Letters From My Mind

Tomb Raider First Impressions

Thu, 02 May 2013 00:45:50 +0800

Been playing what little I can of the new Tomb Raider reboot. Time is not really aplenty with my personal projects and bugs in the game. I like the uncharted like gameplay, I am glad that they got rid of the maddening block puzzles seen in the previous games.

The new Jessica Biel look of Lara Croft is much more to my liking as the proportions are now my thing. Her past renditions make her look like a hooker with guns. She also is more human here and much more vulnerable. This game does take place before she became the female Aussie version of Indiana Jones so less confidence as skill is to be expected.

Now if only I have more time and the maddening bugs get ironed out.

The real sonic, no, he ain’t blue.

Wed, 01 May 2013 22:59:48 +0800

The real sonic, no, he ain’t blue.

Simply glorious Jalan Alor beef noodles.

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 19:46:52 +0800

Simply glorious Jalan Alor beef noodles.

Going to install Windows 8 on my laptop. Wish me luck and hope I...

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 16:00:06 +0800

Going to install Windows 8 on my laptop. Wish me luck and hope I don’t crash and burn for this lol.

Let the gorging begin.

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 12:24:20 +0800

Let the gorging begin.

They say this is quite good. Going to give it a go.

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 12:13:07 +0800

They say this is quite good. Going to give it a go.

Gotta love CM10.1 on my HTC One X

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 01:05:02 +0800

Gotta love CM10.1 on my HTC One X

staceythinx: Architect Vincent Callebaut’s take on vertical...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:29:10 +0800

staceythinx:

Architect Vincent Callebaut’s take on vertical farming is as interesting to look at as it is beneficial.

About the project:

The cities are currently responsible for 75% of the worldwide consumption of energy and they reject 80% of worldwide emissions of CO2. The contemporary urban model is thus ultra-energy consuming and works on the importation of wealth and natural resources on the one hand, and on the exportation of the pollution and waste on the other hand. This loop of energetic flows can be avoided by repatriating the countryside and the farming production modes in the heart of the city by the creation of green lungs, farmscrapers in vertical storeys and by the implantation of wind and solar power stations. The production sites of food and energy resources will be thus reintegrated in the heart of the consumption sites ! The buildings with positive energies must become the norm and reduce the carbon print on the mid term.

Read more…

I wanna live here!

Seems like Falling skies with more vulgar language and lower...

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 14:16:47 +0800

Seems like Falling skies with more vulgar language and lower budget thus far. Will give it the benefit of the doubt though. 7 minutes can’t really do any series justice.

studiox-nyc: Via @nate_berg, two stunning Akira Yamaguchi...

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 22:45:53 +0800

studiox-nyc:

Via @nate_berg, two stunning Akira Yamaguchi cityscapes.

Amarok Music Player

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 22:24:03 +0800

Amarok Music Player:

Back in my Kubuntu and later openSUSE days, I used this as my primary music player. Since I made the move back to Windows, I have not used it much, time to try it on Windows and see how it goes =)

'68 Zombie Franchise/Series

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 22:20:44 +0800

'68 Zombie Franchise/Series:

I just got around to checking out this comic series. It has been floating in the periphery of my comic book lover senses but never quite got to read it since I was on an X-Men binge.

I got my hands on a digital version of this comic:

http://www.comixology.com/68-Sixty-Eight-Vol-1-Better-Run-Through-the-Jungle/digital-comic/JAN120507?app=1

It is a collected edition o the original ‘68 comic aptly named “Better Run Through The Jungle” which is a possible reference to the CCR (Creedence Clearwater Revival) song.

The comic is set in 1968 in Vietnam right after the infamous “Tet Offensive” that in real life essentially broke the resolve of the US to prosecute the Vietnam war any further.

That is as far as it goes with regards to real world events. Here is where things diverge very differently. Out of nowhere in a US Military firebase/outpost, was pinned down by a zombie sniper (yes, these Viet Cong zombies are wayyyy smarter than their western and Japanese counterparts) and a scouting patrol encountered some VC troops that can seemingly can only die with a head shot (damn it, I was hoping for dismemberment like in Dead Space but we can’t have everything now can we?) and wound up going to a village with living dead Viet Cong.

