Create Symbolic Link in Windows

I did use Linux years ago. But always resort back to Windows. Why? Games! But now I have no time to play games anymore. Work work work. And I love working with coding, trying out new codes, new logic, new fix blah blah blah.

So, I use Dropbox to have a backup and to sync with my laptop at home.

In my Fedora 16 LXDE laptop, I create a symlink into the dropbox directory/folder. So whatever changes I did at source location, will reflect there and dropbox will update it. Walla!

But on my office laptop, it’s a bit older. Running Windows Vista. I did upgrade all to latest update, uninstall whatever not needed. But still a bit slow…..

So in Windows I cant figure out how to do symlink like on Linux. At first I make the code to run directly from dropbox folder. It work fawlessly, until I added css and js file. Owh… This file need to be in htdocs folder (or can still stay in Dropbox directory, I just dont want to config Apache in doing so).

I google!

Found it!

To create a symlink like in Linux:

mklink /j c:/dropbox/project1 c:/xampp/htdocs/project1

And thats all. Now able to access from http://localhost/project1 and any changes done in Dropbox folder can be viewed instantly on browser.

Really make it easy now! :)

[ source 1 ] [ source 2 ]

How to upgrade latest Nvidia driver for Dell Vostro 3700

I hate Dell for this. I hate Nvidia for keep it quiet too.

This issues has been actively discussed on both Dell & Nvidia forums. While Dell representative is quite helpful, Nvidia just keep it quiet. But in the end, Dell also not doing anything.

The issues for this specific model Dell Vostro 3300 and 3700 is using Switchable GPU. Means you’re able to run on NVidia GPU (some one 330M, some on 310M etc) when you need it like for gaming. But when not needed you’ll run on Intel HD and thus saving battery life. The idea is good.

However, you’re limited to Dell provided driver only. And they’re not updating it. At first this was no issues for me, as I’m able to play all of my game. This become a problem when I can’t play Need For Speed Run. Because it required me to have latest graphic driver. How old is the driver? Now is the end of 2011, Dell driver is from 2010…. Duh!

Somehow Dell did not put disabling command in BIOS to. The Dell representative said, in pre-production BIOS the command is available…. But not available on production one. But it’s confusing one because in manual it have. And as one of the user point it out, the Dell support Level 2 simply said just return the unit and get a different unit without the problem. Why we buy from Dell anyway?

So here is how:

  1. Uninstall NVidia Driver
  2. Run Nasty File Remover (Please download from reputable website)
  3. Download Intel HD driver from Intel web
  4. Download NVidia Latest Driver from NVidia Web
  5. Install Intel HD driver first.
  6. It might not work, so after restart you need to go to Device Manager -> Display Adapter -> 1st VGA device, do Update Driver and browse for Intel HD driver you just download
  7. After restart again, you will see you get back your normal resolution (1600 x 900). First step successful! Congrats! Clap! Clap! Clap!
  8. Now go to Device Manager again. Go for the only VGA device (another one is Intel HD, which we install driver already) -> Right Click, Properties -> Details ->Select “Hardware ID”
  9. You need to copy the Hardware ID. I recommend to copy it to Notepad.
  10. Run Nvidia Installer
  11. When it says No Hardware Detected, just cancel it.
  12. Browse to where you extract the Nvidia Driver.
  13. Find the file name “nvam.inf”
  14. Edit this file in Notepad (I use notepad++)
  15. You need to find this line -> NVIDIA_DEV.0A35.06 = “NVIDIA GeForce GT 325M     ”  (yes including the space and “)
  16. Press Enter. Paste this -> NVIDIA_DEV.0A29.01 = “NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M” (yes including the “)
  17. Then find this line -> %NVIDIA_DEV.0A35.06% = Section048, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0A35&SUBSYS_1F171043
  18. Press Enter, Paste this -> %NVIDIA_DEV.0A29.01% = Section050, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0A29&SUBSYS_044F1028
  19. Save the “nvam.inf” file
  20. Re-run the NVidia setup again
  21. Now you should be able to install driver already.
  22. After restart, you will have the NVidia Control Panel icon on taskbar
  23. You’re done

So you get it now? In NVidia drivers they dont have our hardware/device ID, so how in the hell the driver installer going to detect it? So the steps above simple adding our hardware ID into the installer list. Thats all. Oh, the Intel HD part? Because NVidia require the Intel HD to install first.

