With all the big ruckus about the launch of almighty Google’s new browser, I think I’ll have a say in it too after trying it out for a few days.

I’ve decided that it’s got a few good stuff, but overall, I’m still using Firefox. However, I’m leaving Chrome on my desktop in case of quick net searches.

Why is Chrome nice?

1. Awesome load up speed. It’s almost like, to quote a friend, loading up a folder in your computer!
2. Precious real estate. I’m talking about the tabs being put way on top, practically on the title bar. There is NO title bar. Just tabs and a little google word beside the - [] X on top.
3. Incognito Mode. This shouldn’t be here. It should be found below, in the not-nice section.
4. The multiple mini-site Home page. I know, most browsers have this, but Chrome’s super load up speed and displaying this with no added time makes it a charm.
5. Easy Importing. I spent minimal effort in making Chrome feel at home with all my bookmarks, cookies and saved passwords imported over from Firefox. But I’m sure many other browsers have this feature too.
6. Holy Crap. I just added this: Chrome has: right click>>Inspect element. SWEET!!!! It literally breaks down the design of the site~!!!

Then why am I not a total Chrome convert? Mainly coz of lack of the following:

1. No Add Ons. Even though I don’t use a lot of Add Ons, I really treasure and maximise the usage of those addons I have. Stuff like WebDeveloper toolbar, Download Helper, DownthemAll, and IE Tab (heh) are priceless to me. Can’t live without ‘em.
2. No: Right Click>> View background Image. I have this habit. I see a pretty website, I’ll think of how they got this up on their webdesign. So I’ll go around the screen looking at how the lay out their CSS. It’s a lot harder to do when you can’t simply view background image. FORGET THAT! I amended this, see number 6 above.
3. Chrome’s streaming isn’t perfect. I was watching some Veronica Mars, and it got interrupted quite often. Firefox never had that problem. Unless my dumbshit Internet Provider cocks up again. Yes Starhub, I speaketh of you.
4. No customizability on the toolbars. I want this here, I want that there, but I can’t do anything. Minimalistic is good, but gimme some room to customise, will ya?
5. Bookmarking. It’s just.. unfamiliar, and not too detailed. In Firefox 3, you can type keyword tags and suddenly the page url comes up in the address bar. I’ve really taken a liking to that.
6. Incognito mode: Who are they kidding when they say that it’s useful for planning secret birthday parties for friends? Pfft.
7. No full screen. Sometimes I wanna see the whole view. Another weird habit. Don’t ask.
8. Others: They don’t really concern me, much. But from what I’ve read around, here are some more, briefly: Non-windows support, dragging tabs back into windows  (or into bookmarks), profile roaming, who knows what else.

Hmm, people think I’m super pro Chrome coz of my MSN nick. I just forgot to change it for some time. In summary, I think Chrome’s still a new browser which has much potential to uncover, especially with Google making it, I’m curious to see where future versions will take it.

Meanwhile, the Mozilla people aren’t just shaking their legs.

On a lighter note, do yourselves a favour and watch this amazing piece of film. It’s TERMINATOR vs ROBOCOP!!! A dream film!

Popularity: 5% [?]

This here is an excellent show which ranks with tops like Prison Break, Heroes and, as some may argue, Lost.

I’d known it was a good show since I first saw one of its episodes. But me being lazy to keep up with TV series unless they’re presented to me as a full season (or seasons) package, I used to just skim past the show when it’s shown on Channel 5.

Not till I stumbled upon its entire season available for streaming, did I actually sit down and watch the episodes one by one. Right now, I just finished watching Season 1 of Veronica Mars. It’s superb. One of the most underrated shows ever. I’m still not up to the point where I’ll be crying ‘why oh why did the network cancel the show after season 3!’. But seeing how things are going, I think I just might be.

I first got to watching it because of Kristen Bell. Well, asking a hot chick to play a lead always get first impressions going… But its really the character of Veronica Mars that kept you coming back for more. She’s all witty and smart yet scary like. 

