The One with that Foldable Mouse
This would be most suitable in a new category but I’m a little hesitant about creating an IT category right now. Honestly, I’m kind of waiting until the end of November before I make one, because that’s when I’ll be getting my new computer! Yay!
So anyway, here’s a mouse that I’m quite sure many of you will fancy.
Microsoft’s Fashionable and Futuristic Arc Mouse
MaximumPC wrote an article on it and the photographs above are from them. Here’s the link to the article.
No release date for Singapore yet, but if I chance upon it in HardwareZone I’ll be sure to post it up here.
Now, unlike sites such as Gizmodo or MaximumPC, companies don’t send me products to review them. This means that if any new gadget or device (anything really) pops up on the market, I won’t be able to review them unless I buy them for myself.
Hopefully, in the months to come when I start writing reviews on things that I own - games, mp3s, hand phones, etc. - I’ll slowly get popular enough to receive trial products for reviewing!
Don’t worry though, my literature works will still be my priority =)
- Derick
The One with Clannad
I’m lacking the motivation to write over the past couple of days (Nearing weeks now) due to schoolwork and depravation of sleep. It takes me a couple of weeks to get used to sleeping at 12am and waking up at 9am, as opposed to sleeping at 4am and waking up at 12pm.
I really don’t like morning classes.
And I’ve been spending most of my free time playing World of Warcraft, haha. The second expansion pack is coming out in last than a month’s time, so I’m just preparing my characters for when it arrives.
Besides, I’m still waiting on my friends to finish reviewing the rewrite of HHHL. It’s a busy week for them and a few of them really aren’t interested in the genre (They just wanted to help and I really appreciate it) so it might take a while for those. And then there are those who are busy with their school projects, so yeah, it might take some time.
As for whether it’ll take more than 2 weeks for them to finish, it does appear to be the case right now, but I’ll see how it goes by the end of this week. If my friends are really busy then chances are they’ll take months - poly life isn’t as sweet as you think - and I understand how tough it is to finish a book you’re not interested in.
Worst come to worst, I’ll still insist on at least one review, and from there I’ll proceed on to the final draft. The dreaded final draft of bloody proofreading.
In addition to morning classes, I also dislike proofreading.
Pain in the eyes.
Seriously.
Now before I end off this post, I want to share with you guys this anime that I’ve been watching recently.
Clannad
Click here to watch the first episode of Clannad
Special thanks to Heat Streak for uploading Clannad on IMEEM.
Clannad is a romance/comedy anime with really, really awesome artwork. Now, when I say that I’m not the kind of person who cries at the movies or get all depressed over something sad, believe me.
One might even say that I’m dead on the inside.
However, there are those once in a blue moon occurences where something (a movie, story, etc.) manages to stir my heart. Clannad is one of those ’something’, being the second animation that has ever made me feel all weird on the inside.
I won’t say more here because I really want to write something like a review for this anime, but just watch the first episode above and the subsequent ones. You’ll understand how good this anime is very quickly.
And don’t be surprised if you catch yourself not wanting AND wanting - at the same time - to watch the following episode after you finish one =)
Just watch it and you’ll get what I mean.
- Derick
The One with Speedtest
I went blog hopping and found this typing speed test thingy. Seeing as how I haven’t blogged in a while (due to school) I thought I would at least just post up something random.
edit: Here’s the link since the code they provided me isn’t working for some reason. http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com
And here’s something I found interesting. After taking the test and the site brought me to the result page, it told me that I was ranked “position 7474 of 834242 on the ranking list”.
7474
In Chinese it’s ‘qi si qi si’, which can easily be pronounced as ‘qu si qu si’ which literally means ‘Go die go die’.
The bloody test was cursing me.
Not funny.
>.>
- Derick
(19) Her Hero and His Love: The Rewrite
Done!
I didn’t really expect it to be completed so soon but yeah, I just finished Draft Three. And right now I’m beginning to feel the burnout of going through so many chapters a day. Thankfully, it’s going to take some time for my friends to review the draft for me, so I’ll take that chance to rest.
My estimations, as you can see over the past few posts, are really quite inaccurate. But I think it should take roughly two weeks for my friends to review the draft for me, and then give me feed backs on where I can improve the story.
Then once I’ve made the necessary alterations – and I’m satisfied with the story – you guys should see a release.
Two weeks.
- Derick
(18) Her Hero and His Love: The Rewrite
Draft Three
I just want to update you guys real quickly here.
