Will Game for Food

Mastodon coming to Champaign

2010-03-30T22:05:00.001-07:00

F*ing exams

2009-12-17T01:16:00.000-08:00

I been busy with exams. Just a quick update. My latest upgrade adds a new lcd screen on the front panel of the pc. It looks so badass that picture just doesn't do it justice. So I recorded an video and posted it on youtube.

Another news. 30 Seconds to Mars just released their newest album. Their third album titled "This is War" sounds good. But I just don't love it as much as their last album -"A Beautful Lie"-.

Next week something big is gonna arrive. I'm definitely gonna post an update next week.

Furuta Pendulum

2009-11-23T13:21:00.001-08:00

This is a video from my Digital Signal Processing lab. It was suppose to be a very happy day to see it working, but it turned out to be a very tiring day. In the end we’re just glad it worked.

Dragon Age: Origin

2009-11-14T07:37:00.000-08:00

Normally I'm not a fan of role-playing-games (RPG). The kind of games that starts with customizing the character's features, attributes and class, followed by a lot of dialogues and leveling up process; you'll need to talk with a lot of people to gain information needed to progress and get quests. They just consume a lot of time and unless the game is really good, it's gonna feel like torture. The last memorable RPG I played in a long time was Diablo 2, in 2000. What does Dragon Age: Origin has in common with Diablo? For me it is the great story, random encounters, solid game mechanics and massive area to explore.

It's not the first time Bioware releases a hit. Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights and Mass Effect are just a sample of their highly successful games. However, I never played more than 30 minutes let alone completed any of them. Not that I never gave them a chance. I played the aforementioned games for a couple of minutes and lose interest really quick due to the boring first mission or slow progress. That is not the case for DAO though.

After just 10 minutes of gameplay, I thought that this is just another fail attempt to get me to play RPG. Then suddenly the character's home got attacked by demon hordes; his family murdered and brother lost amidst the entangling battle. The game mechanics was easy to learn but hard to master. Unlike most RPG where you just click around the map hoping to hit something, DAO requires micromanaging the battle with tactics. Heck, you can even let the character finish the fight without you if your tactic is robust enough. They'll choose the spell based on the situation, take health potion when needed and even run if they are outnumbered.

The story is engaging and complex in good way. You are required to make simple good and bad decisions, however the outcome is never as you would have expected. Sometimes the effect is only seen long after the decision was made. An example is: after saving one helpless enemy, he/she may return to assassinate the main character really late in the game. The character's relation with others should also be noted. Since this is an M(mature) rated game, and coming from bioware, you can expect lots of gore and a couple of interesting sexual scene. If you ever wondered how a dwarf and an elf can mate, look no further. You may even get lucky and force a gay elf and human girl to fight for a dwarf's love. It's just hilarious.

All in all, this is a must get game. A 5* game with lots of playtime. A friendly warning, don't get too intimate with Morrigan or you'll get heart broken.

Atreyu - Storm To Pass

2009-11-14T07:35:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite band returned with their newest album Congregation of the Damned.

My hobby

2009-10-24T20:07:00.000-07:00

From morning...

till night..

Arch Enemy - Dark Insanity

2009-10-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've post something about music. Well, good news. Here's the new music video from Arch Enemy's new album, "The Root of All Evil". The video was released today, and the album is already available since last month.

I got a lot of respect for the vocalist, Angela Gossow. Not even most males can make their voices go as low as hers.

How to improve your GPU temperature

2009-10-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

This is a guide on how to improve the temperature of your GTX 260 graphic card. It is also applicable to other nvidia graphic cards since the cooler is pretty much the same. If you don't know the temp of the card chances are you don't need this guide. However if you feel that the card is a too hot or needed to get it cooler so you can overclock higher, read on. This guide will teach you how to change the old thermal paste on the gpu so you WILL need a replacement, hopefully better thermal paste.

First off, the tools needed:

Air canister. Just required if the card is dusty.
Cotton swabs
New thermal paste. I used Arctic cooling MX-2 bought from newegg. Also called TIM (Thermal interface material)
Thermal paste remover. You can just use water, but this thing will make your life a lot easier. Also bought from newegg.
Small phillip screwdriver
Time. I manage to finish and took pictures at the same time in around an hour.

Find a clean non-static surface. Wooden tables works. Don't do it on a table with plastic table cover or rug for example. Also to avoid damaging the processor, never touch it directly with your hand/fingers. Thats why we have the cotton swab. Remove the graphic card from your pc. In my case, it's the GTX 260 core 216 from evga.

Remove the screws at the back/bottom of the card. Only remove the big ones that you can see clearly. Also remove the 2 small ones on the side of the card near the output connections. Once you removed all the screws, gently pull apart the plastic cooler from the circuit board(pcb). You may have to twist it a little since the thermal paste may glue the two sides together.

You'll get a similar configuration as in the picture. The thin board is the one that cost 90% of what you paid. The big second half is just the cooler with the heatsink and fan.

As you can see, the gunk is what they use as their thermal paste. No wonder its ineffective.

Take caution not to accidentally remove/tear the small thermal pads. These are use to cool the small ic's on the circuit board that does not generate much heat.

Remove the old thermal paste from both the processor and the cooler using dry cotton swabs. The second pic shows how the processor looks like without the gunk.

Next use the thermal paste remover and cotton swab to remove the excess gunk. You may use water, but it might not do as good a job. This is how the processor looks like cleaned and dried. Notice the difference?

It's time to reapply the new thermal paste. Since the chip is a big one, I prefer to use the 3 line method to apply the tim. Then I just press together the two sides to get a well covered area. You may also use a card to manually cover the whole area of the chip. But from my experience it doesn't really make a difference.

Once you place everything back together, you're ready to test the new temperature. Sometimes, the new thermal paste need a couple of hours to completely cure and reach its' max potential. I manage to decrease the temperature by 10C the first time through. If you see an increase instead, the thermal paste might not be enough or the chip surface doesn't meet the cooler. Here, I place the core 216 card at the bottom since it's cooler and also I prefer the old GTX 260 backcovered version of the card.

Ps: I use Office 2007 to write this blog and office just published it straight to the web. I don't need to copy /paste. cool

a broken finger. awesome!!

2009-10-08T21:03:00.000-07:00

I've never broken any part of my body in my life. I always thought I have strong bones. But it maybe also because I never go to see the doctor once injured. In this current case, it has already been a month since I broken my finger before going to the doctor. The broken finger was cause by a bullet pass from my qb during a flag football game. I continued playing and scored 2 rushing TD's.

The only reason I went to have the xray was because the swelling worsen after playing football again in the weekend earlier. The doctor told me I may have a fractured finger and I can do the xray if I just want confirmation. So I did the xray and waited for the result the next day. I got a surprise call at 9am in the morning from the health center to hear that it was worst than expected; I had a broken finger all along.

Today I went to see a specialist, an orthopedic. He was surprised that I never went to see the doctor earlier since the incident must be really painful. It should have needed surgery if I were to see him earlier. I told him I never broken anything before, and the pain was normal to me so I assumed it was just a dislocated finger. I even continued to play flag football and guitar hero with the finger.

The orthopedic was even more surprised that the bone did not slip even with a big chunk missing at the joint. He was afraid that it may happen during the healing process. So I have to wear a splint on my left middle finger for a month. That means no computer gaming, guitar hero or flag football for that period. Bummer. But at least I can still play my xbox with my controller. I even won an online match earlier on Madden 10 with a splint on my finger. The other guy sucks anyway.

Nothing Much

2009-09-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

Unless you've just arrive at my blog, you would know that I upgraded my desktop like every month. Sadly my laptop did not receive the same kind of attention. You may be shock. I got a laptop??!! Yes, I do. I've been using it for 2 years actually; without upgrading a thing.

To clarify, when I bought it, the thing is still called a laptop. Nowadays, it has a different, more popular name. A netbook. And I was one of the early adopter of netbook since I have the earliest version of EEEPC. The Asus 701 EEEPC. It looks crude I should say. Without the glossy screen, the multitouch pad, the colorful casing, who would wanna buy this thing these days. But it was a different story then.When I bought it, netbook was not the norm yet. Every time I display it in public, people would turn their heads toward that cute little thing. A couple of people even ask me where to get it and how much it cost. Believe it or not, I bought it for $400 and that was already considered cheap considering a full laptop cost ~$800. Now, you can get an even better ones at half the price.

Anyway, back to the upgrade part. I've been using it just fine with its' 512MB ram and preinstalled Linux OS. I never really needed to upgrade it since it's been working perfectly as it is. However, as RAM prices drop significantly this couple of years, upgrading to 2gigs of ram looks even nicer. Also, I got myself a free windows XP Pro from the engineering department of the university. So upgrading the OS is also at virtually no cost at all.

