Random Thesis - A weekly editorial on Digital Entertainment

Week 1 Digital Entertainment Case Study Reflection

2010-04-27T09:18:00.003+08:00

Week 1 has been fun so far, but the first problem is to answer the question of what is a board game. Is it a game with a board as a weapon? Like a plank to hit someone on the head or to fight zombies with? Could it be any game with a "board" like stage for its world? Or should a "board game" based video game be merely clones or variants of existing tabletop games?

Why am I having this monologue? For "board games" will be the theme of my semester project. But first, I have to do my game critiques for the next 2 weeks. I will be writing on one of my favourite games; X3 Terran Conflict by German Developer Egosoft. A grand space simulator where you can become a galactic space fighter, a multi-billion arms dealer or both. The scale is vast and the graphics are the most beautiful among any of the games available today.

Games to many are merely entertainment; but to me, they are portals to a new world. A designer imagined and created this world; a portion of his mind, and we are free to dive into that world. Games (in the context of this kind) used to be books with aiding board game equivalents like pieces that require our own imagination to kick in. Now however, we have graphics to do that for us; we have a clearer view of one's fantasy than ever before. To share my world view through this artistic medium, that is why I am doing DE today.

The Allure of Visions: Prologue

2008-06-23T18:32:00.006+08:00

I have decided to write a novel of sorts, its a Prequel to Seeking a Tomorrow, a Flash Game I am making right now.

Prologue

Everyone, from the poorest of children to the most wealthy of adults, they all have dreams and ambitions. The image of these dreams are known as Visions, the final product in the future seen now. However, the barrier between dreams and visions is reality. Reality is subject to a strict set of laws and maintained by a mechanism known as Natural Selection. Man, whom have long been dreaming for that which is beyond the atmosphere, finally broke through the chains of gravity into the vastness of Space.

A man has a vision and the only man ever who has the insight to the flaw of man. The people call him the Idealist, a man who only works for his own principles and ideals rather than for money. A software programmer of legendary proportions, he has been able to speed up research by up to 80years with his software. Although businessman and governments around the world offer billions of dollars for his services, he declined all to work on his dream. The Idealist is allured to the vision of an Artificial Intelligence that has Emotions and yet perfected with the calculative abilities of a computer. He would soon realise the foolishness of his ways and the contradiction of his beliefs to find the true path to his real vision.

The year is 2135CE (Common Era), about 200 years after the first man was sent into space. Mankind thus constructed space colonies to support the ever increasing need for living space. Colonies range from Colonial Satellites that orbit around the Earth and Space Stations that stands between Mars and Earth. Although there are humans on Mars, they are mostly researchers or technicians in charge of Martian mining operations. Most colonies obtain most of their raw materials from Earth, Mars or Asteroids near-by. However, fossil fuels have long been exhausted and the promised Fusion Energy is far beyond the comprehension of mere humans. True power lies with the Colonies in Space, where Solar Power is at its Maximum capacity and this energy is packaged into Fuel Cells for export to Earth.

The Space Colonies originally belonged to international body of the United Humanity Organisation(UHO) under the guidance of the United States of America. However, in 2123CE, the people of the colonies gathered and revolted against UHO and formed the Republic of Space Colonies, also known fondly as the Space Republic. The Space Republic Revolution spread like wildfire across all of the Space Colonies, even on Mars. The United Nations of Earth (UNoE), a federation of nations still on Earth naturally resisted against any independence movement for the Space Colonies since generations before spent huge sums to construct those colonies. This escalated into a war, known as the War of the Colonial Independence, known amongst the people as the Independence War.

The Space Republican Army consists of well-made and efficient Space fighters that surpasses all kinds of space vehicles the UNoE can build. Naturally, UNoE is unable to defeat the Space Republic since they have more experience and knowledge of the vacuum that space if made of. The true deciding factor was the introduction of the Space battleship, a fear-inducing monstrous construct the size of a space station with the speed of a Space transport. The independence of the Space Republic spells the downfall of the Earth Nations as the Space Republic would have monopolistic control over Solar Energy.

The Space Republic can generate more than eight times the amount of solar energy and convert them into fuel cells than any nation on Earth. Earth imports almost seventy percent of their energy requirements in the form of Fuel Cells from the Space Colonies. Fortunately for Earth, the newly elected Secretary General of the UNoE, Mr James Vindel of USA, made a proposition to the Space Republic near the end of the war of independence. Secretary General Vindel proposed a system where Earth will recognise the Space Republic and stop the war if they would allow the UNoE to trade raw materials for energy from them. The Lady Diaz Mandred, the Chairlady of the Space Republic accepted Vindel's proposal for the peace treaty.

The Idealist was not yet known outside of the research community, Lady Diaz asked him to create a software that will allow a fair trade of energy for raw materials. As he wanted peace, the Idealist begun work on an Algorithm that would be fair and a system that is unbreakable. Within a mere week, the legendary developer programmed a software that will soon be known as the Intelligent Network Structure of Trading Raw and Useful Materials for Energy in Negotiable Transactions, or INSTRUMENT for short. It measures the demand for raw materials in space and the demand for energy on Earth, which the INSTRUMENT then computes the amount in which a certain type of raw material can be traded for one kilojoule of Energy. The fairness and accuracy of the system is flawless and was recognised by all from both sides. 12th August 2128 marked the end of the Independence War.

No money was accepted by the Idealist, he only wanted peace and simply time to work on his dream. However, no one have seen this enigmatic man although some knew of his wife. Marisa Lee, a government Geneticist for the Space Republic, was known for her involvement in many classified projects, though she denied claims of being his wife in order to avoid the press. The Lady Diaz has been the best friend of Marisa since their time in the school.It was Marisa who convinced her husband to develop a powerful engineering software that led to creation of the low-cost and deadly "Republican" Space Fighters that prevented the UNoE's army from leaving Earth. Without the help of the Idealist, not only would the Republican take another 50 years to develop, the design of the Yellosia Space Battleship would be virtually impossible.

