My Journey

2Moons Prize Giveaway!

2008-04-21T03:05:00.000-07:00

MMORPG.com Acclaim 2Moons Prize Giveaway!

MMORPG.com and Acclaim have partnered to bring you an exciting new contest!
From April 5, 2008 to May 5, 2008 @ 9PM EST, they will be accepting entries into a random drawing where we will give away 43 great prizes!

Prizes are:
(1) Creative Zen 8GB Media Player *
(4) Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer Audio Cards *
(8) Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headsets *
(10) Wiki Pets (2Moons in game item)
(10) Ariel Pets (2Moons in game item)
(10) Woody Pets (2Moons in game item)

However, the tangible prizes from Creative can only be shipped to US/Canada winners.
For more information on 2Moons, please visit this link: http://2moons.acclaim.com/ or the MMORPG.com gamespace page!

Experience and Double Bonus Coins event

2008-04-20T07:40:00.000-07:00

2moons 2x experience event is back! After a week of normal experience rate, which is just too bored to grind without any good gaining, weekend double experience event is back! Slight changes in the schedule which now becomes 2 hours earlier than before... argh.. miss it on the first day and only know after the event had ended >.<

Besides experience event, there's also a double-bonus coins event! From 18-20 March, you will get double-bonus Acclaim coins of each packet you purchase. It is a great time for those who wish to buy ingame items and accessories.
I wish too, but due to some problems of paypal, I can't purchase coins from the official website. Have been trying for few weeks and the problem is still there. I think it should be caused by different registered country IP and thus make my paypal unable to use from here.

Long awaited and it is time to let my character to gain some experiences =) Gonna spend some time on game this weekend, stay relax and enjoy for those who play this game as well =)

And also wish all who has a planning in this weekend, All the best and Have fun!

* well for those who don't know what 2Moons means, it is a MMORPG game. To see more, click here. It has all good details about what online game is =)

Design Your OWN Google!

2008-04-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's possible!!

You can now design your own google with Goodle MyWay! Make your own the very unique ones and invite your friends and show them your google!

And you can also make it as your default page and search from there everything you want =) Cool right? have a try! ^^

*Thanks to BlueStar who share this to me! ^_<

Current 2Moons Review

2008-04-18T13:38:00.000-07:00

2Moons has entered a new era recently following the big patch called Bad Moons Rising (BMR). Many of the players think that this is just a normal big patch with some new implementations such as new maps, skills, new dungeon, weapon, armor, mobs.... etc and fortification of new security system called autoban. Actually, there are much more changes other than above-mentioned physical visible changes. As the patch name stated, Bad Moons Rising -- indicating something bad occurences gonna happen in ingame community. After playing for quite some time in this BMR era, many players have noticed the real changes of the game.

First of all, ingame economy is getting worse than before BMR. The price of items, especially silver argates raised to a new tops with 5-6 mil lately from previously 1-2mil. This is mainly due to the changes implemented in the system of dungeon. Before BMR, dungeon gives good profits for those who successfully accomplish it. With one A dungeon, a team will get at least 3 argates. Things changed after BMR, where a team will get only 1 argates, and sometimes not even 1. Inflation in the game kills most of the interest of players to fortify their weapons, and thus make less fun for new players to enjoy the game. Simply they can't afford to buy those stuffs at the beginning except for those who are rich able to buy gold from outside sources.

Second, the drop rate of either items or vouchers became nerfed. I say 'Nerfed' because it's just terrible to describe the current ingame drop rates. It is so hard to find enough vouchers to join Dead Front nowadays, which is the main source of getting insane experience you'd have in high level. I heard from one of the players saying that it is neccessary to spend at least 3 hours to get 20 vouchers for one Dead Front, and if you are soloing, it takes forever... this really sucks, most of the players just have this attitude -forget about it till drop rate improves. Well, it's understable, imagine you spend 3 hours for the colllection of vouchers, and there's bug half way of Dead Front, all your effort will just in vain.

Third, hack and ingame bugs still an issue in this game. Although it is much lesser than before, but still some ppl take this advantages over other players. It's not too difficult to hack into the game folder of client side using hacking softwares, and it can be done just in few minutes for those who know well about the scripts. Botters are the major issue to new players. They take away available mobs and creates unbalance ingame atmosphere for newbies and thus causing them to leave the game eventually. Autoban is good I'd say, but some hack and exploits can still sneak over it easily undetectable.

Changes in mobs aggro and character's skill and damage area another big problem. Although new skills are released, but the mobs aggro and damage are increased as well.

Well, BMR is actually a latest patch delivered from GameHi Korea to Acclaim in order to create a totally new ingame atmosphere. In my opinion, most of the changes yet are not suitable for 2Moons as the game is still not as mature as the one in Korea. In Korea, most of the players in the game have reached level 130+ and changes in the latest patch is solely made for them, not for 2Moons community. It needs more time for these changes as most of the players in 2Moons are only between level 90-120, which make them difficult to adapt and survive following the changes. And all these unfavorable factors will make players leave the game sooner later.

Just simply my personal review about current 2Moons Online Games after viewing various opinions and suggestions in the game forum and private discussion sites. Some changes are needed in order to bring more players to the game and maintain interest for those who have been in the game for months.

Devotion time

2008-04-17T05:23:00.000-07:00

Marriage Storms
Melanie Chitwood

"O taste and see that the Lord is good!" Psalm 34:8 (NAS).

Devotion:During my husband Scott's early piloting days, he rented a Cessna and flew me to Memphis to visit my sister. I was excited to fly in such a small plane and to have my very own husband as the pilot! While we were there, the weather took a turn for the worse and a winter storm was unexpectedly on its way. Scott was a novice pilot, and I could tell that the prospects of ice or snow were making him pretty scared. He called his flight instructor several times for advice--which made me quite nervous! That night neither of us slept well, as we worried about flight conditions the next day.

We woke up at 4 a.m. to go the airport. As Scott readied the plane, I noticed how worried he seemed, so I tried not to aggravate him with unnecessary questions, such as, Are we going to crash and die? I remember thinking that if something did happen in this winter storm, at least I'd be where I wanted to be--right next to my husband.

That's the way I want to feel during the "storms" in our marriage as well. I've witnessed time and time again that God can use the storms in our marriage to draw my husband and I closer together. At times, the most rewarding closeness between us has followed a relational "storm." God uses the trials in my marriage to bring my husband and I closer together and also closer to Him, both individually and as a couple.

I entered into marriage with my own ideas of how living happily-ever-after would go, and it didn't include storms. But I've found that sometimes happily-ever-after exists on the other side of some hardships. Tim es of brokenness in our marriage can be the very experiences that shape us and lead us to enjoy sweet fellowship with the Lord and with each other.

Dear Lord, We know that in our marriage we will face storms. Lord, I pray that the storms will draw us together, not divide us. I pray that in during any hardships, challenges, or stress that we face individually or as a couple, that we will come out the other side closer to one another and closer to You. Help us not to be anxious or fearful during a storm. Instead, let us stand firmly on Our Rock, with You, Lord, as our firm foundation. Let us have peace that passes human understanding, as we draw on Your supernatural strength. We know that You can bring good out of horrible situation. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Application Steps: Make a list of specific actions you can take to "taste" the goodness of God during a marriage storm. Be sure to apply one to today's storm or to remember them for future storms.Seek out a Christian counselor or a Christian couple to help you during the storm you're facing.

