Third Echelon

ModelMayhem

2010-02-28T22:18:00.002+08:00

Yawn, just been too freakin lazy to blog recently..

Anyways, I just remembered I have a ModelMayhem account, so that's been updated with new info and new pics.

Check it out:

http://www.modelmayhem.com/aivern

Why I Like It Longer

2010-01-23T17:04:00.010+08:00

Some people ask why I like it longer.

Is it so hard to fathom an answer to the question? Let me tell you why I like it longer.

A : Yo bro, why lah you keep asking people "Why I like it longer"?

Me : Bro, simple lah. Aren't most things always better when it's longer? As opposed to being thicker?

A : Right...

Me : But it's true isn't it? When it's longer, it's easier to handle. It can reach further back, deeper into wet trenches, it can seek out territory it has not explored.

A : Bro...

Me : Shush you, I'm not finished. Why DO I like it longer? Having it longer also means it's easier to source for "protection" when needed, to keep it warm and cosy, ready to do what it was made to do.

A : Ok.. Bro...

Me : Why do I like it long? When it's thick, it just gets in the way. It get's stuck at the entrance, "protection" is harder to find, and with both of those combined, it leads to a lot less "productivity". You gotta use it when it's young. When you're old and weak, it's hard to get it working again, and even when it does, it's not gonna be the same. I blame arthritis.

A : Erm.. Arthritis? There's no bone... Dude, stop talking about 18SX stuff lah wei..

Me : What bone / 18SX stuff? I was talking about my index finger, and how a longer finger makes it so much easier to dig my nose, fat fingers don't fit in nostrils, and makes it so much easier to find proper gloves in cold climates. A long finger can dig deeper, especially when you're eating dinner and you suddenly laugh, inhaling rice into your nose and it won't come out. Have you ever seen gloves for fat hands? Nuh uh, but gloves with extra long finger coverings? Sure! And that's Why I Like It Longer!

A : Can pengsan bro listening to you... >.< Me : Go ahead bro, then I can claim the LG Chocolate phone (BL40) from Nuffnang all for myself! AHAHAHAHA...

A : Uh...huh...?

Christmas, The Start of Something New

2009-12-25T00:36:00.000+08:00

It is nearly Christmas, and near the new year. We have all tried to do the best for the year, and many of us have failed, some repeatedly, some rarely. Things have changed, people have changed, some things start, some things end, but the most important thing is we tried. I tried. You're the most significant person I got to know this year, and probably will be for the foreseeable future.

You've changed how I see things, my whole perspective in life altered.

Was it so long ago when we all had hope? The economy crashed, some lost jobs, some got pay cuts, but in general we moved along. Sacrifices were made, some hastily, most after much consideration. The spirit of Christmas is lost. People give gifts expecting something in return, unlike the years past where we would be so happy just having the ability to even give! Is it truly so hard to believe that someone can do a good deed and not have an ounce of greed in them?

You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.

As Christmas rolls by, we might notice it but the new year has actually begun. We begin to plan for the new year, set goals, however outlandish they might be and work toward them. Christmas is when we start looking back on this past year and see what we have achieved, or lost.

I have lost a lot this past year, but I have to go on. You meant so much to me and although I do not to you, just knowing you're alive and healthy is more than I have hoped for. Your very existence keeps me smiling, daring myself to hope for the future. Even if there is a sliver of hope, I'm holding on to it.

Hope and love are mankind's two most basic needs we need to survive, and although you have never really gave the the latter, the former was present in abundance. The new year awaits us, and I can only hope that it gets better for here on.

No names are needed, you just know who you are =)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year girl! And to all my readers(non-existent as they may be), wish you got lots of presents to dig out from underneath the tree, and may this be a joyous occasion for everyone!

Cheers to a New Year!!

Photography? Or lepak at home FB'ing?

2009-09-27T10:24:00.000+08:00

Ok fine, I've been away from my camera for quite awhile now, and I'm raring to get back to it, and to kick it off, probably wkhai's shoot thingy something something... I'm quite looking forward to it cos I believe it will challenge me to think in different creative ways to achieve the result I want.

But then again, I am worried that I do not live up to my own expectations and it would be a waste. But as always, challenging oneself to be better has always been my passion, and I have my own secret reasons to want to master photography =P

So yeah..it will be a good day out (I hope =P ) after my exams, cos honestly, my exam schedule for this semester SUCKS!! Seriously! 5 papers all on 5 different days, ALL 2pm-5pm, the perfect time to fall asleep in class.. First 3 papers are on the first 3 days of the exam period, and the last 2 papers on the last 2 days..WATAFAK?? Babi betul... Can't even relax in between or have an early semester break... The unchanged schedule was FOUR papers in the first TWO days, and that leaves 1 paper somewhere in between.

That would've been better so I can holiday earlier and have an extended sem break but NO... They decided to drag my exams out for the whole duration of the exam period... Cis...

Ok back to photography... I shoot SOLELY with a 50mm f/1.8 on my THIRD HAND Canon 30D (woot!) cos I'm a cheapskate... Ok fine, it's actually the only lens I can afford at the moment >.< But whatever right? I got the lens cos I am only doing portraits now, and it forces me to think about composition more as I can't zoom in/out whenever want to. This wonderful prime lens (Canon's CHEAPEST and LIGHTEST lens....) has I believe, made me a slightly better photographer than before, although I'm nowhere near the level I want myself to achieve.

I've become so used to this lens that if you give me a kit lens for example, I would be stumped on how to fully utilise it... I just go "Huh what?" and then switch back to my 50mm =P And as a prime lens, my only zoom is my legs, and I can say for certain that getting u close with a short lens creates quite a different effect than zooming in tight with a telephoto lens. There's a sense of closeness zooming with your feet, a certain personal connection in the photograph.

But that's just my 2 cents.

Anyway.. That's all for now I guess. Till I have something more interesting to share.

ArmedandDangerous
Samfisher

Panaromic

2009-09-08T16:47:00.003+08:00

From Blogger Pictures

This is my first ever attempt at a panaromic shot, so forgive me if it doesn't live up to expectations =)

Next Up

2009-05-11T19:00:00.003+08:00

Stay tuned for.... NOTHING. Enjoy.

How to change your WoW UI

2009-03-18T14:53:00.004+08:00

You know what, I have gotten really strange traffic from Google searches and decided to see what they were searching for that lead them here.

And lo and behold, It's something I don't even HAVE on my blog!

Go do a quick search, type "how to change my wow ui" into Google. See that FIRST link waaay up there? Wtf? It got bumped all the way to the top for no reason!

And you know what, since there's a million people who see my site from that amazingly common search, I AM gonna make a post on how to change your WoW UI. Full of pics (hopefully) and stupid comments to finally appease the monster traffic from random Google searches.

God is so real!!

2009-03-16T12:52:00.008+08:00

God is so real! You wouldn't believe me even if I told you. My very close friends would know that I was having a relationship crisis the past few days, and today, I knelt down and cried my heart out to God.

I said, God, you are a God of healing, please heal this relationship and my heart, you know how much this means to me. I have never asked much from you God, but please show yourself real, right now.

And BOOM! Before I could even say Amen, I received a SMS that solved everything!!! Praise the Lord!!

Let's Make It 7

2009-03-09T22:34:00.005+08:00

2008

Let's make this year the 7th year in a row we win our marching competitions. Go go scouts!

2006

My last medal! 5 in a row!

Teh Scout wtf?

2009-03-09T21:56:00.008+08:00

So yeah... Today was the conclusion to the Patrol Leader's camp in my former school (SMK Seri Saujana) and what the hell? All the day decided to do is to rain, rain and rain, and after that, rain some more. Everything was delayed and all we did was sit around doing nothing and walking around finding food we could steal from the poor little suffering kids (yeah right they're suffering) and when they don't give us food, we took their flags and punch them in the face.

After the punching, we set off to a far-away land (Ajimal mamak next door) and had our brunch, and I have now decided never to go to Ajimal during the day cos their morning dhall SUCKS! I paid money for that crap.... At least the Iced Milo was better, and still too little ice. It's like Milo Ais tambah panas (wtf right?).. Milo AIS, what part of AIS do you not understand? Arrgghh...

So yeah.. Back to school, steal more food, sat at bilik BOSS (what the heck does that stand for anyways?) steal Oreo, steal water, lepak, and generally not doing anything really useful at all. Basically we just laughed at Daphenie most of the time.

Stupid rain delayed everything so we were about 2 hours off schedule and I couldn't stay past 2+ so I completely missed the closing ceremony of the first scout camp in my school cos mum needed the car... And Daphenie tricked me and Yeak Hon into signing up for Kelana Scouts (I'm looking at you, you smelly girl) and now we have to sell Daphenie in the underground market to pay for our Scout fees. If you don't see her around anymore, it's not my fault. Don't look at me. Look at Yeak Hon.

More pics

2009-01-10T10:48:00.004+08:00

Here I am bored and decided to take some pics. Not that great but oh well.

Original 10MP pic - Light flare

Original 10MP pic - Smoldering Lamp

Original 10MP pic - Chess

Original 10mp pic - Sparks of Life

Finally back to photography

2008-12-25T13:56:00.014+08:00

I got bored during the Christmas Celebration at my church so I sneaked out and took some macros.

