Absolute Randomness - Gotta LUV Random! Do u? :D

Response To Ripclaw

2010-07-22T22:05:00.006+08:00

Yo Rippy, if you stumbled here means you already read my post on Aunt Agony. As I promised, here's my reply on your post:

First of all, don't involve other CCs in this. I made the 1st constructive post with my own point of view, my own reactions, my own judgement, my own knowledge, and my own feelings regarding the situation. As for the 2nd post, that may be over the top (I mean, including me as "IAH Dogs" despite trying to be as neutral as I can... are you kidding me?) but I still want to express my feelings nevertheless. Other CCs have their own views, I have mine. And I made those 2 posts as a person and as a gamer, not as a CC. Although I've become a CC last sunday which is 2 days before my 2nd over-the-top post, if my posts makes you think I'm a wannabee CC, that's ok, it won't change my view of you a nice person. But don't generalize CCs, old or new, as wannabees, because of my 1st 2 posts. Those are from my own, not theirs.

Second, about this line you said:

This is the forum and as CC i think you were tasked to communicate problems to the higher ups not to suppress frustrations vented if it doesn't violate forum TOS. People get discouraged to speak freely if you guys gang up on someone who dares to stand against bad service.

I made the 2nd over-the-top post as a reply to Beuolves' line "Ok you win IAH dogs". Isn't that plain blunt sarcasm already? Yeah, there's a bit sarcasm on my first post but not really that "getting too far". And what's with that CC duty reference? I'm only been a CC last Sunday. I mean, I didn't know that helping as many players as I can in terms with technical assistance for the past few year earned me a priviledge to become a Tech CC. But am I expecting or did I expect to become a CC? NO! I know what's right and what wrong, and I know what to do or not to do, even though I'm not a CC the time I posted those 1st 2 posts. Am I doing the right thing? That depends on your view. Did I regret posting it? Hell no. Those were based on my feelings. Why would I have to keep it to only myself?

Don't worry, you won't see sarcastic posts from me from now on. Only constructive and direct posts, even if it means criticizing every forumers' actions.

Third, this one:

People get discouraged to speak freely if you guys gang up on someone who dares to stand against bad service.

I don't know about other forumers since they can say what they want no matter how IAH staff and moderators keep on reminding them to refrain from doing immature/childish/irrational posts. But since you're aiming at me (well, you mentioned my name already), I'll make it one thing clear:

Don't put me in the same level as those forumers who shamelessly keep on telling their own fellow players to quit just because they "whine" and/or "complain".

Really, who doesn't get frustrated over a bad service? I don't think anyone would get over a bad service, wouldn't they? I understand you, I understand Beuolves, I understand EVERYONE who suffered from severe lags/disconnects due to server move. I don't know about Beuolves's retaliation over IAH's screwups on him, not until I saw a link to his sig and read the whole scenario. Oh yeah, since we're talking about so called "IAHed scenarios", why don't we add Nzi to the equation?

Let's see....

Beoulves' struggles against IAH.... check.

Nzi's struggles against IAH.... check.

My struggles against IAH.... none. BUT E-GAMES, WHICH IS IAH'S PHILIPPINES DISTRIBUTOR... SURE AS HELL AS CHECKED AND SEALED WITH DAMN APPROVAL!

What makes you think I didn't get a crappy service? Mind you, not only E-Games screwed me, SMART BRO-KEN also screwed me too! They didn't let me get a refund for a crappy internet interruptions/disconnections for 2 weeks already, not to mention the crappy slow internet connection. And get this: I signed up for a 380kbps connection and promised me that it'll go up to 512kbps burst speed but half a year after i signed up I mostly get 250kbps and below. I contacted their CS rep about that matter. And what did they say? "Sir, that is pretty fast already". ARE THEY KIDDING ME? And they still got the nerve to tell me to pay the remaining balance!

I'm like Beoulves, I'm like Nzi, I'm like everyone who experienced bad service from a company who we really expect to give us good customer service. We wanted compensation for the inconveniences they've caused to us. I know that both Beoulves and Nzi experienced bad customer service before and never got any compensation (correct me if I'm wrong).

But the "lags/disconnects due to server move" situation is different: they asked us players for an understanting and patience for the inconveniences caused by that problem, and that they're dealing with the situation and trying to solve the problem. And while they're at it, they'll give compensations. Problem still exists? Another compensation. That problem isn't impossible to fix, that's why IAH asked for your understanding. We have the right to complain, but they have also the right to ask for your understanding and patience.

E-Games gave up on me. IAH haven't given you guys up yet. Pretty simple.

And lastly:

And Ash wow, I didn't know you can get so feisty. Keep it going man, I've always felt you were the subdued kind of guy but hey, a little fang won't hurt.

And I didn't know how shallow you thought of me. Is that how you judge me? Is that all you know about me?

Newflash: I'm only human.

I don't know if there's sarcasm intended on it. But either way, if that's how you view about me, fine. Every person has the right to judge me anyway.

But really, you really have a good view of the story from those who affected by the problem. You even pointed out mistakes or wrongdoings from the posts of those who bash players that complain. I don't see anything wrong with your actions. Heck, it's admirable, y'know.

But, have you really made a good view about my own side of the story? Have you? Because from the looks of your post, I'm sorry to tell you that I don't think you did. Because if you did, you would never post something like that to me, and you would let Nzi understand that what she did to me before was wrong. But don't worry, I already get over it.

Yeah, I guess what you said that "I've always felt you were the subdued kind of guy" is true. Because you did subdue me. You just did.

For those who don't have any idea about what's going on about this entry, take a look back at the source of this first: Granado Espada forums - IAH you done it again!!!

My 2nd DJMAX Technika Platinum Crew Card: "The Clear Blue Sky" Theme

2010-06-29T13:10:00.003+08:00

BEHOLD!! My 2nd DJMAX Technika Platinum Crew card: "The Clear Blue Sky" theme! :D

I bought it on the first week of April (coz I can't remember exactly the date when I bought it), as it's the only card with that theme in stock. Actually, that card should have been my very first card but "Come To Me" and "Fury" are the only themed cards left, I decided to buy "Fury" instead (and later put on a sticker with a customized design with an actual Technika layout but had a background of my choice, which is a pic of Taiga Aisaka from "ToraDora!", in it).

I should have posted this as early as I got the card, but I kinda forgot about it. Silly me. :D

I'm having second thoughs on whether I should enroll at STI or not

2010-06-17T23:38:00.002+08:00

My DCET years (2005-2007) in STI-Davao was a memorable one to me. I've done so many good things back then, had a lot of fun, and felt like I've done my share/part of the whole STI community (I really won't forget about the experience of participating in a preparation for the STI National Youth Convention last 2007 with Roy, Lester, & Sir Ryan). Hell, I'm not even a part of the SSG, but they gave me an opportunity to participate with them. I never thought I could perform singing on the stage for an acoustic song (it's been 16 years since me and 3 of my fellow group members sang on the stage thinking of bringing the group back after disbanding a year back but it didn't happen). But with 2 of my classmates who stick with me for those 2 years (and they're damn good at playing guitar), it sure did (although I still suck at singing, lol). Oh yeah, "Outland Adventure" is one helluva fun! Can't forget the feeling of having to climb the ladder up to the wooden log post and stand there watching the whole area for a moment and feeling the wind, before I decide to make a jump and end the challenge of having fear with heights (of course I'm equipped with a vest with harness in it). OJT days were a lot of fun too, as I learned how to do your best at work while enjoying it. And sure it did: being an internet cafe attendant is a measly job for some, but I had lots of fun no matter how difficult it is (labor-wise). Speaking of OJT, the computer lab or Sir Ryan's office is where I most be hanging around, because when there's something to do with computer-related jobs, we took action... and having fun while at it. It really sucks to think that I'll be leaving this school & the people I met and hanging aroung with them for 2 years, and me and the whole DCET batch of '07 will be having our own separate ways. But nevertheless, I still graduated with a huge smile on my face, as it was a 2-year joyful ride.

2 years after, I decided to myself that I'm going to pursue the college course I wanna take, and that is a 5-year computer engineering course. Actually, the time I decided to go back to school, I really wanted to take up BSCoE, but since it wasn't offered that time, I took DCET instead. Now that STI-Davao offered BSCoE, I decided to enroll. I thought that it'll be the same fun school life as my DCET years.

Unfortunately, it wasn't.

The same faculty staff I knew were there, yeah. But some of the admin staff I knew weren't there anymore. I was even surprised that Sir Paul, the computer lab facilitator, resigned. There are less events, and usual STI events like Acquiantance Day and IT Week (rather, it was called "ICT day" because it was a one-day event instead of 3) were not as fun as what I got used to in my DECT years. I kept on saying to myself before that "there'll be a lot of things I wanted to do for those events", but a year later I ended up doing nothing. I mean, when you do something you like to do, you need someone to help you out to make it happen or you do it alone but can't make it happen, right? It was the latter: doing it alone, because I can't find anyone who would help me. I can't even seem to get along with some of the staff there. Maybe it's just me, but I'm having a hard time approaching the people around me when I need help. Oh yeah, I almost forgot that the class schedule is so screwed up, unlike before where it's totally organized.

I still had fun in GENPSYC class, no doubt about it. But in school as a whole? Nah, it's not what it used to be when I was in DCET years. Maybe I'm expeciting and looking forward to it too much? Some guys (hell, even my parents) would probably tell me "the school is a place to learn, not to have fun" or "more on studies, less on other things". If that's the case, then I better off enrolling on other schools. But I chose STI, because that's where I've been. But it seems that you have to let go of your past and move on.

I'm having second thoughs on whether I should enroll at STI or not. There are better schools out there, after all.

Me and DJ Max Technika: Planetboom feat. Mike Blunck - Supersonic (PP)

2010-04-25T21:21:00.005+08:00

Here's a video of me playing DJ Max Technika to the tune of Planetboom's "Supersonic", one of songs originally from S4 League, an action MMORPG game from Pentavision which is the same game company that created the DJ Max series. I told my friend who took this video to focus on me and machine, unlike the previous one that only focuses on the touchscreen in most of the video and the spectator screen as well. Sorry for the craptastic audio quality, as the Canon Powershot's built-in mic can't record audio properply if the audio source is a meter away.

