Twilight book review (halfway)

I have never heard of this book until the movie came out. I have not yet seen the movie either but my friend said that it was the best movie she has ever watched! Since the last book i've read was one of Dan Brown's novels, i thought it was about time to return to that nice feeling of curling up to a good book. so, the twilight series was going to be that book.

halfway through the book, i feel that my brain is slowly getting numb. the first 216 pages which i have read so far was all about Bella's (the main character) daily routine and how she was so madly in love with a vampire. LITERALLY, there was nothing more than that... she goes to school. tries to find Edward (the vampire) if he's around. she's happy when he's there, she's sad when he's not. and the book is not well written and the story line, very very bland.

the first half is all about how beautiful Edward is. and Bella keeps on narrating this in her head. okay.. i get it.. he's a freakin hot vampire. move on please~ and the way Bella is so head over heels for the guy gets annoying to say the least.. whenever he gets close to her, she feels tension.. whenever she looks at his face, she forgets to breath.. it was like a teenage girl swooning over a rockstar. and of course, this is on repeat for the first half of the book.

i looked back at the trailer to see what i was missing... is this how the movie actually goes? nope, i saw action... i saw other enemies and Edward fighting them. Edward climbing a tree on all fours. not much on Bella's teenage angst.

to sum up, so far, it's a very very dull read... i feel like i'm reading a 14-year-old's love diary. i may end up regretting spending my hard-earned B$22.80 on this book. but what i do regret more is spending another B$22.80 on the sequel already. (i bought them together) BIG MISTAKE. may some poor soul on ebay suffers as i did by these forsaken literature. i think i'll just stick to the movies for the other 2 books.

where popular phrases came from

here are some of the most popular phrases that people use often. but what do they mean and where did they come from?

"Houston, we have a problem..."

Meaning

Originally a genuine report of a life-threatening fault. Now used humorously to report any kind of problem.

Origin

John Swigert, Jr. and James Lovell who, with Fred Haise Jr., made up the crew of the US's Apollo 13 moon flight used (almost) this phrase to report a major technical problem back to their Houston base.

Swigert: 'Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here.'
Duke: 'This is Houston. Say again please.'
Lovell: 'Houston, we've had a problem. We've had a main B bus undervolt.'

The phrase was later used as the tagline for the 1995 film - Apollo 13.

"shiver my timbers!"

Meaning

An oath, expressing annoyance or surprise.

Origin

Those of a certain age will remember Robert Newton, rolling his eyes and yarring it up in his archetypal Hollywood pirate role - Long John Silver in the 1950 film Treasure Island.

Robert Louis Stevenson used shiver my timbers several times in the original 1883 book, for example:

"Well, he [Old Pew] is dead now and under hatches; but for two year before that, shiver my timbers, the man was starving!"

Of course, Newton made the most of such 'parrot on the shoulder' phrases and it also appears several times in the film's screenplay. Newton's version, like that of all self-respecting stage pirates, was shiver me timbers, with the occasional 'aaarh, Jim lad' thrown in.

The first appearance of the phrase in print is in Frederick Marryat's Jacob Faithful, 1834:

"I won't thrash you Tom. Shiver my timbers if I do."

One meaning of shiver, which is now largely forgotten, is 'to break into pieces'. That meaning originated at least as early as the 14th century and is recorded in several Old English texts. A more recent citation, which makes that meaning clear, is James Froude's Caesar; a sketch, 1879:

"As he crossed the hall, his statue fell, and shivered on the stones."

So, the sailor's oath shiver my timbers, is synonymous with (if so and so happens then...) let my boat breaks into pieces. The question is whether any real sailor used the term or whether it was just a literary invention. Well, we can't be sure, although the fact that it actually means something and isn't just Newton-style hokum must count in favour of it being an authentic sailor's oath.

"i'm in a pickle!"

Meaning

In a quandary or some other difficult position.

Origin

This alludes to the pickling liquid made from brines and vinegar which is used to preserve food, and presumably to the imagined difficult of being stuck in such. The phrase was known in Dutch by 1561 - ' in de pekel zitten' meaning 'to be in a pickle'.

There are a few references to ill pickles and this pickle etc. in print in the late 16th century, but Shakespeare appears to be the first to use in a pickle, in The Tempest, 1611:

ALONSO:
And Trinculo is reeling ripe: where should they
Find this grand liquor that hath gilded 'em?
How camest thou in this pickle?

TRINCULO:
I have been in such a pickle since I
saw you last that, I fear me, will never out of
my bones: I shall not fear fly-blowing.

oops!! my bad!

Meaning

My mistake - I'm to blame.

Origin

This slang term originated in about 1970. At that time, i.e. pre the widespread use of the Internet, slang terms often circulated at street level for many years before being adopted by anyone who felt inclined to write them down. That's clearly not the case any longer of course and any word or phrase that is widely known is dateable quite precisely via website logs.

The first citation in print is C. Wielgus and A. Wolff's, 'Back-in-your-face Guide to Pick-up Basketball', 1986:

"My bad, an expression of contrition uttered after making a bad pass or missing an opponent."

'My bad' came into widespread popular use in the mid to late-1990s in the USA via the 1995 movie “Clueless”. This starred Alicia Silverstone and contains what seems to have been the first use of the phrase in the mainstream media. The 1994 'Green revision pages' for the movie script has a scene with Alicia Silverstone's character learning to drive:

"Cher swerves - to avoid killing a person on a bicycle. Cher: Whoops, my bad."

the original version to popular fairytales

i found this really good article on fairy tales. all credit goes to the orginal author so have a good read like i did.

written by stacy - orginal post here.