Ok fine, it's also because I haven't done any macros in ages, and I miss how my camera feels in my hands.

Also, I was hungry, and the pic of the ant feasting on the flower nectar somehow suited the situation.

I wouldn't say they were too bad, considering I haven't done any macros in a while. A tip to ametuer photographers everywhere, this is the rule of thirds. Basically, don't have your object in the dead middle of the picture. An object in a macro shot should try not to fill more than 4/9 of the screen.

For example, divide your screen into 9 parts, like Tic Tac Toe. At most, the object should only touch 4 boxes.

Also, comments are welcome =)

EDIT : All pictures have been resized to 1280 x 1024. Original pictures will be uploaded as soon as I am not too lazy to do it. And to Tsing Yie, no I'm not showing off... I've loved photography since forever.

Original 10MP pic - Little Ant

Original 10MP pic - Hungry Ant

Original 10MP pic - Cactus Jack

Original 10MP pic - Flower Bud

Wrath of the Lich King! RWAR!

2008-11-15T18:10:00.005+08:00

This is why Yeak Hon hates me.

Wrath of the Lich King pre-order set.

Wrath of the Lich King pre-order only Gathering Party at Auto Surf, Subang, won a complete set of World of Warcraft games + a 60-day game card lol.

Part 4

2008-11-12T20:57:00.003+08:00

The Slumber 1.3

Brisk steps led him to where his two best friends were, in the woods nearby where they used to play and just hang out. As he neared the meeting place, he caught a glimpse of the small clearing from a distance, but saw no one there. Where they late? He himself was late as it is, surely Lothar and Llane would have been here already? As he stepped closer, he heard rustling leaves and immediately turned around to look. Nothing was there, just the road he just took, not even a bird in sight. He crept nearer and nearer to the clearing, and once more he heard rustling noises. Confident that his mind was playing tricks on him, he strode forward and found a sitting place for himself.

Medivh, although cautious of his surroundings after that near-fatal troll attack near Duskwood, felt at ease as he settled down and wondered where his companions were. Suddenly he saw something, or someone ahead of him, near enough to be visible, but far enough away to not be recognizable. There were two silhouettes making their way through the dense jungle foliage. What he recognized was the being was walking upright, a humanoid, thought Medivh. Could it be his friends? Why were they coming from this direction anyway? Then suddenly the two figures then suddenly crept low, and in a split second it looked as if they jumped up and disappeared into the trees above.

Sure that the two figures he just saw were not his friends, he looked over his shoulder and saw his two friends running down the well-worn road leading to where he was. Medivh turned himself around and rushed at them as they did to him, and just as he took his first steps, down jumped two things from the trees.

Trolls!!

Trolls, humanoid beings from the south, were tall, much taller than humans, and much slimmer. They were known to be masters of the jungles, and their reputation for cannibalism was known throughout Azeroth. They were also known to keep “trophies” of their kills around their necks in the form of a bone necklace, and sometimes piercings on their ears and nose. Their wardrobe were basically a dirty loin cloth and… that’s about it really. Pointed noses and ears characterize the trolls, with long thin limbs, and they hunch when walking, or even standing straight. This pair had to be a scouting party, as they had some supplies tied to their waists, some food and water perhaps.

Why the trolls were so far up north as Elwynn Forest, none of the three humans present knew. But what they knew was that they had to fight to get out of this situation, and hopefully not as dangerously fought as their single previous encounter with trolls.

Medivh was separated from Lothar and Llane, the trolls between them, but nonetheless they prepared to do battle with the trolls. Lothar lifted his long sword, as did Llane his axe. The magician began to run possible spells through his mind, deciding which to use and how, and the time needed to cast them in a certain situation. Should he use the humble fireball? Or should he shoot lightning from his fingers? Or should he just turn and run?

Tag-ness....

2008-10-28T13:26:00.003+08:00

The last person to tag you is?
Jocelyn "Mudpie Rock" ng Tsing Yie

What relationship do you have with him/her?
Mudpie Rock curse-er

Your 5 impressions towards him/her.
-Nonsense
-Random
-Wants to marry Ronald McDonald
-If he has a McFlurry in his hand
-Lol wat?

The most memorable thing that he/she had done for you.
Got me a BANANA for my birthday xD Also, mudpie rock.

The most memorable thing that he/she has said to you.
Ahahahahahaha - direct quote from sms

If he/she becomes your lover, you will…
I'll be broke, more than now. McFlurry expenses.

If he/she becomes your enemy, you will..
I'll be broke, more than previous question. Even more McFlurry expenses.

If he/she becomes your lover , he/she has to improve on..
There is no keyboard durable enough to finish typing the list =P Jkjk.

If he/she becomes your enemy , the reason is...
If I DID fall on a mudpie shaped rock.

The most desirable thing you want to do to him/her
Push her off a ledge but give her a McFlurry before I do. Then see her reaction. Will she be happily eating or screaming? And if she is screaming, is it because she will die or because she won't get to eat more McFlurries?

The overall impression of he/her
Drawing skulls on paper since 2004. Also, she saw Mahathir in China with a PATUNG (I remember lol).

How do you think the people around you feel about you?
Pc nerd, noisy, eat a lot.

The character for yourself is?
Bunshichi

On the contrary , the thing you hate about yourself is?
Random bad hair days when I need it to be good...

The most ideal person you want to be is?
Tim Schafer

Pick a loved one and say something about them
Waaaat?

Ten people to tag
1 Lol no one reads my blog.

Half-Life - Full Life Consequences 2 : WhatHasToBeDone

2008-09-24T10:41:00.003+08:00

Part 2 of a crazy fan fiction written by a 9 year old. I recommend you to watch the first video first, on my previous post =)

Original part 2 post at - Squirrelking

Also, pause the music first at the bottom of my blog, so you can hear the video >.<

Half-Life - Full Life Consequences

2008-09-23T19:36:00.002+08:00

Ok, this was written by a 9 year old who wrote in fan fiction for the game Half-Life (you should know it, or else you don't belong here). It has everything, bad spelling, grammar and fantastic crazy stories.

Animated and voiced by a genius.

Original post here - Squirrelking

Thursday morning well spent....

2008-09-13T11:56:00.012+08:00

Alright, so this was how my Thursday morning went. I woke up at 7am and took the maid to the market at 7.30am, and got back at 8.30am. You know lah, weekly marketing, buy damn lot of things. So I was sitting on my couch with nothing to do. Newspaper already read, Breakfast Show was crappy that day and all of a sudden I decided to switch to RTM2 (wth right).

And then

WTF!! Ok fine, before that they were showing a man playing a double-bass with 3 scary little kids running around him, then suddenly it became this. What to do right? I decided that this would be more entertaining than that day's Breakfast Show, so I continue watching it.

And if you don't know who the Teletubbies are, you need help. They are composed of Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, Po and Laa-laa (alright fine, I need help too). Wth I remembered their names..

Then they popped outta the ground, and they lined up in a line. Then they freakin danced! Omg SOO CUTEEE (don't quote me on this pls). The yellow guy (Laa-laa I think) is the cutest IMO. WTF commenting on Teletubbies...

So I continue watching and they danced around for like 6 mins before they danced away behind a hill.

And then... The scene moves indoors and there's this slide thing, where they slide down one by one, pick themselves up and "Uhh oh" and walk off... And then sometimes showing a machine I can only think of as a vacuum cleaner.. Apparently his name is Noo-Noo.

And then they all sat at a table, and a freaky voiceover voice man said "Now Dipsy has to make some changes".

So Dipsy (the green one with a long protruding...thing on it's head) went to a big circuit board thing and there were a few levers here and there. So he spent 5 mins looking at the circuit board and giggling to himself. He puts his arm and reaches for a lever, and then giggles some more.

So finally, he pulls a lever and a car horn sounds and all 3 Teletubbies at the table fall over and laugh. They get up, and sit down one after another, with each chair giving out a different car horn sound...

So Dipsy pulls another lever, and a different honk is heard, and all 3 at the table fall over and start laughing..again..

And this continued for the next 15 MINS WTF!! And so I still sat there and watched the whole thing.... And then the sun with the scary baby face slowly fades away and the Teletubbies say their goodbyes, and jump into a hole in the ground. 30 mins of my life have gone just like that.

I might even do this again next week.

Now, for some crazy Teletubbie pics.

P.S - Laa-laa is cute.

Part 3

2008-09-01T21:53:00.003+08:00

The Slumber Ch 1.2

The next morning, Medivh rolled around on his bed, as he lazily decided if he wanted to sleep for another five minutes, just five, knowing very well five minutes usually meant a whole half hour. Was the dream really a dream? Did he really see that beast, that that Sargeras? He felt a tingling sensation on his feet. His eyes still closed, he started sweating cold sweat as thoughts rushed through his mind. Was it Sargeras? What does he want with me now? Then a whole torrent of water splashed down on him and he heard faintly, Lothar and Llane laughing softly, controlling themselves so as not to let go an almighty bellow.