I only needed a couple of hours, and a little patience; since I have gotten used to my god-dayuuum fast desktop. Upgrading to 2GB of ram really makes a big different on this little netbook. Since it has a slow processor, having a bigger workspace really helps speed up the processes. And I installed the lite version windows XP pro. Before installing, I removed all the unnecessary drivers and application like movie maker, file sharing, IM, media player etc. I have my desktop and my phone to handle my musics. That also makes the Xp more responsive and faster without all the bloatware.All in all, the upgrade was a success. And it only cost me $30 for the duration of 2 years. The old has gotten an internal boost. My EEEPC is gonna serve me a couple more years for surfing and reading documents on the go.

Another semester with a lab

2009-08-31T16:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's another semester with a lab. Actually make that 2 labs in a week. Both are time consuming and energy draining labs.

First one is the Digital Signal Processing lab. 3 hours per session and that's still not enough time to finish all of the works. I just went over the second lab doing stuff like programming a couple of leds to spell my name in morse code. So much fun that was *sarcasm*. Well, if things go well, the last lab would be building a mechanical arm that can balance a stick. Much like you trying to balance an upside-down broom on your hand. Or like a segway balancing its passenger while motionless.

The next lab is the Instrumentation and Test lab. It sound a little boring but actually it's a lab where you get to destroy and blow stuffs up. Imagine taking a concrete block and compress it (with a machine of course) until it blows up into pieces. Or take a steel beam and twist it until it snapped. The only problem is the lab reports take a considerable time to finish. My labs from previous semester may take as long as 6 hours to finish. However this course lab reports needs at least 10 hours of work in it. For a 1 credit hour lab course, that's just too much.

Well, that's it for this week update. I'm gonna be buried in lab works soon.

A letter from court

2009-08-20T17:20:00.000-07:00

Today I received a letter from the Champaign County Court. Damn, I was so freaked out that I may have done something wrong to get another citation or fine; even though I cannot think of any at that moment. Besides, my driving probation period was over 2 month ago. Yeah, I got on probation for going through a red light in from of a health clinic before.

Anyway, when I open the letter, a heading in bold reads "JUROR QUALIFICATION QUESTIONNAIRE". It's a questionnaire to see if I'm qualified to be a juror at a later date. There's even a warning that if I failed to complete and return it, I'll be summoned to court.

So half-heartedly I fill in the form. After completing the form, I'm going to post it tomorrow hoping I wont get called. I know it's an obligation, but it's a p.i.t.a having to go to court and listen to the trial and all. I know since I've been there.

Moving out sucks

2009-08-13T23:11:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the year again; Where we have to move out from out comfortable old apartment to a new one. Hauling ass and stuffs to the new apartment was tiresome.

But it's not over yet. I'm currently without a home since I'm only allowed to move in on the 20th. Till then I'm a homeless guy living in a friends' house. The process of moving into the new house is gonna be the same tiring stuff all over again.

Luckily I don't have that much things to move. Since I keep my shopping for new clothes to the minimum I only have 1 luggage of them. All the others are electronics, games, computer parts.

Hopefully this new apartment has better beds than the last one. For more than a year I had to endure sleeping on a bed that was broken right in the middle. My back can't take it any more. So does hers'..haha

Mayhem Festival 09!!!

2009-07-27T16:54:00.001-07:00

Another great day to update this dusty blog. This is gonna be a looong one. So many things to write, and share. So bear with me.

As you may(or may not care to) know, Mayhem Festival is here again. It's one of the things I look forward to during this boring summer break. I went to last year's mayhem with Slipknot and Disturbed headlining them. It was a blast, but child's play compared to this years'.

First and foremost, there's a lot more of my favorite bands. That includes Trivium, Bullet for My Valentine, Killswitch Engage, God Forbid and All That Remains. One time or another, their songs were featured in my blog post. If you're interested, (who am I kidding) you can use the little search bar up there to find their respective post.

Anyway, the concert/festival was held on sunny Sunday at Tinley Park near Chicago. Since the others are fainthearted with these kind of concert, I traveled alone to the concert to join my metalheads brethren. I drove in a fast and fun Mazda 3, only stopping once to fuel the car an my stomach. I had a Double Whopper w/ cheese and that was the only meal for my whole trip.

I arrived quite early at 1.00pm. After standing in line for half and hour just to get pass the gate item check, I was free to roam around. The first thing in my list was to buy a tshirt. However, I bought two: a Trivium and a Killswitch Engage shirt. There were 3 stages; two small ones and the main stage like every other year. Last year I wasn't interested in the small stage acts since they mainly new and upcoming metal bands. But this year was different, all 3 stages are filled with respectable experienced bands.

While wandering around collecting free items, I saw that there is gonna be a signing session with Trivium. My heart jumped. I was so excited more than the time when I saw my first porn. I can't be more obvious; circling the tent waiting for a sign of queue line to form even though there was 1 more hour before the session starts. Fast forward 1 hour, I was about to get their autographs. I was thinking of what to say to them. I ask Paolo why he'd shave his awesome hair. He said he was sick of long hair. When it was time to meet Matt Heafy, the vocalist and guitarist of the band, I was lost for words.

Here was the scene:
Matt: How you doin'? (shake hands)
Me: Err, good, good. I love your songs. Can I maybe take a picture with you?
Matt: Sure. Let that guy hold the camera. (take this awesome pic).
Matt: So, what ethnicity are you from?
Me: I'm Malay.
Matt: Great to see another Asian Metalheads! I'm Japanese.
Me: I know dude. Thanks.
It was one of those memorable moments that I won't soon forget. Right after taking Trivium's autographs, God Forbid performance was almost over. While the stages is set up for the next performance, which was All That Remains, I managed to snake my way into the middle of the crowd.
As soon as the band started to play, the crowd went wild. I was thrown around in the sea of people. I was so tightly squeezed that I was sure that if I jump, I'm gonna pop on top of the crowd. While watching the band I was also busy protecting my stuff. I had a bag filled with tshirts, free stuff and autographed posters. Too busy was I that I wasn't aware that a mosh pit has formed around me. A mosh pit is a circle where people slam each other just for the adrenaline rush. Google it if that doesn't make sense. I did managed to get out with my limbs still intact.
Once All That Remains performance was over, there was a 30 minute break for the roadie to set up for the next act. It was gonna be none other than TRIVIUM! This time I got even closer to the stage. I was literally within 3meters of the stage. This time I was not gonna budge. Two guys beside were holding tall beer cans in their hand. I had a feeling they were not gonna finish them in time for the performance and I was right. When Trivium entered the stage, everyone was jumping and pumping their fist in the air. Before anything else, I was wet with beer.
But I was not gonna let that stop me from enjoying my self. Matt Heafy was awesome. His singing is even better live. They're guitar works were not lacking from the recorded version. That's a good thing since I hate bands that cannot perform as well as their recorded act.
Trivium played 5-6 songs. I remember them playing Down From the Sky, When All Light Dies, Pull Harder on the String of the Martyr, and finally Throes of Perdition. Once they're finished, I was soaking wet with my own sweat, other people sweat and beer. I went to the bathroom to clean myself. It's now 6:30pm and the performance on the Main Stage is about to start.

This is just the half way point of the trip. There was alot more happening. I'm just gonna continue at a later time.

The perfect beauty

2009-07-10T00:30:00.000-07:00

Hey kids, it's time again for another episode of "upgrade my pc".
This is my biggest upgrade yet this year. And the most expensive. This time I changed my computer case and power supply. Both are least look upon when buying a new computer, yet play an important role nonetheless.

Enough chitter-chatter, time for some pics. Let them explain whats the fuss is about.

The front looks mean, muscular and yet sexy in black

The side also looks muscular, and the HAF label adds class.

The inside of the case as you can see, is very roomy. It can fit full size graphic cards and still have a couple of inches to spare. In my previous case, the cards would hit the harddisk cage.

These are the two GTX260 in SLI. That's a lot of graphic processing power.

You can see the Megahalem cpu cooler in push-pull configuration. Meaning there's 2 fans working together to drive the heat away from the heatsink. The top fans is a HUGE 200mm fan.

In the dark, you'll notice the red front case fan. There's also the blue motherboard LED and green Razer sound card. Not really a light show, so they won't disturb me from sleeping.

Next, I hope you notice how clean and organize the components look inside the case. I spent 2 hours hiding unnecessary cables and routing it through the back of the case. Luckily, the case has a great cable management system with holes in perfect spots to slide cables through. Keeping the cables unseen is really an art combined with skills. It's like rearranging the furniture in your house to make it look roomy and easier to navigate.

Finally, I ran 3Dmark benchmark programs to see how the computer performs. There's huge improvement from my previous score. Also, the cpu runs cooler with a drop of 4C in temp just with the change of case. That's a lot since I said in my previous post, every degree counts.

