Improving your PowerPoint Slides

For users of Microsoft PowerPoint go to http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/ to download more aesthetically pleasing content slide design.
Then download the template you want to the desktop then copy to the folder below:
C:\Users\{your user profile here}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates\Document Themes

This is just something to get nice slides without spending too much time on designing however a great presentation still depends on the content and speaker.

Few simple rules:
Keep the wordings on the slide simple summaries, speak more and engage your audience.

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Fedora 14 Laughlin on Laptop

Firstly, to use Fedora you have to be quite comfortable with GNU\Linux Operating System in general.
What Fedora offers over other GNU\Linux
(Needless to say Mac OS X sucks with the price tag and the lack of new useful features):

1)It is cutting edge, new features are introduced into Fedora frequently unlike "Rock Solid" Distro like Debian Stable.

2)Fedora runs out of box rather nicely because it is updated, new hardware have a good chance of running smoothly without recompiling hardware kernel driver modules.

3)Fedora developers are the people working on GNOME hence if you like to use GNOME as the desktop manager, Fedora is a good choice.

4)Ubuntu IMO tends to be too hand-holding hence it is rather filled with GUI centric applications, in contrast Fedora runs fast and light.

5)Being a supported distro, it offloads the task of package recompiling to the people maintaining it hence you do not have to constantly recompile new packages when released like Gentoo.

Actually I did try to think of ways how to make a simple guide on how to install Fedora on the laptop but I did too many tricks to get it working such that I don't think it is suitable for the mostly GUI oriented users.

However I will share my observations on Fedora Laughlin.

There are a few small bugs regarding GNOME and the rendering of display IF YOU use the default GTK themes I had to use the Solaris Nimbus theme or the Nodoka theme as a workaround.

Next I recommend you use the Nvidia Developer Driver 260.19.14 for Linux instead of the WHQL because it provides very aggressive power saving settings I do notice a slightly improvement in battery life.

I am glad to say that suspend/resume works with the above combination.

You have to append nomodeset and vga=318 to the end of the kernel line to get a nice Plymouth splash and WITHOUT removing nouveau driver as a fallback.

To change cursor you have to edit the "default" text file in /usr/share/icons to point to the cursor theme you want to use.

You can use the same tweaks in the OpenSUSE Guide.

By default, all filesystems are now mounted with relatime enabled. To suppress this feature across an entire system, use the boot parameter default_relatime=0. If relatime is enabled on a system by default, you can suppress it for any particular file system by mounting that file system with the option norelatime. Finally, to vary the default length of time before which the system will update a file's atime data, use the relatime_interval= boot parameter, specifying the period in seconds. The default value is 86400.

The fact that the rpmfusion drivers sucks means that it is difficult for GUI people to install it therefore I gave up on writing a guide.

However those who are quite the superuser and wish to try Fedora can still ask me for some opinions (not a expert though).

For Users with Nvidia Graphics Adapters

1)Grab the install media, use unetbootin to convert the bootable iso to bootable thumbdrive.
For users with internet the Live CD x86 (32bit) or the x86_64(64bit) will do.
The full DVD includes package it is for users who do not have access to internet hence needs to install the packages by DVD Media.
2)Format the disk partition as instructed, make sure there is empty space on the harddisk to install Fedora to.

3)Enable Sudo and add your user account as wheel.
Open Terminal:

#su
#visudo 

Press 'i' to enter insert mode.
Change 

#%wheel  ALL=(ALL)       ALL

To

%wheel  ALL=(ALL)       ALL

Press 'Esc" then ":wq" to save and exit.
Go to Main Menu -> System -> Administration -> Users & Groups
Select your User Account then Properties go to Group Tab then check "Wheel".

4)Adjust the boot entry in /boot/grub/menu.lst by opening terminal entering:
sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

Comment out Hidden Menu
#hiddenmenu
Set Default to the default boot entry number (eg 0=First Boot Entry, 1=Second Boot Entry etc)
Add the following behind the kernel boot parameters:
rhgb quiet nomodeset default_relatime=0 vga=0x318

More VGA Settings can be found here, however the value above 0x318 which is for 1366X768 resolution is strangely not found in the site above.