Reflections:During stressful times, do you and your husband stand strongly together, or do you tend to turn against one another?In one of the power verses, we're told to be thankful in all circumstances. How does this differ from being thankful for all circumstances?

Power Verses:

Matthew 19:26, "...Jesus said to them, 'With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'" (NAS)

1 Thessalonians 5:18, "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus" (NLT)

Successfully Uploaded!

2008-04-16T02:55:00.000-07:00

haha testing 1 2 3... =D

This is probably my first post with picture =p Just figure out how it works. Actually I've been trying for a long time using Blogger's ones, but something wrong and failed always when i try to upload picture from my document files.
And thanks to BlueStar, who recommended me to use photobucket, and it works! =)

Ya, so here is my very first picture:

Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building now!
Pic grabbed from EliteSpace =P kekeke..is good to share right? =P

ya, just realize that World's tallest building is no longer belongs to KL Twin Tower, which mean Malaysia lost one more world's record...well, nothing to be sad or surprise, our world is always progressing and no one can hold something 'best' too long as others can always perform or do better than us anytime.

Compare these building, Just feel amazing that the tallest building is almost double the height of KL Twin Tower... awesome mankind creation!!

Protect your skin!!

2008-04-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

Summer is coming soon! Happy for some ppl but definitely not me =( Tho summer is a great time to have fun outdoors, but I don't like the hot weather!! I think it's now time to take precautions to avoid sunburns, which can increase the risk of skin cancer.

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. Exposure to the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays appears to be the most important environmental factor involved with developing skin cancer. During the summer months, UV radiation tends to be greater.

To help prevent skin cancer while still having fun outdoors, regularly use sun protective practices such as

-- Seek shade, especially during midday hours (10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.), when UV rays are strongest and do the most damage.
-- Cover up with clothing to protect exposed skin.
-- Get a hat with a wide brim to shade the face, head, ears, and neck.
-- Grab shades that wrap around and block as close to 100% of both UVA and UVB rays as possible.
-- Rub on sunscreen with sun protective factor (SPF) 15 or higher, and both UVA and UVB protection.

It's always wise to choose more than one way to cover up when you're in the sun. Use sunscreen, and put on a T-shirt... Seek shade, and grab your sunglasses... Wear a hat, but rub on sunscreen too. Combining these sun protective actions helps protect your skin from the sun's damaging UV rays.

UV rays reach you on cloudy and hazy days, as well as bright and sunny days. UV rays will also reflect off any surface like water, cement, sand, and snow. Additionally, UV rays from artificial sources of light, like tanning beds, cause skin cancer and should be avoided.
Just my sharing =)

WoW Offline version

2008-04-14T05:11:00.000-07:00

WoW here stands for World Of WarCraft, not the shouting wow =P

Recently game trend changes in our apartment here from previously hottest Dota to now World of WarCraft offline Lan game. Well, as said it is offline version, server set by one of my friends and therefore not many players yet in this community.

For about 1 week in this new game, brought from homeland, I think it is quite different from the original WoW online game. Server master aka GM here can set anything from his computer as we wish =D it is really a nice time to have control over all the things in the game, adjusting experience level, drop rate, monster spawning time, dungeon requests, skill editing, etc are all of your choice!

Overall it's a very good game, especially its graphic and characters' appearances. Highly recommended for a group of friends or ppl who stay together in one building where Lan connection is available. Have a great time to enjoy it!

Hacker?

2008-04-11T06:14:00.000-07:00

I was mentioned about hackers in old posts about online game 2Moons. Well, some ask me why are they called hacker? well, actually the term 'hacker' can be applied into many fields. For me, those who specializing in the discovery of exploits in systems are called hacker, no matter in which fields they are working at.

The term "Hacker" may mean simply a person with mastery of computers; however the mass media most often uses "Hacker" as synonymous with a (usually criminal) computer intruder. See hacker, and Hacker definition controversy. In computer security, several subgroups with different attitudes and aims use different terms to demarcate themselves from each other, or try to exclude some specific group with which they do not agree.

They are many types of hackers actually, Wanna to know more about hacker's attitudes?
In computer security, several subgroups with different attitudes and aims use different terms to demarcate themselves from each other, or try to exclude some specific group with which they do not agree.

White hat
A white hat hacker or ethical hacker is someone who breaks security but who does so for altruistic or at least non-malicious reasons. White hats generally have a clearly defined code of ethics, and will often attempt to work with a manufacturer or owner to improve discovered security weaknesses, although many reserve the implicit or explicit threat of public disclosure after a "reasonable" time as a prod to ensure timely response from a corporate entity. The term is also used to describe hackers who work to deliberately design and code more secure systems. To white hats, the darker the hat, the more the ethics of the activity can be considered dubious. Conversely, black hats may claim the lighter the hat, the more the ethics of the activity are lost.

Grey hat
A grey hat hacker is a hacker of ambiguous ethics and/or borderline legality, often frankly admitted.

Blue Hat
A blue hat hacker is someone outside computer security consulting firms that are used to bug test a system prior to its launch, looking for exploits so they can be closed. Microsoft also uses the term BlueHat to represent a series of security briefing events.

Black Hat
A black hat hacker is someone who subverts(To destroy completely) computer security without authorization or who uses technology (usually a computer or the Internet) for terrorism, vandalism(malicious destruction), credit card fraud, identity theft, intellectual property theft, or many other types of crime. This can mean taking control of a remote computer through a network, or software cracking.

Script kiddie
A script kiddie is a person, usually not an expert in computer security, who breaks into computer systems by using pre-packaged automated tools written by others.

Hacktivist
A hacktivist is a hacker who utilizes technology to announce a political message. Web vandalism is not necessarily hacktivism.

Back to Bloggers' world!

2008-04-09T15:45:00.000-07:00

Hi All, sorry for not able to update my blog recently. I'd a trip to another place together with my friends =) It was a fantastic trip and I'll share some of the pictures after I get it from my friends.

Ya, sorry for those who buzz me recently, I haven't got time to do the same. Anyway, I'm back now more frequently than before =)

To those who have linked my blog, thanks a lot! And I promised I'll do the same very soon once I settled down my stuffs here. Great to meet all of you! ^^ take care!

