While the contents of the training were somewhat expected, the toughness and speed at which things are done are not. Trying to cram so many activities within a short week, throw in general lethargy and laziness(plus the oft-used: "We are young no longer") and a dose of inefficient, over-conservative kiasuism(while this is seemingly a contradiction on first sight, the meaning becomes apparent after further thought) and you get a rush-to-wait and wait-to-rush free for all.
Overall the experience wasn't bad (note: this is my 2nd ICT), and I learnt a lot more about what it feels like to be a cog in an immense wheel (albeit a slightly rusty one) and that conversation skills and good ol' fashioned back scratching is very much in place (screw the rank structure) and is very much greased by polite words like "pai say" and "knn".
Brilliant stuff.
I really do enjoy systems, figuring out how things work and being able to predict outcomes.
It's like living in a controlled science experiment.
However, with Constance, I am able to tap into my spontaneous side, despite my inner protests that such crazy and unplanned behaviour is the result of one huge lookup table filled with things that I've not mapped out.
I fully attribute that to love.
In what appears to be the most audacious or perhaps foolish act in PC gaming history, a published game ripped entire game levels, art, words and even videos from a variety of other PC games and some speculate, movies. Here's a list of games that Limbo apparently ripped from Silent Hill 4Painkiller
Return To Castle WolfensteinDiablo 2Rune
Thief 3Pirates of the CaribbeanCrysis
Spawn
BioShock
UT2004Baldur’s GateCheck out the link to GamePlasma here.
1. 36 Animations for the different outcomes
2. Sorting and placing function for numbers in series of 1, 5, 25 and 100
3. Odds calculation
4. MVC model server and client apps
5. Chinese Language translation via xml file?
6. Fix path stickiness problems! -> Fixed on 14th June, 2am. Called Invalidate and Update functions after path change to prevent stickiness.
Note: This may sound a little cryptic, but I'm under NDA (non-disclosure agreement)
One week left!
Well, I played my part in this huge techno-fetish fair by making the pilgrimage to one of the quarterly tech sale conventions at Suntec city.
The strangest thing is, why didn't I feel the almost obsessive compulsive urge to get a good' ol gaming laptop of my own? This is partly because the new models from ASUS are simply quite ugly and totally overdone with needless garish colours and little frills that don't matter, and partly because the new models aren't all that fast in the graphics department. Not the sharpest knives in the drawer... (I've been overusing this a lot)
Anyhow, Constance bought a brand new spanking Acer laptop, after much consideration (lasting for about 15 mins) and haggling with the salesman (who was brillant because he listened instead of spewing sales crap).
Congratulations, Dear for getting a new Acer TravelMate™ 6292-602G25Mn and for joining in the digital race! I look forward to our gaming sessions :)
 | Hate | Jun 5, '08 12:20 PM
for everyone |
Fold to the all-consuming hate.
All hail hatred.
When you finally realise that there's nothing left to fight for, you leave.
Omfgwejusthadawonderfulwordsharingvideosharingsessionbrainwavematchtogetherthatsjusttooawesometodescribeinacoherentsentence.
Results have been up to expectation so far, with Information Security Management leading the charge, but also disappointing (but really, not surprising) is maths, at the lower end of the scale and Business and Technical Communications at a decent level (Argh, I can't write spontaneously during exams. I make hundreds of tiny adjustments and tweak my documents like mad, which I can't do during the exam with just whiteout and a pen).
So...that's it for the exams!
 The only thing that is holding me back is not being able to graduate by September 2008 in time for this... I continually find myself draw to such offers, but I've never taken them up, out of fear that I may actually be selected or perhaps...
 A package arrived from the Netherlands last week. I actually ordered it online without expecting it to actually arrive even though Lester told me that he got a copy from the company. I've used this particular version of linux before and found it very pleasant to use. It has a couple of cool features like multiple desktop, resizable icons and bouncy windows.  ubuntu CD inside! Ubuntu is a community developed, Linux-based operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. It contains all the applications you need - a web browser, presentation, document and spreadsheet software, instant messaging and much more. Source: http://www.ubuntu.com/P.S. I like how it is classified as a "gift" on the back of the package :)
I just had a close brush with the pitfalls and joys of work; the "root of all evil", cash.
With cash, you can make things happen in a hurry, but it's an easy way out. To be sure, you can make the same things happen with an orator's voice, or an extensive network of friends, but all that is just too much work compared to what the raw power of a pile of gold buillions.
And so it is that the pull of monetary rewards (and their subsequent rewards) begin to tug at my sleeves once more.
There are two factors tugging at me in opposite directions.
