Hmm, Sherlock Holmes, I’ve always had great expectations over novel based movies and most of the time they disappoint me. Everybody told me to watch this movie like it is some kind of “must watch” movie, but it turned out that the maximum I could give for the movie was a mere 6.5/10.

Before I start my review, I must say that I am not a fan of Sherlock Holmes, I have not read any of the books before, I only knew the title existed before and I am only giving honest review based on what I perceive the movie. One of the reason why I am giving 6.5 (instead of 7.8 at imdb) is because of the “something is missing” feeling I got after the movie.

Storyline

I learned that the storyline of the Sherlock Holmes movie has nothing to do with any of its novels. The characters were just simply taken out from the book and they invented their own storyline. In fact, the current Sherlock Holmes does not even take a magnifying glass anymore. That’s all right, given that if the storyline is interesting, which is not, so to speak.

The flow of the story is rubbish. It starts out with some action then it went all (quite) monotonous for probably one and a half hour then shot all the way to its climax and ends with another baddie coming into the picture. Typical movie, I nearly fell asleep.

However, as bad as the storyline could be, Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr) did a pretty good job in wrapping up the movie. Whatever that needs to be explained was explained.

Action

I am quite astonished by the fact that they came up with this very creative idea of analyzing which body points to attack, they tell you the flow of attack and how traumatized the person would be before an attack. It is like a walk through on a series of attacks, then followed by the real deal.

The magic tricks, or should I say science tricks used by the Lord Blackwood was also pretty cool. But the “Wow factor” isn’t there, probably due to the explanation given had made the magic tricks look uncool.

Humour

Throughout the movie, there were a lot of jokes … cold jokes to be exact. I laughed at a few, but most of them I just couldn’t be bothered to care. It does give us the idea that the characters are witty, but not all of the jokes are laughable.

However, do pay attention to the few that are laughable.

Actors

I have mixed feelings over whether or not Robert Downey Jr. is the right person to act Sherlock Holmes. I agree that Robert is a superb actor; his act in Iron Man is flawless. However, his British accent is down the drain. Robert’s an American, so having him to speak in British accent is like asking a bird to quack.

His role as Sherlock Holmes is perfect and he had shown the wittiness of Sherlock Holmes, but had failed terribly at his British accent.

In a Nutshell

Movie wise, it is just another 2009 movie, not as spectacular as District 9 or Avatar. It does contain its own creativity though and gets you to wonder how the magic was done. But it is just not good enough. Not to mention the movie cannot live without Robert Downey Jr. If you put him out of the picture, the movie fails entirely. On the other hand, if you put him in the picture, his British accent sucks, which is another factor why I rated the movie so low.

Choice wise, if you think your cinema does not have subtitles, spending regular ticket price on such a movie is a waste of money. If you think you can understand all kinds of accent, you might also want to think twice because the movie is not that good. If I were given the chance again, I would choose to save the money instead.

My point is, Sherlock Holmes 2009 is not a movie worth watching in the cinema.

Avatar, a pre-Christmas movie that was filmed with newly developed technology that simulates human sight has become (in my opinion) the best Christmas gift for many movie goers. Every time I exit the cinema I have a number in mind that quantifies the movie as a whole. And it has been a very long time since I last rate a movie this high.

This is the first time I am writing movie review for my website, I will do my utmost best to make it interesting and limit spoilers. As you can see, a high 8.5 from me, imdb.com rated it a whooping 8.9 which I think is a tad overrated, so why 8.5 and not 8.9?

Computer Graphics

Let’s start first with CG since this movie is made purposely on the sole purpose of delivering a remarkable and “a higher level” of realism. The 3D technology used in this film is a step further than any other 3D movies I have watched before. The depth of field effect is very much focused in this film, making the movie extremely realistic.

Artwork & Creativity

I highly object that fact that the alien, also called the Na’Vi is very creative human imagination. Mainly because they look exactly like human and even express their love like humans too (I will explain more about this in a moment)!

However, the design of Pandora, the home planet of the Na’Vis is a work of mesmeric art. It is such an eye candy that you feel the urge to enter their world while watching the movie.

Jake following Neytiri in the woods

The woods lights up every steps the Na’Vis passes through at night. The flora and faunas are also a piece of art.

Curious Jake Sully

The creatures from Pandora is pretty similar to what we have on earth such as wolves (Nantang), tiger wannabe (Thanator), rhinos (Hammerhead Titanothere), huge ass birds (Banshee and Toruk). They are pretty unique in a way that each one of them expresses the nature of Pandora in some way unexplainable in words. The really imaginative part was that Na’Vis have the power to bond with any beasts in Pandora through some sort of a plug and play device through their hair.