BMR Patch Notes

2008-04-03T05:52:00.000-07:00

Full Bad Moon Rising Patch is finally out! Check it for the latest changes! =)

From historian, adopted from 2Moons forum
BMR Patch Notes

These are the patch notes given to us, and now given to you. ============================================================================ New Map “Aquirai Ruins” added. ============================================================================ » You can enter the Ruins through Manuell, an NPC located 9 o’clock of North Morte.
» Required level: 130/ Required DIL: 100,000 » Fortress Voucher [for at least 131 Lvl]
» Reward Items for Fortress Voucher donations added (6 food items with buffs, and a Piuma Item)
» The Incar Order is located 3 o’clock of North Morte, and the fixed unit amounts for donating supplies are 10, 50 and 100.
» The Experience gain for Magic Square of Crack has been decreased.
» Numbers of uses changed for Adventurer’s Backpack – Inventory expanded. Buy another one! » “Aquirai Ruins” related balance adjustment.
» New Cash Shop Items Added - The Warehouse Keeper’s Dream: Similar to the Traveler’s Backpack, this item can expand the number of Warehouse inventory slots to a total of four.
» Locking function added to the inventory
» New Map Pilgrimage Space » Mounts Upgraded in Shop
» Exisiting mounts are upgradeable in-game via the stable master. 100k dil for the item.
» New Mount, Aquira Lattice added - Required level: 35 » Promotion for low levels - Quests below level 30 have been revamped with some quests excluded. - Additional Reward Items given for every 10 level-ups (Between 10 and 60) - Help Information System added.
» Information is provided regarding skills and entry to instanced dungeons for each level(up to Level 60)
» Lucky Monster Akris added.
» Search Function for locating NPCs added. » Pet System Cash Shop Item
» Balance for Aquirai Ruins adjusted.
» Coordinates for Monster Respawn partly adjusted.
» Monster balance adjusted. » Item drops adjusted.
» Game Option>View>Damage effect Display setting added.
» “Orphena’s Seal” items all deleted.
» The list of rewards at Dead Front has been revised.
» The list of rewards in Instanced dungeons has been revised and drop rates adjusted.
» Store prices of items adjusted.
» The way to acquire pet items has been revised.
» You can now preview the means of movement items sold at Dekashop.
» The number of friends you can add in the messenger increased from 30 to 50 max.
» Nerfed the Incar Magicians. - Cool down for buff items decreased. : From 5 to 3 secs and from 60 to 30 secs.
» Other minor bugs eliminated
» The bug where damage doesn’t show when a magical attack goes off.
» Physical Resistance reduced by damage through magical attacks is not applied. - Before: Defense and Physical Resistances were reduced by damage. - Now: Only applies to Defense. » The bug where damage doesn’t affect certain defensive powers when some monsters are attacked has been eliminated.
» Monsters Added: - 13 New Monsters added. - One Boss Monster added. - The Boss Monster Balance for Dead Front has been increased. » Three Boss monsters added. - Tyrant Rudney - Tritone - Emperor Badz » One boss monster in Pilgrimage Space added. ============================================================================ Skills ============================================================================ » Some skills’ efficiencies for Summoners have been increased. » New Skills added. - Auxiliary (Dual) - Auxiliary (Shield)
» Characteristics (Common) - Divide Spear (97 Lvl): Three consecutive attacks.(Defeat chance increased while abnormality is applied) - Stun chance for hard hits is increased. You’re forced to be rolled back, Stunned, when damage is done above a certain level in respect to one’s maximum strength. Defeat can occur even with a small amount damage when Stun probability is increased.
» Balance adjusted for dual wielding.
» Attributes added to Master lines for Mace and Axe skills.
» Balance adjusted in Master skill line. - Sword line - Axe line - Mace line - Dual line
» Balance adjusted in auxiliary skill line. - Dual Advance(20 Lvl): Skill acquiring level adjusted from 52 to 20. » A bug in the fixed critical probabilities for skill level-ups has been eliminated.
» Increasing effects towards Defense Power added. » Shield Mastery(16 Lvl): Skill acquiring level has been increased from 3 to 5.
» The error in the accumulative number for stat resetting has been fixed for Azure Knight Class Skills.
» New items added. - Fire Storm’s Ove - Badz’ Gold Ring - Badz’ Indigo Ring - Howlight Ring:
» Three New skills added.
» Skill Balance Adjusted. » Skill enacting distance increased.
» Others adjusted. - PK/PvP damage rate increased. - Fishing Mastery skill moved from Attribute tab ============================================================================ DROPS ============================================================================ » New armor drops for all classes.
» Drops of New Accessories for Lvl 130+

have fun! ^^

BMR release

2008-04-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

Ya, today is the day that Bad Moon Rising BMR officially released!

Many gamers are still waiting for the download to be completed. Whether or not it is a new era of this game, it brings not only new maps, but also new skills, items, atmospheres etc. I'm sure all of the gamers are eagerly waiting for this biggest ever patch in 2Moons.

Gogo! it's now 78% shown on the downloader bar ^^
What I wish to see is hacker- and Bot- free fresh air of community of the game. Well, as in the previous post about hacker and botter, I've clearly stated that this would be the last hope, if not, to most of the real players out there, of the reason to stay on still.

Can't wait to find any changes in the game!

Hackers and Botters

2008-03-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

Big changes recently occurs in my guild in 2 Moons Online Games. It used to be a very active guild, with more than 80% of the peoples online all the while. It is the longest guild I've ever joined, because it is really a good one compared to those I've joined previously.

Since last few weeks, My guild leader started to be not as active as before. This happens to subguild leaders as well. Left over are some active players with mid-high level and few high level in the guild. From what I've heard so far, the guild leader and few of them are waiting for the Big Patch, scheduled in 31st of March, where there's a very big changes in the game. The changes include new map, new anti-hack system implementation, anti-bot program (well, non-official news about this, we shall see in few more days how it works out), new skills, new pet-system, new quests, siege war is finally activated, and many others more.

Apart from waiting for the Big Patch, there're numerous factors that lead to inactive state of many real human players. Well, I believe you know what I meant now. ya, Bot and Hackers are all around the map now. It is just too easy to detect hackers using all sorts of hacking skill around. This has created an unbalanced and very unhealthy atmosphere among players. It really kills the interest and enthusiastism of many real players out there. I Believe this is the most important factor why people are now quiting the game. If I'm GM, I'll just make one round each day and that's totally enough to ban up to 20 players who use hacks. Feel sad for this good game, but poor administrative control over this issue.

Spam around the town areas, and has recently spread to other maps in the game as well, is another source of players, especially newbies, to quit the game, even before they could enjoy this game. Just imagine, spam all around, and it's impossible for you to ask for help ot simply asking a question is making newbies too difficult to survive, unless there're friends beside them to provide them guildlines. Acclaim has made every effort to draw more new players to the game by promotion, giving out prizes for those who invite their friends to join, new items for newbies, etc... but have you ever think of the atmosphere in the game? I would say that all these gonna be in vain if the atmosphere in the game is not favourable for them.

All after all, finally what we are waiting, are now scheduled to be in 31st of March. This is the only remaining hope for us, if not, me to continue to stay and support this game. No doubts, it is a great game, but has been invaded and almost ruined by all those botters and hackers. As promised by Acclaim, there will be a big changes in this coming patch. Well, we do really hope that all these illegal plays will be set to an end!

I believe this is the only way to attract all the former players back to the game. Most importantly, they are all real players! This is not a game created for bots, but players, human! Acclaim might receive all good incomes from these bots initially, but the long side-effect is just devastating as more and more real human players will leave the game as the days passed. And finally when there's not much players left in the game, no one else would spend real money into this game anymore... I really don't want to see this day comes.

Of coz, it is not easy to set perfectly everything in this Big Patch. But what we hope is to at least make botters and hackers a history of the story of the game.

Just my 2 cents. Have a nice day! =)

Grapefruit -- Cause of Breast Cancer?

