QZ8501: What Possibly Happened?!

We all know that Airasia X flight from Indonesia to Singapore QZ8501 have been missing and not found yet. But, what could have possibly happened to the plane? Here are some possibilities.

(Don't take these seriously, for entertainment purposes only)

Possibilities:

1. The plane ran into an invinsibility potion from Dota 2 and went invinsible.

2. Loki from Marvel got rid of it.

3. Aliens took the plane out to space.

4. Kim Jong-un nuked it.

5. Some racist who hate asians bombed it up.

6. Went into a portal to meet her sisters, Titanium and MH370.

7. OR IT'S STILL FLYING ON THE SKY OF NORTH KOREA!

Hope you liked it, be sure to share your thoughts and also share this with your friends, PEACE OUT.

Carlson

PS: This is just a post for fun so do not take it seriously

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hello everyone! This is Russell Kong here for another post. Yes I know I had not posted something for quite some time because I was just enjoying the holidays. Anyway talking about the Holidays, Merry Christmas everybody!

It has been a very fun year and I am so glad of all of the support that I had got. I might be a little lazy in writing blog posts but don't get it wrong on not liking you guys. I still love you guys or lads or whatever you guys think suits best to call. With the year coming to an end. I am so excited on what is going to happen next year but I can tell you a few.

1. More blog posts: Duh obviously. I will not suddenly just not write blog posts and poof out of existence won't I?

2. Vlogs: Who hates Vlogs? Maybe some but I will still try to make vlogs. If you guys are wondering why my vlogs in Taiwan has not been posted because my line sucks very bad.

3. Funny Videos: Yes finally, some fun for you guys. I have teamed up with the blogging team and some of my friends as well. We have already thought of one but it is still a bit sketchy so I will give you guys more information soon.

4. Gaming Videos: A new addition as well. Other than some vlogs and funny videos, I have teamed up with a friend to make Gaming Videos for you guys to see. We are still inexperienced in the video section so I hope you guys will support me till the very end.

5. Tech and Gaming news: Mostly Carlson is in charge but now he is slacking off so I am the one doing this again. You guys might not like it but I will try to update every once in a while.

I know this has been a great year, thanks to you. But now do not worry too much. Just relax, have fun and have a great Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
From: The blogging team

Trip to Taipei: Day 4 ( BETA )

On this day, we woke up very late in the morning. This morning we don't really go anywhere except to a supermarket to buy some gifts to my friends and relatives. After that we set off to go shopping at a place where I don't really know. We also ate our lunch at that area. After lunch we ate some dessert toufu. It is kinda nice and warm considering how cold it was that day.

Who doesn't like toufu?

After that, we split off into 2 groups. My father and I went to Guanghwa shopping centre where my sister and my mum continue to shop at that area. Guanghwa shopping centre is basically a big shopping mall that sells just electronics and stuff. They sell almost any kind of computing stuff like Games, USBs, monopods, consoles and the usual hardware you see on computers.

Today we did not really go anywhere special so I am sorry for not being able to entertain you guys but the good thing is we are going to a beach tomorrow! So I am very excited to see that and I do hope that you guys will like it. No VLOG today though so sorry again XD.

Trip to Taipei: Day 3 (BETA)

No breakfast for me, seriously. On our 3rd day I did not eat anything because I don't really like the breakfast. Guess what are they serving today? The exact same thing. I just don't like eating ham 2 days in a row but if they have bacon I probably will.

With an empty stomach we set off in search of food. We use the metro to go to Taipei Main Station. In hope for having a nice cafe to eat. In the end we did find one but I cannot say that it is a cafe. It is more like a shop selling sushi actually. You can't eat in the shop so we ate in the metro station. The sushi is kinda cheap selling 10 Taiwanese bucks for a sushi. We also bought miso soup which is kinda nice.

Taipei 101

Next we wonder where we will go. I suggested that we should go to Taipei 101 since it is such a tourist attraction. In the end you know what? We did not go there. Well technically yes but we only went to the shopping mall. You know how horrible that is? I think it is 50% bad. We ate at Taipei 101 as well. The name of the restaurant is called Deng Tai Fung if I am not mistaken. The restaurant is pretty famous and has branches worldwide. Its famous dish is the meat dumpling.

After that we went back to the hotel to rest. Which is probably it. We did go shopping around the area but there is nothing very special about it. And we also went to the night market as dinner.

Nice noodle soup

Strawberry ice

The meat buns as I talked earlier

VLOG BELOW:

Trip To Taipei: Day 2 ( Beta )

Hello again this is Russell Kong here and I am going to tell you about my trip on day 2. First of all we start our day with breakfast provided by the hotel. Well it isn't that good I have to day. They provided bread, ham, herbal egg and sausages. That is it. They also provide some soy milk and coffee but that is just it. One pretty simple breakfast.

