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Showing posts from August, 2011

Beach Life Virtual Resort: Spring Break - Opening and Editing The .BLE Game Files

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images taken from the game and from the game manual I have an itch to play Beach Life every now and then. The last time it happened, I found a band-aid solution to guests complaining about high prices. I wanted to make more changes if I could but I couldn't find a way to open and read some of the script files. There are some files in the game that are readable on notepad ( GameParameters.pis and the other . pis files on each scenario and sandscenario folder) but when you try to open up the . ble files, you only see random symbols. I've tried tools that I've seen recommended online ( Game Extractor , Ghidra , Offzip to name a few). Admittedly, I did just glaze over them because I know nothing about reverse engineering a game and didn't know what to do. I have an inkling to play it again recently, and I decided to try an idea that has been looming over my head but have been avoiding.... The GameParameters.pis file had a header containing the file name, and I notice...

Donnie Darko (2001)

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Donnie Darko is a psychological thriller film relating the story of Donnie ( Jake Gyllenhaal ), a troubled teenager plauged by visions of a bunny rabbit telling him that the world will end in 28 days Donnie Darko is one of those films that made me wish I had retcon (amnesia pill in Torchwood ) on hand so I can watch it without knowing the ending over and over. Long after I have watched the film, I have so many nagging questions, yet very satisfied with the movie. Everyone should see this film. Just "chut up" and trust me. P.S. The official site of Donnie Darko is very cool too. If you have watched the film, but haven't gone to the official site click this link now !

City of Ember (2008)

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City of Ember is a 2008 science fiction/fantasy film based on the first novel in the Ember series by Jeanne DuPrau . "The Builders" had designed the underground city for its inhabitants to survive for 200 years. The Builders gave the first mayor of the city a locked box to be passed down to the next mayor. The box was set to open after two hundred years but forty-seven years before the box was set to open, the mayor dies suddenly and the box was left forgotten. For over 200 hundred years, the citizens of Ember have been living underground. Their supplies are running low and the massive generator providing light and power to the city is failing. With the increased number of blackouts, the citizens are getting worried. All graduating students of Ember would undergo 'Assignment Day'. In the said event, the Mayor of the city will pick out by lottery what occupations would the students get. Lina Mayfleet ( Saoirse Ronan ) dreamed all her life to be a messenger, bu...

Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997)

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Romy and Michele's High School Reunion is a comedy film revolving around two 28 year old friends, Romy ( Mira Sorvino ) and Michele ( Lisa Kudrow ). Romy meets a former classmate who informs her of an upcoming 10 year high school reunion back in their hometown. Romy and Michele were never popular in high school and left their hometown after graduation to 'make it' in L.A. Neither of them turned up 'successful' but they were intent on making a good impression that they made last minute efforts to get boyfriends and better jobs. After failing from their attempts, they had decided to just pretend to be successful businesswomen complete with a back story that they invented the Post-it notes . They were on the way to the reunion riding an expensive car and clad in business suits when they had an argument, causing a rift to their friendship.  I can't believe this movie scored so low in IMDb . Before I even watched the movie, I knew it's not life changing...

Customs issues guidelines on book importation

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It seems that the new guidelines were issued for about a month now, but I haven't heard of it until this morning. Read the full article: Customs issues book import guidelines | The Manila Bulletin I'm sure many book lovers are not too happy with the new guidelines. I remember something similar happened years ago when The Bureau of Customs wanted to impose tax duties on all imported books. It was wildly opposed because it was a direct violation of the Florence Agreement . I was really saddened by the new guidelines. Our local bookstores are poorly stocked. On the National Book Store's website (expired domain. will update the post when their website is up again.), I distinctly remember they offer a service to import books that aren't on their online store database. Once they got a hold of the book that you want, they can ship it to you or you can pick it up at the nearest National Book Store branch in your area. You simply have to email them the books...

