NVIDIA 196.75 drivers can kill your graphics card!

Seems that the latest NVidia display drivers 196.75 have some issues, mostly relating to the control of the on board cooling fan. Its effects could cause the fan to malfunction or even stop. If this is true, it could really cause some real damage to your NVidia display cards.

If you're using this version of the drivers, please downgrade to the previous working drivers (196.21) immediately. Below is a quote from the NVidia official site.

196.75 Alert!

We are aware that some customers have reported fan speed issues with the latest 196.75 WHQL drivers on NVIDIA.com. Until we can verify and root cause this issue, we recommend that customers do not download this driver. Instead, please stay with, or return to 196.21 WHQL drivers. Release 196.75 drivers have been temporarily removed from our website and we also are asking our partners and others to remove temporarily this 196.75 WHQL driver as well.

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Source

mDistribute.com

Dreaming to be a film-maker and make some money even though you do not have the backing of a production company? Don’t worry; you can do exactly that, thanks to mDistribute.

mDistribute.com is a company which helps freelance filmmakers to distribute their products. Signing up for an account is 100% free, and filmmakers can also earn some money should a buyer decide to purchase a license from mDistribute to use your product. Most buyers includes Mobile Content Aggregators, Wireless Carriers, Mobile Content Brokers as well as individual website owners. Currently, mDistribute's main target is the mobile video market.

If you’re a buyer, you can also sign up for an account for free to check out what type of videos the mDistribute has to offer. You can then easily purchase a license to distribute your video of interest for your own usage (be it for business, or personal).

mDistribute is owned by Golivemobile.com, a 4-year old global technology company based in Denver. For more information, visit their site at http://mDistribute.com.

The Next Windows – Windows 8 aka Windows.next

In the space of a few weeks recently, there seems to be much enthusiastic talks and “gossips” from Microsoft about Windows 8, the next operating system by Microsoft. According to Microsoft EMEA Regional VP of Consumer and Online John Mangelaars interview with the CIO, Windows 8 will be completely different and mind-blowing. Nothing much is known as this point, apart from the next Windows will now be dubbed (well, temporarily I guess, I don’t think that will be the final official name) Windows.next and it will be a far more integrated experience than ever before.

This is what I think we can expect with the release of Windows 8.

1. Windows 8 will be pure 64-bit OS.

2. Bing applications will be integrated into the OS, to enable “integrated” experiences.

Will this be what Microsoft needed to take on Google in the web? We’ll see. What’s your take on this?

The post on MSDN regarding this has been removed, but you can still obtain the Google’s cached version here. Grab it while its still there!

ChinaBuye [Paid Post]

Disclaimer: I am not to be held liable for any transactions done between you, the reader and the vendor, ChinaBuye.Com. I do not have any personal experience dealing with this company before. Whatever stuff you buy from the site is solely your own responsibility and judgement.

Looking to buy electronic gadgets such as handphones, computer accessories, LED products, gadgets or game accessories? ChinaBuye.com might be a good place to head to. It is a China-based online supermarket, boasting prices being one of the cheapest in the world. It also provides wholesale and retail purchase. Transactions should be fast since their capacity is 5000 per day and they mentioned that orders are processed 18 hours after payment.

Established since 2006, it also ships to more than 200 countries in the world. You can also check out other user opinions in its forums before making a purchase at this site. You can share and view shopping experiences on both Facebook and Twitter.

It also provides free-shipping and accepts payment from major payment gateway such as Paypal. They also have a 30 days refund policy in-store, so you can get your money back in the case you’re not satisfied with the product!

For more information, visit China Electronics .

[This is a paid post by PayPerPost]

Happy new year 2010, Christmas Gift from P1, Unboxing the Wiggy Pt 1.

First of all, Happy New Year 2010 to everyone. I know this is one hell of a long-outdated post but procrastination got the better of me =P.

Anyway, as most as FB-ians who me know might recall, I was “potong-ing” a lot a few months back to win a free year worth of P1 Wiggy Package in the P1 Facebook Potong Game. Somehow, I manage to “potong” enough (I apologize if I kept potong you over and over again repeatedly, I just lost track on whom I have “potong”) to win. And It was the very last slot! Thank you very much P1!

I also invited to the P1 Social Media Evening at Bangsar but unfortunately I was unable to make it. Looking at the photos taken during the event, seems like I missed a lot of fun! Still, they were kind enough (Thank you Nadia, CK and Cynthia) to arrange the prize to be sent via courier.

