Monday, October 19, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Monday, October 05, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Nine Inch Nails Wave Goodbye tour in Singapore (Aug 10)
I first heard of the band in 1990 when I was still in JC. I bought Pretty Hate Machine on cassette and its industrial rock sound gave me a reason to rock out during those years as a late teen. Never in my wildest dream would I have dreamt that I would actually be able to see Trent Reznor actually perform live, but I did, when he was here in Singapore. Playing at Fort Canning Park, the gig was suppose to be part of his last tour before he goes on hiatus as NIN. Due to personal things happening in my life, I didn't thought of going, but at the last minute, I decided that I must go, else it will be a missed opportunity of a lifetime. And boy was I glad I went. Watching NIN play Head Like A Hole and Terrible Lie made me incredibly nostalgic. Ah, those industrial metal years... and what a high it was to hear thousands of people singing the words to Closer - "I want to fuck you like an animal!"
I've also manage to capture some vids from the concert. The bad thing was that since I was so close to the stage and due to the crappy mic on my compact camera, the sound in these clips are really bad. Visuals are great though. Sadly, the only song where the sound is just (but only just) acceptable is the song Hurt.
Overall, the band was tight. Trent did not interact much with the crowd, but he doesn't need to. He makes it up by playing a set that is possibly contains some of his best works. It's worth noting that the Trent Reznor may not be the lean, mean, rocker during his younger days. He may look "bigger", but his attitude and power on stage is still something to behold.
At one point in the concert, Trent dived into the audience. But it seems that the crowd couldn't give him a proper bodysurfing experience. Epic fail for the folks right at the front. :P
"What have I become?
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end" - Hurt
A fitting goodbye. Even if NIN may be going away, I'm pretty sure that this won't be the last we hear of Trent.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Monday, September 08, 2008
Long time post once
It's been really long since my last post. Originally, one of the reason for this blog is to clip some of the interesting stories that I found on the Net. Since then, Web 2.0 tech has developed that there are not better ways of clipping interesting stuff. One way is using Digg, but that too got rather old. Now, I'm simply using the "star" function on Google Reader. That has been really useful to keep track of interesting posts.
Well, since not many people read this blog anyway, it's time to sign off... till the next post.
Well, since not many people read this blog anyway, it's time to sign off... till the next post.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Sightseeing in Liberty City - a set on Flickr
Nico Bellic is not the only star in GTA4. Liberty City itself, which is a replica of New York City, is also the key attraction in the game. Flickr user Matthew Johnston has done up a series of pictures comparing actual buildings in NY and screenshots of the same locations found in the game. The similarity is simply astonishing. If you're a fan of the game, you have to check out the Flickr photoset.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Posting to multiple places
Blog It by TypePad seems to be a pretty useful app. With it, you can use Facebook to post to several blogs at once, and also update status on multiple locations. I'm trying it out with my Blogger, Vox, and Twitter account. I wonder if it works on mobile.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Father of D&D Gary Gygax: RIP
I just read from a Slashdot post that Gary Gygax, the creator of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game has passed away. This news filled me with sadness and a great sense of nostalgia. The influence of D&D is without a doubt far-reaching. Computer games won't be what it is today without the influence of the tabletop game. Come to think of it, would games like Baldur's Gate, Oblivion, and many other gaming classics be without D&D?
I played D&D during my secondary school days. In those days, I had little money to buy the player's handbooks. I borrowed them from my friends, photocopied them, and saved up so that I could buy a set of crystal blue dice. Those were the times when some alarmist folks would view D&D as a "satanic" game. Me? I just thought it was really fun to play a tough fighter or a powerful magic-user.
My fondest memory of a D&D gaming session was one where after battling some enemy (which I can't remember), there was a magical sword set in stone calling out to me. The greedy loot-grabber that I played as, my fighter reached out to grab the sword. Alas, it was a cursed sword and it was stuck to my hands! I then made a decision to actually chopped off my hands so that I won't be penalised with all the "minus" modifiers that came with this cursed sword. Ah, good times!
I would say that D&D contributed to my love of games, sci-fi and fantasy... mainly geeky stuff. It also got me interested in technology because computers started to have RPGs.
Goodbye Mr. Gygax! Thanks for all the dice-rolling memories.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Rat king in the year of the rat
I saw this on Boing Boing, and since it's the Year of the Rat, it's just so appropriate.
What you see here is known as a Rat King. According to Wikipedia, it's
What you see here is known as a Rat King. According to Wikipedia, it's
said to arise when a number of rats become intertwined at their tails, which become stuck together with blood, dirt, and excrement. The animals consequently grow together while joined at the tails, which are often broken.Gross to the extreme.
Monday, January 28, 2008
"Still Alive" in Japanese
Anyway, I've yet to play Portal, but I believe it'll be excellent. I've just completed Half-Life Ep 1, and I'm actually going through it again just to experience the developer's commentary. All I can say is that The Orange Box is excellent value and I'm having tons of fun with it.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
LEGO Blackbird
A SR71 Blackbird forward quarter
Originally uploaded by Lego Monster.
