Mafia Wars - Useful tips from other sites

Image from Zynga.

While I did mention in the earlier post that I might do a post on the gaming mechanics of Mafia Wars, I have decided not to do it as 1) there are a number of good sites with great information already online, 2) I just started on the game recently so I might not have the experience of say someone who played it since the launch, 3) Xavier is getting sticky like a Koala bear to the gum tree (and I'm the gum tree btw). Its very hard to type with one hand while supporting his over 10.2kg weight with the other hand.

So what I would do instead is provide links to a few good information sites on Mafia Wars so that those who are interested in the game or are already playing the game and want to pick up some tips are have a look at these sites.

Mafia Wars Secrets - This site provided me with the basic information of how the game works and how to be getting at it. Have been waiting for updates but haven't seen any since I first found it. Still a good read though.

Mafia Wars Maniac - Found this site yesterday while looking for answer whether to choose Vory or Mafiya in Moscow. Pretty informative blog.

Please post in comments if you know of other great and informative sites on Mafia Wars and I will update the list. Thanks.

Warning: This game can be very addictive. I recently had a friend posted on his facebook status saying "A Mafia Wars addict....what am I doing? Play Mafia Wars instead of celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary....logging off now!"

Disclaimer: I am not related to any of the sites or responsible of the content on these sites.

Singapore Import Night 2009

I went to Singapore Import Night 2009 (SIN2009) with Keith and but dunno why, wasn't in the right mood that day. Maybe it's because I had "Tuesday Blues" since its back to work the next day after a long weekend (Monday was a holiday).

And it reflected in my photos. In fact I was so frustrated with them that I deleted almost all in a rage. What's left were only 7 photos of the drifting event happened outside the exhibition hall.

I attempted panning technique, where you deliberately slow down the shutter speed and pan your shot, following the object that is moving. What this achieves is a relatively sharp object (that you focus on) with streaks of blur background, implying motion and at the same time, causing your sharp object to "pop out" of the sea of blur.

I had a certain image in mind that I wanted to capture (like what I seen on the Initial D animation) but somehow I didn't catch it due to the fact that I was unfamiliar with the course they were taking and I was not at the correct area. Below are four better shots of the event. Enjoy.




The last two shots are of the two cars doing donuts around the guy holding a cone over his head.

Parent worst nightmare

Our "parent's worst nightmare" moment is seeing Xavier's eyes wide open smiling and laughing at both of us... at 3am in the morning. Why? Because he doesn't want to sleep and wants us to play with him.

What's your "parent's worst nightmare" moment?

Melt, The World Cafe nearly melt my hand

Lilian was in a good of giving and decided to give Xavier and myself a treat. Had initially booked Morton's but she decided to change the venue last minute so she could have more variety of food "rather than just Salmon".

I did bring my camera along but trying to eat buffet (taking turns to take food while one of us watch over Xavier) while taking care of Xavier means I have to make a choice between having a good buffet or taking photos for blog while not really enjoying the buffet. I decided to just enjoy my buffet. So gonna blog without photos...

Let start with the good stuff first. Service is top notch (but that's expected of a restaurant in a 5-star hotel). Seafood is fresh and good, with fast replenishment of the Boston lobsters, mussels, scallops, prawns and oysters. Dessert section was lovely, with cripsy waffles made on the spot, chocolate fondue fountain with variety of fruit cubes on stick (starfruit and pineapple were the first for me) and the wide range of cakes and shot glass creations, not forgetting the generous Ice-Kacang station.

What I didn't like was the was the food were presented at the "hot food" section. Understand the intention was to keep the food warm, hence it was placed on two stretch of hobs. However, the heat from the hobs made getting the food a very uncomfortable and unpleasant experience. In fact, I felt it was trying to "melt" my hand whenever I try to get the food. And the food servers and tongs were also hot to touch.

I was so turn off by the experience that I concentrate on the cold dishes like the seafood and the Japanese section (sushi and sashimi) and started on desserts prematurely. Would we go back to Melt again? Lilian says yes for the seafood and the dessert. I would say no, unless its another treat again.

青涩部落格 = interesting programme

I am not a fan of TV. In fact Lilian watches more TV than me. I spend more time on the PC, which is usually the first thing I switch on after the lights when i get home.

Recently, a particular TV programme caught my attention, 青涩部落格 (My World My Blog) on Channel U. I might be watching the reruns because last week and this week I caught two episodes, both on Sunday 11.30am (while eating brunch).

The programme is about real issues that local teens faced in this very time, their thoughts and their feelings, told thru short stories. As Mediacorp website puts it, ""My World My Blog" sets out to portray true youth’s stories through untainted glasses for a real life representation in the virtual world of television broadcasting."

The first episode I saw was a girl who joined gang due to peer pressure/not wanting to offend the bully and her eventually trying to leave the gang. Today's episode touch on gaming surrounding two boys, a gamer and a competitive sportsman.

The gamer was a loner with no friends and parents who wants to control everything in his life. He felt his only outlet was his PC games where he can be in control, be it conquering the world or slayer monsters. He felt his parents were like "zoo-keepers".

