Call of Duty 3 Review

Once again I returned to the WWII battlefield... and a few months ago I got sick of playing any more WWII FPS...

I know it's an old game. Very ancient to be honest. Now they have Call of Duty 4: World at War and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. But I decided to finish the 3rd installment off because it's the last WWII FPS game I have in my arsenal that I have yet to complete.

I've played the Medal of Honor series (MoH, MoH: Underground, MoH: Allied Assault, MoH: Rising Sun), Call of Duty series (CoD: Finest Hour, CoD 2, CoD: Big Red One, CoD 3), Battlefield series (1942). Those are all the WWII first person shooters I can recall. So somewhere in 2007 I experienced my 3rd gamer life crisis because I got sick of playing the same thing (just graphics improvement in each games) and I put down my dual-shock analog controllers, for the next few years.

Then this week I dusted off ye olde PS2 and dug my dusty arsenal. Played this one up, and finished it in 6 hours. Surprisingly, CoD3 made me fall in love with WWII FPS all over again. Obviously the graphics is the main bonus. The plot from the lives of the American and Commonwealth soldiers later spiced things up. Although button combo mashing mini game is generic nowadays (thanks to God of War influence), it sure made the game stood out. Examples include simple L2 R2 mashing when going melee with a German infantry, rotating the L3 button to screw in the fuse of a bomb on the King Tiger tank, or rowing the paddle of a boat.

And then there's the squad bonding that plays in well. Despite playing with different faction in each missions intervally, you will cease to forget the squad members that fight alongside you from the beginning to the bloody end. The conflict, the hate, the swearing, the cussing and the rage when one of them get shot in the head. I can't recall when was the last time I went into a rage and blasted every single Nazi infantry on the streets of Europe after my lads went down. "SHIT! DIXXXXXXXX!!!!!!!! NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!" *cry cry sob, shoot shoot shoot*

Owh and then there's the epic real battlefield tension. The last time I actually felt real fear and stress was in Conflict Vietnam and Shellshock Nam '67 which left me exhausted after end game (and all I did was sitting there staring at TV and mashing the controllers). Defending the hills with fellow Polish army only to be slaughtered was terrifying, and being pushed back to the hill top was stressful and depressing moments. Then with a handful Polish comrades left, the German infantry pushed on with their fearsome battle cry that gave me goose bumps. And the sight of another 2 Panzer tanks behind them make me wanna write a goodbye letter to family in Poland.

Seconds later, green smoke were seen at the base of the hill. The Canadians reinforcements have arrived. We exulted as the Nazi forces retreated. But comrade Lucky was dead beside me. Epic.

Reliving the WWII experience was worth 6 hours of my life

PPSMI: It's Back to BM

After making the students their guinea pigs for 6 years, the government decided teach Science and Math in BM. Everything will be back into BM by 2012.

After 6 years experimenting with PPSMI (Pengajaran Dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Inggeris/Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English) the G-men decided to pull the plug and demand both subjects to be taught in Bahasa Malaysia. And I, along with a few other blog followers I reckon, were amongst the guinea pigs. I'm not sure about the rest, but I personally feel WTF? and disappointed with the move. Number 1, I felt like I've been abandoned by my own country after all the things they did to me and the things I had to do for them back in the old schooling days. Remember 1119, Band 5 Band 6, 2 hours English tuition etc? Haihz... Number 2, the move somewhat shows the government's lack of long-term view and planning. Sigh... I'll argue all the move's rationale from my perspective below:

1. Science and Math showed slow beneficiary percentage (increment of 3% throughout the term) [citations needed, read somewhere in Borneo Post]. Well, what did you expect from a 5-6 years program? I learned maths in Mandarin in kindergarten (1-2years), maths and science in BM in primary school (6 years), and was only introduced to English-versions of the subjects Form 4-5 (2 years).

And English is my third tongue, after BM at second and Melanau at first. It was obviously a language shock and but I made it and now happily blogging about this shit in English. The bottom line is not everyone can adapt to such drastic change in less than 10 years. If possible let the PPSMI start from Primary 1, not Form 1 or Form 4. Then and ONLY then can you see a higher percentage of passing rate in the subjects in English.

