Kuwabara, kuwabara...

LCD TV?

2005-05-08T18:03:23Z

http://www.logiccomputerhouse.com/site/main.php?module=detail&id=7950

This looks like a good deal. In Canadian dollars, too. Anyone have any other suggestions?

Update: It's back.

2005-04-25T19:55:38Z

Okay, good. Microsoft pulled through, thank god. They may be rich but when they solve problems they know when to solve them. I am most likely going to clean out everything in velocity_squadron@hotmail.com and effectively closing the account.

So someone steals my MSN account...

2005-04-25T18:07:25Z

And decides to make a ruckus. Oh well. Just letting everyone know that e-mails/messenger stuff from velocity_squadron@hotmail.com is not me anymore, and not quite real either (the guy is sending out lots of bogus information and messages).

Holy crap.

2005-04-10T03:10:45Z

Record time: I have not played Giga Wing 2 on Dreamcast in a year and two months (approximately).
Fact: I can now do a no-miss, no-bomb on Score Attack Stage 5, once in three tries. o_O

Has dodonpachi: daioujou handed me my ass so many times that it's caused my skills to improve *this* much?! Wow.

...

2005-03-06T16:42:27Z

Holy shit, I just realized I haven't updated my LiveJournal in, say, almost four months? Forgive me.

Anyways, university's going great. CSCA65 is giving me a hard time, so I need to figure a way around the course to get higher marks. Got an average GPA of 3.25/4.00 from first term, so that's good news. I plan to keep making it go higher for the rest of my university career. But who would have known that I could get so high on the first midterm test of Calculus II (MATA37H), and that is supposed to be my lowest mark? I'm shocked (seriously).

With more Java programming knowledge being absorbed by my brain due to university, I've been able to apply it in a few places; namely, Phantasy Star Online. I've always wondered how the rates, drop percentages and stuff all worked, and by using Java and byte arrays I've been able to accomplish that to a certain extent. My next step is to write something like an OGG player that accepts loop_start and loop_end comment tags, but no idea where to start on that one, let alone CRI ADX audio. I just recently finalized a new structure for ADX; the header format changed probably since Virtual-ON MARZ. In any case I can get loop data information out again, so I plan to do something about that soon.

If you heard about the S.O.S. from Triangle Service, and you are able, go and pre-order Trizeal. I don't care what it is, but new Dreamcast games are always good news. If Dreamcast no longer gets any games, it's going to go straight down the gutter.

Other tasty shmups on the rise include Mushihime-sama (虫姫さま) and Ibara (鋳薔薇).

Mushihime-sama is an odd one, as it features an Ultra mode difficulty that is only unlockable via a code during difficulty select. And the number of bullets in this one outweigh Dodonpachi Daiyoujou (怒首領蜂　大往生) by a very, very wide margin. Unless you're good at Daiyoujou (which I'm not), don't expect to survive Ultra mode. Of course, if you can match this player, you're set. The closest you'll get is to play ESPGaluda's Arrange mode (on PS2).

Ibara, I might mention, apparently has gotten quite a reputation due to its boss characters wearing skimpy outfits. Frankly, I could care less; just blow them up and be over with. On the other hand, when you have two main characters named Bond and Dain, you know something's going to be amusing. :) The game borrows a lot from the 8ing/Raizing influence (known for Battle Garegga), especially with the explosions and the style.

Well, I'm signing off. I hope I don't get side-tracked again. Oh, and before I forget, the melodies of lights mingle together.

Xenosaga and More

2004-11-30T14:56:03Z

http://webhome.idirect.com/~tihhhuhv/xenosaga2_sakura_piano.zip

Enjoy this piano transcription post. Looks like no one else cared. :(

In other news, about that hard drive that was clicking, I'm currently putting it through a Drive Fitness Test, with much regard to Hitachi's programming skills. I'd like to see what their DFT is capable of.

Oh, and one last thing. I got 100% on my most recent Calculus test. A first for me. :D

Well, crap.

2004-11-20T01:52:17Z

Same problem as kiken , except the difference is my HDD's gonna go toast in a good while. While I can, I should recover all my files.

Eating Snakes?

2004-11-17T23:01:58Z

I hope to be updating more and more often in the coming days and weeks ahead.

First off, it would appear that in UTSC (and University of Toronto in general) that having an 85% is an absolute minimum requirement to getting a 4.0 (max) GPA through all courses. It would suck just to have an 84% and miss that requirement, so I am going to have to work hard and pray that I can make 85%.

