San Miguel Beermen Win Their 5th Straight Philippine Cup Championship

As an SMB fan, it was difficult to watch Game 7. What started out as a 7 point lead by the Beermen turned into a double-digit deficit by half-time. And while San Miguel has been able to come back from double-digit leads in the past, somehow, during this game, I don't think their fans were as confident they could pull a win off.

But the reason I admire this team is that they never gave up. Just like their 0-3 comeback, they never gave up in this game. Even when Marcio Lassiter lost the ball during an inbound where the Beermen could have won already, his teammates did not give up on him. I could just imagine Jun Mar encouraging Marcio and Chris Ross to move past the blunder and focus on the defensive stop ahead. And the Beermen won on a defensive stop. Jun Mar Fajardo was incredible on the rebounds, coming up with 31, breaking the PBA record for most rebounds by a player in a single game.

I hope Terrence Romeo does not retire after winning his first PBA championship. He has a place with the Beermen, and they wouldn't have been able to stay in this series if not for Romeo's heroics in some of the games.

I also hope the Beermen can finally win the Grandslam this year. SMB, congratulations.

PC as Media Server for PS4

I just discovered this yesterday! If you have Windows 10 on your PC, you can use your PC as a media server for your PS4. You can then watch videos on your PC from your TV connected to your PS4 as long as your wireless router recognizes both devices.

The key words you type in on Windows search bar are "media streaming options" which should bring you to an area in control panel where you can identify the device you want to share your videos with. In my case, the PS4 was showing up as an unknown device, but if you know your PS4's MAC address, then you can easily confirm if it is the right device. Just put a check mark on "Allowed". You will then be prompted on the types of media you would like to share such as pictures, music, and videos. Then, a password will be set up (but I didn't need to use this on my PS4).

From the PS4's side, all you need is to download a media player app. Once it is finished, you should be able to see your PC as a source of video files. By default, you should place or copy the videos you want to share on your PC in This PC > Videos folder. Otherwise, you might have a hard time locating videos to watch on the PS4. I hope this helps you out!

Addendum:
There were other guides which required installing Java and an additional app on the PC. To me, those additional steps are unnecessary and might even be a threat to your network's security.

ABS-CBN's TV Plus

We purchased a TV Plus box for 1,499 yesterday and so far, it has been great. I have been able to get a lot more clear channels than our TV antenna. I wish I had known about it sooner since we have been subscribing to Sky Cable's channels for more than two years now. At an additional 600 pesos per month, I've effectively paid 14,400 for two years of cable TV. But Sky's 40+ channel line up is crappy and a lot of the channels are merely duplicates of one another, one normal channel and one high-definition (HD) version. With TV Plus, I'm effectively spending 1/10th of the two-year subscription cost. My Sky Cable TV remote broke after about a year, so if the TV plus breaks down, and I have to replace if after two years, I'm still way below the cost of a cable subscription.

With TV Plus, there are no duplicate channels. I have about 30+ channels that I can access, but all I really want to watch are clear-reception local channels. So, TV Plus is what I would consider the most effective "TV antenna" among all the antenna's I've tried to hook up to a digital TV.

The only downside I've seen so far is that there are times when I would lose access to a channel, (it would appear as a black screen but you can still hear the audio) or the channel would stutter (temporarily freeze), but other than that, the reception is really clear.

As far as installation is concerned, the only problem I had was not getting any signal since the AV jack was not properly plugged into the TV Plus box. The TV kept on saying "No Signal" despite being on Video mode and despite the box having power. I made sure that the AV jack was pushed all the way into the TV Plus box, and that no silver / shiny part was visible.

Another challenge was figuring out how to add channels as favorites. Go into MENU > FAVORITES and just remember to press the Box ID button on the remote when trying to add a list of FAVORITE channels. When I did this, a FAV1 list was added. Here, you can put a star (*) on your favorite channels and when you click on the FAVORITES button on your remote, you will have a narrowed down channel list. (Memorizing the channel number is still the fastest way of getting to a channel since it only involves pressing two buttons.)

