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Tuesday, May 31, 2005

5:55 AM - Elsewhere on the web

Kamen Rider Hibiki episode 18 torrent out.
Unsubbed.

TV torrents.
Bookmark it and begin the countdown to the farewell message.

Malaysia to block Net porn.
"... action was being taken after news reports that Malaysians could access 1.5 million sex sites ... While the Internet will not be censored in the Multimedia Super Corridor, a centre for local high-tech firms, Najib said the restrictions will be extended outside government offices to other sectors, which he did not specify." Good luck enforcing that.

Why is this frog smiling?

Link  | 

Monday, May 30, 2005

11:33 PM - WP 1.5.1.2

WordPress has been upgraded yet again. Version 1.5.1.2 fixes a security problem so this meant I had to upgrade the WordPress installation on fuyoh.net for the second time in a fortnight.

However, you can get away with a single edit to the template-functions-category.php file in the wp-includes folder. The upgrade notes don't mention whether it's possible to simply replace the 1.5.1.1 version of that file with the 1.5.1.2 version so I played safe and upgraded the entire thing. I've had practice so this wasn't that big a deal.

To update my earlier complaints about WordPress 1.5, the 1.5.1.2 Dashboard now only displays the Get Firefox message if the user has a non-Firefox browser.

The Planet WordPress section of the WordPress Dashboard is still of dubious usefulness, though. While it's nice to get security/upgrade bulletins, it's unnecessary to get four different notifications of the same bulletin especially when they point to the same link in the WordPress Development Blog section of the Dashboard.

Even more annoyingly, personal blog entries are still showing up. To reiterate a point I made earlier, why does every WordPress user have to be notified of the author's personal soul-searching?

Link  | 

11:33 PM - Mighty Corny

One hundred years before the birth of Christ, those of the House of Julii controlled vast swathes of the known world. From the Sahara to Britannia Inferior, from Lusitania to Crutia Triabus, all knew Roman ways and all worshipped Roman gods.

But this did not sate the hunger of the Julii and they soon set their sights on Egypt and the Pharaoh's riches. The campaign against Egypt began well enough. Cyrene fell swiftly as did Siwa and a Roman army eagerly marched onwards to the Egyptian capital itself.

If the Romans thought Alexandria would fall as easily as Siwa and Cyrene, they were quickly disabused of that notion. Arrows, unerringly aimed and shot by the Pharaoh's bowmen, mauled Roman legionaries even before they had reached the city's towering walls.

Bloodied and disheartened, the Romans retreated to Siwa and regrouped. The Egyptians' inevitable counterattack was not long in coming. But not a drop of blood was shed when Egyptians reclaimed their city; the treacherous curs of Siwa forsook their Roman honour for Egyptian gold.

With the fall of Siwa, the battle for Cyrene began in earnest and the Egyptians sent wave after wave to retake another of their captured towns. Many a battle was fought and many a proud Roman general fell in the sands in the ensuing years.

The Senate grew ever wrathful at the lack of progress but despite many exhortations, the forces of Julii failed to mount a serious effort to retake Siwa for they were too busy defending Cyrene.

The stage was thusly set for the one who would be known as Cornelius the Mighty to stake his place in history ...

(My Rome: Total War campaign is approaching the endgame stage now and I'm completely engrossed in it. You can tell, right?)

Link  | 

Saturday, May 28, 2005

10:09 PM - Elsewhere on the web

Toys first for Takara.
Takara is stopping its unprofitable ventures and concentrating on its core toy business in a bid to return to profitability before the merger with Tomy. (The toyco had previously attempted to diversify with products like the Q-car.)

Hibiki powers up.
That's a lot of red.

Hankerin' for some Hibiki-style rhythmic action?
Namco's Taiko no Tatsujin is due to be released this August for the PSP.

PSP UMD movie sales encouraging.
"Two UMD movies have now sold more than 100,000 copies each: Sony's House of Flying Daggers and Resident Evil 2, both released April 19. Sony's Feingold calls the sales tally 'remarkable,' noting that it took nine months for the first DVD title, Air Force One, to cross the 100,000-unit mark."

