Which is your favorite day of the week?

OMG I can't believe it's Friday again. Really, I thought yesterday was just Saturday. But can you believe this - tomorrow is gonna be Saturday AGAIN! I was just wondering... what is your personal favorite for Day of the Week? Monday - Some people claim to have the Monday Blues so they hate Monday. But for me, I did try to make Monday my favorite for a period of time. I love loving what others hate... you know, being different. =) Tuesday - Some people love Tuesday because well, they had Monday to feel sad and that's enough. :P Wednesday - It is mid-week already so many love this. Thursday - The end of the week is approaching so it is a popular favorite. Friday - For many, it is the end of the work week and that's why terms like TGIF are coined. Saturday - No need to work tomorrow and it is a rest day in itself. Cool! Sunday - It truly feels like holiday so many love Sunday. Yet some hate it because it means Monday, and with it the new week, is coming again. How about you? What is your favorite day of the week? Any reason in particular? =) To see what myLotters have to say, click here.

myLot FAQ series: How do I add an image to my friend's profile page?

This is part of the series of Frequently Asked Questions for myLot. For more information on this site, please refer to this article . So now, you have got some friends and you are all hyped up. You want to rock, you want to party, you want to scream your lungs out. This is all good! Then you browsed over to your friend's profile page and wanted to leave a nice picture for him or her. But wait, there are no options to insert an image like the case for when posting a new discussion or response (after you reach 500 posts). What do you do now? Well, it is not as difficult as you might imagine. Just 3 simple steps. ;-) Step 1: First, you need to get a picture. If it is already present on your local hard disk, then you can move on to Step 2. Otherwise, you need to first find the picture you want. You can do so via any of the search engines or by grabbing it from one of the many sites around that offer free pictures. And once you find the picture you like, download it (e.g. right-click then "Save as") and put it somewhere that you know the location for. My favorite place is the desktop. Step 2: Now you have a picture ready. The next thing you need to do is to upload it online. My current favorite is www.divshare.com but you can also use other alternatives such as http://imageshack.us or http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com .The point is just to upload the picture you have chosen, that is now on your hard disk, online. To guide you further, I will illustrate how to upload a picture using Divshare. Skip this if you can figure it out yourself (it's not that hard really :P). Type in www.divshare.com into the address bar of your browser and press "enter". You should see a page like this screen shot above. Now click "Browse" and a window like your "My Computer" will pop up. Locate the picture file you have found and double-left-click on it. Then you should see something like this. Remember to check the box indicating that you agree to the terms and conditions. I have not mentioned this but you do *not* need to sign up with Divshare to utilize this free upload service. Update: Unfortunately, this is no longer true. You need to register for a free account now. Then just go ahead and hit the "Upload" button and you should see the progress bar moving. When it reaches 100%, your upload is complete and you will see a screen like this. Now click on the "More options". A box with a few more links will appear. Zoom in on the "Full Size" row and highlight the entire link containing your file name. It is right after the "img src" tag. Once you have highlighted everything within the inverted commas, right-click to copy, or simply execute a copy command with control-c. This is the link we want. For this example, our picture location online is http://athena.divshare.com/s03/files/2007/05/18/673355/medal.jpg . Viola. Just to make sure you get the correct link, I want you to paste the link you have copied (using control-v) into the address bar of your browser. As you can see for this example, the link is working just fine and you should be able to see the picture you have uploaded (I have used my virtual medal in this example). Step 3: Alright, we are almost there. Now that we have the picture uploaded online, we need to play with some simple html code. The code I used for my own medal is: <a href="http://lordwarwizard.blogspot.com"><img src="http://apollo.divshare.com/apollo2/files/2007/04/11/374893/decree.gif" border=0></a> There are 3 portions to this code. Let's look at the center portion dealing with the "img src" tag. Basically, this notifies the browser that there is an image and supplies it too with the image source location. Earlier, we had our picture uploaded to http://athena.divshare.com/s03/files/2007/05/18/673355/medal.jpg . So replace the http://apollo.divshare.com/apollo2/files/2007/04/11/374893/decree.gif in the code with http://athena.divshare.com/s03/files/2007/05/18/673355/medal.jpg as the new image source. You can do that! ;-) The second portion is the "border=0" tag. I suggest you leave this as it is since for most cases, this provides the highest aesthetic appeal. The third and final portion is where the "a href" tag is. Notice that the current link is http://lordwarwizard.blogspot.com . This means that if someone clicks on the image I leave on the profile page, they will be directed to my blog. If you want your image to point somewhere too e.g. your own website, replace http://lordwarwizard.blogspot.com with your website address. Otherwise, remove the entire <a href="http://lordwarwizard.blogspot.com"> tag as well as the </a> tag at the end. So if you just want to leave a "plain" image, your tag should look like: <img src="http://athena.divshare.com/s03/files/2007/05/18/673355/medal.jpg" border=0> That's how simple it really is. So get cracking and find a suitable image to use. Have fun! ;-) PS.: There are of course other simpler ways you can get an image up there. Some websites such as www.mycommentcodes.com and www.bigoo.ws provide template pictures with ready html codes for you to paste immediately. You *can* do it this way but it will not convince your friends that you are too original or that you are sincere enough to cook up something yourself. So once again, the cliche stands - the choice is yours. ^^

myLot FAQ series: Why should I get an avatar?

