Friday, October 8

Slayage

Last night I stayed up to about 2 AM watching the 2-part finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Liked it pretty much. It was kinda sad though that one of the regular cast members bit the dust and the character didn't get the proper amount of grief for the tragic death. Still, it was a by-the-way thing. In general, the ending leaves the saga open for future forays into the Buffiverse, though it also pretty much ends it with a nice, satisfying finale and a positive note... "And with her Scoobies and army of Slayers, Buffy rides off into the sunset... their destination, the nearest mall."
Killer Art


Nobody draw Agent K. like Agent J.

Here's a sneak peek at the extra pages manga artist extraordinaire Jennyson Rosero is bringing to the K.I.A. anthology. I think that all it takes is one look to convince y'all that Jen's art is worth pushing back the book a bit. Simply AWESOME. Jen will be adding two stories (written by Mwah), adding up to a total of 19 pages. So there's a LOT more of this to come. WOOHOO!!!
Anyway, I myself am finishing up my own art chores in K.I.A., which were sadly put aside for a bit. Now that other projects have been either finished or backburnered, I'm back doing Kai. Hmmm... That didn't sound too right...

Wednesday, October 6

Ninja Resurrection



There has been such a response (at least in my own mind) to the travails that my still-unreleased title Kunoichi Boy has gone through at Questor, that I am determined to get this book out in some form someday. Well, just last night I was offered by someone to have the title included in an upcoming publication, and I have pretty much accepted. If even this venture doesn't push through though, I am batting around the idea of Jin and Mikoto's adventures running alongside Angela Gale's in the pages of Angel Ace. I am thinking of using the ol' flip-book format, showcasing two titles in one book.

Of course, this is stiill just planning. We'll see what happens when it happens. But don't worry people... ninja are fickle and dangerous and almost unkillable. We haven't seen the last of Kunoichi Boy. Not by a long shot.
New Phone on the Block


Sony Ericsson's S700i is in town.

Okay, for a change let me stop rambling about my P910i for awhile. Sony Ericsson's new flagship phone, the S700i is now available in the Metro's cellphone shops. For those not as tech-savvy as me, the S-phone is a swivel-type phone- sorta like a switchblade. In 'closed' mode it looks sorta like a chunky PDA (or like one of those concept cars of the future). But rotate it open and it reveal a keypad for texting and dialing numbers. The 2.3" screen is HUGE, with an 18-bit TFT display of 262k colors (putting it at the same depth as the P910i). The screen is perfect for images, which is great since the main feature of the S700i is a 1.3 megapixel camera that should rival or even exceed Nokia's 7610 in terms of cameraphone photo quality.
Aside from the camera, the phone also comes with an integrated FM radio, MP3 player and video player.

The rich features, great camera, unusual design and huge screen should make this mobile the latest phone of desire for gadget freaks. Me? Nah. I'm staying with my smartphone. But I'd love to get a chance to look at this new model and try the camera for a bit.

BTW, the pic above was taken with my P910i... pretty good, despite being a VGA cam, right? Heh.

Tuesday, October 5

Cancelled

It's confirmed, via an e-mail from Fero, writer of Camp Big Five that the late, great Questor Extreme Mangamania is now cancelled. Yep, it's the casualtly of Questor's migration to ABS-CBN Publishing, so what ever the FUCK happened there just cost me Kunoichi Boy, since I have decided that it is not worth investing any more effort with this haphazard, insert-ashcan format they seem to be doing. I've expended time, effort, brainpower and patience with this, and it just didn't happen. It's really a shame, since I really wanted to share the adventures of Jin and Mikoto to as many readers as I could. Well, I guess I can't really count on Questor, since these guys really don't seem to take good care of their talent, from what I have learned and seen... or not seen.

ANYWAY... it doesn't really mean that Kunoichi Boy is dead; it's delayed indefinitely since my priorities of course are my two main books, Angel Ace and K.I.A. Maybe someday, we'll see the adventures of the first male ninja girl, but today is not that day.
Online Bloodbath

Mortal Kombat Deception has been released in the US to positive reviews. The latest MK features about 24 fighters both old and new (half of which have to be unlocked as you play), two suitably gory fatalities per fighter, new stages that have instant-kill 'death traps', extra play modes that include Chess Kombat (which is actually closer to the PC classic Archon than actual chess), Puzzle Kombat (competitive Tetris with fatalities) and Konquest Mode, which is a pseudo RPG-exploratory adventure where you travel the Outworld expanses to raise your character. The game will include tons and tons of unlockable stuff and extra content, so Kombatants should find a lot to keep their attention with.