31st December 2130, about two years after the end of the Independence War, the Lady Diaz was Assassinated. Lord Charles Mandred, the husband of Diaz took office as the Chairman of the Space Republic and named the Currency as Diaz. Jane Diaz was originally Lady Diaz's name but she loved her family so much that she choose to become her family by using he maiden last name as her first. However, Diaz left the world with her only son, Diason Mandred, which would be fondly known as the Prince Diason. Even though the Space Republican system runs on a ten year electoral system, the citizens of the republic enjoy placing titles of royalty upon their leaders; which is soon accepted officially.

Prince Diason is born with a body so weak that even modern medicine could only barely keep him alive. A classified military project aims to mix nanotechnology with genetics to create a super soldier. Lord Charles realised that this project could not only save Prince Diason but render him impervious to assassination. This is the very project Marisa is working on, a project that has stagnated for over ten years. Perhaps, Marisa's husband could help accelerate the project and create a way to produce super soldiers as though as its a creature construction video game. However, the Idealist find the idea of creating such super soldiers terrifying and the idea of rendering humans invincible a prospect that could doom humanity.

A visionary escapade

2008-06-11T02:32:00.006+08:00

People, I encourage you, to join me on a journey that occurs only once, once ever in the history of man. A journey that will span one lifetime, which effects that can be felt ages long after all have returned to dust. For I the Visionary seeks to achieve that which even imagination could not realise. For imagination, although great is limited. The greatest bottleneck to the development of man is and will be imagination. Imagination can bring us far and had brought us way beyond the reach of where we began. However, my goal is not to realise imagination or to materialise dreams, but to reach far and way beyond one's imagination. My destination is neither a Utopia of creation nor the domain of gods but that which trancends all.

Dreams, visions and ambitions, they fade away as the idea of perfection, of gain, of pride obscure the very light that is at the end of the tunnel. I have one but only one vision, to create a world of creators, to create creators and for creation to create. There is nothing higher, no, nothing is highest but the one vision that will be above any other that has ever been imagined is the creation of the gods. Not to be a creator and not to be a creation but to be the creator of the gods. Yes, religion, we have already created imaginary gods, but none have created a real god. To this godless world, what other invention, what other technology could defeat or out perform the ability to create a god?

Can god be created? What credibility or ability do I have that will give me credence for my claim of a creation of the level of a god. For I am a programmer, I am a creator, I create from nothing; imaginary worlds, powerful applications and artificial intelligence. Creation from nothing is a power exclusive to the domain of the gods and yet we have that power. There is no perfect, there is no ceiling, as long as we continue to grow, we will advance towards that which suppasses all that we are able to imagine today. Humans are above all other animals as we can imagine and realise it, to be more than human would be to exceed well above the level of imagination.

Limitations and bottlenecks, imagination is the key to our advancement, yet it hinders us by obscuring reality. Yes, we all work towards our imagined worlds, yet our imagined worlds are so different that it conflicts and conflicts are counter productive. A grid system, a unified imaginative system that auto-resolves imaginative conflicts. Such a system, could it solve conflicts? No, perhaps all I care about is productivity and the efficiency of my systems. Or are conflicts of interests conter productive? Perhaps a system of choosing a better option, conflicts that is. True, we seek peace everyday, wars we avoid, friends we make and negotiate we must. A high probability, I see, is that conflicts is an intended natural system aimed at our advancement. As with supply and demand, the only way to gain peace is to eiliminate the need for conflict. Needs are abundant, but one reason satisfies all: we fight to realise our imaginations and our ambitions.

A world that is above all that can be imagined, that is my vision. A vision that will be the turning point of all of history. A world beyond the limits of man, a creation that surpasses all other creations. A vision that only a true visionary can undertake. For I am the visionary, the visionary that will bring visions, a visionary who can exceed that which is known as imagination. The only goal I see is the advancement of humanity.

Random IT: GigaHurtz

2008-03-16T22:54:00.003+08:00

Buying a new computer? Heard of gigahertz and do not really know what it actually does? Fret not, today we have with us, resident IT expert from Nanyang Polytechnic's Diploma in Information technology, myself to tell you all about Gigahertz and what it does to prevent a giga-level headache.

Hertz is a unit to measure the number of times an action with a set interval iterates per second. Basically, the number of times something completes in a second, the actions are known as cycles. 2Hz would mean that for every second, a cycle will be completed twice. So 1Gigahertz or 1GHz would be one billion processor cycles per second. In very basic sense, a 1GHz CPU chip can process 1 Billion cycles per second. Naturally, one might think a 3GHz Intel Processor would out perform a 1GHz Intel Processor. Wrong, and I will tell you why.

Intel Pentium D 960 has a clock speed of 3.6GHz, clock speed is the frequency often marketed in advertisements. An Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 with a much lower clock speed of 2.4GHz actually outperforms a Pentium D 960. Clock speed is not everything, its merely the number of cycles per second. Imagine two boxers, Boxer PD can give light punches at a rate of 3600 punches per second but boxer CD is so strong that he can knock anyone out with one strong punch. CD would win since all he needs is one strong punch rather than many small little punches that might not even have an effect. Basically a Core2Duo Processor can do more per cycle than any other processors.

However, clock speed matters when two processors are of the same architecture. A processor micro-architecture is simply the way the electric circuits are arranged in a CPU. A better architecture leads to more efficient processing, hence more operations per clock, the reason why a 3.6GHz Pentium D CPU lost to a 2.4GHz Core2Duo. But a Core2Duo E6700 with a higher clock speed of 2.67GHz would perform better than a Core2Duo E6600, since they are of the same architecture. So clock speed matters only if of the same architecture.

Cores, Dual Cores CPUs are CPUs with the circuitry of two CPUs. Dual Core CPUs or even Quad Core CPUs are able to split the load amongst two processors or more. This allows easier multi-tasking and better performance. However, it only works if programs are programmed to take advantage of multi cores, older programs would only use one core, defeating its purpose. Fortunately, modern programs are usually designed to take advantage of dual cores to improve performance. Dual core computing is often touted as a necessity of modern life.