This is part of the series of Frequently Asked Questions for myLot. For more information on this site, please refer to this. As someone new to myLot, the variety of avatars you see might be one breathtaking sight. Some users have put up their personal photos; others have uploaded snapshots of their pets. Some prefer pictures of sceneries, while others like their favorite cartoon characters. Occasionally, you will see users come decked in green - in the default myLot newbie avatars. You ask yourself, "Should I get an avatar too? Do I really need one?" Since you are asking me, my opinion is yes. If you are able to get an avatar to replace the default one, do it. I do understand that some users may be on a public computer and so cannot download one of the many free ones available. Some do not have the time to do this "extra" thing. Others just cannot decide which picture to choose. Fair enough if you feel you have a legitimate reason, otherwise, do get an avatar. I wouldn't say it is illegal or against myLot rules not to change your avatar. However, there are reasons why you want to voluntarily get a picture. For a start, this world is a harsh one. Users with the default avatars literally scream NEWBIE so if you make a friend request and get rejected, you can sort of guess why. You might argue that everyone was a newbie too so what's the discrimination about? But this is how the world works, my friend. Not everyone is as nice as me who accepts all friend requests. :P Another reason is that when people look at "you", they first see your avatar before even noticing your name. You may have lots of ideas and intelligence, but if people don't remember you, you are not going to get too popular at myLot. You want people to notice you (not for the wrong things though) and with an unique avatar, people will remember you easier. Imagine growing up in a world where people are all wearing the same mask. How are you supposed to differentiate one from the other? Avatars thus help you stand out. If you don't change your avatar, don't complain when no one bothers responding to your discussions. There is one category of people whom I call the hit-and-run terrorists. These people come to myLot with the single aim of making money. Nothing wrong with that on its own, but the modus operandi of these people is such that they spam the community with many ridiculous discussions, then hope to get paid before myLot notices it and deletes all their discussions. These people are typically in a rush. They don't care about fostering friendship with other myLotters. As such, they typically just use the default green. Also, since they are worried that their IP addresses might be banned, they like to strike from cyber cafes. If one IP address is banned, they can always change to another cafe. As I have mentioned before, most public computers do not allow downloads to the local drives. Hence, they have a problem getting avatars anyway. If you don't want to be mistaken for these spammers, try to get an avatar if possible. Once again, I do acknowledge that there are legitimate users who log in from cyber cafes. For a discussion on avatars, you can check out this discussion I have started at http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/898607.aspx . At this time of writing, 158 myLotters have already expressed their opinions on this issue. So this is more food for thought for you. ;-)

myLot FAQ series: How do I see my reputation?

This is part of the series of Frequently Asked Questions for myLot. For more information on this site, please refer to this article . What exactly is your reputation? Well, when you have clocked at least 100 posts, you will see a number in brackets next to your username. That number is your rating - my own term for it is post count since it makes the meaning clearer. Many times, when users talk about your rating (which is in fact your post count), they may actually be referring to your reputation. Officially, the myLot term for post count is rating. Your reputation will be what is referred to by the star you have. If you have more than 100 posts but no star, it means your reputation is 0. If you are reading this, then I wish you good luck. :P Otherwise, you will have a star with a number from 1 to 10 inside. That number is your reputation, rounded off. To see your exact reputation based upon 100, you need to first determine the browser you are using. If you are myLotting using Internet Explorer, it is quite straightforward. Just move your mouse cursor over the star and let it hover there. You should see something like the screen shot above. Your reputation will pop up. If you are using other browsers such as Firefox, simply right-click on the star, and left-click on "Properties". You will then see something like above. Just read off your reputation. That's how simple. Happy myLotting! ;-)

myLot FAQ series: What does the number in my star means?

This is part of the series of Frequently Asked Questions for myLot. For more information on this site, please refer to this. What does the number in my star means? So now, you have got a star and you are curious what the number inside means. You are sure you saw a 9 but there are only 7 days in a week. :P Well, there are altogether 10 stars you might get. To see how the stars look like, check out my "Why don't I have a star?" article here. The number inside is your reputation, and it might be any number from 0 to 10. For a reputation of 1 to 10, you will get one of the respective stars. There are some people who have crossed the 100 posts hurdle yet received no stars. This is not a glitch. For those in this category, it means their reputation is 0 - not worthy of even a star. There are such people around and if you happen to come across their postings, you will understand why this is fitting.

myLot FAQ series: Why don't I have a star?

This is part of the series of Frequently Asked Questions for myLot. For more information on this site, please refer here. Why don't I have a star? Alright, I don't want to be a meanie here so I will try to put it as nicely as possible... are you new to myLot? You probably are - that's why you don't have a star - yet. But fret not... Harry Potter to the rescue!!! As soon as you reach 100 posts, you will see your star. Yes, you will get any of the 10 stars you see here... or no star at all. To understand what the number in your star means (or why you don't have a star), see "What does the number in my star means?" here.

myLot FAQ series: Why did my earnings decrease?

