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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

New Year Resolutions...

...that will probably be forgotten within a week lol. Anyway, why should I let that stop me from listing some? Hah ;) So, here goes!


  1. MOAR exercise!!!! No more slacking
  2. I'll write more... I promise!
  3. Finish my main project within the year... although I'll still be unable to graduate... sigh
  4. Get Alex to chat more... honestly, from what I know of him... guys have no preferences for anything. (I've once asked him his favourite colour and the answer was 'I have no favourite colour'. The same goes for food :\ sigh, guys shakes head)
  5. Don't sleep too late every night - I must be in bed by 12:00am with the lights out. 
  6. Spend some more time with family :) and with friends too!
  7. Experiment more with cooking/ making stuff
  8. I want to learn codes and programming.... (the same resolution since 2011 :\)
  9. I'll revamp my blogger - like adding in FB comments, sharing for individual blog posts, and maybe a real time chat box.
  10. I'll make a channel trailer for my YouTube and think of something to add to my channel from time to time.
  11.  hmm....

That's it I suppose... that's what I can think of at the moment anyway. What are your new year resolutions? :)

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Singlish and Malaysian Chinese's Manglish

Link: http://www.thesmartlocal.com/read/20-singaporean-slangs

So, the blog post that I've linked stated these words as singaporean slang/ singlish, but I beg to differ since most of these words I do often hear around Penangnites (namely Chinese Penangnites). These words practically originated from hokkien or cantonese dialects, occasionally mixed with english lol. 

I do also believe that some of our fellow countrymen/women of other races can understand these words as well - since we use these words so often lol.

I'm kind of surprised that they didn't put in 'sibeh' as one of the slang words used. 'sibeh' actually means extremely... um well, somewhat lah~ xD And well, eeyer~ is also the same as aiyer~ Oh and for 'pang seh', we Malaysians say it as 'pang pui kee' (hokkien) or 'fang fei ji' (mandarin) or 'put/fly aeroplane' (Manglish... lol). For 'steady' leh, we also usually use it for complimenting a work in progress that is going well/completed or complimenting on what the person have done to calm a situation down/ do something right. For example,

A: 'You've finished that assignment Dr Tan gave us last week?'
B: 'Yalah (which means 'yes, of course'). I finished it a few days ago liao (which means 'already' and yes, I understand that using both 'ago' and 'already' is repetitive, but lol, there you go! A fine example of Manglish in action xD)'
A: 'Wah, steady lo. I haven't even started yet...'

And actually, 'simi' means 'what is' and is not just 'what' as stated in the article :P And there's another variant of the hokkien word of 'simi' which is 'hām mī' (it depends on which area you use it in - for Penang, you use 'ham mi'. For Klang, Selangor or in Singapore, you use 'simi' :P). For 'taiji' (pronounced as tǎi jǐ), we Penang Hokkien people also use a different word - 'sǔ'. I believe English-as-mother-tongue countries use a shortened version of 'what's the problem?' as well - 'What's up?'

It's great for some light reading and for a few chuckles. So... enjoy! :)

P/S: Actually, I find myself having fun thinking of all the slangs/ mixed-dialects that we use on a daily basis that people from other places may not even comprehend (perhaps not even the people from China/Singapore). :D Perhaps I'll add more slangs to the list in the article - like kanasai (or KNN), a-bo-den, beh tahan, jiak sai, can/want die lah (or 'die liao lah'), on!, ho jiak, okay bo?, Chiu~ or Cheh~, aiyo, alamak, 'you ask me, I ask who?', see how lah, mai siao siao, bo pian, gin/gan-jiong, chop, chup, wah pro lor, kok-tao, long-piak, du-lan, pek-chek, xia sui, gostan, win liao lor etc etc xD

Oh though I think I should add that these slangs are usually used by the rougher crowd (if you know what I mean), but despite having a higher education in the belt with a postgrad ongoing, I still find myself using these words from time to time. :P

So, I've come up with something like a dictionary for Manglish/Singlish/whatever you like to call it :P Do check it out!
An Improved Introduction to Manglish/Singlish or whatever you call it

Another somewhat-related topic - the different kinds of Yes in Malaysia:
http://aveyntoh-blog.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-different-kinds-of-yes-in-malaysia.html

Five for Fighting - What If


Lyrics:

What if I were you....

Threw a line out to pull you to me
If you don't get it, then you don't get it
You made your mind up before you knew me
If you don't get it, then you don't get it
Take my hand for a minute.
We're in it - imagine all the pain that might be forgiven

What if I had your heart?
What if you wore my scars?
How would we break down?
What if you were me and what if I were you?

What if you told my lies?
What if I cried with your eyes?
Could anyone keep us down?
What if you were me? What if I were you?

Had a dream of a new tomorrow.
If you don't get it, then you don't get it.
I took a step hoping you might follow.
If you don't get it, then you don't get it.
Take a chance for a minute. Jump in it.
Imagine if you asked yourself for a minute:

What if I had your heart?
What if you wore my scars?
How would we break down?
What if you were me and what if I were you?

What if you told my lies?
What if I cried with your eyes?
Could anyone keep us down?
What if you were me? And what if I were you?

To the ones who make it better, find to get out, gotta touch the other side.
What if all that it took to save our lives together was to rise up?

(Hey!)

What if I had your heart?
What if you wore my scars?
How would we break down (break down)?
And what if I were you?

What if I told your lies?
What if you cried with my eyes?
Could anyone keep us down?
What if you were me? What if I were you?

What if your hand was my hand?
Could you hold on or let go?
What if your life was my life?
Can you love what we don't know?
What if your hand was my hand?
Could we hold on or let go?
What if your life was my life?
And what if I were you?

Friday, December 27, 2013

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Closed Beta review



My brother has gotten himself a game key for Blizzard's new card-based and warcraft-based game, Hearthstone and considering that he's a 'super busy' student, I've had the honour of getting the key from him... lol. 

It was a pretty good game - quite challenging and then there's the element of luck [getting a good hand of cards. The deck you can edit but not the cards you're dealed with], especially I get to see plenty of warcraft characters and lore incorporated into the game, though, being the kind of gamer that I am, I don't really like this sort of games (collecting cards? Booooring xD). Nevertheless, it had occupied half a day of my time.

