Operation Walküre: A Quick Look at Valkyrie, the motion picture, and the theatre where I watched it at

It’s a decent movie and is certainly not too shabby. This is especially true if you’re into Germany’s militaristic past.

The film’s supporting cast features quite a number of actors I recognize, and the Hitler in the film really does look like the real one! I loved the suspense created whenever the Führer appeared, and as expected, Tom Cruise’s acting was stupendous. I don’t think I’ll have to reveal the movie’s plot here, as you might most probably already be well informed about Stauffenberg’s failed coup d’état and plot against Hitler’s life.

The cinema itself was pretty underwhelming. I was actually expecting to watch Valkyrie in my area’s best theater. But for some reason or another, the theater was not featuring the movie there. Instead, I was told to saunter off to another nearby theater of a much lower prestige which did feature it. The theater looked eerily vacant, seemed run-down and still carried a 1980s aesthetic of having incandescent light bulbs emblazoned all over the entrance to attract viewers. However, my cinema room had a “Lucasfilm THX” logo proudly displayed just next to its entrance. At least I know that I’ll be getting a worthy cinematic experience.

On the contrary, I did not; the projector’s image was too large for the screen! In other words, the white screen left out a border on all 4 sides. Worse still, near the beginning of the presentation, the projected motion picture went awfully out of focus for a good 5 mins or so, requiring someone working for theatre to manually readjust the projector. When asked to rewind the film a little, that dude did not (I don’t think the projector is capable of doing so anyway). As a result, I missed a few minutes of the movie. What a bummer! Furthermore, a few of the seats were broken. I don’t expect them to be replaced in the foreseeable future anyway, for the theatre is simply not worthy for a renovation.

I think that THX metal plate has been there for quite some time already. It may have been placed there when THX went around certifying cinemas, and that was a long, long time ago. I just can’t believe that it’s still THX certified when almost everything has fallen into disrepair.

To sum up, I openly recommend you to catch this splendid movie. It’s too bad I couldn’t watch it the way I should have, but I do hope you will.

"Es lebe unser heiliges Deutschland!",
T’ang


(image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valkyrie_(film))

Notes from the Lab

I bought a pair of Kingston 2GB SO-DIMMs from a Best Buy Boxing Sale today. It was on sale for half the retail price, which is obviously a pretty darn good deal. I installed it without much difficulty on my brother’s 2-3 year old Dell laptop, replacing his old 533MHz, 512MB pair to the spanking new 667MHz, 2GB pair. The installation process couldn’t be easier; I just had to loosen a couple of screws, pop a cover open, release the retention brackets, remove the old sticks, slot in the new ones and replace the cover. The entire process took no longer than 5 mins.

As anticipated, Windows XP detects approximately 3.25GB of RAM installed. Some say that upgrading from 1GB to 4GB on XP wouldn’t give much of a noticeable boost in performance. However, my experience falsifies that statement. The enhancement is downright tremendous. Windows Explorer is now openly more responsive and switching between tasks is now an instantaneous process. My brother had to wait 5 mins after exiting Battlefield 2 just to allow the laptop to turn usable again. But no longer; the desktop now appears without delay upon hitting the ‘Quit’ tab.

Gaming performance has benefitted from a similar outcome; I can now run Battlefield 2 on the highest details on a 1280x800 resolution with 4x Anti-Aliasing. Previously, the laptop struggles to produce a playable frame rate with even the lowest details activated.

With DDR2 RAM prices now hitting a record low, there’s no excuse not to get more of it.

T’ang

Chinook--Red Hot Chilli Radeons Part 2

For starters, exams are finally over and I have roughly 3 weeks of holidays before school starts again on January. Regarding my graphic cards, I have done the necessary tests and have come up with quite remarkable results.

Like I said in my previous entry, I’ve installed ATI Catalyst 8.12. The manual fan speed control function did show up as promised. Now, I’ve complete control over my fans. As expected, the fan was set at ~26% during idle with automatic settings enabled. I dragged the slider to 50%, and easily, the graphic cards sounded like a helicopter with twin rotors powering up under my desk. I immediately reduced the speed to 40% and the whirring noise fell to within acceptable levels.

Now dig this: the temps fell to an astounding 52°C! Now that’s an accomplishment!


I’ve set up 2 profiles, one for gaming and the other for mundane computing tasks. With the gaming profile activated, the fans will boost to 40% of their rated maximum speed. While with the latter, I’ll let the cards manage themselves using the auto mode.

Beside the usual claims about performance gains (that seldom come true), I’ve noticed that ATI has added a CrossFireX feature in this driver update. Alright fine, it’s may not be qualified to be called a feature. But nonetheless, with it on, a CrossFireX logo will appear at the top right hand corner of the display whenever the Control Centre detects that CrossFireX is activated. Like I mentioned, it’s not exactly a practical attribute. I guess it just makes dual GPU users feel smug about owning cutting-edge technology.


ATI has also called this driver update the biggest yet. Primarily because it has made its Avivo Video Converter freely available for users. However, a recent article by ExtremeTech has dubbed this converter as ‘still in its developing stage’ and not ready for prime-time. If I recall accurately, real-world testing has shown that Avivo is a speedy converter but quality issues proved to be its biggest downfall.