You might have noticed from an earlier post that I’m a bit of a Disney buff. This is kind of out of character for me, to be honest, because I’m not a huge fan of happily ever after. I like movie endings that are unexpected. After doing a little research, though, I realized that maybe fairy tales and I are a perfect match: those Disney endings where the prince and the princess end up blissfully married don’t really happen in the original stories. To make sure kids go home happy, not horrified, Disney usually has to alter the endings. Read on for the original endings to a couple of Disney classics (and some more obscure tales).

1. Cinderella

Don’t break out your violins for this gal just yet. All that cruelty poor Cinderella endured at the hands of her overbearing stepmother might have been well deserved. In the oldest versions of the story, the slightly more sinister Cinderella actually kills her first stepmother so her father will marry the housekeeper instead. Guess she wasn’t banking on the housekeeper’s six daughters moving in or that never-ending chore list.

2. Sleeping Beauty

In the original version of the tale, it’s not the kiss of a handsome prince that wakes Sleeping Beauty, but the nudging of her newborn twins. That’s right. While unconscious, the princess is impregnated by a monarch and wakes up to find out she’s a mom twice over. Then, in true Ricki Lake form, Sleeping Beauty’s “baby’s daddy” triumphantly returns and promises to send for her and the kids later, conveniently forgetting to mention that he’s married. When the trio is eventually brought to the palace, his wife tries to kill them all, but is thwarted by the king. In the end, Sleeping Beauty gets to marry the guy who violated her, and they all live happily ever after.

3. Snow White

At the end of the original German version penned by the brothers Grimm, the wicked queen is fatally punished for trying to kill Snow White. It’s the method she is punished by that is so strange - she is made to dance wearing a pair of red-hot iron shoes until she falls over dead.

4. The Little Mermaid

You’re likely familiar with the Disney version of the Little Mermaid story, in which Ariel and her sassy crab friend, Sebastian, overcome the wicked sea witch, and Ariel swims off to marry the man of her dreams. In Hans Christian Andersen’s original tale, however, the title character can only come on land to be with the handsome prince if she drinks a potion that makes it feel like she is walking on knives at all times. She does, and you would expect her selfless act to end with the two of them getting married. Nope. The prince marries a different woman, and the Little Mermaid throws herself into the sea, where her body dissolves into seam foam.

Now here are four more fairy tales you might not be familiar with, but you might have trouble forgetting.

1. The King Who Wished to Marry His Daughter
What It’s Like: Cinderella, with an incestuous twist

The King’s wife dies and he swears he will never marry again unless he finds a woman who fits perfectly into his dead Queen’s clothes. Guess what? His daughter does! So he insists on marrying her. Ew. Understandably, she has a problem with this and tries to figure out how to avoid wedding dear old dad. She says she won’t marry him until she gets a trunk that locks from outside and inside and can travel over land and sea. He gets it, but she says she has to make sure the chest works. To prove it, he locks her inside and floats her in the sea. Her plan works: she just keeps floating until she reaches another shore. So she escapes marrying her dad, but ends up working as a scullery maid in another land? from here you can follow the Cinderella story. She meets a prince, leaves her shoe behind, he goes around trying to see who it belongs to. The End.

2. The Lost Childen
What It’s Like: Hansel & Gretel meets Saw 2

This French fairy tale starts out just like Hansel & Gretel. A brother and sister get lost in the woods and find themselves trapped in cages, getting plumped up to be eaten. Only it’s not a wicked witch, it’s the Devil and his wife. The Devil makes a sawhorse for the little boy to bleed to death on (seriously!) and then goes for a walk, telling the girl to get her brother situated on the sawhorse before he returned. The siblings pretend to be confused and ask the Devil’s wife to demonstrate how the boy should lay on the sawhorse; when she shows them they tie her to it and slit her throat. They steal all of the Devil’s money and escape in his carriage. He chases after them once he discovers what they’ve done, but he dies in the process. Yikes.

3. The Juniper Tree
What It’s Like: Every stepchild’s worst nightmare

Cannibalism, murder, decapitation? freakiness abounds left and right in this weird Grimm story. A widower gets remarried, but the second wife loathes the son he had with his first wife because she wants her daughter to inherit the family riches. So she offers the little boy an apple from inside a chest. When he leans over to get it, she slams the lid down on him and chops his head off. Note: if you’re trying to convince your child to eat more fruits and veggies, do not tell them this story. Well, the woman doesn’t want anyone to know that she killed the boy, so she puts his head back on and wraps a handkerchief around his neck to hide the fact that it’s no longer attached. Her daughter ends up knocking his head off and getting blamed for his death. To hide what happened, they chop up the body and make him into pudding, which they feed to his poor father. Eventually the boy is reincarnated as a bird and he drops a stone on his stepmother’s head, which kills her and brings him back to life.