BTW, I'm using a Sony MDR-XD200 HiFi stereo headphone. It may not be a DJ-quality heaphone, but it still gets the job done. :D

Me and DJ Max Technika: ESTi - Oblivion (PP)

2010-04-10T06:23:00.006+08:00

Here's a video of me playing DJ Max Technika, attempting to break Al's current hi-score record of ESTi's "Oblivion". Though I got an "S" and a perfect combo (meaning I got a full combo with all MAXes and no COOLs), it still wasn't enough to break his record as I lacked more than 157 points. Oh well, gotta try again next time. :D

BTW, "PP" stands for "Popular Pattern", a term for a notechart of a song which can be played on Popular Mixing gameplay type, as DJ Max Technika has 4 gameplay types: Lite Mixing (Lite Pattern, easy difficulty level), Popular Mixing (Popular Pattern, medium difficulty level), Technical Mixing (Technical Pattern, hard difficulty level), and Platinum Mixing (Special Pattern, only for Platinum Crew members, must purchase a PC ID card to attain this gameplay type and machine must have an internet connection).

My Very Own Customized Platinum Crew ID Card! :D

2010-04-01T22:37:00.007+08:00

I should have posted about this yesterday but I'm kinda tired and sleepy that time.

Anyway, I finally got the front side of my Platinum Crew ID card replaced with a customized sticker, following the given guide here: http://technika.integriti.net/stickers.php

The difference is that I'm not the one creating the sticker... the custom sticker shop did it for me for P75 ($1.66). Too bad the overall quality of the print isn't quite good. Maybe I have to print my own printed sticker. The problem is the plastic coating the sticker shop used, as I don't have any idea about that and where to buy it.

Thanks for the people at "Dynamic. Enemy, Storm. Groove!" for the sticker guide. You guys are made of pure awesome! :D

Oh btw, the background pic I've used for the sticker is from ToraDora's Taiga Aisaka. She's one of my favourite female characters, and is voiced by Rie Kugimiya, one of my favourite seiyuu (voice actor/actress) on the anime adaptation.

Here are the pics of the card. :D

The Platinum Crew ID card inside a plastic ID case with holes for an ID strap

Me and my customized Platinum Crew ID card for "DJMAX Technika".

On the other news, the headphone I wore on my neck as you can see on the third pic is a Sony MDR-XD200 which I bought it just for the game (since my previous Phillips SHP2000's headphone plug is busted twice already and the overall sound isn't as good as 5 years before i bought it). For P1,699 ($37.57), it's quite expensive than my previous one (P850, or $18.57), but for a headphone that is designed for home entertainment or PC use the overall quality is excellent. Oh ya, I LOOOOOOOOOOVE rounded circumaural headphones. :D

Getting Addicted to DJ Max Technika

2010-03-26T21:31:00.011+08:00

What's the part of my nick that makes it related to this topic?

If you guessed "Dj", yep it is. :D

Actually, before I went to college, me and my classmate are planning on taking up Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication, since it's needed to become a radio DJ. I like being in a studio full of equipment and CDs (mp3s nowadays since mixing in between songs is so easy to manage thru professional-standard DJ mixing software), playing great songs myself and the listening audience like to hear.

But I DO also like to do club mixing and DJ scratching, but given that the necessary equipment are so expensive, I leave it out of the equation.

KONAMI revolutionized the music simulation games with "Beatmania" series (a DJ simulation game) since 1997, and paved way to other music games like the internationally known and famous "Dance Dance Revolution" (or DDR) series (foot-oriented dance simulation game), DanceManiaX (hand-oriented dance simulation game), Guitar Freaks (guitar simulation game), Drummania (drum simulation game, with actual electronic drum pads provided by Yamaha), Keyboardmania (music keyboard simulation game), and ParaParaParadise (hand-oriented dance simulation game, mimics the actual "parapara" dance routines from ParaParaParadise, Japan's popular series of parapara dance video). Other companies followed: Andamiro's "Pump It Up" series of dance simulation games (uses 5 panels with 4 diagonal arrows and 1 center, unlike DDR's 4 panels with up, down, left and right arrows), Neversoft/Activision's "Guitar Hero" series of guitar simulation games (Harmonix developed GH1&2 before going to MTV Networks and created "Rock Band", then Neversoft took over GH and release GH3, GH Aerosmith, GH World Tour, Band Hero, and the recent GH5). Similar to KONAMI's Beatmania is "EZ2DJ" from Amuse World.

I've known the the word "DJ Max" before. Yeah, it was known first as an online game from Pentavision, which is pretty much similar to O2Jam, but it's WAAAAAAY too different in terms of features, graphics (I just don't understand the visualization of O2Jam... you got yourself an avatar, dress it up, add some instruments of your choice, and that's it. While in DJ Max, you got nice visualizations in a form of pre-rendered 3d graphics that looks like a music video or AMV), and overall style. But I've come to know that word in "DJ Max Portable", a PSP port of the DJ Max online game (minus the online capability though). There are 4 versions: DJ Max Portable, DJ Max Portable Clazziquai Edition, and DJ Max Portable Black Square. Refer to the Wikipedia article and the official DJ Max gateway for more info.

Pentavision took the DJ Max franchise even further by creating an arcade version of it in 2008, named "DJ Max Technika: Beyond The Future". It's entirely different than the previous DJ Max iterations, and also different from other DJ simulation games (Beatmania, for example): the game uses an infrared touchscreen monitor to manipulate notes shown in the screen (tap once for normal notes, hold for long notes, and point-and-drag for dragging long notes), instead of the keyboard buttons (for DJ Max online), PSP buttons (DJ Max portable), and traditional analog buttons & turntables (Beatmania, EZ2DJ). There's also a decently large screen (32 in. LCD monitor) for spectators to see. The overall arcade cabinet design is totally awesome, with all the glowing lights (I bet its an LED matrix, covered in a white translucent cover for a glowing effect) at both sides that has different movement patterns depending on the nature of gameplay. The sound is excellent, using Sony Xplod speaker sets as satellite speakers, although I'm not so sure about the bass speaker used is still Sony (but given that high quality deep bass, I bet it's still from Sony). The platform where you stand at makes a vibration, probably simulating the environment of a wide-scaled club party that houses lots of huge speakers that tend to vibrate the entire area). It also has a headphone jack with analog volume control in case you tend to get REALLY serious on playing by listening closely and clearly to the music in order to achieve more accuracy on hitting notes. And lastly, there's a slot for Platinum Crew card. Speaking of Platinum Crew cards, it's an ID card similar to other games that used an ID card feature (Tekken 5 & 6, Initial D Arcade Stage version 4, etc.): registering you name/nick for rankings, saving game progress, edit game profiles, access to extra features not found in non-ID card mode, etc. 2 year after the success of Technika, Pentavision announced that there will be successor to it, called "DJ Max Technika 2: Crew Race".

I don't know when, but Timezone - NCCC Mall branch got some new arrivals, and one of them is DJ Max Technika. At first, I was totally curious about the looks of the arcade cabinet. Then I was getting more curious on how it's played: some players are looking down on some kind of colored rectangular panel, and they point and tap their fingers on it. As I getting closer, that panel was an infrared touchscreen monitor. I was like.... WHOOOOOA... is this some kinda DS-like gameplay, with touchscreen on bottom and normal monitor facing the player? It's not some point-and-tap gameplay either, but it was more like an interactive kind of gameplay by manipulating scattered but patterned notes (in a form of orbs) you see on the screen. In one screen, there are 2 rows where a white-colored "time line" scrolls in one continuous flow (the top row scrolls from left to right, while the bottom row scrolls from right to left). When the time line passes on the center of the note (orb), just tap that note on the touchscreen. Simple, right? Well, easy to say than done, as the song difficulty increases, the more complex the pattern of the notes will be. Hell, even at "Lite Mixing" mode (for beginners), level 3 is already difficult on some, while level 4 as also considered difficult on Popular Mixing mode (aimed at players who had experienced the game). The songs are also great, and has a range of different music genres to cater most (if not all) players. If you ask me, I prefer Japanese songs that Korean. Maybe I'm greatly attached to the Japanese music and their distinctive style and form. But judging from the Korean songs I listened while looking for songs to play, it's not that bad at all. I wish they could add more Japanese songs.

I asked the Timezone staff if they have the Platinum Crew card. Luckily, they have in stock although there are only 2 designs: one is the "Fury theme" from the song "Fury" by Sugardonut found in the game, but I forgot the other card theme. It costs P300 each, which was the most expensive stuff I bought in an arcade game center. Fortunately, there's no usage limit unlike some ID cards from other arcade games, so this makes a one-time only purchase. Unfortunately, once the card is stolen or damaged, your data goes bye2x as well. I posted the pics of the card (front and back) and myself holding the card below.

There goes my blog entry. I'll try to take some pictures (or even videos) of me playing DJ Max Technika if I got enough time (and money, since P28.00 is no joke for a single game). Oh yeah, looks like I have to repair my good ol' Phillips headphone (the phone jack's busted) so I can use it for the game in case I wanna pay attention more to the music.
BTW, here are 2 videos of one of the songs I love in the game, called "In My Heart" performed by Misato and composed by Tsukasa, originally in Japanese (which is the reason why I love that song) but sadly the english version doesn't come close to the original. The first one is the album track version (no video, just the song aaken from the OST CD and the background wallpaper used in the game), and the next one is the actual video of the song in the game with notes all over the screen (it's a Popular Mixing mode difficulty).

