So I got my Absentee Ballot in the mail today. Looking through the list of candidates. The IAP or Independent American Party candidates looks interesting. Researching the candidates now one by one. Project Vote Smart looks like a good site to see where the candidates stand. Chuck Baldwin/Darrel L Castle for the IAP is right at the top of the list. He is the one that Ron Paul directly endorsed.

Newer processors  come with a cooling mechanimism that dynamically adjust voltage and frequency depending on the demands of the processor. For Intel it's called Speedstep and for AMD it callded Cool and Quiet. If the computer is idle then the processor throttles down to help lower heat dissipation and electricity.

To enable this function you must have it enabled in the bios, drivers installed for Windows XP and have power scheme that allows for it like "Portable/Laptop" or "MInimal Power Management". You can download the drivers at the AMD website. Also download AMD Power Monitor Version 1.2.3 so you can watch Cool and Quiet in action.

Now in my experience when CnQ seemed to be working fine, when I watched a movie CnQ becomes disabled and stays disabled. It doesn't matter what program I used either Windows Media Player or VLC. I looked some forums and found that others are having the same problem though they seem to not have any solution. I contacted gcc.asia@amd.com which I found in their contact page. And they said to update my bios and change the ATI Hotkey Poller service from automatic to manual. So I did that and it worked. The thing I noticed about flashing the bios is that the date of computer changes to the day the bios was released and the energy star logo under Monitor Power is gone. You can change ATI Hotkey Poller by right clicking My Computer, selecting Manage and going to Services and Application. Watching videos does not disable Cool and Quiet anymore.

Awhile back my computer was infected with a virus from a torrent. The antivirus didn't recognize it. The computer crazy. It prompted me to download some programs to remove the virus. It disabled the start menu, hid the disk drives, appeneded virus alert on the system time. It was really bad. Luckily Firefox remembered where the file was downloaded so I sent it to virus@avg.com. If you have Trend Micro you can send it to  virus_doctor@trendmicro.com. Within 15 minutes of sending the download link, I hit the update button and AVG had an update. It cleaned the virus files but the damage was done. I had to reinstall Windows. That was that. Atleast it will be recognized by the antivirus next time it comes.

When you find a virus on your computer and your antivirus doesn't catch it do you send the file to the antivirus company or just say the program is weak? A lot of people say their antivirus is just weak and format their hard drive which leaves the virus unknown to the antivirus peoople. At one time comodo firewall caught a new program trying to access the internet soon as a USB thumbdrive was inserted. Sent that file too. Antivirus didn't recognize it either. So that's it, do send your virus to the antivirus people when you can if it don't get recognize. They recommend you zip it though with a password to contain it. Even a link to where the file was downloaded was good enough.

My old, very old, computer poped its capacitors and I have been without a PC for a month. Got an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ and a motherboard with the 780G chipset. Here's a quick look with CPUZ.

The Cool and Quiet wasn't enabled by default. I had to download and install the drivers for processor, then choose power scheme other than "Home/Office Desk" or "Always On". For example "Portable/Laptop" or "Minimal Power Management".

This new PC Great for watching movies and getting back to working on more 3D modeling. Next upgrade should be the monitor when it finally goes out.