4. Penta of the Chopped-off Hands
What It’s Like: Um?you tell us

These old fairy tales sure do enjoy a healthy dose of incest. In this Italian tale, the king’s wife dies and he falls in love with Penta? his sister. She tries to make him fall out of love with her by chopping off her hands. The king is pretty upset by this; he has her locked in a chest and thrown out to sea. A fisherman tries to save her, but Penta is so beautiful that his jealous wife has her thrown back out to sea. Luckily, Penta is rescued by a king (who isn’t her brother). They get married and have a baby, but the baby is born while the king is away at sea. Penta tries to send the king the good news of the baby, but the jealous fisherman’s wife intercepts the message and changes it to say that Penta gave birth to a puppy. A puppy?! The evil wife then constructs another fake message, this time from the king to his servants, and says that Penta and her baby should be burned alive. OK, long story short: the king figures out what the jealous wife is up to and has her burned. Penta and the king live happily ever after. I can’t really figure out what the moral of this tale is. Chopping hands off? Giving birth to a dog? I just don’t get it. Help me out here, people.

10 technology predictions that was dead wrong

many apologies for the 2 months disappearance. so, let's get to it. one of my most favourite topics of all - technology. i love technology and i love how we're advancing at an exponential rate. it's a good time to be alive and enjoy the wonderful things we human beings have created.

it's amazing to me how people could live without the things we have now. i know that there are some new technology that we think that are useless and you'd think no one would ever use it. which brings me to the main topic. the people of the past... they had the same feeling. and even some of the brilliant minds were so confident with their thought on the technology of the past. but they were so wrong. so dead wrong. so read on.

1

let's start with something recent. the computer has been an important part of our lives. it consumes us and i personally have never gone a day without turning on my computer. but in 1977, Ken Olson (chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp) said, "there's no reason anyone would want a computer in their homes." so dead wrong.

2

“To place a man in a multi-stage rocket and project him into the controlling gravitational field of the moon where the passengers can make scientific observations, perhaps land alive, and then return to earth - all that constitutes a wild dream worthy of Jules Verne. I am bold enough to say that such a man-made voyage will never occur regardless of all future advances.” — Lee DeForest, American radio pioneer and inventor of the vacuum tube, in 1926. he was proven very wrong 5 years later.

3

“There will never be a bigger plane built.” — A Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that holds ten people. thank goodness he was wrong.. imagine being cramped in with 9 other people. it'll be fun though if you were flying with your large family. a plane to yourselves. ':)

4

“The cinema is little more than a fad. It’s canned drama. What audiences really want to see is flesh and blood on the stage.” -– Charlie Chaplin, actor, producer, director, and studio founder, 1916. ironic that he even said that since cinema made him famous.

5

“The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty - a fad.” — The president of the Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford’s lawyer, Horace Rackham, not to invest in the Ford Motor Co., 1903. one word - haha!

6

“How, sir, would you make a ship sail against the wind and currents by lighting a bonfire under her deck? I pray you, excuse me, I have not the time to listen to such nonsense.” — Napoleon Bonaparte, when told of Robert Fulton’s steamboat, 1800s. hmmm maybe if he'd listen to the guy, he'd won the war.

7

“[Television] won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.” — Darryl Zanuck, movie producer, 20th Century Fox, 1946. a foolish foolish man.

8

“Dear Mr. President: The canal system of this country is being threatened by a new form of transportation known as ‘railroads’ … As you may well know, Mr. President, ‘railroad’ carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 miles per hour by ‘engines’ which, in addition to endangering life and limb of passengers, roar and snort their way through the countryside, setting fire to crops, scaring the livestock and frightening women and children. The Almighty certainly never intended that people should travel at such breakneck speed.” — Martin Van Buren, Governor of New York, 1830(?). so freakin' funny...

9

“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” — A memo at Western Union, 1878 (or 1876). someone give him a Nokia.

10
and finally to the most recent one.. one of the richest man in the world today who was so bold to even predict this. but most funny of all it was about what he does best. why make it since i think it'll hurt himself?

“We will never make a 32 bit operating system.” — Bill Gates

thanks for the 64 bit operating system Mr. Gates. you really scared us there for a second.

so people, don't judge a new technology so hastily. it might come handy one day.
hope you had a good laugh everyone!

till next time.

people prefer internet over sex

Intel came up with a novel way to show how important the Internet and computing have become in the lives of Americans. In conjunction with Harris Interactive, the company conducted a survey of adults in the United States under the prosaic-enough banner “Internet Reliance in Today’s Economy.” But the first “key finding” from the study is a little more attention-grabbing. According to the study, 46 percent of women and 30 percent of men would opt to forgo sex for two weeks instead of giving up access to their precious Internet for the same period. More broadly, those surveyed said access to the Internet ranked highest among the discretionary spending items they could not live without. Cable television, dining out, shopping for clothes and gym memberships followed in declining importance.

Along similar lines, 61 percent of the women surveyed said they would rather go without TV for two weeks than lose access to the Internet for one week. Using the data as a means of pitching products fueled by Intel chips, the company said: “The survey revealed that 65 percent of adults feel they cannot live without Internet access, and even more — 71 percent — responded that it is important or very important to have Internet-enabled devices, such as laptops, netbooks and mobile Internet devices that can provide them with real-time updates on important issues including the state of the economy.” Harris Interactive polled 2,119 adults on Intel’s behalf.

source: NY Times

maybe i should stop blogging

after a couple of months being away from the blogasphere, i am back! but just to say hello. not really a worthy post to read. no random stuff on my mind to share. i guess, i'll share what i've been up to.