The accidental film star. [via]
Way before Reality TV, there was The Up Series.

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10:08 PM - Strike a pose

Achilles

Click on the thumbnail for another photo of Takara's Magneforce Achilles.

Link  | 

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

12:13 AM - Achilles

Achilles

Click on the thumbnail for another shot of MGM-01 MagneMicroman Achilles.

The Magneforce figures have been getting rave reviews from action figure fans but they're not without minor problems.

The weakest aspect of Achilles is not, as you might expect, his heel but his weapons. The handheld weapons double as wings but they're unsatisfactory in either mode.

In terms of QC, there's one slight blemish on this otherwise fine figure. The metallic red paint on the crotch flaked off a little over 24 hours after I removed the figure from the package but aside from raising the question of why the crotch needed to be painted in the first place, it doesn't bother me much.

Link  | 

12:13 AM - Elsewhere on the web

God Jesus the fortune-telling robot.

And speaking of God ...
Be very detail-oriented and specific when you pray, kids.

A btefnet alternative.
It's not operating its own tracker but I appreciate having all the TV torrent files on a single site.

Link  | 

Monday, May 23, 2005

10:50 PM - Elsewhere on the web

Takara's merger and acquisition game.
Is the toyco giving somebody the finger?

How to start a wiki.
With links to free wiki hosts.

Blogger's last entry helps arrest his murderer. [via]
Xanga has got a history of dodgy self-promotion but this is legitimate.

Link  | 

10:43 PM - Paging Freud

Think the Japanese birthrate couldn't get any lower? Think again. After viewing this scene from Kamen Rider Hibiki episode 17, there are going to be Japanese boys who will grow up to be men absolutely terrified of sex.

Now that I've separated my tongue from my cheek, I'd like to note this was a nice episode with plenty of screen time for the women of Hibiki.

The action scenes have improved in recent episodes as well. The earlier episodes were mostly unsatisfying in terms of slam-bang action -- some of the makamou battles took all of three seconds to conclude -- and I'm hoping the creative team keeps this momentum going.

Link  | 

Sunday, May 22, 2005

1:30 AM - "When has it ever been fair?"

They call it The Beautiful Game but that's only because The Cruel Game doesn't sound as appealing.

United finished their season empty-handed after losing the FA Cup final on penalties to fierce rivals Arsenal.

United dominated the proceedings but were denied victory by a combination of poor finishing and some excellent keeping. If that sounds familiar, it's because the same thing happened repeatedly throughout the season. Time and time again, United have paid for their inability to finish off reeling opponents and this time it will have hurt the most. This was their last chance to redeem their season and they blew it big time.

It may not have a fair result but as Andy Gray pointed out, "When has it ever been fair?

Link  | 

Saturday, May 21, 2005

10:01 PM - Magnemo

Achilles takes flight

Guess who received the first of his Magneforce figures?

Achilles is seen here sporting a flight pack comprised of parts filched from the Giant Acroyear set.

Link  | 

Thursday, May 19, 2005

11:44 PM - Elsewhere on the web

Penny-farthing ver. 2005. [via]
The 29,800 yen Max Challenger is equipped with a disc brake and it's easily converted to a unicycle by removing the rear support wheel.

Lemmings on PSP.
If only someone would port over Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe.

Moyes on Rooney.
"As a footballer he has become a tremendous all-round player, he can play in nearly every position on the pitch, including in goal." Perhaps Ferguson should consider playing Rooney between the sticks because he can't be much worse than Howard and Carroll.

Link  | 

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

9:48 PM - Elsewhere on the web

BTEfnet update.
Someone else owns the domain now so don't get taken in by the pleas for money.

Glazer pays a high price.
"Some City analysts believe Mr Glazer would need to treble current United profits just to service interest payments on the £540m borrowings he has made to complete his £790m purchase of the club."

