2010 | Band Master

Last week, my classmate suggested a lot of upcoming, closed and open beta online games. He told me about this game called “Band Master”. Well, I searched about it and it looked similar to a lot of existing rhythm games in the market. You can see the Guitar Hero / Rock Band-inspired game play, especially the in-game set list. It has Ozzy Osbourne’s hit “Crazy Train”, and even the punky-punk Goldfinger’s cover of Nena’s “99 Red Balloons”. Of course, there’s always that Canon Rock. Various music instruments can be played, depending on the song, similar to what Rock Band first implemented. Also, the layout can be a crossover of Rock Band/Guitar Hero games and Bemain Games (i.e. Guitar Freaks, Drum Mania), and also Konami’s very own Rock Revolution. Every time a song is played, you can see your character aka “avatar” playing the instrument in-sync to the music. The fretboard is similar to Bemani games in default since it is placed on the left side, while you can change it ot the center-transparent one similar to what Guitar Hero/Rock Band has. As of today, the game offers only less than 30 songs since it is currently on a Closed Beta Testing. Off the rhythm game, it also has a community mode, where you can go in a community and hangout with other players in rpg-like style, similar to PlayStation Network’s Home. Also, you can shop for a variety of costumes and accessories but currently, they offer with a limited objects.

What I noticed during the Beta testing, lots of bugs can be found. One thing is the Xtrap failure. It can occur for certain Windows 7 32 or 64-bit users. I encountered it but thankfully, the power of the forums helped me. But still it’s a minus. Another disappointment is the game play. I thought that if you play any music with Guitar or Bass as instrument, it has the feature to ‘strum’, similar to most of the current rhythm games. With that feature missing, it’s like you’re just playing O2jam LOL. One more thing is that, the songs aren’t in-synched with the notes, making it boring and un-fun to play. The sounds is very annoying also, specially the sound of the instrument, so what I did is to turnoff the instrument sound, and make the BGM higher. I think, it’s the most failure feature of this game. ~~sigh… Maybe that’s why it’s a cheap version of GH/RB and a re branded version of O2Jam. But still I will play the game, and will wait for any K POP songs to come out. For now, time to play Assassin’s Creed 2. Check out my Fraps-recorded videos:

If you’re interested and wants to play this game, visit Band Master. Register Here. Download the Client via Torrent or Direct Download

Oh, and by the way, if you want to play with me, just add me up. My primary avatr is named “SOSHItiffany“. I came up with that name since it is Girls’ Generations’ Tiffany’s birthday tomorrow, August 1.

And don’t forget the scoring:

Gameplay: 6/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 5/10
Overall: 6.33 (It’s Calculated)

Dito ko talaga gustong kumain ee…

“Dito ko talaga gustong kumain ee… nahihiya lang ako magsabi”

My almost-everyday training at Araneta Coliseum Incorporated (ACI) might be a bit tiring. From morning til’ sunset, I’m just sitting in a gas-lifted chair, staring at my computer, surfing the internet or coding my web app. It’s been a while already. I’m so happy I’m back to my training after that tremendous thesis defense a while ago. I missed every person out there. I missed my seniors. And i’m so thankful, they accepted me for what I am. It’s just so great to see them again, working hard as a team, as my superiors and mentors, and as friends. Well, in short, I’m back LOL.

When I go there, I always ride the bus. There are times I can sit properly but mostly I end up standing. The only thing I can do to avoid sleeping is to watch the view from the bus through the outside. I can see a lot of things so clearly. People busy looking for their ride. The peaceful St. Peter church. The workers who are working with that C5 extension in Tandang Sora. The Quezon Memorial Circle and the racing of cars in the Elliptical Road. GMA Network HQ filled with lots and lots of advertisements. UP-Ayalaland’s TechnoHUB gave me a very good view of what we call as “the future of IT in Philippines”. And lastly, we cannot forget Puregold. Every time the bus get passed on it, I find that little restaurant called “Harvey’s” very tempting to eat at.

And here’s their official mascot/logo:

According to my quick research, Harvey’s resembles Jollibee a lot. From their advertisement posters, the chairs, the tiles… The theme are a bit too similar. Also, they offer the same category of food just like in Jollibee. And here’s more, didn’t you realize that their mascot looks like a jollibee in blue? XD well, let’s not judge them. I’m still curious about this fast food chain. It’s totally exclusive at Puregold that’s why I’m wondering, what’s up with this fast food company. Well, what worries me is the tag line “Sulit sarap ang bonding”, a bit similar to Jollibee’s “langhap sarap”.

