Of This and That

Hi everyone. This blog is about the things I do and find interesting. It is a collection of this and that in my life. I started this blog to practice writing so I'm writing reviews on the things I'm doing.

[stepsofthisandthat]

Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale

The RPG starts with a little girl whose Daddy ran off to be a hero, leaving a huge debt and the people from the finance company knock on the door demanding payment from the little girl. She has absolutely no idea what has happened and is slapped with this huge debt; huge sums of money she has never seen in her life. 

To be honest, by looking at the exorbitant amount of debt she has to repay weekly, you will fail the first couple of times. Sometimes I think that the weekly snowballed amount to repay boarders on insanity and it gives triad loansharks a run for their money.  Contents

1) About the shop

2) Customers

3) Adventurers 

4) Start Guide

5) Dungeons

6) Continuation Start Guide 1) About the Shop You have a shop space. Calendar: Press W. (That's on the PC default setting) In the pause menu, the calendar appears and the payment due would be stated on the calendar. Do take note of the amount because it increases exponentially. You will be caught by surprise. Check back regularly.

(Sometimes when I know doom is near and I cannot pay or come close to the stipulated amount I will just dungeon crawl, to get items or use up the money to buy items for the next loop. Like building a foundation for the next loop. Customer level and your items will still remain.) Decorations: Buy it from the Market. Just scroll through. Floor and carpet decorations that will  Expansion: Go to the Merchant Guild for expansion. Vending Machines: Sells things at base price and unaffected by news.  2) Customers Important: You have to level up your customers. (Your customers have a level but you can't see it. What this means is that you need to level them up to be able to purchase more expensive things from you. You level them up by selling them your things.)  Interaction: This is easy enough, however, PLEASE READ THEIR REQUESTS. IF YOU DO NOT READ PROPERLY YOU MIGHT MISTAKE THEIR BUYING FOR SELLING and OVERPAY THEM. Also, somewhat REMEMBER what is in your shop as their requests might not be so clear. They also DO NOT REPEAT their requests.  Leveling your Customers: Sell them your things. The more you sell the more and the faster they level up. Keep your item pricing low so that they buy more things in a shorter period of time. Don't keep haggling prices with them. If they do not buy, they do not level up.  If you get kicked out (die) and start the next loop, your customer levels will remain. Pricing: Keep pricing to 109% or less. For the fairy Prime, keep the pricing to 105%(wiki) or less. I do 103% to be safe and to keep the combo.  Visits: They come the most time during the middle 2 portions of the day. Morning and night not so much. More in the afternoon and evening.  3) Adventurers Louie: He's your starting adventurer. Use him to procure items from dungeons.  4) Start - Day 2 You will need to head to the Guild Merchant for a tutorial. Buy your items and head back. Tear will give you a tutorial on how to place items. Basically, she will help you will the store management. Your personal PA. Then there will be some cut scenes and onto the next day. I suggest dungeon crawling first to get more items for the shop. There's not much point opening a shop with no items. I usually dungeon crawl for the first few days before I start to sell anything. It's a good time to level up Louie for harder dungeons.  5) Dungeons Keeping Yourself Alive: This is very important. If your adventurer gets knocked out, you can only bring back one item and that takes a big hit on business. DO NOT LET HIM DIE. (I know, sometimes the food are expensive you do not want to let it go to waste, but not using it and your adventurer dying is an even bigger waste.)     Food: Always eat something and watch your health. Food might be expensive now, in early game, but it would be more expensive if your adventurer dies.     Distancing: Gauge your distance well. Always. Do not take hits. -2hp might seem like it's a non-issue at first but it racks up. Always save your hp as much as you can.      Levelling up: Levelling up heals you. (Thank God!) Sometimes I try to level up before fighting Bosses. Getting out of the Dungeon is only every 5 levels so you have to hang on till then. You cannot leave at any other levels. There are Bosses on every 5th level. Bosses or Big Mobs.      Bosses: They come every 5th level. They sometimes have a certain way to defeat them.  Time: You go to the trial dungeon run with Louie. Remember, distancing. Try not to die because dying takes up 2 periods of time and looses time in the game. Again, Time is important because there is a deadline for payments.  Finish the Trial run and Louie will give you his card. This means that you can use him to dungeon crawl from now onwards. Head to the next dungeon, The Jade Way and continue. Find the blue patch on the mini map to go to the next level. It will appear as a circular rotating pattern on the floor. Explore the level before proceeding because you want Louie to level up and you want more drops from the monsters.  Be careful on end point and junctions as they have traps like falling rocks.  Items Just pick all. There are some ? Ingredients. As your merchant level increases you will be able to identify them. Sell stuff the next day to increase merchant level before you dungeon again to be able to identify items. Items will only be identified at the end of the Dungeon Crawl.  Boss - The Crowned Slime Drops: Slime Liver (Important) Caillou needs this to complete his order then he will be available after awhile from buying at your shop.  This boss is vulnerable only after a few rounds of killing the small slime. 

1) Kill 2 of the small slime

2) Hit the big boss

3) continue killing the small slime to make sure they don't join up because once they do, your damage to the big slime is 1dmg.

4) Kill the small slime asap because it will join up with the big slime after some time. 

5) Be patient. Max 3 hits on the boss everytime. Do not be greedy and try to hit more. You will die fast. 

6) Hit the Red Door and go to town. Do not go on (for beginners) because monsters get stronger. To maximise harvest, I suggest going levels 1-5 a couple more times before proceeding to increase the chances of survival for Louie and Maximise harvest for you.   Go home and the next day will start. Day 3 I sat in the shop and sold my things for the first 2 periods of the day. This is to gain merchant level to identify ? Ingredients and to get some money to trade in the market.  I sold things at 110% of their price. Getting things from dungeons is good  because you get them at no cost at all. (besides paying a fee to your adventurer.)  Since customers do not frequent the shop so much in the morning and night, I try to do dungeon in the morning or evening. Try not to do it at noon because it would take up the best times to sell things during the day. Time planning is important.  Dungeon crawl The Jade Way level 1-5 again.  Day ends. Day 4 It's on a red number on the calendar which I will call Sunday. You cant go adventuring so always plan ahead if you need items before this date. 