True enough, right after Christmas, the package arrived. The main package was actually the Wiggy Tin Kit wrapped in a P1 wrapping paper. After unboxing it, I got into business right away.

Plugged in, the notebook detected it as a thumbdrive. I was actually expecting the Install Hardware Wizard to pop up, so I was staring blankly at the screen for a few minutes waiting for something to happen. Serve me right for not reading the small pocket manual in the box.

I ran the installer in the “Wiggy Thumbdrive” and installation was a breeze. It all took about 3 minutes to complete and no restart was necessary.

However, I did encounter a problem. I realized that my place (Greenlane Heights, Penang) does not have Wimax coverage yet. So the furthest I could proceed is launching the P1 Connection Manager. Nothing much I can do except to go to P1 website to vote for my place.

So that’s it for Part 1. I'll proceed with Part 2 when I can actually connect using my Wiggy. P1 faster come cover my area la!

Below are some unboxing photos of the Wiggy :).

Wrapped Wiggy with P1 Wrapping Paper.

Wrapping Paper Unwrapped.

Tin Box opened with Wiggy Modem inside. Cool!

Probably one of the smallest manual I ever seen.

p/s: Wiggy was installed on a Windows 7 machine! No problem so far!

Cannot delete file: Access is denied

Sounds familiar? Tried editing/deleting a file which is currently being used by an application or process but it has crashed?

Fear no more, there's a neat tool call the Unlocker which you can get it free from http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/ . This tool have saved me a lot of restarts and reboots :).

To use it, just right-click->Unlocker to unlock the file, and it will even tell you which process is actually locking the file. Neat, huh?

Make your Life Easier in Windows 7 with the Windows Key

There’s more use for the Windows Key (the one between the left ctrl and alt key) in Windows 7 now. Enterprise Security MVP Debra Shinder shares some of her favourites.

WIN + SPACE: Same effect as clicking the “Show Desktop” area at the end of the taskbar; all windows become transparent so you can see through to the desktop.

WIN + G: Don’t need to see the entire desktop? Just want to see the information displayed on your gadgets? This one brings the gadgets to the top.

WIN + T: Scroll through the items in the taskbar. It’s really cool to be able to do this without taking your hands away from the keyboard.

WIN + P: Select display options when connected to a projector (Computer only, Duplicate, Extend or Projector only).

ALT + P (in Explorer): show or hide the Preview pane (I love this one).

WIN + the Plus or Minus key: This lets you zoom in or out, magnifying the screen without using the mouse.

WIN + Left or right arrow key: This will dock the active window to the left or right side of the monitor, just as dragging to the side does.

WIN + SHIFT + left or right arrow key (with multiple monitors): Moves the active window to the monitor to the left or right of the one on which it’s currently residing.

WIN + Up or down arrow: Maximizes or minimizes the active window

What’s yours?

Get the full list of Win shortcuts at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/Windows7/Keyboard-shortcuts

26th October 2009, My Birthday, and also the End of the First Web Host I Used

Yeap, today is my birthday. While it marks 25 years of my existence in this world, it also marks the demise of one of the first few web host ever to grace the Internet, Geocities.

I started using Geocities to host my personal website during my secondary school days about 11 years ago. At that time, web was still pretty much primitive with most connections are as fast as 48.8 kbps. Never could we have imagined the possibility of web applications, online games or even Facebook. After 11 years, things have really changed.

That’s when Web 2.0 emerged. Social networking sites appeared like mushrooms growing in a rainy day. Every online citizen started blogs be it a personal one, sharing or even some sharing jokes. Streaming sites such as Youtube enabled us to share and show our personal talent to the world, without going through agents and companies. Suddenly everything seemed possible, everything seemed exciting. However Geocities did not move on.

Geocities was then acquired by Yahoo! in 1999. This move proved to be very unpopular as users started to quit using the service. It was then Yahoo started introducing Yahoo! Web Hosting to persuade current Geocities users to upgrade their accounts. However, Yahoo! Web Hosting is a paid service, whereas Geocities is free.

Geocities had so much potential with its neighborhood and homestead concepts. It could have easily been a geographical version of Dacebook if it was managed properly. Yet, whatever that’s done is done and vice-versa, on this very day, would be the day that Geocities is put to rest.

RIP Geocities (1994-2009)

p/s: This is a tribute to Geocities "who" served millions of users throughout the past decade.