Merry Christmas!

Lola Meming came over to celebrate Christmas with us. Thank you Lola for coming over and for your stories of lolo.

No one in the house is a good cook so we almost always order food from restaurants during celebrations like this.

Anyway, I don’t want to spend too much time writing this post so I’ll just enumerate the food we had. I have my kuya to thank for all the food deliveries:

• Yellow Cab thin-crust pizza(4 flavors) with potato wedges na may hindi masyadong masarap na garlic sawsawan
• Amber restaurant:
  • big bilao of pansits (malabon, canton, bihon)

  • 15 pcs barbecue

  • 2 boxes of pichi pichi (15 pcs)

• home-made buko salad
• buko juice and Root Beer

Sadly, much of the big bilao of pansit spoiled this morning and we’ve consumed just 1/3 of it.

Merry Christmas/ Happy Holidays to all!

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In the final episode of 100 Days to Heaven, the graphics of the gate to Hell was taken directly from TES IV: Oblivion.

100 Days to Heaven is an inspirational TV program on ABS-CBN starring Coney Reyes and Xyriel Manabat, both as Anna Manalastas.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is a game by Bethesda released in 2006. It is often regarded as one of the best RPG games of all time.

I am not really a loyal viewer of 100 Days to Heaven. I just happen to see it from time to time because my brothers watch it during dinner. Over time though, I have grown to love it. It has an interesting and inspiring story and I love Xyriel’s portrayal of Anna Manalastas, acting like she’s all grown-up and mature.

The last episode was aired on Nov 18, 2011, a 1-hour special finale. In one scene, Anna was standing before the gates of Hell. And what a familiar sight it is. Behold, it the Oblivion gate from the game Oblivion!

 
Anna Manalastas standing before the gate of Hell Oblivion

The title Oblivion is the namesake of the world of the Daedra in the Elder Scrolls series. You could say that the Daedra are the demons and Oblivion is Hell, but in truth the concept is different. Let’s just leave it at that.

I don’t know how popular the game is to Filipinos but players of good RPGs should have recognized it. I can’t blame the director for using it; it is the perfect image of a gate to the Burning Hells. Here are some screenshots of the first Oblivion gate in the game(yes, there are many of them in the game):

Now I’m just wondering if 100 Days to Heaven paid some royalties to the folks at Bethesda for using such images.

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The song was written by Robert Labayen. The music was composed and produced by Jimmy Antiporda for Star Records. The video was directed by Paolo Ramos, Peewee Gonzales and Melo Saliendra.

Da Best Ang Pasko Ng Pilipino lyrics

Maraming araw sa ating buhay
Ang hinahanap may kalayuan
Di man tanaw, di nauubusan
Ng tiwala sa sarili’t
Lakas ng dasal

Alam mong sa dulo ng bawat taon
Naghihintay ang masayang panahon
(Pinapawi) lahat ng lumbay
(Pangungulila) at paghihintay

Ang damdamin ay tumatawid
Sa lupa, sa dagat, o sa langit
Maiinit na palad sa gabing malamig
Pinaglalapit ng pag-ibig

(CHORUS)
Ito ang Pasko (ng Pilipino)
Pagmamahal ang pinagsasaluhan
Ito ang Pasko (ng Pilipino)
Inaangat ang isa’t-isa
Ito ang Pasko (ng Pilipino)
Panginoon ang laging kasama
Ito ang Pasko (ng Pilipino)
Saan man sa mundo
Da best ang pasko ng Pilipino

Anumang pinagdaanang may kabigatan
Wala naman tayong di nakayanan
Nasaan ka man, walang maiiwanan
Ang bawat isa ang ating tahanan

Ang damdamin ay tumatawid
Sa lupa, sa dagat, o sa langit
Maiinit na palad sa gabing malamig
Pinaglalapit ng pag-ibig

CHORUS

Lumalaki ang bawat puso
Lumalalim ang pagsasama
Sa pinakamahaba, pinakamasayang Pasko
Sa mundo

(Sabayan nyo kami)

CHORUS

CHORUS

CHORUS

CHORUS

CHORUS

CHORUS

Da best ang Pasko
Da best ang Pasko
Ng Pilipino

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NZ Prime Minister John Key's son Max planking in front of his father, dubbed as the National plank of NZ

As stupid as it may sound, it is real. A lawmaker wants planking banned, of all things. But as far as I know, it has not been passed into law yet.