Neytiri on Thanator

James Cameron (script writer) has also done a superb job when introducing us to the Na’Vi’s culture. There isn’t a better way to express alien’s culture.

The young adult Na'Vis earning their Banshees

Storyline

Before I went into the cinema I have read and heard many comments regarding the “recognizable” storyline in Avatar. After 3 hours, I must say that the storyline is nowhere near recognizable in any other productions. There are many hidden surprises within the movie.

Unlike Transformers II, Avatar has no room for irrelevant and lame jokes (I can’t see no dog humping on Neytiri’s legs). Every part of the 2 hours 40 minutes movie is interesting and viewers are kept engrossed on the entire film. Although the storyline is not as intriguing as District 9, it still contains all the elements of a good storyline.

The epic war at the end was also very carefully panned out. You get this feeling that everything will turn out all right, but it is just very tricky to guess what’s coming next, the plot tantalizes viewer with lots of unexpected outcomes.

The overwhelming human force

Neytiri was excessively fierce at many instances too.

Emotions & Feel

As you can expect from James Cameron’s films, the emotional wow factor is there. Paired with Zoë Saldaña’s awesome act, you can feel the sorrow as Neytiri found out that his father died when the hometree came crashing down.

If you’re a guy you could even feel the confusion over Neytiri’s sudden change of emotion when she found out that Jake did not tell her about the incoming human invasion. Seriously I did not expect her to get angry so easily.

Jake’s patriotic speech after the biologist’s death was also very emotional. I had to keep myself together so that tears do not obstruct my view of the screen.

Jake giving a patriotic speech after landing on his Toruk

Setbacks

I may have rate this movie exceptionally high, but this does not mean that there are no let-downs at all. I have mentioned earlier how the Na’Vis express their love like human beings through kissing as well. I mean, how unoriginal can this be?

I always have this idea that aliens express love in some other way, like hold their tails together instead of holding hands or kiss in some way we human beings can’t imagine. Heck, the make out we had in Avatar was exactly a human being’s make out. That’s like watching a male gorilla smooch a female gorilla, give me a break.

Another would be the sound of the missile blasts on Na’Vis’ hometree. The blasts sounded like the bashing of empty steel containers, similar to the sounds that a child would produce when he imagines himself as a drummer.

Na'Vi's Hometree

Conclusion

The setbacks can be ignored, I am writing them for the sake of expressing my own views that’s all. I felt the “something is wrong” or “this is too fake” feeling in many movies I have watched before. In Avatar, well lets just say these only occurs at the smooching part. The rest of the show was practically awesome.

Avatar is definitely a “must watch” movie especially if there is a 3D cinema near you! If you are planning on watching DVD on your little 15 inch laptop, think again because you don’t want to watch 2009′s best movie on a little screen.

Having stayed in Sydney for such a long period of time, I had finally visited one of the so-called most “prestigious” kart tracks in Sydney. It was extremely pleasurable to feel the adrenaline rush when I am back racing again despite the fact that I did not enjoy racing at Eastern Creek Karting Raceway entirely.

Eastern Creek Karting Raceway offers Arrive and Drive packages that cater for racers of all age, starting from as young as six years old. If you are organizing an activity for your company, you could also opt for the corporate hire. Since there were only 3 of us at the point of arrival, so we hired the 9 HP karts for 30 minutes.

Safety

I have never raced anywhere other than on Malaysian tracks before I visit Eastern Creek Karting Raceway. I must admit that I am extremely surprised by how many safety gears we were supposed to wear. We were provided a pair of gloves, a full body suit and of course, the helmet. In Malaysia, we are only asked to wear a helmet (sometimes not necessary at all).

There was also a short briefing regarding kart racing which was shown on TV and new racers are supposed to watch it. So, as long as you don’t drive straight into the wall, you will be fine.

Kart Condition

Lady Luck was on our side that day, the technicians provided us the wrong kart. Instead of registering us to the 9 HP karts, we were given the 4 stroke 13 Hp karts.

I personally think that the karts are pretty well maintained, the power difference is very minimum, unlike many other tracks whereby their karts have a huge difference in power.

This was the first time I raced in Australia, and also the first time I experienced the heaviest steering in my entire life. It requires a huge amount of effort to turn the car, probably due to the size of the kart and its weight. Did I mention about the enormous 4 stroke engines?