Anime on the PSP. [via]
It's difficult to get past the writing style (e.g. "While some individuals feel the need to let the industry trends take them where they need to be, and other individuals feel the need to assert themselves as the industry often does what it wants, there are a few companies that have already taken the initiative of implementing the PlayStation Portable access of Japanese animation-related materials with their product line") and the bizarre claims (e.g. "Anime Crash is relying on the video and sound capabilities of the PSP, which is reportedly of the quality of the SNES in its heyday") but it's got links for PSP-formatted anime and manga content.

Link  | 

9:10 PM - Takara Tomy

Takara has certainly had a tumultous past few months. The toyco has seen CEO Sato Keita step down after majority shareholder Konami pressured him to take responsibility for poor recent performances. Sato, once acclaimed as Takara's number one salesman and credited for saving the near-bankrupt toyco, was then given a largely ceremonial chairman role. A few months later, Konami washed its hands of Takara and mobile phone content distributor Index Corp stepped in to become the majority shareholder. And now the merger with Tomy.

IT Media's News section seems to have the best article about the merger with colourful little details not found in English-language reports. One photograph of a grim Sato has a caption describing the Takara man as being initially reluctant to smile despite repeated requests.

Sato ought to be smiling a little, though. The merger of Tomy and Takara sees him take on a more hands-on role as VP in the new company which is to be named Takara Tomy in Japanese and Tomy Co. in English. (It's strange that the company would be named differently in different languages but it's not without precedent. For instance, Bandai Namco is to be known as Namco Bandai in English.) Asked about the reason for the English name, Sato gave an "Eh?"-eliciting answer: Tomy had a wonderful property in "Tomy UK".

The suggestion for the merger apparently came from Sato after discussions with Index CEO Ochiai Masami about Takara's management policy. A merger with Tomy had been considered earlier but given the long proud histories of both companies, this was easier suggested than accomplished. Negotiations may have taken only a week but it was far from smooth; it was revealed discussions got so heated everyone walking out in a huff during talks.

I wonder how things are going to work out on the designer level. One is reminded of Hasbro's acquisition of Kenner in 1991. Kenner employees took creative control of the GI Joe franchise and came up with Sgt. Savage. On the other hand, Kenner employees also came up with the highly-successful Beast Wars reboot of the Transformers franchise.

I just hope Takara's designers aren't so alienated in the new company that they jump ship. Far-fetched? Bear in mind, short-lived Takara CEO Okude Noboyuki once did exactly that during Sato Hirohisa's unsuccessful tenure at Takara.

Link  | 

Monday, May 16, 2005

10:32 PM - Butterfly

Butterfly

Our little garden had a swanky little guest this evening.

Link  | 

10:32 PM - Numbers and figures

Toy Directory has an article discussing the toy industry and how it's being affected by "age compression". The article mostly retreads old ground -- age compression has been a factor for several years now -- but this line caught my eye:

In 2004, 14 percent of the 127 million units of action figures bought in the United States were done so by and for adults ...

Facts and numbers about the adult collector segment of the action figure market are hard to come by so it was nice to get this.

Now, 14 per cent might not seem like much but bear in mind the action figure (and accessories) category saw US$1.2 billion in sales in 2004. This means adults bought about US$168 million worth of action figures last year. That's just the action figure category of the toy industry. And that's just in the US.

Link  | 

Saturday, May 14, 2005

12:13 AM - Elsewhere on the web

Btefnet goes down.
No more Lost, Arrested Development, the Amazing Race, the Daily Show, the Simpsons ... at least until a new tracker appears.

Sharing is evil.

Aquarion figure.
Three unremarkable flying craft merge in three different ways to form three unremarkable mecha. Unremarkable would also describe the series itself which is only notable for having the female pilots orgasm during the gattai sequence. I think we all know why Princess Allura wanted to replace Sven now.

Link  | 

Thursday, May 12, 2005

10:15 PM - Elsewhere on the web

Takara in talks to merge with Tomy.
The consolidated entity will be the fourth-biggest game and toy company in Japan after Sega Sammy, Bandai Namco and Konami.