This is part of the series of Frequently Asked Questions for myLot. For more information on this site, please refer to this. Why did my earnings decrease? From time to time, you will see a sudden drop in your earnings. There is no fixed time when this might happen, and the amount affected varies as well. Before you cry foul and insist that myLot is scamming you of your hard-earned money, take a deep breath and relax. As part of quality control, myLot will weed out low-quality or inappropriate discussions/responses periodically. If you happen to respond to a discussion or start one that is ultimately deleted, your rating a.k.a. post count will drop together with your earnings. The earnings concept of myLot is as follows. Imagine a pot of gold that is shared among all the users. Each user gets a share of the total based on e.g. the number of discussions and responses he posts. Imagine a simplistic scenario where the pot of gold is worth $100. There are 5 users. Based on the quality and quantity of discussions and responses, preliminary calculation shows the point allocation to be: User 1's share: 3 points User 2's share: 6 points User 3's share: 5 points User 4's share: 2 points User 5's share: 4 points On the earnings report before payout, User 3, having 5 points out of the total 3+6+5+2+4=20 points, will in effect receive a 5/20 share (25%) of the total pot worth $100. Ceteris paribus, he will receive 25% of $100 which is $25. However, because of the quality control mentioned earlier, several discussions/responses of User 3 were found to be inappropriate and were thus deleted. Instead of 5 points, he now has 2 points. Let's continue to keep it simple and assume that the discussions/responses of the other users were found to be okay i.e. they didn't get anything deleted. The total number of points has dropped from 20 to 17. The pot of gold remains at $100. When the adjustment is made, User 3 will find that his earnings have suddenly decreased from $25 to 2/17*$100=$11.70. Following the same logic, User 1 initially had 3 points out of 20. This converts to earnings of 3/20*$100=$15. After the adjustment, he still has 3 points, but the total number of points has dropped to 17 (because of User 3). His earnings are now 3/17*$100=$17.60. While User 3 will cry foul for having his earnings slashed from $25 to $11.70, User 1 will be ecstatic to see his earnings jump from $15 to $17.60. And that's without any extra effort on his part. On an ending note, I can't resist a moral of the story here - don't just spam the community with one-liners or plagiarized works. Instead, focus on posting quality discussions and responses. ^^

Christmas/Holiday Shopping

When it comes down to it we all shop throughout the year, but somehow Christmas/Holiday shopping is different - it may be better or it may be worse, but one thing is certain, it ain't like the same old shopping we do all year. Check out this survey below. ^^

Clerics are damned but doctors are revered

It has long been observed that there is a somewhat parallel relationship between the real and virtual worlds. After all, the latter is spawned from the former. Whatever we see in the real world, it is often mimicked in the virtual. Even if not yet, then surely eventually. I was just musing about the status of doctors in today's world. My irrational prejudice against them aside, the medical profession is supposed to be a somewhat reputable one. Before asset management dominated today's career paths, it is not uncommon for children to play with stethoscopes and dream of becoming doctors. Let's take a look at the state of affairs at MMORPGs. I don't want to zoom into any game in particular so generally speaking, we know there will usually be a warrior class, mage class and another miscellaneous class. Most games have more and almost all have at least these 3. And if we talk about MMORPGs specifically, then there is typically a cleric subclass branching out of somewhere e.g. mage. I don't think it would be unreasonable of me to compare clerics in the virtual world with doctors in the real. Looking at their core similarity, clerics and doctors both heal (though real-life doctors are clearly inferior to their make-believe counterparts). In the real world, doctors are relatively well-regarded. Surely this feeling will spill over to the virtual? Well, not really. In the virtual world, clerics are typically the "worst" class. No doubt they can heal and "bless" and all, but that's that. In terms of damage, well, the word is "laughable". If you think about it, it is neither unexpected nor unfair for clerics to be weak in the face of monsters. After all, each class has its pros and cons and the cleric is supposed to be a party character. Not "party" as in like those silly half-naked Tarzan-wannabes gyrating in some cigarette-y bars, but "party" as in joining with fellow human gamers and playing in a group. Oh yes, those of you who play clerics in your respective online games are going to mutter your little curses at me. You are going to insist that everyone loves a cleric and he is the most popular class in the game. Well, sure, I agree - everyone loves a dog who can wag its tail to chase away the Monday blues. Face it clerics, you are nothing if no one throws you a bone for breakfast. You've better stay close to your chosen "hosts" so that you don't need to chase too far when they move. :P Now stop yelling at me, alright? I have the right to say what I said because I have experimented with the cleric class too. Let's look at warriors and non-cleric mages now. If I were to attempt a mapping, I would say warriors in the virtual world correspond to sportsmen in the real. As for non-cleric mages, they are the modern scholars and researchers. You may come up with more appropriate mappings yourself but this is my interpretation for now. Earlier, I have mentioned that doctors receive thumbs-up while clerics get the rotten eggs. It seems that a similar relationship exists for the warriors/sportsmen. Sportsmen today are gaining "popularity" but they are still relatively few in numbers. Don't get me wrong - many people enjoy watching sports and have their drunk moments of wishing to be those stars (though their realities often return as soon as they are lucid). People don't want to play sports professionally - yet in the virtual world, we know that the place is usually overwhelmed by warriors. It seems that warriors are exhibiting this non-parallel situation like clerics. So what about non-cleric mages? How many scholars and researchers do you observe among your friends? Yet how hard is it to avoid bumping into a mage? So really, this post title should read "People behave abnormally online" but hey, I still can't decide which is more appropriate. :P If you are still with me, let me share the one thing that seems to be corresponding well. In both the real and virtual worlds, if you are at the top of your class, you are quite definitely a top $$$ earner. :-)