After 13 minutes of racing I barely had enough strength to turn into any corners. Fortunately enough, the staff was generous enough to allow us to race in two 15 minutes intervals.

The Track

The track we raced was the Hire Circuit Two (730m). The track was awesome, except for the fact that the surface repairs were extremely bumpy. After 30 minutes of racing I felt like vomiting.

Other than the bumpy track, it was fun racing there. The Hire Circuit Two consists of many types of low and high speed corners. Especially at the end where there is a 3 joint left hand high speed corners which are fantastic to drive in (pretty similar to the Turkish GP), if only you could ignore the rigorous bump.

On a side note, if you like straight line racing, this is probably not the best circuit to race in, because there is no straight line at all! Thus it is a very demanding track, both mentally and physically.

Overall

I was surprised that at the end of each 15 minute intervals, we were given our own lap times to look at. The lap time’s sheet is not something many tracks offer. My fastest time was 45.19 seconds per lap.

In a nutshell, my search for a proper kart racing track still continues. Eastern Creek is good, but the bumps are definitely a huge turn off. I might be back again for Hire Circuit 3 but I am definitely not going to pay for Hire Circuit 1 and 2 ever again.

If you ask me whether travelling all the way down to Blacktown to race worth it or not. I am afraid I will have to answer that question after I tried Hire Circuit 3.

I have been with ServerFreak for a year now and had recently just upgraded my web hosting package. I will do my utmost best to review ServerFreak  in a very detailed manner based on my experience so that those who are still struggling to find a “proper” web host can profit from this article.

Uptime and Reliability

One of the most sought after element of a good web host. ServerFreak certainly had this under control, as I have yet to experience any downtime since the first day I used their hosting service.

I did not rate 10 because I feel that I have not stayed with ServerFreak long enough to rate it 10.

Technical Support

There is only one word I would use to describe ServerFreak’s technical support service, it is “faultless”. For every ticket you have sent, there is always a reply and most of the time it is settled in a day. No time is wasted.

When I first registered with ServerFreak, this website is hosted in Malaysia. Well, most Malaysians would agree that foreign traffic into Malaysia is extremely slow. I was living in Australia and I was suffering from the slow internet connection.

I emailed ServerFreak instead of sending a ticket. To my surprise, I was provided with Sam’s MSN 30 minutes later. Then I asked Sam for advice regarding my situation and in less than an hour, my problem was settled and my web host had been transferred to a server located in the US.

Customer Service

The technical side of the company is superb, but not everybody can escape from being imperfect, of course ServerFreak is not excluded as well.

Problem with the customer service is that sometimes I am asked to send a ticket when I am desperately need things done. I completely understand that sending a ticket allows the support team to pin point which user actually requires help and securities issues.

But it is still “not so alright” to ask the customer to send a ticket when all they think is getting things sorted out through instant messenger. Instead, I would propose ServerFreak to revise a system that relate the instant messenger users with their customer database.

Other than that, the customer service is awesome.

Package Prices

With so many competitors out there, I am very sure that ServerFreak does not have a competitive price (low, cost effective) to compete.

However, I can’t agree more with ServerFreak’s motto “You get what you pay for”. It is obvious that ServerFreak do not oversell and by paying more you get extraordinary support.

These invaluable element will compensate for the less attractive price.

Flexibility

Another thing I love about ServerFreak is how flexible they are.

I just changed my shared hosting plan a month ago and before I change, I talked with them regarding the extra space I would not use. I proposed to convert all the excess space into bandwidth at a certain ratio.

Immediately, they agreed and offered a conversion ratio of 50MB space /1GB bandwidth. Sounds like a reasonable offer to me. I took it and is extremely satisfied by the change.

To end this article, I think it is fair to say that ServerFreak is a fantastic web hosting service but they still have a few places to improve. Highly recommended.

I am sure a lot of you out there have heard countless complaints on Nuffnang not paying their publishers. I myself have even seen a screenshot of 15 thousand Malaysian Ringgits still lingering in the publisher’s account not being paid. How true are those? Does Nuffnang pay their publishers?

My Experience with Nuffnang Australia

On 20th of April, a mail was sent to my inbox congratulating me of my first Nuffnang Advertising Campaign by ANZ bank. It was a six weeks campaign and it ended at 30th of May. While I was checking out, the customer service was quite helpful, it sorted out my payment issues (long story) but it took some time.