The young boy, whose birthday it was today, sprang up from his bed and mockingly jumped at the two of them, who were standing at the doorway to his room, with that guilty bucket now empty. His two friends managed to dodge him, and Medivh, still only half awake, tripped over his own feet and tumbled down the stairs of his home… He struggled to get up, as his left foot was trapped in the gaps in the railing and when he did stand, his nose was bleeding profusely.

Trying to stop the bleeding, Medivh cupped his hands to his nose, but blood just kept gushing out. He had apparently broken his nose. Was this how warriors felt when getting beaten up? Admittedly he didn’t actually get beat up, punched or kicked, walloped or whacked, but he felt like he was a part of them, the glorious front-runners of any army, the first line of battle. He knew that views were always skeptical when it came to spell casters, but he didn’t pay heed to any of them, since that was practically all he knew how to do, his apparent talent in the arts helping him none.

As the blood flow stopped, he came to full realization that he was standing in the middle of the living room, still in his shorts, barely a thread on his frame, blood all over and laughing best friends beside him. What a way to start the day. His birthday! Medivh almost forgot that as he tried to control the situation into which he had been put, so early in the morning. Lothar and Llane will pay for this, he thought jokingly. Quickly, he rushed back to his room and cleaned up, the blood and his room, and finally himself.

Donning his best and most expensive clothes, he confidently strode out of his room to see what the world had to offer him on this special day. He was turning 14! The boy opened the door of his house and stepped outside, basking in the warm sunlight of the morning. He greeted the day and thanked it for the fine weather and hoped it would continue into the day.

My New WoW UI...

2008-08-16T15:50:00.002+08:00

Yes yes I swore never to modify my UI again, but hey, I needed a little more space so here goes =P

My Work Continues

2008-08-14T17:45:00.005+08:00

The Slumber 1.2

A nightmare, but a nightmare unlike any other. There was a laugh, a deep throaty one and it surrounded his dream self completely as if coming from every direction. His world shook and trembled as the sinister laugh continued, occasionally stopping for a breath and starting again. When it at last died down, he shouted at the darkness, “Come out whoever you are. Who are you that you dare to enter my dreams and mock me behind your veil of blackness?” shouted Medivh in his dream form to the enveloping darkness. The mysterious being let out a snort, and slowly, a huge dark figure emerged.

What he saw was beyond imagination. A beast of humongous proportions with skin made of tarnished bronze, armour black as night but transparent like that of obsidian, but this had a liquid character to it. Its mane which stretched from its upper chest right up to the top of its head was living fire, but it neither singe nor burn anything around it.

Gigantic horns jutted out of its forehead, ending in a curve reminiscent of horns from those of a hill ram, like the ones the Dwarves of Ironforge favoured as mounts. And in its right hand was an enormous polearm-like weapon, black and as liquid-looking as its owner, dripping red with what could only be one thing – blood. Blood like what he had coughed up just a few minutes ago. “Who are you? And what do you want with me? I fear nothing, and you are no different than the countless others who have tried to intimidate me. You do not scare me, foul beast,” shouted the boy. His fear-raked voice betrayed his intentions, baring the fear he had, to all.

“I know, oh ignorant one, oh I know. I knew you since before you were born, little one, before you were even conceived, even before your mother knew. You will know who I am before I am done with you, and you have no way to resist me, as you and I are one and the same.” Medivh’s spirit self just looked on, confused and upset by the being’s words. He and that vile creature were the same person? How could this be? Was this just all a bad dream or was this dream happening because this, this thing intended it so?

“Stop playing mind games with me beast, tell me who you are. The very least I should know of the one who intrudes my dreams is your name, so I can banish you from this world, like I would any other demon,” Medivh managed to spit out, despite his growing uncertainty of his condition, even in his dream world. He had heard of magicians, powerful ones, who were driven mad by evil spirits and who were later exiled for practising dark magic. These practitioners were called warlocks. Only stories and rumours, but nevertheless with enough truth in them to shatter every bit of faith Medivh had in his own abilities to stop this monster.

“You will know me in due time, magician, as will the whole world when I am ready. For now, rest in the peace that you will be untouched, so long as you seek no further of who I am, either from tomes from ancient past or from your superiors in the Kirin Tor. I have use for you,” the snorting demon said, in an uncomfortable kindness. How this dream being knew about the Kirin Tor, Medivh had no idea, and he had no intention of finding out. One warning was as many as he needed and he silently nodded his agreement.

“For now, you will only know me as this - Sargeras.”

A Work in Progress

2008-08-03T20:40:00.013+08:00

This is a work in progress, as I am planning to pen a short personal novel on the history of Medivh, one of the main characters in Blizzard's World of Warcraft franchise. It is purely fictional, and all are my own work and hopefully in accordance to Blizzard's official lore.

Enjoy =)

The Slumber Ch 1

The searing pain he felt when his father touched his brow after Medivh’s nightmare was subsiding, and the lobster red mark had faded but the feeling, that sudden rush when it happened still overwhelmed him. He had become used to the pain, it having been present for the past few weeks, constantly pounding at his skull, like a weapon smith’s hammer against his anvil. He had felt strange... different.

He always knew he was much more talented in the arcane arts than his peers, but this was different. It was like a heavy burden had been lifted off of him after all these years, suddenly feeling light and energized, more powerful. The pounding pain Medivh had been subjected to the past fortnight or so had prevented him from concentrating on any spells, most of them abruptly ending in a flash of light from his uplifted palms.

The talented boy magician tried uttering the words of the spell he wanted to cast to create even just a simple ball of fire. The elemental forces were gathering on his palms, sparks formed as he continued with the spell, compressing themselves into a tight ball. Casting it was much easier than before, but that blasted headache of his was messing with it. With great effort, Medivh tried to hold on, ignoring the pain, when he suddenly fell weak at his knees and stumbled to the creaky wooden floor of his room. The half-completed fireball immediately vanished, literally in a puff of smoke and the boy wonder coughed into his outstretched hands. He felt a wetness, a warm wetness and he looked down into his palm. Blood.

Wiping his bloody palm on his grubby robe, he felt weaker than before, weaker than even the time he was with Lothar and Llane and they had fought off trolls at the Duskwood-Elwynn Forest borders. He did all he could at that time, exhausting himself with spells he wouldn’t dare cast in such quick succession. The lion of fire was the biggest feat Medivh had ever conjured, and it drained him completely, making him faint in the process.

Suddenly, the young magician jerked from his chair (he had picked himself up) as he remembered why he had even bothered to endanger himself trying to test his powers in his room…it was his birthday tomorrow! Medivh, even as a young teenager, was a good looking boy, manly in a way only the younger fairer sex can explain, but boyish in a way only mothers can. He had the height all boys aspire to, even though he was just entering his teenage years. In fact, he had attained his full height for some years already.

He crept into his night clothes, and stumbled off to his bed, where in a quick few minutes, he was sound asleep. And then it happened…

1337!!

2008-08-03T17:13:00.002+08:00

The wonderful randomness of number machines.

PC Gaming and Why I Love It

2008-07-23T17:16:00.007+08:00

My good friend over Yeak Hon over at http://yeakhon.blogspot.com/ (yes, not terribly creative =P) has just posted a wonderful little story about gaming consoles and why he loves them, and I, being the bored man that I am decided to collaborate with him and write my part of the argument: PC Gaming and Why I Love It.

Yeak Hon's excerpt can be found directly here http://yeakhon.blogspot.com/2008/07/console.html

What is PC Gaming? Well, playing games on the PC of course you nit wit. Alright, alright, it's not just that really. Have you played the little distractions that come pre-packaged with every Windows since '95? You know, the horrifyingly addictive Minesweeper, the mind boggling Solitaire and the newer, but no less fun, Pinball.

Aahh, the good ol times

Yes, yes, they may not be what you call "pc gaming" per se but the fact is, they're on a PC. With no console controls anywhere near in sight.

Let me tell you a story, of a little boy who discovered the joys of pc gaming, who 14 years ago knew there was something really exciting about that plain beige box daddy brought home from work one day, and the hours he spent sitting in front of it, watching daddy do some uncomprihensible things (at the time).

That little boy was me, and from that moment onwards, I have been a pc fanatic, whether in terms of gaming, or just purely technological.

And then came the introduction of the affromentioned distractions as I fiddled around with the "mouse" and "keyboard".

Then skip forward 14 years, and here I am, 19 in age, and still staring at the screen of a computer like I was when I was barely in kindergarten. What is it that a pc has over me that keeps me going back to it?

Is it the bright wonderful colours? Is it the funny weird MIDI sounds that used to play on games? Or is it something more? Well, you gotta read on about it, cos I know you're a lazy bunch and want me to give you a summary of it.

My views may not be shared by everyone, and that's fine (RWAR), but don't go knocking me around for it. Everyone's different and entitled to their own opinions on things, and this is entirely mine.

PC Gaming and Why I Love It

1) It is highly moddable, meaning that it can be twisted and modified, hacked and patched to anything you like. This gives pc games almost unlimited replaybility, but unfortunately, not too many games are worth modding. Some do it for the sake of it, some to project an idea, and some cos they want to give back to the community.

2) It does not require fiddly console controls.

3) It is very customisable, as controls can be remapped all over the keyboard for those that are handicapped, or just prefer it a certain way.

