Sentience Fragment

Hail, tumblr.

2010-04-17T10:27:00.004+08:00

Okay, folks. Because of Blogger's new non-FTP rules and my new found convenience with tumblr, This blog will no longer be entertained and will be archived for all eternity (blogger/hosting dependent). I'm moved to tumblr. My tumblr's at: blog.biqbox.com
My life of the past 4 years or so, including such moments as me passing my N levels, scraping my O levels and moving on to design school, beating GTAIV, promoting Hopeless Optimism, my vacation in Perth, playing games, tech opinions and so forth, will be intact here on judacris.blogspot.com, unless of course, I get deleted by the big cloud.

Thanks for having me, Blogger, but I'm having an affair with tumblr.

This blog has moved

2010-04-17T09:57:00.001+08:00

This blog is now located at http://judacris.blogspot.com/.
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DANGER! DANGER!

2010-02-07T20:12:00.002+08:00

WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!
Google has announced the cease to FTP Blogging, which, if not rectified, will terminate this blog into eternal doom. Before this impending blogger-mageddon, I plan to hook up with (unfinished plan. details under wraps) once I'm done with this prerequisite project requirement and save this blog, and the rest of my site. I deem this, "Project (redacted)".

I'll see you real soon.

2009-12-31T23:48:00.000+08:00

Here I am. Final minutes of 2009. Sipping a Bacardi (what is this...) Freezer. Had a wonderful dinner. A bit much, but it was satisfying. The countdown shows on TV are rather sad. Typical.
This year, or decade, has had its ups and downs. Terror, War, War on Terror, Hope, Change and all that. 2001 was pretty sad. My life changed. Our lives changed. The world changed. We recovered. Picked up where we left off. I managed to bash my way out of secondary school and scraped my way to a tertiary education. Fabulous design school.
It was this decade too that when my PC died and I got liberated (brainwashed, if you will) and got my Mac Mini. Waves of Apple products followed. IPod, MacBook, iPhone, iMac. These are some of the good stuff this decade. Then I turned into a geek and gave a damn about gaming, tech and related matters. About time.
The 00's weren't all bad. Some hiccups, some life lessons, some regrets, but plenty achieved, lots of good people. I'm pleased. So here's to what's yet to come. You have 12 minutes.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T15:25:00.001+08:00

Mmm... edible Christmas.

Gratuitous Alien Nudity!

2009-12-23T09:49:00.003+08:00

Yes. I saw Avatar on Monday. I guess I should have watched it in 3D because 2D only almost justifies the $237,000,000 graphics and effects. Won't spoilt it too much, but if you ate Teppanyaki Chicken Burgers and Diet cola, you'll probably know it involves a bunch of blue-skinned aliens.
To put it bluntly, the story focuses on what humans do best: Exploration, Invasion, War and Making love to alien natives. The year is 2154. The nature-loving, human-hating Na'vi resides on Pandora, one of the three moons on Alpha Centauri A. The humans (sky-people) are there to mine and obtain unobtanium (go figure) and are damaging Pandora's ecosystem while doing so, yet another thing we do best. This obviously pisses the Na'vi off.
Avatars are the scientifically generated Na'vi made with Na'vi and Human DNA and is controlled remotely when you go ahead and watch the rest of the movie for yourself. Someone has to save the day, and it won't be the stereotypical army colonel.
I recommend Avatar. Definitely. Don't steal it. Go and bloody watch it, because your puny web-streaming or 1TB .avis won't give you shit. Even if you go and watch it in 2D, it be a wonderful experience. I liked the movie, it makes you think. Now excuse me while I brush up on my Na'vi.

Is this thing on?

2009-11-27T11:32:00.001+08:00

It was real scary in the Forbidden Zone.
Okay. Puff-x.com was down for a couple days, nay, weeks. I don't have an actual cause, so I'll point the finger at magical server elves, who scratched this website off the records. Anyway, the site is up now, fully intact, and I made a backup of the files here. I have some plans.

During my absense, or part thereof, two major things occurred. I checked my Twitter feed. Yep. Two.
November 14th: iPhone 3GS'd (left, Old Box, New Box, New Phone)
My Sis and I handed over our iPhone 3Gs for 3GSes to Singtel, who seem to be feeling some pinch from rival Telcos who announced their bite into the iPhone pie. I'm not a SingTel, but rather than let the iPhone's value dip further, we thought we'd just do the swap. It's fast, it's pretty and just as sleek, not to mention the video recording capabilities. Otherwise, it's the same phone after Restore.
(October 18th -) November 17th: Left 2 Die (right)
I think I mentioned... I DIDN'T?! Well, after my fiasco with Boot Camping Windows onto the iMac, I bought Left 4 Dead off Steam. I also took the liberty to preorder Left 4 Dead 2. The sweet bundle was S$92 with 10% off on L4D2. Washing my senses with L4D was fun, then the L4D2 demo dropped and that was even more fun. L4D2 then dropped at 1410hrs local on November 17th. Guess what, my preloaded files were corrupt, so I had to run a fresh download, twice, for 6 hours. It's still really good. I like Nick because of his sarcastic remarks.

I think that wraps things up for now. You can check out my Steam ID if you wish.

A New hOP(e)

2009-10-31T19:49:00.002+08:00

This marks the return of Hopeless Optimism (until, you know, I go on Hiatus again). hOP #118 is out on a brand new page. The logo is different and the guys are no longer photoshopped. They're now redundantly drawn on Illustrator. #118 has a title, and so will #119 and the rest.

After much deliberation, I decided to shift Hopeless Optimism to a Blogger-powered Blog (Don't start, LJ-WP People), getting rid of the iFrame system forever. Now the old block strips can live together with the new strip strips, without worrying about iFrame sizes. This also means hOP has its own RSS feed now.

I'm still working out the kinks, adding in the strips as blog posts and dropping titles into the ones that don't have titles (i.e. Pre #118). I hope this works well.

Internship Ends?

2009-10-16T21:04:00.002+08:00

IT'S OVER!!
So it ends. 12 weeks. My internship with the fine folks at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research is over (or is it?). It's been fun, entertaining(!?), exciting and I learnt some deal of a lot. Thanks to the school for hooking me up to A*STAR, my supervisor for his patience and follow-up and fellow "colleagues" Jasmine and Ilyana (pictured) who has kept me sane for the aforementioned duration. I've learnt that XML still kicks ass. I've learnt that such projects has a working curve thats get steeper at the end. I've learnt that I cannot survive on the DES canteen food alone.
I enjoyed my time at my internship. There were the days that had it moments, but all is well. And now, I'm freeing up the tension. Excuse me.

Key to the City.

2009-10-06T08:58:00.004+08:00

What's Next for Niko Bellic?

That's it. That's 100.00%. I finished up GTAIV at long last. I was hung at 98.33% before I took Packie to a show, went for darts and a drink. Then the trophy popped up, and part of my hobby lost some meaning. I spent 76 hours (113 game days) in Liberty City, excluding all my superhuman cheat-code-using rampages I didn't save on. It's been really fun. Pity the DLC episodes won't touch the PS3. Time to get Arkham Asylum.

Follow the rest of the story, from the time I got the game, finished the story, finished the story under 30 hours and shot 200 pigeons.

What's wrong with this picture?

2009-10-05T10:43:00.003+08:00

Image possibly blurry on purpose.
Well, it's not really a glitch. Yes. This Mac boy installed Windows on his iMac. Just so I can play serious PC games. Namely, Left4Dead and/or Left4Dead2. I'm using xpize to ease the pain. I last used Windows back in 2004. Check my records. Then my Terminal died and I made the switch and I've been an Apple fanboy ever since.
XP didn't hookup with my internet so good, and the idiot light error dialogs are hard to figure out. But I fixed that. And I got out of there before my brain exploded. So again, Windows is for my non-alternative-OS gaming. Everything else runs on Mac.

