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	<title>Ink-Cafe &#187; Reviews</title>
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		<title>University Chronicle: New insane Batman game released</title>
		<link>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2009/09/29/university-chronicle-new-insane-batman-game-released/</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:06:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jun-Kai Teoh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Games]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ink-cafe.com/?p=2876</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Disclaimer: Originally published on the St. Cloud State University campus paper, the University Chronicle on the Sept. 28 2009 issue. Written by Jun-Kai Teoh, Managing Online Editor. This article may not be reproduced in any form, including online or print media, without first and foremost contacting the University Chronicle. The latest game in the Batman [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Disclaimer: Originally published on the St. Cloud State University campus paper, the University Chronicle on the Sept. 28 2009 issue. Written by Jun-Kai Teoh, Managing Online Editor.</p>
<p>This article may not be reproduced in any form, including online or print media, without first and foremost contacting the University Chronicle.</strong></p>
<p>The latest game in the Batman superhero franchise, Batman: Arkham Asylum, was released on the Xbox360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC on the Aug. 25 and Sept. 15 respectively.</p>
<p>Developed by London based game studio RockSteady, Batman: Arkham Asylum is an action-adventure game with a hint of stealth mixed into it.</p>
<p>The game takes place from a third-person over the shoulder perspective and is based on a completely original storyline written by Paul Dini.</p>
<p>Arkham Asylum features Batman investigating Joker’s sinister plot at the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, a fictional psychiatric hospital.</p>
<p>The story, while original, offers nothing exceptionally interesting and it isn’t the main attraction of the game either.</p>
<p>Joker, once again up to mischief, gets himself arrested and sent to the Arkham Asylum before he breaks out and take control of the Asylum.</p>
<p>As Batman was the one escorting Joker to the Asylum, he takes it upon himself to capture Joker and to foil Joker’s sinister plans.</p>
<p>What makes Arkham Asylum a winner for Batman fans would be how true the game is to the Batman lore.</p>
<p>Various villains make appearances in the game, ranging from Bane to Harvey Dent (more commonly known as Two-Face), RockSteady pulled out all the stops when it came to Arkham Asylum.</p>
<p>Arkham Asylum is a mini-sandbox game, granting players free roam throughout the psychiatric hospital and its various grounds and gardens.</p>
<p>A secret batcave is also offered on the island.</p>
<p>Scattered throughout the game are riddles by The Riddler as well as hidden bonuses that reveal more of the history of the hospital.</p>
<p>Recorded psychiatric sessions between different psychiatrists and villains such as iller Croc, Zsazz and Joker can be found as well.</p>
<p>Fans of button-mashing action games will be disappointed with this game howeve as it focuses on careful timing and smart usage of the large inventory of gadgets that Batman possesses.</p>
<p>The faithful batarang and batcable (grapple gun) makes an important appearance in the game. Additional gadgets and upgrades can be unlocked as the game progresses.</p>
<p>The game mixes elements of action adventure with elements of investigative games as players will often find themselves in positions where they have to use the many detective skills and equipments that Batman possesses to progress the story.</p>
<p>The “detective mode” is an alternate vision mode offered in-game that allows players to scan for nearby enemies, detect traces of fingerprints and even scan the heart-rate of nearby enemies to see if they’re aware of Batman’s presence.</p>
<p>The combat system of the game is a fairly simple system consisting of three main attacks and a counter-attack move. Successful and effective combos grant players more experience which can then be used to unlock more moves or gadgets from Batman’s arsenals.</p>
<p>As an added bonus to boost replay value, a challenge mode is offered where playes can attempt different tasks, most of it revolving around beating up the bad guys. It gets progressively harder as some challenges require the enemies to be eliminated with stealth or other additional conditions.</p>
<p>The villains of the game stay true to the comics. The in-game Joker is as creepy as, if not creepier, the Joker from the 2008 blockbuster film The Dark Knight. Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and the other many foes of Batman all appear as sinister as they should be.</p>
<p>Batman, while a formidable hero in the game, is far from the undefeatable superhero that he often appears as in other games. Players are forced to consider tactics carefully and make good use of the environments in the game.</p>
<p>Arkham Asylum is without a doubt one of the best DC Comics superhero game to be released for a long time now. </p>
<p>Batman: Arkham Asylum retails for $49.99 for the PC version and $59.99 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox360 versions.</p>
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		<title>The Man From Earth</title>
