My YS-189 3-to-1 HDMI switcher

My 7-years-old LCD TV only has 1 HDMI port at its back, and I have 3 audio-visual devices that can connect to it with HDMI cable.

Previously, I used to unplug and re-plug the HDMI cable to the TV to switch among the AV devices to display onto the TV. Now, I no longer need to do that as I have bought a YS-189 3-to-1 HDMI switcher at the cost of around RM50 only.

This small little HDMI switch can accept up to 3 HDMI input ports and let us select one of them to output to the TV via its output port.

Selection of channel can be done by pressing the small button beside its LED I, II or III. It can also be done by pressing the button I, II or III on the remote control that comes together with it. Better still, this HDMI switch can intelligently switch itself to the correct channel if only one HDMI source is having signal (whereby one device is turned on while the other 2 devices are turned off).

Better still, this small little HDMI switch does not need to connect to any wall socket in order to function, as it can be powered by the power source from the HDMI input. It also comes with a DC 5V connector to receive additional power source, but no power adapter is supplied together with this HDMI switch.

The back of its packaging has quite comprehensive description about this product.

This YS-189 HDMI switcher serves it function well. It is cheap in price compared with most other HDMI switches available in the market.

Fixed IE 10 unable to download, Windows Update not functioning, MS Excel web query broken problem

Recently, one of the harddisks in the RAID 1 storage of my PC had given out S.M.A.R.T warning, and I've replaced it with a new harddisk.

The RAID was successfully rebuilt with the new harddisk, but I noticed something was not functioning well:

• The download function of Internet Explorer 10 in my Windows 7 stopped to work. Whenever I tried to download something, all the options in the IE 10 download prompt greyed out, and I can choose none of open, save nor cancel. In addition, pressing Ctrl-J in IE 10 to view downloads had no respond at all.
• Windows Update also not functioning and unable to check for updates from Microsoft site.
• All the web query links in my MS Excel worksheets were broken and unable to refresh data from the web.

These problems were fixed after I downloaded and installed the latest version of Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST)  RAID Driver from Intel Download Center.

If you are also having the same problem after you made change to your PC storage (i.e. replace harddisk, add new harddisk, etc.), hopefully this solution is also workable for you.

Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2015

I have posted the list of auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2015 quite some times ago, and here is the reverse, namely the inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2015. The list below is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

If you are concerned, then you should probably avoid getting married on the listed days above.

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Related articles:

• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2015
• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2016
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2016
• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2014
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2014