Currently I’m left with 20 chapters to go through before Draft Three is ready. Once it’s done I should be able to send it out and ask my friends to review it for me. That particular process should hopefully take no more than a week or two.
edit: 7 chapters left. And these seven are considerably the most difficult, or actually ‘crucial’ would be a better word.
- Derick
The One with Being Passionate About Your Hobby
In World of Warcraft, it is almost common for some wealthier players to play with two or even more accounts, at the same time. The term for it is Multi-Boxing. Basically you use a program called Octopus and it helps you to control your multiple accounts simultaneously.
Now, I won’t be offended if you immediately switch to the stereotypical thinking that runs along the line of, “What a loser”. I myself only play on a single account, but I will still disagree with your thinking. However, I’m not writing this post to argue why spending $70 on a pair of jeans or $1000 on a clutch or a handbag, makes you less of a ‘loser’ than someone who spends $15USD on his game.
This post is just for me to share with you an interesting article which I found regarding Multi-Boxing.
WoW Whore Has 36 Accounts, Raids by Himself
According to the article, it costs him $5711 (USD) a year to support all 36 accounts. And if you’re wondering, he has 11 computers to play all 36 accounts simultaeneously. In addition, he intends to spend $1500 (USD) to upgrade all 36 accounts for the upcoming, highly-anticipated Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack.
Before you say anything, the game to him is basically a hobby. And spending $5711 (USD) a year for his hobby, really isn’t that bad if you think about it. You’re not going to call some rich guy a loser if he spends like a hundred thousand dollars on a painting, or some art sculpture that hardly anyone can appreciate.
But isn’t it strange how easy it is to label us gamers as ‘losers’ when we splurge on our hobbies?
Now there’s a thought.
- I’ll consider writing a post on the sterotyping of gamers
BlizzCon 2008 – Starcraft II
It’s about time indeed and the award winning, space RTS that we all love will be coming to us in not one, but three separate games!
Starcraft II Cinematic Trailer
Credits to mcsbliss
Rob Pardo told everyone that “Starcraft II was shaping up to be an undertaking far larger than the previous game.” And so instead of trying to squeeze everything into one single game, they’ll release it as a trilogy for each race.
The first of the three will be subtitled, Wings of Liberty.
Wings of Liberty will focus on the Terrans. Specifically, it will be about the conflict between Jim Raynor and Kerrigan, which was the core of the original Starcraft campaign.
Next in line of the trilogy will be Heart of the Swarm, which is going to focus on the Zerg race. And that fine-looking lady on your left is of course the Queen of Blades, Sarah Kerrigan.
The last but definitely not the least, release is going to be Legacy of the Void which will feature the storyline of the Protoss race.
Unfortunately, Rob did not mention anything about the price or the release date of Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. He did, however, mention that each campaign in the trilogy will offer 26 to 30 missions each – which is at least 20 hours of game play if you ask me. In other words each one of three releases is more like a standalone game, than the latter two being expansion packs.
Will it be worthy enough spending money on three separate games? In my own honest opinion, only two words matter here; Blizzard and Starcraft.
‘Nuff said.
“Nuclear launch detected.”
For more and in-depth coverage of all Starcraft II related news, please do visit the following sites.
- http://www.sc2armory.com/
- http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/starcraft2/index.html?tag=related-game;title
BlizzCon 2008 – Diablo III
The time is upon us and BlizzCon 2008 is… over.
Honestly, I see no need for me to attempt to provide an in-depth coverage of BlizzCon when:
1. I can’t attend it
2. There are a plethora of fan sites out there that can provide better coverage
Instead, what I’ll write about BlizzCon 2008 are the three highlights from Blizzard’s three leading game franchieses. And first up we have Diablo III.
edit: There won’t be a post on World of Warcraft because there really isn’t anything huge to write about. Plus, if you have an active account, you’d be in the game now with your new talent trees. And not here reading this blog!
Leah
When it comes to Diablo III, the one thing that everyone is highly anticipating is the announcement of another class. Well, at the opening ceremony of BlizzCon 2008, Mike Morhaime did just that.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the Wizard class.
From the writings of Abd al-Hazir
Owing to my lack of tolerance for those who would use magic towards their own nefarious ends, many have assumed that I am averse to the practice of the magical arts on a philosophical level. Nothing could be farther from the truth. My quarrel is with those sorcerers who dismiss the ancient traditions and teachings – teachings that have been honed over millennia in order to preserve respect for authority and the rule of law.