		<link>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2009/01/02/the-man-from-earth/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2009/01/02/the-man-from-earth/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 03 Jan 2009 02:57:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jun-Kai Teoh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Movies]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ink-cafe.com/?p=557</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Man From Earth is a slightly sci-fi philosophical movie. Now for those of you intellectuals, this is definitely a must watch movie. However, this movie is not suitable for religious people or conservative people at all. This movie isn&#8217;t an action movie, it isn&#8217;t a comedy and it&#8217;s not really a drama either. The [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Man From Earth is a slightly sci-fi philosophical movie. Now for those of you intellectuals, this is definitely a must watch movie. However, this movie is not suitable for religious people or conservative people at all.</p>
<p>This movie isn&#8217;t an action movie, it isn&#8217;t a comedy and it&#8217;s not really a drama either. The whole movie is filmed at a small cabin and it revolves around the dialogues of the characters. This movie doesn&#8217;t bore people with smokes and mirrors, but it cuts to the chase immediately. So for those of you looking for CG effects, a moving story, a comedy or an action packed blockbuster, you should definitely look elsewhere.</p>
<p>But for the intellectuals out there that&#8217;s willing and perhaps even eager to broaden your horizons a little bit, this movie will come out as a masterpiece. As I&#8217;ve said previously, the whole movie revolves around story and dialogue. As unbelievable as the premise of the movie may be, that a 14,000 year old Cro-Magnon (early human kind) is still alive this very day, the movie does a very good job of spinning not only a believable but a very logical story out of it as well.</p>
<p>I know it sounds quite preposterous that a movie based on such an out of this world premise could even possibly be an intellectual and philosophical movie. But trust me, this movie is an absolute masterpiece. I believe it&#8217;ll even surprise skeptics and critics as well.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s an interesting fact about the movie though. The director of the movie actually thanked &#8220;pirates&#8221; that torrented the movie. The movie had practically no publicity at all, but thanks to Torrents it gained publicity and recognition. Here&#8217;s a <a href="http://www.rlslog.net/piracy-isnt-that-bad-and-they-know-it/">link</a> to an email sent to one of the many release sites out on the internet.</p>
<p>For those of you out there with an open mind and the thirst for interesting, plausible twists on many things we take for granted, this movie is definitely a must. There really isn&#8217;t a better way to describe this movie save by using one word, a <strong>Masterpiece</strong>.</p>
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		<title>DISSIDIA Final Fantasy &#8211; OST</title>
		<link>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2008/12/28/dissidia-final-fantasy-ost/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2008/12/28/dissidia-final-fantasy-ost/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 29 Dec 2008 01:26:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>yunyun</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ink-cafe.com/?p=524</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[DISSIDIA Final Fantasy &#8212; Square Enix&#8217;s tenth anniversary, in honour and tribute of their most successful series, Final Fantasy. Honestly, they&#8217;ve pretty much sent hardcore FF fans shrieking to the four corners of the world when they released the teaser trailer for this PSP game (this humble reviewer included). Now, author Kai may have a few qualms [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>DISSIDIA Final Fantasy &#8212; Square Enix&#8217;s tenth anniversary, in honour and tribute of their most successful series, Final Fantasy. Honestly, they&#8217;ve pretty much sent hardcore FF fans shrieking to the four corners of the world when they released the teaser trailer for this PSP game (this humble reviewer included).</p>
<p>Now, author Kai may have a few qualms and whatnot about the game, but I&#8217;m going to be talking about the music.</p>
<p>Ah, music &#8212; Any FF fan who does not know who on earth Nobuo Uematsu is needs to have serious remedial lessons on every Final Fantasy ever.  And then lessons in worshipping this god of music. And then only he or she can be truly recognized as a hardcore fan of Final Fantasy. In Dissidia&#8217;s OST, however, Uematsu does not make a comeback; here it is Takeharu Ishimoto, well-known for his compositions for Kingdom Hearts II and the recent Crisis Core.</p>
<p>Playtime in total is about 2 and a half hours; with 74 tracks plus 1 bonus track. The original compositions no doubt belong to Nobuo Uematsu, but just as with Crisis Core, Takeharu Ishimoto manages to rearranges the pieces nicely and make it more outstanding, as the previous tunes from the good old days were nothing more than itsy-bitsy MIDI files. In this OST, fans will be able to recognize songs from the olden times in a newer and much more dramatic way &#8212; and it&#8217;s easy to tell if the song has been arranged or left in its original form &#8212; it&#8217;s stated in the OST list.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve only played a handful of the Final Fantasy series &#8212; VII, VIII and IX, so quite a number of the songs here are new to me.</p>
<p>Now&#8230;</p>
<p>From what I gather, they took three songs from each Final Fantasy, one to act as the menu/battlefield for said FF protagonist (this is usually the Main Theme), and then one battle song, and one boss song.</p>
<p>I realize this is going to be long, so I shall wrap this up into a few categories :-</p>
<p>Old Favourites : -<br />
- <strong>Those Who Fight Further -</strong> One may argue that I am biased towards FFVII, but then again they ARE the darling of the series. If not for them, the FF series as a whole would have died off.  This song is definitely one of the catchier tunes in the OST.<br />
