Review The 4 Hour CHEF

I've just finished reading Timothy Ferriss' book The 4-Hour CHEF. It's a strange cooking book, to say the least. It's the only book I've read so far that includes not only recipes for various meals, but also catching food in the wild or even pigeons in the park. Also mentioned in there is memorization techniques good for developing vocabulary and random numbers.

I suppose it all dove in with his goal of "Meta Learning." As a jack of all trades myself, I approve. True that the book will not make you a Master Chef, as opposed to Joy of Cooking, but that's what the references are for. There's a lot of links in the book that goes back to his website. I have yet to check them all.

There's a lot of interesting tid bits, including how to win eating contest (he didn't, not exactly) and still be thin (he is). I'm not too happy about the fried rice meal. My favorite is the chicken fried rice, and although he has chicken, and fried rice, the featured fried rice featured mealworms, instead of chicken. Well, I suppose adapting his recipes is a given.

I am also not too happy with his tool selection. Way too many tools for what is supposedly a simple chef. I suppose now I have to get myself a 7 inch chef knife. That and a thermometer. Not to mention Modernist Cuisine book by Nathan Myhrvold. He also didn't mention my favorite cooking implement: Rice cooker. Using rice cooker effectively is what enables me to write 1000 words essay while the food is cooking. To be fair, he did mention 2 hour chicken meal, and I can fit in more than 1000 words with that kind of meal, but I digress.

A section of surviving catastrophe, like San Francisco earthquake is very interesting. Apparently, you need to be able to survive on your own for about 7-10 days without electricity or water. Get out a generator, because that is what you need to power your refrigerator! Very interesting and important knowledge to have. I just didn't expect to find it in a cookbook!

If Timothy Ferriss would come down my way sometimes, I'd like to ask him if he's interested in learning computer languages. After all, I learned my first computer language, the Applesoft Basic, in 3 hours. That's one hour shorter than his 4 hours learning. Admittedly, the subsequent computer language took longer than that, at about 2 days to one week. It's still relatively fast approach, though, compared to the traditional computer programming learning.

Maybe I'm an outlier. My life has never been an easy conformance. I sure want to know whether that 5 minutes per week weight-lifting exercise is any good. I suppose I'll need to add his other book to my library as well. Sigh. I'm supposed to be writing Nanowrimo right now! I wonder if Barry Ross wrote a book? Will have to check that out.

This book review was written while my food is cooking on rice cooker. It just beeped me, so I’m done!

The Art of Review

I do read game reviews on the Web. Sometimes, I even buy the games based on reviews. Sometimes, though, there is a clearly biased review, when the reviewer is applying his prejudices to a product. Almost without exception, the reviewer provides excuses as to how his review can stand without change. I hope that by writing this essay, I can persuade them otherwise. Not hopeful, as biased reviewers don't really care what other people think, but perhaps there are those future writers who do care about their readers. This will give you a change to see the other side.

A Bad Hammer

There was a salesman who provided a craftsman a tool for review. The craftsman stated "This is a terrible hammer! The handle is too short. The metal is too slender. The weight is unbalanced. It is too light to hammer effectively. You will get tired too easily. I just can't see how anybody can be stupid enough to buy this hammer!"

Having thus voiced his professional opinion, the craftsman gave the tool back to the salesman.

The salesman said, "It's a screwdriver."


We can all laugh at the story. Who in the world cannot tell a screwdriver from a hammer? Nobody, that's who. However, in the world of computer programs, that is not so easy. In fact, it happened with rather alarming regularity.

The spectrum of Racing: Mario Kart - Forza Motorsport

Let's take a very successful game: Mario Kart. I don't need to tell you that this driving game is extremely fun and energetic. It's very popular with a lot of people, and rightly so. Very easy to pick up, and caters to a wide variety of people.

Here's another game that is just as well done, but without too much fan base: Forza Motorsport. It's the ultimate driving game. The simulation is highly detailed, and I was impressed by the accuracy of it. But it's not as exciting, and the courses are rather plain. Coming from Mario Kart, the feel is rather boring. Does that mean Forza Motorsport is a bad product?

Of course not! They are two different products. How can that be? Aren't they both driving games? Well, yes. How can they be different? Isn't Mario Kart with its hugely successful sales numbers clearly a "better" product? Of course not, and here's why:

It's a question of a driving GAME, and a DRIVING game. That is where the emphasis lies. Is it about a GAME? Or is it about DRIVING? Mario Kart is a great GAME, but bad driving. Forza Motorsport is a great DRIVING, but a bad game. Neither is "better" than the other. They are both great examples at what they want to achieve.

2 Different Games

It is a great mistake to treat them as the same game. Let me put it this way. Mario Kart is a game where you go from one place to another, in a frentic manner, fending off all kind of obstacles and enemies. Forza Motorsport, OTOH, is about finding that ideal line in which to make the turns, speeding up and slowing down as required, making the turn JUST RIGHT as to preserve as much speed as possible.

Read the descriptions again. Now tell me, am I wrong to say that those descriptions describe Super Monkey Ball(1) and Downhill Snow Racing? Will you claim that Super Monkey Ball and Downhill Snow Racing both represent the same game? Of course not, don't be silly! Likewise, Mario Kart and Forza Motorsport aren't the same game. They're the same GENRE, but they're not the same game!

(1) I actually haven't played Super Monkey Ball, so if it isn't accurate, substitute it with something else. Follow the reasoning anyway. Or how about this? Take Doom/Quake Deathmatch levels where you go from start spawn point to end level. The fastest player get shot in the back! That sums up my feeling about Mario Kart. If that's your game, then you'll like Mario Kart.


The Shifting Expectation

So, now there's another racing game. Let's take Ridge Racer. We can see that although the game isn't a hyper realistic driving simulation, it still leans toward the DRIVING aspect of it. Take another game, such as OutRun. It clearly leans toward the GAME aspect of it.

It is folly to review Ridge Racer while applying the standards of Mario Kart: No bombs. No holes. No beach. No underwater course. No missiles. Gosh, how boring!

It is folly to review OutRun while applying the standards of Forza Motorsport. Roads don't look like that. Speed of cars are off. How about some reasonable damage behavior here?

And yet, game reviewers would review the games per their preferences. If they like games, then they will think Ridge Racer is a bad game, citing that Mario Kart is "better". If a game review like RPG, they will rate Mario Kart as insignificant toys. In either cases, the game gets low marks for "not living up to the expectation."

I argue that as a good, impartial game reviewer, you need to be able to handle different expectations. You can't just say that you don't like the game, therefore the game is bad. Having an opinion is fine, but back it up with facts, and details about the game so that the reader can make their own mind about the game.

What Should We Do?

It's not easy to write enough details to satisfy everybody. It's even harder in print format where space is at premium and that there's only room for so many words. I tend to discount reviewers who would use their alloted words to bring unrelated scenes just to make a point. It may read better, but if it's done at the expense of missing details, then I get upset.

There's not so much excuse when it comes to On-line review, though. A whole new page is only a couple of kilo bytes. 15 minutes if you type fast. There's just no excuse of not doing your homework when it comes to the web.