Planking (or the lying down game as Wikipedia used to call it) is an activity where one lies face down in an unusual location, with straight body, the feet together and the hands touching the sides of the body. The goal is to have the act photographed and seen by as many people as possible on the internet.

People do it for the sake of fun and giggles and of course bragging rights. But it gets problematic when people try to plank in dangerous places or when the activity breaks the law. Apparently, a congressman feels the need to write a law disallowing the particular act.

The Anti-Planking Act of 2011 is authored by Quezon City Representative Winston “Winnie” Castelo:

AN ACT PRESCRIBING A UNIVERSAL CODE OF STUDENT CONDUCT WHEREBY PLANKING BY A STUDENT OR GROUP OF STUDENTS DURING STREET RALLIES OR SIMILAR PROTEST ACTIONS AS A FORM OF REDRESS OF GRIEVANCE BE STRICTLY PROHIBITED AND APPLYING APPROPRIATE SANCTIONS THEREOF

September 20th, 2011

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the “Anti-Planking Act of 2011”.

SEC. 2. A universal Code of Student Conduct is hereby prescribed where planking as a form of redress of grievance be strictly prohibited and appropriate sanctions be applied for violations thereof.

SEC. 3. Under this Act, planking is when a student or group of students lies face down in unusual locations especially in streets or other public places, keeping the hands along the body and the feet outstretched and especially where such act is meant as a form of redress of grievance against government.

SEC. 4 Every bonafide student from any school, college or university shall conduct himself with high degree of discipline and propriety.

SEC. 5. The Department of Education in the case of elementary and high school students and the Commission on Higher Education in the case of college students shall draft a universal Code of Student Conduct to carry out the provisions of this Act.

Further, DepEd and CHED, respectively shall issue appropriate rules and regulations to effectively carry out intent and purpose of this Act.

SEC. 6. This Act shall take effect ninety (90) days after its publication in the Official Gazette and in at least three (3) newspapers of general circulation.

This anti-planking law was not born out of thin air. It is the result of an incident on September 19 where students “planked” on streets in support of PISTON’s transport strike opposing the increasing oil prices, causing heavy traffic.

Sounds reasonable to me but maybe, they could have just arrested those students for causing public disorder or doing an activity that is against public interest (for lack of a better legal term). I’m pretty sure the existing laws are enough to get those planking rallyists off the streets.

I am not an expert of law but here are what I can surmise:

• The bill prohibits planking done as a form of redress or grievance only, not those made for fun. This comes from author Castelo himself in an interview. That means planking in dangerous or prohibited places wouldn’t be considered illegal, as long as it was made for fun. Now, if those same students planked again on busy streets purely for fun, then this law still wouldn’t apply to them.
• This anti-planking law bans planking for students only. It is explicitly written on the text of the bill, even mentioning Dept. of Education, Commission on Higher Education and Code of Student Conduct. This is unfair for students because they are being singled out. If the plankers aren’t students, then this bill wouldn’t apply to them.
• Section 3 of the bill clearly defines planking. Now, if a planker changes his style a bit so that it no longer fits the description defined on this anti-planking law, would it still apply?
• What’s next, anti-owling law?

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This is the animated video trailer of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, remade for the PSP.

This video is well-made. The animation is smooth, and its presentation perfect. The use of “moving drawings” instead of conventional animation is fitting for the art style used in the video game. It’s thrilling to see moving, animated in-game concept art instead of those mini-avatars you see when you play the game.