2. PPSMI caused the results in Math and Science to slip [citations needed, read somewhere in Borneo Post]. So you are saying the kids can't cope? Refer argument #1 above. PPSMI was in the introductory phase in that short 6 years, and was not 'mature'. Just like the first time you were introduce to a new subject e.g. accounting. For a non-accounting student like me I sucked in it but with little effort and practice I can do it, in ONE semester. If you keep feeding me with accounting for the next 2-3 years I won't be surprised to be a Certified Public Accounting even though I'm not loving it. Same goes to the PPSMI. People, do not break under pressure because you can't cope. Everyone has their own learning speed. That's what English tuition classes are for. Patronize them! Where's our kiasuness?

And English can not be the only factor causing the slip. Has the government consider that it may be a symptom, not the problem? For one the country's education system is not that solid, YET and can be the main cause leading to people sucking in English subjects. Remember the days when you get good grades in PMR (Form 3) you directly get the free seat in a science stream and get kicked into arts if you sucked? And you didn't realize you can swap stream that suits you best because the idea is if you are pro you're science student material? Yeah, that system. We'll criticize that another day.

3. The government could save RM40 mil [citations needed, Google] with the abolishment of PPSMI. Need I say more about this? Yeah that's awfully a lot of money from THE RAKYAT'S pockets... which should be sacrificed into this PPSMI for the benefit of the RAKYAT. Not on another Mercedez or the house on the collapsing hill...

4. Malay language scholars conducted demonstrations to stop PPSMI as it will undermine BM as the national language.

*cough* Excuse me professors, Dr., Datuk et. al., as well as protesters of PPSMI. I understand the feeling of having something you own being threatened to extinction, but we must adapt to changes. Sure we can BM-ize maths and science term e.g. conduction-konduksi, contraceptive-kontraseptif etc. But when you try to BM-ize those terms, it won't be BM anymore wouldn't it? It's a wannabe words trying to sound like the English terms. In the end you become the very thing you don't want to be. Oh the irony...

Plus the fear of BM going extinct is baseless. We can learn the two subjects in English but still able to communicate and learn BM. That way we can understand them bilingually, which is an added bonus. Can you imagine this: We talk business to ang moh in English, but at the same time we scheme in BM with our colleagues so the ang moh won't know our devious plot .He won't know we are insulting him in BM too.

5. No worries, all the English terms can be translated. But how many can translate English to BM if we abolish PPSMI? How can people translate properly if they do not have adequate access to English skills? Since all science and math reference books are now originally in English, it will cost more RMRMRM and time to translate them (maybe more than the RM40 mil).

Besides that even English borrowed some terms from Latin. Can these Latin words be translated into BM?: Ceteris paribus, bona fide, inter arma enim silent leges, nulla poena sine praevia lege poenali, vigilantibus non dormientibus aequitas subvenit. Even English can't translate these so they directly borrow them and use them officially in economic and law. Can't we borrow directly the English terms instead of translating it and making it sound like something else? Hence this all goes back to argument #4 Paragraph 1. Are you going to pronounce it as the Latin ceteris paribus or BM version ceh-de-ris peh-rebus? The Latin scholars would laughed their asses off in a hot debate with non-PPSMI Malaysian scholars. Or worse.

6. "Mermertabatkan Bahasa Malaysia". Related to argument #4 Paragraph 2. Yes, I do respect the need to keep the national language alive as part to show what makes Malaysia, Malaysia. However this will refrain young Malaysians from interacting with the world. Zealously championing BM will obviously cause the future generations to huddle together amongst themselves because they can't interact with foreigners (both native and non-native English speakers). In the end we will lose in the rat race.

I've seen how some accounting graduates with 3.5 GPAs TOP ACCOUNTANTS coming over but don't understand what void cheques mean. Owh the pain and frustration telling them what to do when more English official documents come by... so you guys can imagine what will happen after PPSMI is completely abolished. MORE HEADACHE. MIGRAINE. DEATH.