Try not to sell anything too expensive first. Your customers do not have the cash nor level to buy very expensive things. Try to keep things about 1000pix at this point.  Go to the market to pick up some things. Run the town in the morning and do it all at once then it'll only take up one part of the day and not more. If you go back to the shop, you will take up another period of time.   Shop: If you get things like Honey 2300pix, hold on to it first. Sell the cheaper things. Keep them coming. I usually put some food items at the windows. I think it attracts customers. I don't put treasures at the windows as it seems that people do not really buy treasures off the shelves.  I sold things for the rest of the day. Summary You should be around Merchant Level 4 by now and have 4900pix. It varies. I always like to be overstocked so I can entertain all requests by customers. My Louie is Level 10. Day 5 I would Dungeon to get more ingredients. Later on in the game you can do fusion which will get you more money for low tier items. Customers do not really by ingredients so I do not put them in my shop.  Important Items: Rabbit tail, Insect traps.  (Rabbit tail for the mufflers. Great for clothes and cold weather requests.)  Head to The Jade Way Dungeon levels 6 -10. Remember the distancing. Wait and see the patterns and behaviours of the monsters before attacking. Side stepping is a good strategy. Boss: Rat, Reginald Drisby. Kill the Red Mushrooms. If he eats it, he will recover 55hp. You can only deal decent damage if he eats the purple mushroom and faints. When you see him chugging down the mushroom rush towards him and whack. You can squeeze in a maximum of 3 hits before he wakes up. Until he eats another purple mushroom, be patient and stay out of the way. His reach is pretty long so keep a distance. The bubble attack reaches quite far too so stay out of the way.  I return in the evening with loot. I decide to go around town because the labels around town are blinking. Sometimes sacrificing and going to town is necessary because some cut scenes are needed to trigger cut scenes in order to get more adventurers and advance the game. The adventurers will in turn help you unlock more dungeons. Again, cram in all at once so that it will only take up one period of time.  Use the night to sell things. Day 6 I am going to spend the day to sell things because the deadline is coming up on the 8th and I spent all my money at the market.  Day 7 I spent all my money at the market and at the guild in the morning. Then I spent the rest of the day selling things in the shop. The little girl: Try to have cheap items in stock so when the little girl asks for a certain item, be sure to give her the cheapest thing of the lot to get her to buy it. She doesn't have a lot of money to start out with so you can get her to buy something that is more than 500pix. Get the cheap stocks on food, books, clothes, etcetc...  Day 8 I spent the morning in the town and the rest of the day in the shop. Instead of trying to get the most out of the customers, I keep the pricing about 110%, I get the more expensive things I think they are able to buy. At this point get about things with a base price about 1,500pix at the market or guild. Don't get things more expensive than that. The customers might not have enough money at this point to buy such expensive things. The little girl especially, keep cheap things in stock and have a couple of cheap things on display in the shop like sweets and cheap eats like apples and chocolates.  I end the day with about 14,000pix plus. about 4k plus to spare.  This tutorial might have helped for a beginner guide for you to build up your foundations to complete the game. 

-- To be Continued--

[stepsofthisandthat]

My kind of song. 

Genre: Epic

I love the tune, I love her voice. I Love the lazy syncopated rhythm. The lazy glissando. (WHAT DO YOU CALL THIS>?!?!) 

Still, somethings baffles me. I don't understand the part about her number her name and her heart. I thought the whole song sounded apocalyptic and this was about something larger than life. Then she mentions something about your loving arms. I thought she rejected the person. 

Then again, first she might mean the collision and earth swallowing her up.

I have no idea because I take things too literally. I need opinions. Still, I love the song.  

[stepsofthisandthat]

iPhone App - Games: Tiny Towers 2

Residential

Storage Sweetside Lotus Tuscana Plainlake Ivymoss Mismatched Cottage 70's Safari Greenwood Art Deco Broadleaf Bridgeview Pinehurst Santa Fe Eclectic Hifi Rustic Moderna Mapleton Devonshire Plumbrook 50's Glendale Aquatic Dover Birchside Tiki Baycrest Hacienda Brightpoint Ridgemill Greek Roman Mistmont Submarine 

Food

Asian Cuisine Bakery Pizza Place Pub Sky Burger Frozen Yogurt Sub Shop BBQ Place Coffee House Mexican Food Vegan Food Donut Shop Smoothie Shop Seafood Scoops

Service

Health Club Laundromat Day Spa Fortune Teller Ship & Print Martial Arts Doctors Office Barber Shop Optometrist Private Eye

Recreation

Video Rental Comedy Club Planetarium Casino Cyber Cafe Arcade Cineplex Volleyball Club Racquetball

Retail 

[stepsofthisandthat]

Walkthrough - Starbound (Beta) Alpha Sector

Hi guys! The game star bound came out a couple of days ago and like always, I need a guide but there was none. Since it's the holidays and I really love this game, I decided that I can try doing one. 

I haven't played much of the game so I guess that I have to keep updating this post. I prefer reading walkthroughs rather than watching them on youtube because reading walkthroughs you can get straight to the point rather than have to sieve out from the videos. 

Contents:

1.1 Character Selection

1.2 Controls

1.2.1 Movement and Interaction

1.2.2 Other Shortcuts

1.2.3 Icons at the side

1.2.4 Other Game Mechanics

2.1 Start

2.2 Head On Down!

3.1 Starting Materials

4.1 Farming

5 Travel

6 FAQ

1.1 Character Selection

There are 6 species you can choose from. 

Human. Avian, Apex, Floran, Hylotls and Glitch. 

Human: Have not tried yet.

Avian: No, you cannot fly because your wings were clipped by your elders. (Drats…) You are to defeat Fleux.