After that I had successfully cashed out the money from my Nuffnang account. The status was pending and I did not expect to be paid anytime during May. And of course, it did not happen.

On June, I gave up checking on the pending status until a week ago (26th August) where I noticed the pending status was changed to “sent”. I immediately sent a support ticket half expecting a reply from Nuffnang.

Living to Nuffnang’s reputation for being slow, I did not get any replies for a week until 31st of August. David replied this time and explained that the cheque has been sent on 20th June, I did not receive any mails though. So after 3 emails with David, he cancelled the cheque and confirmed that he had sent the money to me through bank transfer.

My Point of View on Nuffnang Australia

As you can see from my experience above, Nuffnang do pay their publishers, just extremely a bit late. Still, better late than never, at least now I am paid and my hosting and domain expenses are covered by my own website’s revenue.

Also, for Australians dealing with Nuffnang Aus, also make sure you are dealing with the correct person. I have actually sent countless messages before to a different person (not David) but most of the time, there were no results. David on the other hand produces results. Look how long does it take for David to sort out my payment, 2 days.

On top of that, the same person, David also settled my featured blogger of the month in Nuffnang Australia.

How can Nuffnang Australia Improve?

Obviously, there is a lot of room for improvement for Nuffnang Australia. Here are a few suggestions to start with.

• Constant Feedback
  Customers want constant feedback from the company, a week of ignorance (especially on payment) is a big no.
• Train Incompetent Employees
  David is a good example of a competent employee, the previous person (which I will not mention the name) needs some serious training.
• Pay Publishers on Time
  Nobody likes being paid late and publishers are like the employee of Nuffnang. The last thing a successful company wants is the inability to pay their employees at the end of the month.
• Reply Support Tickets at Least Once Twice Day
  I check my email at least 10 times a day, my webhost (serverfreak) replies my email in less than 2 hours most of the time, my friends replies my email at least once a day. I don’t see any reason why a company like Nuffnang could not check and reply support tickets at least twice a day.

Of course, Nuffnang cannot change overnight and my suggestions would not necessary help at all. But one thing is for certain, it is faster to be a globally recognized advertising company if publishers are treated well.

So … Rumours? Is Nuffnang Trustable?

So what about the complaints on the internet regarding Nuffnang not paying publishers? Like I said earlier, I am in no position to deny that statement as other people have different experiences with Nuffnang.

However, do bear in mind that there might be a possibility that I was paid because my payment was small. While payments like the 15 thousand in the first paragraph are not paid at all.

Or perhaps it is some rumours other companies made to defame Nuffnang? You make the call.

To end this article, I have mentioned earlier that this article have two aims. The second aim would be to shed light to Australian bloggers that at least Nuffnang Australia still pays their publishers even though it might take a while to do so.

I can only comment on the effectiveness of Nuffnang Australia because I have personally dealt with them. For other countries such as Malaysia, Singapore or The Phillipines, I pray good luck to all of you.

When Steve Irvine died during his shoot out in the Great Barrier Reef, his “The Crocodile Hunter” film dies out. Even though it was good, but it died out due to the lack of “freshness” of the films. Wildlife shows became extremely boring from that point onwards for a period of 3 years until Animal Planet introduced their best Wildlife film, “River Monsters” that just recorded the biggest hit in Animal Planet history.

We have always thought that sharks are the main predator in the sea, mainly due to the movie “Jaws”. After watching “River Monsters”, shark is the last thing you would be worried of when you enter a pool of water, be it river or sea.

River Monster’s host Jeremy Wade is a biologist and an extreme angler. He is such a specialist at dealing with these monsters. He knows his equipment and unlike many others, he walks the talk. He goes all around the world to unfold mysteries of exotic creatures of the river. Most of his discovered exotic animals are based on attacks on humans by the rivers. It is amazing to see how many weird things he catches out of the river, usually in the river of Amazon.

Jeremy Wade exposes the true nature of these River Monsters and explains a lot of things in great detail, not in a really scientific manner and perfect for viewers like us. Tell me, which discovery channel dwell so deep into the myth of a fish swimming up a penis or 2 human legs protruding out a fish’s mouth?

In the first season of River Monsters, Jeremy Wade reveals the mystery of Piranha, Catfish, Alligator Gar, Arapaima and Fresh Water Sharks. Most of the name sounds familiar but as you watch the film, you will see that men have actually known nothing much about underwater lives.

