Of Plants, Zombies, and Games

It's been a long time since I tried to finish a video game. The recent explosion of 3D games didn't quite appeal to me - not that the gameplay of the games were bad, but the thought of shelling-out cash for both the game and the required hardware simply sounds appalling. Besides, I'm already too tired from overtime to even bother with a game that requires too many hours and too much concentration in one sitting.

Two weeks ago, the website of Popular Science featured an article on some simple but great games that are not mainstream - ones people [regretably] miss. Plants vs. Zombies caught my attention with its intruiging choice of personalities. I've read that zombies are the modern vampires, so no surprise they are the villians again... but against plants? And cute ones at that?! I couldn't resist. I went over to their website that day and downloaded the trial version (60 mins of cumulative gameplay). Sure enough, it was fun and amusing - but most important of all, it had just the right difficulty to entertain me, and provide me with some instant gratification before I go to sleep after a day's tiring work. It's a really cute strategy game with surprisingly lots of variety to keep one playing even after completing the 50 stages. What's more, it's really, really cheap! So now, its installed in both Belldandy and Haruhi-chan (the purchase allows you to install it 5 times via online registration) and it now takes up a chunk of my idle time. :D

Now, if only the Zen Garden mode came with an online social network capability (like PlayFish's Pet Society) to allow people to share their plants... that would make it quite... perfect.

As a side note, I was really surprised to find out it came from the same company that created the game that kept my mom and brothers glued to their laptop even to this day. :D

Aside from video games, I've been playing [again] with the usual UFO catcher. :) Last week, I lost 2,000yen without getting anything! This week, I got even, and was lucky enough to get a Yoko (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann) bed sheet for only 500yen (3 tries)! I haven't taken any pictures of it yet, but Sega Prize (the company that makes it) has a pic up on their site. I actually got Yoko on the 2nd try, and was hoping to get the Nia bedsheet with my remaining try, but alas, fate decreed Yoko should be more than enough for me. :P

Today, I caught myself a cute (albeit a little pinkish) C.C. nendoroid figure from Banpresto! I've been wanting to get a C.C. for the longest time! Hm... with a really-green hair like the figure's, you'd wonder whether she played a role in Plants vs. Zombies... as a celery perhaps?

PC/Laptop Setup - Best Practice Number Zero

Since I recently just had a chance to setup Haruhi-chan fresh from the shop, I'm putting some of my personal best practices here, along with my personal set of freeware suggestions.

So what is the first thing that anyone should do when freshly setting-up their PC/laptop? The answer: Best practice number Zero is "Secure your PC/Laptop." At first glance, this seems obvious, but believe me, a lot of people I've met either does not consciously do this, or miss some basic aspects of it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying my system is perfect - in fact, I most probably have a zillion security holes, but hopefully, it's also a zillion less than most home user's.

Since I'm a Windows XP user, I'll just concentrate on Windows XP home systems. Also, since most problems are usually results of being online, I'll be addressing such issues most of the time. Here are some steps that I take as part of Best Practice Zero (in order of execution):

1. Upon first boot-up and login, set passwords for your Administrator and user account(s). Pick a good password - mix numbers, upper- and lower-case letters.
   
2. Change login method to show the Windows welcome screen that prompts for password - never allow automatic user login. Also, disable fast user switching.
   
3. Do not immediately connect to any network.
4. If your system is packaged with an antivirus software, ensure it is installed and running.
   
5. Enable Windows firewall and Windows Automatic Update.
   
6. Connect to the internet, but do not access any site or do anything else, other than to perform Windows automatic update.
7. Perform automatic update of your antivirus software via the antivirus client, if it has one. Again, do not access any site or download anything.
   
8. Disconnect and reboot to ensure all updates have completely installed.
9. At this point, I'd take a risk to use Internet Explorer to get the stuff I need to install. In order of installation, these are:

• Web browser: Mozilla Firefox - after I download, I usually exit Internet Explorer, install Firefox, and stop using Internet Explorer altogether.
  
• Anti-phishing and Site Authentication: McAfee SiteAdvisor and Comodo Verification Engine - since I'll be needing a lot from the web, it's good to know I'm visiting a trusted site.
  
• Personal Firewall: Comodo Firewall - Note: I only install the firewall, not the antivirus
  
• Antivirus (if none is installed): Avast! Home Edition
• Anti-spyware tools: Spybot S&D and Lavasoft's Ad-Aware

The above set of software completes the basic protection package. I take the time to reboot and perform a full system scan using the antivirus and anti-spyware tools after they have been installed. For a fresh system, this normally doesn't take long. Even if it does take some time, it's usually worth performing. Also, I always keep the auto-update feature enabled for these software. Additionally, I tweak some Windows services and settings to increase protection and performance, but I do not recommend them for casual users unless they know what they are doing.

However, do note that these software are only as effective as the person that uses them. I recommend taking time to fully understand each software's capabilities. A lot of help topics and tips can be found on the software's respective sites, help files, and online forums.

At this point, I'm more or less confident to install other additional software for daily use, as well as access online contents/accounts. Of course, as I mentioned, the best protection is still an informed and smart user - nothing keeps that pain away better than safe surfing habits:

• Always keep to trusted sites (don't ignore SiteAdvisor warnings!)
  
• Install only recommended and reliable software (always check reviews first)
• Never connect to an unknown network (wired or wireless)
• Never transmit sensitive information over instant messaging or e-mail ("Hi, Mom! My password is "H1N1SwineFlu" -- duh! )
  
• Never access sensitive online accounts from a web cafe unless it is an emergency (e.g. somebody may die when you don't do so...) -- seriously, never ever do this. Sensitive online accounts include e-mail and social networking sites (more on these later), and naturally, bank accounts. About e-mail, please remember that these days, a lot of personally-identifiable information is available in your e-mail and SNS. You endanger not only yourself but also others when you ignore this oft-neglected practice.
  