Relive your arcade days with the Timewaster

Geez, I lost count how long I have not been to the arcade. Years? Decades? :P I remember one game that is a machine with big solid-color buttons. The theme of that game is memory and the rule is to hit the buttons in the order given. Since I sometimes have the memory of a dodo, I found that game somewhat challenging near the end. Check out "The Timewaster", a flash version of the game I just mentioned. The developer is one artistic guy as he leaves me amazed by his brilliant choice of colors as well as his artistic flair. This game is not my cup of tea but I know there will be people who would be excited by it. So if you are one of these people, you can catch the game at either http://www.ratherrandomreality.com/pages/games/the_timewaster.html or http://www.kongregate.com/games/RatherRandom/the-timewaster . Have fun! ^^

Pick up a new language at BBC

Feeling as if life has begun to taste as tasteless as stale water? That doing one thing or another doesn't bring new excitement? Well, I think you are in need of new challenges. How about picking about a new language? Unless you have a natural flair for languages, this is likely one challenge that will keep you occupied. Learning a new language isn't really easy; mastering it is even harder. I have been of the opinion that it is extremely hard to master a foreign language without decent interaction with competent speakers. Even if you have the "best" textbook and "best" audio guide, it is still a far cry from the immersion in the foreign environment itself. If you have the opportunity to set up camp and be as one with the foreigners there, then the odds are in your favor that you may learn to speak fluently with time. And with effort and determination on your part, of course. Otherwise, the next best thing is to enroll in a class where you have limited interaction with your teacher and classmates. Books and audio just don't cut. That said, for those who do not have access to the above 2 solutions, beggars can't be choosers. :P You may wish to check out www.bbc.co.uk/languages where lessons on 7 main languages are offered. If you do not already know French, Spanish, German, Italian, Mandarin, Portuguese and Greek, this may be a place worth lingering. There are several other choices there too but the content available is not as substantial. So if you feel up to the task, choose a language and make a new goal out of it. I would suggest that you take your time deciding exactly which language you want to learn. As the ancient saying goes, "More haste, less speed". To ensure your enthusiasm does not wane the next day or week, understand why you want to learn a particular language. Your motivation must be crystal clear or you will fail at the next turn of the tides. Enjoy. =)

Fake magazine covers with your picture!

Fancy being on the cover of a magazine? Well, check out MagMyPic at www.magmypic.com . When you are there, just browse your computer to where your picture is located and hit the "Mag My Pic!" button. Conversion was practically instantaneous when I made this cover above. To make it even better, the company provides free hosting for your picture. This means you do not need to download the picture and stash it manually in one of your picture sharing accounts. However, please note that there is NO privacy. If you do not want anyone else to see your cover(s), you should NOT use MagMyPic. Apparently, the company saw it fit to include two "Recent Covers" and "Random Cover" categories where anyone can *accidentally* stumble upon your picture. Don't frown though if you want to have the best of both worlds. Just whip up an image-editing program such as Paint.NET or GIMP and you are off to go. MagMyPic just provides you with convenience for those 2 seconds of fun. :P For those wondering how it can afford to be free (especially since hosting is included but you cannot see any ads), it has some arrangements with the magazines being promoted. If you subscribe through MagMyPic, you get to save 30-90% off the cover price. The magazines include Time, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, People, Vogue, Sports Illustrated, and Fortune Magazine. And quite obviously, MagMyPic is not helping them for free. * roll eyes*

If you like Lemonade Tycoon, you may like Kebab Van too

This is a Lemonade Tycoon clone for those Lemonade Tycoon lovers. For those unfamiliar with Lemonade Tycoon, check out this wiki article. I was once talking to a friend and I was shocked when I learned from her that she spent good money to buy this game. Yes, this lemon game... I confess I played the lemon before too but I only played the trial version. I just didn't like the game enough to feed it any dime. In my opinion, there are other games far better and come with no price tag. :P Whichever, if you like the lemon game, you may like this Kebab Van too. Most importantly, it's free and you can just play it using the browser. The objectives of Kebab Van are straightforward and are much like Lemonade Tycoon's. Simply, order your stock, set your kebab mix and then adjust your kebab mixtures accordingly based on your customers' feedback. Meanwhile, remember to keep an eye on your stocks level and top it up when necessary. Since delivery is not instantaneous, you might want to allow a buffer amount so as to reorder in time. Go ahead and relive the Lemonade Tycoon in Kebab Van. You can play the game at http://www.kongregate.com/games/robotJAM/kebab-van .

Movies - 'Tis a Good Season

Some research shows that the brain-activity patterns of people watching the same movie look very similar, regardless of their gender and age. Is this a social network? Go see a movie ... so what''s next for you?

Fantasy Football - Week 11

Patriots come off bye-week and wallop Bills ...

