More webcrawling fun
Leekspin has its own wikipedia entry? Well consider me enlightened, and Ievan Polkka downloaded.
For the most part, though, I'm giving up posting links/vids that are cool by my standards, simply because I've recently discovered Geekologie and my posts will never reach the height of, um, geekiness as theirs. For the most part.
...
I wonder if anyone could actually miss the news that Captain America is dead, since it's reported in much the same vein as when Superman died back in the early '90s, but is anyone actually buying that? Captain America has died and resurrected at least 3 times by my count, and I'm not even a big comic geek. There definitely should be more than that. Which means we should be seeing him again in less than a year.
In other news, I'm finally beginning to see why the office workers I know seem to regard coffee as a primary food product. It's not so much because the job is so tiring or taxing that you need the energy and concentration boost that comes from caffeine, it's to keep them from falling asleep during the more mundane parts of the day. Lethargy comes very easily when you're sitting on your desk all day long.
Scribbled by XIV :~: #
Awesome idea worth repeating
Hey kids!
What could possibly be cooler than people riding armored dinosaurs of all types and sizes from all eras armed with lasers and missiles fighting aliens?
Give up? Yeah, so do I.Makes you wonder why they haven't tried remaking this thing, eh? Maybe dinosaurs aren't as cool as they used to?
(This post brought to you by another session of random clicking of Wikipedia combined with nostalgia.)
Scribbled by XIV :~: #
Youtube and wikipedia should be banned from the workspace
simply because their capacity for time wasting is beyond any mortal ken. You look up one thing, see an interesting link, see another link within the link, and it all goes downhill from there. Not that I'm complaining too much, really. I lurve my internship @ Autodesk, but sometimes I wish I had more to do.. I tend to get excited and finish my assignments way too quickly which leaves me with lots of free time.
Said free time was spent roaming round orchard road trying to find somewhere where they sell (to quote a Mr. Gaiman) Hera-from-Iceland's CDs. To no avail. This should not be the case, but the world is not known for its fairness. There are 2-minute previews of her tracks from CDbaby, true, but I want - nay, need - the whole thing. No choice but importing, it seems..
(While we're at it, do browse around CDbaby - you're bound to find something you like. Support your favorite fledgling artists)
And lastly: World of Warcraft. Just say no. Turn back. There's still time.
Scribbled by XIV :~: #
Friday, December 08, 2006
Advance letter
I've been poking my nose into some stores and have seen PS3s and their games sitting pretty on the dealers' shelves. While it's heartening that we can get them here in Singapore without having to resort in eBay, the > S$1500 tag means its pretty much the same price as it is in eBay. Also, in one store they have a selection of Wii titles (including the tantalizing Zelda: Twilight Princess) but not the console itself. What gives?
Other than that, this is a very quick goodbye-for-now. Yes, yes, holidays are here, etc etc, but there's another reason. With the release of the game featured on this template*, I am in need of another. This blog will therefore be on an extended hiatus for more than one month. Maybe two, maybe more. But it won't be active again until the template is exactly the way I want it. (What will it be? I'm considering two candidates at the moment.) Plenty photoshopping and/or web coding will be expected of me this coming month.
So, yeah. Ta.
*Obviously, if you're reading this from the (gasp!) future, you won't have any idea what the previous template was like. Sorry.
Scribbled by XIV :~: #
Sunday, December 03, 2006
It's not lupus
Same place, different cast, different story. Like one and a half years ago, me and the rest of the SSS dudes headed for a weekend of festive at East Coast resort, where over twenty people are crammed into a room that's built to serve at most four. It does sound a little like a reality show when you put it that way..
The new crop of fresh meat and the exit of principal characters from the dramatis personae mean the experience will for certainly be different then the last time, although the itinerary remains pretty much the same: Barbecue, walks/cycling by the beach, not sleeping until daybreak. For starters, the chalet was in another location now: Much closer to the general office (= much more likely to get busted for not using resort-approved-barbecue pit) and a slightly smaller (and cheaper) place compared to before. Which means expert logistics and positioning are vital when you want to fit in two dozen undergrats on the patio of the aforementioned chalet. Reasons will be revealed in a moment.
In our infinite wisdom, we picked a barbecue pit at random near the shore, where staff would less likely to wander and ask you for identification and whatnot. Of course, all these is moot when the guys who actually paid 80 bucks to borrow a place to put your coal shows up. No matter - just move to the benches, where we proceed with our patented technique of 'grill-less barbecuing' with marvelous results. The relentless daily rain didn't show up to ruin any of our fun either.
A question came up that night: How come Singaporeans don't have a culture of 'sitting down round a fire singing songs and playing the guitar? It is interesting. I suppose it has something to do with there not being any local musicians worth anyone's salt until very recently. There's not enough to emulate, so the habit never comes up. Maybe in ten years it'll change. I dunno.
In an unrelated note, the night also made me want to dig up my old vintage rock collection - need to brush up on my lyrics.
Also tried out a new game last night - basically, we become these villagers who had some of its villages turned into werewolves, and every night one of gets killed by the lupine stalkers. Therefore, every day they hold meetings to cast out one of their numbers in hope of removing the wolf epidemic. Of course, the human-form-garous are also present in the meeting, and will use every trick in the book to save their own hide. It has a lot of interaction, 99% idiot-proof as long as you listen to the gamemaster, a great time-waster, and hella fun too. We replayed it three times, all the way to sunrise.
