Transition from Winter to Spring in Moscow

Weather in Moscow is changing fast. The heat wave rush in so fast, creating a greenhouse effect in my room which is rather unpleasant. It boost nearly a 30 Celsius degree in less than a month. It was winter jackets, long johns, thermal gloves back then. Now simply short sleeves and short trousers will do.

 Snowy winter (taken on 25th March)

Temp: around -10 Celsius

Spring coming (taken on 16th April)

Temp: around 19 Celsius

Reduce GPU and CPU heat on HP Pavilion DV6

I am a passionate gamer, play game quite often(especially Dota 2). Like the topic say, I own a 2.5 years old HP Pavilion DV6. Recently I encountered some high temperature running on both my GPU (max. at 107 Celsius) and Processors (max. at 95 Celsius) during gaming. I can even heard the fan spinning so fast. I put a mini fan beside my laptop vent output to reduce the heat, but it doesn't work much. Underneath my laptop is a Cooler Master laptop cooler. Overheating shorten the lifespan of this notebook, which bother me. So I decide to do something.

Specifications:
HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC
Processor: Intel Core i7 Q720
RAM: 4GB
OS: Windows 7 64-bit
GPU: Nvidia GT-230M 1GB

I use this to monitor my GPU temperature & usage: MSI Afterburner
http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm

I use this to monitor my CPU temperature & usage: Core Temp
http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

Solution: Use a strong blower(or whatever that blows, even your mouth :) and blow towards the air vents of your laptop. I assume strong vacuum will do as well. The dust will expel from the vents. (If you use your mouth, you going to inhale some dust into your respiratory tract :)

Outcome after cleaning:
GPU Maximum Temperature during intensive usage = 80 Celsius
Processors (highest core temperature) Maximum Temperature during intensive usage = 82 Celsius

Hopefully this help for those who don't have a good system but still torturing his laptop for extensive usage.

Feel free to watch this better guide from YouTube: (NOT MINE!)

2012 Winter trip -- Brussels day 1

 St. Hubert Royal Galleries

 Nice Belgian chocolates, can try them in most of the shop

 Don't come cheap thou, can't afford to buy a lot of them

Grand place / Grote Markt 

 Another view of Grand place, to the right is the museum

 Manneken Pis

There is also a girl version known as Jeanneke Pis which I took it with my mobile phone. My DSLR battery went out that night due to the cold weather that day.

A waffle shop beside Manneken Pis 

This statue is the replicate of Manneken Pis is a lot bigger than the real one, he attracts customers 

 My own waffle

 Fresh Belgian chocolate in Leonidas

I bought some of them. Most of the chocolates here is Pralines, a famous type of chocolate in Belgium. It is filled with soft fondant center.

 A lot of them 

Actually they serve by selling you a chocolate box, and then you pick the chocolates from those behind the glasses. There is a lot of them and I got no idea which one is the one I like. I ask the server to just randomly pick some for me.

Grand place / Grote Markt twilight view 

Walk back to Grand place / Grote Markt again. Wonder why got 2 name for this place? Most of the streets and place in Belgium come with 2 names. One in French and another in Flemish (Belgian dutch)

 Music Instrument Museum 

Royal Palace in dusk

Our dinner that night

Rudy Cornelissen, our host in Brussels, is a very nice person. This is a dinner made by him for us.

Elective Posting in Malaysia!

Hopefully can get my Elective posting done in Malaysia... not here!

Anyway, my heart told me to do back there, and that will be the final decision.

Otterbox Defender Series case for HTC Desire HD (A9191)

Just got my Otterbox Defender case for my HTC Desire HD from eBay. Overall it is a very good protection for the phone, but its bulky size cause an issue. If you plan to skateboarding or mountain climbing and still want your phone to be with you, surely this is a recommended accessories. Otherwise a really big bulky piece in the pocket might cause a pain in the ass.

I gone through the internet and hardly found picture comparing side by side of the Otterbox Defender with the Desire HD. That's why I don't really get my mind clear until I got the Defender.

Here is some picture of Otterbox defender taken with my Canon EOS 500D

Come in a package like this

Fresh out from package

Fresh out from box

Side views of it (hardly found in the internet)

Otterbox in the extra Holster

HTC Desire HD (on the left) & Otterbox Defender (on the right)

Overall is good but a bit bulky

HTC Desire HD

I got my HTC Desire HD, and had been using for nearly a month since. I can say I really LOVE it. Not to compare to what I first intended to get -- an iPhone 4 or whatsoever.

Tech Specs for HTC Desire HD is truly satisfying. No doubt it can be consider currently a top end smartphone for now.

HTC Desire HD vs iPhone 4 Comparison Chart



If anyone thinking of getting a HTC Desire HD... Go ahead!

Ten PC Commandments

I. Thou Shalt Not Fear Thy PC
The computer isn’t out to get you. It won’t explode suddenly. It harbors no sinister intelligence. Honestly, it’s really rather dumb.


II. Thou Shalt Save Thy Work
Whenever you’re creating something blazingly original, use the Save command at once! In fact, use the Save command even when you make something stupid that you don’t even want to save. You’re not going to run out of room on the PC’s storage system by saving stuff you don’t need, so why not save for the sake of it?


III. Thou Shalt Back Up Thy Files
Nothing beats having that just-in-case copy of your stuff. The computer itself can run a backup program to make that safety copy, or you can duplicate your files yourself. Either way, that secondary, backup copy can save your skin someday.


IV. That Shalt Not Open or Delete Things Unknownst
Here’s the rule, written in modern English: Delete only those files or folders you created yourself.

V. Thou Shalt Not Be a Sucker
The Bad Guys are successful in spreading their evil, malicious software on the Internet because people let down their guard. Don’t be a sucker for human engineering.


VI. Thou Shalt Use Antivirus Software, Yea Verily, and Keepeth It Up-to-Date
I highly recommend that you use antivirus software on your PC. Keep that software up-to-date.

VII. Thou Shalt Upgrade Wisely
New hardware and software come out all the time. The new stuff is generally better and faster, and it’s important to some people to be the First On The Block to have a new hardware gizmo or software upgrade. You don’t have to be that person.

VIII. Thou Shalt Compute at a Proper Posture
Using a computer can be a pain. Literally. You must observe proper posture and sitting position while you operate a PC. By doing so, you can avoid back strain and the risk of repetitive stress injury (RSI).


IX. Thou Shalt Keepeth Windows Up-to-Date
Microsoft keeps Windows continually fresh and updated. The updates fix problems, but they also address vulnerabilities that the Bad Guys exploit.


X. Thou Shalt Properly Shut Down Windows
When you’re done with Windows, shut it down. Choose the Shut Down command from the Start button menu. The PC automatically turns itself off.