The outcast's haven

A touch of life.

2009-02-17T18:40:00.003+11:00

Situational Awareness

---

Mood: Indifferent, machine-like
Attitude: Slight optimism
Relationship Status: 'One Republic ft. Timbaland- Apologize'
Financial Status: Still greedy, xP
Academic Status: Screwed in Japanese, otherwise above average

---

Hey everyone that reads my blog... I guess I haven't been updating my blog recently, but a lot has happened since I last updated... I lost people I know in the devestating bushfires on the 7th of Febuary. Incidentally, it was my birthday when it happened. From this day forth, my birthday is to be commemerated by mourning one of the most devestating disasters that have affected Victoria. I guess I'll be updating a bit more frequently, but it'll be focusing a lot more on my personal life now, I guess...

From around the beginning of the new year, my whole world has been turned upside down. There's a lot more complicated stuff in my life. So much more politics, money, and risks. I guess I would have been semi appreciative of this, but of course, there's always going to be a tradeoff. Somehow, I think that my almost completely pessimistic attitude has been changed into an almost optimistic attitude, despite the new challenges that have been presented towards me.

A lot of these new challenges involve things that are completely out of my control. I never knew that death would seem like a viable option at times, I never knew that perhaps, a broken heart could hurt more than a white hot needle. Obviously, there have been people before me. But the best teacher will always be experience. Nothing can teach a person better than experience, and I'm about to get a helluva lot more lessons.

What will these lessons encompass... I'm not too sure exactly. I just know that I'm beginning to fuse my many identities into one. It won't be pretty, but I can feel the walls closing between realities, and images that I've presented. The smoke is fading, and the mirrors are disappearing one by one. Soon... Soon, I'll know who I am.

Oh yeah, so well, I think I've stopped having my interesting Korean romance. Basically, I can't be fucked anymore, so it's back to my cruel and evil money making schemes. If there's someone that'll ever be able to change me, I wonder... But for now, my stance on romance is basically like the song above 'Apologize'. Frankly, it'll take a lot to change my mind, and that's even if there's ever something to make me even glance back.

Oh, I'll always think about what would've been, but it's basically over now. Maybe there'll be a touch of life in this machine, but I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel now.

World War- Family Style

2009-01-27T23:54:00.003+11:00

Courtesy of CNCden, with this awesome pic. Made by 'Lion'

Approximately at 2200 hours today, the United States of America launched a massive offensive against the Chinese nation, specifically targeting population centers in an attempt to lower the nations morale. After a prolonged battle, it seemed that the offensive was beaten back by a temporary alliance, with additional defensive support provided from North Korea. At the heart of it all lies a mysterious organization, known only as 'The Patriots', more will be reported as the conflict continues

In my twisted world, the passage above is actually a coded message simply stating that one of my cousins plushies was attacked by my little brother. He was then stopped by her, and her younger sister that also intervened. 'The Patriots' is also a reference to Metal Gear Solid, and that would be me, pulling the strings to put this conflict into motion.

However, this is only the tip of the iceberg, as me and my cousins, often rub each other off in the wrong ways. What's worse is if they summon 'Aliens' or people over the age of 20. Generally, they have huge amounts of power, and they can easily circumvent the laws that bind the nations of my world from descending into total mayhem. In another scenario, more chaos unfolds, as it seems that 'The Patriots' has once again intervened.

In what would be seen as being a completely unprecedented, and almost sadistic attack against the Australian nation, somehow, the Israeli army has launched nuclear missiles at major army bases. However, when the Australians attempted to retaliate, they were stopped as aliens intervened, with condemnation from the United States. Again, it seems that 'The Patriots' were at the heart of all of this mayhem, as transaction reports indicate that Israel was given a financial incentive to destroy Australia.

In the real world, this would simply equate to as being a conflict between two of my younger cousins. Simply, the younger cousin attacked his brother using a baseball bat, and was stopped by his parents before he could do any damage. My brother looked on in shock, and I slipped the kid a lolly. (It's alright, the kid was 3 years old ;)

Finally, if that wasn't complicated enough, there are two factions that strive for dominance, or to make everyone else... 'Suck it'. Firstly, is what I like to call, 'The coalition of the willing, and the stupid' lead by my brother, the United States of America. On the other hand, is the 'Axis of evil and clueless' lead by my older cousin, or China. There are a lot of mindless pawns, and a few mavericks, but generally, it's pretty much tit for tat, in the World War Cousin Conflict. Sometimes, the nations can have high technology, such as nuclear weapons, or telekinetic attacks. These reference when my cousins or brothers either pull out things like dart guns, or make withering sets of insults targeted at a person.

To finish it off, I'll talk about each of the nations involved in the war, and what allegiance they belong to.

Disclaimer: I'm not being racist or anything... but these countries do seem to fit my cousins personalities quite well...

The United States of America

Leader of 'The Coalition of the Willing, and the stupid'
'Why you little %#%(3) #*%(# #$#^ 7#%'

Being one of the most powerful nations in the world, America will stop at nothing to achieve his objectives, even if it means dishonorably calling Alien support with a cascade of tears. He has a huge amount of mindless pawns under his disposal, ready to serve his every command. However, countries like North Korea and China are beginning to prove more than a match for his foolhardy aggressiveness.

The Chinese Federation

Supposed leader of 'The Axis of evil and the clueless'
'Don't mess with me! OR MY TURTLE! OMFG!'

Newly arriving in the global conflict, China has established a major foothold, in what seemed to be American strongholds. Her devastating access to propaganda technology, and subterfuge seems to have severely affected America at times. Sometimes known to be quite stubborn, and would be one of the few people objecting about being featured on my blog. She practically doesn't have any mindless pawns unlike America, due to the fact that she hasn't really spread her influence as of yet. However, unlike the majority of her alliance, she isn't clueless, nor stupid. Her shrewdness has won many glorious victories, and the application of brute force has shown North Korea her place at times.