Apex: Have not tried yet.

Floran: And I thought plants were supposed to be peaceful. You need to ssstab stab ssstab. Scary.

Hylotis: You are an endangered and peaceful species driven out of your land by menacing Florans.

Glitch: What I love about Glitch is the humor. LOL! 

Pins for male and adapter for female. Hilarious.

What I think: I think end missions goals should be differ between species as they have their own storyline and the history before the adventure. I don't think this makes as many difference but I'm going to take a destructive creature like a Floran because we can't replant trees and I'm feeling guilty because I can't replant them like in Terraria. I don't feel as bad cutting them down if I can replant them. If trees do not grow back, then it's not going to be a renewable resource. 

1.2 Controls

1.2.1 Movement and Interaction

It's a WASD movement control with E for interacting with objects. When in doubt, always use E first, unless it's hostile! 

The numbers on the top of the screen are the number shortcuts on your keyboard. The L and R in the middle of the screen is bound to the Left and Right Click of the mouse. 

To interact with a specific object within the midst of many things, you have to mouse over the object you want. Eg, Crafting table and Furnace are side by side, you have to mouse over the furnace and it will be highlighted and you press E to access the furnace.  Putting things in storage: Shift-Click. Also with taking them out. 

1.2.2 Other Shortcuts

Press I for Inventory

Press C for basic crafting. Like for crafting torches. 

Shift to make building blocks smaller. (Default building blocks come in sets of 4 blocks. To place only one block, press shift.)

Placing a backing for the house. Use Right Click. Anything for the backing use right click. You can place glass for windows, craft windows, but you have to right click to put it at the back if not it'll be in front and an obstacle. 

1.2.3 Icons at the side

First 2 are inventory and basic crafting. The magnifying glass is for info. However, it only shows the things you can see. If you're blocked it wont show. 

Library Icon: Records journals and quests.

Up Arrow Icon: To go back to the ship. Only when you're on the surface. Doesn't work in house and underground.

Exclamation Mark: Questing Management.  1.2.4 Other Game Mechanics

Matter Manipulator: The Manipulator can reach further places. Allows you to place torches further into dark corners in dungeons and caverns.

Height: You are 4 blocks in height, 2 blocks wide so that goes for mining regardless of hair height. 

Door: Door height is 5 blocks. 

Pickaxe: Digs 9 blocks.

Torches: Put them on floors and walls and even on background walls. It still sticks.  World: The world is round. You can leave the house walking in one direction and come back in the other. 

2.1 Start

You're on your ship. This is your base. You can store things here. The first thing is the manipulator. I know, it disappeared. Don't worry, it's at the top of your screen. Accessible if you press 1. (I thought it disappeared on me too.) Take all the items. You'll need them. You can check out the rest of the tech stuff there but there is nothing much to do here. 

Now, here's the tricky part. You have to move over to the left side of the screen and MOUSE OVER the teleporter and press E. If not, nothing's going to work if you're just on top of it and press E and your mouse is elsewhere. 

2.2 Head on Down!

Now you're on the planet! It's randomly generated. Colours are random too. I put the Matter Manipulator (MM) as Shortcut 1. Use that to cut down trees. It's really slow so that's all we have right now. Pick up the wood by walking towards them. Now, in the crafting table, (press C) Choose the option Crafting table. The crafting table will now appear either in the inventory above or your press I inventory. FYI, you have 2 inventory space icons. This means more space for stuff! Now place the Crafting Table on the ground. You have completed the next quest.

Do a bit of exploration. If you want, you can craft Hoe, Axe and Pixel to mine stones and cut down trees faster than using the Manipulator.  Now, you have to get meat. Just kill some creatures and they'll  randomly drop meat. You wonder what the pixels are. They are currency. You'll need them to craft equipments and other things. Used for crafting. If you die you'll loose pixels. I think it's a percentage loss. Just kill until you get meat.  Build a campfire. It needs lumber and torches. To make torches you need coals. Coal blocks can be seen as black blocks in cobblestone. Just go around walking and mining them with Copper, Iron, and occasionally Silver.  How to Cook the Meat Place the campfire and walk near to it. Press E to interact with it.  A window will appear and there will be 2 holes. Put the meat into the first hole. 

Then press Cook. The meat will take time to cook if you have 100. Remember that you have to Take the meat out and put it back in your inventory if not the meat will still be there. Also, if you have 100 pieces of meat, you can just leave it to let it cook and come back for it later. Just like the Furnace when you have to smelt 200++ Ores. It'll take time. Just let it smelt and come back for it later.  Craft a Furnace

You need the Crafting Table to craft a furnace. The materials needed are a campfire and cobblestone. You can use the pickaxe to remove the campfire. Just tap on it. Craft the furnace, place it and you're done with the quest.  Now, you need materials. Just explore the place and get lots of copper and iron. Occasionally you'll get silver but silver is scarce. What I did was a very Terraria move and I was doing a Hellevator. (For those who didn't play Terraria, It's an elevator to Hell, which is just digging right down.) I did get more silver ores, but not much. Still, do stock up on ores, smelt them and get good armour. You need to craft an Anvil for that. Anvils open up more weapon and armour crafting. Upgrade all your armour and weapons as well as you can. Get a hunting bow and upgrade it to an Iron one. 

Distress Beacon

I thought I was getting saved, but becareful of the Distress Beacon. DO NOT PLACE IT UNTIL YOU HAVE GOOD UPGRADES because you'll be distress if you put the beacon down. Make sure you GET READY FOR WAR. THIS IS YOUR FIRST BOSS.

REPEAT. YOUR FIRST BOSS.

Penguin Alert! - BOSS

I suggest that you build an arena away from your house. They will destroy your house. The ship will sit on it till it breaks. 

This is my battle plan. I dug all the way down the earth and got this hard stone. One of the hardest stone. Magmarocks. heheheh...