Tsukasa - In My Heart (album track version)

Tsukasa - In My Heart (gameplay video)

So much for relying on unknown brand and useless warranty le sigh

2010-03-25T22:37:00.003+08:00

My so-so gaming rig's 250GB HDD got busted....well, almost. It's still usable, but it's effin' annoying to do reboot(s) just to recognize that block-of-metal-full-of-uber-phail. >.<

I bought a 250GB ExcelStor Jupiter last June of 2008 (I was still working at an internet cafe as an attendant that time) for like P2,400. At that time, it wasn't a great deal, IT'S A STEAL!! I mean, at that price tag you can get a measly 160GB of any known brand (Samsung, for example), but you can get more gigabytes on ExcelStor! But knowing that only 1 unit in stock left, I decided to pull out some moolah from my work's salary to buy one. Aaah... those were the days where you can buy what you want right after you get your salary. *looks at a distance in flashback mode*

Anyway, 250 is quite big and spacious for my downloading needs, although that stupid Smart BRO-ken held me back (advertised an up-to-512kbps burst rate.... not happened; 380kbps average rate... fine, no big deal, but I still get lower than 300kbps on succeeding months, which suckz ballz... AAAAAARGH!! >.<). I was like... installing a lot of games and softwares, downloading media files like videos (I've downloaded a lot of anime shows ever since I got a ancient Pentium 166mhz PC a.k.a. "Pentium 1", although upgraded to 226mhz processor or so... can't remember exactly but it's close to that) and music, etc. And there's a DVD writer in any case I run out of disk space. Pretty convenient, really.

But as more downloads I get, the more frustration I get as well. Frustration in a sense that you have to constantly backup files as soon as the HDD ran out of space, not to mention that I have to buy a lot of blank DVDs and have to wait 5-15 minutes to finish burning files onto a DVD which is time-consuming. Now that I've ditched that horridly stupid Smart BRO-ken in favor of Globeline's 1MB of pure awesome goodness (1mbps = 512kbps x 2, which is also 384kbps x 3), I began to face disk space crisis. But what the hell, that's not my point of story here.

I was hooking up some CCFLs (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) inside my gaming rig's PC case to test out its brightness ( me and my buddy were working on a CCFL VU meter project that time). Thanks to my stupidity, I attached the CCFL connector to its power inverter, while forgetting to turn the inverter off first for like.... umm... 2 times (ya, that was kinda stupid so sue me). Then poof! Instant shutdown in a second. Although doing that is a no-no for sensitive components like HDD, the high-end power supply (Cougar CM Power 700W; I wrote a blog about it here) should have avoided that, as it has a power safety feature.

Last Monday right after the ICT day, I got enough time to have my gaming PC a lot of cleaning. After assembly of the cleaned components and added dust filter in front of the system box, I flipped the AVR switch, puhed the power button, waited for a few seconds, P.O.S.T screen shows up, saw everything there is to see in it... except for one thing: the SATA HDD. That was the very first time since I bought the 250GB HDD that didn't show up in the POST screen, given that I made sure that I got everything covered: from checking loose cables, then removing components that require 4-pin molex plugs and SATA power cables one-by-one, to actually dig right in to the BIOS setting. All of it are made of fail. Like what others said in the interwebz.... EPIC FAIL IS EPIC. *sigh*

Then after a few reboots, it finally recognized the 250GB HDD. To make sure if it still recognizes on the POST screen or not, I decided to restart the PC. Got back to the POST screen, then the HDD was recognized again. I felt like I wanted to blame on the motherboard's southbridge chipset (responsible for data traffic on PCI, sound, and SATA components), but since everything's cool I felt relieved.

I woke up at 7AM, then I turned the PC on so I can check some websites and emails, as well as to recharge my mp3 player. POST screen showed up right after I turned it on... yet, the same problem happened. What's worse is that it won't recognize the HDD no matter how many times I reboot the PC! Seeing that the time's almost 8AM, I decided to leave the problem for now.

I got back home, then I continued on making that damn HDD to work. I changed the entire motherboard to a one exactly the same brand and model (I have 2 PCs at my room, both have the same motherboard but have different components), but the problem still exists (yeah, so much for 3 hours of changing it but ended up the same problem). Now that my suspicion on the motherboard part is over and dealt with, I begin to suspect the HDD itself. To make or break my suspicion, I tried to pull out the suspected HDD, brought out 80GB Hitachi Deskstar from my other PC and connect it. POST screen showed up, but the 80GB HDD recognized right away on 1st boot. Not entirely convinced, I tried to re-enact the situation that the PC is turned off for a long time and turn it back on. While the 250GB HDD won't recognize after that, it's an opposite for the 80GB HDD: it also recognized on the POST screen.

Then I begin to wonder.... what's with the 250GB ExcelStor, a product of a not-so-known company, that only got its problems in 2-year time span, while the 80GB Hitachi Deskstar that took a lot of abuse (heat, spinups and spindowns, power outages, rough handling, you name it) and still got no problems whatsoever (well, it got the clicking sound problem which is pretty common when used for a very long time; not a big deal, just a minor annoyance to the ears), and I bought it last 4 years ago! I tried to return the defective HDD to the shop (ByteWorld) where I bought it, but when I got there, the saleslady I met (which is familiar to me since I'm a loyal customer of their shop) denied my request, as it's not ByteWorld anymore and the previous owner closed it (they named the shop "Technolife"... yaaaaaaa riiiiiiiiight). It still has the very same staff but now have a different management. Ah ok, what's with the stupid 3-year warranty if the management can't even cope with the business-related problems and ended up giving it up? We customers now ended up having a piece of junk?

Dammit, I should have stick to the known brand.... and a shop that lasts longer and won't do the same stupid mistake that ByteWorld did. So much for their "award for the best PC shop in Davao". Pfft!

Got A New PSU: The Cougar CM Power 700W

2010-02-18T00:37:00.018+08:00

Yep, I finally decided to buy the 1st and the most important part of my planned Core i5 / Athlon II gaming rig (still undecided about the processor I want to buy): the PSU (Power Supply Unit).

A gaming rig needs to have a decent power supply to support the today's essential components; processors, high-end video cards (esp. dual video cards in either nVIDIA's SLI or ATI's Crossfire), SLI/Crossfire motherboards, cooling solutions (air or liquid cooling), multiple SATA HDDs (you never you might want to add another when ur out of disk space) and others related to gaming rig modding (like lighting). If PSU can't cope with the overall power load for those components, chances are it will degrade the overall performance of your gaming rig, or worse, your PSU might blow up in smoke (I read some posts in most tech forums about PSU blowing up from too much load bcoz of a lot of components inside.

Speaking of tech forums, I've searched all forums I can find through Google about what's the best high-end PSU at an affordable price. Sure, there's Corsair which is undoubtedly the best manufacturer of memory modules and PSUs. Problem is, I can't find any shops selling such products (except for Blinquetech, although too pricey for their pricetags). So I was planning on getting a Gigabyte ODIN Pro 800W, but at 7,900 Php, I'm lacking 3000 Php. And there was a Cougar CM Power 700W PSU at 4,380 Php. It's not as fancy as the Gigabyte ODIN Pro since it has no LED in the fan area, but at a overall current rating of 54A on both +12V rails (needs a combined current rating of 50A on 2 nVIDIA high end video cards in SLI mode) and a certified 80-Plus Bronze (which boasts of having 89% power efficiency, means less electric bill charges regardless of how much load the PSU is currently generating), who don't want buy it? Lol :D

After almost a month of thinking it over, I decided to purchase it, as waiting any longer would end it up getting sold out. When I got back home, I was excited to install it right away. Before that, I'm planing on taking some pictures of the new PSU that I bought, but since the digital camera was brought by my father who is now in Manila on a seminar, I took pics with my cellphone (Sony Ericsson K300i). After taking some pics, I decided to install it on my not-so-good gaming PC. It was pretty hard to manage the cables (not to mention that it's a Cougar CM Power, which CM stands for Cable Management) as they're too hard to bend it (I felt like I was bending a hard rubber), but it went smoothly after. I fired it up and took a good look of the PSU inside the case. The built-in fan measures 140mm and its pretty fast (and it changes speed depending on temperature), which is nice since heat from the inside of the PSU can be drawn outside, while my case fans draw heat out from the inside of the case.

Anyway, I have to wake up early. But before I end this, here are the pics I took a couple of hours ago (as of this writing):

Just Returned My G7 To The Shop

2009-12-11T20:36:00.010+08:00

Logitech is one of the best manufacturers of PC peripherals: mice, keyboards, game controllers, webcams, audio speakers, you name it, they have it. Since 1982, Logitech's fame and reputation comes from their mass-produced mice and its improvements made over the years. Such improvement still exists today with their wide range of mice, each with its own size, style, features, and purpose. Their recent innovation, called "Darkfield Laser Tracking" technology, eliminates the problem of using the mouse in surfaces that recent optical and laser sensors won't read, especially clear glass. For the PC gaming enthusiasts, Logitech offers PC peripherals specially designed to aid them in their games. They call it "Logitech 'G' series". Read the Logitech's press release regarding their 'G' series here.

That's the reason I bought the Logitech G7 Cordless Gaming Mouse last year. There are a lot of cordless mices out there, but I find the G7 unique. It has the same bean-shaped look and its on-the-fly DPI switch button (+ and -) found on its predecessor: the G5 Gaming Mouse. The difference is the G7's side button has only one (G5 has two), and the G5's weight tray slot is replaced in favor of the Lithium-Ion battery for the G7. For the batteries, Logitech provides two of them, with a span of 2-3 days or a minimum of a day when heavily used (mine was more or less 2 days). When one battery runs out, there's another to replace in as easy as 3-5 seconds (or even less), thanks to the spring-type eject mechanism on both the mouse and its charging station. The provided lithium-ion battery takes 10 hours in normal mode (or 2 hours in boost mode) to be fully charged. With that in mind, you don't have to worry about running out of batteries. It's on-the-fly DPI switch buttons is darn useful in FPS and RTS games with its 2000 DPI max resolution (there are 3 default settings:400, 800, and 2000; and up to 5 settings through Logitech's Setpoint software). 2000 DPI is useful for fast movements, while 400 DPI is for slow movements (like sniping). The USB reciever has 2.4Ghz of cordless power with 500 reports/sec; the g7 can even be used for at least 20 feet (that would be insane range, but surely is assured coverage wherever you use your mouse or put your reciever).