There is also an Easy TV box that some posts say can access the "encrypted channels" in TV plus. Any inputs from users of this product would be appreciated. That could help in deciding whether or not getting that additional box is worth it.

Renewing My Non-professional Driver's License 2019

My non-professional driver's license will expire in a month's time. So I decided to try renewing the license via LTO's Satellite Office at the basement of SM North Annex. It is located at the farthest end, to the right of the bowling alley. There are other government kiosks present there such as Pag-ibig, Philpost, GSIS, SSS, etc.

You are required to bring your old driver's license. The other requirements can be obtained onsite. This includes the medical exam and the form you are supposed to fill-out. But the medical examination center conveniently located just before the entrance to the LTO Satellite Office will be the one to fill out your form for you. The only draw back is that they charge 450 pesos for the examination. When I paid for my medical exam in 2016, it was only 180 pesos.

When you fill out the medical exam forms, make sure you know your height in cm, weight in kg, eye color, and blood type. It took me a while to obtain these info, so instead of finishing filling out the forms ahead of the other applicants, I ended up the last applicant processed during the day. Also be well versed with your medical history because there are questions that will ask you whether or not you have undergone certain medical procedures or illnesses.

After submitting the form, together with your old license, you will be asked to pay 450 pesos. (Note that this amount is during the time of this writing and might change by the time you are reading this post).

After paying the fee, your eyes will be tested using the traditional "read the letter's" test. There are also color blindness tests. And there was a machine where you put your chin and then the technician checks your eyes.

If you pass the tests, you will be given documents that you will then submit to the LTO kiosk. You'll have to wait a while before your documents are processed. Your photo will be taken, and you will have to sign your electronic signature.

Afterwards, you will have to pay the LTO fee of around 653 pesos. (Again, this amount probably varies depending if you have incurred penalties). So all in all, I spent about 1093 pesos to get my non-pro license renewed.

After paying, you wait a few more minutes and actually go to a back-room where they input your personal data (Name, address, phone, etc), retake your picture and electronic signature, and also go through electronic fingerprinting. I asked the technician what the difference was between the first time they took our picture and signature and this second time. According to her, the first time was for LTO Main Office's records. The second time was for their satellite office's records.

It took me about 2 hours all in all from the start of the medical exam to getting my printed license. Although 2 hours might seem like a long time, this beats having to go through the process at the main office which might take you a day, and you might have to come back after a week to actually get the printed license. So, props to LTO's SM North Satellite Office for a job well done.

And since this new license is valid for 5 years, I hopefully will not have to do this for quite some time. Hope this helps others who are planning on renewing their license this year.

Windows 10 Troubleshooting: Task Host is stopping background tasks

My windows button (the one between CTRL and ALT on the bottom left side of the keyboard) was not working. Neither did clicking on the windows button at the bottom left corner of the screen. When I tried to use CTRL-R to run stull like msconfig, it wouldn't work either.

Tried to reboot by using CTRL-ALT-DEL. Was getting this error when shutting down. One of the tasks preventing shutdown was...

Task Host is stopping background tasks
\Microsoft\Windows\Plug and Play\Device Install
Reboot Required

I restarted anyway and did some research and found a working solution on this site by Hebbe C.

Regedit
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WpnUserService
Double click on the value (DWORD): "Start"
Change the "Data" to 4 then OK.
Reboot

It works! Start button is functional again. CTRL-R is also functional. Data's original value was "2" for my system. (0x00000002 to be exact but when you double click it, the value is 2) . Thanks Hebbe C.

LTO Car Registration Renewal 2018

It has been three years since our car was registered for us by the selling company. Now, I had to renew the car's registration. Note that the amounts I share here are for a SEDAN. I checked the LTO Website for the registration renewal requirements which are as follows.

• Photocopy of Certificate of Registration (CR) and Official Receipt of payment (OR)
• Appropriate Insurance Certificate of Cover (COC) or CTPL
• Duly accomplished and approved Motor Vehicle Inspection Report (MVIR)
• Certificate of Emission Compliance (CEC)
• Plate Verification is needed before the emission center can conduct testing if you still don't have a license plate
• Taxpayer’s Identification Number

You can only get the MVIR once you are at LTO, East Avenue. And the initial assessor will only give you one if you have the OR/CR, CTPL and CEC.