So please, do not buy processors simply because of its clock speed and review the entire product before buying. The CPU is not the only factor to making a good PC or laptop but various other components like RAM and Hard Drives as well. Stay tune for another edition of Random IT for more IT tips and advice.

The Topic: Public Intimacy

2008-03-16T22:11:00.004+08:00

Please take a look at this, this and this, those are simply the tip of the iceberg on STOMP. Singaporeans are apparently bothered by the intimate act of others in public. Hey, its men and women, at the least its not a man kissing a man. If you don't like something, close your eyes or look away, its instant and they are out of your sight. I dedicate this post to a segment I call "The Topic".

Topic: Public. Public places commonly refers to public property, property either owned by the government for the people or places where the anyone can freely access. Such places can be the roads, streets, void decks or even shopping centres. The one advantage, or disadvantage, of public property is that its shared by everyone. Thus, by simply breaking a public bench, you are breaking everyone's bench and denying them the right to use their "own" bench. Its no wonder that many people will go ballistic when public property is damaged, its "their" property in perspective. If you don't want anyone to dirty your own toilet, then don't dirty the public toilet, its your own toilet anyway.

Topic: Intimacy. In this context, intimacy would be the state of being in a sexual sort of relationship. "Being intimate" would mean a couple being very close together performing actions to each other that one would normal reject. Examples of such actions are hugging, kissing, hand-holding and stroking various parts of the body, like the head. Intimate acts are often done in the comfort of one's own private property like their own home or restricted access areas like a hotel room. Intimacy is a common phenomenon amongst couple engaged in some kind of relationship. Touching is often the key component among intimate actions, this is extremely common among animals as well. Touching each other stimulates the nerves of our skin and makes us feel good. Being intimate includes copulation but being intimate does not necessarily mean copulation.

TOPIC: Public Intimacy. Public property is everyone's property and intimate acts are done in one's own property. Public property is one's property since he is part of everyone and performing intimate acts in public is being intimate in his property. thus, the only reason why someone would be bothered to see people performing acts of intimacy other than copulation in public. My theory is that people are jealous that a useless guy like him could get to kiss such a pretty girl. Not that they are pretty anyway, just an illustration. We are simply jealous that they have someone to kiss and touch, that's why we get hot and bothered. Those losers who post photos of other people engaging in a beautiful lovers relationship are mostly Geeks who have no girlfriend, like myself.

CONCLUSION: Ignore them people, with the start of every relationship between a man and a woman ends in a mutual assured destruction of both hearts. If you are bothered by them, remember that and be reliefed that it won't last long anyway.

Current Affairs: SDP Protest

2008-03-16T21:13:00.007+08:00

Read it if you haven't

I have a number of things to say about this event. No, I am not going to criticise how "undemocratic" our country is. Our country has never been democratic, its a mere fantasy, we are even named the "Republic of Singapore". Its not like Singapore is called the "Democratic Republic of Singapore", the majority are probably emotional idealists who vote for who they like the most rather than who can be the better leader.

First, I would like to say to Mr Chee of the SDP: "Please install a brain". Protesting would not only make you look stupid, it will also get you arrested. There are many other ways to overthrow the ruling party, elections is not one of them, just look at USA, the "leader" in democracy. Democracy is an excuse, SDP is hence the Singapore's Excuses Party. However, if you protest, Singaporeans will simply think that you are a nutcase, namely "All talk No action". Singaporeans wants a leader that can act for them instead of sprouting fantastic fairy tale ideologies, like democracy. This is why we have the People ACTION Party as our government, they ACT instead of talk, so they are not the People Talk-only Party like the SDP.

Secondly, the officer that processes requests for a permit to protest has the easiest job in the country. Needless to say, stamping a big "no" instantly on every application, like when I type "protest" in Google, it states "0.03 seconds" to process. Plus, Mr Chee is protesting against "rising prices" in daily essentials. Please, when you know the officer will reject it, why continue to waste paper and drive the prices of bureaucratic forms up, forms are already expensive enough. I even think that the government has a machine that answers protest permit, needs no mind breaking algorithm, I can even write one with my eyes close. Cout<<"REJECTED"; //I did that with my eyes closed, really.

Thirdly, if you want to protest, quit once they threaten to arrest you. The government or the police or the Polivernment, might just give a warning to please protest happy hippies country aka the USA. "Peace dude", if the police just gave Mr Chee a warning when he stops as requested, it might notch Singapore's ranking from the bottom of some kind of political ranking up from last to second last.

Fourthly, protests are usually done in big numbers, not in twenties, it sounds young but do it in thousands. Protesting with such small number of people generally project an image of SDP as a group of psychopaths, which they inherently are. People do not want to vote psychopaths into office, it would be suicide to Singapore, look at what happened to America when they voted George W. Bush into office. Personally, I have never in my life even heard of protests with two digit numbers. Please, Singapore's image has already been damaged by Mas Selamat, we do not need a bunch of retards to spoil our image again.

Finally, I would want people siding the SDP to think for a moment. If the SDP wants to show that they are a party whom would benefit Singapore, they should produce results and not saliva. PAP has proven that they can maintain Singapore's prosperity, by looking at all the retard in the White House, we know that we need high-paying salaries to attract non-retards into our office. If we have poorly paid ministers, all the smart people would avoid politics and the retards like SDP members would be voted in and you readers would probably be using 56K.

There is no democracy in Singapore, democracy is a fantasy, democracy is a popularity fest and is the antonym to Meritocracy. We live in a meritocratic society, get skills and results or buzz off. Who wants to be a minister is not the question, its who can be the minister. Look folks, Meritocracy can not co-exist with democracy, choose one or the other.

Boy-Girl Relationships

2008-03-10T21:58:00.003+08:00

Look, a non-political title and its interesting too. Today, I will put my 2 cents about what I think of School Love or BGR as some would call it. Today's post will also be very neutral as I tend to be biased in my writing, especially issues I feel very strongly about.