That’s all for this topic people. Till the next ATI driver update!

T’ang

Red Hot Chilli Radeons

I guess I have just found out the reason why ATI’s Radeon stock cards always have a red cooler on them. I believe you will know the answer by the time you read the next few paragraph.

I was well aware that my Radeon cards were running well above 80 degrees at factory speeds. Even on idle. (That scale is in Celsius) I thought the 4800 series were meant to run that way and thus, I never had a second though about it. Guess what? I randomly rummaged through some forum entries today and saw that others had their 4870s running on 50 degrees on idle, 70 degrees under load.

readings of my primary graphics adapter

Let’s do the math. If others have their cards running ~40% degrees higher under load than when it’s idle, my ΔT should increase by approximately the same percentage right? Well, yes, I guess.

80 + 80*40% = >100°C.

Ahem…That number with double zeros sure looks familiar. I guess that’s somewhat beneficial: with that value, moisture that may have somehow condensed on my pc’s internals will be vaporized quickly.

(Note that this will most probably never happen, as the GPU's fan will automatically crank out a couple more rpms when temperatures escalate to hazardous levels. We all don't like toast components, do we?)

Ok, that won’t do; I’m in need for a remedy.

Later, with a simple google search, I found an article on one of my frequently visited sites: custompc.co.uk. It said that it is possible to increase the fan speed on the Radeon by performing some tweaks on an XML file. But then, upon clicking the second link, I was back to square one. Here’s why: the second link was a forum with a heading containing the following words, “Dead 4870 from adjusting fan speed?” And that was performed through the exact same method that was cited in custompc’s article.

Fortunately, I read further that ATI has made the fan control option freely available in its control panel itself (the Catalyst Control Center with v8.10 drivers). Perhaps it’ll be better if I downloaded that legitimate graphics driver and from there, take a safer approach to radiate a little more heat away from my cards.

I will be updating this column when time allows me to do so.

T’ang

(m)Apple

Dec 2, 3 hours following original post, update: Wow, my phrase in the parenthesis below was spot on! The clips got removed in just 3 hours after I posted this article. Way to go, 20th Century Fox! Jokes aside, be sure to catch that comical episode elsewhere :)

----------------------------------------------------------

I'll disregard my last statement to bring you this short post.

Remember the days where Nvidia's mobile graphics chipsets with heat related problems plagued the many Dell and HP notebooks? I sure do.

Well, I've got a feeling it's not over. Folks over at the Inquirer have found out the that the new MacBooks fitted with Nvidia graphics are also experiencing strikingly similar tribulations.

Whoops.

Plus, here's something to cheer Apple up: The Simpsons got another shot at mocking popular figures, and this time round, it's Steve Mobs and his prevalent Mapple.

(Don't be surprised if the vids get taken down, and soon)




Laugh it up,
T'ang

Behind the Scenes

Current blogger status: On extended leave

Reason(s) for status: Torrents of homework + Impending final examinations

Will return to active field duty: Optimistically by 13 Dec

Standby,
T'ang

Who's Ready for Round 2?

Intel's Core i7, codenamed Nahalem, is out. And it sure as hell looks promising:


Can AMD survive another Core 2 salvo?

T'ang


(Benchmarks from http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2333776,00.asp)

One Phone to Do Them All - A Review of the Samsung Omnia

Yes, that's what it's name actually means. "Omnia" is the Latin plural of "all". After a few days of tinkering with its hardware and software, I have a few words to say 'bout it. For this review, I will be using my iPod Touch as the software benchmark in lieu of the iPhone.

Firstly, it does live up to its name. The feature-packed handheld can accomplish virtually any task you throw at it (from a smartphone's perspective, that is). With its touchscreen capabilities and Windows OS, it's the unmistakable iPhone and Palm rolled into one.

With that said, it's certainly not the 'One Phone to Rule Them All.' Even though I do see it's functionality capabilities, it does have its flaws.

Samsung's efforts to hide the unfriendly-to-the-touch Windows mobile, which was designed to be used with a stylus at hand, is evidently shown. But it still seems that the pervasive Windows oriented interface is everywhere to be seen. Yes, Samsung's own TouchWiz interface does make the phone more touch-friendly. But when you rummage through the phone's programs, you are bound to bump into bothersome tiny icons, scrolling bars and drop-down menus. That indeed is the crux to the phone's downfall.

Samsung's engineers made the phone so touch-oriented (or at least, they have tried to make it so) that they relinquished the need for a stylus by not including a stylus slot on the phone; though a stylus is included. The stylus looks atrocious too--more on this later. Needless to say, you'll need one. So the only way to attach a stylus is by dangling it on at the phone's side, or by simply putting one in your pocket. If you haven't got one, fret not. A mouse pointer makes up for it as a temporary solution. In fact, it works better than expected. The button between the 'call' and 'end call' buttons is actually an optical pad (it doubles up as a D-pad as well). It tracks finger movements and the mouse pointer moves as directed. It's similar to a trackpad of a notebook, only smaller. Much smaller.

