Had a fun game of Poker with some good blokes last night. Unlike the last couple of games which I played at the end of a work week, I was in pretty good spirits and really enjoyed myself until we closed out at 1am.
I love the Dealers Choice custom in the League of Ordinary Gentlemen; really conducive to traditional bs/trash talk that are the important staples of an entertaining game. But I was getting murdered, thanks largely to losing against a straight flush with a full house in a game of Anaconda.
Until a really late run on my final re-buy, I was slated to make a pretty big loss despite my earlier tourney winnings. But 4 Queens in a game of Spit in the Ocean saved me!
Taxi: -$30
Beers: -$20
Tourney fee: -$20
Pizza: -$10
Tourney winnings: +$80
Dealers Choice + 2 Rebuys: -$60
Cash out at End of Dealers Choice: +$57
League of Ordinary Gentlemen Trophy Minding Goodwill: +$3
I'm already starting to feel a little holiday-ish!
Saturday, 29 November 2008
Saturday, 8 November 2008
Prague Warm-ups
Over the 8 nights between 27th Oct and 4th Nov I had a peak of about 5 hours sleep a night, and an average somewhere between 3.5 to 4 hours a night.
The waking hours over that period were generally consumed by a company off-site, travel, sporting events, and alcohol-fueled debauchery. More the latter... The only price I've had to pay is a mild cold that I got once I was back in Australia (Tuesday) which has almost subsided.
I am now ready to fly out to Prague on Friday.
I've just glimpsed at the weather there -- it will vary between 3 and 12 degrees celcius while I am there!
As an aside, Hong Kong was a blast!
The waking hours over that period were generally consumed by a company off-site, travel, sporting events, and alcohol-fueled debauchery. More the latter... The only price I've had to pay is a mild cold that I got once I was back in Australia (Tuesday) which has almost subsided.
I am now ready to fly out to Prague on Friday.
I've just glimpsed at the weather there -- it will vary between 3 and 12 degrees celcius while I am there!
As an aside, Hong Kong was a blast!
Sunday, 19 October 2008
Netbooks
I bought my first netbook about a month ago - an MSI Wind U100, featuring a 10-inch screen (1024x600) and utilising a 1.6 GHz "Atom" processor. It is extremely light -- the laptop with the battery in it weighs about a kilo.
For A$680 it also came with a 120 GB HD (at the time of ordering it was spec'd with an 80 GB, so bonus...), 1 GB RAM, 802.11g, and a 6-cell battery (good for 4-5 hours). It has 3 external USB ports and an ethernet port. The key thing it doesn't come with: a CD or DVD drive. But that's fine.
I also bought a few 3rd party add-ons -- another 1 GB RAM, replaced the Wireless G mini PCI-E card with a Wireless N, and replaced the internal disk with a 2.5-inch 500 GB SATA (5400 rpm). This brought the total spend up to around (just below) A$1000. In terms of modifying/installing the 3rd party hardware? Piece of cake.
A couple of weekends ago I configured it as a hackintosh (10.5.4). I am very impressed with the results -- the laptop is quite snappy even with I/O and CPU intensive tasks such as running a Windows XP instance in VMware or playing video.
The only HW not working is the headphone jacks and the internal microphone (easily remedied with a USB headset, which I use when I voice-skype anyways).
While I'll keep my MacBook Pro for everyday work, the netbook should be the perfect travel companion for my upcoming trips to Hong Kong and the Czech Republic. Not only is it compact and light, but it's so inexpensive that if it came to the crunch I wouldn't be too worried about replacing it if it got flogged.
For A$1000, I think the spec is unbelievably good.
For A$680 it also came with a 120 GB HD (at the time of ordering it was spec'd with an 80 GB, so bonus...), 1 GB RAM, 802.11g, and a 6-cell battery (good for 4-5 hours). It has 3 external USB ports and an ethernet port. The key thing it doesn't come with: a CD or DVD drive. But that's fine.