A Boy-Girl relationship is the sexual attraction between a young male and a young female, technically before the age of 18 but commonly used to refer to love between students. It is completely natural for members of the opposite gender to feel attracted to each other; though it would most often be non-mutual. This feeling of being attracted is a natural biological mechanism installed on our sentient processing systems with the purpose of inducing sexual reproduction through the act of copulation. In short, "liking" is simply infatuation, just an urge to reproduce which young humans tend to mistake for a higher level emotion.

Being infatuated or being in puppy love is a device-level specie maintenance process is a feeling often confused with the mental-level emotion of love. Love is unconditional care and concern built around mutual understanding and extreme levels of trust. Infatuation however is simply a "feeling" that is frequently perceived as "love". Infatuation has a high likelihood of introducing "obsession" into the equation, which would lead to actions like stalking, harassment or intervention when a member of the same-sex attempts to communicate with the target in question. Such perceived feelings often create problems for the desired subject and diverts precious time and money from the infatuated into a cause often without benefit. Although genuine cases of true love does blossom during the course of study, the probability of such is certainly very low.

A boy-girl relationship can result in undesirable consequences, often ending in a situation where both sides experience an outcome of psychological trauma. Most students whom are infatuated would attempt to stalk, intimidate potential rivals, buy gifts, write love letters and help the subject whenever possible. However, if the subject turns down their "feelings", often they would seek to destroy anything related to said subject. In addition, both parties will be distracted from achieving their academic goals and often fail to report for their CCA; unless their CCA is the only way for them to meet. The worse part of this whole ordeal is that the probability of a negative "lose-lose" scenario is extremely high.

Participants in a student-age romance situation could have dire consequences in terms of the relationship between the subjects in question. A boy and a girl might be good friends whom have known each other for years and enjoy the same forms of entertainment. However, in a significant number of cases, such "friends" of dissimilar gender if engaged in a relationship might result in hatred instead of love. It is much harder for a boy and a girl to communicate when in a relation than when they were friends. Although if these "friends" of dissimilar gender could have a higher chance of developing "true love" if engaged in a relationship than ordinary couples, such a development could result in the end of a great friendship.

Though the idea of having a relationship while in the midst of being a young student has often been discouraged by demoralised elders, the benefits in the event that the relationships develop into true mutual love is of infinite unfathomable value. Having a lover meant a companion whom you could share your most inner thoughts with and lift your emotional burdens. A lover would also provide warmth and the cosy feeling when two humans hug or have skin contact. There would also meant that there will be someone whom can be trusted and bring happiness and joy to your life. However, those benefits are in the event that true mutual love exists between the two participants of a relationship. True mutual love is extremely hard to maintain in reality, it requires a immense amount of time, effort, attention, compatibility and serious amounts of luck.

BGR is a common element in dramas and novels, often it shows true mutual love or a devastated individual; usually the latter in reality. For those whom aim to reach the level of true mutual love, I only have a phrase for you: "I wish you a favourable statistical outcome".

Hard work alone is stupidity

2008-03-07T22:18:00.005+08:00

Today, my team had to compete with other teams for the longest time in a single two storey parachute drop. Ours was one of the worse and yet we built many prototypes and tried different materials, arguably, we did the most work among all the teams. Nevertheless, we did a lot of work to build our parachute that didn't work too well. So I will now talk about hard work and working hard.

The title, "Hard work alone is stupidity", is a reflection of the real world. Hard work alone brings you no where, its like an investment. To put hard work into something is to invest time and effort, to simply put in lots of investment would not work. Like money, effort that were not properly allocated would simply be wasted. One common example in Asian countries would be "mugging" or rote learning(memorisation). Rote learning is basically learning by memory and repetition than by logic and understanding. Students in Asia tend to depend on memorising notes and textbooks than processing and interpreting the subject at hand. Thus, students are often seen "recording" their textbooks and scoring poor scores at the end of the day; often punished by their parents for not "working hard" when they did. However, many whom did not perform mass data recording managed to score distinctions in exams.

Effort, if allocated wisely could produce results beyond one's imaginations, like founding a successful company for example. As effort without planning is an unsound investment, planning without effort are simply plans. Effort is that which plans come into fruition and plans prevents effort from being wasted. Therefore, hard work alone is nothing but hard work with proper planning create new possibilities. That is why businessmen are richer than a farmer even though farmers work much harder than businessmen. This world relies upon intelligence and hard work, lack one and failure is inevitable.

In conclusion, one must both work hard and plan ahead. Many people waste their hard work on the wrong aspects of their goals while others who work solely and place little effort on the right aspects would succeed. This is life and its all about taking advantage of resources, hard work is nothing but a resource.

Pocket Monsters　ポケットモンスダー

2008-03-02T21:45:00.007+08:00

I had some free time, now I must spread the word of Pocket Monsters! We Pokemon fans have often been labelled and stereotyped as Childish, Pokemon is and never will be "childish". I am going to write an a post that might change your world view of the Pokemon franchise.

Pokemon is "child-like" because it appeals to kids who know nothing about the fantastic programming that has gone into the games. In each and every Nintendo handheld console, it has always been the Pokemon games that pushes the limits of the tiny machinery to its extreme. The amount of hard work on the programmers part is simply amazing, its no longer the artists that spend the hours in the studios in most Japanese games. Now, as someone who have been programming for the past 3 years, I truly respect the hard work those guys spent and people like you perhaps, seem to continuously call Pokemon a childish play thing.

The Pokemon flagship RPG games uses a very complicated Catching formula to determine whether the player is able to catch the desired Pocket Monster. Also, consider the Damage Forumla which were then affected by Damager Modifiers which are affected by the stats which depend upon EVs and IVs. Not to mention that many moves have their special calculation as well, like Hidden Power. Those things probably took years and lots of efforts to debug and perfect. Speaking of which, the programmers not only had preventions and workarounds in place to prevent any possible bugs, they also have cheats into conderation, take Arceus for example, they included the "???" type sprite to prevent a game crash resulting from cheating by changing Arceus to a ??? type Pokemon. I have not even mentioned the TIME function since Gold and Silver, a function rarely used by any game at that time, time allows events in the game to be more realistic like certain Pokemon appearing during the day or at night.

