Here There be Robots!

Robots
Admit it. Robots are awesome. We all grew up on Masked Rider, Power Ranger and Transformers. We still have robots dolls (Excuse me. Action Figures…) in their original packaging. Heck, some of us even study Artificial Intelligence because of that. The MIT OpenCourseWare for those who wanna start learning AI.
On my online traversals, I found some very interesting robots and my most fave one? The little break - dancing guy.

The Sushi Maker



The Violinist



The FemBot




Some other Hot Chicks :D



The Coffee Maker




The Breakdancer




All i can say is moar :D.

Porco Rosso - A Studio Ghibli film

Continuing the pig theme, let's review Porco Rosso. It is a movie from acclaimed diector Hayao Miyazaki, who also did other classics like My neighbour Totoro and Howl's Moving Castle.

Porco Rosso means Red Pig in Italian. The pig in the story is actually a World War 1 ace human pilot in the Italian Army, who has been cursed and transformed into a pig. After the war he became a freelance bounty hunter chasing after air pirates. As with most other Ghibli films, the rivalry is pretty chummy and amicable. When not trying to shoot each other down, Porco and the air pirates spend their evenings on neutral ground at the Hotel Adriano, the establishment run by Gina.

Gina is Porco's closest friend. She becomes the object of rivalry between Porco Rosso and another pilot Curtis. Gina is a majestic, cultured woman, who seems to hold some power over all the pilots in the area. Another character to note is Fio, a young girl who helps Porco repair his downed airplane. She is bubbly, determined and downright cute in the trademark Studio Ghibli way.

Porco Rosso is highly recommended simply for that feel-good vibe present at every stage of the movie. It is aimed at a younger audience but the cinematography and drawing is simply breathtaking. - Clyde

The swine !!!! Argh. Tonde Boorin

Who's afraid of the swine (flu)? Here's Tonde Boorin, an anime about a piglet, and a girl turning to a pig.

Now this is one cutesy anime. The basic storyline is about a junior high school girl called Kokubu Karin, who is the stereotypical anime girl- friendly, a tad too clumsy, but extremely cheerful nonetheless. Kinda like my ex-gf really, who just happens to seriously dig the show.

One day she (Karin) found a piglet stuck behind a bush, lying unconscious. Instead of thinking "Hey free pork chop!" she decides to save the piglet. In return, it gave her a magic compact that transforms her into a super pig called Boorin. Wow, incredible! I wish i had one to give to Bonnie (and turn her into a pig haha). Of course Karin hates being a pig, so the piglet, who was majestically called Tonrariaano the Third, makes a deal with her. Every good deed she does makes a pearl come out of a shell, and when she collects 108 pearls she could choose any form she wished.

There's a lot of mischief and low-level humour ala Keroro, and though it's aimed at a younger demographic, it can be rather fun to watch. Check out the transform scene above, it's hi-la-rious. - Clyde

Western Digital Ext hard drive replacement

My WD Elements Hard drive died on me a few months ago. It was chugging along fine until my sis brought home a new Vista machine (Lenovo SL 300 if you must know. I hate it a lot). Plugged it in, copied over 100 gb of videos and music. Or tried, anyway. The damn thing hung on me! After I 'manually removed' it from the com, it just couldn't move files anymore.

So I ransacked the ole nick-nack drawer for the original box, where the original store receipt should be. But, BUT! It was sorely missing. Without it I couldn't return the drive to the store. And so it sat in the box for 4 months, destined to become a future school project scrap part.

That is, until I came across the return policy site for WD drives. Woohoo! They actually have a Return Merchandise Authorisation policy. So actually, all I had to do was enter the serial number and print out the label to attach to the mailing box. As you can see from the pic. Fingers crossed then, see if I really get a replacement. (Fingers crossed for 3 weeks!)

Clyde.

The PSP Go

Written by Clyde.

So a lot of PSP fanboys are getting excited over the PSP Go

I’m not one to mince my words, so here’s the all-important specs upfront:

GOOD:

1) No UMD drive, means it's lighter.

2) Downloadable games

3) 108 grams versus the already featherweight 189 g of the latest PSP 3000

4) 16 GB of internal flash memory, plus it's upgradeable by adding your own memory stick.

5) WIFI and Bluetooth!

BAD:

1) Again, only one analog controller

2) You can't play your UMDs

3) Smaller screen; 3.8 inch versus the PSP 3000's 4.3 inch.

It's comimg to the American market on Oct 1st (oh isn't that Children's Day?) and for us here in Singapore, we'll be queuing up on (date unannounced lol!). But it IS going to be released in Japan in November. So perhaps Dec for other Asian markets?

Anyways, I for one dig the cool, sexy design. It looks like one of those devices Inspector Gadget had. I'm actually looking forward to playing games or watching movies on the train. With a bluetooth headset. It's really like a playstation fanboy's wet dream.

However, I think the analog stick's gonna be a pain in the rear to use. It's so awkwardly placed, i can't imagine playing God Of War on it, let alone Gran Turismo Mobile when it comes out. PSP games like Naruto- Ultimate Ninja Hero should be fine, as it uses the directional buttons intensively.

So... what do you prefer? Black, or Pearl White? Check this out if you need help deciding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wYzqaNTccY