I also bought a few 3rd party add-ons -- another 1 GB RAM, replaced the Wireless G mini PCI-E card with a Wireless N, and replaced the internal disk with a 2.5-inch 500 GB SATA (5400 rpm). This brought the total spend up to around (just below) A$1000. In terms of modifying/installing the 3rd party hardware? Piece of cake.
A couple of weekends ago I configured it as a hackintosh (10.5.4). I am very impressed with the results -- the laptop is quite snappy even with I/O and CPU intensive tasks such as running a Windows XP instance in VMware or playing video.
The only HW not working is the headphone jacks and the internal microphone (easily remedied with a USB headset, which I use when I voice-skype anyways).
While I'll keep my MacBook Pro for everyday work, the netbook should be the perfect travel companion for my upcoming trips to Hong Kong and the Czech Republic. Not only is it compact and light, but it's so inexpensive that if it came to the crunch I wouldn't be too worried about replacing it if it got flogged.
For A$1000, I think the spec is unbelievably good.
Monday, 6 October 2008
Random
Some other random thoughts:
- Apparently by 2030, laptops will be hotter than the sun. Semi-seriously, I wonder when we will start to see warnings on the side of laptops like they do with coffee cups...
- I've been playing around with the Windows port of xbmc on my Vista Media Center lately. I've played with it before on my retired Xbox, but my interest has been piqued by all the forks we have seen emerge recently such as Boxee and Plex. It's fascinating that open source leads the way in this industry, given the commercial potential.
- It's a good time to be a Redskins fan. I can't remember the last time I was so inspired by the team and it's coaching. I mean really and truly inspired. I didn't think much could top last week's win over Dallas in Texas Stadium until I watched the Skins rally from being 14-0 down in the first quarter to dominate Philadelphia at the Link. Not just winning, but winning with style (such wonderfully aggressive play-calling by head coach Jim Zorn). I am so freaking proud of this team right now, and I've been on a natural high all day after watching the game...
- ...possibly akin to what Manly fans feel about their team walloping the Melbourne Storm in yesterday's league Grand Final 40-0.
- I'm quite looking forward to going to Hong Kong at the end of the month to witness Dingo put some hurt on the All Blacks. Lots of new talent on display, and with plenty of time (4 weeks) to get ready. The Wallabies have so much upside between now and the next World Cup. We are very lucky to have a philosophy like Robbie's to go with the talent, rather than conservative, stifling thinking ala Connolly.
- I'm also looking forward to the new Coen brothers film Burn After Reading. Their humour almost always strikes a chord with me.
- With Nick doing All Tomorrow's Parties at the Sydney Festival this year, I think this is gonna be the year where I get off my butt to try and get some tickets to Sydney Festival events in a timely manner (as opposed to my usual ad-hoc manner). I love this time of year in Sydney.
- I feel a project coming on...
- Apparently by 2030, laptops will be hotter than the sun. Semi-seriously, I wonder when we will start to see warnings on the side of laptops like they do with coffee cups...
- I've been playing around with the Windows port of xbmc on my Vista Media Center lately. I've played with it before on my retired Xbox, but my interest has been piqued by all the forks we have seen emerge recently such as Boxee and Plex. It's fascinating that open source leads the way in this industry, given the commercial potential.
- It's a good time to be a Redskins fan. I can't remember the last time I was so inspired by the team and it's coaching. I mean really and truly inspired. I didn't think much could top last week's win over Dallas in Texas Stadium until I watched the Skins rally from being 14-0 down in the first quarter to dominate Philadelphia at the Link. Not just winning, but winning with style (such wonderfully aggressive play-calling by head coach Jim Zorn). I am so freaking proud of this team right now, and I've been on a natural high all day after watching the game...
- ...possibly akin to what Manly fans feel about their team walloping the Melbourne Storm in yesterday's league Grand Final 40-0.