3dMark Vantage score P20675

3dMark06 score 21492

Prototype

2009-06-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

After 3 weeks of playing on and off, I finally finished Prototype. This is a really great sand-box action game. You take on the character Alex Mercer, who lost his memory but found out he has incredible superpowers. He can manipulate his body into weapons, change his appearance and run up buldings. But that's just a tip of the iceberg for the cool stuffs he can do. The story is so convoluted that I will not even try to explain it. Just watch this awesome trailer to get the basic idea. Owh, and I bet you can guess why this game is rated mature from the trailer.

I took more time to complete the game than intended since the PC version of the game suffers from really bad glitches. From the moment I first started the game, there was already a sound glitch. Then there was the random crashes. I was so frustrated since the reason I bought the original game was for the sake of not to have any problem playing the game. There is still no patch posted by the programmer. However, near the end of the game the glitches lessen which was odd but good nonetheless.

But don't let the glitches deter you from getting the game. It is still a blast to play. There's nothing a small patch can't fix (hopefully). Seriously, fans of open-world action game can't let this get away,

Delight and Angers - In Flames

2009-06-22T22:42:00.000-07:00

My current favorite song

Everyday takes figuring out how to live,
Sometimes it feels like a mistake,
Sometimes its a winners parade,
Delight and angers,
I guess thats the way its supposed to be...

Please heal me, I cant sleep..
Thought I was unbreakable, but this is killing me,
Call me, everything...
Make me feel unbreakable, lie and set me free!

I feel the fear takes hold,
Afraid this hell I create is my own,
Calm my franticness, I cant take it anymore,
This used to be my own world, but now I've lost control..

Please heal me, I cant sleep..
Thought I was unbreakable, but this is killing me,
Call me, everything...
Make me feel unbreakable, lie and set me free!

Chasing leftovers,
Under the fading sun,
Searching for shelter,
I feel my time has come

Please heal me, I cant sleep..
Thought I was unbreakable, but this is killing me,
Call me, everything...
Make me feel unbreakable, lie and set me free!

Another upgrade

2009-06-17T23:54:00.000-07:00

So, I did another upgrade on the already powerful computer. This time it's the cpu cooler. Like the name imply, its job is to cool the most important component: the processor; the thing you paid most for when buying a computer. Cpu coolers are mostly overlooked by people building/buying a computer. It's no surprise since the stock cooler is already sufficient enough to cool the processor. However, for hardcore overclocker like me, every degree of cooling is important to overclock the processor higher.

My last cooler was the Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX. It was a great cooler and had served me well for 2 years. It's keeps the processor cool and quiet at the same time.
My new cooler is the Prolimatech Megahalems aka. the Megatron. I got a great deal and can't let it get away. Currently selling like hot cakes, the Megahalem is sold out in most stores. The retail price is currently $65; and that does not include the fans. The fans will set you back another $15 for a good one. Wondering how much I got them? $45!!! and that includes 2 Scythe fans worth $30 alone.Up close, the heatsink (aka metal part of the cooler) look a lot like transformer's sign. The fans spin at 1900rpm. Moving lots and lots of air to dissipate heat from the heatsink. FYI, I installed 3 of them in the pc. The noise from the fans is not a problem since I listen to my musics far far louder than that.
Now the result...
I'm finally able to reach 4.1GHz and not break 70C. Previous cooler would have reached 80C especially during the summer. As a conclusion, the upgrade was worth it. I'm still pushing for the limit of this cooler. Congratulation Prolimatech. Megahalem is the best.

ps. my next upgrade would be the case. got my eyes on the Coolermaster HAF 922

Things to look forward to

2009-06-06T20:08:00.001-07:00

Can't wait for 2 new albums coming this summer. One is from Killswitch Engage and the other is from Devildriver. Killswitch Engage new self-titled album is going to be released on 6/30 while Devildriver's Pray for Villains on 7/14. Please enjoy the singles from both albums:

Free Food!!

2009-05-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

This week was filled with disappointment, consolation, enjoyment and foremost: free food; lots and lots of free food. Long story short, Midwest Games 09 was canceled, a bbq was held, then a treat from MSD, then another "makan2" at Asma's and finally another bbq. Maybe that's just how people are. Foods and friends can really cheer up the situation.

Then there was also the movie. I watched X-Men origin: Wolverine with Resty (not much sense in hiding it anymore) on Friday night. The movie was great. The company was even better.

All in all, this week started with a sad story but ended with happiness. At least that's how I feel. Hopefully no one is still grieving about the stuff that could have happened. Just be thankful of the happy things that came true in the end.

A Rite of Passage

2009-05-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

This is the new music video from the Metal Gods of Dream Theater.

Dream Theater is one of the seasoned Metal band out there. They're about to release their 10th studio album called Black Clouds & Silver Linings. The single from said album is A Rite of Passage. Enjoy.

I have forsaken thou long enough

2009-05-15T19:59:00.000-07:00

Finally an update. First post in the month of May and it happen on the 15th.

Just so busy with the final. Now the semester is over I can get to game again. Haven't touch the xbox 360 and ps3 for quite a long time now. Need to practice my guitar hero and drumming skill after abandoning them for too long.

Need to update my movie list. Can't remember the last time I went to the cinema (actually, I can but it's just a metaphor). I really wanted to see X-Men Wolverine and "Angels and Demons".

I'm taking Summer classes, and summer 1 term is going to begin next week. At least it's not gonna be too hard. At least I hope so.

That's all for now. I'll think of something more to write later.

next best thing to going into heaven

2009-04-30T17:53:00.000-07:00

Is going to the Mayhem Festival 2009. Every year, only the best metal line-up can make it. This year is no different. The name Trivium alone is enough to make my eye tears in happiness. Add them with Killswitch Engage and Bullet for My Valentine, there's no way I'm missing this event. Owh, remember God forbid that I missed because of final exams? They're gonna be there too.

The ticket arrived today and it looks like I'm gonna go there alone. Unless there's someone brave enough to join. Let me warn that this is gonna be loud, fast and full of drunk people.

Another thing. Last Sunday was the grad nite for the seniors. It was a blast. I've decided to post some cool pics.

Slipknot - Sulfur

2009-04-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

A new video of Slipknot was released last weekend. The song is called Sulfur from last year's album All Hope is Gone. All I gotta say is, being under water with the mask on must have been scary. Enjoy it.

Slipknot - New Music - More Music Videos

Crazy weekend

2009-04-20T19:17:00.001-07:00

Yes it was. A lot happened.

All of 'em was great. Some more wonderful than the others.

One was especially awesome.

It seems that a rumor started going around. Whatever it is, I can only say it's most probably untrue. I sense that it is going to hurt some people. And I hate to see any of them feel uneasy around me. Please stop it.

False Alarm

2009-04-13T15:52:00.000-07:00

Went to see an optometrist today. I really felt like my eyesight was deteriorating. I was so worried that I had nightmares that I have to wear this ugly and thick eyeglass. So I went to Illini Eye Care to have an eye exam.

First off, they asked a lot of this bogus medical questions that for me, personally, has nothing to do with the eyes. Anyway, on with the actual test. The optometrist told me to read the letters across the room with each eye and I can read the lowest one, although not as clear as I used to see. He then turned off the light and use this scope with light thingy and check the inside of my eyes. He said it was perfectly fine.

Then he used the machines with the rotating lenses while I say which lenses makes the letters at the far end of the room look clearer. However I just needed 1 click to make it all better. He then gave me a pair of lenses with -.50 power and brought me outside to read the door sign (with is small as hell) from across the street. FYI, that was farther than across the room before. I can read it clearly with the glasses on.

So what's the conclusion? He said I can make a pair of eyeglass with power 50 (it was soo damn thin), or wait and literally see if it gets worst. He recommended that I just stop stressing my eyes by not sitting too far at the back and eat more vegetables to improve them.

All in all, it was just a false alarm. I still have great vision. Although not as perfect as before. Gotta start eating more carrots to get them back to 20/20.

This sucks. That too, but in a good way

2009-04-12T22:23:00.000-07:00

It's hard to update when the pc broke down. Anyway, I still took some time to write something on a borrowed laptop. It seems that the motherboard just went kaa-put. And at an even better time during the week that I have 3 exams. Well, on the bright side, I wont be able to play games. Hopefully that'll lead to more study time.

This week is gonna be a hellish one. But heaven is just at the end of it. Have a plan with a certain someone at a certain place. Hopefully I still remember how to do it right since if I remember correctly, the last time I did it was almost 2 years ago. HEHEHE*evil laugh*

ps: dont let your mind wonder too much. it's not what you think. well maybe it is

Looking for -> End of a Heartache

2009-04-04T22:44:00.000-07:00

This is an oldie but goodie song from Killswitch Engage (KSE). They're one of my alltime favorite band. They're currently on tour preparing for their upcoming 5th album. Their last album, I thought, was a disappointment. Hopefully they will redeem themselves with the upcoming album.