• been studying (not really) for my re-sit exam which, by the looks of it will be in January hopefully.
• went to a Peterpan (the indonesian band) in London in September. they were awesome by the way and we were in front row!
• with a lot of free time on my hands, i've been going around the attractions in london.
• going to visit ali tomorrow in kent for their raya celebration with the malaysians. that should be awesome.
• went on a few shopping sessions, which i hardly do.
  

i can't think of anything else at the moment.. other than i'm having the time of my life here! ':) if i do go back to brunei in january, that'll make it a whole year being away! just a random thought that i just realised. cool. can't say i really miss home other than my family.

anyway, i might come back with something to share. but don't hold your breath people. the thing about being in london is that there's always something to do or see. social life up, online geekiness down down down.

laters

be back in a giff!

on a break from blogging indefinitely.

reasons:

• need to re-sit and exam
• internet connection not easily available

sorry!

got tagged

i did say the last post was going to be my last for a while.. but it's a weekend so, i'm resting my brain from all the studying. i just got tagged and i have to oblige the tagging rule of cyberspace.

1. Do you think people will judge you by the answers to this questionnaire?

maybe but if so, i have a lot of other things to worry about than people judging.

2. What is your favourite brand for bags?

ummm.. not much of a bag guy.. but when i do buy one, i get the cool ones with a good brand on them.

3. What’s your favourite thing to do?

currently, video games, downloading old tv series i haven't watched and drawing.

4. What are your phobia(s)?

i'm afraid of open water (stop laughing). it's true! i have this fear of being in the see and fish are swimming around me.

and i'm slightly afraid of heights. i have no problem looking down from even 100 stories high up IF there's a sturdy rail between me and the edge. but if there's nothing, i'll be hugging floor..

5. How do you vent anger or stress?

take a walk or do the dishes. that'll calm me down..

6. Do you believe you can survive without money?

without money at all? of course not. but as long as i have a home and enough to make ends meat, then yeah. that's fine with me.

7. What are you afraid to lose the most?

my family

8. If you win $1 million, what would you do?

buy a home for myself. save most of it for the future, and spend the rest on my family.

9. If you are asked to do one house chore, which would you choose to do?

the dishes, yup i'll pick that over any chore. i hate vacuuming the most.

10. List out 3 good points of the person who tagged you?

funny, unique

11. What skill do you wish you have?

cooking.

12. What type of person do you hate the most?

people who stab you in the back..

13. What is your ambition?

ambition? not sure at the moment.. just going with the flow..

14. What did you regret doing?

even though it's working out well, i still say taking this job that i have now.

15. What do you think is the most important thing in your life?

if we're talking about objects, i have to say my awesome PC. i'd die without it..

16. If you were a car/bike what would it be?

probably my dream car, Aston Martin DB9

17. If you have a chance which part of your character would you like to change?

i guess to be a bit more daring in the dating department.. :s

18. What music have you been listening to recently?

not updated with what the kids are listening to now..

19. What is your least favourite animal?

oh, my tagger knows this one.. no need to mention it.. *cringe*

20. What is your ultimate addiction?

my current addiction, i'd say are the newest gadgets. especially, if it has anything to do with my PC.. if i can install it in there, i have to have it.

Instructions: Remove 1 question from above, and add in your personal question make it a total of 20 questions. Then tag 8 friends.

i shall tag: ali amani, mash, maurina, afee, naj.. and anyone else who's willing..

i'll be back in 2 weeks with my exam results. til then, keep your fingers crossed for me..

busy for 2 weeks

hello everyone. as the title suggests, i'll be over my neck in exam preparation. so, i won't be updating my blog until after the exam and i won't be able to spend as much time chatting online so don't get offended. i'm going to leave you with my new hobby (well, until i get bored of it and find something else).

remember the robot i drew for fun? well, i actually submitted that to the facebook graffiti contest. the theme was robots. so, i drew it and guess what? it got into the top 250! so, it kinda got me interested in drawing again.

i got a drawing program and picked, the very beautiful, Song Hye Kyo (the Korean actress from Full House) as my first subject. apologies in advance if the drawing doesn't look like her and for the horrible shading too. i was trying it out.

there are a lot of cool videos of people drawing (type in "speed art" in youtube) and i thought it would be cool if i knew how to record that. but here's the next best thing - besides, i'm no where near as awesome as those people.

so check it out more clearly by clicking each photo.
program used: Artrage 2.0



anyway, for those who are on their summer break, have a good one. i can't wait til my damn exam is over so i can have my break.. wish me luck. i promise i'll post something better to read.

12,000 laptops lost & a 400GB CD invented

12,000 laptops lost in U.S. airports every month

source: Dallas news
According to the study commissioned by Dell, more than 12,000 laptop computers are lost in U.S. airports every week. That’s about 600,000 notebooks per year. What’s more, only 33 percent of the laptops found in airports are ever reclaimed. That’s not surprising if (as the survey found) 16 percent of business travelers said they would do nothing if they lost their laptops, while 58 percent said they’d contact their companies for advice before they did anything. Just 27 percent said they’d immediately retrace their steps and contact lost and found.
A question for those who said they would do nothing: what do you do when you show up to the big meeting sans laptop? Pretend to type on an invisible computer? Act like you’re suffering from amnesia? Seriously, who does “nothing” when they discover their laptop is missing? I know laptops are getting cheap, but this seems like a stunning lack of concern for the whereabouts of a machine worth several hundred dollars at least, and presumably storing important documents, valuable photos and so forth. Of course, Dell is using the startling findings to pitch its new laptop protection and data recovery services, so make of these findings what you will.