Some crabs at the beach's fish market

Next we set off to a beach called Ji Lung beach. The scenery there is beautiful I got to admit. The water is pure and the waves are not really calm. We were told that the seafood there is pretty good so we decided to check it out. The seafood there is pretty nice but not as good as my hometown's seafood.

Beautiful right?

Some dessert after Lunch

After a nice lunch we then head back to the city center. When we headed back, we went to a shopping mall called Sogo. Sogo is actually a Japanese brand of some sort but I have no idea why it is now a shopping center. The entire mall is full with premium brands such as Coach, Pandora, L.V and much much more. Since all of these are so expensive, we bought nothing there. After that, we went to a Hello Kitty Cafe. You know how I think when I go there. It is the last thing I want to do but my sister wanted to go there so badly so we had no chance but to follow. The food inside is so-so but the price is pretty high. I just ate a pie and a glass of soda and it costs 420 Taiwanese dollars. Pretty high isn't it?

Hello Kitty Pie

We paid for the deco...

Next we went back to my aunt's house to rest before we went out for dinner. We found out that there was an exchange student there from Paris, France. His name is called Hubert but my aunt calls him hu ji. Well I don't wanna talk about the dinner so I think I should end it here since we went home immediately after dinner. Thanks for reading this and do check out the vlog below. See ya guys next time!

We always ride the metro

Trip To Taipei: Day 1 ( Beta )

Hello everyone! This is Russell Kong here for a post that you guys have long awaited. Today I am going to write about my trip to Taipei. Well actually is one day per post so that means there will be a total of 5 posts about the trip.

If you guys follow me you will know that I live in Tawau so I need to go to Kota Kinabalu to get a flight to Taipei. So on December the first we set off from Tawau to Kota Kinabalu. Unfortunately, our flight got delayed because the weather at KK was bad. It was so bad that a flight from Hong Kong need to stop by at Tawau to wait for the weaather to clear up in KK. We waited for about 5 hours then finally we really set off on our vacation.

Some nice Japanese Food for brunch

On the next day. We woke up quite early because the flight to Taipei is about 7.10 A.M. We reached Taipei at about 10.20 A.M.  When we left the airport. The wind was so strong that my jacket almost flew away! After that we went to our Aunt's house. She lives in Taipei. As she knows a lot about the place, she was the guide for the trip. We then had a nice Japanese brunch and headed to the hotel.

Gigantic Fried Chicken

After checking out the hotel, it was time for some sight-seeing. Well maybe not as we just strolled around our hotel. We stayed in an area named Ximending. There is a shopping street there selling quite a lot of cheap foods and goodies. In the afternoon, we had the chance to eat Taiwan's famous fried chicken. It is really big so the four of us just needed to order 1. Since we were pretty much tired we did not do a lot on this day so that is about it. Do stay tuned for the next day and I will see you guys tomorrow.

Ximending Famous landmark

If you guys wanna watch it this is a simple vlog on the first day. It is just in the airport so if you wanna watch it just do it XD:

Post 15: Selfies and how to deal with it ( Beta Post )

Hello this is Russell here. Over these few years, selfie has evolved from a leisure activity to a must have daily routine for some people in the world. If you have never taken a selfie, that means you are considered outclass and not "cool". So what are we gonna talk about today? We are going to talk about selfies. Yes, SELFIES.


What is Selfie? Sure you have seen many before unless you have lived in a cave or lost contact with the world for the past few years, a selfie is a person taking a picture of himself/herself with a camera facing their faces. Here are two examples of selfies:






















These are the two different types of selfies. One very beautiful and one so terrible I want to throw it into the trash. Which one do you prefer? I prefer the good one of course. Unless you are very drunk or a troll like no other you will not like the horrible one right? Or if you have no common sense you will have no idea which one is beautiful and which one is not.

To make the perfect selfie,

Things to do.......

1. Capture a good angle
Instead of taking the picture head-on, experiment with different angles to show off your features. If you turn your head a few degrees to the right or left, your features will appear less flat. Holding the camera slightly higher than your head so that it's pointing down on you will make your eyes look bigger and help you avoid "pig nose." Here are a few other ideas for finding a good angle:

• Know your "good side" and take the photo from that side of your face. It's the side of your face that looks the most balanced and symmetrical.
• Angling the camera slightly above yourself and taking a snapshot of your face and chest will highlight your cleavage. Since this position is fairly unnatural, odds are, you already know what the camera will focus on when you take a selfie like this.

