Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Game)

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is an action/adventure, single-player game adaptation of the Tolkien's novel with the same title. What's interesting is that even if they did adapt the novel, most of the characters still look like the ones that were portrayed in the movie adaptation. Another thing worth noting is that the flow of the game is based with the novel, not the movie.

The graphics reminded me a lot of World of Warcraft because the textures and the overall look and feel of both of the games environments are quite similar.

This is a screenshot from the game where Frodo and his gang are just about to leave from Tom Bombadil's place.


This is a World of Warcraft screenshot.


This is another screenshot where the four hobbits are travelling in the Withywindale Path on their way to Rivendell.


The game play is awfully simple. The lack of complex attacks and spells make it so easy to play, which is bad for people like me.

What I hate about the game play is its concept of the sidestep. Whenever the control for the sidestep is triggered, it makes the character crouch and sidestep and thus slow down, which is very annoying especially at times when I was trying to sidestep away from the mighty smash of a forest troll. That is, unlike in other games where the sidestep just makes the character sidestep without slowing down.

Some of the pre-rendered cinematics are replays of scenes from the movie. What I dislike regarding the cinematics, whether pre-rendered or not, is the lack of facial expression from the characters. I know they are video game characters and that the game itself was made around the year 2002 when that technology is just developing, but still. I don't know, it just looked unsatisfactory.

The sounds are enchanting particularly the ambient sounds and the background music. I loved it whenever the supporting sounds just fit the part of the game perfectly. For example, in the forest parts, there are sounds of insects, birds and the river flowing. Another instance of this is hearing epic music playing while exploring the mines of Moria and there are enemies lurking somewhere. That's something new for me. It's unique for all of the action/adventure games that I have played.
The voice acting is, well, good but it could have been better.

There was a part of the game where Gandalf fights the Balrog in the mines of Moria.


In that part, Aragorn gives the player a Miruvor (mana potion) whenever the Gandalf's energy goes down to half, which happens after the players casts 4 spells or so.

Aragorn exclaims, "Gandalf! Take this!" It happens so redundantly to the point that it is annoying.


The game is too short. I played the whole game for around six hours in total, which kind of made me feel bad for the countless number of hours spent by the developers who made the game, or not. I don't know, again.

All in all, it's a nice and probably challenging casual gamer game.

I loved the movie adaptation; I can't seem to find any reason to feel the same about this game.

I'm going to play the Return of the King next.

Holy Weak!

Ano nga ba mga pinagtripan ko?

• Naglaro ng Lord of the Rings, DOTA at counter-strike
  
• Bumili ako ng Condition Zero online via Steam, $9.95 only
  
• Nanood ng ilang pelikula (10 Commandments , ...) at anime (Naruto Shippuuden, Shakugan no Shana II)
• Pinaghandaan ang kaarawan ni Jerrick
• Nagpagupit
  

Enchanted

Good.

It's a Disney film about a princess from a fairy tale who was sent into the "real" world by her evil should have been mother-in-law who was a witch and a queen.

Nice movie with enchanting music and scenes plus interesting planned payoffs. Even with its shares of plot inconsistencies, it still managed to drive its points so, for most parts, the inconsistencies are ignorable. And, of course, for the kids maybe, the plot is simplified. The main twist is unconventional for the film studio's line of movies though.

It's kind of weird that the definition of the "real" world that they used in the movie is only limited to an urbanized city. I mean, the "real" world is not only full of individualistic people who may completely ignore anyone who needs help right? Their meaning of real world is just wrong for your everyday needs. :D

*In a park with mister reality guy, princess asks a question by singing.
"Don't sing. It's okay, you know. Let's just walk."

Kwentong tarbaho

My solution had to be reviewed.

Provided was a checklist containing all of the things that I had to revise.

I consulted my reviewer regarding certain review points because, as they were, if I followed the recommended revisions, they will make the solution memory inefficient.

So I was saying, "...if I follow this recommendation, it will make the code memory inefficient."

After a series of questions and answers regarding my previous statement, my reviewer asked something like, "Sino ka ba to say that this code is inefficient?"

I gracefully uttered, "Sun certified naman ako."