Many people think that Pokemon is an easy game but that's only the Single Player. In multi player games, one needs strategy and a properly trained Pokemon to win. Its not just the level but factors like IVs and EVs come into play and decides the outcome. Strategy is also a vital part of competitive battling, just look at this Startegy page for one of the 493 Pokemon around. Newer Pokemon games that few critics of Pokemon have played include Pokemon Contests a type of competition introduced into the system. Well, I don't think children's games like "Disney Sports" have such depth and not to mention, insane programming.The last game which I felt had superior programming was Roller Coaster Tycoon, written entirely in ASSEMBLY and fed with C++ to interface with Windows.However, I do agree that Pokemon has more tedious coding rather than breakthrough Algorithms. Nevertheless, Pokemon has pushed the boundaries of early handheld technology, especially the Original Gameboy. Japan Top game charts shows that Pokemon has always topped the sales charts for Nintendo products. Pokemon is indeed the main profit machine for Nintendo, that amount of money is definitely no child's play.

All critics of Pokemon who think that its "Kids-only" have only watched the Anime which was targeted at Kids, not the Games that are meant for a General Audience. Also, they often use the poorly made censored Americanised Pokemon cartoon as a way to distort the image of the Pokemon franchise. Even if the cartoon was terrible in English, this does not mean the original uncut Japanese Anime had the terrible squeaky voices. I have to pull out this banned clip that was aired in Japan to children to show how much fun comedy was withheld. Oh and definitely a lot of entertaining bits were lost in translation as well as the superior voice acting of the Japanese like this clip. Basically, the Japanese Anime targeted at a general audience (i.e. suitable for kids) but the Americans made it only for kids. But then again, the main flagship product of Pokemon are the games, flawed argument again, I suppose. The anime has nothing to do with the Games besides using the same characters, the story and the battle mechanics are totally different, in fact many game fans dislike how the anime diverge from the games.

Oh and religion has to meddle with my beloved Pokemon franchise. Religion always has to meddle with the stuff I like, and its just a fantasy, I guess they don't want Pokemon to take over their own fantasy; at least Pokemon does not come with caveman doctrines.

So now, can you guys appreciate what Pokemon really is and has to offer. Most children don't read much but they have to read to play Pokemon, its definitely helpful to improving one's language. The Japanese versions of Pokemon does not use Kanji so its easy for Japanese kids and novices to learn the language. The amount of tedious programming work and bug catchers is a mark of professionalism and workmanship not seen in many games (*cough*eagames*cough*).

Does anybody know anything about the US elections here?

2008-03-02T15:41:00.006+08:00

There was this skit I did in Communications Skill class, I used the names "Tom, Dick and Harry", a common way to represent "nameless and unimportant figures". I had to justify the names Harry with reference to Harry Potter and Dick Cheney as the Vice President of the United States under the Bush Administration. So here comes the scary part, most people do not know that George W. Bush's running mate is Dick Cheney. Well, I am not surprised, not everyone in Singapore knows their Deputy Prime Minister is.

So now in the current US election, many people I have talked to felt that its a battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the title of President of the United States. Actually, yes Clinton and Obama are in a battle for President but they are NOT the only ones. Currently, what they actually are fighting for is the title of the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. What does that mean? It means that now they are only choosing who they want to represent the part and not who will be president. Yes, winning the party nominee leads to being President but only if their party wins.

USA is a democracy with two major parties, namely the Democratic party and the Republican party. The democrats are often referred to as the liberals and the Republicans as the conservatives. Ha! Sure, you fellow kids who only care about Edison Chen's sex videos don't know that! Its a lot like in Singapore, PAP is like the republicans and the Worker's party is a lot like the Democrats, just that the democrats are a lot smarter and more powerful. Of course, that was just an example, PAP dominates everything here while in the US, its a level playing field. Bill Clinton, the president before Bush was a Democrat and Bush was a Republican. Ha! guess you kids who only know about Jay Chou don't know that!

So the Clinton and Obama fight that everyone here hears about is only the fight for the democratic nominee. What about the Republican Party? the Grand Old Party as its known only have old Christian white guys who want to put the ten commandments everywhere. I personally despise the Republican party, too evangelistic, all Singaporeans should hate them, they always try to make America a Christian theocracy. I have nothing against Christians but I have something against theocracies like Iran. Forcing religion into the government and schools is something everyone should fight against, all Singaporeans know what happens when religion is forced on a multi religious culture. Being Singaporeans who understand this basic principle of a Secular state, we have to a right to laugh at the pitiful Evangelists who think that they must place the ten commandments everywhere and add the word "god" into the pledge and national anthem or else they are oppressed. Religion plays no part in our country and we are able to live in harmony and happiness because no priority is given to any religion.

Those Republican guys want to force their religion or they will consider their religion "attacked". Its a sad thing really, they don't accept people of other religions and constantly "accuse" Obama of being Muslim for his full name is "Barack Hussein Obama. Obama is a Christian but I dislike how they must point out his "possible connections" to Islam. Even if Obama is a Muslim, I don't think it affects his ability to make sound decisions. Its as though as a non-Christian will not be a good president. John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic President was assassinated, this tells us something. That's why we must thank our Singapore government for teaching us to respect the religion of others. I have religious friends so I can understand but America consists of 78.5% Christian, it is difficult for them to learn what we Singaporeans learn: basic respect for religions and beliefs.

Obama's religion has been a talking point in the US elections, in Singapore it would be discrimination and you will be jailed. Our government works hard to protect our beliefs and strives to create a place where anyone is free to worship their own god and gain any position they are capable of. George W. Bush maintains that America is "one nation under god", no wonder minorities in US feel oppressed.

That's why by looking at the US elections and their discrimination, we learn to love our own country. People always say America is better, but I disagree and its very obvious once you study the general consensus there. America is a nice place but still, it does not mean that its better than Singapore.

