Sunday, November 23, 2008

Lin Dan dominates yet again

Though no.1 on paper, Lee Chong Wei remains the second best player in world badminton behind Lin Dan, the reigning World and Olympic champion. Lee was firmly put in his place by a dominant performance from Lin Dan in the just concluded China Open Super Series.

This was the first competitive tournament for Lin who took a long break from badminton after his gold medal winning feat in the Beijing Olympics. Lin showed no signs of rust or lack of match fitness as he glided around the court effortlessly.

For Lee, Lin remains his bogey player as he again was defeated, this time the score was not as lopsided as the Olympic final. It ended with Lin having the upper hand in straight games 21-18, 21-9.

Lee's performance in the match was sufficient to defeat any player but against Lin, something more was needed.

Lee started the match brightly but slowly Lin crept back the score and managed to nip the first game. The second game was smooth sailing as Lee appeared out of sorts and could not come up with his best game.

It is unfortunate for Lee to be playing in the same generation as Lin, for if Lin wasn't around Lee would be the undisputed no.1 in the game. Lin is now arguably one of the best players to ever play the game with his killer smashes and trademark explosive sudden burst of movement. Lin has won all the major tournaments to be won in badminton and he will surely be inducted into the hall of fame when he retires.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Strange panicking

It's Monday and i have classes from 8.30 to 10am. That's all for the day. Pathetic isn't it? Actually what i am going to tell has got something to do with the day before.

Sunday, i reach PJ at around 9.15pm after journey-ing from Melaka. First thing i did is online, i din online for 2 days while in mlk. I found out that my kaki gamer wasn't online. So i guess they must be out gaming. So i went to blitz and proEx to find them lo. I arrived late so i played around 1 hr like that and went to makan at Murni. Then went back to continue gaming. Then another friend of mine who was at proEx who just came out as i was about to enter told me he lost his wallet. Kesian weii..He alwiz nvr bring much cash with him 1..but yest he brought around RM100 and he lost it ! So another friend and I teman him go make police report at Uptown lo. After that to console him, we went Murni makan again.

Wtf !! I went there twice in a space of like 3 hours? Minum and makan till so full i hardly can move. Bcoz i drank 2 cups of teh ais medium. I cant sleep for the night. The first cup i ordered 1..the second was a mistake but i took it also so as not to trouble my waiter-friend. I ended up sleepless throughout the night.

Went to class at 8.30. I decided to walk instead of drive. After class finish, i was starting to get sleepy. The moment i reach my room and lie down. Terus tido weii. Tido till 4 sumthing. When i woke up, i have this strange panicky feeling that i'm late for class! FYI, i have no class already on monday.

The reason for that strange panicky feeling was because i thought that it was Tuesday already and i had slept from Monday morning till Tuesday noon. I thought i had missed the Chinese class again !! So dead la..i might be barred i thought. I start to dread and think of solutions. Then i on my laptop and see the date.

What the hell it was 4pm Monday only ler. I felt as if i had slept for so long and so comfortably that it was Tuesday already.

Crazy kan? Lolz. Actually i wrote this as a relief escape from reading the Malaysian Lit novels. Sengsara. Not nice at all.

So that is how!

Apparently it was a misunderstanding. The one i called hypocrite apparently didn't knew that the others in the row asked me to sit there. So i have to take back my words now and i have to apologize. I'm sorry for the incident and getting pissed b4 getting to the bottom of things.

But i won't put all the blame on myself bcoz after that incident, there wasn't any indication whatsoever to acknowledge the mistake or misunderstanding. And to compound matters, there were snides and snickers around. That really did it for me.

Anyway i'm glad this matter is over now and i really appreciate the effort that one of them took to explain things to me. I think this is a healthy development as being honest and open with each other is the best way to deal with things.

However, my sentiments remain. I still think it is not wise to get too close to any fren as it will amplify disappointments that come later. So it's best to keep it at a safe distance and to be neutral.

Friday, November 14, 2008

POSTMODERNISM

Do you know this term? No doubt some of you do, but do you really understand the meaning of it?

The term postmodernism was coined by a Frenchman Jean Francois Lyotard (1924 - 98). It is a new approach to thinking about the world. Some call it an ideology. Postmodernism is not primarily political. Although postmodernism is not generally thought of as an ideology, let alone a political ideology, it can lead to a position that asserts with absolute certainty that there is no truth. This crude form of postmodernism can sometimes look a lot like an ideology, but most postmodernist take a different position, arguing that truth depends on where you stand.

In this form, postmodernism has potential for undermining belief in any ideology because ideologies have traditionally claimed to have the singular truth, to be universal. Today, influenced by postmodernism, we in the 21st-century are much more aware of the local and contingent, and if the standpoint is ideological, postmodernism can be seen as actually reinforcing ideologies rather than undermine them. Each ideology is now probably best thought of as composed of subsets of closely related ways of viewing the world.

