Rants of a Right-handed Leftist

Time to Move On

2009-08-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

I've already suspected it for some time... Now I have my answer.

Don't worry, I understand. I will move on.

This is it

2009-06-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

This is it. Until the end of this year. No more, no less. My friends have criticized me before, the reason I never had a girlfriend is because I always give up too easily and keep changing target.

Fine. I'll not give up so easily this time. Until the end of the year 2009. If I am still unsuccessful by then, have no choice but to move on.

So silly

2009-04-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

I am such a silly person. I told you that there is someone that I like, but I didn't have the courage to tell you, that person is you.

2009

2009-02-01T07:05:00.000-08:00

2009 is the Year of the Ox.

But this is not just the Year of the Ox. It is also the year:

- I finally get myself a girlfriend.

- I make an impact on my job, impressing my boss and colleagues alike.

- I manage to cut 3kg off my weight.

- I wipe the floor with Potato Head's ass(I wish).

Fallout 3 - a review

2009-01-31T04:45:00.000-08:00

Fallout 3 is da best! Enuf said. The end.

Ok, seriously, as I've told a few of my friends, this is one heck of a game. Pure awesomeness. Just how good is it? Well, lets just say that I just completed the game yesterday, and until now there is a feeling of emptiness inside me. Fallout 1 and Fallout 2 were awesome games. But the crap piece known as 'Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel' undoubtedly left a sour taste in everyone's mouth. Then came Fallout 3 to save its legacy.

Like its predecessors, the game is based on the post-apocalypse world, in which nuclear wars have destroyed almost everything in the world. The story begins with the main character, who has lived in vault 101 most of his life, left the vault in search of his father. For those not familiar with the Fallout series, a vault refers to an underground colony built to protect its inhabitants from the nuclear war, and its aftermath. From thereon, he was exposed to the harsh reality of life in the post-apocalypse world. In his quest to find his father, he will encounter various communities of people, striving just to survive in the harsh wasteland the world has become. But he soon discovered this wasn't a stroll in the park. Mercenaries want him dead. Raiders want his money...and his head. Ghouls want to eat him. Super mutants want to tear him apart. And of course, you have the Enclaves, the slavers, giant ants, yao guai, and many other assortment of creatures that will stop at nothing until he is dead.

The best thing I like about Fallout 3 is its playability. The world map is so big, it is virtually impossible to complete every single quest, explore every single area or even talk to every single NPC in the game. Even for each quests, there are always more than one way to complete them. To achieve his goals, the main character has to pick locks, hack computers, pick pockets, sweet talk his way through adversaries, or simply just blast his way through hoards of enemies. At his disposal are all kind of cool weapons, from the conventional weapons like pistol, combat shotgun and minigun to the devastating Fat man, to the weird but powerful alien blaster. The skills and perks that can be learned also provide lots of interesting choices, because, unlike many other games, all the skills are equally useful(except maybe unarmed combat), allowing players to choose a skillset that suits his style of play.

The game is played on a first person perspective, but I wouldn't call it a first person shooter. In fact, you'd find yourself getting killed pretty fast if you just go in there with your guns blazing. A super mutant aiming a rocket launcher at you? Shoot its weapon out of its hand. A giant radscorpion charging at you? Drop a landmine and retreat. Spot a grenade tucked on a raider's belt? Shoot at it and watch the raider's pants explode. See a raider daydreaming in the distance? Snipe at him from a distance. To win the many battles, besides having good strategies and selection of weapons, it is also important to make good use of the VATS system. The VATS system allows you to freeze time temporary in the midst of combat, allowing you to aim at specific parts of your enemy's body. Cool, eh?

For those whose concern is on the high requirement to play the game, worry not! With a 1G RAM memory, and a very low end GeForce 6600 graphic card, I was able to play the game without any major issue. Even with the lowest quality settings, the graphic is still pretty impressive. You can see dusts blowing into your face, and the explosions look very realistic to me. Come to think of it, Fallout 3 looks like the futuristic version of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.

If there is a shortcoming to the game, it is the silly bugs here and there. NPCs which 'disappear' for no reason, a wedding ceremony that never starts...... And I'd like the main quest to be a little bit longer. And....take away the 20 level limit, and the game would be perfect.

In a nutshell:
Pros: Awesome graphic, awesome gameplay, awesome VATS system, awesome everything...
Cons: Storyline too short and not spectacular, bugs here and there.

Project Aon

2008-09-17T04:38:00.000-07:00

Does the phrase 'Lone Wolf' rings any bell to you? What about 'Kai', 'Magnakai', 'Darkland', 'Naar' and 'Sommerswerd'? If you do, then you've probably a fan of the Lone Wolf series like me. For those who care, Lone Wolf series had gone out of print for many years.