You can edit the title of your Windows Boot Entry to
title Windows 7

Example (Highlighted Notable Changes in Blue):

default=1

timeout=3

splashimage=(hd0,4)/grub/splash.xpm.gz

#hiddenmenu

title Fedora (2.6.35.6-48.fc14.x86_64)
    root (hd0,4)
    kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.35.6-48.fc14.x86_64 ro root=UUID=0ee4372e-2c84-4238-b822-d83759547d4b rd_NO_LUKS rd_NO_LVM rd_NO_MD rd_NO_DM LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYBOARDTYPE=pc KEYTABLE=us rhgb quiet nomodeset default_relatime=0 vga=0x34D
    initrd /initramfs-2.6.35.6-48.fc14.x86_64.img
title Windows 7
    rootnoverify (hd0,0)
    chainloader +

5)Run all updates
Go to Main Menu -> System -> Administration -> Software Updates
Reboot and boot into the latest Kernel

6)Managing Kernel Entries
Fedora dependency is good so to remove older kernels:
Go to Main Menu -> System -> Administration -> Add/Remove Software.
Search for Linux and uncheck the "Filter" "Show only Newest package"
Find the old kernel then uncheck and apply to uninstall it.

7)Installing the Nvidia Drivers
Download the latest Nvidia Driver For Linux from http://developer.nvidia.com/object/cuda_3_2_toolkit_rc.html

8)Install the development tools as follows:
You need to have the following installed

______________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 2. Minimum Software Requirements
______________________________________________________________________________



    Software Element         Min Requirement          Check With...
    ---------------------    ---------------------    ---------------------
    Linux kernel             2.4.7                    `cat /proc/version`
    XFree86/X.Org            4.0.1/6.7                'Xorg -version`                                                      
    Kernel modutils          2.1.121                  `insmod --version`


If you need to build the NVIDIA kernel module:

    Software Element         Min Requirement          Check With...
    ---------------------    ---------------------    ---------------------
    binutils                 2.9.5                    `size --version`
    GNU make                 3.77                     `make --version`
    gcc                      2.91.66                  `gcc --version`
    glibc                    2.0                      `ls /lib/libc.so.*` 

Use terminal to run the commands underlined if you are missing any packages 

you need to install it with root permission either using sudo or su.

Make sure you have the kernel headers required installed.

Run in terminal:

sudo yum install kernel-devel

9)Reboot upon seeing the grub entries scroll to the kernel press 'e' on it and append init 3 to it.
10)To install login in then type

$su
#cd Downloads
# sh devdriver_3.2_linux_64_260.19.14.run

The filename of the driver maybe different from the above.
Accept and press ok when you see ok.

To uninstall run:
$su
# sh devdriver_3.2_linux_64_260.19.14.run --uninstall

Reboot with the command

#init 6

11)Adjust the xorg.conf file by opening the terminal
$sudo gedit /etc/xorg.conf

Adjust to look like the below:

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig:  version 260.19.14  (buildmeister@builder103.nvidia.com)  Mon Oct 18 21:52:42 PDT 2010

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Layout0"
    Screen      0  "Screen0"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Files"
    FontPath    "/usr/share/fonts/default/Type1"
    ModulePath    "/usr/lib64/xorg/modules/extension/nvidia"
    ModulePath    "/usr/lib64/xorg/modules"       
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
        Option      "AIGLX" "on"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from data in "/etc/sysconfig/keyboard"
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
    Option         "XkbLayout" "us"
    Option         "XkbModel" "pc105"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Unknown"
    HorizSync       28.0 - 33.0
    VertRefresh     43.0 - 72.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    Option    "NoLogo"    "on"
    Option    "Coolbits"    "1"
    Option    "OnDemandVBlankInterrupts"    "on"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

12)Install the Nimbus GTK Theme as a workaround to that lag bug:
$sudo yum install nimbus-theme-gnome
Change to the Nimbus theme

