Thursday, July 31, 2008

What's virtual world anyway?


Dabbled in virtual worlds since 1997 though, I'm still pretty much unsure of how virtual worlds emerged and spread like wild fire and, for the worse, swallowed a hell lot of Earth souls in just about a decade.

Second Life is a MMOG(Massively Multiplayer Online Game) that subtly combines a virtual environment with a slew of realness. It promises the world is entirely built and owned by its "residents", don't call them "players", mind you.

In my view, "residents" make their world into their own space though, even when it's predesigned and visualized, it's the gamers that make the world a gaming environment. Second Life without its "residents" wouldn't be called a game. Then people enact in games, writing in full form of their visualizations of their own perception. This changes the gameplay and to some degree the game world. I personally admit that this system gives Second Life a notch up higher in playability.

But if you truly want to see how players enact upon their environment, you'll have to enter Second Life for a while and watch a fully user-generated content environment. Residents in there seek most of all is to create their own audiovisual Utopia. Second Life simply hands them the tools, but I think gamers in all types of cyberspace will do that to some extent already.

Shanda again a big brother

Shanda has been considered a dud in the last few years when China's online games business had literally little interest in investing the entertainment outfit, which saw its share price nose-dived from more than $40 to just $12 by mid-2006.

Chen Tianqiao, the founder and chairman of Shanda, witnessed his gloomy days when his archenemy Netease seized Shanda's long-held status as China's big brother of MMOG.

But Chen didn't shiver for his gloomy time.


Chen insisted, on various occasions, that Shanda would overtake its rivals, mainly Netease and The9, in the upcoming years.

There's no bravado indeed, we saw the giant woke up again in 2007 with a successful "come-stay-pay" model, which was originated from Korean gaming industry and later introduced by Shanda in 2005.

The Nasdaq-listed company fared pretty well in 2007 and regained its control on the MMOG market after the massive slump. All These came with no surprise. We knew that Chen had well planned his revival right before the slump, or you can say, it's a strategical slump orchestrated by himself.

The battle between these three big wheels will go on and on. It's still too early to say who would win at last, however, no one would ever deny that Shanda is going to have the upper hand in an endless virtual war, at least in the short run.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Dialogues Between Us -- Menstrual Cycle

Classified dialogues between Dennis and Zoe.

D: Darling, what's period anyway?

Z: It's kind of a mysterious circle. (by saying this, it made D all at sea.)

D: So is there blood during period?

Z: Blood? Yes... OMG!!!

D: Why OMG? (Why not GMO?! 0_o!)

Z: MY GOODNESS....

D: Hey, so you think this is a stupid question? Now I ask you did you ever know how a condom looks like in the past? Did you know what a morning erection is? Should I shout out OMG when you couldn't give me answers to these questions?

Z: ... (Zoe was speachless and her face turned full red.)

D: OMG! OMG! OMG! (at this point, D was shouting out OMG like a crazy man on the road while Z was claming him down in case the people around thought he was absurd.)



^3^ I LOVE YOU ZHANYU! ^3^

Red Cliff (Part One)/赤壁(上) (2008)



Well, Red Cliff is the second flick that I enjoyed with my love one Zoe. (Sorry I like to mention her name as often as possible...Please bear with me this habit) I doubted its attractivenss before watching this Made-in-China movie, but since my lover said she loved the guy acting as Zhuge Liang and so we together went for a hunt. The movie didn't depress me as expected, instead, it lifted me up in a joyous pace. The dialogues between Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu were more than funny and we LOLed many times during the movie. Though the whole product was far from perfect, I do expect the second part of this flick. When will it be out? Well, I hope it would come out just before Diablo 3, if possible. =(

Fuuny Postscript: we booked the movie tickets one hour before the show, which resulted in a painful walkthrough of the neighboring megamalls, however, I did learn from my lovely other half many brand names. Thank you darling. =)

Hancock/全民超人汉考克 (2008)



Hancock is the first movie that I watched with my girl firend, that's why it's a phenomenal one in any case. Aside from the leading star Will Smith, who is definitely one of my favorites, this movie has virtually no attraction at all. (though I sneaked a couple of kisses from my lover during the movie time, which were quite sweet. =D ) The plot of Hancock is quite dull, and from the plot I learned that John Hancock is an unhappy and reluctant superhero who is living in his own world and saving the world whether people like it or not. People's hatred culminates when he captures several baddies but costs the city more than $9 million to mend the damages he leaves behind. Later he meets a public relations executive by accident and through whose help he grows from a "hero" to a hero.