2. Pay attention to good lighting

Having a solid light source is an essential part of taking any kind of photograph, and selfies are no different. If you try to take a selfie in a dimly-lit room or one with harsh fluorescent lighting, it won't turn out the way you want it to. Natural light is the most flattering kind, so try to take your selfie near a window or outdoors. Keep these factors in mind when you shoot:

• Keep the sun or other light source in front of you, a bit above eye level, for the most flattering shot. The light will brighten and soften your features, rather than casting harsh shadows across your face. If it's off to the side or behind you, your features could appear shadowy or distorted. ^[2]
• Consider using a thin curtain to diffuse sunlight or a single light source. It makes the light softer and more flattering. It will give the impression of smoother, softer facial lines so that your smile appears more attractive.
• Natural light renders colors more faithfully than artificial light, but you can use artificial light to fill shadows. If you don't have the best lighting, most modern digital cameras have some automatic color correction to make up for it.
• Don't use your flash if you can help it. It'll create a forehead glare, distort your appearance and possibly give your selfie the redeye effect.

things not to do.....

1. No duck faces: Seriously that is the most horrible thing humankind has ever done. Just stop no one will like it.

2. Avoid using front cameras: The front cameras normally has lower resolution than the back camera. Although you can't see how you look on the back. You can always take a selfie again right?

3. Do not take a selfie in inappropriate locations: Some examples of it can be seen below. Taking selfies at the right location is key. So that people won't think you are crazy or be the laughing stock in the internet.

I am very sorry if I have not posted anything for quite some time. I am a little lazy and I kinda got addicted to a game so sorry everybody! Anyway I hope you like it and although it can be a little short it really is a helpful tip to take good selfies.

Halfbrick’s ‘Monster Dash’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Apple has named Halfbrick’s ‘Monster Dash‘ its app of the week for this week. This means you can pick the game free from now on through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the title for free in the App Store, saving yourself as a  healthy buck.

For those who haven’t  actually played the game, Monster Dash is a survival game. As you race through levels, you also need to avoid and/or kill the monsters. It's cool, right?


Monster Dash has been out for several years, and had been somewhat forgotten about, but it received a significant update yesterday that brought it back to life with new monsters, upgrades and of course iPhone 6 support.

Monster Dash is regarded by some as one of the best runner games of all-time. So if you haven’t already downloaded it in the past, it’s worth grabbing while it’s free. The game is universal, and you can find it in the App Store.


Here is a new trailer for the updated game:

Being a Malaysian, what does that feel like?

I am writing pretty much lately, because Russell is busy with his Java, and I'm not that busy with my Swift. So, let's get into the main topic.

Me and Russell are both Malaysians. If you are from the US, one of the most advanced countries in the world, you might be wondering, what does it feel like being a citizen of some third world countries? Just like where I am now, Malaysia. What does it feel like living here? You won't know unless you live here for at least a year or two.

1. Electricity and Internet usage 

I am living in the state of Sabah, which is in the Eastern Malaysia (Borneo). This place is not that advanced compared to the other side of Malaysia. We don't have fast WiFi speed. The fastest in my city is only about 500KB/s if I have not mistaken. We don't even have LTE networks available, we are still sticking to the old 3G, but we still can live. The thing that bothers us a lot is powercuts. In my town, we will face powercuts for at least twice a month, which sucks.

As you can see, Sabah and Sarawak are at the East and the other states are at the west.

2. Language, Race and Religion 

First, there are mainly three types of people in Malaysia, which are Malay, Chinese and Indian (I'm a Chinese). We live together in the same country along with some other small races. But the main people you will see if you come to Malaysia are the Malay. Because of that, we usually speak Malay when we go out. When we see Chinese, we speak Chinese. When we see Indians (or any other races), we still speak Malay. But, we do learn English. What is that used for? Just to be used when we need it, such as during exams, meeting with foreigners or so. We as Chinese must learn all three languages if we are studying in Chinese schools. In other schools, Chinese is an exception. This is an Islamic country BUT we are still get the freedom to choose our own religion.

3. Entertainment 

Unlike the US, we don't have a lot of popular superstars or big movie-making companies, like Hollywoord or Bollywood. But Astro (a TV and entertainment company) have some great Chinese singers and a Chinese New Year movie every year, which is pretty nice. This year's movie is called "The Journey" Some Chinese comedians here is Ling Big Yong and Joseph Gemani

This is the Astro logo

4. Food and Culture
Malaysia is a multiracial country. The benefits of a peaceful multiracial country is that we can get to share our culture and food. For example, during Chinese new year, everyone is allowed to celebrate. Other than that, the variance of food that we can eat is so much that we will get crazy. Malay and Indian people cook hot and spicy food where our Chinese people cook some "gentle to the tongue" type of food. If you happen to live in Sabah or Sarawak where the native people are still living, you even get to know their traditions and special food. The Iban people who lives in Sabah and Sarawak has a special kind of fermented rice wine.

Nasi lemak, a popular Malay dish

A picture of a dragon show during CNY

The iPhone 6 models hit Malaysia!

After about 2 months of waiting, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, which made the biggest sales in the first week record in smartphone history, finally hits Malaysia. The flagship smartphones took the Unitad States and a lot of other countries by storm, hopefully it will do the same to Malaysia.