However, it still got smashed. There was a change of plans. I had cover while firing my arrows to the ship. The holes allowed my arrows to go through and the roof provided me cover. You need to constantly repair the roof. Although it looks like you're not doing damage to the ship, just keep firing. JUST KEEP SHOOTING. WE FOUGHT FOR 3 DAYS AND 3 NIGHTS! RAWR!!! Heal with your bandages. 

Prize: You'll get Molten Rock. You'll need this to craft the Metal Work Station so that you can craft STARMAP UPGRADE MK2 to go into the beta sector of the universe. (Did you realise that all the planets no matter which is still called Alpha XXXXX? ;) heheh)

3.1 Starting Materials

General Dirt Blocks: Can be used to do farming. Will mention below.

Cobblestone: Can be used to make stone bricks and stone equipments. 

Lumber: Very useful. However, now it's a non renewable resource. Can't replant to make tree farms. Just go through the worlds and cut cut cut. Also fuel for the ship. 

Sand: Can be smelt to make glass in Furnace. 

Fiber: From hanging plants. Used to make bandage. Do not spam the bandage because it recovers life over time.  Coal: You need this to make torches and campfire. Also can be used for fuel for the ship. (I suggest not to use this for fuel because just awhile later, you need this to make steel. )

Copper: Basic starter ore to craft armours. Also, you can use copper ores to repair pickaxes that are worn out. Just click on the copper ore and right click your pickaxe icon. It's so much cheaper than have to use silver or gold to repair your gold pickaxe. 

4.1 Farming

You are given seeds. these can be cultivated. You need to craft a hoe. Then you need dirt blocks. General dirt blocks. They might be different coloured but works the same. Work the hoe on the dirt blocks and you can plant the seeds. 

Here is my house, with the farmland. The crops will yield at least one seed and sometimes 2.  5) Travel

There are many "dungeons" and biomes to explore. Remember, always to mine for materials. Even if you think that you might not need it ATM. 

If you dig really deep, you'll eventually get to the core. I don't think the lava works like Terraria where if you pour water on it, it'll solidify. Heck, there is no option to craft buckets. 

There might be more silver clusters the lower you go.   Another tip on planet travelling is noting down the coordinates of the planet in outer space. 

I thought I found a good planet to build my house but in the end it was too high level for me and I die in one hit. I have lost things in other planets where I don't remember where they are because it is really a needle in a galaxy. I suggest a notepad. Take down the coordinates.  6) FAQ

1) Does building house follow the Terraria rule?  Basically yes. However, building a house in Starbound is not a requirement in low levels because in Terraria, you need the NPCs to join you to progress in the game. Not so in Starbound. (Not yet for the moment. LOL :D )

2) Why do you keep mentioning Terraria?! They are two different games!

I loved loved loved Terraria and this game is just too similar. It's like an upgrade! How awesome!  3) How do I heal?

Craft a bed and sleep or harvest fibers from randomly hacking away at ground plants, gathering crops (wheat) or the hanging plants underground. 

Author's Note

Thank you for reading and visiting my page! If you have any questions, put it in the comments below and I'll try my best to answer! 

Cheers!

[stepsofthisandthat]

How to Learn a Musical Piece

I attended piano lessons as a child but it's only much later in life that I found out what music interpretation was. It's only, listening to Rachmaninov's Etude in C minor, Op 39, No.1 that I begin to grasp how music should be learnt. 

My teachers used to pass me musical scores and I had to figure out the melody lines if they didn't play it as an example. I was taught to get the notes right, which, was wrong (This is not supposed to be step one). It was a struggle learning music pieces when I was a child as I didn't understand most of it especially contemporary pieces. I could, pass my ABRSM grade 8 when I was 16 but I never understood any of it. Play it with "feelings" was to follow the dynamics given on the score sheet. Nothing about making the piece your own. 

Now, as I am listening to the etude which is very much contemporary and has seemingly random and dissonant harmony, I finally grasp what it is to understand a piece and play with "feelings". I would say that listening to the song and feel it's dynamics or how it is interpreted or translated. What kind of a feeling it gives us when we hear a piece. (Mozart and other classical pieces are relatively easy as they have very catchy themes.) As we listen to a piece, we have to formulate our own opinions of it and how it is supposed to be played out. Like something that we want to say.

For example, a musical piece that you play is something you want to say. If you're playing it without knowing how to say a piece of music you probably aren't playing it right and your audience will be confused as to what you as a performer want to portray.(That's why you hear people saying that they have no idea what the performer was doing. Either that or they aren't very artsy people.) It's like saying "I like ______." or "I love you." Do you really? Can you convince me that you like it by that one sentence? 

What my teachers did wrong (for me) was to give me the score sheet to interpret rather than start with music appreciation and a discussion of the piece.(You have to see it from a child's perspective, not a graduate in music.) As a child, it is hard to visualise how a piece would sound from musical notation even though I had a proficiency in it. It would be a breeze if they did and they wouldn't meet with much resistence if they did. It is because if one understands the piece and wants to play it, one would know how to practice the piece until "perfection" or how one wants it to sound rather than struggle blindly with the technicality of it. 

I remember struggling blindly with the technicality of it without knowing the goal of the piece. It's like the journey where you don't know where you're going but supposed to be at the designated spot at a designated time. Naturally I was scolded a lot and forced to practice. My mom would remind me that I was the one who wanted to learn how to play the piano and now I'm not practicing. To her and the teacher, it was all about the certificate. I was ten and tried telling her that I would rather know how to play the piano than just pressing keys to get a certificate. Then I went on to press the right keys to get the certificate. 

Of course right now, my piano playing is chucked away in the corner of my room and revisited once in a blue moon. If you want to learn a musical piece, always start with the appreciation because without it, your non existent musical career will begin with a nose dive. 

When you play a piece, remember to say what you want to say, know what you want to say.

[stepsofthisandthat]

Schedule's Filling in!