The Sovereign Nation of North Korea

Member of 'The Axis of Evil and the clueless'
Has 'The Monkey Dance' as a national sport

Serving as another new nation that has recently arrived on scene, she has become one of the most deadly opponents to face, not because of nuclear weapons, but because she can send propaganda, and severely irritate a nation, before fleeing, and activating defensive measures, as an Alien arrives and defends her. Known as being a small, but deadly nation, she hasn't been that well established in the Global conflict, but she has been able to already turn some of the Coalition forces against America. Interestingly enough, she is practically unable to use brute force to achieve her objectives, much to the humor of America, and 'The Patriots'

The Commonwealth of Australia

Member of 'The Coalition of the willing and the stupid'
Spiderman Fanboy

Unfortunately been seen as being a mindless pawn of the Coalition, he has served his purpose well, attacking nations like the West Bank, and Iran fairly effectively. He is also quick to summon alien intervention, but due to his distance from the other nations, he is not often seen in active combat. However, he is very much a fan of nuclear weapons, rather than propaganda.

The Gaza Strip

Unfortunate Victim of both alliances
'Heyyy! Stop that!'

Unfortunately, the Gaza Strip has recently come under fire from a lot of nations, basically using him as target practice. His short temper and sometimes humorous accent has made him an almost priority target of both alliances, who will seek to devastate him. He unfortunately doesn't have much in the way of any form of weaponry, but will utilize militia in order to fight a lot of condemnation, and other attacks leveled against him.

The nation of Israel

Mercenary nation, mostly serving 'The Patriots' or 'The Coalition of the willing, and the stupid'
'I wan candy!'

Being practically, the youngest nation to see action in the global conflict, Israel has become notorious by accepting bribes, usually in the form of candy, to attack other nations. Because of the countries young age, it is practically unable to use anything but brute force. He is deadly though, especially if underestimated. Secondly, one cry from him will certainly bring a leigion of aliens, ready to destroy anyone that irritated him from watching his 'Kung Fu Panda'

Switzerland and Belgium

Completely Neutral
Primary exporters of cheese, chocolate, and tennis players

These nations are either too young, or too nice to take part in the global conflict, yet leaders of certain alliances have taken interest in them.

Iran

Maverick, somewhat allied with 'The Axis of evil and the clueless'
'Less action, more beating people'

Has only seen limited action, but has caused massive damage through Alien summonings, the application of Brute Force, the deadly usage of subterfuge, and causing general mayhem. If this nation is paired up with the Gaza Strip, they make a devestating combination, with most nations unable to stop them.

Cuba

Member of 'The Axis of evil and the clueless'
Sharp tongue, followed by sharp conflict

Known for being excessively irritating, Cuba has also seen limited action, but is devestating, as she can easily summon aliens, with the click of her fingers. Has not forgiven America or Germany for a 'Watergate'-like scandal.

Germany

Member of 'The Coalition of the willing, and the stupid'
Resident Addict

Has seen limited action, but is the third oldest nation. Has previously been an enemy of 'The Patriots' but has converted, and is now a member of the Coalition. He has access to deadly measures, such as nuclear strikes, and deadly comebacks, but an addiction to a certain something leaves him quite vulnerable to certain attacks, also, he has a strong aversion to Aliens, much to his enemies advantage.

'The Patriots'

Shadowy organization laughing in the shadows

Being the second oldest nation, or rather, a corporation, The Patriots has sometimes been likened as being a magician, serving up devestating swarms of propaganda, followed by attacks with extremely high voltage weaponry, and deadly usage of Alien intervention. He is possibly the most powerful nation currently, but hasn't seen too much action, due to spending a lot of his time talking to aliens, and forming new alliances to bribe or backstab. He has sometimes been called the true leader of 'The Coalition of the willing and the stupid' as it is sometimes seen that the United States is a mere puppet of his.

Magician

2009-01-25T00:12:00.002+11:00

Brief Overview

Mood: Good to indifferent
Emotions: Happy, Muted, Isolated
Mental Stability: Extremely Low
Relationship Status: Single
Energy: Tired as hell

Current Songs on repeat

1. That's what you get- Paramore
2. Bleed it Out- Linkin Park
3. I write sins, not tragedies- Panic at the Disco
4. The Carpal Tunnel of Love- Fall Out Boy
5. Breath- Breaking Benjamin
6. Faint- Linkin Park
7. In The End- Linkin Park

Summary of the day: I basically painted a house, drank coke, and went to my uncles' Birthday party.

---

I am a magician, some may not realize it, but I am like any wandering magician, albeit with a different array of tricks. Somehow, I've been given a talent to alienate people, basically anyone, and tear up any chances of a relationship instantly. But I guess, I've already gone over that, after all, I am an outcast. The tricks that I wield are like what fake magic is based upon, sleight of mind, and sleight of hand. The people I fool are people from my past and present, people I no-longer need to see, etc.

Lying is an almost essential part of our world, it's completely accepted as a normal practice when telling children, where babies come from, or perhaps, where one was at midnight on a Friday. But the most obvious and dangerous trick in my arsenal would be my ability to lie. It's actually quite a hard trick to master, especially if one can read your body language, and assume that you are lying. Over the years though, I've weaved webs of deceit and guile, all to accomplish my goals, which are usually successful. The way to lie effectively is to first brainwash yourself. If you can accept the lies you are telling as fact, the rest of your body language will follow. Trust me on this, I know firsthand of it's effects.

The only downside to that is, if you fool yourself for too long, it will be difficult to accept the real truth as truth, and not your lies as truth. Secondly, and more importantly for me, I guess, I've almost been completely obsessed with bending the truth. Almost completely pointless things I've lied about, such as 'Have you seen this movie, etc. etc.'. Which brings me to the second trick that I have up my short sleeves.