Parents who have children coming to their teens or younger, this program might be useful to you as it provides an insight into what is in the minds of our local teens and what issue they are facing. This would probably help you understand better and allows you to help them or approach them in different ways, instead of nagging or canning them (which I feel would probably have reverse effect on teens, making them more rebellious or feeling that you do not understand or care about them). But I do not know how many more episodes are left though.

Gundam Fiesta Singapore 2009

Gundam celebrates its 30th Anniversary in style in Japan with a 1/1 scale life size model. There is also another video about the construction of the model. I so wish I can in Japan to witness the Gundam model.

Here in Singapore, the celebration was of a smaller scale. Compass Point hosted the Gundam Fiesta Singapore 2009 at its atrium and it attract a large amount of interest.

There were heaps of kids and adults all crowding to drool at the 30 years worth of Gundam models on display. Almost everyone were taking photos of the models, either with their camera phones or compacts. There were also a number of people using SLRs and I actually saw this guy with a huge SLR (battery grip included) and a long lens standing a distance from the models while he take photos of them. Maybe a professional.

It wasn't that easy taking photos of these models as they were enclosed in acrylic casing and flaring was an issue. I like taking from the angle where the models are looking and given that the robots are much taller in real life, the models are usually positioned looking down. So sometimes that angle which I like to take turn out to be the angle which the reflection or flare would appear.

Anyway below are some of my favourite shots. You can view more at my Flickr. Enjoy.

This angel-wing version is my favourite.

Confession of a Gaming Addict

Playing games has been a big part of my childhood, from old school handheld Nintendo Game & Watch series like Octopus and Donkey Kong (not forgetting Egg, Fire, Parachute, Popeye) to the Casio Game's iconic Western Bar & Kungfu to Pacman on Mac to game consoles like Atari, Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Famicom, Sega, Playstation and PS2.

If you played similar games I mentioned above, you would definitely have to visit Super Potato in Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan. They sell used games and consoles and it will definitely bring back sweet memories (it did for me).

Game addiction is also part and parcel of my life. I remember the most extreme was during secondary school holidays when I was deeply hooked by the Final Fantasy Series by Square Enix. The RPG series with strong storylines and amazing graphics kept me playing throughout my school holidays. I think my record (from what I can remember) was 58 hours in three days with about 4 hours sleep per day and meals in between long game animations. If only there were Cyber Olympics during my time. My parents have been nagging that I play too much computer games right to the day I moved out to my own place (then my wife takes over, ha).

The previous addiction started when I moved to my new place and found my neighbour Alan with similar (or should I say stronger) interest in gadgets and gaming. He got me hooked onto WOW (World of Warcraft) which was a first as I have never believed in paying a monthly subscription to play a game. But the game was so well developed that I was addicted to it and even felt the monthly subscription was worth it. The reason was the constant update to the game and the fact that the developers are very committed to making it one of the best game in history (who wouldn't if you got over 11 million gamers paying you a monthly subscription of USD14.99. That's about USD164.89mil per month mind you).

I worked hard on my character (a beautiful female blood elf warlock), raided with a guild call Stasis and had great fun for 1.5 years till the arrival of Xavier forced my "retirement". I no longer could afford the time non had the energy to raid and that took the fun off WOW.

Given Xavier has random calls for attention and with the need to help out with the daily chores, I have resorted to facebook games like Bejeweled Blitz since they are usually short games which you can stop anytime. However during my recent MTA, I got addicted to a another facebook game - Mafia Wars.

Mafia Wars is a mob style "text based" game that involves leveling your character, earning money and joining forces with your friends to fight other facebook players. I guess with the fact that you can have an alter ego in cyberspace doing all the "bad" things while not actually harming anyone appeals to a lot of people.

If you have been flooded with heaps of announces on your news feed in facebook about Mafia Wars, do pardon me. If you are keen to join me in the game, do give me a shout. I might probably do a post on the game mechanics for those who are interested.

Cheers.

Xavier's New Ride

Wow look at that shiny new ride.

I'm gonna slowly creep in and sit beside it.

Now if I put my hand over it and nobody says anything, means it's mine right?

Ok it's MINE!

This car seems squeezy. But than again, all sports car are squeezy. I just need to take a deep breathe and I should be able to fit in.

Hmm, my tummy is still in the way...

Ok I'm ready.

Wait a minute, where's the car key? What? I have to move it around like they do in Flintstones? You're kidding right?

Xavier's Seven Month Old!

Today Xavier is Seven Month old. And he seems to be right on track going by the Hokkien saying for baby progression, 7-Sit, 8-Crawl, 9-Teething. He is now able to sit upright without support.

Will try to get a photo of him in that position on this weekend.

I hate the #%&*!@ ERP!

Man I hate ERPs! They are the stupidest money sucking idea ever. You pay so much and yet the expressways are still jam.