I really liked the G7. The design is appealing to my eyes (mine is a black edition with black&grey checkered style). The DPI swtich buttons are not only useful for games, it's also useful for applications that needs accurate yet sensitive movements like Adobe Photoshop. Its shape is comfortable on my hand and grips well even when my hand is a bit sweaty. Although a bit heavy at first, I've gotten used to it. Its teflon feet glides so smoothly that you don't need a mousepad for it. Oh yeah, priced at 4,350 Php, it's pretty expensive, but it's all worth it.

Well, even the best products have one or more problems. And G7 isn't an exception.

My G7 mouse is slowly showing its common problem: the freezing. Yep, that's what others called it as I've read some complaints from other G7 users on Logitech's support community forums, although I thought of it as "hang". It happened last July at a computer lab in our school while I was browsing for the MS Office 2003 menu bar. I thought maybe the battery is kinda loose, so I ejected and re-inserted it, and it was back to normal. Several minutes later, it froze again. Then I remember about wireless devices like wireless routers may affect the G7's wireless performance, so I tested it at home. But as usual, freezes still occur. After days of finding and trying all solutions, from the manual to the forums, and even searching on Google, the freezing problem is still there.

Losing my hopes on getting it fixed, I sent an email to Logitech (it was on October 1), citing my problem. After more than 3 weeks of contacting Logitech through email, I got nothing but copy-paste response. For one last time, I sent them an email, while being frank with their copy-paste response. Then I got an email from them on the 25th, telling me that my problem is escalated to their management and I'll get a call or email from them for 3-4 weeks. I'm glad that they already acknowledged my problem and they'll do something about it, but what the hell? A month of waiting?! Oh well, I guess I have no other choice but to wait.

It's now December... wow, time sure flies fast. So fast that I forgot about the last email they sent me. I was looking for something on my closet, when I saw the G7 mouse I've set aside since its freezing distracts my everyday PC use. Then I remember the email about getting a response from them in regards to my problem with my G7 mouse within 3-4 weeks. After checking the inbox, I still don't get any of their replies. I sent another email to them on the 5th of December:

It's been more than a month now since the last email you guys sent me, stating that "Your issue will be escalated to our management and expect a call from them or an email regarding this issue 3 to 4 weeks from now." I still don't get a response from your management, while I didn't use your so-called zero-lag cordless gaming mouse for a month now due to severe freezes that it makes my everyday computing irritating. It's so depressing everytime I'm stuck with a generic optical mouse.

I thought it would last for 3 years, since it has a 3-year warranty, right? I even thought that Logitech makes the best peripherals. I thought that G7 cordless gaming mouse is so cool and has great features. I put my faith in your company's good reputation, that's why I bought it, even though it's expensive. I thought that it's all worth the hard-earned money. But you think I would buy the G7 cordless gaming mouse just to get back to a generic mouse with generic fuctions after a more than a year of use and proper treatment? I don't think so, and you guys wouldn't think otherwise, right?

You guys said "3-4 weeks". That may be a long week to wait, but I decided to wait patiently. But knowing that I didn't get any responses, I'm starting to slowly losing patience.

Please, do something about this matter.

At first, I thought that "man, it'll be the same old copy-paste response", or "maybe they won't bother helping me on my problem, as other Logitech users have experienced". But surprisingly, I got an email on the 10th of December, and it was from Aileen Chua, asking where I bought my G7, the receipt, and my contact details. So I immediately sent a reply email with the things she asked for. Then I get a reply from her:

I have already arranged the replacement of your unit with the owner of Thinking Tools. The only concern now is the distributor does not have G9x to replace your unit. You will have to wait for 1-1.5months to get the replacement since the distributor will have to order the unit from the region.

Now THIS is the email response I've been waiting for the past 2 months!! Thank God for the shed light of hope! 1-1.5 months is pretty long, but I'll try to wait. I was hoping for the same G7 replacement though (I just love the G7 that it's hard for me to let it go). But I think G9x Gaming Mouse, although corded, is enough for a replacement. Too bad the G7 is discontinued. I hope they'll do something on the problems with the G7 and release a successor for it, as cordless mouse is my type.

After getting back home from school, I got a text message at 3pm this afternoon (as of this writing) from Aileen, that she tried to call me but can't. I intentionally turned off my cellphone since I'm still at school that time. I texted her back to call me again. She indeed called, telling me to return my defective G7 to Thinking Tools, the PC shop where I bought it, so the staff can send it back to Manila as early as possible. Knowing that SM City Davao closes at 9PM, I immediately returned the whole G7 package: the mouse, charging station, USB receiver, batteries, manual, and the software CD. The Thinking Tools staff issued a claim stub to me, as they need it in order for me to get the replacement.

Oh yeah, I took pictures of the G7 box and me holding it before returning it to the shop, as that will be the last time I get to see my G7.

Davao Cyber Expo (DCE) '09

2009-07-26T22:41:00.029+08:00

This year's DCE '09 was better than last year, with more events happened. Aside from DoTA tourney, LAN Party Xtreme, Online Gaming, TechXtreme Exhibits, and PhotoOps! (amateur photography competition), there are some added events:
1) Cosplay Competition
2) Street Fighter 4 tourney (using a extremely modded high-end rig and a choice of game controller: gamepad or arcade-style joystick)

As usual, local online gaming companies organized tourneys for their top-notch games. Only two of them showed up at the event: MyGame Philippines ("Special Force", "Fiesta Online", and their upcoming games namely "Twelve Sky 2" and "I-Date") and E-Games ("RAN Online", "Cabal Online", "ZX Online", "Audition", "O2Jam", and "Granado Espada"). Which means AMPED (ABS-CBN) and LevelUp! Games isn't around. I could care less about AMPED, but I don't know why LUG didn't show up, since Rohan seemed to me as a great game and a sure successful publicity for them. As usual, the local distributor for Lineage 2 SEA isn't there, and so are Mobius Games (MU Online PH) and Eaglegame International Limited (Highstreet5).

Nevertheless, "Special Force" from MyGame stole the attention of the crowd with its lively team battle tournament that reminisce the same energetic atmosphere of most Counterstrike tournaments. After all, they won't use the slogan "Counter Strikes Back" for nothing (although sounds kinda cheesy for me). I don't know about E-Games, it's just weren't the same as before. It seems.... dry. Really dry. It was the same thing last "Road to Domination III". All of their tourneys for their games were dry. You see, Special Force tourney was still going and lots of spectators watched the entire game session (and in a huge projected screen, too) even though it's almost the end of the 2nd day of the event, while the entire E-Games booth is deserted. RAN Online was their top-notch game before that a very long line of players wanted to signup for the tournament, but it was so like yesterday during the event. I don't know about Audition though, since I haven't been there on the 1st day. CMs from every online game failed on getting the whole booth lively, IMO.

I can't say anything about other events since I'm in the middle of the exam week. Really, of all the days DOH can quarrantine STI and other 3 schools due to reports of 6 more students positive of AH1N1 here in Davao City... it was conducted on the 2nd week of July?! The exams were moved from 16-18 to 23-25 because of it. I missed the LAN Party, I missed the DoTA tourney, and most of all... I MISSED THE COSPLAY COMPETITION!! DAAAAAAAAMN!! >.<

As for this year's lineup of heavily modded PCs, it was better than before... A LOT BETTER!! :D There's the Hummer H2 concept with CoolerMaster "V8", a CPU HSF (Heat Sink Fan), which is... yep, a term for a muscle car's engine (and it looks like one, too). There's also an orange-colored PC case with styles of slick curves, edges, and designs that reminisce the style of custom-made body frame of a souped-up street racing car (well, they got the concept from an orange Toyota Supra that Paul Walker used in The Fast And The Furious, as the owner of that concept PC case displayed a car figure of the orange Supra on top of it). But of all the PC units displayed, 2 of them really stand out: "Team DAMAK!" and "L.U.M.O.S. (actually, "lumos" is a bisaya dialect term for "drown", but it's acronym for that concept is Lighted UV-Reactive Micro-ATX Oil-Cooled System), both oil-cooled PC systems with two things in mind, Presentation and Performance. Both have eye-catching presentation with its aquarium-like case (mind you, the whole system is submerged with oil) and a pump (a radiator, actually) is connected to it to circulate the oil from being too hot, just like some water cooling solutions for PCs. Oh yeah, it creates bubbles inside, something that you may find on most aquariums. Truly an attention-seeker. As for performance, oil cooling is one of 3 common methods of cooling a PC system (the other are air cooling and water cooling). But unlike air and water cooling which focuses on certain areas (mostly processor and video card), both oil-cooled systems made sure the whole area is covered with a container full of circulated oil, which can keep the whole system cool. Yeah, sure is a nice concept, but I don't know about the cooling performance though. I've read some forums here and there saying oil cooling is just for looks yet getting worse temps, but some do say it's effective. I'll leave the judgement to you, guys. :D

Ok, this will be all for now. I still have classes, so I'll post the pics when I get back home.

UPDATE: Here are the pics taken from the said event. Click "View All" for hi-res images. Enjoy viewing! :D

Do I Get A Chance On Having My Own KORG Keyboard?

2009-05-01T00:33:00.005+08:00

That would be a "yes". Actually, I'm hoping on this chance of having my own KORG keyboard someday.

We had a nice talk with BJ, my friend and former classmate of STI College, just a while ago (as of this writing). He had quite a success in his work at Edge Radio. We talked random things, but the main core of our conversation are two things:

1) He's willing to help me buy any keyboard I like for a low price from his friend who sells slightly-used devices from Korea.

2) He knows how to play the keyboard (and pretty good at it, too, since I saw him playing "Listen To Your Heart" so good that I can't help but compare it to the Roxette original), and he's willing to teach me anything.

There are other brands out there, and each of them has their own unique identity and features. Based on what I read at most internet sites and what I saw on most music instruments shops, there are 3 top brands: Roland, Yamaha, and KORG. Out of the three, I just can't help but to like KORG's lineup of music keyboards.

