Monday, May 28, 2007

SWNow :: Episode 7 :: Extension :: 052807


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As you can see from above, I'm proNaruHina all the way! Congrats to their pairing (in a mission) in the recent manga! ^^;

So, Cyndie extended her stay in IRRI until last friday :) I'm quite glad for the week, and I'm no longer emo. However, I also need to extend my stay here until thursday too, since I just discovered last friday that lunchbreaks are subtracted from the time record. And the nWoD session last saturday? Well, I designed scene 1 to go for 15 mins. We spent the 15 mins, with a few hours extension. About 2 to 3 hours extension. -___- I'm not sure how to handle this peeps, but I'll try to do some damage control next session.

What else... Hmm... Err... I don't think anything else is worth mentioning right now. Nothing much happened last week, except perhaps that I'm stalling the production of the 'professional' job right now. Not so professional eh? But still, I'm gonna kill my body If I'm going to continue this 20-hour days I'm doing. Four hours of sleep just won't cut it, so I'm back to my usual routine for a week or two before going back to the software.

I guess there's nothing else... Go NaruHina! Hehehehehe
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Monday, May 21, 2007

SWNow :: Episode 6 :: Last Day :: 052107


The picture above is for a certain someone whom I really liked.
Click to Enlarge.
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I'm a bit sad today, since today is Cyndie's last day at IRRI. She has finished her OJT tenure of 166 Hours, so I won't be seeing her regularly from now on. Anyways, as Nelly Furtado have said (sung, actually), all good things come to an end...eventually. *sigh* It was really fun being with her everyday...

That aside, my little 'professional' job is driving me nuts. SQL is supposed to be easy, but no - it decides to go all sloppy on me. Well, I'm actually to blame, but still - no one said anything about schemas and servers until it was too late. Oh, btw, the nWoD Session went as I predicted, with almost three hours solely on character creation and prologue. Next saturday, we're still there at scene one, but I sure hope they cooperate more... -___-Those things aside, It's still the same around here...sorry I'm not in the mood to explain right now. I'm kindof gloomy.

*thinks of happy thoughts*

Last friday, we (Me and Cyndie) were attacked by IRRI's cursed printer. ^^ Hahahaha It was really fun, with the printer doing nothing as we predicted (It prints a lot of copies, puts pictures on blank templates etc...). The printer became normal again a few hours before closing, so in the end Cyndie was able to pass her trimmed printouts to her supervisor.

*stops thinking*

*goes all gloomy again*

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Monday, May 14, 2007

SWNow :: Episode 5 :: Pouch of Sand :: 051507

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Why the hell am I so damn sleepy today? I just can’t keep my eyes open. This is the first time that Cyndie asked me for some help (an improvement from her ‘I don’t need help’ behavior) though I only need to demonstrate things once for her to pick the tricks. I feel like my brain’s fogged up, and I can’t design properly.

Oh, and that reminds me, I got my very first outside-the-campus project. I feel like a damn professional. A damn sleepy professional. It was a relatively easy custom software job for this photography shop at Los Banos. An automated ID Creator, with database capabilities, preferably SQL. Unfortunately, I’m using Visual Basic.NET (I’m still learning its quirks) and I’m not very comfortable with SQL through VB.NET. Another problem is the print module of the software – I’m not sure how to print a form in VB.NET (There’s no PrintForm Function). Those aside, I hope I can finish the software by Friday morning, since that’s the deadline.

What else…The OJT night’s this Thursday, I still have 74 Hours left, Cyndie’s OJT is only until this Monday, and I’ve got to finish the story for the Storytelling Session (nWoD) this coming Saturday. I hope my berks won’t give me a hard time at the character creation, especially JM. They’re freakin notorious for spending a lot of time in choosing their options – the chapter’s good for one to one-and-a-half hours of gameplay, but I expect the character creation to span for about three or so hours. That’s four (or more) freakin hours. Anyways, I hope all would be well by Saturday. I guess that’s every thing about me for now, so Ciao!

PS> Take a look at my latest photo manips at my portfolio – LantisGaius.DeviantArt.Com! ^^
PS2> MAGIC:tG PLAYERS PLEASE READ: Toothless Strategies, by: The Ferret, more specifically the 'Five Common Novice Misperceptions In Deck Design' part. It's good stuff, very helpful.

Monday, May 7, 2007

SWNow :: Episode 4 :: Dentist :: 040707

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The dentist was Dr. Rubio. I encountered him last tuesday, just before I went to Juner's house. It was labor day, so I've no OJT. Let's start from my innermost tooth (The molar? Whatever), 'kay? It was cleaned, calcified (Calcium + Amalgam + Pasta) before being lasered into place. Yes, the dentist actually owned a handheld blue-laser (cobalt?) that he used on one of my teeth. Thext tooth was extracted, which has broken off into three pieces. Each was taken off with minimal effort. The next was root-canalled, a process where the nerves inside the teeth are taken off and replaced by rubber. The next was cleaned and also calcified. I went back the next saturday for a final filling.

