Allow a program to connect only a particular internet IP address

How to specifically allow an application from connecting only a particular online IP address, but none others? Sometimes you want to block a particular program from connecting to internet. You can use a firewall program to do it. I recently wanted to allow a program to connect only a particular web server to allow it to download some data. Here is how I did it

Install COMODO Firewall (Free for home use)
Version tested and verified: 7.0.31 on July 22nd 2014
https://www.comodo.com

Steps:

• Open the COMODO firewall interface and go to "Tasks".
• Firewall tasks > Advanced setting > Application Rules
• Right click somewhere inside the window and "Add". A new 'Comodo Application Rule' window will pop up.
• On the top "Name" field, give the full path of the application EXE file.
• Check "Use a Custom Ruleset"
• Add > Copy from > Ruleset > Blocked Application

• Double click on "Block All Incoming and Outgoing Requests"
• On the "Destination Address" tab (middle one), drop down "IPv4 Single address" and type in the IP address you want the application to access. 
• Click the checkbox "Exclude". Now it means that the application can only access the specified IP address and any other IP address connection will be silently blocked by the firewall.

You can check the log by going to COMODO interface > Tasks > general tasks > View Logs > View firewall events.

Did it work for you?

More information:
Application Rules, Firewall Protection, Best Firewall | Internet Security v6.3 http://help.comodo.com/topic-72-1-451-4772-.html

Calibre: Author as "Last name, First name" in Calibre GUI display

Calibre (http://calibre-ebook.com) is a fantastic tool for managing ebooks. One of the things I wanted was to display author name as "Last name, First name" in the GUI for easy viewing. I could not find a single click way to do it, but here's one workaround.

You can create a custom field and show author name displayed as "Last name, First name" in the Calibre GUI.

1. Write click on the header bar. (put your cursor on "Author" and right click)

2. Click Add your own columns

3. Click the + sign on the right

4. Click 'Quick Create' ISBN

5. Replace the filed as follows:

Lookup name > author_sort

Column Heading > AuthorSort

Column type > Column Built from other column

Template > {author_sort}

6. Don't forget to click OK and then "Apply" at top left. Calibre should now ask you to restart.

7. Restart Calibre and now you should be able to see an additional column to the right most with author name displayed as "Last name, First name" format.

P.S: This assumes that your Calibre library metadata has been properly formatted.  

More info:
Last name, first name in calibre folder tree structure - MobileRead Forums http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112044

Question about displaying the authors - MobileRead Forums http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139783

Calibre newbie needs help with author sort. - MobileRead Forums http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100956

calibre tips and tricks: calibre custom columns
http://blog.calibre-ebook.com/2011/11/calibre-custom-columns.html

Domain transfer steps: site downtime, delay for GoDaddy to Namecheap

I have a domain registered at GoDaddy and hosted at BlueHost. I wanted to transfer domain from GoDaddy to Namecheap because of better deal at Namecheap. Here are the steps I followed and the time these steps took.

1. Purchase the domain renewal at Namecheap.com. Now you should get an e-mail receipt from Namecheap.com with order/purchase details. You should also get another email asking you to get EPP code from GoDaddy.
2. Login to GoDaddy.com and get EPP code. This will be emailed to you instantly. (Check the 2nd link at the bottom References section for step-by-step instructions)
3. WhoisGuard protection needs to be turned off. Go to DomainByProxy and do it. It will be turned off instantly and your Whois information (name, e-mail, physical address etc) will be disclosed to the world!
4. You should now get another email from Namecheap involving eNom Inc for domain transfer authorization(from info@transfer-approval.com). It is legit email, not a scam since it looked suspicious to me initially at first look. You can immediately approve it.
5. Then finally GoDaddy will send you domain transfer confirmation. Accept it immediately.
6. Now your domain will be deleted from GoDaddy and the process from your end is done. All the above steps took 30 minutes or less. No website downtime at any point so far. Wait for the transfer completion.
7. If you login to Namecheap, you should see the pending transfer information
8. In another 30 minutes, I got the confirmation email from Namecheap about the completion of transfer. All done with no pain!!