Well, I'm not going to rate this flick a high score. But anyway, if you are really bored to death, go check this movie and it may act as a soother to placate your tedious life.

Mindhunters/八面埋伏 (2004)



Mindhunters was the first movie that really thrilled the backbone of me, yes, my backbone did budge a bit during the movie time. Well, at this point a wicked idea is popping up in my head, what if me and cutie Zoe watch this movie together? Would she be scared so much that she hug me tight for a bit of nerve? XD

The gruesome story takes place on a remote island, the FBI has a training program for their psychological profiling division, called "Mindhunters", used to track down serial killers. The training goes horribly wrong, however, when a group of seven young agents discover that one of them is a serial killer, and is setting about slaying the others. Can the few that are left figure out who the killer is in time? The tension increases amidst the group with the lack of confidence on each other. So Zoe, let's enjoy the Mindhunters at night with all the lights turned off!

Battle of Wits/墨攻 (2006)



Yes, Battle of Wits is quite an old movie but indeed it is one of those that I sorrily missed and hoped to catch up with someday bcuz of the overall popularity it enjoyed amongst my friends. Some of my friends rated it "good" and recommended this film to me 2 years ago but I regretfully ignored their offer for a lack of time and energy to consume any movie back then.

The scene is impressive and the story behind the film generates a lasting resonance within my heart. As a whole, Battle of Wits is of equal quality to The Warlords, and I think you should put both of them into your to-watch list should you have missed any of the twins.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Images of Guangzhou City by Zoe

This is my travel notes in Guangzhou City. I love record my life with images. Before the dayImet Dennis, there is no hero in my photoes. From now on, I will share the images and life with him.

OK, here we go. These photos were taken when I explored streets alone in the city new to me. At that time, I regarded GZ as only a comman station in my life jounnry. The words are about a book called Two Cities and writen when the photos were taken. Now I share them with you, do you love them? ^.^

好久没有抽风一样的喜欢一本书了 好像上一次是<悟空传>


这一次是<双城>


膜拜之情 以作为一个语言障碍儿童的我来说 很难用文字表达


反正就是颠颠倒倒 兜兜转转 走到哪都是小鲍和赐官的身影


想着他们曾经生活在这些建筑中 呼吸着带着姜花香味的广州的空气


我就狼血沸腾



以下就是沸腾的产物




这张图片拍在中山纪念堂旁边的马路上
那天走得累极 反正也没有认识的人 像我这样一个走路摇摇晃晃的人 也不会有人在意
于是反而恣意地拍起来




中山纪念堂 小鲍和赐官七年之别的地方
我始终无法分辨小说中的那一幕 到底是作者的想像 还是确有其事
我更愿意相信 在那样一个时空 在这个地点 确实曾发生这样荡气回肠的故事
也许他不叫鲍望春 他也不叫周天赐
但我知道 肯定有这样的人





而如今 这里已是芳草青青




市府 有车从大院旁门开出
只能说青山不改绿水长流



府前路的白色洋房 是不是曾经也有一个俊美的将军在这里住过?





或者是这一栋?


"青青子衿,悠悠我心。纵我不往,子宁不嗣音?"







他有没有和情人在这样的角亭里赏过月 喝过海带绿豆汤?





珠江某桥桥底 无语如我
只想说 滚滚"珠江南"逝水....
又想说 逝者如斯....
(偶果然是个语言障碍儿童)




珠江某2桥桥底





这不是天字码头 这是天字广场
这里没有周天赐 也没有鲍望春





风中摇摆着须枝的榕树
如果说小鲍是江南的碧螺春
那么 赐官 是不是就是这种遇水便能枝繁叶茂的的榕树?




珠江边的中国国际船舶管理有限公司广州分公司 为咩要拍下来捏? 潜意识还真是个迷呀






在城市里寻找流浪的感觉 矫情吧?
我不知道拍两张照片地方的具体名字 但它确实是在广州市内 还是中心地带
是不是很像1937年的广州?




入夜了的老街街头 白色的骑楼 川流的车




抬头 惊现陈国华跌打管!!
呵呵 那个奸商拽着一个挫挫的家伙 找你找了n条街呢




骑楼下奔跑的少年 为咩会拍这样一张图片呢 还是个迷哟




黄振龙凉茶 顽强的特产 也见证了这个城市的起起落落 以及伴随着这个城市起落的人们






典型老广州风味的餐厅 门庭若市
老板和气生财 求神拜佛




哈哈 "那个什么什么肠? "



赐官的老人茶 但这个look倒是像老虎灶里的碧螺春




双皮奶 小鲍爱甜食 赐官没理由没带你吃过吧




另两张 江南x路上(好像是这样的名字) 婚纱一条街





我实在是很想拍到小鲍的东浦老宅里穿的礼服啊...