2008-03-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

A recent e-mail chain has some people concerned about grapefruit. The messages refer to a 2007 study in The British Journal of Cancer that found an increased risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women who ate large amounts of grapefruit. In the group of women, more than 46,000 over all, those who ate about a half a grapefruit every other day had a 30 percent higher risk of breast cancer than those who ate none, even after other risk factors were taken into account. Scientists said they suspected that an enzyme in grapefruit known as CYP 3A4 had the ability to increase estrogen.

But a more recent report, published this year in the same journal, reached a far different conclusion. That analysis used data from the Nurses’ Health Study, which followed more than 77,000 women 30 to 55 over many years. The scientists looked at intake of both grapefruit and grapefruit juice and found no rise in breast cancer risk, either among women over all or among postmenopausal women.

Experts at the American Cancer Society said that there was insufficient evidence to change existing recommendations, but that women with concerns could cut back on grapefruit.

I'm still a Noob -.-

2008-03-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

Finally I get to know what's it, how to do it, and why is it so important to have 'link' with each other. Well, Blogger world is not a lonely space, where you work and share with yourself. Told by my friends when he visited my site and notice some shortness of the blog.

Sometimes, I really wonder who is the one reading my blog thus far.. Well, I've come to know that we can actually track down our visitor. Gonna learn more about this since I'm now seriously wanna make a good blog like how others do. It's not that easy I realised, however with persistence and patience, I believe I can do the best =)

Just this afternoon when we have time to discuss about blog, I realised that so many things can be done other than just purely writing to share something with peoples out there. Well, I'm not pro in this field yet although has been quite a long time here in blogger's world. I do admit that I didn't take serious effort in building it as what my friends did. They make their blogs to be so famous and nice not only in contents, but also a network of friends they've built. Besides that, they can generate some benefits from blogging, to make it into real life money.

Maybe this sharing has already been known to many bloggers out there, but it's something new to me. I'm learning to build a good blogsite since they're willing to share more about this to me =)

It's time for me to add some links, and to build a network of friends in this bloggersphere. Just shout in the chatbox if anyone of you who visited here wanna to have a link exchange, I'd gladly link your blog to my site! ^^

No One Know WHY?

2008-03-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

Wildlife biologists fear a significant die-off in about 15 caves and mines in New York, as well as at sites in Massachusetts and Vermont. Whatever is killing the bats leaves them unusually thin and, in some cases, dotted with a white fungus. Bat experts fear that what they call White Nose Syndrome may spell doom for several species that keep insect pests under control.

Researchers have yet to determine whether the bats are being killed by a virus, bacteria, toxin, environmental hazard, metabolic disorder or fungus. Some have been found with pneumonia, but that and the fungus are believed to be secondary symptoms.

“This is probably one of the strangest and most puzzling problems we have had with bats,” said Paul Cryan, a bat ecologist with the United States Geological Survey. “It’s really startling that we’ve not come up with a smoking gun yet.”

Merlin Tuttle, the president of Bat Conservation International, an education and research group in Austin, Tex., said: “So far as we can tell at this point, this may be the most serious threat to North American bats we’ve experienced in recorded history. “It definitely warrants immediate and careful attention.”

This month, Mr. Hicks took a team from the Environmental Conservation Department into the hibernaculum that has sheltered 200,000 bats in past years, mostly little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) and federally endangered Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis), with the world’s second largest concentration of small-footed bats (Myotis leibii).

He asked that the mine location not be published, for fear that visitors could spread the syndrome or harm the bats or themselves.

Other visitors do not need directions. The day before, Mr. Hicks saw eight hawks circling the parking lot of another mine, waiting to kill and eat the bats that flew out.

In a dank galley of the mine, Mr. Hicks asked everyone to count how many out of 100 bats had white noses. About half the bats in one galley did. They would be dead by April, he said.

Mr. Hicks, who was the first person to begin studying the deaths, said more than 10 laboratories were trying to solve the mystery.

In January 2007, a cave explorer reported an unusual number of bats flying near the entrance of a cavern near Albany. In March and April, thousands of dead bats were found in three other mines and caves. In one case, half the dead or living bats had the fungus.

One cave had 15,584 bats in 2005, 6,735 in 2007 and an estimated 1,500 this winter. Another went from 1,329 bats in 2006 to 38 this winter. Some biologists fear that 250,000 bats could die this year.

Since September, when hibernation began, dead or dying bats have been found at 15 sites in New York. Most of them had been visited by people who had been at the original four sites last winter, leading researchers to suspect that humans could transmit the problem.

Details on the problem in neighboring states are sketchier. “In the Berkshires in Massachusetts, we are getting reports of dying/dead bats in areas where we do not have known bat hibernacula, so we may have more sites than we will ever be able to identify,” said Susi von Oettingen, an endangered species biologist with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

In Vermont, Scott Darling, a wildlife biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Department, said: “The last tally that I have is approximately 20 sites in New York, 4 in Vermont and 2 in Massachusetts. We only have estimates of the numbers of bats in the affected sites — more or less 500,000. It is impossible for us to count the dead bats, as many have flown away from the caves and died — we have over 90 reports from citizens across Vermont — as well as many are still dying.”

One affected mine is the winter home to a third of the Indiana bats between Virginia and Maine. These pink-nosed bats, two inches long and weighing a quarter-ounce, are particularly social and cluster together as tightly as 300 a square foot.

“It’s ironic, until last year most of my time was spent trying to delist it,” or take it off the endangered species list, Mr. Hicks said, after the state’s Indiana bat population grew, to 52,000 from 1,500 in the 1960s.

“It’s very scary and a little overwhelming from a biologist’s perspective,” Ms. von Oettingen said. “If we can’t contain it, we’re going to see extinctions of listed species, and some of species that are not even listed.”

Neighbors of mines and caves in the region have notified state wildlife officials of many affected sites when they have noticed bats dead in the snow, latched onto houses or even flying in a recent snowstorm.

Biologists are concerned that if the bats are being killed by something contagious either in the caves or elsewhere, it could spread rapidly, because bats can migrate hundreds of miles in any direction to their summer homes, known as maternity roosts. At those sites, females usually give birth to one pup a year, an added challenge for dropping populations.

Nursing females can eat up to half their weight in insects a day, Mr. Hicks said.

Researchers from institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center, Boston University, the New York State Health Department and even Disney’s Animal World are addressing the problem. Some are considering trying to feed underweight wild bats to help them survive the remaining weeks before spring. Some are putting temperature sensors on bats to monitor how often they wake up, and others are making thermal images of hibernating bats.

Other researchers want to know whether recently introduced pesticides, including those released to stop West Nile virus, may be contributing to the problem, either through a toxin or by greatly reducing the bat’s food source.

Dr. Thomas H. Kunz, a biology professor at Boston University, said the body composition of the bats would also be studied, partly to determine the ratio of white to brown fat. Of particular interest is the brown fat between the shoulder blades, known to assist the bats in warming up when they begin to leave deep hibernation in April.

“It appears the white nose bats do not have enough fat, either brown or white, to arouse,” Dr. Kunz said. “They’re dying in situ and do not have the ability to arouse from their deep torpor.”