As for the stylus, it surely doesn't look like one. It looks to me like a lipstick tube. See for yourself:


However, the phone excels at its primary purpose: making calls. Reception is unbeatable and call quality is top-notch. Build quality is also superb with a brushed metal look-a-like back and slight chrome accents at the edges. The in-built camera is best in its class. The phone packs a 5MP shooter (a first for its class) and like the rest of Samsung's product line, it produces absolutely stunning images. Most importantly, the phone's battery life is way above average and it features a user-replaceable battery - a must-need for me.

My experience with the phone is generally positive (due to time constraints, I left out some of its promising features in this review: GPS, Bluetooth, DivX video, Opera browser etc). Ultimately, the Samsung Omnia outclasses the iPhone in terms of hardware quality. But due to its software's shortcomings, it still falls short of the market leader. However, till Apple releases an iPhone with a removable battery and sells it sans contract here in Canada, I might as well stick to the Omnia.

'Nuff said,
T'ang


(all images from GSMArena.com)

SEED

Nicol Amalfi's Blitz

T'ang

A Pack of Smarties

Oct 19 update: Oh well, case closed. My parents have decided to purchase the Samsung Omnia. No, actually, it has already been purchased. Specifically, it's the 16GB model; My parents just couldn't pass up the 100 dollar for double the memory capacity prospect. They weighed the features of the respective phones and believed that the Samsung delivered the most features per dollar. Well I have to agree with them, as the Omnia has the finest camera, one of the largest built-in storage, a standard 3.5mm jack (albeit requiring an adapter) and the longest battery life. However, I just felt that the Omnia simply lacked the oomph present in most of the other phones, such as the prevalent iPhone. In fact, I was originally vouching for the Apple :)

However, truth be told, the Omnia will be going to my brother, not to me. It seems that he is the one that is in real need for a smartphone, not me. Well, for starters, he's still using the ancient D-Cube MP3 player that used to be mine a long, long time ago. That was in secondary 2, if I remember correctly. I bet my bottom dollar that most of you haven't even heard of that brand before. Well that's mainly because the company has gone into liquidation shortly after its introduction (I guess). That obsolete piece of hardware only deserves to be in one place: the recycling bin. After roughly 3 years of handling, the D-Cube has started to show its age; the 'record' button has gone faulty, the connectivity of the 3.5mm jack has degraded, and the red LED which used to twinkle from time to time has shorted out. Speaking of MP3s, my music player has changed dramatically in just 3 years. I've outgrown the measly 512MB (the D-Cube), to a 1GB Nano, and finally to a 16GB Touch that I currently possess.

So, 500 to 16,000MB will be a huge leap for my brother. Also, if that doesn't satisfy him in the long run, the Omnia has a contingency plan: it features a expandable storage capacity with a MicroSD card slot. So that doubles up to a 32GB music player with the currently limited 16GB max microSD.

Additionally, he has frequently nagged about his need for a better camera. All his b'day party photos taken with his current 3.0 mega camera phone didn't turn in the quality of images he expected. Hopefully, with a 5.0 mega model, he would be pleased. However, I doubt it; I think the Omnia would most probably perform as dreadful in low-light conditions.

Lastly, with GPS, he'll never fear getting lost in the city center of Vancouver ever again :P

The poll will still be up for a couple more days though. For those who haven't casted their vote, it would honour me by doing so. I'd sure like to know collectively, whether the Omnia was the right road to take.

--------------------------------------------------------------

I've recently been on a hunt to find which touchscreen smartphone is best for me. Why do I need one you may ask. Well, I need a quad band phone as my tri band nokia's reception is starting to get on my nerves. There are times where the reception drops to zero in school, rendering the cell phone useless. There was one occasion in which a call was barely audible - the sound was crackling incessantly. Even rudimentary text messages took 10 seconds to transmit, whereby in Singapore, it barely took 3 seconds.

Complaints aside, I could've just gotten a basic, no-frills phone with bona fide quad band reception. But that's easier said than done. Of course, I cannot just blindly pick such a phone and call it a day. When it comes to cell phones, they have to be design oriented. I absolutely disgust phones which should rightly be called bricks and paperweights. What's outrageous is that even Samsung, my primary source for elegant looking phones, didn't carry a model that qualified for my tastes, let alone the Nokias and Sony Ericssons. The current Motorolas are not bad, but they are just too common here in Canada.

So, what's left are the models which reside in the category of smartphones. I emphasize again that these are touchscreen smartphones. Not the ones with a monstrous mechanical QWERTY keyboard on their faces (cough, Blackberry, cough). Such phones are no different that the ones I described earlier on. Out of hundreds of webpages, I managed to round up 6 models that allured me. They are as follows:

1. Samsung Omnia

2. HTC Touch Diamond

3. Apple iPhone 3G

The above three handsets are widely available today. On the other hand, I can also wait these for upcoming models:

4. HTC Touch HD

5. Nokia 5800

6. HTC G1 (if it really lives up to its hype)


And here they are in pictures (in order from left to right):


There's a poll up above the tagboard. Do let me know what you think.