A complication for most of us is that we stand in more than once place. We view the world through lenses provided by ideology, gender, race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, and so forth. For many people, one of these will dominate, but others look through different glasses at different times regarding different issues. Most of us manage this shifts in perspective without conflict, often without even realising that we are doing so. We see ourselves as a whole rather than as multiple selves.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Hypocrite

I've always thought you're not like that because you always get to the point and talk straight. But i'm really disappointed to say that you're actually a hypocrite.

When i wanted to have that seat, you said it was for A. So i let it go. Then comes along M and you let her sit there right in front of my face. What the hell u mean by that?

I'm not complaining because I didn't get the seat. It's just your attitude that grates on me. If you don't want me to sit there just say so lah. Don't need to spin another story so that I don't sit there. I would happily sit at another place if you say so. As if lah I crave to sit there so much.

I'm really disillusioned now on working together with the group. I find a number of people in the group being really unprofessional. Bringing private emotions into the working scenario is really bad. One shows a dour and emoless face everytime i try to communicate, another being openly hostile and another being bandwagonistic with the others. Wth, i thought we made it clear that private emotions should not disrupt the working relationship.

Maybe i should just leave and make you guys happy. I don't need to be there first of all. I could always participate in the struggle for equality without being one of the organisers. Anyway, organising jobs are not suitable for me at the time being because I find it tough dealing with unprofessional people.

Those of you who were really professional and honest, i really appreciate it and love our time together. I do not in anyway wish to link you to this but if you somehow felt that you're being affected by this writing, i sincerely apologize.

Such a depressing mood in such a gloomy day. What a perfect match.

Call of Duty 5 : World At War

Call of Duty fans, your wait for the next installation in the call of duty series is finally over. Call of Duty 5 : World At War was released on the 11th this month in the US and will be released tomorrow in Europe. The game will be released on all platforms, the PC, XBOX 360, Playstation3, Wii and NDS. The beta version for multiplayer had been in the gaming community for around a week now. So gamers already had a feel of how the game will play when the full version is out. This time CoD5 was developed by the Treyarch studio compared to InfinityWard for CoD4. The publisher Activision is now merged with Blizzard Entertainment to form a stronger company that can challenge Electronic Arts(EA).

Call of Duty®: World at War completely changes the rules of engagement by redefining WWII gaming and thrusting players into the final tension-filled, unforgiving battles against a new ferocious enemy in the most dangerous and suspenseful action ever seen in WWII.

Powered by Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare technology, Call of Duty: World at War brings an uncensored edge to combat, as soldiers face the most harrowing and climatic European and Pacific battles in which an enemy, who knows no surrender and no retreat, will fight to the last breath, unleashing an arsenal of lethal surprising tactics. Peril and danger lurk throughout the battlefield as players combat the unknown risk of the new chaos of battle.

From the remains of Russia and the ruins of Berlin, to the beach and jungles of the deadly Pacific Theater, the volatile action takes on added depth as players employ new features that previously were only-available in multiplayer, including perks, rankings and online stats in up-to full four-player cooperative gameplay. New infantry and vehicle-based weapons, like the potent flamethrower, bring the battlefield ablaze.

I seriously can't wait for the gaming gaming community in Malaysia to start playing this game. However, i do not wish this to cause CoD4 to suffer. Playing CoD4 on multiplayer is still the best first person shooter(FPS) for now. Nothing comes close, not even CounterStrike Source, Unreal Tournament or Quake. By the way, a new installion of Quake is going to be in the markets real soon. I can't wait to try that out too.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Battling against a Beijing demolition

BEIJING – According to the lunar calendar, it's officially winter in China today. And although it was sunny, the wind picked up as the temperature dropped.

So spare a thought for 56-year-old Dong Jiqin, who could be evicted from his home in western Beijing and sleeping on the streets of the capital tonight.

Not because he's just another victim of the global economic recession. If anything, he's just the latest casualty of China's breakneck development.

Or so it would appear.

"The demolition project here began in October 2002," he told us and a handful of other foreign journalists shivering in the morning chill of his dilapidated courtyard home in Beijing’s Xicheng district. "Neither the government nor the developer has ever shown any certificate of legitimate right to tear down houses [here]."

Dong, who was grasping a folder of legal documents that included court summonses and court notices regarding the demolition of his home, said he had been given no information about the development plan.

"Nobody ever came to my house to discuss details. They are just trying to take my house illegally," he said calmly. "They bought off the garbage collector, too. He told me they are coming to demolish today."

Activist targeted
Dong was born in this courtyard house. It's where he played and grew up, where he lived when he got married, and where he raised his daughter.

It's also where his wife, Ni Yulan, was taken by plainclothes police – and, her husband believes, gangsters – on April 15 of this year. "They came to our house, tore down some of the house, cut off our phone and power lines, grabbed our belongings and dug up our sewage pipes," recalled Dong.

The authorities initially accused Ni of assaulting a demolition worker, part of a group tearing down homes surrounding Dong and Ni’s house in the Qianzheng hutong (the term for the series of narrow streets and alleys that characterize traditional Beijing neighborhoods).