Philanthropy?!

2009-09-29T19:55:00.003+08:00

It's really good. Trust Me.

Opens to official page

We've all seen fan-made content. Most of them are on YouTube involving college boys and their crazy antics. This, however, is nothing like I've ever seen. Three years in the making, "Metal Gear Solid: Philanthropy" is a "non-profit, no-budget" fanmovie. I'm amazed at the "no budget" part, because the production values are rather high. These guys go for on-location filming, digital animation, weapons and a humvee! No. Unless you hate anything fan-made, Watch it. Now.

(Disclaimer: I'm a blind fan for the Metal Gear Solid series. I cheer for anything that has to do with MGS. I don't actually play the games, except for Metal Gear: Ghost Babel and Metal Gear Ac!d, so I'm probably the last person who has any say on what is good or bad for the series. Watch the thing and judge for yourself, but this was an hour well spent for me.)

Threadlessessesses!

2009-09-27T10:57:00.002+08:00

Fun at US$9.
(These new Blogger Post Editor controls are weird.) My shipment of Threadlesses have arrived! Acquired them from the 09/09/09 sale. Frantic, it was. Sale frenzy. Sizes selling out. Stock selling out. Site going down. But we managed to checkout, only discovering the next day that they extended the sale and threw in a few reprints to spark more wildfire.

Snow Leopard GET!

2009-09-09T19:38:00.003+08:00

I eated your shiny X.
Obtained Snow Leopard Mac OS. I ordered it Sunday night. It was due to come in yesterday, but I wasn't home to receive it, so DHL was nice enough to have it sent this evening. Here's two things I didn't know. There's a Apple-type warehouse in Alexandria Terrace and the OS CD, packaging and documentation are allegedly made here (says so on the box, although still "Designed by Apple in California".)
So, er... no unboxing video. Just a few photos. My shipping box is nice and small. I'll probably get installations done this weekend. Maybe after I get my terabyte-harddrive from Comex and complete some time machine backups. I have noticed too that there's no serial numbers. Yeah, I know. Honour system. This is my first non-come-with-computer OS X.

2009-09-09T19:35:00.004+08:00

A New Challenger!

"I will protect Itsuki-kun!"

Why, yes. I obtained another figma. No.036: Mikuru Asahina Fighting Waitress ver.
This will fit right in with my Evil Witch Yuki Nagato.
figmagallery updated.

MacBook's back.

2009-09-05T21:49:00.002+08:00

Yes. My MacBook was gone. For a while.
Well, I didn't blog it. But I tweeted about this. My MacBook died 2 weeks ago. There's the hard drive on the left. The Hard Drive that failed. I'm not one who backs up stuff so that was a kick in the bum. But I keep my work separate on a flash drive, so that wasn't so bad, but I did lose everything else. I'll probably pick up a good terabyte's worth of external hard drive for Time Machine this coming computer smorgasbord exhibition.
I didn't get Snow Leopard yet either. Epicentre said they were all out. Figures. Probably just get it online from the SG Apple Store. Fresh starts. My MacBook got amnesia and the iMac's still young.

2009-08-28T13:38:00.001+08:00

I do believe I turn 21 tomorrow. Will be chilling out at the chalet event of the year! Too bad my Macbook's slightly under the weather. Some possible hardware issue. Poor baby. I can't work of my stuff because the school computers don't have CS3. Hard drive seems to be intact, so far.
Party-wise, I don't know what to expect. And the weather better hold up. Plenty of tweets, photos and some blogging, hopefully, in the coming days.

Posted with LifeCast

The In-turn Ship

2009-07-27T10:37:00.002+08:00

Student Internship Day One
Yes. I start my internship here and now. I'll be doing (classified information) in school using (classified information). First day, nothing's up. Probably because my boss from (classified information) will come this afternoon. Trying to find things to do though. The "office" is getting dark. Trying to make this day productive to the best I can (classified information).

2009-07-19T11:09:00.003+08:00

I suppose my non-blogging doesn't do this blog much good and the usual excuse of busy is there. But I am! I have been doing work. I got a 38-page cyber wellness book to print, and I haven't done the cover for that yet. I got voice acting to do. I have a 16 lines of Japanese script to memorize for a skit. I also have loads of other stuff I wanna do before I start my "student internship" end July.

Haven't got the time to get my eyes on HP6 with friends. We're all dying over this major project of our choice. I'm re-reading HP6 because I forgot everything about it. I don't even remember the events of HP7. I only know Harry gets hooked up with Ginny at the end. That's all I remember?! I'm a squib.

The moment the book (mine, not HP6) gets done. I'll post a pdf copy up for non-savvy parents to work their kids with. It's all mumbo-jumbo to me, but it'll probably get some lost parents started over their pornographic-watching, online-gaming, chatroom-stalking tweens. Yes, folks. The Situation in this country is that bad.

Hibi no Neiro

2009-07-10T14:20:00.003+08:00

Skype, much?

Another great video. Here's what a fanbase can do. Excellent coordination.

DANCE ALL NIGHT.

2009-07-09T22:14:00.001+08:00

Give these guys some money!

"Invent" by a UK duo, Tom and Matt. The video is mind-blowing and uses a bunch of HP printers and stop-motion effects. Just, Just watch.

The S is for...

2009-07-05T17:54:00.002+08:00

Friday has us seeing iPhone 3GS from the Red Telecommunicompany. iPhone 3G still good, so no need for 3GS. I will probably be hypocritical. I mean, I was the I-don't-need-an-iPhone hypocrite.
I also recently swapped out my mobile Internet plan for something more sane. I was paying $1.04 for 100kb, which is stupid. That makes one megabyte around $10.40. I petitioned for my plan to be changed, and now I'm paying $5.35 a month for a 10MB buffer protecting against shock bills, which always seem to happen on my iPhone. I'll be in the soup if a shock bill arrives with this data plan.

(No. I don't have a expensive local AT&T-equivalent $150+ wonder-data plan. My mobile plan has me at $28 a month. The world is my Wifi.)

Thank you for the Music, MJ.

2009-06-27T16:08:00.003+08:00

So I suppose the rest of you have already heard. Music Legend Michael Jackson died Friday morning local. I found out reading a Cult of Mac post, which is odd because it'll probably be the last place I'd think to read about his death. The presses were stopped before the word got to the newspapers so nothing there. Yes. I didn't believe it. It took me 10 minutes to realise what was going on (just woke up) before I turned on to BBC World.
I was very distraught that morning. That's like no way to start a morning. You totally don't expect such a sudden passing, like when Steve Irwin died. I stared at the TV for about 45 minutes. That was it.
I wasn't one of those diehard fans, but I don't know of anyone who can turn down his music. I liked his brand of music, but I will say I didn't know all of his songs. I grew up watching "Moonwalker" and imitating the moonwalk in a bad way. I turned 6 when he came to perform live in Singapore, so I couldn't remember much from that. Why, yes. He turned 50 when I turned 20 last year. We share a birth date. It's like a insignificant bond.
I'm not as sad as I was on Friday now, but I still can't get hold of that fact very well. R.I.P. Michael.

Meet Lawrence Westwood

2009-06-15T19:56:00.005+08:00

Your Excitable Friendly, Humorous Coward
It's The Sims 3! I got it over the weekend and like my ranting on twitter, it's DA BOMB. There are some serious changes to the game and I haven't much complaints about the stuff that's changed or the stuff that's new. The new iMac runs the game as expected (really, really well) and the graphics are brilliant. Sunset Valley is a beautifully designed town. Starting afresh, I realised I couldn't run the lives of 2 households at the same time, which was a small bummer, but then I figured i could concentrate all my Sim-godly powers more efficiently this way.
So now Lawrence Westwood is my first creation in the field of Politics. Definitely barely scratching the surface after 17hours of gameplay, there's so much more to do. And gardening! That's really cool! What more will life bring for Governor Lawrence Westwood? Well...