My reviewer replied, "'Yun lang."

After some more talk, I yielded. And yes, nasunod ang recommendation ni reviewer. "It's part of the standards". Hopefully I will be able take part of making and maintaining the coding standards.

After that faithful encounter, I really felt awkward especially since katapat lang ng puwesto ko lang yung sa kaniya. Kasi may something naman talaga doon sa conversation namin 'di ba?

Pero ngayon, okay naman kami ni reviewer. I think that its just part of the job especially since it is his ass that will burn if ever anything unwanted happens with what the code does. I never took it personally. Yes, nagfeefeeling professional ako.

Fortunately for me, I love being challenged and being questioned especially regarding things that I know.

---

Hindi po ako regular. Special ako... Special!

Mga Luma

Ilang buwan na rin pala ang lumipas noong nagsimulang lumobo ang tiyan ko. Siyempre hindi lang ako, marami rin sa mga kakilala ko ang nararanasan ang ganitong nakakapagpabagabag na pangyayari.
Tumaas ng 9 pounds ang timbang ko mula noong Hunyo hanggang sa kasalukuyan. Nakakangilo.

Kanina, unang beses kong maranasang nagtapon lang ako ng basura, may nagpasalamat na sa akin. Palabas kasi ako ng bahay, kaya naisipan ko nang itapon yung basura. Doon sa may pinaglalagyan namin, may dalawang mamang naghahanap yata ng kapalaran sa mga supot ng basura. 'Ayun noong nagtapon ako, napa-"thank you ha" yung isa sa kanila. Mahirap unawain.

Mga bagay noon

Kapag bumalik sa pusisyon ang isang convicted na dating presidente, lokohan na talaga. Palaruan ba ang Pilipinas?

"Ang taong bayan galit sa katiwalian, ako rin galit sa katiwalian." - Isa sa mga pinakanakakatawang linyang maririnig galing sa bibig ng kasalukuyang Presidente.
Ano iyon, parang galit siya sa sarili niya?

Tama lang na pababain ang isang lider na pumupirma ng kung anu-ano, pero hindi lang naman siya ang dapat bumaba eh. Nakakalimutan nating marami pang iba diyang bumubulsa lang sa buwis na ibinabayad ng mga Pinoy.

Ang nakakalungkot ay ang paulit-ulit na EDSA revolution. Kasi parang nawawalan ng saysay ang mga dati nang ipinaglaban at naipanalo kung kailan pang ipanalo ulit. Para bang hindi natututo ang mga dapat matuto. O marahil, hindi natututo dahil nga hindi sila nasasama sa mga napapababa, sa mga natatanggalan ng kapangyarihan. Kung sabagay, mukhang mas mabuti nang lahat ng wala sa kapangyarihan ang bumanat para naman matauhan ang mga pulitikong mas iniinisip ang pagtaba ng sariling bulsa.

My Bestfriend's Girlfriend

Good enough.

It's a mainstream teen Pinoy romance/comedy/drama movie starring mainstream matinee idols. It's about this girl who danced in a stag party because she needed some extra cash. While there, she encounters this "rude" guy who kisses her without her permission. After that encounter, her boyfriend arrives from abroad. Later, she discovers that the guy who violated her at the stag party is his boyfriend’s best friend. My best friend’s girlfriend, lol.

Purpose of watching the movie: Para ubusin ung movie tickets namin, mag-eexpire na kasi.

I'm quite sure it's a new feat of Pinoy films; there are annoyingly loads of advertising.
In addition to that, watching this movie feels like reading a male-oriented magazine, because together with the ads are boobs. Many of the scenes are subtle and yet glorious moments of cleavage, really.

The film is dubbed.
It sounds and feels weird when the speech in a movie is dubbed because of the noticeable delay whenever an artist opens his/her mouth.