The story… well, that’s the main part which rocks as hell. Every episode does have a standalone story, but they all pile up, and each episode reveals a bit on the major mystery. A season long mystery, one might say. 

If you wanna know what its about, go google or wiki it. But don’t read spoilers. I seriously recommend the show. As serious as recommending Prison Break season 1 and 2. Not so much on season 3, though. 

End of Veronica Mars season 1 was a cliffhanger, a small one. I couldn’t resist and I checked up on what season 2 is about. Well, let’s just say it got me intrigued enough to want to watch Season 2. 

It was damn good, and it’s taken up a lot of my time. Well, I gotta get back to my shits. By shits I mean FYP and projects and such. 

Till next time! 

(damn this website needs a revamp!)

Popularity: 5% [?]

I am seriously in love with this show. They left us hanging for months after the Firebending Masters episode. But now, the episodes 14 and 15, called The Boiling Rock, has aired.

It’s about a prison rescue. I was a little sad when the Avatar himself didn’t partake in this, but I was shockingly awed by how the two man team managed the rescue. Sure, it’s like 10 times simpler than Prison Break, but the charm and wit of the Avatar series made it beautiful. Plus, all the bad guys, I mean girls, are in this one. And there was great drama within the trio.

Princess Azula returns.

They took a heck of a long time to release episodes, but it’s definitely worth the wait. Every episode is done in the absolutely highest quality of animation and art. Story, dialogue, basically everything involved in making a great story come alive. Unlike many other titles which tend to drop their quality as they get popular. Like NARUTO, for example… Tsk. Avatar really maintains its awesome animation and art. Every single episode is great.

There are rumours that a live action Avatar movie is in discussion. I was worried that they might screw up the idea and concept of Avatar, but after watching Iron Man, I realised that if they put the right people together, something truly great can be produced from an already great idea.

Meanwhile, the Dragonball movie looks like it’s headed for doom, based on what I’ve seen so far.

Meanwhile, Aang sleeps this one out.

Popularity: 58% [?]

The movie starts off with ACDC’s Back to Black song playing in the background. That itself is a great start. Every second after that has been an awesome feast of the sights and sounds.

Iron Man is one hero which I’m least familiar with. Yet the movie delivers in so many levels. I could identify some references to the Marvel universe while some more knowledgeable friends alerted me to other minute hints of coolness.

Spoilers below. Stop reading if you haven’t seen the movie… ah what the heck, read on, so that you’ll notice these cool stuff when you watch it.

1. War Machine hints: The supporting actor, the air force colonel who works closely with Stark, kept me guessing if he’s gonna be War Machine. As the movie progresses, I began to realise they won’t be including War Machine in the movie. Then there was the scene where Iron Man had left to fight and this guy’s standing around, saw the Mark II armour, and I got really excited. He IS gonna be War Machine! Then he said, (almost to the camera) “Next time baby…” That’s it man… Geekgasm…

2. References to Mandarin
I didn’t notice this at ALL. But zero 12 alerted me to what the terrorist organisation’s name is. Ten Rings. I didn’t really pay attention to it. Then looking back, I realised, the terrorist leader kept playing with the one weird looking ring on his finger, and Ten Rings… well, the MANDARIN has Ten Rings. Oooh…

3. SHIELD
Some nerdy agent guy kept bugging Stark and Pepper for an important ‘debrief’. He said he worked for an organisation which has a very long name. And everyone kept telling them that they need a new name or something short to call themselves. Towards the end of the movie, they told Stark they did settle on a name. An abbreviation… SHIELD.

4. The Post Credit scene.
Won’t say anything here. But Marvel comic readers MUST stay till the end. Ultimate Geekgasm.

Iron Man marks the beginning of this year’s superhero movie fiasco. Next up… Batman, Hancock, Hellboy, and many many more! (except Superhero Movie, that’s just lame)

Popularity: 19% [?]

