A Random Outing with Ji Yang

Went out to Plaza Lowyat with Ji Yang today. He drove his Myvi to fetch me there (thanks man!!). While in Bukit Bintang area, the whole damn place was congested as hell. And best of all, parking at Lowyat was full by the time we got there. ==" Oh well, after spending another 20 minutes or so in the jam, he parked the car in Times Square. No big deal. lol.
Anyway, he managed to get the stuff he wanted, which includes a Cooler Master Infinite, 320GB External HDD (Seagate) and 100 pieces of DVD-Rs. As for me, I finally got this ->
Yup, it's a Microsoft Sidewinder X3. Got it for a mere RM49. Looks like I can finally retire my Razer. lol. Very pleased. ^^

Pro -

- Shape much better than the other Sidewinder, fits my hand better
- Nice and smooth
- 2000dpi + laser @ RM49
- Programmable buttons
- Nice rubber scroll wheel. Also very smooth
- Side buttons not that hard to reach

Cons -

- A tad bit too light
- No LCD (has to be expected, lol)
- Might feel "cheap" (to some, lol)

Anyway, we then decided to makan at Old Town. I took the wheel of the Myvi. It's quite an okay car, really. Throttle response is good, and the brakes are reasonably strong. Engine noise might be a bit intrusive to some, but its fine under normal driving. Acceleration wise, it's good up till 60kn/h or so, more than that, there's not much power already. Suspension is fine for city driving, but when driven moderately hard, it starts to show its weakness. Body roll is also a bit too much, but it has to be expected for a car like this. Anyway, it is a reasonably good car for that particular price range.

While at Old Town, I had some chicken rice for dinner. lol.
Nice and filling.. ^^ Also had their signature white coffee. Total bill came to Rm14.30 each. @@ But since it's nice, I'm not complaining.

Thanks again to Ji Yang for this outing. =)

Using Winamp to Manage your Ipod

Firstly, you need to have WinAmp installed (duh!). If not, head down to "http://www.winamp.com/media-player/download/en-us" to download Winamp.

Then you will need to make sure that your iPod appears as a drive in "Computer (Vista/7) " or "My Computer (XP)" .

Then start to install Winamp. Make sure that iPod support selection in Portable Media Player Support (which is a part of the Winamp Library) checked.

Start Winamp. Make sure Media Library is shown. On the left, under Portables, you iPod should show up there.

You can drag and drop music into your iPod this way. The song list might not update itself automatically, so you would need to click on Portables again.

To remove your iPod, right click on Portables, then your iPod and choose Eject Device,.

Done. ^^

Introduction : Microsoft Office 2010 Beta

Managed to get my hands on the beta version of Office 2010. Let's see how much improved is it. Alright, here it is when downloading. Love the speed. Managed to download the whole installation under 1 hour 30minutes.

Extracting the files. Took me almost 10 minutes on my laptop running a Core Duo T2450 processor.

EULA. Just click "Accept" to continue..

Options for you to Upgrade, Keep All Previous Versions or Remove other application.

Installation progress. This took me almost an hour to install on my crappy laptop.

Installation completed. A restart is necessary.

Now MS gives you the option to send a ":)" or a ":(" based on ur feedback.

Here's the "new" Power Point. Only minor changes to the menu bar.

Most changes are here. File save menu, printing etc can be found here. Since Power Point's color is orange, it can be found around the file menu.

The "new" Excel. Like Power Point, most obvious changes are to the menu bar.

File menu options for Excel. Notice the green theme.

Lastly, the most used Office component, Word. Users from Office2007 will feel right at home. For those from 2003, things are a little harder.

Blue is used in the file menu this time.

I suppose this is all for now. Will continue using Office 2010 and provide more feedback. Do let me know if there's anything you all wanna see from Office 2010.

PPStreaming

Yup. It had to happen. I'll happily rant about anything I want.