I have been wanting to turn my life around and so, I'm now time managing and filling in slots. I know that I'm always rushing for time and I want to kick the habit of being late (at all). 

Here's a clip of my time table. I'm using Google Calendar and it syncs to my phone. 

I put in everything including time for preparation and travel. I have a really bad habit of mentally cutting down travel time. 

This is how it looks like. I'm on school vacation so there isn't anything planned out for school yet. I actually want to be about 15-20 mins before an event start that's why there's a gap between travel time and event. Blocking out travel times also show you how much time exactly you have because you can't touch a certain slot. beyond that point. 

Now, we'll see how it works when I have my school added into the fray. If this works, I'll put up a detailed explanation. LOL!

[stepsofthisandthat]

Go Launcher EX Guide

I love customising my phone and apparently so do the 1 000 000++ other downloaders. A rough guide on the Go Dev Applications. I have not used an Android before so this is fairly new to me. 

Go Launcher

Go Launcher basically loads THEMES. Themes are like wallpaper and icon pictures. You have to download the themes and the Launcher launches the themes. You can't load themes without the launcher. This is the Go Pink Fusion Theme. 

Don't mind the greasy finger prints. It's not HTC's fault. It's part of my service provider's door gift. Really cheap screen protector. Ok, wait. I'm not sure who's door gift anymore but don't blame the glass. 

Go Locker

This is the application that launches the Locker function. 

Go SMS Pro

Changes the themes for the SMS page only. I DO NOT RECOMMEND this as there are many other functions in there which you might not need and take up ram space or space. Not many themes and some themes are misleading.

Go Keyboard

Changes the look of the keyboard. This is the Go Cowboy theme. It's so pretty. 

Basically, to change the whole look of the Android device, one has to download all the launchers and all the themes. For example, there's a {GO Pink Fusion Keyboard, Go Pink Fusion Theme, Locker, and SMS} Just load all of them. 

RECOMMENDATION

Some are misleading. They put that it's free, but if you see the little red ribbon on the top right of the icon, you need to pay. Like Get Jar account or something. Just delete it. 

I recommend not installing the SMS pro. I know the interface offered is just so pretty, but there are lots of bloatware and advertisements in it. It'll open up alot of other features which you really don't want. I'm not even going to say you might need it. No, you don't and yo don't want the rest of them there either. There are not many themes and if there were are misleading because they say that it's free. Then when you click on it, they tell you you either have a Get Jar account or buy it with some in application gold. It's just BS. 

Keyboards are ok, launcher is ok so far. Beware of the Go Widgets though. I'd recommend not using their widgets. I'm on a HTC so THANK GOD I'm still able to pull HTC widgets into the home screen. Still, be careful of the Go Dev apps because they might give let's say the themed launcher, and locker free, but not the keyboard so you'd have to buy the keyboard. Marketing gimmicks like that.

[stepsofthisandthat]

HTC One from iPhone

I have been eyeing the HTC for sometime now since the HTC Butterfly but now I can upgrade my contract and get a new handset. I've decided on the HTC one. What I love about the HTC (and other androids, ) is the Homescreen. I've been using the iOS for years and its a refreshing change. 

I was really torn between the HTC Sense UI and the whole new world of customisations on the Android. Firstly, here's the pictures of the HTC One with the customizations. 

It feels great when I hold it. Much bigger than the iPhone, but that also means bigger screen size. I love that the speakers are in the front and directed towards you. With the iPhone, my fingers were always in the way of the sound. 

HomeScreens

Yes! Home screens! I love the home screens, news feeds and the updates. On the iPhone you need to open apps for news feeds, but it is readily available on the android. 

Processor

It's great so far, but to be honest, it's a new phone. It's supposed to be fast. You'll only find flaws as time goes by. 

Sensitivity

I've got to give iPhone credit for sensitivity. There's a game that I play, 02Jam, it's much smoother on the iPhone. With that being said, it might be the developer issues on the android. Overall, with the game aside, I still prefer the touch and sensitivity of the iPhone. 

Customization

There are so many things to do, from changing the keyboard screens to themes and homescreens. With the iPhone, there's a basic feel of the phone with the Application layout. The Homescreen of the android allows one to design one's layout.

I'm ranting on Andriod and less on HTC. I like HTC Sense's Ui and widgets. I love the news feeds that come with it, but it doesn't have much for news yet so far. I've found that my hunger for news can be satiated with Pulse and Google currents. 

The iOS is great. Like how when I got my iPhone and I recommended it to my mom. She afraid that she wouldn't be able to use it but I told her it was idiotproof. Now, she has tons of apps on it. Android and iOS are 2 different platforms but are great all the same. 

I love the different themes on the phone.

HTC APPS

Focus! I know I should focus on what's right on HTC and less about Andriod. There are some features that I really like.

I love the Calendar widgets as seen on my homescreen. It's like a Todo list. I think it's better to have your ToDo List with the calendar, in that way, it's all in one place. It looks really nice and sleek. The Calendar widgets that I'm using are not Go Launcher's but HTC's itself. I found out that HTC widgets still work on the Go Launcher. THANK GOD!

Next, I like the Car app although I don't drive. I think it's a useful feature to make driving and using the phone as hassle free as possible. I know some people are going "You're NOT supposed to use the phone while driving!" Yes, but sometimes people waiting for their ride are anxious and call, and the driver has to answer, or send a quick message: B thr in 5. 

Kid mode is great for parents. Nowadays, kids young enough to recognise what a phone is, already knows how to navigate their way through them for games. Kids also need their mind and hands on something to keep them out of mischief. Or you could just use it when your friend asks to end your phone to check out "some app".

Others like TV which gives update about your local tv timings is useful... IF you watch tv. I know i don't and I don't really care for tv anymore. 

Now, the ingenious flashlight app is already in so you dont have to scramble through the app store to download the app when in a blackout. 

Beats audio: Does come with it and it does make a difference if you turn it on or off. Its a glorified bass booster and equaliser. Yes, it works. 