T'ang


(all cell phone images taken from GSMArena.com)

A Moment to Spare

Was clearing my camera's memory card a while ago, so I thought that it might be a good time to see what I had accumulated in the past few months. Most of the photos are trivial; with little to showcase about. But a couple of them looked kinda striking. This was what I could unearth:

Note that the following images are in their raw form. I haven't got the time to edit them just yet.



Moonlight Serenade
This is the view from outside my room. It's a pity that the position of the moon forced the horizon to be a tad too low. Love the lens flare effect of the moon though. The shot is a little overexposed as well.



Zoom Zoom
Nothing laudable here. It's just my first try at traffic photography. Gotta say that I really like the color composition.



Glow
Just a typical lampshade. I took the shot while testing my lens, but for some peculiar reason, I somehow fancy the image.



A Storm is Coming
A menacing storm cloud not to be trifled with. Thunderclouds here in Canada can get as ghastly as in Singapore.



Twilight Zone
Saving the best for last, this one's my personal favourite. It's a spectacular view outside my balcony. I spotted it one fine evening and was lucky enough to get a shot of it. As this was unexpected, I didn't have the opportunity to prep for a proper landscape shot. As you know, sunsets last no more than what? 10 mins? And the colours change real quick too. Thus, I propelled the ISO to 1600 and enlarged the aperture to a not-so-landscape-friendly f2.8. I just love the way the mountain range is silhouetted against the fading light. Somehow, the orange colour formed a distinctive streak across the sky. To sum up what the scene was like, it was magnificent. Like Bryan said, I don't suppose I'll ever get to see one of these in S'pore. Lucky me!


That's all, for now,
T'ang

Before You See You Hear - A Quick Look at the Logitech Z-2300

Previously, I had thought about using my Logitech Z-5500 for my multimedia set of speakers. But due to a series of unfortunate events, it wasn't the case for me. I was facing several space constraints in my bedroom, thus the 5.1 speaker set had to be placed outside in the living area. I actually planned that I would put my PC there, but I couldn't imagine having need to share one desktop area for my 32 inch TV and my 24 inch monitor. So, it was positioned in my room itself. Therein lies the problem. I could share the speaker set with my DVD player and my PC, but it's obviously impossible now.

I was left with no choice but to rely on solely my headphones for sound. However, after a couple of weeks, my ears were gravely sore; just a pair of headphones just couldn't cut it. I went shopping for a pair of speakers next. Then, just as if was fate, a pretty darn good deal popped out as I opened Bestbuy.ca - a pair of THX certified Logitech Z-2300 2.1 speakers going for half price.


So far, I'm pretty impressed with the nifty set of speakers. However, I do think the subwoofer is a little overkill when paired up with the minuscule satellites. Consequently, for music, bass is a little too deep (just as I anticipated from a Logitech model) at the default level. It's good that there is a conveniently located control pod where I can level bass response to suit my tastes. As far as I can recall, longitudinal wave production is clearly clearer than my complementary pair of Dell speakers in Singapore (duh!). But when directly compared to my Z-5500s, there was an immediately noticeable difference. The sound coming from the larger 3 inch drivers managed to crank out a larger soundstage than the 2.5 inch ones.


Nevertheless, my Logitech Z-2300 speakers are certainly respectable without even mentioning the fact that I bought it for half the retail price.

T'ang

Just Another Clone Wars - A Quick Review of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film)

I saw Star Wars: The Clone Wars (the film) today. However, it was a spur of the moment thing; I didn't plan on watching it today.

I've only got one word that sums up this movie: childish.

The animation is subpar, the action scenes are dull, the plot is ridiculously simple, and worse of all, it seems like the film is made solely for kids.

Even the previous animated series which bore the exact same title (the one which aired on Cartoon Network), looks a whole lot better that this one. Leastways the battle sequences in the preceding animation were not as repetitive.

"Remember how people talked about the Star Wars prequels like they were the worst movies ever made, when really, come on, they weren't THAT bad? The Clone Wars actually IS that bad." (Eric D. Snider, Film.com)

To all who have not seen this movie, you are better off saving your pennies.

I will say no more,
T'ang


(Theatrical poster from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_The_Clone_Wars_(film).)

School's back, but with a twist

Once again, a 2 month holiday is drawing to an imminent close. It's September the 2nd to be precise. It's weird though, as time really flies swiftly during the holidays when compared to the school terms.

But this time round, it'll be a little different. On September 2nd, I'm off to a university. That's a post-secondary institution. I've always dreaded a university, as to me, it implies a strenuous period of unmitigated 'suffering'. My friend from my university once told me that most students who score for their provincial exams, usually flunk their university ones. I certainly do hope that wouldn't be the case for me, fingers crossed. He added that in our course, more that half of the undergrads fail the course, with only a handful acing it.

As for the university itself, it is the University of British Columbia. I've also been awarded a few scholarships too, but I shall not delve deeper into that :) Currently, I've been admitted into the engineering faculty. It's general engineering for now, and I'll get to choose the specifics after my first year.