The iPhone 6 starts from RM2399, which is the same with the iPhone 5s launch last year, while the iPhone 6 Plus starts from RM2749. RM250 for a bigger screen, and optical image stabilization. Both iPhone models feature in 3 different storage sizes, which are 16GB, 64GB and 128GB. A cost of around RM300 is needed for every storage upgrade. It features in 3 colors as usual, which are Dark Grey, Light Grey and Gold.

The iPhone models are now available for ordering right here

Free shipping is provided.

If you wish for a locked model, you can contact your carrier company (Maxis, Celcom, DiGi) to sign a contract at a lower price compared to an unlocked model.

If you are still worried about the bending problem, just forget about the issue. Think about it, millions of units sold, 9 complaints ONLY. Just don't do stupid things like sitting on your phone, deliberately bending it or get involved in a car accident (which is sometimes unavoidable).

Happy using your new iPhones.

Carlson out.

Post 14: I will be tuning down for a while

Hey guys! This is Russell here and I have some bad news for you. Well here is the thing, I will not be posting as much as before. I am deeply sorry about that but I do have an explanation. I will not post as often as before because I am learning a new language. You guys might think that I am learning some foreign language such as Spanish or Russian but no, I am learning a language that is much more complicated than anything you could imagine. I am learning Java. If you wanna know what is Java. You can click here to go to the wikipedia webpage of Java.

I love computers and I wanna merge with it. Well not literally but you know what I mean. I wanna learn more about the advanced features of the computer and eventually, create a program or even a game if I am experienced enough.

On the other hand, Carlson is also learning programming. The only thing that is different here is that he is learning Swift, a programming language used to program apps for IOS and MacOs. He is quite a fan of Apple so you know why he wanna learn this.

So no bad feelings about this right? We will still post every week but the frequency of new posts showing up will not be as much as now. So I will catch up with you guys later!

~Russell

Fifa 15: Ultimate Team on iOS & Android

Since Fifa 15 was released for free on the App Store months ago, I downloaded it and started being in love with it. I am a football fan, Manchester City fan in exact (Manchester United fans please don't hate me), and I find this game amazing.

I was a player of Fifa 14, and there are some obvious changes. As we all see, Fifa 15 comes with the words "Ultimate Team" which means the game requires an internet connection to play, as it is the requirement of ultimate team in Fifa 14. EA Sports took out the offline "penalty shootout" game mode, kept the "games of the week" but you still need to be connected to the EA Server, which requires internet connection.

The one change I wished to but didn't happen is the home screen. It is still featuring the same character, Lionel Messi, the best player in the game, having an overall rating of 93 (97 in form). Why not have a change to get Cristiano Ronaldo on the home screen of the game, he is now said to be the best player in the world as Lionel Messi starts to fade away. I think EA Sports should give CR7 a chance.

Now, let's get started to explore my thoughts and the special things about the game.

First, the team of the week. Every week, a team of 11(plus 10 substitutes) will be picked to form the team of the week. The players will change from regular gold, silver or bronze colored into dark-sided.

These players are called in form players. The photo above shows the team of the week of this week. The most important thing about the team of the week is, by matching them, we can get a lot more money than regular matches.

In the picture above is the most expensive,valuable and high rated player in the game, Lionel Messi. This is the image of the transfer market, the most glorious place in Fifa 15: UT. In the transfer market, you can find any player to fit in your team and make your team a better one. Sometimes, this is all about luck, you bid with real players live online, so if you're lucky, you'll face some poor folks and you can win some players at considerably low prices.

The second top rated player in the game plus, in my opinion, the best player in the world.

The best goal keeper in the game and in reality.

This is a game that let me have the thinking of me being a manager.

This is my team for now, not really good as I have the top players in MCFC missed out due to financial difficulties.

If you or your friends haven't started playing Fifa 15: Ultimate Team, I highly recommend it as it is best football game out there.

Happy playing, and scoring, and bidding. 

Carlson out.

Movie Review 2: Interstellar ( BETA POST )

Hey guys it is me again for yet another movie review of the brand new Interstellar movie! But before I give the review, here is the whole plot of the story.

Synopsis

In the near future Earth has been devastated by drought and famine, causing a scarcity in food and extreme changes in climate. When humanity is facing extinction, a mysterious rip in the space-time continuum is discovered, giving mankind the opportunity to widen their lifespan. A group of explorers must travel beyond our solar system in search of a planet that can sustain life. The crew of the Endurance are required to think bigger and go further than any human in history as they embark on an interstellar voyage, into the unknown. However, through the wormhole, one hour is the equivalent of seven years back on Earth, so the mission won't work if the people on Earth are dead by the time they pull it off. And Coop, the pilot of the Endurance, must decide between seeing his children again and the future of the human race.