PPS, or otherwise known as PPstreaming, is a chinese developed software meant to stream videos. Streaming is a process of rapidly getting data and playing back, almost instantaneously. Data only flows through the computer, and does not occupy any disk space.

Initially, the software is used in china (duh!). The internet speed there is actually way faster than what we have here, and so, by streaming, it is a logical idea too, since not many people likes to download movies. And from what I can tell, chinese can stream movies without affecting their download speeds, as they have a much better bandwidth.

Now here lies the problem. Some smart ass chinese who came here to study, tried to PPstream in Malaysia, but failed, as the speeds were atrocious. I bet he/she told some Malaysian that streaming is the future and bla bla bla.

Thing is though, streaming is good, but please do it in the confines of your own house, not in a shared house, or a hostel. The whole house's net will crawl, and people will hate you, your children, grandchilden and 3 generations after that. It is downright selfish to stream in a shared house, as PPstream can really suck the bandwidth. I've seen, in a house equipped with a 2MB/s Streamyx line, PPstream can use up to 1.8MB/s. That is what we all call a leeching program, and not even torrents can achieve such speeds. Sure, you benefit by enjoying your movie, and not wasting any hard drive space, but at what cost?

Conclusion? Stop streaming and get a life. I don't mind people downloading torrents, but PPstream is just way too stingy. To all PPstreamers, you know who you are.

Streamyx in Kampar

MSN Spam Issues? Read on..

-Have Three (3) Secret (L) ADMIRERS (L). Find out who: http://www.nondeliveredmail.com/open.php

-http://www.greatfotozz.com (A):D(Y)

-Girls just wanna have fun..Do you wanna have a female in your life?! HELLYES(Y): http://www.singlez-place.com/click.php

-http://www.is-this-u.com/?user=ericmaxman
YOU'RE HERE !!!! :o:o:o

-http://Gallery-Support.com/?user=ericmaxman&image=DSC00111.JPG

-kenyap83 check out these awesome pics from the awesome party LOL http://ericmaxman.my-xmas-party-pics.com

-WOW kenyap83 I found this great webpage that is giving away a free Ipod Nano for the Holiday Season, this is amazing go sign up for yours before they are all gone http://ericmaxman.cpacell.com

-http://awesome.quickgiftz.com

-OMG u gotta see this! Go here: http://ericmaxman.offerz-4u.com

-hey kenyap83 hey look http://ericmaxman.fddofd.com

-http://tubehq.net ...coool!

-hey hey... is this something for you? (6) http://www.soulmateseekerz.com/xxx.php

-http://www.singlezcomehere.com/18.php date them (L) :D

-http://www.singlezcomehere.com/chat.php You need to find a new lover...right now (L)

These are just of the many spam that I received lately. I can get very annoyed with those spambots attacking me. But I have a very simple solution for you guys. Read on to find out more.

One reason why someone got infected is because they clicked on the link without knowing where does it lead them to. The owner might not even know if his computer is a bot for spamming other users.

The solution? Tell them to change their password to something stronger, not just simple words. Mix it with alphabets and numbers.

Please leave a comment if you find this useful. Thank you.

Firefox 3.1 beta 4.. BROKEN !!

I just downloaded this today. And to my disappointment, it was worst that the Beta 3. I can't close the last tab to close FF3 ala Chrome, and the Undo Closed Tab is broken !! I can't undo the actual last tab. What comes out is actually a few tabs before that, and it then gets all jumbled up..

How to hide files in JPEG images

Hmm. Ever wondered why some low res JPEGs has such enormous sizes? Well, here is the reason. There is a WinRAR archive inside the JPEG. Here are the steps to teach you how to do one yourself.