There's opinion and there's fact. I do not want to catch you saying that a particular game does not feature "drifting" when I drift in that particular game in mid level! That just smacks of either stupidity (and nobody is THAT stupid) or laziness (he didn't bothered playing other than easy level? If the reviewer complained that the AI is so easy to beat, then yeah, I'd say so!)

Then it becomes his reputation that is tarnished, because I find in 5 minutes that he was wrong! I'm not saying that he only spent 5 minutes reviewing the game, but it sure looks like it! This has happened many times over the years, with many games, by many reviewers.

One of the victim was Chris Crawford (Yes, THAT Chris Crawford) who detailed the incident in his book (on Game Design), about how a review is riddled with so many factual errors that Chris Crawford wasn't sure that the reviewer got past the title screen. I am sorry to say, that the tradition of lazy reviewer continues to this day.


Is There a Bad Review?

I'm not saying reviewing a game properly is easy. It's not. It's hard. I would have said that Tetris game is boring. Then, again, I would have been very, very wrong. But at least I would describe the game properly and tried to find a demographic for it. The game may be niche, but if it's well done, and it's great for that niche, then I will give a favorable review, EVEN IF I PERSONALLY DON'T LIKE IT. I'd say something like, "Not for me, but for these [demographic] people, it's a great product." I clearly state my opinion, and yet, I give a fair review so that people other than me can still enjoy the products. I think that's important.

It's very hard to critize something after "walking a mile in their shoes." Yet it must be done that way. It's very easy to critize something you are ignorant about. Yet, it is clearly wrong. So, walk a mile in their shoes. Try to find a positive thing or two, and always give detailed factual reviews, while keeping your opinions to a minimum.

I am not saying you can never roast a product. If the designer of the game is clearly ignorant, such as putting the levels in reverse order of difficulty (Yes, it happened!), then by all means, say so. If the program is so buggy as to be unplayable, it is a disservice to your reader for you to hold out that information. But do research the issue, spending time with it, and make sure to show that you did.

This message is intended for all reviewers out there, but especially the pros. You do not want to see your scathing reviews compared to runaway sales figure, ever. By keeping your opinion to yourself, you give yourself an excuse for not being enthusiastic about it. And you really, really do not want to do a cursory review ever, only to see an amateur did it a lot better, while claiming to spend no more than one hour. And if you are the rare reviewer who lashed out to every criticism, then don't be surprised if you stay in the niche market because, really, you don't learn nor improve, and there is no hope for you.

Small Basic Noise Checker

'Noise Checker - wxv722-6
'Uses Dictionary.GetDefinition(word) - Need internet access
'Harry Hardjono
'July 2012 - adjective and adverb marker. Good for filtering nasty posts. :)
' just change color red and yellow to black.
'Updated with dict.txt
'
Str="abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ"
ReadDictFile()
inputtext=""
DataFile=""

While (inputtext<>" ")
TextWindow.WriteLine("  ")
TextWindow.WriteLine("Enter file name: ")
FileDir=text.Append(Program.Directory,"\")
WT="1=black;2=white;"
WriteText()
DataFile=File.ReadContents(text.Append(FileDir,Textwindow.read()))
inputtext=text.Append(DataFile," ")
counteradv=0
counteradj=0
counterunk=0
counterwrd=0
For i=1 To Text.GetLength(inputtext)
  If (Text.GetIndexOf(Str,Text.GetSubText(inputtext,i,1))=0) Then    'Not word
    If (Word<>"") Then
      GetDictWord()
      If (DictWord="") Then
WT="1=white;2=black;"
WriteText()
      Else
        fword=DictWord
        adjloc=text.GetIndexOf(fword,"adjective")
        advloc=text.GetIndexOf(fword,"adverb")
        unkloc=text.GetIndexOf(fword,"unknown")
        rploc=text.GetIndexOf(fword,")")
        If (adjloc0) then  'adjective
WT="1=red;2=black;"
WriteText()
counteradj=counteradj+1
      ElseIf (advloc0) then  'adverb
WT="1=yellow;2=black;"
WriteText()
counteradv=counteradv+1
      ElseIf (unkloc0) then  'unknown
WT="1=white;2=black;"
WriteText()
counterunk=counterunk+1
        Else
WT="1=black;2=white;"
WriteText()
counterwrd=counterwrd+1
        EndIf
      EndIf
      Word=""
    EndIf
    TextWindow.Write(Text.GetSubText(inputtext,i,1))
  Else 'Word
    Word=Text.Append(Word,Text.GetSubText(inputtext,i,1))
  EndIf
endfor

ShowNoiseRatio()
EndWhile

WriteDictFile()

'===============================
'Program ends here
'===============================

Sub  ShowNoiseRatio

NR=Math.Round(1000*(counteradj+counteradv)/counterwrd)/10
NRT="Noise Level Interpretation"
If (NR<5) then
  NRT="Text is very clean."
ElseIf (NR<10) then
  NRT="Text is relatively clean"
ElseIf (NR<15) then
  NRT="Can use less noise."
ElseIf (NR<18) then
  NRT="Somewhat noisy."
ElseIf (NR<20) then
  NRT="Noisy. Very Noisy."
ElseIf (NR<23) then
  NRT="You're being annoying on purpose, aren't you?"
ElseIf (NR<28) then
  NRT="Are you kidding me? I have to wash my eyeballs after this!"
ElseIf (NR<32) then
  NRT="Is there a World War out there? Gettouttahere!"
ElseIf (NR<50) then
  NRT="This is so bad, I will not dignify it with a response!"
else
NRT="This high level of noise is impossible! Impossible!"
endif

TextWindow.WriteLine("")
TextWindow.Write("Noise ratio is ")
TextWindow.WriteLine(NR)
TextWindow.WriteLine(NRT)

endsub


  Sub WriteText
        TextWindow.BackgroundColor=WT[1]
      TextWindow.ForegroundColor=WT[2]
      TextWindow.Write(Word)
      TextWindow.BackgroundColor="black"
      TextWindow.ForegroundColor="white"
  EndSub
   
Sub GetDictWord
      If (HashWord[Word]="") Then
        tword=Dictionary.GetDefinition(Word)
        If (tword="") then
          tword="Unknown. (unknown) "
        EndIf
        tline=Text.GetSubText(tword,1,1+Text.GetIndexOf(tword,")"))
        HashWord[Word]=tline
      EndIf
      DictWord=HashWord[Word]
      'TextWindow.WriteLine(DictWord)
  EndSub
 
  Sub WriteDictFile
    FileDir=text.Append(Program.Directory,"\dict.txt")
    File.WriteContents(FileDir,HashWord)
  EndSub
 
  Sub ReadDictFile
    FileDir=text.Append(Program.Directory,"\dict.txt")
    HashWord=File.ReadContents(FileDir)
EndSub  
   

Wario Ware DIY Review (short version)

Originally posted on Amazon.com. I figure I'll need to refer to the game development steps later. A more complete review is at Amazon.com

The designers have selected a very clever set of instructions. These aren't the traditional game development algorithm set, but they do provide most of the capabilities desired. There are some instructions missing. Namely "Tap Screen" can use area parameter, and "Switch object" can use "Switch OTHER object". You can do a work-around the limitation, so those aren't strictly necessary, but the designers sure miss an easy way to define Hotspots, IMHO.

