New template

I have scrapped the previous 6j header and came up with a new template. This one is mixed with a simple mech and a grunge style with brushes. Mostly uncompleted. And the picture is compressed, so the diagonal pattern in the background cannot be seen. I am taking this as practice for the new blogskin for my blog. Please click to enlarge

6j template

This is the newer piece with added machinery parts as a border to give a more rigid feel. Please comment on whether the border should be more opaque or a transparent render is good enough. Current opacity: 65% Thanks for comments on improvement

Another Photoshop showcase

If you are interested, go to www.photoshoptower.com. I gained quite a lot of my PS knowledge from their tutorials, though I have already exhausted their (14 pages?) supply of tutorials. Enjoy!
Spent quite a number of hours on this mech design I made exclusively for PSP. Res 480X272, perfect fit. I had to create a whole lot of shapes with the polygon tools etc and then style them. I can say this piece is my current best, though it doesnt look much.


This piece is real easy. I just decided to do something abstract for my sister's blogskin so I zoom-blurred a render of clouds and used my old ps design made by brushes to blend in. Chose red this time as the dominant hue as I have been using blue too much. Spent about 30mins.

Photoshop is FUN!

Was playing around with Photoshop today and spent quite a few hours on these three designs. Please have a look!


This one is my first, a header for a website complete with navigation bar. Spent a lot of time on the Polygon Tool and Layer Styles.


This is an abstract faux-3D studio design. Relatively simple.


In my opinion, this energy ball is the best piece and also the last that I have completed today at 12.54am. Also relatively easy to make, thanks to the very handy Colour Balance Adjustment layer. I tried to mimic as closely as possible to the turquoise of Jue Dui Superstar. Hope you all have enjoyed these. Feel free to save these pictures, but please do not remove the xgamesterz logo. There will be more to come, and eventually, my new template. Good night, or rather, Good Morning.

Vivo City Not So Vivo

2 days ago I went to the much-talked about Vivo City. I can say that I was utterly disappointed in the selection of shops and overall design and quality. The only shop suitable for me there is Best Denki, though Esprit might be a contender. The architects had probably designed the mall to resemble a ship, evident from the curvatures and floor-to-ceiling windows all over the place, though I'd say the interior was too plain with only a small number of neon light structures on the ceiling and ground. The workmanship isn't too good either. Rough edges can be spotted if you look closely at ceiling lights. Floor tiles appear too cheap and old-fashioned, and the designers gave a flimsy coverup by ordering sparkly tiles. Not my idea of a mall designed with a modernistic approach. Maybe some black/white marble tiling and wall features? I'd say the shops look much better than the mall itself, especially those high-class ones that I know I will never step into. The Promenade seems to be closer to my expectations, with a unique snowman statue and small stretch of ornamental pools.
Obviously, I had spent the greatest amount of time in Best, playing the new thin PS2s on display. Nintendo DS is real cheap-and-plastic-looking, lightweight but does not give a sense of quality.

Dinner was the best, as we ate in Food Republic. It is the coolest(and largest) food court I have ever been to. The theme is fantastic, one that depicted the olden Singapore times in the 1960s. Food was a tad too expensive; my beef horfun cost$5 when I could have gotten a even tastier plate at hawker centres for $2.50. But that is expected from high rentals. Overall Vivo City for me = 6/10
For girls probably 10/10. The adolescent females in this current age all seem to display extraordinary muscle strength and stamina in legs.

Will post pictures as soon as my sister gives the camera back.

Illegal, schmegal

I am fed up with the recent news on a 17-year old guy in Singapore charged for using an unprotected wireless access point without prior authorization from the owner. I suppose the person who owns the access point has nothing better to do other than to sue people for using his wireless point, when he did not even encrypt or place any protection on his access point in the first place. Article: http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=57512
Btw: this article described that war-driving is another web term for piggy backing, which is incorrect. War-driving means driving a vehicle around a neighborhood to find wireless APs to use. Piggybacking is taking advantage of an unprotected wireless AP. Slightly different.