A quick site about the Elections in the US

Current Affairs: Mas Selamat

2008-03-02T15:02:00.004+08:00

A few days ago, suspected JI terrorist leader escaped from one of Singapore's Maximum Security cells. Like everyone, I was very surprised and upset at our government. I have always believed that Singapore is the most secure and enforced democratic nation on our planet. So the manhunt has begun, yawn.

If you read the news, he escaped from the Whitney Road Detention Centre. Its quite near to the Singapore Chinese Girls' School, a lot of cute girls there. That aside, Posters were put up everywhere and a massive manhunt was under way. Well, at least the police were doing their job, in a desperate attempt to make up for their blunder. For the past few days, this news has been on the headlines, so I might want to talk about this.

So everyone is going around to look for this guy. I doubt anyone would be able that stupid to wonder around like that if he was a fugitive. Anyone smarter than a hamster would definitely hide in his safe haven and create some form of disguise. I can also definitely say that anyone smarter than a hamster would not even try to leave the country's tight border security. Singapore has a very small border and is very very difficult to penetrate, especially if you are a highly wanted priority fugitive. So I am glad that Singapore analysts come to the same conclusion as well. However, there is a critical flaw in this prediction. Namely, that we have to assume that Mas Selamat is smarter than your average hamster. However, he might have escaped simply because he is simply smarter than your average hamster. My sister's hamsters escape very often, so then now, who is not smarter than the average hamster? Not telling.

Hamster jokes aside, Mas Selamat is not the only person inconvenienced by the manhunt operation. According to this report, all land checkpoints were congested due to the thorough scanning and search for this guy. Also, just by being simply not around, Mas Selamat managed to scare the cute girls at Singapore Chinese Girls' School and their parents. Mas Selamat was also not the only person under fire for this incident, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng apologised for the "lapse in security" after the incident was announced.

Is this another repeat of complacency in History? Although I did a search and could not find any information about previous prison breakouts in modern day Singapore history, I will not talk about any previous escapes if any at all. The only information for any kind of prison compromise was on the official Singapore Prison's Website, "1963 Major Prison Disturbance". About the "repeat in history" earlier, remember World War II, Singapore was the impregnable fortress and we did get invaded. Similarly, we believed that our prisons and detention centres were the most secure in the region. We often laughed at the police and law enforcement of our neighbours like Malaysia and Indonesia. Comparing our police to those those around us is like comparing stone age men to our high-tech warriors.

No matter what kind of technology we have, as long as we are complacent, our neighbours will do a better job guarding their prisons despite their lack of new fangled prison technology. Mr Lee Kuen Yew often said that we must not be complacent, because he know that Singapore's fatal weakness is complacency. This "lapse in security" was due to pure complacency, nothing else. Which is why I refer to the WWII invasion as a "repeat in history", we believe that we are safe and secure but a break in happen, just that now its a break out by a terrorist. Guess its not "repeat" but an "alternated occurrence".

Duct Tape Design Philosophy

2008-02-29T22:50:00.005+08:00

Alright, it appears that I do not have to rant about my "eye-opening" experience at NYP's PPP program. So for today I will talk about websites and a philosophy I designed by myself, hehe. When anyone wants to build a website, one must consider 4 factors, I like to call it DUCT. Duct tape! Who doesn't love duct tape.

D in DUCT stands for Design, the graphics and the organisation. U stands for Usability, how easy is it to navigate the website or find what the user wanted. C stands for Content, what is on the website and finally, T stands for Technology, like the scripts used etcetera. Usually, when developers talk about user experience and users themselves, they tend to care only about D and U, which is bad.

It is important to care about the graphics and looks of the website but it is not critical. Take Craiglist for example, virtually no graphics and hardly any design elements and yet it is a very famous and widely visited site. Although poor design can turn off visitors, if there is a pressing need to use the site, they will still remain and explore. A great and often used example of design over ease of navigation would be Microsoft's website, the site looks cool, I agree but try finding something there without the search. Even with search, the site is horrible when you want to find something you need. Many argue that Microsoft's website has too many things to put up, well tell that to Wikipedia.

Ease of use or usability is a very tough area to measure or implement. A few sites I would consider "easy to use" would be YouTube, Google and Amazon.com. One of the most important factor in making a easy to use website seems to be matching the superficial purpose and intended purpose, in simpler terms: "What the heck the website is about". Google is more usable than Yahoo because when someone sees the Google homepage, they know that google is meant for searching. Yahoo on the other hand has all the news and information cluttering up the page, to someone who have never heard of yahoo, they would not know what Yahoo's main feature is. This is why Google is more used than yahoo in the Search Business. Google was designed for searching, plain and simple, it serves its purpose and that's it. You don't have to locate the search box with the Google homepage and it loads fast, unlike Yahoo. So the presentation of the PURPOSE> is the no.1 factor to usability. Having too many "purposes" smack right in the face of the users will create a sense of crowds and chaos, perhaps even headache inducing.

Content or C in DUCT was often touted as the single most important factor in pulling in visitors. youTube is a testimony to the idea of content over anything else, although there are better video sites out there, youtube is often the choice of video viewers simply due to their large database. Wikipedia is also another great example, no one would visit Wikipedia for the WikiMedia software, Wikipedia is only useful and visited because of the site's articles. However, let's compare Apples to Apples, same content, different access method. Google Earth and Google Maps, Google Maps runs the same map database as Google Earth and Google Earth is far more easier to navigate, has all the nifty features and much smoother zooming. But more people tend to visit Google Maps than running Google Earth, this is because Google Earth requires an installation whereas Google Maps can be viewed instantly at anytime, anywhere. So this tells us that if two applications has the same content, the one that's easier to access will get the visits. And if content was the so-called "single most important factor", then my my daughter would be more visited than any other School's ICC website.

The last factor is the Technology, which I think is the least important factor in getting visits but however is the critical. Technology enables the use of better design, facilitates usability and enables a new type of content. Examples of technology being applied would be CSS for blog skins, PHP for forums and AJAX for search suggestion. However, technology DO get in the way, take Flash banner ADs, flashy javascripts that block your vision etc. I was asked by a friend once, he wants to build a forum but with zero users, he was worried that he could not get his chat box to run. My suggestion is to use only what you need, its good to experiment but do not think that one needs cool flashy intro screens to make a cool website.