1. Move the files you want to archive into a new folder. I put mine into C:\New Folder. Try to keep it short for future use.
2. Right click on the file that you want to get archived, and select "Add to archive"
3. The RAR archive should appear by now.
4. Open up the Command Prompt. Start - Run - command. Type cd.. twice or until you get to the C:\ drive. Then type in cd New Folder to access the New Folder
   
5. Now type in copy /b lamborghini-reventon-2.jpg + klmcodec475.exe.rar combined.jpg where lamborghini-reventon-2.jpg is your original image file, klmcodec475.exe.rar is the file to be hidden and combined.jpg is where the files are combined.
6. When you open up combined.jpg, you will still get the original picture.
7. But if you open with WinRAR, the hidden file shall appear.
   

Why I like Windows 7

Although it is still in beta, and I am using build 7000, I must say that I am very impressed with what Microsoft has came out with so far.

Things that I like ->

• Awesome looking taskbar, improved a lot since Win95 to Vista. It even has the Aero effect that Vista doesn't.
• Title bar that is Aero enabled. Again, an improvement over Vista. Vista's one only has Aero when not maximized. It will turn black when maximized.
• Removable drives not have the blue state bar to show capacity. Yeah, Vista's one was cool, but it only worked for fis=xed drive, ie -> HDDs. Now, even USB drives will show that.
• More responsive. Yeah, it does indeed feel faster than Vista. Running on the same computer with Vista, 7 definitely feels more snappier.
• Action Center. Not from Vista. Cool feature, where anything that needs your attention will be shown here.
• UAC has been also improved since Vista. In Vista, almost every app you open triggers the UAC, even Microsoft's own apps. Now, there is a slider that enables UAC to pop up on certain occasions only. Although I do feel it can be improved a bit more. Say maybe if it remembers certain apps?

That is not all. There are more than just these few. As for now, for those who did not get 7 through Microsoft, there are ways to obtain the beta DVD, but I cannot reveal it here. And for those who are using 7, I would like to hear from you guys.

PCFair - Round 2

I went to PCFair. Again. Today. At least I bought some stuff.Yup, Kaspersky Internet Security 2009. The listed price was RM159. I got is for Rm85. Not a bad deal at all. After all, it is for 3 users.
And then my brother bought this headset for around RM40. Sound quality? Not too bad.

Even on the last day, the crowd is still crazy. And I have to remind you guys not to follow those "nuts" who try to guide you through the other way in. Following them will make you go in a big circle.

And, where is my proper speaker section? It used to have a whole hall dedicated only to audiophiles. And now? 2 booths at the end of it. Pathetic.

And the first hall. Geez, how do I even put this to words? Is it PCFair or Semi-Broadband Fair? Before this, the first hall is where the prettiest (usually) girls are at. This time, we are bombarded with tons of people trying to promote semi-broadband packages in Malaysia. It sucks. What was at the first hall? TMNut Screamyx, P1, Celcum and Maxis. And the da** iPhone..

PCFair Sucks

Screw it. I went to PCFair today. First thing that came to me was the iPhone. Godamnit. It is a bloody overhyped phone. Please stop it, it gets darn annoying. And then the guys from Streamyx swarmed over to me. I really wanted to shout at them about the speed I surf using streamyx. No really, imagine downloading a 100MB file @ 100 bytes per second. No wonder streamyx got last place in the World's Worst Semi Broadband Survey.

Then there was the hardware, or rather the lack of it. I remember, a few years back, ASUS, Gigabyte they all had the pride to display all and future motherboards and graphics cards that are coming soon. And what were they doing this time around? Yet again overhyping over the god-forsaken underpowered EeePC. Damn. And then there was the babes. Which are not as nice as before. Nuff said.

Traffic. sucks. I waited 45 minutes for a bus to KLCC. Because people parked illegally. But it was not their fault. Some smart ass decided that the car park is a waste of space, lets build a building. And so they did. People could not find any parking, and decided to double park. The the jam begins. Well, to be honest, parking space in KLCC is still aplenty. I saw a few empty parking spaces while walking there.

I will avoid going to any future PCFairs in a foreseeable future. Simply because it underdelivers. Crap. Unless there is anything in particular that I want (but then there is Low yat plaza), I would not go to another PCFair. Again.