I knew that this day would come. Lorenzo would eventually win his first motogp victory. And he won with such style and finesse that I think he might one day succeed Rossi as the crowd favourite.

The standings are as follows:

1. Jorge Lorenzo [48] - Yamaha Fiat Team
2. Dani Pedrosa [2] - Honda Repsol Team
3. Valentino Rossi [46] - Yamaha Fiat Team

And what did Lorenzo do when he won? He rode on the last ‘courtesy’ lap with a flag in his hand, and when he reached the crowd, he did a ‘moonwalk’ and planted the flag of his name in the sand. Later, in the podium, he did a stupid little dance. Haha. You’ll never get this with someone as boring as Stoner. Rossi’s victory antics are also amusing to watch, but he hasn’t won yet… Although I think this season MIGHT just be his comeback season.

Only time will tell.

Later…

Valentino Rossi (46) and Jorge Lorenzo (48), team mates in what I foresee to be a tight and fierce rivalry in the races to come. [source] I’m glad that fasterandfaster website got a proper domain name. It’s a great site with lots of awesome motogp pics and news.

Popularity: 31% [?]

I will say it. Guillermo Del Toro is the master of Horror. Not just cheap thrill shock therapy horror, but really freaky, disturbing, ‘haunts you in your sleep’ kind of Horror.

At first I knew about him as the director of Hellboy, which was cool and all, but the movie’s not really into the freaky business. Then came Pan’s Labyrinth, which deserves an award for being freaky. Del Toro’s twisted take on fairy tales has made Pan’s Labyrinth a movie I will never forget.

And now, I have just watched The Orphanage. Another spanish film produced by Del Toro, and with honourable mentions to the director Juan Antonio Bayona. You can read a good review of the film here from IMDB.

El Orfanato is seriously one of the best Horror movies I have ever seen, regardless of language. I get multiple goosebump sessions throughout the movie with its excellent camera play, teasing you with possible ’sightings’, and not to forget its freakishly superb sound arrangements, edging you all through the movie.

The story’s fantastic. And there are really no plot holes left uncovered. Everything pieced together perfectly, and it has a good reason to. Unlike most other horror films which try miserably to put a weak story to an otherwise scary situation, where they try to explain stuff but end up spoiling the entire mystery/horror effect.

Unlike Labyrinth, where there’s quite a number of freaky monsters/creatures and quite a bit of gore, The Orphanage has a minimal amount of such things, but they are used to maximum effect. And I really like that in a horror movie. You can take something so trivial… so simple… and if you add the right amount of twist to it, you could create something of unimaginable… freakiness.

All, and I mean ALL horror buffs should watch the movie. And I wish I had a brain like Del Toro’s. And Neil Gaiman. And Jhonen Vasquez, just for the kicks.

Let’s end the post with a hint of the one freaky thing from the Orphanage.

Say hi to Tomas. He’s your friend. You can see him, right? Heh heh.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Starring Keanu Reeves and Forest Whitaker.

What started out as a potentially shitty movie, turned out to be pretty good. Reeves play a Vice cop who is part of a special unit that likes to take matters into their own hands. It’s quite similar to LA Confidential, but at least it’s set in the present day and isn’t quite as draggy.

There’s just one thing I’d like to highlight. I think Street Kings showed Keanu Reeves fiercer and more dangerous than when he played Neo in Matrix Trilogy. Yeah, he really rips people apart in this one.

There’s also several TV actors who play some important roles in the movie. Sucroe (Prison Break) and House (House) is in the movie.

There’s not many good movies showing around this time. So, Street Kings is among the top, for now.

It’s ok if you wanna save up for the super cool movie overload that’s coming soon. Stuff like Iron Man, the Dark Knight and Hellboy, to name a few.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Hoping to evade the parking pontianak, I thought I’d spend a few minutes away from the carpark while she feeds. This in turn leads me to the library in its closing hours. I went up to the graphic novel section, and browsed. And there it was, the Absolute Sandman collection.