This movie is very emotional as Cooper, the pilot of the Endurance, loves his daughter, Murphy and promised to her that he will be back soon. When those 3 hours at Miller s planet means 23 years back on Earth, and when Mann almost destroyed their entire project. It was sad in the ending. I can't tell you anymore since I will spoil the movie. But I can tell you that it will make you jump out to space!

The actors of the movie did really well and I will give them a thumbs up for the acting. The story is quite hard to understand and you will need to know Quantum Physics to really understand it (Just kidding). Graphics wise it looks very beautiful and the scenery will just blow your mind out.

Will I recommend this movie? 100% yes. I don't understand why some critics think that it is not good. The story might be a little hard to understand compared to other movies (like Transformers which doesn't require you have a brain) but once you get the hang of it the whole story will unravel itself.

My final score on this movie: 85/100

The black hole in the movie. You can also see a small planet there.

Movie Review 1: Nightcrawler

First of all, I bet none of you guys have ever seen this movie. The reason I think so because when I walked into the movie theatre there was no one there, just my dad and I.

This movie is a psychological thriller so it is pretty exciting and scary.

He got very angry to find out that his rival got the news footage faster than him..

Synopsis

An ambitious young crime journalist probes the dark underbelly of L.A. in this cynical urban drama that marks the feature directorial debut of screenwriter Dan Gilroy (Real Steal, The Bourne Legacy). Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhall) is a petty thief in search of a payday when he stumbles onto the scene of a grisly car accident, and witnesses seasoned "Nightcrawler" Joe Loder (Bill Paxton) gathering video footage for a local news broadcast. Convinced that this is a career he could excel at, Lou promptly purchases a police scanner and a cheap video camera, and hits the streets. In short order Lou has hired an assistant (Riz Ahmed) to help him navigate the city streets, and started selling footage to local TV producer Nina (Rene Russo), one of Joe's regular buyers. As fast learner with an eye for detail, Lou isn't above manipulating a crime scene in order to get a picture that tells a story. When Lou beats the police to the scenes of a deadly home invasion in an affluent neighborhood, however, his shocking footage catches the attention of two homicide detectives who suspect he's hiding evidence that could be crucial to their investigation. Meanwhile, that footage may be just what Lou needs to enter the big time. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Educational value:

 The ugly side of human nature. People are willing to cross the line in order to get what they want... 

What I learned from this movie: 

Being a bad guy can be pretty rewarding. But don't you try to copy the bad guys... 

Did I enjoy it?

 Yes. yes I do. This movie will keep you on your toes as Lou keeps finding news to film and his assistant makes him kinda mad.

Would I recommend it? If you wanna see a thrilling yet full of story movie. This is it. They are blood and gore though.

Wow factor: There is a twist in the end so I gotta say WOW.

Score: 8/10

If the movie is so great, why no one is seeing it?

 This movie ain't your blockbuster Hollywood Transformers yo. It's a low budget movie with limited publicity but it doesn't mean it's no good. It's actually very good! 

Post 13: Civilization Beyond Earth ( BETA POST )

Warning: this post is not finished so I strongly advice you to stop reading and read the others but if you insist I cannot stop you. There may be some grammar mistakes as well.

Next Big Game? We shall see

When humanity is in the verge of extinction, they sent an idiotic newbie leader ( me ) into deep space to find a new home for humanity. As I watch Earth getting more and more further away, I said to myself: " This will not go well......"

Whether you are battling super alien worms or battling other civilizations, you always get yourself into trouble. That is the Russell newbie 100% guarantee. Of course I am playing on the hardest difficulty ( Apollo ) so do not expect me to win any victories because before I reach any of those victories I get destroyed by other civilizations or a damn siege worm. Before I start on this post, I wanna warn you, it might contain some stupid scenes that no human has been before.

If you wanna know what Civ: Beyond Earth is, it is basically a turn based strategy simulation game where you take control of a faction and live on a new world facing both other rival factions and aliens. For first timers this will look pretty hard but once you advance to the mid-game you will find aliens very easy to kill ( Except for that siege worm and kraken )

First of all, you need to select your sponsor A.K.A country that will fund you into space. During those times the government is busy dealing with India ( Gandhi super nuclear weapons ) But of course, the KP is basically India so I recommend staying away from her ( I think she is Gandhi's daughter ) So during then, they need those big companies ( ARC is basically Google in disguise ) to send people into space. After that you need to select a spacecraft, cargo, planet, colonist. All will give you different perks and will effect your play style. But ultimately, the thing that effects your play style the most is the affinities. Affinities are basically ideologies that will advance your civ to another kind of human. You may like to merge with the alien world so you go with Harmony. You may also like to use tech and crush the world with an iron fist ( I used this but failed ) or you may wanna change the world to Earth 2. It all depends to you.