This song is call 'End of a Heartache' - Killswitch Engage. FYI, I even have a sweater of KSE with a picture of a heart punctured with needles. I was surprised when my rhetoric lecturer, Ezra Claverie knew instantly that it was Killswitch Engage's sweater. I thought the name was the only thing we had in common.

This song tells about a guy that is currently broken hearted; maybe from previous love. He's waiting for a girl to heal it. To end his heartache, so to say. Does it has anything to do with me? Maybe.

Seek me, call me
I'll be waiting

This distance, this dissolution
I cling to memories while falling
Sleep brings release, and the hope of a new day
Waking the misery of being without you

Surrender, I give in
Another moment is another eternity

(Seek me) For comfort, (Call me) For solace
(I'll be waiting) For the end of my broken heart
(Seek me) Completion, (Call me) I'll be waiting
(I'll be waiting) For the end of my broken heart

You know me, you know me all too well
My only desire - to bridge our division

In sorrow I speak your name
And my voice mirrors my torment

(Seek me) For comfort, (Call me) For solace
(I'll be waiting) For the end of my broken heart
(Seek me) Completion, (Call me) I'll be waiting
(I'll be waiting) For the end of my broken heart

Am I breathing?
My strength fails me
Your picture, a bitter memory

For comfort, for solace
(Seek me) For comfort, (Call me) For solace
(I'll be waiting) For the end of my broken heart
(Seek me) Completion, (Call me) I'll be waiting
(I'll be waiting) For the end of my broken heart

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X

2009-03-28T12:37:00.000-07:00

When I'm bored playing Team Fortress 2, this is the next game that I'm currently addicted to. It's a fun aerial warfare game. The game really pushes the processing power on my pc. That's obvious, considering the great graphics the game has.

You can't play driving games (in this case, a flying game) with a keyboard and mouse. You need a controller for the precise movement you cant get with a keyboard key. Luckily I have an extra xbox 360 controller that is connected to my pc.

The game is set in the future; when PMC ( private military corporation) is a lucrative business. As a retired air force jet pilot, the player joined a PMC cause it pays better. Since PMCs are not affiliated to any country, we'll be fighting for the ones that has the most assets. Example of tasks are protecting an Iraqi oil rig from the attacks of their enemies or stopping a missile from hitting a client aircraft. A great game to pick up if you're not easily disoriented with flight simulations.

Priceless

2009-03-23T23:09:00.000-07:00

I should have post this in the my previous one, but I just got this pic from my brother. It seems that he found it in the album and thought it was cool to scan, edit and sent it to me.

ps: this was taken at my kampung in Melaka.

Papa Roach - Hollywood Whore

2009-03-16T12:21:00.000-07:00

Papa Roach was the among the earliest rock band I listen to. In 2000 my friend gave me Papa Roach's 2nd album, Infest, to listen to. It was a great album and I listen to the whole album over and over again until my friend was mad at me for not returning it.

They're about to release their newest album at the end of this month. Titled 'Metamorphosis', it looks to be another great album. The single for the album, "Hollywood Whore" was released since last year. Here's the music video:

The song has some great guitar riff. You have to see the video till the end. Not to spoil it, but starting 2:50, it starts to get reaally messed up.

Owh, an update on my bathroom. It's finally fixed and repainted/plastered. It looks better than before. Now, I just have to clean the excess paint on the floor tiles.

the (w)hole experience

2009-03-10T11:59:00.000-07:00

(sing to the tune of London bridge)
toilet roof is falling down,
falling down,
falling down,
toilet roof is falling down,
my fair lady.

You got to see it to believe it..So yea, there was a leak on the bathroom's ceiling of my apartment. When I noticed it, the ceiling was already soaked with water that the plaster/wood had started to deteriorate. I called the owner yesterday, and this morning the repairman came to fix the problem. It's still under repair, but it seems that the leak is no more. Tomorrow, the repairman is gonna plaster the ceiling like new again. And that may take another 1-2 days to dry completely.

Till then, taking a shower under that hole looks really safe (sarcasm). The funny thing was this happened before when I was in Alam Shah. However, the one in SAS was never noticed until the damn ceiling fell completely. And it was on top of my favorite cubicle too. Luckily nobody was hurt, at least I think so.

I'm gonna go take a shower now. Pray for my safety.

As I Lay Dying - Through Struggle

2009-03-08T01:01:00.000-08:00

As I Lay Dying(AILD) is a great hardcore metal band from California. Their singer has a great aggressive voice and his backup vocal, the bassist, compliments him with a soft melodious voice. They are about to go on tour this Spring with Lamb of God, God Forbid and Children of Bodom. All 4 are well respected bands in the metal community. I have a chance to see them live when they reach Illinois, but alas, it's going to be during the exam week in May. Sadly, I had to miss the tour. God dammit! It's not fair; making me choose between my passion and my responsibility.

Nevermind, I accept the fate. Here's a classic song of AILD from their 2005 album Shadows are Security, "Through Struggle". This is a great example of a headbanging song. You may "struggle" to hear what he's saying. But trust me, it has some deep meaning. Owh, and I think the part starting at 2:00 is the best.

Remove from me,
This deception,
That I call love,
That I call love.

My rig

2009-03-06T16:59:00.000-08:00

Ok. So I've shown other people's rig but never post my own. I just completed an overclock on my processor and eager to show it. SO here's my very VERY fast personal computer.

This is the setup. Most of them are black. I should've wait a while for the black version of monitor to be released, but at least the base is black.

Next, the computer case. It's an old Cooler Master Centurion 5 black case I got in 2006. It's simple, has ample space and most importantly keeps the component inside cool. Unless I upgraded to multiple graphic card, this case is perfect for me.

Here is how the inside of the pc looks like. I've labeled the cpu cooler, graphics card, sound card and HDD for easier identification purposes. The cooler is a Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX. The outward vent fits perfectly with the side hole of my case. It sucks air directly from the outside to cool the processor. The hard drive is the most expensive part in my pc for me. It's a WD Velociraptor 300GB hdd. It cost me $300 but believe me, it was worth every penny. It's currently the fastest sata hard drive in the world. A laptop drive would spin at 5200rpm, a normal desktop at 7200rpm, but this baby spins at 10000rpm. That's almost twice that of a laptop drive. The result: faster loading time, quicker access time of files, faster copying and opening of files.

The graphics card is a GTX 260, overclocked to perform similar to GTX 280. The graphics card as the name imply handles the graphic of computer. It's also the most power hungry component of the pc.

Next is the Razer Barracuda AC-1 sound card responsible for the sound. Similar to the graphic card, an integrated component is enough to produce an acceptable sound. But for a better quality sound, a discrete card is required. Also the card will lift some of the burden from the processor so the pc can run faster.
Here's the monitor, speakers and mouse. Also my phone already covered in my previous post. The monitor is a Dell 20" monitor with integrated 2.0Mp webcam and mic. The webcam quality is great and the picture looks amazing. The screen is also a glossy finish similar to dell's high end laptop model. The mouse is a Razer DeathAdder on a Razer Mantis surface. A deadly conbination of speed and control that I need in my everyday computing (LoL). The 2.1 logitech speaker outputs decent sound quality. Although I'm hard pressed to replace them since they haven't give me any problem since I bought them almost 3 years ago.

On the left is the Razer Lycosa illuminated keyboard. I really like the glossy finish of the keyboard fitting with my table. The illuminated keys bluish glow looks awesome and menacing at the same time. The keys are rubber coated to prevent slipping during heavy gaming. Also, the keys are low profile, meaning only a small keypress is required to type similar to a laptop keyboard.

The media control is a plus. You can see the rubber finish on the keys from this picture.

Finally, my overclock processor. I can't actually show you the overclock processor. But below is the picture of the speed of the processor taken from a screenshot of the desktop. As you can see the default core speed reported by Windows Vista is 2.8GHz. The right shows the core speed overclocked to 4.00GHz. Since the processor is a quad-core, they can perform 4 simultaneous tasks at 4.00GHz each. The cpu doesn't have to slow down and share their speed to run multiple programs. I can run a movie, some word docs, YM, youtube video, virus scans and I won't notice any lag whatsoever. Sweet huh.

Bros before Hoes

2009-03-06T08:07:00.000-08:00

I've been away from home for so long now. I wonder how my siblings are doing, especially my brothers. As I said in my previous post, I'm the eldest of 4 boys and a girl. My parent was so determined to have a daughter and finally they got her on the fifth try. So, I'm dedicating this post to my brothers that have survive my dictatorship until now. This is an introduction to my brothers in Malaysia.