But here's a good news! There is a website called Project Aon, which allows us to download and read the e-book version of the Lone Wolf series. And the best part, it is completely free of charge! In case you are wondering about its legality, Project Aon has the consent and support of Joe Dever, the author of the books himself.

For people who enjoyed reading 'Lone Wolf' as a kid, do check out the website, at http://www.projectaon.org/en/Main/Home . Enjoy!

Imitating UMNO

2008-08-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

So, I am very very bored right now. I am going to try to think and blog like UMNO, so here goes......

'BN will win the by-election in Permatang Pauh, and Anwar will not only lose, he will lose his deposit. The reason is, because Anwar is an agent of Christian. Not only that, he is the agent of the Jews. Worse, he is also an agent of the Chinese. If he becomes the prime minister of Malaysia, he is going to sell out the country. Johor will be sold to Singapore, at RM0.20 per square mile. Penang will be sold to US for $50000 USD. Kuala Lumpur will be renamed Isreal II, and become a colony of Isreal. The country will become bankrupt. There will be a chinese deputy prime minister. DAP will get most of the minister positions. Malays will be destroyed. Chinese will rule supreme. All the menteri besar will become chinese. Muslims will be discriminated. Malaysia will be renamed Chinasia. And why do I know this? Because, after all, Anwar is the agent of Christian, Jews and Chinese. The proof is that BN lost 2/3 majority in the 8th of March election. How can BN, which has always been the champion of all race, a very strong coalition which is well liked by citizens of all race and religion, a very clean and fair government which has ruled Malaysia with great competence for 50 years lose the election otherwise? We only lost because Pakatan rakyat received $1 billion USD for each constituency that they contest in. That is how they won the election, through support from foreign countries.'

There! Wow, believe it or not, it is actually very difficult to write the above paragraph. Gee, trying to act retarded is not as easy as I thought.

No hp

2008-07-23T06:10:00.000-07:00

To all my dear friends, as most of you should have known by now, I am currently working in Motorola. Due to the company policy, I am not allowed to bring my handphone to work with me. Until I get my own email and phone line in the office, please do not try to phone me during office hours on working days. If anybody wishes to contact me by phone, please do so at night. Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

Low fuel price = High inflation?

2008-07-18T21:35:00.000-07:00

I can't take it anymore. Until now I have refrained from blogging about politics in the country. But there is just way too much idiocy in our country that I just have to say something about it. Has anyone watched the debate between the Minister of Information, Shabery Cheek and the opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim? For those who has yet to watch it, do watch it. It can be viewed from Youtube as well as various blogs. I am not going to influence anybody's judgement on who 'won' the debate, but I would like to point out a shockingly stupid statement made by our Minister of Information.

According to him, having low fuel price is not a good thing, because it leads to inflation. OMG! What kind of nonsense is that? He went on to give example of two countries, Iran and Venezuela who has low fuel price but high inflation. Hey dude, Malaysia is Malaysia. Please don't compare us to other countries. 'The government is not going to lower the price of fuel because it will lead to inflation, as proven by Iran and Venezuela' is a lame, lame, lame excuse. I may not be an economist, but I am not -that- stupid. Seriously, how stupid do you think Malaysians are?

Almost everyone in our country drives to work, to school, to the market, to visit relatives, to hang out with friends... When the price of fuel is increased by 41%, without doubt, everyone are affected. Suddenly, we have to pay much more money just to be able to GET ON OUR LIVES. Like it or not, we are forced to 'ubah gaya hidup', as preached by our government. Fathers can no longer afford to take their families to vacations or to even dine out. Mothers can no longer afford to buy new furniture to replace the old and tattered ones, as well as other household items. Children can no longer afford to buy new clothes, school bags, books and other items. What happens? F&B industry suffers. Tourism industry suffers. Get the picture? Every single industry, every single companies in the country suffers, due to the reduced spending power of Malaysians.

As a result, some companies will be forced to close down due to increased losses, causing many people to lose their jobs. This reduces the spending power of the people further. Other companies which do not fold will have to take drastic measures to minimize expenditures and maximize profits, lest they follow the footsteps of those which has closed down. How to minimize expenditures? Lay off workers, of course. How to maximize profits? Increase the price of their products/services, of course. I don't see how lowering fuel price will cause inflation, but it is very obvious that high fuel price -will- cause inflation.

Let us see it in another way. When the fuel price increases, the expenses for transportation increase as well. Vegetables and meat need to be transported from the farmers to the market. Electronics equipment and furniture need to be transported from the factories to the warehouse and then to the shops. Clothes, books, food, you name it. Every single thing requires transportation. 41% increase in fuel price means 41% increase in transportation cost. Needless to say, this increase in transportation cost will be reflected in price hike of almost everything in the market.