- I'm quite looking forward to going to Hong Kong at the end of the month to witness Dingo put some hurt on the All Blacks. Lots of new talent on display, and with plenty of time (4 weeks) to get ready. The Wallabies have so much upside between now and the next World Cup. We are very lucky to have a philosophy like Robbie's to go with the talent, rather than conservative, stifling thinking ala Connolly.
- I'm also looking forward to the new Coen brothers film Burn After Reading. Their humour almost always strikes a chord with me.
- With Nick doing All Tomorrow's Parties at the Sydney Festival this year, I think this is gonna be the year where I get off my butt to try and get some tickets to Sydney Festival events in a timely manner (as opposed to my usual ad-hoc manner). I love this time of year in Sydney.
- I feel a project coming on...
Phones
A couple of random phone-related thoughts:
- There were two things that I have felt were show-stopping detractors with the iPhone which have nothing to do with it's design. The first is that iPhone sales have been tied to service provider contracts featuring very (to put it lightly) uncompetitive data rates, and the second is that they've had NDA's tied to the platform SDK, curbing efforts by communities to develop for the iPhone (including writing books). Thankfully, the latter has been fixed, and the former is rumoured to be addressed in the next few months.
- In the meantime, I have allowed my company to provide me a Blackberry Bold, simply because I am entitled to a new phone once every two years. The phone has a solid design, but I'm still trying to decide whether I like the idea of carrying around email in my pocket.
- My previous phone (the Treo 680) was without doubt the best I've ever owned, but unfortunately PalmOS is a dead platform. What a tragedy. An OS with a really great philosophy that I will miss. The phone now becomes a hand-me-down for V.
- There were two things that I have felt were show-stopping detractors with the iPhone which have nothing to do with it's design. The first is that iPhone sales have been tied to service provider contracts featuring very (to put it lightly) uncompetitive data rates, and the second is that they've had NDA's tied to the platform SDK, curbing efforts by communities to develop for the iPhone (including writing books). Thankfully, the latter has been fixed, and the former is rumoured to be addressed in the next few months.
- In the meantime, I have allowed my company to provide me a Blackberry Bold, simply because I am entitled to a new phone once every two years. The phone has a solid design, but I'm still trying to decide whether I like the idea of carrying around email in my pocket.
- My previous phone (the Treo 680) was without doubt the best I've ever owned, but unfortunately PalmOS is a dead platform. What a tragedy. An OS with a really great philosophy that I will miss. The phone now becomes a hand-me-down for V.
Thursday, 18 September 2008
Absurd Juxtaposition
If memory serves me correctly, in my first year at the University of Newcastle (1992) we had a 48 Kb connection to AARNET (i.e. the internet).
48 Kb. For the entire university.
I remember overhearing some students bickering about those pesky MUD'ers using up valuable bandwidth (probably around 2 Kb a player).
This week I spent a couple of hours watching a streaming NFL game (in HD no less) which required that I had at least a 750 Kb connection. Not a problem over 24 Mb ADSL2+.
My, how things change.
48 Kb. For the entire university.
I remember overhearing some students bickering about those pesky MUD'ers using up valuable bandwidth (probably around 2 Kb a player).
This week I spent a couple of hours watching a streaming NFL game (in HD no less) which required that I had at least a 750 Kb connection. Not a problem over 24 Mb ADSL2+.
My, how things change.
Monday, 15 September 2008
Tri-Nations
I was at a bucks party on Saturday night, which means I didn't watch the 3N decider until yesterday afternoon (carefully dodging any possible clues of the result for about 14 hours after the game).
Without getting deep on analysis, the Wallabies basically lost a close one which they very easily could have won. The clear difference between these two teams at a technical level was at the breakdown. The AB's were better by a nose at this area in the first half, but they dominated in the second half.
Much like defense, I think this comes down to attitude while still maintaining discipline to play within the scheme.