This is called Shinpuu Trailer on the official TO: LUCT website.

Having been exiled(supposedly) from their own land, the party of the knights of Xenobia led by Lanselot Hamilton travels to Valeria to find some work. Then we see the hero (default name is Denam Pavel) launching a sneak attack on the party, only to be fended off by the winged man (Vartan) Canopus Wolph. This scene is of course the opening scenario in the game. I think Canopus’ animation is smooth and great, showing the grace and finesse of the Vartans.

After a close-up on Mirdyn Walhorn and Gildas W. Byrne, the party of knights lends their swords to the hero to lay siege to the Almorica Castle in order to rescue Duke Ronwey. These scenes make up almost half of the trailer but cover only the first few quests in the game including the tutorial.

We see the Dark Knight Lanselot Tartaros for the first time leading a large army of cavaliers. Then a flashback shows Brantyn Morne (I think) giving orders to the Dark Knights to set the town of Golyat on fire (on their search for Abuna Prancet Pavel, the hero’s father I think). A short scene gives us a close-up on some of the Dark Knights’ faces: (from right to left) Barbas Dahd Geuse, Lanselot Tartaros, Martym Noumous and Balxephon V. Rahms.

Now to the battlefield… The “Hero of Golyat” fights side by side with the Paladin, Lanselot Hamilton against the army of the Dark Knight, Lanselot Tartaros. We see familiar faces here. First is the necromancer Nybeth Obdilor summoning his army of undead. Then Dark Knight Oz Moh Glacius attacking Myrdin. We see a fighter (dunno who) dodging two dragons before the final showdown between the two Lanselots.

*I’m more than 100 hours into Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together but I haven’t finished it yet. I think I’m just halfway through it. Even so, I’m already planning my second run. Its branching storylines tell you that you’re missing out on a lot of subplots. And this is what makes a good, addictive RPG. This game is what revived my interest in “Tactics” games.

*Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together was first released in 1995 for the SNES. The PSP version is a remake with updated graphics, new features and new subplots. The subtitle “Let Us Cling Together” is a reference to the Queen(a British rock band) song “Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)” from their album A Day at the Races.

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That’s what happened to me several days ago when I was trying to browse the website of the Bard’s Tale. I was happily exploring the website, clicking each animated figure on the homepage and listening to their short lines when this bar girl cried sexual harassment. I was caught off-guard and suddenly the web page was redirected to another page informing me of my violation.

Before you read more of my post, why don’t you try it out first. You will know what to do when you get there and I’m sure that you will find it amusing.

the Bard’s Tale

I haven’t really played this game. Some links just sent me here. But I know that the man at the center is the Bard and he is holding a mug of beer, the man below him is some sort of a guard, the dwarf on the far left is the tavern keeper and the girl on the right is a bar girl. Bard, mug, dwarf, guard and the bar girl — those are actually the 5 interactive, animated objects on the homepage.

Each object throws a funny line or two when you hover your mouse over it but the most entertaining is the bar girl. You would notice it the first time you move your mouse over her… bosom. She would whack your hand away and say “Hey, watch it!”, “If that’s your tip, it wasn’t a very good one.” or “Hey, I told you to stay away from the goods.” After your third try, the page would be redirected to http://www.sexualharassment.com/ supposedly informing you of the charge. Quite funny, really. I don’t know if the site is real or not, or if it is owned by the Bard’s Tale website’s webmasters too but this little trick surely sent some giggles up my spine.Read More:

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So we’re all excited to see what DOTA 2 is like, how close it is to the original Defense of the Ancients and how it fares against League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth. Valve is kind enough to release a DOTA 2 trailer, the first ever released. After all, the International DOTA 2 Championships is just around the corner (today actually!). It’s highly unlikely that the video shown is a gameplay footage though. Just look at the actual, in-game screenshot below and compare.