All the above steps took 1 hr or less. No website downtime at all

Additional Info:

• The nameservers for the domain (from your hosting provider) does not change. You do not need to do anything on hosting side
  
• Make sure that you have full access to the admin e-mail of your current domain (at GoDaddy). EPP code will be sent to this e-mail.
• Here you can find some info for avoiding downtime. I did not follow it as I was fine with short downtime, if it happened.

How to transfer a domain into Namecheap without a huge downtime? (Free DNS, Transfer to Namecheap, ) • Namecheap.com Knowledgebase

http://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/582/0/

References:

1) 6 Steps To Transfer Domain Name to New Registrar http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2008/07/how-to-transfer-domain-name-to-new-registrar/

2) How to transfer a domain from GoDaddy (Transfer to Namecheap) • Namecheap.com Knowledgebase

http://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/876

3) Time for Successfull Domain Transfer? - Domain Names - Web Hosting Talk

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=569481

4) Things to Know About Transferring a Domain | DNSimple 
http://blog.dnsimple.com/things-to-know-about-transferring-a-domain

Fix Skype and Dell Webcam Central desktop sharing and video call problem

I updated to latest Skype and when I tried to use video call assisted by Dell Webcam Central, I got this error.

"To use this feature, ensure that the video streaming format is not MJPEG or H.264."

New Skype does not allow Dell Webcam Central to share desktop or even add any effects/animation because of some changes that have apparently "improved" video calls. I wanted to share my desktop through Skype-Dell Webcam Central. This is how I fixed the issue.

Remove latest Skype and install a "Skype Special Edition" (Skype 6.1.999.130)

http://www.skype.com/go/getskype-sse

(Another version: http://download.skype.com/msi/SkypeSetup_6.1.0.129.msi)

It should be now compatible with Dell Webcam Central. If there is any issue, go to 'Capture mode' (Change from IM mode) and you will be able to see your own video. Drop down the camera icon below the video window and make sure that you have selected a video resolution lower than 1280x720.

If you want to update Dell Webcam Central, click the question mark on top right corner and click "Check for Software update..."

Reference:

Why can’t I make video calls on the latest version of Skype for Windows desktop? https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA12252/why-can-t-i-make-video-calls-on-the-latest-version-of-skype-for-windows-desktop

Video quality poor after skype update - Skype Community 
http://community.skype.com/t5/Windows-desktop-client/Video-quality-poor-after-skype-update/td-p/1516855

Pink Comodo Dragon browser back to white

One fine day suddenly the background color of my portable Comodo Dragon browser turned pink. I looked up online and didn't find a right solution. After playing around, I did the following trick and bam!, the browser is back to white!

Go to Settings > Show advanced settings > uncheck "Use hardware acceleration when available" and restart the browser

I can reproduce the problem by checking the box and restarting again. Did you find it useful?

BASH: Plot graph with one line command using gnuplot

This is for a quick visual inspection of your job data output as XY plot. The XY data containing is read from the file data_input.dat

    1.00    0.00000

    2.00    0.74103

    3.00    0.79751

      ..     ....

      ..     ....

$ gnuplot

> plot "data_input.dat"

Now a scatter plot will pop up as a window. If you are logged into remote session with ssh, make sure you have forwarded the X. i.e.  logged in with -X flag

$ ssh -X yourhost

Change it to line plot by adding 'with lines'

$ gnuplot

> plot "data_input.dat" with lines

__________________________________________________________

Now for more advanced options:

1) To save the plot as png image:

add set terminal png, set output "plot.png"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

set terminal png

set output "plot.png"
plot "data_input.dat" with lines
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now the plot will be saved as 'plot.png' into working directory.
You can open the image from terminal using  eog (eye of gnome)