It may surprise you, but I really like these group games which does not require a screen to play. They're relics from the age of board and card game entertainments, both of which really needs more exposure. This is also why I much prefer my opponents in video game to be sitting right next to me instead of talking through a headset from who knows where.
PS: Two of my friends described me as a 'professional outing participant' after seeing me come to an overnight chalet with nothing but the clothes I wore and the things within them. Because I knew I wouldn't be showering, change clothes, or anything that would require the posession of baggage. I find this description hilarous, and a little too true.
Scribbled by XIV :~: #
Monday, November 27, 2006
Ain't heavy
Tall and skinny, in fact. Should you have the privilege of seeing him undressed, you'd bound to notice the Stegosaurus spines.
Has a bizarre fashion sense, in that he'll wear a jacket anywhere regardless of weather and temperature. Still, there are worse alternatives.
A power gamer who's also a completist, and really horrible when it comes to stopping. Probably an addict, but not from what I've seen.
Arguably handsome and has broken a few hearts, but had his share of heartbreaks as well.
Has a devil-may-care attitude over what people think of him, which has invariably led to some people claiming him as rude or arrogant. In truth, he doesn't care what you think, take- it-or-leave-it-it's-me. Although if you ask me, he does need a couple of lessons in manners.
Fiendishly loyal to his friends, and would rather die than commit any form of betrayal. Nothing hurts him more than being told that he's hurt someone he cares about without realizing it.
He doesn't want you to care about him, and is very often perplexed why people just don't get that fact. He'll turn to you when needs you, all he needs is the reassurance that you'll be there.
Very stubborn when it comes to his tastebuds; he'll outright refuse to try anything new until you force feed it to him. When that's done, chances are he'll find it to his liking.
Really respects girls, but tend to treat those he really accepts just like he treats one of the guys. It's his ultimate form of giving respect; alas, the ladies often thinks otherwise.
His tastes in entertainment covers the whole spectrum. Except sports. Soccer, highly casual at that, and that's it.
And he's one of the most important people in the world to me. Cheers, little bro.
Scribbled by XIV :~: #
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Old but new
So blogger now has a new Googlicious face, eh? Well, works for me. They say they have a drag-and-drop template editing feature now; have to check it out soon. Now that Zelda: Twilight Princess is out, I need something else to look forward to.. Metroid Prime 3, maybe?
Side note to the above: The dual launch of the PS3 and Wii clogged up Gamespot's servers for almost a week now. Not to mention the shameless Nintennerds who spam message boards in rage over the 'abysmal' score of 8.8 Gamespot gives to the aforementioned Zelda game. Yeesh.
Let's see.. mood after two weeks of exam:
Yeah.
Also, on that note: Would a game which consists of pressing a button to advance hundreds of lines of text before you get to make a selection which would lead to, um, hundreds more lines of text will be any fun?
You'll be surprised. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attourney recently showed me why it's one of the most sought-after games for the DS, having been out of prints many times over and and actually commanded triple-digit (!) prices for a time on eBay. Honestly, from a technical standpoint? You keep seeing the same screens over and over again, the animation is minimal, and the whole game (the makers themselves call it a 'visual novel') consists of reading, reading, and reading. For reference, an around 60% complete text dump is already 1.5 megs large, almost twice your average detective novel.
Here's where great storytelling shows its power: The plots aren't very complicated, though they are interesting; the developments can be rather simplistic, but you won't realize you just slogged through 40 minutes worth of text by the time the first courtroom battle is over. And it's darned addictive to boot. Add to that a roster of crazy characters and you have a real winner.
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I still haven't found a decent trailer for the next Harry Potter movie, but for those who haven't seen her, this is Luna Lovegood:
(Insert the same rant applicable to Emma Watson's Hermione here)
Reeally not what I expected there. I don't see any spacey weirdly dressed and potentially friendless girl in this picture - do you? Regardless, Rowling said she's 'perfect for the role' so I'm content to wait and see.
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Wanted to go on a discourse here about Death Note's current spike in popularity, helped tremendously by (soon-to-be) two great live action movies and an anime series. Also whether it will sharply plummet after the orphanage appears in the anime, but that would be a huge spoiler for many people. So my sharp-witted analysis must wait for another day. I will say, however, that that particular arc is nowhere near as solid as the previous one, not to mention 200% more implausible. (Missile silo? Hogawd.)
Scribbled by XIV :~: #
profile
The writer is a student who has been in Singapore for far too long than he would like to remember.
He likes cats, good books, and any sort of gaming, although not necessarily in that order.
Hates combs, long sleeve shirts, ties, and leather shoes with a
passion.
Absolutely loves reading and likes to write a lot, although deep inside he knows he'll never be anywhere as good as his idols.
He has a
friendster account that isn't accessed very often anymore ever since it became as chaotic to navigate as myspace.
It is, however, still the best place to start for even more boring things you may not want to know about him.
He has an email address at cammy underscore vierzehn at hot nospace mail dot com, but is not interested in cheap viagra, imitation rolexes, mortgage payments, and/or desperately promiscuous women of any sort, thankyouverymuch.