That would sum up my DUCT tape philosophy for website design and analysis. I do put them into practice just have trouble implementing them. :P

My Boring Life on Google Maps

2008-02-25T10:59:00.007+08:00

View Larger Map

PPP Experience Week 3 part 2

2008-02-24T13:20:00.002+08:00

Alright now I am going blog (complain, rant) about the second half of week 3. The tips of my sword are stained with blood, you are just going to be adding another 50ml to it. Mwuhahahaha! How's my joke? Isn't that funny? How bout this one: Why did Charles die on Christmas? Because he bought toys made in China! Hahahaha. Alright, that's lame.

On Thursday we had a Communication skills class, we have to "talk" to people we don't really know in our class. I didn't get any of the gals and one other person got two, including a Class A. It seems that I should be the one who is displeased, but I don't want to mention what he did tomorrow. Plus, my carefully crafted SMART goals thing did not go through the nyp's email system, I wonder who admins it, perhaps they should update the system and use PHP based ones. PHP rocks, I think its the best online application programming language ever, PHP variables are even declared in $! Loves my PHP. I use PHP on my Secondary Schools CCA website as well.

See, I WANT A PROGRAMMING CLASS NOW, I am starting to go insane, I need to go for programming class, I never had one and learnt everything by myself. Communications skills are irrelevant when I don't have programming skills to create products to market. OH!! Marketing, we are going to that next week.

Speaking of marketing, I am reminded of the interesting Entrepreneurship lecture on Thursday. PEST and SWOT analysis, I personally use this kind of analysis in my work, that's useful knowledge for myself.

On Friday, we had a tutorial involving the use of PEST and SWOT analysis. Yes, I just praised it a few lines ago, so why do I seem unhappy. Why should I analyse another person's company?? Plus, I am not an optician, I only need to analyse my software industry. Yes, its good to learn how to analyse. BUT why must I analyse another person's company in a group and RUSH a PPT on 3 hours. Its totally not practical, analysis should always be in a longer time frame by internal discussions and internal presentations. Anyway, I suspect my unique and special suggestion about the stock exchange would only be thought of by Google Finance users, I don't think two little girls would be able to think of Google Finance as a research source. Not to mention, the two lines I use was copied word for word and in the same position. Oh did I forget mentioning that one of my team members (whom I should not mention) was seen with the two girls. Scary coincidence, surely, they must have been Google Finance users who happen to use the same exact words. But then, why was I the only one who brought up "raising money through public listings". Getting listed is not about getting listed, its about raising investments from the public. Anyway, I am very sure that is is just a mere COINCIDENCE. :D . Low possibility does not mean impossible.

Great minds think alike, like how what one of my friends noticed about my new found love for Yuki Nagato.

After that on Friday, we had to do a skit for Communication Skills. We settled for director chat and another team also settled for director chat. That's pure coincidence, I am sure, really. Anyway, I didn't realised that I said "So Harry, Dick and Tom" and went to justify the use of "Dick" and "Harry". You know, Harry Potter is a Harry and the Vice President of USA is Dick Cheney. Anyway, it went well but nobody will vote for a bunch of geeks. Geeks are really an oppressed bunch. Nobody likes my lead paint jokes.

Get this one: It was Jane's last birthday......

Because Jane got a Barbie Doll made-in-china for her Birthday! HAHAHAHA

Wasn't that funny?

At least this whole course is better than working. The main reason I entered Poly is because I want to do programming and get graded for programming. All I get is null and a difficultTime with drawingLessons and lotsOfHomeWork. Well this blog is homeWork() and I wish my $balance > 0 == true.

return 0;

PPP Experience Week 3 part 1

2008-02-23T10:38:00.002+08:00

I have to talk about my PPP experience again, what a boring subject. I would rather be ranting about the stupid Satellite shoot down by the US. Anyway, there was a lot of work to do and I get tired out everyday, that's how it is and why I could only update about Monday and Tuesday until today.

Monday was the second lesson of "Experience the new Web". Guess everyone rushed to do their blog but I don't really care, if I did I would have place some nice code on this thing.Oh but guess what the lecturer struggled not to go technical again, but how fun it was when he started talking about RSS and AJAX. Ya but too bad its no programming course: Booooriiiiing.

Tuesday was drawing class equally boring. Just show our drawings and stuff, mine was horrible. At least the girl's drawing was professional, they are suppose to anyway.

Guess that's it for now. Oh that was short because its boring anyway. Why can't I shoot people like the smoking posts, can't do it here before anyone gets hurt.

PPP First Week

2008-02-18T10:20:00.002+08:00

My Lecturer says I need to blog about my experience in the Polytechnic Preparatory Program (PPP) of Nanyang Polytechnic. Well, then I will comply and starting posting about this, I doubt I will have time to change the stupid template on this homework thing.

As a programmer I consider the Orientation week as week Zero, so last week is week one to me. Monday was this "Experience the new web" module thingie about web 2.0 which this blog is homework for. Interesting subject but boring lecture, had to read wikipedia while the lecturer was lecturing to stay awake. In my opinion, I think the lecture was boring because he was trying to hard to keep the lesson simple and easy to understand; resorting to repeating and rephrasing multiple times. Technical stuff are more interesting and fun, I signed up for this program to learn programming earlier in the first place anyway.

Tuesday is this "Drawing the visible world" module. I can only describe the lecturer of the module as a minimalistic and efficient person, telling us to go off and draw in the morning; only to meet up at 2pm. At least its easy going but the amount of work to do is like mountain high, plus I am no artist. The most I got for art in Secondary School was D7 and I used my rulers, protractors and compasses to do so. Well, I just have to hand in something to pass the thing.

Wednesday was holiday, no modules. Perhaps I might do a rant this Wednesday, I was hoping to do rants and rants for this project but I have to talk about my "experience" in PPP.