Super Conan O'Bros

2009-06-08T10:16:00.002+08:00

Brilliant. Just so you know what Conan's referring to, here's how it all started.

Hi, Mac.

2009-06-07T14:22:00.003+08:00

Mac Mini, Macbook. This is iMac. IMac, this is Mac Mini and MacBook
Only one word can sum this up, but it's a really rude word and I'd probably get a lashing for saying that word. My Mac Mini's Monitor has been moved to make way for my new massive 24-inch iMac. Everytime I look at it, I'm reminded that have the best parents and sibling in the world. Thanks, Mum, Dad and Sis.

24-inchers are huge. This one just fits snugly between my desk and deskshelf, fighting with my HP Photosmart for space. It makes me feel small, really (Uh oh. I think all that snugness is heating up the Mac. This could prove trouble, or self-paranoia). I have only 2 irks. It irks me that they changed it to Firewire 800. So I can't FireWire 400 my stuff from my Mac Mini. It also irks me that the included Wired Mighty Mouse is so damn short. Otherwise, the thing is a work of beauty. Stunning.

Here's hoping it doesn't become self-aware.

Now with LifeCast

2009-06-04T23:06:00.001+08:00

Let's see if this works. You know, Blogger seriously needs a native iPhone app. Not that LifeCast is all bad. I think there's a way to publish to Blogger (not via email, though. That has a bit of weird formatting issues) but I hasn't really thought about that yet.
Hopefully I can blog a wee bit more often with this thing, although now I can't see what I'm typing anymore because the keyboard screen is blocking the texfield.

Posted with LifeCast

My Apps. Let me show you them.

2009-05-23T11:10:00.007+08:00

I have plenty apps on my iPhone. These apps go through a rigourous screening process before they get a permanent "stay-tus" [sic] on my phone. The apps must be useful, and then used and then used often enough to keep it useful. Apps that become unused will be removed to make room for new apps that come in. Anything else that doesn't meet my usefulness requirement are removed at once. Apps also need a nice icon to pass, but it's generally quality of app over icon design.
The way I arrange my apps can be seen in the stretch of 108 apps (2 are bookmarks) above. I'm currently restricting myself to seven pages. There's plenty more apps on iTunes. As you can see, the "Home page" is now my app landing page, with the App Store and other internet apps with 2 blank spaces for new apps to enter and be "processed". Page 2 is the Home page with my Calendar and other default apps. The next few pages have games and/or simulators covering the top 2 rows and other groups of related apps on the bottom. The apps arranged here go based on popularity, with some exceptions.
As I mentioned some time ago. I don't go "Hey, Big Spender" on apps. I wait for apps to go free then buy them. That's cheap, but still anytime better than Jailbreaking and getting the apps scot-free. When I do buy apps, these don't usually cost more than $5 and stay mainly around the 99 cent range. Mostly games.
Go ahead and use my arrangement ideas, I won't do nothing about it. Plus, the apps on my iPhone? I personally recommend them all if you wish to get them as you please.

Stealth Obtainment Tactics

2009-05-16T10:16:00.002+08:00

Let's see... where was I...
I caught Star Trek, which was awesome considering I never saw a single Star Trek anything before.
I bought The Orange Box from a good guy on eBay for $35.
I painted something on a big canvas, something I wouldn't really want to do on a rush schedule again (more on that soon).

I also just finished a tech demo of a mobile game for the Flash Lite 2 platform. A game, which I mentioned somewhere on Twitter last week, that would make Hideo Kojima roll in his sleep. Turns out, not really, but it's a start. "Shadow Babel: STEALTH OBTAINMENT TACTICS" is my "homage" to the Metal Gear Solid series. It's your basic go-around-a-maze-and-get-stuff game, avoiding lasers and what have you. You play a guy in a cardboard box somewhere after the time of the non-canon Ghost Babel spinoff (see the reference now?)

I did manage a working piece of game, as well as having it on a real flash-enabled phone by sheer luck. There's still plenty of glitches and navigation problems. After all, this game was made in 4 days of production. I plan to at least get some levels in because creating the game was actually fun. I have the resources and sprites at the ready, so why not?

I'm gonna be on Twitter more often than I can post a blog entry. I wish there was a way to post Tweets as blog posts, but that ain't gonna happen.

Together At Last!

2009-04-30T20:18:00.002+08:00

There was a Closed-door sale at Robinsons yesterday, and mum scored me a cool Timbuk2 Messenger Bag. The bag goes to match a Threadless Select Tee I bought a while ago. I have come to realise that both items were designed by New England group Gluekit for a Threadless Timbuk2 collab project, which actually means that the Timbuk2 has been labeled as a Limited Edition.
I haven't really seen a Timbuk2 bag up-close before, but the insides of mine are roomy with lots of compartments. I love compartments! The bag is was going at 50% off retail, and if you know about the prices that Timbuk2s usually go for, you'd know that's a good deal. Now, would I look weird/silly if I wore both the shirt and had the bag on at the same time?

(eek! Swine Flu upped it's threat level!)

2009-04-25T17:16:00.002+08:00

So the Dark Lord uses Yahoo to search for Answers. Hmm... so all of Yahoo IS going to Hell.

CHRISSSS!!!

2009-04-25T10:45:00.003+08:00

Bloody Hell...
Damn! I've seen a couple of action figurines before. I've seen the Prison Break figurines made by this same company. But this. This Chris Redfield Resident Evil 5 figurine. This is real awesome insane lifelike detail. Well, as lifelike as a video game character is gonna get.
This here is the 12" Chris Redfield action figurine by Hong Kong based HOT TOYS. It comes with BSAA standard-issue everything. I have nothing else to say about it. My mind is still blown. It doesn't look like it's real. More like they slapped on a screenshot from the game, but hell, I'd pay for that even if it was rigid and non-posable. There's also a Sheva Alomar one, but the joints aren't as well hidden, unless, you know, they tweaked the shots of Chris.
It's out 3rd Quarter 2009. Damn! I've seen a couple of action figurines before. I've seen the Prison Break figurines made by this same company. But this...

Biohazard 5 Collectables Product Page [HotToys.com.hk (Also image credit)]

Earth Day.

2009-04-21T19:58:00.002+08:00

Tomorrow, not Today.
Tomorrow's Earth Day. To those going "I thought we already had an Earth Day in March?". No. that was Earth Hour. There's an Earth Day, yes. But looking at the amount of resources we have and have been eating, the 2012 Mayan fiasco, NASA's Earth Ultimatum and the eventual coming of Christ, our Lord and Saviour during the Rapture, there looks to be nothing much left we can really do, actually. Pardon my Pessimism. Let's all go on with out miserable lives.

Back in school, I have been given the module I have been dreading. It's some 2D Art thing. I can't draw anything without erasing stuff, which is why most of my stuff tend to be digital. But at least my schedule has been straightened out.

helvetica sex.

2009-04-19T17:02:00.003+08:00

Now that I've got your attention...
I tuned up my blog. It's the same for ALL browsers now (except it'll look like shit on IE without some sexy Mac-esque font anti-aliasing anyway, no matter what I do).
Just a simple layout of blacks and whites with a touch of colour. I find it much cleaner without the noise in the background. Plus without the Gai background, the blog is back to center once again. I like that. I also jacked up the font size a few days back, make it a bit easier for everyone to read.

I was away on chalet (that rhymes!) couple days back. I had some fun. I mean, you could probably tell from my tweets, eh? Was there also to attend a friend's party for her big two-one. Happy Birthday, Wendy! Back home now, of course. A new semester begins tomorrow and I probably need to find course manager Yong to clarify my timetable yet again. Me, out.

