yes, there are many. As a visitor, I immediately got put off by those ads driven sites. I don’t want PhotoMalaysia to be like that. I don’t want to hit my members with lots of ads and making them angry or feel distracted. Ads should serve its purpose of attracting customers but not frustrating viewers.

Do remember that a forum is driven by members, not the otherwise. Your forum will not be forever hot and active if you pushed your members away.

With that in mind, I carefully choose locations for my ads. Of course, Adsense ads are pretty nice looking and doesn’t really make people vomit. The best thing I like about Adsense is how relevant the ads is to your website. No gambling or porn ads as well. Definitely good and suitable for my photography forum.

So, in December I have added some new Adsense ads toPhotoMalaysia.com. You can check out my ads location in PhotoMalaysia.com, must easier than having me describe each and everyone here. In general, for high hit pages, I put ads on top, bottom and sometimes middle (for those lengthy page). Frame up my ads so that they melt and look nice with the website.

So…how is my December revenue?

December 2007 revenue:

• Total Earning (USD): $37.61

Yeah, hit over US$3x.xx. Better than the previous few months.

Now, starting year 2008…I have added up some extra ads locations, mainly in the Photography section (Gallery) in PhotoMalaysia. We got quite a number of hit in Photography, so hopefully it will drive more members to Adsense.

Another note to Publisher. I notice that Image ads though is more attractive, but it can only serve ONE ads per time in that particular space. So, it is good to have multiple ads in some high hit pages with both image and text ads (I set my site to let Adsense determine it for me).

Final words…(temporary)

I must admit that I am still very new to Adsense. There are still lots of things for me to learn and find out, which can only be learn through experience. I will report and post my findings from time to time…sharing this most successful and largest ads campaign in the internet ever (period).

0 comments.

Goodbye Netscape Navigator…

Posted on January 2nd, 2008 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT.

AOL has announced that it will stop providing support for Netscape Navigator browser after 1st February 2008. Last version of Netscape Navigator is v9

Once a rival to Microsoft IE and once the best internet browser and most user used browser…its day is to be remembered…hence I just have to post this in my blog.

Netscape has went through many changes, from a freeware to a paid software then back to freeware. I think the PAID stage is killing it off. Sueing Microsoft for monopoly…etc.

Most internet users are now using IE or FireFox. Personally I am using FireFox 99.9% of the time, occasionally I open up IE for some testings or plugin support. FireFox is a freeware, booming for its simplicity and great features and of course the speed.

Netscape last version will be v9, AOL has removed the download link but you can still download it from various other websites. Take note that SUPPORT will no longer be provided.

AOL / Netscape suggests turning to FireFox for replacement browser.

News of Netscape Navigator discontinued at:

http://blog.netscape.com/2007/12/28/end-of-support-for-netscape-web-browsers/

Download FireFox at:

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

0 comments.

Can’t send email using Outlook Express?

Posted on December 28th, 2007 by KhoKing.
Categories: Computer / IT.

Can receive email but can’t send out email using Outlook Express?

Can send email previously, no changes to the OE setting, suddenly can’t send email today?

What happened?

This is what happening to my computer at home since many months ago. I checked the setting of my OE, everything seems fine. I checked and reconfirmed my username and password, everything seems fine. I did not change anything before this happened. So what went wrong? I can receive email but can’t send out email using my own server/domain name!

I have setup another gmail account in my OE, I can send email and receive email no problem with this gmail account on my OE.

The problem is with my business email account - shop@shashinki.com. Yes, my own domain and my own server.

What is the problem? My problem?

No, it is not my problem. After many months…finally I got the idea last night of what could be the reason. I did some search on the internet and found some clues as well.

It is your ISP that suddenly changed their policy to BLOCK port 25 on all SMTP! I was using Yahoo! BB - broadband service in Japan.

Yes, nothing wrong with my PC or OE setting, but sudden change of my ISP to block port 25 on SMTP makes me unable to send email out through my own server.

Why the block of SMTP port 25?

Simple reason, to tackle spam. Many people send spam messages via their own computer to others, so ISP block port 25 (common port number used by most server by default) in order to reduce spams.

Solution?

Simple, change your server’s SMTP port to other than 25.

Not so simple if you do not have access to EXIM on your server. If you are on a shared server, or rent just a small space from others, then you most probably will not have access to EXIM setting.

If you have access to WHM (web host manager from CPANEL), then you can change or add extra port to SMTP easily! It is under Service Manager. Go to Exim on another port and add whatever number you want (eg. 100 or 2775 or 88) and checked the box to enable this option. Then in your OE, use this same port setting on your SMTP, and viola! You can now send email from your OE via your own email account and server!

For those who do not have access to WHM, contact your server provider and ask them about alternate SMTP port they are using. They should inform you the port number.

Hope this little info helps…

0 comments.

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