Windows 8.1 - Skip Microsoft account sign in during installation

To skip this portion of the installation, there are two ways to do it.

Without Internet connection

It will ask you to create a local account instead and will not ask you to sign in to your Microsoft account. In other words,  it will be easier if you disable your internet connection first to skip this totally.


With Internet connection

1. Choose 'Create a new account'

2. Choose 'Sign in without a Microsoft Account'

Paypal phishing scam

You may received another one of these emails. Usually they will warn about a problem with your account and asked that it be reverified when all it does is to trick you into keying in your username and password and then using that info to make illegal transactions.

This time however you may be informed of a 'purchase' that you have recently 'made'.

Of course, knowing that you have not made any such purchase, it alarms you and the first instinct is to click on that link to cancel the transaction.

When you click that link it will bring you to a phishing site that looks familiar to you. It looks the same as the real PayPal site that you visited all these while. You login and by then your account have been compromised.

There are some things you can do to protect yourself. Reading my earlier post will arm you will the knowledge required to protect yourself.

If all that is too technical, then the easiest thing you can do is

1. DO NOT CLICK on such links.
2. Go to WWW.PAYPAL.COM directly and verify if you have indeed made such purchases.

Stage 2 - Scout for new place (part 1)

After having put up my current home up for sale, it was time to scout for the new place.

I was torn between the space the older generation of 5 rooms offers and the full height glass window and underground carpark plus concealed wiring/piping the newer generation offers. In the end I decided to go with the space instead, for the kids' sake.

I am picky. I only prefer 5 room designs that offers the following

1. All the rooms are tucked on side and there is a passage way leading to them. I hate having room doors that opens to the living or dining area.
2. Common bathroom must be near the common rooms, which usually means along the passage way. Reason being, it will be easier for kids and aged parents to get to them instead to go the long way through the kitchen or service yard. Another reason is that, with the common bathroom in the kitchen or the service yard, you will tend to see things that should not exists in bathrooms, like mop etc.
3. Balcony, or at least it was there previously (a lot of owners prefer to level it up to make it part of the living room). I like the feeling of being outdoors without having to leave the house. This is also why I am against window grilles, unless it was for safety reason. Security reason are just an excuse to me
4. A service yard. I have kids and we wash a lot and I do not like hanging my clothes outside. You will never know what the neighbour above throws down (or spit). I also prefer to go the economy way which is to hang the clothes when possible rather than dry them using a dryer and having a separate area from the kitchen for that makes sense as I do not want to them to smell of the things we cook.
5. A study area. I plan to turn it into a entertainment room instead. Living room is strictly for conversations.

After considering so many, I decided on this particular design, or something similar which is about 123sqm, 1/3 bigger than my current unit.

Stage 1 - Sell the current place

I currently own a 4 room HDB flat (newer generation 90 sqm unit) that comes with its internal wiring and piping concealed. While some may hate it as it is harder to renovate, I love it and the extra inconvenience is small price to pay compared to the overall look of the flat.

There is no point having a nice bathroom but with huge ugly PVC piping sticking out like a store thumb.

The wire casing running all over the place and the switches and electrical points not flushing with the walls is an eye sore.

Furthermore, my 10 years old unit do not look that small compared to the 4 room units that HDB offers under BTO nowadays.

It also comes with unblock views. The MRT/Bus interchange is 400m away and there is a wet market, 24hr NTUC supermarket, a coffee shop, 7-11 and hardware stores just 150m away.

The only bad thing about the unit is that the living room faces north west.

I love my home now but my 2 kids need a bigger space to run about and it is time to upgrade.

Have put up the unit for sale, and hopefully the new owner will be happy with it as I currently am.