Fantasy Football - Week 10

Patriots undefeated, but for how long? Bills continue -- it''s amazing. Dolphins continue, but it''s not amazing. Colts lose another one while Peyton gets blasted with six interceptions.

15 cool word illusions

The above was taken from 15 cool word illusions. When you look at the picture, do you see "love" or do you see "hate"? If you ignored the reflection, then "love" would be missed. :P And here's another classic: Try reading aloud the colors of the words. Do it fast. Can you manage? I doubt. More likely than not, you will end up reading the text and not the color. Unless you can't understand English. :P So do drop by Marco's blog and check out his compilation of 15 cool word illusions. After that, check out his compilation of Faces everywhere too. Enjoy. =)

The Job - What's that all about?

And now that I am at it, here's another survey. :P For more information, check out my earlier blog post here.

Play a mage at "Book of Mages: The Chaotic Period"

If you are aspiring to be a mage (and of course we know it is not possible in this sad world) and desire to throw some magic around, check out this game with a naggy title, "Book of Mages: The Chaotic Period". It is a flash-based game which you can play using the browser. It is most suitable for those who want a quick fix since you can complete the game several times within a few hours. To test the game and indulge in soothing mindless numbness (because part of the game is just repetitive clicking), I completed it 3 times with 3 different characters. The game is "unique" in that it focuses on fire and water magics only. Usually, games using this theme will have full run of the elements. The developer chose instead to split fire and water magics into 3 sub-classes each. Namely, we have Chaos, Dark and Red on the fire side and Sea, Ice, Poison on the water side. For starters who want to have an easier time, I suggest choosing from the Chaos Fire, Ice Water and Red Fire clans. In my opinion, the Sea Water clan is the most difficult to play, especially in the beginning. Though you can heal, you have no attacking fortes and even a beginner battle seems to drag on for eternity while you fend off attacks with only defense moves. I shan't elaborate on the pros and cons of each clan since they are available when you choose your character. The artwork for the characters and attack/defense moves are pretty decent. The clan strongholds are rather plain looking though and I don't like the choice of colors for several. After a while, the music also gets on my nerves and I can't seem to find the mute button. The game itself is fairly straightforward and it is relatively easy to play. One strategy that works well for most clan characters is to spend your attacking turn mana sapping. Once your enemy has no more mana to do anything, the floor is clearly all yours. But of course, you would want to gear your strategy based on the pros and cons of your character and your opponent. "Book of Mages: The Chaotic Period" is available either at http://www.nobstudio.com/play.php?id=4 or http://www.kongregate.com/games/nobstudio/book-of-mages-the-chaotic-period . You have fun and throw some fireballs. =)

Heat up for the United States elections with the Campaign Game

For those heating up for the elections in U.S.A from the comfort of your living room couches, check out the Campaign Game to kill some time. It is a board game setting and you can play as one of the 6 candidates available. From the Democrats, we have Barack Obama, John Edwards and Hillary Clinton. Or you can play as a Republican - Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney or Fred Thompson. Choosing one candidate or another gives you no special advantages in the game but hey, I am sure we have our own favorites. :P So far, I have only tried the single-player mode despite there being a multi-player option. The reason is simply that I don't have the patience to wait forever for someone to hook up with me. Back to the game. Besides you, the candidate, you also have henchmen to help you. There are 4 different units to choose from, each with their individual strengths and weaknesses. They are Spinmeister, Hatchet Man, Fundraiser and Operative. The Spinmeister has a long attack range and can slow down opponents. However, his damage is relatively low. The Hatchet Man is the guy on the front line. Though he has a small state capture area, he is a good melee soldier who causes high damage and can hit more than 1 unit simultaneously. The Fundraiser is basically a "cleric" who heals. Though she moves slower than the rest, she has a large state capture area. Last but not least, the Operative can go "undercover" and disappear from the opponent's sight. When he hits a unit or state when "undercover", the damage is awesome. One disadvantage though is his relatively low power i.e. he dies more easily. There are 7 states in all on the map for your opponent and you to battle for. When you manage to "color" all the boxes making up a state with your "presence", you capture the state. When this happens, your opponent cannot move his units onto your area. To do so, he must attack the state like he attacks a unit. Once the power of the state reaches 0, you lose control of your place and it is free game for all again. In case you are wondering what the benefits of claiming states are (beyond the obvious result of winning the game), you get income every turn based on the number and size of states you have. You need this money to use some of the more interesting special abilities of your candidate. You can read the complete FAQ here. For the single-player mode, my favorite strategy is a simple and brute-force one. I choose 3 Hatchet Men as my starting force. When the game begins, I focus my effort on killing off the opponent's units by ganging up on them. You need not worry about the computer gaining areas or making a lot of money - the AI is just too plain dumb to use the cash effectively. For instance, it does not hire new henchmen even when it can well afford it. So once you eliminate his henchmen, you can either gang up on your enemy candidate or practise guerrilla warfare from the safety of your controlled states. And yes, this is for the "hard" difficulty level. For the "easy" level, er... you don't need much strategy. So whether you are interested in the American politics scene or not (I am not), this is a very fun game. If you find it confusing initially, just let the first game be a warmer. You will rock after that. =) The Campaign Game is available at http://www.campaigngame.us or http://www.kongregate.com/games/thup/campaign-game . And oh, it is a flash game so you just need your browser. PS.: Check out the coolest attack in the game. Turn on your speakers and "slap" your opponent! :P

Your love of emails will determine your age...