$ eog plot.png

2) To label the X and Y and plot grid:
add set ylabel "RMS", set xlabel "Time" and set grid
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

set terminal png

set output "plot.png"
set ylabel "RMS"
set xlabel "Time"
set grid
plot "data_input.dat" with lines
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

3)  If you want to plot 1st and 5th column in your data_input.dat:
add 'using 1:5' in plot command
 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

set terminal png

set output "plot.png"
set ylabel "RMS"
set xlabel "Time"
set grid
plot "data_input.dat" using 1:5 with lines
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

4) To plot two data series in the same plot and label each line:
add next series after a comma


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

set terminal png

set output "plot.png"
set ylabel "RMS"
set xlabel "Time"
set grid
plot "data_input.dat" using 1:2 with lines title 'data-1',  "data_input.dat" using 1:5 with lines title 'data-5'
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 To plot many series, it's convenient to use the line continuation character, "\" .
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

set terminal png

set output "plot.png"
set ylabel "RMS"
set xlabel "Time"
set grid
plot "data_input.dat" using 1:2 with lines title 'data-1', \
       "data_input.dat" using 1:3 with lines title 'data-3'  \
       "data_input.dat" using 1:5 with lines title 'data-5'  \
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5) Running it from a script

Put all these commands into a script and run if you have to run them several times

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

#!/usr/bin/gnuplot
reset
set terminal png

set output "plot.png"
set ylabel "RMS"
set xlabel "Time"
set grid
plot "data_input.dat" using 1:2 with lines title 'data-1', \
       "data_input.dat" using 1:3 with lines title 'data-3'  \
       "data_input.dat" using 1:5 with lines title 'data-5'  \
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

matplotlib is another even better option for advanced graph creation

More examples:
Gnuplot 4.2 Tutorial
http://www.duke.edu/~hpgavin/gnuplot.html

Plot your graphs with command line gnuplot » Linux by Examples
http://linux.byexamples.com/archives/487/plot-your-graphs-with-command-line-gnuplot/

Data visualization tools for Linux
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-datavistools/

Log BASH command error and write the output to a file along with the STDOUT

BASH shell error (STDERR) is displayed on the screen by default.  For the following find command, all the output, including error is displayed on screen

find /var/lib/. -name “*.py”

bash$ find /var/lib/. -name "*.py*"
find: /var/lib/./zfs: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dav: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./mlocate: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./php/session: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./ldap: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./aide: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dovecot: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./nvidia: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./nfs/statd: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./pgsql: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./sss/pipes/private: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./sss/db: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./iptraf: Permission denied
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.py
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.pyo
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.pyc
find: /var/lib/./imap: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./mailman/archives/private: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dhcpv6: Permission denied

If the following command is used, it will only write out the ‘find’ result to the log file, not any error.

find /var/lib/. -name “*.py” > find_py.log

How can you log the error along with the output to a file so that you can read it later or from a remote session?

Follow the commands and output below


find /var/lib/. -name “*.py” > find_py.log 

[Only STDOUT written to a log file; (STDERR output to screen only) ]

bash$ find /var/lib/. -name "*.py*" > find_py.log
find: /var/lib/./zfs: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dav: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./mlocate: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./php/session: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./ldap: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./aide: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dovecot: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./nvidia: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./nfs/statd: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./pgsql: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./sss/pipes/private: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./sss/db: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./iptraf: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./imap: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./mailman/archives/private: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dhcpv6: Permission denied

bash$ cat find_py.log
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.py
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.pyo
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.pyc


find /var/lib/. -name “*.py” 2> find_py.log

[Only STDERR written to a log file; (No STDERR output to screen; Only STDOUT output on screen)]

bash$ find /var/lib/. -name "*.py*" 2> find_py.log
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.py
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.pyo
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.pyc