以下是大概两年前在聚龙村拍的 也是老广州的感觉


为咩这么巧呢 小鲍哇 这就是乃说的天命么




西关大屋是不是就长这个样子?




天官赐福 两年后的今天看得我目瞪口呆 太有爱了!!




岭南建筑屋顶大多很高且有琉璃瓦可采光


小鲍的军靴在这种大屋中应该会踩出回声的吧




江南可采莲 莲叶何田田
中有双尾鲤 相戏碧波间


另:8知道杜鹃醉鱼是8是鲤鱼做的呢?



觉得以下两张图片应该是属于双喜的









这就是民族的脊梁 民族的血脉吗?




咩时候能去上海拍拍啊~~~~~



Character Building -- Monchill

Over the years, MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) has long been a major concern of mine and I've also gained a lot of knowledge from my relentless digging into game designing industry.

Frankly speaking, game design is still a young craft, but a rapidly maturing one. No longer in its infancy, computer and video games have been around for over 30 years and now they have collectively moved onto internet for a bigger impact.

I'm still a newbie in this subject. Below is one of the characters I set for an upcoming casual computer game.

Role Setting -- Monchill

Hero Backgroud
Once a guard of God of Shadow, Monchill was punished for trifling with Irena, The God's daughter. He was then exiled by The God and stripped of much of his shadowy magic. Even in his emaciated form, his shadowy power is nothing to laugh at. He has spells that trail and occupy units, making him a very specialized caster in the battleground.

Hero Abilities

Shadowy Puppet
Summon an invisible shadowy puppet without attack ability. This unit is used to spy on enemy or to look for other invisible units.

Shadow Stalking
Allows Monchill to become invisible for a set amount of time. Even Monchill attacks a unit, his invisibility remains.

Shadowy Swarm
Sends a horde of shadowy swarm to damage enemies, affecting a large area.

Occupy
Sneak into the shadow of a target unit or hero and bring him/her under control of Monchill for a set amount of time. If a hero is converted, Monchill can use his abilities to his heart content.

Wanna know more about game design? Stay tuned and more insight will be unearthed in the upcoming days right here @ my shabby blog. =)

A letter from Dennis

Dear Zoe,

I caught your love letter this morning and felt my heart full of happiness and sweetness after reading it. Thanks for your lively portray of our relationship and through it I sensed the ultimate devotion from you. Be natural! We are at the greatest form when we both in a natural shape, so while people like to look at the weak sides of each other, I would like to say seeing you in your primitive fashion make me feel cozy and warm. My heart will always be open to you as I want to keep this mind bridge available at any time so you can communicate to me clearly and easily whenever you want.

Love is more than just words, but still, I want to write it down in a clear way.

I love you Zhanyu.

Dennis

Monday, July 28, 2008

A letter for Dennis and Zoe in 3 months later.

Hi u two,

How are u? Are u happy now? 3 months are not a long time. But I think it is a important period for new lovers. My dear d, do you still say I love u to z everyday? Dear z, do you still love d more everyday? If so, please give a kiss to each other as prize.

Zoe, I know 3 moths is hard for you, but don't give up easily. Dennis is a good man, please don't be selfishly. OK, maybe once per week is ok. And remmeber open yourself to him, don't be cloudy as before. Tell him what you are thinking is as important as you get together. I have confidence in your future, I know you love each other, I know you will love each other's family. Don't be afraid, I hope you will be with each other in the rest life.

Dennis, thank you for loving Zoe so much. She is not perfect, but you gaved everything pefect to her. Though she dosen't say love as much as you, but I have to say, that is because she is shy with this. Tell her what you want, couse she is not smart enough to guess out, and also you shoud know, she is willing to try to be what you want. When she is in depression, please help her out, encourage her, don't let her alone.

OK, that is all I want to say. Oh right, it should be Oct 28th when you read this letter. The 24th birthday of Zoe is not far away now, dear Mr D, you won't forget it right? Kiss u =@= LOL


Love U

Zoe

My First Blog Entry

This is a blog for me and my lover Zoe. I'm glad that finally I have a place to share with my lover the beauty of what it means to walk alongside with someone who I really love for as long as my life will give.

I'm a prolific writer with fertile imagination, so you can expect my words will be neatly printed on this blogsphere in the imminent future many times a week.

And here, I hope you, my lover, Zoe, drop at least one post here per day. This is a blackboard for us and is meant to be a palette on which we will together mix colors of our lives to paint the best picture possible.