Of course, after my Manamgement lecture today, I think the professor clearly understands what really motivates people. Although it is a business concept, if professors (and TAs) tend to show more respect and pay more attention to the people they are teaching in the lecture (though it is hard and not really part of their job description), I am pretty damn certain that a lot of people will be making higher grades in said courses.

Now, about my WRT54G router. It seems that's it's pretty damn common. If you have Cable/DSL, you ought to have one of these. It's just that, sometimes, once in a while, maybe after three days or so, you'll start having problems accessing websites. I'm not sure why. If you ping the router, you get "Request timed out". Unplugging and plugging back in power for the router will alleviate the problem in the short-term, but in the long-term, I want to have this problem fixed. OpenWRT looks like a solution, but I am worried about possible consequences as well as a missing web interface. Any ideas, people?

Lastly as of today's entries; if you don't know what I mean by eating snakes, you're probably living under a rock in the context of the video gaming world.

CAVE Fever

2004-11-15T21:30:50Z

Well, turns out ESPGaluda wasn't on a CD to begin with. It was supposed to be a DVD. Funny. I think I'll convert that CDR crap I have right now...

Backburner

2004-11-15T03:13:18Z

Been a very long while since I posted.

Looking forward to Metal Gear Solid 3 and Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs. Z Gundam, when they both come out.

Also, regarding ESPGaluda: I had no idea ESPrade was so much better! That's probably why that, and the obscene number of bullets, both intrigue me when I'm playing in Arrange mode. I managed to do a no-miss on stage 1, which is quite an accomplishment on its own. My feeble attempts in stage 2 however got me nowhere; lost all my lives and lost too much energy during the entire process. I'll have to be more careful next time.

I should have had Replay Save on... next time around I'll do that for stage 1. Also, ESPGaluda takes too much time to load... I'll probably have to have it converted to DVD format to improve load times. That will make things a lot simpler for me. I could put it on the PS2's (non-official, custom) HDD, but there are problems with ADX (, sofdec) and HDD. They don't like each other.

Catching up

2004-10-08T16:11:45Z

Well, I've been late in updating the LJ. It's been quite a while since I've been here, but that's because most of my personal thoughts end up being kept to myself rather than to others. But, first,

If you haven't already learned yet, Kerry is currently handing Bush his ass in the U.S. Presidential debates. I'm no American, but I'm smart enough to believe that Kerry will most likely bring America somewhere better compared to what Bush has been doing. It's been the reason why we Canadians have kept ourselves out of the Iraq war altogether; I applaud Jean Chretien for that notion when he made the decision. It's a shame my parents don't share the same view... but after last night's CNN viewing they will have a different aspect of what is really going on.

Frankly, Bush was too gung-ho, and going on intelligence that was roughly accurate, so-to-speak, was what I would consider too King Bradley-like (Fullmetal Alchemist). It's funny how I can relate FMA to real-life, because it seems that either BONES or Arakawa-sensei seems to have this view saying that the Americans are not doing their job properly, and we need more people like Roy Mustang in this world to make things right. I really hope that happens, otherwise the world is going to turn to shit, and I won't have a place to play video games in.

Speaking of which, now that we're on the subject, Dodonpachi Daiyohjoh (Peaceful Death) is probably THE most difficult shmup that I've ever played. If you try it, you will find that it is meant for elite hardcore shmup players, and that means millions and millions of bullets. And there's no buzzing, no level-up, and no real good way around the bullets other than dodging and praying for your life. Even though it's pretty good and everything, it's just too damn HARD.

I haven't gotten a chance to look too much into the Metal Gear Solid 3 demo, but Kojima has obviously made some very very careful moves regarding how people will take the demo in terms of storyline as well as cutscene interaction, gameplay, and... monkeys. I've never played Ape Escape, but if MGS3 is any indication, it must have been one hell of a game.

Armored Core: Nine Breaker and Psyvariar 2 Ultimate Final are slated for release later this year. I hope to get copies of them and try out the new stuff that they've got. Speaking of which, I need to brush up on Nexus and get some more parts...

ESPGaluda Arrange Super Play

2004-09-14T00:28:08Z

http://www.arikaonline.com/download/movie/espg_s_b.mpg

For those shmups fans. Seems Arika put up a 168 MB download for free.

Don't expect a no-miss here. But it is definitely single-credit and full clear with an amazing gold-ingot bonus going on here.