The developers have a sense of humour lol.

The gameplay is very well developed IMHO but it does rely quite a lot on luck. I think this is the same for all card-based game - if you're dealed a good hand, you have a higher chance of winning; and vice versa. It's mainly a multiplayer game - you play PvP with other players with your card deck or by arena mode where the deck given to you is random - but there is also a single player part where you have to defeat each class's heros to gain that particular class's set of special skills cards.

Find a strategy that suit your style of play.  
In terms of general strategy, I would say that, 
  • firstly, you'll need to annihilate the opponents's minions as soon as possible
  • secondly, ensure that ALL the cards in your deck have extra powers/skills (like can summon minion/charge/able to taunt/able to heal) - I, in particular, like cards that can summon minions, can freeze and have taunt; 
  • thirdly, make sure your deck have plenty of tanks (cards with characters that can taunt) to negate the damage on your main hero/heroin - trust me, they help A LOT!; 
  • lastly, plan ahead with the mana crystals. Try to use as much of them as possible and leave none to waste - however, sometimes, it's best to avoid attacking using your tank since he's there for a reason, that is to take the damage. So, it's sometimes best to just leave that card alone and in the next round, let the opponent destroy it - let them waste their dps's turn instead. :) 
What about healer cards you may think. Well, for me, most of the time, I don't really need them since they can only heal once (when they are played onto the board) and they heal very little. Oh and also, you should use your class's unique spell - they do help a lot. Especially when you ran out of cards to use. 

Most of the time, different boards will be used for different class (also depending the faction of the class that you're up against). 
Here's another type of board :)
Like I've said, what makes this game interesting is the luck element. You'll never know which cards you may be dealed. Even though you may have the best deck in the whole world, the cards that you get may not be favourable to you. For arena, it'll even more challenging as you won't even get to use your own deck - you'll get a random deck lol.

From the various features in the game that I've noticed, I believe this will be a Free-to-Play (F2P) game with some/ a lot (from the other reviews that I've read) Pay-to-Win (P2W) features... lol. I believe this is the first step taken by Blizzard to test out the F2P waters and who knows? Perhaps one day WoW will  become F2P, like Rift did. By then, I'll definitely play retail WoW (I've played in private servers and they all have the Donate/Vote (endlessly)-to-Win sort of features lol.. not that I mind - I just avoid the donors in PvP or get a whole group of people to gang up on him :P).

Anyway, it's a game worth trying out if it is really released as F2P later, but for non-card-based gamers, it might not appeal to them as much as... let's say Rift or WoW :P

How psychopathic are you?

A probably inaccurate test but still, it's nice to help out the good doctor in generating his data for his research :P

Link to the test: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/psychopath-night
[Note: Feel free to post your results in the comments. I don't mind reading about your take on this quiz's results :)]

My results:

18%

You are warm and empathic with a heightened awareness of social responsibility and a strong sense of conscience. You like to carefully weigh up the pros and cons of a situation before you act [I always do this!! But then this is actually the cause of my indecision and hesitation. A friend once told me that I should be braver in taking  hold of opportunities and risks] and are generally averse to taking risks. You are very much a ‘people person’ and dislike conflict. ‘Do unto others…’ [I've just said this to a fellow lab mate of mine yesterday lol] are your watchwords. But, although you avoid hurting others, those residing at the higher end of the psychopathic spectrum might not be as considerate, so stay vigilant to avoid being hurt unnecessarily.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

How to convert a sequence (c/DNA/RNA) into FASTA format quickly (the manual method)? and other handy tips in analyzing sequencing results.

If you're like me, trying to get my sequencing results into a format that is recognisable by Blast, then you've come to the right place! Instead of slowly and tediously deleting every spacing and number in Microsoft Word, I have a nice foolproof shortcut for you to use.

**Edited: Now with screenshots to guide you! :)

1. Paste your sequence (with all the numberings and spaces) into a new word document.


2. Select the search function (Ctrl+F) and choose 'replace'.


3. Next, under 'special' (you can find this at the bottom of the 'replace' interface), choose 'all digits'.

4. Under the replace box, leave it blank (Note! Do not leave even a space there. Backspace that box until the cursor cannot move to the left anymore.)

5. Then click 'replace' and 'yes' to all the subsequent pop ups.

6. Next to remove the spacings, call up the search function again (Ctrl+F).

7. This time put a space in the 'search' box and make sure the 'replace' box is empty.

8. Click 'replace' and 'yes' to all the subsequent pop ups.

9. Lastly, connect all the lines of sequence together. You can also set the text to 'full justify' (Ctrl+J) to make the text look nicer.

10. Voila! You have your sequence in FASTA-style format!

OR you can just use this nifty online program: http://genome.nci.nih.gov/tools/reformat.html

Why FASTA?
For easy alignment (using Blast).

Others:
With sequencing results, you'll be also getting chromatographs that can show you whether your sequences are accurate (of good quality) or not. However, you'll also need a software to open the .abi file - I highly recommend this freeware - FinchTV. Link here: http://www.geospiza.com/Products/finchtvdlrequest.shtml
You'll have to fill the form up and you'll get the link to download the software via your email.

Also, for getting a nice sequence viewer for your sequencing results, I recommend using CLC Sequence Viewer. Link here: http://www.clcbio.com/products/clc-sequence-viewer/ (the download link is right at the bottom of the webpage linked).It's a freeware as well and has this nifty feature where it'll automatically label all the possible restriction sites based on the restriction sites database that they have. It can convert your sequence into various formats as well - with the exception of FASTA-style format unfortunately hehe :P

For converting the sequence that you've obtained from your reverse primer into a complementary sequence, this site, Reverse Complement (Link here: http://www.bioinformatics.org/sms/rev_comp.html), will do the work for you... fast and simple!

If you cannot find your primer sequence in the plasmid/vector sequence, do a reverse complement and try again :) It'll work.