First off, Reza Zachary, the stylish one. If you notice, his first name is just a rearrangement of my first name. And to keep true to my family's tradition of having at least two z's in their name, my parents gave him Zachary as a second name. Cool name, though not as cool as Ezra; don't you agree? He was supposed to be born in Michigan like me, but my mother had to return to Malaysia for some medical reason. So he was born in KL.
When we were kids, we used to fight each other almost everyday. I would win everytime, but in the end would lose to my parents hands. I also used to make fun of his face when we were kids since I was the cute one. Now, it's payback time. He was offered a modeling career TWICE by talent scouts. Once when he was walking around KLCC at the age of 15. Obviously, he turned down the offer since he was still in school. Another time was when he was hanging around Bukit Bintang. This time he had just finished his SPM and was eager to join. But, my mother would not let him saying he's not familiar enough with KL. That was true since he spent most of his teens in boarding school in Negeri Sembilan, unlike me that went to day school and knows all the roads in KL. My parents (my mother actually) still won’t let him be as free as me. I have no curfew; he, on the other hand, needs to be home by 1am.
The one pet peeve I have is that he used to like wearing my clothes. It was bad enough that we were forced to wear the same design shirts(albeit different color) when we were young, now he wants to wear the same clothes I'm wearing. But he can mix and match them to make them look good together, unlike me that just throw on 1 shirt and any jeans I can reach. He's 19 now and already gone through more girlfriend than I ever did. His current one is a rich girl that is cute, but come on brother, you can do better. I want a sister-in-law that is a model.

Next, Mohd Adzwan Adza. The d's are silent to make it easier to pronounce. Also born in KL. He's the nerd of the family. The only one in the family that wears corrective eyeglasses. Not since birth however; actually while in high school. A straight A's student in his school. He even got a scholarship offer before the real SPM results are out. Currently, he's still waiting for his SPM result. He is the tallest member in the family. Maybe because he was adopted by my aunt since a baby, he had more room to grow. Being the only child in my aunt's family, he can have everything he wants. But he still turns out to be a great brother that shares. We tried to spend time together every school holidays and treated him with the same way as the others. Heck, I punish him like the others if he did anything wrong. As I am the ENFORCER. Anyway, he prefers to hang out with Reza since they are like-minded. He is my mother's hope of having a doctor in the family after I refused to do so and opt to be an engineer. He's 17 now and still single as far as I know. About his taller stature than me; when people asked why, I always answered "the eldest always sacrifices his food so the younger can eat, thus they grow quicker".

My youngest brother, Azri Azizi. The sportsman of the bunch. He's special to have 3 z's in his name. It was me and Reza that wanted him to have Azizi in his name. "Azizi" was the name of our favorite character in a cartoon once. Another weird thing is, he was born blond. His hair was golden yellow and I thought he was the wrong baby. As time passed, his hair darkened and finally stayed somewhat black. It's still more brunette than black. He used to be the fairest member too. But too many soccer practices made him dark. Now, he's active in his high school's rugby and archery team. Always fighting for my attention with my youngest sister. Since I helped in raising both of them, they should be thankful.
Still the most "jambu" member, I used to "use" him as bait to lure girls at the mall. And it works. They would come and wanna touch his brunette hair and all. He was too young to understand at that time. That is my shirt he's wearing in the picture. Here's another dude that likes to wear my stuff. Although, I don't care as much since I can't wear them anyway when I'm here, in the States. He's 14 and currently in boarding school.

I also have a youngest sister, Syazlin Suhaizan. But I'm not gonna post her picture. I'm overprotective of her. Any guys wanting to see her need to go through me, and all four of her brothers. I'm starting to think she's gonna have a hard time finding a bf that's up to the task. Not that I have to worry much since she's in Seri Puteri, an all-girl boarding school.

Finally, I just wanna say to my brothers and sister. I miss you guys. I'm miss smacking you guys for fun. Because you know, without the pain you guys would not have become these wonderful human beings.

Serious - Scars on Broadway

2009-02-28T10:38:00.000-08:00

My favorite band of all time, System of a Down (SOAD) is currently in hiatus. Two of the members decided to form their own side project band. Daron Malakian and John Dolmayan formed Scars on Broadway with Daron as the vocal and John on drum. There are still some SOAD "sounds" in the songs, but mostly they're quite unique.

Although they sound great, I still wish SOAD will regroup and does a kick-ass tour. Watching them live in consert is still my top wish when I'm in the states.

2 into 1

2009-02-20T01:26:00.000-08:00

If you still haven't figured it out yet, I like to tell my story through musics. Mostly through metal musics since I believe they're a true representation of human emotions. Unlike those always happy, high school musical, childish pop garbage. I can always find a song in my 5000+ mp3s that's similar to my day. But, sometimes I let rock music a chance to tell the story. Here's "2 into 1" by Army of Me.

I know it sounds foolish
But I live in hope
That one day all of my friends could be whole
For now you are broken and feel so unsure
Wherever we are, we can’t go back to where we were
And I want to fly straight into the sun
I want to burn the two into one
I know it sounds foolish, but I’m still in love
Although I surrendered
I’ve not given up
So if there is something that’s making you stay
I’m standing right here
I won’t walk away
And I want to fly straight into the sun
I want to burn the two into one
And I’ve forgiven you
It’s all that I can do
It seems you have no choice when you love someone
I want you to know, you’re whiter than snow
I want you to see, to forgive is to breathe
And it’s something you need
Forget what you’ve done
I want to burn the two into one
Two into one, two into one, yes
Two into, two into one

Trivium - Throes of Perdition video

2009-02-11T12:16:00.000-08:00

This video was just released last week.

It's almost 6 minutes long. The guitar solo is a little short from the normal Trivum's masterpieces. The drum part at the beginning is sic. An awesome song indeed.

The tale of the evil one...

2009-02-09T21:55:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since i've updated this blog. Nothing interesting happened recently. I just got the idea of putting the first half of my life in writing. Maybe it'll be an interesting read, though I'm just doing it so I would appreciate what I have until now.

So, it all started when a baby boy was born in Borgess Medical Center, Kalamazoo, Michigan in the fall of 1987. The first child for the couple Zainal and Zaiton. With a slap on the butt, the child cried and was given to his mother to hold. That boy was later given the name Ezra Zaidi with the first name being suggested by his godparents, Mr & Mrs Smith and the middle name by his parent(maybe cuz it rhymed with theirs'). I'm gonna change to first person view now. So, I grew up rapidly with Augustus and a pair of latinas as my playmate since my mother worked as a babysitter.
This is a picture of my parents, myself and my grandma in Orlando Disneyland. I didn't even bother to smile to the camera.
So when I was 2 years old I went to Malaysia (cant say I return cuz I was never there in the first place) with my parents. My family lived in KL for 2 years before settling in Kuantan, Pahang when I was turning 5. Kuantan was a great place to grew up in. Not too busy like in the city, nor too 'kampung' that I cant get to taste fast food. I live in a small "taman perumahan" called "Taman Guru". It's closed from the busy traffic so you can literally play on the street for hours without worrying a car would ran you over. The yellow marker in the map shows where my house use to be, along Lrg karyawan 7. There was no LK 29 and 21 before, so the back of my house was a forest as in the picture. There lurks giant lizards, crocodiles in the river, and wild boars. My favorite pastime with my friends includes bicycle racing, fishing, "lastik burung" and catching insects (grasshopper, millipede, crickets etc).
When I turned 5, my parents sent me to Taski (short for tmn asuhan knk2 islam) Al-Huda . There I learned basic arabic, and basic islamic stuff. During the holidays, I would spent my days with my dear late-grandma in the Kampung. It was great to be able to bathe in the river all day, but I hated going to the toilet at night since it was outside the house and there's no electricity. I had to bring along a candle and a bucket of water if I needed to go too badly.
When I turned 7, that's when the fun begins. I was sent to a private school called Sekolah Rendah St. Thomas. It was an all-boys institution and was once a Church. I still find it funny that I moved from a Taski to an ex-church for a school. Nonetheless, it was an awesome school. Also at 7, I was chosen by the teacher to participate in a play for the song "Sing a song of sixpence". If you don't know, google it. I was one of the maid, in mini skirts and all. Then at 9, again chosen by the teacher to play the wife of a carpenter in a play. I don't know what's the connection between those two, but it really bugs me until now. Anyway, St. Thomas was a tough school. Only once did I get a top 3 in class. All the other time, I tried hard to maintain the top 10 in class.