400GB optical disc invented by Pioneer

source: Cnet
Got a big archiving project you’ve been itching to do? Pioneer’s latest development could help you keep all your data in one nice, little circular package. The Japanese electronics maker has been working on an optical disc, which, like Blu-ray, can store 25GB of data in a single layer. But Pioneer says it’s one-upped the high-definition format to the sixteenth degree. The company announced today that it has a single disc that contains 16 layers of storage, at 25GB each. That adds up to 400GB of data capable of being stored on a single disc.
Blu-ray comes in single layer (25GB) and dual-layer (50GB) flavors. Pioneer does say that because the lens specification for reading the discs is similar to Blu-ray, “it is possible to maintain compatibility” between its disc and Blu-ray discs. That’s not saying it will be compatible, but it would make sense since Pioneer is one of the original Blu-ray Disc Association members. However, plans for that archiving project will have to be put on pause if you want to use this technology. Pioneer is going to demonstrate it at an industry conference next week, but for now the disc is read-only. Eventually, they’ll add write capability as well.

top 10 anime of 2007

okay, this topic, i was not suddenly hit in the head by the curiousity cat. but this is more for that person out there bugging me to post something so she could be kept occupied for a few minutes. haha.

in 2007, 2 million anime fans cast their votes for their favourite anime. i'm not much of an anime fan but the result was not what i anticipated.

10. hidamari sketch

Sunshine Sketch centers around a young girl named Yuno who finally is able to get accepted into Yamabuki Art High School, which she has longed for. To attend the school, Yuno moves and starts to live in a small apartment building named the Sunshine Apartments located near the school. Once there, she starts making new friends like her classmate Miyako and the second year students, Hiro and Sae. There is no real plot line to the story but rather the events of the characters' everyday lives are shown as they attend the school together and get to know each other better.

9. Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei

Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei revolves around a very pessimistic high school teacher named Nozomu Itoshiki who, at the very beginning of the series, tries to hang himself on a sakura tree. Despite this effort of self-destruction, he is saved by an extremely optimistic girl known only as Kafuka Fuura (though in her effort to save his life, she almost kills him). She explains to him that it is simply unimaginable that he would hang himself on such a nice day, especially in front of such beautiful trees. She decides to nickname Nozomu "Pink Supervisor" , and offers to pay him fifty yen to call him by that nickname. After having enough of the strange girl, Nozomu bolts to the school and starts his homeroom class, but the attempt to escape was in vain as he finds that the girl is one of his students. Not only that, but Kafuka is just the tip of the iceberg: each and every student in his class represents a new personality quirk or bizarre obsession, posing challenges that the suicidally-inclined teacher must overcome in spite of himself.

8. Nanatsuiro Drops

Masaharu Tsuwabuki is a normal student, though not very social. One day he meets a new student named Sumomo Akihime, and another girl named Yaeno Nadeshiko, Sumomo's close friend. That same afternoon, he suddenly bumps into Arthur, a servant of Nona Yuki from Figurare who at the time was disguised with a mask. The collision causes Arthur to drop a bag full of magical potions; amid gathering up the scattered cans, one of them is accidentally switched with Masaharu's soda can. Upon drinking it, he transforms into a stuffed animal lamb at night. He must collect seven stardrops, in order to return to normal.

There are two primary worlds within the story of Nanatsuiro Drops: the human world called Retroscena, and a magical world called Figurare from which the Stellar Spinners originate. There are currently two schools that teach magic within Figurare: Pramu Cloris and Saint Asparas. According to Natsume, each year the two schools pick their top Stellar Spinners (the one from Pramu Cloris is called Prima Pramu, and from Saint Asparas is called Prima Asparas) to send to the human world to capture seven stardrops in a goodwill competition to improve relations.

7. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS is the third season of the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha series. The Nanoha anime was, in turn, a spin-off of the Triangle Heart series of games and OVAs, specifically Triangle Heart 3: Sweet Songs Forever. This season aired shortly after the promotional event "Lyrical Party III" scheduled on April 1, 2007.

StrikerS takes place after the epilogue of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's, aired between October and December of 2005. While the epilogue connected A's to a world six years later, StrikerS advances the timeline another four years, where the main characters have gone on to work for the Time-Space Administration Bureau (TSAB) and come upon a new case. The series focuses more on team-based battles and bureaucracy rather than individual rivalry and school life, due to the change in character dynamics.

6. Gintama

The story takes place in Edo (known today as Tokyo because of the name change in 1868), Japan, which has been taken over by aliens called Amanto since the late Edo period. The samurai of Japan have fallen, and the Amanto placed a ban on carrying swords in public. The story focuses on an eccentric samurai, Gintoki Sakata, his (partial) apprentice Shinpachi Shimura, and a teenage alien girl: Kagura. All three are "free-lancers" who search for work in order to pay the monthly rent, which usually goes unpaid anyway.

5. Higurashi

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni takes place during June 1983, at a fictional rural village called Hinamizawa which has a population of approximately 2000. The main character, Keiichi Maebara, moves to Hinamizawa and befriends his new classmates Rena Ryugu, Mion Sonozaki, Rika Furude, and Satoko Hojo. Keiichi joins their after-school club activities, which consist mostly of card and board games (and punishment games for the loser, usually him.) Hinamizawa appears to be a normal, peaceful, rural village to Keiichi.