4) You usually get improved versions of games that came out on consoles first, although there might be a little waiting for it to be released.

5) Gaming glory is much easier to try to attain on PC's, because everyone has PC's, and not everyone has consoles. Therefore, making it easier to find potential team mates to train and contend with.

The average cost of PC's nowadays tend to hover around the RM2k mark for something decent, and RM3-5k for something more serious, pertaining to gaming performance. The one advantage, and disadvantage of pc gaming is the option to upgrade. Some may see this as a good thing, and others greeting it with scorn.

The advantages of being able to upgrade your pc is that you don't have to buy a whole new system when you just need one component upgraded. It will save cost in the long run and can fit any budget.

With the consoles, you're stuck with that one machine for years until the new version comes out, and you'll have to get a brand new system to continue gaming, leaving the older machine totally redundant.

The disadvantages of upgrading, on the other hand, is that once you start, you wanna keep upgrading, faster memory, more hard disk space, more powerful graphic cards. You upgrade to keep up with the times, and by the time you've saved up for it, what you had your eyes set on is old news. You upgrade to keep up, and you keep up so upgrading wont be too expensive in any one outing.

On the console front, you won't be needing to upgrade because what you get on consoles is normally slightly more powerful than your average pc. You can play any game meant for the system and it will play without a problem, without worrying whether it's powerful enough.

It's a vicious cycle.

I find joy in detail. I know, for a fact, that 1 Byte is 8 Bits, 1MB is not the same as 1Mb, and 1MB is 1024 Bytes, not 1000 as commonly misunderstood.

This love of detail is what makes me come back to the pc time and again, when I think it can offer me no more avenues of gaming pleasure, it springs up with something totally different and pulls me back.

I obsess over detail. If there were 2 Koko Krunch boxes on a shelf, one with a new box with lots of pictures, and the other an older design with lots of words, I will take the second box in a heartbeat. Why? Because there's more detail in words than in picture.

All the .ini files, the .cfg files, the ability to modify games with and without programming, the intricate workings of a computer coupled with complex worlds filled with complex people getting together to do something complex, mesmerizes me. And will continue to do so as long as computers exist.

Mafia - City of Lost Heaven

2008-07-23T12:12:00.006+08:00

My first look at Mafia - City of Lost Heavens. I am VERY impressed with the game so far although I'm just 15+ hours into the game. Excellent voice work, intriguing story, pretty neat graphics and a few looney quests to keep things interesting throughout.

Will be doing a full review once I figure out a way to schedule my time between World of Warcraft and this, a masterpiece of mob workings.

Mmm... pizza..

Yes genius, you've the mob leader and got the whole town looking for you, of course we're in trouble.

Well..sorta

Classic mission - chase a man in his undies.

WoW Realm Transfer

2008-07-22T20:05:00.002+08:00

I have transferred from Undermine [PvE US] to Nagrand [PvE Oceanic] because of the time difference, raiding availability and general goodwill of the people I have met there. Undermine, you will forever be my true home, but the time has come to move on.

Farewell.

Realm : Nagrand, PvE Oceanic
Name : Samfisher, Dwarf Hunter extraordinaire

http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Nagrand&n=Samfisher

My WoW UI

2008-07-07T16:50:00.004+08:00

This took me 3 hours to do... And I am never gonna change my UI again..ever..

Macro shots

2008-06-16T17:13:00.004+08:00

My new watch, and a new pic =)

Pic

2008-05-19T15:01:00.004+08:00

Wow... This is like my first ever posed pic.. Ever... Looks weird with my cam phone.. Really bad... Hungry now.

Wtf Tag

2008-01-22T21:41:00.001+08:00

-----------• × • A L L A B O U T M E • × •--------------

Name: Ai-Vern
Single or taken: Single
Gender: Male
Birthday: 19/03/1989
Sign: Pisces
Hair color: Black
Eye color: Brown
Height: 19xcm
Are you straight/bisexual/gay?: Straight duh.

-----------• × • F A S H I O N S T U F F • × •--------------

Where is your favorite place to shop for clothes?: Clothes shop
Favorite designer?: Adobe
What is your sexiest outfit?: Wtf..
What is your most comfortable outfit?: T-shirt,jeans,shirt,slacks,shorts,clothes in genera;
What do you usually wear?: Whatever is at the top of my clothes pile in my cupboard

--------------• × • S P E C I F I C S • × • -------------------

What kind of shampoo do you use?: H&S I think, who cares
What are you listening to right now: Linkin Park - Shadow of the Day
Who is the last person that called you?: Hong Kheng
How many buddies are online right now?: 27

-------------• × • F A V O R I T E S • × •-----------------

Foods: Bread, babies
Girls names: Yours
Boys names: Mine
Subjects in school: Physics, Math, Computer Science
Animals: Pandas

----------------• × • H A V E Y O U E V E R • × •-------------

Given anyone a bath?: Probably some small brat cousin of mine, maybe not. Do pets count?
Smoked?: No
Bungee jumped?: No.
Skinny dipped?: No. I'm skinny though =P
Ever been in love?: Yes.
Made yourself cry to get out of trouble?: I shout until the other person cries,think that counts
Pictured your crush naked?: Ugh
Actually seen your crush naked?: No
Cried when someone died?: Yes.
Lied?: No
Fallen for your best friend?: Yes.
Rejected someone?: Yes.
Done something you regret?: Duh.

------------• × • C U R R E N T • × •---------------

Clothes: T-shirt and shorts
Music: Read above smart-ass
Smell: Keyboard
Desktop picture: Draenei
Cd in player: None.
DVD in player: None.

----------------• × • L A S T P E R S O N • × •----------------------

You touched: Mum, she has a huge blue black for me to rub ^^
Hugged: Don't remember.
You IMed: Yeak Hon
You yelled at: The screen
You kissed: Ex-girlfriend 4 years ago.

---------------• × • A R E Y O U • × •---------------------

Understanding: Yes, a bit too much.
Open-minded: Yes. Very.
Arrogant: Depends
Insecure: Maybe
Random: Free cash for sale
Smart: What does 158 IQ tell you
Moody: No
Organized: Certain things yes
Healthy: Yes.
Shy: Sometimes.
Difficult: Depends
Bored easily: No.
Obsessed: Computers, technology, sports
Sad: Yes
Happy: Yes
Hyper : Very much so
Trusting: Yes

---------• × • W H O D O Y O U W A N N A • × •--------

Kill?: TM Nut CEO
Slap?: Same as above. Slap first.
Get really wasted with?: Ugh... Dono
Get high with: Friends.
Talk to offline: A lot of people.
Talk to online: A lot of people too.
Sex it up with: My pet monkey

------------------• × • R A N D O M • × •---------------------

In the morning I: will be awake -_-"
Love is: a four letter word, so don't use it
I dream about: Randomness
Sexual preference: Female duh
What do you notice first in the opposite sex you're into: Smile

---------------• × • W H I C H I S B E T T E R • × ---------------

Coke or Pepsi: Pepsi, Coka is like drinking bubbles.
Flowers or candy: Candy duh, cos I don't like flowers.
Tall or short: ME

---------------• × • W H O • × • ---------------

Makes you laugh the most: Tsing Yie (for being ridiculously bleh), Yeak Hon (cos we share so much in common we can finish each other's sentences), Viknesh and Mark Tan (cos we've known each other since kindergarten)
Makes you smile: Funny people (weird)
Gives you a funny feeling when you see him/her: That girl.

--------------• × • D O Y O U E V E R • × •-----------------

Sit on the internet all night waiting for that someone special to IM you?: Yes
Wish you were a member of the opposite sex?: No
Wish you were younger: No.

-----------• × • N U M B E R • × •--------------

Of times I have had my heart broken: 3 bad ones.
Of hearts I have broken: How would I know..
Of guys I've kissed: Wtf
Of girls I've kissed: 1
Of CD's I own: The Abyss
Of scars on my body: Many

People I tag:
Whoever reads this.

TAG (Whatever)

2007-11-27T18:51:00.000+08:00

LIST OUT THE TOP 5 PRESENTS YOU WISH FOR:
1. Nuclear-powered PC
2. A girlfriend (seriously...need something to keep my mind of PC's =P)
3. A car I don't have to pay petrol for! Wahaha...
4. A ticket to Blizzcon 2008
5. The Elder Scrolls : Oblivion Collector's Edition

THE PERSON WHO TAGG-ED YOU IS
Ng "McFlurry or Die" Tsing Yie

YOUR 5 IMPRESSIONS OF HIM / HER
McFlurry lunatic.
Evil (most of the time.. alright, all the time really)
Irritatingly cute sometimes
Bad hair taste
Anti-Maxis

MOST MEMORABLE THINGS HE / SHE HAS DONE FOR YOU
FOR ME? More like TO ME. How about forcing me to order 2 McFlurrys at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon and asking me to cycle all the way to her house just to pay for it....

