Print this site
» Written on February 12, 2007 at 11:15 PM «
Or view it on a handheld. It’s been specifically tailored for such mediums now, though the beauty of that single attribute, media="handheld". Or print, I really don’t care. I just know my site’s accessibility just took a momentous leap into the highest of rankings.
Though, perhaps, not to the Sony Playstation Portable’s Netfront browser, which will actually be the subject of this post, along with its inherent parent element, the PSP. (Developers, see what I did right there?)
Anyway, I’m pretty much pissed at the state the PSP is in at the moment, with the downgrading and homebrew scene being more active than usual, after the discovery of the GTA: Liberty City Stories exploit that still lingers in firmwares recent. I’m almost appalled by Sony’s hypocrisy, their apparent harsh stand on homebrew being complemented by their pathetic attempts to stem its growth. In fact, I’m seriously considering purchasing a copy of GTA for this very purpose, though the prices for a suitable copy (the unpatched version) kind of range in the extravagant to the are-you-fucking-kidding-me range, the fault of greedy Singaporean capitalists who somehow think charging 70 bucks (about 35 USD) is justified for a game that’s about as old as my mom.
OK, maybe not as old, but you know what I mean.
Back on track. So anyway, if you didn’t know, my own PSP is of a certain shade of ceramic white, and unfortunately, it’s one of the newer ones, meaning the dreaded TA-082 motherboard. In other words, it’s not conducive to being downgraded. Until now, that is.
However, while I am an avid supporter of homebrew development and anything that has to do with open-source, I am not supporting a culture of piracy. While I do look upon Sony’s proprietary UMD format with great distaste, I feel the evils of piracy do have bigger fists.
I am, however, still an avid supporter of common sense, and Sony deciding to brand their product, which can be held in a single hand as a device meant for screen purposes, is not, unfortunately, common sense. Don’t believe me? Try viewing this site on a PDA and a PSP; you will notice the immediate differences almost immediately, barring the visually-challenged. This is, of course, a mere smite compared to the regular fuckups that Sony regularly manages to perpetuate upon its consumers, but as a web developer, I simply fail to understand why, or how Sony can even imagine that their beloved handheld device does not qualify as a handheld, and must instead receive the same rich content that would normally be siphoned to its older brothers and sisters, which, if I daresay, seem to have about 100 times its processing power.
And that’s not even taking into account that the PSP browser crashes when it runs out of RAM, which is not really in abundance, if you know what I mean.
And when my 3-year old XDA can display this site using the proper CSS stylesheet attributed to it and a much-touted “next-gen” console cannot, it gives you pause to think about the branding behind both products. You are then led to conclude that perhaps, the latter of two companies would be completely fucking retarded.
I love my PSP’s games to death, I love the PSP’s potential media capabilites to death, heck, I even love the PSP’s design. I’m even willing to forgo that second analog stick that was omitted from the design, but really, if Sony really doesn’t want me to be one of their customers, I’m going to have to go right with that presumption.
You may find me scouring the streets for an unpatched, un-price-hiked copy of GTA LCS very soon. Short of bricking my PSP, I’ll probably be chucking away those remote controls around the house and using L1 to watch the latest season of House.
Except that we don’t have House anymore since Season 2 ended. But that’s another issue for posts forthcoming.
This country sure is at the forefront of technology. Just like Sony.
School is cool
» Written on January 3, 2007 at 7:15 AM «
With the recent spate of rains, I’m not surprised. What’s more surprising, however, is that the advent of air-conditioned classrooms is finally a reality. I already knew this was going to happen, heck everyone knew this was going to happen, but somehow I held on, clung tightly to my last glimmer of hope for the future of our unspoilt generation.
I was too weak.
So now every single classroom in the goddamn school has two brand-spanking new air conditioner units, the better to waste electricity and resources on people who will probably earn nothing but colds from such a privilege. Even worse, colds could spread.
The mere thought of it terrifies my nerves.
I got off not completing my holiday assignments today on a mere technicality: remember how I said I was bringing my Nikon to the party to help capture the memorable experience for my juniors? Well, it appears that those who do so automatically get a get-out-of-lessons-free card for the entire span of the orientation. Plus I get additional Community Hours credit for it.