To end the article, River Monster is certainly a must watch for every wildlife lovers. I would rate “River Monster” 9 out of 10. Here is a guide for all the episodes of Season 1, I am unsure whether if there is an episode 8 or not. Rumors say that River Monster will be back on Season 2 with more fascinating river monsters.

River Monster Season 1 Guide

EPISODE 1: PIRANHA
Jeremy Wade reveals why the piranha fills our nightmares and swims with a pool of hungry Piranhas.

EPISODE 2: KILLER CATFISH
Jeremy Wade unearthed all the fisherman’s tales and horror from the Kali River.

EPISODE 3: ALLIGATOR GAR
Jeremy Wade clears the reputation of the Alligator gar, formally known as a devil of the river.

EPISODE 4: EUROPEAN MANEATER
Jeremy Wade discovers that the Wels catfish is an extremely aggressive predator capable of being a man-eater depicted in medieval records.

EPISODE 5: AMAZON ASSASSINS
Legends tell of an evil spirit inhabiting an enormous fish. Jeremy Wade has encountered this creature once before, and he came out second best. He’s taking no chances in the rematch.

EPISODE 6: AMAZON FLESHEATERS
Jeremy Wade is in pursuit of crimes committed in the Amazon Rivers where a man was swallowed whole by a fish, a body eaten from within and a fish that attacked human at even the most intimate places.

EPISODE 7: FRESHWATER SHARK
Some sharks are no longer confined in the ocean. Bull sharks can live in the lake across your house.

Links

River Monster – Turtle Strikes Like a Snake Youtube Video – A must watch sneak peak.

Visit http://www.demonoid.com/ for the episodes.

On my recent trip, I bought some of the Majolica Majorca products, no thanks to the advertisements in magazines. The name itself is rather hard to pronounce. Try saying the brand name “Majolica Majorca” aloud for 5 times and you will know what I mean. In this time’s product review, I will try to add in as much information as I could, especially info that I think is essential for consumers to know. But whatever mentioned in this post is still considered as my personal opinion and each product’s suitability still relies on individuals themselves.

Majolica Majorca Rouge Majex (Lip Gloss)

• Function: Gives dry lips a touch of color as it hydrates. It also gives lips a glossy appearance, with a scent of sweet berries.
• Special Ingredients: Formulated with olive oil and royal jelly extract as moisturizers. (The lip gloss contains about 70% moisturizers)

Personal experience:

After applying the lip gloss, you will notice that your lips are immediately shimmery and plump. At a closer look, you will notice the presence of tiny glitter-dust like particle on the layer of lip gloss you have just applied. Most lip glosses do give the effect of ‘oily’ lips (forgive my crude description) but the difference in this particular lip gloss is actually the presence of glitter-dust like particles. This was certainly a surprise to me as nothing was mentioned on the package.

Another thing is the bent tip of the lip gloss applicator. Normally, lip gloss applicators will have a little, bent area for easy application. The difference in the Majolica Majorca Rouge Majex is the angle at which the applicator tip is bent and also the amount of surface area. It has a slightly more bent tip with a larger surface area. This provides a more efficient application of lip gloss. Do not worry about the precision though. The very tip of the applicator is still able to serve as a precision tool when it comes to hard-to-apply areas of the lips.

The setback is in the content of the lip gloss. Although packed with around 70% of moisturizers, the lip gloss is not really “friendly” towards the skin. Even after I removed the lip gloss with water and soap, my lips still feel sticky and I can’t see any signs of my lips being moisturized. However, the silver lining is, the lip gloss is definitely waterproof. I suppose office ladies will find this product useful as it is long lasting, albeit below the par in terms of moisturizing. My personal advice is, one can always apply a thin coat of lip balm before applying a coat of lip gloss. That way, the lip gloss will not leave your lips dry or sticky (like mine).

Majolica Majorca Jewelling Pencil (Eyeliner)

• Function: Creates eyes with impact (thanks to sparkling glitter)
• Special Ingredients: none unless you count in the sparkling glitter

Personal experience:

The eyeliner is sadly a let-down. As much as I love the color, it is still a lighter shade of gray. So for those who wish to get gray as a substitute of intense black (we all know gray is a lighter shade of black), do not even try to get this product. The gray in this product is of lighter shade and not dark gray. Avoid getting this product unless you really intend to get gray color as your eyeliner. For myself, I always think black is a little too intense and I normally go for gray. You can imagine my disappointment when the gray turns out to be the lighter shade and not the dark gray I am accustomed to.