Now you can configure in control panel on which application to use NVidia GPU, or set it to auto. (This part I’m still experimenting)

Now I can run Need for Speed Run. But NVidia GPU will overheat and laptop will shutdown. This is another issues that has been discussed, poor airflow design by Dell for Vostro 3700 cause this. (This also I’m still experimenting on how to deal with it)

*Update – Solve overheat issues by using this big fan

YES speed is insane

Today I bravely download quite a big file using YES because I already buy the value pack (RM68 for 3.5gb data). I found out that the speed is insane! It is very fast!

This screenshot is the proof of what I’m talking about.

You can clearly see the download speed it 1MBps. This roughly translate to 10mbps internet connection. That is freaking fast!

So what is the real story here ?

Nothing, just that I download the Eclipse from UPM mirror. Haha :) But still that is the fastest I’ve ever been downloading something, except for when I work at VDSL Network (an ISP) where I enjoy 30mbps line.

Good job YES.

Photoshop CS5 Tilt & Shift Editing

Sebab teramat mudahnya sampai tak terbuat blog entri untuk tutorial bagaimana nak edit gambar dalam Photoshop CS5 jadi lebih kurang macam guna Tilt & Shift lens. Efek ni menarik sebab membuatkan dunia yang nyata ni macam dunia mainan….

Jelas pandangan mata mudah ditipu…. Pandangan hati ? Siapa yang tahu…. Hati sendiri – sendiri lah.

Jadi lebih mudah aku buat video di youtube saja. Aku guna software Camtasia. Nak cuba – cuba saja. Rasanya software Camstudio (free) pun berfungsi lebih kurang sama.

P1 Wimax online support

Hari ini tak cukup tidur. Sebab kerja banyak tak siap – siap lagi. Hati dah rasa tak sedap, sebab tak siap kerja. Tapi….. Stay up sebab tengok Community (tv series). Thanks to munzir sebab bagitau dalam facebook. Now dah habis download espisode dari season 1 dan season 2 (until latest). Dah habis tengok…. Damn!

Anyway…. Sebab YES charge RM150 untuk 10 gb data. Aku tengok P1 Wimax charge RM89 untuk 10 gb data. Berminat nak lompat ke P1 wimax. Tapi confuse dengan pakej 10mbps diorang. Jadi aku pun tanya la online support diorang, online chat. Ni screen capture nya….

Jadi…. Lagi confuse pulak jadinya… Hahaha. pakej 10 Mbps tapi on best effort basis, average 1 ~ 3 mbps speed, depend on area, but does not reveal on which area (duh?). Pening oh pening oh pening…

Aku masih dengan YES dan cuba untuk guna 1 gb jer sebulan (lebih tepat 992.92 mb saja untuk RM 30). Nampak macam nak fail jer ni…. hahaha. Terbabas la sebab browsing speed laju. Adeh. Nak try P1 ke tak?

Summary

P1 wimax livechat kinda sux. (At least got reply quick which I Like!)

I say Yes (for now….)

Hype sangat dengan Yes 4G by YTL tu. Lepas baca pasal YTL baru perasan lori simen YTL….. Talk about paying attention do you? Never realise about YTL until it comes closer to you. Not talking about lori simen YTL la … itu mungkin entri sampingan untuk blog ondscene tu pun kalau involve dengan lori YTL tu lah. Haha. Hopefully not.

Berbekalkan dengan semangat waja aku berjalan kaki pergi ke Lot 10 sebab nak sign up for Yes prepaid broadband. Naik monorel la, then jalan kaki. Tak sebut karang banyak sangat assumption yang jadi. Oh ye…. Lot 10 @ Bukit Bintang ye. Betul ke Lot 10? Around that area la, yang dari luar korang dah nampak logo Yes tu ada.

Macam tak ramai orang sangat. Kat booth diorang boleh test streaming video and play games. Well I’m not interested in that. I straightaway approach the sales person. Aku speaking. Aku tulis english pun tunggang langgang, bercakap pun sama tunggang langgang. Tapi he get the point la. Haha. One thing is…. Nak jadi good english speaker, kena bercakap lah. Try to approach people dengan english, broken english even.

Dekat kelas english pun kalau korang bayar untuk kelas tu, kena bercakap jugak. So why not kita cakap jer dengan salesman/woman ni….. Free jer pun. Cuma kalau tak ada niat nak beli produk dia, jangan la tunjuk macam nak beli, kesian kat dia…….

Back to topic. Proses nak register Yes broadband tak susah. Pegi kaunter (atau approach salesperson) dan bayar RM 99 (untuk USB dongle tu, kalau mifi lain harga) dan kena sit down untuk diorang register straight away. Whole process took about 15 minutes top. You’ll need to choose your username (that will be use for login and email address), security question, and phone no. Oh! Password too. Kinda uncomfortable typing my password infront of the salesperson, so my suggestion fill in some easy password like password12345 then change it back when you’re back at office or home.