To win the game, you need to accomplish at least one of the few victories. Domination means you win by destroying every capital of other civs. The Promised Land is teleporting Earthlings into the new world and settling them. Contact is a victory where you establish contact with another alien civilization that settled here a long time ago but did not survive. Emancipation is teleporting your units back to Earth to liberate them from their weaknesses. Transcendence is connecting the human consciousness to the alien world

When you make planetfall into the new planet. You will be given an explorer unit to roam around the new world. They may be resource pods, which gives you a solar collector, energy, science or culture. Your explorer may also conduct an expedition if you are on a artifact of some kind. Which when completed will grant you a boost of some kind.

The alien world is surrounded in miasma, a toxic gas which kills your troops and heals aliens. But if you go with the Harmony Affinity your troops will actually heal from miasma so you might wanna think clearly if miasma is friend or foe. Aliens also kind of act as miasma. They kill your troops but if you use Harmony they might actually help you in destroying your rivals' cities.

 If you are an civ 5 player ( like me ), you will find the game not that much different from civ 5. I think that it is actually a reskin or DLC of civ 5 and I think it really isn't worth the money to buy it right now. But if you never played the civ series and you wanna jump on in, I think you should do it. Overall, this game has a score of : ?/100

TO BE CONTINUED.......

Reason why I do this: I really dislike writing for very long periods so I do this so you guys won't get bored. I hope you will like this but if you don't leave a comment so I will stop it.

Happy Halloween and Holidays!

Yo guys wassup this is Russell here and happy holidays to everyone! Well mostly for Malaysian students who will be having their holidays soon. As for Americans, Happy Halloween to you!

As the holidays is approaching fast, I will be writing more posts for you guys to read. Well may be not because if there is nothing special to share,I  better don't post anything to bore you guys out. 

A spooky Jack O' Lantern

If you guys are wondering what Halloween is, Halloween is an annual festival celebrated by some countries on October 31st. The few activities where people do during Halloween are the famous Trick or Treating where you must give candies to the children who knocks on your door or expect a trick from them. Other than that, carving pumpkins to Jack O' Lanterns is also a common activity during Halloween. A Jack O' Lantern is made to represent souls of the dead. Pretty spooky right? Other activities of Halloween are Costume Parties, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing and visiting haunted attractions.

To be honest I am just posting this to tell you happy holidays to everyone so nothing really special will be posted. Ok that is it for now and I will see you guys later.

~Russell

Post 12: My home

Hello! Russell Kong here. I am here to talk about my small country Malaysia and Town Tawau. If you guys are wondering why my old post about my visit to Charis International School, the post was deleted because we have infringed their privacy. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

The Malaysian Flag. The 14 stripes mean the 14 states of the country

My country Malaysia is located in South East Asia. It is very near to the equator so expect hot and wet weather all year round. We are relatively small and not very powerful in terms of economy and militarily. Our country has two areas: West Malaysia and East Malaysia. West Malaysia is basically peninsula in the Malacca Straits while East Malaysia is Borneo, a part of it. West Malaysia was founded a long time ago by Malay people. They build villages but during the exploration era the Malacca Empire merge those villages into one big civilization/country. East Malaysia however remained out from the world until the british people saw it and controlled the area. On August 31^st 1957, West Malaysia declared independence as Malaya and a few years later called Malaysia after it merged with East Malaysia.

This is the Sabah State Flag. That Mountain you see there is actually Mt. Kinabalu.

I live in Tawau, a small town located in the south eastern corner of Sabah. Sabah is actually called North Borneo before it joined Malaya into Malaysia. In East Malaysia, there are two states. One is Sarawak and the other one is Sabah. Sabah now is still primitive compared to the big states of the US. Most of the land is still wild and untouched by humans. That is why the air and water of the area is not really polluted. The name Sabah actually comes from a type of banana that is only found in the state. It makes really good “Pisang Goreng” or fried banana in English. Tawau’s town is fairly small but the Tawau district is pretty big. In Tawau District there are a few small towns such as Semporna and Lahad Datu. Most of Tawau are actually palm oil plantations. Because of that many people in Tawau are quite rich. Tawau has no attractions apart from the tallest tree in the world which is located in Taman Bukit Tawau or Tawau Hill Park in English. That tree has attracted a small number of tourists but in my opinion I think that shopping is much better that going into rainforests. Talking about shopping, Tawau has only 1 shopping centre. The rest are all normal shops. Although Tawau is not a very big city, I still like it because of the fresh air and free life that I get to live here.

The top of Mt. Kinabalu

If you do have a chance to come to Sabah, you definitely won’t miss out the iconic Mt. Kinabalu. It is the highest mountain in South East Asia at 4km+. I haven’t been there before but my dad says it is awesome on hiking a mountain so high. Other than that, you will mostly go to Kota Kinabalu then if you finished hiking the mountain. Kota Kinabalu ( or KK in short ) is the capital of Sabah. Before it merged with Malaya it was called Jesselton. During the early days when merged with Malaya KK was called api-api. Only lately the name has been changed to Kota Kinabalu. KK is a moderately sized city but not as big as Kuala Lumpur which is the capital of our country. KK has some attractions like the famous Mt. Kinabalu ( Which I mentioned earlier ).