The story doesn't make any sense, but the direction of the film is good that it drives the points of every scene. So even if you don't understand the plot (e.g. why is this girl who has a boyfriend flirting with another guy?), each scene still makes sense. Shrapnels of T.G.I.S. hahaha

All in all, the movie is about lies and betrayal. hahaha Seriously, the real deal being portrayed by the movie is the behavior of Filipino teenagers when it comes to dealing with relationships. It's like relationships mean less now as in getting in and out of one is just like buying food from a fast food chain. Nagiging 'kano na naman. Too bad. Look who's talking.
Another thing worth noting is the fact that whenever a person is in a relationship with another, honesty is essential. In the movie, the protagonist hid the truth from the person she is having a relationship with. It led to people getting hurt. Sad. hahaha
Relationships based on lies are ultimately, lies.
How romantic is lying? Apparently, very much.

Sun Certified Programmer for the Java Platform, Standard Edition 6 (CX-310-065)

Three years of Java development experience plus four hours of review of things that I never really do in Java...

Here is information taken from the official site.

The Sun Certified Programmer for Java Platform, Standard Edition 6 certification exam is for programmers experienced using the Java programming language. Achieving this certification provides clear evidence that a programmer understands the basic syntax and structure of the Java programming language and can create Java technology applications that run on server and desktop systems using Java SE 6.

Details

• Delivered at: Authorized Worldwide Prometric Testing Centers
• Prerequisites: None
• Other exams/assignments required for this certification: Other exams/assignments required for this certification: None
• Exam type: Exam type: Multiple choice and drag and drop
• Number of questions: 72
• Pass score: 65% (47 of 72 questions)
• Time limit: 210 minutes
  

Ever since I had my hand coding Java during my college days, I've been wanting to take the Java certification exam. I'm not really sure why. It may be because of the academic achiever in me, or maybe because I want to get the bragging rights associated with passing the exam. Also, it may be that my college Java sensei, who is also a SCJP, passively inspired me to take it.

On the second week of February, a friend and I scheduled to take the exam on February 15, 2008 at 9 a.m. at the Ateneo Professional Schools in Makati.

During the weeks before and after that, I wasn't able to review thoroughly because I was busy with my work and my social life.

The night before the exam, I just went straight to sleep. I was tired from work.

At around 3 a.m., I woke up and started reading "review" materials.

At 6:45 a.m., I set my cell phone's alarm clock to 7 a.m. and dozed off.

As expected of myself, I wasn't able to wake-up at the time I intended to; I woke-up at 8:15 a.m.

Knowing that the exam is only in 45 minutes, I quickly prepared and then rushed to get to the test center.

I arrived at the place at 9:15 a.m. and, thankfully, the exam proctor wasn't as pissed as my principal, adviser, or other officials way back in high school whenever I went late to school.

After the pre-exam procedures, I was escorted to the exam room where there was a computer waiting for an exam taker to log-in.

As soon as I saw the first question, I was like, "This is expected, a piece of code that I never thought I would ever encounter".

The monitor that they are using in the test center where I took the exam has its refresh rate calibrated to 60HZ. The annoying thing is that "no one" can change the calibration so I had to bear with the flickering screen while taking the exam. That made my eyes really worn-out because my eyes are inherently sensitive to flickering lights plus the fact that I didn't have a good sleep the night before.

I had 30 minutes to spare when I submitted my answers. I opted to submit earlier because I was hungry and I had to go to work. The funny thing is, right after submitting the exam, the score is printed in the control room where the exam proctors are seated. So several seconds from submitting the exam, the proctor will "take" you out of the exam room and give your results.

With my weary eyes, the exam proctor gave me the results of the exam. The only word I was looking for was pass or fail. Fortunately for me, it was a pass. I wouldn't want to repeat it.

The exam is technical, very technical and, as I was saying, it contains many questions that aren't really used in real life (as far as I have been coding) because complicated code is harder to read, to maintain and to debug. For me, keeping code simple, efficient and readable is the way to go.

Exam tips (that you will just be annoyed to read because they are very general):

• As with any other exam, reviewing is essential. Using any Java book will do. Also, if ever you will review, review within the bounds of the objectives.
  
• Practice a lot with any new code encountered.
  

The certification is just a mainstream measure of technical expertise in Java. It matters, but not as much as a bachelor's degree.

Interesting: Get Paid To Blog

Get paid to post something about a certain topic in a blog.