Another sad point is the amount of glitter in the eyeliner. It does contain glitter but then it is in such small amount that it is almost nil. Maybe it is only the tip that does not contain much glitter. But then, it is still considered a bad start. For consumers who are looking for extreme glitter, this may not be the product for you. However, for those who are fond of glitter but still want to look as natural as possible, this product will be the one you are looking for. It gives the most subtle hint of glitter.

My personal advice is, do get an additional bottle of glitter liquid eyeliner (those with concentrated amount of glitter). Apply a thin line of the liquid eyeliner along the inner lids, in order to get that extra glamorous look. Believe me, a little of it will go a long, long way.

Majolica Majorca Lash Gorgeous Wing (Mascara)

• Function: Creates gorgeous and fuller eyelashes with each coating applied.
• Special Ingredients: Nil

Personal experience:

I like this mascara because it does not leave my eyelashes crooked or filled with clumps after application. However, I detest the length of time required for it to dry. It is too time-consuming and because the coat of mascara is not fully dried, every time I bat my eyelashes, I feel like my upper lashes and lower lashes are about to stick together. This product is a no-no for girls who are constantly on the go.

This mascara promotes its function in maintaining beautiful curls and also its waterproof property. I have yet to experiment with the waterproof part. I am not even able to get it fully dried, needless to say splash more water onto it. In the maintenance area, it does work nicely although not very long lasting. But then again, the outcome is different for everyone.

Overall, Shiseido products are still usable except that there are a lot of tweaks to be done. The packaging itself is attractive but then, do not judge a book by its cover. As consumers, do choose products that suit your skin and not according to the latest trend/brand.

That’s all I can say about Majolica Majorca products for now. Any agreement, disagreement or feedback are all welcomed.

Ever watched enviously at television ads on shampoo? Those which features shampoo models with nice, sleek hair? Alas, we all know that their hair are fake and not every strand really falls at the same angle, like what happens in the advertisement.

The good news is, I had recently tried a type of hair treatment which might just do the trick. It is not my first time trying hair treatments, so I know my way around one. But this one is a little more different and worth recommending. It comes in a gold-colored tube and even the content has a touch of gold to it. Hence, our main character of today: Asience.

How do you know that your hair is supple or brittle?

According to Asience’s homepage, they show video explanations on how they conduct experiments to determine the brittleness of hair. The result is based on bouncy hair movement and also the presence of marks after untying hair. Brittle hair tangles easy and does not sway smoothly. Brittle hair also has marks on it after being untied. This is a huge contrast to healthy hair, which has considerably less marks, due to its denser and suppler core.

Asience’s restoration of 18-MEA

What is 18-MEA? It’s full name is methyl eicosanoic acid. It can be found on the outer layer of our hair and functions to protect our hair and gives hair its smoothness and shine. 18-MEA is able to attach itself to damaged areas of our hair strand and restores the damaged surface.

Asience focuses on the regenerating technology of 18-MEA. It simply means that the hair care products launched under Asience aids in regenerating the amount of 18-MEA found on our hair’s outer layer. By restoring the amount of 18-MEA from time to time, our hair will no longer look dull and lifeless. Sounds exciting? Here’s more good news: Asience products boasts a formula which consists ingredients such as pearl, Korean ginseng, soybean essence, camellia oil essence and eucalyptus essence! In short, the formula uses natural ingredients (No wonder it smells fragrant),which aids in restoring hair vitality. Here is a little information that I had extracted from Asience’s homepage:

• Pearl and Soybean essence (Repair)
• Korean Ginseng and Camellia Oil essence (Moisturize)
• Eucalyptus essence (Protect)

My Experience

I get to know this product through a magazine and although i was amazed at the technology used. I happened to come across it during one of my “excursions” to a retail pharmacy (It’s recently getting more or less like a weekly trip. Well, rummaging through the shelves of retail pharmacies is always one of my bad habits). In the end, I only got myself the hair treatment, the full range consists of the usual shampoo, conditioner and so on which I suppose was out of stock in my area. The tube of hair treatment costs me around RM 27 (Approx. 7.50 USD).

Another thing I should mention is that, Asience hair care products are made in Japan and not under-licensed in Thailand or Indonesia. I don’t know how important that fact is to most consumers, but then it’s a little relief for me to know that the tube of hair treatment I am holding is made under stringent quality control (Or am i just a little too bias?).