Grease (1978)

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I must be the only person who haven't watched the famous movie musical, Grease . I gave it a go yesterday, thinking it would be fun since I know most of the songs in the movie (well, a lot of the songs in Grease are wildly popular, it's impossible not to know at least one song from the movie). For those in need of a recap, Grease is about Sandy and Danny who fell in love over the summer. Both had thought that they wouldn't meet again but Sandy had unexpectedly entered the same high school as Danny. Things weren't like they were during summer, as they are both very different and have images to live up to. Will their love prevail? It's not the best movie/musical I've seen, but I don't really want to nitpick so much. My greatest complaint would be how some of the songs seems forced and it affected the flow of the film. Despite that, I had a good time watching as well as singing along to the songs in the movie. Watching it won't change your life...

NASA Discovers Stars as Cool as the Human Body

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While I don't usually post anything like this, as a fan of science fiction this article from NASA really caught my eye. Plus, I've always had a thing for stars :] Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech From the data gathered on NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), scientists have discovered the coldest class of stars. They are so cool in fact, that some of the them have about the same temperature as the human body (the coolest one is 25 degrees Celsius). They are members of the brown dwarf family, and are sometimes called 'failed stars' because they are too low in mass to fuse atoms at their cores and thus don't burn with the fires. They just remain cool and eventually fade with time, until what little light they do emit is at infrared wavelengths. For more information about these brown dwarf stars, read the full article here on NASA's website .

The Lord of the Rings Online: Rise of the Isengard

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I haven't played LOTRO for several months now (I think?) due to my still confuzzling schedule but I might play again once the new expansion pack Rise of the Isengard is released. Aside from the new maps and quests, the level cap will be raised to level 75. The freebies, especially for the Legendary Edition are almost too good to pass up. Below are the three different editions of the Rise of the Isengard expansion pack, along with their price and included items Legendary Edition ($49.99)     Full Rise of the Isengard expansion pack     All three Rohirrim Style Mounts with a blanket & emblem in the colours of green, red and white     All three sets of matching cosmetic Rohirrim Style armour in the colours of green, red and white     An in-game title - Guard of the Isen     Access to the Path of the Fellowship Quest Packs including Trollshaws, Eregion, Lothlórien and   Moria plus t...

Secret OMGPOP Games + How to Get Swapple Themed Frames

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During one of the Live Q&A with the OMGPOP crew this month, they told two secret games that aren't on the game list but still accessible through the links below: 1. Hamster Jet 2. Hover Kart Party Do you want to get these Swapple themed frames pictured below? All you need to do is complete the missions listed below before October 3 2011 (Update: Extended until November 1!!!). Animated Rainbow Gem Frame - Complete ALL the below missions. Fiery Frame - Play 20 games of Typow Dropple Frame - Play 20 games of each Missile Command , Blockles , and Ballracer Leafy Frame - Play 10 games of Jigsawce , Gemmers , and Putt Putt Penguin Flameo Frame - Play 300 games of Balloono Splashy Frame - Play 100 games of Draw My Thing Leafer Frame - Play 200 games of Pool Ghostie Frame - Play 50 games of Swapples Bolty Frame - Play 5 games of each Hover Kart Racing , Hover Kart Battle , and Hover Kart Party Cloudie Frame - Play 5 games of each Booya , Checkers , a...

Webified Me

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It's cute, and I think it captured my web perfectly. Second attempt. Loving the vintage necklace and the ceramic spoon. Third attempt. I opened my Firefox browser this morning and I saw a link to Webify Me . You take a quiz to answer 20 questions and then they create a collage on how your 'Web' looks like. I've taken the quiz thrice since it's so cute! Plus the questions are multiple choice so at some parts it was difficult to choose. You can click on the items to see the description. Here's the full url of the collage(s?) above: First: Neknek. Kenken. My Web Second: Neknek. Kenken. My Web Third: Neknek. Kenken. My Web So, what does your Web look like? Take the quiz here ! Or see how other people's Web look like here .