KORG has 5 categories on their keyboard/module lineup: Workstations, Synths, PA Series, Concert Pianos, and Pianos/Organs. My initial interest is the Korg X-50, which has the same instruments found on Triton series, but at an affordable price (since workstation keyboards are pricey). I do want to have my own KORG Triton Extreme, which is one of the best workstation keyboards from KORG, based on reviews from Musician's Friend, Harmony Central, and ZZSounds. The problem is, Triton Extreme is discontinued, replaced by KORG M3 series, which is 2nd to OASYS, the ultimate workstation keyboard which is KORG's flagship product. Seeing M3 as a successor of Triton series with more features, I can dig with it.

My current concern is that if they can find a slightly-used M3 for me (since it's pretty much newly released for me), and for how much. If they can't find it, I can dig on Triton Extreme (but I bet it's kinda hard to find due to the discontinuation of the product), or TR series. I just love touchscreens, so I hope they can find either M3 or Triton Extreme for me. If the price is beyond my reach, I'll prolly borrow some from my mom or dad. This is my only chance so I have to grab this opportunity while it's there.

I can't wait to get my hands on a KORG keyboard. :D Sorry, Yamaha & Roland.

KORG M3

KORG Triton Extreme
(Yep! The same keyboard that Tsumugi from "K-ON!" uses. See below.)

KORG TR-61

KORG X-50

The Final Day To Say Goodbye...

2009-04-30T02:30:00.004+08:00

...to my Granpa, Severino Hinayon.

He passed away at early morning (between 4-6AM, i dunno, mah mum and others who witnessed it only knows about it, and dun want to ask about it either) at age 78 on April 26, 2009.

I just can't believe that it was sudden to leave us, and I mean way too sudden for me. Things were fine when we brought him to our home and take good care of him. He was slowly recovered, and he even cracked a joke or two. Totally unbelievable.

It happened when my mom received a call from my granpa's relative in a countryside area of Ula, that he is weakening badly that he can't stand. We then rushed to that place and pick him up. I just stunned on what I saw. He REALLY is weakening badly. What I can't believe about it is that he was totally fine and healthy last week before it happened. Then I heard that the reason about him getting weak is that he didn't eat properly, and the reason for it is that he's out food supply to eat at all and instead giving those supply to his neighbors. I don't know if it's true, but if it is, those so-called neighbors really sickens me! That's one of the things I hated most: selfish bastards who only think about themselved and not even caring for other people around them.

When we got home, my mum suggests him to take him to a hospital, but insists that he wants to stay at home and take a rest. After taking medications and having a good rest, he slowly recovered, which is good news for us. Heck, my father and uncle are even watching pacquiao-related boxing matches (which is also my grandpa's favorite tv shows to watch) with smiles on their faces.

My cousin and her wife were taking care of him while we were sleeping (not for me, since I was playing online games that late night). We thought things were doing fine. We really are. Not until he has signs of hard breathing and uneasiness. My cousin thought he had a fever, but my mom checked him and said he was fine. At 6AM (maybe 6:30, can:t remember exactly), I went downstairs only to be told by my mom that he passed away. I was like, "huh" and paused for a few seconds. I think she's joking or something. But when I see my grandpa not breathing anymore and his entire body pale yellow, I was totally shocked that it hurts me inside. I almost lost appetite to play online games and went to a balcony, still in shock. Then words coming out of my mind: "why it was too sudden?"

My mom cried, my relatives cried, even my brother cried. But I don't. I don't know why. Maybe I'm thick-headed, or maybe I was too shocked, or maybe up until now I still don't believe that he passed away. But after I saw him that morning, I can't see his face inside the coffin. Even if I wanted to or forcing myself to see him, I just can't. I always back away from seeing him. I still can't believe that the coffin is there where he's inside whenever I see it. I wanted to forget all of the things happened by watching anything or playing any PC games or sleeping, but I just can't forget that those things just happened so suddenly. I just can't let it off my mind.

This morning will be the day he'll be buried at Forest Lake Memorial. I don't know if I can see his face and say goodbye to him one last time, because if I did, I don't know if I can hold back my emotions... I don't know how long can I keep crying... I don't know if how long can I be strong to accept the reality. But whatever it is, I can only say for sure: I owe him big time for the love and support he gave me since I was born. I owe him big time for being there for me through hard times. I owe him big time for the happy days we spend together (I still can't beat him to a game of checker, or "dama" in bisaya dialect). I will always remember him as the best grandfather of my entire life. I will always remember our nice chat together last December, because that's the last chat we had that long. And most of all, I will surely miss him.

Just to be sure if even I can say this to him before and after the burial, I'll say this in advance.

Lolo, I love you very much, and goodbye.

E-Games Just Screwed Me! >.<

2009-04-03T08:24:00.006+08:00

Although getting sleepy, I bought GE300 from LoadCentral at 1AM yesterday (April 2, to be specific), since I'm almost out of G-Points. Thinking the card code was from IAHGames' GVC code, I logged in to IAHGames's passport to top it up. What I get was GVC code error, so this card code maybe an EP (E-Points for E-Games) one, so I logged in to E-Games' "My Account" section with my E-Games username and password. OK, time for some top up action!

I typed the card code and the pin correctly, and pressed the "send button". When I get the confirmation, I just saw 360EP credit... what the, I made a wrong top up! I accidentally topped up on E-Games topup instead of Granado Espada Top Up! Getting worried, I hurriedly filed a ticket. Got a reply, but it's not the reply I wanted. Here's the detailed reply:

Date:
4/2/2009 1:33:31 AM

Email:
djash1983@gmail.com

Status:
Resolved

Game:
Granado Espada

Category:
Account

Area:
EP-GP Conversion

Attachment:

Description:
IAH Games Passport / Granado Espada Login Name: djash1983
Transaction Reference Number:
Problem Description: I accidentally topped up 300EP on e-games topup instead of EP-GP conversion thru granado espada top up. Can u do something about it? I don't want to waste my 300 pesos for a mistake that i didn't meant to. I forgot the transaction referencce number, but my card code is 5HE36329BE, which I bought it thru LoadCentral.

Thanks.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Email handled by e-Games Support Center

Agent Reply:

Date: 4/2/2009 7:35:51 AM

Comment: Hello e-Gamer,

Thank you for writing to e-Games Helpdesk, this is Kenneth assisting you.

With regard to your concern, I'm sorry to inform you that we don't have a service to convert successfully topped up e-points into g-points.

We at e-Games always welcome your inquiries, comments and suggestion/s.

And We’re inviting you to attend e-Games’ Domination III, our third year anniversary celebration and 2009’s biggest gaming event. Win great prizes, watch live tournaments of your favorite e-Games and X-Play titles and performances from GMA Kapuso Stars. See you there.

Sincerely,
Kenneth
e-Games Helpdesk Team

NOTE: e-Games will NEVER ask for your password!
Protect your account by NEVER giving out your log-in name and password to anyone! e-Games Portal

What?! They can't do anything about already topped up EP? Wait.. what's with this? I admit that I made a mistake, but this is no reason for me to correct my mistake. We're only human, tend to make mistakes. I dig that they can't do about converting it to GP, but at least they'll give me a chance to top it up properly!

Now I wanna get some real answers. This time I tried using Live Chat system and talked to a Customer Service Operator named Samantha. Here's the chatlog:

Welcome e-Gamer! Your request has been directed to the Live Chat Support department. Please wait for our operator to answer your call.

Call accepted by operator Samantha. Currently in room: Samantha.

Samantha: HI! this is Samantha assisting you, how can I help you today?

djash1983: I just got this from e-games help desk:

djash1983: **ommitted, refer to the quoted post above**

Samantha: I would like to check your report, please provide me your ticket ID.

djash1983: BML-4bMGj-634

Samantha: Kindly wait for a moment.

Samantha: As I see on your report you said you accidentally topped up the e-points.

djash1983: yes

Samantha: I'm sorry also but we really don't have a service to convert it into g-points if you already loaded it into e-points.

djash1983: Then what should I do with the 300EP i accidentally topped up then?

Samantha: If you are playing other games of e-Games you can used to the e-points there.

djash1983: What if the only online game I play is Granado Espada?

djash1983: You see, if you guys are doing this kind of service, and someone topped it up by mistake...

djash1983: Then isn:t that called a "waste" already?

djash1983: I bought EP bcoz i want to topup for granado espada, just to buy barrack slots

Samantha: Actually I'll make a report about your concern, but for now I can't assure it to you if there will be a conversion of successfully topped up e-points to g-points.

djash1983: what's with the "I can't assure"? You mean we're stuck with useless EP if you can't do something about it?

djash1983: Hey, hey, it's still money, earned money from my job

djash1983: and you guys can't do something about it?

Samantha: We have to wait for the further announcement if it will be possible.

djash1983: WTH

djash1983: it was suppossed to be used for granado espada

djash1983: if this would be the case, then how about me topping up 2000EP for 70000 Gpts?

djash1983: and i accidentally topped it up, would you guys say the same thing u said to me a while ago?

djash1983: i'm planning on spending 2000 EP, but this would hold me back

Samantha: I'm sorry but we really don't have a service to convert your successfully topped e-points to g-points.

djash1983: then how would i get my 300EP back?

djash1983: don't tell me such things as use it on your games coz the only game i play so far is granado espada

djash1983: that's what made me purchase EP in the first place

djash1983: if you guys can't let your customers have assurance that their money is spend on games they love, then why bother having such service, anyway?

djash1983: having a EP-GP conversion yet we can't get our EP bcoz of a top-up mistake

djash1983: isn't that unfair already?

Samantha: I do understand your concern, but we really don't have a service to convert it into g-points.

djash1983: then how would I get my 300EP back? if i can get it back, then this time i'll top it up correctly

djash1983: a simple question

Samantha: For now I do suggest that you should file a new ticket and we will forward your concern to the e-Games management.

djash1983: Where?

djash1983: helpdesk?

djash1983: already sent one, yet i got that response

Samantha: At the e-Games helpdesk where you filed your first ticket.

Samantha: Please file a new one and indicate your concern on how you can get you e-points back.