Just yesterday, I made my first trip to the university to get a number of things done. Of which, one of them is to purchase my textbooks. Oh my! The textbooks are inexorable! Not only thickness wise, but also by the dire sticker shock. In total, I've splurged close to 700 CAD worth of remorseless books. And that's only for my first term, which typically lasts for 4 months. The journey there was also exhausting. It took me a grand total of 1 hour and 10 mins worth of train and bus commuting to arrive at my destination.

So now, I better cherish my last week of my holidays before my doom commences.

The ginormous campus

It ever awaits me,
T'ang

(UBC logo from http://www.psych.ubc.ca/~jecorbet/UBC%20logo.jpg. UBC campus image from http://www.ubc.ca/about/campus.html.)

It's Not the Wind! It's the Yeti!

20 August update: Just like I suspected, the 'Bigfoot' found in Georgia turned out to be a hoax after all. It wasn't even a gorilla or some ape, but was someone's comical halloween party rubber suit.

To all Bigfoot believers: better luck next time guys!

------------------------------------------------------------

Looks like mysterious old Bigfoot has found it's way into our cameras again. Here's a recent photo of the alledged Bigfoot found in Georgia:

It still looks like another gorilla to me though. So now, there's supposedly more evidence to prove that 'frame 352 from the Patterson-Gimlin film'.

Remember this from History Television?

Feel free to read more on this here.

Still feels like a hoax to me,
T'ang

(First image from http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2008-08/bigfoot-found-again. Second image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigfoot)

A Big Hit

According to sources, the entire line of G84 and G86 chips all suffer from the same defect, regardless of desktop or notebook application. The chip generation utilizes the same Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), which supposedly has an issue with an "unnamed substrate or bumping material, and it is heat related." -taken from Tom's Hardware

Oops.

The defective chips include Nvidia's 8300, 8400, 8500 and 8600 series. And like the quote stated, not only notebook, but desktop chips suffer from this flaw. Plus, several sources reported that all G92 and G94 mobile adapters were also affected. Who knows? The omnipresent 8800GT may turn out to be a victim sooner or later. Despite the heavily touted PhysX, Nvidia is in for a troubled quarter ahead.

ATI on the other hand, is lauching a second wave at Nvidia with it's dual GPU HD 4870 X2. Performance wise, it looks promising too. It performs slighly better than dual HD 4870s in CrossfireX, perhaps due to its whopping 2GB GDDR5 memory.

What now?

Go, ATI, go!
T'ang

(image from http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-4870-x2-review-crossfire/5)

Case Closed--Überclok Reaktor Part 4

Like I promised:

My system has been running fine this week. I have none but one minor gripe about my components: the two fiery red cards there run hot! It was like having a gargantuan heater below my desk. Once, my ambient room temperature rose from 29 degrees Celsius (it's summer now) to a sweltering 34 degrees!

I have completed my processor's complementary game, World in Conflict. It's a little short I must say. I accomplished all 14 stages in just a couple of days. Nevertheless, the graphics were intense. I managed to push the details to the max with a 1920x1200 resolution and suffered from no lag at all. To be fair, there was one short moment where my display stuttered a little. It was during one of the final missions where you are given the chance to deploy almost all of your tactical aid at once. Napalm strikes, tank busters, heavy artillery barrages, carpet bombings, and daisy cutters lighted up the sky and turned the ground into a barren wasteland. Yes, that was the moment.

Permit me to digress a little. I came across this video on youtube featuring South Park. It's a parody on the ubiquitous Mac vs PC ads that have been circulating all over the web. To those who have already viewed this clip, good for you. Just don't get chesty and gloat over how slow I am :P

It never ends,
T'ang

Edification--Überclok Reaktor Part 3

My PC has been officially released back to me on the 1st of August. But before I brought it home, I made certain that there were no more problems with the machine. After all, I do not have an automobile and I had to pull that hefty box back to the store. There’s no way I’m doing that again. After testing a few programs on it in the store, I was convinced that it was working in pristine condition. However, just when I was about to tie it back to my trolley, the salesman interrupted.

He said, “So, there will be a 100 dollar service fee. We charge a $50 per hour service charge for software problems.”

WHAT??! He never mentioned anything about a fee when I first sent my system for repairs. Also, my system is barely a few days old and it’s covered by warranty right?

“Yes, but that warranty only covers hardware, but not software,” he replied.

Oh my! What a nightmare! He is charging me 100 bucks for a simple reformat of a computer! Even slug heads can accomplish that task without much difficulty. Firstly, I didn’t know that the store will be charging me an exorbitant fee. If I did, I could have reformatted the computer myself. And how will I ever get to know that he really spent 2 full hours servicing my computer? Does a reformat really take that long? Even if it did, I’m sure that it was a slack job of just waiting for the drivers to reinstall while he drank a coffee or two.

After a lengthy period of disputation, the salesman agreed that I pay $70. Despite the “discount”, I was nonetheless infuriated.