Glazer buys out Cubic Expression's shares.
Say goodbye to Old Trafford the Theatre of Dreams and say hello to Vodafone Stadium.

Firefox 1.0.4 out. [via]
Security fixes.

Simple PC productivity tips. [via]
The Win+D toggle is awesome/embarassing -- awesome in its usefulness and embarassing in that it reveals my ignorance of Windows XP keyboard commands.

Cookie fortune. [via]
"The cookie crumbled right for 110 people who chose Chinese food. Betting on the numbers recommended in fortune cookies, they won from $100,000 to half a million dollars each in a multi-state U.S. Powerball lottery ..."

Least-impressive celeb anecdote ever.
"Peeing in the men's room with Meredith from Tar 6 when they were cleaning the ladies'! My husband peed with the Brothers Smith! Yay for peeing with Reality TV stars."

Link  | 

12:20 AM - Reds face Blues

United succumbed to Chelsea 1-3 at home. The Red Devils had intended to prove a point to the newly-crowned champions but the only one made at the end was this: United are third-best this season.

The result wasn't as bad as the scoreline and the pundits might suggest, though. The statistics show United had twice the number of goal attempts as their opponents with more shots on target as well. If the linesman had been more competent and correctly ruled Cole's effort offside, the scoreline would've been 1-2. If Fletcher's powerful effort had been a few inches lower and billowed the net instead of smacking the woodwork, it would've been 2-2.

That said, the conservative 4-5-1 formation Ferguson now favours looks increasingly to be a costly and ill-advised experiment. And experimentation seems to be the main theme this season. One would be forgiven for thinking the manager is still apparently indecisive about his best eleven and their positions.

Assuming the system is used purely to accommodate Keane's fading legs, it's perhaps time Ferguson bit the bullet and dropped the captain altogether to revert to the more familiar and more adventurous 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1. Dropping the inspirational Captain Marvel 2.0 would seem to be a sacrilegious suggestion but Fletcher needs to take on more responsibility sooner or later. More importantly, a more offensive formation would allow Rooney to play in a more influential position alongside or just behind van Nistelrooy. The Dutchman has been far too isolated in the current system and we're not getting the most out of the Scouser on the left of midfield.

It will be interesting to see just what steps Ferguson will take in the next few months. It's been suggested the manager will not get much money to throw around in the summer after Rooney's costly arrival but that was before Lazio (finally!) paid the rest of the Stam transfer fee. One can only hope the manager will invest wisely. More Heinzes and fewer Klebersons, Djemba Djembas and Verons, please.

United face Southampton next on Sunday. It may be a meaningless match to United but a win would be really nice.

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Wednesday, May 11, 2005

7:49 PM - Tough and cool

Kamen Rider Hibiki episode 5: Somebody has a self-image perception problem.

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7:48 PM - Shazam!

Kamen Rider Hibiki episode 15: Even by Kamen Rider standards, Zanki and his pupil Todayama have an over-embellished henshin sequence.

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7:47 PM - WordPress power-up

I updated WordPress on fuyoh.net to version 1.5.1 earlier. The new version apparently has 170 bug-fixes and an important (if unrevealed) security fix.

Upgrading was a simple enough process but it could have been made simpler still, I think. Ideally, I would like to simply download a single patch file, upload it to my host and launch it to automagically patch everything. Right now, the process requires some FTP work, manual selection of files and folders to be deleted and uploaded before executing the upgrade.php file. It's hardly a major undertaking but it might intimidate someone with minimal experience. I've upgraded WordPress twice before yet I still got the jitters during this upgrade. Did I delete the right files? Was I supposed to delete that? Should I take another shot of Lipton Yellow Label before I continue?

The site seems to be fine but I've tinkered around here and there so I'm anticipating some minor problems. I'd appreciate it if you could let me know of any peculiarities.

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7:47 PM - Leaves

Leaves

This is a photo I've named "Two seconds after the stupid bird flies off."

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Sunday, May 08, 2005

11:58 PM - Hmm ...