Piggybacking on an unsecured wireless network is actually rather hard to justify on a legal front. In the owner's perspective, so long as other people are using his wireless without his permission automatically equates to illegal, and therefore he shall sue the person because he has nothing better to do. This judgement is not wrong, but it can be disputed.

First of all, merely using the wireless access point on a technical viewpoint is not wrong, as the technology is merely behaving the way it should: broadcasting a radio signal created from a packet and then being received by a network card or wireless adapter. This can only be deemed illegal if the person in question is doing illegal acts on the network(eg. watching child porn, trading body parts or accessing the owner's computer)

Lets say that I am the person using open wireless points without "authorization". Ethically speaking, the owner would argue with a common metaphor: Accessing my access point can be likened to entering your neighbour's house when the door is open. Also ethically speaking, I can counter-sue by arguing that the electromagnetic waves broadcasted from the wireless router were trespassing on MY property (house) and therefore I have all the rights to use the waves to access internet. According to the metaphor, I can enter my neighbour's house if his house is in my house and his door is open. In addition, the prolonged exposure to electromagnetic waves might also adversely affect my health so I am also risking my own health by using the owner's wireless. I was not hunting down the owner's wireless, I only switched my computer on and found that the owner's network invaded my house so I had to do something about it.

Also technically, the fact the access point being open alone is already enough for me to claim that my access is authorized, as my access was not stopped by any encryption or protection means (WEP, WPA, PUK etc.). This point can be further illustrated by this equation:

If
Access stopped = unauthorized entity
Then
Authorized entity = Access given

And also because the router was setup in "open" authentication, if I had established a connection, it means my adapter had requested permission to use the access point, and the access point had given it authorization.

In addition, the definition of cracking is:

Cracking a wireless network means defeating the encryption so that you can establish a connection without being invited.

In other words, if the encryption is not present, you are invited(technically) to establish a connection. Simple as that.

Have I proven my point?

Even so, users should be aware of the possible dangers in using open APs. Since you are on the same platform(network) as the owner, it would not be too hard for him to access your harddisk by spreading trojans that create backdoors or keyloggers that log your passwords and credentials when users travel across the net. Likewise the user can also perform the same acts against the owner and in addition, slow down connection speeds by hogging up their bandwidth when streaming data (eg. downloading video).

To obtain strongest possible signal strength from access points, one must take note to place the adapter on higher elevation and not near metals or against walls. The best barriers that radio waves can travel through are glass. Try not to stay between solid concrete walls. Of course you can also modify a small satalite dish to take in radio signals to be decrypted by your network card, but that is practically not feasible. In case you are interested, they can be purchased from Simlim or eBay. If your neighbours are all stingy enough to place encryption on their wireless routers, some default passwords can be tried on default SSIDs such as linksys, belkin, motorola, netgear. Try admin, 1234 or guest. For a complete list: http://www.phenoelit.de/dpl/dpl.html

Though I am not entirely sure this is legal, I definitely do not indulge in these evil ways.

Moz is cool!

Mozilla firefox is cool! I know this is late but I just got around tinkering with Firefox 2.0 and its open source add-ons. The previous 1.5 that I used to use was good enough already but this new(actually rather old) release is totally superb! With added security, smoother GUI and browsing features, this browser really blows IE away to the next dimension in cyberspace. Currently using a iTunes-inspired theme and Greasemonkey script together with Videodownloader. Watch this vid as Firefox pwns IE Netscape and safari http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbqUvZ1Ja84
and also viruses spyware and popups
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwiiU4OEUpM
Haha retarded stuff.

I have been downloading scanlations from the net within these two days. (For the less initated, they are scanned copies of japanese comics - manga, that are translated by the online communities) All this happened because something random that my old friend Ray had said popped up in my mind out of the blue: I went to Borders today and read some comics. Chobits. Its kinda weird with robots and all that.
I couldn't remember when he said that, but it must have been at least 2+ years ago. Anyway I was kind of bored at that time so I decided to go online just to download this manga, all 88 chapters of it.