Some more resources:


Tips for alphabets that are possibly found in your sequence results that are not the usual ATCG:
  • R = G A (purine)
  • Y = T C (pyrimidine)
  • K = G T (keto)
  • M = A C (amino)
  • S = G C (strong bonds)
  • W = A T (weak bonds)
  • B = G T C (all but A)
  • D = G A T (all but C)
  • H = A C T (all but G)
  • V = G C A (all but T)
  • N = A G C T (any)
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleic_acid_sequence)

Tips for keywords that you may see on GenBank/any other seq DB:

  1. CDS - coding sequence. It is the start from the transcription start site to the end site. The transcriptional unit. UTRs are transcribed but not coded and, therefore, do not belong to the CDS.
  2. ORF - Open reading frame. ORF is a sequence with no in-frame stop. You typically have several ORFs in any mRNA - can be 3 or even 6 ORFs for a mRNA. A CDS is often the longest ORF, but it not always is.
  3. cDNA - is the DNA version of mature mRNA (ie, does not include introns, but include the UTR, such as Kozak sequence etc)

(Source: http://seqanswers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17199)


Feel free to share this handy tip to your fellow lab mates. I've learned this trick at the cost of a meal (have to treat my senior to a meal lol) but I'm sharing it to you FOC :) Have fun!

P/S: This trick works for Mac computers as well, just use the word processing software that your Mac has and use the search function as aforementioned in the instructions and you should be able to get the same results (Tested on Mac by my lab senior lol).

Saturday, December 21, 2013

What is introversion?

Yup, there are plenty of stuff like this on the net but I reckon I should list the ones that I agreed 100% (and more) here so it's easier for me to refer to when I'm wallowing in self pity when no one understood me lol... here goes!

1. You Enjoy Solitude.
2. Dislike Small-talk, but enjoy in-depth conversations about topics that interest you.
[To me, small talk serves no purpose whatsoever. You won't even remember that stranger you 'small talked' to the next day lol... well, at least that's the case for me.]
3. People Say You Are A Good Listener.
4. You like to think about and choose your words carefully before speaking.
5. Dislike Conflict. [My motto: You don't mess withe me and I won't mess with you]
6. You prefer to work alone and without interruptions. [So, senior/s, please don't check up on me every few minutes when I'm actually doing work... thank you.]
7. When stressed or need to recharge, you spend a few days alone by yourself.
8. Often express yourself through writing.
9. People describe you as “soft-spoken” or “mellow”.
10. You like people, just not all the time. [Yes]
11. You don’t normally like to take the lead, but will step up when no one else will.
[Hmm, I'm usually the first to step up though, if I have a/more brilliant idea/s :P]
(Taken from http://adf.ly/qwFqk)
12. You give less away about your private life to other people - a private person.
13. You tend to get misunderstood.
14. You tend to use logic based thinking. Concrete examples, facts, and numbers are required when explaining something.
[So true! Hence, this has caused me plenty of indecision moments where I panicked lol]
15. You dislike feeling pressured or emotionally manipulated and are mentally stronger than you appear on the surface.
[I'm not sure about the 'mentally stronger' part or it's just that I, in particular, has low tolerance for emotional events - I feel strongly, but that aside, I SERIOUSLY don't like being pressured or emotionally manipulated (has very low tolerance for this as well).... No wonder I hate the current culture at my lab...]
(Taken from the above link's comments section)

However, I believe I have shyness coupled together with introversion so it's really hard to say when I'm actually shy and when I just hate talking to other people lol. But to type it out or write it out... then I have no problems :P

The making of Tang Yuan

So, it's that time of the year where I'm busy helping my family out with Chinese new year biscuits and ofc, Tang Yuan. In my family, this festival somewhat symbolises the welcoming of a new year where you'll age by - what else? - another year. It's tradition, or so I'm told, that, for the first bowl of Tang Yuan, you should eat the exact number of Tang Yuan balls as your age in the next year.

This year though, it's a bit different. My grandma decided not to cook Tang Yuan any more so my parents and I decided to make it by ourselves - it's not that hard after all. Within a few hours, we're enjoying the fruits of our labour :P It tasted good, but I would have preferred to sweeten the soup a little more. Oh well, it's still a good attempt. :)

Here's a pic to finish off this blog post:

(okay, I lied. This blog post isn't finished yet! hah :D)

P/S: oh and if you've noticed, this is the long-haired me. When I don't tie my hair, it looks as messy as in the pic lol and I consider this as a good thing when I'm among other people as I'm sure people usually avoid talking to or going near to people with messy hair like mine xD

P/P/S: Oh yeah, from a compulsory lab safety seminar that I had attended, I've discovered that I enjoyed listening to true stories of lab mishaps - labs being blown up/ caught fire, or stories about careless students handling dangerous chemicals or mechineries. I was wide-eyed and was giving the speaker my utmost attention. When my BF asked me why I was that excited, I told him 'death and destruction'. LOL. I believe I'm most suited to become a mad scientist... Death and destruction, yeah!

Peter Crowley - Conqueror of the Sky

Despite being a huge fan of his epic music, I still think the music made for Avatar's flight scenes (where Jake was flying on his... uh pterodactyl-bird thingy) is the best flight music ever lol. This is still pretty good - Peter Crowley never disappoint ;) Enjoy!


Friday, December 20, 2013

Same personality quiz - Different answers LOL

I guess I'm kinda sucked into this neverending circle of personality quizzes to better understand myself ... well, actually, I wanted to know how other people think of me, coz well, it's not going very well at my lab and I'm not very sure that I should be proud of this - I was the subject of my lab mates' backstabbing lol. My first backstabbing... oh wow. I suppose I started distancing myself from them first - coz they have lost my trust due to me realising that they like to gossip and they often gossip to the person that I don't want him to know about my daily routines or special events in my life.

And no surprise, now I'm their subject of gossip with the addition of some backstabbing. Luckily, among them, there's another even more gossip-y person who had leaked out this and it ended up to me lol....  They are planning to organise a meeting just to discuss about me. They want me to conform to their standards, their attitudes, their way of being in the lab.... WTF. This is truly the definition of the term 'control-freak' and 'jaga tepi kain orang lain'. Meh, I suppose I can go on and on about this but then I have to wake up early tomorrow to make kuih kapit :P So yeah, goodnight for now. I'll see if I have time to continue this one-sided rant further lol.

