On competition

This post was inspited by Sonic's writeup.

I feel that the actual criteria for a competition, is simply whether you are better than the rest of the people that does the same thing. The problem now comes when money is required to actually stage the competition in a large enough scale (not to mention the prizes).

Magic: The Gathering (M:TG) competitions can continue in such a large scale, and pay out very good money simply because it is the nature of the game. Being collectibe, it has a steady source of revenue. For them, the competitions serve as: 1. Perpetual promotion vehicle, 2. Magnet for new competitive players that buy a lot of cards. 3. Traders in secondary markets that also buy a lot of cards.They do not need external sponsors because M:TG is self-sustaining.

Cybergames companies, on the other hand, do not have a constant revenue source. They require sponsors, and are currently limited to a small pool of potential sponsors. Only MMORPG's have constant revenue source, and they are the most difficult to create competitions that are meaningful to the mass. Sponsors pay money in the hope that their advertisement gets across to the group of people that most likely would end up buying their products/using their services.

Like, why should the achievement of a golfer that plays better golf than almost everyone else (e.g. Tiger Woods) be more significant than that of a Quake player that plays better Quake than almost everyone else (e.g. Paul Nelson)? Both of them got to where they are with lots of effort and time. Somehow the society perceives that it is. I just do not think that it should be.

I do see it changing though. More and more people are growing up sorrounded by virtual worlds. It is just a matter of time before there are enough people getting involved for sponsors to start fighting for advertisement space. I just hope that they do it tastefully.

This, for example, is a pretty good 'Geek Ad'.

And in China, Coca-Cola is already involved with World of Warcraft. Maybe they are trying to make Coca-Cola the Asian equivalent of the current stereotypical Western Computer Gamer Geek's drink of choice - Mountain Dew.

I am awake!

After enduring 4 days of drowsyness, I am finally (almost) fully awake!

Not having eyelids that weigh like lead is indeed a great feeling.
I have not had to take medicine with 'might cause drowsyness' effect very often, and I guess this shows that at least my body still has low tolerance to drugs of certain types. Good in sense that they will be effective for me, bad in a sense that the side effect(s), if any, would linger longer too. Anyway, it is good to finally return to alertness.

Or, it might just be the coffee...
Hmmm... coffee...
(Dangit, am I turning into a coffee addict already?)

Weird week

This has really been a very strange week for me.

I went and joined the Settler's of Cattan preliminary rounds, and only managed to place 4th (out of 8), and then I missed the bookfair that I was supposed to go to because I stayed back to play RA! and Razzia!

I intended to order a plane ticket home from my usual travel agent, only to find out that they have closed down. I ended up purchasing my first online ticket from Zuji, only to realize that I have booked the wrong flight date. One call to the customer service officer, and *poof* went $25.

Caught stomach flu, and could not find my company card before going to the clinic (it was actually in my bag) and *poof* went another $30. The dumb medicine made me so drowsy all the while, but luckily I managed to complete my project in time.

I finally got my much awaited copy of "Treasures of Aht Urhgan" (expansion for Final Fantasy 11), only to realize that it is a DVD coded software, and I only have a CD rom. Hence I have to fork out another 60bux for a DVD rom, and wrestle with my PC to install it before I can install the game.

On the bright side, I won 3 out of 4 games in today's M:TG Dissension pre release, with 2-0 2-0 2-0 and 0-2 record. Not bad :D (No dual lands though.. boo hoo...)

Gotta rein in this runaway $$ syndrome....

To Thai or not to Thai...

Last week, I was treated to a dinner at Thai Village.

The ambiance was good, and very Chinese, which got me wondering initially about the name of the restaurant. And well, it is a chinese restaurant with a slight Thai flavor. They do not have Tom Yum soup or Mango Salad, but they have Shark's Fin Soup - of which I had a share.

The service is good, and the food is delicious. I am not really partial to the expensive Chinese dishes such as Abalone and Shark's Fin Soup, but well, this is a once in a few months kind of thing, plus I am not paying for it so... :P I personally don't get the Chinese obsession with this particular food item, but I do realize the significance of including it in an order.

The item that really gave me a pleasant surprise was their Gelato dessert. Glazed with chocolate, shaped and colored to look like a real fruit, these icy desserts are a real treat! Each of them even has a chocolate 'Seed'. (The peach one had a Ferrero Roche in it). I had an 'Apple', and it was grrrrrrrrreat. (Even better than the Shark's Fin :P) The gelato is not cloyingly sweet, and it is really smooth. The chocolate "peel" just melts on the tongue.

Overall recommended. A dinner for 4 should cost an average of $40-$50 per head when sharing one medium pot of Shark's Fin Soup.
I heard a lot of other Indonesians there, as well as saw other International clientelle. Many of the servers are not too good with English though, so have a Chinese speaker handy for better facilitation.

Abstract game!

Found this gem of a frustating game.

Planarity

Try at your own risk :P
(Purpotedly addictive to certain wiring of mind)

Mini dilemna...

On my way to work today, I encountered a lady sitting on the floor of the underpass that I had to go through every work day. She was obviously distressed, and she kept asking if there is a bus to Hougang from there, and that she needed to get home to take her insulin shot.

As far as I know, there is no bus from the nearest 2 bus stops that goes anywhere near to Hougang. As I was thinking, one of my collagues happened to see us, and she also had no idea if any bus there goes to Hougang. So, we tried to tell the lady to take some other bus to the MRT instead. However, she insisted to only wanting to take one direct bus. (Well, she got here somehow right?)

So I pondered calling the police for assistance. I asked my colleague if she knows how this call to 999 might work out, and she too had no idea. Neither of us has ever called the police before. However, suddenly the lady insisted that she'll walk to the bus stop, and ask other people about the bus to Hougang since we weren't being helpful. And she did, just like that, leaving two baffled office workers (us) behind.

It seems that she does not want to have anything to do with the police. I do wonder though, aside from getting her into a taxi, what else could have been done in such a case? Especially since the person is behaving erratically.

Random Quotes V

"Edgy and interesting" is for premarital adventuring. "Funny, kind and able to cope with a broken faucet" is marriage material.

- a lady forum poster

When I again had trouble with a leak at my previous abode, I tried a few methods to try and fix it myself, as calling for a plumber is not exactly cheap. Both the faucet and the pipe were leaking this time.

I tried to duct tape the faucet. - It did not work.
I tried to duct tape the pipe. - It did not work.
I tried to use epoxy glue on the pipe. - It did not work.

I gave up and I called my friend, who recommended to me, an economical plumber.
As the plumber worked, I observed what he was doing. Then I asked him, where did you learn how to fix stuff like this? He said that he had to "steal" the skills from other people as there seems to be no formal training school for it, and the people in the trade are reluctant to share their techniques for fear of competition. Reminds me of the medieval age guild system...

So I got the plumbing fixed, with $30 for the damages - New faucet + water valve + piping. (He said that this kind of job would usually cost up to $50)

Looks like a handyman course could make good money here. Plus, I have learnt something - turn off the water mains before attempting epoxy glue, or anything else even.

Homes in the cloud

Want to see an ultra cool apartment?
We present to you!

The Tower

It even has a movie-like name...

I wonder what will be the occupancy rate of this kind of lodging, and how may days out of the 365.25 days in a year that the people who owns one of these will actually spend living in it.

And this is yet another point for making money.
It takes big money to make even bigger money. And no, those money won't trickle down to the masses.

Now, imagine living on the topmost floor of a 1km tall apartment, that is marketed as being the most sxclusive of homes on earth. Right smack in the middle of Dubai, and enjoying the view of the far off sea... And the lift decided to break down... :P