This manga is a Clamp/xxx-holic series I believe, and its about a world(probably our near future) with mass-produced appliances called persocoms. These are humanoid computers, artificial intelligence, that interact with and serve humans and are also their companions. They are designed to be as human-looking as possible, so much so that some even fall in love or prefer them over humans. Its actually comprised of a lot of crap of one custom-made persocom falling in love with a human and vice versa, though the persocom has a powerful program that could shut down the entire computer systems and networks in the world(impossible) if she does not find her "person just for her", in other words her perfect lover. The plot is lame. What struck me is the purpose of living portrayed in this manga. The possibility of getting too attached to a machine is very real. Imagine one that looks, feels, behaves and speaks exactly like a normal person. Though equipped with the knowledge that the subject is made of semiconductors encased in silicon and plastic, the characters exclaim in the comic that their persocoms are not simply machines. They are simply what they are, and the characters like them for what they are. It seems that persocoms are programmed to assist and bring happiness to their masters. If you look into yourself, you notice that you would do your best to bring happiness to yourself. If not, you also bring happiness to others, indirectly also to yourself.

Our emotional(and indirectly, mental) wellbeing hinges on this chemical reaction alone, or endorphins that control the "blesssed state" you go into. Without joy, a person would either become miserable till he is pushed into mental instability or collapse totally in life. That is why it is only natural for people to seek happiness, even if doing so unconsciously. If, as shown in the manga, persocoms really are able to provide the user happiness, then I think it would be inevitable for users to become encased in the world involving only them and their persocoms. The persocom, in a sense, is the ultimate human, as it never errs or cause a negative impact on the user. That is why it is worse than the worst drug, increasing the dependency of the user on itself day by day, eventually leading the user to cut off from the outside world completely. Society would be restructured and everyone would simply be content staying at home together with the persocom they love. Is this the purpose of life? To be happy? If you say one cannot buy happiness, one can still purchase things that create happiness can they not? Society is what it is today because of interaction, no matter digital or person-to-person. Even now most of us already cannot live without the electronics and digital media we have today. What if one day your computer transforms into your ideal "human"? You will be able to do all that you are able to before and in addition, get to be with an imitation of a human, if not one that is even better.

Have you ever thought of the purpose of life? What is your purpose in life? By common sense, one's purpose in life would never be one that is to intentionally destroy oneself. Would you get up one day and decide that you should sneak into the army base and frag yourself down? Or put in your entire life's savings on sinking stocks and mess your financial status up? One would surely aim for a goal in life that would ultimately give oneself happiness. This statement does not conflict with either religion or business. For religious people (eg. christians), their purpose in life is to follow the Bible and spread the gospel. This is fulfilling God's will and they get satisfied or otherwise, happy. People whose goals are to climb the corporate ladder and gain success in life financially also aim to be happy. Even criminals act without regard of law as they feel that doing so would give them a better life/euphoria (drug trafficking etc)

Isnt the purpose in life tied strongly with personal happiness? So if you ask me the purpose of life, I'd say it is living the best you can.

Camera!

Yesterday my dad walked back home and handed me an Olympus bag. He had gotten a tradein for our old Olympus with this brand new one! It is an average camera, priced at $400. The u 710 model that has 7.1 mega pixs, 3x optical zoom, anti-shake and brightcapture technology with All weather function. In addition, the lens is a 6.5 - 19.5mm, making it very wide angle. I have tested it out and the pictures were in good resolution(3072X2304) and the colours' richness was real-looking enough. No manual mode though. The only things you can change manually is the ISO, flash(duh) and focus (one point or smart point). 6.5 - 19.5mm would lead me to think that its macro focusing abilities are very good though it didn't turn out very well. I tested the Close up and Super closeup mode and the max it can focus up till is around 10cm away from the object. Not very optimum.


Sleek plastic design that looks like brushed metal from far with some chrome finishings and logo plate. The screen size is average, 2.5 inches across diagonally. Easy to use and weighs around the same as my handphone. Flash isn't so strong so I would prefer to tweak up the ISO and WB rather than flash the room.
Outdoor shots shouldn't be a problem. So folks, don't buy this camera as this isn't one with the best compromise between functionality and pricing and also because I already have it. Get one with manual focus.