Samantha: Since you topped it up accidentally into e-points.

djash1983: Ok, I'll file a new ticket

Samantha: Is there anything else?

djash1983: nothing

djash1983: just my problem regarding getting my EP back

Samantha: If there will be no more questions, thank you for using e-Games Live Chat. Have a Nice Day!

Samantha has left the conversation. Currently in room: djash1983.

Is she serious?! She already got the idea that I play Granado, hence the Granado Espada Top Up, and she told me to use the accidentally topped up EP for games that I don't play! What the hell?? Instead of helping me with my problem, it looks like she's ditching my problem!

But for the sake of easing my worries, I filed a new ticket like she suggests. But exactly a day passed, I get no replies!

Feeling irritated, I almost got no appetite to play GE, so I logged out without even bidding goodbye to my friends and factionmates.

E-Games, what the hell should I do to get my 300EP back?! I bought 300EP with my money! 300 pesos is still big money! IT'S MY MONEY AND I WANT IT TO BE SPEND AND USE PROPERLY DAMMIT!!! It's like I'm throwing away my money for no reason or purpose! I got that money from my hard-earned work, so I have the right to complain about your crappy service!! Why doing EP-GP conversion if there are problems like this?!

If this won't be resolved, THEN I HAVE NO REASON TO BUY 2000EP FOR 70K GPOINTS!!

SO MUCH FOR THE "70K GPOINTS" HYPE WHEN OUR MONEY WILL BE DOWN THE DRAIN WITH THIS STUPID PROBLEM!!

I HATE GETTING SCREWED! THIS WILL BE THE FIRST AND THE LAST TIME YOU GUYS AT E-GAMES WILL SCREW ME!!

Still Having Doubts on Joining The "e-Games Correspondents"

2009-02-16T21:06:00.010+08:00

Presea PM me yesterday about joining the "e-Games Correspondents". It's an official E-Games community blog writing articles related to E-Games like game info/guides, event happenings, technical problems and solutions, etc.

Here's the full entry I posted on the site:

Character Name: DelaValliele (family name)

Game: Granado Espada

Server: All Servers (mostly in Rembrandt)

Your Gaming Blog (optional): Absolute Randomness (http://djash1983.blogspot.com) -- not really a gaming blog, but I do post some Granado Espada related blog entries.

Why do you think you are qualified to be an e-Games Correspondent and how would this help the gaming community?

This is kinda difficult for me to write my reasons about joining this group, but I wanna let out my thoughts based on what I feel right now (as of this writing).

First of all, I'm neither a professional blogger nor a pro gamer. I'm only into blogging because I wanna let my online friends know about the events and experiences happening in my life that is worth writing: life at home or outside, school, work, etc. Gaming is no exception, either. As for gaming, I only play games, LAN or online, just to have fun and have friends but not really that competitive. I can be competitve if I wanted to, but not to that extent. I've tried and played most online games served inside and outside of the philippines, but Granado Espada is the only game that I played for a year; longer than other online games I've played.

Gaming is one huge part of my life. I've been into video games since my childhood days where Nintendo FamiCom was the hype of recreation before. Hell, I even cut classes on my highschool days just to play SNES (Super Famicom in Japan) and Playstation. 1997 was the beginning of my PC lifestyle by surfing the net at nearby netcafes (it was P75/hr that time, and there was no DSL that time). Then 1999 came and Starcraft & Counter Strike were popular games that time. Other game titles followed after. PS2 was released and played most game titles, including Metal Gear Solid 2 and Need For Speed Underground. I also played arcade games, but more into music/dance simulation games like Dance Dance Revolution and DrumMania. Online gaming went boom when LUG's Ragnarok Online, the philippine's first MMORPG, was launched as open beta. Of course me and my friends joined the hype. More online games and game service providers followed, like Mobuis Games (Gunbound and MU), NetGames (Flyff, Khan, Pangya), and, of course, E-Games (RAN, Audition, Supreme Destiny, O2Jam). I meet a lot of online friends, but as what a saying goes, "friends come and go". That never stopped me from playing online games though.

Looking back, I sometimes say to myself, "it would be great if I took time writing those events so I can live myself back to those times". I did have a journal, although in a MS word document format. Then I read about online blogging. I was hesitant on going along with it at first, but decided to give it a try. I made my first blog at MIXI, fully-japanese social community site much like friendster and myspace, ever since I was active at Apricotweb, a japanese-english learning site (and had japanese friends, too). Then I decided to have my own blog, which is currently named as "Absolute Randomness".

One of my favorites and longest blog entry was the "Davao Cyber Expo" where E-Games and other game service providers show their own stuff, as well as other well-known companies showing their PC techie stuff. That event really drove me to write a blog entry. Oh yeah, I do love going to local gaming events, especially E-Games events. I even remember joining Granado Espada's PVP tournament with my friend (and got pwned within less than a minute at the quarterfinals) during the "E-Games Evolution" event.

Now, some people here wants to join the group of correspondents because they have writing wkills, extensive knowledge on games served by E-Games, have the skills in handling PC and game technical problems/concerns, and other skills needed to become a good E-Games correspondent. I was like, "Wow... they really look promising. They could really help the entire E-Games community."

I got a PM from a friend of mine who encouraged me to join this group because she knew about me helping sGE Davao players, which is "valiant" to her. She's right though, I DO wanna encourage Davao players to play Granano Espada and help them as much as I can, as the game that I love is fading away from the netcafes around Davao city. But it seems that it isn't enough for a game to become popular again. Or more likely, I felt helpless. That's why up until now I'm still hesitant to join this group.

I do love Granado Espada. Hell, I even despised it during the open beta because of the huge PC requriements and, I have to admit, the game title is so "corny". But after I tried playing the game, I said to myself, "this is the game I've been looking for!". And because of my love of the game, I really wanna share it to others who haven't played the game yet, and help other players who already played it by any means like sharing client installers and dealing with technical problems/concerns. If writing a blog is one of many ways to share my love of the game, then I'll give it a shot.

I was like, "Whoa... I've done it again: a wall of text!". But since I want to let out my thoughs about it, I decided to post it anyway. :D

But even though I've already submitted my entry, I'm still having doubts on joining the community blog. Most of the people submitted their entries has higher standards on their motivations and objectives on joining than I am, thus having higher chances of being chosen. And most of all, am I really fit into joining that grand community blog? I'm not that good at comprehensive writing. Others has more knowledge in online games served by e-Games; I don't have enough of it. But I only know one thing: expressing my own thoughts, views, and concerns about what's happening on the online gaming community, especially related to Granado Espada.

Since I've already posted my entry, seems to me like backing off is not an option. *sigh*

3x The Events, 3x The Fun! :D

2009-02-13T20:52:00.012+08:00

This day really made me happy. First up....

I've been woke up by knock on teh door. My mom told me there's a call from someone who needed me for a PC troubleshooting. Turns out to be uncle Jonard, one of my "clients", if you may, who is asking me for a lookup on 2 PCs at their office: one that the monitor suddenly turns off, and the other won't display at all. Easy on the other one, but the other really made me worked up. Turns out there's a problem on the power supply part, specifically on the power cable outlet. I told them how to turn it back on by pulling and pushing back the power cord socket to the monitor's power outlet. Then uncle Jonard noticed something lacking: a printer for the other PC. We bought one at a local PC shop, brought it back to teh office, and I'm the one installing the printer's cables and ink cartridges. After that, I finally got the pay. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAI! XD Now I have a reason to buy another GVC card! :D

Second...

The "[GCR In-Game Event] Win A Date With a Troll" day 2 is also as fun as day 1. This time, Presea (a.k.a. DeSanggria in sGE) joined teh event and gave Maki (a.k.a. Straightener in sGE) lotsa chocos! I thought Sinacy (a.k.a. Darjeeling in SGE) would pwn the rest of us on the event. :D Nzi wansn't able to attend the 1st day of the event, so I'm glad she had time on the 2nd day. Me and Maki thought there would be more voters on the 2nd, but it turned out to be lesser than the previous. During the event, we had a lot of funny things like doing a lot of poses from our characters, taking screenshots, and chatting random stuff. Oh yeah, gotta love poking fun on Nzi and Presea's female characters in a pervie way, nyahahahaha :D Imma SOOOOOOOOO evul! XD

Third....

Presea is on a FrogFish hunt to help her friend finish the FF quest. Maki and Al (Vashal in sGE) decided to come along, so I thought it would be fun to go along with them as well. Good thing my main characters are all veteran levels. And most of all, I'm a bit curious on why most players are having a hard time finishing the FF quest. Turns out that it's one helluvah monster to beat up. I mean, we have 8 (or 9, can't quite remember) on our squad but managed to kill the FF in 5 minutes! Not just 1 FF, but 4 of them! The swamp FF is the longest to beat in more or less 8 minutes. It was a bit disappointing though, since I have a lot of quests to catch up before proceeding with the FF quest. But it was still fun. At least I made Al piss off about him scaring Presea, hahahahaha :D Just kidding, Al! :D

That's it for now. I'm sooooooooooooo hungry now! *opens teh cabinet for canned goods for supper* :D

Update: Here's a group screenie from the event:
From left to right: GCResidents (Desmond), DeSanggria (Presea), Straightener (Maki), DelaValliele (Dj Ash 1983), and Vashal (Al)

Having A Sideline Job Rockz! :D

2009-02-04T00:22:00.004+08:00

Lol, it's been a while since my last entry. Or rather, I've done it again: too lazy to write a blog. Anyway...

Just got my pay from getting two PCs back to its good condition. Really, it was one helluvah work:

* Getting the display to work: Looks like a PCI-E slot is kinda loose for the vid card to fit in. Just enough dose of vibration on the card and you're in for some serious trouble... getting the mobo to detect the vid card.

* Stupid virus: Ever heard of a joleebee virus? It's much like SoWar, but in a more annoying way. Why? Coz before "Welcome" shows up, a window dialog pops up, greeting you with a message full of gibberish. Also, if you think SoWar can be eliminated easily, not this one. Even if you attempt to install any antivirus software in teh net, teh stupid virus automatically closes the window if the contents are the installer files of teh antivirus! Regedit? Gone. Folder Options? Hidden. Task Manager? Nada. MSCONFIG? I don't think so. Safe mode? Forget it! The only way to get rid of it is to reformat the HDD. Nuff said. Oh yeah.... two units suffered from it, all bcoz of a USB flash drive which teh files prolly came from a small-time netcafe. Sheesh.