PS2 Catchup:

2004-08-15T02:55:52Z

1. ZOE2 Special Edition rocks.
2. Gradius V rocks.
3a. MARZ sucks. Load times are horrible.
3b. I put MARZ on the HDD. Now 50% of the problems are gone.
4. Trying to get Star Ocean 3 Director's Cut.
5. Trying to get Armored Core: Nexus.

Anyways, this should all be fun. This is cool, playing with my PS2 like a toy. Which, it is, in a sense. :)

Hallelujah!

2004-08-11T06:18:02Z

My dad and I were successful in modding our PS2 with a Messiah2 v1.33b chip! :D

I am so happy. It kicks ass with Jehuty in ZOE2. Tomrrow, it's Gradius 5. ;)

And a little catch-up...

2004-08-03T20:08:37Z

Okay, so right now here's as follows:

1. My mark from Algebra/Geometry ended up as 66. (BAD)
2. Did a second attempt during July. Ended up 88. (GOOD)
3. Bought a new PS2 to celebrate. (GOOD)
4. Ordered a new modchip. (GOOD)
5. Modchip looks like it'll take a few weeks to show up. (BAD)

That pretty much sums it all up.

...

2004-07-24T03:27:06Z

.:23·27·47:. * Velocity_7 »» WinAmp «» Hitoshi Sakamoto - Gradius V Original Sound Track Game Rip (23/07/2004) - 10 - Meteor ~Stage 5~ «» 00:03/03:40 [--------------] «» 85 kbps (abr) ogg ««

The rip is done. :)

GRV Music Rocks!

2004-07-23T23:49:13Z

I'm sorry. I just had to post this. The music is too good. And it's all Hitoshi Sakamoto stuff, to boot, too. :D

It's like Ikaruga and Radiant Silvergun, gone techno, and then up the quality level a very high notch!

Gradius V Music

2004-07-23T22:20:55Z

I haven't updated in quite a while.

This is for kiken; I'm currently ripping the Gradius V music off the disc at the moment. Should be fun.

Gradius V

2004-07-03T19:21:46Z

http://webhome.idirect.com/~tihhhuhv/gr5index.htm</p>

This is something kiken will love. Konami Tokyo posted the stuff yesterday. I found it today and decided to format it properly because Konami didn't do it well. That, and I also translated the descriptions as well. So, enjoy.

Well...

2004-06-16T15:24:49Z

Discrete Math may not be the biggest of my problems, hopefully. Even though I may not be able to get the 75% requirement for it, if my average is high enough I'll probably be able to still make it into UTSC. I'll have to pray I can maintain a good 90+ in Computer Science and hopefully make use of the flip-flop that's happening with Physics. I pray this strategy will work...

(now this sounds more like a war strategy)

Discrete Math

2004-06-16T02:00:56Z

Damn it. I failed my summative...

I better do well on the exam. Or it's bye-bye to UTSC for me. >_

Damn heatwave...

2004-06-08T20:34:52Z

It's becoming ridiculous now. And everyone's got their air conditioner turned on... except mine. My mother is just not thinking straight at all; perhaps the heat has gotten to her. How dare she not want to turn on the a/c?! Wish I had a job so I could turn on the air conditioner myself...

NAOMI...

2004-06-06T00:09:25Z

That's a cool error screen if I've ever seen one. :D

Holy shits, UW...

2004-06-03T20:17:17Z

Waterloo has just given me a conditional acceptance! The requirements are also devastating, too. No, they're not 90%. Do you want to know what they are?

Read below...
...
...
...
...
...
...
75%!

Wow. Talk about desperate for students, but they're the all mighty god in terms of a computer science program. Too bad I'll decline them, since it's too far away and too expensive. But, it was worth a try anyway. If Waterloo has bothered to accept me, then Toronto for sure will accept me in the future. I'm set. ^_^

On a more lighthearted topic,

2004-05-30T14:37:10Z

UTSC (University of Toronto at Scarborough Campus) has sent me a letter that actually brings my hopes up a bit more. Supposedly according to "special conditions" they are giving me new requirements. Now, let's recap what my old requirements were:

80% average in all six grade 12 courses (met)
80% in Calculus (met)
80% in Discrete Math (not met)

Here is what the new requirements say:

75% average in all six grade 12 courses (met)
75% in Calculus (met)
75% in Discrete Math (NOW met)

Now, with all things considered that is a very nice dropdown for me, which improves my chances of getting into UTSC. ^_^

Funny thing is, my midterm mark for Discrete Math was at 71. Now it's at 76.