<strong>- Don&#8217;t be Afraid FFVIII -</strong> The battle theme song for FFVIII, in a more rock style way. Sweet drum rolls, sweet guitars, a bit lacking in the bass, but overall my favourite remix so far.<br />
<strong>- Battle Theme FFIX -</strong> This song has a more ethereal feeling to it, which makes it nicer than the sharper tones of the original song. Two thumbs up for me.<br />
- <strong>One-Winged Angel FFVII</strong> &#8211; Who can resist not commenting about this song? Love it or loath it, it is the ultimate song ever and is considered Nobuo Uematsu&#8217;s greatest composition for the series. (Also, Sephiroth is one badass boss, and everyone knows it, and thus you end up with a song worshipping his very name.)  In this one, however, it comes close to sounding like the one from Advent Children, except with the original lyrics. Still my favourite.</p>
<p>New Favourites :-<br />
- The <strong>Opening song</strong> for the kickass opening scene. Needless to say, the opening song is kickass as well.<br />
- <strong>Clash on the Big Bridge</strong> and <strong>Battle 1</strong> from FFV. It&#8217;s catchy and fast paced and makes me want to dance.<br />
- <strong>The Decisive Battle from FFVI</strong> &#8211; This song has been stuck in my head for the past 10 minutes. It is a good thing, I assure you.<br />
-<strong> Preparation for Battle</strong> &#8211; This has a nice military patriotic &#8220;get ready to fight for your country&#8221; kind of style which gives me goosebumps all the way. I&#8217;m in love with it.<br />
- <strong>A Moment of Rest</strong> and <strong>The Order that must be Protected</strong> &#8211; Sadly, the only two original piano compositions of Takeharu Ishimoto. Both, however, are extremely well done and moves me to the point of near-tears.</p>
<p>Usuals : -<br />
What is Final Fantasy without its traditions? There is the <strong>Prelude</strong> theme, present in almost every Final Fantasy, in the opening screen usually, and this one seems to be a bit overdone. Too much reverb effects in my opinion.  The <strong>Victory Fanfare, </strong>also present in every Final Fantasy and other games like the Chocobo series, is split into two themes this time, the Cosmos side and the Chaos side.  The Cosmos Victory is more recognisable than the Chaos one, which employs the use of electric guitar and violin. The tone is slightly mellower, as though unsure it should be a victory fanfare or not.</p>
<p>And there is also the <strong>Mambo de Chocobo</strong> theme, which makes me laugh because I picture chocobos in coconut leaves and dancing in Hawaii. Listen to it, and I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ll agree with me; it is delightfully fun. Finally, the <strong>Final Fantasy</strong>, the MAIN theme of all Final Fantasies, usually present at the ending of the game sync-ed in with the main theme of said game, was shorter than usual, clocking it at a little over 2 minutes. Masterfully done, but not quite the best yet.</p>
<p>And there are the ickys :-<br />
FFX To Zanarkand, renamed <strong>Sprouting </strong>- I don&#8217;t know why they renamed it that way, because it didn&#8217;t seem like Sprouting to me. Only a slight addition of strings, a bit of the reverb effect, nothing overly special.<br />
<strong>FFI Battle Theme 2</strong> &#8211; Weird cut-off at 1.08, for some reason.<br />
<strong>Blue Fields FFVIII</strong> &#8211; Ick. No. Not well done at all. The original is way better. This is the only song I don&#8217;t like in this whole OST.<br />
<strong>FFX Otherworld</strong> &#8211; I got a shock of my life when I heard this song. This is okay up till the part the vocal does a weird Chester Bennington imitation and scares the crap out of me.<br />
<strong>Cosmos</strong> and <strong>Chaos</strong> &#8211; Two vocal songs. I don&#8217;t particularly like it, but their voices are good. The melody seems to be rather simple, though. And it&#8217;s in English. It&#8217;s not supposed to be in English!!</p>
<p>My other qualm is that they seemed to have gotten lazy toward the end of the soundtrack. There&#8217;s like 8 original songs here from FFXI and FFXII. <strong>The Extreme from FFVIII</strong> and the <strong>Boss Battle theme from FFIX</strong> also makes a comeback, untouched at all, which may or may not have been for the best. Personally I&#8217;d have liked to hear something different and yet familiar all at once, like the previous songs mentioned.</p>
<p>Overall? I&#8217;d give it an 8 out of 10. I may be biased, but there you go.</p>
<hr />
<p>Note by admin (Kai): Give a warm welcome to Yunyun. This is her first post on Ink-Cafe.</p>
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		<title>Theory of a Deadman &#8211; Scars and Souvenirs</title>
		<link>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2008/12/28/theory-of-a-deadman-scars-and-souvenirs/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2008/12/28/theory-of-a-deadman-scars-and-souvenirs/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:03:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jun-Kai Teoh</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ink-cafe.com/?p=513</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Theory of a Deadman is a Canadian based rock band and like many other Canadian rock bands, they rarely get as much International air time as their American counterparts. Save for a few exceptions such as Nickelback of course. Theory of a Deadman isn&#8217;t just another rock band. They&#8217;ve been around for a fair number [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Theory of a Deadman is a Canadian based rock band and like many other Canadian rock bands, they rarely get as much International air time as their American counterparts. Save for a few exceptions such as Nickelback of course.</p>