* Games.... LOTS of games: The only way to please the kids is to give them a lot of toys to play with. In my case, I have to load both PCs up with lots of PC games, be it classic or close to latest. Added online games and kids' nagging into the mix, and I get 2 day trip to their house just to finish 'em. But seeing the kids' smile on their faces when they play those games makes me feel good emotionally.

When I was working on a netcafe before, I get Php 1,500 on a payday which is every 15 days, while I get the same amount on just 3 days. Wow... never imagined I get this much on a sideline job. My plan was to charge me Php 2,000 for it but since I'm kinda fresh to PC dagnostics/repair, that amount is kinda expensive for them. But still, having a proper job is the best way to earn money though. Now that I resigned from my job (and saved a lot from it), guess I have to wait for someone to call me for another techie service.

Still, having a sideline sure rockz, man. Even more cooler than that is if I decide to end my long break and find another job, a technician-related job, that is. :D

My "Davao Cyber Expo" Experience... Or Was It? >.>

2008-07-07T07:39:00.009+08:00

Yeah, I know, I know... I've said in my previous entry that I'll continue to write a 2nd part of it the next day. But lemme get off the hook for today, 'kay?

Anyway, I can only write a li'l about my Davao Cyber Expo experience since I only showed up on the 1st & last day. Here's what happened:

1st Day:
* Since my very objective is to check out what's happening at the E-Games booth, I decided to go there first. I met Ces, one of my "barkadas" and one of my fellow DDRers (y'know, Dance Dance Revolution" players). He's one of the E-Games' event organization team here in Davao City, which is nice so that not only I can hang out with him during events, I can also contact him for anything related to E-Games from general inquiries to event dates to announcements of upcoming games.

And as usual, their games already gotten attention from both old players and newbies. Since DCE is a 3-day event, the games to be showcased was divided into 3: O2Jam & Audition for the 1st day, RAN & Supreme Destiny for the 2nd day, and Cabal & Granado Espada on the 3rd day. 1st day was jam-packed with players who wants to show off their skills, as well as the crowd who stuck their eyes on the players' screens and see who's the best there is. While I'm at the booth, I met Arfie, my schoolmate when we were in STI College. He's also an Audition player, but he didn't participate in the tournament coz he stopped playing for a long time. Now that I'm not alone anymore, I asked him if he wants to come along with me to see other booths and he's ok with that, so off we go as we chat along.

* We went to the other booth to see what they offer. Near the E-Games booth is the Blinque Tech booth, showcasing their products: Artic Cooling and Zalman, two of the best manufacturers of PC cooling solutions from CPU & GPU coolers (fan/heatsink/heatpipe combo) to water cooling systems. What interests me is the one of Zalman's giant CPU cooler codenamed "CNPS9500 AM2". And while the cooler's big enough to absorb the heat not only from the CPU but for the entire box, the price is also big... at Php 4,000! Well, it's too big for my current system box, though. For more info, check this site: http://www.zalman.co.kr/ENG/product/Product_Read.asp?Idx=162. As for Artic Cooling products, it's just the same as what Zalman offers, but I'm more into Zalman's unique design for their coolers.

* We decided to go to Amped Games booth. Amped is ABS-CBN Interactive's new name for their digital entertainment portal which currently offers 3 online games: Tantra, WarRock, and GetAmped. During the DCE event, they posted a steamer of their new online game titled "N-AGE: Ride To Freedom", and as the slogan states, there's a blue image at the back of the title looked like a bike to me. Curious about this new game, I signed up their registration form and they gave the installer. I haven't tried it yet, though. WarRock packed a punch when it comes to attention from players and audiences since that game is action-packed from 1st-person shooting view mode (the same view you get from CounterStrike) to 3rd person view mode (ever played Ace Combat & Top Gun? you'll have the same feel on WarRock with their own aircraft as well!)

* Next, we went to Levelup Games booth. Most of you know this already, but for others who don't know, here's a thing about the company: they're the pioneering online gaming company famous for the most popular game and the very first MMORPG in the philippines back in 2003.... RAGNAROK ONLINE. Now merged with NetGames, their games had expanded and the number of players grew more. But as what a popular saying goes: "what comes up must come down": 3 games are already shut down, namely ROSE Online, Pangya, and Khan Online. While Perfect World is indeed a great game and players loved it, it wasn't received enough attention from the crowd, not to mention that LUG had their own PW mascots...err, I mean cosplayers. Sorry, me and my bad mouth. XD

* After that, we went to a booth filled with posters and comic books. Those products are from AnimeCebu, which I don't have ANY idea where they came from (although it's obvious that their business originated from cebu from their business name) and why they're there with all their products which is NOT RELATED TO PC TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS/SERVICES/SOLUTIONS and just posters & comic books. Despite what I stated earlier, I decided to take a look at their posters anyway. Well, the way their posters printed wasn't that bad, the kind of paper they used is indeed durable and produces printed images with nice colors.... what's with their choice of anime titles? THEY'RE ALL TOO COMMON! Maybe it's just me, but I find it odd to see that although they represent their business name as anime-related, they don't have a wide range of anime titles which should have ones not currently aired in the phlippines! I was expecting to see such titles like Clannad or Blood+ or Initial D or Lucky Star, etc, etc, but what I only get is the poster of "Haruhi Suzumiya no Yuutsu" (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)! And one more thing... what's with their posters laying on the floor without been taking care! I did get the poster I wanted, but its edges are already damaged with all the tear (although small, it's still noticeable). Good thing it costs 30 pesos.

* While we're looking for more booths, we stumbled on a booth which is the center of the event in that day: Warcraft III's DOTA tournament. Arfie talked about his situation with the kids who are customers of the netcafe where he worked: those kids are more talented that adults, but they're the poor ones you'll find mostly on residetial areas where there are poor families and, the most common, on the streets. I adviced him on creating a team of his own, but he hesitated since it's pretty obvious about the condition of those kids. If those kids really are good, then they must be recognized and give them a chance to participate. Well, that's philippines for ya.

Now, for the 3rd day, it wasn't that much to talk about, except for one thing and the only thing in mind: getting the Granado Espada's "Emilia The Sage Box" that I've been longing for since the introduction of the improved RNPC that I loved and adored so much, Emilia Guilliano.

You see, the kind of Eimilia Guilliano you get from her quest is a support-type character which has a lot of defense buffs you can get from a wizard, while also acts as a healer type with a set of healing skills you get from a scout. The problem? She lacks offensive skills, which is sad thing to have. Poor Emilia... T_T But our prayers are answered: a new kind of Emilia Guilliano that has ALL OF THE STANCES you find from a WIZARD, while retaining the HEALING STANCE from an ordinary Emilia.

Actually, after I got my salary of Php 1,500 last monday I decided to save it for a 160GB HDD for my 2nd PC on the next payday and start a small-time netcafe of 2 starting units which my potential customers are our boarders (yes, the 2nd floor of our home is a boarding house/dormitory). While I was tending the customers at the netcafe where I'm working as an attendant, I saw a notice of an event in RAN Online's patch update window: DAVAO CYBER EXPO!! If there's an event, there will be E-Games booth, which leads to one thing: ETS BOX!! XD With that in mind, I made sure that the money I got won't be spent. The 3rd day of the event finally arrived, but my body is still laying on the bed (well, my parent's bed actually which is more comfy, nyahahahaha XD) and my mind's still on dreamland having a great chat with Mizuki-chan, my favorite character from Lost Passage, a visual novel. When I got up, it was already 3PM! DAMN!! My chances of having an ETS Box is getting smaller! I hurriedly took a bath, until I heard a familiar voice... my buddy and a former classmate of mine during my STI COllege days, Ralph Pedrosa. After it, I had my lunch (well, lunch is already over so maybe a snack? nyahahahaha XD) while having a chat and watching TV with him. While I'm pretty much prepared and ready to go, I totally forgot that he has something for me which I already anticipated, Blood+ episodes in AVI format! While I'm copying those eps from his mp4 player (also acts as a data storage too) to my PC, I decided to kill a bit of time and play Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekitou (or Harugeki for short). He taught me some pointers on how to use Tsuruya (one of my favorite characters from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu) effectively, and it worked just the way I like it! She can do combos at ground, then performs two flash kicks, y'know, the kind of skill you can see mostly on other video game characters like Guile from Street Fighter and Law from Tekken series, then while midair you can continue on performing combos (I did a max of 3 hits in midair), and when the opponents starts to fall to the ground, she quickly dashes right to where her opponent lands and performs a barrage of ice that nearby enemies would get hit by it (this game has a max of 3 members per side). While I enjoyed playing that game, I noticed that it's getting dark and the files are already finished copying! I get the feeling that I'll have to wait for another event (in months, maybe next year!) since my chances of getting ETS box is zero, thanks to my stupidity (and my friend who I felt he always bring misfortune to my life... hahahaha, just kidding!). We went outside in a hurry to a highway where we can have a ride on a jeep to NCCC Mall. When we get there, the E-Games booth was filled with players and audiences, since the games they're showcasing that night is Cabal Online, which is the most played online game IMO due to 5 servers always full. When I asked Ces for an ETS box, he told me that the person who distributes the ETS boxes already left out the mall. I told him my situation and my need to have that box, he told me to go a internet cafe at the downtown area. No sweat, but when while we're on our way there, I forgot the name of the netcafe! Ok, now I'm doomed... T__T I tried to remember, but what I can only recall is "One Bar". We earched the area but we didn't find the netcafe we're looking for. Ces said that it's near Dover Mega Lanes and Cherry restaurant, but I don't see any, except for a nearby netcafe that doesn't have a signage and half-closed. I asked somebody on the area, but they didn't know a thing about "One Bar". After all failures, we decided to go back and ask Ces to reserve one for me. Sheesh... I was really excited to have that box that I can't wait to get my hand on it that night. But before we left, I just saw a motorcycle parked at the half-closed netcafe and saw a person closing the rollup, packing up and almost ready to go. I ran towards that guy before he starts up his motorcycle. I asked him if the cafe we're standing at is the "One Bar" that I can only remember hearing it from Ces. Then he said, "One Bar, or Quagmire?" Shit! That WAS the name of that cafe we're looking at! I'm such a forgetful piece of crap! >.<>

Ok, now it's already 8:AM and I haven't got any sleep yet so I guess this is it for now. Wait... what I just wrote isn't that "li'l", right? It's WAY TOO LONG! Sheesh.... This is just great. I'm getting too focused at this. >.> Oh well, I had fun remembering what happened yesterday while writing this entry anyway. XD On the next entry, I'll write about the ETS Box I've purchased. Till then, happy reading! :D

So Many Things Happened, So Little Time: Part 1

2008-06-03T02:41:00.005+08:00

Wow.... talk about 5 months since my very last post. @_@;

Anyway, many things happened during those past months, but it'll be a veeeeeeeeery long post if I elaborate it one by one and I forgot some of 'em, so I'll try to remember as much as I can and summarize if too long. Aight, here we go!