Thursday was a module on "Communication Skills", it was a pretty enjoyable experience. We had a social interaction game of sorts and listened to a tolerable lecture. However, I did not really like the fact that the room numbers were changed from what was given on the timetable. The "Entrepreneurship" Lecture after lunch also had the room number changed to the hall next door. The lecture for the Entrepreneurship module was head shaking and gravity amplifying, if you get what I mean.

Friday is the tutorial for the Entrepreneurship module, there wasn't much activity and it was said to be the most activity we will experience in the entire program. Plus, we were told that we have to do this "fantastic" research project.

The program is decent and at the least more enjoyable than Secondary School lessons. However, I am extremely disturb by the fact that the lecturers were told that we were allowed to CHOOSE our modules for the program which is totally not true and returns 0% match. Its like buying a DVD/CD Rewinding machine.

Its short because I do not like not to be able to post rants. Ranting is more fun than a boring "online dairy".

Cigarette Smoking

2008-02-17T22:53:00.005+08:00

First topic of the blog: Smoking. Yes, cigarette smoking, its great. Wait, some of those who know me, a very extremist anti-smoking advocate is saying that "smoking is great". Well, lets hear my point before you decide. (Note: I hate smoking more than anything else and all references to support for smoking are purely sarcasm)

Smoking is said to contain thousands of chemicals that dramatically increases the chances of getting diseases. cancer and low-fertility rates. Smoking related-deaths claims the lives of millions of people around the world every year. Its not just the smokers themselves who suffer but those around them through what is known as "second-hand" smoke. It is generally accepted that smoking is very harmful to our healths and those around us. Though most would argue that smoking does not cause instantaneous death, well it has many other effects as well. Smoking causes teeth and nails to yellow, its disgusting and I am sure no one would want to be friends with disgusting people. I am sure the result would be depression from the lack of friends and suicide as a result. Unfortunately, "smoking is considered to be cool" and usually in the cool places like pubs and night clubs, it is difficult to see the colour of teeth and nails in the flashy lighting.

Besides smoking as a social phenomenon, smoking has its practical uses. Cigarette smoke is a very good pesticide and very few insects survive long in the smoke. Well, it can be considered to be "collateral damage" since all pesticides have harmful effects on human beings. It is indeed naive to think that pesticides only harm insects and not us, then how the hell do you think pesticides kill the insects. Anyway, cigarette smoke fills the whole room in a short time span, that makes it more effective than pesticide and there is no aiming to do. Not only does smoking kill pests, you can also induce cancer and other illnesses on people you hate through second-hand smoke at the expense of your own life, its legal murder! Plus, if jumping off the building is too painful, you can die a slow and relaxing death by smoking in front of the TV. Smoking can be seen as ritual suicide that is less painful then Seppuku.

However, I am an Evolutionist, who laughs in the face of the creationists, but that will be another day. If you can see a trend, it is the lower class or the peasants who usually smoke, as well as the drop-outs. Smoking is answer to human rights laws in the light that tigers and other carnivores no longer posing a threat to us. Without our natural predators, governments are left to introduce a form of population control that will prevent overpopulation. That population control or what some would call "the Natural Selection process" would be: Cigarette smoking. Since Cigarette smoking results in deaths and those who are lowly educated smoke, those who are left are the smart elites, like those from Raffles Institution. But one would be wondering, why would the governments of the world want to kill their own people who pay taxes. Well, the answer is easy, the poorer the person, the less income tax is paid, but Cigarette tax will milk what is left of the poor man's savings. Since Cigarette Smoking does not kills instantly, the poor person will have to pay for both taxes and cigarettes until he dies of illnesses, in which he no longer has any to pay and has no more value. So Cigarette Smoking, effectively cleans up our population and ensures a brighter future for our motherland.

From an economic standpoint, smoking contributes greatly to the society. Especially in Singapore, a significant portion of taxes, in which we pay our ministers with, come from cigarette tax. To hell with those tax evading cigarette smugglers, cigarette tax is how we make the lowly educated pay for our first-class ministers. Cigarettes are also addictive, providing a steady stream of income for our government and the rich owners of the cigarette companies. Cigarettes also create jobs for the factory workers and the university graduate filled management. Smoking is a necessity for our robust economy and any country's economy. Yes, smoking has harmful effects but didn't I said it was ritual suicide?

So the next time you see a smoker, say "Thanks" for they are supporting the economy, removing pests and regulating the population through the glorious sacrifice of their lives. Smokers sacrifice their lives for the good of our nation, such patriotism is to be admired!! We truly need smokers in our countries for our great nations to run smoothly! The reason why we have our civilised lives, education and internet connection is because of their sacrifice.

But still, to all the smokers: "It sucks to be you".

The Random Thesis Factor

2008-02-16T17:31:00.002+08:00

Hello visitors, I am Lord Li Shing To, the Visionary. I opened this extremely under developed blog for one sole reason. If you guessed that I started this to rant and complain about the world over and over and over, you are very very wrong. The primary, absolute and only thinkable reason why someone who has a laziness quotient of 400 would want to open a blog like me is because of... HOMEWORK. Yes, at my beautiful and fantastic Nanyang Polytechnic, homework for one of the modules is to sign up for various internet services and create a blog. Fellow friends at my secondary school would probably be envious of my homework, its just starting some stupid blog and I would be given marks for it.

If you would like to know what to expect from my blog, it will mostly focus on topics of Technology, Politics or both. Most people use blogs as "online diaries" which I think is an oxymoron but I will talk about that oxygen-deprived moronic irony later this month. Of course, in no way this blog would become a moronic "online dairy" of sorts. Besides ranting and arguing about how idiotic the mainstream usage of blogs are, I will discuss about politics accross the board. Fellow Singaporeans might be worried about the government's self-protection behaviour but I will mostly concentrate on oversea politics and organisation structure.

I may try to add images and videos to make my posts more interesting but I am lazy. Laziness deprives such projects of the colours and vibrant diversity that text can never produce. However, if I were to be given proper motivation, I might go further to and perhaps continue this blog in the long run.

That is all, you are dismissed.