Oh and well, I've just did this personality quiz again and I get INTJ lol. Though the explanation do describe me... well, most of them anyway. I don't have time to comment on every one of them but you can read them below. Enjoy! :)



The INTJ personality type is one of the rarest and most interesting types – comprising only about 2% of the U.S. population (INTJ females are especially rare – just 0.8%), INTJs are often seen as highly intelligent and perplexingly mysterious. INTJ personalities radiate self-confidence, relying on their huge archive of knowledge spanning many different topics and areas. INTJs usually begin to develop that knowledge in early childhood (the “bookworm” nickname is quite common among INTJs) and keep on doing that later on in life.


When someone with the INTJ personality has mastered their chosen area of knowledge (INTJs can find their strengths in several fields), they can quickly and honestly say whether they know the answer to a specific question. INTJs know what they know and more importantly – they are confident in that knowledge. Unsurprisingly, this personality type can be labelled as the most independent of all types


INTJs are very decisive, original and insightful – these traits push other people to accept the INTJ’s ideas simply because of that sheer willpower and self-confidence. However, INTJ personalities do not seek nor enjoy the spotlight and may often decide to keep their opinions to themselves if the topic of discussion does not interest them that much.



INTJ personalities are perfectionists and they enjoy improving ideas and systems they come in contact with. As INTJs are naturally curious, this tends to happen quite frequently. However, they always try to remain in the rational territory no matter how attractive the end goal is – every idea that is generated by the INTJ’s mind or reaches it from the outside needs to pass the cold-blooded filter called “Is this going to work?”. This is the INTJ’s coping mechanism and they are notorious for applying it all the time, questioning everything and everyone.


INTJ personalities also have an unusual combination of both decisiveness and vivid imagination. What this means in practice is that they can both design a brilliant plan and execute it. Imagine a giant chess board where the pieces are constantly moving, trying out new tactics, always directed by an unseen hand – this is what the INTJ’s imagination is like. An INTJ would assess all possible situations, calculate strategic and tactical moves, and more often than not develop a contingency plan or two as well. If someone with the INTJ personality type starts working with a new system, they will regard the task as a moral obligation, merging their perfectionism and drive into one formidable force. Anyone who does not have enough talent or simply does not see the point, including the higher ranks of management, will immediately and likely permanently lose their respect.


INTJ personalities also often shoulder the burden of making important decisions without consulting their peers. They are natural leaders and excellent strategists, but willingly give way to others vying for a leadership position, usually people with Extroverted personalities (E personality type). However, such action can be deceptive and maybe even calculated. An INTJ will retreat into the shadows, maintaining their grip on the most important decisions – but as soon as the leader fails and there is a need to take the steering wheel, the INTJ will not hesitate to act, maybe even while staying in the background. The INTJ personality is the ultimate “Man behind the curtain”.


INTJs dislike rules and artificial limitations – everything should be questionable and open to re-evaluation. They may be idealists (impossible is nothing) and cynics (everybody lies) at the same time. Whatever the circumstances, you can always rely on the INTJ to “fill in” the gaps in the idea – they are most likely to come up with an unorthodox solution.

Generally speaking, INTJs usually prefer to work in the area they know very well. Their typical career is related to science or engineering, but they can be found anywhere where there is a need of intelligence, restless mind and insight (law, investigations, some academic fields). INTJ personalities rarely seek managerial positions – if they do, this is probably because they need more power and freedom of action, not because they enjoy managing people.
Every personality type has many weak spots and INTJs are not an exception. There is one area where their brilliant mind often becomes completely useless and may even hinder their efforts –

INTJs find it very difficult to handle romantic relationships, especially in their earliest stages. People with this personality type are more than capable of loving and taking care of the people close to them, but they are likely to be completely clueless when it comes to attracting a partner.

The main reason behind this is that INTJ personalities are both private and incredibly rational – they find it very difficult to understand the complex social rituals that are considered part of the dating game, especially in Western societies. Things like flirting or small talk are unnatural to them; furthermore, INTJs (especially females) tend to see typical attraction tactics (such as feigning disinterest) as incredibly stupid and irrational.

Ironically, INTJs are most likely to attract a partner when they stop looking for them – this is when their self-confidence starts shining again. There are few things that are more attractive than the unrelenting self-confidence that INTJs are known for.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

The Five Levels of Fear

So... I saw a similiarly titled post shared by See More on FB and I thought I can make one of my own :) Share yours in the comments and let's live in fear of these stuff together...lol :P Enjoy!


The FIRST (and lowest) level of fear

  • Flying cockroaches/ cockroaches
  • Speaking to strangers
  • Creepy crawlies (some of the more-legged ones) or anything slimy and that smells disgusting
  • No internet (lol) or no computer for like a whole week - yes, I'm probably very addicted to using the comp... and the net. oh and ofc games.
  • Laptop or handphone K.O. (Coz I have no money to repair 'em)


The SECOND level of fear

  • Heights and things with a lot of tightly packed holes 
  • Not being able to go home/ my bedroom is (somehow) destroyed 
  • Of getting injured or of suffering pain or of losing something
  • Calling some stranger on the phone (to ask about something for example)
  • Stuck in an unknown place with no transport and with no familiar faces for long periods of time
  • No storybooks for me to read


The THIRD level of fear

  • Loss of any of my limbs or my mental capacity
  • War or any apocalyptic event


The FOURTH level of fear

  • My death (while I had unfinished business to do or death by horrendous, and with a lot of suffering, means - like being eaten alive by cannibals... lol).
  • The death of any close relatives or friends


The FIFTH (and highest) level of fear

  • The death of any or all of my family members


So yeah, these are some of the stuff that I can think of at the moment. As mentioned, feel free to add your list of five levels of fear into the comments or onto your blog post (but do put a link to my blog post, if you may, at the bottom of your post). Have fun!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Orcs Must Die game review

The front page of Orcs Must Die :)
BEST TOWER DEFENSE GAME EVER!

No seriously...

Well, to tone it down a notch... it's a pretty much witty game - with funny dialogues especially the ones that involved the apprentice reminiscing on his mentor's 'teachings' and of course, the banter between the evil witch and the apprentice.

Instead of a typical tower defense game, this game is pretty unique in away that it allows you to build traps in the place of towers and there are RPG element incorporated into the game - you can go into the field and start massacring orcs :P

Get ready for the horde!!