That's Dope!

2009-04-17T13:55:00.003+08:00

VOTE ME! Plus, there's some other really good ones too!
Just last week, I was doing couple designs for slipmats for the IdN/Dope Shop A Nice Set Singapore design competition. Now I'm up and in the running. I particularly prefer my cassette reel design, but my other wordy piece isn't that bad either.
Do what you must. Vote for mine if you want to, vote for others' if you want to. Plenty of good designs. Just Vote for something!

2009-04-13T18:49:00.002+08:00

Twitter has changed my blog life. I'm too lazy (read "busy") to write anything else longer than 140 characters.
I should make that feed longer.

UROBOROSSSS!!!

2009-04-06T17:29:00.002+08:00

Resident Evil 5 is Over!
So in the end, we defeated 2 chaingun zombies, made for the doomjet,jabbed Albert Wesker with a dose of WD40 or something, and watch him escape to the doomjet for an interactive cutscene, crashed the plane on a Star Wars-esque Volcano island, fought crazy Uroboros-infected Wesker again, died 24 times before we realised what we were actually supposed to do. Dipped the fiend in magma, fled to rescue helicopter with that Josh guy and Jill Valentine. With his last scream and head-out-of-lava, we blasted his face with 2 RPGs. The End.

Resident Evil 5 was the first RE game I actually cared for simply because of the entire co-op business, which has been really cool. We still have plenty to unlock and tons more zombies to shotgun. Man, I love this game. I still hate that megaphone zombie guy.

Atrocious Hands

2009-04-03T20:48:00.001+08:00

Atrocious Hands.ttf - Non-commercial Use. Commercial Use at your own risk.

2009-03-30T17:06:00.002+08:00

They're gonna have The Matrix on BluRay tomorrow. Why would I need that if I bought the Ultimate Matrix Collection DVDs?
There's like nothing new in it, but then again, how much new secret material can they cough up after 10 years?

Liberty City Survival Kit.

2009-03-26T20:27:00.002+08:00

It's GTA:CW, baby.

Oh yeah, I bought Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. It's da bomb. And the Graphics! Man, the Graphics!
I like the fact you can deal smack and make a killing on the run from the law.
Rockstar has done this game SO right. The DS is not a wuss console, get the facts right.

The Converse of Monkey Island.

2009-03-22T11:01:00.003+08:00

Oh. My. God. These are the most brilliant, most beautiful pair or sneakers I have ever seen. They're Monkey Island Converses. You know, Monkey Island? Some of the best games of all time?
According to the photos of the process of customising these shoes, the sprites look hand painted. Which is like, crazy! I don't have the patience for that! So I guess these are way out of my reach for now.

Image via Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
Original Photo Gallery here.

2009-03-20T08:56:00.002+08:00

Another morning. Deadlines next week. I'm on the right track to finishing either of my 2 works.
You know, I've been using my iPhone so much I actually forgot how light my iPod actually was, which feels weird.
And once again, I proclaim Facebook's new interface design to have sunk as low as Windows XP. It would make a good vacuum cleaner, because it sucks (bravo, Julian).

Looks like I got all of them.

2009-03-19T21:03:00.003+08:00

I can finally get (on with my) a life.
The folks who played GTAIV to death will know that hunting down 200 pigeons is a mean feat, much more if you're doing it by pure vigour without the use of maps, checklists and such. I couldn't, and went all OCD about it.
So writing this entry would obviously lead to me saying that I've got all 200 pigeons. I did, and earned a nice PSN trophy in exchange for that part of my life missing. Like, finally. I tried it with my first game and messed up because I got a few during the game and forgot which ones I took out. Then I gave it another go, and the PS3 died with my save game. This time, I nearly missed one and screwed up my operations, but I found the unshot pigeon and shotgunned it. Then I hit Alderney and it's 56 pigeons. Joy.

Back to reality, yes, I'm doing a major project and yes, it's a doozy. If I make it out in time, it'll probably be one hell of a flash website. And how about that iPhone 3.0 conference, huh? We WILLED it to happen. Bound to happen, otherwise, the rivals will be Palm Pre all over our asses. Better late than never, but still late because I'm already used to a life without MMS, SMS forwarding or bluetooth transfers. Oh, buttons.

SHEVAAAA!!!

2009-03-15T18:11:00.002+08:00

So we got Resident Evil 5 yesterday and immediately got down slinging guns at the African Zombies. I like the fact that the Asian version has dual covers, so you can flip the box art over and have Biohazard 5 (yes, the above is the same box. Photoshopped), but I can't locate the settings to change the voices to Japanese.
I got the demo and a taste of the co-op so we sorta already know what to expect. We made it past Chapter 1 and past midnight, so I had to turn in for church in the morning. And right just now, I went onto Playstation Home and scored the exclusive Chris collectable, but seems the RE5 Studio Lot treasure hunt isn't on just yet. I haven't tried non-co-op, but I don't really trust AI partners.

Sarsi Ice Kachang?

2009-03-12T18:14:00.001+08:00

I was at T3, seeing my aunt and uncle off. I had a curious dessert
from Kopitiam. Sarsi Ice Kachang. Yeah. Sarsapirilla in a mountain of
ice. But that is not the amazing part. They added a pack of pop rocks;
that sugar CO2 candy product that fizzles on your tongue. That's
ingenuity right there. It was good. Crazy, but good.

Study shows I'm cheap.

2009-03-07T19:36:00.008+08:00

I did some calculations over the number of apps I obtained for my iPhone, how much of those were free-Paid apps and how much in apps I purchased so far. Using my purchase receipts sent to my email, some paper and a calculator, the following is the data I have obtained.

iPhone obtained 6th September, 2008. Information accurate as of 7th March 2009
131 unique app downloads
92 free apps (that are still free)
9 Paid app purchases worth US$37.91 (Christ!)
30 apps that used to be Free. Paying for these apps now would cost a total of US$86.69
99 of these apps are still on my iPhone, for use and/or no good reason.

and Obviously, my iPhone is intact and not Jailbroken. My study has shown that, yes, it is true that apps that cost 99cents seems light on the pocket, until they accumulate and bite you in the back. Otherwise, these numbers aren't all surprising to me.

Is mah voyce not American enough for yeh?

2009-03-03T20:34:00.005+08:00

With the help of a friend of mine, I obtained the not-available-in-your-country Google Mobile app for my iPhone. It has voice search, so you throw your voice when you hear the tone and it will apparently search to the best of your human larynx. Being nowhere close to North America, I don't have a North American accent (although I've been told I have a suave "Western"-type accent). Not having such an accent, voice search for anything beyond 3-word searches is practically sh*t.

It can't meet my "Global Positioning Satellite" test nor can it interpret "puffdashex" or "p-u-f-f-dashex", i.e. puff-x. Maybe I'm saying it wrong. Maybe it's not built with such advanced James Bond Quantum of Solace voice recognition. After getting results for "perfect", "Houston, tx" and "profession", the closest I got was "puff", but I wanted "puff-x". Either way, I can't find a reason why Google Mobile can't be in the SG store.

I also got Google Earth, but that's basically Google Maps stuck on a 3D sphere, not that I'm complaining. I also got Tap Tap Revenge 2, which, thank God, is available for Free, all over the world. Nice work, Tapulous.

Clips of the Day!

2009-03-03T16:21:00.000+08:00

Only in Japan.

Above, a video I like to interpret as "Life as a conveyer belt sushi".
Below, a video that's just as good. Gameplay of the next Elevator Action arcade game.

Yes, I know it's kinda cheap slapping 2 videos as a blog post. My blog, my rules. Meh.

