After 5 years I am graduated!
Posted by Steven Chia in Personal on October 15, 2009
My family and I at my convo
October 09, 2009. This was the day I crossed the platform during the Convocation Ceremonies at Simon Fraser University. I received a Bachelors degree in Business Administration, concentrating in Management Information Systems and Management and Technology. I also received a certification in Computing Studies. It was the day I started a whole new chapter in my life…
It has definitely been a great five years since I sat in my first class and met my first friends at SFU. I had a lot of great moments. But I also had some not-so-great moments. That is what’s so interesting about life. You can never predict what’s going to happen. But if you just persevere then everything will turn out OK. Like the infamous sayings, life is “…like a box of chocolates” or “…like a rollercoaster”. Just enjoy it!
My graduation ceremony was like any other graduation ceremonies–mind you, I’ve been to four others. I dressed up, went to school with my family, received my gown and degree, walked across the AQ gardens, sat down and listened to various people speak about our successes and the future, and finally walked across the stage. The best part about the whole process was actually, believe it or not, walking across the stage. When you get to that stage, you realize that you’re actually finished. That you’re no longer a university student. That you need to get a job. Quick. Overall, I had a fantastic time and it was definitely a highlight of my life. Thank you to everyone who came out and a special thank you to those who have supported me in getting this far!
So what now? What does my degree mean for me and my future? Theoretically it means I will get a better chance than the average person who doesn’t have a degree or any sort of post-secondary education to land that dream job. I guess we will have to wait and see…
Let’s do this!
Edit: I forgot to give a special thanks to the amazing coat rack that smiles.
My coat rack that smiles!
Recover corrupted emails in MS Outlook Express
Posted by Steven Chia in Techie-Stuff on October 2, 2009
A couple of weeks ago I was faced with a challenge of recovering emails from a severly infected PC using Microsoft Outlook Express (OE) 6.0. While spending countless hours looking up ways on how to fix this problem, as well as trying out various software, I realize that I needed to write this down as it probably can save a lot of stress and time for others with similar problems.
The Problem:
- An infected PC with MS OE 6.0 that randomly crashed one day and deleted the entire Inbox
- MS OE emails are compressed into dbx files that make retrieving emails impossible without a third party software
- Replacing corrupted Inbox.dbx file back into the storage folder was unsuccessful in bringing back emails
How OE emails are stored and how to access them:
Each folder found on the side menu in MS OE (e.g, Inbox, Trash, Sent) is stored in a separate file with extension dbx. The dbx file stores the messages entirely and some other information.
Each Identity (item File > Identities in the main menu of OE) creates its own folder for storing dbx files. To locate this folder select from the OE main menu Tools > Options. On the maintenance tab, click on the Maintenance tab and press the Store Folder button. Copy the file path (CTRL-C). Press the windows key on the keyboard or press Start and then click Run. Paste the file path and press enter.
The Solution
After trying out different demos on email recovery, I decided to go ahead and purchase DBXtract from http://www.oehelp.com/dbxtract/default.aspx for $11 USD. It’s a relatively simple application where all you need to do is follow the simple instructions they provided after downloading the file. It was able to retrieve many, if not all, of the lost emails. After retrieval, all emails could be simply placed back into OE by dragging it into a folder on the sidebar (e.g, Inbox or Inbox-Old). The only downside to this software is that it takes a very long time to extract. Depending on how many emails you need to extract it could take a few days.
Go Canucks Go! Go Ovechkin Go!
Posted by Steven Chia in Sports on October 1, 2009
Vancouver Canucks’ first game is on tonight as they take on the Calgary Flames. The Canucks look fresh and ready to play. They have three superb lines including their new additions Sergei Shirokov (a.k.a. Pavel Bure #2) and Mikael Samuelsson. Wow, I remember having Samuelsson’s hockey card back in elementary school. He didn’t look young at all in those cards. The D is not bad also. I very much liked our off-season transaction, picking up Christian Ehrhoff.
My prediction: Canucks – 4, Calgary – 1
Watch out Flames! Go Canucks go!
Remember last year?
#8 – Ovechkin
On another note, Ovechkin is picking up where he left off — a monster… err… I meant a force in the NHL. Already up three points and two goals in the early third period. Absolutely the most exciting player on the NHL. If only Canucks picked him up…
October pull-back? Again?
Posted by Steven Chia in Investing on October 1, 2009
Disclaimer: I am by no means a professional at investing. The purpose of this post is to share my thoughts and my findings to you.
October has usually been a negative month for investing. This pattern continued today as the market on the first day of October were hit hard with indexes Dow down 140 points and TSX down 225 points in early trading. So the question is ‘Sell in October and get back in the New Year?’. I found this great article on MarketWatch.com about how this year’s October is different; that we will not see any major corrections in October as compared to previous years. We will, however, see a minor pull-back. Each year, markets will typically see major selloffs during May or in June and more selloffs in October. This was definitely not the case this year as we are approximately 58% higher than we were in March. Following the patterns of a market after a recession is key to figuring out just what will happen this year. So in my opinion, lay off buying in October a little bit.
Read the full article here: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-october-correction-inevitable-2009-10-01
Steven’s stocks to watch for October 1, 2009:
- Citigroup (NYSE:C) – Q3 2009 earnings release on October 15, 2009 11:00AM EDT
- Sandvine (TSE:SVC) – Q3 2009 earnings release on October 8, 2009 8:30AM EDT
- Motorola (NYSE:MOT) – I see a comeback with the introduction of the Motorola CLIQ in the US mid-October
Say whaaat?
Posted by Steven Chia in Random on September 30, 2009
My first post! Here’s something funny.