Notifications

Surprisingly, not as notified. I'm still very used to the iPhone's notifications on the homescreen and the little number alert on the side of the icon that notifies you that there's an update or something new. Here on Android, if i don't pull down the status bar, my whatsapp conversations go forgotten. 

Gallery

HTC one has a Zoe feature, where the idea is like from the Harry Potter wizard world where pictures move. Here on the phone the pictures lasts 3 seconds so theres 3 secs of the actual scene on the move. It's pretty cool when you're viewing it in the gallery. This is one of their marketable features that makes the One interesting. 

Sync Manager

Overall, it has been a very interesting switch from the iPhone but the Sync Manager isn't working too well for me. It has crashed 3 times in the last half hour on me. I'm on a mac by the way. The HTC does import pictures into the iPhoto which is a good thing, but the syncs are a little messy. I have to go figure it out. 

Rooting

I'm not sure about the rooting but so far, (the phone's still new) it's working great. The thing about reviews is that they always review a brand new clean phone that's never seen abuse. Some of us, like me, are not known for being nice to phones and durability of a phone is hard to review in that way.  Rooting I heard allows for much more control of the device and all, but I'm not sure about control. I just want my device to look pretty. 

Concusion

It's an interesting change and I love it. I love that it's very thin and has a big screen. Lovely. I hope i''ll last a long long time. :D

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Jukki loves her Bunny!

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Troll Weather

I've been trying to sleep the whole night when it was hot and humid and restless. I couldn't sleep and was tossing and turning and when it was time to wake up at 5am, there was a long deep roll of thunder promising of a thunderstorm. 

Now, there is actual wind blowing a cool breeze through my window but I cannot go back to sleep and have to finish up my school work.

First-World problems. :/

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How to make a Healthy Meal

As we are very busy people and schedules get tighter, we have no time to cook much less have a healthy meal. We eat out a lot and the food in restaurants are high in sodium, trans fats and low in vitamins.

Here, Is a convient and fast way to cook a simple, nutritious meal. But first, I have a suggestion that might speed up the cooking process especially for busy people who live alone.

What I did here was buy many small containers and portion my meat and vegetables into portions. My mom used plastic bags but I find it a waste to. These are reusable and easy to wash. The thing about eating healthy, is that, its easier to wash up. 

I asked my nutrition lecturer and she says that fresh vegetables is still best but freezing vegetables is the next best thing. However, vegetables MUST be frozen ASAP after chopping. I think it's best after the trip to the grocer, immediately wash, chop portion and freeze. I buy frozen peas. I love peas. :)

Warning: The texture of the vegetables is changed.

You may omit meat if you're vegetarian. 

Here's how to do a healthy rice.

The thing to keeping it clean and neat is this: wash up immediately. 

Here I use broccoli and spinach. You can use any vegetables you want. Sometimes I mix it up with Bak Choi, Kai Lan, Cauliflowers.. I heard that broccoli's good so I get that all the time. Broccoli can last a week in the fridge. Bean sprouts are really cheap and really good too. 

Tips:

1) Wash and boil the rice.       - Basically, we're just cooking rice and adding stuff in concurrently to save time. I'm impatient so I have high fire on until the rice water boils then it's low fire all the way. 

2) When it's boiling, add in the meat and mushrooms.       - I like mushy peas. Sometimes I use pumpkin. Add that in first too if you want. Especially mushy vegetables like melons. 

3) Rinse the chopping board.       - Just run it under the water with the knife so everything looks clean and neat. You don't have to rush because the rice needs time to cook.

4) Check on the rice. Stir to make sure the rice doesn't stick to the base of the pot.       - We're not using oil to cook so food might get stuck if not stirred properly. 

5) Wash and chop up the vegetables.       - You don't have to rush. The rice is still cooking. 

6) Put in the vegetables when the rice is about 3/4 done.      - For the first few times you're doing this, you can try the rice. The core of the rice must be fairly soft. The idea here for the vegetables is not to overcook them so much of the nutrients is retained.

7) Stir in the vegetables until they turn in bright green and then let it cook for 3- 5 more mins. Add egg if you want.      - Remember, not too long. You want fresh vegetables.

8) While waiting for that to simmer, WASH UP.       - I've found that it was fairly easy to wash up because there's no sauce and everything is dry and clean. You can even just rinse if you're lazy ONLY IF you didn't chop meat with the vegetables. 

9) Eat immediately      - It's best to, because the vegetables will start to change colour. Once I left it out to eat after I took a bath, the vegetables weren't crunchy and turned a brownish green. 

I know it tastes a little bland but it's clean good food. If you like you can add soy sauce, oyster sauce or stalk to it but that'll defeat the purpose of it being healthy. Remember, sauces are high in sodium,sugar content so try to cut down on them. 

Trust me, washing up without sauce and oil is a lot easier. 

Oilve oil is rich in antioxidants and vitamin E. Some in the food is good.  

End

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Moscato

Moscato is really nice... But when drunk throughout the night, the sweetness increases exponentially. I just do not have a sweetness tolerance. 

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iPhone App: Games - Knights of Pen and Paper Character Guide

I hardly buy apps because I'd rather not pay for them but this was recommended by a friend whose game taste I can trust. As it turned out, this game was addictive while I compulsively played it for 2 days. I cannot beat Mom, the last boss, and am backsliding and putting it off. Anyway, this is a role playing game with a D&D calculating system. Well, I'm not sure if it's a D&D counting system but it seems like it because the stat initiative and the lucky die roll. I know D&D has those elements to it. 

I really like that the characters keep it real when they are at the table. The game master reads out and makes up the story while the rest play along in it. Their candid conversations are amusing. For those who love pixel art and old school games are in for a treat. MIDI soundtrack. 