Now, it looks like computer is running fine. No more flickering or Crossfire problems or anything of that sort. But for some peculiar reason, I still can’t run Condition Zero properly. I’ve ran 3DMark06 (a benchmarking software) twice yesterday. Once with Crossfire enabled and with it disabled on the other. Okay, at least I know Crossfire is functioning now. I got 16,000+ points on the first run and about 14,000 points with Crossfire disabled.

Sigh…

Well, lesson learnt: I will never patronize the store again. Thanks for nothing, Netlink Computers Inc!

I guess that concludes this article,
T’ang

Note: Photos of my system will be arriving shortly, perhaps after I install Photoshop.

Hosed!--Überclok Reaktor Part 2

OK, that does it!

So I've finally gotten a hold of my sleek new PC. But guess what? I was bombarded by a series of problems when I first utilized it (what an entrance!). It was like facing a firing squad of obstacles. From Crossfire issues to game compatibility cases, all have seen their light of day.

For instance, when I fired up my newly installed Call of Duty 4, I was confronted by an obnoxious flicker on the menu. I thought maybe this is just a temporary glitch in my system. I hastily clicked on "New Game" and prepped to indulge myself with glorious eye-candy. As soon as I entered my character's HUD, the environment was flashing ceaselessly. OMG! Alright then, I quit the game and started up Command and Conquer 3 to see whether these artifacts were perpetual. Ah crap! The Earth animation in the game's main menu was FUBAR! All my other games had identical problems.

Later, I found that the flickering disappeared when I disabled Crossfire. When I brought my problem up to a forum, the members instructed me to download and install the latest graphic card drivers. However, my monitor blacked out completely during the installation, forcing me to retry and reboot my PC. This happened multiple times. But upon completing a successful install, my Crossfire was automatically disabled without my consent! Worse still, my graphic card control panel did not even detect that I had Crossfire, or a dual graphic card setup. It merely stated that I had one ‘Primary Adapter’ and one ‘Disabled Adapter’.

But the problems did not stop there. "Okay then," I mumbled to myself. "If my system can't handle new games (actually, it should have! As I configured this system specifically to handle such games!), let me lighten up by playing an instant action round of Counter Strike Condition Zero. After all, CS is a Vista Certified and graphically non-intensive game." This time round, the game crashed and closed as soon as I loaded up a match. After manipulating my graphics options, I soon found that I could only play when the graphics renderer was in software or Direct3D mode, but not in OpenGL. WTH! I’m sure that both OpenGL and Direct3D are both implemented in my display driver!

I did not expect my system to run Crysis at mind-bending frame rates. I did not expect Crossfire to render all games impeccably. But I did expect my system to run Counter Strike flawlessly.

Now, I’m through with attempting to solve my problems. I’ve spent 2 full days but it has all come down to nothing… NOTHING! So today, I’ve sent my system back to the store for 'servicing'. Hopefully the technicians will not take too long a length of time. As many of you may know, I’ve already waited an agonizing long, long time for my new computer.

The problems may be caused by a malicious file, or a faulty hardware device, or Microsoft Vista, or perhaps even due to my inexperience with the new operating system. Seriously, I have no idea. I’m pissed, totally pissed. I’ll see what the store can do, but till then, please excuse me while I go throw a tantrum and shriek for goodness’ sake.



Ah well… More waiting for me I guess,
T’ang


(Image from http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2326206,00.asp)

WHY SO SЭRIOUS? - A Quick Review of The Dark Knight

precisely...

"Let's put a smile on that face!" - The Joker

Indeed he will! Oh my... I am absolutely dumbstruck. It was bloody brilliant! And with a 94% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, I'm not surprised. I figured that spoilers are not worth mentioning here, as it is crucial that you reveal the movie's magnificent plot by yourself. Worries aside, let me begin.

The best part of the film is the Joker himself. It seems like the Joker, not Batman, is the central character in the film. He really is a devious, lunatic and crafty freak! His pranks and jokes are so very well conceived. His speeches are particularly eloquent. So persuasive that it even corrupted Gotham City's White Knight. Like he personally said, he is certainly the better class of criminal that the city deserves. It's a pity that Heath Ledger's longer here today. What a waste...

The cast for the movie was quite remarkable. With William Fichtner making a short scene in the prologue. There's also this Singaporean, Chin Han, who stars as a Honkie baddie and appears on-screen for a considerable length of time.

Definitely a must-watch for movie buffs. A record setting $66.4 million opening can't be wrong! I feel that The Dark Knight will be, if not, be one of the strongest contenders for the film of the year. Given so, it has my seal of approval and a 5/5 rating.