His researchers’ cameras have shown that bats in the caves that do wake up when disturbed take hours longer to do so, as was the case in the Adirondack mine. He also notes that if females become too emaciated, they will not have the hormonal reactions necessary to ovulate and reproduce.

In searching for a cause of the syndrome, researchers are hampered by the lack of baseline knowledge about habits like how much bats should weigh in the fall, where they hibernate and even how many bats live in the region.

“We’re going to learn an awful lot about bats in a comprehensive way that very few animal species have been looked at,” said Dr. Elizabeth Buckles, an assistant professor at Cornell who coordinates bat research efforts. “That’s good. But it’s unfortunate it has to be under these circumstances.”

The die-offs are big enough that they may have economic effects. A study of Brazilian free-tailed bats in southwestern Texas found that their presence saved cotton farmers a sixth to an eighth of the cash value of their crops by consuming insect pests.

“Logic dictates when you are potentially losing as many as a half a million bats in this region, there are going to be ramifications for insect abundance in the coming summer,” Mr. Darling, the Vermont wildlife biologist, said.

As Mr. Hicks traveled deeper in the cave, the concentrations of bats hanging from the ceiling increased. They hung like fruit, generally so still that they appeared dead. In some tightly packed groups, just individual noses or elbows peeked through. A few bats had a wing around their nearest cavemates. Their white bellies mostly faced downhill. When they awoke, they made high squeaks, like someone sucking a tooth.

The mine floors were not covered with carcasses, Mr. Hicks said, because raccoons come in and feed on them. Raccoon scat dotted the rocks along the trail left by their footprints.

In the six hours in the cave taking samples, nose counts and photographs, Mr. Hicks said that for him trying for the perfect picture was a form of therapy. “It’s just that I know I’m never going to see these guys again,” he said. “We’re the last to see this concentration of bats in our lifetime.”

One affected mine is the winter home to a third of the Indiana bats between Virginia and Maine. These pink-nosed bats, two inches long and weighing a quarter-ounce, are particularly social and cluster together as tightly as 300 a square foot.

“It’s ironic, until last year most of my time was spent trying to delist it,” or take it off the endangered species list, Mr. Hicks said, after the state’s Indiana bat population grew, to 52,000 from 1,500 in the 1960s.

“It’s very scary and a little overwhelming from a biologist’s perspective,” Ms. von Oettingen said. “If we can’t contain it, we’re going to see extinctions of listed species, and some of species that are not even listed.”

Neighbors of mines and caves in the region have notified state wildlife officials of many affected sites when they have noticed bats dead in the snow, latched onto houses or even flying in a recent snowstorm.

Biologists are concerned that if the bats are being killed by something contagious either in the caves or elsewhere, it could spread rapidly, because bats can migrate hundreds of miles in any direction to their summer homes, known as maternity roosts. At those sites, females usually give birth to one pup a year, an added challenge for dropping populations.

Nursing females can eat up to half their weight in insects a day, Mr. Hicks said.

Researchers from institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center, Boston University, the New York State Health Department and even Disney’s Animal World are addressing the problem. Some are considering trying to feed underweight wild bats to help them survive the remaining weeks before spring. Some are putting temperature sensors on bats to monitor how often they wake up, and others are making thermal images of hibernating bats.

Other researchers want to know whether recently introduced pesticides, including those released to stop West Nile virus, may be contributing to the problem, either through a toxin or by greatly reducing the bat’s food source.

Dr. Thomas H. Kunz, a biology professor at Boston University, said the body composition of the bats would also be studied, partly to determine the ratio of white to brown fat. Of particular interest is the brown fat between the shoulder blades, known to assist the bats in warming up when they begin to leave deep hibernation in April.

“It appears the white nose bats do not have enough fat, either brown or white, to arouse,” Dr. Kunz said. “They’re dying in situ and do not have the ability to arouse from their deep torpor.”

His researchers’ cameras have shown that bats in the caves that do wake up when disturbed take hours longer to do so, as was the case in the Adirondack mine. He also notes that if females become too emaciated, they will not have the hormonal reactions necessary to ovulate and reproduce.

In searching for a cause of the syndrome, researchers are hampered by the lack of baseline knowledge about habits like how much bats should weigh in the fall, where they hibernate and even how many bats live in the region.

“We’re going to learn an awful lot about bats in a comprehensive way that very few animal species have been looked at,” said Dr. Elizabeth Buckles, an assistant professor at Cornell who coordinates bat research efforts. “That’s good. But it’s unfortunate it has to be under these circumstances.”

The die-offs are big enough that they may have economic effects. A study of Brazilian free-tailed bats in southwestern Texas found that their presence saved cotton farmers a sixth to an eighth of the cash value of their crops by consuming insect pests.

“Logic dictates when you are potentially losing as many as a half a million bats in this region, there are going to be ramifications for insect abundance in the coming summer,” Mr. Darling, the Vermont wildlife biologist, said.

As Mr. Hicks traveled deeper in the cave, the concentrations of bats hanging from the ceiling increased. They hung like fruit, generally so still that they appeared dead. In some tightly packed groups, just individual noses or elbows peeked through. A few bats had a wing around their nearest cavemates. Their white bellies mostly faced downhill. When they awoke, they made high squeaks, like someone sucking a tooth.

The mine floors were not covered with carcasses, Mr. Hicks said, because raccoons come in and feed on them. Raccoon scat dotted the rocks along the trail left by their footprints.

In the six hours in the cave taking samples, nose counts and photographs, Mr. Hicks said that for him trying for the perfect picture was a form of therapy. “It’s just that I know I’m never going to see these guys again,” he said. “We’re the last to see this concentration of bats in our lifetime.”

CNY concert + Party

2008-03-03T15:29:00.000-08:00

How do you celebrate your Chinese new year?

As a student at oversea, I couldn't celebrate together with family for almost 5 years. It is a totally different feeling when you celebrating such festival without family members around. Especially during my very first time here, I celebrate alone in my room, what a pity man!

But when you mingle around more, you'll find friends who are also celebrating this festival without family members for many years. Instead of being alone, we've come out with this CNY celebration+party night! Organised by Chinese students' association CSA, this event has been carried out very successfully and almost all of us feel the warmth in foreign land.

We'd many events that night. Small show of lion dance, video clip on how CSA forms, musical dance, special performance by Eric Chow, magic show presented by Micheal L., Latin dance, Lucky draw, etc... The food provided was nice, and we'd a great chance to taste the chinese food, prepared by students here, tasted great!

Although it was the first time such event being carried out here, I think it was quite a success. If possible, I hope every year we do have this kind of plan, cherish out and mingle around with friends, sharing our stories, work out together for performances, just have so much funs!

The event started at 7.00pm and ended about 11pm. Tho it was a tired for me, but it's worth it after all, to have a wonderful and unforgetable night! =D

Doctor, doctor!

2008-02-23T18:56:00.000-08:00

- Doctor, doctor I feel like a spoon
-- WEll, sit still and don't stir!

- What is the difference between a teacher and a train?
-- The teacher says ''Get that gum out of your mouth'', where as the train says ''Chew, chew''.