There's a total of 5 characters that you can have in one game. You can follow the story and finish the game because it's pretty straightforward. Quests will be available in every town, click the exclamation to trigger quests and off you go. Please read the story and immerse yourself in to it because I know some people wouldn't be bothered to read and make the game out to be boring. The quests are simple with no puzzles. The deal is the characters you pick and how they would compliment their class and each other. I've decided to talk about that. 

  My Team

I know I have 6. I changed the Knight to the Necromancer for the Last Boss (Mom). 

Mr. John: 10% extra experience points gained (You don't really feel the 10% exp level up. It's not that much. I'd rather have other attributes. Saulo is better. )

Nerd: 50% discount when resurrecting this player after death (I don't die much. Actually I didn't die at all except when fighting Mom, so this character isn't much use to me. There are some combos that do work. I'll tell you about it later.) Pizza Guy: 50% discount to buy this player (I had a lot of money. It's not an issue if you don't need to keep resurrecting your players. Furthermore, it's only a one time purchase. DO NOT GET HIM.)

Jock: +1 to bonus attack (It looks good now, but it does not make a difference in late game. Not an issue in mid or early game too. Even then, Betu's better. He even comes with 50% resurrect. No, not this character.) Woofie: Heal 1hp per turn. (Again, 1HP isn't much. I have a tank. He/She takes 93% of the damage. If Woofie's the tank, 1hp regeneration isn't helpful.) Little Brother: +5 to initiative (This could work. Initiative is important so you'll have first attack. )

Rocker: +5 points to health (It is not helpful to me. My characters either have a massive amount of health or do not take damage. During late game, 5 points of health is really not going to do much.) Paris: 50% discount on blacksmith upgrades for this player. This does sound good in the beginning, but there are items to buy that shortens the crafting time. eg. Equip 4 Greater Molten Rings and get a 40% discount and -80%crafting time. Throw in some room items and Voila! Instant delivery! ... Rendering her attributes useless.) E.T: Recover 1 mp per turn  (My first batch character. The 1mp regen did help in the beginning when I had absolutely no money and no items. It did help in the initial part of the game. However, it was forgotten midway. I have the druid. :))

Flowers: Extra 1 point on dice rolls lucky (Rolls when sleeping or travelling to see if you encounter monsters. Rolls for grindstones for blacksmith upgrades. Not a big deal. I don't know. Maybe it is.) Grandma: Extra 2 (100%) to threat ( I used her to tank all attacks. It stacks with the Paladin's passive devotion aura and Leader Strike that has a threat count.Heh.Thread Count. Anyway, so she draws all attacks and she has the shield so only 50% absorbed.) Mrs. Goldberry: +3%hp, +3% mp, +2% hp steal, +2% mp steal, +2%xp (I used her for Rogue because the class does not use much mana and could do with the hp and mp steal. That, and she seems cool. :/ ) Hynx: +1 Skill duration (Oooooo. I am going to rave about this. Awesome guy for turn based classes PERFECT for Druid. Regeneration heals a good amount per turn. Hibernation puts monsters to sleep for an increasing amount of turns but with this guy, there's a free level. Also, pretty good for mage too. Extra burn and freeze stun duration.)

Misc: You can get them from doing the saving people quest.... I think. Ronaldo: 100%extra potion effect and 5% of life steal. ( I didn't use potions until Mom so I didn't think of using him.) Betu: +3 bonus to attack and 50% less on player resurrect (Still +3 isn't enough because I was already mid game.) Gui: Reduce threat by -5 (100%) and 5% of mana steal. (Great for your damage dealers like Mage, Rogue and supports.) Hugo: Extra 5 (100%) threat and +10% to critical. (I tried making him the knight, but I guess I was way too far in the game and he was underlevelled so I switched him for the Necromancer.) Saulo: +5 to initiative and 30% extra XP (He is my Necromancer to try to beat Mom. The Knight wasn't working out. Better stats than Mr. John. Late game and was rushing to fight Mom.) Hipster: 50% faster blacksmith crafting for this player (See reason for Paris.)

Classes: I'm just going to talk about what works for the Classes to keep the post short--er.

Paladin: You definitely need the Holy Shield that reduces 50% damage taken and the Heal. The Leader Strike is purely to draw more attention to yourself. Don't expect your Paladin to kill. The damage dealt is woeful. Don't put in too many points on the shield though. The fight doesn't last too many rounds and your Paladin really has not much use except tanking.

Warrior: I didn't use this. Though, I'm trying an AOE(Area of Effect) group with the Mage and Bard. The Warrior has a Cleave attack and hits 3 foes. I prefer the tanking on the Paladin though. Rogue: This is your damage dealer. Everything is good. Yes, concussion does help but does not work on bosses. Disables in general do not work on bosses.

Mage: Other damage dealer. Focus on the fire skill. The burn damage is really satisfying. The monsters in this game have a very thick health bar. Heavy DOT (Damage Over Time) is appreciated. The Meteor doesn't burn. I have an epiphany now, all of a sudden and I think my AOE team will not work because we won't get past bosses. Deep freeze is good for stuns and I only put in one point for that because it only stuns one turn max. It's also a mana heal moment for my mage because concentrating skill points on fireball is mana intensive. Druid: I LOVE this character. After I got the hang of him I never have to sleep again. Ok, maybe about 1% of the time. Don't expect damage  from this guy. Gaia's Blessing (Mana replenish) is first and for most after hibernation.  He heals, disables and replenishes mana. What more can you ask from him? Still, in this game, you're either a DPS or a support. 