Alright folks that’s it for now. I hope you enjoy my post and if you do help me to spread the word by sharing my blog on Facebook or any other social media website. Once again I apologize for the delete of the visit to Charis International School and I hope to see you guys again.

Post 11: Fifa 15 review

HOLY CRAP THAT WAS AWESOME! Oops hello guys to another post of mine. Sadly I have been kinda lazy and did not post anything. Fifa 15 was just released and oh god that was one hell of a ride. But without further or do, lets have a review to the 1 week old Fifa 15.

I say that is one awesome picture of Messi

If you wanna know what  Fifa 15 is, it is basically a Football ( Soccer ) game developed and published by EA games. It was just released about a week ago and I pre ordered it on Origin. EA's online game store . It uses EA's new sparkling Ignite Engine which we will talk more about it later. It features better graphics and physics. I wasn't much into Fifa 14 because it was basically the same as the last few generations of Fifa games but with this new emotions and realism into the game I almost pooped my pants when playing the game.

1. The Engine

The Engine is called the Ignite Engine. Electronic Arts announced several features within the engine. Its Human Intelligence framework lets in-game players "think like real athletes", with the ability to make snap judgments, prepare for impact, and perform as a team player. For example, the new artificial intelligence creates a sense of urgency for computer players towards the end of a match, who will rush for more shots on goal. The True Player Motion framework makes players' bodies, limbs, and clothing each move according to physics. The Living Worlds framework models the stadium audience members and their behaviors individually. The audience will have expectations about the in-game sports matches, and will change react with the match's progress. The Ignite artificial intelligence is able to use the next-gen hardware to handle four times as many calculations per second than older EA Sports titles. Animation detail is expected to improve "ten-fold". It was announced at the Xbox One reveal event in May 2013. It was used on all sports games made by EA except for PC variants. They said that most of the PC market did not have the specifications required to power the Engine Smoothly. On last year's PC variant of Fifa 14, they still used the very old Impact Engine. The audience still looks like they are made out of cardboard and the players still kinda look like cartoons. 

2. The Gameplay

With new improved AI, the keeper looks more like one than old FIFA games.

The gameplay is mostly the same. Which is the same TV-like view of the pitch ( But it can be changed ) and the same football matches. The user interface is much easier than before but other than that the game is quite the same. On the match though it changes quite a lot. Almost 600 new emotions is added on the players. Making the game pretty realistic and emotional. The goalkeeper also has changed. Now, the goalkeeper is much smarter than the old clumsy idiot we used to have on the old Fifa games. This is the most realistic Fifa game ever released. With the new engine, players act better while we look like a bunch of kids running around the field ( As I am a newbie of course ).

3. Game Modes
Please note that this is a brief intro about the game modes and not a review. Please skip it if you just wanna see the review.

1. Kick Off: The normal quick game mode of the game. It can be played offline but if you are connected to the internet it will download and apply latest squad players and formations to the team.

2. Career Mode: Career mode is basically the "Story Mode" of the game. You can start either as a manager or a player

3. Co-op seasons: Play with your friends online and go up the ranks to division 1. Quite fun to play.

4. Online Seasons: play solo online against different other players around the world. Go up the ranks in the season or play the cup to get trophies.

5. Ultimate Team: The most used game mode in the game. Manage and play your own squad and sell/buy players in the transfer market.

4. Emotions is critical

Be calm or be like this guy.

If you wanna play well in the game. You must have a calm temper unlike me who goes crazy when someone scores a goal. If you play like me, you will have a high chance your monitor and keyboard will be smashed to pieces. Be patient and do not rush to the goal. Try to pass and learn some skill moves to be a pro. Do not go to online immediately if you are a beginner. You will be overwhelmed by better players and will lose almost every match ( Just like what I did on Fifa 13). Play on offline mode until you get the hang of it and then you can try online. Like you, the players in the game can also get very emotional so sometimes you can also feel their pain like when you conceded a goal or missed a brilliant shot.

5. Verdict 
Great game, great goal. Just like what Martin Tyler said in the game. The game has some hilarious bugs ( Pro Tip: The keeper is weak when you hit it in the corner of the goal ) that needs fixing and I hope that EA will fix it soon. My final score? 86/100

Pros
1. Realistic
2. Kinda Funny
3. Improved a lot since last year's game
4. New Engine

Cons
1. A little buggy
2. The online matchmaking needs some fixing
3. You will be mad when you are on a losing streak

PS: add me on origin if you have the game. My name is russell616. (PC version)

Post 10: What Is Up There?