THE MOST MEMORABLE WORDS HE / SHE SAID TO YOU
"No, because I don't care for you enough" - 10/02/2007 11:12:27pm

IF HE / SHE BECOMES YOUR LOVER, YOU WILL
No comment ;P

IF HE / SHE BECOMES YOUR ENEMY, THE REASON WILL BE
Er... Refusing to buy more McFlurry's to appease her... -_-"

PASS THE QUIZ TO 10 PEOPLE THAT YOU WISH TO KNOW HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT YOU:
1. Ng Tsing Yie
2. Chang Yeak Hon
3. Yong Weng Yan
4. Viknesh Victor
5. Daniel Jalleh
6. Manikandan
7. Karen Yeong
8. Joseph Ng
9. Eva Choy
10. James Bond

WHO IS NO. 7 HAVING RELATIONSHIP WITH?
Her boyfriend I guess xD

WHO IS NO. 9 HAVING RELATIONSHIP WITH?
No one as far as I know.

IF NO.9 AND NO.1 ARE TOGETHER, WILL IT BE A GOOD THING?
Ewww... Lesbos..

WHAT ABOUT NO. 1 AND NO. 5?
OMG!! Tsing Yie and Daniel!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA *cough*

WHAT IS NO. 3 STUDYING?
Cambridge A-Levels

WHEN IS THE LAST TIME YOU CHATTED WITH NO. 6?
1-2 Years ago..

DOES NO. 4 WORK?
Yeah.

DOES NO. 8 HAS ANY COUSIN IN HIS/HER OWN SCHOOL?
Yes.

WILL YOU WOO NO. 8?
Jo... Hi...

HOW ABOUT NO. 5?
Daniel and me... Ask him.. NOTHING can EVER be done properly when we're in the same group xD

DOES NO. 2 HAVE ANY SIBLINGS?
Yup.

HOW DID YOU GET TO KNOW ABOUT NO.3 AND NO.4?
No. 3 - Form 1, same class
No. 4 - Kindergarten right up to secondary school.

WHERE DOES NO.1 LIVE AT?
Down that hill somewhere in the quagmire of death.

HOW DID YOU GET TO KNOW NO.2?
Scouts my mon.

IS NO.5 THE SEXIEST PERSON IN THE WORLD?
Why are so many questions relating to Daniel...

Top 50 Games 30-26

2007-10-13T15:01:00.000+08:00

No . 35 - Grim Fandango

You're a dead man. Actually you're a tour guide. Ok, you're a dead tour guide. In hell. Or more precisely Day of the Dead festival in Mexico. Things only get crazier from here on. Another work of art from the man himself, Tim Schafer.

No. 29 - Medieval II : Total War

Turn-based. Real-time strategy. How can these two genres ever mix and combine and spit out such wonderful games? Don't ask me, ask The Creative Assembly, the mastermind behind the Total War games and master of all things strategy.

No. 28 - Supreme Commander

From Total Annihilation came Supreme Commander, the spiritual successor to Chris Taylor's too-forward-looking game of the year for many gamers. Have not played this properly as my rig just rolls over and dies but from what I've played it deserves alot of love. From me.

No. 27 - Thief 3 : Deadly Shadows

Sneak. Climb walls. Pick pockets. Stuff. All this and more from the master of stealth and all that jazz. High-strung tension is a norm, with you straining your ears for every step you hear, possibly a guard, or a rat.

No. 26 - Company of Heroes

The ultimate RTS for me, with explosions, body-flinging physics, walls collapsing with every tank shell, grenades lobbed through windows, artillery slamming into the ground any unlucky baddies. You'd think that this was a FPS, but believe me, this incredibly visceral game notches up another notch in my expectations in an RTS game.

Top 50 Games 35-31

2007-09-14T12:04:00.000+08:00

No. 35 - Ragnarok Online

This was my introduction to MMORPG's and I was playing it on dial-up. NOT a good idea. It was free for awhile before going P2P and I played on for so long. One of the very few games that I genuinely want to go back to after so long.

No. 34 - Warcraft III

What can I say? Is it an RTS? Yes. Is it and RPG? Yes. Confused? Right... Good story complemented with a cutesy portrayal of characters with cutting edge cinematics, this will live in my memory for a long time.

No. 33 - Counter-Strike : Source

An update to the monstrously popular Half-Life mod in 1998 with updated physics, textures and the likes on the Source engine of Half-Life 2. Grenades bounce predictability, weapons and barrels ricochet and recoil realistically .Best you can get in a straight multiplayer shooter.

No .32 - Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy in the US and Canada)

Life transforming I would call it. One of the best adventure games I have played. Ever. You play the murderer, the police in charge of investigating and also her partner. Compelling story with a little bit of demon possession makes this game all so memorable. And when I say demonic possession, I don't mean you get to see the devil. Just the beginning few minutes where you have to find out what happened. How can you play as both hunted and hunter you say? Well, play to find out =)

No .31 - Day of The Tentacle

Tim Schafer, I love you. Witty and hilariously crazy jokes set in 400 years of history. You're flushed through a time machine (which is just a toilet, really) and 3 characters are 400 years apart. What you do in the past and present affect the future. Crazy game. Trust me, one of the best game EVER!

My Major... Right...

2007-09-12T09:02:00.001+08:00

You scored as HR/BusinessManagement, You should strongly consider majoring (or minoring) in Human Resources Management or Business Management, or related majors (e.g., Entrepreneurship, Hospitality, International Business, Leadership, Public Administration, Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology).

It is possible that the best major for you is your 2nd, 3rd, or even 5th listed category, so be sure to consider ALL majors in your OTHER high scoring categories (below). You may score high in a category you didnt think you would--it is possible that a great major for you is something you once dismissed as not for you. The right major for you will be something 1) you love and enjoy and 2) are really great at it.

Consider adding a minor or double majoring to make yourself standout and to combine your interests. Excellent minors for HR/Business majors include: Psychology, Sociology, or other areas of business like Economics, Finance, or Marketing. Please post your results in your myspace/blog/journal.

Mathematics/Statistics

100%

HR/BusinessManagement

100%

History/Anthropology/LiberalArts

100%

Biology/Chemistry/Geology

100%

English/Journalism/Comm

100%

Psychology/Sociology

94%

Physics/Engineering/Computer

88%

Nursing/AthleticTraining/Health

88%

Education/Counseling

81%

PoliticalScience/Philosophy

81%

Religion/Theology

75%

Visual&PerformingArts

75%

Accounting/Finance/Marketing

63%

French/Spanish/OtherLanguage

50%

WHAT MAJOR IS RIGHT FOR YOU?
created with QuizFarm.com

Top 50 Games 40-36

2007-08-29T19:34:00.000+08:00

No. 40 - The Sims 2

Ok, this here is a fact. People like Sims 2. The amount of sales the Sims games garner every week is pretty mind boggling, with at least 2 iterations of it somewhere in the Top 10 sales charts... Well, this IS a good game, so shut up you whiners.

No. 39 - Mechwarrior 2

Big stompy robots + Tonnes of missles + Flying robots + More big stompy robots = Fun. Extremely. The best in the series for many, Mechwarrior 2 was one of my first games I ever played, and it has stuck in my mind ever since. 12 years. OMG.

No. 38 - Battlefield 1942

The epitome of World War II online FPS gaming. Good music, good shooty bits with friends, and a hell lot of fun. Single-player was kinda naff though..

No. 37 - Test Drive Unlimited

The 12th of the long running series, TDU brings about a lot of change to the scene with massively multiplayer racing in a persistent world where hacks and trainers rule. Good game, bad people playing. And crazily fun Caterham racing.

No. 36 - Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines

The longest and most unnecessary game name in the world for me. Weird language, broken game, good writing. All the signs of patches to come, and fix it they did. Good game by any means.

Top 50 Games - 45-41

2007-08-25T22:36:00.000+08:00

No. 45 - FIFA 07

*GOAL* *FOUL* * PENALTY* and all that shouty stuff. The FIFA series have once again recaptured my love for football ever so perfectly that it's kinda impossible to believe they always get up-handed by the clearly less fun Pro Evolution series. With new tricks and a new engine, FIFA 07 is back stronger then ever.

No. 44 - Defcon : Everybody Dies

Ok, this game is a little weird. You kill lots and lots of civilians in a nuclear war thing. Don't get me wrong, civilian casualties are your ONE AND ONLY objective, and not a side effect of a nuclear holocaust. Brutal. Another great innovative game from the ever-green Introversion.

No. 43 - FIFA 98 : Road to The World Cup

Ok, so this game is another football game from EA, but like the title suggests, it's based on the 1998 World Cup, or rather the qualifying rounds of the tournament. This game had one of the best unlockables ever in a game where you play faithfully recreated great encounters in previous World Cup's, complete with sepia-tinted play and, really short pants on short stubby men.

No. 42 - Starcraft

Blizzard, Blizzard. Can you do no wrong? Starcraft, as many of you know (by you I mean Korea) is a RTS game by the masters of perfection and release-date delaying. It's so perfectly balanced that neither side has any actual advantage. Every unit is for one purpose, and one purpose only. Ever heard of the term Zerging? Well, this is where it came from.

No. 41 - Worms 2

My introduction of turn-based games was Worms 2. And my what an introduction. You basically play a bunch of worms trying to obliterate another bunch of worms. With rocket launchers. And Super Flying Sheep, and Dynamite Bananas, and Holy Hand Grenades, and Concrete Donkeys. The amount of originality in this game and the craziness of it all deserves a place in any gamers history.