Click here for High-Quality version
As Blizzard has mentioned before, none of the previous classes (Barbarian aside) from Diablo I and Diablo II will be making an appearence in this latest sequel. However, the mere mention of Wizard immediately reminds us of all the staff-wielding, teleporting, face melting class we all love, the Sorceress.
Joining the previous two announced classes; Barbarian and Witch Doctor, the Wizard class will also be available in both genders (The male Wizard was unavailable in the game demo). Unlike the Sorceress, the Wizard will be commanding three new schools of magic; Storm, Arcane and Conjuring.
And instead of trying to put into words what carnage the Wizard can cause, I’ll just direct you to this gameplay video of the spell-wielding class.
Click here for High-Quality version
To learn more about the Wizard Class and for an in-depth coverage of all Diablo III related news, please do visit the following sites.
Credits:
- http://diablo3x.com/
- http://www.diablofans.com/
- http://hellforge.gameriot.com/blogs/Hellforge/New-Class-Revealed-The-Wizard/
(17) Her Hero and His Love: The Rewrite
Draft Three
Alright, I’ve thought over the problem last night and after hearing what a bunch of my friends said, I don’t think I’ll make a decision. Instead, I’m going to finish up Draft Three which is the refinement of the Language of the story, proofread the manuscript and then send it out for my friends to read.
I’ll get feedback from them and base on what they tell me, I will then decide whether or not to conclude the Romance Plot at the end of each story, or to leave them until the final book.
Oh, yes, this means that I’m finished with Draft Two and I am not working on Draft Three which will take a lot longer than Draft Two. Right now I have yet to find my own definitive style of writing but I’m hoping that by the end of Project M.I.G.H.T, I’ll discover a style or a voice, some would say, that I’m comfortable to write with =)
- Derick
(16) Her Hero and His Love: The Rewrite
Dilemma
I’m back at the same issue regarding the ending. No, this is not about writing an ending that doesn’t feel rushed (I think I’ve accomplished that), but it’s about whether to end the story or leave a cliffhanger for this Non-Linear series.
Now, I’ve mentioned before that Project M.I.G.H.T is going to consist of 5 Stories + 1.
Allow me to explain in detail what that means.
Linear:
A Linear story would mean that Book A leads to Book B which will then lead to Book C, so on and so forth like below.
Non-Linear:
What Project M.I.G.H.T is, is a Non-Linear series which means that the above situation does not apply. In this series, Book A doesn’t lead to Book B which also doesn’t lead to Book C. What I meant by 5 Stories + 1 is best explained with the aid of the following picture.
This means that Book A to Book E will have their own main characters, and from time to time the different main characters will appear (for a brief period) in another Book. Book A to Book E will also have their own Romance Plot between the individual main characters, but they will all share the same Series Plot which ties all 5 books together.
- – - – -
Now here’s the dilemma I’m facing.
Initially my idea was that at the end of each Book A to Book E, the Romance Plot will have a proper conclusion. That means to say that you will know whether the two main characters end up living happily ever after. But the Series Plot will not be concluded until Book F (which is the +1).
However, I am now considering whether I should end both the Romance Plot and the Series Plot in Book F.
Pros:
- The story is a lot more exciting when written this way
- It’s creates another reason to read Book F
I feel for the first point very strongly because so far that’s the direction the story is taking me. It isn’t as exciting or fun if I were to end the Romance Plot at the end of each Book.
Cons:
- Book F will only be available roughly a year after Book A is done
- I am forcing my readers to read every single Book from A to F
One year between the two Books isn’t exactly long because that’s normally how long it takes more mainstream, published books. The reason it takes so long for me is that during the year between Book A and Book F, I’m writing Book B to Book E.
It might deter a lot of readers from even beginning with the series, even people who enjoy reading books that are in a series. This is because the series isn’t Linear so reading Book A and Book B is just like reading two entirely different stories, even though they’re in a series.
As for the next point, I don’t like forcing people to do something because it makes people not do it.
- – - – -
And there you have it. That’s the main issue I’m facing now and until I can make a decision, this rewrite of HHHL will never be finished.
I would love to hear how you guys feel about this so feel free to drop a comment or send an e-mail to me (derick-wj-tan@live.com) which I think is what most of you prefer to do.
*sigh*
- Derick