Different types of traps that you can play around with. I especially like the wall traps coupled with plenty of ground spike traps.

You will unlock special skill trees in which you can choose which path to use for each level (the skill tree resets after every level). I'm a fan of steel weaver since I depend heavily on traps to kill most of the mobs. If you prefer RPG more, you should get Elemental weaver and if you're a bit of both, then you should get the third weaver (Not shown here).


After every successful level, you'll unlock a new trap. Play around with combos to identify the traps that you use the most before upgrading any of the traps. 

Hiding from the enemy - those orc archers pack a punch, you'd best use traps and avoid frontal confrontation.
Overall, I would say it is a very well polished game and it had definitely kept me entertained (from the witty self-dialogues to running and 'dancing' around while slicing/shooting orcs to bits) for days. It is a great casual, tower-defense sort of game with superb, cartoon-y graphics - I would highly recommend fans of tower defense to give this game a go :) Enjoy!



P/S: I've promised Rage game review and don't worry, I've not forgotten about it - it's just I'm a bit way over my head this week. I'm just so exhausted and am in a bit of a rush for time (Honestly, this review was actually written ages ago - I just didn't finished it until now lol - and I've just added like a paragraph to finish it). Stay tune for more reviews for games that are fun to play with but may/ may not be popular enough to be a 'blockbuster' game :P



You can buy the game on Amazon here:

Sunday, December 8, 2013

INTP - Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking and Perceiving

Honestly, I've gotten this personality type repeatedly since 6 years ago lol - Guess I never change. :P



Anyway, here's what this site has to say about INTPs.

“Philosophers”, “architects”, “dreamy professors”… These epithets are most often used to describe the INTP personality type. INTPs love theories and believe that everything can be analyzed and improved. They are not that concerned about the real world and practical things – from the INTPs’ perspective, it is often less exciting than ideas and intellectual pursuits. People with this personality type have no difficulties noticing patterns where others cannot – this makes them brilliant theorists and analysts.
 - I knew it! I should have gone into theoretical biology instead. xD
The accumulated knowledge is the most valued asset of any INTP. Imagine an immensely complicated clockwork which is constantly absorbing, processing and generating all kinds of theories – this is how the INTP mind works. People with the INTP personality type possess the most logically precise mind of all personality types – they can easily notice even the tiniest discrepancies between two statements, no matter how much time would have passed in between. It is a bad idea to lie to an INTP. They may appear dreamy sometimes, but this is not because their mind is resting – quite the opposite.
- Heh, so don't lie to me? But even if you lied to me, it may take me years before I recall that exact moment of the lie and realised the discrepancy? :P No worries, I don't mind white lies or any lies that do not concern me btw lol 
INTPs are enthusiastic and impartial when it comes to dealing with problems – they drill through the details and then develop a unique approach and ultimately a viable solution. INTPs are usually very intelligent and insightful people, able to remain unbiased in any situation. They absolutely love new ideas and theories and would never miss an opportunity to discuss them with other people – however, this never-ending thinking process also makes them look somewhat pensive and detached, as INTPs are perfectly able to conduct full-fledged debates in their own heads.
 - I absolutely love new ideas! If you friended me on fb, you can, almost everyday, see me posting new stuff or stuff that are new to me :) and I'll be like itching to try out experiements and stuff... but in the end, I'll probably be too lazy and don't want to waste money on these sort of stuff. 'Waste' money on books is definitely better :D And oh about that debate part, it's so true lol.

- To go or not to go; to do or not to do; that's the question. I'll be like listing the pros and cons of stuff or looking at the 'worth' of a thing that I want to get/ or something that I want to do and the debate will commence! And sometimes, I'll tell other people about the debate in my head (like my parents or my bf :P) and they will be like... this lady can't make up her mind lol - and my bf will go like, you're so cute when you do that. xD 
People with this personality type may also find it quite difficult to explain their thoughts to others, even when it becomes obvious that their theories are not easily graspable. INTPs may also move on to another topic before their co-workers or partners have figured out what the INTP wanted to say.
- A.L.W.A.Y.S. Every damn time... I'll stutter, I'll stumble over words, I'll pause awkwardly as I think of a more understandable sentence to say, but somehow I can convey some of what I was thinking to other people lol... I think and when I -think- I've explained enough on that topic, I'll automatically jump to a new topic and start talking about that instead. And perhaps halfway through the new topic, I recalled something about the previous topic and I'll jump back to talk about the previous topic. It can get pretty hard to follow my conversations lol :P
INTPs cannot stand routine work – they would much rather tackle a difficult theoretical problem. INTP personalities really have no limits when it comes to theoretical riddles – if there is no easy solution and the topic is interesting enough, an INTP can spend ages trying to come up with a solution.
- This sounded very much like me when I'm solving the puzzles in Aarklash Legacy (there are like no hints as to what I should do with the puzzles lol - so I just tested them out :P though some are pretty straightforward ;)), but I do give up from time to time... usually after spending a ridiculous amount of time on it lol.
INTP personalities are usually very shy and reluctant when it comes to meeting other people. However, INTPs can also be very friendly and confident when they interact with people they know well or talk about things that interest them. INTPs are flexible and relaxed in nearly all situations, except when their beliefs or logical conclusions are being criticized. In those cases, the INTP is likely to become very defensive and argue tirelessly.
- YES! True. And the defensive part is true as well. It's not like I cannot accept other people's opinions or accept criticisms, it's just that you'll need to convince me that I'm wrong or sometimes, I'll make the thing easier for you by realising, by myself, that I was wrong and you'll see me saying 'ohhhhhhh..... aha, ya ya, you're right. Sorry.' lol :P
Sharing many personality traits with other T types, INTPs do not really understand or value decisions based on feelings or subjective opinions. In their opinion, the only good solution is the logical solution – INTPs do not see a point in using emotional arguments. Such an approach preserves the “sanctity” of their intellectual method; however, this also makes it difficult for INTP personalities to understand other people’s feelings or satisfy their emotional needs.
Individuals with the INTP personality type are likely to be very open-minded and even eccentric. These traits, combined with their capacity for inventiveness and original thought, make up a very
- lol, I'll bet I've made a name for myself at my postgrad lab as being a young eccentric lady lol. I'm also open-minded, so that's true :P Honestly though, I dread that day when my close friend has an emotional breakdown or something and needed my help and I'll be like standing there awkwardly and don't know what I should do. Maybe a hug and saying 'Everything will be alright'?
One of the few bottlenecks that INTPs impose upon themselves is their restless fear of possible failure. No other personality type worries that much about missing a piece of the mental puzzle or overlooking some crucial fact that might lead to a better solution. Unlike their more confident INTJ or ENTJ cousins, INTPs could spend ages reflecting on their actions. Even when an INTP is arguing with someone, this should be taken with a grain of salt – they might as well be arguing with their own mind.
- This is the truest part of them all - my restless fear of possible failure. I worry my brains off because of this and since I needed to do stuff everyday like a proper young adult lol - I have this fear for every one of the 'stuff' that I'm doing. I'll be like '*lets out a huge breath* alright, let's do this!' to 'WHY??!! Why you always don't work?!?! Why meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?' And every night (unless I'm super tired and fell asleep within minutes of me hitting the bed), I'll be thinking of whatever 'failed' interaction with people that I've done for the day lol... Like delaying that important phone call (to a random stranger to ask for info about something) for hours cause I'm not brave enough to call.