As I got older, my interest grew for just catching insects, to lizards, birds and even snakes. These activities built my courage, that's why I'm not afraid of such things anymore. I started taking care of myself and my brother at 10 while my parents are at work. I learn to cook simple stuff like eggs, hash browns, burgers, and hotdogs. Although most of the time, my mom had already cook lunch beforehand so I don't necessarily have to cook. At the end of 1998, my family had to move to Selayang because my dad was promoted to head engineer in the newly constructed Hospital Selayang. So, I had to start my standard 6 in a new school. But that part would exceed the first half of my life. So I'm not gonna continue.

So there you have it. Maybe an interesting read for the interested. Maybe crap for the folks wanting Metal news. I'll cont with the second half if there's anyone interested. Until then, I'll stick with Throes of Perdition.

Super Bowl Weekend is over

2009-02-01T20:12:00.000-08:00

Today is/was Super Bowl Sunday. It was an awesome game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. I didn't have any preferences of which team that will win. My team, the San Diego Chargers, lost in the 2nd round of the playoff to the Steelers. In the end, the Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII 27-23. Great job Steelers! Next season it's gonna be Chargers time.

Besides the football game, another important part of Super Bowl are the ads. Since the Super Bowl is the most-watched U.S. television broadcast, companies are gonna wanna introduce their ads in that short time slot. A 30-second slot would cost between 2.5 - 3 million dollars. One funny ad that caught my attention, but I almost missed it, is the 1 second ad from Miller High Life. That 1 second ad cost them $100,000 by the way. Companies like Pepsi and Coke can afford 3 ads a piece which is insane.

Enough about the Super Bowl. I bought Pizza Hut's Tuscani Lasagna today to consume during the game. That's more than 3lb of food that I ate alone, since nobody else wanna eat it. It's a personal-choice thing. Though not a delicious as my aunt's handmade lasagna, it's still quite good.

Finally, I got my U.S driver's license last week. Just wanna put it here. I had no prior driving class before. In Malaysia I just drive illegally without license, practicing with my friends. Luckily, I never got in an accident or stop by the police. It's so easy to get a license here. No problem getting it on my first try either. And it only cost $10. Let's just hope I keep my clean driving record.

Miscommunication

2009-01-23T07:09:00.001-08:00

This is just hilarious.

New Shirt

2009-01-20T20:42:00.000-08:00

I got myself a new shirt. Finally a black color. I already have 2 whites and 1 grey. This is my 4th shirt for doing something I believe could help someone in a big way.And today is also the first day of class for Spring 09. I skipped the first class to watch the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Then the second class got canceled because discussion hasn't started yet. Finally, the third class was just exhausting. The first day of lab and already I had soldered 20+ components on the circuit board FOR 3 FREAKING HOURS!! It doesn't help that I'm short on blood.

Also I learn how to pronounce "solder" the American way. FYI, the 'L' is silent. You pronounce it more like "sauder". Interesting..

Bullet for My Valentine - Waking The Demon

2009-01-18T13:47:00.001-08:00

Bullet for My Valentine is a British metal band, and they're really good. The singer has a nice screaming voice, though he had to undergo a tonsillectomy in 2007 and that caused -in my opinion- him to scream less in their 2008 album. Anyhow, their second studio album, entitled "Scream Aim Fire" was still a blast.

This is one of their music video for the song "Waking the Demon". You can really see what I meant by his incredible screaming voice. Oh, the drum part is awesome too.

The Not-so-secret Life on an American young-adult

2009-01-17T10:33:00.000-08:00

The break is almost over. What have I accomplished? Nothing, really.
I built one computer, completed a couple of games, eat and sleep; financially restricted to go anywhere.
But, there's nowhere in particular that I want to visit anyway. Here's a small dialog with my mom:

Mom: Why don't you travel during the break?
Me: I dunno where to go.
Mom: You can visit Florida's Disneyland, California beaches, or New York.
Me: Have you been there?
Mom: Yes, you were with me to all of those places too.
Me: Then, there's no point in going there again.

If you are in Malaysia, how often do you travel around Malaysia? Not as often as when you're in the States I presume. Why is that?

It's because we tend to think of our hometown as the best place in Malaysia. We don't even wanna imagine living in another district, let alone another state. Throw a Selangor to Kelantan, and he'll be complaining of the hot weather and ikan masin smell. A Terengganu to Johor, he'll wish for more seafood dishes.

I never heard a Malaysian said another state is better than his's/her's. Even among Selangors, they would say: "Bangi best, Kajang bosan etc". I never get to join those conversation when I was small. I thought I was from Pahang when I was small because I live there for 9 years. But, I remember living in KL before that. Then, I moved to Selangor and finally KL again.

I bet you guys been asked this question in the first class by almost every teacher: "Where are you from?" I really hate-no, despise that question. My answer is always my current location, so the teacher won't ask me anymore stupid question like: "what is special about your hometown?". I remember seeing some of my classmate jumping to say he's from Kemaman with lots of ikan bakar, or Kajang with satays, or KL the city.

However, it's different now. Last time I was asked by an American that question and I answered proudly "I'm from Michigan". His eyes lit up and said he's from Michigan too. I said I was born in Kalamazoo, Western Michigan. He said he graduated from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. He continued to tell me about the best places to go to eat and hang out in Kalamazoo. I was so happy to finally be able to have this conversation.

So, hear this! California, New York, Florida or anywhere else bosan cam sial. Michigan gak best ade salji banyak. Thank you.

10 Years

2009-01-13T02:20:00.000-08:00

That's the name of the band I'm introducing. Not exactly a metal band. They're mostly hard rock with some alternative influences. The name of the band really makes it hard to google them.

I've been listening to their songs since 2004. Then, I totally missed their newest album out May of 2008. The lead singer appearance changed a lot since I last saw his music video. He has a more clean look now. Believe it or not, last time he had dreadlocks.

This is from their current album, Division. The song is titled Beautiful

I really like this part of the lyric:

visually you're stimulating to my eyes
your Cinderella syndrome's full of lies
your insecurities are concealed by your pride
pretty soon your ego will kill what's left inside

just as beautiful as you are
It's so pitiful what you are
you should have seen this coming all along
It's so pitiful what you are
as beautiful as you are
you should have seen this coming all along

you're everything that's so typical
maybe you're alone for a reason, you're the reason

All That Remains - Two Weeks

2009-01-07T12:42:00.000-08:00

I currently dig this song. Just appropriate.

and you neglected I called you out don't please
I said we're stronger than this now
you resurrected mistakes years past it seemed
and they exist to still haunt you

and still you feel like the loneliness
is better replaced by this
I don't believe it this way
and I can see the fear in your eyes
I've seen it materialize
Growing stronger each day

I could see it as you turned to stone
Still clearly I can hear you say
don't leave, don't give up on me
two weeks and you ran away
I remember don't lie to me
you couldn't see that it was not that way
swear I never gave up on you

I wanted nothing but for that trust again
and brick by brick you would take it
You feared of phantoms and none exist but you
you still saw fit to destroy it

and still you feel like the loneliness
is better replaced by this
I don't believe it this way
and I can see the fear in your eyes
I've seen it materialize
growing stronger each day

I could see it as you turned to stone
still clearly I can hear you say
don't leave don't give up on me
two weeks and you ran away
I remember don't lie to me
you couldn't see that it was not that way
swear I never gave up on you

and you neglected I called you out don't please
I said we're stronger than this now
You feared of phantoms and none exist but you
you still saw fit to destroy it

and I can see the fear in your eyes
I've seen it materialize
growing stronger each day

I could see it as you turned to stone
still clearly I can hear you say
don't leave don't give up on me
two weeks you ran away

I could see it as you turned to stone
still clearly I can hear you say
don't leave don't give up on me
two weeks and you ran away
I remember don't lie to me
you couldn't see that it was not that way
swear I never gave up on you

Got Me a Jasper

2008-12-31T13:22:00.000-08:00

I finally found a Jasper. For those in the dark about what Jasper is, it's a new revision of Xbox360. It is said to have been released since September, but only seen since November.

People are going crazy looking for Jaspers in time for Chrismas. Some even went to all retailers like Walmart, Bestbuy, Circuit City and Gamestop to look for it. And since the only way to know if it's a Jasper is by poking at the serial number opening at the side of the box - which easily tears - some got kicked out of the store. Those crazy Americans. HAHA. Wait..I'm American too. But, I'm a smart American.

So I waited until the festive season is over, and bought one from Newegg. Guess what. I snatched a Jasper.

What so great about Jasper anyway? Well, it has a die shrink on the chip. That's it actually. Meaning the microchip previously made using 90nm process now is 65nm. Yes, that's Nanometers. This seemingly small tweak made all the difference. Smaller die means less heat and less power consumption; hey, even gamers are going green too. The maximum power draw decreases from 200W to 150W. That's a 25% decrease, which is a lot.