A couple of months ago, as I was going about my way and surfing the internet, I stumbled upon a site claiming that they would pay anyone who will blog about specific, predetermined topics for them. Because of the general interest for "increased spending power" and for new things to get busy with, I checked their site out.

The site is PayPerPost.

Here is how their business works. A registered blogger browses through a list of currently available opportunities. From that list, the blogger will be able to select a topic and write about it. After satisfying the requirements of the opportunity, the compensation is given.

To register as a blogger, the most important thing, of course, is that the registrant must have a blog that he/she calls his/her own. The posts relating to the opportunities available at PayPerPost must be presented in English. The blog must be older than thirty days with at least ten pre-existing posts before the actual registration.

I signed up because it is nice to earn something extra from a pastime (blogging) especially with all the blogging that I have been doing.

As a matter of fact, this post is twenty bucks.

They also offer blog reviews where it is possible to ask other bloggers what they think of a certain blog.

Click here to try it out.

Uminom kami sa bahay, high school style

Tumambay, nagkwentuhan, nagtawanan at siyempre nagkainan. Wala eh, biglaan lang pero marami naman ang pumunta.

Masaya.

Napakakumpleto kong magkuwento.

Live Free Or Die Hard

Halivood did it again.

I was impressed with the evil speech derived from the conglomerated speeches of all their presidents. It takes effort to map out words from several speeches. Palakpakan.

The hackers here have the most understandable and user friendly interfaces. The thing is, hackers, most probably would not create intricate user interfaces that appeal to a wide audience. They use their programs for their own and are not selling them to anyone. But because it's Halivood, they have to have a nice perky interface so that the people who watch will, hopefully, understand whatever is happening.

Another thing worth noting is that hardware is not very easy to hi-jack. Although it is possible to just plug a consumer electronic gadget to a computer and take control of it, i.e. ssh from a phone. It's not possible to hack into a target within ten seconds.

They were mentioning mutating encryption algorithms. Interesting. It only goes to show that hackers should not be discarded. The things that they make can be very, very useful.

In the movie, when John McClane, the hero, was being held at gunpoint by Thomas Gabriel, the evil guy, the latter pushed his gun into the gunshot wound just at the right shoulder of the former. The hero then does the most noble thing by shooting the gun, piercing himself and knocking the evil guy off. So the question is: How in the hell can you get a guy thrown away from you by shooting yourself and making the bullet pierce your body and hit that guy by using a pistol? That's not all, you have to do it in such a way that that guy you shot at will hit and break a car wind shield about three feet away. The answer is Halivood, of course.

Interesting line from the movie:
"What do you get for being a hero? Nothing." .

Butiki In The Box

Donut. Masarap. Malinamnam. Nakakatakam. Punong-puno ng saturated fats. (barf) Masarap.

So may box ng donuts dito sa bahay. Binili nila mom ito kahapon para may makain habang naghihintay ng eroplano ang ate kong pabalik sa trabaho. Ayun nga lang, hindi nila nakain kaya inuwi nalang dito at ipinatong sa hapag kainan.

Pag-uwi ko kanina, dahil sa slight na pagkagutom na dulot ng mahabang araw sa trabaho, naramdaman ko ang pangangailangang kumain. Naghapunan ako. Nasa hapag pa rin yung mga donut at naisipan kong kumain ng isa o dalawa nito bilang panghimagas.

Sa unang tingin, mukha itong isang masayang kahon ng donut, pero ang totoo, pinagpipiyestahan na ito ng mga langgam.

Kaya ang ginawa ko, pinagpag ko yung kahon dahil lumalayas naman yung mga langgam sa amin kapag ginagawa ito.

Noong maraming langgam na ang lumayas, binuksan ko yung kahon para kumuha ng isa.


So...... Ang lupit naman nung butiki at nakapunta sa loob.

Nawalan talaga ako ng gana kumain.


Ang naisip ko nalang, baka sinundan niya yung mga langgam hanggang napadpad siya sa loob ng kahon, pinagkakain niya ang ilan sa mga ito, at noong nabusog, tumambay nalang sa loob ng kahon.

. . .