7. The future. Related to argument #5. Kiss foreign direct investments goodbye. Business is the art of war and investors will feel more comfortable if the host country adapt to their culture. Being submissive to make them feel all high and mighty, pretend to be a pig in order to eat the tiger, be wise but play the fool. All these refer to how we should be humble and learn the ways of others. And when the time is right, refer to argument #4 Paragraph 2. We strike. Not being angry and go on demonstration for practicing un-Malaysian ways. Think of long-term my friend.

Plus, maybe 10 years from now readers our age then will not understand what Kampua 4 Life is all about. Sad.

The colonial days:
Native: "Keluar dari tanah aku!Celaka!"
Whites: "Oh look John! Friendly natives! Mmm... ceh-lay-kah to you too native!"

2020:
Whites: "You guys are idiots"
Native: "Apa tu?"

Links:
DPM's say on abolishment of PPSMI
Dr. M's stand on the abolishment
Are you with or against the move? Join Dr. M's polls

Borneo Cultural Festival '09

Um... eh... hm.... culture?

I managed to visit this year's Borneo Cultural Fest (BCF) last night. This year it runs from the 3rd till 11th July at the Sibu Town Square. Sadly I don't see much "culture" as how BCF was 4-5 years ago. Back then there were authentic Iban tattooist giving tats to foreigners, actual wooden tibau (gigantic Melanau swing) for visitors to play and to break their backs (ouch to the old lady ><) and actual sets featuring how Chinese, Melanau, Malay etc houses looks and feels like at each corner of the town square. This year, it's just food, food, food, stage performance, food, car auto show, food, logging equipments, food, funfair, food and food ("blame the economy" they say). It feels more like a trade expo than a cultural based event :(

Don't these kids have school in the morning? Or do they have kelas petang?

Umm... can I express it out loud? The purple lights are just too gay...

There you go, cultural food that you can find everyday in kopitiams and side road stalls are all available here...

At the main Town Square A (that's what I think they call it, the one facing Sanyan) is where the main stage. I'm seriously against crowds, so seeing these much sitting in front of the stage just turned me off...

Instead I'd rather join these folks squatting in front of a giant TV screen watching the performances on the stage...

Performances such as from... ummm who is this girl?

Cars can be cultural too, I guess... like this Chevrolet complete with localized style tribal tattoos on it. Very foreign yet local. Mmm culture...

Across Town Square A is obviously Town Square B where all the trade expo and funfair are located. Wheee bumper cars!

Until now I don't know why they kicked me out after I drove in my own bumper dozer into the bumper car arena...

Look! Remember these? Owh-so-classic funfair games :D You know, throw ping-pong balls into the appropriate holes, shoot the balloons with a Glock, fish ducks/fish out of the pond etc to get points and win prizes... yippee!

En! My favourite! The "shoot-those-blasted-glued-rings-but-they-never-go-into-the-bottle" games with air-rifles. But these weren't air-rifles. They were bolt-action homemade rifles that can knock out a full grown cat wohoo!

Owh one more thing, don't wear slippers or sandals... the fairgrounds can be a bit berbatu and muddy...

P/S: Yes I know, this sounds like a post flaming BCF. But you can refer to others who cover up the bright side. Just let me cover the bad side to be fair eh?

Michael Jackson's Ghost

Looks like the King of Pop still moonwalks around Neverland...

I LOLed at the comments that flowed in along with the video of a shadow in Neverland. It's up to you guys to decide whether it's MJ's spirit coming back on the 7th day, or just some random dude casting what physics called shadow. (I really hope the blog supports HD *fingers crossed*). Either way just leave the dude to rest in piece. He's dead. Unless you're one of the believers of the conspiracy that he faked his death to join Elvis, Princess Diana and the like in a secret underground bunker. Or believed he faked his death as a gimmick to his next "comeback" show. Enjoy the vid. And analyse.

Let's Learn Some Bahasa Sarawak Part I

Useful guide for non-Sarawakians to prevent you from confusing and embarrassing yourself in Sarawak. And also for Sarawakians who are not fluent in Bahasa Sarawak.