Wow... an amazing Lego model of the Blackbird spyplane. This is done by Lego Monster and the full photoset can be found on Flickr here. I wonder how long this takes.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Cute LEGO portal recreation
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon on an Asus Eee PC
The Asus Eee PC actually looks pretty sweet, if not for the low res screen, I'll probably get one. The next few versions will be ones to look out for. Anyway, it'll be a great system to put Ubuntu on. Check out the link to know how to put Gutsy Gibbon on the sweet little computer.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Amazing Metroid Prime Cosplay
Best. Cosplay. Character. Ever. Check out the photos of a Cosplayer donning the Metroid Prime costume and pretending to be Samus. Lovely.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Connecting to XBOX Live via a WinMob cellphone
These guys won't let the lack of an Internet connection stop them from gaming on their 360s. What they did was to hook up their boxes to their Windows Mobile phone to get connected to Xbox Live. I guess they really want to Finish The Fight.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
LEGO-shaped cakes
Thursday, October 18, 2007
PS3 or Wii? This can help you decide
If you can't decide between a PS3 and a Wii, this funny video can help you to make your choice. Hit the link to have a good laugh over how the two consoles are depicted. But what if you want to make a choice between the Xbox360 and a PS3?
Monday, October 15, 2007
Verify Email Address
If for any reason, you want to check if an email addy is working, this tool will come in handy. It is suppose to "actually connects to the mail server and checks that the mailbox exists". Hope that it is not a email spam farm though.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
LEGO minimalism
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Halo 3 will change the world
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Model Trains Fetish
I've heard of foot fetish, shoe fetish, and I understand that there are just about as many type of fetishes as you can ever think of. However, this has got to be the most unusual fetish that I've heard of. This is Model Trains fetish and this DVD called "Crush by Venus" has a hot chick crushing model trains, cars and buildings. Sort of like Gozilla, except that this Gozilla is a hottie. More details on Hobby Blog.
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Games Convention Asia 2007
For the last two days, I was at the Games Convention Asia 2007 (link the my set of picts on Flickr is here). This was suppose to be the E3 of South East Asia with focus on a conference on games development and business, and also an exhibition for the public showcasing new games. Some of the sessions in the conference were excellent. I was most impressed by the keynote given by Alexander Fernandez from Streamline Studios. His speech was inspiring and, if you're a game developer, you'll be certainly stirred by his short but evocative speech.
The showfloor, however, leaves quite a bit to be desired. Not a lot of games were shown. Particularly, I was looking out for the big titles such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero III, but they were missing. Also, Microsoft and Atari, both of whom are present in Singapore, were not even around. However, I would say that it was still a good start and hopefully, future GCA will attract even more developers and publishers to showcase their new games. I'll skip the negativity and highlight some of the good stuff I liked about the show:
- Singapore game developer Mikoishi showcasing their NDS game Dropcast.
- Audio Odyssey: a Wii prototype rhythm game by MIT-GAMBIT Game Lab.
- A Konami battle card game for the NDS. Not sure what the English title is...
- Booth babes...
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Marcus Fenix brick
GOW01
Originally uploaded by legohaulic.
This is pretty awesome! Legohaulic has posted his creation of Marcus Fenix from Gears of War using LEGO bricks and it is super rad.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Rescue or harvest Bioshock's little sisters
To kill or not to kill, that is the question. As reported on the Ars Technica site, someone has done some research on whether it is better to harvest or rescue those creepy little sisters in the game Bioshock. The analysis comes complete with a graph for you to compare the cost versus benefit of your action.
One of our forum-goers, twinky, decided to find out. He graphed the difference between killing and saving the sisters in terms of the ADAM you receive, and he found that while at the beginning the bonus for killing is great, towards the middle and end of the game the bonus packages you receive for saving the little girls levels out most of the short-term gain.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
From someone who had freelanced for Odex
The Odex saga has brought out many local Otaku's unhappiness with the quality of anime sold by the company. But why is this company producing such poor quality stuff for the fans? The Panegyrist blog gives an insider's view of how Odex thinks and a personal experience of working with a company that is now the "enemy" of anime-lovers.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
IP Address is sexy
Never knew that the reading of an IP address can be such a turn-on. MoanMyIP.com is a site where a female will moan and groan out your IP address in a sexy voice. It's just a completely mindless, but funny venture.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Revolution against Odex
The recent case where anime fans have been sending letters threatening to sue anime downloaders has touched a raw nerve amongst online citizens. It seems that the company Odex (who owns the license to distribute a number of anime series in Singapore) is becoming the most hated corporation in the local online world, especially among the vocal anime fans. It is interesting that the seemingly "apolitical" youths of the nation are actually fighting back and becoming "activists" in this backlash.
Update: It appears that this site has gone dark. Maybe the folks doing the site has chickened out. Ah well, the revolution ends here, at least for now.
Update: It appears that this site has gone dark. Maybe the folks doing the site has chickened out. Ah well, the revolution ends here, at least for now.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Office 2.0 Database
Want to experience the goodness of Web 2.0 office apps? Here's a monster list of Office 2.0-type stuff that you can try out.