I like emails. I don't fancy IM. I am not at Facebook. Does this mean my time is past? A long time ago before the coming of the Internet, populations around the world were communicating via letters and telegraph. We call letters "snail mail" now but then, it was considered highly advanced when compared to delivery by messenger pigeons. Today, individuals seldom write letters anymore. Only companies or formal matters require letters - and even this is changing. For quite a while, emails have been touted as the way to go. "Go electronic", many advocates urge. Communication via letters has almost vanished and it has been replaced by instantaneous emails. I love emails - because sending them is practically instantaneous and also because emailing is "asynchronous". I love the freedom of replying whenever I feel like or am able to. But recently, with the silly hype about Facebook and it being the next Google which is the next Microsoft, another age seems to be upon us. No longer are people (not only youngsters - even adults seem to be belting up for the ride) communicating via emails or even IM, instead, they do so through the various social networking sites they have signed up with and sunk their roots into. It is hard to imagine what is so fascinating about this relatively new mode of communication - not unless one pretends to be one of those egoistic and desperately attention-seeking selves that many there probably are (not to say blogging is totally lacking in these elements...). :P So do you like emails? If you do, you are probably too old for this world now. Adieu. PS.: Here's someone who feels like me. Update: I came across another article on this topic. This guy here wrote it 10,000 more beautifully than me. :P

FreeRice - a vocabulary game that saves life

I am not sure how wholly authentic this "Feed the Starving" program is but the vocabulary game at this website is really nice. The premise is that for every word you get right (and the words need not be consecutive), the site will donate 10 grains of rice through the United Nations to help end world hunger. It is a noble mission and though 10 grains may seem like an insignificant amount to the average man, even 10 grains means a lot to someone who is starving. There are two reasons why you might want to participate. The first is to believe in the authenticity of the program and help do your part to feed the starving. The rice is supposedly paid for by the advertisers whose names appear at the bottom of the vocabulary game. The second is that the game in itself is quite fun. I think the game is rather well programmed. It taps into a database of English words that are classified into different levels of difficulty - 50 being the highest. The beauty of it is that the game automatically adjusts to your level of vocabulary. It starts by giving you words at different levels of difficulty and then, based on how you do, assigns you an approximate starting level. You then determine a more exact level for yourself as you play. When you get a word wrong, you go to an easier level. When you get three words in a row right, you go to a harder level. This one-to-three ratio is best for keeping you at the “outer fringe” of your vocabulary, where learning can take place. See the complete FAQ here. So the game is fun, you get to boost your vocabulary power and you lend your support towards helping the starving needy all at the same time. Bookmark this "game" at http://freerice.com and play it perhaps once a day! =)

LWW Quotes: Life

What's wrong with teaching an autistic son the right values?

I got into a minor verbal skirmish with a young mother with an autistic kid. From Wikipedia, Autism is a brain development disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior, all exhibited before a child is three years old. These characteristics distinguish autism from milder autism spectrum disorders (ASD). To put it simply, someone who is autistic has difficulty communicating and interacting in a social environment. We were on the topic of wasting food. She started off by commenting how she felt guilty because she often wasted food through overcooking. Personally, I am against wasting food. We are all familiar with those stories of poor starving children (and adults) and I am thankful, very thankful, that I have no need to go hungry (yet). As such, I commented that it was "good" that she felt guilty. This means there is still hope. And so, I suggested that she cuts down on the amount of food she cooks. Alternatively, she can force herself to overeat just so that she would finish all the extra food. This way, she can take it as a lesson and remind herself not to waste food the next day. Despite my clarification that I was not trying to put her down - but just looking at the subject matter of wasting food - her reply didn't sound too happy. She then explained that she has an autistic son. Because the amount he eats is always a question mark, she chooses to overcook to ensure he will not go hungry. Fair enough. I didn't know that so I concede the point. I offered another suggestion that there is really no harm trying to "make her son feel guilty". After all, it would be a good thing if she manages to get through to her son and help him grow up to be a considerate member of society. Her subsequent reply became more livid. It conveyed the idea of "HEY! I GOT A DISABLED SON HERE SO I RATHER DIE THAN MAKE HIM FEEL GUILTY." I have to be honest here that I do not have much experience with autistic children. In case anyone misunderstands, I have no prejudice towards them. If I have to give an opinion, I am honestly very thankful that I was born more privileged. In the exchange with this mother, what I cannot understand is why we can't try to make the child feel guilty for wasting food. I don't mean literally playing the devil and poking him with toothpicks till he understands. Rather, what harm can there be in imparting the right values to the child? What has autism got to do with anything? Does having an autistic child gives you the right to scorn the world? Does having an autistic child gives you the right to insist you are right? Does having an autistic child means <fill in the blank>? But I guess it may be the mother instinct in her that was speaking. To move forward in front of her son to protect him. God bless.

Do you plan forward or backward?