Personal experience: I followed to instructions on the back (apply to hair, leave on for 3 minutes, rinse off). I am very happy to announce that my hair is not only much sleeker and smoother, but also straighter! Somehow, my hair appears “heavier” at the ends, which leads to my hair looking a lot less “fluffier”. The number of fly-away hair reduced a little and on the shine scale, my hair’s shininess increased a tad (maybe 0.5-1.0 times?). The most significant improvement is how my hair felt when I ran my fingers through it. It is softer to touch and my hair feels a whole lot lighter. Although I can’t really say much about the bounciness part, since I had only used it once, but I dare to vouch that my hair condition will change for the better in weeks to come. Here are some before and after photos:

Before

After

As a side note, the hair treatment can be used at a frequency of 2-3 times weekly, or even up to daily usage, depending on hair condition. For those who crave for soft and supple hair, Asience is definitely the brand that I strongly recommend. Experience it for yourself and if possible, do share your experiences with us! I would really love to know the effects of Asience on different types of hair.

With contrast to the “Internet Explorer – World’s Worst Browser” article I made on November 21st last year, Microsoft proved me wrong with their newly released Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) this March 19th 2009.

I’m a person who likes to give constructive comments, but after using Internet Explorer 8 for some time, I realized that there’re not many constructive comments! In fact, I think I will have to give a round of applause to Microsoft because they are now a step more advanced and faster than their competitors.

New Feature

Microsoft introduced some new toys to enhance our browsing experience. A few of those would be Accelerator, Improved Search, Webslice and InPrivate browsing.

Accelerator 

I think of all features implemented, support for this new Accelerator feature will be massive. When I say massive, I mean support from all the big and popular websites. Why? Because Accelerator actually allows you to choose which service you want to use in just a click away (yes, you don’t even need to remember the names !!).

The services include Blog, Define (mainly dictionary & Wiki), Search Engine, Email, Maps and Translators. All internet users would at least use one of these features, there’s no escaping from the IE8′s Accelerator!

The Accelerator is available for usage right after you install Internet Explorer 8. It’s easy, all you need to do is

1. Select and add your favourite Accelerators at ieaddons.com.
2. Define your favourite services for to default at “Manage Add-ons”.
3. Start using the services in any website with just a click away!

For my case, I’ve chosen Dictionary.com, Google maps, Google Search, Gmail and Google Translator. If I have no idea what “easy” means, I’ll just have to highlight the text, click on the Accelerator Icon and press “Define with Dictionary.com”. A new tab would popup from dictionary.com and tells me what “easy” means.

Same goes to addresses, if I’m searching for “UNSW”, I just have to highlight the text, click on the Accelerator Icon and press “Map with Google Maps”. A new tab from Google Maps would popup and shows me where UNSW is.

Aren’t these functions great? I am waiting for wordpress to build their add-ons as well so that with a click of a button next time I can be directed straight to this editor.

Improved Search

While other search tabs only suggest or shows you texts, the improved Internet 8 search tab comes up with pictures! This is called “Visual Search” and can be seen especially when searching in Wikipedia.

Microsoft also claimed that Internet Explorer 8 also has an improved address bar. But from what I can see, it’s not as good. We will discuss more about that in part II.

Webslice

Have you ever watched a TV where you could open up a different channel at one of the corner of the screen? Webslice works that way too! But unlike TV, the website you want to bookmark must support Webslice. The Webslice icon must appear for you to bookmark it as a Webslice.

So far I’ve only discovered that the Weather Forcast from Live Search and Ebay is using Slice.

What you do is

1. You search for sliceable things
   
2. Click the icon to slice it (bookmark it)
3. Click on the bookmark and enjoy the little sneak peak (or updates) of other websites.
   

InPrivate Browsing

Visiting porn websites Browsing under an invisible cloak has never been easier with the introduction of InPrivate Browsing. Your browsing activities, history and cookies are saved. Great stuff, since all these are not saved, you can now turn on InPrivate Browsing in computer cafes and do your stuff without worrying about your cookies or passwords saved in other PCs.

To be continued - In the next part I will talk about the things Internet Explorer 8 has improved and what Microsoft should do to retain their #1 browser status in the internet world. Subscribe to RSS feed so you won’t miss out.

Call of Duty(COD), as we all know, is a first-person shooter game that had always topped the game benchmark with its 4 previous releases. The fifth release, called COD 5 World at War of course topped the benchmark again in 2008(that’s the reason I decided to play it). But if COD 5 were to compared to COD 4, from the mission game play point of view, 1 word could explain the comparison, annihilated.

Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare

Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare sets us to the present moment where we will be using all the modern guns like M16, M4 (damn good gun), .50 CAL sniper rifle and not to mention the AK47 used by the badass. The fictional story takes place mainly in Russia where an Ultranationalist Imran Zakhaev trying to use nuclear weapon and drawing attention away by setting up Khaled Al-Asad, a Middle East local rebel to organize a Coup d’état by killing the President.

Call of Duty 5 World at War

Unlike modern times, Call of Duty 5 World at War introduces us back to the late WWII times, using older guns which I can barely remember their names except for the Molotov Cocktail and Thompson machine gun which I barely use in the mission. The story sets us back to the final battles of WWII in the Pacific war (United States and the Japan Empire) and the Eastern Front (Soviet Union and the Nazi Germany).

Gaming Engine

Both COD 4 and COD 5 uses the same gaming engine developed for COD 4 where the team of developers was sent to a military training facility in the Californian desert to experience simulated real time combat. Highlighted gaming updates were Depth of Field, bullet damage reduction after wall penetration, the animated death scenes by attack dogs and etc. Since they use the same gaming engine, so this is the perfect comparison between COD 4 and 5.

Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare vs. Call of Duty 5 World at War

1. Intensity - In Call of Duty 4, the fictional missions were much intense. Good examples are the last part of the first mission where you have to escape the sinking boat, rescuing the injured helicopter pilot (but dies after that), camouflage under the grass during the sniping mission, sniping Imran Zakhaev and surviving the scourging attacks until the helicopter arrives at the last part of the sniping mission with Captain MacMillan.

However, in Call of Duty 5, there are much less intensity compared to COD 4. The only part was the sniping mission, where you’ll have to kill the other 2 snipers from the building opposite, the rescuing US armies from the sea and the famous and very common one, “BANZAI” in almost every Japanese combats.

2. Difficulty Level - I’ve only played both these releases in hardened (not veteran) and honestly Call of Duty 4 was much challenging, you die much faster and hardened actually means hardened. Unlike Call of Duty 5 where hardened looks much more like … easy?

3. Newbie Friendly Level - No doubt about this, Call of Duty 4 is much n00b friendlier. Your mission in COD4 starts in a training facility to enable you to get used to combat tactics. In COD 5, your first mission started with you nearly got killed by the Japanese army.

4. Captain Instructions - I’ve got to say the Captains from COD 4 are slightly clearer when giving instructions. But to be honest, both COD 4 and 5 sucked at giving instructions. Because most of the time when given instructions, I’d be busy shooting down incoming attacks.

5. Mini Map (Compass) - COD 5 wins this part hands down. From the graphics of the small compass at the bottom left hand corner (COD 5) and at the bottom (COD 4), you can see a huge difference already. Moving around the map was much easier with COD 5′s compass.

6. Gaming Variety – Let’s see. In COD4, they offered the most common first person shooter, gunship backup, attack from helicopters, sniper camouflage, ambush enemies, sniping from thousands of yards away, rescue crashed pilots, helping injured soldiers (Captain MacMillan), “inperson” view of the death of Sergeant Paul Jackson(you), escape breaking/sinking ship, escape chasing Russian troops and helicopters.

Likewise in COD 5 , the first person shooter but they had gunning Zero fighters (that was fun), rescue army from the water, sniping Nazi snipers, death of Sergeant Sullivan(not you), tank mission, escape from burning flamethrowers and not to forget the everlasting “Banzai” fear you get in every mission that involves Japanese troops(except for the rescue mission).

Well, judge for yourself, it’s quite obvious to me which has the upper hand here.
Please tell me if I left anything out.

In a Nutshell

Both releases are good, both introduces player to a new gaming environment, both can be finished within 10 hours and both have their own catchy storyline. But if Call of Duty 4, Modern Warfare would be rated 10/10, Call of Duty 5, World at War should be rated only at 8/10. Why?

A game released a year later and from the same developer. I wouldn’t expect it to suck in so many areas compared to its previous versions like Call of Duty 5, World at War did.

The experience you get from COD 5 is, “I’ve got to finish this mission to see what interesting stuff I will get the next mission, this mission is just too easy/boring”. It’s like everything is anticipated already, all you do is rush and kill without thinking.

In COD 4, this is what run through your mind while playing “How the hell do I kill this many people? How the hell do I run faster? How did they kill me in just 2 seconds? LOL this is fun (especially the sniper mission with MacMillan)”. Basically if you lose your focus in COD 4, you will lose the game.

That is all for this review for Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare vs. Call of Duty 5 World at War.