Now some might say this is a bad thing, sacrificing my education to fulfill my temporary interests. But I say, fuck them, and just because this year is a crucial one in my educational life, that doesn’t mean I have to give two shits about it.
I do give a shit, though, but that’s not the point. Relax, I’ll read up and play catch-up during the second week; it’s not as if they really teach much during the first few days.
My previous General Paper tutor and Civics Tutor (Yes, they were the one and the same) has left Singapore for shores distant, Caracas, I believe; her mother appears to be suffering, and she apparently couldn’t stand being away from such love. I wish her the best, even though she wasn’t really a good teacher. But she had good character, and that would be enough for humane respect. Our new, uh, tutor, is a delight of sorts. I found him via Google in less than 30 seconds. The email address he gave us, fcsonic [at] hotmail [dot] com did indeed seem familiar to me, and a check with my logs confirmed my suspicions vast; he had indeed tried to add me to MSN before, though I didn’t know who he was at the time, and promptly removed him from my list, obliterating those bytes which contained his very essence. He apparently plays DoTa like other nonsensical people my age, though, we’ll have to see whether he’s interested in other genres.
In other news, I hear a new downgrader has been released for the PSP, which revitalizes my hopes of getting homebrew to run on this contraption of mine (I’ve already updated it to 3.01 firmware, the shame) someday. Take that, Sony. After that advertising fracas, I’m not even sure I want to see another PSP advertisement. They really need to take a leaf out of the other products that Sony offers; I thought the new Walkman advertisement was pretty cool. Kind of reminds me of my Audiophile shirt.
And I really need to go work on my Economics Essay, like, now.
Naked Snake
» Written on December 11, 2006 at 8:10 AM «
The ending of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops didn’t quite live up to my expectations, though the artwork definitely did. In some cosmic sense, perhaps, it all balances out quite nicely. And more is the pity that there wasn’t more of it.
Wow, I actually ...
» Written on December 10, 2006 at 10:20 PM «
I seem to be doing a lot of “register on this site, post your entry, and if it’s nice, we’ll feature it!” these days. First with Zazzle.com, where I got one of my T-shirts recognized as Today’s Best after a few days, and now with W3C Sites as well. I actually found the link via SimpleBits, then through the link to Tanya Merone’s website (which seems to be down at the moment). It’s kind of a link extravaganza, and if you have no idea what I’ve been typing about in those painful lines of markup, basically understand that it’s a small, small world.
Anyway, my profile on W3C Sites shows it very clearly, and I intend to ensure that I keep it that way. How, you ask? Why, of course, by yet updating the gallery with even more content! Ingenious, I know.
Now, apart from the self-admiration and adulation, the past few days have not been about sculpting a life-size statue of mua, but rather, I’ve been hard at work preventing nuclear launches and listening to long, trepid dialogue from Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. I’ve just gotten past the, ah, first toad (I hope I didn’t reveal too much with that spoiler) which fires a machinegun and small bombs that almost look comical. By the way, someone’s already died.
More gallery goo...
» Written on December 7, 2006 at 10:55 PM «
It was unavoidable.
In any case, the gallery now has a plethora of new works uploaded to it, some old, some, dare I say it, new. You might want to have a look. Even if you hate art and everything related towards its letters three.
I’m currently keeping a close eye on Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops for the PSP, which should have been out two days ago, but for some yet other misfortune, its release here has apparently been pushed back to Saturday, contrary to what a little birdie told me when I called their fucking store. They always lie; good thing I’ve finally given up taking trips to the city to find that out. I’ll have more information about it when I finally get my hands on that damned UMD, but truth be told, I haven’t really been around with my PSP lately, even with the enticing grasp of Vice City Stories and pixel-perfect Valkyrie Profile. It’s kind of that “bleah” mentality that I’ve been harbouring these past few weeks, ever since the situation at home went from bad to worse.
Eating, Shooting...
» Written on November 22, 2006 at 9:38 AM «
It’s all the same to me.
That’s what Engineers actually mention when you order them around in Company of Heroes, which I’ve been actually striving to play again for the past few days. It’s quite satisfying to revisit a game after a period of absence; somehow, it’s like meeting an old friend, and then enjoying its caresses once more.
Which is why I stopped after completing just one mission.