However, the tranquility abruptly ends after the annual Watanagashi Festival, a celebration to commemorate and give thanks to the local god, Oyashiro-sama. Keiichi learns that every year for the past four years, one person has been murdered and another has gone missing on the day of the Watanagashi Festival. Keiichi himself soon becomes drawn into the strange events surrounding the Watanagashi Festival and Oyashiro-sama. In each story arc, he or one of his friends become paranoid, and a crime is committed. Usually, the crime involves the murder of one of their own friends. While it seems impossible to tell their delusions apart from the mystery of Hinamizawa, slowly the truth is revealed.

4. Ookiku Furi Kabutte

The series, set in Saitama, follows the story of Ren Mihashi. Mihashi was the previous ace pitcher in his middle school's baseball team, but it seems that he only got the position because his grandfather was the owner of the school. His teammates (especially the team's catcher) hated him, and they always lost their games. Mihashi is thoroughly convinced that he is a lousy baseball pitcher and he graduates to high school with extremely low self-esteem. He then transfers to Nishiura high school with plans of quitting baseball, because he does not believe he is good enough to succeed at baseball. However, he is dragged into Nishiura's baseball team by their coach. Assisted by his new teammates (and especially the catcher, Takaya Abe), he grows in stature, confidence and skill, helping his team excel with his own abilities.

3. Kaitei Kyoshi Hitman REBORN

The Reborn! story revolves around a boy named Tsunayoshi "Tsuna" Sawada, who is chosen to become the Vongola Family's boss due to him being the great-great-great grandson of the first Vongola boss, who had moved to Japan from Italy during his time. Also, the other candidates for the position of the head of the Vongola Family died: Enrico, who was the leading candidate to become "Vongola X", died in a gun battle; Massimo, the second, "sleeps with the fishes;" and Federico, the favored son, was found as a pile of bones. For these reasons, Tsuna is the only remaining heir. As such, Timoteo a.k.a. "Vongola IX," the current head of the family, sends Reborn, an infant hitman from Italy, to train Tsuna. Tsuna then unwillingly undergoes training from Reborn.

Tsuna goes through many predicaments in his progress of becoming the Vongola boss including fighting against escaped Mafia convicts, a rival group of Vongola assassins claiming the right for their boss to be the true Vongola boss, as well as rival families aiming to destroy the Vongola Family. Through his experiences, Tsuna unconsciously becomes stronger and more confident, which ultimately makes him better suited as the Vongola Family's boss.

Reborn's main instrument of choice in teaching Tsuna is the "Dying Will Bullet" ("Deathperation Shot" in Viz Media's translation of the manga), which will make the person be "reborn" with a stronger self intent on fulfilling his dying will.

2. Lucky Star

Portrays the lives of several school girls attending a Japanese high school with a very loose humor tone. The main heroine is Konata Izumi, an athletic and intelligent girl who, despite these attributes, is not in a sports club, and her grades remain low. Her laziness at school is due to her love for anime and video games, and she is not interested in much else.

and the NO. 1 is....

sola

Sola's story revolves around Yorito Morimiya, the main protagonist, who is a young boy attending high school. He loves taking pictures of the sky at any time of day and any time of the year. One day, Yorito decides to take a picture of the sunrise overlooking the bay, but is deterred when he meets a strange girl trying to force a vending machine that stole her money to give her what she tried to buy—a can of tomato juice. Yorito helps her with forcing the machine while attempting to strike up conversation with her, despite it being four in the morning. Yorito tells her why he is here, but by the time he has forced the can out of the machine, the girl has mysteriously vanished.

The next day, Yorito goes to visit his older sister Aono in the hospital with his friend Mana Ishizuki and Mana's little sister Koyori Ishizuki. Despite it being Aono's birthday, Yorito leaves soon after to take a photograph of the setting sun near an old church on the roof of the hospital. That night, Yorito leaves to buy groceries when it begins to rain and stops on the way home to wait for the rain to stop; while waiting, he runs into the strange girl he met from yesterday again. They talk longer this time and Yorito finally learns her name—Matsuri Shihou. A few days later, Yorito goes looking for the girl in the old church and finds a man wielding a sword before Matsuri.

After a display of Matsuri's astounding powers, Yorito discovers that she is in fact a creature known as a "Calamity of the Night", who has lived for centuries. She is being chased by Takeshi Tsujidou who intends to kill her, but Yorito tries to protect her by bringing her back to his home which is when Yorito asks her to stay with him for the time being.

A "Calamity of the Night", otherwise known as a Yaka is a supernatural being in the Sola story. Yaka have many supernatural powers, such as: a strong physical ability, fast regeneration, and never aging body, among other powers. A Yaka is hurt by direct exposure to sunlight, but the wound can be healed in time if the exposure is not excessive; a Yaka is otherwise immortal unless exposed to too much sunlight or has received fatal wounds. Matsuri explains that a Yaka is the embodiment of human agony and pain and that such creatures are meant to always be alone.

so to those who were expecting bleach or naruto in there are a bit surprised, i imagine.. i might watch a few of these.

(are you happy now?) ':)

what sleepless nights can make me do...

i used to draw a lot when i was younger. good times..

the process of laser eye surgery

just a few seconds ago, i was watching the king of queens and the episode was about carie getting laser eye surgery but was blind for a few days instead. i literally paused the video and googled about it. what it laser surgery? how much is it? and what could go wrong? read on to find out.

basically, the cornea is sliced from the side to create a flap by using a high-tech cutting instrument. the laser is then put over the eye and blasts for a few seconds to correct the eye. after that, the flap is put back into place, which heals back really fast. and a few days after that, perfect 20-20 vision.


from BBC news:

How does this improve vision?