I can lie pretty well, and it's partially because of the intuition within me. In other words, I can think extremely quickly, and associate certain facts with a certain topic. As a result, I'm able to lie in such a way, that a person that only has rudimentary knowledge on a certain subject is fooled that I am an expert in that area. This ability has carried over in such a way that, well... I've ended up calculating possibilities of any situation, and the certain detrimental effects that they can incur if they happen. It's been giving me migraines for quite a while now, and overall, it's starting to eat away at my minds stability.

An introverted personality has also made me believe that I wear a mask wherever I go, something that's also in my arsenal. My personality is multi-faceted, and from there, I can develop more masks to wear, which causes me to be extremely unpredictable, and hard to read at times. The cost of this fact, is simply, my identity is constantly in jeopardy, as I have led myself to believe that these personalities were my original one.

Finally, and most importantly, is my quintessential ability to vanish. Without it, I wouldn't be able to disappear from a lot of my problems. Burning bridges is never something easy to do... But it gets easier if you do it more, I know from experience.

Considering all of the above vices, coupled with a sometimes apathetic or short tempered persona, I'm not surprised I'm still single -_-

Outer Haven

2009-01-08T19:53:00.004+11:00

In my last post, I've mentioned that Metal Gear Solid 4, Guns of the Patriots, was one of my favourite games. Well, I just finished it for the tenth time, on Big Boss Hard, for those of you reading that own the game, and are probably ten times better than me -_-.

The series of Metal Gear games often deal with themes and concepts, ususally present in rooms full of silverhead philosophers, but then again, the director and producer of the game, was an odd one to begin with anyway. There is one concept that I'll deal with today, it has themes of 'The Matrix' and other overtures, probably from 'Mirror's Edge' and other assorted games. Over the course of the Metal Gear Solid games, a group ususally tries to break away from the almost total control that the government has over them. Almost always, their plots fail, but their methods have varied throughout the years.

The government has total control over almost everyone in the world, thanks to the 'Sons of the Patriots' system. This is a network that presides over vast amounts of data, and controls the entire financial and defense infrastructures. And then, the grasp of the SOP system furthered more, as almost every soldier in the world was outfitted with nanomachines. From this network, everything is controlled now, even down to weapons, where the user will be unable to fire a weapon, because they do not have authorized nanomachines. Pain and fear can be suppressed, sicknesses as well, commanders can command troops in real time, and the list goes on.

But back to the original concept. There is always a group that strives to free themselves from this domineering system. Some rebel against their government, and try to destroy the network, but more interestingly, there is a group that tried to establish a country, without these restrictions , where man could hide from the system. It was an Outer Haven for soldiers and the like, fleeing from the 'Haven' that was presided over by machines.

Our world may take the same path as well, DNA databases, wiretapping, UAV aircraft. It's extremely hard to hide from a government that can find you easier than leftover lunch in the fridge. Our society also has a 'Haven' or more accurately, a preset table of values that our world abides by; Get a good, well paying job, a family, a big house, etc etc.

It may be impossible to hide from the governments, but it is never impossible to be counter-culture. Perhaps it is wiser, considering the times. Job security is an illusion, for once, years old advice is being laid to waste, in a few minutes. There is a haven outside the haven that the world has presented us with. Outer Haven.

Sonny 2

2009-01-05T12:45:00.003+11:00

Dear Human,

By now you know what it's like to be a Zombie. To be hunted. To be hated. You fought to survive in a world that didn't make any sense.

But now you're getting used to it. Your senses have sharpened. You finally begin to understand. Why be the prey...

...When you can be the predator?

Well, sorry for the recent lack of updates/rants, but I've been playing a lot of games recently. Games like, I dunno, Counter Strike Source, Metal Gear Solid 4, and of course, Sonny 2. What makes Sonny 2 different from all of the games I'm currently playing, is that it's a flash game. That's right, it's played on one's web browser, and it's around 20 megs in size. But, even with lower production values, heck, it's around a millionth the size of MGS4 (MGS4 is 40 gigs all up) Sonny 2 is an amazing game that's held my attention for at least 20 hours. Not many games hold my attention for that long, but then again, this is one special flash game ;)

Sonny 2 is an RPG, based on the good ol' Final Fantasy System. But, there's a massive twist to it, there's no potions, or uber cheap attacks that devastate the screen in one shot. The game requires a fairly devious mind to play, with the most insidious class giving the opponent an advantage, such as an increase in damage, at the cost of a few thousand damage. You can even attack yourself to receive those benefits, except you'd damage yourself in the process. Without spoiling too much, I acquired an ability where one could switch damage with healing, and well, I healed a few thousand damage, and got the benefits of the attack, not bad hey? If you don't like this idea, don't fret too much, there are three classes, each with a unique experience, with different tactics to utilize throughout the game.

Also, like most turn based RPGs, there's a cooldown on each of the abilities, but unfortunately, one can only equip a limited amount of skills at any one time, I think it's up to 9 at once. The interesting thing is that you can equip an ability multiple times, in order to avoid excessive cooldown times. The problem is that, you might have to sacrifice another ability, such as healing, or another attack. Fortunately, whilst juggling all of these things in combat, your AI teammates are fairly intelligent, they actually HEAL when they need to, and they attack with the appropriate attacks. Even more importantly, they have stances so that you can make sure that they only heal you in a Boss Battle, or they attack relentlessly, until the enemy is defeated. Equipment also plays an extremely important role, with the 'piercing' system. This system allows a character to focus their elemental attacks, and increase the damage of that attack, possibly at the cost of damage for the other attacks that a character can wield. Also, the skill tree is quite unusual, sometimes, one has to get a detrimental abillity to gain access to a powerful skill. Again, I'll say that deviousness is an important part of enjoying this game.