Whatever, I just wanna say that, we shouldn’t judge it for what it is. Maybe, it looked like a Jollibee copycat for now, but I can still feel myself, tempted to eat in that restaurant.

So, are we going?

Greetings to Mam Yolly, Sir Reyn, Sir Harvey (XD), Kuya Joseph and Ate Anna ^^
Here’s something you might enjoy to watch while spending your weekends:

Link for the video: Click Here

Thesis Final Defense—> DONE!

finally! I know, you want to congratulate me and my thesis partner, John Michael Conte. We did a great job, orally. The system might be not that too perfect to impress the panelists, but I’m so happy and so so so satisfied with my grades. Our system entitled, Transaction with Time-Tracking System for Myerix Internet Cafe, works like those you’ve seen in established computer shops like Netopi@ and Gbox. It’s written in Visual Basic 6.0 plus Data Reports and Office Access. I know, it’s too common, but we still did a good job. Thanks to all who helped us.

By the way, here’s the story. We showed up in the school 2 hours before the scheduled meeting. I brought my rig, Black S-ONE, and ate Anna’s laptop. ~~it was real heavy, that’s why we came up with a taxi. AFter setting up all, the panelists came and we started like hell~ Only 2 panelists came coz’ the other 4 weren’t available that moment. Well, the system worked great but, the panelists demanded some more features, so there’s another revision for the system. sigh~~ I thought it’s really done. Anyway, we expected it since the system wasn’t really 100% perfect. So we got home, took a deep relaxation, played some games, and another day came out ^_^

Here are some Behind-the-scene photo caps:

We took the following solo pictures just after the panelists came out to take a short (but turned out to be a long) break:

…and you think i’m wearing a white-colored stereoscopic 3D glasses in this Samsung stereoscopic 3D-wannabe LCD monitor?

…and you know what, here’s what happened after that tremendous 3-hour life torture:

So much for that, I’m so happy it’s done… As of now, we’re working for our thesis documents and the revision of the system. Hopefully we’ll finish it early ^_^

 

|> Bullet For My Valentine – Tears Don’t Fall

DIARY | Bahay ni Kuya fighting!

Sa kabila ng saya ko kay baby thea, nandyan pa din ang problema… nakakaasar pero sana matapos na. sana malagpasan natin to Kuya Jan Vincent Limos Dayapan (salamat sa sushi), Ate Jean Dayapan (kaya mong lagpasan yan, promise), Jhanzen Antonio (kalimutan mo ang malulungkot mong mga nakaraan), Ate Maria Cristina Limos Antonio (pasensya na sa abala), Kuya Doroteo Quinto Dayapan (salamat sa lahat ng mga pangaral mo), ang original 5 ng Bahay ni Kuya. Pati na rin sa mga guests natin sina Kuya Gammaniel Paulo T. Cabello (Goodluck at sana makagraduate ka na din…), kay JC at sa mga kapatid nya, at syempre sa akin, na nagaagaw buhay na sa defense ngunit humihinga pa rin.

Nawa’y pagpalain tayo at sana’y makamit natin ang pangarap at mga plano natin…

|> Bullet For My Valentine – Tears Don’t Fall

Nokia 5530/5800 XpressMusic HQ Videos

Note: These MP4 files are mostly decoded with 640×360 resolution; 1500kbps bitrate; 29.97fps framerate; 16:9; Dual-channel audio with 128kbps bitrate. Meaning, these files are compatible with both the Nokia 5530 and 5800 phones, and maybe other mobile phones with the same specifications of the two.

Music Videos:

– After School – Because of You
– f(x) – CHU
– f(x) – NU ABO
– Girls’ Generation – Gee
– Girls’ Generation – Gee (Japanese)
– Girls’ Generation – Genie (Japanese)
– Girls’ Generation – Into The New World
– Girls’ Generation [JeTiHyun] – It’s Fantastic! (Mabinogi)
– Girls’ Generation – Oh!
– Girls’ Generation + Super Junior – SEOUL Song
– Girls’ Generation – Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)
– Girls’ Generation – Run Devil Run
– SHINee – Lucifer
– SHINee – Ring Ding Dong
– Super Junior – Sorry Sorry (The Answer)
– T-Ara – Bo Peep Bo Peep (Dance Version)
– T-Ara – I Go Crazy Because of You
– T-Ara + Supernova – TTL (Time To Love)
– T-Ara + Supernova – TTL (Time To Love) Listen 2
– TVXQ! – Purple Line

Performances:

– [100502][SBS Inkigayo] Girls’ Generation – Oh! + Run Devil Run
– [100710][MBC Music Core] ZEA – Level Up!