I won’t spoil it for you but you can bet on some gore, Vietnam war action and zombie killing. Whats there not to like?

It is quite original in my opinion since the staple zombie stories either target your lifestyle back home turned upside down, magic gone wrong or Bio Hazard/Resident Evil virus gone awry. This is perhaps a fresh spin on things where is mixes the horror of a jungle insurgent warfare and zombies.

Now if only they would do one in the Korean war with million is screaming undead Chinamen with ChairZombie Mao….

marvelentertainment: MARVEL PANEL OF THE DAY From: Deadpool:...

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 10:34:02 +0800

marvelentertainment:

MARVEL PANEL OF THE DAY

From: Deadpool: Suicide Kings (2009) #3

Deadpool’s true power is the ability to break your heart and then crack you up in a matter of seconds.

(Source: marvel.com)

My favourite comic book hero! Deadpool that is.

This is stuff that programmers should live by.

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 10:30:10 +0800

This is stuff that programmers should live by.

johngoodwin225: Big Data, Cloud, Analytics - Excellent Dilbert...

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 07:07:24 +0800

johngoodwin225:

Big Data, Cloud, Analytics - Excellent Dilbert spotted by a friend

HAHA, gotta love Dilbert’s portrayal of non-technical morons trying to be technical

BBC News - North Korea enters 'state of war' with South

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 19:40:55 +0800

BBC News - North Korea enters 'state of war' with South:

Morons in action. Like we need more problems than we already have.

mattsbrickgallery: iconoclassst: Genius

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 19:36:53 +0800

mattsbrickgallery:

iconoclassst:

Genius

Initial thoughts on BioShock: Infinite

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 20:00:11 +0800

I just had some playtime with the latest instalment of the BioShock series. It still retains the dieselpunk look that it is famous for although since it is set further back in the past, it had a wee bit of Americana tinged steam punk there but not much.

Like its predecessor, it is set in a noire dystopia where things are messed up but in this case, unlike the earlier BioShock games, you get to see the environment or setting just before it goes to shit which is cool.

So far it is looking good. I like the new environment where it pokes fun at America’s past. A little background here, the game takes place primarily in Columbia, a flying city (bloody logical eh? BioShock took place 20,000 leagues under the sea so to change it up, lets put it in the air, lol) that embodies ideal America. Essentially the city is a fascist state that glorifies the founding fathers of America (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and a third guy whose name eludes me right now) and turned them into saintly figures. They mix the ideals of America’s founding fathers with what appears to be fundamentalist Christianity and perhaps capitalism as well. The latter is an assumption since I have not played it long and what is satire about America without a dose of (un)healthy capitalism.

Everything seems bright and shiny but underneath it all lies the Vox Populi (Latin for voice of the people), a dissident movement against the government or rather theocracy of Columbia. Very Nazi Germany where splendour and prosperity belies a darker side which I would not get into right now. I like it when developers take this much time and effort in building and intriguing world that is rooted in reality and history.

The graphics are marvellous although my laptop is protesting the strain is puts on it. You can look forward to the interesting telekinetic and elemental powers we all love from the BioShock series. I have not really gotten around to using my new sidekick Elizabeth yet but so far she does not get in my way but it is very helpful unlike your other sidekicks in Black Ops 2 and Aliens: Colonial Marines. Reading reviews about this instalment of BioShock confirms that as well.

Looking forward for more game time with this so I can have a clearer opinion on this.

Brits Approach (True) Speed of Light Over Fiber Cable | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 19:41:44 +0800

Brits Approach (True) Speed of Light Over Fiber Cable | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com:

techspotlight:

The standard line is that fiber optic networks transfer data at the speed of light. But in reality, light travels about 31 percent slower through fiber optical cables than it does through a vacuum. But that’s changing. Researchers at University of Southampton in England have found a way to build cables that work at 99.7 percent of the speed of light in a vacuum. This method can’t be used for internet connections — the connections lose too much data — but it may improve the design of the world’s supercomputers.

staff: Fuck yeah! Tumblr is now made up of 100 million blogs.

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 05:40:17 +0800

staff:

Fuck yeah! Tumblr is now made up of 100 million blogs.