The package does provide all that a game designer needs. Namely, screen and objects, paint program, music program, storyboard (actually comic strip, but who's nit-picking?), and distribution channel. All you game designers wannabe, this is your chance to have your creation showcased to the world!

I managed to re-create my very first computer game (Cowboy shoots red dots) on the Amiga. The difference is, instead of 12 hours of work, on WarioWare DIY, it was only 1.5 hours, graphic included! Even though the options and animation are necessarily more limited, I daresay that the fun level is quite high! This is the natural result from the ever-increasing game speed as the play progressed. Granted, the design is fixed, and that is the hardest thing, but still, 1.5 hours! Including learning the package? I'm getting sick. I wish I had this "game" then!

My usual step is:
1. Idea (I use comic strip program provided)
2. Technical (Objects, AI, and programmer's art)
3. Presentation (Better graphics, color, animation)
4. Sound and Music (I use automatic music generation, and fiddle it a bit)
5. Playtesting (As a complete game)
6. Refinement (Trying out different ideas)

As you probably can tell, those steps are usually fielded by different hats. They are: Game Designer, Programmer, Artist, Musician, Play-tester, User (feedback). The really nice thing about this, is that you do not have to be everyone. Thanks to the sharing feature, you can choose to be an artist only, and draw graphics (Wario jobs). Or you can be a programmer (Advanced Dojo Skill). Or perhaps a game designer with great idea (comic strip as storyboard). Maybe you're just an avid gamer, and want to participate in game evaluation and give feedback? Friend code and Wii Showcase.

You can also use the sharing feature as a "Save" feature. I know I have modified a game several times, after I shipped it. Also, I have no hesitation to provide a game filled with programmer's art (colored boxes, really) knowing that somebody with a better artistic skill can put good graphics. Perhaps some comic book artist who don't know how to program, but want to put his characters in a game? Done!

More importantly, I think that this is a great program to share among friends. You are not limited to just games, after all. How about animated greeting cards? Or a Jack-in-a-Box surprise? Vocabulary builder type of games? Math skills? The sky is the limit.

In conclusion, this program is a very versatile, yet easy to use creativity program, limited only to your imagination. Its utility is far reaching, and yet another "must-have" in your Nintendo DS library. Sharing is highly encourage and that's a good thing.

Kid Icarus Uprising 3DS Review

Kid Icarus Uprising 3DS Review

I have just finished throwing the greatest shot possible in the Universe, aimed at Hades. Predictably, he disintegrated into nothingness. It feels good to save the Universe. Now, onto difficulty challenge level 1.0!

Yep, it was Kid Icarus Uprising 3DS game, and it's brilliant! The story is engaging. The imageries mesmerizing. The game pace is pitch perfect, mainly because it is adjustable in very fine increment. The amount of weapons available is just mind-boggling, and the special challenges are extremely tricky, indeed. And the control, well, it can be better. A lot better.

There is a reason why they keep saying that you need to get used to the control ... a lot. They say that because you need to get used to the control. I would like to say that the control scheme is defective, but I can't. Not when just about everything else is brilliantly done. This isn't a game designed by some idiot-savant. This is a game designed by a master.

So, then, why, if everything else is perfect, the controls aren't good? Thinking about it carefully, I come to the conclusion that the control is great for the flying sequences where you can just float around and pick enemies one by one. When it comes to the ground fight, however, we have a problem. You need to move and dash and fire, not necessarily at the same direction. Move and dash is taken care of by the Circle Pad. L button fires the weapon. Looking around is touch screen. Aiming is touch screen. Okay, so we have looking around and aiming using the same touch screen. That's problematic.

How do we solve this? Looking around and aiming can be split into 2 different controls. That would work well, if people have 3 hands. Oops.

What else can we do? I like to Resident Evil Revelations solution: Use the gyroscope control to look around. It works really well in that game. I think it will work really well here, too. Until we get to Internet melee, that is. I can just imagine it, people rotating wildly, screaming "I've been hit! I've been hit! Where is he? I can't see him!"

Not a good solution.

Criticizing bad solution is easy. Any monkey can do that. But coming up with a good solution isn't. I'm not convinced that there is a good solution for this game. It is possible that you may have to use 3 different control schemes for this one game.

Which shows you just how expansive, and encompassing this game is. This is really 3 games in one, and it is all brilliantly combined. You have shooting game, adventure game, and FPS game. I like that. I don't like the control, but I can see that it isn't from stupidity or laziness. It's trying to have a consistent control across different gameplay.

I really like this game, easy and challenging in one game. I do wish that they would let me have different control schemes and perhaps the option to separate the flying scenes and the adventure scenes. They do provide boss challenge at the end, but I'd rather have selectable scenes, similar to that of the DVD movies.

All in all, everybody should play this game. The better for me to beat you on the Internet. ;)

Kindle Fire and speck FitFolio review

I have always loved my Kindle 3, that is the model with keyboard. It is light, handy, can be read in harsh sunlight, and the battery lasts a very long time. I subscribed to various blogs and never without materials to read. However, when it comes to Kindle Fire, the only question that I have is "Why bother?"

I blame it on Jeff Bezos, who in an interview, advises people to get both. One to read, and the other for "media consumption." Although I didn't go out and buy a Kindle Fire, the seed was planted.

And so it was that Michael Gallagher's blog, Free Kindle Books and Tips, mentioned buying practically new Kindle Fire for $139 a piece. Refurbished Christmas returns, he called it. Something clicked. The process took about 5 minutes. I ordered Kindle Fire through the mail. There are things that I bought because I need them. There are things that I bought because I want them. This is neither. This is impulse buying, pure and simple.

In less than a week, I got my package. A simple box. Opened. There is the Kindle Fire. There is the charger. And there is the package they came in. That's it. No docs, no cards, no nothing. It was not until later that I found the Kindle Fire manual to be electronic document inside the Kindle Fire itself.

The first thing I noticed is that it is heavy! Much heavier than my Kindle 3 for sure. Another thing is that it has only one button. On/Off button. That's it. The user interface does take getting used to. However, within 2 hours after I opened it, I watch movies, read magazine, newspaper, go to YouTube, watch TV, borrow a book. Generally do what media consumption is all about.

And it is all very beautiful. To be fair, it doesn't have memory card, bluetooth, camera, or any of the other tablet standard features. It consumes media. That's it. It is a very specialized device, set at a low price. It does have micro USB cable that you can connect to the computer for file transfer. It also have a nice touch screen, so much so, that I downloaded a few drawing apps for it. Jeff Bezo is very wily, to give me a free Amazon Prime subscription for a month. I will have to investigate it further, but I think I will keep it.

The experience is very pleasant. I do have to worry about being in cloud and device. And I worry constantly about bandwidth consumption. I will not be downloading movies every day, or every week for that matter. That 5 GB per month limit will be pushed pretty hard. On 4G, that is. There are only 2 4G spots that I know of. The rest is covered by 3G. 3G is slow. 3G is inconvenient.