The enemy AI is fairly intelligent as well, one can expect a massive challenge if you crank up the difficulty levels, they use their abilities, heal, and help their teammates. Couple that with abilities that the player doesn't have, and almost every battle requires deep thought, and a well planned, devious strategy. And even after all of that, there's even a localized PvP system, so you can see which of your characters really is the ultimate character ;)

Sonny 2 looks great, and I mean that, well, it looks good for a Flash Game. However, because of this, I'd suggest playing it on low settings on a bad computer, and I mean, anything lower than 2.0 dual core and less than 1GB of RAM. The music and the attack sounds, are not bad, the music is environmental, and it's great to be honest. But the attacks and the groans can get irritating after a while.

And if that's not enough, there's a fairly good story behind it all, it doesn't really require knowledge from the prequel, apart from the fact that the main character, Sonny, is a zombie. There's a sense of black comedy, and obscure drama throughout the game, inevitably resulting in an 'Ultimate Showdown' of sorts in the end.

To conclude, I'd suggest just playing Sonny 2, and seeing how great it is for yourself ;P

One Generation Y'ers Perspective

2008-12-26T15:17:00.007+11:00

(Clockwise from Left; An icecream of the Earth, mmm... A colloquial sea of red, and a GPS for kids, that can track them to an accuracy of 5m)

(Warning, the following blog post may be offensive to anyone above the age of 27.)
(Appropriate listening whilst reading this post would be 'What I've Done' by Linkin Park)

Generation Y. The Generation with 'Hover Parents' an 'Obesity Epidemic' 'Terrorism' and untold horrors, like 'Kidnapping'. The Generation with high expectations, with obsessive grooming. The Generation born with a disinfected silver spoon in their mouth, with a chain on their wrist. This isn't just a tale about the failures of society, or the damage that it has caused to our children. This is about MY generation.

Well, let's look at our world before I start making racial/stereotypical generalizations full of abrupt idiocy, and whatnot. Firstly, we're living with a generation that's facing the realities, caused by the sins of our fathers. I'm talking about Global Warming, and the scarcity of natural resources. Also, I can include on this list, lets say... Terrorism, and perhaps, the prevalence of media in our society. It's not a pretty future I'm painting right now, and it's perhaps getting worse with each passing day. A recent Financial Crisis, worsening relations between countries, more acts of terrorism... Perhaps, in our world- our generation do have a right to be scared, and after all, we will soon be the leaders of our dying Earth.

This isn't something that'll just disappear in an instant, even if the current generation in power- the Baby Boomers, take immediate, and unwavering action- there'll always be a problem lingering behind. And this will never happen, thanks to our good ol' friend Capitalism, and his friend Greed. I'm no communist, but Capitalism is flawed, flawed in such a way, that it doesn't take the environment, nor sustainability into account. Perhaps we are sending our world to hell because of it, but at least some measures have been put into play to increase stability- such as the Kyoto Protocol, and of course- the Carbon Trading Emissions scheme. There are also more, smaller ventures, such as the movement Greenpeace, and even Sea Shepperd, an anti whaling piracy organization.

But... the problem is, with every environmentalist that is in our world, they are surrounded and flanked by at least four more environmental destroying capitalists (No source, imagined facts or whatever). Will our generation adapt and grow to save our environment? Or will we be the first generation to live in domes, because our atmosphere has deteriorated to that level. Only time will tell... My guess would be that, well- with our generation being almost completely dependent on technology- we would be the ones that really do devastate the world- especially with our cravings for iPods, and computers... etc.

Second problem to deal with today, is well, the upbringing of Generation Z, and the upbringing of our generation, by the Baby Boomers. Trophy kids, ever heard of that term? It's a disease, with almost epidemic proportions, this disease has almost completely infected asian circles, and is starting to spread to Australians, and other races... The notion is simple, make sure that your kids have the ultimate privileges, and educations, then compare them to everyone else's kids. Whoever has the best kid, wins. You know what the saying is though- winning isn't everything, it's the ONLY thing. And of course, parents will certainly want to protect their investments, there's a lot of money in Private Schooling, and even Kindergarten. Here comes the onset of Hover Parenting, or what I like to call 'Clinical Paranoia'. It's true that there are atrocities committed towards Children, but in a lot of kidnapping cases, the perpetrators generally know the kids in person (ie. Babysitters, etc.) This fear is practically unjustified, I mean... some parents will practically buy a GPS system, in order to track their kids movements with each PASSING SECOND... It's insanity, it's madness, and we can't even do anything about it. You do know this is actually a breach of privacy, perhaps even a breach of Human Rights, am I right? We are brought up with paranoia in one hand, and a focus on achieving in the other. And, of course, the iron fist that is wielded by parents, to allow them to have this control...

Generation X, imagine the way that they will parent their children. I've already seen some early examples, an almost exact repeat of the Baby Boomer parenting scheme, except with twice the vigour, and twice as inclusive. I've actually been asked to teach a kid poker at two years of age... Why you might ask? His parents want him to be an economist, and it's to help him learn probabilities. Like seriously, that's not good, trust me... I've seen a world that's being eaten from the inside, by the poisoning of our children, and I can't do anything about it all, one day, we'll all bear the consequences, every last one of us. Can generation A survive parenting by Generation Y? Only time will tell. We are supposedly one of the most indulgent, and anti-social generations, and that's probably true. I wonder if we will buck the trend, and not have these parenting methods, otherwise, who knows what will be the resultant product? Or will we be a generation of change? Enough to warrant starting the alphabet system again?