INTP strengths

  • Great analysts and abstract thinkers. INTP personalities are great at noticing patterns and seeing the big picture. They also possess an impressive ability to jump from one idea to another, linking them in ways that usually bewilder most other personality types (I always 'jump around' when I'm talking as well - so well, my brain's 'jumping around' too since I think before I talk).
  • Honest and straightforward. INTPs do not play social games (yes, I don't. Casual chatter with complete strangers in public places, more often than not, seems like a total waste of energy) and see no point in sugar-coating their words. They will clearly state their opinion and expect others to return the favor.
  • Objective. People with the INTP personality are very logical and rational individuals, who see no point in involving emotions in the decision-making process (Hence, I'm stuck in this postgrad study and it seems like I'm forever in an emotional turmoil - how would you feel if the main project that is going to get you graduated is getting delayed since early this year and it seems like the project will be delayed some more until perhaps NEXT F-ING YEAR?). Consequently, they tend to pride themselves in being fair and impartial. (I try :))
  • Imaginative and original. An INTP’s mind is always working, always producing ideas regardless of whether they are likely to see the light of day (my ideas ended up on paper stuffed on the tray on my desk lol). Not surprisingly, INTPs have no difficulties coming up with innovative, original solutions (though I doubt most of my ideas are very much 100% original :P I tend to always modify other people's ideas to make it my own - I don't like exact copying).
  • Open-minded. INTPs tend to be open-minded and willing to accept ideas different from their own, provided that they are supported by facts and logic. Furthermore, INTPs are usually fairly liberal when it comes to social norms and traditions, judging people solely on the basis of their ideas (True this :P).
  • Enthusiastic. INTP personalities can spend an enormous amount of time trying to figure out something they are interested in. They will also be very enthusiastic when it comes to discussing that topic with other people (If you know me as long as my friends or family do, you'll realised that this practically describes me lol).

INTP weaknesses

  • Absent-minded. INTPs are able to focus all their efforts on analyzing a specific idea, but this usually comes at a cost of ignoring everything else. They may be forgetful or simply miss things that have nothing to do with the object of their interest. - this is so me!
  • Second-guess themselves. INTP personalities may be excellent analysts, but they often lack the decisiveness of J types. An INTP may find it quite difficult to decide which idea is the best one, always looking for more information and doubting their own conclusions. - Always lol.
  • Insensitive. INTPs are likely to find it difficult to include emotions in their decision-making process, focusing all their efforts on getting the rational basis right. Consequently, they may often come across as insensitive or be puzzled when it comes to dealing with an emotionally-charged situation.
  • Very private and withdrawn. INTPs are often reluctant to let anyone inside their minds, let alone their hearts. They may often come across as shy in social settings and even the INTP’s friends are likely to have a difficult time getting to know them well. - Yup, I doubt my friends know me as well as my family
  • May be condescending. INTP personalities are usually proud of their extensive knowledge and reasoning abilities, but they may get easily frustrated trying to describe their thoughts other people. INTPs enjoy presenting their ideas to other people, but explaining how they got from A to Z is another matter. - Um, my bf may agree to this... sometimes lol :P
  • Loathe rules and guidelines. INTPs need a lot of freedom and have little respect for rules and traditions which put artificial limits on their imagination. People with this personality type would rather have less security and more autonomy. - yes! No wonder I have always hated the maximum word limit on essays for school work - which was thankfully changed soon thereafter :D

Oh and there's even some food for thought for my personality type:

Have you ever wondered why…
  • …you feel energetic in some situations and exhausted in others?
  • …your self-esteem seems to fluctuate, even when you outperform your peers?
  • …your dreams and idealism are so often misunderstood?
  • …you are not quite sure how to reach your full potential in the world that sometimes seems so foreign to you?
  • …you often feel lost when it comes to attracting fulfilling relationships or simply taking the first step?
  • …you find it easier to talk to some people, but not others?
  • …your friends sometimes say that you are special and mysterious?
  • …you have difficulties studying certain subjects?
  • …your success in networking and advancing your career is often hit and miss?
  • …you sometimes find it difficult to convince your boss, colleague or a client?
  • …you seem to have an unsettling “dark side” that only comes out in rare circumstances?
-- I believe I can say yes to almost all of the questions above lol. (I do have a dark side ;))


Link to the said personality test: http://www.16personalities.com/


That's it I suppose. I'm sorry for the lack of blog posts these days - I'm awfully busy (plenty of paperwork at my lab... sigh) and since my job at the tuition centre started, I hardly have any weekends to begin with. But well, I'm going to KL for this Big Bad Wolf book fair and I can't wait!!! :D Cheerio! I'm off to prepare for my next tuition class lol.

P/S: Teaching tuition class for little kids (standard 1 and 2) makes me realise, again, why I dislike noisy, hyperactive kids.  :\ Don't worry, I'll put up a post of my experience teaching little kids at tuition class soon enough.