Never use Kindle Fire with 3G if you can help it, because once you have tasted what 4G can give you, you do not want to wait on 3G. It took a whole minute to download a 256kb app! Can you imagine it? A whole minute! Okay, so it is much better than the past. Still, with 4G, there was no waiting. So, get 4G.

Another thing that I did, is getting a cover for it. FitFolio for Kindle Fire by (*)speck. It is a nice cover. Very solid. The claim "Slim, lightweight folio with form-fitting cradle and multiple viewing angles" is true. I like it very much. I had some trouble folding it to "typing keyboard" angle. But once I figured it out, there was no problem. Everything works as expected.

I watched movie, I surfed, I drew, I typed. Everything works fine, and very beautifully at that. Do yourself a favor, get that cover, or something like it. Did I mention Kindle Fire is heavy? Get this cover, and use it as a stand to put on a table.

I didn't check the battery life. I imagine that it would be shorter than e-ink. I will not get rid of the old Kindle just yet! It does that charge from the same micro USB connection as my phone. So, whenever I'm charging my phone, I can just charge Kindle the same way.

Kindle Fire is a keeper for me. It is heavily dependent on cloud, though. Make sure you have large bandwidth capacity before you get one. If you have broadband Wifi connection, or 4G, do give it a try. Who knows? You may just like it enough to keep it.

Absolute Chess Dsiware Review

REVIEW

I downloaded Absolute Chess dsiware this week, and I like it! It's not usual chess by any means, more like pick up-and-play quick game of chess, and in that role, it does very well. The game engine is set for speed, and does not think too deep. At the advanced level, it can spot mate in 3. So, I think, it's about 5 ply, or 2.5 move deep.

It has 4 levels, and 8 characters for a variety opponent. Missing features are timer, auto play, hint, undo (somewhat). If you come in expecting the usual trappings of chess, you will be disappointed. This game is geared more toward blitzkrieg chess.

Some bugs are presents: Racheal instead of Rachael. b4 instead of d4. "wait" instead of undo. Minor blemishes to what an otherwise good program.

I appreciate the designers for injecting flavor by doing anime style character, even if they're not animated. There are different pictures showing different states: neutral, winning, and losing.

I really like the download play feature. Alas, no timers. At least the graphics are clear and pleasant. No worries about confusing pieces, that's for sure!

It's too bad you cannot turn off music or sound effects independently. If I want to listen to music while playing chess, that's what mp3 players are for. The majority of chess players prefer quiet solitude.

It also has challenge mode. Not a big deal, though. 1st level, win the game. 2nd level, win the game in 12 minutes, a casual game. 3rd level, use bishop to take 4 or more pieces. Easy, since pawns count as pieces. 4th level, leave 3 or more pawns. Keeping 3 pawns in castling does the trick just fine. 5th level, 70 moves, 7 minutes, Blitzkrieg chess with 2 extra minutes. Did I mention that the early level makes all kind of blunders? Just play a defensive game, and you'll beat the challenges no problem!

Here's a sample game that I played:
1. e4 e5 2. f4 xf4 King's Gambit Accepted
3. d4 Qh4 4. Ke2 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qg4 6. h3 Qe6 7. Nc3 Qc4 8. Kf2 Qb4 9. a3 Qd6 10. e5 Qh6 Harassing the Queen while developing
11. Nd5 Kd8 12. Nxf4 Be7 13. Nd5 Bh4 14. g3 Qe6 15. Nf4 Bxg3 16. Kxg3 Qh6 17. d5 g5 18. xc6 xf4 19. Bxf4 Qxc6 Clarifying position
20. Bg2 Ne7 21. Kh2 Rg8 22. Rg1 Qe4 23. Bg3 d6 24. Ng5 Qf5 25. xd6 Qxg5 mate in 2
26. xc7 Ke8 27. Qd8 mate

Nintendo 3DS preview

COOL TECH

I just read it in Nintendo Power Magazine a preview of Nintendo 3DS system, and I am extremely pleased. My main worry about 3D is "How do I turn it off?". I was thinking about taking the 3D filter on and off, but Nintendo did me one better! There is a slider on the side that will adjust the depth of 3D vision, from flat to extreme. I like that very much!

The current prototype looks like the current DSi, but with these difference
1. Accepts 3DS card, in addition to DS compatibility
2. 3D filter screen on 800x240 panoramic top screen
3. Adjustable depth slider
4. 3 cameras: 1 internal, 2 external, with possibly, updated Photo Viewer for 3D.
5. Slide pad, for analog movement
6. Accellerometer, and gyroscope.
7. Home button
8. Telescoping stylus

Overall, it's just like old device, only better! I hope that the shoulder button got fixed. They're broken on my DS.

I'm rather surprised by the depth slider, but happy surprise. The motion sensors worries me. If the game designer uses that to enhance gaming experience, then great! If they use it just because they can, then it's bad. Ditto for Slide pad. What? Touch screen control not good enough for you?

I'm ambivalent about Home button and telescoping stylus. I've never seen any telescoping stylus that isn't flimsy. There's also some networking function. Supposedly, there is some kind of background connectivity while you sleep. I don't like that at all. I like operating my device while I'm watching. Then again, there maybe a useful function to it, such as remote watching. Makes a nice, if expensive, baby monitor device.

It really surprised me about the games. There's quite a bit out there! Even the 2D games are enhanced. I'm really happy! Especially since I decided to not buy a Wii just to play Street Fighter IV. Yup, it's on 3DS! That makes it a must buy for me! PilotWings, MarioKart, StarFox, just to name a few that I will be splurging my lunch money on.

I am really excited about this thing. There is something 3D that just does not translate to computer screen. So much so, that I am considering picking up Miniature gaming. Now imagine this: You have a device that acts like a window to alternate universe. It's like you can see to another dimension (small screen, but we have to start somewhere). The motion sensors can be programmed to track device motion and position. That means Nintendo 3DS can act like a virtual camera, similar to James Cameron Virtual 3D Camera system! You literally have in your hands a device that lets you see into another dimension! You can use it to play games, or just do visualization program. The possibilities are staggering, so much so, that I can't trust other people to do it. I want a programmable language on this thing!

I do have some requests, assuming Nintendo is listening:
1. I want to watch movies on the device. Can you please provide official alternative other than Moonshell homebrew? Especially since you sue homebrew device out of existence.
2. I want a decent paint program, like Colors! homebrew. Arts Academy is fine, but a full fledge paint program will work great with portable mobile printer.
3. Family BASIC, or any kind of BASIC interpreter out there. WarioWare DIY is excellent, and I love it. But I have more imagination than what that program can handle.
4. Animation Studio. Excuse me. Please make that _3D_ Animation Studio. :) Or alternatively, VRML.
5. Some kind of wordprocessor, spreadsheet not a bad idea. Even if it's on the level of MS Windows CE kind.
6. And as long as I'm dreaming: Idol Master 3D, and Love Plus!

Movie Review: Clash of Titans, Alice in Wonderland, Kick-Ass

Movie Reviews

I recently saw 3 movies near back-to-back. The Clash of the Titans, Alice in Wonderland, and Kick Ass. Of the three, I like Clash of Titans least. Wonderland and Kick Ass, I like equally but for different reason. I had wanted to see Wonderland in 3D, but unfortunately, the theater was taken by Clash of Titans, so I saw that in 3D instead.