- Doctor, Doctor my son has swallowed my pen. What should I do?
-- use a pencil until I get there.

Skin Care

2008-02-22T11:42:00.000-08:00

I've found this health article in my surfing around the health tips. Ya, it is about skin care. Articles taken from 1st-info website, and I think it is very useful and good info, and I would like to share about it here.

Caring for your skin and looking good involves three very important processes.The processes we are talking about are; cleaning your skin properly, applying a moisturizer to it, and ensuring its protection.Everything begins with cleanliness of course, for without it, all other processes would not be as effective or even work at all.

There are numerous skin care cleansers on sale, ranging from cheap to those which are exorbitantly priced. But you do not necessarily have to have those expensive items to achieve the results you desire.To begin, first dissolve your makeup with an oil-based cream. This is a necessary step in the process to prepare your face prior to the application of the cleanser. When that's done, any residue clogging up the skin pores will be removed when you apply the cleanser.Make sure all traces of makeup are removed before going to bed.

Makeup, left overnight, clogs up your pores and eventually causes all kinds of skin problems. There's a saying, a night with your makeup on ages you by four; definitely something to avoid when on a "looking good" routine.After washing, apply a good moisturizer. Remember, washing removes natural oils from your face whereas the moisturizer replaces it, and helps to keep your skin moist and soft.Moisturize your face each day, and that includes the skin around your eyes and throat.It's also well known, if left unprotected against the elements, your skin will age fast. It goes without saying; you need to protect your skin against them too.No doubt, when you were at school, you had been taught that sunlight is good for the skin.

But too much of it, especially during this day and age, will cause damage to your skin, and it may prove irreversible.Being exposed to the sun is particularly destructive, because UV rays penetrate tissues and are detrimental to the underlying collagen that supports the skin. 70% of skin aging has been attributed directly to the sun.To help protect your skin against sun damage, choose day moisturizers that have suitable SPF sun protection factors. This is important when you intend to be out in the sun for some prolonged period.And yes, have your moisturizers on too when driving on sunny days.It doesn't stop there. Apply balms, i.e moisturizers, to your lips to prevent them parching out and becoming chapped.Put on sunglasses and apply eye creams to protect the sensitive skin around your eyes.

There are creams especially designed to reduce aging signs around the eye area, typically the incidence of fine lines. You can get rid of puffiness, dark circles, and smoothen the delicate area around your eyes when such creams are applied daily.Why emphasize on skin care? You want to look good and have all the benefits that come with it; confidence, success, respect... and more. Your skin is the largest and most observable organ of your body; protect it with the care it deserves. Think about it, isn't it great to have a good looking skin? Sure it is, because it's right there on your face... for all to see.

Winter Holiday

2008-02-17T08:38:00.000-08:00

Winter Holiday finally comes!! I believe all of us have been student before, and you just can feel my excitement and freedom after the last paper! ya, a 3 weeks holiday started last week!!

Well, I've few plans in this holidays. First of all is to clean up this messy room and rearrange all my files and documents into its appropiate place. I've planned to visit another city nearby here with my groupmates... still in planning, not sure whether it can be carried out or not.

I heard there's a Chinese New Year Concert here this year. Well, if it is true, it will be the very first time we've such event. Looking forward to it, and will join if there's a chance!

Besides that, I've planned to use more time into my computer's game! =D believe or not, I can spend up to 15 hours a day just for it! Not too engrossed into it, just feel like wanna have funs inside the game. =D

k, till here, it's dinner preparation time. Cya soon all!

Exam

2008-02-05T15:24:00.000-08:00

I'll have my exam for this semester soon. Well, it's time to burn mid-night oil again >.<

There're all together 5 exam papers needed to pass in this semester. Not to hard to prepare, just the time matter whether I can finish revising them or not.

Life as student is fun, but definitely not at this time. Pass or Fail can have big influence in the next semester. I've some friends who failed in the exam last semester, he'd a terrible experience on how hard and hectic to pass all before next semester starts. One of my batch mate even failed 3 times and got to repeat again the same semester >.<

Looking forward to holidays after this =D A 3 weeks winter holiday! ^^

It's time to study now, will update if I've free time =)

I Love You

2008-01-31T05:12:00.000-08:00

Hi All, here is the list of ''I Love You'' in different languages.

Afrikaans : Ek is lief vir jou Ek het jou lief
Albanian : Te dua
Amharic : Afekrishalehou
Arabic : Ana Behibak (to a male) Ana Behibek (to a female)
Basc : Nere Maitea
Bavarian : I mog di narrisch gern
Bengali : Ami tomAy bhAlobAshi
Berber : Lakh tirikh
Bicol : Namumutan ta ka
Bulgarian : Obicham te
Cambodian : kh_nhaum / soro_lahn nhee_ah / Bon sro lanh oon
Cantonese : Ngo oi ney
Catalan : T'estim (mallorcan) T'estime (valencian) T'estimo (catalonian) T'estim molt (I love you a lot)
Chinese : Wo ai ni (Manderin, Cantonese)
Croatian : Volim te (most common), or Ja te volim (less common)
Czech : miluji te
Danish : Jeg elsker dig
Dutch : Ik hou van jou
Estonian : Mina armastan sind
Esperanto : Mi amas vin
Persian (Farsi) : Tora dust midaram
Flemish : Ik zie oe geerne
Finnish : Mina" rakastan sinua
French : Je t'aime
Friesian : Ik bin fereale op dy Ik ha^ld fan dy (Most commonly used phrase) (the ^ is above the a)
Gaelic : Ta gra agam ort
German : Ich liebe Dich I mog Di ganz arg! (Suebian: South German dialekt.)
Greek : S' ayapo
Gujarati(a dialect of India): "Tane Prem Karoo Choo"
Hausa : Ina sonki
Hebrew : aNEE oHEIVET oTKHA (female to male) aNEE oHEIV otAKH (male to female) Ani ohev at (man to woman) Ani ohevet atah (woman to man)
Hindi: Mein Tumse Pyar Karta Hoon
Hokkien : Wa ai lu
Hopi : Nu' umi unangwa'ta
Hungarian : Szeretlek te'ged
Icelandic : ?g elska ßig
Indonesian : Saya cinta padamu Saya Cinta Kamu Aku tjinta padamu Saja kasih saudari
Italian : Ti amo
Irish : taim i' ngra leat
Japanese : Kimi o ai shiteru
Kazakh : Men seny jaksy kuremyn
Kiswahili : Nakupenda
Korean : Tangsinul sarang ha yo
Kurdish : Ez te hezdikhem
Latin : Te amo Vos amo
Lao : Khoi huk chau
Latvian : Es Tev milu
Lingala : Nalingi yo
Lithuanian: Ash miliu tave
Luo : Aheri
Madrid lingo : Me molas, tronca
Malay/Indonesian : Saya cintakan awak(awak=kamu=you) Aku sayang engkau (engkau=kamu=you)
Malay : Saya cintamu Saya sayangmu
Maltese: Inhobbok!
Mandarin : Wo ai ni
Mohawk : Konoronhkwa
Navajo : Ayor anosh'ni
Ndebele : Niyakutanda
Norwegian : Jeg elsker deg (Bokmaal) Eg elskar deg (Nynorsk)
Pakistani : Muje se mu habbat hai
Persian : Tora dost daram
Pilipino : Mahal Kita Iniibig Kita
Polish : Ja Cie Kocham or Kocham Cie (Pronounced Yacha kocham)
Portuguese : Eu te amo
Romanian : Te iu besc
Russian : Ya lyublyu tebya Ya vas lyublyu
Scot Gaelic : Tha gra\dh agam ort
Serbian : Volim te (most common), or Ja te volim" (less common)
Shona : Ndinokuda
Sioux : Techihhila
Slovak : lubim ta
Slovene : ljubim te (??????)
Spanish : Te amo
Swahili : Nakupenda
Swedish : Jag a"lskar dig
Swiss-German : Ch'ha di ga"rn
Tagalog : Mahal kita
Taiwanese : Gwa ai lee
Tamil: Naan Unnai Kadhalikiren
Thai : Phom Rak Khun Ch'an Rak Khun
Tunisian : Ha eh bak
Turkish : Seni seviyorum!
Urdu : Mujhe tumse muhabbat hai
Vietnamese : Anh ye^u em (man to woman) Em ye^u anh (woman to man) Toi yeu em
Vlaams : Ik hou van jou
Welsh : 'Rwy'n dy garu di. Yr wyf i yn dy garu di (chwi)
Yiddish : Ikh hob dikh lib
Zazi : Ezhele hezdege (sp?)
Zuni : Tom ho' ichema