bash$ cat find_py.log
find: /var/lib/./zfs: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dav: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./mlocate: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./php/session: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./ldap: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./aide: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dovecot: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./nvidia: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./nfs/statd: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./pgsql: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./sss/pipes/private: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./sss/db: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./iptraf: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./imap: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./mailman/archives/private: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dhcpv6: Permission denied

find /var/lib/. -name “*.py” 2> find_py.log 1>&2 

STDOUT and STDERR written to a log file; (Nothing output to screen)

bash$ find /var/lib/. -name "*.py*" 2> find_py.log 1>&2

bash$ cat find_py.log
find: /var/lib/./zfs: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dav: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./mlocate: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./php/session: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./ldap: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./aide: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dovecot: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./nvidia: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./nfs/statd: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./pgsql: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./sss/pipes/private: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./sss/db: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./iptraf: Permission denied
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.py
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.pyo
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.pyc
find: /var/lib/./imap: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./mailman/archives/private: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dhcpv6: Permission denied


find /var/lib/. -name “*.py” 2>&1 | tee find_py_tee.log

STDOUT and STDERR written to a log file; (Also displayed on screen live while writing the log)

bash$ find /var/lib/. -name "*.py*" 2>&1 | tee find_py_tee.log
find: /var/lib/./zfs: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dav: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./mlocate: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./php/session: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./ldap: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./aide: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dovecot: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./nvidia: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./nfs/statd: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./pgsql: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./sss/pipes/private: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./sss/db: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./iptraf: Permission denied
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.py
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.pyo
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.pyc
find: /var/lib/./imap: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./mailman/archives/private: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dhcpv6: Permission denied

bash$ cat find_py_tee.log
find: /var/lib/./zfs: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dav: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./mlocate: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./php/session: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./ldap: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./aide: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dovecot: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./nvidia: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./nfs/statd: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./pgsql: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./sss/pipes/private: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./sss/db: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./iptraf: Permission denied
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.py
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.pyo
/var/lib/./zope/bin/zopeservice.pyc
find: /var/lib/./imap: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./mailman/archives/private: Permission denied
find: /var/lib/./dhcpv6: Permission denied


The 2>&1 redirect STDERR to STDOUT.
This will record any errors to the logfile along with STDOUT.

Dell Streak 5: USSD code problem fix for Gingerbread 2.3.3

hunderteins of XDA form has done an excellent job to fix the USSD code problem in Dell Streak 5 Gingerbread Android 2.3.3. TheManii put it easy for us to update the fix comfortably using StreakMod.  It's working perfect for me and you can try it if you want. If you want to fix, here's the detailed instruction on how you can fix it.


This tutorial assume you have Gingerbread installed in your DS. If you have already flashed streakmod, skip the first part. If you have rooted following my previous post, you may already have flashed StreakMod.


Requirements and downloads

• You should have your Dell Streak drivers installed on your PC. It's available from Dell support site. http://ftp1.us.dell.com/Handheld/R288920.exe

• You need fastboot/ADB toolshttp://mirror2.streakdroid.com/manii/Tools/Fastboot+ADB.zip

• Unzip to a folder; say C:\Fastboot+ADB

• StreakMod recovery: Download the file recovery-v0.3.2.8-beta.zip (3.57 MB)http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=840326. Unzip and copy ‘recovery.img’  to fastboot tools directory (i.e. C:\Fastboot+ADB\Win32\recovery.img)

• QSSD Fix; http://mirror2.streakdroid.com/manii/misc/USSD%20Fix/update-USSDfix-2.zip Copy the file to the SD card.

