Incheon (ICN, Seoul) international airport terminal map. Korean Air seating.
Topic: travel

The online interactive terminal map in the Incheon airport website (http://www.airport.or.kr/eng/airport/) is just a mess. It is badly designed and some information is simply missing. I couldn't find a plain map in the web so I'm posting a scanned copy of the print version here.

Incheon international airport (ICN) terminal map

By the way, if you are flying Korean Air they have seating charts on their website. SeatGuru doesn't have all types of aircrafts for Korean Air. Tip: When you request your seat number, ask what "type" of aircraft your flight is and look it up on the web.

Solutions to the Windows XP network sharing problem
Topic: Windows

I've had problems with the Win XP network sharing (accessing folders in other PCs in the same network): My Xp Home laptop could not connect to either my Xp Pro at home or my Windows 2000 at work. I could still see the computer name from one side and I could ping each other. It used to work ok until I changed something (installed something or did a windows update, I think).

I found a list of solutions by googling, which I had no intention of trying them all. The following seemed to have good results though:

http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1047838434

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Networking/Microsoft_Network/Q_20965078.html
(If the above link asks for payment, try google's cache)

Since I knew I hadn't removed any windows component, adding components like netBIOS didn't seem right. Then I stumbled on a solution that worked for me.

My solution: Remove "Client for Microsoft Networks", then add it back (in the connection properies, install client).

PS: Well, when I tried connecting today, the same problem occurred :-(
I had to follow one of the advices and add an entry to the "hosts" file, then it worked again. Windows networking is the most unpredictable software I have ever used!

Better sound quality for the car FM transmitter
Topic: car DIY
If you want aux input for your car stereo, a common option (often the only low-cost option if your stereo does not have an external input of any kind) is to use an FM transmitter (modulator). But if you live in a metropolitan area like me, there will be almost no FM frequency that doesn't have interference so the sound quality won't be satisfactory.

So what I tried doing is to directly wire the antenna from the FM transmitter to the antenna input of the car stereo.

The result: Much better. Without the wire, I had a hard time getting a stereo signal but now that's relatively easy. However if you want a real good sound, I would recommend buying a FM modulator that switches between a direct connection and the car antenna. PIE seems to be a popular manufacturer of such and other devices. Or better yet, buy a car stereo that has AUX input or is AUX input capable.

VerizonWireless Employee Discount
Topic: cell phones
VerizonWireless offers discounts employees of many companies that have business agreements with VZW. Just go to this link and find out if you qualify.

https://b2b.verizonwireless.com/tbmb/rylEnterEmailAddress.do

You MUST put in your work email address that ends with the proper domain name (company.com, university.edu, etc.). You will get an email to that address a link for activating the discount. I got 7% off starting from the next bill or so.

Slik U-8000 Fluid-Effect Tripod
I bought a Slik U-8000 tripod from Buy.com a few weeks ago.

The "fluid" feel was great but my Sony PC-101 was too light for this somewhat heavy-duty tripod. I had to loosen the head all the way to be able to pan without the initial jerk. A heavier camcorder would create a better degree of friction to the joints, I think. The U-8000 seems to be optimized to a mid-size camcorders.

LG VX-3200, VX-3300 data cable, etc.
Topic: cell phones
(This information is current as of Nov. 2005)

The USB data cable for the LG VX3200 and VX3300 REQUIRES a "blob" or a "box" in the middle for it to work. It contains a serial-to-USB converter chip (usually Prolific PL-2303). VX3200 and VX3300 does NOT have a USB interface.

BEWARE: Most of the cheap cables sold in eBay that claim to support the phones simply do not work. It either does not have a box in the middle, or has a box but the circuit inside it doesn't have any chip! See this post in Howard Forums. There does not seem to be a proper working cable under $20.

As a side note, there doesn't seem to be a cheap serial cable either. The LG OEM serial cables (SGDY0007301, SGDY0008501, etc) has a box in the middle and it must be there for a purpose. This means even for a serial cable some type of conversion circuit is still required.

A cable that works:
RadioShack cable (#17-792, only the ones with a box. Identical to the FutureDial cable.) is for VX4500, VX4600 and the VX6000. But it also works with VX3200/3300, though the connector shape doesn't quite match; you need to force it in.

Cables that does not work:
VX6100, VX7000, VX8000, and VX8100 USB cables. Connector fits VX3200/3300 but has no conversion chip.

Another bit of info: VX3300 doesn't support MMS so emailing a ringtone to the phone won't work.

Useful links:
Bitpim support pages: lists compatible cables for several different cell phones
Howard forums: the largest cell phone discussion board.