The Clash of the Titans:

It's a well-made movie, but unfortunately, too special effect heavy. By that, I mean that the acting is put as secondary consideration. What was there is fine, certainly nothing wrong with it. However, I'm only impressed by the acting of two actors: Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. Having seen Terminator 4 and Avatar, I know Sam Worthington can act, but it seems that his talent is under-utilized here. I also like the performance of that kooky old guy who put Andromeda to Kraken.

The special effect, however, is terrific. Unfortunately, the 3D special effect is wasted. I don't know why, but they fell flat, even though they shouldn't. There's enough scenes that should highlight the 3D effect. All other effects, though, is excellent. You can really feel the power of those gigantic scorpions breaking through the columns. Kraken is downright scary. The scale feels epic.

So, watch it in theatre for the effect, unless you have great surround sound system, because I believe the sound easily contributes 30% of the effect. The 3D effect is forgettable, so if you do have great sound system at home, you can skip the 3D effect.

Alice in Wonderland:

Down the rabbit hole she went. The story is kind of different. All the elements are there, but different. This one has plot. I'm having trouble judging the acting skills. I think Alice acting skill is actually sub-par compared to the rest of the crew, animated ones included! The rest of the cast is terrific. A pleasure to see Johnny Depp portray the Mad Hatter. Enough craziness to be mad, not enough to be silly. A very fine performance, indeed. Helena Bonham Carter is obviously typecast, but also put on an excellent performance. All the wonderland characters has this quirkiness that is just slightly out of this world. The physical proportion is off compared to that of the real world.

As far as the plot is conceived, I'm having trouble thinking why Alice can't eat some cake and crush the Jabberwocky with her fingers. Other than that, it is fine. A standard reluctant heroine plot. The environment, however, is marvelous. The costumes are terrific. The colors are brilliant. The movie really does transport you to another world, and I'm really sorry that I missed it in 3D.

Kick Ass:

I have to say that I wasn't going to watch this movie because it has a silly plot. But I did go see it because the performance of Chloe Moretz is rumored to be good. It's true. Having seen that movie, I can tell that she is a professional actress. And she was 11 years old at the time!

The story is that of Nerd-Turned-Superhero plot. However, it was presented in such a way that is believable, and generate sympathy, while at the same time, providing over-the-top fighting sequences. What other superhero do you know gained their power by being stabbed in the stomach and hit by a passing car? That is both painful and funny at the same time. That is the kind of humor this movie has, and it provides them by the buckets. Rumor has it, this movie is made with 30 million dollars. If so, that is 30 million dollars well-spent.

The acting skill and casting is superb. From Nicholas Cage down, everybody is terrific. Geeks act like geeks. Pretty girls act like pretty girls. Thugs act like thugs, and so on. The only one that I notice is sub-par is Red Mist. I know he's supposed to be stupid, but it seems like he's only stoic stupid. The role actually provides a range of acting skills, so there should be dumb-stupid, angry-stupid, bewildered-stupid, and so-on. I guess you can say Bruce Campbell Evil Dead series would be a good template. And yes, I am very impressed with Chloe Moretz's acting skill. I'm not a Nicholas Cage fan, but I have to admit, he's very good in this movie.

The story is good. The acting is top-notch. The special effects are flawless. Is there any downside? Depends. If you take the ridiculously violent movie "300", then you know how violent this movie is when I say that this one has more violence than "300". Also, the number of swear words seems to be there by the buckets. The humor, also, is not mainstream. Definitely adult-fare. If you're okay with that, and I am somewhat ambivalent about it, then yes, you should go see this movie.

And please, don't do that at home.

MySims Camera DSiWare Review

REVIEW

Kawaii!

Who wants to pose virtual people onto your pictures? Nobody, that's who. At least that's what I thought. Obviously, I was wrong.

When I first read the description of MySims Camera, I wondered how they could possibly do 3D poses and animation yet maintain ease-of-use and convenience. It turns out that the poses are canned, and that the animation are really on the preview only. However, it works very well. There are quite a bit of animation that you can choose from. If you look at that flying Superman pose, that's actually swimming animation. The sideways portrait is actually not supported. The rotation doesn't permit it, so only one pose is possible.

The most important thing is: Do I have fun? Surprisingly, yes I do. I don't even play Sims. I don't have any of the game. However, the character selection, even limited to 7, is terrific, and I keep smiling at the result. Therefore, it is very well worth the price of $2.

You can, of course, create a series of MySims inspired notebook. But it also functions well as a comic creator, even if you have to drag Photo Graffiti to the process. Can you take a picture of a calendar and add MySims character to it? Can you make MySims themed playing cards? Yes and yes. For two dollars? This is great!

There is also a tie-in with existing MySims games. Supposedly there will be new characters. Unknown to me is whether the poses library will also be expanded. However, as I said before, I don't play the game, and I don't have any. So the question now is, will I get MySims Kingdom or MySims Agent?

myNotebook Blue DSiWare review

DSIWARE REVIEW

I have just downloaded a DSiWare program called myNotebook: Blue by nnooo. I'm a sucker for app type DSiWare. However, I can safely say that you should stay away from this one as far as possible. This is one of those program that is poorly designed.

I'm not saying that a notebook program for Nintendo DSi is a bad idea. In fact, it is a terrific idea. However, the execution for this program is very much lacking. The music is intolerable, and the first time I turn the music off, it didn't turn off! I had to lower the volume down to 10, save, quit, and re-run the program before it will take.

There is no exit button to the DSiMenu. Huh?

Unlockable paper type: a very bad idea. Can you imagine having a word processor that requires you to use the program before it gives you "unlockable" fonts? Especially, if there's no way for you to know how to unlock it? What's the big idea?

You only get 2 paper types: Lined and Square. No blank pages?

No zoom function. I know not many people want it, but I do.

No color yellow.

Pen type: Thick and thin line is provided. 2 rather indistinguishable pen types and an eraser.

Writing on pages: This really annoys me. You have to turn the Nintendo DSi upside down for writing even-odd pages. This you MUST do EVERY SINGLE TIME! Of course, the press material says that "you CAN ..." I think there is a big difference between "CAN" and "MUST". "CAN" implies that you can use the program either left or right handed. "MUST" implies that unless you can read and write upside down, you'd better practicing turning the device often. It is the latter, and the official video either skip this info or glossed over it. In this case, "MUST" means unless you do, better accept that you'll be skipping every other pages.

No Photo import/export function.

Playing paper games? Flipnote Studio does it better!