It's all... part of the plan,
T'ang


(Image from Rotten Tomatoes)

Überclok Reaktor

edit 19 July: Apparently, the technicians over at my pc store have at last begun assembling my pc. However, at 1300 hours, GMT -08:00 Pacific Time, my sales representative phoned me and blurted out something I didn't want to hear. He said in a Chinaman accent,"Hi, is this Felix? Our techs have begun building your pc. But your sound card isn't gonna fit into your motherboard. Since the sound card has to be installed into a PCI slot, I'm afraid that there's gonna be heat problems." (I have dual double slot graphics cards that require a slot beside each card to be free for sufficient airflow - I found this out later) Argghh! Darn, I've always wanted a dedicated add-on sound card to avoid crappy on-board audio. But it seems I don't have a choice since I insist on having Crossfire. In fact, my motherboard has already got what it seems an add-on sound card, the SupremeFX II. But there's nothing to cheer about. It's merely a riser card for the sound output ports as Asus couldn't manage to cram them onto the board's PCB itself. So, it's plainly still crappy on-board audio :(

looks can be deceiving

(Image from http://www.sweclockers.com/imagebank/200803/AsusRampageFormu001.jpg)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

edit 18 July: Again, I'm changing a few components. I'm through with waiting for my Gigabyte motherboard to be available again. The descripition says that it will be "In Stock Soon" as "This product is currently in transit from a supplier. Expect 2 to 5 days processing time when you order it." It seems like more like 2 to 5 weeks! More stock just never comes! Anyway, I'm moving back to my original plan to get an Asus motherboard (Bryan is highly supportive of this change). This time round, it's an Asus Rampage Formula with the same Intel X48 chipset as the Gigabyte. You may be thinking that I should get a DDR3 motherboard and DDR3 RAM to compliment it as over the months, their prices have been gradually plumeting. But I feel that real world performance gains are too diminutive to merit an upgrade. Also, my graphic cards, the ATI HD 4870s, will be reverted back to HIS from Diamond. The HIS models have become available again after my long and futile wait for my Gigabyte motherboard. Fingers crossed, this will be my final configuration :)

And Amos, this space is for you. In the tagboard, I mentioned about adding another 8800GT. Yes, this is argubly the best performance per dollar setup. For roughly 299 US for both of them, you can get the equivalent, or even exceed the performance of a GTX 280. Which is the most formidable single GPU card out there right now. I know that you have an Intel X38 motherboard, so this isn't possible. Well, in that case, your only option is go for a single Nvida or ATI card, or ATI's Crossfire. Your single 8800GT is still good enough though.

(benchmarks courtesy of anandtech)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

edit 8th July: Wow! Great find there, Amos! You spotted something that I myself overlooked when I uploaded the WIC picture. You do keep a sharp eye, ha! For those of you who still do not know what went wrong, the word "trial" is misspelled "trail" in the graphic. I suppose banner designers should use spell-check and re-read their sentences before posting the banners up, lol. Plus, I left out my monitor and speakers (I purhased them separately from the computer) when I originally posted the article. The manufacturer of my ATI video cards has also been changed due to availability issues. It has since been updated.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's it!

After seemingly endless delays, my new rig has finally been acquired. It won't be rated among those "Extreme Editions" though. But at least it gets the job (gaming) done. It will be ready in a week or two.

Now for some comments on my new build.

Surprisingly, I have defected to ATI from Nvidia for my video card, or more specifically, video cards choice. Mostly due to the apparent bang for the buck (BftB) advantage ATI has over Nvidia. See, what I picture Nvidia is a company with an endless supply of resources that relentlessly pumps in raw horsepower into their graphic cards. If you take a glimpse at the number of transistors and physical size of the GTX 280, you'll know what I mean! Whilst ATI is a company with notably less resources that aims to keep their graphic cards slim and at the same time, beefy enough for the mainstream market. It seems that ATI has made the right move this time round, targeting the mid range rather than the enthusiast level. With the unparalleled success of ATI's 4800 series, ATI has gone for a little dip in the high end level with its upcoming dual GPU 4870 X2. It will blatantly target the GTX 280 and the 9800GX2 for supremacy. The 4800 series has even forced Nvidia to push their GTX prices lower. But this is a particularly tough pill to swallow, due to the massive number of transistors they feature.

"Darn!" ATI's performing better than expected! - featuring Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO of Nvidia

Also, for a dual GPU setup, I have no choice but to get an Nvidia motherboard chipset if I want SLI. While for ATI's CrossfireX, I have the option of getting an Intel or AMD one. According to various forum entries, I know that the Intels are a tad more stable than the Nvidia models. Plus, with recent news that Nvidia's stock taking a plunge due to their faulty chips, I have gradually lost trust in the company. Anyway, it's great to have you back in the game, ATI!

For my sound card, I have picked an Asus model over a Creative one. Why? It's simple. Creative X-Fi drivers just has a thing or two against Microsoft Vista. They are highly problematic when installed together. But what about EAX? I'm glad to say that Asus has the solution. Their Xonar DX model has the capability to emulate EAX 5.0. Neat huh. Though it will seldom perform as well as the original X-Fi. (the differences will be negligible anyway)

A free copy of the game, World in Conflict, goes along with my Intel quad core. There's also a 10 day trail copy of the game for a friend. Any takers? Haha.

(Again, take note of the typographical error)

My Vista will be in a 32bit flavour. I know of the 4GB RAM limit and all, but I fear for compatibility issues when I take the leap to 64bit. And err, forget about Windows 7. It's out of my league at the moment.

Aright then, this is what most of you will be looking for: the final components. Here goes...