Process overview:
A) Enter fastboot mode and flash the streakmod custom recovery
B) Reboot to the streakmod recovery and select option 2 and then ‘update from update.zip’ to select update-USSDfix-2.zip

A) Flash the streakmod custom recovery

• Connect  your DS to PC (You already installed drivers to it) and copy update-USSDfix-2.zip to the DS SD card.
• Stop USB connection and power down DS (DS is still physically connected to the PC through the cable)
• Press and hold down the camera button and then press the power button. Release the button when you see a white screen
• Select Fast boot mode on the top right on your mobile (DS display will show FASTBOOT_MODE)
• Now it’s time to do some DOS commands from your PC to communicate with DS through the connected USB cable.
• On your PC, navigate to the path where you unzipped the fastboot tools.(C:\Fastboot+ADB). You have already copied the streakmod recovery (C:\Fastboot+ADB\Win32\recovery.img) to this folder. (see requirements)
• Press Shift key and from right click menu open a DOS command window on that folder
• Type  'fastboot -i 0x413c flash recovery recovery.img' without the quotes and hit enter. You can see that your DS screen shows the response.(By the way, you can copy paste the commands to the DOS prompt. Right click on DOS command and paste.)
• Type 'fastboot -i 0x413c reboot' without the quotes and hit enter.  

B) Reboot to the streakmod recovery, select option 2 (update) and select ‘update from update.zip’ to select update-USSDfix-2.zip file.

• On reboot, immediately go in recovery mode (hold both volume buttons while powering on). Don’t let it go to full system boot yet.
• Select option 2: Update from update.pkg on sdcard. Now this would go to be the custom streakmod recovery. (See version number at lower bottom in yellow font. If not, you are not on StreakMod and you can't proceed) 
• Select
• update-USSDfix-2.zip
and proceed instructions to patch
• Now the patching process will start and finish. On rebooting, your DS will regain the USSD power! Try your USSD code and see if it works. 
• [Optional] Post your experience here if you feel like. :)

Thanks again to XDA geeks hunderteins, TheManii, DJ_Steve and the rest 

Reference

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1558089

http://techienetizen.blogspot.com/2011/12/dell-streak-5-root-gingerbread-android.html

XPS15z: USB 3.0 incompatibility and problem with external hard disks

Dell XPS 15z laptop's USB 3.0 ports does not work with at least one USB 3.0 external hard disks out there; Toshiba Canvio 1 TB USB 3.0 portable external HDD.

Check the Dell forum for the details of the problem.

XPS 15z laptop USB 3.0 problem

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/p/19426370/20008452.aspx

The hard disk works fine with the USB 2.0/eSATA combo port at USB 2.0 speed. (~30MB/s). The hard disk is not recognized at the USB 3.0 port. When I plugged it, the hard disk blinked with blue light continuously and nothing happened. The same HDD gives around 90 MB/s data transfer speed in my Desktop's USB 3.0 port indicating that the hard disk works fine.

So far, the mother board has been replaced and that didn't fix the problem. A newer laptop also had the same problem. It appears to me that the USB 3.0 port does not provide sufficient power to such external hard disks. To test this, I purchased a cheap USB split Y power adapter cable and plugged the external hard disk to both of the USB 3.0 ports at the same time; the additional plug is expected to provide the extra power to the hard disk. My suspicion was right; now the hard disk is recognized by Windows. Since the split cable I bought supported only USB 2.0, I get only about 30 MB/s speed. 

Now one option for me is to get a USB 3.0 power adapter split Y cable if I need the super speed with this hard disk, which is about three times of the USB 2.0 speed in real life. Three times speed is useful if you have huge data to transfer; say you'll be done in 20 minutes instead of 1 hr.

Is it a design flaw from Intel in manufacturing such a motherboard? Is it Dell's fault in not disclosing this potential incompatibility to the customers when advertising USB 3.0 as a specification of the laptop? Or is it a problem from Toshiba in making a power hungry external hard drive? Who sets the standards for USB 3.0 power specification and requirements? (if there is such a standard).

I've no idea.