Will be adding more soon ^^

Notes:

– All files are uploaded by “Me” through MediaFire under the account name “dead_executive05”.
– All files do have MediaFire password “kenafford“, to avoid search engines and hotlinks.
– I do not accept request. I’m uploading these files for personal reasons.
– Please do not take out these links, or else…
– Please feel free to leave a comment.
– Broken links, password bug, please report immediately.

Don’t know how to convert videos in HQ for your Nokia 5530/5800? Click Me!

2009 | Assassin’s Creed II

First of all, I assume you know this game coz’ it took the world by storm from the first release back in 2007 (Assassin’s Creed), so no more “here-and-there’s”, a’ryt?

ASSASSIN’S CREED II

Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Engine: Anvil
Series: Assassin’s Creed
Platform(s): Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
First Released: November 17, 2009
Genre(s): Third-person Action-adventure; Sandbox-Style
Mode(s): Single Player
Played on: Microsoft Windows

Assassin’s Creed II is a sandbox-style game created by Ubisoft, and is a direct sequel to the 2007 game Assassin’s Creed. This time, we have Desmond Miles, yes “Desmond” from the Beatles song “Obladi Oblada” xD. Desmond escaped from the Abstergo Industries together with Lucy, as I’ve played the game. This game was set in 2012, however, because this game is about time-machine, the story brings you back to the Renaissance period in Italy, and you can actually meet Leonardo Da Vinci throughout the game. He’ll be your number one friend in terms of the hidden blade. I didn’t expect to see a lot of famous Italian people in this game, so I was amazed. Honestly, I didn’t played the first game, but I tried. It’s just that I was scared that it will not be graphics-worthy since it’s a 2007 game already. BTW, the protagonist is Ezio, and in the beginning of the game, his dad will be killed due to a conspiracy led by his dad’s traitor friend. That’s should be enough for a brief intro, or else, it’ll turn to a spoiler… sorry to spoil a little folks. ^^

You can see the city of Florence very well, up in here…

The PC version was given a bit lower score by various gaming sites and magazines, compared to what the PS3 and XBOX360 version had.

The graphics and gameplay is good, for me. I’m satisfied that it removed the ugly features from the first game.
Here’s a video introduction I captured trough Fraps. In this video is the introduction of the game, the escape of Desmond, yes Desmond again, with Lucy and to use Animus 2.0:

My Comment: It’s a great game, for real. I’m enjoying the story until now, after i’ve finished GTA: Episodes from Liberty City. I love how the graphics turned out on my system. The game made me play it without finishing the first game. It’s a must-have game for gamers, and even Anne Curtis loved this game very much ^_^
My Rating: I’m giving it 10/10 for the graphics, a 9/10 for the gameplay, 7/10 for the music and 10/10 for the story.

|> Bon Jovi – It’s My Life

How To Convert Videos For Nokia XpressMusic 5530

Ok, first of all, this topic concerns my little sister that’s why I need to post it in a very nice way. For everyone’s information, the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic phone does inherited some existing features of the older but more superb 5800. They both have touch resistive screens, capable of displaying 16.7million colors with maximum resolution of 640×360 (not HD, but enough to be HQ in your palm). As for video capturing, it can capture 3gp videos in 30fps (yes, 30fps ^^).

So now, i’m gonna show you how to convert HD/HQ videos to your 5530 handset.

What you need:
– A fully-working video converter (For this tutorial, we’ll be using Koyotesoft’s Free Video Converter)
– USB data cable
– Nokia 5530 handset
– Computer with Internet Access

Setting up the converter:
1. Download Free Video Converter HERE
2. Install it afterwards. (Note: during installation, uncheck the following with labels “Set Yahoo! as the default webpage” and “I agree to the terms of use and wish to install Dealio Toolbar”… They’re some sort of advertisement and adware, I think)
3. Run Free Video Converter (Start > All Programs > Free Video Converter)
4. Choose English as Default language when prompted
5. You’re now on the main page of the converter, and somehow may look like this

6. Click the “Add Files” on the upper left corner to add video files you wish to convert. You can also just drag n’ drop the files to the app.