The graphics still bring to mind the predecessor, Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance, and the animation is still just as stiff as before, though gameplay has supposedly been improved. Of course, the main feature aside from the actual fighting is the ability to take the fight online on Xbox Live, which Deception apparently does pretty well.

MKD takes the crown of 'First online 3-D fighter' from Tecmo's Dead or Alive Ultimate, which has been plagued by delays recently.

I'm not really an MK fan (I bought MK Deadly Alliance and played it a grand total of three times before setting it aside and I haven't gone back since), but I will make it a point to check this game out when it's available locally. Ah, the responsibility of a frustrated critic. Expect our own bloody review then.
Priceless Memories

Oh, wait. Actually, I meant Pricey Memory. I went to a shop at The Cyberzone in Megamall, asking for the price of a Memory Stick Duo Pro for my P910i. For a 512 MB stick, the price is... Wait for it... 18K. EIGHTEEN THOUSAND SMACKERS!!! That's enough to get a super-phone model!!! MY GOSH!!! ARE THEY MAD?!? This price is totally ridiculous! What are those memory sticks made of? GOLD???

Well, thankfully I don't have to sell my arms and legs to upgrade my P9's memory eventually. The nice seller my brother pointed me too (the same merchant I got my 256 RS-MMC card from) gave me a fair price for the mega-size Memory Stick- about 8K for the 512MB stick. 10 thousand pesos cheaper! How's that for a discount? On the bad side, I really want a 1 Gigabyte stick, but the merchant told me that it isn't available yet. Well, I can't afford to get even just the 512 yet, so when I do, maybe the Gigastick will be available then.

Still, I'm not averse to upgrading to what I can as soon as possible. You really can't expect me to live on 32 MB worth of pics, videos and other junk forever, right? Heh.
Cash Flow

My recent acquisitions have finally caught up to me. I paid some bills that are totally boring and unexciting, yet undeniably important (insurance and shit), and now I realize I'm a bit in the red. Well, not really. After I pay a couple more bills tomorrow or so, THEN I'll be in trouble. No, I won't have to slaughter and eat the family dog to survive (which is good since we haven't gotten a new dog yet), or sell one of my several gaming consoles to make it to the next payday without starving to death. But it does mean I have to watch my spending from here on until next week. Yep, no more spur-of-the-moment purchases of any 500+ magazines.
Still, I may be strapped for cash, but at least I'm happy. And for once, I am glad Dead or Alive Ultimate isn't here yet, since I can't afford it! Argh...

Monday, October 4

Phone Booth



I was finally able to watch this unusual suspense film last night on cable. It stars Colin Farrell as an unlucky shmoe who gets picked by a psychotic sniper as a phonepal. The events that happen after the initial setup- where Farrell is suspected of killing an obnoxious pimp and has to contend with staving off police AND keeping the sniper's sights off of any innocents (not to mention himself)- is quite an interesting watch. I may have some gripes about the believability of the situation- I mean, how hard can it be to convince someone you don't have a gun when you don't HAVE A GUN? Well, it's cinematic license, and the performance of Farrell was pretty good, though the show is mostly taken by the sniper, whom we only 'see' as an evil voice till the very end of the movie (I won't spoil who plays the villain for those who haven't seen the film). Entertaining, if a little far-fetched, and it pretty much convinces me further of the great benefits of having cellphones. Heh.

Sunday, October 3

Getting Jiggly with It

Yawn. Would you believe that I actually didn't get any sleep from the moment I got home after our Saturday Night Out until about... oh... seven or so in the morning? Yep, the darn P910i kept me up, fiddling with it and actually seeing me WAIT through the whole recommended 4 hours of initial charging.
Unfortunately, there seems to be something wrong with the battery- there's a noticeable tick from the full energy bar after several minutes after using it for some Bluetooth and media usage... which is alarming for a device that's supposed to have a standby time of 400 hours on paper. Even 200 hours would be great though...

Anyway, that aside, the phone works pretty great. The first thing I bought with the phone was a screen protector, which should keep the lovely face of the device from unsightly bruises and blemishes that may occur. Those tiny rectangles of clear plastic cost several hundred pesos (GAH!!!) but really, if you're ready to spend forty thousand plus for the world's spiffiest phone, you SHOULD spend a little extra to keep it spiffy-looking. As with any new phone on the block, technicians and sales girls weren't too keen on touching it, so I had to apply the clear sticker myself. No problem though.
The P910i looks deceptively large- well, it is, but not as big as you'd think. Despite being chunkier and wider than my previous 7610, it actually fits in my old beltclip, which is great. The whole device feels very snug, compact and solid, which is great. The grey, gun metal finish just looks so unbelievably cool. The whole thing fits snugly in my hand... well, I have big hands... and I can handle the inputs quite effectively.