A couple of weeks later, Ni was charged with obstructing a public official, which according to China’s Criminal Law carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.

Ni – a lawyer by training – was not just a pesky homeowner who refused to vacate her house. She had been an active voice campaigning on behalf of residents who had experienced similar situations – forced evictions and the destruction of their homes around Beijing during the city’s makeover ahead of the Summer Olympics.

She lost her lawyer’s license when she was arrested in 2002 and sentenced to a year in prison after filming the demolition of the house of someone who was forced out of their home. According to Human Rights Watch, she was beaten while being held by the police for 75 days.

It’s her activism for tenants’ rights that Dong believes is the reason his family is being persecuted and driven out of their home.

Ni was supposed to stand trial in August, just before the Olympics began, but it was postponed. No new date has been set, and no further information has been given, said her husband.

Spotlight on China
But Ni’s case may get some international attention soon. "It will be interesting to see how Ni’s case might be affected in light of the [United Nations] Committee Against Torture review of China," said Sophie Richardson, the Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.

The U.N. Convention Against Torture – which comprises ten independent experts who monitor the implementation of the international convention – is starting a very public two-day review of China in Geneva on Friday. As a member of the U.N., the Chinese government has had no choice but to agree to the scrutiny and answer questions about alleged abuses against prisoners and dissidents.

While it’s hard to gauge what impact the review might have on officials in Beijing, "this has never happened before," said Richardson.

The Chinese government has prepared for another review scheduled early next year by the U.N. on broader human rights. Earlier this week, it announced what it called a "human rights action plan," the first of its kind in the country, designed to protect citizens’ rights over the next two years.

Seeking answers…and justice
But none of this has come soon enough for Dong, who last saw his wife 215 days ago.

"I have not seen her at all since she was taken," he said although his lawyer has been allowed to visit her three times. "She was in a single room for a long time. She has a chronic headache, but they don’t give her any treatment or medicine."

Dong, a former education administrator who has since stopped working, said he has filed appeals with the local district court to stop the demolition. His wife has written letters alleging police brutality while she’s in custody. And Dong says that their 24-year-old daughter, who had been living at home, has been so spooked by some of the apparent intimidation tactics that she has run away.

Dong said they don’t have any real options – apart from talking to the media in the hope someone can help him.

Of the thirteen people in his family who used to live in the traditional courtyard house, he is the last one holding out in this Qianzheng hutong.

"I have nowhere to go if I am evicted," he said quietly. "I’ll have to become a homeless person. We have no prospect if corruption is not investigated."

When I called him this evening to check on his status, he said no one had yet come for him. But he wasn’t hopeful

Friday, November 7, 2008

RoG

The Republic of Gamers consists only the best of the best. We offer the best hardware engineering, the fastest performance, the most innovating ideas, and we welcome the best gamers to join in.

In the Republic of Gamers, mercy rules are only for the weak, and bragging rights means everything. We believe in making statements and we excel in competitions. If your character matches our trait, then join the elite club, make your presence felt, in the Republic of Gamers.

Monday, November 3, 2008

World Gamemasters Tournament

The WGT concluded Sunday afternoon with [ESP] again emerging winners for Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare. This time [ESP] aXe was the winner with Random nub Faction, RnF the runners-up. [ESP] wOw completed the podium after defeating [ESP] eMo in the 3rd & 4th placing playoffs.

aXe took the final in two straight games beating RnF 8 to 1 in Search and Destroy and won by a margin of more than 40 points in Domination. aXe was more motivated to defeat RnF because earlier, RnF had taken down [ESP] eGo and wOw. Revenge was on their minds and the pride of the ESP clan was also at stake.

aXe was further motivated by the fact that the whole ESP clan and gamer friends from Blitzone turned up to give moral support.

The final turned out to be a lopsided affair as RnF could not reproduce the form that saw them beat wOw. aXe led by Justin aka [ESP] Quack* were leading for the word get go. RnF never had a chance.

The winners went home with a trophy and RM7500.

The 3rd and 4th place shootout was quite a close affair as it went down the wire to the deciding game, Team Deathmatch. wOw managed to pip eMo for the 2nd runners-up spot after emerging triumphant in TDM.

aXe
Quack
Holyboy
asdx
Pikachu
Bambino

wOw
Death
Hayabusa
susu
Meowz
Ashley

eMo
Sanction
Chucky
Nobie
Kitteh
G o 4 t

eGo
Phyo
ola
Pip
Lover
yan mc


[ESP]wOw - from near to far: Ashley, susu, Eric, Adrian(Hayabusa), Brian(Death)


[ESP]eMo - from near to far: Sanction, Go4t, kitteh, Chucky, Nobie

[ESP]aXe - from near to far: Bambino, Pikachu, Holyboy, Quack, asdx

aXe(champions) - from left: Bambino, Pikachu, Holyboy, Quack, asdx

wOw(3rd) - from left: Adrian, Brian, Eric, susu, Ashley

Clan-mates and friends cheering for aXe all the way from behind.