Okay, enough ramblings. Now for the things that they should have done to make this a good offering:
1. Custom paper design: I've been photographing paper and use the Graffiti function to do this. A dedicated notebook program should be able to do the same or better.
2. Color choices: A pallette choice would be great, even if it is limited to 256 colors or even websafe colors.
3. Don't make the user flip the device on every pages! Have it shown 1-2, then 2-3, then 3-4, and so on. Trying to conform exactly as real-life paper counterpart is counter productive.
4. If you have lined pages, a typewriter (keyboard) function would be nice, and then provide fixed pitch and proportional spacing font.
5. Skip the unlockables, please.
6. Respect DSi convention by providing exit button, even if you do it via select menu.
7. Skip the nearly indistinguishable pen type, and subtitute marker capability. Especially nice with expanded color pallette.
8. Import and Export to Photo. Ability to crop picture would be a plus. You can do a scrapbook style project. A much more worthy capability than "Playing paper games (not included)" statement.
9. Playing paper games: Better provide them on your website. Like I said: Flipnote Studio does it better. Photo Graffiti not too bad either. Without ability to import custom paper type, this claim is useless. It's like claiming you can play chess by drawing and erasing playing piece. Technically, that's true, but it is very, very inconvenient.
10. Organizing note: Flipnote Studio does it better with the calendar capability. And Flipnote is FREE.

In conclusion: If you feel that I keep saying Flipnote Studio does it better a lot, then you are absolutely correct! Skip this myNotebook offering, and download Flipnote Studio instead. What's more, if you do play paper games, you can upload your games to Hatena website and share the games with a lot of other people. And yes, with Flipnote Studio, you can import from the camera, thus giving you an unlimited custom paper design.

Normally, I don't give bad review since I am of the opinion that if I think it's bad, I must have misjudged the product. However, I don't know anybody who is sane who would be willing to use this considering that it is very inconvenient to use and of limited capability. Had Flipnote Studio not exist or is much more expensive, then this may have a chance. As it is, I wouldn't download it, even if it's free.

Nintendo DSiWare Clock and Calculator Review

REVIEW

I recently read a review for DSiWare Clock. Actually, there are different versions available. I have 2 of them: Animal Crossing and Photo Clock. Of the two, I like Photo Clock better. The Animal Crossing Clock is pretty much useless to me. I downloaded it because you can set musical tones to it. I was thinking like a song or a little ditty. Turns out, it was for hourly chimes, along with the extremely long play time, and very limited set of notes. I was so disappointed!

The Photo Clock, however, is terrific! I use it a lot! There's not much difference between the two, only that the Photo Clock does not have musical chimes, and that it displays pictures from your photo album. It works great as Picture viewer. This is where the reviewer on the other site got it wrong. The display WILL turn off after a while, thus saving battery. You don't need to have it plugged in all the time. Energy Saving settings come in 3 levels: Off, 5 minutes, and 1 hour. If you do plug it in, then the Energy Saving settings is automatically disabled, and you can use it as picture viewer on your desk/coffee table, with the saving setting automatically disabled. For 2 dollars? This is great! I set it to my pictures, paintings from Arts Academy at the time of this typing.

But more than that, you can use audio recordings from your DSi Sound. This makes it a much more useful alarm clock than normal because you can differentiate between different alarms. If you use it strictly as alarm clock to wake you up, then you'll be happy that the sound is loud enough to wake you up. The alarm bell sound is especially annoying enough to make me want to shut it off, as opposed to gently sounding music to put me to sleep. And since you can apply snooze settings individually, you can set sound of the sea to snooze and sleep at sleep time, while setting the loud alarm bell at wake up time.

Yet, there's more: You can do time offset. This is a big deal, and I'm glad for it. This allows you to use the Clock as a timer. Simply set the alarm to, say 1:10, and adjust the time offset so it shows 1:00. Suddenly, you have a 10 minute timer. When you pair this with the audio recording "The Eggs are Done! Go Take Them Out!", you will have an extremely fancy egg timer on the cheap. And if you would put Easter Eggs pictures on the display, then I'm sure you'll agree that 2 dollars is a cheap price to pay.

You can do more than this. How about setting the alarm to your kids DSi? "Quit watching TV! Do your homework!", "Take out the trash NOW!", "Time to stop playing and go to sleep!" are messages that comes to mind. Yes, you can customize this to anything you want. You can even record all the funny ringtones from your phone and use it on your DSi.

In short, Photo Clock is a great clock application. Don't bother with Animal Crossing or Mario version.

Now, on to the review and comments to it, I noticed that the review is full of inaccuracy. There's a lot of useful features that is missing from the review, such as time offset. Worse, the review falsely stated that you cannot turn off the display, risking running out of the battery! Yet, it is just a simple setting away. You don't even need to read the instruction for this. How come the reviewer missed it?

As to the replies, most are annoyed that it costs money to get. Some even erroneously claim $5. Nope, it's only $2. Some compare it to the fact that you already have clocks for free. Yes, but no timer nor alarms. Some others also compare it to phone alarm. Yes, but no timer nor customized sound, unless you're willing to pay and how much would that be? Some others insist that you should get it if you like Animal Crossings. Nope. Photo Clock will do better as you can take pictures of your favorite subject, whatever that may be, and display a bunch of pictures, instead of one single static picture of animal crossing. And if you like Mario, stick in a music file AAC.mp4 format in SD card, and play coin game that way.

I can't stress this enough: Photo Clock is an excellent buy because you can customize this to your heart's content, courtesy of DSi Photo, and DSi Sound. Think of the possibilities: Practical Jokers can record some flatulence sound, set a timer on it and place it on unsuspecting victim. Or how about cat's meow to annoy the dog? The possibilities are many!

Now, about the calculators: It is a simple, non-scientific 13 digit calculator with calculation history. You get arithmetic calculation and Memory functions. Also some conversion rates, although you don't really need a special function for that, right? Just a conversion table and you'll be set. No statistical functions, trigonometric, or what have you. Just simple arithmetic.

Lots of reviewers like the conversion function. I don't. It doesn't have the one feature I want: liters to cubic inches. It does have liters and it converts to several different volume measurements. Alas, no cubic inches. Anyway, like I said, I just need a table for it.

People are upset that this Calculator isn't free. I can understand that sentiment if the calculator is generic, but branding always costs money. Between Mario and Animal Crossing, I'd go with Animal Crossing. I couldn't stand the Mario sound of coin. It is very annoying if you're trying to think through the calculations involved. The Animal Crossing actually repeats the numbers (in animal voice), so you don't have to look at the keyboard, allowing you to concentrate on the calculation, such as password generating linear congruent theory.

In short, forget Mario Calculator. Get yourself Animal Crossing Calculator. I actually use this a lot more than the free calculator on my Palm phone. And the calculation history is a feature you'll be glad to have when your calculation result looks strange and wonky.

Art Academy First Semester Nintendo DSiWare Review

REVIEW

I just downloaded Nintendo DSiWare Art Academy First Semester for $8. It is a sketching and paint program for Nintendo DSi. The second semester will be out September 28. I'll be looking forward to it.

Having been spoiled with Colors! I'm not too sure about this program. The color mixing is different. I don't like the fact that transparency is related to wetness, which causes the colors to actually bleed! Then again, this isn't Mario Paint. This is Art Academy. When you look at it that way, $8 is cheap compared to paying someone a dollar per hour to teach you how to paint. And it is on that regard, Art Academy is succesful. Good lessons, good paint program.

The program is actually divided into two parts: Lessons and Free Painting. This is great, because it underscores the importance of skill. Too many kids these days think that tool, alone, is sufficient. That's not true! You need to know how to do this. The lessons are well paced, and relevant.