Flipping Out
Texting with the Flip closed is easier than I thought. The larger keys feel solid and are very easy to use- I just have to get used to the Sony Ericsson format for texting again, after using the Nokia for a while. Complementing the various inputs is the phone's answer to joysticks- The Jog Dial, which lets you scroll easily and steadily to various items. It's intuitive and a pretty brilliant piece of controller design, I have to say.

Finding your Type
Using the QWERTY keypad on the back of the Flip is tricky. I do NOT recommend using it as the marketing has shown- with both thumbs on the keyboard, your hands basically holding the whole phone's weight up by the Flip. Despite Sony Ericsson saying that the Flip is sturdy, I don't think it's wise to do this, unless you have attached the accompanying wrist strap and have it twirled around your hand. IMO, the best way to use the QWERTY is with one hand doing the typing, and the other supporting the back of the phone. That said, using the keyboard is quite effective- the convex-shaped keys are small but easily hit and are quite responsive. The only thing is that I actually found myself tapping keys twice or thrice several times since I'm so used to regular texting.

Blacklisted
So far I've been able to install Smartmovie into the phone (which I had to pay through a German merchant since the US distributor won't accept my order since The Philippines has been placed on the U.S. Watch List for Exports. WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THAT? My money not good enough for ya, Uncle Sam??! FEH. Anyway. The larger screen is a world away from the relatively smaller screen I had with the Nokia Symbian phones. It's just unreal. However, I have to say that the 7610 played videos smoother. Still, the sheer size of the video screen just erases any cons. Lovely. For now though I have to make do with the measly 96 MB of combined internal and external memory available. But once I have the means, I'll see about getting that 1 gigabye Memory Stick Pro with my name on it. Heh.
Finally, I seem to have a problem with using the phone's PC Suite. My PC just can't seem to detect the phone. This really doesn't bother me too much- I can still transfer files via Bluetooth, and the only thing I really miss is the supposedly excellent version of V-Rally for the phone. Oh well.

So far, despite the issues with the battery and the non-functioning PC Suite, I am pretty happy so far with my new gizmo. There are tons of things to study and tinker with, so it's really a treat to have. Furthermore, the P910i so far works excellently as a PHONE- texting is fast and easy and sending SMS is pretty quick. Calling is pretty good too, and the speakerphone option is easy to use and pretty loud and clear.

One day old and I'm still very much in a ga-ga that I have this new toy. I am having so much fun with it, I actually don't feel so bad about the still-delayed Dead or Alive Ultimate game! If only for that, my new mobile is worth every cent I paid for it. Heheh.


Bon Voyage

The Alfars are off to the U.S. for the next three weeks for a much-deserved vegetation- er, vacation. Be safe, guy and gals. Don't forget the pasalubong. Heh.
Ultimate Phonewhore

I got it.

I left the house in the afternoon, packing my Nokia 7610's accessories, manual and everything back into the box and loading it all in a plastic bag. I went to Greenhillls hoping, but not expecting success. But LO, I came away lugging a different bag with an altogether different phone. Yep, I've switched to the Sony Ericsson P910i, and it's FRICKIN' AMAZING. Looking at it in pics on the web really doesn't do this slick piece of tech justice. The screen is gorgeous and HUGE, and I just know I'll have a ball watching videos on this sucker.
As with all my mobile upgrading, I traded in my previous phone to reduce the price of my new one. The 7610 sheared off almost half the cash price off, but still I had to go through the nerve-wracking experience of withdrawing several thousand pesos from an ATM machine in increments. With my pocket literally bursting with bills, I paid the seller, bade goodbye to my lovely Nokia, and embraced Sony Ericsson's latest and greatest smartphone.
Looking back, I will indeed miss the 7610's megapixel muscle and the cool video recording functions, but the multimedia options available in the P910i (HUGE screen for viewing Smartmovie, a gig of memory space) convinced me long ago. Anyway, the fashionista Nokia I guess was too dressy for me... the techy, sexy P910i will probably suit me a lot better. No, it WILL, dammit. It's my phone now, and despite the fact that none of the gang will believe me, I do intend that this be the last time I switch. This year. Heh.

ANYWAY... The box is pretty big, and came bursting full of stuff, from the manual and software CDs to an extra stylus, the cool docking station (Yes, the Enterprise needs a Spaceport), a handstrap (which I will probably never use), the charger and other little doodads and doohickies. The manual is large and thick; taking it all in will take a while, but really, a lot of the functions are pretty easy to go through. All I need for now is to learn how to call and text, and then how to personalize the wallpapers and then, to see if Smartmovie works and how many vids I can stick in the meager memory (for now). I'll post a more in-depth review of my new mobile soon, once I get jiggly with it in a day or two.