But it's not all bad. While walking through Suria KLCC, I saw this beauty.
Yup. A Mercedes Benz C63 AMG. A real one. Not the bloody bodykit wannabe.


Nothing much here to distinguish it from the latest facelifted C class.
Well, it says here 6.3, but the engine is really a 6.2 litre one. But still packs one hell of a punch.
But upon closer inspection, look at the cross drilled disc brakes, and those gorgeous rims. StunningAs jezza says, there is an ex-murderer in the engine, you would be extremely lucky to get put of the car alive.

Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 A Little More In Depth

Since this is a beta, bugs are still aplenty. For example, when having lots of downloads in the list, clearing the list seems to reset the download that is going on. And while opening tabs, the " | " sometimes does not jump to the address bar automatically. RAM usage has been better when compared to 3.0.8. And the RAM usage does not go down when minimized to the taskbar. But other than those minor flaws, it is still a good browser. Although I would recommend a few more new additions, like -

1. Copy a link and having a "Paste and Go". Come on, Opera and Chrome already has it.
2. Minimize RAM usage when minimized. I am aware that manual tweaking is possible, but it may not be a cup of tea to the less tech inclined.

Firefox - The RAM eater

Have a look at this.

50 tabs.

Yes, 50 tabs.

My New GC - Radeon HD4670

Bought this from Viewnet for RM270. Cheap and powerful card, IMO. I would have bought a 9600GSO, but that would require a PCIE power. No intention of using that at the moment, although I have it.

It comes with Analog, DVI and HDMI output. The HDMI output even has a 7.1 channel audio output. Nice.. What's not nice? I'd expected dual DVI. And where the hell is my CrossfireX connectors? And ATI/AMD cards should be red, not blue. That's gay.

Well, the most crucial question is, is it any better than the 8600GT?

Yes and no.

In some games, like HL2, framerates increased by at least 30fps, while other games did not see a noticeable increment. GRiD had an average framerate of 50+fps, not bad at all.

One thing I hate is that while playing GRiD, there seems to be a mild amount of tearing. Not sure if it's the card's problem or a driver issue. Other that that, RocketDock also seems to be a tad bit laggy using the HD4670. Damn.

Firefox 3.1 Beta 3 Tested. Intro

I recently found out that Mozilla has launched their 3.1 Beta version of Firefox. I downloaded it and installed it.
For starters, you will notice the green + icon. Yup, now you can add new tabs by just clicking on that icon. Opera, IE7/8, Chrome all had this feature before FF3. Good to know that FF3 has it now. And those who hated FF3/2 for not having that empty space below the bookmarks when there is a single tab, the Beta has it already. Something like Opera and IE7/8. And closing that lone tab closes the whole browser. Same like Chrome. But IE7/8 does not have any response if there is one tab. As for Opera, closing the last tab brings you to the "Speed Dial" page. And FF3 also copies Chrome in which you can grab a tab out of the current window to form a whole new window. Neat

The addresses are now colored dark blue. Not bad at all, but I do wish that the color was a little more striking. Nothing to worry, you can change it quickly under "Options".

I will try to go into more detailed info, like memory usage and such, but I do need your feedback to improve.

Windows Live Messenger V 2009 Tested

My previous WLM has been annoying with updating it to V2k9. And today, I got so fed up that I just let it run.

To the less-informed, I have used V2k9 before, and that was on Windows 7. I did not like it at all. MSN Plus! was not supported, and because of that, colored fonts can't be viewed. And I have to drag the chat windows via the title bar. But has the newer version improved anything? Read on to find out.

This is the main window of the new V9. Compared to the older V8.5, this one does look better. And oh, I removed the email addresses of my friends to protect the privacy. :p
Notice the MSN Plus! icon on the top right corner? And my colored fonts? Well, Microsoft has indeed been listening to user inputs. Well done.