Last December, just a week since my first job at Metrohub netcafe, I enjoyed a 3-day Christmas vacation. But a day before that, we had a X'mas party a beach resort (forgot the name). It was ok and had fun, although I didn't get a chance to swim since I didn't bring extra clothing with me. But what I don't forget that time is that our manager asked me for a billiard match: whoever loses gets to drink 1 glass of Fundador..... doom on me. >.<>

***********************

Aite, that's it for now. Gonna play Granado Espada now (still on lvl 82 and struggling to reach lvl 92 so I can join CW). Part 2 will be tomorrow. Until then, enjoy reading! :D

Getting Used To My Work

2007-12-20T11:41:00.002+08:00

Seems to me like I haven't posted a new blog entry since my previous post last 3 days ago, ne. I admit, it's a pretty tough and tiring job as an attendant: assisting the customers, watching the whole area for some suspicious people doing stupid movements which would lead to stupid robberies (y'know... keyboards, mice, headsets, and in worst cases... a RAM stick), doing some encoding on customers' documents, printing their encoded documents, and when it's time to close we were doing some major cleaning first. Three days have passed since my first day of my job... I'm getting used to this kind of work already, and I think I'm doing just fine.

There were tough times where there are too many customers to attend to, like what happened yesterday (as of this writing). Ruth, my partner, was busy tending to two customers who wanted their documents printed and photocopied, while I was busy receiving complaints from customers that the PC units they're using suffered lags and hangs that they wanted to transfer to other PC units available. Incoming customers are getting more and more, and the two of us are getting frantic on our jobs.

But overall, I really had fun on my work. Weird, isn't it? Actually, I wanted to get busy on things that I want and love to do. My job as an attendant is one of them. The other is being an owner of my very own internet cafe, but that could take a very long time before my parents have enough capital for it, since they wanted to have their own business.

Oh yeah, the plans for a new branch of Metrohub netcafe in Mt. Apo St. was abandoned coz the rent for a room space is pretty much expensive, that they have to find another location. Actually, they've already found one: Centerpoint Plaza. Opened last week, the room is being extended so they can put up more PCs there.

As for the Stepmania simfiles I'm currently working on, I still have enough time creating/adding/editing stepchart for those songs, but it's not like before when I can finish 2-3 songs per day. As usual, I don't have plans on releasing the songs I've already finished working on.

Well, that's it for today. Gotta enjoy myself playing DarkRO while I still have time before my shift. :D

First Day, First Embarassment >.<

2007-12-17T10:48:00.000+08:00

Although my work shift is from 5pm to 1am (or up to 3am if customers want to extend more time), I did start my job for 15 minutes since the other attendant showed up 15 minutes late. Ate Gene texted me last 3 days ago, telling me to come on Monday at 10AM if I'm still interested in working with them. Well, I did show up, thinking that my working shift is on morning till afternoon, but Ate Gene told me a while ago that my shift is on evenings instead. Well, I got no problem with that, but Ate Gene told me that if the other attendant doesn't show up, I'll be accompanying with her for the rest of the day.

You see, MetroHub netcafe also offers photocopying at Php 1.50 per page. It's a pretty easy job to do, no matter how many pages customers want to have anything printed. The only (and most annoying) problem is that there's a time a customer isn't sure what kind of print style they want for their photocopies, and sometimes they'll change their mind just after I pressed the start button. And what's worse, we're up to a point of misunderstanding and confusion on what the customer wants. Oh yeah, we attendants get charged for the incorrectly printed pages. What a pain in the @$$.

There's a customer a while ago wanting to have a photocopy of his IDs (one of them is SSS, or Social Security System, a private insurance company). I just pressed the start button when he said that he wants his IDs printed "back to back". Ok, my very first mistake.... wait, doesn't that make it HIS FAULT? I mean, I was arranging the IDs so they'll be printed out nicely. He should be telling me what he wanted his IDs printed back to back while I was at it! He then said some crap talk like "that's ok, dude, no problem". Ha! "No problem" your @$$. Ok, this time, I did what he WANTS, then he told me to create 2 copies of it. It seems like he caught up just in time, alright! Just when the prints came out, he said that that's not "it". Ok, two more incorrectly printed pages on my possession... dammit! Wussup with that?! Make up your mind!! GAAAAAAAAAH!!! >.<>.<

Although Ate Gene didn't mind about it, I'm still worried what happened. Oh well, gotta live with it from now on. There's a saying about "learn from mistakes", and I bet I won't make the same mistake again. Hell yeah! I wonder if I won't make another mistake, though....

I still have 5 more hours to fool myself around at home, so I gotta make use of the remaining time. LOL :D

Non-Stop RO fun.... again :D

2007-12-15T05:06:00.000+08:00

Yep, I'm playing Ragnarok Online again mostly due to boredom. I'm currently out of ideas for a good stepchart on some of the anime songs, which makes my head hurt when I force myself to think more. My friend & former classmate named Ralph recommended me to play DarkRO last week, and this time he got the client needed to play last two days ago.

Speaking of DarkRO, it's different from other private servers, coz they made very unique custom classes based on Star Wars:

* Padawan
* Jedi
* Sith

Not only classes, but there are custom maps and quest for players to experience and enjoy. I haven't tried any of those classes yet, but it's worth checking out for myself since I'm also a fan of Star Wars. Those guys are DarkRO sure made one helluva good job on this one. Really, so far I haven't seen any private servers aside from DarkRO where there are custom classes. If there is one, maybe I haven't seen it yet. BTW, there are two servers: "DarkRO Force" for PK (Player Killable) type, and "DarkRO" for non-PK type.

I currently have one character in DarkRO Force, a high wizard. I don't have problems leveling up during my first job. But when I reached 2nd job, some of 2nd job class players suddenly attacked me and got killed while I'm busy killing a monster! Damn... was I really that a threat at just 7o+ level? LOL :D Then I remembered what Ralph told me that I have to watch out for players who do nothing but picking on low-level ones, especially novices. In my case, the attacker was just intimidating me, asking for a duel. Good thing there's a command to turn the PK mode off. I can't be attacked, but I can't attack either. Anyway, I could care less about attacking someone since my character's not pretty much strong for dueling, and I don't pick on noobs, either.

Now that I think about what I said a few months ago that "I'll never play any online games again".... seems to me like I've just swallowed it whole last two days ago. lol :D

In other news....

Looks like my first day of being a attendant at MetroHub internet cafe will start at Monday. Ate Gene contacted me thru text yesterday asking if I'm interested to work with them or not. Since I haven't got a call from Makro yet, it looks like I'll take this job since I need money.... BADLY. But really, it's been like almost 3 months since they told me that their new branch will be ready and open for business. Does it really have to take THAT long? They said that they already purchased PC units, made the interior of the building neat and well-painted, and lots of things needed for an internet cafe. Oh well, I'll get those answers once I start my first day of work on Monday.

My Very First Entry

2007-12-12T05:18:00.000+08:00

Finally... After 3 days figuring out the source codes of the blog layout of the template I chose and make a lot of changes/customizations, I can now start writing my very first blog entry. *whew!*

Alright! To start things up.... a little bit of me, my MIXI background, and why make a new blog:

I've already had a blog in MIXI (or rather a "diary", as what they called it there), so I'm pretty used to this kind of thing. I've decided to have a blog "outside" MIXI community, since only MIXI members can view my blog. To be frank, I've already planned on having my own blog way before I joined MIXI (can't blame myself being simply forgetful *pokes myself on the head*). Speaking of MIXI, it's much like Friendster or MySpace but it caters for one specific target: Japan. Yep, the entire interface are all in Japanese, most of the members there are Japanese, and most of the topics discussed there are Japanese. Really, why would I bother signing up even though I'm not Japanese?

You see, I'm pretty active in Apricotweb, a japanese/english learning community since 2004 (I think). I've met a lot of Japanese friends, and even got an online sis named "Mizu" (can't tell ya her real name though) from Niigata. One time, they're discussing about "MIXI" and got curious about what it is. A regular chatter (forgot his name) encouraged me to signup using a online translation tool. The MIXI environment isn't much surprising though, but most of the regular chatters of Apricotweb are there, that they even created their own "Apricotweb" community there! I'm pretty glad I signed up coz I can still keep in touch with them even they're not online.

Come to think of it, it's been months since my last entry in MIXI. Actually, I get tired of writing (or typing) for some reason.... not only in blogs, but message boards as well. Maybe I'm not enthusiastic enough to write, or just being plain lazy. Anyway, I'll write as much entries here as I can, since this is one of many (or few) ways to brush up my english skills. (actually, I feel like I'm not confident in English nowadays... maybe bcoz my school days are now over? Hmm...)

Damn.... it's already 5am. I'm staying up late again.... *scratch* Oh well, since there's nothing much to write for today, guess I have to sleep now. *zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*