But it still throbs. Darn it, the extracted tooth was a bit decayed, and maybe the gums was affected by its taint. My gums hurt a bit because of it.... Anyways, that's that about my teeth.

OJT matters: Cyndie told me this morning that she's planning to do some overtime this week. Up until 9:00pm, since the last shuttle goes off the Institute by 9:15pm. And guess what? I'm going with her! This arrangement has a lot of benefits - from adding almost 4 hours per day at my Daily Time Record and an extended bonding period with Cyndie, I'd love to do overtime.^^ That aside, I sure hope this OJT finishes quickly (120 hours to go). Btw, Cyndie was chosen to be a candidate at Mr. & Ms. OJT Night at our (Guess what?) OJT Night this May 17. If you guys want to attend, just ask me (through text or through the cbox) for a ticket (p15) since outsiders are encouraged to come.

Darn it, my PCs still busted, and my dad needs to use laptop...so Ciao, I guess...
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Mood: Mixed
Music: Emo
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PS> Happy Birthday Dad! ^^
PS2> Congrats grace, and for your new boyfriend...
F*** Y** you S#**-eating Man-Wh***! ^^ Yes, I do hate the bugger.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Magic:tG :: Something Dredged :: 050207

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I was searching around in the MTGSalvation forums for a competent Jhoira Control deck that won’t cost me a fortune when I accidentally clicked this curious little thread named ‘Something Blue, Something Dredged’ at the Decks for Critique subforum. The list at the first post contatined the barebones of a very powerful Combo deck, and the second post completed the list with Aggro-Control elements as a backup plan if anything goes awry. Believe me, I was impressed by the poster’s boasts of turn 4-6 kills, and (at a God hand) the deck even managed a turn 3 kill. It was running under an inginous engine that looked like a pile of crap(cards) at first, but they’re really damn synergistic once you playtest the deck. Here’s my take on NarcoBridge.dec –

// NAME: Dredge.mwDeck
// Land
6 Island
4 River of Tears
4 Gemstone Mine
4 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Svogthos, the Restless Tomb
// Critters
4 Drowned Rusalka
4 Narcomoeba
4 Magus of the Bazaar
4 Thought Courier
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
2 Flame-Kin Zealot
1 Blazing Archon
1 Mindslicer
// Other Spells
4 Bridge from Below
4 Dread Return
2 Nightmare Void
// Sideboard
SB: 4 Leyline of the Void
SB: 4 Darkblast
SB: 4 Krosan Grip
SB: 3 Damnation


The Combo: During early game, play draw enablers (Drowned Rusalka, Thought Courier and Magus of the Bazaar) and dredge (Golgari Grave-troll, Stinkweed Imp and Nightmare Void) like crazy. The goal is to hit Bridge from Below, Dread Return and Flame-Kin Zealot at the graveyard. When there’s one or two bridges at the graveyard, flashback Dread Return (Sacrificing three creatures as a cost) targeting Flame-Kin Zealot. This will trigger a chain reaction that would end on the destruction of the entire universe, depending on the number of Bridge from Below in the ‘yard. A single bridge would net you three 3/3 zombies with haste and a 3/3 elemental with haste (12 Damage Total), two bridges will produce six 3/3 zombies with haste and the elemental (21 Damage Total), three bridges: nine 3/3s plus 1 elemental (30 Damage Total) and if you somehow got all four bridges at the 'yard after the combo, then its 12 3/3s plus 1 elemental (39 Damage Total). Don't forget that these zombies are fast - they've got haste because of the elemental.

The Aggro/Control: If the combo goes awry, such as when a stray critter hits your opponents graveyard and the bridges remove themselves from the game, the deck suddenly becomes an aggro-control hybrid. The dredging would continue, but the Imp and the Narcomoebas would act as control elements (plus the Nightmare Void) in order to stall the game. Control would have a pretty hefty problem of countering the dredgeable and huge Golgari Grave-troll, but when that monster takes the bat and swings for damage, it will score some huge damage.

The Problem: It lacks removal - this is done deliberately in order to make sure that accidents won;t happen. A critter dying in the other side of the playmat means that the bridges on your 'yard disintegrate. Vs. an aggro matchup however, well, that's why theres three damnations on the sideboard. The Leyline on the board also prevent the critters on the other side of the table from going to their graves.

Anyway, this is the deck I'm going to build this TimeSpiral Season, and probably the deck I'm going to bring to the Regionals. ^^ So, good luck to all of us, and Comments and Critiques are very much appreciated. Ciao, for now - I'm off to playtest!