As I've been spoiled by Colors, I kept looking for mistakes to criticize. I couldn't find any! Sure the color mixing is inconvenient, and pencil drawing mode disappears once you get into painting mode, but those are nitpicks. Of the relevant importance is the ability to import pictures from your camera into the program and export them to the album. You have different modes to help you visualize the result. With all these help, you should be knocking out great drawings in no time! What's more, the adherence to reality, instead of digital painting, means that you can carry the skills out to the real world.

The tutorials themselves is filled with historical artists, and explanations of their painting styles. This encourages you to research such topic, either in the library or on the Internet. That can only mean one thing: a well developing talent to spot artistic styles. This is a much better lesson quality than expected. This is better art lesson than what the average student would get with a real teacher.

I especially like the grid inclusion very much, as it allows beginner to have good result immediately. For comparison, check out my pepper drawing, which I did without the grid. It looks positively depressed!

Okay, that one was done in a hurry. In fact, about the only disappointment is that it ends too quickly! I did the whole first semester in one sitting! Ah, well.

Overall, I wholly recomend this program to everybody, but especially to those who wants to draw but can't. Kids will love it, as well. Finally, when you consider that Nintendo DSi now seamlessly integrates with facebook, I think that this is the best thing in art education in a long, long time.

X-Men Origin: Wolverine

REVIEW

As I sit in the movie theater, I noticed that I was the only one sitting in there. This bodes ill for the long term prospect of the movie. Like Star Trek, this movie is high on special effects, light on story. Also present are numerous plot holes, although it's not as outlandish as Star Trek.

Overall, this is a movie heavy with special effects and standard action fare. However, the special effect treatment is exemplary, not only in execution, but also in moderation, in that it is used to enhance the story. I applaud the movie makers on their good sense. Unfortunately, the script is a standard action fare. It's not bad at all. In fact, I noticed certain expert touches here and there. I think the material limits the exploration, though. This isn't some heavy philosophizing mutant. This is some psychologically tortured mutant trying to make sense of the world around him. It's a good setup, albeit lacking that "life altering experience." If you want meditation, then this isn't the movie you seek. If you want traditional tortured hero with great action sequences, then look no further. This is it!

SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER

The movie begins with young Logan and his brother on the run, promising to stay with each other forever. And stayed they did, from Civil War to Vietnam. Plot holes: for some reason, they stop growing once they are old enough? The time frame is kind of out of whack. Eventually, his brother aka Victor Creed aka Sabretooth ran into some mental instability problem and Logan and Creed were scheduled to be executed. Obviously, with their healing mutant power, they survived.

Enter Colonel Stryker, leader of Team X. "How would you like to serve your country?" Of course, they would. Wouldn't want to stay in the brig for centuries.

The African battle scene is terrific. However, the Hollywood mindset revealed itself, as even though Team X attacked the compound. Only one character at a time would partake into action. This is obviously a plot device to introduce the capabilities of each character. However, I think a coordinated action sequence where the team functioned as a unit would have been really an andrenalin workout. It could have been spectacular. Opportunities wasted, in my opinion.

Anyway, it turns out the colonel was looking for adamantium. In the subsequent brutal interrogation of the villagers, Logan quit in disgust. This was well scripted and acted, yet it is as cliche as any other time the good guy left a bad team.

Fast forward six years later, where Wolverine cuts trees down in Canada, lived in a log home, and with a pretty girlfriend to boot! An extremely understanding girlfriend who doesn't mind being scratched by the claws from time to time. In other words: Heaven.

Of course, the movie would be extremely boring if this is all there is. There's rampant killings of mutants and colonel Stryker tried to recruit Logan once more. Logan, who by this time has gained an indredible set of sinewy mucles from humping large trees. I was really impressed with Hugh Jackman physique. The last time I was this impressed was Daniel-Day Lewis in the Last of the Mohican. Jackman is better. I wouldn't mind getting a poster of his in battle action pose (hint!). This is a first for me.

It turns out Creed was the killer. He killed SilverFox, who is Logan's girlfriend. Logan agreed to undergo enhancement procedure. A butt naked Logan was strapped into the operating table. After some tense moments, Wolverine emerged. Unfortunately, Colonel Stryker made a tactical mistake. This caused Wolverine to bolt out of the base, still butt naked. Ladies, please avert your eyes! Hugh Jackman does porno including showing his pale white buff!

He befriended a friendly couple. Unfortunately, they got killed by agent Zero during the attempt to take in Wolverine. After an intense battle, during which agent Zero's incredible marksmanship went dud (plot hole), Wolverine managed to turn the tables and killed agent Zero.

Then comes the hunting for the new lab. Wolverine managed to meet up with Gambit (yet another implausible, but exciting fight scene), and together they hit the famed Three Mile Island. Yes, the nuclear reactor.

It turns out colonel Stryker was assembling a super mutant with capabilities of other mutants. I will not reveal the plot twists and turns here, but I will say that this is far better than Star Trek's plot. Still standard action fare, though.

In the end, Wolverine clawed his way onto one of the nuclear smoke stack, and together with Creed, fought off the new mutant. They finally won by decapitating the head. The head made a neat corkscrew cut, courtesy of Scott Summer's eye blast, that cuts down the smoke stack. Miraculously, it stood long enough for Wolverine to hit the ground. But then it tumbled down, threatening to bury Wolverine with several tons of nuclear proof concrete. Gambit to the rescue! With a leap worthy of a hundred long distance jumpers, he demolished the concrete, and Wolverine is saved, not even showered by concrete dust! Ain't special effect wonderful?

Unfortunately, one last plot twist reared his ugly head and colonel Stryker managed to shoot Wolverine in the head with super duper Adamantium bullet. KAPOWW! That must have hurt. After an emotional wrap up, the movie ends. Wolverine was last seen drinking large quantities of alcohol in Japan, "trying to remember."

2009 Star Trek Movie

REVIEW

I did see the Star Trek movie. In two words: Eye Candy. The movie is full of them. I know J. J. Abrams wants to take Star Trek to new direction, and I think he succeeded. However, I'm not sure I want to follow the franchise as-is. If you strip away the eye candy and old homage lines, you come up empty. Story, in this movie, is the glue that sticks one action sequence after another. And I thought Batman: the Dark Knight was bad! What is it with these people? Do you necessarily dumb down the material to appeal to the masses? You do realise, of course, that the implication is that the masses is nothing more than jello-brained monkeys incapable of critical thinking?

The performances of the actors are fine. The acting is eeriely reminiscent of the old actors. So kudos to the actors. The special effects are definitely mind-blowing! This is even more intense than Pirates of Carribean trilogy, and I thought that was over the top. I'm curious as how Mr. Abrams is going to top this one. This certainly broke all records of extravaganza in the movie making.

Other people would have their own pet peeve, of course, but I think Simon Pegg is weak as Scotty. Not that he doesn't act well. He does, and his accent isn't too shabby. But his face isn't too much like Scotty, but Shaun of the Dead. Karl Urban, however, nailed Bones nearly perfectly. There are times when I forget I'm watching a different actor instead of DeForest Kelley. I personally think Winona Ryder is perfect as Amanda. She doesn't have too many lines, but I thought her facial expression is the perfect balance of Compassion and Strenght. She communicates not via words, but facial expression. Very impressive.