<p>Theory of a Deadman isn&#8217;t just another rock band. They&#8217;ve been around for a fair number of years, and their previous two albums gained them a fairly large following amongst rock lovers. Their musical style is similar to Nickelback&#8217;s, though the lead singer&#8217;s voice sounds more like a blend of Char Kroeger of Nickelback and Shaun Morgan of Seether.</p>
<p>Unlike newer rock bands, Theory of a Deadman forgoes pop or punk trends. Instead, they focus heavily on the more traditional post-grunge or hard rock aspects.</p>
<p>Three years after their second album, they&#8217;ve finally released their third album Scars and Souvenirs. If you&#8217;ve had their previous two albums, you can expect more of the same except this time around the lyrics are much more powerful and meaningful.</p>
<p>There isn&#8217;t much to say about Theory of a Deadman except if you&#8217;re a fan of Nickelback, chances are you&#8217;ll be a fan of Theory of a Deadman as well. These two bands both head towards the same direction, though there&#8217;s just that little something that makes them both different from each other.</p>
<p>Theory of a Deadman&#8217;s latest album, Scars and Souvenirs, may not offer something revolutionary but it delivers the same goodness that made them popular to begin with. Fans of post-grunge and Nickelback should definitely give Scars and Souvenirs a try. </p>
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		<title>Left 4 Dead Review</title>
		<link>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2008/12/19/left-4-dead-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2008/12/19/left-4-dead-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:59:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jun-Kai Teoh</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ink-cafe.com/?p=443</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[From the creators of Team Fortress 2, Counter Strike, and the Half Life anthologies comes Left 4 Dead, a first person shooter revolving around co-operative play, zombies and unpredictability. Valve&#8217;s latest game, Left 4 Dead, debuts the much publicized AI called the Director AI. Instead of having fixed spawn-points, the AI Director places enemies of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>From the creators of Team Fortress 2, Counter Strike, and the Half Life anthologies comes Left 4 Dead, a first person shooter revolving around co-operative play, zombies and unpredictability.</p>
<p>Valve&#8217;s latest game, Left 4 Dead, debuts the much publicized AI called the Director AI. Instead of having fixed spawn-points, the AI Director places enemies of varying amounts at different places each time depending on the current players in the game. Depending on the skill and play-style of the current match&#8217;s players, the AI Director would adjust accordingly.</p>
<p>Left 4 Dead is in every way, a real survivor horror game.</p>
<p>Loved:</p>
<p>1. The Director AI<br />
2. The Co-Op campaigns<br />
3. Multiplayer<br />
4. Zombie Hordes</p>
<p>Hated:</p>
<p>1. Almost non-existent storyline</p>
<p>The AI Director, aka Director AI, plays a huge role in the game&#8217;s replay factor. Many have complained that the game seems too short, with only four chapters and five scenes in each chapter. However, I&#8217;ve logged a minimum of 30 hours with the game and the Director AI makes each playthrough surprising and thrilling. You can never predict properly where zombies will come from, and how many they will appear in. I&#8217;ve gotten hurt a fair amount of times simply rushing into what was an empty room in the previous match only to be attacked by hordes of zombies.</p>
<p>The campaign itself is fairly short. Each chapter is about an hour long on normal difficulty. However, the winning aspect of this game is that it is truly CO-OPERATIVE. In other games, it&#8217;s not uncommon to hear the word Co-Op just to find out that the two roles played are distinctly different. However, in Left 4 Dead, each player is given the same access to the same types of guns and other than the skin looking different, they&#8217;re absolutely the same.</p>
<p>However, this game really does focuses on multiplayer. A single player leaving the group behind and venturing forth alone is a guaranteed death. This makes the game fresh with each playthrough because the players will have to adjust accordingly to the situation and really work together. The versus mode twists the game around even more, as it pits four survivors against four special infected against each other. The results can be frustrating, funny, exciting or all at once!</p>
<p>Multiplayer, is where this game is worth its heavy price tag of 49.99USD.</p>
<p>One more thing about Left 4 Dead that&#8217;s loved? The zombies. Zombies that lumber around are nothing when compared with the zombies in Left 4 Dead that sprints like an Olympic champion. A single zombie sprinting at you is a simple matter of quick reflexes, but multiply that by hundreds and you have Left 4 Dead.</p>
<p>While I understand that Left 4 Dead revolves around multiplayer. Nonetheless, I somehow feel a little bit turned off by the lack of a proper storyline. Each chapter begins with a small cutscene and the survivors saying they need to get somewhere to be evacuated. The next chapter begins the same way save for a different setting. A simple explanation of how they ended up re-evacuating again would have been satisfactory I believe.</p>
<p>Well, if you&#8217;re interested in good clean multiplayer goodness this is definitely a game you should consider. If you&#8217;re looking for a solid storyline with an engaging plot and hours of singleplayer gameplay, you might want to consider Resident Evil 4 instead.</p>
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		<title>Nickelback &#8211; Dark Horse</title>