I think there is a planner in all of us. Some of us are very meticulous - taking pride in our to-do lists and weekly calendars. Some of us plan in an abstract manner - placing milestones in fuzzy areas that are thankfully still adequately discernible on our own mind-maps. The rest of us claim to be lazy slobs - but the truth is we do still plan... we plan not to plan. :P For those in the first two categories who plan more "explicitly", do you plan forward or backward? Planning styles are all unique with their own native flavors. But hey, I think we can separate them into two broad categories - forward and backward. By "forward planning", you employ something akin to greedy algorithm as your tool. For those not familiar with greedy algorithm, Wikepedia defines it as "any algorithm that follows the problem solving metaheuristic of making the locally optimum choice at each stage with the hope of finding the global optimum". Simply put, if you plan using greedy algorithm, you base your decisions on the available information you have. In this mode, your goals (if any) are fuzzy. You may know roughly what you want (like the BEST job, the BEST spouse, the BEST house, the BEST blah blah) but what information you have (like what jobs are available in your area, who among your colleagues best matches your idea of the perfect mate, which house looks the nicest in your neighborhood blah blah) determines what you do next. By "backward planning", you depend primarily on your goals. You have VERY specific goals fixed in your mind. For instance, you want to be the Chief Financial Officer at XYZ bank. You want a spouse who has a face shaped like an apple (one of my uncles assured me that apple-faced girls make the best mates). You want that penthouse at UVW condo. From these specific goals, you work backward to decide how you can achieve them. In the forward planning mode, you just know you want a condo. You will look at your current situation and just try to make as much money as you can - so that you can get a unit at any condo. However in the backward planning mode, you know you want that unit (and the penthouse one no less) at that particular condo so you try to figure out how to get it - like hiring a Private Investigator to probe how the existing owner will sell you his unit at a price you can afford. See the main difference between these two planning modes? One tries to reach forward to relatively vague goals from the current situation. The other tries to juxtapose specific goals with the current situation by bringing them towards you. I would say neither mode is superior to the other. It's just a matter of perspective and either would work as well. But hey, I am curious. So do you plan forward or backward? Or not at all? =) To see what myLotters have to say, check here.

LWW Quotes: Time

Need a loan? Check out Payday LoanQuotes (U.S.A.)

"A payday loan or cash advance is a quick and easy way to bridge your cash needs between pay days without a credit check. It is a small short-term loan that can range from $100 up to $1,500. The money can be electronically deposited and repaid from your checking account on mutually agreed upon dates." Geez, I didn't know that. Honestly! Perhaps it is because I have not taken such a loan before or that I am just plain ignorant (probably the latter :P). But hey, I think this concept of "payday loan" is quite interesting. I have posted the definition above just so that those as "muddled" as me may now be enlightened (lol). As opposed to loans for big ticket items like houses or cars, what Payday LoanQuotes offers is something of a smaller scale. However, this in no way diminishes its usefulness. When you need money, you need money. An emergency is an emergency and that "small loan" can make or break. Payday LoanQuotes is a FREE comparison service where you can request free quotes from its network of licensed lenders. You can utilize this one-stop station to get all the information you need to make your own decisions regarding short-term cash loans. Applying for a loan is quite easy - just three steps: - Fill out a 1-page online form - Connect with your lender to work out terms - Get your funds via direct deposit into your bank account Alternatively, just pick up your phone and dial 1-888-615-4346. No Fax Payday Loans truly. So for those in the United States, you can see if Payday LoanQuotes is of any use to you should you need a short-term cash loan. Remember: please still do your own due diligence! :P * This is a sponsored post.

LWW Quotes: Flexibility

Do you stir your coffee clockwise or counterclockwise?

I was making a cup of coffee and I suddenly realized that I was stirring it counterclockwise. I know I normally stir in both directions just so that the milk and coffee get a thorough mix - but there is always a default one I start with. It is an international convention that we turn something clockwise to lock and counterclockwise to unlock. My mind jumped and it seemed appropriate to associate constructive with the clockwise direction and destructive with the counterclockwise direction. After all, if we are "unlocking", we are removing restrictions. Semblance of order will collapse and chaos will ensue - thus destructive. So does this mean I am someone who is more apt to destroy rather than create? I paused and interrogated my inner voice. It responded that I was a good person who would rather create than destroy. ^^ So why did I stir my coffee counterclockwise? Or am I being tedious by trying to exact an explanation for something seemingly inconsequential? :P One night passed without thinking of the question and the answer came to me without bidding. However, it is still just my own hypothesis. You see, I am right-handed. I reckon that when I stir the coffee, it will be easier and more natural to turn my right wrist inwards (counterclockwise). Likewise, if you are using your left hand, you will be more inclined to turn your left wrist inwards i.e. clockwise than outwards i.e. counterclockwise. To clarify, it is not so much whether you are left-handed or right-handed. It is rather which wrist you are using. I mentioned about me being right-handed because this means I use my right wrist more than the left. I would also stir my coffee with my right hand and would thus turn the right wrist inwards which is counterclockwise. Does this make sense to you? So do you stir your coffee clockwise or counterclockwise? =) PS.: To see what myLotters have to say, check out this discussion.

ClickBux is back!

With reference to my earlier blog post, looks like ClickBux is back! Now let's hope that it will continue to stay this way and our efforts will pay off in the end. =)

ClickBux has gone bust (?)