The rest of the actors are fine. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and others. I will highlight the excellent performance of Leonard Nimoy (Spock Prime). It seems to me that whenever Spock Prime is on-screen. He became the anchor other actors lean on. Leonard Nimoy has excellent screen presence compared to the rest of the crew.

I will also put a note to the crew from Industrial Light and Magic. Brilliant works of art, to be sure.

Now, comes the spoilers and disappointment. It turns out the story if so full of holes that I really didn't want to watch it again. Too painful. This is the only movie that I left as soon as the credit rolled, instead of waiting for the short scene at the end.

SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS

When the Romulan emerge from Black Hole: BH drags things IN. At least show it coming out on the periphery. Also, BH isn't flat like Port-a-hole. Get real!

Lots of hanging structure there, and it was depicted as massive. Not only that, numerous deadly torpedoes came out of it to harass U.S.S. Kelvin. Imagine my surprise to learn later than this isn't a warship, but a mining ship! Since when a mining ship carries that many torpedoes? Unguided explosives, maybe, but not missiles. Also, is it my imagination that the size of the ship shrunk when Spock was attacking it at the end of the movie?

The numerous shuttles leaving U.S.S. Kelvin, while Captain George Kirk single-handedly manned the ship, fending off those torpedoes. Huh? Why are there so many people on the ship when a few suffice?

Ramming the enemy ship. Interestingly, those torpedoes decided to stay out of the way when just moments before, they were attacking fiercely.

I think the scene where Jim Kirk did joyride can be safely skipped. It did establish the character as reckless and rebellious. The Wild One? A new personality, to be sure. Perhaps to show the character change as happened when he met Spock Prime, but I think this was handled poorly.

On one scene, he was speeding thru wheatfield. On the next, a tremendously towering cliff. I don't know Iowan farmers would put their farms on mountain tops.

The bar scene introduces Christopher Pike. But it seems that Jim Kirk is the only civilian there. Is this a Federation bar?

The Kobayashi Maru scene could be done better. I forgot to notice whether the enemy is Klingon or Romulan. A nice introduction for Spock.

Speaking of which, the pit classroom is gross inefficiency for space. A holographic projector can fit more people, given the same amount of space. This is especially true if the projection was done via holographic spectacles. And what's with the building hanging from the cliff. Eye Candy.

The Kirk cheating hearing is done in front of everybody? Highly unusual procedure. The disciplining process, maybe, but the hearing itself is usually a private affair with few selected people.

There's funny bit on how McCoy smuggled Kirk into Enterprise. Fine acting on that one.

I find it hard to believe that several Federation Starships didn't last long enough for Enterprise to catch up. Obvious plot device. Also rather improbable that Vulcan with its high technology and 4 billion people, in fact, did not maintain either a fleet of spaceships or atmospheric ones. Later on, Spock's Research vessel shot the drill quickly enough.

The parachuting action is well done and very exciting, but the defending Romulan was hidden in a cabin INSIDE the drill end? Highly unusual feature. Also, the Romulan ship must be at or near atmospheric location. Enterprise should be able to just shoot it from space, or at least hiding behind the curvature of the planet.

You don't really need to drill to the center of the planet to drop a black hole.

Look at the amount of material to create the black hole. It's the same amount Spock is using to collapse a supernova? Does that make sense? Later on, the whole orb was used to collapse the ship. I'm surprised that the whole thing didn't just implode immediately, taking the Enterprise with it.

Kirk was abandoned on Vulcan's moon. Or is that a twin planet? Anyway, they're close by. Did you notice that one is desert, while the other is snow?

You would think that collapsing a sun, even one that goes supernova, may in fact spare the planets from the flames, but will certainly doom the inhabitants to cold dead space.

It's funny how there's a Federation outpost nearby, but Spock didn't send Kirk there. Neither did Spock Prime seek refuge there before deciding to watch the planet Vulcan implode. Another obvious plot device.

Transporting two humans across vast distances requires more energy that what a simple outpost can muster, I think.

You would think that someone as smart as Spock would simply say "Security, put Kirk into the brig for further questioning later." No fuss. No muss. Also, he would have established a new chain of command so that when he became invalid, there's a successor chain of command, other than the guy he just throw out of ship.

Earth is as defenseless as Vulcan. Is that right?

Who designed a spaceship to be composed of multi-level planks with no safety fence, anyway?

How did the Romulans capture Spock's ship? And how come they can't do it again?

From cadet to captain in one mission? I may be missing something, though.

[UPDATE]

I read Countdown Graphic Novel. It does a great job explaining some of the technologies involved in the movie. A few things I got wrong:

1. Nero and Spock worked together in creating the red substance.

2. It's not a mining ship. It's a nano techno war ship.

3. Supernova was on another solar system, so imploding it won't turn Romulus into a cold, dead dustball.

4. Spock was an outcast in Vulcan.

I think that's about it. I only glanced it real quick, but these are the relevant items that I've discovered in the graphic novel. Still too many plot holes in the movie, though. I wonder if there ever was a novel that describes the movie that would make it less ridiculous. Maybe I should read that, too.

Nintendo DSi wares

FUN

I finally managed to get Nintendo Internet connection to work. The way I did it is by setting the parameters manually.

First, I connected via my laptop, noting the network parameters. Then I entered the data into NDSi settings. And then comes the tricky part: I turned off the laptop's Wifi and connect the DSi network immediately. It worked! The reason I did it immediately and without shutting down the network is so that the connection is still up and the DSi simply took over existing connection, rather than establishing new one.

Later on, I did change the setting for automatic IP address generation. It still works, to my amazement. So, I need to experiment with it a little bit more.

I downloaded Opera browser. It really works! Unfortunately, Megatokyo online comic (www.megatokyo.com) has blurred fonts, making it illegible. Freefall (freefall.purrsia.com) however, works fine. No Javascript, but I'm okay with that. Web based mail is so slow! I hope there would be a mail client soon. Usenet newsreader would be nice, also. Can I dream about Google Docs?

Two programs I downloaded. WarioWare: Snapped! and Mixed Messages.

Nintendo's WarioWare Snapped is an excellent program showcasing DSi capabilities. It is an excellent party game, perfect to showcase the new DSi. You'll have fun looking at all the goofy expressions as you try to act out the game in front of DSi camera! Try it out on your friends!

Activision's Mixed Messages is also a good party game, but I feel that a paper and pencil variety would work just as well. Passing around index cards to draw/scribble works well, right? This is the kind of program that works due to novelty factor, instead of platform. So I was rather disappointed with this one.

The game that I did went like this:
The police officer caught the vase thief.
Caught with a dead fish in hand
Marathon runner smells fishy
Faster than a speeding angry duck!

Everything is banana cream pie
Pot of butter makes curious cake
Rain proof hat means no fear of Kool-Aid!
Kool-Aid can be dangerous!

And yes, it works fine as comic strip creator, if you don't mind Black and white. Colors for NDS Homebrew is better, though. I'm waiting for Mario Paint. I think it's called Moving Notebook or something like that.