Some things that Robbie must contemplate before the International Test season begins in a couple of months:
1. Who's up for it, and who ain't? I wonder whether Palu would have been dropped if there had been a regular #8 training with the squad up until recently. He's a terrific player for the Tahs (and even in past Tests), but on current form I can't think of a single Test this year that he's done more good than bad. OTOH, Richard Brown looked pretty good in his debut. Do we need another flyhalf/12 in the squad of 30? (yes -- Quade Cooper?) Should Robbie start developing David Pocock at the expense of Phil Waugh? Do we need to tweak our outside backs? Basically: who's made progress since the domestic season began, and who is still "promising potential"?
2. Leadership. I hate to do this, but you also have to question Mortlock's captaincy. In the last two losses that we've had, it's ultimately come down to the team losing it's composure; in the case of this game, we just didn't have the mental fortitude to maintain the pressure we had built in the first 50 or 60 minutes, and that's when the AB's started to dictate the game. That really reflects on team leadership and ultimately captaincy. Robbie needs to work out whether tweaking makes the difference between the results now and instead the team delivering what the promise over the whole 80 mins.
3. Addressing the Flaws. The critics like to take shots at our kicking game which is absolutely fair. It's a no brainer, and if we can find a way to fix it then we should. This comes down to talent rather than to scheming and/or game planning. But on the game planning aspects, two areas where we are getting beat badly: a) Defensive overlaps and b) at the breakdown... We need to make the necessary adjustments over the next few months to stop our opponents exploiting us here. I have a sneaking suspicion there's already some ideas in place but being poorly executed on.
As crushing as that loss is, I think Robbie has made fantastic progress with this team. In fact, I'm really surprised he's got so much done so quickly.
But the reality of difficult decisions to be made to get to the top of the mountain can be a sobering thought!
Without getting deep on analysis, the Wallabies basically lost a close one which they very easily could have won. The clear difference between these two teams at a technical level was at the breakdown. The AB's were better by a nose at this area in the first half, but they dominated in the second half.
Much like defense, I think this comes down to attitude while still maintaining discipline to play within the scheme.
Some things that Robbie must contemplate before the International Test season begins in a couple of months:
1. Who's up for it, and who ain't? I wonder whether Palu would have been dropped if there had been a regular #8 training with the squad up until recently. He's a terrific player for the Tahs (and even in past Tests), but on current form I can't think of a single Test this year that he's done more good than bad. OTOH, Richard Brown looked pretty good in his debut. Do we need another flyhalf/12 in the squad of 30? (yes -- Quade Cooper?) Should Robbie start developing David Pocock at the expense of Phil Waugh? Do we need to tweak our outside backs? Basically: who's made progress since the domestic season began, and who is still "promising potential"?
2. Leadership. I hate to do this, but you also have to question Mortlock's captaincy. In the last two losses that we've had, it's ultimately come down to the team losing it's composure; in the case of this game, we just didn't have the mental fortitude to maintain the pressure we had built in the first 50 or 60 minutes, and that's when the AB's started to dictate the game. That really reflects on team leadership and ultimately captaincy. Robbie needs to work out whether tweaking makes the difference between the results now and instead the team delivering what the promise over the whole 80 mins.
3. Addressing the Flaws. The critics like to take shots at our kicking game which is absolutely fair. It's a no brainer, and if we can find a way to fix it then we should. This comes down to talent rather than to scheming and/or game planning. But on the game planning aspects, two areas where we are getting beat badly: a) Defensive overlaps and b) at the breakdown... We need to make the necessary adjustments over the next few months to stop our opponents exploiting us here. I have a sneaking suspicion there's already some ideas in place but being poorly executed on.
As crushing as that loss is, I think Robbie has made fantastic progress with this team. In fact, I'm really surprised he's got so much done so quickly.
But the reality of difficult decisions to be made to get to the top of the mountain can be a sobering thought!
Wednesday, 3 September 2008
SHO RYU KEN!
Street Fighter IV is looking very good. Very, very good.