People need to wear glasses for different reasons. Some people are said to be short-sighted or myopic. This is due to the cornea being too steeply curved or the eye longer than normal.

Therefore, light rays fall in short of the retina - the area at the back of the eye that interprets the image - and results in blurred distance vision.

Other people are long-sighted or hyperopic because their cornea is too flat or the eye is too short. This means that the light rays focus too far beyond the retina.

Others have a condition where the cornea is oval shaped rather than spherical, called astigmatism. This produces two different focal points which can blur images at all distances.

Laser surgery to reshape the cornea can help to correct these problems.

Will it help with age-related vision loss?

No.

Laser surgery will not be able to cure age-related presbyopia and the need for reading glasses that people often develop in their mid-40's.

This is because presbyopia is not to do with a problem with the cornea. Instead, it occurs when the lens becoming less flexible with age.

Where can I get it?

Private treatment usually costs £1000-1500 per eye and is available at some NHS hospitals.

What are the risks?

Complications occur in less than 5% of cases, according to the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

Some people have a problem with dry eyes in the months after surgery and artificial tear supplements might be needed in the long term.

Many patients have experienced glare or halo effects when night driving, particularly just after treatment. This is more likely the higher the correction that has been made, but is rarely severe.

In rare cases, excessive thinning of the eye wall can cause the shape of the eye to be unstable after treatment. Severe loss of vision is very unusual, but some patients could require corneal surgery or hard contact lenses to restore vision, it said.

Can both eyes be done on the same day?

Yes, but your consultant should outline the risks. In order to reduce the risk of cross contamination should complications arise, each eye should be treated as separate procedure.

How long will it take me to recover?

Most patients have a reasonably comfortable period after surgery and are back at work within a few days to a week.

Depending on the vision correction attempted, driving may be unsafe for one to two weeks. Tinted glasses with ultraviolet protection are needed when out in the sun for the first three months.

here's a video of the whole procedure. the patient does not feel any pain because of the eye drops that numbed the eye. the only discomfort in the whole process was the night after.. but the pain went away quickly.

is this cruelty really necessary?

i read my good friend's blog yesterday and the post haunted me all through the night.. i could not sleep last night..

it was about how people in China get fur from cute furry animals. please watch the video as long as you can bear.

be warned.. it's highly graphical and disturbing.

click for the video.

was this really necessary? aren't there any humane ways of doing it? cruel.. just so cruel..

NO TO FUR!!!

random facts that you CAN live without knowing!

most of my posts are random in nature. i might talk about super cool technology one day and then talk about tips on how to pack a suitcase. some might find a post of mine full of knowledge and sometime it's useless. so today, i'm bringing the latter. these are some of the most random facts that, to be quite honest, won't help you in any way! unless you got yourself into one heck of a predicament that the following information actually saved you.. or you got onto a quiz show and this was the million dollar question.. if that's the case, you owe me at least a lunch..

what's the difference between a monkey and a chimpanzee?
one difference is that a chimpanzee can learn to recognize itself in a mirror, but monkeys can't.

what's the wage like in the 40's?
in the 1940's minimum wage was US$0.43 per hour

baseball/moon fact
In 1963, baseball pitcher Gaylord Perry remarked, "They'll put a man on the moon before I hit a home run." On July 20, 1969, a few hours after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, Gaylord Perry hit his first of six home runs.

where did the phrase "you're fired!" come from?
Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them used to burn their houses down - hence the expression "to get fired."

fiery fact
The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.

hottest place on earth?
What is the hottest place on Earth? El Azizia in Libya recorded a temperature of 136 degrees Fahrenheit (57.8 Celsius) on Sept. 13, 1922 the hottest ever measured. In Death Valley, it got up to 134 Fahrenheit on July 10, 1913.

clucking fact
By feeding hens certain dyes they can be made to lay eggs with varicolored yolks.

strange law
In Baltimore, Maryland, it is not legal to take a lion to the movies.

are black and white considered colours?
Black and white are generally not labeled as colors. Black is the result of absence of color and white is all colors mixed together.

how much honey can one single bee produce?
In its entire lifetime, the average worker bee produces 1/12th teaspoon of honey.

studied too hard
A psychology student in New York rented out her spare room to a carpenter in order to nag him constantly and study his reactions. After weeks of needling, he snapped and beat her repeatedly with an axe leaving her mentally retarded.

how powerful is the sun?
According to the American Solar Energy Society, enough sunlight falls on the earth's surface each minute to meet world energy demand for an entire year. learn more about the sun here.

a land of few words
There are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet.

graduation before the exam

it's been a while since my last post and it can be blamed to exams and my pure laziness. i do have topics to share. for the past few weeks, unrelated thoughts just popped into my head and i jot it down as a possible blog post. i just haven't had the time or energy to properly delve into the subjects. today is no different, i'm afraid.. just a short post telling everyone my blog is still active and a few upcoming events and stuff going on in my life.

graduation is coming up and the weird thing is, my final exam won't be until end of next month. the thing is, our exams are oral exams. it's a one-on-one session with the examiner for about an hour. and he can ask us anything we've learned about ships for the past 4 years. pretty daunting? yes.

but anyway, that's why we have our graduation early. so that we can have it while everyone is still on campus and not run away right after passing their exams. so that's this saturday. my mom is here for the joyous event. (sarcastic tone) cause if it were up to me, i'd rather be in bed and have an Everybody Loves Raymond marathon that night. but it's for my mom so i'll just deal and get it over with as soon as i could.