Stepbrothers (2008)

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Again, I was in the mood for something light so me and my sister watched a comedy flick (again). ' Stepbrothers ' is about two 40 year olds, Dale and Brennan. Both are jobless, still lives with their parents, and are losers in every possible way. They were forced to live under the same roof after their parents got married.They couldn't stand each other at first, but something happened and they found out they have a lot in common and became fast friends. The movie has it's share of funny bits here and there, but it was very uncomfortable watching two grown men act like a pair of six year old kids. It's dreadful. But somehow, Dale and Brennan reminded me of my own relationship with my sister so in a way, I feel for those two. I don't think most people would enjoy this film, but I still think it's worth a look especially if you have siblings.

Best Mobile Ebook Reader for Java Phones

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I've never been really particular about my choice of mobile phones. My current one (and almost a year old) is a Samsung C3300K Champ , which came free from my mobile carrier. It doesn't have fancy features but it gets the job done. I don't really do much on my mobile phone apart from texting/calling/listening to mp3's. But there are times when I have to catch up on my reading list so badly but can't be bothered lugging around a book. I've thought about getting myself an ebook reader a couple of times, but I doubt it if I'll actually use it often since I still prefer books. Many mobile phones now can read pdf's or available software which enables you to read pdf files. For some reason, I can't seem to find a software for Java phones that reads pdf files properly. That's why I mainly resort to reading .txt files on my mobile.  I've tried a lot of .txt to jar converters, but the best one I've tried so far is the QiC Mobile eBook R...

Yes Man OST (2008)

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I felt like watching a light movie yesterday, so I decided to try this 2008 comedy film starring Jim Carrey , Zooey Deschanel and Bradley Cooper entitled ' Yes Man '. The movie itself has its funny moments, but low re-watch value. One of the scenes that I thoroughly enjoyed was the one with the 'Munchausen By Proxy' band playing. ' Munchausen By Proxy ' is a fictional band in the movie consisting of the lady lead (Zooey Deschanel) and a real life electro soul-punk group Von Iva . I picked up the soundtrack of the movie hoping there would be full tracks of the songs sung by 'Munchausen By Proxy' included. It's very interesting to note that the soundtrack is very similar to the movie. It has some really good songs, yes. But as a whole, it's not strong. Thank heavens, it's possible to buy a single track from an album these days. Yes Man OST 1. Man Up - Eel 2. Bus Stop Boxer - Eel 3. To Lick Your Boots - Eel 4. The Good Ol...

Top 5 Best OMGPOP Games

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Here are my top 5 picks at OMGPOP (in no particular order). If you don't have an account there yet, go sign up ! It's fun and it's free. 1. Draw My Thing In this game every player is given a 'secret' word, which they will draw on their turn while the other players try to guess the word. It's the very first game I played in OMGPOP . 2. Swapples Swapples is the newest game at OMGPOP , and it's currently very popular. Basically, you swap the 'swapplets' to create a row or a column of the same color. There are a lot of games similar to this one, but it's very compelling to try to outdo the scores of the other players. 3. Fleet Fighter In Fleet Fighter, the objective is to sink your opponents ships. Each player has five ships which they have to position on the 'sea'. Where they position the ships is hidden to the opponent. Each player takes turns in firing canons. The first player to sink five ships wins. 4. Pool ...

My Absolute Favorite Radio Station in iTunes

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As a kid, music has been a really important part of my life. I would always watch MTV (the time when they still actually played music videos) and listen to my Walkman (and Discman later on). But that was more than a decade ago. Fast forward to 2011. While reading wall posts on Facebook, I've learned that one of my favorite bands are doing an interview for a radio station based in the UK. Someone in the commented that for those living outside the UK, they can listen to the interview thru iTunes. I had iTunes installed on the PC, but never really used it (my audio player of choice is Billy) . I hadn't even noticed before than iTunes has an internet radio feature. Anyway, because of the time zone difference, I need to wake up at 4 AM to be able to listen to the interview. I woke up an hour late, but still tuned in on Absolute Radio 90's   just in case the interview is not over yet. Well, I missed everything but haven't stopped listening to Absolute Radio 90's sin...