I have super hatred for ERPs today. I just crossed the damn gantry at ECP at exactly 7.24pm! And that bloody cost me $2.00 for nothing. The ECP is still jam with vehicles. Just 1 silly minute more and it would have only cost me S1.30 and another 6 minutes more it would be only $0.50. And I had to cross it at 7.24pm!

As if to rub salt into wound, Yes 93.3FM played 阿杜 - 差一點 right after I pass the gantry. Anyway I found the funny edited version of that song at youtube and it sort of made me laugh and lessen the pain.

Had a bad day, come laugh it away with the video below for "Tomorrow will be better!"

Back to work...

Haven't felt such terrible Monday blues for a long long time. You see, I was on 2 weeks leave and after not working for two weeks, the thought of returning to work made me feel abit down today. As to why I took 2 weeks? Well in a common practice if you are working in a bank, you are required to take either a 1 week or 2 weeks (depending on which bank) mandatory leave. I guess it's a sort of measure to detect of that employee is up to something fishy. I mean if you are not allowed into office during that period of time, you would not be able to cover your traces of any wrongdoing, right?

Anway I had plans to do many stuff during the past two weeks. However, I can't help but felt my leave being shortchanged for sickness. The last week of my leave Xavier, Lilian and myself took turns to fall sick and hence I couldn't do most of the stuff I had planned to do during the last week.

But I did some do some stuff which I enjoyed during the 1st week, like going to the photo workshop with Hart from Tomato Photo, tagging along to a food tasting session at Tetsu with Julia, shopping at Uniqlo and buy quite a number of stuff (haven't shopped for clothes since CNY in Feb).

Guess I should look forward to Monday instead of sulking about it. For if Monday do not come, there will be no Friday to look forward to.

Workshop with Tomato Photo: Part 2

Yesterday was the practical aspect of the workshop. The plan was for me to shoot Xavier in Tomato Photo's studio under Hart's guidance. He showed me how he would engage Xavier and things to look out for when taking kids and babies photo. Seeing him in action, its just amazing how he does it so fast and made it look so easy.

Lilian was telling me that from her point of view, Hart is so quick. He catches Xavier's attention and once Xavier is engaged, he lift up my camera and click, all in a single smooth motion. Compared to me, her exact words were "you are like a tortoise". I engage Xavier and when I lift up my camera, aim, focus, recompose, and all ready to click, Xavier's attention has wander elsewhere and I have missed my shot.

Anyway before I share what I have learned from the practical session, I just want to touch on the "There is a photo within a photo" pointer in my Part 1. What I meant to say was, for every photo taken there are many other angles to take the same photo. You are try a high view, a low view looking up, slated view, etc. I did not meant to say you can just anyhow take a wide angle photo in high resolution and then intentionally crop them later. There are two kinds of people who can produce very good photos, a good photographer who does most of his work on the camera and minimum during pp (post processing) or photoshop gurus who does most of their work during pp. I am trying to be a good photographer hence I want to learn how to do stuff in the camera and spend less time doing pp.

So what have I learnt from the session?
- Keep things simple
The simpler things are, the better. Simple clothing (without distracting graphic or patterns), simple props (or no props), simple background.

- Observe your surrounding and know how your end shot should be before clicking
I make the mistake on focusing too much on the subject and not observing the surrounding enough. Hart's advise was to observe before clicking. Questions like how would the background look like, where is the light coming from, how would the shadow look should be going thru my mind.

Also, knowing how I want my end result to look would also making it easier as that would help me determind where I want my subject to position, when should be the moment I click, etc.

- Don't worry about missing the shot for Xavier
This is indirectly linked to the previous point. Sometimes I become so absorbed in not wanting to miss that shot of Xavier that I focus on him and neglect the surrounding (like tunnel vision). The end result is a snapshot instead of a photo. Hart say Xavier is always there so no need to worry about missing "that" shot.

- Equipment is only a tool
Hart doesn't use a Canon SLR but he takes better photos using my camera that me. Its amazing how he could get so many sharp shots. He said he has been asked before and he unconsciously move his body to get a sharp photo after the camera locks focus. This is one of the stuff that comes with experience I guess. So your gear is just a tool and with skill, you can take great photos with just about any camera.

- Always keep the little ones engaged. Keep talking even if you are behind the camera

- Kid's attention span is short, when he is "in the mood", take as many shot as possible. Do not drag the session too long.
Xavier was happy to be shot (after warming up to the studio environment) but it didn't last long before he became hungry and wanted his feed. If possible, try to shoot them 30 mins after they wake up.

- The subject looks most natural when they are doing their own stuff or in their own world
Scott Kelby mentioned in his book before, the first step to getting better photos is to stop saying "Cheese!" or "Smile for the camera". When people are not posing (unless they are super models) they usually looked their best.

- Take multiple shots of a direction before moving on
When we have decided to take the photo from a certain direction, take as many shots in different angle, different focus length and different "views" before moving to the next direction. This helps to save time and hassle of changing the camera settings, since shots from the same direction should not differ much in settings.

There are much more things covered but that's all I can recall now. That's the trouble with not writing down notes when I should have. Below are some photos shots yesterday. There are more at my Flickr. Enjoy.