Great job engineers for making the earth greener. I wish I was one. Wait..I'm an Engineering undergrad.. HAHA..another +1 for me

ps: jangan marah nnti kene jual

The End

2008-12-26T20:21:00.000-08:00

So this is how our story ends. I knew there are no happy endings or happily ever after; in reality we either accept the fate and split or live long enough to see one of us die before the other.

Am bored

2008-12-26T20:07:00.000-08:00

What would I do when I'm bored? I would do a video and post it on youtube.

So this is a video of a recent gaming rig I build for a friend. Even though it's not mine, I still get the satisfaction of building it and putting it together. I just love it when the computer starts for the first time. Makes me wanna say "it's alive!It's alive!". Hey, that's why I'm studying to be an engineer.

Freedom at last

2008-12-18T19:35:00.000-08:00

Another semester completed; sanity intact.

A month of blissful enjoyment without a care in the world. Do I deserve it? Hell yeah!!

Right now I'm just too carefree to even THINK of writing a long blog. I'm gonna let it all sink in first.

Too soon to celebrate

2008-12-13T12:28:00.000-08:00

I'm halfway through this nightmare. Only three final exams left.
Yea, I took 6 courses this semester.

The last drive is gonna be the worst; Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday straight.

I'm reporting these before going into the battlefield, in case I don't make it.

Geronimoooooooo...

New toy

2008-12-07T01:27:00.001-08:00

I got myself a new toy; my first Nokia phone, the N78.

I got sick of my old phone randomly switching off when not in use, even when the battery is full. So here it is, the first look:
The front is almost entirely smooth, except for the number and scroll pad. I can go on and on about the spec, but im just gonna lay down the basic and interesting ones.

It's a 3.5G phone with a 3.2MP camera at the back and a small vga at the front(for video call). There's WiFi capabilities, meaning I can surf the web using wireless internet which is faster. The browser can display full webpages like on a real computer.

Another cool feature is the GPS capability. The GPS can pinpoint your location anywhere in the world. There's also a turn by turn navigation feature to guide you to where you're heading. I've just tested it around the University, but so far it looks robust and correct.And finally the sleek and smooth black finish fits perfectly with my style. Like I need more black accessories with my black shirts, hoodies, backpack and pc. It so smooth, i can even use it a mirror. Overall, I really like my new N78. It has completely exceed my expectations. I just wish it doesn't attract too many fingerprints.

An accident

2008-12-03T01:46:00.000-08:00

OMG. I just hit two antelopes on the road. They just came out of nowhere and i hit them. Those innocent creatures never knew what hit them. However I did manage to snap a picture of the incident, just in case i need it for insurance purposes.
The jeep is still in good shape. It doesn't need any expensive body work. I'm sorry Mr and Mrs Antelope. I should've been more careful. Hope you rest in peace/pieces.

Now I can sleep in peace. ZZZZzzzzzzz

The movies

2008-11-30T00:33:00.000-08:00

Went to watch Bolt last night, and it was "awesome"(quoted from Rhino the hamster). Seriously, it was a fun laugh from start to finish. The 3D was a plus. But even without the effect it is still a blast. It was hard to contain the laughs, but fortunately the girls are way, way louder. Ow yeah, I went with Ily, Teda, Anne and Fareza.

Since Bolt was my choice, I had to see theirs'. And guess what, they choose Twilight. If you like vampires like Blade, Dracula in Van Helsing, Underworld and Nosferatu, never. I repeat! Never watch this movie. Since when did vampires go to school, eat animals but not humans, can stand sunlight, don't have fangs and have reflection in mirrors? Since Twilight, that is. The only blood you'll ever see is in the last 15minutes. It's another typical love+chick flick movie only, with pale faces to represent vampires.

Overall, I'm glad I only paid for 1 movie since the other one we snuck inside right after the first one finished. Owh, finally, there was only 10 people watching twilight including the 5 of us.

Slipknot on tour

2008-11-26T12:06:00.000-08:00

The heavy metal band Slipknot is going on tour again. This time, they're on the road with Trivium!!! I've seen Slipknot last summer; dont get me wrong -they're AWESOME- but I really want to hear Trivium live. I'm so gonna be there. Starts 1/23..

Holidays activities

2008-11-23T17:31:00.001-08:00

It's thanksgiving break and I just got my long due scholarship from JPA. Time to let loose and party right?Well, not at all. Since I dont expect to get the money before the break, i had no plan for thanksgiving..

Anyway, im gonna use this time to relax, finish a couple of game, and climb my way back up the ranking in TF2 online multiplayer. During the summer I was ranked 60 among hundreds of thousands in Sourceop server. Now i had fallen to 180'ish.

But the best thing of being away from the game is to find out that somebody actually recognises you and knows how good you are. There's soo many new people that havent even heard about me. Well, a couple rounds of headshots and dominations by me does the trick of putting fear back in their eyes. Owh, fyi, I play sniper and a damn good one if i may say so myself.

2 nights ago a guy that also plays sniper ask for a duel. I accept the challenge and we enter the map on seperate team. He was quite good, but i got the best of him and dominated him in no time (dominated is when A kills B 3 times in a row without B getting a chance to kill back). Anyway it was a good duel and both of us lead the team were in (in points and kills).

So, anyone up for the challenge? Just find me in this server. We'll have a chat - with bullets.

Mudvayne - The New Game

2008-11-14T23:48:00.000-08:00

After 3 years, Mudvayne finally release their fifth studio album titled "The New Game". Actually the release date is 11/17 but I managed to download the full album before the release date. Currently listening to them.

Mudvayne is a heavy metal band from Peoria, Illinois. Hey, that's where my ex-roommate was from. No, not that one. I'm talking about Cody. Anyway, the last Mudvayne album I listen to was in Intec. And it was really good.

Hopefully the new album is as good too. It's too early to tell. I gotta listen to the album while going to sleep. That's right, I listen to metal music to go to sleep.

Here's the single, "Do What You Do"

Mudvayne - New Music - More Music Videos

Gone Forever by Three Days Grace

2008-11-11T00:17:00.000-08:00

Don't know what's going on
Don't know what went wrong
Feels like a hundred years I
Still can't believe you're gone
So I'll stay up all night
With these bloodshot eyes
While these walls surround me with the story of our life

I feel so much better
Now that you're gone forever
I tell myself that I don't miss you at all
I'm not lying, denying that I feel so much better now
That you're gone forever

Now things are coming clear
And I don't need you here
And in this world around me
I'm glad you disappeared
So I'll stay out all night
Get drunk and fucking fight
Until the morning comes I'll
Forget about our life

I feel so much better
Now that you're gone forever
I tell myself that I don't miss you at all
I'm not lying, denying that I feel so much better now
That you're gone forever

First time you screamed at me
I should have made you leave
I should have known it could be so much better
I hope you're missing me
I hope I've made you see
That I'm gone forever

And now it's coming clear
That I don't need you here
And in this world around me
I'm glad you disappeared

I watched them in concert last fall and they were awesome. Just wanna share this nice song.

The Shirts for a Cure Project

2008-11-10T12:31:00.000-08:00

I bought this DevilDriver shirt from Shirtsforacure.
"When a band donates a shirt design to SFAC, the design becomes exclusive to SSE. We sell the shirt and use the proceeds to help women fighting breast cancer. If you would like to support our cause please take a moment to peruse the more then 150 shirts we offer. All shirts are printed on 100% pre-shrunk cotton unless otherwise stated. For a donation of $12 (plus shipping and handling) you will be helping someone who is in need as well as receiving an exclusive shirt from your favorite band."(shirtforacure.com)

Just doing my part in making this world a better place.

planning on donating blood again next week..

Thank you

2008-11-06T22:47:00.000-08:00

I really need that call after this hell of a week. And the timing could not have been better: right after my TAM 212 exam. Sorry I cant call you because of financial issues. Love you Iz..

To vote, or not to vote..

2008-11-03T16:22:00.000-08:00

A crisis. Should I vote or should I just watch.

In one hand, I'm an eligible American citizen and want to join in deciding the next president.
On the other hand, i think i read somewhere dual citizens can only vote for one nation. Something about, it can cause two countries to wage war if the dual citizens intentionally vote for two leaders that hate each other. But I wont do that. Not intentionally at least.

It's not like I'm busy tomorrow. Only 2 classes in the afternoon.
But if i do decided to vote, who should it be? Obama or McCain?

I'll sleep on it..

Daylight Spending

2008-11-01T23:51:00.000-07:00

Daylight Saving is over. Don't forget to move your clocks back one hour at the resumption of Standard Time. An extra time in bed for some of you. An extra hour to think for me (yea right). Spend it wisely.

"The phrase "Spring forward, fall back" helps people remember how Daylight Saving Time affects their clocks. At 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March, we set our clocks forward one hour ahead of standard time ("spring forward"). We "fall back" at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November by setting our clock back one hour and thus returning to standard time."