The least-surprising technical revelation about Guild Wars, an online-only role-playing game:

... you do need to be connected to the Internet whenever you're playing, though ...

Link  | 

11:58 PM - Elsewhere on the web

Cool cross-line fan-mode.
Combining VictoryLeon, ZordElephant and power-up weapons from Mugenbine with the Chrome Chester Delta from Ultraman Nexus.

Internet Jackass May 2005 nominee.
A PSP owner suffers an accident, totals her car and breaks her clavicle but Mr. Thoughtful asks, "OMG ...is the psp alrite...how is the DS doing?"

Some palmOne LifeDrive details, rumours and speculation.
A portable device with 4GB of space capable of video playback on a 320x480 screen. Crucially, though, battery life remains unknown.

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Saturday, May 07, 2005

10:13 PM - Jesus

Great moments in eBay marketing:

Ebay Microman

A close look at the description:

Good Friday

Yes, you too can now commemorate the sacrifice of a religious figure by handing out Japanese action figures.

AcroSatan figures would probably be in bad taste, though.

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10:13 PM - Elsewhere on the web

Microforever reviews Magneforce Achilles.
A positive review with nice pix and historical context.

kyoshirom's Magneforce fan-modes.
Check out his other Microman entries.

Least-appealing Gundam design.
Sometimes I wish Takara hadn't made flesh-coloured Material Force figures.

A Mugenbuilder-based fan-mode by Asimo.
Cute li'l droid.

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Thursday, May 05, 2005

10:16 PM - Elsewhere on the web

Something old, something new.
Magneforce meets vintage Titan. Meanwhile, Geza has a review of Phobos.

SIC Kamen Rider Faiz in action. [via]
Simply brilliant.

On marketing the Gundam franchise.
"... Gundam is becoming a 2-generation character business like Masked Rider and Ultraman as we have hoped. We are beginning to see fathers and sons going to a hobby store where the father buys a Gouf for himself and an Impulse for his son. On top of this, we have the creation of female fans by SEED. This has widened the fan base more."

p2p: get your paranoia on. [via]

Google web accelerator.
What you're supposed to get: fast, anonymous surfing. What Google might get in return: greater ad revenue as it tracks your surfing habits in order to serve ads with a potentially higher click-through rate.

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Wednesday, May 04, 2005

10:06 PM - Dendoh wuh-oh

Great moments in mecha piloting: Gear Fighter Dendoh episode 1.

The debut episode of this typical Sunrise-Bandai effort sees two boys improbably at the controls of a massive robot during an assault by an enemy robot. Fortunately, a mysterious masked rider provides them with instructions for piloting the giant robot.

The boys begin to grasp the controls and the robot soon moves with purpose towards its opponent. The music swells to indicate some heroic action is forthcoming and then ...

(Screencaps.)

Link  | 

12:05 AM - Elsewhere on the web

A magnemo Microman take on Gundam GP03?
The Dendrobium equivalent comprises of a MagnePowers Robotman cannon, Hurricane Bird's missile pods and claws and Robotman Dean's torso while MagneForce Achilles is the Gundam Stamen equivalent.

Magneforce centaur by HMGort.
Check out his reviews of Achilles, Phobos and Atlas.

A portable hard disk for the PSP. [via]
This combination of a 2.5" hard disk and Apacer's Share Steno CD211 portable hard disk enclosure isn't as useful as it might first seem. You still require a memory stick since there doesn't appear to be a way for the PSP to stream data directly from the portable hard disk.

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Monday, May 02, 2005

9:56 PM - I+J+V+Z

Mugenbine combo

Click on the thumbnail for a photo of another Mugenbine fan-mode.

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9:56 PM - Elsewhere on the web

Goe reviews the Microman Magneforce Acroyears.

Izumi Kawanishi, a PSP lead developer, interviewed. [via]
It's apparently from last year and it's not particularly insightful.

Manufacturers learn from users' creativity. [via]
"... user-centered innovation may transform not only companies' product development processes but also business models, turning them into the providers of innovation toolkits to users and the marketers of their innovations ..."

Link  | 

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