P/P/S: I've recently (a few days ago) finished playing Rage and it was AWESOME! Review coming up soon as well - with lots of nice screenshots ;) stay tune!

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Foxes - Youth (Cover by Taryn Southern and Cameron Jaymes)



Lyrics:

They didn't warn me
When I was running wild
The dragons breathing fire
In the backyard at night

We live in circles
And it's so hard to breathe
Maybe the same old fears
What have we here?
Don't bring me down
With you

Now I'm just chasing time
With a thousand dreams I'm holding heavy
And as we cross the line these fading beats have all been severed
Don't tell me our youth is running out
It's only just begun

If I asked you for good news
Would you smile and turn away?
It's like a bad dream
That is too afraid to wake

There are many among us
And we're changing all the time
Maybe the same old fears
What have we here?
Don't bring me down
With you

Now I'm just chasing time
With a thousand dreams I'm holding heavy
And as we cross the line these fading beats have all been severed
Don't tell me our youth is running out
It's only just begun

These fading beats…
These fading beats…

Now I'm just chasing time
With a thousand dreams I'm holding heavy
And as we cross the line these fading beats have all been severed
Don't tell me our youth is running out
It's only just begun

These fading beats…
A thousand dreams…
These fading beats…
A thousand dreams…
It's only just begun

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Kingdom Rush Frontiers - browser version review

An exceptional tower defense game

I'm the 14th person to complete the browser version since its release ^.^

Completed in less than a day - with ~90% missions completed in Iron mode It's very easy once you get the hang of it (like knowing that barracks are somewhat unnecessary, except for backup lol) and when you have all the skills for towers and hero upgraded. 

I love the marksman towers and mage towers best! - I bet I can win any map by just using these lol - with full upgrades ofc, and definitely with my trusty Cronan hero (fully upgraded as well - the trample skill is definitely the first skill you should max out for Cronan - amazingly useful)

Hmm review-wise, this is as good as the first one - perhaps even better :) I've enjoyed playing this a lot. 

I thought of making a walkthrough with screenshots of my tower arrangements and upgrades but then I suppose this game had plenty of video reviews already ... plus I'm lazy lol - I wanted to start playing X-Rebirth hehe. However, if you're stuck in Crimson Valley - here's a hint: the savage eats your troops to replenish health, so you'll need to avoid using barracks and use plenty of marksman towers and other ranged towers. 

Overall, if you've enjoyed Kingdom Rush (the previous game), you'd enjoy this a lot :) Wish there were more missions though... and it's a real pity I don't have a good enough Android phone to be able to play this game on.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Power Writing Structure for writing stories

The structure went 1,2,3,3,3,2,3,3,1.
1 = The Idea
2 = The reason
3 = Details (Facts, Percentages, Short Story Examples, Analogies,)

Credits to Angelofdarkness

**Short blog posts are becoming a bad habit for me lol... I promise I'll change :P

Fun right-brain/ left-brain quiz

Check it out :) : http://en.sommer-sommer.com/braintest/

Mine:

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Ideas and drafts - Upcoming blog posts

So, I've just realised that I had plenty of half-written blog posts and ideas lying around in the drafts section and I thought that if I list them here as upcoming content for my blog, I might get more motivated to actually finish writing them lol.

So here goes (in no particular order)! I hope I won't regret this xD


  1. A pictorial guide on how to play mahjong - for noobs :)
  2. Types of of mahjong players and what it tells about their character (very ambitious project but I have some ideas in mind ;) )
  3. What various games taught me (inspired by Jenna Marbles' similarly titled video)
  4. A postgrad's thoughts - what my supervisor said to me
  5. How to add facebook comments system on blogger (Am still trying unfortunately, if I've found a good and simple way to do this, I'll definitely share :) )
  6. When you don't know what you want (a personal post - I had almost everything written out on paper but I'm just too lazy to type them out lol - I'd rather type useless stuff like this xD)
  7. How to know whether you have trypophobia (I haz it so I'll probably be getting plenty of goosebumps  by writing this post... totally not looking forward to this... :P)
  8. My experience as a class monitor (for around 7 years lol)
  9. Guide to driving on the highway... for newbies :)
  10. Wave music - myths and facts (the way I see it)
  11. Science and writing - do they attract or repel? 
  12. Realisation
  13. My first experience in teaching - being a part-time tuition teacher (after my first class which is somewhere in Dec :) )
  14. Plenty of game/movie/songs/videos/albums reviews!
  15. ... and maybe some short horror stories (based on nightmares that I had lol :P)
Okay that's it for now... quite a lot of procrastination I see lol. Gah, time to get busy :)

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Daughtry videos are up... on my backup channel. :)

So as promised, I've uploaded, again, the videos but this time on my backup channel. My main channel has like 2 strikes now and I would really hate it if I get another one, just saying :) I'm thinking of backing up all my videos on another channel and list them as private/unlisted lol, so I can still have them even though my main channel may one day get taken down by some ridiculous copyright claim - I mean come on! You've stated that my videos are available but restricted in certain countries and then you song-song (hokkien word here, which means 'simply') go and take them down... wtf...

Gah, nvm, 6 more months then my strikes will be gone, then I'll dare to put up more videos on my main account then... lol. Till then, I'll probably putting up all my videos on my backup account.

Update! All my lyrics are updated and the videos are all linked into each respective blog posts. Enjoy! :)

Oh and 200 subs on my main account. Thanks! :)


Link to the playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY5POcOagSuNJYKhf3c7Vf_FdS5e31q4b

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Backstreet Boys - Show Em' (What you are made of)


Lyrics:

[AJ:]
I’ve seen it all a thousand times
Falling down I'm still alive, Am I? Am I?
So hard to breathe when the water’s high
No need to swim I'll learn to fly, so high, so high
You find the truth in a child’s eyes
When the only limit is the sky
Living proof I see myself in you

[Chorus:]
When walls starts to close in
Your heart is frozen over
Just show ‘em what you’re made of
When sun light is fading
The world will be waiting for you
Just show ‘em what you’re made of

[Kevin:]
Gloves are off, Ready to fight
Like a lion I will survive.
Will I? Will I?
You gotta stand for something
Even if you stand alone, don’t be afraid
It’s gonna be alright

[Nick:]
You find the truth in a child’s eyes
When the only limit is the sky (Woo, woo, woo)
Living proof I see myself in you, (Oh)

[Chorus:]
When walls starts to close in
Your heart is frozen over
Just show ‘em what you’re made of
When sun light is fading
The world will be waiting for you
Just show ‘em what you’re made of
(Just show ‘em what you’re made of)

Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh, Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh, Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh,
(Just show ‘em what you’re made of) Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh, Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh, Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Just show ‘em what you’re made of)

[Howie:]
You find the truth in a child’s eyes
When the only limit is the sky
Living proof I see myself in you...