Top 50 Games - 50-46

2007-08-09T09:17:00.000+08:00

No. 50 - Uplink

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*. You never quite get that tense feeling when you had to hack into a remote server with the "good" guys getting ever closer to tracking you. The originality and intensity of the game puts many to shame, even today, so many years later. Go Introversion!!

No. 49 - Broken Sword : The Angel of Death / (Secrets of The Ark in North America)

Underrated by many, this is one game that stood out in my mind for no particular reason. Fun, a little clunky,ridiculous story. All standard fare for an adventure game, yet somehow good in a way... Charles Cecil, come on!

No. 48 - Call of Duty 2

Immensely noisy, Activision and Infinity Ward have done it again with this masterpiece of WWII gaming, precise catastrophic set-pieces set the tone for future shooters, lodging itself into your cranium long after the mayhem is over.

No. 47 - Homeworld 2

The Pride of Hiigara. The mother of all ships. Shaped like an elongated flat oval thing, complete with hyper-thrusters and galaxy-spanning teleporter thingi. And the hectic battles fought over stars. And the ion cannons, oh the ion cannons. And the manatee's. And the lasers.

No. 46 - The Movies

Want to be the next Spielberg? Yes? No? Well, this game doesn't make you anything like him. What it does do is give you a simplified idea of running a movie studio, with you being the director of a movie, and also the HR manager of the studio. You hire, you fire, you weep, you laugh. Make your own movies, and dub them and give it subtitles if you will. Just do whatever.

Wait A Minute Here...

2007-08-06T20:02:00.001+08:00

Ok, I've changed my mind. I'm only going to do a Top 50 cos a 100 games is frankly crazy to do in a few days time, so I've cut it down to 50 games instead, and it'll also be easier to manage for you and me and I'll start in 2 days time. Come back for my Top 50 starting from 50-41 and so on, with 5 games every post every 3 days. See ya.

Coming Soon...

2007-08-05T21:19:00.000+08:00

I'll be doing a Top 100 PC Games of All Time (As I see it, mind you) in the coming days and I'll be starting with 100-91 and continuing onwards from thereon. I'll be doing 10 games every 2-3 days so come back a little more often to this blog then you're used to, and I'll try to make sure your stay here isn't wasted time =) Short descriptions and pics (if available) will be provided so please be patient as the page loads =)

As some of you know, I've been a gamer all my life and will be till the end of time (or until I'm broke and can no longer buy games...) and I'm a PURE PC gamer, NO consoles for me yo. Give me any console and I'll shove it right up your throat and other cervices I can find on you.

Nintendo DS, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, anything that ain't a console, it'll end up in someones esophagus so don't blame me. The tech in them I know but don't ask me about games on them. I'll show you the Holy Grail of the PC instead.

PC's were, is and forever will be the only place for proper gaming so people who don't agree please leave the site now. I do lots of console bashing so if you're offended, tough luck then.

Watch out for new and updated posts on my blog (this site if you didn't notice already..) and if you don't see any new posts in more then 3 days regarding this Top 100, add me in MSN at b_x_perience@hotmail.com and give me a thorough scolding. Seriously.

So, see ya in the next few posts (probably another 10 to complete 100 games with 10 games per post)

Drop me a comment on the post or give a shoutout in the chat box on the right. Thanks yo =)

Dead

2007-07-17T16:47:00.000+08:00

I am officially dead, thanks to the 30 McFlurry's I now owe the ever-evil Tsing Yie after she passed her driving exam. Which she did. Today. Why do I owe her? Don't ask me, ask her, and I can vouch that even she doesn't know the reason either... She just... adds you know... Grrr... One day I'll get back at her, ONE DAY!!! Please save me T_T

World of Warcraft

2007-07-11T20:04:00.001+08:00

Ok, this here is really weird. I just started playing World of Warcraft (WoW) today and I find it's ok, slightly better then I imagined. And the weirder thing is that I am a dedicated Guild Wars player, and Guild Wars players as a general rule can NEVER live with a WoW player, and I don't know how I'm dealing with the conflict of interests on this...

One is free to play, but you just have to purchase the original game. WoW on the other hand is on a subscription based module, at roughly RM60 a month plus the original WoW, plus the expansion pack, The Burning Crusade. On paper, Guild Wars wins hands down, and in reality, mostly it does too. But what sets Guild Wars and WoW apart are the backstories.

WoW, having been backed by the arguable wonderful Warcraft III and it's own expansion, The Frozen Throne had a full story to carry on with, and the story was nothing short of tense. You knew what each race were subjected to, what each race felt, what they can do, and what you MUST do, giving you a real sense of belonging in the game. You had a heritage, each race having their own hometown, beautifully crafted and poetically breathed the breath of life into. Guild Wars didn't have this, but their stories were good nonetheless, further added by two standalone packs for Guild Wars, Guild Wars : Factions and Guild Wars : Nightfall.

For now, I'm a dwarf hunter, (There's something about a short dude with range abilities and a big bushy beard...) and I'm just wondering around wherever it is I am, barely doing quests and just whacking random wolfs and the occasional rabbit. Find me if you're ever playing WoW, the names Samfisher in the Undermine(US) realm. Find me before I get bored of this game and move on to The Lord of The Rings Online : Shadows of Angmar. I hear it's a WoW beater.

See ya.

Character : Samfisher
Realm : Undermine (US)

Bioshock

2007-07-10T10:11:00.000+08:00

Bioshock. Every time I hear this word, I tingle all over anticipating it to completely alter how I look at games. Bioshock. There it goes again, brrrrr. Bioshock has been in development since I don't know when (2000) and the official release date as of now is on the 12th of August 2007. Just 2 months away from now I'll be knee deep in Rapture, the fictional underwater city the game is based on. No, it is NOT Atlantis, but very similar in that it's a city far in advance technologically. Scientists, doctors, all the worlds cream of the crop once lived here. Corrupted and taken over by "Adam", a genetically enhancing substance and all hell breaks loose. Greed, power, envy all soon take place as they destroy themselves finding what was so elusive to them, and now more elusive in death. "Little Sisters" guarded by their "Big Daddy" extract it from corpses in the currently cryptic and desolate city of Rapture.

From the creators and developers of one of my favourite games of all time, System Shock 2, I have very high hopes for this and expecting really big things. Heck, I've even pre-ordered the Bioshock Collector's Edition which includes a 6" statuette of Big Daddy himself, hand painted and moulded and sets me back RM200. Wait for it yo, it's gonna rock.

Official Bioshock Site - Bioshock
Official Bioshock Fansite - The Cult of Rapture

McFlurry

2007-07-10T08:20:00.000+08:00

Ok, this is gonna be really bad. Tsing Yie's taking her driving license exam today and I hope she passes. Wait, I hope she doesn't. Wait, both ways I'm DOOMED!! You see, I supposedly owe her 15 McFlurry's for God knows why. I only insult her and stuff you know, putting her down and joking about it, and teasing and.... Oh.. Now I see why xD Anyway, our original deal was that if she were to pass the exam, all my "debts" will be automatically erased and she'll buy ME a McFlurry instead, but NOOO, she changed the freakin rules and now it's "If I pass you owe my TWICE of what you do now."!!!!! I'll owe her 30 bloody McFlurry's just because she passes, and here's the good news, even if she doesn't pass, again, I'll still ONLY owe her 15... Aargh... My Soul.. Must... Get... Back... Soul...

So Tsing Yie, thanks for making my life a living hell, but an oh so entertaining one. Now go ~~crash and die~~ pass the darn thing already!! It's your third attempt and if you fail again, I have a very good mind to avoid you in any vehicle. There must be a reason behind your fails, must be the coffee and disastrous driving. And the McFlurry's. Go away.

*P.S* I just found out that she postponed her exam, yay, one more week I can avoid hell.

My Canon 400D!!

2007-06-19T23:01:00.000+08:00

OMG!! It's finally here!! RM3.3K worth of glass and plastic. Got it from Hong Kong which is so much cheaper since they don't have tax and got so many other stuff too. Like the 400D with EF 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II kit lens and the EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM which is a telephoto lens if you don't speak camera. And a tripod, and 2.0GB's worth of memory, and a bag, and two UV filters, and lots of reading material for the cam. I'm gonna be soaked in information soon. Man, I'm just so excited. Look out for my pics in the coming days/weeks/months/years/whatever.

Been given a choice to either stay at where I'm working or go somewhere else. What should I do? I don't expect anyone to answer that since I myself don't know the answer to that. Anyway... Life has been pretty dull. Same old same old.

BTW, after finally getting to see Tsing Yie in church on Saturday in Youth, I expected something more interesting to come out of her mouth. And you know what she said when she saw me? Guess. Come on, I'm sure you can guess it. Ok nvm.. Useless.. "Ai-Vern", "Yes?", "MCFLURRY!!" And the conversation went on pretty much like that until her boyfriend (or whoever it was in the white Kancil) came and picked her up. And I was like...

Then I poked her sister in the stomach as payback for poking me so many times. Deserves it by the way. And Tsing Yie, go away... Stop reminding me of the McFlurry's I supposedly "owe" you, which currently sits at 11. Oh wait, it's 12 now, cos she "felt" insulted by one of my SMS's... This girl is... Unbelievably talented in using her looks and sad little face to taunt you and bring you down to your knees while you bend to her every will... Well, I guess that's the price of friendship eh? Lol.

