Noisy CPU Fan

My PC has an Intel Pentium Dual-Core CPU E2160 cooled by an Intel heat sink and fan that came together with the CPU. The fan has been running fast and noisy ever since it was installed onto the CPU, since 18 months ago.

The CPU temperature has been hovering around 83C and that's hot. The motherboard is an Abit I-45CV. I've been tweaking the BIOS settings and nothing seemed to cool down the CPU. The fan is rated at 12V 0.60A, so it really does make a lot of noise at full speed. But the temperature still can't go down.

The noise finally got onto my nerves and I decided to take the fan out to check. It turns out that one of the legs was not mounted securely onto the CPU. This was the source of the noise; rattling legs!

After pushing the legs into the motherboard with some banging and brute force, the CPU now cools down to around 48C. I've also tweaked the BIOS settings to make the fan run slower. Yes it can now run slower because of the good contact between the CPU and the fan's heat sink.

Encouraged by this, the next thing I'm going to do is replace the case fan with a slower and quieter fan. The ultimate aim is to make the PC quieter than a mouse!

Why Do People Belittle Others?

Why? Why do some people knowingly belittle others? What motivates them to do so? What satisfaction does it give them? What's their point? Why are they such f***king arrogant bastards?

I think such people are probably jealous and feel insecure about themselves, and need to victimise another person to set themselves at a higher level than the victim. They artificially inflate their appearance of importance and worth. The interesting thing is that this effectively makes themselves appear much less credible than their victim, because people can see right through the inflated ego.

Much has been researched and written by psychologists on this topic; just Google this topic. The conclusion is that the aggressor is usually the loser.

Hooray! Now I feel better!

Revive Dead NiMH Rechargeable Batteries

I have Kodak rechargeable AA batteries that are meant for digital cameras and I thought it would be okay to use them on other things like flash lights and battery powered toy cars. It turns out that once the batteries are completely drained, especially in flash lights, they become dead and can't be recharged again by a conventional charger.

After reading more information on the internet, I learned that once the battery's voltage drops below 0.9V, chargers would 'think' that the battery is dead and would stop charging it. This is to protect the charger and also prevent a genuinely dead battery from exploding. In the case of my batteries, they are not actually dead, because they still can light a bulb, but the remaining voltage is below 0.9V which is too low for the charger.

I found a way to revive my dead batteries.Charging them for a few minutes with a 9V battery will bring up the voltage to 1.2V, which is the normal voltage for rechargeable batteries. Putting them back into the charger makes them resurrected from the dead.

Disclaimer. Do this at your own risk. I'm not responsible if your batteries blow up in your face and for whatever else that happens.

The positive of the rechargeable battery is connected to the positive of the 9V battery. Likewise for the negative. The batteries become warm after several minutes when it is time to disconnect them.

The batteries are revived!

It is a good idea to put keep rechargeable batteries cool. An old heatsink from a dead Intel Pentium 4 processor can cool them nicely.

A Vulgar Breakfast

While having my breakfast at a coffee shop in Miri, I noticed the waitresses wearing a blue tee shirt with rather vulgar and amusing language printed on them. The words read...

...Borneo Ball Breakers and Halloween Party...
...Shit Face, Billy Boy, Cha Me Hoon, HIV, ..., Ta Pao, Cucumber Man, Rum Lan Chau, Yo Lampa Heart, Wet Fucker, Herb Fucker, Fish Fucker, Shit Fucker, Gear Box Fucker...

The Miri Hash House Harriers logo is printed on the shirt. From that, I can only imagine that those words could be the nicknames of the members... in which in case I would pity Gear Box Fucker for having to endure the most pain :)

Haze in Miri

Print Your Own Poster

A downloaded high resolution photo of Lord Howe island.

It is really easy to print your own poster. Just Google for "high res photos" and download anything bigger than 8 megapixels. Then arrange and crop the photos in Powerpoint. Of course there is online software that does the job quicker and simpler, but I like the predictability and flexibility of Powerpoint. Finally print and paste your creativity on the wall, the ceiling, windows or any object you fancy.

Looking Younger

Sigh! Being 34 and looking 25-ish isn't really a good thing, especially when people equate youngness with immaturity, resulting in one being not taken seriously. In a world where everyone wants to look younger, there exists the few of us chaps like myself who don't seem to look any older as the years pass. I wonder... is this a blessing or a curse?
Sigh!