Geez, I am so disappointed. You can see for yourself what happened to ClickBux. Or rather, you can make your own guesses. Why did ClickBux get banned by their hosting company? Did it break some rules? It couldn't afford to pay? Or... ? I hope that it was just a little "mistake" and they would be back on their operations soon.

LWW Quotes: Lonliness

Check out Weewar

Weewar is a round-based strategy game that allows you to pit yourself against up to five other human players. The speed of the game was decent when I tested it and gameplay was generally smooth. But as you can see from the screen shot, I was in a rather bad shape then (lol) and was about to lose (I was playing blue). Just my first game... learning the ropes. For instance, I didn't know that artilleries were so powerful and effective. I also didn't realize that I can move and attack in the same turn (I just kept remembering the zone of control thingy only). Yes I know you may say that the guide explains all this but hey, reading and understanding are two completely different things. :P One thing I noticed is that they seriously need more players. When I tested the game, there were only 4 available games (all 4-player ones) that players can join. I thought I was lucky when I joined the one that was just short of one player. But alas, I had to wait and wait and the host still did not start the game after my patience ran out. My guess is that getting players to join a game is a hard thing and so that host just went AFK. So to test the game and write this review, I had to start a two-player game myself and wait a bit before someone came. For those who like games in the war and strategy genre and want to battle it out with tanks and troopers, this game is for you. I see a heck of a lot of work gone into this game - also evident from the extra tools provided - as can be seen from the tools page. They are even providing their API. ^^ And so, I think Weewar is something worth watching. Check it out at www.weewar.com . Right now, it is still not open to the public - but fret not, just request for an invite - they gave me an account the very next day. =)

Squeeze your creative juice and join Squidoo today!

Squirt. Squirt. Squirt. Now out with your creative juice. And a generous push, mind you! :P Squidoo is pretty much like Blogger, WordPress and any other blogging platform yet vastly different. In terms of structure, I guess a Squidoo "lens" is closer to that of a typical website. A Squidoo lens is just a page hosted by Squidoo. You have complete control over the content you want to display and you get quite a bit of leeway there. Everything is free in case you are starting to wonder. The best part of Squidoo though is that it allows you to make money. Next to your content, ads from Google Adsense are displayed alongside (you do not use your own Adsense account - you get a cut of the money made from the company's Adsense account). On top of that, referral income can be made from any affiliate source you allow. Some examples are Ama zon, eBay and CafePress among others. From all the money received, Squidoo's bills will first be paid. Thereafter, you get 50% of the revenue. 5% goes to charity and the company keeps the rest. The detailed distribution is as follows: "AdSense revenue (these are the Google ads you see on every lens): This money goes into a pool, so as to avoide clickfraud. Half of the pool distributes out to lensmasters, on a PayRank scale that is based on each lens's average LensRank and traffic. Affiliate revenue (ie, referral income--like Amazon and eBay and CafePress and SuperStore sales). This is directly attributable to the lens that generated the revenue, and is not pooled with the whole co-op. The lensmaster gets a straight 50%." Sounds good? Then swim over to Squidoo and get started today! I strongly recommend that you use my referral link at http://www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/referral/lordwarwizard . The reason is that once you earn your first $15, both you AND I will get $5 each. If you skip my referral and sign up from the root domain instead, neither you nor I will get anything extra. So if you don't like me, at least give the "commission" to one of your friends - this way, you can at least still get an extra 5 bucks for yourself. :P PS.: Min payout is just $1 and payable via PayPal.

Wordlinx changes password style to AdBuddy's

What are they trying to do? Who are they trying to fool? Wordlinx has just changed its password style to demand symbols and numbers. Rationally, I can understand that this makes the login more secure. But hey, how many millions of dollars is each account worth that people will try to hack into it? But yes, I know Wordlinx can use this as a selling point to woo advertisers. Perhaps. I remember AdBuddy making the same change some time back. Let me describe the situation though to put things into perspective. Before the password style change, there were quite a few ads to click each day. But after the change, you will be lucky to see one or two ads each day. Though there is no obvious link, everything went downhill for AdBuddy after it changed its password system. Wordlinx has quite a few ads everyday generally. But now that it has changed its password system, I am going to get all superstitious and think that all the ads are going to disappear. Will Wordlinx follow the demise of AdBuddy? I hope not, truly, but we can only wait and see. :P PS.: I thought it was already bad enough when they deactivate my account every other day lol.

Weird behavior by silly or sloppy people who buy ads

From the side panel of my blog, you can see that I have advertised some PPC sites as a viable sideline. To many people, the money to be made from these sites is laughingly negligible. Yet to some, I know every cent counts. Recently, I have been observing a weird kind of ads. There is nothing really "wrong" with these ads except that they are all advertising a particular PPC site on the same PPC site platform. I cannot understand why people will do this. For instance, why advertise bux.to ads within bux.to itself? For someone who has already joined as a member, he will first login then browse the ads. While logged in and clicking, he comes across an ad asking him to join bux.to... hmm, what is the whole point of this? If they hope to snare the ones who are already members but forget to login before clicking, would they be so stupid to register all over again when they already have accounts? This is such a strange world. :P PS.: To see what myLotters have to say, click here.