2009-02-27T17:45:00.002+08:00

It appears that rich people in ignorance of the current financial situation can bling the hell out of their iPhone for US$2.5 million. That's not just insane, that's stupidity of the highest level. I'm not a fan of anything encrusted in jewels and gold. Looking at the photo, it makes an insult of the iPhone's design. Plus, the iPhone isn't the most powerful phone in the market. That award goes to phones in Japan. Anyway, I'd rather spend that 2.5 million pump research into tricking out an iPhone. Stuff like an 8-megapixel camera or custom hard disk space.

I hope my DS won't explode.

2009-02-27T09:33:00.003+08:00

I woke up this morning and saw this. Holy Mackerel. Here's my money, Rockstar.
The graphics don't look half bad, but will it play well?
I'm getting this game within the first week. MDA approved frontal nudity GTA, so why not Portable GTA?
Me want now!

2009-02-18T16:28:00.002+08:00

and now, a rant.
I've been doing a bit of going here and there... let me start over.
I hunt for iPhone Apps, and I love doing so, hunting down apps that scratch their retail prices and go for free. As much as I hunt apps, I like to throw in a review here and there. So it has come to my attention that the reviews I see for the Singapore App Store has a certain lacking than it's American counterpart. Sure, we have a smaller user base, not all of us are rabid Apple Fanpeople, but we need standards on reviews. Good standards.
There are comments along the lines of like, ""Oh, something doesn't work. Bad app."". Nothing gets more vague than those. What's bad? Say something! Be more specific! There's also the kind that slams some reputable app down with a one-star rating and the review has a question by some helpless user. ""Ooh. Ooh. I downloaded this but how does it work? I have no idea!"". Reviews are not for questions. Get your answers, get the app to work and get a proper review done, or say nothing at all.

2009-02-12T17:54:00.003+08:00

Just here to say that if you haven't noticed, I've made a twit of myself.
So follow my Twitter updates when I get too lazy to blog. It's on ~~my sidebar~~ the top of the blog feed.
(I don't know how stephenfry does it.)

2009-02-05T14:33:00.002+08:00

I'll stand by my word, dammit.
NOOOO... it's a serious problem when you're such a fan of an anime.
figma has 2 new Haruhi cheerleader figurines (episode 11) prepped for a March release. I already stomped my foot down and willed myself never to get another figma, on the terms that I already have all 3 girls of Middle High School. So I'm biting around on this one, but I'll not be buying it!

Check out my current figmas.

Helium and Sulphur Hexafluoride.

2009-01-22T22:19:00.002+08:00

Science, as explained by the MythBusters.

This was on tonight's MythBusters. Adam Savage demonstrating the effects of Helium and Sulphur Hexafluoride.
The opening "warning" sentence always cracks me up.

Congratulations, Mr. President.

2009-01-21T17:57:00.002+08:00

I was up till 1.30am this morning. I told myself that I couldn't miss this for the world. Why watch it on the news when I have it Live? I stayed up tuned to CNN.com's Facebook Inauguration Day thing. It was fun. Never did see an Inauguration before, especially not with the people of Facebook shooting status updates all at once.
I saw the former presidents roll in. Carter, Bush, Clinton, Bush. Then the First Lady and First Daughters and the President-elect himself. 1.05am was when Barack Obama took the oath. He fumbled, but he's only human. And his inauguration speech was only the calibre to be expected from Obama himself.
I congratulate Barack Obama on his Presidency on this morning's momentous occasion. I'm glad to be able to say I saw it happen.

Inauguration Day

2009-01-20T20:48:00.002+08:00

I'm watching CNN.com's Facebook Inauguration Day Coverage. [Opens to Facebook] and realised this is like the first US Inauguration I cared about. Probably, like most other Olympics, I was too young to give a crap about anything. Ahh, technology. I love streaming.
History in the making, folks.

2009-01-19T20:11:00.002+08:00

I was given a Shooting Watch over the weekend. (Say what?!)
Okay, kids. A "Shooting Watch" is a device used to high score button mashing. The original is shaped like a NES controller. It has two buttons, B and A. The device counts down from 10 seconds and you'll have that time to mash B and A as much as you can, as fast as you can. There's a guy in Japan with 16 hits/sec on a single button. Get it?
Right, so I got a Shooting Watch and I managed a 175 on dual-button mashing. That's pretty neat. But I'm sure there's people who can do better than that, obviously. The key is to let loose and let your wrists vibrate. I hate to brag, but yeah, I can mash a mean button.

App-stounded!

2009-01-10T18:32:00.002+08:00

Feeling much better in the recent days. Open House does have its "healing properties" I guess (namely, having no part in it).
So I got my debit statement a while back and noticed a few cuts for "iTunes USD". I never threaded into iTunes US, much less PAID something from there. Then I realised these were my App Store purchases from iTunes SG. Here's the kicker:

"Why are they charging me in USD when it's a local store?!"

Ooh, I got pissed. I drew out the Store Terms and Conditions. No Mention of any relevant "USD", "Dollar" or "charge". My online bills show no mention either. I must have missed something because nothing said anything about charging USD in the local iTunes. The lone "$" is all the depiction of a form of dollar, but doesn't say which dollar, and one would naturally assume it's SGD because it's an SG store. But I'm not complaining. Most of the apps I'm getting are free and some apps are worth S$1.46.

Is it just me? Am I the only one who thinks they charge SGD when they've been doing USD all this while? Did I miss some documentation?

2009-01-03T11:14:00.002+08:00

feelin' better, thanks.
Ugh, was very down with the sickness yesterday. Strep throat. Despicable germs took me down when I went to sleep. Woke up with bad throat and I went all sick with fever. Much better now, still phlegmy, but I feel more alive now. At least I can... go. to. school?

2008-12-31T10:42:00.003+08:00

Out with the Old, in with the New.
Wow. It's already 31st. Barely 14 hours left. But 2008 wasn't really much regretful. I had my ups and downs, a good run.
We had the PS3 replaced. and had Rock Band 2 and Mirror's Edge to go with it. We're rockin' anew. Man, RB2 has a whole lotta songs I don't remember. But the many features have been improved, which is great. Mirror's Edge is really sexy (and Faith's not half bad looking either), but I find myself fumbling, literally. Slips, miscalculations and poor timing seem to be part and parcel with me on Mirror's Edge. Also while scurrying about, finding my next location, it won't be long before I found myself gunned down. Sigh.

figma no Yuutsu.

2008-12-24T10:31:00.003+08:00

Among the other things in the package yesterday was my "definite" end to my figma collection. My Miruku Asahina and Yuki Nagato (Evil Witch Ver.) figmas arrived! The Yuki Nagato figma came with much more stuff than I expected. Witch Outfit, A Wand, Guitar, Tea set, Store Promotion picket sign and a cat. Sweet.
Now. for the reveal! The Coming Soon section will be a flash xml photo gallery featuring my figma photography, and will be up once I figure out the Japanese instructions and snap more photos.

A Shipment of Product.

2008-12-24T10:20:00.002+08:00

From the Amazon of Japan.

Yup. That's 5-8 days all right. My package arrived late yesterday afternoon. I ordered some stuff from Amazon.jp last week. Inside the box is a DVD and a DMC Krauser figurine for my Sis and 2 other figurines that I shall talk about later on.
I like to track parcels. Mainly because I don't want my uninsured goods to go up in flames. SingPost's vPost's tracking system is flawed. It only tracks parcels once it reaches the country. Why? Why would I want to track a parcel only once it reaches the country? What about the trip from Japan to here? This is something they say will be fixed. So I shall stop yakking and move on.

2008-12-23T09:36:00.002+08:00

I had a dream that Aerosmith was playing Guitar Hero instruments (not necessarily playing Guitar Hero) and singing "Wanted Dead or Alive", which is strange because "Wanted Dead or Alive" is a Bon Jovi song. Yes, I'm pretty sure they were Aerosmith.
I wonder what that means?