i also just found out that i have another course, which i have to do in august. this means, my final return home will be brought back more. so, it seems, i won't fly home until end of august or early the next month. so, to a certain someone, hold off carrying the camera around. hehe.

anyway, that's it from me and i shall return with a worthy post. have a good one.

awesomest night yet!

if pictures say a thousand words, then videos say much much more. here's a tidbit of one of the most amazing night of my life.

i love adult animations

no, it's not what you think. dirty minds! all of you!

we used to associate cartoons with kids. only children watch cartoons. but not anymore. that all changed when the simpsons aired. children loved it but so do adults because of some hints of adult humour in each episodes. the boundaries of adult cartoons was pushed when animations such as southpark, family guy and american dad came into viewing. ever since then, cartoons aren't just for kids.

where am i going with this? nothing really. just thought i'd give a proper intro before posting a few videos i find hilarious!

i absolutely love this one. i watched it, literally, a dozen times and i crack up every single time!


hahahhahaha!




DR TRAN! ':)

by the way, congrats to manchester united for being the european champion! i honestly had no idea they were playing last night. i was in my room cursing at the noisy people in the building. and when i went out, the guys were celebrating and told me about it. lol. i miss football. i wish i was in brunei, then i'll have espn. oh well, milan was out anyway. so, i didn't miss much.

singing along to curse of curves & that's what you get

just a short personal post today.

what started out to be a bad week, ended on a high today. i've been looking forward to going to a concert at the end of the month. even though i knew about it a while back now, i didn't buy the tickets to it and ended up sold out. i didn't know curse is what you aim for is so popular here. i looked everywhere else for them but couldn't find one - until today! as soon as i saw it, bought the tickets right there and then. so, 30th may, i'm going to Astoria for the concert in london.





then, looking around facebook, my mouth dropped when i saw paramore is scheduled to perform in portsmouth! again, there and then i bought 4 tickets! why 4? i know a few people might want to go. and i know paramore IS popular, anywhere!






so, in less than 15 minutes, i bought 6 tickets to 2 concerts. haha! what a way to end the week..

a healthy way of smoking?

i just read this post post from feebleprodigy, and i was so curious i had to find out more! this is the first post worth reading, actually. hehe. kidding ali.. it's about a new technology on smoking. i don't mind smokers, i just mind the disgusting smell of cigarettes. most of my friend are smokers and i hang out with them a lot. i just lean away when they do have a puff or two. although i do have my limits, especially when being in a small room, with little to no air circulation. that's when i gasp for air and my eyes get irritated.

but when i read the post, i thought, "praise science! it hath come to mine rescue.."

someone, which i now dearly love, invented this.

Gamucci Micro Electronic Cigarette

what is it?
it's just what it is. it's an electric cigarette. it feels, looks and even has nicotine to satisfy the cravings. but the good things about are that it doesn't contain tar, carbon monoxide or other carcinogens - meaning smokers live longer and non-smokers can breath easier. yey!

here's a video of it.



again, yey! but wait.. it sounds too good to be true.. smokers are healthier and non-smokers don't have to fan the smoke from our faces? a world in harmony.. hmmm.. too good to be true.. so, i searched the internet for more information.

i actually found out that this isn't really a new invention, it's been out a while now. but didn't really caught on. here's a video and followed with a review from an ex-smoker of the reasons why.



a review by Rick on Crown7 e-cigarette at e-markus.com
After charging the battery for 8 hours I “fired” the thing up and was pleasantly surprised.

Let me start off by saying the e-cigarette is not a cigarette. There is no seamless transition from smoking a cigarette to smoking the e-cigarette. The first difference is that you have to suck the e-cigarette about four times harder to get a worthy amount of mist (fake smoke) out of the device. Besides a few awkward noises here and there, you’ll also make a few awkward facial expressions sucking on the e-cigarette. Yes, you’ll get a few smooth drags out, but the next one will be twice as hard. The delivery system is inconsistent. Also, on some pulls you’ll wince at the overly large amount of fake tobacco taste.


Secondly, the device is about twice as long as a regular cigarette. It’s about as long as a cigar, but thinner. This fact may or may not bother you, but I found myself wishing the thing was half as long.

Though the device is certainly awkward, I didn’t find it overly awkward to use. I smoked daily for around nine years but quit in January. I’ve cheated quite a few times since then, but it’s normally only been when socializing and having drinks. I had some drinks this weekend, and with my Crown7, I didn’t crave a real cigarette once.

I bought the Crown7 to help me get over those social cigarettes and quit smoking tobacco for good. And I think the Crown7, though not perfect, is a good enough product to do just that.

I don’t think this product should be tried by a person who smokes 2 packs a day and wants to quit cold turkey because the device will be overly frustrating. But if you’re looking for a healthy alternative to those few cheated butts here and there, I think you should give it a shot.

UDPATE (5/8/08): Eight months later I find that I don’t use the cigarette near as much. I DO break it out about once a week, but lately I find I give it a couple puffs, then let it just sit on the coffee table while craving a REAL cigarette. One of the two batteries has already died and the whole process has just become too much of a hassle. I find that when I want to use it I have forgotten to charge the one working battery. It’s enough stress to make me want to drive to Super America and buy a real pack.

sigh.. oh well.. but hey, science has never let me down yet. this is a technology that will be improved on.


http://www.electronicsmoking.co.uk/