__________________

Update on April 18th 2012

Previously, I reported that the drive works with USB 2.0 Y split cable. It could transfer files in USB 2.0 high-speed (~30 MB/s) from that connection. But to get the USB 3.0 super-speed (~90 MB/s), I purchased a USB 3.0 split Y cable from Amazon.com. As I expected, the drive did work this time with USB 3.0 transfer rate. The problem is solved. But two of my USB ports are gonna be occupied if I want USB 3.0 speed. Well, at least it works. So finally, the problem seems that either the Dell XPS 15z doesn't provide sufficient power to the USB Hard disk or this specific USB hard disk is under powered from a single USB port. 

Hey, Dell, Intel, Toshiba....who is ready to take the responsibility?

 

XPS 15z: Why you should not buy a premium Dell laptop

UPDATE: Please scroll down to the bottom for updates on my issue. Probably, I should change the title since Dell offered a satisfactory solution to me.

I recently purchased a USB 3.0 external HDD (Toshiba Canvio 1 TB USB 3.0 portable external HDD) and found that my Dell XPS 15z laptop does not recognize the HDD on the USB 3.0 port.  I called the technical support and they sent a technician. He came to my apartment to fix this issues along with a couple of other issues which included manufacturing defects of the laptop hinge part and the bottom casing. Well, yesterday I saw how poorly this laptop components are manufactured/assembled and how poorly the Dell technicians are trained. Unfortunately, the attempted repair did much more damage than any issues I previously had. See the pictures of my laptop after an attempted repair by a Dell approved technician.

 

Well, I thought Dell will take the responsibility to resolve the unfortunate situation and step up to support it's customer for the inconvenience caused; especially since I've purchased premium support from Dell and since I'm a Dell Preferred Account holder. But Dell telephone technical support in India has totally let me down today. It's quite disappointing especially since I considered myself loyal to the company products. If you read my older posts, you'll realize how much I liked my Dell XPS 15z. I've also posted helpful hints for fellow XPS 15z users since Dell Inc was incompetent to provide user friendly manuals for it's customers. In fact, some of my pages are on top ten hits for Dell XPS 15z related Google search for a reason; simply there is no other online resources available to the XPS 15z customers. 

My observations:

• The XPS 15z casing components are very flimsy. It'll deform easily if not delicately handled. (Don't attempt to replace the battery or RAM memory or internal hard disk yourself unless you are skillful; it is such a mess to open the case)
• When the technician opened the casing, I saw that many of the internal components were made by Foxconn, which makes parts for Apple MacBooks, iPhones etc. (Probably, that's why Dell chose to contract them for XPS 15z parts?)
• The contract based technicians are probably not trained to open and handle XPS 15z
•  The Dell telephone tech support teams were not friendly. They appears to me as adamant and unhelpful adhering to rules rather than trying to provide a good solution to the frustrated customer.
•  I would really like to have a support team and shop in my city, so that I can drive there and get a solution from the experts rather than untrained contract technicians. But I believe I don't have a choice with Windows PC manufactures. I have to compromise on that.

 I'm awaiting for the solution by Dell and let me see how Dell will handle the situation. One thing is sure, I will not recommend a Dell product to anyone looking to purchase a premium laptop. I'm willing to pay more money for a better customer experience and product support. Dell is simply not the company that can provide you that. 

UPDATE:
I wrote a clear e-mail stating my problems, my service tag, customer number, my contact number etc to Dell CEO Micheal Dell attaching the above pictures. Within 24 hrs, I got a call from Dell corporate office. They have acknowledged the issue and offered me a full refund or a brand new one at the earliest they can configure and ship. I opted for a new one. I think I'm satisfied now since they took effort to reach me and offer a satisfactory solution. I would still buy another Dell product if I find the product is worth my hard earned money. I'll update the story as it unravels.

I also want to know whether these USB 3.0 external hard drive configs match for the stated devices. I'm not sure at this moment whether it's a specification mismatch problem with my laptop or it's the external HDD. I would suggest you not to buy  Toshiba Canvio 1 TB USB 3.0 portable external HDD if you are a XPS 15z user. I'll update the issue as I have some.