		<link>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2008/12/18/nickelback-dark-horse/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2008/12/18/nickelback-dark-horse/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:34:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jun-Kai Teoh</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ink-cafe.com/?p=432</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With their latest album, Dark Horse, Nickelback has taken a much more mature direction than compared with their previous albums. This isn&#8217;t to say that their previous albums did not have mature themes in it, this is just to say that it&#8217;s simply more mature this time around. Sex, seems like the predominant theme in [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>With their latest album, <em>Dark Horse</em>, Nickelback has taken a much more mature direction than compared with their previous albums. This isn&#8217;t to say that their previous albums did not have mature themes in it, this is just to say that it&#8217;s simply more mature this time around.</p>
<p>Sex, seems like the predominant theme in their latest album. However, unlike many other songs or bands that uses sex as their theme, Nickelback has managed to pull it off by making their songs actually sound mature and catchy instead of just downright corny.</p>
<p>Speaking of which, the overall mood of the whole album is just much more mature than ever. Perhaps this is due to the increased usage of electric guitars and drums than compared to previously, but even their lyrics seems to have taken a different direction as well. My favorite song from their latest album would probably be &#8220;Just to get high&#8221;, a powerful song about the downward spiral into drug addiction.</p>
<p>Would I recommend <em>Dark Horse</em>? I definitely would. How would I compare it with their previous albums? It&#8217;s hard to compare because it&#8217;s just different from their previous albums. Is it good and worth the price tag? Without a doubt, definitely.</p>
<p>Nickelback is in my opinion one of the few classic post-grunge bands that won&#8217;t ever be surpassed by any of the newer incarnations of post-grunge.</p>
<p>But hey, don&#8217;t take my word for it. Go on youtube and search up on one of their new songs. And here&#8217;s a meaningful quote from the lead singer of Nickelback, Chad Kroege.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Start rock bands,&#8221; said the singer, &#8220;Set down the &#8216;Guitar Hero&#8217; learn how to play an actual guitar and start a band, because it&#8217;s hard to find more bands to put a solid rock-and-roll package together.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
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		<title>Dell, A Two Thumbs Up</title>
		<link>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2008/11/24/dell-a-two-thumbs-up/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2008/11/24/dell-a-two-thumbs-up/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Nov 2008 06:12:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jun-Kai Teoh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[review]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ink-cafe.com/?p=329</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m a Dell Computers supporter. I&#8217;m not a loyal customer of theirs because of their product&#8217;s look or style, but because of their relatively cheap price and their wonderful service personnel. Close to a year ago, my home-built computer of three years finally gave its last whirling breath and died on me. I originally considered [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m a Dell Computers supporter. I&#8217;m not a loyal customer of theirs because of their product&#8217;s look or style, but because of their relatively cheap price and their wonderful service personnel.</p>
<p>Close to a year ago, my home-built computer of three years finally gave its last whirling breath and died on me. I originally considered rebuilding a new computer from scratch, it definitely wouldn&#8217;t be a problem for me at all. However after careful consideration I thought that getting a laptop to replace and last me for my coming years of studies would be better. A desktop would be hard to bring to the States (back then things were more confirmed than now, or at least I thought so).</p>
<p>So I started trawling the Internet, checking all well known computer brands such as Asus, Acer, Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard/Compaq and even Fujitsu. I&#8217;m not a computer geek, but I do generally know what parts I am looking for. And after comparing the specifications and price of those brands, I found that Dell offered the lowest price amongst them all.</p>
<p>Of course, there are some aspects to it that some people are turned off by. The Dell laptops were much cheaper, but they lacked the elegant design (I was then comparing the Vostro 1500 with the Acer Gemstone 5920) and the quick-launch/quick-keys that other laptops offered. Where the Gemstone had touch sensitive LED lit media buttons, the Vostro had a piece of matte furnished plastic cover.</p>
<p>The Vostro wasn&#8217;t fancy. It was large and bulky. It was black and heavy. No fancy glowing lights, no fancy fingerprint scanner (apparently the newer ones have them) and such. But it was a whole 600 MYR cheaper!</p>
<p>After thinking it through, I felt that I can live without those fancy items. I can always just &#8220;soup-up&#8221; my operating system itself (like mine is now). So I chose the Dell Vostro 1500, and have never looked back or event felt the faintest tinge of regret.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s just the product part about Dell that I love. What about the wonderful service I always speak off? Well to begin with, when I ordered my Dell they only offered a 160GB hard disk drive with Norton Antivirus. Two days after I placed my order, they changed it to a 250GB hard disk drive without Norton Antivirus. Now, Norton AV&#8217;s reputable and such but I also know it as the bane of computer performance. I wouldn&#8217;t mind trading it for a larger hard disk space. Which was what I tried and succeeded at doing. The sales personnel I spoke to was polite and efficient, within a day he got back to me and informed me that the changes have been made and I can expect to receive my laptop in a few weeks time.</p>