Stay Blessed! =D

Smallest Animal

2008-01-25T01:25:00.000-08:00

I've seen this show in the TV about biologist on research done on the smallest animal in the world. Well, any idea what is the smallest animal in this world? of coz, I don't mean microorganisms, all those invisible bacteria, viruses... What I meant is living animals, which we can observe by naked eyes.

Well, here are some data I would like to share:

Smallest insect
Adult males of the parasitic wasp Dicopomorpha echmepterygis can be as small as 139 μm long. Females are 40% larger.

Smallest amphibian
At 9.6 to 9.8 millimeters long, Monte Iberia Eleuth (Eleutherodactylus iberia) is the smallest frog, amphibian, and tetrapod.

Smallest reptile
The Jaragua Sphaero or dwarf gecko (Sphaerodactylus ariasae), a gecko in the Sphaerodactylus genus, is the world's smallest known reptile species, at 16 mm long. The species was first described in the December 2001 issue of the Caribbean Journal of Science by Pennsylvania State University evolutionary biologist Blair Hedges and University of Puerto Rico biologist Richard Thomas. The dwarf gecko is endangered and lives in Jaragua National Park in the Dominican Republic and on Beata Island (Isla Beata), off the southern coast of Hispaniola in Haiti. The species's binomial name was in honor of Yvonne Arias, the leader of the Dominican environmental group Grupo Jaragua.

Smallest bird
Well, I guess all know this right? =P ya, it is the bee hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) is the world's smallest known bird species and the smallest known warm-blooded vertebrate. M. helenae, called the zunzún in its native habitat on Cuba and the Isle of Youth, has a mass of about 1.8 g, which is lighter than a Canadian or U.S. penny. The male is smaller than the female. Said to be "more apt to be mistaken for a bee than a bird," the hummingbird's wings beat 80 times per second and up to 200 times when mating. The bee hummingbird is said to eat half its total body mass and drink eight times its total body mass each day. Its nest is 3 cm across.

Smallest fish
The smallest known fish (and smallest known vertebrate) are part of the Paedocypris genus of Indonesia, which dwell in peat swamps and can survive extreme drought in part due to their small size (just 7.9mm long at maturity). Much of their habitat is acid water, with pH as low as 2.9. The members of the genus are thought to be highly endangered.
Male individuals of the species anglerfish Photocorynus spiniceps have been documented to be 6.2-7.3mm at maturity, and thus claimed to be a smaller species. However, these survive only by sexual parasitism and the female individuals reach the significantly larger size of 50.5mm.

Smallest mammal
The critically endangered Bumblebee Bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) of Thailand is the smallest mammal, at 30-40 mm in length and 1.5 to 2 g in weight, about the weight of a Canadian or U.S. dime. However, the Etruscan Pygmy Shrew is the smallest mammal by mass, though it exceeds the Bumblebee Bat in skull size.

Amazing right?! So wonderful is our living planet! =)

Spagetti

2008-01-15T17:54:00.000-08:00

I think everyone know what's it spagetti right? maybe it is not that common in some countries, but it is so popular that almost all know how to cook =)

I've spagetti for dinner today, so I gonna share something about spagetti as well ^^

Spaghetti is a long, thin form of pasta. It is versatile, popular, and available throughout the Western world. Spaghetti is the plural form of the Italian word spaghetto, which is a diminutive of spago, meaning "thin string" or "twine". The word spaghetti can be literally translated as "little strings."

While many believe that spaghetti (or even pasta in some accounts) originated in China (where long thin noodles have a lengthy history), some now assert that the reading of a lost Marco Polo manuscript which led to this belief, was in fact an inaccurate Latin translation. Historically people in Italy ate pasta in the form of gnocchi-like dumplings – pasta fresca eaten as soon as it was prepared. It has now been asserted that the Arabs who populated Southern Italy (around the 12th Century) were the first to develop the innovation of working pasta from grain into thin long forms, capable of being dried out and stored for months or years prior to consumption (see Peter Robb's Midnight in Sicily pp 94-96 for details).

Legend has it that Cicero, the famous Roman orator was fond of "laganum", an ancient tagliatelle. The Saracens, originally from North Africa, invaded southern Italy in the 9th century and occupied Sicily for 200 hundred years. Pasta is now associated with Italians as a whole. The popularity of pasta spread to the whole of Italy after the establishment of pasta factories in the 19th century, enabling the mass production of pasta for the Italian market.

Well, it is cooked now! My dinner time.. =D

Bots Manifestation

2008-01-11T08:45:00.000-08:00

Bots manifestation recently increases in this game. From rarely seen to now almost hardly you cannot find them everywhere. They had made this game unfair especially for those who just started to enjoy their new character.

Someone might ask what is bot? Bot - a automatic system created by someone who intend to make it control over the in-game character by itself, without real human control, in order to gain experiences and items. They are fully automated system, from buying to storing to killing and collecting, all done by system, not human.
Well, compared to human, this system will never get tired. They will hunt endlessly as long as the owner set it automated.

Many players have complained over this isssue, and i hope Acclaim GM and VGM can carry out their jobs more regularly, not to just warning, but banned on sight when bots are detected. Another way is to implement a system, where once bots are detected, they are straight away removed from the system. Actually there're many good suggestions by players in forum, implementation is just a time matter i hope.

Happy 2008!!

2008-01-02T20:09:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008 !!

WiSh ALl Of YoU HaVe A NiCe ProSpeRoUs YeAr AheAd, It Is An NeW YeAr 2008!!!!

* At friend's house now, having new year celebration here! =) Just using his internet to send my warmest wishes to all ^^

Merry Christmas And Happy New Year To ALL

2007-12-21T05:00:00.000-08:00

HI! Just here to wish everyone -- Merry Christmas!