It's the NPXE!

2008-12-19T14:10:00.002+08:00

Spanking New!
A new Puff-x.com experience (No, I'm not really calling it that. That's stupid) on the website. I have released a new flash navigation (the old one is still here) that adds a more personal feel to navigation. Like everything that updates on this website it's all from things I've learned while having a life in design school, so the sliding effects have a meaning behind them.
There's a new games section showcasing the flash games I made over the months, also from school. and another section coming soon. Enjoy!

2008-12-17T09:40:00.002+08:00

what a way to start my mo(u)rning
oh geez. Apple officially declares Macworld 2009 to be their last?! And Steve Jobs isn't gonna say goodbye?! There goes my hopes of ever attending a Macworld, Steve Jobs or no Steve Jobs.
In other news, a package is coming and things are gonna change around here...

2008-12-15T16:22:00.002+08:00

Can't make a tweet, but I'm enjoying my Peppermint Coffee Bevvy at the Coffee Bean. Kudos to them.
Mmm...peppermint. This has made my Christmas Christmas.

THREADLESSESES!

2008-12-12T16:20:00.007+08:00

How many T-Shirts does it take to fill a postbox?

Nice Box. Nice Shirts. Nice, healthy Glow.
None. They get delivered by hand.
Our collaborated shipment of 11 Threadless Tees have Arrived! We got drawn in by Threadless starting a sale and bought them before they dropped the "Free Shipping" bomb on further discounts. but seriously, who'd want sold outs? The box arrived in a crazy dented manner with the soft, pillowy shirts inside. Also included was another set of stickers. You'd think there'd be some extra perk for buying 11 shirts, but I can't see any yet.
I think the "I'm Not Afraid of the Dark" TypeTee is clever. It glows in the dark and displays the other hidden message.

2008-12-08T14:04:00.003+08:00

No. I don't have a Serious Problem.
Life is hard, and the Weather is getting cold.
So I got a couple of bottles of alcohol on my desk for easy access.
...

No, seriously. I don't have a drinking problem.
One of the bottles contain Root Beer Jelly Beans.
Only the Vodka bottle is open.
I haven't tried the Gins.

The day the PS3 went out.

2008-12-06T11:12:00.002+08:00

Imagine a world without LBP, Rockband or GTAIV!
Technically the PS3 konked out on Thursday, but it can't be revived using troubleshooting methods, so I'm posting this now. The system was last seen working with LittleBigPlanet until it jerked and went blind, power light flashing red. No red on screen, so all hope is not lost.
I can't find answers, so I guess this is better left to some higher authority. Withdrawal symptoms... acting... up. WHY WHY WHY!!

This hOLiday Season...

2008-11-29T18:25:00.007+08:00

Something Advent-urous.

I've done an Xmas card every year since 2005. The same Xmas card I send to friends for the year's Xmas (except more personalised for my own use). This year, I'm planning something different. I've noticed I've slacked out of drawing Hopeless Optimism (*insert excuse here*), so I'll make it up. Starting December 1st, I'm doing up an Advent Calendar. The Hopeless Optimism Advent Calendar. 25 days of new holiday-type themed strips consecutively, with the Strip on December 25th to be some sort of a card. I'm throwing things into this idea, so I hope I can do it all. Fun Time!

In other news, Cartoon Network served up the Powerpuff Girls 10th Anniversary Episode Special. This episode is, surprisingly, not shown in the States yet because they're showing it on the 20th of January together with the release of the All-episode DVD Box set. This entire episode is done in Flash and the Girls do look better in Flash. The episode's kinda cool. The animation? Wow.

Liberty City Minute

2008-11-25T17:34:00.003+08:00

GTAIV: Completed Game Story in less than 30 hours.
I got my trophy! I did the same things I did during my first run. I killed Dimitri, Kate Dies. I spared Darko. Killed Francis and wasted Playboy X. I also went ahead and got my One Man Army trophy shortly after. My total Story time was about 18 hours and 30 minutes, a sharp difference from my 2 days-something during my first run. I aced some missions I used to fail all the time and spent no time hunting for weapons.

Now, some people say getting the Liberty City Minute trophy/achievement is tough. I thought so too, until I tried it for myself. Attempting to finish the game in 30 hours or less will be tough if you're playing the game for the first time. This would be my 3rd run and first since the 1.04 +Trophies update. You can manage to finish the story in 30 hours or less if you:

• Skip all cutscenes and know your next move by heart
• Cancel all plans to hang out with Roman, Jacob, Dwayne etc
• Make no dates with girlfriends
• Drive and dodge cars like a maniac, like ALL the time
• Overlook all flying rats, stunt jumps and other non-storyline missions.
• Save only when you think you may fail the next mission

Do all that and you should be on your way to your goal. I did. I took the guys out for a short while, to do short things, not like playing pool, which takes forever. I also tried to not save all the time like I did on my first run, that will cost you some game time while you watch Niko slowly lay himself down on the bed. You shouldn't worry about obtaining ammo and weapons because the game provides you with enough firepower you can grab from downed enemies.

And because you probably will overlook stunts jumps and flying rats, it'll be easier to get your 100% because you can (ahem) Gamefaqs your way to track them down one by one. That's my plan, anyway. For now, I shall take my life back.

2008-11-23T19:11:00.002+08:00

Doing GTAIV in under 30 hours has given me a bit of an adrenaline rush here and there. I'm not saving my game as and when I see that a mission is "survivable". But "Hostile Negotiation" gave me no time to save substantially, so I had to go in and blast my way in and save Roman. I managed to plug the guy threatening me with a gun at Roman's head. This used to take 5 attempts before I got it right at the first try. Have I grown more guts with more GTAIV? Hey, I'm in 9+ hours at 34%. I'm on track.

2008-11-21T23:25:00.004+08:00

iPhone 2.2'd!
It always gotta happen to me. Bringing my iPhone for 2.2's software update, when a Apple logo and a full bar stares back at me for an hour. I pulled the plug, corrupting the thing and panicked. ACK! What did I do?!
So the ordeal is over. I stink of panic sweat. I got 2.2 but I lost my music, videos and everything else. Good thing I backed up. Always back your crap up before you do diabolical updates, people. I'm getting my stuff back on as I type. Sure hope my Super Monkey Ball and MotionX Poker game data will be there. I'm not going back there again. Still irritated by the fact I had to crash the update to get the update. Why, Apple. Why?

In other news, I'm attempting GTAIV Story missions clearance in under 30 hours to get my Gold PS3 Trophy. I did in 4 hours what took me 13 days to do (well, not exactly 13 days. The delay between, more like). I'm slowly on my way.

2008-11-20T18:14:00.002+08:00

My days in LittleBigPlanet continues.
Second Level Creation "Urban Endurance" Complete and Published!
Search jengajam on LBP Cool Levels and give it a whirl.

Meet the New Flash Drive.

2008-11-20T18:12:00.006+08:00

Same as the Old Flash Drive.
Well, not exactly the same. One's a 4GB Sandisk Cruzer out of commission with a circuit breaking gap at the USB head and the other's a new Cruzer at 8GB. I tried to fix my old one (oh, how I did try) but it could only be read if I held it at a curved angle while inserted. Plus, the crack probably tuned its transfer speeds wayyy down, so its a good thing I backed up my files on Friday.

My old Cruzer died Monday morning, months after I wanged* it by reckless force. So now (ie. before it died), the USB head is slanted to one side and probably lost its contact with the rest of the drive over the weekend. Oh well. Now I have "Criskun Mk.II" with double storage capacity. Joy.

*Wanged, you know. As in hit something so hard it forms a dent. I dunno. It seems only I use that word that way.