<p>Of course you can argue that &#8220;that&#8217;s just cause they want your money!!!&#8221; or something along those lines. To be honest that didn&#8217;t win me over yet. It was actually much later when my computer began to show signs of trouble that Dell really recruited a new loyal customer.</p>
<p>About a few months down the line, my computer suffered a lightning strike. The motherboard was FRIED. And hey, it wasn&#8217;t that I didn&#8217;t take necessary precautions. I had an Automated Voltage Regulator (AVR in short) and a lightning arrestor. My modem was plugged in to it and so was everything else. But anyway, it was terribly unfortunate for me that when the lightning struck, not only did my laptop die but so did my modem, extra monitor and external hard disk drive as well.</p>
<p>Oh that was a moment of absolute devastation for me. How am I to pay for the repairs? Well&#8230; Dell was kind enough and understanding enough to offer a replace and repair service. I know I have their full coverage warranty, but a lightning strike is something they can easily say &#8220;no&#8221; to. But as I&#8217;ve said, they were understanding enough and replaced my whole motherboard along with other parts that were damaged as well (hard disk excluding as my files were still there). </p>
<p>That wasn&#8217;t the end of my troubles though. A few weeks down the line, my hard disk decided to boycott me. I have a slight suspicion that the hard disk I got with the laptop was faulty, as there were click sounds that could be heard occasionally but I never gave it much thought. But one fateful day I found out that the click sound was a sign of a terribly faulty hard disk, and my laptop&#8217;s hard disk gave up on me. A hardware failure.</p>
<p>Dell replaced my hard disk immediately, free of charge (no I didn&#8217;t inform them that I got the laptop WITH clicking sounds). Unfortunately, they didn&#8217;t offer backup services and recommended me some other company&#8217;s services. Which costs an estimated amount of 1600-2400 MYR. As much as it pained me to lose all my family photos collected through the span of two years and all my own personal data&#8230; I had to give them all up.</p>
<p>A few months down the line my &#8220;Shift&#8221; key was found lacking in response. I had to press down hard on it for it to function. I contacted Dell through their online chat service and was just making an inquiry to see if it is possible to have a replacement made. The dell technician was friendly AND efficient, and immediately helped me place an order for a replacement. Two days later I had a new keyboard that worked perfectly fine.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve had experience with Fujitsu laptops, Compaq desktops, IBM (pre-lenovo) laptops, Hewlett Packard computers and all their respective technical support. So far the best experience I&#8217;ve had is with Dell. Efficient, cheap and reliable.</p>
<p>Oh! And their promotions are always very attractive.</p>
<p>So if you&#8217;re new to computers and aren&#8217;t ready to build your own computer, or you&#8217;re just looking for a simple laptop/desktop that can satisfy your needs, I&#8217;d recommend Dell. Keep in mind that I&#8217;m in no way related to Dell at all. I&#8217;m just a very happy customer of theirs and this is just my honest opinion and my previous experience with them.</p>
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		<title>Copeland &#8211; You Are My Sunshine</title>
		<link>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2008/11/24/copeland-you-are-my-sunshin/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2008/11/24/copeland-you-are-my-sunshin/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:59:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jun-Kai Teoh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[review]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ink-cafe.com/?p=325</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Copeland has always been a band I enjoyed tremendously. Ever since I first heard their song &#8220;She Changes Your Mind&#8221;, I was hooked onto them. Now, five years after I was first introduced to them, they&#8217;ve released their latest album entitled You Are My Sunshine and needless to say they have once more swept me [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Copeland has always been a band I enjoyed tremendously. Ever since I first heard their song &#8220;She Changes Your Mind&#8221;, I was hooked onto them. Now, five years after I was first introduced to them, they&#8217;ve released their latest album entitled <em>You Are My Sunshine</em> and needless to say they have once more swept me off my feet with their haunting voice.</p>
<p>The most unique aspect about Copeland is their haunting and yet melodious voice. They don&#8217;t sound as if they&#8217;re singing a song, but more of whispering a song to the audience. Surprisingly, they do it quite well. Their music is best classed under alternative I believe. It&#8217;s not fast, powerful or loud. Instead it is smooth, soothing and soft.</p>