Cleric: I'm thinking Weakening the target might have an effect???? but I already have the Paladin. Only Mom has the splash effect that I am struggling to recover from. My friend who used the Cleric says that the class is really good for higher level battles.  Misc: Classes enabled by completing quests. You can't miss them. They're the people quests. Just do all. Barbarian: I guess it's a half tank half DPS and IMO, not effective with the Druid. For one, he messes up the Hibernation and he doesn't use much MP. This kinds of makes the druid less ineffective with his MP replenish. Still, I have a friend who raves about this guy. This is not a character you'll need to worry about.  Bard: A healer and has a buff that raises the attack of the group. The bard has an AOE attack too but it's very mana draining. Then again, you need intense DPS in Boss fights. Mom is really what matters. He could be a variation of Cleric. See which you want.  Hunter: I didn't really find this useful. Still, surprise me. Knight: Don't get fooled by the "critical" in the description. The damage output of the knight is not impressive. Not a good tank although he has high life steals. The HP isn't enough to tank it through. The Shield only lasts 2 turns. I tried, but maybe I wasn't fair.  Necromancer: This guy has a good DOT. When paired his Summon Minion with the Mage's burn, it's a good DPS without doing anything. The buff (Help from Below) is a great pair with the Rogue. It is especially effective with the Rouge because of the high damage Double Stab that saps life paired with the critical buff.

The thing about the game is that after a certain level of skill, the level increase for stats starts to slow. At that point, you might want to pump up another skill. Up to you really. There's a skill reset guy if you want to change the skill set lineup. 

Combos

Combo1

Druid, Mage, Paladin, Rogue, Necromancer

I shall start with the Druid. It's my favorite support. I think this is the only mana replenish so having a full team that needs mana would be most effective with this Class. That being said, Barbarian does not go well with this class because the class does not use up much mana and the random attack does not go well with the hibernate disable. The moment a sleeping monster is attacked it will wake rendering the hibernate useless for tactical battle. 

The Mage and the Rogue are the Damage dealers. The Necromancer does DOT which pairs up nicely with the Mage's burn DOT. The Paladin tanks the attacks and the Druid does Mana replenish. 

Combo2

I was thinking of an AOE combo.  Mage, Warrior, Bard, Necromancer, Knight

The Necromancer's Help From Below buff is great for the warrior. It helps replenishes his life when he does the cleave attack. This combo is a great monster army wipe out tool. The Mage and Bard have AOE attack. I think when it comes to the last boss Mom, you can just reset the players skills in town for a customized 1-on-1 Kill. 

Basic Combo formula.

The combos should have Damage Dealers, Healers and disablers. If you find that one character is not doing adequate damage it might be made for another job. For example, I realized Mid game my Druid's Feral Strike wasn't doing enough damage and the bleed damage is just pathetic. Then I resigned him to mana replenish and disabler. It was then I realized that I could sleep alot of sleep. In fact I've never slept until I went to the Land of Colour. This is great when you have to fight multiple battles consecutively.

I hope this does discuss the character class pairing for the game. Now excuse me while I re-engage Mom. (She hit Grandma!)

I'M A MOM BEATER!

How to beat Mom.

- Lots of SHIELD POTION. About 15. - Everybody should have Polished Medal (+65 health) Some of my guys even have 2 on them. - Big HP Potion -Ring of Aluminum (+4 Initiative) I want them to go first so they can set up their shields before she strikes. She has AOE strikes by the way.  - Greater Phenix Up ( heals 250hp when you resurrect. You don't have enough time to resurrect AND heal. Plus, Party mates can't heal you enough or use potion on you.) - Attack Elixir. For the Rogue. -Red Pepper (If you have Barbarian.)

Alrighties. Have fun role playing!

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Jukkie in the park! She loves the big open spaces and windy days!

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iPhone Apps: Mandora

I love this game! It's cute, fun and very engaging. Mandoras pop out of the holes randomly and we harvest it when it's ripe. That's if you want a combo for maximum points. However, if you want to fill up the photo album at end, there are certain criteria to fulfill to achieve special Mandoras.

What I really love about this game are the different kinds of characters you will find depending on the time of day. There are three timings, Morning/Afternoon, Later afternoon and Night. As you play at different times of the day, you'll start to fill up the photo album. The pictures are funny and light hearted. 

What I do: Because the game is time based, the most important factor to chalking up points is the time special Mandora. I keep my focus on getting the combos (plucking ripe Mandoras) and when there's a gold Mandora, go for it and a time Mandora will pop shortly after. That, and if I see any time special Mandora, I head straight for it. Screw the combos. 

Another way is to pluck the Mandoras out systematically. What systematically in the whole bumbling chaos you might ask. Well, as systematically as one can manage. For example line by line, loosely put. And do your best.

A great in-between-activities game. Love the art too. ;) I wish there were more.  

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Samurai vs Zombies

It's a typical iPhone base defence game which you need to pay to win. The level difficulty is based on how much you spend on the game to buy your way through. I do like the game concept but developers spoil it by in game purchases. 

The game is fairly simple. The waves of zombies come and you defend your base and summon a stream of warriors using leadership points to fight for you. The more points you have, the more you can summon, but there's a cool down period after a summon. The trick to this is to increase the leadership level as fast as possible as to increase the rate of points. What I did was to use my hero to hold off the horde until I upgraded the Leadership Level.

The rest of the game is just bleh and typical of the sort. Seems like somebody's been selling game engines. However, the interesting part is that you can get to play as the Zombies! Ah, my necromancer tendencies can be humored. I have always been hooked on to necromancers since Diablo 2. No games ever matched up to necromacy as Diablo did. Anyway, I loved the part where I could play from the zombie's side.

It might look the same, but the idea is for the zombies is to swarm their opponents. Win by sheer numbers. Did I mention that you have to summon them one at a time? Requires alot of pressing. The hero has a cool life sap ability. I really like that but his health is so low so the life sap is not a luxury. Soldiers are really cheap and die in a hit. During mid game I change from a hero general to a Necromancer Mage because summoning takes up all my attention. (Humans (Allies) are much more resilient.) Then again, I'm a necromancer, associated with the undead and dying. My decrepit fingers cannot handle so much button mashing. It would help alot if there's a mass summon. 

You must play the human version to unlock the zombie version and it is much harder than playing humans. I died a lot at the 8th and 9th wave while owning it as human. Overall, I would say, play the zombies! 

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I want to go to bed today and wake up tomorrow.

I need to sleep early.