Anyway, she has just updated her blog with a very mind stimulating post, not because you learn something or anything like that but mind stimulating in a way that makes you think where she comes up with these little little things to nit-pick about, from ugly college-founders to anti-wrong-singlet schools to just declaring coffee is good for you (although I think that has more to do with tricking herself to drink with abandon, rather then it being good in itself since she's a coffee addict).

Time to study my camera, and just wait for a few weeks where I can get more worthy photos out of it. Big investment you know. See ya till then.

Let's See How Much You Know Me

2007-06-13T21:53:00.000+08:00

Create your own Friend Test here

Please Forgive Me

2007-06-10T13:32:00.001+08:00

Song is loading, be patient =)

It still feels like our first night together
Feels like the first kiss and
It's gettin' better baby
No one can better this
I'm still hold on and you're still the one
The first time our eyes met it's the same feelin' I get
Only feels much stronger and I wanna love ya longer
You still turn the fire on

So If you're feelin' lonely.. don't
You're the only one I'd ever want
I only wanna make it good
So if I love ya a little more than I should

Please forgive me I know not what I do
Please forgive me I can't stop lovin' you
Don't deny me
This pain I'm going through
Please forgive me
If I need ya like I do
Please believe me
Every word I say is true
Please forgive me I can't stop loving you

Still feels like our best times are together
Feels like the first touch
We're still gettin' closer baby
Can't get close enough I'm still holdin' on
You're still number one I remember the smell of your skin
I remember everything
I remember all your moves
I remember you
I remember the nights ya know I still do

One thing I'm sure of
Is the way we make love
And the one thing I depend on
Is for us to stay strong
With every word and every breath I'm prayin'
That's why I'm sayin'...

Game Ideas - Voice-O-Matic

2007-06-06T12:19:00.000+08:00

Temporarily, I'll call it the Voice-O-Matic, as I can't think of any lamer name to give it...

Here's what it does, with explanations why I would like to see it made.

Immersion in games is the key to making you feel like you're in the game, and voices are a very big part of it, with character intonations completely changing they way you respond to things, with or without fancy graphics. So Voice-O-Matic steps in where voice-acting fails.

How we do it is, we record a person's voice (chosen before-hand to suit the character), and make them run through a set of keys and tones ranging a very wide spectre. File size can be kept to a minimum,cos Voice-O-Matic intellegently mixes different parts of the vocal range to produce different different sounds, meaning only minimal sound files to be installed, keeping space usage down.

When NPC's need to talk, the game accesses a small pre-coded file that automatically links to the mixer and voices to come out with the right intonation and pitch.

Also, at the beginning of games that require you to create a character (basically RPG's), there will be an option page with sliders that you can control to make the game pronounce your chosen name correctly, adding to immersion as the game understands who you are, and react accordingly.

In-game, small bits of code are accessed when NPC's speak, speaking directly to you, and those bits of code will alter how your name is pronounced according to the emotions needed, like panic, happiness and the likes.

One day, I WILL make this nifty piece of software, that is if current programmers don't make them first. At least credit me with the idea if you took it from here =)

For now, I think that's all for this idea. I'll post with more later on.

Re-Visited : Guild Wars - Prophecies

2007-06-06T11:50:00.000+08:00

Guild Wars. The pay-once-free-for-life MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) that left huge tremors of spastic joy through the gaming community slightly more then a year ago. Actually, CORPG (Competitive Online Role Playing Game) would be a better term for this game. Only the cities and outposts are shared with other players, and when you leave them, the game creates the whole seperate map just for your party, hence eliminating Kill Steals and TK's and looting. This is called instancing.

After being away from the land of Tyria for almost a year, I'm finally back into it and enjoying every moment of it.

Everything that I loved about it is still here, with minor modifications and improvements that make it all the more interesting to play. Improved network code, better skill animations and minor GUI tweaks make the experience a richer thing.

The PvP, as always is frantic as hell and really random but never managing to feel unfair. It just plays so well!! I had this PvP once and I was a Ranger/Monk with 3 teammates against a party with 2 Monks, one Elementalist and one Warrior. Elementalist and Warrior we downed with relative ease but the 2 Monks were giving us problems. They keept healing each other!!

So finally, it was only me and the two monks fighting it out with the rest of our parties dead. I would attack with my bows and they would heal. When I ran out of Energy, I ran in circles to avoid being attacked. Then the two monks attacked me. Me, being a half-Monk could also heal so I healed and they attacked and they healed and I attacked. For half-an-hour it was a tie. We were just not doing any significant damage to each other. Support monks being support Monks, they had very little firepower. So I could heal as they attacked me.

For 30 minutes this went on, me crippling them making them walk 50% slower while I use my running skills to run and heal myself somewhere further. Then argh!! DISCONNECTED!!

But oh well.. The single-player game is very absorbing although it takes ages to complete it. I took 155 hours to get through it the first time round... It was worth playing every minute of it. Guys, if you're sick and tired of paying subscription fees to games that you rarely play or have a hard time justifying the price, splurge a little bit of money to get this game and you will never regret it. Trust me, I never did and never will. I may cost a pretty penny for now, but it will be so much more satisfying then your standard run-of-the-mill online game.

System Specs
Minimum:Pentium 3 1.8 GHz or equivalent, nVidia GeForce 4 MX 420 or equivalent, 2GB hard disk space, 256MB RAM, dial-up connection

Recommended:Pentium 4 2.0 GHz or equivalent, nVidia GeForce 6600GT or equivalent, 4GB hard disk space, 1GB RAM, broadband

Pros:Very good graphics, relatively lag-less, immersive, good PvP

Cons:Not alot really

Final Verdict: 89%

A Clearer Mind

2007-06-06T11:34:00.000+08:00

Now that I've calmed down and have a thorough think-through, I have to accept that what happened has already happened and there's nothing I can do about it. As they say, shit happens, but life still has to go on. I'm feeling happier already!!

Life has been ok so far, nothing much to complain about really =) Nothing out of the ordinary, just the ho-hum of life endlessly repeating itself as I travel to and fro for work. Somehow, everyday I get one No-Show guest that gets me into trouble. Stupid guests xD But oh well, it's my job to make them come, so if they don't it's partially my fault too.

Church was good, as it is always. Really freshened me up for the trying week ahead and gave me a clearer mind to think things through. Thank you God =)

Nothing much to post about now, so I'll go and write up a re-review of Guild Wars while I'm at this.

See ya in my next post ^^

Regards
~ArmedandDangerous~

Hurt? Confused? Left Out? Yeah.

2007-06-03T20:57:00.001+08:00

Why? I always ask myself that when things go horrible wrong or just so unpredictable nasty, especially from one you consider important and close to you. The hurt is so incredibly overwhelming that sometimes you think it might not be worth carrying on, and sometimes it overtakes you and end up hurting everyone around you. Well, I've just encountered this exact situation and I am wondering how I can go on, but I just know that I have to no matter how improbable the solution might be.

And girls can be the worst source of pain for anyone, and I'm quoting straight from true-to-life experiences which have left me a broken man. I liked this girl see? I wouldn't say that we're really close but I would say that we're long time friends. And well, frankly I told her about it and everything. She was single at that time so I thought that I could make the cut. WAS is the figurative word in that sentence. Her response wasn't exactly encouraging but hey, everybody needs to be pushed a little right? So OK, I got that part all sewn up. Came back from 2 1/2 months of hell from a faraway place, and I thought that I might just make it. All the signs were slightly more positive. In fact, I was really confident!!

Fast forward to 2 months down the line it had to happen. It just had to. You know what? She's already taken. For the past month or so. By her colleague. And I was just thrown into the dark just like that. All my hope just evaporated into thin air as I slowly digested the information. All the plans, the hope, the very essence of why I do what I do. Just like that. Boom. Slice. A part of me died that night, and I'm not sure if I can go on without it. Hurt by the pure evil in the timing of the events. Confused by what I should do. Left out in my own circle of friends.

As I see it now, I'm never going to be able to make the cut. I'm never good enough for any girl. I've never ever been an important part of her life. And I may never will. I try to tell myself that this isn't the truth, that everything I see and hear on that night isn't what actually happened but who am I kidding?

I'm not complaining but I just want a chance. One solitary chance. That's all I need from her. I never got it. Well, I guess that's that then.

Girl, you know who you are, and if you're out there reading this, I sincerely wish you all the best in all your endeavors, your studies and in your private life. Thank you for everything.

"When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
- Sherlock Holmes -

Don't Give Up (You Are Loved)

2007-05-30T23:06:00.000+08:00

Song is loading, be patient =)

Don't give up
It's just the weight of the world
When your heart's heavy
I...I will lift it for you

Don't give up
Because you want to be heard
If silence keeps you
I...I will break it for you

Everybody wants to be understood
Well I can hear you
Everybody wants to be loved
Don't give up
Because you are loved

Don't give up
It's just the hurt that you hide
When you're lost inside
I...I’ll be there to find you

Don't give up
Because you want to burn bright
If darkness blinds you
I...I will shine to guide you

Everybody wants to be understood
Well I can hear you
Everybody wants to be loved
Don't give up
Because you are loved
You are loved

Don't give up
Everyone needs to be heard
You are loved

Shopping!! And stuff...