<p>If you feel like taking an adventure, if you feel like losing yourself in modern yet enchanting music, I&#8217;d definitely recommend Copeland. Copeland is without a doubt, a one in a million type of band. Their style of music may not be uncommon, but the direction they take with it is definitely something special. Aaron Marsh&#8217;s vocals draws the listener in, and refuses to let go without taking the listener on a ride into their emotional depths.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s put it this way&#8230; If you&#8217;ve ever dreamed of flying, soaring, above the fluffy white clouds in dusk, Copeland&#8217;s songs would be the perfect soundtrack for that scene.</p>
<p>Copeland&#8217;s new album offers the same as they&#8217;ve done ever since their first album. An enchanting album that just refuses to let go of you. Something you&#8217;ll never get enough of.</p>
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		<title>Fallout 3 Review</title>
		<link>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2008/11/21/315/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2008/11/21/315/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:34:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jun-Kai Teoh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ink-cafe.com/?p=315</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A good ten years after Fallout 2 graced our lives, Fallout 3 has finally been released. Unlike previous canon incarnations of the Fallout series, Fallout 3 does not feature the top down isometric view anymore. Fallout 3 was developed by famed Elder Scrolls: Oblivion developers, Bethesda Softworks and it definitely delivered its promises. Loved: 1. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A good ten years after Fallout 2 graced our lives, Fallout 3 has finally been released. Unlike previous canon incarnations of the Fallout series, Fallout 3 does not feature the top down isometric view anymore. Fallout 3 was developed by famed Elder Scrolls: Oblivion developers, Bethesda Softworks and it definitely delivered its promises.</p>
<p>Loved:</p>
<ol>1. The sheer size of the game<br />
2. Side quests<br />
3. Non-essential side characters<br />
4. Galaxy News Radio<br />
5. V.A.T.S</ol>
<p>Disliked:</p>
<ol>1. V.A.T.S<br />
2. Overly simple difficulty nearing the end<br />
3. Level-Cap</ol>
<p>I&#8217;ve been taking my time, exploring and enjoying Fallout 3 ever since I got it. The game definitely lives up to my expectations and more. Fallout 3 uses the same engine as Oblivion and before it was released many was afraid that it would just be Oblivion with a fresh coat of paint. Well, if you&#8217;ve played Oblivion you&#8217;ll definitely notice similarities with Fallout 3 as well. For example, there&#8217;s the floaty-steps that your character takes and the keys are generally the same.</p>
<p>Fortunately, that&#8217;s about as far as the similarities lie. The world of Fallout 3 is much smaller than Oblivion, but in a good way. It&#8217;s now large without being overwhelming. One of the main issues I had when I was playing Oblivion was that the world was just too large, and the characters usually utter the same few phrases. In Fallout 3 however, the world IS large but I can travel from one end to the other without being bored. The sheer amount of things to do coupled with the unique NPCs make it very entertaining.</p>
<p>If you were to ignore the side-quests and just dive into the main quest, I believe it&#8217;s possible to finish the game within a day. However, by doing so you wouldn&#8217;t have enjoyed what Fallout 3 really offers. The side-quests in the games are numerous and they&#8217;re never too tough to achieve. With a little bit of planning before hand, most side quests can be attempted by beginners. The side quests range from delivering a letter, to speaking to an underground cult to free a prisoner. Some side quests may seem simple at first, but develops into a very long and involving story as you progress along it.</p>
<p>The number of ways to approach a quest is also one of the attractive points of FO3. For example the quest with the underground cult, I was tasked to save a person from them. I could have rushed in and gunned down all of them, but I could also talk them into letting me in. If I talked them into letting me in, I could either talk the boy into leaving, or leave the boy to his own fate. If I chose to talk the boy into leaving, I could convince the captors to have a truce, or I could just decide to gun them all down once more!</p>
<p>The best part of all that is that you actually make a difference in the game. The game features a &#8220;radio&#8221; feature where you can tune in to different channels being broadcast in the wasteland. Without giving spoilers, I can tell you that one of the main radio channels being broadcast is called the Galaxy News Radio, which is run by a person called Three Dog. As Fallout 3 is based on the idea that the Steampunk era never died off, many of the songs played by Galaxy News Radio reflects that era and its music. In between the songs, Three Dog would update the player on the happenings in Capital Wasteland and more often than not you&#8217;ll hear your achievements being praised by Three Dog. Most side-quests will net you some extra air-time on his radio.</p>
<p>Which believe me, is a very pleasurable experience. It makes you feel as if your actions actually matter in the game, which is something most games aim for but fail terribly.</p>
<p>Previous Fallout installments, save for Brotherhood of Steel for the PS2, were turn based games. To avoid having Fallout 3 classed as a shooter, the developers implemented a system called V.A.T.S, short for Vault-Tek Assisted Targeting System. Basically, depending on your stats, you&#8217;re given Action Points and when you enter VATS mode the game pauses to a standstill. You&#8217;re then given the ability to pick and choose the parts of the enemy that you wish to inflict damage upon, each with a corresponding percentage of hit chance, and after you&#8217;ve made your choice you&#8217;re given a slow-motion video of the attack.</p>