Attack of the Four-Patty Burgers!

2008-11-13T21:12:00.006+08:00

Challenge your Heart!
As much as I like burgers from McDonalds and Burger King, I think this is taking it too far. Today, the local McDonalds officially announced their 4-patty Mega Mac. Last Week, BK announced the BK Stacker, including the 4-patty Quad Stacker. This morning, we have front page ads slapping our Top Story and Home news segments. No. No! This is not direct competition from stupid local franchises. These burgers have appeared in several other countries already, with the Mega Mac fading away in the USA.

Who in the right mind, would order a 4-patty Burger? That's really creepy, unless you're a bodybuilder or some seriously depressed, "comfort food" person. I already found the Quarter Pounder heavy. These burgers reminds me of burgers from fictitious sources. Burgers like GTAIV's "Heart Stopper" from Burger Shot and "The Clogger" from the Simpsons Movie. Yes, the reality burgers don't come laden with fat (maybe they do, I don't care) but that's a hella lotta meat. I'd rather challenge myself on a Carls Jr. Burger, because it's already sized like that. Pass.

PS. If I had to choose, the Mega Mac looks better. It has lettuce. Though they keep saying you can "Have it Your Way". And, hey, will KFC do something?

2008-11-11T21:37:00.003+08:00

experiments with alcohol
1tbsp Smirnoff Triple Distilled Vodka (Don't know if that matters)
1tbsp Malibu Coconut Rum
275ml 7up Raspberry-type Soda

Verdict: Mix it all in a nice Glass. Sweet. Has the warmth any vodka would provide. Mmm...

I ♥ LBP.

2008-11-10T16:47:00.003+08:00

PlayStation Network ID: jengajam
I mentioned last week, during our run for Rock Band Hall of Fame, that I got into LittleBigPlanet and got to know what it was all about. So... I did. There's me on my first level I made about two-fifths through the game. The level of creativity in the game in at an insane level. Stick this to that and that to this and soon you'll have something new to play with. Playing LBP alone isn't as fun as having 4 controllers and a party of 4 players, but you can find groups of people to play multiplayer online. I like the level of player customisation and the emotions you can make, the head and body movements you can do with SIXAXIS, and the booming voice of Stephen Fry, too. Good times.

2008-11-05T15:49:00.002+08:00

Remember, remember. This Fifth of November.
The Change we needed and sought.
Now, we have a new leader. A great Overseer.
He'll never be forgot.

LittleBigPewpew!

2008-11-04T09:27:00.002+08:00

Yet, it's still cute.

We have LBP. But I didn't think/know/comprehend that such a level can be created like this.
Some Japanese Sackperson went ahead and made this recreation of Gradius. Yes. The Shooter.
THIS IS INSANE!! YET TOTALLY AWESOME!!

"We're Rock Band Hallafamers!!"

2008-11-02T11:26:00.002+08:00

We were like "meet the new boss" and then it ended so quickly.
We went in with 666,000 fans and came out Hall of Famers. It's not the one in Ohio, but we'll take it. Which marks the ending of our run on Rock Band, unless we feel the need to become Legendaries and play that 58-song setlist. We (ie. Death By Yoghurt) took a shot at the Hall of Fame event in Rock Band as Vocals, Bass and Drums. We scraped through unknown (unpractised) songs such as Boston's "Foreplay/Long Time" (failed twice), Molly Hatchet's "Flirtin' with Disaster" (4 runs) and the final song spectacular, The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" (barely missed). Then the fireworks began as quickly as it started and the credits ran. Oh, my. We did it. And we're still in one piece!

In related news, we got a copy of LittleBigPlanet. Then I realised what the hype was all about. The game is an adorable platformer! Plus, you can make your own levels! We'll need more time with it. I downloaded the Mirror's Edge PS3 demo, too. Hand down, that's going to be a game I'm gonna buy. The Graphics and gameplay are excellent in ways only truly appreciated in HD. Fly across rooftops Parkour-style and get the goods delivered while on the run from the Bad Government. Get the HD trailer here, and get the Demo yourself.

Opinion: "Another Way to Die"

2008-11-01T10:02:00.002+08:00

"Another Way to Die" by Jack White and Alicia Keys

Here be the new title song for the next Bond film, "Quantum of Solace" and I say it's not that good. Maybe it's not my kind of music, but I feel it doesn't have the kick of Chris Cornell's "You Know my Name", you know, that "Bond" feel. The one that "Goldfinger", "Live and Let Die" and perhaps "Die Another Day" has. Let's hope the actual movie isn't "not that good" too.

Yes! These Still Exist!

2008-10-28T18:40:00.002+08:00

It's Combos cracker pretzel snacks! From the days when KMart was in Singapore.
Contrary to the attitude on Wikipedia article, THESE STILL EXIST!
They have these at the TP bookstore for $1.25 a pack. Not just recently, too.
Man, I love these.

"Free for Limited Time"

2008-10-22T19:54:00.005+08:00

Cheap as Free.
I frequent the App Store. I usually get things that cost nothing, with the occasional Paid Apps game purchases. What I usually look out for, however, are free apps that are free for a limited time. Those are awesome, because you still get any and all updates for free.

Here's the free apps that now cost money that I scored (links open to iTunes App Store):
Air Sharing - Makes a wireless hard drive out of your iPhone. 2 Week Introductory Offer. Now costs $6.99.
Aqua Forest - Liquid simulator. Free during this year's TGS as a promotion. Now costs $7.99.
MotionX Poker - Poker Dice Game. Best App Ever. Was $4.99, bought at $0.99. Now costs $1.99.
Scoops - Tilt-motion Game. Free as promotion. Ended yesterday. Now costs $0.99.
Space Monkey - Collect Space Junk. Now costs $0.99.

Round it all up, and that's about $17.96 in savings. Neat!

2008-10-17T14:39:00.002+08:00

a call just came in
I just might be taking the subjects I'm supposed to take after all, assuming the workload doesn't kill me first. It all comes down to what I can deal with and a discussion on Monday. I look forward to the new semester.

2008-10-17T13:45:00.002+08:00

I have realised the stop-motion potential of collecting all 5 character figures from the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya figma collection. The Itsuki Koizumi figma comes with the backdrop of the classroom the five hangs out in. But I already have the title character, and I'd be INSANE to get the rest of the figurines and NO I AM NOT INSANE. But a guy can dream, no? A Guy can dream.

GoodSmile/figma Haruhi Collection: Here.

Bummer.

2008-10-16T18:23:00.002+08:00

The Lessons I Missed have come back to Haunt me.
I'm totally bummed. I'll be filling in my curriculum with the stack of lessons I missed when I was out of school for about 6 months last year. Now I gotta do them all in the upcoming, many, many weeks to come. Which means I'll totally be away from my chums, which means I'll have some new friends to make.
I always thought that these lessons will come after my 3rd year in TP, but I guess these subjects need to be done first. I have no idea yet what I'm actually supposed to take had I not missed these modules, but I'll bet it's some cool Flash course thing. Seems I'll be going back to basics. It's like missing school, but you're in school. Sadness.

See you in 22 weeks, guys.

Haruhi in the Palm of your Hand.

2008-10-12T17:00:00.007+08:00

It's the most awesome figurine I have ever seen.

I'll have to thank my sister here, for scoring this from Japan. I've always wanted one of these. It's a figma Haruhi Suzumiya action figurine. It's fully posable! And the paint job is swell. It includes 3 facial expressions, 11 hands, 2 shoes and a million poses limited only by my imagination.
I'm not really otaku'd over Haruhi. In fact I only saw 5 episodes of the anime. I just liked the dance and the character design. For real. Best. Figurine. Ever.