2007-05-28T21:08:00.000+08:00

Ok, it's not what you think it is. I went to buy some critically needed new threads today and also a critically needed pair of shoes. Spent like RM200 on stuff today. Got quite a good deal. 2 pairs B.U.M Equipment jeans for about RM145 and 2 B.U.M Equipment pairs of T-Shirts for RM45. And a pair of DC Shoes for RM89.90 which was amazingly cheap cos of some unbelievably great discounts..

Then blew RM25 on Starbucks.. Just a crazily expensive Chocolate Chip thing and a OMG-it's-so-bleedin-expensive-Mayo Sausage bun. But the Chocolate Chip thing was so good! I wanted to get another cup but after having a second look at the price, I swore to myself never to buy anything so expensive again. How can a cup of chocolate chips and chocolate milk cost RM13.90??? Highway robbery.. Never ever again.. Walked around the mall, went for a few rounds of bowling with my buddy, watched Blades of Glory which was incredibly stupid and funny at the same time.

Was walking to the ATM machine when I spotted Lee Joseph and Randy (why are they always together...) at Chilli's so I joined them. Refilled our drinks and nachos so many times they probably blacklisted us xD

Went to the ATM machine to withdraw RM150 to get the full 1st season of Criminal Minds and guess what? I've reached my daily withdrawal limit. I've withdrawn RM1000 on this day alone!! OMG... So I thought I had to starve through the month with more then half my salary already blown.. I had only RM20 left in my wallet and you know what? I went back to Starbucks and got myself another cup of that Chocolate Chip thing.

Starcraft 2 Is Official!!

2007-05-25T20:34:00.000+08:00

Hey you there, yes you, the one reading this and asking "You who?". Listen good and listen well. I've good a very hot secret to tell you. STARCRAFT 2 IS ANNOUNCED. PHEW. Glad I got that off my chest. Yes yes, I know I'm a little late in this news, but I've already knows this news for a couple of days, just didn't have the time to post about it here.

Starcraft 2 brings us back to the world of the human-like Terrans, the God-like Protoss' and the very-violent-my-mum-won't-approve bug-like Zergs. Expect it to launch a full 6 months after the first announced release date. As most people know, Blizzard take their own sweet time making the game, ensuring everything pans out exactly the way they want it to. And my what a way to live.

Blizzard games have been nothing short of extraordinary even though I only liked Starcraft 1... Their games are so perfectly balanced that a battle can swing around at any minute making matches unpredictable and oh so exciting. Ok, I'm too lazy to continue writing about this right now, so I'll stop and I'll continue some other time. IF I have the mood to...

The official website - Starcraft 2

Who I Really Am

2007-05-25T19:55:00.000+08:00

Do you think you know me? Seriously, do you actually think you know alot about me? I assure you that you don't know even a scrap about me. You see, my brain works in very different ways then most. Statistics show that almost 99% of people remember things by colour and pictures. I on the other hand remember things by written words. I can remember pictures and colours as good as anyone, but my forte is in words.

I'm a man of detail. I need constant data bombardment to keep me awake, or even remotely interested.

One fine example is a cereal box. Let's take Koko Krunch as an example. Everyone likes the pringle-shaped-chocolate-cereal-thingi right? Well, I do. But I don't if the box has too little words for me to read. Even though I fully know that the product is in every way the same, I always buy things with the most amount of words for me to read. Whether on a cereal box, or a 100-page manual on how to fix your pencil. If that particular time I see a Koko Krunch box with lots of pictures, I abstain from it until a new box design comes out. I'm just like that.

I'm also always thinking of things that no one actually cares or ever thought about. Ever wonder why people use the word sharp when they talk about time and punctuality? Why do we have to say "Be there at 12:00pm SHARP"? Isn't it supposed to be understood that "Be there at 12:00pm" means "Bloody be there at 12:00pm"? Was it caused by the constant reminders that we humans have to give to each other before we act on something? Or was it because we just needed a stronger word to emphasize our intent? In any case, why should we need any word to emphasize what we say if our original words mean the exact same thing? See? I just did it myself. Why say exact when not saying it actually means the same thing anyway? Well, these kind of things run through my head a million times a day. My brain is constantly working out questions like this. I'm either a lunatic or s semi-genius guy with too much time to let his brain go to waste. Well, I have an IQ of 158...

I also never actually have real dreams. All my dreams are controlled by me while I sleep. Listen here, I never actually sleep when I go to bed. All my dreams are there because I want it to. not because it just happens like in normal dreams. If I don't like a part of a particular dream I'm going through, I consciously rewind my dream to before that part happened and control how my dream actually rolls out. That's why I'm always mentally exhausted but always physically fresh. Don't blame me, it just happens.

On another note, I can finally claim overtime from work!! Ahahahahaha... Now to secretely plan world domination.. Gonna save up and get myself a spanking new Canon 400D and brush up my photography skills. Time for me to learn a new programming language too. I'm done with Visual Basic and C++. Now to go to Java and C#, and maybe Cold Fusion too. See ya in the next post, gonna play Test Drive Unlimited now.

Swing Swing

2007-05-17T13:29:00.001+08:00

Song is loading, wait awhile =)

Days swiftly come and go
I'm dreaming of her
She's seeing other guys
Emotions they stir
The sun is gone
The nights are long
And I am left while the tears fall

Did you think that I would cry
On the phone?
Do you know what it feels like
Being alone?
I'll find someone new

Swing, swing, swing
From the tangles of
My heart is crushed
By a former love
Can you help me find a way
To carry on again?

Dreams cast into the sky
I'm moving on
Sweet beginnings do arise
She knows I was wrong
The notes are old
They bend, they fold
And so do I to a new love

Did you think that I would cry
On the phone?
Do you know what it feels like
Being alone?
I'll find someone new

Swing, swing, swing
From the tangles of
My heart is crushed
By a former love
Can you help me find a way
To carry on again?

Bury me
(You thought your problems were gone)
Carry me
(Away, away, away)

Swing, swing, swing
From the tangles of
My heart is crushed
By a former love
Can you help me find a way
To carry on again?

Test Drive Unlimited Review

2007-05-14T21:40:00.000+08:00

Test Drive, as many (actually, virtually no one) gamers know is one of gaming's longest running series dating all the way back to the late 80's ('87 to be precise). That's two years before I even existed. The latest in the series, Test Drive Unlimited (TDU) has just been released just 2 months ago. As usual, I got the game and started playing on the official servers.

One thing I can say about this game is that the graphics are stunning. At Low settings at 800x600 I'm running at 20+FPS... And my PC is no slouch!! LOW SETTINGS! Well... I gotta admit that my CPU is holding back my graphics card.. Such irony. I spent RM550 on the card just to have my CPU fall behind. Even Oblivion I can play at 18+FPS at medium-high.. Oh well, even my new hard drive has decided to turn on me..

Based on the largest of the Hawaii islands, Oahu, the developers at Atari/Eden Games have faithfully re-created every square mile of the island for you to drive around in the free-roaming environment. You get roughly 1000KM of road to burn rubber. Imagine that. It's like running the 100 meter race TEN THOUSAND TIMES!! You can't even imagine the scope. It's probably bigger then the whole of San Andreas, 10 times. And Oblivion is just a postage-stamp nuisance at the top of the envelope Oahu.

You get 125 cars and bikes from the off, with the full map and client, offsetting the huge 7.5GB install it takes up. At only RM119, people, just get this game. You get multiplayer (highly recommended) and all the exotic cars you can dream off, with more to come as free downloadable content later on.

Word of warning though, the engines clips for most of the available vehicles are horrendous, and if you're one of those that want authenticity, don't get this game. Get GTR 2 instead. THAT's another demanding game. If you can't play Oblivion, don't touch GTR 2.

For petrol heads looking for a new game to wet your pants, this is the one. For those looking to tweak tyre pressure, suspension stiffness, ECU and the turbo, avoid this.

P.S By the way, I'm driving an Enzo Ferrari in TDU.

System specs
Minimum:Pentium 4 2.4GHz or equivalent, nVidia 6800 or equivalent, 8GB hard disk space, 512MB RAM, dial-up connection.

Recommended:Intel Core 2 Duo e6300 1.86GHz or equivalent, nVidia 7900 or equivalent, 10GB hard disk space, 1GB RAM, broadband

Pros:Good fun multiplayer, stunning graphics, relatively lagless in multiplayer, car models faithfully modelled

Cons:Server is frequently down, engine sounds are terrible, save game can be corrupt or rollback to previous save.

Final Verdict:79%

Who I See

2007-05-14T21:23:00.000+08:00

I see you reading this post, therefore I can see all. Actually, no. I can see your face contorting as you read this, trying to figure out what I'm trying to say.
My advice : Don't bother, I don't know what I'm saying..
So, my blog. Ok. What now? Don't ask me. If you know me, my brain always works overtime and you will see things you don't and won't understand.

And don't ask me why these things go through my head, they just do.