Hey guys Russell here. Today it won't be any normal post. This is going to get really emotional on this post. For some it may be but for some it isn't. This is going to be a very long post as well. So I hope you are ready for this mind-blowing adventure.

To be honest, what is up there? This is what scientists have thought of since we started looking upwards.  What is really up there? Are there monsters, aliens or some sort of God living in the cosmos? This is what baffled scientists for centuries.  Are they really that different from us? Will they bring harm or good things to us? Or do they really exist in the current timeline. For now, there is no evidence that life beyond our earth exists. Well except from the ISS ( International Space Station ) which always has people living there.

We, the human race, always try new ways to discover things. It is our curiosity that made us so technologically advanced from other mammals. It is collective learning that made us learn more and more about our world. Since we started writing, we can learn even more by storing information on books. Our species is really special and thanks to a bit of luck we are currently thriving on Earth. What if there is also an alien species that is almost as same as us, thriving on another planet? Currently, we cannot even find a single piece of bacteria on any place that is not on Earth. Signs of life is available though such as water on martian soil. Sadly, they do not have the luck to survive. We are the current species on Earth to have such advanced civilizations. The last species to ever be as near as us would be the dinosaurs! Isn't that amazing considered how far humanity has gone through the ages. But have we reached the final level? We already have advanced technologies such as nanotechnology and robotics but is that enough to say we are the most advanced civilization on the galaxy or even the universe?

On current data, there are a bunch of planets as same as ours. They are within the Godilocks zone of their system. On that area, it is not too hot and not too cold. Perfect for sustaining life. The best thing is they might even have water and an atmosphere rich in oxygen that is needed for life. Our current telescopes cannot know that but we are developing one much greater than the Hubble Space Telescope. If there is life on those planets, will they be as advanced as us or they will be as primitive as the dinosaurs? If they have luck, they might succeed our technological advances and beat us in the tech race. Or they are as same as us, looking for life as same as theirs in another world.

I have just watched Big History and it gave me an insight on what life on other planets look like. The human first appeared in Africa. However, having a species on one continent is not enough, so that is why during the ice age where most shallow seas are ice, they cross continents and populate every continent of the world. If that is the case, will it be the same to us? During the exploration era, people were hoping they would meet some kind of new life on the new land but what did they find? Yes they might find some interesting fauna and flora but what is the dominant species there? The same as theirs, humans.

This gave me an insight. We are now exploring new worlds, new planets to look for life. What if it is the same as what we did last time? (On a galactic scale). What if we are separated with another type of life same with us during a galactic collision? Some people say life is transferred by asteroids. What if the asteroid that brought life on earth was basically a small part of a exploded planet? The crumbs then are sent throughout the galaxy. Since it used to be with us,  Won't it be that different after evolution?  It will not be the same as us but the difference should not be drastic. In fact, they will be two legged mammals, with two hands as well. I am not sure if this is real considered that this is just a hypothesis that I made so take it with a pinch of salt.

Our galaxy is filled with billions of star systems. Our Universe is filled with billions of galaxies. Is this planet really so special as the only planet with life? I think not. There might be millions of planets that have life. We have already found tons of them which is in the zone that is available to support life. We just need more research to found out if there is life on those planets. I do hope that they are life on other planets and share knowledge with each other,

So that's about it! Sorry for not posting for a long time because I was having a break during the holidays ( Gaming ) so I do hope you can forgive me. Thanks for reading and I will see you next time!

~Russell

iOS 8, The small wonders.

Hey there guys, it has been a while since I posted something, but here I am. I would wanna show you guys the things you should actually know about the new iOS 8.

As we all know, Apple released a new iOS, promised to be the most advanced mobile operating system in the world, I agree to that point.

Apple prepared an application called "Tips" to guide you through the new operating system and the new things about it.

But, there are still some things missed out, too small but worth a mention. 

I'll start with the smallest thing, a small tweek done to the brightness toggling in the control centre. As we all know(or maybe some of you don't), when we open the control centre, the home screen or luck screen as the background will be dimmed, so when we toggle the brightness, it won't be that accurate. Who knows? Apple spotted that and done a small tweak. When you start toggling the brightness in the control centre, the home or lock screen will appear as the actual brightness as you toggle, how great is that?!

The second one is the weather app. Apple have been relying on Yahoo for the weather but now, Apple starts replying directly on The Weather Channel which is much more accurate and it offers a 9-day forecast in the app itself, brilliant!

The third one is the notification centre. It has now removed the missed section, leaving today view and notifications only, offering a much cleaner UI. It even offers third-party widgets but this is now not yet greatly developed. It will take some time for this to be superb.

This is it for now, I will keep you guys up-to-date with everything new and special. 

 

A small note, iPhone 4s users are encouraged not to update your iPhone to iOS 8 due to bad performance.

Carlson out.