It looks like incremental improvement from a gameplay perspective, but you never know until the play test. And I love modern take on the graphics, opting to make it as anime-like as possible.
Capcom also seem pretty open about the platform as well, even opening the possibility of doing a Wii version or an iPhone (?!?) version.
I love this quote from the game designer:
BTW, can you believe that Street Fighter II came out 17 years ago?
It looks like incremental improvement from a gameplay perspective, but you never know until the play test. And I love modern take on the graphics, opting to make it as anime-like as possible.
Capcom also seem pretty open about the platform as well, even opening the possibility of doing a Wii version or an iPhone (?!?) version.
I love this quote from the game designer:
1UP: Well, that's cool. But what about the controller? Are you worried about people playing the game for the first time using the Xbox 360 controller? Personally, I'm not a fan of it for fighting games -- would you agree?
YO: Ha, well, you're not going to get me to say that in front of Microsoft, but let's just say that I use a joystick when playing Soul Calibur 4 on the 360.
BTW, can you believe that Street Fighter II came out 17 years ago?
Monday, 1 September 2008
The Prodigal Son Returns
While we are on John Woo...
Just over a decade ago, John Woo departed to Hollywood. With all due respect to one of my favourite directors, he has made crap ever since.
The good news: Woo has just released his first Hong Kong film in Asia since leaving, which turns out to be the most expensive Asian blockbuster in history (so far) with a budget of US$80mil.
It is an action movie based on The Battle of Red Cliffs (Three Kingdoms period of ancient China -- fast becoming one of my favourite historical backdrops in movies).
It was meant to star Chow Yun Fat, but the crazy fool decided to do a contract holdout the day principal photography was due to start, and Woo quickly replaced him with Tony Leung Chiu Wai (the guy who played the undercover cop opposite Chow Yun Fat in Hard Boiled). Chow Yun Fat tried to get back in, but Woo stuck with Tony Leung.
So far, it has been received very well in Asia, now billed as the most successful movie ever in China (US$43 mil in the first month).
In Asia it's a two parter (each over 2 hours), with the second part due for release in Jan 09. However, for the Western release it will apparently be a single two and half hour epic.
Of course, there's no way I'm settling for the abbreviated version :)
Just over a decade ago, John Woo departed to Hollywood. With all due respect to one of my favourite directors, he has made crap ever since.
The good news: Woo has just released his first Hong Kong film in Asia since leaving, which turns out to be the most expensive Asian blockbuster in history (so far) with a budget of US$80mil.
It is an action movie based on The Battle of Red Cliffs (Three Kingdoms period of ancient China -- fast becoming one of my favourite historical backdrops in movies).
It was meant to star Chow Yun Fat, but the crazy fool decided to do a contract holdout the day principal photography was due to start, and Woo quickly replaced him with Tony Leung Chiu Wai (the guy who played the undercover cop opposite Chow Yun Fat in Hard Boiled). Chow Yun Fat tried to get back in, but Woo stuck with Tony Leung.
So far, it has been received very well in Asia, now billed as the most successful movie ever in China (US$43 mil in the first month).
In Asia it's a two parter (each over 2 hours), with the second part due for release in Jan 09. However, for the Western release it will apparently be a single two and half hour epic.
Of course, there's no way I'm settling for the abbreviated version :)
Hard Boiled, Part 2?
One of my favourite Hong Kong action films of all time (Hard Boiled) appears to have a sequel: Stranglehold.
John Woo directs and Chow Yun Fat stars...
The twist? It's a video game for the Xbox 360.
I just can't imagine a video game scene having the same impact as the teahouse shoot out from the beginning of Hard Boiled, but nevertheless my curiosity has been aroused.
John Woo directs and Chow Yun Fat stars...
The twist? It's a video game for the Xbox 360.
I just can't imagine a video game scene having the same impact as the teahouse shoot out from the beginning of Hard Boiled, but nevertheless my curiosity has been aroused.
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