[Chorus:]
When walls starts to close in
Your heart is frozen over
Just show ‘em what you’re made of
(You can show 'em what you're made of!)
When sun light is fading
The world will be waiting for you
(For you, for you! )
Just show ‘em what you’re made of
(You can show ‘em what you’re made of)

Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh, Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh, Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh,
(Just show ‘em what you’re made of) Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh, Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh, Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Just show ‘em what you’re made of...

Epic music again! Peter Crowley - Medieval Anthem

Love this! :) I'm having plenty of epic music on repeat this week - gotta finish editing that review paper that I'm writing lol :P


The Addictiveness of Playing the AH (in Rift) Part IV - Overflowing mail boxes and addons

I'm sure many AHers keep plenty of their merchandise in their mailbox and their alt's mailboxes and sometimes, it's rather hard to keep up with AH's expired mails, outbid mails and won mails. Sold mails are the easiest to take care of lol - just take the money out. For outbids, you need to rebid the stuff on AH and there is no easy way for this - you'll need to jot down the stuff that you got outbidded and then search for them on the AH and then rebid on them. Tedious, isn't it? 

Furthermore, there are plenty of expired mails that you haven't cleared enough bag space to store and hence, by the time you realised it, the mail has already disappeared back into digital particles and you've just lost your merchandise.

Unfortunately, unlike in WoW, the addons section of Rift is rather under-developed, I mean like wtf, there aren't any properly updated addons that helps wholesale AHers do their daily routine of putting stuff up and other stuff?

In WoW, I used to have 1 AH addon, 1 mailbox addon and 1-2 inventory addons (purely for easy AHing, this does not count in the GearScore addon or the interface and raiding addons). 

Now, in Rift, I'm using 1 mailbox addon - EasyMail (helps you to mass delete or mass take out mails), 1 AH addon (I've tried several, but they just don't work as well as the original default interface. BananAH looked promising... until it stopped getting updates lol) - Prices (saves the listed price of an item that you've previously put up on AH), and 2 inventory addons - BankIt (for easy stacking of items - this is EXTREMELY useful) and ToonInfo (Also EXTREMELY useful, especially you have plenty of du/tri/quadriplicate artifacts spread across different alts and guilds).

The catch here is that although ToonInfo is pretty awesome, it does not take in account of items that a) you have in your mailboxes or b) items that are already listed on AH, but it does differentiate items that are in your bags (blue vault icon) and in your bank (grey vault icon). EasyMail still has plenty of errors and more often than not, it'll just break down and you'll have to do everything manually again. BankIt will occasionally get stuck but it's real easy to unstuck it again (just 'stop' it and then re-click the action you want BankIt to do).

Okay, that covers the addons part, now moving on to market survey... lol :P

Artifacts' prices are back on the rise - IT'S TIME! It's finally time to list all the artifacts that you've horded over the past month and get some money in. REX are dropping in price as well - I last saw one going for 930-950plat (on bid though)  and for buyout 960plat. Pretty good deal. Empyrean bags are no longer going for 50-60plat lol, which is good news for people who have plenty of alts to 'bag' up... like me :P It's rather on the low end - around 30plat but not the lowest (25plat) though. 

Herbs' prices are up - especially true for tempestflower. :)

These are the few stuff that I've noticed during my time AH-ing yesterday. Okay, I'm going to play Rift now lol :P Cya!

Oh and P/S: I'm playing on the Aus/Oceanic server, Laethys :) 



Check out my previous blog posts on Rift here:

Guide to understanding the introverted

I haven't posted anything on introversion for quite some time now, and I happen to come across this. It's largely accurate :) Don't mind me adding comments ya? :P



  • Respect personal space
Right on. When I don't feel like talking a lot, (but if you're a good enough friend to me, I will at least talk a bit), don't expect me to talk... lol. I can listen though, no probs.
  • Energy is limited
True again. After every interaction, I'm exhausted and want to just do my stuff without anyone hanging nearby, wanting me to do something for them or stuff like that. Just don't.
  • Don't demand to have energy spent on you when it's not needed
Right again! An example would be casual talk. I don't do that. Seriously, I don't. I find that it is a total waste of time and energy. Unless I'm interested to be your friend or that I had no choice but to talk to you (like for asking a question), I won't initiate any conversation for the sake of talking. And because of this, when other people talk to me casually, I will give minimal response - like a smile, an awkward laugh, or a nod/grunt lol.
  • Don't take silence as an insult 
True dat! :P Usually, if you said something and I just went silent, it's either I don't know how to respond to what you've said or that I totally didn't hear you (honest!) - I was living in my own brain you see.
  • Introverts get lonely too
Yes, although I can be alone and happy for extended period of time (with my laptop or a book). However, sometimes, I will suddenly sms a friend or two to go have some chat and fun, but most of the time, I prefer to be alone with my stuff. I sound very anti-social here... lol :P

Oh and that part where it says 'let the introvert feels like they are welcome' is absolutely correct. If I feel like I'm an outsider in a group, I'll probably, as silently and as subtly as I can, remove myself from that situation. Ima be a ninja lol. :P

Helping people on Ask.com

I've found a new hobby lol. :)

There are plenty of funny and weird questions here too but I just answer those that I can - like some science problems, writing problems, computer problems etc :)

You can follow me on Ask.com if you like, link's here: http://www.ask.com/answers/profile/41158101/aveyn?qsrc=3099

One of my proudest moments is when I'm helping would-be authors with the contents of their books/ comics. :)

Here's one of them:



Update: ah well, Ask.com removed their Q&A community section. RIP.
http://help.ask.com/ics/support/kbanswer.asp?deptID=30018&task=knowledge&questionID=266&languageID=