Convert MKV to AVI

Here's how to convert a Matroska MKV file into an AVI file using MEncoder. This works on my Fedora 12 system.

Let's say the original file is video.mkv and you want to convert it to video.avi.

First install mencoder if you haven't done so.

# yum install mencoder

Open a terminal and type the following command:

# mencoder video.mkv -o video.avi -oac pcm -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4

Then wait and let MEncoder do it's magic.
On my system, it took 30 minutes to convert a 1.4GB mkv file into a 1.8GB avi file.

Easy!

More help is available at http://www.mplayerhq.hu

Bezo VGA Cables Suck!

I wanted to connect my laptop to my LCD TV through the VGA port. So I bought a Bezo VGA cable from the local computer store. The price is reasonable and the cables look thick and purposeful, so I thought it should work ok. Was I wrong! Not all VGA cables are equal, especially cables from China.

The laptop could not recognize the 16:9 wide-screen LCD TV and the optimal video resolution. So it defaulted to 1024 x 768 resolution and produced a stretched image on the LCD TV. It's not the laptop's fault though, as I found out with a multimeter, not all the cable's VGA pins were connected. So of course some of the information from the LCD TV did not reach the laptop. Crap made-in-China cables!

Using original VGA cables that came with a Samsung LCD monitor, worked as expected. The laptop recognized the 16:9 format and automatically adjusted the image to the optimal resolution. Testing with a multimeter, all the VGA pins were connected, unlike the China cables.

So, if you want to connect an LCD TV to laptop or computer, use VGA cables that have all the 15 pins connected. Else you will run into problems, such as the computer not being detected on Samsung LCD TVs and laptop not detecting LCD TV.

The Magic Printer

The printer blinks an error message.
The document owner goes to the printer and immediately pulls open all the covers.
He finds nothing wrong with it.
Then he looks at the error message.
It says "load paper in tray 2".
He ignores the message, and continues to punch all the buttons,
hoping to find the magic button that makes it print.
Nothing happens.
He's frustrated and cancels the print job,
and sends the document to the printer again.

Printer blinks an error message, again.
It says "load paper in tray 2", again.
He opens the covers again and punches all the buttons again.
This time totally ignoring the error message.

The fact is, the printer is out of paper.
It is still out of paper as I write this post.

Hmm... I think I should put some paper in before he starts kicking the printer.

Paper loaded. Should work now.

Printer blinks an error message, again.
Oh, paper jam...
Removed paper jam...
Cleaned the muck on the rollers...
Restart...

Voila! It prints perfectly!

I should be a printer technician.

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 :)