The media is also one of the biggest reasons our Generation has been portrayed as one of the worst in history. It's wormed it's greedy, ugly hands into every part of our lives, from advertising, to the news that controls the world. Even the economy is based on speculation, based on confidence. It's almost safe to say, that whoever controls the media, controls the world. And well, look at our problems of Anorexia, of Bulimia... Did these problems happen in previous generations? Yes they did, but not on such an epic scale. And whose fault are these problems? Of course, greedy old Baby Boomers. Good on you, the people running Fashion magazines, and whatever, (*Claps hands*). The entire economy is basically controlled by the media- after all, shares are based on confidence. If the media turns against a company, regardless of their response- the companies share price and value will CRASH. Why? Because the smart investors will realise that the public will sell their shares, feeling that it's their moral obligation, or duty to make that company suffer. What else does the media control? It's almost horrifying to think about it really, Social Control is a reality, it's just that our world is too blind to see it. There is no such thing as a Utopia, we live in a Dystopian world, right here, right now.

What will happen at the turn of the century? No-one will be able to predict that. All I can do, is hope that we will leave a world for our children, that isn't doomed, nor a generation that will not be nothing but machines, fooled by the lights and tricks of the media.

GradeFund sponsors needed!

2008-12-23T13:06:00.003+11:00

Well, on my practically, daily Internet trawls, after eating a burger, and whatnot, I stumbled upon an interesting concept that is a bit like my Asian parents, in that it gives money to the impoverished students (not an insult, I'm one myself), after they accomplish good grades.

So, the idea is that you can sponsor a person, with say, as little as 5 bucks, which is given to them if they accomplish a certain grade in a certain subject. For example, let's say I get an A, then well, the 5 bucks would go towards my school fees, or given to me to buy academic crap with it =) I like the program, because it really does encourage people to study, especially someone like myself. Unfortunately, this program isn't avaliable where I live, so I guess I'll have to make do for now.

Please, let's be generous here, and open our wallets for this, academic, enobling cause, ;P And so, I've decided to track one student, known as Eric P. Martin. Hopefully, he'll get some support, because well... I don't have a credit card, and my Paypal is exhausted.

Email him if you're interested at theblognovice@yahoo.com

And, if you want to read his infinitely better writing, visit his page, at http://theblognovice.com/2008/12/16/gradefund-sponsers-needed/

Thanks for your time people... ;D

Death Note- World Domination

2008-12-22T19:14:00.003+11:00

With a couple of days to go before Christmas, I got an early Christmas Present for myself, and watched the entire set of episodes of Death Note, all over again. For those who don't know what it's all about, it's the story of a 17 year old student, named Yagami Light that finds a notebook one day. Unfortunately, for the people that have their names written in it, they die of a heart attack, unless specified otherwise. After this discovery, Light decided to purge the world of evil, by purging the world of criminals, and anyone that would oppose him on his killing spree. However, of course, there has to be a few 'moral' people that try to stop his 'eeeeviill' plot. One of these people is the world's best detective, known only as 'L' to the world.

And so, the battle of the minds begins, and of course ends- after the long arm of justice catches up with Light (Sorry for the spoiler, lol...) But, Light made some critical errors, and- if he was a bit more... insidious like me, he'd be an emperor by now, with the entire world sucking his feet. Now how would one go about this? The details are right here below, in an easy to follow, sequential set of steps.

Step 1. Test your weapon

Let's see here, after picking up a notebook that can kill anyone, just by knowing their name, what the hell else would you do, other than to test out it's capabilities? I agree with Light's testing of his weapon, and I'd essentially do what he did, except possibly making the arrangements a little more... inconspicuous. Blah blah, the basics are you need a name and a face to kill, as well as, you can command them to do stuff before they die.

Step 2. Send a message to the authorities, then blame them =)

Well, apart from killing everyone with a heart attack, Light probably should have spaced out the deaths evenly, so that a psychological profile would be unable to deduce that he was a student. But that wasn't a really important point, but I would draw suspicion away from myself, by handing in a page to the authorities, and saying that I found a piece of paper with all of the people that were murdered on it. Of course, it'd be through an anonymous tip-off, and I'd allow a few days to let the authorities investigate with it. During this period, I'd make sure that the deaths were constant- but after a few days, I'd make unusual spikes in deaths, showing that a government agent had possibly stolen a piece of paper, and was using it for his own personal gain. This has the same effect as Light revealing that the killer was a member of the investigative task force, but with a lot less risk =)

Step 3. Blackmail the hell out of everyone that's rich/important

Yep, now my path of being emperor of the world completely changes from Light's path. After all, all's fair in love an war. I'd begin by blackmailing Bill Gates, and ordering him to give at least, 50% of his fortune into a secured, Nigerian bank account, or a dodgy Swiss one. I'd continue, killing the ones that don't pay up, and ordering them to do it anyway, using the death note, before they died. My reasoning behind this, is like any other terrorist organization. I'd need funds to be able to fund a massive arsenal, and weapons- just in case my Death Note failed, or some asses were hiding their names from me.

Secondly, I'd get the political leverage to be able to start a terrorist organization. Firstly, I'd make sure that I'd be able to obtain political asylum for my organization, probably by killing a Prime Minister or something. Then, the new PM would probably fear for his life, and then grant my organization some funds, and other heavy equipment, in order to keep their country stable. Soon, I'd amass a huge amount of firepower, and if my Death Note failed, I'd have Evil Plan #2.

Step 4. Operation Guillotine

Well, now that I have a dedicated Terrorist organization, or really, just an entity to hide myself, and to protect my identity, I'd now hatch an extremely evil plan, to make sure that I'm ruler of the United States at least. In the film 'Eagle Eye' the Super Computer ARIA decided to kill everyone in her puppets line of succession, and so, I'd use the same method. Obviously, I have other methods instead of using high explosives and other crap, and soon, I'd have the right puppet for my job.

Now with my puppet, unfortunately, my Death Note can control people, but only for thirty days before they die. Well, I guess there's a lot of aristocrats around anyway. But with Presidential Power, I'd declare a nuclear war on the European Union, and destroy a massive power bloc. Then, I'd rinse and repeat, with Russia engaging India, and the other states. Down in Australia, or wherever my terrorist organization was based, I'd have massive amounts of scientists and spies working on developing my own nuclear arsenal.