Introduction to Metal

2008-10-30T07:42:00.000-07:00

I know most of you can't stand metal musics. But don't shove it right away without listening to them. Chances are, there are some that you may like. I don't like pop and crappy love songs, but sometimes there are good ones that reaches my ears (cant help it with them constantly playing everywhere). So, in promoting this type of music, i'm gonna open your ears to one of the genre in metal that is not gonna break your eardrums.

The genre is called Symphonic power metal, or i just call it symphonic metal. Like all metal genre, it still got double bass drum beat and guitar riffs. However it separates itself from heavy and power metal by extensively using keyboards and sometimes violin or other classical musical instruments. The vocal uses his/her normal voice and the growling or screaming is mostly done by the backup vocal.

Two of currently prominent symphonic metal bands are Nightwish and Kamelot.

Here's Nightwish: "Bye Bye Beautiful"

If you are still confused, the only real member at the beginning is the singer, and yes the singer is a woman (a hot one in fact). Oh, and if you catch a glimpse of the keyboardist tell me he doesn't look like Vendetta.

Now here's Kamelot: "Ghost Opera"

I really like his voice. It blends perfectly with the rhythm and tone of the music.

If you like both of them, just Google them. Hopefully this will make you appreciate metal more than before.

True or False?

2008-10-30T07:10:00.000-07:00

Nobody is gonna die a virgin, because life will F*** us all.

Dead Space

2008-10-29T18:20:00.001-07:00

Looking for a fright this Halloween weekend? I know some of you will go watch a scary movie; some will dress as their favorite character and haunt the town; but some will just cower in their room and study Physic even on a friday night (you know who you are) ;p.

However, the best way to get scared for me is by playing an immersive horror game. And just in time for the Halloween came Dead Space. A new sci-fi/horror/survival game by EA. How good is it? Well, a couple of trusted reviewers gave it a 100% and some even dub it the best survival horror game of all time. I thought that that was a bold statement, until I played it myself and , boy, scary just doesn't cut it.

Dead Space takes place in an abandon space ship. When a repair ship was sent to investigate a distress signal from and old mining rig, they never expect they need more than a screwdriver to survive here. The creatures are intelligent and will use tricks to fool you into their traps; like playing dead among the corpses, and suddenly lunging at you. They are also hard to kill and the only effective method is to cut the feet and arm so they cant move.

Seriously, if you think your brave enough. Take on this game. I guarantee that you'll jump from you seats a couple of times during the game. And remember the motto:
In space, nobody can hear you scream

Here is one of those scary moment:

Dead Memories by Slipknot

2008-10-28T16:42:00.000-07:00

A new video from Slipknot's new album All Hope is Gone.

Like i said in earlier post, if you dont like it, you can always run HERE.

Dead Memories is the 5th track in the album. It's a transition from the fast double pedal beats and screaming vocal, to a more "laid back" beat before going to the dark and slow 2nd half of the album. The masked men in the video are all members of the group.
In the order in the video:
1. Corey Taylor
2. Sid Wilson (he broke both his ankle on tour recently. thats why he's kneeling in the vid)
3. Joey Jordison
4. Craig "133" Jones
5. Paul Gray
6. Shawn "Clown" Crahan
7. Mick Thomson (he's really is that big, but he's not the tallest)
8. James Root (the tallest member)
9. Chris Fehn

The more you ignore, the bigger the rip

2008-10-28T16:08:00.001-07:00

This has got nothing to do with life. It's my trusty old backpack. After 4 years of service, it finally gave out. The bag rips at the zipper and the longer i ignore it, the bigger it gets.But i still like this backpack. It's light, small, and the most important one; it's black. It bought for only rm30 at Pertama Complex. So, i decided to fix it. It's been awhile since I sew something. The last time i can remember was in boarding school mending my own trouser. Oh, yea.. There was also the time i sewn my own baju raya. That was before i get too big and my mother decided buying was easier and more beneficial.

Alright then. The first thing i need is the sewing kit:

Actually, thats the only thing i need. So i use the skills taught by my mother. FYI, i never learn any sewing in school. Being in an all-boys school, there's no sewing covered in the Kemahiran Hidup curriculum.

Finally, after 5 minutes, im done.
So the backpack is ready to serve me another 2 years. Maybe i'll buy a briefcase when i start working. But until then, this is the coolest bag i ever owned.

Irony

2008-10-27T09:08:00.000-07:00

I miss my sweetheart. I really do. It's been more than 2 month since i've seen her webcam. She said her laptop is having problems thus unable to connect to the internet.

The irony is that i claim to be able to fix everything and anybody's computer, but im unable to fix the one's that are most important to me. Maybe this is God's way to tell me im still helpless if He is not there to help.

What about calling her? Well, since the damn JPA seems to prioritize spending the Deepavali holidays rather than wiring the student's money, i have no more skype credit to call her with. The nearest date is Wednesday because they have Monday and Tuesday off. Thats just not fair.

Until then i just have to be satisfied with just seeing her in pictures. Since im really camera shy(like bigfoot, i feel you man), i dont have too many photo of me; let alone pics with her. I'll share one just for fun.

Analyt Methods for Uncertainty

2008-10-26T12:13:00.000-07:00

GE 331 - Analytical Methods for Uncertainty

Having a blast with this class. I got a 100% in the midterm and most of the hws'. All thats left is the final.

At the beginning of the semester I was uncertain. Now in the mid-sem i'm certain i can get at least an A. Wow! Im actually learning something here.

Throes of Perdition by Trivium

2008-10-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

It's currently my favorite song. I sing the tune (in my head) while walking to class.
The solo riff is awesome and mesmerizing. The drums double bass is blistering fast in the middle. How much more metal can you get?

The chorus is:

Life feels like hell should
This hell's so cold
Pull another knife out
Stick it with the rest of them
When my back is full
Turn me around to face it

I cant find any way to post the streaming song other than youtube. I hope your enjoying it as much as I do. If your can't stand the music then your in wrong blog sir. Exit this way --> EXIT

Build your own rig!! please..

2008-10-24T23:28:00.000-07:00

Stop buying your desktops from Dell, HP and those other money leaching companies. It makes me sad every time you buy an expensive prebuilt pc from them, when you could've use that extra money to buy an even better rig.

Here's an example from Dell's:
Plan on upgrading the RAM? Guess what. You have to add $320 for the Corsair Dominator. Are you f****ing kidding me?!! The RAM just cost $120 for a new and even faster set here. And because your upgrading from something, it should be even less.

What kind of logic in business is that? I know business people are evil, money grabbing thieves, but come on. 200% in net gain! The engineers designing those RAM would have had a great laugh at those idiots who bought them.

Here's another one:
The two 9800GT in sli would cost $200. They said it's a $300 value. That's fine. But upgrading to a Geforce GTX 280 requires additional $500. Well, the card only cost less than $400 and if the $300 value is already in the initial price, don't we only need to add $100? Here'a a rip off of $400. WOW!! Well done Dell. I never thought you can do any worst than the RAM.

If i were to built the pc for you, that $400 can be use to buy me dinner for a whole month. Add in the extra charges from other components, heck, you can even built me a new rig on top of yours.

So please, pretty please with cherry on top, never buy desktops from them again. I'm gonna write a post on 'Building your own rig" soon. If after reading this and you still insist in buying prebuilt, just give me call, and i can come to your place anywhere in the States and build you that dream computer. And i bet the cost you pay for my plane tickets is still less than what you'll be wasting.

World of Goo

2008-10-24T03:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, minus the introduction, this is officially my first post.

See this thing below?

Thats a goo. What can you do with a goo? Anything, thats what!

This game is called World of Goo. A casual puzzle game sure to make your brain juice flowing, after idling for 1-2 hours watching Grey's and Gossip and shit.

Basically, there's a world full of goo with different characteristic. Some are weak, while others are -you guess it- strong. The objectives: use these viscous beings to built structures strong enough to withstand themselves and what the nature gives.

Sounds easy right? Well, it is IF you know what your doing. Put your imagination to the test. There's really no real right and wrong answer in constructing goo. It's unpredicable and yet fun to experiment.

Metacritic.com gave it a 91% which is quite goo-d (pun intended) for a simple puzzle game. Try it. You can always ask me if your don't know where to find it for free.

This is a trailer of the FUN waiting to happen..

Is this the right choice?

2008-10-24T02:49:00.000-07:00

Maybe i'm just bored...

Maybe i'm just trying to fit in..

Maybe i just need somewhere to let loose, and write something.

Besides, i miss writing words. Being engineers meant only using numbers and symbols all day long. Better put my Rhet105 skills to good use, or else i'm gonna rust.

Anyway, i plan to use this blog to post mostly about games and musics that i like.
Welcome to Ezra's blog.

Let see if this thing is gonna fly...