I have finally managed to find a great pastime: watching commercials. No, seriously. Go and search Youtube, Metacafe or other video sites for 'commericial'. It will keep you entertained for a long time. I was for 2 hours yesterday. PSP going great. I am now able to play NES(eg.mario), Genesis(eg. Sonic), Neogeo(eg. Metal slug), homebrew(red alert) and normal PSP games. This piece of technology is a real steal, only 500 smackers for such a versatile portable gaming console. Thats around $150 more than my old and beat up iPod Nano.

Adding more stuff later if there are any happenings (I doubt). 2nd week going.

[b]Zzz[/b]

Didn't join the online community for a couple of days. Not that anyone missed. Previously I was crawling Google, Torrent and IRC for Kim Jung Hoon's past albums for my sister's birthday present. Minimal cost, maximum value. Bet no one can get any of those in Singapore. It took me two damned days to pluck out the 7 albums files from Korean forums and IRC search engines. But at the very least it still served its purpose as a distraction and it was something for me to do. Rested for two days as I really felt that I didn't want to see the google banner in my life ever again. I hardcore-d a series of books. Fearless by Francine pascal Book 1 - 5 and Chiho's Artemis Fowl The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer. Hardly your dark corporate conglomerate/political novel or How to Hypnotize People self-help but children fiction usually have shaky facts that can be challenged, (eg. the redudancy of liquid metal present in a hand identity biometrics system, or the paradoxes of time travel even with magic involved) and that's fun.

Only started sleeping at 3am this morning after finishing the book. So now dynamic ip address 202.156.8.11 is finally back after all that crazy book reading. And after exhausting my week's worth of reading material into 2 days, I am once more left idling without anything to do.

List of possible activities
1. Search for LuA player so as to play red alert homebrew on PSP
2. More emulators for PSP
3. Lunch
4. MSN
5. Crashing Google and Yahoo

Now which should I do first? Number 5?

In My dreams.

Holidays! or should I say holidays....

Aren't humans weird creatures? We are forever unable to be satisfied. When we under the stress of examinations and stuff, didn't we wish that the holidays were already there? Then we would start procrastinating and list down all the things we wish we are able to do. And now when finally all the bad mugging is over we start complaining we have nothing to do in the holidays. I am like just staring at the screen and thinking of Hmm what should I do. Option 1. Sleep 2. Stare at the ceiling 3. Watch Pokemon on Kidscentral 4. Play psp 5. Eat 6. Sleep

All of which are so pathetic. Really have nothing to do! You know the feeling, where you feel like doing something, but not too strenous and not too simple at the same time. Wa lao, anything also cannot. Want to watch tv, dont want to lift the remote. Want to sleep, wasting myself away. Die la...
Now only 1/8 of our holidays have passed by, so better start thinking of what to do! Going to church chalet only on the 20th and maybe other countries in December. Some people are so lucky, holidays first week immediately get to go overseas. Sian I want to go China buy cheap stuff eg 1. watch, software, bag, shoes. Malaysia products too lousy in quality. Chinamen are the best! With Audis and BMWscosting only S30k power...
The only good thing to look forward to currently is my damnit cheap 80Gb SATA harddisk! Only for $130! Yeah, finally able to throw the slow and failing IDE 40gb of mine.

In reply to Xiaotian, I shall describe him as a: Amiable, engaging and (very)smartass kind of person, one who talk lots of crap. And also about Sometings especially. XT you know what I mean la.. Smiles alot and also likes posing infront of mirrors. Great in the 3Cs, a very standard boy 1. Car 2. Cam 3. Com, although his priorties somewhat differ from mine. now enter special stream tamade. In contrast with me, if you take his sacred handphone away, it is akin to skinning him alive then dipping him in boiling oil. Oh and the numbers stored in his SIM card are rather valuable too. Likewise, I also felt that Sec 2 has been a very enjoyable year. It is the very last year we can enjoy ourselves. Hope everyone does the best in whatever you all do next year and onwards!