 

The Bag of Yes Prepaid Broadband

 

Not much is given. For the fact that you paid only RM99 for that device, no contract whatsoever. The salesperson also told me that the device carry 1 year warranty. After one year, if device rosak (broken? break?) then pay RM99 for new one. Duh? Salesperson tu jugak bagitau yang device yang rosak claim warranty terus tukar baru, yang rosak tu diorang buang (need citation…. lol).

 

The Device Box

 

The Device

 

Nothing much to say about the device. I had to put it into that position to gain better signal (3 bar). I dont have any explanation why. The installation is pretty much basic. You put in the device into available usb. It might not slide fully, it is ok. But not pretty…. Right? Then installation prompt will follow (Windows 7 users need to run the installer at the prompt, then need to verify – UAC duh!). Installation is quite fast, I think around few minutes. Then you need to click “Start 4G Network Manager”…. It does not automatically run it after install. Good ? I expect it to run right away….

In there you input your username and password. Then click Connect button. The Connect button however only available if there is network available in your area. The 4G Network Manager is simple application. Not much you can do beside connecting to the network.

 

The Speedtest

Now the speed test. This speedtest is done about an hour a go (3 pm – 27 April 2011). I was getting better speed yesterday. But today I got this speed only. But it is actually quite good already. 3 mbps average download speed. Far better than what I am getting from maxis broadband.

I plan on using this only during work hours. Not planning on downloading large files (I torrent at home). Not planning on viewing youtube all the time. Though quite irresistible when you could watch 720p youtube without buffering with Yes. Damn!

Is it expensive ?

How to day this…. It is afforable. Mampu milik. Semua orang yang bekerja mampu mengeluarkan RM99 untuk daftar dengan Yes Prepaid Broadband ni. Dan jika minimum RM 30 per month (kena charge RM 30 monthly anyhow)… Pun masih affordable. Tapi RM 30 translate to about 1 gb of data only lah.

Yes dah buat plan RM68 for 3.5gb data. RM150 for 10gb data. Bila ambik plan ni, tak payah maintain RM30 monthly dah. Pulak tu balance data kalau tak guna transferable to next month (provide that we buy the plan well before end date).

A lot juga benda baru nak kena tahu dulu dengan Yes Prepaid Broadband ni. Tak sama dengan current broadband practices.

What to say more ? I enjoy the speed. I enjoy the simplicity. I dont however like the expensive charges, but I can live with that. My hope YTL can introduce RM30 for 5gb of data. Reason is, RM30 is cheap and afforable while 5gb is the more likely data usage per month is.

Bala apa pulak Lot Eleven ni ?

Blogwalking and blogstalking. Aktiviti yang tidak memenatkan. Malah boleh menghilangkan kebosanan anda. Tapi jugak backfire balik bila kerja tak siap sebab asyik baca blog orang DUH!. Ni pun ada kerja tak siap (sebenarnya belum start pun lagi) tapi aku perlu update entry ini dulu. Mari taip cepat – cepat sambil chatting di fb (eh? kata nak buat kerja? nanti la … lepas ni la ….. hahaha .. esok la tu)

Aku spend banyak masa kat blog aididleaks (buat yang belum tahu, sila klik link tersebut). Banyak info yang sampai malas aku nak baca. Sebab bagi orang IT… Itu adalah Walls of Text! Sebab tu kalau korang pegi blog orang – orang IT, entry dia straight to the point dan pendek. Usually boleh view all the content tanpa perlu scroll. Efficient! Aku tak efisyen, sebab tu blog entry ni panjang.

Aku dulu join la MLM. Nak kata jahil tak jugak sebab tuhan dah bagi IQ untuk fikir. Boleh guna bodoh sombong la kot. Bodoh tak nampak pengiraan depan mata yang tunjukkan MLM ni akan fail in the end (bukan in the end, baru start pun dah fail… haha) dan sombong tak nak terima nasihat orang. Tu la. Bodoh sombong. Tu aku dulu. Sama la aku sekarang pun. Tak cukup pandai lagi, sombong masih ada.

Oh ya. Aku tak sukses pun MLM tu. Tak jugak boleh beli Ferrari sebijik (lepastu tak mampu nak maintain). Tak jugak boleh beli rumah bayar cash. Pendek kata, memang MLM ni siapa yang rajin, dapat la habuan. Rajin menipu orang, dapat la duit dot dot dot (ada orang marah pulak sebut status duit ni… untuk semangat 1Malaysia aku tak sebut la .. Walaupun bangsa yang terlibat hanyalah satu saja….)

