Pan Chen

Author: Pan

  • PC Build – Upgraded my desktop computer

    I did a PC build, which was an unexpected upgrade. I had dual monitors setting, one is 1440P (27″) while the other is 1080P(22.5″). I had some trouble because of the mouse offset moving across monitors. Last Friday (August 11, 2023), there was a sale on an Acer 27″ 1440P monitor. I bought it.

    However, my PRIME B550M-A WIFI II only had one HDMI cable. I didn’t have a GPU. I thought the DVI-D cable should do the job. But soon I learned that DVI-D to HDMI only supports up to 1080P.

    I was looking for solutions. Some people said an adapter might work, but I couldn’t find such an adapter. Then, I learned that USB to HDMI adapters might work too. So, I purchased such an adapter (It could output one 1080P and one up to 4K).

    But not sure if this was a placebo effect, I felt the display connected to the adapter wasn’t as smooth as the one connected directly to the motherboard’s HDMI port (I set the same refresh rate).

    At that point, I realized that the only feasible solution was probably installing a GPU, which I didn’t expect to do. I packed the newly-bought monitor and decided to return it. “Thanks” to the big data, the FB marketplace suggested a $25 GTX760. The seller claimed the item was “in new condition”. I was thinking: “Well, why not give it a shot? My FB marketplace experience has been great so far. This guy has a 4.5 rating”.

    So, I met the guy and got the GTX760. It was not in new condition because there was just too much dust and the plate was rusted. I told myself: “It’s probably why the seller only sold it for $25”. I installed the GPU. It only worked few minutes and my desktop couldn’t power on anymore, even without the GPU.

    Later on, after some testing, I confirmed that the motherboard was broken. Deciding between upgrading or repairing, I went with an upgrade. Even though the new motherboard has two HDMI ports, I still get a GPU.

    My current specs are as follows:

    1. CPU: AMD Ryzen 7900
    2. Motherboard: TUF Gaming A620M-PLUS WIFI
    3. Memory: CORSAIR VENGEANCE DDR5 RAM 64GB (2 * 32GB)
    4. GPU: Asus ASUS Dual GeForce RTX™ 4060 OC Edition 8GB GDDR6
    5. SSD:
      • Samsung 990 Pro with Heatsink 1TB (the same friend gave it to me as a birthday gift, I really appreciate!)
      • Samsung 970 EVO PLUS 1TB
      • SSSTC CA6-8D1024 1TB (my friend pulled it from his laptop and gave it to me)
    6. PSU: DeepCool DQ750-M-V2L 750W
    7. Case: DeepCool Matrix 55 V3

    Highlighted are unupgraded components.

  • Smart Lock – What I love most about my Samsung Devices

    Have been using a Samsung smartphone for nearly one year and a half, a feature I love most is not anything fancy but Smart Lock.

    This is not the Smart Lock that I installed at my front door – it’s for unlocking the smartphones.

    In short, it automatically keeps the devices unlocked in certain scenarios, for me, I set it up as follows:

    1. I am in my house (it’s not always accurate unfortunately), OR
    2. My device is connected to my Galaxy Buds Pro, OR
    3. My device is connected to my Galaxy Watch 4

    The last two are very accurate and reasonable. If I am wearing buds or a watch, I no longer need to unlock the screen manually.

    When I am going to buy a new phone this year or next year, I will do some research if the new smartphone has something similar. This is the feature I love most.

  • Samsung health doesn’t include the one extra hour today when the daylight saving time ended.

    Today is the time: the daylight saving time ended – the time was rolled back one hour at 2PM.

    I woke up checking my Samsung Health app. I am using a Galaxy Watch 4. I have made some complaints about the sleep tracker although the product overall is great. This morning I am disappointed again – it seems like the sleep tracker doesn’t include the extra one hour.

    As you can see, I slept from 1:26 AM to 9:25 AM, which’s ~ 8 hours. But if you include the one extra hour, I should have slept for ~ 9 hours.

    Anyway, I should watch to get to bed early and get up early😂. This screenshot discloses my bad habit.

  • No longer an Apple user – sold my iPad today

    I have never been an Apple fan, however, more than 2.5 years ago in 2019, I bought my first and only Apple product – iPad wifi 128GB (6th gen). I used it mainly for taking notes paperlessly. The experience was great.