First there's BM baku (original and official, e.g. Adakah anda lelaki?), then there's Bahasa Sarawak slang (e.g. Kawu miak laki ka?). A few terms in BM baku brings completely different meanings in Bahasa Sarawak/Bhs Swk. Let's learn them. But first the basics:

Pronouns:
Aku - Aku, me, 我
Kawu - Kau, you, 您
Ko - Engkau, you, 您
Kamek - Saya, me, 我 (used affectionately)
Kitak - Anda, you, 您 (used affectionately)
Sidak - Mereka, they, 他们

Now let's move on to the meanings of a baku word here in Sarawak:
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Padah (also pronounced as madah)
BM baku: Consequences
"Padah mendera anak" meaning: "The consequences of child abuse"

Bhs Swk: Say, tell
"Apa dipadah kawu ya?" meaning: "What are you saying?"
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Kelakar
BM baku: Funny, hilarious
"Cerita Mr. Bean baru itu tidak kelakar langsung" meaning: "The new Mr. Bean movie sucks"

Bhs Swk: Speak, converse
"Kawu dah kelakar ngan Boss tek ka?" meaning: "Have you spoken to the Boss?"
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Tangga (also pronounced as nangga)
BM baku: Stairs, ladder
"Dia ditimpa tangga" meaning: "The ladder fell onto him"

Bhs Swk: Watch, look, see
"Mok tangga cita Transformers sik?" meaning: "Wanna watch Transformers?"
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Kenak (corruption of the word kena)
BM baku: hit, apply to
"Tembakan noob itu terkena rakannya" meaning: "The noob's shot hit her teammate"

Bhs Swk: Why
"Kenak ko mok tauk?" meaning: "Why you wanna know?"
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Tikam
BM baku: Stab
"Dia mati ditikam di dalam tasik" meaning: "He died after being stabbed in the lake"

Bhs Swk: Throw
"Nya mati ditikam ke dalam tasik" meaning: "He died after being thrown into the lake"
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Berekot (corruption of the word berikut)
BM baku: Follow, the following
"Tolong jawab soalan yang berikut" meaning: "Please answer the following questions"

Bhs Swk: Run
"Leput aku eh, lamak sik berekot DX" meaning: "I'm exhausted, long time didn't run DX"
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End of Lesson 1

H1N1 Pandemic

Are we overreacting or is it really the big one?

Here's a vid I made (out of boredom) to show what will happen if the swine flu virus goes through a deadlier mutation.

The media seems to over exaggerate this swine flu with seemingly clear intention to scare the nervous population. Luckily the death of the King of Pop distracted the mass, for now. But facts can't be denied as the flu is now on Phase 6 (I don't know how bad that is but sounds like worth panicking about). I just hope it won't go to Phase 7 (if there is such thing) and we all have to barricade ourselves in our homes living out our lives Dawn of the Dead or Left 4 Dead style. Sneeze and cough politely y'all.

Terminator 4 & Transformers 2 Review

They're so bloody nice, I watched them twice

These are two big movies so I won't spoil it. You have to go to the nearest cinema and watch it on the big screen.

Terminator Salvation
We follow the chronicles of John Connor a few years after Judgment Day (Terminator 3) where he is leading a few bands of human resistance fighting to topple SkyNet (yea I know, sounds like the cyber cafe behind our old school Methodist, and also the courier service company). Expect awesome cinematography and introduction of new robots (spoiler: including a cameo of Arnie). However the story plot may be crude and plain. There are only like, 3-4 things memorable throughout the movie. And sadly, the previous 3 movies revolve around real Terminator but Salvation may feel as if they are just feeding on the title's glories to make a movie not about about a real terminator. Hmm. But anywho the actions and the awesomeness of the CGI will blow you away.

because of weak storyline and abscence of the quote "I'll be back!" but Arnie and uber-action awesomeness saved the day.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
At first I thought the Fallen refers to the existance of a 3rd party besides Autobots & Decepticons, so this got me hyped up. Sadly my friends' remark regarding Megan Fox was a dude turned me off a LOT and killed the hype. But I was surprisingly entertained by the heavy 2 hour 1/2 storyline. The plot are fast and constant and there are always an Autobot or Decepticon or both every 10 minutes or so. The battles now are more logical (previously I complained how they fought at a ridicilously fast speed despite their mass) and Megan Fox still looks hawt despite the rumors of her used to be a dude named Mitchell Fox. Plus, there is a noticeable increase in 18SX toilet humor every now and then.