Update: I've gone over. I have over 60 photos now. 21 are on a Picasa album

2008-10-11T11:05:00.002+08:00

Me Dad's in Cebu. My Sister's in Japan. Gosh, what I would give to be in Tokyo this week. Tokyo Game Show is on. Or rather, Damn, what I would give to be in Japan at all!!
There's something wrong with my typing this week. I see myself missing letters or adding them onto words and make them illegible.

The DS Games of the Season!

2008-10-09T11:41:00.000+08:00

Sonic Chronicles and Kirby Super Star Ultra
It's my pick of the Fall Season. Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, an RPG I'm having trouble with. I'm not very good at Final Fantasy-type RPGs, I'm more of a Pokemon gameplay type. I'm sorta taking my time, but I like the game. A different touch for a Sonic game. Then there's Kirby Super Star Ultra. I put in an accumulated 15 hours of gameplay, and I'm almost done with it. Kirby is one of my favourite franchises. It's a light adventure game that I can probably finish in a short period of time, but I can't resist such nice graphics and annoying soundtrack. Not featured is N+. I guess the store didn't have it, even though Sonic and Kirby came out much later than this nice, freeware-to-payware ninja game. Limited audience, I think. I also game Time Hollow a run. It's about some kid with a mysterious pen that can sear through the fabric of time to change things in the past. It's kinda cool, but at times confusing and the story is really, really short, say, about 8 hours.

Opinion: The Nintendo DSi

2008-10-03T09:58:00.010+08:00

Nah. Don't need it.
Well, I think you've all heard. If not, then Nintendo announced their new DS iteration yesterday. The Nintendo DSi. It's a DS plus camera and music playback, minus the GBA Slot-2.

This means I can no longer:

Play GBA titles (I don't have many)

Transfer Pokémon over from cart to card (not that I ever did)

Play Guitar Hero: On Tour with the Guitar Grip (not that I'll ever feel the urge to)

Play Taito games that use the paddle controller (import-only...)

Enable vibration in games with the Rumble Pak (can't find it in stores...)

Now. This new device has a whole bunch of new software to go with it. Including the addition of something called DSiWare, downloadable games and/or applications that will run on the DS. This puts it on par with the PSP's PSP Store and the iPhone's App Store. I was interested in that. Having a camera sounds good too and it has music playback and bigger screens. But! The thing that lost my vote was the lack of a GBA slot.

The above are 5 good reasons why the DS may still surpass the DSi. Oh, and the DS Lite still has a better battery life. So. I think I'll hold on to my DSes for now. I'm sure Mario and Luigi RPG 3 and the new WarioWare will be made for all DS types anyway. My DS and my DS Lite are still in good working condition. Well, my DS Lite's R button's a bit wonky, but it's still good nonetheless.

(The picture is just my DS Lite with a bunch of stickers I drew and pasted on.)

2008-09-30T11:17:00.003+08:00

Random thought #29F06
I'd still say, from the first time I listened to Madonna (and Justin)'s 4 Minutes, that it'll be my desert island music, hands down. I'll never get sick of it. iTunes records 41 plays and that's just on my Mac alone.
Oh, and I changed the hOP strip navigator from a flash one to a simple drop-down menu. So it works swell on my iPhone and other non-flash browsers.

His Name is Gai.

2008-09-24T11:27:00.004+08:00

Laments of my war against IE.

Those on Safari (and FF) see left. Those with IE see right.

A while back, I recoded my CSS and blog template so the whole world was happy. My blog was finally comprehensible on 'most all browsers, most importantly on IE. And before IE 8 is released, my, and probably THE war against IE will still go on with most of the world looking at broken CSS and tattered PNGs on IE6. I made a change yesterday (something I do rather often), and placed the blog off-center and put Gai in. It looked terrible on IE so I recoded and now IE loads the old CSS coding while everything else loads the new design. IE will be seeing the old design for a while. Nothin' I can do about that, or that I'm not bothered by allegedly inferior web browsers. (devilish laugh)

I'd like to add that the GEOTEK IE netrenderer is a great tool to see site designs on IE with a Mac. I use that rather often.

Dokutsu Medley!

2008-09-22T18:41:00.003+08:00

If there's one thing I like, it's Game soundtracks that go classical music.
This 23-minute medley comprises much of the soundtrack from the freeware game, Dokutsu Monogatari, better known in English as Cave Story.
The game is still free, and I guess you'll need to play the game to get the feeling I'm having when I watched this.

2008-09-18T23:00:00.002+08:00

Just finished the first ten levels of Super Monkey Ball on my iPhone. Yes, just this moment. Considering I bought the game 2 weeks ago The game is that complicated. I always had trouble with stage 7. Too many slopes. Almost Game Over'd too.

A Glitch in the Matrix.

2008-09-17T21:20:00.002+08:00

Wake Up, Neo.
Well! Project 2 is completed and behind me and my group. 2 months of work. Now, for a month's break. I went ahead and had a go on "The Secret of Monkey Island" (yes, THAT Monkey Island). I finished it this morning. I had a few peeks at a walkthrough, because, being a game from the days of an IBM PC, it felt lacking something. Mind you, I only started my days in Monkey Island with the 3rd installment ("Curse", which I replayed again a long while back. A favourite), so I had no chance to experience the glories of 256-colour and some matter of sound. Still, it's just as humourous as Curse. I enjoyed it.

Now, on to my purpose. My biological clock will always wake me up at 9am. This morning (and in fact it occurred many a time already), I woke up, yes. But something felt different. I've been having this subconscious problem. I dream I'm awake. Then I awake from that dream, to find myself in another dream that I'm awake in. This is seriously annoying, but I'm just so damn lazy to actually wake up, so I'll keep dreaming and waking in another dream. I hope this doesn't mean anything.

iPhone: Day 7

2008-09-11T23:17:00.004+08:00

Posted using an iPhone.
This is me on my first week with my WiFiPod. Well, okay, fine. My iPhone. I'm rather happy with it. Plus, I haven't run into any screw-ups yet. The lack of SMS forwarding has yet to be a problem, but no hard disk access or bluetooth transfer makes photo transfers a pain. The keyboard is surprisingly useful even with thick fingers like mine. My top concern is the reckless use of gprs on this thing, but a second menu page seems to fix that. The app store is amazing too. I'm having fun tipping monkeys off the playing field.
I have to say though, typing a long piece is tiring. Especially since I'm lying down. I like what I've got. And I'll always have my Sony Ericsson to back me up.

PS. I saw Apple's Let's Rock event. My favourite nano colour is orange.
PPS. I'm not being a corporate shill for Apple. I'm just another Apple fanboy.
The iPhone has its pros and cons. It's for you to decide.

The Future Begins Now!

2008-09-08T19:15:00.002+08:00

Me Likey,

I don't care what he says. I think this is a really neat implementation of e-Ink on a mag cover. I'd buy the mag just for this. The future of... Graphic... Design?

Video via Gizmodo.

iGet.

2008-09-06T10:27:00.009+08:00

I Heard it can also be used as a Phone.

The Unboxing Process. So Exciting!
Yes. It's true! We are finally able to harness the power of the iPhone. It's such a pretty lil' thing. Sure, it doesn't do SMS forwarding, no copy/paste to fix that, no bluetooth transfers, limited ringtones that, without an iTMS, we can't do anything about, but it's still that one heck of a phone. The thing is, I think I'll use it more often, than not, as a souped-up iPod. I told my friend that, and I was labelled "INSANE". I can prove that the iPhone works with a StarHub SIM, even an inactive SIM runs GPS. I hope I don't cough up an exorbitant bill. Everything's fine and dandy. I got Apple's Remote app and bought Super Monkey Ball last night. Good Times.

2008-09-01T18:18:00.001+08:00

Has it been a month yet? No. I can't believe it's only been a week.
Gotta have that souped-up iPod of a phone.