Guitar Hero axe built from LEGO
I'm now onto the "Hard" songs in Guitar Hero 2 and most of the time, I can only scrape by with 3 stars. Now, if only I have this fully functional guitar made from LEGO bricks to help me do all those hammer-ons and pull-offs, and maybe I'll do better?
Monday, August 06, 2007
Problem with the Xbox360
I love the Xbox360. The games are great and with what's coming on the horizon, I think I'm gonna fall in love with the system even more (just think Halo 3, Mass Effect, Eternal Sonata, Assassin's Creed, GH3, etc). The problem I have with it is the dreaded Red Ring of Death. Seems the more I read, the more it seems like it is something that is sure to happen sooner or later. The sad thing is that it is due to the bad design of the box. You can read the report on the TechOn website done with help from some Thermal Design expert. I just hope that my system will last, and if it does died, Microsoft would have come up with a new box design that'll fix the problem.
Well, so much for a box design that looks like it's "inhaling".
Well, so much for a box design that looks like it's "inhaling".
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Goodbye pie charts, hello pixel charts
According to a post on Dashes.com, there is a new graphic trend in town. Instead of presenting info in pie charts, it seems that people are doing it using pixel blocks instead.
The Porn Myth
Is porn suppose to turn you on? Yes, but according to Naomi Wolf, the author of The Beauty Myth, it actually turns you off the real thing. On New York magazine, she argues about the negatives of porn.
The young women who talk to me on campuses about the effect of pornography on their intimate lives speak of feeling that they can never measure up, that they can never ask for what they want; and that if they do not offer what porn offers, they cannot expect to hold a guy. The young men talk about what it is like to grow up learning about sex from porn, and how it is not helpful to them in trying to figure out how to be with a real woman.Interesting read, and convincing points made.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Pimp up Google Reader with 15 Firefox hacks
I've enjoyed using Google Reader ever since I switched from Bloglines. I guess the best thing about Google Reader that I like is that it keeps track of the individual article in the feed rather than a full page of feed. The mobile version which I use on my Palm browser is also quicker.
Anyway, here're 15 things that you can do to make your Google Reader experience even better when you're using Firefox.
Anyway, here're 15 things that you can do to make your Google Reader experience even better when you're using Firefox.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
No such thing as playing games ironically...
A bad game is just bad. Nothing more nothing less. In fact, that is the argument put forth by Wired writer Clive Thompson that while you can have movies that are "so bad that they're good", the same can't be said for games. Bad games are not fun and they make you want to just hope that you can somehow get back those wasted hours of your life back. I totally agree and in my years of gaming, I've played a few really bad games and I just want to erase those bad experience from my memories.
Essentially, games are for fun, and if it is not, it's worthless.
Essentially, games are for fun, and if it is not, it's worthless.
Guitar Hero III v. Rock Band
Wannabe guitar players are in heaven with the impending release of Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band. Both titles are rhythm-based games where you can play a "fake" guitar. Rock Band, of course, turns the whole thing up a notch by letting players play as a band. So which is better? The linked article is an interesting read as it argues that Rock Band is about the pure music experience while GH3 is aiming for a more "gaming" experience. Regardless, I think I'll be getting both when it comes out. I just wanna rock out.
CodecInstaller-for all those A/V codecs
If you're a media junkie, you'd know that having the right codecs is important, or otherwise your media won't play! Software such as VLC has become must-have media players because they can play many different media format. But if you want more, then CodecInstaller is one that you need to analyze your audio/video files.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
History of Zelda in English
If you're a Zelda fan, check this out. A Jap documentary on the History of Zelda is now available with English translation courtesy of the fansub community. Amazing, the power of otakus.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Run Windows apps on Ubuntu
This is for the Ubuntu geeks who still needs some Windows apps. The guide supposedly teaches you to set up the running of Windows apps, running the OS in virtual machine. Minus the time to install Windows, it should only takes up 10 minutes of your time.
Monday, July 02, 2007
iPhone flaws?
On the HowardForums, there's a thread that looks at a list of the failings of the iPhone. Granted, the iPhone hype is enormous, the arrival of the device means that folks can actually try it out and find out the pros and cons of the device. This list certainly gives one an idea of some of the "thumbs down" bit of Apple's "Jesus-phone".
How to build a BitTorrent box
This is another DIY project that you can do with Linux. The article on Nerdica details how you can build a dedicated, headless BitTorrent client computer. Using Ubuntu, Azureus, Hamachi, and Samba, the instructions will let you have a box that you can use for your BT downloads and also share the files after that. Interesting stuff if you want to get some hands-on action over the weekend.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Wii Transfer
I just discovered this interesting software that allows you to transfer movies, music and pictures to your Nintendo Wii. Written for the Mac OS, this one will turn your white console into a multimedia machine. It may not turn your Wii into the wonderful XBMC, but it's still pretty cool, since it uses the Opera browser to let you browse pictures and listen to your tunes.
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