However the plot may be unfounded and getting more complexed ala LotR e.g. when you need to find this, you need that first then find this then can find that again. To the point you ask yourself "what's the point of finding it when later it's of insignificance value?". Also a few unneccessary side characters can be removed as they clog up the story.

because the movie made my mom to like Linkin Park and there are more Transformers as promised. Sadly there are too many Transformers to the point you don't recognize who is who, Wheelie humped Mikeala and the quest is silly.

End of H3666

Finally the long, well established history of h3666 is coming to an end. As of 20th June 2009 8:30am, the 3666 history book closes its page on its last chapter when Hallod bids farewell to this h3666hole permanently.

I will send him off to the airport with other h3666 remnants who came back for the reunion along with other Senadinese departing from this state. With Hallod, the last of the orang kuat 3666 leaves for Down Under, Ham will self-declare himself to be a free man and this officially liquidates the h3666 clan. After this Ham will be leaving the h3666hole as well and move out to a better place. I feel slightly melancholic and nostalgically sad (and like usual won't show it), but I've been through so many farewells and this is no different from others. We have to move on.

~In memory of h3666 (2007 - 2009)~

Below is the timeline of h3666 (click to enlarge) or check the facebook version:

There are just so many things happening in between, it can outseason How I Met Your Mother. Well the ones not oncluded in the timeline is for those who have lived, loved and experienced h3666 to cherish and remember... end of season.

Terminated No Salvation

My goodness our 3 days 4 nights planned reunion/fun/destress/nothing-to-lose outing was spoiled on the second night during the screening of Terminator Salvation at, where else Bintang. This was my second sitting, first being at Sibu (rewatch, that's how good the 4th Terminator was). Barely 10 minutes into the movie we were delighted by the black screen of death for the next 10 minutes... with sounds and all at the background

And the crowd went wild for the 10 minutes (surprisingly it was louder by those who have watched the movie). "Refund!", "HOOOOI!", "WTF?!" and middle fingers were ablazed. After the dude fixed the burnt light bulb the audience went quiet while tolerating the scratchy film quality and "OWHHH!!!!" and "HOIIII!" occasionally when the sounds went off now and then.

I have not shown a middle finger for so long, and yes those are not my middle finger. Both too feminine haha.

It was the swearing part that made the whole thing meaningful lololol. But the outing for the next day was not affected fortunately. HAVA NAGILA! HAIP!

Terminator Salvation experience at Bintang has been rated:
because watching Arnie making a cameo never gets old (SPOILER!)

Finger Optical Mouse

Now you can point lasers at people with a lift of a finger

Behold the EEM-GTMS-300BK mouse, or the first generation of finger mouse/mice(?) I have ever utilized. With a RM30+ price tag slapped on it, this little gadget replaces the traditional mouse that requires flat surfaces to function by allowing users to move their cursor wherever their finger can go (umm that does sounds wrong). Just simply wear it like ring anf adjust it with the velcro strap provided.

Other features found on your mouse you are using right now are available on this finger mouse. The right and left mouse button and the scroller are located along the side and pressed using the thumb.

Distance wise, it is not wireless YET but the cable attached allows you to move your cursor 3-5 feet away while you are lying on your bed (promoting a healthy lifestyle), limited by the size of your screen and how good your visions are.

CONS: My goodness, for the first 10 minutes I struggled trying to cope with this mouse. I admit it is difficult for a dude who has been using the traditional rat/mouse/mice for 10 years to use it (and we are the generation that embraced technologies our parents couldn't cope with). The situation persisted for the next 10 minutes. Another 10 minutes later you'll start to notice your finger will start to get tired from all the coping effort and clicking (the buttons are at awkward positions and far to be reached, not suitable for people with average thumbs like me).

Let's just give the EEM-GTMS-300BK another 2-6 months for the technology to improve eh? Oh and to allow it to find a more pronouceable and memorable name.

Ham rates it:
because having laser at your fingertip is cool