And that wraps-up Best Practice number Zero!

Now, for non-security-related concerns, here are other free software that I use to replace the official ones (usually due to performance and/or cost issues):

• Pidgin (instead of Yahoo! Messenger)
• PDF-Xchange Viewer (instead of Adobe Reader)
• K-Lite Mega Code Pack (instead of any other video player)
• OpenOffice.org (instead of Microsoft Office)
  
• Sakura Editor (instead of Notepad)
• Gnu Privacy Guard (GPG)
  
• IOBit Smart Defrag
  
• GIMP (instead of Photoshop)
• Photoscape (a handy little feature-rich photo editing software good for everyday retouching and image manipulation)
• And for developers out there: Java SDK, NetBeans, Cygwin, Wireshark, and Subversion
  

For the items above without official links, I usually stick to downloading from this trusted site.

That's it! If you have comments and/or other suggestions, please feel free to leave me a message.

MyBlog: Golden Week Break

Today marks the last day of this year's series of holidays known here in Japan as "Golden Week." Which is to say it's back to work tomorrow. So what did I do this past 5 days of no work? Spending! Not exactly a good habit. :P It's just the start of the month and I've already spent a lot.

It started last Friday, the day before the long weekend. My new Lelouch Lamperouge figurine arrived from Amazon.jp. That cost me 7,000JPY. I haven't removed him from the box as of today. Still thinking where to put him since my [small] shelf is already full. Expect some pics once he is out. :)

Then, on Sunday, I bought 2 used DVDs of Blood: The Last Vampire. They were labeled "Disc1" and "Disc 2" so I thought the contents followed one after another. It turned out "Disc 2" was actually a "Digital Master Version." I only found out when I tried watching them. :( At least they cost only 950JPY each since I got them from Book-Off. This brings me to the next item I bought the day after...

...an external portable DVD drive (reader/writer). Apparently, my laptop's drive is having problem reading DVDs already, so I bought a new drive from Yodobashi the day after (Monday). That cost me 8,000JPY, but since I get 10% points, it's practically 7,200JPY - I just have to spend the points later at any Yodobashi outlet. I've been considering buying the drive for quite some time already, so it's Ok. However, something else caught my attention - an Asus EeePC. The model 900-X I saw (CeleronM 900Mhz, 16GB SSD, 1GB RAM) was selling for 25,000JPY, so I gave it some thought and decided to buy one. But...

...as I was considering the specs, I came upon 900HA (Atom1.6Ghz, 160GB HDD, 1GB RAM). But 900HA was selling for 10,000JPY more. So I thought perhaps 900-X should be more than sufficient for my planned use (surfing via wifi, E/J dictionary, offline news and e-book reading, etc.). I mean, the speed-up from the use of SSD (instead of a slower HDD) and 1GB RAM should more than make up for the 900Mhz processor, right? However, the dispay model I saw was hot to the touch compared to all other models on display - which is bad, despite the assurance of the storekeeper that it's due to the lighting under the display. A netbook that heats up on my hand or lap is the last thing I want, but I wanted an SSD version for its durability and speed! So... in the end, come Tuesday, I ended up buying the model 901 - the best of both worlds (Atom1.6Ghz, 16GB SSD, 1GB RAM)... at a cost - 40,000JPY.

That was my last major purchase this long and costly weekend. But am I happy with them? Yup! Or rather, I should be! >D Kidding aside, I'm quite satisfied with them.

I spent last night and today setting-up the EeePC. I named her "Haruhi-chan," after the popular anime character. I should say Haruhi-chan did not disappoint in terms of performance - boots-up, logs-on, and runs applications fast. She's way, way faster than my 3 year old laptop, Belldandy! (Btw, she is a Sharp Mebius PC-CS50H) However, I expected Haruhi-chan to be lighter than her 1.3x kg! She's definitely not a light netbook. I tried bringing her out today, and, whoa, did I notice the additional weight in my bag! And like all netbooks, you'll miss the big screen. I never thought I'd feel my Belldandy's LCD was large - until I actually resumed using her after spending some time with Haruhi-chan. Other than that and the really tinnie-winnie keyboard, Haruhi-chan satisfies. She makes up for her lack of physical assets with performance and capability. :D

Oh yeah, one last thing - the 40,000JPY actually also came with 10% points. So that means I have enough to buy a decent netbook bag at zero cost (or more appropriately, at "prepaid" cost). I'll probably do so later this month, once I decide I don't need anything else.

So to cap this blog, here are two pics - one of Haruhi-chan, and one of both Belldandy and Haruhi-chan side-by-side:


⇒　Haruhi-chan


⇒　Haruhi-chan and Belldandy (please excuse the dirty keyboard, and yeah, I know that's Saber, in the background, not Belldandy :P)

Picture Archive: Akane Soir Meister Robe

Akane Soir Figurine
「Akane Soir in her Meister Robe from Mai Otome. Her GEM is supposed to be the Pure Heart Malachite - I wonder what part of "Pure" and "Heart" relates to the cat-eared Robe. But hey, I'm not complaining. >D At the background is of course Arika Yumemiya from the same anime.」

MyBlog: On 'Lupang Hinirang' and National Symbols

As I was browsing news about the Philippines last night, I came across one that... well, irked me. So I decided to post a comment over at Inquirer.Net's Vox Populi. The original article can be found here. My posting about the article and the initial feedback can be found here. The same commentary can also be read below.