<p>When I first heard about it I thought it would be quite a boring idea that people would get bored of after awhile. After all, there is the option of shooting at the enemy real time ala shooter style. However, when you realize that the targeting in real time is REALLY bad and that the animations in VATS mode are pretty awesome, you&#8217;ll begin to love VATS. I never get bored of seeing my female character land a headshot resulting into an explosion of brain matter all over the place.</p>
<p>But the VATS system isn&#8217;t perfect. Far from it in fact. It&#8217;s only useful if you&#8217;re facing small amounts of enemies. Due to the fact that the Action Points regenerate very slowly, firefights with large groups can be quite tough at times. You&#8217;ll end up finding yourself using VATS, hiding, using VATS again, run and hide again repetitively until all of your enemies are scattered around the place in blood and gore. It&#8217;s good, but far from perfect unfortunately.</p>
<p>The game starts of challenging, and as you progress it gets easier and easier. If you&#8217;ve attempted many side quests, you&#8217;ll find that as you near the level cap of 20 the game begins to get unbelievably easy. The &#8220;perks&#8221; in the game, also known as passive special abilities, are tremendously powerful near the end. Making the game easier and easier as you near the maximum level.</p>
<p>That being said, getting to level 20 can be pretty fast if you spent your time exploring the Wasteland. And when you get to level 20 and there&#8217;s nothing else waiting for you on the other side&#8230; It can get a little bit discouraging. Coupled with the fact that by then you can probably take down a whole battalion of Enclave Power Armors singlehandedly.</p>
<p>But hey, the game outshines whatever minor flaws it may have. It&#8217;s definitely worth the price tag of 49.99 USD if you can afford it. I&#8217;ve read that there are some people that face severe bugs and such but in both my playthroughs I&#8217;ve not encountered any bug worth mentioning.</p>
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		<title>Tiny Hands Online!</title>
		<link>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2008/11/06/tiny-hands-online/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ink-cafe.com/index.php/2008/11/06/tiny-hands-online/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2008 07:08:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jun-Kai Teoh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ink-cafe.com/?p=190</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I don&#8217;t wear accessories. So one might be wondering, what would I have to do with jewelry then? Nothing actually. I&#8217;ve no interest in Jewelry whatsoever, but I do however have interest in handmade things. Even more so when they&#8217;re clay and they&#8217;re made to look absolutely realistic. Lucky me too, because look at what [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I don&#8217;t wear accessories. So one might be wondering, what would I have to do with jewelry then? Nothing actually. I&#8217;ve no interest in Jewelry whatsoever, but I do however have interest in handmade things. Even more so when they&#8217;re clay and they&#8217;re made to look absolutely <a href="http://tinyhandsonline.com/?page_id=72" target="_blank">realistic</a>. Lucky me too, because look at what I&#8217;ve found! <a href="http://tinyhandsonline.com/" target="_blank">Tiny Hands Online</a>!</p>
<p><img class="alignnone" title="Tiny Hands Cupcake Choclate" src="http://tinyhandsonline.com/images/items/necklaces/cupcakechocolate1x.jpg" alt="" width="188" height="188" /> <img class="alignnone" title="Tiny Hands Cupcakes" src="http://tinyhandsonline.com/images/items/necklaces/cupcake3.jpg" alt="" width="280" height="187" /></p>
<p>Just take a look at that cream! It&#8217;s made out of CLAY! But it looks so real I can just imagine licking the chocolate chips and cream off!</p>
<p>Now, before I continue, it&#8217;s made out of polymer clay. Meaning no, it&#8217;s not going to be squashed into a pile of unrecognizable pulp when you try to crush it. Instead, if you get one of those cupcakes and you sink your teeth into it, you&#8217;ll probably need to see the dentist to surgically repair your broken teeth. Trust me, it&#8217;s tough as nails.</p>
<p>If you spend some time googling, I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ll find many other clay artists as well. Tiny Hands is just one of them. So what makes Tiny Hands so special that I&#8217;d pay it extra attention? For one, the amount of attention given to the detail of each item is simply extraordinary. The cupcakes I&#8217;ve shown above is just an example, check out the site for more realistic looking goodies.</p>
<p>Now, Tiny Hands specializes in making clay jewelry. That much should be obvious by now. I know that there are other artists as well that has very realistic looking clay jewelry, so why Tiny Hands? Well here&#8217;s the best part about Tiny Hands. I&#8217;ve checked around and for equally realistic looking cupcakes, the price of each is usually 25 USD and above. Take a peek at the price of Tiny Hands on the other hand, and you&#8217;ll notice that it&#8217;s a whooping 9 USD cheaper than the usual price! It&#8217;s only 16 USD!</p>
<p>And it&#8217;s not only with cupcakes either. It&#8217;s the same with every, single, cute, adorable, jewelry of hers.</p>
<p>So if you&#8217;re a fan of cute, one-of-a-kind realistic looking clay jewelry, search no more. Tiny Hands is here to cater to every need of yours!</p>
<p><a href="http://tinyhandsonline.com/" target="_blank">Tiny Hands Online</a></p>
<p><a href="http://tinyhandsjewelry.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Tiny Hands Blog</a></p>
<p><a href="http://hanmei.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">Tiny Hands Deviant Art</a></p>
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