13)Install Cairo Dock:
$sudo yum install cairo-dock

14)Install Java
$sudo yum install java-1.6.0-openjdk-plugin

15)Change the cursor in Fedora 14

16)Remove icons from GNOME Desktop

17)Install Global Menu:
$sudo yum install gnome-applet-globalmenu

18)Install OpenOffice (let the dependencies resolve themselves):
$sudo yum install openoffice.org-calc openoffice.org-writer openoffice.org-draw openoffice.org-impress

19)Install GIMP (Powerful OpenSource Photoshop alternative)
$sudo yum install gimp

20)Adding tmpfs to /tmp
Add this line to /etc/fstab to make /tmp folder a RAMDisk so /tmp will be automatically cleared during shutdown.

tmp              /tmp            tmpfs    defaults   0 0

noatime is already implemented by the default_relatime=0 boot parameters.


21)Disable the scale when you move the cursor to the top right hand of the screen:
$sudo yum install ccsm compiz-backend-gconf
Then access compizconfig setting manager and disable the scale plugin -> initiate Window Picker

22)Install Chromium
Flash for Chromium

23)Install gsynaptics to enable 2 finger scroll. It works in Fedora 14! Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.
$sudo yum install gsynaptics

24)Install Systemd and switch to it instead of upstart.
$sudo yum install systemd
Then append init=/bin/systemd to the end of the kernel parameters.
I notice some speed up in suspend and resume operations but then it might just be me.

Once you get the hang of installing by terminal you are somewhere there
You may want the following software as well:
Adobe Flash
Skype
To fix the Skype Video you need to change the launcher command as shown below:

Change it to:
sh -c 'export XLIB_SKIP_ARGB_VISUALS=1 && LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so /usr/bin/skype'

Windows Fonts

There you go! If you still need GUI for every step Fedora is probably not for you. You should try Ubuntu or Mint or OpenSUSE instead.
Feel Free to leave comments if you feel that something is omitted.

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New Nvidia Developer Driver 260.99 (WHQL)

LOL.
Looks like Nvidia screwed up.
New Nvidia Verde Driver (WHQL signed by Microsoft )  Version 260.99 within 2 weeks...

New Nvidia Verde Driver (WHQL signed by Microsoft )  Version 260.81

Warning! I had 2 crash dumps and black screen hangs while using this 260.81 driver.

I can almost swear it is as buggy as it could be so use it at your own risk.

I can't believe Microsoft WHQLed this buggy driver...

• Retains the PhysX Options for Nvidia G310M which is not supposed to be PhysX-able
• Includes High Def Audio Driver

New Nvidia Developer Driver (WHQL signed by Nvidia) version 260.61

• Retains the PhysX Options for Nvidia G310M which is not supposed to be PhysX-able
• Doesn't Include NVIDIA High Def Audio Driver so you have to use the high-def audio driver from older Drivers
• (If you are missing the NVIDIA High Def Audio Driver copy C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\260.89\Vista 64-bit\International\HDAudio Folder to C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\260.61\Vista 64-bit\International\HDAudio Folder) It will detect the HDAudio Driver and attempt to install it.

Take a look at the new screens:

 

Download links
Nvidia Signed 260.61 here
Microsoft Signed 260.99 here

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Checking Battery Capacity in Windows 7

Alternatively there is a Free software to measure power consumption by Microsoft Research.
It is called JouleMeter.
Find out more about it here.

A new feature in Windows 7 is the ability to check battery capacity.
Take a look at the following:

Open a Command Prompt Windows with Administrative Permission
Enter:
powercfg /Energy

It will create a report in
C:\Windows\system32\energy-report.html

There is one line like this

Battery:Battery Information

Battery ID	11121SANYOAS07A31
Manufacturer	SANYO
Serial Number	11121
Chemistry	LION
Long Term	1
Design Capacity	48840
Last Full Charge	41214

The amount of battery life left can be calculated by

eg. 41214/48840*100

Formula:  (Last Full Charge)/(Design Capacity) * 100

Which equates to 84.38% meaning my laptop battery has only 84.38% of charge left (because I didn't take good care of it. There was a few times when the battery was almost fully drain)

So make sure you switch off the laptop or connect it to an AC outlet when battery life reaches 10% and do not expose it to high temperatures.