Jadi dalam Aididleaks ni adalah terbaca komen pasal Lot Eleven Berhad (Berhad???????? – Betul ke ni?). Jadi aku pun dengan rajinnya copy – open new tabs – paste and go (chrome mah! i like this feature!). Maka terpampanglah info dia…. Jadi jutawan, berjaya, melayu?

Produk ? Anti-virus software ? Really ? Semua benda sekarang ni dah boleh di-MLM kan ? Aku hairan kenapa Ah Peng jual gas kat kampung aku tak buat skim jual tong gas secara MLM. Kenapa ye? Kenapa ye? Dia tak nak untung besar keeeee? (Dia dah untung besar jadi tokey minyak masak, sekarang dah pencen). Kenapa Chin Hin tak jual motor buat MLM ye? Kenapa ye? Kenapa ye? Kenapa aku sebut nama orang cina aje? Sebutla …. Kenapa dulu Tan Sri SM Nasimuddin tak jual kereta (AP?) secara MLM? Oh ini senang…. Sebab ada AP lagi banyak untung maaa…. Tak perlu tunggu 6 level, 1 orang beli kereta dah cukup untung… Hahaha (aku tak membantah AP ye, aku nak AP jugak!)

Opps. Anti virus. Nama dia Ikona. Taruk sengkang sikit… I-Kona. Kona baring rapat habis… Kikis habis semua semua duit ada. Hahahaha. Eh! Bukan….

Produk kedua. Produk kecantikan dan kesihatan. Wadefakof? U-turn balik. Tadi produk first sekali, antivirus. Amazing kan, 2nd product boleh pulak jadi health and beauty. Awat aku rasa pelik ni. Pelik la. Selama ni dok download antivirus (free dan halal) tak pernah berkait dengan benda – benda kecantikan pon. Kalau nak ada pun la, kalau nak ada la kan, tu iklan google adsense masa time nak download tu. Tu pun rasanya keluar sebab selalu sangat browse website MLM ni la.

Memang pelik la kalau aku beli Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit… Beli sekali dengan Microsoft Herbal Soap. Jadahnya ni…. Tak logik, tak masuk dek akan langsung la kedai IT kat lowyat jual pc, laptop, printer, dvd+r, lepas tu dekat shelf yang sama ada jual sabun, shampoo, slimming milk, coffee… Sekali lagi wadefakof?

Ok la. Boleh terima la kalau dia memang ada produk berbeza. Tengok nama kompeni dia ni, Lot Eleven Berhad tau. Berhad. Selalu bila Berhad ni kompeni besar beb. Sebab tu product range dia banyak (untuk melogikkan akal). Tapi selalu kompeni besar camni, different product range, different sub-company pulak kan. Ni kalau kompeni besar, semua produk longgok sekali aje. Dah macam kedai runcit pun ada. Kedai runcit pun at least ada bahagian – bahagian tertentu. Kalau longgok jugak sekali semua, tu namanya kedai runcit kena sita dengan DBKL.

Aku cenderung nak komen pasal antivirus tu sebenarnya. IKONA. Paling best sebab tak perlu update. Tak perlu ada internet. Tapi bila ada update, dia akan hantar ke e-mail. Kena ada internet la jugak kan. Prosedur dia, kena install dekat clean system. Maksudnya install kat system yang virus free sahaja. Pulak. Bukan ke antivirus ni untuk buang virus. Maksudnya antivirus ni tak boleh buang virus sedia ada? Pulak tu, disuruhnya kita scan dulu guna antivirus lain sebelum install. Dan time install dia akan suruh uninstall antivirus lain. Macam kacang lupakan kulit je….. Hahaha. (in defence, memang tak digalakkan untuk guna lebih dari satu antivirus, nanti conflict).

Tak baca secara lanjut pun website dia (ikona tu). Tapi rasanya lebih kurang dia akan scan clean state of the system, then apa saja benda yang cuba untuk ubah clean state tu automatically trigger virus alarm. Dia macam kamera CCTV yang akan react to change/movement dan alert to owner (by siren, sms, mms even video call). Idea ni bagus. Ni lebih kurang macam kekalkan kesejahteraan yang ada la. Tapi ni andaian aku la, tak semestinya betul (tak semestinya salah jugak).

Yang hapraknya produk ni kenapa di-MLM kan? Apa tak boleh jalan ke kalau tak guna MLM?