After that, I'd rise from the ashes, and then take over the world, threatening annihilation to anyone that opposes me. I wouldn't really need the Death Note anymore, due to my superior firepower. Also, I'd still be unable to reveal my name, as the manga/anime revealed that there is a chance that other Death Notes exist. Therefore, I'd still have a puppet ruling my Organization, and well... I guess that's it. I'd be ruler of the world, ruling from the shadows.

Step 5. Gloat

Self explanatory, however, the problem is, you can't really gloat in public, just in case someone has eyes that can see your name, or whatever.

And that's it, I hope this guide made World Domination all that easier, especially with a Death Note xD

Twilight (movie) Review

2008-12-15T18:56:00.006+11:00

Mediocre, Terrible, Shallow, Worthless, A waste of my friggin 10 bucks
One and a half Stars out of Five

(Warning. This Review Contains SPOILERS. Period.)
(Warning. This Review is written by a person that has only read the plot on Wikipedia, and watched the movie. Period. )

I suppose that's not a great way to start a review of a film, is it? Unfortunately, the film Twilight abscribes to all of the above statements. Unfortunately, it tried to strike the middle ground between the hardcore fans, and the newcomers to the series, and ended up as complete roadkill. It's a true pity that the film was like that, I was fairly psyched up for it, while walking around 8 Kms to the cinema. However, after sprinting in, and barely getting in on time, I found my group of friends, cracked open my can of pepsi, and then, with my mind still buzzing, the first few scenes played out in front of me.

Let's start with a summary, before I do spoil the entire film. The acting isn't good, I'm serious, actually, not much about this film is good, only the CGI at the end of the film looks any good, seriously, it was like, OMG Kung Fu Hustle! Secondly, the cinematography was alright, I mean, well, the scenery does look quite epic, and awesomeish. However, Edward's sparkly bit (generically written to avoid spoilers) was frankly crap. I mean, lol, I think I can photoshop that. Finally, the detail put into the movie is really shallow, and for a newcomer to the series, I think that it could be seriously expanded upon. Oh yes, did I mention that the acting is crap? I mean, the entire cinema was laughing during some of the more serious parts, that's how bad it was.

(Real Spoiler Warning Now. Period.)
(Warning. This is an unflattering, negative, pissed off review. Period.)

In a gothic, and emo way to start the film, we hear the narrator talking about dying. Awesome. Secondly, on screen, you see a deer getting owned by some crazily fast blur. Also awesome. Unfortunately, this is where all the action dies, until around 30 minutes before the end of the movie, which is expected from a romance/horror film, but unfortunately, the scenes of conflict between the beginning and the epilogue aren't expanded enough to warrant more than a mere mention.

After a lengthy introduction of Bella, the stories heroine, and her new life in a sleepy American town, and a brief appearance of a Korean actor, the romantic tension begins as soon as the Cullen family walks in, or, brace yourselves, 'Vampires' !!! (OMGWTFBBQ). Anyway, for vampires, they look unusually metro, unlike my expectation of a series of Japanese Gothic Lollitas, with a taste for blood. Poor old Edward Cullen looks the most metro, actually looking like he should make an appearance for either

A) Calvin Klein

B) Queerly straight Eye, for the Straight Guy

Or

C) A Contestant on 'Make me a Supermodel'

Alright, now romantic tension builds, as soon as good ol' Bella looks at Edward. Unfortunately for her, she is informed by her friends that simply, he's out of her league. Also, she's nearly hit by a car driven by a friend, but *Shock*, she's saved by the ever reliable Edward, who runs in at a MILLION miles an hour, and stops a moving car with his BARE HANDS! Later at the hospital, the ever emo/metro Edward makes another appearance, and advises that she was hallucinating.

Now, I'll pretty much cut the crap, and say that they grow on each other, a bit, and well, Bella also tries to find out what Edward really is. Then, we have this slightly actiony scene where she's about to get raped, but lo and behold, he shows up, in a Volkswagon no less, driving like a guy from Initial D, and scaring the crap out of the potential rapists. Cool.

From this point on, the whole thing can be summarised in a few sentences. Bella finds out Edward's a vampire, and loves him anyway, Edward and Bella have a bedroom scene (Yea, a 107 year old vampire with a 17 year old girl, lol) Edward's vampire family meet a new set of vampires that desire to kill Bella. And finally, and most importantly, the Cullen family move to protect her from them.

Unfortunately, the only thing that justified my 10 bucks was the awesome fight scene, where Edward pwns another vampire. That was seriously, something friggin awesome, where they beat the living shits out of each other (Falcon... PUNCH!)

Then everything ends happily, and they go to the prom, finally the movie ends, with a small cliffhanger, as the wife of a slain vampire watches both of them dancing.

About now, I'd already finished my can of pepsi, and damn, I was pretty bored during it. Unfortunately, due to it's bad acting, and whatnot, I'd suggest waiting for a DVD release or something, it was that bad. -_-

Paramore, a brief overview

2008-12-14T12:57:00.005+11:00

Well, I guess it's time to review something completely different, rather than bagging the living shits out of another movie. Instead, I'll talk about a band called 'Paramore' today. They're a fairly popular band, with a couple of hits screaming to the top of the music charts. With their association with the 'Twilight' movie, they have become one of America's rising rock stars.

Firstly, they sound distinctly like a power pop/emo rock band, with their vocalist being able to give their band an amazing energy, without screaming like a nutcase. Their sound leans towards an emo/pop band, like Fall Out Boy, or Panic at the Disco, but they have roots in pop as well, which explains their hybrid genre. The key feature about the band is that, like a lot of others, their choruses are filled with energy, and just have a catchy beat, which is easy to accompany when you're playing a drumkit, or jamming with a guitar.