    But today I sold my iPad together with Apple Pencil, which would be replaced by Samsung Tab S7 & S Pen. It is a result of my embracing into Samsung’s ecosystem, not Apple’s. I like the openness & customizability of Android, and iOS UI is just not my type. Additionally, S Pen works well so far, at least better than my sold 1st gen Apple Pencil.

    Yet, I acknowledge iPad as a good product. If you love Apple’s ecosystem, definitely use it. The ecosystem is very important as I realize now.

  • TopCashback works and is an awesome choice for online shopping

    In May, I bought a VPN service. The price was a little high, but with TopCashback, I successfully saved 65% in total – today, I received a VISA pre-paid card from them.

    The only drawback is that it takes a little longer to process, about two months. But I feel like as long as it works, it doesn’t really matter to wait. So, I can confirm that by using TopCashback, we can save money!

    I won’t talk about how to use TopCashback, but it is very simple and it is easy to find a tutorial. Have fun saving money as I did!

  • Bulk image optimization by ShortPixel takes forever to finish, and today I know why – it is my fault

    I have a personal blog in Chinese, which I have been running since 2016. It is my first WordPress site. I decided to make it serve WebP images for the sake of speed. I had lots of ShortPixel credits so I ran “bulk image optimization” in the media library after installing the plugin, expecting the process would be complete after a day.

    However, when I wake up, the process bar stuck at ~40%. It was so annoying, but I didn’t have any clue why – I chose to wait. Even after several days, the process bar stuck still at ~40%. I knew something was wrong.

    And I wrote a backup script, so as long as a change occurs in wp-contents/uploads, the script is called, and some of my Google Drive space will be consumed. Every day I saw new backup was made for my personal Chinese blog – it was because the new WebP images were generated. But I just didn’t know why it took forever to finish.

    However, today, after reviewing the reminder of ShortPixel carefully, I notice that it says, when the browser tab is closed, the bulk optimization process will be paused…

    So, my bad. I shouldn’t close the browser tab (although I don’t think it makes sense because my VPS can upload the original images to ShortPixel servers, and fetch the converted optimized images?).

    Today I have learned that whenever we use a product, we should read every single message it shows carefully!

  • Leaving my first job today at Infrastructures For Information

    Today, I am leaving my position as Software Developer at Infrastructures For Information (i4i).

    I feel so down, and I even want to cry… I don’t know why, but I just feel that it is my first job, it is my regret that I can not work with them for a longer period. Also, my journey of the internship was destroyed by the pandemic. I had an offer at another company at the beginning, but suddenly my offer was revoked after the COVID-19 break, then, i4i gave me the chance to explore software development. I am very grateful for it.

  • Received my second Moderna dose today

    Today at 2:23 PM, I received my second Moderna dose.

    My second dose had been scheduled for August 29, but thanks to the vaccination acceleration, I managed to reschedule it early this week, and finally got it this afternoon.

    So far, I am feeling normal, which is similar to the first dose. But maybe in several hours, I will feel something uncomfortable, I am ready for it.

  • Back to UofT campus on May 23, first time in the past 14 months

    Entrance to UofT
    Gerstein Science Information Centre
    Restaurant car in front of Robarts Library
    A Chinese restaurant inside campus, but I had never been to.
    I forgot how to connect to the wifi network I used to connect to every day ☹
    A new building!
    Hart House
    Kelly Library
    My faviourite rice noodle restaurant.
    King’s Circle Under Construction
    Way to the exam center
    The place where I studied for the most time three months before the pandemic
    King’s Street

  • I had received calls from Amazon drivers asking if I would like my packages delivered for months, and today I finally fixed this issue

    For months, I had received calls from Amazon drivers asking me if I would like my packages. “Of course”, I would always tell them. But still, I was wondering why this happened so frequently.

    Until probably two months ago, I asked the Amazon driver why you always asked me this question. I thought it was their fault. But he told me, “you left an instruction saying you want the order cancelled, please not deliver the item”.

    Well, it came to my mind that, yes, I did leave such instruction for an order. I didn’t notice that this instruction was saved and used for all future orders.

    But now I think it makes sense, it is the instruction for the delivery at this address – the address doesn’t change, neither does the instruction.

    Procrastinated for two months, I finally remembered to erase this instruction.

涵琪bb我爱你😘