7. Highlight the video file you wish to convert and configure the output file with these settings:

VIDEO:
Output Format: Mp4
Codec: MPEG-4
Size: 640×360 (Note: you need to click the icon beside the drop-down list box; Uncheck the “Lock Height to match Aspect”; Input the following: Width: “640” Height” “360” and click OK)
Aspect: 16:9 (4:3 is for SDTV; 5:4 is for SDTV also; 16:9 is for Widescreen)
Fps: 29.97 (This concerns the rate of motion of the video. The lower, the laggy-er. We used 29.97 because the source file’s framerate is 29.97fps. So, if your source file is 30fps, change it to 30fps. Same goes to 15fps and 23fps)
Bitrate: We’ll be using 1500kbps here (Note that the higher the bitrate, the larger the file and the better the quality)

AUDIO:
Codec: AAC
Frequency: 44100khz
Channel: 2
Bitrate: 128 (I suggest to use any bitrate higher than 96kbps. 128kbps is CD quality; 64kbps is Radio quality;)

8. Click the Output file Tab and click browse. Here you’ll be assigning which folder path you want the output file to be saved to. In this tutorial, we’ll be using the default desktop path “C:\Users\kenokenopi\Desktop”, meaning, once the conversion is finished, you can find the .mp4 file in the Desktop.

9. Now it’s time to convert. Click the “Convert Video” from the upper portion of the app. This will take minutes, depending on the performance of your processor. Mine’s Intel Core i7 920, and it took about a minute or two.
Important Note: If you want to convert the video faster, uncheck the “preview video during conversion” box. It’ll be a help.

10. Once the video conversion is finished, close/minimize Free Video Converter and navigate windows to your desktop, find the output file and play it using VLC player or anything that can play it.

Now we’re done. If you’re not satisfied with the quality of the video, you can mind changing the bitrate higher.
I also uploaded the file in mediafire:

[PERF][100502][SBS Inkigayo] Girls’ Generation – Oh! + Run Devil Run.mp4 —> uploaded by me

More HQ Videos Here

Credits: GSMarena.com (for the 5530 official picture)
Thanks a bunch for viewing ^_^

|> ZE:A – Level Up!

AEROCOOL | PGS VS-9

Well, I just sold my Antec 300 case last night, and bought myself this new case. It’s a case that something i’m looking for. I know you would say that it’s more like a downgrade than an upgrade. But guys, not that I hated my Antec 300, but it doesn’t have a proper ventilation to cool up my Core i7 rig… It’s just so lacking, though I admit Antec is one of the best brands out there, but VS-9 is surely a competing case. To sum things up, here’s my description and comparison:

AeroCool PGS VS-9 PROs:

– Lots of mesh and you can even put lots more fans (2x 140mm Top; 2x 140mm Bottom; 2x 120mm Front)
– Meshed bottom, so my HEC Cougar can breathe now ^_^
– Smaller and more compact
– Water Cooling ready
– Lots of internal drive bays
– 5.7kg versus 7.2kg (Antec 300; well there’s a reason behind it though)
– Security locks for drive bays and PCI peripherals

AeroCool PGS VS-9 CONs:

– 0.6mm Japanese Steel is not much to Antec 300’s (that’s why it’s lighter)
– Paint finish is smooth but keep it away from sharp objects (or the black finish will become silver!)
– The included fan (120mm) placed on the rear part is a waste of time and power so better take it off or just place it on the HDD bracket.

I was so surprised that my overall hardware temperature got better:

VS-9 has 9 removable drive bays, so any expansions, storage or anything you would like to install in your machine, can be done easily. For harddisk drives, VS-9 comes with plastic brackets where you can put your HDD and eliminate vibration. In fact, you can also attach 120mm fans on these plastic brackets. They can be easily placed and removed from the chassis by means of the so-called screwless design, which is the red-colored circle that you see in each sides of the drive bays.

My Radeon HD4850 card fits well in the chassis, just like my Intel X58 motherboard. However, I did some research first if my Deepcool Killer Whale would fit on it. Thankfully, it did fit with no problem at all.

The next big thing for me is whether to create another desktop build in the near future. I think X58 will be phased out soon, including the Nehalem microarchitecture. Anyhow, I wouldn’t be surprised if people will buy AeroCool chassis from now on, instead of the heavier brands out there. Thanks to AeroCool. VS-9 is completely satisfying. You can check out the full product specifications of VS-9 here.

|> Killswitch Engage – Life to Lifeless