We got our CEC from RLD Auto Sources Emission Testing Center. Testing was done in roughly 10 minutes. But before we could even have our vehicle tested, they asked us to get our PLATE VERIFICATION from the district office where our car was first registered. This was at the NCR District Office along G. Araneta Avenue. So instead of just 10 minutes, it took us an addition hour just to get this verification because our vehicle still has no license plate until now. This has something to do with COA and a TRO. So, on our PLATE VERIFICATION form, it says FOR PLATE ALLOCATION - NO PLATE AVAILABLE. There was no payment needed for this form.

After getting the PLATE VERIFICATION, and returning to the emission testing center, our vehicle was tested. They attached a smoke emission measuring device to the car's exhaust. The technician revved the motor several times and took a picture of the rear end of the car. I then had to pay 450 pesos.

Next stop was the LTO at East Avenue. The registration requirements was checked by an assessor. He then told me that the Insurance Certificate of Cover I brought with me, the one issued by Standard Insurance, was not appropriate since it did not have the CTPL term under the items covered. I asked him if VTPL-BI and VTPL-PD counted as CTPL. He said that CTPL was for pedestrians who might get hit by an accident. VTPL was for Bodily Injury and PD was for Personal Damage. (But I thought TPL meant Third Party Liability?) Not wanting to prolong our debate, I decided to purchase a CTPL from Milestone Guaranty and Assurance Corp. whose stall was conveniently located a few feet away from the assessor. They charged me 1,250 pesos for the CTPL. Later on, I would call up Standard Insurance and inquire if CTPL was not part of my insurance coverage. They confirmed that it wasn't. But I could have it added the next time I renewed our insurance with them for an additional 610 pesos. For more info, you can read on this article. (What pisses me off is that I thought a Comprehensive Insurance would include CTPL aside from the other things it covers. Apparently, not.)

After buying the CTPL, I was awarded the MVIR along with a technician who would stencil the chassis number and engine number of our vehicle on the form. After he did this, I had to give the documents to window F to be evaluated. And then, I had to wait at window L, the cashier's window, and I had to pay 1930 pesos for the registration renewal. I was then supposed to claim the stickers and plates from window M. But since no stickers and plates were available, I was advised to check back with the LTO at some other future time to claim these.

CEC      450
CTPL    1,250
LTO fee 1,930
----------------------------------
Total Amount Spent    3,630

And that was my LTO registration renewal experiance for 2018. I hope it helps you out.

Adding a Larger DDR4 Memory Stick

My existing desktop has two memory slots. The memory in the existing slot was a 4 GB Hyper X DDR4 with a frequency of 2400 MHz. I asked the PC salesperson if it was alright to add an 8 GB memory module with the same specs. He said it would be alright as long as the frequencies matched. So I purchased an 8 GB Hyper X DDR4 module with a frequency of 2400 MHz.

When I got home, I simply plugged in the new memory module in the second slot. No Video. The computer would not even reach BIOS. But it was running. And there weren't any weird noises or beep codes. I decided to re-seat the new memory module, hoping things would change. Still no video.

I took out the 4 GB module and replaced it with the new 8 GB memory module. Finally, a message to go into BIOS since the existing memory has changed. BIOS showed that the memory module size was indeed 8 GB. Saved the changes and exited BIOS.

Shut the PC down and decided to add the 4 GB module at the secondary slot. A new message stating that the existing memory has changed again showed up on the screen. BIOS was now showing 12 GB of total memory.

Morale of the story. When adding a larger memory module of the same frequency, make sure the larger module is placed in the primary memory slot on the mother board.

Addendum: It seems like systems running Windows 10 need about 8 GB as minimum memory to run decently. Browsers - be it Firefox or Chrome - need about 4 GB memory, and if that is the minimum amount of memory you have on your PC, then it is subject to a lot of slow downs.