To be honest, I recommend this band to people that like your general emo bands, and perhaps to those that like modern rock. But then again, their sound isn't for everyone, so I suppose it's all about what you look for in a song.

Recommended Listening

Misery Business (Also appears on Guitar Hero World Tour)
Decode
That's what you get
For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic

Equivalent Exchange

2008-12-11T11:16:00.007+11:00

"People cannot gain anything without sacrificing something. You must present something of equal value in order to gain something. That is the principle of equivalent exchange in alchemy"

For those that do not know where these words come from, it is one of the defining concepts in the anime/manga; Full Metal Alchemist. The story is about two young alchemists that seek to find the philosophers stone, an item that allows them to bypass this rule, and therefore allow them to restore lost bodyparts.

However, this post isn't about the anime, it mainly deals with the theory of Equivalent Exchange. Strangely, it is recognized by most modern schools of thought- like economics, which deals with 'Opportunity Cost', or even to religious ideals, like the Buddhist notion of 'Karma'. This is also present in common thought/ average superstitions, with the statement 'What goes around, comes around'

It's quite strange if one thinks about it though, our world is corrupt- and there are always people that are either born with silver spoons in their mouths, or acquire something purely through dumb luck. But then again, our world mostly adheres to this rule, whether you realize it or not. Every time you win, say, in a game of poker, there has to be someone that loses. This isn't equivalent exchange, but then again, he paid the price in order to have the chance to acquire something. That in turn adheres to the rule of equivalent exchange, even if the object that the loser acquired isn't tangible.

More examples of this, could be in war, where resources must be expended, in order to obtain advantages over an opponent, or in modern consumerism, where time must be forfeited, in order to obtain money. The most chilling example of this could be seen in our concepts of Capitalism, and our current financial crisis.

For instance, the entire sub prime mortgage crisis was based upon home buyers pursuing the American Dream. Unfortunately, they were unable to finance their homes, and promptly were kicked out by the banks that financed their loans. The second major problem was that, in America, the banks take responsibility for these debts incurred, and as a result, we have our global financial crisis. It's not as simple as that, but that's generally the gist of it.

Equivalent exchange here? Yes, I'd say so, the banks sacrificed stability in order to increase profits, and the individual sacrificed stability to obtain a better house.

However, there are clear exceptions to this rule as well, such as the victims of Natural Disasters, and problems that have been caused by humanity, such as terrorist attacks, etc.

These victims of such actions may not survive, even if all the necessary steps had been taken in order to avoid death. Here is where the rule of equivalent exchange doesn't apply, but in most cases, it certainly does.

To end this random, marginally pointless blog, I'll be looking into my life to see if my problems have been caused by equivalent exchange, and maybe I might learn something.

Twilight? srsly wtf is it?

2008-12-10T10:46:00.006+11:00

Ahhh, yes, due to my outcast nature in society, I've never actually read the 'Twilight' series. Unfortunately, even being an outcast, I just can't seem to avoid the mass media exposure that the series is getting, both negative and positive. So, from what I've gleaned, the series is about vampires, and whatnot- except they're more like Superman, with a taste for animal blood. That's fairly disturbing already, kinda because I like my vampires to be your classical bloodsuckers, but considering it's audience, I guess that's fair enough *Sigh*

Well, it was received extremely well by teenage/young adult females, and as a result, there's a film out about it now. I guess it's not really different from a lot of other bestsellers then, right? Not really, the book differs from a lot of vampire novels in a series of succinct means. Firstly, yes- there's actually a good vampire- scratch that, a freaking crowd of friendly vampires... Yes, and then, the talking point of the whole book, a 107 year old vampire loves some 17 year old girl. Is that disturbing? Like, pedophile disturbing? Well, considering he looks like a 17 year old anyway, I guess not -_-.

Right, so apart from being a bestseller, and receiving critical acclaim, it's also been heartily criticized by a crapload of people. Well, actually it's just being criticized by the usual hardcore, elite people, for using too many descriptive words, for having empty characters... etc. etc. But then again, it's been praised for having an awesome world, like something out of Lord of the Rings/Harry Potter. A lot of people have also come up to criticize it about it's morals, and perhaps, just the thing that I mentioned before, a 107 year old vampire has the hots for some random 17 year old.

Anyway, over these holidays, I might even read the series of books, even if it does have some flaws to it. But then again, if I wanted to see some awesome mythological action, the anime
series 'Claymore' does come to mind, hehe. But in the end, that's the end of another random blog from me, back to watching the finale of Code Geass

Quarantine (2008)

2008-12-08T18:05:00.004+11:00

Around a week ago, I went with my group of classmates to go and watch some more gore porn. About two weeks ago, I followed them to Dying Breed, but more recently, I watched an overhyped, idiotic fusion of I Am Legend/Cloverfield.

Quarantine is a remake of a Spanish film, that didn't see widespread release. It was fairly well recieved by critics, but because it was in Spanish, it didn't see widespread release. Quarantine is an English duplicate of this, but unfortunately, something was lost in the transition.

Quarantine's plot essentially is it's title, where an apartment is quarantined by the United States Government, due to a mysterious disease outbreak. Unfortunately, for the people inside, the government doesn't care about the livelihoods of those inside, and like all monster movies, this is where the action begins.

The camerawork in the film is pretty much like Cloverfield's, with the shaky camera work being the only thing that the viewers can see. This makes the film like an FPS, and like most games, the acting isn't up to scratch as well. Honestly, (Spoiler Warning) when you get your main character to go psycho, and by psycho- I mean like an Ice/Heroin addict, it gets... EXTREMELY annoying, after the 50th cry/scream for help/act of mass hysteria. Also, because we obviously can't see the person wielding the only camera, we really can't tell how well he acted, or perhaps- he did a voiceover a lot later on.