Ya, What's your plan on this day? celebration with friends? church members? or staying alone at home? =P

I'm too busy these few weeks, helping friends in preparation of christmas concert . So, wanna send everyone here my early wishes!! ^^

I'm not sure whether I'll be online for following few days, Im here too to shout to all -- Happy 2008!!

hehe, hope you all don't mind about this early wishes, no harm right? =DD

Take care, it's cold outside, temperature here -7 C freezing...

My warmest wishes and regards to ALL. Be Happy Always! ^^

Winter approaches...

2007-11-20T19:48:00.000-08:00

I'm not feeling so well these few days. Winter is coming soon... and I've this feeling of getting sick soon >.<

Dunno why, maybe most of the peoples here sick at least 2 times each year, well, if not all, I'm the one who suffering this everytime. One before winter, another one is between winter and spring.

Fluctuation of temperature, changes in weather and humidity here are the main factors. It is just the matter how long it lasts.

It's time to take more vit. C. It proves useful everytime I've sore-throat, flu, cold, and sneezing. Take care to all out there. Have a nice day!

2 Moons So Far...

2007-11-15T22:33:00.000-08:00

I've been playing 2 Moons nearly 1 month and what I would say - It is really a nice game, compared to 9 Dragons. Many common insufficiencies in online game didn't appear here, and to me it is just like the conclusion of improvement of all games I've played so far. Well, at least till now, but I'm not sure about later when I reach higher level.

Compared to other online games, 2 Moons is way of much easier to level. You can gain insane experiences especially during 2x or 3x exp events + all the dungeons giving you extra experience. Just nice! =)

Well, at least till now, I haven't seen any bot or hacker in the game. This is the most crucial things, as it creates a balanced and healthy atmosphere for all players to have a competitive spirit to play on. Not like other games such as SilkRoad Online, it is bot-free game ( at least till now, and I do hope it will maintain this)

Maybe the only thing that players complaint so far is some bugs in the game. Well, no doubts that every game has bug. Hope it can be resolved as soon as possible or otherwise bug exploits will be wide-spread.

Till now, not many players yet in the game, as compared to 9Dragons. But what I wanna say it is very potential to grow into one of the best mmorpg game if every aspect maintained and improved regularly. Give it a try and I'm sure you'll like it. Cya in the game! ^^

2Moons

2007-10-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

Hi All! What's up? =)

Recently there's a new game introduced by my friends. It is called 2 moons, another game under development of Acclaim. Haven't really try out how it is, but here's some descriptions I took from another site. It sounds good, and just after beta-testing.

In 2Moons, players control a single character, and move around the world, completing quests and defeating enemies (which may either be monsters or other players) to gain experience and become more powerful.

When creating a character, players select one of six classes. Each class offers various benefits and drawbacks, as well as access to different weapon, ability, and spell trees. Unlike several other MMORPGs, there exist no races; the only character differentiation is through class. Once selected, character classes are permanent.

Azure Knight: Knights focus on traditional mêlée combat and offensive self-buffs. Knights may choose to focus on dual-wielding weapons, using shields, or using larger, two-handed weapons.

Segnale: Segnale, a humanoid rage, wield Whips of various forms and have a range of effect spells, including curses to weaken enemies and party buffs. They function primarily as healers.

Incar Magician: Magicians focus on 'traditional' offensive spells. They use either Staffs or Wands.

Segita Hunter: Hunters are an archer class, specializing in both long-range combat and close-quarters combat. They can use Crossbows, Bows, and Daggers

Vicious Summoner: Summoners have the ability to summon creatures to aid them. Summoners may specialize in either wielding Staffs or dual blades.

Bagi Warrior: Bagi Warriors function as tank characters, and specialize in the use of buffs and various combos. They use Gauntlets.

There're many systems included in this game, such as pet system, mounting system, pk-system, quest, dungeon, commisional quest, siege wars, dead-front, etc. There's also special events in the scheduled time, which last for 2 hours normally.

Experience points earned in battle vary depending on the level of the monster and the level of the player. Monsters which are five levels or more than the player's level have a display name in red; monsters which are very low in level when compared to the player have a display name in green; monsters that are very close to (or at) the players level have a display name in white. Experience gained from slaying monsters outside of a player's level is modified based on the level difference. Also, Acclaim has put in an advertisement system, which gives the player a 10% experience bonus if it is turned on.

There is currently no penalty for player death other than a 15 second respawn delay. Thus, a player can die without fear of losing any experience or items.

Well, for me I'll give it a try. My friend just finished download the file, and tomorrow I gonna to take from him =)

9 Dragons

2007-10-18T03:41:00.000-07:00

I've been playing 9 Dragons online game for several months, and it's very fun especially to play with a group of friends. It is a good game based on the Chinese martial art design, it brings out various scenarios and you got chance to learn different 'kung-fu' skill while you level up.

9Dragons is a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) published by Korean game company Indy21 and remastered for the Western Market for Acclaim Games by best-selling American author Steven-Elliot Altman. The game features 3D graphics and traditional MMO control schemes. Set in China during the Ming Dynasty, it includes actual Chinese geography and historical features such as the Great Wall of China and the famous Shaolin Temple.

The Clans a player may join in 9Dragons are based upon various schools of Kung Fu and are separated into two major factions, The White Clans (loyal to the Imperial Emperor) and The Black Clans (who have no allegiance to him). The White Clans include: Shaolin (male disciples only), Wu-Tang Clan, and The League of Beggars. The Black Clans include: Sacred Flower (female disciples only), The Brotherhood of Thieves, and Heavenly Demon Clan. Each Clan has its own separate but very similar requirements for admission.

Well, here is some data about system requirement in order to play this game =)

Pentium III
384 MB RAM
32 MB Video card
Sound cardDirectX 9.0
800 MB Hard Drive Space

Kinda low requirements right? =P anyway, the game graphic is nice and wonderful. To know more about it, here is the link, click here.

Have a try! Good luck~

Some troubles

2007-10-15T03:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't been here for quite a long time since my very first post...hehe =P Not given up, but just very busy with my activities here in real life. I've packed timetable recently and got to finish all the works before due time.

Anyway, I'll try to update more and to learn to get into this Blogger's world as most of my friends do. I think I'd spare out some freetimes for this blog, I'm not that easily giving up something once I've started it. Well, as I promised to my blogger friends, I'll put efforts and work up this blog, although it seems like nothing and so blank here >.<

Ah, I hope those bloggers I knew would visit here always, and do give me some useful tips on how to make it looks better at least? =P still a long way to go as it is just a starting branch of my life journey, and of coz I hope to see this branch grows =D

Nice to meet all friends out there. Have a nice day!

Welc0mE!!! To the World of MINE

2007-10-10T05:50:00.000-07:00

Hi ALL, Just wanna greet all of you who make visit here! I'm starting this blog mostly for all games that I've been playing before and I'll introduce too all new games which are at-launch or those still in beta-testing. Some tips and clues on speficic games will be included as well.

Well, Not only about games, also I would be happy to share what I've found interesting along the journey of my life. Something that's benefit and essential to know will publish regularly ^^

Special to All gamers out there, I'm glad if you leave some constructive comments to my posts.
Thank you!