Not much of a story there. It’s just a meet-up-and-bash-each-other game anyway. What keeps the spirits high are the heroes that appeared in this trailer. They just look so cool rendered in full 3D, including their powers and skills. “That’s Axe and there’s Earthshaker”. Let’s play the guessing game.

The Heroes

When my friend Des sent me this DOTA 2 trailer, he said “nerd test, if you can name all the heroes in the trailer, then you are a nerd”. I’m glad that I am not. Even after playing the trailer several times, I couldn’t name them all. Here’s a full list of the heroes featured in the DOTA 2 trailer in the order that they appeared, in case you’re still lost.

First off is Traxex (Drow Ranger) fighting what seem to be creeps. She fires a Frost Arrow at the end.

Next is Mogul Khan (Axe) cornering Strygwyr (Bloodseeker). Then Magina (Anti-Mage) Blinking in to help and Raigor (Earthshaker) using Fissure to stun Axe. The third hero at the back is unclear at first but if you pause and take a look at him closely, you’ll see Sven (Rogue Knight).

Then, a battle between Raijin (Storm) (in Kung Fu Panda outfit), using Ball Lightning and Darkterror (Faceless Void) is shown. I wouldn’t have known it was Void if not for that “slab of meat supported by a neck”.

Razor (Lightning Revenant) uses Plasma Field on Balanar (Night Stalker) but eventually runs. Whatever happened to Balanar’s mouth, I don’t know.

A weak, noob Pudge (Butcher) throws a Meat Hook at Crixalis (Sand King) but misses so the latter uses Burrowstrike to counterattack.

Rylai (Crystal Maiden) is seen dueling Lina (Slayer) until a flying Viper (Netherdrake) interrupts with a poisonous attack. Then the Netherdrake goes on to fight Knight Davion (Dragon Knight). For the finale, an enraged Knight Davion uses his ultimate skill Elder Dragon Form to turn himself into a dragon and beat Viper to the ground.

*It looks like some blogs mistook Viper (Netherdrake) for Visage (Necro’lic) and Knight Davion (Dragon Knight) for Nortrom (Silencer). Sorry guys, those 2 heroes are not present in this DOTA 2 trailer.

*A recurring, funny comment on the YouTube page says that Rikimaru (Stealth Assassin) is in every battle scene. Silly!

DOTA 2 heroes

in-game screenshot of Doom Bringer

Links:

• official DOTA 2 website
• DOTA 2 blog
• Facebook page
• Twitter page

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His last few days were filled with suffering. He was battling with cancer of the liver(or cirrhosis, I’m not sure), incurable at its stage and his age. He was bedridden and very weak, ate very little and went blind. He was just waiting for the right time, so to speak.  His heavy smoking must have taken its toll on his body. No matter, I’d like to think he died of old age  and not of a disease. He was relieved of his pains at that  night of March 25

They were here in our house last New Year, Lolo Asiong and other relatives from Pangasinan. And it was a happy happy double celebration. My father’s birthday is on December 30 so we always celebrate New Year and his birthday at the same time. It was the first time that they went here to celebrate these occasions and I’m glad that they did. Aside from getting to taste good, cooked food instead of take-out orders from restaurants, I was able to celebrate the event with my relatives here  in my comfort zone. For Lolo Asiong, it was the first and the last. He was still strong back then. Who would have known that 3 months later he would fall terribly ill and die. Lolo Asiong’s gift to my dad, his presence, was also his last. His last words to me (and sadly the only ones that I can remember, ever ) were “Magagalit na sayo and Diyos nyan. [God would not like what you're doing]” commenting on my studies.

He will be interred tomorrow, April 2. His wishes, I’ve heard were “Ilibing ‘nyo ako sa may lilim para ‘di ako mainitan at sa may bungad lang para kahit dumaan lang kayo, maaalala ‘nyo ako“Read More:

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Release date: March 22, 2011.
Codename: Tumucumaque, after a national park in Brazil

I had seen the beta version of Firefox 4 before but I don’t really like installing beta versions of programs so I didn’t bother trying it.