Users of V9 can alter the background of WLM V9 as per V8.5, but unlike V8.5, this one does look better than the one in V8.5. I do have one gripe though. The black background that I am using does look rather pixelated. It also happened on the previous one on 7.
The new chat window for V9. Noticed how much space is used for the conversation? Better than V8.5, IMO. And I can't stand that after each time I post something, it will be "stuck" to the previous entry, unless the other end responds. Not my cup of tea, really.
Even the little dude (as what I call him), has turned fairer. One major gripe though. When I right click and select "Sign In", instead of signing in, it opens the main window, waiting for my input. But then if that is the case, why would Microsoft bother with an "Open Messenger" option? duh.
If you that inclined. This is the "about" page for V9. Nothing much here.

Do leave your comment of feedback if there is anything you want to know more.

Removing Leftover Virus From Registry

This is for removing "flash.10.exe" from the registry. If you want to remove anything else, just replace "flash.10.exe" with the other file name.

1. Start -> Run
2. Type in "regedit", without the quotation marks
3. A new window shall appear
4. Press F3 to search
5. Key in "flash.10.exe" to search
6. If you managed to find any, press the "del" key on your keyboard
7. Press F3 and search through the Registry for "flash.10.exe", delete all that appears
8. You're done when it says "Finished Searching Through The registry"

Please be aware that screwing up the Registry can render your computer useless. I hold no responsibility for any bricked computers, but I can revive the computer with a nominal fee.

Don't complaint That Your Computer is Slow/Old

I found this lurking under my desk. Caught it, and then powered it.

Bloody hell. It works !! After a mere CMOS battery swap, this old "beast" actually boots onto Windows 98 !!

Specs?

Pentium S CPU @ 120MHz
24MB EDO RAM
500MB HDD. Not GB.
1MB S3 TRIOV+

I can't wait to have fun.

So guys, as long as your computer is not this old, please be grateful.

Speeding Up Windows Vista

I guess this would help many of you guys, especially those who are using Windows Vista. It doesn't matter if its Vista Starter, Vista Home Basic, Vista Home Premium, Vista Enterprise, Vista Business or Vista Ultimate. The tricks would work on most of them.

For the first part, I would suggest that you turn off unnecessary Windows features.
Open Control Panel and click Uninstall a Program to launch Vista's Uninstall or Change a Program Window. In the Tasks pane on the left, click Turn Windows Features On or Off. See the list of features. For most systems, I would suggest that you turn off TabletPC Optional Components, Windows Fax and Scan and Windows Meeting Space.

If your system has 2GB or less RAM, I would suggest that you pick up a 2GB flash drive, which would cost around RM20 these days, and plug it in. Once you have plugged it in, Vista would ask you want you want to do with the drive. Close the window. Go to Computer, right click on the ReadyBoost tab. Then choose to dedicate the drive for ReadyBoost. Do take note,however, the read and write rate will be very high, and can wear the flash drive out prematurely. Good thing flash drives are dirt cheap these days, eh?

If you are using Vista Home Premium and above, you will get the AeroGlass theme by default. I would suggest that you turn off the transparency to save on system resources. Unless you have a very powerful system, AeroGlass take a toll on your performance. Use back the Windows Classic theme. Looks good as well.

Pentium D 820 vs 940 vs Core2Duo E4600 - Gaming

Here, I focused on real world gaming tests.
In the Half Life 2 Video Stress Test, it did as I predicted.. Above the 820, but below the E4600.
As for Call Of Duty, it was more or less the same issue. but I do believe that my graphics card is the bottleneck.
3DMark06 however, did show some surprises. In all of the CPU related tests, the scores were actually lower than the 820! I did ran the test again to double check, but then, still the same result. Strange.

Lastly, NFS Carbon. This game is also graphics card throttled. If I had a more powerful card, the framerates will be better.

Lastly, I would like to extend my gratitude to acerdawn for loaning me the Pentium D 940. Thanks dude.