Alternatively you can download the new HWMonitor as it reports the charge capacity directly.

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Audio Driver Matching

The reason for this new post is because I found out something interesting about MSI Release Audio Drivers.
Compared to Acer Default drivers they are richer in sound yet utilities the same audio chip.
However going by their filename I believe it is device id optimized.
So how do you find out the audio chip in your laptop desktop?
Go to Control Panel, open up Realtek Audio Driver Control Panel and check the audio chip used.

The Audio Codec will be listed.
Further proof that Audio Codec is dependent on Audio Chip installed and not device driver:

So which MSI driver to use?
Check the filename: ad_alc888s_vc2_6.0.1.6151_al00.zip
This indicates the driver is optimized for the ALC888S Audio Chip in the laptop.
I listed all the device driver on MSI by the Device ID just download & install!

ad_alc892_gr_6.0.1.6196_al00.zip

ad_alc892_gr_6.0.1.6194_al00.zip

"ASUS EAX 5.0 THX "Stealth Fighter" Laptop Audio Driver"

ad/ad_alc269_X_al00.zip (All I know is the Realtek Chip is ALC269 based)

"MSI THX Certified + 4 Premium Sound Speakers" Driver

ad_alc269q_vb5_gr_6.0.1.6267_w700.zip

ad/ad_alc269q_X_al00.zip

ad_alc269q_vb2_gr_6.0.1.6176_al00.zip

ad_alc269q_6.0.1.6128_al00.zip

ad/ad_alc269_X_al00.zip

"Sound by Dynaudio with DTS Surround" Driver

ad/ad_alc888s_X_al00.zip

ad/ad_alc888_X_al00.zip

ad/ad_alc662_X_al00.zip

ad_alc662_6.0.1.6093_al00.zip

ad/ad_alc882_6.0.1.5874_al00.zip

This entry will be updated from time to time just check the last modified entry.

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Just A Query From Readers.

Edit: I found this video which explains exactly what I was trying to say in a better more coherent sense. Thought I wanted to share this with you guys.

My opinion of the world today is rather negative.

I see people getting excited over silly devices like a iphone over more important matter like family, society, country and the world.

Superpower wage war over non-existent WMDs (even though the intelligence agency reported NO THREAT) and the leader got away with indirectly causing the death of the soldiers in his own country, in the country where in was fought burning away cash in the form of expensive weapons used. It is like mass murder in the public view of everyone and no one actually cares...

We also have filthy rich companies concern with saving money as a result causing pollution over the environment and putting a price tag on it. IMO money can never buy back the same state it was previously.

In the 21sth Century IMO mankind has sink to unprecedented depths again...but this is worse given that it was caused by apathy not by a single country but by people all over the world.

In my country (Singapore) a lot of parents are both working neglecting kids just to get a higher standard of living to purchase useless stuff like the iphone which almost cost a laptop not to mention the exorbitant monthly subscription.

People start engaging in trashy shows and useless advertising instead of reading useful materials like books.

In my country students study just to pass exams...

Does that happen all over the world or is it just my country? What is your opinion on this?

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Linux Nvidia Driver OverClocking

A lot of people don't read "README"s hence they missed a lot of things.

It reflects on the laziness of people of this generation refusal to read, write and learn with the only desire to enjoy and relax. Can't really blame them since it is how the world markets success.
I am guilty of that sometimes as well.

Anyway today I read through the Nvidia Propriety Driver's README and found a number of Nvidia XConfig options usually neglected.

I will only list interesting ones below, the full list is here, Read through it for more information.

To add them simply add the entries under /etc/X11/xorg.conf.
Something like this (in red):

.............................................
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Unknown"
HorizSync 28.0 - 33.0
VertRefresh 43.0 - 72.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nvidia"

Option "NoLogo" "on"

Option "Coolbits" "1"

Option "OnDemandVBlankInterrupts" "on"

EndSection

....................................

Interesting Sections below.............

Option "NoLogo" "boolean"

Disable drawing of the NVIDIA logo splash screen at X startup. Default: the logo is drawn for screens with depth 24.