The most noticeable change is the sleek and minimalist design. Some elements were integrated into others to reclaim precious browsing space. It gives me the impression that my monitor has gotten larger. These changes are not enabled by default though. I had to experiment with the settings a little to achieve the Firefox 4 feel that I want (right click and check/uncheck things ).

The address bar is renamed the “Awesome Bar” to let us know how awesome it is.

I have yet to test the Panorama feature but I already know that I can use it well. Sometimes, I have 20+ open tabs and I have to use other browsers so I could separate different parts of my online activities so having a sort of grouped tabs could really help. This feature is not new to Firefox 4 though; Opera already has it in the last few releases.

On to performance. Firefox 4 is still a memory hog consuming 92 MB of RAM at start-up with one tab. That includes 17 extensions btw, so I think it’s still a good number. FX4 loads much, much faster now taking only about 5 seconds 40 seconds to open as opposed to 1 minute in the previous version. Overall, Mozilla says Firefox 4 is 6x faster than 3.xx.

With all these new features, Firefox 4 could win back the default browser position.

Firefox 4 Links:

• Features
• Release notes
• Announcement
• download stats – I’m at around 1,740,000
• Reviewer’s guide
• Web O’pen Wonder
• Wikipedia

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Yes, I said it right. Real-life quests for in-game rewards.The tasks you do in the real world will give your avatars in Dragon Age 2 bonus items. Things like downloading and finishing the demo version, subscribing to BioWare’s newsletter and playing a Facebook Dragon Age spin-off flash game. For a full list of the currently available bonus contents, check out the Dragon Age II DLCs, add-ons, unlockables and items.

This stratagem has worked perfectly in the past, especially for me. Because DAII is an RPG, its players are most likely hardcore, driven by story and entranced in the beautiful, alternate world. And to get the most out of playing the game, they absolutely must have the best, most powerful, most renowned items in the gameworld. The bonus contents — downloadable contents (DLCs), unlockable items, add-ons — are items of great power and use and are offered for only a limited time, enough to get gamers rushing to buy the game. I remember I rushed to the mall to buy Dragon Age so I could get the code (that would expire in 2 days) that came with it and download the bonus item. (I would have bought the game later anyway if not for the extra item!)  There was a feeling of achievement in having a character more powerful than the “just-normal” character.

How can you resist these epic items advertising to you:

Helmet – “If you wear me, your head will look oh-so-scary or oh-so-heavenly depending on the ingredients. Change your appearance to your liking.  Oh, and I come with 100% immunity to fellow party member’s rants.”

Chest – “I’m a super duper hard plate armor with 25% resistance to slashing, piercing, blunt, fire, water, ice, lightning, earth, wind, and any other elemental damage I’m not aware of. “

Thighs – “I’m designed with the latest in monster-carcass fashion in mind and I come in many varieties: goblin, troll, ogre, wyvern, skeleton, zombie and dragon. Wear your trophies today!”

Gauntlets – “I’m the uber gauntlet worn by the great, legendary, powerful, dominating, unstoppable, wicked sick and godlike  level-199 1/4-elf-1/4-human-1/4-dwarf-1/4-gnome fighter-mage-rogue-cleric-monk.” (whew)

Greaves – “I give unlimited stamina, +60% speed, the skill Blinding Speed, fast running, fast swimming and pretty much everything any lazy, worthless player needs to travel from place to place. I’m indispensable.”

Rings – “If I become your ‘precious’, I’ll grant you +99 to all stats and a bonus skill that doubles all your rings’ bonuses. (infinite, got it?) And the power to control other rings…”

Sword – “My blades have +45 enchantment so you can guarantee a hit with every swing. Did I mention I also have 98% chance to kill anyone in one blow? I’m pretty much a cheat.”

BioWare/EA is not the first to use this tactic but they are probably the best in using it.

Just keep them coming BioWare. We’re suckers for these items.

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