CPU
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz 12MB cache
CPU Heatsink
Xigmatek HDT-S1283 Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink
Motherboard
Asus Rampage Formula Motherboard (Intel X48 chipset)
RAM
Corsair XMS2 Dominator TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-1066 CL5-5-5-15 (with fan)
Video Card
(x2) HIS Radeon HD 4870 in CrossfireX
Enclosure
Antec P182 Black
PSU
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad 750W
OS
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 32BIT
HDD
Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB
Optical Drive
Samsung SH-S223F 22x
Sound Card
Asus SupremeFX II
Speakers
Logitech Z-5500 5.1 digital
Monitor
Dell 2407WFP-HC 24 inch widescreen

Still won't be able to play Crysis at 1920x1200 with 4x AA, 8x AF and details pushed to the max with this config, I guess. I'll see to that when I get ahold of it.

At long last, finally,
T'ang


(Jen-Hsun Huang image from http://www.tgdaily.com/index.php. WIC image fromhttp://www.ncix.com/go-intel-wic)

A Review of Hellboy II: The Golden Army

I watched the film yesterday with a couple of friends. Well, it's an okay movie, with nothing to write home about. Honestly, I didn't enjoy the film (I despise the titular character in the first place).

The movie encircles round a predictable, "end-of-world" plot. Where an evil elf wants to awake a long dormant army to wipe out humanity. And the red devil arrives just in time to save the day. The film features a panoply of mythical creatures and lovely eye-candy, while the fighting scenes are well-conceived with lots of martial arts and firepower (gotta love the mega-revolver). However, the ending had me questioning: why didn't the elf heroine do that earlier? I'll leave that for you to find out yourself. Plus, we may even get to see two Hellboy juniors in the next installment. And yes, the couple got busy.

Simply put, fans of the character certainly won't be let down by this sequel. But the bland storyline has left me wanting for more.

Oh yeah, one more thing. The young Hellboy featured in the opening of the movie is HIDEOUS! urgghh...

T'ang

(image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellboy_II:_The_Golden_Army)

This Is Where Science Defeats Belief

I think not...

It is generally accepted by audiophiles that vinyls sound better than CDs. However, science has proven them wrong.

Well, through a certain point of view.

If one deems "sounding better" as music that most accurately replicates the original recording, then, sorry to say audiophiles, but CDs does the job better. Before you audiophiles rant and rave, let me give a brief explanation to how vinyls work. Data is stored in the vinyl through grooves that are engraved by a needle. For the "most accurate" sonic experience, the needle that reads the record has to be the exact same shape as the needle that has engraved the grooves. This, however, is sensibly not probable. CDs, on the other hand, encodes the data mathematically. This almost gives an exact replica of the original recording. Therefore, it is safe to say that CDs should be rightfully prized by discerning audiophiles.

Others say that vinyls give a "warmer and fuller sound". However, this claim is probably due to an artifact of harmonic distortion and signal compression. See, what the turntable needle does is that it picks up vibrations of the spinning vinyl and turns them into what I call, "extra notes" in the tune. Then, in this case, the defects are a virtue.

So which is better? CDs or traditional records? Honestly, not many of us have golden and acoustically tuned ears. The minuscule differences between them can't even be picked up by average ears. After all, it all boils down to personal preference. Not to mention the psychological effects that clouds our final decision. If audiophiles believe that CDs can never reach the standards of vinyls, then, to them, this discovery would mean nothing.

Besides, I still prefer MP3s :P
T'ang


(With references from http://www.popsci.com/entertainment-gaming/article/2008-07/are-records-really-better. Image from http://recordbrother.typepad.com/imagesilike/images/big_vinyl_rules_1.jpg)

Notes From The Lab

I was reading a couple of magazines from my school library the other day, and this was what caught my eye:


Cruelty-Free Bacon
Scientists in the Netherlands have grown minced pork in a dish by adding water, glucose and amino acids to pig stem cells. Expect artificial ground meat by 2012 and bacon within the decade. (Rena Marie Pacella, from Popular Science)


What?! We can now grow meat? This is something unheard of! Darn, we are messing with mother nature big-time I assure you. I presume that in the next 5 years or so, we can be expecting something called "home-grown meat" lying in the "Instant Aisle" of a grocery store. Inside the pack will include all the necessary nutrients, conditions and space for harvesting your very own slice of meat. On the 'Instructions' at the back of the packaging, it'll simply read, "Just add water!" I guess animals can prep for a sigh of relief.

Another note, the US military have a new weapon at their disposal (what a surprise indeed) - a humongous flying laser turret. It is a laser cannon built into a C-130 Hercules. It uses a mixture of iodine and oxygen to produce a pernicious beam of light. After the beam has been readied, make sure nothing other than the intended target gets in its way. For everything in its path will be sizzled and obliterated within seconds. My sympathies, birds. To the pilots in the plane, fret not. The beam of laser itself isn't hot, and is only capable of heating things up.

A mean little sucker huh

If you're interested, feel free to read more on this here and here.

Well, that's it for another weird day at the office. Your comments are greatly appreciated.

T'ang

(image from http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-space/article/2008-03/how-it-works-airborne-laser-cannon)