It was huge. It was like an ancient book. I’ve come across trade paperbacks of the Sandman series many times before but never a collection this big. It couldn’t fit my bag, or my bike. But I chose to borrow it.

I had wanted to read the Sandman for a long time but the art simply puts me off. Neil Gaiman is a great storyteller and like Vasquez and del Toro, I loved how his twisted mind churns out these kind of dark stories. And so I began reading it at home.

The Sandman is about the Sandman (obviously). He’s the king of the dreamworld, in case you’re not familiar with the term. He was ‘abducted’ from his realm by a cult who seeks to capture Death. And for 2 generations, he sat imprisoned in a glass cage, not giving in to the captor’s requests of immortality and other sick stuff. And finally he escapes, and he seeks to regain his inventory, and revenge. Of course, while the art pretty much sucks, the story telling is, as expected, excellent.

But what caught my eye and heart was how he said to the son of his dead captor, “You are lucky to have failed in capturing Death. Instead you have ensnared Death’s younger brother.”

This goes to show how fearsome Death would’ve been. Dream (the sandman’s other name) is already quite scary.

The other cool thing is that it takes place in the DC universe and there’s a cameo of the Martian Manhunter, and other members of the Justice League, although in a very unexpected fashion. And there’s Constantine in the book too.

I’ve read almost half of the volume. And when it came to the part where he meets Death, I wanted to stop to build the anticipation.

The thing is, I’ve read Death: the High Cost of Living. Also by Gaiman. And it’s really great. So I already know who Death is gonna be. It’s a she. And she’s probably the coolest goth chick ever. This whole fantasy thing is cool, but it’s nothing like the real thing. Gotta always keep that in mind. Sort of a leash on your mind while you let it go wondering.

Popularity: 4% [?]

The latest motogp race, held in Spain, saw home boy Dani Pedrosa winning 1st place, followed by Rossi (yeah!) and super motogp rookie, current 250cc world champ, Lorenzo (hells yeah!).

Rossi, Pedrosa and Lorenzo. Great riders. Well-deserved podium finish. [source]

I really loved this race. The final results was one reason, but the other reason is that the super boring world champ, Casey Stoner, went out early in lap 2! He overshot his corner and ended in the sand pits. But he tried to come back, struggling from last place to 11th.THEN HE WENT OUT AGAIN! Hahaha! I was freakin’ happy. Really sick of seeing him win every single freakin’ time. Unchallenged, and totally boring.

Rossi vs Lorenzo is definitely an awesome sight to watch. They both ride with the same outfit, and the friendly rivalry looks really fierce. I saw them make hand gestures to each other throughout the race. Don’t know what they mean though. They weren’t offensive gestures, by the way.

After the race, they showed Stoner sitting down, really upset that he went out early. When I saw that, I kinda felt sorry for him. But a friend told me, that there’s no need to, coz’ he got a hot wife. True that.

Popularity: 7% [?]

I woke up today for my usual servings of email and rss. This caught my eye and gave me morning goosebumps. Aged 6 to 12? Count this 24 yr old in! Click on the image to view the trailer. It’s bloody awesome. It’s as if the X-Men Evolution kids grew up. I loved X-Men Evo when it came out, coz it came after a long silence of XMen stuff. I think it was around the hype of the first movie. But since the third movie kinda disappointed me, I’m hoping to reaffirm my faith with this series. Very promising indeed.

In other news, I realised I haven’t been making as much entries as I wanted to. There’s not much going on right now, except for the ’secret’ project. Progress has been motivating, but there’s a hell of a lot more to go. Whether this endeavour can succeed or not still remain illusive.

I’ve caught Rambo 4, and a few other movies too, since Cloverfield. But the drive to write a review had faded since then. I should do a review the very moment I got home from the theater. Otherwise, it’ll just slip my mind.

It’s the long CNY break for us, and this time round, I’m making full use of it for the project. Damn. I hate how they leave you in the dark and expect you to learn everything yourself. But, what to do…

Popularity: 7% [?]