The film isn't that scary as well- it mainly relies on shock, and just old cliches in order to terrify it's audience for an extremely short period of time. In fact, there were laugh out loud points in the film, due to the ridiculously unrealistic usage of CGI, and the mass stupidity of the survivors inside. Perhaps the funniest part of the film when a main character goes on a killing spree, armed with nothing but an axe.

Secondly, the film is incredibly unrealistic, because the survivors, as aforementioned, are about as intelligent as small animals. Also, the government takes a very 'Unamerican' approach, prefering to let the residents rot inside- rather then providing them with a healthy dosage of the Second Amendment.

It's a pity that the film isn't that great after all, but for the maximum horror effect, I'd suggest going to the cinemas and watching the stupidity firsthand.

Final Rating; Two and a Half Stars out of Five

Love

2008-12-07T12:40:00.013+11:00

Today's blog is essentially about one of my current problems, which probably isn't that interesting reading, unless you know me, or you're a child psychologist. I'll start writing about some films tomorrow, alright? =)

On a sleepy Sunday, where I'd probably be shooting someone online with my usual cry of 'Oh YEAH! M4 BITCHES!' or something to that effect. But then again, my Counter-Strike files are stuffed up anyway, so I'll be here for a bit longer. Also, it's always on a Sunday where I'll think about my past, and the things that might have happened, had I done something else.

Well, I guess this means that this blog is dedicated to my past, but it's also dedicated to my future, and possibly, what might have happened, had I actually trusted my instincts. It's kinda unfortunate really, but well- I've got an awesome friend in Korea right now, and we've had a bit of a history together, we were never in a relationship, but we were getting really close before she left.

Because I was too much of a chicken, it'll be another 5 years before I'll be able to see her again. Probably, I should be out there, looking for someone else- but I just don't have the time, or the effort to find another girl. It's better for my studies, but I can feel my soul dying with each passing day. Not much is keeping me to this world, save a few hopes that I'll have in the future. It doesn't sound good to me at all, and with each passing minute- I'm unsure about how long I'll be able to last for.

The picture above relates to how I feel right now, empty in the middle, with my mind being consumed by the elements, and a machine corrupting and twisting my heart, with each passing second. Two wings are attached to it, those symbolize my desire for freedom, for one last chance.

One Chance, Two Lives, One Destiny

(lol, corny =)

Virtual Economy

2008-12-06T18:06:00.005+11:00

Our world is changing, our technology is changing, even today, the impossible is being achieved- from absolutely nothing. For example, an old example would be that of 'Project Entropia'. Making headlines for having the world's most expensive virtual objects sold, it's interesting how consumer demand can be met, for absolutely nothing. In game, a space station was sold for around $100,000 USD, where the investment was returned in under a year. This is old news essentially, having happened in around 2006

What does this mean for our economy though? Because, simply- people are paying money, for nothing but a bunch of pixels. Perhaps it is the only solution to our world's natural resource crisis. Why? Because, the amount of manufactured goods is devastating the amount of goods left on our planet. With an object that reduces a consumers disposable income, this would theoretically in turn, lessen the amount of manufactured goods that they would buy, thereby reducing their resource footprint. Secondly, there would be no such thing as an equilibrium price, as supply will infinitely outstrip demand, regardless of how many consumers there are. Therefore, the price will consistently stay the same, unless the basic maintenance costs have been exceeded. However, these costs will be negligible, especially if the product reaches mainstream popularity.

Interestingly, this theory of paying for essentially 'nothing' has been existing for quite a long time. Characters of popular MMORPGS have retailed for more than a few thousand dollars, with the only expense of the producers being the transaction fees, and possibly, the subscription fees/opportunity cost that this action would have incurred. Companies have caught onto this, and in China, there are companies set up in order to 'Powerlevel' characters, for lazy players. Powerleveling is essentially, playing one's character on an MMORPG, and subsequently preforming repetitive actions on it, so as to 'level up' or increase the strength, or value of that character. However, due to the costs incurred by paying the people for preforming these repetitive actions, this isn't an actual example of the new Virtual Economy.

The true virtual economies are still developing as this post is being written. Perhaps, this post will be obsolete, the second I push that orange button labeled 'Publish Post'. However, there are two main structures that have been developing under the economical radar of Western nations. One is owned by a Korean corporation, and one is owned by an American company. Firstly, a site know as 'Cyworld' was once touted as being a major competitor in the 'Social Networking' industry. However, the Western version hasn't really taken off- and only holds a minor market share.

Cyworld is a website that allows its users to have a virtual home, which they can decorate, and in turn- show off to their friends. Users pay money, through a Paypal transaction, or through a mobile phone bill- and exchange it for a currency known as 'Acorns'. With this currency, users can decorate their homes with much more exclusive items. Surprisingly enough, the South Korean company was earning around $300,000 dollars from this transaction alone. The figure was obtained was in September, 2005.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/07/27/technology/cyworld0727.biz2/index.htm

This is an economy that allows users to purchase items, purely for aesthetic value. A lot of other companies have adopted this idea, especially text MMORPGS, or even forums, in the form of donations to the site. Perhaps, in our world's increasing dependence on the internet, this could be one way to allow 3rd world nations to develop substantial revenue- without exerting much expenditures.

The second structure is that in the form of monthly subscriptions. A prime example of this would be the massively popular 'World of Warcraft' where players have to pay a monthly fee in order to access the game. Because of it's popularity, and the high retention/subscription levels experienced in the game- currently, it is almost untouched by the economic crisis in America. It's parent company has been affected by the economic crisis, but Blizzard itself has proved that a virtual economy can shield a company from the real world- if the correct conditions are met.

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/10/16/blizzard-economic-downturn-wont-hurt-world-of-warcraft/

Retrieved on the 16th of September, 2008

In conclusion, I cannot imagine the way that the Virtual Economy will develop, and evolve in the future, but all I can state truthfully, is that this new economy is only in it's infancy, and perhaps, it will develop into a domineering machine, that will control tomorrows world.