The need to be adventurous, to experiment and to explore versus the need to be successful and productive, to fight hard and hit fast while I'm still young, energetic, idealistic and (physically) mobile.
While it is true that nobody wishes that he had more time in the office at their deathbed, in this country, experimentation is an ill-advised route and will bring much chiding from every direction. Yet...the spirit of adventure is highly regarded elsewhere (and in some cases, here as well).
The conundrum is to find a balance between the two.
| Primal | May 14, '08 11:54 PM
for everyone |
Constance loves to pluck white hairs from my scalp and scrounge around my ear for ear wax and I love grooming her hair. An evolutionary throwback?
'The Square Root of Three' by David Feinberg
I’m sure that I will always be,
A lonely number like root three
The three is all that’s good and right,
Why must my three keep out of sight
Beneath the vicious square root sign,
I wish instead I were a nine
For nine could thwart this evil trick,
With just some quick arithmetic
I know I’ll never see the sun,
As 1.7321
Such is my reality,
A sad irrationality
When hark!
What is this I see,
Another square root of a three
As quietly co-waltzing by,
Together now we multiply
To form a number we prefer,
Rejoicing as an integer
We break free from our mortal bonds.
With the wave of magic wands
Our square root signs become unglued,
Your love for me has been renewed
| Solitude | May 9, '08 11:59 AM
for everyone |
It's really nice to spend time with yourself it is something that I can really get used to, for onyl in solitude can the buzz of the mind be heard with perfect clarity.(Actually I'm quiet well acquainted with being alone, it's just rare to find little pockets of time like this)
Allow me to explain, I've clocked close to 11 hours (timing courtesy of Steam tracking) since my exams ended on S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl (abbreviated to "Stalker") and by golly, it's a fantastic game, not quite like "Oblivion with guns" as I was originally lead to believe.
For the uninformed, Stalker is a game set in 2012 in which the Chernobyl nuclear reactor explodes a second time, bringing forth a host of strange anomalies and mutations to the people and animals who live nearby. You (or in this case, me) are one of the many mercenaries and low-lifers who rampage about looting and stealing from the remains of that mini post-apocalyptic snow globe.
And boy, that snow globe sure is well designed. Kudos to the level designers and artists of the game, who managed to bring to life a desolate and utterly depressing landscape full of wild surprises. The attention to detail and the atmosphere is absolutely astounding and portrays a untamed Eastern European landscape, complete with derelict buildings that are slowly being reclaimed by nature and eerily touched with a sense of desperation and the perversely corrupted mutation of man and nature.
In some ways the game reminds me so much of the Fallout series, which was so atmoshperic (so atmospheric in fact that I fell in love with a cybernetic K-9 that made up of simple *woof woof* text and small 2D sprites) and featured some of the best writing I've experienced in games. It's hard to find such immersion in games that don't rely on fancy 3D graphics nowadays.
The vast open grasslands, so far removed from the desert wastelands of FAllout still manages to evoke a sense of foreboding, tension and total freedom. The ancient caveman side of me must have been speaking to me then, for I felt a strange and intimate connection to the wild and unlimited (until the next load screen) side of myself as I ran across the gently rolling expanse of computer hills. Crawling ever-so-patiently through the gently swaying bunches of flat billboard grass as I stalked my prey really drove the point home.
Speaking of the hunt, I mean the combat system, Stalker features the most realistic shooting I've ever experienced (barring Mafia). The guns have a really solid feel to them, bullets sing and ricochet off objects, men scream and grab their bleeding bellies as they writhe on the ground in pain. Seriously, guns hurt.
Now, this game isn't for everyone. It's made to be HARD and has elements of survival horror in it that would make most gamers queasy. There are these essential plot missions (by the way, the rest of the game is essentially "free-form" like GTA or the fore-mentioned Oblivion) that involve you creeping around dangerous radioactive labs. Yeah, labs. What can be worse than descending into a radioactive lab (where they probably conduct foul experiments on people who are now extremely pissed and horribly mutated) filled with mutants straight out of a Lovecraftian novel, armed with limited ammo and a puny flashlight? Oh and it's DARK.
They should seriously pack disposable underwear with this game.
| Jaded | May 8, '08 1:31 PM
for everyone |
Being a mature adult does not preclude you from being Happy!
(Though it's hard not to take the easy way out and be jaded just like everyone else).
The exams are finally OVER! And for the first time, I needed someone to constantly remind me of that(Thanks, Constance :).
The final test wasn't that great, but it's pointless to worry over it now. Onwards!
(More exciting updates to come in the following weeks)
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