I am sick and tired of hearing retarded excuses for the increase in fuel price. We are a oil producing country. A 41% increase is totally unacceptable, and that's the bottomline.

Respect

2008-07-12T08:24:00.000-07:00

There's a saying which goes 'Respect is earned, not given'. I disagree with this statement. One does not need to 'earn' our respect. We should respect everyone regardless of that person's position, gender, age, race or relation with us. Yes, that means we should be respectful towards anyone we meet, even if that person is younger than us, or is lower ranked than us in an organization. There should be no discrimination in showing our respect, as long as someone has not done anything unworthy of our respect.

This brings me to another saying, 'Respect is a privillege, not a right'.One should never take the respect shown by others for granted. A right is something that we should have, and will have. It cannot be revoked, whereas a privillege can be revoked. I am a respectful person. I respect my teaches, I respect my friends, I respect my neighbours, I respect my family. But if somebody does something which is selfish, hateful or outright idiotic, sorry, I -will- revoke my respect for that person.

I hope I've not confused anyone. What I am trying to say is, we should respect anyone and everyone, irrespective of social status, but at the same time, it is up to them to NOT do things that will cause us to lose our respect towards them. Gee, I think I've started to confuse myself. I'm so bad with words.

Limit break

2008-06-24T05:36:00.000-07:00

In Final Fantasy 6 and above(For those who doesn't know, it is a pc/console game), whenever the character controlled by the player get hurt, the limit meter will start to fill up. When the limit meter is completely filled, the character will have the ability to use 'Limit Break', an ability to do huge damage to his/her enemies. The limit break defers from character to character, but needless to say, it causes a great deal of pain to the hapless monsters that gets in the way of the character.
In certain arcade games, like Street Fighter and King of Fighters, there is a 'anger meter', which will automatically charge up whenever the character receives damage. When the meter gets fully charged, the character will be able to perform special abilities which does much more damage than usual.

No, 'limit meter' and 'anger meter' are not purely fictional. Everyone has their limits. Even the nicest person will snap when his/her limit is reached. And when that happens, people will do things that they normally won't do or can't do. Push someone too far, or drive someone to a corner, and you should expect them to lash out in a manner beyond your imagination.

I am a good person. Everyone who knows me will agree to that. I have a good temper, and I am a cheerful person. It is unfortunate that there are some people in this world who loves to test other's limit. And who better to become their 'test subject' than people like me? You make fun at me, fine, I'm cool with that. You insult me, I shrug it off. You pick on me again, don't push it. Try it again, and you'll live to regret it. Just ask a former classmate of mine, who has a scar to show for pushing his luck too far.

Whenever we read in the newspapers of cases with people committing suicide, running amok, and the likes, we always see the shocked response of so-and-so's family members and friends: 'So-and-so is a quiet and good mannered person. I am shocked that he would do such a thing'. As I've said, someone who is quiet and nice doesn't mean he has no limit to bullshits that he can take. Everyone has a limit. And when that limit is reached, even the lightest straw can break a camel's back.

p/s: No, I am not thinking of committing suicide or go about kicking the crap out of the next person I see. This is just something that comes to my mind out of a sudden, so, chill.

Response to Sharon Stone

2008-06-03T07:08:00.001-07:00

Today, I finally got to see for myself Sharon Stone's interview regarding the tragedy in China. This is my response to her:

1. Sharon Stone, you talked about karma. What do you know about karma? An earthquake occured in China. That's karma. What about Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans? What about the 911 incident? What about the tsunami in Sri Lanka? What about many other disasters all over the world? History shows that disasters happen, natural or otherwise. Lives are lost. Does that mean that everyone who suffers 'deserve it'? Please, use your brain before running your mouth in the future.

2. You kept repeating how you're a good friend of Dalai Lama, and seemed pretty proud of it. Do you even know what buddhism is about? Buddhism is about compassion, showing love for others and easing the sufferings of fellow mankind. You can be good buddies with Dalai Lama, Mother Theresa, the Pope, heck, you can even be good buddy with Buddha himself, but that does not change the fact that you're an insensitive hag who doesn't care about other's feelings.

It's just who I am

2008-06-02T19:57:00.000-07:00

Lemme get this straight. No, I am not a cold person. Nor am I an arrogant prick. I don't talk much because I am shy. That's it.

I don't show my feelings or emotions much, like hugging a long lost friend, etc. Whatever I feel, I feel it in my heart, and rarely show it. Just because I don't talk much doesn't mean I am not happy when hanging out with my friends. Just because I don't hug, cry or do any mushy-mushy gestures doesn't mean I am not sad when parting company with someone. Just because I don't look offended when some idiots insult me doesn't mean I am not offended.

Which is what blogs are for. For me to vent whatever comes to my mind at the time of writing. To whoever that is reading this right now, have fun exploring the mind of Zhi Ying the eccentric.