Aku nak warn lah. Baca dulu blog aididleaks. Fahami dulu kenapa MLM ni (or MLM korang – kalau dah join and mentioned by aididleaks) akan fail. Bila fail, most (baca 99%) orang yang join akan rugi (baca tidak beroleh pulangan, even tak balik modal). Bila korang dah tau benda ni akan fail, korang tak boleh kata korang berani ambil risiko. Ini namanya mengambil risiko secara bodoh, membuta tuli, buta perut dan jugak dot dot dot. Terang – terang dah nampak 99% fail. Tak payah nak shoot for the remaining 1% sebab that spot already grab by the program founder.

Tak ada istilah melayu tolong melayu dalam MLM ni. Yang ada kau duduk bawah aku, aku senang. Kau susah, bukan salah aku.

Utorrent 2.0.1 Slow in Download

Before this I am using UTorrent 1.8.5 and download speed is great. Max out my 2Mbps DSL connection (around 200kbps++). So when new upgrade available, I happily upgrade to new version. Little did I know what it come with…

The download speed is very slow. Rarely reach even 100kbps. Most of the time around 50kbps only. I am tired of waiting… I try to download torrent with more seed. But it still wont go up to the old speed. Now I start to Googling around.

I found the tips in UTorrent own forum.

Go to your Preferences (Options -> Preferences or Ctrl + P)

Then change the value in Advanced.

bt.transp_disposition from the default 31 (default value on mine) to 5 (as suggested by one of the forumer).

After that, the speed of download increase to a bit around 150kbps… But still drop back to 50kbps sometimes. So this one does not solve the problem totally.

Then one more forumer suggested that change the value of net.calc_overhead. From True to False.

The new version of UTorrent is somehow limit the download speed to the rate of limited upload rate. So if your upload rate is 5kbps like what I said, you’ll get 50kbps download speed.

This setting will disable that options. So you will get your full download speed :) Nice!

Or you can just increase the upload speed limit to get more download speed. Or you can always downgrade to older version of UTorrent.

iPod Then, iPad Now!

Steve Jobs “played up the iPad’s ability to stream live baseball games and hit movies during his demonstration on Wednesday,” in The New York Times’ rather infelicitous phrasing.

Great. Streaming baseball and hitting movies. Just what we need to clear up the overloaded data networks out there.

“Think your 3G connection is slow right now? Wait until we see a new wave of apps that can maximize all those new pixels on the iPad’s 9.7-inch display screen,” warns industry observer Kevin Kelleher. “IPad screens are bigger, but the bandwidth hasn’t increased in proportion.”

With baseball it doesn’t matter, of course, since the term “live” is relative there, it’s thirteen minutes of action crammed into three hours, you wouldn’t notice that it’s downloading slowly, you’d think the game was progressing at its normal speed, but no doubt the torrent of smartphones, Kindles, general data traffic, and now iPads, will render everybody’s downloads slower and slower.

“AT&T has been complaining about iPhone users gobbling too much of its 3G network bandwidth,” writes industry observer Kevin McLaughlin. “AT&T subscribers, meanwhile, have been venting about the carrier’s subpar service. So what’s going to happen when the Apple iPad arrives?”

Thanks, iPhone and your 100,000 apps. Hey, got one to speed up downloads? Is there an app for that?

“Carrier networks aren’t set to handle five million tablets sucking down five gigabytes of data each month,” Philip Cusick, an analyst at Macquarie Securities, told the Times.

“An hour of browsing the Web on a mobile phone consumes roughly 40 megabytes of data,” the Times wrote. “Streaming tunes on an Internet radio station like Pandora draws down 60 megabytes each hour. Watching a grainy YouTube video for the same period of time causes the data consumption to nearly triple. And watching a live concert or a sports event will consume close to 300 megabytes an hour.”

No wonder AT&T, the network tasked with handling all iPhone traffic in the United States, has generally ranks dead last in customer satisfaction surveys. It’s not getting better, either, as the Times glumly notes, “analysts expect carriers will generate more than half their revenue from data in three or four years, up from less than 30 percent today.”

As the Christian Science Monitor explained, “the problem, according to the carrier, is that iPhone users are data guzzlers. On average, the feature-heavy phone gulps down 10 times the network capacity of other smart phones. And as users browse the Web, watch videos, download apps, and stream music on their iPhones, the device has strained AT&T’s network.”

Source: tmcnet

Wow! I could never imagine that happen in Malaysia. I mean TMNet is already been slow down by all their current broadband (streamyx)… And I think all 3G/HSDPA provider in Malaysia is on TMNet backbone…. Once iPad reach here, it sure will bring down TMNet…

Well, not really… Because Malaysian is lazy to read, so they wont bother buying iPad to read ebook.