This skips the Nvidia Splash Screen during boot up.

Option "ThermalConfigurationCheck" "boolean"

The NVIDIA X driver will fail initialization on a GPU if it detects that the GPU has a bad thermal configuration. This may indicate a problem with how your graphics board was built, or simply a driver bug. It is recommended that you contact your graphics board vendor if you encounter this problem. This option can be set to False to bypass this test. Default: true (the thermal configuration test is performed).

Turn On Thermal Protection on GPU.

Option "Coolbits" "integer"

Enables various unsupported features, such as support for GPU clock manipulation in the NV-CONTROL X extension. This option accepts a bit mask of features to enable.

WARNING: this may cause system damage and void warranties. This utility can run your computer system out of the manufacturer's design specifications, including, but not limited to: higher system voltages, above normal temperatures, excessive frequencies, and changes to BIOS that may corrupt the BIOS. Your computer's operating system may hang and result in data loss or corrupted images. Depending on the manufacturer of your computer system, the computer system, hardware and software warranties may be voided, and you may not receive any further manufacturer support. NVIDIA does not provide customer service support for the Coolbits option. It is for these reasons that absolutely no warranty or guarantee is either express or implied. Before enabling and using, you should determine the suitability of the utility for your intended use, and you shall assume all responsibility in connection therewith. When "1" (Bit 0) is set in the "Coolbits" option value, the nvidia-settings utility will contain a page labeled "Clock Frequencies" through which clock settings can be manipulated. On mobile GPUs, limited clock manipulation support is available when "1" is set in the "Coolbits" option value: clocks can be lowered relative to the default settings, but overclocking is not supported due to the thermal constraints of notebook designs.

When "2" (Bit 1) is set in the "Coolbits" option value, the NVIDIA driver will attempt to initialize SLI when using GPUs with different amounts of video memory.

When "4" (Bit 2) is set in the "Coolbits" option value, the nvidia-settings Thermal Monitor page will allow configuration of GPU fan speed, on graphics boards with programmable fan capability.

The default for this option is 0 (unsupported features are disabled).

In other word enable OverClocking of Nvidia GPU in Linux + SLI Mods.

Option "MultiGPU" "string"

This option controls the configuration of Multi-GPU rendering in supported configurations.

Value Behavior
0, no, off, false, Single Use only a single GPU when rendering
1, yes, on, true, Auto Enable Multi-GPU and allow the driver to automatically select the appropriate rendering mode.
AFR Enable Multi-GPU and use the Alternate Frame Rendering mode.
SFR Enable Multi-GPU and use the Split Frame Rendering mode.
AA Enable Multi-GPU and use antialiasing. Use this in conjunction with full scene antialiasing to improve visual quality.

Option "SLI" "string"

This option controls the configuration of SLI rendering in supported configurations.
Value Behavior

0, no, off, false, Single Use only a single GPU when rendering
1, yes, on, true, Auto Enable SLI and allow the driver to automatically select the appropriate rendering mode.
AFR Enable SLI and use the Alternate Frame Rendering mode.
SFR Enable SLI and use the Split Frame Rendering mode.
AA Enable SLI and use SLI Antialiasing. Use this in conjunction with full scene antialiasing to improve visual quality.
AFRofAA Enable SLI and use SLI Alternate Frame Rendering of Antialiasing mode. Use this in conjunction with full scene antialiasing to improve visual quality. This option is only valid for SLI configurations with 4 GPUs.
Mosaic Enable SLI and use SLI Mosaic Mode. Use this in conjunction with the MetaModes X configuration option to specify the combination of mode(s) used on each display.

SLI and Multirendering advance configuration.

Option "OnDemandVBlankInterrupts" "boolean"

Normally, VBlank interrupts are generated on every vertical refresh of every display device connected to the GPU(s) installed in a given system. This experimental option enables on-demand VBlank control, allowing the driver to enable VBlank interrupt generation only when it is required. This can help conserve power.

Default: off (on-demand VBlank control is disabled).

More power saving in Linux.

The rest are either enabled by default or nothing much interesting.

That is all.

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