Goodbye 2010! Hello 2011! Yeah I know, this post is already a week late, but then again this blog wouldn’t be Idlectic if my posts were on time. Anyway, we have again survived another year of ups and downs. We laughed, we cried, we felt pain, we caused pain, we triumphed, we failed, we have undergone the perennial phase of change. I can cram a lot of new year quotes and phrases but that would be monotonous. And I might find it too boring to write and boring to read. So I won’t. Instead, I’ll write about 2010 from my point of view, and my perception of 2011; It’s probably more boring but I’m going to write it anyway.
Remembering Engr. Alfredo Garcia
I was really close to my grandfather. I looked up to him since I was a kid, and I remember telling my cousins that I wanted to be as successful as him when I grow up. He was financially well-off, but was never selfish nor greedy; his siblings, sons, and even colleagues would vouch for him on that account, and I can say I can vouch for him too. He wasn’t much of a disciplinarian, he always wanted to see his grandchildren happy, and he made us happy. He also tried to instill in us the sense of responsibility he practiced, specially when we got older, old enough to understand such values.
Our First Game
Just wanted to post something about our new game Puckerz, a game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It will be released sometime in the first quarter of 2011. Visit the official website here.
Puckerz is being developed by Groundbreaking Games.
My Rig Running on a 400W PSU
I bought my rig on September 10, 2009 from PCHub (through TipidPC.com), and I’ve never had any problems with it since I bought it. Five days ago however, at exactly 5p.m. on November 19 (don’t ask what I was doing), my PC just suddenly turned off. I shrugged it off as nothing and ignored it. I took a shower because I was leaving that night for a rendezvous with my barkada. I tried turning the PC on again after taking a shower, but it just didn’t, that’s when I started to take things more seriously. With my basic knowledge of PC troubleshooting (borderline noobish), I began to analyze what had happened. Looking at the my rig’s internals, I noticed that the motherboard light is on, indicating that it is receiving electricity. Upon turning on the PC, the heatsink lights, and the case lights all blinked once and the case fans moved slightly, but again the PC did not switch on. That led me to believe that my 700W PSU may be the culprit. I left my PC for dead as I had to go drink tequila that night.
Playing EVE Online for Free
Just a short background about the game: EVE Online is a sci-fi MMORPG set in space. Like other MMORPGs, you have your own character. But unlike the usual walking, running, and sometimes jumping avatar, you get a static portrait of your character instead. What you control in-game is your own space ship. You can have as many ships as you want but you can only control one at a time. Ships sizes vary from the small fighter-class ships called frigates to the grand daddy of all ships called titans. Of course, you have to have the right skills to control a particular ship and pimp it up with the right equipment. If you love sci-fi and space combat, then EVE is for you. Otherwise turn away.
I’m A Gamer – Console Rentals
I eventually stopped going to the arcades not because I lost interest in playing, but because my favorite arcade place closed down. Fortunately however, one of my schoolmates back then knew the owner of the arcade place and he was let in on a little scoop. He told me that the owner started a new business. It wasn’t an arcade place this time, rather, a shop full of SNES consoles. I have never played an SNES at the time, and thinking about having owned a NES a few years back made me excited about the prospect of doing so.
FPS Player’s Guide: The Basics
I’ve been playing FPS games semi-professionally (yes I played for money) since the advent of the popular Half Life mod Counter-Strike. I’ve had my fair share of tournaments and won myself and my team some cash and/or trophies. The last tournament I played was back in 2008 with a little game called Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, with my current clan CEBU (Combat Elite Battle Unit) – considered to be the best CoD4 clan in the country, sponsored by Razer. Though the days of playing semi-professionally may be behind me, my competitive nature still pulls me back in to friendly competition and skirmishes with my friends and online strangers. This helps me brush up on skills that diminish with age; younger players have faster reaction times and better hand-eye coordination. Through the years of playing FPS games, I’ve picked-up quite a few pointers (from friends and opponents alike) that I always adhere to whenever playing semi-professionally or even casually, and I’d like to share them with whoever is interested by posting it on my blog right here.
I’m A Gamer – The Arcades
After losing my last Famicom in my quest for skipping levels in Star Wars, my gaming hobbies were stifled a bit. This was the time when some of my classmates introduced me to the arcades. So to the arcades we went and games were a plenty. I was already familiar with the arcades years before this; our family would go to SM North Edsa as a stop over whenever we went to Laguna or back to Pampanga, and the arcades back then was conveniently placed in the food court area. Since my loving console is gone, I now have a new purpose for loose change other than tinkering with the light gun socket.
My Entry to Audiophilia
I used to be a <5.1 speaker setup> kind of guy and I rarely use headphones/headsets. The only time I use them is when I play FPS games for three reasons: communication w/ my teammates, game immersion, and because I need to hear the footsteps of the enemy. But for everything else, movies, music, and other types of video games, its all 5.1 speakers. That all changed more than a month ago when I finally got my first audiophile headphone – the Audio Technica ATH-M50s.
My 1 Week Diet
I’ve tried dieting in the past but most of the time my efforts were in vain because I either find myself too busy or too lazy to commit to a strict regimen. I did a month of dieting back in January and the results were acceptable to say the least. It was only a cut-rice-intake diet and it wasn’t something I could consistently sustain. But now, since I have all the time in the world to do whatever I want, I decided to give it another try. Fortunately this time, I wasn’t alone. My dad was willing to participate in my little week-long experiment.
Enter the GM Diet (General Motors Diet). It was a diet cooked up (no pun intended) by General Motors for their employees way back in 1985. It’s supposed to help one lose 10-17 lbs. after 7 days. The results were tempting so I jumped on the idea that maybe I could lose 10-17 lbs. myself.